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(All OCC discussion goes on the Discussion Page. This is the actual RP.)
Lancer was doing pretty well, all things considering. While that castle had been burning around him, he was dying with satisfaction. Rin was safe and that bastard Kotomine had died at his hands. Vengeance for Bazett was served and even though he didn't get the fight he wanted because Archer was an asshole, he had saved Rin.
So the castle had been burning around him and he was dying, but that was all well and good.
Then he had woke up here, corporeal as he remembered the real Hound of Ulster in life. He was now alive and well, with everything that entailed. Just he didn't wake up in Fuyuki, in fact this place was like nothing he had seen.
There were men who turned into wolves. People who were dead who still walked around and drank blood. Monsters. Magic and the like. Of course a pack of werewolves had attacked him when he'd been looking for shelter.
While defending himself, and having a blast doing so, someone had come across the commotion, and wonder of wonders, thought she could help.
Like that Emiya kid, but with far nicer legs, fair face, and arse. Sure, she was lacking a bit in the bosom, he liked his lasses with curves for the most part, but she was one of those personalities that was fun to tease. And she could fight.
Then he found out she was a vampire, her name was Forest, and she filled him in on this world. Then she gave him a place to stay with one strict rule: no smoking inside. He was sort of trying to figure out how to get into her knickers - she was pretty and repressed - and she was a Celt. Maybe a few generations after him, but she was kin.
So he had someone he could speak his native tongue with, that he may roll into bed with, and there were monsters to fight.
And tonight, he was off to find what sort of trouble he could get into.
-
Even the Dark Side of the Moon seemed friendlier than this place. To all sides were the ominous walls of countless towering buildings, a testament both to humanity's attempt to defy the heavens and also to make a place for themselves in an increasingly crowded world. But despite this sprawling expanse, the feeling of claustrophobia still remains familiar, and ever present. The feeling of foreboding that permeated the place didn't help much either.
No more could that be said of than in a certain alleyway, somewhere hidden in the urban labyrinth that was the City. And in this alleyway stands a teenage girl, a confused look on her face.
Even if she felt like someone could potentially argue that the Sakura Labyrinth was potentially more dangerous, taking in her surroundings, Hakuno felt as if she preferred it more than wherever she was now. It was more colorful at least. Plus at least there she hadn't been alone and defenseless.
She'd stood there for a good ten minutes in the blind hope that she was still in the Moon Cell, hoping to hear anything from the Student Council that'd guide her back to the school. Nothing. It wasn't just feeling separated from them either- some part of her knew that she could no longer reach them. She wasn't 100 percent sure yet, but one thing seemed to be clear- she wasn't in the Moon Cell anymore.
She looked down at the Command Seal on her hand. She still felt something from it- her connection to Archer was still in place, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was around somewhere. Knowing him, he was likely frantically looking for her right now. She took a look around at her surroundings again. While it was best to wait there so it was easier for Archer to find her, she doubted that this was the safest place to stay.
Hakuno's hands balled themselves into fists, her eyes blazing with determination as she marched herself down the foreboding alley, hoping that she could find Archer again, or, if nothing else at least, some form of answers or safety.
-
Despite the foreboding feeling she got from the city the Ex servant noted the winds were warm, had she anymore tears she might have cried for the memories the warm night stirred in her but sadly the curse had robbed her of everything except the frown she wore and her sword and armor.
"Arturia Pendragon, yes I must remember my dearest master is a master no longer, and I once again just a lonely king. Shirou, thank you for your tears, as the king of knights I vow to fulfill your wishes since that woman took your purpose" the brief statement honest but more of a prayer.
striding into the night in a black tracksuit and wool took she would see what this city had to offer.
-
I'm going to kill that idiot, thought Rider as she heard the werewolves howling outside the hotel they were staying in.
"Aunty Rider?", came a frightened-sounding voice from the bed beside her chair.
Actually, I think Sakura will do it for me....
Whilst Kiyoshi was a not by any means an ordinary boy, he was still a child lost in a strange town without the mother who had always sheltered and protected him from all the bad things life had to offer. It was only natural he would be frightened.
"Kiyo, we'll get back home, I promise", she said, leaning over to give the boy a reassuring hug as she noticed barely-suppressed tears in his eyes.
"Goodnight, Aunty Rider. Goodnight, Kuro", he said to his mother's two familiars, giving his pet shadow a little stroke as he did so, the feeling of his mother's magic comforting him.
"Night, Kiyoshi", Rider said, whilst the little shadow lying beside him acknowledged him with a slight wave before settling down in an imitation of its master, causing Kiyoshi to smile gently.
As Kiyoshi fell off to a fitful sleep, Rider considered their situation, and it didn't seem good at all. They were stuck in a dangerous town with no money and, worse, without Sakura around to provide her with prana she would soon disappear if she didn't find alternate sources. Although, it did at least seem that she wasn't suffering the usual effects of lacking an anchor to the world.
At least they had managed to find somewhere to sleep. She had spent much of the afternoon and evening desperately searching for somewhere to stay, particularly after she had been warned of the dangers that lurked around the town after dark. Unfortunately, though, whilst she was pretty well-off, she hadn't carried physical money as a matter of course for years, and her electronic payment methods were of course useless. If only Rin had been sucked-in with them, since she still stubbornly insisted on paying for everything with cash. Mainly because she couldn't for the life of her work out how to use any of the more modern contactless payment devices. Eventually, though, she managed to strike a deal with a hotel manager to provide them with a room for free and food for Kiyoshi in return for Rider providing protection against any attacks from supernatural elements. Although she did have a suspicion that the manager may have just been using that as an excuse to help out a couple of people who were stuck in a bad situation.
But, even with a place to stay, this world was fraught with danger, especially for Kiyoshi. Whilst he could defend himself, he was still an inexperienced kid and, worse, one who had a tendancy to seek out trouble. In a world like this, that could easily get him killed. And, if that happened, Sakura would be utterly distraught, even more so than she would be if she lost Shirou or her sister. Worse still, without Sakura to supply her with prana she was much weakened, and could even disappear altogether. In this state she could barely defend Kiyoshi, let alone the hotel, and she would rather not have to find another place to stay if she could help it, not to mention that Kiyoshi would be very upset with her if she left the people here to their fate. Plus, the man had been kind to them, and she would prefer to reciprocate that kindness.
So, she would have to find a source of prana. She could, of course, contract with Kiyoshi, but that would put him in potential danger, plus he didn't have all that much prana anyway, and was using what he did have to sustain Kuro in the absense of his mother. Right now the little shadow was a big comfort to him and, besides, it provided a potential link to his mother and, therefore, a possible route home. Or, at least, a potential method to reunite Sakura with her little darling. So, she couldn't risk drawing on him and, therefore, she would need an alternate source of prana to keep the boy safe until such a time as a route home could be found.
And, unfortunately, the only way to do that was to drain prana from people in the vicinity. She could activate her bloodfort, but that would take some time, and in any case it risked drawing attention to her. So, for now she would just feed on any unfortunate person she came across, preferably non-fatally. Leaving the sleeping Kiyoshi in the hotel room, she excused herself and went out into the big city, looking for suitable prey. Whilst she could drink from anyone, she would prefer someone she could have a bit of fun with during the act. And, of course, they needed to be alone and isolated. She couldn't risk being caught, that would expose Kiyoshi to danger.
Fortunately for her, she didn't have to travel far. from her vantage point on a rooftop, she spied a young brown-haired schoolgirl standing and looking around aimlessly seemingly just as lost as they had been. Rider hesitated a moment, but ultimately her desire to protect her master over-rode her concern for the girl. Besides, she was very attractive, and seemed to have some magical potential, seemingly untapped. Rider would enjoy drinking from her....
However, she waited in her vantage point as the girl looked down at her hand before marching off in a determined manner, right past Rider's hiding place. As the girl came past, Rider pounced, jumping off the building and aiming to land on top of her.
-
Although her vow had just been reaffirmed the king of knights would find it tested sooner than she had expected. The figure who had dived off the building was mostly unidentifiable to Alter save for the fact that it was a woman. It didn't matter which gender was the attacker to her but information was information after all. Snatching the lid of a nearby trash can Alter tossed it hard enough to decapitate the attacker. Normally Alter would have held back but between the utter mandanity of her chosen ranged weapon and the speed of the attacker she judged that it wouldn't die from such an attack.
"find your meal elsewhere monster, preferably in hell!" she declared as the lid flew toward it's target.
-
The vampire known as Law Unto Herself, or Forest or Fore to those lucky enough to be in her acquaintance, was on Patrol. This unusual, terrifying, and wonderful city had its fair share of horrors, and she took it upon herself to defend those who couldn't when she could. She was fully aware she wasn't omnipotent, and with some of the beings she'd come across, her power level barely registered on the Scouter.
Like my unusual "roommate", she thought with a rueful smile as she smoothly parallel parked her 1967 SS RS Camaro. Strains of Dio were silenced when the engine was turned off and the key pulled out of the ignition. The tall blond stepped out of the classic Pony Car, her black leather duster sweeping behind her. She rested her hand on the handle of her gun before locking her car and beginning her sweep of the city.
She knew Lancer was out, possibly looking for that troublesome gang of werewolves that had been tearing through people in the Asian district of town. The Celtic warrior could handle a pack of werewolves easier than she could, even with her .44 Magnum loaded with silver slugs. His true identity was something he guarded, but he had told her that he'd been summoned back from the dead as part of some ritual and he should have died a second time. Instead he had been delighted to find himself alive and not as some spirit who could go corporeal and living off mystical energy to fight for some "bastard priest" against "some cheating wanker" and managing to save "a feisty lass" before dying.
Combat and violence was in his blood. Those crimson eyes of his weren't human; there was wildness in Lancer. She could see it, smell it, and hear it in his mind. On the flip side he was a nice, jovial sort who was loyal to a fault. She knew he wouldn't try anything other than flirt excessively and he was the sort that one wanted on their side in a fight.
And they could speak their native tongue to each other, but he did seem a little leery when he found out that the Morrigan was her patron goddess.
She walked down the streets, the smells, sounds, and thoughts of the city almost overwhelming her.
As she walked past an alley she felt a sharp spike of power. Sheer, unadulterated power that had an edge of playful hunger to it. Then she also heard the confused thoughts of a young girl yearning for someone named "Archer" as well. The smell of magic was thick in the air, and Forest got a gleaning of a dark, troubled presence as well, and it seemed all three were about to converge.
"Bugger it all," the blond said to herself before dashing in the alley with her vampirc speed to keep the body count as low as possible.
-
As Hakuno made her way through the alleyway, she thought she saw something move out the corner of her eye. Trying not to turn her head too much, she got a quick glance at the source of the movement.
It was a woman. The woman was quite beautiful; she was tall, with lavender hair, a comfortable looking grey jumper, and a nice pair of eyeglasses. Even so, it was strange that she was stalking on the rooftop, particularly since she seemed quite intent on Hakuno herself. She didn't know what the woman's intentions were, but given her surroundings, Hakuno had a feeling that they weren't friendly. Hakuno's stalker thankfully didn't seem to notice that she had been spotted. Hakuno continued on as she had before, hoping she didn't rouse the woman's suspicion.
A chill ran down Hakuno's spine as the woman switched into a position that suggested that she was about to pounce. If I move too quickly, she'll go straight after me. But maybe if I wait until she's about to jump...
Hakuno sighed. Still, I wish Archer was here... Why did I have to get attacked this soon? Hakuno mentally braced herself, watching the woman carefully while still trying to seem casual. Hakuno tensed as the fear finally began to sink in. Then, at last, the woman began to jump.
Hakuno bolted. She didn't really note where she was going, just ran as fast and as far as she could. She didn't want to take any unnecessary chances, deprived of both her magic and any sort of weapon as she was. But even with Hakuno running at full speed like this, it was still quite possible for the woman to catch her. If she had the means to fight, then maybe she could stand a chance, but as it was...
I need you, Archer! ...and some fighting lessons, whenever I do manage to find you.
Desperate, she cried out at the top of her lungs, hoping that even if he couldn't hear it, it could catch someone else's attention.
"Archer! Archer, can you hear me?! Archer!"
***
...somehow I think I prefered our previous location to this place. Maybe it's just me, but somehow it just seemed more hospitable.
Archer had already adjusted to his surroundings, his mind quickly processing anything and everything around him. While he didn't see anything hostile thus far, he couldn't say that the situation inspired any optimism within him either. Even more troubling, Hakuno was noticeably absent, though thankfully he could still feel her through their ley line.
Still, from the looks of the size of the city and how dangerous it potentially seemed, the fact that Hakuno was out there alone wasn't a reassuring prospect. Worse yet, while he could feel her through the ley line, it wasn't enough to tell him where she was. And considering how maze like this place seemed to begin with, things looked just a bit grim thus far.
Well, I'd better start looking. The sooner I find her, the better.
He decided to keep up a brisk pace, but not quite break into a run just yet, not wanting to risk passing Hakuno as he searched. She'd be difficult to find to begin with... Somehow he doubted that she'd stay put, so she'd be on the move, making her more difficult to track. His best hope was that she'd find someplace safe and stay there until he could reach her, but that possibility was still dubious.
Then he felt it. It was faint, but he could her mental cries for help. What's more, he could get a sense of the general direction to go if he wanted to find Hakuno now. Well, at least now he had some form of lead. But at the same time, Hakuno was already in danger.
...Just great.
Now was the time to start running. Archer did whatever he could to hasten himself, traversing over buildings and jumping over rooftops if he had to. If there was even the slightest chance he could reach her in time, he had to try- he had sworn to protect her with his full capacity as a Servant, and he wasn't about to back out on his word now.
***
"Find your meal elsewhere monster, preferably in hell!"
Hakuno turned back towards the voice, nearly falling over as she did so thanks to the momentum she had going. Her stalker was now being confronted by a blond girl in black armor, who had just threw a trash can lid at the glasses wearing beauty. Even if this newcomer was friendly, Hakuno figured it wasn't best to stick around- she reoriented herself and started to flee once again, hoping that now at least she had a chance to get to safety.
-
As Rider fell towards where the girl had been walking, she saw her break into a fast run.
Bugger, she saw me.
In response, Rider adjusted her body, ready to make another leap in the direction of her target. She could tell that she was faster, but she needed to get at the girl as soon as possible.
"Archer! Archer, can you hear me?! Archer!"
Oh, damn it to Hades, she's a master.
On hearing her would-be victim call out, Rider realised she was not in a good position. She couldn't afford a fight against another servant, not in the state she was in, and she also couldn't rely on the girl leaving her alone if she ran. But, at the same time, killing the girl would almost certainly ensure the servant would target her with extreme prejudice and, in any case, she would prefer not to kill the girl if possible. Not to mention that she could no longer be so sure the girl was powerless. After all, she would have said much the same about Shirou if didn't know him better.
And, then, things got even worse, as she noticed that an object rather like a bin lid was flying towards her at high velocity, shortly followed by a familiar-sounding voice that she couldn't quite place telling her angrily to "find her meal elsewhere". It was clearly a servant or other supernatural entity, and given the situation it was most likely this girl's Archer. And, she seemed pissed. Not that Rider could blame her, given what she would do to anyone who threatened her master in this way.
Thinking quickly, she decided her only chance was to grab the master, using her as a human shield and hostage. That would ensure that they would at least give her a chance to explain herself. Quickly changing into her standard battle outfit, she threw one of her nails hard at the wall opposite her, as close to the girl as she could manage without hitting her directly. Meanwhile, she threw the other nail at the metal object flying towards her, deflecting it away from hitting her.
The nail stuck in the wall, about three feet off the ground, as expected, leaving the chain directly across the girl's path. As Rider landed on the floor, she lept in the girl's direction (taking care to keep the hand holding the chain at about waist height for the girl), intending to trap her in the chain that was about to wrap around her or, if not, tackle her to the ground.
As she did so, though, she saw a glimpse of yet another person running towards her from the opposite direction. And, she very much doubted this new arrival was here to help her catch a bite to eat....
Oh, fuck you Tyche.
-
Alter smiled seeing the transformation she knew now who her opponent was. "My sympathies Rider, while shirou is charitable in calling that worm his friend I do honestly feel for you having to obey a master like him. However my empathy for your situation will now allow me to let you get away with hurting the innocent, even masters. Shirou would not approve and while I care little for for that matou girl i know for certain that she would be sad to see you reduced to this. You get one warning, stop this or I will stop you." she announced then turning to the Hakuno.
"Now young miss, while I am not your clearly precious Archer would you like me to accompany you until you find him or her?"
-
And this, well girls, is what we call a "Mexican Standoff", Forest thought to herself as she barged in the alley, seeing two women who could rival the Fae in their beauty and a teenage girl.
The poor girl was caught between the lavender haired Walking Sex Offense and her Bondage Happy Time Chains and the tiny grim blond who did more than just embrace goth, but dive right into it. There was something unsettling by the petite blond's oddly cold yellow eyes, like chips of yellow diamonds. Not the warm, golden tones of most other yellow gemstones, but that unyielding, almost unnatural shade of yellow that diamonds could be and were just as hard and relentless.
Forest had heard a young female voice calling for someone named Archer, and Forest doubted that the girl was calling for Sterling Archer or any of the other members of ISIS. The girl's desperate cry sounded more like she was calling a protector of some sort. Then Walking Sex Offense got the girl trapped and Tiny Blond Goth was making some monologue as if the two women knew each other.
They feel like Lancer, she realized, and Tiny Goth Girl had called the Walking Sex Offense "Rider". Lancer had told her of the Servant Classes in that War he'd been summoned into. Archer and Rider were two of them. "Oh come off of it!" Forest said with a groan as she realized that if she didn't do something soon there would be massive property damage when three freakishly powerful Servants decided to throw down.
The vampire skidded to a halt, holding up her hands and trying to look as non threatening as possible. "Okay Ladies, why don't we just all back off here and go along our merry ways?"
Mentally, she called out through the city to her housemate, Lancer, I could really use your help now . . . Please
-
If circumstances had been different, Hakuno would have perhaps though of something along the lines of how she shouldn't assume her fortunes were changing so quickly, or something about jinxing herself, or even wonder if Archer's luck was beginning to rub off on her. As it was, the only thought that popped into her head was-
Owwwwwww.
To Hakuno's misfortune, she'd been running so fast and so blindly at that point that she hadn't noticed that her pursuer had managed to set up a chain at waist length to stop Hakuno right in her tracks. As it was right now, Hakuno was sitting on the ground, somewhat dazed and definitely winded. She retained enough sense to see that the woman had changed clothes, looking simultaneously both more threatening and more... well, showy, than she had before. Something struck Hakuno about it though, scattered as her thoughts were.
Is she... a Servant?
Hakuno's train of thought was disrupted, however, by the appearance of yet another woman, a tall attractive blonde. This one had her hands up, as if she was trying to quiet things down.
"Okay Ladies, why don't we just all back off here and go along our merry ways?"
I'd like to, believe me, thought Hakuno, but when she actually tried to say it, the words seemed caught in her throat. The whole thing seemed to be escalating, and Archer was still missing. Still, she had to try something- with what strength she could muster, she attempted to at least get herself standing again...
***
Archer had closed a fair bit of distance since he'd first started. Still, he mentally cursed the city's large size- as much distance as he'd covered, he had yet to reach his Master's location. To his relief, there had been no changes to their connection as of yet, but it didn't cause him to slow his pace for a second. Something told him that Hakuno wasn't out of the woods just yet.
As he went, Archer made mental notes of the locations he passed, as if he did get to Hakuno and get her to safety, they'd likely need a place to stay. It also was useful for finding Hakuno, as anything that helped navigating this hellish maze was a blessing.
This time it was another apartment complex, a nicer looking one- it had promise, but Archer would likely have to figure out how to handle the financial end of it if they wished to stay there. Still, that was a concern for another time. The priority for now was Hakuno, and Archer could only hope that he was finally getting in range of her.
-
Rider smirked as her prey walked straight into the chain she had just set up and fell straight on her ass, clearly winded. Continuing in her movements, she pounced on the girl as she sat dazed on the ground and pushed her to the floor, holding the girl as a hostage against any ill-intentions from the other people around her.
But, as she did so, she heard the woman who had previously attacked her speaking. Seemingly, this woman knew her class designation. But, even more oddly, she knew of Shirou.
Saber?
Recognising the girl gave Rider pause for thought, and her words cut uncomfortably close to the bone. She knew very well that Sakura wouldn’t be at all pleased with her actions, and nor would Shirou. As she paused, the other blonde woman spoke up, clearly trying her hardest to seem non-threatening.
"Okay Ladies, why don't we just all back off here and go along our merry ways?"
Rider thought hard, and decided it might be best to attempt to talk her way out of this situation. This didn’t seem like a battle she could win, but nor did any of the people here seem to want to attack her if they could avoid it. Sitting up, but ensuring her intended victim still remained pinned underneath her, she responded to Saber.
“That scum is not my master, Saber, he has not been for 30 years. And, I know Sakura wouldn’t want me to do this, but I have to protect her son. She would never recover if anything happened to him.”
Then, she turned to the other blonde.
“Sorry, but I need the prana. Plus, how can I be sure this girl won’t have her servant kill me the moment I back off? Holding onto her is my only guarantee of safety right now.”
She sat on top of the girl, weapons at the ready, and waited for a reply.
-
Alter took in Rider's words, her soul screamed but her body did not betray her and reveal the hurt and surprise she felt. This Rider was the same as the one who defended that childish woman, she was conspirator to Alter's death and likely spent time in the sun living a life she had no right to.
Alter smiled smugly. "But you aren't safe Rider, you can't fight me and keep ahold of the girl, much less now if you need prana, and I'm no longer a servant, so Saber is wrong as I'm very much alive" she stated coldly
-
A feral grin was etched across Lancer's features, and Gae Bolg was in his hands. Looming before him were four hulking beasts, their forms some bastardization of wolf and man. Still, a wolf is a wolf, and I am the Hound, the Celtic hero thought as he spun his cursed lance in a graceful arch above his head. It was his weapon now, even though he would have been more comfortable with a blade due to all the pain Gae Bolg had given him in his life time.
Forest would have a fit if he let the battle out with all of the bystanders doing the boring things that bystanders did. So with rapid movements he traced the series of runes into the concrete with his spear. The glowed bright blue before pale blue energy materialized behind him. The line was drawn, none of the combatants could pass that line; they would be stopped by the runes that held them there until he was dead or he dispersed them.
Growls filled the alley, some of them even Lancer's, as the demi-god rushed into the fray.
It was over quickly, too quickly in his opinion, and Lancer was soon standing alone with four bodies currently on fire due to his runes. He would reduce the remains to ashes, leaving nothing in his wake. Nothing that could be traced back to him or his lovely landlady either, and burning the cursed remains would grant them peace. The Brigid would bless them and send them on their merry way to the next world. The Morrigan would not be feasting on that dead this night.
"Pathetic," the blue haired man said with a snort before a swift kick swept the runes keeping the battle in place away.
Lancer, I could really use your help now . . . Please . . .
A wolfish grin crossed his features at the sound of that husky, lilting voice begging in his mind. He wondered a time or two if she screamed when she found completion, or did she moan wantonly in that low voice of hers? Her resistance was all the sweeter to him; part of the joy was the chase. It wasn't fun if they came after him, and that was part of the reason he rejected the Morrigan despite the fact she had been the most beautiful woman he'd laid eyes on.
He willed Gae Bolg back into ether for the moment before whistling softly. He got an impression of another alley and recognized the area. Forest was suppressing something in her sending, which made him even more curious. So he broke into a run to head to her and see what she needed.
As he nimbly weaved through the streets he caught sight of a broad back cloaked in red with a head of white hair resting above it rushing in the same direction he was. "Tch." He easily out sprinted the bowman and ended up in front of him. Gae Bolg was pointed at the betrayer, the man who had left Rin to that punk's devices and had betrayed her to become Caster's Servant, and that was something Lancer couldn't stand.
"Oy, Archer, where the hell you're going in such a hurry, eh? We've got unfinished business." No more tricks this time, you cheating bastard. We're going to do this like men, instead of you playing around like a little bitch.
******
Well bugger, she is a Servant then, they confirmed it. Of course she needs prana to survive, and apparently the girl is a Master too? Now this has become lovely, Forest thought, looking between Saber and Rider, then to the poor girl Rider was currently using as leverage and a cushion of sorts.
Sighing, the vampire took a step up and pointed at Saber, "Check the aggression for a moment here please. I'd rather not have my city leveled by some battle of heroic spirits or former heroic spirits having a grudge match."
Then she pointed to Rider. The Servant was apparently protecting a child, which means if something happened to Rider then the poor kid would be all defenseless. "Hey, Walking Sex Offense, if you let the girl go, I'll donate. I might not be alive, but I have prana." Lancer, you had better be right about that, and you had better be here soon.
Finally she looked at the girl, her voice and expression softening some what, "Poppet, when the Walking Sex Offense lets you go, get out of here and please have your Servant decide to not to come kill us all. If you're going to rough house, do it in an abandoned part of town. Please."
-
...Lovely.
If Archer had anything to be quite thankful for before, it'd been a lack of interference. Now it seemed his poor luck was finally catching up with him. The all too familiar figure of the Hound of Chulainn stood in his way, Gae Bolg pointed straight at him. And he didn't seem to be in the best of moods.
Still, the Demigod's tone was still the semi-casual one he usually had, bad mood or no. "Oy, Archer, where the hell you're going in such a hurry, eh? We've got unfinished business."
Holding back and exasperated sigh, Archer projected Kanshou and Bakuya and readied himself to quickly switch into a fighting stance. One thing was quite clear- as much as he wanted to avoid it, a fight was pretty much inevitable.
"Oh, I'm sure we have more than a fair bit of unfinished business to settle. However..." Archer's eyes narrowed, readying his twin blades as he did so. "I don't have time to play with you right now. I have a meeting with someone that takes a fair bit of priority over whatever 'unfinished business' that we have between us. So be a good dog and step aside, would you?"
***
This is bad, really bad. The masked woman now had Hakuno pinned beneath her, unable to move or struggle. Desperately, she tried to find a way to have her captor loosen her hold on her, but to no avail.
Hakuno was aware of her captor holding a conversation with the armored girl from before, but was too busy trying to free herself to really pay close attention. She was able to get something quite clear from the conversation though- the woman's name was Rider. And the armored girl was Saber.
So she is a Servant! And for that matter, so is the blonde girl. ...I really am in trouble... Hakuno sighed, frustrated. Your luck really did rub off on me, didn't it Archer?
Hakuno finally gave up trying to free herself, allowing her head to rest on the pavement as Rider turned to address the tall blonde woman. “Sorry, but I need the prana. Plus, how can I be sure this girl won’t have her servant kill me the moment I back off? Holding onto her is my only guarantee of safety right now.”
Prana? How is she going to get that from me? Is it just like what Archer had to do that one time? Or is it worse...?
The first to reply, however, was Saber. "But you aren't safe, Rider; you can't fight me and keep ahold of the girl, much less now if you need prana. And I'm no longer a Servant, so Saber is wrong as I'm very much alive."
Hakuno frowned a bit. What's she even mean? How can she no longer be a Servant?
The blonde woman addressed "Saber" with a sigh. "Check the aggression for a moment here please. I'd rather not have my city leveled by some battle of heroic spirits or former heroic spirits having a grudge match."
I'd like that too, to be honest, Hakuno thought to herself. Especially since said battle would have her caught right in the middle, and Hakuno found that prospect quite distressing.
Then the woman's focus shifted to Rider, her index finger pointing straight at her. "Hey, Walking Sex Offense, if you let the girl go, I'll donate. I might not be alive, but I have prana."
Hakuno started to giggle at the "Walking Sex Offense" bit, but then forced herself to stop out of fear of retribution from her captor. Still, the woman was clearly on Hakuno's side- this was a bit of reassurance that Hakuno sorely needed.
To her surprise, however, the woman next fixed her gaze directly on Hakuno herself. The woman's expression and voice softened as she addressed her. "Poppet, when the Walking Sex Offense lets you go, get out of here and please have your Servant decide to not to come kill us all. If you're going to rough house, do it in an abandoned part of town. Please."
Hakuno managed a firm nod, looking towards her potential savior with gratitude. Her eyes lit up a bit. "I'll do my best, I promise! I'm not looking for a fight, or trying to start one. All I want right now is to be back with Archer so we can find someplace safe." Hakuno didn't like placing her new ally in danger, but she looked as if she could handle herself.
With newfound determination, Hakuno turned to look up at Rider. "You're worried about Archer attacking you, aren't you? Please, if you let me go and promise not to hurt this lady, I promise that he won't attack you. I'm not looking for a fight."
-
Range: 500m
Targets: 3 humanoids, all of them female, based on their profiles. From the amount of prana he could feel despite the long distance, one of them was undoubtedly a Servant whilst the woman wearing the black duster was most likely a Dead Apostle of some kind. The girl pinned underneath the Servant was simply an ordinary, albeit unlucky girl.
Standing silently on the deserted rooftop, the tails of his coat and scarf flaring wildly in the wind and the draft generated by the grimy air-conditioner unit nearby; Shirou adjusted the zoom of the scope attached to his DSR-50 antimaterial rifle, bringing the figures into sharp relief. He took a quick scan of the area, eyes like a hawk as they surveyed all possible hiding places for assailants, before placing his eye against the scope once more, to monitor the potentially dangerous situation. He scanned the features of each individual, before letting out a quick gasp, the sights shaking slightly on one particular person.
He knew that Servant.
The Servant was a statesque stunner, sleek purple hair spilling over her smooth back as she pinned down the brown haired girl, a black one-piece mini-dress leaving little to imagination. A small purple mask-like object was perched on her face, completely obscuring the eyes, yet she was staring at the Dead Apostle as if it wasn't even there. In her hands were giant nails, attached to each other with gun-metal grey chains; completely unwieldy weapons for most, but he knew that she could wield them with deadly skill, weaving around like a snake whilst keeping the enemy at bay. For a second, a purple-haired girl flashed before his eyes, before he brutally crushed that all too familiar line of thought. It couldn't be possible. That Rider had faded away with Sakura. This was simply another Medusa, summoned yet again, but with no memory of his War. "It had to be," he muttered softly to himself, steeling his mind once more. To think further would be an insult to her memory.
He re-focused on the task at hand. The two creatures had tensed up, as if preparing to fight to the death over the brown-haired girl, though neither were willing to make a move yet. Judging by how tightly she was holding onto the girl, Rider was most likely depleted of mana, probably due to a bad Master as he had not heard of any unexpected explosions in the city which indicated the use of a Noble Phantasm; and had been about to feed when she was interrupted. The vampire appeared to be negotiating, but who knew what could happen? If a fight between the two broke out, the chances of which were increasing drastically; the damage and loss of life would be extreme, as they were practically in the centre of the city.
Unacceptable. There was only one feasible option.
Narrowing his eyes, Shirou set his sights on the brown-haired girl. If he took out the source of food and drew their attention, he would be able to lure them away from the nearby civilians. He could trace out Hrunting or Caladbolg, but the resulting explosion would cause unacceptable losses, and the targets would be alerted beforehand by his use of prana. He would have to settle things with his rifle. Fighting against vampires wasn't exactly his strong point, nor against Servants, but if he adopted a hit-and-run tactic using his Noble Phantasms, in an area with plentiful amounts of cover, he could win. He smiled wryly. If Tohsaka was alive, she would have walloped him for such a stupid plan.
Shirou breathed out, blanking his mind. He detached his sense of self. There was nothing but his target and his rifle. In his mind's eye, he could see the path of the bullet, and adjusted until he visualised the bullet striking the girl between the eyes, killing her quickly and painlessly. As another victim of his ideal, he owed her that much.
No more distractions. His mind was made of iron.
Breathe in
Breathe out
Breathe in
Breathe out
Fire
-
As Rider lay on top of her captive awaiting a response, she felt her futile struggles give in to resigned acceptance. The first reply was from Saber.
"But you aren't safe Rider, you can't fight me and keep ahold of the girl, much less now if you need prana, and I'm no longer a servant, so Saber is wrong as I'm very much alive"
That was true, of course, but it somewhat missed the point. Rider might not be able to fight Saber, but unless Saber wanted to stab straight through the girl, she couldn't do much to Rider either. Annoyed at Saber's beligerence, Rider prepared to reply, but was pre-empted by the response from the other blonde, first attempting to calm Saber, then responding to her directly.
"Hey, Walking Sex Offense, if you let the girl go, I'll donate. I might not be alive, but I have prana", the woman said, followed by a laugh from her rather unwise captive.
Whilst the blonde woman's deliberately offensive nickname for her was somewhat irritating, particularly given her past, her offer was still highly tempting. After all, she didn't want to harm people if she could avoid it and, besides, if there was one thing she had learnt from Shirou during the Grail war and over the subsequent 30 years it was that having allies around to help you made things a lot easier. Even if she still had issues trusting strangers, she couldn't afford to let those issues get in the way of keeping Kiyoshi safe.
Plus, she is rather hot..., Rider thought, licking her lips as she recalled the most effective way of transferring prana.
Yes, this would prove most beneficial to her. Not only could she get more prana out of a willing donor who she had time to prepare with, but she would also have a hot woman willing to do almost anything she desired, as long as it meant protecting the girl currently writhing beneath her. Of course, she would have to punish her for the dig at her appearance, but it's not like Rider minded the thought of doing that one bit.
Thinking of the beautiful blonde bound before her, obeying every command, Rider started to find herself getting rather turned on. Yes, this would be great fun. All she had to do was massage the details of the prana transfer ritual somewhat. Or, just use the leverage she currently had over the woman to extract a concession....
Still, before she could let the other girl go, she had to be sure that her Archer would not enact retribution for her attack on his master. But, before she could ask, her blonde soon-to-be sex-toy asked on her behalf.
"Poppet, when the Walking Sex Offense lets you go, get out of here and please have your Servant decide to not to come kill us all. If you're going to rough house, do it in an abandoned part of town. Please."
Wow, she really is a hero, isn't she?
Rider usually wasn't fond of heroes. In her experience, they tended to be more interested in killing "monsters" than in actually saving lives. But, she did have respect for people like Shirou and this woman, who just genuinely cared about others. Plus, of course, people like that were very easy to manipulate into doing things you want, as long as you don't mean any real harm to anyone.
Determined but scared, the girl accepted the terms laid out to her by Rider and by the blonde woman.
"You're worried about Archer attacking you, aren't you? Please, if you let me go and promise not to hurt this lady, I promise that he won't attack you. I'm not looking for a fight."
Hearing those words, Rider saw no further reason to detain the girl. However, the "Walking Sex Offense" jibe did still rankle with her somewhat and, further, she was highly aroused from her thoughts of the blonde. So, before letting the girl go, she demonstrated her displeasure at the jibe by leaning down, taking a firm hold of her captive's breasts and squeezing hard, before giving her nipple a sharp twist through the fabric of her clothes. And, since she seemed to hold all the cards here, she decided to add a bit to the deal, so she could properly enjoy the prana transfer.
"OK, I accept your offer, provided you agree to do whatever I say during the ritual. I don't have time to mess around. And, in future, I would appreciate it if you would not use that insulting nickname".
Rider stayed on top of the girl, awaiting a response. But, before she recieved one, she heard a loud "bang", followed by the unmistakable sound of a bullet whizzing in the direction of the girl's head. As quick as a flash, Rider grabbed the girl and rolled to her side, mere milliseconds before the bullet impacted in the exact spot where the girl's head had been, exploding violently. They rolled through a 360 degree turn, in less than a second coming back to the position they had been in before, only a metre or so to the side.
What the hell?
She couldn't understand why anyone would take a pre-meditated shot at a random girl. She was no threat, indeed she was in danger herself. There were only two options, neither of which were good. Either it was a psychopath or, worse, it was a "hero" who felt that the best way to deal with vampires and the like was to kill their food source. She did understand the mentality of those who put killing monsters over protecting innocents, even Kiyoshi was sometimes like that. But, Kiyoshi was a child, this was an adult, and that attitude was not one she could forgive, not after seeing Sakura's sister and even Shirou himself nearly kill her innocent master on that basis.
Ignoring her captive for the moment, Rider jumped up and changed back into her casual clothes, including her glasses, before looking in the direction the bullet had came from to pinpoint the location of the shooter.
Pointing in the general direction, she called out to the others.
"The shooter is somewhere over there. We have to deal with him, people like that can't be trusted".
After all, if he was willing to kill a helpless schoolgirl, he might also be willing to kill Kiyoshi....
-
Alter shrugged walking into the street "goodbye Rider, oh, miss you need not have sex to transfer prana." she stated proceeding away from the alley and into the night
-
Lancer's vision flashed red at Archer flippantly calling him a dog as an insult. However he only smirked and replied, "What, you gonna tie some other poor girl up to a chair to be raped?"
Still, the Bowman did look rather anxious, and Lancer noticed those steel gray eyes darting about. And what the bloody hell is up with that outfit? His eyes fixated on the collar and the tag around Archer's neck. Laughter bubbled up from the Celt's lips and exploded into the air as Lancer pointed at the tag. "Oh, that's just priceless! Someone made you their pet, didn't they, Archer? Your master beckoning? Need you to clean his house and fix him a spot of tea?"
He then winked at Archer, his eyes raking over the suggestive outfit he was wearing. "Then once you've served him dinner, is he going to make his Servant 'serve' him? Participate in some Tantric Rites?"
******
Forest cursed and went low as she heard the gunshot ring out. She didn't get a chance to respond to Rider's "preposition", then to make things worse she openly fondled the poor girl she was using as leverage. The vampire had a sinking feeling that she was going to have to do some negotiating of her own.
Right now, they had other fish to fry.
Their sniper hadn't been aiming at Saber who was now leaving the scene after she said something about not having sex to get prana, or Rider who was now dressed in something more sensible. With the glasses and jeans on, she looked less like a Walking Sex Offense and became just classically beautiful. Just the sort of impossible beauty that made its owners a little self conscious that they had it.
Forest looked at the school girl and assessed that her condition was fine if a little confused and majorly terrified. The poor girl had been the shooter's target, not the three women in the Mexican Standoff. Kill the victim, and it doesn't give us any reason to fight, the blond thought grimly as she looked to the direction that Rider pointed.
"The shooter is somewhere over there. We have to deal with him, people like that can't be trusted."
Forest nodded and replied, "And they might hurt someone else." She scowled, knowing that she couldn't leave Rider with the Girl, and the shooter could easily pick them off.
So the vampire searched with her mind, and felt her's brush across someone's mind who had steeled themselves for things like this. The desolation, emptiness, and calculating nature she was reading left her cold. She saw glimpses of dashed hopes, a beautiful but impossible dream, and how that dream had been crushed.
She sent to that mind, putting her will power behind it, You sodding coward. If you have a pair, then come down and face us like a real man, or I'll let the Walking Sex Offense gleefully murder you.
Next move was the sniper's, and Forest sent to Rider's mind. Charging after this tosser is only going to give at least one of us a good case of Dead. I'm going to get him to come down here. If that doesn't work, we'll try to flush the cowardly wanker out.
-
Damn.
He had forgotten to account for the muzzle flash and the noise. It had been far too long since he had fought Servants or creatures equivalent to it.
Rider had noticed the loud noise produced by his weapon, and reacted with inhuman speed, twisting the girl away from the path of the bullet an instant before it struck. The other woman was instantly on the alert, eyes scanning in his general direction, evidently tracing out the path of the bullet, as well as keeping a lookout for further muzzle flashes. Her hands were clenching as if preparing to reach for her weapon. Rider had also stood, checking over the condition of the girl. There were definitely no more opportunities to euthanize the girl. He would have to change to Plan B.
Quickly ejecting the round from the chamber, sliding the bolt of the rifle in a well-practised motion, Shirou regained his composure, flushing away his hot-headed indignation and worry for the victim, and replacing it with the cold indifference and resolve he had come to associate as his 'Mind of Steel', his resolve to sacrifice the few to save many. He prepared to fire on the two now-standing women, intending to lure them away from the area. as he aimed at the vampire's head, their eyes met for a split second. Suddenly, an unfamiliar sensation filled his head.
It was difficult to describe. It was so incredibly vast, complex and above all, ancient, an entity far beyond that of a normal human. He was an ant standing before a giant, powerless to fo anything. The sheer volume of information from the mental link threatened to bury him completely, leaving only a husk behind. As he reeled from the intrusion, he felt, no, heard a distinctly female voice echo within his head, clipped and undoubtedly filled with anger: "You sodding coward. If you have a pair, then come down and face us like a real man, or I'll let the Walking Sex Offense gleefully murder you."
The vampire then. Medusa would never label people like that. As the presence withdrew, he considered his options. Firing Caladbolg was definitely out of the question, they would definitely dodge or stop it from causing damage. On one hand he could continue with his original plan, but considering the new circumstances, this would cause much more harm than good, as the two could end up fighting over who would go, and who got the girl. Not to mention the chance that only one would rise to the bait, judging by the message, leaving the other free to roam the city.
The other option, do as the vampire asked, was equally bad. To face a Servant and a mind reading vampire alone without the element of surprise, was akin to suicide. Whilst he wasn't particularly concerned at the notion of death, the thought if leaving the city vulnerable was anathema to him. But at the same time, there was a chance he could negotiate for the girl's life if nothing else. Few deserved being left to the whims of a vampire and a Gorgon. The vampire, based on his glimpse, was an not unreasonable person, afar cry from his usual encounters with Dead apostles. And there was a chance he could win. It wouldn't be the first time. He ignored the small voice in his head which said that he was curious about Rider.
Tracing out his bow and Caladbolg, Shirou leaped down from the building, reinforcing his legs to take the impact. As he approached the area, he began preparing himself for combat, bringing the images of Kanshou and Bakuya to the forefront if his mind, ready to trace out. Time to begin the next phase
-
Archer's jab at Lancer did its work as he spotted as the Demigod's red eyes seemed to burn, so quickly that few would ever even notice it. In retrospect, it wasn't the wisest move Archer could have made, but then, the bowman wasn't exactly in the best of moods himself. This man was the one thing currently standing between him and Hakuno, and thus Archer wasn't inclined to do him any favors.
Blowing off the insult, Lancer smirked as he replied, "What, you gonna tie some other poor girl up to a chair to be raped?" Archer's brows furrowed just a bit. Something in Archer's memory poked at him, but it seemed blurry and intangible. And something told him that Lancer wouldn't hurl that particular insult at him without reason.
"What are you talk-"
Archer was cut off though by the Irishman's burst of laughter, which caught him off guard. He was momentarily confused about the sudden outburst of merriment until he realized he was still in that damn biker jacket. He'd been so intent on finding Hakuno that he'd forgotten to change into his usual battle armor.
Archer suppressed a groan of exasperation as Lancer pointed at his tag, now laughing so hard that tears were nearly streaming down his face. "Oh, that's just priceless! Someone made you their pet, didn't they, Archer? Your master beckoning? Need you to clean his house and fix him a spot of tea?"
Archer winced a bit at the "pet" comment, but since he actually enjoyed housework and fixing tea, the rest didn't really phase him. However, the master mention did remind Archer of his main objective. His focus was regained, his expression back to being calm and collected as ever.
...but only for a moment, as before he could reply, Lancer winked at him while visibly giving his exposed chest and abdomen an extensive lookover. "Then once you've served him dinner, is he going to make his Servant 'serve' him? Participate in some Tantric Rites?"
Archer almost blushed in embarrassment from Lancer's gaze, but was initially unphased by what the other man had to say. ...Then he processed the bit about "Tantric Rites" and what Lancer truly meant by "serving" his master.
Archer had a habit of keeping himself cool and collected always, even if only on the surface, his calculating mind always thinking, processing, scheming, allowing him to gaze at his opponents unflinching and unperturbed. But the moment Lancer had mentioned doing that with Hakuno, his carefully maintained demeanor faded within seconds.
"Tantric Rites?! Even if she knew how the Rites were performed, my Master's not ready for that!" Archer mentally cursed at his own outburst- besides being rather uncharacteristic of him, it was quite embarrassing as well. Still, now that Lancer knew his master's gender, he could possibly get him to cooperate. Desperately recollecting himself and trying to stop blushing, Archer looked firmly into Lancer's eyes. "And you're right, she is beckoning. She's "beckoning" for help. If I delay any longer, she could die." Embarrassment or not, Archer stood firm before his adversary- he had more important concerns than the few remaining fragments of his pride.
***
Hakuno lay trembling in the arms of the woman who had once been threatening to kill her. This just wasn't her day. First Rider had groped her and twisted her nipple, which just about had made her cry, and then there'd been a gunshot, clearly aimed at her head. Her skin paled, a feeling of lightheadedness overwhelming her thanks to this particular brush with death. Rider released her, switching to the clothes she'd been wearing at the beginning as she stood up.
Still trembling, Hakuno attempted to stand as she saw Rider point in the direction of the shot.
"The shooter is somewhere over there. We have to deal with him, people like that can't be trusted."
Hakuno felt dizzy as she continued to rise, but still heard the blonde woman's reply. "And they might hurt someone else."
Uneasily, Hakuno attempted to steady herself. An unfamiliar feeling began to manifest itself within the girl. She had faced a number of life and death situations before- she'd had Servants attempt to kill her in various ways, seen other Masters having their circuits being painfully removed, been threatened to be trapped into a tiny box of data forever, been forced to remove her panties and Archer's just so she could get through a door!
But something about tonight... maybe it was the how quickly everything had happened, or how much had happened, or even that nipple squeeze. But something about this latest attempt on her life made something within her snap. This feeling... was anger.
Hakuno felt a strange flow of energy throughout her body- the same energy she'd felt when using a Code Cast. Hakuno allowed the feeling to engulf her, falling into a trance. She muttered something, and the energy manifested around her, like a shield.
As Hakuno regained some awareness, her eyes widened. H-how did I?! This... this isn't as strong as the Code Cast I used against Passion Lip, but other than that-
But as she pondered this new development, Hakuno felt the shield begin to vanish and fade. Hakuno panicked as she attempted to regain it, struggling to retain the one thing that could finally free her from her helplessness.
-
Sephiroth was just getting back to his apartment in this expansive city when he saw something out of the corner of his right eye. Turning his head to face what he was looking at, he saw....
"Is that a Black Materia? What's the Meteor Materia doing in a world like this, anyway?"
Indeed, Sephiroth had found something extremely dangerous in any world, one that he didn't want showing up anywhere near a magically oriented person like those that knew how to use Materia. Seeing that this was a situation where he needed to keep people safe, he walked over to the Materia and picked it up, before it decided that it wanted to bond with his flesh and blood body.
In short, Sephiroth let loose a howl of pain, one that would wake the dead and give the undead splitting migraines.
XxX
Sephiroth finally got control of his body's functions after about forty-five minutes of excruciating pain, and when he did, he saw that he was back in his apartment. He got out of his stupor and decided to look for anyone that could give him answers as to how he got there again, but before he could, he felt his stomach rumble.
That was when he walked over to the kitchen and pulled out a hidden stash of pocky. He nearly instantly devoured a whole box worth of the stuff, though when he finished the box, he set about to make a more healthy meal. It took him around five minutes to put everything together, but when it was, he sat down to eat--
*KA-BOOOOOOOOOOM*
--only for most of the neighborhood to be blown to smithereens somehow. After eating the rest of his food, he got out of the apartment, Masamune in hand, and searched for the source of the problem, unaware of what it was he would end up facing off against.
-
Standing on the border of a roof, allowing view right above the curious event going, Shuya tilted his head.
The whole day had been nothing but a bloody headache, trying to figure out a way through the maze that was this place. He was bored to death when he heard an argument not too far. His curiosity eventually lead him here but even now, he had trouble understanding what was going on. A purple-haired woman took a girl hostage. Two other chicks did their best to avoid any harm on the brown-haired one. Then the lolita in black just left for some reason, leaving the blond to deal with the situation. That's about when he heard an annoying noise. Gunfire, just like that. Someone tried to shoot either purple or brownhead. A man then walked to them, apparently on guard.
"So boring." He whispered.
Shuya exhaled smoke and threw the cig butt down the street.
"Ain't gonna fight, huh?" He growled, clearly unsatisfied.
Without any added words, he grabbed the scabbard hanging by his waist and leaped off the building. The fall did last less than a few seconds, yet he still had time to unsheathe the bone bladed katana and slash right down, exactly above purplehead. Of course, the attack would have beheaded a normal human without time to react. Yet he somehow knew that the woman could avoid his little "greeting".
Didn't care about the blond chick. Didn't give a damn about the whitehead approaching carefully. And sure didn't give a fuck about the hostage. Only purpose was to kill boredom here.
With a laughing tone he addressed his future victim right before striking.
"Yo."
Then his sword descended with such force the ground would be shattered to pieces by the sheer strength behind it.
-
As she waited for a reply from the blonde woman, Rider noticed out of the corner of her eye that Saber was leaving the area. As she did so, though, she made a parting comment.
"goodbye Rider, oh, miss you need not have sex to transfer prana."
You petty little bitch.
Rider had never been overly fond of Saber, and even more so her darkened form. They had, after all, never been anything other than enemies, despite the fact that they had spent much of the war serving under the same master. Even so, though, she was surprised and annoyed that Saber would put ruining her fun above dealing with a threat to the life of the girl she had only seconds earlier been willing to fight her over.
Thinking back, Rider looked down at the petrified girl, who had seconds earlier been trembling in her arms. Seeing her like that made Rider feel a strange mixture of sympathy and arousal. She didn't really like seeing people suffer like that, especially sweet young girls. It reminded her too much of the condition her beloved master had been in when they had first me, although she had never shown fear in the way this girl did.
But, at the same time, the girl was really quite hot. Her breasts were firm, and her reaction to Rider's nipple tweak had been delightful. Unlike with Sakura, her feelings towards this girl were definitely not platonic.
Yes, I'd definitely like to get to know her a little better, Rider thought, smirking to herself.
She saw the blonde woman nod, and reply to her with "And they might hurt someone else."
Yes, like Kiyo....
Whilst she found this girl rather intriguing, the blonde woman's words reminded her not to lose focus of her main goal. Having fun and wooing this girl could wait until she could be sure that Sakura's beloved little boy was safe and not in danger.
Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have left Kiyoshi alone in the hotel....
Still, remaining with this group seemed like a wise move, especially now Saber had gone. The blonde woman seemed like the sort of person who would protect Kiyoshi out of general principle. And, Rider couldn't watch over Kiyoshi all the time. Having someone else around who she could leave him with would be helpful, even if only for a short time.
Plus, she's damn hot and offering herself to me on a plate.
Rider shook her head violently, reminding herself not to let her libido take over. Sakura's well-being had to come first. Then, she heard a voice in her head, much harsher and less polite than the sound of her master that she had grown used to over the last thirty years.
Charging after this tosser is only going to give at least one of us a good case of Dead. I'm going to get him to come down here. If that doesn't work, we'll try to flush the cowardly wanker out, the blonde woman said.
It felt odd to have such a different voice in her mind, and the way she spoke was also unusual. Plus, of course, it was weird that she could even do this in the first place. With Sakura she had the mental connection of a master and servant, but this woman did not possess that, which meant she must have some sort of telepathic ability. Which, honestly, was a little disturbing.
But, honestly, this wasn't the time to worry about the blonde woman's telepathy. She could ask that later. Right now, all that mattered was the situation at hand, and her plan was perfectly sensible. There was no reason to fight on his terms if they could avoid it. Not wanting to respond verbally, but unable to reply mentally, Rider simply nodded to affirm her acceptance of the woman's plan.
In the distance, she saw the shooter leap from the top of the building he had been positioned on and begin walking in their direction. Clearly, the plan had worked, although she was unsure of his intentions. Whilst he appeared to be ready for battle, he wasn't approaching in an aggressive manner. Surely he didn't intend to negotiate after just trying to murder the girl....
What the...?
Suddenly, Rider noticed a spike of prana eminiating from the girl, who had risen to her feet whilst Rider's attention was elsewhere. Then, suddenly, the girl manifested a shield around her body for a brief moment, before it again collapsed.
So, she really is a magus. Although, apparently, not a particularly well-trained one.
The more Rider saw of this girl, the more intrigued she became. She clearly wasn't particularly competent, given the difficulty she was having maintaining the shield. But, at the same time, Rider could see determination in the girl's eyes. Clearly she had had enough of being a helpless victim, and had decided to find a way to defend herself.
I really like this girl....
Looking at the girl, Rider couldn't help but imagine what she'd be like in bed or, better, chained up, naked and helpless before her new "master". Rider had no desire to harm the girl, she had too much respect for her determination for that, but she certainly would enjoy seducing her, dominating her and then making her beg for release.
No, this isn't th...
Suddenly, Rider's thought process was interrupted by a loud explosion in the distance.
What the hell? This place is even more dangerous than I thought.
The explosion focussed her mind on the situation at hand. Kiyoshi was simply not safe alone in this town. The hotel he was staying in could be attacked at any time and, without Rider there to help defend it, it would likely be a massacre. Plus, the explosion would certainly have awoken him if the previous events had not. And, given his nature, she knew he would be unlikely to just remain in bed when she found that he was missing.
At this point, Rider felt that her only option was to return to the hotel, to reassure Kiyoshi and ensure he was safely in bed. As much as she would like to remain friendly with these people, Kiyoshi's safety was her immediate priority. The blonde woman could surely deal with the shooter herself. And, if not, then she would simply be another person who needed to be sacrificed to ensure Sakura's happiness. But, as she turned to leave, she heard the faint sound of someone speaking on the rooftop above her, followed by a much louder and clearer statement.
"Ain't gonna fight, huh?"
What?
Then, she heard the sound of someone jumping from the roof, seemingly aiming straight at her. Clearly whoever had been watching them had got bored of the lack of action and decided to intervene.
Oh for fuck's sake, not another psychopath, Rider thought, angrily.
Her day had just gone from bad to worse, and Kiyoshi was still alone in the hotel room. Reacting quickly, Rider jumped backwards, just in time to see her would-be assailant land directly in front of her, his sword shattering the ground where it hit. Rider couldn't help but notice how attractive he was, and licked her lips at the thought of what she might do to him later. Then, whilst he was recovering from the blow, she threw her nails, grinning evilly. One was aimed at his right elbow, the other at his left thigh. Neither were intended to be fatal, but rather to incapacitate the bastard so she could do with him as she wished.
She wasn't going to kill this guy quickly, he'd pissed her off too much for that and, besides, he was too attractive to waste. No, he was going to suffer. Plus, she was horny and she needed prana. A hot guy who she could torture to her heart's content without feeling any remorse was the perfect resolution for both of those issues. After all, he was the one who had attacked her for no reason, why should she feel bad about it?
-
Lancer stared for a moment at Archer, simply stared with unblinking crimson eyes. Then he lightly poked the Servant's chest with the blunt end of Gae Bolg. "Yeah, you're real," the Celt said with frown as he leaned forward and sniffed Archer.
"You smell like him too," Lancer said with a tilt of his head, "Men shouldn't smell like tea and cleaning products."
Lancer scowled and said, "But you're not acting like the Bowman I know."
He heard an explosion across the city, shook his head, and said, "Oy, this is going to put Fore in an even fouler mood." He sighed, shook his head, pointed to the direction that both of them had been heading and said, "Knowing my new landlady, she's probably in the thick of it with your Master, so our interests coincide. For now."
Then he smirked and said, "Oh, and don't slow me down, you arse." And the former Servant took off at a dead run.
******
Forest smirked slightly as the young woman summoned magic to form a shield around herself. Good, you gotta take up for yourself, Forest thought to the girl right before the poor thing's shield started to falter. The vampire winched at the girl's hard work going down the drain, but there was hope, and the shield hadn't gone down yet either. With a little training, that magical power could be formidable.
Just Forest knew nothing of training someone in the mystic arts; sure she could teach the girl how to kill someone with her pinky, but that wouldn't work in the current situation that she was in. She steeled herself to deal with the shooter and was surprised at the young man who was approaching. Tall for an Asian, white hair, and dressed in a trench coat made to hide weapons. His eyes seem sad, she thought to herself as she got a better look at him as he approached.
Broad shouldered and carrying himself like he obviously knew how to fight, Forest reasoned that he was actually quite attractive. Then I sort of have a yen for Asians, don't I, she thought, remembering the dearly departed Bruce Lee. As he approached, she moved forward as well, holding out her hands to show she wasn't going to attack him.
She called out, "I'm Law Unto Herself, but if things go well, you can call me Forest. So, tell me why you're going all Punisher on a rooftop in my town?"
And then Rider was attacked by a wildly attractive man, but Rider seemed to have a handle on it. Maybe too good of a handle, she thought with a sigh. The guy had attacked Rider because he was bored, which meant he was probably a crazy person she was going to have to deal with.
"Bloody hell," she groused to herself at the clusterfuck around her.
-
Taiga appeared suddenly in the hallway of a hotel her wheel chair clattering loudly. After a few moments Taiga righted herself and straightened out her soft white dress as best she could.
"Big brother, mama and papa aren't here" she muttered staring at the world in her odd way, Taiga was blind in the traditional sense but her magic made her see auras of colour giving her a sort of Radar sense as compensation for her otherwise crippled form. Tracking the auras she found the first one close to her and knocked on the door of the room, the aura was small and therefore not likely a danger.
Satoshi smiled finishing a cookie as he tracked the disturbance of mana To a group of people two of which he recognized immediately as Rider and a version of shirou his father. He took a seat on the roof top and chuckled "this will be interesting" he remarked thumb drawing across the rider belt.
-
And yet this was still not as bad as Tunisia...
Shirou stared dumbfounded into the alleyway, mouth slightly open as his answer died in his throat; eyebrows twitching rapidly as he tried to make sense of the situation in a reasonable and straightforward manner. It was serving only to give him a giant headache.
A clusterfuck. There. Nice, simple, gets to the point.
What had originally been a confrontation between a prana-hungry Servant and a possibly blood-thirsty vampire over a seemingly ordinary brown haired schoolgirl, had somehow turned into an insane five way confrontation between a prana-hungry servant who may or may not be Rider, the servant of...Sakura; an ancient, mind-reading vampire with unknown powers; the ordinary school-girl who had literally just pushed the Servant away with a prana barrier of unknown design; and now he had of all people, one of his mercenary nemesis in the situation: the demonic bloodthirsty mercenary Touzaki Shuya, attacking Rider for reasons which Shirou highly suspected were no more complicated than that he was bored.
And this was happening in an alleyway practically next to a major civilian area.
For a second, Shirou was tempted to leave. He really was. But, he wasn't known as the second Magus Killer because he ran away whenever things became complicated, and ignored an opportunity like this.
He steadied his nerves. If someone close to him had seen him, they would have been shocked at the change from his usual friendly, if a little depressed, self; into an ice-cold killer, his eyes seemingly changing colour as if to reflect his transition into his Mind of Steel.
Number of Targets: 3 humanoids, two female, one male. One was the purple-haired Servant, Rider, formerly the Servant of Sakura, now possibly reduced to surviving by stealing prana from innocent people. Abilities will be hampered by this lack of prana, she'll be unable to access her Noble Phantasm.
The male was Touzaki Shuya. Mixed Blood Demon. Blood-thirsty and wild. A skilled mercenary highly capable in the fields of swordplay, greatly enhanced by his demonic nature. Has not inverted yet based on hair colour, must take down before that happens.
Final female is a blond vampire. Abilities mostly unknown, except for the ability to read minds. A wild card
Number of bystands: numerous. The brown haired girl is still within the barrier, but judging by its state, is very close to running out of mana, and thus will be suffering from prana exhaustion. This may need to be treated if she survives. The targets are near a major intersection, there will likely be unavoidable casualties.
Shirou slowly pulled back the 'gun hammer' within his head, and quickly felt the familiar burn in his bodies as his 27 magic circuits channeled his od. In his mind's eye, the gears of Unlimited Blade Works turned slowly.
Judging the concept of creation
Hypothesizing the basic structure
Duplicating the composition material
Imitating the skill of its making
Sympathizing with the experience of its growth
Reproducing the accumulated years
Excelling every manufacturing process
He mentally recited the old formula, eyes closed. Behind him, a number of swords began solidifying into existence, growing golden as the desired features of the swords they imitated were burned into them. They would be completed with one simple phrase, one which defined his very existence.
"I am the bone of my sword"
He reopened his eyes and crossed his arms, in a pose highly reminiscent of Gilgamesh.
Plan: Intimidation. At the very least, he would force this fight elsewhere.
"If this fails?" Tohsaka, Saber, and Sakura's voices echoed within his head, all melded into one.
Eliminate all targets in one decisive sweep
-
Shuya couldn't help but grin slightly. Purplehead had very good reflexes. Not only did she avoid his attack faster than expected but, she also counter-attacked with excellent timing. Yet, he was disappointed by it. As naturally as it came to his mind, a fluid move of his sword repelled both projectiles, the two nails digging in ground at Rider's feet. He had done so as if the katana didn't get stuck in the ground previously. With an annoyed expression he pointed his blade towards his target.
"Your greetings lacks both power and class." He said, as if either of these mattered.
His eyes focused on the woman, he couldn't help but feel her excitement. She looked like a predator, not a prey, and Shuya let out a joyous laugh.
"In the mood to play I see, why don't you toss that garbage over there and come at me?" He taunted, clearly talking about the teenager as if she was nothing more than trash. Then his attention turned to blondie and his "boyfriend", his murderous intent filtering in his tone. "Feel free to join but don't even try something funny." There is no mistaking, he will go after you without a second thought were you to get in the way. His attention returning to his designated opponent he smiled widely.
The next instant, he was in Rider's range, his right arm cutting horizontally in order to split her in equal two pieces.
----
Uuoruuocon was lost. It was not something so unusual for the familiar, yet, this time, there was a reason. In past days, he had run into strange people and creatures. Some were hostile, some wary but most of them seemed not oblivious to the child-looking figure. As far as he could tell, this place was different from the others he visited during his long life.
The day had started peacefully though. He even met a cat. Ruu followed the animal until he lost sight of it when he heard a powerful noise coming from far away. When he looked back, the kitty had disappeared. That's when he began to search for it, looking everywhere, including under a taxi full of people he was still carrying with his tiny fists above his head as he made his way on the street. How troubling, he had expected the feline pet to lead him to the place with beds and showers. He clearly needed to clean himself after days wandering across the place.
Without even paying attention to crying coming from inside the vehicle he brought with him, he turned towards two men. One had barely started running but Ruu followed without a care in the word. He had blue hairs and had a smell reminiscent of a beast. The familiar was close to nature so normally, the man should help him. Or so he thought.
Running as fast as the Servant, he called as he reached his level. "Hi mister wolf, did you see a black kitty?" The sight was extraordinary, a child able to run on par with Lancer, but more importantly, he was holding a car with people screaming to anyone to save them from this demon.
His round eyes full of hope, Ruu waited for an answer.
-
Archer's earnesty seemed to catch the Irishman entirely off guard. While still somewhat on edge, Archer saw a glimmer of hope in the Demigod's reaction. Then to Archer's own surprise, Lancer flipped around Gae Bolg so the blunt end was facing him and... lightly poked him with it, seemingly perplexed.
"Yeah, you're real," said Lancer with a confused frown. He leaned forward and gave Archer a good sniff. This made Archer feel a bit... awkward, and so the bowman took a bit of a step backwards as Lancer continued speaking. "You smell like him too. Men shouldn't smell like tea and cleaning products."
Archer shrugged at that, his reply tinged with a dose of self mockery. "I'm not most men. But then, you could say I'm so much of a man that I'm not phased by such things."
But the Celt continued on, ignoring the reponse, still scowling. "But you're not acting like the Bowman I know."
Archer stood there in silence. What Lancer had said about leaving girls to be raped... There was no doubt, the copy of EMIYA that this Lancer had encountered had done exactly that. The thought embittered him further, though he suspected that he wouldn't have done something that questionable without purpose.
Still... while Archer was not afraid to admit in the slightest that he'd done some terrible things for the sake of Justice, he couldn't help but suspect he had gone even farther than usual to have Lancer view him with such ill regard. If Lancer saw fit to see the Archer he had encountered as a different person, so be it.
With a bit of a smirk, Archer at last responded. "Then perhaps you don't know me as well as you think. Or maybe..." Steel grey met with blood red as the bowman looked up. "I'm not the Bowman you met after all."
But the moment was cut short as the sound of an enormous explosion rang through the air. Archer's heart leapt into his throat, but only for an instant, as it didn't' take him long to realize that it was a good ways away from the direction he was heading. Still, I can imagine I'll have to investigate eventually. Probably a good number of casualties, and there's always a chance there'll be another one, which isn't good for anyone. Normally he would have gone straight for the source of the explosion. But not even his most natural of instincts could override his loyalty to his current Master.
Even at the price of breaking the Moon Cell's cardinal rule for Servants and risking punishment, Archer had privately decided to put his Master's well being over that of the Moon Cell itself. It had ate at him, and he knew that he'd have to tell Hakuno some time should they ever return to normal Moon Cell, but it did not change how he felt. This situation was no different. Explosion or no explosion, as far as Archer was concerned, Hakuno's safety was the number one priority.
Lancer had heard the explosion as well. The Demigod shook his head with exasperation. "Oy, this is going to put Fore in an even fouler mood." With a sigh, the Celt pointed towards Hakuno's current location. "Knowing my new landlady, she's probably in the thick of it with your Master, so our interests coincide. For now."
Archer couldn't help but feel a bit of relief. Something resembling a genuine smile crept on the Blacksmith Hero's lips as he gave his temporary ally a firm nod. Archer was about to take off, but got cut off as Lancer addressed him one last time with a smirk. "Oh, and don't slow me down, you arse."
As Lancer took off at full speed, the smile that'd been forming on Archer's lips turned into a smirk. He took after the figure in blue, and gave his reply just before he began to run at full speed. "Not a problem, just try not to get in my way if we encounter any fighting." Archer followed the blue blur, as closely as possible, hoping now that there would be nothing else interrupting his attempts to reach Hakuno.
***
Hakuno desperately attempted to keep her shield intact, her full concentration going into trying to keep it from dying amongst the chaos. But as the explosion rang through the air, her concentration was disrupted, and the shield vanished in an instant. From what she could tell, it was a long ways off, but still... the more time Hakuno spent here, the less she liked this place.
Frustrated that her shield was gone, Hakuno turned to try and get a look at the shooter from before. Hakuno's eyes widened. This young man... no, no, he couldn't be. Resemblance or not resemblance, there was no way this was Archer's younger self. For one thing, it just wasn't possible. For another... from everything she knew about Archer, even if he hadn't of known her, there was no way he would have shot at her like he did. No way, no how! Still, minus the skin color, height, and age, there was a good amount of resemblance...
Maybe I should ask Archer later if he has a brother. Because how else do you explain this?
Hakuno's thoughts were interrupted however by the voice of the blonde woman, who called out to the strangely familiar figure. "I'm Law Unto Herself, but if things go well, you can call me Forest. So, tell me why you're going all Punisher on a rooftop in my town?"
Hakuno felt like some sort of reference just flew over her head. Still, at least now the blonde woman had a name. Forest, huh? That's a pretty name.
Then things got worse. She heard a voice, and then saw a man with a katana try to attack Rider. Rider jumped backwards to evade the attack, and the blow caused the concrete to fragment and shatter as it landed, forcing Hakuno to dodge to avoid being hit by the pieces. Hakuno managed to get a look at Rider's face- she was licking her lips and all and all looked just a tad bit frightening.
Hakuno gulped. Rider had saved her life, but the girl couldn't help but still find the purple haired Servant kinda scary. Still, Hakuno was quite grateful, and decided to reserve her judgements some until the conflict was over.
But as an evil grin popped up on Rider's face and she threw a number of sharp, pointy projectiles at the strange new man, Hakuno decided that it was somewhat reasonable to be scared of her. Still, she had saved Hakuno's life, and so she still hoped that the somewhat sadistic Servant made it out alright.
Just as Hakuno thought things couldn't get any worse, however, her attention was forced back to the shooter as he began to utter an all too familiar chant. Hakuno looked at him in horror. Her brother hypothesis shot out of the water, Hakuno looked on at the figure that she now had the sinking feeling was indeed Archer's younger self. Still... It was strange, but, while he looked like a younger Archer, he didn't feel like a younger Archer. Something seemed more extreme in this young man than what she had gotten from Archer, and so Hakuno clung to the small hope that there was another explanation for who this person was.
Regardless of the explanation, it didn't change the danger that the chant could entail to everyone there. Hakuno shouted a warning, pointing towards the not-Archer; "I know that chant! Rider, Forest, he's about to use a Noble Phantasm! You have to stop him!"
Now would be a good time to get that shield back up... Hakuno did a quick glance over of everyone she could try and shield. Finally, she concluded that the best person to shield was herself again- she was the weakest one there, and that meant that Forest or Rider might risk their lives trying to protect her again. The more they could focus on what was going on and not on her, the better. With more determination now than ever before, Hakuno began to concentrate, attempting to resurrect the fallen shield. To her delight, the shield reappeared, and was stronger and more stable than ever.
In spite of her success though, Hakuno felt herself getting tired. But at this point, she had to hold out as long as she could. Hakuno threw her full concentration into the shield, hoping that this whole mess would end soon.
---
Serene and yet surreal was the feeling that permeated the Moors this night, a fog creeping over the grass and rocks as a lone figure quietly crept on through the night. The girl moved carefully, her eyes scanning the area frequently, her demeanor somewhat anxious. But she was close. Very close. So close that she could feel it.
Despite the seeming lack of human activity, the girl knew that the Association had placed various means to keep people from reaching this particular area, and had set up a few magi to keep an eye on things as well, but so far she'd successfully been able to evade all of it. Nothing would stop her from achieving tonight's goal.
At last, her eyes fell upon her destination, the sight of it filling her with both fear and excitement. The portal was difficult to see with the naked eye, but she could feel the disruption it caused as mana ebbed and flowed from it. The young magus took a deep breath. This was her chance to prove herself to the Association. It was quite possible that this could be a one way trip, or that she could die. But at this point, she was so desperate to try and show her potential as a Magus that she felt that it outweighed the risks. With some trepidation, she snuck up to the portal.
Carefully, she placed her hand through the disturbance. Her hand was unharmed, and she could feel air on the other side. The girl sighed with relief. Steeling herself for the trip, the girl went through the rest of the way, not knowing what awaited her beyond.
***The Next Day, At the Clock Tower***
The dimly lit office both seemed welcoming and intimidating at the same time. While she was quite excited for this little meeting, Rin couldn't help but be slightly nervous as well. This seemed important. Keeping herself tall and straight while still trying to hide her feelings under a mask of calm, she looked on at the older man who stood before her, the expression that his stern features conveyed somewhat grim. "Miss Tohsaka, I believe that you were briefed momentarily before you got here?"
Rin nodded. "Not extensively, but I was told it had to do with the dimensional rift that appeared in Dartmoor. Is this true?"
The man, none other than one Lord El-Melloi II, nodded in confirmation. "That is correct." He looked firmly into Rin's eyes. "While your master Zelrech thought that you were capable of carrying out this mission, it's also highly probable that you may be killed. Furthermore, you will not be able to return here easily if you need assistance. As of now, you will have no backup. Are you still interested in taking this assignment?"
From the way he spoke, Rin could tell that whatever this mission was involved going into the portal itself. Still, as risky as this mission was, she knew that it would not be assigned to her if the Association did not think she could handle it. Plus it was her chance to show her skills. Confident, Rin nodded.
Satisfied, Lord El-Melloi picked up a folder from his desk, and held it out for Rin to grab. She took the folder, and as she opened it to glance at it's contents, she saw that among the various documents was a photo of a girl.
"Do you recognize this girl, Miss Tohsaka?"
Rin looked closely at the photo. "A little bit. I've seen her around campus a few times I think." She looked back up at the elder magus. "Still, I don't really know much about her, to be honest."
Lord El-Melloi nodded once again. "Her name is Milletia Garrison. She went through the rift without authorization last night." He gently began to rub his forehead, seeming a bit exasperated. "While your master Zelretch himself has confirmed that the rift should not cause too much damage at this point, the fact that someone has gone through without supervision or authorization is problematic. Still, it confirmed that the portal is safe to traverse, if nothing else."
El-Melloi pointed back at the folder. "Your mission is to go back and retrieve her. While you are there, you are also to explore the region and, upon your return, report as much as you can back to us as to what you saw. Are you willing to accept?"
Rin desperately tried not to smile, as she was now brimming with excitement. This was a huge deal. A mission this big could only mean great things for her in terms of her career as a magus in the future. Calmly as she could, she gave her answer. "I accept."
"Then there's one last thing that I need to impart to you before I let you go to start preparing." Lord El-Melloi pulled something from behind his desk. It was some sort of wand.
"Even with your level of talent, Miss Tohsaka, you will not be able to do this without help. Therefore, Master Zelrech instructed me to give this to you."
Rin took the wand from him. Looking down at it, the rubys imbedded into the circle at the top of the staff almost seemed like eyes... She looked back up at him quizzically. "What kind of wand is this?"
"It's a Kaleido stick. It will grant you access to infinite prana and enhance your abilities significantly. With this, you should be able to fulfill your mission with minimal problems. Now then, are there any additional questions?"
Rin shook her head. "I believe I know everything I need to." And with that, Rin was dismissed.
Rin was bubbling with excitement, though she would definitely have to prepare thoroughly and take care of any loose ends before she left. She felt a bit guilty for leaving Emiya-kun, Sakura, and the others behind for what was likely to be a long period of time, but an opportunity like this just didn't come by very often, so she needed to take advantage of it while she still could. She'd call them and explain what was going on, make any final arrangements, and then get going. But still, Rin was sure that everything would turn out just great. She'd grown as a magus, the Association had given their confidence in her, and besides, what's the worst that could happen?
***A good amount of time later, in the City.... ***
Rin mentally told herself to avoid asking herself "what's the worst that could happen?" ever again. She flew through the sprawling metropolis, on the other side of the portal, looking near and far for a good place to start searching for the missing Garrison girl. But that wasn't the problem. Oh no. The problem was Ruby. Turned out that the stupid stick was sentient. And from what she could tell, it fed off of her misery.
"Oh come on Rin, why such a grumpy, face? This is every girl's dream~ ♥ A magical girl is all smiles!~"
One day I'll find a way to destroy you, you stupid stick. Rin glared directly into Ruby's ruby eyes and started yelling at her. "Why wouldn't I be?! Thanks to you trying to show off, I nearly lost all my supplies!" Rin looked pensively at the beat up backpack. "Magical girl or not, I kind of need these things, you know?"
"But a magical girl should be good at improvisation~ Besides, a big part of being a proper magical girl is presentation~ ♥"
Rin glowered at the wand, continuing further as she talked. "Well maybe I don't care about being a magical girl, you ever think about that?! I just want to get this mission done and do it right, plain and simple!"
Rin was surprised as the wand turned to look at her again. For some reason, Rin had to suppress a shudder. "So then, I take it you don't want to be a magical girl?"
"Beyond completing the mission? No! I've never felt more embarassed in all my life!"
"Then I suppose you won't be needing me then~ ♥ ♥ ♥" Ruby forced herself out of Rin's grasp, the staff her head was attached to and her wings wiggling about.
"Have a nice fall~ ♥"
Rin realized in horror that she was no longer in the ridiculous looking magical girl outfit. It also meant that she could no longer fly.
"W-wait, what are you do-" but Rins question was cut off by her suddenly plummeting through the air, hanging on to her bag of possessions for dear life. She started to scream as she fell, not wanting something humiliating like this to be the cause of her demise. Looking below, she spotted a pair of familiar figures running across the rooftops. Lancer? A-archer?! What are they doing here?!
Rin squinted just a bit to get a better look at Archer. Despite her current dire sitation, Rin couldn't help but snicker a bit. And what's up with that outfit? Still, it meant there was hope, as one of them could maybe catch her. Now to just get their attention....
"Would one of you idiots catch me already?!"
Below, Archer heard Rin's loud shout. Startled at the familiar voice, he slowed down and looked up. He saw her falling, and reacting in an instant, he went back and prepared himself to jump. Quickly, he put the right amount of strength into his legs, pulling her into his arms and landing hard on top of a building. He didn't stop to check and see if Lancer had noticed, as either he'd continue ahead, or he would have stopped and stayed close by.
Rin was more than happy to see her old Servant, in more ways than one. She couldn't help but smile as she looked up at him, still held in his arms. "And here I thought I'd never see you again. You don't know how happy I am to have this little meeting with you, believe me."
Archer smiled right back, secretly quite happy to be reunited with her as well. "Nor did I. Still, I can't say I'm not entirely pleased with this little meeting of ours myself."
Rin nodded. "Oh, by the way...." A mischievous grin crossed Rin's face. "What's with the jacket and collar? Your new master got you on a tight leash?"
Archer's cheeks flushed slightly, embarrassed as he placed his former Master on the ground. "And I imagine there's quite the story to tell behind that little fall of yours. Must be embarrassing."
Rin lowered her eyes and voice. "It's a long story..." Rin attempted to distract herself by taking a thorough glance at Archer's new outfit. Certain details stuck out to her now, particularly his exposed abs.... Rin's cheeks went ablaze. "A-anyway, get a shirt on or something sometime would you? That outfit's embarrassing!"
Archer couldn't help a small smirk at that. At least this outfit has a few redeeming qualities, he thought to himself.
Thinking back to the mission at hand, his expression became more serious. "Anyway, if you want to come with me, you have to tell me now. I can't stay here much longer."
"You did seem in an awful hurry... What's going on, anyway?"
The bowman's eyes narrowed a bit. "It's my current master. She's in danger."
"Then let's go. May as well, because I need to get that stupid stick back before I carry out my mission proper anyway."
Archer made to ask what she meant about the "stupid stick", but the look in Rin's eyes stopped him. Mentally making a note to himself to ask later, he readied himself to take her into his arms. "Shall we go then?"
-
It took Sephiroth a few minutes to get to the source of the explosion, and when he did, it looked as if either Bahamut or Neo Bahamut took their flare abilities to the logical conclusion and turned it up to eleven. In his personal opinion, he felt it was on par with a ramped up Giga Flare, if not the Omega Flare that Bahamut Zero uses (though not nearly as powerful as a regular Omega Flare).
He was just fortunate that his apartment was undamaged in light of all this.
Bringing himself to look around for any clues as to why this place would be targeted, he began to walk around the crater, hoping that the remains of the neighborhood would be more than enough to help him pinpoint what he needed to know--
"Who the hell are you?! One of the Enforcers?!"
Sephiroth turned his attention to his left and saw someone that honestly made him confused. This person stood at 6' even, had spiky black hair that reminded him slightly of Zack Fair, Cobalt Blue eyes, a black business suit with a grey shirt underneath and a bright red tie, and he carried a sword that reminded Sephiroth of Zack's personal weapon. The fact was that this person, while he had white skin, had labelled him as one of these 'Enforcers' that Sephiroth had no idea who they were.
Before Sephiroth could get a chance to reply, the man continued, "Well, it's not like you'll be leaving this part of town alive, anyway! I, Gatou Nonji, will see to it myself!!" With that, Gatou flung himself at Sephiroth at such a high speed that only a true master of fighting could catch it, and even then only barely in most cases.
Sephiroth quickly drew the Masamune to deflect the attacks that were bound to come, but it would appear it wasn't quick enough, as Gatou was well within striking range for his fists by the time Sephiroth drew the Masamune from its scabbard. A fist soon found its way to Sephiroth's gut, causing him to double over in pain, followed by a round-house kick to the head that sent him flying a few feet backwards.
Sephiroth almost dropped the Masamune from the impacts that he had to deal with, but he eventually stood up, keeping himself healed with a potion that he had on hand. The potion worked its magic on him, and it also had the unknown effect of improving his ability to catch super high speeds, which was really useful as he saw Gatou Nonji move at a more reasonable pace for him to follow with his eyes.
Sephiroth swung his sword in the general direction of where he saw Gatou was headed for, though his swing was too slow for the mysterious opponent, as the man merely sidestepped the swing and did a scissor kick to Sephiroth's face. This time, though, Sephiroth dodged and immediately called upon a spell of Fire 3 to hit his foe.
Third time's the charm, as they say, because Gatou fell in excruciating pain upon being hit by an area-effect spell. Before either of the two could do anything else....
"This is the Enforcers! Gatou Nonji, come out with your hands up, you are under arrest for terrorism!"
-
"Woooooah, fiery, fiery!!" Exclaimed a young girl standing next to Sephiroth. It seemed she did appear out of nowhere to you but it may simply have to do with you being too busy fighting the Zack look-a-like to notice. As she looked with an amused expression the man rolling over the ground in an attempt to extinguish the remnants flames, you can throw her a side glance.
She looks young, a teenager as it seems. Wearing a thin black top, white jeans and a pair of white sneakers. She addresses Sephiroth a genuine smile and you can see her purples eyes meeting yours. She doesn't seem to care in the slightest that you wear an extremely long sword nor that you did cast a fire spell in the middle of the place.
"You know any of these guys, sir?" She asked on a curious tone while pointing her left thumb towards the general direction of the "Enforcers" as they called themselves. "Because they surely don't look like the Enforcers I know."
----
The situation quickly build up in a difficult status. On a side, Forest and Shirou facing each other. Both were reluctant to fight, yet none would back down from their respective positions. On the other one, Rider and Shuya wouldn't stop either. The Servant needed the prana and the Mixed Blood want a good battle. In the middle of this Hakuno was shielding herself both physically and mentally.
The whole situation was a huge mess and if things weren't stopped soon, civilians would be involved. In fact, some were already turning their attention towards Shirou and Forest. That's when out of nowhere a calm voice spoke.
"Maybe you should stop there, Emiya Shirou." Said the teenager showing up. In casual wear clothes, a girl, younger than anyone involved here, walked to face the magus killer, placing herself deliberately between Forest and the man. Her blue eyes were burning with a serious look, yet her tone was still lower than before. "I don't know what's going on here, but do you really plan to use Noble Phantasms in an area full of people ?"
If you do, I'll have no choice but to intervene. She didn't add it, just barely, certain the intention was clear enough.
For a second, she looked a bit scared, just like a normal girl her age would by meeting the gaze of a professional assassin.
Of course she knew him. Whoever was involved with the Association would. His reputation spoke for him, he had killed countless magi among others, for now years. The Second Magus Killer, a freelancer only bound by his own sense of justice. If she had to face him now, she would lose without a doubt. Even if Vanessa was there, Isabella doubted she could match such a dangerous magus.
She was mainly worried about the girl generating a protection around herself, but Isabella doubted it could last for a while. The adolescent girl looked at Forest with a with pleading eyes. "Look, could you put away your issue here and cooperate in order to help the girl? Because, in case you two didn't notice, she's stuck in the middle of a battle between what looks like two psychopaths clearly aroused by their murderous lust." She then turned again towards Shirou. "Please, isn't it justice to help others?"
-
Rider silently cursed as her opponent easily deflected her attacks, knocking the nails back in her direction.
Damn, he's stronger than I'd hoped.
"Your greetings lacks both power and class", the man said, mockingly, as he pointed his blade at her.
Rider retrieved her nails from the ground and tensed herself, preparing for his next attack. Meanwhile, she looked over at the sniper, and the blonde who was approaching him, clearly desiring to avoid conflict if possible. Now that she could look at him closely, he looked suspiciously like a younger, white-haired Shirou.
No, it can't be, Shirou would never willingly kill an innocent, not even to protect Sakura, Rider thought.
Then, she heard the blonde speak, in her usual abrupt manner.
"I'm Law Unto Herself, but if things go well, you can call me Forest. So, tell me why you're going all Punisher on a rooftop in my town?"
Clearly she was quite annoyed with the man for what he'd done, and unsurprisingly so. Still, she seemed to have come to the conclusion that he was some sort of anti-hero, who killed without much hesitation. And, based on his actions, she was inclined to agree. He certainly seemed like someone who weighed up lives coldly and dispassionately, killing anyone in the way of his goal. As someone whose very nature meant she would always be on the wrong end of such people, she despised them and their holier-than-thou attitude. Doubly so since she knew Sakura would have never been given a chance at life had Shirou not shown the compassion and kindness to protect her and save her even from herself.
Still, whilst she hated people like that in general, in this situation it could work to their advantage. If Forest could persuade him that the real threat to all involved was the nutjob now attacking her, then she would be able to get out of this situation without wasting too much of her precious prana reserves and, hopefully, without any of her potential allies being harmed.
Abruptly, Rider's thoughts were brought back to the more immediate problem of her attacker, as he gave a disturbingly joyous laugh, and then taunted her once more.
"In the mood to play I see, why don't you toss that garbage over there and come at me?" he said, clearly referring to the schoolgirl standing somewhere behind her, still struggling to re-create her shield. Rider glared at him as he said that, and replied angrily.
"I'd much rather 'play' with a nice girl like her than a psychopathic asshole like you. After I defeat you, I'm going to take back all the prana I'm wasting on you with interest. Slowly and painfully.
You're going to regret ever crossing us by the time I'm done."
She was rather impressed with strength of the girl behind her, and the dismissive attitude and aggressiveness of this jerk had really upset her. She had far more respect for kind but strong girls like her master and the girl standing behind her still wrestling with her new-found magic than jerkass blood knights like this moron, who think the world is all about fighting and killing. Rider didn't mind fighting when she had to, and indeed she enjoyed the occasional sparring match, but she only ever saw it as a means to an end, not an end in itself. Despite what this moron seemed to think, she would be quite happy to skip the annoying fight and get straight to the "agonising torture" part. That was her idea of fun....
Rider saw her opponent turn and address Forest and the sniper.
"Feel free to join but don't even try something funny."
Hearing that, Rider's opinion of the man fell even further. Not only was he a psychopath, but he was a psychopath with a misguided belief that there was a "right" way to fight. Only idiots restrict theirselves in a fight to the death, and only assholes expect others to do so. But, still, this battle would provide a good opportunity to teach him otherwise, and after she had subdued him she would demonstrate the consequences of such a belief in the most excruitiating manner possible. Plus, assholes like him tended to get angry when people didn't fight their way, and that only served to benefit her.
She considered her strategy for a moment. How best could she use her abilities to defeat this jerk? But, any conclusions she might have come to were blown out of the water when she heard the sniper utter a very familiar phrase.
"I am the bone of my sword"
Oh shit,it is Shirou, she thought as multiple swords appeared in the air behind him.
Hearing the chant changed things totally. She wasn't sure exactly how strong this version of Shirou was, but she did know that if he summoned his Reality Marble she would be trapped inside, with no means of escape barring killing him, waiting for his prana to run low or persuading him to release her. Plus, fighting on an open plain like Shirou's Reality Marble was not exactly suited to her style.
Rider considered her options. She could run away, but she couldn't risk the possibility of this man following her straight to Kiyoshi, and she very much doubted he would leave her alone. Plus, she had grown rather fond of the schoolgirl behind her, and if she fled she had no doubt that this man would kill her, probably unpleasantly. So, really, she simply had to stay and fight. But, how?
The biggest unanswered question was whose side Shirou was on, if any, and whether she should warn Forest and, more importantly, her opponent, of his intentions. If he was supporting her, as the Shirou she knew undoubtedly would, then she saw no reason to prevent him summoning the Reality Marble. There was simply no way that her opponent could handle Rider and a volley of flying swords. But, his prior actions made it abundently clear that he was not the Shirou she knew. Something bad had happened to this Shirou, and he was clearly a lot more cynical, to the point of attempting to commit cold-blooded murder on an innocent girl. And, honestly, her actions so far had been such that even the Shirou she knew would have doubts about her intentions. There was simply no way she could trust him.
Considering her situation, Rider wondered if the best strategy was to avoid the fight altogther. Not running away, but simply evading every attack before it came. After all, Rider's strong point was her agility and, further, people like this asshole tended to get upset at opponents who denied them a good fight. He might get angry and make a mistake or, better still, just give up and leave her alone.
Whilst she would dearly love to kill this man for all that he'd done, this wasn't a good situation to attempt to do so. Plus, it would demonstrate to Shirou who the good guy here was. And, right now, getting Shirou's support would make the difference between a one-on-one fight between her and this jerk and a three-on-one dogpile. The worry, though, was that if she did that he would use the schoolgirl as a hostage, which Rider would rather avoid if possible.
Further, she was unsure of whether to warn Forest or not. Doing so would be safer in the long run, but it would also indicate a lack of trust in Shirou, which might count against her. Plus, it would also give him more information about her than she'd like. But, before she had the chance to decide, the decision was, unexpectedly, made for her.
"I know that chant! Rider, Forest, he's about to use a Noble Phantasm! You have to stop him!"
Eh? How could she know that?
Rider did not recognise this girl at all. How could she know of Shirou?
Wait, hang on, didn't she call for Archer? And, she referred to it as a Noble Phantasm....
Suddenly, the pieces all fell into place in her mind. She was a master of an Archer-class servant, and she had called Shirou's reality marble a "Noble Phantasm". The only way that could be the case is if she had somehow summoned a version of Shirou as her servant, just like Rin had in her war.
I wish Rin were here, she'd love to have a chance to see him again.
Still, whilst the new information about the girl's servant was interesting and somewhat reassuring, it wasn't immediately useful, other than perhaps to inform her of the nature of the backup that would hopefully soon arrive. She saw the girl look around at everyone, before rather impressively re-instating her magic barrier, correctly determining that the best person she could protect right now was herself. Seeing the girl raise her barrier gave Rider the confidence to enact her earlier plan. If the asshole did try to attack her right now, he would have to hack through the magic barrier, which would give Rider time to take him down.
Plus, now that the danger of Shirou's Reality Marble had been so openly expressed, Rider could perhaps turn the psychopath's attention elsewhere....
Rider saw the man turned and smile at her, before jumping at her and slashing the location where she had been standing. However, Rider was much too quick for him and, by the time he got to her, Rider had jumped up, landing on a ledge. She looked down at her opponent and smirked, before addressing him.
"Look, whoever you are, if you let him finish that chant then we're all doomed."
In reality, Rider knew this was not entirely true. Whilst the summoning of Shirou's Reality Marble would make things awkward for them, she was fairly sure she could still defeat him even inside his Reality Marble, particularly with Forest's help. After all, he was ultimately just a normal person, and she was a heroic spirit. Plus, if necessary, she could use her mystic eyes.
But, he didn't know that and, besides, she doing so would be a waste of prana she could ill-afford right now. Currently she still had a reasonable amount in reserve, since Sakura usually kept her tank pretty much full at all times, but a serious battle would put a significant dent in those reserves. That would mean that, until she could top herself up, she would be much less able to protect Kiyoshi. Further, whilst she was fairly sure Shirou could survive her mystic eyes, she didn't know if either Forest or the girl would be affected by them, and she would rather not kill either of them.
She stood on the lamp-post looking down and awaiting his reply. But, before it came, she heard the voice of a young girl, clearly addressed at Shirou.
"I don't know what's going on here, but do you really plan to use Noble Phantasms in an area full of people ?"
Well, at least this person seems reasonable.
"Look, could you put away your issue here and cooperate in order to help the girl? Because, in case you two didn't notice, she's stuck in the middle of a battle between what looks like two psychopaths clearly aroused by their murderous lust."
...or not, she thought as she glared at the girl, her stare so intent and angry that she could almost turn the girl to stone even through her glasses. She did not appreciate being placed on the same level as the asshole she was fighting.
Then, whilst she awaited her opponent's next move, she changed into her battle outfit once more. It was more comfortable to fight in, and she didn't want to risk turning people to stone inadvertently, as she would if her glasses were to come off. At the same time, she turned to address Shirou. Now she had a moment to think, she wanted to know why he had acted as he did.
"Shirou, what have you become? What would Sakura say if she saw you attempting to murder an innocent girl like you did?"
She didn't know his exact story, but surely Sakura would be an important part of his life. Hopefully invoking her would make him consider his actions more carefully. Then, she turned to the new arrival, addressing him as well as Shirou, Forest and the rest. She didn't want them to tar her with the same brush as the psychopath attacking her.
"I don't want to fight this asshole either, so why are you threatening me?"
-
"Look, whoever you are, if you let him finish that chant then we're all doomed."
At these words, unexpectedly, Shuya stopped. His face showing a different expression, something closest to a human one that you could expect. Was that regret? But it only lasted an instant, his arrogant smile back as if it never disappeared. Then, he stabbed the ground with his strange blade and pulled out a cigarette and lighting it up. After a second, his eyes fell on Rider again.
"Let me ask few things. Why should I care about dying?"
The question was simple, yet it clearly stated one thing; your tentative failed to redirect his attention. Biting on the tobacco tube he grabbed the handle of the katana but didn't pull it out the ground, yet.
"Why should I fear a magus over a powerful spirit like you? Especially a coward who targets little girls?" As strange as it appeared, there was disdain in his tone. However it was quickly forgotten as he pointed his sword once more towards the Servant. "Also, why do you look away in a battle? Do you think you can afford that kind of attitude against me? Or is it that you want to get away?"
With a simple motion he was standing right before Hakuno. Towering her with an evil look.
"Or maybe that's because you couldn't eat properly? If I remember correctly, you were about to feed on her prana, right?"
He then laughed as his figure bent towards the girl behind her shield. After a moment he punched the barrier, out of the blue. It wasn't meant to break the thing of course, but merely to test it.
"See? That's why you're trash. Why didn't you use it earlier, girl? You could have avoid getting in such a crappy situation. If you have the power, you should use it. Protecting yourself is the most important."
His tone wasn't nice but there wasn't trace of arrogance this time. However when he spoke once more, his original behavior started up again.
"Seems like eyepatch and blondie are worried 'bout cha, though I ain't sure it's for the same reason. However, playboy other there might be willing to finish you off."
His attention back to Rider, he spoke again.
"I say we let crybaby go." He sighed for a second. "As of you, eyepatch. If you need prana so badly that you'd attack someone with such a low amount, must be because you're really in need of it? In that case, I'll let you off for today. Just get back when you're at full strength." His tone was amused, but no trace of mockery showed in it. It changed quickly though, when he pointed his blade in Shirou's direction. "In exchange I demand a challenge with you, lower-than-trash."
The man was clearly an enigma, completely changing his target without indication as to why. His gaze then observed the vampire without holding back at all, even going as far as tilting his head on the side.
"Eyepatch's catchy but you ain't half bad either. Maybe you'd accept the challenge since playboy seems only interested in attacking kids?"
With a curt laugh he then looked at the last arrived person, Isabella.
"If I were you, I would keep my distance, dwarfy." His mocking tone was harsher than ever but Shuya couldn't keep the disgust for himself. He finally walked casually in order to face the man at close range. His grin broadened. "So what will it be lower-than-thrash? Got yourself a pair or what?"
-
"Mummy!" Kiyoshi mumbled happily in his sleep.
Then suddenly, from outside the hotel, came the shout of a frightened girl.
"Archer! Archer, can you hear me?! Archer!"
The shout woke Kiyoshi from the happy reunion he was having in his dream. Still in a half-asleep state, he wondered why he was in a strange bed rather than his mother's warm and loving embrace.
"Mummy?"
"Mum..my..?"
As he came out of his half-asleep state, it began to dawn on him that it had just been a dream. His mother wasn't here. He might never see her again.
I might never see mummy again.
The thought of never again seeing his mother's warm smile brought tears to his eyes.
No, I must be strong. Aunt Rider promised we'd get back home, he thought.
Only for his composure to be utterly shattered by the unmistakable sound of a gun being fired. Frantically, he looked around the room for the woman he knew would protect him with her very life.
"Aunty Rider?"
But, she wasn't there.
"Au..nt.. Ri..de..r..?" he said, his voice cracking.
He was alone in a strange hotel. His protector had abandoned him.
No, she would never do that. She's probably just downstairs or something. Or helping the girl I heard.
Fighting back the tears, Kiyoshi pulled himself out of bed, as an explosion in the distance further underlined the danger of this world. He had always wanted to be a hero, now was the time to prove he was one, not to sit in his room feeling sorry for himself and pining for his mother. First he would find his Aunt Rider, and then he would go out and help the poor girl whose scream he'd heard.
Quickly, Kiyoshi started to get dressed. But, before he could leave the room, he heard a knock on the door.
Who could that be? he wondered.
He quickly finished dressing, and, putting his worries to one side for the moment, put on a smile. Then, he walked over to the door and opened it. There, sitting in a wheelchair, was an adorable little girl, probably around eight, wearing a white dress. She had the same vibrant red hair as him, although it was much longer and, strangely, her looks reminded him somewhat of his father. Judging by the look on her face and the fact that she'd knocked on his door, she was probably lost and alone, just like he was.
He weighed up his options for a moment. But, whilst he felt he should go out and help the girl who he'd heard, he couldn't just leave a helpless young girl alone in a place like this. Plus, right now, he would like the company, to distract him from his own problems. Still smiling, Kiyoshi addressed the girl.
"Hi, I'm Kiyoshi", he said, excitedly. "Would you like to come in?"
-
Satoshi stood in the darkness of the rooftop listening and watching to the action and finally deciding to formally enter the event. "yo, Rider you want some help?" he shouted down to the group
-
What the bloody hell, his luck is rank E, just as bad as mine was! And now Rin's in his arms and everything is good and sundry?
Lancer gritted his teeth and moved to catch Rin as she came tumbling down to earth in a rather fetching mass of raven hair and thigh high stockings. However, for some reason, that bastard managed to get to her first. Then, as if Archer hadn't tied Rin to a chair and left her to that little twat with the seaweed hair's devices, she was in his arms and they were on the move again. So, he's some alternate version of the Bowman. Who's even more inclined to bondage.
He kept in step, now just determined to get there before Archer to show him up.
As he ran, he saw what looked like to be a small child lifting a car over his head while mostly keeping up with Lancer. The Celt's eyes narrowed as he could sense that the kid wasn't exactly a kid. Berserker's tiny master had felt something like the boy beside him, but not to this extent. She would have been a candle flame compared to a spot light filled with LCDs, just beyond that level. Then the not-lad looked at him with wide, hopeful eyes and asked, "Hi mister wolf, did you see a black kitty?"
The screaming passengers inside the cab pounded the windows harder and stared at Lancer pleadingly. The driver was cursing in a language that Lancer couldn't recognize and pounding at the steering wheel. Lancer shook his head and said, "The only black cat I've seen is in that asshole's arms back there." He blinked at the people screaming inside the cab, "Um, boyo, you might want to put down your toy. There's no kitty in there."
******
And then the clusterfuck grew unto a clusterfuck orgy and the idiots rejoiced as it became more and more chaotic, Forest thought to herself, one hand moving to shove her hair back from her face.
Rider was back in her bondage gear, the white haired guy, who Forest now knew to be Shirou, was about to unleash some Big Nasty Attack, there was now another teenage girl asking people to be reasonable, and Rider's asshole was now giving Forest an appraising look as he offered to fight her. The vampire shook her head, realizing that spoken words weren't going to do a damned bit of good here. That meant she'd have to change her tactic just to get everyone's attention and get them to stop being fools.
She braced herself and drew upon her mental strength. Then she focused on everyone's minds in the alley except the poor girl holding the shield. She'd been through enough lately.
Forest focused and then sent out, well, it wasn't an attack, but a mental yell that packed a pretty solid punch. Not enough to do any lasting damage but enough to get attention and stun these people before someone got killed.
Everyone can your bloody aggression right the hell now. If you keep raging about like this, someone will get hurt or worse, and that isn't kosher. So everyone just back off so we can reasonably settle this and get everyone's stories straight. So weapons the fuck down and everyone back the hell up before I get shirty.
Aloud, she smoothed her duster back and asked in a loud, clear voice, "Now, do I have everyone's attention and we can behave like reasonable adults?"
-
"The only black cat I've seen is in that asshole's arms back there."
The little familiar looked behind and saw another man carrying what looked like another human. Ruu raised his eyebrows in a surprised expression. The man running was holding a woman with black hairs. This person was no kitty. Unless the cat changed shape. Both cat and girl had black hairs. He could feel a powerful energy emanating from the girl though. Well, both mister wolf and this man were powerful too. The second had silver eyes and a determined expression. Gave the image of an eagle to Ruu but mister wolf called him "asshole". Was that his name? Was he trying to take the kitty away? Ruu couldn't help but feel annoyed by that.
"Um, boyo, you might want to put down your toy. There's no kitty in there."
These words made him snap out his random thoughts. The familiar only realized now he still had the car in hands and stopped for a second to put the thing down. He heard screams as he saw people in there and he addressed them a salute of the simplest gesture, his hand waved and he ran after wolf, eagle and kitty. The familiar ran up to Archer's level and jumped on his back, putting all his weight on it. Then, he grabbed a handful of white hair.
"Give the kitty back...." He hesitated for a second, not sure which name would fit the most, eventually he decided to go with both what he came up with and what Wolfy said "...mister eagle asshole!!" Maybe using his name could convince him to stop but the familiar didn't wait for an answer as he reached for Archer's face in order to pinch his left cheek. "Let Kitty go!!" He ordered before sending him a powerful headbutt to the right shoulder.
-
*Two minutes earlier*
Structural Analysis complete. All weapons are in nominal condition, basic map of the area completed.
Yes, this should catch their attention now. Hopefully, the threat of 30 floating swords pointing towards all combatants will stop the fighting, and at the very least allow him to relocate all of them to a slightly less crowded area. If not...then there'll be a whole lot more people haunting him whenever he closed his eyes, their faces clear as the day he had sacrificed them. He never forgot anyone he was forced to kill or who had died in front of him, and he never would. Even if it lowered his combat efficiency, to do less was an insult to their memory. He could take it, the pain of failure, the sleepless nights. In the end however, despite his wish to the contrary, the simple fact was that he had to sacrifice the few to save the many. Even if the few numbered in the hundreds, he would fight to save to thousands. If they numbered in the thousands, he would fight to save the millions. That was the resolution, the conclusion he had found, on that day.
Two voices caught his ear over the din of metal crashing into one another as Rider and Touzaki continued clashing, Rider weaving around Touzaki's attacks with more difficulty than she should have, evidently an after-effect of a lack of prana. Both Rider and the girl had turned to him, staring in disbelief after his proclamation. It was almost like they knew that phr-
"I know that chant! Rider, Forest, he's about to use a Noble Phantasm! You have to stop him!" the girl screamed, eyes filled with desperation. Flinging her arms forward, she conjured her shield again. For a second, Shirou saw himself in the figure of the girl, both willing to protect others at all costs even if they had to use their body. She was an anomaly to him. She had appeared to only be an ordinary girl, even through his thermal vision scope (magi generally had higher body temperature than normal people due to their circuits), and yet in the last few minutes alone, she had cast a barrier magic to push away Rider, and now was using the same magic to protect the Servant, somehow recognising his phrase for what it was. How had she done that?
It was then that Shirou noticed the problem. The girl was immobile when casting her barrier spell. Which was preventing him from covering her back without being forced to break down her shield and cause who knows what type of damage to her psyche. And said back, whilst not completely open, was only marginally protected from Rider and Touzaki. One being a Servant who had been about to feed on her soul to gain mana, leaving behind an empty husk of a girl; and the other an infamous psychopathic demon mercenary, notorious for his love of killing and brutal ways to do it. Both of whom could break said barrier instantly, and had now stopped fighting, and turned to face her defenseless back.
However, as Shirou prepared to launch a barrage at the duo, Rider suddenly leaped up onto a nearby lamp post, her yellow square pupils staring down at him, her confusion and resolve clear. What was she doing? Was she about to leap over the barrier in an effort to get to him before he could launch the swords? Shirou quickly traced Kanshou and Bakuya in preparation, settling into the fighting stance he had taken from Archer, the familiar weight of the two swords comforting in his hands. He left his sides open, intentionally leaving holes in his defence for the opponent to exploit, and thus, ensuring that they did indeed attack in that spot.
Suddenly, a young girl's voice piped up next to him, nearly causing him to attack in surprise. Shocked that she had managed to sneak up on him, the Magus Killer quickly leaped back, placing all within the alley in his sight.
"Maybe you should stop there, Emiya Shirou."
In casual clothing, a black-haired blue-eyed girl, younger than anyone involved here, walked up to the magus killer, placing herself deliberately between him and the blond vampire. Did she think he was planning to attack the vampire, who had yet to do anything but sigh in disbelief? At this point, the entity seemed to be the most reasonable person around, a kindred spirit almost; he had no reason to attack her. Yet.
The girl's blue eyes were burning with a serious look, yet her tone was still lower than before. "I don't know what's going on here, but do you really plan to use Noble Phantasms in an area full of people ?"
A question he had been asked time and time again, by the enemy, by hostages, by his teammates. The answer would be the same.
"If I have to I will. If anyone here decides to escalate and fight, I will end them no matter the cost, no matter what I sacrifice. That is what I have always done," he said stoicly, steely eyes boring into the girl's eyes, his voice solid and unwavering as he stated his determined course of action. To emphasise his point, he traced more swords into his arsenal, each one designed to deal maximum damage if they were required, their shimmering golden forms capturing wary attention. He would have to be careful now, his prana levels had taken a large hit tracing everything; however, on the exterior he remained as cool as ever. The girl backed away momentarily, before suddenly changing her tone, addressing both him and the vampire in a pleading manner.
"Look, could you put away your issue here and cooperate in order to help the girl? Because, in case you two didn't notice, she's stuck in the middle of a battle between what looks like two psychopaths clearly aroused by their murderous lust," she turned to him again, her blue orbs now wide open, displaying her worry for all to see, "Isn't it justice to help others?"
In other words, telling him to do what he had been about to do. In answer, Shirou maneuvered the gleaming wall of steel until all of them were pointing at Rider and Touzaki, the swords moving rather drunkenly through the air in a manner which reminded him of an old English frigateer struggling to turn in furious waves in order to present its cannons at its enemy.
In a flash of light, Rider changed her costume once more, abandoning her casual wear and rimless glasses for the tiny black minidress he knew for a fact she preferred to use in combat, the square pupils of her eyes once again masked by the menacing purple blindfold, just as it had been when he had first met his Rider. To Shirou's shock however, Rider addressed him from the top of the post, speaking words which he knew would haunt him for days to come:
"Shirou, what have you become? What would Sakura say if she saw you attempting to murder an innocent girl like you did?"
His pupils dilated, and the cold mask of the Magus Killer cracked.
What did she say? Did she just say what he thought she said?
His breathing quickened, almost to the point of hyperventilation, but his coat served to hide the rapid motions of his chest, saving him dignity.
"I don't want to fight this asshole either, so why are you threatening me?"
His silver eyes narrowed. She was taunting him. Dangling the ghost of Sakura in front of him, to guilt-trip him into becoming her slave. Who was she to question his actions? She knew best what eating a person's soul did to them, and she dared judge him?
Shirou's body shook in unrestrained fury. How dare she? How dare she? To use their common past to wound him like that. And she had the nerve to think he would help her after this. His hands, now clenched hard around the hilts of the Chinese dao, the leather squeaking slightly in protest; rose slightly, the tips of the blades facing the purple Gorgon.
Through the veil of rage, he faintly noticed Touzaki hit the barrier, before pointing his sword towards him, issuing him some type of challenge; but he didn't care. He was focused on the gorgon now, his worry for the brunette girl slipping away, his purpose in his fight with it.
Suddenly he felt a slightly familiar presence smash into his head, once again overwhelming him despite his attempts to retaliate.
"Everyone can your bloody aggression right the hell now. If you keep raging about like this, someone will get hurt or worse, and that isn't kosher. So everyone just back off so we can reasonably settle this and get everyone's stories straight. So weapons the fuck down and everyone back the hell up before I get shirty."
Had the vampire noticed? Shirou shook his head quickly, prematurely-white hair whipping around. The vampire, now confirmed to be a kindred spirit, was right: he had to get his head straight. He was the Magus Killer. He was used to people exploiting his weaknesses, it was a basic part of his job. He would not fall to this.
He detraced Kanshou and Bakuya, the twin blades disappearing in a spectacular explosion, the metal shards dissipating before they could sink into his flesh. He also released his focus on some of the more devastating area-of-effect swords hanging in the air, the metallic jangle of their demise filling the now quiet alley, its cacophany echoing slightly into the night. However, he made no move to destroy the remaining.
"Sorry vampire. I can't do that until I'm certain that the situation is completely safe," he remarked dryly, eyeing the large sword still being wielded by Touzaki, and the deadly nails of Rider.
-
Everyone can your bloody aggression right the hell now. If you keep raging about like this, someone will get hurt or worse, and that isn't kosher. So everyone just back off so we can reasonably settle this and get everyone's stories straight. So weapons the fuck down and everyone back the hell up before I get shirty.
Shuya let out an angry sound when the full blunt of Forest's thoughts struck him like a lightning.
The mixed blood dropped an annoyed glance at the her. She had means to harm him after all. Out of all present right now, she had been the one he didn't feel like attacking at random.
Playboy was clearly a magus with affinity linked to swords somehow. And rather good with long range weaponry.
Eyepatch was powerful spirit. Not knowing full extent of her abilities since she held back and didn't attempt a serious assault.
Shield girl was weak. Well, she had potential for more but compared to others, she was pretty weak.
The teenager reeked of prana but she was no threat would he be serious.
The last arrived, the one who called purplehead, Rider, was a powerful guy no doubt.
Yeah, the woman was definitively the wild card. Maybe that's why he didn't attack her earlier. Were she to use this in the middle of a battle, he would be talking with his ancestors right now. Opening his guard with psychic abilities was something quite unfair and that's why he didn't like Espers. However that was the first time he met a vampire with such ability.
Shuya kept his sword unsheathed. There was no guarantee people would obey her "polite request."
"Wanna talk, huh? 'Kay, let's see you try sorting this out." He said her with a savage grin.
"Sorry vampire. I can't do that until I'm certain that the situation is completely safe,"
Shuya grin spreads larger and he bit harder on his cigarette.
"And what is safe exactly? Is it when shield girl has a round in the head? Purplehead may have attacked her but that's the result of a need." He makes a pause before shrugging. "Well, she likes to play with her food but that's her way, not judging this." Shuya nodded to Forest. "You got in her way when she tried to feed but don't you do the same to humans? How's that different? So, unless you have double-standards, I doubt you'd say it was wrong to attack the girl." With an accusatory finger pointed towards Shirou. "Which leads to this guy. I don't know if he has a personal grudge with the girl, but those who kill their own kind for no apparent reason, got a few screws loose."
Having said what he had to, Shuya finally sheathed his weapon in his scabbard.
"I'm off. So disgusted it chased away my will to kill boredom."
He let out some smoke and looked at Shirou.
"You got lucky today, trash. Were we to met again, even such a nice ass won't you save your skin twice."
----
He hadn't left for longer than a second, when Isabella spoke for everyone.
"What a moron."
There may have been more appropriate terms but decency and proper education wouldn't allow her to use them.
At least, with the vulgar swordsman gone, things should take a better turn. Isabella eyed the Servant, because she had to be one with such a powerful presence. She didn't seem about to reach for the magus girl and so Isabella used the opportunity to approach Hakuno.
She walked to her, chasing a lock of hairs behind her ear as she offered an helping hand.
"I think you're safe now. Are you wounded?" She asked on the nicer tone she could express.
-
Taiga was oddly startled, people often spoke softly around her but this boy was different, to be expected given he was a child like she was but Taiga often spent little time with children her age so it was still unsettling. "can you tell me where this is?" she asked making no move to enter the room more out of concern of her question needing an answer than fear as the boy appeared as a busy if unthreatening blob of purple and orange to her radar like vision.
-
As he responded, Kiyoshi could see the girl recoil slightly, clearly startled. Then, she replied with a question, making no attempt to enter the room.
"can you tell me where this is?"
No wonder she's scared, she's probably just suddenly arrived here, like we did. And, she seems to be completely alone.
Poor girl.
It was bad enough for Kiyoshi to be without his mother and father. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to be in a strange city without Aunty Rider or anyone else who he could trust. Whilst he would like to go find Aunty Rider, right now this girl's well-being took priority. He wanted to reassure her and make her comfortable, and safe.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you", Kiyoshi said, more quietly.
"As for where you are, you're in a hotel in a big city somewhere. I don't really know any more, sorry. We just sort-of appeared here earlier today.
Are you alone? I was going to go out and find my Aunt, but if you want to stay here I'll stay with you."
-
Rin held on to Archer tightly as they soared through the air, the wind flowing through her hair as they continued on with haste. She was startled to see Lancer beneath her, talking with a young boy that appeared to be holding... wait, was that a car?!
"Do you think we should stop and help them?"
Archer hesitated a bit before responding, but eventually shook his head. "Something tells me Lancer's got this under control. Besides, the fewer delays we have, the better."
Rin nodded in response, and the two continued onward. In spite of everything, Rin was actually a bit pleased with this turn of events. Not with losing Ruby, oh no (she'd deal with that miserable stick later on), but she couldn't say she wasn't enjoying this chance to be with her old Servant again. Being held in his arms like this as they traveled through the air... it was just like old-
Suddenly she heard the bowman grunt as the strange boy that'd been talking to Lancer before jumped on Archer's back. He pulled on the Servant's hair as he said with a low tone, "Give the kitty back...." The boy hesitated a bit before finishing with, "...mister eagle asshole!!"
What the- Rin gave the "boy" a startled look, looking quickly to Archer before formulating a quick response. Before either she or the bowman himself could respond, however, the kid pinched Archer's left cheek.
"Let Kitty go!!" Rin cried out as the boy headbutted Archer's shoulder, forcing the Servant to land on a nearby rooftop, desperately trying to keep his hold on Rin to keep from dropping her.
The two looked up at the boy floating above them. Rin observed their attacker carefully. The amount of prana she could feel from him, the fact that he'd been able to hold up a car filled with people before...
"He has to be a familiar. A pretty powerful one too." Rin frowned. "But Kitty, Eagle? Do you really think he meant..?"
"Us? Yes, yes I do." Archer sighed, rubbing his temple with his free hand. "Lancer must have complained about me taking off with you, and the kid misunderstood, thinking instead this was a kidnapping. So now he's trying to 'rescue' you."
"And return me to the 'nice wolfy.'" Rin gave an exasperated sigh. "I don't know if he's willing to listen to 'Mister Eagle' so much at this point, so let me try talking to him."
Archer nodded and gently placed her down on the rooftop. Brushing herself off a bit first, she shouted up to the childlike familiar.
"Listen closely to me, alright? Miss Kitty wants to go with Mister Eagle, so if you'd be a good little familiar and leave us alone, you hear me?" Rin pointed her finger at the little familiar, focusing her prana and preparing to fire a Gandr, the friendly tone she'd been using almost entirely gone. "Or you'll find out the hard way that Miss Kitty has claws, you got that?!"
Archer sighed, a mixture of amusement and weariness on his face. Never change Rin, never change.
-
Archer and Rin may had landed nicely but it was different for the familiar. His own landing clearly lacking any elegance or self-preservation as he fell on the head, generating cracks under his weight. Some people would have found this comical. But the familiar was quick on his feet. When he looked at the couple, the girl spoke to him.
"Listen closely to me, alright? Miss Kitty wants to go with Mister Eagle, so if you'd be a good little familiar and leave us alone, you hear me?"
He blinked twice when he heard Rin's words, accenting the innocent look on his face. Ruu was wearing casual clothes, and his oversized hoodie accented this image of abandoned child. Round silver eyes were blinking behind purple bangs reaching down his nose. He raised a finger only recognizable through the too-long-for-him sleeve by the pointy tip, towards Archer.
"Uuoruuocon thought Eagle stole Kitty." He said simply.
There was no malice in his tone, nor anger. Simply a slighty worried feeling. With his short arms, he pulled on the hood in order to hide his face. A gesture much like someone feeling guilty.
"Uuoruuocon wanted to protect Kitty." He said with a dejected look.
He bit on one of his sleeve as if regretting his action. He glanced at Archer, raising a hand in a casual gesture.
"Apologies to asshole. Uuoruuocon often does mistakes."
Insulting once again Archer without realizing it, Ruu focused once more on Rin.
"Or you'll find out the hard way that Miss Kitty has claws, you got that?!"
Ruu tilted his head, such a turn-of-phrase was beyond his comprehension. His brow frowned, his answer came quickly.
"Uuoruuocon doesn't see claws." He said with confusion.
He didn't understand what she meant, yet the somewhat irritated tone made its job.
"Will you punish Uuoruuocon for its mistake?" He asked on a worried tone.
He did understand the concept of punishment quite well. After few seconds pondering what he should do to make up for it, the little familiar grabbed his left arm and broke it with a torsion of his right hand. The arm bent in an unnatural direction, it hanged lifelessly as blood started tainting the blue and half torn sleeve. Bones and ground flesh were showing from the open wound. The familiar didn't flinch nor emit a pained sound though. Only his voice shown a bit of strain as he spoke.
"Is it enough? Must it break a leg too? Or must it go now?"
His eyes were searching a clear answer.
-
Tensions still ran high as Hakuno turned back to look at Rider and her katana wielding adversary. While she had decided that Rider was definitely scary, she at least somehow seemed nice when not in certain moods. She'd noticed that the young girl that had now jumped in to try to stop the fray had referred to her as a psychopath, and while some of her tendencies were definitely... well, scary, she did seem to have some good in her. Still, the girl's intentions seemed good, and she couldn't blame her for jumping to conclusions. The guy that was trying to pick a fight with the blindfolded Servant on the other hand.... Seemed more like he was just a jerk. He ignored Rider's attempts to get him to stop fighting and instead continued to try and taunt her.
"Why should I fear a magus over a powerful spirit like you? Especially a coward who targets little girls?" His tone was filled with disdain. Hakuno looked at him. Maybe there was some good in him after all.
"Also, why do you look away in a battle? Do you think you can afford that kind of attitude against me? Or is it that you want to get away?"
...Maybe.
Then he turned towards Hakuno herself, towering over her, the look he was giving her most unpleasant. "Or maybe that's because you couldn't eat properly? If I remember correctly, you were about to feed on her prana, right?" While what he said was true, the tone with which he said it with made her feel ill at ease. Even if Rider had been threatening her not so long ago, the more Hakuno saw of this guy, the less she seemed inclined to like him.
He then laughed menacingly and punched her barrier. She felt a bit of a shock of surprise as she hadn't been expecting the blow. However, she couldn't help but feel some definite satisfaction at the fact that her shield had hardly even faltered.
"See? That's why you're trash. Why didn't you use it earlier, girl? You could have avoid getting in such a crappy situation. If you have the power, you should use it. Protecting yourself is the most important."
Hakuno didn't let the comment get to her. She couldn't, too many people were counting on her keeping this shield up. ...Though maybe it did get to her a little. The helplessness she'd felt earlier... even if she'd had the excuse of not knowing how to use this power yet, she'd still hated the feeling. While she refused to let him rattle her chain, she did resolve herself even further to find a way to defend herself beyond this shield in the near future.
"Seems like eyepatch and blondie are worried 'bout cha, though I ain't sure it's for the same reason. However, playboy other there might be willing to finish you off."
Hakuno looked over at the Not-Archer, who she now knew to be called Shirou. Shirou... was that Archer's real name? The more things escalated, the more she really wished that he were here. Having him make a few of his usual dry commentary would at least help her feel better. Still, this Shirou... he definitely still seemed like a threat. While she wasn't inclined to trust Jerk-With-A-Katana completely, she could definitely acknowledge that he was still a threat.
While her harasser turned back to be a jerk to the other people present, however, Hakuno felt a wave of dizziness. The shield was taking it's toll on her. Despite her sudden onset of weakness, she refocused and tried to maintain the shield. She didn't know how much longer she could hold out, but she had to try.
Bits and pieces of conversation slipped past Hakuno as she stood there maintaining her shield, semi-conscious at this point.
She was aware of Forest calling for everyone's attention, aware of the jerk mercenary leaving... and finally, the girl who'd called for the fighting to stop earlier, looking somewhat concerned, offering Hakuno her hand.
"I think you're safe now. Are you wounded?"
Noticing that things had simmered down, and realizing that allowing herself to faint from the energy the shield was draining from her would actually make things worse, Hakuno allowed the shield to at last dissipate and gratefully took the girl's hand.
"I'm not hurt, maybe a bit battered and bruised, but I'm fine." She was unsteady on her feet as she rose though, and while she was better now that she'd dropped the shield, she was still exhausted from it, and thus wasn't in the best shape to flee if she had to.
Wanting to abate the girl's fears about Rider, she spotted the Servant atop a lamp post and gestured towards her.
"She's a bit scary, but she saved my life, and I don't think she wants to fight, so we don't have to worry about her." She looked back towards Shirou. "Him I don't know about, but if we show him everything's OK, maybe he'll finally..." Hakuno's body finally gave in a bit, forcing her to steady herself, black flashing before her eyes. This wasn't good- even without the drain on her energy, she could still potentially faint.
Still, the shield was down, so she had a chance to recover now. Plus she couldn't worry the people around her any longer- the last thing she wanted to be after all this was more of a burden. Hakuno put on a brave face, trying to hide her condition as much as she could, and turned towards Shirou, hoping desperately that he would back down at last.
***
Rin couldn't help but feel a bit bad for yelling at the poor little familiar. Regardless, time was of the essence, and there was something in the look on Archer's face that this was even more the case now than ever before. But still, she couldn't help but snicker a bit at Uuoruuocon's insistence on calling Archer "asshole." The man himself had just endured it with his trademark dry indifference.
But the familiar definitely had the mentality of a small child, and it was easy to see why he'd made the mistake he did. Since he didn't seem interested in impeding their progress further, Rin was fine with letting him go.
"Will you punish Uuoruuocon for its mistake?" He asked on a worried tone. Rin was about to answer, but to her horror, she watched the little familiar break his own arm. A wave of nausea went through her, the sight of it making her uneasy.
"Is it enough? Must it break a leg too? Or must it go now?" Innocently, the familiar looked at her, searching for an answer.
She quickly shot Archer an anxious glance, hoping that he'd have an answer. The bowman's glance seemed sympathetic, but seemed to be urging her to respond. Rin turned back to the now injured familiar.
"N-no no, Kitty knows that it was a misunderstanding, you don't need to break any more limbs!" She gestured towards the broken arm. "Kitty wants you to get that arm fixed as soon as you can, alright?"
"Just make sure to ask what's going on before you do this sort of thing in the future. And try to get that arm fixed properly."
She nodded in agreement with the servant, the arm still making her feel a bit ill. "You can go now. Just please get that arm fixed, and listen to Mister Asshole's advice!"
She walked hastily back to Archer, silently urging the Servant to pick her up and go. Rin felt guilty leaving the familiar behind, especially given how powerful he seemed. Doubly so since she would have normally would have attempted to heal the familiar's broken arm, which she couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for. But they'd already delayed enough, and Archer was looking just a bit anxious.
Archer scooped her up and made ready to leave, but as he did so, gave Rin a questioning look.
"Mister Asshole?"
"Had to relieve some tension for myself somehow, after that poor little familiar broke his own arm. Besides, how often does a chance like that come up?"
Archer shrugged and got ready to take off, not wanting to delay any longer. He'd felt Hakuno's prana draining through the ley line, and so his concern for her only grew with each passing minute.
-
"You shouldn't let it get to you. What that jerk said, I mean."
Isabella's expression was gentle but there was determination in her blue eyes. She was still holding Hakuno's hand even after she stood up. She had noticed the unknown magus status. She was running very low on prana, had scratches here and there and was probably preoccupied with what that moron called her. Yet, she was putting a front in spite of being the target of multiple people few minutes earlier.
The twin was impressed by such a girl even if she barely knew her.
"You're not trash. In fact, the shield you cast was high tier, albeit a bit unstable, but still pretty powerful. I would say you have great potential, all you need is practice and a good teacher. You can only do with the tools at hand at a particular moment. You were alone and attacked, yet you survived. That's a victory in itself and will help you improve."
She took a moment to throw Hakuno a genuine smile.
"Besides, rating people based on sheer power is dumb. There are as many possibilities as there are people. Being talented doesn't place you above others, since they surely do something better than you in another domain. That's why people are interesting and that's the reason we should help each other as much as possible. If you look at it that way, there are no more weaknesses, no more discrimination. Everyone's equal."
Isabella traced a symbol in the air as she triggered her mental switch.
"Please stay still for a moment. Ringiovanire."
A single-action spell of the simplest kind, able to replenish stamina. A dark symbol taking the shape of a circle appeared on Hakuno's palm, where the girls hands were still connected.
"Here, it should help you a bit. The mark will only last for few seconds, don't worry. Though, if my sister were here, she could treat the bruises, afraid I don't possess that skill. See? Good example to what I said earlier." She said with a wink.
The spell would restore some of her stamina but wouldn't do anything about the exhaustion and prana level. Isabella couldn't help but keep the Servant in her sight, feeling a bit uneasy. The girl probably saw her glance because she spoke out.
"She's a bit scary, but she saved my life, and I don't think she wants to fight, so we don't have to worry about her."
"..."
Isabella chuckled slightly.
"Couldn't imagine you were attacked by her earlier. I like that part of you."
"Him I don't know about, but if we show him everything's OK, maybe he'll finally..."
"Yeah, not sure it'll be easy though. He's the Second Magus Killer for a reason. Even with the psychopath gone, there is no guarantee he will let us go."
Isabella turned to Hakuno.
"I don't know about that Servant, but I'll trust your judgment for now. Which leaves these two. If we can talk them down, we're good. "
She quickly indicated Shirou and the man who had yet to introduce himself. She left out Forest for obvious reasons, she was the one who tried to calm things down after all.
Almost made me pee on myself from the surprising psychic interference. She thought bitterly. Yet, it was comforting to not be alone in this.
There was still tension in the air but the teenager had to speak up.
"I'm Isabella Rizzi, friends call me Isa, so please call me that."
May not be the best time for introductions but it wouldn't hurt to exchange names.
-
Good, that's one huge threat out of the equation.
Shirou stared at Touzaki's retreating back, internally sighing in relief. During the asshole's speech, Shirou had been certain he would attack, and was thus prepared to blast him to kingdom come if he had so much as twitched in Shirou's direction. He had never been happier she the psychopath had put away the sword, after spouting some hypocritical bull crap about killing people. This was a man who literally worked as a man so he could keep enjoying the thrill of killing and had literally seconds earlier attacking everyone in sight, not Gandhi.
Now there was only Rider. Memory of what she had done threatened to take over him once again, but this time, Shirou forced his anger down. His goal over the years had warped due to his experiences, but in the end, Shirou would still go for the path of least casualties when possible. Killing Rider would only worsen the situation at this point. Besides, he could tell that both the vampire next to him, and that strange teenage girl would help him if the Servant goes insane.
He would be backing down this time around.
Keeping his eyes firmly on Rider, Shirou raised his hand, causing everyone in the area to tense, including the girl who had just introduced herself as Isabella. The swords in the air flickered for a second, before all of them shattered simultaneously, in a manner which reminded of fireworks. The loud bell-like peals of shattering metal echoed once again in the alleyway.
He decided to take the initiative this time. Discarding his Magus Killer guise, Shirou smiled wryly at the those present, his now-golden eyes warm.
"Judging by your actions, most of you know me, but I'll introduce myself anyway. I'm Emiya Shirou. Now, what are we gonna do about this situation?"
-
Taiga shook her head " um, no, that's fine, you go ahead I'm ok by myself, thank you for answering my question" she replied backing the the wheel chair up to turn and continue down the hall.
-
Rider noticed her opponents expression change. For a moment, she hoped he had fallen for her distraction attempt. But, then, the same arrogant smirk appeared on his face, and he looked back at Rider again, before replying to her comment.
"Let me ask few things. Why should I care about dying?"
Damn, it didn't work.
"Well, dying would rather ruin your fun, wouldn't it?", she said, dryly.
As the man put his hands on the Katana, Rider tensed again, preparing for his next attack. But, instead, he addressed her once more.
"Why should I fear a magus over a powerful spirit like you? Especially a coward who targets little girls?", he said, disdainfully.
Hearing that, Rider laughed to herself. Only a complete and utter moron would want their food to fight back. And, only an idiot would consider avoiding a fight they neither needed nor wanted to fight cowardly.
Then, he pointed his sword at Rider once more, and continued.
"Also, why do you look away in a battle? Do you think you can afford that kind of attitude against me? Or is it that you want to get away?"
Yes, I do want to get away.
But, Rider felt it was probably best to say nothing. The guy clearly didn't hold "cowards" in partiuclarly high regard, and, further, seemed to equate intelligence with cowardice. Replying would likely only enrage him, and that wasn't what she needed right now. Angering him would make him even less likely to do the sensible thing and go after Shirou who, right now, seemed like a significant threat.
Shirou's response to the newly-arrived girl made it clear that he was someone who put killing people who he considered as "dangerous" above all else, even protecting the lives of innocents. And, he clearly seemed to have decided that both Rider and her opponent were "dangerous", judging by the extra swords he had traced, and which were all pointing directly at the two of them. He was clearly not Sakura's husband, or anything like him. He would always protect people first and foremost, and would only kill if absolutely necessary, whereas this Shirou seemed to see killing as the first resort.
Worse, her comment about Sakura hadn't calmed him down or made him consider his actions more carefully. Instead, it had engraged him. He seemed to have forgotten his reasoning entirely and was focussing on her. He had even summoned the twin blades that acted as his primary weapon.
It was obvious that something bad had happened to Sakura in his past, and it had clearly driven him to take the attitude he did. The only question was what. Mentioning her clearly affected him deeply, but not in the manner she had expected. Given his attitude, it was quite possible he'd even killed Sakura himself. The very thought of that enraged Rider, and she had to hold herself back from attacking him right that instant. She considered her next move. Perhaps she should ask him for more details of his past. Or, perhaps, she should just kill the asshole and be done with it.
But, before she could come to any decision, she noticed that the moron she had been fighting was now heading straight for Hakuno.
Shit.
Rider tensed herself, preparing to jump down and intervene. Instead, though, he turned and addressed Rider once more.
"Or maybe that's because you couldn't eat properly? If I remember correctly, you were about to feed on her prana, right?"
Then, suddenly, he threw a punch at Hakuno's shield. Rider prepared to jump in to defend her. But her shield held up easily and, instead of following through with his attack, he simply taunted the girl, espousing more of his bullshit philosophy.
"See? That's why you're trash. Why didn't you use it earlier, girl? You could have avoid getting in such a crappy situation. If you have the power, you should use it. Protecting yourself is the most important."
But, fortunately, the girl seemed unphased by his comments, and never let her shield waver or drop. Rider was finding herself more and more impressed all the time.
"If anyone here is 'trash', it's you, asshole. Attacking and killing people just for the fun of it doesn't make you smart or strong, it just makes you a prick", Rider responded.
However, he ignored her, and continued addressing the girl.
"Seems like eyepatch and blondie are worried 'bout cha, though I ain't sure it's for the same reason. However, playboy other there might be willing to finish you off."
Rider bristled at the comment. Whilst Shirou didn't seem to be explicitly targetting the girl any more, he certainly didn't seem overly bothered about her well-being, and would clearly kill her off without a second thought if he had to. The man then turned back to her once more.
"I say we let crybaby go." He sighed for a second. "As of you, eyepatch. If you need prana so badly that you'd attack someone with such a low amount, must be because you're really in need of it? In that case, I'll let you off for today. Just get back when you're at full strength." His tone was amused, but no trace of mockery showed in it. It changed quickly though, when he pointed his blade in Shirou's direction. "In exchange I demand a challenge with you, lower-than-trash."
Thank the gods.
Whilst it hadn't happened quite as she'd expected, the moron had agreed to leave her alone. Of course, he had demanded a fight at a later date, but she had no intention of actually taking him up on that. If he happened to find her around, then she would have to deal with it, but hopefully she could either convince him she wasn't fully-powered, or else she would have allies to assist her.
Speaking of allies, as the idiot continued asking around for someone to fight him, she heard the voice of a young man addressing her.
"yo, Rider you want some help?"
She couldn't remember if her name had been mentioned yet, but the way he addressed her made it pretty clear he knew her personally. A few minutes ago Rider would have been very shocked at that, but after meeting a clearly alternate version of Shirou and a girl who had summoned Archer, the idea of there being people around who knew an alternate version of her was no longer particularly implausible-sounding.
Still, unlike the Shirou standing opposite her and still pointing swords at her, this guy seemed friendly enough, and keen to help her out. Even if she didn't need his help with the katana-wielding asshole any more, some assistance in dealing with Shirou would be very helpful. She didn't particularly fancy having to dodge all those swords in a narrow alley. But, before she could respond, Rider heard a loud and clearly angry voice in her head.
Everyone can your bloody aggression right the hell now. If you keep raging about like this, someone will get hurt or worse, and that isn't kosher. So everyone just back off so we can reasonably settle this and get everyone's stories straight. So weapons the fuck down and everyone back the hell up before I get shirty.
Rider was somewhat used to being shouted at mentally. Sakura had done it a few times when she had done something particularly objectionable which Sakura couldn't talk about publically. But, even so, it wasn't a pleasant sensation. Before she could react, the blonde woman followed her mental yell with a somewhat calmer, although still loud and clear, verbal statement.
"Now, do I have everyone's attention and we can behave like reasonable adults?"
Rider quickly considered the situation, before desummoning her nails and changing back into her casual outfit. She had no desire to provoke a conflict here, and if one did arise she could summon up her nails in a matter of milliseconds. Plus, her most obvious enemy had turned his attentions elsewhere, although Shirou had seemingly not accepted the blonde's ultimatum absolutely. He did, however, desummon Kanshou and Bakuya, as well as some of his swords
Interestingly, he had also called the blonde a "vampire". Which was somewhat ironic given that she'd acted to prevent Rider drinking the girl's blood....
Rider turned to look for the man who had addressed her earlier. In the darkness, she could see a seemingly-attractive young-looking blonde man who, oddly, seemed to be wearing a shirt similar to the ones Shirou used to wear when he was younger.
"I'm fine for the moment, thanks, whoever you are. If we do start fighting I'd be glad of your help, though", she said, kindly.
Then, her attention returned to the girl. Now that the immediate danger was gone, Rider couldn't help but notice that she seemed somewhat unsteady. Maintaining her shield was clearly taking a toll on her. But, before she could ask the girl about it, her attention was drawn back to the idiot blood knight. Entirely predictably, he seemed to be taking the vampire's attempts at reconciliation with a large pinch of salt.
Then, he turned to address Shirou.
"And what is safe exactly? Is it when shield girl has a round in the head? Purplehead may have attacked her but that's the result of a need." He makes a pause before shrugging. "Well, she likes to play with her food but that's her way, not judging this." Shuya nodded to Forest. "You got in her way when she tried to feed but don't you do the same to humans? How's that different? So, unless you have double-standards, I doubt you'd say it was wrong to attack the girl." With an accusatory finger pointed towards Shirou. "Which leads to this guy. I don't know if he has a personal grudge with the girl, but those who kill their own kind for no apparent reason, got a few screws loose."
Oddly, the moron actually made quite a few good points. The blonde who had tried to stop her feeding was a vampire who, if anything like the vampires in her time, would surely regularly kill for food, and Shirou's very first act had been attempt to put a bullet into the head of an innocent girl. Although, at least the vampire did seem to acknowledge her need for prana and was willing to help sate that need, so she was at least consistent. Shirou, on the other hand....
Then, his disgust evident, the man fired one last insult at Shirou and walked off. Rider then turned to Shirou and added her opinion.
"You know, Shirou, he's right. The only one of us who has tried to kill that girl is you. I just wanted some prana, so I could protect your son."
Meanwhile, the newly-arrived black-haired girl expressed her opinion of the now-departed man.
"What a moron", she said.
Rider certainly couldn't disagree with that statement. Then, the black-haired girl stared at her intently for a moment, before walking over to the schoolgirl and, kindly, asking her if she was hurt. In response, the girl finally took down the shield that had been protecting her, and replied to the other girl.
"I'm not hurt, maybe a bit battered and bruised, but I'm fine."
Rider was glad to hear that the girl wasn't seriously hurt, although she did still seem somewhat unsteady on her feet. Then, the girl pointed up at Rider, and spoke to the black-haired girl once more.
"She's a bit scary, but she saved my life, and I don't think she wants to fight, so we don't have to worry about her."
Hearing that, Rider smiled a little. As the girl talked about Shirou, though, Rider could see her getting even more unsteady. Quickly, she jumped down from the lamppost, landing close to the girl, but not close enough that it could be seen as a threatening move. Then, as she walked towards her, she responded to her, softly.
"No, I don't want to fight, and nor am I going to steal your prana. I'm sorry for attacking you, but I need to be able to protect my master's son, and for that I need prana."
Then, she walked over to the girl and placed her hands on her shoulders, steadying her. Then, she leant down and whispered in her ear, her voice thick with lust.
"But, you know, there are more pleasurable ways of transferring prana, if you're interested. Since I hurt you, I'll even let you punish me. You can do whatever.. you.. like..", she said, almost singing the final few words.
Then, the black-haired girl came over, taking hold of the girll's hand and giving her words of reassurance. In response, Rider let go of her shoulders, but stayed close by, nodding along to the black-haired girl's words of reassurance. Then, when the black-haired girl had finished talking, Rider added her comments, backing the black-haired girl up as she healed the injured and exhausted girl.
"Honestly, you're worth a thousand times what that idiot is. You know, you remind me of my master, in a way. You're a very strong girl, emotionally and magically. But, most importantly, you seem like a good person, with a good heart. Even if you were completely powerless, I would rather the world be full of kind and determined people like you than assholes like him.
If you want, I can help train you. I helped my master learn after the war, and now she's one of the most powerful magi around."
Of course, Hakuno probably wouldn't realise just how much of a compliment Rider had just paid her by comparing her to Sakura, but the rest of the statement was pretty clear.
Still, they had to deal with Shirou still. The black-haired girl was right that he probably wouldn't just let them go. And, as she said, there was also a possible issue with the new arrival, although hopefully he would accept Rider's polite refusal of his help and keep out of the battle for now. Still, at least her kindness to the schoolgirl had meant that the black-haired girl, who was apparently called "Isa", was willing to trust her now.
Then, to Rider's relief, Shirou finally dispelled his swords, and introduced himself
"Judging by your actions, most of you know me, but I'll introduce myself anyway. I'm Emiya Shirou. Now, what are we gonna do about this situation?"
To her annoyance, he seemed to have entirely ignored her previous comment. Still, Rider felt it was only polite to introduce herself.
"Hello, everyone. My legal name is Tohsaka Raida, but just Rider is normal. And, Shirou, what I want to know is why you tried to kill this poor girl...."
-
Forest gritted her teeth as the Pretty Boy Demon made his statement about her. The little wanker knew nothing about her. Yes, she knew she was an odd duck, doing what she did. It had caused enough questions over her long, lonely existence. However, she was not like that.
What she was didn't constitute who she was.
Just idiots like that little pillock didn't know that as he calmly strolled away.
However, she sent at him, You know nothing about me, you presumptive cunt. So get off of it. Then she smirked, thinking to herself, Being telepathic can be quite handy, especially when I want the last word. She looked around at the people around her, including the new little magic user who introduced herself as Isa, the poor brunette who looked utterly exhausted, the now introduced Emiya Shirou, and Rider.
There was also a blond teenage boy who asked Rider if she needed help playing Batman on a rooftop. People were holstering weapons, which was what she wanted and were seeming willing to talk. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, and she heard Rider's words to the poor girl, and shook her head. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and adjusted her fingerless gloves.
"Are you okay, Poppet?" Forest asked the brunette teenager, peering at her to see if she was truly wounded. Then she looked around and asked, "Is everyone okay?"
******
Lancer had watched the hilarious proceedings until things turned dark. The familiar decided to break his arm in punishment. Poor Rin and Archer, the bowman understandably needing to go tend to his Master if she was in danger, had no idea what to do with such a display. Lancer on the other hand grew up with one of the scariest witches who ever held a grimoire.
He nodded to the duo and said, "Go, I'll take care of the lad."
Then he touched down in front of the boy and said, "My Landlady would be right pissed if I left you with a broken arm like that, boyo."
-
Satoshi hopped off the rooftop and into the light of the street, his clothes were those of Archer save that these were worn, cracked and torn in places and it was clear that he was slightly too small for the outfit although not embarrassing so. Tied over his right arm was the gorgon breaker mask of rider's. His own swords although unnamed appeared to be kanshou and bakuya hanging from his belt, truth be told they while magically forged possessed none of their abilities otherwise.
"Miss, next time you use T.P.C. Please aim instead of the wide broadcast. And as for you Shirou, if you did try and kill that girl Kiritsugu says I have to punch the stupid out of you and grandpa is not someone I intend to disappoint" he said calmly
-
"N-no no, Kitty knows that it was a misunderstanding, you don't need to break any more limbs!"
"Kitty wants you to get that arm fixed as soon as you can, alright?"
Ruu nodded.
"Understood."
"Just make sure to ask what's going on before you do this sort of thing in the future. And try to get that arm fixed properly."
The familiar didn't understand why they were making such expressions.
"It will heal if Ruu waits. It always does."
The familiar just sit up where he stood. Looking at the sky as if he had forgotten about his surroundings. However, when Rin spoke again he answered without looking at her.
"You can go now. Just please get that arm fixed, and listen to Mister Asshole's advice!"
"Will do after it heals."
Of course, it would take days for that but time wasn't an issue for the familiar.
"Be careful, Kitty." He added, almost absentmindedly.
His focus on healing required for him to fall asleep. He was about to use the self-hypnosis right when someone landed before him.
"My Landlady would be right pissed if I left you with a broken arm like that, boyo."
Ruu recognized the blue-haired man from before, which triggered a weird expression on his face, akin to a smile, but not quite.
"Ah, Wolfy!"
He tried to salute him with his broken arm before realizing he could not. Still, he was curious about something.
"What is a Landlady? Is it like Uuoruuocon Master?"
The familiar was for some reason able to relax in presence of the warrior of the spear. There was a wildness in him that put him at ease, him who was a creature born to be close to nature. The curiosity devouring him as seconds went, the familiar bit on left sleeve.
----
"Honestly, you're worth a thousand times what that idiot is. You know, you remind me of my master, in a way. You're a very strong girl, emotionally and magically. But, most importantly, you seem like a good person, with a good heart. Even if you were completely powerless, I would rather the world be full of kind and determined people like you than assholes like him."
Isabella gave a calm nod at that.
"Agreed." Seems like trusting the Servant was the right call. "Could you imagine that? A world full of morons like him? I would rather have a zombie breakout than that." She said on a cheerful tone.
"If you want, I can help train you. I helped my master learn after the war, and now she's one of the most powerful magi around."
Blue eyes stared in Rider's direction with surprise.
"Excuse-me but you don't look like a Caster." She hesitated an instant. "Did something happened to your Master?" It may have been the reason the woman had to give chase to others in order to gather some prana. She didn't want to pry too much into privacy but it sure would help if they could contact the Master. Servants were supposed to get energy from their Masters, after all. If she was in danger, maybe helping the Master would solve the problem of prana for the Servant.
"Is everyone okay?"
Isabella jumped literally when words cut her thoughts.
It was the psychic lady. Isabella didn't notice her approach. She wanted to answer when the blond man decided to take control of the situation. His outfit had obviously known better days and was a bit too large for him. He gave some sort of advice and turned to the magus killer.
"And as for you Shirou, if you did try and kill that girl Kiritsugu says I have to punch the stupid out of you and grandpa is not someone I intend to disappoint."
What?
This guy is the son of Emiya Shirou? Now that she looked carefully, there were similarities. However there was a more pressing matter.
"I don't think threatening him with a punch will help, no matter who you are." She let out loud enough for the guy to hear her.
Isabella wouldn't bet on the likeliness of Shirou stepping down with that.
-
So she is alone, Kiyoshi thought after the girl responded to him, before backing her wheelchair up, and preparing to leave, clearly putting her politeness first.
Sure, she claimed to be fine, but she was only eight. He couldn't just leave her alone, and he didn't know if anyone else in the hotel would be willing to help her. Indeed, they might even hurt her. This town didn't seem like the sort of place where a wheelchair-bound eight-year-old would be safe, even indoors. Worried about her well-being, he desperately looked for an excuse to stop her from leaving.
"No, it's OK, I'm sure my Aunt has just gone out to help someone. It's better if I wait here for her to come back, otherwise she'll just go out looking for me again. Please, stay here. This town isn't safe, especially for a defenceless young girl", he said, politely and calmly, trying as hard as he could not to startle her.
Whilst he was mainly saying it to stop the girl walking away out of politeness, what he said did actually make sense, now he thought about it. Aunty Rider would expect him to be here, and if he went searching for her they could miss each other. And, the companionship of the girl would also be welcome. This was a strange town, and having someone of his own age who he could talk to would make it seem a little less scary.
Most of all, though, he just wanted to help her. Aside from his usual nature, he felt strangely protective of this girl, perhaps because she reminded him somewhat of his father. He simply couldn't bear the thought of her being left alone with no-one she could trust. Particularly if, as it seemed, she had no family to rely on. Alone in this town, she wouldn't stand a chance, but with his magic and, eventually, Aunty Rider's power, they could protect her.
"Look, I might not look like it, but I'm actually a magus. And, my Aunt is an extremely powerful...."
He paused for a moment, thinking how best to describe his Aunt. She likely wouldn't understand what a "servant" was, but telling the truth might scare her. Eventually, he decided to just leave it ambiguous for now.
"Well, she's extremely powerful, well beyond any modern human. As long as she's around you'll be safe from harm."
-
Taiga didn't know exactly who this boy was but calling himself a magus and using terms like modern human were not a good sign. Deciding to feign ignorance as she usually did Taiga replied softly. "do you and your aunt play one of those. MMORPG's?"
-
Hakuno was a bit startled as Rider jumped down right next to her. However, the beautiful Servant didn't seem to bear her any ill will, so she calmed back down pretty quickly. The bespectacled woman spoke to Hakuno softly as she got a bit closer to the exhausted teenager.
"No, I don't want to fight, and nor am I going to steal your prana. I'm sorry for attacking you, but I need to be able to protect my master's son, and for that I need prana."
Prana? That must have been the energy I felt. Given how exhausted I feel, it must be associated pretty closely with my stamina as well. Archer needed something like that too I think, when he was badly injured. That means... Servants need Prana to survive...
Hakuno turned to the lavender haired beauty and smiled. "I understand, it's OK. Sometimes people will do things that are questionable for the sake of protecting someone they really care about. Besides, I only got jostled a bit, and everything turned out fine in the end."
Not that I liked what you did with my breasts, but... in the scheme of things, it's something minor. You still seem like you can be quite nice when you're not angry or in need of sustenance, so I'm more than willing to let that slide.
Hakuno felt herself falling back a bit still, even while the black haired girl still kindly held her hand, but she felt Rider steady her before she could fall. She smiled back at the Servant, grateful.
Like this, this is really nice of her. Maybe she's just scary when she's stressed, and the breast thing was just a result of-
"But, you know, there are more pleasurable ways of transferring prana, if you're interested. Since I hurt you, I'll even let you punish me. You can do whatever.. you.. like.." The Servant leaned down to whisper this in her ear, the sound of longing in her voice, the final words nearly sung with pleasure. Hakuno swallowed, her cheeks a bit flushed.
...Never mind. This kept happening in the Moon Cell too. Do I just naturally attract women like this? Still... as much as she seems to want me, she still seems nice. ...Just a bit scary sometimes.
As for the prana thing... somehow I get the impression that she wants more than prana from me. But I feel bad for Forest having to cover for me. If I could lessen what she'd have to do if nothing else- i-it'd just be like a kiss or something, right? Just like Kiara did that one time, to transmit that program? Nothing further than that, is it?
But Hakuno was distracted from her thoughts by the sound of Forest's voice. The distraction was a bit welcome. "Are you okay, Poppet?" The teenager looked up at her, and nodded. "I'm OK, just a bit worn out and scratched up, otherwise I'm fine."
As Forest asked around to see if everyone else was alright, Hakuno was then addressed by the girl from before, still holding her hand, her expression gentle.
"You shouldn't let it get to you. What that jerk said, I mean." There was determination in the girl's eyes as she continued on, her voice filled with resolve.
"You're not trash. In fact, the shield you cast was high tier, albeit a bit unstable, but still pretty powerful. I would say you have great potential, all you need is practice and a good teacher. You can only do with the tools at hand at a particular moment. You were alone and attacked, yet you survived. That's a victory in itself and will help you improve."
While the jerk mercenary's words hadn't bothered terribly beyond reminding her of her helplessness, the young magus's words cheered Hakuno some, and filled her with some hope. If that was true, then even if she was weak now, with some training she could stand on her own two feet. Even if she suspected there would be times that she'd still not be strong enough and would have to depend on Archer, the thought of having the chance to not burden and even fight alongside her Servant beyond just throwing support his way filled her with determination.
The girl continued, giving Hakuno a genuine smile.
"Besides, rating people based on sheer power is dumb. There are as many possibilities as there are people. Being talented doesn't place you above others, since they surely do something better than you in another domain. That's why people are interesting and that's the reason we should help each other as much as possible. If you look at it that way, there are no more weaknesses, no more discrimination. Everyone's equal."
Then the girl proceeded to cast a spell, and while Hakuno didn't feel any less tired, or feel her Prana replenish so she could use the shield immediately again, she did feel some strength return to her, which made her more steady on her feet. As the girl worked, Rider took the opportunity to speak.
"Honestly, you're worth a thousand times what that idiot is. You know, you remind me of my master, in a way. You're a very strong girl, emotionally and magically. But, most importantly, you seem like a good person, with a good heart. Even if you were completely powerless, I would rather the world be full of kind and determined people like you than assholes like him." The Servant paused for a moment. "If you want, I can help train you. I helped my master learn after the war, and now she's one of the most powerful magi around."
Hakuno couldn't help but smile at the kindness she was being shown.
Plus it shows just how nice Rider can be. Though all this flip-flopping from really nice to really scary... it's giving me a bit of emotional whiplash.
She looked to them both, grateful. "Thank you very much, both of you." She addressed them each individually. "And thank you for healing me, I appreciate it." She turned back to Rider. "And thank you for the offer to train me, I may take you up on it. Oh! And thank you for saving me earlier." She would have thanked Forest as well, but she seemed a bit busy checking on everyone. Hakuno made a mental note to do so later, if she ever got the chance.
The young Magus finished with her spell, seeming to be satisfied with her work. "Here, it should help you a bit. The mark will only last for few seconds, don't worry. Though, if my sister were here, she could treat the bruises, afraid I don't possess that skill. See? Good example to what I said earlier." She said the last part with a wink, which got a bigger smile out of Hakuno.
In response to what Hakuno had said about Rider, the girl chuckled, but seemed pleasant enough about it. "Couldn't imagine you were attacked by her earlier. I like that part of you."
In response to what Hakuno had said about Shirou, the young Magus looked back at the mysterious young man. "Yeah, not sure it'll be easy though. He's the Second Magus Killer for a reason. Even with the psychopath gone, there is no guarantee he will let us go."
Hakuno's eyes widened. The Second... Magus Killer?! Within Hakuno's heart there was no doubt- even if they shared similar appearances, or even the same name, there was no way that this person was her Archer. There was enough strangeness going on that Hakuno suspected there had to be something else going on. Everyone seemed to be from different places, similar, but not quite connected to each other... Was it possible that this Shirou was simply from some sort of different timeline?
Thinking back, while she hadn't been paying close attention due to the circumstances, Rider seemed to recognize him, and also seemed shocked at his actions. So then... yes, that had to be it. Something went wrong in this Shirou's past, something to make him different from Archer. Archer... the more she thought on this, the more Hakuno wished that her Servant would return to her side. Despite all the warmth she'd been shown by these nice women, it still didn't feel quite right without him.
Hakuno's attention was brought back to the young magus girl as she turned back to her. "I don't know about that Servant, but I'll trust your judgment for now. Which leaves these two. If we can talk them down, we're good. " She indicated Shirou and another man that Hakuno just now noticed, who had yet to introduce himself. Visibly a bit nervous now, but like Hakuno herself, still trying to stay strong regardless, she introduced herself.
"I'm Isabella Rizzi; friends call me Isa, so please call me that."
Feeling sympathetic towards Isa for feeling what she herself felt to an extent, the teenager gladly introduced herself in exchange. She smiled warmly as she spoke, hoping to bring her new friend some comfort. "Isa's a pretty name. It's nice to meet you too! I'm Kishinami Hakuno. Most people just call me Hakuno, but if you have a nickname for me, that's fine too."
To Hakuno's surprise, she noticed Shirou making his blades vanish as he introduced himself as well.
"Judging by your actions, most of you know me, but I'll introduce myself anyway. I'm Emiya Shirou. Now, what are we gonna do about this situation?"
Funny that you're taking that attitude, given that you tried to bury a bullet in my brain not too long ago.
Still, even if she was far less inclined to do so with him than she was with Rider, Hakuno still was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now, especially if it meant that the conflict would end at last.
As Rider now formally introduced herself as well, Hakuno closed her eyes, quietly praying that this nightmare was over at last.
***
While preparing to leave, the duo of Archer and Rin was still somewhat hesitant due to a certain... grim display, from the small familiar they were leaving behind. But from the shadows Lancer revealed himself, addressing the two with a nod. "Go, I'll take care of the lad."
Rin sighed with relief, looking back at the Servant holding her, who also seemed a bit less tense. With a shout of gratitude from Rin and a nod from Archer, the pair took off once again, heading for their destination with all the speed they could manage.
The pair at last arrived on a rooftop overlooking what seemed to be the remnants of a somewhat messy and large confrontation. A number of figures stood gathered below, most of them gathered around a teenaged girl with brown hair.
Archer observed with a significant amount of relief that the girl was Hakuno, who was from what he could tell from this distance a bit battered, but still alive and well.
"The brunette girl... is that your new master?"
Archer nodded, almost smiling a genuine smile. "Yes, she is. I was worried we wouldn't be able to reach her in time, but she seems to be alright."
Rin couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy at Archer's reaction. Still, she couldn't help but be a bit happy too. Their mission was almost accomplished. She turned to her former Servant, her expression curious. "What's her name?"
Still looking down at the crowd below, he answered, "Kishinami Hakuno." The bowman's expression was now a bit of a frown as he looked at some of the other people in the crowd. "Rider, from the 5th War- she's there too."
Rin looked down after him, her eyes widening. "That is her! And-" Rin's eyes widened further. "That- it can't be..."
Archer's eyes narrowed and his voice darkened. "Emiya Shirou. Not the one we knew for certain, as he seems a bit older... Plus something seems a bit off with him..."
Archer looked away from this potential past self and back at the rest of the crowd below. "Anyone else you recognize?" While Archer couldn't recognize anyone else really, from what he could tell, the tall blonde woman was likely a vampire. He found that quite intriguing. Judging from the looks of everyone else, she was also the most likely one to be Lancer's landlady Fore. A vampire landlady huh? Interesting...
Archer turned back to Rin to see what her response was, but she shook her head. "The young girl looking after Kishinami-chan I think I recognize from the Clock Tower, only when I saw her last, she was younger. Other than that, I don't really see anyone I recognize." Rin frowned as she gazed at a blonde man in the crowd, however. "...Is that guy wearing your outfit?"
Archer took a look for himself. "So he is. Heh, didn't think it'd catch on quite that fast. Still, given where are, there could be any number of explanations."
Rin nodded. She gestured to the figures below. "Things seem pretty calm now from what I can tell. Should we go down there?"
Archer contemplated for a bit. While he was a bit concerned that having them enter so suddenly might stir things up again, Rin was certainly right about it seeming much calmer now, and since the majority of those present seemed concerned for his Master's welfare... well, as long as they announced themselves, they should hopefully be fine.
Archer nodded, and took Rin into his arms once more. Rin braced herself for impact as the Servant jumped off the rooftop all the way to the ground. Girl in tow or not, he still managed to land a bit hard but gracefully, straightening himself and allowing Rin to gently drop onto the ground.
Rin placed her hands up in supplication. "We're not here to fight, we're just here for Kishinami-chan!"
Hakuno, in response to her name, looked up at the two new arrivals. Rin? She's here too? And-
"Master, are you alright?" The Servant's steel grey eyes met the soft brown ones of his Master- however, there was a softness to them as he laid eyes on her once more.
Hakuno gazed right back, a jubilant smile crossing her face as she caught sight of her dear partner. "Archer!" She ran straight up to him, but stopped and crossed her arms over her chest, her expression changing to a bit of a pout. "Where've you been?"
He gave her his trademark exasperated smirk. But there was a heaviness behind it that showed more than a hint of guilt. "Believe me, I've been rushing to get here ever since I first found myself here. Unfortunately there were a few delays. See, there was Lancer, and also this somewhat masochistic famili-"
But Archer was cut off in mid-sentence, the rest of his words being replaced by a bit of a grunt as his Master seemed to almost tackle him, before wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing, her face buried into his abdomen. He could feel a bit of moisture in that area, and realizing what was going on, gently wrapped one of his own arms around her.
He could barely hear it even with his enhanced senses, as her words were somewhat muffled by her position, but she said, softly, "please don't leave me again."
His eyes softened even more, the fingers of his free hand gently moving through her hair. He leaned down a bit more so he was closer to her. Softly, he whispered, "I swear on my life I won't leave your side again so long as that's what you desire as my Master. I'll do everything in my power to ensure this never happens again."
Hakuno sniffled a bit as she looked up into her Servant's eyes. "Y-you don't have to take it so seriously you know. Even if you can't always be here or make it here on time, I know you're doing your best."
"Even so... this is one promise I intend to keep."
Rin couldn't help but look on at this display and feel what she'd felt on the rooftop again. Only this was worse. It almost hurt even. She'd never seen Archer be this gentle or compassionate with someone before... not even with herself. She attempted to suppress those feelings, telling herself that they were useless to a magus of her talent. Still... the loneliness she had felt before seeing Archer again seemed to intensify just a little bit...
The embracing pair suddenly realized that they had an audience. Archer blushed just a bit as Hakuno let go, quickly drying her eyes and trying to mask her brief moment of upset as she turned back to face the group. She too blushed just a bit, more than a bit embarrassed after being so successful with putting up a brave face for everyone. She still stayed close to her Servant, however, grateful to be in his presence once more.
Trying to stop himself from blushing, the Servant addressed the group before him. "Ahem... First of all, could any of you tell me which one of you is Fore? I need to speak with her briefly if possible."
Hakuno tugged on his sleeve and gestured towards the vampire. "You mean Forest? That's her over there."
Archer turned towards Forest. So I was right, Archer thought, allowing himself a bit of smug satisfaction at his correct deduction. He calmly looked her in the eyes as he addressed her. "So you're Lancer's landlady, huh? He's on his way, but he had to stop and take care of something first."
Archer took a quick look around the area again, noting that there was unnatural damage to the pavement and other signs of battle strewn about. With a sigh, he addressed the crowd at large. "Anyone care to tell me what exactly happened here? While I doubt this alleyway was particularly charming to look at to begin with, it looks like an absolute mess now."
-
That's odd.
Whilst the girl obviously wasn't aware of magecraft, Kiyoshi couldn't understand how the girl had managed to come to the conclusion that he was talking about a game. Why would he be bragging about his prowess in a game in order to show that he could protect her? True, she was only young but, even so, her response implied she was somewhat lacking in intelligence or common sense, not to mention extremely innocent.
There's no way someone that innocent could survive here. I need to convince her to let me protect her.
"No, I mean I can do real magic. Not the tricks you see on TV, but actual real magic, like Harry Potter or Merlin.
As for my Aunty Rider, well, she's a mythological being, and my mother's familiar. She was summoned over thirty years ago, and she's been protecting us all that time."
Aware that the girl was still somewhat apprehensive, Kiyoshi explained his past, and that of his Aunt, as gently as possible, being careful to avoid anything that might upset her, like explaining the Grail War. Even he didn't know the full details just yet, his mother and father saying they would explain when he was a bit older. What he did know, though, made it obvious that it wasn't particularly pleasant.
Still, he knew that words probably wouldn't be enough. He needed a demonstration. The question was what.
Normally, he'd just pull his swords out of thin air. But, given the girl's current wariness, he was worried that doing so might frighten her to the point that she would leave. However, unfortunately, he didn't really have anything else he could do. Unsure what to do, he looked around for a bit, and spotted Kuro getting out of the bed he had been tucked into and walking towards him.
Of course!
Nothing said that it had to be his magic.
"Kuro, come here!" he said, tapping on his shoulder.
The little familiar, only a foot high, quickly approached him, before climbing up his body and perching on the shoulder he had tapped.
"This is my pet, Kuro. My mother made him for me using her magic."
Then, he addressed the familiar.
"Kuro, give the girl a wave."
As instructed, the little shadow familiar raised his giant arm up until it was slightly above his head, and then gently waved his hand in the direction of the girl.
-
A modest pub in one of the most infamous streets in town, itself lost in the depths of a district long discarded by law enforcers. The place was filled with the worst kind of scums you could find, murderers, rapists, slavers, terrorists... It reeked of alcohol, tobacco, sweat and remnants of blood. A paradise for mercenaries as the owner also was the middleman dealing with the bigger contracts around.
It's in this shady place, under a buzzing bulb barely giving any light, seemingly about to die out, that the two men were exchanging words. Both were sitting at the table, each savoring his own drink with more of less moderation.
Larger and taller than his interlocutor, Touzaki Shuya gave an appreciative grin when tasting the mead. He had removed his vest and everyone could see in details the solid build barely kept in check by his sleeveless t-shirt. But most people were uneasy since his stump was clearly exposed to anyone present. A self-inflicted wound which gave birth through a long and refined process to the large and solid katana sheathed by his side. The weapon was fitting its wielder, truly an extension of himself, in more than one way.
"Not bad". He said, filling his own glass with the brown liquor. "That's at least one thing this place can offer."
The man facing him, emitted an amused sound. Not particularly handsome, especially in comparison to the wild charm the half-demon exuded, his face hidden behind a pair of sunglasses and a genuine smile. The man was dressed up for what looked like an important meeting, his gray tuxedo attracting the eyes more than Shuya's missing limb. The man was playing with the liquid poured in his glass as if trying to perceive its secrets.
"You seem bitter, hybrid." His tone was measured, having a drop of joy, yet not to the point to be insulting. "Did something happen to darken your mood?" The mockery was obvious in the last one but the mercenary didn't pick on that.
Shuya gulped down and let slip a grimace as he remembered what happened earlier.
"Just something I'll take care of later." He answered darkly. "More importantly, what do you want of me, Valken?"
The other man became serious all of the suddenly, a strange contrast with his previous behavior. Getting up, he walked up to the battered jukebox sitting not too far from the table, inserted money and set a bunch of songs to play. As he sit back, his smile returned.
"Yeah let's talk business now." He provided an envelop which Shuya grabbed at once. "I would like you to find this one and deliver it to the place mentioned here, in two days from now on."
Shuya looked at both the photo and the sheet of paper detailing an address. After a second, his eyes darted at Valken in a suspicious pattern.
"You cunning fox, observing me all that time..." He grinned like a devil. "What do you plan to do?" His voice low, telling to not joke about it.
Valken's answer came on a neutral tone.
"Can't tell something about that, only the middleman, as you know."
The mixed blood let his gaze wander over his drinking companion's face for a bit.
"Won't be easy. How much do I get out of it?" He asked with greed.
Valken shrugged apparently amused.
"How much do you want?"
"Don't care about money."
"What do you want, then?"
"Gimme a worthy opponent."
Valken emptied slowly his glass before throwing Shuya a glance as he stood up, preparing to leave.
"In that case, you won't have to search far. Partner's pretty strong."
The half-demon stood up quickly and looked at the man with a threatening aura.
"If you lie, I'll find you, you know it."
Even werewolves would have been scared by the murderous intent but Valken let it slide on him like water.
"I'm not lying."
Shuya let out a curt laugh.
"Then you got a deal."
-
Taiga listened intently to Kiyoshi and smiled politely as her mind worked to add up the information. Kiyoshi was from another reality, one where her father was not with her mother and while she would not fault Kiyoshi for it the idea was unnatural and in some way a betrayal. She of course saw with her radar like sense the familiar Kiyoshi was talking about but magic was a secret as far as she was concerned so her reply was obvious.
"I'm afraid kuro's trick is lost on me Kiyoshi as I cannot see your pet, or anything else for that matter"
-
Shirou snorted slightly as he listened to Rider's excuse for her actions. Prana to protect a son which didn't exist. The Servant was clearly sugar coating her words, manipulating everyone so that he became the enemy, after it became abundantly clear that he would not fall for her machinations. He opened his mouth to start a tirade on exactly how the Servant had been planning to take said prana and the falseness of her goals, only for those words to die as he spotted a pair of spectators literally jumping off the roof of a nearby building.
What the hell was going on in this town?
This thought raced through Shirou's head as he tracked the duo's descent into the alley. A very familiar duo, both if whom, like Rider should have been dead. There was no mistaking the distinctive red clothing, the trademark hairstyles: black twin tails and swept back silver hair not unlike his own. Nor that surge of inexplicable hatred as he watched the Servant lower the girl to he ground.
Tohsaka Rin and Archer. Shirou groaned slightly, massaging the side of his head as he tried his best to comprehend the situation. Whilst it was possible for Archer to have been re-summoned by another Master like Rider had been, Tohsaka Rin was dead. He had held her in his arms as she bled to death from a knife wound to her stomach, trying his best to make her passing gentle and I eventful as the impossibly kind girl deserved. And yet here she was, in the flesh, wearing her trademark red T-shirt, impossibly short skirt, her raven hair in rather girlish twin tails; smiling somewhat sardonically at everyone around her.
What was happening? Were the ghosts of his past rising up to haunt him?
Would she be here as well?
His thought was interrupted as the brown haired girl, Hakuno, he believed; diving into the arms of Archer, the Servant holding her close with clear affection written on his face. To the side, Tohsaka watched uncomfortably, her eyes full of sadness and a hint of...jealousy? Could it be that Tohsaka wasn't Archer's master? Was it instead...Hakuno?
Maybe he should have tried harder to eliminate her, but deep down, past the cd logical shell he had built around himself, he knew he wouldn't have forgiven himself for trying so hard to kill a seemingly innocent girl.
Suddenly, the pair broke off their embrace, seemingly embarrassed at their boldness. It reminded him of a pair of love struck teenagers, and frankly, it was a heart-warming thing to watch. Even if shoed him of what he sacrificed and denied to those unlucky enough to get caught in the cross-fire, cliched as it was, such simple acts, even amongst enemies, reminded Shirou of what it was he fought for, why he still ultimately had faith in humanity.
Archer, cheeks still slightly red and voice slightly sheepish, having finished his business with Hakuno and the vampire, asked a question that Shirou, despite being a participant, also wanted to know the answer to, "Anyone care to tell me what exactly happened here? While I doubt this alleyway was particularly charming to look at to begin with, it looks like an absolute mess now."
How had he termed it? Clusterfuck was insufficient...
"Well...it's a bit hard to explain..."
Can't give an abridged version, going to have to start from the beginning.
"Let's just say your Master was attacked by Rider, then stopped by the vampire over there. I...misinterpreted the situation, and attempted to save her in the most painless and least damaging way from what I perceived to be a bloodthirsty vampire and a soul-eating Servant. Let's just say it snowballed from there..." Shirou said, scratching his head slightly, ignoring the growing urge to hurl insults in Archer's direction, an itch which grew the linger he stayed in his future self's company. It would not do to aggravate the Servant...yet. Though Shirou highly doubted Archer would be pleased that he had tried to shoot Hakuno, if his memory was correct, the Servant had practically bragged to have done the same acts. He should understand.
-
Rider smiled as the girl showed great understanding of her situation, and then blushed luminescently as Rider propositioned her. She was just too cute, especially when teased, and really nice. Not to mention hot. Rider felt that she just had to have her. At the same time, though, this wasn't someone she wanted to take by force, not after the kindness and understanding she'd displayed. No, this girl would give herself to Rider willingly and freely, and Rider would make sure to give her much pleasure in return.
Then, the younger black-haired girl piped up, cheerfully.
"Agreed. Could you imagine that? A world full of morons like him? I would rather have a zombie breakout than that."
Rider's response, though, was less cheerful. She knew all-too-well what it was like to live with people like that.
"I can't only imagine it, I've lived in such a world. I've seen the very same people revered as heroes for murdering people on the whims of the gods. I've seen 'hero' after 'hero' come seeking out me and my sisters even as we lived in seclusion on our island, just to claim the glory and spoils of defeating us. I killed every single one to protect my sisters, until I eventually turned into a real monster", Rider responded, the anger and bitterness clear in her voice.
Then, the young girl continued.
"Excuse-me but you don't look like a Caster", she said. That was followed by an uncertain pause and then "Did something happen to your Master?"
"I am not a Caster, no, but in my time knowledge of magic was normal even for people who didn't specialise in it. I am no expert, but I can at least teach her the basics", Rider responded.
Then, her face became much more serious. Whilst Sakura was safe right now, probably more so than she would be here, she was almost certainly going to be extremely distressed when she found out what had happened to her son, and Sakura being distressed wasn't something Rider liked to see.
"As for my master, well at this precise moment she's either making love to her husband, frantically searching for a way to rescue her son or telling off her sister for screwing up and sending us here in the first place. It depends if they've got word to her yet.
She'll probably find a way to this world eventually, her sister does possess the ability to traverse dimensions, and nothing will stand in the way of her protecting her children. But, until she does, I'm without a prana source, and I can't trust anyone else to release me from any contract I might make when she does arrive. And, this place is too dangerous to leave her little boy unprotected. She would never recover if any harm came to him. So, I need prana."
Rider had, of course, worked out what the girl's real motives were. Finding her master meant finding her a prana supply, and then she wouldn't need to attack girls like the one standing next to her. Not that Rider objected to that, she would rather not harm people if she could avoid it.
Then, the girl she had attacked and then saved piped up, clearly grateful for all the help she had received.
"And thank you for the offer to train me, I may take you up on it. Oh! And thank you for saving me earlier", she said.
Hearing that, Rider smiled. She would dearly like to help the girl. And, besides, the closer she got, the more chance there was of wooing her. Perhaps she could even build it into her training....
"Well, I don't like seeing innocent people die needlessly, especially not cute girls like you", Rider said playfully. "And I'm sure training you will be quite enjoyable, and you really do deserve help to defend yourself."
Then, after Rider and the black-haired girl she now knew to be called Isa had introduced theirselves, the girl she had taken an interest in returned the favour.
"Isa's a pretty name. It's nice to meet you too! I'm Kishinami Hakuno. Most people just call me Hakuno, but if you have a nickname for me, that's fine too", she said.
Aww, what a nice name.
"Hakuno is a pretty name too, you know. Perfect for a pretty girl like you...", Rider said, practically purring with attraction for the girl.
Then, Forest spoke up.
"Are you okay, Poppet?", she said to Hakuno, before looking at everyone else and asking the same question of them.
Yeah, that seems about right for her, always worried about others first. Just like Shirou....
"I'm fine, thanks. I do need a prana supply, though, if you're still offering."
Whilst Rider would dearly love to have Hakuno supply her with prana, in the absense of any willingness on Hakuno's part Forest was a more-than-adequate short-term solution to her prana issues. She was still an extremely beautiful woman, after all, even if she lacked the innocence that Rider found so endearing in the younger girl. And, she seemed like she would be willing to do almost anything if it meant ensuring that no-one would come to harm, which Rider hoped would include indulging her kinks, at least somewhat....
Suddenly, the man who had offered her help previously jumped from the roof. Now she saw him in more detail, she could clearly see that he was wearing an outfit identical to the one Archer wore, only it was clearly too large for him, and it was also clearly very old and worn. Further, he seemed to have an exact copy of her mask tied around his right arm.
How odd.
For a moment, she considered the possibility that the mask was some sort of "trophy" he had taken from a version of her that he'd killed, but she quickly dismissed that concept. For one thing, the way he'd acted towards her had been the way one would act towards an ally or friend, not an enemy. And, in any case, if she died her mask would quickly vanish, since it was, like everything she was summoned with, created and sustained using her prana.
But, even if he was friendly, he was a real enigma. He clearly knew both her and Archer, and he also bore a strong resemblance to Shirou in many ways, suggesting that he was Shirou's child. But, at the same time, he bore no resemblance to the woman Shirou was utterly devoted to. Further, even in the unlikely circumstance that Shirou fell in love with someone other than Sakura, there was no-one that she knew who could bear Shirou a blonde-haired child.
"Miss, next time you use T.P.C. Please aim instead of the wide broadcast. And as for you Shirou, if you did try and kill that girl Kiritsugu says I have to punch the stupid out of you and grandpa is not someone I intend to disappoint", the boy said.
Wait, what?
The boy's words confirmed what she had already expected, that he was Shirou's son. But, the mention of Shirou's adoptive father was very odd indeed. As far as she knew, the man had died a good five years before the Grail War, of some uncurable disease, seemingly somehow related to the Grail War he had fought in. And, yet, here was Shirou's adult son referring to him in the present tense, having taken advice from him. Good advice, admittedly, but nevertheless it was advice from a ghost.
Clearly the world in which he lived was very different from her own. But, even so, the fact that he knew both her and Archer implied that there had still been a Grail War, which both of them had survived. And that, in turn, implied that their masters must have survived the war, and still be alive. Further, she suspected it was unlikely that she would be alive and on good terms with Shirou's offspring if Sakura herself was not free from Zouken's control, happy and, if not Shirou's lover, at least important to him, as she was prior to the Grail War. That thought at least gave her some comfort, although she couldn't understand how such a scenario could arise.
Plus, the man seems sensible, judging by his comments to the asshole Shirou over there, which means his father is probably sensible too.
Overall, this was a man she could definitely work with. Plus, being Shirou's son, she couldn't help but find him rather attractive, although she wasn't besotted as she was with Hakuno.
Before she could respond to him, though, Isa replied to his previous comment.
"I don't think threatening him with a punch will help, no matter who you are."
Well, yes, true, she thought.
Whilst this Shirou did seem like somewhat of an asshole, she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for the moment, if only to ensure the peace was kept. Things seemed to be settling down here, and the absolute last thing she wanted was a fight.
Then, suddenly, she saw a familiar red knight jumping off the rooftop, carrying a far more familiar young twin-tailed girl with a far-too-short skirt, black thigh-high socks and just the right amount of deliciously exposed leg.
Rin?
Rider wondered where she had come from. Unless something very odd was happening she couldn't be Archer's master, since Hakuno had already admitted to such. Which meant she was here from yet another different world. All she could hope was it was one in which her relationship with Sakura and Rider was good....
Archer landed, gracefully if a little hard, next to his apparent new master, before gently dropping Rin to the ground. Apparently, even a change of master didn't get rid of his feelings for Rin entirely, although that wasn't overly surprising given that he had known her in life.
Oddly enough, Rin was the first one to speak. Using the universal sign for 'we don't mean any trouble', she put her hands up and said "We're not here to fight, we're just here for Kishinami-chan!"
At that, Rider saw Hakuno look up. Oddly enough, there seemed to be some hint of recognition when she saw Rin, as if they'd met before. Which, again, was somewhat bizarre, since she had never seen the girl before, and if she were Rin's friend Rider would surely have noticed her at some point.
Then, Archer finally spoke, causing Hakuno to look towards him.
As Hakuno's eyes met those of her servant and she ran towards him, clearly delighted at his arrival, Rider's heart sank somewhat. The girl clearly loved her servant deeply, and she knew it would be very difficult for her to get past that. And, whilst she wouldn't be entirely adverse to a threesome, she doubted that either of them would be interested. Not that she would give up on the girl, but her chances seemed somewhat remote. She could see in the girl's words and emotions how much she adored and needed her servant. He was to her what Shirou was to Sakura. Her protector and, likely, lover, someone she could never bear to be without. Even so, though, she couldn't help but feel happy for the girl. After all she'd been through she deserved something good to happen. Plus, the way she softly asked him to never leave her was just adorable.
However, even as the master and servant shared an emotional reunion, Rider also found herself feeling somewhat sorry for Rin. She knew the girl's attachment to Archer, and she could see the jealousy and loneliness in Rin's eyes. Hopefully, she would be able to help ease that pain somewhat, and get some hot sex into the bargain. Rider had always found her master's sister exceptionally attractive and, to her delight, the feeling had been mutual. Whilst their mutual devotion to Sakura had prevented them from ever forming a serious relationship, there had been a large number of usually-drunken sexual encounters and, for a while at least, they had agreed to be "friends with benefits", which suited Rider just fine. Even better, it had turned out that Rin was a surprisingly kinky girl, quite happy to play along with Rider's games as long as she wasn't expected to submit to anything too extreme.
Rider's feelings towards Rin right now were decidely mixed. On one hand, she was her master's beloved sister, and a good friend and sometimes lover to Rider herself. But, on the other hand, an alternate version of her was responsible for them being in this mess in the first place. Right now, though, Rider was feeling somewhat lustful and, that, combined with the anger with Rin, her general sexiness and that ludicrously short skirt made Rider think she would rather like to bend Rin over her knee and give her a very hard spanking....
Yes, that would be fun. But, how do I get Rin to agree?
Rider knew Rin was very definitely bisexual in nature, but that didn't mean she would just jump into bed with every woman she met. She suspected a lot would hinge on where this Rin was from. For all she knew it could be a version of Rin that had actually murdered her sister. Although, if so, at least Rider would be able to torture her to her heart's content without any guilt....
Meanwhile, she heard Archer discussing Forest. Mostly, it wasn't of much interest to her, but the fact that she had a lodger called "Lancer" did catch Rider's ear.
What, yet another servant?
Hopefully, it wouldn't be that idiot knight that she had briefly fought in the War. Whilst she never had much chance to get know him before he was, presumably, eaten alive by Sakura's shadow, from what she had seen he was someone who lived to fight, rather like the asshole she had fought before. Admittedly, he had shown considerably less malice about it than the asshole had, but he was still someone who would seek out a fight for the sake of it, and that wasn't generally a good thing. Plus, he had apparently attempted to murder Shirou (who as far as he had been aware had been an entirely defenceless schoolboy) in cold blood solely to "uphold the rules", which was possibly the stupidest reason for committing murder she could imagine.
Then, Archer looked around the alley and, seeing the devestation their fight had caused, asked "Anyone care to tell me what exactly happened here? While I doubt this alleyway was particularly charming to look at to begin with, it looks like an absolute mess now."
Oh, shit.
Whilst Hakuno had forgiven her for the initial attack, she wasn't sure Archer would be so reasonable. She needed to be very careful about how she explained things.
Hmm, what should I say?
However, before she could come up with an answer, the worst possible person decided to pipe up.
"Let's just say your Master was attacked by Rider, then stopped by the vampire over there. I...misinterpreted the situation, and attempted to save her in the most painless and least damaging way from what I perceived to be a bloodthirsty vampire and a soul-eating Servant. Let's just say it snowballed from there..."
Hearing the way he twisted the truth to his own ends, Rider's face contorted with rage.
"What do you mean you attempted to save her? You tried to put a bullet in her head. If you were so determined to save her as you claim, why didn't you attack what you percieved as the actual threats, rather than the innocent victim? That's what a real hero would do, what the Shirou I know would have done.
But, no, not you. You didn't even attempt to save the girl, your very first act was to try to put a bullet in her head. Even if we had been what you thought we were she was not going to die immediately. But, you knew that if we did fight there could be massive destruction, and you tried to prevent it in the most efficient way you know, which was to attempt to take out the source of conflict. The fact that that source was a human being didn't seem to factor into your thoughts one bit. She was just a number to you, nothing more.
And, to top it off, you have the gall to twist the truth to try to turn her servant on the very person who saved her. The only person here who ever had any designs on her life is you. All I wanted was to take a bit of her prana, I had no intention of killing the poor girl."
Then, she turned to the blonde boy.
"Whilst you're obviously from a world very different to my own and I can't work out who your mother could possibly be, you're still Shirou's son, and you seem to have your head screwed on right unlike that idiot over there. If you need help in 'punching the stupid' out of him, I'll be more than happy to join you."
Rider, still seething with rage, looked towards Rin, picturing all the kinky games they had once played in her mind. Imagining her master's beautiful sister being spanked and tormented aroused her and calmed her down somewhat, and she composed herself.
"OK, look, perhaps I was a bit hasty there. Right now I don't have a master in this world, so I would rather avoid a fight if possible. If one is necessary, though, I will happily help you beat down that asshole. One thing I do want to know, though, is how you came to be. You're obviously Shirou's son, but you don't look like Sakura. Yet, the way you talk to me implies she is alive and well in your time. I don't understand how that can be. Those two are made for each other, yet in your time they seem to be good friends and nothing more. I just don't understand it...."
Then, she turned to Rin.
"And, honestly, I would like to know more about you, too. Is your sister safe and happy in your time? And, am I still around?"
She knew she needed more information before she could judge this Rin properly. After seeing what Shirou had become she couldn't just blindly accept she was the same as her Rin. Particularly since even Rin herself had very remorsefully admitted that only Shirou had prevented her from murdering her sister several times during the Grail War. A slight change in history could have very easily led her down that path.
Even so, she couldn't resist a little teasing.
"And, you know, Rin, if you want 'comforting', I'll be more than happy to provide it", she said with a wink.
-
"What is a Landlady? Is it like Uuoruuocon Master?"
Lancer tilted his head and said, "Uuoruuocon eh? Well that's a bloody mouthful. Let's just call you Ruu for short then. People call me Lancer."
The Celt then laughed and said, "Nah, Fore's not my Master. As fond as I am of her, I wouldn't want her my Master even if I was a Servant. She gives me a place to stay, a roof over my head and all the spirits a man could ask for. So, you could say she's more of my Lady, one I dedicate my spear to." Then he scowled and said, "Even though she destroys every fucking pack of smokes I get, Brigid's Titties."
He held out his hand for Ruu to take and said, "Come on, let's go meet her. She can help with your arm."
******
Forest scowled at the blond teenager's words and replied, "With this many people I had to broadcast or we would have gratuitous bloodshed, and only that colossal wanker would have been pleased by that."
Little pillock, lecturing me, the vampire thought in a huff, shielding her thoughts as always.
She looked away only to have the Poppet introduce herself. Hakuno, well, I have a name for her now then. She smiled at that and was about to tell Hakuno she was pleased to meet her. Then two new people, adding to the already crowded alley - Maybe this should now be a 'block party'- and Forest stared. There was a very beautiful young Japanese woman with stunning aquamarine eyes and then the man carrying her.
Sweet Bruce Campbell.
Tall, broad shouldered, tawny skinned with white hair and eyes like steel. His outfit left little to the imagination, and that collar was suggestive as all get out. Yet, he seemed slightly ill at ease in that outfit, displaying his body like that. Which was curiouser and curiouser. Then there was that neat fact he was apparently some future alternate version of Emiya Shirou who didn't end up like the Punisher.
Forest blinked when keen sexual fantasies and thoughts were literally being broadcasted by Rider, imagining threesomes or what to do with sweet, innocent girls for fun. If she would have fed, Forest's cheeks would have turned pink at the sheer randiness of what she was being shown in Rider's mind. Then Servant and Master had a sweet embrace, and the sight of it gave Forest a pang, reminding her of just how lonely she was.
Lancer was a good friend, but men like him didn't have Long Term Prospects.
And the randy kept broadcasting from Rider.
Archer walked up to her and made eye contact. She resisted the urge to look away and kept his gaze as he told her that Lancer would be late. She rolled her eyes and said, "Of course he will be."
Then Shirou spoke up and Forest whirled on him. "Yeah, the reasonable thing to do would have been to attack the fucking monsters, not the victim! Buuuutttt noooo, destroy the food source to keep the monsters from fighting. Good plan, lad, excellent sodding plan."
Her eyes met his and she said, "Look, I understand your path hasn't been an easy one, possibly with Joss Whedon levels of tragedy and angst, which I know the reference just went right over everyone's heads here, but!" She waved her hand and continued, "Innocent blood isn't something that should be so easily shed. If you're going to be here in my city, then you're going to play by a better set of rules than that grimdark vigilante bull shit."
She then looked at Rider and asked, "Lord and Lady, is that all you think about?"
-
"about time Bruce, did Alfred forget to fuel up the batmobile again?" Satoshi laughed. turning away from the reference he waited out the minor tirade the two women were on until it finished and collected himself as his thoughts came together.
"my name proper is Satoshi Alexander Emiya Pendragon. I am the prince of knights, king of heroes, heir to the house Einzbern and the dragon. The second of my titles was earned defeating Gilgamesh and stripping him of such. Emiya Shirou is my father and my mother is Arturia Pendragon the king of knights, most know her as king Arthur, history got the male part wrong because Merlin used magic. And no, Rider usually thinks about any current book she's reading. As for my world every one is alive, I would give a full list but that would take too long for the current situation but my grandfather and your master are very much among them as well as Rin there being the head of the mage association. As to the issue here I'm afraid your outrage is a little misplaced. While killing innocent people is wrong tactically speaking it was Shirous only choice, I say this because I'm well aware of what happens to a person drained by vampirisms cold touch, both in the case of your method Rider as your sisters attacked me and by the standard vampire means. Also please keep something in mind Forest, you are a western vampire, the eastern ones are much more horrific when you are drained by them, you can become a zombie, ghoul or even another vampire but eastern vampires have little in the way of self control due to their bodies constantly deterioration leaving them in agony. It's not a thing I would wish on any one , Shirou did what he thought was right and given that I understand what it is to be powerless I can't blame him for picking the option with the best odds of survival and spare a victim torturous pains. Also Rider you'll have to accept that worlds like his counter balance yours and mine, cosmically speaking you cannot blame him for the hand of fate. More importantly though is the fact that he sugar coated it which says that he thinks what he does is at it's basic level wrong. This means he isn't completely gone and I think you of all people should see the merits of a second chance" his small speech finished he waited for those who would protest.
-
"And, to top it off, you have the gall to twist the truth to try to turn her servant on the very person who saved her. The only person here who ever had any designs on her life is you. All I wanted was to take a bit of her prana, I had no intention of killing the poor girl. Whilst you're obviously from a world very different to my own and I can't work out who your mother could possibly be, you're still Shirou's son, and you seem to have your head screwed on right unlike that idiot over there. If you need help in 'punching the stupid' out of him, I'll be more than happy to join you."
"Yeah, the reasonable thing to do would have been to attack the fucking monsters, not the victim! Buuuutttt noooo, destroy the food source to keep the monsters from fighting. Good plan, lad, excellent sodding plan."
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Once Satoshi's (his son? He never had a son, least of all with Saber: they had maybe been friends, then she was eaten by the Shadow....Sakura) speech ended, Shirou spoke up, intending to clear up his mistake.
"Thank you...Satoshi. If nothing else, I'm glad that you're not another idealistic idiot like I used to be, and can actually try to see the bigger picture. I guess Saber raised you well," Shirou spoke softly as he smiled slightly at the man, thankful for his attempt to help him. His eyes soon turned cold as he faced Forest and Rider, seething internally at how the Servant had effectively manipulated everyone onto her side despite her own fault in the matter, making herself out to be some sort of selfless hero who saved the girl. Already, she had managed to sink her claws into Hakuno and the vampire, both of whom seemed to consider the Servant as their friend. And also a small part of him raged at the no doubt dirty things Rider planned to do to Hakuno and Rin if Forest's blush and remark was any indication. He didn't used to think so, but no matter how tragic the circumstances which had forced her into becoming an anti-hero, it was a role well suited for her.
"Well...I wasn't quite planning on aggravating everyone, so I better explain myself a bit better," he said, carefully noting the expressions of those around him, in particular the anger in Archer, Hakuno and Forest's eyes. Quite righteous anger actually, which is why he was so adamant on talking and not simply walking away like that lunatic Touzaki had. He couldn't quite bear to look at Tohsaka though: his confusion at her continued existence, mixed in with his happiness at her miraculous survival and guilt at having been forced to kill her in the first place, would distract him far too much from what needed to be said.
"First off," he addressed the blond vampire, voice slightly sarcastic, "You said shoot the monsters, not the victim. If that option was available to me, in a way which didn't cause complete collateral damage, we wouldn't be here talking right now. I was not close enough to directly intervene, nor did I have allies whom I could have directed to your location. And, let's be honest, do you really think a mere high-velocity sniper bullet to the head would have stopped you, who had appeared at the time to be a Dead Apostle; and Rider, a full blown Servant capable of moving at speeds beyond most cars and tougher than a stainless steel vault? Well, maybe you, I don't know what you're capable of and what your weaknesses are, but definitely not a Servant. If anything, it might cause one of you to run away with the girl, or feed on her quicker so you could gain enough power to fight off a possible threat. And I wasn't going to leave Hakuno in your hands so you could make her into your Dead slave, or in Rider's hands where she would literally suffer a fate worse than death. So your suggestion is out. Unless you think it would have been a good idea to shoot a Noble Phantasm into an alleyway literally next to the city centre on the off chance that I manage to kill at least one of you. Not that it would have anyway, you would have detected it long before I could fire."
Shirou hesitated, before bowing slightly in appreciation to the vampire, remarking,"I do have to thank you though for delaying Rider, now that I know what your true intentions were. I'm sorry I over-complicated this matter."
Shirou then turned to Rider, who appeared to be ignoring him, instead eyeing Rin like a piece of meat. Her tense posture, which screamed anger in every curve, gave her away though: he could tell she was listening intently to his every word, seeking for some weakness in his argument.
"And you. You have some nerve to lecture me on my choice, to be outraged at my actions. The one who should be outraged is me," he said, his voice trembling slightly in barely repressed anger, "You say I have no sense. That what you're the one responsible for saving Hakuno and thus bears no blame in this matter. How dare you! You were only going to take a little bit of prana? That's bullshit and you know it!"
He walked a little closer to the Servant, eyes steely as he continued his explanation.
"The easiest and quickest choice for you would be to gain prana would have been by eating her soul, leaving her a lifeless shell, capable of only the bare minimum to survive. Don't think I've forgotten what you did to Mitsuzuri. Tohsaka managed to save my friend Ayako from this fate, but even now she's suffering from the side effects. She suffers nightmares of the incident every night, and even if she can't remember what exactly happened, she's developed a phobia to the point that every time she's alone in a dark room, she's overcome with petrifying fear until someone comes to her aid. Or maybe you were going to go the slow way. Maybe, force a tantric ritual with a girl who seemingly had at best, a small untapped pool of prana in her body. Use your eyes to petrify her so she can't resist, or just brute force her onto the ground, then have your way with her until you were satisfied, on the off chance that you somehow gained mana from a schoolgirl who you knew was not a magus. And afterwards, to cover up your tracks, because I know you can't wipe people's memories; you would have no choice but to kill her right there and then or take her away to your lair, where you can do it again and again until she had no more prana left. Is that what you planned to do if the vampire here hadn't stopped you?" Shirou asked, fists clenching at the thought.
"How on earth could I possibly just let you do that? How on earth could I just let a girl suffer either that or the experience of becoming the Dead in attempting to shoot the two of you down with a rifle? Yes, call me a murderer, but if I had absolutely no choice, I would much rather kill someone painlessly than to leave an innocent person to experience such a fate," Shirou growled, his voice rough, anger lacing his every word.
Shirou stopped for a second, taking deep breaths as he forced himself to calm down. He had to keep in control if this situation was going to be settled peacefully. He addressed Rider once again.
"Lastly...and the thing I find most unforgivable. You claim that you had no choice, that you're only trying to get prana to continue protecting a boy who you claim is my son. Well then, out of all the possible secluded alleys, all the possible deserving criminals and so-called scum with reasonable levels of prana you could have picked from, hell just in this nearby area, let alone this vast city...why did you decide to attack a harmless ordinary schoolgirl with small mana reserves who had just walked out of the city centre?" Shirou asked, voice harsh and unforgiving, his silver eyes boring into the Servant's face mask.
-
"Uuoruuocon eh? Well that's a bloody mouthful. Let's just call you Ruu for short then. People call me Lancer."
The small individual answered to that with a neutral look. "Wolfy Lancer." He then nodded."Uuoruuoc-... Ruu will remember it." He corrected himself just in time
"Nah, Fore's not my Master. As fond as I am of her, I wouldn't want her my Master even if I was a Servant. She gives me a place to stay, a roof over my head and all the spirits a man could ask for. So, you could say she's more of my Lady, one I dedicate my spear to."
"Even though she destroys every fucking pack of smokes I get, Brigid's Titties."
"..."
Ruu noticed the positive change that bloomed on Lancer's face, frowning slightly for himself. He kept silent, envying the man without realizing it.
For a being like him, concepts as simple as friendship, love or any kind of attachment were superfluous. He could experience a variety of feelings but affections and the likes were beyond his understanding. He protected nature and creatures that were unable to defend themselves but it was only applying his purpose, by doing so, as much as he felt the urge to do so, it was only emulation. No real wish existed in him because he was far from being human. Only a tool denied of free will.
Still there was something fascinating which he could only share through his natural empathy ability. The simple warm he felt was something precious, something he wanted to feel again, something he longed for. And this desire translated as a painful memory for him, right now.
The pain would be tenfold that would he extend his sense towards Lancer, that's why he didn't try reading him. Instead, he rubbed his temple in a manner that he hoped would chase away the unfamiliar sensation but nothing happened.
"Come on, let's go meet her. She can help with your arm."
Ruu noticed the arm extended in his direction and blinked. He accepted the hand and got up, and they started moving. His eyes didn't meet the ex-Servant as he wondered why Lancer and the Landlady would consider helping him.
"Why would Landlady want to fix Ruu's arm? It doesn't belong to her." His limited knowledge of social interaction showed up like a beacon, impossible to miss. Even with this confusion in mind, the familiar didn't let go of Lancer's grip. He did accept to follow the man knowing that he could heal by himself. "It can heal by itself." He added clumsily.
----
"I can't only imagine it, I've lived in such a world. I've seen the very same people revered as heroes for murdering people on the whims of the gods. I've seen 'hero' after 'hero' come seeking out me and my sisters even as we lived in seclusion on our island, just to claim the glory and spoils of defeating us. I killed every single one to protect my sisters, until I eventually turned into a real monster"
There had been anger and bitterness in the tone in such a genuine display that it triggered Isabella's guilt.
"I'm sorry, I said something rather insensitive. Didn't mean to remember you of something bad." She said on an apologetic tone.
Her eyes focused on Rider for a bit.
"I am not a Caster, no, but in my time knowledge of magic was normal even for people who didn't specialise in it. I am no expert, but I can at least teach her the basics."
Made sense. Some heroic spirits could be very old, those of the legendary Age of Gods era would have especially extended knowledge of not only magecraft but magic as well. She expected as much.
"As for my master, well at this precise moment she's either making love to her husband...
That, she didn't expect however. Isabella became crimson at the mention of such an act. Not only was she no good at romance stuff, but it was even worse when it was dropped in the middle of a conversation. Turning her gaze on the ground without knowing how to react to that, she listen to what the Servant still had to say.
"...frantically searching for a way to rescue her son or telling off her sister for screwing up and sending us here in the first place. It depends if they've got word to her yet.
She'll probably find a way to this world eventually, her sister does possess the ability to traverse dimensions, and nothing will stand in the way of her protecting her children.
Yes, Rider, as Shirou's son called her, mentioned a child earlier. Apparently, Emiya Shirou was the father, well another Shirou was, and the Master was the mother. What happened to Rider and the kid was kinda similar to what happened to her and Vanessa. Although in their case, it was mostly thanks to her sister's limitless curiosity.
"But, until she does, I'm without a prana source, and I can't trust anyone else to release me from any contract I might make when she does arrive. And, this place is too dangerous to leave her little boy unprotected. She would never recover if any harm came to him. So, I need prana."
Isabella looked at the Servant with a brand new appreciation. She didn't want to steal prana from people, but she had no choice but to resort to it. All came down from the simplest of need. Prana would be an issue for most Servant cut from their link formed through the pact of summoning with their Master. Like Rider said, without a prana supply she would have to repeat this process. Which explained why she was reluctant to fight against the sword freak. She couldn't afford to spent what she had left, without risking to disappear and thus condemning the child to end up alone.
Far from what she initially judged her. The magus bowed slightly.
"I misjudged you, for that, I ask your pardon."
She wanted to add something but Hakuno chose that moment to speak up.
"Thank you very much, both of you. And thank you for healing me, I appreciate it."
The girl seemed to cheer up, something pleasing Isabella.
"That's not much." Answered the fourteen year-old with an impish grin.
"Isa's a pretty name. It's nice to meet you too! I'm Kishinami Hakuno. Most people just call me Hakuno, but if you have a nickname for me, that's fine too."
Isabella smiled strangely at these words.
"Well, thanks. However I'm not sure how I should call you. You're older than me and obviously japanese. So, erm... I'll use Hakuno-san if you don't mind." The black-haired girl added with a grimace. "Though I do not recommend asking for a nickname to my sis."
It would indeed be a bad idea. Her older sister's were so lame after all.
I'm fine, thanks. I do need a prana supply, though, if you're still offering."
Isabella nervously bit on her lip when she heard what Rider said to Forest.
Such a measure wouldn't help in the long term. She thought, peering at the Servant.
With the end of the spell cast on Hakuno, the twin walked.
Last time they stopped before it escalated thanks to Forest intervention. That's why Isabella decided to stand by her side, clearly stating where she stood in that argument. From up close, the italian girl could see the whole extent of the gorgeous woman. Although pale in complexion, she looked genuinely hot. Even as a girl, Isabella had no shame admitting she was impressed, even after interacting with Rider which was also a jewel in her own category. But in spite of her good looks, there was no mistake she was a vampire, and a pretty powerful one, at that.
The magus studied her discreetly. Not a lot people could get that close to a Dead Apostle in her world. Although a vampire, it seemed like the woman standing here was able to keep her soul. The whole idea was strange and a bit destabilizing. How many adventures did she live? What amazing things did she saw? How could be the point of view of an immortal?
"..."
She had tons of questions for her but now was not the right time.
Two people suddenly appeared. The first one, was a tall man with a solid build, gray eyes, white hair somewhat reminiscent of Emiya Shirou. The other, she was surprised to recognize.
"Tohsaka-san!" The girl waved a hand in pattern to salute the superior magus. Even though it had been years they had met, the japanese genius left such a strong impression on the twins that there would be no way they would forget her. "It's been a while." Smiling like a little girl, she could not help fidgeting where she stood.
That's pretty much when Hakuno dashed to the man, efficiently tackling him an affectionate hug. She heard Hakuno's words and Archer's declaration of loyalty and couldn't help but smile even as a bystanders.
"That's pretty cute, don't you thi-...Huh?" She stopped when he saw Forest's face.
A glimpse of sadness appeared for an instant and Isabella understood without words. Loneliness. For someone like the magus, who always had her sister to rely upon, it was difficult to apprehend how alone people could be, especially after becoming... different. Did she have to deal with discrimination all the time? Did she had to stay on the move? Did people despise her because of her nature? How many times did she have to prove her worth? Did she had to bury her lover? Did she see each of her friends wither and disappear? Did she ever found people who understood her? Did she even felt happiness at all? As other thoughts raced through her mind, she felt deep sadness for the woman standing here and tears rolled over her cheeks in a non-stop stream.
In an attempt to show support for Forest, her fingers sealed around the woman's palm in a gentle gesture. Cold feeling transmitted to Isabella but didn't let go.
Something simple, but meaningful. Only an instant, sharing a little of her own warmth in the vain hope it would alleviate the pain. After a moment, she cut the contact while looking down.
With the back of her hand, she wiped her face in order to gather some dignity again. She wasn't that emotive usually, but the overall tension had gotten the best of her
and when she let the guard down, she cried silently for someone she barely knew yet understood enough that Forest felt pain without, maybe, a way to express it.
Of course when Archer walked to Forest, the twin slightly stepping back from the Servant's presence. Then, the guy looked around and let the question he had kept for him until now.
"Anyone care to tell me what exactly happened here? While I doubt this alleyway was particularly charming to look at to begin with, it looks like an absolute mess now."
"I think we shou-...."
She was, however, cut by the voice of the Shirou who had been so quiet, Isabella almost forgot about him.
"Well...it's a bit hard to explain..."
He seemed to search his words.
"Let's just say your Master was attacked by Rider, then stopped by the vampire over there. I...misinterpreted the situation, and attempted to save her in the most painless and least damaging way from what I perceived to be a bloodthirsty vampire and a soul-eating Servant. Let's just say it snowballed from there..."
Isabella sent an alarmed look at Archer, fearing a bold reaction.
"Wait a second it wa-..."
But it seemed she wouldn't have time to speak this time again, Rider jumping immediately in.
"What do you mean you attempted to save her? You tried to put a bullet in her head. If you were so determined to save her as you claim, why didn't you attack what you percieved as the actual threats, rather than the innocent victim? That's what a real hero would do, what the Shirou I know would have done.
But, no, not you. You didn't even attempt to save the girl, your very first act was to try to put a bullet in her head. Even if we had been what you thought we were she was not going to die immediately. But, you knew that if we did fight there could be massive destruction, and you tried to prevent it in the most efficient way you know, which was to attempt to take out the source of conflict. The fact that that source was a human being didn't seem to factor into your thoughts one bit. She was just a number to you, nothing more.
And, to top it off, you have the gall to twist the truth to try to turn her servant on the very person who saved her. The only person here who ever had any designs on her life is you. All I wanted was to take a bit of her prana, I had no intention of killing the poor girl."
Isabella rubbed her temples, at that reaction. While Rider said the truth, she knew it would only serve to aggravate the situation. She walked to Archer, trying to get his attention.
"Please, listen to m-..."
This time, it was Forest who spoke.
Yeah, the reasonable thing to do would have been to attack the fucking monsters, not the victim! Buuuutttt noooo, destroy the food source to keep the monsters from fighting. Good plan, lad, excellent sodding plan."
Fair points were given, in the mean time Rider turned to Shirou's son.
"Whilst you're obviously from a world very different to my own and I can't work out who your mother could possibly be, you're still Shirou's son, and you seem to have your head screwed on right unlike that idiot over there. If you need help in 'punching the stupid' out of him, I'll be more than happy to join you."
"Please everyone, just wai-..."
Forest wasn't finished.
"Look, I understand your path hasn't been an easy one, possibly with Joss Whedon levels of tragedy and angst, which I know the reference just went right over everyone's heads here, but! Innocent blood isn't something that should be so easily shed. If you're going to be here in my city, then you're going to play by a better set of rules than that grimdark vigilante bull shit."
"..."
Who's Joss Whedon? Thought the teenager before shaking her head. Then it was Shirou's son to talk.
"my name proper is Satoshi Alexander Emiya Pendragon. I am the prince of knights, king of heroes, heir to the house Einzbern and the dragon. The second of my titles was earned defeating Gilgamesh and stripping him of such. Emiya Shirou is my father and my mother is Arturia Pendragon the king of knights, most know her as king Arthur, history got the male part wrong because Merlin used magic. And no, Rider usually thinks about any current book she's reading. As for my world every one is alive, I would give a full list but that would take too long for the current situation but my grandfather and your master are very much among them as well as Rin there being the head of the mage association. As to the issue here I'm afraid your outrage is a little misplaced. While killing innocent people is wrong tactically speaking it was Shirous only choice, I say this because I'm well aware of what happens to a person drained by vampirisms cold touch, both in the case of your method Rider as your sisters attacked me and by the standard vampire means. Also please keep something in mind Forest, you are a western vampire, the eastern ones are much more horrific when you are drained by them, you can become a zombie, ghoul or even another vampire but eastern vampires have little in the way of self control due to their bodies constantly deterioration leaving them in agony. It's not a thing I would wish on any one , Shirou did what he thought was right and given that I understand what it is to be powerless I can't blame him for picking the option with the best odds of survival and spare a victim torturous pains. Also Rider you'll have to accept that worlds like his counter balance yours and mine, cosmically speaking you cannot blame him for the hand of fate. More importantly though is the fact that he sugar coated it which says that he thinks what he does is at it's basic level wrong. This means he isn't completely gone and I think you of all people should see the merits of a second chance" his small speech finished he waited for those who would protest."
Well, for someone who didn't talk much until now, he sure gave his opinion.
Shirou chose this time to answer.
"Thank you...Satoshi. If nothing else, I'm glad that you're not another idealistic idiot like I used to be, and can actually try to see the bigger picture."
The smile appeared only briefly. A pause. He looked at Forest.
"Well...I better explain myself a bit better.
First off, You say shoot the monsters. If I could have, I would have taken it. But, let's be honest, do you really think a bullet to the head would stop you, who had appeared at the time to be a Dead Apostle, and Rider, a full blown Servant? Well, maybe you, I don't know what you're capable of, but definitely not a Servant. If anything, it might cause one of you to run away with the girl, or feed on her quicker so you could gain power quicker, be it prana or blood. And I wasn't going to leave Hakuno in your hands so you could make her into your Dead slave, or in Rider's hands where she would suffer a fate worse than death. So your suggestion is out. Unless you think it would have been a good idea to shoot a Noble Phantasm into an alleyway literally next to the city centre on the off chance that I manage to kill at least one of you."
He made some points, explaining himself. His attention shifted to Rider.
"And you. You have some nerve to lecture me on my choice, to be outraged at my actions. The one who should be outraged is me, you say I have no sense. That what you're the one responsible for saving Hakuno and thus bears no blame in this matter. How dare you! You were only going to take a little bit of prana? That's bullshit and you know it!"
His anger raised in a sudden burst as he closed the distance with the purple-haired girl.
The easiest and quickest choice for you would be to gain prana by eating her soul, leaving her a lifeless shell who can only do her best to breathe. Tohsaka managed to save my friend Ayako from this fate, but even now she's suffering from the side effects. She can't sleep at night, and even if she can't remember what happened, everytime she's alone, she's overcome with petrifying fear until someone comes to her aid. Or maybe you were going to go the slow way. Maybe, a tantric ritual with a girl who seemingly had no magic at all. Maybe use your eyes to petrify her so she can't resist, then have your way with her until you were satisfied, on the off chance that you somehow gained mana from a non-magus. And afterwards, to cover up your tracks, you would have no choice but to kill her or take her away to your lair. Is that what you planned to do if the vampire here hadn't stopped you? How on earth could I possibly just let you do that? Yes, call me a murderer, but if I had absolutely no choice, I would much rather kill to save them from such a fate."
He took a second, apparently trying to cool down.
"Lastly...and the thing I find most unforgivable. You claim that you had no choice, that you're only trying to get prana to continue protecting a boy. Well then, out of all the possible secluded alleys, all the possible criminals and so-called scum you could have picked from...why did you decide to attack a schoolgirl who had just walked out of the city centre?"
"..."
Isabella waited to see if he was done. Then, she started to clap her hands in a very loud way as she placed herself between Rider and Shirou in order to avoid another argument. The teenager watched Shirou, then Rider, then Shirou again. When she started to speak up, her voice was low.
"Are we finally done?" She asked calmly. "Because in case you didn't notice, Hakuno-san is safe." She addressed at Rider a glance. "Sure we could spend time pointing fingers about what COULD HAVE HAPPENED." Her voice erupted violently in the alley. "WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM GUYS??? LOOK AT THE VICTIM. She yelled. YEAH, SHE'S SHAKEN BUT STOP TREATING HER LIKE A CHILD, DAMMIT. SHE'S FINE NOW. SO WE CAN EITHER DECIDE WHO'S THE ONE WHO SCREWED THE MOST OR DECIDE TO MOVE ON WITH THIS TOPIC AND TRY TO FIND A SOLUTION IN ORDER TO AVOID SUCH A RESULT TO HAPPEN AGAIN WHICH IS TO PROVIDE A WAY TO SUPPLY RIDER WITH PRANA."
Teary eyes fell on each of the people present.
"What will it be?" She asked still trembling from her outburst.
-
Normally Rin would have had a rather indignant response to Rider's little proposition- not so much at the offer itself as at the insinuation that she needed comforting to begin with. The offer she could potentially work with. Plus there was the matter of Rider's question as well. Normally she would have told Rider without hesitation the answers to her questions. But for now the young Magus didn't respond, but rather continued to focus on her former Servant, watching him carefully. Something told her she would potentially have to intervene soon....
For all that time, Archer stood there, listening to various participants speak of the events that had transpired in varying tones depending on context, mostly anger at each other's actions. But one person's words in particular caught the bowman's attention, affected him more than the words of anyone else who spoke. And the more he heard him speak, the more absolutely livid the Servant became.
It wasn't just that he'd attempted to shoot his Master in cold blood, oh no- while that alone made him particularly hostile towards this twisted version of his past self, what pushed Archer over the limit was everything involved with his attempt to shoot Hakuno. His reasoning, his justifications... everything about it made the silver haired man's blood boil.
As much as he wasn't pleased with Rider's attempt to drain his Master of her Prana, at least he could see why. Did he really like it? No, but he could see it. Plus, she'd saved Hakuno's life, and given her outburst, there was a chance she would not have just left the girl to die. The Servant quite sympathized with the outbursts from the vampire and his fellow Servant really- though if were so bold as to think so, it didn't nearly match the outrage that he himself was feeling...
Archer was about to speak up when he was cut off by the voice of a young girl, now standing between the bastard who called himself Emiya Shirou and Rider.
"Are we finally done? Because in case you didn't notice, Hakuno-san is safe. Sure we could spend time pointing fingers about what COULD HAVE HAPPENED." The girl then started to shout, clearly upset. "WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM GUYS??? LOOK AT THE VICTIM. YEAH, SHE'S SHAKEN BUT STOP TREATING HER LIKE A CHILD, DAMMIT. SHE'S FINE NOW. SO WE CAN EITHER DECIDE WHO'S THE ONE WHO SCREWED THE MOST OR DECIDE TO MOVE ON WITH THIS TOPIC AND TRY TO FIND A SOLUTION IN ORDER TO AVOID SUCH A RESULT TO HAPPEN AGAIN WHICH IS TO PROVIDE A WAY TO SUPPLY RIDER WITH PRANA."
Despite his seething anger, Archer couldn't help but smile a bit at the girl's words. He didn't know this girl very well, but while he potentially took issue with the point that Hakuno was completely fine, he found that he was inclined to like this girl.
Rin certainly liked her, and hoped beyond hope that her fellow magus's outburst would get Archer to calm down some. Plus Isa had given her a rather nice and enthusiastic greeting, and while she distinctly remembered the girl being much younger the last time she saw her, needless to say, seeing someone else from the Association was a bit of a comfort. "I may not be too happy with Emiya-kun myself, but Isa's right. It's over now. So let's just resolve what's left to be resolved and move on with our lives."
Archer looked to Isa and then to Rin. Normally he gladly would have let the matter drop. But this... no, even if he agreed with the two magi, he still had buisness to settle with the man that resembled his past self. "My apologies, to both of you. But..." He looked at Shirou, anger blazing up once more. "He and I need to have a few words."
Rin tensed at this. Even though he was outwardly as calm as usual, in his voice was an undercurrent of rage. Rin frowned as she looked at the target of the Blacksmith Hero's rage. This Shirou's attitude... it was nothing like that of the Emiya-kun she knew. There was no way this could be Archer's past self either. No, even for him, his views were too different. Archer wouldn't be so angry if that were the case.
It didn't take long for Rin to surmise that this place was a sort of crossroads for various dimensions and timelines. This Shirou had to be from an unique timeline. So then... what had happened to turn him into this?
Rin quickly spared a glance at Hakuno, who'd been silent all this time. She seemed to have picked up on the same thing Rin herself had and was looking at her Servant with concern. For some reason, Kishinami-chan had recognized her, even had seemed pleased to see her. While Rin didn't really know the girl, it was safe to assume that she'd be willing to listen to what Rin had to say. She went over by Hakuno's side, looking her in the eyes.
"I'm a bit worried Archer's going to go after that version of Emiya-kun," Rin whispered. "How many Command Seals do you have left?"
Hakuno's eyes widened a bit. "Just one..." the teenager whispered back.
Rin winced. "That's not good... we can't waste your last Command Seal on this, then we really won't have any way to control him." Hesitantly, Rin offered Hakuno her hand. "If it comes to that... will you work with me to stop him?"
Hakuno took Rin's hand in hers, and nodded. With that, the two girls turned back to look at the Servant they both cared for, who was now closer to Shirou.
Satisfied with the distance he had between the target of his hatred and himself, Archer began to speak.
"So then... You thought you'd stop the big bad monsters from feeding on an innocent girl. By doing what, killing her?" A sardonic smile crossed the Servant's lips. "Oh, it'd certainly do the trick. Can't feed on her when she's dead, now can they? Makes it easy." His eyes narrowed, the light behind them like the molten glow from steel being heated in a forge. "You don't have to worry about protecting a corpse. Just kill the monsters, pat yourself on the back and tell yourself it was what you had to do, move on with your life. Done. Certainly nothing can go wrong with that. An angry vampire and Servant, surely you can just lead them back out of the way of any innocent civilians with no problems whatsoever."
More anger creeped into Archer's voice. "But here's the thing. It doesn't work that way. Do you know what the results really would have been had you not missed? What you would have had was a dead girl who got to pay the price for your own goddamn stupidity, with possibly more casualties on top of her! Plus if you're so naive as to think there was a guaranteed chance that you could have survived on your own against those two, guess again! You claim to have thought everything through about your actions, but in reality you didn't consider a damn thing!"
Archer's eyes lowered for a moment, his voice now tinged with bitterness. "I won't say I didn't take lives. My hands are stained with blood, and I regret every death. But what they say is true... you can't save everyone. I tried, oh did I ever try. But I failed. In the end, I had to focus on saving everyone I could, even if it meant someone else had to pay the price." He looked back up, his gaze boring into the grey eyes of the young man before him. "But I always made damn sure that my options were truly that limited. The less unnecessary deaths, the better."
Archer's hands formed themselves into fists. "But you... you think it through carefully, and what's your first solution? Put a bullet through the hostage's brain, that'll solve everything! No, no, even though they wasn't even a god damn fight yet, clearly the situation was so far gone that the innocent victim had to die to resolve it!"
The Servant's voice became dangerous. "You... you claim to act in the name of Justice, in the name of protecting others, and while I lost the faith in my ideals that I once had, even I can see that you are no more than a broken, twisted, pathetic excuse for a human being that claims to be doing the world a favor via your actions." The familiar twin blades materialized in Archer's hands, his voice calm, but even darker than before. "Furthermore... your other sins aside, you attempted to take the life of the girl I've sworn to protect. And then you just write it all off as a 'misunderstanding.' Therefore..."
Archer shifted into a fighting stance. The two girls looked at each other in alarm. Rin looked grimly at the enraged Servant. I let him talk for too long. If we don't stop him now, we may have a whole big mess again. She gave Hakuno a quick look before turning back to the Servant and addressing him sharply. "Archer! You're smarter than this- you have every right to be angry, but killing this twisted version of Emiya-kun will only make things worse!"
Hakuno had gotten Rin's cue and ran towards her Servant. She couldn't use her Command Seal, but, it didn't stop her from appealing to his senses in another way. She grabbed hold of his arm, taking care to avoid the sharp blade. "Archer, please stop! I've had enough of all this fighting!" She looked him in the eyes, firmly holding his gaze. "I'm tired, Archer... I just want to rest. I've been through worse than this but... I've had enough for one night."
Archer's eyes softened a great deal. The twin blades were withdrawn as Archer spoke. "Heh, and here I go priding myself on self control. I don't really regret anything I've said, but the fact that I nearly restarted this whole mess is quite embarrassing. I don't regret my actions enough to feel that I need to apologize, though I have the feeling my master will have me make it up to you ladies in some way, shape or form later, so I wouldn't take it too much to heart."
But Archer turned back to Shirou one last time, his eyes hardening again. "You're lucky this time. Good for you. You're free now to do whatever it is you do. Endanger enough people, and maybe I'll stop you, but otherwise, I'm done with you for now. However...." Once more his eyes narrowed. In spite of the biker jacket and collar, Archer did his best to try to appear as intimidating as possible. "If your plans for 'saving people' involve my Master enduring some form of bodily harm again, I'm going to do the public a service by separating your head from your torso. Is that clear?"
Tension was thick as Archer's last threat remained heavy in the air. In a desperate attempt to try to clear it, Rin turned to Rider. "Ah ha... So you asked me how Sakura is doing, earlier huh? She's doing great! Fantastic even! She and the Emiya-kun from my world are dating even! Called them before I left for this world, and they're doing just fine. As is the version of you that lives there."
Hakuno looked over at Rin, startled. Rin and Sakura... sisters? Is she like the Sakura from the Moon Cell as well? Is that even possible? And there's a Rider where she comes from too? Hakuno couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed- she thought this was the Rin she knew from the Moon Cell. They certainly seemed quite similar. She wasn't too disappointed though. She seemed pretty similar to the Rin she knew, so she hoped that they could strike a friendship between each other just as she'd been able to with the version in the Moon Cell.
Rin continued, her tone still painfully cheerful, but also a touch flustered. "A-and I don't really have any idea why you think I need comforting or a-anything, but I guess I can consider it if I ever need it! Sooo then..."
Rin clapped her hands together. "About that peacekeeping thing! Let's get this all wrapped up then so we can get out of this stupid alley, shall we?" She turned to Forest. "Forest, is it? So you've agreed to provide Rider with Prana? Have you ever done this sort of thing before? I can try to help you with any questions you might have, and even the transfer itself if need be. Even if I haven't been actively involved with what went on here, it'd be irresponsible of me to not offer to help however I can."
-
"Woooooah, fiery, fiery!!" Exclaimed a young girl standing next to Sephiroth. It seemed she did appear out of nowhere to you but it may simply have to do with you being too busy fighting the Zack look-a-like to notice. As she looked with an amused expression the man rolling over the ground in an attempt to extinguish the remnants flames, you can throw her a side glance.
She looks young, a teenager as it seems. Wearing a thin black top, white jeans and a pair of white sneakers. She addresses Sephiroth a genuine smile and you can see her purples eyes meeting yours. She doesn't seem to care in the slightest that you wear an extremely long sword nor that you did cast a fire spell in the middle of the place.
"You know any of these guys, sir?" She asked on a curious tone while pointing her left thumb towards the general direction of the "Enforcers" as they called themselves. "Because they surely don't look like the Enforcers I know."
Sephiroth turned his head in the general direction of the Enforcers to see what amounted to high-tech police officers wielding semi-automatic rifles and strange body armor that was of an unfamiliar style to him. Also, near where the back of the formation was, he could see....
'Is that... a TANK?!' Sephiroth thought to himself.
However, before Sephiroth could do anything, Gatou Nonji stood back up painfully, before he himself downed a bottle of liquid that looked suspiciously like an X-Potion to Sephiroth. After finishing the contents of the potion, Gatou drew his sword from behind his back and yelled, "SOLAR STRIKER!!"
Upon yelling that, he jumped really high into the air and landed sword-first in the mass of Enforcers, causing another explosion that erupted from the impact zone to 500 meters away.
Sephiroth, intending to keep the young teenage girl safe, activated his single wing, grabbed onto the girl, and started flying away from the blast radius. Fortunately, the explosion was one of those slower ones, so even Sephiroth could out-fly the blast radius.
Within the blast radius, Gatou began chanting a spell of lightning plasma to rain down on Sephiroth, thinking that he'd be near the blast radius. Upon finishing the chant, lightning plasma shot down from the clouds and...
...missed Sephiroth by a few meters?
XxX
After a few minutes of lightning plasma falling around the city, Sephiroth put the girl down on the ground, before he asked her, "What's your name?"
-
On hearing Rider's rant about her past, Isa's face had fallen, clearly guilty at hitting such a raw nerve.
"I'm sorry, I said something rather insensitive. Didn't mean to remember you of something bad", she said, apologetically.
Aww, what a nice girl.
"No, it's OK, you couldn't have known", Rider said in reply.
As she described Sakura's relationship with Shirou, though, she couldn't help but notice the girl turning crimson. Whilst such innocence was not something she saw much of, she could understand it in such a young girl. They continued to converse, Rider glad to hear that the girl bore her no ill-will, and understood the situation she was in.
She continued speaking, greeting Hakuno, acting strangely formally towards her, before turning to greet Forest and, then, Rin.
Rider couldn't help but notice how Isa greeted Rin.
Odd, I've never met her before.
But there were plenty of alternate versions of people here, so it made sense for there to be another one. Whether or not Rin knew her in return she wasn't sure.
Then, as Shirou started to speak, Rider could see Isa trying to intervene, quite reasonably. She continued doing so as Rider herself spoke, to no avail. Forest also spoke up, attacking Shirou's version of events. Rider nodded along as Forest chewed out Shirou and his attitude.
But, then, as she fantasised about Rin, the vampire turned to speak to her, clearly having read her thoughts.
"Lord and Lady, is that all you think about?"
Rider blushed slightly, feeling somewhat embarrassed at her most private thoughts being announced to the world.
Oh, so she can read thoughts as well? she thought, uncomfortably. Although, I do wonder if she has any concept of "privacy"....
But, before she could address the vampire and explain herself, the boy who had said he was Shirou's son announced himself.
"my name proper is Satoshi Alexander Emiya Pendragon. I am the prince of knights, king of heroes, heir to the house Einzbern and the dragon. The second of my titles was earned defeating Gilgamesh and stripping him of such. Emiya Shirou is my father and my mother is Arturia Pendragon the king of knights, most know her as king Arthur, history got the male part wrong because Merlin used magic. And no, Rider usually thinks about any current book she's reading. As for my world every one is alive, I would give a full list but that would take too long for the current situation but my grandfather and your master are very much among them as well as Rin there being the head of the mage association."
He's Saber's son?
Rider's face showed clear shock at that revelation. Whilst the idea of Saber living through the war was hardly implausible, given that she herself was a survivor of it, she knew that Heroic Spirits could not bear children. Further, since he knew her and, apparently, Archer, at least three of the servants had survived, which begged the question of how they were getting prana.
Still, whilst she couldn't understand how his world could come to be, she was willing to accept that he was almost certainly telling the truth. She could clearly see indications of Saber's parentage in his unusual hair colour and, further, he clearly knew personal details about her, such as her love of reading. Overall, he did seem like someone she could trust. His world seemed a nice enough place and, whilst she had never had the chance to get to Saber well enough to judge her, she did trust Shirou, at least versions of him that were normal enough to settle down and have a family.
Then he continued.
"As to the issue here I'm afraid your outrage is a little misplaced. While killing innocent people is wrong tactically speaking it was Shirous only choice, I say this because I'm well aware of what happens to a person drained by vampirisms cold touch, both in the case of your method Rider as your sisters attacked me and by the standard vampire means. Also please keep something in mind Forest, you are a western vampire, the eastern ones are much more horrific when you are drained by them, you can become a zombie, ghoul or even another vampire but eastern vampires have little in the way of self control due to their bodies constantly deterioration leaving them in agony. It's not a thing I would wish on any one , Shirou did what he thought was right and given that I understand what it is to be powerless I can't blame him for picking the option with the best odds of survival and spare a victim torturous pains."
OK, has he listened to a damn word I said?
Some of his logic did make sense, if you took Shirou at face value and accepted his ridiculous assertion that Forest and Rider both intended to kill the girl even though that was evidentially not the case. Still, it was pretty clear that he was entirely overlooking the utter idiocy that Shirou had displayed in jumping to the conclusion that the girl was in iminent danger of an agonising death and deciding to pre-empt that by putting a bullet in her head. That sort of idiotic thinking was the sort of thing she expected from an overly-eager child like Kiyoshi, not a fully-grown adult like Shirou. Although even Kiyoshi would never attack someone he knew to be innocent....
The boy continued with his speech.
"Also Rider you'll have to accept that worlds like his counter balance yours and mine, cosmically speaking you cannot blame him for the hand of fate. More importantly though is the fact that he sugar coated it which says that he thinks what he does is at it's basic level wrong. This means he isn't completely gone and I think you of all people should see the merits of a second chance"
Whilst he was perhaps right about the sugar-coating, although she wasn't at all convinced that it wasn't simply an attempt to save his own skin, she didn't accept that he had no alternative but to become as he was. There was always an alternative. The Rin and Shirou that she knew could attest to that.
As for a second chance, she did not as-of-yet have sufficient information about him to know for sure if he'd done anything unforgiveable, although she was beginning to suspect the worst. Still, she was willing to leave him alone for now, even if only because she simply couldn't afford the prana it would cost to kill him. Protecting the happiness of the Sakura she knew came before avenging the one she didn't, assuming he was indeed responsible for her demise.
Besides, if he did still possess a concience, as Satoshi seemed to think, then a relatively painless death would be a blessing compared to having to live with the full weight of his crimes, particularly when confronted with all the alternative possibilities.
This "Satoshi" guy was weird, though. Mere seconds ago he'd been threatening to beat Shirou into next week, now, after swallowing his bullshit whole, he was defending him.
Before Rider could reply to his long speech, though, Shirou piped up.
"Thank you...Satoshi. If nothing else, I'm glad that you're not another idealistic idiot like I used to be, and can actually try to see the bigger picture. I guess Saber raised you well."
Rider couldn't help but laugh at that. The boy was Shirou's son and acted like it. He was just aware of his limitations, much like the Shirou she knew was. She knew he would never put a bullet in the brain of an innocent girl in the way that this idiot had tried to.
Shirou continued, staring coldly at her.
"Well...I wasn't quite planning on aggravating everyone, so I better explain myself a bit better", he said.
Despite his statement, though, she couldn't help but feel that she was the one person he was quite OK aggravating. She could tell from the way he stared at her that he felt this was a verbal battle to win allies for the forthcoming fight between them rather than an attempt to prevent said fight.
He turned to address Forest, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"First off, you said shoot the monsters, not the victim. If that option was available to me, in a way which didn't cause complete collateral damage, we wouldn't be here talking right now. I was not close enough to directly intervene, nor did I have allies whom I could have directed to your location. And, let's be honest, do you really think a mere high-velocity sniper bullet to the head would have stopped you, who had appeared at the time to be a Dead Apostle; and Rider, a full blown Servant capable of moving at speeds beyond most cars and tougher than a stainless steel vault? Well, maybe you, I don't know what you're capable of and what your weaknesses are, but definitely not a Servant. If anything, it might cause one of you to run away with the girl, or feed on her quicker so you could gain enough power to fight off a possible threat. And I wasn't going to leave Hakuno in your hands so you could make her into your Dead slave, or in Rider's hands where she would literally suffer a fate worse than death. So your suggestion is out. Unless you think it would have been a good idea to shoot a Noble Phantasm into an alleyway literally next to the city centre on the off chance that I manage to kill at least one of you. Not that it would have anyway, you would have detected it long before I could fire."
To be fair to him, he did have a point. If you focussed solely on her and Forest, ignoring everyone else who was involved or intended to become involved, and assumed the absolute worst-case scenario, as he was seemingly prone to do, a mercy kill on the girl was indeed the best option. Of course, that entirely ignored the fact that he had no reason to believe that either of them intended to kill the girl or cause her genuine harm, or that the girl had screamed for her servant shortly after, or that Saber had been there to protect her. It also ignored the fact that a bullet to the girl's head in that situation wasn't going to work either, as subsequent events had proven.
Shirou then turned to Forest, and bowed, before saying "I do have to thank you though for delaying Rider, now that I know what your true intentions were. I'm sorry I over-complicated this matter."
Rider's face turned sour hearing that. It was clear to her that her initial impression was right. He was trying to turn everyone against her.
"And you. You have some nerve to lecture me on my choice, to be outraged at my actions. The one who should be outraged is me. You say I have no sense. That what you're the one responsible for saving Hakuno and thus bears no blame in this matter. How dare you! You were only going to take a little bit of prana? That's bullshit and you know it!"
Rider's face contorted with anger at his words, and the clear attempt to pin the blame for Hakuno's near death at his hands on her. Then, Shirou started to approach her. In response, Rider summoned up her nails once more, ready to deflect the coming attack. But, instead, he continued talking.
"The easiest and quickest choice for you would be to gain prana would have been by eating her soul, leaving her a lifeless shell, capable of only the bare minimum to survive."
Right, because the "easiest and quickest" choice is obviously the only one anyone will ever take..., she thought, sarcastically, her anger growing at the way the idiot projected his philosophy on life and general laziness and unwillingness to take the difficult path onto her.
Angrily, she attempted to respond.
"Easiest and quickest. That's all you damn well care about, isn't it?!"
However, he continued to talk over her, paying no heed to her words whatsoever.
"Don't think I've forgotten what you did to Mitsuzuri. Tohsaka managed to save my friend Ayako from this fate, but even now she's suffering from the side effects. She suffers nightmares of the incident every night, and even if she can't remember what exactly happened, she's developed a phobia to the point that every time she's alone in a dark room, she's overcome with petrifying fear until someone comes to her aid."
That's funny, because the Ayako I know is perfectly fine. She was even Sakura's bridesmaid.
"Or maybe you were going to go the slow way. Maybe, force a tantric ritual with a girl who seemingly had at best, a small untapped pool of prana in her body. Use your eyes to petrify her so she can't resist, or just brute force her onto the ground, then have your way with her until you were satisfied, on the off chance that you somehow gained mana from a schoolgirl who you knew was not a magus. And afterwards, to cover up your tracks, because I know you can't wipe people's memories; you would have no choice but to kill her right there and then or take her away to your lair, where you can do it again and again until she had no more prana left. Is that what you planned to do if the vampire here hadn't stopped you?"
Hearing his rant, Rider's anger grew further and further. He was clearly trying to ruin the trust Hakuno and the others had for her using lies and false assumptions. She had intended to do none of those things. All she was intending to do was to drink a little of the girl's blood, as she had done to many people before. Even if the Ayako in his world had ended up traumatised, that was different. She had, presumably, been forced to attack her under Shinji's direction, and in a manner that was designed to maximise the poor girl's suffering, for the enjoyment of her monstrous substitute master.
But, still he continued, the anger in his voice getting steadily worse.
"How on earth could I possibly just let you do that? How on earth could I just let a girl suffer either that or the experience of becoming the Dead in attempting to shoot the two of you down with a rifle? Yes, call me a murderer, but if I had absolutely no choice, I would much rather kill someone painlessly than to leave an innocent person to experience such a fate."
Rider prepared herself for the inevitable attack from the furious Shirou, her anger also rising as he continued to spout his ill-informed opinion. But, instead, he took a few moments to calm himself, before continuing to speak.
"Lastly...and the thing I find most unforgivable. You claim that you had no choice, that you're only trying to get prana to continue protecting a boy who you claim is my son. Well then, out of all the possible secluded alleys, all the possible deserving criminals and so-called scum with reasonable levels of prana you could have picked from, hell just in this nearby area, let alone this vast city...why did you decide to attack a harmless ordinary schoolgirl with small mana reserves who had just walked out of the city centre?"
The uncomfortable truth of his final statement only made Rider angrier. Reaching her boiling point, she moved to lunge at him. But, before she could do so, Isa, who had been unsuccessfully trying to stop the argument for some time, dived in between them, looking at the two of them alternately. Then, she began to speak.
"Are we finally done?" She asked calmly. "Because in case you didn't notice, Hakuno-san is safe." She addressed at Rider a glance. "Sure we could spend time pointing fingers about what COULD HAVE HAPPENED." Her voice erupted violently in the alley. "WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM GUYS??? LOOK AT THE VICTIM." She yelled. "YEAH, SHE'S SHAKEN BUT STOP TREATING HER LIKE A CHILD, DAMMIT. SHE'S FINE NOW. SO WE CAN EITHER DECIDE WHO'S THE ONE WHO SCREWED THE MOST OR DECIDE TO MOVE ON WITH THIS TOPIC AND TRY TO FIND A SOLUTION IN ORDER TO AVOID SUCH A RESULT TO HAPPEN AGAIN WHICH IS TO PROVIDE A WAY TO SUPPLY RIDER WITH PRANA."
The anger and sadness in her voice shocked Rider into stopping her actions for the moment. Rider felt sorry for her, particularly since she was only trying to help. Once more, she channeled her anger and lust towards her master's extremely attractive, very clumsy and somewhat kinky big sister.
Rin bent over my knee being spanked.
Rin bent over my knee being spanked.
As she expected, thinking of the girl who was ultimately responsible for them being in this mess in the first place getting a sexy and well-deserved punishment calmed her somewhat, allowing her to focus more rationally on the situation at hand.
Dimly, over the top of her fantasies, she heard the girl ask "What will it be?"
But, before she could reply, Archer jumped in. Now that she was paying attention, she could recall that the servant's blood was practically boiling with anger. And, honestly, she could understand why. Not only had this idiot tried to kill her master, but he was an alternate version of Archer himself, one who had apparently followed a dark path. She recalled from her war that Archer had initially had issues with Shirou, but had abandoned them once the war hotted up. This Shirou seemed like the sort that might enflame those feelings even in the best of situations.
Rin attempted to jump in and placate her former servant, but to no avail.
"My apologies, to both of you. But... he and I need to have a few words", Archer said, the rage evident in his voice.
Rider prepared herself. Whilst she wasn't going to provoke a fight, if one did occur she knew very well which side she would support. After all, Archer had ultimately saved Sakura, albeit indirectly, and in this case he was clearly in the right.
As the servant approached Shirou, Rider could see Rin and Hakuno conversing, clearly trying to think of a way to stop Archer. The fact that Hakuno had not already ordered him to stop implied that she clearly lacked any command spells, or at very least had only one remaining.
Meanwhile, the servant started to speak, clearly infuriated at Shirou's attitude. Rider found herself agreeing with almost every word he said. Shirou had acted far too hastily, and without considering any possible alternatives. The girl had never been in any real danger, and anyone rational would have at least considered that possibility.
As he prepared to attack his alternate self, Rider also prepared, ready to join the battle at a moment's notice if she saw the opportunity to finish the idiot off without further consequences. But, instead, just as he was about to strike, Rin and Hakuno intervened. Mollified by their words, Archer put away his swords and stood down, but not before issuing a clear threat to his alternate self that any future attempts on his master's life would be met with lethal force.
The danger gone once more, Rider desummoned her nails. Then, finally, she was able to speak, and tell her side of the story.
"OK, now that that's done with, I'm sorry, Isa. I never wanted a fight, and nor do I want to upset Hakuno. I just need prana. Still, some of the things he has said cannot go unanswered, for Hakuno's own sake.
Archer is right, Shirou, you only ever consider the easiest and simplest option. So it's only natural for you to assume everyone else will, I guess, which is why you assumed that of me, and why you can't accept that I meant the girl no harm.
Not everyone is like that, thought, some of us like to think before we act. True, it would be quicker to drain one girl to the point of death, but taking a small amount of prana from ten without causing them harm works just as well, and it's less likely to attract attention, particularly in a city like this. As for the alternative method, as enjoyable as having a girl like Hakuno as a sex slave would be, I'm not so cruel as to do such a thing to someone so innocent.
At least without her consent, anyway...", she said with a meaningful and somewhat lusty glance in Hakuno's direction.
"Honestly, Shirou, I do wonder what happened to make you like this. The Shirou I know would never take the easy option in that way. He has always searched for the alternative. When my master was ill and a potential danger to the whole world, he never gave up on her. Even her own sister wanted to kill her, but he never gave up. He kept fighting and fighting and, in the end, he found a way. He found a way to save her. True, it almost cost him his own life in the process, but he saved her, and eventually managed to return to her side.
Why are you so different, Shirou? What happened to make you lose that determination?"
Then, in an attempt to calm the situation, Rin spoke up once more.
"Ah ha... So you asked me how Sakura is doing, earlier huh? She's doing great! Fantastic even! She and the Emiya-kun from my world are dating even! Called them before I left for this world, and they're doing just fine. As is the version of you that lives there."
Clearly this Rin was from a universe that, if not identical to hers, was very similar. Which meant she could be trusted. And, it also meant she was likely alone and lonely. Which was something that Rider could definitely capitalise on....
"Ah, it's good to hear things worked out well in your world as well", Rider said, happily. "In my world, they're married. The version of you that lives there was doing pretty well last time I saw her, although I can't vouch for her continued safety after she sent Sakura's beloved son here...."
Then, as she continued speaking, Rin's face became flustered.
"A-and I don't really have any idea why you think I need comforting or a-anything, but I guess I can consider it if I ever need it! Sooo then..."
In other words "I want to fuck you but I'm too Tsundere to admit it", Rider thought, smirking to herself.
Then, it got even better.
"About that peacekeeping thing! Let's get this all wrapped up then so we can get out of this stupid alley, shall we?", Rin said before turning to Forest and adding, "Forest, is it? So you've agreed to provide Rider with Prana? Have you ever done this sort of thing before? I can try to help you with any questions you might have, and even the transfer itself if need be. Even if I haven't been actively involved with what went on here, it'd be irresponsible of me to not offer to help however I can."
Rider couldn't help but give a playful smirk in Rin's direction.
"Yes, Rin, I'm sure you'd love to demonstrate the ritual to Forest. Very.. thoroughly", she said, teasingly.
Although, don't you have plenty of prana spare? You are one of the most powerful magi around, after all. If you want to take Forest's place, you're more than welcome", Rider said, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
"Oh, that reminds me.
I'm sorry, Forest, if my thoughts offended you," Rider said, a hint of annoyance in her words, "but I was simply recalling some of the fun times I have had with with the Rin that I know. This Rin's future self.
Imagining her getting a well-deserved and extremely sexy punishment for putting us in this mess in the first place helped me direct my anger into lust and calm down a little, and prevented me escalating this situation even further", she said, looking at Rin once more in a manner that was clearly designed to convey her desire to carry out such a "punishment", although in a manner that Rin would also find enjoyable.
"Oh, and, Satoshi, I don't know what this Shirou's world is like or how he ended up like he did, but no-one ever has to act that way. Killing in self-defence or in defence of those you love, sure, but not killing innocents in cold blood. The Shirou I know had that choice, to kill my innocent master to potentially save many more, but he understood that he had to put those he loved first, and that it was never just or right to murder an innocent person.
I can understand the reasoning about protecting the girl from worse, even if he was a bit hasty, but he seems to go beyond that. Even if she was in no danger at all, he would still have taken that shot if it meant distracting us or preventing us fighting and causing more destruction. People are people, not numbers. You can't just subtract off the number you kill from the number you save and decide your value on how high that number is. Sure, people can be redeemed, but sometimes they're just too far gone. With him, I'm not sure yet. I don't know just how much he's changed."
Then, she turned to Rin and Forest once more.
"But, yes, we do need to get down to 'business'. Whoever helps me is going to have to keep transferring prana until my master arrives, though, particularly if anything happens that causes me to fight.
You know, if you want, you can all join in. I'm sure Rin would be quite OK to share the 'burden' with you two", she said, looking at Hakuno and Forest.
Yes, that would be great fun, Rider thought, imagining a foursome with the three hot girls.
"If you want, you can help me with her 'punishment', too, if she agrees. Even if she's not the same Rin who sent me here, it is her past self, so I think it's only fair she compensate me for her future mistakes", she said, grinning lustfully in Rin's direction. "I promise it will be enjoyable for all involved."
Then, Rider returned to a more serious (although still somewhat jovial) tone.
"First, though, we have to get out of this alley and find a suitable place. And, I need someone to look after Kiyoshi during the 'ritual'.
Actually, that reminds me. Rin, would you like to meet your nephew?" Rider said, her smile full of genuine warmth.
Kiyoshi stood there awaiting the girl's acknowledgement of his ability. But, her reply took him by surprise.
"I'm afraid kuro's trick is lost on me Kiyoshi as I cannot see your pet, or anything else for that matter"
Oh.
That made things much more difficult. How could he demonstrate his magic to a girl who couldn't see?
At the same time, though, it also made him even more certain that he couldn't just let her walk away. The girl was a sitting duck. He couldn't leave her alone in a town like this.
"Oh, I see...", he said, somewhat uncertain of how to proceed.
"Well, look, why don't you come in and we can talk? I would honestly enjoy some company.
Plus, my conscience won't let me just leave you to wander the town alone. And, my mother would be very upset if she found out that I ignored a vulnerable child in need. She's very protective of children. My Aunty Rider will be back soon, and she'll keep you safe.
This town is very dangerous, you shouldn't go out alone", he said, carefully ignoring the fact that he had been about to do just that.
-
"now wait just a minute, just because I understand your point of view Shirou does not mean I agree with it. The truth is neither you nor Archer understands the truth of being a superhero or a hero of justice, your actions were wrong, and no I'm talking about the look in your eyes that tells me what you did before that caused this. It was wrong, now is your chance to change. If you want to become better than I'll be happy to help and while I'll guarantee your life while in the city regardless of whether you take my help that is all I can promise because stupidity needs to be stamped out." he remarked.
Satoshi laughed "if you're shocked by every new world order you see here rider you'll never get your proverbial sea legs"
-
Vanessa looked with interest at the obvious law enforcement unit which surrounded efficiently the man, who, an instant earlier, was still engulfed in a coat of flames. The men were heavily armed and worn protections. They even had a freaking tank with them.
"Sure seems to take the matter seriously. Well, if he's responsible for the earlier explosion, I don't blame them."
Distracted, she didn't notice the terrorist getting up and drawing a blade.
"SOLAR STRIKER!!"
"...What?" Surprised, she looked at the man supposed to be taken into custody. She saw him jump and then, all the rest happened in slow-motion, the guy reached the ground once again, his weapon biting the asphalt. Next moment, a strong arm enclosed around her waist and she was forced to evade the area through the only safe place at the moment, the air. "Hey, what are y-..." But she was cut by the powerful explosion which was triggered by the previous attack on the enforcers. Covering her face from the blast of wind which followed the detonation.
"Ah, thanks." She said, realizing she could have been killed. "Saving my life and all, I owe you o-..."
But she was once more interrupted by a thunderbolt which missed them by a thread as his savior dodged with a flap of his only dark wing. Vanessa sensed something above them and pointed a finger to the clouds.
"Be careful, something's coming!!"
However, the lightning strikes summoned missed them, spreading all around the area.
Why does he throw a random spells around? He is trying to deceive us. She shook her head, getting angry.
"We can't let him run amok. If it keeps up, he will end up killing someone."
She didn't know if that unknown man heard her. After all, he had completely ignored her earlier. She weaved her left hand before his face, gathering his attention.
"As thankful as I may be, could you let me go? I can't do anything if I'm carried around like a potato bag."
A minute or so passed, then he finally landed, much to the teenager relief.
"What's your name?"
There, you can talk after all.
"Name's Vanessa. What's yours?"
She looked around for explosive man and when she found him, she smiled.
"I'll help you capture this guy." She closed her eyes, focusing her mind on the task.
A gust surrounded her as she triggered her magic circuit switch, hair's flowing she started to chant.
"Two faced being of the paradox hear my plead. From shades raises the refined light born from deep within. From radiances crawls the unholy thread of corruption."
Body heat increased and a painful yet familiar sensation numbed her limbs for an instant.
"One verse for the sacred. One verse for the cursed. Five oaths under the dark sky. Come forth, five pillars of light, πεντάγραμμον φωτεινός!!"
With a sudden flash, a boundary field expanded under Gatou, for an instant pulsating.
"Be ready to strike when I create the opening."
The teenager made a gesture, as if manipulating a whip of some sort. Tremors started as the spell reached its final step. Five pillars of light raised to the sky before encircling the target. Magical energy shook the ground stronger as the columns of prana converged at the center of the formation and exploded with intensity in a demonstration of raw power. The after effect was a vertical beam of light piercing the clouds above their head. Vanessa pointed towards the middle of the artificial light.
"What are you waiting for, I can't maintain him inside forever!!
Indeed, such grand scale spells weren't just for showing off. The prana cost was heavy and worse than that, throwing around a tower beacon in the middle of the place would surely gather all kind of attention. Fortunately, people would not have to worry about material destruction. The spell was just a strong barrier which prevented people to go in or out without her permission. It was clearly impressive but at the price of being usable only when she was at her top.
Still, it would have been way easier if Isa were around.
Not that she thought about it, where did her twin sister go?
-
"Aye, but it could heal wrong if it's not set properly," Lancer said as he was in motion again. "As to why, I don't know. Fore's a bit daft when it comes to stuff like this. She invited a hound like me to live with her; so I can't understand how her mind works."
******
Forest blinked as she felt a warm hand take hers. She looked at Isa, seeing tears stream down her face. The vampire's eyes widened as she reached for the girl, knowing somehow she was the cause for those tears. A grim knot appeared in her stomach, eating doubt there. White, even teeth worried her bottom lip as Satoshi lectured her about the differences in vampires.
His words rankled her, but she just rolled her eyes. If she had been put into the same situation again, she would have done the exact same thing. Plans weren't her strong point, but taking damage and pummeling things were. She had seen a girl in trouble and acted. Had it been one of the men here she knew she would have acted the same way.
However, she reached into her duster pocket and handed Isa klenex. She said, "Like you said, everyone's fine so . . ."
Then Archer, or who Forest was currently thinking of as "Hottie MacHotpants", decided to get his aggression on to Shirou. From what she could get from Rider, Satoshi, Haruko, and Rin was that they were pulled from different realities and placed here. And Shirou almost killed Archer's Master/Girlfriend, Forest thought rubbing her forehead. Then there was the lonely, jealous spike of her wanting someone to defend her like that, but she knew if it hadn't happened when she needed it over 1,000 years ago, it wasn't going to happen now.
She took a step forward, moving to put herself between Archer and Shirou while coming up with a witty comment about penis envy when Haruko and Rin managed to pull Archer from his Murder Mission.
Then Rider got her aggression on again. Forest could understand why she was so pissed off; after all Shirou was apparently an alternate version of her Master's husband who had made many wrong turns. The lovely woman vented some more, and Forest wondered when it was going to end. Or if she was going to have to put a stop to this again with another physic shout.
Rin bent over my knee being spanked.
Rin bent over my knee being spanked.
Forest's eyes widened as she got that impression crystal clear and perfect. Rider wasn't telepathic, but the woman had to have some sort of mental ability to be able to broadcast like she was. It wasn't like Forest was trying to listen to her thoughts - because she really didn't - but Rider broadcasted with a very strong signal that Forest couldn't ignore.
Then to make it worse, Rin came over to Forest and asked, "Forest, is it? So you've agreed to provide Rider with Prana? Have you ever done this sort of thing before? I can try to help you with any questions you might have, and even the transfer itself if need be. Even if I haven't been actively involved with what went on here, it'd be irresponsible of me to not offer to help however I can."
Forest nodded and said, "Thanks. Lancer didn't give me any details other than yeah, if I needed to I could provide prana . . ."
"Yes, Rin, I'm sure you'd love to demonstrate the ritual to Forest. Very.. thoroughly", she said, teasingly.
Although, don't you have plenty of prana spare? You are one of the most powerful magi around, after all. If you want to take Forest's place, you're more than welcome", Rider said, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
"Oh, that reminds me.
I'm sorry, Forest, if my thoughts offended you," Rider said, a hint of annoyance in her words, "but I was simply recalling some of the fun times I have had with with the Rin that I know. This Rin's future self.
Imagining her getting a well-deserved and extremely sexy punishment for putting us in this mess in the first place helped me direct my anger into lust and calm down a little, and prevented me escalating this situation even further", she said, looking at Rin once more in a manner that was clearly designed to convey her desire to carry out such a "punishment", although in a manner that Rin would also find enjoyable."
Forest huffed and retorted, "You broadcast. Like the Emergency Broadcast System. The more intense your thought, the louder it is. It's not like I like being privy to people's Bondage Fantasies or anything." Then she looked around at the other Servants and asked, "And Lord and Lady, are all of you into the kink or what? Rider has her dominatrix battle outfit and you're wearing . . . that . . ."
She bit her lip as she awkwardly gestured to Archer's suggestive clothing.
She shook her head and said, "But! We should leave the alley and get people settled. I'm sure that some of you were sucked here with no rhyme nor reason and little to your name but the clothing on your back. I have plenty of rooms and supplies at my stronghold. You can get something to eat - if Lancer remembered to go shopping . . ."
"Oy, it's not my fault that you're on a 'liquid and citrus' diet and the only thing I found in your gods damned fridge was oranges and orange juice," an all too familiar voice called out from the mouth of the alley.
Lancer approached, holding the hand of what looked like to be a young boy, who's arm was bent at an odd angle. Lancer said, "But yes, I was a good boy and went to the grocers and filled your larders for other freeloaders like myself." The Celt approached and leaned close to Forest, "I heard that you offered to give Prana to Rider then?"
Forest swallowed and said, "Well, she needs it and it keeps her from feeding off of innocent school girls."
Lancer patted her head and said, "You're fucked."
"Yes, I believe already gathered that," Forest snapped at him, resisting the urge to kick his shin. Despite the fact that Lancer was admittedly wildly handsome, she couldn't feel overly attracted to him. She adored him yes, but it was the same comfortable affection she felt for her friends.
Lancer laughed and said, "Well then, let's grab the children, head off and store your grievances. You're alive when some of you should all rights be dead. Enjoy it."
He looked at Rider, sighed and said, "Now I wish I would have been here sooner. I would happily donate all the prana the lass could want." Then he looked at Forest and said, "This is Ruu. I was daft and caused him to break his own arm. Can you set it?"
Forest sighed, nodded and knelt down to Ruu. "I'm Forest, may I see your arm?"
-
"Aye, but it could heal wrong if it's not set properly. As to why, I don't know. Fore's a bit daft when it comes to stuff like this. She invited a hound like me to live with her; so I can't understand how her mind works."
The last part wasn't reassuring in the slightest but the familiar kept it to him.
Voices, all around him. Strong emotions. Echoes reverberating though the alley. Powerful people were all gathered here and exchanging words, but Ruu wasn't able to catch up on the conversation. He was led by Lancer to a woman with blond hairs and pale skin. The familiar extended his mind forward to read her. But he was unable to reach her. This made him a bit worried. His ability didn't work on mysteries and the like but she looked human. She didn't give the strong aura Eagle had either. Not even similar to Wolfy. Plus, what Lancer said earlier about her didn't help. Also, she had a particular scent. Nothing outrageous enough for him to consider her a threat on the spot but she was... different.
"This is Ruu. I was daft and caused him to break his own arm. Can you set it?"
The familiar stepped back at these words. Not so eager to let her touch his broken limb. It was itchy and Ruu didn't like being touched when he was itchy. The elegant figure crouched to face him, violet-blue pearls looking at him.
"I'm Forest, may I see your arm?"
The familiar shook his head and hid behind Lancer in a very childish behavior when faced with the unknown. Worried silver eyes peered as he nervously pressed his hand againt Lancer's. Anxious and not willing to obey, he pronounced one word.
"Scary."
There were no hostilities behind his reaction, only the simplest of suspicion. However, he recalled the warm expression Lancer had when he mentioned his Landlady. Even when they arrived, he seemed pleased to see her again. Maybe, she wasn't all that bad. Ruu gulped and threw a stressed glance at Lancer as if pleading to not leave him alone. Then, with reluctance, he approached Forest and raised a trembling broken limb.
Isabella looked at the scene but had to step aside for now. She smiled to herself while wiping her tears. Things came very close to the critical point. Fortunately, Archer had been reasoned by Hakuno-san and Tohsaka-san. Rider seemed to have calmed down enough as well. Plus, she would get her prana. With that man's and his little companion arrival, Forest's mood improved as well. Satoshi and Shirou probably had things to discuss. Well, it seemed to be the case for everyone, really.
Which means I'm not needed anymore.
She only had jumped in the argument randomly, after all. Vanessa would probably create trouble if left alone for too long. As much as she wanted to go visit Forest's "stronghold", she couldn't. Not yet. She sensed her sister's tension and felt uneasy. But she kept it hidden behind a mask.
"Well, with things settling down, I really should go." She declared cheerfully. The girl leaned towards Rider and gave her a surprise hug. "Take care of you and the little guy, okay?" Her voice full of warmth. "I would like to meet your Master someday." She smiled to the Servant as they separated. Hakuno-san was next. Isabella literally jumped in her arms. "Keep your spirit up. And never ever change." She fidgeted in Hakuno's arms."Aww, I wish your were my other sister." With a more restricted enthusiasm she looked at Rin. "I wish we could discuss things thoroughly, about this place especially, but It will have to wait, Tohsaka-san." Then, the towering Archer. Her voice dropped a little when she faced him. "Thanks for not attacking. Must have been difficult. I'm glad you acknowledge value in people opinions." Yes, this man was very different from Shirou. Regardless of them being the same person at some point. "Keep your Master safe but don't look at her as only someone to protect. You're partners, right?" She threw him a wink before walking away.
"Thanks for the invitation Forest, but I left my sister behind and she needs someone to keep her in check before a disaster happens." The twin produced a pen and sheet of paper from her pocket and scribbled on it. "Here's my number. Feel free to share it and don't hesitate to call me if something happens." She took a second before looking at the vampire. "I'm a magus so I'll help you as much as I can." With that said, she took the pendant she had hanging above her top and presented it to the Vampire. "Here." For her, the flower shaped piece of metal meant more than life and she was genuinely reluctant to part ways it. But she had promised to hand it down to someone who would really need it. "It's a Snowdrop, a friend of mine once told me its symbolism was hope and consolation. It helped me when I felt down. Some people are tough, but we all have time when we need a little help. I wish you to have this for now." The gift was a mean to convey her wish for support and hope for Forest. The adolescent girl eyed Lancer. "Be nice with her, 'kay?." She petted the head of the familiar. "You too." To which Ruu answered with a curious tilt. After that, she had only two persons left to discuss with.
She closed the distance with Satoshi. With a whisper only loud enough for him to hear. "You are compassionate and undertanding." She glanced only for an instant in Shirou's direction. "He may be difficult to deal with but he will need you." With a simple nod she approached the Second Magus Killer. Their eyes met but the teenager didn't waver. She frowned and slapped his face strong enough for people across the street to turn in their direction. For a moment, her eyes were only filled with bitterness, then her expression broke in something full of compassion. "That's your punishment for your "mistake" earlier." She said calmly. "Did you feel my anger behind it? Are you getting angry yourself?" The girl took his hand in hers and smiled gently. "That's what humans feel, emotions aren't something thrown away so easily. You may have lost a lot to become like you are now. It may hurt a lot but you shouldn't throw away what makes you one of us." She raised his hand in order for him to touch her face. "See, that's what human warmth feels like. Do you remember? What you lost as a human being can be regained. You're not a machine. You may not redeem yourself but you can start by forgiving yourself. " She paused a second before surrounding him with her arms. "Each person is precious, there may have difficult choices to make but, you should think with your heart before logic." Isabella teared up for him. "The people you lost would want you to be happy as well, don't you think?" She stepped back from the magus and grinned. "You should just apologize to Hakuno-san."
Finally, Isabella raised a hand casually. "Don't be too harsh on him, guys." She paused an instant. "Even if things were a little too tense, I'm happy to have met you all. Hopefully, we will spend time in a more productive way on our next encounter. Be safe."
-
Taiga paused for a moment considering her options, on the one hand it would be nice to have a person to talk to but at the same time rider is immune to her mystic eyes due to her own cancellation glasses and blind fold so if this were a trap she would be largely defenseless. Despite that Taiga nodded and came inside.
-
Kiyoshi awaited her reply with trepidation, every millisecond seemingly like an eternity. She seemed to be giving it a lot more consideration than he felt was necessary, and he was seriously worried that she might reject his offer, and attempt to navigate the city alone.
So, it was to his great relief that, after what was in reality only a few seconds but had seemed like hours, the girl nodded and came into the room.
Thank God. She'll be safe here, he thought, the sense of relief and happiness he felt evident on his face, not that the girl would be able to see it or not.
Moving out of the way so the girl could wheel herself into the room, he sat down on the bed he'd been sleeping in, Kuro still mounted on his shoulder. Then, he turned to the girl and spoke.
"Well, now you're inside, why don't we introduce ourselves properly?
I'm Emiya Kiyoshi. I live in Fuyuki City, Japan, with my mother, father and Aunty Rider. I'm not sure exactly how me and Aunty Rider ended up here, but it was probably something to do with the experiment my Aunty Rin was doing. She's learing to use the Second Ma.. a very powerful magic which allows travel to parallel worlds", he said with a smile, correcting himself after remembering that the girl didn't know anything about magecraft.
"So, what about you? How did you end up here?" Kiyoshi said with a genuine sense of curiosity, smiling brightly at his new friend as he did so.
-
"Are we finally done?" Isabella asked calmly. "Because in case you didn't notice, Hakuno-san is safe." She addressed at Rider a glance. "Sure we could spend time pointing fingers about what COULD HAVE HAPPENED." Her voice erupted violently in the alley. "WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM GUYS??? LOOK AT THE VICTIM. She yelled. YEAH, SHE'S SHAKEN BUT STOP TREATING HER LIKE A CHILD, DAMMIT. SHE'S FINE NOW. SO WE CAN EITHER DECIDE WHO'S THE ONE WHO SCREWED THE MOST OR DECIDE TO MOVE ON WITH THIS TOPIC AND TRY TO FIND A SOLUTION IN ORDER TO AVOID SUCH A RESULT TO HAPPEN AGAIN WHICH IS TO PROVIDE A WAY TO SUPPLY RIDER WITH PRANA."
Shirou blinked in surprise, stepping back from Rider. He had lost it again. He had lost sight of the overall picture and had attempted to antagonize Rider, even though he knew the situation would only worsen if the Servant was provoked into a fight. However, some part of him itched for the fight, to put an end to her lying words; the implication that Sakura still lived.
It was time to remove himself from this situation before he made things a lot worse.
Suddenly, Archer spoke up, his voice coarse with barely contained rage.
"My apologies, to both of you. But..." He looked at Shirou, anger blazing up once more. "He and I need to have a few words."
Archer stepped closer to Shirou.
"So then... You thought you'd stop the big bad monsters from feeding on an innocent girl. By doing what, killing her?" A sardonic smile crossed the Servant's lips, not unlike the one Shirou sported from time to time whenever he explained his actions to his 'allies', "Oh, it'd certainly do the trick. Can't feed on her when she's dead, now can they? Makes it easy. You don't have to worry about protecting a corpse. Just kill the monsters, pat yourself on the back and tell yourself it was what you had to do, move on with your life. Done. Certainly nothing can go wrong with that. An angry vampire and Servant, surely you can just lead them back out of the way of any innocent civilians with no problems whatsoever."
More anger creeped into Archer's voice. "But here's the thing. It doesn't work that way. Do you know what the results really would have been had you not missed? What you would have had was a dead girl who got to pay the price for your own goddamn stupidity, with possibly more casualties on top of her! Plus if you're so naive as to think there was a guaranteed chance that you could have survived on your own against those two, guess again! You claim to have thought everything through about your actions, but in reality you didn't consider a damn thing!"
Archer's eyes lowered for a moment, his voice now tinged with bitterness. "I won't say I didn't take lives. My hands are stained with blood, and I regret every death. But what they say is true... you can't save everyone. I tried, oh did I ever try. But I failed. In the end, I had to focus on saving everyone I could, even if it meant someone else had to pay the price." He looked back up, his gaze boring into the grey eyes of the young man before him. "But I always made damn sure that my options were truly that limited. The less unnecessary deaths, the better."
Archer's hands formed themselves into fists. "But you... you think it through carefully, and what's your first solution? Put a bullet through the hostage's brain, that'll solve everything! No, no, even though they wasn't even a god damn fight yet, clearly the situation was so far gone that the innocent victim had to die to resolve it!"
The Servant's voice became dangerous. "You... you claim to act in the name of Justice, in the name of protecting others, and while I lost the faith in my ideals that I once had, even I can see that you are no more than a broken, twisted, pathetic excuse for a human being that claims to be doing the world a favor via your actions." The familiar twin blades materialized in Archer's hands, his voice calm, but even darker than before. "Furthermore... your other sins aside, you attempted to take the life of the girl I've sworn to protect. And then you just write it all off as a 'misunderstanding.' Therefore..."
Shirou tensed, mimicking Archer's own move, hands slightly open, the images of Kanshou and Bakuya at the forefront of his eyes. His mouth parted, ready to utter his aria, his eyes turning to steel as he prepared for the no doubt intense fight ahead. In the back of his mind, he picked through countless plans to evacuate the nearby citizens, but was unable to come up with one which resulted in zero casualties. Luckily, Tohsaka and Hakuno ran forward and clung to Archer's arms, whispering something to the enraged Servant which caused him to calm down, the Servant's arm and shoulder muscles visibly relaxing through the tight red cloth.
The Servant snorted,"Heh, and here I go priding myself on self control. I don't really regret anything I've said, but the fact that I nearly restarted this whole mess is quite embarrassing. I don't regret my actions enough to feel that I need to apologize, though I have the feeling my master will have me make it up to you ladies in some way, shape or form later, so I wouldn't take it too much to heart."
But Archer turned back to Shirou one last time, his steely eyes meeting Shirou's own. "You're lucky this time. Good for you. You're free now to do whatever it is you do. Endanger enough people, and maybe I'll stop you, but otherwise, I'm done with you for now. However...." Once more his eyes narrowed. In spite of the biker jacket and collar, Archer did his best to try to appear as intimidating as possible. "If your plans for 'saving people' involve my Master enduring some form of bodily harm again, I'm going to do the public a service by separating your head from your torso. Is that clear?"
"If your plans for saving your master involves other people enduring bodily harm, I'll return the favour," Shirou declared back, somewhat disgusted by the Servant's hypocritical attitude, even if a small part of him was glad that someone had managed to earn his future self's loyalty. If nothing else, it gave him hope.
As Shirou was about to leave, he heard Rider address him:
"Honestly, Shirou, I do wonder what happened to make you like this. The Shirou I know would never take the easy option in that way. He has always searched for the alternative. When my master was ill and a potential danger to the whole world, he never gave up on her. Even her own sister wanted to kill her, but he never gave up. He kept fighting and fighting and, in the end, he found a way. He found a way to save her. True, it almost cost him his own life in the process, but he saved her, and eventually managed to return to her side," Rider said, obviously trying to hit his berserk button once more. However, this time, Shirou isolated his feelings as he always did during a hazardous situation; emotions would only serve to hinder his cause, his efficiency and thus ability to save people. He would not go insane again. It was absolutely imperative he did not worsen the situation. Shirou let his gaze for a brief second wander over her, then promptly turned away to scan the faces of the other participants.
However, before he could move, Isabella also began to take her leave, addressing each of the participants like they were an old friend; showcasing her complete naivety and innocence, traits which wouldn't stay for long. He shook his head at the display, but the corners of his lips twitched upwards slightly; a slight sardonic grin not unlike Archer's.
He arched his eyebrows upwards as the girl suddenly approached him, her eyes suddenly determined and confident as she held his gaze, a far cry from her earlier shying away. As such, he was completely unsurprised when she slapped him across the cheeks, and began scolding him. It didn't hurt even slightly, but he whipped his head backwards all the same, as if the slap had much more force, like one of Tohsaka's punches. Now those punches had hurt like hell, but then again, Tohsaka had been trying to kill him...
"Tohsaka! Rin! Stop it!" Shirou yelled desperately as he ducked under another of Rin's wild swipes, a far cry from her earlier use of martial arts. He leapt backwards, trying his best to put some distance between himself and his former ally, so as to create an opportunity to negotiate, to force her to come to reason. However, the school idol continued charging towards him like an enraged bull, all her combat training abandoned as she gave in to anger.
"SHUT UP!!" she screeched, her eyes wild and bloodshot, her loose hair flying in all directions, "I won't let you stop me from using the Grail!"
With another roar, she leaped into the air and tackled him to the ground, the both of them going down in a tangle of scratching arms, with the Red Devil somehow ending on top, raining clenched fists down onto his arms, which he had wrapped around his head.
"We can't let the Grail be used! It'll destroy everything!" he screamed. He locked his legs around her, grabbed her arms, and threw himself to the right with all his might, causing them to roll. This time, Shirou ended up on top, and used his superior mass to push down on her, reinforcing his limbs in the process. Rin screamed and tossed, but was ultimately unable to throw the young man off. "Rin, the Grail is clearly defective. We have to destroy it!" he hissed, unable to catch his breath. The burning pain in his chest revealed the reason: Rin had broken his ribs.
"I CAN'T LET HER DEATH BE FOR NOTHING!!" she roared. Shirou felt a burst of prana from the magus, and was hurled clean off her. Rolling to negate the force, Shirou quickly got to his feet, ignoring the leaden feeling in his arms as he pushed himself up off the jagged ground. Rin was beyond saving. There was only one thing he could do.
Shirou reached into his coat and retrieved a short combat knife, the serrated blade gleaming ominously despite the dim light. He ignored the droplets of water dripping onto his boots, refused to acknowledge the slight blurring in his vision as he prepared to face her, one last time.
The Magus Killer was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt warmth in his right hand. Isabella was holding onto it gently, smiling gently.
"That's what humans feel, emotions aren't something thrown away so easily. You may have lost a lot to become like you are now. It may hurt a lot but you shouldn't throw away what makes you one of us." She raised his hand in order for him to touch her face. It was as warm and soft as it looked, completely smooth as she moved his hand across her cheek.
"See, that's what human warmth feels like. Do you remember? What you lost as a human being can be regained. You're not a machine. You may not redeem yourself but you can start by forgiving yourself. " Then, the girl did something even more unexpected. Shirou stiffened as her arms enclosed around him.
She was hugging him. Shirou's mouth opened and closed in a great imitation of a fish out of water, unable to respond in his surprise. Didn't she know who he was? Hadn't personally witnessed what he had done, read about all the people he had sacrificed for the greater good? How could she even bear to touch something like him?
"Each person is precious, there may have difficult choices to make but, you should think with your heart before logic." Isabella teared up for him. "The people you lost would want you to be happy as well, don't you think?" She stepped back from the magus and grinned. "You should just apologize to Hakuno-san."
His tongue felt like it had swollen in his mouth, blocking his mouth completely. Nevertheless, he soldiered on, and was eventually able to force a few choked sentences out.
"That naivety will put you in danger someday. But...when it does, I'll try to be there to help. People like you...are what I fight for."
He lowered his eyes to the side and muttered softly to himself, "But you're wrong on that last point. Someone like me, who survived where others had not, who had sacrificed the lives of innocents, doesn't deserve happiness."
Shirou walked slowly over to Archer and his master, keeping a wary eye on the Servant.
"Isabella is right though," he addressed the brown haired Master, keeping his face even despite the panicked look in Hakuno's eyes, "I do owe you an apology. I'm...sorry for trying to kill you."
The words felt foreign on his lips. He was not accustomed to vocally apologising to his victims: they were usually in a coma or dead. Muttered apologies in his head were usually his only method of penance.
"I misjudged the situation badly, and you came to further harm because of it. It probably doesn't matter much to you, but I'm...sorry."
Shirou turned away and began slowly walking out of the alleyway. There was no need to say farewells, he was certain no one was unhappy to see his back.
-
Lancer blinked at Ruu's response to Forest. The blond stilled at that, indigo eyes meeting Lancer's. The Celt rubbed the back of his neck, not sure of what to do. Sure she was a vampire, but she was also Forest. The sort of naive nice sort that offered a rogue like him a roof over his head and someone to pledge his spear to if she went to war. And considering her luck with such things, she might need it.
He patted the boy's head, a little harder than he should have, but he'd never been good with kids. Not even his own. In fact, he was the worse with those. He shook the regret away and tilted the head at the boy. "Come on, Forest isn't going to bite you or anything."
Forest sighed and said, "I can tell you what to do, Lancer. I understand." She wiggled her fingers at Ruu, grinned and said, "I wouldn't want my cold hands on a broken arm either."
"I can set a broken arm," Lancer said, "I just won't be none too gentle about it." He looked back at Ruu and said, "Sure you want me to do it? It'll hurt like a bitch."
******
Forest felt a pang at the not-human boy shying away from her and forced a smile on her face. She took a step back, knowing that Lancer, while not gentle, would be able to get the job done.
She was about to slide her hands into her pocket when a warm, soft hand placed something into her palm.
Isa said, "Thanks for the invitation Forest, but I left my sister behind and she needs someone to keep her in check before a disaster happens." "Here's my number. Feel free to share it and don't hesitate to call me if something happens." Forest took the piece of paper from the girl and looked at it.
"I'm a magus so I'll help you as much as I can." With that said, she took the pendant she had hanging above her top and presented it to the Vampire. "Here. It's a Snowdrop, a friend of mine once told me its symbolism was hope and consolation. It helped me when I felt down. Some people are tough, but we all have time when we need a little help. I wish you to have this for now."
The metal made her palm tingle and gleamed in the wane light. The delicate flower had to be fashioned out of silver. It was lovely and from what she was reading from the girl, something very important.
Gifts were something Forest didn't receive often, and getting one was a rare experience for her. She bit her lip and handed the pendent back to her. "I can't take this, it's too important to you. Thank you though. I've been fine this long, I'll continue to muddle through."
She pointed to the crow on her choker and said, "Besides, I have my own guardian on my side."
Lancer made some sort of half afraid snorfling noise at that.
She looked over at the drama unfolding between alternate selves and sighed. It was like some James Cameron Fanboy's Wet Dream.
"I misjudged the situation badly, and you came to further harm because of it. It probably doesn't matter much to you, but I'm...sorry." Then Shirou turned to leave.
Forest sighed, then smirked to herself, and moved to grab the young man's shoulder. "Okay, you made a rookie mistake. Life's rough, Lad, but going like you are, you're going to end up burnt out, alone, and then in an oblong box. Then who are you going to help dead? Come with us, rest your head. I have more than enough room."
-
It bubbled, the hatred of man, the darkness in the heart of the world this time slowly but surely taking shape. Dark skin covered in tattoos and barely adequate red cloth covering the now well endowed female's naughty parts while leaving the rest exposed. The world's evil smiled looking at her long black hair with reddish grey eyes "I shall avenge them all" she chuckled deciding to take the servant name after a moment. She was brought back by violence and could feel servants in this city but for the time being she would wait and watch the people
-
Well, things were going well until now.
Mille looked up grimly as she surveyed her current situation. Blocking her path entirely to the front was a group of rather large looking werewolves, who almost seemed giant compared to the small magus girl trying her best to stare them down. A couple of charred werewolf corpses lay past the main group. The girl was holding a pole she'd found in the alleyway defensively, runes scratched into the ground in front of her. The barrier they created would not last forever, and from the looks of the hulking beasts that menaced the girl, they weren't planning on leaving anytime soon.
Worse was that, while Mille had managed to take a few of them down, she hadn't entirely gotten away clean. Even if she could barely get away from the wolves using reinforcement, the scratch she'd taken to her left leg made it impossible to run now. She could heal it, but it would take away prana that she'd need both for the barrier and to get away.
Mille considered what to do. Things weren't looking too favorable as they were now. Maybe... maybe I can at least go out in one last blaze of glory. Take some more of these creeps with me before they tear me limb from limb. Mille fought back some tears as she looked back up at the werewolves. This wasn't how things should have gone. She was there to prove she was worth something to the Association, not get torn apart by werewolves! And now she was in over her head. Maybe she should have expected this, but not nearly this soon.
The red-headed magus prepared to lower the barrier, focusing all her energy into reading herself for one last-
"Hello~ ❤"
"Aaaah!" Mille jumped back, her eyes snapping back open at the sound of the overly pleasant voice. Mille's eyes widened as she looked at the speaker. The speaker was a.... magical girl rod?! "W-what the?! Listen, I don't know what buisness you have with me but..." She gestured towards the hulking werewolves. "Now isn't exactly the best time!"
"Oh, but I think it's the perfect time~"
"Huh?"
The rod was oddly flexible and movable despite the fact that she was well... a stick with a circle on top. She bowed just a bit, before bouncing around as she introduced herself. "Nice to meet you!~ I'm a magical stick of love and justice, Magical Ruby-chan~~~ Do you want to be a Magical Girl? ❤"
Mille stood there, staring at the rod blankly. Even the werewolves seemed to be dumbfounded. The young magus felt like her head was throbbing. Is this... for real? "Look- Ruby was it? I don't know if you're even serious or not, but I'm going to have at least five werewolves breathing down my neck once this barrier goes down! Unless you're here to help me with my little wolf problem, don't bother me!"
Ruby sighed. Uuugh, she might be even worse than Rin. A B-lister at best. Still~ since this is the girl that the Association's looking for, there still may be some fun to be had here~ I'll just ditch her once I find a better master later~ Ruby's ruby eyes stared into Mille's own nearly black ones. "Then, let me put it this way~ ....Do you want to die?~"
"What kind of question is that?! Of course I don't wanna die!"
"Then make a contract with me~ I'll give you all the power you need to beat up these nasty werewolves~ ❤"
Mille groaned with exasperation. Still, something seemed fishy about this... "Then why didn't you just say that in the first place? Alright, I accept."
"Yay~ ❤ Now just take hold of me and we'll be good to go~"
Mille dropped the pole she'd used to scratch the runes into the concrete and warily reached out towards Ruby. Upon grabbing hold of her, those cold gemstone eyes seemed to gleam with an unholy light, and upon a flash of light-
Well, needless to say, after the rather elaborate and extensive transformation sequence that defied space and time itself, Mille found herself in an outfit that was... ...the most humiliating thing I've ever been forced to wear in my entire life. Even that dumb thing my parents made me wear that one Easter when I was five. Before she could express too much distaste at her new ensemble, however, Mille spotted her overmuscled and overly hairy antagonists rushing at her with zeal. Crap, when I was changing, the barrier went down! ...I really hope this thing lets me fly...
Squeezing her eyes shut, the newly minted magical girl jumped backwards, hoping that she'd find herself aloft. She opened one eye just a crack... and saw a claw swipe at her, forcing her higher into the air.
"Wait a minute- I'm flying, I'm really flying!" She gasped as another werewolf attempted to get her and forced herself to go higher to avoid the creature's long, sharp canines.
"That's amazing!~ Most people take weeks or even months before they can learn to fly~ ❤"
Mille looked down at Ruby. "Wait, can't most magical girls fly anyway?"
"Eh heh... let's just leave it at that for now."
But any further talk was cut short as a werewolf tried to jump up and grab her, forcing Mille to dodge. She addressed her newfound weapon as she weaved and dodged through the air, as now many of the wolves had lost patience and were now coming at her more frequently. "Ok, great, I can fly- now how do I actually attack these things?"
"You could figure out how to fly that fast and yet you don't even know how to attack?"
"Look, I just grabbed onto you not that long ago, just because I know how to fly for some reason, doesn't mean I- aah!"
One of the wolves had made it's way onto a building and now had gotten dangerously close to actually hitting her. It plummeted to the ground, seeming to injure itself just a bit, but the other wolves seemed to take from their packmate's example and now were also trying to climb up onto the rooftops.
"So lacking in both intelligence and imagination- that's not good for a magical girl at all."
"What was that?!"
"It's easy!~ Just imagine the attack in your mind and go!~ ❤ You were able to imagine yourself flying pretty well, just do the same thing to attack~"
Mille breathed in. OK, so a bit like magecraft then- so if I imagine a barrage of blasts to hit all the werewolves...
"And make sure to announce your attacks~ A magical girl must have presence you know~"
Mille was about to take out her frustrations on the Ruby, but instead began to focus that energy mentally. Taking care to dodge anything that tried to come at her, she flew backwards at great speed, focusing her prana into Ruby.
"Magical barrage!" With that, a series of magical blasts the size of the young magus's head scattered and plummeted into the werewolves. Yowls filled the night air as each blast exploded on contact with its target. Mille took off with all the speed she could muster, not bothering to look behind her, soaring towards the smoggy sky.
As she looked down from her new vantage point, Mille couldn't help but feel a wave of dizziness overwhelm her- she was so high in the air now, it was incredible. The air was more difficult to breath, so she couldn't help but feel a bit light headed. Still, she felt a bit of smug satisfaction. They won't be feasting on my flesh tonight.
"And so you bravely ran away~ Some people might call you a coward, but you only did what you were capable of doing~"
The red-head's grip on Ruby tightened as she glared directly into the stick's cold gemstone eyes. "I-I'm not a coward! Those things nearly killed me, and I just started using these abilities! You can't expect me to just test this stuff out when my enemies are that tough!"
"Oh, it's because you're weak then~ Funny, I thought you'd be tougher than that, you took out two of those wolves without my help you know~ Even if she makes for a horrible magical girl, at least Rin was better at the whole fighting thing than you are~"
Mille's eyes widened. "Rin. As in Rin Tohsaka?!"
"That's the one~ The Magus Association sent her here to get you~"
Mille froze. They- they caught me. And they had so little faith in me that they sent Tohsaka after me? That figures. Everyone keeps talking about her, magical genius this, magical genius that. I've worked my butt off for years to get the type of respect she gets, and yet it's always Tohsaka this, Tohsaka that! I'm every bit the magus she is, and yet...
"Something tells me someone's jealous~"
"J-jealous?! I'm just sick of getting no respect because of how young my family line is! It doesn't matter how hard I work or how good or numerous my magic circuits are! It's always Tohsaka, or Edelfelt, or..." Mille paused for a second, looking down at Ruby in confusion. "Wait, didn't you say Tohsaka brought you with her?"
"Yep~"
"Wait... then why are you running around loose then?"
Something ominous gleamed in those rubies. "Didn't you listen earlier, silly girl?~ I told you, powerful as she is, Rin-chan made a really horrible magical girl~ So I abandoned her~"
Mille blinked. "W-wait... that means that..."
"Yup~ I thought you'd make a better magical girl~"
Mille floated there in stunned silence. Ruby slipped from her grip, to float in the air before her. After floating there for a bit longer, the girl finally spoke. "I..." Mille moved some of her hair behind her ear, her hands trembling just a bit. "IIIIIIIII'mm.... sorry. I'm shouldn'tve yelled at you earlier." Glancing off to the side, her voice became low and dry. "...Even if you are kind of annoying and insulting."
Ruby brightened at this. "Yay!~~~ I was right after all~~~ ❤ I heard that comment by the way. You need to work on that temper, and that attitude. Still, it's a start!~" She floated back into Mille's gloved hand. "So then, I take it you want me to teach you the ways of the magical girl?~"
"Yes! Please, teach me everything!" This is the first thing I've been able to beat Tohsaka at. If it's the only thing that can make the Association take me seriously... then I'll endure the stupid attack names and the ridiculous outfit and the insults, everything! Anything to finally bring glory to my family's name!
"Then let's go~ So then, where were you headed?"
Mille frowned as she searched around, until she located the still rising smoke. She pointed towards it. "Towards that explosion. I was going to investigate, but then I got jumped by those werewolves, and couldn't go any further."
"You think you're still up for it?~"
Mille nearly yelled at Ruby once more, but barely managed to calm her temper. "What do you mean by that exactly?"
"Now what did I just say about the temper?~ And I mean you seem pretty tired~ Even magical girls need sleep you know~"
Mille wanted to protest, but Ruby was right. Even if Ruby had managed to magically heal her leg, she still felt a bit tired, even with the power up. And my leg... wait, my leg!
She looked down and was surprised to see that not only the nasty gash on her leg didn't hurt anymore, but that there also seemed to be no trace of it.
"Tee hee, you didn't notice?~ Think of it as a welcoming gift of sorts~"
Still somewhat entranced by her healed leg, Mille said, "so then, what was that about rest?"
The stick nodded. "You need to sleep~ You've had a rough day you know~ So then, do you have any place to stay?"
The girl's cheeks reddened a bit. "W-well..." Her cheeks became even more flushed. "I-I didn't know where to go and find a job for sure, o-or the best apartment, s-so..." She lowered her head, her voice lowering into a murmur. "I-I've been sleeping in a tree. In the park."
There was a long silence. A silence that was then cut by the magical stick of love and justice's bell like laughter. Promise of glory or no, Mille almost threw the stick away from her then and there.
Ruby eventually stopped laughing, finally managing to speak again. "Y-you know, I spotted these nice apartments while I was scouting around town~ From what I can tell, they have vacancies and everything~ Seems like we may to negotiate being able to stay there too!~"
Mille's eyes widened. "You serious?"
"Yup, entirely~ Besides, do you really have that much choice?~ Unless you like sleeping in the tree of course~"
With a sigh, Mille shook her head. "No, no I don't...."
"Then let's go!~ I'll show you the way~ Just let me guide you~ ❤"
With that, the pair took off, headed towards the promise of a nice comfortable bed. As they went, Ruby began to think to herself. Well, I'll give Mille-chan credit, she has more potential than I though~ Still totally ditching her when we get to the apartments~ That girl- Hakuno, was it? She may be just what I'm looking for...❤ Ufufufufufu....
***
While Finn Garrison didn't consider himself much of a narcissist, he couldn't help but wonder if he struck a pretty cool image standing up top that building- his scarf and duster fluttering in the wind, his rifle sitting proudly on his shoulder, a hint of a smile on his lips and the promise of adventure lighting up his eyes as he looked over the sprawling metropolis. Made him feel like Angel, but with less brood and more gun. Properly, the young mercenary felt like he should be somewhat intimidated by what he saw, but really, he was feeling kinda excited. As weird of a turn as his most recent job had taken, things looked like they were about to get pretty interesting.
The young man made his way down to the balcony below. Feeling bold, he focused prana into his legs to reinforce them as he jumped off onto the pavement. A definite shock ran through his legs, but nothing was hurt or broken, and he'd probably looked pretty damn cool doing it, so eh, in his mind, it was entirely worth it.
He straightened himself up with cheerful ease as he looked out into the city proper. Place seemed infested with all sorts of supernatural creepy crawlies, so he figured it wouldn't be too hard to find a place to hit the hay in exchange for making sure the place didn't get ripped apart. Moral gratification and free room and board all in one fell swoop- just how he liked it. Though he didn't mind doing the awesome hero stuff for free, just that he kinda needed to support himself too. Those were the breaks.
Still, before he found a place to crash, he wanted to take a better look around. See whoever was worth seeing, maybe rescue some people. Hell, maybe meet a pretty girl. Or all three, kill some birds with the same stone. And so with an enthusiastic gleam in his eye, Finn walked forward into the night, ready and able to face anything that passed his way.
-
Things were just a bit awkward for the two who stood near the red clad magus. Hakuno was blushing faintly, an uncomfortable feeling forming at the pit of her stomach. Archer stood there not knowing whether to be amused, just a bit horrified, or even maybe a bit upset. Well, he certainly wasn't pleased in the slightest about that little "threesome" Rider mentioned. His Master wasn't ready for that. Not at all. And knowing her and her tendency towards helping people to the point of stupidity at times meant that she might well volunteer while having no clue what exactly she was getting into... No, he'd have to stop that from happening, no matter how much Hakuno insisted or... no no, that little imagining would stop right there, now wasn't the time for it. No time was.
As for the magus herself.... her face was as red as her shirt, her fists trembling as she initially struggled for words. Vague choking sounds issued from her throat. All this in reaction to Rider's comments about her and their future sexual encounters, as well as Forest providing the details of Rider's fantasies. Rin finally managed to speak, but even then she had trouble forming the words. "I-I... I-I... L-l-look, e-even if future me is doing all... that with you, do you think that's really appropriate to discuss in public?! A-and besides, that's future me, right? I-it hasn't happened yet, s-s-so-"
Rin's ability to form words vanished again, so Archer piped up in her stead, with a bit of a sigh. "What I think she's trying to say is that she'd rather discuss the details elsewhere. What's all involved, who's willing to do what, etcetera." Even his face became a bit flushed at the thought. Regardless, he continued. "Probably not a bad idea really. Rin might pop a blood vessel at this rate." His face flushed just a bit yet again, as he remembered Forest's brief comment about his ensemble. "As for my current... outfit, it wasn't exactly my choice or my Master's really, but something that was forced on me. I'm not normally accustomed to showing this much skin."
Hakuno, momentarily distracted from feeling sorry for Rin, turned to look at her Servant quizzically. "Hmm? But after I told you it looked good on you, I thought you said you liked it. And that you thought about maybe even showing more skin. You even changed back into it a few times for some variety in what you wore for our Labyrinth runs. That's why you're wearing it now."
Archer's face became rather flushed. Rin, upon hearing this, was able to recover some from her own humiliation. In fact, it took her some effort to suppress a snicker. Archer, desperately trying to maintain some form of composure, cleared his throat before answering. "That's a bit... private, Master. Still, yes, I'll admit, I did say that. Honestly, it was really Hakuno's words that gave me the motivation to wear outfits like this. Still, as much as I appreciate my Master's opinion, it seems that it might be best if I have a change of wardrobe. For... various reasons. Once my Master and I find a place to stay, I'll change out of it."
Rin felt the pang again. Archer wasn't really the type to wear such clothing. And yet he'd taken Hakuno's praise seriously enough to not worry about the humiliation- even enough to want to show even more skin! Rin had never asked for such things, but... would he have done the same thing for her? Willingly?
Thankfully, Forest mentioned living accommodations, which seemed to prompt Lancer's reappearance, accompanied by the little familiar from before, the poor thing's arm still broken. As the Servant and his Landlady talked, Rider addressed Rin.
"Actually, that reminds me. Rin, would you like to meet your nephew?"
Rin was more surprised than she should have been, but quickly readjusted, grateful that Rider had brought something up regarding her that didn't involve sex.
"I'd be glad to. I'm going to get situated at the apartment first, but I'll meet him afterwards." Rin turned back to the Master/Servant duo. "What about you two, are you going to take up Forest's offer too?"
Hakuno nodded before her Servant could even reply. Archer looked a bit embarrassed, but answered anyway. "Well, it seems even if I was against it, my Master has decided for us. I can't help but be a bit wary, but still, the offer is a welcome one."
"Mmhm." Rin was satisfied. Even if seeing the two together at times hurt, Rin was still glad that they'd be living in the same complex, especially Archer.
The group's attention was directed, however, at the voice of a young girl.
"Well, with things settling down, I really should go." Isa went around and said her goodbyes to everyone, one by one by one.
Hakuno was next after Rider, and she was surprised as the magus girl jumped into her arms, embracing her tightly. "Keep your spirit up. And never ever change." Hakuno smiled at that, her words warming her heart. She noticed Isa fidgeting in her arms as she continued. "Aww, I wish your were my other sister."
Hakuno beamed at that. Her voice full of warmth, Hakuno replied, "And I'd be more than happy to be your sister." Archer couldn't help but smile a little at this display, in spite of everything he was.
Next up was Rin, who was addressed with less love and more respect. "I wish we could discuss things thoroughly, about this place especially, but It will have to wait, Tohsaka-san."
The older magus nodded in reply. "Yeah, definitely. I hate imposing on Forest like this, but I'll be using that apartment complex as my base of operations. When you're ready, come visit me. We're going to have quite a bit to discuss, believe me."
Next was Archer. Considering how much Archer towered over her, even more so than the other two girls, it was perhaps a bit surprising that the girl didn't seem too intimidated by the Servant. She moved close to him, addressing him in somewhat of a whisper. "Thanks for not attacking. Must have been difficult. I'm glad you acknowledge value in people opinions."
Archer nodded. "No problem. What I feel about that kid and his opinions are less important than my Master and Rin's safety, and the safety of everyone else here, including you."
Their voices were low, so it was hard for Rin to hear, but... Did he.. mention me by name? ...Wait, why do I care so much if he did? H-he obviously has feelings for Hakuno now, a-nd it's not like I'm his Master or anything anymore, so why should I even...
Isa continued on. "Keep your Master safe but don't look at her as only someone to protect. You're partners, right?" She winked at him as she walked on to the next person. Archer got the first part quite well, even agreed with it. But the second part didn't seem to quite process with him at first, even with the wink. Then Hakuno tugged at his sleeve and gave him a meaningful look. Archer quickly looked away from his Master, embarrassed to find himself slightly flushed once again.
Isa went to Forest next, offering her something precious of hers, which Forest returned to her, and gave kind farewells to both Lancer and the little familiar. Next was Satoshi.
Then the most surprising of all. Isa approached Shirou. When she slapped him, while the assorted group felt it was deserved, they also were a bit worried. Archer in particular became tense, more than ready to take Shirou out if he so much as harmed the girl- both for Isa's sake and to punish that alternate self for his own hypocrisy. But thankfully, Shirou made no move to harm her. Her words were filled with kindness and compassion, filled with hope that this shell of a man could still find redemption, and the human warmth that he had lost.
Shirou's face was akin to that of a goldfish without water. Archer couldn't help but find some grim amusement in his alternate self's reaction. At last, he replied. "That naivety will put you in danger someday. But...when it does, I'll try to be there to help. People like you...are what I fight for."
A dark chuckle escaped from Archer's throat. He was about to say something, but Hakuno elbowed him in the ribs. He winced a bit at his Master's somewhat violent reaction. "I get why you'd want me to shut up, but what was that for?" He whispered.
"I find it a bit hypocritical too, but I don't want any more fights tonight," she whispered back. "Even if it means elbowing you in the ribs."
Shirou continued on, softly, somewhat speaking more to himself than anyone else. "But you're wrong on that last point. Someone like me, who survived where others had not, who had sacrificed the lives of innocents, doesn't deserve happiness."
Archer couldn't help but thinking that this Shirou didn't deserve happiness for entirely different reasons, but his statement... was all too familiar. As much had been changed and warped, some things hadn't changed at all. Archer found it a bit peculiar, really- how that same survivor's guilt which defined them both could lead to such different paths in the end.
Shirou then walked over to Hakuno and Archer. The Servant, not exactly inclined to trust the young man, even now, moved so that she was behind him. With some irritation, Hakuno popped her head out from behind her Servant to look at the approaching figure. That last message Isa gave Archer? I may have to pound it into the dummy's head just a bit.
"Isabella is right though, I do owe you an apology. I'm...sorry for trying to kill you." He seemed to address her as if she was somewhat afraid. While she wasn't entirely fond of the young man just yet, Hakuno wasn't as frightened as he seemed to see her. "I misjudged the situation badly, and you came to further harm because of it. It probably doesn't matter much to you, but I'm...sorry."
Hakuno moved out from behind her Servant, clamping down on his arm so he didn't try and just move in front of her again. "While I don't really like your reasoning, or like it when someone tries to shoot me... I accept your apology. Just please don't do it again."
Archer smirked just a bit. "You should be grateful that my Master here has such a soft touch. She even has confidence that you won't pull this type of crap again." The Servant stared down at his counterpart. "I, however, don't have that same confidence. Remember that promise I made should you put my Master in harm's way again- I have every intention of keeping my word."
With that, Shirou began moving away, turning his back, not saying any good byes. He missed the Look Hakuno gave her Servant, who just responded with a shrug. But before he could fully leave, Forest moved to stop him, grabbing the young man's shoulder. "Okay, you made a rookie mistake. Life's rough, Lad, but going like you are, you're going to end up burnt out, alone, and then in an oblong box. Then who are you going to help dead? Come with us, rest your head. I have more than enough room."
Archer was rather displeased with this development, even if he suspected that Shirou would refuse, but Hakuno squeezed on his arm and shot him another glare before he could respond again.
Rin too looked warily upon the situation, knowing the conflicts that it could cause with the two Servants present. Still, she couldn't help but smile at the hard time Hakuno was giving Archer over his repeated attempts to snark something off to Shirou. Even if she was somewhat jealous of her, she was starting to really like the girl.
The group looked on in silence, awaiting Shirou's response.
-
Satoshi sighed, 'often mistaken for king Arthur, more often treated like Arthur curry' he thought as he turned on his heels leaving without a word. He wasn't sure of a lot at the moment but he wasn't like he got called up for no reason and he highly doubted watching exchanges in alleyways was the why of being in the urban nightmare.
"my name is Taiga Pendragon" the small red head answered.
-
Rider couldn't help but laugh as Rin's face turned bright red in response to her all-too-detailed statement of what she wanted them to do.
She's such fun to tease.
Rin's face them turned even redder as Forest replied to Rider's comment about reading her mind.
"You broadcast. Like the Emergency Broadcast System. The more intense your thought, the louder it is. It's not like I like being privy to people's Bondage Fantasies or anything."
"Well, sorry, I'm not trying to 'broadcast', I'm just thinking", Rider replied, somewhat annoyed at the vampire's attempt to blame her for the fact that she couldn't control her own psychic powers properly.
Then Forest continued.
"And Lord and Lady, are all of you into the kink or what? Rider has her dominatrix battle outfit and you're wearing . . . that . . ."
Rider chuckled once more at Forest's complete lack of tactfullness and, also, at Archer's outfit. Meanwhile, Rin finally managed to get her composure together enough to at least make an attempt at replying.
"I-I... I-I... L-l-look, e-even if future me is doing all... that with you, do you think that's really appropriate to discuss in public?! A-and besides, that's future me, right? I-it hasn't happened yet, s-s-so-"
Rider laughed loudly. Rin was just so much fun to tease. Before she could reply, though, Archer spoke up.
"What I think she's trying to say is that she'd rather discuss the details elsewhere. What's all involved, who's willing to do what, etcetera", he said, his face also becoming somewhat flushed. "Probably not a bad idea really. Rin might pop a blood vessel at this rate."
Rider laughed again at that last comment. However, whilst what he was saying made sense, Rin's response to the teasing was just too good for her to stop there. She could, however, see that Archer was less-than-impressed with her "suggestions", probably because of her blatant come-ons to the girl who he was at very least extremely close to, and, judging by their reaction towards each other, already in a relationship with.
Well, hey, if he wants to join in too, I can live with that....
After all, Archer was an alternative version of Shirou, and she knew that Rin was also attracted to him, as her jealous reaction to his closeness to Hakuno demonstrated. If sleeping with him was the price to pay for having sex with Hakuno and Rin as well, she'd gladly do so.
"You know, Archer, if you want to join in too, I'm sure the girls won't mind", she said, seductively.
However, her teasing of Rin and Archer was interrupted by Forest's next comment.
"But! We should leave the alley and get people settled. I'm sure that some of you were sucked here with no rhyme nor reason and little to your name but the clothing on your back. I have plenty of rooms and supplies at my stronghold. You can get something to eat - if Lancer remembered to go shopping . . ."
Rider considered the offer for a moment, waiting to see what everyone else would do. However, her inclination was to accept, particularly since Forest had offered her prana. The woman had, after all, proven herself to be trustworthy.
On the other side of the coin, though....
"Oy, it's not my fault that you're on a 'liquid and citrus' diet and the only thing I found in your gods damned fridge was oranges and orange juice."
Lancer....
The voice confirmed that the Lancer Forest had mentioned before was indeed the one that had fought her in the Grail War and, worse, had attempted to murder Shirou. Her apprehension only increased as he continued speaking, particularly when he turned to her.
"Now I wish I would have been here sooner. I would happily donate all the prana the lass could want", he said.
Ugh, she thought as she looked at him with a scowl, clearly indicating her displeasure at the idea.
Sleeping with that smug idiot was not what she had in mind. As far as she was concerned, Lancer was only a small step above the guy she had previously been fighting and, frankly, he was somewhat less attractive.
However, her thought processes were interrupted when Rin responded to her previous comment about her nephew, a comment which seemed to have surprised her somewhat, despite the fact that she surely must know that her sister would one-day marry and have children with Shirou as well.
"I'd be glad to. I'm going to get situated at the apartment first, but I'll meet him afterwards."
Apparently, Rin had decided to accept Forest's offer, to Rider's relief. Then, Rin turned to Hakuno and Archer, and, answering on behalf of them both, Hakuno agreed also.
Hearing that, her mind was made up. She knew that Rin could be trusted to help protect Kiyoshi, particularly since she had acknowledged their relationship, and she also suspected that Hakuno and Forest would do so. Whilst she felt a bit bad about not following through on her promise to protect the hotel she had been staying in, ultimately Kiyoshi's well-being was far more important, and it wasn't like she was leaving him in any worse a position than he had been in prior to their arrival. Forest's house had food for Kiyoshi and plentiful (and very sexy) sources of prana for her, as well as the extra protection for Kiyoshi. It was no contest really.
Before she could respond, though, Isa piped up, unfortunately refusing the offer.
Shame, she's a sweet girl.
That thought was only enhanced when Rider suddenly felt the girl warmly embracing her. Rider was slightly shocked, but she had become accustomed to surprise hugs from years of babysitting Sakura's children, and responded by smiling and hugging the girl back.
"Take care of you and the little guy, okay?", Isa said, warmly. "I would like to meet your Master someday."
"Thank you for your help," Rider replied with equal warmth. "You might know my master, she's Rin's sister, Sakura. If not I'm sure she'd be more than happy to meet such a kind girl like you. She might be quite protective of you, though, she's like that with children."
After all, the girl had shown an awareness of Rin, so it was just possible she would know Sakura too. If not, she was sure her master would be happy to meet the girl.
Rider watched as the girl went around saying goodbye to everyone with equal warmth and kindness. However, Rider paid little attention to it, instead thinking of her next move, and her own response. In particular, she recalled how Shirou had once again avoided answering her question, instead giving her only a brief glance. It was abundantly clear to her now that he was hiding something, and most likely it wasn't good news for the Sakura of his timeline, or for anyone else within a 10 mile radius of the guy. She really hoped that he rejected Forest's offer.
However, her thoughts were somewhat interrupted by the sound of a hard slap. Looking in Shirou's direction, she could see that Isa had just hit him, a massive departure from the kindness she'd shown to everyone else.
"That's your punishment for your "mistake" earlier." She said calmly. "Did you feel my anger behind it? Are you getting angry yourself?" The girl took his hand in hers and smiled gently. "That's what humans feel, emotions aren't something thrown away so easily. You may have lost a lot to become like you are now. It may hurt a lot but you shouldn't throw away what makes you one of us." She raised his hand in order for him to touch her face. "See, that's what human warmth feels like. Do you remember? What you lost as a human being can be regained. You're not a machine. You may not redeem yourself but you can start by forgiving yourself. " She paused a second before surrounding him with her arms. "Each person is precious, there may have difficult choices to make but, you should think with your heart before logic." Isabella teared up for him. "The people you lost would want you to be happy as well, don't you think?"
Rider honestly felt sorry for the girl. She clearly wanted to help Shirou, but if she was right then he was simply too far gone to be saved, or to even deserve saving. Indeed, if she was right then she suspected that bringing back his emotions and making him understand the full horror what he'd done would be outright torture for him.
Still, she found herself agreeing whole-heartedly with the girl's words. And, ironically, she knew that the Shirou she knew would agree with her. This Shirou, however, was never going to accept her beliefs. The number of people he'd killed meant that he simply couldn't. She knew Shirou well enough to know that he would simply never be able to forgive himself for the sort of cold-blooded murder he'd attempted on Hakuno, no matter what justifications he might find. He had found it difficult enough to forgive himself for deaths he could do nothing about, like those in the Grail War.
Shirou turned and replied to Isa.
"That naivety will put you in danger someday. But...when it does, I'll try to be there to help. People like you...are what I fight for."
Yeah, right. You'd have put a bullet in her head in a second if she was in your way.
Judging from the way that Hakuno had elbowed Archer in the ribs, he evidentially felt much the same way, and understandably so. If someone had tried to put a bullet in the head of her master then even Sakura herself couldn't have stopped her giving him an excrutiatingly-painful death.
"But you're wrong on that last point. Someone like me, who survived where others had not, who had sacrificed the lives of innocents, doesn't deserve happiness."
As much as she was coming to detest the guy and his idiocy, she was in full agreement with him on that point. If he'd done what she suspected he'd done, even an eternity in Tartarus would not be a sufficient punishment. His statement also confirmed what she had suspected, that he was suppressing his own emotions to deal with all the horrible crimes he'd committed.
Still, she was somewhat shocked to see him actually take her advice and apologise to Hakuno, although the way he worded the apology made it pretty clear that the only thing he was sorry about was that he had attempted to kill her when doing so wouldn't actually have saved innocent lives, rather than the fact that he had attempted to kill her more generally.
Even so, the girl accepted his apology. Archer, however, clearly did not feel the same way.
Then, to Rider's delight, Shirou turned around and started to walk away. The last possible obstacle out of the way, Rider turned to Forest and gave her answer.
"Forest, your house sounds much nicer and safer than the hotel I'm in, and we need to sort out the prana transfer anyway. I'd be happy to stay at yours. Obviously we'll need to stop off at the hotel first, though, to collect Kiyoshi."
Then, she looked in Rin's direction.
"When we get there, though, I look forward to giving you some lessons in the sort of things your future self got up to. Practical lessons", she said, smiling teasingly.
However, the happy mood was somewhat spoiled when Forest turned and addressed the departing Shirou once more.
"Okay, you made a rookie mistake. Life's rough, Lad, but going like you are, you're going to end up burnt out, alone, and then in an oblong box. Then who are you going to help dead? Come with us, rest your head. I have more than enough room."
Seriously?
Whilst Forest was a very nice person, she was clearly hopelessly naive in some ways. What Shirou had done was not a "rookie mistake" but a calculated effort to murder an innocent girl in cold blood because it was the most "efficient" way of acting. She could tell that Archer was irritated by this development but, once again, his master stayed his hand.
Rider, however, had no such restrictions.
"Forest, I know you're trying to help the guy, but have you forgotten that he only five minutes ago was trying to put a bullet in Hakuno's head? And I'm pretty damn sure he'd do it again, too, the instant he thought doing so might save lives elsewhere. He simply cannot be trusted, he would sacrifice any one of us if he thought it would save a few people elsewhere. You might be OK with that, but what about the rest of us?"
Giving a quick glance in Shirou's direction, she continued.
"And, you know, he still hasn't answered how he ended up this way, why he's so different from the Shirou I know. Probably because he knows the answer will condemn him...."
Then, she addressed Shirou directly, once again trying to get a straight answer to her question, her emotions rising once more.
"Tell me, Shirou, do you have any friends or family? Or did they all end up with a bullet in the head? What about Sakura and Rin? What happened to them?"
Then, calming down somewhat, she addressed the rest of the group.
"Sorry, everyone, I really don't want a fight, I just think he has a few questions to answer before we can trust him to live with us. I know Archer feels the same, too."
Then, she turned to Satoshi, who she noticed had appeared to be leaving. His most recent statement had reassured her somewhat. Whilst his willingness to offer unconditional protection to Shirou was somewhat grating, it fitted somewhat with his apparent idealism.
"Satoshi, will you not join us too? I think you'd be welcome to stay.
And, sorry for my tone earlier, it seems like I was right the first time. You really are your father's son. Even if I would rather you not give unconditional protection to someone who might put a bullet in the head of any one of us at any time.
Also, I'm not sure what you mean about 'sea legs'. I know of parallel universes, of course, but I don't really think about it too much. Sakura is happy in our universe, I'd rather not think about all the ways that her life could have turned out much worse...", she said, her final comment accompanied with a meaningful glance in the direction of Shirou.
-
"Okay, you made a rookie mistake. Life's rough, Lad, but going like you are, you're going to end up burnt out, alone, and then in an oblong box. Then who are you going to help dead? Come with us, rest your head. I have more than enough room."
Shirou was stopped in his tracks as Forest grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around in the process. The Magus Killer blinked dumbfoundedly at her, completely shocked by this random request, with the slight coughs around him indicating that the rest of the occupants felt exactly the same way. He was actually at a loss for words. Strange. That hadn't happened in a very long time, though that was more because he didn't talk to many people than his own general wit.
Out of the corner of his eye, he monitored everyone's reactions. Hakuno shot a glare at Archer at his scoff, Satoshi...left, Tohsaka simply stared at the two, her face still a bit red from Rider's teasing, and Lancer and the boy not giving a crap whatsoever. In particular, Shirou payed attention to the enemy servant, and thus he did not miss the way Rider's eyes widened slightly in disbelief, before narrowing once more in annoyance, having been thwarted in some type of plan. Suddenly, the Servant spoke up:
"Forest, I know you're trying to help the guy, but have you forgotten that he only five minutes ago was trying to put a bullet in Hakuno's head? And I'm pretty damn sure he'd do it again, too, the instant he thought doing so might save lives elsewhere. He simply cannot be trusted, he would sacrifice any one of us if he thought it would save a few people elsewhere. You might be OK with that, but what about the rest of us?" the Gorgon sneaked a quick glance over to him, seemingly judging the effectiveness of her barb despite his lack of reaction, before continuing quickly, "And, you know, he still hasn't answered how he ended up this way, why he's so different from the Shirou I know. Probably because he knows the answer will condemn him...."
Shirou twitched slightly at her words, but once again outwardly did not react at all to her words. Even if her words wounded him, he would not let her know it. After Isa's admonishment, and Hakuno somehow forgiving him, he would not sully their attempts at peace by acting on his emotion, despite Isa's encouragement for it. The situation was on a knife's edge, and he would not be the one to tip it over again, even if Rider saw fit to try to enrage him at every opportunity.
Changing tact, the purple-haired Servant chose to attack Shirou directly, seemingly trying her very hardest to get a rise out of him, getting emotional herself in the process. Why was she doing this to him? What business did she have snooping about in his life?
"Tell me, Shirou, do you have any friends or family? Or did they all end up with a bullet in the head? What about Sakura and Rin? What happened to them?" the Servant said vindictively, cruelly. The square pupils of her eyes latched onto him through the protective glass of her spectacles (He would have to figure out who made those glasses at a later point, they could come in handy), as if trying to peer right into his soul so as to determine the very best way to make him hurt. Like a predator eyed her prey.
What the hell was she thinking? How was it any of her business at all, who his family was? Even if Satoshi was correct and Rider legitimately didn't know what happened, where on Earth did she get the nerve to constantly try to dig up painful pasts, or to insinuate that he had executed all his family in cold blood; especially if she could tell he didn't want to talk about and had obviously been negatively affected by it. Despite his best efforts, Shirou could feel his hands clenching, his fingernails digging painfully into his palms, almost breaking the skin; his temper rising rapidly once more at the clear barb. He scoffed as the Servant pretended to cover her motives to the crowd, everyone somehow swallowing the flimsy excuse without any comment.
Shirou opened his mouth to-NO
He turned away slightly, shaking his head slightly. This had to stop, this vicious cycle of her insulting him and him getting angry. It was time to fight back. If she was going to constantly rely on dirty tricks and her knowledge of his past like that to wound him, he wouldn't hold back. He wasn't an idiotic pushover like he had been as a teenager, constantly worried about honour and fairness in a world where neither existed. That had been stamped out of him a mere week into the War, as had his foolish belief that even the most irredeemable of villains should be saved from themselves. Fighting dirty was a necessity as the Magus Killer, and psychological warfare was an area he had been forced to become skilled at during his exploits. After all, Magi who were terrified out of their mind or Magi who were enraged were Magi who couldn't think properly, and thus were Magi who don't have the presence of mind to perform complicated feats of magic or Magi who were unable to see the whole picture; and ultimately Magi who he could eliminate when he was sent to stop their amoral, disgusting, pointless experiments.
"No Medusa, I don't have a family except for Fuji-nee all the way back in Fuyuki," Shirou began, his voice as cold as the Arctic wind, eyes like ice-cold iron, practically spitting out the words in disgust, "Kiritsugu died long before the War, killed by the Grail's curse, but he passed away peacefully, smiling. I didn't execute him as a 10 year old if that's what you're implying. Illyasviel von Einzbern, my half sister, was killed by True Assassin. He ripped her heart out before I, Tohsaka or Berserker could stop him, before she could even cry out for help. Him and Zouken needed her heart for the Grail, but we couldn't warn her in time. And no, I did not miraculously place a bullet between her eyes if that's what you're asking. Tohsaka Rin," he broke off for a bit, staring at the magus in question, contemplating how best to break the news of her death delicately, before deciding simply to tell a half-truth, "...her body was swallowed by the Grail mud whilst we were trying to destroy the Grail, at the very end of the war. And as for Sakura..."
Here Shirou completely steeled his feelings. He was well aware of how high a pedestal Rider held her former Master, idolising her almost more than he did. Perhaps she saw Sakura as a surrogate sister, to replace the ones she had killed slowly herself. Whilst he normally wouldn't have do something like this, to someone who wasn't a target he sought to eliminate, the Servant's constant digs at him and attempts to blow up the situation had caused him to lose all sympathy for the Servant, and possibly to feel a little vindictive.
"Well Rider...you tell me. You caused her death after all."
And he wasn't even fully lying. That was the saddest part of it all. Her loyalty to Sakura and mere existence had ultimately caused Sakura's death. Had she not revealed Sakura as her Master, Rin would have held off for the most part on trying to kill Sakura, as Rin would have had no evidence. It was a very convoluted way of viewing it, but nonetheless valid, ignoring the fact that his actions also played a sizeable factor in Sakura's death.
He turned away from the Servant and back to Forest. She was a psychic vampire, and probably had picked up on his half truth, but nonetheless a part of him felt satisfied. He frowned at the thought: he should not be taking delight from this. Was he becoming like that damned priest? No, he wouldn't let that happen, he would rather die before something like that happened.
Clearing his thoughts, he addressed Forest.
"As for your offer...thanks but no thanks," he said, noting how the general mood seemed to lighten in response. The vampire meant well, but frankly, inviting him, whilst extremely nice, was suicidal. As much as he hate to say it, he was in agreement with everyone else in the alleyway: Emiya Shirou as the Second Magus Killer would only aggravate the situation if he stayed any longer.
"I know you mean well, but...let's be honest Forest. Your apartment would get destroyed in minutes if I stayed there, and seeing as Rider is coming along as well, I predict the building would not last 2 seconds. Not to mention everyone would be afraid to sleep for fear of a slit throat in their sleep, myself included. So I think it's probably best for everybody that I stay away. And besides, I'm pretty bad company," he smirked, the smile not quite reaching his eyes, shaking off fond memories of childhood meals, of Kiritsugu and Taiga smiling exuberantly as they tasted the food he had created after pain-staking memory, of mornings with Saber and Rin after a hard night of War. Of the bright smile Sakura made when he tasted her dishes for the first time, and he had been surprised at how great they were.
With those words, he turned once more to stroll out of the alley, the tails of his black trench-coat flickering slightly as he did so. He had heard a loud explosion on his way here, and he had definitely put off going long enough.
-
I can set a broken arm, I just won't be none too gentle about it.
"Huh..."
The familiar rubbed his temple once again. Maybe he should have let the blond woman do it, after all. Her expression had been strange when he distanced himself from her at first. Maybe he should apologize? A gift could do bu-...
However Lancer brought him back to reality.
Sure you want me to do it? It'll hurt like a bitch.
"What's a bi-...Uuuuarrrrrrgh!!!!" The yell escaped his lips with all the might he could muster. Ruu jumped repetitively in a comical manner when the Servant did what he was supposed to do. Definitely, he should have trusted the Landlady. Promising himself to never choose Lancer over her again, he closed his jaw on the Ex-Servant's own arm as repayment.
---
Isa walked away from the group who had already started to argue again. Her steps were slow and measured as if asking others to not notice her depart. It felt a little awkward to go like that after what had happened. She wanted to stay with them because they were people of all horizons. She had much to learn from them, she knew it. But as far as her will to go with them was strong, Vanessa took precedence here. It had always been like that and will always be.
With a chant only up to a whisper, she started converting od in prana, effictively concealing herself in a shadow of light. With seconds passing, she soon would disappear from eyesight, magical or not. Thoughts would be unable to reach her too. She closed her eyes, building another spell. Isabella projected a mental image of the boundaries surrounding the quarter and saw herself already moving across the maze of buildings. Focusing her mind on the trail of subtle prana emitted by different gematria icons she left on her way here, she broke them from where she stood, making them shining with intense darkness. Only few magus in Clock Tower could sense these as they were an archaic form of magecraft only the twins bothered to study in their whole department.
For Isabella's eyes, the world had became a blurry mix of shades and radiance. Sounds were distorted and she could barely understand what was being said by the group few meters away from her. The twin ignored the discussion, which she wouldn't understand anyway, and searched for an hint which could indicate Vanessa's exact position. Usually those were difficult to miss given how the older sibling liked to show off. And indeed it didn't take much time to spot her. The shining beam piercing the sky wasn't where Isabella had parted ways with Vanessa but it wasn't that far from their previous location. However, Isabella would have to run quite a bit before reaching this new location.
She grumbled, feeling her prana being drained at an alarming rate. The teenager fell on her knee as the bond with her sister sank in her mind. She knew it was only an illusion for herself, the bond the twins had, sharing Vanessa's own condition with Isabella. But as much as she knew it was not her who was tiring so fast, she still felt the effect as if things were happening to her. It was their curse and their blessing. Being able to share basically everything with someone that close had to be paid in some way. Unfortunately the sisters didn't have a the ability to exchange thoughts between each other. However, it would apply for basically everything else. Pain, illness, exhaustion, emotions too. And it would increase the closer they would be to each other, indicating Vanessa's prana level was in red. She had to be fast.
With a glance over her shoulder, the adolescent girl bit on her tongue.
Thank you for your help. You might know my master, she's Rin's sister, Sakura.
If not I'm sure she'd be more than happy to meet such a kind girl like you.
She might be quite protective of you, though, she's like that with children.[/center
Rider.
And I'd be more than happy to be your sister.
Hakuno-san.
No problem.
What I feel about that kid and his opinions are less important than my Master and Rin's safety, and the safety of everyone else here, including you.
Archer.
Yeah, definitely.
I hate imposing on Forest like this, but I'll be using that apartment complex as my base of operations.
When you're ready, come visit me.
We're going to have quite a bit to discuss, believe me.
Tohsaka-san.
I can't take this, it's too important to you.
Thank you though.
I've been fine this long, I'll continue to muddle through.
Besides, I have my own guardian on my side.
Forest.
That naivety will put you in danger someday.
But...when it does, I'll try to be there to help.
People like you...are what I fight for.
Shirou.
She'll miss them. Each of these people had something special. Isabella wished to know them more and learn from their experiences. But she didn't have the choice.
And worse than that, things didn't seem to go so well.
Most of you are older than me, guys. Show some restraint.
Isabella shook her head. She had played her part and tried her best. All she had to do now would be to go help her sister. Yet, she didn't move. There was still something she could do. Looking at her hand she frowned for an instant. The silvery piece Forest refused. She had made a mistake in proposing it to the Vampire but she didn't regret her attempt, even after the blond brushed it aside. However, there was a person who may need it even more than her. Someone who would feel probably alone even, in presence of others. Especially in presence of others.
Her gaze fell on the guy and she knew what to do. She wrote another word and without a sound slipped both pendant and piece of paper in his trench-coat pocket, with the purpose of him finding it at a moment when he would be alone. With a satisfied smile for herself, she then took off.
----
What's written on the note.
You're the only one who can forgive yourself. Whether you decide to do it or not, just know that I do forgive you. It might not be much considering I don't know of your past, but there's a reason to that. From what I saw, you have potential to do good things. You just happen to have lost your path, but that's okay!! People make mistakes all the time. Sometimes it's harmless. Sometimes it can break people apart. Things are rarely simple and being human is suffering. All you can do is, try your best and strengthen yourself for the next time.
Archer is proof enough that you're not a bad person at heart. All you need, is to orient your life in a more positive way. You can make amend for the suffering you spread in the past by admitting your mistakes. Honor the departed by showing you have learned something from them.
Can't do anything about the guilt though, one could argue it's your own burden to carry. That's what the pendant is for. For the times when you feel lonely or unable to overcome an hurdle, just remember that I'm rooting for you, no matter what others think.
Have great expectations of you, Emiya Shirou.
See you soon, Isa.
-
Satoshi shook his head "between you propositioning everyone here aside from lancer, shirou and myself which apart from being a bit disturbing in itself it means that going with you will have me standing around where I can hear you have sex which is awkward. That aside I'm not particularly interested in meeting another alternate universe half sibling, especially if it's a young kid but mostly because I disagree with some of the things you've said, they quite frankly exude a lack of care for the weight of a life and I would be going against the basic nature of who I am if I let it slide." he replied
-
Rider glared at Shirou as he turned back and finally answered her questions, confirming her very worst fears with his first sentence. Sakura was gone from his life, either dead or, worse, forgotten about. Rider's anger at Shirou and sadness at the fate of her beloved master's alternate self started to rise.
It only got worse from there.
The comment about Ilya made it clear that his timeline had not been all that different from her own. Just like in her time, Zouken had been involved in the war, which was something that she knew from Sakura and from his original actions following her summoning had not been intended from the beginning. He would only get involved if he saw an opportunity, and that almost certainly meant Sakura being actively involved and, most likely, activated as the shadow.
Rider's stomach began to turn.
Shirou continued to speak, his voice as cold as ice as he claimed no responsibility for Rin's death. However, his hesitation and the long look he made in the direction of the girl in question before giving his answer told Rider otherwise. He was clearly trying to sugar-coat the truth for his own ends.
Then, finally, he answered the one question that really mattered.
"And as for Sakura....
Well Rider...you tell me. You caused her death after all."
What?
Rider couldn't believe what she was hearing.
How dare he?
How DARE he?
With that comment, Rider started to shake with anger. It took every ounce of self-control she possessed not to kill him that instant.
She didn't know exactly what had happened to Sakura, but she found it extremely implausible that her master's death had been a direct result of her own actions. The worst crime she could ever see herself committing on Sakura was negligence. Further, he seemed to believe she would know about it, despite the repeated and clear indications that she was not from his timeline. Or, more likely, he was just trying to rile her....
No, I can't. I must protect Kiyoshi.
As much as he deserved to suffer for what he had done, Rider knew that to attack him now would jeopardise the new friendships she'd formed.
Still, she weighed things up in her mind, her anger and sadness still raw. Killing him was tempting, and she knew now that there was no way she could live in the same house as him. But, she could not risk getting into a fight with Forest or the rest, and nor could she afford to jeopardise her source of prana or the protection they could provide to Kiyoshi.
No, as much as his Sakura deserves to be avenged, the happiness of the Sakura that still lives is more important.
Even so, she had to be sure to keep him away from Forest's house, by force if necessary. There was no way she could trust this man to be within a mile of Kiyoshi, particularly given the boy's trusting nature and their familial relationship.
Fortunately for her, though, he was just as untrusting of himself as she was, and declined Forest's offer.
"I know you mean well, but...let's be honest Forest. Your apartment would get destroyed in minutes if I stayed there, and seeing as Rider is coming along as well, I predict the building would not last 2 seconds. Not to mention everyone would be afraid to sleep for fear of a slit throat in their sleep, myself included. So I think it's probably best for everybody that I stay away. And besides, I'm pretty bad company", he said before turning to leave.
I can't disagree with that..., she thought, thankful that the idiot was at least aware that they could never stay together.
Still, even thought he was leaving she couldn't simply forget that last slur. Being responsible for Sakura's death was one thing she could never, ever forgive herself for. Even if it was an alternate version of herself he was talking about, she felt compelled to stand up and defend her. And, further, she simply couldn't let the idiot's bullshit go unanswered.
And, finally, she was still seriously pissed off. Whilst his desire to leave had calmed her enough that she no longer wanted to kill him outright, she was certainly not going to let him bullshit his way out of responsibility for his actions.
Before she could speak, though, Satoshi answered her earlier question, shaking his head in refusal.
"between you propositioning everyone here aside from lancer, shirou and myself which apart from being a bit disturbing in itself it means that going with you will have me standing around where I can hear you have sex which is awkward. That aside I'm not particularly interested in meeting another alternate universe half sibling, especially if it's a young kid but mostly because I disagree with some of the things you've said, they quite frankly exude a lack of care for the weight of a life and I would be going against the basic nature of who I am if I let it slide."
What?
She could understand him not wanting to listen to her having sex, and she could even understand that meeting a half-sibling from an alternate universe (although, what did he mean by another half-sibling?) would be weird. But, the last part of his statement irritated her somewhat.
"Satoshi, how dare you claim that I do not care about Sakura's life. I care about her more than anyone.
Just because someone is dead that doesn't mean that their deaths should be forgotten, or brushed under a carpet. Their murderer should be called to account for his actions. That is not a lack of care. It is the opposite of that."
Then, she turned to Shirou, who was already leaving the alley.
"As for you, Shirou....
In case the supposedly dead woman standing over there hasn't clued you in to it yet, I am not the Rider you knew. My master is alive and well, so I have no idea what you are talking about. However, I do not for one second believe that the version of me you knew was responsible for her death, not outside of your twisted, self-serving sense of 'justice' and fault, anyway. You just can't accept the truth, that you are to blame, that you murdered her, probably in cold blood. Because if you did then all your pretense of being a "hero of justice" would collapse in a heap. If you accept that you murdered an innocent and helpess girl in cold blood then your entire philosophy breaks down. You know you can't save everyone, so you cope with that by making excuses for the ones you couldn't save.
I don't know exactly when your timeline diverged from mine. Did you murder her when she lay sleeping on that cold stone slab, defenceless and helpless? Did you do it later, when she slept peacefully in her bed and I was away fighting? Did you poison her food? Did you simply stand by and let Rin go insane and do it for you? I know she would never have willingly harmed you, so it can't have been self-defence.
I don't know and, frankly, I don't care. All I know is that you murdered her, and most likely Rin too, judging by the way you hesitated before answering."
Rider's voice started to break down, her anger giving way to sadness, tears appearing in her eyes.
"She never had a chance in life, Shirou. Never had a chance to live her own way, to be happy, or free or loved. She was thrown away by her birth family, tortured and used as a tool by her adoptive family. You were the one good thing in her life, her only source of comfort. She trusted you. She loved you, Shirou. She loved and trusted you and you betrayed her. Killed her in cold blood. She never expected anything in return, she just wanted to be with you."
Her voice became more and more broken, the tears flowing freely now.
"She had so much life to live, so much to give to the world. The Sakura I know is proof of that. But, she never had a chance to live that life, because of you. The one person who she trusted, who she thought saw her as a person and not just a tool to be used. You threw her away just like everyone else. You were the one person who she thought she could rely on to see her for what she was, but instead you treated her like a thing, just like everyone else. Just a tool of Zouken's to be destroyed to ensure it couldn't be used for evil.
You murdered her...
You murdered her...
You murdered her..."
Rider continued to mutter that phrase to herself, openly crying and shaking with anger and sadness, completely unaware that the target of her rant had most likely already left the alley, uninterested in the emotional breakdown of his enemy.
-
Shirou stood at the entrance of the alley, his vulnerable back exposed as he listened to the woman's sobs.
Effective, as he thought it would be. He was disgusted with himself.
Nevertheless it wasn't something he could really show, as he continued listening to Rider's lament, teeth gritting together painfully as she described all the opportunities that Sakura would miss. How all her hopes and aspirations had centered around him. How he had been her whole world, and that he had killed her.
"As if I didn't know that already," he murmured, "As if I'm not constantly tormented by that knowledge, and how badly I failed her."
His vision was blurring slightly as he turned to Rider, who had collapsed onto her knees, whispering desperately, "You murdered her. You murdered her."
Despite everything his heart swayed slightly at the sight, a remnant of Emiya Shirou the naive teenager. It went against every fibre of his being to not comfort someone so vulnerable, so hurt; to continue hurting her was anathema to him. He wasn't a stranger to this type of thing, but...it never got easier.
"You're right. I couldn't save her from her fate, so I as good as killed her. Just like with Rin. If I had been faster...a bit smarter...less selfish...she would be still alive. The fact I'm still standing here marks me as a murderer who killed his own family," the words slipped out unbidden from his lips, seeping out of the cracks in the armor he had built around himself.
"I would let you kill me, but that would be an insult to her memory. On that day, I abandoned my happy life as Emiya Shirou, to become someone who could save people, innocent people suffering undeserved fates like her. Was I wrong to do so?" He asked, before continuing onwards out of the alley, not waiting for a reply.
-
Forest watched as Rider sank to her knees, repeating her mantra over and over again. She watched as Emiya Shirou left the alley, and felt a pang. Vampires, as a rule, didn't have reflections. Sure she could take a picture of herself with the phone in her camera or see herself video taped, but mirrors and glass were useless to her. It was one of the reasons why many of the vampires of her world lost their sense of self. They couldn't see who they were and ended up projecting themselves on someone who was just more. More charismatic, more powerful, more beautiful, smarter, and so on and so forth.
The Second Magus Killer had thought of her as a kindred spirit of sorts, and he had been right. She had been on Shirou's own path once. People became numbers and she just went through the motions. Inside she had been hallow. Her bed empty (even though that hadn't changed), and no one to welcome her home. If she died, it would have mattered for naught.
Then Gabriel had been born, sparking some life into her once again. Even though Gabriel was now fully grown and then some, she realized how close to the abyss she had gotten.
That same abyss that poor Emiya Shirou was drowning in, aware of it and uncaring.
As his back began to vanish from the alley, she sent to him, Liar.
Lancer ruffled Ruu's hair after he set the not-boy's arm and said, "There, better? It'll heal nicely now." Then he looked at the retreating man in the trench coat, snorted and thumbed his nose. "Arse hole, may he enjoy the crow on his shoulder."
He then looked around and said, "Okay, who wants to go back with me to Fore's and have a good drink after that maudlin affair? Like, get stupidly drunk until we've blacked out."
Forest walked over to where Rider was on her knees, repeating that mantra over and over again. Steeling herself, she placed her hands on the other woman's shoulders and forced her to her feet. She met those alien eyes from behind their glasses and held the Servant's gaze. "Your Sakura is alive and well, Rider. She's happy, married with children, the sort of life I'd give anything to have. I understand your sorrow over Shirou's words, but remember this. It. Was. Not. Your. Sakura."
Cold hands like steel gripped Rider's shoulders even harder as she continued, shaking the other woman slightly, "Sakura needs you now. Her son needs your help, your protection. His name is Kiyoshi right? He needs his protector to be strong. Prove that murder wrong. Stand up and fight for your Sakura's happiness. Fight for it even harder for those Sakuras who didn't get the Happily Ever After your Sakura did. Let your Sakura live the life those others didn't."
******
Ah, the cesspool that was this city, this nexus between worlds where the unfortunate were pulled here for whatever reason. Those that were pulled here attempted to thrive and lead their lives, but there were so many monsters here. Some of those monsters were all too human while others were as inhuman as should be expected, like the idiot werewolves.
Then there were lost souls like Archer, a former Servant made flesh by all the Evils in the World in a failed attempt to corrupt him. Not that all the World's Evils didn't leave their mark, if anything it gave the former hero of justice a sense of self, but it did not make him evil. Selfish yes, and the carnal need carved into his former master by a host of worms had passed onto him as well. Not the worms, thankfully, but he didn't remember being this horny when he had been alive the first time around.
Well, it makes for getting prana easier, he thought with a shrug as he looked up in the sky. Tilting his head he saw a teenage girl with long red hair streaking past. Reinforcing his already keen eyes, he saw the dreaded Mystic Code making the poor girl's life a living hell. He sent her a tiny salute and continued his walking through the city.
He pondered what he wanted to do. He'd been curious to meet Law Unto Herself since he heard of a do gooding vampire of all things patrolling the city and saving the helpless from all sorts of unsavory things. The tainted Servant wondered if the do gooding part of the Urban Legends were over done, or if there was a vampire that broken to try to be a hero. Either way, she would prove to be somewhat interesting, especially if she was a vampire from a different dimension than his.
Dead Apostles, for the most part, were rather difficult to deal with. The vampires he'd come across here, while being a neurotic bunch, were like the ones he'd seen in media when he had started to gather information lifetimes ago. There were truths here and there in the legends, and admittedly he'd been entertained by some of the stories.
And he realized now that he liked to be entertained.
-
Pendragon? As in King Arthur?
Her surname was unusual to say the least, particularly in conjunction with the very-definitely Japanese first name that, co-incidentally, she seemed to share with his Aunt Fuji. He knew a reasonable amount about Cornwall, since his brother's fiancee was from there, and as far as he was aware it wasn't a surname which was in common usage.
"Oh, that's a nice name. My Aunt is called Taiga too. And, is your father Cornish, then? My brother's fiancee is Cornish", Kiyoshi said, excited to find out more about his new friend.
He paused for a moment, and then continued to speak.
"You'll never believe it, but King Arthur was actually a woman.
My dad has met her, too. And Aunty Rider has. Dad summoned her like mum summoned Aunty Rider. Honestly, I'm not making it up.
It's amazing what sort of things happen under the noses of most ordinary people. You should be careful when you get back home, and keep yourself safe. Most magi aren't nice like my family.
It's nice to be able to talk about this stuff, honestly. Usually we have to keep it a secret. The Association that guards that secret doesn't exist here, though, supernatural stuff is out in the open."
-
***Earlier***
"You know, Archer, if you want to join in too, I'm sure the girls won't mind." Rider purred to the tall Servant. Hakuno thought that if he'd been sitting in a chair, he would have fallen out of it. As it was though, Archer seemed to be going through his own version of what Rin had gone through earlier, but with far less blushing and far more stunned silence as he desperately tried to articulate himself. Hakuno herself in the meantime was now blushing a fair bit herself.
Rin, on the other hand, quite relieved and also amused at this development, gave her former Servant a sly look. "I can't speak for Kishinami-chan of course, but I'm sure Archer wouldn't mind being shared~"
Archer stood there, still silent- thinking through what he could say in response, realizing that pretty much all his options would only serve to tie the noose around his neck. Looking between the two girls seemed to confirm his thoughts.
Archer said the only thing he really could say without shooting himself in the foot. "No comment."
Rin couldn't help but smirk just a bit, even if she'd been hoping for a response she could have more fun with. At least, if nothing else, she wasn't the only one to be humiliated in this way tonight. And even if she didn't get anything out of him she could play with further, what reactions she had gotten from Rider's little offer were still worth it.
***To the Present***
Tension continued to build in the air as Rin, Archer and Hakuno continued to watch the mounting conflict between Shirou and Rider. Each had their own thoughts on the matter.
Hakuno's opinion of Shirou had dropped quite a bit, especially after the horrible things he had said to Rider, but she felt sorry for him at the same time. Even if she didn't think highly of him though, she didn't hate him. He and Archer were the same person once- surely there was some form of good still in him. She did empathize with Archer's rather low opinion of the Servant's alternate younger self, but at the same time, she didn't wish him any real ill will. Still... no, unless it absolutely had to be done, she wouldn't just let Archer kill him. Even if Archer was backing off for now, she could tell that Shirou was still in grave danger of getting a sword in his gut courtesy of the Servant.
A desire that had grown stronger in the Servant since watching the confrontation between the two unfold. Even if the boy had lost much, Archer refused to let it be used as an excuse. This Shirou had let his pain turn him into something deplorable. A version of himself that had gone completely nuts, using the excuse that he worked for the benefit of all to excuse his actions when, in reality, that was all driven by the desire to see the problem end quickly. He'd let his suffering define him, to the point it put him beyond sympathy. Hakuno, Isa, Forest... they saw him as still saveable when really, at this point, the best thing they could do is put him down.
Archer reevaluated his vow from before. It was clear to him now, that this Shirou needed to be put out of his misery, for his sake and the sake of everyone around him. He didn't know whether Shirou had an actual justification for sending the Rin and Sakura of his world to their deaths, but for Rin's safety, Hakuno's, and that of perhaps countless others, personification of Justice that he had once been, he could not in good conscience let this madman roam free.
Bothersome too was this Shirou's tendency to twist and bend the truth. Archer himself had a tendency to resort to half truths, but he never outright lied. If he had something to say to someone as an insult, he always made sure it had at least some truth to it. This Shirou... from what Archer had observed through his words and actions, the Second Magus Killer was all too fond of half truths and even outright lies. Watching him carefully, Archer could tell that Shirou had been outright lying about some of the things he'd said. And that also contributed to this Shirou's capacity as a threat, and part of why he needed to be eliminated at the nearest opportunity.
The bowman, however, chose not to act just yet. He'd be stopped anyway, the conflict that had taken so long to resolve before would resume, and Hakuno and Rin would both be endangered. That did not stop Archer from trying to take Shirou's life another time, however.
One thing he absolutely had to reply to though, even though it was clear that the young man had no intention of giving a response. "I would let you kill me, but that would be an insult to her memory. On that day, I abandoned my happy life as Emiya Shirou, to become someone who could save people, innocent people suffering undeserved fates like her. Was I wrong to do so?"
Archer could not disguise the contempt in his voice. "Honestly, I have the opposite opinion. I think you'd honor her memory more if you were dead. Your attempts to pass yourself off as some sort of savior are a joke. You're making me look heroic in comparison. It's a naive fantasy assuming that you can save everyone, but saving everyone you can is a goal to strive for. Too bad what you're doing won't accomplish that at all. In the end, you'll just find yourself haunted by everyone you killed in the name of "Justice" while you find yourself drowning in a sea of regret. When you finally decide that ending that little pity party of yours is the best option, I'll be more than happy to be the one to end it all for you."
Archer braced himself for another elbow to the rib from Hakuno, but instead he saw his Master looking down, giving off an air of contemplative melancholy. The Servant concluded that her perception of Shirou must have taken quite the hit indeed to have her reaction change so drastically. Regardless of this change though, he figured that she still wouldn't be terribly pleased if he offed the young man walking away then and there, so he instead shifted his attention to his Master, quickly appraising her condition.
She didn't seem too hurt, other than a few scrapes and bruises, though he could tell through their ley line that she was a bit on the low side Prana wise. Her uniform looked a bit beat up too. Still, he'd see to all that when they got to the apartments. Still, she didn't seem to notice him checking her out, which worried him- normally that would definitely have gotten some sort of reaction. Seemed he had quite a bit of work to do once they finally got to the apartments. And even if it probably wasn't the best idea... Archer couldn't help but find his blue clad rival's suggestion just a tad bit tempting....
Rin looked on at Shirou's retreating back, a mixture of emotions twisting and turning in her gut. Her head was filled with questions, her heart filled with both utter disgust and pity for this maddened Shirou. For all the feelings she had to sort out though, for everything she wanted to ask and do, she knew one thing for certain. Should the two of them meet again, and get a chance to talk in private? This Emiya-kun was going to get the lecture of his life, and a hand print on his cheek that she'd personally make sure stayed there for a full week.
Rin could worry about all that later though. For now, she had to go help Rider. Even if this Rider was from a different time, or perhaps even a different timeline altogether, it seemed quite similar to the one that Rin herself was in, and thus the Tohsaka head felt obligated to at least try and lend some comfort. Forest got there first, trying her utmost to renew Rider's resolve. Rin found herself agreeing with pretty much everything the vampire had said. Rin positioned herself next to Rider, trying to add what she could.
"You heard her. Plus it's not just the Sakura from your world that's doing well- the one in mine's doing just fine! She and Emiya-kun couldn't be happier. That... that version of Shirou... even after what happened in his reality, I don't know what caused him to become so twisted, but... well, the point is, are you going to let that jerk get to you? I don't know how much of what he said is the truth, but he does seem to have some sort of grudge against you. Seems more than anything that you're the most convenient place to let him distill some of the blame from himself."
Rin looked Rider in the eyes, just as Forest had before. "So then. Are you going to just sit there and take the blame for something you never actually did? Because the Rider I know wouldn't let herself be pushed around like that, not after all she's been through. And besides, I'm sure Sakura wouldn't like seeing you so sad. Just think of Sakura, happy at home with Emiya-kun, and get rid of those dumb tears. Don't let him win!"
Rin didn't know if her words were of any use, but she had to try. She wasn't really the best at comforting people, but she hoped that her words would help at least a little. Still... things seemed to have the potential to wind down now, with that strange version of Shirou gone. She hadn't appreciated Archer trying to get the last word in like he did, both considering it could have started things up again and that it also meant her keeping her own peace would have been for nothing, but she let it slide, since it didn't seem to change anything.
The prospect that this whole mess was finally over was a comfort to be sure, regardless. To be able to finally have her own room, take a bath... even if she hated imposing on someone else like this, she couldn't help but find the thought of such things quite pleasant indeed. Plus it meant she'd have a base of operations to carry out her mission. Thinking on her objectives, Rin couldn't help but wonder what her target was up to...
***
Finn at first thought he was hallucinating as he saw the figure flying through the sky. He didn't know why he was shocked, given all the weird stuff he sensed around him, but still, the sight caught him a bit off guard. Maybe a superhero, or... some sort of magical girl? He squinted upward at the girl, reinforcing his eyes so he could see her better. His eyes widened. It couldn't be. Mille?! After seven years, is that really?
No, there was no doubt in Finn's mind. Call it brotherly intuition, but the girl's appearance and bearing was certainly quite reminiscent of his missing younger sister. Finn hadn't been quite sure where to begin at first in his exploration of the city, but now he had a definite goal in mind. At the speed she was going though, he'd probably miss her going on foot.
Finn's conscience jabbed at him as he broke into one of the cars parked alongside the street. From the looks of it, the car had been abandoned for a few days or even a week now, but it still didn't do anything to settle Finn's guilt. Still, the fact that this car had yet to be stolen painted a rather grim picture indeed.
Finn hotwired the car, placed his rifle in the passenger's seat, and drove off in pursuit of the girl he thought may be his long lost sister. Even if he was wrong after all, maybe at least he'd involve himself in something interesting in the process regardless. After all, even if she wasn't his sister, she was still a magical girl, and there had to be a reason she was patrolling the City.
-
Satoshi sighed and flipped his magic circuit into the on position, the one draw back of being the dragon right down to the soul was that once on it was obvious where he was and just how strong he was. Not ideal for him in a city like the one he found himself in but still he needed to make a point and turned around to face archer and rider as his outfit melted away replaced with his own azure mantle and shinning steel armour.
"I was not speaking about Sakura Rider, I was talking about the other lives you insulted." he stated flatly staring at Archer as the blonde materialized his massive whip sword dragon tail, the sword was entirely blunt like a steel oar save for a pair of protrusions at the end similar to an anchor. The blade was slightly bigger than Hercules own rock sword yet it put no strain on it's wielder.
"speak again as you have Archer and your master will find herself without a servant, harm that other Emiya and I will come after you, you have no idea what you are talking about so clam up" he snapped at the biker clad servant
-
Through her sobbing, Rider could vaguely hear Shirou speaking, but she was too distraught to pay much attention to his words. Even so, she did pick up on the fact that he didn't consider himself anything like as guilt-free as he previously claimed. But, nothing he said or did could bring back the girl he'd murdered, or give her back the life she deserved to live. However, whilst she noticed others trying to speak, her sadness was such that she zoned it out totally.
Rider continued to sob, still upset at the fate of the girl that she cared for so much, until Forest came over to her, placed her hands on her shoulders and warmly but firmly attempted to calm her.
"Your Sakura is alive and well, Rider. She's happy, married with children, the sort of life I'd give anything to have. I understand your sorrow over Shirou's words, but remember this. It. Was. Not. Your. Sakura."
I know, but the poor girl didn't even get a chance.
Forest continued speaking.
"Sakura needs you now. Her son needs your help, your protection. His name is Kiyoshi right? He needs his protector to be strong. Prove that murder wrong. Stand up and fight for your Sakura's happiness. Fight for it even harder for those Sakuras who didn't get the Happily Ever After your Sakura did. Let your Sakura live the life those others didn't."
Rider looked at Forest and composed herself slightly.
Yes, she's right, I need to get back to Kiyoshi, to protect him. To protect my Sakura.
Then, Rin came over to her, looking into her eyes just like Forest had.
"You heard her. Plus it's not just the Sakura from your world that's doing well- the one in mine's doing just fine! She and Emiya-kun couldn't be happier. That... that version of Shirou... even after what happened in his reality, I don't know what caused him to become so twisted, but... well, the point is, are you going to let that jerk get to you? I don't know how much of what he said is the truth, but he does seem to have some sort of grudge against you. Seems more than anything that you're the most convenient place to let him distill some of the blame from himself.
So then. Are you going to just sit there and take the blame for something you never actually did? Because the Rider I know wouldn't let herself be pushed around like that, not after all she's been through. And besides, I'm sure Sakura wouldn't like seeing you so sad. Just think of Sakura, happy at home with Emiya-kun, and get rid of those dumb tears. Don't let him win!"
She's right, he's just trying to get at me. I can't let him win.
Composing herself, Rider spoke up, her feelings soothed somewhat by the kind words and encouragement.
"Thank you, both of you.
I know that my Sakura is happy, I know that your Sakura is happy, Rin. I just hate the thought of the Sakura he knew dying so alone, so meaninglessly, without ever seeing happiness or fulfilling any of her potential. And, worse, at the hands of the guy she loved, and someone who I would never have thought would even think of harming her. Of all the people I know, Shirou is the one I would trust with Sakura's life more than any other. More than even you, Rin. And, further, Shirou is my friend. No, he's more than just a friend, he's family. To think that someone I care for could turn out like that, could murder the person that both of us care for more than any other in cold blood, that really hurts.
And, Rin, I didn't for one second buy a word of what he said. I'm not responsible for his choices. But, even so, you're right. I shouldn't have broken down like that. He was trying to hurt me, to put me off-guard, and he succeeded.
Kiyoshi needs me to be strong. Sakura needs me to be strong. As horrible as what happened to his Sakura is, it is more important to protect the happiness of the Sakura I know. I can't bring back the dead, after all, and nor can I influence other universes. Only you are capable of that, Rin, and even then the sheer number of universes means anything you do will only ever be a drop in the ocean."
Then, suddenly, she noticed that Satoshi had changed clothes. Now he was dressed somewhat like a medieval knight, in shining steel armour. He looked very much like his mother's son. Then, he turned to Rider and spoke.
"I was not speaking about Sakura Rider, I was talking about the other lives you insulted."
Rider sighed.
Frankly, she wasn't in the mood to deal with this bullshit right now. She felt better than she had, but she was still somewhat upset and pissed off, and this asshole was now defending Shirou. Then, to make things worse, he summoned up a massive sword, bigger than even Berserker's.
"speak again as you have Archer and your master will find herself without a servant, harm that other Emiya and I will come after you, you have no idea what you are talking about so clam up"
Rider couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't know what Archer had said, but she was pretty sure that whatever it was had been entirely justified. And, yet, this idiot was not only defending Shirou, but was actively threatening to kill Archer merely for speaking in a manner he didn't like.
What a fucking hypocrite.
Rider's patience with the idiot had worn thin by this point. He had no right to judge her in the way he had, and the bias he seemed to be showing towards the Shirou who had just left was ridiculous. Not to mention the fact that he seemed to believe himself above everyone else. She turned to Satoshi and spoke, the annoyance and anger at his sheer hypocrisy evident.
"What the hell is wrong with you?
You offer to protect the life of a guy who not five minutes ago attempted to murder an innocent girl in cold blood, and yet you threaten to kill the guy who is trying to protect that girl for speaking in a way you don't like. You ignore the fact that he lied through his hind teeth to try to turn everyone against me and deliberately acted to upset me, and yet when one of us speaks out against him you threaten to kill us. If you feel the need to threaten people, why not start with the guy who murdered almost his entire family and attempted to murder Hakuno, rather than the guy who is just trying to protect her?
And, in case you hadn't noticed, the asshole has already gone. We all let him walk away. What point does threatening Archer serve, aside from starting another damn fight? If Archer was going to kill the guy he'd have done so several minutes ago."
Then, she turned to the rest.
"OK, well, now that asshole has gone and this hypocritical jerk is hopefully soon going to follow him", she said, pointing in Satoshi's direction, "should we get going? I'd like to get to know you better, and to get away from these idiots. I need to stop off at the hotel first to get Kiyoshi, though, and I don't know my way around the city, so I'll need someone who does to come with me."
-
Forest smiled as Rider composed herself and then fished out a travel pack of Kleenexes from one of her duster's pockets. The pack was carefully opened and the tissues were passed to Rider. Forest smiled and said, "Good. Now clean up that pretty face and we can . . ."
"Speak again as you have Archer and your Master will find herself without a Servant, harm that other Emiya and I will come after you, you have no idea what you are talking about so clam up!"
Forest resisted the urge to groan and press her face into her hand. The blond haired teen, Satoshi, had made a magnificent costume change and sported an absurdly large weapon. Lancer smirked as he stepped in front of Ruu and began to put himself in between everyone else and the blond. The Celt's crimson eyes seemed to gleam as he took a stance. As fast as Forest had seen Lancer moved in a sparring match (one that admittedly left her more turned on than she would have admitted due to the fact that he beat her), she knew he could go violent within a moment's notice. His normally good natured smile twisted into something feral and wolfish.
"This isn't your fight, boyo. Sword Up the Arse tried to kill the Bowman's lass. Archer has the right to protect what's his and reap vengeance to any wrongs slighted against her. You're not the one who knows what the sodding hell they're talking about, so maybe you should get off your high horse with your pretty armor. You look flashy and carry a fine weapon, but don't go barging into another man's personal battle," Lancer said.
Rider spoke up as well, furious at the blond teen's supposed hypocrisy. Forest found her head hurting from it all.
"OK, well, now that asshole has gone and this hypocritical jerk is hopefully soon going to follow him", Rider said, pointing in Satoshi's direction, "should we get going? I'd like to get to know you better, and to get away from these idiots. I need to stop off at the hotel first to get Kiyoshi, though, and I don't know my way around the city, so I'll need someone who does to come with me."
Forest nodded and said, "Well, I know the City pretty well, plus I have a GPS on my phone and I have a very wicked car. It can sit possibly four other people, one up front and three thin people in the back." She pulled out her SmartPhone complete with it's custom cover that was a gorgeous violet with black crow silhouettes on it. It was a custom made job, obviously, but she adored it.
Her eyes narrowed and she said, "But first . . ."
The vampire squared her shoulders and yelled, "Next person that starts something right here and right now before everyone's settled back in my strong hold will get bit by me. So unless you want everyone else watching you get off and then have to change your knickers after I take a nip, I'd suggest playing nice. Understood?"
-
Rin rubbed her temples, groaning just a bit. She'd kept her mouth shut about Emiya-kun to keep the peace. She'd tried her best to try and keep the peace along with Kishinami-chan and Forest so they could get out of there. But thanks to Archer having to get in the last word, now this moron wanted to start something. She looked between the two, intently. If either of you starts another fight, I'm going to make sure whoever starts it leaves this alleyway hurting.
Archer himself couldn't help but wince a bit internally at Rin's glare. He gave Hakuno a quick look, noticing that she hadn't hardly reacted at all. She seemed perhaps a bit frustrated, but mostly tired. Perhaps it's why he felt more than a bit aggravated by the blonde boy's challenge.
He was tempted to manifest his blades, as the boy seemed all too eager to start a fight, and he seemed unrealistically powerful, but he concluded that it'd perhaps be safer to remained unarmed for now. It was better to communicate his intentions with, and all the better to prevent him from being the target of Rin's frustrations, or Forest's for that matter. Even if it was less obvious than with Rin, the vampire also seemed a bit irked.
To his surprise, however, Rider wasn't the only one to take Archer's side.
"This isn't your fight, boyo. Sword Up the Arse tried to kill the Bowman's lass. Archer has the right to protect what's his and reap vengeance to any wrongs slighted against her. You're not the one who knows what the sodding hell they're talking about, so maybe you should get off your high horse with your pretty armor. You look flashy and carry a fine weapon, but don't go barging into another man's personal battle."
It felt rather odd, but Archer couldn't help but feel... well, something resembling comradery with the Irish Demigod. He looked over at Lancer, not directly expressing his thanks, but giving him a nod in silent gratitude.
Archer looked down at Hakuno again just to check on her and was alarmed to see her sway just a bit. He gently leaned her against him. The fact that she did nothing in protest indicated that she needed to rest as soon as possible. Now rather concerned, Archer began to address his antagonist.
"What Rider said is correct. If I'd intended to kill the kid now, he'd already be dead. Or if I give him slightly more credit, struggling to hold me off even as we speak. I don't like having him walk off, but my Master's been through enough for tonight, and I'm fairly certain Rin over there would skin me alive if I started another fight."
Rin showed her approval at the last part of his statement. Archer continued on, shrugging off Rin's reaction. "Why you think that bastard is worth defending is beyond me, but as far as I'm concerned, as long as my Master doesn't get dragged into yet another battle, you can think whatever you damn well please."
With all that said, the tense and awkward silence was broken once more by Rider, who addressed Forest.
"OK, well, now that asshole has gone and this hypocritical jerk is hopefully soon going to follow him, should we get going? I'd like to get to know you better, and to get away from these idiots. I need to stop off at the hotel first to get Kiyoshi, though, and I don't know my way around the city, so I'll need someone who does to come with me."
Forest nodded in reply. "Well, I know the City pretty well, plus I have a GPS on my phone and I have a very wicked car. It can sit possibly four other people, one up front and three thin people in the back." Forest pulled out a SmartPhone with what seemed to be a custom cover on it. Archer observed it with interest. He'd need to get a job to pay for it, but getting Hakuno a phone so that he had another way to keep in contact with her wasn't a bad idea at all. Even if it wasn't a custom job like the one on Forest's phone, a cover wouldn't be a bad idea either, if only to protect from the wear and tear.
There was a bit of a problem though- Archer thought it may be a good idea to send Hakuno in the car, so that she could get some rest, even if the ride was a brief one. However, while Archer was mostly muscle, it also made him a bit bulky. So he didn't know if he could fit in the car with everyone else. It created a bit of a dilemma for him. He wanted to stay with Hakuno at all times, but he also wanted to give her a chance to rest. Still, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.
But Forest wasn't done speaking yet. The vampire's eyes narrowed. "But first . . ." Forest yelled, aiming for everyone there, hidden or otherwise, to hear her. "Next person that starts something right here and right now before everyone's settled back in my stronghold will get bit by me. So unless you want everyone else watching you get off and then have to change your knickers after I take a nip, I'd suggest playing nice. Understood?"
Archer found Forest's mention about the effect of her bites to be very interesting. And also a bit frightening. Still, he felt like he should ask her about it at some point, among other things. She was obviously a different type of vampire from what he'd faced in the past, and he was quite interested in finding out exactly how her variety of vampire worked.
Rin, on the other hand, found a different type of investment in Forest's statement. She addressed the vampire, though she made sure that everyone present could hear her clearly, as low and dry as her voice became. "If you need any help with that, just ask. I'm tired of this stuff happening too, and I haven't even been here that long." With a jarring shift in her tone of voice, Rin continued. "So, you can drive us to the apartments then? Lead the way~"
-
"I'm over two thousand years old, it's not hypocrisy, I just have more information than any of you. When Emiya dies he will become a counter guardian, that is should his attitude remain unchanged from what it is now. By all means Archer if you are prepared to watch women and children die, to have another billion lives on your conscience go ahead and try to kill him. I on the other hand abhor such childish behavior so I will stop you. I save everyone regardless because everyone deserves a chance. No matter what you think of that other Emiya he is still another possible you, and rider, I might have not defended him if you hadn't been such a violent attacker, civility and fairness are the cornerstones of justice and kindness, I wouldn't be a superhero if I lacked empathy. I have seen far worse of Emiya and I know you yourself killed hundreds. The reasons are unimportant, you are still responsible for the lives you took, carry that burden with dignity instead of victimized outrage, you owe the dead that much." he stated turning around and extending the whip sword to slice his would be attacker in half.
sighing he locked his sword into it's solid state again "Angra manyu, the world's evil is here, it begins again all because your hostility conjured it up, imma go kill it, you guys have fun" he finished with a chuckle walking off as the remains of the black dog like shadow sizzled out of existence.
-
Unbeknown to the argument going, a small body tilts slightly right by Lancer's side, head dropped, purple hairs hiding most of his face and fingers not willing to let go of the man's hand. Dangerously leaning against the Demi-God, Ruu only emits the briefest of breath sound, his arm already in the process to restore itself. It appears clear to those who notice him that, clearly, someone is completely oblivious to the whole dispute.
A simple word escapes Ruu with an image, only displayed in his mind for an instant, the one of an aged and curved man, smiling under an old tree.
"Master..."
-
Rider's respect for Lancer went up slightly as she saw him step forward and defend Archer against Satoshi's aggression. Only slightly, though, since his reasoning still seemed rather too based in his bizarre sense of honour, not to mention the fact that he seemed to be treating Hakuno as a possession.
Then, Archer replied, effectively confirming her viewpoint and, to her relief, making it clear he had no desire to start anything. Whilst Satoshi was a bit of an ass, he didn't seem to have any ill-intentions, and she had no desire to get into a meaningless fight with someone who had no apparent desire to harm her or Kiyoshi.
Rider spoke once more, expressing her desire to leave. Then, Forest spoke up.
"Well, I know the City pretty well, plus I have a GPS on my phone and I have a very wicked car. It can sit possibly four other people, one up front and three thin people in the back", she said, pulling out an old-fashioned but nevertheless rather nice phone from her pocket.
But, before Rider could reply, Forest spoke once more.
"But first . . .", she said, before suddenly raising her voice and continuing, the sudden change in attitude making Rider jump ever-so-slightly.
"Next person that starts something right here and right now before everyone's settled back in my strong hold will get bit by me. So unless you want everyone else watching you get off and then have to change your knickers after I take a nip, I'd suggest playing nice. Understood?"
Honestly, Rider wasn't sure exactly how "I'll give you a mind-blowing orgasm" was meant to be a deterrent. Particularly given that she was fairly certain she could outrun the vampire if she so desired. The thought of being chased down, pinned to the ground and then brought to orgasm as she writhed helplessly excited her.
Then, Rin spoke up, adding her support to the vampire's "threat", perhaps somewhat unadvisedly.
"If you need any help with that, just ask. I'm tired of this stuff happening too, and I haven't even been here that long."
You really know how to tempt a girl, don't you Rin...?
Rider was finding herself more and more aroused at the thought of not one but two beautiful women molesting her helpless body. Only her desire not to irritate her new allies and the fact that she needed to get back to Kiyoshi and get him somewhere safer caused her to hold back.
Then, Satoshi spoke up.
"I'm over two thousand years old, it's not hypocrisy, I just have more information than any of you. When Emiya dies he will become a counter guardian, that is should his attitude remain unchanged from what it is now. By all means Archer if you are prepared to watch women and children die, to have another billion lives on your conscience go ahead and try to kill him. I on the other hand abhor such childish behavior so I will stop you. I save everyone regardless because everyone deserves a chance. No matter what you think of that other Emiya he is still another possible you, and rider, I might have not defended him if you hadn't been such a violent attacker, civility and fairness are the cornerstones of justice and kindness, I wouldn't be a superhero if I lacked empathy. I have seen far worse of Emiya and I know you yourself killed hundreds. The reasons are unimportant, you are still responsible for the lives you took, carry that burden with dignity instead of victimized outrage, you owe the dead that much."
Rider sighed once more. Whilst Satoshi's explanation made some sense, as far as she was aware Counter Guardians lacked self-awareness or independent will and could be duplicated at will, which meant that adding yet another version of Shirou into the mix would not make any significant difference. And, further, his assertion that he saved "everyone" did not sit well with his apparent eagerness to kill Archer. Further, his justification for protecting that Shirou and his apparent willingness to equate intentional mass-murder with acts that she (and, by extension, her master) had performed whilst insane grated with her somewhat. Plus, he seemed to have a very high opinion of himself and his own beliefs, and was seemingly unable to comprehend that others might feel differently.
Overall, Rider was not impressed with what she had seen so far. He seemed to have taken the worst of Shirou's idealism and combined it with the overly-judgemental and lawful nature that she knew his mother possessed from her legend. Still, he didn't seem like a bad person, just a bit of an idiot with a high opinion of himself.
When he drew his sword once more, Rider tensed slightly, worried that he might start a fight. But, instead, he turned and sliced in half some shadow monstrosity that had evidentially been intending to attack him.
"Angra manyu, the world's evil is here, it begins again all because your hostility conjured it up, imma go kill it, you guys have fun"
Wonderful....
Rider knew all-too-well the effect that Angra Mainyu could have on a person and, especially, on a servant. Her master had been contaminated by him, and even to this day she was still connected to him. He had been the source of many of her most powerful spells, although she had over time learnt to perform much of her her magic without calling on his dark power.
Still, Satoshi's attitude was rather grating. Rider was tempted to challenge him, even more so because of the intense orgasm Forest had promised her if she did.
No, I can't.
Whilst being bitten by Forest with Rin's assistance would seemingly be a rather enjoyable experience, as would the proceeding chase, it would be somewhat humiliating to orgasm like that in public, even if changing her knickers was as simple as just turning to spiritual form and back, at least if she had the foresight to change to her battle outfit first. But, more importantly, it would sour their relationship to ignore such an obvious expression of annoyance from both her and Rin, even if their method of expressing it had failed to take into account Rider's rather kinky nature.
And, right now, as always, getting her rocks off came a long way below ensuring Sakura's happiness in Rider's priority list. Perhaps it was something they could explore further later, when Kiyoshi was safely in bed.
Rider laughed, before finally speaking up, looking in Forest's direction with a naughty grin on her face.
"As good as being chased, pinned down and brought to orgasm by two beautiful women sounds, I'm going to have to pass on your generous offer. The time for kinky stuff like that is later, when Kiyoshi is safely asleep in your house.
If you're still interested, though, I'm definitely game. I can show you my idea of a good punishment after", Rider said, teasingly.
Then, addressing more serious matters, Rider responded to the earlier statement by Forest, and Rin's subsequent response.
"So, you can drive us to the apartments then? Lead the way~"
"Rin, whilst I would like to get to the apartment as soon as possible, we do need to stop off at the hotel first so I can get Kiyoshi, or I need to find another way there. I don't want to leave him alone for longer than absolutely necessary, and the hotel isn't far. Also, can we all fit in Forest's car? Including Kiyoshi, there's six of us, plus Forest. And Archer is hardly what I would call 'thin'...."
Rider pondered the situation. Unfortunately she had not been carrying her phone when she had been sucked into this dimension. However, she knew Kiyoshi had his, and she knew it possessed GPS capability, although she wasn't entirely sure if the system was backwards-compatible enough for his phone to work with the older signals likely in use here. She also knew that she could undoubtedly collect Kiyoshi and reach the apartment on foot before Forest could get there by car, although the thought of a ride in Forest's apparently-rather-nice car was tempting.
"Well, if someone can guide me, I can walk it. I can outrun your car, Forest, and I'm faster than anyone else here except possibly Lancer. Unfortunately I don't have my phone on me, but Kiyoshi does, so if you wait for me to get him or someone comes with me then I can enter the co-ordinates and carry him there. It's up to you, though...."
-
Lancer blinked at Ruu, the tiny hand locked with his as his purple hair obscured his face. The lad's arm was already starting to repair itself, not as remarkable as Forest's almost instantaneous regeneration, but more impressive than any of the healing spells Lancer knew. He sighed and returned the boy's grip on his hand, just not as hard. He said, "Well, I know the way there and I could say, carry Rin there giving you more room in that metal demon that Forest likes to use as a chariot. Ruu keeps up rather well too."
He grinned at Rin and asked, "Mind if I sweep you off to my feet and take you to a vampire's stronghold?"
******
Forest sighed as Satoshi ran off, something about killing an Angry Manjew that they conjured or something. Which made very little sense, but a lot here wasn't. She was about to wave him away when Rider spoke up again.
"As good as being chased, pinned down and brought to orgasm by two beautiful women sounds, I'm going to have to pass on your generous offer. The time for kinky stuff like that is later, when Kiyoshi is safely asleep in your house.
If you're still interested, though, I'm definitely game. I can show you my idea of a good punishment after."
Lord and Lady, she's like Wynn, but kinkier and less aristocratic.
Forest threw up her hands and said, "Um, I don't like to be 'punished' and . . ." She was starting to stammer and toy with her hair, and avoiding all eye contact with Rider. Somehow, she was blushing without changing colors. "And I've been celibate for like over two centuries and . . . " She drew off, before she shot herself in the foot even more.
She had a feeling if she mentioned the words "eternal virgin" and "regenerating hymen" then Rider may have found her kink bingo. She looked up, seeing Lancer just staring at her. She half expected him to make some offer to end that dry spell or something. Instead, the look on the Celt's face was oddly sympathetic before his crimson eyes narrowed in anger.
His thought was as clear as HD radio.
A man doesn't hurt a lass that way.
And she could see the classification of her in his head go from not-quite liege, kinsman, and potential "friend of her thighs" due to her fostering him in her home to kinsman, not-quite liege, and someone to protect.
She fidgeted again, awkwardly pulling on her sleeve, before saying, "Well, if Rin's willing to go back with Lancer, I could fit Archer, Rider, Poppet, and Kioyshi in my car. It'll be a bit tight, but it's workable. If push comes to shove, someone could sit in Archer's lap."
-
Taiga listened to Kiyoshi and shook her head " no my papa isn't British or such like that. You have a big imagination Kiyo-Kun, you could be a writer maybe" she replied
-
Rin shot Forest a sympathetic glance as the vampire began to stammer in reply to Rider's latest come on. Once it came time for Rider to get her prana recharged, Forest was going to need all the help she could get...
Rin felt a bit uneasy at the thought of Angra Manyu running around the City (even if Satoshi's comment about "being conjured by their hostility" was really stupid, as there was no way that it could just manifest without some means to come into this world, such as a corrupted holy grail), but really, there wasn't much they could do about it now, not without getting some rest first and preparing properly. Setting up a Bounded Field around the apartment complex wouldn't be a bad idea, for instance.
Still, she was glad that Archer had kept his mouth shut this once. As much as 'Toshi grated on her nerves, she was glad that she didn't have to deal with Archer duking it out with him. Likely it was due to the semi-conscious girl at his side, but hey, it worked. Even if she couldn't help but feel a bit of a twinge again at Hakuno leaning on Archer's side, she couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the girl. She'd been through quite a bit tonight, and definitely needed the rest.
First thing was first though- as Rider had mentioned, they needed to pick up Kiyoshi before they could go to the apartments. And there was, of course the matter of getting the matter of who went in the car settled. While she perhaps felt a bit wary about Lancer's offer, she definitely had no reason to distrust him. Plus the potential of making Archer a bit jealous. So, in that case... "Alright then, if I need to go with Lancer to make sure there's enough room, then I'm fine with that. Sweep me off me feet, Lancer~"
***
Archer certainly wanted to respond to the kid, but for once he decided to keep his mouth shut. He felt Hakuno lean against him, exhausted, and he was growing more concerned by the minute. The sooner they got out of here, the better, and if it meant that he had to keep from lecturing this kid to accomplish that, then so be it. Plus even if he had his own words to add to it, Rider's reply was sufficient for now.
The additional threat that had just shown up didn't make him too comfortable sticking around here much longer either. As it was, he'd have to carry Hakuno to safety if they got attacked, which made it much harder for him to fight. And if they got significantly outnumbered...
"Well, if Rin's willing to go back with Lancer, I could fit Archer, Rider, Poppet, and Kiyoshi in my car. It'll be a bit tight, but it's workable. If push comes to shove, someone could sit in Archer's lap."
Forest's statement got Archer's thoughts to return to the present. Rin had accepted Lancer's offer, which bothered him a bit for some reason, but her decision to do so was understandable. Still, more space in the car wouldn't hurt. "And I can have Hakuno sit on my lap so things are less cramped. Obviously I can't speak for her, but I don't think she'd object too much."
Hakuno nodded, finally speaking after all that time. "If it makes it more comfortable for people, I don't really mind. As muscular as he is he doesn't make the best pillow, but that's not a problem."
Archer smiled a little at that. Even now, at least she still had some energy left in her, even enough to make a playful jab at him.
Rin felt another pang at that, but slapped it down. It wasn't much different from what she was doing with Lancer, really, and she couldn't let these petty feelings get her down. She was stronger than this, better than this. Besides, it was a silly thing to feel jealous over. Since she was quite eager to get moving, the magus spoke up next. "I think that takes care of everything then. Is everyone ready?"
-
What the hell do I have to do to make this girl believe me? Kiyoshi thought, frustrated at her stubborn insistance on believing that everything he said was just a lie.
"Hmm, then where does your name come from? It's not Japanese, certainly....
And, why would I be making all this stuff up? I have no reason to lie to you. Do I need to start levitating you or something before you'll believe me?", he said, the frustration and slight annoyance clear in his voice, although he tried his hardest to cover it up to avoid startling the girl.
Admittedly, Kiyoshi didn't actually possess the ability to levitate her, but he simply couldn't think of anything else he could use as an example. His abilities were, unfortunately, mostly in the area of creating things, which was hard to show to a blind person, particularly one who seemed rather untrusting.
As Forest stammered her way through her refusal of Rider's proposition, Rider felt a combination of amusement, some guilt and a slight amount of disappointment. She found the way the vampire responded to her teasing highly amusing but, at the same time, she hadn't really intended to make her quite so uncomfortable as she evidentially had. And, whilst she hadn't really expected an acceptance, it was clear from her reply that Forest was someone who was highly uncomfortable with the whole concept of sex, and thus would at best be a reluctant participant in any sexual activity.
Well, at least there's Rin....
She knew full well that Rin was attracted to females at least as much as to males and, further, she knew that Rin was attracted to her specifically. It had hardly taken much in the way of persuasion to get the Rin she knew into bed, and she knew that this Rin was, if not identical to the Rin she had slept with, at least very similar. Plus, she knew Rin could be very kinky indeed. So, there was a genuine chance there, although the presense of Archer did complicate things somewhat.
And, apparently, Lancer....
"Well, I know the way there and I could say, carry Rin there giving you more room in that metal demon that Forest likes to use as a chariot. Ruu keeps up rather well too", Lancer said, before turning to Rin and asking, "Mind if I sweep you off to my feet and take you to a vampire's stronghold?"
Rider couldn't help but snigger at Lancer's reference to the car as a "metal demon". She, of course, was used to modern modes of transport and, indeed, was a considerably better driver than any modern human thanks to her exceptional reflexes and the fact that her 'Riding' class skill meant she possessed the innate ability to drive any vehicle in existence, regardless of complexity. However, he had not spent 30 years living in a modern household amongst modern people, and he also, presumably, lacked any Riding ability from the Grail, which meant that, to him, cars were outright bizarre.
Rin replied to him, her tone of voice every bit as teasing and flirty as his.
"Alright then, if I need to go with Lancer to make sure there's enough room, then I'm fine with that. Sweep me off me feet, Lancer~"
Hearing Lancer's offer and Rin's response, Rider was a little uncertain. She didn't exactly trust the guy. After all, his main involvement in the Grail War as far as she could tell was attempting to kill Shirou in cold blood. But, even so, he obviously had no intention of harming Rin and, whilst he clearly seemed intent on getting into her knickers, Rider could hardly fault him for that given her own intentions towards the girl.
So, Rider decided to remain quiet. The only thing that might be in danger here was Rin's virginity, and Rider knew that, as much as she'd like to be the one to take it, it was not her decision to make. She liked and respected Rin too much for that and, plus, she very much doubted that Rin was doing anything more than teasing Archer. She could see from Rin's response every time Hakuno interacted with her servant that she was jealous of their bond, and it seemed like she wanted to give Archer a taste of that. Rider could fully understand that, too, being well aware of Rin's feelings towards her former servant, and the regret she felt over his death.
With that settled, there was now sufficient room for them all in the car. Archer confirmed that he was willing to let Hakuno sit on his lap if necessary, an offer which Rider couldn't help notice drew another slight look of jealousy from Rin. Hakuno's teasing reply also drew Rider's attention.
"If it makes it more comfortable for people, I don't really mind. As muscular as he is he doesn't make the best pillow, but that's not a problem."
Rider laughed slightly at Hakuno's teasing of Archer, and decided to make her own counter-offer.
"Well, if he's not very comfortable, you can always try my lap. I have a couple of 'pillows' that I don't mind you resting your head on~", she said, her voice full of amusement.
Still, whilst her comment was a light-hearted jab at Hakuno which she didn't expect to be taken seriously, she did wonder if it would make more sense to have Kiyoshi sit on her lap, given that he was much smaller and lighter than any of the rest, and most likely also not falling asleep on his feet like the girl seemingly was. Still, that was something to discuss when they arrived at the hotel. For now there was sufficient room in the car for all of them.
Then, Rin spoke up once more, clearly eager to get moving.
"I think that takes care of everything then. Is everyone ready?"
Yeah, seems fine to me.
"Yeah, I'm ready. I can direct you to the hotel, it's not that far from here. It might even be quicker to walk it."
-
Taiga paused for a second and then spoke up "Magic is just tricks and things, not real like in fantasy books, and Kiyoshi girls are queens, not kings." she replied knowing the truth of the matter.
"my brother and I are half Japanese, and Taiga is so a Japanese name, it's my god mother's name" she answered
-
Kiyoshi sighed.
The girl almost seemed like she was being deliberately evasive and, further, she was suspiciously skeptical for someone so young. The idea of magic existing was not something he'd expect an adult to accept easily, but a young child like her was usually considerably more willing to take what they were told at face value, particularly when there was no reason for him to be lying.
"How do you know that, Taiga? How can you be so sure that magic does not exist? Do you have any proof that it does not?" he said, his frustration at her obstinate refusal to even consider the possibility that he might be telling the truth starting to show. Particularly since he had already tried to demonstrate his honestly through Kuro, when he had no way of knowing she could not see him.
"I have no reason to lie to you, Taiga. Why is it so difficult for you to accept that I might be telling the truth? Do I sound like I'm just making up stories for the sake of it? Do you really think I'd do that to someone I just met, and am trying to help?
And, I know that Taiga is a Japanese name. Like I said, it's my Aunt's name. I was referring to your surname, which is definitely not Japanese. If your father is not Cornish, then how did you get that name? I'm honestly curious."
-
"magic cannot exist, if magic did then I wouldn't be blind and stuck in a wheelchair, people wouldn't die because magic could save them, magic cannot exist because grandma says so." Taiga replied.
"my brother and I have an English mama" she said answering his question
-
Kiyoshi looked at the girl sadly, unsure of how to reply to such an innocent statement. In any remotely fair and reasonable world, she would be entirely right. Unfortunately, though, their world was far from fair. Further, whilst she carefully avoided going into detail about her childhood mistreatment, he knew that his mother had been a victim of that unfairness.
After a brief pause, he came up with the best answer he could.
"If only that were true", he said, sadly.
"Unfortunately, though, most magi aren't very nice people, and they don't care about the lives of others enough to do such things. And, the few who do are unable to help openly because magic has to be kept secret.
My mother had a horrible childhood. She was split from her sister and abused by her adoptive grandfather, all in the name of magic. If she could, she would gladly heal someone like you, but unfortunately her magic is not suited to such things."
Then, on a lighter note, he added "as for your name, that's unusual, for someone to take their mother's surname. Any reason why?"
-
"my big brother says that hiding your abilities when they can help others is wrong." she stated shifting slightly.
"As for my name, my papa got hurt a long time ago, he couldn't remember things right so they gave him a new last name" she answered
-
"Huh, what abilities does he have, then?" Kiyoshi said, confused at why her presumably-normal brother would think to say such a thing.
And, come to think of it, didn't she just reject the idea of magic existing?
Kiyoshi felt there was definitely more to this girl than met the eye. Five seconds ago she had been steadfastly rejecting his assertions at being a magus, now she was acting as if she believed him, but without giving any indication of any change in belief. It was almost as if she had believed him from the beginning....
"Honestly, though, I agree with your brother. That's why I told you the truth, so I could protect you, even if you seem unwilling to accept it. In our own world, though, we unfortunately do not have a choice. If we told the world what we really were, then the Magic Association would hunt us down, and they'd go after ther people we told, too.
As for your father, really? My father forgot his name too, although it was when he was only a child. He took the name of the man who adopted him. He even had an adoptive sister, although she died before I was born. My elder sister is named in tribute to her.
You know, we have quite a lot in common. Someone close named 'Taiga', a father who forgot his name. It's amazing, really."
Yes, there was definitely something a bit odd going on here. The girl's attitude simply didn't add up. Plus, her surname was not one she would expect a normal person to possess, particularly if it were given to her Japanese father some time after his birth as a replacement name. Perhaps she was also a magus, but didn't feel comfortable about discussing it. Or perhaps he was just reading too much into it....
Still, even if she was hiding something, he doubted that she had any ill-intentions. She was only a child, after all, and she seemed nice enough.
-
"my big brother is a hero, he can do a lot of stuff, he plays piano too." she replied listening to his story.
a small ring occurred and Taiga reached for her phone "sup kiddo," the words immediately brightened her outlook " big brother! Um, I'm. A bit lost can you come get me?" she asked
Satoshi paused " why not call mum?" he asked
"I'm in a hotel somewhere, I dunno how. I got here" Taiga replied.
Satoshi panicked slightly and checked through his phone, he kinda hated carrying the magi tech support item because it meant no peace but running down the apps he thanked god he carried it. Taiga was only a few blocks away "be right there, don't go anywhere with anyone"
Taiga nodded, " I met a boy named Kiyoshi"
"that's fine, you stay with him, and don't turn off your phone" Satoshi told her.
Taiga smiled " ok, I'll see you soon" ending the call
"my brother Satoshi will be here shortly, you may want to stay away from the window" she explained
-
Lancer grinned at Rin and then bowed slightly to her, not letting go of Ruu's hand. Besides, the Celt mused, I may not be able to pry the lad's grip off if I tried. Sacthcach spoke of familiars made to look and act like people, but with complete obedience to their master. They were crafted of something like flesh and blood, but they didn't age and had other oddities about them. Lancer cursed the bastard who made an eternal child before smiling at Rin.
"Well, let's get a move on then. Sooner we're settled, the sooner we all can have a bit of fun," he said, casting a mocking smirk both Archer and Rider's way. He held out his free hand to the young lady, noting she was slightly older than she was when he last saw her. She was really growing into quite the remarkable young woman, and she still reminded him of his teacher, but nicer.
They shared the same uncanny aquamarine gaze though.
******
Forest nodded and said, "Yeah, by the time we all get back to my car and then to the hotel, we could have walked to the hotel, gotten the kid and gone back. So, Rider, lead the way."
She did chuckle at Hakuno's jab about Archer being muscular. The blond grinned and looked at Archer. She mused, "I don't know, warm muscle is something that can be quite pleasant to cuddle against."
-
Hakuno found herself blushing just a bit at Rider's offer. Still, it was nice of her to offer, regardless of her intentions, so it got a tiny smile out of Hakuno as well. She couldn't help but feel like she was somewhat of a burden, though. Even though everyone didn't seem to mind too much, the fact that she was relatively helpless still bothered her. She did notice though that even that feeling felt numbed, just like pretty much all her emotions at the moment. Really, the strongest thing she felt at the moment was the urge to fall asleep. The sooner she was able to get some rest, the better.
Hakuno was at least able to pay attention to the brief discussion between Forest and Rider. It was going to be a walk to the hotel, and then a walk back to Forest's car. Hakuno felt a bit of displeasure at the thought of walking, but if that's what she had to do, that's what she had to do. Fighting off her lack of energy and attempting to steel herself, she started walking.
The attempt did not go unnoticed. Archer was quick to note the sudden lack of pressure on his side, and noticed his Master shuffling off, her exhaustion clear in her movements. The Servant sighed. "Not thinking things through again, are we? Come here." Archer scooped up Hakuno into his arms before she could get much farther. Even though she was tired, the girl still managed to blush.
Hakuno's current condition was evident in her voice as she protested. "Archer, I'm fine. Put me down."
The Servant's expression was a combination of exasperation and amusement. "And let you fall asleep on your feet? I'd be a poor Servant if I did that. I'm normally quite obedient of course, but this is for your own good."
Rin, who had been pointedly focusing on accepting Lancer's offer to avoid having to look at that scene for any longer than she had to, raised an eyebrow at that last statement.
"Ooooh? That's funny, when you were with me, I had to use a Command Seal just to keep you from blowing me off, Mr. Just-listen-to-me-while-I-make-all-the-plans."
Archer shrugged at that. "Your summoning was botched, so I made some incorrect assumptions about your abilities as a Master. I still would have listened to you where it counted. It's not so different with my current Master."
Rin looked over at Hakuno. "We'll see about that. So, Kishinami-chan, is it true that he's been as obedient as he says he's been?"
Hakuno shrugged. "Well, he usually does what I ask, but he isn't shy about bringing up his opinion about it either."
"And has he made any snarky comments about your ability as a Master?"
"More than once."
Rin gave Archer a dry look. "The more that changes, the more that stays the same."
Archer looked between the two girls. "You're too cruel. Both of you."
As that particular conversation wound to a close, the gears started turning in Hakuno's head, as gummed up as they were by her lack of energy. Then, it hit her. "Wait a minute... you two were Master and Servant?"
Rin casually placed a lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm not surprised that you didn't know. The Holy Grail War I fought with my Archer took place over a year ago in my world. I'm actually a bit surprised your Archer remembers being my Servant before, but whatever the reason is, it worked out in my favor, that's for sure." Rin's pose became a bit more awkward. "But we can talk about that more later. We've waited here for more than long enough." With that, she turned back to Lancer, taking the Irish Servant's hand. "Sorry for getting distracted. I'm ready when you are~"
Archer raised an eyebrow at Rin's overeagerness to go with Lancer, but he shrugged it off. That reminded him though... He turned to Rider and Forest. "Do you want us to come with you to the hotel, or do you want us to follow Lancer? To be honest, I'd rather we go in the car, but I can carry Hakuno to the apartments if need be."
-
Rider laughed slightly as Hakuno blushed at her offer and gave her a kind smile, which Rider returned, before she heard Lancer speak.
"Well, let's get a move on then. Sooner we're settled, the sooner we all can have a bit of fun", he said, smirking at the two servants.
Whilst Rider still didn't particularly trust the Irish hero, she also knew he wasn't going to attack someone who was a guest of Forest. Further, whilst his likely attempts to hit on her wouldn't exactly be welcome, she could easily deal with them. Plus, after what she'd just been through, the idea of letting off a little steam sounded good, even if her preferred method for doing so involved a bound, naked Rin and various tools for inflicting erotic punishments....
Next, Forest responded to her earlier statement, confirming that she too felt it would be best to walk to the hotel, and asking Rider to lead them there. However, whilst she, Archer and Forest all seemed fine with this, she could tell from the unsteady way that Hakuno was attempting to follow them that she was not. Rider was about to speak up and suggest that she and Archer wait here for them to bring the car when, suddenly, her servant swept her up in his arms.
The girl protested that she was fine, and that Archer should put her down, but the unsteady way that she had been walking and the obvious tiredness in her voice demonstrated otherwise. Archer, of course, was having none of it and, much as she would have done for her own master in such a situation, blatantly ignored her orders for her own good.
But, even if she felt he was entirely justified in his actions, his assertion that he was an "obedient servant" was still one that she found rather laughable, having heard from Rin what had happened during his summoning. And, as Rider had expected, the girl in question gave a somewhat indignant response to that assertion.
This then led to an extremely amusing discussion between his former master (who, oddly, he seemed to remember serving) and current master about Archer's snarkiness and disobedience, which the servant responded to with "You're too cruel. Both of you", before the rather tired schoolgirl finally made the connection.
"Wait a minute... you two were Master and Servant?", she said, surprised.
Rin's response showed that she too was surprised that Archer could remember serving her, although she was clearly very pleased with this development. Her statement also gave Rider a clear indication of her age. Apparently she was only around 18, still young, nubile and innocent, at least as far as Tohsaka Rin had ever been innocent. That also meant that, most likely, Emiya Shirou had not-long-ago returned to normal.
Rin then reached out and accepted the hand offered her to Lancer, saying she was ready to leave.
Then, Archer turned to her and Forest and asked "Do you want us to come with you to the hotel, or do you want us to follow Lancer? To be honest, I'd rather we go in the car, but I can carry Hakuno to the apartments if need be."
"Well, I have no objection either way. There is plenty of room in the car, and Kiyoshi can sit on my lap if necessary. It's up to you, and Forest I guess."
Then, she turned to Forest.
"OK, follow me. And you, Archer, if you're coming", she said, before walking off in the direction of the hotel, making sure to give the others plenty of time to follow.
---------------
Kiyoshi listened to the girl's reply with interest, as well as a certain amount of amusement at the way she considered his piano playing ability to be worth mentioning. Clearly, she had a very high opinion of her big brother.
But, even taking that into account, her reply pretty much confirmed his suspicions that she was not as normal as she made out. He knew that with the sort of supernatural beings that populated his world, any ordinary person who could legitimately be called a "hero" would have a very short life expectancy. Conversely, someone who was born with sufficient power and the right mindset could easily become known as a hero, at least to people who knew the true nature of their accomplishments. Indeed, he would class his own parents in that category, given the number of times they'd protected the residents of the city from some unseen danger.
Of course, it was not inconceiveable that the girl was from a world very different from his own, as this one was, and that said world did not have magic in the same way as his. However, even if that were true, the modern world was such that a normal person could not simply become a hero in that way, not without some magical power or access to unusual secret technology.
Before he could question the girl further, though, her phone rang.
"big brother! Um, I'm. A bit lost can you come get me?", she said, her face brightening in response to what was evidentially her big brother on the other end of the line, although he could not make out what he was saying.
Kiyoshi had a nagging feeling that something odd was going on here.
He heard a mumbling coming from the phone, and to which the girl replied with "I'm in a hotel somewhere, I dunno how. I got here"
Wait. How does he know she's here?
The girl's previous words and actions had made it clear that she had suddenly appeared in this hotel, alone and without any idea of where she was. And, further, unless she were also lying to her brother, her words now backed up this statement. But, in that case, her brother should not be aware of her presence. even if he had somehow been summoned here entirely independently of her.
Of course, it was possible that her phone had some sort of tracking device, but even if that were the case why would it be activated? Even his mother, as protective as she was, didn't keep track of his every movement, although she did admittedly possess the capacity to do so, thanks to Kuro. And, she did insist on having the ability to contact her at all times when Kuro was not around.
The girl nodded in response to her brother's statement which, once again, he could not hear, before saying "I met a boy named Kiyoshi".
Kiyoshi brightened up slightly at that. At least she felt comfortable enough to mention him to her brother.
"ok, I'll see you soon", the girl said, finally, before putting down the phone.
Then, she turned to him.
"my brother Satoshi will be here shortly, you may want to stay away from the window".
I see....
He wasn't entirely sure why her brother couldn't just use the door like normal people, but it did confirm somewhat his suspicions that her brother was a real hero, and not just someone who she idolised. Normal people didn't use windows as entry points to rooms.
"OK. I look forward to meeting him. By the way, where are you from? I know you're Japanese, but whereabouts do you live?" he said, attempting to make some small talk before her brother arrived and took her to safety.
Kiyoshi felt slightly sad at that thought. He had only just met this girl, and now she was most likely going to be heading off into the distance, and he most likely wouldn't see her again.
Hey, perhaps they can stay here.
"Hmm, if you want, I can talk to the hotel owner on your behalf. I'm sure he'd happily have a hero like your brother helping protect the hotel, and I'd love it if you could stay here too."
-
Satoshi reinforced himself and counted off the natures he'd need to line up to cast the next three spells, first a sneaking spell, next one for invisibility and lastly to move through sand or in this case glass without damaging it. Coming to hotel he leapt up into the room and sat on the bed hearing the end of Kiyoshi's statement.
"a hotel isn't secure enough with just one person" he told the boy breaking the former two spells.
"hello big brother" Taiga greeted him.
Satoshi ruffled her hair with a smile "sorry I'm late" he joked
-
"So says the man who's between a beautiful woman and a cute girl," Lancer said with a snort before taking Rin's hand.
Sweeping her up into one arm was easy; she barely weighed anything. However, having her up close like this gave Lancer a greater appreciation of those legs of hers. While they lacked the sheer length of Forest or Rider's due to both women being tall, they were still rather stunning. The stockings also make things a bit nice too, Lancer reasoned before nodding at Ruu.
He threw a smirk over his shoulder at Rider and Archer and said, "Don't worry, I'll keep her warm for you." Then he took off towards the stronghold at a strong clip.
******
Forest almost chuckled at Lancer prodding both Rider and Archer for Rin's favor. She had heard tales of Rin before the young woman had arrived. Lancer had seemed rather fond of her, to the point that he died saving her. The romantic in Forest adored that, but she was also jealous.
She got offers, but no one would die to save her she was sure.
She was sure that no one would even attempt to save her if she ever needed it again. No one had the first time; she had to save herself. Now she was the one who saved others and all she had to show for it was an adoptive godson who had grown up, a great deal of wealth, and an empty bed.
Then poor Hakuno looked as if she was going to fall asleep on her feet. Luckily, Archer was there to lift his master and carry her princess style to Rider's current domain. She wondered if maybe her getting the car, picking up Hakuno and Archer before fetching Rider and her ward would have been a good idea. Even though this was faster, Hakuno looked as if she was going to drop at any moment.
She followed Rider, with Archer carrying Hakuno at her side. There was another pang there too. No one had ever carried her, it was always her pulling herself out of danger despite losing a limb or whatnot.
And all I get is women who hit on me, she thought as she looked at Rider. Due to her condition, she realized things would have been a lot easier if she liked girls or liked girls as well. Just another woman literally did nothing for her. She could astetically admit that one was pretty, feed off one and give them a very good time in the process, but nothing sexual, much to her best friend's dismay.
To try to be conversational, she asked, "So, how old is Kiyoshi?"
******
Lancer was keeping up a good pace with Ruu and Rin in his arm when something dark descended from above right in front of him. A curse in Irish Gaelic spilled from Lancer's lips as he tilted to a stop, putting himself in front of Ruu and letting Rin to the ground. He stood to his full height and said, "Now whoever the bloody hell do you think you are, watch where the fuck you're going."
Eyes like gunmetal met Lancer's, and the look in them wasn't evil, but it wasn't exactly sane either. There was something calculating there as well, and disturbingly familiar. The man in front of them was the Bowman, but yet not.
He was the same height and build as Archer. However the dusky brown skin was an ashen pale color, and Lancer noticed the eerie crimson pattern on the side of the man's face and right hand. The white hair wasn't spiked, but fell in his face, giving him a rakish air. The facial features were the same, but the smirk wasn't exactly the confidant and sardonic smirk that Archer normally sported. This sort of smirk was worn by one who defied the Morrigan after fucking her.
"Ah, how nice to see you alive again, Lancer." The voice was mostly the same, but Archer normally didn't sound so amused. There was a devil-may-care quality to his voice that was at odds with Archer's normal sarcastic tone.
Then the other man's expression softened as he looked at Rin. "Hello Rin."
-
Archer found himself giving Lancer a quick glare before the Irishman took off with Rin in tow. He wasn't entirely sure why, but something about Lancer's comment rubbed him the wrong way.
Shrugging off his speculations, Archer turned to follow Forest and Rider. He felt a change in Hakuno's position. Curious, he looked down at his Master. In spite of her playful jab earlier about him being uncomfortable to sit on, she hadn't taken long at all to fall asleep in his arms. Unconsciously, a small smile crossed his face as he positioned her so she'd be a bit more comfortable.
Taking care to jostle the sleeping girl too much, the Servant kept pace with Forest, focusing on the road ahead as the two women made conversation.
***
As gently as Lancer had put Rin down on the ground, the young magus couldn't help be feel a bit of a shock regardless. It wasn't the fact that there was another Archer. No, it was the fact that this Archer had either been tainted by the Shadow or by the corrupted grail. The sight of him made her feel as if ice was flowing through her veins. But at the same time.... something about him sent an entirely different type of chill down her spine. She nearly blushed at the sensation. Maybe it was all of Rider's innuendos finally getting to her, she didn't know.
His eyes cold as steel, the tainted Servant addressed Lancer, his tone lacking the dryness and self mocking that Rin was so used to hearing. "Ah, how nice to see you alive again, Lancer."
Then he turned to her. Rin froze, his gaze holding her own, and she found herself powerless to look away. She noticed his eyes softened noticeably when he looked at her. "Hello Rin."
Really, much of his previous demeanor seemed to have changed in those few minutes. He seemed to regard her with a great deal of affection, far more so than even the Archer she had left behind in the alleyway. It was something not even the Archer under her command had time to show her. It was what Hakuno had that she did not.
Rin became overwhelmed with a variety of emotions. Her fear was still quite present, but everything she had been suppressing ever since she'd seen Archer and Hakuno interacting with one another came rushing back. As much of a threat as he likely was... Rin found what he potentially had to offer her a tempting prospect.
Rin tried to say something, anything, but the words seemed stuck in her throat. She found herself unable to escape his gaze. With no more than a look and a few simple words, this man had managed to paralyze one of the greatest young magi in the Association. With trepidation, Rin found herself unable to do much more than to await Archer Alter's next move.
-
"Mister Eagle?"
Words pronounced with confusion. The man standing before him, Lancer and Rin was, without a doubt, similar in appearance to Archer. Although he had strange markings and a dark complexion, it wasn't difficult to recognize him, even for Ruu. However, he was different. His smell was one of corruption. Something abnormal happened to this person, and his behavior reflected it.
Ah, how nice to see you alive again, Lancer.
Ruu glanced at his left arm. Outer layer healed already but for the internal tissues to be fully restored, time would be required. In short, he couldn't use that arm. If there were to fight, the familiar wouldn't be at his best but he would do what he can.
Hello Rin.
Lancer was clearly tense and the strange stupor Rin succumbed to didn't put Ruu at ease. If they fought now, things would be complicated. He wanted to rest, have a meal and more than anything, take a shower. Wasting time wouldn't be productive. That's why the familiar decided another approach. Letting go of Lancer's hand, he walked to Archer, his gaze locked with metal gray orbs.
Showing once more his unpredictability, he spoke aloud, the tone serious.
"Ruu asks a duel in arm-wrestling." Fumbling in his backpack, the familiar produced a golden trinket, a magical artifact of great value inherited from his Master. "You can have this if you win." The familiar crossed his arms in a ridiculous manner, his left arm limp. "If you lose, you become Ruu's servant."
The difference in size, body build and sheer reach was as unbalanced as it could be, yet Ruu didn't falter. Ruu knew that men, sometimes liked to confront their strength in a aggressive way. That's why he decided this would be the best option. The familiar often used it in the past and never lost once. No reason for it being different this time.
-
Kiyoshi jumped slightly as a blonde man suddenly appeared on bed in front of him, instantly shattering any remaining doubts he had about whether the girl's family was involved in magecraft. The sudden appearance of the man wasn't entirely shocking to Kiyoshi. After all, his mother had the ability to appear in front of him through Kuro, and even to speak through the shadow familiar if she felt it necessary. But, nevertheless, it did surprise him, and he took a moment to recover.
"a hotel isn't secure enough with just one person", the man said to him, before exchanging greetings with his little sister and jokingly apologising for his lateness.
Kiyoshi knew, of course, that it was possible that the girl genuinely did not know of magecraft. Magus families usually only trained the eldest child, after all. However, the way that the girl referred to her brother as a "hero" suggested that he was no ordinary magus, and that plus the fact that she didn't bat an eyelid at him suddenly appearing in front of them without making a sound suggested that she was well aware of his abilities. Even he could usually hear when someone had opened the door, and blind people usually had much better hearing than sighted people, to compensate for their inability to detect danger through sight. Indeed, he knew his Aunt Rider was so proficient in this that she could fight whilst blindfolded almost as well as she could fight with vision, and would happily change into her battle outfit and blindfold to do so even when she had alternatives like her mystic eye killer contact lenses and glasses.
But, still, either the girl genuinely didn't know, in which case the close and friendly bond she had with her brother implied that he could trust that their family had her best interests at heart, or else she was trying to hide that she did, in which case he felt it was best not to pry too deeply. So, he decided to drop the subject for now.
Instead, he turned to Satoshi and spoke.
"Hi, You must be Satoshi. I'm Emiya Kiyoshi, and I'm pleased to meet you.
As for the hotel, my Aunt Rider promised to protect it too, and she's really awesome. I can fight a bit if necessary, too, using these", he said, summoning up the twin swords that he used as his standard weapons. "Although Aunt Rider would throw a fit if I put myself in any danger...."
The swords he summoned were the dark brown natural colour of the Ether clumps from which they were formed, with some black lines from the shadow magic which was infused into them. Kiyoshi did not see the need to waste effort in making them look pretty. However, in structure they were almost exact copies of the dual swords Kansho and Bakuya that his father fought with.
"I'm a magus, just like you. Don't worry, though, I'm not like most magi. I use my magic to protect people, not for my own selfish ends. Magic is just a means to an end for me, as much as that irritates my Aunty Rin", he said with a laugh, before desummoning the swords.
"Oh, by the way, in case you're wondering, this here is my pet shadow, Kuro. My mother made him for me. Say hi, Kuro!", he said.
In response, the little shadow giant perched on his shoulder gave Satoshi a cute little wave.
Their dicussions finally over, Lancer picked up Rin and headed for the stronghold. As he did so, though, he couldn't resist one final teasing jab.
"Don't worry, I'll keep her warm for you", he said, smirking.
Rider scowled slightly. Whilst the Irishman didn't mean any harm, Rider wanted Rin for herself. She wouldn't mind sharing with a hot girl like Forest, or even a nice guy like Archer, but Lancer wasn't someone she was particularly interested in ending up in bed with, at least not right now.
Seeing that both Forest and Archer were now following her, Rider sped up somewhat. However, she was careful not to move too fast, so as to assist Archer in keeping his now-fast-asleep master comfortable in his arms. After all, Rider knew she was responsible for putting the girl in this situation in the first place.
Then, as they got gradually closer to the hotel, Forest piped up, clearly trying to strike up a conversation.
"So, how old is Kiyoshi?"
"He's eleven. My master has three older children, though. They're all really nice kids, as I'd expect given their parents.
What about you? Do you have an... Oh, right, sorry...", Rider said, realising half-way through her sentence that asking a vampire if she had any children was probably about as sensible as asking her the same question would be.
-
Satoshi chuckled snapping his fingers and causing the arm our to dissolve being replaced with his usual attire of black jeans and his father's hand me down shirt. The shirt was slightly different as the sleeves were black for the right arm and white for the left.
"I'm nothing of the sort, further those things are a dead giveaway what your power source is, you ought to disguise them." he remarked moving to the back of Taiga's wheel chair pulling out a brush and then sitting her down on the bed in his lap.
"As for Kuro, it's not an insult but I see the problems Sakura had in creating it. Although I might be a bit biased. I know of your aunt, she's nice enough but even with the two of us the hotel isn't secure." he remarked starting to brush Taiga's hair.
"As for heroes and magic, heroes cannot succeed by being selfless and magic is not to be used by anyone with a brain unless they use it for party tricks." he stated flaty.
-
Ruu's brave attempt to try and challenge the darkened Servant snapped Rin out of her paralysis. She couldn't see it ending well for the poor little familiar, so the magus took matters into her own hands.
"It's alright, Kitty can settle this without you having to risk your trinket. I'll talk with Mr. Eagle." Even with the regain in control, Rin's fear had not completely dissipated. Still, with the way he had softened upon looking at her, maybe there was a chance she was the key to keeping things from becoming violent. Shooting Lancer a nervous glance, Rin steeled herself and walked over to the corrupted bowman.
Rin hesitated. She swallowed before reaching for his right hand, her own trembling as she reached out. It probably wasn't the best idea to take his hand, but if she was right about how he felt about her, Archer Alter or no, it could help prevent him from becoming aggressive. Besides, assuming the worst case scenario, she could probably get him away from her with a Gandr or her gems. Plus she had Lancer and Ruu as backup.
His skin was a different temperature than what she had expected. The Archer she had remembered and had just left behind had been pleasantly warm, almost hot even. The temperature of this Archer's hand was also pleasant, but in a way that was alien, as his skin was almost cool to the touch. It both fascinated her and unnerved her at the same time, much like how she seemed to feel about the man himself.
Forcing her attention away from the strange sensation, Rin looked up at Archer, forcing herself to look into those eyes of molten steel once more. Once more her voice caught in her throat, but she willed herself past it. "I-it's good to see you again, Archer. So then, what are you up to? And more importantly..." Her voice softened. "What happened to you?"
-
Forest bit her lip at Rider's slip as she folded her hands in her duster. Forcing a smile on her face, she said, "Well, I do have a Faerie Godson that I raised, but he's the ripe old age of 124. His name's Gabriel."
She chuckled and said, "Honestly, I wouldn't be overly surprised if he popped up." Then she eyed Rider and said, "But no, I don't have any biological children of my own."
She looked away, her indigo gaze infinately sad before looking at the pavement as she walked. "Life can't come from death."
******
"Promise me this. Promise that you'll try your best. Second chances like this aren't granted often, and I'm ordering you to be happy, damn it."
"You're not my Master anymore, Rin."
"I don't care. You're still my Archer, so I'm ordering you to be happy."
Archer found himself looking into a pair of all too familiar aquamarine eyes. Time seemed to stop for him, he shouldn't have been surprised to meet another Tohsaka Rin here, but the shock was still the same. The sight of her cut through the indifference that had overtaken him as a sort of side effect of being bathed in All the World's Evil. It was as if one of the swords within him had decided to cut its way into his heart.
He almost laughed at the poetic turn his thoughts were taken as she just stared up at him.
He could almost hear Lancer growling at him, and was about to ask him if the Celt was going to piss on Rin's leg to mark his territory when the little boy holding his hand stepped forward.
The child's left arm, even though Archer reasoned that he was as much of a child as Ilya was, hung limply at his side, and his eyes were bright with determination.
"Ruu asks a duel in arm-wrestling." The child, Ruu, fumbled through his backpack, before producing a golden trinket, a magical artifact that Archer could sense even from where he was standing. "You can have this if you win." The child crossed his arms in a ridiculous manner, his left arm limp. "If you lose, you become Ruu's servant."
Archer blinked before a crooked smile crossed his lips. He was about to respond to the boy when that familiar, high girlish voice said, "It's alright, Kitty can settle this without you having to risk your trinket. I'll talk with Mr. Eagle."
He did smile at that, the cold cruelty of it washed away, as Rin stepped forward, a determined tilt to her chin as those gorgeous eyes met his directly. She paused for a moment before swallowing and reaching out her hand. He noticed the tremors in it before she took his right hand. Her skin was warm against his, and he could feel the tiny caluses there. Automatically he turned his hand so he could hold hers as well, intertwining their fingers together.
Her voice caught as she said, "I-it's good to see you again, Archer. So then, what are you up to? And more importantly..." Then her voice softened before she asked, "What happened to you?"
"Your sister chose the wrong Servant to corrupt. Sakura has issues," Archer said, forcing amusement in his voice, "So I was thrust into All the World's Evil, after the Shadow stripped me mind you, and well, my Grail War was interesting."
Lancer finally stepped forward and he said, "Well, that's all well and good, but why the hell are you here?"
"Because Rin's here," Archer answered with a shrug, pulling the girl towards him, and smirking at the sight of crimson eyes narrowing at him.
Lancer sighed and said, "I swear, all this alternate reality bullocks is going to make my head hurt."
Archer smirked and replied, "I'm not surprised." Then he looked at Rin and smiled. "I'm glad you're looking well."
He wasn't surprised that there was part of him shouting to just grab her, get her away from these two idiots and make up for lost time. Possibly starting with his head between her thighs. Then the part of him that was still Emiya Shirou warned that if he wanted Rin, which he truly did, then he couldn't just go ravage her on the nearest rooftop.
Even though he wanted to revel in her warmth and feel every inch of her fair skin and raven hair against his body.
-
"Your sister chose the wrong Servant to corrupt. Sakura has issues." There was amusement in Archer's voice, but from what Rin could tell, it sounded just a bit forced. "So I was thrust into All the World's Evil, after the Shadow stripped me mind you, and well, my Grail War was interesting."
So then... Sakura managed to corrupt him in his world while she was under Angra Mainyu's influence. It doesn't seem like he's too fond of her, either, though I suppose that's understandable. Still... what exactly happened in his timeline? What happened to Emiya-kun, to Sakura, to Illya? ...and what happened to me? Something must have happened to Emiya-kun at least. M-my Archer... He died after giving Emiya-kun his arm. This Archer still has both arms intact. Either Sakura manged to restore his arm, Emiya-kun didn't lose his own arm, or... ...or...
As curious as she was, Rin decided to save the questions for later. Besides, some of her inquiries were more than a bit depressing for her to think about. All these bad things happening in other timelines... it made it easy to forget that things were just fine at home.
Thankfully, Lancer spoke up, interrupting her thoughts. "Well, that's all well and good, but why the hell are you here?" It was a good question, one that Rin herself wouldn't mind an answer to.
"Because Rin's here." As he replied, Archer pulled Rin closer to him. She had to fight back a blush earlier when he'd intertwined his hand with her own earlier, but now she couldn't fight it, and her cheeks lit up as if on fire. But it wasn't just the simple act of him pulling her closer, oh no. It was his words, his demeanor, even the look in his eyes.
The chills of fear Rin'd been feeling had slowly been replaced by chills of another kind. At this point, most of her fear was gone. This was in spite of the lust that she could faintly see in his eyes. No... maybe it was partially because of the lust in his eyes.
Even when Archer had been hers to command, as close of a companion as he had been, he had never been this open with his affections. Really, despite her common sense screaming for her to reconsider, despite the fact that it was likely motivated somewhat by her own jealousy, a quite vocal part of Rin's psyche wanted to let him act on that lust. She wanted him to be hers again. She wanted what they could never have in the 5th War.
W-what am I thinking?! I-it... it's Rider finally getting to me, yeah, that's it!
Her thoughts and emotions in conflict, Lancer once again provided a welcome diversion.
"I swear, all this alternate reality bullocks is going to make my head hurt."
"I'm not surprised," Archer replied, undoubtedly with a smirk.
The more that changes... Rin's thought was disrupted by Archer looking down at her again, the same tender affection still there as he regarded her. The rest of her thought vanished into the ether.
"I'm glad you're looking well." His smile was sincere, but the lust that it took effort for her to spot before now came more apparent. Rin's blush intensified, despite the simple words, and she was once again forced to swallow.
"Y-you're looking well too, all things considered."
Come on Rin, get it together! A Tohsaka is elegant, graceful. You can't keep stammering like this! Get it under control! Rin put all her focus on getting down to business, trying to keep her feelings in check. Lancer isn't going to like this...
"But I think it might be better if we continue talking someplace more comfortable. Lancer works for the landlady of the apartments I'm going to be staying at, and I'm sure there's room for you too, if you need a place to stay. Do you want to come with us?"
There was a method to Rin's madness. Having Archer Alter over at the apartments meant she could keep an eye on him, and if he was in fact hostile, the others would be coming back after picking up Kiyoshi. But despite his attitude towards anyone that wasn't her, for now he didn't come across as a threat. Either way, Rin was confident things would turn out fine. Aside from that though, the corrupted Servant intrigued her in more ways than one.
More eagerly than perhaps she should have, Rin awaited his response.
-
Kiyoshi looked on with surprise as the man changed out of the suit of armour he had been wearing and into a shirt that looked remarkably similar to one he had seen his father wearing in old family photos, although with the right sleeve black instead of white for some reason.
"I'm nothing of the sort, further those things are a dead giveaway what your power source is, you ought to disguise them", the man remarked as he removed his sister from the wheelchair and sat her in his lap on the bed.
Kiyoshi was somewhat confused at this statement. What did he mean by his "power source"? And, if he wasn't a magus then how the hell was he performing magical spells...?
For a moment, Kiyoshi even wondered if he was a heroic spirit, but the fact that he had a sister suggested otherwise. The man continued, sowing yet more confusion in his mind.
"As for Kuro, it's not an insult but I see the problems Sakura had in creating it. Although I might be a bit biased. I know of your aunt, she's nice enough but even with the two of us the hotel isn't secure."
What "problems"? Mum makes shadows like this all the time. Although I guess she did put a bit more care into Kuro....
He could perhaps understand what the man was saying about the hotel, though, although he seemed to be missing the point that it would at least deter more casual attacks. The man continued.
"As for heroes and magic, heroes cannot succeed by being selfless and magic is not to be used by anyone with a brain unless they use it for party tricks."
Hah, he sounds just like my dad, Kiyoshi thought, as the man gave the same words about heroism that he had all-too-often heard from his father.
Although, the idea of not using magic was bizarre, and one which the man himself seemed to disregard if his sister's claim that he was a "hero" was anything to go by. Why wouldn't you use whatever power you possessed to make a difference?
"You know, you sound just like my father when you talk about heroism. And you're dressed like him too...
I really don't know what you mean by my 'power source', though, and you certainly look like a magus. And, what is so wrong about using magic? If you've got the power why waste it?
Oh, and you know nothing about my mother's abilities. She makes entities like Kuro all.. the..."
Wait, hang on, he didn't say "your mother", he said "Sakura".
"Wait, how do you know my mother's name? I never told Taiga, and I certainly didn't mention it to you...."
Plus, the way he referred to her so casually makes it sound like he knows her. And, he's wearing a shirt a lot like dad wears.
Who is this guy?
Rider listened as Forest informed her of the Godson who she had raised, happy that the woman at least had someone she could care for and call her "family".
Even so, though, Rider couldn't miss the sadness in her eyes as she continued to speak, or the way that she looked down at the pavement as she spoke the final line.
"But no, I don't have any biological children of my own. Life can't come from death."
Rider understood her feelings somewhat. After all, she was much the same.
"I understand, Forest. I too cannot have children.
I am merely a spiritual entity summoned to serve my master. I do not age, develop or change in any way. I will remain just as I am now until my master's death, when I will either run out of prana and fade into nothingness or need to find an alternate source.
Still, I am fortunate to have found a master who treats me as a person rather than a mere tool to be used for the war and then thrown away afterwards. She has accepted me into her family and sustains me so I do not fade away. You are equally fortunate to have found some family of your own, people you care for and who care for you. You shouldn't feel sad at what you cannot have, you should be glad of what you do have."
-
Satoshi chuckled "the idea that not using your power is a waste is the most popular logic for evil men to enact terrible things. The better question a person should ask is do I need to use my powers and why. As for your mother, to be honest there are far too many answers I have to give, you'll have to be more specific." he remarked continuing to brush Taiga's hair.
Taiga sat quietly seemingly ignoring the conversation
-
"Y-you're looking well too, all things considered."
Archer smiled at the stammer in her voice, and the increasing rosiness that was appearing in her cheeks. Her hand was heating up against his, and with a subtle press of his thumb on her delicate wrist, he could feel the racing of her pulse. Then there was the fact she wasn't fighting him, or telling him to let her go. Which reasoned something had gone wrong with him in her timeline.
He wanted to ask if he was an idiot, dying to save that idiot or did he do the proper thing and sacrifice himself to save his Master.
"But I think it might be better if we continue talking someplace more comfortable. Lancer works for the landlady of the apartments I'm going to be staying at, and I'm sure there's room for you too, if you need a place to stay. Do you want to come with us?"
Archer tilted his head at Rin's question and his smile widened. He chuckled and asked, "Isn't that being a bit presumptuous, Rin? This Landlady doesn't even know who I am."
"No. I'm not letting this wanker anywhere near Forest," Lancer said moving to grab Rin, "Or you for that matter. I'll turn my back and then I'll find you both being tied up in chairs about to be raped by some unsavory sort because he had a tantrum."
Archer snorted, shook his head, ignored Lancer, and said, "I could use a place to stay. Besides, its your style to make sure there's a place for me, Rin." He grinned at her.
Lancer on the other hand was fuming as he looked at Rin, "Lass, you'd better know what the hell you're doing."
"It's obvious. If I'm a danger, she's herding me to a place where I can be dealt with if needed," Archer said with a sigh before shaking his head, "I'm sorry you have to put up with idiots all the time."
******
"I understand, Forest. I too cannot have children.
I am merely a spiritual entity summoned to serve my master. I do not age, develop or change in any way. I will remain just as I am now until my master's death, when I will either run out of prana and fade into nothingness or need to find an alternate source.
Still, I am fortunate to have found a master who treats me as a person rather than a mere tool to be used for the war and then thrown away afterwards. She has accepted me into her family and sustains me so I do not fade away. You are equally fortunate to have found some family of your own, people you care for and who care for you. You shouldn't feel sad at what you cannot have, you should be glad of what you do have."
Forest almost laughed at Rider's words, but understood why she said them. Rider did have a family that cared for her, and people for her to protect. Not to mention someone to go to for comfort if her thoughts about the Tohsaka Rin in her reality was any indication.
While Forest did have Gabriel, he was grown, even for Faerie standards. He had his own life, and while he still made time for her, she knew he could do very well without her. She wanted someone who was there, that she could rely on.
And maybe for once someone take care of her for a little while instead of her running ragged to save the day.
So, Forest forced a smile and said, "Well, I do have an awesome car collection and an absurd amount of money. Those are nice things to have."
-
"Ruu will punch your face off if you make Kitty cry." His warning dropped, he put back the trinket in his bag. Got a grab on it and looked in his direction. "Ruu will go in last, ever watching you." He added darkly.
He was as pleased to see that newcomer tagging along as Lancer, yet Rin gave the thumbs up, so he will comply to it for now. However he wouldn't hesitate to smite down the guy would he attempt anything weird. His heavy gaze falling upon Archer's back, he pushed on his the man's leg forward.
----
"Yes, I'm on my way. Do not damage the goods, can't make profits out of it if you reduce it to pieces."
Telling this to me, you dickwad.
"Sure. Just make sure the end of your bargain comes along." Answered Shuya before ending the call.
The hybrid turned to the "package" he was ordered to deliver, still not sure why this one was precious enough to warrant a "good shape" to begin with.
He sighed longly before approaching the person lying down on the couch. The work had been messy, the methods barbarous even compared to his own standards. The girl was clearly in a shock state, her eyes widened and not quitting him. Had been lacerated in lots of places, bruises and wounds covered most of her half naked body when he found her. Right arm missing down the elbow. Probably had broken bones too. Messy work, which he should have led in person but he only noticed the girl when she was already pursued by a gang or werewolves. Got raped and hit all over the place before one of the bastards started feeding on her directly. Shuya killed the bunch but he was too late. Worst was the visage though. Clawed so many times he would have not recognized her if it weren't for her blue irises and the few strand black hair left. She looked nothing like the teenager he saw briefly earlier.
Shuya sighed again, he had tried to fix her as much as he could but he doubted she could ever be the same again. Crouched like a wounded beast on the side and wearing clothes he had to go fetch for her, face hidden by bandages save for the eyes and mouth, she looked pretty miserable. He didn't felt pity but he didn't like what he saw. The bandaged face looked at him, trying to appeal to his compassion in order to release her. After all, he was in the middle of work and while he wasn't into slavery market, she had no way to know that. Plus, that Valken bastard expected him to carry the thing through.
Eh, damn bastard better watches his ass.
His initial plan was to wait for him to come here, let him pick the girl, follow him to meet the client and then dispose of both at once. Garbage like' em wouldn't be missed. But here she was crying silently while looking at him. It pissed him off to no end to witness that. Hospital would take care of her. Probably would need people to support her though. Couldn't be him. Hardly an option when his job is mainly to cut down others. So it should be people she was with. Didn't speak a word though. Narrowing it down to the people she seemed to get along. The blond chick didn't seem too bad as far as an hypocrite good doer can be, at least. Yeah, she would do.
The man shook his head. He didn't have time for this shit.
"Hoy, get your ass up, kid."
He indicated his back while bending the knees. She rose to a sit, staring at him.
"Better hold tight, can't really maintain you still with one hand. I'll get you to the psychic vampire but don't you complain if she drinks you dry."
With hesitation, she climbed on his back and got a secured hold with her only hand left.
Shit, she's not even half my weight, assholes.
Maybe he should have reduced the beasts to a pulp rather than minced meat. He felt the girl crying against his back.
"The fuck imma doin'." With a growl of his own, he ran off the building.
-
Archer responded to Rin's question with a tilt of his head, his smile widening. He chuckled before replying. "Isn't that being a bit presumptuous, Rin? This Landlady doesn't even know who I am."
Rin was about to answer his question, but didn't get a chance to reply. "No. I'm not letting this wanker anywhere near Forest," Lancer said, as he prepared himself to take the magus back. "Or you for that matter. I'll turn my back and then I'll find you both being tied up in chairs about to be raped by some unsavory sort because he had a tantrum."
Rin frowned a bit in confusion. It's obvious that Lancer trusts this Archer about as far as he can throw him, but... it sounds like he's referencing something specific. What's he talking about?
Either Archer had just as much of a clue as she had or just didn't care about the insinuation, as he responded with a snort and a shake of his head. Blowing Lancer off, he turned back to Rin. "I could use a place to stay. Besides, its your style to make sure there's a place for me, Rin." He said this with a grin. Rin found herself blushing again, though she wasn't sure why.
"Lass, you'd better know what the hell you're doing." Rin's attention was turned back to Lancer. The Servant was visibly fuming. Beside him, little Ruu was glaring at the bowman, trying to do his best to make the threat he made earlier should "Mr. Eagle" make "Kitty" cry stick.
"It's obvious. If I'm a danger, she's herding me to a place where I can be dealt with if needed." Rin heard Archer say this with a sigh. Her attention was drawn back to the darkened Servant once more. "I'm sorry you have to put up with idiots all the time."
Rin shook her head in response, but her words were casual. "He means well enough, even if he didn't quite catch on. He's just trying to make sure nothing goes wrong." Still, Rin was a bit surprised that Archer had seen through her plan so quickly, but wasn't as surprised as she could have been. After all, she knew from her past experiences that he had quite a sharp mind. She turned back to Lancer.
"What Archer said is true. However, I don't think he's a threat to us, but I don't mind keeping an eye on him." She attempted to give Lancer a reassuring smile. "Besides, I'm a powerful magus in my own right. I can handle myself if there's any trouble. Plus you'd be there to back me up if anything bad happens."
Rin turned back to Archer again. "As for your question about the Landlady, she offered her apartments as a place for people to stay if they needed it. I don't like imposing on her myself, but I'm sure that if we just explain to her that you're with me, we can get you a room too. So then," Rin continued with a smile, "I take it you're willing to accept my offer?"
-
Satoshi chuckled "the idea that not using your power is a waste is the most popular logic for evil men to enact terrible things. The better question a person should ask is do I need to use my powers and why. As for your mother, to be honest there are far too many answers I have to give, you'll have to be more specific." he remarked continuing to brush Taiga's hair.
Really?
To Kiyoshi, it seemed like a simple enough question.
"How can I be more specific than 'how do you know my mother's name?'", he said, frustrated at the man's apparent inability to answer a simple question.
"And, if you can protect others with the powers you have, then you should absolutely use them to do so. Why should I leave people to suffer when I have the ability to help them? Plus, your sister called you a 'hero', so you must surely use your own abilities."
Then, he turned to Taiga, who was so far keeping herself out of the conversation.
"Hmm, what do you think? You called your brother a 'hero', after all...."
Rider groaned slightly at the obviously-faked smile on Forest's face as she responded to Rider's comment.
"Well, I do have an awesome car collection and an absurd amount of money. Those are nice things to have."
Ah, I see....
Clearly the woman was lonely. Unlike her, who had a family to call her own, Forest seemed to be in a position where she had few real friends.
"I'm sorry, Forest, I didn't mean to upset you."
Then, changing the subject slightly, Rider continued.
"Yeah, my master is wealthy too. Possibly not quite as wealthy as you, but enough that she doesn't need to worry. It's a nice position to be in.
I like the sound of your car collection. too. I'm more of a bike person, though. I have a Hayabusa back at home. Shirou rescued it from being scrapped and refurbised it for me, as a 'thank you' for everything I've done. With a few special touches, of course...."
-
"oh try when did you learn her name, what is your relation to my mother or better yet why do I use her first name. Using your power is fine but depending on it is not, your mind is a far better resource." Satoshi answered.
Taiga spoke up without turning to Kiyoshi "I think you have a lot of growing up to do Kiyo, the word hero is a personal one, titles don't mean much on their own."
-
Kiyoshi sighed.
Why is he being so damn obstructive?
Kiyoshi really couldn't understand why Satoshi found his initial question so difficult to answer. It was clear and unambiguous enough, and the only reason for him to refuse to do so, really, was if he had something to hide.
However, even though he seemed to be acting like a character from one of those old puzzle games in the way that he answered questions, his most recent answer had actually given away a reasonable amount of information, perhaps more than he had intended. The fact that he suggested asking what relation he was to Kiyoshi's mother implied that such a relationship existed, and the fact that he suggested asking about using her first name even though "Emiya-san" or similar would have been ambiguous implied that he was close enough to be on first name terms with her, and that this was a big deal to him.
As for the rest, he was somewhat right that, in the end, using your mind was important. Still, any intelligent person would always use their full abilities, and would not restrict theirselves arbitrarily. Just smashing things without thought was a bad idea, but so was not using the abilities you have in the best way you can.
With Taiga, though, he understood what she meant. His father was his mother's hero, and both of them were his heroes. Whether the world at large would see it that way wasn't always so clear, although he liked to think that if people knew of all the work they did keeping the city safe they'd appreciate it, particularly given the amount of time his mother spent doing charity work alongside that.
Kiyoshi knew he had to consider his question carefully. The way Satoshi was acting, he might suddenly decide to only allow one question or something, and he would almost certainly not give out any more information than was specifically asked for. The most important thing, though, seemed to be how he knew his mother, so asking what relationship they have would be sensible.
"Well, OK, then what relationship do you have to my mother? You seem to know her quite well.
And, I understand that you should never fight without using your brain, but only an idiot doesn't use all the abilities available to them."
Then, he turned to Taiga.
"Yes, I guess you're right. After all, my father is a hero to my mother, and both of them are heroes to me...."
-
"let's just say it's complicated and leave it at that, I'm quite a bit older than I look" Satoshi replied with a chuckle
-
Archer tilted his head at the not-child and then smiled at his nickname for Rin. Then the boy threatened Archer, and he had to keep from out right laughing. However the smirk couldn't be quelled.
Instead he looked at Ruu and replied, "I'm not in the habit of making young women cry."
Lancer glared at that, but kept walking. The Celt shoved his hands in his pockets and gritted his teeth, eyes narrowing at Rin. Archer wondered just how much he fucked up in Lancer's respective reality to make the Celt want to ram Gae Bolg up his ass and twist. Sure, he liked antagonizing Lancer, but this wasn't annoyance he was sensing from the Celt and it wasn't Lancer's bloodlust for battle. It was a genuine hatred, as if Archer had done something unforgivable in Lancer's eyes.
Rin looked at him, surprise flickering in her aquamarine eyes. "He means well enough, even if he didn't quite catch on. He's just trying to make sure nothing goes wrong."
Archer nodded and said, "I don't blame him."
"The hell?" Lancer asked, before snorting and shaking his head.
"What Archer said is true. However, I don't think he's a threat to us, but I don't mind keeping an eye on him." She attempted to give Lancer a reassuring smile. "Besides, I'm a powerful magus in my own right. I can handle myself if there's any trouble. Plus you'd be there to back me up if anything bad happens."
Lancer eyed Archer and he said in a low voice, "I hope to gods that you know what you're doing Lass."
Rin turned back to Archer again. "As for your question about the Landlady, she offered her apartments as a place for people to stay if they needed it. I don't like imposing on her myself, but I'm sure that if we just explain to her that you're with me, we can get you a room too. So then," Rin continued with a smile, "I take it you're willing to accept my offer?"
"I didn't expect you to preposition me this quickly," Archer said with a thoughtful tilt of his head, "However, if you hadn't I would have. So, yes, I'll be more than willing to stay with you."
*****
Forest blinked at Rider's words, but she was glad for the change of subject.
"The fastest production bike ever made," she said with a nod, "As for modifications, that was actually what the manufacture had in mind when they built them. They knew people would modify them and made it so they could be done so easily."
-
Rin was happy that Archer had accepted her offer so willingly, even after her intentions were revealed. She couldn't really blame Lancer for not being too happy about this little arrangement, but Rin was confident that she could keep things under control regardless.
Rin smiled a bit as she gave her response. "Then it's settled. Shall we go?"
-
"I'm ready, if Lancer has no objections," Archer replied.
Lancer looked at Rin and replied, "You had better know what you're doing."
-
Satisfied, Rin was about to announce that she was ready to take off before realizing that she had a bit of a dilemma. She would need to be carried there. The question was, who would carry her? She liked the idea of Archer carrying her, and also figured it may be the best way to get him to cooperate. At the same time though, if she let Lancer carry her, it might calm him down a bit, or at least put him more at ease.
With that in mind, Rin looked at both men. "So then, who's going to be carrying me the rest of the way?"
-
"Ruu will carry Kitty on its shoulders." With these words he placed himself before her, waiting for the magus to get in position.
-
Rider smiled slightly. It seemed like Forest had a real passion for motorised vehicles of all kinds, which was something that she could definitely appreciate. Her nature as a Rider-class servant gave her a natural capacity to use such vehicles, and the nature and variety of modern transportation appealed to her inquisitive side.
"Ah, so your interests extend to bikes too? It's nice to meet someone with as much interest in such things as I have.
With my bike, though, the sort of modifications Shirou makes are definitely not the sort that the manufacturers would have been expecting. See, Shirou has a talent for making and fixing things that goes beyond the mundane.
Remember when that other Shirou was pointing swords at us? Those weren't materialised from spiritual form like my nails or Lancer's spear. He made all of those swords, using his magic. That is Shirou's speciality, the ability to understand and copy any weapon, and he even has a Reality Marble based around that, which is why Hakuno shouted at us to stop him when he tried to summon it. But, as a side-effect of that, he is exceptionally good at both the improvement and alteration of existing items, and the creation of more mundane items from scratch. He managed to take a bike that was so badly damaged that it was fit only for the scrapyard and turn it into possibly the best Hayabusa in existence.
I wish I could show you it, but unfortunately it's still at home. If I'm lucky, then Sakura might bring it when she comes here to find her son. Which won't take her long, not when the welfare of her baby boy is at stake....
Honestly, I wouldn't want to be Rin right now. I doubt she'll get a moment's rest until she's found a way to bring Kiyoshi back home, or to send Sakura here to keep watch on him. Not that she'd want to, mind, she'll be devestated that she's let Sakura down like this."
-
Archer chuckled at the sight of the small "Child" inviting Rin to ride upon his shoulders. He did also notice that Ruu called himself an "it" and not a proper gender pronoun. Interesting, the Servant thought absently. Lancer was staring, blinking in a stupor that Archer thought fit the Celtic Servant.
Then the blue haired warrior stepped up and said, "I'll carry ya Rin. Ruu, your arm's still hurt and I don't want Rin to make it worse." He cast the magus a quick look, "Not that I'm saying you're heavy or anything."
Archer smirked, made sure to look Lancer in the eye, and then look at Rin. "As someone who was a version of your former Servant, I think I would know the best way to carry you so you're more comfortably and efficiently conveyed."
******
"I'm not as fond of bikes as I am a good pony car, but I have a lot of time so I like to look up things," Forest said with a shrug. Then she smiled at Rider's words of Sakura's concern for her son. "Well, hopefully Sakura knows that you're doing what you can to protect him."
She pointed to the hotel looming closer and asked, "So, is that where you're staying at? The manager is a real misogynist asshole."
-
Rin fretted as she wrangled with the decision- each choice had it's own advantages after all, and their own complications. But in the end...
The young magus gave Lancer an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Lancer. Normally I'd be more than happy to have you carry me, but I want to make sure Archer cooperates with us fully. And I want to keep an eye on him. Therefore..." Rin turned back to Archer. "I'm going to let him carry me."
Rin moved closer to Archer, a bit of a smile on her face. "Alright then, 'convey' me away, Archer."
-
Oh, for Christ’s sake, what is this guy’s problem?
Kiyoshi’s annoyance at the total non-answer given in response to the question Satoshi had specifically told him to ask was clear.
“How can it be ‘complicated’? It’s not a difficult question to answer.
You even suggested that I ask you that, and yet you still avoided answering the question. Why did you even bother making the suggestion if you had no intention of answering from the beginning?”
Then, he turned to Taiga.
“Is your brother a politician or something?", he said with a slightly irritated tone. "He seems allergic to answering questions....”
Rider’s face showed clear surprise at Forest’s last revelation.
“Really? He seemed nice enough to me. I’m pretty sure he only accepted our offer of protection because he didn’t want to throw us out on the street.”
Still, hearing that made Rider feel much less bad about reneging on the deal before she’d spent even one night at the hotel. People like that had a nasty habit of reminding her of Shinji rather too much for their own safety. One of her relatively few regrets she had from her time in the modern world was that the asshole had died far more quickly and painlessly than his crimes had warranted and, consequentially, when she came across people who were similar to him the temptation was always there for her to “rectify” that injustice.
She continued, responding to Forest’s earlier comments.
“And, yes, I’m sure the fact that I’m here will reassure Sakura somewhat. She knows she can trust me to always protect her children, although she would be worried about what I might be forced to do in order to replenish my prana supply....
Even so, though, Sakura won’t be able to bear the thought that one of her children might be in danger or suffering, and she would never forgive herself if she wasn’t there for him when he wanted or needed her.”
A mournful look came across Rider’s face.
“See, as a young child Sakura was forcefully separated from her beloved mother and sister and given by her father to another magus from a different family, who tortured her for eleven years. Mentally, physically and even sexually. The head of the family deliberately made her suffer as much as possible because doing so furthered his goals, and intentionally made her life as miserable as possible.
Because of that, she does everything she can to give her children the happy childhood she should have had were it not for her father's magus nature and her mother's spinelessness, and to protect them as much as she can from anything that might harm them. Her absolute worst nightmare is that she will one day end up failing her children as her own mother failed her, forced to stand by impotent as they’re taken from her and subjected to some horrible fate. And, Kiyoshi is her little baby, so she’s even more protective of him than she is of the rest of her kids.
Plus, their bond is very deep. Even if Kiyoshi is safe here with me protecting him, he’s still a frightened little boy who misses his mummy, as much as he might try to put a brave face on it. I can comfort him a little, he does trust me and sees me as family, but he would still feel a lot happier and safer with her around.”
-
Archer smiled as Rin approached, a slight smile on her face as well. He wondered if it was just Rin trying to be as diplomatic as possible to choose him to carry her, or if she had other feelings about it. Rin denied herself quite a bit due to being a magus, and that "duty" had cost his former Master her life.
Saving the whole wasn't his concern anymore. He would rather save and devote himself to one precious person, the rest of the world be damned.
He had to watch her go once, and he knew there were records stored in his sortied mind that would show similar endings to his Grail War. So, there was a Tohsaka Rin for him to save from herself. He wondered if she had given Emiya Shirou up to either Saber or her sister, burrowing herself in work to smother her feelings and grief. He wondered if she mourned the Archer she had summoned.
Lancer was practically growling as Archer swept her into his arms. If looks could kill, those crimson eyes would have stabbed him with Gae Bolg again and again. The Celt muttered something in what Archer assumed to be Gaelic - there were a lot of "Chk" sounds and far too many rolling "Rs".
"So, did you know that the Kaledostick is here?" Archer asked, making conversation. "I saw it flying some girl over the city."
******
Forest inwardly flinched at Rider's words. She momentarily thought about that Roman Bastard; the one foe she technically couldn't kill, and about how he left his "mark" on her for all eternity. No matter how happy she could be or if she loved someone, his shadow would linger on her.
Instead she slid her hands in her pockets and said, "Sakura's lucky to have someone like you Rider, but are you sure she would want you to bring this up to people you just met? Sure I'm sympathetic than most, but if I was sexually assaulted, then I wouldn't want someone telling someone else about it. In fact, I'd be right pissed about it."
She shrugged and said, "If Sakura isn't then good for her. She's a lot healthier mentally than most."
-
"I'm no-" Satoshi started in reply before the wave of dread cut him short. "look kid, my dad is emiya shirou, I'm your half brother from another reality, the whole story is far too long and frankly there isn't enough time. Get Taiga down to the lobby and wait for Rider, go now" he stated his voice even and his smile still present despite the presence he felt creeping towards the room from outside.
Taiga nodded "let's go Kiyoshi" she said sliding into her wheel chair and turning toward the door.
-
While Rin wouldn't admit it to herself entirely, it wasn't entirely for the sake of keeping Archer in check that she had chosen to go with him. No, part of her wanted to be held in those arms of his, holding her as he once did as they soared high above the city. Rin could hear Lancer cursing in Gaelic behind her, but for some reason, right now it didn't bother her. Right now, she was just content to be carried by her former Servant again, corrupted or not, and things couldn't be happ-
"So, did you know that the Kaledostick is here? I saw it flying some girl over the city." And with Archer's attempt at making conversation went most of Rin's joy. It also surprised her a bit that Archer knew what the Kaleidostick was, but she supposed she shouldn't be too shocked. So Ruby had enlisted some poor girl into becoming a Magical Girl. Great, just great. Now I have to take care of that now too.
But then... no, it wasn't a guarantee, but there was a chance. Knowing that stupid stick, it was quite possible that it'd pull that sort of stunt just to mess with her...
"Archer... that girl the Kaleidostick was flying with. Did she happen to have red hair and pigtails?"
-
Half-brother? From an alternate reality?
Kiyoshi’s head swirled as he thought of it. Was this obstructive man truly Shirou’s son?
So many questions came to mind. Who was Satoshi’s mother, if not Sakura? Was his mother happy? And, how had his parents, whose love seemed so strong and enduring, not ended up together in Satoshi’s universe? To him, they seemed perfect for each other. They had arguments, of course, everyone did, but they never held grudges or let issues fester for long, and their love for one another was still clear for all to see, even after 30 years. They both cared for each other more than anything, supporting and protecting each other no matter what.
Unfortunately, though, now was not the time to ask them. The way Satoshi had spoken reminded him of how his father would act when danger loomed. Simply translated, it meant “I’m going to stay here and risk my life so you can escape”. And, he knew that, when his father spoke like that, the only sensible options were to run or prepare to fight alongside him.
The possibility that Satoshi was somehow tricking him could not be entirely discounted, of course, but Kiyoshi felt it unlikely. He did at least know Shirou, and seemingly Sakura too, and well enough to be able to recognise him as their child. Further, he had no real reason to lie about their relationship. Plus, he was trusting Kiyoshi with his sister, which suggested that his intentions were genuine.
And, whilst he had previously been somewhat unhelpful and evasive, Kiyoshi doubted that his intentions were bad. After all, he was almost certainly Shirou’s son, and he knew that his father would never allow his child to act in such a way. Further, Satoshi also seemed to know his mother, who was too kind-hearted and caring to associate with someone evil, especially someone whose evil intentions were aimed at a child like him.
So, there was no reason not to follow his instructions. Still, Kiyoshi hesitated momentarily. Every instinct he had said to stay and fight alongside his new-found brother, against whatever monstrosity was approaching. That was what real heroes did.
Ultimately, though, all it took to make his mind up was the voice of the young girl – his half-sister – who was now sliding into her wheelchair.
"let's go Kiyoshi"
I can’t abandon her.
As much as Kiyoshi wanted to fight alongside Satoshi, his wheelchair-bound half-sister was a sitting duck. As far as he knew, she was not magically-capable, if she was even aware of it, and she couldn’t see any incoming danger, or run away from it even if she did detect it. Even if he didn’t know her very well, she was still family, in a sense, and his father had always said that family comes first. The thought of his helpless little sister being torn to pieces by werewolves or similar before he even had the chance to truly get to know her horrified him. In fact, even if she hadn’t been his sister, just the fact that she was so helpless made him determined to protect her from harm. After all, heroes should always protect those who cannot protect theirselves.
Accepting their words, he walked towards the door, addressing Satoshi as he did so.
“I wish I could stay and help you fight, but real heroes also protect those who cannot protect theirselves, and Taiga needs that protection. So, you stay here and defeat whatever it is that is coming, I promise I’ll keep our little sister safe from harm.”
Then, he turned to Taiga.
“OK, let’s get going, little sister”, he said with a smile.
As he walked, though, he began to think more about what Satoshi had just said. He wondered who their mother could be.
But, something was nagging at him.
Why didn’t I notice the relationship before?
He had, after all, asked Taiga her name.
Hang on, she called herself “Taiga Pendragon”
Suddenly, things started to drop into place. Taiga had said that her father was not Cornish. She’d never said anything about her mother. And, whilst she had, technically, been telling the truth about her father being adopted and forgetting his name, he realised now that that had had no connection to her surname. The
name she had given when question was not her father’s name.
It was her mother’s.
There was only one reasonable conclusion he could come to, given what he knew of his father’s past. Their mother was none other than Arturia Pendragon.
King Arthur.
Suddenly, a lot more things made sense. Whilst Satoshi and Taiga seemed to be generally good people, as would be expected from the children of Shirou and King Arthur, they had seemingly picked up some of their mother’s more irritating traits, like her adherence to arbitrary and nonsensical rules, and a lack of openness or willingness to trust others with the truth. That was something that was alien to Kiyoshi, growing up as he had around people who put protecting their family and doing the right thing first and who paid at most only limited attention to rules that got in the way of that.
Of course, this did raise other questions. Whilst the way that he and his family treated Rider ensured that he had no issues with the concept of his father falling in love with a servant, at least beyond the general disbelief he felt towards the idea of his father loving anyone aside from his mother in that way, he also knew from Rider that, as spiritual entities, a heroic spirit could not conceive or give birth to a child. He did consider the possibility that they were adopted, but the girl's hair was exactly like his own, and the boy looked a lot like what he'd imagine the son of Shirou and Saber (who he had heard some basic descriptions of) would look like. If they were adopted, then their appearance was highly co-incidental. But, if not, then how did they exist?
As he walked out of the room with Taiga, questions rushed through Kiyoshi's head. The biggest one of them all, though, was about his mother. Was she happy in this world, without the guy she loved more than anything?
Oh.
Suddenly, he realised what he'd said before, about Saber's death. Previously it hadn't really meant much, but he now knew that it was her mother he was talking about. And, if she were anything like him, to know that her mother had died would hurt, even if it was only in an alternate dimension.
"Oh, Taiga, I'm sorry about what happened to your mother in my universe. I didn't realise you were related when I said it...", he said, sadly.
Then, he brightened up somewhat.
"So, what is your universe like? Is my mother, Sakura, happy?" he asked, cheerfully, wanting to learn more about his newly-discovered sister.
Oh, and, if you don't mind me asking, how was your mother able to have children, if she's a Heroic Spirit?" he added, curiosity getting the better of him.
-
Satoshi chuckled as the kids left. "Sorry lil tiger, you'll have to keep that kid safe till I get out of darkness." he muttered as the curse flooded the room swallowing him and spiriting him away.
in the hall Taiga turned to Kiyoshi "Until you manage to act right you don't get to call me little sister. Part of being a hero is situational awareness, you have none of that. Let's just wait for your aunt like big brother asked." Taiga remarked continuing towards the elevator.
-
Forest's comment made Rider contemplate her actions somewhat.
When she had spoken up, she hadn’t really considered how Sakura would feel about it. She'd just said what she felt would help get her point across most effectively.
Honestly, she’d never really put much thought into whether Sakura would care if others knew she had been abused before. She knew there could be a stigma to it, after all she herself had been ostracised for being a rape victim, but she didn’t think the modern world, and particularly a caring woman like Forest, would care about such things.
Plus, she knew that, whilst her master did even now still have plenty of hang-ups about her past, guilt about being abused was not one of them. Everyone important to her already knew the truth, aside from Kiyoshi, who was too young, and if Shirou could accept it without reservation and love her just the same way, then why should she worry about what others might say? Sakura had long ago accepted that her years of abuse were not her fault, even if she still had difficulty accepting the fact that she was not responsible for the actions of the Shadow, or even for living when so many others did not. And, further, she also knew that Sakura had openly admitted to being abused as part of her charity work, to encourage other abuse victims to come forward and to help comfort the victims her charity helped.
At the same time, though, Rider also knew that Sakura wasn't particularly open in discussing it, especially the details. True, part of that was because she usually couldn't be, due to the magical nature of her abuse but, even so, thinking about it she suspected that Forest was probably somewhat right. She doubted Sakura would be truly angry at her telling Forest, but she also suspected she would prefer it if Rider let her make that decision for herself.
For all that Rider cared for and protected Sakura, she did have a tendency to act contrary to her master’s wishes if she felt it was in her best interests to do so. And, sometimes, she got it catastrophically wrong, as she nearly had on several occasions during the Grail War. Indeed, had it not been for Sakura making the strength of her feelings known with her last command spell she may well have ended up standing by Sakura’s side as the shadow slowly destroyed the remnants of her true personality, instead of fighting alongside Shirou to bring her back from the brink. Still, whilst she was OK with disobeying Sakura, she didn't like hurting her. So, it was probably better if she avoided mentioning the abuse in future, unless she had very good reason to.
She turned to Forest and replied.
"Well, Sakura is a very strong woman, and as far as she's concerned if her husband can accept her past without reservation then it's nothing to be ashamed of. I doubt she'll be as angry as you think.
Still, you're probably right. Perhaps I should be more careful about spreading around such details in future. Whether Sakura wants me to discuss it is not really my concern, I do plenty of things she does not approve of, but if doing so could hurt her then that is not something I can accept."
"Fine, then, Emiya-chan", Kiyoshi said, coldly, the hurt he felt at her response clear in his voice.
Her comment had stung him badly, and all the enthusiasm Kiyoshi had felt about getting to know his half-sister had evaporated. Clearly Saber was a poor replacement for his own mother, at least in terms of niceness and general politeness.
He could understand that the situation was serious, but that didn't stop them talking, and getting to know each other. It's not like they were in the middle of a fight or anything. And, if she really didn't want to talk, she only had to say that, rather than be rude to the person who was currently trying to protect her. He was just trying to be nice and to get to know her, and she had thrown it back in his face in the rudest and most insulting manner possible.
Kiyoshi thought about returning to the room to fight, and abandoning the girl, but he didn't see the point in helping out her big brother either. Plus abandoning the girl was still a little mean, and he wasn't like that. It was better for him to just wait for Aunty Rider. After she arrived, the girl could do whatever she liked as far as he was concerned. Until she apologised he really couldn't care less. If she didn't consider him her brother, then why should he treat her like his sister?
Kiyoshi entered the elevator and, after waiting for Taiga, pressed the button to go to the lobby in silence, making no attempt to converse with the girl.
-
Lancer bounded ahead, making sure Ruu kept up with him. He was the one leading the way afterward. However he made sure to keep an ear open in case the Bowman got too fresh with Rin.
******
"Archer... that girl the Kaleidostick was flying with. Did she happen to have red hair and pigtails?"
The corrupted Servant nodded and replied, "Indeed she did. So I take it you know Ruby's latest victim?"
******
Moving at a Servant's speed meant they reached the compound before Forest and her company did. Lancer stood outside the entrance to the garage. Forest had a remote that would open the door to allow whatever car she would currently be driving in. Lancer was given the code to the door.
Archer landed with his precious cargo, and Lancer said, "Took you long enough. Seems like we got here before my Landlady did, so I'll let you all in."
He started to press the code to the door into the keypad.
******
Forest held up her hands in surrender and said, "I mean . . . Um . . . I'm going to insert my foot into my mouth." The vampire sighed before continuing, "I know you mean well, Rider, that's pretty damned obvious, and . . ."
As the hotel approached Forest's head started to pound. It was as if her head was suddenly filled with murderous thoughts. Her eyes threatened to explode in her sockets before she wound her sheilds more tightly around her physche. She looked at the gorgeous Gorgon and said, "Bugger, something's very wrong there."
Then she took off at a dead run towards the hotel.
-
"Indeed she did," Archer replied. "So I take it you know Ruby's latest victim?"
Rin got a bit startled at the fact that Archer knew Ruby's name, but she shook her surprise off quickly enough. What Archer had just confirmed for her was crucial.
"Well, sort of. When the Magus Association sent me here, they gave me two objectives. One of them was to find a magus that had gone through the portal to this world unauthorized. That girl fits her description. It's not a guarantee, but if it really is her, then once I get a hold of her, that's one mission completed." Of course, there was also Ruby's involvement in the whole thing. But Archer didn't need to know that Ruby had ditched her. Not at all.
"I'm actually hoping that's the case, because it frees me up for my second mission- to explore this dimension and make observations about it. You know... I wouldn't mind an escort. Makes the scouting more fun. If you ever want to..." Rin stopped herself. She found herself blushing a bit again. Common sense told her not to get so friendly with him, considering his condition and the ambiguity of his objectives, but... well, Rin liked the thought of having adventures with Archer in this strange place, corrupted or not. It'd be like old times again.
For the rest of the journey, Rin allowed herself to just enjoy the trip, and relaxed within Archer's arms. In spite of the few hiccups that had occurred here and there, things promised to turn out very well indeed.
***
"Is this it?" Mille looked warily at the huge apartment complex. The now untransformed magus couldn't help but feel somewhat wary about Ruby's intentions. Still, it was this or spend the night in a tree again, and the allure of a nice comfortable bed was too strong to resist.
The girl rounded the complex, hoping to find an entryway. She didn't need to go far, though the sight she was greeted with set her a bit on edge.
A tall and handsome man with blue hair was entering a code into a keypad near the garage. Seemingly waiting for him to open up the door were a pair of figures, a man and a girl. The man was unfamiliar, but like the blue haired man, seemed to have a great deal of prana. Unlike the man with blue hair, this one had an aura of malevolence that she could feel even from her vantage point. The girl, on the other hand, was all too familiar...
Tohsaka. ....Wait, what's she doing here? Mille hesitated for a bit before turning on Ruby, now floating in what seemed to be some sort of dormant form, the stick part of her gone. "You... you brought me here on purpose, didn't you?"
The now fairy-like magical artifact wiggled her wings. "Whatever could you be talking about? Something there you don't like? Whatever it is, it must just be a coincidence~"
"Don't play dumb! You brought me here so I'd meet up with Tohsaka, didn't you? What are you planning?!"
"I just thought you two should meet face to face~ You two have quite a bit in common you know~ ❤ And friendship is important for any magical girl~"
"Ugh..." Mille quickly reconsidered her options. Tohsaka had likely been sent by the Association to stop her. That couldn't happen. Even if it meant she'd have to spend another night sleeping in a tree, it'd be worth it to maintain her freedom, to keep her chance to prove herself. "Listen, Ruby. You said you were willing to help me train to be a magical girl, right? Well, that'll be hard to do if Tohsaka catches me. Now, if you'd just change me back so we could fly out of he-"
Mille's whispers were cut off however, by the sound of a cracking stick. The sound resonated loudly through the entire area. Mille winced as she looked down. The dry branch had mysteriously appeared beneath Mille's ankle, just waiting to be stepped on. Mille glared at Ruby, who was bouncing around innocently in the air. Mille's attention was diverted away from her saboteur as she felt a pair of aquamarine eyes fall upon her.
***
Rin enjoyed having her hypotheses confirmed, especially when it worked out so nicely in her favor. She liked it so much that it even overrode her urge to slam Ruby into the nearest wall for the crap she'd pulled earlier. But it turned out that Ruby's new plaything was indeed the girl that Rin had been searching for, and that she was right over where she could get her. Unless Ruby was willing to transform her again, there was no way the young magus could outrun two Servants. The girl was right where Rin wanted her.
Cheerfully, Rin quietly caught Archer's attention. "Archer, remember the girl I was telling you about before?" Rin gestured towards her victim. "That's her. You don't mind helping me grab her, do you?"
-
Taiga wheeled out of the elevator and turned to Kiyoshi "a hero is not made on dreams alone, you are far too childish and care free to ever become a real hero, if you want to save lives get a phone and call others when something bad happens. It's the only way you'll help without doing more damage in the process. Grandma says that everyone deserves a chance but if you get the chance to be a hero you'd get killed before you ever saw your enemy Kiyoshi. There is nothing of my father in you, you may want to be a hero but you'll never be any good at it with as dull as you are." she said plainly. There was no malice in her voice rather sadness and a slight bit of pity ringing in her voice as she turned and rolled towards the lobby.
-
Ruu halted his course when he saw Lancer stopping in front of a building. Exhausted after all this running through the city, he breathed heavily.
He had always been something superior to humans, in spite of his appearance, but he had found people who were surpassing his own abilities. At least, as far as speed and stamina were concerned. Yet, he knew both Lancer and the false Archer didn't force at all. Truly something impressive.
The familiar looked around, expecting Forest and her group to be around but Lancer answered his question before he could raise the topic. They would arrive later. How long it meant, the kid like creature didn't know. Apparently, they were going to wait inside but Ruu frowned when he smelled prana. Without a word he approached a nearby tree. He saw a girl and what looked like a flashy stick discussing. Curious, the familiar erased his presence, climbed the tree silently and stopped his ascension at the same level.
Behind him, he heard Rin asking Archer to catch the girl which he did by grabbing her by the collar before the target could notice. The familiar held the poor girl hanging meters above the ground like a fruit on a branch.
"Ruu caught the bird for Kitty." He said on a victorious tone.
-
Kiyoshi bristled with anger at her comment. How could she possibly determine that he couldn't be a hero from a few minutes of conversation? She was just some bratty, judgmental little kid, and he wanted nothing more to do with her.
"I could say the same about you. See, my father is nice, and cares about other people's feelings", he said, otherwise entirely ignoring the girl as he walked to the lobby.
Kiyoshi felt hurt and anger at the girl's attitude, as well as sadness that the girl who he'd so looked forward to getting to know had turned out to be such a nasty piece of work.
-
"W-what the?!" It seemed that Rin had more allies at her disposal than Mille had thought. She began to struggle, albeit in vain.
"Ruu caught the bird for Kitty." It was the voice of a young boy. Judging from the fact she was dangling several meters off the ground, this boy wasn't normal at all. Probably a familiar, given the circumstances. Mille soon gave up her struggles. She would have fought for her freedom to the last breath, but she was also sensible enough to know when she was beaten. If worse came to worse, she'd fight back, but for now, she would resign herself to whatever fate awaited her.
Rin was surprised at the little familiar's intervention, but it certainly didn't displease her either. "Great job, Ruu! Now bring Kitty the birdie, and drop her gently."
Mille glared at the other magus. Trying to focus on something that wasn't wanting to wipe that smug smile off of Tohsaka's face, Mille evaluated her situation carefully. Judging from the fact that Ruby wasn't intervening, she couldn't rely on the stick for help, so she was on her own.
Mille began trying to formulate some form of escape plan as she waited for the little familiar to comply with Rin's wishes.
-
Hearing Rin's words, the familiar grabbed the unknown girl by the waist. He jumped down, absorbing the impact like nothing and hopped happily towards the red devil. Ruu let Mille touch the ground right before the group and placed himself besides Rin with a expectant look on the face, much like a dog claiming a reward for bringing his master the journal.
-
Satoshi was coughed up amidst the sounds of traffic in a massive suit of blackened armour " Time to build a work shop, no, fuck it imma build a castle." he muttered as a car crumpled ineffectually against him. Satoshi walked into the night to find a suitable place.
Taiga stared at him quietly "My brother just sacrificed himself to save us and you dare to talk about respecting feelings, you natter on about your mommy and get familiar with me without my consent and you honestly think that you have any right to attack me, you are a rude little boy who needs my protection, not the other way around. You aren't a hero and you never will be as long as you ignore the facts around you!" she shouted, this was not unique to that moment but her anger was. Taiga was angry, she honestly had never been angry before, annoyed sure but angry no, not even towards Gilgamesh.
-
The Garrison girl didn't seem to be resisting too much as Ruu placed his catch before the magus in red, and looked at "Kitty" expectantly. Rin wasn't sure what to give him in repayment, but settled on ruffling his hair in an affectionate manner. With that, Rin turned towards her prey, who was glaring at her with resentment, arms crossed.
"Sorry about all that. But the Association wants me to keep an eye on you, so I couldn't have you run away." Even with the apology, Rin's tone was quite cheerful. The girl didn't seem to be resisting just yet, so it seemed her objective was essentially fulfilled. Ruby had vanished, but she'd deal with that nuisance later.
Mille's frown deepened. "Why do I need watching over? I can take care of myself."
"You went in without proper authorization, and you didn't explain to anyone why. You could have caused damage or gotten yourself in trouble, and so once they confirmed the portal was stable and not a threat, they sent me after you."
"That's a lie! I asked if I could investigate the portal if it was confirmed to be safe before I even attempted to go through, but they wouldn't allow it! I wanted to prove to the Association that I'm worthy of their respect! Since they wouldn't let me through, I finally got fed up and went through myself."
Rin found herself a bit surprised at this. Looking at the girl's expression and her eyes, Rin could see without a shred of doubt that the girl was telling the truth. Honestly, she could understand how the girl felt. She'd worked hard for what she had today, to make her Father proud by proving herself to be a great Magus. "I understand how you feel, but what you did was reckless. What I got from your file suggests that you're smarter than this. Of all the ways you could have proven yourself, why pick one that had such a high chance of getting you killed? You can't prove your aptitude as a magus if you're dead."
"I don't think you do know how I feel. But I took that big of a risk because even after dedicating seven years of my life to nothing but magecraft, the Association still ignores me. So I took a risk."
Rin frowned a bit. She felt a bit bad about the girl's situation, but something told her that things wouldn't quite end up as the girl intended anyway. Plus Rin wanted to know what this girl had against her. While it was understandable that she'd be mad about being caught, something told Rin that the Garrison girl's dislike went beyond that. Clearly, if she wanted to make sure the Garrison girl remained cooperative, she'd have to win her confidence somehow.
Rin looked the girl straight in the eyes. "Listen. I don't know what it is that you have against me, but here's the thing. You're going to need my help. As things are now, even if you do something great while you're here, you'll still be in trouble with the Association. I can try and help smooth things out. So here's the deal..." Rin moved closer to Mille, causing her to narrow her eyes a bit. "I want you to work together with me when I scout this dimension. In exchange, we'll take equal credit for everything we find together. Anything you find yourself is entirely yours to claim." Rin offered Mille her hand. "Do we have a deal?"
Mille eyed the hand like it were a dead fish. She didn't really trust Tohsaka, and her healthy dislike of the other magus was as strong as ever. But it was a good deal. It was also a deal Mille realized full well she couldn't refuse, for her own sake.
Grudgingly, Mille took Rin's hand in hers and gave it a firm shake. "Deal." The pair let go, and Mille allowed her hand to fall to her side. "Though I need a place to stay. Ruby said something about there being rooms avaliable here. Is that true?"
Rin nodded. "That's actually why we're here." She gestured to Archer as well. "The Landlady offered me a room here, and Archer here's also planning on staying. Once she gets back, I'm sure she'd be willing to set you up with a room."
Mille eyed the blackened Servant with suspicion. That doesn't make me feel much better.... "Isn't that a bit presumptuous of you? Still, I'd be glad to get a place to stay. Is there anyone else I can talk to about the arrangements until the Landlady gets back?"
Rin nodded, and pointed over at Lancer. "Probably your best bet is to talk to him. His name's Lancer. He works for the Landlady, so if you want to talk to someone beforehand, he's probably your best bet."
Mille nodded and headed towards Lancer, grateful to be able to talk to someone that wasn't Tohsaka and to be a bit further away from the intimidating man. Mille addressed the Irishman, her arms behind her back, her left hand squeezing her right arm. "So, um... Tohsaka says you're the guy to talk to about the rooms stuff. A-anything I need to know?"
-
Archer had kept his silence for the entire walk to the hotel, focusing mostly on making sure that Hakuno got some rest. But he did pay attention to the two women conversing, and he did have his own thoughts on various aspects.
First of all, it seemed that the Shirou of Rider's world was doing quite well for himself, and had abandoned the life of a hero for raising a family of his own with Sakura. He certainly couldn't begrudge him for that choice. Even if Archer didn't feel as much regret about the life he had lead as he once had, thanks to Hakuno, he was still glad that there was a version of him out there that'd been able to avoid walking down the path that Archer himself had.
But then there was Sakura... Archer had gone his entire life without knowing what had happened to her. Even after all these years, it caused a pang in his gut. But there was nothing he could do about it now, making it nothing more than another regret among numerous other regrets. This one hit him just a tad bit harder though. He was also surprised that Rider was so willing to be so open about Sakura's past, but it seemed that she mostly hadn't been thinking, and apologized for it shortly after.
It seemed that the vampire Forest had experienced trauma of her own in the distant past. He wondered what else she'd seen and experienced throughout her long life. While he didn't intend to dig up painful memories, he was curious about Forest's past, and considered asking her about it some time. Even if he never did, he certainly was going to ask about how her particular type of vampire worked, if nothing else.
The trio reached the hotel, but something was amiss. Archer could feel something wrong in the air, but it was more than that. He had to go off of tiny details, but he suspected that Forest was in some sort of pain. The vampire was tense in general, which wasn't a good sign.
"Bugger, something's very wrong there." With that, Forest took off for the hotel at a run, heading straight for it with tremendous speed.
Archer found himself conflicted. Whatever was attacking the hotel needed to be eliminated for everyone's safety. However... Archer's number one priority was his Master's own safety. Not fighting could make it so the threat remained, but if he stayed, then he could be placing Hakuno's life in danger. Hakuno would order him to go straight for the hotel if she was awake, that he knew for certain. That didn't mean it was necessarily the best plan.
Still, before he made a decision, he needed to see what he was up against. Forest's reaction seemed to imply that this was no small threat, but he needed to see for himself before he decided on a course of action. Archer gave Rider a quick glance before running towards the hotel himself, even now making sure that Hakuno still rested comfortably in his arms.
-
Oh. I see....
Hearing the girl's reply, Kiyoshi felt bad about what he'd said previously. Whilst she had been extremely nasty to him, and her assertion that he required protection from a blind, wheelchair bound magicless girl who was three years younger than him was downright laughable, he had been extremely thoughtless in his initial attitude to her. Her brother was fighting for his life in order to ensure they could escape, and he'd just blindly ignored that, asking questions about the fate of his own mother that were entirely for his own interest. He didn't blame her for being upset, even if she had massively over-reacted.
As annoyed as he still was with the girl for the way she'd reacted to his genuine attempts to reach out to her, now wasn't the time to stick the knife in. The girl was evidentially hurting quite badly. She believed her brother was most likely dead. She a vulnerable young girl in need of emotional support and, however much she had upset him, he simply couldn't bear to make her suffer any more, sister or not.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I was just trying to get to know you better, and to make you feel more comfortable around me. Asking what I did when your brother was in danger was thoughtless of me, and I'm sorry for that.", Kiyoshi said softly.
"As for your brother, I'm sure he'll be fine. He seems pretty strong to me, and I'm sure that once we're safe he'll be able to defeat the monster without worry, or if not escape from it with that invisibility trick he used before. I'm sure he will do everything he can to come back to you", he said, trying as hard as he could to console and reassure the girl.
Rider listened to Forest attempt to, presumably, tell her off for not just obeying her master's orders without question, thinking how best to rebutt that criticism without coming across badly. However, before she could finish speaking, Forest suddenly looked in her direction and said "Bugger, something's very wrong there."
Then, Forest set off running at top speed in the direction of the hotel.
Shit! Kiyoshi's in there!
Without even stopping to consider what the danger might be, or whether there was any real danger at all, Rider set off at maximum speed, rapidly catching the blonde. She simply couldn't risk allowing anything to happen to Sakura's son.
However, whilst she couldn't afford to waste even a moment, any information she could get about the situation was still helpful. So, as she ran past Forest, she shouted a simple question, hoping the blonde would be able to hear it despite the speed they were both travelling at.
"What is it?"
-
"it's not that kind of fight Kiyoshi, there's no winning even when my brother survives Angra manyu the spirit will continue to torment my brother and others." Taiga remarked as they reached the lobby.
-
Lancer eyed the poor little redheaded lass with the dark eyes who was glaring daggers at Rin. Aye, he could tell that there was some fire in that one, and a lot of determination. He'd seen that edge before, that ferocious need to prove oneself. He had it as a child and he had ran off before hearing the full of that druid's prophecy.
Yes, he had obtained fame and become a hero, but he had also died ridiculously early too. He wondered if it had something to do with Gae Bolg. After Scathach gifted him with it with the intention to kill her, his life had fallen. Emer was won, but his attentions wandered but yet she stayed by his side no matter who's bed he returned home from. Then there was his son, dead by his own hands because he was too arrogant to listen.
He shook the dark thoughts off and smiled at the young woman. He bowed his head to her and said, "I'm sure Fore can find a place for you. You just have to earn your keep. She doesn't like freeloaders." He waggled his finger in the girl's face with a smile, crimson eyes dancing.
"Yet she keeps you," Archer said, folding his arms across his chest.
Lancer glared and said, "Hey, I earn my keep. I help protect this city from all sorts of nasty beasts."
"So you project your bloodlust in a positive manner for once," Archer said with a smirk before looking at the girl. He said, "Are you sure she can keep up with you, Rin?"
"Archer is a giant cunt and you should ignore every word that falls from his fucking mouth," Lancer said with a hard grin towards the corrupted Servant."
******
Rider went barreling past, shouting, "What is it?"
Her speed was nothing short of remarkable, and windows shook from the force of it. In fact, Rider's speed was resembling closer to something from a comic book character than the forty to fifty Forest could clock on foot in a dead run. Before she could answer, a figure dressed in heavy dark armor was thrown from the hotel and into the street.
The figure had ashen blond hair and a car crumpled as if it was made with tissue when it collided with it. Then, the figure began to wander into the night. Forest shouted back at Rider, "Go to the hotel, get the boy, I'm going to go after Sir Black Knight!"
She then changed trajectory, heading for the massive form in black armor.
-
Satoshi trampled down the street somewhat carelessly, he ignored the stares of people as his armour clamored loudly crushing concrete sidewalks, road work and parking meters alike as he kept searching for a useful spot, he barely managed to notice the blonde vampire who had begun to chase him down.
he honestly couldn't care if she had a problem. 'she could always summon that guy who can stop me though, now what was his name? Oh that's right Michael Mcdoesn'texist' he thought silently chuckling.
-
Forest winched inwardly at the innate destruction that the Black Knight was causing. People were staring, pointing, shouting, and running away as the figure continued to meander down the crowded street. He hadn't attacked anyone yet, but he was being rather careless.
As Forest grew closer, her eyes widened as she recognized the knight's scent.
She called out, "Satoshi?"
-
"what. Do. You. Want? Be concise I've managed the courtesy of speaking slowly and in small words so say what you want and be quick about it, I'm busy" Satoshi replied obviously annoyed as he continued crushing pavement under his feet.
-
"Well, I want to know what made you a raging cunt," Forest replied as she moved closer to him, folding her arms across her chest as she fell into step beside him. She made sure to keep her distance from his destruction.
"And I wouldn't say you're busy, but more like Hulking out."
-
"You're a bunch of morons more so ready to bitch and moan over details rather than do the hero thing. It's simple fight bad guy, beat bad guy, put bad guy in jail, not spit stupid aggression at each over petty shit, I save everyone and frankly as heroes your lack of perspective fails the point " he remarked still crushing parking meters and the like.
"And I'm more like the juggernaut than the hulk because I'm honestly not mad yet. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. The black is a stain from Angra manyu, he's a Jesus figure except he literally died for the sins of people rather than figuratively and I swear I'll pick up the next car and kill you with it if you call him that name you did before. The reason I've become a cunt is because the curse is the evil of humanity, so being a douche is mark one." he replied
-
"So, you're cursed," Forest said, "That's something we can start with."
She ignored his words, obviously he wasn't in the sanest frame of mind. Steeling herself to do something really stupid, she jumped out in front of him. "So, if you're the Juggernaut, do not make me go Professor X on you. There maybe a way to break the curse, or at least fight it. If you're a hero, then fight that load of twaddle."
-
Satoshi smiled inside the armour and rushed her looking to trample her like his descriptor stated. Unstoppable and unrelenting,she dodged or there was a crumpled heap because unlike Xavier she couldn't shred his mind in a fifth of a second and that was all the time he'd give her.
-
He was fast, but she was agile. She pivoted out of the way, grabbed one of the heavy plates on his armor, and rolled so she was on his back.
She couldn't bring him down with brute force, and she wasn't sure if a magnium round would hurt him. "Come on Lad, I really don't want to get into this."
-
Satoshi ran faster picking up speed as he rush toward a condemned apartment building "get off or I bring the house down" he shouted aiming straight for a solid wall connecting with no intention of stopping until the vampire let go.
-
"Bugger it," Forest said with a sigh, before working to try to take his helm off before impact.
-
"sorry, it's one solid suit Logan's trick ain't working here honey" he chuckled as he smashed into the wall and then another pillar rush toward a second one intent on powdering itif the vampire still held on.
-
Forest cursed at that and then stood on his back before flipping forward, into his path. Before he could smash into the next wall, she ducked down and rammed him in his center.
"I was more of a Cap fan," she replied.
-
Satoshi would admit that the blonde woman knew her stuff when it came to fighting but sadly her attacks were ineffectual because the armour was far larger than Satoshi so he never felt anything from the attack, so he simply continued forward monstrously "Cap beat the hulk, unstoppable beats incredible one hundred percent, that said I like superman myself and flash but not Bart, Barry and Wally tie." he laughed crushing more of the landscape
-
Please just stop this! Bloody hell, what can I do to get you to stop? You're going to hurt people, and not even the Hulk hurts innocent people, Forest shouted with her telepathy.
-
Satoshi stopped just long enough to bound upward through the building into the nights sky hoping she had finally been knocked off of him. "some people just don't know when to quit" he muttered.
-
Forest clung on to him, wrapping her legs around the armor as they became airborne. She chuckled and said, "I'm ungodly stubborn."
She noted that they had gone several stories up.
-
"Seriously get off or I will burn you alive" Satoshi snapped as they sailed through the air
-
"I'm dead, you idiot," Forest said, but she kicked herself off of him, flying through the air.
-
Satoshi having finally been rid of the vampire stopped in mid air, he was cursed certainly but he was ever the dragon so flight was a given but for the theatrical value he channeled fire into his soles and took off like ironman. "later living dead girl" he shouted as he disappeared into the city skyline.
-
Forest felt the ground rushing up to meet her, and she nimbly twisted to land. She landed on her feet and rose to her full height, watching him fly away.
She ran a hand through her hair and said, "Well, damn it."
-
Hakuno groggily looked over at the hotel. The sudden commotion had woken her up, and it took her a bit to get adjusted to her surroundings. She could feel the tenseness in Archer's arms- something was wrong.
"Archer? What's going on?"
Archer looked down at the half awake girl. She still seemed a bit exhausted in spite of the rest, and he knew full well it wasn't because she'd just woken up. With her prana as drained as it was, she was going to be a bit sluggish even with rest. As such, he didn't really want to tell her what was going on, knowing what she'd say, but he also knew she'd needle it out of him one way or another.
"The hotel was being attacked. Forest just pursued what may well be the main cause, while Rider went inside to rescue Kiyoshi. I would have gone after one or the other by now, but to be perfectly honest, I didn't know what I wanted to risk given your condition."
"We can't just stay here though! We need to help them!"
Archer sighed. "I knew you'd say that. You're not going to cooperate until I help either Rider or Forest, are you?"
Hakuno shook her head firmly.
Archer quietly contemplated their situation. Even as tired as she was, Hakuno would likely try something drastic in order to try and get him to help. But her safety was still his top priority. ...Perhaps then.... desperate times called for desperate measures.
"Master, I want you to listen carefully. Back when you were in the alleyway, I could feel your prana draining. From what I could tell, you lost a fair bit of it."
"Prana's my magical energy right? I cast a shield back there to try and protect myself, so that's why it's gone."
Archer was a bit startled. He hadn't expected Hakuno to be able to use magecraft, at least not already. Still, since there were a fair few parallels between Code Casting and magecraft, it made some sense. It explained why it'd drained her so much as well. She likely didn't know how to control how much prana she expended just yet.
A genuine smile crossed his face. "You continue to be full of surprises. And you had the sense to finally think of protecting yourself over someone else this time. That's good. Your own safety should be your top priority, so keep it up."
I did it to try and keep other people from getting hurt for my sake, but I'll let him think what he wants, Hakuno thought to herself. Plus it's rare for him to give me genuine compliments like this. I'd rather just soak in the moment than burst his bubble.
With that, Archer resumed his previous line of conversation. "In any case, when you lose that much prana, it tends to leave you feeling drained. Lose enough prana, and it can practically make you ill. What you're feeling right now is the side effects of the prana deficit."
Hakuno lowered her eyes. "So in a way, I caused us more trouble in the end."
Archer shook his head. "No, you did the right thing. You just can't really control your magic yet. And aside from that..." Archer looked Hakuno straight in the eyes. "I can restore some of your prana. It won't be enough for you to start spellcasting just yet, at least safely, but it should hopefully be enough to have you moving around like normal again."
"Really? What is it?"
Archer gently placed Hakuno down on the ground. He materialized a small knife. To Hakuno's surprise, she saw him prick his own finger, deep enough that a nice solid drop of blood was already beading up on the surface of his skin. The knife's purpose served, it was cast into the ether.
The Servant carefully lowered his hand to Hakuno's level, taking care to keep the droplet intact. "Drink my blood. Keep on doing it until I take my finger away. I'm going to try and give you just enough to get you properly mobile again, so I want you to promise me you won't cast any magic until we get you back to full."
Hakuno frowned. "What about your finger?"
Archer chuckled. "I'm a Servant remember? This should heal quickly enough. Now drink before the wound starts to close up."
Hakuno looked at the bleeding finger warily before gently taking his hand up towards her mouth with both her hands. She gently began to suck on his finger. Hakuno winced a bit at the bitter, metallic taste, but continued to do as she'd been told to. As she did so, she could feel a strange sensation flowing through her, and she found herself becoming more and more energized.
Looking down at her, Archer's ears turned just a bit red at the tips. He found the feeling of Hakuno sucking on his finger to be oddly pleasant, to his own embarrassment. But he patiently let her continue, desperately trying to bury down certain... stirrings that had arisen. Once he felt he was satisfied with the amount of prana that his Master had received, he gently took his finger away from her. To his satisfaction, as soon as he took away the finger, he found it was already beginning to heal. Still, he projected a piece of cloth to serve as a bandage and tied it around the bleeding finger.
"While I still don't like taking you straight into the lion's den, that should hopefully make this a bit more manageable. So then... do you have any preference on who we go after?"
Hakuno thought about it for a bit, but quickly came to a decision. "I think we should help Forest. If we can keep the main bad guy away from Rider, that'll give her more time to rescue Kiyoshi and anyone else in the hotel she's able to save."
Archer sighed again. "You had to choose the more dangerous option, didn't you? But your logic is valid. Just stay close to me. I'll probably be attacking at a distance, but I want to be able to get you to safety as quickly as possible should things turn sour."
Hakuno nodded. "Shall we go then?"
Archer nodded himself and scooped Hakuno into his arms. As fast as he could go, he tore off after Forest.
***
It seemed that it was already too late by the time Archer and Hakuno arrived at Forest's location. The heavily armored creature was in the air, already getting away. Forest was looking up at the thing, not seeming too happy about the situation. Even so, she seemed to be unharmed, which was good. Archer rushed to her side. He placed Hakuno down on the ground beside him.
Hakuno turned to look up at the flying armor. It was pretty far up already, but possibly...
"Archer, do you think you could hit him?"
Archer frowned. "Aren't you being a bit unreasonable? Even for me, that's quite the distance, and for all we know, it could actually make things worse. Plus the additional collateral damage it's going to cause..."
Hakuno gestured at the wreckage strewn around her. "But if we let him get away, he could do even worse damage. Please, we have to stop him!" Hakuno looked into her Servant's eyes, her own features pleading, like a mewling kitten begging for attention.
Archer sighed, exasperated. But in the end, he couldn't resist that face. "Fine, I'll do it, even if it's against my better judgement. I hope you know what you're doing..."
Archer's projected his bow and the sword Caladbolg, which he quickly changed into it's arrow form. The armor seemed pretty tough, even from this distance, so even Caladbolg wouldn't be likely to kill whoever was inside, but it could shoot the armor down and maybe even cause quite a bit of damage to it.
Quickly, he notched the sword arrow to his bow, quickly sighting his target and taking into account everything from distance to the wind conditions. It was going to be a tricky shot, but he'd been doing this for awhile now. Still, he didn't like this. The chances of collateral damage, the chance it could actually make this thing stronger... there was just so much that could go wrong.
"Caladbolg!" With that, the deadly missile flew with blinding speed towards its target, the last desperate hope of keep the blackened knight from escaping flying with it.
-
This night just couldn't end could it?
Though he had been heading for the site of the explosion, it would have been impossible for him to not hear the explosions and screaming in the distance, nor the squawked reports from the police radio he had acquired earlier in an attempt to stay on top of certain situations.
Once again perched in a nearby building, Shirou observed a black armoured figure struggling with a blond woman quickly identified as Forest; before the man started leaping away. He also did not miss the bright light arcing towards the airborne figure, undoubtedly Archer firing Caladbolg in an attempt to help. However, the figure was too fast, and was outpacing the speeding projectile. At this rate, he would escape.
"Like hell," he whispered through gritted teeth, as he placed the long sniper rifle down once more. Stretching his left hand out, he focused on projecting his bow, the flashing outline indicating success. In his right, he Traced Hrunting, the sword coming out much much more easily than the bow, despite being a Noble Phantasm. Having a Reality Marble sure did have its perks.
Shirou shifted the sword's shape into an arrow, before aiming at the figure, his mind emptying as he detached his sense of self from his weapon, as a true kyuudo practitioner did. He had always been great at it, and thus had excelled at archery, only ever missing once.
He would need that accuracy now. He wouldn't let that figure escape.
A corona of energy surrounded Shirou as he charged the weapon with his prana. He fired.
Hrunting soared true towards the armored man. Though it wouldn't deal as much damage as Caladbolg, Hrunting would chase its target to the ends of the Earth if it had to, and would delay long enough for Archer's Caladbolg to hit, or at least bring him back down to Earth where Forest could engage.
Shirou traced out Caladbolg just in case, and waited
-
As she ran towards the hotel at top speed, Rider saw a black-clad figure flying out of one of the windows. Immediately, she felt a sinking feeling.
That's our room!
"KIYOSHI!" she screamed, before leaping up towards the rapidly-approaching window, entering through the hole that the figure had left and landing safely on the carpetted floor of their room..
Oh no.
Rider looked around the room, horrified. It was a complete mess, shards of destroyed furniture everywhere. And, Kiyoshi was nowhere to be found.
Worst of all, she could sense a very familiar curse lingering. Rider knew the curse well. Her master had once been controlled by it, and even to this day her magic was somewhat tainted by the same curse.
Angra Mainyu.
Satoshi had said something about him showing up, and it seemed like he had been right.
Angra Mainyu was here.
Angra Mainyu was here, and Kiyoshi is missing.
Rider feared the worst. She knew how dangerous Angra Mainyu could be, and she doubted Kiyoshi would have had much warning. He had probably died, just like all the people that the Shadow had eaten.
Kiyoshi is dead, and it's all my fault.
Tears started to come to Rider's eyes for a moment. But, then, she shook them off resolutely.
No. There's no body, no sign that he's dead. And, the black knight flying out of the window wasn't him.
He must have escaped, she thought, mostly in an attempt to reassure herself.
Still, even if him escaping was wishful thinking, she couldn't afford to let herself become despondant. Not whilst he might still need her.
Rider thought for a moment.
Hmm, where would he have gone?
Rider considered the options. Aside from leaving the hotel entirely, which she would have seen, the most likely places for him to go were the lobby and the owner's room, both of which were on the ground floor. Launching into another run, Rider left the room heading for the stairs, shouting as she went.
"Kiyoshi? Kiyoshi? Where are you?"
Kiyoshi realised now that he should have already known the enemy they were facing. He had felt the oppressive curse that Angra Mainyu produced wash over him only a matter of seconds ago.
But, instead of being disturbed, he actually found it somewhat reassuring. After all, it was a curse that was a fundamental part of his mother and, in particular, her magic. Whilst she had made great efforts to remove her dependance on Angra Mainyu, particularly with regards to her shadow dimension, even now there was a faint sense of Angra Mainyu's presence surrounding you when you were inside, and most of her magical spells also carried that same presence.
Due to the time he'd spent around his mother and her magic, he had grown accustomed to ignoring such low-level curses. To him, they usually implied not malicious intent but, rather, the unconditional love of a mother who would do anything to protect him. As a result, he hadn't consciously picked up on what it meant in this scenario, instead just feeling a vague sense of well-being that was very much at odds with the true nature and intent of the curse.
Now that he realised, though, he was extremely worried. He knew all-too-well the dangers that Angra Mainyu posed. If it could turn even his own mother into a monster, as it apparently had, then it could corrupt anyone. Further, without an obvious host, he wasn't sure if it would be possible to kill it.
He turned to Taiga and spoke.
"Hmm, yeah, I felt it's presence just now. But, my mother's magic is connected to Angra Mainyu, so I'm used to it. Indeed, if anything I found it a little comforting.
Angra Mainyu is very dangerous. He can even corrupt my mother. We need to get away as soon as possible. Even Rider isn't safe against the corruption."
Then, suddenly, he heard a faint shout from a few floors above.
"Kiyoshi? Kiyoshi? Where are you?"
Rider?
-
Taiga looked at Kiyoshi and replied " she's clearly worried about you, go tell her you're ok" she stated quietly.
Satoshi smiled as the weapons struck his iron prison, the suit was after all actually meant to lock him up so those two heroes just sped up the black knight's plans immeasurably. He noted that he'd kill archer if he tried it again and tear out Shirou's magic circuits if they attacked again.
he was the prince of knights and king of heroes and unbalanced as he was he demanded the respect that came with those titles. Rising from the wreckage Satoshi slowly walked out of the crater which was soaked in grail mud and projected a biohazard barrier as his wounds closed. The pain was dull, barely noteworthy if not for the fact that he was shirtless and his looks combined with the massive dragon tattoo on his back was drawing a lot of attention from people especially women who probably thought he was a bad boy. He was but not in the way they thought, Satoshi smiled doing the best impersonation of himself he could manage "sorry about this ladies, I'll send some guys to clean it up, promise" he remarked jogging off to get lost into the city before those lunatics attacked him again.
-
Mille was a bit surprised at the friendly reception Lancer gave her as he bowed his head to her. "I'm sure Fore can find a place for you. You just have to earn your keep. She doesn't like freeloaders." He waggled his finger at her as he said it, a smile on his face, those crimson eyes dancing like the eager sparks jumping from embers given fresh wood to burn.
Mille couldn't help but smile a bit herself. Maybe this would be what her brother would be like if he weren't so irritating. But before Mille could respond, she was intercepted by the other man's smooth baritone.
"Yet she keeps you." The sound of his voice caused Mille to turn back to look at him. His arms were folded across his chest, much like Mille's had been moments before.
"Hey, I earn my keep. I help protect this city from all sorts of nasty beasts."
"So you project your bloodlust in a positive manner for once." The man said this with a smirk, which made him seem a bit smug in Mille's eyes. He then turned to look at her.
Those eyes of hardened steel... something about them and the strange red lines that creeped along his flesh made chills run down Mille's spine, and not in a good way. As handsome as he was, it was something she found she couldn't get herself past. "Are you sure she can keep up with you, Rin?" the man asked. And with that question, Mille decided that she wasn't exactly inclined to like this man one bit. Everything about that question rubbed her the wrong way, from the way it was said to the content of the question itself.
"From what I read from her file, she has a decent number of high quality magic circuits, and she's shown a bit of promise," Rin replied. "So I think she could do it. She'll probably need some additional training and some help from me, but I think she'll do fine."
Mille frowned a bit at that. "I may not be you, Tohsaka, but I can hold my own just fine. I can keep up with you even without your help, trust me." Despite the harshness of Mille's response, she wasn't as angry as she thought she'd be. Tohsaka had stuck up for her a bit in light of the man's comment, which surprised her. The last bit still rubbed her the wrong way, but... was it possible she was misjudging Tohsaka somewhat? No, it couldn't be. But only time would tell.
Jeez, what did I do to you to make you have such a grudge against me? Rin thought to herself. Rin had hardly even seen this girl on the Clock Tower's campus, let alone talked to her enough for the girl to regard her with such ire. They hadn't even spoken to each other before tonight. Maybe jealousy? No, this seemed to be a bit too deep even for that. Why did Milletia feel this way towards her?
"Archer is a giant cunt and you should ignore every word that falls from his fucking mouth," Lancer said, catching Mille's attention once more and interrupting Rin's thoughts.
Mille turned back to Lancer, her expression softening. "It's alright. It just means I have to show him that he's wrong." She gave the Irishman a small smile. "As for the whole earning your keep thing, I'm fine with that. I don't think I'd be comfortable just freeloading here anyway. Besides, if it helps me become a better fighter and magus, then I even consider it a perk."
Mille didn't betray it on her face, but she had come to a realization. Archer, Lancer- that, combined with the large amount of prana she could feel from them both... They must be Servants. You'd think that'd mean there's a Holy Grail War happening here, but it doesn't seem like it for sure. So why are there Servants here? Mille pushed the question to the back of her mind for now, figuring she'd figure out the answers soon enough. For now, there was the matter of getting a room set up to attend to.
***
Finn quietly watched the group from a distance, glad that he hadn't been spotted yet from his own hiding place. The car he had left behind once he was confident that this was the mystery girl's destination, not feeling comfortable driving the stolen car for much longer.
While he missed most of what had occurred previously, based on her behavior and appearance, the mystery girl really did seem to be his little sister. Well, there was still a chance that wasn't the case- after all, fate could be a cruel mistress. But things seemed pretty optimistic on that front, and Finn liked looking at the bright side of things, so he dismissed his doubts.
The young mercenary was a bit hesitant to approach the crowd just yet, however. Even with Mille there to confirm his identity, with the rifle across his shoulder, he could still come across as a threat. If they spotted him before he came over himself though, he could be seen as even more of a threat. He could just leave the rifle there temporarily and come back for it, but he didn't want to risk someone else getting their hands on it.
For now, he just quietly observed what he could from where he was, trying to figure out the best way to approach the situation.
-
Kiyoshi could hear the distress and fear in Rider's voice as she searched desperately for him, hoping for a miracle, that he had somehow escaped. Every instinct in him said to run to her, to find and comfort his Aunt and protector, but he also knew that staying put was probably the best option. If he went after her, there was a chance he could miss her.
So, he stayed put, until he heard Taiga speak up beside him.
"she's clearly worried about you, go tell her you're ok"
Then, he thought of something.
If she comes down here, Taiga can tell her where I've gone.
He turned to the girl and spoke.
"Taiga, if Rider comes looking for me, could you please tell her I've gone looking for her? I don't want her to miss me."
Free of the worry that going looking for her might make things worse, Kiyoshi started to move towards the stairs. But, then, he thought of something.
Wait, if she came in through the room and doesn't know I'm here, then what happened to Satoshi?
He abruptly stopped, and looked sadly back at the wheelchair-bound girl.
Oh.
Kiyoshi waited for a moment, looking at the girl, thinking how best to comfort her. But, he couldn't think of anything to say.
Then, he heard Rider shout again.
"Kiyoshi!"
With that, he finally set off, running as fast as he could. He briefly considered taking the lift, but he knew that Rider would almost certainly take the stairs due to her speed, and he decided it was best to do so as well, to maximise the chance of them meeting in the middle if she was heading in his direction. So, instead, he headed at top speed towards the stairwell.
-
Taiga nodded watching Kiyoshi leave. 'big brother is alive but what am I supposed to do now? If Kiyoshi is any indication of the way people from his world are then I can't trust them to help big brother.' she thought her face twisting in concentration on the problem.
Saber wiped the blood from her sword, the werewolves were still alive but badly injured. Despite her vow she would not allow others to harm her. Alter laughed as she strolled out of the alley way.
-
"Name's Vanessa. What's yours?"
"My name is Sephiroth, miss Vanessa," Sephiroth replied. As he replied, he noted that she was looking around for something - no, someone, to be precise - for a few seconds. After finding what she was looking for, Sephiroth guessed that she was happy to know where the person was--
"I'll help you capture this guy." She closed her eyes, focusing her mind on the task.
"I'm sorry, how are you supposed to-" Sephiroth started to ask, only for the following words to catch him off guard.
"Two faced being of the paradox hear my plead. From shades raises the refined light born from deep within. From radiances crawls the unholy thread of corruption."
'I hope she knows what sort of spell she's casting.' Sephiroth was honestly confused by the whole thing, but it seemed like she knew what the intent of her spell was, to be fair.
"One verse for the sacred. One verse for the cursed. Five oaths under the dark sky. Come forth, five pillars of light, πεντάγραμμον φωτεινός!!"
Sephiroth almost didn't blink in time to block the bright flash of light from permanently damaging his eyesight, which, thanks to the Jenova cells in his body, was super enhanced anyway, so he still had eye damage from it... just temporary eye damage.
Fortunately, it was a quick flash, not a drawn out one. When Sephiroth opened his eyes again, he saw a pulsating barrier on the ground around Gatou, showing that he was stuck inside it.
"Be ready to strike when I create the opening."
The teenager made a gesture, as if manipulating a whip of some sort. Tremors started as the spell reached its final step. Five pillars of light raised to the sky before encircling the target. Magical energy shook the ground stronger as the columns of prana converged at the center of the formation and exploded with intensity in a demonstration of raw power. The after effect was a vertical beam of light piercing the clouds above their head. Vanessa pointed towards the middle of the artificial light.
"What are you waiting for, I can't maintain him inside forever!!
Sephiroth could only nod dumbly, before he steeled his resolve to fight Nonji to the death in that barrier. As soon as he reached the inside of the barrier, he felt that he was uninhibited from seeing in the bright light, while Gatou was stuck with his eyes closed. As Sephiroth quickly drew his sword to behead Nonji--
*CLANG!!*
--the Zack Fair lookalike drew his Buster Sword knockoff and blocked the blade like it was nothing. Sephiroth struggled with all of his might, but it seemed impossible, until he realized that Gatou Nonji couldn't do much else but block while he was in here. He knew a Katana's weakness (and his sword is a Katana, just a Masamune type), which was why he needed to attack with a different option available... but what?
Suddenly, he had an idea pop into his head. With that, Sephiroth swiftly kicked Gatou in the nads, causing the man to drop his sword and double over, allowing Sephiroth to behead him.
Sephiroth checked his watch for how long that final confrontation lasted. He saw it lasted for almost a minute of him struggling against an almost superior opponent... and in victory to boot.
Walking out of the barrier, he said to Vanessa, "I'm done with him now."
-
Archer leaned close to Rin and whispered, "Seems like someone is jealous." Then he rose back to his full height and regarded the redhead.
"That accent, I'd wager you're an American, aren't you?" Archer asked, lightly smirking as he folded his arms across his brawny chest.
Lancer snorted, "Again, don't listen to him lass." Then the Celt grew serious before sniffing the air. Archer lowered his arms as well, looking towards where Lancer was sniffing.
He saw the young man watching them and smirked, lifting his left hand in a salute. "Seems like we've got a voyeur," the corrupted Servant said.
"He's armed," Lancer said, a wolfish grin crossing his face.
Archer said, "I doubt he'll be much challenge to the great Hound of Ulster." He met the Celt's gaze and asked, "Want to invite him over?"
Lancer shrugged and called out, "Oy, if you're going to gawk at us, at least have the stones to do it in our faces."
******
Forest winched as the armor went literally, boom. She looked at Archer then saw Shirou who made the other shot. Her mind boggled at the power they both wielded.
Satoshi emerged from the armor mostly unharmed, if slightly unclothed, and his "shell" oozing a dark mud that made her head spin when she smelled it. Then he began to run off into the crowd. She sighed, looked at the two men and said two words, "Damage control."
Then she ran off to go after the blond to see if she could help him.
-
Satoshi chuckled as Forest ran towards him. "honestly you are ever stupid, little bit of trivia, the iron suit was a prison designed to stop me, and thanks to twats one and two I'm free. Free tip if you're thinking about standing in my way don't, I won't be nice this time" he remarked slowing once he got a couple blocks from the crater bit still walking.
-
"I'm rather use to people not being nice," Forest said, falling into step beside the teenage boy. "Look, I didn't shoot you out of the sky, I was just trying to stop you from wrecking all sorts of hell. And maybe get to someone who could help break that curse and get rid of your new Not-Quite-Goth Make Over."
-
Satoshi chuckled "the curse isn't a temporary tattoo, given that group none of you have a chance in removing it, hell I doubt anyone except Tsukasa could get rid of it. As for me wrecking hell or wreaking havoc it wouldn't have done nearly as much damage as you three managed. I hate being around children who play hero, you all think you know better than everyone else. Think of it like this,I haven't done a dam thing to any of you and frankly I never asked for help, maybe I know what I'm doing and won't murder people unlike Rider, Archer and that version of Shirou that's hanging around, maybe you should piss off and keep those selfish twats from hurting people" he was mad, partly due to the curse but also some real anger over the attack.
-
Forest blinked then glared and snapped, "I've been trying to keep these people from trashing my city all bloody night! I didn't blow you out of the sky, unless you're too daft or infected with Angry Manatoe or whatever that curse is called, I was trying to bring you down without harming you!"
She pointed to her .44 and said, "If I wanted to be more upfront, trust me, I have the sodding means to do so!"
-
Satoshi smiled " Who the fuck do you think you are? Batman? Wonder woman? Angel maybe? I'm here, I'm not leaving any time soon, stop me, go ahead, free shot, between the eyes. If not then piss off or I will start wrecking your city," he snapped unleashing his full power
"I am the dragon, I will not have children dictate to me what is and is not acceptable. Two thousand years I have stood on this earth if you think you can end it then be my guest. But do not ask for mercy if you fail." he roared as his spiritual pressure reached it's maximum.
-
"Yes, if I had a scouter, it probably would be reading that your Power Level is way over 9000," Forest replied, having to shout over the surge of power, "And I didn't want to kill you, you wanker."
More than a little bit tired and angry, she decided to take use of her "free shot", but instead of shooting him, she rushed forward to plunge her fangs into his throat, hoping that maybe she could put him asleep.
-
Satoshi twitched as she bit him then proceeded without hesitation to engulf his body in flames tearing away from her grip smiled. "there's a saying, for my father it's more metaphorical, steel is my body, fire is my blood" he rasped as fire erupted from the hole in his neck, "I'd vomit of I were you, because I'm going to light the blood you just drank on fire" he remarked as his wound closed.
-
Forest instinctively pulled away at the first rush of searing heat.
His words were distant in her ears, and her head was spinning. Her stomach churned and rebelled at the few swill mouthfuls she got before he decided to become Johnny Storm. His blood was rancid, very wrong, probably a result of the curse.
And without even noticing his advisement, she lurched forward and ejected the blackish blood she just ingested.
-
Satoshi blinked "ok, that's new, my blood shouldn't do that, I burned my body out and was still bleeding red last time" he remarked deciding that that was as good a point as any to leave. He began walking away "you tell that kid that he's responsible for my sister, anything happens to her and I'll beat him so hard his momma will bruse." he told Forest strolling away.
-
The battle had ended faster than expected. They had won in the blink of an eye. Though, Vanessa didn't expect her new met companion to go all guillotine style on the guy. The elder twin watched the long katana wielder walking out of the barrier. Not even a frown. Sephiroth had just killed a man in cold blood without hesitation.
"I'm done with him now."
Oh sure you are.
She threw him a bewildered glance.
"Why the heck did you kill him?" She felt a faint pain surging from the back of her head but ignored it. "We should have captured him. There was no need to end his life, you didn't ha-..." The barrier dissipated an instant later but she felt as if she was running marathon. Strange, Vanessa still had enough prana to stand.
"What is goi-..."
She stopped, sensations assaulting her. A dull pain stroke her with the strength of a truck and she choked a scream as she knelt on the ground holding her stomach. Irrational fear surrounded her and she blinked in succession trying to get a focus on her own mind. Realizing the reason she attempted to get up but fell face first, her forefront hitting the ground with enough strength to blur her vision. Unable to move anymore, she shared silently what her sister was enduring. Shaking like a ragdoll, she received in succession a three lacerations to the face that split her skin like craters, blood spurring around. Of course, there was no blood for her. Only for Isabella. Hit in the stomach once more, a dislocated shoulder, heavy weights on her limbs, clawed fingers compressed her trachea. She thrashed around trying to get free from her invisible opponents, but it was in vain. She cried like a child facing a monster in the deep of night but nobody came to her rescue. She received many wounds, to the point she could barely even think. Yet the torture barely even started. She screamed like a mad person all the while shaking on the ground like a dying fish. Within twenty seconds, Vanessa passed out from the mental trauma which followed, leaving Sephiroth to deal with the situation by himself.
----
"He's not hostile." Said Ruu with a pointing finger aimed at Mille. "He smells like her and wants to talk to Birdie."
-
"Seems like someone is jealous." Archer's whisper in Rin's ear made her shudder a bit in delight, but his actual words left her with conflicting feelings. Like with what he had said earlier, hearing her former Servant praise her abilities like this felt... rather good. Almost intoxicatingly good, as a matter of fact. On the other hand, she did feel a bit bad for the girl. It wasn't enough to stop the somewhat smug pride that welled up inside her, but it did stymie it somewhat. Nonetheless, Rin decided the best course of action was to keep her mouth shut. The Garrison girl had enough of a grudge against her as it was.
However, it seemed Archer wasn't done with the girl just yet. "That accent, I'd wager you're an American, aren't you?" He said this with a bit of a smirk, his arms folded across his chest once more.
The question itself was harmless enough, but Archer's tone suggested otherwise. Mille frowned a bit at that and nodded. "Yeah, I am. What's it to you?"
Lancer cut in again with a snort. "Again, don't listen to him lass."
But then feeling in the air shifted. Lancer sniffed the air, prompting Archer to lower his arms and look in that direction. Rin saw what the two were looking at, and noticed the rifle. Quietly, she began to focus prana into her finger, preparing to fire a Gandr if need be.
"He's armed," Lancer said, a wolfish grin crossing his face.
Archer said, "I doubt he'll be much challenge to the great Hound of Ulster." He met the Celt's gaze and asked, "Want to invite him over?"
Lancer shrugged and called out, "Oy, if you're going to gawk at us, at least have the stones to do it in our faces."
Finn didn't mind a bit of excitement, but he couldn't help but admit that these weren't quite the circumstances he was looking for. The two men seemed more than happy to rip him to shreds, and seemed more than capable of doing so, and the Japanese girl close by, who he recognised to be Rin Tohsaka, seemed to be going on the offense as well. The girl that he thought was Mille hadn't cleared him yet either- so far she was just looking at him, her expression managing both to be confused and grumpy as she regarded him. The only one of the group that he couldn't tell the intentions of yet was-
"He's not hostile." And with that, Finn's question was answered. So at least one of them could tell he meant no harm, rifle or no rifle. With his finger pointing at the teenaged redhead, the little familiar continued. "He smells like her and wants to talk to Birdie."
The air seemed to grow thick and heavy as an equally heavy silence followed the familiar's words. The two girls in particular seemed dumbfounded.
Wait, smells like her? thought Rin. Then, that has to mean-
Oh no. Oh great. I thought that idiot looked all too familiar! Mille begrudgingly spoke up. "Yeah, from what I can tell, the familiar's right." She glared at the young man. "That moron's my brother. You don't have to worry about him attacking us, not even he's that stupid."
Rin looked over at Mille in amazement. Is she like this to just about everyone?! If this really is her brother, I think I have more than a few questions I want to ask him later.
Finn, breathing a sigh of relief, gave an oddly cheerful wave for just being insulted and threatened with his life. "Hey there. Sorry about not coming over and saying 'hello' good and proper, but with this baby over my shoulder, I didn't know how friendly the reception would be. Either way though, it's my bad. Let's do this the proper way then."
With that, Finn walked closer to the group, taking care to appear as nonthreatening as possible. Once he was close enough, he carefully placed his rifle on the ground, hoping it'd make his intentions clear. With that, he straightened himself back up and gave the group a genuine smile. "Name's Finn Garrison. Like the little guy here said, I'm just here to see Mille."
He rubbed the back of his neck a bit. "Well, assuming this is Mille for sure. I saw this girl flying in the sky and thought it looked just like her, so I came here to see for myself. It's been a fair few years since my family and I've seen her, so I got curious."
Mille's frown deepened. "Yeah, it's me. Don't know what the hell you're doing here or how you got here, but well, here I am. So what do you want with me?"
Finn blinked. "I wanted to make sure you were OK," the young man said. "We haven't seen ya for seven years. Mom and Dad were a bit worried about ya. So I just wanted to see how you were doing."
"I mailed them letters saying I was ok. That should be the end of that. And I'm doing fine on my own. I don't need you patronizing me about going to the Clock Tower. I can handle myself, I don't need my big brother trying to baby me."
Rin, a bit flabbergasted, decided that now was perhaps the time to speak up. "Um, sorry to interrupt, but are you maybe looking for a room too? That seems to be happening a lot tonight."
Finn, finding himself oddly grateful for the interruption but still not satisfied, turned to Rin. "Miss Rin Tohsaka, right? I'm not with the Association, but I've heard a thing or two about you. Hear you're pretty good at what you do. Could probably give my sister a run for her money, talented as she is." With that, he gave said little sister a wink. That only served to make her glower at him, almost seeming as if she were trying to make him catch on fire just by glaring at him long enough. Finn winced a bit, affable as he was- he wasn't aiming to insult his sister, and yet he seemed to have pressed a button of some sort. She'd always been a bit of a pistol, but something seemed off...
Clearing his throat a bit, Finn continued. "So ah... well, I hadn't given it much thought until now, just arriving here and all, but yeah, I wouldn't mind a place to stay." He blushed a little bit. "And well, a safe place to store my rifle too. Whatever made me cross over left me without my rifle case, which is why I'm carrying it over my shoulder. I was in the middle of a job when I came here. I normally try to help take care of various creepy crawlies for a living. Things were business as usual when somehow, next thing I knew, I ended up here." He gave Rin a charming smile. "So yeah, if you know a place I could hit the sack and get my gun up and out of the way so that the wrong hands don't mess with it, I'd appreciate it."
"Yes, I'm sure there's a place for you to stay. Far away from here." Mille was still glaring at her brother. "I'm sure the Landlady's kindness only goes so far, especially towards someone carrying a loaded gun, even if said someone is a harmless idiot like you."
Rin decided she'd had enough. She addressed the young man with a polite smile. "Actually, as long as you're able to earn your keep, I'm sure you could get a room here. This place just so happens to be a large apartment complex. You'll still have to speak to the Landlady in person of course, but I'm sure you'll be able to work something out with her."
Ignoring his little sister's searing glare, Finn's expression brightened further. "Sounds good to me! So then, who's do I talk to about this stuff until the Landlady herself shows up?"
-
The black limousine parked only few meters away from Archer and Hakuno. Tinted glass ever so hiding who were the passengers and driver alike.
Valken looked peacefully the couple with a faint smile, his right hand holding an half empty shot of margarita. Despite the shining expression on his face, he was boiling inside. Touzaki Shuya always seemed an unstable electron, but now the bastard took away the merchandise he was supposed to bring to the customer. By doing so, the hybrid equally spit at his very face but also thrown disgrace upon his name. And of course, the client wouldn't just accept it with a smile. He will have to compensate for it, with gold or blood.
He sighed longly and pondered for a bit. As powerful as the half demon could be, he probably knew what betraying Valken entailed. His life would be in danger, and the jackass didn't have people to rely upon. The ransom for being a killer, obviously. Well, besides them.
So far, Shuya killed anything and anybody he came across. The only people who made it alive were the group he met earlier this night. Which meant they were powerful. Logic claimed he would come in contact with them sooner or later. And that was the very advantage Valken had over the mercenary.
Chuckling for himself, he anticipated the moment Shuya would be cornered. What kind of face would he have? Surely, it would be delighting. With a simple finger snap, eight men who kept silent so far, got out of the vehicle. They were well trained bodyguards. Each of them selected among the strongest vampires in town. Nothing on par with an Apostle Ancestor, sure, but still pretty efficient on their own. There weren't from his own realm though. Different beings called vampires but with different attributes and abilities. The ninth waited a moment as the car emptied, still sitting by his side. A woman, the only one among her comrades, wearing, like them, a simple, light grey three pieces outfit. She adjusted her white neck tie, and smiled at him. Icy blue orbs met his own and he couldn't help but appreciate her elegant face surrounded by curly brown hair.
Valken sit back comfortably.
"Go for Emiya Shirou and condition him. I want him ready to bring ruin upon the bastard as soon as he shows his face."
The vampired waited a moment.
"Wouldn't it be more efficient to manipulate Law Unto Herself? If we talk to her then maybe..."
Valken let a second pass before answering.
"You speak like you know her..."
The woman shrugged in a bored manner, but her eyes said enough for him to understand the bitterness behind it.
"You could say she destroyed my clan because her superiors felt like it. Don't expect her to remember though."
So, she had a grudge after the blonde vampire. The man shook his head. Really, these intrigues weren't for him. Still, he would have to do something about the woman. Her actions didn't bother him so far but she had assembled quite a strong bunch of people around her in a single night. Disposing of the blond vampire could be done anytime, right now, he had a revenge to take on Touzaki Shuya.
"Don't bother with her". He ordered ever so calmly. "Go after the Magus Killer and make sure he believes you."
He caught his proof and threw the cylindrical object to the girl. Given how it was reeking of damp blood, the tissue didn't really hide what was inside.
"Our spy told me the goods lost an arm, it's your best way to convince the guy."
"Take it it isn't hers?"
"It doesn't matter. What we need is the that justicar zealot to believe it."
"Fair enough."
The woman jumped out and left in a rush. Without intent to hide nor attack, she went straight to Emiya Shirou, trying her best to keep a neutral expression. Valken nodded at her as she dissapeared from his eyesight.
Now to take care of this, is own way. He thought all the while adjusting his own black tuxedo. A glance at his reflection, showed an average face without distinct traits. A beard of two days grayed his most of his lower jaw and about the same length of hair on his skull. Dark grey eyes shone and he lowered the window glass, addressing on a neutral, yet somewhat friendly tone to Kishinami Hakuno.
"Excuse-me, miss. Would you mind if we exchange few words?" In spite of the casual invitation and the calm attitude he took, the vampires surrounded the couple without a word. No doubt the Servant would be a problem, but Valken doubted he would put his Master in danger. One of the vampires, a brute with dark skin and a shaved skull, invited with a hand gesture the girl, and only the girl, to take a sit inside as he opened the closest door. Stern gaze fell on her and she could probably realize that no, was just not an option.
"I won't hold you for long" Added Valken with a polite grin. "I promise."
Let's implant the seed of doubt in them. Then he wouldn't even have to lift a finger to get rid of the despicable jerk who thought it would be interesting to double cross him. Fun was just starting.
-
Rider ran down the stairs as quickly as she could, fighting back tears of worry and despair, the sense of panic overwhelming in her mind.
Kiyo, please be OK....
Whilst he could be a little brat sometimes, Rider did genuinely care for Kiyoshi, and not only as a proxy for his mother. The kid was, after all, part of her family. She had shared in most of the happy moments of his life, and the sad ones. She'd looked after him when Sakura was busy, and even sometimes when she wasn't. She'd kissed him goodnight before he went to bed. She'd smiled with him when he laughed, and comforted him when he was upset. She loved the boy almost as much as she would her own children, and he returned that love. The idea of him suffering a horrible death at the hands of Angra Mainyu was not something she wanted to contemplate.
And, he trusted me. He trusted me to protect him, and I failed.
Rider's feelings of regret and despair came bubbling to the surface. But, she quickly repressed them, her worry over Kiyoshi's well-being taking precidence.
Please be OK. Please be OK. Please be OK, she thought, panicing.
Fighting back the feelings of despair and anger at herself, Rider focussed on her search. Having reached the first floor, she called out at the top of her voice.
"Kiyoshi!" she said, the worry in her voice evident.
Then, she continued to run down the stairs, towards the ground floor. As she turned the corner, she noticed Kiyoshi running up the stairs in the opposite direction. Instantly, the panic and despair she felt vanished, replaced by pure happiness and relief.
"Kiyoshi!" she shouted, the relief evident on her face and in her voice.
She ran towards him and, without stopping, scooped him up into a big hug, a sense of joy and relief taking command of her actions. She continued towards the bottom of the stairs, and stopped there.
"You're alive! Thank the fates! Are you hurt?" she said, before kissing him and hugging him tightly, tears of happiness coming into her eyes as she did so.
Kiyoshi was slightly winded by her fast pick-up and somewhat crushing hug, and slightly embarrassed by the strong display of affection she was showing. But, nevertheless, he was happy to see her, and given how worried she had been he didn't really mind. He returned the hug, placing his arms around her neck, knowing that, whilst he was heavy, Rider could carry even a fully-grown man in this way and not feel uncomfortable.
"I'm fine, Aunty Rider", he said, enthusiastically. "A man called 'Satoshi' fought Angra Mainyu whilst I escaped with his sister Taiga".
As he started to talk about Satoshi and Taiga, a sense of sadness crept into his voice.
Poor girl. I hope her brother is OK.
"Erm, Aunty Rider, did you see anyone else in the room?" he said, hopefully.
"No, it was empty", she said, sadness in her voice as she crushed Kiyoshi's hope. "But, I did see someone getting thrown out the window before I got in, and he got up. So he's still alive, at least, even if a bit changed.", she added, on a somewhat more optimistic note.
Ah..., Kiyoshi thought, sadly, well aware what "changed" meant in this context. Well, at least he's still alive. That's something, anyway.
He looked at the girl standing alone in the lobby.
I have to save him, for her, he thought. I'll prove to her I am a hero.
"Aunty Rider, we have to help bring him back, for his sister. She's all alone here. And, until we can, we need to look after her, and keep her safe", he said, determined to protect the defenceless young child.
Rider, however, was much less enthusiastic. Satoshi had been bad enough when he was normal, although sacrificing himself to protect Kiyoshi and his sister did at least prove that he had somewhat good intentions. If even her beloved master could be turned evil by the thing, she dreaded to think what Satoshi would be like. Protecting the child she could go with, particularly since she was presumably Shirou's daughter, but seeking out Satoshi in order to help him wasn't something she was at all keen on, particularly when Kiyoshi was around. She wasn't going to risk leaving him alone again.
Placing Kiyoshi back on the floor, she answered his question.
"I don't know, Kiyoshi. The corruption of Angra Mainyu turned even your mother evil, and it also made her very powerful. We can protect the girl, but I don't want to go after Satoshi. It's too dangerous", Rider said.
Kiyoshi frowned slightly, and then looked in the direction of the girl. She looked sad.
I have to help her.
"Aunty Rider, she's lost her big brother and she's all alone. We can't just abandon her like that, she needs our help", he said.
Rider sighed. She knew that Kiyoshi was prone to taking matters into his own hands if he didn't like their response, and that was not something she could allow. Whilst Satoshi had previously claimed he would not kill people, she didn't expect that to carry over to his darkened form. Plus, he had also quite explicitly threatened Archer with death, so evidentially his no-kill policy wasn't a particularly strict one even when not corrupted.
"Look, I said we'd protect her. but, how would you mother feel if you got yourself hurt, or even killed?" she said, desperately searching for anything that could dissuade him from taking a rash action.
Then, she continued, voicing her biggest fear of what would happen if he attacked Satoshi.
"Even if he's a nice guy normally, the corruption will change that. And, he's much stronger than you. If you attack him, he will beat you, and he will kill you. I'm sure of it."
Kiyoshi was torn. On one hand, he didn't want to upset his mother and, for all that he could be arrogant some times, he did know he was never going to take on someone who had the abilities Satoshi had shown. But, on the other hand, the girl needed her brother and, even if he couldn't win on his own, he was sure that Rider could. After all, she was breathtakingly powerful, far above anyone else he knew. As strong as Satoshi might be, he knew that nothing bad could happen to him whilst she was around.
"I know I can't beat him alone, but... we can't abandon her, Aunty. We just can't.
She needs her brother", he said, sadly, as he looked at the girl.
Rider sighed again, the worry clear on her face. She knew Satoshi was powerful, and she knew that defeat would mean death or worse. There was no way she could allow Kiyoshi to go through something like that. But, she also knew that dissuading him would not be easy. Still, she could at least ensure he wouldn't do anything right away.
"Look, we can discuss this later. We need to get Taiga and get out of this hotel before Angra Mainyu comes back.
Just promise me you won't rush off after Satoshi without talking to me first. Getting yourself killed stupidly won't help the girl, but it will break your mother's heart. Do you really want that?" Rider said, sternly and honestly, the fear of what might happen clear in her voice.
Kiyoshi looked down at the floor sadly. He wanted to help the girl, but he couldn't bear the thought of hurting his mother like that.
"No...", he said, softly. "I don't want to hurt mummy. I promise I won't run off without you", he said. "But, I want you to promise you'll try to help Satoshi."
Rider sighed once more.
Damn it, Kiyo, why do you force me into this?
"OK, I promise. But, I'm not going to do anything suicidal, and I'm certainly not letting you do anything suicidal. Now, let's go get the girl", she said.
With that, Rider walked towards the girl, with Kiyoshi quickly following her. After a short walk, they reached her, and Kiyoshi spoke up.
"Hi again", he said, cheerfully. "Taiga, this is my Aunty Rider. Aunty Rider, this is Taiga".
"Hello, Taiga", Rider said, kindly but politely. "Nice to meet you".
-
Archer shrugged at Millie's open hostility and said, "Well considering you're studying at the Clock Tower, I imagine your nationality is making it pretty rough for you."
Then he watched the display between siblings with a smirk. Their banter was amusing none the less, and apparently Finn thought himself a bit of a hero. Which meant he was now a target in Archer's eyes. Someone to taunt and show over and over how fruitless the task of attempting to save others truly was.
Lancer laughed and said, "You think having a loaded gun's going to bother Fore? She's got an arsonal in there. My Landlady, what's the phrase . . . something about packing hot or something."
"Packing heat, she's packing heat," Archer supplied with a sigh and a shake of his head.
Lancer glared and walked over to Finn before picking up his rifle. "Since you're the lass's family, of course you're welcome. I'm the one to talk to until Forest gets back."
Then he looked over at Mille, grinned and said, "Don't blame the lad for being worried about his wee sister. It's a brother's duty to protect his kin."
Archer mentally flinched at Lancer's words before he said, "Not that you'd know anything about that, seeing you killed your son."
Crimson eyes glared at him, then surprisingly, Lancer took a deep breath. He looked at Finn with a sharp smile and said, "Now if you want to shove your boomstick up this wanker's arse, please feel free."
"I'm well defended," Archer said as he lightly patted Rin's shoulder with a grin and a wink. He looked around and then said, "It's taking your precious Landlady quite a bit of time to get home. Shouldn't you be worried that she met some unsavory elements on the way home?"
******
Forest pushed her hair out of her face as she managed to stand up. Nausea welled up in her stomach and made her head spin, but it was fading quickly. However she was feeling lightheaded and her senses were starting to dull. Whatever she had taken from Satoshi her body rejected pretty much as soon as it went down.
Considering it was some sort of corruption curse, then that made sense.
Then the limo pulled up and a whole cadre of vampires poured out. She vaguely recognized the lone female, a blue eyed brunette with curly hair. She had hailed from a group that was too careless in their feeding. Innocents had died under her fang and she took them out before the Council had even made an inquiry about it.
Forest figured the chit probably held a grudge, but it wouldn't be the first time.
Then, oddly enough, she noticed the vampires were heading towards Shirou. Scowling, she moved to help the young man. Whatever the shadowy figure in the limo wanted with Shirou couldn't be wholesome. In fact, Forest could hear Admiral Ackbar shouting, "It's a trap!" over and over.
She reached the white haired young man's side and whispered to him, "Now don't get the wrong impression or anything, but I don't think these guys are here to party. So I'm helping out in case something gets ugly." Then she grinned at him before focusing her attention on the other vampires.
-
Taiga looked to Kiyoshi and then to Rider. "I'm well aware of the spirit Medusa, I need to tell you now that fighting my brother is impossible, he's stronger than Gilgamesh, if you know who that is and he has far more skill. Merlin, my mother and Hercules were among his teachers. I say this because almost every hero think brute force works but my brother protects people, he's a defender, fighting simply won't work, I say this because our family is responsible for helping people and if you fight him you'll lose." Taiga's voice was even but pleading for Rider to actually pay attention.
Satoshi grinned, he had found it. It was worn out,abandoned building, projecting a container he slashed open his arm allowing the darkest ooze flow from his veins. Angra was inside him he bled black because of the manifested spirit. Eventually he bled red again and he let the wound close.
" I suppose you'd prefer to be inside me" Angra said manifesting in front of him in her present state.
"Try that again and I bathe the city in holy water" Satoshi snapped.
"Ok honey, I'll leave filling holes up to you. Speak of..." the dark skinned woman trailed off and watched as Satoshi started to make solid brick out of the corruption.
-
Shirou had arrived just in time to see Satoshi walk away, almost completely nude, revealing a prominent dragon tattoo etched into his skin. His skin was darkened and lacerated in patches, almost as if he had been burnt; like during an explosion in mid-air....
So he was the armored figure. But why?
Shirou stepped forward to reprimand him, but a familiar stench of corruption invaded his nostrils. Glancing around, he noticed bits of blackened armor lying around the crater, and a pool of black blood Forest had evidently just vomited up; all if which exuded a smell he was all too familiar with. He had been saturated in that stuff once, and had watched a dear friend killed due to it.
"Angra Mainyu...but how," he muttered, eyes slightly unfocused, unintentionally ignoring the still-retching figure of Forest. Despite his calm exterior, he was freaking out internally. He had destroyed it. He had destroyed it! It couldn't be here!
His attention was diverted when a black limousine suddenly pulled up. He frowned as a group of...prana-saturated beings came out, before heading straight for him. He slowly reached inside his coat, resting a hand on the MP7 tucked in his belt. Even if it didn't hurt them, the force of the bullet should at least delay them, enough to trace out Durandal or another Noble Phantasm.
Suddenly, Forest sidled up next to him and whispered, "Now don't get the wrong impression or anything, but I don't think these guys are here to party. So I'm helping out in case something gets ugly." Then she grinned at him, before resuming her wary gaze at the incoming group. So she could feel it too, the strange and shifty feeling the group possessed. Shirou adopted a combat stance, ready to defend if the group of...vampires decided to attack.
"Anything you care to mention before the suit Brigade gets here?" he asked lightly, confident that the vampire had his back, before shifting into a combat pose, ready to attack if needed.
"Can I help you...gentlemen?" He called out, "...and lady."
-
The woman stopped few meters from Shirou and Forest, her four companions doing the same. She crossed arms in a distinguished way and waited a moment.
Whatever they had to discuss in such a hurry, she would allow it. She had to play her part nicely and being convincing. Smiling calmly as if savoring the fresh air under the night. Inevitably, she eyed Forest, a bit of emotion building up in her chest.
It had been about three hundred years since their last encounter. The oldest vampire purged her clan with zeal and efficiency. Only one survivor made it, herself. Still a newborn vampire, she couldn't hope to match her. Yet, Law Unto Herself had chosen to let her go. She gave her a chance by breaking the shackles her master would have had over her. In spite of that, she didn't felt grateful for her. Instead she started to hate her savior. As she grew up as a member of the vampire society, she became bitter and bitter. What Forest thought as an act of mercy had simply made things difficult for her. And now, after the first time since that event, they met again. She did her best to hide it by simply looking away. After all, there was an assignment to fulfill. As good as the opportunity was, it wasn't the time for that.
Dealing with Shirou alone had been the plan. Valken probably didn't want the vampire to be involved but she would have to deal with it. Asking for a solo talk with the magus would raise suspicion. Of course, she was aware of Law Unto Herself's ability in telepathy. She could read thoughts, yes. But she had herself the same trait, wouldn't be difficult to hide what she had in mind. The others didn't though, but that was the reason they didn't knew anything.
She sensed the tension in the other vampires. It was a normal reaction, after all, most of those who ended up here were remnants of ruined clans the Council deemed unnecessary. And she was one of their best agents.
After what she estimated was enough time to allow an exchange of words between Shirou and Forest, she spoke up.
"We are not here to attack you." To emphasize it, she showed the pair of Luger pistols in their chest holsters and the kukri blade hanging by her waist. The men did the same by showing where their weapons were hidding. "My name's Olga and like your comrade noticed already, we are vampires from the same... World? Dimension? Whatever. Point is, we wanted to talk with you." She waited an instant before dropping the words which she thought would convince them to at least listen to her. "It's about that adolescent magus, Isabella... Something happened to her."
Without waiting for a reaction, she tossed the mutilated arm in their direction.
-
Rider didn't particularly trust Taiga's assessment of her brother's awesomeness. After all, she was only eight, and obviously biased. Indeed, she suspected that Kiyoshi would have given a similar glowing assessment of her own capabilities.
However, despite that, what she said still gave Rider good reason to be concerned, particularly since she knew from Satoshi himself that he and, therefore, Taiga knew their world's version of her. Whilst Rider could not, of course, rule out the possibility that she was lying, the pleading manner in which she spoke implied that if that was the case, she really didn't want them to fight him, for whatever reason. Given that, Rider saw no reason to attempt it, unless Satoshi turned out to be a danger to them. After all, she couldn't honestly care less what happened to the man, especially if doing so meant putting her life or that of Kiyoshi on the line. Indeed, overall Taiga's comment was welcome, since it just might discourage Kiyoshi from acting.
Of course, though, Kiyoshi was much less pleased. He really felt for the girl. She clearly had a high opinion of her brother, for him to be corrupted in this way must really hurt. Even so, though, he knew she must be lying. Aunty Rider was far stronger than anyone else he knew, and he was no slouch himself. Even King Arthur's son would be no match for her.
"Are you sure? Aunty Rider is really awesome. I dunno who that 'Gilgamesh' guy is, but I bet he's not in the same league as Aunty Rider", he said, full of pride in his Aunt's fighting ability. "With my help, I'm sure Aunty Rider could defeat and free your brother from Angra Mainyu."
Rider sighed. Clearly Kiyoshi had not believed the girl one bit, and he was still obviously pushing to fight Satoshi and free him from Angra Mainyu's grasp as soon as possible.
She considered her next move carefully. Whilst she too was somewhat skeptical of Taiga's belief that fighting her brother was "impossible", she didn't share his optimism about her own abilities. Besides, it wasn't in her interests to point out the less reasonable parts of the girl's statement, or her obvious bias. Even the slightest indication that she felt that they might win would be taken by Kiyoshi as an indication that they should fight. And, she knew that the likely outcome of losing to a corrupted Satoshi would be rape (for her, at least), agonising torture and, eventually, a painful death. That wasn't something she particularly wanted, and it was certainly not something she could accept happening to Kiyoshi.
"Kiyoshi, she knows Satoshi better than we do, and he is the son of King Arthur. If she says we can't defeat him, then we can't. I know you want to help save her brother, but dying meaninglessly doesn't help her one bit. So you think she'd have said what she said if she thought we could help her?" Rider said, only half-truthfully.
"Kiyoshi, I'm sure we can find another way, and until we can I promise I'll look after her and try to make her feel at home", she continued.
Honestly, Rider wasn't so sure there was another way but, equally, she didn't really care. Her priority was Kiyoshi's safety, followed by her own, and then that of the poor girl in front of her. Freeing Satoshi came well down the list. She was not going to risk her life or Kiyoshi's life by gambling on the fact that the girl was so heavily hero-worshipping her brother that she missed how weak he was, particularly since her own experiences showed he was at least on a vaguely similar level to her.
Kiyoshi turned to Taiga, a sad expression on his face.
"I'm sorry I'm not strong enough to free your brother", he said. "I promise I'll try my best to find a way to help him."
Rider addressed Kiyoshi once more.
"Kiyoshi, whilst I was out I met a woman who offered to let us stay with her, and I accepted. I know we promised the hotel owner, but it'll be safer for you there, and I think that with Angra Mainyu around we're likely to draw trouble here rather than help fight it off, anyway. She's waiting outside for me to come and get you. Did you leave anything in the room?"
Then, receiving a nod from Kiyoshi that indicated that the few possessions he had brought to this world were on his person and that he didn't need to return to the room, she addressed Taiga.
"I'm sure there is room for you too. The woman I met wouldn't turn away a young girl with no-one else to care for her.
Please come with us, at least until your brother is freed. Kiyoshi will worry about you if you don't, and it's not safe in this city, especially with Angra Mainyu around."
-
"My brother wants me to look after Kiyoshi, so I don't have a choice one way or another" Taiga replied softly.
Despite her own uncomfortableness at the prospect of being with strangers Taiga wheeled towards the door this time using a flip out panel in the arm to reveal the joystick hidden there. The wheel chair's motor spurred to life and Taiga was on here way out of the lobby.
Satoshi continued building the foundation of the castle, he didn't know why he was building it but every time he thought about it he was interrupted by a low buzz in the back of his head so he just kept building.
-
Lancer laughed and said, "You think having a loaded gun's going to bother Fore? She's got an arsonal in there. My Landlady, what's the phrase . . . something about packing hot or something."
"Packing heat, she's packing heat," Archer supplied with a sigh and a shake of his head.
Lancer glared and walked over to Finn before picking up his rifle. "Since you're the lass's family, of course you're welcome. I'm the one to talk to until Forest gets back."
Finn replied with a wide smile. "Hey, thanks! I owe ya. Especially since it gives me a chance to hang out with Milly again." Finn ruffled his sister's hair as if to emphasize that point, which caused her to glare daggers at him.
Lancer then turned to "Milly" herself. "Don't blame the lad for being worried about his wee sister. It's a brother's duty to protect his kin."
Mille stopped glaring at her brother and turned to Lancer, her expression softening. "Yeah, I guess I can't blame him for wanting to make sure I'm OK I guess. I just wish he'd be less obnoxious about it."
Finn grinned. "Well hey, I wouldn't be a very good big brother if I didn't embarrass you every once in awhile."
Mille frowned again. "Too bad it's almost constant instead of "every once in awhile."
Archer, however, seemingly winced at Lancer's statement. "Not that you'd know anything about that, seeing you killed your son."
Tension flowed heavy and thick in the air as Lancer glared with ferocity at the blackened bowman that put Mille's own glaring easily to shame. Thankfully, Lancer simply took a deep breath. He turned and spoke to Finn, a dangerous smile dancing on his lips. "Now if you want to shove your boomstick up this wanker's arse, please feel free."
"I'm well defended," Archer said as he lightly patted Rin's shoulder with a grin and a wink.
Rin didn't hear a trace of sarcasm in his voice as he said this, so his claim filled her with a sense of smug satisfaction that snuck its way onto her lips. She thought about suppressing her smile to keep Mille from glaring at her, but she decided she was tired of trying to get around the girl's attitude, and allowed it to stay. She had, after all, earned her reputation. Why hide it just because some girl had a grudge against her?
Mille, however, didn't even notice, as she was lost in thought. Irish, a Lancer, killed his own son at one point... Could this be Cú Chulainn? Mille looked at Lancer in awe. She'd heard the stories when she was a little girl. To see him in person... well, she didn't have a confirmation yet, but needless to say, it was enough to override her usual gruff demeanor, if nothing else.
Archer then looked around and said, "It's taking your precious Landlady quite a bit of time to get home. Shouldn't you be worried that she met some unsavory elements on the way home?"
Rin's smile faded. Archer was right. Forest had yet to come back, along with the others. Including.... Archer... Hakuno's Archer.
Rin looked between Archer and Lancer. "It might be a good idea to go and find her. Should we go right now, or wait a bit longer?"
Mille spoke up. "If you're going off to go find her, I'm going with you. I intend to show you just what I'm capable of."
Before Hakuno and Archer could go after Forest, they found themselves quickly surrounded by vampires. Their boss, an older, tuxedoed man of average features bearing a fairly new yet greying beard, sat patiently in his limousine in wait. In spite of the vampires encircled around the couple, the man addressed them rather casually.
"Excuse-me, miss. Would you mind if we exchange few words?" In response to his boss's words, a bald, dark skinned vampire gestured for Hakuno to go into the limousine. The man continued. "I won't hold you for long, I promise." He punctuated the last bit with a calm grin, which along with everything else gave him an air of arrogance.
Hakuno cautiously peeked out from behind Archer. She addressed the big, bald vampire. "I can't take him with me at all?" Baldy shook his head.
Archer grimly assessed the situation. The vampires he could probably deal with, but he'd have to make sure none of them got a hold of Hakuno. Plus he had to make sure Hakuno didn't try to go with this man. The arrogance, the number of vampires this man had at his beck and call... no mistake about it, this man was the head of some form of organized crime ring. Whether he was Mafia or not Archer couldn't tell just yet, but for now, the bowman knew all he needed to know.
Archer's experience with organized crime went beyond efforts to fight it. He had a better understanding of the inner workings than most due to having Mafia connections of his own in the past. Or rather, what had been his father's connections.
Even if he didn't have those connections in his past, however, Archer would have known what to expect from this man regardless. And one possibility for the particular crimes that this particular ring was involved with was human trafficking. Hakuno could very well be sold as human merchandise to some depraved pervert. And Archer wasn't going to let that happen.
He opened up the connection between them provided by their Ley Line and spoke to her telepathically. Master, you can't go with them. If you do, it will only lead you to a fate worse than death.
Hakuno nearly jumped at the sound of Archer's voice in her head. She struggled trying to figure out how to reply, but eventually managed it. I'm not planning on it. I don't know how we're going to get out of this, but no way I'm walking into an obvious trap just to get around it.
Archer hid his relief, not wanting the vampires to suspect what was going on. Good. I'm glad you have at least some common sense. Now then, here's what I want you to do. Remember when I said not to use magic?
Hakuno did the mental equivalent of a nod.
For now, forget that. But what I'm about to have you do isn't too costly prana-wise, so you should be fine. Listen carefully. I want you to focus your prana into your arms. Think of yourself getting stronger if you have to.
Hakuno tried following his instructions. She had a bit of difficulty at first, but once she figured out how to channel it, she managed to do as he asked. I think I did it.
Good. That's reinforcement. If you did it properly, you should be much stronger now. I'm going to crouch down. I want you to grab a hold of my waist when I do. No matter what happens, do not let go until I tell you. If you did the reinforcement properly, you should be able to hold on. Understood?
Nervously, Hakuno gave Archer another mental nod.
Archer then addressed the man in the limousine. "I'm sorry, but we have someplace else we need to be. I'm afraid she's unable to talk to you at the moment." Archer then quickly crouched down, prompting Hakuno to grab a tight hold of his waist. Archer winced at the pressure, but despite the pain was at least glad Hakuno had been able to reinforce her arms correctly.
Archer leapt straight up into the air, his bow still in hand, and projected a Hrunting. He quickly fired off a series of them, designating one vampire for one arrow, before landing on the ground and quickly jumping onto a nearby rooftop. Shirou hadn't had a chance to demonstrate it with his own Hrunting, but it had the unique ability to hunt down its target to the ends of the Earth, guaranteed not to miss. Even if the vampires each Hrunting was designated for managed to dodge, it would hit them eventually.
"Alright, you can let go now. But stay close," said Archer.
Hakuno let go in relief. Archer himself was a bit relieved to, as he no longer felt like his ribs were being crushed.
Archer then smirked a little- it wasn't the best time to experiment, but his curiosity got the better of him. He projected a peculiar shinai, one with a familiar tiger strap attached to it. He converted the shinai into an arrow, one that resembled a wooden stake. Archer's smirk widened as he prepared himself to fire it at one of the vampires that hadn't been targeted with a Hrunting. Now to see if these particular vampires have any of the traditional weaknesses.
Ruby sped towards Hakuno's location, her built in tracker showing her the way. Now that her objective was complete, it was time to get herself a decent wielder. She would have gone after Isa, being the younger of the two, but the trace she had placed on her had seemingly vanished. It was good then that Ruby had designated a second option.
Ruby had observed the events in the alleyway, which had lead her to her choices and made her aware of Forest's offer in regards to her apartment complex. Once she had set up things with the hag Rin and the ever angry and resentful Mille, it freed her up to do other things. Like find someone who was actually decent magical girl material. And even if she was a bit on the older side, this girl did seem to qualify. Plus this girl had ❤love❤. Love was the strongest attribute a magical girl could have. Plus her Servant/love intrest looked fun to play with~
But not all was well. Ruby could detect a group of vampires right near where Hakuno was, and that wasn't good. It wouldn't do to have her candidate kidnapped or killed before she could even make the contract with her. So Ruby made all haste towards her destination, hoping to get there before it was too late.
-
Lancer grinned and said, "Being annoying is also a big brother's duty as well. You just have to give as good as you get, Lassie."
Archer smirked at Rin taking charge as always. He shrugged and said, "I'll leave that up to you two. She's not my Landlady yet."
Lancer folded his arms. Anything that could have detained Forest, the better Bowman, and Rider would have been something terrible to behold. He didn't have a phone to call Forest on, thought the things were ridiculous. However, he did have Forest's number on her refrigerator.
He said, "Well there's one of those phones inside if someone wants to try to call her first. That's what she calls 'protocol'. Just I'm not good with that thing."
******
Forest eyed the arm that was so carelessly tossed in front of him. Then she eyed Olga and said, "That's not Isa's arm." Then without warning she moved, impossibly quick, and was in the younger vampire's face. "You might have fooled Shirou with that stunt, you bint, but you should know better than anyone else here that this isn't my first rodeo."
Then she punched the other vampire and said, "However, talking to the help isn't going to get me anywhere."
She started to head towards the limo, sending to Shirou, Shoot them in the head. It'll knock them out, and while they're incapacitated stake the wankers. With something wooden through the heart.
-
"Calling first might not be a bad idea," said Rin. "Assuming things aren't bad enough that she can't answer her phone, we might be able to get answers at least." Rin of course didn't have any problems using one of the phones inside. She got headaches just from looking at cellphones, confusing messes that they were.
"And if something's wrong with one of those phones, we could always use my cell," said Finn. "Don't know if it'll work here or not, but it's worth a shot."
"And if my brother was an idiot and the charge is out on his or something, we can use mine," added Mille.
Rin clapped her hands together. "And that's that. ...Though I'd hope that the phones inside would be working just fine. So then, let's go in and get that number called!"
-
Lancer said, "Well, she has it in the kitchen, so come along everyone."
With that, he lead them into the compound. First they went through the garage and Archer was surprised at some of the cars housed there. Then the Celt lead the up to a sleek steel kitchen.
He walked over to the fridge and under a magnet that had "Iron Maiden" in a stylized font in front of some zombie creature brandishing the Union Jack, was a sheet of paper with a phone number on it. There was also a cordless phone there as well. He handed these out and said, "Alright, who wants to use these?"
-
Rin took the sheet of paper from Lancer. "Probably out of all of us, it'd be best if either you or I made the call, since Forest knows us. I can make the call if you want."
With that, Rin went over to dial the number, waiting for a final confirmation from Lancer before she did.
-
"I suggest you doing it, Rin. That thing is evil," Lancer said as he nodded at her.
Archer said, "Yes, protect the Celtic demi-god from the evil phone."
-
Rin honestly had to suppress a snicker at Archer's comment as she began to dial. Though in this case she found that she could empathize with said Celtic demi-god. Maybe not in the case of regular phones like this one, but there were other pieces of modern technology where she could easily designate with the same description as Lancer just had with the phone.
Finn also had to suppress a snicker, but he managed to hide it well enough. Mille, on the other hand, just glared at Archer for being disrespectful to a hero of this caliber.
Rin waited through the dial tone, hoping that Forest would respond on the other side.
-
As Forest strode over to the Limo, the familiar tones of Iron Maiden's "Aces High" came from her hip.
She answered it and said, "Lancer, I'm about to smite some excuse for a Bond villain and possibly have to go save Isa. What is it?"
******
Archer smirked at Mille glaring at him and looked at Lancer. He said, "She's offended on your behalf."
Lancer ignored him and only smiled at Mille. He did ask, "Did you get her Rin?"
-
Mille couldn't help but smile a little in response to Lancer's own smile.
Rin, on the other hand, gave Lancer a bit of a solemn nod in response to the Irishman's question, trying to convey both that Forest seemed unharmed and yet the matter may be serious at the same time.
"Actually, it's Rin Tohsaka, from earlier. You were taking a long time to get back, so we wanted to check to see if you're OK." Rin didn't want to hold Forest up too long, so she decided to keep her questions simple. "Are the others alright? And do you want us to come help?"
-
"Actually, some help would be stellar," Forest replied before giving Rin their location. "We may have to organize search parties to find Isa."
******
Lancer sighed and said, "You never do anything easy, do you, Fore?"
-
"We'll be over as soon as possible. We may even have extra numbers to help out too, provided they're willing to come along. We'll see you there." Rin hung up the phone. "Alright, so who's willing to go help?"
"Like I said earlier, I'm going with you no matter what," said Mille. "And I think you'll need me. It sounds like we're in for a fight, and bigger numbers can always help tip the scales."
Finn grinned. "Count me in too. There's no way I'd turn down helping with a rescue mission. Besides, Bond villain, huh? Sounds like this'll be a fun fight."
Mille rolled her eyes. "Of course you'd think that."
"Alright, so that's two more, and I'm sure Lancer's coming along no matter what." Rin turned to Archer. "What about you?"
-
"Of course I'll help. I have experience at playing the hero," Archer replied, "Besides, if I can keep you out of trouble Rin all the better."
Lancer nodded and said, "Well, then its settled." He looked at Ruu and asked, "Can you watch the fort while we're gone?"
-
"Stakes theough the heart? Reminds me of a few vampire movies I watched some time ago," Shirou said dryly, quickly whipping out his SMG. He began firing short controlled bursts at the staggered vampires Forest had left in her wake, aiming, as suggested, for the head. Some were surprisingly tenacious, but their earlier attempts to be appear sincere had cost them, making them almost sitting ducks. Ducks who could still kill him if he let up for a second.
As they fell, Shirou quickly ran forward, firing one-handed, whilst he browsed through his mental inventory for a weapon made of wood. It was surprisingly difficult. Suddenly, Shirou smirked, eyes fiery as he thought of the perfect weapon.
Throwing aside his now empty gun, Shirou leapt into the air, before slamming down onto one of the incapacitated vampires. Despite being blunt, Shirou's reinforced muscles allowed him to force the 'point' of the Tora Shinai through the vampire's ribcage, penetrating cleanly into the heart.
He ignored the creature's wails and writhing, he had lost all sympathy when they had tried to threaten him with Isabella. He quickly stabbed Black Keys through it as an extra precaution, to ensure the vampire didn't revive and sneak up on him, before moving on to the others, firing black keys and shinais in an oddly effective rain of steel and wood. His eyes lingered briefly on the woman vampire, as be contemplated attempting to interrogate her. He quickly stomped over, Black Keys in hand.
"What have you done with Isa? Where is she?" he demanded.
-
Ruu understood they had to go. "It will wait here." He said obediently.
----
Valken looked at the whole situation turning into a whole mess with a faint smile. Things didn't go as planned but that was also part of the fun. As the blonde vampire walked in his direction, he continued to drink patiently, never showing any trace of nervousness. On the contrary, he took pleasure seeing people being so quick to jump to conclusion. With a polite tone, he welcomed Forest with a nod, all the while ignoring completely the vampires getting wounded by Archer's arrows.
"We finally meet Law Unto Herself. I expected you to come straight to me. Unfortunately I have no time to spare." Without departing from his good manners, he glanced towards the driver and another woman got out. Pale complexion, golden blond hairs cascading her shoulders, the Fae walked to face the Vampire. Dressed like the other men under Valken, she looked pretty young as well. "Isiel, would you mind keeping Law Unto Herself company? I have more pressing matters to attend to." The green emerald eyes didn't blink but she nodded. "As you wish, master." She snapped fingers and a surge of indigo flames erupted from beneath Forest's feet.
Without looking for the result, Valken raised his hand and a ring shone slightly. What looked like a spatial rift opened large enough for him to pass through. The next instant, he was gone, and the portal vanished right after.
----
Olga shook her head with closed eyes. "We came to warn you against a person who's a threat for everyone and yet you attack us before we can even explain." The girl looked towards Shirou, a strange expression on her visage. "I don't know where is the girl, my Boss asked us to find her but Touzaki Shuya disappeared with the teenager" Icy blue eyes peered at the Magus Killer. "You misunderstood me. While it's true the evidence is a fake, she indeed lost an arm." Curiously, she didn't seem about to defend herself even when you pinned her down. "I don't intent to fight you." She said on a serious tone. Two others, however, didn't seem eager to stay idling and went straight for the magus freeing their fellow vampire from Shirou's grasp. Olga looked at the vampires close to the limo, Shirou, Archer and finally the confrontation opposing Isiel and Forest. After a short hesitation she decided to go for the later.
If she had to die, it would be only after making sure Law Unto Herself would get what she deserved.
----
"Going somewhere?" Asked an arrogant voice from the stairs. Touzaki Shuya eyed Rider, Kiyoshi and Taiga from where he stood, an unconscious person on the shoulder. His smile broadened savagely when his eyes met Rider's. A malevolent aura unleashed as he talked happily. "Yo, Eyepatch. Could swear it's been months since then. Got your power back??" And without a second to spare, he brought down his blade to cut her.
-
Kiyoshi and Rider looked at each other in bemusement at the utter absurdity of Taiga's comment. She was a blind child in a wheelchair, neither of them could see how she could possibly protect him. But, if her ridiculous belief made her more inclined to come with them, neither of them saw any reason to complain, or to correct her. Instead, they both turned and followed her in the direction of the door.
But, before they could get there, they were interrupted by a voice that was familiar to Rider.
"Going somewhere?"
Shit, Rider thought.
The idiot from earlier was back, and from the tone of his voice she suspected he wanted to continue their fight. Rider looked at him noting, oddly, that he had a girl on his shoulders, before quickly changing into her battle outfit and summoned her nails, desperately thinking of how they could escape.
At the same time, Kiyoshi turned to look at the man.
Eh, what? he thought as he saw his aunt change into her battle outfit and summon up her weapons, clearly expecting a fight.
He could see from her reactions and that of the man that the two had met before, and it didn't seem like he was friendly. Kiyoshi also prepared himself, although he did not summon up his swords just yet.
Rider continued to think about the situation. It was, in a word, bad. Whilst Kiyoshi could just about protect himself if necessary, Taiga was a sitting duck, literally. If the man decided to he could kill her with a single sword swipe. And, if doing so meant getting her to fight, then she suspect he would, too. Which meant that she would be unable to use the mobility that was her best asset.
Before she could come to any plans, though, the man sope again.
"Yo, Eyepatch. Could swear it's been months since then. Got your power back??"
And, with that, he charged at Rider.
"What? It's been less than half an hour. And, no, I haven't", she said, angrily.
But, the man's approach prevented Rider thinking any more on the topic. Quickly, she made her decision. She couldn't fight the man whilst protecting the two children. Even ignoring her limited prana supply, her fighting style relied too much on mobility for that. So, instead, she decided she would draw the man away, and hold him off until Kiyoshi could get himself and Taiga out of there, and alert Forest and the others to their plight. If the man went for them instead, she was sure that Kiyoshi could defend the two of them for the few moments it would take her to put a nail in the guy's back.
So, as the guy approached her position, Rider lept up over his head and to the right, landing in the lobby some way behind him and turning to face him. By the time he swung the Katana, she was already well out of his reach, hoping that Kiyoshi would be taking up a defensive position in front of the wheelchair-bound girl.
To her horror, though, instead of Kiyoshi summoning up his swords to protect Taiga, she saw a small green glow on his arm, followed by a few shadow tentacles shooting out in the man's direction.
The anger Kiyoshi was feeling at the unprovoked attack and his general desire to defeat bad guys had over-riden Kiyoshi's sense. Instead of protecting the girl, he was determined to teach this moron a lesson. Not even waiting to see if the tentacles would hit the man, he quickly summoned up his swords and charged.
"Leave my Aunty alone!", he shouted.
"Kiyoshi, no!", shouted Rider as her impromptu plan fell apart in front of her eyes.
-
Shuya looked at Rider, as the woman intended to lure him away from the children. The hybrid stood there pondering silently. Would it be alright to have her bring the unconscious girl to the vampire? Apparently she was keeping an eye on the kids here but he felt like he had to check first. She, after all, attacked an innocent girl earlier in order to feed. And from the look of it, she didn't have her meal yet.
The only goal of his serious attack had been to see if she was low on prana. Without it, there was always the possibility she would consumes the wounded girl's. And that's not something he was ready to allow. He would have to go, however, not before questioning Eyepatch about blondie's whereabouts. However, something completely unexpected happened.
The boy attacked him out of the blue. There was only enough for Shuya to dodge the tentacles aimed in his direction. with a side step.
Leave my Aunty alone!
Black swords in hands, the little guy rushed him. There was anger in his voice and he went straight for him without hesistation.
Kiyoshi, no!
Rider's voice echoed but Shuya didn't pay her attention. The hybrid sheathed his weapon and blocked the child's assault with his sheath all the while making sure no harm would be inflicted upon the girl. Despite the few cuts he earned trying to shield her, he couldn't help but smile. The boy even was able to move after he displayed an amount of killing intent enough to paralyze most humans.
"Oh you're pretty good, son. And you got spirit too. I like that." Shuya commented with appreciation for the skill showed by the boy. He jumped in a similar way Rider did, only to land about a meter away from her. "What's you name kiddo?" He asked, completely ignoring the Servant, even daring to turn his back to her.
If there was a chance to strike, it would be about right now, while he was completely unguarded.
-
Taiga frowned turning to see the chaotic mess of colours and sighed. Opening her eyes the colours were replaced with the honest appearance of the room and the people in it. In order to find her brother and bring him back they would have to meet up with some person Rider knew and before that this person was attacking them.
her magic flared to life causing her eyes to glow and she declared to the room "stop fighting right now!" she said.
Her mystic eyes did not need eye contact her command would be followed by the man and Kiyoshi and Rider as well unless they were protected by some seriously strong magic.
Satoshi continued building, it was almost mindless behavior if only to stave off the buzzing in his head.
-
Bloody hell, a Faerie, Forest thought to herself as the indigo flame erupted under her feet. However, the girl, Isiel, wasn't overly old, and Forest had a lot of experience on how to deal with Faerie magic. As soon as the flames erupted, she jumped out of the way. She rolled upon the pavement, snuffing any flame, before standing back up.
Her eyes matched the fire intended to kill her for a moment before turning bright, glowing crimson.
After vomiting up that corrupted blood, she needed to replenish. The thing about fighting Faeries was while they could tank pain decently, overwhelming them with pleasure crippled them. They were hedonistic and sensual creatures at their core. Plus their blood was powerful and heady stuff. Fangs bared, Forest grabbed the Faerie girl, overpowering her, and sank her teeth into the girl's neck with surprising delicacy.
As the first rush of hot blood hit her mouth, Forest instinctively opened a mental pathway to Isiel before overriding the pleasure receptors in the Faerie's mind. First she'd have the Faerie feel sublime arousal before pitching her over the edge with multiple induced orgasms. As her blood would be drained and her body and mind overwhelmed, Forest knew that eventually the maiden would black out between sensory overload and blood loss.
She just hoped that Shirou or Archer would keep her back cleared while she dealt with the biggest threat.
******
Lancer ruffled Ruu's head and said, "That's a good lad. Forest has medical supplies in the WC on the floor so I'll need you to get them out and have them ready. There maybe others injured if she's having issues."
Then he looked at Finn and Mille. He said, "I'm the fastest man here, especially on foot. I'll know the arsehole will be carrying Rin, but he can't keep up when I hit top speed. However, carting you two around going to slow me down. However, I'm sure you can drive, right lad? There's a whole garage full of 'Pony Cars' that go real fast and I'm sure Forest won't mind if we use one. Just don't wreck it."
It felt weird giving marching orders, that would have been something Rin or Forest would have done. He was more use to pointing his weapon at the enemy, bellowing his intent, and going full tilt. Still, they thought of him as his Landlady's Second, which was sort of true but not. And the bowman wasn't a leader- he was a strategist, but he worked alone or manipulated to get the cause he wanted, and this blackened version seemed rather lackadaisical.
"Let's go people," he said as he headed towards the garage, grabbing a set of keys to throw at Finn.
-
"Tch, missed you two," Shirou grunted, quickly jerking his head to the right to avoid getting a fist in his face. He moved his head back, before quickly head-butting one vampire, twisting out of the second vampire's hold at the same time. Kanshou and Bakuya materialised in his hands, which he quickly used to decapitate the vampires, before stabbing them through the heart with his improvised stakes.
"Now, what did you mean she disappeared with Touzak..." Shirou trailed off, realizing Olga had escaped. He quickly whirled around, to catch a glimpse of curly brown hair within the crowd, slowly making her way towards Forest. He contemplated using his bow, but he might skewer Forest or another ally if he wasn't careful.
Snarling, he quickly chased after Olga, using his favorites weapons to dispatch any idiots who got in his way, allowing Archer to dispatch the rest. He strained his mind, and started materializing weapons above and in front of Olga, dropping them in attempts to skewer or hamper her progress. It worked brilliantly, allowing him to catch up. He threw a set of Keys at her feet, forcing her to stop, uncomfortably close to where Forest was grappling with her own opponent; before wheeling in front of her, Tracing Durandal and leveling its point at her, his other hand quickly withdrawing a Glock from his coat.
"I'll have the rest of your explanation now," he quipped, a slight smile which didn't reach his hardened steel eyes, plastered on his face.
-
Rider stood there horrified as Kiyoshi attacked, fully expecting his opponent to show him no mercy. Knowing she would have to intervene to protect him before he got himself killed, Rider tensed herself and prepared to attack the asshole, even if that meant losing her advantage. However, to her extreme surprise, their opponent instead chose to sheathe his sword, using the scabbard to block Kiyoshi's attacks.
Eh, what? Rider thought.
She simply could not understand him. He seemed to revel in fighting and killing and, yet, he had refused to even use his weapon for defence against Kiyoshi.
Oh, I see, Kiyoshi is not a "worthy" opponent, so he won't fight him, she thought.
Kiyoshi was equally surprised by the man's actions. Despite the killing intent radiating off him, he had shown no indication of fighting back, instead using his scabbard to block Kiyoshi's attacks. Despite this, Kiyoshi continued to swing his swords at the man, noticing with pride that he had managed to cause some damage, albeit superficial.
See, dad, I can beat the bad guys like a real hero, he thought, proudly.
Then, his opponent spoke up.
"Oh you're pretty good, son. And you got spirit too. I like that", he said.
Kiyoshi smiled at the compliment, although he was somewhat unnerved about the fact that the bad guy seemed to like him. After all, bad guys liked evil things, right? Meanwhile, Rider cringed.
Don't encourage him you asshole! she thought.
With his comment, the man jumped towards Rider. As he did so, Rider tensed herself, expecting an attack. But, to her surprise, he ignored her entirely, focussing instead on Kiyoshi.
"What's you name kiddo?", he said.
"That's none of your damn business, as... moron", Rider shouted, mincing her words slightly in the presence of the two children. "Now, leave us alone!"
Meanwhile, Kiyoshi reacted to Shuya's move by charging in his direction at full speed. Ignoring his Aunt's rebuttal, he responded to Shuya's question.
"My name is Emiya Kiyoshi, and I want to be a hero like my father. Now, leave my Aunt alone before I make you!" he said, angrily.
Rider had to restrain herself from facepalming. She knew Kiyoshi's intentions were good, but it was clear from his actions that their opponent was not overly interested in continuing the conflict further, perhaps because he now knew that she lacked the prana necessary to make it a good fight. And, she couldn't help but notice that he had been protecting the girl over his shoulder, too.
Wait, she looks familiar, Rider thought.
But, before she could think any further on the topic, she noticed that Taiga had opened her eyes. Then, suddenly, she felt a strong flow of mana around the girl, and saw her eyes begin to glow.
What the hell? she thought.
Then, the girl spoke up.
"stop fighting right now!", she said.
Suddenly, Kiyoshi felt his body get heavy, slowing him to a stop. He felt nauseous and lightheaded, and it seemed like his mind and body were no longer fully connected. His body was acting of its own accord, doing whatever was necessary to obey the girl's command that they not fight.
No, I have to protect Aunty Rider! he thought.
But, his body was simply not complying with his demands. He was able to summon up enough willpower to begin moving once more, albeit more slowly but, as he approached the man, the mana supply to his swords was abrupty cut off, his body reacting to ensure the girl's command would be obeyed. No amount of willing on Kiyoshi's part could make them return. Eventually, he gave up, stopping a metre of so short of the man and staring at him angrily.
Meanwhile, Rider watched Kiyoshi's struggle with confusion, at least initially. However, as she looked on, the pieces began to slot together in her mind. A flow of mana into the girl, followed by glowing eyes and, finally, a command which Kiyoshi and, seemingly, also his opponent had been affected by. But, yet, she had not felt anything.
Mystic eyes of persuasion. And, pretty powerful ones, seemingly.
That explained why Kiyoshi had been stopped in his tracks and, also, why she was unaffected.
My blindfold protects me, she thought.
Then, it dawned on her.
This is a perfect opportunity. The asshole can't fight. I can just stick a nail in his back.
But, yet, she hesitated. Whilst killing him in cold blood was not something she had any real issue with, she knew that it was unlikely Taiga would see it the same way, and even Kiyoshi would probably not be too happy about it. Further, if she did kill the man, Taiga would almost certainly feel responsible for putting him in that position, which was not something she wanted to inflict on the girl. Plus, Taiga didn't seem aware that she was unaffected, and it was probably in her interests for that to continue to be the case. So, she decided to play along, changing back into her normal clothes and dismissing her weapons.
Now that the battle was over, though, she had questions to ask of the man. Specifically, why the hell he was carrying an unconscious girl over his shoulder who he seemingly wanted to protect, and why he had attacked her whilst he was.
"OK, idiot, can you please explain why you're carrying an unconscious girl over your shoulder, and why the hell you thought it was a good idea to attack me whilst doing so?"
Then, Rider looked more closely.
Isa? she thought, remembering the sweet young girl from earlier. And, she looked hurt, too.
Rider remembered how kind and sweet the girl had been, and felt angry to see her like this. She knew she couldn't trust this asshole to look after the girl, particularly since he was likely responsible for the situation she was in in the first place.
"What did you do to Isa?", she said, angrily.
-
"Of course I'll help. I have experience at playing the hero," Archer replied, "Besides, if I can keep you out of trouble Rin all the better."
Rin smiled a bit at that, though she wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps it was the old memories surging back. Either way, she was glad to have the bowman tagging along, darkened or not. Though, she had to wonder... what would happen when the two selves met? She put it to the back of her mind though, as that wasn't their current concern.
Lancer nodded and said, "Well, then its settled." He looked at Ruu and asked, "Can you watch the fort while we're gone?"
"It will wait here." He said obediently.
Lancer ruffled Ruu's hair in response. "That's a good lad. Forest has medical supplies in the WC on the floor so I'll need you to get them out and have them ready. There maybe others injured if she's having issues."
He gave the group marching orders, despite seeming to feel a bit uncomfortable in doing so, before tossing a set of car keys to Finn, which the young man caught with little trouble. "Let's go people," said Lancer, leading the group towards the garage.
Finn ruffled Ruu's hair before waving goodbye to little familiar before he followed the rest. "See you later, little guy. Have fun while we're gone, and thanks for earlier!"
Rin shouted back her own goodbye. "Kitty should be back soon! Be good!"
Finn hadn't looked all that well when they'd walked through the garage earlier, but he couldn't help but whistle as he looked at the selection of vehicles.
Mille looked suspiciously at her brother. "You heard the part where Lancer said not to wreck the car didn't you? You sure you can do that?"
Finn grinned. "With no problems. I've gotten pretty good behind the wheel. Done enough jobs where I've had to make a quick getaway from the bad guys that a car feels like a second pair of legs to me."
"That's not what I saw last time I watched you drive a car."
Finn casually put his hands behind his head. "Heh, to give me some credit, I was thirteen then. I've gotten a lot better since then. But boy were those good times. Was even worth the grounding mom and dad gave me." He turned to Lancer. "Don't let my sister scare you. Like I said, I've gotten quite a bit better since those days. The car shouldn't even get a scratch. Speaking of which, which of these fine beauties do these car keys belong to?"
---
Archer found himself to be quite satisfied with his results. The vampires that had Hruntings aimed at them had already fallen victim to them, and it turned out his shinai arrows worked to great effect on these particular vampires. Not a single one had been able to touch Hakuno.
Below, however, the conflict wasn't over. Shirou and Forest were continuing to fight vampires below. Forest herself was busy draining a girl of particular magical origins below, while Shirou seemed entirely focused on taking down the crime lord's femme fatale of a vampire accomplice after dealing with his own vampires. That left it up to Archer to clean up the rest and keep them off of Forest's back. Shirou he didn't care so much about, but Forest was their landlady now, and Hakuno would likely hound him for it if they just left her.
Shouldn't be much of a problem, now that I have a better idea of their weaknesses. Archer turned to Hakuno. "I'm going to get a little closer so I can get a better shot at those vampires. I'm going to take you with me, but you have to promise me that you'll continue to do as I tell you. Understand?"
Hakuno didn't entirely like him bossing her around, but in this case, it was a pretty good idea, especially since there wasn't much she could do to fight back just yet. She nodded.
With that, Archer scooped her up and jumped to a rooftop closer to the action. Normally he would have jumped down and engaged them directly, but his top priority was still Hakuno's safety, so he decided to take them on at a distance to keep her out of harm's way. If things got especially bad for Forest, he could switch tactics, but for now there seemed to be little harm in taking a more cautious approach.
He continued to create shinai arrows to shoot at the vampires, striking them in the heart, one by one. So far, so good. If things continued to go this well, then they might make it out of this with little trouble.
***
Ruby continued to watch the battle happening below, wishing she was able to eat popcorn in her current state. She wasn't going to intervene just yet, as it didn't seem things were going too terribly so far, even with the number of vampires there had been before. Ruby patiently bided her time, waiting for the opportune moment to strike...
-
The familiar stayed in the kitchen for a bit, looking at the strange magnets on the fridge. When his contemplation finished, Ruu didn't wait an instant and walked through the first floor, unable to resist his curiosity. The whole place was clean and tidy but did give him the feeling of emptiness. Probably because the place was rather big. He did as he had been asked and brought the medical supplies to the location that looked like a dinner room.
Once done with his task, he decided to take a shower. He cleaned himself up and changed clothes for the set he had in his backpack. Getting rid of the used and tattered ones and throwing them outside in a metal trashcan. When he came back in the dinner room, he fumbled in his belongings and found the grimoire of his long lost Master. He opened it where he left the bookmark and started to read. He didn't understand what was written on it, although he could make sense of runes, complex formulas and unknown written languages used inside were an enigma for him. Yet, he had been doing so ever since his Master stopped. The familiar sat down on a couch and read silently, feeling reminiscent emotions imprinted on the book, a sensation akin to warmth built up inside him and he fell asleep without a word, book still open on his lap.
----
Olga threw Shirou an irritated glance. The magus was better than expected. He even had weapons able to stab your shadow for immobilization. However, as impressive as it could be, he was a pain in the ass. "I told you all I know about it, the mixed blood took her with him. There, can you release me now? Or do you intend to kill someone who never wronged you?" Although nervous, her gaze was defiant.
Shirou had her fate in his own hands.
----
Isiel kept her eyes on Forest as the vampire fed on her. Although her body strongly reacted as expected from your suggestion and blood drain, her face never showed a significant change. Was she strong mentally or something else? You would never know.
With what looked like an immense effort, the Fae triggered another spell of fire but without a care in her own security. You could feel her blood heating up as her body became the catalyst for her imminent attack. It became crystal clear upon reading her mind. As you realize the intent, you can't help but feel shocked. Why would she go that far? The only answer you get from her besides that inexpressive stare is a bitter thought.
I failed, Master.
Will you manage to avoid it? You can only give it your best shot. An instant later, the area exploded in a spectacular way.
----
That's none of your damn business, as... moron. Now, leave us alone!
Eyepatch wasn't in the best mood apparently. Shuya Smirked at that but didn't have time to look away, the boy already charging him.
My name is Emiya Kiyoshi, and I want to be a hero like my father.
When he heard that, Shuya stopped completely.
A hero, huh?
A memory flashed up in his mind and the mixed blood looked at the boy with a stern expression.
Now, leave my Aunt alone before I make you!
Smiling awkwardly, the swordsman nodded to the kid.
"Sure, I'll take my leave."
He took a step back, about to take off, but imperious words were released.
stop fighting right now!
He tried to resist the command but found himself unable to move after a few meters. He focused his attention on the girl in a wheelchair, her eyes shining.
Mystic Eyes?
Shuya smiled for himself.
"You got yourself some interesting kids, Eyepatch." He said with calm.
Shuya could have gotten away with an Inversion but he doubted he could control himself and spare the kids. He had the feeling Rider could still move and expected a backstab, but it never came. Instead she bombarded him with words.
OK, idiot, can you please explain why you're carrying an unconscious girl over your shoulder, and why the hell you thought it was a good idea to attack me whilst doing so?
"Name's Shuya, by the way. Not idiot or moron."
The answers you wanted following.
"Looking for someone to take care of her. Attacked 'cause I needed to check if you got back some prana. Thought I could let you have the girl if you did, you didn't. Chances you'd get prana off of her were too high. Was about to leave before being stopped by the girl."
He paused an instant to see if she had anything else to ask.
What did you do to Isa?
He frowned at that.
"It's not a conversation for the youngsters to hear. I could tell you that I'm not the one who hurt her, but I suppose you wouldn't trust a word about it." His tone was awfully calm, now that you paid attention to it. "Know what? Lead me to the vampire and I'll explain on the way. Even willing to let you carry my katana." He suggested seriously. "What you say?"
-
"I told you all I know about it, the mixed blood took her with him. There, can you release me now? Or do you intend to kill someone who never wronged you" Olga said defiantly, even though she was at his mercy.
Shirou grip on Durandal's hilt tensed, as he seriously considered her words. As a vampire, the woman was undoubtedly a danger to the populace, a ticking time bomb. Unlike what he knew of Forest, he was certain that Olga didn't really care about human life, and would have no qualms feeding on the populace if she needed to. Not to mention she worked for someone who so far seems shady, and willing to cut off an innocent person's arm on the off chance that it would fool him. He couldn't care less if she had crossed him, but...she had a point. There was no evidence that she had hurt anyone. Only that she could, possibly on a large scale.
Sacrifice the few to save the many, that was what he had pledged on that day. No matter how important they were to him. No matter how significant they were.
"I pity you Shirou"
Illya's voice echoed in his head, the disappointment in her red eyes flashing before his very own eyes. Shirou mentally cursed Rider for stirring up old memories, even as he prepared to thrust Durandal into the vampire's body, angling the weapon so that it would only take a small push for the tip to penetrate into her heart. He would be a hero, to do what had to be done to protect people, to sacrifice what had to be sacrificed for the greater good, even if he lost more of himself with each act. That was his conviction after that day.
"you can regain what you lost"
Shirou froze. Those simple words seemed to echo in his head, sapping the strength from his arms. No! He had to persist!
think with your heart before logic
Would he regret his choice?
With a sigh, Shirou knocked away the Keys, returning his attention to the remaining vampires, vampires who were actually attacking people and thus were fair game to his acting-up conscience.
"Get out of here. You better hope I don't catch you again," he said, backing away. He quickly shot two vampires who were getting close to Forest's location, cursing slightly as he realised how low his prana levels were. He had been too lax with it tonight, trying to keep up with all the Servant-level beings that were popping up. He charged over to the downed vampires, skewered one through the heart with the Black Keys he had already Traced out, and decapitated the other with Durandal. This fight would have to end soon.
-
She watched as Shirou killed her brethren. Others were about to get in close too, that white haired guy and the girl he had with him reaching ground level. She didn't feel anything see her own kind getting slaughtered in such a violent display. She sensed some more joining the battles, . Emerging from the dark alleys, the roofs and even vehicles. Probably reinforcement in order to stall the group until they send one of the big guys. It was the best option to get away now but...
Olga felt conflicted on this. She had no place to go anymore, she would be considered as a traitor if she went back after her failure. Valken wasn't exactly the forgiving kind, even if being considered the nice guy of the organization. She closed her eyes and sent Shirou her thoughts.
Why didn't you kill me? Don't you dare if I hurt innocent people?
She rubbed her temples with a groan. Her options were limited now. Fighting with the humans and become a traitor. Or go try to find a place to hide. Deciding to go for the later, she walked away discreetly. Well, she could at least send something for the magus in exchange of him sparing her life.
Word of advice, I suggest you move from here, before they send you a walking disaster.
With that, she was gone.
-
Lancer eyed the young man before Archer sighed and took the key from Finn's hand.
"Of course an idiot wouldn't know and use that sort of rifle," the corrupted Servant said with a sigh before pressing the button on the tiny pad on the key chain. Lights half way down the garage flashed as a tiny beep echoed out from a black BMW M5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M5). Archer sighed again and pressed the keys back into Finn's hand.
He said, "Mystery solved."
Lancer didn't say anything before taking out of the garage at a dead run, leaving the others in his wake. As he ran, the force generated a sharp breeze, hard enough to ruffle hair, skirts, and dusters. A few of the cars shook, and outside a boom was heard as the Celt broke the sound barrier on foot one the less.
Archer swept Rin into his arms and said, "Let's not be the last ones there."
******
Forest felt the Faerie's blood start to heat up, almost boiling hot. She pulled her fangs out and shoved the girl hard away. I failed, Master. Was the Faerie's thought that echoed through the vampire's mind as she broke the connection and dove behind a car for cover.
She didn't completely get clear when the Faerie literally exploded in a flare of blue-white light, like the heart of the star. Heat washed over the area as sound was deafened by the roar of the explosion. Forest's retinas flashed with white light despite having her eyes closed. There was a moment of pain, and the force of the explosion sent her flying back.
A beat up old Cadillac stopped her flight and the force of the crash shook her body. She was dimly aware that her clothing was smoldering hot and flaming lightly, so automatically she shed the duster and started pulling off the burning remnants of clothing. Spurred by the powerful Faerie blood, her wounds were healing almost instantaneously.
She looked up to see even more vampires swarming the fray, and noted that Shirou was getting a little slower. Cursing, the vampire pulled out her beloved Magnum and aimed at the head of one going for Shirou's back. Fire exploded from the barrel and the vampire's head exploded in a fount of gore before he crumbled to ashes. She cocked the hammer back and slid the gun back into her holster before ripping the door off the poor Cadillac. Using it like a shield and a bludgeon, she rushed to helped the white haired Japanese man.
Her hands and feet moved in a blur, her hand to hand combat a mixture of various martial arts styles. The car door was also used as a makeshift crudgel, and the two vampires she was facing both lost their heads to it. She sent to the white haired young man, Beheading works too. How are you holding up?
-
Finn blushed a little, embarrassed. "Must've been a long night. Didn't think I'd forget about something like the lock button."
Mille crossed her arms. "No, you're just an idiot."
Lancer didn't say anything before taking out of the garage at a dead run, leaving the others in his wake. As he ran, the force generated a sharp breeze, hard enough to ruffle hair, skirts, and dusters. A few of the cars shook, and outside a boom was heard as the Celt broke the sound barrier on foot one the less.
Mille looked on sadly after the Demigod. Secretly she'd hoped she'd take her with him. Now she was stuck with her moron of a brother. The two got into the BMW, Mille glaring at her sibling as she fastened her seatbelt.
"If you wreck this thing, I swear I'll find a way to haunt you well beyond the grave."
"No need to worry sis. Got this well under control."
"Like with the keys?"
Finn shrugged. "Eh, everyone has brain farts sometimes."
"Let's just hope for your sake that it's only 'sometimes.'"
Finn set up the GPS before he went, and the car took off, smooth as silk. Contrary to his sister's fears, Finn was actually an excellent driver, and the car travelled smoothly throughout the darkened streets, hurrying towards it's destination just a touch above the designated speed limits.
Meanwhile, Rin could not help but blush a little as Archer swept her up into his arms. "Let's not be the last ones there."
Rin gave him a determined nod and a smile as the two took off into the night.
---
Despite being on a rooftop out of range of the blast, Archer grabbed Hakuno and held her tightly in his arms, facing away from the bright explosion. Hakuno's heart was filled with dread, worrying if Forest had made it through alright. Archer released Hakuno, and the pair turned to look at the damage below. To their relief, her clothes weren't in good shape, and she'd been forced to shed her duster, but Forest herself seemed to be healing up rather quickly.
But the relief was short lived. Vampires crawled seemingly out of the woodwork, surrounding them from every which way. Thankfully, Hakuno and Archer's rooftop seemed to be relatively clear of the things, but that didn't change the fact that now everyone was in grave danger, including them.
Archer grimly assessed their situation. He quickly surveyed the rooftops surrounding theirs, noticing that things continued to remain clear. Archer debated the best course of action. If he stayed here, he could protect Hakuno and continue to attack the vampires at a distance. If he went below though, he could possibly help Forest a bit more, at the price of risking his Master's safety and losing his height advantage. Plus he would likely have to stick with his swords. However, if he stayed on the rooftops, they may not fall fast enough unless he used something heavy duty like Caladbolg II, which risked harming Forest in the process and causing massive collateral damage.
Archer sighed. He decided to take advantage of possessing the high ground for now and continue to snipe at the vampires from a distance. Once they started converging around Forest and Shirou, he'd possibly drop down and switch to melee. He resumed sniping at the vampires with his shinai arrows, mainly focusing on the ones plaguing Forest and Shirou.
"Master, listen to me. There's an RTU not that far behind us. I want you to go hide behind it. If you have a vampire come after you, I want you to contact me via telepathy immediately, understand?"
Hakuno looked Archer with uncertainty, but nodded and did as ordered. She crouched down behind the air handling unit, hugging her legs with her arms. She frowned a bit, her concern for her Servant beginning to swell. Softly, she whispered, "I hate this. Before at least I could back him up, but now... now all I can do is hide. I hate being nothing but a burden. If only there was a way I could help..."
And that's my cue~ Hakuno had to stifle a surprised yelp as the wand zoomed down in front of her, ruby eyes glittering with raw enthusiasm. "Hello there! I'm the magical stick of love and justice, Magical Ruby-"
"Keep it down, someone could hear you!" Hakuno hissed. She bowed her head in apology. "Sorry, I just don't to draw the vampire's attention."
Ruby lowered her voice so she was a bit more quiet. "You're fine, just fine~ Not being ripped apart by creatures of the night takes priority after all~ Speaking of which, you wouldn't mind blasting away those baddies to kingdom come, would you?"
Hakuno shrugged. "Well, they're after my friends. If it meant I could keep them from getting hurt, I'd do it in a heartbeat." She lowered her eyes. "But I can't. Not like I am right now."
"I have good news then~ Today's your lucky day! ❤ Just form a contract with me, and all your problems are solved~ ❤"
Hakuno regarded the wand with suspicion. "That's a lot to offer. How do I know I can trust you?"
"Aww, come on, don't these rubies of mine radiate nothing but trustworthiness and sincerity? ❤"
Not really, thought Hakuno.
"Trustworthy or not though, think about it. Your friends are in danger. You're tired of being helpless and vulnerable. There's vampires at every turn. All these things I can help you solve~" Ruby leaned in a bit closer. "Maybe even winning over that special someone~ Don't you want to keep him safe?"
"What do you mean, 'special someone?'" Hakuno said, her voice hushed.
"Oh come on~ I saw you making googly eyes at that hunk before you came over here~ You love him, don't you?"
She did. Completely and utterly. There was a part of her that wouldn't entirely admit it yet, but without question, she cared about him with everything she had. He'd always been there for her, through thick and thin, no matter how many mistakes she'd made, no matter how grim things had gotten. He'd never left her side, and when he was forced away from it, he always found a way back to her.
...She would risk it. She was tired of not being able to fight back, and the possibility of being able to protect Archer for a change instead of the other way around was an attractive possibility. Her eyes glittering with determination, Hakuno stared into those glistening rubies and their sinister glow.
"...Alright. I'll do it. I'll do whatever it takes to help keep my friends safe."
"Yippee~! Now stick your finger out~"
Hakuno complied, and winced as she felt a tiny prick on her finger. A droplet of blood formed on her fingertip, ominously reflected in those shimmering gemstone eyes.
"Now grab on~"
Hakuno hesitated, but obeyed, feeling something surge through her arm not unlike what she'd felt when she had made her contract with Archer. There was a bright burst of light, and Hakuno felt herself being surrounded by magical energy.
She emerged from the prismatic swirl of light and color with her wardrobe entirely changed, and, to her amazement, she felt prana surging through her at an astounding rate. It seemed Ruby had been telling the truth.
"New master, registered~ Congratulations, Kishinami Hakuno-chan, you are now a magical girl~ ❤"
-
Beheading works too. How are you holding up?
"Really annoyed with myself right now," Shirou grunted, quickly changing tactics from projecting shinais to simply swinging Durandal in long arcs, effectively beheading a few vampires. He had another enormous bang, and turned just in time to watch another vampire's head literally explode. Forest carried some serious fire-power.
"I've been too lax with my prana, so that's been making me a bit slower" he continued, dodging under a vampire's wild swing before blasting its head off with two shots from his Glock, "And just then in a moment of lightheadedness from prana exhaustion, I somehow persuaded myself that letting an extremely dangerous vampire live would be a great idea. An extremely dangerous hazard to the populace is now running around scot-free because I couldn't think straight. So yep, annoyed would be the correct word."
Suddenly, he felt a burning heat shoot into his spine, temporarily whiting out his vision. In that brief moment, he was crash-tackled to the ground, dropping his Glock and Durandal; regaining his vision just in time to see a vampire lunging its head down to bite into his neck. He quickly gathered a fistful of his cloak, and shoved it into the vampire's mouth. Pushing off with his legs, he managed to roll them so he ended up on top, reaching into his coat to retrieve a small revolver which he promptly used to blast 2 holes in the vampire's head. Sensing rather than seeing another vampire swinging something towards him, he quickly rolled under the dying vampire, letting it take the hit. As the body disintegrated, he fired wildly in every direction, before quickly springing to his feet, withdrawing a knife in the process. He took stop of the situation.
Nearby, Forest was a whirlwind of destruction, beheading vampires with...a car door. Archer's covering fire had stopped briefly, before returning in full force; the Servant had probably been moving his Master to a safer spot. Right now, Shirou was the one dragging them down, and he hated it.
His prana levels were dangerously low now, probably enough for one more projection. He quickly threw his knife at a vampire charging towards him, the weapon sinking hilt-deep into its head. Shirou focused, and Traced Kanshou and Bakuya one last time, then finished the job with a quick slash, sending the vampire's head flying into the air.
Shirou felt a large pulse of prana nearby. He spun around, and was completely shocked to find Hakuno emerging from an RTU, dressed like...a magical girl. Well...that was new.
-
Downy Reed
Downy Reed was many things, a teacher, a schemer, a general, and the offspring of a line of necromancers that stretched a thousand years into the past, but if there was one thing he was most of all it was a sore loser.
“General watch out!”
“Damn it! Even now the Barnfriets interfere with Gods plans!?”
A flash of light and the roar of the Barnfriets Mystic Cannon were the last things he heard before he was swamped in darkness and swept into the void.
His body wrecked with pain he awoke with a start, a quick look around was all it took to realize he was no longer in the command room of the Gargantua rather it appeared he was in the alleyway of some forsaken city far away from the current battle going on in his time.
“Imnity respond!”
“G… al … yo..r c..nn..n …ak…”
“Damn it Imnity! I don’t have time for this!”
It was apparent to Downy that he was no longer on Avatar that’s the only explanation he could find for his sudden weak connection to the White Book, but if he wasn’t on Avatar then where was he?
“Did I land in some backwater branch world then?”
This time he looked around in more detail, the brick buildings and concrete ground was clearly much different than the dirt and wooden city walls he had grown used to.
He needed to find his way back to Avatar asap but he couldn’t do it alone, no that would take too long, for the moment perhaps the best plan of action would be to create enough interference so that he could be found by the White book, yes that would be much faster.
Hmm in that case perpetual gates are the choice of action.
Best to get started then.
Sensing that the mana forces were strong enough in this area he quickly summoned up the writing apparatus used for drawing the necessary summoning circle required in such a complex gate, one of the perks of having dimensional capabilities.
**********
Although he had knowledge of creating the gates and even assisted in making the main one in Avatar it was still a grand task for him to overtake even after several hours of work all he could manage was a gate not even on the same scale as the one in Avatar, but it would do for the moment at least.
Making one last run through to double check his work he made a quick glance at the sky making note that it was much darker than before.
Again another wave of his hand and the circle began to glow.
“הקסם חבוי בכל הדברים שסביבנו האנרגיה הנשימה שלך לתת למעגל החיים הזה מחדש”
Brighter and brighter still the light came forth as if to bring the fires of destruction to this world, his mark would be the sign of the end, because to the man known as Downy Reed this world was only a speck of dust in the grand scheme of things, yes to him only one world mattered, the Root World known as Avatar.
The ground began to rumble and the light from the circle crackled in energy before finally letting out a loud hiss returning to a low glow, a cloaked figure emerged and with it Downy knew that his attempt had been a success.
‘Hmm not bad for my first try.’
“You there, keep this circle operational send any more of your kind to me and the rest to guard yourself, I have much to do before tomorrow.”
A silent nod was all that was needed before the shadowy figure turned and began its own casting rites, continuing the ritual.
The troublesome thing about these perpetual gates is that they required constant maintenance in order to maintain operation, but on a plus side to that and depending on the size, the gates can easily summon a battalion of monsters all ready to bring chaos and destruction to the world, something the White book would eventually be able to locate.
However Downy was still rather new to the art of summoning and, while the feat he had just performed was by no means small, it would still take a good amount of time for it to make any amount of difference, until then he need only to wait in the shadows expelling any threat that may come across his plan.
As he left the alleyway and emerged into the decaying streets of the city a second flash and hiss sounded off as a reptilian figure emerged into view sword and shield in hand already standing guard around the circle.
Yes the force known as ruin had come to this city and with it the man known as Downy Reed.
-
Lancer ran past cars, setting off a few alarms in his wake and breaking a few windows. Not intentionally, he was just running so fast that his speed was bringing up a massive force with him. He knew the area where Forest had told them their location.
He also knew she would be having fits because innocent people were being put at risk.
However, his whole body was filled with a charge and the Hound of Ulster was smiling. He was already craving a large battle, something to sate his bloodlust.
Then he saw the large flare of light in the direction he was going.
******
The corrupted Servant was leaping from rooftop to rooftop with his precious cargo in his arms. He also knew the area fairly well and knew the hotel area they were heading too. He asked Rin, "So, do we have a plan? Do we know anything other than 'Good Guys vs Bad Guys'?"
******
Forest frowned at Shirou's words and saw him get tackled. She moved in a graceful arch, using her car door to slam into a vampire's kneecaps at just the right angle to smash it, bringing them down. Then with a snap kick to the back of their neck, she sent them crashing all the way to the pavement. The piece of spare steel, already soaked in gore, went up before crashing down on flesh and bone, crushing through it. Then with a twist of her upper body, she effectively beheaded that vampire leaving ash in her wake.
He was upon his feet again, but she could see he was utterly exhausted. She moved to his side, handed him the .44 and said, "Headshots."
-
Rin shook her head. "Forest didn't tell me much other than that we may need to form search parties. From what I was hearing in the background though, I think it's safe to assume that we can possibly expect worse. For now, we should probably be ready for anything." She gestured back to her backpack. "I have my gems with me in here, so if worse comes to worse, I'll be ready. I think when we get there though, we should use one of the rooftops to survey the area, get an idea of what we're getting into before we decide on a plan of attack."
Just like when it all began, Rin thought to herself. She settled comfortably into Archer's muscular arms as they continued on towards their destination.
***
Archer noticed a surge of prana through his end of the leyline and could see parts of the brightly colored light that had flashed behind him. Once more, he stopped his assault on the vampires to try and see what had happened. Hakuno had stepped out from behind the RTU, now wearing what appeared to be some sort of magical girl outfit, holding what appeared to be a Kaleidostick.
Archer stood there in stunned silence. He had a variety of reasons for this, a couple he wasn't exactly willing to confess to. But he quickly snapped himself back together.
"Ta dah~ Well, big guy, what do you think~" Ruby bounced around in Hakuno's hand, pleased with his reaction. She'd seen something in Archer's reaction to his Master's new ensemble that could prove very useful later for getting ~certain things~ to happen...
"As much as I'd love to give you my opinion, we have bigger things to worry about," Archer said, gesturing down at the vampires. A part of him was grateful for the present infestation.
"Awwww, that's too bad. I want to hear it later though~"
Archer winced at that. He turned back around to look at the events transpiring below. Things didn't seem to be improving. At least his Master could defend herself now, that was a plus. It also gave him more mobility, since he didn't have to watch after Hakuno quite so carefully. The Servant turned back to Hakuno. "I want you to stay up here for now. I'm glad you can defend yourself now, but even with the power of the Kaleidostick, you could still get overwhelmed."
Hakuno frowned. "But shouldn't I be able to fight them off just as well as you can now? ...and how do you know what Ruby is?"
Ruby wiggled her feathers. "Oh, I've been many places, many worlds, many time periods~ I wouldn't be surprised if he saw me someplace before~"
"You just acquired the wand, so you don't know how to use it yet. You may or may not be able to figure out how to use it quickly, but as it is, I don't want to risk you getting torn apart by vampires."
Hakuno crossed her arms, glaring at her Servant. He sighed. "If you want to help me though, practice some up here, where it's a bit safer. When you think you're ready, follow me down. Just make sure not to jump the gun."
Hakuno brightened up at that, and nodded. Archer then turned back to look at the chaos below, dismissing his bow.
"Trace... Overedge!" Kanshou and Bakuya materialized in Archer's hands, only larger and covered in metal scales. Now properly armed, he jumped into the fray below, beheading vampires right and left, making his way towards Shirou and Forest. He could feel the warm blood splash on him with each beheading, but he had learned long ago not to let it bother him.
He withheld from chanting to summon Unlimited Blade Works just yet, trying to wait for the correct timing. If something stronger than these vampires appeared, he wanted to still have his trump card handy. For now, they seemed to fall easily enough to the twin blades, and he continued to behead vampire after vampire after vampire, hoping to take some of the pressure off of the other already exhausted combatants.
Hakuno fretted as she watched Archer fight. She turned Ruby so that they were looking at each other face to face. "So how do I even use you? I'm not any more useful than before if I don't even know how to attack."
"That's easy~ Just use your imagination~"
Hakuno gave the wand an exasperated look.
"No, really, use your imagination~ Just imagine the blasts being fired at the enemy and go from there~"
Hakuno frowned a little at that, but decided to try it out. She concentrated, imagining a small barrage of blasts hitting the vampires. Hoping for the best, she waved Ruby forward. To her surprise, a group of small spherical orbs formed around Ruby's head, and launched rapidly at the vampires. Several of the creatures cried out as the bright projectiles slammed into them with considerable force.
"I did it..."
"You did it! Yay~ Now let's try something more advanced~"
Hakuno nodded. She allowed her mind to be less narrowed in terms of what she could imagine, and with a bit of a frow, addressed her Servant mentally. Archer, besides stakes and beheadings, what else are vampires traditionally weak against?
The Servant kicked a vampire down and relieved it of it's head before answering. Holy water and crosses are also pretty common in vampire lore. Assuming these vampires have those weaknesses, you should be able to defeat the vampires easily enough if you manage to somehow incorporate one of those into your attacks.
Thank you, Archer. Be careful down there!
He gave her a mental nod. Hakuno was about to think of what to try next when one of the vampires lept down in front of her. The thing looked ravenous, looking rather fixedly at her throat.
Hakuno tried not to panic and thought back to what Archer had just told her. She didn't know for sure if the water in her attack would have holy properties or not, but she had to try. She imagined a large blast of holy water engulfing the vampire. A magic circle materialized below her as a shimmering ball of water appeared and quickly launched itself at the vampire, trapping the thing inside. She watched as the vampire screamed in agony, it's flesh burning away, exposing muscle and bone until it crumbled into ash.
Hakuno looked down at the mess before her feeling a bit lightheaded. Ruby spoke up. "Perhaps we should go with a cross based attack next time, huh? May be a bit less messy~"
-
Taiga smiled "Come on, let's go" she said turning around and wheeling toward the entrance.
Satoshi completed the foundation and then began to chant, after a few moments the castle came to be, a massive black imposing structure dwarfing all the building around it. It could clearly be seen from anywhere in the city. Sighing Satoshi chanted sealing the entrance as he stepped inside.
Sakura leapt through the portal, the city was dark and dank in general and a castle loomed in the distance "this place is ugly, monster den at least" she muttered moving to find her prey
-
Downy Reed
The preparations were going along smoothly, after the first circle had been created he left for a new area searching for the correct coordinates for the second and third ones, in his mind, though the circle had begun it's duty he knew that there was still much to be done.
He was already wasting enough time as it was, best not to dawdle too long, the gate was hidden in the alley and guarded by his troops for now but it was only a matter of time before some lucky mage noticed the disturbance in the area, something Downy was hoping to avoid for the meantime.
**********
“W-what! That's impossible!” The man shouted, he had expected this to just be another easy target but the second he approached the scrawny looking man turning into the alleyway he simply vanished as if he hadn't been there in the first place.
“Really now, you thought you could surprise me? I'm afraid you're sorely mistaken, but you're lucky none the less...”
*Swhing!*
With a flash of light the thugs head was cleanly separated from his body leaving it to fall to the ground in a crumpled heap.
“If I had more time your death would not have been so clean, now where was I... Ah of course.”
Not far away from his first location again Downy began his work, the quicker he created these disturbances the quicker he could get out of this God forsaken city.
“I believe right here is acceptable... you shall begin at once.”
The figures simply nodded before getting to work, leaving Downy alone once more in the run down alleyway, and Downy was not one to waste time leaving them to their preparations and returning the streets searching once more for suitable locations that could be used.
**********
After the second circle came the third and the instant the now familiar flash of light appeared a monstrous figure emerged from the circle Downy knew his plan was nearly in place.
'Very well then for for the central tower, this certainly turned out to be easier than I thought.'
He had already come across the central point for the circles it was the roof of a small apartment complex.
Rather then disturbing the people inside in the dead of night Downy much preferred to simply warp himself up onto the roof of the building, he had to admit that while he was still fairly new to his dimensional capabilities he was really starting to get the hang of it.
However now came the tricky part.
“Dispaia! Your master calls!”
With a shout his familiar blade returned to him it, the cold steel as soothing as a nice cup of tea.
Then without a moments delay he began the next part of his ritual, while he was by no means a weak magician he would need the enhancing effects of his Aether Relic if he wanted this to go off without a hitch.
**********
Daylight had long returned as Downy continued his monotonous chanting, the glowing hum of the central circle now no longer needed.
“O המרכזי מגדל, מבט עיניך מאיר פחות מזל אלה.
תן לכוחות מלמעלה גבוה ייתן אליך הדרישה העניקה לי על ידי אלוהים! “
A second hum only slightly louder than the first arose from the circle the energies began to gather and converge.
Now came the frustrating part, the 8 hour wait as the circle began to stabilize itself, if there was one thing Downy was glad about it was the fact that this part no longer needed the constant chanting.
'Phew now to rest for a bit.'
Crossing his legs Downy drifted off into a light slumber, the rough rocky roof of the worn down apartment complex mattered little to him, he'd slept in much worse conditions that this for now he needed to regain his energy, the final and most nerve wracking part of the ritual would begin in a few hours.
-
"Looking for someone to take care of her. Attacked 'cause I needed to check if you got back some prana. Thought I could let you have the girl if you did, you didn't. Chances you'd get prana off of her were too high. Was about to leave before being stopped by the girl."
Rider was a little offended by Shuya's assumption that she would feed off Isa if she needed prana, especially when she was in a state when doing so would likely kill her. Such a kind girl deserved better treatment than that. Still, she could understand his reasoning. After all, she had attacked Hakuno out of nowhere.
However, whilst Rider was somewhat offended by the comment, Kiyoshi was outraged. He knew his aunt would never attack innocents in that way.
"Hey, stop insulting my aunt. She'd never attack an innocent like that", he said, angrily.
Rider looked guiltily in Kiyoshi's direction. Whilst he was right that she would not attack Isa, she had no doubt that he would also be very surprised and saddened to hear that his beloved aunt had attempted to feed off another innocent girl. And, she doubted that Shuya would tell the story in a sympathetic manner, either. But, before she could speak up, Shuya continued, making her an offer.
"It's not a conversation for the youngsters to hear. I could tell you that I'm not the one who hurt her, but I suppose you wouldn't trust a word about it." His tone was awfully calm, now that you paid attention to it. "Know what? Lead me to the vampire and I'll explain on the way. Even willing to let you carry my katana." He suggested seriously. "What you say?"
However, Rider began by replying to his previous statement, and Kiyoshi's comment.
"I would never harm a sweet girl like Isa, especially not when she's in a state like that. Feeding off her now would kill her, and that is not something I wish to occur, especially after she was so nice to me. Oh, and, by the way, my name is Rider, not 'eyepatch'".
Then, she approached Shuya more closely and, speaking quietly enough that Kiyoshi could not hear it, she said "Even if I wanted to, I would never do so in front of Kiyoshi. It would break his heart."
"Know what? Lead me to the vampire and I'll explain on the way. Even willing to let you carry my katana." He suggested seriously. "What you say?"
Rider considered her next move carefully. She did indeed not trust Shuya's statement of innocence, although she was willing to admit that he seemed to have slightly more morals than she had first thought. Even so, she saw no reason not to accept his offer, particularly since Forest was waiting right outside. He had no way to harm them without his weapon and, even better, if he did not regain her trust he would be weaponless. Plus, even if he could attack them, they were safer with Forest, Archer and Hakuno around to help.
Before she could answer, Taiga spoke up.
"Come on, let's go" she said, smiling, before starting to move towards the entrance. Kiyoshi followed her.
"Well, OK, I accept your offer, provided you hand over your weapon", she said, before turning to follow Taiga.
-
Downy Reed
It was time, as the sun rose high into the sky the nearby circle’s hum had finally changed into a low roar awakening Downy from his rest.
Dispaia in hand Downy shook off the drowsiness and glanced into the sky, with the energies in place he’d be out of here in no time, as for what happened to this city once he was gone he didn’t care, Ruin would find it’s way here one way or another, he was just merely rushing the process a bit.
“חוגים שלפרוח וליצור, ירשו לעצמכם להצטרף בהרמוניה תחת החסד האלוהי של אלוהים,
הנשימה שלך תהיה האור הביא אל האנשים אומללים האלה!”
A magnificent light burst into the sky, the magic circle now a grand roaring storm it shot up and up before splitting into three distinct directions and returning to the ground in a glorious fashion right to the locations of the perpetual gates.
“Now this world shall see the glorious gift of God’s reckoning, HAhahahahah! Let the slaughter commence!”
The gates now fueled with the intense energies from the central circle they rapidly pulsated and glowed consuming the mages around them, brighter and brighter still they grew in energies as monster after monster poured out.
Now that the gates had been completed and their energies combined the process was complete, with it they would continue to shoot out monster after monster at least one per second until they had completely consumed the magical and life energies of the surrounding areas.
The only way to stop them now, would be to destroy the circles directly with a highly concentrated magical attack, but Downy doubted that would ever happen. After all he could already hear the screams of people and roars of the monsters as they began their murderous rampage.
Now he need only wait a good three days for the circles to finish consuming the surrounding area and for them to go into an overloaded state completely annihilating everything in the area.
This will be the perfect beacon for Imnity to detect and with it his ticket home.
-
Hey, stop insulting my aunt. She'd never attack an innocent like that
Shuya raised eyebrows before the kid's rebuttal. Was he left in the dark about what his guardian did earlier? A look in the woman's direction confirmed it. He smiled for himself before such innocent behavior. No doubt the boy meant a lot for her. Shuya opened his mouth but the woman cut him before he could formulate an answer.
I would never harm a sweet girl like Isa, especially not when she's in a state like that. Feeding off her now would kill her, and that is not something I wish to occur, especially after she was so nice to me.Oh, and, by the way, my name is Rider, not 'eyepatch'".
The mixed blood stared at her as she came closer.
Even if I wanted to, I would never do so in front of Kiyoshi. It would break his heart.
Did she just try to appeal for his kind side in order to avoid hurting the boy's feelings? Shuya was more surprised than offended but, in the end, he simply chased her potential worry with a shrug. Showing more tact that you could expect, he retorted.
"Well, how would have I known? Can't blame me for being careful, can you?" His brown eyes slightly shut, he glared at Rider. "Trusting people has the side effect to bite you in the ass when you expect it the least. I don't place my faith in people easily. It's better to expect the worst from them."
He addressed a wink to Kiyoshi. "That's just how the baddies are, after all." His usual grin came back as he turned to Rider."So, don't expect us to become best pals, Rider." He added almost mockingly. Nor like there was a chance for that. "I wouldn't mind a dance or two however." Whether it was an allusion for another battle, a sexual innuendo or a proposition for a real dance, he didn't precise it.
Come on, let's go.
The girl in the wheelchair led the way without losing time. Shuya waited for Rider's answer.
Well, OK, I accept your offer, provided you hand over your weapon.
He walked besides her as they followed the girl and dropped his heavy weapon still in the scabbard in Rider's hands. Normal humans would have trouble to even lift it, but Rider was definitively much more than a human. He grimaced now that he was separated from his weapon. He had, after all, no way to know if Rider or another would attack him later on.
"Don't drop it." He asked politely. "It's the only thing I have left." The half demon kept silent for a moment, checking on Isa. After few seconds, apparently satisfied, he eyed Rider. "Ask away." He said, giving you the chance to finally get some answers.
-
The words of the man Kiyoshi had been fighting made it clear that he wanted to talk to his Aunt alone. Whilst he normally wouldn't feel comfortable leaving her alone like that, in case he needed to help her fight, he knew that Taiga's words would prevent any such act. Besides, the guy didn't seem overly intent on continuing the fight anyway.
But, most importantly, he had more important things to do. Like asking Taiga what gave her the right to violate his mind and body in that way....
So, once he regained control of his body, he followed after the smiling girl, the anger clear on his face. But, even despite that anger, he couldn't quite bring himself to shout at her, not after she had just lost her brother. Even so, though, he still felt the need to question her. As they reached the door, he spoke up.
"Taiga, do you know what it's like not to be able to control your own body? To have someone else's words controlling them? I feel naseous, dizzy and, most of all, violated. You took control of my body, I was completely helpless. It's a very uncomfortable feeling, to know someone can just control you like that.
Why did you do that to me? I'm not your enemy. I had no intention of harming you, and nor were you in any immediate danger", he said, softly but with clear annoyance in his voice.
Truthfully, Kiyoshi found it rather worrying. Whilst the girl was generally friendly, to have someone around who could just control him and, seemingly, even his Aunty Rider was extremely disconcerting. What stopped her from ordering him to do something that went against his morals?
He didn't want to just tell the girl to leave, that wouldn't be fair on her and, besides, she could always just force them to bring her along anyway. But, at the same time, he felt uncomfortable around her.
Whilst she fully expected Shuya to inform Kiyoshi of her actions, she hoped that he would understand from her words that, as long as Kiyoshi was around, she would never attack an innocent, except if the alternative was harm coming to Kiyoshi himself. As he shrugged his shoulders in response to her comments and prepared to speak, she braced herself for Kiyoshi's response when he found out what she had done. She desperately tried to think of a way she could explain her actions to the boy, but she knew that nothing she could say would satisfy his idealistic mind, although he would perhaps be reassured that she didn't intend to kill the girl, at least.
To her surprise, though, Shuya did not say anything about her previous actions, instead acknowledging her intentions towards Isa.
"Well, how would have I known? Can't blame me for being careful, can you?" he said.
Then, glaring in her direction, he continued. "Trusting people has the side effect to bite you in the ass when you expect it the least. I don't place my faith in people easily. It's better to expect the worst from them."
Surprisingly, Rider found that she could relate to Shuya's feelings in that regard. She too found it difficult to trust people, at least until she had firm evidence of their trustworthiness.
But, at the same time, she knew how big a mistake not trusting Shirou sooner had been, and how close Sakura had come to paying the ultimate price for that lack of trust. Had Shirou been even slightly less trusting himself, or had Sakura not awoken her to how important he was to her with her last command spell, Sakura would likely have never been brought back from the darkness, and Rider herself would probably have joined her.
Shuya continued to speak, his usual arrogant grin on his face.
"So, don't expect us to become best pals, Rider", he added, almost mockingly. "I wouldn't mind a dance or two however."
Whilst his recent actions and the intentions behind them meant that Shuya was no longer someone Rider would happily kill if given the chance, she was still definitely in agreement with him that they were unlikely to ever be friends. His comment about wanting to "dance" was unclear, although he presumably didn't mean it literally. Most likely he meant a battle, although there were also sexual undertones there. Despite her mostly-lesbian nature, Rider couldn't help but find the guy strangely attractive. The idea of defeating him in a battle and then doing whatever she liked to him was rather appealing, even if she no longer felt much malice towards him.
Then, accepting her terms, Shuya handed his surprisingly heavy sword over to her, politely asking her to not drop it and informing her that it was the "only thing he had left", in a way that made it seem like it had value to him beyond merely that of a weapon. She could tell that he was putting quite a lot of trust in her here, and she didn't feel inclined to break that trust by not returning the weapon later, at least as long as he was being reasonable.
Then, he checked on Isa, before turning to Rider and speaking.
"Ask away", he said.
Rider checked that Kiyoshi, who had followed Taiga towards the door, was out of earshot before responding.
"I understand you not trusting me. I too find it hard to trust people.
However, sometimes, you really do need to just trust someone, when they seem to have good intentions. My unwillingness to trust my master's husband when we first met nearly cost her any chance of living a happy life. Were it not for her actions and for his obvious kind-heartedness, I would never have come to trust him and my master would have never been saved.
As for 'dancing', I am not sure what you mean. If you want a fight, I would be happy to spar with you once I no longer need to worry about prana, but I will not risk death unnecessarily, not when my master needs me. If you mean more horizontal dancing then, well, once I have you at my mercy I will gladly 'punish' you for your failure...", she said, suggestively.
"Still, you seem less bad than I first thought. You do at least seem to have some morals, judging by your refusal to harm Kiyoshi. So, what happened to Isa? If you did not do that to her, who did?" Rider said, before following Kiyoshi towards the door, gesturing for Shuya to follow her.
-
I understand you not trusting me. I too find it hard to trust people.
However, sometimes, you really do need to just trust someone, when they seem to have good intentions. My unwillingness to trust my master's husband when we first met nearly cost her any chance of living a happy life. Were it not for her actions and for his obvious kind-heartedness, I would never have come to trust him and my master would have never been saved.
As he heard Rider explaining her views on it, Shuya's eyes wandered randomly on their surroundings, wary of a potential attack from Valken and his underlings. However, he was still focusing on her words.
"Your master and husband, eh? Are they the boy's parents? Seems like you got quite the cozy life together." He voiced, a bit of disappointment in his tone. There was no doubt the boy had her affection. And from what he heard, that "master" of hers and his husband, too. She had found a place where she enjoyed her daily life. Probably fits her better than fighting with thugs like him.
Shuya sighed before answering.
"You raise a valid point. People need to trust others to find happiness." He pulled a cigarette from his pack, bit on it and lighted it up. He extended his arm in case Rider would want to smoke and continued. "As you surely noted, I'm not really your average guy." Brown irises focused on Rider. "Half demon. My ancestors had fun with the Oni kind. Surprising guys these fellows." He said, jokingly. "To keep it short, the stronger your Oni blood, the more violent you are. You get that nice impulse messing with your mind. And if you don't satisfy that violent outburst, you get either insane or you die. Guess you get where I'm going with it." He exhaled smoke, and answered anyway. "So in order to keep it under control, I cut people down. Being a mercenary has this bonus that you rarely run out of strong guys." A lopsided grin showed on his face. "Yup, far from some shining heroes like the vampire girl, but that's the kind of monster I am. I won't hesitate to kill if it means I get to stay alive. Your first impression of me is probably the most accurate."
An insane war monger.
He decided to cut the story short. "Well, with my line of work and all, I can't allow to trust people. Not like the occasion shows up often." He looked at his own hand. "You're probably considering me a coward hiding behind my nature and stuff, but point is that I assume completely what defines me, and I take pleasure in doing it." He pulled on his shirt in order to show the impressive amount of tatoos on his muscular torso. In between, the scars, you can estimate an amount of about seventy names, classified like a list. "Here. All of them were great fighters, the three at the top almost killed me." It seemed that in his own clumsy way, Shuya honored his defeated opponents. "Betting my life and placing it others' hands, isn't something I do on a daily basis." He added, his eyes focused on Isa. "However, I understand that you're different and only targeted the other girl because you needn't it absolutely. According to me, there is no reason to justify that, whatever your reason might be."
As for 'dancing', I am not sure what you mean. If you want a fight, I would be happy to spar with you once I no longer need to worry about prana, but I will not risk death unnecessarily, not when my master needs me. If you mean more horizontal dancing then, well, once I have you at my mercy I will gladly 'punish' you for your failure..."
Shuya seemed really amused now. He addressed Rider a wink. "I'll leave it to your imagination then. Just don't get fooled though, one of the side effect of my blood is enhancing my attractiveness." He chuckled. "Just a bit though."
He entertained the thought to have some closer wrestling with Rider but let it slip out of his mind with another cloud of smoke.
Still, you seem less bad than I first thought. You do at least seem to have some morals, judging by your refusal to harm Kiyoshi. So, what happened to Isa? If you did not do that to her, who did?
"No offense Rider, but while I get that you probably do your best to be civil with me, I would rather you don't jump to conclusions. I just don't happen to attack kids ,is all. I would still cut you down if we get into another fight, regardless of the reasons. I'm not softening up because I spared the boy. Don't make that mistake or you might regret it." His words were harsh, showing no compassion, but it was better to stay honest and keep it simple.
With that out the way, he answered Rider's questions.
"To make it short, my next work was to abduct the teenager. Apparently there was some kind of deal between a certain client and the third hand man who employed my services." He paused. "My plan was to use her as a bait so that I can lure both men out. As you can imagine, those assholes rarely show up without numerous bodyguards. They would get away before I reach them." Without showing any remorse for trying to use the girl like a tool, he explained further. "Girl got unlucky though. I don't really know why but by the time I found her, some werewolves were already enjoying her." His face only betrayed disgust. "Cut the bastards down but her arm was already lost, so I cut it clean." He pointed at the missing limb. "Patched her up like I could and decided to drop her to the vampire. Figured she would need someone who can help her." He indicated the stairs. "When I searched around, I heard you screaming and you know the rest."
He leaned towards her and indicated the children.
"Probably better to reach blondie asap though. The scumbags probably sent people to repay me in kind."
His message is clear, better not waste time.
-
Satoshi sat down as the castle's insides formed around him, he was a blacksmith, unlike Archer he made weapons and he, as prince and king needed an army and that army needed weapons. He concentrated and drew a deep breath expelling fire from his lungs.the pit lit up as he threw his arm into the fire.
"it's painful" he muttered as his hand desolved into the steel his body was conceptually made of, the hot grey mess pooled at the bottom of the pit below the fire. He began to regenerate with a frown and repeated the process again and again forming an anvil then a bucket and the rest of his tools in turn.
Taiga looked at Kiyoshi, as much as one can do so with their eyes closed.
"Whining about the skills of others and how they affect you is pointless, that's all I have to say for the moment." she said offended by his tone.
-
Shirou took the offered .44, slightly surprised by its weight.
"You'll be alright?" he asked, even though he had seen first-hand what Forest could do with her bare hands and a car door.
Suddenly, two vampires charged at them, claws at the ready. Clicking back the hammer, Shirou quickly took aim and fired. He nearly broke his already worn out wrist from the tremendous recoil, but whether due to luck or just innate skill with firearms, the bullet flew true, smashing straight through one vampire's head, the force of it ripping what little remained of the head away.
He quickly turned to the next vampire, who continued towards them at a high speed, uncaring of its comrade's gruesome demise. Shirou narrowed his eyes, and aimed down the sights once more. However, just as he made to fire, the vampire quickly dodged to the right, throwing off his aim once more.
An idea brewing in his mind, Shirou quickly ran towards his adversary, dodging a wild swipe at his neck, before literally axe-kicking it to the ground, placing his foot firmly on its chest, the magnum aiming right between it eyes.
The vampire froze, eyes flickering between him and the barrel of the revolver, evidently calculating if it could get him in time. Before he knew it, a line he had heard from an old movie he'd borrowed once passed his lips, "Go on. Make my day."
The vampire quickly lunged, but before it lost all its senses it heard a loud explosion, followed by extreme pain as its head was completely pulverized.
Shirou walked away calmly, shooting down stray vampires, before quickly frowning. He never said lines like that. Was there another magus around influencing his mind? He cast a suspicious glance at the revolver, before returning to his task with cold efficiency, his face blank as he decimated the seemingly unending swarm.
-
Archer saw a brilliant flash in the sky as he bounded from rooftop to rooftop with his precious package in his arms. He gestured and said, "I take it that your friend is that way?"
Part of him was curious to see what caused such a bright flash, and he could feel the blood lust on the air that was slowly starting to blanket the city. It was like a school of sharks turning into a feeding frenzy with chum being dropped into the water. The part of him that had been corrupted was starting to respond to it; he felt the urge to join the fray, everything else be damned.
Then he looked at Rin comfortably nestled in his arms and the tiny smile she was wearing. He had someone precious to protect. However, Rin did want to help those people, and he supposed he had to help her in that goal to keep her happy.
******
Forest nodded at Shirou's question right before her left shoulder exploded into red agony. She cried out as she felt stolen blood pour through and coat the katana's blade that was currently in her shoulder. Smirking behind her was a vampire she estimated a couple hundred years old. The length of steel was pulled out of her and she cried out even as the wound started to heal from the kick of Faerie blood in her system.
He said, "When I woke up tonight, I didn't expect that I was going to kill Law Unto Herself."
"Because you're not," Forest said, slinging the car door at him. He cursed and attempted to block it with the Katana, but Forest was already in motion. Her fist impacted nicely with his face, and while he was bewildered, she yanked the sword from his hand. She gripped the shark skin coated handle before pivoting and using her wrists to slice directly into his neck. With a bit more pressure the perfectly sharpened steel sawed through flesh, muscle and bone, leaving his head tumbling to the ground as his body disentigrated into ash.
The swarm was getting more intense, and Forest could see the gray skin of ghouls as well, probably attracted to all the blood shed. They were like zombies on PCP without the nasty side effect of rot. There weren't that many, but she knew that the sheer intensity of the battle would draw other creatures as well like werewolves. She battled with her stolen sword, ending up with Shirou.
She sent to him, We need to cut this short. If this keeps up, innocent people are going to get involved and a lot of them are going to get a good case of dead. With a show of enough force a lot of these wankers might turn tail and run.
Then, at that moment, Forest saw a flash of blue, red, and flashes of fire streak towards them. Vampires were dispatched in their wake, a slaughter of the undead at wholesale. She blinked as Lancer stopped on her other side, his face smeared with blood that wasn't his own, his hair wind blown despite the pony tail, and his crimson eyes glowing. He spun his terrible spear in his hands and said, "Fore, you're in a spot of trouble, aren't you?"
"Less teasing and more slaughtering," Forest said, gesturing at the vampires before Lancer took a stance with a smirk.
She blinked as the lance in his hand began to glow with an unholy light as he struck a throwing pose. The spear was pulling more and more energy from around him, the glow intensifying even more before Lancer hunched his muscles. He shouted, "Gae Bolg!"
Then the air, speeding towards the center of a cluster of vampires. When it hit, it left a spectacular explosion in its wake. The shock wave shook cars and broke glass before pulverizing dead flesh. Ashes swirled around the red lance that was still smoldering as it stood straight up in the concrete that it had landed in.
"I'm housing Cu Chulainn," she said, her eyes wide and her voice rising a few octaves before she turned to Shirou and said, "Cu Chulainn is living with me!"
-
"What you didn't know?" Shirou asked incredulously, having recognized Lancer as soon as he had seen him back in the alleyway.
"You didn't think he was actually called Lancer did you? Then again it did take me a while to figure out Saber was King Arthur..." he trailed off.
He watched appreciatively as Lancer cut through the horde with ease, before sending a few rounds at a few ghouls trying to sneak up on him.
-
Lancer smirked and said, "I was keeping it a secret, even though if I would have known this would have been her reaction, I would have told her sooner."
Then he ran off to collect his spear and started fighting the vampires in a more melee style. He moved swiftly and furiously, but strains of his laughter could easily be heard as he was quickly surrounded by the ashes of dead vampires.
Pink stained Forest's cheeks and she said, "I knew 'Lancer' wasn't his real name, but he didn't tell me who he was! I mean if I had known that Cu Chulainn was in my house I would have . . . Acted like a dotty fangirl."
Then she kicked a ghoul's legs out from under it before taking its head with the katana. Her cheeks were still bright red and she said, "Yes, I am a nerd. Blow me."
-
Satoshi stopped as the steel finished pooling and taking his tools he began forging the builder and the answerer, the suits were simple things, things that, with his magic took no more time then a few moments. Next he created twin suits of armour, much like the previous two they did not need weapons the smaller given a shield and his hulking brother a great smithy hammer.
with such done he breathed life as he had before with Sigard. These four brothers however were not his lost friend, nor would he treat them so poorly. He gave each automaton an order, the shield one and the answerer were to guard the castle gate and ward off those seeking entry into the castle.
The builder and the smith were to construct more armoured suits and having done that Satoshi painted runes on the walls and began meditation.
Alter smelled blood and the sounds of combat rang in her ears, a light in the sky burst forth. She had been however snubbed by that woman forest so she decided instead to investigate the castle that had appeared in the center of town.
-
"Eh, everyone's a nerd for something nowadays," Shirou said casually, filing away the information for future teasing, something he'd recently discovered he enjoyed almost as much as cooking. He continued providing covering fire at a safe distance away from the crowd Lancer was engaging, the false bravado he forced into his voice covering the fact that his body wasn't starting to tremble beneath his coat in exhaustion. He couldn't give in to it, couldn't allow himself rest, not when there were still people who needed help.
"Anyone else coming Lancer? I'd like to get this mess cleaned up so we can go after Isa."
-
Rin saw a bright flash, right where they were heading. Archer gestured towards the source of the light. "I take it that your friend is that way?"
She gave a grim nod in response, her smile fading. "Looks like we really are in for a fight." The young magus put on a determined smile. "But it's probably nothing the two of us can't handle. Let's clean up this mess so we can go back to the apartments and get settled in." Rin didn't mind the upcoming fight entirely, but the thought of getting cleaned up and getting some rest was quite appealing within itself. The sooner we get this done, the better.
***
Ten Years Ago
Finn whistled a merry tune as he grabbed a soda from the refrigerator, hardly noticing the precipitation that quickly formed on the can. Hot summer's day that it was, it probably hadn't been the best day to take a quick run, but he felt like it was worth it. As he walked by, casually flipping back the tab of his pop can, he heard noises coming from the living room. Curious, he walked over to the entryway and peered inside.
Sitting perhaps a bit close to the TV was his little sister, her eyes narrowed in determination, her fingers dancing over the buttons on the controller in her hand as she pressed the buttons perhaps a touch too hard. She was playing Super Mario World, and she seemed to be in the last stage, and struggling at that. With the sound of the death jingle and a "gah!" from Mille, things didn't seem to be improving on that front.
Weird that she's playing Super Mario World. Lately she's mostly been trying to study Magecraft. Taking a swig from his pop can, Finn walked over to his frustrated younger sibling. "Hey sis. Playing some Mario?"
Mille had restarted the level, her eyes not leaving the screen. "I'm trying to beat this game all by myself. Every time I've played, it's been with you helping me somehow or you playing as Player 2. I'm trying to be more independant, so I'm starting with something simple."
Finn tilted his head. "But you're seven. Does that even matter?"
"I'm a big girl now. And big girls have to learn to take care of themselves. I can't be all weak and useless. No one likes a weak and useless girl."
Finn frowned a bit. "Huh? You're not weak and useless. Getting help sometimes doesn't make you weak and useless either. You sure you don't want me to help you out as Luigi?"
"No. I'm doing this all by myself and that's that."
"Can I at least give you some tips?"
"No."
"Can I even watch?"
Mille sighed. "Fine. But try not to talk. I wanna concentrate."
So Finn watched his sister play for a good hour. She eventually figured out how to get through the main stage, but kept dying to Bowser. Mille looked like she wanted to throw her controller at the nearby wall. "Arrgh! Stupid game! That stupid lizard's cheating! Why'm I having so much trouble!?"
Finn spoke up. "You sure you don't want me to help? Even big girls don't have to do everything on their own you know."
Mille looked at her brother in exasperation. "I told you, I wanna do this by myself! How am I supposed to be a great Magus if I rely on everyone else all the time?"
So that's why she's doing this. Finn sat down next to his sister. "Actually, I think you try to do stuff by yourself too often. But still, I got faith in ya." Finn grinned at her. "Maybe all you need is a different approach."
"Like what exactly?" she replied, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Try having more fun with it," Finn said. "Don't worry so much about trying to achieve it, just enjoy playing the game and go with it."
"Don't know how that's supposed to help," Mille muttered. But she tried to do as he said, forgetting the consequences and just enjoying the game. It took a few rounds, but she managed to beat Bowser and the game with him.
Mille stared at the credits dumbfounded before turning to her brother, confused. "Wait, when I took it less seriously, it became easier. How did that work?"
Finn grinned. "Because you were having fun. If you take stuff so seriously all the time, you're more likely to get all worried and... stuff. Makes it harder to focus on things."
Mille stared at him blankly. "But that doesn't make sense. Don't you have to take things seriously in order to do your best?"
Her brother shrugged. "Eh, it's kinda hard to explain. It's just something you kinda have to find out for yourself I think. You're super smart, so I bet you figure it out someday."
"I don't know if I ever will." Mille turned off the game console before getting up to leave. "I'm going to try and run a bit. A strong magus also has a healthy body." She turned back to Finn. "And, umm.... thanks for the advice." She hesitated, before giving Finn a quick hug. Her face was flushed embarrassment for doing such a sappy thing as she ran out to take her run.
Finn smiled at his sister as she made her dash for the outdoors. She's way too serious 'bout stuff, but I'm glad she's my little sis. Gotta admire that determination.
He frowned. ....But she's always so worried about doing well in everything and trying to do things on her own. Why's she so worried about it? It's not like anyone but me's gonna see it, and then, why care about what anybody else thinks? ...I don't know, maybe when she's older, she'll start having more fun with stuff and not feel like she has to try so hard all the time.
Finn shrugged. Ah well, time for another pop from the fridge, I'm thirsty. If I take the one behind the milk carton, Mom won't notice and yell at me to drink healthier or whatever.
The Present
The car ride towards the hotel had been mostly silent. Mille had spent most of the ride glowering at the windshield. The atmosphere weighed heavily on Finn as he tried to think of something to break the ice. Finn actually found himself a bit perplexed by his sister's behavior. She'd always been too serious and a bit on the grouchy side, but not to this extreme.
It didn't take him long to think of the most likely answer- The Magus Association. Someone as eager to prove herself as Mille would have a hard time dealing with all the elitism and classism that the Association had running rampant through it like a plague. Mille came from a country that was looked down upon by the Association, her family was fairly new and used an unpopular form of Magecraft, and she was female. In spite of her talent, with all the backwards viewpoints that many Association members held so tightly, it was likely they looked down at her as no more than some very nice breeding stock. Knowing how boneheaded Mille could be about things, she likely didn't even consider any of that and kept trying to impress them anyway. With that all in mind, it didn't surprise him that she was so bitter and angry now.
That's probably why she has that grudge she seems to have against Tohsaka too, he thought. She has a slightly older family and got pretty successful, so sis probably hates her for that. But that seems too petty for sis. Did the Association change her, or is there something more specific that's the cause?
There was a bright flash of light near their destination, which looked kind of like some kind of explosion. "That can't be good." Finn took advantage of the street being empty to put even more pressure on the gas pedal. "Let's put the pedal to the metal."
"You're already going too fast! What if you hit something?!"
"Your big brother knows what he's doing. Trust me, we'll be fine!" Finn felt bad that this was pretty much the only conversation they'd had the entire car ride, but perhaps now wasn't the best time anyway. He had a pretty big bomb to drop anyway newswise, and he didn't want to distract Mille for the upcoming battle.
Finn zipped and zagged until they reached the hotel parking lot. No one there. They ran towards the general direction of the explosion from before. What they saw was a chaotic mess. Three figures were fighting off a massive horde of vampires: a tall, copper skinned man wearing a red biker jacket and wielding a strange pair of swords, a tall blonde woman fighting quite skillfully with a katana, and a young man with silver hair and a .44.
Mille quickly surmised that the blonde woman must be Forest. She wasn't sure who the two men were, but the tall man looked oddly identical to Archer in a number of ways. One thing was clear though. With this many vampires, the three alone couldn't hold out on their own without falling out of exhaustion.
But as if delivered from on high, the familiar blue clad figure of Lancer swooped down and took down a swarm of undead, the mighty spear tearing the undead asunder in a burst of gore they could see even from this distance.
They saw him readjust his stance and prepare to throw the terrible red spear. From even where they stood, they could hear his shout. "Gae Bolg!" A brilliant burst of red light cut its way through hoards of the undead, magnificent in the destruction and entrails it left within its wake.
Mille looked on for a moment in stunned silence. "It's him then. It's really him."
Finn looked at his sister, confused. "Huh? What are you talking about, sis?"
The magus girl turned around to face her brother at almost inhuman speed. "W-what?! What do you mean you can't tell who he is?!" She pointed rather sharply in Lancer's direction. "That's Cu Chulainn you moron! You know, the one from the stories we heard as kids? One of the greatest heroes in Irish lore? Do you have no pride or respect for your heritage?!"
Finn rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh yeah, him. Yeah, I thought that attack sounded familiar. Huh, that's pretty cool. Must be a Servant then?"
Mille pinched the bridge of her nose. "Are you really that stupid?"
Finn shrugged. "Eh, just wasn't that worried about the details. I like to keep things simple and focus on the important stuff. The important thing earlier was that he wasn't going to kill me with that mean spear of his. And the important thing now is that those guys over there need a hand." He took his rifle that he had retrieved from the apartments earlier down from his shoulder and readied it for firing. "So then, what's the plan?"
Mille carefully surveyed the area around her. She noticed that the vampires were mostly clustered around the combatants, so there was a large space near where they were open and clear of the creatures for the most part. Mille retrieved a knife from her backpack. "Get rid of the vampires by way of fire. I'm going to set up a trap over here for them. I'll need someone or multiple someones to lure them over here when the time is right. I'll give you a whistle when I've got it set up. I'll need time to draw all the runes for the circle though, so I'll need this place to stay relatively clear until then."
"And what do you want me to do?"
"Tell the others about my plan if possible. And not die I guess. Otherwise, I got it covered." She gave him a dismissive gesture, almost as if she were shooing him away. "Now get over there, and be careful. Get up on the rooftops if you have to. If this works out the way I have it planned, we should be able to get rid of most of the vampires in one shot."
Finn nodded. "Got it. Don't worry about me, this isn't the first time I've done missions like this." He grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up. "Just leave it to me!"
Mille rolled her eyes. "Whatever, just get going." She sighed. "And good luck, I guess."
Finn nodded and headed off towards the fray. Mille got over to her starting position and began carving runes. The prana cost would be high, and it'd be tedious work, but if she pulled this off, the conflict would hopefully come to a much swifter end.
-
"Whining about the skills of others and how they affect you is pointless, that's all I have to say for the moment", Taiga said, with clear annoyance.
Kiyoshi was rather stunned by that response. He'd expect it from an enemy, of course, but this girl was supposedly his friend.
"If you were my enemy then I would agree, but you're supposed to be on our side. Usually you try not to cause harm and suffering to your allies", he said with equal annoyance.
With that, he walked outside, expecting to see people waiting for them as his aunt had suggested. To his surprise, though, no-one was there.
He did, however, notice a massive black castle in the distance.
What the hell? he thought.
Then, suddenly, he saw a massive explosion nearby, and felt a shockwave.
What was that?
Rider couldn't help but feel sympathy for Shuya. She knew what it was like to be a monster, to be forced to kill for your own survival. In all honestly, he didn't seem all that different from her in some ways. Both of them seemed to enjoy making others suffer, although he seemed to prefer killing, whereas she found pain arousing.
Still, she knew he would have to be careful around him. There was no doubt he would kill her without hesitation if they ever fought, and she also wouldn't be surprised to see him attack her out of the blue.
"Yes, Kiyoshi is my master's son. Her life is happy, but she earnt that happiness, and I will protect it with everything I have. Still, as long as you have no intention of harming him, I see no reason to fight you. I do not dislike fighting, but I have no desire to risk my life unnecessarily.
And, no, I don't blame you for how you are. I know what it's like to be a monster, and I don't blame you for how you were born. I don't think you're a 'coward' for following your nature. I am not fond of your attitude to killing, I see it as a necessary evil not something to be done for enjoyment, but as long as you leave me and my friends alone I will not fight you.
I don't expect you to spare me if we fight, though and nor should you expect such a thing from me. but, nor should expect me to fight fairly. Only an idiot cares about honour when their life is on the line. I will do whatever it takes to protect my family and the life they have, and to protect my friends and allies."
Then, Rider considered his explantion of what had happened to Isa. His approach to capturing the slavers seemed reasonable enough, although she felt somewhat annoyed at how much danger he'd put Isa in.
"Hmm, well, I understand your intentions with Isa, but shouldn't you have perhaps put her in a bit less danger...?"
With that, she followed the children out of the door, and gestured for Shuya to follow.
"Forest should be waiting just outside", she said.
-
Taiga rolled past Kiyoshi and stopped "given that you failed to remember the person you were just fighting I think it would be best if you stay with your aunt" she said looking at the castle.
"I'm going to find my brother" she stated rolling towards a crosswalk.
Satoshi sighed finishing the spell causing the ground to tremble. Satoshi opened his eyes seeing his success in bringing a tremendous amount of steel to the magic circle.
grinning he began forging arms and armour.
-
The half demon nodded to Rider's opinion concerning his arguments. He was surprised to hear that she could relate somewhat to his situation, but he would never ask about it. Some things were better kept for one's own discretion, after all. Shuya wouldn't have minded exchanging more words with her though, possibly around a good drink, but it will probably never happen. He sighed, almost mocking himself. Who cared if they did or not get along, in the end? As long as they understood each other's intentions, it was enough. And they apparently had come to an agreement on that.
"Hmm, well, I understand your intentions with Isa, but shouldn't you have perhaps put her in a bit less danger...?
He had a grimace.
"The heck you think I'm searching blondie for?"
He followed Rider outside and was met with a powerful detonation as soon as he stepped out. Eyesight and hearing translating it as something coming from people battling each other. The mixed blood looked intently in that direction before shifting his focus on a large scale dungeon who wasn't there earlier. "Seems like people are messing up with the town more than usual." He said calmly.
I'm going to find my brother.
Shuya wasn't sure how to react to that. The girl didn't waste any time and took her leave with these words. Their options were clear, the choice, not so obvious. The mixed blood wasn't ready to argue with a girl he barely met. Especially if her family was concerned. He eyed Rider with a serious expression, with the intent to let her decide. People were in difficulty not far, but leaving the girl alone was probably a bad idea. The boy would probably run after her too. "Your call." He said apparently unconcerned about it.
He would tag along anyway, not like he felt interested in any of these. His own goal was to find the vampire, after all. Well, he could do with a good fight, but that was his normal attitude towards it.
-
Lancer nodded and answered, "Aye, we've got all sorts of carvery on the way." He looked at Shirou, scowled, and said, "And one of them you outta stay far away from."
Forest scowled, looked at Shirou, and said, "Depending on who else comes, we might be able to break away and look for her."
*****
Archer saw the swarm of vampires, Lancer dealing damage, and almost laughed at the sight of a version of himself dressed in a ridiculous biker jacket and leather pants with some magical girl. He landed with Rin and said, "You neglected to mention that there was another version of me running around."
He eyed the girl wielding Ruby and said, "However he seemed to trade down with his Master."
The sight of Lancer dealing death with Gae Bolg wasn't a surprising one. However the attractive blond teenage girl with the katana and tattered clothes standing by what looked like some version of Emiya Shirou. From the white hair, Archer reasoned that the young alternate version of himself was already damned from the path of the hero. He could also sense that he was almost out of prana, and that the girl with the katana wasn't human.
He traced his beloved falchions, threw Kansho in a graceful arch, letting it behead a few vampires before guiding back to his hand. He looked at Rin and said, "Your new little apprentice is planning something. We have better things to do than deal with these pathetic excuses for Dead Apostles."
-
Rin looked down at the massive battle occurring below, spotting just about everyone they had left behind in the process except for Rider and Isa. The enemy was coming in thick and fast, and she could already tell that the combatants below seemed exhausted.
Archer landed with Rin on a nearby rooftop that gave them a good view of the events transpiring on the ground. He turned to look at her. "You neglected to mention that there was another version of me running around." He turned away from Rin herself to eye Ruby's latest victim. "However he seemed to trade down with his Master."
Rin looked down for herself and found herself glowering at the stick in the girl's hand. Ruby just had to choose someone as inexperienced and vulnerable as Kishinami-chan, didn't she? She'd take care of that nuisance after this mess was taken care of.
"She has potential, but unlike Garrison-chan, she doesn't have much in the way of training or experience as far as I can tell. So I suppose you can say that." Her eyes lowered a bit. "He seems pretty happy with her, though...." Realizing that she'd neglected to answer his first question and also realizing she perhaps said too much, she perked back up. "A-and as for the other Archer, I-I didn't think it was important at the time! B-besides, his Master isn't hostile and he's not under my control, so I thought it wasn't important, really!" Rin realized that her face felt like it was on fire. She turned away from Archer to look down at the ruckus once more, ashamed.
Thankfully, Archer changed the subject as he allowed Kansho to gracefully behead some of the vampires. He looked back at her and said, "Your new little apprentice is planning something. We have better things to do than deal with these pathetic excuses for Dead Apostles."
She looked over and saw that Mille seemed to be drawing something on the ground in the distance. She couldn't tell what they were from this far away, but knowing what she did from Mille's file, they had to be runes. "Garrison-chan's family specializes in rune magic. They're great at creating barriers, so she must be preparing to create one." She frowned. "I'm not sure what she's doing though. I guess she could be making one for us to retreat to, but I'm not sure how much good it'd do us or why it has to be so large."
"It's not meant for us, actually. It's meant for the vamps."
Rin cried out and jumped back at the sound of Finn's voice. "Y-you moron! Why didn't you make yourself known first, for all we knew you could have been a vampire!"
The young mercenary grinned. "Heh, you sound like my sister." Finn rubbed the back of his neck in casual embarrassment. "Sorry about that. Didn't realize I was so sneaky."
"What are you even doing up here anyway?"
He gestured to his rifle. "Better place to shoot vampires. Plus I'm under orders from Mille to tell people about her plan, so here I am."
"So what is her plan exactly? A large barrier to trap the vampires by itself isn't going to do us much good."
"Well, from what I gathered, my sis isn't stopping with one ring of runes- she's going with two. Making it so we have a vampire barbeque in there."
Rin quickly put the pieces together. "So she's making a second ring of runes to set them all on fire once they're all trapped inside the barrier."
Finn nodded. "Yup, that's the gist of it. Sis wants us to lure the vamps to the rings once she has them set up. She's going to give us a whistle once she's ready." He turned to look down at the combatants. Finn's cheeks flushed faintly. "Huh, that blonde lady with the katana sure is something. Who is she?"
"That's Forest, our Landlady." Rin gave him a mischievous smirk. "I take it you want to check out more than just a room from her?"
His flush deepened. "I just appreciate a woman that can hold her own, that's all."
"Uh huh. You weren't drooling over her at all. Just admiring her swordsmanship."
He grinned faintly. "Well, give me some credit, there's plenty to drool over."
"Shouldn't you be getting down there and telling Forest about your sister's plan instead of gawking at her?"
"Yeah, probably. Anything else you guys need from me before I go down there?"
***
Mille had gotten a quarter of the way done drawing her first circle of runes when she spotted a group of figures coming out of the hotel in the distance. She eyed the group warily as she continued her work, hoping none of them were hostile.
-
As he watched Taiga begin to leave after insulting him once more, Kiyoshi was highly tempted to just let the annoying little brat go.
But, even with the power of her mystic eyes she had, she was still an eight-year-old girl. However much of an annoying, stuck-up bitch she was, he couldn't just leave such a young child alone and vulnerable. Whilst her eyes would keep her safe in most situations, what would happen to the girl if she came across someone who could resist them? And, where would she stay? He doubted very much if she would be able to find her brother, and even if she did there was no guarantee he would keep her safe.
With a sigh, Kiyoshi chased after the girl. Swallowing his pride, he apologised for his actions.
"Look, I'm sorry, OK.
I know you think you can defend yourself, I know your eyes are powerful, but what happens if someone resists them, or finds away around them? What will you do then?
And, where will you stay? It's late, and you have no house to go to.
I understand that you miss your brother, but you can't help him alone. If you try, he'll only end up killing you, and that will hurt both of you. Aunty Rider is strong, she can help you save your brother. Please, stay with us. Let us help you."
As she moved outside, Rider felt an explosion coming from nearby. One which had a very distinct magical signature.
A Noble Phantasm..., she thought.
There were only two people who could have produced such a thing, and if either of them were fighting then, most likely, so was Forest. She knew she should head in that direction. But....
"I'm going to find my brother", Taiga said, before wheeling herself in the direction of a crossroad.
Damn it.
Personally, Rider was quite happy to let the girl leave, given the attitude she seemed to be taking to Kiyoshi. But, unfortunately, she knew that her master's son would not feel the same way and, aside from taking him away by force, there was little she could do but follow in his footsteps. Her worries were confirmed when he walked towards the girl.
She turned towards Shuya, noticing the castle in the background.
"Yes, that castle seems rather odd, doesn't it...", she said.
Rider looked at it more closely. It was clearly not natural. Indeed, it looked like it had been made using her own master's magic.
Angra Mainyu....
She was unsure of how the castle had come into being so quickly, but it was clear that whoever had built it was using Angra Mainyu's cursed magic. Which meant that there was a high chance that Satoshi himself was there. And, Taiga seemed aware of this.
"Your call", Shuya said, his indifference clear.
But, Rider knew that the decision would not be in her hands. Kiyoshi would never let the girl walk off alone. Indeed, Kiyoshi had demonstrated that quite handily with his words to her.
"I can't leave the girl. Kiyoshi would never forgive himself if any harm came to her, and my master would not be too pleased about it either", she said, before walking towards her.
Then, she addressed Taiga.
"Your brother is in that castle, isn't he?" she said.
"Do you really think you could get in alone? You need our help...."
-
Taiga looked at Kiyoshi and then rider.
"Medusa was killed by Perseus, my brother hung him from a tree by his feet on principle alone when he was barely strong enough to defeat Kotomine, now my brother can effortlessly beat Gilgamesh. Unless your help includes a noble phantasm which banishes evil I fail to see how you can help me" she replied pausing to look at the castle.
"my brother is that castle, he has extensive skill in the use of barriers you won't find a way in if you go, family comes first, that's what uncle says, even cursed big brother will remember that, I won't be hurt" she stated pushing the cross walk button.
Sakura was a bit overwhelmed by all the prana flying around so finding the tallest building she headed for the roof.
Satoshi continued to forged armour as the builder started putting together the finished pieces.
-
I can't leave the girl. Kiyoshi would never forgive himself if any harm came to her, and my master would not be too pleased about it either.
Shuya looked at Rider, Kiyoshi and the wheelchair girl. He had a feeling it would turn like that.
He was already getting annoyed. Not so far from them, a fight was occurring. He resisted the urge to drop Isa without a care and to go join the melee, barehanded if needed. Eventually, he heard Taiga words and frowned.
"Why the rush?" The half demon walked up to the others. "Get that you wanna see your brother but, care to explain yourself a bit?" The words of Taiga may have made sense for Rider, but for him it was like being dropped in a foreign country without knowing a word. "What is it about Medusa and Perseus? Gilgamesh? What's a phantasm thing? And finally, what kind of evil are we talking about?"
All those were legitimate questions for someone not familiar with the Holy Grail Wars.
-
Rider's face twisted in annoyance at Taiga's mention of her defeat at Perseus's hands. Of course she lost to him when he was shown such blatant favouritism.
"Perseus only won because of the damn gods, though. I'd like to see him try taking me..dusa on without all those damn Noble Phantasms", she said, angrily, before realising that she probably shouldn't announce her identity with Shuya standing behind her.
After all, she went by a class name for a reason, and Shuya was a potential future enemy.
"What is it about Medusa and Perseus? Gilgamesh? What's a phantasm thing? And finally, what kind of evil are we talking about?" Shuya said.
"Medusa is my Au...", Kiyoshi started saying.
But, realising what he was about to say, Rider talked over him.
"Awesomest, most favourite mythological person, right Kiyoshi. You don't need to tell everyone that", she said, desperately looking for a way to finish his sentence.
Then, she turned to Shuya.
"Have you never heard of Gilgamesh? Or even Medusa?" she said. "As for the rest, Noble Phantasms are the most powerful weapons possessed by servants like me, Lancer and Archer. The explosion we just saw was most likely Lancer using his.
And, the evil to which we refer is Angra Mainyu, which is a manifestation of all the world's evil. It corrupts people, too. It corrupted my master, once, and the results were not good. Regardless of what Taiga might say, I do not believe that Satoshi can be trusted not to harm her in this state, especially if the corruption has complete control of him".
Then, she turned to Taiga.
"I agree with Shuya here. You can't help your brother as you are, you should come with us, get some rest and then we can plan a way to help him. Even if I cannot defeat him alone, we surely can manage it as a group".
Then, Kiyoshi spoke up.
"I'm not leaving you alone, Taiga. I will follow all the way to the castle if I have to.
I don't care what Perseus did, Aunty Rider is still awesome, she'll find a way to help your brother."
Hearing that, Rider gave off a massive sigh.
Damn it, Kiyoshi, I cannot fight him.
-
Sakura finished her climb and then stopped as she exited to the roof she began to sing causing her magic circuit to switch on, first she separated her senses and found each prana source, a few like her father but one especially familiar to her personally.
breathing deep Sakura reinforced her body and took and running leapt off a near by crane using the wind to propel her through the air and totaling a car as she landed not thirty feet from Rider, Taiga and the two boys.
seeing Taiga Sakura strolled over smiling "sup lil tiger?" she asked unintentionally ignoring her dynamic entry and the three other people around the the wheel chair bound red head.
"Satoshi got taken by Avenger again" Taiga stated politely.
Sakura smiled and patted Taiga's head "well ok, big sister will take care of it then, don't you worry"
Taiga nodded and smiled quite relieved by Sakura's presence.
Sakura turned to the other three "Stand there, as in don't just. Names, relations, why you are within ten feet of the leader of the thundercats, first you, then you and finally that one" she stated pointing at Kiyoshi then Rider and finally to Shuya
-
Rider and Kiyoshi were waiting for Taiga and Shuya to respond when they heard a loud crash. Looking in the direction of the noise, they were surprised to see a girl standing on top of a crumpled car. As the girl approached, though, they couldn't help but notice that she looked like a much taller version of Aoi, except that her facial features were more like those of her Aunt Rin than even Aoi's were. And, she was wearing a coat much like the one Rin often wore.
She looks like Aoi-nee! thought Kiyoshi, excitedly. Maybe she's mum's daughter.
Kiyoshi felt excited at the possibility of meeting another half-sibling. Hopefully this one would be somewhat nicer than Taiga....
She's like an even hotter version of Rin, thought Rider.
Plus, she was tall, which meant that Rider would feel less self-conscious about her own height.
The girl walked up to Taiga and, smiling, said "sup lil tiger?"
Ah, she must be from Taiga's universe, thought Rider.
Judging by her looks, Rider guessed that she was probably Rin's child, or maybe Sakura's. Of course, who the father was she had no idea. Presumably someone tall....
"Satoshi got taken by Avenger again", Taiga stated in response to the new arrival's question.
Again? thought Rider, astonished at how the two girls reacted as if it were a common occurance. How often does he end up like this?
"well ok, big sister will take care of it then, don't you worry", Sakura replied, patting Taiga's head.
They're sisters?
Both Rider and Kiyoshi were rather surprised by this turn of events. Both had presumed that the girl was related to Rin but, seemingly, she was actually Taiga and Satoshi's sibling. The matter-of-fact way that she said she would "take care of it" seemed odd, too, given that Rider knew even she would struggle to defeat Satoshi in a fight.
Then, the girl turned to them and spoke.
"Stand there, as in don't just. Names, relations, why you are within ten feet of the leader of the thundercats, first you, then you and finally that one" she stated, pointing at Kiyoshi, then Rider and, finally, Shuya.
What the fuck is she on about? thought Rider. And, is everyone in her world a tactless moron?
Rider found herself rather annoyed at the girl's attitude. She just shows up out of nowhere and starts demanding stuff of them, without even explaining who she was first. Especially since she almost certainly knew damn well who Rider was.
Kiyoshi was equally annoyed and confused by her statement. Unlike Rider, he understood that the "thundercats" statement referred to Taiga, but he had no idea what her first sentence meant, and he saw no reason why they should explain theirselves.
Rider, however, spoke up first.
"Isn't it usually polite to introduce yourself before demanding it of others? And, you know damn well who I am, so why even bother to ask?" she said, clearly annoyed by the girl's beligerant attitude.
-
Medusa is my Au...
Awesomest, most favourite mythological person, right Kiyoshi. You don't need to tell everyone that.
Shuya closed eyelids. The way Rider just interrupted the boy was far from being natural and felt awfully forced. When he finally opened his eyes, he met with Rider's face.
"Have you never heard of Gilgamesh? Or even Medusa?
Of course he heard the names. Someone with a passion for history like him knew probably more than your average fellow about them. What he didn't understood was why the names were ever mentioned.
As for the rest, Noble Phantasms are the most powerful weapons possessed by servants like me, Lancer and Archer. The explosion we just saw was most likely Lancer using his.
So, there was more than herself around? His attention fell in the direction of the nearby battle instinctively. What kind of person would the others be? And what would Rider's Noble Phantasm be? As a warrior, his curiosity was picked.
And, the evil to which we refer is Angra Mainyu, which is a manifestation of all the world's evil. It corrupts people, too. It corrupted my master, once, and the results were not good. Regardless of what Taiga might say, I do not believe that Satoshi can be trusted not to harm her in this state, especially if the corruption has complete control of him.
These were probably bad news but the half demon felt a thrilling shiver run through his back. Was it something much like a tainted touch? Or a conscious being who would take over someone? All the world's evil sounded rather pretentious though. Evil acts were accomplished daily, and claiming it to be only an entity's fault was rejecting responsibility and/or being delusional. He was well placed to know it. Rider didn't seem the kind to blatantly lie, so he chose to not comment about it. No matter what, letting the girl go alone wouldn't feel right.
I agree with Shuya here. You can't help your brother as you are, you should come with us, get some rest and then we can plan a way to help him. Even if I cannot defeat him alone, we surely can manage it as a group.
Logical step. Going with a group of Servants, or whatever they decide to call themselves, wouldn't hurt.
I'm not leaving you alone, Taiga. I will follow all the way to the castle if I have to.
I don't care what Perseus did, Aunty Rider is still awesome, she'll find a way to help your brother.
It probably escaped him without realizing, but Kiyoshi pretty much dropped what Rider probably tried to act from Shuya. He was seriously surprised to hear that and it showed on his face. There was no doubt she was something entirely beyond humans, but to think the girl he tried to kill earlier would be someone he read about was... Wrong? Frightening? Exciting? Confusing? None of these seemed to have enough emphasis to translate his feelings about it. But again, it did fit with how she was able to understand how alien he was to humanity. He detailed her carefully, not sure what to expect from her after learning this.
He saw her sighing for some reason. Something irritating scratched at the back of his mind and he growled for himself. Why did she feel the need to hide that? Didn't he just told her about himself? Shuya gritted his teeth, clearly annoyed without being able to understand why it mattered at all. For an unknown reason, he felt some akin to treason. Such behavior could only be answered with violence. He wished her pain. To tear apart her white neck with a wild bite. Open her ribcage with burning hands. Drink her sweet sanguine fluid with a grim pleasure. Rip her beautiful traits to shreds. Break each of her bones like a melody.
KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL.
He eventually looked away while rubbing his face. His distorted mind was asking for blood. Although being able to keep it in check for now, it was affecting his trail of thoughts. With time, it would grow enough to force him to let it out, in one way or another. He had to get rid of the teenager soon, otherwise, things would get complicated.
KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL.
Not good. Damn it. It was hard. He didn't have to hold back for years. The sudden resistance seemed only to serve a foothold to push him back.
"Grr..."
When a girl wrecked a car upon landing, few meters from them, Shuya looked at her with eyes of predator, her loud arrival raising his demonic instincts further.
"..."
Brown irises followed the unknown woman, emanating only murder intent towards her.
"..."
The prey discussed with wheelchair girl. And then addressed to the boy and traitor. Then him. In a condescending manner.
YOU'RE LOOKING DOWN ON ME???
KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL.
"Rrrhhh..."
Shuya's head tilted and Isa fell from his shoulder, without him giving a care in the world. His demon blood thickening enough to sent an heat wave washing over all witnesses in the surrounding area. A deafening bellow resonated as his lungs emptied and blazing red hair flashed. Scarlet eyes peered through the scathing aura already surrounding him. An instant later, the humanoid bullet of pure hatred and violence rushed straight to Sakura at a speed way above what he ever showed in his previous clash with Rider.
KILL.
A burning claw directed to the girl's face, his evil grin widened.
-
Sakura quick drew a katana from her jacket and spoke "element metal, come forth." she said causing an metal sphere like bubble to enclose Rider, Kiyoshi, Taiga and Sakura herself and protect the group from Shuya's assault.
Admittedly Sakura had picked a terrible barrier overall but at least he couldn't break it down in a single strike.
"Barrier's up, I had expected to keep the casual attitude Rider but captain crazy stopped that cold, I'm Satoshi's half sister and my parents should be blindingly obviously. Taiga when this Barrier drops you and the boy there need to run for safety, I'll deal with this idiot." Sakura stated
Taiga nodded "ok" she stated quietly.
-
Mille looked up from the rune she was drawing as heat suddenly washed over her. One of the figures in the group she saw before let out a loud bellow and attacked another figure who she didn't recognize from before. The newcomer put up some sort of strange metal barrier around the other members of the group to stop the assault.
This doesn't look good. Mille turned back to look at the sprawling melee, where she knew her brother to be running around in somewhere, who could be dead now for all she knew. But we have bigger problems. I can't stop now.
The group over there would have to be left to their fate. This trap was going to take a massive toll on the young magus once completed, and it made her wary even sparing the extra prana to reinforce her knife to keep it from dulling as she etched runes into the pavement. She had made good progress on the outer ring, but she still had work to do. Mille turned back to the task at hand, hoping that with this, at least one conflict could finally reach its end.
-
What the hell?
Rider and Kiyoshi both felt a wave of heat crash into them, before hearing Shuya let out an almost deafening bellow as his hair and eyes changed colour. Then, dropping Isa onto the floor without any care, he charged at the newcomer, his speed far greater than he had previously shown.
Crap, he's inverted, thought Rider.
Shuya had told her of his demon blood, and Rider was aware from Rin of some of what that entailed. Plus, he had told her previously that he needed to keep his violent impulses in check. She was unsure of what, exactly, had triggered him to invert in this way, but from the way that he was going after the newcomer he had obviously found her attitude even more grating than Rider herself had.
More worryingly, though, in that state he could not be trusted not to attack the children. Indeed, the way that he had suddenly dropped Isa indicated that he couldn't really care less about them any more. And, with Kiyoshi as he was, that meant he could be in real danger.
Rider considered her options. She could protect Kiyoshi, or she could help the newcomer. Honestly, she suspected the girl could at least protect herself against one attack, so she didn't see any reason to make a move right now. Once Kiyoshi was out of the way, then she could help defeat the opponent.
Kiyoshi, on the other hand, had nothing to consider. Summoning his swords, he prepared to jump in to protect the girl, as Rider mentally cursed the hero complex he'd gotten from his father. However, to Rider's relief, Kiyoshi's movement was not quick enough for him to be able to protect the girl.
Her relief, and Kiyoshi's, further increased when the girl pulled out a Katana.
Ah, good, she can at least put up a fight, thought Rider.
Then, the girl spoke.
"Element metal, come forth".
And, with that, a giant metal sphere formed around them, with her and Kiyoshi both inside, along with Taiga and the newcomer. Then, the girl spoke up.
"Barrier's up, I had expected to keep the casual attitude Rider but captain crazy stopped that cold, I'm Satoshi's half sister and my parents should be blindingly obviously. Taiga when this Barrier drops you and the boy there need to run for safety, I'll deal with this idiot."
The girl's statement momentarily confused Rider.
Half-sister? thought Rider.
She couldn't understand how that could be. It was obvious from her looks that her mother was either Sakura or Rin, but Shirou wasn't the sort of person who would cheat on his wife in that way, but Shirou couldn't have a child with two people.
Unless....
Oh, of course, Archer..., Rider thought.
Rider knew of Rin's affection for her former servant, so she could easily believe that, in a universe where servants had survived, they could have married and had children. And, that meant that Taiga and Sakura were, in a sense, half-sisters, in the same way as Kiyoshi seemed to consider Taiga to be his own half-sister.
Kiyoshi, on the other hand, was more bothered by the second part. He had no intention of running for safety, not when someone was in danger. He was going to stand and fight alongside this new girl who, judging by her looks, was his mother's daughter, although she was apparently also somehow Taiga's sister.
Rider, though, knew exactly what Kiyoshi would be thinking.
"Kiyo, we'll deal with Shuya. You need to get Taiga to safety, and protect her if the idiot comes after you two", she said.
Of course, Rider knew that Taiga likely would not need protecting. Her eyes could quite easily deal with any threat. But, she also knew that the only way to get Kiyoshi to keep out of the fight was to give him someone else to protect.
Kiyoshi turned to her and spoke.
"OK, Aunty Rider, I'll protect Taiga", he said, smiling.
Then, Rider turned to the newcomer.
"So, since we're going to be fighting together, I guess we should introduce ourselves.
You already know me, I'm Rider from a world where Shirou married Sakura after the Grail War. This here is Kiyoshi, their son. I assume you are the daughter of Rin and Archer, but it would be nice to have a name to call you by", she said.
-
Shuya collided with the barrier at full speed, his hand failing to catch his designated target. Although it was a last second defensive move, it proved to be efficient enough to stop his charge. Frustration kicked in and he sent his front crashing against the solid metal, cracking its surface. About to strike once more, he froze, holding face with his unique hand.
NO. There are kids in there.
KILL THEM ALL.
Shut up. There are better opponents for now.
KILL. THEM. ALL.
"Grrr..."
The reverted being, turned his head towards the vampire battle, then back to the metal sphere.
There is more blood to spill over there.
KILL THEM ALL.
Yes, let's slaughter them.
After a short hesitation, he gave up on Sakura and ran to the vampire confrontation. He passed a few inches from Mille, stepping on her not yet finished rune circle, without sparing her a glance.
The demon dashed forward, entering the melee with a mighty laugh. He took hold of a ghoul's skull about to leap forward, sparing Shirou to deal with it. The head blew up under the mere pressure from his grasp, covering Shuya in disgusting fluids.
Without stopping his course, he smashed through a vampire formation and bodies flew in all directions. With a content smile, his kick split apart an opponent, a punch beheaded a girl, an arm got bitten off, an head ended up being stomped on. A few tried to escape, but none could escape such hurricane of destruction. Shuya kept up the massacre, mutilating the blood suckers like an happy children on his birthday. There was no humanity in this, simply a beast feasting on preys. Showing no mercy, he literally bathed in cold blood, his
ruby eyes rolling from pleasure.
These vampires were ideal to satisfy his blood lust.
With a provocative gesture, he invited more to attack him as he readied his improvised weapon, a muscular man with broken limbs. He let out a powerful shout, gathering more attention from the numerous opponents. Then, the massacre truly began.
-
The castle in the distance expanded to accommodate the steel soldiers it now housed.
Satoshi paused and mumbling incoherently he continued his work.
Sakura waited a moment and sensing Shuya's departure dropped the barrier. "he's utterly mad, I suggest we have a plan in case he comes back." she said with a sigh
"I'm named after my aunt" she added after a moment.
Saber finally reached the castle and seeing it gain a east and west expansion in real time caused her to pause in thought. Checking the wall she found no entry point, it was likely one did not exist but she was still somewhat optimistic so she began to search the next side
-
As the barrier started to crack under Shuya's onslaught, Rider moved in front of Kiyoshi and prepared to protect him, with her own life if necessary. But, thne, suddenly, the assault stopped.
What the hell? Rider thought.
She had not expected Shuya to give up so easily, not once he had inverted. He had been after blood, and she very much doubted that a metal sphere would be enough to frustrate him into giving up.
Unless, of course, he found another target....
As the barrier fell, Rider looked around to see what the situation was, and where Shuya might be. The first thing she noticed was Isa lying on the floor in a heap, still unconscious, and with some significant wounds.
I hope someone can heal that arm..., she thought.
Looking further afield, in the direction of the explosion she had seen before, she noticed a girl in the distance who seemed to be drawing some sort of magic circle. And, behind her....
Ah, I see.
There was Shuya, happily tearing into a mob of people. Rider felt somewhat conflicted. On one hand, the mob of people were not Kiyoshi but, on the other hand, they were presumably innocent people, although they did seem to be fighting back somewhat. Then, she noticed a familiar-looking blonde girl, next to a guy in a blue leotard.
Hmm, I guess the explosion was Lancer.
And, from the look of it, they were also fighting the mob, which suggested they were very definitely not innocent.
Ah, thank the fates, Rider thought.
Shuya had seemingly found a way to use his bloodlust in a constructive manner, at least for the time being. Which meant they would likely not have to deal with him. Hopefully he would turn back to normal before he returned.
The newcomer spoke up once more.
"he's utterly mad, I suggest we have a plan in case he comes back", she said, sighing, before adding "I'm named after my aunt".
Rider could only think of one Aunt she would have, so she presumed the girl was called "Sakura". Honestly, she found it a little odd. She didn't find it odd that Rin would want to name her daughter after her little sister, since Sakura's other three children were named after her mother, the guy who had tried to save her and Shirou's sister. In fact, she thought it was rather sweet. But, at the same time, to name your child after someone who they regularly interact with was surely bound to cause confusion....
"Hmm, Sakura?, I don't think he's going to be coming back any time soon. He's found more interesting 'prey'", she said, pointing in the direction of the fight.
Kiyoshi looked in the direction in horror. His eyesight was not as good as Rider's, and all he could see was a mass of people getting massacred by the monster who had just attacked them.
"God, those poor people!" he said, before turning and running as fast as he could in the direction of the fight.
"No, Kiyoshi, it's OK! They're bad guys!" Rider said, frantically shouting at him to stop.
Eh, but Shuya is a bad guy too...., thought Kiyoshi, as he stopped in response to Rider's comment and stood confused looking at the massacre in the distance.
"Our friends are over there fighting some sort of monsters, we need to go and meet them. The blonde woman offered us a place to stay, I'm sure she'll happily welcome you if you want", Rider said.
Then, Rider walked over to Isa and bent down to pick her up.
"This girl needs help. I'm going to go and talk to that girl making the magic circle, perhaps she'll know more of what is happening."
-
Aim...Fire.
Aim...Fire
Aim...Fire
At this point, Shirou was running on auto-pilot, literally mowing down the vampires with Forest's .44, not a single bullet going to waste even in his exhausted state. No matter what condition he was in, he was simply too skilled in shooting, be it bow, or gun (though it took much longer to acquire the same accuracy with a gun), to miss his target. Judging by the Archers' own random sword volleys, this was the case for most beings known as Emiya Shirou out in the multiverse.
Shirou quickly swung the gun around, aiming at a vampire charging towards a girl magus who had shown up with Rin, only for a demon to swoop down on it, crushing its head like a rotten egg and splattering brains all over the demon.
Wait.
He knew that man. Touzaki Shuya
Taking a quick check, he noticed, to his disgust, Rider within a barrier, body tensed as if she had been preparing to fight. Then he noticed a bloody heap near her, a girl who he only just recognised as Isa. He began moving over to Isa, to get a diagnosis of her injuries, before noticing a small boy uncomfortably close to the fight. He scooted over to the boy, shooting down any vampire who managed to miraculously get past the demon known as Touzaki.
"Boy, you're way too close to danger for comfort. Listen to Rider, and follow her. Let the grown-ups deal with this," Shirou said gruffly, pasting a fake smile for the youngster's sake, before pushing the boy slightly in the Servant's direction as he lay down covering fire whilst braced on a knee. With a push of his legs, muscles screaming in agony, he dived into the fold once more, embedding his knife into a vampire's head whilst blowing another into dust with a single squeeze of the trigger, the .44 pulping the creature's head.
-
As Kiyoshi stood there watching the massacre, unsure of who he should be fighting, a young white-haired man who looked strangely like his father approached him.
No, it's just a co-incidence, he thought.
After all, his father was a lot older, and this man had different hair. Still, he looked remarkably familiar, and Kiyoshi felt strangely comfortable around the man. As he got closer, he spoke up.
"Boy, you're way too close to danger for comfort. Listen to Rider, and follow her. Let the grown-ups deal with this," he said, gruffly but with a smile, before pushing Kiyoshi slightly in the direction of Rider and opening fire on the mob of monsters in the distance.
Seeing that the man had been fighting the monsters too made Kiyoshi's mind up for him. For some reason, perhaps because of the strange similarity to his father, Kiyoshi felt that this man was someone he could trust. He must be a good guy and, therefore, if he was shooting the monsters they must be bad guys. It was a little odd that Shuya was fighting on the side of good despite his obviously evil current nature, true, but it was clear that all he was really interested in was killing things, and there were a lot of things to kill, so it made sense that he would be happy with the situation.
Kiyoshi summoned up his weapons once more, browny-black ether versions of the swords his father fought with, emblasoned with angry red lines from his mother's shadow element. Then, he turned and spoke to the man.
"Hey, I'm not a little kid, I'm a hero, like my daddy!" he said. "I want to save people, like he saved mummy. I can't just leave bad guys to walk around hurting people!"
With that, the man ran off, rejoining the battle. Kiyoshi looked around at Rider for a moment, before following him.
-
Shirou dodged under a powerful arm thrust, the claws of the vampire's hand lightly scratching his scalp, dyeing part of his silver head red. With a gasp, he thrust his knife forward, burying it deep into the enemy's stomach, before using it as leverage in order to throw the creature to the ground. As he fired, he turned over the boy's words in his head.
"Hey, I'm not a little kid, I'm a hero, like my daddy!" the boy had said. "I want to save people, like he saved mummy. I can't just leave bad guys to walk around hurting people!"
An admirable goal, but ultimately a foolish one. If his daddy had truly been a hero, he would have done all that he could to stop his son from going on that blood-soaked path, protect his son from all the pain and anguish which came with being a hero. The wish to be a hero was a wish for others to be in danger. It was a paradoxical path, and one that Shirou couldn't help but regret going on sometimes; he had sacrificed too many loved ones in order to view the role of a hero in the same light as he used to. He hoped Rider had enough sense to break the boy of his destructive dream.
He noticed movement from the corner of his eye. He quickly swung around, gun at the ready, only to find himself pointing at the same naive boy charging into the fray with what appeared to be warped versions of Kanshou and Bakuya. Whilst the boy seemed to know his way around those swords, this wasn't a fight he could win. With a snarl, Shirou quickly aimed at a vampire also charging towards the boy. When he pulled the trigger however, he didn't hear the familiar roar, or feel the heavy recoil thump into his arm. Out of bullets.
Shirou prepared to throw his knife, but was tackled from behind. He quickly rolled with his foe, coming out on top as he sank the blade into its eye. However, as the body vanished, he realised that the blade had cracked in two, having taken far too much abuse. He cast a desperate glance back at the boy, still moving towards the vampire, before reaching into his flagging mana reserves.
He charged the pair, body screaming in pain, as Kanshou and Bakuya appeared with a golden flash into his hands. He quickly used them to decapitate the monster, then sank to one knee, gasping.
"Boy...Even if you're a hero like your daddy, you're way too young for this. Go back to Rider now before you or someone else gets hurt," he grit out. He held the boy's shoulders and stared into his eyes, his now-golden eyes pleading with the boy. Now that he had time, he took in the boy's features, noting dully that the boy appeared almost identical to Shirou, with the exception of a pair of bright, almost beautiful aquamarine blue eyes. Without a doubt, this boy was definitely Shirou's son, maybe with Tohsaka, somewhere out there in the multiverse. All the more reason to make sure that the boy wouldn't be stained with blood at such a young age, for the light in those familiar blue eyes to fade away.
"I can't let a child do this. Not so soon, before you've really had a chance to do anything in life. So please get out of here," he said softly, "I don't want to see you hurt."
-
"By the Morrigan's cold and dead quim, what is wrong with him?" Lancer proclaimed as he pointed at the inverted Shuya as he entered the fray. The one armed demon was tearing into the vampires as if he was caught in the middle of a warp spasm. Having been affected by ristaids a time or two in his life, Lancer knew what it was like to be caught up in a frenzy. Except this guy's frenzy was a lot different than what Lancer remembered. Lancer remembered just wanting to fight, this guy was taking pleasure in death at wholesale.
He also noticed that he ran right through the runes that Millie was drawing. He blinked as he read what was inscribed in her circles and smiled. The battle wasn't a fun one; the vampires died easily enough if one knew how to strike. Sure they had power and strength, but ,unlike his landlady, they didn't know dick about using it. Tired of the whole tedious affair - after all it was starting to feel more like work and not combat - he ran to the redhead young woman's side.
"Need a hand? I know what you're planning, and its brilliant, but this fighting is getting boring," Lancer asked with a grin.
******
Archer raised his eyebrows at Finn watching the scantily clad blond with the sword below. He was curious to see what she was going to do once the blade had dulled to uselessness. It was obvious she knew how to use it, her technical skill was incredible, but he knew the weapon wasn't for her hands.
He also noticed something else about the "young" woman, and how she wasn't reflected in her blade.
Smirking, he asked the young freelancer, "So, into necrophilia then? Or do you enjoy giving blood, because you're gawking at a vampire."
******
"By the Morrigan's cold and dead quim, what is wrong with him?"
Forest looked up to see what Lancer as looking at and simply answered, "A lot." However, he missed her quip because he went to go help some young redheaded young woman carve something into the pavement. She recognized fire runes in there and figured it was some sort of spell.
Right, just gotta keep this up until it's finished. I can do that.
Then she heard Rider's voice and looked up to see a redheaded boy start to run towards them. Luckily he was halted by Rider's words and Shirou's intervention. However, the kid wasn't easily swayed and was back in the running with two swords in his hands to suddenly start to fight a vampire. Cursing, and unable to witness a child hurt on her watch, she started to make her way over to the kid.
Just Shirou was there and she watched as he finally ran out of bullets. His white hair was now stained with crimson, and he used the last of his reserves. He sank onto his knee and spoke to the boy, but Forest knew alone like this the pair were going to end up dead.
She shouted, "Lancer, I'm ready for this to be over!"
Then she reached the two Asians sides, and for a moment she was taken aback about how alike they looked. Taking the katana into her right hand, she started to help Shirou up to his feet with her left. She looked at the boy, forced a smile, and asked, "So, are you by any chance Kiyoshi?"
She looked at Shirou and sent to him, I think this is going to end soon, apparently Lancer's helping that redheaded girl cook up something. However, you're coming with us. I wouldn't feel right if I let you alone like this.
-
Satoshi continued to build away creating armors and weapons as Alter having found the entrance was shown inside.
Sakura sighed watching Kiyoshi run off.
Taiga grumbled "Kiyoshi you big dummy!"
"boys always are tiger, you'll get used to it." Sakura replied wheeling Taiga over to Isa.
Sakura looked at rider "go on, we have this under control" she remarked looking over the wounds.
-
As she looked down at Isa, Rider frowned. The girl was in a bad way, and needed help. But, before she could pick the girl up, Rider noticed that Shirou had approached Kiyoshi, and was talking to him. Then, to her horror, Kiyoshi summoned up his swords and headed for the vampires once more.
"Kiyoshi you big dummy!" Taiga grumbled.
Rider couldn't help but agree with the girl. Kiyoshi seemed to have been taken in by Shirou's idea of heroism, and was now about to risk his life fighting alongside him.
Rider was honestly disgusted. Was this Shirou really so broken that he would stoop to using a young child as a meat shield to help kill a few vampires?
"Kiyo! Kiyo! Stop! You'll get hurt", Rider shouted.
Then, with that, she left Isa and immediately took off in pursuit of the boy. Kiyoshi's safety came well above Isa's and, besides, Sakura was there to look after Isa in any case, a viewpoint that she rapidly confirmed by telling Rider to "go on".
"Don't listen to him! He's a bad guy!" Rider shouted as she ran towards the two of them at maximum speed, the walls around her shaking from the sonic boom as she ran. But, the speed at which she was running meant he could not hear her.
Meanwhile, Kiyoshi ran towards the confrontation, following after the strangely familiar man, swords at the ready. He had heard his Aunt telling him to stop, but he paid no attention. He was a hero, heroes didn't stop fighting because their big Aunty told them to.
He noticed a vampire heading in his direction, and prepared to cut it in half. Before he could, though, the man who he had followed attempted to shoot the vampire, and then stabbed it in the eye with a knife that, then, disappeared.
Eh?
There was only one person Kiyoshi knew whose weapons did that.
It can't be, surely. He looks so different.
Kiyoshi ran towards him, determined to help protect the now seemingly-defenceless man. Before he could, though, the man summoned up two very familiar swords out of thin air, and used them to behead the vampire.
Kanshou and Bakuya. Shirou's favourite swords.
Daddy?
Kiyoshi looked at the man with astonishment. The idea of there being an alternative Shirou was, of course, not unusual in itself. He'd already met several alternate half-siblings. But, this man seemed so different from his own father. He spoke much more roughly, and his hair, skin and eye colour were all changed. Even so, Kiyoshi could still see the innate compassion of his father in this man.
I wonder what his life is like, Kiyoshi thought.
The man collapsed to his knees, gasping for air.
Daddy? Are you OK? he thought. But, before he could speak up, Shirou turned to him and spoke.
"Boy...Even if you're a hero like your daddy, you're way too young for this. Go back to Rider now before you or someone else gets hurt", he said.
Kiyoshi was used to this sort of lecture. His parents told him much the same whenever he did anything that might put his life in danger. But, however many times they did it, the sad, pleading looks that accompanied it always had the same effect. He simply didn't have the heart to do anything other than give in to such a display of worry and love on their part.
His father spoke again.
"I can't let a child do this. Not so soon, before you've really had a chance to do anything in life. So please get out of here," he said softly, "I don't want to see you hurt."
Hearing that, Kiyoshi dropped his swords and prepared to walk back towards Rider. But, instead, he heard a rapidly approaching sonic boom and, then, suddenly, Rider arrived next to him.
She turned to Shirou and addressed him.
"You keep the hell away from him", she said, angrily. "I will not let you turn him into a murderer. Or, worse, use him as some sacrificial lamb.
What sort of monster are you who would use a child in that way?"
Then, she turned to Kiyoshi, grabbing his arm and forcefully dragging him away from Shirou. But, Kiyoshi resisted Rider's pull with all his might, and Rider knew she dare not pull too hard for fear of causing damage to his arm.
"Kiyoshi, he's a bad guy, don't listen to him. He's just using you. He wants you to distract the vampires so he can kill more of them", she said, somewhat bitterly.
"B..but, Aunty Rider, he's Daddy. Daddy is a good guy. And, he didn't tell me to fight", he said.
Rider sighed, too worried and sure of Shirou's guilt to pay attention to the second part. Now that Kiyoshi knew the truth, this would be a lot harder than she would have liked.
"He's not your father, Kiyo, he just shares the same name. He only told you that so he could use you for his own ends.
He's a murderer. He murders people like your mother, just because they might be a danger", she said, sadly.
Kiyoshi looked at the man with a mixture of sadness and anger.
"Is that true? Are you really a bad guy like my Aunty says?" he said, the sadness in his voice clear.
-
Sakura sighed and set Isa on her side in the recovery position "healing her should be easy enough but I can't do much, so Tiger what happened with Toshi?" she asked
"I called him after meeting Kiyoshi, then he came and then Angra came and took him away." she replied.
Satoshi continued building as the castle expanded again.
Alter was lead to the throne room and awaiting there were two dozen automated knights and statue like Armoured suit lining the room same as all the other passage ways.
Alter hesitated and then sat on the throne
-
Mille looked warily at the raging half-demon as he rushed by her. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice her and instead went for the masses of vampires, soon covered in gore as he tore them limb from limb.
As long as he's not going after me or anyone else of importance, he can kill as many of those creatures as he pleases. She resumed her work on the second ring, when she noticed a boy try to run out into the mass of vampires, now lessened a great deal in number thanks to the half-demon's rage. Thankfully, a young man had managed to stop him, but he had brought vampires with him, and had gotten wounded as a result.
Mille looked grimly at the scene. The silver haired man looked in pretty bad shape- while his worst wound was a cut to his scalp, he generally looked exhausted, as if he couldn't hold out much longer. She wanted to help, but she couldn't spare the prana as it was.
I have to end this, and soon.
Mille moved on to the next rune, trying to pour herself in an attempt to ignore the other situation, when Lancer popped up seemingly out of nowhere near her side. To her embarrassment, she squeaked out a yelp.
"Need a hand? I know what you're planning, and its brilliant, but this fighting is getting boring," Lancer asked with a grin.
Any and all of her feelings of anger and humiliation, however, melted into the ether at the Servant's words. She'd been complemented by a hero- a real hero. One she had heard stories of, nonetheless. She found herself blushing with sheer joy, but desperately found herself trying to suppress her glee in light of their situation.
"I certainly do. I need either a team or just one volunteer to lure as many vampires as possible into the runes. Once they're all here, I'll go ahead and spring the trap."
***
Hakuno looked over in horror as the vampire tore at Shirou's scalp, so close to the young boy who was now too close for comfort to the melee. At this rate, he would die. Even if he'd tried to kill her, she wouldn't just let him fall here, not to these vampires. She gave Archer a worried look. He hadn't been wounded yet, but even he was starting to tire. It had to end soon.
Archer caught her glance as he beheaded another vampire, blood gushing from the collapsing body's carotid artery. She glanced over at Shirou's location to convey her plans before giving him another worried look. He nodded at her. "Go. I'll be fine. Just be careful."
She nodded. Now then, how to get in the air again?
"Like I said before, just use your imagination~ Sure we had a bit of a shaky flight to get down here, but I'm sure it'll go better this time~"
Hakuno looked at Ruby suspiciously before beginning to concentrate. Think happy thoughts think happy thoughts think happy thoughts... And she found herself rushing into the air, just before a vampire could grab a hold of her ankle. She steadied herself, looking at her intended destination.
"See? Nothing to it~"
Hakuno gave Ruby a Look before flying over to Shirou and the boy's location. She stopped her descent too high off the ground, and landed on the ground with a thump. Her legs ached from the impact.
"We'll work on that. And get you to watch some Magical Girl shows, that should help~"
Hakuno nodded before turning to the injured Shirou. Thinking back to her Code Casts, she imagined Shirou's wounds healing before watching them disappear right in front of her eyes. The caked blood was still there, and his fatigue wouldn't be gone, but at least his various cuts and scrapes were gone.
She noticed Rider running up to retrieve the boy at the speed of sound. From their conversation, she figured it'd be best to stay out of it for now. She turned back to the fray and began frying more vampires, hoping to keep the group safe until the massive battle could finally end.
***
"So, into necrophilia then? Or do you enjoy giving blood, because you're gawking at a vampire."
Finn looked back Archer to see that he was smirking. Finn did a bit of a double take as he looked back at Forest once more. Then he shrugged.
"Eh, so she's a vampire. She doesn't seem like a bad person or anything, and it's not like dating a vamp is impossible or anything. Like Buffy and Angel." Finn rubbed the back of his neck. "Not that relationship turned out that great or anything, but... eh, TV is TV. Never know with the real thing until you try it."
The reference flew entirely over Rin's head. Nonetheless, even if it was Forest, there were still definite cons to dating a vampire. "Well, if you are going to chase after her, just keep her vampirism in mind. Even if she's not likely to hurt you, there's other things you have to watch out for."
Finn grinned. "I'll be careful, don't worry. Besides, she has to do the whole reciprocation of feelings thing first, doesn't she? For all I know, she won't give me the time of day."
"Just don't get yourself bitten." Rin looked down below, her expression becoming grim. "It doesn't look good down there..." Rin looked over at Mille. "But it looks like Garrison-chan's made headway. And it seems Lancer's already in on the plan."
"Yeah, things are lookin' a bit hairy down there. Still, looks like that angry red haired guy is putting a dent in them, and Mille's trap should clean 'em up for us. So then, should we keep killing vamps, or should we help Mille with her little master plan?"
-
When Shirou was certain his son had gotten the message, he turned and allowed a silent Forest to help him up, nodding in acknowledgement when he heard Lancer's plan.
"I'm sorry but I still can't come with you," he said, "Besides, I can get back to my base after this to recuperate. There's no need to risk me staying over at your place."
Hakuno landed nearby, fetching in her...magical girl outfit. He stiffened as she waved her wand towards him, before smiling in relief as his wounds began to heal. It did little for his mana, but he hadn't expected it to. He nodded in thanks.
He went silent as he heard Rider approaching, somewhat glad the Servant was finally here to bring...Kiyoshi to safety. He frowned slightly at her words, but otherwise didn't acknowledge her presence as she began dragging Kiyoshi away. Maybe she could sway the boy from his insane path.
Shirou was forced to speak up however at Kiyoshi's question. If he was anything like Shirou, he wouldn't budge until he got his answer, and that would place him in further danger.
"Kiyoshi..." he trailed off, not knowing how best to approach the situation.
"I can't really answer that question. This is a world where there is no single path through life where you can only help people and not spite anyone. Yes, I have sacrificed people, even my own loved ones, and they would condemn me as a bad person for my actions. I have been forced to murder so many people to stop them from killing innocent people, even if they hadn't done anything bad beforehand. But to the people I save, I'm a hero."
He knelt down, placing himself eye-to-eye with the teary blue eyes of his son, mindful of the battle around him.
"I don't really care what people think I am. The only thing I care about right now is ending this battle before innocent people get hurt. And that includes you. So if it satisfies you...yes I'm a bad person. Now please go, and don't look back."
-
Blue irises appeared from open lids. Two girls were by her side, an adult apparently checking on her, and a child sitting in a wheelchair.
"..."
Isabella was in an unfamiliar street, with different clothes, her body covered with bandages. Her face was also covered in these, she noticed when she tried feeling her face with the left hand. The only one left. Under the right elbow, the whole forearm was missing. The sensation of loss hit her like a truck and she had to repress an acid reflux. Memories of what happened still fresh in her mind, she shed silent tears, her body trembling like a leaf. Her whole body was covered in wounds. But her face was the worst. She recalled losing much of her hairs, only leaving few strands, which now emerged like ugly locks between what hid her skull.
She emitted a low cry as she looked at her stump. Isabella finally remembered who saved her from the beasts. The man who tried to kill Rider. He didn't give a name and at first, she thought he was going to end her existence. But he didn't. Instead, he took care of her, although he lacked proper manners, he treated the wounds properly and promised to find Forest. After that, she probably passed out. Even now, she was exhausted. Physically and mentally.
Yet, she couldn't spend time here. She had to find Vanessa. Her older sister was probably in danger as well. And if something alike happened to her... No, thinking like this could only lead to a drop in moral. Grimacing, Isabella ignored the two unknown girls and stood up like a drunkard. Her body was aching like hell, but she remained still, checking the surroundings. It didn't take her time to spot some familiar faces. Forest was right there, and Shirou too. Rider was arguing with him all the while holding a boy by the arm. Probably this child of her Master. And another girl wearing a strange costume given the circumstances. But the individual who surprised Isabella by her presence, was the one drawing a circle of runes. It had been only two years she didn't see her but Mille Garrison didn't change much.
The girl had been an acquaintance of the twins. They weren't close though, as the younger girls rarely spend time at the Clock Tower the past years. There were other people present too, fighting what looked like dead apostles and undeads.
"What is going on here?" She asked out loud.
----
Shuya yelled like a beast when a ghoul bit on his neck. Now that most of his need had been satisfied, his body became once again one of a mortal. The sensation was painful, much like being deprived of oxygen suddenly. As much of his energy already ran out in the previous minutes, his reflexes dropped significantly, his strength melted like butter under solar exposure and his limbs became dull. Brown eyes flashed for a second as he struggled to remove the leech. With an effort he managed to break its jaw and didn't waste a second to send it flying into two vampires.
As he breathed heavily, one of his opponents spoke up.
"Finally running out of gas?" He said mockingly.
Shuya addressed him an obscene gesture with a delighted grin.
"No. Against pussies like you, it's better for me to have an handicap." He responded.
The whole group laughed.
"See? You aren't fooling anyone, Touzaki Shuya and yo-..."
But the mixed blood was already sprinting in Mille's direction. He heard angry reactions upon his attempt to flee. However, he wasn't running away. He noticed the rune circle about to came to completion and didn't want to waste time. In order to maximize its effects, it would be better to gather the maximum of enemies following.
"I'm Touzaki Shuya and your Boss can eat a bag of dicks!!"
Whether the childish insult would work or not, the half demon laughed like a kid. He relied on the fact that Valken had ordered them to find him. These were definitively part of his underlings, well, at least the vampires were.
"Get ready, shortie, here I come!" He announced to the rune magus.
-
"Could've you've given me a bit more warning?!" Mille quickly finished the circle, reinforcing her limbs as well to speed herself along. She gave her legs one last reinforcing and jumped out of the circle. She pricked her finger with her dagger and flicked a droplet at one rune for each circle. She waited for the half-demon to run past and for the vampires to clearly be in the circle before she began her incantation.
"Sciath. Gníomhachtaigh!" The barrier activated, quickly closing before any of the vampires could escape.
"Adhnaim!" The second ring sparked to life, engulfing the entire interior of the barrier in flames. Anguished screams could be heard even through the barrier's thick magical walls, and the smell of burning flesh permeated the air. When the barrier came down, all that remained of the horde of ghouls and vampires was a pile of their ashes.
Mille collapsed to her knees, utterly spent. "It's done," she gasped. "It's over."
-
Rider was staring angrily at Shirou, waiting for him to make another effort to indoctrinate Sakura's son when, suddenly, Hakuno dropped from the sky above them with a thud.
Rider was surprised, and somewhat aroused, to see her now sporting a rather fetching magical girl outfit. The stick in her hand was definitely familiar, though. She'd seen Rin use it often enough.
Ruby....
Kiyoshi, though, was much more in awe of the sight. Rin avoided using the stick whenever possible, and Sakura made very sure to keep Kiyoshi away from any situations dangerous enough that its use would be necessary.
Wow, it's a real magical girl! he thought, excitedly.
He noticed the girl healing Shirou, and felt Rider's grip on his arm grow stronger as Shirou prepared to reply to his question, in preparation to drag him away by force if necessary.
"Kiyoshi..." he, said, before trailing off.
"I can't really answer that question. This is a world where there is no single path through life where you can only help people and not spite anyone. Yes, I have sacrificed people, even my own loved ones, and they would condemn me as a bad person for my actions. I have been forced to murder so many people to stop them from killing innocent people, even if they hadn't done anything bad beforehand. But to the people I save, I'm a hero."
Then, he bent down and looked Kiyoshi in the eyes.
"I don't really care what people think I am. The only thing I care about right now is ending this battle before innocent people get hurt. And that includes you. So if it satisfies you...yes I'm a bad person. Now please go, and don't look back."
Rider was gobsmacked. Whilst it was clear that he still hadn't really accepted just how unreasonable his actions were, it was clear that he did at least not want others to follow in his footsteps. Particularly his own son.
Kiyoshi, on the other hand, was distraught.
"Daddy...", he said softly and sadly, tears in his eyes.
"No, you can't be a bad person, Daddy. You're a hero. Yo..u're my he..ro...", he said, his voice breaking up and the tears flowing freely.
Rider grabbed him into a hug.
"Kiyo, look...", she said.
But, then, she hesitated, unsure of what to say next. Normally, she would tear this Shirou's philosophy apart, but she knew that would just hurt him right now. As much as the guy was an asshole, he was still Kiyoshi's father, and Kiyoshi idolised his father. But, at the same time, she had to get Kiyoshi to realise that the path he seemed to want to follow would only lead to pain, for him and his family.
"Kiyo, that man is the person that your father fears you could become. And, he fears it because he knows how close he came to following that path. That man has done some horrible things, Kiyo. Even he knows it. And, I can never forgive him for some of what he's done. But, he is right about the path of a hero, Kiyo. You can't save everyone, and you can't do everything yourself", Rider said.
"What should I do, just stand there and watch people die?" Kiyoshi said, angrily.
"No, Kiyo, protecting people is fine, but you're only a child, you can't fight properly yet. Getting yourself killed pointlessly doesn't do anyone any good. And, how do you think your mother would feel if you got killed? Do you really want to put her through that?
Kiyo, you can only protect those in front of you. Even the best heroes can't save those they can't reach. And, those you love are most important of all. They keep you from losing your humanity, keep you from becoming a soulless killer like him", she said, pointing at Shirou. "That is what distinguishes your father from that man. Your father has a family, he has loved ones. He will protect the town, he protects innocents, but he loves and cares for his family, and always puts you first. Like you say, Kiyo, your father is your mother's hero first and foremost.
That's how he stays sane. He doesn't fight every battle, he can't, he just lives happily and defends people when they're in front of him. That's what you need to learn, too. Before you end up following the same, lonely, path as your father's alternate self. Before you end up as a bad guy too...."
"I don't want to hurt people, Rider. And I definitely don't want to hurt mummy...", Kiyoshi said, sniffling. "I want to be a hero so I can protect her, like daddy did."
Inside, he was deeply confused and conflicted. He still wanted to be a hero, like he always had, but the alternate Shirou seemed to think that being a hero meant killing innocent people, and that he couldn't save everyone.
No.
He could understand what Rider said. He couldn't fight every battle himself, he couldn't protect everyone. But, he could not accept what Shirou had said. Heroes did not kill innocent people, ever.
He walked back up to Shirou and spoke once more, the sadness still clear in his voice.
"No, you can't be a hero. Heroes don't kill innocent people", he said, matter-of-factly. "I'm going to be a real hero, like my daddy. He protects people, and he never kills innocents."
-
Finn whistled. "Whelp, that was cleaned up good and proper." He turned back to Archer and Rin. "If you folks don't mind, I'm going to drop by and say hello to our new Landlady."
With that, he made his way down to the pavement below and went off to join the main group.
Rin turned to Archer. "Well, looks like Garrison's plan worked after all. Seems like she'll be useful after all." She pointed down at Finn. "So, shall we follow the lovestruck moron and join the others?"
***
Archer breathed a sigh of relief as he allowed Kanshou and Bakuya to vanish. He hastened over to his Master's side, noting the heated conversation between Shirou, Rider, and a young boy who looked very much like he could be Shirou's own son.
Hakuno had stood there quietly, not knowing what to say. She noticed Archer stopping beside her and smiled in relief. She didn't even bother to check him over for wounds but instead simply tossed a heal spell his way, not caring whether she was wasting prana or not.
They turned back to the small group before them. Archer bent down close to his Master's ear. "What's going on?"
"A bit of a misunderstanding I think. Rider I think thought Shirou was going to do something bad to Kiyoshi here I think, and now the poor boy's having his ideals put into question, since Shirou apparently looks just like his dad, and yet Rider says he's a bad man."
"Hmph. Harsh to have something like that happen at such a young age, but it had to happen eventually." Hakuno responded to that with a Look. Archer shrugged. "Still, I can see why the kid's confused and hurt. All the stuff about alternate timelines and alternate selves probably flies over his head just a bit." He turned back to Hakuno to notice the look in her eyes. He sighed. "And you want me to try and talk to him, don't you?"
Hakuno nodded.
Archer sighed once again. "I'm not exactly sure what you expect me to do, but alright." He turned back to her with a raised eyebrow. "You do realize I'm probably the worst person to talk to him about this, don't you?"
She gestured for him to go on. Realizing that he wasn't getting out of this so easily, with yet another sigh, Archer changed his outfit from his biker jacket to his normal armor in hopes of being taken more seriously.
He walked over to Kiyoshi's side. The boy was still visibly upset.
"No, you can't be a hero. Heroes don't kill innocent people", he said, matter-of-factly. "I'm going to be a real hero, like my daddy. He protects people, and he never kills innocents."
Reeling in his very strong impulse to go into full on lecture mode about the nature of heroes and justice and destroy the boy's dream right then and there (knowing full well Hakuno would stop him), Archer instead got down on one knee to get on the boy's level and began to speak.
"Listen, kid. You're right that innocent people shouldn't have to die. But sometimes... sometimes even heroes have to make tough choices." He found himself thinking back to his own career, about the people he had shot down in that plane to save millions of other lives all those years ago before continuing. "Not everything is black and white, and sometimes you have to choose who you have to save." His eyes met Kiyoshi's, the eyes of the man who had become Justice itself. "Sometimes... that means some people have to die to save thousands of other lives. And I can tell you from experience kid, it's not an easy burden to bear. But someone has to do it."
He gestured back to Shirou. "You're right though, in that this man is no hero. He's not your father either, but what he could have become. What I said about choices earlier, about having to sacrifice lives sometimes to save others? If it's avoidable, then you shouldn't have to kill people. This man, however, will do anything to prevent extra lives from being taken. Taking the risk factors out to begin with. Even if it means killing innocent people in cold blood. Even risking that their deaths were in vain. Just to avoid a single risk." He looked down for a moment.
Archer met Kiyoshi's eyes once more. "He doesn't wait until his options are exhausted, until he has no choice. What he dishes out isn't Justice. That's why he's no hero." He looked down. "Not that I'm really one myself. You could say I became Justice itself, but like I'm sure Shirou mentioned about his own life, it's a bloody, lonely path. Your tv shows and books and movies tell a different story than from what really happens. You start into it thinking exactly what you're thinking now, but once you spend a lot of time actually doing it? It becomes an entirely different story."
He gave the boy a halfhearted smile. "Look, I know how cool the whole hero thing looks, and I know you want to make your dad proud. But you got your parents around still, right? Brothers and sisters too, I bet. More important than heroism not being entirely what it seems...." He let the smile drop. "What if something happened to you? Don't you think your family would be sad if they lost you while you were out playing hero? You have a long life ahead of you still, and I don't think your parents would be happy if it was cut short." He looked over at Rider. "I bet your Auntie Rider would be sad too." He turned back to Kiyoshi. "And you don't want to make any of them sad, do you?"
A small smirk tugged at his lips. "Heh, right now I probably sound like the world's biggest killjoy. But hopefully you'll understand a bit more when you're older. The point is kid, I'm pretty sure your dad just wants you to be happy. I'm sure he's proud enough of you as it is." Absently, he ruffled Kiyoshi's hair. "So don't let what that guy over there is bother you too much right now. You have plenty of time to worry about so much more than that."
Archer's eyes grew more distant. "Sometimes I wish I would have worried more about the normal things than becoming a hero and saving people. But what's done is done, and I don't have as many regrets as I once did." His eyes refocused on the boy in front of him. "Still, I guarantee you that your dad wouldn't want you walking down that guy's path, or mine."
Realizing he'd gone on at length despite trying not to give a lecture, he gave Kiyoshi a wry smile while shaking his head slightly. "And at this point I'm probably boring you to death. Any of this getting through to you?"
-
Shirou stood by as Archer and Rider began reassuring Kiyoshi, trying their best to make sure the boy didn't take Shirou's words to heart. Not that the boy had anyway, with his heartfelt declaration, and decision to continue standing carefree in the middle of a combat situation. Shirou snorted slightly as Archer began repeating exactly what Shirou had told the boy earlier, but said nothing. What was the point anyway? He could have defused a hostile situation with no casualties on either side, no one scarred in the slightest by the experience, and these Servants would still have found some way of criticising him before doing exactly the same thing.
At least he had the decency to acknowledge he was a bad person, instead of trying to paint himself in a positive light.
He caught movement in the corner of his eye, and quickly spun, certain it was a vampire who had managed to escape immolation. Instead, he found himself staring into the blue eyes of Isabella, who was clearly confused and...worried about the situation. He took a step in her direction, but this was nearly enough to floor him. His breath echoed like cannons in his ears, and his vision took on a red tinge as he struggled to stay upright, his body burning in agony. His body had been healed, wh-
Oh right. He'd over-abused his circuits tonight.
Taking a deep breath, he continued walking over, each step bringing a fresh wave of nausea and pain, his body heavy as if loaded down with bricks. Several times, he felt like simply keeling over, but he struggled on regardless, held up mostly by sheer determination. Eventually, he managed to kneel down by Isa's side, pasting on a smile as he tried to hide his pain.
"Hey Isa. How're you feeling?"
-
"Calm down, keep still, the others have the fight well in hand, just wait and we'll all get out of here and get you fixed up" Sakura replied to Isa's question.
-
Lancer reached out and caught Millie as she sank to her knees. His crimson eyes were alight and he was grinning. The Celt chuckled and said, "You need to work on your pronunciation a wee bit, but nice job lass."
He looked at the area were there were once many vampires and now nothing but smoldering ashes remained. "Well played, lass. Well played.
******
"Looks like someone in your family can do something other than ogle vampires," Archer said to Finn as Millie's spell finally worked.
He smirked and said, "However she's attracting Celtic demigods."
*****
Forest was silent during the exchange with Kiyoshi, Shirou, Rider, and Archer. However at the sight if Isa, and her senses confirmed the broken girl was Isa, she focused on something she could do. Someone who needed help, even though they couldn't have been saved.
This was one of the horrible parts of her "job". Those that fell under the cracks and had something horrible happen to them. Sometimes all she could do was pick them up and set them on recovery. It was one of the reasons she had studied emergency care so hard. Her knowledge and skill surpassed any combat medic and she could do "meatball" surgery if need be. There was a time where she even had to act as a midwife through perhaps the most difficult birth she'd ever encountered.
Still, what had happened to the girl was unthinkable.
And she still reeked of werewolf.
Forest looked at Shirou, then looked around to where Hakuno was wearing some sort of absurd, suggestive, and ridiculous costume. The girl had managed to heal Shirou and was carrying some mystical artifact of great power. A quick glance at one of the rooftops put Rin and some odd version of Archer in her view. Lancer was supporting a redheaded girl and a young man with a rifle was approaching. With all the magic users here, there has to be someone with a few healing spells in their Magic Bag, the vampire thought.
Aloud, she shouted, "I need someone who can heal now!"
She glanced at Shirou and said, "You sit down, you're about to drop." Then she was at Isa's side. She said, "Sweeting, I need you to sit down. You shouldn't be up, but we'll get you taken care of and we'll find your sister. Right now though, I need you to sit down."
There was a little redheaded girl in a wheel chair and a girl who seemed to be some Pinup Version of Rin told Isa to calm down and keep still. With Isa's injuries, Forest was surprised that the girl hadn't gone into shock yet. Or maybe she had, however someone someone had haphazardly bandaged her. She winced at the stump where the girl's hand should have been and bit down a wave of anger.
She looked around, snapped her fingers, and said, "Could someone please bring me my duster? I have some things that may help her in its pockets. Its by that Buick with the missing door."
-
Mille blushed at the compliments paid to her. But then she realized that the Irish demigod had caught her, and her face was on fire. Her smile was both nervous and ecstatic all at once. "T-thank you. I-I'm just glad it turned out so well. And I'll work on that pronunciation, I promise."
***
Finn knew deep down that his big brother instincts should have been kicking in, that he should have been worried about this new development. But seeing her so happy, seeing a crack of light through those stormclouds that had been her constant grumpiness and discontent... that, to Finn, was more important than any fears he had. Besides, Lancer seemed like a good guy. Oh, he was still going to keep an eye on his sister, that was for sure. But... well, he certainly had no objections to this current development.
"Heh, what can I say, my little sis is awesome," Finn replied to Archer with a grin. His grin, however, swiftly became a bit sheepish. "But hopefully I'll get a chance to show my stuff soon enough. And as for Lancer, well..." A warm smile worked it's way onto Finn's face. "I'm not too worried about that just now. May just be what I sister needs, actually."
"What kind of older brother are you? Shouldn't you be more worried?" asked Rin, slightly indignant.
Finn grinned at her. "Well hey, if it means my sis is less grouchy, it works out well for all of us, doesn't it?" He gestured at the group below. "Whelp, I'm gonna make my way down there now. I'll meet up with you guys below." And with that, he made his way to the main group.
Rin watched him as he made his descent. "Well, he's a bit of an idiot, but at least he seems to mean well." She looked over the group below. Then frowned as she caught sight of Isa. Even from here, she could tell her condition wasn't good. She frowned in that direction. "Archer, get me down there, right away. Looks like they found Isa."
***
Hakuno looked back behind her as Rider, Archer, and Kiyoshi continued their discussion. She looked back and saw Isa. Horrified, she made her way quickly over to Isa's side. She looked down at Ruby. "You said something about having infinite power right? Can't we bring her arm back?"
Ruby twitched a bit more grimly than usual. "Oh, I can. Unfortunately, I don't think you're quite at that level yet. You have the potential, sure, but this is a bit big for you yet. What you need is-"
"Rin?" Hakuno had looked back as she'd looked around for help and spotted Rin, along with what looked like... Archer?! She looked back at her Archer, who was still back with the other group. She rubbed her eyes as Ruby caught her attention once more.
"Yes, her~ I normally don't like working with that hag, but she'll work for this~ Let's get her over here~ ❤"
Hakuno cupped her hands around her mouth, turning herself to face Rin. "Rin! Rin! We need you!"
-
"Well, Fore or I could help you out on that, even though she's more towards the Scot's Gaelic than the true Irish Gaelic," Lancer said, grinning at Millie's blush. He helped her to her feet and scowled as he heard Forest shout.
He sighed and said, "Can you walk?"
******
Archer shook his head and said, "Yare yare, you're in high demand Rin. I guess we should make our dramatic entrance and you can save the 'fair maiden'."
He held out his hand for Rin to take so he could jump down from their perch.
******
Forest blinked as the "stick" talked. She said, "On any other day, that might seem strange." Then she looked at Hakuno and asked, "So your magic wand really thinks Rin could heal her?"
Biting her lip, she checked the girl's remaining hand. She reasoned if the girl was cursed, then her body would have already started healing already. It hadn't. So that was something.
-
Sakura peered over at Forest and the rest and then spotted it, that dammed stick that horrible ungodly curse of a moronic man whose name would forever go unspoken by Sakura but it definitely started with a Z.
suppressing her feelings Sakura centered herself and put on the brightest smile she could "oh my, it is, Hello Ruby dear, how are you?" she asked sweetly rising to her full height of six foot two inches.
-
The mixed blood was spent. Inverting wasn't something you would come back from unscathed. However, he was satisfied with the outcome. And he voiced it. "Not bad, shortie." But he couldn't help teasing her for her previous remark."Next time I'll make sure to bring out the fanfare."
Well played, lass. Well played.
Hearing Lancer's words for the adolescent girl, Shuya grimaced, half irritated, half amused.
"What's that? Got words for the girl who drawn something on the ground, but none for the bait who attracted all these leeches in that obvious trap, eh?" He didn't care for gratitude, but being outright ignored was annoying regardless. And his interested was picked, the guy's appearance screamed 'tough guy', and he was fast. "You're a Servant, right? Like Rider."
Shuya instinctively closed his fingers, as if to feel his katana, only to remember that Rider still had it. Now that he thought about it, where was the girl he brought with him?
----
Isabella watched Shirou. His question had been on a gentle tone but his expression was one of worry. The girl simply looked back, also worried to see the man not able to stand. In order to appease him, she forced a timid smile which only lasted an instant. She had no words to describe what she felt right now. Fear, confusion, sadness, regret, shame, disgust... It was way too painful to think and worse to even attempt to put it into words.
Still, she was happy to see him show interest in her well being. Maybe she had been right, after all. The man wasn't that insensitive, after all.
Calm down, keep still, the others have the fight well in hand, just wait and we'll all get out of here and get you fixed up.
Words uttered by the older girl who were by her side when the twin woke up. Isa stared at her with surprise. She didn't know her. But the unknown woman seemed to have a grasp on the situation contrary to the wounded teenager. So she waited. It didn't take long for Forest to notice and reach for her.
Sweeting, I need you to sit down. You shouldn't be up, but we'll get you taken care of and we'll find your sister. Right now though, I need you to sit down
In her haste to go fetch for her sibling, she almost forgot that the vampire was skilled in reading minds.
"..."
As if finally realizing her own state of fatigue, Isa sat on the asphalt without resistance. If Forest indeed, checked her thoughts, she may have seen what happened. The girl dropped her head, trying to hide her face in a vain try. She bit worriedly on her lower lip, unable to cover entirely her half muffled sobs. Truth was, she didn't want to expose such a thing to anyone. It was already awfully hard to digest that Vanessa probably shared most of it.
At least, Forest picked on the necessity to rescue her sister. With luck, the older twin should be fine and both sisters would be reunited again. But how to face off, Nessa after what happened? The simple thought to face her pained and terrified Isa.
I'm a failure. She thought. Not even able to take care of myself. Especially after declaring she would help Forest and the others. Not only did she prove to be incompetent, but she got the scare of her life. She was afraid to no end. More than violating and feeding on her body, the werewolves broke something deep down. They made her feel helpless and reduced her confidence to nothing.
The sheep facing the wolf.
In spite of the attention given to her, Isa felt an unfamiliar cold spreading in her body. She still felt that beast having her way with her. Her arm being devoured. Her face being lacerated. The distinctive scent of wet fur and iron. The satisfied grunts from the no-longer-humans. And blood covering her entirely.
Confronting her own torment, she felt, for the first time in her whole existence, truly alone.
Sis...
-
Rider and Kiyoshi watched as Shuya led the vampires that he had been fighting into a trap made by some new girl who she didn't recognise, where they were incinerated. Further, Shuya seemed to be back to normal, which meant he was no longer a threat to Kiyoshi.
Ah, good, now we can actually get some rest, and I can get some prana..., thought Rider.
But, even if that mess was dealt with, Kiyoshi was still suffering the effects of meeting the alternate version of his father. She knew how much Kiyoshi loved his father and that he wanted to follow his father's former ideal, so to see the results of that so plainly was a big shock to him.
Both Kiyoshi and Rider awaited Shirou's response to his question, but none was forthcoming. Instead, they noticed Archer and Hakuno whispering to each other, before Archer came towards Kiyoshi, and started to speak.
Rider was not overly surprised to hear his words. He was, after all, yet another version of Shirou. And, like the one who been asked the question, he had managed to royally screw up his own life in pursuit of heroism, albeit not quite as awfully as Shirou had. So, it made sense that he would attempt to talk Kiyoshi out of following the same path, although it seemed likely that Hakuno had restrained him somewhat.
Having calmed down somewhat, Kiyoshi spoke in response.
"I don't get what you mean. Of course the baddies have to die. What's so wrong with that?", said Kiyoshi, somewhat missing the point of Archer's first statement. "Good people don't, though, regardless of what he might say", Kiyoshi said, pointing at the alternate Shirou. "Daddy saved mummy when she went crazy. He never gave up on her, but he didn't just leave others to die either. That's what a real hero does. Protects their loved ones and everyone else. Or, at least, they try", Kiyoshi said.
Then, looking in an annoyed fashion in Shirou's direction, he continued.
"A real hero never gives up on an innocent person, and they certainly don't kill innocents, no matter what."
But, even if Kiyoshi had missed the point of Archer's lecture on the nature of heroism, the rest of his statement, and what Rider had said, did sink in somewhat.
"You're right about my life, though. I have the best parents in the world, and my brothers and sisters are really nice too. I just want to protect mummy like daddy did, and protect everyone else like they all do.
I know mummy and daddy would be very sad if I got hurt, but I have the power to help people, I can't just do nothing...."
Kiyoshi started tearing up once more.
"I don't know what to do. I don't want to hurt them, but I can't just let innocent people die...."
Rider hugged him once more, before answering his comment.
"Kiyo, helping people is fine, you just have to know your limits. If you rush in when you're out of your depth, you endanger us as well as yourself. You're a ten-year-old boy surrounded by mythological heroes and supernatural creatures, you can't expect to be able to fight on our level. Protect those who we cannot and train yourself to be stronger.
But, Kiyo, don't ever think that your own life does not matter. Even if you do not care about yourself, other people do. Your mother and your father, your Aunty Rin, your brothers and sisters, me. All of them would be distraught if anything happened to you.
Your father always used to think his own life didn't matter. He still does to some extent. But, I've seen the results of that. I've seen your mother crying silently into her pillow because the man she loved was not certain to ever return to her side. He sacrificed himself to save her, and only a miracle brought him back. He meant well, but I honestly don't think she would have ever recovered if he'd not come back.
You're the same, Kiyo. You mean the world to your mother, just like Shirou does, and you should never, ever forget that. You have to keep yourself safe, for her sake as much as your own. Even if you don't care about yourself, don't destroy her happiness."
"I..I don't know what to do, Aunty Rider. How can I be a hero if I can't save people?" Kiyoshi sobbed, still unsure of himself.
His mind was in a mess. He wanted to be a hero, he wanted to save people. But, at the same time, he didn't want to hurt his sweet, kind-hearted mother.
"Shh, Kiyo, look, it's over now. The vampires are all gone. Let's just get back to Forest's house and rest for the night", she said.
And, with that, she walked towards Forest and the rest of the group, Kiyoshi still in her arms.
-
Shirou sat by as he watched the others interact with Isa. He was particularly relieved when he heard that Forest had something which could possibly heal the mutilated girl: few people ever deserved to be ravaged so badly, and this girl wasn't one of them. He was still worried about her psychological state though, there was no way that anyone could pass through such an ordeal without any mental scarring. She would need to be treated gently, constantly surrounded by loved ones, if she was to truly recover. She had mentioned a sister who she was worried about, so he would have to start there. He wasn't any use here anyway.
He quickly got up to his feet, but soon regretted his rashness as a spike of pain slammed into his mind. He would have to recuperate before he could begin the search.
"Isa, do you know your sister's last location?" he asked as gently as he could. Once he heard the girl's answer, he told her to also tell Forest, before slowly limping off, preparing to head off to investigate the area.
As he walked past Rider, he overheard Kiyoshi's frankly callous statement, and scowled. What the hell was his father thinking when he raised the boy? What sort of person was he that he, based on the boy's ability to trace weapons, would actively steer his own son onto the thorny and insincere path of the hero? It had been alright for Shirou, who didn't have as many loved ones who would mourn his loss, but to teach a boy with a loving family to abandon them so he could play vigilante? Shirou's opinion of his alternate self lowered drastically.
This boy wasn't like him. This was a young child, naive and bright, who had yet to experience any truly distressing event. This was a child with a firm sense of self, who hadn't been emptied by the Fuyuki Fire. If he saw the boy on the battlefield again, he would make sure Kiyoshi gave up on the notion of being a hero.
-
Mille nodded at Shuya, his words making her realize once more that there were other people present other than Lancer. "I guess I owe you that much. Thanks for playing the bait." She scowled a bit. "And I'm not short. But thanks anyway."
She turned back to Lancer, giving him a solemn nod. "And don't worry about me. I can walk just fine." However, she wobbled as she straightened herself out, and was rather unsteady on her feet as she attempted to take a few steps forward.
***
Rin gave Archer a brave smile. "That we shall."
She took his hand, and prepared for him to sweep her into his arms so that they could make their descent to the group below.
***
"Well, the hag can heal her, but not so much as she can with my power~ With my help, that missing arm, that big old cut on her face, all her other cuts and scrapes? All fixed~" said Ruby, bouncing about rather cheerfully for what the situation was.
***
Finn made his over to the main group. He at first made his way towards his sister, but noticed that she was still making googly eyes at Lancer, and decided to give them some alone time. He saw the glistening of Forest's golden hair, and decided to introduce himself to his new landlady. He walked over closer to her, only for his smile to fade. He saw Isa for all her wounds and trauma, and felt sick to his stomach. The young freelancer rushed over to the group.
He spoke softly. "Anything I can do?"
***
Archer had expected the boy to not really understand all that was said, but eh, he'd tried. The boy seemed pretty normal, so hopefully it'd just be a phase he'd grow out of, regardless of who his father happened to be. If it looked to be otherwise, though... well, he could always try to scare the kid out of it when Hakuno wasn't around to hound him into playing nice about it.
He turned around to give his Master a shrug, but noticed that she'd gone over to yet another group. One look at the now conscious Isa, and he could see why. He rushed over once more to Hakuno's side, observing Isa's condition.
The missing arm, the slash across the face... he'd seen many wounds like this throughout his lifetime, in the war, out playing hero. Even so, seeing those wounds on an innocent girl still made his gut twist in anger, though the only sign of this on his face was a grim scowl. Plus, the way she was acting, the nature of some of her wounds... it suggested rape, and that within itself made his blood boil. But he remained calm, as he knew from far too much experience that allowing his emotions on such matters to blind his judgement would do nothing to help Isa.
Hakuno noticed her Servant's arrival and turned to him. "I called for Rin. She's on her way to help Isa."
Rin? He turned to look for her, before seeing- "...Yare yare." His smirking, differently dressed clone filled him with bile, almost enough to distract him from Isa's need for aid. He sighed. "It's bad enough having that twisted Shirou running around. Now there's another me to contend with," he muttered.
For once, Hakuno found herself somewhat inclined to agree with him. She got down on her knees and gave Isa's hand a gentle squeeze. She turned towards Rin's direction, anxiously awaiting her arrival.
-
Lancer righted Millie as she wobbled before looking at the one armed man who had just been in the middle of a Warp Spasm. The other man's eyes were looking over Lancer, sizing him up and ranking him. Lancer smirked at the look and said, "Yeah, but the girl's a might bit prettier than you are."
At the other man's question, Lancer shook his head and answered, "Not anymore. However most people of this time butcher my actual name when they try to say it, so I'll just go by Lancer for the by and by for now."
******
Archer swept Rin in his arms with a smirk before gracefully leaping off the rooftop. He noticed the obviously broken Emiya Shirou, the idiot version of himself with the mousey magical girl, appreciated Rider's form, and then noticed the blond vampire kneeling beside a girl who should have been dead. The corruption in him whispered that the girl was weak; that she had been food and worse. That there wasn't anything to salvage there.
Then he noticed a young woman who looked a lot like Rin, but curved like her sister and even with his height. He tilted his head curiously at her, knowing it wasn't another version of Rin. Rin was petite; it was part of his attraction towards her. This girl was like an Asian Amazon.
Then he heard his "good" doppelganger's words and chuckled. He replied, "I'm not relishing the thought of having to deal with a version of me who obviously traded down, but that makes me the lucky one doesn't it?"
He gently set Rin on the ground to let her get to work.
******
Forest gritted her teeth as she heard Isa's thoughts in complete clarity. Then the girl, understandably, caved in on herself and started to cry. Theoretically, she could erase the event from the girl's mind, completely wipe it out as if it never happened. However that was going into territory that Forest didn't tread.
That was too much like Playing God, and as a friendemy had once said, everyone had to have standards they set themselves to keep them from going off the edge. He had been right in that, and, unless absolutely needed, Forest didn't like to hack into people's minds.
"Well, the hag can heal her, but not so much as she can with my power~ With my help, that missing arm, that big old cut on her face, all her other cuts and scrapes? All fixed~" said the Stick, bouncing about rather cheerfully for what the situation was.
Forest eyed the stick and said, "Rin's not a hag, and you'd better help, or I'll lock you in a box and throw you into the Mariana trench."
"Anything I can do?"
The blond blinked as she looked up to see a newcomer with a rifle slung over his shoulder looking down at them. She nodded and said, "There's a duster by that Buick with the door ripped off. I'd like to get her covered up."
-
With the fighting concluded Taiga had heard the speeches. To her account they were all very stupid people.
dreams, her brother had once said were the whole reason he could do everything he was able to and these people were all simply broken inside. Dangerous or not it was her chance. She wheeled herself across the street and into an alleyway while the attention was focused on the girl.
Taiga more then anything want to have her family,with her but Sakura would have told her to stay put.
the ground rumbled as the castle grew again Satoshi continued creating the soldiers and weapons without pause .
Alter was served a meal and while her instincts told her no her body demanded food so she begrudgingly dug into the food.
-
Mille's flush returned at Lancer's compliment. She whispered a quick "thanks" at him righting her, and attempted to make her way off again. However, her consciousness wavered, causing her to nearly collapse. She cursed under her breath. She'd forgotten about the prana she'd expended on the werewolves from earlier, so she was even weaker right now than she had anticipated. Stubborn as ever and not wiling to show weakness, however, she attempted to soldier on.
***
Rin quickly rushed from Archer's arms over to Isa's side. She grimly surveyed the girl's condition. Hakuno looked up at her, and Ruby floated away from her grip. Rin watched as the now untransformed Hakuno gave Isa's hand another squeeze.
Ruby spoke up, still dissonantly cheerful as ever. "Oh, I certainly intend to help, Miss Vampire~ Just as long as Miss High and Mighty over here doesn't screw up." She wiggled about in Rin's face. "Now remember, you're just a guest user~ Hakuno's my master now~"
Rin gave her a sharp glare that clearly said, "I'll deal with you later," and grabbed a rough hold of the wand, strongly suppressing the urge to snap her in half. Rin quickly changed forms. Pushing aside her embarrassment of wearing such a humiliating outfit in front of so many people, Rin concentrated on the momentous task before her.
"Prana output, 100%."
"You got it~" Ruby glowed in response to Rin's command, her gem eyes glittering.
"Heilen!" Isa's lost arm returned as if from the ether, bones, muscles, blood vessels, nerves, everything. Her remaining wounds then began to heal, the great scratch across her face vanishing as if it had never been, all signs of injury fading away. Even if the trauma of her terrifying experience would remain, at the very least, the physical signs of it no longer remained to haunt her.
Rin gasped once her task was complete- the prana was not her own, but even so, she could feel the immense energy being spent to pull off such a feat. And with that, Ruby forced herself away from Rin, switching to her more portable state.
"And that's that~ Phew that was a doozy, I think I need to rest up for a bit~ Whelp, I'm done with you now~ ❤" She fluttered back over to Hakuno's side.
Rin, however, also found herself done with Ruby. She marched over and started tugging on Ruby's wings. "Oooooh? And who did you specifically request to help you pull off this little miracle, you stupid stick? Believe you me, once we get back to the apartments, I'm not finished with you in the slightest!"
Hakuno didn't hear most of this, however, happy as she was that Isa's arm was restored and her wounds healed. She looked up at Rin and gave her a relieved smile. "Thank you, Rin."
"See, Ruby? That's what gratitude looks like." She violently began to pull on Ruby's wings again. "Try learning that along with some obedience, would you?"
"Glad to see your attitude is still as pleasant as ever, Rin-chan~" Rin's name was pronounced with some spite in spite of Ruby's usual cheerful tone, but Rin ignored it in favor of her continued efforts to tear the flying winged sphere into two separate pieces.
Hakuno continued to ignore Ruby and Rin's squabble. She had since turned back to Isa, giving her hand another squeeze, trying her best to give her a comforting smile. "How are you feeling? Any better now?"
***
Finn nodded at the beautiful vampire. "On it." He quickly went back to the decimated Buick and retrieved the duster, making his way back with haste. He blinked in surprise as he noticed the girl was now completely healed, missing arm and all.
"Well, would you look at that," he whispered in awe. After giving himself a few seconds to adjust to the sudden change, he gently draped the duster over Isa's small frame. "There you go, kiddo. Hang in there."
He turned to Forest. "You think she's gonna be alright?" Finn whispered, quietly as he could.
-
And I'm not short. But thanks anyway.
Shuya shrugged, not in the least interesting in last second gratitude. "Whatever, big girl. Give out your name then." He noted the red hair and smiled to himself. She was clearly not japanese, so chances she would be kin were null.
Yeah, but the girl's a might bit prettier than you are.
Shuya started to laugh wholeheartedly, it sounded like a bark. The guy was definitively a good pick. "You got a point there." He admitted. "Although she might not be quite legit yet."
Not anymore. However most people of this time butcher my actual name when they try to say it, so I'll just go by Lancer for the by and by for now.
The swordsman nodded. "Lancer, then. What you say about a good fight?" Shuya lighted up a fag since he had lost the previous one before the battle. "Well, that's what I would propose usually, but I'm out of stamina for a bit. Maybe a booze contest? Can hold up a solid drink session?"
Brown irises shifted on Mille. It was clear the whole blaze took a toll on her. Poking fun at her might be entertaining and thus, Shuya flashed blood stained teeth. "No need to hide your state before your crush, you know. Might be the best moment you got to have a ride on his back."
---
Isa, do you know your sister's last location?
The words brought her back to her senses. That's right, her sister was still out there, alone. The girl shook her head. "I don't know." Her voice was coarse. "I went back to where I left her, but she was gone. That's my fault, she probably went looking for me." She said pensively.
If she's not captive or worse...
Concern overpowered her own condition and she clenched her fist in inquietude. Just when she was about to get up, a warm hand pressed with hers. "Huh?" Isabella almost jumped from the unexpected contact. She pushed aside the reflex to scream and withdraw in a panic just barely. Dilated pupils looked around in answer to the stimulus and met with Hakuno's face. She was the one who reached her hand for her. Ironically or not, their roles were reverted this time.
She's there for me. Even though I look like that.
The idea that people could still approach her without grimacing from disgust warmed her heart. She wanted to thank her. But all she could manage to do was to squeeze back feebly. No, now that she locked her hand wth Hakuno's, Isa didn't want to let go of this precious link. Otherwise, she would be left alone again. As pathetic as it looked, she couldn't overcome this hurdle by herself.
Words were exchanged but Isa was too exhausted to pay attention. She only focused on staying awake. She didn't even notice someone healing her until the sensation of pins and needles in her right arm started. Isabella blinked, unable to cope up with the fact that someone healed her. Blue eyes focused on the forearm that wasn't there an instant earlier. "Ah." She closed her fingers, feeling blood circulating almost painfully in veins. She was lost in her contemplation of the limb. A part of her, she considered lost for good, was back. She looked up and saw Tohsaka Rin in a curious outfit. Isabella eyed the magus with an astonished expression.
How did she do this?
Healing magecraft couldn't accomplish such a miracle. For something entirely gone to be restored without a scratch, it would have to be something on the scale of Magic, like time travel. Or operation of parallel worlds. It made sense. Tohsaka Rin was an apprentice of the Wizard Marshall Zelretch, himself user of the Second Magic. Could it be she mastered the Second? Or was it the result of an external device? And instant later, the costume disappeared and Isa looked at the flying stick with surprise. That thing?
How are you feeling? Any better now?
"..."
Thinking of a way to properly thank everyone, Isabella was cut in thoughts by someone draping her with a duster. Wasn't it Forest's? The lingering scent of lavender surrounded her and she looked timidly at the unknown man.
There you go, kiddo. Hang in there.
Isa nodded, not sure what to say once again. Then, she turned to Hakuno. She had to say something or they would keep worrying in spite of their efforts.
"Better, yes. Thanks. Though, I may need a hand to stand." She answered with a shameful smile.
----
"Don't really care, but you sure ain't gonna do shit in your condition. You might even put her in a difficult situation." Averted Shuya to Shirou. "Better to get some rest and start looking later." The half demon grinned savagely at the magus. "I'll go with you."
----
In the empty room Ruu emerged from his sleep with a cry. "Kitty!!!" For some reason, he had a weird image of Rin imprinted on his mind.
(http://i42.tinypic.com/2h73w3a.jpg)
Still dreamy and in an attempt to cuddle her, he fell head first on the ground, followed by the heavy book hitting his temple before closing itself on the side. Ruu rubbed both hands on his head. "Ruu wants to hug a kitty." He said with envy. A quick look around made him realize he was still alone. Did the others not come back yet? It was rather late according to the darkness outside.
The familiar got up with a enthusiasm and put back the grimoire in his bag. Then, he went into the kitchen. He had a vague idea of what the fridge was for. However he never saw most of the ustensils hanging around. An idea quickly came to his mind when he looked at an apron. It would be a first but Ruu never ran away from challenges.
"Ruu will make dinner!!!" He declared proudly with a fist raised to the heaven. He didn't really know why he did that pose, but decided it was acceptable anyway. He reached for the protective piece of cloth and sealed it around his head, in a way that didn't allow him to see anything. "It's quite difficult." He said with knowledgeable nod. "Humans sure are skilled if they can manage preparing food like that. B-but people says cooking is a question of determination!!" And then, the familiar proceeded with the next step. "Now, to find a knife to open the eggs..."
-
Lancer grinned at Shuya's words and then eyed the cigarette the half demon lit up. He replied, "I'm Irish, of course I can hold my spirits."
He didn't know to laugh at the half-demon's words teasing Millie or come to her defense. From what he'd seen of the little witch girl, she was very proud, and part of the enjoyment was the fact she was so stubborn. However he made sure to follow her as they walked over to the majority of the group.
******
Archer watched as Rin with the aid of Ruby healed the girl. He had to even show some reverence at Ruby and Rin's power to completely heal the girl like that. It was as if she never had been injured at all, but he knew the mental truama was still there.
Still, there was the sight of Rin in the magical girl outfit to appreciate. More like the ears and the tail, which seemed to suit Rin rather nicely. After she had finished her work, she began to berate the powerful Mystic Code as she went back to her chosen master. Archer chuckled at the sight, leaned over to Rin and said, "You seem frusterated, Rin."
******
Forest blinked at the young man's question. She whispered back, "Physically, now yes, mentally . . . that's something else. From that truama it could take years for her to fully recover from."
Then aloud she said, "Thank you, and I'm sure Isa appreciates it." She turned back to the girl and asked, "Isa, do you have anything from your sister's on you by any chance? Maybe someone here can scry to find her."
She was pretty sure that Lancer could scry with his runes. It would be easier than looking half cocked through a city this size. She looked at Shuya and Shirou before rising to her feet. She said, "I've only got a couple of hours before sunrise. Also, the clock for Isa's sister's ticking. This isn't going to be something we can wait on if the girl's in danger or even just lost."
To Isa she said, "I'll have your sister to you before the sun rises. Right now though, we're going to get you back to my stronghold. Nothing's stupid enough to attack there. You'll be safe and you can rest."
-
Finn was silent for a moment as the pieces clicked together. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. He opened his eyes and turned back to Forest, his eyes ablaze with determination. "Then all we can do is be there for her the best we can," he whispered back.
He then put on a smile. "Hey, it's no trouble at all. It's the least I could do for her." Finn patiently waited for Forest to finish talking to Isa about finding her sister before adding his own two cents. "If you need help finding Isa's sister, I'm here for ya. I didn't get too roughed up from the vamps, so I can head out with ya as soon as you're ready." He then smiled a bit sheepishly. "I guess I should introduce myself, huh?"
He smiled a genuine smile. "Finn Garrison. Nice to meetcha."
He then turned and looked around the area to see his sister struggling to get over to them. He saw Lancer keeping an eye on her, but had to strongly suppress the urge to pick her up and carry her himself.
***
"Mille Garrison." She shuddered a bit at the half demon's blood stained teeth, but held her ground regardless. "W-what makes you think I'm in bad shape?" she said, indignantly. "I'm completely fine. A little prana loss isn't enough to stop me."
Stubbornly she continued towards the main group.
***
Rin had been so focused on trying to tear Ruby in half that Archer's question startled her. The floating winged pentagram wiggled herself mockingly in Rin's direction before hovering behind Hakuno, where Rin couldn't reach her.
Rin sighed with exasperation in reply. "Let's just say Ruby and I have our... differences."
"More that bad attitude of yours than anything~ And you hide it so poorly, tisk tisk~ At least Little Miss Firebrand is more honest about it~"
Rin glared at Ruby once more before noticing "Little Miss Firebrand" herself stumbling in their direction. She also noticed Lancer following her. She rubbed her temples. "Garrison, just let Lancer carry you already. Think of it as a reward for pulling off that trap of yours, I don't know, just stop being a dummy and admit you need help walking already."
Mille glared at her. "Like I said already, I'm fine. I don't need any help."
"Sis, just let him carry ya. You worked hard, it's OK to admit that you're tired."
"I told you, I'm-" She nearly stumbled, her consciousness threatening to abandon her at a moment's notice. She pinched her nose. Fine, fine... I know when I'm beaten.
Mille turned to Lancer, looking up at him, the words caught in her throat as she was far too proud to say them.
***
Hakuno nodded at Isa and helped her to her feet, making sure to keep the duster from falling from her shoulders. "It's no trouble at all," Hakuno said with a smile. "Like Forest said, let's get you back to the stronghold. I think we could all use a good rest."
"And get you a hot meal to eat as well. You could use the extra strength," added Archer.
Hakuno smiled at him. "Are you going to fix it yourself, Archer?"
Archer's eyes became a bit shifty, not entirely ready to admit his passion for the culinary arts to the crowd at large just yet. "...Possibly?"
Hakuno smiled. "Archer's a great cook, so your meal will be in good hands." She gave Isa's hand one last squeeze. "And we'll find your sister, I promise."
-
Thank you, and I'm sure Isa appreciates it.
The teenager bowed slightly. "Yes, thank you Sir. And everyone for helping me."
Isa, do you have anything from your sister's on you by any chance? Maybe someone here can scry to find her.
"I have this." She provided a flashy pink cellphone with panda straps. Lots of them. Grimacing slightly at the fact that it showed the eccentric side her sister had. "It's Vanessa's, she always forget to carry it." She wasn't sure how it would help tracking the twin though.
I'll have your sister to you before the sun rises. Right now though, we're going to get you back to my stronghold. Nothing's stupid enough to attack there. You'll be safe and you can rest.
Isabella genuinely felt warmth enclosing her.
Thank you. She thought about voicing it but that would be embarrassing to start crying again. Plus, Forest didn't need words.
----
Finn Garrison. Nice to meetcha.
Shuya's face twitched at this.
"Nice to meetcha." He repeated with a grin. "Sure, is a first I hear that addressed to a blood sucker. Might change your opinion soon, though."
Normal human or magus like Mille? It was hard to tell. Mainly because a magus rarely traveled with guns. Or maybe he was an oddity? Shuya shrugged and approach the vampire.
The swordsman tapped Forest's shoulder and gestured her to sidestep from the group. "You can't go fetch for the girl." He pointed a finger to Isabella. "I brought you this one in order for you to take care of her. Won't help anyone if you get a permanent sunburn." A side glance towards Shirou. "Besides, someone needs to keep this guy in check and Rider needs prana." Without mentioning how she looked after the battle. It was sure to gather attention. Shuya breathed out smoke. Obviously, he didn't think Forest would accept that so easily. "I'll go in your stead." He said seriously before turning to the tainted Archer. Without boring to whisper anymore, he clearly declared his intention for everyone to hear. "I'll take the smug faced twin, Lancer and that guy with the rifle, who seems eager to die early." He ruffled his own hair. "You do what you gotta do for everyone else. Let the asshole team deal with it." He didn't know if the vampire would accept, but he already decided to go find the sibling anyway.
Of course, going like that could be dangerous, that's why he turned to the Servant carrying Kiyoshi in her arms.
"Hoy Rider, care to give back my katana?"
----
Isabella got up with the help of Archer's Master.
It's no trouble at all. Like Forest said, let's get you back to the stronghold. I think we could all use a good rest.
And get you a hot meal to eat as well. You could use the extra strength.
Are you going to fix it yourself, Archer?
...Possibly?
Archer's a great cook, so your meal will be in good hands.And we'll find your sister, I promise.
The casual exchange made her forget, for an instant, her worries. She felt a knot in her stomach. They showed such kindness to her, the girl needed to speak. "I'm sorry." She said. "I'm causing you all trouble." She felt deep regret at that. She knew that depending on them was wrong, for they weren't even close. Yet, she knew they were good people that you can count on. "I don't know what I would have done by myself." She squeezed Hakuno's hand again, to confirm she wasn't day dreaming to escape her situation. "Even now, surrounded by people, I'm still scared." She had to voice it, even as weakly as her voice could formulate it. "I'm truly grateful and I'll do my best to repay you..." She paused, looking alternatively at Hakuno and Archer. "I guess I need a bit of help to overcome this."
----
He had tried many things he thought to be suitable for his new companions. It ended up with a crispy pizza(charcoal would be more accurate), a salad floating in a unidentifiable mixture of what looked like melt chocolate with egg shells. A curious soup as hard as concrete. Red and green waffles. And toasts made with the most improbable ingredient combos. Everything was served in the dinning room but it seemed an hurricane had stopped by, here. The floor, walls, even part of the ceiling, were covered with flour, salt, sugar, a large selection of sauces and liquids. Dirty utensils piled up in he sink way over its capacity. The fridge was lying on the ground, its content half broken, half spilled around. Then, cutlery and plates. Half a destroyed set spread about everywhere. For some reason, a broken chair was also part of the mess.
And in the middle of this chaos, a lone figure, covered in more elements that the rest of the room combined. Half buried under the refrigerator, Ruu looked at the devastated kitchen from his point of view with a satisfied look.
"Now, dessert!!" He said on professional tone.
-
Rider noticed Shirou scowling at Kiyoshi's comment to him, and frowned.
Hypocrite, she thought.
How he could be offended by Kiyoshi's approach to heroism was beyond her, after all that he had done.
She continued to walk towards the group, noticing Isa sitting on the floor, Hakuno gently holding her hand.
I hope she'll be OK, Rider thought.
Still, she was glad to hear that there was a way to repair the girl's arm. At least the physical effects of her attack could be fixed, even if the emotional effects might be longer-lasting.
She awaited Rin's arrival, still hugging and comforting the gently-sobbing Kiyoshi. She was, however, somewhat surprised when she appeared in the arms of yet another version of Archer. This one, though, looked somewhat different.
Rider shuddered and tensed as she noticed the tell-tale signs of Angra Mainyu's corruption. She knew what effect that corruption would have on people. But, she held herself back. Rin seemed happy enough to be carried by him, and she knew all-too-well what the corruption did. So, he was most probably not a danger.
She looked on amused as Rin changed into Magical Ruby. Rider had seen it before, of course, but it was still amusing to see her embarrassment, and her bickering with Ruby. However, she was also rather pleased to see Isa healed. The girl had been very kind to her, and she had hated to see her hurt.
Rider listened as the others continued to talk, about finding Isa's sister and about food.
"Archer's a great cook, so your meal will be in good hands", Hakuno said. "And we'll find your sister, I promise."
Hearing that, Kiyoshi spoke up.
"No, I'll cook dinner. I like cooking. My mummy and daddy are the best chefs ever", he said.
Rider laughed slightly.
"Kiyo, Archer is another version of your father", she said, hoping to remove his fixation on the more idiotic version. "I'm sure he is a very good cook. If you want to help, though, I'm sure he won't mind".
Then, she turned to Hakuno and Isa.
"If you need help in finding her sister, then I'll happily join you, provided Kiyoshi is safe. I'm a heroic spirit, so I don't need sleep."
"He's daddy? But he looks totally different..." Kiyoshi said, confused. "And, I want to come too!"
"Yes, he's your father, although another alternate version. I'm sure he'll explain it to you later. And, sorry, Kiyo, but even little heroes need their sleep. It's already late enough as it is, and we could be out all night. Leave it to those of us who don't need sleep...."
Before Kiyoshi could reply, though, they were interrupted by Shuya talking to Forest, offering to go searching for Isa's sister with Shirou, Lancer and a few others.
She scowled.
Those three will probably end up killing the poor girl....
Then, Shuya turned and addressed her.
"Hoy Rider, care to give back my katana?"
"Erm...", said Rider.
Oh, damn, she thought.
In all the commotion, she had forgotten all about the Katana, and she wasn't entirely sure where she had left it.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot all about that in all the commotion. I think I dropped it back there.
As for your plan, though, do you really trust that idiot to find the girl?" she said, pointing at Shirou. "If you come across her in any danger he'll probably put a bullet in her head, like he tried to with Hakuno...."
Rider listened as Isa spoke, clearly low in self-confidence.
"I'm sorry", she said. "I'm causing you all trouble. I don't know what I would have done by myself. Even now, surrounded by people, I'm still scared. I'm truly grateful and I'll do my best to repay you.... I guess I need a bit of help to overcome this."
Hearing that, Rider placed the now calmed Kiyoshi down, and walked towards the girl.
"Isa, it's not your fault what happened, and you're not causing us trouble. Even the strongest people need rescuing sometimes", she said, thinking back to her master's plight in the War.
"The only 'repayment' we want from you is for you to get better and be able to smile again. You're a lovely girl, and I would be happy to be your friend and to help you in any way I can."
Meanwhile, Kiyoshi looked around at all the people present. There was Sakura, yet another version of Archer, a bunch of people he didn't know, and....
Aunty Rin!
Even with the massive age difference, it was quite obviously his aunt. Her outfit was one he'd often seen her wearing in older family photos, and her hairstyle was one that she often sported even as an older woman.
"Aunty Rin!" he shouted, excitedly, before running in the direction of the alternate version of his aunt, arms outstretched in a "hug me" pose.
As he did so, though, he looked around.
Eh, where's Taiga?
He wasn't particularly fond of the girl but, nevertheless, he felt it his duty to protect her, in the absense of anyone else doing so. And, since her sister was still here, she evidentially wasn't.
"Erm, Sakura, where did Taiga go?" Kiyoshi said as he ran into his "aunt", grabbing hold of her tightly.
-
Lancer swept Millie into his arms and said, "Don't worry, I won't jar you around too much." Then with a wink, he started to carry her over to the others.
******
Forest replied to Finn with a wiry smile and replied, "I'm Forest, and thank you. I have a feeling I can use all the help I can get."
Then Isa gave her the pink wrist band. Forest took it with a sad smile, it was exactly the sort of thing a young girl would wear. "Hopefully someone can use this to track your sister. Because it's hers, it should have a tie to her," Forest replied.
Then Shuya gestured her away and gave her a hard dose of logic. She looked at Shirou and said, "I can't force him to come with me. Well, technically I could, but it would be wrong."
Lancer approached with the girl who made with the Flaming Death trap. He asked, "So, I have marching orders then?"
"Yeah, if you don't mind," Forest said with a wince.
"I can think of worse things to do with my time than saving innocent maidens," Lancer said with a shrug. Then he looked at Shuya and asked, "So, rescue mission then?"
******
Archer grinned at Rin and said, "Maybe you should be truer to your feelings."
Then the one armed half demon presumed Archer was going to help them on some rescue mission. Especially since he had just been reunited with Rin. He reasoned he could probably just see the girl from one of the highest points in the city. Sighing, he said, "Fine, let's get to one of the higher rooftops and I can see the girl. I assume she looks like her, right?"
"If you're unwilling to help, sod off," Forest said, the scantily clad vampire stiffening.
Archer looked at Rin, shrugged, and said, "It's not my concern."
"Rin, tell your asshole he's helping us or I'm going to take it out of his hide," Lancer said with a grin.
Archer returned his smile and replied, "You could try, Celt."
Forest sighed, shook her head, and looked at Rider. She said to her, "With Lancer and Finn there, I think they can keep Warp Spasm and The Magnificent Poof in check to get Vanessa back safely. Shirou's not going, if he tries I'll drag him back to the compound to rest myself."
-
Sakura blinked at Kiyoshi's question and turned to find the girl gone.
Sakura cursed in Chinese and pulled out her phone "Hey idiot, Taiga is headed your way" she stated as the phone connected her to her younger brother.
"figured as much, why exactly, she knows to stay with you?" he replied questioningly.
"Turns out another version of Shirou and an alternative version of my dad, there's two by the way, one is dark, should I be worried? Well they gave the kid, erm. Kiyoshi their version of what a hero is and that's when Taiga disappeared, so likely she's going to tell you to beat them up" she answered.
Satoshi smiled. "speaker phone, and hold it up so everyone can hear it." he instructed.
Sakura shrugged and did as he asked turning the volume up to maximum.
"Alright I have an announcement to make, first off Kiyo, normally I'd whip your ass for leaving my sister in the lurch like this but since Barbie's teenage vampire didn't give you the message imma let you off the hook this time. Rider you over emotional freak if you want to fight me you're welcome to, I'll tape it and prove to the kid how weak you are, oh fyi imma kill his mom if you don't come fight me. As for the Shirou and Archer pair. You three are chumps and Alter is in the throne room so that slim chance you had just dropped to zero. I do plan on beating your faces in on principle alone, stomping a dream into the mud is not what heroes of any caliber do. So get past my defenses if you dare but if I were you I'd stay out of the knight's way. Up to you chumps" the call then abruptly ended.
-
Though he'd planned to go after Vanessa immediately, Shirou stuck around to hear the plan, getting a bit of rest whilst he was at it. His eyes narrowed as he listened to Shuya insulting him as if he wasn't even there, but it was something he had gotten used to nowadays. Well...he'd gotten used to it a while ago, all the way back in his first ventures as a mercenary. People generally didn't have high opinions of people like him.
"With Lancer and Finn there, I think they can keep Warp Spasm and The Magnificent Poof in check to get Vanessa back safely. Shirou's not going, if he tries I'll drag him back to the compound to rest myself." he heard Forest say, in response to Shuya. Like hell he wasn't going. Beyond rescuing someone, this was the perfect opportunity to wipe out the threat to this city's civilians. He couldn't sneak off though, Shuya had the strap to track the girl down.
Suddenly, the Tohsaka look-alike held up a phone, clicking a button to place it on loudspeaker, from which Satoshi's voice sounded.
"Alright I have an announcement to make, first off Kiyo, normally I'd whip your ass for leaving my sister in the lurch like this but since Barbie's teenage vampire didn't give you the message imma let you off the hook this time. Rider you over emotional freak if you want to fight me you're welcome to, I'll tape it and prove to the kid how weak you are, oh fyi imma kill his mom if you don't come fight me. As for the Shirou and Archer pair. You three are chumps and Alter is in the throne room so that slim chance you had just dropped to zero. I do plan on beating your faces in on principle alone, stomping a dream into the mud is not what heroes of any caliber do. So get past my defenses if you dare but if I were you I'd stay out of the knight's way. Up to you chumps." The call ended, Sakura putting her phone away.
Evidently, he'd over-estimated the idiot's character. What the hell was the alternate version of himself teaching this kid? Hell, what the hell were all his alternate versions teaching their kids? Every kid of his so far has ended up with severe hero issues or have become borderline psychotic. Maybe it'd be best if Shirou never had a kid if everyone single one of them turned out like that, not that he'd been planning to.
Initial shock over, he analysed the idiot's words. The idiot evidently had some form of grudge against Kiyoshi and Rider, as well as all three versions of him currently present. In addition, he had the help of someone called "Alter", though the abilities of this "Alter" was unknown to him. Alter was evidently short for alternate, but alternate version of what? Of whom? In any case, it would be best to avoid this character if possible. The idiot had said 'throne room' so that evidently meant a castle of some sort. He hadn't seen a castle in his initial scans of the area, but he'd have to recheck later. He couldn't ask Sakura, she might warn the idiot that he was coming. Finally, it was highly possible that the idiot had a hostage, probably Kiyoshi's mom, whoever she was. Kiyoshi had aquamarine eyes, so maybe another Rin? He didn't know anyone else with the same eyes.
Conclusion: the idiot may be a threat which needed to be taken care of.
Shirou was torn. On one hand, he felt that he needed to find Vanessa. On the other hand, there was an imminent threat nearby.
In any case, he'd need to get to higher ground to survey the area once more. He began walking off, throwing a quick "I'm going to survey the area," over his shoulder.
-
Archer shook as head as he heard the punk over the phone. He hadn't even talked to the boy and really had no plans to. Unless Rin wanted him to, then he would have been convinced.
He walked over to the Amazonian Rin, bent his head to the phone and said, "First off, your 'sister' has her facts twisted up. I didn't talk to the Mother's Boy, and if he wants to live a miserable life trying to be a hero, that is his and his family's business. Not mine. Secondly, the 'Barbie Doll Vampire' has been neck deep in a swarm of vampires that was apparently hired to attempt to kill her and administering first aid to some of the injured in the area. Partly naked. So she really hasn't had a time to really tell anyone what's going on.
"Thirdly your priorities are vastly screwed and as for Saber in the throne room? Kid, you have a ticking time bomb there and she will explode. And you're a giant hypocrite."
Then he lifted his head, smirked at Sakura and said, "Frankly, I don't care, but there is only so much hypocrisy I can bare."
With a shrug, he walked back to where Rin was standing.
-
Rider listened to the other servants discussing Isa’s rescue mission, somewhat irritated that they all seemed to be ignoring her offer entirely. Why they would trust Shirou or Shuya over her was beyond her. Before she could speak up, though, she heard Kiyoshi ask about Taiga’s whereabouts.
Oh, crap.
Rider herself couldn’t care less about Taiga, really. She was an irritating little brat. But, she knew that Kiyoshi would not let her just walk off alone.
In response to Kiyoshi’s question, Sakura swore under her breath and pulled out her phone.
"Hey idiot, Taiga is headed your way", she said.
Rider presumed that her statement was aimed at Satoshi. This was confirmed when the girl continued.
"Turns out another version of Shirou and an alternative version of my dad, there's two by the way, one is dark, should I be worried? Well they gave the kid, erm. Kiyoshi their version of what a hero is and that's when Taiga disappeared, so likely she's going to tell you to beat them up", she said.
That little shit, Rider thought.
Whilst she had no love for the alternate Shirou, why the hell an eight-year-old girl felt that she was more morally responsible than a bunch of adults was beyond her. It was pretty clear that these idiots had not been brought up at-all well.
But, then, things got worse. Sakura fiddled with the phone and, then, held it up. From it came the voice of Satoshi.
"Alright I have an announcement to make, first off Kiyo, normally I'd whip your ass for leaving my sister in the lurch like this but since Barbie's teenage vampire didn't give you the message imma let you off the hook this time. Rider you over emotional freak if you want to fight me you're welcome to, I'll tape it and prove to the kid how weak you are, oh fyi imma kill his mom if you don't come fight me. As for the Shirou and Archer pair. You three are chumps and Alter is in the throne room so that slim chance you had just dropped to zero. I do plan on beating your faces in on principle alone, stomping a dream into the mud is not what heroes of any caliber do. So get past my defenses if you dare but if I were you I'd stay out of the knight's way. Up to you chumps"
Rider’s face contorted with rage as she listened to Satoshi’s “announcement”. Any concept of helping Isa or anyone else disappeared from her mind with the threat to her master’s safety.
And, how the hell did he get hold of Sakura?
“Give me that damn phone!” she said, angrily, attempting to grab it from Sakura, as she noticed the darkened Archer go over and attempt to shout into the phone.
But, he had already hung up.
Rider sighed.
I’m going to kill that bastard.
No, actually, that’ll be too damn quick. I’m going to torture him.
“I’m going to have to deal with that idiot, it seems. I can’t risk him hurting Sakura, either. Kiyoshi, you are not coming with me, you need to go and rest. I’ll be back soon, I promise, and I’ll have that ass.. idiot following behind me in chains.”
Rider was apopoletic with rage. How dare he threaten Sakura like that? And, worse, seemingly even kidnap her and hold her for ransom?
The guy was going to suffer, more than anyone had ever suffered before. He seemed to have some regenerative abilities, too, which would only make his suffering far more intense.
“Sakura, give me that damn phone. NOW”, she said. It was clear from the tone of her voice that she had no intention of taking no for an answer.
-
"I can't force him to come with me. Well, technically I could, but it would be wrong," she said.
Shuya had an irritated face. "Don't give me that crap. Use your sex appeal or something." He flicked her forefront. "Suggest you cover yourself before getting arrested." He grabbed the pink item from her hands right before the Irish Servant got closer. Forest and Lancer exchanged words before the man looked at him.
"So, rescue mission then?"
Shuya nodded with a grimace. "Guess so. Shame that drinks will have to wait."
----
"Isa, it's not your fault what happened, and you're not causing us trouble. Even the strongest people need rescuing sometimes. The only 'repayment' we want from you is for you to get better and be able to smile again. You're a lovely girl, and I would be happy to be your friend and to help you in any way I can."
"Thank you, Rider. I will take up your offer of becoming your friend, then."
She was about to hug the Servant but someone talked, interrupting her.
"Fine, let's get to one of the higher rooftops and I can see the girl. I assume she looks like her, right?"
Isabella jumped in.
"Yes, we're twins."
----
Shuya quickly came back with sword and scabbard. He heard the taunting from the phone but decided to ignore it since he wasn't concerned. However a quick glance at Rider indicated she was about to snap. She even approached the girl who held the cellphone with a furious expression. The half demon emitted a grunt and walked to her.
"The fuck you're gonna do?" He asked. "It's obviously a trap. If you go, you're as good as dead. Then, Kiyoshi will be left alone and will mostly likely end up doing something stupid." He was talking on a low tone. "Besides, nothing says he has your master. Might just be a bluff." He removed his hand, unlikely she would listen in her anger but it would be a waste to die like that. "Not gonna tell you what you should do, but think about the consequences beforehand."
With that, he called the searching party with a hand, his eyes on Archer.
"You said you could spot her, so I suggest we try this building." Thumb aimed at a business tower. His hand showed what Forest gave him. "In case that doesn't work, we got this. The vampire said we could track the kid with it. "
---
Isabella threw an anxious look at Archer, Forest and Hakuno. The tone was strange but she had heard that voice previously. "Was that Satoshi?" It seemed that she had a lot to catch up with.
-
Sakura immediately slid the phone back into her coat. "congratulations you just wasted everyone's time by talking to dead air." she told the Darkened Archer.
turning to Rider with a sigh "No, you are not touching a very expensive piece of Association tech. You couldn't hope to pay it off with twelve life times worth of work."
"frankly, it is a trap, and Archer, the dark one that is, he isn't blaming you for the kid, he just has history with your current form, so it's more challenging you just to have a cathartic fight and work out the spookies. As for Rider, well it's her choice, I'll say this that my little brother, dark or not only fights fairly. As he is now it will be so you can't complain if you lose. If you guys want information in anymore effectiveness than his I'm going to need some tea." she explained finishing.
-
Sephiroth was starting to get worried.
No, not for himself, he was perfectly alright.
It was this Vanessa girl that he was worried for, what with those injuries that appeared out of nowhere, and he didn't have his Cure Materia on hand to help her out. In fact, it was more like he only had a small amount of his potions with him, and....
Hold on, what potions of his were they, exactly?
Pulling out his bag of potions, he was thoroughly shocked that he had well over 99 elixirs on hand, which should have been impossible!
Well, not like it was a bad thing, as he picked up one of the excess elixirs, moved over to Vanessa, picked her up gently, positioned her body to safely accept the elixir, opened the bottle, and helped her drink the liquid.
As soon as he finished feeding her the elixir, Sephiroth felt the presence of at least three others, but he wasn't sure how many there were. Eventually, they would come and find out what was going on, but he wouldn't leave her alone while they needed to know what was going on.
-
Mu sipped his tea as he stared at the Cafe's television as it streamed the local news, he had a slow start in Nexus and it wasn't picking up much. He wasn't really short on cash, it was more along the lines of boredom and lack of interesting activity.
Mu stood up as he finished off his tea and placed the empty cup on the table with a well sized tip under the cup, he grabbed his briefcase as he exited the Cafe.
He moved into the crowd of citizens, none of them aware that an assassin walked among them. Or at least those incapable of spotting his movements, to the untrained eye he appeared to move like retired soldier returning to civilian life but to the experienced eye he walked and moved like a trained assassin. Mu knew this, after all a tiger can never change his stripes and he could never hide his origin from those of the same deadly past as him own.
He moved through the crowd aimlessly, his face set in blank slate revealing nothing to all but the most skilled facial expression readers. Silently Mu wished something exciting would happen, he was fairly bored and in need of some excitement after all.
That was when the screams for help started, Mu whirled about in the direction of the screams and made his way towards the screams for help as the crowd began to panic while fleeing the area.
Mu drew forth his trusted Railgun in preparation for the worst, just as he rounded the next corner he was confronted by a series of monsters attacking the innocent people of Nexus. Before any of the creatures could so much as respond to his presence much less notice him, Mu had his sights on a monster that had cornered a woman with two children and in an instant he appeared on the collective radars of the monsters in the vicinity as he squeezed off his shot.
The boom and the Railgun firing was quickly followed by said afore mentioned monster's head exploding in a mess of a gore, two more boom sounds followed as the two monsters preventing the family's escape met the same fate. He placed his briefcase into his coat before using the same hand to draw forth Dragoon from within his coat, now duel wielding a pair of powerful pistols in the face of a large number of monsters set on slaughtering those in the city.
It was a slaughterfest and not in the favor of those same monsters, Mu cursed himself for his wish of excitement earlier.
-
Mille blushed as she was swept into Lancer's arms. As embarrassed as she still was to have to be carried in the first place, Mille found the experience quite pleasant. The feel of those muscular arms holding her close was just right, his scent of warm, clean fur and musk both comforting and intoxicating. She couldn't help but smile a tiny bit in spite of herself. With a wink and a promise not to jostle her around too much, Lancer carried her towards the main group.
***
"Yes, thank you Sir. And everyone for helping me."
"No problem at all," said Finn. "Just glad I could help ya out."
Events moved forward, and Finn's introduction to Forest didn't go unnoticed.
"Nice to meetcha." [Shuya] repeated with a grin. "Sure, is a first I hear that addressed to a blood sucker. Might change your opinion soon, though."
The comment didn't bother Finn much. He was about to say something in reply when he noticed the half-demon had already wandered off towards Forest, and had her step away from the rest of the group. From what he could get from it, the mercenary had designated a group to go and find the girl's missing sister, and it involved Finn himself.
Finn laughed. "Hey now, I don't think of myself as much of an asshole, but I definitely don't mind bein' a part of 'Team Asshole' if it means helping out more. Count me in."
Finn then turned to the tall blonde vampire. "Forest huh? Figures someone as pretty as you would have a pretty name." He blushed for letting the last comment slip out. "And yeah, looks like we might be in for a bit of a rough haul, but I'm sure things'll turn out fine. I may not be as powerful as my little sis, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve, so I'll help ya however I can."
***
Rin sighed, then turned to Archer. "I don't imagine you'd want to let me go with those guys all by myself do you? Because I'm going too. I didn't lose much energy earlier, and the more help we have to get this done quickly, the better."
Before Rin could say anything else, she felt a farily large mass hit her with a fair bit of force. Rin looked down to investigate the source of pressure, only to see that a young boy was hugging her quite tightly.
This must be Kiyoshi, Rin thought.
Rather awkwardly, Rin hugged Kiyoshi back. Even if she had been warned ahead of time, she didn't know if she was quite ready to be an auntie just yet.
***
Hakuno nodded in agreement with what Rider had told Isa. "It's just like Rider says. You shouldn't feel bad at all." She gave Isa a warm smile. "That's what friends are for, after all."
Then a girl who looked like an Amazonian Rin, who's name happened to be Sakura, had a rather unpleasant phonecall from Satoshi transmitted to the crowd at large.
After Shuya said his piece on the situation Toshi had presented, Archer nodded. "He's right. Besides, we don't have any evidence that Satoshi isn't just bluffing. If he had Sakura hostage, he should have been able to let us hear her over the phone. Plus there's no way he could have captured her that quickly. Even assuming that the idiot knows how to cut off your connection to Sakura, you would have felt her through your Ley Line the moment she arrived in this world, before she got captured." He looked Rider in the eyes. "Don't waste your time going after this moron. I'm sure Sakura would rather have you stay and protect her son than chase after some jackass who's threatening with an empty hand."
Hakuno found herself agreeing with Archer. "Don't go, Rider. He's nothing but a hypocrite and a big, arrogant bully." She narrowed her eyes, and turned to Ruby. "Ruby, how fast do you recharge?"
"Shouldn't take too long, hopefully~ Thinking of teaching that jerk a lesson? ❤"
Archer sighed before turning to Hakuno. "It's as good of an idea for you to go after him as it is for Rider, kaleido stick or not. I'm not too fond of the asshole, especially since he threatened to kill me in front of you for shallow reasons, but that doesn't mean he's worth risking your life over." He leaned down closer to her. "And besides, if you really want to help someone that badly, Isa needs support right now," the bowman whispered. "She seems to really trust you. Who will be there to help her recover if something happens to you?"
Hakuno felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of abandoning Isa. She nodded. "Alright, I'll leave him be. I guess I need the rest anyway." She turned back to Isa. "We should get home and let the search party bring Isa's sister back to her."
-
"Thank you, Rider. I will take up your offer of becoming your friend, then", Isa said.
Rider gave the girl a kind smile in return. She prepared to speak up, to offer to help find the girl's sister once Kiyoshi was safely in bed when she heard Satoshi's message. At that point, all thoughts of helping Isa went, to be replaced with concern for her own master.
Rider was absolutely livid at Satoshi's threat, and demanded the phone from Sakura, determined to get more information from the asshole. After Shuya had attempted to dissuade her, Sakura replied negatively to her demand, irritating her further.
If she doesn't give me the fucking thing, I'm going to take it from her, call the bastard and then shove it down her fucking throat, Rider thought, angrily.
Rider was livid that the girl considered the value of her phone as more important than the life of her own aunt. But, before she could tear into the girl further, she continued to speak, echoing Shuya's cautious sentiment.
"Frankly, it is a trap, and Archer, the dark one that is, he isn't blaming you for the kid, he just has history with your current form, so it's more challenging you just to have a cathartic fight and work out the spookies. As for Rider, well it's her choice, I'll say this that my little brother, dark or not only fights fairly. As he is now it will be so you can't complain if you lose. If you guys want information in anymore effectiveness than his I'm going to need some tea", she said.
Rider took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She wanted to tear into the girl, but she had offered to give information, and that information was something that Rider desperately needed. Plus, this was Rin's daughter, so it was likely that she had a somewhat explosive temper. Angering her was not likely to be productive. She was, however, somewhat bemused at Sakura's statement that Satoshi fought fairly.
Rider knew that Shuya and Sakura were right. It was surely a trap. Rushing in and springing that trap would mean her death, and that would mean she couldn't protect Sakura in the future. Plus, he'd provided no evidence that he even had Sakura. But, at the same time, she couldn't just ignore his threat, as empty as it might be right now.
Archer also spoke up, once again urging her to ignore the obvious trap, explaining that Sakura was most likely not even present.
He's right. I can't feel any connection to Sakura, and I he didn't provide any evidence. Plus, I would rather not die....
Hakuno continued, also urging her not to take the bait before, somewhat hypocritically, deciding that she would take Satoshi down herself. Unsurprisingly, Archer shot down that idea very rapidly.
Rider considered the situation, whether to take up Satoshi's "offer". Everything pointed to it being a bad idea. It was an obvious trap, and even if it wasn't she was likely not going to be able to beat a darkened form of him on his own ground. There was no evidence he even had Sakura. If she took the bait, she would be sacrificing her own life and leaving Kiyoshi alone, just because there was a small chance that Satoshi had Sakura.
But, as much as every part of her screamed that it was a bad idea, she simply could not ignore it. Sakura could be in mortal danger, and that was not something Rider could overlook. And, even if she wasn't now, Satoshi would go after her in future, and that was not something Rider wanted to risk.
"I really don't know what I'll do, Shuya", she said.
Then, addressed everyone who had given her encouragement.
"Look, I know it's probably a trap, I know I'm probably going to die if I go after him. And, I don't want to die. I like my life, and I have people to protect.
But, at the same time, I can't just ignore his threat. What happens if he does have Sakura? If I ignore the threat then she'll die, probably horribly, and it'll be my fault. I can't allow that...."
Then, she turned to Sakura, more calmly than before.
"Look, please, I need that phone. I need to know if he really has my master.
But, even if he doesn't, he needs to be dealt with. Otherwise he might go after her later. For that, though, I need your help. I need information. So, let's all go home, get a nice cup of tea and we can discuss things."
Of course, Rider knew that Sakura would probably not be too happy with her plans for the asshole, but there was no need for her to find this out just yet. Hopefully she wouldn't be able to work it out from what she knew of her own Rider....
Then, as an afterthought, she added one more thing.
"Oh and, Sakura, kidnapping my master and threatening me into a fight doesn't seem particularly fair to me. And, if I lose I won't be able to complain about anything. Dead people can't talk...", she added, somewhat bitterly.
Kiyoshi smiled as the alternate version of his aunt returned his hug, albeit somewhat hesitently, He was glad that at least she was willing to acknowledge him as family, unlike his alternate-dimension siblings. Oblivious to the commotion his question about Taiga had caused, Kiyoshi held his 'aunt' tightly and lovingly.
It was only after 20 seconds or so of hugging that he realised he had not yet told her who he was.
Pulling out of the hug, he spoke to his 'aunt'.
"Oh, sorry, I never told you my name. I'm Kiyoshi, Shirou and Sakura's son", he said, smiling.
-
Sakura chuckled. "Unless your master will die of an extra ten pounds I doubt you have anything to worry about. Besides the phone is a magi device that's keyed to the user's magic circuit. Basically it's a one user only system, even if you did get him to answer he won't confirm her presence in the castle. The castle, for your information Archer can mask prana connections."
she sighed turning to the group. "My little brother is no killer Archer, frankly calling his reasoning shallow is laughable because he only makes such statements in response to death threats. So I'm left wondering who you threatened to be confronted like that. My father raised me to be a realist, that means monsters die and when the dead, that's you servant chump, when they attack humans they become monsters. So you have no one to blame but yourself."
"Ruby fighting my brother is a bad idea. So unless you have other abilities I'd stay one of the fight." Sakura stated turning to Rider.
"in all seriousness Rider, he won't kill anyone he fights, my brother values life before anything else. Threats are nothing more than warnings or in the case of this threat a bait for a trap. You can go fight him without worrying."
-
"Rider, this whole thing is idiotic," the corrupted Archer said with a shake of his head, "At least get some proof that he has your Master."
Lancer nodded and said, "Aye, the asshole's right. If you want someone to do battle, the first thing you have to do is show them that the spoils are in at least reasonable condition."
"If he wanted to get his point across, he should have had her at least scream into the phone to get your attention," Archer said with a sigh and a shake of his head. Not that he cared about whatever condition this Sakura was or wasn't, but getting Rider involved could get Rin involved. Considering what happened the last time the Rin in his care got involved, Archer wasn't going to risk her after finding her again.
Rin sighed, then turned to Archer. "I don't imagine you'd want to let me go with those guys all by myself do you? Because I'm going too. I didn't lose much energy earlier, and the more help we have to get this done quickly, the better."
Right. The girl we have to find.
He nodded, smirked, and said, "Going to make sure I behave?"
Then the kid hugged Rin with bone crushing force, and Rin awkwardly returned the embrace.
He turned towards the other Sakura (he made a mental note if he got this Rin pregnant, that name was not an option) and said, "I don't care what negative feelings your brother has against 'this form'. It wasn't me, I've never met the punk until tonight, and I'm not the asshole who ruined his day or whatever."
******
Lancer turned back to Shyua and sighed, "Aye, drinks will have to wait. Hell, I'm starting to get annoyed with all of this action." Then he laughed and said, "Well, its like that saying, be careful for what one wishes for, right, boyo?"
******
Forest flushed as the half demon flicked the remains of her shirt and she stammered, "I don't have any sex appeal and I doubt I'm that guy's type either."
Finn then turned towards her. "Forest huh? Figures someone as pretty as you would have a pretty name." He blushed for letting the last comment slip out. "And yeah, looks like we might be in for a bit of a rough haul, but I'm sure things'll turn out fine. I may not be as powerful as my little sis, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve, so I'll help ya however I can."
She almost groaned at the pick up line and said, "Well, we appreciate the help and . . ." She looked at Rider and touched her arm. She said, "My Admrial Ackbar sense is telling me that 'It's a trap!'"
Raising her voice, she said, "Okay, Team Asshole, find Vanessa. Lancer knows the way back to the stronghold. Hako-chan, you stay with Isa until we get back. Asian Wonder Woman, I just fought your brother, he doesn't seem like the type to take prisoners. He is the type to have issues though. Lots and lots of issues. Unfortunately, night's wasting and the sun will be up soon. I don't fancy becoming crispy. Everyone, let's go."
She did give Shirou a look as he went to look for Vanessa.
-
Shirou was perched on the tip of a tower, binoculars in hand as he scanned the area. It was rather lucky that it was a breeze-less night, otherwise he would have had a much harder time balancing on such a high surface in his present condition.
Golden eyes narrowed as he spotted what appeared to be a castle on the outskirts of the city. That hadn't been there on his last check, so it was most likely a product of magic: either recently created by, or hidden using magic. It was most likely the idiot's lair. Nothing he could do about it now, but he would send the coordinates to his...allies at a later time.
Moving on, he continued roving his eye across the landscape, listening to the chatters of the local police through headphones. He was no expert in computers, but it had been pathetically easily to hack into their radio frequency.
Suddenly, Shirou spotted a rather large crater, surrounded by the flashing red and blue lights iconic to the police force. At the same time, he heard a policeman reporting:
"Two suspects, a long-haired man with a nodachi, last seen carrying a black-haired teenage girl away from the crime scene..."
It was a solid lead. He quickly whipped out his phone, but realised he didn't have the numbers of anyone on the search team. Idiot.
Growling in frustration, he began climbing down the tower, heading over to the complex which was currently Forest's home.
-
Mu moved through the monsters cutting each one down before they could reach him but despite all of it, he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him as he moved through the ranks of the monsters. The Lizard and boar creatures were the simpler monsters to kill, the magus and stealth monsters were a pain to deal with but they fell like the others. The tiger-like monsters were the toughest of the bunch, they were more capable then the others and were not above calling others to its aid.
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
The Tiger creature finally fell, it took three consecutive hits to bring the beast down and those .600 caliber rounds were meant to take down an elephant each. Mu looked up for the first time since before the slaughter began and noticed something odd, a massive amount of Prana was being channeled from on top of a near by apartment building. This could be the person behind this whole thing, he had a chance to put a stop to everything and find out who is doing all this.
Mu stashed the Dragoon and Railgun in cloak before withdrawing the Taieki, before dashing towards the apartment building. Upon entering the lobby, he came across a slaughter of innocents and before the slaughterers could react he opened up with the two Taieki.
The sounds of a pair of rune enhanced AK-47 assault rifles blasting away and the various monsters filled the apartment as he blasted his way up the levels, clearing out each level as we went and all the while ignoring the feeling that he was being watched as he made his way up the stairs leading to the roof top with both of the assault rifles clenched tightly in his grip.
'It all comes down to this' Mu though as he kicked open the door to the rooftop, thinking himself ready for anything that came his way
-
Rin gave the darkened servant a playful smile in return. "Naturally. Who's better than me at getting you to behave?"
The normal Archer smirked. "It took you a command seal just to do that."
Rin crossed her arms and glared at him. "Who asked you?"
"Well, it still involves me, doesn't it? A more overtly assholish me, but me nonetheless."
Rin turned back to the darker version. "Ignore... the other you. With the two of us working together again, we'll find Isa's sister in no time at all, and then we can go back to the apartments and talk over tea, just like old times."
"More like I served it to you and then you made me clean up the house afterwards. I recall us having a few pleasant conversations, but it was between you barking orders at me and making me do all your housework."
"But... you like doing housework," said Hakuno.
Archer managed to keep his wince at Hakuno's statement internalized.
Mille blearily looked at the group, struggling as she was to not fall asleep from the combination of her exhaustion and the warmth of Lancer's arms. "Get a room," she muttered. She drifted off to sleep shortly after.
Then Kiyoshi hugged her and she gave her awkward response. The boy let go and spoke. "Oh, sorry, I never told you my name. I'm Kiyoshi, Shirou and Sakura's son", he said, smiling.
Rin forced as friendly of a smile as she could on her face, still not quite having reconciled with her new position as "Auntie." "Rider told me about you, actually." Trying to think of something to say, she noted the boy's appearance. "But even then, I think I would have figured it out pretty quickly. You look a lot like your dad." It was a bit of an awkward start, but it was better than nothing.
***
"Honestly, even if his castle is capable of cutting off those types of connections, Rider should have been able to feel Sakura arriving in this dimension before she was kidnapped regardless. It doesn't give his threat that much more weight," Archer said. He frowned. "And your father's philosophy sounds suspiciously like Satoshi's. And it has the same flaws. It's painfully simplistic, actually. Not all people who are forced to kill other people are monsters, and there are those who haven't killed a single person that are complete and utter monsters. That philosophy is idiotic in that it assumes the world is black and white. Nothing is that simple."
His eyes narrowed into a glare. "And he threatened to kill me after I threatened the idiot that thought the best way to prevent a potential fight from happening was to shoot my Master in the head. If he hadn't missed, I assure you he'd be dead by now. He defended a man who nearly took an innocent girl's life, and then threatened to kill me in front of that same girl. That makes him a hypocrite."
Hakuno herself then spoke up. "Wait... what do you mean, Servants are monsters? That isn't right. That's not right at all! They have feelings and thoughts just like the rest of us, why should we just kill them so casually?"
Rin turned to Hakuno, surprised. "But... aren't you a Master? You have to kill Servants by default to get the Grail. Why participate if you have problems with Servants dying?"
Archer turned to Rin, his face grim. "The Grail War we're involved in... is a bit different from the one you remember. The price for losing is the losing team's death, both Master and Servant. It's very difficult to back out once you're a participant as well. And..."
Hakuno squeezed her eyes shut. "I have amnesia. I don't remember anything before participating in the War. Even if it was for my own survival, even if it turned out no one got deleted after all... I still hate it that I had to cause other people's deaths. I hate it."
Rin stood there for a moment in stunned silence. Then, quietly, she spoke. "Kishinami-chan... look, you shouldn't beat yourself up over that. You didn't have any choice. What would have letting yourself die have done? And besides, they turned out to be OK later, right?" She frowned. "Although..." Rin turned to face her tall lookalike. "Wait, that doesn't mean you think that Kishinami-chan's a monster too, now does it? What about people forced to fight to the death against their will? And what about soldiers, or police officers? Honestly, I think Archer's right, the more you think about it, the more silly this philosophy of your dad's sounds."
She stared at her look-alike a bit oddly for a moment as she finally processed the other girl's appearance before continuing. "As for the Servant thing... well, most people don't have as many problems killing Servants because they're familiars. Powerful familiars, but familiars nonetheless. But I can see why Kishinami-chan thinks the way she does, and all the semantics and the like concerning whether Servants should be considered human or not aside, it still makes Blondie a complete jerk for threatening Archer."
Rin crossed her arms over her chest. "The reason he's still a creep regardless is because he threatened to do it in front of Hakuno. Even if Blondie thinks Servants are monsters, Kishinami-chan clearly doesn't. She..." Rin hesitated for a bit, but after a few seconds, found her voice again. "She and Archer are pretty close, from what I've seen. Killing Archer right in front of her would have traumatized her. She was already in bad shape from nearly being shot. Regardless of what you think of Archer, the fact that Blondie thought it was more than ok to kill someone in front of a traumatized girl, and someone she's acquainted with at that, makes Blondie far more of a monster than any Servant."
Not wanting to leave things on such a grim note, Rin changed the subject. "As for..." Rin visibly struggled for a bit with her words before continuing. "As for R-ruby, I could probably take on your brother using... t-that wand, but Kishinami-chan is an inexperienced Magus who isn't that used to... that thing's abilities yet. It's more that Kishinami-chan herself isn't ready for the fight than anything."
"Aww, you managed to say something halfway nice about me~ Maybe you aren't a completely horrible person after all~" Ruby wiggled playfully in the air. "Just a mostly awful person~"
Rin turned to glare at Ruby. Quietly, through gritted teeth, Rin said, "I'll deal with you. Later. The apartments. Count on it."
While Rin was glaring at Ruby, Archer turned to his own counterpart. "As much as I wish you were the one that the imbecile talking over the phone was referring to specifically, I think he was talking about me. It doesn't do much to reduce the idiocy of it all, but at least that should make more sense to you."
***
Finn could see Forest suppressing the urge to groan at the line he made, and it took effort to not wince in response. The line had just slipped out- pickup lines like that weren't normally his style. He'd been told that his appeal was his simple, down home charm, and that didn't come from random pickup lines. He felt somewhat ashamed about it, but did his best to hide it. No need to bring down the already somewhat sour mood going on even further by showing a sour face.
"Well, we appreciate the help and . . ." She looked at Rider and touched her arm. She said, "My Admrial Ackbar sense is telling me that 'It's a trap!'"
Finn grinned at the reference. Mille had woken up long enough to hear it and groaned. The young man turned to his sister. "Well hey, she has good taste in the movies she references, you gotta give her credit for that."
Mille just pinched the bridge of her nose and slowly shook her head.
Finn then turned to Rider. He didn't know what all was going on, but he did hear Rider's request at least once. "I'll let you borrow mine. I don't know for sure if it'll work here, but hey, it's worth a shot, right? All you'd need then is the number."
Then Forest issued marching orders.
Raising her voice, she said, "Okay, Team Asshole, find Vanessa. Lancer knows the way back to the stronghold. Hako-chan, you stay with Isa until we get back. Asian Wonder Woman, I just fought your brother, he doesn't seem like the type to take prisoners. He is the type to have issues though. Lots and lots of issues. Unfortunately, night's wasting and the sun will be up soon. I don't fancy becoming crispy. Everyone, let's go."
Hakuno, still a bit upset over the memories that had been dug up and learning the fact that Satoshi had threatened to kill Archer in front of her, regardless held her ground. She nodded and stood close to Isa, doing her best to seem strong for her new friend. Isa couldn't afford for her to see her source of support falter any further. Archer wasn't much farther away, intending to be the support to Hakuno's support. Ruby lazily fluttered down and sat on Hakuno's head.
Rin, in the meantime, turned to the members of "Team Asshole." "Listen up. Once we go out there, as far as you're all concerned, I'm the one in charge. So I expect you to follow my orders, or face the consequences."
Finn grinned and gave her a quick salute. "Yes ma'am!" He then turned to Forest, the rare signs of something resembling a frown crossing his features. "Hmm... what about my sister though? She's in pretty bad shape, and I want to make sure she's alright. Is she going back with the apartment group?"
"I'm right over here, you idiot," Mille grumbled.
-
Sakura's speech reassured Rider of her master's safety somewhat, even if she would have preferred to hear it from Satoshi himself. The jovial way that she'd referred to her master's situation if she was indeed Satoshi's prisoner made it pretty clear that the "extra ten pounds" would be due to Satoshi's excellent cooking rather than some fiendish weight-gaining torture he had devised.
Given that, there was no reason for Rider to fight him any more. As the others had said, he probably didn't even have Sakura, and even if he did she was in safe hands. The logical approach was to just ignore the challenge.
But, honestly, Rider didn't want to reject it. Now that she knew her life was not going to be forfeit if she lost, she found the idea of fighting Satoshi strangely tempting. Despite her disdain for Lancer and Shuya's attitude to battle, Rider did actually enjoy a good sparring match. She just didn't find it enjoyable enough to be willing to risk her life or that of others.
This, though, was different. A full-out battle with someone on her level, but without fatal consequences. Of course, that didn't mean there wouldn't be any consequences at all, but that added to the excitement. Rider enjoyed hunting down her prey, especially when that prey could fight back.
Plus, whilst her prana levels were still high enough to fight a battle, she needed a longer-term prana source. If she won, she would take great pleasure in punishing Satoshi for his arrogance and draining him dry in the process, before bringing him home in chains as her sex toy, hopefully finding a way to revert him to normal. She had felt his magical power before, it was clear that he could easily provide for her.
And, if she lost? Well, whilst he wasn't top of her list of people she'd like to have sex with, he was certainly an attractive guy and, besides, the thought of being defeated and at the mercy of another was somewhat of a turn-on for her. She knew, of course, that there was always a risk of him doing something horrendous, due to his darkened state, but it seemed unlikely based on what Sakura had said. If he was unwilling to harm her master, she saw no reason why he would harm her, at least in a manner that would not be pleasurable.
Plus, honestly, she really wanted to know if she could defeat him. Sakura and Taiga seemed sure that she would lose, but she wondered if they were simply overestimating their brother's power. She was rather curious to find out. Plus, if she fought him once and was freed, she could give the others information on how they might defeat him the next time.
And, of course, there was still the possibility that he had Sakura. Rider couldn't discount that entirely.
Before she could come to any decision, though, Lancer and the Darkened Archer spoke up, causing Rider to scowl. She was not at-all impressed with the casual, uncaring way they discussed her master, Lancer referring to her as "spoils" and Archer casually commenting that Satoshi should have tortured her for effect.
But, even so, they had a valid point. She had no reason to believe that Satoshi even had Sakura. He had provided no evidence. And, whilst fighting Satoshi might be enjoyable for her, her first priority was the safety and happiness of her master, and that meant protecting Kiyoshi. Then, the non-darkened Archer added more doubt in Rider's mind, pointing out that she should have felt Sakura arrive, even if Satoshi did have a way of blocking their connection.
She turned to them and spoke, the anger at Lancer and the darkened Archer's attitude clear.
"Lancer, my master is a human being, not 'spoils'. And, Archer, personally I think Satoshi's current approach is just fine. I'd rather he not torture my master, thank you....
But, nevertheless, you..."
Wait, hang on a minute.
As she spoke and looked in the direction of the altered Archer, Rider suddenly came to a startling realisation.
What about Angra Mainyu?
Whilst Satoshi's intentions towards Sakura might not be bad, she couldn't necessarily say the same for the entity that had corrupted him. And, that entity could easily gain access to Satoshi's castle, since he was using Angra Mainyu's power to construct it. Even if Satoshi would not harm Sakura, Angra Mainyu might. Or, worse, he might corrupt her. Sakura had been through the hell of corruption once, Rider did not wish for her to suffer it a second time.
Rider looked in the direction of Kiyoshi and Rin. He was hugging her and calling her "aunty", and she seemed to be reciprocating. True, she was doing in somewhat awkwardly, but she was at least trying, unlike Taiga and the rest of Satoshi's family.
She wasn't Kiyoshi's aunt, true, she was younger and less mature, but she still had the same fundamental kindness and compassion. Rider knew that she could be trusted to protect Kiyoshi with all of her power, and she also knew that, as long as Rin was around to provide a familiar face, he would not feel quite so lonely and lost. With her there and accepting Kiyoshi's affection, Rider felt more comfortable about leaving him for a while.
But, even so, she needed to talk to Satoshi. She could cope with leaving Kiyoshi for a few days but, ultimately, she was his protector. She couldn't risk remaining in Satoshi's captivity without any way to help him when he was in need. Plus, she needed to confirm that he would free Sakura if she showed up, assuming he did have her. He might not admit whether or not he did, but that didn't mean he couldn't promise to free her....
But, that left her with a bit of an issue. Sakura had said that the phone would not work for her, so she needed another way to contact him. Knowing that Kiyoshi never went anywhere without her phone, she was about to go and talk to him. Before she could, though, a young man approached her and offered his phone.
"I'll let you borrow mine. I don't know for sure if it'll work here, but hey, it's worth a shot, right? All you'd need then is the number", he said.
Whilst the phone was ancient relative to the ones possessed by her family, it was nevertheless perfectly effective, and she gratefully accepted it. As he said, though, she still needed the number.
She walked up to Sakura and, talking quietly so no-one else would hear, she spoke.
"OK, I'm willing to fight your brother, but I would like to talk to him first. I need to be sure that I can still protect Kiyoshi afterwards, and I need to know that he will release Sakura if I do fight, regardless of the outcome."
Then, she waited for a reply, listening with amusement as Rin embarrassed herself with Ruby before, as was typical of her, attempting to take command of the group that would hunt for Isa's sister. Rider felt a slight regret that she couldn't also join that group, but she had Satoshi to deal with. She also felt curious about Hakuno's Grail War, having heard bits of the discussion she had on the topic with Rin. Rider decided to question her on the matter later.
Kiyoshi listened with slight bemusement as Rin bickered with the two Archers whilst still hugging him. After he had let go and spoke, though, she responded in kind, giving a friendly if somewhat uncomfortable-looking smile.
"Rider told me about you, actually. But even then, I think I would have figured it out pretty quickly. You look a lot like your dad", she said.
Kiyoshi smiled brightly.
She actually acknowledged me!
He had been rather hurt by the coldness shown towards him by Taiga when he had called her his "sister", and he was overjoyed that Rin didn't take the same attitude. Still, he was somewhat curious about her. What was her world like? Was it like Taiga's, or more like his?
Before he could ask anything, though, he heard Archer and Rin talking about his mother being kidnapped.
Wait, what?
"Eh, what's this about mum being kidnapped? Where is she? Who has her? If they hurt her, I'll kill them!". he said in a rather panicked manner.
-
The effect of the healing item may have played a big factor in it, but what woke up the girl was the image of her sibling.
"Isa!!!"
Vanessa opened her eyes wide, and was on her feet the next second. "I need to find my sister," she said quickly. She didn't notice her od being suddenly restored. Her purple eyes looked around and then, she started a run, all the while summoning a warm radiance. The orb flew away and the girl followed.
In her haste to find her twin, she didn't even address a word of thanks to Sephiroth.
"Isa, don't worry!! Big sis is on her way," she yelled right before sprinting into the night.
----
"We should get home and let the search party bring Isa's sister back to her."
Isabella nodded at Hakuno's words, her throughts drifting away once more. There wasn't much she could do now. Her body felt better but it didn't take away fatigue, both physical and mental. She needed the rest, and it would be perfect to have her... friends around. She could finally find a moment to rest without worrying about a possible attack.
She shuddered, already asking herself how much to share with Vanessa. No doubt she would inquire without holding back. However, revealing everything would break her heart. Maybe she should hide this, it would probably be wise. But would she be able to bluff her way through? Forest already knew. Maybe it would be a good idea to have few words with her. Her voice barely audible, she tugged feebly on Forest's arm.
"Can I ask you a favor?"
She gathered all the courage she could mutter this instant. Hakuno was right by her side, and would probably understand, even if she used a metaphor. There wasn't a way around that but Isa trusted Hakuno to access to her request. The words were only a whisper and she deeply wished nobody else would hear this.
"Please, don't mention the..." She came to an halt, having to suppress a flow of sadness from ruining her determination. "the r-..." Say it! Her pulse accelerated as fresh memories flashed before her eyes. "Please, the r-..." Tears. Damn it. Why can't I say the word?! It's just a word! "...to Vanessa, don't reveal the..." She squeezed Hakuno's hand once more, confirming her presence once again. "My sister. Please, don't tell her that I've have been raped." As she finally let the word out, her knees gave away and she started trembling. Acknowledging what had happened, was so painful she started clutching at her chest searching for her breathing between chokes.
Seconds later, she was puking on the pavement.
----
The mixed blood shrugged at Rider's words.
"Just don't go and get yourself killed yet, you owe me a rematch."
Ultimately, the choice was hers.
Shuya eyed Rin, who decided to impose herself on the searching party. He didn't know what to think of her, but if she was willing to join, he wouldn't stop her. Everyone seemed to be some acquaintances of another. The blackened Archer and that girl, Rin, in particular, looked close. Another thing he was able to grasp, they sure loved to waste their bloody time talking. That's why he hated working with women. If there was something he didn't like, it was delaying stuff. He stared at the corrupted servant.
"You done, now?"
The good mood he felt after the brief exchange with the blood suckers was progressively fading away.
"Don't really care if you bring your woman, but time's running, " he snarled.
It was already getting on his nerves. Shuya was stuck with a stupid couple, a guy who seemed as motivated as himself, and another one, already calling dibs on the vampire. And, of course, the smug face's twin had to join the pointless discussion, and then, it was shield girl's turn. And a derail about chores, how sweet.
Irritated, Shuya gave Lancer and Finn the curious eye, pointing a cigarette to designate both Archers. "Mind if I knock out the fuckers?" His patience running thin, he didn't expect what followed.
"Listen up. Once we go out there, as far as you're all concerned, I'm the one in charge. So I expect you to follow my orders, or face the consequences."
Shuya blinked. He waited, thinking maybe she was joking around but apparently it wasn't. These words were the the last straw. His eyes shut slightly before the offense. Not only did she thought she could order him around, but she even went as far as adding a threat. Shuya drew his blade in a swift move and stopped it inches from her face.
"You listen. I have no time to deal with your bullshit. I ain't your fuckin' dog and sure as hell ain't going to obey a little girl with a misguided superiority complex. Especially, when she behaves like a bitch first time we meet." He shot back with an angry tone. "Don't know you, so don't impose your crap on me. I'm doing this as a favor, I'm not, and don't plan to be, your buddy, alright? You either come and treat the others as equals or you sit your baby butt around playing with infirms and kids."
He sheathed his katana and turned away, animosity still clear in his voice.
"And watch your tongue. Next threat, I cut it down."
His warning delivered, he took off ahead.
-
Sakura sighed. "Rider dial this number, do it privately, these people clearly can't be trusted to help the situation" she stated turning to Forest.
"I'll find my own base for the time being, the regulations stated in the book say I shouldn't interact with the Tohsaka family from other dimensions and the temperament of Rin and those two servants reinforce my desire to follow those rules. She stated starting to walk off as she handed Rider a slip of paper.
-
Location: Nexus City, Industrial District, Unknown Warehouse
".....Alert to all units there are three armed suspects wanted for the heist of Nexus City Bank of Commerce fleeing in an armoured truck, proceed with caution....." A police scanner blared out from a table in the corner.
"Turn it off" a gruff voice called out from the shadows, a man scurried forward and turned off the scanner.
"Damn those idiots!" the mysterious man snarled angrily before lifting a nearby crate up with his free hand before throwing it at the wall as if it weighed nothing, the man huffed before inhaling a long drag from a massive but expensive looking cigar and puffing out the smoke calmly "I told them to do thing quietly, not bring the entire police force down on their asses."
The man signalled to another unseen man, the second man stepped into the light of the only light in the warehouse and revealed himself to be an ordinary man in a blue pinstripe suit with a blue fedora.
The mysterious man turned his attention to the blue man "When they arrive at the safehouse, kill them and dump their bodies on the steps of the bank. This will be warning the underworld that the Don expects his orders to be followed to the letter, no exceptions and no compromises or else" the Don finished the sentence with a sinister grin that could be seen despite the darkness of the warehouse.
The Blue man nodded before exiting the warehouse, the don inhaled heavily a second time and puffed out again "It's good to be the Don"
-
Lancer laughed at Hakuno's admission that Archer enjoyed doing housework. Without jostling Millie, the Celt elbowed the uncorrupted Servant in the stomach and said, "Ohoho, you'll make someone the perfect housewife one day, won't you?"
"Better than someone who's battle tactics include, 'I have this big rock. I can throw this big rock.' and my personal favorite, 'Arrggg with my cursed spear!'," Archer Alter said with a sigh and a shake of his head. "It also means that my counterpart and I actually have use outside of the killing field. Something I'm pretty sure you can't claim."
Lancer shrugged and said, "Actually I can. So go bugger off."
Archer was about to reply when Rin spoke up, taking control of "Team Asshole". He opened his mouth to tease her when that one armed freak with the katana (which was an extraordinary sword he stored for later use) drew his blade at Rin. Then he proceeded to lecture Rin with anti-social, sociopathic menace before ending it with, "And watch your tongue. Next threat, I cut it down."
Then the bastard decided to start to trot off after that.
Kansho and Baykura formed with a snap of prana in his hands. The dark Kansho blade was spun neatly in his right hand before he launched it directly at the half-breed. Air whistled around it as it whipped at Shuya with incredible force, nearly slicing some of his hair.
Archer then turned and held up Baykura in his hand. Kansho's path curved, attracted to its twin and drawn to return its side. Doing this, it passed right in front of the demon's face a mere centimeter from cutting the tip Shuya's nose off before returning to Archer's hand. Then the corrupted Servant calmly walked to the half-breed's side and he whispered, "That was a warning, half-breed."
The blades were dismissed in a shower of crimson sparks before he moved to Rin's side again. "You should have shot a gandr in that bastard's face." Then he held out his hand to take her into his arms.
He looked at Rider and said, "Let's confirm if your Master's here before you start needlessly worrying about her being corrupted again or not."
******
Finn grinned at Forest's reference. The redheaded rune witch, which Forest assumed was his little sister, had woken up long enough to hear it and groaned. Yeah, siblings, that groan confirmed it. The young man turned to his sister. "Well hey, she has good taste in the movies she references, you gotta give her credit for that."
Forest grinned in return and said, "Stick around, I'm full of tricks."
Then she watched as he gave Rider her phone to try to contact Satoshi. Frankly, it was a mess she didn't want to get into. It would be something way over her head. Like Peter Parker wanting to punch the Sentry in the face. She wanted to see someone help Satoshi, but he'd steamroll her, and she couldn't help anyone, like Isa, dead.
Finn grinned and gave her a quick salute. "Yes ma'am!" He then turned to Forest, the rare signs of something resembling a frown crossing his features. "Hmm... what about my sister though? She's in pretty bad shape, and I want to make sure she's alright. Is she going back with the apartment group?"
"I'm right over here, you idiot," Mille grumbled.
Forest rubbed the back of her neck and replied, "Well, that depends on her. I'd highly suggest she head back to my stronghold with us."
Lancer looked down at Mille and said, "Fore's good people. She'll start fussing over you in no time. Go with her and I'll be back before we know it." Then he whispered to her, "Can you walk?"
Forest felt a tiny tug on her hand and looked down to see Isa looking up at her with large, blue eyes. The girl looked pale despite recently totally regenerated. However, Forest knew that there were things that couldn't be healed by the wave of a magic wand, sentient or not. Nodding she knelt in front of the girl.
"Can I ask you a favor?"
Forest nodded and said, "Of course, poppet."
"Please, don't mention the..." Isa's words came to a halt, her eyes so wide. "the r-..." Say it! Isa thought, her thought buzzing through Forest's mind. Forest could hear her heart racing, faster and faster, like a frantic drumbeat. Images and sensations flashed through her mind, and sadly they were things that Forest had seen almost countless times in her long existence. The werewolves, their grunts, their smells, the pain. "Please, the r-..." Tears spilled down those big blue eyes. Damn it. Why can't I say the word?! It's just a word! "...to Vanessa, don't reveal the..." She squeezed Hakuno's hand once more, obviously confirming her new friend's presence once again. "My sister. Please, don't tell her that I've have been raped." As she finally let the word out, her knees gave away and she started trembling. Her small hand was clutching her chest, and her breath was rapidly catching. Then she bent forward, and the smell of bile and vomit was in the air.
Forest pulled Isa's hair back with one hand and stroked her back with the other. The girl was only a child, barely into womanhood to have that happen to her. If Shuya hadn't killed those werewolves, Forest would have tracked them down herself. However, this was the hardest part of Forest's existence. She knew she couldn't save everyone, and she saved who she could. However, she could also help those recover or point them in the direction that they needed to be pointed.
"It's over now," Forest said in a soft voice, her accent making her English hard to understand, "And Isa. It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. I won't tell Vanessa what happened, but you need to. Bottling it up is just going to make it fester, I know." She stroked the girl's hair back and gave her thin shoulders a tiny squeeze before pulling something out of one of her duster's inner pockets.
It was a small black velvet jewelry box. She opened it and within its contents was a sterling silver crow on a delicate chain. It hummed with old protective spells and a locator spell. She held it up to Isa and said, "This is the symbol of my patron, the Morrigan."
Lancer flinched at that, but said nothing.
The blond continued, "It's also got a few wards on it and a location spell. If something attacks you again, its going to get a very nasty surprise, and I'll know you're in trouble and will try my damnedest to help." Then Forest gently put the chain on the girl and said, "Plus there are those around here who know who's protection you're now under."
She looked up to see Rider get a phone number from the Amazonian version of Rin. She heard the girl say in her somewhat bossy voice, "Rider dial this number, do it privately, these people clearly can't be trusted to help the situation." Then she turned to Forest and continued, "I'll find my own base for the time being, the regulations stated in the book say I shouldn't interact with the Tohsaka family from other dimensions and the temperament of Rin and those two servants reinforce my desire to follow those rules."
Then she wrote something down on a piece of paper, handed it Rider, and turned to leave.
Of all the stuck up and arrogant things to do, the vampire thought with a wave of annoyance. Aloud, she said, "Well, cheero to you too, since we're a group of brigands who can't be trusted." Then telepathically she added to the girl, Love, if I wanted the phone number I could rip it straight from your head if I wanted to. Well, fare thee well.
The darkened version of Archer, who Forest was picking up a whole host of things about Rin in his mind, said, "Well, nice to know in some dimension that Rin and I failed as parents and brought up some stuck up bitch."
-
Sakura turned around and smiled "Yes, you are a pack of brigands who can't be trusted with something this important." she replied turning to the normal Archer.
"you are a coward who can't own up to the actions you've taken and your responsibility for the reactions of others. He acted because you did, you said it yourself. My father would never back away from problems he's caused." she told him.
Turning to the corrupted version of heroic spirit Emiya her smile faded. "you can't be bothered to listen when given tactical information. I don't trust idiocy to watch my back. My father has taught me to never stop learning, if anyone is the failure here, it's you."
Sakura then turned to Rin "I never actually said my little brother was right but instead of taking the high road you've bad mouthed him like a six year old. I don't tolerate childishness on the battlefield."
Sakura swallowed her building anger and smiled again. "if you,would like to rip the number I gave Rider out of my head Forest, go right ahead and try. After that call my brother and tell him that you raped me to get ahold of him and then pray that he cares enough not to make a mess. Because frankly he will run straight through all of these people and across time and space to destroy a monster like you."
she stood there in silence for a moment and then spoke again.
"So yes Forest, you cannot be trusted with the lives of my brother and sister. You cannot be trusted to act like adults, so I'm leaving." she stated with a sigh.
-
Vanessa was running wildly when she felt the urge to vomit. She sensed her stomach contracting to expel its content, although it was only in her head, it was like the real thing. In spite of that, she kept her pace while rubbing her belly with a contorted face.
Good thing I skipped dinner.
----
Shuya looked at the servant even after he went back to side with the girl again. Eyes shining with murder intent, he walked back, towards Archer. The guy was looking away, but that didn't stop the swordsman.
"Hoy." His hand tapped Archer's shoulder for him to face the Oni descendant. Next instant, he sent his forehead crashing against the bowman's nose.
"That's warning of my own, dick wad."
----
Isabella looked at the pendent with fascination. It was an intriguing piece of jewelry and obviously something valuable.
"You sure? Can I really keep this?"
The words of the vampire had been gentle. And this gift was almost like a dream, just what she needed.
Isa observed her with great interest. How could a vampire keep such a caring side for others? She had read a lot about dead apostles back in the Clock Tower's library. Obviously Forest was a different kind of undead, yet, something she knew about people living too long was that they all eventually turned cold or distant. They would either start putting less value in human's life, seeing it as feeble and lacking or the opposite, crushed under the weight of facing too many deaths, they would simply start being loners.
Hence why, the magus didn't understand Forest. She was obviously old, not physically, she could be her bigger sister from that point of view. She had something strange, not akin to an aura, but similar to people having faced many trials in their life. Yet, she remained a good person at heart.
Isa felt grateful for her kindness.
"Thank you, Forest. You're right, I should tell the whole truth. Guess I'm just a bit scared what her reaction could be." Her eyes wandered on the ground. "As for being my fault, well, I'm partly responsible for being careless." She smiled stiffly. "Something that won't happen again." She had more to say but she eventually decided to address the unknown person few words. She didn't pay attention to much of the discussion going until now but she understood a bit.
"Are you Satoshi's sister?" They didn't look much alike. "Did something happened to him? Is he alright?"
-
Hakuno felt a squeeze on her hand before Isa started vomiting. She was alarmed, and was about to try and help, but Forest thankfully stepped in just in time. Hakuno kept hold of Isa's hand, giving it another gentle squeeze. She stayed by Isa's side as Forest gave her words of comfort, as well as a Sterling silver crow necklace with great magical properties.
Hakuno smiled. That necklace is perfect. Just what Isa needs. Isa herself seems to really like it too, which makes it even better. She felt a bit bad that she couldn't do much more than give Isa comfort, but she resolved herself to try to do the best she could in that role to make up for it.
"Thank you, Forest. You're right, I should tell the whole truth. Guess I'm just a bit scared what her reaction could be." Her eyes wandered on the ground. "As for being my fault, well, I'm partly responsible for being careless." She smiled stiffly. "Something that won't happen again."
Hakuno shook her head before giving Isa a hug, taking care not to squish her too hard.
"Even then, it's not your fault. Forest is absolutely right. I'm sure your sister will say the same. You're a wonderful, kind person, and your sister must love you very much. I'm sure she'll understand. But if you need someone to be there with you when you tell Vanessa, you can count on me."
It wasn't much, but Hakuno hoped that it would help.
Hakuno hadn't been paying much attention to much else that had been going on, as she'd mostly been focused on Isa's well being, but from what she could tell, the strange girl that was talking with the Archers and Rin didn't seem like the nicest person. She frowned as the girl both threatened and insulted Forest. While she could understand her not being happy to have Forest invade her mind, the girl's reaction was both exaggerated and cruel. This, combined with her insults to Archer and Rin and her general snobbiness, didn't give her the best first impression of the girl in the slightest.
Not even Shinji was this mean and snooty, thought Hakuno. And Shinji turned out being a good person after all and was quite brave in the end. Even when he was rude and superior, his good qualities still managed to show through. I'm proud to have had him as a friend. This girl though...
Then she heard Isa ask the snobby girl about Satoshi.
That girl better not be mean to Isa too, thought Hakuno. Otherwise I'm giving her a piece of my mind.
-
As Rider waited for Sakura's response, Shuya walked up to her and spoke.
"Just don't go and get yourself killed yet, you owe me a rematch", he said.
I don't owe you anything.
Rider had absolutely no desire to have a fight to the death against the guy solely for the sake of it, and she certainly didn't think that some statement he made several hours ago entitled him to it.
She prepared to reply but, before she could, Shuya turned to Rin and, in response to her somewhat bossy and authoritarian stance, he drew his sword and swung it in Rin's direction, stopping the blade mere inches from his face.
Rider immediately resummoned her weapons and battle outfit, preparing to protect her master's sister in whatever way was necessary. She understood his annoyance, Rin's attitude was utterly ludicrous given that she didn't even know most of these people. But, that did not in any way excuse drawing his sword and threatening her. Plus, she was family and he was a bloodthirsty dickhead, so Rider had no problem choosing whose side to take in this particular conflict.
Kiyoshi, meanwhile, was absolutely livid as he saw the sword fly towards his Aunt's face.
How dare he?
No-one attacked his family and got away with it. No-one. This Rin had accepted him and been kind to him, so as far as he was concerned she was family. Therefore, he had to protect her.
Quickly, Kiyoshi summoned his own weapons, ether copies of the dual swords used by the various incarnations of his father. Before he could act, though, the sword stopped inches from his Aunt's throat, and then Shuya spoke up. Kiyoshi held back, knowing that attacking now could result in his Aunt's death.
"You listen. I have no time to deal with your bullshit. I ain't your fuckin' dog and sure as hell ain't going to obey a little girl with a misguided superiority complex. Especially, when she behaves like a bitch first time we meet. Don't know you, so don't impose your crap on me. I'm doing this as a favor, I'm not, and don't plan to be, your buddy, alright? You either come and treat the others as equals or you sit your baby butt around playing with infirms and kids", he said, angrily
Then, after sheathing the Katana, he added a final comment, before walking away.
"And watch your tongue. Next threat, I cut it down."
Kiyoshi was absolutely outraged. He ran towards Shuya as he walked off, only barely noticing the twin swords of the darkened Archer flying in the man's direction.
"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN MY AUNT!" he shouted angrily, charging at Shuya with his swords drawn.
Rider sighed.
Not again....
Putting away her weapons, she ran towards Kiyoshi at high speed. Before he could even reach his opponent she caught up with him, grabbing hold of him and lifting him off the floor. He struggled angrily against her grip, but she was far too strong.
"Put me down!" he shouted. "He threatened to kill Aunty Rin, I have to protect her. She's family."
Rider sighed and then spoke.
"Yes, I know. But to do so he'll have to get past me, two versions of Archer, a powerful vampire and Rin herself. I don't think she is in any danger. And, even if she was, she can defend herself better than you can.
Kiyo, you have to calm down. You're only young, you can't fight every battle."
"But, I want to protect people. I couldn't even protect Taiga. She ran off without me and now she's lost and alone", Kiyoshi said, sadly.
"I'm sure she'll be fine, Kiyo. And, that was her choice. You're not at fault for it", she said softly. "Now, are you going to leave that idiot alone?"
"Yeah, I guess...", Kiyoshi said, knowing there was no way he could escape his Aunt's grip. Rider put him down, and he walked back towards Rin.
"Are you OK, Aunty Rin?" he said.
Meanwhile, Rider turned to Shuya and spoke, cooly but with a hint of malice.
"I know that Rin's attitude can be grating sometimes. I've had to live with it for 30 years.
But, that does not give you the right to threaten her in that manner. If you don't want to take her orders, then just ignore her. It's not like she can enforce it. But, if you start making threats like that again, then I'll be joining a very long queue of people waiting to beat the shit out of you.
Understand?"
Then, the darkened Archer turned to her and spoke.
"Let's confirm if your Master's here before you start needlessly worrying about her being corrupted again or not", he said.
Rider sighed again. He really didn't seem to get the point.
"Archer, I know she is probably not here, but I can't take the risk. If she is here and gets corrupted again, I will never forgive myself. And, even if she isn't, what if he's got an alternate Sakura? Even if she's not my Sakura, she's still worthy of protecting.
Even if I lose, he won't kill me. Sakura said so. So, what do I have to lose? Any amount of pain and suffering is worth it to protect my master, and I don't think he intends to harm me in any case. I think he just wants to prove he can beat me.
And, honestly, I kind-of want to find out if he can. If my life is not at risk then I see no reason not to take...."
"...I've have been raped."
Rider had been watching Isa, Forest and Hakuno out of the corner of her eye, feeling somewhat sorry for the girl. But, she had mostly been zoning out their conversation. However, this was not something she could zone out. She knew what it was like to be raped, and she knew from her master what the after-effects of it were.
Quickly, she ran over to the girl, who was now vomiting. Forest was gently stroking her hair and reassuring her, whilst Hakuno held her hand.
"It's over now", Forest said, softly. "And Isa. It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. I won't tell Vanessa what happened, but you need to. Bottling it up is just going to make it fester, I know."
Rider thought back to her own master's situation. How she had hidden her rape at Shinji's hands from Shirou and her sister, even after they had discovered the rest of her horrific past. How she had feared Shirou's rejection. And how, eventually, she had killed Shinji and turned Dark in order to prevent him discovering the truth.
Rider couldn't let something like that happen to Isa too. Putting on a gentle smile, despite the bad memories that were surfacing and her concern for the girl, she spoke softly.
"She's right, Isa. It's not your fault. I know what it's like, and hiding it will not help. It will just make you feel worse. Your sister won't judge or blame you, I promise."
Then, Forest took out a pendant. Rider could sense the magical energy in it, and Forest confirmed this, saying that it contained protective wards. She smiled.
Aww, that's sweet of her.
Forest clearly liked the girl, just as she did, and was determined to protect her. Rider felt the same way. Before she could promise the girl her protection, though, Sakura approached her, pressing a piece of paper into her hand.
Then, sighing, she said "Rider dial this number, do it privately, these people clearly can't be trusted to help the situation".
Then, she turned to Forest and spoke once more.
"I'll find my own base for the time being, the regulations stated in the book say I shouldn't interact with the Tohsaka family from other dimensions and the temperament of Rin and those two servants reinforce my desire to follow those rules", she stated, before beginning to walk away.
Rider sighed.
What is it with this family?
Sakura was being nice to her, at least, but her attitude to the rest of the people present was still somewhat irritating. She certainly had her mother's arrogance and self-assurance.
Still, Rider felt it was best to be polite, since the girl seemed to be fond of her at least.
"Thank you, Sakura", she said.
The darkened Archer spoke once more, clearly unhappy with his alternate-dimensional daughter's attitude.
"Well, nice to know in some dimension that Rin and I failed as parents and brought up some stuck up bitch", he said.
In response, Sakura turned around and launched into a tirade of abuse aimed at the alternate versions of her parents, as well as Forest.
What the hell is wrong with her?
Rider could understand her annoyance at Rin. After all, she had bad-mouthed her brother. Even if she was mostly right in her criticisms, as Sakura herself admitted, she could understand Sakura being somewhat unhappy about the tone she took. Not that she was surprised that the two were in profound disagreement, she had often suspected that Rin was the sort of person who would argue with alternate versions of herself, and this was the closest she'd ever got to testing that hypothesis.
However, Sakura's attitude to the two Archers was much more perplexing. With the darkened version she wasn't so bothered, but her attitude to the other Archer seemed quite frankly disgusting. As far as Rider was concerned, Shirou had deserved everything he got from Archer and more, and Satoshi's response was absolutely ludicrous. Yet, without even a shred of evidence or understanding of the situation that had arisen, she had automatically assumed that he was the one at fault for her brother's death threats. Because, apparently, Satoshi was incapable of being wrong, mistaken or unfair.
Worse, her defence seemed to be basically "servants aren't people" which, as a servant herself, she found downright offensive. Further, coming from two people who were theirselves the children of servants, it was downright hypocritical. She had a strong suspicion that they would not think or talk about their own parents' deaths in the same dismissive manner.
Then, after a moment of silence, she spoke once more.
"So yes Forest, you cannot be trusted with the lives of my brother and sister. You cannot be trusted to act like adults, so I'm leaving", she said.
Rider sighed again, but said nothing. There was no point in her getting involved in this argument, particularly since she would likely need Sakura's help in dealing with Satoshi.
Then, with that dealt with, she turned to Isa once more. The girl was talking to Forest.
"Thank you, Forest. You're right, I should tell the whole truth. Guess I'm just a bit scared what her reaction could be. As for being my fault, well, I'm partly responsible for being careless. Something that won't happen again."
No, it's not your fault, thought Rider, slightly angered by the girl's self-depreciation.
But, she made sure that her anger didn't show. After all, she didn't want to upset the girl. She had been raped, after all. Before Rider could speak, though, Hakuno shook her head and grabbed the girl into a hug, attempting to comfort her.
"Even then, it's not your fault. Forest is absolutely right. I'm sure your sister will say the same. You're a wonderful, kind person, and your sister must love you very much. I'm sure she'll understand. But if you need someone to be there with you when you tell Vanessa, you can count on me", Hakuno said.
After she had finished, Rider added her words of support.
"Hakuno is right, Isa, it's not your fault at all.
I don't have a pretty pendant like Forest, but I promise that I will also protect you. When you are in danger, I will do everything I can to help you."
Of course, Isa would never come above her master in Rider's priority, but for Rider to go out of her way to protect someone except in order to benefit her master was very unusual indeed. It showed how big an impression the girl's kindness and innocence had made on her. Plus, Rider had strong feelings about people she cared for being raped. She knew all-too-well the effect it had had on her master.
-
Location: Nexus City, Unknown District
Nexus was different than what he was so used to. It was too much like the cities that his clan had abandoned long ago, he drew forth the Sora katana and stared at his reflection in the blade.
"What am I supposed to do with my life? I am far from home and my clan is no more, I have nothing left but still I fight on." he asked aloud, not caring if anyone heard him "I am alone, before this I had the others to back me up and guide me onwards but now...."
He resheathed the Sora katana before laying down on the bench, he tipped his wide brimmed hat over his face and allowed himself to fall into a light sleep with one hand resting protectively on top of the Sora Katana.
= 0 = 0 = 0 = 0 =
= 0 = 0 = 0 =
Location: Nexus City, Industrial District, Unknown Warehouse
He was growing impatient, his men had yet to report on the ongoing of a portion of city and this left him in the dark. He disliked being kept in the dark and if he was going to keep the city in his grasp than he needed every little bit of information, even the rumors of some vigilante punk running about.
He disliked interference and the last time the police tried to interfere with his operation, well their bodies were never found. The Don took a long drag from the Cigar before puffing out a cloud of nicotine smoke and his cigars always calmed him down, no wonder Patch only smoked Cigars.
The Don sat down on the steel rebar reinforced leather seated and padded concrete chair, he signalled to man standing outside of sight. The entire wall in front of the Don lit up with dozens of high definition plasma flat screen televisions showing various views of the city as seen through active cameras, the Don loved to watch over HIS city and HIS domain.
"It truly is good to be the Don" the mysterious figure declared as he puffed his Cigar again
-
Shirou walked slowly through the crowd, hands gently pushing people out if his path as he continued towards his intended destination. On second thoughts, he decided to first return to the scene of the vampire battle, in the hope that he could catch everyone before they left. Even if he wasn't there to unintentionally stir things up, he was almost certain they were bickering amongst themselves...
As he turned into an alleyway, he collided with a young black haired woman who was curiously clutching her stomach. She quickly got up and continued on her way. She appeared to be in a great hurry. As she ran, light from a nearby window illuminated her face: a rather familiar face.
"Isa?" he muttered. No. Couldn't be, there was no way Isa could be up and moving about so soon with her injuries. Could this be her sister? He didn't realise they were Twins.
"Wait!" He called out, chasing after her as fast as he could with his slightly unresponsive body.
-
Vanessa didn't see the man appearing out of the corner in time. Even as she tried to correct him, she still bumped against the person. She grunted when she fell on her butt.
"Sorry for that." She said absent-mindedly more as a reflex than feeling truly sorry.
She got up without a pause, after all, she was the one who got the worst of the impact. It took her less than a second to go back to her run, weaving in and out of the human traffic, before taking a turn to yet another smelly alley.
"Wait!" The word echoed through the air, getting her attention.
What now?
To her surprise, when she glanced over her shoulder, the guy was following her. His running style almost as hilarious as her own right now.
She frowned, with all the freaks running amok, she couldn't let her guard down. Her sense twitched when she felt prana from the man, it was nothing threatening but he could be simply hiding something. She stopped, wary of him, her black hair obstructing most of her face features. She snapped her fingers and the light orb changed shape for one more adapted to close combat. The shining spear emitted a buzzing sound in her hands as she took a defensive stance. Purples eyes stared through raven hair as she spoke.
"I already apologized, and I'm a bit in a hurry, dude." The tone rather friendly, casual even, but she wouldn't hesitate to pierce the fool if he attempted anything weird. She kept watching him, expecting the man to reveal his intentions. "Whatever you want to say, make it quick."
-
As expected, a magic user. She must be quite skilled to form a spear of light with just the snap of a finger...Perhaps that orb of light had been a mystic code like Lord El Melloi's Volumen Hydrangem. Then again, considering all the people from alternate universes within this city, it was just as likely that what she had performed was pure magic.
Shirou eyed the shining spear warily, hand reaching inside his coat to grasp the .44 revolver which he had forgotten to return.
His mana was still far too low for sustained combat, he couldn't really afford to fight at that moment. The girl must have had a history with other magi, otherwise her reaction would be far too extreme.
"Is your name by any chance, Vanessa? Isabella's sister?" he asked warily, "She's been injured, so I've been sent to find you and bring you to her."
-
Her eyes blinked twice, apparently surprised that you know of her. "That's me." She said carefully, her attention focused on Shirou's hand. "I would rather you don't try anything. I don't have the time nor the will to fight pointlessly." Suspicion clear in her tone. "I already know of Isabella's condition. Well, not the details, but enough. If you're an acquaintance of her, you'll tell me of her nickname."
A simple request but seemingly something important.
-
Downy Reed
Roof of Apartment Complex
The man busted his way through the door, but Downy was nowhere to be seen.
"Too Slow!"
A flash of light and a bust of energy from directly behind going full force right into the man's back.
If not for his split second reaction he would have been incinerated by the blast, instead he was merely knocked unconscious.
"Still alive? Then perhaps you can be of some use to me."
Taking a glowing blue stone from his pocket he put it up to the uncounscious man's head, then he spoke.
"אה, ולא מאוגד נשמה חופשי, לקשור את עצמך לאובייקט ועם זה שלך כל רצון!"
There was a flash of light and the man's body violently jolted before becoming still once more, the ritual complete.
His body was no longer his own, he would be forced to answer Downy's every command like it or not, any attempts to resist were now impossible, much like the Seals that bound a Servant Downy had just obtained a rather handy new toy to use in his plans.
With that he threw the man into the center of the roof and awaited him to wake, if there was one who could attempt to stop him there were probably more who wanted to do the same, and he preffered to save his strength for the truly important fights.
-
Location: Nexus City, Residential District, Apartment Rooftop
Mu struggled within his own mind as he could barely think clearly, it felt similar to having been hit in the head with a reinforced skillet and his thoughts were a jumble.
'I will serve master willingly' Since when did he have a mast- 'I shall serve master willingly' the words repeated louder as Mu struggled to regain control only for the final repetition to shatter his meager mental defenses as 'I SHALL SERVE MY MASTER' blared in his mind.
If Mu had been more skilled at meditation, he could have resisted better but when the foreign thoughts shattered his mental shields, foreign but powerful magic flowed into his being before binding Mu's very soul and mind to the originator of the magic.
Mu awoke and stood up like a mindless drone only to kneel before the only other person on the roof, his head bowed to the man.
"Greetings Reed-Sama, I am Munashi Mumei but I also answer to the name Mu" Mu looked upwards at his master with a faint smile on his face, he couldn't help but smile as his Master had liberated him for the dangers of freedom "I shall serve you as your tool, your assassin, and what ever else you deem me to be"
'This isn't right.' a small thought deep within Mu's own mind struggled to declare 'This should not be happ-' the thought was crushed as a dark creature reeking of the same magic that had bound Mu's soul earlier, tore the thoughts to pieces before spreading its control to dominate the remainder of Mu's mind.
"What do you ask of me, Master?" Mu asked calmly, unaware of of his mind and soul being fully bound to his new master's will "What are my orders."
-
Her nickname?
Oh...
Could it be a trick question?
He noticed her staring at his hand, and quickly withdrew it. He raised both arms into the air to show his lack of ill-will.
"Relax, I'm in no condition nor in the mood to fight either. As for the nickname, it's...Isa." He said slowly.
Shirou frowned.
"How do you know her-"
He remembered her clutching her stomach earlier. Hadn't Isa had grievous injuries around that are? Handy ability.
"Now, can I lead you to her? Or are you planning to run me through with that spear anyway?"
-
Vanessa relaxed at Shirou's answer. If he knew of it, he shouldn't be a threat. Well, even if he was, she had other worries that her own well being for now.
"Now, can I lead you to her? Or are you planning to run me through with that spear anyway?"
The older twin shrugged casually.
"Of course not, it was mere bluff."
Another finger snap and the spear vanished at once. "Sorry about that. Mere precaution, had my share of unpleasant meetings in the past few days. People around here aren't all that friendly." She approached the man and reached for an handshake with an honest smile. Now that she looked at him up close, he didn't seem all too well. She would have to tend to that. "Like you already know, the name's Vanessa, but Nessa is fine. I'm a magus of the Clock Tower. I was on my way to find Isabella when we collided."
As she spoke, her other arm stretched towards the magus' chest. She poked at it three times with her index finger. "Don't move, okay?" She said, while focusing her mind on the task. She placed her palm on Shirou's forehead, her eyebrows arched. He didn't lie when he said he wasn't in condition. And He went to fetch me like that?
First and foremost to appease his exhausted circuits, they were in a bad shape and like burning, from an excessive usage no doubt. She wasn't all that good at interacting with the operations on the souls but it was nothing complicated, here. It was a dangerous task to play with magic circuits, but fortunately for him, Nessa wasn't trying this for the first time. Isabella had the bad habit to do the same. Yet there was something wrong with the man's circuits, as if they were partly... artificial?
"You're crazy to go off on a fetch quest in that state. Ahhhh, whatever. Steel yourself, it will probably hurt." She commented, as she mended carefully the circuits in order to improve their efficiency and maximize, as much as possible, the output. She didn't dare altering anything though, the intent was only in making the whole process less stressful on the body and reducing slightly prana dispersion for a better circulation. Then she put another sigil that would help calming down the nerves. "You shouldn't overuse your circuits like that, it's more dangerous that you can think of." She sighed a second time. "Nobody ever told you that? You're as much an idiot as my sis." Her tone wasn't without exasperation, but had an amused note. "Not done yet." She announced.
Then, she used one of her favorite formula, useful when you were in a pinch. "αναπληρωθούν" A sigil appeared on his chest and started glowing as the surrounding mana was converted to od, replenishing his reserves. It was a simple, yet, quite effective spell which required a good portion of her own energy to maintain on an another person. After a short time, she nodded, confirming the guy's magic energy being filled at about seventy, maybe a bit more, percent of its capacity. "That's about all I can spare for you, sorry." And that's a lot for an unknown guy to begin with, she thought. "I'm sure my sister will need my help and family goes first." The seal faded away and she crossed arms.
"Now, if you would be so kind as to explain me what happened to my sister, I'll gladly follow you in the meantime. And while we're at it, mind sharing your identity?"
-
Good, he'd answered correctly. Shirou withheld a sigh of relief as he watched Vanessa dispel her spear with yet another snap of her finger. If she had tried to attack, he would have been in serious trouble.
He shook her offered hand, before stiffening in alarm as she placed her on his forehead. Generally, allowing Magi near one's head was an extremely bad idea, and his senses were on full alert despite her seeming lack of ill will. Seconds later, he felt her prana probe his circuits, sending a small wave of pain through him.
"You're crazy to go on a fetch quest in that state," she told him, before beginning to draw sigils on his body whilst lecturing him on the dangers of prana exhaustion. He didn't understand why everyone told him to be careful with his circuits. He'd exhausted them many times before, but they remained mostly fine. He would gladly sacrifice all his circuits if he could help someone in need.
She tapped the sigil, and he felt mana begin to enter his circuits, soothing the ache slightly. Amazing! He'd never encountered a method of transferring mana without a tantric ritual before.
Vanessa stopped when his circuits were 70% full.
"Thanks," he said softly, before turning to lead the way to where he'd last seen Forest and the others, as requested.
"I'm not aware of the full details, but your sister sustained severe injuries when she was captured. She had deep lacerations all over her body, and her hand had been...bitten off given the state of the wound. She's suffered other injuries besides those, but I can't tell you about them. They're the type of wounds I believe she wouldnt want you to know until she is ready to tell you," Shirou explained.
"As for my name, it's Shirou. Emiya Shirou."
-
"I'm not aware of the full details, but your sister sustained severe injuries when she was captured. She had deep lacerations all over her body, and her hand had been...bitten off given the state of the wound. She's suffered other injuries besides those, but I can't tell hou about them. They're the type of wounds I believe she wouldnt want you to know until she is ready to tell you."
Shirou gave her the cold hard truth but she had no choice but to face it. Of course, she had felt the wounds like her own, so she knew what kind of pain her sister went through. However, to lose a hand... And that last part made her skip a breath. "I see... Is she at least safe now?" It was what mattered the most at the moment, that, and that Vanessa would need to reach her as soon as possible.
It wouldn't have happened if I kept my eyes on her!! No. I should have had my cellphone on me.
"As for my name, it's Shirou. Emiya Shirou."
She snapped out of her guilt derail with a little jump, her eyes wide from surprise.
"Emiya Shirou? As in that heretic magus killer?" She couldn't help but look at him with stupefaction. On another day, she would have left right now, at full speed. She heard of rumors about him. He was an implacable opponent and a praised individual among his former employers. Her own teacher in magecraft, Forte, a former Enforcer, warned the twins against the man.
Never give him a reason to think you went astray the path of the good. Was her words.
For Vanessa, who always thought her lecturer used him as a kind of bogey-man for magi, meeting the person was something she never expected to happen. She almost forgot about her sister. "Well, I will have I'll have questions later on if you don't mind. Not really sure how I should call you, but for now, let's go."
She gestured him to take the lead.
-
Rin's efforts to take charge only ended up with a sword pointing straight at her face. Geez, what a psycho- I was only making sure the group had leadership, no need to shove a sword in my face. She was about to say something, but before she could hardly even react, the darkened Archer had made his trademark twin swords manifest, and gracefully threw them just inches away from cutting off body parts, Kansho taking a bit of hair, Byakuya mere inches away from taking the tip of the half-demon's nose.
The blades were dismissed in a shower of crimson sparks before he moved to Rin's side again. "You should have shot a gandr in that bastard's face." Then he held out his hand to take her into his arms.
"You never even gave me a chance to try," she said with a smile. She was about to take his hand when Shuya responded to the corrupted bowman's challenge by giving him a heavy headbutt.
"Hey!" Rin turned to glare at the half demon. Well, didn't get a chance to do this earlier, may as well try it now. Rin pointed her finger at Shuya and prepared to fire a Gandr.
Rin wasn't the only one ready for battle, however. Rider had changed into her battle clothes as a precaution. However, any actions she could have taken were halted by Kiyoshi's angered attempt to defend his Auntie. However, Rider calmed the boy down, reassuring him that not only was she well defended, but that she could also defend herself, before turning to the half-demon.
"I know that Rin's attitude can be grating sometimes. I've had to live with it for 30 years."
Archer chucked. "So she hasn't changed for thirty years. Why doesn't that shock me?"
Rin just glared at him.
"But, that does not give you the right to threaten her in that manner," Rider continued. "If you don't want to take her orders, then just ignore her. It's not like she can enforce it. But, if you start making threats like that again, then I'll be joining a very long queue of people waiting to beat the shit out of you.
Understand?"
***
"She seems alright. Plus she's my Landlady now, it'd be stupid of me to raise too many objections about her." Mille's eyes hardened with determination. "And I'll manage. I got a bit of rest, so I should be more stable now. I just miscalculated how much prana I used is all. I'd be a terrible magus if I let a little bit of exhaustion stop me." She turned to see the burgeoning conflict and sighed. "Looks like you need to put me down anyway. Those three morons are already fighting amongst themselves. Team Asshole indeed."
***
"Sounds about right." Finn gave Forest a warm smile. "You seem like real good people. I know Mille'll be safe in your hands."
"Oh please. I can take care of myself just fine. Stop using me as an excuse to flirt with the pretty vampire and actually do something useful, would you?"
Finn rubbed the back his neck. "Eh heh... Well, I should probably get over with my group. I'm sure... Isa was it? I'm sure Isa would appreciate it if we get moving to find her sis-" Before he could finish, however, the racket from the commotion coming from the rest of his team reached his ears, and he turned to see what was going on. He winced. Ho boy, looks like we're off to kinda a rough start. Whelp, time to make myself useful.
The young freelancer ran over to where the others were fighting. Mille eyes widened as she watched him go. "That's not what I meant at all! Wait you idiot! Come back! You're just going to get yourself killed!"
Finn forced himself between the three. Even realizing what a precarious position he was in at the moment, he still kept on a friendly, calm expression. "Alright, come on now, that's enough. I know things are getting off on the wrong foot, but we need to try and get along long enough to get those sisters back together."
Trying to remember what little he gathered from overhearing, he turned to Shuya first. "Look, I get why Miss Tohsaka's attempt at takin' charge rub ya the wrong way, even if I don't think she meant anything by it. But we'll work together as equals, I assure ya of that. Just get through this long enough to help the girl out, and I'll buy ya a drink later. Sound fair?"
Next he turned to Dark Archer. "I don't blame ya not being too happy about him attacking your girl. But if you keep retaliating, that's just gonna make this drag on. The sooner we get this done, the sooner you don't have to worry about him threatening Miss Tohsaka anymore."
Finally, he turned to Rin. "I know you meant well, and I certainly wouldn't mind having ya as a leader. But it looks like that isn't going to work out, at least with our friend here still around. I don't think his reaction is right, but we need to work together if we wanna get this done."
Rin put down her finger and sighed. "I get what you're saying, but it's not my fault if he can't handle anything."
"Please? For Isa?" He gave her a smile that could charm birds out of trees, his eyes so full of warmth and sincerity that it nearly made Rin want to gag.
Rin groaned and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Oh fine. But only because we have more important things to do than bicker."
Kiyoshi, then trotted back over to her side.
"Are you OK, Aunty Rin?" he asked.
Rin sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's going to take more than some creep to take me down." She grinned. "Your Auntie's pretty tough, you know. Both strong and elegant. That's the Tohsaka way."
The normal Archer smiled. "Indeed, your Aunt is quite strong, Kiyoshi." It changed into a smirk. "Though I don't necessarily know about elegant..."
Rin forced a smile on her face. Calm, elegant. Calm, elegant. Calm, elegant... "Ha ha ha, oh Archer, you kidder. That's just his way of saying you have the best Aunt in the whole wide world."
"If you keep telling yourself that enough times Rin, it might have a small chance of coming true."
She smiled sweetly back at him. "And I'm sure he's looking forward to all the cookies Uncle Archer is going to be making him. Because Uncle Archer would never turn down a special request from a special nephew, not when he knows it'll make him sad." Rin's smile gained a wicked edge. "Because Uncle Archer knows what will happen if he makes his special nephew sad, now doesn't he?"
Archer sighed, now resigned to his fate of baking dozens upon dozens of cookies. Especially since he knew when Hakuno finally got wind of it, she'd fully endorse the endeavor 100%. Truly, she is the Red Devil...
***
For the most part, Archer had kept his mouth shut for a great deal of the goings on, either because he hadn't gotten the chance to respond, someone else had stepped in to resolve the issue, or he simply had little to do with the situation.
Things seemed to be going... somewhat less disastrously, but then Rin's far more irritating far taller look-alike spoke up. She apparently didn't like them too much, and honestly Archer couldn't care less. One less thing he had to deal with, as far as he was concerned. However, Forest understandably had a retort of her own, and his darker counterpart had this to say:
"Well, nice to know in some dimension that Rin and I failed as parents and brought up some stuck up bitch."
Rin herself blinked in surprise before it finally sunk in. "Wait... she- she's ours?! B-but that, how, why. Her?!"
"Honestly, I'm not surprised that it didn't sink in. The philosophy she said her father stated doesn't sound like something I'd endorse, let alone teach my child. Plus the general denial. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if the 'me' in whatever universe our 'daughter' wasn't really me at all."
Then things took a turn for the worse. The girl heard what Forest said and launched into a tirade in response.
Honestly, if some version of me does somehow manage to have a child with Rin, I hope to all hell she doesn't end up like this brat.
He rubbed his temples. "You didn't hear a word I said. I told you, the man your brother defended from me tried to kill my Master, an innocent girl, in cold blood just to stop a fight that wasn't even likely to happen. I know for a fact that that man's killed others with the same reasoning. I threatened him not only because of that, but because I don't want his stupidity getting anyone else killed. But in spite of your brother's hypocrisy, the main sticking point is, like Rin mentioned, that he threatened to do it in front of my Master, the very same girl who almost died thanks to that very man your brother defended. He had no right involving her."
Archer glared at her. "I'm not about to say that I'm proud of my accomplishments, no. I won't even say I'm not a coward in some ways. But it was your brother's choice to involve himself. I could have responded to his provocation, but I didn't. If anyone is the coward, it's your brother. If he wanted to deal with me, he should have dealt with me. My Master had nothing to do with it, and the fact that he threatened to make her watch my death for something I did entirely of my own volition is beyond cowardly. And now he hides in a castle, not even having the guts to challenge Rider face to face, issuing threats behind a woman that isn't even there. Who's the true coward, then?"
He sighed. "Also, you clearly have no respect for your elders, your comments to Forest were out of line and petty, and you somehow manage to make your 'mother' look saintly in comparison, which is quite an accomplishment."
"Hey! She's 50% yours too, you know!"
The bowman smirked. "Ah, but her father clearly isn't me, not truly. Which means she couldn't have inherited much from me. Clearly she's mostly yours."
"I can think of at least one thing she inherited from you," Rin muttered.
Archer laughed. "Give me some credit, I did say you're a far better person than she is. Not even you could produce someone that bad."
Rin gave a lopsided smile. "I guess you couldn't produce someone that bad either. Even you aren't that horrible."
"Look, we get it, your tsundere for each other, would you just get a room already!" Mille stood there for a bit after her outburst, and then turned as red as a beet. In her opinion, no proper magus outside of Japan should know what "tsundere" means. "T-though I guess I can't blame you for reacting that way about that stuck up, self righteous witch at least." She turned to Forest. "You're a vampire right? Honestly, after what she threatened you with, I think you're in your full rights to bite her. I don't think anyone would mind if you did, either."
-
Head butting a man who was "made of swords" and "steel was his body" wasn't the best idea.
The corrupted Servant also saw the blow coming, so he made sure to reinforce to the point where it was like hitting a steel wall. The impact didn't faze him, didn't even make him move. Archer was use to being under powered in a battle of titans. It meant that he had to learn how to cheat really well and rely on skill instead of raw power like some of the other Servants. It also meant he had to plan.
However, Shuya was just some half breed punk. Dangerous enough that Archer wasn't going to underestimate him, but not overly worried either.
The bastard had threatened Rin and came after him. He had a feeling that the others would be pissed if he separated the bastard's head from his body, and that would bring Rin trouble. He wasn't going to let the insult pass either.
A flash of pain that only made his eyes narrow rippled through his left hand as he felt blades peak through his skin. Once upon a time, it had been a defense. He got into too much trouble and he'd start sprouting swords. Now he could control it, and was now sporting a set of razor sharp blades between each of his knuckles on his right hand. Archer made a fist before throwing the punch directly into Shuya's gut.
"I'll consider myself warned then," the blackened spirit said with a smirk, "And if you want to play around, I'm not your type. If you want a fight, which you're obviously one of those battle crazed types, then go after the blue haired Celt. I have more important things to worry about."
Then he shook his hand, feeling the blades retract and vanish. Blood was dripping down his hand, but the accelerated healing due to the World's Evil's corruption was starting to take care of that.
However, that idiot not-quite-merc with the crush on the blond vampire made his way over and tried to diffuse the fight.
"Please? For Isa?" He gave her a smile that was full of such charm and scenarity that Archer rolled his eyes and snorted.
Archer eyed him and said, "You have competition." Then he smirked and made his way over to Rin, where she was bickering with that idiot and teasing the kid.
He stood beside Rin and said, "'Uncle Archer', you really have fallen low to Alaya now haven't you? Its bad enough that you were her kill bot, now you're making cookies for kids."
******
Lancer went over to Shuya and said, "Bowman isn't worth your time. Plus he's not fun to fight against. Bastard cheats."
Then he smiled at Finn and said, "You seem like a good lad, maybe you can help us blood thirsty idiots stay in line."
******
Forest waited until Finn was gone before she looked at Millie as Lancer put her down. She said with a grin, "Your brother's sort of daft, isn't he? Don't worry, we'll make it to the compound just fine."
Then Isa spoke again and Forest nodded. She said, "Of course you can keep it. I wouldn't give it to you if I didn't want you to keep it." She frowned and said, "Carelessness or not, don't put the blame upon yourself. It wasn't your fault. There wasn't anything that you could have done."
Sakura then said something completely unreasonable. Forest felt red bleed into her eyes at the other girl's words. Then she heard Millie say, "You're a vampire right? Honestly, after what she threatened you with, I think you're in your full rights to bite her. I don't think anyone would mind if you did, either."
Forest forced a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. She replied, "No, then she might go crying to her brother and apparently he's the biggest, baddest motherfucker all along in this town. Plus, she's really not my type. I try to keep 'stuck up bitch' from my diet."
Not to mention there was the flare of annoyance of putting her family above everyone else and expecting everyone to go along with her. Forest could, theoretically, understand putting one's family above everyone else. Not that she had a family; she had been an orphan long before she'd been a vampire, but she could reason it. Still, there was no excuse to be so callus with someone who had been traumatized as Isa had and a little boy.
To Rider she said, "I'll help keep Kiyoshi safe. Even if this theoretical Sakura isn't your Sakura, I know you'll want to go save the day. Just be careful."
Archer Alter heard Millie's words about the other Archer and Rin getting a room and grinned. He said, "If anyone's getting a room with her, its me."
"Oh wow, you really just said that, didn't you, you jumped up wanker?" Forest said, staring at him.
Lancer blinked, scowled and said, "Aye, he's making his claim known."
The corrupted Servant shrugged and said, "However, that would be up to Rin."
"You're so odd," Forest said with a scowl, "And your thoughts are a right mess."
-
He had heard the kid yapping from the sides and noticed Rider changed for her battle outfit. Then the Servant decided to speak up. The fact that she didn't attack on the spot made him frown. Rifle guy intervened and started to plead a truce. The girl he insulted didn't react much though.
The mixed blood looked at his abdomen and the nasty mark left by the guy's punch. Definitely not bad. Shuya didn't expect to meet such resistance upon landing his own hit. The fact that he had put too much force into it, bit him back and and large cut did spread open on his face. Blood dripped and he tasted iron.
Shuya watched Lancer's closing in. "Bowman isn't worth your time. Plus he's not fun to fight against. Bastard cheats." He said. These guys must have crossed path and weapons then. Surely a good story to ask later. For now, he felt necessary to correct Archer's and Rider's misunderstanding since his attempt failed to bring proper result. Brown eyes darted the Faker.
"You're too naive." He said with disappointment. "Why did you hold back?" His words extended to all concerned. "I gave you all a solid pretext to jump seriously at me. I pointed my blade on one of your girls and you didn't so much as react." He took a bemused tone as he focused again on the bowman. "I threatened your woman's life. I came for you too. Yet, you deny the will to kill in order to protect your side?" He shook his head and pointed a thumb in Kiyoshi's direction. "Only the kid really understands."
He tapped Finn's shoulder. "The reaction was okay, but you came at us with the intent of pacific reasoning which is a mistake. Would you call for peace when a friend faces danger? You're dealing with monsters here. If you go at it half-assed, you won't get anything but stupid drama. And listen to fire girl a bit. Rushing in like that wasn't the right call."
His attention on Rider. "Same goes to you, Rider. I sensed your hesitation when the blade was on the girl, which I understand as a wish to not cause harm for her. However, you never came to me after I moved the sword away. Remember what I said about not trusting me? Killing as prevention was perfectly justified. And you know it."
She kept seeing him as someone she can discuss things down. It was a wrong. He told her that she shouldn't show mercy nor expect any. Yet, she stubbornly ignored everything he had said. Was she that good of a woman or was that her way to deal with it because Kiyoshi was present?
He shrugged and turned to Rin. "Didn't think you would keep silent either, Ojou-chan. If you really want to take charge, don't back off at the first difficulty. Nor should you rely on others to stand for you. Impose yourself with all your might or don't bother with it."
Shuya finally glanced over Lancer and he sighed. This guy looked rather friendly towards him and the half demon felt maybe he did read his intentions. Even after the scene, he didn't seem to mind exchanging words. Maybe he was experienced dealing with such situations? He spoked about being bloodthisty himself but he didn't have the look of a Berserk warrior right now. Well, hard to tell, the guy was still an enigma.
"Speak like you know each other." He said to the Irish man. Curiosity eventually won and after a pause, he added. "What's his trick? Is he bloody Colossus or some shit?"
-----
"I will feel more at ease with it, thanks Forest." Isa said.
Soon Rider was there to offer her advice and confort. She even had offered her protection earlier.
"She's right, Isa. It's not your fault. I know what it's like, and hiding it will not help. It will just make you feel worse. Your sister won't judge or blame you, I promise."
Isabella looked at Rider. She didn't know how much she knew about it, and how much emphasis was implied in it for that matter, but the twin nodded, feeling her honesty and will to help.
"Thanks Rider, I appreciate it. And I understand, it would be just like running away."
These words held truth. She knew it. Yet, she couldn't combat this feeling of apprehension coiling around her mind like a snake. She didn't want to hurt her sister. That truth never changed.Vanessa would be there for her, but imposing pain on others had always been something she managed to kept to a minimum. What if she dissapointed her twin? Would she dare to stand to those piercing eyes? No matter what, the next meeting would be difficult.
Worst was probably that she would feel the pain in her sister's heart. Something she would regret for her whole life. How could she overcome this hurdle? It was the worst thing ever. Fear entwined itself mercilessly, pushing her again and agin. Unknown to her, hands started shaking nervously.
"Huh?"
Isa winced a bit when Hakuno cuddled her. She couldn't cope up with the sudden embrace.
"Even then, it's not your fault. Forest is absolutely right. I'm sure your sister will say the same. You're a wonderful, kind person, and your sister must love you very much. I'm sure she'll understand. But if you need someone to be there with you when you tell Vanessa, you can count on me."
Like a gift send by the Heavens to help, these words chased away fear and doubt, surrounding her like a warm coat. It was the perfect support she would need. With gratitude, she offered back a hug. "I didn't dare to ask." She confessed, her vision blurring. "Thank you, Hakuno-san. Thank you."
She kept repetiting grateful words again and again as she buried her face against the shoulder. At last, her hands had stopped shaking.
-
Shirou nodded in response to her hesitant question, fully understanding why her voice seemed so weak. He was perfectly aware of how terrible it was to know that your friend or family had been grievously injured. You doubt yourself, spending hours obsessing over the what-ifs, how you could have changed the event if you had been there. Unfortunately for him, his experiences always involved people being killed rather than injured.
"Yes, Isa's in safe hands. My...compatriots know what they're doing. In fact, they'd just finished regrowing her hand when I left. In terms of physical health at least, Isa will be fine," Shirou said soothingly, or he attempted to. He wasn't exactly well-versed in dealing with cases like this.
He began leading the way, just as Vanessa had suggested. He smirked slightly in amusement when her face paled as she realised who he was, "Emiya Shirou? As in that heretic magus killer?"
He could tell just from the way the muscles in her legs tensed slightly that she had contemplated running away at that very moment. A part of him always found it morbidly amusing how his name could strike fear into even the most arrogant, most skilled of magi. The rest of him despaired.
"Yes. I'm usually called the Magus Killer. Not sure what part of me is a heretic though," he remarked, walking much faster than he had previously been able to before. The mana recharge had done wonders, though he would still need to rest his muscles.
"I saw a crater in the city a while ago. Police reports said that a dark haired girl with unknown powers was involved. Was that you by any chance?" he asked as they continued towards their destination. Shirou reckoned they were getting close to where he'd left everyone.
-
Learning her sister was safe for the time being, eased up her mind. Just a bit. There was still what he didn't want to reveal, wounds that her sister wouldn't discuss about easily? What could it be? And there was something that bothered her.
"Wait a sec, did you really say regrown? As in like a plant or...?" She stopped, delusive smile showing on her traits. "You meant to say you have people who can restore lost limbs? I don't think I've ever heard about such high level healing magecraft, and I would dare to say I'm rather good in that field." She pondered for a moment, genuinely surprised people could have such an ability. Of course, it was probably a result from this town, or whatever someone wished to call it, gathering people from different worlds and/or dimensions.
Just like that Sephiroth guy, she thought.
"Yes. I'm usually called the Magus Killer. Not sure what part of me is a heretic though."
His remark was legitimate but Vanessa shrugged honestly. "You know how it is. Lots of people talking, changing things to look more convenient." She gave him a curious look. "Like, how you have faced an Apostle Ancestor and survived to tell the tale, that you battled against the Seventh of the Burial Agency, destroyed an shady cult of demon worshipers, got rid of a virus which did spread in Estonia by purging the whole population of a city... For some you're an angel who saved their life, for others you're an unworthy magus, or a cold blooded murderer." She paused before chuckling. "Of course people tend to exaggerate. You might have offended quite a bunch at some point though. You're not quite respected among the Clock Tower, well as much as I know, although people seem to fear you a lot." She hesitated a second before giving her opinion, throwing a side glance with an hint of amusement.
"Dunno, why it's the case though. You seem like a decent guy."
-
"Yes, Forest was the one who managed to heal your sister. I can't really apply our knowledge of magecraft to her ability as she's a vampire from another dimension. As in actually a vampire, not a dead apostle. It was quite likely a literal feat of magic," Shirou said. It really had been lucky that the vampire had been present to heal Isa. If she hadn't, he'd most likely be fetching Vanessa for Isa's funeral. The twins had been very lucky in that regard, unlike many other people he knew.
"You know how it is. Lots of people talking, changing things to look more convenient," Vanessa had continued on after he'd confirmed his identity, "Like, how you have faced an Apostle Ancestor and survived to tell the tale, that you battled against the Seventh of the Burial Agency, destroyed an shady cult of demon worshipers, got rid of a virus which did spread in Estonia by purging the whole population of a city... For some you're an angel who saved their life, for others you're an unworthy magus, or a cold blooded murderer."
All events which he'd performed, often pulling through by the skin of his teeth. He'd been so lucky on so many occasions. If Sumire hadn't been completely drunk and focused on the fight, if Nanako hadn't decided to pick that fight to rebel against abuse from Ciel by refusing to change to her pilebunker form, if the Head Priest of the demon cult had moved 20 cm in either direction...
Estonia hadn't been just any virus. It had been created by a magi, and could have potentially ended the human race if allowed to spread. Meeting Archer there had proven that much.
"Of course people tend to exaggerate. You might have offended quite a bunch at some point though. You're not quite respected among the Clock Tower, well as much as I know, although people seem to fear you a lot," Vanessa said, chuckling slightly, obviously believing it all to be exaggerations. She glanced at him in amusement, before saying,
"Dunno, why it's the case though. You seem like a decent guy."
Shirou chuckled slightly at that. They were two of a kind, these twins.
"Most people don't see this side of me often. I still remember how back when I was just a student in Japan, I was known as a 'the false janitor' because I couldn't refuse anyone's plea for help," he said.
"In my line of profession, it's unavoidable that I've ruffled some feathers. The very existence of a Magus Killer, someone who uses magecraft to end other magi; will offend many. Not to mention all the enemies my father had made in his time...I don't really care what the people in the Clock Tower think of me though. If being a worthy magus is being like some of the one's I've had to eliminate, I think I'm better off being just a cold blooded murderer who happens to use magecraft."
-
"A vampire who isn't an apostle, eh? Curious to meet with her." She played nonchalantly with a lock of hair. "I'll go and call this magic feat a miracle for now. Definitely will ask about it, once we reach them."
She eventually thought it would be better to give him the truth about the earlier event.
"The crater thing... Well, I was involved, yeah. To make it short, I saw two men fighting. "She started moving her hands in a mimicry of what happened at the moment, however, it looked like some incomprehensible nonsense from an outsider. "You know, WISH, SHUUU, WOOOSHH, VRRAAAMMM!!"
After a second she stopped moving and her kept up with her story.
"One of them, a tall, handsome, silver haired guy holding the longest japanese sword I have ever saw. Name was Sephiroth. His opponent was apparently involved in terrorist attacks or something. Knew he was suspicious when he went for the police unit. These guys got hit pretty hard. So, I ended up giving a hand, planning to leave the guy to the authorities afterward." She came to an halt, grimacing. The crater you heard about was the result of the confrontation. However, I didn't expect Sephiroth to kill the guy on the spot. He wasn't going anywhere and would have probably surrendered in the end but, he never got the chance."
She sighed.
"Well, I started scolding the swordsman but Isa's beam reached me pretty hard and I passed out. When I woke up, I left without wasting a second and I ended up bumping into a certain person. You know the rest."
She crossed arms. "Any question?"
Most people don't see this side of me often.
"Oh? And why is that? I mean, I'm not gonna pry in your private life or anything but I'm just curious about why you wouldn't open to others like you do with me. It doesn't seem unnatural at all."
I still remember how back when I was just a student in Japan, I was known as a 'the false janitor' because I couldn't refuse anyone's plea for help.
Nessa laughed openly for at least a whole minute. When she calmed enough, she gave him an apology in the form of a grin.
"Sorry, I just didn't expect that from you. It's like telling me that a vampire hunter had in the past sold products in a bakery or something. A bit difficult to imagine."
The laughing mood was short lived though.
In my line of profession, it's unavoidable that I've ruffled some feathers. The very existence of a Magus Killer, someone who uses magecraft to end other magi; will offend many. Not to mention all the enemies my father had made in his time...
These words were cold but she expected something like that from someone who would kill magus on a regular basis. After all, he was used to interact with the worst of their kind. She should have felt offended by it, but she simply looked at him, noticing a change in his expression. Eyes made of steel indeed.
"You remind me of my teacher," she said with a warm smile at the reminiscence of the woman. "She was also a magus killer at one point, an Enforcer. Although I suspect she mostly worked on artifacts chase rather than human hunt most of her years."
I don't really care what the people in the Clock Tower think of me though. If being a worthy magus is being like some of the one's I've had to eliminate, I think I'm better off being just a cold blooded murderer who happens to use magecraft.
Vanessa stared at Shirou. "However you seem mistaken on one thing, Emiya Shirou." She pointed a finger and tapped his nose gently once. "You're actually better off smiling," she said simply.
"You know, humans always search for something they lack. Because of that desire, it makes us flawed. For example, most magi just simply search a path to the root. Some don't even have a wish of their own initially, but they seek it regardless and soon it becomes their own desire. What I learned from observation is that when you're truly focused on something, you tend to forget about the rest. Morals vanish one after another. When you're criticized by others you ignore it because they don't see things the same way. Different perspectives affect how interpreted your actions will be judged and you start to become bold. After a while, things become blurry. You reach a dead end, try again. Another dead end. Now, you become frustratred and start doubting your own abilities. In the end, you become desesperate and commit atrocities. In the end you can even lose your sense of self."
Nessa pressed an open hand on Shirou's heart. "What matters is here. As long as you can smile, then, there's no regrets to have. Even if you happen to lose your way, all you have to do is search the moment where you trailed off. Set yourself back and try again." The older twin glanced at the man. "As long as you can still smile, you can keep things in perspective. As long as you start looking at life from such a point of view, it's easier to live with yourself and thus, another world of possibilities opens to you. As long as you can smile. "
Nessa removed her hand. And winked at him.
"So smile a lot from now on."
She addressed him a wide grin.
"But seriously, tell me more about your false janitor life. I'm sure you were bullied, you have the looks of it, come on, tell me everything!!"
-
Sakura smiled at Isa. Unlike her other smiles this one was genuine. "See now, first reasonable person in the bunch. To answer your questions yes I am, I'm one of three sisters he has. What's happened to my little brother is the same as always. He shows up somewhere, helps people, gets no credit. Saves the day, doesn't say a single thing about the nasty things the people he saves calls him and comes home. Except that this time the people bad mouthing him are the village mob and they plan to burn the monster who to my knowledge has literally done nothing actually wrong. Although the quick and dirty way to explain it is that he was possessed by all the world's evil, including the rage and hatred of people who whose two Archer's killed. So he's balancing six billion people on his soul. Not sure how he manages it at all to be honest."
Sakura paused as a pitched whine indicated her gear had finished the recharge cycle. "You! If you ever compare my brother as worse than the king of Ulruuk again I will punch you straight in the mouth. How dare you compare that baby eating, homicidal rapist to my brother. That gold plated fuck box killed your father and you call my brother worse. If I could manage to convert bitchiness into electricity the world would have free energy just from you alone."
Sakura's body took trying to quell the rage she felt, for the most part she calmed down as she turned to Archer.
"no, I didn't listen, I've been here all of five minutes and you expect me to take hearsay as evidence, if you want me to take you seriously then give proof of what you say. You've omitted quite a bit of the details. I can't take he threatened me seriously when you all shrug off the arboreal vampire's threat she rip my mind apart for a phone number as if that's an ok use of a threat but you admittedly going to murder someone isn't."
Sakura paused again and turned to Forest "the violations of body mind or soul are monstrous crimes. I would expect someone in your position to understand as much."
Sakura straight away turned to Kiyoshi. "Kiyoshi Emiya, you are my only hope." she muttered chuckling as she knelt down to give him as much of an even standing as she could. "Kiyo, can you come help me? I need to get Taiga but she won't come if adults are forcing her. Besides your aunty and my brother need to talk about grown up stuff for a bit." she asked.
-
Shirou was surprised when Vanessa suddenly keeled over laughing about his past. It wasn't that funny! His face must have shown some of his outrage, because she quickly stopped, offering a grin as an apology.
"Sorry, I just didn't expect that from you. It's like telling me that a vampire hunter had in the past sold products in a bakery or something. A bit difficult to imagine," she choked out, face still rosy from her laughing fit. Her analogy made him chuckle a little as well. He always forgot that he was practically the Clock Tower's equivalence to the bogeyman. Going from that point of view, it would be pretty hilarious to know that someone like him used to be a pushover.
He quickly sobered up though, before continuing on with his explanation. By the end, Vanessa was completely sobered up, staring at him in shock. A predictable reaction. He'd seen that same face every time he opened up about himself, that look of shock, quickly followed by disgu-
She poked him on the nose.
You're actually better off smiling," she said simply.
"You know, humans always search for something they lack. Because of that desire, it makes us flawed. For example, most magi just simply search a path to the root. Some don't even have a wish of their own initially, but they seek it regardless and soon it becomes their own desire. What I learned from observation is that when you're truly focused on something, you tend to forget about the rest. Morals vanish one after another. When you're criticized by others you ignore it because they don't see things the same way. Different perspectives affect how interpreted your actions will be judged and you start to become bold. After a while, things become blurry. You reach a dead end, try again. Another dead end. Now, you become frustratred and start doubting your own abilities. In the end, you become desesperate and commit atrocities. In the end you can even lose your sense of self."
She pressed her palm onto his chest, just above his heart. If she felt inclined to, she could probably have killed him right there and then. Instead she continued.
"What matters is here. As long as you can smile, then, there's no regrets to have. Even if you happen to lose your way, all you have to do is search the moment where you trailed off. Set yourself back and try again. As long as you can still smile, you can keep things in perspective. As long as you start looking at life from such a point of view, it's easier to live with yourself and thus, another world of possibilities opens to you. As long as you can smile. "
Vanessa then winked at him. "So smile a lot more from now on," she chirped with a grin, "But seriously, tell me more about your false janitor life. I'm sure you were bullied, you have the looks of it, come on, tell me everything!!"
These two twins really were two of a kind...
What did they see in him? He was cordial right now, but that was only due to extenuating circumstances. Isa hadn't even seen this part of him when she had made her judgement on his character, and yet, she too held belief that he was more than just a murderer who killed for the sake of others. That he could redeem himself.
He smirked slightly in amusement.
"Look at you. A few minutes earlier you were contemplating running away from me, and now here you are lecturing me on how to live better," he said teasingly, "...But I'll keep what you said in mind."
"Is my school life really that interesting to you?" Shirou said exasperatedly. At her enthusiastic nodding, Shirou sighed, resigned to his fate.
"I wasn't bullied per say. Not as in everyone hated me and went out of their way to hurt me. I was far too useful and nice for that to happen. No, the only things they really did was to either pass off their cleaning assignments over to me, so they could go hang out with their friends. I enjoyed the feeling of being able to help, so I always said yes, even if it ended up inconveniencing me," he explained, a ghost of a smile on his face as he remembered simpler times.
"My friend Shinji used to do it all the time. Though in hindsight, he wasn't my friend at all, he was probably the worst one out of all of them..." he mused, face darkening as he remembered...that girl's brother, and how she had suffered at his hands.
Shirou opened his mouth to say more, but was cut off by the sounds of conflict and shouting. He broke into a run, peering around the corner to see what had happened. He face-palmed when he realised it had been nothing more than everyone arguing. Again. What had they gotten up to while he'd been gone? God, how do they get anything done?
He turned to Vanessa.
"Well...these are my compatriots. Not that I really had a choice in the matter. Besides Forest, Rin and Hakuno, every single one of them are idiots...so don't pay them too much mind," he said flatly, before pointing over to the blond vampire. He waited patiently, telling Vanessa to stay put, "Once they get into this mood, they'll argue forever. We'll wait until they've finally finished before we enter. It'll be easier that way."
Once he deemed everything had finally settled, he motioned Vanessa to follow him.
"Come on," he said, stepping out into the open.
-
"Look at you. A few minutes earlier you were contemplating running away from me, and now here you are lecturing me on how to live better," he declared with a smirk.
She took an innocent expression, feigning ignorance. "I don't know what you mean. It was simply a general advice," she said with a lopsided smile.
"...But I'll keep what you said in mind." He confirmed.
She approved with the thumbs up and listened to what he had to say.
"I wasn't bullied per say. Not as in everyone hated me and went out of their way to hurt me. I was far too useful and nice for that to happen. No, the only things they really did was to either pass off their cleaning assignments over to me, so they could go hang out with their friends. I enjoyed the feeling of being able to help, so I always said yes, even if it ended up inconveniencing me."
Nessa raised eyebrows with interest, she wondered what could have changed so much for him to become a mercenary. Clearly he had a deep sense of duty back then. And people took advantage of that. She frowned, it was disgusting behavior to say the least. But the worst was that Shirou was taking it happily. Who would ever accept gladly to do others' chores? This guy was already a bit strange back then. "I want to be of use," sounded like what someone with no purpose would do. Yet, she doubted it was that simple.
"My friend Shinji used to do it all the time. Though in hindsight, he wasn't my friend at all, he was probably the worst one out of all of them..."
His face took a sadder expression following these words. Probably something happened to his friend? She could only emit speculation at this point. However, she wasn't lost in thoughts for too long, for Shirou started running.
"Hey, where are you... Ah, whatever." She followed at full speed. After a corner and she found Shirou addressing her. "Well...these are my compatriots. Not that I really had a choice in the matter. Besides Forest, Rin and Hakuno, every single one of them are idiots...so don't pay them too much mind."
The girl looked at the group arguing over something she could make sense of from here. "Sure looks like everyone's passionate." They were numerous but she wasn't interested in them for now. It took her a bit to find Isabella. Without realizing it herself, she started to walk in her direction, well, she simply followed Shirou's lead anyway. Isabella was surrounded by people but it was definitively her. She had changed clothes and still had bandages covering her. Seeing her like that made Vanessa's blood boil.
"Finally found you, bloody idiot," she grunted, before approaching her twin.
-
"So she hasn't changed for thirty years. Why doesn't that shock me?" Archer said, drawing a glare from Rin.
Rider smiled at that. Whilst she had never really had much chance to see Rin's interactions with her servant, she knew from Rin's own descriptions that there had been quite a lot of good-natured bickering between them. And, she also knew how much fun it was to tease Rin in that manner. Her master was an expert at it, although there was, of course, never any malice involved.
But, despite her amusement, she did not lose track of the situation, and remained alert to the possible danger, her weapons still drawn. The Darkened Archer responded to Shuya's head-butt by punching him in the stomach with what seemed to be blade-covered hands. Rider waited for Shuya's response, ready to jump in to assist her allies in Rin's defence if necessary. Instead, though, the newly-arrived man approached them, intending to fix the conflict that had arisen. Using Rin's concern for Isa and a sickeningly-sweet smile, he managed to persuade her to overlook Shuya's response and attitude, albeit somewhat grudgingly. And, with Rin accepting, the Darkened Archer followed rapidly.
Shuya, though, was less-than-impressed with the man's peacemaking attempts. He had quite obviously expected and wanted a violent response.
"You're too naive", he said, the disappointment clear in his voice. "Why did you hold back? I gave you all a solid pretext to jump seriously at me. I pointed my blade on one of your girls and you didn't so much as react."
He turned to the newcomer, castigating him for his attempt at peace-making and making out that it had been the wrong option, despite it having clearly achieved the aims. Then, he turned to Rider.
"Same goes to you, Rider", he said. "I sensed your hesitation when the blade was on the girl, which I understand as a wish to not cause harm for her. However, you never came to me after I moved the sword away. Remember what I said about not trusting me? Killing as prevention was perfectly justified. And you know it."
What an idiot, thought Rider.
Yes, killing him would have been entirely justified in that situation, but that didn't mean it was sensible, given the circumstances. He seemed to view the world as one in which you should constantly seek out reasons to kill, rather than one where you should always look for reasons not to kill, as her master always would.
"Shuya, you misunderstand us. We are not unwilling to kill, but nor are we searching for pretexts to do so. If we kill someone, it is because it is necessary as well as justified. Killing you in Rin's defence might have been justifiable, but it was not necessary."
Rider approached Shuya more closely and whispered to him, ensuring Kiyoshi could not hear.
"If it was as simple as just 'killing' you I would gladly have done so. As far as I am concerned, the world is far better off without bloodthirsty idiots like you.
However, I have no desire to waste my limited supply of prana in a fight that we will not get the chance to finish, and nor will I waste my time fighting you over some idle threat you will never fulfill. Further, I do not intend to traumatise Kiyoshi by making him watch his Aunt kill someone unless I absolutely must. The last thing he needs is encouragement in following that path."
Kiyoshi, though, was in full agreement with the guy. As far as he was concerned, people who threatened his family like that deserved everything they got. However, right now his first priority was his presumably-somewhat-shaken Aunt, who he had approached, checking if she was OK.
In response to his question, Rin sighed, before replying.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's going to take more than some creep to take me down", she said. "Your Auntie's pretty tough, you know. Both strong and elegant. That's the Tohsaka way."
Kiyoshi was glad to hear that, although not overly surprised. He knew his aunt was strong-willed and tough, although not on the same level as his mother. And she was usually pretty elegant, too, although he knew her well enough to know that elegant facade would slip sometimes.
As for the "Tohsaka way", well, he was fully aware of what that meant. His real aunt had tried to push the philosophy on him enough times. Of course, he never took any notice. As much as he loved his aunt, he had no interest in following the path of a magus.
He and Rider listened as Archer replied, questioning her elegance, leading to the two of them bickering. Kiyoshi felt somewhat confused, whilst Rider nearly burst-out laughing at the way the servant was flustering her.
But, in the end, Rin got the upper hand.
"And I'm sure he's looking forward to all the cookies Uncle Archer is going to be making him. Because Uncle Archer would never turn down a special request from a special nephew, not when he knows it'll make him sad." Rin's smile gained a wicked edge. "Because Uncle Archer knows what will happen if he makes his special nephew sad, now doesn't he?"
Archer sighed at that statement, knowing he was trapped, and Rider could barely contain her amusement. Kiyoshi, however, was delighted. He loved cooking, and he loved eating his father's food too.
"Yay! We're going to bake cookies!" Kiyoshi said, not even bothering to check with Archer first.
"Will you help us, Aunty Rin? It'll be great fun", he added enthusiastically.
At that, Rider actually did burst-out laughing, as Rin's attempt at getting revenge on Archer backfired spectacularly.
Kiyoshi, meanwhile, felt very excited by the idea of cooking with the alternate form of his father and aunt. He knew they were both good cooks, and he found cooking a very enjoyable pursuit. It was something he could definitely look forward to.
Rider then left to tend to Isa, whilst Kiyoshi remained with his aunt, and "Uncle" Archer. However, their conversation quickly turned to less-happy things. Sakura's comments had clearly riled Rin and Archer. When the darkened Archer informed them of Sakura's parentage, it brought an extremely negative response from Rin.
"Wait... she- she's ours?! B-but that, how, why. Her?!"
Rider's immediate thought was that Sakura was acting exactly like you'd expect Rin's child to act when in a bad mood, and exactly like Rin herself was acting. Really bitchy.
Rin and Archer continued, alternating between disowning the girl and attacking her views on Satoshi.
Whilst she was somewhat shocked at the level of nastiness and coldness in their comments, Rider did generally think Rin was right. As far as she was concerned, she would much rather that asshole version of Shirou die than Archer, servant or not. And, she also found the concept that the life of a servant was somehow less important somewhat distasteful, even if she did still put her life well below that of her master despite Sakura's constant efforts to convince her that she mattered just as much. To her, Satoshi's defence of Shirou at Archer's expense was simply not reasonable.
Kiyoshi, on the other hand, was much less equivocal about it. Whilst he was unhappy about the idea of Satoshi threatening to kill another person, he also didn't like the fact that Archer had done much the same thing. But, mostly he was just shocked at the level of nastiness his previously-kind aunt was showing towards her own daughter. To him, family was family, whatever universe you were from. You might disagree with them or get angry with them, but he could not accept such coldness on their part.
And, it only got worse, with Rin and Archer disowning her and attempting to pin the "blame" for her existence on one another, before finally coming to an agreement that neither of them were that awful.
Kiyoshi was quite frankly disgusted with her. He knew how much it hurt to be disowned in that manner. It had hurt him when Taiga had rejected him as her brother. And, the way they were talking about Sakura was just plain mean, particularly when she was stood right in front of them. He could not stand it any longer.
Kiyoshi looked at her sadly, before turning around and walking away, a tear in his eye and his heart broken. He knew his aunt could be mean sometimes, but never like that. Not to the people she loved or to her family.
However, he didn't get very far before Sakura also approached.
Rider, meanwhile, had been talking to Isa. The girl's response to Rider's worried comment about telling her sister the truth had been a good one. The girl had clearly understood her meaning. At the same time, Forest had approached her, responding to her worries about Sakura.
"I'll help keep Kiyoshi safe. Even if this theoretical Sakura isn't your Sakura, I know you'll want to go save the day. Just be careful", she said.
Rider felt glad at that. Whilst she knew that Kiyoshi would trust Rin more than Forest, it was nice to have someone else around who would protect him. It freed her up to go and deal with Satoshi without worry.
Before she could reply, though, the other Sakura began to talk, answering Isa's prior question about her brother.
"See now, first reasonable person in the bunch", she said, causing Rider to frown at the implied insult. "To answer your questions yes I am, I'm one of three sisters he has. What's happened to my little brother is the same as always. He shows up somewhere, helps people, gets no credit. Saves the day, doesn't say a single thing about the nasty things the people he saves calls him and comes home. Except that this time the people bad mouthing him are the village mob and they plan to burn the monster who to my knowledge has literally done nothing actually wrong. Although the quick and dirty way to explain it is that he was possessed by all the world's evil, including the rage and hatred of people who whose two Archer's killed. So he's balancing six billion people on his soul. Not sure how he manages it at all to be honest."
Whilst she was annoyed at Sakura's dismissal of her as "unreasonable", she did understand what the girl was getting at. She knew from her master's experiences what it was like to be possessed by Angra Mainyu, and she was just as unsure as her how he could handle the pressure.
Before Rider could reply, though, Sakura turned to Rin and Archer, becoming noticably angrier. She launched into an angry tirade about the "king of Uruk", whoever the hell that was, accusing Rin of comparing him to Satoshi.
Rider was confused. She'd never heard of any such person and, yet, Sakura was claiming this person had murdered Rin's father.
Not that he didn't deserve it anyway... thought Rider, recalling how he had treated her master.
Kiyoshi, meanwhile, was now confused and upset. He could understand Sakura being unhappy with Rin for her attitude towards her, but that didn't seem to be the issue. Instead, she'd latched on to something about a "gold-plated fuck-box" and launched into a foul-mouthed rant about comparing him to her brother.
But, whilst he was somewhat annoyed at the girl's vitrol towards her mother, he could at least understand her desire to defend her brother, even if what she was saying was incomprehensible. And, at least she had not gone as far as outright disowning.
Then, the girl spoke to Forest, clearly annoyed with something she'd done, presumably using her psychic abilities.
Rider frowned. Forest had complained at her for having the tenacity to think before, and she'd found it somewhat irritating, so she could understand why the girl might be annoyed. However, she didn't really know what had happened, so she could hardly comment.
Then, finally, she walked over to Kiyoshi.
Kiyo, can you come help me? I need to get Taiga but she won't come if adults are forcing her. Besides your aunty and my brother need to talk about grown up stuff for a bit."
With that, Kiyoshi brightened up, whilst Rider sighed audibly.
She actually wants my help! Kiyoshi thought, excitedly.
He knew that Aunt Rider would disapprove, and he would like to make things up with Aunt Rin despite her nastiness towards Sakura, but there was simply no way he could turn Sakura down. Taiga needed his help. He would rescue the poor girl like the hero he was, and bring her back to Forest's house.
"Of course I'll help!" he said. "No hero would leave an innocent girl lost and alone like that."
But, then, he looked at his Aunt, and his face fell once more. Despite everything, she was still his aunt, he didn't want to just abandon her. He wouldn't just disown her in the way she had so cruelly done to her own daughter.
"Aunty Rin, Sakura, why are you being so mean to each other?", he said, tearfully. "You're family, family should be kind to one another. And, Aunty Rin, disowning your daughter like that is really nasty and hurtful. You were so nice to me, too...."
Rider, meanwhile, was just trying to find a way to stop him going. She just wanted him to go home and go to sleep. Ultimately, though, she knew it would be a losing battle. He would never forgive her if she forced him to abandon a helpless child like that.
Still, she felt she should at least try.
"Are you sure, Kiysohi? It's late, and you need sleep. Plus, if you go with her, how will you get home?" she said.
Then, she turned to the others and spoke.
"Sakura, whilst I do not appreciate being called 'unreasonable', I'm sorry if I made false assumptions about how your brother is in his darkened state. I just know how Angra Mainyu affected my master, and I did not honestly expect anyone else to fare better than her. She is an exceptionally strong person, after all, as you must surely know.
As for Satoshi, I have decided. I will be going after him.
Honestly, I have no other choice. The risk to my master or alternate forms of her is too great to ignore. But, I will return to the apartment first. I need to know where I am going, and I have a call to make. Plus, I need to be sure Kiyoshi gets back safely.
As for you, Forest, I'm not sure what you did to Sakura, but it isn't nice to invade people's minds."
-
Forest waited until Finn was gone before she looked at Millie as Lancer put her down. She said with a grin, "Your brother's sort of daft, isn't he? Don't worry, we'll make it to the compound just fine."
Mille sighed. "More than just sort of, believe me."
Then events continued, and Forest replied to her statement. "No, then she might go crying to her brother and apparently he's the biggest, baddest motherfucker all along in this town. Plus, she's really not my type. I try to keep 'stuck up bitch' from my diet."
Mille nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. There's probably an aftertaste. That can't be pleasant."
However, it seemed that it was more than just Forest that had a reply for her.
Archer Alter heard Millie's words about the other Archer and Rin getting a room and grinned. He said, "If anyone's getting a room with her, its me."
Mille heard the thoughts of the others and had no reservations about voicing her own. "So that's why he sucks up to her so much. Creepy as that is, at least he's being honest."
Rin herself was blushing quite hard. All she managed to say was, "W-we'll talk about it when we get back."
Then things continued, and the conflict between the two Tohsakas raged onward. Rin was clearly furious at Sakura's response to Isa. Mille was content to just watch, until the boy who was apparently Rin's nephew raised his objections. She blinked, then realized what had happened. Mille sighed- while she didn't care about defending Tohsaka so much, she did want to set the record straight, as the kid seemed to have missed half the story, at least from what she'd heard.
"They got frustrated and didn't think about their flirting material. That's all."
***
Oddly enough, the name "Alaya" didn't quite register with Archer, though he felt like he should be more than familiar with it- to the point where he almost winced upon hearing it. However, the rest registered with him quite clearly. He turned to his darker counterpart.
"To be honest, I'd rather bake cookies than be someone's 'killbot' any day, as humiliating as that prospect may be."
Then he heard his darker self's line about Rin and her room. It took him a bit to process it, but when he did, he stood there in stunned silence. And he kept that silence. He knew there was much he could say that would only serve to dig his own grave.
Then the amazonian Rin lookalike, who he now knew to be called Sakura, responded to Isa, detailing how wonderful and heroic Toshi was, which made him roll his eyes. This was followed with a tyrade at Rin- something to do with... Gilgamesh, from the sounds of things? Maybe? Though he wasn't entirely sure where it'd even come from, Rin hadn't said anything about him. What he did know is that Rin was fuming, and she naturally flew off the handle.
However, Rin herself was cut off by Kiyoshi. Archer was confused for a moment about the whole "disowning" thing. Then a redheaded girl responded to him, and the pieces began to form. Oh damn...
The girl's explanation he found was inadequate, on top of being somewhat embarrassing with the flirting bit, and Rin was clearly still fuming, so he expanded on it. "Well... see, Sakura was already disregarding us as her parents, instead treating us as separate people. Plus she said some things that... well, they deeply insulted some of us and angered others of us. Plus your aunt... well, it may seem old to you, at your age, but Rin is only about eighteen years old. Having a child that old at that age doesn't tend to register. And well... we got frustrated, and our frustration came out naturally, without the pair of us thinking about what we were saying."
He ran a hand through his hair, hoping that explanation was sufficient. He noticed that Rin was calming down. It was up to her now.
***
Rin blinked in surprise at the half demon's lecture. However, she took it to heart, as willing as she was to cement her authority. "I-I knew that," she said. "But don't expect me to take it so easy on you next time, you hear me?"
Archer just sighed. Indeed, some things never changed.
Then Sakura's lecture happened. Rin began to see red. "I didn't say any of that! What's with you?! First you say all that stuff and then you put words in my mouth! And what are you even talking about?! Who are you even talking about, and what does that even have to do with my father?! What do you know about my-"
"Aunty Rin, Sakura, why are you being so mean to each other?", Kiyoshi said, tearfully. "You're family, family should be kind to one another. And, Aunty Rin, disowning your daughter like that is really nasty and hurtful. You were so nice to me, too...."
She stopped, but couldn't respond, still blinded by rage. Then Archer's words on the subject processed. While she was still enraged at Sakura, she did feel bad for what Kiyoshi felt. Plus there was no way she was letting Sakura get the high ground.
She turned to Sakura, with Archer shaking his head a little as he managed to pick up on part of her true intentions with this little apology. "Look, I'm... I'm sorry I went that far. I wasn't thinking. However...." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "If you're going to treat us like we're not your parents, then expect us to act in kind. I don't know if it's some kind of policy to keep alternate universe forms separate from your versions from wherever you come from, but either way, I want you to understand that. I also think you owe some people here some apologies. We may have said some hurtful things, but you've said quite a bit yourself."
***
Finn grinned at Lancer's complement. "I'm glad to hear it, thanks. You seem like a pretty great guy yourself." He chuckled a bit. "Sure seem to have caught my sister's eye at least. That takes someone pretty special to pull that off. Even more so to get her to smile."
Then Shuya had a few words for him on his actions.
He tapped Finn's shoulder. "The reaction was okay, but you came at us with the intent of pacific reasoning which is a mistake. Would you call for peace when a friend faces danger? You're dealing with monsters here. If you go at it half-assed, you won't get anything but stupid drama. And listen to fire girl a bit. Rushing in like that wasn't the right call."
Finn shrugged. "Eh, while I don't mind a good fight every once in a while, I prefer the non-bloody method myself. Love and peace! Love and peace!, you get the drill. Plus it means less of my friends are hurt or dead. Kinda hard to go out and get a drink or have a game night with friends if they're all six feet under." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But yeah, I hear ya about the rushing in thing. My sis is smart like that. Really, I should know better." He grinned nice and wide. "But where's the fun in that, huh? Life is all about risks, even the really stupid ones!"
Mille groaned quite loudly and covered her face with her hands. "How are we even related...."
Finn then silently witnessed the other events, waiting to see if any additional mediating was needed. However, he noticed the young man who looked somewhat like Archer arriving with a girl that looked identical to Isa. He turned to Forest. "Whelp, looks like Team Asshole is disbanded, I think our missing sister is found!" He gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Now if only we can not fight long enough to get everyone back to the apartments and rested."
***
Hakuno hugged Isa again gently. "It's the least I could do. That's what friends are for, right?"
While she really didn't like the tall Rin look-alike's insinuation that Archer was a murderer, Hakuno decided that Isa came above everything else at the moment, and kept her attention focused there. She spotted Shirou, in better shape than he was before, accompanied by a girl who couldn't be anyone other than Vanessa. As the twin sister approached, Hakuno released Isa and gave her hand another gentle squeeze. "I'll be right here."
-
Forest raised her eyebrow at Rider and replied, "I didn't invade her mind. I just pointed out that I could when she was withholding vital information. And you know, just generally insulting us all around, but hey, I'll be nice because that's what I do."
She forced a smile on her face and looked at Sakura. Then she said, "Look, we got off on the wrong foot and I apologize. However I did try to help your brother and kept him for wracking up more dead bodies on his already weighted conscience from how you tell it. So, good luck storming the castle and all of that."
******
Lancer was leaning somewhat on Gae Bolg, shaking his head ever so slightly. It was a right mess. Everyone with their drama and slinging insults. Not to mention all the bloody arguments.
At least Finn sounded like a decent sort, and he had the blood of Ireland running through his veins. He also seemed to already have a yen for Lancer's landlady; which wasn't a bad thing at all. Then there was the fact that the girl's sister was brought back safe and sound.
He nodded at Finn and said, "It looks like Team Asshole wasn't needed at all."
He grinned at Shuya and said, "I know the fucker cheats."
******
Archer shrugged at Shuya's question and answered, "Just because I've been steeped in all the world's evil doesn't mean I enjoy needless killing. You didn't actually hurt Rin."
Then he smirked and said, "And you're not worth the effort anyway."
Rin was getting flustered by his honest reply and he was about to walk over to her and say something when the blond vampire was between him and Shuya. Lancer stood up straight and he blinked as the blond glared at them both. She then looked at Finn and said, "This is how you stop two idiots from killing each other."
He registered a blond and black movement when his world exploded in agony.
There was a crushing blow that made him see stars and gag as her knee impacted with his groin. The blow, unlike Shuya's telegraphed headbutt, had come completely out of nowhere. He felt himself double over as he fought for air.
However, there was a sense of satisfaction as he saw Shuya get the same treatment. He heard that husky, female voice state to Finn, "That's how you deal with assholes, and Team Asshole is useless."
Archer did notice as she smiled at Emiya Shirou, wave, and say to him, "Thank you."
******
Lancer had to laugh as partly clothed Forest tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and strode away from the two men she just wounded.
He did look at Rider and offer, "If you want help, I'll go. I'm still good for a fight."
******
Forest rejoined Millie, Rin, Rider, Sakura, and Kiyoshi. She didn't need to read Rider's mind to know that she didn't want Kiyoshi going with her. Not that she blamed the Servant. If it would have been Gabriel at that age, she would have just told him "no" in a firm voice and made sure he stayed behind.
Then there was the fact that Emiya Shirou brought Vanessa back to her sister safe and sound while Team Asshole had utterly failed. He also still had her gun, but she figured he could keep it. She had a whole arsenal to choose from. However, these people apparently needed to be guided.
She raised her hand and said, "Okay, we've got Vanessa back with her sister. I think we've had enough excitement for one night. I can lead everyone back to the stronghold and we can get some much needed rest."
-
Shirou smiled as he watched Vanessa speed up, passing him without a thought as she made a beeline for her sister. A job well done, and with no casualties, he noted with satisfaction. In any case, this would be the last thing he would be doing tonight.
He took a glance at the assembled men, noting how one of the newcomers was getting along well with Lancer. He snorted when he heard the man mention how 'Team Asshole' wasn't even needed. Who had thought it would be a good idea to put two Archers, Lancer and Rin on the same team? Even with the unknown factor of the male mercenary, it was a recipe for disaster, especially considering how fixated on Rin that Angra Mainyu infected Archer appeared to be. 'Team Asshole' indeed. The only thing they were missing was him...
He winced when Forest smashed Archer in the jewels. It was a stupid reaction considering that tthey weren't a part of his body, but that was still an alternate version of him's manhood being smashed.
Forgetting the phantom pain, he noticed Forest turning to him. As he was still a distance away, she waved at him, before thanking him. Shirou returned the wave, and, perhaps because he was so happy with the results of the night, there was a small smile on his face when he did so. Once he realised what he was doing, he quickly stopped, stepping back to continue surveying the area.
-
Sakura looked at Rin and then Forest and finally to Kiyoshi. "The Tohsaka have a hereditary condition inherited way back from this guy named Zel. It causes us to fight this way regardless of whether we want to or not. But for all the noise Rin and I will never blow the house down no matter how we huff and puff. It's the way we express our feelings because we are aware we don't need to hold back. " she told the boy.
Sakura looked at the two women she glanced at previously and smiled. "I think there are one too many misunderstandings here to clear up at the moment, my sister comes before any of discussion so I think bringing the kids to the apartment would be the best time to discuss this."
she paused frowning at Lancer. "I won't be getting within ten feet of that castle and Cu Culain, if you are anything like the man I know you won't either. My brother made a promise not to beat you in a fight, as he is now he likely can't choose to lose. I know you think you are stronger but there is no certainty in that. I ask you to not fight because you know what it is to be forced to break your word." her words were soft, humble and carefully chosen as she bowed her head. Despite all the other things said she knew that this was the worst possible event and her pride and temper needed to disappears right quick.
-
Lancer tilted his head at the girl's words. From how she said it, it sounded like the boy was under a geas not to win against him, just like he was under one to submit to someone of the blood of Ulster wielding Caldiblog. With a sigh he held up his hands and said, "Fine fine, I won't go storming the castle, but I can help you get your sister back."
Forest saw Shirou actually smiling back as he waved to her. It gave her a bit of a pleasant thrill, enough for her to send to him so the others wouldn't hear, You're still welcome to come back with us. You can make sure that Isa and her sister are settled in nicely and get some rest.
Then she winked at him with a grin, By the way, keep the gun.
-
The girl struggled with her own embarrassment. The mixed blood grinned wildly, the reaction being unexpected. There was a term in his native language, one used way too much in the media. But it would apply nicely here.
"Tsundere," he let out, half laughing. It was like a victory in itself and he took delight in mocking the girl openly.
Still smiling, he looked at Mille's brother with interest.
Finn gave him a rather sound argument about friendship and his way to deal with death. "Ain't the best friends those who face death together though? You said it yourself, right. Risk is what makes life interesting."
The half demon gave him a good shove on the shoulder before turning to Rider, who had, obviously something to say on the matter.
He listened to her, but Shuya let Rider's words fly over his head. It was clear at this point that their approach to life were different, if not opposite extremes. They would probably never agree on this. Still, he didn't want to let have the last word. "World would be hella boring without guys like me. How else stupid heroes would rise from the crowd if it weren't for selfish, blood warmonger like us?" However, when she added the part about Kiyoshi, the swordsman frowned. "Your infatuation in that kid is making you lose sight of the obvious," he criticized, clearly meaning to shake her. "Kids are tough. Tougher than what grown ups wish to believe. Especially this little guy. Don't be too overprotective, or else, when something truly happens, he won't know how to react." He didn't expect an answer from that, simply making her rethink her role as a guardian. Shuya sighed.
He wanted to say more, but it wasn't his place to be the moral fag. He already went as far as showing them their mistakes and how naïve they we-...
"I know the fucker cheats." Lancer's words brought him back to reality. Shuya wiped blood from his face with a smirk. "Yeah, figured as much." He said, still a bit vexed.
Archer didn't seem interested in a fight, even after all Shuya said to him. He didn't know what was that world's evil he was talking about, but it seemed to be something not much enjoyable. Maybe had to do with the red veins running on his body. When the bowman added that the mixed blood wasn't worth the attention, Shuya had a serious expression.
"Well, I could pound your face until you deem seeing me worthy, how's that sound," He suggested, clearly annoyed by the guy's attitude. Already marching in Archer's direction. What happened next, he didn't anticipate. Forest suddenly placed herself between the two men. Shuya looked at the vampire in annoyance.
"This is how you stop two idiots from killing each other."
Shuya raised eyebrows, unsure to whom the line was addressed to. Next moment, he watched with great pleasure, Archer, or rather his nuts, colliding with a knee. As the guy fell to his knees, the half demon mocked him with a genuine laugh. Laugh that was cut short when he received the same punishment. The impact registered square in the testicles and he felt one of the two going up in a defensive reflex as the other got pressed against hard bone. He curled up like a newborn and couldn't help but drop on the side, his unique, helpless hand covering the painful area. He breathed through the nose in order to spare himself another humiliation by letting out a pitiful moan. In spite of the ache in his nether region, he had to admit, her method was more efficient than Finn's.
Then there was the comment about Team Asshole being useless. And Shuya laughed awkwardly, still lying on the ground.
----
Isabella struggled to make sense of Satoshi's sister words. She lacked the information to make sense of it, however, it was clear than the man was suffering a burden he shouldn't be. Her tired eyes met up with Sakura's.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I don't exactly know Satoshi but I wish to help however I can," she said. It wouldn't be too soon though, in her condition, she would be a burden to anyone. She sighed for herself, how could it have turned so bad for her? Fate decided that it wasn't the time to lost oneself in speculation. She heard a voice she didn't expect so soon.
"Finally found you, bloody idiot."
The moment she feared came far too quick and her sister's arrival made her mind boil. Hakuno gave her a gentle squeeze and reassuring words but Isabella couldn't gather the courage to look at Vanessa in the eyes. She tried to speak but no sound slipped out her lips.
"..."
Vanessa walked up to her twin and stopped about thirty centimeters from her. She was trembling with anger when she spoke, or rather, yelled at her sister.
"Do you have any idea how worried I was??"
Isabella, kept her eyes fixed on her own shoes, head slightly dropped in shame and anxiety.
"..."
"Why did you run on your own like that??"
"..."
"You could have died, you could have..." Nessa's voice trailed off, unable to argue logically anymore. "Look at you," she said, staring at her sibling. "Your hair is messy."
The change of topic was sudden, but not unexpected given her personality.
Nodding was all Isabella could do to answer.
"And your face is dirty. Eyes swollen, you cried."
Another nod.
"And you look like a mummy with all these bandages."
Isa would have smiled if she had the force to do so. Instead, she accepted the criticism calmly, almost absent-mindedly. The older sister placed her forefront against Isa's.
"I'm happy you're alive." She whispered, only for her sister ears. "But you'll get punished later on." She added with a serious voice. Then, Vanessa was turning to everyone present.
"Thanks for taking care of my little sister. I'm not sure how, but I'll make sure to repay you in kind."
Shuya, who was now standing somehow, snorted. "The best way would be to keep your freaking eyes on your sister," he said aggressively. She sent him a fake, surprised glare. "I'm sorry, I couldn't gather what you said," she answered with a grin, obviously mocking the strange tone he had taken. "Might need to raise a register or two." To what the mixed blood retorted with an obscene gesture.
Nessa crossed her arms upon seeing the middle finger. "Charming fellow you got there," she commented, apparently amused. Her eyes drifted a bit and found Emiya Shirou, strangely out of the group. She suggested with a hand for him to get closer.
---
Isa had expected to see her sister sad, but she didn't feel nor sensed anything of the like. Her sister had announced clearly it wouldn't be the end of it, but the younger twin sighed in relief. At least, it was better than seeing her depressed. Vanessa would probably wait for them to be alone in order to discuss what happened. She wasn't looking for it, but she will have to deal with it. Better for it to be soon.
She was still looking at Vanessa's back when she turned to Forest. The vampire declared that they should move, and Isabella, as ashamed as it was to admit it, needed to rest. Body and mind. She was at ease now, with her twin back at her side and surrounded by powerful and trustworthy allies. At least most of them were, she thought, as she eyed Shuya. The man was nothing but trouble.
He still saved my life. Why? Wasn't he a guy who killed for a living?
"Want me to carry you, baby sis," asked Nessa, with a teasing tone. To what a flustered Isa answered by indicating Hakuno's hand. "I have all the support I need." She answered proudly, a bit of anger in her voice. Nessa thrown Hakuno an apologetic smile. "Sorry to have you involved. My sister can be quite clingy when she's scared. Once, she woke me up because she could not bear to go alone t-..." Isa placed her free hand on her sister's mouth before she could expose a shameful memory. "I think that's enough," she growled, completely forgetting how bad she felt a bit earlier.
-
Rider couldn't help but burst out laughing at Rin's response to Archer's proposition.
She knew that Rin had always mourned her servant, and also felt somewhat jealous that her sister had a version of Shirou whilst she did not. So, it figured that, given the opportunity to meet Archer again, she would be interested in him. At the same time, of course, Rin was not someone who was particuarly good at expressing her feelings in such situations, as her attitude towards her sister during the Grail War and before had shown.
Still, she could tell from the way Rin was acting and her knowledge of Rin's desires that he would probably be getting lucky pretty soon. And, she felt somewhat jealous about that. She would happily take either of them as a partner. Or, if possible, both....
Rin and Sakura continued to argue, and Kiyoshi spoke up in disappointment at Rin's comments towards Sakura.
The new girl responded with "They got frustrated and didn't think about their flirting material. That's all."
Rider burst out laughing once more at the girl's bluntness and the embarrassing, if truthful, nature of her comment.
Archer, not satisfied with the girl's rather embarrassing explanation, offered up his own reasoning. Rider could understand what he meant. It was entirely understandable that Rin would find it hard to see a girl who was older than her who she had never met before as her "daughter", even if she knew intellectually that it was the case.
Fortunately, Rin also seemed to take Kiyoshi's words to heart, and turned to apologise to the girl. Although, being Rin, she couldn't resist trying to put across her own side of the argument in the process, and demand an apology from Sakura in return.
Kiyoshi was somewhat uncertain about her response. She was certainly being a lot nicer, but she still hadn't accepted Sakura as her daughter, even if her explanation made it clear that both had been at fault in that respect. Still, he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, and she was at least trying. It was clear she did feel somewhat bad about her actions.
He prepared to speak but, before he could, Sakura spoke once more.
"The Tohsaka have a hereditary condition inherited way back from this guy named Zel. It causes us to fight this way regardless of whether we want to or not. But for all the noise Rin and I will never blow the house down no matter how we huff and puff. It's the way we express our feelings because we are aware we don't need to hold back", she said.
Rider couldn't help but nod in agreement. She did, after all, live with an entire family of Tohsakas. Indeed, legally she was one of them. Kiyoshi was similarly understanding. As kind-hearted and gentle as his mother was, and as much as she loved her sister, when the two of them truly argued they could be downright scary.
Sakura continued. "I think there are one too many misunderstandings here to clear up at the moment, my sister comes before any of discussion so I think bringing the kids to the apartment would be the best time to discuss this."
Realising that Sakura and Rin had come to an accomodation, Kiyoshi relaxed somewhat. He was glad that Aunty Rin had patched things up with her daughter, and had apologised for everything she had said.
As much as he loved his Aunty, he knew she could be mean sometimes, especially when angry. That was just part of her personality, and it wasn't something he could hate her for. Not when she was a genuinely kind-hearted person the rest of the time. Mollified by the response, he smiled at Rin.
Before he could speak, though, Sakura responded to Lancer's earlier offer of assistance in dealing with Satoshi.
"I won't be getting within ten feet of that castle and Cu Culain, if you are anything like the man I know you won't either. My brother made a promise not to beat you in a fight, as he is now he likely can't choose to lose. I know you think you are stronger but there is no certainty in that. I ask you to not fight because you know what it is to be forced to break your word", she said, softly.
It was clear from the way she was acting that she did not desire to see this outcome. And, honestly, Rider fully agreed with her. Even without the new information, she had not really wanted Lancer to come along. He would complicate things and, potentially, put Sakura in danger. With Sakura's words, she was certain. Pissing off someone who was potentially holding Sakura prisoner and who might also capture her was not what Rider would call a good idea.
Rider didn't really expect to defeat Satoshi. It was clear from the things that had been said to her that it was unlikely that she could. However, that was mostly irrelevant. As long as he agreed to free Sakura regardless of the outcome, and as long as he would not kill her or prevent her protecting Sakura and family in the future, she didn't particularly mind losing.
She didn't expect particularly kind treatment from Satoshi if she lost. In her time, defeated warriors were enslaved or worse. And, she knew that if she were to win she would certainly take advantage of her captive to satisfy her sexual desires, and punish him for his actions, so she wouldn't blame him for acting any differently.
But, honestly, she found that prospect more arousing than frightening. After all, she did need prana, and she was rather horny at the moment. Of all the ways there were to be provided by prana, being captured in a fight and dominated by a sexy half-Shirou was not far from the top of her list. And, one of the few things that was above it was capturing a sexy half-Shirou in a fight and dominating and torturing him in whatever manner she desired....
Before Rider could reply, Lancer turned to Sakura and spoke once more.
"Fine fine, I won't go storming the castle, but I can help you get your sister back", he said.
She sighed with relief at that. She hadn't wanted Lancer to come along. It would just have complicated things. However, Kiyoshi became somewhat agitated at his response. He knew that Sakura had specifically requested no adults. And, further, if any adult was to come along, he wanted it to be one he knew and trusted, like Aunty Rider or Aunty Rin.
"Lancer, if anyone is going along with them, it is me. But, Sakura said that they needed to go alone", she said.
"Yeah, sorry, Aunty Rider, but we have to go alone. I know you're worried about me, but we're not going far, and Sakura isn't weak. You saw that barrier she made", Kiyoshi said in response.
Then, he turned to Sakura.
"Well, we should get going soon. It's getting late and I'm feeling tired. Plus, Taiga must be lost and scared, we shouldn't leave her waiting.
But, Aunty Rider did have a valid point before. How will we get back to the apartment? You don't know where it is yet...."
Then, he walked up to Rin, grabbing hold of her in an attempt to initiate another hug.
"Thank you for listening, Aunty Rin", he said, softly and happily. "I'm proud to be able to call you my Aunt."
"Sakura is right, our family always argues and fights in this manner. Mummy and Aunty Rin have plenty of fights, but it doesn't mean they don't love each other with all their heart. I guess I can't blame you for being yourself. You might be a bit mean sometimes, but I know your heart is pure gold, just like mummy's."
Then, Rider turned to Forest.
"OK, then, should we get going? I'd like to get back so I can contact Satoshi as soon as possible.
As for Sakura, I honestly don't know what you did, so I can't say if it was reasonable. But, you do have to be careful, having your mind read or even talked into is not a pleasant experience if you're not used to it."
Then, she turned to Rin, who Kiyoshi was still latching onto.
"Well, since Kiyoshi seems to see you as his Aunt, I'm putting you in charge of him when I'm away. He trusts you, and I trust you not to let him come to any harm.
Kiyoshi, if I'm not there when you return, then you listen to Aunty Rin, understand?"
Of course, Rider knew that he would not obey her any more than he did anyone else, unless he was in genuine danger, but she could at least hold him back from his worst excesses.
"Yeah, I understand. I'll try to be good for Aunty Rin." Then, smirking, he added, "as long as she doesn't try to push me into magecraft lessons like she does in our world".
-
Ah, it felt good to be out of the Warp again. Doomrider stretched slightly on his bike, looking around him. Now, where the hell was he?
Buildings stretched around him, roads with hundreds of cars as small as ants below thrived with activity. The wind buffeted his flaming head, as he looked down from on top of a massive structure.
A... city. Hell yeah. Lots of mayhem here, he could feel it. Lust, desire, anger, jealousy, hate, hope, all the feelings that daemons fed on were present in vast amounts. This city was about as perfect as it could be. There were obviously some anomalies, like that castle that had suddenly popped out of fucking nowhere though. The hell was that about? Was that a party castle? Was he not invited to ALL parties? Oh, he was going to attend this freaking party, whether they liked it or not. And if they didn't, they could suck it. No cocaine for them. Ever.
Gunning the throttle off his daemonic bike, Doomrider took off into the night sky, cackling as the bike roared, flaming hair trailing behind him like a shooting star. "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
-
Kisuke Urahara was walking down the street when a rather strong breeze began to blow. Ordinarily this wouldn't be an issue...until it blew his hat off, forcing the former Captain-turned shop keeper to chase after his flying hat. Fortunately, the wind died down soon enough, and the man finally caught his hat and put it back on its place on his head. Turning around, he decided to return to his previous route...only to walk right into a wall.
Rubbing his nose, he studied the wall standing where there should have been a road and looking around, he realized he was no longer in Karakura. "Hmm...it seems I've been transported somewhere." he muttered to himself, before fishing a sensor device from his pocket, he fiddled with a few buttons before sighing in disappointment and put it back into his pocket.
"Oh well, I might as well figure out what's going on here." he said cheerfully as he headed out to explore the city, his cane twirling in one hand. "At the very least, this promises to be an interesting experience."
-
I see the bad moon rising.
I see trouble on the way.
I see earthquakes and lightnin'.
I see bad times today.
Lawrence's Firebird purred as he drove through the streets of the Nexus. Really, he'd never expected to end up here. Ever. But the hunt had lead through that odd tunnel in Chicago that supposedly lead to nowhere, so fuck it; he was here now and that's what mattered. The refurbished classic muscle car's stereo kept playing the CCR tape he'd shoved into the redone system. It was soothing, for both him and the Driver. A bit of common ground he'd found with his new literal soulmate.
Not that they didn't occasionally get on each other's nerves.
Don't go around tonight,
Well, it's bound to take your life,
There's a bad moon on the rise.
Too long. No revenge. Murderers. All of them. Kill anyone. Kill them. Vengeance for the dead.
Lawerence gritted his teeth as the Redheaded Driver's voice intruded into his mind.
"Patience. We're here for one man, then maybe we'll do some of the gang bangers here, but we'll deal with the ghosts. Is that alright?"
The spirits were everywhere in this city. Floating souls, many possessing the wounds that had killed them in life, many screaming in agony or just waiting sullenly to move on. Poor fucks didn't even get a choice. Sending them on was the only mercy they could be granted.
I hear hurricanes ablowing.
I know the end is coming soon.
I fear rivers over flowing.
I hear the voice of rage and ruin.
Yes. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life. Let them bleed like we did. They deserve life less than us.
All right!
Hope you got your things together.
Hope you are quite prepared to die.
Looks like we're in for nasty weather.
One eye is taken for an eye.
"But we're both dead aren't we?"
So?
"Good point."
Lawrence continued to drive forward, a strange group of people coming into sight as the tape played on.
-
"Well, that was interesting, to say the least." Urahara said, sheathing Benihime after cutting down a large group of wraiths that had tried to accost him. "They're not Hollows, not really, but exhibit Hollow-like abilities."
Ducking out of instinct, he dodged another wraith as it tried to attack him, and flash-stepping to a safe distance, drew Benihime in its Shikai form. "Cry, Benihime!" he said with a smile and a swing, firing off a bright-red beam of energy that completely destroyed the wraith...and destroyed an entire block behind it. Wincing at the destruction and somewhat shamefaced by the screaming and cries of alarm, Urahara sheathed his sword (again) and walked away from the scene as fast as he could.
-
Rin watched with astonishment as Forest kneed both the blackened Archer and the half demon in their privates before walking back over to be with the rest of the group. Rin was... conflicted. On the one hand, it amused her, but on the other hand, she felt a bit insulted for Dark Archer, and oddly enough she felt a bit... worried. She wasn't entirely sure why. She was amused enough by it though that she wasn't angry.
She turned to look at the uncorrupted Archer to see what his reaction was. He looked like he was caught between wanting to chortle a bit and wincing at the thought of his family jewels suffering that type of damage.
Rin's attention was then drawn to Mille, who she noticed was nodding in approval. "Seems efficient enough for me. I approve. I doubt Finn will do it, but I'll try using it next time I see some idiots doing something stupid."
Rin sighed. Based on what little she'd seen of her fellow magus's personality so far, it didn't take much for her to consider someone an "idiot". She was probably going to have to keep her new-found protege in line in that respect.
Turning her attention back to her fallen former Servant, Rin started to make her way towards his crumpled form. However, before she could get very far, she heard Rider speak to her.
"Well, since Kiyoshi seems to see you as his Aunt, I'm putting you in charge of him when I'm away. He trusts you, and I trust you not to let him come to any harm."
Rin nodded. "You can count on me. Anyone that tries to hurt him is going to regret even trying."
Rider turned to Kiyoshi. "Kiyoshi, if I'm not there when you return, then you listen to Aunty Rin, understand?"
"Yeah, I understand. I'll try to be good for Aunty Rin." Then, smirking, he added, "as long as she doesn't try to push me into magecraft lessons like she does in our world".
Rin gave her nephew a smirk of her own. "Oh, don't think you're going to get out of it that easily." She glanced at Mille and Hakuno. "Though you may be lucky this time- I'm likely going to have my hands full with other pupils as it is."
Hakuno blinked at that before wincing. She didn't know why Rin had taken an interest in tutoring her just yet, but she couldn't help but have a bad feeling...
-
Finn smiled at Lancer's reply.
The half-demon had a response for him in reply to his "Love and Peace!" speech. "Ain't the best friends those who face death together though? You said it yourself, right. Risk is what makes life interesting."
Finn nodded. "Oh yeah, definitely. Especially if it's really somethin' worth fightin' for or if the fight's really awesome. But it ain't the same if the reason isn't good. Definitely not the same if it's because those same friends are at each other's throats either. I definitely don't mind a good sparrin' match, even a real risky one, but taking out my friends and allies ain't my idea of a good time."
Shuya shoved him on the shoulder as what Finn assumed to be a friendly gesture before replying to Rider. Events moved forward, more arguments were had, etc.
Then Forest looked at him. His heart stopped beating for a minute. Not because he was scared, but, well... you know. Sadly, her words for him were hardly romantic.
"This is how you stop two idiots from killing each other."
And then she kneed Shuya and Archer in the balls. Finn winced just at seeing it as the two men crumpled helplessly to the ground. She turned back to him once the deed was done. "That's how you deal with assholes, and Team Asshole is useless."
Finn heard his sister voice her approval, and he laughed somewhat nervously in response. One thing was for certain, he'd likely need to keep a fairly close eye on his sister from this point onward.
***
Even though Vanessa wasn't being obvious about her concern for her sister, as far as Hakuno could tell, she seemed worried. Maybe. Probably. Hakuno was also surprised to hear that it'd been the half-demon that saved Isa's life. Maybe it was like it'd been with Shinji, the good parts of him were just hidden deep under the surface. Hakuno's attention was drawn back to the twins as they continued to converse with one another.
"Want me to carry you, baby sis," asked Nessa, with a teasing tone. To what a flustered Isa answered by indicating Hakuno's hand. "I have all the support I need." She answered proudly, a bit of anger in her voice. Nessa thrown Hakuno an apologetic smile. "Sorry to have you involved. My sister can be quite clingy when she's scared. Once, she woke me up because she could not bear to go alone t-..." Isa placed her free hand on her sister's mouth before she could expose a shameful memory. "I think that's enough," she growled, completely forgetting how bad she felt a bit earlier.
Hakuno just smiled, and kept her mouth shut. She had grown braver and more vocal since her time began on the Moon Cell, but she was still a bit timid in some ways. Plus she didn't quite know what to say. She was at least glad that Isa seemed to be feeling a bit better. There was probably a long ways to go as of yet, but at least it was a start.
But no matter how long it takes, I'll do my best to still be there for Isa if she needs me. I'm her friend, and that's what friends do, right?
She heard Forest say something about getting back to the apartments, which Hakuno found herself being more than eager to do. As Forest had said, there'd been enough excitement for one day. Plus Isa needed rest, as did a good number of the people present. Eager for things to move forward at last, Hakuno patiently waited for Forest to lead them away from the now quiet battleground.
-
The police station was a mess. It bore the marks of a place recently and quickly evacuated, with little care for any of the furniture or appliances having been taken during the messy exodus that must have occurred barely an hour ago. Coffee mugs left overturned, paper work unsigned or spattered with juice, and shotguns unpolished.
Axe Cop's bristles bristled.
This would not stand.
How could one expect to go out and fight bad guys when coming home to a place unfit to work in? Even bad guys took time to have meetings about synergy and workplace hazards, but whoever the Nexus police officers had been, it was obvious that they'd missed that memo. Axe Cop would have words with the officer in charge as soon as they showed up, but until then he would take up the responsibility of running a tight ship himself.
"Dinosaur Soldier, we need the Vacuum Cleaner of Cleanliness-"
Oh, right. Avocado Soldier wasn't there.
"Unibaby, mind wishing up a dustpan-"
Nope, no one there.
Axe Cop frowned. His mustache stopped bristling and started sizzling.
Axe Cop straightened his aviators and marched out of the messy building, dragging along a desk as he did so. He quickly set it up in front of the entrance, took a seat on the nearby chair, and wrote a clearly legible sign on a nearby piece of paper he found. He then folded the paper so it would stand up on its own, placed it on the desk, and waited with his arms crossed and axe at his side.
The sign, of course, said only one thing:
TRYOUTS
-
"As long as you call from inside the apartment my phone will give me a GPS fix on the place, it's an emergency feature built into all association equipment." Sakura answered the evident question and then took Kiyoshi's hand.
"I promise Rider, nothing will happen to my little brother while he's with me." she added withdrawing the jeweled sword from her coat.
-
Lancer winched and he winched hard as he watched the asshole bowman and Shuya get some justice delivered by Law Unto Herself's long legs. He made a mental note not to piss her off; he had a good note of her skill and he could soundly thrash her. However he didn't want his boys crushed in a moment of feminine vampire fury.
The corrupted version of Archer was bent forward and catching his breath while Shuya was crumpled on the ground cupping himself with his hand. Then, impossibly, the half-demon started to laugh. Lancer reached out his hand to Shuya and said, "My landlady is one of those types."
******
Forest felt a tiny thrill of pleasure at most of the male members of their sordid party's reaction to her Swift Kick of Justice. The blond vampire straightened to her full height and smiled crookedly. Then she heard Millie say, "Seems efficient enough for me. I approve. I doubt Finn will do it, but I'll try using it next time I see some idiots doing something stupid."
Grinning at the redhead, Forest placed her hands on her hips and said, "Well, truthfully it doesn't work in all accounts and sometimes its not warrant that strong of a response, but they were being utter wankers. In other responses punching works just as nicely."
Then she heard Sakura's mention about the GPS tracking in her phone. Smiling, the vampire said, "We would need a number to call to make that work and you'll need a ride to get there. Its a bit of a walk."
Honestly, she wasn't sure if it could work. Security had been one of her prime concerns when the stronghold had been built. It was fitted with a number of mundane and mystical defenses- some of which were crafted by one very randy Faerie. Which would mean that Isa and her rather uncouth sister would be safe.
*******
Archer spied Rin watching him as he recovered. Part of him wanted to ask her if she'd kiss it and make it better, but he reasoned that his and Rin's relationship wasn't secure enough to do such a thing yet. In a slightly disturbing turn of advents, Rin's new apprentice was taking their vampire landlady's example to heart and not Rin's. Which could prove amusing in the future, but it was going to frustrate Rin slightly.
However he did not miss the smile and wave that the idiot Emiya Shirou gave the vampire, and her response to him.
He rose to his full height, looked at Finn and said, "Looks like you may have competition."
-
The half-demon sealed his hand with the demigod's, swiftly getting up, his face still contorted in a grin. In other circumstances, he would have refused the help, but after such a critical hit, there was no need for misplaced pride. His mood had somewhat improved with the vampire's reaction. "Probably why she's still alive," he answered to Lancer. He suspected that would also cause her some trouble eventually but she seemed to get by anyway.
Then in an ultimate attempt to bother Archer Alter, he threw him words. He felt a itching sensation but did his best to hide it.
"Seems like you can't harden the essential parts."
Placing his heavy weapon on the shoulder nonchalantly, he turned to face Forest.
"So, how do we get to your place?" A finger designating his crotch area carefully. "Surely you don't intend to make us walk."
---
Vanessa looked at Hakuno with a curious smile.
"You're pretty good looking miss..." She marked a pause, looking to her sister.
"Her name is Hakuno," replied her twin. Isabella raised a hand before Vanessa could speak. "She's a nice person so show some res-..."
But it was never in her sister's plan to listen to Isa, already giving Hakuno the handshake.
"Nice to meet you. You can call me Nessa, Haku-chan."
Isa rubbed her temples with a tired expression. "I knew it would happen," she whispered.
The older sibling surrounded Hakuno's collar with her arm and she started questioning as if she met with a lost friend for the first time in a decade.
"So, tell me, what do you like? You look japanese. You're japanese, right? What's your favorite music band? Do you enjoy cosplaying? Do you have a boyfriend? A girlfriend maybe? Do you know a lot about magecraft? How did you get there? How did you meet this guy with white hair? How old are you by the way? What are your hobbies..?"
Isa smiled with a sorry look to her new friend, her expression both embarrassed and tired.
-
You're still welcome to come back with us. You can make sure that Isa and her sister are settled in nicely and get some rest.
Shirou heard-no felt Forest's voice echo in his head. He mused over it, before sending back,
"Depends on the twins and how the rest will take it. I'd rather not risk a confrontation which could otherwise be avoided."
He smiled and nodded his thanks when he heard her message about the revolver. Strangely enough, he was getting a bit attached to the gun, something which hasn't happened before.
Shirou then walked slowly towards the twins, having noticed Vanessa beckoning him earlier. It was a good opportunity to ask their opinion, and check on Isa's condition. The overly energetic girl had Hakuno trapped in a one-armed hug, bombarding the poor girl with random questions. To his amusement, he noticed Isa trying her very best to stop her sister, clearly embarrassed by her behavior.
"You know, if you squeezed Hakuno any tighter, you may actually hurt her. Then I'd have to defend you from her over-zealous Servant," he remarked dryly, though he could easily tell Hakuno wasn't in any danger except becoming over-flustered.
With a smirk, he turned away, before kneeling down to Isa's level.
"Hey there. Look at you, you look like you're going to die of embarrassment," he quipped, poking her forehead with a finger. In a softer voice so that Nessa couldn't hear, "I'm glad you're doing well."
-
The Don looked pissed, he was pissed as he listened to this no-name punk ramble about some man who came back from the dead and was killing off his old gang one after another which sounded too much like Ghost Rider's actions to him and he did not want Mephisto's hound on his ass.
"...God! Oh God! He's gonna get me. He's gonna get me" the punk was panicking like death was after his ass, which considering this guy that was after this punk made some sense.
The Don took a drag of his massive cigar, a drag that would have choked any other man and puffed a massive cloud in the face of the punk thus bringing his rambling to an end in the face of the smoke "Shut up Punk!" the Don barked at the coughing punk.
The Don sat up straight and his grey eyes bored into the punk's own to eyes "Now here is how things are going to go, I am going to set you up in a motel safe house and you are going to stay silent or" a massive arm shot forth from the shadows that concealed the Don's appearance, said arm was covered by expensive the sleeve of an expensive red pinstripe suit and the hand covered by a large white silk glove which grabbed the punk's head "I. Will. Kill. You. Myself." the Don punctuated each word by lifting the punk off the ground with ease as if the punk was weightless "Do you understand me?" The don asked the punk, who was now scared even more as he shook in uncontrolled fear.
"Y-y-yes s-s-sir!" the Punk grounded out, fearing for his life before the don set him back on his own two feet.
"Good" The Don stated as he released the punk from his grasp and signalled to a man in an expensive white suit "Get him out of my sight!". The Man in white nodded before tazing the punk and signalled to a pair of commonly dressed men, picked the punk up before leaving the room.
The Don signalled to the man in blue and a woman in a beautiful red dress, both of whom stepped into the light "O'Donnell. Scarlet. I want word of this punk's safe-house location to be common knowledge in the streets along with his old gangs name" the Don instructed to the blue man, O'Donnell, and the woman, Scarlet. "The Punk is a danger and I want him gone, when the man hunting the punk arrives at the safe-house have the boys take a break."
"What for boss?" O'Donnell asked the Don in a respectful tone, the Don grinned darkly from the shadows and crossed his fingers "I intend to see this hunter in person and see what I can expect from this newcomer" the Don replied honestly to O'Donnell's question
"With or without the girls, Joe?" Scarlet asked in calm and seductive tone, the Don noted the boredom in her eyes and smirked lightly from the shadows "With them of course, I've been meaning to go out for dinner and I'm certain the girls could do with some excitement"
"I'll tell the girls to get ready" Scarlet spoke in an eager voice before she exited the room in a hurry, O'Donnell's eyes following her as she walked "Go on O'Donnell, I'm sure you wife is excited and you will need to settle her down if she is too get anything done" the Don told O'Donnell, the man in blue nodded before leaving the room in a hurry to catch up with his wife.
"Things are getting interesting around here" The Don spoke to himself as he stood up from his massive chair before reaching over to a nearby rack to grab his massive black coat and his equally massive fedora as he donned both of them before stepping into the light "Very interesting indeed" he muttered as his took another drag from his cigar before puffing out a cloud of smoke.
-
Lawrence's trip through the rather seedier side of the nexus bore fruit. A prostitute mentioned something about an out of towner holed up in a motel downtown somewhere. The clues started coming together as he could hear the Redheaded Driver begin to grow eager. Oh, he was here alright.
Spill his blood devour his soul an eye for an eye revenge vengeance shoot him kill him- The mental voice crackled with a noise like napalm igniting, with an undercurrent of a sputtering engine.
'Patience. We'll find him soon enough.'
Soon.
The mental voice crackled with a noise like napalm igniting, with an undercurrent of a sputtering engine.
Soon was right; the gangbanger had decided to go to ground under the protection of a man known only as 'The Don.' Not such a big man without his crew was he? Lawrence remembered his face, that sneering sense of power the man had held in that clarifying moment of death as the bullets flew into Lawrence's body. This was it. After this, he'd hopefully never need to kill again, whatever he told his Geist - he was in the driver's seat, not him. This was his body, his choice.
---------------------------------------------
The Punk was growing antsy in his room. Was he coming? Maybe he'd lost him? Maybe he'd escaped? No, no, that was impossible. Santa Muerte would protect him though. She was with him, he could feel it. This Reaper Man wouldn't get him as well. And if he tried...
The Punk's arms cradled a Skorpion. The bastard that tried to break through that door would be filled with lead if the Don's guards didn't get to him first. It was a good gun - he'd used it many times before, and it had never failed him before. It wouldn't fail him now.
After the lights suddenly went out and the radio started crooning in an eerily distorted version of a Johnny Cash song however, that little bit of confidence went out the window.
----------------------------------------------
Lawrence had checked in for a couple hours, in a room close to where he'd parked his black Firebird. He'd figured out the room rather quickly, there were a few bored looking thugs hanging around close to it. Now was the time. Laying down on his bed, he unlocked the Gate to the power of the dead.
The Industrial Boneyard swept through the entire hotel, a few machines escaping his utter control, but those that did... he witnessed the drug deal going on five doors down, the tawdry love affairs of several couples, and there he was - armed, but that hadn't saved the others. The Redheaded Driver was visible as well in this sight peculiar to the dead, the Twilight of the world showing his true form - his iris's replaced with the reverse of NATO shells, his body wreathed in napalm and body seemingly consisting of parts of a car rearranged into a humanoid shape. Lawrence could smell the cordite on him from firefights and the Geists own likely death.
That wasn't important though. With a thought, Lawrence unlocked his target's door, killed his lights beyond repair, and turned on the radio to broadcast on a channel the Twilight knew well - they didn't call it suicide music for nothing. He dispelled the Boneyard afterwords, chambering his .45 and shoving it in his jacket pocket.
Time?
'Yeah, it's time.'
Lawrence noted the missing thugs and blessed his luck - must be on break. He'd need to move fast now. Throwing open the door with the .45 already in hand, he noticed as if in slow motion his killer raising his gun to shoot him again... only to not fire, as Lawrence willed the firing pin to break from another twist of the Key. It was tougher than he believed it would have been, but it worked. And that was enough for Lawrence as he twisted his second Key, his Geist roaring in approval at the action. The Curse of the Stigmata took hold - and blood sprayed out in a gory fashion as the Punk screamed in pain, feeling nails driven into his entire body, leaving him a writhing mess on the ground as he heard thousands of voices screaming into his ears.
"Just... just... kill me..."
Standing over his prostrate and begging killer, Lawrence raised his .45, leveled it straight between the eyes, and without a hint of emotion besides the Redheaded Driver's eager laughter, pulled the trigger.
Santa Muerte's blessings didn't defend from the already dead.
-
Inferno Cop woke up in a hospital, lying down on a comfortable bed while a nurse walked around his bed being a nurse and doing medical things.
The happenings of his last visit to a hospital still ingrained in his mind, his first thought was to throw himself out of bed and the window with a shout, which he did.
He fell down seven stories onto the ground, landing with a soft tap.
“Phew, that was close,” Inferno Cop told himself, looking up at the building in relief. He couldn't afford the medical bills, after all. He turned around, off to seek some crime or other that was bound to be happening in Jack Knife Edge Town, but instead saw something else entirely.
Giant cubes of Jell-O, with the occasional filling of human bones, trash and independent music CDs, surrounded him from all sides.
“Wh-what the hell is this?!” Inferno Cop asked himself, wondering if he was somehow in the future again.
“Inferno Cop,” one of the cubes said, its voice low and mellow. “We can’t let you leave the hospital before-”
“Whaaaaaat? You can talk?”
“You have to go back inside, Inferno Cop!” the cube insisted. It wobbled threateningly, signaling its attack.
“Fuxx that!” Inferno Cop said, and he pre-emptively fired his gun. A very convincing display of fire and explosions later, the cubes were all gone and Inferno Cop’s way was no longer barred. He made a run for it.
“Where the hell am I?” he asked himself while he ran, as it was obvious from the layout of the streets that he was no longer in Jack Knife Edge Town. He stopped only when he saw a familiar sign on the outside of a building.
A sign on which it was written: POLICE.
Outside of the ragged-looking building, there was a man behind a desk wearing a cop uniform and a real cool pair of aviators.
Inferno Cop didn't have many good experiences with normal police officers, as they were mostly the type to watch illegal anime and sometimes skirt on punishment for shoplifters because the crime ‘wasn't that serious or worth the paperwork.’
He realized however, that in recent events he either had to wait for someone to make a dynamic entrance and cause a huge amount of trouble for him, or he had to run into someone that would move things along for him so that his life could move forward. If he let the latter go with this little encounter and ran into the former, he might get caught in a trial, sent to hell or abducted by aliens again.
But forgetting all about those little facts, he also realised he was fairly hungry. Recently beating up a pregnant lady had really taken a lot out of him. He approached the police officer.
“Hey, do you know where the nearest bakery is?” He asked the cop, intent on finding himself some delicious, delicious black bread.
The silent cop’s Aviator’s gleamed in the streetlight ominously.
-
Axe Cop looked at the fiery person before him and frowned, pushing his eyebrows together. Unfortunately the action was invisible behind his glasses, leading to him appearing completely still to any passer-by. However, upon spotting the police hat on top of the man's head-skull-thing, Axe Cop nodded.
"There's one in the station. They built it that way so officers wouldn't have to walk to get their food."
He'd have to remember that when he got home. It was an ingenious idea, and whoever had designed the Nexus police station had known what he was doing. The bakery was there in the entrance, so anyone coming in could buy food. There were dozens of donuts steaming in the empty building, with no one to eat them. Best of all, even civilians could buy food, giving more revenue for the station. Maybe his bakery could stock candy canes and fruits and anti-gorilla specialized bananas.
Axe Cop scanned the stranger again.
"The food's free for staff," he added, prodding the sign on the desk.
-
"Ah, thanks," he said, and rushed into the building before the statuesque cop could say anything. He found the bakery easily enough, and seeing as no one was manning the cash register, he dropped the appropriate amount of money onto the counter and helped himself to a single loaf of black bread.
He felt absolutely awful, because even though he had executed it in a way that let no harm happen to anyone, he was still shoplifting, which was terrible. So. absolutely. terrible. And yet, he had to eat some of that bread.
He shoved the entire thing into his mouth.
"DELICIOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUS," he screamed, loud enough for the entire building to shake and its foundations to growl in protest.
He stepped back outside the police station, where the cop was still sitting. His words 'free for staff' still rung inside his head, and the 'TRYOUTS' sign was still sitting where it was before. Any reservation against police officers was gone, and their reasons long forgotten.
Inferno Cop knew what he had to do.
"I'm here for the tryouts," Inferno Cop said, determined more to stay close to such delicious food than do his profession.
-
The Don watched the motel from a nearby alley, he had given the girls each an unlimited card, a curfew of 3:30 AM and his personal limousine to have a night on the town at his expense. He took a drag from his cigar as he began a slow but steady stroll towards the Motel puffing cigar smoke as he walked, his luxurious walking stick tapping on the ground as he drew near.
TAP TAP TAP
The Motel owner peered out his window but upon seeing the Don slowly approaching at a leisurely pace, the man closed the curtains and hid himself away from sight. The Don was here and he meant business, everyone feared the Don for good reason.
TAP TAP TAP
The Don blew out a thick cloud of smoke as he walked, passing through the smoke as he walked unfazed by it as he went on his way and towards the room in which the punk had been holed up in. Too bad the punks life wasn't worth shit in his city, the punk was a liability and liabilities were dealt with all in the same way just like the old police force had been.
TAP TAP BANG TAP
The Punk had met his end, he knew this wasn't Ghost rider in the least bit but that didn't stop the Don at all in his approach as he blew out a cloud of smoke. He looked at the closed door in front of him, now he would break the door down as if it were soaking wet cardboard but he was here for business not a beating this guy into the ground and he raised his hand to the door and knocked.
THUNK THUNK THUNK
-
Axe Cop nodded.
"You can join, but you need to have previous experience fighting dinosaurs or zombies, or be able to transform into a different form. Or have a name that ends with Cop."
-
THUNK THUNK THUNK
'Oh, oh SHIT!'
Someone had obviously spotted him. A big someone. Doing all this spook stuff had also tired him the hell out plasm wise - he'd need a day or two before he could use the curse again without coughing up an absurd amount of blood and being bedridden for a while. That hadn't been a fun day for Lawrence. This day was likely going to be worse. The Redheaded Driver was busy shredding the ghost of the dead gangster to oblivion, and the spectral screaming was not a fun thing to listen to. It wasn't a pretty sight either.
Cautiously advancing to the door, .45 still in his hand, Lawrence opened it tentatively. There was lots of things he was expecting on the other side of the door - an FBI task force after him for being a serial killer lately, the manager with a sawed off, a Kerberos that wished to claim the dead man's now destroyed soul for punishment - but a very tall man in a massive three piece suit and matching fedora and classy walking stick wasn't in the cards.
"Errrrrr.... can I help you?"
-
"Uh, hrm," Inferno Cop reeled a bit. He had run away from dinosaurs before, and he had been overwhelmed by zombies before, and he used to be able to turn into a racecar. Somehow, the two first didn't really qualify as fighting, and the last one he couldn't even do anymore.
And his name didn't end with Cop, it was just Cop! He couldn't get in with such a fact against him.
The black bread beckoned to him, however. He could hear it calling to him, in the voice of an old friend and sidekick.
So, Inferno Cop decided to lie about his name.
"Haha! Well today is my lucky day, I happen to be called InfernoCop!" he bluffed, and if he had any sweat pores left in his face he'd be soaking wet.
He just had to hope the cop in front of him believed him.
-
"That is a bit far fetched" A voice spoke from a nearby tree, Kusagari was sprawled out in the tree with his trusted Longarm held in his hand "Would fighting off a gang numbering in the hundreds infesting my old home city, fighting an army of ninjas, a guy that wouldn't stay dead and the man who killed off my entire clan count instead?" Kusagari asked lightly, though his eyes narrowed slightly.
This officer was a little off but not much, if he was anywhere near as dedicated as Sheriff Judd had been in his run as 42 years of lawmaking in Caldera City then he would not have to worry much.
==========================
"Errrrrr.... can I help you?"
"In a sense" The Don spoke calmly, he noted the slight look of panic on the kid's face "I see you got your target" he stated revealing his identity as the DEon to the Kid.
"From what I can see you are good at dealing with problems and as a man of the darker side of society, I have plenty of problems that I can't dirty my hands to deal with but you on the other hand could do that for me" The Don said calmly before indicating with his cigar to the kid's .45 pistol "You'll need something much bigger if you intend to shoot me, something closer to a tank round than what you've got in that peashooter"
"Now before you go trying to talk your way out of this, I got a job for and it pays high" The Don spoke just as calmly as before "As to how high? Well for dealing with this liability, Twenty Grand right off the bat" He said as he pulled out and dropped a thick package of unmarked hundred, fifty, and twenty dollar bills on the nearby bed.
"So what do you say?" The Don stated as he puffed out a could of smoke, blowing out away from the kid to be polite to a possible future employee
-
"Hmmmmm."
Axe Cop could tell if someone was lying. There was a built in detector in his spleenomicus that did the job perfectly. And the person in front of him was definitely making him sweat, a sure sign that he was a liar. Then again, it could be because Inferno Cop's head was on fire. Yeah, it was probably just that.
"Okay," he decided. "You're in. I'm Axe Cop."
Axe Cop flipped up his axe. It swung upward, making several flips through the air before Axe Cop caught it with one hand and rested it on his shoulders. He extended his other hand towards Inferno Cop.
"Let's go," he said, and finally allowed himself to smile. "Grab some bread and pack your lunch. We've got bad guys to kill."
Then he looked at the new guy who'd been hiding behind a tree. He didn't look like much, but... memories of a certain ninja sprung to mind. If this guy had been fighting people like that, then he couldn't be weak.
"You come too. You can be an intern until you get to fight your first dinosaur."
-
"Very well then" Kusagari said calmly as he leaped down from the tree and holstered his trusted Longarm in its holster, before following the officer "Do you know where I might find the shooting range? I feel the need to ensure my skills do not get rusty" Kusagari asked calmly.
-
"Now before you go trying to talk your way out of this, I got a job for you and it pays high" The Don spoke just as calmly as before "As to how high? Well for dealing with this liability, Twenty Grand right off the bat" He said as he pulled out and dropped a thick package of unmarked hundred, fifty, and twenty dollar bills on the nearby bed.
Lawrence had just been about to do that - before the bills hit the blood splattered bedspread. Now that made him stop. Twenty thousand dollars. That, for someone who'd barely qualified to be an automotive mechanic, was a lot of money. But he could see the color of it in the Twilight, along with the massive man in front of him. A few ghosts were dragging at his ankles snarling, but they were fading away - the man's willpower was simply too much for them to try to break through. This man wasn't someone to screw with. He'd ordered men killed, homes wrecked, lives ruined, all for the spiritually blood stained money.
"So what do you say?" The Don stated as he puffed out a could of smoke, blowing out away from the kid to be polite to a possible future employee
The Redheaded Driver knew what he wanted.
Money for Blood. Just what we want. Just what we need. Don't need money, just want them dead...
'Hush.'
Lawrence was finding it hard to say no, though it'd be hard to say why. Maybe the pull of violence from his geist, or the fact the man was offering him cash up front for this.
"Well... it depends. I've only killed my ow- my friends' killers. I... I'd need to think about it. It feels sorta... wrong to kill, and get money for it."
Lawrence looked down at his own splattered surplus boots and shrugged noncommittally. This man in front of him felt very dangerous and for that matter, towered over his own form in bulk and height.
"Maybe if I was killing other killers, but... otherwise I don't think I could do it. I'm sorry."
-
Lawrence looked down at his own splattered surplus boots and shrugged noncommittally. This man in front of him felt very dangerous and for that matter, towered over his own form in bulk and height.
"Maybe if I was killing other killers, but... otherwise I don't think I could do it. I'm sorry."
"I can accept that kid, I may not look like it but even I got morals" The Don smiled lightly, the thought of when the holidays came around and how he'd support the many orphanages in the city for the sake of all the kids he left parentless "I don't kill kids, it isn't right you know? And I don't deal in slavery either, enither of them sit well with me at all"
"I am willing to let you only go after those outside of my control, the wild ones that kill without regard or orders. They are loose ends that are slowly becoming too dangerous and hot to hold on to." The Don reached into his side pocket and pulled out a card, he flipped the card on the package of money "If you change your mind or are in need of more money, call me and ask for Mister Fixit"
The Don exited the room without looking back at the Kid, his walking stick tapping on the ground as he walked away puffing out smoke as he went.
TAP TAP TAP
-
Lawrence watched Mr. Fixit go before turning to the money and the card. He hesitated before taking both and sprinting away from the motel to his Firebird and driving away, his eyes adjusting once again to the lights of the city.
Will you do them? His loose ends? Kill the killers?
'If it puts the dead to rest? Maybe. But I'd rather try to avoid that.'
It was a side effect, Lawrence had realized, of his Geist's destruction of the souls of those gangbangers he'd offed. He'd once just screamed constantly 'KILL' until Lawrence had had enough, tracked down the first gangbanger that'd shot and killed him just to make the voice STOP, and then splattered the mans brains all over the wall with the .45 the Geist had shown to him when the spirit hadn't. With this one though, it seemed the Geist had fully regained a semblance of sanity. From what little he'd been able to tell about the Redheaded Driver, he'd probably died in the same car and in a similar way to Lawrence had. If that was the case, no wonder he'd been screaming that. It'd be like seeing himself get murdered.
Keep the card. Your mind will change.
With CCR blasting through the car's stereo, Lawrence drove on, looking for a place to crash that wasn't a fucking motel. Not tonight. He certainly wouldn't be sleeping in another motel tonight.
-
Axe Cop paused, just about to march in a random direction and look for bad guys to kill.
"In the back," he said, going by memory. "Try not to break anything."
He took a look at the intern's gun- er, guns.
He raised another unseen eyebrow. "Actually, I might as well come. Inferno Cop, you too. It's time to see who's the Gun Master."
Axe Cop punctuated said words by looping his axe through his belt, turning around, and turning back around with a peculiar weapon in his hands, looking something like an bunch of green bananas tied together with a trigger on one end. Actually, it was a bunch of green bananas with a trigger stuck to the end.
-
Inferno Cop, who was busy packing his lunch and all his pockets full of bread, reacted when he heard his name. He looked at Axe Cop, and was momentarily taken by the sight of the Banana Gun. It was beautiful, like an orchestra of death raining down on shoplifters.
He felt the need to pull out and show off his own firearm as well, but as it turns out his gun was already drawn, in his hand and had been pointing in front of him this entire time.
As it had for the last two hours, barring the time he was a racecar. It might be a bad habit, he reflected, though didn't act on it.
"A gun range, huh," he said, trying to look cool in front of his new friends. "I'm game. I'll show you just how I reached the top of the ICPD back home!"
He started making his way to the shooting range, but stopped somewhere a little before the middle. He turned to the intern.
"Wait, you..." he asked, the air around him growing tenser. "Who're you?"
Indeed, the intern hadn't introduced himself, something meal-packing had blinded Inferno Cop from until that very moment. That, and he wasn't used to asking people for their names. They usually introduced themselves in an overblown fashion, like from the top of large buildings, while exiting sarcophagi or while on fire.
Maybe he had just misplaced his fireproof suit or forgot about introducing himself before leaving the tree, Inferno Cop mused.
-
"Kusagari" He said as he entered the firing range and slowly removed his guns to place them on the table, placing them on the table one after the other.
His Trusted .357 Longarm Long-Barrel Heavy Revolver
His Tararo .460 Long-Barrel Magnum Revolver
His two Barracuda .45 Auto Pistols
His Tataro Model 44 Twin-Barrel Shotgun
His KH-570 Littlejohn 'Johnnygun' Machine Gun
His 42-SD Sidewinder Repeater Rifle
Kusagari began to clean each of the seven weapons, removing the grime and dirt from the guns. The Patterns embedded in the frame of the guns began to reappear as more dirt and grime was removed, when the first weapon was cleaned he moved on to the next while caring for the weapons tenderly as if they were as fragile as glass.
-
"Kusagari's pretty Japanesy," Axe Cop said as he entered the gun range and started fiddling with the control panel for the targets. He glanced at his newest recruit fiddling with an astonishing number of guns, most of which looked heavily modified. "And it looks like you know your way around an armory. I'll just call you Gun Cop for now. Anyway, try this one."
Axe Cop must have done something to the mechanism, because human sized targets started sliding back and forth on the opposite side of the room with speed that would be difficult to follow with the eyes of an ordinary human.
"Go ahead," he gestured. "I can whip up new targets whenever we need them with the Target Machine Maker Thingy, so don't worry about destroying anything."
-
"It is the name of..." he paused, remembering his home before the slaughter "It was the name of my clan, I lost my name after being banished and so as the last of the Kusagari Clan, I am Kusagari"
He picked up the longarm and walked calmly walked up to the range, he took up a stance and raised one arm up. He slowed his breathing remembering all Jian had taught him and picked his targets, in a split second he fired repeatedly with each shot landing a lethal blow to either the chest, the head or an artery.
"That was a skill taught by my clan, it is an advancement of the classic quick draw technique combined with the traditional Iaido technique" Kusagari returned to the table to finish cleaning the other guns "My teacher taught me that ever shot must count in a fight, a wasted shot could mean death to the wielder and victory to the foe"
-
"Not bad, Gun Cop!" Inferno Cop stepped up to the range, ready to show off his own skills. A new set of targets started rolling in from the sides, and he wasted no time.
He shot all of his revolver's bullets at once in the same direction, and everything in front of him was engulfed in poorly-animated fire and explosions. All the targets were in pieces and on fire, and there were none of them left in a singe piece.
Despite there being more targets than bullets in his gun.
"Hrm, a bit hard to judge accuracy like that," he mumbled. He turned to face Axe Cop. "Your turn, Axe Cop. Let's see your skills!"
But more than anything, Inferno Cop wanted to see the banana gun in action.
-
Sakura blinked and after a second turned to Forest understanding the situation. "well Rider is going with you guys back to the apartment, so signal will get traced there. If you really want the number of my phone have Rider ask for it when she calls him." Sakura explained giving a passive solution to the issue.
-
"Okay," Axe Cop hefted the green banana gun, lining up the sights and checking to make sure none of the bananas had ripened. This was important. A yellow banana gun is next to useless. "Stand back, people. The GBG is one of the most effective crime fighting tools out there. Wouldn't want to get you caught in the blast radius."
A cluster of targets showed up, moving too fast for the human eye to see as anything other than blurs. Axe Cop was unperturbed by this. He raised his gun and squeezed the trigger in one motion.
JOO! JOO! JOO! JOO! JOO!
The bananas shot out of their peels, hitting the targets with uncanny precision. Where an ordinary banana would've simply splattered, the green bananas shot through, bouncing off the walls with their elasticity and hitting the other targets on the ricochet, knocking them down as well. The bananas bounced between the walls, floor, and targets several more times before falling to the ground, finally spent. Two dozen targets lay ruined around them.
Axe Cop scratched his head. "Thinking back, that's not really fair, is it? I'm not particularly awesome when it comes to shooting, so most of the time I end up either end up chopping the bad guy's head off or using a special weapon. That's why this gun is so good. If some kind of Gun Master got his hands on it, they'd be able to do some crazy stuff."
-
"The Only weapons I use are the ones used by my former clan" Kusagari stated calmly as he continued to clean the guns, he was almost done as he was partially through cleaning the Johnnygun "I have no desire to add upon my existing arsenal"
=========================
A Blonde haired woman walked along a busy avenue, the woman wore a dark blood red military-like uniform with a red and black shield shaped patch that read "We Are On A Mission From God" in one corner with a yellow outline of a rook chess piece in another. The Blonde's uniform seemed to define her appearance very clearly given the size of her chest and if she had not been wearing her uniform, the locals would've assumed her to be a fashion model with her elegantly curved hourglass figure.
She looked up at the sign in front of her
NEXUS CITY OUTER LIMITS
"Well finally" the woman growled in a frustrated manner "Now I just need to make it into the bloody city without raising suspicions, so no flying for me". She pulled out what looked to be a packet of....tomato juice? out of nowhere and popped in a straw, she quickly drained the packet and stuffed it in a nearby empty coffee cup "Just a little bit more and civilization" the woman spoke in a semi-excited, semi-exasperated tone before continuing her trek into the city.
Had anyone bothered to investigate the packet she stuffed in the cup, they would have discovered that it contained not Tomato Juice but A+ Blood.
-
"I'd use my skills with it, but I can't let go of my gun," Inferno Cop stated, putting a lot of effort into opening his hand. He tried lowering his arm too, but it just wouldn't happen.
Which was a shame, because he would have loved to use the banana gun. His off-hand just wasn't as good at shooting as his dominant hand was, though.
"Anyway, what now?" he asked loudly, hoping someone would answer him. He never was very good at sitting still.
-
Rider smiled at Rin's response, happy that she had confirmed that Kiyoshi would be in safe hands. And, also, somewhat amused by her apparent intentions to try to push Kiyoshi into magecraft lessons.
Yeah, that's just like Rin, she thought.
For all she pretended otherwise, Rin was a very warm-hearted person. Rider knew she could be trusted to protect Kiyoshi. At the same time, though, she was as stubborn as a mule, just like her little sister. Even after many years of trying, the Rin from her universe was still unwilling to accept that Kiyoshi, like his father, simply did not care about the fundamental principles of magecraft.
“Don’t bother trying, Rin. The version of you from my world has been trying to interest him for about 8 years now without success. As far as he is concerned the only use of magic aside from his swords and reinforcement is to smack bad guys with shadow tentacles. If you could teach him how to use jewels better that might be worth it, though. Just show him a big explosion first, that’ll get his interest”, Rider said, teasing the boy slightly.
"Hey", replied Kiyoshi. "I just don't care about all that rubbish about reaching Akasha, or all the boring theory stuff. I just want to protect people and stop bad guys."
As he finished, Sakura walked over to him and spoke, replying to Rider's earlier question.
"As long as you call from inside the apartment my phone will give me a GPS fix on the place, it's an emergency feature built into all association equipment", she said, taking Kiyoshi's hand.
"I promise Rider, nothing will happen to my little brother while he's with me." she continued, before withdrawing the jeweled sword from her coat.
Kiyoshi smiled brightly at the show of affection from his new-found sister. He was excited to meet all these new family members, as well as different versions of the ones he already knew.
Rider, meanwhile, noted her possession of the sword that Rin had spent so much time and money (mostly her sister's...) recreating, and felt reassured. She knew all-too-well the power of that sword. It had been what Rin had used to defeat Sakura in the cavern. Someone who possessed that sword and could use its full power would be very difficult to defeat.
Still, Rider was somewhat concerned about the tracing. None of them had Sakura's number, after all, so how would they call her?
Kiyoshi, however, was not so good at forward planning. He was just eager to get moving, to rescue his other sister as soon as he possibly could. He prepared to speak up, suggesting they get going. But, before he could, Forest raised the same issue that Rider had been wondering about.
"We would need a number to call to make that work and you'll need a ride to get there. Its a bit of a walk", she said.
"well Rider is going with you guys back to the apartment, so signal will get traced there. If you really want the number of my phone have Rider ask for it when she calls him", Sakura responded.
Momentarily, Rider was confused at how they would trace her, but then she realised.
Ah, I see, she means when I call Satoshi.
Desperate to get going, Kiyoshi spoke up.
“Thank you, Sakura-nee”, he said. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you or Taiga, either".
Kiyoshi felt happy at the acknowledgement Sakura gave him. He loved his family dearly, and he missed them all. Finding new family in this alternate universe helped soothe him somewhat.
He turned to Rider. "OK, Aunty Rin, can we go now? The longer we wait the more danger our little sister is in”.
Rider thought for a moment. She was still a little worried about the second issue Forest had raised, about transportation. However, she was sure Sakura would have a solution to that, and if not they could always call a taxi or something. So, there was no reason for her to hold Kiyoshi back any further.
However, she also knew she would probably not be there when he returned, and she was unsure when she would be able to get back. So, she would have to make sure he was in good hands. Mostly, she thought he would be fine. Rin was around, and had been put in charge. As irresponsible as she was capable of being when it came to experiments, she was still basically a good mother, and would protect Kiyoshi.
There was, however, still one outstanding issue. As she looked towards Isa, who had now been joined by a similar-looking girl who was presumably her sister, she noticed Shirou approaching them. He was the one person she was afraid of being around Kiyoshi. She doubted even he would callously murder a child, but he could certainly lead Kiyoshi down a very bad path. Further, even knowing the truth about him would hurt Kiyoshi immensely. He was not very good at recognising the difference between his real family and alternate versions of them, and in this particular case that could backfire quite badly.
"Yeah, Kiyoshi, you can go", she said.
Then, she walked up to him and embraced him.
"I probably won't be there when you get back, I have to deal with Satoshi. Until I return, please listen to Rin and, remember...", she said, turning and pointing towards Shirou, "he’s not your father, no matter what he looks like. Make sure you listen to Aunty Rin, Sakura or even Archer, not to him. He'll only lead you down a bad path, Kiyo.”
Then, she let go.
"See you later, Kiyo. And, please stay safe", she said.
"I will, Aunty Rider. Sakura-nee will help protect me", he replied.
Then, with that, he turned to Sakura.
"OK, let's go! We have to find Taiga as soon as we can, before she gets hurt", he said.
He started to walk off, holding Sakura's hand. As he did so, he turned to Rin one last time.
"Bye Aunty Rin, I'll see you later", he said as the two walked off into the distance.
Rider looked at them depart. She still felt a little worried about leaving Kiyoshi alone for such a long period, but she knew he was in good hands. Sakura and Rin both seemed to care for him, and would not let him come to any harm.
With them gone, Rider was finally able to focus on other things. In particular, she noticed with some amusement Isa's sister harrassing Hakuno, asking her many questions. Rider herself was somewhat interested in Hakuno. She seemed to be a master in a Grail War, but Rider knew there were no wars after the one she competed in. Still, she could ask later.
She also noticed Shuya walking up to Forest, and asking her how they would get to the apartment, since it was some distance away, seemingly somewhat worried about having to walk.
Rider, however, wasn't bothered. She knew she could travel any distance quickly and without tiring. Plus, she recalled that Forest had several cars.
"Well, Shuya, we travelled in Forest's car before. But, me, the Archers and Lancer can all travel on foot faster than any vehicle, and we can carry at least one person each. I think that should be sufficient".
-
Grinning at the redhead, Forest placed her hands on her hips and said, "Well, truthfully it doesn't work in all accounts and sometimes its not warrant that strong of a response, but they were being utter wankers. In other responses punching works just as nicely."
Mille nodded, her expression akin to that of a keen pupil taking in her teacher's every word with profound seriousness. "I'll keep that in mind." Mille frowned a little as she thought to herself. Now then, how to deliver the maximum amount of punishment without rupturing my victim's organs? I can fine tune my Reinforcement so that I don't make my punches too strong, but the question is, how do I refine that without risking killing my target? I need a proper test subject....
Finn didn't entirely understand why, but he couldn't help but wince again.
***
"Looks like you may have competition."
Finn found himself meeting the darkened bowman's steely eyes, and, curious, turned to see his "competition." From what Finn could tell, he seemed somewhat distant, but the guy seemed decent enough. The young freelancer turned back to the corrupted Archer.
"Well, whoever she ends up with is her choice after all- as long as she's happy, that's all that matters."
Mille rolled her eyes. "Quitter," she muttered under her breath.
***
Vanessa looked at Hakuno with a curious smile.
"You're pretty good looking miss..." She marked a pause, looking to her sister.
"Her name is Hakuno," replied her twin. Isabella raised a hand before Vanessa could speak. "She's a nice person so show some res-..."
But it was never in her sister's plan to listen to Isa, already giving Hakuno the handshake.
"Nice to meet you. You can call me Nessa, Haku-chan."
"Haku-chan" blinked at the sudden rush of words. She put on a smile and returned Isa's handshake. Why do I keep attracting girls instead of guys? Before Hakuno could say a word though, she found Nessa's arm around her shoulder, along with a barrage of questions.
"So, tell me, what do you like? You look japanese. You're japanese, right? What's your favorite music band? Do you enjoy cosplaying? Do you have a boyfriend? A girlfriend maybe? Do you know a lot about magecraft? How did you get there? How did you meet this guy with white hair? How old are you by the way? What are your hobbies..?"
Hakuno blinked yet again. It took her brain quite a bit to process all the questions that were hurled at her. While Hakuno was processing, Ruby perked up at the mention of "boyfriend" and floated up from Hakuno's head.
"Oh, Haku-chan's boyfriend?" Ruby wiggled in Archer's general direction. "She's totally dating that guy over there~"
Hakuno's voice caught in her throat, her cheeks quickly flushing.
Archer, in the meanwhile, froze the moment he heard Ruby's little declaration. The tips of his ears turned red as he turned towards his Master and her newfound companions. "We're Master and Servant. We're... well, it's not like... we're not..." The more he tried to defend himself, the more he found his responses being no more than useless sputtering, and his face began to flush more and more until he and Hakuno seemed to match quite well in that respect. He shut his mouth in defeat.
Then Shirou seemed to notice Isa's embarrassment and came over. Archer's flush started to fade, and his eyes narrowed. His body began to tense, but Hakuno gave him an imploring look. He sighed. I hope you know what you're doing, he said via their link. He stopped beyond getting tense, but he continued to watch his younger alternate self with a wary gaze.
Admittedly, Hakuno wasn't entirely comfortable with Shirou being there herself, since he'd tried to kill her, but he certainly hadn't been the first, and she'd forgiven others who had done the same, so she was willing to give him a chance.
"You know, if you squeezed Hakuno any tighter, you may actually hurt her. Then I'd have to defend you from her over-zealous Servant," he remarked dryly, though he could easily tell Hakuno wasn't in any danger except becoming over-flustered.
"The only one I'd worry about defending in that respect is yourself," Archer replied equally dryly. Hakuno glared at him, which caused him to put up his hands in supplication.
To Hakuno's relief, Shirou turned to Isa.
"Hey there. Look at you, you look like you're going to die of embarrassment," he quipped, poking her forehead with a finger. In a softer voice so that Nessa couldn't hear, "I'm glad you're doing well."
Hakuno turned back to Nessa in the meantime, attempting to answer what few questions she'd managed to process. "Well... I am Japanese... as far as I know. And I'm 17... as far as I know. I'm also don't know much about magecraft, though I think Rin wants to teach me based off of those creepy looks she keeps giving me."
Archer chuckled, ignoring the glare that Rin was directing at his broad back in response.
***
Rin was relieved that the corrupted Archer was standing again. He was even messing around with people's heads again. She noted that his voice was still a bit higher pitched than normal, but that was only temporary.
Before she could walk over to check on him, Rider caught her attention once again.
“Don’t bother trying, Rin. The version of you from my world has been trying to interest him for about 8 years now without success. As far as he is concerned the only use of magic aside from his swords and reinforcement is to smack bad guys with shadow tentacles. If you could teach him how to use jewels better that might be worth it, though. Just show him a big explosion first, that’ll get his interest.”
Before Rin could answer, her nephew piped up in response.
"Hey! I just don't care about all that rubbish about reaching Akasha, or all the boring theory stuff. I just want to protect people and stop bad guys."
Rin made a mental note to start working on him as soon as possible. However, it would have to wait, possibly for quite some time.
"Well, like I said, you're lucky this time. I have higher priorities in the magical education department at the moment." Higher priorities like keeping Garrison-chan in line and educating Kishinami-chan, Rin thought to herself. "But don't expect any mercy once I do get to you~"
Rin then watched as Kiyoshi went off with "Sakura" as she was apparently called (she made a mental note to name her daughter something else, something far less confusing). She still didn't trust her, nor did she entirely trust her nephew to be safe under not-Sakura's care, but as far as she saw, she had little choice but to let him go with her. She gave her "daugher" a look, making it clear she wouldn't be pleased if any harm came to her nephew, before walking back over to the corrupted Archer's side. For now, all she could do was go back to the apartments. Besides, she wanted to have some time alone with her mysterious new companion. She was rather curious about him.... in more ways than one.
-
Forest chuckled at the serious way that Millie was considering her advice. Now then, how to deliver the maximum amount of punishment without rupturing my victim's organs? I can fine tune my Reinforcement so that I don't make my punches too strong, but the question is, how do I refine that without risking killing my target? I need a proper test subject.... That did make her smile as the redhead looked at her brother. She reached out, placed a hand on Millie's shoulder and said, "Don't go beating up on your brother, there's Team Asshole who deserves a whole host of punishment to make them toe the line."
She blinked at Sakura and Rider's plan. She frowned and asked, "Wouldn't it just be easier to . . ." She sighed shook her head and said, "You all just do whatever you want to."
******
Lancer frowned at Rider's words about automatically amusing that he'd carry someone. Not he wouldn't mind carrying Millie, but he had his pride. "I'm not a bloody carthorse woman," he said with a scowl, folding his arms across his chest.
Then to make matters worse, that corrupted bastard moved towards Rin - he did take a little bit of glee at the stiff way he was moving. The wanker smiled and said, "Well, I'll carry Rin."
"Of course you will," Lancer said with a snort, "Doesn't Rin get a vote in this?"
Archer shrugged and said, "I've been doing it all night, why change a good thing?"
Forest rolled her eyes and said, "Okay, Finn, since you drove here, you'll drive one group back and I'll drive the other. Lancer, you know the way back if you want to lead Rider, Archer, and The Other Archer With A . . . Condition."
"Condition?" Archer asked, raising his eyebrows at the blond.
Forest grinned and said, "Well, I'm trying to be polite."
******
It was a stronghold. Four stories high with a full basement, it was far too large for the one vampire who existed there. As she had promised there were lots of guest rooms and the fourth floor was a dedicated dormitory. She showed the group the highlights, where the nearest loos were and bedrooms they could stay in. And where Lancer's room was with the warning that he had no problem walking around naked.
She was about to show the group the kitchen when she smelled something odd.
She told the group to wait and ran to the kitchen, only to discover the mess awaiting her. Her mouth dropped open and she cried out, "Oh bloody hell!"
-
Doomrider was bored. He'd tried to get into the castle, but some assholes who didn't like cocaine had shoo'd him away. He'd needed to do an entire bag of cocaine to get over the bummer the party castel that wasn't a party castle had been.
Luckily for him he spotted something crusing around town in his human form - a sign at the police station saying tryouts. Taking a seat and twiddling his (now human) thumbs, he waited for the boss.
It'd be fun to be on the other side of the strip search for once.
-
Shuya turned to Rider when he heard her. The half-demon gave her the broad smile. "Since you propose yourself then, I won't refuse." With a hand gesture he invited her to pick him up. He was joking, but whatever to make him forget about the gore he was covered with...
Forest's words about beating Team Asshole some more didn't go unnoticed. Shuya faced Lancer and gave him a bemused look. "You've been living with someone like this? How desesperate were you, really?"
----
Nessa looked extremely pleased with Ruby's intervention. And even more when Archer started talking. Her mischievous grin widened and she nodded slowly. "Guess I get the rough idea." Her gaze fell Master and Servant, longly did she stare, but she didn't say more about it. She still had the face of someone winning the lottery. Surely, it wouldn't end so easily.
Then Shirou approached and expressed concern about Hakuno's wellfare. The older twin simply shrugged. "That's how girls get closer, but I wouldn't expect a guy to understand." To which Isabella answered. "No, that's only how you act with others." If Nessa heard these words, she didn't seem to notice. Instead she looked at the Kaleidostick. "So, are you a mystic code? Never heard of self aware items. And even less about some able to talk. Who created you?"
On the side, Isabella faced Shirou. "You would understand if you lived with her." She answered to his teasing with a pouting face. His next words touched her and she became silent for an instant. Her eyes searched for the pendant she left him but she didn't saw it around his neck. Did it mean he wouldn't rethink his way of living? Or was there something weird in the way she formulated it? Still, there was something different right now. He clearly had a softer expression.
"You have my thanks. And twice as much for bringing my sister with you. She's a handful at times, but I'm happy she's safe." Her free hand reached for his own with hesitation. "Would you come along? I would like to discuss about something."
Nessa who had been keeping an eye on them, brought her face close to her sister. "Can't refuse a maiden's request, dude.," she insisted.
Isa rolled her eyes as Nessa started laughing.
----
The twins and the hybrid eventually reached Forest's place. They followed the vampire inside, showing different levels of interest. First reaction coming from Nessa was to pull her sister. "Come with me." Isa sighed, but eventually gave in. "You don't need to yank me so hard.". Shuya growled and turned to those present. "What is it with girls always going to the bathroom together?"
----
Ruu was sitting in the middle of the room, a neutral face observing the vampire who just arrived. The cause of the catastrophe raised an open hand casually as if to welcome Forest. "You were late so Ruu had to prepare the meal." Then, he let out a sneeze, sending some floor flying around.
-
"Now?" Axe Cop paused. "We wait for bad guys to show up, and then we go chop their heads off. Usually something would happen around now. Maybe a phone call from someone saying their pizza was stolen, or a bunch of aliens deciding to invade."
He waited a minute. Nope, nothing.
"Maybe we need to do back stories," he ventured. "Those are usually saved for after the first bad guy, but this city is a bit weird, so schedule is probably a bit messed up. Gun Cop, we already had your tell yours, so Inferno Cop, I think it's only fair that you go nex-"
Axe Cop stopped. Not for a lack of words or a sudden brilliant idea to create the world's largest trampoline. No, he paused because he smelled something in the air that he hadn't smelt in a long, long time.
Cocaine.
"Here it is, boys," he whispered. "I'm not sure if it's bad guy I'm smelling, but it's something. Be on guard."
He marched out to the front of the building, storing the half spent banana gun in his mus- pocket as he did so. The axe was still looped through his belt, and his bristles were still as bristly as ever.
The guy sitting at the Tryout desk looked like bad news with a capital eleven. He smelled like the sight of a baby robbing a bank with nothing but a giant lollipop. His grin reminded Axe Cop of the terror one feels when their phone is at 4% battery and they just realized that they forgot their charger at home.
Axe Cop walked to the desk and sat down in the chair, sitting across from the crazy guy there.
He paused again to collect his wits and find the perfect one liner.
"Do you know martial arts?"
-
"...I know Cocaine Fu."
Doomrider shifted in his seat to look the man right in the Aviators. "And I have a bike. That can fly."
-
Shirou sighed.
Whilst he would normally refuse, Rider would have left to find Satoshi almost immediately after they arrived. Besides an overprotective Archer, there wasn't really any risk of a fight erupting if he did go. And he would have a chance to scope out the area. He carefully weighed out the pros and cons of going, before finally making his decision.
"You lot really want me to come to Forest's house huh? Alright. I'll come along just for tonight. It's far too late to continue my patrols anyway..." he said. He frowned as he noticed Isa looking at him, almost as if searching for something, but didn't remark on it.
He was a bit surprised when she began reaching for him. He looked at her hand questioningly, but let her take his anyway.
"I won't be staying long though."
-
Lancer shrugged at Shuya and replied, "Back in my day it was for protection. One girl ducks behind a rock to do her business and the other takes watch so some brigand doesn't come and claim them."
Then he grinned and said, "I'm not like that with the Landlady. Don't get me wrong, I'd bed her in an instant if she wanted it, but . . ." He shrugged, not knowing how to put into words the joy he had when he had found someone that spoke his native tongue and was raised in a culture pretty much identical to his. No one in that Holy Grail War got him. Rin had a good inkling, but Rin was a clever girl and Good People. The boy and the Bowman, apparently the same person but at different stages of their lives, hadn't. In fact the Bowman had even mocked him for it because Archer was an asshole.
He eyed the half demon and said, "Imagine you've been dead for over a thousand years and were brought back for one last glorious battle. Then some wanker steals the chance for you to have that one last battle and no one else understands why you want a fight like that. In fact a few assholes even mock you for your conventions. You die protecting your spoils. Then you're brought back, for real, in this fucked up world where people are rather lacking. You don't fit and you find yourself feeling a bit down. Next thing you know you run into a woman who's voice sounds like yours, speaks your language, and understands the need to fight. Then wonder beyond wonder, she makes sure that you can in a way that'll make sense to all of these other people who think you're bloodthirsty and crazed. Wouldn't you pledge yourself to her?"
******
Forest looked at the disaster that had once been her kitchen which had completely killed her unreasonable elation that Emiya Shirou had came back with them. Nothing here was edible and smelled like hot sick ass shoved in a coffin. The faerie blood she ingested threatened for a moment to come back up, however she swallowed her gorge down and eyed the Familiar.
"Well, thank you Ruu, but you didn't need to do that," she said, trying to force a smile on her face.
******
The blackened Servant looked at Rin and asked, "Have you picked a room yet? Or do you want to look around?"
He was amused that the twins had managed to talk that idiot into coming with them. Knowing he made that potential version of himself uncomfortable- and feeling a thrill at that fact - Archer walked up to Emiya Shirou. Smirking, he said, "Look, you've made so many people happy that you've come, and not just those twin magi. Even that vampire has fallen under your simple charm."
With that, he chuckled and walked back over to Rin.
-
"Flying bikes are pretty cool," Axe Cop admitted. "But as far as I remember, cocaine is illegal in most places. I've had to take stashes of Super Cocaine from the Cocaine planet into custody, because it's even illegal there. And now you're coming here and wanting to try out?"
He cocked his head to the side.
"Are... you a bad guy?"
-
"Doomrider isn't a bad guy man. Doomrider just wanna RIIIIIDE. And he rides for Good! I'm a good guy!"
Doomrider smiled his trademark crazy grin, and executed a trademark good style frontkick of justice.
"Now do I pass?"
-
Satoshi finished the first part of his plan, ten thousand suits, they weren't much right then but he would awaken them with magic later, twenty four guards weren't enough to guard the gates, much less the compound.
Sakura walked along with Kiyoshi and then stopped. "Kiyo" she said "you told Taiga you were going to be a hero, didn't you?" she asked softly bending down so that Kiyoshi could be on as much of an even level as possible.
-
Kiyoshi scowled slightly in response to Rin's determination to train him in her way. But, he had more important things to deal with, like finding Taiga, so he did not bother to reply. Instead, after saying a temporary goodbye to his Aunt, he left with his new-found sister.
However, Rider felt she should clear things up with Rin somewhat. Whilst she did trust Rin to look after Kiyoshi, Sakura had made it quite clear that her children should be allowed to live their lives as they wished. Even her beloved sister wasn't allowed to try to impose her way of thinking on them.
"Rin, I know you mean well, but please don't try to force Kiyoshi to follow your path. Sakura doesn't want her children to have their lives controlled like hers was, she wants them to be able to do whatever makes them happy. You can help look after Kiyoshi and train him, but you can't make him follow the path of a magus. His mother knows all-too-well what it means to be forced down that path, and it's not something she intends Kiyoshi to go through", Rider said.
Rider was somewhat surprised to see that Lancer had slightly misunderstood her statement about travel arrangements, and had responded in a rather annoyed manner to the statement that he was capable of carrying someone. Similarly, Shuya seemed to take her statement that she was capable of carrying people as an offer to carry him.
Fortunately, though, Forest came up with a more sensible solution. Those of them who could travel on foot would follow Lancer, and the rest could go by car. However, before they left, Rider still needed to straighten things out slightly.
"Lancer, I was merely stating that you were capable of carrying people, I wasn't volunteering you. Or myself for that matter...", she said, staring at Shuya pointedly.
"And, I guess I could carry you, but I fear I might accidentally throw you at high velocity into a concrete wall", Rider said to Shuya, icily. "It's your decision".
Rider walked away, awaiting Lancer's lead. However, before they could leave, there was still the matter of Shirou to deal with. She looked towards Isa and her sister, who were talking with him. To her annoyance, Isa reached out for his hand and, then, asked if he would come with them.
"You lot really want me to come to Forest's house huh? Alright. I'll come along just for tonight. It's far too late to continue my patrols anyway...", he said.
Rider frowned. She didn't really want Shirou there. But, after what Isa had been through, she didn't want to upset the poor girl and, plus, she didn't want to antagonise her new housemates by telling Shirou to stay away. So, she said nothing. However, she did give a slight sigh of relief in response to his comment that he wouldn't be staying long.
Ah, good, then he won't be able to corrupt Kiyoshi, she thought.
She waited for Lancer to leave and then followed him, making no effort to check if Shuya was serious about being carried. She ran along the rooftops, following Lancer, until they approached a four-storey building, which Lancer motioned for them to enter.
After entering the house, they met Forest, who showed them around. Rider realised that, before she left, she'd have to reserve a room for Kiyoshi. Even though the house did have a dormitory, she knew he would rather sleep in his own room. However, when they came to the kitchen, Forest noticed a funny smell, and ran in quickly, telling them to wait.
Meanwhile, Lancer and Shuya got into a conversation, Lancer explaining how he came to live with Forest. As was about typical for him, it boiled down to wanting to fight more.
Stupid blood knight, she thought, sighing.
Still, at least as long as he was with Forest he would be fighting for something worthwhile rather than just killing for the sake of killing, which was good. People like Lancer were generally OK as long as they were on your side. It was when they were against you that they became insufferable....
Rider noticed that Isa and her sister had left, and saw the darkened Archer approach Shirou. As much as she hated the guy, she knew she couldn't do anything to him directly. Forest wouldn't allow it. But, at the same time, she had to make sure he didn't do anything to hurt Kiyoshi. She doubted he would do anything to cause him physical harm, but mental harm was very much a possibility, given his issues.
Rider walked towards Shirou and spoke.
"Shirou, I will be going after Satoshi soon, so I won't be here to keep Kiyoshi safe from you. So, please be careful with how you act around him and towards him. He idolises his mother, and he doesn't seem to get that you're nothing like his father, despite sharing his name and genes. If he finds out that you murdered his mother in cold blood it will destroy him. So, please don't let him find that out", she said.
Then, without waiting for a reply, she turned and spoke to the rest of the people in the room.
"OK, I'm going to go and find a room and call Satoshi", she said.
Then, addressing Finn, she added, "Is it OK if I use your phone to make a call? I'll give it back straight after.
Also, I don't think you have introduced yourself yet. My name is Rider."
-
Axe Cop frowned.
That front kick... it wasn't evil, that much he could tell. A front kick was a very good way to tell someone's alignment, and never, ever, ever failed. So yeah, the rider wasn't evil. But he wasn't exactly the perfect good guy either. Axe Cop let the front kick replay itself in his memories a few times to get the exact taste.
It was Chaotic Neutral.... ish. Not an easy call to make.
The guy did do a lot of cocaine.
But he had a flying bike! Those were way too cool.
Finally, Axe Cop shrugged.
"You passed my test. I'd be fine with you joining, I suppose."
Then he turned to Inferno Cop and Gun Cop.
"But it isn't just me. What about you guys? I say we put it up to a vote. I'd rather not bring Simon, Paula, and Randy into this after last time's fiasco, so just give me a yes or no and we'll see where it goes."
-
"Don't go beating up on your brother, there's Team Asshole who deserves a whole host of punishment to make them toe the line."
Mille blinked. However, it only took her a few seconds to figure out that her new Landlady must be some sort of telepath. The redheaded magus titled her head before reciting her answer as if she were answering a math question in class. "Oh, don't worry. I wouldn't start with him anyway, I'd risk killing him. He is family, even if he is an imbecile, and it'd be bad form to kill him in an experiment. I'd probably need to start with some sort of stationary target first. However, that's an excellent suggestion. A Servant and half-demon can take far more punishment than a human can, so I can practice without fear of killing them."
Finn shook his head. "Sis, it's not nice to just beat people up just because there's an experiment you wanna try."
Mille turned to her brother. "But this is important, and I have to see what my limits are. Besides, it's not like anyone would get killed."
Finn sighed. "I think you're missin' the point sis..."
***
Rin was a bit miffed that the darkened Archer had spoken for her, but it dissipated quickly enough. After all, that would have been her choice anyway, so there was little need to be angry over it.
However, she then got a bit of a speech from Rider about letting Kiyoshi make his own decisions. Rin sighed. "Don't worry, I won't force him, just... strongly encourage him a bit. But like I said, I can't even do that right now, I have bigger fish to fry."
With that, Rin made her way to her travelling companion, ready for him to whisk her away to the Stronghold.
***
"So, are you a mystic code? Never heard of self aware items. And even less about some able to talk. Who created you?"
Ruby wiggled cheerfuly at Nessa in response. "Oh, all those questions?"
Hakuno found herself listening intently- she was also curious about the strange stick's origins.
"....I'm not answering any of them~"
Hakuno nearly groaned in exasperation. So much for her answers. She didn't know whether the stick was being obtuse, simply didn't know, or was just hiding the answers for her own purposes. Still, Hakuno decided that she'd have to try and wrangle the answers out of Ruby later, one way or another.
Archer, in the meantime, found himself agreeing with Forest in terms of Rider's plan. She was walking straight into a trap, and she had no guarantee of any of the things that had been said about Satoshi being true, so it was foolish. However, she was free to do as she willed, and it was none of his buisness anyway. Besides, he had more important things to do. He went over and rejoined his Master.
"Don't mind me, just untangling my Master," Archer said with a somewhat amused smirk as he gently prized Nessa's arm from around Hakuno's shoulder. He scooped up Hakuno, prompting her to blush, which made him blush a bit in turn. The bowman turned to Forest. "I'll carry Hakuno."
Hakuno got a strange thrill from hearing Archer say her name instead of just referring to her as "Master." Still, it felt nice to be in his arms. Plus everyone could finally get some rest.
**At the Stronghold**
And so Mille, Finn, Archer, Hakuno, and Rin all arrived at the stronghold, one way or another. They followed Forest on her grand tour, until they encountered a certain disaster....
Archer shook his head. He didn't know how the little familiar had managed to make such a fine mess of things, but he had certainly done a number on the kitchen. Still, the bowman had repaired worse disaster areas then this, and he refused to leave the kitchen in shambles like this. He turned to the understandably horrified Forest.
"I wouldn't worry too much. I can repair and clean this entire kitchen for you." He figured she wouldn't believe him without a demonstration, so he went and picked up the pieces of a broken chair. "Trace on." He analyzed the composition of the chair before using his Reinforcement magic to not only repair it, but make it as if it were brand new. He set the chair away from the mess. "I'll go ahead and make us something to eat once I'm finished. I'll need to take a quick shower first, but I presume that won't be much of a problem?"
The bowman then turned to his Master. "In the meantime, it might not be a bad idea for you to get cleaned up and get some rest. I'll come get you once the food's prepared."
Hakuno nodded, giving him a grateful smile. Then she turned and realized that her clothing wasn't... quite in the best shape.
"I'll repair that later," Archer said, gesturing to Hakuno's uniform. He blinked and turned back to Forest again, his face a tad bit flushed. "You wouldn't happen to have any spare clothing, would you? I'm afraid we're a bit lacking."
****
Finn replied to Rider with a smile. "Hey, sure, no problem." He grinned. "Just give it back to me in something resembling one piece and we're all good." He gave her a bit of a friendly salute in reply to her introduction. "Lotta names that are also professions around here, aren't there? Name's Finn Garrison. Nice to meetcha."
Mille rubbed her temples. "You idiot, she's a Servant, just like the Archers and Lancer are. Her name relates to her class, just like with all Servants."
Finn rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, can't blame me if I don't know much 'bout that. Don't know much about the Grail War stuff, never was plannin' to fight in one."
Mille rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She addressed the group at large. "If you need me, I'm going to do what Kishinami's doing. I need my full strength if I'm going to perform my experiment properly."
Finn sighed as his sister trotted off. He was going to have a rough time ahead of him keeping her from going too far.
****
The blackened Servant looked at Rin and asked, "Have you picked a room yet? Or do you want to look around?"
Rin nodded. "There was that one room with the nice view. Well, nice as this City has to offer, anyway. Plus it's about the right distance from the restrooms. I'll take that one."
Her potential roommate then went over and said something to the messed up version of Emiya-kun. Rin took the opportunity to note what Hakuno was up to. From the looks of things, she wasn't going to be able to get her and Ruby alone yet, not in a manner that wouldn't garner some form of interference from Archer. She'd have to wait for another opportunity.
Rin noted that this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as the corrupted Archer returned to her side. She was curious about her new companion, and they had some catching up to do. "So then, in regards to that room..." The raven-haired magus smiled up at him. "Mind helping me unpack?"
-
The Twilight Network isn't exactly a well known organization - hell, it isn't even an organization at all. The Twilight Network is more a system of code, fraternity, and general agreement among the Sin-Eaters in the know.
Lawrence spotted one of the more common symbols of the Network as he was searching for a place (Which unknown to him was only a couple of blocks away from the strong hold) that he could stay. The building it was marking wasn't exactly in the best of shape, but the symbol was still there, clear as day. Spray painted onto a wall was a human skull, stylistically shaded with a key drawn onto the forehead - "Sin-Eaters welcome, please contact me."
Lawrence pulled his car into a nearby alleyway, killing the motor and locking his vehicle as he strolled into the still open pawn shop. The ringing bell alerted the clerk - and it was obvious what he was at first glance. His Geist, a skinny man with legs all bent crooked and skin clinging to the bone stayed right behind him, regarding Lawrence and the Redheaded Driver with a cocked eye before whispering something into his hosts ear.
The communication was entirely non-verbal. Both Lawrence and the owner knew what they were. The shopkeeper flipped the sign on the window from 'Open' to 'Closed' and proceeded into the back, Lawrence following without a word.
The conversation and the deal that followed were swift.
"None of the local krewe's are in need of a drifters assistance or want it. There's been nothing unusual around the area within the Twilight."
"I need somewhere to stay, and some weaponry. I don't think I'm packing enough for this city."
"No leads on the first but the second? For a brother, a discount, and access to my special stock."
Lawrence exited the shop with a duffel bag containing a cut down shotgun, silver buckshot, an old and battered Kalashnikov with a wire folding stock, and enough ammo for all of his weapons to keep him going for a couple months, easy. For far less than sticker to boot.
If the .45 wasn't enough to scratch the Don, maybe this would give him enough time to run for it. Then again, he was probably lying about that but considering the size of the man... Lawrence wasn't taking any chances.
Just as he was about to leave though, the keening wail of a group of ghosts came from nearby. Victims and causers of violence. As Lawrence drove towards them, a prickling at his neck told him that they weren't the only spirits around - and the ones they were hanging back from were capable of easily ripping him in half. As if to make it worse one felt... wrong. Like he was stained with tar and bubbling pitch.
Let them try me. I will make them bleed. They will learn what it feels like to die...
The Redheaded Driver wasn't going to back down from this. And neither was Lawrence - whatever those spirits were, he wanted to find out.
-
Shirou's head snapped to the left, in time to see Rider approaching. Though his initial reaction was to reach for a weapon, he quickly realised that despite being extremely biased against him, Rider wouldn't do anything unnecessarily cruel whilst the twins were around.
"Shirou, I will be going after Satoshi soon, so I won't be here to keep Kiyoshi safe from you. So, please be careful with how you act around him and towards him. He idolises his mother, and he doesn't seem to get that you're nothing like his father, despite sharing his name and genes. If he finds out that you murdered his mother in cold blood it will destroy him. So, please don't let him find that out", she said bluntly, spitting it out as if she was addressing someone below her. Before he could reply, she turned in an unnaturally smooth motion, her lavender hair drifting gracefully through the air behind her, before stalking off.
Anger welled up in him, and he quickly called after her, "That'll only happen if you keep screaming it out at every chance you get." It was childish of him, but he didn't care at that moment. With a sigh, he turned back to the twins and said tiredly, "Shall we get going?" standing up as he did so.
.......…………
Shirou had to admit, Forest had a nice house. Much better than the glorified loft he was staying in at the moment. If he cared more about creature comforts, he would seriously consider moving in, Rider-be-damned. As it was, Shirou simply continued his survey of the building, noting down possible entry points, potential weapons and its feasibility as a base in his head. He quickly checked on the twins, before turning to follow Forest on her grand tour. Strangely enough, whenever she saw him, the vampire seemed to gain a slight spring on her step, almost unnoticeable, but there. What was that about?
They turned the corner and entered what appeared to be a kitchen. Or what was left of it. Shirou bit back an almost instinctive melodramatic gasp of horror as he stared at the mess. Forest seemed to be having a similar reaction, understandably. He walked forward and patted her on the back, unsure of what to say in the face of such a disaster.
He heard Archer offer to help clean up the kitchen, and almost volunteered straight after him. He hesitated though, before saying, "I'll make sure the twins and the kids get settled, then I'll help you out with the kitchen." He patted her on the back once more, before walking away.
He was quickly approached by the dark Archer though. He stared blankly at him, pushing down the familiar surge of hatred which occurred whenever he met an Archer. The Servant smirked, before saying mockingly, "Look, you've made so many people happy that you've come, and not just those twin magi. Even that vampire has fallen under your simple charm." Shirou looked at the Servant questioningly, but Archer had already walked away towards a waiting figure. A familiar figure, twin tails swaying as she listened to Hakuno. Rin.
The sight of his old friend, alive and sane, every bit the school idol she had once been, stirred up a wave of bitterness within him. He gave a small wave, a sad smile plastered on his face, before continuing on his way.
-
Shuya listened Lancer sharing a part of his story, his fingers playing on the scabbard by his waist. The mixed blood never aimed for him to confess something personal, but now that he had started, the least he could do was to pay attention. Surprisingly, he felt some sort of understanding for the guy. Denying him a last battle would be, for the swordsman, the ultimate disgrace. He could all to well understand how bitter of a death it had been.
As for feeling alone, it was his routine for years. Something, you would never get quite accustomed to, wanting it when you're surrounded by other individuals, yet rejecting the void you would feel when by yourself. Nobody to talk to, nobody to share with, nobody to understand, nobody to listen, only this deep empty hollow never quite quitting you.
So, yeah, he could understand the appeal to have someone to treasure. And that's why he could never desire such a thing. It was never meant for the likes of him.
When the former Servant asked his question, Shuya's face froze for an instant, but it was quickly shadowed by a frown. He didn't expect Lancer to aim for his opinion. More confused than than he should have been, he still gave him a reply. "I would not." His words were firm. Shuya knew what kind of answer Lancer expected, but he could not offer him this simple satisfaction. He gave him an amused look. "My path is only one of destruction. There's nothing else. I'm not fit to protect spoils." If he were to be honest, he would admit that he was envying the demigod for such a positive thing in his life. In the end, Lancer was just like Rider. As mighty warriors or legends they could have been in the past, all of them longed for a peaceful life with people who would acknowledge them. It probably held true for the two Archers as well.
None but few insane persons would seek loneliness by themselves. He thought of Shirou for an instant, wondering what would be his opinion on the matter. "Besides, I don't give people my trust. Nor do I expect people to reach for me." He paused for an instant. "Perhaps in another life... If I weren't born a monster in the shape of a human, then maybe, I would have been able to dedicate myself to such a person."
He left these words behind, before walking away from the group.
----
"It wanted to be useful. Ruu thought people would be too tired to cook. It was hard, but it did its best."
The little guy observed the vampire with round eyes.
"Does the Landlady feel sick?"
His initiative didn't bring him praise, so it must have been a mistake. He looked around, finally recognizing the disaster for what it was. He spotted Archer and a girl he saw with him earlier.
"Ruu will clean too," he said simply.
Humming a song his creator learned him centuries back, the familiar knelt down and gathered broken pieces of a plate. After a moment, he peered with insistance at the Servant.
"Kitty is not with you. Does Dark Eagle took it?" He questioned curiously.
----
"So, you and Shirou, eh?"
Isabella pinched her sister's side once again. "Would you quit it out?"
Nessa laughed, clearly enjoying teasing her twin while washing Isa's hair. It wasn't uncommon for them to take showers together. However, the only thing Isa allowed to be touched was the head, much to Nessa's disappointment.
"Hey, he's not that bad looking, if you want my opinion." Insisted the older sister.
"Good thing I'm not asking for your opinion. Nor would there be a reason to ask for it." Replied Isa with a neutral look.
"Oh come on, you did give him the please, come along, I want to discuss about something with you... line. Kinda cheesy pick up, but I guess he's weak to the innocent type like you... "
"It really isn't like this." Insisted her sister. "He needs help to find himself again."
Nessa smiled at that.
"Oh, you wanted to be the one saving this poor soul. That's quite romantic."
"You're a terrible excuse for a big sister you know that?" Growled Isa.
"I do my best." Answered Vanessa.
She inspected her sister's body but couldn't find any trace of wounds left. Nobody would could tell she almost died from laceration and had an amputed limb not so long ago. Whoever healed her did a efficient job. Her skin was back to be as smooth as a baby. Still, she was a bit disappointed by what she saw. Clearly, there was room for improvement in some areas.
"What the heck are you staring at?" Asked Isa.
"Just checking in details if nothing healed wrong. That's my job as the big sistargll..."
A shove to the face stopped her short.
Her complaint was immediate. "What was that for??"
Isa gave her the cold stare.
"Nothing in particular. Just felt like hitting you for some reason."
"How's that even fair? I didn't do anything worth such treatment from my cute little sis."
"Ask Hakuno-san. Pretty sure she hates you right now."
Isa was simply lying, but the reaction she got was priceless. It was as if Nessa had been struck by a thunderbolt.
"No way... Was I this rude?"
"Not much more than usual, I suppose."
"Then, there's nothing to worry about," said proudly Nessa.
Isa let out a grunt. "There is every reason to worry about."
Once done with cleaning themselves, Isa looked at her sister who was surrounding herself in a large towel.
"Don't tell me you forgot to request for changes of clothes," she said without much hope. Nessa gave her the lopsided smile. "Well, it's not too late for it, if you don't mind going to Forest and ask as you are..."
"LIKE HELL I WOULD DO THAT!!!"
Nessa gestured to her sister to tone it down.
"Shh, I can hear someone getting close. With some help from destiny, it will be your charming prince."
Isa gulped down words she shouldn't pronounce in presence of sensible ears. Nessa called out for some assistance to whoever was on the other side of the closed door.
-
Damn, he should have noted where they went. Shouldn't have gotten so distracted with the...poor poor kitchen.
Shirou continued wandering around, trying his best to find the twins. Where had they gone? He turned at the corner, and was confronted with the outline of a door, white light peeking out through the cracks between the frames. Could this be it?
His suspicions were confirmed when he heard their voices through the door, though too muffled to make out any words. Suddenly, he heard one of them scream, "LIKE HELL I WOULD DO THAT!"
He walked towards the door and knocked, calling out, "Is everything alright in there?"
One of the twins went behind the door, Nessa he thought, and quickly explained to him the situation. Despite himself, Shirou felt his face become slightly heated. Why did this stuff happen to him all the time? He still remembered that girl in Denmark...
Getting too far off topic
"I don't suppose I could say no?" he said dryly, pinching his temples, before continuing, "Alright, sit tight and...do whatever you girls do."
He quickly headed back towards the kitchen. After a few wrong turns (the place was huge!), he finally made it, and quickly headed towards Forest. He hesitated. How should he word this without embarrassing anyone? In the end, he decided to just go straight to the heart of the problem, subtlety be damned.
"Uuuh, the twins...forgot to get a change of clothes," he said hesitantly, "Could you help me out and lend some clothes?"
-
"Thanks a lot~~" Answered the older sister, with a way too sweet tone, through the door.
Out of everyone present, it had to be Shirou. And, of course, Nessa's face was shining like the sun. Isabella never ever wanted to punch someone more than this instant.
"NOT. A. WORD," she warned with a red face.
The twin complied but never departed from her expression. It wouldn't end up with that, that was for sure.
-
Archer smirked at Emiya Shirou's look of confusion at his taunt before he headed back to Rin. He grinned at her invitation and said, "Well, I suppose you do need someone to help sort out your things, or you're just going to clutter the guest room."
He was grinning as he said it though. Then he added, "Then I'll take the room beside it, if you don't mind." Even corrupted as he was and despite the fact he would have loved nothing more than to sleep in Rin's room, he knew that might have freaked her out. After all when he was her age it had freaked him out when Saber had insisted on sleeping in his same room. Teenagers were a nervous lot, especially when they were inexperienced, and he didn't want to scare Rin at this delicate point in time.
******
Forest nearly flinched at Ruu's rather pathetic expression, then Shirou had patted her back after offering to help after he checked on the twins. The stolen blood she'd taken from the faerie girl who Kamakazied tinted her cheeks pink. She swallowed and replied, "Thank you, but go make sure Isa's okay." Nessa seemed like the atypical bossy bitchy older sister who seemed to take liberties with everyone. Sort of like Wynn without scary powers and immortality.
Then Archer had managed to do a really magic trick. The chair was just as it was when she had ordered it from Ikea about a year ago. Eyes wide, she proclaimed, "That's the most brilliant magic trick ever. Sure, most witches and the like want to blow up things, burn things, or raise the dead, but repairing and healing is a lot more useful." Then she bowed her head.
"Thank you, Archer, and yeah, I have some stuff that might actually fit you. You and my godson seem to be the same size, and I keep spare clothing in different sizes just in case. Its not the most stylish sort, but it'll do in a pinch until I can properly take people shopping after dark."
Then she realized she was still wearing pretty much tatters and rubbed the back of her neck. A fine film of gore and ashes from exploding faerie girl covered her pretty much from head to steel covered toe as well. "Mayhap I could use a quick shower too."
Looking back at Ruu, who still had the most pathetic look on his face ever as he was helping pick things up. She knelt down to him and said, "Poppet, I know you meant well, and thank you for trying." She winked and said, "But maybe next time wait a bit, or see if Archer, or Red Eagle here, can teach you a few tips and tricks of the trade. I'm sure if you ask him nicely he will, if not I'm sure Hakuno could convince him."
A few minutes later a very flustered Shirou came back.
"Uuuh, the twins...forgot to get a change of clothes," he said hesitantly, "Could you help me out and lend some clothes?"
She nodded and said, "I'm actually about to go on a clothing run as we speak, so we can fetch something too." Then she paused and asked, "How's Isa?"
******
Lancer tilted his head at Shuya's words thoughtfully. Then he nodded and said, "Then that is the life you should lead. If death is your calling then sod it all and prey to that bitch goddess and fight until she claims you as well."
-
The group of spirits was... wrong. Very wrong. Twisted souls, more animalistic then human, circling Lawrence and the Redheaded Driver as soon as they exited their vehicle, close to the building where the two powerful entities were moving around within.
"Want the girl agai-"
"Kill them all, not of the-"
"Not all them here-"
"The pack gone-"
"They all smell wrong-"
"Vampire bi-"
A wave of words and imagery assaulted him as the ghosts raged at him over anything and everything. A violent fight had been the cause of their demise, and it had been distressingly one sided.
"I wanted to eat her af-"
"Stopped us in middle of our-"
"Hunters rights-"
"I can't touch them this way-"
"All that warm blood-"
Stop.
The simple one word broadcast of the Redheaded Driver sent them scurrying like rats from a snarling wolf. What ever they were in life, in death they were no where near a Geist's place on the spiritual food chain. Lawrence hated the hungry dead like this. Violent, stained with sins that wouldn't leave in death, they tended to start to coalece into one big ball of spiritual hate, staining an area with malevolence that would take decades if not centuries to decay. In the worst cases their hate became enough of a power that they could actually effect the physical world. Polteirgiests, spirits that managed to possess the living fully and completely, and worse - monstrosities that hunted down other ghosts and ate them - were all that came from letting spirits like this stick around.
'They're very newly dead. They seem to still be confused about what's going on.'
Then they aren't the trouble. Ignore them. The big ones must bleed.
'Not yet.'
Lawrence reached out into the Twilight, grabbing one of the ring leader spirits with a crushing grip.
"Let me g-"
His existence ruptured as the Sin-Eater forced plasm into him, severing his bonds with the material plane without a sound. This process was repeated again and again, though one managed to slip out and -
'Oh shit.'
-Head straight for the building. His screeching warcries of anger were enough to make Lawrence shiver. He was going to do damage if Lawrence couldn't stop him, and fast.
None escape our wrath. Not this one.
Lawrence hated doing this after expending so much energy on sending that one group to the other side. This was going to hurt. Slamming his hands against the wall of the Stronghold he twisted the Industrial Key, forcing plasm through his body and into the structure, the non-subtle bounded field of the Boneyard going up surely alerting the big signatures within. The trance that came afterwords dulled the pain as he saw as the building does -
Torn clothing, a pair of what looked to be sisters, one in a towel -
That pitch black existence, his existence radiating something unclean throughout the twilight, his clone in red beside him -
The same room, something unnatural, a construct, though one with a pure and innocent appearance -
One of the undead, a faint trace of the spirits he had ruptured trailing from her blood splattered form -
A man haunted, if not by spirits but by something of his own making -
A pair of young women, not the first one, one radiating power -
And there was the spirit, about to burst into the kitchen. Lawrence was ready. He'd pumped a discarded knife full of plasm and energy, shifting it into a relic that could effect the Twilight. With a twitch of power he sent it flying into the air - impaling the spirit, ectoplasm spilling into the real world as the raging ghost struggled to pull the corroding influence free of itself. It wasn't enough. It wasn't nearly enough to prevent it from being dissolved into ectoplasm, destroyed beyond repair.
Lawrence felt its death throes through the link of the Boneyard as he killed the connection, staggering backwards. He wanted to run, but he couldn't. His legs felt like jelly. Today had been rather tiring, and now he had just alerted the strongest two spiritual entities he'd ever detected to where exactly he was.
'I think I just did something really really stupid.'
-
Connor had pushed through the ether and reached the city. He wasn't much for traveling the multiverse. It was true that there was adventure to be had but traveling the worlds for the small time he had done so was like navigating one of those odd paintings with the stairs.
coming around the corner he caught wind of a familiar magical scent. It was one he would never forget. He had begun heading towards the source with the quickness.
-
"Uhm, err, op, eh... Yeah, sure," Inferno Cop said, hardly able to say no to someone unless they were a danger to him, no matter how much he wanted to say no. "He has a nice... head, so it should be okay."
Secretly though, Inferno Cop feared for his position as team hothead, as there was now another with a flaming skull for a head.
And his had horns, which were completely outrageous and kind-of cool.
The cocaine thing didn't really bother him though.
-
Kiyoshi smiled and looked up at Sakura, who was bending down to make him feel more comfortable.
"Yeah, I am going to be a hero, like daddy is mummy's hero. I'm going to protect mummy and daddy, and anyone else who is in danger", he said, proudly.
-
"The World has become a dishonor to the Kami, this city is nothing more than a construct of falsehoods" a woman spoke to herself as she gazed upon the city from the safe confines of the park, she glared at the skyscrapers towering over the park and controlled herself as not to fire a Cero at the offending structure. She did not wish to alert for what passed as Shinigami in this city and have to reveal herself much less reveal her strength. On second thought, it might just serve as a good method of getting information from the defenders of this foul city.
Gently the woman removed a small wooded charm from her arm and a fifth of current her spiritual pressure was unleashed upon the surrounding area, giving out a pulse of pure spirit energy and power to any spirit or being capable of interacting with spirits. "Come forth defenders, let me see what manner resolve you may possess" the woman spoke as the humans nearby her collapsed into a state of unconsciousness, she drew forth her Zanpakuto in preparation for whomever may be drawn to the park.
-
Like I'd let you die here
Lawrence felt the Redheaded Driver's reassurance just as an enormous wave of spiritual power rocked him. Something was calling out to, well, EVERYTHING in the city. That made his legs start working again, as he, despite the screams of aching muscles, sprinting back to the nearby Firebird and peeling out of there before he could see if the entities had picked up on his last known location. The Twilight Network needed to know about this. Twin spirits and now this thing that had broadcast its power to everyone that could sense such things. This was getting insane.
-
"Right. Well then, that's settled." Axe Cop was secretly pleased. Flying bikes were, as usual, very cool. It was good to have a rider on their team. Speaking of which...
"Okay, so since you've got a bike, we'll call you Rider Cop unless you can come up with a cooler name. Now come on in, I think we've got cocaine flavoured lollipops in the gift shop-"
Axe Cop stopped. Again, not because of some awesome idea like strapping a jet pack onto a dinosaur, but because something else had distracted him. Something much, much weirder.
A pulse of something echoed through the city. It was something Axe Cop had never felt before, a sensation not unlike having a month old kitten suddenly stuffed into one's underwear with too much catnip, but much more... ethereal. Not an often used word in Axe Cop's repertoire. Most bad guys tended to be very solidly rooted in reality, like giant zombies or evil mad scientists. Super ghosts? Not a common sight. Regardless of its unfamiliarity, though, Axe Cop immediately recognized what it signified.
"No time for back stories," he growled, Axe in hand. "Did you feel that, team? If that's not bad guy, then my grandmother's a talking monkey. Let's go. It's time to chop some heads."
-
Sakura patted him on the head "That's why Taiga ran off, you told her you're going to be a hero and she went and took you seriously. It's not exactly a bad thing but Kiyo, to her Shirou, her papa isn't a hero. He's just her loving absent minded papa who loves her." she paused for a moment.
"I won't tell you to give up on your goal Kiyo, it's not how the Emiya family works. But I want you to understand what you are saying when you said to Taiga that you wanted to be a hero. Taiga's Hero is her big brother. When you say hero that's who she thinks of as a bench mark and although Satoshi would prefer never to fight people he is still very strong. More than that he is who Taiga has depended on her whole life. To make her smile, to wipe away her tears and make her laugh and keep her safe. This view is why she gets frustrated with you but more importantly. Kiyoshi Emiya knowing this are you still willing to become a hero? If so then continue to say so in front of Taiga but understand in doing so you have to take lessons from Satoshi and I. We can't have you running off acting like a hero and making girls cry. Making girls cry is number three on the ten things Emiya must not do."
Sakura paused again and finished by repeating her question. "So Kiyo, do you want to be a hero still?"
-
There was a saying for times like these.
Well, not specifically times like these. I doubted there was a saying that encompassed having your last two friends die, facing off against their otherworldly killer, having your ass handed to you, waking up in an unfamiliar alley and being assaulted by wolf-men.
If there was, it’d probably sound stupid and cheesy anyway.
No, the saying I thought of was more along the lines of ‘out of the frying pan, and into the fire’.
The six wolf-men acted exactly the way I’d expect their cousins to, circling wounded prey and waiting for an opening. I was in no state to be fighting them, and they both knew it and were taking advantage of it.
Rather, I used to be in no state to fight them. Since I’d woken up, all my wounds were gone. The sources of all the blood staining my clothes had completely disappeared. It was a good thing they didn’t know that.
One of them looked like he was ready to jump in, so I reached to my sheathed sword. He got the message, and kept circling instead of trying his luck. Nevertheless, he circled a bit closer than he had before.
Once one of them got close enough, that was when I was going to act. I like letting my enemies build up confidence before I tear it all down.
The following seconds felt like hours, until finally the next wolf-man got gutsy enough to inch closer. The wait was wearing me down more than the wolf-men were, and boredom was starting to outweigh the fun of possible terrorizing.
I didn’t really want to play with them anymore.
I took a deep breath, got out of my drawing stance into something more relaxed, and just as I spotted some of the wolf-men move in the corner of my eye I shouted. I shouted hard, loud and unforgiving, and all six of the wolf-men recoiled at the sound. Some even fell backward, but all of them started running, struck by massive, incomprehensible fear.
All but one, one wolf-man who thought he was tough, who had been hiding behind his brethren the entire time like some sort of chief. He stepped out of the shadows, and I noticed one of his eyes was gouged out.
The alpha male, I figured. What an idiot, biting off more than he could chew.
Men.
“You really don’t want to fight me right now,” I warned it, just as I returned to my drawing stance. It growled in response and crouched, ready to jump on me.
He hadn’t even fully moved off of the ground and my sword was unsheathed, my strike finished. His body, propelled by the incomplete jump he’d attempted, went past me and towards the wall.
His head landed in the opposite direction.
I sheathed my blade and started moving. Experience had warned me against staying in one place for too long, mostly when predators were involved.
I exited the unfamiliar alley into a large street. Once again I looked around and up, trying to get my bearings. This place was… bizarre. Rather like Lost Shinjuku, but at the same time not on the same scale, nor with the same overgrown vegetation.
I shook myself out of it and started a jog down the street, keeping my eyes peeled for threats of all and any kind.
Midway through the street, I felt something huge, not unlike the huge threatening presences we used to feel in the labyrinth. Somehow, the feeling was more distant, yet at the same time more oppressive.
I figured if its range was so huge, I could easily navigate away from it. Just like F.O.E.s back home.
I kept running down the street, and passersby became an occurrence. They gave me odd looks because of my clothes, and I reciprocated. Their clothing was… well, it was different, weird and strange, just like this entire place so far.
I’d been running for a solid while, so I ducked into an alley to catch my breath. I leaned on the wall for support, and just as I did I noticed a skull with a key on its forehead painted on the wall in front of me. The owner must have had really bad taste when he got it commissioned.
I walked back to the street to see the building itself, and I saw a large sign saying ‘pawn shop’ on it. An idea sprung to mind, and I pushed the door and walked in.
See, people on the street don’t care about you. If you ask them, they just make excuses and leave. I understand, I’d want to leave too if some idiot stopped me on the street. But shopkeepers? They’re stationary. They have less of an excuse pool to draw from, and if you buy anything they’re practically forced to humor you.
At least, that’s how it had been in every town I’d been in. I was just hoping this place was the same, because I’d really like to have a grip on the situation I was in, starting with where the hell I was.
I walked into a cluttered mess of a place, and the counter was unoccupied. I cursed under my breath, and started looking around. The shop itself, despite its clutter, was filled with interesting and alien items, at least to me. And if I wanted to make sure to get something out of the shopkeeper, I needed to buy something.
My eyes stopped on a big green coat, with tons of pockets and extra space, lying down on a chair. I didn’t like ‘flappy’ clothing, but something like that would help me blend in with the people outside. The massive pockets would help too, since the team leader used to carry everyone’s stuff in his bag.
The very thought of the obnoxious medic caused me to make my right hand into a tightly-clenched fist. I hadn’t managed to avenge his death, hadn’t managed to kill the Yggdrasil Core. I’d failed to set things right, and now I was running around a city blind while he was rotting. I ripped the coat off of the chair, walked to the counter and leaned on it, impatiently waiting for the shopkeeper to come out of his hiding space.
I hated waiting around. There was always something better to do, some treasure to get, some monsters to kill, and I could really use some monsters to kill.
-
Archer couldn't help but smirk a bit at Forest's praise. It'd be nice if he got similar praise every time he picked up Hakuno's room for her, but he could only ask for so much in life.
"It's one of the few things I excel at. Sadly I can't heal people, but I have always had a knack for repairing things. Your kitchen is in good hands."
Then the Servant noticed the little familiar's earnest attempt to make amends. The bowman sighed. It was obvious that Ruu had good intentions both in his... attempt to cook and now his offer to help clean up the mess. However, Archer's old instincts to work alone without prying eyes on his repairs still remained strong.
The trick though was convincing Ruu that his situation would still be fine even if he didn't lend assistance- it seemed from Ruu's behavior and actions that he'd had a rather cruel master or masters at some point in time. Even if Ruu wasn't in the presence of anyone like that now, it was likely the little familiar would assume that he would be punished with similar harshness otherwise. Well, Rin was somewhat close, but even she wasn't that cruel.
The bowman repaired the fragmented plate in the little familiar's hands and placed it on a countertop before answering him. "Well... first of all, Kitty seems to really want to be with Dark Eagle right now, so I'm letting her go with him." He added dryly, "Even if he's advertising certain desires with all the subtlety of a hammer to the face."
Rin thankfully was too preoccupied with "Dark Eagle" to hear "Red Eagle's" comment. Archer continued in a less cynical tone.
"And it's fine, I can repair the kitchen faster if I work on my own." And now for the hard part. "And, well... if you really want to help, I suppose you could, um..."
"Help gather intel~!"
Archer looked over in surprise. Ruby seemed to look at the Servant before fluttering over to face Ruu. If Ruby had had eyelids, Archer swore she would have winked at him.
"Haku-chan needs to learn alllll about Magical Girls!~" said the floating sentient pentagram. "She needs to see others in action so she can become a stronger Magical Girl herself~"
Finn managed to catch on fairly quickly- eager to help Ruu feel needed and forgiven, he chimed in. "You heard the... magical floating circle with wings. Miss Haku needs your help!" The freelancer gently placed his hands on the familar's shoulders, and began to address him as a General speaks to a trusted Lieutenant.
"Now listen up, little guy. We got a very important job to do. Miss Haku needs a couple of smart, capable guys like you and me to find training material for her Magical Girl stuff. Now, there's quite a bit out there, but there's also a lot to look through. I need a second pair of good eyes to help me sort it all out. You up for the job, soldier?"
In the meantime, Ruby fluttered over to Archer and whispered, "You owe me~" There seemed to be something faintly sinister in that... He made a mental note to try to find a way to keep the wand in line as she fluttered back over to Hakuno.
He then heard Forest misunderstand who he meant the clothes for. He also noted that Shirou seemed to be helping around. It seemed a bit odd, seeing the man who tried to kill his Master only but a few hours ago act much as he would have in his teenaged years. But at least he wasn't killing anyone right now, and here Archer could keep an eye on him and even deal with him if need be.
The bowman turned back to Forest. "It seems a bit odd, but I'm actually covered clothing-wise." With a bit of a blush, he gestured towards Hakuno. "It's my Master who needs clothing. She has nothing to wear aside from her uniform at the moment."
Hakuno heard what was going on, and turned back towards Forest. Now somewhat flushed herself, she gave an apologetic bow. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be a bother."
***
He grinned at her invitation and said, "Well, I suppose you do need someone to help sort out your things, or you're just going to clutter the guest room." Then he added, "Then I'll take the room beside it, if you don't mind."
Rin nodded. "Sounds good." Having Archer be so close by made it almost like old times again. His familiar presence, corrupted as it was, was both pleasant and comforting to have so near to her again. Her smile widened, perhaps just a touch too eager. "So then, shall we go?"
-
Lawrence shoved his way into the pawn shop, eyes darting back and forth for the owner. Nope - he was probably in the back, grabbing his truly 'special stock.' There was however, a young woman in... was that bandages? leaning against the counter clutching an old army surplus coat.
"He'll be out in a second Miss..."
Lawrence gave her a second to respond before shouting in the direction of the storeroom.
"HEY! PAYING CUSTOMERS OUT HERE YOU OLD BASTARD!"
There wasn't exactly time for niceties when shit like this was going down.
-
The vampire thanked him and the Familiar could only blink as a reaction. She didn't seem angry and that meant relief to him. She gave him some tips with a wink, even though he couldn't make much of it. He blinked a second time, still looking at the vampire.
"Why should it ask Eagle Asshole about cooking?" He demanded.
For good or bad, Lancer's previous insult for Archer had been considered seriously by the Familiar as part of the Faker's identity. So, unless someone would tell him about what was wrong about it, it would stick to the Servant in Ruu's mind.
Before long, Archer explained the situation about Rin. Ruu obviously couldn't understand most of the implications in Archer's voice, nor could he make much sense behind the bitterness the Servant felt. However, he gathered as much as she was actually safe.
The Familiar attempted to scan the thoughts of Archer, but it simply didn't work. His empathy ability wouldn't work on mysteries and the undead. As he expected, Archer was out of reach, but in a different way than Forest.
He frowned when the man tried to tell him that he didn't need his help. Ruu rubbed his his hands, a simple sign of anxiety or confusion. "But Ruu is a Familiar, it must help..."
Without a purpose, he would be rejected. That was the truth he had learned over two millenia of existence. Each time he would stop being seeing as something useful, people would simply push him aside, when not go as far as ignore his existence. And then, then... He would be alone. Again.
But when he was starting to wonder what would happen of him, Archer hesitated for a moment, implying he could help in a different way. The little Familiar spoke immediately, his silvery eyes wide open. "Ruu will do anything, even if it's hard!!"
That's when a flying thing talked. Ruu blinked twice, fascinated by the construction. Even if the outside appearance was rather simple, the Familiar perceived each details of its construction. From its core, to the incredibly complex powers embedded into it. He felt moved by the kaleidostick, just like a human could be when staring at a sunset or heavenly bodies shining in the darkest of the night.
"What is intel?" His question followed a failed attempt at catching Ruby. "Magical girls," he repeated, a virtual question mark floating above his head. However, the man who's scent was close to the Bird he caught earlier approached him. He managed to gather Ruu's interest with his words, even if the Familiar was basically lost as to what he was supposed to do. But whatever that was, it seemed important, and they need him for it. So, Ruu nodded energically, eyes already sparkling with enthusiasm. "It will do it! It will absolutely do it," he answered to Finn.
----
Nessa still looked a bit confused about what she heard. She had decided to question her sister about the event that happened earlier, since they were stuck until Shirou, or whoever would bring them something to wear, would be back. She did notice Isa avoided mentioning details about the attack but didn't raise the point.
She sighed. "Of course, you couldn't get friendly with normal people."
Isa shook her head. "I don't really want to hear that from you."
Nessa grimaced before chuckling.
"So will you do it?" Pressed the younger twin.
"Restoring Driver's prana, is that all?"
Isa sighed longly.
"It's Rider. You know, like one of these seven classes used in the Holy Grail War?"
Her twin shrugged, interrupting her brushing before the mirror.
"You know I'm not good at remembering that kind of stuff."
"You mean, you're not good at remembering stuff you're not interested in."
Nessa's reflection smiled at her sibling.
"That's what I said."
Isabella rolled her eyes. She was getting a bit tired of that daily game.
"Still, I'm surprised that jerk saved you," said Nessa.
The other simply looked away.
"I still have trouble believing it. Doesn't look like something he would pull."
"Doesn't look like something he would pull without a reason." Corrected Nessa.
Her sister could agree with the logic, but the man never asked for something back. Nor did he obtain anything about it.
"You could ask him, if you're so curious," suggested Isa. She wanted to know herself, but knew she couldn't approach him. She still remembered what he had done to the werewolves. There was no way she could even talk to him directly. Not after such a show of cruelty.
"You okay?"
Isa almost jumped back when her sister reached for her. A concerned expression showing, Nessa took her hand. "It's okay, you're not alone." The younger twin, nodded, resting her head on her sister's shoulder. They felt silent for the first time since their arrival. After a while, Isa spoke.
"Shirou's taking his time," she said on a dreamy tone. Nessa grinned. "Maybe he's pondering over what kind of underwear to bring us." The timing for a joke was pretty bad, and she expected Isa to hit her, but nothing came. "Isa?" She looked at her twin, andsaw her exhausted visage finally looking at ease. "Idiot, don't just fall asleep in here."
Nessa surrounded Isabella with an arm and brought her closer. The reflection in the mirror, simply showed an individual hugging tenderly the only person she had left. Curiously, she could hear drops hitting the floor somewhere near her feet. The building must have been rather old if there was water leaking. Only when she tasted something salty, did she realize from where these came from. "Forgive me." She said in a whisper.
----
"You sure made me run," Shuya said calmly as he approached the pawn shop. He had followed the intruder who attempted to spy on their group. If the guy had been sent to gather information of some sort, there was only one kind of answer. "Thought you could eavesdrop on us and go on you merry way, eh?"
He wasn't in the best mood right now. Still covered in gore and wounds from his battle with the vampire, he didn't had the time to clean himself. And worse than that, he would probably be missing a drinking party.
He looked at the armed woman with interest, then, unsheathed his blade slowly. Would she even twitch in his direction, Shuya would treat her the same as this man. Brown eyes shifted back on the potential spy. "I'll give you five seconds to explain yourself, after that, you end up as tameshi-giri material."
-
"I'll give you five seconds to explain yourself, after that, you end up as tameshi-giri material."
"I hunt ghosts. One went into the building, and I dealt with it."
As explanations went, Lawrence could have done better. But in this case, there was a one armed man covered in blood with a sword, a half naked woman also with a sword standing next to him, and he was running low on both patience and plasm.
It would be too easy to make him scream. Just curse him like the other one, watch him flail and die...
'And almost fucking die again? Hell no.'
Then don the caul and rip all his blood from his flesh
'Shut up.'
The Redheaded Driver wasn't exactly in the best of moods either.
"So put that thing away, because I'm rather BUSY AT THE MOMENT."
It didn't help that the Owner had just exited the storage room leveling a Trench Gun at everyone in the shop, a glint in his eyes saying that if anyone tried shit they'd get twelve gauges of buckshot fun for their trouble.
Oh, this day was becoming a fucking nightmare.
-
Shuya stared at his target, the girl and finally the guy point a gun at them. He didn't move, from his relaxed stance for now.
"Why would there be a friggin' ghost inside our stronghold? And who are you anyway?"
Something was definitively odd about him. The supposed ghost hunter wasn't like anybody he ever met in his life.
"If you want me to back off, you'll have to give me a satisfying explanation. We had enough shit for the damn day, so, you'll understand I can't let some unknown guy scout around to report to whoever could have sent you. So, busy or not, I sure ain't putting nothin' away until you can prove your identity."
-
Things seemed to develop quickly around these parts.
First, the guy wearing a jacket rather like the one I'd picked walked in and yelled at the shopkeeper to do his job. So far, I liked this guy.
Second, a guy covered in blood and guts walked in and started threatening the first guy. Then he stared at me for a bit and unsheathed his sword. I could probably take him. Oh, and I didn't really like him so far.
Third, first guy told second guy he was just doing his job and second guy should fuck off, minus the depravity. I definitely liked him, at this point.
Fourth, a big guy with some kind of gun came out of the back of the shop and pointed it in our general direction. I was undecided on this guy, unless he was the shopkeeper. If he was, he was awful at his job and I hated him.
Fifth, second guy got mad about ghosts, demanded an explanation and refused to back off. I could sympathize with that.
Oh, and my instincts were telling me that no one present, except for me, was completely human. A similar feeling to when I'd met the forest folk in the labyrinth, but subtler. Them not being green counted towards that.
I set the coat on the counter, and sighed. Being blindsided like this happened way too often for comfort.
"Ghosts? Is this conversation supposed to not make any sense?" I asked loudly to break their flow of conversation, all the while shifting my feet. All I needed was my right hand on my sword hilt, and I was in a drawing stance. And if anyone moved in a way I didn't like, it'd be there in less than a second.
"You're not the only one who wants an explanation or two, blood & guts," I told the second guy. "I'd rather like to know where the hell this is, and what you all are."
-
Shuya eyed carefully the girl, it didn't escape him that she was ready to defend, or attack, if needed. Her questions were those of a confused person, probably a newcomer. Her frustration was understandable.
"From what I gathered, a kind of crossroad. Basically, people from different worlds, dimensions, or whatever you want to call these, would end up here."
He grimaced.
"The name's Shuya. Blood & guts isn't that inspired. Should I call you wolf scent, simply because their odor ended up on you?"
The mixed blood smiled widely.
"As for what I am, you could say something like half human."
-
"Ran," I said, introducing myself. Ignoring that he was being helpful, though a little snarky, I kept my stance perfectly and my guard up. "Though call me what you like. Now how do I get back to my world?"
I had unfinished business to take care of.
-
"Well, sometimes the things you kill like to stick around in the Twilight - the spirit world - and follow you around. Consider me the spirit world's reluctant janitor."
We do not clean up lik-
Lawrence ignored his Geist as he leaned against the counter, hand slipping into his jacket to grasp the .45 just in case. "So, yeah. That's why I was poking around your place, there were two really powerful souls there and a rather pissed off ghost that managed to slip my first net hanging about. And then boom, big signature starts broadcasting just as I finish off one rather pissed off ghost screaming about a 'Vampire Bitch' or some shit. Now, will you please put the sword away before the owner decides to start shooting?"
He then turned to Ran, a bemused smile on his face. "Well, I think I know how to get to Chicago, but I don't think you can take a flight out of O'Hare to wherever you come from. Need money for that coat?"
-
"I haven't heard of O'Hare before, so I doubt it's anywhere near Etria," I stated to the first man, never letting my guard while Shuya still had his sword drawn. "And I have my own gold to pay with. Name?"
-
"Lawrence. Sorry about all this shit."
The owner however perked up at the mention of gold. "I'll need to see those coins miss, but it sounds like we'll be able to make a deal on that jacket."
-
"Not your fault. I entered the store first," I reasoned, still liking Lawrence the most out of the three inhumans in the room. "And shopkeep, hold your goddamn horses."
I never let down my guard, not for a second, as Shuya had not done the same. The shopkeeper could wait for his gold all day, as far as I was concerned. And hell, if he got impatient and squirmy, it would actually make a good show.
No one ever said a Ronin wasn't allowed to have fun.
-
"Don't worry, I won't force him, just... strongly encourage him a bit. But like I said, I can't even do that right now, I have bigger fish to fry", said Rin.
Rider sighed at Rin's obstinancy. Kiyoshi's Aunt had been "strongly encouraging" him to take up magecraft for pretty much the entirety of his life, with no success. She somehow doubted that this version would come off any better.
But, still, as long as she wasn't going to be any worse than the version Rider knew, there wasn't going to be any issue there. Kiyoshi would just ignore her, as he always did. She knew it would likely drive her mad with frustration, but as long as she didn't harm Kiyoshi or make him unhappy, she didn't particularly care.
At the stronghold
"That'll only happen if you keep screaming it out at every chance you get", Shirou angrily retorted in response to Rider's comment.
Rider smiled. Her comment and, indeed, her very presence seemed to upset him, and that was something she could take much pleasure in. The guy deserved to suffer for what he had done to Sakura. He already seemed aware that what he had done was wrong, deep-down, and she was determined to make him feel as horrible as possible about his actions.
Then, Finn spoke up, replying to her question about the phone. She wanted to get moving as soon as possible. The thought of what would happen after the battle was already making her feel rather aroused. She couldn't wait to receive her reward for victory. Or her "punishment" for defeat....
Even so, she couldn't help but chuckle at his sister's abrupt response to his lack of understanding of her name.
Just like Rin, she thought.
"Thanks, Finn. I'll be sure to avoid damaging it.
And, don't worry what your sister says, she seems to expect everyone to know everything, and she seems to have a bit of a short temper.
I guess it's a 'magi' thing. Rin is the same...", she said.
She noticed Shirou walking in the direction of the kitchen. Which, judging from the commotion, was in somewhat of a messy state. Whilst she didn't trust the guy, she had to admit that he wouldn't be a bad choice as a chef.
She spoke up to the rest of the group.
"I suggest you ask one of the Shirous to cook dinner. I've eaten many meals cooked by him, along with my master."
Then, looking somewhat pointedly at Shirou and raising her voice to ensure he could hear it, she added, "you can really taste the love when Shirou cooks for or with my master.
Hmm, maybe we should ask the Archers to do it. After all, cooking has to be done with love, and I'm not sure if this Shirou is capable of love. Or perhaps he'll murder the cooking just in case it accidentally chokes someone...."
And, with that, she turned and walked off, looking for a room where she could make a phone call. As for choosing rooms, she had heard Rin discussing her sleeping arrangements, and she suspected that it would be best if Kiyoshi were to remain close to her. She also knew she would need to reserve a room with a double bed for her master and her husband when they arrived, preferably close to Kiyoshi's room.
Initially, Rider thought it might be best if she put Kiyoshi in the room next to Rin. However, it was blindingly obvious to everyone but Rin that the Darkened Archer was determined to get into Rin's panties at the first opportunity, and she knew Rin and her sexual desires well enough to know that he was likely to succeed in that endevour. So, she thought it might be best to give Kiyoshi enough space that he wouldn't overhear their activities. Similarly, it would be best to give Sakura and Shirou some privacy, when they arrived.
Still, she didn't need to choose just yet. Calling Satoshi was first priority and, in any case, she couldn't pick until she had seen where Rin was staying. All she needed right now was some privacy. So, Rider headed up to the dormatories on the fourth floor.
Her arousal at the thought of what was to come rising, she took out the phone, typed in the number and waited for an answer.
"What's the difference?" Kiyoshi said, somewhat bemused. "Someone who protects and loves you should be your hero. That's why daddy is mummy's hero, he protected her no matter what the situation and did everything in his power to save her."
"I understand why she looks up to Satoshi, though, if he's always been the one she could depend on. That's what heroes are. But, why didn't daddy do that stuff, if he loves her?
And, yes, I do want to be a hero. If Satoshi is willing to train me in how to be a hero then I will gladly take his help. Daddy is always trying to encourage me away from that path, although he's never mean or forceful about it, so he doesn't really give me lessons in heroism."
Then, after a moment's pause, he realised that there was another thing bothering him about her statement.
"Hmm, why is it wrong to make girls cry but not boys? Girls are just as strong as boys, so why do they need special protection? Mummy says I should treat people according to who they are. And if Aunty Rin ever saw me assuming girls were weaker, she'd give me a practical demonstration of why they're not...."
Kiyoshi didn't really understand how some people saw girls as weaker, or more in need of protection. His mother had far more mental strength than anyone he knew, and his Aunt and eldest sister were both extremely powerful magi, far above his father or brother. He knew that society did still treat women differently in many ways, especially magus society, but his family had never encouraged that. His parents had always given them full support to take any path they desired.
-
"a girl's heart. It's a softer thing than a boy's. And no matter what Rin or your mom says that fact won't change. Girls deal with emotional responses differently, boys are, straight forward. That's why you shouldn't make girls cry. It's not something I can explain easily but it's a family rule so don't question it too much." Sakura replied.
Satoshi felt his phone vibrate and answered it. "Wolfram and heart legal offices, how may I direct your call?" he said.
-
Mum, Aunty Rin and Aunty Rider certainly don't have soft hearts..., thought Kiyoshi, somewhat bemused and a little annoyed at her unjustified over-generalisation.
And, it's certainly not a rule in my family. Mum and Aunty Rin would throw a fit if dad suggested that.
But, still, she seemed pretty insistent, and he didn't see any reason to argue. After all, he agreed with the basic concept, even if only because he didn't want to make anyone cry.
"Well, I don't want to make anyone cry", he said.
"But, don't you dare call my mum soft-hearted...", he said, somewhat hurt at the implication that his mother was weak. He knew how strong a person she was, and hated to hear people put her down.
"Also, did your mother really teach you that? If my Aunty Rin heard me saying anything like that she'd go mad...", he added, somewhat surprised at how different his Aunt seemed in this universe.
Rider was somewhat confused. Had she got the wrong number?
Although, it does sound like him. And, Sakura did say he wouldn't answer calls....
So, perhaps he was just trying to deter her. Still, she shouldn't presume anything, just in case.
"Oh, sorry, I need to speak to Emiya Satoshi, his sister gave me this number. if he's there, tell him Tohsaka Raida called", she said, using her legal name so as not to confuse the man if it was indeed the wrong number.
-
"Soft isn't weak Kiyo. And obviously girls like Rin seem tough, that is what they want you to think. It's mostly developed from biological differences between boys and girls and social convention. If boys weren't expected to be tough and girls more emotional I highly doubt my mother would look as tough as she does. In any case you forget I'm a girl too, so I know how soft hearted most girls are." Sakura explained.
Satoshi chuckled. "Raida is quite the silly alas Rider, my version took the name Medusa and split it in two part using sounds to pick Japanese names as a cover. It's by no means more creative than your choice but I think a bit less conspicuous. In any case I hope you haven't done something to my sister. It's unlikely given your previous behavior but I've been wrong before. State the purpose of your call. If you're ringing me just to wring my balls for playing devil's advocate with that version of shirou I'm hanging up."
-
"Well, using the name 'Rider' worked well enough for Taiga, and it's what all my family call me by, so I saw no reason to do anything more than make it look more Japanese. Plus, I'd rather not be reminded of my former life more than necessary. All of the people who matter to me see me as the servant Rider, not the monster Medusa", she said.
Rider had never been happy in her past life, at least not since the gods had got hold of her. But since she had been summoned into the Grail War and met her master and friend, she had found real happiness. Both in seeing someone she cared for blossom, and also in being able to live her own life and seek out enjoyment and excitement, such as the pleasure she would soon be having with Satoshi.
"As for the rest, no, I'm not calling to complain about your attitude towards Archer or any such thing. I would never bother to phone you just for that. And, no, I've not done anything to your sister, either. I'm calling to discuss your challenge.
I will accept it, but I do have some conditions. I do not care what you do to me, as long as I am alive. I understand the penalty for defeat in war is often severe, and I will accept whatever tortures and humilitations you may have in store for me if I lose. Indeed, the idea of being captured, bound and tormented by a sexy opponent turns me on.
Rider found herself getting noticeably wet at the thought of being Satoshi's prisoner. She had often fantasised about being dominated in such a way by Shirou, especially after one of the rare occasions where she had underestimated him and ended up lying on the floor with a sword pointing at her throat. And, during Sakura and Shirou’s semi-regular “sparring days”, when she felt the familiar combination of fear, excitement and arousal eminating from her master, she had often imagined herself in Sakura’s position, being forced to strip at sword-point, bound helplessly and then, in her fantasy, brutally tortured and violated at her captor’s whim. Satoshi might not be Shirou, but he was the next best thing. Further, in his darkened state, and angered by her past actions, he would hopefully be rather harsh to her.
"However, if I am to fight I want assurances that any versions of my master you are holding will be freed regardless of the outcome. And, further, I want to be sure that you will never force me to fight or harm my master, her family or any alternate versions of her, and that you will also never prevent me acting to protect them from serious harm. I am happy to fight you and to be your prisoner if I lose, but I cannot abdicate my responsibility to Sakura."
"Oh, and one more thing", she added, lust clear in her voice. "After the battle, I will be short of prana, so I will need a supply from you. If I lose, you can do with my body as you wish. Violate me, degrade me and torture me in whatever manner you see fit, as long as you provide me with prana so I can continue to protect my master in the future. But, if you lose, then you are mine. And I will not be gentle...."
The only thing better than being captured and violated by Satoshi was the possibility of taking him captive. He seemed to be almost indestructable, which meant she could be almost as harsh as she liked. And, given how he had acted so far, she was not inclined to show him any mercy whatsoever.
-
Lancer sighed as Shuya ran off to chase a few ghosts. It wasn't fitting sport for the Hound of Ulster, so he shook his head.
******
Dark Archer grinned, nodded and said, "After you, Rin."
-
Shuya looked at Lawrence for a while. His explanation was rather farfetched, and thus, somewhat believable. This whole town was a gathering of freaks and less sexy specimens, after all. The shop owner seemed quite tense, but still holding his ground in spite of the situation. The guy went business mode as soon as money was mentioned tho.
The swordsman sighed longly and sealed his katana with its scabbard. Damn Lancer, the jerk should have been the one dealing with these guys.
"Vampire bitch, huh? I wouldn't suggest to repeat this term in her presence." His face twisted painfully at the recent memory. "As for going back home, I don't know a way, nor do I really care."
He lit up a cigarette as he walked towards the exit, addressing both of them. "There might be someone who knows about how to manage that back at the stronghold. Plus, I suppose you don't have a place to stay? You can come along, pretty sure our softhearted Landlady wouldn't mind two more guests."And that would be the most efficient way to make sure that Law guy wasn't lying.
He waited for their answer outside, consuming his cancer-inducing tube with a bored expression. A cold drop hit his hand, and he growled tiredly.
"This night really sucks balls," he declared, as the rain started.
-
"Rather brave of you to accept, Foolish to demand just that much but it's too late to ask for anymore. You have deal Rider under the following three conditions. First that you honour your word and do exactly what I want beyond what I have agreed I will not have you do. Second that you give that boy and your master emotional space. We all have our care for others but you're smothering your senses and intellect two things I find rather attractive about you. In other words calm down stress during sex kills the fun of it. Third you are to stop dealing with the version of Emiya from the alley. Do we have an understanding?" he asked
-
Rin grinned at the darkened Archer before readjusting her backpack and leading the way to their room. The room was pleasant enough- it carried a certain relaxed ambiance to it, and the lights on the buildings seemed to almost shimmer like stars around the park just outside the window.
It's not home, but it will do, though Rin to herself. Though, with Archer nearby... maybe it's more like home than I give it credit for. She blinked before blushing furiously. I-idot, how could you think such stupid things?!
Rin placed her backpack on a table and extracted her pjs from it before turning to Archer. "Finally, alone at last. Though I need to decide what I should do after I finish unpacking what I care to unpack." She smiled him with a touch of mischief. "So then, what do you think I should do?"
-
Forest smiled at Ruby and Finn's timely arrival to "save" Ruu.
She smiled at the Familiar and said, "See, Hakuno needs help becoming a magical girl, and you can help gather research material for them."
She met Finn's eyes and mouthed, "Thank you."
Then she turned back to Shirou. "So. Clothing run?"
******
Rin's smile was a touch mischievous as she asked Archer, "So then, what do you think I should do?"
He could think of many things for her to do. The one that was going through his mind the most was the image of her lifting that sinfully short skirt and asking for him to "service" her. Even with his inhibitions almost completely gone and the corruption running through him, in the end he was still Emiya Shirou.
He liked to please others, make them happy. Or rather make one person happy.
He also wanted to drive himself inside of her until they were both exhausted and sated, but he didn't think Rin would be up for that yet.
"You really don't want me to give you the honest answer to that," he said with a snort and a shake of his head.
-
I relaxed my stance as soon as Shuya sheathed his sword. I waited until he was outside to pull my money purse out of my pants pocket, though. I pulled out one of the bigger golden ental coins, this one representing a thousand ental in all, and threw it on the counter.
"This stronghold place, either of you know about it?" I asked the room in general. "Anything helps."
If I was going to go, at all, I wasn't going to go in blind. It could be as dangerous as a labyrinth stratum with twice the monsters, as far as I knew.
-
The owner took a look at the coin with a shrug. "Looks about the right amount. All yours then."
Lawrence shrugged. "I haven't been inside, but I have a general idea of the layout. Multiple floors, quite a few residents. Seems rather safe though, if that's what you're wondering about."
He frowned just as much as Shuya had when he noticed the rain starting. "Come on, I'll give you a ride there."
Bunking with a psychopath with a sword wasn't ideal but hey - it was probably free.
-
"I accept, thank you," I said to his offer. Walking in the rain was never pleasant, it was good he owned a cart.
Before stepping outside with him though, I unmade my traveling cape and put on the green coat. It was made of a rough material, was very bulky and was long enough to probably flap and distract in combat, where I'd have to remove it. It would take some getting used to. I tied my cape around my sword's scabbard to keep it from encumbering me.
I stepped outside into the rain, where Shuya was still waiting.
-
"Made up your mind?" He asked as the two stepped outside.
-
"Made up your mind?" He asked as the two stepped outside.
"Yeah, I'm taking up the offer. I needed a place to stay anyway. Need a ride Shuya?"
He reeks of blood and offal. The man is a born killer with that blade of his
'Better the Devil you know than the Demon you don't. Besides, in a car he can't draw that sword as quickly as we can shoot him.'
Lawrence threw his hood up without a second thought as he stepped into the rain.
-
"I accept as well. Needed lodging anyway," I said, and I let Lawrence take the lead to his cart. Finding a way home was all well and good, but my last adventure lasted over a year. I needed a roof to cover my head.
"And you will have to introduce me to those people you said might know something."
-
"Yeah, I'm taking up the offer. I needed a place to stay anyway. Need a ride Shuya?"
His reply was immediate. "I was about to ask." He nodded at the girl's positive answer.
"And you will have to introduce me to those people you said might know something."
The half demon gave her a delusional smile.
"We aren't exactly in a buddy-buddy relationship over there. I will bring you to blondie. The rest is your problem."
Shuya followed Lawrence without waiting. He didn't even bother asking for permission, and simply claimed the back seat for himself, weapon on his lap. As he extended his arm horizontally, he threw a curious glance at the ghost hunter.
"So, how's your turf? Anything of worth which would justify to go home?"
Shuya looked at Ran. She had already expressed the will to quit the town, but she didn't explain why.
"What's waiting for you?"
-
"We aren't exactly in a buddy-buddy relationship over there. I will bring you to blondie. The rest is your problem."
"Good, I'm not here to make friends," I told him, and didn't wait for his answer. I followed Lawrence down to his cart, and saw... something else.
It definitely was like a cart: a box with wheels. No horses, however, and the design was, well... completely different. It was low and close to the ground. Shuya went straight to the rear of it, pulled on a lever and a door opened.
Well, if that was how it was done. I walked up to the right side and pulled one of the levers, and the door opened up. I took my seat, in front of Shuya and looking outside the larger of the windows.
This would also take some getting used to.
"What's waiting for you?"
"A failure that needs rectifying, and nothing more," I admitted. I didn't have any friends or family left, so I had nothing tying me to Etria save for the Yggdrasil core. And even if I did defeat it, it was at the end of the labyrinth. What would I do afterwards? Keep being an explorer to an explored labyrinth?
A rather sobering thought. This city, in a way, had saved me from that dilemma.
-
"Anything worth going home to? Nah, not really. I'll probably spend a few months here before heading back though." Lawrence turned the key in the ignition and immediately the stereo started playing.
I like to dream yes, yes, right between my sound machine
On a cloud of sound I drift in the night
Any place it goes is right
Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here
Lawrence began humming the tune as he headed back to the Stronghold.
-
Kiyoshi realised a little more of what she was getting at, and perhaps she did have a point to some extent. Rin was not weak, but deep-down she was a big softie, as was his mother. Both of them were truly caring and kind people who could get easily upset if they saw people they cared for hurt. But, at the same time, so was his father, and even Kiyoshi himself. So, it was clearly not a female-only thing.
“Yes, my mother can be emotional, as can Aunty Rin, but so is daddy. He always does what his heart tells him is right, and I’ve seen him get just as upset at people being hurt as she does.
And, why should we care about ‘social conventions’? Mummy and Aunty Rin lost their childhoods because of rubbish like that. People should just be theirselves, they shouldn’t be constrained by gender, or the positions or labels allocated to them by others.
Perhaps girls are more emotional on average, but that doesn’t mean that they should all be assumed to be. There are plenty of emotional boys around, and plenty of less emotional girls. Just because someone is male it doesn’t mean it is more OK to hurt them.”
Rider was confused by his response. What else could she have asked for? Part of the fun of all this was the lack of control if she was defeated, and the risk that he might do something that made her genuinely regret trusting him as she was.
"Well, as long as my life is not in danger I have nothing to lose by accepting. I can endure any torture you might throw at me, and I will probably enjoy most of them. From talking to your sister it sounded like being in your captivity would not be unpleasant, and even if I am wrong there is nothing you can do to me that will cause me real harm. I need a source of prana anyway, and you seem like the best option right now.
And, honestly, there is nothing else I would have wanted to demand. The excitement of not knowing what will happen to me if I lose is a turn-on, as is what I know I can do if I win. So, I agree to your first condition, provided of course that you win, and you agree to the same if I am victorious. However...”, she continued, her arousal clear in the sultry tone that her voice had taken on, " I will not consider myself defeated until you have demonstrated that you have total control over me....
As regards the other two conditions, well, I am not sure what you are asking me to change. With Sakura, I do give her space, and I do have my own life. I just wish to be there for her when she needs me. Surely the Rider you know is no different. My master is important to me, but she’s not my entire life like she was once.
As for Kiyoshi, he is merely a child. As long as his mother is not here, I am responsible for his well-being, just as any babysitter is for the children in their care. Nevertheless, if I was not willing to entrust his well-being to others, I would not have agreed to your demands. I am sure he will be perfectly safe and happy with Rin and the rest, so I am happy to leave him there. I just had to be sure I didn’t abdicate my role as his temporary guardian.
But, you don’t need to worry about the sex being ruined. It’s not every day I get to fulfil such a long-held fantasy, and I intend to enjoy it to the fullest, no matter which of us ends up as the captive. I do have one request, though. If you do defeat me, please treat me as if I were still hostile, at least for a while. I know I promised to obey your orders, and I will, but I would enjoy myself much more if I am not given the option to disobey. Bind me, torment me and violate me in whatever manner you desire, but please don’t use our agreement to enforce it. Being captured in battle and violated has been a fantasy of mine for a long time. I’ve often felt Sakura’s excitement when she has ended up in such situations after practice battles with Shirou, and I have often fantasised about the same happening to me. I know I have no right to demand anything of my captor, but if you would do that it would make me very happy.
So, yes, your conditions are acceptable. The first is what I want, the second I already do, and the third is something I desire, in so far as it is possible. I do not wish to interact with that asshole more than necessary. Although, I would appreciate some clarification there. What do you mean by ‘dealing with’? I don’t deal with him, and I never have. I ignore him unless he is a danger to someone I care for, or perhaps if I feel like trolling him.
Other than that, though, yes we have an understanding. I am very much looking forward to the outcome of our battle”, she said, the wetness in her underwear demonstrating the truth of her words.
What will he do to me? What sort of humiliations and tortures does he have in store? she thought, her arousal rising.
As she awaited his response, Rider’s mind drifted off into fantasy. She imagined herself bound at Satoshi’s feet, clamps on her nipples and whip marks all over her body. She imagined what sort of torments he could have in store for her if she were defeated, as she expected to be. A wooden horse, perhaps, or maybe hot candle wax poured all over her body. And, of course, lots and lots of violent penetration and sexual degradation...
-
Satoshi chuckled. "Come alone, And I promise to do as you've asked in regards to your treatment. Hurry now and don't bother the knights when you get inside. Follow the blue line on the floor to find me." he said before hanging up the phone.
-
Shuya accepted their answers, cocking his head in reaction to the song.
"Always preferred Born to Be Wild, personally," he declared.
He judged the couple as okayish for now. The guy seemed rather laid back and didn't have bad taste when it came to music. As for the girl, he didn't know yet. She still had the kind of determination in the eye of those who don't have much to lose. Something the mixed blood could understand.
Remembering something, Shuya tapped Lawrence's shoulder. "Don't exceed the maximum speed. I heard the cops around here were rather hardcore... Well, at least those still alive."
-
Inferno Cop turned around, the sound of screeching rubber pulling his attention away from his boss who was saying something about feelings. At the intersection of the street he saw a car moving fast, outrageously so for an intersection!
Or at least, that's what he thought. That intersection didn't have a stop sign for people on the main street.
"Hey, I think I just saw a bastard who was speeding!" He shouted, turning to his boss and cop-buddies, feeling that this was more important than that other thing.
But that was a pretty weird feeling in his gut. Maybe some of the bread had gone bad?
-
Axe Cop forgot about ghosts and bad guys.
Someone was speeding.
"Not on my watch!"
He marched to the entrance of the police garage and lifted the heavy shutter in one go. He had no idea what was inside, but luck was with him, because it was just what they needed.
"Everyone inside! We're gonna catch this guy!"
Within seconds, the large monster truck was revving its engine, just waiting to head out on the street and chase those speeding bastards, and maybe that ghost too. It was painted in cop colours, and positively covered in machine guns, several of which seemed to be attached only by duct tape and glue.
"I'm driving!" Axe Cop yelled from the driver's seat as the truck shuddered onto the street. "Gun Cop, you get on the back and get ready to shoot! Inferno cop, you sit beside me and shoot out the window! Doom Cop, get that bike out! We're racing to see who can bag this speeder first! If you win, you can have all the cocaine flavoured lollipops in the store!"
As soon as the passengers hopped on, Axe Cop turned on the cop lights and sounds and stuff, and then hit the throttle, shooting towards the speeding bastard who had dared to break the law. And if they ran into a ghost on the way, all the better.
-
"Yeah!" Inferno Cop bellowed, getting into shotgun. He pulled down the window and pointed his gun out the window, not even stopping to aim before he'd already started firing.
A bird fell down dead, and then exploded.
"Let's take these fxxxers down!" Inferno Cop shouted, ignoring his bird killing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I almost pulled out my sword when I heard the sound: An ear-splitting cacophony of pure noise.
"What is that infernal noise?" I asked the chariot and everyone in it, and just as I did a metallic monstrosity of a chariot pulled out of an alley we'd passed. The awful sound seemed to ebb in synchronization with the light at its top, and my answer came to me. Another question rose up as quickly as the older one died, though.
"What is that thing, and why is it screaming at us?" I asked, hoping the massive, metallic F.O.E. could be outran.
-
"So. Clothing run?"
Shirou looked up from the oven he had been repairing using traced out parts and Structural analysis. Magi could say what they wanted about the two 'useless' skills, he had always found them to be a godsend when it came to repairs and even demolition.
"Just a second," he grunted, a yellow light shining between his hands. It wavered, before stretching out to form a thin grill element. Grabbing a nearby tool, he screwed it into place.
"There, it should work now, but it's only a temporary fix. You should still get a repairman in at some point to check it out, but I've gotten most of the damage. Even if I have absolutely no idea how cake mix got jammed into every corner of the oven..." he reported, wiping his hands on a nearby towel. He quickly walked over to Forest.
"Alright, after you," he said, following her out of the kitchen.
-
Rider couldn’t help but have a good feeling about the whole situation. The phone call had gone even better than she had anticipated. It was clear from Satoshi’s response that his intentions towards her if she were defeated were good. Well, in so far as she wanted them to be, anyway....
Rider couldn’t wait to get to the castle. It had been quite a while since she had had sex, and far longer still since she had had a partner as willing to act on her fantasies as Satoshi seemingly was. Part of her almost wanted to throw the fight, to let Satoshi have his way with her. But, she dismissed that idea. Part of the fun of it was being defeated and placed at his mercy despite her best efforts and, besides, if she were victorious she could have plenty of fun tormenting him. Even if she no longer really bore him any ill-will, he had agreed to her terms, so there was no reason for her to hold back. The only thing that had changed thanks to his willingness to accommodate her was that she would at least make an effort to ensure he got plenty of pleasure alongside the pain.
Not that she really expected to win, of course. It was clear from his sister’s words that he was extremely powerful and, worse, he knew her personality and abilities, whereas she had only a very limited idea of his. Plus, she was essentially fighting on a time limit, thanks to her limited prana supply, whereas he could fight as long as was necessary. And, he knew this, too, so there was no reason for him to rush things.
Rider’s arousal was rapidly building. The anticipation of what was to come and the uncertainty of just what would happen was a real turn-on for her. But, before she could get going, she first had to ensure that things were properly sorted-out around here, and Kiyoshi would have somewhere to go when he arrived. And, she had to say goodbye to everyone. They’d mostly been nice to her, it wasn’t right to just walk out, even temporarily, without acknowledging that.
But, to do that, she first had to find everyone. Since they had been in the kitchen before, she decided that would be the best place to check. As she approached, though, her mind still full of arousal and her panties becoming wetter and wetter, she spotted Forest walking out of the Kitchen door.
“Hi Forest”, she said, smiling, rubbing her legs together in slight discomfort due to the level of arousal she was feeling.
“I’m going to be going after Satoshi soon, but before I do I’d like to say goodbye to everyone. And, I need to find somewhere for Kiyo to sleep when he gets back, ideally somewhere close to Rin’s room, so he feels safer. And, if possible, I’d like to reserve a double room near him for his parents. I’m sure they will find their way here sooner or later, they are very stubborn when it comes to the well-being of their children.
Do you know where everyone is right now?” she added.
-
Sakura patted Kiyoshi's head "Ilya and grandma Iri know how to explain it better. For now just accept it, sides it's not very cute for a kid to be so stubborn" before she could continue Connor slid over a car hood out of breath.
Sakura watched him struggle with speaking as he collapsed to the ground and chuckled spying Taiga as a street light flicker on revealing her stuck against a garbage bin her wheel having lodged itself between the large bin and the wall. Motioning silently to Kiyoshi Sakura began to lift Connor off the ground trusting the youth to get Taiga in the meanwhile.
-
"That's gunfire. Safe to assume it wants you dead." Shuya wondered why he had to state such an obvious thing, surely she understood the concept of modern weaponry, right? A glance to the truck made him swear in his native language. Unless Lawrence's vehicle had some nitrous oxide button somewhere, they weren't likely to shake off these guys. "Think you can lose these guys? Odds seem on their side."
Fighting people with guns already was a pain on normal days, but it was even worse when it was in a car pursuit. Dammit, he only had a close range weapon!! Fortunately for them, aiming at a moving vehicle wasn't as easy as it seemed. Or at least, he hoped it would be. It was raining, so maybe it helped, but that wouldn't last forever. Shuya looked at Ran, she was apparently ready to defend herself if things got difficult. Lawrence probably had his own way to fight too.
At worst, they could always fight, but something told Shuya it probably wouldn't work out well. His expression bitter, he sighed at the turn of events. Thinking about how he could have been humiliating challengers in a booze contest right now, didn't make him feel any better. All he had left to decrease his tension was to be the smartass. "Welcome in town, by the way."
-
"Alright, yeah, I think I can lose them -"
Lawrence was going to sleep for a day after this one. The Industrial Key flipped, the rage built up and -
The pursuing fucking MONSTER TRUCKS engine shuddered to a halt, groaning in protest at it's sudden refusal to work.
I would have just shot back
'Good thing you're not me.'
The Firebird sped away into the night, taking a few shaky detours until Lawrence was sure he'd lost them. "Aaaaand there ya go. Next stop, stronghold."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doomrider - er Doom Cop had taken to the skies, cackling as pedestrians below watched in awe and fear at the flaming headed daemon prince in a cop uniform. Man, this was the SHIT. Or at least it was the shit, until he was distracted from the chase by a potential drug deal going on. Maybe there was some cocaine there.
-
Kiyoshi felt somewhat irritated at the patronising way she responded to his question. Regardless of what she might say, it was not in his nature to just accept arbitrary rules without even thinking. His parents never brought him up that way, they had always taught him to think for himself and live his own life.
He was, though, somewhat intrigued by the mention of Ilya, his long-dead Aunt and his father's saviour, and also a Grandmother who he'd never even heard of. He knew she wasn't talking about her maternal grandmother, since his eldest sister was named after her, so she must have meant her father's mother. But, to his knowledge, his father didn't even have a mother, aside from his long-lost birth mother of course.
Before Kiyoshi could question Sakura further on the topic or respond to her earlier comment, however, his thoughts were interrupted by the sudden arrival of an out-of-breath boy who Sakura clearly knew and, then, by a sudden chuckle from Sakura as a street-light flickered on to reveal Taiga stuck up against a large rubbish bin.
Kiyoshi couldn't help but chuckle at the situation just like Sakura had. However, he quickly stopped himself, feeling rather bad at taking amusement from the poor girl's plight. Sakura motioned to him before moving to pick up the out-of-breath newcomer. Clearly seeing what she intended, Kiyoshi approached the stuck girl.
"Are you OK, Taiga?" he asked, leaning over her to pull the large bin out of the way and free the poor girl.
It was rather heavy, and he was awkwardly placed, so he had to pull a few times to get it moving. However, after a few seconds of effort he had moved the bin.
"There you go", he said, smiling, before moving out of the way so Taiga could wheel herself free.
-
"Get back here, you speeder! Don't think you can escape the law!"
Even as the truck swerved out of control, its engine failing to turn over, Axe Cop pushed open the skylight and hopped onto the roof. A grappling hook gun was in his hands, having been pulled out from under the driver's seat.
"Inferno Cop, take the wheel!"
The car skidded, losing speed every second. The speeding vehicle was getting farther away with every second, and Axe Cop could barely make out the silhouettes of the people inside. A two men... and a woman who looked very ninja-like. Too far away to see any details.
Axe Cop took a single second to focus and aim down the sights of the gun in his hands, and then fired.
The hook sailed through the air... and fell short by a few inches. He'd taken half a second too long, perhaps.
In almost no time, the monster truck skidded to a complete halt. Axe Cop almost lost his balance, but managed to hold on to the edge of the roof before the momentum threw him off.
"Well, that's not good," he muttered as the hook reeled back in. "But don't worry, team. Bad guys rarely get away for very long. They might have won this battle, but next time those speeders won't be so lucky."
He hopped down, leaning the gun on the side of a giant wheel. Retrieving a step ladder from underneath the car, Axe Cop quickly set it up, levered the hood of the truck open and peered inside. "Well," he said. "At least I know what happened. Looks like the engine decided to just stop working. Must've been shoddy gasoline. Next time I'm getting it from the Gasoline World instead of the Shoddy but Slightly Cheaper Gasoline World."
He then looked up. Cocaine Cop had gone off sailing into the sky, laughing and doing whatever it was that addicts did. Axe Cop didn't move to stop him. Their cop hats had secret phones in them, so they could talk whenever. For now, it was important that the trip didn't become a total waste. Despite the chase ending anticlimactically, it had brought them closer to the ghostly presence that he'd sensed earlier. Now where could it be...?
Axe Cop concentrated, and a pair of crustacean antenna popped out the front of his head. They wiggled for a few seconds before pointing in one direction, and then retracted as quickly as they had appeared.
Axe Cop slammed the hood shut and looked up. "If you're still up for serving some justice, it looks like the ghost that sent out that signal is nearby! We just have to climb that building and we'll practically be right on top of 'em."
-
Forest chuckled at Shirou's puzzlement of how cake batter could get trapped in the oven like that. "Beats me, I never use the bloody thing. I'm more proficient in cooking over an open flame," she answered.
Then she checked the refrigerator and stifled a gasp. It was just as bad as the rest of the kitchen. Then there was the sad bits of pulp and peel that had been her citrus stash. Hand to her mouth, she reached out and touched some of the ruined fruit.
Looking at Shirou with wide eyes she said, "My . . . oranges didn't make it." A second look confirmed Lancer's stock of Guiness and Harp completely untouched of course. She slammed the refrigerator door shut and started out of the kitchen with Shirou in tow only to see Rider.
She gently pushed him back and stepped between him and Rider only to be almost overpowered by the scent of lust that was just thickly radiating from the Servant. It was so strong that Forest just blinked twice and registered that Rider was talking to her and sounded really eager.
The vampire tilted her head and said, "Sure, I can make sure Kiyoshi rooms near Rin, but she might want her privacy right now because of that Walking Sex Offense version of Archer she's hooking up with. As for his parents, if they show up, I'll keep a room ready. If push comes to shove they can borrow one of my student's room. She's not here right now and it would be nice if it got some use, and there's a smaller bedroom near there so that would work for you . . ."
She was trying to keep Rider from not seeing Shirou, so she said, "I'm off to get clothing for the twins, they're bathing and there are people in the kitchen and Lancer's lounging with some of the others elsewhere."
-
Satoshi sighed and walked back into the workshop and there activated five of the knights and giving them money and a lengthy list of items to acquire before sending them out.
Taiga did not reply at first. She seemed oblivious to Kiyoshi's presence letting out a rather colorful string of curse words striking the armrest of her chair before bursting into tears.
Sakura bit her lip and rushed over lamenting her mistake and hugging Taiga tightly.
Connor tapped Kiyoshi on the shoulder "come on boyo, let em be, they need a moment" he urged.
-
Finn grinned at Ruu. "Good man. Time for us to get started then." He turned to Forest, and noticed her mouth, "thank you." He mouthed, "any time" back before saying out loud, "so then, any particular computer or tv you don't mind us using?"
***
Archer sighed as Shirou proceeded to go ahead and repair the oven. He did a... decent job, the bowman supposed, but the fact that Shirou was butting in on his work irked him a bit. Still, what could he do- at least his younger self was trying to be useful instead of trying to carry out his misinformed version of "justice," so that was something at least.
The Servant managed to repair and clean the entirety of the floor back to brand new before sneaking over to the oven and improving on Shirou's repair job while he and Forest weren't looking. He then began work on everything else, beginning with restoring Forest's broken or bent utensils back to brand new. He had promised his new Landlady a just like brand new kitchen, and by god was he going to give it to her. As much as it'd been broken over the past few millennia or so, he still had some pride left to maintain, after all.
***
"You really don't want me to give you the honest answer to that," Archer said with a snort and a shake of his head.
Rin responded to him with a somewhat naughty grin. "Oh? If you're referring to what I think you're referring to, I think I can figure that out without even having you answer. You haven't exactly been subtle about it."
She fished her toothbrush, still new in its package, along with her toothpaste out of her backpack before turning back to him. "It's kind of refreshing, actually. Emiya-kun and the regular you are always so oblivious." Her smile faded. "Have you... always wanted me that way? Even before the corruption?"
-
Rider could fully understand Rin's desire for privacy, particularly given her own intentions. She knew how much the girl pined for her former servant.
"Yeah, I understand. I wouldn't want to deny Rin her chance to be with her Archer again. I would like Kiyoshi to be near her, though, although perhaps not right next door. Rin can get a bit loud during sex....
But, yeah, that sounds fine. Rin is, erm, busy, so I will leave her, but I would like to say goodbye to Isa, and I also need to give Finn back his phone. I'm eager to get going, though. Satoshi has promised me some fun after we have fought...", Rider said, eager to get going.
-
Forest heard Finn shout his question at her. She held up her finger to Rider and yelled back, "Second floor, there's an entertainment room. I don't have any 'Magical Girl' shows, but I have all of Buffy and Angel. That's a bloody bit better to watch for training."
Then she looked back at Rider and said, "Well, right now Finn is in the kitchen, but I can give his phone back to him." The vampire smoothed back a lock of hair from her face and thought she was keeping her composure. And she realized she was pretty much wearing rags now too. Which normally wouldn't have bothered her, but there was Rider there and Shirou behind her.
Not to mention Rider's excitement was palatable. Taking an unneeded breath, she said, "Do be careful Rider. The Golden Boy really isn't himself, but that maybe why you're excited so . . . good luck."
******
Archer shrugged and said, "After certain events, I've sort of lost my touch for subtlety."
Then he tilted his head at her next question. "I kept that pendent that version of you in my time saved me all my life. I even had it with me when I was executed. This lack of confidence doesn't suit you, Rin." He took a step closer to her, grinned and asked, "What do you think?"
-
Kiyoshi smiled at the now-free Taiga, but she did not respond to his words, or his actions. Instead, she just sat there in silence, seemingly unaware of his presense.
Kiyoshi continued to stand there, awaiting her reply when, suddenly, she started swearing, before hitting her chair and then bursting into tears. Shocked, Kiyoshi jumped back momentarily, before moving to comfort the girl. However, before he could do so, Sakura rushed over, grabbing the poor girl into a tight hug.
He felt a tap on the shoulder, and the newcomer spoke up.
"Come on boyo, let em be, they need a moment", he said.
Kiyoshi wanted to comfort the girl too, but he knew that Sakura was far better-placed to do so than he was. So, reluctantly, he backed-off. As he did so, he turned and spoke to the newcomer.
"Yeah, I think you're right", he said.
"Anyway, I guess we should introduce ourselves. I'm Emiya Kiyoshi, the son of Sakura and Shirou", he added, smiling. "Who might you be? Your speech is somewhat unusual...."
-
"I'm a son of Ireland, it ain't unusual for anyone born in Dublin to talk this way. My name is Connor, you probably know me da best as CuCulain. Anyway, you're Emiya too huh? Guess Alex would be mad if I didn't make sure you were ok while I'm in the city. You met Alex? Well he probably introduced himself as Satoshi, he travels worlds and the wee tiger is here so I thought you might have seen him" Connor replied.
-
"Thank you, Forest", Rider said, handing her Finn's phone. "I understand your concern, but you were right. His changed nature is part of what is making me want to do this. Plus, having spoken to him and his sister I am sure I will come to no undesired harm at his hands."
Desired harm, on the other hand..., thought Rider, her lust growing stronger and stronger.
With the rooms sorted out, Rider was just about ready to get going. Before she left, though, there was one more thing to deal with. Rider had grown rather fond of Isa, and she would like to have the chance to say goodbye to the young girl, and reassure her that she would be OK.
For a moment, Rider wondered why Forest had not responded to her stated desire to say goodbye to Isa. But, then, she remembered what Forest had said previously.
Ah, right, she's getting washed.
Damn.
Rider really wanted to say goodbye to the girl. She'd been so nice, and Rider already saw her as a friend. But, at the same time, she desperately wanted to get going. Her arousal was only growing as she awaited Satoshi's punishments, and she desperately wanted release.
Quickly, she made her decision.
"Well, I'm going to get going now. Hopefully I won't be too long. Please say goodbye to Isa for me, and assure her that I am going to be OK. And, please, look after Kiyo for me until I get back."
Rider's lust and anticipation over-rode her desire to speak to the girl. After all, it's not like they'd never see each other again. Eventually she would get free of Satoshi somehow.
With that thought, Rider turned to leave.
-
Finn grinned after Forest and shouted back, "I hear that!" before turning to Ruu. "Alright soldier, time for us to carry out the mission." He figured that even if Forest didn't have any Magical Girl shows, she probably had satellite at least, so he could hunt down something for Hakuno to watch that way. With Ruu in tow, he headed down to the second floor.
---
Lady Luck seemed to be smiling down on Finn- not only did he manage to find a Magical Girl show for Hakuno to watch, but a whole 24 hour marathon. He turned to his new comrade in arms. "Alright, now all we have to do is watch and make observations until Miss Haku herself is able to come up here herself. You ready little buddy?"
***
Rin looked at Archer in curiosity. Certain events? Though it was likely he was referring to his corruption. It was possible it was also something else though. An event involving something rather bad happening to his dimension's version of her...
Then he tilted his head at her next question. "I kept that pendent that version of you in my time saved me all my life. I even had it with me when I was executed. This lack of confidence doesn't suit you, Rin." He took a step closer to her, grinned and asked, "What do you think?"
If Rin didn't already know Archer's true identity, those details would not have already led her to figure it out, but also would have rather surprised her in the revelation. But as it was, there was something about what he said that surprised her- the fact that he had cared so much about her as to keep her pendant with him all his life. Of course, it'd been the catalyst to summon him, but the fact that he'd held it so dear... Ugh, stop thinking such sappy thoughts! You're a Tohsaka, elegance and grace are your bread and butter. N-no need to get so sentimental over it!
Rin walked a little closer to Archer in turn. "O-of course you should have held on to it! It was from my father after all, it was really important!" She slipped a lock of her hair behind her ear. "And, well... my world's version of Emiya-kun has his eyes out for someone else and..." She closed her eyes. "Well... my version of you. He died early on in the War. So I didn't get much time to get that out of him." Her face became serious, and she stepped a little closer "What happened to your version of me? Did you lose her like I lost my version of you?"
-
"Archer, I want you to promise me something."
Rin's hand in his was getting colder and colder in his, and those aquamarine eyes were starting to dull.
The darkness in him was curling knots in his stomach, a combination of fury and grief as he replied, "What?"
"Be happy. You're free, so don't lose this chance. I order you to live your new life happily."
He squeezed her hand and said in a low voice, "Rin . . . "
Archer sighed and said, "Let me just say that your sister isn't one of my favorite people."
-
It was only a glimmer, but Rin could see it in Archer's eyes. I must have died, or, perhaps more accurately, was killed. And from the sounds of things, Angra Manyu still had a firm hold on Sakura throughout all this. It certainly explains why he was corrupted. No wonder...
"Well, either way, there's nothing we can do for our other selves now." She crossed her arms. "W-what matters is that we're here together now, right? We can't change the past, so all we can do is keep moving forward." She smiled wryly. "Normally at this point I'd ask you to make some tea for us, but I suspect the kitchen's still a bit too destroyed for that. Still, I think we could both do with a pick-me-up I think, tea or no tea. You got any ideas?"
She suspected somewhat what he would do or suggest, but... for some reason, it didn't bother her. A part of her even wanted it...
-
He grinned at that, leaned forward and said, "I can think of a few things." He looked at her with half lidded eyes before leaning back. He folded his arms across his chest and said, "And they're not anything you're ready for yet. Unless you're feeling a bit adventurous." He grinned at that, "I may not technically be your Servant anymore, but there are a few Commands I'll obey."
He didn't really want to brave the kitchen with the Idiot and the other version of himself that had taken to little mousey girls. Hakuno was cute he supposed, but she wasn't Rin. Then again, no one was Tohsaka Rin.
-
Rin knew she should have been more careful. She knew that normally she wouldn't be letting things go this fast. But... well, really, this is what she wanted. And besides, she was a full fledged magus now, apprenticed to Zelretch, finally somewhat respected by the Association, all of which she had earned with sweat, blood, and tears. Didn't she deserve to have the one thing she had been denied? Didn't she deserve to have everything? Even if there was some sort of catch that she wasn't grasping, this was one deal with the devil she was willing to make.
She grinned at him right back. "Oh, you don't think I could handle it? I can handle plenty, believe me. You could say I'm feeling plenty adventurous tonight. But then... I don't know what I can handle until you show me, now do I?"
-
Archer watched as he could all but see the gears in her head turning. He knew she was weighing every option of this, but he felt a thrill as she grinned at him. Her aquamarine eyes were bright and there was just the faintest hint of a blush on her cheeks as she replied to him.
He smirked at her, moving a step closer, then another until he was looming over her. "I think I have a lot I'm going to enjoy showing you," he said in a low voice before bending forward. Chastely, he brushed her lips against hers, awaiting her response.
-
Rin shivered in delight, placing her arms around him as she responded with a kiss of her own, less chaste than the soft brush of his lips, but still gentle. A bit of subdued romance to build up to the big event. She could feel the leather of his coat between her fingers, the surprisingly cool touch of his lips against hers, was intoxicated by the smell of smoke and metal that she remembered oh so well.
Uncertain of what to do next to perfect the kiss in light of her inexperience, she awaited his next move.
-
The familiar followed the magus obediently. Ruu didn't know much about him for now, but he trusted Ruu in accomplishing... whatever he was supposed to accomplish. They climbed some stairs and ended up in a room he didn't quite know what to make of.
Finn addressed Ruu and the little guy answered with a nod. Silvery round eyes fell on the screen. The Familiar was used to going to theaters but he simply had to pay the fee at the entry and sit in a room full of people. Once, he tried to take on the mighty home theater available in a motel he stayed in. It didn't go well, at all. Unless one would consider having the thing smashed to pieces, a success.
Ruu stared at the screen, and he was sure it looked back, a smug grin mocking him as if to challenge and fail again, instead of overcoming his shortcomings. It would be difficult, but he had an assignment to fulfill. The child-looking puppet furrowed and pointed a finger to the arrogant TV.
"Ruu won't lose!!!"
War was declared.
----
The vehicle parked not far from the building entrance. Shuya opened the door and was immediately welcomed by the cold rain. He turned to Lawrence and gave him a nod. His trick was rather strange to stop an engine like that but seemed quite useful. And he wasn't a shitty driver either.
"Not bad, Law." He had decided to shorter his name to make it simple. Next moment, he was walking to the building. "Leave your baby stationed there for now. Sure Forest will let you bring it inside the garage if you ask."
He looked at Ran. "As for going back home, ask the magi."
After that, he gestured them to follow him inside and kicked open the front door. As soon as he stepped in, he yelled powerfully. "Bringing you some more guests, blondie!!" He probably could have just let his thoughts gather the vampire's attention, but then, it wouldn't be as obnoxious coming from him.
He still removed his dirty shoes before going further. As bad manners went, he was among the top tier, however, he still was Japanese.
-
Shirou was surprised to say the least when Forest suddenly stopped at the door, before quickly pushing him to the side. As he was about to demand an answer, he heard Rider's sultry voice from beyond the doorway, answering his question.
"Mind as well avoid an unwanted confrontation," he muttered softly, settling down against the wall. There was a strange odour hanging in the air, but he quickly brushed it off once he deemed it unthreatening.
It was only a short wait. Once he felt Rider's presence move off, he silently emerged from the corner, stopping behind Forest once more. He tapped her on the shoulder.
"Let's continue then," he said nonchalantly, as if they hadn't stopped. He was surprised to see Forest look...frazzled?
"What's wrong?" he said, concern coloring his tone.
-
Rider walked towards the exit of the apartment as quickly as possible, eager to get to Satoshi and the fun he had promised her. Once she was out of sight of Forest, she walked towards a corner. Standing close to ensure that no-one could possibly see her eyes, Rider removed her glasses, placing them in a case. Then, as quickly as possible, she changed into her battle outfit, before placing the glasses case into her pocket where Satoshi would be able to find it whilst undressing her.
Well, if I'm going to be his prisoner, it should be up to him to decide if I am allowed to see what is being done to me..., Rider thought, her arousal clear.
Rider opened the door and walked out of the apartment. Searching the horizon for the castle, she headed towards it at top speed, jumping off the rooftops to avoid people and traffic on the steets below.
I hope I'll be able to see them again, she thought. Well, most of them, anyway....
Several of the people had made a real impression on her in the short time she'd known them. Isa was a really sweet girl, and Hakuno too. She hoped they would both be OK, and could understand that she was not in danger. And, of course, there was Rin.
Not that she is going to be lonely as long as that Darkened Archer is here....
Rider did somewhat wonder how he'd ended up that way, and what had become of the Sakura in his world, but now wasn't the time to dwell on such things.
Yes, soon I'll be Satoshi's prisoner, to be tortured and raped at his whim. Or, even better, he'll be my prisoner.
The thought of what he would do to her aroused Rider greatly. She could only imagine all the ways he would torment and pleasure her body. As her panties got wetter and wetter, she idly wondered if they would end up in her mouth, being used to gag and humiliate her. She wasn't sure if she wanted that or not, but the thought that it might happen, and that she would be unable to do anything to prevent it, was definitely turning her on. The thought of being helpless and at Satoshi's mercy was arousing her beyond all belief, as was the hope that mercy was not something he intended to show much of....
Rider finally arrived at the castle, only to have an immediate problem.
How do I get in?
She noticed a large door, but this was a magical castle, and even with her strength it was unlikely she could break through. She approached the door, considering how best to gain entrance. Then, she noticed a small white box with a button, dwarfed by the massive door. A doorbell.
Well, I guess there's no harm in trying, she thought, pressing the button.
-
"come in Rider, door's open. Follow the blue line on the floor and don't bother the knights or Alter. The knight at the door will lock up once you enter." Satoshi announced before cutting off suddenly.
-
Lawrence nodded as Shuya walked inside, yelling at the landlady. Really, this wasn't his first choice in residence - the two powerful spiritual entities, actually three when he looked closer and concentrated, made it rather risky. It was like walking into the very lair of the dragon.
'Even though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I shall fear no evil...'
For I am the baddest motherfucker in that valley...
Killing the engine, he stepped out, heading to the trunk to grab his weaponry - no way he was leaving that in the Firebird yet. That duffle bag had cost him a pretty penny, 2 grand of the Don's money. Besides, Lawrence still needed to load the things.
"Well, Ren, time to talk to the wizards. Careful, as they're subtle and quick to anger." Well, at least from the rumors of the Twilight Network, they were. And powerful enough to erase him from reality with a thought, fuck with time, and a multitude of other things, including mind control and necromancy.
Lawrence opened the door of the Firebird for her, rain still pouring down. Chivalry might be dead but it paid not to piss off people with swords.
-
Rider acknowledged Satoshi's comment. Realising she would need to be able to see in order to follow the line, and knowing that she would want her eyes active once the battle began anyway, Rider removed her blindfold, placing it in her pocket for Satoshi to use later if he desired and put back on her glasses. Then, she pushed the door, which swung open.
She walked into the castle and looked around. However, she saw nothing but solid black stone walls, without even the seams that would come from a normal building process. It just looked eerie. There was a single knight at the door, the Red Dragon that was the symbol of Satoshi's mother emblasoned on his shield and breastplace. Once Rider had moved out of the war of the door, the knight locked it, as Satoshi had said he would.
Rider knew that there was no going back now. She could no longer leave the castle without permission. Her anticipation grew, it would only be a matter of time now before she would be at Satoshi's mercy, or he at hers.
Her arousal growing, and her panties getting wet, Rider looked at the floor and found the blue line Satoshi had said would be present. As instructed, she followed it through the castle, passing through empty room after empty room, with only the occasional knight on her route.
She continued to follow the line, wondering where it would end, anticipating the coming battle, and the aftermath of it.
-
Satoshi smiled as Rider came into view. Satoshi breathed out slowly spreading his bare feet apart and standing to his full height. Normally being shirtless in front of Rider would have made him embarrassed but the curse overrode his sense of modesty.
"Welcome Rider, are you ready? Or do you want to rethink your demands? I'm honor bound to ask at least once" he said greeting her seriously.
-
Rider licked her lips as Satoshi came into view. She ran her eyes over his attractive body, knowing that very soon she would be enjoying it, one way or another.
After a few moments of ogling, Rider heard Satoshi speak.
"Welcome Rider, are you ready? Or do you want to rethink your demands? I'm honor bound to ask at least once", he said, seriously.
In response, Rider smiled and removed her glasses, placing them back in the case which she then put back in her pocket, her mystic eyes taking effect. She knew, of course, that her eyes would not turn Satoshi to stone, but they would at least slow him down. Then, she spoke.
"I have no desire to rethink, this is going to be fun" , she said, taking a fighting stance. "Soon, one of us will be bound, naked and helpless before the other, to be treated as we desire".
Rider licked her lips, her arousal growing once more and more wetness appearing in her panties.
"You are a very attractive man, Satoshi. If I am victorious I shall have great fun with your body...", she said, a sadistic smirk appearing on her face.
Rider stayed there in her battle position, awaiting Satoshi's response, and the beginning of the battle.
-
"use whatever you see fit, I'll only use my own hands in this fight" Satoshi declared rushing Rider stopping short to try and spook her into attacking.
-
Rider smiled at Satoshi's words, and the arrogance he seemed to be showing.
"Are you so confident that you would not even use weapons?" she asked, smiling, before he rushed towards her.
As he did so she jumped backwards. Normally, she would have just dodged his attack and looked for an opening, but right now she knew she had to take the initiative. If the fight went on too long, she would end up running out of prana. So, as she leapt, she threw her nail in the direction of Satoshi's chest, hoping to catch him off guard as he attacked.
-
Satoshi smiled blocking the attack by letting the nail sink right through his hand. Blood gushed from the wound. It was mostly a fear tactic but he could now create a fire trail across the chain if he needed to.
-
Rider was somewhat surprised that Satoshi's best effort at blocking the nail was to let it pass through his hand. But, whilst she was somewhat suspicious of his motives, she had to make the best of the opportunity he'd given her. So, using the chain embedded in Satoshi's hand, she attempted to swing him into the wall, preparing to throw her other nail in order to pin him to it when he was stunned.
-
Satoshi let Rider do as she wished and twitched as the second nail sunk into his right shoulder. "if this is all you have as resistance against an opponent I fear you'll fall apart when I start to work you over as you asked. I hate weak opponents." he remarked annoyed.
-
Rider frowned at his words.
"Weak, really? I'm not the one currently pinned to a wall...", she said, mockingly.
Even so, she was rather wary. He appeared to be trapped, but the nonchalent way in which he was acting made it seem like he was just playing around, and he didn't seem at-all worried about the situation. Normally, Rider would walk up to her apparently-helpless captive, but she suspected from his attitude that doing so would be an error, particularly unarmed.
"You know, I'm really going to enjoy punishing you for your arrogance later", she said.
With that, she pulled hard on the chain attached to the in Satoshi's hand, intending to yank it out whilst he remained pinned to the wall. Or pull his arm off, either worked....
-
Satoshi squeezed his hand to keep the chain from moving and using his blood as trigger set the chain on fire tearing free from the wall causing blood to splatter everywhere and pool at his feet. "Steel is my body and fire is my blood" he remarked as his body began to regenerate.
"I have over three thousand units of prana and this room will eventually be covered in my blood." he told her laughing.
-
Rider screamed in pain as the intense flame burned her hand. She rapidly let go of the nail and, her prana supply to it cut, it quickly demateralised. She watched, stunned, as Satoshi pulled himself off the wall in what seemed to be the most painful manner possible, the nail going sideways through his body and remaining stuck in the wall.
There was blood spurting everywhere. But, Satoshi rapidly began to heal, chanting part of his father's mantra as he did so. Rider, meanwhile, attempted to pull her remaining nail out of the wall, seemingly defenceless.
Then, laughing, Satoshi spoke to Rider.
"I have over three thousand units of prana and this room will eventually be covered in my blood." he told her laughing.
"Why should I care? I'm a servant, remember, I don't need to breathe...", she said, glad that he was finally taking her more seriously.
Rider continued to pull on the nail, attempting to remove it from the wall before Satoshi could attack.
-
Satoshi finally felt the weight of Rider's mystic eyes. 'damn, ok guess I can't screw around any more' he thought knowing he would get slower by the second.
he smiled breathing out and rushed Rider aiming for her right wrist and her left breast to turn the tables and put her off balance. He made sure to be particularly rough in his attack to shock her as best as he could.
-
Rider smirked as Satoshi feel straight into her trap.
As he rushed towards her, she rapidly resummoned the nail she had previously dismissed, whilst dematerialising the nail that was stuck in the wall. She thrust the nail towards his chest just as he got into range, before jumping backwards and, then, throwing her other nail at his right leg, intending to incapacitate him at least temporarily.
"How long have you known me, Satoshi?" she said, mockingly. "And isn't your own mother a servant? How could you forget something so basic?"
-
Satoshi laughed "You have no idea how much worse you've made things for yourself" he replied jumping back to avoid the attack before tearing the nail from his arm.
Satoshi frowned and then muttered in an anger "fuck this" as he struck wall causing the ceiling to begin rapidly collapsing.
-
Rider felt a surge of sexual excitement run through her at Satoshi's words. She wanted him to be angry with her, to treat her harshly, and it seemed her actions had succeeded in that. Apparently he didn't like being made to look like a fool.
"What, did being outsmarted wound your pride or something?" she said, mockingly.
But, as she spoke, Satoshi struck the wall hard. To Rider's horror, the ceiling started to collapse. Dodging pieces of falling masonry, she looked around frantically for an exit, but there was none to be found. Satoshi had sealed the room.
Seems like I lost, thought Rider.
But, arousal rather than fear was her immediate feeling, as the ceiling collapsed on her.
When I wake up, I will be bound in Satoshi's torture chamber, ready for a harsh punishment she thought, her panties becoming wet at the thought.
She continued to dodge falling bits of ceiling, but she knew she had lost, and was mostly looking forward to how she would awaken. Her main goal was to ensure that she did not get trapped in a manner that would kill her.
Eventually, though, there was no escape. A large piece of the ceiling fell down and, accepting the inevitable, Rider allowed it to crash into her head, instantly knocking her unconscious.
As it happened, her final thoughts were of the position in which she would awaken, and the punishment she had been promised and had seemingly made worse through her success in fighting off Satoshi for so long. When Satoshi reached her, he would find her panties to be rather damp.
-
Satoshi had collapsed the room but between Avalon and Angra's influence on him Satoshi only stayed down for ten minutes. He pushed up through the rubble and took Rider away deeper into the castle to treat her wounds and be hostile and dominating as Rider had requested.
-
Forest felt Shirou's hand on her mostly bare shoulder and turned to look at him.
Normally she would have blown off his question with a quip and chatted while she got clothing for others. She had the feeling if she tried that with him, he would have either clammed up or pressed until she confessed. Neither of which she really wanted, and besides, she was starting to get angry at the way most of the people were treating this poor man.
She knew fully well walking the "path of the hero" was a lonely one and often a thankless one. And sometimes there were things that needed to be done that were unpleasant. It also looked like Shirou didn't have anyone to help keep his humanity, until he was just a cleaner preventing the next catastrophe.
In someways, it was looking into a mirror that could actually give her a reflection, and she had been in his shoes before. Then Gabriel had been born, but Shirou didn't have some miracle child to raise. All he had was himself, and she knew that was the quickest path to damnation, or in his case, a shallow grave.
She bit her lip, gestured, and answered, "I'm just sort of flustered that's all, I already know trying to keep peace here is a giant, never ending chore. Not to mention I was half naked in front of a very horny Rider. I'd eventually like to end my celibacy, but she's really not my type. Not to mention, other than Isa and her sister, pretty much everyone is being an utter ass to you with not a lick of understanding. And I had a Faerie blow up on me- never had that happen before. Now I'm blathering away like a complete idiot. While gore covered and indecently exposed. So, let's go take care of the girls before I insert my size Ten in my mouth again."
******
Archer felt Rin cling onto him, pulling him closer and slowly brushing her lips against his. He could sense her puzzlement; she probably expected him to just ravish her. He didn't want to do that; he knew he was going to lose every ounce of control he had left with her, but until then . . .
He was going to make up for lost time.
So he slowly began to untie her hair from its ribbons as he deepened the kiss just a bit more, flicking her lips with his tongue.
*****
Lancer returned to see Shuya with another man and woman. He folded his arms, looked at his friend and said, "You don't need to make such a fuss. Besides, I think if you keep calling her 'Blondie' you're going to have to retract your boys from your stomach the next time she gets pissed at you."
-
Finn was a bit startled to see the little familiar challenge the tv, but his mind worked quickly. It had to, he knew Forest would hardly appreciate it if her tv got destroyed too. He turned to Ruu and took the same tone of a superior officer that he had before.
"You gotta stay strong, soldier. That tv's not gonna fall to conventional means, no sir. Not if we want a victory." He gestured to the images moving on the screen. "Nope, we beat this thing by watching it, and watching it hard. Our objective? Observe the images and see what we can learn about 'em so we can pass the info to Miss Haku when she gets up here." He smiled. "Well, that, and have fun watching them. That too. You think you can do that for me, soldier?"
***
Rin felt Archer's fingers run through her hair as he untied her hair ribbons, and shuddered in anticipation as his tongue flicked against her lips. Her lips parted ever so slightly as she helped deepen the kiss even further.
-
Once he felt her lips part against his, Archer took no time into deepening the kiss. His head was swimming at the taste and feel of her against him like this, and he began to entice her to join him in their dance of lips and tongues. Absently, the ribbons fell to the floor and he ran a hand through her thick, raven hair while the other held her close as they kissed.
-
Rin herself was feeling heady, intoxicated at him holding her so close, his fingers now intertwined with her hair. His tongue danced with her own, inviting her to join, and she did so gladly, the intensity of their kiss becoming so great for her that she began to lose all sense of anything else other than him, his smell, his touch, his taste. Her senses were entirely dominated by him, and she found herself not caring one bit, instead just hoping that he wouldn't stop, that he'd take it further.
-
Archer could feel her warmth under his finger tips as they continued to kiss. Almost reluctantly, he parted lips and caught his breath, letting her do the same. His eyes were dark, and he was smiling as he stroked her hair back. He enjoyed its thickness under his finger tips and how it curled ever so slightly at the ends.
His heart was racing and he guided them to the bed, sitting down and gently pulling her beside him before kissing her again.
-
Rin took in a deep breath as their lips parted. She felt somewhat disappointed having it end, but the feeling soon dissipated as she looked up and caught his eyes, something dark stirring within the steel grey of his pupils as he smiled and ran his fingers through her hair.
Archer guided her to her bed, and Rin felt as if her heart would burst out of her chest. She felt almost dizzy from the combination of anticipation, excitement, and nervousness as he pulled her down gently beside him and caught her lips with his own once more.
Now more confident in what she needed to do, she replied passionately, allowing her tongue to brush playfully and softly against his lips, hoping he'd respond in kind, and hold her tightly against his huge, muscular form and leading in to even greater things than just these kisses alone.
-
Archer was at first surprised by Rin's response, but that bled away to sheer need as he kissed her in kind. As always, she was a fast learner and that thrilled him. Need was starting to pulse through his veins as he caressed her hair and sides. He moved kisses from her lips down her cheek to gently nibble at her ear.
His fingers found her gentle curves and took one of her small yet supple breasts in his palm and cradling it there as he teased her ear.
-
Rin let out a small gasp as he nibbled on her ear, and let out a small sigh as she felt his calloused fingers massage her breast and sides. Even without the intense warmth that she remembered, there was still enough there that it felt quite pleasant. She felt her loins begin to ache and throb, demanding more, demanding that he go even further.
-
He smirked as he heard her gasp and felt her nipple harden against his palm. Teasingly, he rubbed it with his thumb and forefinger through the fabric with a smile. Then without missing a beat, he let her go long enough to remove his jacket and shirt.
The red pattern was prevalent more on his left side than his right. The intricate lines looked like a tattoo that had been delicately etched into his skin. His thick muscles were carved with scars, including a heavy one over his heart. If Rin had been able to see his back, she would have seen Gae Bolg's exit wound on the other side. Smiling, he reached out to tug on her red sweater with one hand as the other rested on her thigh, strumming the white skin just above where her thigh high began.
"May I?" he asked with an eager grin.
-
Rin couldn't help but groan a little as he rubbed at her nipple. He released her and took off his jacket and shirt. She eyed his body appreciatively, from the smooth copper tones of his skin to the delicate red lines that painted his body to the various scars to his refined muscles, all to hold her tightly against him as he drove himself inside her, ravaging her as he-
Jumping ahead, jumping ahead, Rin thought to herself, now even more flushed.
But he tugged at her shirt with one hand and began to stroke the exposed skin of her inner thigh, and her nether-regions began to throb even harder in anticipation.
"May I?" he asked with an eager grin.
Too breathless to speak, she could only give him a quick nod. Or maybe I'm not jumping ahead after all.
-
Grinning, Archer freed Rin of her shirt and then deftly took off her bra. He shifted, feeling himself already hard and swollen, his pants become a small torture, and stared at her. Blushing, eyes bright and raven hair spilling over her, he swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry.
He moved over her, gently pressing her to the bed as his lips brushed against the coppery pink point of her right nipple. His hand on her thigh moved up her skirt to lightly stroke the soft cotton of her panties. He could feel dampness there and he groaned as he laved her nipple. He said in a low voice, not quite a growl, "I am going to kiss you here, Rin."
-
She gasped a little as she felt the warmth of Archer's tongue against her nipple, and couldn't help but cry out a little as he felt him stroke at her through her panties. She was surprised at just how good it felt, just having his fingers caress her down there. She could feel her undies continue to dampen, and to her surprise she felt herself squeeze and tighten, throbbing and clamping.
He said in a low voice, not quite a growl, "I am going to kiss you here, Rin."
Just the sound of his voice intensified what she was already feeling. But she was a bit confused as well. He's not just going to... well, j-jam it in there?
But from the feeling she was getting just having him touch her down there... having his lips and his tongue at play had to feel divine. She almost nodded, but realized he likely couldn't see it. "Do it," she gasped. "T-that's an order."
-
Archer grinned at Rin's demand and leaned up to kiss her one last time.
"Nice to know you can be sensible about this. I was half afraid you'd tell me know and I was going to have to press the issue," he said as he began to trail kisses down her breasts and stomach while lifting her skirt up. He eyed her, enjoying the view as he reached down to her panties. The proper thing would have been to just take them off, but as he kissed down her smooth, ivory skin he thought, The hell with that.
With a tug he pulled them off, the sound of tearing fabric filling the room. Need was making him ache and throb, but he couldn't just dive into her. Not yet. Besides, he wanted to see and taste her. Need to hear her screams over and over again. The white cotton fell to the floor as he placed his head between her thighs.
He eyed the slit that guarded the haven of her body before bluntly licking it, tasting her musky tanginess on his tongue. Then he gently spread her open, admiring the pristine pinkness of her folds as they glistened with her arousal. "Its pretty," he said in a rough voice as he studied her.
Then he began to lick, focusing on the tiny nub at the apex of her folds to get it to swell.
-
"Hey! I-it's not like I'd deny something if I know it'll feel-" Rin stopped talking the moment he stopped with those sweet kisses down to between her thighs and felt him taste her. The sheer ecstasy of his tongue, so wonderfully warm against the lips guarding the way inside her, the pressure and movement- she couldn't help but cry out, feeling herself contract and squeeze, contract and squeeze.
She felt Archer open her up, and she shuddered once more in sheer anticipation.
"Its pretty," he said in a rough voice as he studied her.
She blushed even further than she was already blushing from her arousal, but didn't reply beyond that, being too preoccupied with the pleasure she was feeling to articulate a decent reply.
Then his tongue began to caress her womanhood.
She began to moan- never had she felt something like this before. This was beyond any form of pleasure she'd experienced, it was ecstasy, heaven, and there was no way in hell she was letting him stop, not when it just felt so damn good.
Upon thinking about it, Rin found herself feeling quite happy that she hadn't asked for him to just jam it in.
-
Her moans spurred Archer on. He licked more, focusing on that tiny bead that was starting to retract back into his hood. He knew enough that means she was getting closer and closer. So he wrapped his lips around that tiny nub and sucked.
His head was spinning, he wanted her to fall again and again. Her wetness was smearing on his mouth and chin, but he didn't care. If anything he was getting drunk on it. Prana was starting to snap through his circuits again, but that was something he was distantly aware of. All he knew was the sweet tang of Rin on his tongue and that blissful agony that was telling him to take her. To fill her and then thrust into her again and again.
Right now though, he wanted to hear her fall, so he sucked harder, his need making him clumsier.
-
Rin no longer had much consciousness of the world around her. Only him sucking on her, only the intense, overwhelming nirvana that almost bordered on being painful it was so strong, only the contractions that kept going on and on and on, begging for something to hold, to be filled.
She was faintly aware of herself let out a cry that was almost a scream, but she didn't care, just as long as this feeling didn't stop, this wonderful, powerful feeling. More than ever she wanted him inside her, to answer the sheer intense need as her body begged for it more and more.
"D-do it!" she cried. "J-jam it in!"
Some tiny part of her felt rather embarrassed about saying that, but right now, with how she was feeling, she couldn't give less of a damn.
-
Archer laughed at Rin's request and gave her quivering folds a gentle kiss. He moved up beside her and kissed her ear while his fingers toyed were his mouth had just been. He whispered, "If I just j-jamed it in right now it would hurt a lot."
He felt the barrier that was proof of her innocence and gently pressed it. He manged to slide his index finger into her, moving it in and out of her. Her tight, velvety walls gripped him like a vice and soaked him. He kissed her cheek and nuzzled her. "Just let me open you up a bit and then . . . "
He was so revved up he could barely stand it, and it was currently becoming agony. So he suggested, "Help take these damned pants off."
-
Rin's embarrassment finally awakened to her consciousness as her entire face turned red. She found it very difficult to formulate a reply as his fingers worked their way inside her, but somehow managed to anyway. "Well I-I guess if you think you can lessen the pain-"
She gasped again as his finger slid inside her, in and out, in and out. She could feel herself clamp around it ever so hard, and it felt so good inside her that she couldn't help but let out another moan.
He kissed her cheek and nuzzled her. "Just let me open you up a bit and then . . . "
Even as buzzed as she was, the sweetness of the gentle kiss and nuzzle was still a comfort, and she couldn't help but nuzzle right back.
But he also seemed... almost like he was in pain. "Help take these damned pants off."
It didn't take long to figure out the source of his agony, and with trembling fingers she began to unbutton his pants and slide them down. His bulge was quite visible and noticeable through his tight pants, and even more so once she exposed his underwear. Her hands shaking even more, she stripped it off, revealing his huge, erect member.
Looking at the sheer size of it, she now understood the meaning behind his words. Rin couldn't help but wince a tiny bit- that was going to hurt. But at the same time... oh dear God did she still want him inside her, pain or no pain. But she decided to be patient and let him open her up as much as possible- after all, the less pain there was, the better it would feel.
-
"Well, I can't promise that it won't hurt, but . . ." Archer bit back a groan as he was free. He was distracted, but the feeling of Rin around his fingers and her nuzzling back was intoxicating. He wanted to be in her, hilt deep with that hot, velvety tightness surrounding him. He didn't want to know where she began and he ended. He wanted to spill himself into her over and over again.
She was oggling him and he felt heat rise in his cheeks at her frank appraisal. He was hard, swollen, and leaking at the tip for her. He was at his limits, but she was so tight around his finger. He kissed her cheek again and said, "I . . . need . . . for you to relax."
-
She couldn't help but smile mischievously at him blushing. Even embittered, turned cynical, and free of inhibitions thanks to being influenced by all the evils of the world, deep down he was the same old Emiya-kun. But her smile faded as he kissed her cheek again.
"I . . . need . . . for you to relax."
She blinked before nodding. "I-I'll try."
Rin tried to think of something to turn herself off. She quickly settled on one of the fancier television remotes. So reeking of technology, so confusing, so many useless buttons...
She felt herself release Archer's finger, to her relief. Now her body's true desire could finally be fulfilled.
-
Archer sighed as Rin relaxed around his finger. She was still tight, but she wasn't clamping down on him like a vice. Satisfied that this was as good as it was going to get, he rolled so he was above her.
Rin was hot and silken, slick and ready for him. He was hard and aching for her and he positioned himself to ease into her. The sight of her open as she was would be forever burned into his memory. With a kiss, he began to sink himself into her, feeling her body resisting him.
Whispering an apology, he drew his hips back and pressed forward with one, hard thrust.
-
Rin screamed as he plunged into her, both dizzy from just how much it hurt and from just how good it felt to be filled by him. She could feel a different sort of liquid run down her loins- blood. She reached out for him, seeking extra comfort.
But agonizing as it was, quickly it became more than worth it. She felt herself gripping tightly onto him, his presence inside her both comforting and pleasurable all at once. She felt herself being filled by his seed, and the warmth of it filling her felt wonderful.
Rin didn't want him to leave her. She wanted him to stay. Bit by bit, the pain started lessening, nullified by her ecstasy. This... felt right. Really right. And in that very moment, she felt like she had everything she could ever want or need.
-
It didn't take long.
As soon as he was inside of her, surrounded by her tight warmness, his control shattered. He began to thrust, instinct guiding him as much as Rin's gasps. Lightning was crackling in his veins and he couldn't keep himself in check.
He held her tightly as he spilled himself into her with a gasp. He laid there, weak, spent, and trembling before sliding out of her. He felt himself mentally cry out at the loss, but he was holding Rin in his arms.
His cheeks were bright red, embarrassed that he had lost control so quickly. He stroked her hair back, looked sheepish, and managed to say, "Ah, I'm sorry . . ."
-
To her surprise, Archer seemed to be as warm as he used to be again, like the fires of an eternal forge. It made being held so tightly in his arms all the better, and she decided then and there that this was one of the greatest nights of her life.
She turned to look into his eyes, only to find that his ears were a bright red, as were his cheeks.
He stroked her hair back, looked sheepish, and managed to say, "Ah, I'm sorry . . ."
She looked at him confused. "Huh? What are you even apologizing for? You didn't do anything wrong. A-as far as I know anyway. Don't beat yourself over... w-whatever it is." She hugged him tightly. "You know, for as cunning and clever as you are, sometimes you can still be a real idiot." A naughty smile crept on her face. "By the way... you're adorable when you blush."
-
At her teasing, he found himself blushing even more.
He replied with a slight pout, "I am not adorable. I'm corrupted by all the World's Evil you know."
He did look down for a second and said, "I normally have better control at this." But Rin was happy. She was happy and hugging him, so he just snuggled into the blankets with her. He found himself toying with her hair as he studied her.
"Are you okay?"
-
Rin's turned a bit evil as she looked back up at him to see his intensified blushing and pouting. "You keep telling yourself that~ You're so cute when you pout."
Then she frowned a bit, still somewhat confused, but the pieces fell together. "Is it about you releasing? Geez, don't get yourself worked up over it, it's fine. It felt good, that's what matters."
He snuggled into the blankets closer to her, and she responded in kind, tired, but quite happy from the euphoria that had come before. He was playing with her hair, which got a slightly bigger smile out of her. She sighed in contentment as she leaned against him.
"Are you okay?"
"Well, I kind of ache.... but that's to be expected. Otherwise..." She closed her eyes, just allowing herself to be surrounded by his presence. "I couldn't be happier," she murmured.
Feeling the most satisfied she ever had been in her life, she rested peacefully in his arms.
-
Shuya shook his head. "Okay, you didn't need to bring this up." Memory was still fresh, and his testicles probably wouldn't survive another hit like this. He still chuckled. "Besides, she totally called me a cunt. Can't think how I could be any lower on the friendship meter. And, if she ever feels like doing it, don't think any previous behavior would save my twin set." With a grin, he added, "Plus, Blondie isn't that bad. "Forest" sounds off. I'm Japanese, and I don't think she enjoys being called フォレスト(Foresuto)."
With a thumb, the swordsman pointed to Lawrence and Ran.
"This is Law, and the girl's called Ran. They needed a place to stay, so I brought them in." With his chin, he indicated the spear user. "And this man is Lancer. Bit of an asshole, but he's alright compared to the average people around." With this out of the way, Shuya smiled widely at Lancer and patted his shoulder. "Now, be a good groom and take care of them 'til your Landlady mind showing up." He walked past him. "Gonna find some clothes and soak in hot water for a bit. Once done, I expect you to show me the way the Irish drink."
----
Ruu nodded. It made sense that he couldn't win last time. It was like a staring contest between the Familiar and the Machine. But it also had the added difficulty to have him focus on what happened on said screen.
Gulping with anxiety,"Ruu will do its best," he confirmed. The creature looked at the man, searching for a nickname. "Does it have to stay alone or will the Ouzel watch with Ruu?"
Out of all animals in the Celtic tradition, these birds were known for protecting their own flock. Since, he was looking after his sibling, it made sense for the Familiar to name him as such.
----
Shuya soon found himself out of the unoccupied bathroom he stumbled across earlier. It took him a bit of a search, but he eventually found something to wear, stuff about his size, if a bit too tall, yet something was horrible with the design. Who the hell would pick such flashy Hawaiian shirts? Maybe it had been Lancer's room? He grimaced, not expecting this coming from the guy.
He sighed longly. "Hopefully he got better taste in booze." Never ever Touzaki Shuya prayed in his life, but this, was his dearest wish at the moment.
-
"I'm just sort of flustered that's all, I already know trying to keep peace here is a giant, never ending chore. Not to mention I was half naked in front of a very horny Rider. I'd eventually like to end my celibacy, but she's really not my type. Not to mention, other than Isa and her sister, pretty much everyone is being an utter ass to you with not a lick of understanding. And I had a Faerie blow up on me- never had that happen before. Now I'm blathering away like a complete idiot. While gore covered and indecently exposed. So, let's go take care of the girls before I insert my size Ten in my mouth again," Forest ranted, her cheeks tinged with red. Shirou blinked at the sheer volume of words, but didn't comment, figuring it would be best to let her get it off her chest.
Once she stopped, he tried his best to smile reassuringly, squeezing her bare shoulder comfortingly.
"Don't worry, you're doing fine at keeping the peace. Much better than I ever could. Anyway, lets hurry up and find you and the twins some clothes, huh? I have a feeling it'll help with that flustered feeling," he said, trying to inject some positivity into his voice. He would have hugged her, but quickly realised that hugging a flustered woman in rags was probably a bad idea. Instead, he settled with patting her shoulder, before turning away.
He turned his head towards her. "As for people's treatment of me...I can handle myself. After the things I've done, I've realised that I deserved the cold shoulder. But..." Shirou faced her once more, a genuine smile on his face, "I'm really grateful you believe in me. You and the twins. I hope I can repay that faith someday."
-
Lancer grinned at his one armed friend and said, "Well, you were being a cunt at the time, boyo. Well, go soak yourself until you return feeling and I'll look after these two."
He grinned at the newcomers. The grin didn't falter when he smelled that the slouching, scruffy looking man that Shuya had called "Law" reeked of blood. There was something about him, something that told Lancer that this man walked with death, and not in the way Lancer, Shuya, or Forest did. Law wasn't a warrior, he was something else, perhaps someone who had gotten involved with the forbidden.
He made a mental note to keep an eye on him.
Then he looked at Ran and smiled. Not a bad looking woman, and she carried a blade as if she knew how to use it. His choice of woman to settle down with was more of the caring type, but for a night of fun warrior women were always best. Not that he would have admitted it to Emer, the best sex he ever had was with Sacatch and Alfe. It wasn't lovemaking, but hard and brutal fucking where the women took control and made him play by his rules, even though Alfe should have submitted to him.
"Hello, welcome to this house of miscreants and misfits. I'm sure both of you will fit right in. I'm Lancer. My Landlady would like me to say that there are no fights inside the house. If you wanna duke it out, go the fook outside. Secondly, no dark mystical rites in the compound either. There are wards made by Faeries here. They can get pissy. Oh, and avoid the kitchen right now. It's been rated a disaster area until the asshole bowman gets it up and running again."
He held his hands out and asked, "So, any questions?"
******
Despite her teasing, Archer found himself smiling like an idiot at her words. He held her close, feeling her snuggling against him. He felt even happier when he realized she was cuddling next to him, curling up to him just like a cat would.
He kissed her forehead again and said, "Well, pretty soon we should go clean up." He saw the white cotton scrap on the floor and said, "Also, you have spare pairs of underwear right?"
******
Forest realized three things about Emiya Shirou in that moment. First off, the man was wonderfully warm. Secondly, he was adorably awkward around people. Thirdly, he was a kind person who's life was going to end him.
If he had of gone with his impulse to hug her, she probably would have snuggled into him just for warmth alone. However the guy was Japanese at his core and probably not that forward. The fact he was feeling familiar enough to pat and squeeze her shoulders was saying enough.
"Well, I'm just glad you've stopped calling me 'vampire'," she said with a grin before leading him to a closet that was more "small storage room" than a closet. She eyed him and said, "I think the twins might have a bit of a crush on you." I have a bit of a crush on you, but I'm not daft enough to admit it to your face, she thought.
The storage room was filled with shirts on hangers and totes filled with pants and undergarments such as socks, underwear, and simple bras. The clothing in here was simple, mostly dark or primary colors, jeans, T-shirts with pockets, turtle necks, fleeces, and sweat pants. It wasn't like anything what Forest had been wearing or the leather pants and white fitted T-shirt that Lancer sported. Everything was brand new- still sporting tags and underwear and socks were still in their packaging. It was obvious that she kept this for other people if they ever needed it.
She fished out two pairs of gray sweat pants in the twins' size, a pack of underwear and socks for them to share (there were six pairs of socks and panties per each pack), and a dark blue sweatshirt for Isa and a burgundy one for Nessa. "I think this will do for the girls to sleep in, don't you?"
-
Ah, OK, thought Kiyoshi.
Now that Connor had said so, his accent did definitely sound Irish. At the same time, though, he spoke fluent Japanese, and he was also seemingly well-acquianted with Satoshi.
And, who is this 'Coo Coolan' guy?
Connor had said the name in a way that implied he thought Kiyoshi might know it, but it was obviously an Irish name. Even with his limited knowledge of Irish culture he could tell that. So, why would Connor expect the name to be familiar?
Perhaps it was one of his father's friends, that he hadn't met in Kiyoshi's world due to the different path he'd taken.
"No, sorry, I don't know of 'Coo Coolan'. Is he one of my father's friends in your universe? My father never met him as far as I know, we don't have any Irish friends. My brother's girlfriend is Cornish, though.
And, yes, I have met Satoshi. He got corrupted by Angra Mainyu, though, and my Aunt Rider has gone off to try to help him. I hope she's OK...."
Then, Kiyoshi had a sudden thought.
Hmm, what if 'Coo Coolan' is an Irish hero.
After all, Satoshi's mother was a heroic spirit, as was Sakura's father, so it wouldn't be surprising to find another Heroic Spirit who had become a parent. And that would certainly explain why Connor would expect him to be known.
Oh, thought Kiyoshi, realising he may have inadvertantly insulted Connor.
"Oh, wait, sorry, is your father actually an Irish hero? I don't really know much about Irish mythology...", Kiyoshi said.
-
Lawrence eyed Lancer with the same sort of look the man gave him. He was one of them. The Signatures.
Rupture him. Or take his soul for your own power...
'Yeah, no. we can both smell the blood on him.'
The man before him had died of many wounds, fighting to the bitter end - the Twilight showed his death in stark contrast to his white shirt. Red vitae oozed from slashes and gaping stab wounds. This was not a man who died easily or quietly.
"So, where's the rooms?"
-
Lancer said, "Well, basement is off limits, that's the Landlady's quarters, but everything else is fair game."
Law was looking at him oddly, seeing things that weren't currently there. He made a mental note to warn his Landlady about him next time he saw Forest. If Forest saw something odd in his mind, she would freak.
-
"it figures your da would forget the man who stabbed him in the chest, CuCulain is THE Irish hero boyo. Anyway, not important enough to worry bout" Connor replied.
a moment later Sakura came over wheeling Taiga with her. Sakura had the foresight to fix the young girl's face up so that she would not appear to have been crying as she was a few moments ago.
"I think it's time we head back to the apartment, you two keep a look out." Sakura said giving out an order as she started moving forward.
-
I'd kept quiet so far, mapping the city in my head as well as I could after the giant chariot showed up, for prudence's sake. But once inside, the situation came back into focus: Instead of looking high and wide, things became close and detailed.
Which is why I noticed the split-second look that this Lancer character gave me while sizing me up. I could tell that on some level he liked what he saw, and I could say the same. I could feel the danger oozing off of him by the way he held himself, and I could see a strong, wild spirit in those eyes of his. He was a fighter, and with that fighting spirit usually came no small amount of passion when it came to other things as well.
But I didn't really have the time or the mood for hunting men right now. I haven't really had either ever since reaching Etria over a year ago as, in between the labyrinth and reining in my idiot friends, I've always had something more important to worry about.
Something which hasn't changed, despite the different scenery.
"I was told some 'magi', or 'wizards' lived here, and might know something I'd like to hear," I said once I figured Lawrence had his question answered. "Where can I find them?"
-
"Oh, I see...", Kiyoshi replied, recoiling slightly.
If this guy was anything like his father, he could be dangerous. Kiyoshi would have to be careful around him, in case he turned out to be as much of a bloodthirsty murderer as his father had been.
"He does remember. But, they only met twice, and both times my father was desperately trying to fend off a bloodthirsty mur... servant", he said, stopping himself in an attempt to avoid insulting the possibly-volatile boy. "He was not really bothered about finding out the name of his killer, and nor was your father willing to divulge that information", he added, his inherited dislike of the servant clear.
Before Kiyoshi could put his foot any further in his mouth, though, Sakura and a now-calmed Taiga came back over.
"I think it's time we head back to the apartment, you two keep a look out", Sakura said, authoritatively.
Kiyoshi didn't particularly like the tone Sakura had taken. He wasn't someone who followed orders readily. Nevertheless, he understood that this town could be dangerous, and thus took her advice.
"Is she OK?" he said to Sakura as he followed her, looking around for any danger.
-
"me da wasn't bloodthirsty, and murder was a normal part of life back then. And no, I'm not violent like that, the wee tiger would snap my head off ma neck I was like that round her brother and he and I are brothers in arms boyo." Connor chuckled.
Sakura turned to hear Kiyoshi's question but Taiga replied "The proper question is, are you ok, not is she ok. Daddy is careless but I can't imagine Sakura would ever teach you to be so rude"
-
Kiyoshi's face fell as he realised his mistake. He'd got too caught-up in talking to Sakura, and had forgotten to talk to Taiga herself.
"Oh, sorry. I was talking to Sakura, and I got carried away with that. I didn't mean to insult you...", he said, apologetically.
Then he turned to Connor.
"I understand about your father. Aunty Rider did some pretty bad things too, and she's nice. It's just that all I've ever heard about him is that he is the cause of the large scar on my father's chest, so I am somewhat wary...."
-
Finn blinked, having to think for a bit to remember what an ouzel was until he remembered faintly some of what he had been taught. He learned about the water fowl and its meaning in Celtic tradition when he was just a boy, but some of the details eluded him. Mille had always had a better head for these sorts of things than he did, but he did try his best to retain what he had been taught of his ancestor's homeland, even if he wasn't the best at it.
He gave the little familiar a reassuring smile. "I'll be here the whole time little buddy. A good soldier never leaves one of his own behind." Finn wasn't entirely sure why he continued to use military related metaphors, but eh, it worked.
Still... little guy keeps callin' himself "it." Maybe it's because I'm not too familiar with how familiars work an' all, but... doesn't he think of himself as a person? He's got thoughts and feelings just like anyone else. And the Servants are familiars too, aren't they? And they think of themselves as people. So then... what happened? Finn's eyes glazed a little, lost in thought. He knew full well how so very cruel magi could be, but the fact that a being with sentience and human levels of intelligence could think of themselves or allow themselves to be treated less than human was something that he had tremendous difficulty comprehending.
I guess then... all I can do is try my best to get Ruu to see that he's a person too. Don't know how much luck I'll have at it, but hey, don't know until I try, huh?
***
He kissed her forehead again and said, "Well, pretty soon we should go clean up." He saw the white cotton scrap on the floor and said, "Also, you have spare pairs of underwear right?"
Rin smiled at the kiss. "As a matter of fact, I do. Though I could always get you to fix the torn pair, but it doesn't matter." Her smile turned playful. "And as for cleaning up, well... you mind helping me?"
-
Connor chuckled. "Wary is good, but honestly long as you don't attack my dad he'll cause you no harm." he replied.
Taiga waited for a moment to speak "It's not insulting, its rude, good heroes aren't rude" she said.
-
Lancer tilted his head a the lass's question and answered, "Aye there are. There's a spit fire redhead running around here that might be able to ask some of your questions, and Rin. Well, once Rin isn't . . ."
He frowned. He knew exactly what that blackened asshole was doing with Rin. He didn't want Rin to get hurt. The Archer he had met had betrayed his lovely Master and left her to be raped. Luckily, Lancer had been there to prevent that, but he really didn't like the idea of the two of them together. Rin deserved better, and didn't deserve to be hurt.
He shook it off and said, "Well, Rin's busy. Landlady knows a lot about what's going on here though."
******
Archer smiled at Rin's offer and replied, "Of course I'll help. I'd be sad if you didn't ask."
-
"Then it's settled~" She grinned at him before adding, "but I expect you to be quite thorough."
-
Lawrence shouldered his bag with a slight clank as metal impacted metal. "Thanks. I'll see what's available. Though why she'd sleep in the basement slips my mind, I mean, the place is HUGE."
Kill him. He's dange-
'Again. Shut. Up. You aren't in the drivers seat. I am. And don't you fucking forget it. I let you have your way once, and that's what got us both here.'
Arrogant being of flesh. You owe me your life.
'I do, and I'd rather not waste it on trying to kill someone relatively harmless unless we piss him off.'
"So, should I call up some takeout then as the kitchen's all fucked up?"
-
"I think the twins might have a bit of a crush on you." Forest said as she walked towards some sort of walk in closet. Shirou raised his eyes at that. Really? Well...that's awkward. Never had 14 year olds crush on him. Illya was a) older than him b) his sister; so she didn't count. He took in Forest's body language at that moment. She was hiding something, he could tell. All well, it can't be anything big...
Shirou took a quick look at the clothes she had picked out, and nodded in approval, "That should do it I think. Let's get going...after you get changed of course." He walked out to give her privacy.
-
"Well, Landlady sort of has a thing against daylight," Lancer said with a shrug. The lower level was set up rather cushly. Not that he'd ever gone into Forest's bedroom, but he'd been in her office though. The electronics there sort of scared him, however the painting of the man with a chainsaw for a hand with a damsel clinging at his leg was pretty amusing.
He looked at Lawrence and said, "Eh, the kitchen's being worked on by a sort who's really good at that sort of thing apparently."
******
Archer smirked at that as he sat up. He said, "Oh, I plan to be very thorough."
******
Forest grinned at Shirou and said, "Girls first and then I'll go clean up. Plus all of my stuff is down stairs. This stuff I keep for emergencies."
"So, let's go save the twins and your sense of modesty."
-
The familiar nodded absent-mindedly, his mind focused on the man's thoughts.
"Ruu is simply a tool, that is why." His answer came naturally. He picked up a Blu-ray box and started to read what was written on the verso. "It looks like humans to accomplish its task."
He kept silent after that. After a minute, he put back the movie where it was initially. Maybe he should explain things a bit better?
"Ruu is an artificial construction. Everything is an imitation. Bones, flesh, blood. No gender. Doesn't have brains like you, it has magic core instead." He placed his left hand where, were he a real child, his heart would have been. "Everything is empty here."
He walked up to the television and stared at his strange reflected image.
"It was born to obey. To be useful to the Master. And to protect nature. It doesn't require more than that." He could never be like the humans even if he tried because he lacked in so many areas. Ruu placed his hand on the screen, wondering how it felt to be one of them. No matter how much he would ask, no clear answer could be obtained. It was something to experience by yourself. Just like how he couldn't reach his own reflection through the screen, it would be forever inaccessible.
He felt the urge to yell his frustration, but simply kept it sealed inside as he always did.
After a moment, he just sat, facing the TV. The occasions to interact with others were too few in his long existence. He could rarely get past the barrier of appearance because of the ridiculous look his Master deemed to grant him. And people would never exchange serious words with unknown kids. Some had demonstrated a strange kind of compassion in the past, but never did it lead to something constructive.
He was a monster after all. Unable to understand a world which had evolved faster than he could adapt, it was ineluctable for humans to perceive him as such. Nobody would expect him to have such strength with such a small body. People eventually would get afraid of him and either chased the Familiar or would run away.
But it had changed tonight. For the first time in three centuries, someone reached for him. Lancer even allowed physical contact. Circumstances, as they were, didn't allow for discussion, yet Ruu was still grateful for it. As impossible to express it in words as it could be.
For once, he had found people with whom he could discuss and pass time. People who wouldn't consider him strange or worse. So, he tried showing gratitude by preparing something to eat. But he had failed miserably. Even if the words addressed to him were kind, even he would understand after seeing what he did.
But he still had a chance to help miss Haku, like she had been called. Luck or not, it would be idiotic to waste a chance to redeem himself. And all he had to do was to prove his worth. Because there was no point in useless material, he will do his best to complete the task at hand.
"Ruu is ready for the mission," he said, with a military salute.
-
It was, Doomrider concluded, a successful bust. The clown had gotten away, but Doomrider -er, Doomcop, had managed to secure the large bag of cocaine for 'Evidence.'
Parking his flaming motorcycle by Axecop, he launched out a Salute, before speaking.
"Reporting for duty! Cocaine apprehended! Need a ride boss!"
-
"Well, I have no idea how this works," Inferno Cop stated, looking down the hood of the completely regulation cop car. The engine looked okay despite its malfunction, but Inferno Cop was trusting his gut more than anything with that statement. "But yeah, she's probably busted."
Inferno Cop jumped down the monster truck and landed with a soft tap next to Doomcop.
"Lucky for us, I have my car to drive us around," Inferno Cop said, and surely enough behind him was a cop car with flaming wheels and lights. "So, let's go catch us some... er, what were we doing again?"
-
"Nice job, Doom Cop! You get to keep some, and I mean only some of that cocaine for yourself. The corruption line is squarely at 45%! Any more than that and you're a bad guy!"
Then Axe Cop turned to Inferno Cop. "We're chasing ghosts, men," he said. "I've personally never been up against one of those before, but when a buddy of mine turned into one for a while he could go through people and turn invisible. His secret attack was going through bad guys and dropping bombs in them. It was messy."
"Anyway!" With a flourish, Axe Cop whipped out three pairs of aviators identical to his own. "Here's some ghost goggles! They'll let us see the tricky buggers." He tossed one pair to each member of his team. "As for our target." He gestured to the top of the building with his grappling gun. "My, uh, gut tells me it's up there."
At least he thought it was up there. When he squinted, Axe Cop could make out a woman in a crazy looking outfit standing on the roof, looking down with an impassive face. Ghosts didn't always look the same, did they?
"In any case, let's go team! Lock and load! Inferno Cop, Cannon Cop, Grab onto me if you can't get up yourself. Doom Cop, keep that cocaine in your pocket until we're back home. You're running support from the skies with that sweet ride of yours. Make sure our ghost doesn't try floating off. Watch out for invisible bombs."
Axe Cop fired his grappling hook after giving the other cops a chance to grab on. It sailed surely and hooked to the top of the roof. With a click, the rope went taught and began drawing up the Cops at a crazy speed. Within seconds they flew over the top of the roof. Axe Cop was prepared, and made sure the landing pose was suitably cool, with him brandishing an axe in one hand and the grappling gun in his other.
"Freeze, criminal!" he yelled at the woman. "Sending out ghostly pulses of ethereal energy without a licence is illegal according to sub-section 23 of the 42nd amendment to the sub-Constitution! Show me that licence or you might get your head chopped off!"
-
Imiganai stared at the motley group of oddly dressed men; one wielding an axe with a sense of devotion similar to that of a samurai, the second was a man with a burning skull, and the third reeked of dark energy as well as looking the oddest of of the group. They had arrived in a manner that suggested that they were not Shinigami or anything along that level, she looked foully at the axe wielding man before drawing forth her Zanpakuto and pointing it at the men.
"Your words and the Laws of this corrupted era, much less that of mortals mean nothing to me" Imiganai stated calmly as the blade remained unwavering and pointed in their general direction "Your pitiful tool is of no threat to one such as myself, so cease you useless babbling and leave". Her spiritual pressure rose in a manner that one might've assumed she was either taunting the axe wielding man, feeling threatened by the human, or was pressing the point of them leaving her be as the pressure manifested as a giant amber colored Oni head roaring in the face off the men. "I am a Hollow and a Vasto Lorde not a mere ghost mortal, be thankful I am not a hollow that that feasts upon humans".
-
Kiyoshi sighed. For all her complaints about him being rude, she was doing a pretty good job of it herself.
"Look, I said I'm sorry, OK. I didn't mean to be rude", he said, somewhat irritated at her attitude. "Mum always taught me that, when someone gives a sincere apology, it is polite to accept it...."
"And, yeah, I understand", he added, turning to Connor. "If your dad is here I'm sure he'll be just fine...."
-
Lawrence shrugged and headed upstairs, seeking a room and more importantly privacy so he could lock and load what weaponry he had. He hadn't been much more than an amateur /k/iddy before his... well, death, but now it seemed that he had an almost instinctive grasp on how to operate, strip, clean, and maintain his weapons. He supposed he could thank the Redheaded Driver for that.
Lawrence figured the top floor would be the best spot to set up shop in any case.
-
"The point of what she's saying kiddo is heroes need to be aware of what is happening round em. She just ain't throwing the lessons in your face. Wee one rarely helps people so count yourself lucky." Connor laughed.
Sakura sighed realizing that Forest hadn't been exaggerating the distance. "Hey, Kiyo, don't go telling anyone I can do this." she remarked stepping over to the curb, clearing her throat and beginning to sing to activate her magic circuit. A few moments later a car materialized from the ether.
"it's a basic copy of uncle's van but it'll get us to the apartment. Seriously Kiyoshi, not a word, not about the projection or my method of magic use." Sakura announced becoming serious when addressing Kiyoshi.
"I'll drive, Kiyoshi get in the back" Connor declared opening the panel door to let the boy in.
-
Kiyoshi sighed. He could understand what Connor was saying, but Taiga had not really made any attempt to be polite towards him since they had met. He knew he had screwed up in not addressing her, but she was definitely being very rude back, and seemingly intentionally so.
As they walked on, Kiyoshi heard Sakura sigh and turn to address him.
"Hey, Kiyo, don't go telling anyone I can do this", she said, before beginning to sing and, then, materialising a car out of thin air.
Kiyoshi's jaw dropped in astonishment.
How the hell did she do that?
Even his father couldn't come close to tracing a car, and projection magic was his speciality. True, Sakura was also Shirou's daughter like he was, but that didn't mean she would have inherited his abilities.
"it's a basic copy of uncle's van but it'll get us to the apartment. Seriously Kiyoshi, not a word, not about the projection or my method of magic use", Sakura said.
Kiyoshi, still rather shocked, just nodded.
"I'll drive, Kiyoshi get in the back", added Connor as he slid open the door.
Kiyoshi got into the car as instructed. Once he was in, he turned to Sakura and spoke once more.
"How did you do that? Even our father cannot trace an entire vehicle...."
-
Connor helped Taiga into the Van and secured her before heading to the passenger's seat.
Sakura heard Kiyoshi's question and promptly replied. "I said not a word, find a way to ask without words" she said shutting the panel door and getting in the drivers seat. "we should be there in twenty minutes" she announced starting the van and pulling away from the curb.
-
Oh, for Christ's sake, what the hell is wrong with this family? thought Kiyoshi, exasperated at how ridiculous and overly-literal Sakura was being.
They were clearly not bad people, but they really did have a bizarre way of looking at the world that was nothing like anything his own parents had taught him.
"Forget it, it's not important. I can't be bothered to get into another one of those silly 'guess the right question' games...", Kiyoshi said, clearly irritated by her insistence on following the literal wording of her statement. "Maybe when I get home I'll try acting it out to Aunty Rider using charades or something, since that's not speaking...."
-
As the van headed to it's destination Taiga tugged Kiyoshi's sleeve. "Half right, Sakura is joking" she stated.
-
"So, let's go save the twins and your sense of modesty."
Shirou took a look at Forest's rather decrepit state, taking in the blood stains, and the giant tears in her clothing, revealing pale and soft skin to the world. His eyes traced the edges of rags, noting how there was a particular large rip on her chest; if she moved too much they might spill- right, right this was no time to ogle. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, before shrugging to her remark. Well, if she was fine with it, what could he do?
"Alright, if you're sure," he said, grabbing some of the clothes to help out.
"I have a feeling they're going to be pissed I was so long, but can't be helped right," Shirou said as he walked down the corridor. He suddenly stopped in place, eyes taking in the features of the corridor before turning back to Forest, "Right, maybe you should lead the way," he said with a sheepish expression, realising he had no idea where he was.
-
"Hollow? Vasto Lorde?"
Axe Cop's frown deepened. He felt like there was something he should've been noticing, but as someone for the most part unable to sense spiritual mumbo jumbo, all he felt was a pulse similar to the first one the ghost woman had released and a faint twinging in his hidden antenna. He vaguely saw some blurry shape in the air, but discarded it. Hallucinations were unprofessional. Just to be sure the woman was really a ghost, he peeked at her around the sides of his sunglasses. Nope, nothing. She was invisible without the ghost goggles that weren't really goggles but just sunglasses with ghost seeing potion on them.
"Look, lady," he growled, completely nonplussed by the sword being pointed at him. "I don't care if you're a Mexican ghost, I'm not letting you off. Now I'm not the kind of cop who assumes all people of foreign nationality are illegal immigrants, but you're not really helping your case here. First off, everyone answers to the law. You, Batman, Goku, God, everyone. Second, threatening an officer is a crime of it's own. Now I get that you're new here so I'll ignore it this once, but then there's this other stuff. I mean, eating people? Being part of a cult that practices cannibalism isn't okay, even if you aren't the one partaking. So if you no comprendo me languo, I'll let you off with a warning this time and repeat myself again."
He pulled a piece of paper from his coat, waving it around. When he spoke again, it was with the kind of voice ordinary people use to communicate with people who don't understand English.
"SEE THIS? THIS IS A GHOST LICENCE."
He stabbed the paper onto the end of the ghost lady's sword, and then stuck a few extra copies there just in case her hand writing was horrible.
"IT'S VALID EVERYWHERE. AMERICA. MEXICO. NOWHERE LAND TOO."
Then Axe Cop mimicked signing an imaginary paper with an imaginary pencil.
"YOU NEED TO SIGN THIS OR YOU ARE A BAD GUY AND I WILL CHOP YOUR HEAD OFF."
-
Shirou was oggling her.
Forest's first impulse was to hide. Even though vampires came with a side of Extra Attractive, Forest knew she wasn't exactly what was considered classically beautiful. She was too tall, too thin, and too toned. While she wasn't body builder huge, she definitely had a lot of definition. Men liked soft curves; she was lean, hard muscle. Hell, Rin had a bigger bust size than she did, but yet Shirou was discreetly checking her out and getting flustered about it.
Which was admittedly very nice.
Then he helped take some of the clothing from her. Not that she needed it due to super strength, but the gesture was still a considerate one. She moved in front of him and said, "Come on, let's go take care of the girls."
She lead him back to the shower that the twins were occupying, pausing to grab an extra couple of towels on the way. Once they were at the door, Forest knocked and called out, "Clothing service."
******
Archer looked around and noticed that the room that Rin had chosen actually had its own bathroom. It was a tiny, walk in affair but it had a shower stall, commode (he still didn't like that western twitch of having where you defecated and cleaned yourself in the same room), and sink. He eyed Rin and said, "You picked one hell of a room, Rin."
-
Oh, right..., thought Kiyoshi, realising his mistake.
In his annoyance, he hadn't even considered the possibility that she might be joking around.
"Oh, I see", he said to Taiga.
Then, turning to Sakura, he added "sorry, I didn't realise you were just joking...."
-
Sakura grunted in response.
"Don't address the driver boyo" Connor stated softly.
Sakura smiled "yeah I was but still don't tell anyone, it's a secret" she replied.
Twenty minutes later the car halted reaching the apartment.
"take the kids inside, I'll be there in a minute" Sakura told Connor as she stepped out of the car and settled on the curb.
-
Archer smirked at that as he sat up. He said, "Oh, I plan to be very thorough."
Rin smirked in turn. "I wouldn't expect anything less."
The pair got out of bed and went into the bathroom. While the bathroom was small, she was proud of herself to have gotten a room that also had it's own bathroom. It meant more privacy and no waiting, both of which were prime advantages indeed. Especially for what she expected to happen while cleaning up with Archer.
"You picked one hell of a room, Rin."
Rin beamed with pride. "But of course. Would you expect anything less?" She blushed a little. "It's not the same as home, but I could definitely do far worse." She then gave him a playful grin and gestured towards the shower stall. "So then, ready to help me clean up?"
-
Vanessa turned her attention to the door. It was a woman's voice, apparently Forest's, so there was no need to worry about being only wearing towels. She still was hugging her sleeping sister and thus, couldn't reach for the doorknob. So, she pointed a finger in its direction and pronounced a word which made the still air vibrate slightly. With a noisy sound, the door unlocked itself and spread open, allowing the newcomers to get a clear view on the two sisters.
She was surprised to find Shirou with Forest, yet didn't comment on it. She simply looked at them, and smiled impishly, as usual. "Thanks for bringing this. I'll change Isa right away, but I would need someone to carry her to a bed though." She would have done so herself, but truth was she felt exhausted as well, even if she was physically fine.
-
Archer smirked as he got out of bed. He asked, "So you're not too sore then?"
His smirk faded when he saw a bit of blood on her thighs. Rin was acting fine, but he had to have hurt her. He moved to her side and said, "Come on, let's get you cleaned up, and I can make sure you're not hurt."
******
Forest stepped forward and said, "I can help with your sister."
She also didn't want to add that she was going to check the girl's hand for a pentagram. If poor Isa had somehow gotten the curse that was going to be a whole new can of worms to deal with. Not to mention Forest needed to get her hand on a morning after pill to make sure the poor girl didn't get pregnant either.
However, saying this to her sister didn't seem like the best idea.
Forest grinned and said, "Besides, you look like you're about to drop too. I'm Forest by and by, I take it you're Vanessa right?" The vampire held out her hand to the young woman.
-
Rin was quite sore, but she didn't think anything was torn, at least as far as she could tell. Though possibly it wouldn't hurt to have him check... for more reasons than one. Still, she certainly wasn't going to show any weakness.
"It's hardly anything, I'm fine. I guess it hurts a little, but it's no big deal." She looked up at him, her expression naughty. "You going to kiss it and make it better?"
-
Archer grinned at that and he said, "It would be my pleasure to."
He moved behind her and gently wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her close. Resting his chin on top of her head, he slid his free hand between her legs. The salty tang of his seed and the coppery hint of Rin's blood hit his nostrils as silken slickness from his release met his fingers. "I should get you cleaned up," he murmured, bowing over her, yet he didn't stop moving his fingers.
"However, did you know that a man's seed makes a woman more sensitive? I wonder what it does between a magi and a tainted Servant such as myself," he whispered to her as he parted her folds. The slickness from their combined lusts made Archer's prodding smooth as silk. He started to rub around the tiny nub at the apex of her folds before prodding it directly.
-
Rin gasped before beginning to moan. It was just as he said- she could feel the pleasure from his fingers dancing around her folds even more intensely now. He began to massage her womanhood, and it felt nearly every bit as good as his lips had felt there before. The more his fingers moved, the more she decided that she was definitely up for a second round while cleaning up, soreness or not.
The only form of communication she could manage was an attempt to gesture at the shower, hoping Archer would understand the cue regardless.
-
"Ah, yes." She answered, taking the unexpectedly cold hand in hers. "Nessa is fine though." She and her sister never actually liked their given names.
The twin tried to read her intention with a glance, not quite sure how to interact with her. Usually, Vanessa never bothered to behave differently with strangers, unless when she met some specific people. There were those who would probably never accept it, those who wouldn't react from it and finally, those who intimidated her. Like her mentor. Forest gave her the same kind of impression, although she seemed much more friendlier. Her eyes though, were amazingly intriguing, fascinating even.
She broke the handshake, a bit flustered. Forest was quite the hottie, enough to make her blush sheepishly.
"Thanks again for taking care of Isa. And for letting us stay for the night, I guess." She spoke while hiding her embarrassment by looking away.
Sorry to be a bother. She never pronounced these words though. It was the best way to create an uneasy mood.
She didn't object to the vampire's request, letting her handle the sleeping girl. She would just change here and go to Isabella once done. Eventually, her eyes met Shirou and she gave him a serious look.
"Whatever happens, don't mention you saw Isa in this. She would seal away your eyesight for a month... If you're lucky,' she warned.
-
Lawrence walked past the sounds of some... rather intensive lovemaking if he was any judge, finding an unlocked an unused room a few doors down. A good a place to stay as any.
Locking the door behind him, he set to work.
The Kalashnikov was easily 40 years old, an AKM if his memory was right. Solid, reliable, would punch a hole in just about anything at 100 meters. He filled up a magazine, thirty rounds, slapped it into the weapon, and racked the slide. It was old, scratched, and somewhat battered, but the rifle worked fine. The action moved smooth as silk, and the barrel seemed perfectly serviceable. It'd do. The shotgun though... the shotgun was in much better condition. The barrel had been sawed down to the edge of the pump action and then the edges smoothed out, so the wad wouldn't catch on anything. The owner had even thrown in a slight choke, for a tighter pattern. The stock was also slightly trimmed down to make raising it to the shoulder a little quicker. It fit his like a glove, the perfect size. Filling the tube, he left the action open - the second he slid it closed it would chamber, so no need to throw on the safety either. Sighing, he collapsed on the bed. The Redheaded driver had no words for him as he slipped into a nap. They were both very, very tired.
-
Forest grinned and said, "Well, you can call me Fore then."
She smiled at the girl's bluster and said, "You're welcome, it's the least I could have done." She gently took Isa away from her older sister and began to dress her. To her relief the girl was not sporting a pentagram on her left palm. It was easier to dress her than Gabriel, then again, Isa was smaller than her godson had been. "I have a room with twin beds or if you two want to share a bed, that's doable too."
Forest grinned at Shirou and said, "You hear that, blind for a month. That's not good for a sniper you know."
******
Archer grinned, not stopping his ministrations. He continued to rub and tease Rin with his fingers. "Not yet, Rin," he whispered before nuzzling her cheek before kissing her ear. The pace of his fingers quickened, drawing more and more pleasure from his lover.
Part of this was to soothe his own ego from coming so quick and secondly he wanted to keep Rin on her toes. "We'll get to the shower soon, but first, I want you to come for me," he said with a smile.
-
She simply nodded, somewhat breathless, and nuzzled him in return as she began to comply with his request. Normally, she wouldn't like being ordered around like that, but in this case... well, her body was on it's way there anyway, and besides, this was one command she was more than happy to follow. She began to feel sweet release once again, the world feeling light and frothy, the only thing mattering now the man behind her and his touch.
-
Archer felt himself reacting to Rin's cries and just the feel of her against her like this. He was starting to harden again, lust starting to pool within his veins once more. She was nuzzling against her, openly affectionate, and he felt his chest tighten.
He kissed her as he added more pressure, drawing her bliss out as long as he knew how.
-
Rin was so intoxicated with pleasure that she felt light headed. She responded to his kiss passionately, and with a bit more confidence than she had before, she gently touched her tongue to his lips, seeking entry.
-
Archer danced his tongue in time with hers. He gently withdrew his fingers and held her close as they kissed. He started to step towards the bathroom, guiding Rin with him.
-
Rin allowed herself to be guided towards the bathroom, still overwhelmed with bliss even as his fingers had left her, enjoying the sensation of his large form against hers, of his arms surrounding her, enveloping her. She released him from the kiss and simply placed her head against his abdomen, having him lead the way.
-
As Axe Cop landed, so did Doom Cop... er, Doomrider, his flaming motor bike powersliding across the rooftop as he rode it like a skateboard to a halt behind the boss.
"AND I'll THROW IN A BAG OF COCAAAAAINE IF YOU SIGN!!!!"
Flashing the holy horns of METAL, Doomrider struck a pose. Truly, no one could resist this offer.
-
"Indeed, I'd rather not lose my eye sight over something so trivial," Shirou remarked dryly, handing Nessa the clothes whilst looking the other way. He heard Forest offering to carry Isa, and shrugged. He would protest, but given what she had done with a car door, she would probably be fine carrying the unconscious girl.
"If you need any help, just holler," he said over his shoulder. Once he had waited for a reasonable amount of time, he turned around and saw Forest, still dressed in battle-torn rags, with the small figure of Isa limp in her arms.
His breath was roaring in his ears as he sprinted at full pace towards the semi-destroyed Einzbern Castle. Rin had gone ahead to warn the homunculus whilst he and Archer had attempted to hold off Assassin and Zouken. However, Zouken had disappeared before his eyes using some form of magecraft, whilst Assassin had managed to give Archer the slip, dealing severe damage to his alternate self in the process. He pumped prana into his legs and sped forward, eyes picking out the large doors of the castles hanging open. He couldn't let another person die.
He burst into the lobby, Kanshou and Bakuya in hand, ready to fight. The lobby was still cracked from a previous fight between Berserker and another Servant, long gashes scouring the marble surface of the floors and walls. Most of the lights were broken, leaving long shadows, in which Assassin could hide. Shirou stepped cautiously through the room, flares revealing small knives embedded in the ground, burn marks, and the crushed bodies of worms and winged sharp-fanged insects. Zouken had been here.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching from a side door. He released Bakuya, and withdrew the Calico he had found in the shed at his house, a remnant of Kiritsugu's past discovered after Sakura's sacrifice. The door flew open, and Rin, battered, bright red clothing ripped stepped out. Her face was grim, and her aquamarine eyes shined with barely withheld tears of remorse. Shirou's eyes dropped to the familiar small body in her arms, and his heart sank as he made out a large patch of red in her purple clothes. He gritted his teeth.
"I'm sorry Shirou. We got separated," Rin said, voice trembling. She handed him the body, and he was able to see the giant hole blasted into his sister's heart.
Blinking against the sudden memory influx, he quickly looked over the trio, seeing that they were ready to go.
"Do you still need my help settling in?" he asked, trying to inject some positivity into his voice.
-
Nessa took the clothes offered by Shirou with a smile and started to dress. He was quite strange around people, in spite of his reputation. She noted with amusement that they had picked a similar set of clothes for them, save for the sweatshirts. It was obvious those were brand new but Nessa would have prefered the blue. It was always Isa who ended up with the best stuff.
Feeling better now surrounded in dry and warm clothing, the twin started to bounce up and down nervously, as she waited for the vampire to finish changing Isa. She seemed to be looking for something apparently, which intrigued the young magus. However, Nessa still had to give her an answer.
"I think it's probably better if we share the same bed. Isa would probably crawl up to mine in the middle of the night, anyway."
That was when she noticed Shirou's face. He was staring at Forest and Isabella, and for some reason, he seemed to tense for a second. It didn't last for he proposed his help soon after.
Nessa gave him a wink. "We'll be fine, Shirou. You did more than enough. Isa will want to talk to you, so, don't think about running away." Then, she remembered her sister's request. "Although, I need to find that Rider girl. Isa told me she needed some prana. Any idea where I could find her?"
----
Shuya finally found his way back to the first floor. His whole body felt sore, a good reminder to not abuse the Inversion. Although he never actually went too far and only allowed himself to stay in that state for a set period of time, it was still a dangerous process that backfired like a motherfucker once the effects were gone. Granted, the shower helped in relaxing his now sensitive body, but only just a bit. It didn't get rid of the pain, and given Shuya's high tolerance to it, it justified in itself the fact to not invert so soon.
At least, his violent impulses would be kept in check for a bit. But, eventually, he would have to go hunt some serious prey. For now, all he wanted, was to drink and a good smoke. His search for tobacco material had been fruitless and he almost got lost on his quest for it. The place was huge, and he wondered how loaded the centuries old woman could really be.
His random stroll lead him back to Lancer. "Time for the heroic tales around a good drink" he declared. Shuya expected more people to join, but he knew that Rider had her suicide run, Forest was probably still busy, the Irish guy and his sister were nowhere to be seen, Law probably went fetching for his own place and the douchebag had disappeared with the twin-tails princess. The asshole's twin was probably sticking around the shield girl. The magus mercenary... He didn't give a fuck about him. As long as he would stay away, he would ignore him.
He eyed Ran but didn't comment about her. She probably would be more interested in finding the magi, anyway. "Guess, it's only the two of us, then," he said to Lancer.
-
Smirking, Archer lifted Rin into his arms to carry her the rest of the way. He enjoyed the feel of her slight form in his arms, the way her head rested on his chest, and the feel of her raven hair spilling around him. He maneuvered so he could turn the light in the bathroom on and inspected it.
It was done in fairly standard blues, it was cleaned, and stocked with the necessities of soap, shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant. If anything, the vampire's thorough, he thought to himself. He set Rin down before turning on the shower, waiting for the water to heat up.
******
"I've got it, but thank you," Forest replied as she finished with Isa. Absently she smoothed the girl's raven hair from her face and then looked at Nessa. She had a feeling that Isa wouldn't want Forest discussing what needed to be said to her sister, but it had to be done so that there weren't any "accidents" that could ruin both girl's lives.
Right before she was going to address the girl, she was bombarded by a heavy psychic impression. She saw a damaged castle. A pair of beautiful swords. Crushed bugs and worms that looked at home in a David Cronenburg movie. Then there was Rin; bloodied and clothing torn with a slight figure in her arms. The girl was holding back tears as she presented the body of a little girl dressed in purple. The little girl had silvery white hair and a giant hole where her heart had been.
Forest stared at the young man, not wanting to intrude, but the memory had been so strong she couldn't help but see. He had nothing left but battle. He wanted to save others, but he desperately needed saving himself.
When he spoke, he was trying to hide the sadness and pain of the sudden memory. It made Forest's chest tight.
She grinned at Nessa and said, "Well, I do have a nice room that I think the both of you would like, and I'm pretty sure there's an electric blanket there to keep warm." She did notice that Nessa noticed her looking for the pentagram. She sent to the young magus, I'd like to have a talk with you about your sister soon, if you don't mind.
She forced a smile, looked at Shirou and said, "Nessa's right, don't you even think about running off. Besides I can't speak for the girls, but I think I like having you around." Then she looked at Nessa.
She pressed her lips together and said, "Well, Rider . . . left to . . . do somethings that may be illegal in certain states and the implication was that she was going to enjoy them. Because that's just how Rider rolls. I think this may have to do with her getting some prana, but she was really excited when she left. She did tell me to help look after her Master's son though."
******
Lancer grinned and said, "Well come on then. I've got some nice Jamison and some other things too."
He winched and said, "As for Smoking, not in the godsdamned compound. Landlady gets testy. Then tends to find your stash of smokes and they end up in the commode."
-
"You don't have to go out of your way for us and..." Nessa's brow arched in reaction to Forest's mental request. Did she actually find something wrong? She felt at least concerned enough to not use her voice. It was probably something that couldn't wait.
Sure, as soon as she'll be resting in a bed.
She was rather confused, but there was no need to stress over something she would soon learn about.
Forest addressed Shirou some kind words. At that, Nessa felt the need to give her opinion on the guy while making sure to not look at him directly. "You're... convenient to have around. I mean, without you, we would still be apart. I'm more than willing to give you a chance for that. Besides, Isa gave you her trust, so, there's no need for doubt or anything."
Nessa chuckled at Forest's explanation concerning Rider whereabouts. "So, she went fetching a guy for some kinky time, eh?" Isa would have punched her for speaking like that. Nessa simply shrugged as if she understood. However, when Forest mentioned the master's son, the twin's eyes widened. "You mean that little boy we saw earlier??" She always wanted a little brother, unfortunately, their mother never gave birth after the twins. So, whenever they came across little boys, she would pester them for hours.
It usually ended when Isabella had enough and hit her.
----
Shuya made a grimace as he followed Lancer. Why the hell would a vampire care about cigarettes? "You would expect women, once dead, to not care much about that kind of stuff, but no."
The Irish hero already gave him the broad version of how he and Forest met, but Shuya suspected there might be more than mere loyalty bonding them. Asking directly might be met with a lie or mockery though. So, he decided for another way around it. "What's so good about her? I mean, she's hot and all, but she seems to be quite problematic to live with." He gestured to the nearby wall. "This whole place is fishy to me. It's like inviting people to attack. Don't vampires usually hide to blend with society and all? And man, I won't even mention the damn cars. It's like, she completely lacks common sense."
He paused, before deciding that subtlety was definitely not for him. "Aren't you mad that she gets along with that white haired magus?" His hand closed on the scabbard of his sword, he grinned savagely. "I could get rid of the trash, if you're afraid she would get mad at you. I'll do you the favor for free since I have something to settle with him."
-
Inferno Cop wasn't about to be outdone by a another man of considerable head flame, so he walked forward a few steps and emptied one of his flat, unmoving pockets. Out came dozens of delicious, delicious loafs of black bread.
"It comes with additional perks as well!" Inferno Cop loudly said, "sign for a limited supply of black bread, which you can refill by buying from the bakery in the police station!"
Now he had offered something of great worth, and as such had equalized with DoomCop so his position was no longer threatened. That, and he had given publicity to their bakery, which would win him points with his new boss.
Two in one, the cop from hell rationalized.
-
Forest shrugged, tossed her hair back from her face with a tilt of her head, and answered, "It's what I do. I alternate from pummeling bad guys to taking care of those who need to be taken care of. Plus I could go into this whole story about how there once was a warrior chick who needed saving, but no one wanted to save her so she saved her self then after that she sort of made sure that anyone she could help didn't go through the same thing as she did."
She sent to Nessa, It's a preventative measure more than anything after what happened to your sister.
Then she chuckled at the girl's blunt nature and said, "You've hit the nail on the head, kiddo. She went to have kinky sexy times because that's pretty much 98% of what Rider thinks about." The vampire grinned and added, "And yes, that redheaded little moppet that was with us earlier."
******
"She claims it stinks. Then she made some lecture about it killing my lungs and something about some horrible monster called cancer that eats you from the inside out or what not," Lancer answered with a shrug.
He wrapped his knuckles on the wall and said, "This place is warded. Heavily warded by some pretty powerful Fae. I was messing around with some runes when I first got here and even I had trouble activating it. But yeah, she does lack common sense and she's one of those people who are too good for their own good. I don't know her whole story, but she's been drug through some nasty shit. Yet she keeps getting back up and tries to help others. Even someone like me has to admire something like that."
Then the Celtic demi-god chuckled, "Don't get me wrong though. She's far too uptight and repressed beyond belief. I bet her patron goddess is annoyed with that. I say she needs a good, hard, uncomplicated shag, but I'm not going to push. Now if she asked me . . ." His crimson eyes gleamed as his smirk became predatory. "I'd bend her over in an instant, but I'm not going to chase her. Besides a woman like that isn't one you have a fling with, and I'm not ready to settle down again. I tried that and it didn't work out too well the first time."
-
Kiyoshi nodded at Sakura’s statement. He wasn’t entirely sure why she wanted it kept secret, but she had trusted him, and he didn’t want to betray that trust. Since Connor had asked him not to address the driver, he did not respond.
Twenty minutes later, the car arrived at the apartment. Sakura got out of the car, before turning to Connor.
"take the kids inside, I'll be there in a minute", she said.
Kiyoshi stepped out of the car. Unsure if Taiga would require any assistance, he turned to her.
“Taiga, do you need any help getting out?” he asked, politely.
-
Taiga was about to shake her head in reply when Connor picked her up and undid her seat belt placing her in the wheel chair. His reward for this abrupt action was the small girl's teeth marks in his hand and a swift if weak kick to the shin.
taking his licks Connor waved Kiyoshi to follow.
Sakura sighed. 'ten percent at best' she thought as her hair began to develop a deep crimson colour as a result of her reckless disregard of convention. Probably more like six, well, the kid is safe so wrecking myself a bit is an okay trade off' Sakura assessed as the blood colour engulfed her hair completely.
-
Imiganai stared at the men intensely, she never once looked a the paper the fool had so foolishly stabbed onto to zanpakuto and instead swiped her blade to right of her sliced through a strange metal tower with several odd metal wheels on top [a tower with satellite dishes on it]. The paper itself had been shredded by the force of the attack, she eyed the strange newcomer with a wary eye. Although she could not feel their spiritual pressure, she knew the newcomer with the greater threat than a fool wielding a axe.
"I will not bow to the laws of arrogant mortals, nor will I allow you to carry out such pathetic threats" she stated firmly as she slowly sheathed her blade with her eyes focused on the motley group before her, before any of them could react she leaped backwards off of the roof and allowed for gravity to take its hold causing for herself to plummet. Well before she would have hit the cement she vanished with a whisper of "Sonido" and the sound of static, she reappeared away from the building in the middle of the city's main park. As she had no intention of attracting those fools, she contained her power once more and the power she had been leaking out to draw out the shinigami ceased to flow allowing for herself to vanish from the senses of all those with a high attunement to the spiritual realm.
===========
Kusagari finished his workout session in the Station's gym, he had been left behind by the others to 'Guard the Fort' or something along those lines which made a great deal of sense to him as including himself there were only four members to the police force working there. As he began to redress himself in his typical atire which he had chosen to retain rather than wear the standard policeman uniform, he just wore an old police badge on the inside of his coat and a second badge he could in one of the mainly unused pockets on the outside of his coat, he caught wind of something on the radio.
"....is Nexus News Chopper 4, here we have just observed as the new policeforce has failed to capture the individual they had moved to apprehend on the roof of the Channel 9 News Building after the suspect leaped from the roof of the building, we do not see a body which may indicate that the suspect may still be ali- Hold on folks it appears that the officer carrying an axe is attempting to wave us away from the scene and is trying to yell at us, we can only guess what he is yelling about. Well Back to you, Ja-" CLICK
Kusagari turned off the radio and sighed, the suspect they had been tracking fled the scene by leaping off the building. He suspected that Axecop wasn't goiung to be happy when he got back. So he did what he thought they would appreciate and put a fresh pot of coffee on the machine before ordering an extra-large [120] box of donuts from a nearby Bakery.
-
"A story where you're the main actor, I imagine?" Maybe the timing wasn't ideal to push the discussion towards something more personal, but Nessa could tell that Forest's past was key to understand her as a person. Besides, she did bring it up all by herself. Of course, Nessa was curious by nature, so she was more than willing to hear her past.
Still, it was something admirable. Being able to dedicate yourself entirely for others... Isabella was the kind to act like that, but, even her, understood that there were priorities, like family. And Nessa, deep down, only really cared about her sister. The siblings would help people in need, of course, but never at the cost of betting their own lives. Well, perhaps Isa would go so far, but her older sister wouldn't allow it. Because, once you die, it's the end.
Being a hero. Saving people. Protecting the innocents. Something wonderful, but, at the same time, not very appealing. Pushed to the extreme such ideals could lead to the wrong decisions and eventually break you as an individual. A lonely path that only the ones with an unshakeable will could follow. It was the road of sacrifice. To give up your own future to reach for others. Nessa envied Forest though, because she could never push herself to do the same. She didn't have enough kindness in her heart for that. Even Shirou, as extreme as his path was, did it only for the sake of others.
The girl nodded simply at the mental touch. She couldn't help but laugh at the comment about the female Servant. Once calmed, she aimed her next question to the Landlady. "What about you, Fore? Got yourself some cool guy?"
----
"Well, she's right about both. The first one, you get accustomed to it. The other, on the other hand shouldn't affect a reborn hero like you, right?" It was only him assuming though.
The part about the wards didn't surprise him. He expected it to have some kind of protection, otherwise, the Landlady was, indeed, out of her mind. He wasn't sure exactly were Fae, but he wouldn't doubt them to mess up their work.
Then, Lancer went about how Forest was stubborn enough to keep on living like that. Shuya, himself, appreciated people with guts who got their shit together. However, something still bothered him. "Why does she go so far for others? I met my share of blood suckers in my world and around here. All differents, but they had one thing in common; all were self-centered sons of bitches. Isn't she going against her own nature? What good does she get from it?" It was like looking in a distorted mirror. She had lost her life and became a monster, but kept her humanity, while he, had closed his heart to embrace his violent nature.
He heard the last part with a stone face. The last sentence, in particular, hit a bit too close to home for him to ignore it. Lancer was obviously a decent guy, living with his own amount of regrets. Shuya had chosen to leave the past behind, but the Irish man was different. He still had a life ahead, maybe a good one even. When the half-demon spoke, his eyes were focused on his sheathed weapon.
"You sure about that?" His own voice seemed weak. "Think about it. You told me you were reborn in this world, right? Perhaps the reason is that simple." He let his fingers run on the scabbard, long forgotten memories taking the shape of a familiar, smiling face. "What if your encounter had less to do with coincidence and more with something akin to fate? Shouldn't you at least contemplate the possibility?" He shook his head slowly. "I don't know about your past, but you're alive right now. You should think about yourself. Otherwise, you would be wasting that second chance."
-
Forest grinned at Nessa's question and answered, "Something like that. I'll just say that I didn't want to become a vampire, but like Spider-Man I realized that with great power comes great responsibility."
Then the girl was brazen enough to ask her That personal question. The vampire's grin became sardonic as she replied, "No, and I haven't for a long time. Sadly."
******
Lancer shrugged and replied, "Well, possibly. I am alive again so yeah, there's no reason to stand that I can't get sick, but considering who my Da is it would be sort of surprising if I did get sick like that."
He eyed the half demon and said, "You know, I get the impression that Forest didn't want to become what she was, it was forced on her, so that's why she fights so hard. She did tell me in the beginning when I asked her that same question that she doesn't want anyone to go through what she had if she can help it. And what you are doesn't make who you are, Shuya."
Then he chuckled and asked, "Are you trying to hook me up with my Landlady? I doubt it would work; we get along well, but we wouldn't work as a couple. Not to mention she couldn't provide me with a family, which is something I do want down the line."
-
Kiyoshi laughed at Taiga's response to Connor's assistance, although he was somewhat surprised to see her react so violently to someone helping her.
I guess she likes to do things herself..., he thought.
Still, even so, biting someone for trying to help you was a little extreme.
After he had finished with Taiga, Connor waved to Kiyoshi to follow him. Kiyoshi saw no reason not to follow, and so he did as suggested. However, as he did, he turned around and looked at Sakura.
What the hell? he thought as he saw that her hair had turned blood red. Is she some kind of demon or something?
Kiyoshi was somewhat worried about what had happened to her, and how she had ended up this way.
"Sakura, are you OK? What happened to your hair?", he asked.
-
"It's called burnout Kiyo, I'll be fine" Sakura lied forcing a smile "Now go on and get inside" she added pointing to the apartment.
Connor frowned. "You heard her boyo, take the wee tiger inside. I'll worry about Sakura" he said nudging the youth.
-
Realizing he wasn't needed for the moment, Shirou shrugged and started heading for the kitchen.
"If you need me I'll be helping out in the kitchen. Or fighting for my life if Archer tries to kill me," he called over his shoulder, turning the corner. He had finally memorized the layout, and soon found himself standing before the entrance to the bright kitchen.
Inside, Archer, dressed in an apron, was hustling around the now mostly repaired kitchen. Stepping forward cautiously, placing his coat on a nearby stool, Shirou asked the Servant, "Anything I can help with?"
-
Kiyoshi was still somewhat worried about his elder sister, despite her reassurances. Having your hair suddenly change colour was definitely not a good sign. And, further, he knew enough about projection magecraft to know that producing and sustaining something as complex as a van was likely to use up a substantial amount of prana. Even his mother would struggle with such a thing, and Sakura did not have the same constant prana supply she had.
But, still, she had claimed to be OK, and she wasn’t showing any indication that she was in any danger. Plus, there was nothing he could really do about it even if she was. So, Kiyoshi just nodded at the statements of the two adults, and walked towards Taiga.
As he reached her, though, he stopped momentarily. He had seen her reaction to Connor’s attempts to help her, and he didn’t particularly desire the same treatment. He stood in front of her and looked down at her.
“Connor told me to take you inside. Do you need any help?” he asked, politely.
-
"I bit him because he picked me up without asking Kiyo. Only Mama, Papa and big brother are allowed to without asking. Connor know that" Taiga replied.
The fire haired girl paused in thought. "I won't hurt you Kiyo, I don't think you could pick me up and even if you could I don't think you have a reason too. Let's go inside" Taiga finished waiting for Kiyoshi to wheel her into the apartment.
-
"Hey, Spiderman kicks ass. The last movies were rather mediocre, though." Nessa smiled to Forest. Her being a vampire wasn't in her expectations, but after few days exploring the city, it wasn't a such a surprise to find people of extraordinary origins or species. A vampire who fights for the innocents... "You're just like a she-Angel then?"
She eyed the only guy among them disappearing quickly, then grinned. "He's just like a lost puppy when you look at him now, but he's really feared in my world. He doesn't seem like a bad person, or maybe he's forcing himself, I dunno. If he could smile just a little more..." She laughed "Look how destiny works. You're free, and he seems to need a shoulder to cry on, maybe it's a sign." It wasn't necessarily a bad idea, although the twin had no right to dictacte any conduct here.
After Shirou's disappearance, it was only the three girls. Nessa placed her hands in her pockets, her expression serious this time.
"Now would be the good time to talk. What is it about Isa?"
----
Lancer's comment about his parent, tickled Shuya's curiosity, but he would keep this for later. "She's a saint among her kind, then." He didn't like it much, but that was what it seemed to be. "Can't say I understand such devotion to unknown people, but whatever she gets out of it, I'm sure it's not worth the trouble."
And what you are doesn't make who you are, Shuya.
The mixed blood snorted with no attempt to try hiding it. "Do you actually believe that, Irish hero?" It seemed to be a rather empty, convenient line to him. "Look outside, man. The streets are infested with beasts who disagree."
The demigog laughed at his awkward concern and the half-demon felt stupid for even trying. "Only saying that you should think things through. And that will be my only advice, anyway." Shuya grinned at the phrase about children. "Come on, you could just adopt some."
-
Forest grinned at Nessa's words about her being a "She-Angel" and replied, "Something like that. I have a better car though."
She started to lead Nessa out of the bathroom with Isa in her arms. She looked at the elder sister and said, "Because of what happened to Isa . . . I want to make sure that it doesn't get worse for her. Like an unexpected consequence that wasn't her fault." The vampire took an unneeded breath and continued. "I want to get her a Morning After Pill, just to make sure she doesn't get pregnant. Luckily, she's not going to turn into a werewolf. That's what I was looking for, a pentagram on her left palm. So that's not a concern, but the other might be."
She turned her head down the hall to the direction that Shirou went. She smiled a bit wistfully and said, "He's on a path to ruin, I'd like to help, but I doubt he's interested."
******
"I don't think it is either, but its what she knows," Lancer said with a shrug, "It's not my right to tell her how to live her life."
Lancer shrugged at Shuya and said, "Well, you didn't have to save Isa though did you? So maybe you're not as bad as you like to pretend."
-
She suspected as much. Nessa knew enough of her sister to notice when she was hiding something or forcing herself. A quick glance at her made it awfully obvious back then. Combined with what Shirou hinted at, it didn't took long for her to come to the conclusion.
Nessa didn't feel like becoming emotional in front of people she barely knew, so she had kept her sadness in check. Besides, Isa's mental state was worrying Nessa. How would she react if her older sister started to cry or acting depressed? Especially since they shared so much. If Nessa could show some positive emotions, then her sister would feel a bit better. So, she had to stay strong and show her usual behavior in order to not add up to her twin's distress. It was hard, but she had to take care of Isa first and foremost.
Forest showed such kindness and concern for them, no, for everyone, that she felt like doing something stupidly childish. Like, hugging her from behind, her arms surrounding the vampire at belt level, her face buried in the woman's hair.
Nessa, let out her gratitude with a little squeeze. And since she couldn't force the words out, she simply hoped for her to read her mind. Thank you, Fore. I don't think I could go through that by myself.
----
Shuya accepted Lancer's reply with a nod. "Probably wouldn't listen, anyway."
The half-demon grunted. "That's different. There was no noble intention involved back then, trust me."
-
Hearing Taiga’s words, Kiyoshi smiled and walked behind the wheelchair, taking hold of the handles and pushing her towards the entrance.
“I understand”, Kiyoshi said, kindly. “You’re a person like everyone else, people shouldn’t treat you like a piece of baggage to be carried around just because you can’t walk”.
Kiyoshi laughed slightly.
“And, well, I think I probably could pick you up, with a bit of effort and some self-reinforcement, but mummy would go mad if she saw me doing that. They always tell me it’s too dangerous, that I could hurt myself. So, I don’t do it without good reason, I don’t want to hurt mummy....”
-
Forest blinked as Nessa was holding her from behind, the young girl's face burred in Forest's hair. The vampire adjusted Isa's weight so she could hold her with one arm. She had plenty of practice due to raising Gabriel and helping with other kids. Then she turned so she could wrap her arm around the elder twin and stroke her hair.
"You're welcome, poppet," Forest said with a sad smile, "And you shouldn't have to go through this alone. No one should, so you won't."
Then she forced a smile and tousled Nessa's hair. "Come on now, let's get you both to bed. I imagine you've had enough horror for one day."
******
Lancer laughed and said, "She might listen, but she wouldn't take it to heart."
Then the Celt tilted his head and asked, "Then why did you try to find my Landlady to give the girl to? If you truly hadn't cared, you would have just left her there." Then he turned on his heel to head for the kitchen.
"Anyway, I think my beers and Jamison survived Ruu's little apocalypse."
-
The twin behaved herself after that, following Forest to the bedroom. She took place by her sister's side and curled herself against Isa.
"Good night," she whispered to the vampire, before closing her eyes.
It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.
----
Shuya followed the man without a word. He really didn't want to lose his time in pointless argumentation. He frowned when they reached the room, his eyes staring at Emiya Shirou. The half-demon didn't comment on him being there, simply waiting for Lancer to collect what he was looking for.
-
Shirou stiffened slightly, hand automatically reaching for a weapon, as he felt eyes staring at him. Looking up, he met the gaze of Touzaki Shuya. When had he returned? Taking a quick look around, he quickly realised that Lancer had also returned, and was scrounging around in the kitchen.
That was sloppy of him. If he had done that on the battlefield, he would be dead.
Deeming that the crazed hunter wasn't a danger at the moment, he returned to his task. However, he started stretching out his senses, locating two more figures about to enter the kitchen. He brought up the schematics of Kanshou and Bakuya in his mind, just to be safe.
-
Reaching the door Taiga leaned forward and rapped on the door quite a bit louder than one would expect from a child that size.
back at the curb Connor shouldered Sakura carefully as the van resolved. "Honestly you're as crazy as Alex is, putting yourselves out fer promises no one asked for" the red haired Irishman muttered carrying her toward the entrance arriving right behind the kids.
-
Within his dreams, Lawrence could feel it cross the threshold within this area of the Twilight. Something otherworldly, wrong, anathema to his kind and his kin. Them of the abyss and the unnatural realms. A monster, one that would devour reality in whatever guise it took. And spirits and sin-eaters were favorite first targets, along with mages. This entire building was like a feeding trough for it.
He could feel it. So did his geist.
It was right at the front door.
Wake up. This one must die. This Intruder must be sent back.
'...Yes. I know. I understand.'
They know many tricks. Whatever form it takes, destroy it and send it howling back in a puddle of it's own blood.
'This won't be easy. We're both running low.'
Just kill. That's all you need to do. Kill it, before it kills us...
Swinging himself off the bed, Lawrence pumped a round into the nearby shotgun, the closest weapon. Sleeping here might be out of the question now depending on the guise of the monstrosity, but he'd be damned if he'd let it go free. They were worse than Kerberos.
As the Redheaded Driver let the caul go down, Lawrence bolted down the stairs two at a time, not bothering to stop for questions or anyone. The Intruder couldn't wait. Throwing the door open, he leveled the shotgun.
-
Taiga unable to see the weapon simply spoke up "miss forest told Sakura to come here"
Sakura however seeing Lawrence's dangerous weapon aimed her Tonfa blasters at the unfamiliar person, weak as she was she promised that the kids would come to no harm. "put the weapon down and step away from the children now" she said.
-
Sakura however seeing Lawrence's dangerous weapon aimed her Tonfa blasters at the unfamiliar person, weak as she was she promised that the kids would come to no harm. "put the weapon down and step away from the children now" she said.
Lawrence ignored her, the shotgun pointedly leveled at the Other, standing beside her in the form of what looked like some babyfaced hipster. "Back away. You have three..."
-
Kiyoshi waited patiently as Taiga knocked on the door, expecting Forest or even Aunty Rin to come and let them in.
Instead, though, the door suddenly burst open to reveal a man he had never seen before brandishing a shotgun. Immediately, Kiyoshi summoned up his swords and moved to place himself in front of Taiga.
A proper magus could, of course, withstand a shotgun blast with ease, but Kiyoshi was only a child, and didn't have the reflexes or reinforcement skill to be certain of being able to take such a hit. Normally he would have jumped out of the way, but Taiga could not defend herself or move, so Kiyoshi knew he would have to protect her.
As he was moving, Taiga spoke up.
"miss forest told Sakura to come here", she said, innocently.
Despite the situation, Kiyoshi could only barely resist laughing at the obliviousness of her response. He could understand it, of course, she couldn't see the gun but, even so, it was somewhat amusing.
Sakura, however, could see the gun, and was very definitely unhappy with the threat being made.
"put the weapon down and step away from the children now", she said, drawing some unusual kind of gun.
Kiyoshi, however, was mostly interested in protecting Taiga. Walking in front of her and holding his swords menacingly, he added.
"Yeah, leave us alone. We were invited to come here. I will not let you hurt my sisters...", he said, trying to look as threatening as possible.
The other man, however, ignored them. Kiyoshi noticed that his gun was pointed at Connor.
Back away. You have three...", he said, menacingly.
"No, you leave my family alone", Kiyoshi added, angrily. "Is this how Forest expects you to treat invited guests?"
-
Sakura simply started heavy twin fire against the shotgun wielder. Sakura couldn't care who the man was, he had decided to pick a fight for no reason with a deadly weapon. The twin magic blasts easily render a man unconscious but Sakura was a bit too angry from the mounting pain to care. "leave us alone you psychopath!" she screamed.
Connor was stalled, if he left Sakura she would likely collapse but staying with her meant this utter lunatic could hit her while aiming for him. "Seriously do as the lady says, if ya don't she likely won't stop until your a puddle boyo"
-
KILL!
Lawrence barely felt the blasts- his Caul and his Geist absorbing the brunt of the impact, with little more than pain the aftereffect of the impacts. Honestly, the girl had pushed herself even closer to death with that action. What a fool. The Geist wanted retaliation. So did the Sin-Eater. He pulled the trigger, bead simply aimed right at the Other's center of mass. At this range, it wouldn't spread much, maybe a sixteenth of an inch, if that. And Silver was a soft metal - it'd deform and shred the chest cavity to ribbons. There was simply no way in hell it could dodge this.
-
Kiyoshi stood in front of Taiga protectively, waiting for the man's response. But, none came. Instead, Sakura fired her weapons at the man.
Damn, he's going to shoot, thought Kiyoshi.
As quickly as he possibly could, he swung his sword at the tip of the weapon as hard as he could, knocking it to the side, away from any of his family.
"Leave my family alone!" he shouted. "They've done nothing to you!"
With that, he swung the other sword, attempting to cut off the arm of his opponent.
-
It appeared instantly as if from nowhere a Tattooed woman with sun darkened skin taking the full attack and the uttering "Remove him"
the black shadow wolves heard their master and surrounded Lawrence immediately drawing closer snarling and snapping their fearsome jaws.
"give up or I let my pets kill you" she told the man.
-
Forest smiled as she watched the twins go to sleep.
Then the wards created by Wynn decided at that moment to go absolutely haywire. "Bloody hell," she grumbled as she looked at the alternating amethyst and black tourmaline pendulums hanging discreetly from the ceiling. Every room had one, and the hallways were littered with them. If one didn't know what they were looking for, they were pretty much absent from sight.
The wards were pointing in one direction, the garage. Scowling, the vampire took off at full speed down the hallway and completely jumped a flight of stairs. Even unarmed, she kicked the door leading to the garage open. She noticed Kioyshi holding swords that looked like the ones Shirou wielded but were a plain brown streaked with red. There was a little girl with wild red hair sitting in a wheelchair, another redheaded young man who didn't smell human, some non-descriptive looking guy holding a shot gun, Sakura-now sporting crimson hair- and wielding some sort of weapon, and some bronze chick with an obsession for body art with a pack of shadowy looking wolves surrounding the shot gun guy.
She bounded off the wall used her momentum to push herself higher. Then with a flip she landed in the middle of everyone looking to have a bit of violence. Her scowl deepened as she saw blast marks on the walls and buck shot embedded into a wall, floor, and one of her Rice Burners.
"Oh, now look what you've done," she muttered to herself before rising to her full height and shouting, "Everyone had better stop this right now or I'm going to be pissed."
She then looked at Kioyshi and Taiga. She asked, "Are you two okay?"
She then pointed at the shot gun guy, the redhead, and the fan of body art in succession. "Now, the three of you had better tell me who the sodding hell you are." She pointed at the redhead and said, "You, I figure you're with Sakura and the kids. I can smell you on them. These two wankers had better start explaining before I completely lose my patience."
-
"That man tried to kill Sakura and Connor" Taiga said pointing at Lawrence.
Sakura muttered with a sleepy half nod and Connor adjusting her smiled. "I'm Connor McRemitz, regular old son o Ireland, seeing as how you made that entrance and the wee one has taken a liken to ya imma guess you're Forest ya? Well I'm a friend of Emiya family, me da is Ireland's number one hero CuCulain and the man with the gun seems ta have an issue with me" he said.
Angra snapped her fingers and the wolves withdrew back to her. "I'm Angra Manyu, all the world's evil and while searching around I noticed that idiot about to kill the cat and dog here and I simply can't have Satoshi on a rampage so I stepped in to make sure they don't die right now" she explained.
-
"Now, the three of you had better tell me who the sodding hell you are." She pointed at the redhead and said, "You, I figure you're with Sakura and the kids. I can smell you on them. These two wankers had better start explaining before I completely lose my patience."
Lawrence pumped the action, ejecting the spent shell as he kept it level at the new arrival - not the apparent owner of this place, the rather nasty spiritual entity that'd been stupid enough to interject itself into the fray.
Kill the bitch and then the outsider behind her. The abyss spawn cannot be tolerated.
'I know. Fucking kid had to knife me...'
The caul had run dry soon after the shotgun blast - the little japanese kid's slash wound was far too damaging considering his apparent strength. Fucking magi. He'd cut a part of his arm down to the bone - luckily avoiding any major arteries or veins, and mainly just fucking up the muscle. Blood dripped from the wound. It was going to be a bitch to heal, even with the Driver tagging along.
"Well, first off he's not what he seems. And second off, fuck you you dark skinned bitch. Bring it, I'll fucking eat your dogs alive!"
Lawrence didn't break eye contact.
"Well, I'm your new tenant I guess. Just cleaning up the neighborhood, keeping the streets safe, and oh yeah, getting shot at by the Crimson haired cunt for no damn reason."
We kill her next... make her bleed that last bit of life from her body...
'Shut up, we're in the shit river without a boat at the moment. She's just a stupid kid, and the other needs to learn when not to try and attack someone. Jesus, he could have deflected that shot into that redhaired little fucker. Or the one in the wheelchair.'
"Oh, and someone take the swords away from the little kid, he could poke his eye out with them."
-
I'd long ago been discarded by Lancer and Shuya, but I'd kept myself busy by mapping the first floor in my head. I paced the hallways, opening and closing doors while looking for a set of stairs heading downwards, with no luck.
I still hadn't found any when I heard a bang from above. I considered going to check it out, but whatever was happening up there was bound to be done by the time I got up there.
Just like my old survivalist used to say: You got to know when you just can't do something.
I pushed the thought out of my head, and kept looking. I found the way into the basement at the end of the hallway, right under the stairs going upwards. This place even had architecture similar to Lost Shinjuku's.
I made my way down and found a few doors, most of which were nondescript except for one labeled 'BOILER ROOM'. I decided against looking into more rooms, mostly considering the landlady probably wouldn't be happy to see me snooping around, so I leaned against a wall.
And I started waiting.
-
Forest listened to Connor talk with a frown. She reasoned he must be Lancer's son from an alternate reality, and not the one he sired on Alfe and then killed later. Or rather, she was trying to listen to Connor talk.
The man with the shot gun was broadcasting rather loudly, and his voice wasn't alone in his head.
Kill the bitch and then the outsider behind her. The abyss spawn cannot be tolerated.
I know. Fucking kid had to knife me...
The blond frowned and then met Lawrence's eyes. She sent to him, Abyss spawn or not, there's no killing in my house, you got that. So Other Voice, stop being a demanding cunt and so goddamn blood thirsty or I'm going to take issue with it. You know I can hear that right?
She drew her attention back to Angra Manyu, scowled, and said, "And that's lovely. Put your puppies away, hell, everyone weapons away, and we're going to discuss this like civilized people or we'll have an issue. Well, more of one that we already have. I'm trying to do the proper thing and provide safe haven here, but no."
-
The blond frowned and then met Lawrence's eyes. She sent to him, Abyss spawn or not, there's no killing in my house, you got that. So Other Voice, stop being a demanding cunt and so goddamn blood thirsty or I'm going to take issue with it. You know I can hear that right?
'...What the fuck!?!?'
Interesting... one who can hear me as well. How many have you killed?
'She's undead? Can someone explain to me what's going on please.'
Shut up. The adults are talking. Tell me, why would you let one of the reality eaters into your own home... The boy who's skin it wears lies. We see him for what he truly is...
Lawrence was having serious trouble coping with the sheer amount of weird going on.
"It isn't safe with either of them inside." Lawrence snarled out, keeping his shotgun raised. "If we're talking, I'm not dropping my guard."
-
Gunshots
He could never mistake those sounds for anything else. He had been in the field far too long for that to happen.
This day just couldn't end could it?
Growling, Shirou whipped his coat on and dashed towards the garage, retrieving an MP7 from its harness. He refrained from tracing anything just yet, instead opting to retrieve a knife. Dashing through the extensive maze of corridors, he ended up outside the door. However, he felt Forest's signature burst up from the lower floors, at which the fighting seemed to stop. Rather than complicate the situation, he waited behind the door, ready to burst in at a moment's notice.
-
"fraid Sakura can't, she's not really awake and her hands are locked ma'am. She needs fever meds and a bed" Connor replied.
"people murdered me for their sins, not really civilized, as for the wolves they are as away as they are going to get and I'll leave to once I'm sure the dear prince's beloved family and friends are safe from that lunatic" Angra replied gesturing to the wolves lying down in front of her.
-
Interesting... one who can hear me as well. How many have you killed?
Forest frowned at the question, but figured talking to this thing would maybe keep him settled down.
She answered, A lot. Mostly monsters, I don't take innocent lives, but I'm not going to deny that I have a death count that rivals Frank Castle's.
She's undead? Can someone explain to me what's going on please.
I'm a vampire, and I was a born telepath. That just got amped up to eleven when that Roman Bastard turned me. Unwillingly I might add.
Shut up. The adults are talking. Tell me, why would you let one of the reality eaters into your own home... The boy who's skin it wears lies. We see him for what he truly is...
Be nicer to your host, he has to put up with you as much as you put up with him. Also, he's not a reality eater. The boy's a son of a Celt, one of my people. So that puts him under my protection. If his claims ring true, and I believe they do, reality is no threat to him. Sakura may be a bitch, but her heart's in the right place, and she's sick. Besides killing her would be an insult to you.
Forest held up her hands to Lawrence and said, "I'm not going to let any harm come to anyone here. I mean, you already shot one of my cars. Normally that would be cause enough for me to knock your teeth in."
She looked at Connor and said, "I'm trying to get to a point where I can get her first aid."
-
The Driver's laugh was positively chilling. The rumble of a napalm drop characterized every word. He comes to bleed this world dry. We bleed him dry then, vampire. And then the false one who claims to be the evils of the world. Let her come, let her hounds attack. They'll sate us, and then she will...
'Stop being a dick. It's what YOU want to do, and you're not in charge of this body. I am.'
"I know that feeling, but it was the kid's fault on that one. Knocked me off target."
'Forest, long story short, I'm stuck with this guy. Don't talk about him, he's not exactly the nicest of people. Or geists.'
-
Connor nodded "fair enough ma'am" he replied turning to Sakura.
"come on Sakura, the twat's round the bend but it don't look like he hurts kiddies, I ain't got my spear but don't worry, Forest clearly has em by the short hairs so let go of your weapons eh." he said softly.
slowly Sakura complied with Connor 's request. " there, she ain't armed no more, now let her inside you gun nut" Connor snapped taking the weapons from Sakura.
Angra sat on the ground. "hostility you realize gives me power, just for your information." she chuckled.
-
Connor nodded "fair enough ma'am" he replied turning to Sakura.
"come on Sakura, the twat's round the bend but it don't look like he hurts kiddies, I ain't got my spear but don't worry, Forest clearly has em by the short hairs so let go of your weapons eh." he said softly.
slowly Sakura complied with Connor 's request. " there, she ain't armed no more, now let her inside you gun nut" Connor snapped taking the weapons from Sakura.
Angra sat on the ground. "hostility you realize gives me power, just for your information." she chuckled.
"Fuck off." Lawrence kept his gun trained on the pair. "The crazy girl with the weapons wasn't who I was talking about. Drop 'em, or I'll shoot again. I know what you are, and no smile will change that."
-
He comes to bleed this world dry. We bleed him dry then, vampire. And then the false one who claims to be the evils of the world. Let her come, let her hounds attack. They'll sate us, and then she will...
Forest gave the Driver a mental "thump" and replied, Quiet you, you've been spending too much time in that moonlight sea. No one is bleeding the world dry, and you can find some other way to sate your self. I suggest One Fisted Monkey Style.
She turned her attention back to Lawrence and said, I'm getting that, but he doesn't scare me. Then again I don't scare that easily. I'm a natural blond after all. If you're in charge, please lower the gun.
She looked at Kiyoshi and said, "Nice job, but next time use the blunt of your blade to deflect a blow. Using the edge could have killed him, and no good superhero kills people. Well, Batman doesn't kill people."
Forest looked at Angra and asked, "What about affection? Does that charge your batteries?" Then she walked over and hugged Lawrence, whispering to him, "She feeds of evil and negativity, the Diver is going to be like a shot of Red Bull to her."
-
Connor raised an eyebrow and then sighed turning to Forest. "Me ma won a bet with that teacher o me da's in the shadow land. Wherever he's from must be like the shadow land so he can see the illusion I received to protect me from otherworldly creepy crawlers and such. Should be better now." he said removing the effect
"The adult kinds do" she laughed in response to Forest's question.
-
"She feeds of evil and negativity, the Diver is going to be like a shot of Red Bull to her."
Is the wolf evil for killing the rabbit? I am what I am. I am a Geist, and that is what I will be until the world ends or the Kerberos drag me down beyond the rivers
'...He's not evil and he doesn't really hate, if you could call it that. It's more... yeah. It's like instinct with him. He's a monster, but he's the monster I'm stuck with. And put some clothes on. Please.'
The weirdness was reaching critical levels. First, one half naked woman, second, ANOTHER half naked woman, and now a half naked vampire was hugging him. What the hell was going on. What strange land was he in now, where half naked women apparently fucking fell from the sky in front of him. Lawrence hesitated before slightly lowering the weapon, just enough that he could level it once more with haste. "Fine. Fine. But one wrong move... and it's back to the buckshot, alright?"
-
The Don had recently received word that an old apartment, one that hadn't had any tenants in years, had a new landlady and already had several tenants. After waving off a few goons men, he decided he'd make the arrangement himself and in person. He put on his old royal blue pinstripe suit, his large navy blue over coat, his navy blue fedora and his walking stick. After being dropped off less than a block away from the Apartment building and he began to make his way towards the apartment's garage entrence, a massive cigar the size of a banana held in his left hand as he puffed away.
He descended the metal stairs leading to the main entrance, his shoes clanging loudly as he descended. With every three steps came the light sound of his walking stick against the metal of the stairs.
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLINK
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLINK
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLINK
'This should be an easy job, just frighten the lady, be polite and describe the dangers of going unprotected.'[/color] Joe thought to himself, taking a long drag of his cigar as he drew nearer to the building 'If she declines, I'll have the boys set loose the local gangs to cause some trouble and make the neighborhood look like Hell's Kitchen. Once she signs, then it all goes away and I get at least twenty to fifty a month. Maybe I can pay her to replace those damned stairs as well, they ruined my quiet method of approach.'
'If all goes well, I will have more incoming in my pocket and I can get back home. Maybe I should take the girls out personally tonight, they'd like it wouldn't they? Of course they'd drag me out to go shopping with them and I suppose that is the only downside to having twenty women as your personal staff, good thing I'm a hulk or I'd be in pain before the first three were satisfied' Joe thought to himself, his mind drifting off topic slightly before taking another puff of the massive cigar.
He made his way towards the entrance, he stopped briefly to look at the car off to the left 'Well look at this, it's the kid's car. Maybe I can see if he's rethought my offer.' The Don thought to himself as he looked at the car
-
Forest heard the clang clanging of someone rather large coming down the steps. Scowling she let go of Lawrence, and moved to the door.
She wasn't expecting anymore callers, and if someone was going to try to start trouble now they were going to regret it. Within a moment, she threw open the door. Then she folded her arms across her chest and tilted her chin up. Half-naked, covered in soot and dried blood, Forest sighed and said, "This had better be good."
-
"This had better be good."
Joe stared at the woman before him and had he not had over a dozen women in his personal entourage he would have looked away in embarrassment or looked at her very revealing body, in truth he was unaffected by the show of guts. 'She's got guts coming out here with so little on and in that state' The Don though to himself as he puffed his massive cigar, without so much as a second glance he stabbed to walking stick into the cement floor by about four inches and drew himself to his full height in front of the woman 'She may have guts but that hardly matters here, now times to get to business' the Massive grey skinned being thought calmly.
"I am just here to collect on something. You see girly, everyone pays me to insure that trouble doesn't come their way and if I were you then I'd start paying too. I don't want much, fifty a month is the least I'll take and if you stop paying.....trouble tend to happen." The Don spoke calmly as he remembered the last person to stop paying, they guy had even hired the old police force to guard him but that didn't stop his men from ruining the man's business before making the guy disappear which also occurred to the old police force as well sometime afterwards.
"You see I am not some low ranking goon in this city" Joe grinned and removed his large fedora which had overshadowed his facial features throughout his entire introduction, revealing his face as he swept his arms out with a grin "I run this city's underground, I control all the crime and the Blackmarket in this city. I am the Chief Advisor to the Mayor, The Wealthiest Man in the City, I am the Don of Nexus City and I. OWN. THIS. CITY." He ended his short rant with a grin that many mafia bosses had adorned in the past when they knew they were in control
'Lets see how you deal with the fact girly and if she asked the kid about my wealth, he'd probably tell her that I paid him twenty grand for taking out his own target whom caused a few issues for me' Joe thought to himself, as he took a long drag from the cigar before blowing out a thick cloud of smoke while he replaced his fedora upon his head 'Nobody stands up and defies me, my name isn't Joe Fixit for nothing'
"Well Girly what do you have to say?" The Don spoke from within the thick cloud of smoke he blew out earlier as he retrieved his walking stick from the floor while leaving a gouged hole in the cement the width of a quarter at it's base.
============
"I think I may have taken after master more than I thought I did" a certain large chested Blonde stated as she picked up a Blood Packet and stabbed it with a straw to begin drinking, she sat back and relaxed somewhat while ignoring the 'mess' she had made in the rest of the building. Said 'mess' was something worthy of her old master and the vampire she could say was her second father, the once pristine halls of the building were now splattered in gore but not a single drop of stray blood. "Well at least I haven't impaled some poor bloke on a flagpole or ran one of them through with their own gun, though it was like fighting sheep mostly" the Blonde mused to herself as she dug into a second blood packet in the building that had formerly been an illegally run clinic.
It was official. Seras Victoria, The Last Soldier of the Hellsing Organization, The Draculina of Hellsing, Heiress of Alucard, was in Nexus City.
-
Shirou slipped through the door into the garage, taking care to keep to the shadows. It appeared that the situation had been partially solved by Forest, ever the reliable peacekeeper, as everyone seemed to have put their weapons down. However, Forest suddenly and somewhat angrily threw open the door, revealing a clearly unexpected guest on the doorstep.
It was an old man, prim, proper and decked out completely in blue, with a blue overcoat worn over an old royal blue pinstriped shirt, and a nice blue fedora perched neatly on his head, covering the man's hair completely. Shirou would have dismissed him as an ordinary bystander if it hadn't been for his posture: rather than cowed by Forest suddenly throwing open the door, he was instead leaning arrogantly on his cane puffing on a fat cigar as if he owned the place.
The moment the man opened his mouth, Shirou knew exactly what type of person he was. A crime lord.
He snorted slightly as he heard the man's demand. Ah, the classic 'protection fee'. Force new tenants to pay a small fee so that the gang would 'protect' them from all dangers, and make their lives hell if they didn't. Almost every crime syndicate in the world, be it Yakuza, Mafia or the Triads, had used this tactic in one form or another.
Shirou's eyes narrowed slightly when the man started his ego stroking. The Don of Nexus City? So this must be Joe Fixit. A crime lord who, as he said himself, had pretty much the city in his pocket. The police department was full of the Don's informants, and if someone so much as bought a toothpick in the Underworld, this man would know. Many lives have been ruined by this man, disappeared if they so much as annoyed the Don slightly.
In other words, someone who was better off gone.
Shirou quickly retreated back into the building, before climbing out from a nearby window, landing lithely like a cat in the darkness of the alleyway. He would approach from the street so as to avoid incriminating the tenants of the building, gunning down the old man in clear sight from the street, before escaping into the nearby alleyways before the goons could catch up to him. His golden eyes scanned the building, regret flashing slightly in his eyes. Looks like he couldn't have that talk just yet. He gripped his MP-7, and sat at the entrance of the alleyway, waiting for the opportune moment. His steel eyes scanned every detail of the soon-to-be firezone like a hawk, mentally recording conditions and analyzing potential variables which could change during a firefight.
-
Had this been any other evening, Forest might have let not quite a fangirlish squeak at the sight of a Hulk darkening her doorway. However this wasn't the "Hulk Smash" green version who's alter-ego was a stressed out, mild mannered scientist. No, this was the Mr. Fixit version, the grey skinned crime lord who was the weakest of the Hulks if she remembered her comic lore right.
This was a Hulk that the Thing and Thor could easily kick his ass. Thing of it was, she wasn't the Thing or Thor. However, she did have a half demi-god currently looking for beer in her kitchen who would have loved to fight the crime lord at her door. She wondered how Lancer ranked in the Marvel Super Hero Power Level Scale briefly. However, the "man's" thoughts were easy to read, and he was planning to intimidate her for money.
And the wanker was calling her "girly".
Man, too bad Wolverine isn't here, she thought to herself with a mental sigh before she processed the fact that he payed Lawrence twenty-thousand dollars as he continued with his ego stroking to make her scared. While she knew she didn't look very intimidating, it sort of happened when you're eternally stuck at nineteen years old and being a skinny blond girl, she wasn't going to take this.
She raised one eyebrow, smirked, and said, "Sod that. I'm Law Unto Herself. I don't need any 'protection'. In fact, you'd better leave me alone or I'll clean your house in a way that'll make Frank Castle proud, and I doubt that you'd want that."
She tilted her head and vamped out for a moment. She didn't snarl or bare her fangs, but the glowing crimson eyes and the flash of fangs when she spoke would be enough to tell the Don that she wasn't some mere mortal. She said, "Also, if gangster and whatnot try to start trouble on my door step they'll either end up dead,"-Forest knew that Shirou and Shuya would just kill them-,"Of with a sudden impulse to go to the non corrupt police officers of this city and spill their guts about every little dirty secret and sin they've committed. I'm not paying for something I have no bloody need of. So sod off."
-
The water burst forth from the shower head in a torrent. Rin placed a couple of her fingers under the stream to test the temperature. She shivered a bit at first from the initial cold, but it didn't take long for the water to heat up, which prompted a satisfied smile.
Rin ducked under the shower, already finding that the water cleansing her body felt quite nice. Even if she hadn't gotten as mussed up as some of the others, it still felt good to get the grime off. She beckoned for Archer to join her, trusting him to know where to start getting those hard to reach areas all squeaky clean... or maybe not so clean after all.
***
Noise upstairs, down, and everywhere... noise, noise, noise! Mille groaned, miserable because the Advil she had just taken had yet to kick in, and the noise was compounding the migraine that was already throbbing inside her skull. It didn't help she felt like crap anyway. Her prana overuse was already starting to take its toll, and her immune system had taken a bit of a dive as a result. The nausea and dizziness were making it hard enough to sleep as it was, she didn't need some sort of fight taking place below, the sounds of Magical Girl anime playing in the distance, and Rin and that corrupted Archer boinking each other elsewhere to make it worse.
"Shut up and keep it down, some of us are trying to sleep here!!!" With another groan, Mille grabbed her pillow and put it over her head in an attempt to cover her ears. Why people had to be so loud was beyond her, it's not like they were probably doing anything important or anything.
***
Archer was rather pleased with himself. He'd managed to repair the kitchen to brand new in half the time he usually did it. He didn't know how he'd done it, but well, he did it. Now all that remained was to finish cleaning up, which was a bit of a task unto itself, but he'd had to deal with far worse.
"Anything I can help with?"
Archer whirled around to see Shirou cautiously approaching him, his duster hanging on a nearby chair. Archer was surprised to see Shirou was so willing to be helpful that he was willing to put aside their differences. It was odd, this streak of helpfulness was something he would have expected from his teenaged self, but not this Shirou. Nonetheless...
"I got everything under control here. Though I guess if you really want to help that badly, you can help me clea-"
Shots, shouting, the sounds of general mayham. All coming down from the garage. Shirou ran down towards the source of the commotion, and Archer took one reluctant glance back at the kitchen before following him, wanting to make sure the young mercenary didn't make things worse.
It was a mess. A crowd was gathered in the garage which included Forest and Kiyoshi. The Servant noticed that Shirou ran off after getting certain details.
Archer was conflicted. Following Shirou meant he could keep a tab on his actions and make sure he didn't make the situation worse. But Kiyoshi and another girl were in there too, and getting the children out of the way would be a good idea just in case the conflict exacerbated itself.
With a sigh, Archer ultimately decided to keep tabs on Shirou. He followed the young man to his vantage point, going into spirit form so he could not be seen.
-
Shuya saw Shirou and the following Servant disappearing in the corridor. Someone had opened fire in or near the compound. The swordsman scratched his head as he turned to face Lancer.
"Are we supposed to check what's going on or is it a regular occurrence around here?"
-
As his sword dug into his opponent's arm, Kiyoshi quickly looked back to ensure his actions had had the desired consequence. To his relief, he saw that the pellets had indeed missed, and were now embedded in the wall and floor behind them. He prepared to swing the other sword whilst his opponent was unprepared but, before he could, all hell broke lose.
First, a strange, black, tattoed woman that felt strangely familiar appeared out of nowhere and, summoning several wolves, ordered them to surround their attacker. On seeing the wolves, created from magic much like his mother's, he had a brainwave.
Oh, what about Kuro?
Halting his attack, Kiyoshi commandeed the little shadow monster to hop out of his pocket and onto his arm. Whilst Kuro was usually very small in order to not drain Kiyoshi, if enough prana was added he could grow larger. And, whilst Kiyoshi did not have anything like his mother's prana supply, he had enough to sustain a moderately-sized shadow for long enough to block any further attacks.
Before he could add extra prana, though, the door flew open once more, and the blonde woman who Kiyoshi has been told was called Forest landed in the centre of the room, obviously very unhappy at what had occured. Angrily, she rose up in an intimidating manner.
"Everyone had better stop this right now or I'm going to be pissed", she shouted.
Then, turning to Kiyoshi and Taiga, she said, "Are you two okay?", before pointing at the others.
"Now, the three of you had better tell me who the sodding hell you are", she said. "You, I figure you're with Sakura and the kids. I can smell you on them. These two wankers had better start explaining before I completely lose my patience."
Before Kiyoshi could reply, though, Taiga spoke up.
"That man tried to kill Sakura and Connor", she said, truthfully.
Then, the other two introduced theirselves, before the idiot who had attacked them spoke up.
"Well, first off he's not what he seems. And second off, fuck you you dark skinned bitch. Bring it, I'll fucking eat your dogs alive!" he said.
Kiyoshi wondered what he meant by "he's not what he seems". Connor did give off a slightly odd sensation, but he seemed perfectly nice to Kiyoshi.
"Well, I'm your new tenant I guess. Just cleaning up the neighborhood, keeping the streets safe, and oh yeah, getting shot at by the Crimson haired cunt for no damn reason", he added.
Kiyoshi scowled at that. How the guy could claim she had no reason to shoot when he had shown up with a gun and threatened them was beyond him. And he was clearly not someone who cared that there were children present, either, judging by the language he was using.
"Oh, and someone take the swords away from the little kid, he could poke his eye out with them", he said, finally.
At that, Kiyoshi couldn't contain himself any longer.
"What do you mean by that?", he shouted angrily. "What did you expect me to do, stand there and watch you murder my sister's friend?"
They continued speaking, discussing the situation amongst theirselves. Finally, Forest turned and addressed him.
"Nice job, but next time use the blunt of your blade to deflect a blow. Using the edge could have killed him, and no good superhero kills people. Well, Batman doesn't kill people."
Kiyoshi frowned slightly. He would never kill a good person, but as far as he was concerned killing bad guys was perfectly acceptable to defend yourself or others, or if they were simply not saveable.
"But he attacked my family without provocation, so he's a bad guy. Sometimes you have to kill bad guys", Kiyoshi said in a matter-of-fact way.
"Plus, I didn't try to kill him, I just cut his arm. That's not fatal. If he didn't want me to do that he shouldn't have attacked us."
They continued to talk, Connor explaining why their attacker had seen fit to do so. Finally, their opponent lowered his weapon. Apparently it was a misunderstanding after all, he seemed to have assumed Connor to be some kind of monster. Kiyoshi sighed with relief. Apparently this guy wasn't quite so much of a bad guy as he appeared.
Thank God I didn't kill him, Kiyoshi thought.
Maybe Forest did have a bit of a point after all. Working out who was a "bad guy" wasn't always quite so simple....
Suddenly, there was a clanging sound. Forest moved towards the door, letting go of their former opponent. Turning to the rest, Kiyoshi spoke.
"I'm sorry for calling you a 'bad guy', whoever you are. I didn't realise this was a misunderstanding, and you did attack my family.
Anyway, now that's settled, should we get inside? I'm hungry and I want to get to bed", Kiyoshi said, yawning.
-
Connor nodded seeing a chance to get past the mad gunman. "Come on Kiyoshi, let's leave the rest to the grown ups" he said quickly moving inside the fortress and finding an empty room.
laying Sakura down Connor left to run through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.
-
Lawrence grudgingly let Connor pass, but not before asking for something - "And bring some bandages, if this kid want's to be a hero he'd better learn some fucking first aid, and why cutting someone in the arm is not a good idea. Ever."
He's here. We should-
'No. Shut the fuck up, I am not shooting the Don or any bullshit like that. All the trouble, all the violence, all the fucking blood, it's all because of you. I haven't had much time with you playing navigator, but we're having a fucking chat Driver. And it isn't going to be a pleasant one. You owe me rent.'
What?
'You heard me. We need to set some groundwork or we'll end up getting killed. Again.'
To bargain with me...
The Driver let lose his eerie laugh.
You have more guts than my last Sin-Eater, if less brains. You cannot bargain with murder
'Fine, but I need information. How do you know about the Abyss? How do I utilize my power to the fullest? How do I keep things like the Abyss... out? If Connor is truly not part of it, then how can I tell the difference between a fake and the real thing?'
Questions, questions, questions. I would think you would have guessed better than that... fine. There's more than just one key for each manifestation you have...
-
Kiyoshi nodded at Connor's words and followed him out of the room, pushing Taiga's wheelchair in front of him. As he did, though, he heard the person who had attacked them speak once more.
"And bring some bandages, if this kid want's to be a hero he'd better learn some fucking first aid, and why cutting someone in the arm is not a good idea. Ever", he said.
"You were trying to kill my family", Kiyoshi shouted back. "What did you expect?"
Not waiting for an answer, he followed Connor out of the door.
-
"You were trying to kill my family", Kiyoshi shouted back. "What did you expect?"
"And you were trying to kill me, so shut up and grab a first aid kit!"
'What do you mean by more than one key?'
Fool. Did you think the Boneyard was only a product of the Industrial Key? The Caul only of the Stigmata? You've only begun to see what I can let you do...
-
"Sod that. I'm Law Unto Herself. I don't need any 'protection'. In fact, you'd better leave me alone or I'll clean your house in a way that'll make Frank Castle proud, and I doubt that you'd want that."
Joe beamed ever so slightly slightly, the fact that she knew of Frank Castle meant that Girly knew what he was and for the first time in months he was happy that he might just get a good fight out of this. Although he wasn't as much a rage monster as his 'brother' was but he did enjoy a good fight and to tell the truth he hadn't had to exert himself in months, it might be fun to finally let loose and cause some true property damage
"Also, if gangster and whatnot try to start trouble on my door step they'll either end up dead,"
'Looks like Blade missed one, though I bet she never made any noise that would bring the day-walker to her doorstep.' Joe thought as 'Girly' flashed her eyes at him, before his mind went on to a different track of mind 'I may just have to alter my usual deal concerning my typical insurance deal.'
"Of with a sudden impulse to go to the non corrupt police officers of this city and spill their guts about every little dirty secret and sin they've committed. I'm not paying for something I have no bloody need of. So sod off."
Joe blew out a cloud of smoke from his Cigar 'Patch would love these' he though briefly before addressing Girly once more
"You got guts Girly, I'll give you that much for certain and I'm betting that you know just what I am." Joe spoke a calm voice, ignoring the fact that she threatened him "So how about we make a new deal, you pay me just fifty bucks a month and I pay for all the utilities of your apartment in exchange."
He blew out a thick cloud of smoke and gave the landlady a smirk worthy of Patch "I am not a greedy man girly, I was willing to pay the kid Twenty Grand for killing his own target just because he cleaned up a loose end and I am willing to pay for said utilities in exchange for a good brawl once a month if you find this acceptable" Joe spoke at last with a hearty grin on his face "Even I need a good hearty brawl every now and then, I blame my heritage honestly enough." Joe admitting honestly before taking puff of the cigar
-
Lancer tilted his head, looked at Shuya as he heard the heavy noises. His nose twitched as he smelled someone new in the house. He looked at his friend, cocked his head, and said, "Let's go find out."
******
Archer grinned at Rin's impish smile as she beckoned him into the shower with her. Warm water pelted on him as he joined Rin in the tiny stall, stepping behind her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, a smile playing across his face.
"You know, I've thought about this for a very long time."
******
Forest turned towards Lawrence, Connor, Sakura and Kiyoshi. She said, "There is a first aid kit in the first bathroom on the first floor under the sink. There are meds in the medicine cabinet in that same bathroom. If Lawrence needs stitches, let me know. I've done enough meatball medicine in my day."
Then she turned back to Joe, listening to his words and his thoughts, which were crystal clear in their simplicity.
Apparently, she'd earned his respect. For fifty bucks a month he'd pay her utilities, which, with this many people, could easily rack quadruple digits. Not that the money was any problem for her, she wasn't that dense to see a good deal in front of her. She grinned and replied, "I know what you are, and I'll take your deal."
She held out her hand to shake it, grinning, "And I'm not daft enough to challenge a Hulk. I know my limits, but if you want a good spot of violence I've got a demi-god living here that knows all about inner rage monsters." Then she gestured to his cigar and said, "One last thing, no smoking in the compound."
-
Joe sighed as he removed the cigar from his mouth and crushed it in one hand before shaking her hand with the other, he grinned slightly "A Demi-God? That should be a good brawl and maybe if we both have fun knock each other around I can challenge him to drinking contest" Joe said cheerfully, or a cheerful as a hulk could be, as he shook his hand gently
"Would you mind tell the brat with the peashooter to stand down? I may be a Hulk but I hate having to patch up hole in my suits because some dumbass tried to take a shot at me, last idiot ruined a perfectly good hand sewed fifteen grand suit tailored for my size when he tried to gun me down with a minigun he managed to acquire" There were few things in the world that Joe hated, among them was a perfectly good suit being ruined and he had sworn to gun down the guy that ruined his next suit personally until the guy resembled the suit he had ruined.
"It's a deal then Girly" Joe stated calmly as he released her hand after shaking it, he continued to address her as Girly due to him not knowing her name in the first place "Normally I'd smoke after a deal is made but your house, your rules" he stated calmly
-
Finding the medication Connor ran over scooped up Taiga slowly. "come on lass, you too Kiyoshi, upstairs, bring her chair." Connor explained running up the stairs to Sakura's room. Putting Taiga down Connor carefully gave Sakura the pills and laid her down. " There" he sighed.
-
Shuya followed Lancer and they reached the garage quickly. He made a grimace upon seeing the impacts in the car. "Ouch." He took a look at the scene, the tanned girl sitting on the ground, a bleeding Lawrence and a very big guy towering over Forest. The large man looked somewhat familiar, but that could wait.
Last time he saw Forest, she was running to the kitchen. Sure, a bit of time had passed, but how the heck did she end up in another mess so quickly? The half-demon met the vampire's eyes and raised an eyebrow.
"Thought you were dealing with a biohazard quarantine of sort, or, at least, tending to your guests, but here you are, surrounded once more by the rabble while still half naked."
He shook his head, as if he should have expected that much from her. Why are you always in middle of trouble? He added mentally.
He spared a side-glance to Lawrence and smiled. "See you met with the Landlady, Law." The man had been wounded by a blade, but the mixed blood grinned at him. Might have been the vampire or not. "Dunno what happened, but esteem yourself happy she didn't crack your nuts."
After the casual words, he turned to have both the Hulk and Angra Mainyu in sight. His tone, less neutral this time. "Now, who the fuck are you both?"
-
After the casual words, he turned to have both the Hulk and Angra Mainyu in sight. His tone, less neutral this time. "Now, who the fuck are you both?"
"The half naked one claims to be Angra Mainyu, and the other one is Mr. Fixit, the Don." Lawrence said, shrugging. "And nah, the little kid did this to me. Watch his swords, they're sharp little bastards." Lawrence also finally hit the safety on the shotgun, and without much dignity collapsed on his ass, laying the shotgun on his lap, the Don's request reaching his ears. Well, that killed (no pun intended) his 'Acquire firepower' plan to deal with the Don. Seriously, a minigun?
"Oh, and I might be blacking out soon, so if I collapse, punch Connor for me will ya? Smarmy jackass..."
-
The half naked one claims to be Angra Mainyu, and the other one is Mr. Fixit, the Don.
Angra Mainyu? Isn't that the evil thing Rider mentioned?
Shuya watched the woman, she sure looked out of place, but to be the embodiment of the world's evil was a bit... And the guy was a character out of comics? Come on. Shuya adopted a mocking tone. "Were you guys on your way to a party or somethin'?" Or maybe it was their way to celebrate Halloween, or whatever equivalent this place could have.
And nah, the little kid did this to me. Watch his swords, they're sharp little bastards.
"Kiyoshi? Brat sure is hot-blooded, gave me some minor cuts too." Shuya looked at Lawrence's arm. "Nothing as deep though."
Oh, and I might be blacking out soon, so if I collapse, punch Connor for me will ya? Smarmy jackass...
The swordsman nodded, a bit confused by the sudden request. "Don't mind, but who's that again?"
-
The swordsman nodded, a bit confused by the sudden request. "Don't mind, but who's that again?"
"A serious asshole who claims to be the son of Cu Cuchulain, and stinks of extra dimensional monstrosity. Also the reason Tatoo's McGee is here." Lawrence splattered blood all over moving his arm. Looks like the kid had hit something important. Lawrence in the back of his mind knew he could come back from bleeding to death right now, but that didn't seem too pleasant an option.
'So, you mean, there's an Industrial Curse and stuff like that?'
Obviously. Not as bloody or murderous as I prefer...
-
As he walked out, he heard their former enemy speak.
"And you were trying to kill me, so shut up and grab a first aid kit!", he said.
"There is a first aid kit in the first bathroom on the first floor under the sink. There are meds in the medicine cabinet in that same bathroom. If Lawrence needs stitches, let me know. I've done enough meatball medicine in my day", added Forest.
Kiyoshi didn't stop to respond, but he heard their comments. The cut to his arm did look quite nasty, and now Kiyoshi knew he was not a bad guy he felt that he should help the guy as much as possible. First, though, he was going to ensure the safety of his wheelchair-bound little sister.
He waited at the bottom of the stairs with Taiga whilst Connor went up to take Sakura to a room. When he returned, he bent down and picked Taiga out of her wheelchair. This time, though, she did not attempt to attack him, instead just accepting the act. He turned to Kiyosghi and spoke.
"come on lass, you too Kiyoshi, upstairs, bring her chair", he said, before running up the stairs with Taiga in hand.
Kiyoshi bent down and folded up the wheelchair, his small body unable to easily carry it in its normal form. Once he was finished, he did as instructed and walked slowly up the stairs carrying the chair. Once he reached the top, he followed Connor into the room where Sakura was resting, placed the chair down and set it back into its useable form.
"OK, I'm going to go find some bandages for that guy. I did cut his arm, after all. I'll be back in a minute", he said, before leaving the room and going to get the first-aid kit.
He walked down the stairs and entered the room once more.
"Here you go", he said, attempting to hand the kit to the man. "I don't know much first-aid, most of my family can heal theirselves with magic anyway, but here's the kit at least."
-
Here you go", he said, attempting to hand the kit to the man. "I don't know much first-aid, most of my family can heal theirselves with magic anyway, but here's the kit at least."
"Thanks, and it's probably a good time to learn now, before you start stabbing people who are trying to save reality from assholes and monsters." Popping open the kit with a single hand, Lawrence rummaged inside. "You cut deep kid - nothing too bad but Jesus Fuck this will bleed for a while. And it'll probably stitches. I'll heal up in a bit." His hand found the gauze and bandage roll with a little rummaging, pulling them out. "Just keep pressure on it for now with the gauze while I find the needles and fishing line so Forest can work her magic." Lawrence shifted his arm so the wound was easier to access, before depositing the gauze in Kiyoshi's hand, and looking for the needle and thread - hell a fish hook with the barb shaved off would work at this point.
-
A serious asshole who claims to be the son of Cu Cuchulain, and stinks of extra dimensional monstrosity. Also the reason Tatoo's McGee is here.
"Another asshole for the team, then," he noted with humor. Shuya weighed for a second if he should go without cigarettes for the rest of the night. He was a pretty heavy smoker but luckily for him, it didn't seem to diminish his own condition. Of course, lung cancer was always a possibility, but there was about zero chances for him to reach that far in life.
He was about to go search for a tobacconist when he saw Kiyoshi arriving with what looked like a first aid kit. He watched with a faint smile how the kid would deal with his mistake, and probably first time really hurting someone.
Obviously, Lawrence wasn't in the best mood, he was bleeding like a pig, after all. Shuya approached the Sin-Eater and took the guy's valid hand and guided it on his wounded arm. "Don't only apply pressure around the wound. Try higher on the arm too, there, see, above the elbow, that's a main artery." He gave Lawrence a smirk. "Had to treat my own by myself," he said gesturing for his missing limb.
The mixed blood pondered if it was a good idea to scold the kid for what he had done. Kiyoshi had a strong sense of justice and a will to truly protect his people. But it was too extreme, the child clearly didn't think before acting, and in the end it would cost him either his life or push him to kill someone innocent at one point. Shuya, grimaced. Why nobody in this family corrected him on that? It wasn't difficult to be strict. Bloody too loving parents spoiled their children in the worst way possible.
If Rider didn't have the courage to tell him what was wrong in it, the mixed blood would make the point across without holding back.
"Nice job, Kiyoshi, you almost severed the arm. But next time, you should aim for the elbow or right on the wrist where it's easier to cut. It also makes it more painful for the person." He gave him a dark smile. "Granted, you're still pretty good. You went right on the guy without hesitation. Congrats. Not much killers have the guts you showed. Maybe we should work together? Everyone starts by hurting people for the right reasons like protecting their kin, but I'm sure you'll come around in no time and get yourself a nice score as a murderer..." He paused on purpose. "I'm sure your parents and Rider will be proud to learn about how you almost caused a guy to bleed to death. That's the kind of hero, I would like to see more often, at least."
-
It had to be Infrastructure. It had to be a trap but... Raul couldn't let this opportunity go. Then again, he wasn't exactly Raul was he? Raul was simply the mask he wore, a comfortable one that any Demon would have. Safe, well established, deep enough that the God Machine would have trouble routing it out even if it was temporarily blown, and his.
Though he wasn't a he... was he? But he identified as he, so it was a he. Being a genderless being had its difficulties when it came to pronouns.
Raul moved slowly. Moscow Rules. Fuck the Moscow Rules. They were useful yes, but in a situation like this, more like guidelines. The few Angels he'd spotted, he'd engaged and killed before they blew their Cover to hunt him. They'd never seen him coming. He was an assassin before the fall, and an assassin he was after. Better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven. Better to make this Hell than return to Heaven.
Better to hunt than be hunted. Walking into a deserted alley, Raul began to remove his Cover. Risky, but if this was a trap, they'd detect him anyway. His silvery form twisted his way out of its mortal constraints, metallic wings spreading out and carrying him aloft. The barrier presented before his entrance to the castle was laughable in how easy it was to slip through, and into the Infrastructure itself. If this was the best defense the God Machine could bring against the Fallen, then it deserved to be overthrown.
He anchored himself to a wall, looking down below at the court yard. Large. Intimidating. And patrolling by the gates - Angels. Angels in the shape of knights, forged for battle. Angels, patiently waiting for war. Angels, who's sole purpose would likely to be to hunt him and his kind down without mercy, respite, or even emotion or thought.
His glowing 'eyes' focused on his first target, a single automaton below. Let it come, let it test itself against him. Let them follow. Let the rest fall before his blades. Hell was waiting for him, but for them there would be no such salvation.
-
Kiyoshi frowned at the man's comment. His own mother had once been a "monster", what would happen if he came across her?
"Connor isn't a monster, though, and it's not my fault that you made a mistake and attacked him in cold blood. What if you suddenly decide that my mother is monster...? Would you try to murder her too?"
Still, despite the man's attitude, Kiyoshi continued to assist him with his first aid. After all, even if he was a moron, he didn't deserve to die for it, and Kiyoshi did feel somewhat guilty about cutting him. As instructed, he pressed the gauze whilst the man searched through the bag for something to sew his arm up.
But, then, he heard the "bad guy" from before speak up, and froze.
"Nice job, Kiyoshi, you almost severed the arm. But next time, you should aim for the elbow or right on the wrist where it's easier to cut. It also makes it more painful for the person." He gave him a dark smile. "Granted, you're still pretty good. You went right on the guy without hesitation. Congrats. Not much killers have the guts you showed. Maybe we should work together? Everyone starts by hurting people for the right reasons like protecting their kin, but I'm sure you'll come around in no time and get yourself a nice score as a murderer..." He paused on purpose. "I'm sure your parents and Rider will be proud to learn about how you almost caused a guy to bleed to death. That's the kind of hero, I would like to see more often, at least."
I don't want to be a murderer, thought Kiyoshi.
"I would never work with someone like you", Kiyoshi spat. "If someone is trying to kill my family then I will defend them, but unlike you I do not enjoy killing or hurting people. And, plus, bad guys like you deserve it. You hurt innocent and kind people like my mother and Aunty Rider and then try to claim we can't fight back.
As for what my parents would think, you don't know my parents. I'm sure they wouldn't want me to kill someone, but he had a loaded gun in his hands and I had to deal with it before he got a shot in. And, had I not acted Connor would be dead. If they were here I'm sure they would see that I made the right choice", he added, the anger clear in his voice.
But, despite what he was saying, Shuya's mock approval and the fact that he had nearly killed a man had shaken him. He had always seen things as clear-cut. Bad guys had to die, good guys should be protected at all costs. But, yet, he had just almost killed someone who wasn't a bad guy. He was sure his parents wouldn't judge him for what he had done, but nor would they likely be too pleased about it.
-
Lawrence gave the kid a look similar to the one of a father that would have to explain to his paraplegic daughter her dreams of becoming a ballerina were not possible.
"Kid, you're too young to see all the shades of fucking grey this world has. Sometimes, people need to do horrible, horrible things, because that's what they do. Sometimes because they want to do it, sometimes because they need to do it, and sometimes because there's no other option. Does this make them bad people? Fuck no, they just drew the short straws. There aren't that many people who you can actually call bad in this world kid. If you don't get that you're gonna drive yourself to the point where the 9mm retirement plan looks like the best option. And Connor needs to get some teeth punched in for being stupid enough to walk around like that. He's lucky he did run into a mage. Prick wouldn't have stood a chance. As for your mother... if she's a monster yes. If she isn't, no. Think a little bit before you ask a dumbass question like that."
He continued applying pressure as Shuya had instructed. He couldn't believe the man had cut off his own damn arm. Crazy bastard.
"And you're really really fucking lucky that you knocked it away in that specific direction. Otherwise... I'd probably have taken the head off one of the girls, and you'd be the reason why. You fucking idiot." Lawrence resisted the urge to stop applying pressure and smack the brat upside the head.
Just do it... it won't kill you...
'But this bloodloss could if I don't deal with it. Maybe we can get some energy off Tats McGee?'
"And what about your own damn head? Think before you pull stupid shit like that."
-
Shuya sighed.
"Look, kiddo. Defending your family is fine. That's not the issue. It's the way you do it that is wrong. Smart people are the ones who always think before acting. If you let your emotions drive your acts and kill someone on the spot, before making sure there isn't another solution , then you're no different that bad guys like me. The only difference is the the reason for which you would end up killing someone. And when you think about it, it doesn't matter once the guy's dead."
Killing in self defense or in defense of someone else is acceptable to you? Fine. But it doesn't make it right. Only cold blooded people, who don't care about others, can walk away without a guilty mind after killing. If you start thinking like that, because 'it was their fault', within a decade, you'll be exactly like me. When you make a mistake, make sure to clean up your mess. And apologize properly.
Violence is the easy method. People on the side of justice got a whole lot more trouble because it's not easy to live that way. Regardless, keeping a cool head is a requirement when you deal with a tough situation. I'm sure your parents would at least agree with this. Also the fact that getting killed isn't gonna help anyone. Besides, the world isn't clearly split between good and bad people, like Law hinted at. That's why you gotta be careful."
Shuya pointed a finger in the vampire's direction.
"For now, just watch this one over there. I'm sure you can learn a bit from her."
-
The familiar nodded absent-mindedly, his mind focused on the man's thoughts.
"Ruu is simply a tool, that is why." His answer came naturally. He picked up a Blu-ray box and started to read what was written on the verso. "It looks like humans to accomplish its task."
He kept silent after that. After a minute, he put back the movie where it was initially. Maybe he should explain things a bit better?
"Ruu is an artificial construction. Everything is an imitation. Bones, flesh, blood. No gender. Doesn't have brains like you, it has magic core instead." He placed his left hand where, were he a real child, his heart would have been. "Everything is empty here."
He walked up to the television and stared at his strange reflected image.
"It was born to obey. To be useful to the Master. And to protect nature. It doesn't require more than that." He could never be like the humans even if he tried because he lacked in so many areas. Ruu placed his hand on the screen, wondering how it felt to be one of them. No matter how much he would ask, no clear answer could be obtained. It was something to experience by yourself. Just like how he couldn't reach his own reflection through the screen, it would be forever inaccessible.
He felt the urge to yell his frustration, but simply kept it sealed inside as he always did.
After a moment, he just sat, facing the TV. The occasions to interact with others were too few in his long existence. He could rarely get past the barrier of appearance because of the ridiculous look his Master deemed to grant him. And people would never exchange serious words with unknown kids. Some had demonstrated a strange kind of compassion in the past, but never did it lead to something constructive.
He was a monster after all. Unable to understand a world which had evolved faster than he could adapt, it was ineluctable for humans to perceive him as such. Nobody would expect him to have such strength with such a small body. People eventually would get afraid of him and either chased the Familiar or would run away.
But it had changed tonight. For the first time in three centuries, someone reached for him. Lancer even allowed physical contact. Circumstances, as they were, didn't allow for discussion, yet Ruu was still grateful for it. As impossible to express it in words as it could be.
For once, he had found people with whom he could discuss and pass time. People who wouldn't consider him strange or worse. So, he tried showing gratitude by preparing something to eat. But he had failed miserably. Even if the words addressed to him were kind, even he would understand after seeing what he did.
But he still had a chance to help miss Haku, like she had been called. Luck or not, it would be idiotic to waste a chance to redeem himself. And all he had to do was to prove his worth. Because there was no point in useless material, he will do his best to complete the task at hand.
"Ruu is ready for the mission," he said, with a military salute.
Finn sat there in silence. He had a slight frown on his face- not angry, oh no, not even close, but just contemplative, perhaps a bit confused and a little... sad. After a moment, he looked the familiar straight in the eyes, the look in them sincere, before speaking. "Listen... well, you may think what I'm about to say is kinda weird, based offa what you just said, but..." A small smile made it's way on Finn's face. "Well, even if you're real different on the inside, and your parts are artificial, that doesn't change the fact that ya obviously have feelings and thoughts and stuff. Even if ya don't quite think the same as most humans do, you still think. You still feel sad, or happy. Don't matter what your insides are made outta, for all those reasons, you're still a person, even if those magi who ordered ya around couldn't see it."
His smile became a bit sad. "I don't know whether or not you'll take that to heart or not but... well, I hope you will, someday." The young freelancer extended his hand out to Ruu, the tinge of sadness melting away. "Beyond that, all I can do for now is offer this- my friendship. Comrades in arms, allies, buddies, whatever you wanna call it is good with me. You cool with that?"
***
Archer arrived behind Shirou just in time to see his younger self aim a bead at the stranger speaking to Forest, who was closing a deal with her. She accepted what seemed to be a pretty reasonable deal, and he heard the apparent Mob boss tell the hiding mercenary to lower his firearm.
"You heard him, put the rifle down," said Archer, trying his best to not startle the young man in the process. Having the gun go off because Shirou had been caught off guard would be an unpleasant way for this to end indeed. "I think Forest has this under control." Archer then turned around to make his way back to the kitchen, carefully listening for Shirou's movements or the sounds of gunfire as he went.
***
"You know, I've thought about this for a very long time."
"Oh, really?" Rin snuggled against him, allowing him to hold her even closer still. "How long? Since you were a teenager long, or ever since you became my Servant long? Or somewhere in between or here or there?" She sighed in contentment, reveling in his closeness and being held so tightly while enjoying the warm water trickling down her exposed skin. "Though the exact amount of time doesn't matter, really. What matters is that you wanted me this much."
-
Lancer followed Shuya into the garage. He immediately spotted the hulking monster that was shaking Forest's hand. He heard the two of them talking, Forest mentioning a demi-god who liked to fight and would probably go for a sparring match.
His eyes glinted as he sized up his potential opponent with his sheer size and powerful aura. He thought, Well, that's going to be a hell of a good time. The Celt made a note to thank his Landlady later. He moved to go talk to his soon to be battle buddy when he heard Lawrence say, ""A serious asshole who claims to be the son of Cu Cuchulain, and stinks of extra dimensional monstrosity. Also the reason Tatoo's McGee is here."
Lancer spot the woman with the tattoos and the oppressing aura. It reminded him of the corrupted Archer's aura except stronger. He wondered if she was tainted like that asshole, or if she was the taint herself.
He looked over at Lawrence and said, "I killed my son. Twas an accident, but it doesn't make him any less dead." With that, he walked over to Forest and Joe.
******
Forest grinned as Joe shook her hand with surprising gentleness, and replied, "Its a deal."
Then she sent to Shirou, Stand down. I've got this under control. Besides, all you're going to do is make him angry, and you really don't want to see this guy angry. Like, I mean it's not going to hurt him.
Aloud she gestured to Lancer as he approached, "Joe, this is Lancer, Lancer, this is Joe. Hopefully I'll kill two birds with one stone and give you both a challenge."
Then she looked over at Shuya and said, "Well, if I wasn't here then this area would be littered with dead bodies. So shush and stop filling that boy's head with nonsense or Rider will have your hide. Figuratively and literally."
She smiled again and said, "Well, I have to go play medic, I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."
******
Lancer grinned up at Joe and said, "You're big. Call me Lancer."
******
"Something like that," Archer said with a smile before kissing the top of her head. "But yeah, I've thought long and hard about this for a very long time."
*****
Forest managed to get beside Lawrence and started rooting through her first aid kit. The first thing she did was pour alcohol on her hands before snapping on a pair of blue nitrate gloves. She looked at Kioyshi and explained in perfect yet accented Japanese, "First I sterilized my hands as best as possible in these conditions before putting on the gloves."
She then looked at Lawrence and used gauze to clean out the wound. "It's deep, but luckily he missed an artery. Thank the Lord and Lady for small favors, right?" Then she pulled out a tube of something and explained, "This is dermabond. Think of it like liquid stitches. It'll cause less scarring and be less invasive than actual stitches." Then she began to apply the purple liquid, sealing the wound together with a furrowed brow, making sure the edges neatly met each other.
-
Rin looked up at the corrupted bowman and smiled. "Let's make up for lost time then." Her smile turned mischievous. "Well, more than we already have anyway."
-
Ruu watched Finn's hand with an uneasy look. Ruu had given him the explanation as to why the familiar was nothing more than that, but this man had shrugged it off like it wasn't important. He tried to link with him in spite of that. He saw him as something, no, as someone. A full fledged person even with all his faults and inability to adapt?
Tiny hands pressed on the large palm and Ruu started shaking. What was this feeling? It was new, unexpected and alien to him. A sensation like a hand clutching his chest in a merciless grip and the familiar felt his eyes watering for a reason beyond his reasoning.
Could he really be a person? Him? He blinked once and drops escaped his eyes. His face twitched awkwardly as he was unable to cope up with the new range of emotions flooding his mind.
Ruu stared in Finn's eyes, with a trembling voice he asked;
"Can it really have friends?"
----
"Yes, mom," answered the swordsman when Forest told him off.
Not that he would mind if Rider would come at him seriously, but arguing with Forest could warrant another bad experience.
Shuya let the vampire to tend to Lawrence's wound and stepped away from them. Lancer was busy exchanging greetings with Grey Face. Both were probably sizing up each other. Shuya wouldn't mind witnessing a good fight, but he was there first. As such, he didn't want to wait any longer. Still, interrupting a promising fight was bad manners. Probably the best option would be to suggest a compromise.
"Lancer, what you say about setting up a Texas Hold' em? That will keep us busy while we can have a good drink at the same time." Shuya eyed the newcomer. "What you say big guy? Up for it?"
He turned to the Sin-Eater, the guy needed a distraction too. "Hey, wanna join us, Law?"
-
"Nah, I'm going to sleep this off."
Lawrence gingerly attempted to move his arm. The glue held, so that was fine. Picking up the shotgun, he headed upstairs. Tomorrow would be the best time to get some plasm. Right now, he just needed some rest.
-
Kiyoshi was now incandescent with rage. The guy was simply a moron. He seemed to blame everyone but himself for the consequences of his actions, and his own stupidity.
"What, so I should have just stood there and watched you kill my friend because it might have gone wrong, or because you might have been a good guy?
Sorry, but I'm not going to stand there and watch you murder someone in front of me. Plus, it wasn't an accident it went in that direction, I deflected it that way intentionally. And, I went for your arm to make sure you didn't take another shot. Despite what you might think, I'm not an idiot, I'm just unwilling to stand by and let someone die just in case things go wrong.
Don't you dare try to pin the blame on me, either, you're the one who took the damn shot, and the one who came in waving a gun around threateningly in the first place. Everything that happened is your fault. Had I not acted, Connor would be lying on the floor in a pool of blood right now. So, yeah, I think I made the right choice, and I think my parents would be damn proud of me for saving him.
And, no, my mother is not a monster, but nor is Connor, and that isn't stopping you calling him one. We are not from your world, we do not know what unusual things you might pick up on. My mother's magic is unusual and often comes off as evil to people, and I do not know if you will pick up on that and go charging after her like you did with Connor. And she can't 'turn it off' like he can.
Take Kuro here, for example", he continued, the little shadow familiar peeping his head out and arms out of Kiyoshi's pocket and waving at the man, "would you see him as evil?"
Before the man could answer, though, Shuya spoke up once more.
Kiyoshi signed at his response. The idiot simply didn't seem to understand the situation.
"Look, if I'd stopped to think then Connor would be dead. I had no choice but to act immediately because the idiot was about to shoot. He had to be stopped, and that didn't seem likely without removing his ability to attack.
I don't like the idea of killing people, no, but I'm not going to listen to your rubbish. Killing someone in self-defence or to defend others is not wrong, not when there is really no alternative. My dad has done it before, even my mum has on occasion. And, there are some people who just plain deserve to die. My mother's 'grandfather', Zouken, for example. I don't know exactly what he did, mummy never tells me the details, but I do know he hurt her horribly as a child, and treated her as a tool for his own ends. A person like that is not someone who can ever be forgiven."
Then, finally, he turned to Forest.
"Thank you for dealing with the mess before that idiot actually managed to kill someone. And, can you please explain to him why protecting someone from being shot is not a bad thing...."
-
Kiyoshi was now incandescent with rage. The guy was simply a moron. He seemed to blame everyone but himself for the consequences of his actions, and his own stupidity.
"What, so I should have just stood there and watched you kill my friend because it might have gone wrong, or because you might have been a good guy?
Sorry, but I'm not going to stand there and watch you murder someone in front of me. Plus, it wasn't an accident it went in that direction, I deflected it that way intentionally. And, I went for your arm to make sure you didn't take another shot. Despite what you might think, I'm not an idiot, I'm just unwilling to stand by and let someone die just in case things go wrong.
Don't you dare try to pin the blame on me, either, you're the one who took the damn shot, and the one who came in waving a gun around threateningly in the first place. Everything that happened is your fault. Had I not acted, Connor would be lying on the floor in a pool of blood right now. So, yeah, I think I made the right choice, and I think my parents would be damn proud of me for saving him.
And, no, my mother is not a monster, but nor is Connor, and that isn't stopping you calling him one. We are not from your world, we do not know what unusual things you might pick up on. My mother's magic is unusual and often comes off as evil to people, and I do not know if you will pick up on that and go charging after her like you did with Connor. And she can't 'turn it off' like he can.
Take Kuro here, for example", he continued, the little shadow familiar peeping his head out and arms out of Kiyoshi's pocket and waving at the man, "would you see him as evil?"
It looks like a tiny spirit.
'Pfft. I know. The kid has no idea what I saw.'
In all honesty, that was what it looked like. Stained and burdened with sin, maybe, but ultimately it was just another spirit. Spirits could be dealt with. Reality devouring abominations on the other hand...
Lawrence stopped in midstep.
"No, what I'm saying is that you can't assume you always know whats right. What you did was put simply luck. Not skill, no matter how much you might claim it, it could have turned out far differently if I'd even twitched in a different direction. And you are an idiot for not getting the fucking point. I know what I'm doing. I did the same thing you claim to wish to do - be a hero and try to save people. Fucking hell kid, did everything the two of us say not go through your thick skull? I'm not blaming you for taking the shot, I'm blaming you for going after the gun and not the wielder. You're gonna get someone killed kid, and it might be you.
And no, I don't see him as evil. He's just a spirit, and a rather harmless one. So basically, same with your mother, which I fucking SAID earlier that if she looks harmless I won't do shit. Get off your high horse you spoiled little shit. Meanwhile, Connor looked like the mask of a reality devouring monstrosity that needed to be dealt with before he got out of hand. I didn't even know someone could imitate their appearance in the Twilight. So fuck off kid, I had a damn good reason to do what I did, and for all your claim of 'threatening you' I never aimed that shotgun at anyone but him. And in the end, if you want to be a hero, you'll end up doing the same fucking thing at some point. Welcome to life. Sometimes doing the right thing isn't justifiable or pleasant." Lawrence flipped Kiyoshi the bird as he took his first steps up the stairs.
You know, there's plenty of ways you could make his life hell...
'But he doesn't. I'm already tempted to show the little shit how far in over his head he is. If he keeps this up he isn't going to have a pleasant nights sleep for years. '
-
Lancer grinned up at Joe and said, "You're big. Call me Lancer."
Joe looked at the blue haired irishman, sizing him up before grinning and replying "The name's Fixit, Joe Fixit."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Seras finished up her little snack period, before leaving the building she had set up a jury-rigged fire bomb to ensure that the evidence of her little snack would go unnoticed as all the firefighters would only find bodies blackened from the fire. What she didn't know was that the clinic also had a Methlab inside, the fireball that the explosion produced was one that could be seen from blocks away.
"Oh bloody hell! There goes my stealthy escape" Seras cursed before she shifted her form into that of a homeless woman and hobbled away from the building now blazing uncontrollably, a homeless woman would go unnoticed by all as Seras made her escape.
-
Lancer grinned and said, "Well, nice to meet cha' Joe Fixit."
"Lancer, what you say about setting up a Texas Hold' em? That will keep us busy while we can have a good drink at the same time." Shuya eyed the newcomer. "What you say big guy? Up for it?"
Lancer tilted his head and asked, "What's Texas Hold'Em? Does it involve throwing rocks? I'm really good at throwing rocks."
******
Forest sighed as Lawrence started to head up stairs, leaving her alone cleaning the bloody mess. She mumbled, "You're welcome for patching your arm up."
Then she turned to Kiyoshi and waved cheerfully at the little shadow creature perched in his pocket. "Well, hello there poppet," she said as a greeting to it, grinning at it.
She disposed of all the bloody bandages and gloves in a tiny plastic bag she easily sealed. It would have to be burned later, but it was far below her list of priorities. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled at the boy. In Japanese, she answered, "Well, its not an easy question to answer, Kioyshi. Had I'd been in your shoes I probably would have done something similar to protect my friend. Or rather, incapacitate him until I got both sides of the story. Then again, I've been doing this thing for a very long time."
She tilted her head and said, "Being a superhero isn't an easy thing, poppet, but the idea of saving others is a rare and beautiful thing. And you have something that people like the Shirou on the rooftop and I don't. You have family. You have someone to support you when you need it. With some learning, you could be a wonderful hero, but something that every hero needs to know is they have to listen."
******
Archer smiled at Rin's words and said, "Indeed we do." He reached for the shampoo and asked, "May I?"
-
There was definitely more to this Joe Fixit then met the eye. Shirou never claimed to be a stealth expert, but he knew his way around when it came to stealth, as many an unfortunate magus found. Yet this admittedly ape-like man had detected him instantly, alerting Forest in the process.
He felt a presence behind and quickly rolled away, wheeling around SMG raised. He cursed internally when he saw the profile of the familiar red-clad Servant.
"You heard him, put the rifle down. Forest has this handled," Archer said slowly, evidently trying not to startle him.
Shirou's silver eyes bored into Archer as he said, "I'm not doing it for her. It's for all the victims and possible victims of this Don. But..." Shirou sighed, eyes reverting to gold, "My cover's blown, and if I attack now, he'd blame this household. Not to mention you'd stop me before I could fire. Let's go back."
He brushed past the Servant, reinforcing his legs before leaping through the window. He acknowledged Forest's message with a nod.
"Let's head back to the Garage. I think I heard Kiyoshi yelling."
-
Axe Cop sighed. He lowered his axe, and his mustache drooped slightly as well. He didn't look sad, but damn close to it.
"Well, this isn't the best day," he scratched his hat with his free hand. "We've lost two perps already. One to mechanical problems and another to teleporting. At least we can make wanted posters now."
He turned to his comrades. "People, let's go back to the station. Don't be discouraged, this is perfectly normal. We'll get them eventually after we're more settled. For now though, we should get a good night's slee-"
Three things happened in very quick succession.
First, there was the sound of a faint gunshot from Axe Cop's left.
Second, a huge fireball exploded in mid air several blocks to his right.
And finally, he noticed the giant castle that stood in the middle of the city like a testament to medieval madness. It was kind of embarrassing that he hadn't noticed it sooner, really.
Axe Cop's grip on his axe tightened. "The night is young," he said after a moment. "Fine, let's investigate a bit more. Inferno Cop, Doomrider Cop, check out that castle and fireball. I can't go to the castle since it's too far away, and me seeing another fire fighter's axe won't end well at all, so I'll investigate the gunshot. You choose which one to take amongst yourselves. After you're done investigating, go back to the station for a cup of joe and tell Gun Cop what happened. Tomorrow, we'll be doing some tracking, so make sure to get a good night's sleep."
"Any objections?"
-
Axe Cop sighed. He lowered his axe, and his mustache drooped slightly as well. He didn't look sad, but damn close to it.
"Well, this isn't the best day," he scratched his hat with his free hand. "We've lost two perps already. One to mechanical problems and another to teleporting. At least we can make wanted posters now."
He turned to his comrades. "People, let's go back to the station. Don't be discouraged, this is perfectly normal. We'll get them eventually after we're more settled. For now though, we should get a good night's slee-"
Three things happened in very quick succession.
First, there was the sound of a faint gunshot from Axe Cop's left.
Second, a huge fireball exploded in mid air several blocks to his right.
And finally, he noticed the giant castle that stood in the middle of the city like a testament to medieval madness. It was kind of embarrassing that he hadn't noticed it sooner, really.
Axe Cop's grip on his axe tightened. "The night is young," he said after a moment. "Fine, let's investigate a bit more. Inferno Cop, Doomrider Cop, check out that castle and fireball. I can't go to the castle since it's too far away, and me seeing another fire fighter's axe won't end well at all, so I'll investigate the gunshot. You choose which one to take amongst yourselves. After you're done investigating, go back to the station for a cup of joe and tell Gun Cop what happened. Tomorrow, we'll be doing some tracking, so make sure to get a good night's sleep."
"Any objections?"
Doomrider saluted, text book. "On it boss. Inferno Cop, hop on my bike!"
Gunning the engine of the Harley of Hell, Doomrider prepared to take off. That castle was a buzzkill that didn't have any cocaine. The fireball would be far better to investigate. "We're gonna RIDE BITCHES!"
-
Kiyoshi sighed with relief at the man's words, even if his general attitude was still exceptionally grating. Now that he knew his mother would be safe he didn't need to protect her from him.
Still, the guy's general attitude was seriously angering Kiyoshi, especially the rude sign he had made at Kiyoshi as he turned to leave. He clearly had no concept of “politeness” or “niceness”, and nor did he seem to have any idea how to actually talk to real people. In short, he was just an asshole.
Before Kiyoshi could respond, though, the blond woman called Forest spoke up.
"Well, hello there poppet”, she said as she waved at Kuro. Without waiting for any instructions, the little shadow returned the wave politely, causing Kiyoshi to smile.
Then, she turned to Kiyoshi.
"Well, its not an easy question to answer, Kioyshi. Had I'd been in your shoes I probably would have done something similar to protect my friend. Or rather, incapacitate him until I got both sides of the story. Then again, I've been doing this thing for a very long time”, she said.
Then, tilting her head, she added, "Being a superhero isn't an easy thing, poppet, but the idea of saving others is a rare and beautiful thing. And you have something that people like the Shirou on the rooftop and I don't. You have family. You have someone to support you when you need it. With some learning, you could be a wonderful hero, but something that every hero needs to know is they have to listen."
Kiyoshi smiled at the woman's kind words.
“I'd like to have incapacitated him, Forest, but I don't have the power to do that, especially not in an emergency situation. All I have right now are my swords, and swords aren't the best weapon if you're trying not to cause wounds. Plus, I did cut his arm, as long as he got treatment he was going to be OK”, he said.
Then, he turned to his retreating opponent. “Look, moron, perhaps what I did wasn't the best choice, but you left me no other option, and no time to think. Attacking you wouldn't have stopped you getting a shot off, and the best outcome of that would have been you shooting randomly. If I had not acted Connor would be dead, and I am not going to apologise for saving someone's life.
As for my mother, it's good to hear that you won't attack her, but how was I meant to know that before? Sure you said you wouldn't do anything if my mother looks harmless, but Connor looks harmless to me, yet you still attacked him.
How am I meant to know what you will see as dangerous? We're not from your world, we don't know how your magic works.
And, you threatened my friends, that is no different from threatening me personally. Like Forest said, any true hero would do the same to protect those they care for.
And, no, killing innocent people 'just in case' is not what a hero does. Heroes do not kill except in self-defence, or if the person they're killing deserves it. That's what my dad told me, and I am not going to take the word of a rude asshole who I've barely met and an amoral murderer over my own father”, he added.
Then, he turned back to Forest.
“Thanks, Forest. I know being a hero is difficult, and I know that I can't do it on my own. But, I am not going to take that idiot's advice over my own father, and I will never abandon my friends and family like he seems to expect. And, really, I don't understand why Shuya thinks can lecture me about this, because he is certainly no hero. His idea of a hero is someone who stands there and watches whilst he murders random people....”
-
"Okay. Good luck, team." Axe Cop waved them off. He didn't salute because he wasn't a soldier and only soldiers could salute, but waving was fine.
After they had left, he gathered up his stuff including the grappling hook gun and the various forms the ghost girl had ripped up. Then he focused and revealed his lobster antenna again. They twitched towards the direction of the gunshot, and Axe Cop found where the danger was. He set off, jumping down to the monster truck and filling up the tank with spare gas.
Minutes later he was standing in front of an apartment building with way too many 'dangers' in it. The ghost girl wasn't there, but as far as Axe Cop could figure, there were at least a dozen people in there, ranging from weaker than a zombie to pretty okay.
Oh, and the speeding car parked nearby too. Axe Cop smiled. Now here was a chance to get revenge for his own mechanical problems!
...too bad he was a Cop and couldn't do dumb things like chop up stuff without a reason. Maybe if the speeder was inside, but he couldn't really justify messing up a perfectly good car just because a criminal had used it at least once. What he could do, however, was demand entrance. Normally you'd need a warrant for that kind of thing, but if he had evidence of a known criminal being there, he could legally force his way in without a problem.
Still, just to be sure, Axe Cop stuck a spare wheel lock onto the front wheels and stuck a speeding ticket on the wind shield. Now nobody would be using the offending car until Axe Cop was done with 'em.
Speaking of suspects... odds were, one of them was in the building.
Axe Cop walked up to the entrance and knocked. Then he waited and knocked a few more times until he could be sure that at least someone had heard him.
While he waited, he played Golden Axe on the inside of his super special glasses that could emulate games and create invisible game controllers.
-
How am I meant to know what you will see as dangerous? We're not from your world, we don't know how your magic works.
And, you threatened my friends, that is no different from threatening me personally. Like Forest said, any true hero would do the same to protect those they care for.
"Hey, kid - consider yourself lucky you can't see the shit I do. Sorry about snapping like that. It's been a rough rough day all around. Thanks for the patch job."
It was a cop out apology but Lawrence at least needed to pay lip service to the concept of politeness here.
So are you going to haunt him?
'Nah, he's just a stupid kid. He'll learn, or he'll break. No two ways around it.'
Lawrence made his way back upstairs. The plasm situation would be resolved someway, somehow. With three spiritual entities here, at least one would might be willing to let him harvest some of their power. And if he needed to, he could just steal it. Then again, maybe the pawn shop owner would know of a Haunt or Gate nearby that he could get a quick fix off of.
-
Doomrider saluted, text book. "On it boss. Inferno Cop, hop on my bike!"
Gunning the engine of the Harley of Hell, Doomrider prepared to take off. That castle was a buzzkill that didn't have any cocaine. The fireball would be far better to investigate. "We're gonna RIDE BITCHES!"
Inferno Cop hopped up on his bike, eager to get on another vehicle of the flaming variety. He tried to wave back at Axe Cop, but kept his hands respectively on his gun and holding on to the bike instead.
"Yeah! Let's fuxxing ride this shit into town!" Inferno Cop said after his once-rival's similar outburst. "I'll take the castle, I have experience!"
Because Pyramids were egyptian castles, Inferno Cop was completely correct.
-
"Yeah! Let's fuxxing ride this shit into town!" Inferno Cop said after his once-rival's similar outburst. "I'll take the castle, I have experience!"
The bike roared into the sky as Inferno Cop called dibs on the not party castle. Doomrider had no idea why.
"Are you sure? They don't like COCAAAAINE there. And it isn't a party castle. Buncha stuck up morons. Why can't it be a party castle?!"
Doomrider's bike roared its firey cocaine fueled path across the sky at near mach speeds, as the castle came up underneath.
"Have fun storming the castle, I'm going to go get some co- I mean investigate that fireball. And not do all the cocaine there."
-
Inferno Cop didn't catch the first part. Instead, he could only reply to the second.
"Sounds good!" he said before jumping off the bike. While falling, he chuckled to himself. "Doomcop, what a great cop."
He landed on the street with a tap, and a giant castle stood before him. The gate was a big thing made of materials best not thought of, and surrounding the gate were some onlookers and some cops who couldn't handle the situation.
Which was rather normal, considering a medieval castle had suddenly appeared in an urban area.
A small part of Inferno Cop considered talking to his fellow cops, getting a feel for the situation and working together to work towards their common goal: to investigate the castle. But this was an incredibly small part of him, one that never went heeded.
"Hey, open up this gate!" Inferno Cop yelled at the building, before walking up to the gate and whacking at it with some of his strength. Let nobody say that Inferno Cop was incapable of knocking at a door like a normal person.
Well, apart for the "yelling at it first" part.
-
Archer smiled at Rin's words and said, "Indeed we do." He reached for the shampoo and asked, "May I?"
Rin smiled up at him and nodded.
***
Shirou's silver eyes bored into Archer as he said, "I'm not doing it for her. It's for all the victims and possible victims of this Don. But..." Shirou sighed, eyes reverting to gold, "My cover's blown, and if I attack now, he'd blame this household. Not to mention you'd stop me before I could fire. Let's go back."
Archer looked back at him and shrugged. "I never said you were. Glad you're at least showing some sense."
He frowned at Shirou's choice of rentry, but followed him nonetheless.
"Let's head back to the Garage. I think I heard Kiyoshi yelling."
While Archer thought Forest would likely have the situation in hand, he had resolved himself to keeping Shirou from doing anything stupid, so with a sigh, he nodded and, yet again, followed after.
***
Ruu stared in Finn's eyes, with a trembling voice he asked;
"Can it really have friends?"
Finn nodded, a warm smile on his face as he gently closed his hand around the little familiar's own. "As many as you want, little buddy." He grinned. "You can even refer to yourself as 'I' if ya want."
***
Hakuno was in a bit of a predicament. Her beat up school uniform sat on the bathroom floor in a heap, waiting to be repaired and washed. The problem? Hakuno still didn't have any other clothes.
She had sat in the tub for awhile to try to get around the issue, but now she was all pruney, and she finally had to get out. Her body was wrapped within a towel, providing her with her only source of cover. Ruby bounced and wiggled in front of her.
"Aww, come on, you sure you don't just want to go out like this?~"
"I'm sure. Well, what am I supposed to do?"
"Well, I could go get someone of course. Then check on Finn and that little familar to see how they're doing~"
"I'd rather have some clothes first, thanks."
"Well, I can transform you temorarily and we can get clothes from there~"
"I suppose that works." Hakuno raised an eyebrow. "There isn't a catch, is there?"
"Of course not~ Now hold still~"
One elaborate transformation sequence and flash of light later, Hakuno was off to the TV room. The newly transformed magical girl wanted some clothes, but Ruby had taken the liberty of controlling her movements, and was now forcing her to walk in that direction.
No catch, huh?
-
“Thanks, Forest. I know being a hero is difficult, and I know that I can't do it on my own. But, I am not going to take that idiot's advice over my own father, and I will never abandon my friends and family like he seems to expect. And, really, I don't understand why Shuya thinks can lecture me about this, because he is certainly no hero. His idea of a hero is someone who stands there and watches whilst he murders random people....”
"To tell the truth runt, where I came from we had quite a few heroes like that" Joe spoke up from behind the runt, Kiyoshi, he might have been a hulk but he could be fast and quiet when he needed to be "I think Girly here knows of a few like that as well, Castle would be a good example for the Runt" Joe stated
"Frank Castle was a Hero in the loosest sense of the term, he was known as the Punisher after all and left plenty of bodies as he went along his way. A good example of true hero would be Captain America, the leader of the Avengers and Super Soldier of World War II or even that damned Spider-Man." Joe spoke with a hint of a growl at the thought of Spider-Man "damned webs" he muttered a little too loudly
-
Shuya gave Forest a bewildered look when Lancer went about rocks.
You didn't even teach him poker?? What kind of cruel Landlady are you???
He sighed and shook his head, before facing his Irish buddy.
"Nah man, you play it with cards. Requires skill and a bit of luck too. Granted, that might be probably boring compared to rock throwing sessions."
----
"I?" Ruu frowned before nodding. "It... No, Ruu... will try."
That probably will take a bit to adjust.
"Thank you."
-
Finn gave Ruu a cheerful nod. "Hey, no problem at all. That's what friends are for, right?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I figure it'll take a little bit to get used to sayin' it, but once you say it enough, it should come more easily for ya."
"We're here~"
Finn turned around to see Hakuno and Ruby walking up to the couch, the teenager occasionally fretting with her magical girl skirt, a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Well hey there, Miss Haku! Come and join us, we found a marathon for ya!"
Hakuno was a bit less enthusiastic about it, given her current circumstances, but Ruby forced her to walk the rest of the way and plopped down on the couch. Clearly, there was one course of action left...
Archer, you there?
There was a moment of silence before the Servant responded.
I'm here. Is something wrong?
Um... well... I-is it possible for you to wash and repair my uniform right now?
Did you really have to contact me via our ley line just to ask for some clothes? ....Are you naked right now?
Of course not! I'm transformed right now because I don't have any other choice.
Let's just hope Ruby doesn't "conveniently" decide to stop the transformation then. There's been an incident, so I'm going to help with that first. Forest seems to have it in hand, but I'm just checking to make sure. Then I'll get to your uniform.
Thank you. Just be careful though.
I've got it under control.
Doesn't mean I can't still worry about you.
I'm not sure why you're worried.
...For someone so smart, you're sure an idiot sometimes. Just be careful, OK?
Finn gave Hakuno an appraising look. "Hey, Miss Haku, you OK? You look a little unhappy there."
She looked at the freelancer in confusion before shaking her head slightly. "It's nothing. Just was thinking a little, that's all."
"If you say so. If ya wanna talk about it at all, just say something, alright?"
Hakuno nodded before turning to look at the television screen. If Ruby was going to force her to watch these things, she might as well start now.
***
Slivers of moonlight escaped to earth from cloudy skies. It did little to illuminate the haze which covered the city like a fetid shroud, and even though it was not time for the air to develop a deathly chill, warmth seemed to leech away from the air.
Below, working his way through the maze of lighted monoliths that stood testament to humanity's vain attempts to defy the heavens, was a young man, bespectacled and cloaked in a coat that reached his ankles. He pulled the covering around himself more tightly, more out of distaste for the foul atmosphere than the sudden nip in the air. Frowning up at the odd structure that now managed to tower over all the other buildings in its own sort of willful arrogance, the traveler continued on into the night, hoping that this evening would remain uneventful. Knowing what he did of this strange City though, he somehow doubted it.
***
So, this is the place huh?
The young woman gazed at the large, brick building with rather intense interest before her attention was directed below. It was a scene that was far too common in movies, TV shows, and comics. A young woman, out of breath, panicked, fled through the dark, twisting alleyways away from a somewhat thuggish, unpleasant looking sort of fellow that menaced her every footstep. Doubtless, his intentions for her were not good at all.
A bit cliche, unfortunately. Ah well, regardless, it's showtime~ The girl reinforced her legs before jumping down behind the bad man.
"Hey, mister!"
Mr. Generic Thug Assailant Guy turned around to face the newcomer. "The hell you come from?"
"Around. Whatcha doin'?"
"None of your damn buisness. Although..." He gave her a rather nasty leer. "We could have some reeeeal fun times if you just stand still there for me."
The other woman stopped, looking back behind her.
"Oh yeah, sure thing." The girl approached the man, innocently enough, casually enough. He hardly got any time to process the fist that flew straight into his face before he crumpled unconscious to the ground, and with a broken nose to boot.
"That's what you get for bein' a creeper!" The strange girl was about to walk off, but instead found herself face to face with the woman she had just rescued.
"You know, I should really thank you. Really, I wanted to toy with him some more before I ate him, but you saved me the trouble of knocking him out myself. I prefer my prey conscious and squirming, but the occasional fast food doesn't hurt." The woman's fangs gleamed as she smiled. "But he'll just be the main course. I can still get the blood out of you kicking and squirming."
The vampire lunged at the girl, but the undead only grabbed at air as her quarry barely managed to dodge. The girl flipped towards a dumpster, quickly taking a survey of its contents. Sitting on top of the rubbish was a broken chair. Before she could make a reach for it though, the vampire lunged at her again, fangs bared. The girl dodged again, but it was an even closer call than last time.
"Three strikes and you're out, honey." Before the vampire could charge again, the girl jumped up on top of the dumpster and retrieved the chair before jumping right back off.
"Name's Rebecca Kururugi." A huge grin crossed her face as she broke off a chair leg to use as a stake. "And I've always wanted to slay a vampire."
The vampire hissed at her before lunging at her one last time. ...Running straight into the stake. The vampire gurgled before collapsing on the ground. She tried to retaliate one last time, but Rebecca quickly grabbed the stake and, reinforcing her arms, shoved it straight through the creature's heart.
Rebecca sighed and shook her head. "My first vampire, and it's one that's real bad at fighting. That sucks. Ah well, this city's crawling with 'em, I'm sure I'll have a second chance at a proper fight with one."
Leaving the assailant she had decked faintly groaning and prone on the ground as he slowly started to regain consciousness, Rebecca began to make her way towards the brick compound, not for certain what awaited her there, but her curiosity still peaked.
-
Forest grinned at Kioyshi and said, "Of course you shouldn't listen to that git, but that's beyond the point." She bent her knees so she was on the boy's level and said, "Mayhap, if you want, I can show you a few things where you can disarm someone without equipping your swords sometime in the near future. Right now though, I think your Aunt Rider would like it if you got yourself some supper and then to bed."
She rose to her full height, and heard Shuya's thought towards her. She replied, Yes, I've had to teach him about cars, electricity, and the like. Card games weren't even on my list of priorities.
Then she nodded at Joe's words, translated in Japanese to Kiyoshi, and said, "Mr. Fixit is right. Batman's like that too. You know Batman doesn't have any super powers but he can take out Superman, who can punch bloody planets out of alignment. Well, at least Pre-Crisis Superman could, and that was ridiculous, but I'm going off on a tangent here. Vengeance is well and good, but it just makes you alone at night and kills you from the inside out."
She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and said, "Lancer you got things here?"
"I think so. Go clean up and take a break before you go punching some other man in their boys," Lancer said with a grin.
The blond nodded and looked at Angrea still there. She pointed at the dark haired woman and said, "And you'd better get the sodding hell out of my house, you tattooed up tart or I'll throw you out myself."
******
Lancer enjoyed the sight of Forest leaving. The lass may have been slender and muscular, but her ass was perfectly sculpted, and the baggy clothing she wore couldn't quite help that. He turned back to his two comrades and said, "So, teach me this Texas Hold Up thing then. And I'll drink the both of you under the table."
******
Archer began the lengthy task of lathering up Rin's hair. He gently massaged her scalp with his fingers, enjoying the feel of her hair against his hands. He smirked to himself, not wanting Rin to see how much he was enjoying this task.
-
Rin sighed with contentment as Archer's fingers worked their way through her hair and scalp, and quickly relaxed against him. While the raw excitement and pleasure of their bodies intertwining only moments before had been one of the best moments of her life, simple and relaxing moments like these were quite nice as well.
-
Kiyoshi smiled at the man's apology, although he wasn't sure what he meant about seeing things.
"That's OK", he said as the man walked away. "I did hurt you pretty badly, I understand you being annoyed".
As the man left, Forest grinned at Kiyoshi.
"Of course you shouldn't listen to that git, but that's beyond the point", she said.
Then, bending down so she was on his level, she continued "Mayhap, if you want, I can show you a few things where you can disarm someone without equipping your swords sometime in the near future. Right now though, I think your Aunt Rider would like it if you got yourself some supper and then to bed."
Kiyoshi felt his stomach rumble at the mention of food, and also felt himself stifling a yawn. Forest was right, he was hungry and it was well past his bedtime. Food and sleep were what he needed right now. He was definitely grateful for her offer, though, even if he wasn't so sure it would work for someone who lacked her physical strength.
Before he could reply, though the huge man at the door turned and addressed Kiyoshi.
Unfortunately, the man only spoke English and, whilst Kiyoshi's English was good for an eleven-year-old Japanese kid, he was far from fluent, and the man's method of speaking was very different from both the standard American English he had been taught in school and the Cornish-accented British English of his brother's fiancee.
He said something about heroes, plus something about America, something military I think. Oh, and Spider Man. He's a good hero, I like his stories.
He mentioned a castle, too, maybe he was talking about Satoshi. I don't recall Toshi knowing a "Frank", though. Maybe that's one of his familiars or something.
I really don't get what he was talking about, it makes no sense....
However, before Kiyoshi could attempt to inform the man, in somewhat broken English, that he could not understand him, Forest picked up on this, and provided a translation on his behalf, before adding some words of her own.
"Mr. Fixit is right. Batman's like that too. You know Batman doesn't have any super powers but he can take out Superman, who can punch bloody planets out of alignment. Well, at least Pre-Crisis Superman could, and that was ridiculous, but I'm going off on a tangent here. Vengeance is well and good, but it just makes you alone at night and kills you from the inside out".
Now that it had been translated for him, Kiyoshi could understand what he was saying, and he certainly had no interest in becoming a hero who just murdered anyone in his way. He didn't know who Captain America was, although he guessed that the designation of "World War II Super Soldier" probably had something to do with his lack of popularity in Kiyoshi's homeland, but he certainly was aware of Spiderman. He was a true hero.
And, even more so, he could identify with Batman, mainly because he could see traits of the Dark Knight in his own father. Like Batman, Kiyoshi's father used technology and clever tactics to defeat more powerful foes, although he was of course aided by Kiyoshi's mother and Aunt Rider, who Kiyoshi couldn't help but compare to Spiderman, perhaps because of the way in which she fought.
"Yeah, I understand what you're saying. My father is like Batman, he uses technology and his particular type of magic to defeat Dead Apostles and other entities far stronger than him. Although I guess Aunty Rider does help him quite a bit, and mummy too. Aoi-nee too, sometimes, although mummy hates seeing her in danger.
I understand that vengeance isn't good, but some people are just too evil to live, like Zouken. I would prefer not to kill, though, killing is not good. And, I can use some of my mother's magic to defend myself less lethally. But, I am only a child, I don't have the strength to fight without my swords as easily. I would like to learn if you can teach me, though.
And, yeah, I am hungry and tired. Where's the kitchen? I can go make food if you want. Oh, also, where can I sleep? I don't have a room yet."
He awaited her reply but, before it came, he thought of something else.
"Oh, by the way, where is Aunty Rin? I'd like to say goodnight to her before I go to bed."
-
The familiar took the words from Finn with a nod when he realized the arrival of a pair entering the room. He was surprised by the flashy outfit Hakuno was wearing, but didn't comment on it. The flying stick was there too for some reason.
"You came to watch with too?"
----
Shuya gave the Irish hero a smile.
Texas Hold Up, really?
"Alright. Lead on, let's go find a room where we won't be interrupted every five minutes."
-
Forest listened to Kioyshi before tilting her head thoughtfully.
"Well, it seems like you have a good start. I can show you where your Aunt Rider is sleeping and there's a room near that for you to stay in. Then I can take you to the kitchen," Forest said with a grin.
Then she chuckled and said, "Also, your Aunt Rin is a bit busy right now."
Before she ushered the boy out, she pointed to Angra and said, "You had better be gone by the time I get back."
She proceeded to show the boy to Rider's room and showed him a nice room that he could stay. It was done in subtle blues and there was a framed poster from Batman: The Animated Series in it. She'd bought the poster on a whim and figured this could be a child's room if ever needed. Gabriel had grown up in a time where pop culture like this didn't exist. She gestured and said, "This would be your room. Just let Lancer or me know if you need anything."
Then she showed him to the kitchen and stared at the miracle that Archer and Shirou had proceeded to put on it. And then she noticed that both men were gone. The boy had said he could fix himself something, and he seemed a bit more capable than poor Ruu.
She looked at him and asked, "Can you handle yourself in here for a couple of minutes? I would love to take a quick shower and put on some clothing."
******
"There, I think I have it," Archer said with a smile before propelling Rin under the spray to get rinsed off.
******
Lancer chuckled and said, "I think I know the place." Then he looked at Joe and asked, "You coming with?"
-
Kiyoshi smiled as Forest talked about where he would sleep, and taking him to the kitchen. Then, she moved onto the current whereabouts of his Aunty Rin.
"Also, your Aunt Rin is a bit busy right now", she said, chuckling.
"Oh, OK", Kiyoshi replied, somewhat disappointed.
I'd like to say goodnight to her before I go to bed. She or Aunty Rider usually do that before I go to sleep if mummy's not there....
Before he could say anything more, though, Forest ushered him out of the room and up the stairs. She showed him the room his Aunty Rider had chosen, before showing him a nearby room that had clearly been designed with a young boy in mind, complete with a Batman poster on the wall. Kiyoshi did like Batman as a hero, he reminded him of his father. So, he was pleased to hear Forest offer him the room to sleep in.
"Thank you", he said, smiling. "I really like it. The Batman poster makes me think of my dad."
He followed her down to the kitchen, where she stopped.
"Can you handle yourself in here for a couple of minutes? I would love to take a quick shower and put on some clothing", she asked.
"Yeah, sure. I'm nothing like as good a cook as mummy and daddy, but I do enjoy doing it, and they've taught me the basics at least", he said, modestly.
In truth, Kiyoshi was actually an outstanding cook for his age, and certainly better than the average adult. The love of cooking that his parents both shared had been obvious to him from an early age, and the happiness they showed in the kitchen had definitely rubbed-off on him. And, of course, once he started showing an interest in cooking himself, they were not going to refuse their beloved little boy lessons. Indeed, they were far more inclined to share the kitchen with him than they were with each other.
Before Forest left, though, Kiyoshi had a few more things he wanted to ask. Whilst the house and the room were nice, and he certainly felt that he was safe here, without any of his family around he felt a little lonely. And, whilst he wouldn't admit it, he did sometimes have difficulty sleeping without someone tucking him in and saying goodnight. Usually it was his mother or father, but if they weren't around then his Aunty Rin or Aunty Rider would usually do it, or else one of his siblings. It was extremely rare for none of them to be around. And, whilst Forest had said that Rin was busy, he couldn't see why she would be unable to even say goodnight.
"What is Aunty Rin doing?" he asked, curiously. "I'd like to say goodnight to her. Surely it won't disturb her too much if I just pop in quickly."
-
Forest could read that the little boy was lonely. His beloved aunt Rider was doing only the Morrigan knew what and Rin was currently with that corrupted asshole upstairs. The noises had died off, but her keen senses let her know that the shower was on.
She studied the redheaded boy, wondering how to answer his question without traumatizing him. At his age he had to have known about "the birds and the bees", but saying, "Rin's off having sex!" was blunt even by her standards.
Her first instinct was to offer her services tucking the boy in. After all, she had plenty of practice with Gabriel. Then there was the fact that she couldn't replace a beloved parent or aunt. In fact, the kid had known her for maybe an hour at tops. He might be warming up to her, but she wasn't a suitable replacement by any stretch of the imagination.
She bent to his level and said, "Well, right now Rin's having some alone time with her Archer. However, maybe she can take a break long enough to come tuck you in. I'll be back in a few though, so go ahead and make yourself at home." She winked at the kid, gave him a wave and headed towards the room where Rin was staying.
It was one of the ones with the best view, and considering she was sleeping with a magical sniper with magical trick arrows that would make Oliver Queen green with envy it wasn't a big surprise. She rapped the door with her knuckles and called out, "Rin, if you can tear yourself away for a little while, Kiyoshi would sleep a lot better if someone he knew tucked him in."
With that, she moved to go to her own quarters to clean up.
******
The corrupted Archer chuckled as he heard their Landlady's accented Japanese shout at him. He looked at Rin and asked, "Do you want to play Auntie after we get done here?" He bent forward and kissed the side of her neck. "Not that we're going to rush to get to the kid though."
******
Lancer sighed at the knocking, looked at his new friends and said, "I'll be back mates."
He walked up to the door, opened it and asked, "What?"
-
Hakuno forced a smile, not wanting to worry the little familiar, and simply nodded in response.
Finn turned to Ruu, once again affecting the demenor of a military commander, albeit more playfully this time. "Alright, this little lady's the one we're here to help. We're gonna help her watch this marathon, and we're gonna help her watch it good. You ready to rock little buddy?"
He turned to Hakuno, and his smile faded a little. "Hey, you alright over there?" he wispered. "You look a little uncomfortable."
Hakuno forced another smile and shook her head. "I'm fine."
"If you say so. If ya need anything though, I'm right here."
Hakuno smiled in response, this time genuinely, and nodded. She turned towards the television, to begin her magical girl education.
***
Well, that was a waste of time. Well, all I can do for now is go back to what I needed to do before this mess happened. As far as Archer could tell, the most recent drama had ended, and there wasn't much his younger self could do to cause damage. So he marched back to the kitchen, hoping to find Forest there. After all, Hakuno still needed clothes, and now that the kitchen was repaired, he needed to prepare a meal.
***
"There, I think I have it," Archer said with a smile before propelling Rin under the spray to get rinsed off.
Rin let a happy sigh slip out as the pleasantly warm water washed over her, but her comfort was short lived as she heard a familiar voice.
The corrupted Archer chuckled as he heard their Landlady's accented Japanese shout at him. He looked at Rin and asked, "Do you want to play Auntie after we get done here?" He bent forward and kissed the side of her neck. "Not that we're going to rush to get to the kid though."
Rin sighed again, this time with some irritation. "What awful timing. And just when we were getting started again too. I probably need to get out there, he's probably lonely and scared without his parents here." The corners of her lips perked up into a mischievous smile. "Still, I do need to finish cleaning up. Certain hard to reach places included. I would say we have enough time for that at least, don't you agree?"
***
Standing over the crumpled corpse of her former would-be assailant, the vampire wiped her mouth and turned in the direction her other prey had wandered off to. She had a faint grasp on the girl's scent, the faint scent of tea and spices and a hint of metal. "Not bad sweetie, but make sure you make sure your enemy is actually dead next time, hm? Though I definitely know not to underestimate you so much, that was... oh, a bit close for comfort, if I do say so." She turned to look down at her victim. "Wouldn't you agree?"
The man's eyes just stared up blankly, his mouth still agape in surprise and horror, just like it'd been in his final moments. Stepping over the body, the vampire began to track the wannabe hero, confident that she'd find her soon enough.
---
Rebecca stared up at the massive Complex, her expression a bit wistful.
This is it. This is probably where they're staying. And if not, well... Forest should be here, right? She might know where they are.
Without a word, Rebecca began to circle the Complex, searching for the entrance.
-
Archer chuckled at Rin's annoyance and said, "We have plenty of time."
He would have loved to just taken her there against the wall, but that would be too soon for his lover. He knew he'd get frenzied and possibly harm her. However, washing her was an enticing prospect. He grabbed the loofa sponge and began to lather it up. He asked, "Now, will you help me with those hard to reach places, Rin?"
******
Forest had showered and dressed within record time. Since she wasn't going back out for the night, she dressed in dark blue flannel pajama bottoms, a black turtle neck, and braided her hair into two braids to keep it out of the way. The one person she would have liked to impress wasn't interested and she got the feeling she was being "friend zoned" by him.
So she figured she'd go drown her sorrows with some Bruce Campbell. On the way to the living room though, she grabbed an extra pair of clothing, jeans, underwear, and a t-shirt, for Hakuno. When she reached the living room, she was glad to have gotten them because the girl looked as uncomfortable as hell.
The blond waved her bundle and said, "I've got clothing. This'll do until we can take you out shopping proper."
-
Standing over the crumpled corpse of her former would-be assailant, the vampire wiped her mouth and turned in the direction her other prey had wandered off to. She had a faint grasp on the girl's scent, the faint scent of tea and spices and a hint of metal. "Not bad sweetie, but make sure you make sure your enemy is actually dead next time, hm? Though I definitely know not to underestimate you so much, that was... oh, a bit close for comfort, if I do say so." She turned to look down at her victim. "Wouldn't you agree?"
The man's eyes just stared up blankly, his mouth still agape in surprise and horror, just like it'd been in his final moments. Stepping over the body, the vampire began to track the wannabe hero, confident that she'd find her soon enough.
I'm just going to be typing all of Jacks stuff in first person. Because Noir is what I'm aiming for with him.
I saw the first broad - the faker - get up after that pounding the girl had given her. Stake to the heart - Jesus, that'd put any blood sucker down. Except her. Maybe it missed, like both of them missed me. Being Kindred had it's perks.
I was going to step in myself before the girl did. It ain't right, how this city's degraded. I've seen it all, remembered a time when this was a nice place to live for the most part. Now? People lock their doors at night. There's gunshots every five seconds. Things I have never even heard of popping up in town, doing weird unnatural shit like I'd just seen.
She'd drained the thug dry - I never went in for that, raised too many questions - after she got up, taking a life like most people would stomp on ants. It wasn't kind of me to do this, and I'd never done it before, but sending her to the final death was probably best for this town. I'd drink like a fish after this, real whisky down my dead throat before it'd come right back up. Problem is I can't get drunk, not off of just drinking anymore. I've gotta find some old sauced up wino and drink until his red nose turns white, and when I did do that... well, I nearly fell off the wagon, drained some young pretty thing within an inch of her life before someone pulled me off of her and shoved a stake through my heart.
Idiot pulled it out afterwords and I got away, but thank Christ he was there. Shoulda left it in and left me for the sun.
So I opened my stupid mouth, something I never should do, and spoke, "I'd agree, ya bloodsuckin' tramp." The .357 police revolver, a Colt Python, was in my jacket pocket. I'd shoved some .38 special in it like a moron today. Like that'd do shit to this girl. Still, she couldn't be as tough as me. "Now, back off and call this a night before this gets ugly. You ain't the only one who needs to feed in this city."
-
The woman tossed her hair before turning to her fellow vampire. "Hmm? You interested in the little girl too? I would like to think I have dibs, since the little bitch rammed a stake so close to my heart, but I'd be willing to share~"
***
Hakuno and Finn turned around to look at Forest. A faint blush lit up Finn's cheeks as he greeted the now clean and more comfortably clothed vampire. "Hey there, Forest." His blush intensified as he added, "you look nice."
Hakuno smiled, grateful, and walked over to take the clothing. Before she could thank Forest, however...
"Oh, there's some clothes for you~ Now you don't need the transformation anymore~"
And then the uniform was gone. Hakuno let out a small cry as she quickly worked to keep her towel around herself.
Finn shook his head. "That wasn't very nice, ya know, Miss Magical Girl stick." He then turned away politely to give Hakuno some privacy.
***
Even though it was faint, Archer heard his master cry out, and immediately beelined for her location. It didn't take long for him to get there, but...
"A-archer?!"
Hakuno's had been blushing hard before, but now her face was as red as a beet. Archer quickly turned away, now with a blush of his own. "Y-you should probably get behind something, Master. I'll project something for you if I have to."
***
Rin nodded. "Now then, do you mean my hard to reach places..." She hesitated for a moment, as she was still learning the ins and outs. But it didn't take long for her to pluck up her courage and gently begin to caress a large vein on his shaft with her finger. "..or yours?"
-
Forest's eyes widened as poor Hakuno was suddenly naked. She flicked the magical stick and said, "Ruby, that was a bloody awful thing for you to do! You don't go around leaving young women naked."
Then, to make things worse, or funnier, Archer ran in the room. He was obviously flustered by his Master's lack of clothing, stammering, "Y-you should probably get behind something, Master. I'll project something for you if I have to."
Forest raised her eyebrow at Ruby and said, "You planned this, you magnificent little git?" She pressed the clothing to Hakuno and said, "There's a look right around the corner. Hurry there and get dressed before your Servant has a heart attack."
******
A groan passed its way through Archer's lips as Rin began to stroke him. He was already hard and swollen just by being in contact with her, but this brought him to full attention. He smiled at that and began to nibble on her throat. "Well, since you want to take the lead, I'll allow you to go first."
He did wrap his hand around hers, guiding her to show that he liked a bit more pressure and friction than what she was giving.
-
The woman tossed her hair before turning to her fellow vampire. "Hmm? You interested in the little girl too? I would like to think I have dibs, since the little bitch rammed a stake so close to my heart, but I'd be willing to share~"
So she'd been nearly staked. Wasn't an Aswang then, or Jian Shi - might be one of the weird types then, the ones that don't play by any of the normal rules. Probably not Kindred, though.
"Nah, she ain't my type. You got your fill so leave her be, or you'll answer to me. Kaapesh?"
It wasn't the most concrete answer, and she'd just fed. The broad would think I was hogging her for myself then. Fine. "If you want her so badly, you go through me, got it?"
I was hungry. There was blood on the ground, the scent filling my nostrils with its heady scent. God, I could just pin her down right now, right here, have my way with her and leave her empty and broken. I felt a little pop, as my fangs fully extended. Oh, please please please let her say no.
-
Axe Cop instantly sensed that he'd be able to get along with this person. Or rather, that they'd be able to communicate. At the very least, they both had an intrinsic appreciation for rules and morals. He displayed his badge, axe still looped through his belt.
"Sorry for the interruption, citizen, but I have reason to believe that there is a criminal taking refuge in this building. A gunshot was heard a few minutes ago around this area, and a vehicle linked to an earlier crime was found parked outside. Under current law I'm allowed to enter without a warrant for the purposes of investigating. You wouldn't mind if I took a look around, would you? I'll even promise not to chop the criminal's head off if I see him."
Axe Cop also thought he sensed another presence approaching the building, but shook off the feeling. It must've just been interference from the sheer volume of 'danger' the building, and in fact, the man in front of him, exuded. Hm. He was missing close combat on his team, and that blue hair was almost as good as a cop hat...
-
"You two could have been a bit more subtle and raided a blood bank" A new voiced spoke out from the shadows as an elderly homeless leaped from a rooftop with agility that did not match the person before them, the homeless woman's appearance shifted to that of a well endowed blonde haired woman in a dark red military uniform "Or one of the many illegal clinics in the area" she finished calmly as she pulled a blood pack from seemingly no where and began to drain it like a six-year old kid wiuld drain their kool aid jammer.
-
The lady vampire's coy smile faded. "You seem awfully protective of that girl. An acquaintance of yours? You might want to tell her it's hardly polite to interrupt someone during a meal. Or go wandering about playing hero in the alleyways, just asking to be eaten."
She then heard the new voice, and frowned at the newcomer. "It's none of your business. Besides, there's pleasure in the hunt. You don't want to spoil my fun, do you?"
---
Rebecca froze. There was the entryway, but it was blocked by a police officer and who she suspected to be Lancer. She contemplated what to do for a bit, before deciding to do what she often did- charge in headfirst.
"Hey there, Mr. Officer, Mr. Blue-haired guy. How's it goin'?"
***
Forest's eyes widened as poor Hakuno was suddenly naked. She flicked the magical stick and said, "Ruby, that was a bloody awful thing for you to do! You don't go around leaving young women naked.
Ruby bounced around innocently. "But she has clothes now, she didn't need the transformation anymore~ Plus she has that towel around her, so she's not completely naked~"
Hakuno glared at her. She probably would have flicked her too if she wasn't struggling to hold the towel up.
"Still wasn't very nice of ya, leavin' poor Miss Haku with nothin' but a towel," Finn said, still looking away.
Then, to make things worse, or funnier, Archer ran in the room. He was obviously flustered by his Master's lack of clothing, stammering, "Y-you should probably get behind something, Master. I'll project something for you if I have to."
Forest raised her eyebrow at Ruby and said, "You planned this, you magnificent little git?"
"Maaayyybe~"
[Forest] pressed the clothing to Hakuno and said, "There's a look right around the corner. Hurry there and get dressed before your Servant has a heart attack."
Hakuno nodded, quickly grabbing the clothing and fleeing so she could change at last. She hastily dressed herself before returning to the living room still blushing.
Archer, in the meantime, still blushing a bit himself, turned to Forest. "S-so, I'm guessing my Master isn't the only one that needs to be fed. While I'd have to see what's still left in your kitchen before I'll know what I'll be able to cook, having a general idea of how many people I need to feed would help."
***
A small gasp of pleasure escaped Rin's lips as Archer nibbled her throat. Glad for Archer's guidance, Rin continued to stroke his member, changing her finger's movements in the way he'd just shown her. While she was enjoying the feel of him, she hoped that she had changed her movements enough to his satisfaction. This was about both their pleasures, after all.
-
"You two could have been a bit more subtle and raided a blood bank" A new voiced spoke out from the shadows as an elderly homeless leaped from a rooftop with agility that did not match the person before them, the homeless woman's appearance shifted to that of a well endowed blonde haired woman in a dark red military uniform "Or one of the many illegal clinics in the area" she finished calmly as she pulled a blood pack from seemingly no where and began to drain it like a six-year old kid wiuld drain their kool aid jammer.
...Now that was a new trick. That could prove handy for me to learn if I could. The Beast inside roared with aggression, raising its hackles at the new intruder.
"I don't get as much nutrition from the blood packs. Besides, blood tastes best warm, like good whiskey."
I... when had I gotten within grabbing distance of the first vampire? And when had my claws come out? Cool it Jack, don't let the blood get to you.
"And I'm not with the tramp here. Just happened to be passing by."
The lady vampire's coy smile faded. "You seem awfully protective of that girl. An acquaintance of yours? You might want to tell her it's hardly polite to interrupt someone during a meal. Or go wandering about playing hero in the alleyways, just asking to be eaten."
She then heard the new voice, and frowned at the newcomer. "It's none of your business. Besides, there's pleasure in the hunt. You don't want to spoil my fun, do you?"
"You're asking to get eaten. You and your lot have already fucked with the masquerade enough. If you don't stop chasing her, I will put you down, right here, right now."
I couldn't do it. I couldn't' do it. What sort of shitty vampire hasn't killed someone before? Me, that's who.
-
She snorted at Finn's response and said, "I doubt Ruby cares about being 'nice'."
Forest nodded at Archer's question and said, "Well, Kiyoshi definitely needs something to eat, then there's Taiga, the little redheaded girl who could use a good meal too. So there's at least two there. I'd wager that Lawrence could use food too, and maybe Rin and your asshole self. If what you are does need to eat then."
She glared at Ruby, then looked at Hakuno. "Maybe instead of being a magical girl, you should be a witch instead. Witches are far more bad assed and wear better clothing."
******
Archer's free hand moved to Rin's side, gently holding her as they worked together. The feeling of her slim, warm fingers around him, stroking with the near perfect blind of friction and pressure was going to be his undoing. He moved to kiss her, not losing pace as he did.
******
Lancer nodded, eying the cop's axe and sensing a kindred warrior. He moved out of the way and said, "Course, come on in. We've got an odd bunch of people who live here. Some of which are assholes, but I wouldn't call . . . Okay, yeah, there is this one arsehole that is a criminal I think. Bastard cheats in a battle."
-
"Quite right." Seras stated before she stabbed her Shadow arm forward at the offending vampiress, what appeared to be thousands of bladed tendrils began ripping apart that unfortunate vampiress before the other fellow could even hope to off the wicked wench himself. It was a gruesome end for that vampiress being torn apart in such a manner but in truth Seras had seen worse ways to go, she knew that the wench would receive her punishment in the afterlife. But low and behold the vampiress still lived as she clung to life or rather unlife desperately, turning her attention to the other fellow she smiled in his direction.
"You can finish her off now, but use this instead" Seras tossed the man an old but customised Desert Eagle .50 Handgun "Its loaded with explosive blessed silver bullets that are made for sending the misguided on their way to hell, much like this poor sod and don't worry about any noise, it's got a built in silencer for putting them down quietly"
-
"Cheating in a fight is definitely a sign of a bad guy," Axe Cop said. "Why, just this morning I confronted a lady running around and shooting ghost blasts at everyone without a license, but all she did was say some stupid stuff about being god-like and too good for mortal laws. Then she teleported away like a coward. And that was after I offered to let her off, too. You just can't find a good fight these days without someone trying to ruin everything."
Then another girl appeared from behind them. So this was the presence... well, she looked harmless enough.
"Hello," he said to the girl. "I'd recommend not going inside right now. We've got a suspected criminal in here. It might be dangerous. Actually, scratch that, it's really dangerous. I'm sensing enough 'danger' in here to flatten a city. Anyone not as strong as me would only get in the way. But since you're here, mind watching the door? The criminal might try to run off. All I know is that it's a woman with black hair dressed like a ninja, and two brown or black haired men."
It was okay to ask a random person for help, since Axe Cop had taken the time to switch on his Morality Sensing glasses. He could tell if someone was a good or bad guy, and if they were lying. The girl seemed nice enough, so there was no problem.
-
Lancer nodded and said, "Real men don't rely on nasty tricks to win a battle, ye kin?"
Then the Celt's crimson eyes sparkled as he said, "I'm always on the look for a good fight. I've got a match planned with Joe over there. He looks like he'll give me trouble. It'll be great." Then Lancer shook his head and said, "Anyway, there's this arsehole bad guy in here. He's corrupted by evil as well; you can see on him and I can smell it. Just don't cause any trouble for my landlady and I'll see what I can do about giving you that fight."
Lancer grinned, held out his hand, and said, "They call me Lancer."
-
"Axe Cop. It's a pleasure. I'll try not to mess with your lady."
Privately, Axe Cop assured himself that Secret Attacks were most definitely not cheating, or nasty tricks. Okay, maybe the Free Poison Soda attack was a bit underhanded, but if you got taken out by that then you were probably too dumb to fight properly in the first place.
He entered the complex, one hand on his axe the entire time. The feeling of danger intensified.
Axe Cop eventually decided that subtlety was for morons. He was a police officer with every right to be there! Why should he be creeping around like some kind of bad guy?
He opened the door to the first room he saw, his badge proudly displayed on his chest and axe, despite an urge to pull it out, still on his belt loop.
"Citizens, this is the police! I have reason to believe that a criminal resides among you. Please stop what you're doing and tell me everything you know."
-
Kiyoshi nodded with understanding at Forest's words and smiled. Whilst he wasn't fully aware of what "alone time" implied, he knew that people who were in love did need time together, as his parents did. Admittedly, he was a bit surprised that they had fallen for each other quite so quickly but, then, he did vaguely recall his mum telling him that Aunty Rider was having "alone time" on a few occasions when he asked why she was away, and she didn't have a long-term partner, so obviously it was possible.
After Forest left, Kiyoshi looked around the kitchen, wondering what he might like to eat. But, as he did so, he had a sudden thought.
Damn, I told Connor and Taiga I'd be right back.
Annoyed with himself for keeping them waiting, he rushed upstairs and back into the room they were staying in.
"Sorry, I got a bit delayed by the idiot who attacked us", he said, addressing Connor and Taiga. "And, after, Forest showed me a really nice room I could stay in and then took me to the kitchen so I could get myself some food before bedtime."
"Hmm, are you hungry? I can cook for you too if you'd like."
-
"Technically, Servants don't need to eat," explained Archer, "but we still can, and tend to eat anyway even though it doesn't technically do much for us. So I'll need to serve at least six people then." He turned to Finn and Ruu. "What about you two then?"
Finn shrugged. "Well, I'm a little hungry, but if it makes it easier on ya, I can hold off for a bit."
In the meantime, Hakuno made her own reply. "Well, it'd probably be more fun than being a Magical Girl, from what I've seen so far," she said, shooting Ruby a quick glare. "But it'll probably take me some time to learn. Rin wants to teach me I think, though, so that's a start at least. For now though, I at least have the magical girl form so I can help everyone during the fighting at least."
"Ah, come on, it's fun~," Ruby chirped. "Just watch the shows and experience it a little, and you'll see how great being a magical girl really is~"
"If it involves less of having my body controlled and having my uniform magically be taken off right when everyone can see me half naked, maybe," Hakuno muttered to herself.
***
"Aww, I had someone I wanted ta meet in there. And I can handle any baddies that are prowling in there, you can be shura that." Rebecca was a bit disappointed, but she figured that she'd maybe be able to get inside once the place was searched. "I don't mind watchin' the door though, to make sure the bad guys don't get away. I can just check in once everything's settled."
***
Rin covered the rest of the distance so that their lips could meet once more, her caresses not even ceasing for a moment. Now a bit more confident in what she was doing, she kissed him deeply and invited his tongue to dance with her own.
-
"You can finish her off now, but use this instead" Seras tossed the man an old but customised Desert Eagle .50 Handgun "Its loaded with explosive blessed silver bullets that are made for sending the misguided on their way to hell, much like this poor sod and don't worry about any noise, it's got a built in silencer for putting them down quietly"
...Christ. Christ, Christ, Christ, CHRIST. ALL THE BLOOD ALL THE BLOOD ALL THE BLOOOOOOD!
I managed to snag the gun out of the air, somehow, my eyes peeled back as wide as I could bring them. The Beast roared, bending the bars of its cage and straining at the cage, desperately trying to break free.
The locks held. I handed back the gun. "If you define quiet in an odd way lady, it sure does. Otherwise, she's pretty much harmless for the moment now. You want to kill her, go ahead. I've got things to do."
-
Forest raised an eyebrow at Finn and said, "Go ahead and plan for Mr. Nice Guy here too, please Archer. I mean, if you're going to be cooking for six people already, what's two more? Its not like I'm lacking the funds to feed people here."
Then she looked at Ruby and said, "I've seen magical girl shows. They involve some twit who is incomplete without her eternal soul mate and crumble to pieces when their friends and love interest isn't there. Hakuno seems to have a bit more substance than that."
******
Archer returned Rin's kiss, his hips thrusting on their own accord. He was panting against her, lightning starting to crackle along his veins.
******
The first room that Axe Cop went into was completely empty of people. However there was a framed "Army of Darkness" poster hanging on the wall and a rather large computer system.
Lancer followed him, tapped the police officer and said, "People are upstairs, mate."
-
"...nice taste in movies."
Axe Cop followed Lancer up and repeated the previous sentence the moment he saw someone new.
-
"Understood. What about the one girl, the redhead?"
"Mille ya mean? I don't know if she'd be up for it right now, last time I saw her, she wasn't lookin' too hot." Finn frowned. "I should probably go check on her."
In the meantime, Ruby continued to bounce around.
"Oh come now, you think I'd choose someone so hopeless? Besides, not all the protagonists are like that. And besides, that's the whole point of having the powers granted- even someone as mousy as Hakuno-chan can become a hero~"
Hakuno sighed. While I'm not the last one to admit that Rin can be really bitchy sometimes, I can see why she doesn't like Ruby so much.
***
Rin could tell by Archer's reaction that he was being overcome by his need for her- while she couldn't tell for certain, she imagined that it'd start getting to the point of being painful, soon enough. She parted her lips from his long enough to say, "I want you to take me again. That's an order."
-
Forest eyed Finn and said, "You might want to wear a cup."
Then she looked at Ruby and the annoyed look on Hakuno's face. "You know, just because someone's 'mousy' doesn't mean that they can't be a hero. You're superficial Ruby."
Tired of this, she grabbed the Blurays for "Evil Dead 2" and "Army of Darkness". "You guys have fun watching the Magical Marathon. I'll be elsewhere." Then she started to head towards her office.
******
Archer smirked at Rin's command and lifted her up and braced her against the shower wall. He settled between her legs, rubbing against her with a smirk, finding her hot and wet. "Then brace yourself, Rin."
Then, gripping her thighs, he joined with her with one, smooth thrust.
******
Chuckling, as Lancer followed Axe Cop upstairs, he saw his Landlady fully clothed.
". . . Nice taste in movies."
Forest stopped, eyed the police officer, and then his axe. ". . . Is there a problem officer?"
-
So this was the land lady.
"There is, ma'am," Axe Cop said. "I have reason to believe that this building is harbouring at least one, if not three criminals. First a gunshot was heard here a short time ago, and then a car that was used in a crime today was found parked right outside. I'd appreciate your cooperation in this matter."
She was dangerous. Not as dangerous as Lancer, but pretty up there.
-
Finn grinned. "Nah, I don't think I haveta worry this time." The grin faded, his expression now a bit more sheepish. "I think she's too tired to try her 'experiment' on me for now."
Ruby, in the meantime, waggled about cheerfully. "Oh, I never said Hakuno-chan doesn't have hidden depths~ Plus I'd take someone mousy anyday over a hag like Rin. Such a shame, for all that talent, she simply isn't magical girl material."
"You should be glad that Rin isn't here right now," Archer commented dryly. "There would be a Ruby-sized hole in the wall right about now."
"That's our Rin~"
Tired of this, she grabbed the Blurays for "Evil Dead 2" and "Army of Darkness". "You guys have fun watching the Magical Marathon. I'll be elsewhere." Then she started to head towards her office.
A part of Hakuno wanted to follow Forest, but she knew Ruby would pester her into staying if she did.
Suddenly, she, Finn, and Archer spotted the mustachioed police officer accompanying Lancer. Finn stopped himself from checking on his sister to see if he needed help, Hakuno turned around to look out of curiosity, and Archer, despite wanting to start on supper, erred on the side of caution and stayed around in case there was any trouble.
***
Rin gasped- the pain was far less than it had been the first time he had been inside her, so it was far more pleasurable this time. That, combined with the soothing feeling of the warm water made this euphoria. She felt herself go, squeezing tightly around him. She reached out for him, not wanting this feeling to end.
-
Lancer said, "Well, there's that cheating evil arsehole upstairs."
"He's shagging Rin by the way," Forest told her original tenant and Lancer gnashed his teeth.
He said, "Lass deserves better."
Forest turned back to Axe Cop, nodded and said, "Somehow I'm not surprised that there's dangerous criminals here. So yeah, you have my cooperation."
******
Archer kissed Rin, holding onto her tightly as she wrapped herself around him. He felt her squeeze him and he began to thrust deeper and harder, enjoying the friction, wetness, and tightness.
-
Axe Cop nodded. "Thank you. Now before we get too carried away, these guys haven't done anything that deserves getting a head chopped off. It's just a speeding charge coupled with evading police, but I'll still have to bring them in to the station and get all the boring paper work done. Officially, I'm just bringing in two males, brown hair, either caucasian or asian, and an asian female with black hair and... a ninja outfit, not making this up. Or maybe it wasn't a ninja outfit, but it was really, really Japanese. They were in the old Firebird outside. I've got it locked down now, but I can unlock it for you as soon as these three get brought in."
He looked at Lancer. "Oh, if you can link a crime on that guy of yours, I make his life a living hell. All I need is a solid testimony to do a questioning."
He suddenly remembered something and turned back to Forest. "Oh, and the gunshot earlier... complicates things. Officially, I can't inquire unless I have a reason behind the occurrence. So an explanation would be nice, if you have one. Did something violent happen here?"
-
Angra ignored Forest's demand to leave the compound and instead took a seat in the kitchen altering her dress to be a red tank top and skirt and sat down waiting for the lady of the house.
Connor and Taiga shook their heads. "No boyo, none for me, I canna eat without me friends, dog's curse really." Connor chuckled.
"I'll wait for Sakura to get better" Taiga added.
-
Goddamn it, some legendary mercenary he was.
Shirou stared down a dark corridor, trying but failing to see if they were the correct bedrooms. He had been trying to find Kiyoshi, Archer having returned to his Master some time ago, except he had no idea where the little bugger was. Giving up, he went back down several flights of stairs until he finally reached the kitchen, which no longer resembled a bomb site.
Pausing for a second, still hidden in the shadows, Shirou was surprised to see a large group of people, evidently the newcomers who had been causing the racket earlier. He hasn't had much of a chance to really look at them before, too engrossed in the Don's sudden entry. To his annoyance, he finally found Kiyoshi, and was about to leave his perch when he noticed a girl dressed in a strange red tank top and skirt sitting off to the side.
She was...familiar, but not in a good way. Despite not having any reason to, his hands were itching to go for a gun.
Shaking his head, he walked out of the shadows, noticing as he went through the doorway that Lancer and Forest were off to the side, talking to a- policeman!
Freezing on the spot, knowing full well that he had a rather extensive criminal history, Shirou edged backwards. If he went too quickly, he would definitely cause the man's attention to fall on him.
-
Hakuno turned back to the TV, her curiosity sated. Finn, knowing from what he had heard that he was no use to the police officer, got up and turned to the two sitting on the couch.
"I'm gonna check up on my sis real quick. Shouldn't take me too long, I'll be back before you can say, 'Sailor Moon." He gave the pair a quick wave before heading to his sister's room.
Archer sighed, and turned to Hakuno. "Well, I might as well start preparing the meal. If you need me, you know where I'll be."
Hakuno nodded. "Good luck."
The bowman made his way towards the kitchen, but stopped as he spotted the unwelcome occupant. He frowned, sensing something was very wrong here indeed. He didn't know for certain, but he had a feeling...
Master, the moment I tell you to, I want you to change into your magical girl form.
Huh? After I just changed out of it? ...Wait, you sound worried. What's going on?
The Servant frowned in the direction of the kitchen. Let's just say we have an unwanted visitor.
***
Rebecca had to lean against the wall. She'd felt a bit off the moment she'd started towards the Complex, but not enough to really bother her, but now she was beginning to feel a bit ill. That alone made her uneasy. It was entirely possible that she was just coming down with something, but there was also the very real possibility that there was something far worse than a mere criminal inside those walls. Even if she felt bad about abandoning her post, she had to let the people inside know something was wrong.
Making her way inside, the way her malise intensified was more than enough to show that this wasn't just a sudden onset of some sort of sickness. No, it was something far worse than that. The fact that the feeling was increasing so quickly meant that this was far worse than the last time she'd encountered such a thing. Battling the wave of lightheadedness that washed over her, Rebecca made her way inside, hoping to run into someone to direct her to Forest so she could warn her.
***
What Rin felt at that very moment was almost beyond description. His lips against hers, his holding her so close and so dear, the sound and feel of the rushing water, the sensation of him joined with her as she held on to him tightly and intimately much like he was doing for her above- Even if a part of her knew that this could happen again, that it could happen many times again, this moment was one that she didn't want to stop. For that moment, all other thoughts melted away, so only that perfect happiness remained.
-
Angra chuckled "You know Satoshi is a healer, a defender, a builder but most of all he's empathic and for all his indestructible Supermanesque feats he's the most vulnerable person in the world. It's so bad that even the smallest failings of those he loves is the same a dagger through his chest, for example vague threats of murder, his father is no murder, even if he were no son wishes to see their father that way." she said pausing.
"Tea please, you Emiyas have a thing about tea and I final have a tongue" she requested turning to stare at Archer.
"We are connected he and I. I made the connection and since then Satoshi has been tasked with building me a house. Being entrenched in the world's evil is terrible but we are connected and I will flood him if you start a fight. I can't die mister counter guardian, even if you kill me all you will do is drive him mad. I came to speak to the lady of the house." Angra finished.
-
Forest arched her eyebrow at Lancer and asked, "Well, you have anything about your Asshole Bowman?"
Lancer scowled, not liking the teasing smirk on Forest's pretty face. Normally he was the one teasing and frustrating her, but he had a feeling she was enjoying this all too much. He ran a hand behind his head and answered, "He cheated during a fight."
"You know there's no such thing as a fair fight during a war," Forest said following it by a chuckle, "And that wasn't the version of Archer that's currently with Rin."
Lancer snapped his fingers and said, "Ah, what's that thing in your crazy laws about lasses and laddies being too young to tup?"
"Rin's eighteen, you're not going to get a statutory rape charge on Archer," Forest said with a shake of her head before grinning at Axe Cop.
Lancer scowled and said, "Well, bugger, no Axe Cop, I don't have anything solid on the wanker."
******
Archer felt himself slipping closer and closer to the edge. He opened his eyes at the sight of Rin's tiny, blissful smile as she held onto him. He kissed her again, deepening the angle of his thrusts and hope this time he could hold out until she lost herself.
******
Forest was grinning at Lancer, who's scowl was deepening as he tried to pin something on Archer. She wasn't fond of the Blackened version up stairs, but it seemed like his "condition" wasn't his fault. And considering how he's acting towards Rin, maybe something of the bad happened to the girl in his reality.
She sensed Shirou near by and he was nervous. Then again, there was a police officer in the house that she and Lancer were talking to. She knew that Axe Cop wasn't an ordinary cop; she heard of the comic written by a little boy and drawn by his much older brother. There was also a cartoon apparently- she hadn't gotten to watch an episode of that either. She did know that it involved absurd action and she'd seen a couple of strips posted on Reddit.
She sent to Shirou, He's okay. He's not looking for you, but if you want I can distract him long enough for you to leave.
"Oh, and the gunshot earlier... complicates things. Officially, I can't inquire unless I have a reason behind the occurrence. So an explanation would be nice, if you have one. Did something violent happen here?"
"Well, that was a misunderstanding Axe Cop," Forest said, toying with the end of one of her braids. She continued, "See, there's a man here, who I believe you're looking for, who's in danger. Anyway, that man sensed something dangerous and attacked because dangerous nasties attack him all the time. Well, the something he sensed wasn't evil and I broke up the fight. So just a big misunderstanding."
She scowled as she continued to sense the presence of Angra in the home and then looked at Axe Cop with a frown. "I do have a trespasser. I asked her to leave twice, and she's still here."
-
Kiyoshi's face fell at their response. In Kiyoshi's family, cooking for people was an important part of getting to know them, and he'd wanted to bond more with his new-found sister.
"Oh... OK", he said, sadly.
"Well, I'm starving, so I'm gonna go eat anyway. I'll come back up and say goodnight before I go to bed, though", he added, before turning around and walking out of the room.
Once he had left, he headed back down towards the kitchen. As he approached the room, though, he noticed Archer standing outside, staring at a tattooed woman standing inside. A woman whose presence caused Kiyoshi to feel simultaneously both innately afraid and strangely reassured.
Angra Mainyu, Kiyoshi thought, stiffening.
Despite the reassurance that came from feeling the curse that accompanied his mother's magic, Kiyoshi was well aware of the danger she posed. After all, she had corrupted Satoshi, and even his own mother. And, he'd heard Forest tell the woman to leave, which meant she was evidentially not welcome here. She had been talking to Archer, but he had not picked up on what she said.
Nevertheless, Kiyoshi summoned up his swords, just in case he needed to fight. Then, he turned to Archer.
"I thought Forest told her to leave...", he said.
-
"Well then, if you're the land lady, you can legally kick out anyone you want. Just point me to this trespasser of yours and I'll have a talk with her. If she resists, I'll have a talk with her." Axe Cop tapped the axe at his side. "As for the misunderstanding... I understand."
He did. He really did. Killing a good guy by accident could happen to anyone, even the strongest man in the world.
"I'll also need to see the person I'm looking for now. I won't charge him for the misunderstanding, but the speeding charge is staying. The other two... I can charge them as accomplices, or I can just leave it. I'll decide once I see the perp."
-
...Christ. Christ, Christ, Christ, CHRIST. ALL THE BLOOD ALL THE BLOOD ALL THE BLOOOOOOD!
I managed to snag the gun out of the air, somehow, my eyes peeled back as wide as I could bring them. The Beast roared, bending the bars of its cage and straining at the cage, desperately trying to break free.
The locks held. I handed back the gun. "If you define quiet in an odd way lady, it sure does. Otherwise, she's pretty much harmless for the moment now. You want to kill her, go ahead. I've got things to do."
"You're an odd one, not as odd as I used to be but pretty close to that" Seras stated calmly while scratching the back of head in an embarrassed manner, from her shadow arm rose a man with reddish brown hair and an eyepatch. The man grinned lopsidedly at the vampire before pulling what appeared to be a Colt .45 Single Action Revolver from his side holster and aiming it the downed vampiress "Go to 'ell." the man spoke in a recognisable french accent as he pulled the trigger. The loud gunshot that echoed around the area was quickly followed the much softer sound of the vampiresses brain matter and blood splattering on nearby surfaces, the man blew the smoke from the revolver before sinking into Seras' arm once more.
In the eyes of the vampire, Seras looked unfazed by the gunshot but then again why would she? Pip Bernadotte is her primary familiar.
"She we get moving?" Seras asked the vampire kindly, in the same kind voice that promised pain to anyone who tried to disagree with her "I'm quite certain someone will report the gunshot" she finished as the Handgun sunk into her shadow arm much like what Pip had done earlier.
=======
Joe stayed out of the way of the policeman and its not like he would be in custody for very long as his lawyers would have him out within an hour of his arrest, it was more along the line of him not wanting to dirty up his suit. It was quite surprising to see a man of his stature being stealthy but he would be very surprising when needed.
-
...Christ. Christ, Christ, Christ, CHRIST. ALL THE BLOOD ALL THE BLOOD ALL THE BLOOOOOOD!
I managed to snag the gun out of the air, somehow, my eyes peeled back as wide as I could bring them. The Beast roared, bending the bars of its cage and straining at the cage, desperately trying to break free.
The locks held. I handed back the gun. "If you define quiet in an odd way lady, it sure does. Otherwise, she's pretty much harmless for the moment now. You want to kill her, go ahead. I've got things to do."
"You're an odd one, not as odd as I used to be but pretty close to that" Seras stated calmly while scratching the back of head in an embarrassed manner, from her shadow arm rose a man with reddish brown hair and an eyepatch. The man grinned lopsidedly at the vampire before pulling what appeared to be a Colt .45 Single Action Revolver from his side holster and aiming it the downed vampiress "Go to 'ell." the man spoke in a recognisable french accent as he pulled the trigger. The loud gunshot that echoed around the area was quickly followed the much softer sound of the vampiresses brain matter and blood splattering on nearby surfaces, the man blew the smoke from the revolver before sinking into Seras' arm once more.
In the eyes of the vampire, Seras looked unfazed by the gunshot but then again why would she? Pip Bernadotte is her primary familiar.
"She we get moving?" Seras asked the vampire kindly, in the same kind voice that promised pain to anyone who tried to disagree with her "I'm quite certain someone will report the gunshot" she finished as the Handgun sunk into her shadow arm much like what Pip had done earlier.
I didn't see the shot. I did see that man fade back into her arm.
The smell of blood was everywhere. I had to get out of her fast, before the Beast got out of its chains and take control. Shakily, I began to step away, out of the bloody alley. Whatever the mortal authorities (if there were any left) would think of this, I didn't want to be anywhere close by. This was fucking bad. This was really fucking bad.
"Yeah. Lets get moving fast. Real fast."
-
It's getting worse... "Gngh!"
Rebecca collapsed a few feet away from the conversing group, within sight of the kitchen. She could feel her consciousness slipping away, pain beginning to wrack her body. She could feel something trying to engulf her, body and soul, and what she was feeling right now was her body trying to shake that off. If she didn't get away from here soon, it was a battle she would lose.
Something flooded Rebecca's consciousness that she hardly ever felt- fear. She tried to get up to get away, but her legs wouldn't obey her. She tried to call out for help, but the words were caught in her throat.
This was something she had never wanted to feel, something that her pride had forbade her to feel- pure and utter helplessness. All she could do now was to wait for someone to notice her.
***
Hmph, aren't we full of ourselves.
"I may have a talent for making tea, but I'm hardly inclined to serve it to an unwelcome guest." He frowned at the rest of her words, not so much because it worried him, so much as some of it perplexed him.
Oh no, he was hardly concerned about killing her and the consequences- in his mind, Satoshi's supposed madness was a very small price to pay indeed for ridding this place of what was apparently All the World's Evil, so that wasn't what bothered him. What concerned him there was sending Hakuno to fight her, though from what he could tell with Rin... preoccupied, the very girl he had sworn to protect was their best option. If he had to, he'd pull her out of there himself if it became too much of a danger.
But no, what perplexed him was the mention of the Counter Guardians. This was the second time he'd been referred to with that term, and while a part of him seemed familiar with the term, in truth, the term was mostly new to him. His contract had been made with the Moon Cell. He had spent his time fighting as a Servant within the confines of the Moon Cell. It made him suspect that this was something that applied to his darker counterpart, but not himself. Archer wasn't much of a fan of said darker self, much less talking with him, but the bowman made a mental note to ask him about the Counter Guardians at a later time.
But that could wait.
"I thought Forest told her to leave...", [Kiyoshi] said.
Archer, just now registering the boy's presence, turned to address him. "I wasn't there for that girl's welcoming party, but it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest." The bowman now had a bit of a dilemma. He saw the swords in the boy's hands, and knew that Kiyoshi would want to help. However, this was too dangerous for a boy his age, but at the same time, he knew the boy would try to fight regardless if he was simply told to leave. So Archer searched the area, looking for a distraction.
His frown deepened as he spotted the redhead on her knees just feet away from Forest and her companions. Even from here, he could tell she wasn't in good shape. More confusing than that was the feeling that this girl seemed... oddly familiar somehow... but that didn't matter. What mattered was that Archer could take care of two birds with one stone.
"Kiyoshi, listen. You see that girl over there?" He pointed towards the distressed newcomer. "She needs help, so I want you to go over and check on her. Let me handle our unwanted guest."
***
Oblivious to all that was occurring below, Finn rapped on the door to his sister's room. "Hey, sis? Sis, you alright in there?"
"Go awaaaay."
The freelancer frowned. Mille's voice sounded a bit hoarse. "You don't sound OK, sis. I'm gonna come in and check on ya."
"Just leave me alone."
Ignoring his sister entirely, Finn entered the room. He ascertained his sister's condition with a glance. Yup, she's sick alright. He approached her, gently placing a hand on her forehead. This caused Mille to glare at him.
"I told you to leave."
"You can't blame your big brother for worryin' 'bout ya."
"I can handle myself. I've taken care of myself all by myself for seven years."
Finn gave her a small smile. "You ain't alone any more though. I'm here to help ya."
Mille's glare deepened. "I don't need your help. I don't need anyone's help. Being helped is for the weak." She looked away from him. "Helpless people are useless, worthless. So just leave me alone."
"Everyone needs help sometimes sis."
"I won't let you weaken me. I'll get through this alone, just like I've been doing for a long time now."
Finn's expression became stern, a complete and utter rarity for him. "In this case, I ain't backin' down. I'm gonna do whatever it takes to help ya get better. You stay here and rest up, I'm gonna go back down and see if there's anything else I can do for ya."
With that, Finn left, making his way back down to the living room.
***
At this point, Rin's awareness was only of Archer, his lips and his tongue and the tightness of his arms holding her so close and his deepening thrusts, the water, and the complex multitude of pleasant feelings she had. She had lost herself completely to him, and quite frankly, it didn't bother her in the slightest. She just knew she didn't want it to end.
-
"Actually, that's quite a question. Why hasn't the counter force snapped your wee brain in half and made you stab me? I mean really, the only thing that would constitute such a lapse would be Satoshi's freedom but since he doesn't have that the only other option is a heroic spirit Emiya who is not a counter guardian. And that's impossible because every version of Archer becomes a counter guardian which means that you can not be real." Angra mused ignoring the two unitl she clapped her hands with a bright look in her eyes.
"You're from the moon cell, a fabrication of the real Shirou Emiya from that computer's what if data. Gilgamesh is a sore loser who calls Shirou a faker but you, you're an honest to goodness fake. Oh my, if this gets any better I might scream." she giggled
Turning to Kiyoshi she smiled "You my boy, you haven't a single reason to listen to him now, forget his way of thinking and go your way. A bit crude I know but even Satoshi believes you can be a hero proper unlike this idiot" she said pointing to Archer.
"get a plan together and save your big brother from me, you're the only one who can be trusted with Emiya secrets, it takes a lot of honest conviction to gain Satoshi, Taiga and Sakura's trust that they would tell you how to beat them." she remarked before noticing the girl.
"Faker is right, that girl whatever she is needs to be far away from me. My existence hurts her despite the lack of an aura or miasma." she commented waving for Kiyoshi to go help the nameless woman.
-
Kiyoshi looked at the collapsed girl that Archer was pointing at with concern. She looked strangely familiar, and he definitely felt that he should help her. But, at the same time, he felt he should also help Archer. Angra Mainyu would be a difficult opponent to defeat. He stood there for a moment, caught in two minds, his swords still summoned.
But, then, he remembered what he'd been told previously.
I need to consider my abilities, and what I can do.
Kiyoshi knew in his heart that he was no match for Angra Mainyu. Even Archer would struggle to handle her. On the other hand, the girl on the floor was someone he could help. So, as a hero he should do that, and leave the fighting to those stronger than him.
As he started to move, though, Angra spoke up once more. Unsure of her intentions, Kiyoshi kept his swords summoned for the moment.
"Actually, that's quite a question. Why hasn't the counter force snapped your wee brain in half and made you stab me? I mean really, the only thing that would constitute such a lapse would be Satoshi's freedom but since he doesn't have that the only other option is a heroic spirit Emiya who is not a counter guardian. And that's impossible because every version of Archer becomes a counter guardian which means that you can not be real", she said.
What?
Kiyoshi really had no idea what she was talking about. He knew a little about how the Counter Force worked, and what Counter Guardians were, but he also knew enough about servants to know that, aside from their master's command spells, they had free will. They were not controlled by any other entity, and could not be, by design.
Still, she was clearly not acting in a hostile manner, so he dismissed his swords. There was no need to waste prana preparing for a fight and, plus, his mother had always told him not to judge people by who they are or what they look like. Just because this woman was supposedly an avatar All the Evils of the World, it didn't automatically mean she should be treated as irredeemable without evidence of her true personality.
Meanwhile, Angra continued to speak.
"You're from the moon cell, a fabrication of the real Shirou Emiya from that computer's what if data. Gilgamesh is a sore loser who calls Shirou a faker but you, you're an honest to goodness fake. Oh my, if this gets any better I might scream", she giggled.
Then, she turned to Kiyoshi.
"You my boy, you haven't a single reason to listen to him now, forget his way of thinking and go your way. A bit crude I know but even Satoshi believes you can be a hero proper unlike this idiot" she said, pointing to Archer.
"get a plan together and save your big brother from me, you're the only one who can be trusted with Emiya secrets, it takes a lot of honest conviction to gain Satoshi, Taiga and Sakura's trust that they would tell you how to beat them." she remarked before noticing the girl.
"Faker is right, that girl whatever she is needs to be far away from me. My existence hurts her despite the lack of an aura or miasma." she commented waving for Kiyoshi to go help the nameless woman.
Kiyoshi was confused and somewhat angered by her comments about Archer. He had no idea what the "Moon Cell" was but, even if he was just a "fake", so what? He clearly still existed in this world, and he had thoughts and feelings like everyone else, so why should he be ignored or treated any differently?
However, the things she had said about him being a hero were another matter entirely. Saving Satoshi was something he could and would do. After all, Satoshi had got himself turned to protect him and Taiga in the first place. And, the statement about the girl was very helpful indeed. Now he knew what the problem was he could help to resolve it.
Arriving by the girl's side, Kiyoshi put his arms under her shoulders and attempted to lift her up. But, she was too heavy for him to lift on his own.
"You need to get out of here quick.
Can you help me so you can stand up? I'll support you, but I can't lift you up all on my own", he said.
-
Forest smiled at Axe Cop and said, "Thank you very much Officer. She's the woman with bronze skin and a whole lot of body art. She also has long dark hair too." Forest scowled, she could still sense the bitch, and to make matters worse she was actually inside the compound. Bloody hell.
"In fact, I'll be more than happy to take you to her," she said, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly.
Then she looked at Lancer and asked, "Could you see if Lawrence is well enough to talk?" She looked at Axe Cop and explained, "He got hurt earlier."
Lancer flashed her the thumbs up and said, "You got it, Fore. I know where he's staying, I can smell his blood."
******
Lancer walked to Lawrence's room and knocked on the door.
*****
Forest lead Axe Cop to her kitchen and paused when she saw Kiyoshi helping a redheaded young woman. The girl was sweaty, shaking, and barely able to stand. Forest was at her other side and she snapped her fingers to see if the girl reacted.
"Can you hear me?" the blond asked, looking at Kiyoshi and whispering, "What happened?"
******
Rin suddenly gripped him like a vice, the rhythmic clinching sending him over the edge. With a gasp, he felt his entire body flash with bliss before he felt himself empty himself into Rin for a second time. His thrusts became more frantic as he spilled his essence into her, holding her close.
When he could regain control of his muscles, he looked at her and gave a shaky smile.
-
'Jesus Christ, this almost hurts as much as the gunshots did.'
Lawrence was on his bed, wiping his blood off the barrel and action of his shotgun. Currently shirtless, he was using the bloodstained shirt as a rag. His chest was scarred with a multitude of bullet holes, forming a pockmarked network of scarred flesh. His old jacket had stitched up just fine though, compared to his arm. A slight trickle of blood was forming a scab around the wound already.
Now do you want to haunt the brat?
'Still a no on that one. We'll stitch up juuuust fine once we can get some plasm. Maybe we can siphon some off of Tats?'
I'd rather eat that one entirely...
'You and me both. Bitch feels wrong, and very very dangerous. Should I get a bottle ready?'
Do so. I would rather face her head on, spill her blood and drink her soul, rip her to shreads, but in our current state trickery is our best option.
'I bet the Kerberoi would love to have her back down there...'
-
Archer ignored most of what this apparent avatar of All the World's evil said- the insults didn't matter to him much, and Kiyoshi had heeded his words and gone to help the girl, so what she had said to him didn't matter much either. He did worry that what she'd said about Satoshi would prompt him to try and play hero again, but that wasn't an immediate concern.
No, what was the immediate concern was that the apparent cause of the strangely-familiar girl's suffering was Angra Manyu herself. Yet another reason to try and destroy her then.
He directed his thoughts to Hakuno. Master, get ready. Change now. Satisfied with the mental nod he got from Hakuno, he turned back to the invader.
"Somehow I'm guessing Forest doesn't really want to talk to you, so I suggest you leave." He began to smirk. "I just repaired this kitchen. I don't want to have to repair it again."
***
Arriving by the girl's side, Kiyoshi put his arms under her shoulders and attempted to lift her up. But, she was too heavy for him to lift on his own.
"You need to get out of here quick. Can you help me so you can stand up? I'll support you, but I can't lift you up all on my own", he said.
Rebecca turned to the boy and forced a smile. "You're a sight for sore eyes, kiddo." She winced. "I'll try, just give me a sec." She tried to stand up, but the pain jolted through her, and her vision for a moment became white. Her features contorted with pain, she slipped back down to the ground. She shook her head. "Damn it, no good. Still, appreciate the help." She put a hand on Kiyoshi's shoulder. "You're Kiyoshi, right? Listen, I-"
Forest lead Axe Cop to her kitchen and paused when she saw Kiyoshi helping a redheaded young woman. The girl was sweaty, shaking, and barely able to stand. Forest was at her other side and she snapped her fingers to see if the girl reacted.
"Can you hear me?" the blond asked, looking at Kiyoshi and whispering, "What happened?"
Rebecca nodded in response to the vampire's question. "You're Forest I take it? Listen, you have to get me away from the kitchen. Angra Manyu, All the World's Evil, it's- gaaaaah!"
Another white flash. Blinding pain overwhelmed her body. A wave of fear and horror washed over her- it was starting. And she was powerless to stop it. It wasn't supposed to be like this, this can't be happening, this can't be happening- what happened to Dad will happen to me, I have to get out of here...
***
Rin reached complete and utter euphoria. She could feel her grasp on him tighten just as his grip tightened around her, his thrusts more frantic, and she could feel his essence within her. She hugged him tightly, reveling in it all.
When it was over, Rin looked up long enough to see him give her a shaky smile. She returned it before resting her head against him, savoring the moment.
-
Axe Cop followed Forest and saw the scene in the kitchen. There was a young boy holding a pale redheaded girl who seemed to be in a great deal of pain, although there were no visible wounds. On the other side stood the bronze skinned lady Forest had described, as well as a man in red who stood off to the side not doing anything of note. It was, in all respects, a tricky situation.
Axe Cop didn't like tricky situations.
He took a step, planting himself between Forest, the redhead, and the child. He levelled a glare at the tattooed woman.
"Ma'am," he said, as sternly as he could. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave this building, and if you're causing this girl pain, stop it."
He hadn't realized it, but his hand had already curled around the handle of his axe. Something about the bronze woman was off, so much so that he was tempted to simply chop her head off. He didn't, of course. There was no viable reason yet. But still, some part of him, the part that sensed danger, was screaming that this person needed to leave. That she was a Bad Guy and deserved to get her head chopped off.
Behind him, the girl was saying something. "- All the World's Evil, it's- gaaaaah!"
And the axe was in his hand and pointing straight at the woman, his eyes narrow behind his glasses and his mustache bristling with anger.
"Actually, you know what? I'm not asking any more. Leave. Now."
-
"I haven't done anything to that girl, I've no clue why she's being hurt. Perhaps she's like Caren and has a reaction to ill will. I am unfortunately I suppose made up of it but I am twice the victim in that regard and once a hero. I'll not leave until I speak to the lady of the house, this is her city after all, not yours Axe cop" Angra replied waiting calmly.
-
Axe Cop wasn't fazed by the woman's words. Of course she knew his name. Every woman knew his name. Hell, she was probably in love with him, considering he was technically 1000% compatible with every girl on the planet and had to fend them off daily. But he didn't care. All he knew was that he'd asked her to leave, and her very presence was causing pain to an innocent.
"The lady you want to speak with says you need to go," Axe Cop said. "As the landlady, she's perfectly within her rights to do so, and it's my obligation to help her. Your own wishes will always be secondary to that. And if you're going to wait here, knowing that your very presence is causing someone else pain, even disobeying an officer in the process... then you can't be anything but a bad guy!"
He knew it. Every single fiber of his being screamed at him that this woman was a Bad Guy. No, she was the very idea of 'Bad Guy' taken to the extreme. Could he kill her? Of course. He'd fought friends of his before. People who had once been heroes and turned evil, whether through their own downfall or an enemy trick. He hadn't hesitated then, and he would not hesitate now.
But... he couldn't attack. Even if he knew he needed to. Axe Cop idly noticed the man in red echoing his words, and ignored him. Someone who did nothing while another suffered was Bad, or worse: Wishy Washy.
The axe found its way to the woman's throat. He could press just a bit and her head would go flying.
"I won't repeat myself again," Axe Cop said, doing his best to control himself and not betray the very law he strove to uphold.
"Leave now, or I might just Chop. Your. Head. Off."
-
Archer directed his thoughts to Hakuno once more. Master, now's the time. Be careful.
Hakuno didn't respond and simply ran towards the kitchen, already transformed. Well, she almost did, but she turned to Ruu quickly and did a quick, apologetic bow. "Sorry we keep running in and out all the time. Hopefully everything will settle back down soon." With that, she rushed toward the kitchen, keeping the entity sitting at the counter in sight.
"You ready to rumble?~"
Hakuno gave Ruby a nervous nod as she readied herself for a fight.
Archer, in the meantime, noticed the red veins faintly starting to materialize on the girl's neck and ran over to her side. He assessed her condition grimly. He didn't notice the glimmer of recognition in Rebecca's eyes as he turned to Forest. "Where do you want me to take her?"
***
A storm was brewing. Tom could not tell the source, but the City had an unusually strong feeling of unease, more so than usual. He thought about investigating the castle, but his instincts were pointing him in a certain direction, towards a place where he felt a sort of... void. He frowned towards that place.
It would be far faster if I flew there, but I have little desire to reveal myself just yet. Aside from that, I hardly suspect it is emergent. I am simply heading this way to sate my curiosity, after all.
That all being said, he began to run towards his destination, towards a large brick compound where a great darkness now dwelled...
-
Stop. There's something new.
'What do you -'
For the second time within 20 minutes, Lawrence's perception shifted into the Twilight, a burning pain accompanying him this time as the .45 grew icy cold against his chest - his Geist sucking as much Plasm out of the weapon as possible to fuel this last burst of ghostly power, along with some of Lawrences own strength. Good god was this going to hurt in the morning.
Once again the world twisted. In the twilight, he could see the dead yet not dead demigod ascending the stairs, the powerful spirit embracing a lover next door, the false outsider, another spirit that was not a spirit, and -
Something new. It was like Angra had felt and looked to his eyes, yet... different. Intrinsic. Real. Unmodified. Pure spiritual power, pulsing with a sickly glow. A spirit, attempting to possess someone.
'OH COME THE FUCK ON!?!'
The Red Horseman smiles upon us. Let us not let this gift go to waste. Use it to bleed our enemies dry
'I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THAT! CAN'T I CATCH A BREAK TODAY!'
Simpleton. Move, before we lose this one - a soul to take, a sin to eat, plasm for our taking
"MOTHER OF FUCK WHY NOW!"
Practically kicking the door down and leaving the shotgun behind, Lawrence shoved himself out the door, taking the stairs about 3 at a time. The first thing he was fucking doing tomorrow was a ward against the Twilight around this place. Colliding with Lancer on the stairs, he continued down, as fast as he could, coat flapping as he rushed down the stairs. His scars burned with pain. If he didn't get Plasm out of this, he was seriously in trouble. Vomiting blood for a week was not something he looked forward to again
-
Kiyoshi held onto the girl and tried as best as he could to help her up, but it was no good. She was simply too weak to stand, and she slipped back to the ground.
"Damn it, no good. Still, appreciate the help", she said, shaking her head, before putting her hand on Kiyoshi's shoulder.
"You're Kiyoshi, right? Listen, I-", she continued, before being interrupted by Forest, who had entered the room with some axe-wielding weirdo dressed as a police officer.
"Can you hear me?" she asked, looking at Kiyoshi and whispering, "What happened?"
Before Kiyoshi could reply, though, the girl nodded, and then spoke.
"You're Forest I take it? Listen, you have to get me away from the kitchen. Angra Manyu, All the World's Evil, it's- gaaaaah!"
Hearing what she said, Kiyoshi jumped into action. There was no time to waste. Since she couldn't walk, she would have to be carried
"Forest, can you get her arms? We're going to have to carry her", he said, moving towards her feet.
He wasn't sure if he could lift the girl himself, but if necessary he could reinforce himself. His mother had told him only to use it in emergencies, but this was definitely an emergency....
-
Forest started to help Kiyoshi with the girl when Archer suddenly appeared by their side. Forest scowled, the girl knew her name. Called her "Forest" and not "Law Unto Herself" or "Lady Law". Which meant she was asking for help and not a hit-woman.
She looked at Kiyoshi and asked, "Can you watch over her? She's going to need someone to protect her. Can you do that, Kiyoshi?" To Archer, she answered, "In the lower level there's a room full of crystals and gemstones. It's warded, it might protect her."
Then she rose to her full height, moved in front of Axe Cop and placed a hand on the axe's handle. The blond gave a shake of her head and then eyed all of the World's Evil.
"So Angry Manjew wants to talk to me then. Fine, but some of the people aren't going to be too happy with what you say," Forest said, figuring the best way to handle All of the World's Evil was to insult it outright. It's how she handled every other evil being she killed over the centuries.
******
Lancer blinked to see Lawrence rushing past him. The Celt spun on his heel and easily caught up to him. "Hey, what the fuck's going on?"
-
Archer nodded. "Understood." He scooped Rebecca into his arms and turned to Kiyoshi. "Alright, follow me." He took off towards the gem room, trying to move at a pace where Kiyoshi could keep up while still making haste. As he moved her farther away, the lines on Rebecca's neck began to slowly vanish.
-
Lancer blinked to see Lawrence rushing past him. The Celt spun on his heel and easily caught up to him. "Hey, what the fuck's going on?"
"No time to explain, just let me show you!"
Grasping Lancer's arm, Lawrence and the Driver reached out and Ripped the Scales from his eyes, the things Lawrence saw every day, and would see for as long as Lawrence would live entered the mans sense of perception.
The Driver's inhuman form hovering around Lawrence like some twisted guardian angel, the march of time, the Twilight, how the Sin Eater was dead yet living, and the start of the possession taking place downstairs. All of this was now available for Lancer to experience. Along with the voice of the Driver.
Be not afraid. The Evils of the World must be eaten, and we are the ones who devour it. No more delays Lawrence...
Releasing the man and continuing on down the stairs, the Driver let the scales slip back down over Lancers eyes as quickly as they'd been ripped away. Nearly falling as he reached the bottom flight, Lawrence rushed towards the possessed, coming into view of Archer within a second.
"Stop... I can help her..."
It was time to truly become a Sin-Eater.
-
Archer frowned at the Sin-Eater with suspicion, but he could also tell that the man was sincere. He needed to get the girl farther away, but... with a sigh, he decided to give Lawrence a chance. He moved closer, his arms still protectively holding the semi-conscious magus close.
-
When Forest pushed his axe away, Axe Cop was relieved. Not because he'd been denied a chance to chop someone's head off, but because he didn't have to stay there any more. He knew what it was now. That tattoo lady was Evil. Evil was what made Bad Guys. The reason the girl from earlier was feeling bad was because she, like a few other people, was sensitive to Evil. Heck, even he was, to an extent. It explained why he'd suddenly gotten the urge to chop... like before. That was the Evil trying to get a hold of him, and he'd almost let it.
So he retreated, lowering his axe and moving beside Forest. She was the land lady, it was her problem now. He would stay, if only to make sure that the Bad Guy didn't do something horrible.
"You heard the lady," he said to the red man and the boy. "Get her out of here. If her condition gets worse and you don't have some kind of healing magic, call an ambulance." It was times like this that he wished he had healing powers. Then he saw the brown haired guy who looked like he'd been through a World War. "And you! Whatever you're going to do, do it somewhere else. You're still wanted for speeding, but if you can heal her, I'll let you off with community service."
He turned back to Forest, casting a suspicious glance at the tattoo lady.
"Ma'am," he said. "There's something wrong here. She has Bad Guy written all over her. I'd be chopping her head off right now if I could be 100% certain of it. As it is, 99% is still pretty bad."
-
Angra looked at forest and smiled "normally I was going to taunt you, you know, blah blah world domination blah, eight robot masters blabity blah. But I think it would be best if I just give you this." she said scrawling a phone number down.
"it's Satoshi's, I figure he'll misbehave if you go fight Joey without him so ring if you need help, now I'll leave mister axe cop" she explained her body beginning to dissolve.
"huh? Looks like your wards are a bit much for this body" she shivered starting to bleed black goo.
-
Archer frowned at the Sin-Eater with suspicion, but he could also tell that the man was sincere. He needed to get the girl farther away, but... with a sigh, he decided to give Lawrence a chance. He moved closer, his arms still protectively holding the semi-conscious magus close.
With a shaky hand, Lawrence reached out and grabbed the girls hand, and began to tear the very energy of the entity trying to possess her from her body - the Redheaded Driver devouring it along with Lawrence. The horrible tasting plasm flooded into Lawrence's body, a trail of ectoplasm ejecting itself from his pores in a fine mist as the sheer flood exceeded his capacity to contain.
Lawrence wanted to throw up. The pure wrong inside that plasm was almost infectious. Pulling his hand away, Lawrence gasped for air - but the taint was gone from the girl.
"Holy shit... that actually worked." A demented giggle came from Lawrence, a contact high from the torrent of spiritual energy he had just consumed.
-
Holy crap... it's gone. The taint is gone. Rebecca looked around in astonishment, her previous symptoms now completely gone. What had started out as not so great of a might had worked out for her- now she couldn't suffer her father's fate so easily.
No more helplessness for now. Rebecca turned to Lawrence. "Thanks. Big time. I think I owe ya one." She grinned up at Archer. "Hey Da-I mean, Mr. Red Guy, you mind putting me down?" She glared over at the... somehow bleeding black goop now? Angra Manyu. "I'm thinkin' I have a few choice words for our unwanted house guest."
Did she almost... call me Dad? Regardless, Archer complied, gently placing her on the ground. However, he still left a hand on her shoulder. He didn't want her to run off and try to do something stupid after she'd just been saved. Plus he wanted some answers.
-
Sakura snapped up and kicked her door open, she could feel it. The utter horror from beyond time, the monstrous thing which haunted her family through three generations. Her fever was up and her magic was at best sparks but she would harpoon that pile of crap and put it on display. "Even Kotomine will find what I do to you unnecessarily cruel!" she shouted.
taking the stairs haphazardly Sakura made it, albeit barely to the bottom and spotted Angra thanks to her height. "someone go for her throat with a quickness. The longer she speaks the worse off everyone is." she snapped.
Connor was stunned at Sakura's recovery and then followed suit when he picked up on the power after a moment "crap" he muttered as he reached the kitchen a moment later.
Angra simply chuckled dissolving further "not this time princess, Thomas and Martha don't get restitution today" she cackled.
-
"This place is getting too crowded," Axe Cop grunted as yet another person pushed their way into the kitchen. He backed away from Forest while keeping an eye on where the tattooed lady was dissolving. But at least the girl's condition had been stabilized by a speeding criminal's strangely heroic actions, so it could only be a good development.
Speaking of good developments...
With a snap, the metal of a hand cuff closed around Lawrence's wrist. The other end went around Axe Cop's, tying him to the perpetrator. "Nice job," he said. "For good behaviour, all you have to do is fill out paperwork at the station for three hours. No need to thank me for being merciful."
-
"This place is getting too crowded," Axe Cop grunted as yet another person pushed their way into the kitchen. He backed away from Forest while keeping an eye on where the tattooed lady was dissolving. But at least the girl's condition had been stabilized by a speeding criminal's strangely heroic actions, so it could only be a good development.
Speaking of good developments...
With a snap, the metal of a hand cuff closed around Lawrence's wrist. The other end went around Axe Cop's, tying him to the perpetrator. "Nice job," he said. "For good behaviour, all you have to do is fill out paperwork at the station for three hours. No need to thank me for being merciful."
"Wait, what?"
Reaching into his jacket with his free hand. "Just hold on for a second here..."
Pulling a flask out of jacket, he flipped open the iron top - "Hey Bitch! Welcome to your new home!"
Before Angra could escape, Lawrence pumped his Plasm into the flask, a spiritual vacuum dragging her into it as the ceremony took hold.
All you need is some duct tape or wire now correct?
'Yeah. FOREST, TAPE ME PLEASE!'
-
Connor seeing the situation swung at Lawrence to stop his attack. He was not cu culain but far faster and stronger than a normal human. He aimed for the ghost hunter's head and kidneys.
-
Axe Cop moved far faster than a human could. Being literally chained to the person under attack, it was a simple matter of moving his body, and by extension, his axe in front of the other man, who had started assailing the suspect. The attack was powerful, much more so than something an ordinary human would be able to do, but to Axe Cop it was something he had experienced before, and he was able to stop it without too much difficulty.
"Stand down, citizen," he growled. "That's assault."
He shot a glance towards Lawrence. "That goes for you too. The freaky ghost lady was about to leave. You have no right to unlawfully imprison her, as Bad as she might be. You are not one of the Ghostbusters."
-
Axe Cop moved far faster than a human could. Being literally chained to the person under attack, it was a simple matter of moving his body, and by extension, his axe in front of the other man, who had started assailing the suspect. The attack was powerful, much more so than something an ordinary human would be able to do, but to Axe Cop it was something he had experienced before, and he was able to stop it without too much difficulty.
"Stand down, citizen," he growled. "That's assault."
He shot a glance towards Lawrence. "That goes for you too. The freaky ghost lady was about to leave. You have no right to unlawfully imprison her, as Bad as she might be. You are not one of the Ghostbusters."
"Come onnnn..." Lawrence said, killing the flow of plasm to the flask. The Jostling had managed to shake his grip on the flask just enough to kill the ceremony anyway. Bad luck.
You don't need to listen to him
'He's got an axe. And he's a cop. Can't be suspicious around him.'
Flipping off Connor with his handcuffed hand, Lawrence put the flask back into his pocket. "You're a dick."
-
Forest rubbed her forehead at the clusterfuck that had just happened. She had the phone number in her hand and then Angra seemed to get a case of mystical Ebola and started to leak out. And leak all over her godsdamned floor.
"Oh bloody hell, Archer just cleaned here," Forest said, gesturing at the mess with a sigh before grabbing paper towels from the counter.
Lancer blinked and said, "She melted."
"Because she's eeeeebbbbiillll," Forest said with a scowl as she started to clean up the waste that All of the World's Evil had left behind.
Lancer reached for her and asked, "Fore, you shouldn't be doing that. You might end up . . ."
"Vampire," the blond explained as she cleaned up the muck and put into the sink. She gestured to it and said, "Burn it up Lancer so it can't hurt anyone."
Lancer smirked and said, "That I can do." He grabbed a kitchen knife, cut his left index finger and drew the Rune for Fire on the stainless steel wall of the sink. Automatically, orange and golden flames flourished and started to consume the mess.
"Thanks," Forest said with a nod before looking at everyone. She almost chuckled at the sight of Lawrence being handcuffed by Axe Cop, then looked at Sakura and Connor.
"You, get her back to bed," she said before looking at Archer. She asked, "Is she okay?"
To Lawrence she sent, Quick thinking, Sin Eater.
-
Angra twitched and coughed "melting" she corrected turning to Rebecca "I haven't got long before I'm toast, if you want to say something you had best to do it now," she told the woman
"blasted hell! He's made of fairy magic, why aren't I immune?!" she muttered clutching her right arm which no longer had anything past the elbow.
Connor took a hold of Sakura and nodded "Ain't gotta tell me that miss but thanks fer the concern all the same."
he turned to Axe cop "me an him had a scuffle outside bit earlier and while I ain't got love for that evil lady her bein loose is a might bit better than the other option. I ain't about to argue with a officer so I'll do as ya asked"
then he adjusted Sakura and turned to Lawrence"Maybe, but maybe like earlier the whole situation isn't clear to you" he said starting slowly back up the stairs with Sakura's limp form.
-
Joe stayed silent and out of sight, he could here everything going on but he remained unseen. Why? He, Joe Fixit the Don of Nexus City, was hiding in Forest's broom closet. Though it wasn't the worst place to hide from an officer of questionable sanity, he was absolutely silent and due to a unique trait that all Hulks possessed he couldn't be located by magic which would help him remain hidden especially if said officer had some sort of magical ability backing him up.
=====
Seras eyed her travelling companion out of the corner of her eye when she knew he wasn't looking, to her the silence was deafening and to get the ball rolling she decided to try and strike up a conversation.
"So if you don't mind me asking, why did you hesitate at killing her?" Seras asked the male vampire, she could feel herself channeling her old master at that exact moment "Hesitation can lead to death if your not careful, especially if you don't know what tricks your opponent may have up their sleeve or rather stored in their soul"
-
Seras eyed her travelling companion out of the corner of her eye when she knew he wasn't looking, to her the silence was deafening and to get the ball rolling she decided to try and strike up a conversation.
"So if you don't mind me asking, why did you hesitate at killing her?" Seras asked the male vampire, she could feel herself channeling her old master at that exact moment "Hesitation can lead to death if your not careful, especially if you don't know what tricks your opponent may have up their sleeve or rather stored in their soul"
I sighed. The girl was a ruthless killer. The ultimate vampire. That much was obvious. Her mastery of Protean was beyond any level I'd even heard of. "I don't want to feed the Beast. If I kill, I have the feeling that I'll start losing what I have left of well... myself. I don't want to end up like some Draugr, a mindless beast that needs to be put down before it reveals us all."
I'd killed a few Draugr and their brainless spawn before, if 'kill' is the right word. 'Pest Control' probably suited it better. I tracked them down to their lair, put out a few hints that someone wanted that place burned to the ground and was willing to pay. I can't handle fire, but humans can. Burned the place and the monsters till only ash was left.
"It would have been bad if I'd let my hunger get the better of me back there. Might have sucked her dry."
And of the three core laws of the Kindred, Amaranthe was easily the worst to violate.
-
Shuya had tried to keep a neutral expression for few seconds. It failed horribly. The sight of an Hulk attempting a stealth retreat in order to hide his voluminous build into a broom closet was too much.
So now, he was victim of an uncontrollable laughter which wouldn't stop. He should have tried to make himself as discreet as possible, yeah. But right now, he was still rolling on the floor, his arm surrounding his stomach area, tears flowing freely from his face while being unable to suppress his body from contracting under the outburst.
"Dude, what the hell are you doing," he managed to say, still victim to this irrepressible urge to laugh.
-
I sighed. The girl was a ruthless killer. The ultimate vampire. That much was obvious. Her mastery of Protean was beyond any level I'd even heard of. "I don't want to feed the Beast. If I kill, I have the feeling that I'll start losing what I have left of well... myself. I don't want to end up like some Draugr, a mindless beast that needs to be put down before it reveals us all."
I'd killed a few Draugr and their brainless spawn before, if 'kill' is the right word. 'Pest Control' probably suited it better. I tracked them down to their lair, put out a few hints that someone wanted that place burned to the ground and was willing to pay. I can't handle fire, but humans can. Burned the place and the monsters till only ash was left.
"It would have been bad if I'd let my hunger get the better of me back there. Might have sucked her dry."
And of the three core laws of the Kindred, Amaranthe was easily the worst to violate.
"Wow, you have it rough." Seras remarked honestly "For some reason I am being reminded of my old master, he was an old vampire of great power and he was somewhat of an arse. He was also a glutton for blood and fighting, one time when we were in Brazil we were framed as terrorists than master went on a rampage. In the End he ended up impaling several of the still living attackers on flagpoles to put some fear into their souls but personally I think he did it for old times sake, Master Alucard was a True Vampire but he was also my second Father in a sense" Seras dropped the name of her old master to see if this guys mind could figure out who her master was, she had given him some hints as to who her old master was.
"By the way, we never introduced ourselves" Seras said calmly with an innocent smile "I am Seras Victoria, Former Officer and Vampiress to the late Hellsing Organization" Again Seras dropped yet another hint to her master's identity, if her companion knew of Bram Stroker's book than it would click in his mind hopefully
=====
Joe looked at the kid and sighed upon reevaluating his current position, he was a 6'6" grey skinned man in a luxury silk suit hiding in a broom closet. Oh how he wished he had a cigar to smoke right now but, Girly's house equals Girly's rules and that meant no smoking for him.
"Kid. You saw how that nut of a cop reacted to that lady being evil, how do you think he will react to meeting the man responsible for over seventy percent of the crime in Nexus City?" Joe spoke in a low voice, hoping that said nut of a cop wouldn't hear him "On one hand I got the judges not to mention the DA in my pocket and my Lawyers would rip him to shreds, but on the other hand I don't need an negative publicity in the press." Joe finished explaining, silently wishing he had one of his custom made chairs handy as no normal chair could hold him and his nine hundred pound body
-
Satoshi smiled contentedly. "when I go back to being clean you should jump me, the normal me needs a good fucking way more than I did. I'm going to sound incredibly needy and kinda shallow by asking but. Was I any good? Normal me would fret about it privately but I just want to know honestly." the darkened hero turned to Rider both naked in the huge bed with red on his cheeks.
-
Kiyoshi nodded at Forest's words. He stayed at the girl's feet, intending to carry her as before, but Archer instead scooped the girl up into his arms and headed off.
"Alright, follow me", he said, before heading off towards the gem room Forest had mentioned.
"Yeah, sure, I'll make sure no-one gets near her", Kiyoshi said to Forest, before taking off after Archer as quickly as possible.
From the way he was moving, Archer was clearly in a hurry. But, at the same time, he was obviously holding back to allow Kiyoshi to keep up. Whilst Kiyoshi was reasonably fit, without reinforcement he was still a normal human, and self-reinforcement was something he was not yet good enough at to use except when absolutely essential.
As they moved towards the room, he noticed the girl was clearly improving, the unusual red lines on his neck beginning to recede. However, before they could reach the room Forest had directed them towards, the idiot who had attacked them before came running after them.
"Stop... I can help her...", he said.
Kiyoshi tensed up, still not fully trusting the man, but he didn't attempt to summon his swords or attack. After all, he had said that everything was a misunderstanding, and he was offering to help the girl. Archer walked towards the man, clearly accepting his offer, and Kiyoshi relaxed.
He watched on, somewhat concerned, as the man grabbed hold of the girl's hand and started to do something. Kiyoshi wasn't sure what he was up to, exactly, but he was clearly in some pain. Finally, though, he stopped, gasping for air.
"Holy shit... that actually worked", he said, giggling nervously.
The girl, clearly feeling much better, looked up at the man and spoke.
"Thanks. Big time. I think I owe ya one", she said.
Then, she looked up at Archer.
"Hey Da-I mean, Mr. Red Guy, you mind putting me down?" She said, glaring at the . "I'm thinkin' I have a few choice words for our unwanted house guest."
What? Did she just say "Dad"? Kiyoshi thought, astounded.
Kiyoshi was overjoyed at the thought. If she had, then this was yet another big sister he could get to know. And, she seemed nice, too. Archer, meanwhile, did as asked and put the now-recovered girl down, keeping his hand on her shoulder to try to stop her doing anything stupid. Kiyoshi turned to the girl, intending to ask her what she meant but, before he could, all hell broke lose in the house.
First, the insane axe-cop guy slapped handcuffs on the man who had just saved his potential sister, saying something about filling out paperwork. Kiyoshi stiffened slightly, but there was no reason to intervene, certainly not if the man had no desire to react. Instead, the man reached into his pocket and pulled out some odd-looking flask.
"Hey Bitch! Welcome to your new home!" he said, as the tattoed girl he was targetting was dragged towards the flask.
However, before he could finish his attack, Connor took a swing at the man and, in response, the axe-wielder moved to block.
"Stand down, citizen," he growled. "That's assault", before turning to address Lawrence.
"That goes for you too. The freaky ghost lady was about to leave. You have no right to unlawfully imprison her, as Bad as she might be. You are not one of the Ghostbusters."
Kiyoshi looked at the man somewhat incredulously. Whilst he could understand him trying to stop the conflict without further bloodshed, his insistence on doing things "legally" in a situation like this when surrounded by supernatural beings was frankly hilarious.
Kiyoshi's parents had lived most of their lives outside of the law, by necessity, and therefore had little respect for it, particularly his father. The regular police were simply powerless in the face of the sort of threats they dealt with, whilst the Magic Association was neither benevolent nor particularly interested in dealing with anything other than keeping magic secret. As a result, and because of his nature, Kiyoshi had little respect for the law either, especially in situations where it clearly made no sense, like here.
Meanwhile, Kiyoshi noticed that Angra was melting, to Forest's chagrin. She apparently didn't like the mess all over her floor. Kiyoshi, oddly, found himself feeling somewhat sympathetic towarss her, perhaps because of how she felt a little like his mother, even more so when her curse started to leak out.
He watched as Forest cleaned up the mess and, then, put it in the sink, where Lancer used his runes to burn it. Then, she told Connor to take Sakura back upstairs, which he did as instructed.
Finally, with the whole mess starting to end, Kiyoshi turned to Rebecca.
"So, who are you?" he asked, curious.
-
Archer sighed in exasperation at the mess, both the one that Forest was cleaning off the counter and the clusterfuck going on in front of him. As Forest herself had expressed, he'd just cleaned that.
Hakuno turned to her Servant. "Is it over?"
"Looks like it. Apparently we all got up in arms over nothing."
Hakuno nodded and changed out of her magical girl form, for a moment fearful that she'd wind up naked again. But to her immense relief, the t-shirt and pants that Forest had so kindly lent her were still on her person.
Rebecca shook her head. "For sayin' that she wanted me to get in my last words before she vanished, Angra Manyu sure melted fast. I guess it doesn't matter, my last words to her woulda been a punch to the face anyway, which is kinda hard to do to a stack of... corrupted muck, I guess? And the wards in this place somehow melted her? How does that work?"
Archer shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Though she said something about Satoshi, so that might explain it. Everything seems to work differently in his world."
"Yeah, that probably explains it. My parents told me about that." She frowned. "But what timing for that one guy to kick the guy that saved me. I get that he tried to shoot him, but damn."
Hakuno cleared her throat. "Well, um... I think I'm going to head back and watch that magical girl marathon. I've hardly watched any of it. That, or go to bed, but I doubt Ruby would let me just yet." She gave Archer a pleading look- some things weren't worth enduring alone.
Archer caught Hakuno's gaze and shook his head. "I still have to cook the meal for everyone too."
Rebecca looked back at him. "We can just order out tonight or something. On me. It's too bad the guy who saved my life can't join in, but I still owe other people here too. Besides, even you need a break, you know."
Archer sighed again, exasperated. He was secretly looking forward to getting to cook again. But Hakuno's needs came above his own, and from the look in the girl's eyes, she was likely to insist. So he surrendered, and responded with a nod. Rebecca grinned up at him, which he responded to with a slight frown.
"So, who are you?" [Kiyoshi] asked, curious.
The girl had to take a few seconds to register the boy's presence once more, but quickly acknowledged him, the grin still plastered on her face. "Glad ya asked. I'm Rebecca Kuru-"
She was cut off mid-sentence by a squeeze to her shoulder, almost to the point of it being a pinch. She turned around to look at Archer again, who had a stern expression on his face and was shaking his head.
Her smile became sheepish. "You already caught on, huh? Though I guess seeing who you are, I shouldn't be that surprised."
She rummaged in her pockets until she brought out a small bag. From the bag she brought out a contacts case. Rebecca whispered a small incantation over it before opening it. She then carefully removed her contact lenses.
The glamor that the lenses had bestowed vanished, the small cosmetic changes it'd endowed to her features melting away. The brown that her eyes had once been was also now gone, revealing her eyes to be blue. The same shade of blue as her mother's...
"I guess the jig is up. I was hoping to keep this more private for longer, but I guess Archer here would prefer it if I just come clean right now."
Her expression became far more serious, and she gave the assembled party a formal bow. "I'm Tohsaka Ryoko, eldest daughter of Tohsaka Rin and the Servant Archer, and current heir to the Tohsaka lineage." Her grin returned, albeit somewhat subdued. "Nice to meet all of ya!"
-
Archer gave Rin one last kiss, his voice was slightly hoarse as he said, "Come on, let's finish getting cleaned up and I can smirk annoyingly at Lancer."
******
Lancer moved to go with Axe Cop. He said, "But he just helped that lass. Shouldn't you let him go?"
******
Forest looked at the young lady who was doing better. She watched the young woman take off contacts and felt the shift as she removed a glamor. Oddly enough, Forest saw both of Rin and Archer's features in the young girl. Apparently Archer picked up on it as well.
The girl's expression became far more serious, and she gave the assembled party a formal bow. "I'm Tohsaka Ryoko, eldest daughter of Tohsaka Rin and the Servant Archer, and current heir to the Tohsaka lineage." Her grin returned, albeit somewhat subdued. "Nice to meet all of ya!"
Forest found her head hurting more at that. Now they were getting into time travel and everything. She nodded and said, "Nice to meet you." Then forcing a smile, she said, "Excuse me."
She looked at Angra and said, "I get it, you're evil, and you're melting all over my floor. So whatever nefarious plot you're hatching? It will be stopped."
Tonight had been too much. People were melting in her house, she liked a guy where there was no chance of anything, and all of the other craziness that was going on. Her telepathy was starting to flare up, and soon she'd start hearing everyone's thoughts all at once with her focus as frazzled as it was becoming.
She turned, grabbed the Burn Notice DVDs, and started down to her office. On the way down she sensed Joe in the broom closet and couldn't even find the sight funny. She just shook her head, sensed someone else down there and called out, "Go upstairs and bug one of the multitude of people there. Like the white haired fellow who's taking fashion tips from Dante Sparta."
In her office, she sat down in her chair and started to watch Burn Notice.
-
Angra stood up melting and on fire and coughed to get there attention. "Another Tohsaka? And you were having a fit which means unlike Sakura I have a hook in you. Sweet merciful crap I've won bloody lottery, as long as Tsukasa doesn't show up there isn't a thing you can do to stop me" she laughed and then turned hearing Forest.
"Let me ask you a question, does the sheriff think she can beat superman? If your answer is yes then by all means use the kryptonite you have upstairs, if no then stay out of the way" she snapped mocking the blonde.
-
Angra stood up melting and on fire and coughed to get there attention. "Another Tohsaka? And you were having a fit which means unlike Sakura I have a hook in you. Sweet merciful crap I've won bloody lottery, as long as Tsukasa doesn't show up there isn't a thing you can do to stop me" she laughed and then turned hearing Forest.
"Let me ask you a question, does the sheriff think she can beat superman? If your answer is yes then by all means use the kryptonite you have upstairs, if no then stay out of the way" she snapped mocking the blonde.
"Well fuck you too bitch, superman ain't got shit on me. I'm like Ghost Rider with a low rider who's gonna slap a bitch the fuck up if she don't shut the fuck up. Come at me bro... gal... fuck you!"
Lawrence once again made a variety of obscene hand gestures from multiple languages.
"BY THE WAY I JUST ATE YOU OUT! YOU TASTE LIKE OLD SOCKS AND BLOOD MIXED WITH SHIT YA SKANK!"
...Did you really just say that?
'Yes.'
-
"I understand," Axe Cop said to Connor. "Sometimes you don't really want to let the perp off, but this time he's legally in the clear. If you want to beat up this guy, do it when he's ready to take a punch or at least hit back. Like this you'd see more resistance from that kid over there," he glanced at Kiyoshi, meeting the boy's eyes for a moment. It was a shame, he mused. Kids were impressionable. He didn't want the boy growing up hating Good Guys, but... he was a cop, not a counselor.
As for Lancer's question... Axe Cop sighed. "You have no idea how much I get that question." He rarely did, actually, but his few 'normal' cop friends did, all the time. "I'm not going to get into a long morality debate, but the gist of it is that doing a bunch of good stuff doesn't usually erase all the bad stuff you've done, although in his case," he pointed to the giggling Lawrence with his free hand. "It's certainly helped. So I'm not actually charging him or putting anything on his criminal record, but in exchange he gets a few hours of community service and some actual medical attention."
He looked over Lawrence, who was switching between giggling and swearing at the rapidly diminishing pile of ooze on the floor. The man was also barely standing. "First, watch the language," Axe Cop said to him, flicking the man's forehead, "There are kids around. Second, I'm taking you away because you look like you haven't decided whether to be high or dead. It's been what, a few hours since you came in here after running away from me? If you got busted up that quickly, getting you out of this place is probably for the best. No offence to you, landlady," he added, looking at Forest, who seemed to be on the breaking point. "Some people are just very good at getting into trouble. In fact, I happen to be one of them."
As an afterthought, he handed Lancer his card. It simply said AXE COP and had a hastily scribbled out address with the police station's location written on it in magic marker, as well as a cell phone number that had never in the history of Axe Cop's memory actually been called. "Come on over tomorrow if you're worried about your pal," he said. "And if you're looking for a good fight."
Axe Cop then unlocked the cuffs and supported the barely standing Lawrence with his free arm. "So, do you think you can still walk, kid? I don't really want to carry you to the truck."
-
"I can walk just fine officer, and I'm already dead. It's a long story, but I died. And got better. And met a weird guy. And now he talks to me sometimes but he's not very nice, so I tell him to fuck off but he can't because he's dead too..."
Lawrence attempted to take a step before needing Axe-Cop to give him a little bit of support. "And I ain't leavin' this place. See, didn't get them scars here... and look, 'sall better now... and I need to thank the nice lady for everything..."
Indeed, Lawrence's wound had knitted itself back together, leaving a nasty looking, but somewhat faded, scar over Kyoshi's slashwound.
"Juuuust gotta sleep it off officer... I'll be fine now, just sommat I ate..."
Good god kid. How much plasm did you siphon?
'ALL THE PLASM!'
Don't do it again. Ever. You can't kill people like this.
-
"Oh, by the way officer, that guy owns a shotgun, which he tried to kill me with. Last I checked attempted murder was a crime as was use of a fire arm without a license." Connor told Axe cop before continuing upstairs.
-
Rin was so breathless that she could barely manage a chuckle at Archer's statement, but she nodded and resumed the cleaning proper, a bit sad that it was over, but still utterly content.
***
Ryoko blinked, both at the fact that the glob that remained was able to still speak and her savior's... rather loud exclamation.
She pointed at Lawrence. "Too bad for you, this guy took the taint completely out of me. So your little hook in me is gone." She sighed, in a manner reminiscent of her father. "Also, you honestly don't expect me to take a talking pile of goo seriously, do you?"
The magus turned to Hakuno. "You mind changing back to your other form real quick? I can't exactly punch her face in, especially now, but that doesn't mean we still can't clean house."
Hakuno looked at her, puzzled, but nodded and complied.
"Alright. First off, I need you to create a spherical bounded field around our evil pile of sludge."
Hakuno looked back at her, a little confused. "Bounded field?"
"A barrier, essentially," said Archer.
Hakuno nodded and did as she was instructed.
"Alright, now flood some holy or divine magic within the bounded field. If I'm right about my assumptions about this version of Angra Manyu, it should at least completely destroy what's left of the mess."
"It should be easy~" said Ruby. "Think back to how you were attacking those vampires, only focus all that into that bubble you just created~"
Hakuno nodded again and flooded her bounded field/barrier/bubble with holy light. She anxiously looked at the chair afterwards to see if she achieved her desired result.
In the meantime, Ryoko turned to the clearly exasperated and tired Forest. "So, any places you recommend calling for take out, and any preferences? I'll cover the cost so you don't have to worry about a thing."
***
Finn frowned as he heard yet another commotion coming from downstairs. He hastened his descent, wondering what the heck was going on.
-
An adventurer's senses were very keen when it came to sensing danger. Some say it has to do with detecting the outside world's energy, but I just chalk it up to instinct. One which, as an adventurer, I possess and have honed through thirty floors of a massive, danger-filled labyrinth.
One which also told me that something threatening had just reared its head upstairs, for the umpteenth time. First it was the banging, then the first bigger threat, then something oddly reminiscent of having a net thrown on you, and now it felt more like the first bigger threat waggling around. Let it not be said that instincts are precise instruments.
I sighed. If I'd gone straight up instead of down, I wouldn't have missed the action after all. Well, later was better than never.
I pushed myself back to my feet, gave the boiler room door one last look and started walking my way up the stairs.
Hopefully that Lawrence fellow was having a nicer time in this place.
A thought that quickly perished once I'd gotten high enough, where I could see through an open door that he was practically collapsing over an amazing specimen of a man, though not the first I met today. I had to hold back another sigh at the sight as I walked into the doorway and gave Lawrence a quick nod.
"Lawrence," I greeted him. "Please tell me I haven't missed all the fighting."
If I had climbed up the stairs to completely miss all the fighting and instead promote a bunch of awkward greetings, I was going to hurt someone. Maybe myself.
-
"Oh, by the way officer, that guy owns a shotgun, which he tried to kill me with. Last I checked attempted murder was a crime as was use of a fire arm without a license." Connor told Axe cop before continuing upstairs.
"I ONLY DID IT BECAUSE YOU ARE A REALITY DEVOURING DICK MONSTER FROM BEYOND THE STARS! AND THIS IS AMERICA BITCH, NOT WHATEVER COMMIE HELLHOLE YOU COME FROM! SECOND AMENDMENT STRONG!"
Lawrence shouted his responce up the stairs, pretty much ignoring the 11 year old, along with the cop next to him.
Calm down. Lawrence calm down
'Fuck that little holier than thou dick munch'
"AND YOUR GIRLFRIEND TRIED TO KILL ME FIRST SO WE'RE ALL GOOD YA COCK SUCKING REALITY DEVIANT!"
Turning to Ran, Lawrence gave her a little grin. "Naww, just some dick munch and all the evils getting bitchslapped. And I feel kinda happy at the moment... I wanna take a nap now..."
-
Forest rolled her eyes at Angra's little taunt and then looked at Ryoko. She sighed, controlling her temper for a moment longer and said, "I don't know. I'm sort of on a liquid diet."
With that, she made her way down to her office.
******
Lancer took the card from Axe Cop and said, "Ah, I understand. You have to follow your Code. Good call man." He nodded, sliding the card into the pocket of his leather pants.
******
Archer grinned and said, "We can do more later."
******
Forest found herself in her office and started up the first episode of Burn Notice, but she couldn't focus on Micheal Weston being awesome.
-
"Oh, by the way officer, that guy owns a shotgun, which he tried to kill me with. Last I checked attempted murder was a crime as was use of a fire arm without a license."
"Ah." So this was what she'd been talking about. The gunshot, the 'accident' Forest had mentioned but didn't want to elaborate on... that was it. Axe Cop wished he hadn't heard that sentence, but it was too late. Now that he knew, he had no choice but to act on that information.
Axe Cop looked at Lawrence. Still high as a kite and swearing at the top of his lungs, the man didn't really look all that much like a Bad Guy. But he'd done something bad, so the law was against him. Excuses shouldn't matter in this case. Reality eating monsters from beyond the stars were something normal policemen didn't have to deal with, but Axe Cop went up against them all the time. So Lawrence had thought he was fighting a Bad Guy, but it was actually a Good Guy...
It brought back bad memories.
"Well," he said softly. "Sorry kid, but your priority just got upped. Testimony's probably not enough to convict you, but I'll have to bring you in for sure. Attempted murder's one of the Bad ones, and I can't just let you go without at least an interrogation."
He looked at the girl who'd entered the room. She was definitely the one who was riding in the car with Lawrence during the chase. The other man was gone, and Axe Cop couldn't give a damn.
"You too," Axe Cop said to her, visibly drained. "I remember seeing you in that car. Come on, hop to it. Don't make this any harder than it needs to be and I'll let you share a cell."
-
Hakuno, also rather drained at this point (well, more than she already was, anyway), changed out of her magical girl form once more. She motioned for Archer to follow her. The Servant gave Ryoko one last backward glance before following the girl to the living room.
Ryoko, despite her invigoration from being freed from the taint, was also still worn out. She turned to Lancer. "So uh.... you got any recommendations for takeout?"
***
Hakuno gave Ruu a tired wave as Archer sat down on the far end of the couch. She flopped down next to him, not even attempting to hide her exhaustion. Ruby fluttered down by the girl's side.
Finn came down to see the tired pair, and gave Ruu a smile and a wave before giving the couple who'd just come back in a concerned look.
"You two okay? I heard somethin' goin' down downstairs, but I wasn't sure what." He blinked before taking another look at Archer. "And weren't you gonna cook?"
Archer rubbed his face before replying. "Change of plans. My daughter from an alternate timeline is going to take care of that now. Also, All the World's Evil came in for a visit and destroyed some of my work on the kitchen."
"But I made her explode in the end, so I think it's alright," Hakuno added.
Finn stood there for a moment trying to absorb all that before quickly changing tact. "So ah... how is everyone, they alright too?"
"I think they are," said Hakuno. "Though Forest looked really tired with everything." She sighed. "Not that I can really blame her."
Finn took a glance at the other room as Archer nodded in agreement. "I'm gonna go and try and cheer her up," said Finn, a slight frown on his face. "I think she probably needs a friend right now."
The young man just barely caught a glance of Forest as she headed to her office. He followed her the best he could, having to keep up a brisk pace all the way there.
***
Rin smiled at that, oddly relieved. "I'm looking forward to it." The smile became mischievous once again. "Now about cleaning those hard to reach places... I'll still need some help, of course."
-
Lancer blinked at Ryoko, grinned, and said, "Well, I've discovered something called pizza that I've come to like. I think I have their number somewhere."
******
Archer grinned at Rin's words and wrapped his arms around her. "Well, maybe you can tell me where those places are. I'd like some guidance."
******
Forest sensed someone following her. Scowling, she spun around to see it was that want to be mercenary, Finn. The nice guy who didn't want to be a bother.
Sighing, she tossed her braids back and asked, "What is it?"
-
Ryoko grinned right back. "Sounds good to me. I'll need help picking out flavors too, and you seem like just the man for the job. Lead the way."
***
Unphased by the vampire whirling on him (he had to deal with Mille, after all), Finn gave Forest an earnest look. "I heard 'bout what happened with... well, the bad evening you've been havin', and I thought you'd need somebody to vent your troubles to."
***
"Oh, I think you know where those places are." Even as Rin said it though, she took one of his hands and guided it towards her slit, which was still throbbing and wet from their encounter only moments before.
-
Lancer raised his eyebrows but smiled. This was the second redheaded girl that had fancied him this evening. He wondered if his luck was improving, and she seemed a bit more open than Millie did.
However Mille's family hailed from his lands.
Well, this wouldn't be the first time I've juggled two women at once, he thought.
He replied, "Well, I think I can help pick a couple of things. Make sure everyone gets their fill and all of that."
******
Archer smirked as Rin's hand guided his fingers to her still slick folds. He gently parted her open, his fingers sliding into her. "You're a greedy girl, Rin," he whispered in her ear as he began to stroke her. His index finger found the hard, swollen nub at the top of her folds before applying pressure to it.
******
Forest blinked at Finn's offer. It felt like she was always helping others and just dragging herself along. The thing that vexed her was that no one really bothered to care what she thought or felt.
She shook her head and said, "More like a bad thousand plus years. And I wouldn't know where to bloody start. I generally vent by kicking things in the face."
-
"Sounds like a plan. I'm sure I'm in good hands here, so looks like we're set in the pizza ordering department. Though I'm sure I'd be in good hands with you for a good number of things, Mom had some pretty nice things to say about you." Her smile faded a bit. "Dad though, not quite so much." But it bounced right back. "From what I've seen so far though, you seem like a pretty cool guy."
***
Rin gasped in delight at his stroking and his finger stimulating her womanhood before answering, her voice a bit breathy. "Can you blame me? You're offering so much for me to be greedy over."
***
Finn rubbed the back of his head. "Sounds like how my sister deals with stuff, at least as of recently." He smiled. "Though as for the ventin' thing, what happened tonight might be a good place to start." He grinned. "I'm all ears, so long as it doesn't include kickin' me in the face. Well, maybe even then. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened."
-
"Well, your mother is a very classy lass. Fun to tease and takes herself a bit too seriously, but that's part of her charm. Your da on the other hand is the sort of person I can't stand," Lancer said as he opened up a drawer and pulled out a take-out pizza menu.
Then grinned and said, "Thanks. So, I'm a fan of the Carnivore and the Brick-A-Toilet pizzas."
******
"Mmm, well, I am being really greedy with you too," he admitted, his heart quickening at Rin's breathy voice. He slid two fingers inside of her, gently scooping out his thick seed. "I filled you up, didn't I?" He continued to stroke the tiny nub while sliding his fingers in and out of her at a languid pace.
"But you liked it, didn't you?" he whispered in her ear.
******
"Well, your sister seems like a pretty good kid," Forest replied, "Lonely and repressed, but like knows like and all of that."
She sat down in her computer chair and curled her legs up to her chest. "I think part of the problem is that I constantly sabotage myself."
-
Satoshi smiled contentedly. "when I go back to being clean you should jump me, the normal me needs a good fucking way more than I did. I'm going to sound incredibly needy and kinda shallow by asking but. Was I any good? Normal me would fret about it privately but I just want to know honestly." the darkened hero turned to Rider both naked in the huge bed with red on his cheeks.
Rider smiled weirily at Satoshi's words. Her body felt fresh despite the ordeal she'd been through, but her mind was somewhat frazzled from to the hours of torture and degredation he'd inflicted upon her. Yet, even so, she could honestly say that she had thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
"Honestly? That was the most fun I've had in a long time", Rider replied, smiling. "You were harsh and merciless, just as I'd asked. It really felt like you wanted to break me. And, yet, you gave me plenty of pleasure within that.
One thing, though. Next time, after you've tormented me for hours, got me all aroused and decide to fuck me, please don't just stop when you've got yourself off. It's not very nice....
And, well, your normal self might need it more, but is he as much fun as you are?" Rider added, teasingly.
-
Turning to Ran, Lawrence gave her a little grin. "Naww, just some dick munch and all the evils getting bitchslapped. And I feel kinda happy at the moment... I wanna take a nap now..."
So basically, I had missed all of the combat. A quick look confirmed it, as the only thing in the room even remotely threatening was a malformed blob of mud seeping into a chair.
I grumbled loudly and hung my head, though only long enough that I didn't miss what the manliest man in the room had to say.
"You too," Axe Cop said to her, visibly drained. "I remember seeing you in that car. Come on, hop to it. Don't make this any harder than it needs to be and I'll let you share a cell."
So, he was some kind of guard, and he was about to take me to jail.
I grumbled some more, put my arm against the door frame and used it as a pillow.
Of course things could never be simple. They could never be fucking simple. Something always has to go wrong. It's become a universal rule of some kind, out to make life difficult for those whose lives are already hard enough to deal with already.
I officially hate my life. I stole a quick look at the manly guard, and immediately rethought that: I hate everyone else's lives. Wish they didn't have them. Few exceptions may occur.
"Please, someone make my day worse and tell me this 'Landlady' I've been waiting for was just here and I missed her. That's really all this situation is missing," I said to the whole room loudly.
-
"She went downstairs. The nice lady did. Did you see her?" Lawrence laughed a little... before he saw Ran's expression. "...I just said something bad I think."
You're scaring me. You're honestly scaring me.
'Fuuuuckkk yooooouu heaaaaad voooiiiice!'
-
"She went downstairs. The nice lady did. Did you see her?"
From the look on his face, he was completely sincere. Drunk on something and incapable of holding himself up, but completely sincere. It also helped his credibility that no one came forward to correct him.
Which basically meant that the world was out to mess with me, to the point of using my own words against me.
I didn't have the right reaction, so I just went a little slack-jawed instead.
"...I just said something bad I think."
"No, it's, eh..." I didn't even bother finishing the sentence. Instead I stopped resting against the door frame, got up against the nearest wall and started leaning on it. It was a nice wall. It was cold and calming from the moment I rested my forehead and arms on it.
I took deep breaths, as oddly calm and static as I was, and I wondered why I wasn't as angry as I thought the situation would make me. Usually I'd be fuming right now. Goodness knows, I've sworn loudly for less. Instead, everything was oddly... serene.
Wait no, there it was.
"Fuck!" I smashed my head against the wall, leaving a crack. "Shit!" I smashed against it again, making the crack spread. "Goddamn it!" Again, and chunks gave way. "Cunt!" Bits of the wall fell off where I struck it, paving the first steps to a new doorway to the next room. "Horsecrap!" My forehead bled openly, but went ignored. "Bitch!" I started crying around this point. "Quit!" I stopped feeling the pain from my forehead. "Fucking!" I pulled back for a big one. "With me!" My face bore into the wall, creating a roughly head-shaped hole, and I didn't spend the effort the pull it back out.
I needed a little hole to cry in, and this was going to be it. With the day I'd had, a moment alone sobbing in a wall was well-earned.
-
"Wow, you have it rough." Seras remarked honestly "For some reason I am being reminded of my old master, he was an old vampire of great power and he was somewhat of an arse. He was also a glutton for blood and fighting, one time when we were in Brazil we were framed as terrorists than master went on a rampage. In the End he ended up impaling several of the still living attackers on flagpoles to put some fear into their souls but personally I think he did it for old times sake, Master Alucard was a True Vampire but he was also my second Father in a sense" Seras dropped the name of her old master to see if this guys mind could figure out who her master was, she had given him some hints as to who her old master was.
"By the way, we never introduced ourselves" Seras said calmly with an innocent smile "I am Seras Victoria, Former Officer and Vampiress to the late Hellsing Organization" Again Seras dropped yet another hint to her master's identity, if her companion knew of Bram Stroker's book than it would click in his mind hopefully
Helsing... Seriously?
Rumor was Dracula was still in Torpor - he'd have to be actually, considering his age, and probably the sheer potency of his blood. Even the Creator of the Coils of the Dragon couldn't claim that he'd surpassed the vampiric condition yet. She couldn't be his Childe, the three Daughters of Dracula were well accounted for and known, and the Ordo Dracul would be crowing from the rooftops if their mythical founder was back in business. Even some Unaligned motherfucker like me would have heard if the Son of the Dragon was walking the nights once more. Short of Longinus he's the most iconic Kindred in history: even the Kine know of him.
"Jack. Just Jack. And I don't have any fancy titles."
Yeah, the broad was crazy - Dracula's childer my ass.
-
Axe Cop put his hand on the girl's shoulder reassuringly. It was tough. Sometimes life made you want to just mess up something. He could understand the feeling. Of course, in his case he just snuck out and went around chopping the heads off of bad guys.
"Right." He pulled her head out of the wall. "First, quit crying and I'll give you a free donut when we get to the station. Second, stop trying to head-butt this place to the ground or I'll up your sentence. Property damage is a crime, unless someone here has magical fixing powers."
He looked at the rest of the room. Eh, it was possible.
-
As soon as I got pulled out of the wall by the manliest man, I forced my face to look serious and tried to force my eyes to stop crying, which only half-worked. As it was, all I could do was hope the blood coming out of my forehead was enough to mask the rest.
I would have liked more time in the wall, though. It was warm and protected me. But better I didn't turn a city against me by resisting the guard.
"Right." He pulled her head out of the wall. "First, quit crying and I'll give you a free donut when we get to the station. Second, stop trying to head-butt this place to the ground or I'll up your sentence. Property damage is a crime, unless someone here has magical fixing powers."
"Yes sir," I said sullenly to both points, hoping whatever a donut was, it was worth the humiliation. I shook free and stood beside him, on the side Lawrence was hanging off of. A familiar face was better than nothing.
-
Satoshi laughed. "Honestly that was my first time so I have no idea what he'll be like." a sudden thumping sounded from the castle gates and Satoshi turned to look out the small window finding a man with a flaming skull. 'Crap, I do not want to deal with. Wait a minute the spirit of vengeance doesn't knock. Awesome in the clear.' he thought.
Turning to Rider he smiled "I'll go deal with the guy at the gate, thanks to your praise I'm at full mast again but we won't be able to have a round two with some idiot banging on the gate all night" he said sliding out of bed beginning to dress.
-
"Excellent!" Axe Cop said, happy to have finally managed something without having some random person jump into the conversation or a long lost daughter of some red dude in a skirt reveal herself in the most dramatic possible manner. "Now turn that frown upside down! The cells are really quite nice, and I'm sure Gun Cop will be perfectly happy to stay up all night talking to you."
He began to shoosh the two prisoners out of the door, turning back to the kitchen one last time to address those left inside.
"Now I've got my eye on this place," Axe Cop said. "Tell the land lady that all she needs to do is call 911 if there's any kind of emergency, and I'll be right on the scene."
With that, he cheerfully strolled out of the room with Lawrence and Ran beside him, completely failing to notice the giant hulk of a man doing a horrible job of hiding in the closet. Not my problem, he told himself. Not. My. Problem.
The drive back was less bumpy, and although the engine sputtered like crazy every time Lawrence had one of his giggling fits, they got back without anyone getting a concussion.
"Gun Cop!" Axe Cop yelled as they entered the almost deserted station. "Unlock one of the cells! We've got two overnighters!"
He paused, smelling something strange.
"Oh, and nice job with the coffee! We'll make a sergeant out of you yet!"
-
The cell was rather nice all things considered. Lawrence was coming down off his high by this point, the impurities of the plasm he'd absorbed finally purged from his system.
Do you feel better now?
'There's a hot woman in the cell with me alone, I just bitchslapped something saying it was All The Worlds Evils with a damn metal flask I scribbled on in crayon, and I got to flip Dick McAsshole off. Three times. This day took a turn for the better, if you ignore being arrested for speeding. I was going 30 in a 25!'
Are you going to tell him that or make all the blood explode out of his body...
'I think not bringing that up is the best option.'
Regarding the single, one person cot in the cell, Lawrence resolved to do the gentlemanly thing.
"Ran, let's do a coin flip for the bed. Loser sleeps on the concrete. I call heads."
-
"Gun Cop!" Axe Cop yelled as they entered the almost deserted station. "Unlock one of the cells! We've got two overnighters!"
"Oh, and nice job with the coffee! We'll make a sergeant out of you yet!"
"The Bakery has a batch of baked 'goods' enroute so I hope you don't mind greeting them, no need to worry about payment as I have already covered that" Kusagari replied calmly, all things considered he may just be one of the saner and most normal officer working at the station. He made his way to the cell where the jailees were, although they were both in the same cell and there were plenty of empty cells
"Ran, let's do a coin flip for the bed. Loser sleeps on the concrete. I call heads."
"Or I could put you two in adjacent cells instead" Kusagari spoke as he stepped into the view of the jailees his 'Boss' had brought in "That way you can both get as good as a sleep as possible without having a sore back afterwards" He had done that once and it was not fun, which is way he prefered to sleep in trees when he no place to go. As he pulled his spare jail keys from the inside of his coat, he flashed the two jailees both the Sora Katana and his .357 Longarm Pistol briefly in an intentional show of of what he could draw in a moments notice "Come on then, who is getting their own cell?" Kusagari asked of the two individuals
-
Connor searched Sakura's pockets and found the phone. "Hmmm, wee one do you remember the lock code"
Taiga nodded and took the phone tracing the face and flipping it around until she knew what would be on the screen by memory and then slowly entered the code.
Connor smiled "Thank ya, I'mma get a message to your brother, want me ya say anything?"
Taiga shook her head.
Connor held in a laugh and began to type out a text detailing what had happened thus far.
-
"Ran, let's do a coin flip for the bed. Loser sleeps on the concrete. I call heads."
"Or I could put you two in adjacent cells instead" Kusagari spoke as he stepped into the view of the jailees his 'Boss' had brought in "That way you can both get as good as a sleep as possible without having a sore back afterwards" He had done that once and it was not fun, which is way he prefered to sleep in trees when he no place to go. As he pulled his spare jail keys from the inside of his coat, he flashed the two jailees both the Sora Katana and his .357 Longarm Pistol briefly in an intentional show of of what he could draw in a moments notice "Come on then, who is getting their own cell?" Kusagari asked of the two individuals
"Sharing a cell was part of the deal, coat guy," I tell the longcoat-wearing man. I walked to the back of the cell, propped my back against the wall and slid down to the ground. "And Lawrence, you can have the bed if you want it. I've slept in less comfortable places. Giving me one of the blankets would be nice, though."
I only remembered my face was covered in blood and wall bits after I was settled, and pushed myself back up with some grumbling, to walk to the sink in the corner to clean myself. There wasn't much work to it, but the various cuts I'd made on my forehead started bleeding again with the scabs washed away.
"Actually, could I have some bandages, coat guy?" I asked the man, while keeping pressure to my face.
-
"Right here," Axe Cop popped out from around the corner, wearing... a completely black cat suit? He looked somewhat like a cross between his normal self and Catwoman, and he hadn't even taken off his police hat underneath. "Have some donuts and coffee too. And it's fine, Gun Cop. Those two are like 'that', and the sentence is loose enough that we won't need to worry about them running off together."
He pointed a look at the two prisoners. "Seriously though, no break outs. You'll be out of here tomorrow after a few questions, so just sit tight."
He turned back to Kusagari, leading the man away from the cells. "Speaking of questions, I'm going to need to get a handle on how much fighting knowledge you've got. I'll be leaving for night patrol in an hour or so, and that's plenty of time to see just what you've got in the realm of experience."
-
"Have some donuts and coffee too. And it's fine, Gun Cop. Those two are like 'that', and the sentence is loose enough that we won't need to worry about them running off together."
He pointed a look at the two prisoners. "Seriously though, no break outs. You'll be out of here tomorrow after a few questions, so just sit tight."
"Wait, like 'that' that or that that?"
Lawrence wasn't really sure what axecop meant. I mean, he'd just met Ran for crying out loud. They weren't like 'that' no matter how much the cop believed it.
"And Lawrence, you can have the bed if you want it. I've slept in less comfortable places. Giving me one of the blankets would be nice, though."
I only remembered my face was covered in blood and wall bits after I was settled, and pushed myself back up with some grumbling, to walk to the sink in the corner to clean myself. There wasn't much work to it, but the various cuts I'd made on my forehead started bleeding again with the scabs washed away.
"Actually, could I have some bandages, coat guy?" I asked the man, while keeping pressure to my face.
"I could patch that up for you Ran, if you'd hold still."
Lawrence had only done the plasm healing on himself before but the ceremony should work on normal mortals, right?
"And like hell I'm letting you sleep on the concrete without the proper coin toss! I got you into this mess."
Pulling a quarter out of his pocket, Lawrence flipped it into the air, watching as it came down... right into a crack into the concrete, coming edge up.
'I thought that only happened in movies!'
The Driver's laughter echoed throughout Lawrences head.
-
"Honestly that was my first time so I have no idea what he'll be like", said Satoshi.
A virgin, really? He didn't seem like one..., thought Rider.
Then, suddenly, there was a loud thumping sound coming from the castle gates.
What? thought Rider as Satoshi stared out of the window.
"I'll go deal with the guy at the gate, thanks to your praise I'm at full mast again but we won't be able to have a round two with some idiot banging on the gate all night", Satoshi said as he slid out of the bed, smiling at her.
Rider smiled at his words, admiring his body as he dressed himself. She felt no need to get out of the comfortable bed just yet. If she were needed, she could dress herself in an instant, simply by reverting to spiritual form.
"I won't betray my friends, you know", Rider said in a sultry manner, a smirk on her face.
-
Satoshi chuckled "I don't intend on that happening at all. I'd prefer my methods have you betray yourself instead. Hearing a woman give into her own body and act lewd and submissive because she wants to it is what I prefer."
finishing dressing himself he checked his phone and reading for a few moments he turned to Rider. "We're friends and partners now, if you want me to work you over just ask plainly. As for now however I'd suggest you get back to Forest's and check on Kiyoshi, there's a lot happening there."
he turned to leave and paused in the doorway. "oh, and three more things. Do whatever you want with the girls at the compound but no sex with men, I'm your partner, not those guys. Secondly when I get free seriously screw my brains out, I need to be mellowed out and lastly when I get clean I'm training Kiyoshi, Archer and Shirou have it wrong and I can't afford them passing down their mentality to my little brother."
he finished tracing the lines of Rider's body with his eyes awaiting her reply.
-
Rider couldn't help but notice Satoshi looking her over, and smiled. He clearly found her attractive and was obviously pleased to have been able to sleep with her.
"Aww, but interrogations are fun", Rider pouted. "I love the feeling of knowing I'm at the mercy of a sadistic captor, and I love having to try to hold on even beyond my limits. It makes it more real when I have something to lose if I surrender...."
"And, it's hardly betrayal to be myself, is it? I don't mind being lewd in front of my partner, but I do enjoy being tied down, tortured and forced to do things 'against my will' nevertheless", she said, smiling.
Then, her face took on a more serious look.
"What is happening there? Is Kiyoshi OK?" she said, panicking, and rapidly changing into her battle costume.
Rider chuckled at Satoshi's possessiveness.
"As for the rest, I guess that's OK. I prefer women anyway, although your condition will make things difficult with Rin, and I don't mind you training Kiyoshi as long it does not harm him. The boy needs to learn before he gets himself killed.
And, sure, I'll at least give your lighter self a try. I doubt I'll be gentle about it, though. If he won't dominate me I'll have to dominate him instead...", she finished, smirking.
-
Satoshi smiled. "Fair enough, we'll go out to a shop and get you fitted for a proper outfit in a bit and I'll work you over more. As for my lighter self, do whatever you want, you have my permission."
he paused frowning. "now now calm down, he's fine, there was just a cluster of new arrivals and weirdness. Connor is there, he'll make sure Kiyo is fine, Sakura and Taiga will as well. Seriously it's best if for now we hang back here"
"Now change to the birthday suit again, I like that one better." he joked
-
Hearing Satoshi's reassurances, she calmed down somewhat.
"Ah, OK, I'm glad he's safe. Still, I'd like to talk to him some time, to check up on him and tell him I'm OK. He's probably in bed by now, though. At least, I hope he is...."
Then, she addressed what he had said previously.
"What sort of outfit?" she asked, uncertain exactly what he meant. "And, what do you have in mind this time? The set-up I mean, I like the anticipation of not knowing what punishment is to come next...."
"And, anything I want? Are you sure about that?" she added with a smirk.
Finally, she smiled at his comment about her outfit.
Well, I might as well, she thought.
After all, Satoshi was quite happy to indulge her fantasies, and he had not long ago had her at his mercy to do with as he wished, so she saw no reason not to indulge this request of his. It wasn't like being naked bothered her, at least in private.
"And, of course, master", she said with a smirk as she reverted to her non-battle outfit which, currently, was nothing but a pair of glasses.
"Do you want me to come with you to the door? It might be trouble."
-
"Anything that looks good on you, it's leather and tight. Actually might have to have three of the knights carry all the stuff we'll need. You'll be covered in oil and you'll be very sore." he teased.
"As for the door, no I'd rather you deal with" Satoshi was cut off by Angra appearing in the room. "Her, do whatever you like, have tea, tie her up, fuck her brains out, just keep her busy" he finished pointing at the Tattooed woman.
Satoshi grinned "you know where the toys are and there's more in the drawers" he told Rider as he turned to leave.
Running through the empty corridors of the castle he reached the door of the castle. The castle was composed of thirty rooms, of which only six had been defined, two bathrooms, a dining hall, two bedrooms and the mostly blank room where Rider had been worked over.
Satoshi nodded at the knight standing at the door and walked out into the empty courtyard traveling to the main gate. The knight at the main gate was either dead or sleeping given the banging on the door.
-
The Being Who Wore Raul's Cover watched the... no that thing wasn't human. Considering this environment, this being was an Angel in cover. The sudden appearance of this building, despite its construction from spiritual material, screamed infrastructure and God-Machine involvement. The strange Too-Human-Knights were... strange. Too uniform to be Angels, too human-like to be simple automatons. Unless... was this a factory? Was the God-Machine going to mass produce Angels here, Angels which would hunt him down while he hunted them? The Crow Chasing the Raven Round and Round. Was that the analogy? No, no, a snake swallowing its own tail. That was it. Angels to hunt a fallen hunter of fallen Angels.
Crawling down the wall, the Demon's lower pair of arms shifted into its sword blade form as it crept down to a position above the Covered Angel below, silent as the grave. It would be soon. He'd continue his Decent soon. Very very soon.
And another Angel would fall before his blades.
-
"Well, your sister seems like a pretty good kid," Forest replied, "Lonely and repressed, but like knows like and all of that."
She sat down in her computer chair and curled her legs up to her chest. "I think part of the problem is that I constantly sabotage myself."
Finn nodded, a small smile on his face. "Yeah, Mille's definitely a good kid. Got a temper on 'er, and she's a bit... blunt sometimes, but she's still a good person and has one heck of a brain on her. I'm proud of her, and proud that she's my sister." His smile got a little bigger. "And you seem like a pretty great person too. I think part of your problem is that you don't give yourself enough credit, you know? I mean, you've taken a huge responsibility protectin' the people of this City and givin' this many people a home, and that's a big stressor, you know? But you're doin' pretty well with it from what I'm seein'."
***
"Mmm, well, I am being really greedy with you too," he admitted, his heart quickening at Rin's breathy voice. He slid two fingers inside of her, gently scooping out his thick seed. "I filled you up, didn't I?" He continued to stroke the tiny nub while sliding his fingers in and out of her at a languid pace.
"But you liked it, didn't you?" he whispered in her ear.
Rin groaned a little out of pleasure from him stroking her and the movement of his fingers before replying. "I did. And if I have anything to say about it, it won't be the last time, either."
-
Kiyoshi stood there, listening to everyone's conversation as Hakuno spoke up.
"Well, um... I think I'm going to head back and watch that magical girl marathon. I've hardly watched any of it. That, or go to bed, but I doubt Ruby would let me just yet", she said, looking pleadingly at Archer.
But, he shook his head. "I still have to cook the meal for everyone too", he said.
I could just cook, thought Kiyoshi.
Before he could respond, though, Rebecca added her own offer.
"We can just order out tonight or something. On me. It's too bad the guy who saved my life can't join in, but I still owe other people here too. Besides, even you need a break, you know", she said.
Most children would be delighted with the idea of eating takeaway, but Kiyoshi was different. After eating food of the quality that his parents made, takeaway food was inevitably a massive disappointment. Plus, he enjoyed cooking, so it wasn't a chore.
"Well, I could cook. I'm not as good as mummy and daddy, but I can certainly do it."
However, the girl did not respond just yet, instead replying to his earlier question.
"Glad ya asked. I'm Rebecca Kuru-", she started to say, before Archer squeezed her shoulder.
What? But she called Archer 'Daddy'.
However, with Archer's squeeze, she changed tack somewhat.
"You already caught on, huh? Though I guess seeing who you are, I shouldn't be that surprised", she said, before taking out a case and removing her contact lenses.
As she did, her eyes changed from brown to a familiar bluey-green colour, the same as possessed by Kiyoshi's aunt and, indeed, Kiyoshi himself.
Is she another cousin, or even a sister? Kiyoshi thought, excited.
"I guess the jig is up. I was hoping to keep this more private for longer, but I guess Archer here would prefer it if I just come clean right now", she said, before bowing to them all.
"I'm Tohsaka Ryoko, eldest daughter of Tohsaka Rin and the Servant Archer, and current heir to the Tohsaka lineage. Nice to meet all of ya!"
Kiyoshi smiled broadly on hearing that. Another big sister, just like Sakura, although seemingly from an alternate universe.
Forest replied politely and castigated Angra Mainyu before, somewhat exhausted by the events of the day, she grabbed some DVDs from her case and walked off. Seeing her leave, Kiyoshi also turned to Ryoko, and responded to her comment.
"Hi, I'm Kiyoshi. I'm Sakura and Shirou's son, so I guess that makes me your three-quarter brother. I love meeting family, especially nice family like you seem to be.
What's your world like? Is mummy OK?" he asked.
However, before Ryoko could reply, Angra Mainyu, fast-dissolving and now on fire spoke up, whilst the rest talked amongst theirselves.
"Another Tohsaka? And you were having a fit which means unlike Sakura I have a hook in you. Sweet merciful crap I've won bloody lottery, as long as Tsukasa doesn't show up there isn't a thing you can do to stop me", she taunted, laughing.
Kiyoshi couldn't help but feel amused at the sight, despite her presumed suffering. Watching a flaming pile of goo shaped a bit like a person talk was rather odd, to say the least.
Ryoko, however, was not at-all amused.
"Too bad for you, this guy took the taint completely out of me. So your little hook in me is gone", she said. "Also, you honestly don't expect me to take a talking pile of goo seriously, do you?"
Kiyoshi chuckled at the last comment. His big sister seemed to have definitely got her mother and father's sense of humour.
However, seemingly still a little distracted by the previous events, she forgot about Kiyoshi, instead turning to Hakuno and asking her to assist in cleaning up the mess.
"Can I help?" asked Kiyoshi.
But, neither girl responded, the two of them too busy with dealing with Angra Mainyu.
I guess not... Kiyoshi thought, somewhat irritated at being ignored.
Whilst Hakuno finished dealing with the mess, Kyoko turned to Forest and spoke once more.
"So, any places you recommend calling for take out, and any preferences? I'll cover the cost so you don't have to worry about a thing", she said.
"Or, I could just cook. You can help me, too, I'm sure that your dad taught you a bit", Kiyoshi said, smiling.
He was always glad to meet new family, and spending time cooking with them was something he would definitely enjoy. He'd already been turned down by Taiga and Connor, and he hoped Ryoko would be more receptive.
However, Forest completely ignored his offer, instead responding with a "I don't know" before walking out of the office.
"Well, why don't I cook?" Kiyoshi said, again.
However, once again he was ignored by the tired-looking Ryoko. Instead, she turned to Lancer and spoke.
"So uh.... you got any recommendations for takeout?" she asked.
Kiyoshi was now clearly getting upset. He could understand her not responding to his initial question, she had had other things to deal with, but right now there seemed to be no reason for it.
Maybe she's deaf or something, Kiyoshi thought, clutching at straws.
The girl seemed so nice, and he really didn't want their relationship to go sour already, as his relationship with Taiga had.
"Yes, I could cook for you", he said, exasperated.
But, once again, he was ignored, this time by Lancer.
"Well, I've discovered something called pizza that I've come to like. I think I have their number somewhere", he said.
Kiyoshi audibly sighed.
Just because I'm a child, doesn't mean I should be ignored, he thought, angrily.
He knew adults could be like that sometimes, but these people knew him, or were family. And he knew that family and friends did not simply ignore each other.
"Hey, I can make pizza. It's not my favourite dish, or the one I'm best at, but I bet I could do better than one of those cheap takeaways".
However, once again he was ignored.
"Sounds good to me. I'll need help picking out flavors too, and you seem like just the man for the job. Lead the way", she said.
The two of them continued speaking whilst Kiyoshi fumed to himself. None of the people in this house seemed to care one bit about him. They were too busy talking with each other and dealing with "grown-up" things. Even though he knew he could help them and had offered, they didn't seem to care one bit.
Finally, he heard Ryoko mention her mother.
What, so she'll happily discuss her family with him? Kiyoshi thought.
Sick of being ignored by everyone, he finally lashed out.
"Fine, if you guys don't want my help then I'll go where I am wanted", he shouted, angrily, before turning and storming towards the stairs, tears in his eyes.
-
Sakura snapped up "Water" she coughed.
Connor looked back and nodded and headed downstairs finding Kiyoshi "hey boyo, Sakura needs some water, I can get it for her but I ain't great in the kitchen, you mind making her some chicken soup?" he asked
-
"Fine, if you guys don't want my help then I'll go where I am wanted!"
Lancer blinked and thought, Oh right, the kid. Lancer knew his paternal instincts were slim and none; after all, he'd managed to kill his own son without knowing it until it was too late. He hadn't had any children with Emer or any of his other by-blows, at least that he knew of, and part of him was glad of it. As he had been, he'd been a terrible father.
The Celt raised his eyebrows and shook his head, saying, "What in the name of Brigid's splendid tits is wrong with him?"
******
"Yeah, I'm bloody fantastic," Forest said shaking her head, "All that I've done and those that I've helped, I have nothing to show for it, and don't go on about the gratitude of others. That's not why I do this. Besides, if I needed help, I found out a long time ago that it's not coming."
******
"Good," Archer said, nibbling on her throat as he applied more pressure. "Now that I've finally found you, I'm not letting you go again."
-
"Well Rupert... I think we are well and truly lost."
A battered beige Buick '92 Century pulled to a stop in a fast food restaurant parking lot. The smooth sounds of Creedence Clearwater Revival played from the speakers as Old Man Henderson lit up his massive bong, taking a hit.
"No landmarks, some freaky laser light show going downtown, an odd party castle as well, and that's it. Dull place."
Rupert didn't answer. He usually didn't until after another dozen or so hits. He was the quiet type.
"And what's worse, no sign of my lawn gnomes anywhere. Goddamn poodle fookin' cultists. Stealing me wee men..." Henderson coughed. "Maybe the took them to that rave downtown. Kids these days, don't get that gnomes like smooth jazz. Not rave music. Hurts their wee ears."
Rupert seemed to nod in silent agreement as Henderson took another hit.
"So Rupert. Up for getting funky like we did back in '83?"
Henderson took his partner's silence for a yes, and headed back downtown, still taking hits from the bong as he headed towards Downy's building.
-
"Right here," Axe Cop popped out from around the corner, wearing... a completely black cat suit? He looked somewhat like a cross between his normal self and Catwoman, and he hadn't even taken off his police hat underneath.
Well he was wearing... something special. I was so speechless I hardly even managed a stutter before he'd dumped a load of stuff into my arms, including some bandages.
Was he wearing his hat inside the tights?
"I could patch that up for you Ran, if you'd hold still."
I snapped out of it to hear Lawrence address me.
"I'd appreciate it," I said, walking to the bed to dump what Axe Cop had given me. From there, I was unsure what I should do. Did he literally mean to just stand still, or did he want me to sit somewhere while he did something? Whatever it was, that particular train of thought was extinguished the moment he spoke up again.
"And like hell I'm letting you sleep on the concrete without the proper coin toss! I got you into this mess."
Pulling a quarter out of his pocket, Lawrence flipped it into the air, watching as it came down... right into a crack into the concrete, coming edge up.
I stared at the coin for a solid second, before I let out a tiny laugh. That one ridiculously fallen coin was enough, somehow, to make me feel lighter after the day I'd just had and just let me smile.
I took a deep breath to get rid of the chuckles, but a small, weary and amused smile refused to leave.
"I suppose that means no one gets the bed," I said, taking off my newly obtained coat and putting it next to the bed, between it and the bars. "Either that, or we get to share it tonight."
I gave him a look and cocked an eyebrow, while not being too sure of my own intentions either.
X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X=X
Inferno Cop knocked one more more time, in an endless combination with all the other times, before he realized something: Knocking was for chumps and police officers with all their skin, and who also weren't him.
He stepped away from the castle's gate. He got some distance, before turning around to see his knocking partner.
"Alright partner, here we go!" he yelled at the gate, before he started running. A short distance from the gate, he jumped and slammed both feet into the dual-door gate, ripping it off of its hinges along with what must have been a bar behind it. The gate kept going and skid for a bit, Inferno Cop standing on top of it precariously.
It finally ground to a halt, and Inferno Cop made his mane of fire furn brighter to illuminate the inside of the castle while he stood up straight. The added lighting made his leather cop outfit glisten, and made shadows dance upon the floor like underage teenagers illegally drunk and on a club's dance floor. He looked around the unfamiliar room, and saw some guy just standing there.
"Hey buddy, this your castle?" He asked the dude, in a completely nonthreatening and cuddly way.
-
"So share it is then I guess."
You dog.
'You just want to see if I almost get castrated again don't you?'
...Perhaps.
'Actually, if we do you know, get it on, are you going to be watching?'
The Driver chuckled his macabre chuckle before responding. Obviously. I'll always be a part of you, always watching...
'Kinky.'
On that sour note with his Geist, Lawrence shrugged, checking out Ran out of the corner of his eye. He'd gotten a view earlier before the coat had covered it, but that smile... She was cute, that was for sure.
Walking over to Ran, Lawrence put his hand on her forehead, plasm leaking out to seal and heal her self inflicted cuts. Perhaps a waste, but hey, this way they wouldn't scar.
"That should do something, but I'd wrap some bandages around it just in case. Not exactly sure this will work on you."
-
Satoshi stood there quiet for a moment, his normal self might have been impressed but he was simply annoyed. "Yes, that is." he replied pointing to the large almost chapel looking building. "it's incomplete but unless you have a warrant or are directly representing the department of zoning and construction for the city I'll have to ask you to leave." Satoshi said politely as he could assuming despite the officer's looks he was a cop in the strictest sense and wouldn't go above station.
Satoshi had planned on going to the city hall in the next few days and buy up rights to the land around him and rezone it anyhow. "oh and we can call the door even Stevens if you make it quick and let me get to fixing it" he added awaiting inferno cop's reply
-
Shirou sat cross-legged on the floor, carefully removing any grit and impurities from the disassembled barrel of his sniper rifle. He hasn't had problems with it earlier, but considering how perceptive his target had been earlier, he couldn't afford for anything to go wrong when the moment of truth came. No one had ever been hurt from being careful.
He had retreated silently to his room despite Forest's reassurance that the cop hasn't been looking for him. The cop mightn't have come FOR him, but it was still better to not provoke him. Besides, it was getting far too crazy in that kitchen, even for him. He'd had enough of it for one night.
Blowing through the barrel tube to remove any excess grit, he heard a boy start shouting somewhere downstairs. Probably Kiyoshi. With a sigh, Shirou reassembled the weapon, the process made faster using Magecraft, before gently placing it back into his bag, shifting aside the other weapons to make room.
Just to be on the safe side, he retrieved Forest's revolver and placed in his hip holster. He had become highly attached to the weapon, having gained a greater appreciation of its working through structural analysis in his brief rest period.
With a sigh, Shirou exited the room, moving downstairs until he found Kiyoshi, along with another man, moving towards the kitchen.
"What's wrong? I heard you shouting."
-
Rider shivered with anticipation on hearing Satoshi's words.
Covered with oil, three knights to carry all the torture equipment, sounds like he has something good planned, she thought.
A naughty smile came over her face. Before she could reply, however, Satoshi continued to speak.
"As for the door, no I'd rather you deal with... Her, do whatever you like, have tea, tie her up, fuck her brains out, just keep her busy" he said as a Tattooed woman appeared in the room.
Rider licked her lips and looked over the naked, beautiful servant in front of her. Most likely, she was also very resilient to damage.
Yes, this was going to be fun....
However, Rider wasn't sure how to get going. Whilst she could fight her, she didn't want to risk defeat and corruption, and given Angra's nature it was possible she would just offer herself willingly.
Not that Rider would go any easier on her if she did, of course. After what had happened to her master the bitch deserved to suffer, and the wetness rapidly appearing between Rider's legs at the thought of torturing her mercilessly only added to that belief.
"Well, Satoshi gave me three options for dealing with you, and I'm afraid I don't know where he keeps the tea", Rider said, smiling wickedly.
"Now, are you going to surrender or am I going to have to make you?", the still-naked Rider said, summoning her nails but not yet her clothes and walking towards the avatar of the World's Evil menacingly.
-
Angra was out of sense for a moment and didn't respond to Rider immediately. Seeing Rider draw her weapon caused Angra to focus but instead of putting up a fight she rolled over burying herself in the blankets as if they would protect her.
Angra couldn't think and simply coward shivering. Fear was something she doled out, not something she was subject to. The only conclusion she came to was that having a body could suck at times.
-
Rider looked on as Angra responded to her threat by curling up on the bed and shivering.
For a moment, Rider felt sorry for the woman, until she remembered who she was, and what she had done to her master.
She smiled sadistically.
Yes, the bitch deserves to suffer for what she did to Sakura, she thought, staring at her soon-to-be-captive lustily.
I'm going to enjoy this.
Still staring threateningly at Angra, Rider walked over to one of the draws and pulled out some rope, a very painful-looking flogger, some extremely harsh teethed clamps and some weights to hang from them. Then, she walked over towards the shivering servant, smirking sadistically all the way, still holding her nails.
Placing the items down on the bed in easy reach, she placed her nail to the girl's throat.
"Turn over and lie on your front", she barked, her legs soaked with moisture from her arousal.
I think now is a good time to try that Japanese bondage I've been learning, she thought.
-
Angra slowly complied. "please be gentle, t-they burnt me" she said as her ample bossom quivered from uneven breaths.
-
"Well, your mother is a very classy lass. Fun to tease and takes herself a bit too seriously, but that's part of her charm. Your da on the other hand is the sort of person I can't stand," Lancer said as he opened up a drawer and pulled out a take-out pizza menu.
Then grinned and said, "Thanks. So, I'm a fan of the Carnivore and the Brick-A-Toilet pizzas."
Ryoko tilted her head. "Even after hearing dad talking about it, I'm not sure why you guys go at each other so much. Though that's probably personal bias clouding my perception. I'm fond of my old man, and I'm getting a good first impression of you, so I guess when it's two people you like, it's harder to see why they hate each other."
She then grinned right back at him. "Hey, no problem. Just being honest. And I'm liking the sound of the Carnivore already. Must be a deluxe Meat Lover's pizza or som-"
"Fine, if you guys don't want my help then I'll go where I am wanted!"
Ryoko turned towards the sound of the voice and saw Kiyoshi begin to storm off.
Well, crap. ...How the hell did I not hear him though?
The Celt raised his eyebrows and shook his head, saying, "What in the name of Brigid's splendid tits is wrong with him?"
Ryoko sighed. "I think everyone forgot about him once the sentient mudball tried to get the last word in. I don't remember hearing him, no one else must have heard him either. So now he's upset about being ignored." She sighed again. "I'll be right back, I'm going to go talk to him. It shouldn't take long."
She ran over to the boy's side and gently put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey kiddo, what's wrong?" While she already knew part of the cause, asking him never hurt.
***
"Yeah, I'm bloody fantastic," Forest said shaking her head, "All that I've done and those that I've helped, I have nothing to show for it, and don't go on about the gratitude of others. That's not why I do this. Besides, if I needed help, I found out a long time ago that it's not coming."
"I can see why you'd be depressed and frustrated by that. Though there's always the knowledge that you did save those people, even if they don't show their gratitude a lot of the time. It ain't much, but..." Finn shook his head. "Eh, you probably don't want to hear me goin' on about what's important. In the scheme of things, I've had a pretty good life, all things considered. You, and sis... you guys've had it rough. So it probably ain't right to tell ya what to be happy for. I can tell ya this with no regrets, though."
The look in his eyes was earnest, sincere. "I know that compared to a lotta of the people here I can't really do much, but... I'm here. I'm here as a friend if you need one. That much I can offer ya. I wanna try and help people feel as happy as I've felt for most of my life. That includes you." He blushed, a sheepish grin on his face. "I know this all probably sounds kinda corny and all, and it probably ain't much, but... the offer's always there, if you ever need it."
***
"Good," Archer said, nibbling on her throat as he applied more pressure. "Now that I've finally found you, I'm not letting you go again."
Something akin to a small alarm bell went off in Rin's consciousness. She almost began to ponder it, but his love bites on her neck and the increased pressure on her womanhood made those doubts and wonderings slip away into the ether. There was a soft moan as she once again lost herself to the pleasure.
***
The presence that had left enough of a void that Tom could almost track it seemed to vanish. All was left of it was now in the direction of the castle. Still, his curiosity remained, and he continued to head in that direction. Once he thought himself close enough, Tom began to concentrate deeply. He opened up his thoughts like a net and cast it in the direction of a certain brick apartment complex. It was honestly a bit of a strain on him to do this, and sorting through the many thoughts was often troublesome, but he needed to know. The presence could be a danger to him.
From what he was reading, the presence hadn't caused any harm. From what he could tell, it seemed somewhat weak. But that information he had already dismissed. No, now his interests had shifted to two separate things. One was the entity's identity, Angra Manyu. The other was the thoughts of a girl, one that seemed bound and determined to hide the fact that she was still somewhat weakened.
So, we meet again... Though how you managed to nearly get yourself corrupted again so soon after the last time is somewhat baffling to me. His thoughts wandered back to only a few days prior...
~~~~
Tom noticed several things about the situation unfolding in front of him. First, this was even further evidence that werewolf attacks had increased in such a short time, not even that terribly long after he had somehow wound up in the City. Second, the girl fighting off the lupine monster didn't seem to be in the best condition- she was pale and sweaty, and from what he could tell, it wasn't the result of battling the massive beast in front of her. And finally, that as it currently was, the girl was in way over her head.
Normally, he wouldn't concern himself too much- things like this occurred every day in this City, and despite his impressive level of power, even he couldn't stop all of it. Plus they were human. While he didn't despise them, he didn't exactly look upon them with a particular fondness either. But the girl had caught his interest. From skimming her mind, her apparent magical abilities were very suited to combat, but little else. This frustrated her, as it made her feel like little more than a living weapon at times. That was a feeling he could understand all too well.
Plus he was interested in finding out how this "jewel magic" worked. He wasn't aware that shiny pieces of pressurized rock could have a power all their own. And there was something about being corrupted by some sort of dark force? In any case, he had too many questions that he wished her to answer, and he could not glean those answers, whether via just ripping them from her head or just simply hearing them from her own lips, if the girl was dead.
He jumped down from the roof he had been standing on, focusing his telekinesis on a dumpster mid-jump. He tossed it at the huge canine like a child would toss a toy block, and the beast was sent reeling back by the force of the giant metal container being slammed against it.
The girl acknowledged his rescue with a glare, still in some form of martial arts stance. "I was doing fine."
"The pale pallor your skin seems to have acquired informs me otherwise." He smirked. "Besides, you were just concerned about wasting those gems of yours, were you not? I'm saving you resources."
The girl blinked. "How did you... Hey, stay out of my head, you creep!" Her indignant outburst was cut short by a chilling roar. The wolf was glaring at the pair, its massive jaws slavering in anticipation. The girl turned back to Tom. "Yelling at you for invading my mental privacy can wait." She somehow managed to launch herself at the monster at inhuman speed. She jumped up mid-rush and attacked with a flip kick, the beast's jaw cracking with an audible crack. She landed gracefully on one knee.
Tom frowned. Her feat was impressive, yes, but she was visibly tiring. For all the werewolf's size, it was still fast. Even though the girl somehow had supernatural strength and speed, even if her supposedly powerful jewel magic would be able to defeat the monster with a single blow, if she became tired enough, her reflexes would be insufficient to attack the creature in time before it clawed her to shreds.
So Tom took matters into his own hands. He focused on the creature's neck. There was a loud snap, followed by the werewolf collapsing on the ground akin to a puppeteer releasing their puppet's strings.
The girl stared at the felled beast. "Well... that was... efficient." She turned back towards him. "However, it's not nice to kill steal. Like I said, I had it."
He kneeled down beside her. "Then why are you still kneeling? Perhaps you have the strength to slay the creature on your own in peak condition, but as you are now, you were in no condition to win. You would have been killed, and quite brutally at that."
"I guess you're right." Something in her eyes told him she didn't actually believe that. "But..." She looked up at him. "Thanks anyway. Looks like I owe you one."
"I hardly did it for your benefit alone. Some of your thoughts intrigued me, and I could not get the answers if you were nothing more than a shredded corpse."
"Figures... you could at least ask me my name, you know."
Tom rolled his eyes. "Very well then.... what is your name?"
"It's Ryoko. Feel special, you're one of the few people that's going to know me by my real name for a good while."
"I hardly feel special for knowing information I could simply glean from investigating your thoughts. I suppose I should appreciate the gesture none the less." He offered Ryoko his hand. He could have helped her by more psychic means, but doing such a thing would possibly blow his cover, and at this juncture he did not want to risk that. Plus the girl didn't seem particularly fond of him thus far. He hoped this gesture would renew some of her trust. "So then, before we leave this forsaken alleyway, I would like to ask a question. From what I gathered from your mind, it was not normal means by which you were weakened so. What was the cause? I gleaned it was some sort of "evil" entity, but I didn't have the time to find out much more before I had to intervene."
She looked at the hand with suspicion before taking it. She then looked up at him, a dry smile gracing her lips. "Hmph. I guess I owe you that much. You did save my life, after all." Tom pulled her up, but Ryoko was uneasy on her feet. To his own surprise, he instinctively wrapped an arm around her shoulders to keep her from falling over.
Ryoko swore under her breath. "Damnit, I shouldn't be this weakened..." She smirked. "Huh, from that unpleasant attitude of yours, I never thought you could be so romantic."
"I hardly see how this is romantic. Do you mind answering my question? As much as your current bout of weakness is bothering you, I would like an answer."
"Aren't we considerate?" Ryoko's expression then became grim. "And well... no, I'm not normally this weak. I can't afford to be this weak. I'm responsible for protecting an entire city from the supernatural, I have to be strong enough to carry out my duty." She squeezed her eyes shut. "My dad... well, once upon a time, there was a girl who became consumed by evil itself, and took my father as one of her victims. He became corrupted, tainted. A small part of that taint he passed on to me." Anger and bitterness began to resonate in her voice, becoming lower and quieter. "That thing... that thing that made me so powerless and helpless and has caused my family so much pain is Angra Manyu."
-
To Shirou's surprise, another girl ran right past him, clearly chasing after Kiyoshi as well. She must have come when he was hiding from the cop.
Familiar... That was the impression he got as he continued discreetly observing the girl. She was undoubtedly a tomboy, the toned musculature of her body indicating her as a practitioner of some form of martial arts... Her eyes were a bright blue, reminding him very much of Rin even if the shade wasn't exactly correct.
He noticed the orange hair.
Oh hell. Another one? Whilst Shirou wasn't so vain that he believed he was the only person with that shade of hair in the multiverse, there were far too many familiar elements in her appearance for her not to be.
He followed after her, stopping just a bit from the pair, and waited.
-
Angra slowly complied. "please be gentle, t-they burnt me" she said as her ample bossom quivered from uneven breaths.
Rider used the rope to bind her captive's hands behind her back tightly. There was no escape for her now. She turned the captive onto her front and, straddling her, looked her over lustily, a sadistic grin on her face, her juices dripping.
But, the girl's words caused Rider to hesitate. The woman was so helpless, and acting so scared. And she had done nothing wrong.
She's an avatar of evil
And I'm a mythological monster...
She hurt your master, made her kill people. She corrupted Satoshi.
Yes, she did, didn't she....
But, yet, despite the girl's apparent prior crimes, Rider still found herself feeling sympathy. She felt uneasy about hurting the girl.
She wanted to do it. Her body was urging her to do it. But, it just felt wrong, somehow.
But, at the same time, it was oh-so-tempting. This was like a scene straight out of one of her fantasies. A beautiful and very hardy captive maiden shivering and begging for mercy in front of her, and a huge variety of torture devices that she could use at her leisure.
Plus, she's an avatar of pure evil. She'd do the same to me in a second if the tables were turned. Or to Sakura....
Still, it felt somehow wrong. If she'd come in as an external observer, would she have judged her master in the same way when she was corrupted. Would she have judged herself in the same way?
At very least she should give the girl a chance to explain herself, to justify why she deserved to be spared this fate.
"Why should I show you mercy? You're an avatar of pure evil. You corrupted my master, made her kill hundreds of people. You corrupted Satoshi. And if you had the chance I'm sure you'd corrupt me, too".
Rider bent down and took hold of her captives nipple, lightly twisting it.
"But, still, my life has taught me not to judge people by what they are, so I'll give you one chance. Explain to me why the hell I should deny myself the pleasure of torturing you. I'm a sadist, I take pleasure in seeing other people suffer, especially beautiful young girls, but I also don't like to see innocents suffer needlessly.
But, you do not seem very 'innocent' to me. So, why the hell should I put your feelings above my pleasure?"
Smiling sadistically, Rider gave the girl's nipple a much harsher twist, as if to demonstrate what was at stake.
-
"Heroes and Villains exist together but they aren't born they are made!" she shouted unintentionally as pain ran through her body. "I haven't done anything wrong since I got here. A-and S-Satoshi needs this, needs me. He's unburdened , unchained. He can help so many people now, he doesn't have to worry about hesitation or doubt and he won't blame himself anymore. Zouken caused the problem with Sakura, he put the shards inside her, I never asked to be summoned the Einzbern's did that. They forced it to happen, not me then and certainly not now" Angra explained tears from fear welling in her eyes.
She had scanned Satoshi's mind and everything she had said was true despite her not being that exact version of Angra Manyu, she shivered awaiting Rider's reaction.
-
Rider sighed.
Why can't she just be obviously evil?
The girl's frantic begging and obvious fear had only turned her on even more, almost to the point of orgasming just from the sheer anticipation. She so desperately wanted to make the girl scream and laugh at her as she did. But, at the same time, the girl's words were genuinely true. Zouken was responsible for Sakura being as she was, not Angra. And, whilst she wasn't so sure that Satoshi being Dark was good for the city as a whole, she sure as hell wasn't complaining.
As for her not having done anything wrong, though, Rider wasn't so sure. For one thing, corrupting Satoshi might have had a good outcome, but it was certainly not an altruistic act. Indeed, she could not possibly have known at the time.
Yeah, she's just trying to wriggle out of it, thought Rider.
And, what else might she have done? What might she do in the future if not kept in check?
Rider took a firm grip of her captives nipples, one in each hand.
"Oh, really? So you knew that before you corrupted him, did you?" Rider said, smiling sadistically.
"Look, bitch", Rider added, tugging hard on the girl's nipple to emphasise the point, "I want the truth. Why did you really corrupt him?"
Rider continued to speak, idly twisting and pulling on the girl's nipples, although less harshly than before.
"And, if you've not done anything bad yet, what have you been doing? What is your aim here?"
"Answer me, bitch!" Rider finished, pulling the girl's nipples towards her as far as she could.
-
Angra yelped as Rider tugged her nipples. "I haven't done anything since I arrived, seriously, nothing. He accepted his darkness, I need to be safe and those bastards lit me on fire! Why can't I be safe?" she shouted.
-
"My, isn't this a nasty piece of work."
Gabriel Umbra shook his head and folded his arms across his broad chest with a cant of his head. This summoning circle was ridiculously huge and horribly unstable. He could sense its magic and it was close enough to Faerie magic that his little handicap would wreck it.
Still, someone's obviously behind all of this, the Faerie-Incubus hybrid thought to himself as he looked around. He saw a redheaded man dressed in a cape of all things. From the look of him, and the power radiating off of him, Gabriel knew he had to be the caster.
He had a feeling that wrecking this circle would be problematic. He had sensed a couple of others in the city while looking for his Godmother. However, magic like this was completely out of his beloved Godmother's wheelhouse. If she attempted to stop this summoner she would end up dead or worse.
Gabriel on the other hand was almost every magic user's bane due to the nullifying field his body generated to his unusual genetics.
So, to get this wizard's attention, Gabriel boldly strode into the summoning circle to short it out. Enough to get the caster's attention, and then he backed out. He called out, "So, what is your ridiculous reasoning for this?"
******
Lancer shrugged as Ryoko ran off to go attend to the kid. He wasn't going to coddle a lad of his age. When Lancer had been the boy's age he had been sent to train with Scathach. Crying in her presence would have just gotten his ass thoroughly thrashed.
******
Forest gave Finn a wan smile at his kind words. The kid had heart, that was for sure. And from the look of it, the beginnings of a crush, she thought to herself. She rested her chin on her knees and studied him.
"Thank you," she said before shaking her head, "For the offer."
She pushed a braid back and said, "However, since you've had a good life, find some nice girl, settle down and have a family. Not all of us have that option."
******
Archer held Rin after she lost herself to bliss. He guided her under the spray before starting to gently wash her water warmed skin. "After this, maybe we should rejoin the other idiots," he said with a grin.
-
The girl's plea for safety triggered Rider's conscience once more, and she removed her hands from the girl's nipples.
"You know, for an avatar of evil you are surprisingly bad at taking pain. I had hoped you would be able to enjoy some of this...."
She sighed. Even though the girl's begging and screaming was turning her on no-end, she still felt very ambivalent about torturing someone who seemed to have no obvious ill-intentions.
But, still, she was an avatar of evil, could she really be trusted? Plus, her story didn't really make much sense right now, and she had avoided answering any of the important questions.
"Look, honestly, I don't trust you one bit. You claim not to have been doing anything, and yet you also claim someone set you on fire. Surely you must have been doing something for that to happen. And, whilst Satoshi did accept the darkness, he did so in order to protect Kiyoshi and his sister. The very fact that you even went near Kiyoshi makes me wary.
And, even if you haven't done anything right now, what about in the future? I will not risk you harming my master, or any of her family."
Kiyoshi stormed towards the stairs, his eyes filled with tears.
Why wouldn't she even acknowledge me? She's my sister, he thought, bitterly.
But, then, Kiyoshi felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey kiddo, what's wrong?" said Kyoko.
"No-one seems to listen to me", he said, his face brightening slightly at the girl's obvious concern.
"I offered to cook, and you all just ignored me. I thought it would be fun for us to both cook together, to get to know each other better and have some family bonding time, and you all carried on ordering the pizza without even noticing me."
Then, suddenly, Connor arrived down the stairs.
"hey boyo, Sakura needs some water, I can get it for her but I ain't great in the kitchen, you mind making her some chicken soup?" he asked.
Kiyoshi smiled.
"Sure, I'll make the best chicken soup she's ever tasted", Kiyoshi said enthusiastically.
Oh, wait, she's Archer's daughter, and lives with mummy and daddy.
"Erm... well, OK, maybe not, but it'll be damn good", he said with a smile.
"Hey, Ryoko-nee, would you like to help me? We can make some soup or something for everyone else, too", he said, turning and walking towards the kitchen.
As he did, Shirou approached him.
"What's wrong? I heard you shouting", he said.
"Well, I offered to cook but everyone was ignoring me, but Ryoko-nee came to talk to me and Connor asked me to help, so I'm OK now", he said, smiling.
-
Shirou sweat-dropped a bit when he heard Kiyoshi's answer. So reminiscient of his teenage self, and yet so different.
"You know, you're not supposed to force people to accept your help..." he started, before changing tact. Kiyoshi was still just a child after all, one obviously used to being in a large loving family who let him do whatever he wanted within reason. Even if he had a fixation on being a hero, and was surprisingly bloodthirsty, he was just a naive kid.
"But forget that. Did you say you're cooking? Mind cooking me something as well?" Shirou said, noticing how happy the boy was to help. "I haven't eaten anything for ages."
He turned to the girl, "Ryoko was it? Nice to meet you, I'm Shirou."
-
Angra sat up firmly grasping Rider's thick hind quarters as she snapped her bindings. "This is the first time that I have had a body, I don't intend on hurting Sakura, Shirou or Kiyoshi, I can't and you don't need to trust I won't from me. Do you honestly think Satoshi would let me get away with it?"
Angra leaned in close her breasts pressing against Rider's "can't we be friends?" she asked softly "We could have a lot of fun Medusa" Angra teased.
Connor nodded "Thank ya kiddo, I'll see ya upstairs" he said going to get a glass of water from the sink.
-
"Yes, that is." he replied pointing to the large almost chapel looking building. "it's incomplete but unless you have a warrant or are directly representing the department of zoning and construction for the city I'll have to ask you to leave." Satoshi said politely as he could assuming despite the officer's looks he was a cop in the strictest sense and wouldn't go above station.
Satoshi had planned on going to the city hall in the next few days and buy up rights to the land around him and rezone it anyhow. "oh and we can call the door even Stevens if you make it quick and let me get to fixing it" he added awaiting inferno cop's reply
"Fuxx all that shit I don't care about! You're under arrest for grand theft, ignoring zoning, property and homeowners' association laws, building without a permit and a parking violation!" Inferno Cop said, carefully remembering what the cops outside tried to tell him between knocks. And fuck warrants, he had probable cause.
"Give yourself up now and come down to the station, where we can discuss this all politely over some bread," Inferno Cop continued, pointing at his car's door, the mighty vehicle somehow right there behind him. "And so we can discuss that big fine you'll owe, or the amazing kinds of community service you'll have to subject yourself to."
-
Suddenly, Angra sat up, snapping her bindings and grabbing Rider around the waist.
If Satoshi is going to tell me to tie her up, he should at least give me the tools to do it with..., thought Rider, bemused.
Showing a sudden change in attitude and approach, the girl spoke up, still clearly somewhat frightened but now much more confident, before leaning in to Rider and seductively whispering to her, clearly trying to seduce her way out of the torture session Rider had planned.
"Can't we be friends?" she asked, softly. "We could have a lot of fun, Medusa".
Rider shivered from excitement as the girl pressed up to her. The idea of having another sexual partner was definitely appealing, but the idea of torturing the girl mercilessly was even more appealing. Angra's screaming and begging was already arousing her massively, and she had barely even started yet. Torturing her properly would be absolute heaven.
"But I can have a lot more fun torturing you", Rider said with a cruel laugh. "I'm a sadist, remember, I get off on making people suffer."
"And, no, I don't trust you, and nor do I trust Satoshi to always be willing and able to stop you. I want you to know the consequences of crossing me, and to fear them", she added.
Rider looked at the frightened girl, and her face softened into a smile.
"But, at the same time, torturing you when you have seemingly done nothing to me or my friends would be wrong, regardless of your nature. Plus, you are a hot girl, I certainly wouldn't mind having a repeat performance. In any case, Satoshi seems not to have provided the equipment to restrain you against your will, despite suggesting it, so I'm not sure how I would even go about it.
I really don't know what to do...."
Rider was in a real quandry. She was highly aroused, and had been really looking forward to making the girl suffer. Plus, she didn't want to just let the girl go and trust her to keep her word, she was an avatar of evil after all. Relying on friendship or companionship to protect her family was not enough, with someone like this you had to apply to her sense of self-preservation. The girl needed to know the consequences of not complying, and genuinely fear them. And, whilst Rider had made her intentions perfectly clear, knowing that torture was possible in concept and actually suffering through it were two different things. Torturing the girl now would make her far more wary of crossing Rider in the future.
But, on the other hand, she knew that torturing her here would be wrong. Avatar of evil or not, this was a sentient being, and she had seemingly done nothing to harm Rider or her family, and had not expressed any desire to do so in the future. She didn't deserve what Rider wanted to do to her, and nor was there some higher motive which justified it, aside perhaps from instilling fear. And, whilst she wasn't as caring and moral as her master, she was still a fundamentally decent person. She didn't torture innocents without consent, regardless of how much it aroused her.
Ah, that's it, thought Rider, suddenly.
"Honestly, I really want to torture you. I want you to know what will happen to you if you cross me, and I want to act out my fantasies without restraint. But, I would much rather have consent, it makes restraining you easier and it soothes my conscience.
So, how about this? You let me tie you up like I was going to, and do with you as I wish. Beg me for mercy, scream, cry, do anything you like, it'll only turn me on. But, when you really can't take any more, you just snap the ropes and free yourself, and I'll stop. Or something else, I don't mind, as long as it doesn't restrict what I can do to you before that.
Then, in return, I'll give you a reward. I'm not sure what, it could be anything within reason, but probably something sexual. The longer you last and the more effort you put in, the more I will be willing to give, and the more thankful I will be to you. I don't mind if you can't take it and give up fast, but if you're willing to make the effort to withstand the pain I will be very grateful.
Oh, and one other thing. You will answer my questions as honestly as you can. And, also, you will tell me how to restrain you without escape being possible. I hopefully won't ever need it, but if you do cross me I want to know that I can make you pay for it.
And, don't try corrupting me or double-crossing me either. My conscience is the only thing protecting you from agonising pain right now, you really don't want to get rid of that...."
-
The Being Formerly Called Raul watched from his vantage point, waiting for the perfect moment to launch his ambush. The odd flameheaded one (Obviously not an Angel if he damaged this suspected Infrastructure, and wished to detain the first) was interesting to observe. He'd been banging on that gate since Raul had arrived, and the gatekeeper had done nothing. A very Angel like response. The Angel in Cover below was apparently trying to get the flameheaded one to leave. Raul had never noticed humans with heads on fire, but the flameheaded one acted far more human than the one In Cover. Very interesting. Very interesting indeed.
-
Satoshi shook his head "The only thing you might legally have me on is squatting and since this is a demolition site and I over saw the demo of the condemned apartments on this block that's not the case. Leave, now." Satoshi replied sending a message to Angra.
"Ryan, get the others" he shouted. The Knight shook startled and nodded running off into the castle.
Angra shivered "Well there goes our fun, Satoshi needs us outside, we need to bring Alter as well" she told Rider.
-
"Ryan, get the others" he shouted. The Knight shook startled and nodded running off into the castle.
Or at least, it tried to. The Angel never made it to the door, Raul dropping on it like a bolt of lightning from above, blades impaling it before rending it into scrap metal with the ease one might find in cutting butter with a red hot knife. The Demon rose up from his kill, his blades all extended, wings unfurled. The eerie metallic body barely reflected in the moonlight, each aspect of its form unmistakably inhuman, from the eyeless smooth face to the odd wings and limbs. That kill had been far easier than he had expected. Oddly, the one Angel hadn't left its Cover yet. And addressing the uncovered as its covered name? Interesting, though not unusual. This Angel was an odd one, one that needed to die.
The Decent demanded it.
"I aM A mOnuMent to aLL yOUr sINs..."
The warbling mechanical voice that eminated from Raul's 'mouth' was in no way comforting or human. It was a Cacophony.
-
ALL SYSTEMS...ONLINE. UNIT I.D. R31-N4: ACTIVATED.
Two silver eyes opened as the unit awakened. She was lying down on what appeared to be a rooftop in an unknown location. Nobody knew how she had found herself in this place, and there was no one around either.
“Internal systems: working properly. Damage: none. Connection with HQ...failed. Attempting back-up connection...failed.”
Finding herself unable to contact to base, the unit stood up and gazed upon her surroundings. What she saw was an unfamiliar skyline, a city that looked like the ones from centuries past. Not wasting any time, the unit tried figuring out her current location.
“Processing...processing...” she said, her eyes giving a slight glow.
Unfortunately, none of her surroundings matched any location registered in her databanks. To her, this could only mean she was outside the Order's territory.
“Location: unknown. Activating Scan Mode.”
The glow in her eyes returned once more, as her internal systems began a complete mapping of her surroundings. It was not perfect; she could only make out the general shape and outline of most of the buildings, but it would be enough for her to travel and guide herself safely.
“Mapping completed. Downloading information into data banks.”
However, her scan also brought something else to her attention: the amount of Mist in the air. Normally, the atmosphere would be reeking of the substance. However...Mist was severely lacking in this place, almost non-existent compared to her usual levels. In order for her systems to work properly in this place, she had to adjust them to be lower.
“Atmospheric Mist levels decreased by 96%. Recalibrating...recalibrating...Recalibration complete. Data banks updated.”
Having completed her check-up, she followed her programming and looked for the next course of action. Seeing as she was unable to communicate with HQ or the other units, she decided the best thing to do was to search for any contact within this new location.
“Directive accepted. Beginning search. Activating detector.”
Greenish light erupted from the thrusters in her back, wings wide open, as the unit took flight and made her way through the skies of Nexus City. As she made her way towards the city center, her Mist detector picked up a rather strong signature, which only became stronger the closer she approached.
“Energy surge detected: traces of Mist found.”
Suddenly, she stopped. Programming clearly dictated that any unusual Mist signature was to be investigated at once, and if it was the work of a magic-user, to execute them. Such was the Order's will. Calculating the source of the energy signature, the unit shot itself through the air with unnatural speed in the direction of the energy.
Not too long after, she reached an apartment complex, and on its rooftop, the unit could see the source of the energy spike: a fully powered magic circle, which was currently absorbing all the energy it could from its surroundings. There was no doubt this was the work of a sorcerer, and a powerful one at that.
“Magic signature detected: acquiring target.”
In an instant, she summoned her Battle Armor and her Artificial Concept. She could not take this enemy lightly. With the powerful scythe Harvester in hand, the unit gave one last quick assessment of the situation, before launching herself towards the rooftop at full speed.
“Commencing execution.”
-
Forest gave Finn a wan smile at his kind words. The kid had heart, that was for sure. And from the look of it, the beginnings of a crush, she thought to herself. She rested her chin on her knees and studied him.
"Thank you," she said before shaking her head, "For the offer."
Finn returned Forest's wan smile with a warm one. "No problem at all. It's the least I can do for ya."
She pushed a braid back and said, "However, since you've had a good life, find some nice girl, settle down and have a family. Not all of us have that option."
"I'm plannin' on it, sooner or later. Maybe save up for some land and farm once I'm ready to settle down and stuff." He rubbed the back of his head. "Gotta find the right girl first though. I'm sure I'll find her though, it's only a matter of time."
***
"No-one seems to listen to me", he said, his face brightening slightly at the girl's obvious concern.
"I offered to cook, and you all just ignored me. I thought it would be fun for us to both cook together, to get to know each other better and have some family bonding time, and you all carried on ordering the pizza without even noticing me."
So he felt left out and just wanted to help. I can understand that. Ryoko kneeled down so she could look Kiyoshi in the eyes. "I'm sorry everyone ignored you. It definitely wasn't on purpose, I can tell you that much. Sometimes grown ups get caught in their own stuff and the kids get lost in the shuffle. It's not great that adults do it, but it happens. I had it happen to me a few times when I was a kid. But no one meant to hurt you."
Ryoko was hit with a wave of nausea, and an unpleasant chill ran through her. Even though the taint was gone, the effects of fighting it off remained. Just like in the alleyway... But at least this will be the last time I have to suffer through that crap. She sighed. "As for the cooking thing... trust me, my... Not Dad wasn't exactly happy to be taken away from his cooking either. He loves to cook, even if he won't openly admit it. But... well, trust me, normally I would just cook in Dad's stead, but..."
Exasperation tinged her voice. "I really hate to admit this, but the whole being taken over thing wore me out quite a bit. And when I cook, I want to make as few mistakes as possible. And cooking for that many people is a lot of effort, believe me. Trust me, I wouldn't want to burden you with that, I've done it before and it's a lot of responsibility to just toss onto one kid. So I stooped to take out. Plus I feel like I owe everyone here. So buying pizza is my way of showing my appreciation since I can't really cook properly right now."
She gave him a winning smile. "However, I'll still make it up to you. Tomorrow, after I've had some rest, we'll bake some cookies. You get to pick the flavor and everything." She grinned. "You even get to lick off the batters, plus you'll get a spoonful of cookie dough to eat depending on what we make. Or maybe two. Or maybe several. We'll see how it goes."
Suddenly, there was some guy coming down the stairs. He addressed Kiyoshi.
"Hey boyo, Sakura needs some water, I can get it for her but I ain't great in the kitchen, you mind making her some chicken soup?" he asked.
What the hell? Even if this guy somehow knows Kiyoshi, what the hell is he doing ordering a kid around like that? And boyo? Seriously?
She was about to tell the guy off for being an asshole, but-
Kiyoshi smiled.
"Sure, I'll make the best chicken soup she's ever tasted", Kiyoshi said enthusiastically. Erm... well, OK, maybe not, but it'll be damn good", he said with a smile.
-she relented. She didn't want to burst the kid's bubble. ...No way she was letting the jerk off that easily, though. She made a mental note to tell him off should they even end up alone together.
"Hey, Ryoko-nee, would you like to help me? We can make some soup or something for everyone else, too", he said, turning and walking towards the kitchen.
"Well-" unfortunately, the fact that he was already turning towards the kitchen made this difficult. She was forced to shout after him."I'm going to finish up with Lancer and then I'll see if I can help, alright?"
"But forget that. Did you say you're cooking? Mind cooking me something as well?" Shirou said, noticing how happy the boy was to help. "I haven't eaten anything for ages."
Not another one... Noticing that the boy was already gone, Ryoko whirled on the newcomer. "Listen, you shouldn't order around kids like that, you know? That goes for that Connor guy too-" she stopped when the young man's features registered. So then... this is the weird version of Uncle Shirou that I was told about.
He turned to the girl, "Ryoko was it? Nice to meet you, I'm Shirou."
She blinked before responding, somewhat bemused. "Yeah, that's right. Nice to meet you too." Her brows furrowed. "Why did you tell Kiyoshi to make you something? He's technically your son from another reality, sure, but... wouldn't you normally cook something for yourself?"
***
Tom gazed up at the apartment complex and sighed. This complex is full of people. My only hope is that I only have to deal with a few of them. He quickly found the entrance by skimming a few people's thoughts and let himself inside. He made his way in further, not entirely sure what he would find... or who.
***
Archer held Rin after she lost herself to bliss. He guided her under the spray before starting to gently wash her water warmed skin. "After this, maybe we should rejoin the other idiots," he said with a grin.
Rin's body relaxed as Archer washed her, enjoying the feeling of his calloused fingers against her skin. "I suppose we should. It's a shame, but we've probably kept them waiting long enough." She sighed. "I just hope no one's done anything stupid."
-
Connor having gotten the water moved past with no intention of stopping and replied"I didna tell him, I asked him" he said hurrying to the stairs.
-
One moment she was sitting in her office at the law firm and leaning back in her chair eating her second lunch: a nice foot long sandwich with the works. It was something to tide her over until she could arrange the funds to get away from this simple, mortal life and begin her search for completion. Plus, it was simply delicious. Anything large and filling like that was worth ingesting, savoring, and burning up in the unceasing furnace of her being. It was never quite enough, not like mana was when gifted to her by willing sacrifice, but any substitute was better than nothing.
The next moment? She found herself in an alley, flat on her bum in a puddle of stagnant water. It took her a full minute to overcome her disorientation enough to recognize it, looking down at the wetness she felt soaking into the expensive dress pants she wore.
"... this irritates me," Valda concluded out loud, before taking full stock of her situation.
Okay, first, she had to find her glasses... there. They were right next to her, a little wet but no worse for wear. She grabbed those between manicured fingers and placed them neatly back on her face.
Then she had to find her sandwich.
...
...
There was no sandwich. Her magnificent sandwich, not even a quarter of the way finished, was gone.
Valda clenched her fists and trembled in an unpleasant physiological reaction- anger. Yes, it was anger. Some force had torn her from the center of her admittedly meager influence and deprived her of her direly craved sustenance. This was a worthy cause for such a response.
A snarl escaped her throat, and she stood up from the puddle to begin stalking out of the alley. She could figure out a plan later, because right now she needed power. Power enough to find and punish the insignificant ember of consciousness that dared to take from her and send her about without her permission!
Then she paused and considered her backside. 'A new pair of pants might help, too.'
-
The boy stumbled out of the narrow alley into another, slightly less narrow alley. The water was stagnant, the air polluted by mixtures of gases and minute amounts of magic, and the earth and fire had been twisted into man made shapes so much so that the original land was almost completely gone underneath. It made him slightly ill, and he resisted the urge to add another pool of unidentified mush to the others lining the walls and ground.
He spotted a rather dressed up, but angry looking lady, and stumbled in her direction with weakened limbs.
"Hey, wait up," Salamander said in his mind. "There's something off about her. You should stay back."
He ignored her. This person was human, and he couldn't sense and unnatural energy from her body. The spirits were just restless from the strange new environment. As was he. That, and the pounding headache he'd suddenly acquired led to Luka ignoring the spirit's counsel.
"Excuse me, ma'am," he began, focusing on not slurring the words. "Would you happen to know where this town's inn is? A tavern, perhaps?"
He hoped she didn't ask for money. Some part of him said that cooking utensils wouldn't be accepted as currency in this place.
-
The boy stumbled out of the narrow alley into another, slightly less narrow alley. The water was stagnant, the air polluted by mixtures of gases and minute amounts of magic, and the earth and fire had been twisted into man made shapes so much so that the original land was almost completely gone underneath. It made him slightly ill, and he resisted the urge to add another pool of unidentified mush to the others lining the walls and ground.
He spotted a rather dressed up, but angry looking lady, and stumbled in her direction with weakened limbs.
"Hey, wait up," Salamander said in his mind. "There's something off about her. You should stay back."
He ignored her. This person was human, and he couldn't sense and unnatural energy from her body. The spirits were just restless from the strange new environment. As was he. That, and the pounding headache he'd suddenly acquired led to Luka ignoring the spirit's counsel.
"Excuse me, ma'am," he began, focusing on not slurring the words. "Would you happen to know where this town's inn is? A tavern, perhaps?"
He hoped she didn't ask for money. Some part of him said that cooking utensils wouldn't be accepted as currency in this place.
She felt it before she saw it. Behind her, just where she was before, was something powerful. Something with vast energies of its own locked away, swirling in patterns that were almost... familiar. It was only this proximity that allowed her to recognize that much beyond a little shiver and a general sense of direction, but she was getting that 'general sense' everywhere in the most worthless way possible from this city. If only she had her phone- no, focus.
The presence behind her needed addressing, especially once it used its words. 'Does it think we are in Ireland, or some other such place?'
Valda adjusted her glasses and turned her head to glance over her shoulder at its young, masculine voice and present her... answer to the...
Where was it, exactly? Her eyes flickered down, and she got to take stock of the absolutely most delicious boy-shaped vessel of elemental mana she had ever beheld before. A little smile overtook her face, as the desire to act pleasantly took her fancy.
"Why no, I can't say I do young man," Valda said with a gentle German accent to her words, "I'm rather new here myself, and quite thoroughly lost. But then, you seem to be much in the same straits."
She wondered how long she should keep him talking before she took advantage of the opportunity presented to her.
-
"O-oh." Suddenly he was at a loss for words. His entire conversation plan hinged on him being the only one who had no idea where he was. But to find someone else also lost was almost too big a coincidence. "Well, yeah, I guess I am," he admitted. "I was on my way to Iliasburg when I blacked out. Did you suddenly wake up here, too?"
"Luka, she's bad news," the spirit of flame in his head spoke up again. "If she notices my presence, I won't be able to do anything to help you."
"Oho? Admitting defeat so easily?" Undine spoke up, the barest hint of a chuckle in her voice. "I didn't think your pride would be that flexible."
"There's a time for everything," Salamander admitted. "And now is the time to run. I feel strong flames lurking within that woman, boy, and I won't be able to blunt them if she proves to be an enemy."
This time he paid attention. Salamander was asking him to leave? After all he'd been through? That alone was strange.
Just in case, he asked the lady, just to make sure. "And... are you a monster taking human form, by any chance?"
With his luck, it was more probable than not, even if he couldn't sense anything from her.
-
"O-oh." Suddenly he was at a loss for words. His entire conversation plan hinged on him being the only one who had no idea where he was. But to find someone else also lost was almost too big a coincidence. "Well, yeah, I guess I am," he admitted. "I was on my way to Iliasburg when I blacked out. Did you suddenly wake up here, too?"
"Luka, she's bad news," the spirit of flame in his head spoke up again. "If she notices my presence, I won't be able to do anything to help you."
"Oho? Admitting defeat so easily?" Undine spoke up, the barest hint of a chuckle in her voice. "I didn't think your pride would be that flexible."
"There's a time for everything," Salamander admitted. "And now is the time to run. I feel strong flames lurking within that woman, boy, and I won't be able to blunt them if she proves to be an enemy."
This time he paid attention. Salamander was asking him to leave? After all he'd been through? That alone was strange.
Just in case, he asked the lady, just to make sure. "And... are you a monster taking human form, by any chance?"
With his luck, it was more probable than not, even if he couldn't sense anything from her.
"A monster?"
The word struck, in a way. Was she so transparent that her true nature could be noted so easily? The mage who identified her for what she really was, unlocked her memories with his hapless tinkering, had only taken note of the unusual core of energy she had while attempting to remove her soul from this body. The ancients had buried her deep within it, and without any mana of her own this easy identification shouldn't have been possible.
Still, the shock on her face faded quickly, and she held her arms akimbo at rest while reconsidering whether this one would be easy prey. Brown eyes narrowed dangerously behind her glasses.
"I wouldn't use that word for it; this body is very much human, in every possible way. And the term 'monster' itself is so... degrading."
-
"Sorry! I was just wondering, since I tend to run into a lot of-." In the middle of apologizing, Luka paused. Something was off about what she had said.
"Wait... degrading? That's not very nice. Monsters are people too! ...well, kinda."
"Never said she was a monster," Salamander piped up again.
"Well, that's Luka for you!" Sylph seemed to want in on the action, too. "Rushing into everything without thinking is his speciality!"
"Shut up," Salamander grumbled, casually setting the other spirit's hair on fire and watching as Sylph flailed wildly trying to put it out.
-
"Sorry! I was just wondering, since I tend to run into a lot of-." In the middle of apologizing, Luka paused. Something was off about what she had said.
"Wait... degrading? That's not very nice. Monsters are people too! ...well, kinda."
"Never said she was a monster," Salamander piped up again.
"Well, that's Luka for you!" Sylph seemed to want in on the action, too. "Rushing into everything without thinking is his speciality!"
"Shut up," Salamander grumbled, casually setting the other spirit's hair on fire and watching as Sylph flailed wildly trying to put it out.
Blink.
"I... have a feeling you're using a much different definition of 'monster' than I am," Valda admits, ducking her head just a little now as her own game got thrown off too. "Where I'm from the word is synonymous with 'villain', or other nasty things. But... that isn't so wherever you're from, is it?"
She leans in a little more, partly just to enjoy the smell as the hunger began churning again.
-
Satoshi shook his head "The only thing you might legally have me on is squatting and since this is a demolition site and I over saw the demo of the condemned apartments on this block that's not the case. Leave, now." Satoshi replied sending a message to Angra.
"Get me a copy of the contract signed by the owners of those buildings, or you're in for extensive property damage too!" Inferno Cop bellowed, starting to lose his patience. "You can tell the rest to a fuxxing judge, see how he likes it!"
"Ryan, get the others" he shouted. The Knight shook startled and nodded running off into the castle.
Inferno Cop spun to fire at the knight, but just as he did some guy with four arms dropped from somewhere or other, cut the guy up and growled something. A benevolent citizen, Inferno Cop's mind concluded. One who shared his notion of how a criminal's pawns should be handled, as well. Had he noticed the criminal start resisting arrest and decided he should help?
Inferno Cop disregarded the thought and concentrated on the criminal.
"This is your last warning, citizen!" Inferno Cop yelled at the parking violator. "Stop attempting to resist arrest immediately, or I will use infernal force to take you with me!"
-
"W-well, a monster is, um..." It was honestly a tough question. Luka had never really thought about it. A monster girl was... well a monster girl! It was like asking what grass was, or trying to describe bread to someone who had no concept of cooking. Sure, you could tell them it was yeast combined with ground up wheat and cooked at a temperature, but that wouldn't really explain bread at all.
"I guess... someone who isn't human," he eventually said. "But still has intelligence. Like, a bird wouldn't be a monster, but a harpy would, because she can talk and think and... stuff. They used to be thought of as evil, but that's changed recently, and... well, it's history!" Sure, some people still viewed them as villains, but the majority were well on their way to accepting monsters living alongside them.
"She isn't from our world, Luka," Undine said. "That much should be obvious."
"There are other worlds?"
"Either that, or she's from a really, really remote island."
Suddenly, he realized that the lady was leaning in towards him, uncomfortably close. The light was reflecting off of her glasses in a way that made them shine pure white, giving off an unsettling vibe. The expression on her face was... familiar. Too familiar.
"Not a monster," Luka told himself. "Not a monster."
"Are... are you okay?"
-
"W-well, a monster is, um..." It was honestly a tough question. Luka had never really thought about it. A monster girl was... well a monster girl! It was like asking what grass was, or trying to describe bread to someone who had no concept of cooking. Sure, you could tell them it was yeast combined with ground up wheat and cooked at a temperature, but that wouldn't really explain bread at all.
"I guess... someone who isn't human," he eventually said. "But still has intelligence. Like, a bird wouldn't be a monster, but a harpy would, because she can talk and think and... stuff. They used to be thought of as evil, but that's changed recently, and... well, it's history!" Sure, some people still viewed them as villains, but the majority were well on their way to accepting monsters living alongside them.
"She isn't from our world, Luka," Undine said. "That much should be obvious."
"There are other worlds?"
"Either that, or she's from a really, really remote island."
Suddenly, he realized that the lady was leaning in towards him, uncomfortably close. The light was reflecting off of her glasses in a way that made them shine pure white, giving off an unsettling vibe. The expression on her face was... familiar. Too familiar.
"Not a monster," Luka told himself. "Not a monster."
"Are... are you okay?"
"Hm..."
She supposed she was human enough to not fall into that definition, by the strictest of technicalities. Fortunately for her, technicalities were her secondary life's blood. Her primary life's blood was actual blood, that flowed through veins, which was really a fascinating concept she needed to speculate on later when her stomach wasn't making her contemplate the flavor of the human liver.
Valda pulled back, her glasses stopped gleaming, and she showed him her gentlest smile. "Then I definitely apologize for the way I reacted before. Since we're both lost, how about I make it up to you by helping you out here? Your clothes are not exactly.. fitting, for the time we find ourselves in. And I'm sorry, I'm quite frankly starving."
Then a thought occurred.
"Unless you know a way for us to go back to our homes; that would be even better."
-
Forest grinned at that and said, "I doubt you'll have trouble finding yourself a nice, simple girl to live a long live with, grow old together, and Lord and Lady willing, die together."
She hoped that he'd get the idea and get over his little crush quickly. If he attempted to chase after her, he'd just end up dead. Sadly, despite his mercenary training, all Forest could see when she looked at him was, "Nice guy; liability."
******
Lancer watched as everyone was placating the kid and shook his head. Spoiled, he thought with a sigh before he wondered how Millie was. The young witch had taxed herself doing that spell to kill all those vampires. Magi in this day and age didn't have the sheer power that the ones in his time had. Apparently, power wise, he was apparently a monster compared to the most powerful modern mage.
He started up the steps, nodding at Ryoko as he did, and headed to Millie's room.
He wrapped his knuckles on the door and said, "Lass, how are you fairing?"
******
"You know everyone has probably done something stupid. Our Apostle-Chan landlady is probably hiding somewhere to brood over unrequited feelings towards Emiya Shirou, someone has probably destroyed the kitchen again, and Lancer has probably already started fights with like three people," Archer replied with a chuckle.
-
Finn grinned back. "I sure hope so." The smile faded a bit. "But then, maybe not a 'simple' girl for sure." His grin came back full blast. "I figure I'm simple enough for us both!"
***
Mille nearly shouted some variation of "go away" at the voice at the door... until she registered who it was. Doing her best to look dignified in her slacks and loose t-shirt, and after a quick effort to fix the various hairs that were in disarray, she made her way to the door. Her head was spinning just a bit, but she did her best to ignore that in favor of looking tough.
Mille's voice was, to her dismay, a bit crackly as she gave her reply. "I'm fine. I was just resting. Was there something you needed?"
***
Rin chuckled right back. "Wouldn't shock me. You never know what will happen with this group." She shook her head. "I just hope no one's done anything really stupid."
***
Tom made his way further inside. He spotted Ryoko, but she along with an unfamiliar man were conversing with a young boy. None of them had noticed him. He suppressed a sigh and spotted the kitchen. I may as well sit down while I wait. He sat down in one of the undamaged chairs, waiting for someone to speak with him.
-
Forest almost groaned at that. She thought, If he keeps this up, I'm going to have to be even blunter than normal.
"Trust me, complicated ones aren't worth it," she said, letting her legs slide to the floor and sitting up straight.
******
"I was just checking on you," Lancer said, shaking his head at her state. He gently went to her side, lifted her into his arms and then carried her to bed. "You're weak from what you pulled earlier. And I think you might be running a wee bit of a fever."
******
"Well, let's sadly get dressed," Archer said with a grin.
-
Finn tilted his head, confused by her apparent exasperation.
"Just because a girl's complicated doesn't mean she ain't worth it. Just depends on the lady herself as far as I'm seein' it."
***
"I was just checking on you," Lancer said, shaking his head at her state. He gently went to her side, lifted her into his arms and then carried her to bed.
In spite of her illness, Mille's face lit up as if it were on fire.
"You're weak from what you pulled earlier. And I think you might be running a wee bit of a fever."
"I-I'm just a bit low on prana is all," she said, in the most strong-willed and tough voice she could muster. "A fever's nothing, I've worked while having worse." What she failed to mention was that she ended up fainting during that incident from pushing herself too hard and ended up being rushed to the hospital, but he didn't need to know that.
***
"I guess we should," Rin said with a sigh. She grinned at him. "Ah well, we'll get another chance." Her expression became sly. "Maybe even tomorrow." With that, she went to turn off the water.
-
"He needs it," Shirou said simply, "Believe me, I'd love nothing more than to commandeer the kitchen. But you saw how ecstatic he was to help someone, and even more so when that someone is part of his family. It's like he's a miniature version of my teenage self, always looking to help, to find ways to be a hero, to protect his family without thinking of the consequences and after-effects of doing so. But...after all he's been through this past day, being separated from his family amongst other things, I figured I'll let him have his way this once."
"I do see your point though," he continued, "so this isn't which will happen again."
-
Satoshi frowned, this demon could have been beat other ways on any other day. But today was different, today he didn't have the time, the resources or the patience to use other ways.
"Between heaven and hell there is only a man's soul, leave" he said pressing down on his belt buckle.
a deep voice from seemingly nowhere declared "HENSHIN!!!!" and instantly the man was gone replaced by a larger armoured form.
"Or I will show you the justice of the Rider Crimson" he declared leveling his blasters at Raul.
the armored head resembled a dragon and the huge armoured plates surrounding his body like the steel wings.
the transformation had cured Satoshi but it had also swept the curse away in the castle's vicinity. Angra disappeared without so much as a scream and Alter was purified of the curse. There wasn't a castle left standing the skyline once more sporting the condemned building and with the castle gone Rider was visible on the large bed and Saber on a throne some distance away. The knights stood up from the dining hall table and began to assemble.
-
So this had been a trap after all, and one he had sprung. And apparently the strange winged one lead this group of Angels. Interesting. He was obviously quite horrible at acting human if he transformed in front of them, and with all the idiotic and unnecessary shouting and theatrics. Perhaps his Chains could be broken, though this wouldn't be an easy thing to do, considering how befuddled and brainwashed the Angel seemed.
"GoOd BYe cHaINed OnE's."
There was a slight problem with this trap - it wasn't one that could stop him from escaping now.
Raul 'fractured' time, rewinding his personal clock... all the way back to when he was in cover. It was a rather routine, if slapdash job - to prevent a paradox he couldn't undo all his actions, but it would be enough to allow him to lay low for a while.
-
Satoshi rubbed his temples looking at inferno cop. "look uh, weird, deja vu. Look officer, my association guys are picking up the paper work, come back in seventy two hours and I'll present notarized copies of all the steps. Sound fair? My trailer is on a job in east end, I can't get to it today. I'm not going anywhere until at least the week ends or we get turned over to the city parks department." Satoshi was polite but couldn't explain the strange feeling.
-
Somewhere, in a dark alley in Nexus City, something stirred. That seemed to happen an awful lot around such parts, but nonetheless, this occasion wasn't going to be the one to disprove that with a false start.
The air trembled with magic as space itself opened in a circular shape, emanating intense blue light. On the other side, a different location was visible, but it was like looking through a hazy glass pane or a reflection in a disturbed water surface. It kinda looked like someone's very dark and bleary library.
There was something like a distorted 'meow' from it and a distressed, echoing cry.
It was interrupted about three seconds later when suddenly a tall and majestic figure appeared from within the shining portal and flew gracefully through the air to... impact against the hard floor face first.
Or to put it more succinctly, they tripped through the portal. Which then collapsed and closed with a flash.
Whomever had come out of it writhed on the floor. A resounding voice with a British accent rang out.
"This is why we can't have nice things, Mr. Wuffles."
A large skeletal arm with a metal band around it stretched from the ground. And so did the rest of the body it was attached to. A tall and lean shape rose from the floor and stood, its long and elaborate purple robes from the waist down floating a few inches off the cement. Its frame over the waist was skeletal and imposing, illuminated by an icy glow from within that stretched along its arms to its claw-like boney fingers and up to its head that was barely more than a skull. The shoulders and back displayed metallic pieces that were a cross between adornments and armor. Four horns protruded out of that skull, two piercing through the base of the top hat adorning it. The floating chains around its body clanged as it looked behind it.
Somehow, the expression on that skull changed. Behind his monocle, Sir Bonesington rose an eyebrow in curiosity, the cold blue light of his eyes sparkling with something. He took a look around, a hand under his chin and another behind his back. His jaws moved impossibly as he relayed his own conclusions aloud in that echoing British tone of his.
"Well, this isn't Kansas."
So logic dictated this had to be.... somewhere new!
His portal had closed now, but it had brought him somewhere that was neither Kansas nor someplace he could recognize. Although this was very clearly the modern world, at least judging from the architecture, so there could be a million places where he could have wound up. Though somehow, this didn't feel at all like some ordinary town. It smelled, tingled like magic, like weirdness, like awesome waiting to chaotically unleashed!
He chuckled darkly. He didn't expect a result nearly as amusing when he opened that portal. It seems his cat would have to be forgiven for putting that rollerskate in his way this time. The potential of this was far too great.
Laughing, he glided off the alley and in search of the wonders of this city with a hearty declaration.
"Now, take heed world! The glorious Sir Bonesington takes speed into amazing!"
-
Well that just all happened. In a moment, the Benevolent Citizen was gone and the Parking Violator had taken off his dragon cosplay, and his castle showed up again.
A shame, he was about to transform himself and join the party.
Satoshi rubbed his temples looking at inferno cop. "look uh, weird, deja vu. Look officer, my association guys are picking up the paper work, come back in seventy two hours and I'll present notarized copies of all the steps. Sound fair? My trailer is on a job in east end, I can't get to it today. I'm not going anywhere until at least the week ends or we get turned over to the city parks department." Satoshi was polite but couldn't explain the strange feeling.
"Huh? Oh yeah, paperwork. Look buddy, you needed to have that fuxxing paperwork before you demolished the buildings, stole the land, built illegally and parked your armor in a handicap zone," Inferno Cop said, pointing at the unassuming Ryan, who was somehow okay and not in pieces. Benevolent Citizen, your arm needed work.
"You don't get seventy two hours, you need those papers now. And you don't have them, their real owners do. The officers outside told me," Inferno Cop finished, sort of remembering what the officers were saying in between knocks.
Inferno Cop turned around to see his car, which was totally always there, and opened the back seat door.
"You're coming back to the station, so we can sort this all out," Inferno Cop finished, hoping he wouldn't resist arrest again. It was a waste of fuxxing time the first time around. "Come quietly and don't resist arrest again, pal."
-
Satoshi shook his head. "I'm sorry but you have to give me more than that if you expect me to leave here anyone can claim I've done these things and anyone can go to a costume shop and get a enough to claim to be a cop"
he paused taking a breath "I want your badge number, station number, two pieces of identification that can verified with your station's captain, your full name, rank and finally a full listing of the charges against me and my full list of rights read. For all I know with that head of yours you could be hell spawn taking me to hell or worse. If you cannot verify you are an officer with this city's police force then I'm not leaving my people unattended." Satoshi told inferno cop.
in truth he wasn't exactly doubting that the man before wasn't a cop but Satoshi figured that if it was a trap he'd at least waste time.
"Actually, do you have fine processing in your car? I can pay right now if you can get a print out and sign away" he added
Tsukasa had been up all night watching ninja movies so it would surprise no one who knew her to find her dashing about in head to toe black shroud common to the ninja form. Her entire body concealed save for the eyes.
-
"What, can't that idiot deal with his own damn problem like he said?" Rider snapped, horny and desperate to hear the girl's answer to her proposition.
She paused for a moment, looking down at Angra, her lust still strong.
"OK, fine, but he'd better make saving his ass worthwhile...", she said, annoyed at being interrupted just as she was about to get enjoy herself with the girl.
With that, she stood up, releasing the girl who had been pinned underneath her, and changed into her battle outfit.
"But, I have to know, what did you think of my proposition? I can't bear to wait."
-
Angra shrugged "This is Satoshi, if you tell him he inconvenienced you he'd probably build you a bike. Well this version might ride you like one" she replied licking her lips as she got up and her outfit changed into a Chinese dress. "as for your proposal it is interesting, although we should discuss possible additions after dealing with the issues at hand." she replied answering Rider's query
-
"Uh, no, sorry," Luka said, still slightly nervous about the lady's proximity to him, but secure in the fact that she was human and thus not hungry for him.
"Guys? Help?"
"I'll need more time," Undine said. "The flow of this place is different. I might be able to figure something out eventually..."
"Basically, you're stalling," Salamander translated. "For now, just make sure this lady doesn't get serious."
"..." Gnome was playing with the concrete, making strange shapes with it on her own.
"Ooh! I'm hungry too!" Sylph said. "Can we eat? Huh? Huuuuh?"
A touch of the air spirit's power and the wind shifted, bringing in fresher air from outside the alley. Luka smelled bread, cakes, and more delicious things.
"But if you're hungry, I think there's a bakery that way." He pointed down the alley, to where the breeze had gotten the smell. "Why don't we talk there?" It was more to hopefully get rid of his headache than to keep the mysterious human from, as Salamander put it, 'getting serious', but Luka took the idea nonetheless.
-
"Well, I expect to be well-'ridden' for this, although a bike would be kind-of nice too", Rider said, grinning.
She stared at Angra in her new dress and licked her lips.
"You really are beautiful, you know, I can't wait to get my hands on you...", she said, smiling, as she started to move towards the door. "I know we can't organise the whole thing right now, but I'm curious. What sort of 'additions' did you have in mind?"
Honestly, the anticipation was almost killing her. She simply couldn't wait to hear what the girl had in mind, and whether she was willing to fulfill her fantasies as she hoped.
-
Satoshi shook his head. "I'm sorry but you have to give me more than that if you expect me to leave here anyone can claim I've done these things and anyone can go to a costume shop and get a enough to claim to be a cop"
he paused taking a breath "I want your badge number, station number, two pieces of identification that can verified with your station's captain, your full name, rank and finally a full listing of the charges against me and my full list of rights read. For all I know with that head of yours you could be hell spawn taking me to hell or worse. If you cannot verify you are an officer with this city's police force then I'm not leaving my people unattended." Satoshi told inferno cop.
"Actually, do you have fine processing in your car? I can pay right now if you can get a print out and sign away" he added
To Inferno Cop, this character was being quite a prick. What high horse did he think he was on?
"Fuxx that, I'm a police officer making an arrest to an active criminal with a warrant. I don't have to give you shxx about me except my badge number, which is 666," Inferno Cop said, deciding to annoy him even a little, though he did have to show off his badge. Which he did, it was right on his chest. "Your charges as as such: Grand theft, multiple counts of extensive property damage, building without a license, and violating multiple zoning and property laws. You have the right to remain silent..."
Inferno Cop read him all of his rights, ever so subtly nodding and waving at the open back seat door while he did, motioning as subtly as he could for the Parking Violator to get it. The rights eventually ran out, and Inferno Cop decided to let his own words do the talking.
"For the fining and bail, that's a judge to fuxxing decide and dish out. I know one though, so bail and a trial date will be set quickly and we can all fuxxing forget about this," Inferno Cop said, his annoyance seeping into his voice, and all of his willpower was concentrated into not shooting everything around him. If he did, Axe Cop would probably kick him out. And if he was kicked out, he'd never have more of the delicious black bread. "Now, down to the station with you. You can even check its number once we get there, if you still want to. This is the last time I ask nicely, you hear?"
-
Angra paused and shuddered. "Ok listen up, one time clearance sale Medusa. You protect me from Tsukasa and I'll give you my back, front, wear anything you want, give you every one of Satoshi's secrets I know about as well as attempt to endure as much punishment as you'll dish out that doesn't kill or mutilate me" she stated her face going pale
-
Rider smiled broadly. It seemed like she had just hit the jackpot. Although, she had no idea what Angra was talking about....
"That's an extremely tempting offer....
But, before I accept, I guess I should know what I'm letting myself in for. So, who is Tsukasa, and why are you so afraid of her?"
-
Angra looked at Rider seriously "nuh uh, bitch can swallow me whole. You have to promise, if you say she isn't allowed to hurt me then I'm safe because she listens to you, please Medusa!" Angra begged in a panic.
-
She can eat Angra alive yet she listens to me? Who is she?
Rider could tell from her voice that Angra was petrified of this "Tsukasa" person and, honestly, even without the offer she had made she'd have found it difficult to turn her down. Of course, Rider wasn't about to tell her this, she rather liked the way this was going....
She looked at her and smiled reassuringly.
"If all I have to do is ask her not to then sure. I can do that in return for what you're offering.
I would like to know who she is, though. Is she someone I should know?"
-
"Uh, no, sorry," Luka said, still slightly nervous about the lady's proximity to him, but secure in the fact that she was human and thus not hungry for him.
"Guys? Help?"
"I'll need more time," Undine said. "The flow of this place is different. I might be able to figure something out eventually..."
"Basically, you're stalling," Salamander translated. "For now, just make sure this lady doesn't get serious."
"..." Gnome was playing with the concrete, making strange shapes with it on her own.
"Ooh! I'm hungry too!" Sylph said. "Can we eat? Huh? Huuuuh?"
A touch of the air spirit's power and the wind shifted, bringing in fresher air from outside the alley. Luka smelled bread, cakes, and more delicious things.
"But if you're hungry, I think there's a bakery that way." He pointed down the alley, to where the breeze had gotten the smell. "Why don't we talk there?" It was more to hopefully get rid of his headache than to keep the mysterious human from, as Salamander put it, 'getting serious', but Luka took the idea nonetheless.
Valda raised her head slightly and sniffed just once. A smile reached her face at the thought of freshly baked goods. She should have just enough money in her pocket to spend on such things... she could figure the rest out later.
A small nod. "Very good idea. By the way, I am known as Valda. Valda Becker. And you are, young man?"
-
Angra calmed down "she is the daughter of, I guess for you It'd be your master. She has far more control of magic than her mother." she stated still shaken
-
Rider felt somewhat excited at the idea of seeing her master's daughter from a different world. Whilst she cared for her own master before all others, she had a soft spot for alternate versions of Sakura too, and it was always nice to hear that she was safe and well, with a family.
"Hmm, so she sees me as her Aunt, then, like Kiyoshi? And she'll obey me?
Anyway, if she's Sakura's daughter I won't let her get hurt, but I will get her to leave you alone. You've done nothing to deserve death", she said reassuringly.
"And, besides, if you die then I don't get to have any fun with you...", she added, smirking sadistically.
-
Angra took a breath "okay, well then, let's get outside and save our sex toy" she laughed heading to the door
-
Rider smiled.
"Yeah, let's get going. The sooner we get this over with the sooner we can get started. Toshi has a lot of fun toys you're going to be getting very well-acquainted with", she said, following Angra out of the door.
She really couldn't wait to get started on Angra. She was a beautiful woman who Rider could torture as she wished, and it was even consensual, so her conscience would be entirely clear.
-
"Luka," he said, tentatively extending a hand towards his temporary companion. The second word in her name was probably something similar to Alice's really long full name, so... "Son of Marcellus." That would do, right? "It's... nice to meet you, miss Valda." Hopefully it would continue to be nice, or at least consensual.
-
"Luka," he said, tentatively extending a hand towards his temporary companion. The second word in her name was probably something similar to Alice's really long full name, so... "Son of Marcellus." That would do, right? "It's... nice to meet you, miss Valda." Hopefully it would continue to be nice, or at least consensual.
The smile didn't go away, even as she took his hand in her's and gave it a shake. "Son of Marcellus, hm? Ah, but you are from a very different time than the one we find ourselves in. I don't know quite which that is, but you should be prepared for some surprises."
Then Valda let go of his hand and turned on her heel, leading the way with no more preamble and all the lightly strutting confidence of someone who did not care in the least that the rear of their pants was damp from a dirty alley puddle.
Where she led him was somewhere that, to her, was rather familiar grounds even if she could not recognize any of the landmarks. It was a city sidewalk, with black paved roads and the occasional tree planted along the edges soaking up sun. Pedestrians were on their phones talking away or drinking their soda or coffee, and the exhaust from the many automobiles passing by. The scent of internal combustion engines was one she took a moment to enjoy briefly, though without stopping.
The bakery itself, just down the way, had a front covered in much more display glass than a Medieval or even Renaissance structure would possess, and the artificial lighting near the back as the overwhelmingly delectable scent of fresh bread and pastries reached her nose was bound to bewilder her new associate. She paused for a brief moment at last to glance back an check that he was still there, and hadn't been completely overwhelmed. Just a moment; her hunger was overwhelming too.
-
Downy Reed
Roof of Apartment Complex
"Yet another nuisance has appeared? Well it was to be expected, very well then I shall deal with them accordingly."
With a wave of his hand his newly acquired 'helper' received a telepathic signal.
'Engage this new threat, give your name and life for the order that is ruin!'
His order was absolute, there would be no discussing the matter.
And with that Downy disappeared in a flash, waiting to see just how this new threat would react.
-
"...awa..."
Stone. Metal. Glass. Metal. A glimpse of green and brown. Reds and yellows and blacks zooming past. People holding strange compact devices up to their ears, walking and talking and other things simultaneously.
"...awawa..."
Lines on the stone road. Red, green, and yellow lights with some sort of meaning. Metal and glass vehicles moving by themselves, producing noxious smoke. Outfits literally out of this world.
"...awawawa..."
Luka was going to get whiplash if he kept looking around like a crazy person, so he forced himself to stop it using a technique he'd picked up after months of putting up with the strange culture of monsters.
He stopped thinking about it.
"Oh dear, he's gone," Undine commented. "His flow just... well, I'd say it stopped, but his body's still walking around, so he's not dead."
"Lukaaaaa! Wake up!" Sylph yelled, to no avail. "Waaaaaaake uuuuup- ow!" She rubbed her head, where a rock had fallen, leaving a bump. "Gnomey, that's meaaaan!"
"..." Gnome ignored her.
Suddenly, Luka blinked, his mind having successfully reset itself. He ignored the strange new world in front of him as best he could, focusing on following his guide. Suddenly, he was the one who needed explanations, and hopefully she would be amiable to give him some over food. At least that hadn't changed much. In fact, the smell of delicious foodstuffs was strangely calming, like a bastion of normality in an alien city.
Luka reached into his pockets and withdrew a handful of coins, some silver, others bronze, and one or two made of gold. He looked at Valda helplessly. "Um... help?" Ah yes, the smile of someone completely out of his element, with no idea what is going on. He had a feeling that it wouldn't be the last time he was forced to resort to it.
-
"...awa..."
Stone. Metal. Glass. Metal. A glimpse of green and brown. Reds and yellows and blacks zooming past. People holding strange compact devices up to their ears, walking and talking and other things simultaneously.
"...awawa..."
Lines on the stone road. Red, green, and yellow lights with some sort of meaning. Metal and glass vehicles moving by themselves, producing noxious smoke. Outfits literally out of this world.
"...awawawa..."
Luka was going to get whiplash if he kept looking around like a crazy person, so he forced himself to stop it using a technique he'd picked up after months of putting up with the strange culture of monsters.
He stopped thinking about it.
"Oh dear, he's gone," Undine commented. "His flow just... well, I'd say it stopped, but his body's still walking around, so he's not dead."
"Lukaaaaa! Wake up!" Sylph yelled, to no avail. "Waaaaaaake uuuuup- ow!" She rubbed her head, where a rock had fallen, leaving a bump. "Gnomey, that's meaaaan!"
"..." Gnome ignored her.
Suddenly, Luka blinked, his mind having successfully reset itself. He ignored the strange new world in front of him as best he could, focusing on following his guide. Suddenly, he was the one who needed explanations, and hopefully she would be amiable to give him some over food. At least that hadn't changed much. In fact, the smell of delicious foodstuffs was strangely calming, like a bastion of normality in an alien city.
Luka reached into his pockets and withdrew a handful of coins, some silver, others bronze, and one or two made of gold. He looked at Valda helplessly. "Um... help?" Ah yes, the smile of someone completely out of his element, with no idea what is going on. He had a feeling that it wouldn't be the last time he was forced to resort to it.
... he looked so pitiable right there. Her human form's heart clenched at the sight of that helpless smile, just begging for her to swoop in and take him by the hands and make all the decisions because she knew better than him. It was an interesting response, associating that clenching with something external to herself.
So before she did something she would regret there she lifted her glasses up from her eyes for a moment and squinted at the currency in his hand. All sorts of precious metals, which if provided to the right people would likely get her set for quite some time, were right there in front of her. And absolutely none of it had any worth in the setting they were about to enter.
"I'm... afraid gold and silver are not legal tender for purchases in person, here." Valda reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a ten dollar bill, green and crisp. "This is what is used for money here, Luka. It... represents value stored in other places, backed by the organization that rules the territory, you might say."
Then she pointed to the baker at the counter.
"Just let me take the lead, and I'll have us set up. Anything you might prefer?"
-
As Sir Bonesington walked (floated) down the deceivingly ordinary looking street, ignoring the multitude of looks he was receiving from few bystanders, it finally occurred to him that he didn't really know where to start looking for.... anything, really.
Oh, and that he was quite possibly stuck here, didn't have an actual means of transportation, and was homeless. But those were minor issues! He still had at least something like a gold bar somewhere on him, he was sure. He never left home without one. All he'd have to do is look for a real estate agent and - Actually no, wait, it'd probably be a good idea to get a lawyer first.
Well, that and gold bars weren't usually accepted currency.
"Hmmm?"
He stopped as his vision noticed something in the skyline of the city. He took a moment to better analyze the sight in the distance, and his expression lit up with wonder.
A castle? Wonderful! Someone who liked castles enough to build one in the middle of town couldn't possibly be any sort of suspicious or unpleasant individual. It was decided! He was going to make that castle his first stop in this town!
Which he still didn't know the name of, come to think of it. Well, small worries.
Sir Bonesington was just about to make his way in the direction of the castle sticking out of the building skyline when suddenly, a good smell reached his perception.
He looked to his right. There was a bakery there. And the smell of delicious baked goods was emanating from it. The arch-lich stopped in his tracks. He looked to the far-off shape of the castle. And back to the bakery. Then he did it again.
"... just a croissant first."
-
Angra stopped abruptly "ok, weird, he's going off with a cop down town, he says he'll get his sister to call when he gets out as a signal. No parties or boys while he's gone and no sex with men, ha he's cute when possessive. Don't do anyone he wouldn't do, have fun, lay low and he wants us in maid outfits before he gets back or he'll do something terrible" she explained.
"I guess this means we can watch porn and work each other over in bed if you want" she offered her lavender haired companion.
Satoshi sighed getting in the car and buckling up.
Tsukasa caught wind of Satoshi, victory would be hers this time. Ninjas had to be the way to win. It was obvious to her as she raced through the city.
-
Luka pocketed his worthless money and nodded. "Well, I suppose I'll go with-."
He paused and watched as a man who seemed to be nothing but a skeleton wearing clothes floated into the bakery and got into line. At least, he thought it was a man.
"Definitely male. Those hip bones don't lie," Undine murmured.
"What?"
"Never mind."
Right. Ignoring the skeleton man. It was probably a normal sight in the strange world he'd discovered.
"Just surprise me, I guess. I don't think I even know the names of any of these foods."
-
Licking his lips in anticipation (no, he didn't know how he was doing that without lips or a tongue either, and he frankly was not bothered in the least), Sir Bonesington strolled inside the bakery and gingerly proceeded down the waiting line to the counter.
The man at the cashier looked up at him with an expression of mixed horror and anxiety, and did not even greet him.
How uncouth.
"A chocolate croissant. On the double. I'll be having it here. Also, don't forget the most important part of a homely business like this is a smile." He said, pointing finger almost touching the man's face, before leaving in a huff and sitting down in a free table by the window.
The glass instantly seemed to haze over a little.
He propped up his chin on his bony hands as he took in the place with a satisfied hum. Well, maybe the cashier was a bit cold on his feet, but the place was nice. And if their food tasted as good as it smelled...
"H-here's your croissant, sir!"
A waitress in a nice but conservative uniform called out to him from his left as she laid down a napkin and a plate with a very appetizing looking croissant still steaming, liquid chocolate dripping a little from inside of it. Her voice had a hint of nervousness, but she was smiling and clearly doing her best to sound welcoming.
Cute little thing. 'A' for effort and honesty.
"Thank you, m'dear." he answered with a tiny tip of his hat.
She nodded in appreciation and went to another table in just a little bit of a hurry. Now then.
Sir Bonesington stared, entranced, at his lovely pastry, for a moment. And then took it into his hand and started to dig in.
"HHHHHMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmn~"
It was sweet and filling, and the chocolate almost felt like it could melt him.
Just heavenly.
-
Hmm, 'something terrible'? Sounds fun....
"He really doesn't know how to motivate me, does he? If he'd just asked I'd do it, but now the thought of 'something terrible' is just too tempting to miss...", Rider said with a laugh.
"But let's worry about him later. Right now I have you to deal with", Rider added lustily as she undressed her soon-to-be captive with her eyes.
She frowned slightly at Angra's offer, though. It didn't seem to involve much in the way of torture.
You haven't forgotten your earlier offer, have you? What I have in mind doesn't involve a bed or porn...."
Hmm, wait, did she say each other? Maybe she wants a go at me too...
Technically, Rider could do whatever she liked with Angra with no thought for the girl's wishes, her offer had been very wide-ranging. But, Angra had been very accomodating to her, and she was in a rather good mood right now, so she felt like giving something back.
"I'll tell you what, since you've been so nice, I'll give you an incentive.
However long you last with me, I'll do double. I'll be your slave, do anything you want, as long as it doesn't kill or corrupt me. No escape, no safe word, nothing, you can just do what you want. If you want to lie there cuddling and watching porn or if you want to torture me to the point of insanity, or anything in between, I'll do it."
-
Luka pocketed his worthless money and nodded. "Well, I suppose I'll go with-."
He paused and watched as a man who seemed to be nothing but a skeleton wearing clothes floated into the bakery and got into line. At least, he thought it was a man.
"Definitely male. Those hip bones don't lie," Undine murmured.
"What?"
"Never mind."
Right. Ignoring the skeleton man. It was probably a normal sight in the strange world he'd discovered.
"Just surprise me, I guess. I don't think I even know the names of any of these foods."
It was clearly not a normal sight, at least not to Valda's worldly eyes. Where she came from beings like herself were hidden phenomena, and magic was a living thing in its own right that sought to hide its manifestations from the corrosive effects of mortal attention. And yet nobody seemed to do more than show a sense of unease and preservation motivated nervousness; it was not the panic of people completely unaware of the the world's possibilities.
'This could be agreeable.'
With that concluded she let out an unnecessary little cough into her left hand, and turned her attention back to Luka. "Very well then; with me."
She grabbed him by the hand and pretty much dragged him with her into the bakery as hunger overcame all over considerations. She would have much preferred to eat him, or rather what was inside of him, but she would have to make do with this until she had him somewhere quiet and alone where she could... be more certain that the mana she took from him was a gift as needed.
Playing on the discomfort of the cashier and driven by the delectable scents in the bakery, Valda leaned in and let her accent and presence do the rest. "I'll have six of what the skeleton purchased, two blueberry muffins, a slice of that lemon frosted pound cake and two bottles of apple juice. Right away please, my good man."
Sure, it would be costly, but she had plans now. It would not matter for long.
-
Kiyoshi nodded as Ryoko explained her situation.
I understand what she means, cooking when you're exhausted isn't fun....
Cookies sound good, though. I wonder if she's been talking to her alternate father...?
Before he could reply, though, Shirou came down and talked to him.
"You know, you're not supposed to force people to accept your help...", said Shirou.
No, but I would have liked at least some acknowledgement, he thought, slightly annoyed at him missing the point somewhat.
But, then, he changed tack.
"But forget that. Did you say you're cooking? Mind cooking me something as well?" Shirou said, noticing how happy the boy was to help. "I haven't eaten anything for ages."
"Sure, what would you like?" said Kiyoshi brightly. "I'd be glad if you'd help me, too, I like cooking with family."
Kiyoshi knew that Aunty Rider had told him to keep away from this man, that he wasn't his father, but Kiyoshi simply couldn't accept that. He might have some issues, but as far as Kiyoshi was concerned he was still "daddy".
Ryoko shouted to him once more.
"Well- I'm going to finish up with Lancer and then I'll see if I can help, alright?" she said.
"I understand, Ryoko-nee, and thank you for acknowledging me and not just leaving me to run off. If you're tired you don't need to cook, pizza sounds fine. Do you want me to take a look, see what I want?
If you can help me with this soup I'd be happy, but I can do it myself, and Shirou's food too. If you're tired then cooking together can wait until tomorrow. Baking cookies is going to be fun", Kiyoshi said, smiling, as he continued walking towards the kitchen.
-
Walking over to Ran, Lawrence put his hand on her forehead, plasm leaking out to seal and heal her self inflicted cuts. Perhaps a waste, but hey, this way they wouldn't scar.
"That should do something, but I'd wrap some bandages around it just in case. Not exactly sure this will work on you."
A martial artist knew their own body before anything, and I knew whatever he'd done worked before he expressed his concern.
His hand was nice and warm though. My own hand absently went up to hold it, and I gently pulled his hand off of my forehead. I didn't let go just yet, though. Instead I held it at body height, close to my breast but not touching just yet.
"Thank you," I said, almost whispering, and looked him in the eyes. "So, to bed we go?"
I smiled, my hands still holding his, and pulled ever so slightly towards the cot.
-
Lawrence let her drag him towards the cot, grinning a little himself. "Isn't that bed a little small for the two of us? Doesn't look like it'll be that comfortable..."
That was weak. Do you call that a pick up line?
'Shut up. You aren't exactly Rico Suave either.'
-
"I understand, Ryoko-nee, and thank you for acknowledging me and not just leaving me to run off. If you're tired you don't need to cook, pizza sounds fine. Do you want me to take a look, see what I want?
If you can help me with this soup I'd be happy, but I can do it myself, and Shirou's food too. If you're tired then cooking together can wait until tomorrow. Baking cookies is going to be fun", Kiyoshi said, smiling, as he continued walking towards the kitchen.
Ryoko tilted her head at how articulate he was for a boy his age before answering him. "Yeah, sure, we can look together. I can lead you back to where Lancer got out the number and menu if you want to do that now. And as for the soup, I'll see what I can do."
In the meantime, there was also Shirou to reply to.
"He needs it," Shirou said simply, "Believe me, I'd love nothing more than to commandeer the kitchen. But you saw how ecstatic he was to help someone, and even more so when that someone is part of his family. It's like he's a miniature version of my teenage self, always looking to help, to find ways to be a hero, to protect his family without thinking of the consequences and after-effects of doing so. But...after all he's been through this past day, being separated from his family amongst other things, I figured I'll let him have his way this once."
"I do see your point though," he continued, "so this isn't which will happen again."
Ryoko shot Connor a Look at his back before turning back to Shirou. She sighed and shook her head. "Nah, it's my bad. I jumped to the wrong conclusion. It's been one of those nights, you know what I mean?"
She was honestly a bit surprised. In spite of some of the things her parents had told her, this young man acted so much like her Uncle Shirou. She gave him a wan smile. "The least I owe you after that is a proper introduction." She gave him a bow. "I'm Tohsaka Ryoko. Nice to meet you."
***
Tom winced slightly. There was a boy headed towards the kitchen. Tom didn't tend to be particularly fond of children. And he didn't really want to have to deal with this one. But it would seem that it was perhaps unavoidable- he could try to simply walk past the lad and pray that he wasn't noticed, but he found that possibility unlikely. And it was likely not worth risking detection by using his powers. So he braced himself, hoping the boy would find him too intimidating and just leave him be.
-
"Yet another nuisance has appeared? Well it was to be expected, very well then I shall deal with them accordingly."
Gabriel's eyebrows raised at that and he resisted the urge to laugh. He really is full of himself, isn't he? he thought with a smirk as the wizard vanished. He expanded his senses, feeling out for the tale-tell signature of the wizard. Cold. Volatile. Lightning during a blizzard. He got a bead on him and memorized the feel in case the bastard decided to rabbit. Then he walked into the Shadows.
A dull roar filled his ears as waves of black, greys, blues, violet, and deep red flickered around him. Light was absent here, but he could see as clear as crystal. He took off at a run, already finding the wizard to where he had ran to. Once he located the wizard, he opened the Shadows and stepped behind him, folding his arms across his chest.
"Nuisance? I believe I am going to make your night much worse than just being a 'nuisance'," Gabriel said with a smirk as he prepared himself for retaliation.
******
Lancer sighed and lowered her to bed. "Rest. If you were a might bit better I'd offer to fill your stores myself." He grinned at that and stroked her hair back.
"Now, do you need any water or tea? I'm sure I could make a brew that'll help your head right about now."
******
Archer turned off the water and handed Rin her towel. "Besides, I can mess with Lancer. That's always fun."
******
Forest sighed, squared her shoulders, and looked at Finn. "Attacking" him would be the best way to get her point across, but he hadn't deserved that sort of treatment. Even though she wanted to punch something right now and he was making himself a convenient target.
"I'm flattered, I really am," she began, "But I run in the sort of circles that would kill or break you. It wouldn't work. Besides, you're not exactly my 'type'."
-
"This is..."
"This is..."
"It's great!" Luka happily chowed down on the croissant, enjoying the fluffy taste and how the chocolate ran over his tongue. Finally, in a world where nothing made sense, he'd discovered that good food was universally enjoyed. The place couldn't be that bad if people still liked tasty stuff. (And perhaps he could get employment as a chef if he never found a way back to his world.)
"It's not great!" Salamander snapped. "Gnome says there's tons of freaky chemicals in it! The ingredients were grown in dirt that might as well have been sewage for all the stuff they put in it!"
"This chocolate..."
"They got it from the other side of the world! They flew the beans in, fried them in an oven that goes over a thousand degrees, and mass produced the stuff so it would be everywhere!"
"How do you even know that?"
The question shut up the spirit long enough for Luka to enjoy another bite of delicious pastry. He didn't have that kind of stuff in his world. Maybe he'd be able to reverse-engineer the recipe and make some for Alice back home. She would be ecstatic...
The thought of home drove away the happy thoughts that had built up. Yes... home. There was still the problem of that to consider. If he hadn't had the spirits with him (coincidentally picking them up for the road trip had been a lucky decision) he wasn't sure he would've been able to stay sane. At the moment, he still had no idea where he was, although his temporary companion seemed to know just fine.
Luka swallowed the remainder of the croissant, placing his empty plate on the table with the rest of the food. "I'm glad you recognize this place. It means you're probably still in your world," he told Valda. "I'm sure finding your way back home from here won't be a problem." From any other person the words would have sounded bitter, but it was obvious that he was honestly happy for her. She had helped him, so she had to be a good person. At least this way only one of them would be in trouble.
"Hey, don't be so nice to her," Sylph said, fuming from her charred hair being stuck in an afro shape. "You're still a married man, mister! If I catch you eloping with another woman, I'm reporting it to the Monster Lord!"
"...don't be ridiculous, Sylph."
-
"This is..."
"This is..."
"It's great!" Luka happily chowed down on the croissant, enjoying the fluffy taste and how the chocolate ran over his tongue. Finally, in a world where nothing made sense, he'd discovered that good food was universally enjoyed. The place couldn't be that bad if people still liked tasty stuff. (And perhaps he could get employment as a chef if he never found a way back to his world.)
"It's not great!" Salamander snapped. "Gnome says there's tons of freaky chemicals in it! The ingredients were grown in dirt that might as well have been sewage for all the stuff they put in it!"
"This chocolate..."
"They got it from the other side of the world! They flew the beans in, fried them in an oven that goes over a thousand degrees, and mass produced the stuff so it would be everywhere!"
"How do you even know that?"
The question shut up the spirit long enough for Luka to enjoy another bite of delicious pastry. He didn't have that kind of stuff in his world. Maybe he'd be able to reverse-engineer the recipe and make some for Alice back home. She would be ecstatic...
The thought of home drove away the happy thoughts that had built up. Yes... home. There was still the problem of that to consider. If he hadn't had the spirits with him (coincidentally picking them up for the road trip had been a lucky decision) he wasn't sure he would've been able to stay sane. At the moment, he still had no idea where he was, although his temporary companion seemed to know just fine.
Luka swallowed the remainder of the croissant, placing his empty plate on the table with the rest of the food. "I'm glad you recognize this place. It means you're probably still in your world," he told Valda. "I'm sure finding your way back home from here won't be a problem." From any other person the words would have sounded bitter, but it was obvious that he was honestly happy for her. She had helped him, so she had to be a good person. At least this way only one of them would be in trouble.
"Hey, don't be so nice to her," Sylph said, fuming from her charred hair being stuck in an afro shape. "You're still a married man, mister! If I catch you eloping with another woman, I'm reporting it to the Monster Lord!"
"...don't be ridiculous, Sylph."
Valda on the other hand had eaten three croissants by herself in the time it took Luka to finish one. With the utmost determination and grace she had demolished those baked goods, and proceeded to lick her fingers clean with a long, dangerously inappropriate 'mmm...'
The hunger burning inside of her did not diminish, but it did not hurt so greatly while she was in the process of her futile attempts to sate it. That was a positive in any case. She was still eyeing the slice of pound cake, too, so that bit of suffering wasn't exactly about to come back again quite so soon. And she was so glad to see someone else enjoying good food without reservation as well; this was a young human with sense.
"Isn't it just?" She says when he talks with his mouth full like that, wiping her fingers and adjusting her glasses while she took him in. And reached for that pound cake.
Observing him while eating gave her the chance to focus more on the wonderfully burning essence she knew was lurking inside him, along with other sources of mana to draw from too. This was all going so well considering the fact that she had no idea where she was.
So at his comment about this being her world, she simply said, "No."
When the inevitable shock came to his face she clarified. "Magic and monsters in my world," Valda says while pointing to the skeletal being in the bakery with them, "are hidden phenomena where I come from. Monsters hide themselves from human awareness, lest they are destroyed by the pressing weight of their numbers. Magic is corroded by observation from ordinary humans, and as a living thing it hides itself away."
A bite of the pound cake, and she took a moment to savor that delicious lemon flavor and swallow before continuing. "Neither are happening here, and it is not being treated as unusual. Therefore, I am as far from home as you are; the only difference is I had the fortune to end up somewhere that is functionally similar."
-
"Oh..." And just like that, the small happiness was gone, and Luka was once more out of ideas. So this was a third world, one completely foreign to him and only slightly familiar to her. If two people had been snatched from different worlds and thrown into one... something sinister was obviously at work.
"What about all the stuff about her world?" Undine asked. "Are you not the least bit curious about how it differs from ours?"
"Not really," Luka admitted. "It's not my business to ask. Besides, we have to focus on getting back home."
He looked up at Valda, who was just polishing off the last of their meal and looking not the least bit sated for it. "...maybe we can ask someone from here. There has to be someone who knows about why we ended up in this place. You don't just get two different people from two different worlds falling into another without an explanation behind it. At least, I don't know of any magic that could do something like that."
Well, one person might just be a freaky accident. But two? No, coincidences like that just didn't happen.
He looked at the skeleton man again. Perhaps...
-
"Oh..." And just like that, the small happiness was gone, and Luka was once more out of ideas. So this was a third world, one completely foreign to him and only slightly familiar to her. If two people had been snatched from different worlds and thrown into one... something sinister was obviously at work.
"What about all the stuff about her world?" Undine asked. "Are you not the least bit curious about how it differs from ours?"
"Not really," Luka admitted. "It's not my business to ask. Besides, we have to focus on getting back home."
He looked up at Valda, who was just polishing off the last of their meal and looking not the least bit sated for it. "...maybe we can ask someone from here. There has to be someone who knows about why we ended up in this place. You don't just get two different people from two different worlds falling into another without an explanation behind it. At least, I don't know of any magic that could do something like that."
Well, one person might just be a freaky accident. But two? No, coincidences like that just didn't happen.
He looked at the skeleton man again. Perhaps...
It was perhaps fortunate that she felt deep in her soul that the rest of her self had been pulled into this world as well. Valda had no idea here these components were, but at least she could rest easy that she did not have to scramble to return to her native world as this 'Luka' seemed so eager to do with his own. But the way he seemed to deflate like a round object full of air poked full of holes made her heart clench again. Such a bizarre circulatory response, that feeling.
A deep gulp of juice made it better momentarily. Ahh. Now she saw her chance.
"I propose we remain together and assist each other, until such time as we can both return from whence we came. Assuming, of course, that questioning..." She trailed off for a moment, following Luka's gaze to the skeletal mage once more, "... does not bear fruit."
-
Sir Bonesington patted his non existing belly in satisfaction. Truly, that croissant had been just perfect. He felt reinvigorated! He was definitely going to mentally jot down the location of this bakery to come here again. He thought it'd be worth it. Hmm hmm, he hummed to himself. It would definitely be worth it.
Well, time to pay the bill and go in search of that castle he'd seen before -
"..."
And it was at this point that he remembered that his gold bar still wasn't acceptable currency. Ooops.
He scratched under his chin absentmindedly. Well, this was a bit of a pickle. He didn't have modern money or anything that might pass for it, nor did he know how to conjure it, his gold ingot was likely not going to get accepted, and he didn't feel much like leaving it here as collateral one way or another. And in his wondering of how to solve the current predicament, his vision wandered the shop, and found something he was not exactly expecting. And so, his thoughts turned to the only other source of magic that he could feel in the bakery.
The lich gazed inquisitively at the nicely dressed woman and the distressed looking boy at another table. The boy didn't seem like much, but he'd be damned again if he couldn't feel some quite strong magic about him. The woman, he wasn't so sure what to make out of, but he had an eerie feeling she was hot for more than one reason.
Conveniently, their gazes had also been directed at him. Well, that settled it then! It was time to make some friends. Sir Bonesington rose off his chair and floated over to the table of the two, where he bowed lightly and offered them a small tip of his hat before facing them with a jovial and polite tone.
"Greetings to the both of you. I noticed your amicable and unique selves over from where I was sitting, and I was overjoyed to find someone of my leanings, in one shape or another, around these parts. Even more so, in fact, given that I find myself in a bit of a minor pickle over here that I was hoping you might lend your assistance to. In light of introducing myself, you may call me Sir Bonesington. May I take a seat here to continue this conversation?"
-
"It will!" Luka said, forcing determination into his body. "And I'd be glad to team up with you. It's the least I can do after all the help you've given me already."
Salamander, however, wasn't having it. "Help? All she's done so far is buy you food! You can't just go around blindly trusting the first girl you run into whenever you're in trouble!"
"It was delicious food!" Luka argued. "And it worked just fine the first time. Besides, she doesn't seem like a bad person."
"...forget it. I give up. If I keep protesting, you're just going to get into more trouble."
Before he could further affirm their plans, however, the target of Luka's curiosity chose to approach.
"Greetings to the both of you. I noticed your amicable and unique selves over from where I was sitting, and I was overjoyed to find someone of my leanings, in one shape or another, around these parts. Even more so, in fact, given that I find myself in a bit of a minor pickle over here that I was hoping you might lend your assistance to. In light of introducing myself, you may call me Sir Bonesington. May I take a seat here to continue this conversation?"
"Uh..." Luka was lost. Completely.
"Translate! Translate!"
"He's basically saying that he's in the same situation you are!" Sylph, of all people, piped up. "Like, he wants you to help him out and stuff, and he's asking to sit down."
"H-how did you-?"
"I'm a published author, silly!" The wind spirit giggled, doing aerial acrobatics as she flew through Luka's soul. "I know complicated words and stuff! Copacetic! Oblivious! Guacamole!"
A boulder smashed the spirit over the head, sending her crashing into a pile of sand, which was instantly doused in rain. "Aaaah! Heeeeeeeeelp!" She screamed as she sank below the muddy, watery quicksand.
A short distance away, Gnome and Undine shared a fist bump.
"Uh, sure," Luka said, choosing to forget the chaos in his head. "Go ahead. We were just about to ask you anyway."
-
That was when Valda reached over, took his right hand in both of her own and smiled. "Then it is a promise between us," she swore for them both, just somehow knowing that this Luka was a being worthy of trusting to keep it.
Which would be great when the reciprocation began in earnest between them. Delicious, satisfying reciprocation, which would be even better than the blueberry muffins she still had to consume.
She would have said more, but then the bizarre specimen of unlife approached their table without prompting by either of them and caught them with their hands together like that.
"Before we begin, Sir Bonesington, I must inquire: are you of this world, or is this foreign to you as well?"
She did not care; shame was a pitiful human foible she had gladly cast aside in the purifying furnace of truth.
-
Connor went back upstairs and returned giving Sakura who in the meantime had begun writing notes in a small pad.
Connor sighed "you can'na go on working"
Sakura cut him off "I have to, with Angra here I'm on the clock, I need you to get forest and Rin up here and show Archer how to call Satoshi, whatever the incident was that caused Rin and Archer to have issue with him I'm sure he wants to apologize"
she paused with a sigh "even though it's likely that both sides are at fault he'll take all the blame himself, if Archer does that remind me to kick him in the nether region, they weren't acting like my parents at all but I'll sure as hell punish them like I was taught. Water now" she told him.
Connor gave her the water and in a surprising turn of thoughtfulness the red haired boy turned to Taiga and said "Kiyoshi is making soup, how about we head down there?"
Taiga understood that it was Connor's way of being nice because Sakura was likely to argue. "Ok, but I'm not gonna eat anything, I'm not hungry" it was a lie of course but Taiga like her namesake was immovable when she wanted to be.
Connor nodded and brought the red haired girl down stairs with him. They entered the main room and Connor positioning Taiga near the table went to find Forest.
"excuse me ma'am, Sakura needs to see you and Rin upstairs, it's important" he told her.
Angra looked at rider. "well that's an interesting idea but meant more that I want to wait until we get the signal, I'm stronger with him around"
-
"Uh..." Luka was lost. Completely.
"Translate! Translate!"
"He's basically saying that he's in the same situation you are!" Sylph, of all people, piped up. "Like, he wants you to help him out and stuff, and he's asking to sit down."
"H-how did you-?"
"I'm a published author, silly!" The wind spirit giggled, doing aerial acrobatics as she flew through Luka's soul. "I know complicated words and stuff! Copacetic! Oblivious! Guacamole!"
A boulder smashed the spirit over the head, sending her crashing into a pile of sand, which was instantly doused in rain. "Aaaah! Heeeeeeeeelp!" She screamed as she sank below the muddy, watery quicksand.
A short distance away, Gnome and Undine shared a fist bump.
"Uh, sure," Luka said, choosing to forget the chaos in his head. "Go ahead. We were just about to ask you anyway."
"Wonderful!"
Sir Bonesington took a seat before he turned to address the other person already in the table.
That was when Valda reached over, took his right hand in both of her own and smiled. "Then it is a promise between us," she swore for them both, just somehow knowing that this Luka was a being worthy of trusting to keep it.
Which would be great when the reciprocation began in earnest between them. Delicious, satisfying reciprocation, which would be even better than the blueberry muffins she still had to consume.
She would have said more, but then the bizarre specimen of unlife approached their table without prompting by either of them and caught them with their hands together like that.
"Before we begin, Sir Bonesington, I must inquire: are you of this world, or is this foreign to you as well?"
She did not care; shame was a pitiful human foible she had gladly cast aside in the purifying furnace of truth.
Well that was a surprising question. He chuckled quietly before answering.
"No, I am in fact not from around these parts. I just got here, to this increasingly interesting town, by means of an accident that involved an experimental portal and my cat being a meddlesome trouble-stirrer once again. Buuuuuuut I have some experience with the 'modern world', if I were to put it that way. Not the first time I've traveled to an alternate universe. I am surprised to hear you two are tourists as well, however. Because, well, isn't that interesting. Maybe the fact that my portal opened up here wasn't just a coincidence then."
-
Rider looked back at Angra, smiling.
"I guess that is true, but I would rather do this alone", Rider said. "Satoshi is fun, but he is rather, well, controlling. If he gets involved I do not think I will be free to act as I wish. If you have a better suggestion I'm willing to listen, though...."
Whilst she certainly wasn't adverse to the idea of a threesome, right now Rider wanted to be able to act out her fantasies without Satoshi ordering her around or forcing her into a maid outfit. And, honestly, lying in bed watching porn didn't really appeal to her. She would rather be enjoying herself.
-
Angra nodded "well he doesn't have to be involved but I want him around to be stronger since your offer was double" she replied
"I have a big plan for your offer and I want as much time as possible" she said
-
Lawrence let her drag him towards the cot, grinning a little himself. "Isn't that bed a little small for the two of us? Doesn't look like it'll be that comfortable..."
He had a point, but I wasn't about to concede it. Instead, I brushed my head past his, and whispered into his ear.
"We'll just have to keep each other comfortable, then," I whispered, then I drew back, but I kept my face close. "And I do have something in mind."
I pulled my hands of of his and instead interlocked then behind his neck in a grip, pulling his face within kissing distance of my own.
It was the moment of truth, Lawrence.
X=X=X=X=X
The Parking Violator went into Inferno Cop's car without any more trouble, to the moderate surprise and content of Inferno Cop himself.
The cop pulled open the front seat doors, got into his seat, and started driving, obeying the speed limit perfectly. He wasn't in the same disgusting tier as shoplifters, parking violators and war criminals, after all. He would never stoop to their filthy ranks.
Now, he just had to figure out where the police station was from where he was. That'd take a little time.
Good thing that building sort of to the left of that generic skyscraper looked somewhat familiar!
-
He had a point, but I wasn't about to concede it. Instead, I brushed my head past his, and whispered into his ear.
"We'll just have to keep each other comfortable, then," I whispered, then I drew back, but I kept my face close. "And I do have something in mind."
I pulled my hands of of his and instead interlocked then behind his neck in a grip, pulling his face within kissing distance of my own.
It was the moment of truth, Lawrence.
'HA, IT WORKED! Suck it Not-Rico Suave!'
Hmph. I doubt that. The woman obviously is insane.
'Shut up Driver. You're just pissed you no longer have a dick.'
With that, Lawrence kissed Ran in response, ignoring the distractions of the outside world for a gloriously blissful second. Screw the ghosts, screw all the fucked up shit that he'd experienced and done within the last 24 hours and since he'd died, screw the Driver. He wasn't going to let that stop him from living his life now.
-
Rider smiled at Angra's response.
When she'd made her offer, this was exactly what she'd been hoping for. To give her partner a genuine desire to withstand as much pain as she physically could. And, plus, she would likely enjoy the return too, unless Angra was deliberately malicious.
"Well, the stronger you are and the longer you can last, the more fun it is for me, so I'd be happy to wait, but are you sure Satoshi will give us a choice about his involvement?
And, as for your 'plan', it sounds interesting. Care to share it with me at all?" she added with a naughty smile.
-
Angra laughed "promise to cuddle with him and give him a few kisses, stroke his ego a bit and he'll be putty in your hands." she replied.
"as for my plan a lady needs her secrets" she added
-
"We're not really tourists," Luka said. Sylph was muffled, but he'd caught the gist of the skeleton man's words enough to reply. "Both of us are here against our will, too. I mean, I was just crossing the ocean when I got sucked into this weird black portal without warning, and we don't really have that kind of magic in our world."
Well, perhaps Ilias would've been able to do something like that, or Tamamo with a few weeks of preparation, but it didn't fit. The world was still recovering from an earth-changing war, and anyone with the capacity to do something of that calibre would've done it months earlier. So... it had to be an outside force.
"But I don't think it's a coincidence either," he continued. The spirits were silent for once, letting the boy formulate his thoughts properly. "If we're all from three wildly different worlds, that must mean someone or something deliberately brought us here. The only question is... why?"
-
"We're not really tourists," Luka said. Sylph was muffled, but he'd caught the gist of the skeleton man's words enough to reply. "Both of us are here against our will, too. I mean, I was just crossing the ocean when I got sucked into this weird black portal without warning, and we don't really have that kind of magic in our world."
Well, perhaps Ilias would've been able to do something like that, or Tamamo with a few weeks of preparation, but it didn't fit. The world was still recovering from an earth-changing war, and anyone with the capacity to do something of that calibre would've done it months earlier. So... it had to be an outside force.
"But I don't think it's a coincidence either," he continued. The spirits were silent for once, letting the boy formulate his thoughts properly. "If we're all from three wildly different worlds, that must mean someone or something deliberately brought us here. The only question is... why?"
Sir Bonesington listened carefully to the boy's words and nodded in admittance of his point. He pondered the question, and thanks to his great powers of intellect and deduction, the answer was instantly made clear for him.
"For what other reason does someone or something with near-incomprehensible power go around messing with parallel worlds and bringing together vastly different people from different planes into a single place, this nexus of soon to be sure trials, troubles and interpersonal clashes?" he hypothetically asked with rising volume, waving his hands theatrically.
At the boy's silence and bewildered look, he rested his hands on the table and decided to elaborate.
"Because they're bored. And nothing screams entertainment like the chaos born from throwing powerful and unique individuals at each other and seeing the results."
-
I didn't really talk much to the vampiress after that little name exchange. She continued walking on in silence.
"Contact me if you need anything more." I tossed her a card with my name on it and a short phone number - the office. Brianna would be sleeping now anyway. I think I gave him the night off. I think.
With that I changed my shape, shifting from a man form to that of a large black crow I'd managed to catch early on in my Requiem. Hey. It'd been food for a desperate night. Animal blood was starting to lose it's potency for me anyway. Soon, maybe a couple of decades or so, and I probably wouldn't be able to feed from animals anymore when the going got tough. A real shame. It'd be tougher to stay filled up once that happened.
Cawing, I sailed off into the night, kindred nightvision overriding the crows. A useful little trick I'd picked up on. If I wanted to feed, the building where the gunshot had come from would be a decent start. Rumor was some dhampir, or Jian Shi or something similar had taken up residence there, and was of all things, renting the place out to guests. If it was true, I'd need to be careful, but I might, pardon the pun, find a Kindred spirit within. I could go another few nights without blood, but I needed to feed, and the sooner the better.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doomrider buzzed the Castle as Inferno Cop started driving towards the station. Sadly, the sight of the explosion had yielded no cocaine, or evidence, or much in the way of anything, except some loon babbling about a crazy vampire. Man, the things some people came up with.
Shrugging, he gunned the engine once more and accelerated through the sky, following the borrowed cruiser. After all, the Flame Cop Partners had to stick together.
-
"We're not really tourists," Luka said. Sylph was muffled, but he'd caught the gist of the skeleton man's words enough to reply. "Both of us are here against our will, too. I mean, I was just crossing the ocean when I got sucked into this weird black portal without warning, and we don't really have that kind of magic in our world."
Well, perhaps Ilias would've been able to do something like that, or Tamamo with a few weeks of preparation, but it didn't fit. The world was still recovering from an earth-changing war, and anyone with the capacity to do something of that calibre would've done it months earlier. So... it had to be an outside force.
"But I don't think it's a coincidence either," he continued. The spirits were silent for once, letting the boy formulate his thoughts properly. "If we're all from three wildly different worlds, that must mean someone or something deliberately brought us here. The only question is... why?"
Sir Bonesington listened carefully to the boy's words and nodded in admittance of his point. He pondered the question, and thanks to his great powers of intellect and deduction, the answer was instantly made clear for him.
"For what other reason does someone or something with near-incomprehensible power go around messing with parallel worlds and bringing together vastly different people from different planes into a single place, this nexus of soon to be sure trials, troubles and interpersonal clashes?" he hypothetically asked with rising volume, waving his hands theatrically.
At the boy's silence and bewildered look, he rested his hands on the table and decided to elaborate.
"Because they're bored. And nothing screams entertainment like the chaos born from throwing powerful and unique individuals at each other and seeing the results."
She still hadn't let go of Luka's hand. That was something to note, in that 'personal space' way that Valda simply did not care overly much about.
Still, the pattern seemed to fit. She had simply been sitting in her office before being dumped into the alley with no warning given. She was not consulted at any point about a possible trip to other dimensions, and it was certainly unwelcome. Well, mostly unwelcome.
"Then we are the play things of some titan's whimsy? Pieces in the games of a being without purpose or meaning behind it?" Valda asked rhetorically, her face lowering so that her eyes were focused on the table. Her glasses gleamed with malevolence in the flourescent lighting of the bakery, and her hands squeezed. "Then we will find no retreat until we have satisfied it, or driven it to such boredom that it casts us back from whence we came."
-
Henderson had found the Bakery early on. He'd suddenly discovered a craving for a good couple dozen donuts. Skating in on his heelies, Old Man Henderson rolled up to the counter, mirrored aviators flashing in the lights.
"Can I have... 32 raspberry Bismarck's, 12 donuts with sprinkles and frosting, and..." Henderson frowned, turning to the stuffed parrot on his shoulder before asking a simple question, a scottish accent slipping into his voice.
"So what do you want?"
The silence from both the bird and the dumbfounded cashier.
"Rupert here wants a jelly donut."
"Uhhhhh..."
"Don't worry, I have the cash. Chop chop... er, what was I buying again?"
The cashier hurriedly took the 100 dollar bill before the crazy man could speak again, and in no time, the waitress brought his order to a booth next to the one with the talking skeleton. To Henderson, that just proved that he'd gotten some good shit.
Of course, he couldn't restrain himself from commenting, even as he ate his pastries.
"You know your problem? I'm not saying its cultists... but it's probably cultists. Gnome stealing bastards..."
-
"I don't know. I think if we could at least talk to whatever's responsible for this, it would be possible to convince it to send us back," Luka murmured. Unlike Valda, who seemed to be holding back anger, or Bonesington, who was obviously having fun with the whole thing, he was thinking of someone else. A seemingly omnipotent being whose cruel actions had initially been driven by the simple desire to not be alone. Perhaps it wasn't boredom. Perhaps it was something else. They couldn't know yet.
He only realized that he was still holding Valda's hand when she squeezed it.
"You should let go," Salamander warned him. "That could be taken the wrong way."
"What wrong way? It's obviously to seal the deal," he said.
"...really? You don't think there could be some other motive?"
"Not at all," he snapped, a bit tired of the spirit's insinuations. "Look, would you please stop with all this suspicion? Miss Valda hasn't done a single thing other than help me all this time. Besides, she's from another world, with a different culture. Hand-holding might just be her way of affirming cooperation." Just to punctuate his mental words, he squeezed back. Sure, it made him feel a bit uncomfortable, but there was no way he was going to do anything to offend his only lifeline in this strange new world.
"Oh dear," Undine murmured to herself as Salamander retreated, fuming. "The poor boy's completely blind."
"..." Gnome looked up from her concrete castle, curiosity plain on her face.
"It's subtlety," Undine explained. "The women of our world are usually fairly... straightforward in their methods of seeking affection. Our Hero's certainly had enough experience in dealing with that type of courting, but he's never experienced a less direct effort. This might prove to be a problem."
Gnome looked outside, to the boy's situation, and nodded. A problem indeed.
Then she noticed the crazy old man sitting in the next booth, and shook her head, pointing to him.
"Ah, yes, cultists," Undine murmured, her voice unconsciously transmitting through Luka's glass of water. "Always a problem. Thankfully, some Gnomes are harder to steal than others."
-
When Valda looked up again all the scary gleaming was gone, and she was all smiles for the wisely accommodating human with the delicious hidden reserves of energy for her to feast on and savor later. And he was such a trusting, trustworthy sort it seemed! She was going to enjoy her time here more than she was letting on, that was for certain. There was so much potential in this place for her.
'Perhaps I may even become... whole... again... what?'
A vague sense of dread overcame her as the male of unattractively advanced age entered the room with an avian focal point of madness astride his person. The male, it reeked of something that it had no right to relations with: kin. Something kin to her, perhaps several times removed, and it was stained with the stench of this kin's dissolution.
Her body tensed up, the smile went away, and she withdrew her hands to confirm that the admittedly pitiful electric self-defense mechanism was still available in her pants pocket.
Then it ordered a tremendous quantity of food, and she had to reach out for one of her uneaten muffins in sympathy.
Her mouth hidden behind the baked goodness, she whispered to Luka. "Be wary of this one. It... he, is truly mad."
She studiously ignored the talking glass of water.
-
She still hadn't let go of Luka's hand. That was something to note, in that 'personal space' way that Valda simply did not care overly much about.
Still, the pattern seemed to fit. She had simply been sitting in her office before being dumped into the alley with no warning given. She was not consulted at any point about a possible trip to other dimensions, and it was certainly unwelcome. Well, mostly unwelcome.
"Then we are the play things of some titan's whimsy? Pieces in the games of a being without purpose or meaning behind it?" Valda asked rhetorically, her face lowering so that her eyes were focused on the table. Her glasses gleamed with malevolence in the flourescent lighting of the bakery, and her hands squeezed. "Then we will find no retreat until we have satisfied it, or driven it to such boredom that it casts us back from whence we came."
Sir Bonesington responded with affirmation in a way anyone else would call remarkably casual.
"That is usually the case with such things, yes. Not that worrying about it so much your musings darken the air itself is going to solve anything, you are aware. Right now we're not in any danger, or having our lives and morals stretched and abused, however, so why not acclimatize to the place and enjoy ourselves a little, eh? Maybe one might even discover something worthwhile around here, or find something they do so want now in accessible circumstances."
His gaze narrowed as he once again analyzed the woman and the odd feel she had about her.
Henderson had found the Bakery early on. He'd suddenly discovered a craving for a good couple dozen donuts. Skating in on his heelies, Old Man Henderson rolled up to the counter, mirrored aviators flashing in the lights.
"Can I have... 32 raspberry Bismarck's, 12 donuts with sprinkles and frosting, and..." Henderson frowned, turning to the stuffed parrot on his shoulder before asking a simple question, a scottish accent slipping into his voice.
"So what do you want?"
The silence from both the bird and the dumbfounded cashier.
"Rupert here wants a jelly donut."
"Uhhhhh..."
"Don't worry, I have the cash. Chop chop... er, what was I buying again?"
The cashier hurriedly took the 100 dollar bill before the crazy man could speak again, and in no time, the waitress brought his order to a booth next to the one with the talking skeleton. To Henderson, that just proved that he'd gotten some good shit.
Of course, he couldn't restrain himself from commenting, even as he ate his pastries.
"You know your problem? I'm not saying its cultists... but it's probably cultists. Gnome stealing bastards..."
Bonesington's bones shook slightly as he noticed the ragged man entering, smelling of brutalized Old Gods and condensed, conscious, uncaring, blissful insanity. He blinked as he watched him go about his business and then contribute to the discussion. Huh. Cultists? Stealing gnomes? That sounded incredibly plausible for no reason and somehow reminded him of the Cult Of The Damned's new year's parties.
"I don't know. I think if we could at least talk to whatever's responsible for this, it would be possible to convince it to send us back," Luka murmured. Unlike Valda, who seemed to be holding back anger, or Bonesington, who was obviously having fun with the whole thing, he was thinking of someone else. A seemingly omnipotent being whose cruel actions had initially been driven by the simple desire to not be alone. Perhaps it wasn't boredom. Perhaps it was something else. They couldn't know yet.
He only realized that he was still holding Valda's hand when she squeezed it.
"You should let go," Salamander warned him. "That could be taken the wrong way."
"What wrong way? It's obviously to seal the deal," he said.
"...really? You don't think there could be some other motive?"
"Not at all," he snapped, a bit tired of the spirit's insinuations. "Look, would you please stop with all this suspicion? Miss Valda hasn't done a single thing other than help me all this time. Besides, she's from another world, with a different culture. Hand-holding might just be her way of affirming cooperation." Just to punctuate his mental words, he squeezed back. Sure, it made him feel a bit uncomfortable, but there was no way he was going to do anything to offend his only lifeline in this strange new world.
"Oh dear," Undine murmured to herself as Salamander retreated, fuming. "The poor boy's completely blind."
"..." Gnome looked up from her concrete castle, curiosity plain on her face.
"It's subtlety," Undine explained. "The women of our world are usually fairly... straightforward in their methods of seeking affection. Our Hero's certainly had enough experience in dealing with that type of courting, but he's never experienced a less direct effort. This might prove to be a problem."
Gnome looked outside, to the boy's situation, and nodded. A problem indeed.
Then she noticed the crazy old man sitting in the next booth, and shook her head, pointing to him.
"Ah, yes, cultists," Undine murmured, her voice unconsciously transmitting through Luka's glass of water. "Always a problem. Thankfully, some Gnomes are harder to steal than others."
The talking glass of water made Bonesington pause in realization. As soon as he heard it, he knew it was a water elemental or spirit of some kind, and following the flow of power, he understood at least where some of the power that emanated from the boy came from. Probably not the only thing he was bound to, either. Spirit users tended to have multiple contracts.
He also realized the water spirit had contributed to the discussion, albeit subtly, and he decided he would not allow himself to be outdone! He added his two cents to it, speaking loud and clear with the mentality of one offering plot exposition. Which it wasn't at all, really, but it was the right kind of tone for this.
"Well, I know a lot about cultists, and I can tell you those half-wits wouldn't be able to pull off something of this magnitude without it going horribly for everyone involved, exploding in their faces, calling each other idiots and bickering for days, or start killing each other in insults of heresy. Oooooooor mass ritual suicide. That's something they usually can always agree on, unless there's the very rare sort of straight man personality among them."
-
"Well, I know a lot about cultists, and I can tell you those half-wits wouldn't be able to pull off something of this magnitude without it going horribly for everyone involved, exploding in their faces, calling each other idiots and bickering for days, or start killing each other in insults of heresy. Oooooooor mass ritual suicide. That's something they usually can always agree on, unless there's the very rare sort of straight man personality among them."
"...Then they took them to sacrifice for their gods so they don't have to mass suicide. 40 grand worth of lawn gnomes don't just walk away, ain't that right Rupert?"
"..."
Henderson continued munching on his donuts. And that one lady he couldn't see had an interesting idea. "Well, mine ain't easy to steal either. It had to have been a coordinated operation, maybe 10, 20 people. I mean, I was only high for 3 hours before they were all gone. Man, that was some good shit..."
-
Downy Reed
Roof of Apartment Complex
No sooner did Downy escape from the first nuisance only to have a second one right at his back, and one experienced in the capabilities of dimensional travel no less.
"You dare to get in my way!?"
Quickly turning around to face the new threat, Downy threw his hand out if he could just touch this new threat he could absorb even more power for his own use, yes the more power he had the more worthy he could become.
"Your life is mine!"
-
"Well, OK, I guess I can manage that...", Rider said.
"I can wait for a bit, if it'll make things more fun for us both. And, a secret plan sounds fun, too. I look forward to seeing what you have in store for me...", she added, smiling.
-
Luka pretended that Undine hadn't just spoken out loud, because that would be silly. He was the one who screwed up, not her. She was supposed to be the competent one, dammit!
"...oops."
"Uh... do we need to worry about that mad guy?" he whispered to Valda. "I mean, he seems a bit... unstable." Horrible poker face, as usual, even if technically he hadn't said anything. In fact, he was growing increasingly worried about the whole thing. Too many unknowns, too many strange people, and no way to do anything other than sit still and hope none of them wanted him dead or wearing tea cozies as hats.
"...maybe the Gnomeys wandered off on their own or something..." A faint voice blew in front the draft outside, sounding slightly muffled, as if the speaker was buried under a few feet of dirt.
"Sylph, not you too!"
"That's what you get for being meanies!"
-
Luka pretended that Undine hadn't just spoken out loud, because that would be silly. He was the one who screwed up, not her. She was supposed to be the competent one, dammit!
"...oops."
"Uh... do we need to worry about that mad guy?" he whispered to Valda. "I mean, he seems a bit... unstable." Horrible poker face, as usual, even if technically he hadn't said anything. In fact, he was growing increasingly worried about the whole thing. Too many unknowns, too many strange people, and no way to do anything other than sit still and hope none of them wanted him dead or wearing tea cozies as hats.
"...maybe the Gnomeys wandered off on their own or something..." A faint voice blew in front the draft outside, sounding slightly muffled, as if the speaker was buried under a few feet of dirt.
"Sylph, not you too!"
"That's what you get for being meanies!"
And now more strange voices, which had only begun with the presence of the maddened one. She whispered back to Luka, "I believe his madness may be.. contagious. Perhaps we should take our goods and flee, when an opening presents itself?"
It irked her that she was considering a retreat due to the presence of a human, but in her current state she was no more likely to survive an encounter with it than if she confronted the skeletal mage sitting at their table. Still, if worse came to worst, well, she had the taser.
-
Luka pretended that Undine hadn't just spoken out loud, because that would be silly. He was the one who screwed up, not her. She was supposed to be the competent one, dammit!
"...oops."
"Uh... do we need to worry about that mad guy?" he whispered to Valda. "I mean, he seems a bit... unstable." Horrible poker face, as usual, even if technically he hadn't said anything. In fact, he was growing increasingly worried about the whole thing. Too many unknowns, too many strange people, and no way to do anything other than sit still and hope none of them wanted him dead or wearing tea cozies as hats.
"...maybe the Gnomeys wandered off on their own or something..." A faint voice blew in front the draft outside, sounding slightly muffled, as if the speaker was buried under a few feet of dirt.
"Sylph, not you too!"
"That's what you get for being meanies!"
Oh, there we go. Sir Bonesington noted with satisfaction that his theory was correct. The boy did have more spirits after all! Was it an air one this time? Interesting. He wondered exactly how many elementals he had around him... though judging from his reaction, this didn't seem like a usual occurrence. Maybe they were being feisty for being in a new place? Curioser and Curioser...
And now more strange voices, which had only begun with the presence of the maddened one. She whispered back to Luka, "I believe his madness may be.. contagious. Perhaps we should take our goods and flee, when an opening presents itself?"
It irked her that she was considering a retreat due to the presence of a human, but in her current state she was no more likely to survive an encounter with it than if she confronted the skeletal mage sitting at their table. Still, if worse came to worst, well, she had the taser.
He shook his bonehead out of his musings at the murmuring going on between his possible benefactors. It seemed like they were becoming a bit guarded about this whole thing. Not good, he had let the matter derail far too much! Focus, Bonesington! Assert yourself.
The lich produced an entirely unnecessary throat-clearing cough before he spoke again.
"Back on topic. I had a little favor I would like to ask the two of you, you recall." He sharpened his tone and continued, "Of course, I will offer compensation. This shan't simply be a friendly gesture on your part. Otherwise, it would be poor of me to so bother two people I have yet barely had the pleasure of making acquaintances with."
Feeling like he had gotten their attention, he continued in equally grave voice.
"It is a very simple matter, really."
Sir Bonesington rested his elbows on the table and joined his hands as a platform, right under where his nose would be. His monocle shined ominously.
"While I am endowed with great power, intellect, and wit, as well as a variety of useful artifacts, in this modern world, I am currently lacking in what I require to solve my situation with a modicum of class and minimum losses. I have one alternative to the possible consequences of being unable to cope with it, and it is not one I am willing to take at this time. And as such -"
He looked the boy in the eyes and then the woman, decisively -
"Would you... pay for my croissant?"
And his voice lost all pretense of tension as he somewhat embarrassingly voiced his request.
-
And now more strange voices, which had only begun with the presence of the maddened one. She whispered back to Luka, "I believe his madness may be.. contagious. Perhaps we should take our goods and flee, when an opening presents itself?"
It irked her that she was considering a retreat due to the presence of a human, but in her current state she was no more likely to survive an encounter with it than if she confronted the skeletal mage sitting at their table. Still, if worse came to worst, well, she had the taser.
He shook his bonehead out of his musings at the murmuring going on between his possible benefactors. It seemed like they were becoming a bit guarded about this whole thing. Not good, he had let the matter derail far too much! Focus, Bonesington! Assert yourself.
The lich produced an entirely unnecessary throat-clearing cough before he spoke again.
"Back on topic. I had a little favor I would like to ask the two of you, you recall." He sharpened his tone and continued, "Of course, I will offer compensation. This shan't simply be a friendly gesture on your part. Otherwise, it would be poor of me to so bother two people I have yet barely had the pleasure of making acquaintances with."
Feeling like he had gotten their attention, he continued in equally grave voice.
"It is a very simple matter, really."
Sir Bonesington rested his elbows on the table and joined his hands as a platform, right under where his nose would be. His monocle shined ominously.
"While I am endowed with great power, intellect, and wit, as well as a variety of useful artifacts, in this modern world, I am currently lacking in what I require to solve my situation with a modicum of class and minimum losses. I have one alternative to the possible consequences of being unable to cope with it, and it is not one I am willing to take at this time. And as such -"
He looked the boy in the eyes and then the woman, decisively -
"Would you... pay for my croissant?"
And his voice lost all pretense of tension as he somewhat embarrassingly voiced his request.
While it was a distraction from the horror that lurked in their midst, and that may possibly cost her if it decided to focus its attention on her fully, this was still an opportunity worth grasping. A brief and almost audibly sharp shine came from the corner of Valda's glasses, and she sat back in her chair with legs neatly crossed.
"And what specific manner of compensation are you offering us for this service, Mr. Bonesington?"
-
While it was a distraction from the horror that lurked in their midst, and that may possibly cost her if it decided to focus its attention on her fully, this was still an opportunity worth grasping. A brief and almost audibly sharp shine came from the corner of Valda's glasses, and she sat back in her chair with legs neatly crossed.
"And what specific manner of compensation are you offering us for this service, Mr. Bonesington?"
Sir Bonesington allowed himself to smirk a little at how fast she had switched gears. It appeared, however, that he had fished quite a greedy one. Or would it be more appropriate to say she was practical? That adaptability and capacity to consider and argue the possible benefits immediately after a chance presented itself was also admirable, after all. Well, either way was fine by him, these types could be fun too.
Even though her sudden seriousness was a little scary.
"Let's see...." he hummed to himself as he sat back in his chair and searched under his clothing. After some rustling, he found what he was looking for.
And out of apparently nowhere it could've possibly fit, he produced a solid gold ingot that he dropped on the table with a 'thunk'.
"This probably isn't considered currency around here, and even if it were, I very much doubt they'd have change for it. I could simply leave it here as a collateral, but then I'd be left entirely penniless, and that isn't a very good idea. Who knows when I'd need it! Hooooowever, you seem like a trustworthy sort, so I could leave it to you to turn into money for me and then keep a part for your troubles. Oooooooor..."
Bonesington shuffled his hands inside his clothes again before pulling away with a bunch of metal objects that clunked down on the table. The pile of objects, among them rings, necklaces, bracers, trinkets, chains, etc, almost seemed like a veritable collection of scrap metal. Or it would, if it wasn't for the intricate designs and obvious magical glow coming from some of them.
He proceeded to make his best tv commercial salesman impression.
"I have all this potentially useful and pretty dungeon loot that could be yours, today! Yes indeed! Like, say, this.... erm," Bonesington's bony fingers grasped a jeweled necklace off of the table and he cast a scrutinizing look at it, after the which he continued excitedly, explaining its function, "This Red-Flight-Blessed Ruby Chain! Increases your health by a percentage, and grants health regeneration, mana regeneration, cooldown reduction, and performance increase!"
...
"Truly I have never seen a more complete adventurer quintessential item! And that's not all there is! There are items for mages, paladins, rogues - but not hunters. Damn hunters already get everything, they don't need more gear from me."
The lich smiled widely, then turned his expression to a completely unamused one.
"Just don't ask why I have all of this on me. It's for an eventuality."
He wiped the collection of items to the side. Stupid global Azeroth monster obligations.
Bonesington forced his expression to brighten again, and continued.
"And I guess I could conjure a few useful potions for you." as he spoke, his palm shined with magic, and a second or two later there was a flask with a lively, bubbly red liquid. Bonesington grabbed it with his fingers close to claws and shook it around a little. "That can come in handy, right? I can only produce a few per day, but I can make all sort of stuff - within reason, of course."
With a flip of his wrist, the red potion vanished in a little puff, and he leaned forward grabbing the table, approaching his face to the woman's.
"Well? Is any of these options satisfactory?" he asked, looking her in the eyes.
-
The gold was tempting; she could probably find someone that could convert it into something useful at a fair rate (for her, at least) and still have something to live off for a while until she could set something up here. She almost said yes to that right away, but paused when he went right along with further offers.
Then the moment Valda heard the phrase 'mana regeneration' she immediately grabbed and tried on the relevant necklace with the most utterly driven and ravenous look in her eyes. She was like a starving woman in a desert, all composure gone...
For nothing? Wait, that could not be right.
She felt nothing from it; the ring gave her no benefit. It did not restore the mana lost to her as was promised, even though she felt her overall liveliness increase without delay. What was wrong? Was this creature's concept of 'mana' a different one from her own? Was she trapped in a world where her hunger could not be fulfilled?!
Or perhaps her complete lack pre-existing mana meant there was no catalyst for it to work with to trigger the restoration effect? Oh, that would just be her misfortune right now.
She took the necklace off, and held it between their faces. "How precisely does this work? Do I just wear it, or does it require some means of unlocking its potential? If the second, what is said means?"
-
Forest sighed at the redheaded young man who she shot from getting a face full of buckshot tell her that Sakura requested her presence.
"Of course she did," Forest said with a sigh before rubbing her forehead. She rose to her full height, looked at Finn one last time with a shake of her head, and then turned to the Irishman. Folding her arms around herself, she muttered, "No rest for the moral fag."
She then went upstairs to the girl's room and said, "You rang?"
******
Gabriel stared at the wizard's words before doing the only thing he could.
He started to laugh.
"Your life is mine!"
The wizard extended his arm towards Gabriel. The hybrid could feel the spell begin to work, and then completely die when it reached him. Smirking, he tilted his head and asked, "Performance anxiety? I'm sure that this has never happened to you before, and you want to give it another go, right? I won't begrudge you that. I'd probably have trouble preforming in front of someone such as myself as well."
-
Sir Bonesington was almost certain she was going to take the first offer.
But then he started elaborating on the properties of that one random trinket and she pounced on it harder than a gold digger pounces on a nouveau riche playboy. That was certainly an unexpected reaction!
He pretended to ignore her complete burst and loss of composure as she tried on the necklace and her expression shifted wildly between ravenous hunger, grim determination, disappointed confusion and cold outrage. While she was doing her little show of expressions, he finished his little speech of the possibilities.
Though she apparently hadn't been playing any attention whatsoever to the last part, as her attention was fully on the necklace that she then took off, hung between their faces, and demanded answers about.
Her question was honestly a little confusing, and her insistence on the matter a weeny bit intimidating.
"Humm, it's supposed to work... just by wearing it... I don't think it's soulbound to anyone, so it shooouuullllld work for you? Are you sure you're not one of those people with absolutely no magic potential?" he asked, as much as he doubted it himself.
Maybe they could try out to make sure. He held out his hand and conjured a flask holding a blue liquid. Then he offered it to her.
"Here, this is a mana potion. Let's confirm it's the trinket and not you."
-
Henderson munched on a bismark as he watched the proceedings. He'd had a few mana potions before.
The next day he'd ended up in Tijuana buck ass naked, handcuffed to a horse. Man, that had been one weird ass night.
"Skeleton Man, those things safe? I've had some baaaad trips on that muckled dreck before. Makes ya see weird things, or at least that's what the aliens said as they were probing me."
That night had been really really weird.
"And my gnomes couldn't have wandered off disembodied voice number 4. They don't have bipedal mobility, I haven't gotten around to finding one with that function yet. Fookin scientists putting fluorine in the water instead of making lawn gnomes walk. Rupert told me, he's got sources in the NSA, CSI, KGB, and MIB."
A bit of the raspberry filling stained the edge of Henderson's mouth as he continued to devour his sweet prizes.
-
It was slightly shocking how quickly Valda's composure had broken as soon as the skeleton man had brought out the collection of trinkets. She quickly let go of Luka's hand, grabbing for the necklace that promised some sort of mana regeneration and trying it on like a starving person being given water. Her disappointment was just as strange.
"Well, don't worry about it, Miss Valda," he said. "Maybe it's broken or something. Here, let me."
It wasn't broken. As soon as he put on the trinket, he felt his body become stronger. The world was suddenly lighter on his shoulders, and the power that normally welled up from inside him had turned from a stream into a river that threatened to burst its dam.
"This... this is definitely an adventurer's necklace."
"Very high quality, too," Undine said. "Those used to be more common around the 6th Monster Lord's era, when the humans had access to powerful magic and enchantments. Her successor, the 7th, hunted down the holy artefacts and destroyed them in retaliation, and most of them were lost."
"A good thing, I'd say," Salamander said. "Future Heroes had to depend more on their own training and skill because of it. They were stronger without those things in the end, and so are you. I mean, you've been using the same equipment since Part One, and that was more than enough!"
"But... health regeneration... performance increase!"
"You don't need it. Alice loves you just the way you are, and your performance isn't part of it."
"Aw..."
Luka reluctantly took off the necklace. "This is a great gift, but I don't think either of us will find much use for it, sir."
The blue mana potion, on the other hand...
"Nope, it's useless for you," the flame spirit said. "You don't really use much mana in the first place, just your own stamina. Besides, you've got a huge amount of mana just in your body, which is much more than that little thing can give you. This is without mentioning the boost you get from having contracts with us."
"She's got none, though," Sylph said, having finally dug her way out of the ground. "None! Nooooone! Not a bit! Running on empty! Even less than a normal human!"
"And she really wants it for some reason..." The gears were beginning to turn in Luka's head, albeit slowly. "But what could she want with mana? She seems to be just fine now even without it..."
"You'll figure it out eventually." Undine disguised her own lack of knowledge as mysterious mentor advice. "Ignore the potion, it's harmless. For now just pay attention. This skeleton is interesting."
"I think it's safe, Miss Valda," Luka said. "That potion... it's saturated with mana, but there's nothing dangerous about it. At least, nothing that would lead to seeing things."
Unbeknownst to Henderson, almost half a pound of dirt that had been caked onto his body and clothes had gathered on his table. Slowly, the dirt came together and morphed into miniature mud girls, who started marching in circles waving their arms around. Gnome saved the last bit of dirt to form a miniature replica of herself in the center, looking at the insane man with something approaching interest. Perhaps it was the allure of the mystical puns, or his insistence on using her name to describe something of his, but she felt a certain attachment to the old man.
-
Unbeknownst to Henderson, almost half a pound of dirt that had been caked onto his body and clothes had gathered on his table. Slowly, the dirt came together and morphed into miniature mud girls, who started marching in circles waving their arms around. Gnome saved the last bit of dirt to form a miniature replica of herself in the center, looking at the insane man with something approaching interest. Perhaps it was the allure of the mystical puns, or his insistence on using her name to describe something of his, but she felt a certain attachment to the old man.
Henderson nearly choked on his donut. What a trip. Almost like the first time, getting high in the back of his brother's van. That had been some good ass shit, because Henderson didn't even have a brother.
'Nam flashbacks playing in his head, Henderson watched the gnomes dance around his table, transifixed.
"You seeing this too Rupert?"
"..."
"I'll take the silence as a yes. You're a good friend. Never ask for a toke."
-
Connor followed along to the bedroom and kept silent.
Sakura heard Forest speak and looked up from her notes. "No Rin? Not surprising given her tendencies in general. Tell her that I am sorry for losing my temper but my little brother, Satoshi is not a murderer nor should he be accused of being worse than them as she did. He's quite the opposite as much as that infuriates me. And I don't care what happened with Archer either. Taiga told me he went dark after meeting her so that means whatever with Archer is a misunderstanding."
Sakura paused her skin looking pale and her face covered in sweat, to say she was a mess would be an understatement even without mentioning the frazzled red mane of hair Sakura currently sported.
"I'm getting off track I...I need to tell you how to defend against Satoshi I" the notepad pitched off the bed and Sakura nearly face planted the bed stopping herself with her elbows.
righting herself Sakura continued. "three major rules apply when facing my little brother. One, surrendering is good, Satoshi is the prince of knights, more than any other title he takes it and his knighthood seriously. Mercy is something he will always grant, it's part of who he is. Two do not threaten death to others, monsters, true honest ones without remorse are fine but humans are off limits. Death is something that hurts my little brother more than anything because he is as strong as he is. Third, never. And I mean never threaten his friends or family. Satoshi will not listen to you until after he's done beating you to within an inch of your life."
she paused again looking all the worse. "Finally, and let me be clear abuse of the thing I'm going to say next will result in seriously terrible consequences so I'm trusting you Forest to use this as a last resort. Invoke the world treaty, the pact my brother made says he has to listen to those who come for peace to Gaia's door step. No matter what or why Satoshi will have to stop and hear your words."
Sakura coughed wheezing as she gave Forest a hard look "I'm trusting you Forest, don't betray his faith in you"
Sakura was dizzy but refused to accept falling asleep.
-
Archer turned off the water and handed Rin her towel. "Besides, I can mess with Lancer. That's always fun."
Rin chuckled a little at that. "Don't go too far with him though. He seems decent enough." She sighed. "I just hope we don't have to run into those people from that one dimension again." She frowned. "Especially 'Sakura'... I don't know what happened to us over there to warp us that much and make us terrible parents, but what a disrespectful bitch..."
-
Sir Bonesington was entertained. He wasn't sure if it was because of the old man's absolutely nonsensical nonsense, the fact that one of the boy's spirits was messing with him, or that it was quite comical to see this superficially very serious woman look so flustered about something, even if she was still somewhat frightening.
Whatever the case, he was in good spirits and offered his answer on the current matter with a joyous ring to his voice.
"Well, if you say you don't need any of the gear... that's fine. The mana potion is absolutely innocuous though, unless you're allergic to condensed, liquified mana, so go ahead and see if that helps you any." he said, casting a look at the woman.
The boy's evaluation of the necklace had spurred his interest a little, too. He certainly reminded him of an adventurer in some way. The old man, on the other hand, felt kind of nostalgic. Good, wacky memories of some of his adventures through time and space fondly coursed through his mind.
"Maybe your gnomes were abducted by a foul wizard that seeks to animate them in a mad scheme to obtain the most fearsome army the world has ever known? Truly, one would have to be vile to steal innocent lawn gnomes like that." he offered, with a pat on the man's shoulder.
-
The blue liquid seemed to sing to her with its promise of relief the moment it was presented to her like this, as a gift. She could not so much as touch it until that permission was given, but now that it had been it was just a matter of taking the top off and pouring it down her throat. She reached her hand out to grasp the glass container, then hesitated.
Why? Was she perhaps intimidated by the thought of something? Was the prospect that this would not work so terrible that she would refuse to even test it for herself? Foolishness; her human self must be getting the better of her.
Valda considered the necklace once again, then the potion, and then Luka. Her composure returned to her despite the spike in her discomforting hunger for resisting this so, and then...
Pop the top. Pour the fluid past her lips in one long, measured series of gulps despite the awful taste it left in her mouth going down. That was all she had to do, and it left her feeling like nothing had changed at all after.
A frown overtook her face, and she looked at the empty bottle to consider the single drop in it that she hadn't been able to get off the bottom. "Do I need to drink... every... drop...?"
That was when the rush of heat came, and she shuddered at that long forgotten sensation. Before she even knew it the grip she had on the glass was too much pressure for it. It broke apart like brittle ice between her fingers; she ignored the many cuts it left behind, and the blood that was dripping out of her clenched fist. "Ha. Haha..."
So much power. All the pain she should feel was seared away by it, and the air began to distort and blur around her with refraction.
Valda ran her tongue over her lips, and grinned.
-
Angra nodded "well it will be long in both directions so with that in mind you should go back to Kiyoshi for a bit. Satoshi will meet you there and then you can come back together." she explained
-
Sir Bonesington attentively watched the woman's composure restore itself and then finally reach for the offered potion. Something about her hesitance and how suspiciously desperate she seemed to be for a source of mana was bothering him, now that she was taking his final offer.
A shudder went up his frozen spine as she opened the potion and began gulping it down in slow, measured gulps until the bottle was all but empty despite the hint of bitterness in her expression.
Even it did not seem to have any immediate effect, and she frowned at the remaining drop in the flask. Bonesington's own skeletal face contorted at her complaint. He decided it was time to voice his own questions about her before continuing.
Then heat suddenly welled up around her, and Bonesington stretched back, instinctively focusing frost along his body. He gulped at the glass bottle shattering in her hand, and her absolute lack of reaction to the injuries it had caused.
And as the air began to shimmer with the heat, her expression twisted familiarly, she ran her tongue over her lips and she grinned, Sir Bonesington only had enough wit to react by voicing his most honest thoughts on what was happening.
"Oh dear."
-
"Oh crap."
It was his honest thought. As Valda began to laugh, and blood seeped from between her fingers, the sinking feeling that had been slowly appearing in his stomach made itself fully known.
He scooted away from her as the air began to shimmer and he felt heat appear almost out of nowhere. The woman once devoid of any magical presence was now burning mana at an almost insane rate, causing the air itself to distort around her from the sheer warmth.
"That's not good. Get away, quick!" Salamander called upon her power to shield Luka from the heat, stopping the distortion from spreading further from Valda's body as the boy scrambled out of his chair. Her voice was tinny, formed out of the vibrations of a part of the heated air Valda was still creating.
"W-what is that?"
"Fire," Salamander grumbled. "As strong as what I can come up with. No, perhaps even more... I'd thought she was powerless, but that potion was exactly what she needed to kick-start that furnace of hers. Let's just hope she doesn't get lost in the feeling and explode."
Valda was grinning now, not even trying to hide the glee she was feeling as power rushed through her.
"M-miss, please calm down," said Luka from behind Mr. Bonesington, his voice very small.
-
Downy Reed
Roof of Apartment Complex
'No effect? There must be some sort of nullification going on then. Fine I'll do this the hard way.'
He reached out his hand a second time as if to repeat the same spell and as soon as his hand was within reach he followed with an attack of his sword as quick as lightning attempting to catch him off-guard.
-
Sir Bonesington calmly raised a finger to punctuate his words as he tilted over the boy, still giving him vision of the woman while he lowered his head to her eye level.
"Yes, listen to him, it's probably a good idea if we all just cool off a little, here."
As he spoke, he began to focus cold over himself to form his Frost Armor, while simultaneously spreading it and ice around the lady as an added measure to stop her heat from spreading and rising. The boy seemed to have his own resources, as he sensed his spirit halt the spread of power from the woman, which reassured the lich.
Because honestly, a possible extremely powerful sealed... something, that kind of felt like an Old God, except of fire instead of madness, was not who he was expecting to ask a favor of today when he approached her and the boy's table. Nor was it something he was planning on meeting today. Or ever, really. So having at least another powerful individual apart from himself to rely on if push came to shove, which he would honestly rather not happen, was good.
His only other reassurance in this situation was that Zahar had not been dragged here with him, because he would have gone bonkers the moment her presence expanded like it did.
And that most likely she hadn't quite gotten enough power from that mana potion to be able to do anything truly devastating, and she was likely going to burn through whatever power it had given her pretty soon, judging from the rate she was consuming mana at, if she didn't explode first.
Truly, it was only at times like this he regretted he hadn't insisted on learning Drain Mana from his warlock acquaintances.
-
"Oh crap."
It was his honest thought. As Valda began to laugh, and blood seeped from between her fingers, the sinking feeling that had been slowly appearing in his stomach made itself fully known.
He scooted away from her as the air began to shimmer and he felt heat appear almost out of nowhere. The woman once devoid of any magical presence was now burning mana at an almost insane rate, causing the air itself to distort around her from the sheer warmth.
"That's not good. Get away, quick!" Salamander called upon her power to shield Luka from the heat, stopping the distortion from spreading further from Valda's body as the boy scrambled out of his chair. Her voice was tinny, formed out of the vibrations of a part of the heated air Valda was still creating.
"W-what is that?"
"Fire," Salamander grumbled. "As strong as what I can come up with. No, perhaps even more... I'd thought she was powerless, but that potion was exactly what she needed to kick-start that furnace of hers. Let's just hope she doesn't get lost in the feeling and explode."
Valda was grinning now, not even trying to hide the glee she was feeling as power rushed through her.
"M-miss, please calm down," said Luka from behind Mr. Bonesington, his voice very small.
Calm? Calm? After all this time trapped as a 'normal', feeble human and they expected her to stay calm? She should burn everything, light all the world aflame and reduce all things to fine ash! That would be punishment enough for her imprisonment! That would express her strength and her ire clearly enough to make up for the wretched eons of hunger and misery that man had inflicted on her!
The embers glowing in the air around her almost ignited into an inferno, breaking free of the Salamander's control...
But, then sense came back to her. Luka had been the one to say it. Luka, the one she'd just made a promise to help. She'd promised him, and damn it all, she wouldn't go back on her word like that for anything.
Slowly, the embers waned and died out, and the heat was pulled back into her body. Her skin flushed for a moment as it adjusted to that.
Valda took a deep, cleansing breath. "Excuse me. I lost myself for a moment there," she said, while brushing what looked like ash from her pants and blouse.
And lost a lot of mana, at that. She wasn't completely empty now, but she was certainly feeling it.
-
...The Imaginary Skeleton Man was possibly right. Wizard cultists assembling a lawn gnome army, of course! That's why they'd stolen his lawn gnomes, the namblies!
"Yes, listen to him, it's probably a good idea if we all just cool off a little, here."
The not disembodied woman had really cranked the heat up. She did need to chill, and Henderson knew the best way to do that.
"Yo, Skeleton bro. I know just the stuff."
Pulling out a blunt, Henderson lit it up and handed it to the woman. "Take a hit, and chill out. This is some prime Alabama Kush. Good stuff."
-
"It's okay," Luka said, relieved to see that the situation hadn't worsened. "I'm sorry. I said it wasn't dangerous, but I didn't think the mana potion would do that to you." He moved away from the skeleton man, who was beginning to feel very cold, literally. "From now on let me try any strange things before you, to make sure it won't do anything crazy." He dared to grab Valda's hand again, finding it warmer than usual, but not near burning like last time.
"It's not you, it's her," Salamander said. "Didn't I tell you that already?"
Luka ignored her.
"Bah, whatever," the irritated spirit said. "Without Alice here, dealing with you is annoying."
She saw Henderson offer some kind of behaviour altering drug to Valda, and snapped.
The small fire at the tip of Henderson's blunt suddenly flared up, burning all of the substance to ash in a second and slightly scorching the man's fingertips. The cloud of smoke and ash that been formed floated towards the man, and he saw a disapproving female face in its swirling currents. "Oh no you don't, mister," Salamander hissed. "She does not need any more mind altering chemicals after this little incident. Keep it to yourself and you might even run into those gnomes you keep yapping about."
-
Sir Bonesington sighed in relief and stopped channeling cold. Seems he wasn't going to need that frost armor after all. Still...
It was a little annoying to hear the boy talk about his conjured potion like that! How rude of him it was. Honestly, who was he being taken for? He wouldn't do something underhanded like making it have side effects! Well, not when he was counting on the assistance of the one drinking it, anyways.
And then his spirit went and burned the blunt Bonesington was very seriously considering having. Ah, damn it.
"I'll have you know there was nothing strange about that mana potion. It wasn't its fault that the miss there was getting so fired up!" he said, sounding mildly insulted. He crossed his arms, looking between her and the boy, and continued, remarkably more casual sounding.
"Speaking of which, I must say that reaction was rather curious. And I am reminded I haven't been properly introduced to you two, yeeeess? So, how about you take this opportunity to do so, and you explain exactly what you are, miss? Humor me a little please, I think I deserve it after that passing fright."
-
"It's okay," Luka said, relieved to see that the situation hadn't worsened. "I'm sorry. I said it wasn't dangerous, but I didn't think the mana potion would do that to you." He moved away from the skeleton man, who was beginning to feel very cold, literally. "From now on let me try any strange things before you, to make sure it won't do anything crazy." He dared to grab Valda's hand again, finding it warmer than usual, but not near burning like last time.
"It's not you, it's her," Salamander said. "Didn't I tell you that already?"
Luka ignored her.
"Bah, whatever," the irritated spirit said. "Without Alice here, dealing with you is annoying."
She saw Henderson offer some kind of behaviour altering drug to Valda, and snapped.
The small fire at the tip of Henderson's blunt suddenly flared up, burning all of the substance to ash in a second and slightly scorching the man's fingertips. The cloud of smoke and ash that been formed floated towards the man, and he saw a disapproving female face in its swirling currents. "Oh no you don't, mister," Salamander hissed. "She does not need any more mind altering chemicals after this little incident. Keep it to yourself and you might even run into those gnomes you keep yapping about."
...
This Luka was so trusting. Almost painfully trusting.
She liked this.
And that fire creature was so useful, since she could sense something terrible about the otherwise innocuous drug she had been offered by the mad one. Who knew what might have been unleashed if she had somehow come into contact with it? She held the free hand that had done so away from herself.
Valda was careful not to squeeze his hand too tightly with the one he held, in case her renewed strength wasn't quite fully under her control yet. This was more consideration than she would give most creatures.
However, accurate accusations such as this:
"Speaking of which, I must say that reaction was rather curious. And I am reminded I haven't been properly introduced to you two, yeeeess? So, how about you take this opportunity to do so, and you explain exactly what you are, miss? Humor me a little please, I think I deserve it after that passing fright."
Were going to burn up all of that good will she was receiving from Luka if she did not come clean soon enough. With that in mind, she accomplished the goals of revelation and cleansing (of her now-tainted hand and outstretched hand) by covering the tips of her fingers with flames for but a brief moment.
"My name is Valda Becker, and I am human," she says with a hint of a smile for Bonesington. I am also a goddess; it is a long story"
-
Well, she and the boy really were quite chummy with the hand-holding, Sir Bonesington noticed. It was almost cute, even. He couldn't resist smiling a little at it before she actually did answer his question.
"My name is Valda Becker, and I am human," she says with a hint of a smile for Bonesington. I am also a goddess; it is a long story"
He let his jaw hang open for a bit. Then forced himself to close it.
Well, that sure explained a lot! That odd feel she gave off, her requiring mana so bad, the sheer power that she had emanated for those few seconds there... it all made sense now. Why she appeared to be an ordinary human, yet all those factors that did not match were there. Whatever kind of goddess or god-like being she actually was, she had probably been sealed in a human body and had most of her power taken away at the time. Obviously, her human existence couldn't simply sustain such power easily, so she burned through it quicker than a mage spamming showy spells just by being there. And if her slightly power drunk expression was any indication, it had probably been a while since she had any power whatsoever at her disposal. Thaaaaat was...
A little understandable, honestly.
The lich did his best not to sound surprised (and he honestly wasn't that much, given how much she already felt like some sort of high level spirit or old god), and bowed lightly with a overly grand gesture of his arm.
"I think that explanation shall be satisfactory for now. I thank you for the honesty. A pleasure to make your acquaintance then, miss Valda."
In light of the recent revelation, he mentally thanked the heavens or whatever other omnipotent force overseeing them for Zahar really not being here.
-
"Yeah, I guess that's not a bad idea. I could do with checking up on him. He should be getting to bed soon, I'd like to wish him goodnight and reassure him that I'm safe", Rider said.
As much as she had enjoyed her session with Satoshi, and was looking forward to her time with Angra later, she couldn't neglect her duties as Kiyoshi's current guardian. Sure there was a version of his Aunty Rin at the house, but she was still only a young woman. Whilst Rider knew she was a caring enough person that she would never willingly hurt Kiyoshi, even at 45 Rin was still somewhat reckless at times. Her 20-year-old self was not exactly likely to be reliable. She could be trusted to show Kiyoshi love, but not necessarily as a parent.
Plus, once Kiyoshi was in bed, she was free to return and deal with Angra as she wished.
"When I return, we'll see if your body is up to the challenge. I'm really going to enjoy breaking you...", Rider said, smirking sadistically.
"I suggest you prepare yourself, though. I promise you that I will not be gentle or merciful. If you want a decent crack at me you're going to have to tolerate a lot of pain", she added with a smile that showed that, despite her intentions, she felt no hostility towards the woman.
-
"My name is Valda Becker, and I am human. I am also a goddess; it is a long story"
Luka wasn't the smartest person in the world. His strengths did not lie in trickery or clever manipulation, nor did they veer towards understanding and recognizing knowledge. He was an adventurer, plain and simple. Someone who had nothing but the sword on his back and his own skills, who marched forward carrying his ideals and beliefs with him.
However, even he could understand the significance of what Valda had just said.
The hand that had been warm was now blazing. Her grip was less a promise and more of a shackle, screaming of how easily he had been fooled, of how little he knew in the end. Suddenly, Salamander's words made sense.
"...we can beat her," Salamander said. "It'll be tough, but I can blunt some of her power, and if you attack now, while she is weak, we stand a chance."
"She is sealed. That hunger for mana is likely because she lacks a method of replenishing her power, like that aunt of yours," Undine spoke up. "In addition, you possess the power of water, which will counter her fire. We will overwhelm her before she can assume her full form."
"..."
A goddess. The word brought up memories, of someone who had slaughtered man and monster alike to realize her mad dreams. Someone who had made plans generations in advance, waiting to become all powerful and remake the world as she saw fit. The memories were not of the pleasant kind. He had fought a goddess before.
He had slain one, at great cost.
"Don't worry, we're right here with you!" Sylph was determined. She had no idea where she was, and the world was strange, but she still possessed the power of an elemental spirit.
"..." Gnome stood up and nodded. She was ready to fight.
"..."
But... another's words came to mind.
"What reason does a Goddess have to exist, if she isn't wanted?"
"...I'll stay my blade."
The spirits heard the boy's words with great interest.
"I'll do it to see if this Goddess is truly what she says she is, or if she's nothing but a bully in disguise. If the time comes, and we face a repeat of what happened that time, then I'll carry out my duty. But until then, I'll see what this person can do, and who she is. It's the least I can do to repay a certain Monster Lord who watched over a certain fake Hero against all the rules of the world she lived in. Is that okay?"
The spirits exchanged glances, shrugs, and finally nods, with Sylph giving an energetic thumbs up.
Luka smiled. "I'm Luka, Sir Bonesington. I don't really know what to say. I go around trying to make sure the world is peaceful and occasionally beating up a villain or two. I guess you'd call me an adventurer," he jiggled the swords at his waste for emphasis. "It's nice to meet you."
-
"Likewise, Sir Bonesington," she replied easily enough, letting the little sparks of flame in the hand not holding Luka's to fade.
It was, perhaps, fortunate for all involved that Valda was too busy looking at Sir Bonesington to see whatever emotion may have flashed across Luka's face momentarily. She was left with just the feeling of his hand in her own, rather than a sense of potential betrayal as he began to have doubts about her.
Of course that had always been a risk, but she was much less uncomfortable in her ignorance than she would have been while aware. Luka was smiling pleasantly when Valda turned her eyes back to him again. "I was not entirely forthcoming with you at first; for that, I can only say that where I come from there are many who would see me sealed away completely for what I represent. I was not certain you were... safe to tell, as weak as I was."
-
Luka smiled. "I'm Luka, Sir Bonesington. I don't really know what to say. I go around trying to make sure the world is peaceful and occasionally beating up a villain or two. I guess you'd call me an adventurer," he jiggled the swords at his waste for emphasis. "It's nice to meet you."
Sir Bonesington clapped his hands in jolly clacking.
"So you are an adventurer! I knew it. That outfit of your, those weapons, that courageous and heroic aura! Ha ha, seems like this frosty bonehead still has some wit left in his skull, eh? Likewise glad to meet you!"
Really, it had been far too long since he'd talked with an adventurer, even if they did usually spend the time trying to kill him for fat loots. And this one wasn't! Actually, he was pretty polite!
-
"I was not entirely forthcoming with you at first; for that, I can only say that where I come from there are many who would see me sealed away completely for what I represent. I was not certain you were... safe to tell, as weak as I was."
"It's fine," Luka nodded. "I understand. I've had my powers sealed once... or twice, actually. It's an unpleasant experience."
"So you are an adventurer! I knew it. That outfit of your, those weapons, that courageous and heroic aura! Ha ha, seems like this frosty bonehead still has some wit left in his skull, eh? Likewise glad to meet you!"
And after all that, Luka's heroic resolve to look dashing crumbled as easily as a house of cards.
"H-heroic aura?" He blushed and looked down. "No one's ever said that to me before... monsters usually just call me weak looking or delicious before attacking me..."
"Your cape is also kind of dumb," Undine said. "It's really a hindrance in combat."
"I like it!" Sylph declared. "It flutters in the wind and looks cool!"
Mentally, Luka suppressed tears. "If Sylph likes my cape," he thought. "Then it really must be horrible."
"Mean! Meeeeeaaan!"
-
And after all that, Luka's heroic resolve to look dashing crumbled as easily as a house of cards.
"H-heroic aura?" He blushed and looked down. "No one's ever said that to me before... monsters usually just call me weak looking or delicious before attacking me..."
"Your cape is also kind of dumb," Undine said. "It's really a hindrance in combat."
"I like it!" Sylph declared. "It flutters in the wind and looks cool!"
Mentally, Luka suppressed tears. "If Sylph likes my cape," he thought. "Then it really must be horrible."
"Mean! Meeeeeaaan!"
Such a bashful young man he was. Ahhh, why couldn't Azerothian adventurers be more like him. I'd be so much easier to talk things over.
"Nonsense! You are a positively dashing adventurer, Luka! Why, that cape looks killer on you! You're also about ten times nicer than most of the adventurers I knew in my time!" Sir Bonesington patted him in the back with a bony hand and laughed heartily. "You're a man, have some confidence in yourself!"
-
Valda really shouldn't speak up there, but he looked like someone had just thrown a bucket of water on his camp fire or buried his forest engulfing inferno in an avalanche. She really could not help herself.
"... perhaps 'appetizing' and 'heroic' are synonymous qualities to the monsters of your home?"
-
Gabriel smirked as his wizard held out his hand to try again. He was alert though; the guy may act like a matinee villain but someone didn't get as powerful as this bloke did without a decent pair. A flash of steel caught his eye and there was a sharp sting against his cheek.
Blood welled up from the cut and spilled down his marble white skin.
"So, there is some substance to that flash," Gabriel said with a grin as eyed the sword. "Now, I bet you're dying to tell me what you're doing."
******
Forest rubbed her forehead and looked at the girl. "You need to get some rest," she said in a firm voice before moving forward to push Sakura back into bed.
She leaned back, sighed, and said, "Why me? I only met your brother for like thirty minutes. Not to mention, I don't surrender."
-
"I dunno," Luka said. "I mean, the first monster I ever fought laughed at me and called me tasty, and that was just a slime. I ended up winning just by flailing wildly and getting lucky."
"Well, you were level one back then, right?" Salamander suggested. "I mean, even Granberia was only about as strong as you by her first birthday."
"...I was eighteen."
"You hadn't hit your growth spurt yet!"
"In any case..." Going back to the matter at hand... "Most monsters in my world tend assault weak looking people rather than strong ones. I get attacked a lot because of it."
Then his back straightened. "But that's fine! It's not like I'm weak! How awesome or cool someone looks has nothing to do with their true strength! That Golden Holy Sword of the Gods is worthless if it's worse than the iron one you start out with!"
"I recall you crying over Alice breaking that Golden Holy piece of junk," Undine muttered.
"All in the past!"
"By the way, were you an adventurer yourself, Sir Bonesington?" Luka asked. "In my time, most of them tended to be really weak, so I never met many. Just how experienced are you?" With all those trinkets and potions, it had to be quite a bit...
-
"I dunno," Luka said. "I mean, the first monster I ever fought laughed at me and called me tasty, and that was just a slime. I ended up winning just by flailing wildly and getting lucky."
"Well, you were level one back then, right?" Salamander suggested. "I mean, even Granberia was only about as strong as you by her first birthday."
"...I was eighteen."
"You hadn't hit your growth spurt yet!"
"In any case..." Going back to the matter at hand... "Most monsters in my world tend assault weak looking people rather than strong ones. I get attacked a lot because of it."
Then his back straightened. "But that's fine! It's not like I'm weak! How awesome or cool someone looks has nothing to do with their true strength! That Golden Holy Sword of the Gods is worthless if it's worse than the iron one you start out with!"
"I recall you crying over Alice breaking that Golden Holy piece of junk," Undine muttered.
"All in the past!"
"By the way, were you an adventurer yourself, Sir Bonesington?" Luka asked. "In my time, most of them tended to be really weak, so I never met many. Just how experienced are you?" With all those trinkets and potions, it had to be quite a bit...
"Then your appearance is deceptive. You feel quite strong to me, Luka."
It would explain why his hand was not crushed when she tried squeezing it a little more. She then turned away from Luka at that, giving up on her efforts during the pause in speech due to his internal dialogue to eavesdrop via the flame spirit she now clearly recognized lurking within him. She had little mana left from the potion to spare for the effort anyway.
"I believe," Valda says while crossing her legs again and relaxing in a way she'd only become able to after alleviating some of her hunger, "that he may be considered some form of villain. He is simply affable in demeanor and uninterested in antagonizing us."
-
Downy Reed
Roof of Apartment Complex
Small attacks and seemingly desperate maneuvers would get him nowhere and Downy new this, if he couldn't absorb the abilities of the new man for now then he need only wait for his own spell to complete anyway.
And after 2 very obvious attempts at attacks still did not respond with in kind then perhaps he was someone who could see his glorious view? It was worth a shot at least, worst case scenario he'd just off the man and be on his way.
"It seems your not hostile for the moment at least. Fine then I'll tell you, perhaps you'll even see my view? This world is corrupt full of nothing but criminals and harbingers of death and destruction, my ultimate goal is to start anew! With my divine ritual's I aim to give both this world and mine a second chance! A fresh start! One where we no longer have any need of of such filth as these fools and if such a chance exists then who am I to stop it? No, rather I'd aid it in any way I can! Such is the path of a disciple of God. My name is Downy Reed, I am the savior of the universe, tell me then what is yours? Would you hope to reason with my cause and aid me in my most noble goal?
By then he had already returned to a more neutral stance sword at his side and awaiting the man's reply, if at any moment he responded in a hostile manner he was ready to act.
-
"Well, I wouldn't say it was completely corrupt. There is still quite a bit of good left in this world," Gabriel said as he tided up the bit of blood on his face. The cut was slowly starting to knit closed, and the blood had already clotted.
He said, "I'm Gabriel Umbra. So, how would you go about this Great Cleanse? And what about those who are still worth something? What will happen to them?"
-
Downy Reed
Roof of Apartment Complex
"Ha! such hopeless optimism will get you no where, if there was enough innate goodness left in the world then it would have already come to pass. If this world and mine are truly to be saved then they must be rewritten anew with God's holy judgement. Take this ritual I am conducting for instance. It is but a taste of what must be done in order to be given the second chance we deserve. It will cleanse this city in a holy flame! Eradicating the evils that have consumed them all! But of course there are a few who are still worthy of life, I am one such person. We will be spared God's holy judgement and will be given a new place in the reborn world! And of course if you decide to join me and aid me in my cause then you would also be spared as well. So tell me Gabriel are you one of the few chosen ones? Or are you no different from them?"
Downy's pointed towards the massacre that was going on below, he honestly believed that the people down there were evil and sinful they deserved the pain and punishment being delivered and it was but a taste of the punishment they would need to go through if they were to be redeemed.
-
Forest sighed, squared her shoulders, and looked at Finn. "Attacking" him would be the best way to get her point across, but he hadn't deserved that sort of treatment. Even though she wanted to punch something right now and he was making himself a convenient target.
"I'm flattered, I really am," she began, "But I run in the sort of circles that would kill or break you. It wouldn't work. Besides, you're not exactly my 'type'."
The young man tilted his head. When he had been talking about all complicated women, he didn't realize that she was referring to herself.
...Oops.
The rejection hurt a bit, but that was to be expected. It's OK though, thought Finn, a smile still in his heart. Ain't no point in goin' out with her if ain't gonna make her happy anyway. Well, was sure worth the try at least. 'Sides, more fish in the sea, all that good stuff.
He was about to express all this out loud along with that offer of friendship still being open regardless when-
Forest sighed at the redheaded young man who she shot from getting a face full of buckshot tell her that Sakura requested her presence.
"Of course she did," Forest said with a sigh before rubbing her forehead. She rose to her full height, looked at Finn one last time with a shake of her head, and then turned to the Irishman. Folding her arms around herself, she muttered, "No rest for the moral fag."
Finn gave her a sympathetic glance as she left the room. He sighed.
Well, hope whatever it is is important. Poor Forest's had a rough day, could do with some relaxin'- she don't exactly need more on top of all that. ...Ah well, I'll just sit here and wait for her to come back.
And wait Finn did, like a basset hound eagerly awaiting the return of his master.
***
Lancer sighed and lowered her to bed. "Rest. If you were a might bit better I'd offer to fill your stores myself." He grinned at that and stroked her hair back.
If it'd been possible for Mille to blush any harder in that instant, her face would have been as red as her hair. Her face was so warm from the blood rushing to her face that she could hardly feel her fever.
"Now, do you need any water or tea? I'm sure I could make a brew that'll help your head right about now."
Some of the girl's blush faded away. She just lay there for a moment, silent.
Someone like him... a demigod like him... for... me?
What remained of the proud magus faded away, leaving behind the vulnerable teenaged girl underneath. That visage would return, most certainly, but at that moment, the core that Mille had so painstakingly tried to hide was completely and utterly exposed.
She regarded him with wide eyes before finally managing to choke out an answer. "T-tea please."
-
Sakura shivered "No one does, that's f-fine I can't say it's attractive but that's not the. Not the point, my brother is just like a mythical knight, god it's so dumb. The point is he's bound by a code to grant mercy and it's a weakness in a fight to be sure but seriously k-keep it under your hat"
Sakura coughed "And I don't know why he trusts you, probably cause he's good at reading people. If he trusts you then the rest of us can."
she paused again "one last thing, Don't, don't let his looks fool you, his face and actions appear less than what he is. He's very old, so don't treat him too badly Forest." Sakura finished letting her head hit the pillow and almost instantly she was asleep.
Connor sighed "Thank ya ma'am, she'd have been up all night if you hadn't come see her."
Angra nodded "Safe trip Rider" she said waving.
-
It's really incredable how much a Kindred can hear. Flying towards the structure, I started picking up a conversation.
Connor followed along to the bedroom and kept silent.
Sakura heard Forest speak and looked up from her notes. "No Rin? Not surprising given her tendencies in general. Tell her that I am sorry for losing my temper but my little brother, Satoshi is not a murderer nor should he be accused of being worse than them as she did. He's quite the opposite as much as that infuriates me. And I don't care what happened with Archer either. Taiga told me he went dark after meeting her so that means whatever with Archer is a misunderstanding."
Sakura paused her skin looking pale and her face covered in sweat, to say she was a mess would be an understatement even without mentioning the frazzled red mane of hair Sakura currently sported.
"I'm getting off track I...I need to tell you how to defend against Satoshi I" the notepad pitched off the bed and Sakura nearly face planted the bed stopping herself with her elbows.
righting herself Sakura continued. "three major rules apply when facing my little brother. One, surrendering is good, Satoshi is the prince of knights, more than any other title he takes it and his knighthood seriously. Mercy is something he will always grant, it's part of who he is. Two do not threaten death to others, monsters, true honest ones without remorse are fine but humans are off limits. Death is something that hurts my little brother more than anything because he is as strong as he is. Third, never. And I mean never threaten his friends or family. Satoshi will not listen to you until after he's done beating you to within an inch of your life."
she paused again looking all the worse. "Finally, and let me be clear abuse of the thing I'm going to say next will result in seriously terrible consequences so I'm trusting you Forest to use this as a last resort. Invoke the world treaty, the pact my brother made says he has to listen to those who come for peace to Gaia's door step. No matter what or why Satoshi will have to stop and hear your words."
Sakura coughed wheezing as she gave Forest a hard look "I'm trusting you Forest, don't betray his faith in you"
Sakura was dizzy but refused to accept falling asleep.
Forest rubbed her forehead and looked at the girl. "You need to get some rest," she said in a firm voice before moving forward to push Sakura back into bed.
She leaned back, sighed, and said, "Why me? I only met your brother for like thirty minutes. Not to mention, I don't surrender."
Sakura shivered "No one does, that's f-fine I can't say it's attractive but that's not the. Not the point, my brother is just like a mythical knight, god it's so dumb. The point is he's bound by a code to grant mercy and it's a weakness in a fight to be sure but seriously k-keep it under your hat"
Sakura coughed "And I don't know why he trusts you, probably cause he's good at reading people. If he trusts you then the rest of us can."
she paused again "one last thing, Don't, don't let his looks fool you, his face and actions appear less than what he is. He's very old, so don't treat him too badly Forest." Sakura finished letting her head hit the pillow and almost instantly she was asleep.
Connor sighed "Thank ya ma'am, she'd have been up all night if you hadn't come see her."
...I had no idea what was going on, but a quick glance through the window... the Beast raised it's hackles at the blonde woman, but not in the same way it had for another Kindred. It reacted in the same way it had to the other two earlier. Kin, yet not Kindred.
So she was the landlady then. Hopefully she was smart enough to realize crows weren't nocturnal. Diving down, I perched myself on the windowsill looking inside, tapping on it with my beak.
-
Sir Bonesington nodded to Valda's offered encouragement of Luka. Even he, with his limited attention span, could tell the boy was quite strong. He wondered how much stronger his contracted spirits made him when he noticed him almost zone out for a moment, presumably communicating with them if the very light sensation of stirring power was any indication.
"By the way, were you an adventurer yourself, Sir Bonesington?" Luka asked. "In my time, most of them tended to be really weak, so I never met many. Just how experienced are you?" With all those trinkets and potions, it had to be quite a bit...
"I believe," Valda says while crossing her legs again and relaxing in a way she'd only become able to after alleviating some of her hunger, "that he may be considered some form of villain. He is simply affable in demeanor and uninterested in antagonizing us."
The lich scratched one of his horns while humming in thought for a few seconds before responding.
"I wouldn't call myself a villain, though my old boss was an unambiguously neutral evil being planning to overtake the world with his vast undead armies. In fact, I've even been a quest giver a few times! Bear arses aren't easy to collect, you know."
He wondered why some bears had arses and some didn't. It made collecting that particular ingredient of his specially brew fertilizer quite a pain in the butt. But either way, it meant he was helping out the rookie adventurers by giving them some easy errands!
"And I would say I can accurately call myself an adventurer given my numerous journeys through time and space consequence of having fallen in that very deep hole once. I'm not sure it was a hole, come to think of it. But, it's even how I got my title!" he seemed like he was going to keep going in growing enthusiasm, but he held himself for a moment.
"Sure, I've offed some adventurers once or twice, but I assure you it was completely justified self-defense." Bonesington had the pride to sound offended for a second. "They wanted to beat me up and desecrate my corpse for fat loots."
Joke's on them. Only thing they ever accomplished was giving him absurdly powerful items he could offer to starting adventurers whenever he needed some more bear arses.
-
"Eeeh?"
He was a villain? But... well, actually, that made quite a bit of sense. Luka had thought the skeleton man's voice sounded a bit final boss-y.
"W-well, I guess self defense is okay. And you're not really doing anything bad now, so... well, it's all in the past, I guess."
Mostly though, it was because adventurers tended to be a self important lot, and Luka could definitely see a few newbies attacking a random scary looking person without checking to make sure their target was innocent.
-
"Eeeh?"
He was a villain? But... well, actually, that made quite a bit of sense. Luka had thought the skeleton man's voice sounded a bit final boss-y.
"W-well, I guess self defense is okay. And you're not really doing anything bad now, so... well, it's all in the past, I guess."
Mostly though, it was because adventurers tended to be a self important lot, and Luka could definitely see a few newbies attacking a random scary looking person without checking to make sure their target was innocent.
Sir Bonesington was glad Luka understood.
"You should tell that to a friend of mine! Poor chap didn't feel so good about working for the Scourge, and still beats himself up about it to this day. Shame his carapace is so thick, I hope he'd actually hurt himself sometime and quit it. He can be quite gloomy at times." He said.
-
Luka was quite forgiving when he was not the victim. This was somewhat consistent with what a quarter of a human lifetime had taught her of such things; it did not involve him, so it was easy to overlook.
However, the skeleton's obvious power left her with an important question: "You said you can create portals of a sort, yes? What limitation do you have on this? We may be able to start on finding a way home with such means."
She would rather not rush it, but she made a promise.
...
Valda casually reached out for the muffin she'd left uneaten before and got started on consuming it. No reason to leave good food to go to waste, even if she felt pleasantly full for the first time in forever. She'd eat while she waited for the response.
-
"Right, portals..." But Luka still wasn't sure of some things. Or rather, curiosity had taken hold.
Another world... different villains, different monsters... what kind of person what this walking, talking skeleton?
"Sorry, but would you mind telling me more about your world first?" he asked the skeleton. "Like, this Scourge you worked for?"
-
A holy fanatic, just lovely, Gabriel thought as he studied Downy Reed.
"Of course you are an instrument of God's will," the half Faerie said with a bow of his head. "I take it that this circle is just a means to an end, isn't it? It is a real work of craftsmanship. Perfect to cleanse these sinners in holy fire."
He smiled at Downy, kicking on his Lure just a tiny bit. Not enough to make the man want to hump him, but maybe enough to entice him even more and maybe loosen his tongue.
******
Archer grinned as he handed Rin her brush. He said, "Well, she is a teenage girl, and teenage girls can be volatile. Honestly, I could care either way."
******
Lancer grinned as Millie blushed at him. He said, "Well, fair warning. It won't taste that great. It'll be medicine to help with the headache and the fever. It's a recipe that Scathach taught me, so it's pretty rank."
He helped tuck her into bed and stroked her hair before heading back towards the kitchen.
******
Forest tucked a lock of hair that escaped one of the braids back behind her ear. She said, "I'll see what I can do."
Then she noticed the pecking at the window. Frowning, she saw the crow there rap raping on this chamber window. She looked at Connor and said, "Watch your friend. I don't know if this corvid outside is friend or foe. Crows aren't nocturnal though, and I should know that better than anyone here."
She walked over to the window and asked, So, are you friend or are you foe?
-
Downy Reed
Roof of Apartment Complex
Downy Reed's was by no means a stupid man. He the supreme commander of Ruin had easily managed to slither himself right into the core of his enemies base. He was a teacher there in fact, and one of the greater ones. If it wasn't for meddlesome people such a Muriel Sheerfield and Crea Barnfriet then he would most likely also have the school entirely in his control as well.
He was also a magus and a necromancer. A keeper of secrets and a giver of none, his mind had long ago been consumed with a vengeance. Yes he had to avenge his sister by cleansing the universe of all those who would do evil. But even still he was not stupid.
And despite how attractive this man may look he had no interest at all for romance or love, he had none to give anyway. It had all been locked away long ago, all of it devoted to that one person, the one who was no longer around. If anything Gabriel's attempts to flatter him would only make him more wary.
"But of course, you will see in time just what my magic can do. There is no need to explain the details but I will say that by the end of the day the ritual will be completed and my task done. However I am afraid that if you truly wish to join me then words alone will not do, for you see we have just met. If you wish to aid my cause then nothing short of a soul binding contract would do, if we had more time perhaps this would not be necessary but I am already short on time as it is. My reinforcements should arrive momentarily and once they do my time here will be up. If you choose to accept this contract I will take you with me but if you do not then you shall be left behind to witness God's Fury in it's full glory. Now what do you say?"
-
Connor nodded "as best I can ma'am, although I hate to admit it I can only do so unarmed for the moment, I'm good with my fists but better with a spear." he replied.
-
Archer grinned as he handed Rin her brush. He said, "Well, she is a teenage girl, and teenage girls can be volatile. Honestly, I couldn't care either way."
"Not that volatile," Rin muttered. "Plus some of the things she said were so..." Rin took in a deep breath. "No, I'll drop it for now. I don't want to spoil what's otherwise been a lovely evening." She looked at the brush he was handing her. With a rather feline expression, she gently pushed the brush back into his hands. "Oh no. You're not getting out of brushing my hair that easily."
***
Lancer grinned as Millie blushed at him. He said, "Well, fair warning. It won't taste that great. It'll be medicine to help with the headache and the fever. It's a recipe that Scathach taught me, so it's pretty rank."
He helped tuck her into bed and stroked her hair before heading back towards the kitchen.
Her expression became serious and determined. Perhaps a bit too serious and determined. "I have endured and will endure worse for the sake of improving myself and my magecraft. I won't let something like a cup of medicinal tea defeat me."
She blushed once again as he tucked her in and stroked her hair back and, even though she wouldn't admit it to herself, anxiously awaited his return.
-
Forest tucked a lock of hair that escaped one of the braids back behind her ear. She said, "I'll see what I can do."
Then she noticed the pecking at the window. Frowning, she saw the crow there rap raping on this chamber window. She looked at Connor and said, "Watch your friend. I don't know if this corvid outside is friend or foe. Crows aren't nocturnal though, and I should know that better than anyone here."
She walked over to the window and asked, So, are you friend or are you foe?
A telepath? Interesting.
Friend, if you are not foe to Kin in need. Let me on in, I can't exactly turn into a human on a third story windowsill safely. Oh, and tell the irishman he needs a gun. Spears are outdated when any hick with a 9mm or a 12 gauge can blast you from 50 feet away. That Satoshi character sounds like a moron as well, is he the mick?
-
Luka was quite forgiving when he was not the victim. This was somewhat consistent with what a quarter of a human lifetime had taught her of such things; it did not involve him, so it was easy to overlook.
However, the skeleton's obvious power left her with an important question: "You said you can create portals of a sort, yes? What limitation do you have on this? We may be able to start on finding a way home with such means."
She would rather not rush it, but she made a promise.
...
Valda casually reached out for the muffin she'd left uneaten before and got started on consuming it. No reason to leave good food to go to waste, even if she felt pleasantly full for the first time in forever. She'd eat while she waited for the response.
"Right, portals..." But Luka still wasn't sure of some things. Or rather, curiosity had taken hold.
Another world... different villains, different monsters... what kind of person what this walking, talking skeleton?
"Sorry, but would you mind telling me more about your world first?" he asked the skeleton. "Like, this Scourge you worked for?"
"Alright, pucker up for an abridged history lesson then." Sir Bonesington smiled. He did not mind telling stories. In fact, he quite liked it.
He cleared his throat and spread his hands in front of them, conjuring an image over them like a screen of shining dust. It was a dull world map indicating the cardinal directions, with three island-shaped continents oriented like the edges of a triangle. To the east and west the two larger, vertically wider ones appeared, facing each other while separated by some distance. At the top of the map, the smaller continent that was wider horizontally was, hanging over the superior edges of the others, in the space between them. And between the three, a great whirlwind was drawn.
"For the basics first, then. Where I come from, Azeroth, is composed of three continents. The Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor, and Northrend." The lich began, as the names appeared over the continents to the east, the west, and the north, respectively.
He continued, shadows stretching along his skull as he emerged himself in the narration.
"It is a world where magic, great feats and heroes are commonplace. Many races live there, each with their own realms and territories, cooperating under several alliances. Humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, trolls, tauren... and others. Over the years, many wars have been fought among them. And the existence of the Scourge is deeply connected with such conflicts."
The image over Bonesington's skeletal hands faded like blown away by the wind and was replaced by shifting shadows. The vision zoomed away, and the shifting shadows were lit up slightly, revealing a picture of masses of moving corpses marching together in their shambling way.
"The Scourge was an army of the undead created by the Lich King, through the means of his engineered magical plague. A disease that would kill the living and raise them from the earth as his unstoppable and faithful soldiers. And unstoppable they were. They devastated all in their passage, bolstering their numbers with their victims. Even if you could successfully resist them, your losses in the process alone would sustain them. Truly, they were a frightening force."
The projection shifted to a number of cowled and hooded figures in purple, chanting, following in the wake of the dead, and raising their architecturally distinct structures by magic.
"The Lich King's main mean of spreading the plague of undeath through the human realms, the Scourge's first major target, was the Cult Of The Damned, his most trusted mortal agents. And it was through them that I became a part of the Scourge." His speech became lighter for a few moments, as he seemed to be recalling something. "Really, what drew me in was their wonderful dental plan. But I admit I didn't mind taking the chance to learn necromancy. Break-dancing skeletons were as cool as I expected."
He forced out a cough and continued.
"Anyhow. I was rather good at my job, so I eventually got promoted and turned into a lich! Which was quite honestly radical. My magic even got boosted by it. Moving on. Sometime after that, the might of the Scourge was unleashed on the rest of the world with the dawn of the Third War."
His voice turned serious again. The images lit into green flames, fire raining from the skies, and demonic looking creatures roaming destructively.
"The purpose of the Scourge was to be the vanguard for a demonic army called the Burning Legion, which planned to destroy Azeroth. The Lich King was created by the lords of the Legion as a tool to soften the mortal opposition. And he did his job. But nonetheless, the mortal races of Azeroth united against the demons, and defeated them. And so, the Scourge was left to its own devices, as the Lich King had planned all along."
There was a flash of a large block of ice atop a frozen spire, black armor encased in it, humming with power.
"After that.... well, a lot happened. We thwarted a scheme to destroy the Lich King, and he passed his spirit to the body of his most trusted lieutenant at the culmination of the incident, after which he went into a deep sleep. During the few following years, the world was alight with numerous conflicts. The races of Azeroth had organized themselves into two major groups, the Alliance and the Horde, and many adventurers of both sides went around the world to solve these issues. Then, around the sixth year mark since his sleep started, the Lich King awoke from his slumber and launched massive attacks all over Azeroth. The Horde and the Alliance fought back, and took the fight to the heart of his empire, Northrend. Eventually, the adventurers of both factions and their allies managed to finally destroy him, although the costs were high. And so, the Scourge all but ceased to be, and tensions between the Alliance and the Horde were reawakened."
Bonesington clapped his hands together, and the projections, which had been changing between scenes of battlefields among cold wastes, vanished.
"After that, I took a few friends I made in the Scourge and retired to my little corner in Hillsbrad Foothills. And the rest, as they say, is history."
Bonesington realized he had gone longer than he had anticipated and tipped his hat lightly in apology.
"Pardon me, I ended up ranting a little."
He took one hand and scratched the back of his skull lightly.
"As for the portals. I should theoretically be able to open one to anywhere I've been before, though it is infinitely easier if the mage is more intimately familiar with the location or it is a great focus of power. It so happens that most important cities in Azeroth are built exactly in such places, so any mage of the Alliance or the Horde worth his salt should be able to open portals to his faction's capital cities." He explained.
Though Bonesington himself didn't have any strong sympathetic connections to most notable places in Azeroth.
"The portal that brought me here was entirely experimental, however. And it is an overall complex spell with multiple contrivances to its method, so opening a few portals per day is the most that anyone can do. I can make more than your usual run of the mill mage, of course, but not that many."
-
Were Valda a mere mortal woman in mind she would probably be cross-eyed behind her glasses by now. At least it had given her the necessary time to finish the second blueberry muffin that she had purchased. She was actually starting to feel full now with the mana in her system, which was a new sensation entirely, but it was such a small amount that food was still on the agenda.
The hunger would never really fade completely as she was now.
Finally she swallowed her treat and made the motion of a circle in the air in front of her. "All well and good, but is that a yes or no to my question?"
-
"I... whoa..." Luka, being less resilient to epic tales than Valda, was a bit more awed. It was one thing to hear about familiar tales, like the Hero's eternal fight against the Monster Lord, but the talking skeleton had spun a story of a completely new world, enrapturing the boy like someone caught reading an engrossing book.
So instead of him speaking, the water in his glass began to swirl, eventually leaving its confines altogether and morphing into the form of a small, almost hand-sized woman who seemed to be constantly shifting, her liquid blue hair caught between shades of sea green and her teal body lacking the fine details of a human.
"Why are you still moving?" she asked the skeleton.
"Undine, what are you-?"
"Quiet, boy," she snapped. Luka immediately shut up.
"I am an elemental spirit who has made a contract with this fool of a Hero," she said. "I've existed for thousands of years, and in that time picked up a thing or two about Necromancy, Raised One. Your story speaks of impossibilities. The art of animating bones or a dead body is not unknown to us, and amateur necromancers can easily call up the spirits of the deceased, but even the greatest cannot do a perfect, binding resurrection. A plague that causes deceased to rise would be impossible without a magical component, and even then an average person's mana supply would only be able to sustain their form for a day or so, which certainly isn't enough for it to be any use in a protracted campaign."
Luka was getting paler by the second, but Undine ignored him and his feeble protests, continuing to speak.
"The greatest necromancer in our world once turned herself into a zombie, and she only lasted for a scant hundred years before her emotions faded and she became little more than one of her own constructs. This is without mentioning the several people's worth of mana that she had to consume every day to keep herself animated. You should be starving for it more than the sealed goddess over there, but you're rolling in the stuff."
-
Valda raised an eyebrow at the elemental being that rose from the glass of water. Then she poked at it with her finger.
"Have you considered, perhaps, that magic functions differently where he comes from?" she asked while pushing that finger into the water construct. "Or perhaps that the environment he is native to contains ambient sources of mana that the shells are somehow set up to draw from? Or, perhaps, that a greater power was responsible for it? In the age before my... current situation, there were gods over death who could bring the dead back to life, create souls and and make the living deathless. They could grant such power to whatever mortals they so pleased, and take it away."
-
"The idea of ambient mana is certainly possible, but an army that vast would deplete the land's energy much too quickly to be sustainable, barring any large, permanent fixtures that could provide a continuous stream of mana. Even in our world, those are rare." Undine said. "Furthermore, we must assume that between worlds there are common factors. The necklace from the Lich's world worked on Luka, and his mana potion suited you just fine, so there is a connection, at least in the underlying mechanics. There may be regional differences, but the base should be similar, if not the same."
She continued without missing a beat. "Now a god is one thing, but a mortal King doing the equivalent of a miracle is different," the spirit said. Valda's finger passed right through the water elemental, spreading apart the liquid that had been used to construct Undine's body but otherwise doing nothing. "A god can do many things. A mage or powerful sorcerer can do less. However, all those activities require an expenditure of energy."
The water quickly reformed, bringing Undine back. "As you are now, it's easy to see that you require vast amounts of mana to use your powers, whatever they may be. Before that situation of yours, did you do everything you wished without any cost, or did you simply possess so much energy that the cost was one you could instantly pay without thinking about it? To me, the second seems like the most ideal answer. If a god did indeed create the Scourge, then they must be constantly drawing power from said god simply to stay alive."
-
Gabriel raised his eyebrows and folded his arms across his chest and smirked.
He said, "Alas, such mystical contracts would be wasted upon me. It would not stick due to my unusual nature."
If he knew anything about Fey he'd be trying to make me promise to help him. Luckily, Downy Reed knew anything about his kin. Still, the man needed to be stopped, and this wasn't the job left to a crusading hero. This needed a more subtle, discreet touch from someone who was comfortable from working in the shadows and not afraid to spill his own blood.
He'd leave this circle for last.
******
Forest raised her eyebrow and asked, Why should I let you in, Crow tapping upon my window? Will I have your word that you won't eat all the people staying here?
Admittedly, she was slightly jealous. As far as super powers went, turning into a crow was pretty bad assed.
******
"Yare, yare, you're such a task master," he said with a sigh before combing through Rin's thick hair.
******
Lancer headed for the kitchen surprised to see a little girl in the wheelchair and some dude with white hair. He pointed to the guy and asked, "Who the fuck are you?"
-
Rin smirked. "While I'm definitely glad you're back, that doesn't mean I'm going to cut you any slack." Plus, she had to somewhat admit, it was going to be nice to have someone else work through her hair for a change. Especially when it was Archer.
***
Perhaps coming here was not the best decision on my part after all. With a sigh, the psychic adjusted his spectacles and turned to the Irishman.
"'Who the fuck' I am is Thomas Hale, an acquaintance of the young red haired lady in the other room, Ryoko. From what I can tell, something just occurred here of a supernatural and troublesome nature. Could you perhaps either fill me in or just direct me to Ryoko herself?"
-
"The idea of ambient mana is certainly possible, but an army that vast would deplete the land's energy much too quickly to be sustainable, barring any large, permanent fixtures that could provide a continuous stream of mana. Even in our world, those are rare." Undine said. "Furthermore, we must assume that between worlds there are common factors. The necklace from the Lich's world worked on Luka, and his mana potion suited you just fine, so there is a connection, at least in the underlying mechanics. There may be regional differences, but the base should be similar, if not the same."
She continued without missing a beat. "Now a god is one thing, but a mortal King doing the equivalent of a miracle is different," the spirit said. Valda's finger passed right through the water elemental, spreading apart the liquid that had been used to construct Undine's body but otherwise doing nothing. "A god can do many things. A mage or powerful sorcerer can do less. However, all those activities require an expenditure of energy."
The water quickly reformed, bringing Undine back. "As you are now, it's easy to see that you require vast amounts of mana to use your powers, whatever they may be. Before that situation of yours, did you do everything you wished without any cost, or did you simply possess so much energy that the cost was one you could instantly pay without thinking about it? To me, the second seems like the most ideal answer. If a god did indeed create the Scourge, then they must be constantly drawing power from said god simply to stay alive."
"In my true form, in my own realm," Valda continues while... well, poking at the Undine repeatedly because it was always fun to see water-related things get interfered with, "there was essentially no cost. I was a self-sustaining system that required no input and what was in my nature to will was how the world must be. I was perfect."
She punctuated the last word with a particularly hard poke, and by taking the last bite of the muffin. After swallowing she sighed.
"And the things that I could do would be fundamental changes in their own right; they were permanent changes to how things were, if they were not instantaneous. Some magic can, in fact, produce such closed systems even when performed by mortals, at least where I come from. So it is possible that minimal amounts of energy where he comes from would serve as a catalyst for such things without requiring further inputs of energy after. The initial investment creates a pattern that continues on its own from there."
With the glasses, and the business casual, and the firm tone of voice, she sounded and looked every bit like a stern instructor.
-
Forest raised her eyebrow and asked, Why should I let you in, Crow tapping upon my window? Will I have your word that you won't eat all the people staying here?
Admittedly, she was slightly jealous. As far as super powers went, turning into a crow was pretty bad assed.
I can promise such as long as I don't get too angry. Draining them to death has... nasty consequences in my case. I promise to try and contain my hunger Kinswoman. Call me Jack. And I don't eat people. Do I look like some werewolf or monster?
I ruffled my feathers, preening myself slightly. No wonder birds do this, it's like getting a nice itch scratched out.
Well, my mistake. I guess I am a monster, and more monstrous than some in a few ways. But I'm not some retarded fresh blooded jackass high on his own power. I can keep my fangs to myself if needed.
-
Were Valda a mere mortal woman in mind she would probably be cross-eyed behind her glasses by now. At least it had given her the necessary time to finish the second blueberry muffin that she had purchased. She was actually starting to feel full now with the mana in her system, which was a new sensation entirely, but it was such a small amount that food was still on the agenda.
The hunger would never really fade completely as she was now.
Finally she swallowed her treat and made the motion of a circle in the air in front of her. "All well and good, but is that a yes or no to my question?"
"It's an 'I have absolutely no idea'." Sir Bonesington replied. "There is a chance I could make it back to my place, but I can't reliably open a portal to somewhere I haven't been before, no matter how much I know about the location. That, and extra-planar travel travel might be somewhat beyond me."
Bonesington was not expecting a very complex response from Luka, given how dazed he seemed to be by the story, so he was somewhat surprised when one of his contracted spirits, whose name he caught from Luka before he was interrupted, made herself known through the water in the boy's glass, introduced herself, and began questioning him on the nature of what animated the undead of the Scourge while citing examples of her own experiences with necromancy.
The lich listened attentively as Valda joined the argument and shared her opinions and knowledge on the matter with Undine. Most of what they said did not correctly describe the undeath he was familiar with, or even the Lich King himself, but what was revealed amid the lines of the exchange greatly interested him, so he contented himself with listening a bit longer. He chuckled at Valda's explanation of her latest theory, looking every bit the stern lecturer. Well, that one she had gotten completely right.
"There seem to be a few misconceptions here. So let me clear them up. Complete resurrection - perfect restoration of the self from death - is impossible. That was not the aim of the plague either. The aim was simply to kill people and raise their corpses as a vicious and completely loyal fighting force, which it succeeded in doing. Did you think every measly ghoul was like me? No, intelligence and free capability for thought was something only allowed to a handful of the undead. As I told you, the plague was magical in nature, and it was by means of the Lich King's vast, dark powers that it came into being." He said, addressing Undine.
The blue lights that were his eyes narrowed.
"A simple mortal sorcerer is the last thing the Lich King was. But just as the Scourge was his creation, he was created by the demon lords of the Burning Legion, who empowered him. He is no god, and although they may seem like miracles, his feats were nothing if not his own ingenuity and power at work. It is true that corpses raised by a necromancer or dead spirits he has summoned must ordinarily be sustained by his mana. But the plague of undeath makes it a different matter." Bonesington then looked to Valda.
"Miss Valda has it right. The undeath that the Lich King created is an autonomous, self-sustaining closed system that imitates life as a renewing source of mana. And it achieves this through the means of binding a soul to a corpse and faking its animation, tricking the body into believing it is meant to be alive. Even in death, the connection between the flesh and the spirit is strong. It is a matter of taking advantage of it to create a delicate machine that will not stop once the initial kick is given, fueled by its own functions. One that is free of the limits that burden true life."
He left unsaid that the stronger the being one is trying to raise or the stronger you are trying to make them as an undead, the more power the initial spark requires. He smirked to himself then concluded his answer.
"My undeath, however, is slightly different. We liches are fueled by the sheer potency of our souls, locked in a pattern created by magic. It allows our power to expand beyond what mortals can achieve, and makes damage to our bodies close to meaningless."
It wasn't entirely true. He could completely remake his body so long as his phylactery was intact, but not by any means did it make him immune to physical harm. He supposed he should feel bad for leaving that part out, but he didn't.
A gentlemen has his secrets, after all.
-
"I think its just you being lazy," Archer replied as he began to brush through Rin's hair. "I think you enjoy having someone who will willingly almost cater to your every whim and want to abuse it."
He was grinning though as he finally got her hair brushed out.
*******
Well, if you can't keep your fangs to yourself, it won't end well for you, Forest replied as she opened up the window with a tiny smirk.
To Connor she said, "This one needs my help. Don't worry, I'll get him out of here."
To the Crow she sent, I'm Forest, come in and behave yourself.
******
"Things of a troublesome and supernatural nature are always going on. You're in bloody Law Unto Herself's stronghold. I'd be worried if something supernatural wasn't going on," Lancer replied.
-
Well, if you can't keep your fangs to yourself, it won't end well for you, Forest replied as she opened up the window with a tiny smirk.
To Connor she said, "This one needs my help. Don't worry, I'll get him out of here."
To the Crow she sent, I'm Forest, come in and behave yourself.
Right, don't blame me if this looks a little sketchy -
As soon as I hopped inside, I... well, shifted. Feathers turned back to clothes, and into hair, beak receded into the nose and mouth, talons into my hiking boots - something I recommend for any Gangrel or vampire in general, get a good pair of shoes, nice thick soled ones. You'll end up doing a load of walking, and though you're dead, good ankle support is always nice.
Brianna once said the whole process looked, and I quote - "Like one of those creepy animorphs covers but this time with sound effects and not fast enough."
I can't blame her. This would probably look like a real horror show to anyone not used to it. Feels a little funny for a bit too, not to have a third eyelid or other things after changing back.
"And I didn't need to be invited in, you know, but thanks anyway." I said, eyeing the mick and the girl in the bed... attractive that one. All that blood, so tasty, just laying there. The Beast rattled its cage just enough to let a little bit of it leak out of my body, a flash of hunger stirring it. "Just heard some Kin had set up in the area, and I need a bit of a favor - little vitae to keep me going for a few more nights so my usual source can recover. I'd rather not get mugged to feed again."
Even with my own supernatural toughness, that'd hurt. Bastard had brought out the brass knuckles. 'course, I left him nearly dead in a back alley so I suppose it was a fair trade.
-
Rin huffed a bit, almost entirely at the insinuation that she was indeed lazy. "Well, you aren't exactly objecting, you know. Besides, who wouldn't enjoy having someone cater to their every whim?" A cat-like smile creeped onto her face. "Besides, I think a part of you enjoys it." She turned to him as soon as he finished brushing through her hair only to find what was, as far as she could see, some confirmation of that.
***
"And you would presume me to know such a thing? I have been to this world a few weeks now, and while I do indeed have some familiarity with the strangeness of this world, you can hardly expect me to know everything. I was aware of Law Unto Herself being an influential figure, but I was not aware that this was her home, or that strange occurrences were the norm."
A rather dark smile passed Tom's lips, and his glasses seemed to gleam with an uncomfortable light. "Of course, I could simply rip all this information straight from your head, but I was under the impression that such a thing was rather impolite. Of course, I could certainly make that breach of edicate if you so desire. I highly suspect Ryoko would be rather displeased with me, especially doing such a thing to someone she seems to have... oh, what is it called? A crush on? But indeed, what she doesn't know can hardly hurt her, now can it?"
-
If it was possible for it to happen, Undine seemed to pale. The eddies that swirled inside her makeshift body stilled at Valda and the skeleton's words. Her reply took some time to come out, and when it did, she seemed almost regretful.
"...so you've reached the perpetual stage. I should have guessed."
"The what?" Luka asked, still kind of zoned out but trying to follow along nonetheless.
"Exactly what Mr. Bones here described," Undine said. "In his world, necromancy must be far more advanced than in ours, since they've managed to make self sustaining undead. Even the greatest of the Artiste family could only begin to approach perfect sustainability in their creations, and that was by sacrificing efficiency and ability."
"The Artiste? Like La Croix and Chrome?" He rattled off two names completely unknown to the others.
"Yes," Undine nodded. "To you, they were powerful opponents, but I suspect that as necromancers they would be vastly inferior to those who joined this Scourge. The idea of breaking out of the cycle of life and death rather than simply stalling or temporarily reversing it was so blasphemous that even the Monster Lord wouldn't stand for it. It's part of why the Art was banned in the first place. Though the probability of it being real was thought to be infinitely small, there still existed the possibility that it could have progressed far enough to create beings like yourself, Mr. Bones. And that... was something neither our Goddess nor her opponents wanted to see happen. In our world, the threat of the Undead never grew, because it was nipped in the bud before it had the opportunity to plant its roots."
She turned to Valda. "As for what you said... fair enough. I'll concede the point. When it comes to magic, our world is rather juvenile. The last truly great human mage I can recall lived a few hundred years before this child was even born, and monsters tend to stick to traditional spells rather than attempt research into new ones. And our Goddess... well, she never really bothered to explain the intricacies of her abilities."
"...I feel like you're insulting me somehow," the boy muttered morosely.
Undine smiled. "If you wish, you could try to learn a few spells once you get back home. There are a few of capable casters in the Monster Lord's castle, though getting them to teach you would be an exercise in futility. I suspect, for one, that the old fox knows more than I about this topic, even if she hardly mentions it."
-
Downy Reed
Roof of Apartment Complex
"Such a shame, you could have been much more useful. But I'm afraid if we have no reliable way of forming a contract then there's no point in our alliance. I hate to leave things up to chance you see. However I also cannot allow you leave either, your abilities are far too unique to be ignored.
One of the perks of being such a skilled caster as Downy was the ability to cast most spells in just the mind and it was quite handy for preparing surprise attacks such as the one he was about to do.
'O חסרי מנוחה אלה'
"I will admit it has been quite some time since I've met a being as interesting as you have been but I've grown tired of our talk."
'להתעורר מתרדמת נפשך'
"Therefore goodbye."
Gabriel did not know it but Downy had been secretly storing the corpses of both monsters and man, they would be quite useful for his incantations after all.
Directly above Gabriel's head a portal emerged and with it a torrent of flesh and bone meant to drown his opponent in a sea of death. How would he respond to such an attack?
-
Valda nods along once when her question is answered. It was unfortunate that the portals were so... limited in that sense, compared to the ones she faintly recalled from her own world, but that was fine. She had asked out of obligation to Luka, not because she was in a rush to leave.
And the water creature's words made sense; in her world magic was a pulling down of higher laws into the lower world of mortals, the accessing of symbol-truths to make it so things had to be one way and not another. Symbols like herself, once upon a distant aeon, before mortals grew proud and thought themselves her betters.
Thought she could be reproached.
It was an unacceptable, disagreeable proposition. And yet here she was, accepting it without any other option. And to think that this Luka had fought such prideful beings, weaker or no, was... a possibly helpful revelation.
She looked to Luka once more. "That you have defeated them without their sorcery already speaks of how little you truly need it. By all means I could aid you in learning, but do not forget what power you already have over them. You are their better."
-
"Removing him with the quickness would be ideal ma'am, I can sense his intent and it's not terribly good." Connor replied ready to strike if the man made any move towards Sakura.
Taiga heard the commotion and decided to take her leave and moved back to the stairs, she couldn't get up them but it was better than being near the two rude men, one of whom was obviously a bad guy as far as she could tell.
-
"Shut up Mickey, the bloodsuckers are talking. You volunteering for being nibbled on then?"
I gave the mick a smile. No fangs. Just a smile. I let my predatory aura do the rest, focusing it on the idiot. The Beast doesn't speak English, because it says everything it needs to directly to the soul. 'You're prey, little one, you're prey...' it screams, snapping at the throat. It's a primal, monstrous thing, the Beast.
"And if my intent was 'evil' trust me mick, you wouldn't have had time to scream."
-
Kiyoshi paused for a second. He had promised to cook Sakura's soup, but he did want to get to know his other sister better, and she didn't need to eat immediately.
Yeah, I can go check the menu quickly, he thought.
“Thanks Ryoko-nee, I'd like that”, Kiyoshi said, smiling, before turning to follow her.
As he walked out of the room, he noticed a somewhat-intimidating man looking at him somewhat guardedly.
-
Ryoko noticed Kiyoshi turn around back in her direction. Giving Shirou a quick apologetic glance for just leaving him hanging, she gestured for Kiyoshi to follow her and went over to where Lancer had lead her before. She picked up the menu and put it down where Kiyoshi could see it a bit better.
"Okay then, so, here's our selection. It's probably a good idea to at least get one regular cheese pizza for anyone who hates other toppings, but otherwise I'd say the sky's the limit, so long as we get some variety in there." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Well... kinda. I'm the one paying for it, so the limit is my wallet, but... well, you get the idea." She looked down at Kiyoshi and smiled. "So, what looks good to you, kiddo?"
-
Sir Bonesington nodded along to Undine's words. If they could afford to, it is not surprising that the practice of necromancy was so constricted back where Luka was from.
"In my world, the simpler method of necromancy is still widely used, even by members of the Scourge. The undeath originally created by the Lich King has its pertinent details. Once there was a faction that split from the Scourge, having regained free will due to the his weakening power at the time. They ended up joining the Horde, imagine that. Necromancy is greatly frowned upon in Azeroth as well, not allowed by most groups. But, unlike your world, there is no single power with enough authority and resources to enforce such a prohibition well enough, so there are many individuals and groups apart from the Scourge who practice it."
Then he looked to Luka with a chuckle.
"If you wish, I could attempt to teach you a trick or two of ice magic myself. Although I agree with miss Valda that it is unnecessary for you. Unlike the adventurers of my world, who are so reliant on their gear, I can tell you are quite strong by yourself."
He nodded energetically, and looked up in thought for a moment. Then he slowly lifted a questioning hand.
"So then, would you mind paying my bill, miss Valda?" he asked.
-
I knew it, this egotistical wanker was going to cast, Gabriel thought to himself as he felt the influx of energy as Downy began to cast. The wizard was silent; that wasn't something new to Gabriel though. A lovely vampire witch who was also a paramour of his could do that sort of thing in her sleep.
So, he began to open his shadows, preparing for a quick exit if need be. The air wasn't getting charged- so it didn't seem like it was going to be a direct attack, but it stank. His mind was working. Downy seemed to like summoning spells.
"Bloody hell," Gabriel said as he looked up to see the portal opening and its contents. Reasoning is out with this one then, Gabriel thought as he shifted into the shadows. He began to walk through them, to one of the other portals the redhead had opened in the town. He was aware of the ostentatious castle that had suddenly appeared tonight as well. If another massively powerful magic user lived there, he might be able to play them off of each other.
First though, he appeared at one of the other summoning sites and walked out of the shadows.
******
"You could try ripping it out of my head, or I could claim your heart with my spear," Lancer said with a smirk as he stepped towards the white haired trespasser. "All I know is my Landlady and I didn't allow you in. Ryoko's a good lass; however maybe she has a thing for assholes like her ma."
******
Forest watched as the other vampire went from being a crow to a dark complected man. The transformation looked rather unpleasant, but Forest was use to unpleasant transformations. Or rather, getting use to them. Some of the different werewolf transformations she had encountered here were rather gruesome.
The vampire stated what he needed and she noticed how his eyes went to Sakura asleep. She could do the math. Hungry vampire and pretty helpless girl was a dangerous combination. Then of course, Connor got protective and the vampire got mouthy.
She looked at Connor and said, "I can handle this." Then she looked at the vampire and said, "Okay Never More, first off, I really don't like the term 'mick' used in my home. In case you haven't noticed, my accent isn't exactly white bread American either, so you wanna call me a 'mick' too?"
Then she grabbed him by the arm, attempting to lead him out of the room. "And that one's not for biting- she'd probably be bitter anyway. Just tell me what you need and I'll see what I can do from there."
If he could drink from the dead, it wouldn't be the first time she opened a vein to keep wide spread violence from happening.
******
"Maybe some of my whims should be catered to," he said with a smirk as he handed her the brush then the ribbons that had been discarded. Truthfully, he wanted her to keep her hair down for a little while longer.
-
I shrugged. "Mick there didn't introduce himself to a guest politely like you did Forest, and I said what I need. Blood, a pint or so, and fresh, not bagged. No harm done, and I'm on my way out."
I let the fiery little lady drag me out, emphasizing her name. - she and Brianna would get along just dandy, that was for sure.
"And if you're offering me yours, I'm politely declining. I'm no blood junkie. And from your tone, keeping Miss Bitter asleep a little longer might be welcome."
-
"She's ill, so I wouldn't recommend it anyway," Forest pointed out, hoping that would turn him off to Sakura.
"I didn't catch your name Never More," she added, wondering which one of her guests would be willing to donate a pint or two.
-
"She's ill, so I wouldn't recommend it anyway," Forest pointed out, hoping that would turn him off to Sakura.
"I didn't catch your name Never More," she added, wondering which one of her guests would be willing to donate a pint or two.
I shrugged. "Whatever she's got won't survive long inside me. And I already told you my name. It's Jack."
Looking back towards the bed, Mickey McIrish was still standing watch. Loyal like a dog. Dumber than one too, judging by his grammar and choice of weapons. A spear? Him and the Sanctum's Testament thumpers would get along just fine.
"I'm not low enough that I'll frenzy at a drop of blood. A nibble won't hurt anyone, as long as they get a cookie or whatever.
-
"You could try ripping it out of my head, or I could claim your heart with my spear," Lancer said with a smirk as he stepped towards the white haired trespasser. "All I know is my Landlady and I didn't allow you in. Ryoko's a good lass; however maybe she has a thing for assholes like her ma."
His spear? But he is carrying no such weapon. Can he perhaps make one out of energy? Or perhaps he is capable of the projection Ryoko so briefly mentioned.
Despite the threat, the smirk stayed firm on his face, though it lost some of its malice and gained more of an weariness. "Believe me, I wouldn't be entirely shocked if Ryoko shared your assesment of me as an 'asshole.' I did, after all, as she put it, 'killstole' her werewolf. And I did force her to recover at my current place of residence. However, you can be assured that I did no harm to her, physically or mentally. Nor do I intend to do so to any of the residents here." His eyes narrowed and the smirk vanished. "Unless, of course, I am forced to."
He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "No, I merely wish to know what happened here. And perhaps to speak to either your mistress, Ryoko, or both." He frowned. "I'm not one to sense such things, but... I sensed... some sort of general wrongness in this direction, it's difficult to describe. Not quite a void, but... In any case, I wished to see if there's any correlation between what happened here just now and either what happened to Ryoko prior to her arrival in this world, or even the recent surge of werewolf attacks."
Tom sighed. "If does anything to simmer your current lust for a battle with me, however, once my buisness here is finished, should Law Unto Herself or Ryoko request it, I shall leave once my buisness here is finished. I'm not terribly fond of humans to begin with, and there are far too many here as it is. I would prefer to return to my solitude." He looked Lancer in the eyes. "Or... if you truly trust me so little, I could simply show you what occurred between myself and Ryoko. Fabricating memories is not beyond me, but doing so is quite a difficult task. Plus I have little to gain from doing so. Take that as assurance that what I will show you will be the truth. Do you accept this?"
***
"Maybe some of my whims should be catered to," he said with a smirk as he handed her the brush then the ribbons that had been discarded. Truthfully, he wanted her to keep her hair down for a little while longer.
Rin returned the smirk with a playful smile of her own. "Oh? Why do I get the feeling that I know what some of those whims are?" She placed the brush on the table and then took the ribbons from Archer. She looked at them for a moment. Hmm... well, on the one hand, I need to keep appearances up. On the other hand, I'm not sure how much longer I'll be staying up. Finally, with a sigh of resignation, she began to rummage through her bag for one of her three changes of clothes.
"To be honest, I'd rather just leave my hair down and just get into my pajamas. But probably everyone downstairs is still fully dressed, so I should just keep with the trend." She found it after a bit- a red t-shirt and some white slacks.
Probably could do with something more formal than this, but... eh, probably most everyone is winding down anyway. I hope. She pulled them out of the bag and held the ribbons up to Archer with one hand and the change of clothing in the other. "You think it's worth putting my hair up for this set of clothes? I don't really plan on seeing a lot of people wearing something so casual anyway, but..."
-
Downy Reed
Roof of Apartment Complex
'So he's run away? Well I'm not about to let him escape now where has he gone.'
It only took a moment to find the tiny hole that linked between dimensions leading him to one of the 3 channeling portals he had previously set up.
'You think I'll just let you get away? But before I leave...'
"מפלצת ענקית לזמן!"
The pile of rotten filth began merging itself into a large humanoid shape awaiting it's master's call it stood silent and foreboding, guarding the main dimensional fissure. After that Downy was off following the remnants of Gabriel's own teleportation he intended to stop him before he did any serious damage.
***************************************************
The monster's that had been ordered to stand guard were at first surprised of the newcomers sudden appearance but after a few quick words from their commander they regained their senses and charged. There were 20 of them total out of those 20 10 were too busy maintaining the summoning spell to pay any serious attention anywhere else, and out of the other 10 one stood out among the rest a larger built creature he wielded a sword and shield and bore the look of a walking tiger man. You could definitely tell from his appearance that he was no pushover compared to the smaller lizard type creatures that surrounded him, but would that stop you?
The bells toll at 4 only the Ninja, Assassin, Necromancer, and Summoner remain.
2 posts until Downy appears.
-
He nodded energetically, and looked up in thought for a moment. Then he slowly lifted a questioning hand.
"So then, would you mind paying my bill, miss Valda?" he asked.
Valda slowly turned her eyes to the necklace that had prompted this entire series of revelations and discussions to begin with. "I will be testing this again first. If it works for me this time, I will take it in payment and as an advance for a simple favor. If it does not, I will take your bullion and make... change, of it."
Then she scooped the piece of enchanted jewelry up and placed it around her neck again. Almost immediately she felt the cessation of the slow, uncomfortable trickle of mana from her fleshy prison of mortality. A shiver overcame her, her eyes closed for all of a few seconds, and then she nodded.
"This will more than suffice," Valda said, reaching into her pants pocket (she required new pants later, these were still rather damp) and pulling out a pair of bills. How the Euro was being accepted here in this dimensional nexus, she did not know. She was not particularly in a mood to care overly much in any case.
-
One minute Angel was in London listening to Giles' Aunts fuss at him and Alistair trying to figure out the effects of the "Magic Plague" that Whistler, Pearl and Nash let loose upon the city. He had been getting a headache from it- after all those two women nagged like it was no one's business. Alistair was an okay sort, the man knew his lore, but he didn't have the keen edge that Wes had. Not to mention Lavinia and Sophronia Fairweather definitely weren't Cordy or Fred. Without Faith there, admittedly, he was feeling like an outsider again.
Like he had when he had been with Buffy's friends.
Then the next he was in a city fighting some giant lizard man with a scimitar that had been attacking a group of teenagers. Ozone was crackling along the air and up ahead he saw a group of mages working on a summoning circle where more lizardmen and some were-tigers or something were pouring out. Seeing that this wasn't a benevolent scene by any means, Angel drew his broadsword and charged into the fray.
Luckily, these lizardmen were sort of idiots, but the endless fodder of them would get to him soon. He needed to get to those wizards and stop them from conjuring. Cold blood poured down his hand as he cleaved his blade through the thick neck of the lizardman he'd been fighting. His sword ground against bone before he finished the cleave. Keep this up, and I'm going to have to have Sophie sharpen it again for me, he thought to himself as the air started to literally reek.
Suddenly appearing there was this hideous thing crafted out of dead flesh. It was large, rambling, and the smell of rotting flesh stung Angel's sensitive nose. He spun out of the way of another lizardman's attack and said, "Well, that's disgusting."
Then he saw the figure standing in front of the rotting monstrosity. Dressed all in black, but Angel saw pointed ears rising from the pure black of the man's hair. Ears that were the color of alabaster and glowing ever so slightly.
Watching, the man bowed his head at the creature right as it lifted its arm to attack before stepping into sudden liquid darkness before the blow hit.
******
Godmother would box my ears if she found out I was doing this, he thought to himself as he looked at the rambling, rotting monstrosity before him. In the corner of his eye he could see someone about his size and dressed similar to him - black duster, black pants, and dark shirt - fighting some lizardmen with a broad sword. He ground his teeth as the swordsman cleaved through the neck of one of the lizardmen he was fighting.
Gabriel was slightly impressed by the man's skill, but he didn't have time to create a pact with this potential ally before stopping Downy Reed in his tracks.
Besides, there was the undead golem that wanted to grind his bones to make his bread.
He bowed his head at the creature with a smirk before stepping into the Shadows again. The quiet roar rushed through his ears as he stood within the violets, blues, greys, and black. The outline of the wizards keeping the circle up showed up as a dull red within the shadows. He pulled out the 1911 he had since Her Majesty had enlisted him to help stop Hitler and checked it.
Gabriel hated to kill. Life was precious, but this was beyond the natural order and Downy Reed was planning genocide on a global scale. If anything, the necromancer was planning an extinction event. That meant Gabriel had to take off the kid gloves, steel himself, and show that he was indeed Law Unto Herself's son.
He ran into the center of the summoning circle and stepped out of the shadows. The pistol was slid back into his holster before he pulled out a small knife from a sheath on his belt. It had been a gift from Mommy Dearest, his birth mother, and the alloy it was crafted from contained no iron. The blade was bright, gleaming, and more importantly, razor sharp.
With a smooth movement he cut it vertically down his wrist. It was so sharp that he barely felt it and hot blood flowed from the wound. His skin was glowing at the presence of so much magic, and around where he was standing the summoning itself was starting to die.
Then to completely wreck it, he poured his blood upon the ground, letting it seep there to make this area a magical null as well.
******
Lancer held up his hands at Tom's words. His eyes were still narrowed as he said, "I'd thank you if you didn't share your thoughts with me. You keep them in my head and I ask that you don't peek at mine."
Then he shrugged and said, "Well, Ryoko's around. What happened though was that All the World's Evil came in, tried to start a fuss, but the Faerie wards guarding this place made her melt. Then I burned her muck because Forest told me to- fire's a purifying agent. As for Ryoko, lass is fine, I assure you. If you want to have words with my Landlady, then you're going to have to wait because the idiots here are trying her patience."
******
"You should leave your hair down," Archer said as he rested his hands on Rin's shoulder, "I did mine." He gestured to the fact it wasn't spiked but falling into his face.
He grinned and said, "Besides, you can flaunt your hair off to those other girls. I'm sure they'll be jealous of it."
******
"They just have to be willing, Jack," Forest said as she folded her arms across her admittedly small chest, "If you're a vampire here and want to stay, then you have to play by my rules. And that rule is that you feed by consent. Unless its during battle, then that's self defense, but if you wanna drink off of someone who lives here, then they have to give you permission to do so."
She knew what it was like to have her blood taken against her will. She hadn't wanted to become a vampire; it had been one of the many things that had been forced upon her by that Roman Bastard that night. She repressed the thought as she looked at Jack.
"Come on, let's go to the kitchen. There are people there and I'm willing to bet that one of them will donate for you."
She tilted her head and said, "And replenishing fluids after donating blood is better than eating just a cookie."
-
"You should leave your hair down," Archer said as he rested his hands on Rin's shoulder, "I did mine." He gestured to the fact it wasn't spiked but falling into his face.
He grinned and said, "Besides, you can flaunt your hair off to those other girls. I'm sure they'll be jealous of it."
She grinned right back. "Well, it does look good on you." She nodded, her mind made up. "Alright then. I'll leave it down. Variety is the spice of life, after all. And besides, a more mature look every once in awhile doesn't hurt."
She started to change. At first, she nearly blushed as she let the towel slip. Wait... why am I blushing? H-he's seen me naked and much more, so I-I shouldn't be worrying about changing in front of him, should I?
She decided not to worry about it too much and proceeded to change. The t-shirt and slacks were a definite change-up from her normal ensemble, but were also a bit more comfortable for the time being, and that suited her just fine. With a smile, she offered him her arm. "I suppose our public awaits us. Shall we go?"
***
Lancer held up his hands at Tom's words. His eyes were still narrowed as he said, "I'd thank you if you didn't share your thoughts with me. You keep them in my head and I ask that you don't peek at mine."
"Very well." Tom's tone was simple acknowledgement, nothing more or less.
Then he shrugged and said, "Well, Ryoko's around. What happened though was that All the World's Evil came in, tried to start a fuss, but the Faerie wards guarding this place made her melt. Then I burned her muck because Forest told me to- fire's a purifying agent. As for Ryoko, lass is fine, I assure you. If you want to have words with my Landlady, then you're going to have to wait because the idiots here are trying her patience."
"I see... apparently, this All the World's Evil has some adverse effect on her, so it's reassuring to hear that she is well. As for your landlady, I can certainly wait." He gave Lancer a wry smile. It looked suspiciously similar to his smirk. "I can empathize with her quite well there, so I have no desire to disturb her until she is ready for me. I shall settle for speaking with Ryoko right now, if she is available. Otherwise, I can simply wait."
-
Kiyoshi looked at the menu with bemusement. His English was reasonable, and he could probably have just about managed to order from a normal pizza menu, although even that would have been difficult given that he had only been to a pizza parlour a handful of times in his entire life. Unfortunately for him, this was a rather more upmarket pizza place and, as was normal for such establishments the menu was sprinkled with random Italian and Italian-sounding words, like “mozzarella”.
Eh, I always thought that pizza contained cheese....
He stared, bemused, for a moment, wondering what to do. Gradually, through looking at the pictures and deciphering what parts of the text he could, he managed to find some pizzas that looked interesting.
Hmm, this one has something about fish. I like fish. And this meat one seems to have stuff I like, too.
Hmm, what is a “barbecue”? It seems to be something like a tomato, judging by how it's used. I like tomatoes. Maybe I should try it.
Wait, what the hell are the orange bits on this one? They look like fruit. Why would you put fruit on a pizza? Ugh, I'm not having that.
Finally, after several minutes of deciphering, Kiyoshi came to a decision.
“Hmm, well, I think these look interesting”, he said with a smile, pointing at several of the pictures. A few of them he had picked based on the fact that they contained ingredients he knew he liked or that sounded interesting, and the rest he chose based on how nice the picture looked.
-
Valda slowly turned her eyes to the necklace that had prompted this entire series of revelations and discussions to begin with. "I will be testing this again first. If it works for me this time, I will take it in payment and as an advance for a simple favor. If it does not, I will take your bullion and make... change, of it."
Then she scooped the piece of enchanted jewelry up and placed it around her neck again. Almost immediately she felt the cessation of the slow, uncomfortable trickle of mana from her fleshy prison of mortality. A shiver overcame her, her eyes closed for all of a few seconds, and then she nodded.
"This will more than suffice," Valda said, reaching into her pants pocket (she required new pants later, these were still rather damp) and pulling out a pair of bills. How the Euro was being accepted here in this dimensional nexus, she did not know. She was not particularly in a mood to care overly much in any case.
Sir Bonesington quipped in approval. "Excellent! You have my thanks."
Meanwhile, in his mind, he was considering what this meant. Before, when she was running completely dry, the necklace had not helped her in the slightest. But now that Valda had had a mana potion and restored some energy, it seems she was satisfied by its effect. A tiny him inside his head cackled in self-appreciation as his doubts were confirmed. It seemed that miss Valda's body could indeed not preserve mana efficiently, and burned through it at an amazing rate normally, likely due to the effect that had sealed her true self in her current human form. The necklace's restoration effect could only restore enough to counter the rate at which she lost power normally, so now she managed to avoid losing what she had already stored.
His skull somehow formed a smirk. It appeared his talents could still be useful for Valda in the future if she really wanted to restore her former glory as much as she claimed. He appreciated this fact. It never hurt to form possibly advantageous alliances.
Also, he didn't want to be on the wrong side of the flames if she decided she wanted to start a conflagration at some point.
Speaking of alliances....
"By the way, miss Valda? You wouldn't happen to have some experience with economic and legal processes?" He asked, a light and inquisitive tone rolling off his tongueless mouth. "You see, since it is unlikely that I'll be able to return to my humble abode in Azeroth any time soon, and I find myself curious about what other interesting individuals there might be in this place... I was planning on exchanging some of the belongings on me for exchangeable currency and build a little mansion somewhere for me to stay for the time."
-
The moment that Bonesington mentioned legal expertise, Valda could only smirk widely. That had been the bread and butter of this mortal existence she had led for almost thirty years until her true memories had been unlocked. Did she possess this expertise? Most certainly; she could, would, and had crushed arguments on both sides of the courtroom, arranged for thoroughly binding contracts between two parties, and profited greatly from all of it.
In fact her very first task had been one rife with such territorial disputes as was possible in the situation the husk of a man proposed to her. That just made her answer easier. She adjusted her glasses. "I am a lawyer, actually. I am fully capable of the assistance you require, at a reasonable fee. Shelter, at the minimum."
Her eyes glanced past her glasses to the lost look on Luka's face. Neither of them had a place to stay, in any case, and no source of income in this strange place. As long as they were bound to help each other, she would need to take care of this matter when it was clear he would never be capable of it.
A warrior was good for what it did, but it could not manage accounts and see to incomes in this day and age. She reached out for his hand again and squeezed gently until he came back to himself.
"For both of us."
-
“Hmm, well, I think these look interesting”, he said with a smile, pointing at several of the pictures. A few of them he had picked based on the fact that they contained ingredients he knew he liked or that sounded interesting, and the rest he chose based on how nice the picture looked.
Ryoko hid her amusement- it was obvious the poor kid was having trouble reading the menu. She smiled back. "Ah, you like the sounds of the Carnivore pizza too, huh? Between me, Lancer, and you, that sounds like a keeper. I think I know what to order now, thanks to you."
She then dialed the pizza place's number. She placed the phone and waited patiently past the dial tone, to be answered on the other end by a bored-sounding teenaged voice.
"Welcome to the Brick House, our pizzas are so great you'll brick yourself hard, what will your order be today."
"Yeah, I'd like one Nothin' But the Cheese, one Carnivore, one Catch of the Day, one Food for Food, one Pepperoni Paradise, one BBQ Blowout, and one Everything But the Sink. All medium."
"You get a free 2 liter bottle of pop with that. What flavor."
"What do you got?"
"Sprite and Dr. Pepper or something I think."
"Uh... we'll take the Dr. Pepper I guess?"
"Anything else."
Ryoko gave Kiyoshi a quick look for confirmation before answering. "Yeah, I think that's everything."
The Brick House employee gave her a total which made her cringe, but thankfully she knew she had enough to pay for it all. He told her it'd be there in about an hour, and with a quick "thank you," Ryoko hung up the phone. She turned back to Kiyoshi with a grin.
"Alright then, we got ourselves some pizza. I take it you want to get started on that soup now?"
-
"They just have to be willing, Jack," Forest said as she folded her arms across her admittedly small chest, "If you're a vampire here and want to stay, then you have to play by my rules. And that rule is that you feed by consent. Unless its during battle, then that's self defense, but if you wanna drink off of someone who lives here, then they have to give you permission to do so."
She knew what it was like to have her blood taken against her will. She hadn't wanted to become a vampire; it had been one of the many things that had been forced upon her by that Roman Bastard that night. She repressed the thought as she looked at Jack.
"Come on, let's go to the kitchen. There are people there and I'm willing to bet that one of them will donate for you."
She tilted her head and said, "And replenishing fluids after donating blood is better than eating just a cookie."
"I'm just here for a little bit, I've got a haven set up somewhere else. Anyway, willing isn't exactly common, until they find out how good your bite feels."
Daeva had it easy, walk into a club, turn up the Majesty, and watch the prey flock to them. Feed during sex, problem solved. Not as easy for me. Dragging some mugger into an alley and rolling him after feeding, or taking the occasional bite off of Brianna was my MO.
I followed Forest into the kitchen anyway. I'd show myself out the window again after this. Maybe take a nibble off the girl and the idiot if I could. Probably the girl. There was just something... alluring about her. Like a bit of Majesty had rubbed off on her.
-
Archer grinned as he watched Rin dress, enjoying the view then lamenting the fact she was fully dressed. He eyed the white slacks and said, "Be careful. I hate getting stains out of white fabric."
Then he smiled and said, "Not as nice as the skirt, but it works."
******
Lancer watched as Ryoko and the kid reappeared and started to order pizza. He nodded at her selection, and then lamented the fact that the Brick House wouldn't deliver any of its beer. Apparently it was illegal or some such nonsense.
He looked at Tom and glared. Part of him wanted to chase the man around the room and beat the living hell out of him. It was worse than the instinctual dislike he had for the asshole bowman. Him mentioning any sort of sympathy about Lancer's Landlady sent him on edge.
Then he realized that the asshole was a very pretty man as well; exotically so. Fae like even. The glasses just added to it. No, he didn't want this asshole near Forest at all.
"Well, you'll just wait until she gets here."
******
"Then you should advertise that," Forest suggested, "You're not terrible looking or anything. I'm pretty sure you could chat up some chick at a bar, or buy a prostitute for a bite." She had problems with people demanding that they bite her back home. Usually women that wanted to molest her during and after the biting, which wasn't something she was in to.
Despite being an "eternal virgin" and having to deal with that pain in the ass, she firmly preferred men. However because she was an "eternal virgin" she was insanely picky and wanted emotional ties to any sexual activity. Which hadn't happened in a very long time.
"Well, you'll just wait until she gets here."
Forest raised her eyebrow as she heard the near snarl in Lancer's voice. It was worse than the tone he took when he spoke about Archer and his diabolical counterpart. She walked into the kitchen to see Lancer glaring at a rather gorgeous man. White hair, violet eyes, and oddly enough glasses. There was Kiyoshi and Ryoko on the phone, ordering pizza from the Brick House knowing Lancer and his fondness for it.
She looked at Ryoko and said, "Let me pay for it when the driver gets here, or I can pay you back if you already paid with a card."
Then she walked over to Lancer, gently pushed him back, and said, "Okay, what's going on here that you've got my Hound of Ulster so excited?"
-
"Then you should advertise that," Forest suggested, "You're not terrible looking or anything. I'm pretty sure you could chat up some chick at a bar, or buy a prostitute for a bite." She had problems with people demanding that they bite her back home. Usually women that wanted to molest her during and after the biting, which wasn't something she was in to.
Despite being an "eternal virgin" and having to deal with that pain in the ass, she firmly preferred men. However because she was an "eternal virgin" she was insanely picky and wanted emotional ties to any sexual activity. Which hadn't happened in a very long time.
"Well, you'll just wait until she gets here."
Forest raised her eyebrow as she heard the near snarl in Lancer's voice. It was worse than the tone he took when he spoke about Archer and his diabolical counterpart. She walked into the kitchen to see Lancer glaring at a rather gorgeous man. White hair, violet eyes, and oddly enough glasses. There was Kiyoshi and Ryoko on the phone, ordering pizza from the Brick House knowing Lancer and his fondness for it.
She looked at Ryoko and said, "Let me pay for it when the driver gets here, or I can pay you back if you already paid with a card."
Then she walked over to Lancer, gently pushed him back, and said, "Okay, what's going on here that you've got my Hound of Ulster so excited?"
"It violates the First Tradition to do such. It's not something I'm willing to bend on."
I sighed as Forest got distracted by her guests. Honestly, I could go a little while longer without a bite, and I should probably leave. Maybe get a lick off of the pair upstairs on my way out.
I slipped out and away from the kitchen, heading back upstairs.
-
Connor closed the door and locked it. True it wouldn't hold off a vampire for long but any time was better than none. He looked at the bed posts, ornate but relatively thin. Connor took a moment to snap off the top of one creating a makeshift stake to fight with.
-
I found the door locked, but honestly - it was a really really shitty door lock. No deadbolt, no chain, just one for the door handle, that if you shake it the right way...
It snapped open with a click. Honestly Mick, are you really this stupid? I need to leave this way, otherwise people might get a wee bit suspicious.
Stepping on inside, I gave a fanged smile to mick, who had somehow managed to rip a steel bedpost off. "It isn't wooden. Tough luck there Danny Boy." The Beast rattled within its cage. A competitor, an obstacle to feeding. She was there. She was oh, so, so desirable. I wanted to eat. The Beast wanted to eat.
We wanted to eat.
-
Connor didn't need to think about it "EMERGENCY PEOPLE, I NEED HELP DRAGGING A LOONEY AWAY FROM A HELPLESS GIRL, SERIOUSLY NOW" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Regardless of what he would look like embarrassment was a small price to pay for Sakura's safety on the off chance he was wrong.
Connor brandished the dagger like steel sliver as best he could not moving ground from between Sakura and this vampire.
-
I...
I won't sugar coat this. I just... lost it. The noise, the smell, the threat, the situation... I lost it.
Only one thing was on my mind. Feed. Feed. Feed. I wanted to lunge past the Mick, latch myself onto the girl and sink fangs deep inside her neck. Wanted to suck her dry, suck her down and up.
I couldn't move. Not yet, not give into the beast just yet...
-
The moment that Bonesington mentioned legal expertise, Valda could only smirk widely. That had been the bread and butter of this mortal existence she had led for almost thirty years until her true memories had been unlocked. Did she possess this expertise? Most certainly; she could, would, and had crushed arguments on both sides of the courtroom, arranged for thoroughly binding contracts between two parties, and profited greatly from all of it.
In fact her very first task had been one rife with such territorial disputes as was possible in the situation the husk of a man proposed to her. That just made her answer easier. She adjusted her glasses. "I am a lawyer, actually. I am fully capable of the assistance you require, at a reasonable fee. Shelter, at the minimum."
Her eyes glanced past her glasses to the lost look on Luka's face. Neither of them had a place to stay, in any case, and no source of income in this strange place. As long as they were bound to help each other, she would need to take care of this matter when it was clear he would never be capable of it.
A warrior was good for what it did, but it could not manage accounts and see to incomes in this day and age. She reached out for his hand again and squeezed gently until he came back to himself.
"For both of us."
At that, Sir Bonesington bowed with a great flourishing motion.
"Of course. That is more than acceptable. Shelter and whatever you two may need for a living, so long as I am able to comfortably sustain us all with what I have. It is only fair for me to return your help so, and it is in my greatest interest for us to have an amicable relationship." The lich said.
He rose with an amused glint in his eyes and offered his bony hand for a shake, making sure to tone down the cold that constantly flowed around him.
"I hope we will get along in the future. Always nice to be on good terms with such interesting people."
-
Henderson had simply been enjoying the ride. Man, he was so baked if he was seeing and hearing all this shit.
"Waiter, check please. Rupert's done with his donut!"
Somehow, the stuffed parrot had a 5 dollar bill in its beak.
-
Archer grinned as he watched Rin dress, enjoying the view then lamenting the fact she was fully dressed. He eyed the white slacks and said, "Be careful. I hate getting stains out of white fabric."
"Of course I'll be careful. The Tohsakas are all about elegance. I wouldn't betray that by staining my nice white slacks."
Then he smiled and said, "Not as nice as the skirt, but it works."
She blushed at that and couldn't help beaming in response. Now ready to meet her awaiting public, she offered her arm to him.
***
"Well, you'll just wait until she gets here."
Tom was taken aback by the near growl in the Irishman's voice. He walked a bit closer to his new adversary, and their eyes locked, the violet eyes staring into Lancer's own with a rather feline glare.
Tom wasn't certain why, but the man before him drummed up a certain instinctive hatred. A growl tinged his own voice as he replied, "That I shall."
***
Ryoko suddenly noticed the aggressive sounding voices of the two men in the other room. She was a bit mortified to note that both were quite familiar...
Lancer and... Tom?! What's he doing here? She sighed and turned to Kiyoshi.
"Go ahead and start cooking the soup. I'm going over to make sure I don't have to do any damage control over here..."
Forest raised her eyebrow as she heard the near snarl in Lancer's voice. It was worse than the tone he took when he spoke about Archer and his diabolical counterpart. She walked into the kitchen to see Lancer glaring at a rather gorgeous man. White hair, violet eyes, and oddly enough glasses. There was Kiyoshi and Ryoko on the phone, ordering pizza from the Brick House knowing Lancer and his fondness for it.
She looked at Ryoko and said, "Let me pay for it when the driver gets here, or I can pay you back if you already paid with a card."
Forest's question stopped Ryoko mid-walk. She grinned and shook her head. "Don't worry about it. If I hadn't come here, my taint wouldn't be gone. I haven't paid yet, but it's no biggie. I don't mind."
Tom heard Ryoko speak and turned to her. "Ah, Ryoko. ...Wait, what do you mean your taint is gone?"
The redheaded magus sighed. "Long story." She looked pointedly at the two men. "But I think it can wait for now."
Then Forest walked over to Lancer, gently pushed him back, and said, "Okay, what's going on here that you've got my Hound of Ulster so excited?"
Ryoko walked over to Lancer's side, ready to grab his arm if need be to restrain him. She looked between the two men once more and considered the situation carefully.
Tom took her pause as an opportunity to speak. "So you must be Law Unto Herself then. To be quite honest with you, I don't quite know what I said to get your Hound to start barking at me. He's been quite aggressive towards me since the beginning."
Ryoko sighed and shook her head. "I think I'll handle this one, Tom." The psychic looked at her quizzically as she turned to Forest. "From what I can tell, your Hound has sniffed himself out a Tom Cat. Cats hate dogs. Dogs hate cats. Plus Tom's social skills aren't that great to begin with. Oh, he says some pretty words, but he's not so good at using those words to not come off like an arrogant asshole, sorry Tom, but you do. And since that comes off as a worse version of my dad, well... it was natural antagonism waiting to happen."
The magus grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck. "Well... at least I think that's about how it is."
-
"Uh, right!" Finally out of his funk, Luka snapped to attention. "Thank you, Miss Valda, Mr. Bonesington. I'll make it up to you! Somehow!"
-
"Uh, right!" Finally out of his funk, Luka snapped to attention. "Thank you, Miss Valda, Mr. Bonesington. I'll make it up to you! Somehow!"
Her other hand pats the back of Luka's, and her smile is gentle.
"I know you will, Luka."
Then Valda turns to Bonesington and her face returns to neutral, even as she reaches out for his hand.
"When do we start?"
-
Archer smirked and said, "All about elegance? Then what was up with those cries a few minutes ago."
******
Forest looked between the two men before she heard that Connor kid yell, "EMERGENCY PEOPLE, I NEED HELP DRAGGING A LOONEY AWAY FROM A HELPLESS GIRL, SERIOUSLY NOW!"
"Bloody hell . . ."
Then without a word, she shot past everyone, dashed past Taiga and up the steps to where Jack was looking in the throws of blood lust right about to go after the prone redheaded girl.
Instinctively she grabbed the Kindred.
-
Feed. Feed.
Feeeeeed.
Stimulus.
Response.
Within a second, I responded, sinking my fangs into the neck of the one who touched me, and drank. The Kiss took hold, in all its glorious effect. I drank enough, enough to regain some sanity.
And it was Forest. I drank from Kin. God forgive me, I may have committed the ultimate sin of the Damned.
-
Forest's eyes widened as fangs sank into the right side of her neck. She automatically moved to pry her attacker off at the sharp spike of pain in her throat. Then everything changed.
A switch had been flipped.
Bliss was flooding through her, bliss and need. Her body was rising higher and higher, the tension unbearable. She trembled as she felt weightless and incredibly tense at the same time. Then the tension broke and she screamed with it, arching back as her body clinched needily at nothing, over and over again.
******
Lancer had already been in motion, but the sound of Forest crying out spurred him even faster. However her cry was odd. It didn't sound like of someone in pain, but exactly the opposite.
-
Kiyoshi smiled at Ryoko. He stood and waited patiently as she dialed the pizza place, giving them the orders he'd picked out in her much-better English, and then ordering a “Dr. Pepper” or something as well.
She looked at him, presumably to confirm that she'd not forgotten anything. Kiyoshi wasn't totally sure, since he didn't know the names of the pizzas, but he trusted her to have got it right. She was his half-sister and cousin, after all. Plus, she had at least ordered the correct number of pizzas, and the names she had read out sounded at least plausible. So, he nodded his assent.
With that, she confirmed the order and hung up. Then, she turned to him and spoke.
"Alright then, we got ourselves some pizza. I take it you want to get started on that soup now?" she said, grinning.
“Yeah, definitely. I promised Connor, and it will be fun to spend some time cooking with you.”
But, they could get moving, he heard a shout from upstairs.
"EMERGENCY PEOPLE, I NEED HELP DRAGGING A LOONEY AWAY FROM A HELPLESS GIRL, SERIOUSLY NOW".
That's coming from Sakura's room! She's in trouble, Kiyoshi thought with alarm.
At the same time Ryoko spoke.
"Go ahead and start cooking the soup”, she said. “I'm going over to make sure I don't have to do any damage control over here..."
Too distracted by the danger looming to take notice of his sister's words, Kiyoshi started running at top speed towards the stairs.
“Sorry, Ryoko-nee, we can't cook right now. Sakura-nee is in trouble, I need to save her”, he said as he ran towards the room. As he arrived, he summoned his swords ready to attack.
-
Forest's eyes widened as fangs sank into the right side of her neck. She automatically moved to pry her attacker off at the sharp spike of pain in her throat. Then everything changed.
A switch had been flipped.
Bliss was flooding through her, bliss and need. Her body was rising higher and higher, the tension unbearable. She trembled as she felt weightless and incredibly tense at the same time. Then the tension broke and she screamed with it, arching back as her body clinched needily at nothing, over and over again.
My eyes focused and unfocused, and I started feeling my hair shift back and forth from feathers to hair as her vitae hit my system.
Brianna once described to me what she had felt like after a dose of smack. This was probably as close as I could get to that without feeding off of someone who just shot up.
Before Forest could collapse, I grabbed her, letting her lean on myself. I'm pretty sure she was as much propping myself up as I was propping her up.
“Sorry, Ryoko-nee, we can't cook right now. Sakura-nee is in trouble, I need to save her”, he said as he ran towards the room. As he arrived, he summoned his swords ready to attack.
And then... I must be seeing things. What the hell did that kid just do?
-
Forest felt cold, empty, and aching. She was dimly aware that her panties were currently soaked and she was trembling. Her head was spinning and she couldn't think. There was just that endless ache and hunger that had nothing to do with blood.
Her knees were weak and she was dimly aware of Jack attempting to hold her up.
"What the bloody fuck did you do to her?" Lancer's voice echoed out through the room as she was pulled up right.
She suddenly found herself wanting to lick Lancer's skin and roam her hands all over his warm, lithe body. However he was holding her wrist so she couldn't.
******
Lancer cursed. He cursed the Morrigan and he cursed that crow idiot in front of him as he gently held Forest up and at arms length. Her normally vibrant indigo eyes were dulled, her cheeks were even pink, and she was trembling.
Not to mention she reeked of lust.
All of her repression and denial was catching up to her, and regrettably, Lancer couldn't help her. Not with Ryoko and Millie here. The Celt gnashed his teeth and just hope that there was someone here that could properly take care of his Landlady as she was.
-
Forest felt cold, empty, and aching. She was dimly aware that her panties were currently soaked and she was trembling. Her head was spinning and she couldn't think. There was just that endless ache and hunger that had nothing to do with blood.
Her knees were weak and she was dimly aware of Jack attempting to hold her up.
"What the bloody fuck did you do to her?" Lancer's voice echoed out through the room as she was pulled up right.
She suddenly found herself wanting to lick Lancer's skin and roam her hands all over his warm, lithe body. However he was holding her wrist so she couldn't.
******
Lancer cursed. He cursed the Morrigan and he cursed that crow idiot in front of him as he gently held Forest up and at arms length. Her normally vibrant indigo eyes were dulled, her cheeks were even pink, and she was trembling.
Not to mention she reeked of lust.
All of her repression and denial was catching up to her, and regrettably, Lancer couldn't help her. Not with Ryoko and Millie here. The Celt gnashed his teeth and just hope that there was someone here that could properly take care of his Landlady as she was.
I fell, face first onto the ground, before struggling somewhat upright.
"I... I fed off her. Looks like she took to the Kiss a little hard. Very hard."
I pushed some vitae into my system, feeling the warm imitation of life filling my veins. Might as well look at least somewhat more human now. Remember to blink. Breathe - work the lungs, air in and out, don't creep the strange man out.
"I... I take responsibility. I nearly lost control, and she stopped me, but... this happened. I'm sorry."
I can't really see this ending well. I think I... wait... can her variety of Kin orgasm without the Blush!?!? The Daeva I know would kill for that ability. Hedonistic asshole.
-
Tom and Ryoko watched as everyone fled upstairs. The two exchanged glances. Ryoko muttered the word "shit" under her breath as she and Tom went after the others.
Tom arrived first, his long legs carrying him faster. He looked at Forest in shock. What... what's wrong with her?
The psychic rushed over to her side, not quite sure why he was concerned for her welfare, but... "Law Unto Herself?" Something... the scent, the look on her face... he didn't want to leave that look on her face. Plus... it was odd, but he could almost feel something stirring inside him... He turned to Lancer. "Let us forget about our mutual hatred for now. How can I help her?"
Ryoko followed close behind, and her gaze also wandered to Forest. ...Oh boy.
***
Archer smirked and said, "All about elegance? Then what was up with those cries a few minutes ago."
"T-that's different! It's harder being elegant during sex!" She smirked at him. "Not that you can really complain. I bet you enjoyed hearing me cry out like that, didn't you?"
-
Kiyoshi looked on in horror as the other vampire bit into Forest's neck, causing her to let out a loud scream and arch her back, before collapsing into the other vampire's arms.
He ran into the room angrily, brandishing his swords to attack the other vampire.
"What the bloody fuck did you do to her?" shouted Lancer.
“Yeah, leave her alone! And Sakura-nee, too. I will not let you harm my sister!” Kiyoshi shouted as he approached the other vampire, swords at the ready.
-
Connor sighed inwardly not dropping his guard for a moment. "He lied about leaving through the window and then tried to eat Sakura, and then when Forest came to stop the blasted freak he bit her hard, he's a uncontrollable looney who needs to leave now. Although personally I'd kill him if it were up to me" Connor chimed
-
Connor sighed inwardly not dropping his guard for a moment. "He lied about leaving through the window and then tried to eat Sakura, and then when Forest came to stop the blasted freak he bit her hard, he's a uncontrollable looney who needs to leave now. Although personally I'd kill him if it were up to me" Connor chimed
"Fuck. You. Mickey. And I was going to leave out the window, and then you scream and set me off."
The Mick was obviously unused to dealing with Kindred, so he needed a lesson. "You don't do that when someone's low on blood and you're holding a weapon. Frenzy material waiting to happen you dumb fuck."
I leaned against the doorway, breathing in and out. Or at least imitating it. It felt a little odd.
-
Lancer eyed Connor and said, "Yes, that's well and good now, but I've got other priorities here."
Forest was still shaking, but he wondered if she'd turn soon and give into her nature. Even though Forest's nature is more about nurture than being a monster, he thought to himself as he gathered her slim wrist with one of his hands and held her up. He stroked her hair back and she gasped, arching towards his hand.
"Bugger," he swore gently, glaring at Jack. "Damn right she took to the Bite hard. Now her body's needing the real thing and not just from a bite."
He glared at Tom and said, "Don't call her Law Unto Herself right now, she's Forest, she's my landlady and she needs the sort of help I don't want you giving her."
******
Archer grinned at Rin and was about to reply when he heard what sounded to be the vampire screaming. He tilted his head and said, "It sounds like our Landlady isn't having a good night."
He did walk with her out of the room though, wondering what was going on.
-
Connor nodded "I'm alive, she can feed off me, the whole son of a Demi god thing means it should take less to get her right and ordered." he offered seriously.
-
I groaned. Oh, come on. Come the hell on. Brianna was going to freaking laugh her ass off at this if she ever found out.
"Then fuck it, I'll do it. Spent the vitae to imitate life anyway, my fault, my responsibility, yadda yadda yadda. No risk of her draining someone dry in the heat or anything."
Good god, this situation was something out of a cheap porno. Hell, I think some Kindred FILM these sort of cheap pornos.
"This is not what I wanted to do tonight..."
Connor nodded "I'm alive, she can feed off me, the whole son of a Demi god thing means it should take less to get her right and ordered." he offered seriously.
Aaaand the Mick can't take a fucking hint.
"You don't have a dick or brain do you boyo?"
-
"I don't need blood," Forest said in her low, husky voice, shaking her head.
Lancer glared at Connor and said, "She needs a man, you idiot."
"I want Cu Culihian," she said in ancient Gaelic and Lancer swallowed at the sound of her voice in their native tongue.
He replied in kind, "Well, you can't have me, sadly." Of course I'd be trying to woo Millie and have Ryoko's attention the one time I could happily shag my Landlady without consequences. Stupid low luck rating!
Then he switched back to English, "You stay the fuck away from her, you put her in this state, you ass." Then he looked at Kiyoshi and said, "And why is the kid still in here?!"
-
"I don't need blood," Forest said in her low, husky voice, shaking her head.
Lancer glared at Connor and said, "She needs a man, you idiot."
"I want Cu Culihian," she said in ancient Gaelic and Lancer swallowed at the sound of her voice in their native tongue.
He replied in kind, "Well, you can't have me, sadly." Of course I'd be trying to woo Millie and have Ryoko's attention the one time I could happily shag my Landlady without consequences. Stupid low luck rating!
Then he switched back to English, "You stay the fuck away from her, you put her in this state, you ass." Then he looked at Kiyoshi and said, "And why is the kid still in here?!"
"Well, if you can't give her the dick, and I can't give her the dick, the Mick doesn't have a dick, whoever you said can't give her the dick, and there's the kid - who the hell gave him swords - who can give her the dick!?!?"
I sighed, something I hadn't done in months. I just want to go home, and make things right. Fight back against the Beast the best I can before I snap again.
"And will someone seriously get the swords away from the kid? He'll put his eye out or something."
-
Ryoko turned to Kiyoshi. "Kiyoshi, go downstairs, start on the soup. We got this handled."
She was taken aback by a lot of things- Tom's sexual innocence, this Connor person's density, the whole situation...
And she was pretty confident who to turn to for the solution. Ryoko hooked a reinforced arm around Lancer's arm and before addressing the concerned looking psychic.
"Tom? Listen to me. You want to help her? Kiss her."
Tom frowned. "Kiss her? Is it really that simple? It sounds like something out of a children's story."
Ryoko nodded at him. "Just kiss her. The rest should come naturally."
Tom frowned at her doubtfully. But he did want to help, her condition was making him uncomfortable in more ways than one... With a weary sigh, he gently cupped the aroused vampire's chin with his hand. "Law- no, Forest. I sincerely hope this helps you." And rather chastely, his lips gently pressed against hers.
-
Kiyoshi was standing there in bemusement, unsure what to do. The person he was meant to be protecting his sister from was collapsed against the door. But, still, he dare not back down. He had shown how dangerous he could be.
But, instead of fighting him, they were standing around discussing Forest's situation. He could only presume she needed prana, like his dad did, and they were discussing how to give it to her.
"And why is the kid still in here?!" Lancer said.
"I'm protecting my sister from the vampire that bit Forest", Kiyoshi replied. "What's wrong with her, anyway? If she needs prana, mummy gives it to daddy through a special ritual in their room. Aunty Rin will probably know more about it."
Then, the vampire spoke.
"And will someone seriously get the swords away from the kid? He'll put his eye out or something", said the vampire.
Kiyoshi bristled with anger. How dare the idiot say that.
Then, Ryoko spoke up.
"Kiyoshi, go downstairs, start on the soup. We got this handled", she said.
But, I need to protect Sakura-nee....
Kiyoshi wanted to protect his sister. But, at the same time, he could clearly see he was not wanted or needed her.
"OK, fine. I'll make the most delicious soup ever", he said, smiling as he walked towards the door.
Still brandishing his weapons, he walked past the vampire in the doorway.
"Hey, I'm not the one who attacks people out of nowhere, don't lecture me on self-control. And, if you dare attack my family again, I'll be putting your eyes out", he said, angrily, pointing his weapons in the direction of the vampire for a moment before desummoning them and continuing down the stairs.
-
"Just kiss her. The rest should come naturally."
You're not Lancer, Forest thought through her haze as warm, long finger tips tilted her chin up. It was the new comer. The one with the eyes like amethyst and glasses. The one who pissed Lancer off. His fingers were warm and gentle against her aching skin. She shivered despite herself as Lancer let her go right as his lips brushed gently against hers. It was a chaste kiss, and oddly sweet.
From the smell of him, which wasn't human by any stretch of the words, Forest knew it had to be his first one.
Her arms intertwined around his neck as she kissed him, slowly at first with trembling lips. She sent to him, What's . . . your . . . name?
******
"Ryoko, are you sure about this?" Lancer demanded as he was pulled away from his Landlady. Then that asshole Tom was kissing her, and apparently not knowing how to do it properly.
"Oy, asshole, if you hurt her . . ." he started before glaring at Jack. "You. You'd better fucking leave. You owe us for not staking your undead ass here and now."
If Ryoko hadn't been holding him back, he would have just charged the vampire and beat the shit out of him.
-
Connor sighed. "I don'na know how every last vampire works. But I do know how it works with the hounds so listen here. You're a bloody dog, not a cat and certainly not a prissy wimp. You weren't here to protect her so do like you're supposed to now and take her in a private room. This advice is from your son so take it. Shag her, no excuses. You owe her as much." he replied staring at Lancer.
-
You're not Lancer, Forest thought through her haze as warm, long finger tips tilted her chin up. It was the new comer. The one with the eyes like amethyst and glasses. The one who pissed Lancer off. His fingers were warm and gentle against her aching skin. She shivered despite herself as Lancer let her go right as his lips brushed gently against hers. It was a chaste kiss, and oddly sweet.
From the smell of him, which wasn't human by any stretch of the words, Forest knew it had to be his first one.
Her arms intertwined around his neck as she kissed him, slowly at first with trembling lips. She sent to him, What's . . . your . . . name?
Tom was surprised by the telepathic message, but for only a moment. He didn't know that Forest was a telepath like himself. He decided to answer her question truthfully. For some reason, he felt he owed her that much.
Mewt- no, that is what I am, not who I am. My name is Thomas Hale. I-
Suddenly, something inside him snapped. Like a lever being pulled down. His rational thoughts dulled. His senses seemed to sharpen- the taste of oranges, the smell of lavender, the softness of her lips all overwhelmed him. One hand entangled itself in her hair, the other supporting the small of her back as his lips adjusted ever so naturally to the contour of hers, the kiss becoming far more passionate. The feeling he felt before began to become even stronger...
***
"Ryoko, are you sure about this?" Lancer demanded as he was pulled away from his Landlady. Then that asshole Tom was kissing her, and apparently not knowing how to do it properly.
"Oy, asshole, if you hurt her . . ." he started before glaring at Jack. "You. You'd better fucking leave. You owe us for not staking your undead ass here and now."
If Ryoko hadn't been holding him back, he would have just charged the vampire and beat the shit out of him.
Ryoko continued to hold him back. "He's not worth it, Lancer. And besides..." she gestured to the kissing couple. "Look, I think he's getting it now! ...Weird, didn't expect him to pick up on that so fast." She looked up at him, albeit a bit sheepishly. "And honestly, I didn't see who else could have done it. I don't trust this Connor, even if he does claim to be your son, or the vampire, and I can tell you don't want to do it, and I trust Tom for all his... problems, so as far as I knew, there was no other choice."
-
Mewt- no, that is what I am, not who I am. My name is Thomas Hale. I-
So he could respond in kind. In another situation Forest would have been fascinated to come across another telepath that wasn't a vampire.
He was kissing her harder now, she flicked her tongue against his lips and tasted tea. The sweet scent of cloves was over whelming her, and he pulled her closer. Her nipples were painfully hard against her T-shirt, and when she was pressed against his hard chest she gasped.
******
Connor sighed. "I don'na know how every last vampire works. But I do know how it works with the hounds so listen here. You're a bloody dog, not a cat and certainly not a prissy wimp. You weren't here to protect her so do like you're supposed to now and take her in a private room. This advice is from your son so take it. Shag her, no excuses. You owe her as much." he replied staring at Lancer.
Lancer glared and said, "I am not shagging my Landlady, boyo. I have my reasons, plus I don't want to mess up the relationship we have with just one night of shagging. She's my friend and I've pledged myself to her. Fucking her would just break that."
Ryoko continued to hold him back. "He's not worth it, Lancer. And besides..." she gestured to the kissing couple. "Look, I think he's getting it now! ...Weird, didn't expect him to pick up on that so fast." She looked up at him, albeit a bit sheepishly. "And honestly, I didn't see who else could have done it. I don't trust this Connor, even if he does claim to be your son, or the vampire, and I can tell you don't want to do it, and I trust Tom for all his... problems, so as far as I knew, there was no other choice."
Lancer blinked and said, "Aye there is, there's Finn! Even though Tom might be getting into it, at least Finn will make sure she's happy at the end of all of this."
-
Tom felt her body press against his, and the strange feeling intensified. The flick of her tongue against his lips quickly enticed his tongue to dance with hers, prompting him to hold her even closer. He could feel himself harden, but didn't process what it meant, his mind now a slave to his pleasure. He simply knew that he didn't want this to stop, that he wanted more.
***
Ryoko looked up at Lancer, startled. "Wait... as in Millie Garrison's older brother?" The redheaded magus found herself in a bit of a dilemma. On the other hand, this was obviously doing both Tom and Forest good. On the other hand, it was possible Finn was more trustworthy... Plus the possibility of a threesome wasn't out. Ryoko looked back and forth between the increasingly passionate lovers and Lancer. It didn't help that she was starting to get a bit horny herself looking at them, as ashamed as she was to admit it.
Her face lit on fire. "Um... well, actually..." Gotta have enough time to think of a plan, gotta have enough time to think of a plan... She ultimately sighed. "Oh, screw it." She repositioned her arm so it was around Lancer's waist, pulled him down to her level, and pressed her lips against his.
-
Instinctively, she rubbed herself against the ridge that was making itself rather apparent. A gasp tore from her lips as he returned the kiss, swiftly learning. She was dimly aware that they were being watched, but that only seemed to turn her on even more.
Her hands started to slide under his shirt, eager to touch hot skin.
******
"Aye, Finn Garrison. He carries a bit of a torch for Fore and he's a good lad. Besides, two lads doting on her might be exactly what she needs," he mused. He was about to gesture at the pair and suggest that they usher them to Forest's room when Ryoko wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him down.
He blinked as she was suddenly kissing him. He returned the kiss, entangling his hands in her short hair before pulling back with a smile. "Easy. Let's get those two settled, let Connor dote on his lass and then we can continue this."
-
Tom's breathing became harder and more ragged, his heart beating wildly in his chest. She felt her cool hands against his skin and a small gasp escaped his lips. He felt himself harden even further as his kisses became even hungrier. He wasn't even aware of the people watching them, as absorbed as he was in this newfound sensation.
***
Ryoko's face became redder than her hair. "R-right. Yeah." The blush refused to fade as she looked at the two. "Don't think it'll be easy. How do we get them downstairs? I don't think it'll be as easy as simply pushing them."
-
"Hey, I'm not the one who attacks people out of nowhere, don't lecture me on self-control. And, if you dare attack my family again, I'll be putting your eyes out", he said, angrily, pointing his weapons in the direction of the vampire for a moment before desummoning them and continuing down the stairs.
What a violent little brat.
And the Mick as usual was a tactless idiot, and still lacking a dick of his own.
So everyone was about to get a happy ending, except apparently myself. And Forest was about to get apparently a pair of 'em. Fucking story of my life.
"Get those two a room at least," I said. "I can get this Finn fellow. It's the least I can do after... Well, all this."
Christ, I'd never hear the end of it if Brianna found out about this incident. Maybe I should have her deliver a fruit basket or something as an apology later.
Tom's breathing became harder and more ragged, his heart beating wildly in his chest. She felt her cool hands against his skin and a small gasp escaped his lips. He felt himself harden even further as his kisses became even hungrier. He wasn't even aware of the people watching them, as absorbed as he was in this newfound sensation.
***
Ryoko's face became redder than her hair. "R-right. Yeah." The blush refused to fade as she looked at the two. "Don't think it'll be easy. How do we get them downstairs? I don't think it'll be as easy as simply pushing them."
"Why not another room on this floor. Just shove 'em on in. Also, I need a drink. Whiskey. Not blood."
Had the room always spun this much?
-
Corpse Giant
Roof of Apartment Complex
The mindless monstrosity had one order. 'Guard the main dimensional circle.' so long as no one other than Downy came into it's vicinity then it would leave them alone standing silent as ever. However if someone were to get near then it was instructed to fire off it's signal and respond to any attacks in kind.
So far it's mission was going smoothly, after all who would dare attack a giant mass of rotting bodies?
***************************************************************************************
Downy Reed
In Between Dimensions
Of course Downy noticed the giant castle on the far side of the city he had just chosen to ignore it. So long as it didn't or any of it's denizens didn't make any noticeable movements he was content to leave it alone. And besides he'd seen weirder, he was the current Master of an ancient magiteck flying battleship after all. (Or at least he hoped he still was.)
Following Gabriel's route was simple enough he just needed to find the thin stream of energy that leaked with every portal opening. Though by this point Downy suspected Gabriel's method of travel was somehow different than his was, oh well just another puzzle to solve later.
After just a moment more of traveling Downy began to realize Gabriel's plan but by then it was already too late to stop the first circle's destruction, in between the space of dimensions he witnessed the hazy vision of Gabriel's blood spilling out onto the circle's design, and as the creatures that had chased after him shirked at the mere sight of it. After all to them that blood was a nasty poison meant to undue the ritual that had brought them here in the first place.
The circle itself began to change colors rapidly before puttering out in nothing but a wimper it's beam of light fading out leaving just two left. The two remaining circles seemingly struggled for only a moment before regaining their composure and continuing the ritual.
Furious as ever Downy rushed towards Gabriel's location, it would only be a moment more before he was upon him.
************************************************************************************
Monster Commander
Circle 1
The commander and his men were startled by the sudden dash of Gabriel's movement and then the blood was spilt ruining the circle completely. 3 of the mages however had managed to get caught in the blood spattering and screamed out in pain as the blood burned through their clothes and tore at their skin. Now blinded by intense pain and the rage of their mission being foiled they charged their foe head on intending to take him out in a magnificent blaze of glory. (Essentially suicide bombers.)
The rest of the mages began to surround Gabriel along with the rest of the monsters, he may have destroyed their circle but he was not about to get away from them if they could help it.
The generals appear in 3 posts, Downy appears next post.
-
"Since apparently you need a fucking repeat chomps, get the fuck out right fucking now! No fucking delays or I light your ass on fire!" Connor snapped hearing the vampire's words.
-
"Since apparently you need a fucking repeat chomps, get the fuck out right fucking now! No fucking delays or I light your ass on fire!" Connor snapped hearing the vampire's words.
"Hey Mick, I ain't leaving until this situation is sorted out. Maybe if you did something that would happen sooner you dickless wonder. Or are you too brain dead to do anything moron?"
Honestly, the Mick was starting to get on my nerves, big time. Little bitch didn't know shit apparently.
"So are you going to try to start shit now or not, because I just fed so if you want to start shit buddy, bring it the fuck on."
-
Angel took out another lizard man as he watch the summoning circle just go dead. He could smell blood in the air, and it wasn't like the cold stuff currently splattered on his face, hands, clothing, and sword. No, this blood was unlike anything he'd ever smelled before.
He could make out sandalwood and cinnamon with maybe a hint of vanilla. There was something else about it too. Something that made him want to put on his Game Face, but he quelled the urge. He was vaguely reminded of the first time he had kissed Buffy and vamped out at the sheer intensity of it.
Then he realized it was coming from that absurdly attractive man standing brazenly in now dead circle.
This guy had come to stop these evil bastards and had the means to do so, but he was severely outnumbered. He watched as the wizards prepared themselves to attack. Without thought, the vampire without a soul sprang into motion, rushing past lizard men and leaving corpses in his wake.
******
Gabriel was suddenly surrounded by pretty much everything that had to do with this damned circle. His wrist was somewhat throbbing as the blood was clotting and the wound slowly began to knit itself. However, he was hopelessly out numbered.
Then he smiled as the attackers prepared to gather, opening the Shadows once again. Before he could step into them though, a large, broad shouldered and blood splattered figure was suddenly between him and everything else. A head of one of the lizard men went flying as its body crumpled beside Gabriel.
Standing there was a man about Gabriel's height and build with spiky dark brown hair, pale skin, and narrowed dark eyes. He had a broad sword in his hand, and from his stance it was obvious he was comfortable with using it. The man gestured with his sword, glared, and said, "Guys, this really doesn't look like fair odds, but then again, you're obviously evil and I really don't like that."
"Neither do I," Gabriel replied as he reached out and put his hand on the other man's shoulder, causing those dark eyes to blink at him.
******
Forest trailed her kisses from his lips to lightly lick at his throat, rising on her tip-toes to do so. His smell wasn't human at all, but that didn't matter. If anything, she hadn't smelled anyone like him before.
The musk of his own lust tickled her nose and she could fell the beginnings of his thick length pressing against her. Automatically she rubbed against him, nibbling lightly at his neck. A gasp tore from her lips at the overload of sensation, but it wasn't enough. Her skin was tingling and she was aching.
******
Lancer glared at Connor and said, "We're working on it, keep your sodding pants on."
To Jack he said, "Help me push them out and then you can get Finn." Then he paused and asked, "Did you know this would happen?"
"Ryoko, we'll talk later, lass," he said, shaking his head at his predicament.
-
"The Kiss induces pleasure but I wasn't expecting this to happen. I still need to lick the holes closed by the way. If she latches onto me, problem solved, and I might need help in getting her off of me. Let's get to it then."
Pulling myself to my feet, I grasped Forest by the shoulders, bending down and quickly running my tongue across her pale neck, over where I'd taken a bite out of her. That should close it up good as new, but how she'd react as I dragged her towards an empty bedroom with her boy toy still attached was anyone's guess.
Truly, mine was a cursed existence tonight.
-
A blinding wash of light formed in the room dying out as a woman in a red sweater and black sweats stepped through it. "Oh hell, Satanists?" she muttered scanning the room.
"no wait, Lancer? Connor? What the blasted hell happened?" she snapped seeing Sakura on the bed.
Connor didn't take his eyes off the vampire. "Sakura projected a car, although this guy tried to eat her ma'am" Connor replied.
Rin nodded "Ok then, I'll send her for treatment in a minute, Lancer please, if you weren't already getting those two out of here then do it now. Not to be selfish but getting freaky in the room of an injured girl is tasteless at best." she requested calmly.
-
Forest trailed her kisses from his lips to lightly lick at his throat, rising on her tip-toes to do so. His smell wasn't human at all, but that didn't matter. If anything, she hadn't smelled anyone like him before.
The musk of his own lust tickled her nose and she could fell the beginnings of his thick length pressing against her. Automatically she rubbed against him, nibbling lightly at his neck. A gasp tore from her lips at the overload of sensation, but it wasn't enough. Her skin was tingling and she was aching.
A low moan escaped tom's lips as Forest lathed at his throat, the pleasure he felt intensifying to almost painful levels.
Suddenly, he felt his partner shiver and cry out... but not from anything that he himself had done. He turned to see that another man had licked at Forest's neck and was beginning to drag her (and him along with her) towards an open bedroom.
His rational thoughts still dulled and his more primal senses awakened, he recognized the other man as competition and a threat. From his throat came a low, feline growl as his eyes fell upon the competition, his pupils now slits. He pulled his mate away into his arms and carried her into the bedroom, placing her down as he began to work on removing her shirt.
***
"Ryoko, we'll talk later, lass," he said, shaking his head at his predicament.
"I'm just trying to help," she muttered. Ryoko looked at Tom's actions in shock. This was a side of him she had never seen before, or ever thought she'd see. She found herself feeling oddly sorry for the vampire and gave him an awkward pat on the back. The redheaded magus shut the door to the now occupied bedroom before turning back to Lancer.
"Let's get this guy a drink and get Finn up here then. Though I don't know how we're going to get Finn in there, Tom's being oddly aggressive. It's so weird, I've never seen him like this before."
-
Wet warmth laved at the sensitive bite on her neck. She arched back with a cry, her hands tightening on Tom's arms. She was dimly aware of being pushed or pulled out of the room, like they were being lead some where.
Then suddenly Tom growled, a low, oddly feline sound as his slitted pupils glared at Jack. Before she could react, she was swung up into Tom's arms and carried to one of the still unoccupied bedrooms. She gasped as he started to pull off her T-shirt, the unsure young man gone and replaced with a hungry predator.
She shivered in a combination of fear, anticipation, and lust.
******
Lancer glared at Rin and said, "The reason she's like that was because she sacrificed herself to protect your daughter. So you can properly thank her later."
Then he shut the door, leaving the happy family together and him dealing with all of this. Jack hadn't expected this to happen. He'd been starved and Forest, in typical Forest fashion, offered herself. Lancer gnashed his teeth at his Landlady's generosity before Tom growled at the vampire and took off with Forest with all intents to claim her.
He clasped the vampire's shoulder and said, "Aye aye, you can start making amends by getting Finn. He's the guy sitting in Forest's office down stairs. She'll need to feed too, and I don't think the Tom Cat would be too good for her right now."
He looked at Ryoko and said, "Well, we have to try. Sure, I'd be excited getting into Forest's nickers, but maybe if Finn's explains he's there to help and feed her, that blasted cat will be okay."
-
Brother Worm, Brother Worm, squirming in the dirt. Rise from your tunnels and make their blood squirt.
He rose from the dark earth to serve the Senex, the dead senate who represented all civilized vampires, all Propinqui across the domains of the Roman Empire. He fought the enemies of their government, the Camarilla, in the Mortuus Legio. He stood shield to shield in phalanx formation with his dead comrades against the barbarian, the criminal and the owl. He tore the impious from their columbaria, made them pay and staked them in the Pantheon to meet the dawn.
His name was a mask, his marker that the Praetor could attach identity and meaning to so he would never pay attention to the eyeless worm beneath the armor. Brother Worm skulked with his Brother and Sister Worms in the tunnels of Necropolis, digging with his dirty rotten hands to build the city of the damned.
He lurked in the shadows of the minds of their foes to bring death unseen. He was the Destroyer, who gave no quarter and gorged himself on blood and terror.
Dedicate each death eaten to Pluto, each war fought to Mars, each arch built to Minerva and each law enforced to Roma. Centurion with less than a century to lead; Equestrian of the night and the muck.
Keep to heart the Hidden Ones, the deep gods beneath our feet all hair and feelers and crawling things where light never reaches that wrap you up in screams, whose blood fed the Brothers Worm and made us Nosophoros.
The daymares had no end; dusk did not spare him the terrors of the days. The fog of years smothered him as easily as the stones and earth above and below and around him. He was dead but dreaming and crushed within the shell of what had once been armor.
Worms would touch him but not chew, knowing one of their own as eyeless as they were.
Nobody came this deep into Necropolis anymore, and even if they had they would not dig as he and his brothers once had. No, he was to sleep his restless sleep of death until the earth grew hot enough to sear his impurity away.
The taste of ancient blood was ash on his senseless tongue; his decrepit lungs filled with dirt.
Brother Worm do not think, the still and dark is your palace and tomb evermore.
...
Unfortunately for the dreaming chthonic gods whose blood he shared, someone out there had a sense of humor.
-----------------------------------
The two children of Hibernia fought their battles against the beasts summoned by the un-virtuous warlock with a fair sense of tactics, and much skill indeed. But neither they, nor the beasts, were ready for the distant sound of thunder to echo in the night, and the sound of soil and stone cracking and sliding against itself from above...
To crash down with great force like an earthen waterfall on the grounds of the battlefield, and upon the heads of the unearthly creatures.
The thunder was drowned out in short order by cracking and screeching.
-
I sighed as the freaking crazy Tom Cat dragged Forest into the bedroom. Problem sidelined and I wouldn't need to jump out the window to escape a lust crazed vampire. Again.
"Right, let's grab Finn. I can probably take Tom with a little help, or at least distract him long enough."
Turning to Lancer, I gave a grin. "If she needs to feed she can take a nibble off of me. I'm tough enough to deal with it, and fair is fair after all."
With that I practically glided downstairs, knocking on the office door.
-
Rin blinked "Sakura better be clean or I'll have your parts young man" she stated looking at Connor.
Connor waved his hands "no, ma'am I haven't done anything of the sort"
Rin laughed "Kidding, fill me in so I can figure out a plan."
Taiga wheeled near the kitchen "Kiyoshi, Do you like it here?" she asked.
-
Tom appreciatively admired his partner's torso, oddly delighted at the shiver that coursed through her frame. He found himself licking his lips in anticipation before his lips crashed against hers once more, his hands working at her bra. His lips wandered from hers down to her chin and then to her neck, where he began to lick much like she had done for him earlier. He found himself reveling at her taste. He began to gently nibble at her neck as his hands began to gently massage her breasts.
***
Ryoko watched the vampire run off, glad that he seemed a bit happier at least before turning back to Lancer. "Hopefully. I don't know what the hell's gotten into him. I mean, he's basically a nerdy shutin at heart for all his posturing. I never would have thought he'd turn into crazy dominant cat man." She sighed. "Despite what I just said though, be careful around him. I saw him break a werewolf's neck with just a snap of his fingers. With telekinesis that strong, we need to be careful about getting close, especially since he's not exactly thinking anywhere near rationally right now."
***
Tom blinked in surprise at hearing the knock at the door before rushing over to open it, perhaps a bit too eagerly. A big smile was on his face... which promptly dropped when he saw that it wasn't Forest, but a new man instead. But he couldn't really hold it against the guy. He gave the newcomer a small smile anyway. "Hey there. Welcome to Forest's office. Somethin' up?"
-
Tom appreciatively admired his partner's torso, oddly delighted at the shiver that coursed through her frame. He found himself licking his lips in anticipation before his lips crashed against hers once more, his hands working at her bra. His lips wandered from hers down to her chin and then to her neck, where he began to lick much like she had done for him earlier. He found himself reveling at her taste. He began to gently nibble at her neck as his hands began to gently massage her breasts.
***
Ryoko watched the vampire run off, glad that he seemed a bit happier at least before turning back to Lancer. "Hopefully. I don't know what the hell's gotten into him. I mean, he's basically a nerdy shutin at heart for all his posturing. I never would have thought he'd turn into crazy dominant cat man." She sighed. "Despite what I just said though, be careful around him. I saw him break a werewolf's neck with just a snap of his fingers. With telekinesis that strong, we need to be careful about getting close, especially since he's not exactly thinking anywhere near rationally right now."
***
Tom blinked in surprise at hearing the knock at the door before rushing over to open it, perhaps a bit too eagerly. A big smile was on his face... which promptly dropped when he saw that it wasn't Forest, but a new man instead. But he couldn't really hold it against the guy. He gave the newcomer a small smile anyway. "Hey there. Welcome to Forest's office. Somethin' up?"
Well, he wasn't a bad person it seemed, and I couldn't say he was bad looking either. He'd do.
"Finn, right? Looks like you lucked the hell out. Forest is in a funk and needs your help, and the way to help her according to Lancer is with your dick. So upstairs, before some tomcat takes your fair Forest on a ride. And quick about it!"
I grabbed him by the collar and yanked him out of the room. "Come on, she hasn't got all day."
-
Forest hungrily returned his kisses while she felt him fumble with her bra. She cried out again as his tongue ran over the raised scar on her throat, her body tensing ever so slightly at the momentary white-out of sensation. Shaking her head, her braids gently smacking her face, she pulled back to pull off her shirt and the sports bra she was wearing.
Clothed she could pass as a normal if unusually pretty teenage girl who just happened to be very pale. Unclothed showed she was something else. She was slim, but muscular, her body elegantly toned. Her small breasts were tipped by bright pink nipples that were already hard, begging to be touched.
******
"I'll be fine. I'm not the one I'm worried about though. I don't want him hurting her," Lancer said with a frown. "I mean, Forest is a fine lass, but what the hell made him snap like . . ."
The first time he ristaid he'd been stopped by the naked women of the village. However the first time he was with Scathach's daughter he broke her fingers because he'd been so excited. "Hell."
-
Finn was about to say something before he was grabbed by the collar and dragged upstairs by the strange man. Finn sighed. While he was eager to help Forest in any way he could, even he had a few reservations about this one.
***
Tom began to undo Forest's braids as his attention went to her firm breasts. He began to kiss her left nipple before caressing it with his tongue, pleased as he was with her reactions thus far.
***
Ryoko gave Lancer a concerned look... before remembering Lancer's ristaid. "...crap. You think he's gone berserk and Forest making out with him was somehow the trigger?"
-
Forest arched to the warmth of Tom's mouth, need pooling and pulsing within her with each pass of his slightly rough tongue. Her fingers ran through his thick white hair as she shifted restlessly. "Lord and Lady," she whispered in a hoarse voice, pressing herself to him as much as she could.
******
Lancer nodded and said, "Yeah, I do. Repressed nerd boy has some predatory streak in him. Pretty vampire girl kisses him back and he goes into 'Claim My Mate' mode. Jack's bite broke the dam in Fore and Fore returning his kiss broke something buried in that asshole Tom Cat. Hopefully Finn knows what that little nubin hidden in a girl's folds does so my Landlady can enjoy herself."
-
"Well, if he's gone berserk with lust or instinct or something totally different, I got the kid. Gird your loins Fish, because that tomcat won't let go easily, and that's why you should have had me do it in the first place Lancer. No risk of the kid ending up drained dry."
I dragged the kid onto the landing, looking towards Lancer. I was lying a little. I might have frenzied during sex, or something else. My experience with this aspect of the undead nature was entirely lacking sadly.
"So I'm guessing on the count of three then, we shove open the door, distract Tom long enough for Fish to start a threesome or something, and then bail before he tries to kill us?"
I'd been involved in far stupider plots before. This one sounded damn well swell.
-
Ryoko found herself fretting as Lancer and the vampire talked. Damn it, I wasn't anticipating this. I thought this would help them both, but...
Finn shook his head. "Nah, might be best if I just go on in there." He gave them a grin, albeit a bit of a shaky one. "Wish me luck in there!" He quickly darted inside and shut the door behind him.
Ryoko blinked before sighing. "Well, he's in there anyway. Now to just hope he doesn't wind up dead or worse..."
She looked between Lancer and the vampire with a concerned look. "You think we should get him out of there?" The magus blinked before turning to the vampire. "Oh, by the way, I didn't catch your name."
***
The sound of Forest's voice returned a small part of Tom's rational consciousness. ...But only a small bit. Only enough for a satisfied smile to cross his lips, a contented sigh escaping his lips from his mate's fingers running through his hair as he began to pull down her flannel pajama pants.
Suddenly, the door swiftly opened and closed, and standing in front of it was a young, dark haired man around his own age.
Tom's eyes narrowed at the intruder. The young man suddenly found himself floating in the air, and with a flick of his wrist, the psychic slammed him against the wall. A dark smirk crossed his lips as the youth struggled under his telekinetic grasp, like a mouse pinned under a cat's paw.
With a considerable amount of effort, the dark haired intruder spoke. "W-wait! Gngh... I'm here to help! F-forest... she needs blood..."
There was enough of Tom's consciousness awakened to realize that the stranger's point had merit. Her skin, succulent as it had been, had been a bit cool to his touch. And she was indeed a vampire.
Not saying a word, Tom floated the young man over to Forest's side and dropped him somewhat roughly on the bed.
Finn sighed in relief, even if he wasn't out of the woods just yet. He pointed towards the other young man's glasses. "You might wanna take those off, you know. An' your coat and shirt, too." He gave his best effort to smile warmly at his antagonist, somehow managing to succeed. "Name's Finn, by the way."
Tom tilted his head for a moment before complying, levitating the glasses over to the bedside table before taking off his beloved longcoat and tossing it aside as if it were nothing, and then working off his shirt. His lean, muscular frame rippled as he tossed the shirt aside. Even Finn couldn't help but whistle.
The now topless psychic simply regarded Finn with a dismissive glance before resuming his work on Forest's pants. He had little time to be concerned with the opinion of his mate's meal.
Finn swallowed, still a bit rattled from Tom's rather inhuman, predatory gaze, so unnatural on such a handsome human face, and turned to Forest. "Hey there, Forest. It's me, Finn." He tilted his head and exposed his neck. "You probably need a bit of a boost." He chuckled a bit, albeit a touch nervously. "Just make sure to leave enough in me to keep me goin'. Apparently the people out there want ya to get yourself a threesome, and well, if that's what ya need right now, that's what you're gonna get. But first you'll need somethin' in ya."
-
Rin nodded and pulled out a cell like device "scout injured, mission is black list, treat but do not detain" she said, a "yes mum" came as a reply and Rin picked up her daughter after drawing forth a portal and then placed her inside "extraction is complete" came on the cell signaling Rin to give a sigh and shut the portal.
Connor understood it was time for him to explain as much as he could and he began explaining by first giving Rin Sakura's cell.
-
Ryoko found herself fretting as Lancer and the vampire talked. Damn it, I wasn't anticipating this. I thought this would help them both, but...
Finn shook his head. "Nah, might be best if I just go on in there." He gave them a grin, albeit a bit of a shaky one. "Wish me luck in there!" He quickly darted inside and shut the door behind him.
Ryoko blinked before sighing. "Well, he's in there anyway. Now to just hope he doesn't wind up dead or worse..."
She looked between Lancer and the vampire with a concerned look. "You think we should get him out of there?" The magus blinked before turning to the vampire. "Oh, by the way, I didn't catch your name."
"He knew the risks going in, and it was his choice. Godspeed you crazy bastard."
He was probably aiming for a threesome too, the crazy kid. Good luck in there Finn, you'll probably need it if you don't want to end up drained dry.
I extended my hand to the girl as I said "Call me Jack, and get me a shot of it. I can't get drunk anymore but I'm going to damn well try to after tonight. And I didn't catch your name either, Miss...?"
-
Her other hand pats the back of Luka's, and her smile is gentle.
"I know you will, Luka."
Then Valda turns to Bonesington and her face returns to neutral, even as she reaches out for his hand.
"When do we start?"
Sir Bonesington gave her hand a firm shake. Then, he pulled back, crossed his arms in front of his chest and smiled.
"As soon as you'd like. We have to go out and familiarize ourselves with this quaint little town regardless, do we not?" He said, with a shrugging wave of his hand.
-
"If we're exploring the town, I vote that we check out the castle eventually," Luka said. It was the most obviously striking feature of the city, being visible on the horizon even from within the bakery, and would likely speak volumes about its leadership. "A King or Queen is usually a good reflection of their kingdom. Asking for an audience might be a bit much, but I'm sure we could find out some things regardless."
-
"If we're exploring the town, I vote that we check out the castle eventually," Luka said. It was the most obviously striking feature of the city, being visible on the horizon even from within the bakery, and would likely speak volumes about its leadership. "A King or Queen is usually a good reflection of their kingdom. Asking for an audience might be a bit much, but I'm sure we could find out some things regardless."
"... unless this world is very strange, or we are in the deserts of the Middle East, I do not believe there is a royal family here," Valda said very carefully, because she would admit her ignorance was showing here. "The castle is likely kept as a symbol of cultural heritage rather than lived in."
She supposed she could ask, though not long ago she would have been too ashamed of her lack of knowledge to do so ... right.
Valda was standing up and approaching a random person at a table near the door, holding her arms akimbo on her hips, and looking down at them past her glasses. "You there: tell me what country we are in, what state or province of that country, what the date is, and who is the nation's leader."
Her list of demands was quite reasonable, she thought.
-
"He knew the risks going in, and it was his choice. Godspeed you crazy bastard."
He was probably aiming for a threesome too, the crazy kid. Good luck in there Finn, you'll probably need it if you don't want to end up drained dry.
I extended my hand to the girl as I said "Call me Jack, and get me a shot of it. I can't get drunk anymore but I'm going to damn well try to after tonight. And I didn't catch your name either, Miss...?"
"Ryoko. Tohsaka Ryoko." She took Jack's hand and shook it firmly. "And as for your shot of Jack, I think it's most likely down in the kitchen someplace, if Lancer doesn't mind sharing."
-
The first thing he needed, of course, was chicken. After all, it wouldn't be chicken soup otherwise.
Kiyoshi walked towards the fridge, hoping there would be some chicken in there. Defrosting it would be a pain. Before he could get there, though, he heard a voice from outside the door.
"Kiyoshi, Do you like it here?" Taiga asked.
Kiyoshi smiled and walked towards the door.
“Yeah, it's nice and there are lots of nice people here. Plus, I get to meet lots of family from alternate universes”, he said, smiling.
“I wish mummy could be here to meet them all”, he added, trying to hide the sadness in his voice.
-
Taiga frowned, she knew that tone, it was her tone. The one she used when people asked her how she was doing whenever something scary was happening. "You didn't lie, but I can't help you become a hero if you aren't honest Kiyo. I miss my mama too, but it's okay. She'll come along, same as my brother will. Faith is all you need. Just believe, can you promise me that?"
-
Kiyoshi smiled.
“I don't just believe, I know she'll come here and find me. Aunty Rin is smart, mummy is smart too and she would do absolutely anything to keep me safe. They'll find a way”, he said.
Then, Kiyoshi's smile turned into a frown. She had asked for honesty, and he didn't like to lie to family, so he would tell her the truth, however vulnerable it made him look.
“But... I still miss her”, he added. “She's always been there for me before, even when she's away she's always in contact. There are lots of nice people here, but this world is so different and I feel a bit lonely, especially with Aunty Rider and the other Aunty Rin being busy. If I didn't have you and my other alternate siblings I would be really scared”.
-
Angel could only blink as a sound like thunder but more deafening shattered the sky. Then suddenly everyone that wanted to kill the pointed eared, and admittedly insanely gorgeous, man was burred under a considerable amount of rubble. Angel lowered his sword, turned to the guy who somehow killed the magic circle with his blood, and then gestured to the mess with the blade.
"Well, did you do that?" the vampire asked.
The young looking man blinked large eyes the color of amethysts. Angel was suddenly glad that Buffy, Faith, or Cordy wasn't there. They would have gawked at this guy, hell, he was gawking at him somewhat. He suddenly found himself wondering what this guy tasted like and wondered where the hell were all of these thoughts were coming from.
Sure he was open minded, and there was a couple of times with Spike to experiment, but other than that, Angel was pretty sure he preferred women of the tiny and blond variety.
The walking sex offense shook his head and answered, "No, that is definitely beyond my capabilities." Oh, he's Irish. Well, that's good, the vampire thought.
Then that horrible wailing began, causing both men to flinch.
******
Lancer nodded at Jack and said, "Aye, well, I don't have Jack, but I've got Fecken Irish Whisky. It gets the job done." Then he said to Jack, "Forest isn't going to drain the guy. At least I bloody hope."
******
"Tom, no!" Forest snapped as Finn was thrown against the wall by an unseen force. The smack of power came from her soon-to-be lover, and poor Finn was being thrown around like a rag doll. She regained some of her senses, and knew that it was Lancer who probably sent him in here. Even though Lancer had spurred her advances, which sort of hurt, he was looking out for her.
She was feeling a little light headed from Jack feeding on her and would have probably fainted with blood loss if she had been alive. The fog of lust was clearing slightly, and Tom set Finn on the bed beside her before he undressed. Even the other man whistled at the sight of lean, perfectly sculpted muscles and that almost too perfect face. There was something a little alien in Tom's beauty, something other and almost fey.
A little bit of fear crept into her, but her body tightened with need. There were tiny flutters in her stomach and an odd combination of ice and lightning running through her veins. She had no idea what Tom was, but she wanted him. Then she looked at poor, sweet Finn offering his throat.
"Just make sure to leave enough in me to keep me goin'. Apparently the people out there want ya to get yourself a threesome, and well, if that's what ya need right now, that's what you're gonna get. But first you'll need somethin' in ya."
Tom was currently pulling down her pajama bottoms, slowly revealing the black satin hi-cuts she was wearing underneath. Pretty soon both men would see how soaked she was and that just shot a bit more excitement through her. Impulsively she gave Finn a quick, if slightly nervous kiss. Then she ran her hands down Tom's hair, scratching behind his ears.
She told Tom, He's staying, but . . . we'll follow your lead.
She pulled her lips away from Finn's, he tasted so warm and alive. Then her indigo eyes bled to crimson, her lips swelled slightly, and her fangs lengthened. They throbbed in her jaw as she licked the line of Finn's pulse. To the young man she whispered, "You should undress too."
Then, ever so gently, she sank her fangs into the sweet pulse of his throat.
-
Having very little to discuss Connor and Rin came down stairs to find Taiga talking through the door to the kitchen. Rin opened the door slowly in case whomever was in the way of door opening.
"Well my aunty is here now, say hello Kiyoshi" Taiga said recognizing her aunt's distinct heel clicks and rainbow aura.
-
Good Irish Whiskey?
"Perfect. Let's get some then. It's been years since I've had a good drink."
Nodding at Lancer, I headed downstairs towards the kitchen. Hopefully the blush would last long enough for me to taste it again.
-
Jack began to head down to the kitchen, and Ryoko couldn't help but feel a bit of relief. His spirits seemed to have picked up a little.
Ryoko ran her fingers through her hair, taking the chance to reply before Lancer followed the vampire himself. "I hope not either. From what I got told by my parents, Forest's trustworthy, but... well, even the best of us can lose ourselves in a moment of passion."
Suddenly there was a cry from within the room. "Tom, no!"
Goosebumps ran across the girl's flesh. If a vampire like Forest was that panicked, something was very wrong. Shit... Damn it, this is all my fault...
She turned to Lancer once again. "Go ahead and get Jack his whisky. I'll handle this." The magus's eyes narrowed with regret. "This whole thing's my own damn fault. So I should be the one to fix it."
***
A moment of doubt crossed Tom's mind at Forest's plea. A small flicker of humanity returned to those violet eyes. But only a flicker. Much of his morality was still buried under primal instinct, under his intoxication induced by his now heightened senses. It was enough, however, to grant him speech.
He briefly felt regret, seeing the fear in his partner's eyes. "I... I-I..."
But his eyes fell upon her now exposed underwear. He could see her need pooling around the lacy black frills. The rationality that had been so desperately trying to resurface became pushed down again by his own primitive desires, and the trembling that had began to overcome his fingers faded as he eagerly removed the obstructing garment.
He's staying, but . . . we'll follow your lead.
So distracted was Tom by his task and the sweet, sweet feeling of her scratching behind his ears that he barely registered the telepathic message. A dark part of him hoped that the other man simply be drained dry and he could have Forest all to himself, but at the same time, he was now able to register that having this other man near would make her happier...
If that is what you wish, so you shall have it.
He looked down to see the now exposed slit, glimmering with lust. As dulled as his thoughts were, he was still able to look at it with fascination. Curious, he slipped a finger inside her. It was slick but soft and warm inside, and to his surprise he could feel her clamping and squeezing around the finger, almost desperately. Pleased by this, he slipped another finger inside her and began to move them around.
***
She pulled her lips away from Finn's, he tasted so warm and alive. Then her indigo eyes bled to crimson, her lips swelled slightly, and her fangs lengthened. They throbbed in her jaw as she licked the line of Finn's pulse. To the young man she whispered, "You should undress too."
Then, ever so gently, she sank her fangs into the sweet pulse of his throat.
Finn, relieved to no longer be a living ragdoll, couldn't help but enjoy the kiss Forest gave him, as shaky as it was. He returned it gently, lovingly. As she transitioned to his throat, he couldn't help but shudder in pleasure from the feeling of Forest's tongue.
He heard her request, and was about to comply when her fangs sunk into his throat.
A cry escaped Finn's lips. Any pain he would have felt was lost in the sudden wave of pleasure that ran through his body. He felt himself harden completely, and despite his sudden discomfort, stayed still as Forest continued to feed from him, just allowing himself to enjoy the ride for the time being.
-
Kiyoshi heard footsteps, before the door carefully opened to reveal a woman who looked almost identical to his Aunty Rin. She was even wearing her trademark red sweater that she still often wore.
"Well my aunty is here now, say hello Kiyoshi", Taiga said.
Kiyoshi's looked up, and his face broke into a broad smile as he saw who was there.
“Aunty Rin!” he shouted excitedly, before running towards her holding his arms out for a hug.
-
Forest gripped Finn's shoulders as his hot, sweet blood poured down her throat. His blood was heady, pure, with just a hint of magic. His warmth flooded through her, and her body began to flush with arousal. She drank slowly and concentrated enough to arouse him, but not white out his senses with bliss and cause him to release.
She could smell his arousal on the air, muskier and earthier than Tom's.
If that is what you wish, so you shall have it.
Before she could reply, she was utterly naked before the two men. Her supple thighs were damp with spilled lust, and the close cropped golden curls were soaked. A warm finger prodded her and her thighs lifted from the bed. Her inner muscles instantly gripped the sweet invader, the first to be inside of her in over two and a half centuries.
Then there was a second, but her body resisted. Pain spiked through the lust and she jolted. She slid her fangs from Finn's throat with a gasp. Her now warm tongue laved his bite closed and she gripped Finn's shoulders.
There was resistance to his eager fingers, a barrier. Her eyes closed and a hiss escaped her lips as she tried to bare it.
******
Lancer nodded at Ryoko and said, "Be careful Lass. Yell if you need aid, I'll be there in an instant."
Then to Jack he said, "Come on, I'll get you some whiskey and I have to make Millie some tea." As Ryoko left, he whispered to the vampire, "It's hard jugging two women."
-
Rin leaned down and swept Kiyoshi off his feet as she hugged him and stood up. "Hello Kiyoshi, I heard you kept Taiga safe" she said with a warm laugh.
-
With that, Lawrence kissed Ran in response, ignoring the distractions of the outside world for a gloriously blissful second. Screw the ghosts, screw all the fucked up shit that he'd experienced and done within the last 24 hours and since he'd died, screw the Driver. He wasn't going to let that stop him from living his life now.
He kissed me.
And I kissed back, hard. Two years didn't seem to dull me too much, and I managed to keep up with his mouth with my own. We locked, took the occasional breath, and went back in, occasionally with tongue. We were swept into the current now, and even if a door slammed shut I wouldn't even notice.
Before I knew it, my hands let go of his neck, and worked on getting that massive coat out of the way. I grabbed the front and started trying to pull it off, a fruitless endeavor.
I drew back a little. "Help me," I said in between kisses, "take all of that stuff off."
-
Kiyoshi hugged his Aunt tightly, smiling brightly.
“Yeah, I won't let anyone hurt my family”, he said brightly.
Kiyoshi felt content in the arms of the alternate version of his Aunt. He knew she wasn't the Aunty Rin he knew, but she looked similar and she had the same kindness. With her and his other alternate universe family members around he knew he would feel secure and loved.
-
Rin laughed at his reply "There's a good boy, just like your daddy, right?" she asked setting him down. "What are you up to in the kitchen?" she added looking around.
-
Tom found himself pleased with his mate's reaction- until he found himself encountering a barrier and heard her hiss. Not letting such a little thing stop him, he began to work away at the source of his partner's pain, finding himself more and more satisfied as he broke his way through it. His attention in the meantime was drawn to an erect nub amidst her folds.... His fingers not ceasing their work, he used his free hand to gently begin massaging this new discovery.
Finn, in the meantime, a bit light headed from his blood being drank, began to gently massage her breasts in response to her hiss of pain, noticing that Tom had things under control below.
"H-hang in there," he said, softly. "W-we gotcha covered."
***
Ryoko nodded back at Lancer, a determined look on her face. She carefully opened the door, peeking her head inside. Her cheeks became bright red as she watched the scene in front of her unfold.
I-I think it's fine in here. But...
"E-everything OK in here? Nobody hurt?"
-
Forest attempted to relax, until nimble fingers started to gently rub the point of weakness at the apex of folds. She cried out at that, her hips jolting. His fingers were still working inside of her, working at that stubborn barrier. If he kept at it, he would break it with his fingers, and she didn't want that. Not after all of this time.
Then warm hands began to knead her breasts and she sighed at that.
She heard Finn whisper to her, "H-hang in there, w-we gotcha covered . . ."
Forest felt her cheeks burn as she reached down and covered the hand with the two fingers working inside of her. Biting her lip, she managed to say, "Y-you need to break that with your . . ." She attempted to reach for the length tenting Tom's pants but it was out of her reach.
"E-everything OK in here? Nobody hurt?"
Forest bit her lip again, not wanting the girl in here. Mine. I don't want to share them, I want them to myself. Then she whispered to Finn, "Tell her we're fine."
-
So, The dickless Mick and the magical satan woman had somehow beat me downstairs?
Without passing me.
What the fuck.
"I doubt that Dickless wonder is related to him in any way. And considering he threatened to put my eyes out, the kid needs a shrink Auntie." I said, rummaging through the cabinets for the booze. Hopefully, it won't taste like ash again. This time, I would be able to taste it. Right. This time.
I had to hope.
-/-/-/-:-/-/-/-
She didn't need to tell Lawrence twice as he shed the coat in a couple agonizing seconds. As soon as it was off, he pawed at the bandages hiding her breasts from his hands, fingers finally getting purchase, but they weren't coming off without a fight.
In between a passionate series of kisses, Lawrence managed to mumble out, "This is worse than bra's."
The pair continued to move towards the cell bed.
-
Forest felt her cheeks burn as she reached down and covered the hand with the two fingers working inside of her. Biting her lip, she managed to say, "Y-you need to break that with your . . ." She attempted to reach for the length tenting Tom's pants but it was out of her reach.
"Ya sure ya don't want any oral or anythin' first?" asked Finn. However, as he continued to gently work with Forest's breasts, the young man looked over Forest's shoulder and addressed Tom.
"She wants ta be penetrated real soon. I'd get those pants off asap."
Tom glared at the other man for giving him orders, which to his satisfaction got a flinch out of him. However, he complied, sliding his fingers out of her and using a combination of his now free hand and telekinesis to take off his pants and underwear. His other hand kept working at the nub that started to retreat back inside her.
Suddenly, a head peaked through the door. Tom noticed the familiar face... and felt an odd surge of both anger and lust. He wanted to ravage the girl where she stood, to feel her struggle underneath him, to-
Forest bit her lip again, not wanting the girl in here. Mine. I don't want to share them, I want them to myself. Then she whispered to Finn, "Tell her we're fine."
Tom heard her thoughts and managed to control himself. He thus didn't stop what he was doing, instead turning himself away from the girl with not considerable effort. Instead his eyes wandered down to those glistening folds. On the one hand, a part of him wanted to taste them. On the other hand, his member was so hardened that it was painful. With what self-control he had left, he waited for his mate to state her desires, even if it was through her prey.
Finn in the meantime heard the order and nodded. He felt bad for the girl but appreciated her concern, and gave her a friendly if somewhat shaky smile. "Oh, we're doin' good. We had a bit of a panic earlier, but it's all fine now. Thanks for checkin' though, I appreciate it."
Ryoko nodded and quickly exited the room, almost slamming the door behind her. That look Tom had given her... her body shivered. Somewhat shakily, she made her way down to the kitchen, her task complete, still somewhat rattled.
-
Forest looked down at Finn's words.
She wanted that, she had a sudden mental image of Tom's head between her thighs, spreading her open and laving at her. She squirmed even as she felt her own body starting to feel weightless and tense at the same time. Higher and higher she was rising.
She nodded, her cheeks bright red. "Y-yes . . . I'd like . . . um . . . what you suggested Finn." She looked at Tom, sensing that his own need was getting close to painful. She was being greedy, just lying there letting these two men please her. Besides she eyed the thick, throbbing length and licked her lips.
"Tom?" she asked in a small voice, "May I . . . I'd like to . . . um . . . "
Unable to communicate what she wanted to do into words, she flashed him an image of her licking his swollen length.
******
Lancer retrieved his whiskey, poured Jack a glass and started to drink out of the bottle. "Can you taste it?" Lancer asked.
His ears twitched as he heard Ryoko coming. He said, "You okay?"
-
Tom received the first mental image and found he quite liked it. However, the second mental image that she deliberately sent him quite pleased him as well. He nodded, a smirk crossing his features, as he turned so his swollen shaft was available to her.
Finn blinked, surprised. "You sure ya don't want any oral for yourself? If you're gonna service him, maybe I can service you at the same time." He blushed. "I-if that's OK with you two."
***
Ryoko was normally a fine actress. However, for some reason, she found herself struggling. Nonetheless, she did her best to put on a brave face for Lancer, not wanting him to worry too much. She didn't want to show weakness if she could avoid it. "Oh no, I'm fine. Everything's fine up there, Forest looked like she was having a good time." She looked over at the bottle of whisky that the Irishman had been drinking. "You mind if I have some too?"
-
Forest blushed redder at Finn's suggestion and nodded. "P-please . . ." she whispered before parting her legs for him. "Y-you can play with me, Finn."
Then she looked up at Tom's smirk and his length, swallowing at the size of it. Her fingers wrapped around him, stroking him a few times before lowering her head to him. His musky, spicy scent filled her nostrils, even stronger here. Automatically, she lapped up some of the glistening wetness that was starting to leak from the head. It was salty and heady on her tongue, and full of life. Spurred on, she began to lick up and down his length getting it glistening with her saliva.
Once he was gleaming, she took him into her mouth as far as she could go, sucking greedily. Her fingers stroke where her mouth couldn't touch.
******
"Here," Lancer said, pouring her a glass as well. He studied Ryoko and said, "You sure you're okay?"
-
She didn't need to tell Lawrence twice as he shed the coat in a couple agonizing seconds. As soon as it was off, he pawed at the bandages hiding her breasts from his hands, fingers finally getting purchase, but they weren't coming off without a fight.
In between a passionate series of kisses, Lawrence managed to mumble out, "This is worse than bra's."
The pair continued to move towards the cell bed.
I noticed his hands at my bandages as soon as they got there, and I cursed how tight I tied the bandages under my breath. I moved a hand to my back to try and help untie them, but I didn't get anywhere because of their tightness, the awkwardness of my position and the distraction that my contact with Lawrence gave me.
My leg hit something as I walked back, and the bedside was right there. I stopped almost as an afterthought, kissing Lawrence all the while with a hand on his shoulder and the other behind my back.
"Damn these... bandages," I said in between kisses once again, their growing severity affecting the speed of my speech. "They... really are... the worst."
-
"Fuck... It..."
Lawrence managed to get a good grip on them, and with a nasty tearing sound, ripped them away. He hurriedly tossed them away as the pair fell onto the bed, cupping Ran's now exposed breasts with his hands. "There... We go..." was all he could get out before their lips locked in passion once more.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Yeah, I can taste it."
Like ash. Like all the other times before it.
"This is some good whiskey."
-
Finn nodded and smiled, always happy to please. Just a bit dizzy still, he lowered himself so his head was positioned between her legs. He first began to massage her thighs before licking her healthy pink folds, the taste of her lust on his tongue.
Tom couldn't help but feel a bit jealous, and was about to take her for himself- but that ambition was swiftly forgotten as he felt her stroke him. He cried out as she sucked on him, her fingers still working their magic on the hardened shaft, and he found himself overwhelmed with pleasure. His voice was husky and deep as he spoke. "D-don't stop... dear god don't stop..."
***
Ryoko put on the best smile she could. She'd done better. "Nah, I'm fine. Great actually." She took the glass he'd poured her and, despite her better judgement, drained it in one gulp. Already feeling a bit tipsy, and a bit sick from chugging it like she had, she put the glass back down on the counter. "Well, ran through that real fast. Do you mind if I have another shot?"
-
Ryoko put on the best smile she could. She'd done better. "Nah, I'm fine. Great actually." She took the glass he'd poured her and, despite her better judgement, drained it in one gulp. Already feeling a bit tipsy, and a bit sick from chugging it like she had, she put the glass back down on the counter. "Well, ran through that real fast. Do you mind if I have another shot?"
"You look like another one will knock you on your ass."
I considered pouring myself another shot. Maybe this time...
-
Forest's hips jolted as Finn's tongue found her. Automatically she arched towards him, desperate even as she sucked on Tom's length. His thickness filled her mouth and she could feel him pulsing in her mouth and on her tongue. His cries spurred her on, and she didn't stop.
She kept sucking on him, Finn's tongue making her light headed. Frustration was starting to gnaw at her as well. She had been so close moments before only to lose that. She needed to let go. The need to come was overwhelming, but she wasn't there yet.
A frustrated cry came from her mouth and she accidentally scraped her teeth along the side of Tom's length.
******
"Think you might need to slow down a bit," Lancer said with a smile before getting her a glass of water. "Drink this else you make yourself sick."
He looked at Jack, leaned against the counter and said, "You're a bloody liar."
-
"Maybe I am. It's been 81 years. I can't smoke, the first time I tried the lighter set me off. Can't get drunk without nearly killing some wino by sucking his blood. And I can't taste the bourbon he downed before I took a bite."
I sighed. "Or maybe I'm telling the truth. Ever consider that?
-
Tom hissed a bit in pain as Forest's teeth scraped against his shaft. However, it made him notice her frustration. There was something inside him that seemed to be saying, "now is the time." A part of him, deep down, knew what he wanted. And as he himself was now practically in pain from his aching need, he was ready.
Below, Finn noticed as well and stepped back. He wiped his mouth and gently helped move Forest into position.
After backing away though, Finn found that he quickly lost control of the situation, as Tom swiftly pounced on her, his hands pinning her wrists to the bed. He positioned himself on top of her, and with a sharp thrust of his hips, he was inside her. He began to hungerly lathe and nibble at her throat, lost completely now to his lust.
***
"You look like another one will knock you on your ass."
"Maybe that's exactly what I want," Ryoko muttered to herself. The look Tom had given her had yet to leave her mind. It continued to terrify her and yet somehow turn her on a bit at the same time. ...She'd need another shot.
"Think you might need to slow down a bit," Lancer said with a smile before getting her a glass of water. "Drink this else you make yourself sick."
She gave Lancer a small, appreciative smile in response and drank the glass of water, a bit more slowly than she did the shot of whisky.
Dad would throw a fit if he saw how I downed that whisky. If it gets me to forget about those eyes though... maybe that stupidity will be worth it.
-
Forest let Tom go as he hissed in pain and when was about to apologize when Finn moved away from her. A disappointed whimper spilled from her lips until Tom was suddenly on top of her. A flash of excitement tinged with a tiny bit of fear ran through her when he pinned to the bed. His hands held her wrists, and she couldn't move.
Before she had time to register, his thick head was poking at her soaked core. He drew his hips back and Forest's world was awash in pain. She bit her lip from crying out at the sharp, burning sensation of being stretched and filled. The copper tang of her own blood filled the air, spilling from where they were joined.
His mouth was hungry and hot on her throat, licking and nibbling there, sending odd spikes of bliss through the pain. Her core was vice tight around him, making it almost impossible to move.
******
"If you would have been able to taste it, you would have savored it. You seemed disappointed," Lancer said as he saluted Jack with his glass.
He sat his glass down and began to gather the herbs needed to brew Mille's tea. He eyed Ryoko and said, "You saw something that spooked you in there. It was that fucking cat, wasn't it? If he's hurt Forest I'm going to ram Gae Bolg so far up his ass that it'll come out through his mouth."
-
"No shit. Now I'll end up throwing it up sooner or later, likely sooner. "
I looked at Satan Lady out of the corner of my eye. She looked an awful lot like the little miss downing shots next to me.
"She's probably more worried about Finn. Poor guy's the third wheel in that orgy, I'm betting. Or dead."
-
Tom nearly let out a cry of primal victory as he felt the combination of blood and lust on his shaft, the feeling of her tightness surrounding him quite euphoric indeed. Desperately, he tried to hold out for as long as he could, his hungry lips, teeth and tongue now moved on to her shoulder, but alas, in his inexperience, he could only hold out for so long.
He felt himself release, sweet, glorious release. He gasped as he pulled himself away from Forest's shoulder, his breathing hard and fast, and looked down to see what resulted from their joining, curious. He could see his seed spilling out of her, her blood, and her lust. Had he not already released, he would have hardened yet again.
Finn looked on, worried for Forest. He was still aroused himself, but he was surprisingly gifted at containing himself. He gently sat down at the end of the bed, keeping an eye on the pair, ready to help in whatever way he could.
***
Damn, I'm losing my touch. I guess I am pretty freaked out, though... She laughed. "Nah, Forest's fine. When I saw her in there, she was having a pretty good time. Finn looked a bit pale, but I think that's from Forest feeding." She chuckled. "I think she wanted me out of there, even. Wanted the two pretty men to herself." Then the psychic's gaze came back to haunt her. She closed her eyes. "It's not much really. Just a look Tom gave me when I peaked in there. Not even sure why it's bugging me this much. I'll get over it."
She then shuddered a bit at Jack's comment. From that look Tom had given her, it was quite possible that Finn was now dead just from getting in the way... but she was probably just imagining things, Finn was probably fine... Just like she'd be just fine. Just fine.
-
He was hungry, desperate for her. Forest felt herself start to respond, the pain leaving her. Her hips started to move with his thrusts as he nibbled and laved on her shoulder.
His length swelled even more within her before he arched back, the rush of heat that was his seed spilling inside of her. The rush of warmth was pleasant, but she squirmed as he pulled out. Her body restlessly moved and she gripped the sheets as he looked down at her. Swallowing, she looked as well.
A copious amount of pearly white streaked with red was trickling out of her and there were crimson droplets on her thighs. His length was bloodied as well. The spilling warmth made her shift, her need not even closed to satisfied. She bit her lip and squirmed again, looking at the men with wide eyes.
I didn't . . . I didn't get to . . . I needto . . . Forest thought, near tears. It wasn't Tom's fault. He was too excited and too inexperienced. I need to come.
******
"Now that's a waste of good whiskey," Lancer told Jack with a shake of his head as he poured water with the herbs and set it on the stove to boil.
He said, "I'm not worried about Finn. Lad can take care of himself and he has sense enough to run if need be." He patted Ryoko's shoulder and said, "Besides, if Finn had been killed, Forest would be walking in her bare assed naked, pissed and covered in that asshole's blood."
-
Tom's nearly giddiness at his victory faded rather quickly when he noticed that he didn't achieve a true victory at all. He glared at Forest's meal, frustrated. The fact that he had to defer to what had essentially been food was a blow to his primal ego.
Finn rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, don't worry too much about it. You're brand new at this, you'll hold out longer next time."
The two men switched places, only Finn didn't pin Forest on the bed, nor did he start ravaging her. Instead, he gently stuck a few fingers inside her and began to move them in and out. He gently began to kiss her neck opposite of where Tom had nibbled at her, where it was less tender. "Ya wanna sit up? Or you fine layin' down like this?" He gave her a sweet smile. "Just tell me what ya need and I'll give it to ya."
Opposite them, Tom pouted a bit, as there was not quite enough room for him to do anything yet. His senses slowly began to return with his inactivity, and a feeling of unease began to tug at the back of his mind...
***
Ryoko nodded. "Yeah, definitely. Seemed like a sweet guy, but not a complete idiot. I'm sure he's fine." Besides, it's not him so much I'm worried about. After all, he's probably okay, just like Lancer said. It's me that I'm worried about...
-
Forest moaned as Finn eased his fingers in and out of her. A shiver passed through her at his gentle kisses up and down her throat. She kissed his cheek in kind. There was no pain with him easing his fingers in and out of her, just sweet friction.
"Ya wanna sit up? Or you fine layin' down like this?" He gave her a sweet smile. "Just tell me what ya need and I'll give it to ya."
Forest kissed him, slowly and whispered, "Thank you." She looked at Tom pouting and she reached out and grabbed his hand. Swallowing, she guided his fingers to the hard nub located right above where Finn's was inside of her. She gasped as she brushed his fingers there, her hips jolting up.
"S-see," she said in a low voice as she shivered as she rested his fingers there. "T-there, just keep rubbing me there . . ."
******
"Then why do you look like you saw a ghost?" Lancer asked.
-
Finn blushed, glad for both the kisses and and Forest's happiness. "No problem at all. T-that's what friends are for, right?"
Tom, in the meantime, had what consciousness had been returning to him fade a bit again as Forest directed his fingers. He gently began to rub... until he realized he had a better idea. He'd missed out on his chance before, but not this time...
He did much like Finn had done previously and began to massage her thighs. His lips enclosed around the hard nub, his tongue lathing it. The taste of her began to drive him wild once again, and he could feel himself begin to harden a bit once more.
Finn looked down and laughed appreciatively. "Well, hey, there ya go! Huh, you catch on quick." He turned back to Forest, his fingers still working their magic. "You feelin' any better now?"
***
Ryoko sighed. She wasn't going to be able to hide it from him. She gestured for him to come closer so Jack couldn't hear as well. Possibly a futile effort, considering that Jack was a vampire, but it was worth the try.
"I... It's just... That look he gave me.... It was like he wanted to eat me or something. Or hold me down and take me screaming. I could tell he's really pissed off at me, even though he's all berserk right now, and I guess I can't really blame him, but..." She shivered. "Just... That look was so inhuman." She blinked. "And also a bit hot for some reason, but that's kinda besides the point here."
-
Forest gasped as Tom bowed his head and began to lick the center of her need. She automatically clinched Finn's fingers in response, her hips moving on her own accord.
The tension was growing faster and faster, and so was that weightlessness. Her body was spiraling higher and tighter, tension running through her veins. Tiny gasps were escaping her lips as she clutched Finn's wrist with one hand and entangled her hand in Tom's hair with the other.
"You feelin' any better now?"
Finn's fingers inside of her hit a place that added a very odd bit of pressure. It between Tom's licks shattered her. Her body arched hard as she screamed, losing herself into bliss. She felt herself rhythmically clamping on Finn's fingers as she shuttered helplessly.
******
"Ffft, he's not that attractive," Lancer said with a shake of his head, his lip curling at that. Then he hugged her. "Its okay now, Ryoko. You didn't know, but he's not going to hurt you."
Then he heard Forest's cries and he chuckled, "Well, someone's doing something right."
-
Finn decided to give Forest something more substantial to clamp onto than his fingers. He gestured for Tom to move aside. The psychic glowered at him, but complied. He did, however, force Finn's pants down telekinetically, getting a blush out of the young man.
Finn thrust inside her, far more gently than Tom had done, and took her into his arms, holding her close.
Left out once again, Tom flopped down on the bed, somewhat frustrated again, especially since he was back to feeling a bit hardened. Organized thoughts began to threaten to enter his consciousness once again.
***
Ryoko more than happily rested her head against Lancer's strong, muscular torso. In spite of herself, however, she found herself shuddering just a bit, her cheeks just a bit wet. "Heh. Throw scary monsters or werewolves or thugs or vampires or even All the World's Evil at me and I hardly even flinch, but one guy gives me a scary look at me, and I become a great big coward."
She didn't bother to look up at the sound of Forest's cries. "Sounds like they did it. At least someone's benefiting from that primal rage of his."
-
Forest arched into the fullness, wrapping her legs around Finn's waist and holding him close. His movements were slow and gentle, and she felt herself responding in kind. She kissed him, her hips rocking against him.
******
Blinking, Lancer wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Well you're innocent, that's all," Lancer said, stroking her hair, "And you've had a wee bit of a rough night."
He kissed her forehead and said, "I think maybe you should head for bed."
-
Finn adjusted his movements so they mirrored Forest's, so they moved in perfect synch. He kissed her back, his tongue inviting her to join, but holding back just enough that she could do so at her own pace. Despite the squeezing around his shaft and his arousal, he continued to hold himself back, waiting until the perfect moment to release.
***
Tom was laying down on the bed at this point, a slight frown on his face. A simple fact was beginning to hit him. He'd just had sex. ...He'd just had sex. He'd just been tricked into having sex.
...Oh dear Arceus, what have I done.
***
Ryoko found herself blushing profusely at Lancer's actions as she slowly nodded in agreement. "M-maybe I should. I guess I am feeling a bit tipsy..." She began to make a move for the upstairs, albeit a bit unsteadily, before stopping and turning around. "Er... A-any idea which room I should take?"
-
Forest did join her tongue with his, pressing back a little more as she clung to him. Tiny gasps were spilling from her mouth with each thrust, their movements perfectly synchronized. She realized whatever pace she set, Finn would gleefully follow.
His control was impressive, and she was finding herself feel lighter and lighter again. Her movements grew more urgent as her gasps turned into tiny cries.
******
Lancer noted his mixture was boiling so he turned it to low before nodding at Ryoko. He was at her side in an instant. He said, "Well, come on now. I think I can find you a room."
He lifted her up, not wanting her to trip down the stairs or whatnot. Nodded at the elder Rin and the kids before carrying her upstairs.
-
Finn smiled. Now was the time to let go. He released inside her, feeling immense relief as he did so. He continued to hold her in his arms, match her kisses with his own- wherever she lead, he would follow.
***
Even if he'd found more than a fair bit of pleasure in his first time, Tom found a bitterness settling in his heart over the whole thing. He had been tricked, betrayed even by someone that he had put his trust in. Even though he knew she didn't know about his apparent... condition, she knew damn well that Forest needed sex, even if he himself didn't. He'd been used.
What was worse, he had turned into an animal. He remembered everything- the fear mixed with pleasure in Forest's eyes, her cry of pain. He had hardly been gentle with her. He owed her an apology, if nothing else. This was not her fault, nor was it the fault of... what was his name? Finn?
He noticed that there was a bathroom attached to this room. With a sigh, Tom left Finn and Forest to their lovemaking and got in the shower.
It didn't take him long to clean himself. With a sigh, and with a towel wrapped around his waist, he reentered the room, intent on finding his clothing while silently swearing vengeance on Ryoko.
***
Ryoko blushed even harder, but allowed her body to relax against Lancer's. Her eyelids fluttered as she struggled to fight off her drowsiness. Tonight had been one hell of a long night.
-
“Yeah, I protect my family, just like mummy and daddy”, Kiyoshi said. “I'm in the kitchen because Connor asked me to cook some chicken soup for Sakura-nee”, he added, proudly.
Before Rin could reply, though, the idiot vampire from upstairs came down.
"I doubt that Dickless wonder is related to him in any way. And considering he threatened to put my eyes out, the kid needs a shrink Auntie”, he said.
Kiyoshi frowned.
“You tried to attack my sister, and you hurt Forest. I was just defending my family and friends from a murderous psychopath...”, he said, angrily.
Then, he noticed Ryoko come down the stairs, clearly shaken up.
“Are you alright, Ryoko-nee?” he asked.
But, she was too traumatised to notice, instead heading towards Lancer and the idiot and obtaining a drink.
-
The tension sprang within Forest again, and she arched towards Finn like a bow string pulled taunt. Her legs tightened around his waist as her inner walls collapsed around him. A cry escaped her as she rode the wave of bliss out.
She felt Finn swell even more before taking one last deep thrust. Pleasant warmth spilled into her, and she could feel him shuddering inside of her; pleasant little jolts. She kissed him one last time as he slid out of her, exhausted from perhaps getting the crap beat out of him and blood lost.
Carefully, she arranged him on the bed and covered up, hearing the shower roaring in the next room. There was a sickening crawling with in her and she grimaced as she felt both men's seed sliding from her body. Absently she rubbed her arms, looking around when the water shut off and Tom appeared from the shower.
A towel was wrapped around his waist and he was looking for his clothing. She bent forward and handed him his pants and boxers. "So," she began, "I'm sorry about . . . well, everything." She couldn't meet his eyes as she handed him what she found of his clothing.
******
Lancer's eyebrows rose at the kid's words as he threatened a being that could just turn him into a bloody smear. The kid, Kiyoshi was his name if he remembered correctly, turned his attention to Ryoko who was in his arms. Lancer eyed the kid and shrugged.
"She's exhausted, lad. Rough night," he explained.
Then, looking around and making sure the elder Rin couldn't hear him, he whispered, "I'll put her to bed and I'll be frank about everything that just happened."
The kid had pluck. Lancer could give him the truth while probably everyone else would molly coddle him.
-
"... unless this world is very strange, or we are in the deserts of the Middle East, I do not believe there is a royal family here," Valda said very carefully, because she would admit her ignorance was showing here. "The castle is likely kept as a symbol of cultural heritage rather than lived in."
She supposed she could ask, though not long ago she would have been too ashamed of her lack of knowledge to do so ... right.
Valda was standing up and approaching a random person at a table near the door, holding her arms akimbo on her hips, and looking down at them past her glasses. "You there: tell me what country we are in, what state or province of that country, what the date is, and who is the nation's leader."
Her list of demands was quite reasonable, she thought.
If it was possible, the completely ordinary looking business man shuddered in conjunction with his chair, bringing up his leather briefcase to stand between him and the very intimidating and commanding lady.
"Ah - eh - hum..." He opened his mouth and closed it several times while trying to force the words out. Then he shut it firmly and swallowed before actually managing to spew out a retort. "I-I'm pretty sure we're in the United States even though Ihavenoideawhatstatethisisbut -"
Valda's increasingly intense stare made him hold himself and take a deep breath.
"The Mayor..." he started, before descending into mutters among the which the words "blood pressure pills" and "drink" seemed to stand out.
He suddenly shot out of his seat facing Valda wide-eyed.
"Anyways, the corporations are what really keeps the trains running! I don't know about anything closer to an... an o-of-official public power around here."
The tall, frosty, intimidating, dapper lich then choose that time to approach the man. The guy 'meep'-ed as Sir Bonesington stared him down and questioned him.
"What about that castle over yonder, eh? What can you tell us about that?"
"C-castle? I don't know anything about that - there didn't even use to be a castle there! It's like it rose up overnight or somethin'..." Having said that, the man shrunk on his feet and took the hovering skeleton's moment of pondering to slip through him, leave a large bill on the counter, and scurry away through the door without looking back.
-
That being said, Valda looked over her shoulder to Luka and adjusted her glasses. "And thus, we are informed. There is no royal family and there never has been; the rulers of the country are elected by the people, and likely the same with the city. We have nobody of any real authority to introduce ourselves to, and businesses run everything of importance."
She turned around completely after that to approach the counter and deposit the cold and floating life-shell's payment to the cashier, fulfilling her end of the bargain.
-
A towel was wrapped around his waist and he was looking for his clothing. She bent forward and handed him his pants and boxers. "So," she began, "I'm sorry about . . . well, everything." She couldn't meet his eyes as she handed him what she found of his clothing.
Tom gently took the pants and boxers from Forest before shaking his head. "No. I am the one who owes you the apology. I am the one who lost control of myself the way I did, you are not to blame for that." He found it difficult to meet her eyes as well, but he did his best. "I-I... I'm sorry. W-what I did was..." His gaze quickly fell on the floor, his cheeks now a bit flushed. "A-are you alright? Are you hurt?"
-
“You tried to attack my sister, and you hurt Forest. I was just defending my family and friends from a murderous psychopath...”, he said, angrily.
Hurt? Seriously?
"Has anyone explained the birds and the bees to this kid? Because he's about the right age for that. Also, I'm not a murderous psychopath, you're the one who'd put someone's eyes out without even knowing them."
-
Rin had heard Lancer and was about to reply when the vampire spoke up. Standing Rin turned to him. "you attacked my daughter. My daughter who was helpless in bed, you clearly are as dangerous as Kiyoshi treats you. You are every bit the monster my father in law spoke about. I'm honestly not sure why you've been let stay here, if I were to hazard a guess I'd say because Forest is out of her mind for the moment and a bleeding heart otherwise. In short, take the bottle and vacate the kitchen you twit" she replied.
-
"Well, I didn't turn you away either. That's my fault," Forest replied.
I should have listened to Gabriel. Damn him for being right, she thought with a shake of her head as she reached out and touched Tom's shoulder. She managed to look up at him, tilted her head in a very corvid like fashion, and gave him a lopsided smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"It always hurts, and that's not your fault. I mean, if the situation and the like would have been different . . ." She shrugged with a sigh and a shake of her head. "Still, I'm sorry. Your first time should have been with someone you cared about and . . ."
Not some daft vampire who completely lost control when bitten, she thought to herself.
******
Lancer found an empty room to put Ryoko in. The girl was already mostly asleep. His keen hearing picked up more bickering from downstairs.
Alright, that's it, I'm going to start knocking heads, he thought as he got the girl settled into bed and headed back to the kitchen.
-
The psychic managed to hear her thought. He sat down beside her and, somewhat awkwardly, put his own large hand on her shoulder. "You are hardly to blame. The bite was the cause, not anything you yourself had done." He squeezed his eyes shut. "No, it was my own foolishness that was to blame. But Ryoko... I trusted her... But... as much as she betrayed me... the things I wanted to do to her when I saw her. All those thoughts I had when I was making love to-"
The full weight of everything he had done and thought during that time came crashing down on him. His hand came off Forest's shoulder, and he cradled his head in his hands. "...oh God."
-
"Hey, hey," Forest said, guiding Tom to the bed where Finn was still passed out and was now starting to snore.
She gently pushed the large man down and sat beside him, rubbing his back. "Ryoko thought she was helping. It happened; it was just a bunch of weird events." She stroked his hair back from his face.
Talk to me, the vampire prompted, Hiding from it is only going to make it worse. I know from first hand experience.
-
Rin had heard Lancer and was about to reply when the vampire spoke up. Standing Rin turned to him. "you attacked my daughter. My daughter who was helpless in bed, you clearly are as dangerous as Kiyoshi treats you. You are every bit the monster my father in law spoke about. I'm honestly not sure why you've been let stay here, if I were to hazard a guess I'd say because Forest is out of her mind for the moment and a bleeding heart otherwise. In short, take the bottle and vacate the kitchen you twit" she replied.
"Well, if you'd sit down and listen to someone who isn't dickless there, I didn't attack her. And your father in law? Who the fuck is that, and how the hell would I know him?"
Hefting the whiskey bottle, I gauged it's worth as a club in case this got violent.
"Don't push me Satan Woman. It won't end well for anyone here."
-
"I admit Connor isn't bright but he's not an idiot so if he says you attacked my daughter I'm inclined to believe him. Your threat is acknowledged but it only proves you're a brute, now leave this room" Rin replied keeping her guard up and palming a jewel.
-
"Hey, hey," Forest said, guiding Tom to the bed where Finn was still passed out and was now starting to snore.
She gently pushed the large man down and sat beside him, rubbing his back. "Ryoko thought she was helping. It happened; it was just a bunch of weird events." She stroked his hair back from his face.
Tom flinched instinctively as he was pushed down, but he knew Forest didn't intend to harm him, so he went along with her. "I just wish she had decided to do so in a way that was less... cloak and dagger," he muttered. It did help dissipate some of his anger towards the girl, however. ...And intensified his guilt over what he'd wanted to do to her...
He didn't know why, but a small smile graced his face for a moment when Forest stroked his hair back. Just for a moment, but even for a moment, there had been a genuine smile.
Talk to me, the vampire prompted, Hiding from it is only going to make it worse. I know from first hand experience.
The psychic responded to her telepathically, wanting to keep his feelings on this private. It was hard enough taking to someone about how he felt, period. But, somehow... He felt more open to voicing his thoughts than he normally did. Perhaps it was the weight this had on his heart, perhaps it was Forest's comforting tone, he wasn't for certain.
I... Well, I always knew I was a monster. My true form, it reflects this. I was created as a living weapon, as one of the most powerful beings in existence in my world. Many come to fear me, and rightly so. But all my life... well, humans at least... always sought to use me for their own purposes as well. That's why when Ryoko... Well, it hurt. I trusted her. Even if she meant well, I trusted her. But...
He looked away from Forest, unable to hide the shame he felt. ...What I wanted to do to her, what I allowed myself to do to you, was something I never thought I had in me. Even if I was created as an instrument of destruction, I always at least took refuge in the fact that it didn't go so deep as... He shuddered. I thought I merely resembled a beast in the form I was born in. I never thought I truly was one.
-
Forest continued stroking Tom's hair back as she reflected upon his words, silently biting her lip.
Someone had made him to be a weapon, used him, and betrayed him. He was fighting against instincts instead of listening to them and tempering them with reason. If anything he was going with too much reason.
She scooted closer to him and took his hand. "Tom, I don't think you're a monster. I've seen monsters before, those with faces even more lovely than yours, and you're not a monster."
Beasts aren't monsters. They are two different things. Being a beast doesn't make you a monster. You lost control, because no one taught you about it. So what if some wankers made you to be an instrument of destruction? You don't have to be. What you are doesn't make who you are. I am a vampire, so? That's not who I am though. You're Tom, not some weapon of mass destruction.
She gave his hand an earnest squeeze and offered him a smile. Repressing yourself isn't healthy either- again, something I know all too well about. Sometimes you have to be who you are, but learning how to temper it and control it isn't an impossible thing.
Her cheeks turned bright pink as she looked away for the last part. . . .I actually sort of liked it when you did that. That I shattered your control so much. That someone wanted me like that. I mean, if there had been more foreplay and . . . The tone of her mental voice changed, became shyer and a little sheepish. I probably would have let you done whatever you wanted. Within reason.
-
Forest continued stroking Tom's hair back as she reflected upon his words, silently biting her lip.
Someone had made him to be a weapon, used him, and betrayed him. He was fighting against instincts instead of listening to them and tempering them with reason. If anything he was going with too much reason.
She scooted closer to him and took his hand. "Tom, I don't think you're a monster. I've seen monsters before, those with faces even more lovely than yours, and you're not a monster."
The gesture surprised him, at first. No one had reached out to him like this in years. Only when he had been small, a boy by human terms, had someone reached their hand out to him. His hand shook a bit as he gently took the hand Forest had offered him into his own, his fingers intertwining with hers.
His reply was tinged with bitterness, as was the weary smile that graced his handsome face. "I appreciate those words, but... I know I am a monster. I killed the majority of the scientists working at the laboratory I was being kept in the day I escaped, if not all of them. I may have been persecuted and tortured, but I also know I myself am no innocent."
Beasts aren't monsters. They are two different things. Being a beast doesn't make you a monster. You lost control, because no one taught you about it. So what if some wankers made you to be an instrument of destruction? You don't have to be. What you are doesn't make who you are. I am a vampire, so? That's not who I am though. You're Tom, not some weapon of mass destruction.
I... I suppose that's true, isn't it? I suppose I learned to control my abilities, so this isn't so different really, but... Something that's so deeply rooted within me, how do I temper it?
He sighed. I mean, my predecessor sits around in caves waiting for people to fight him. I don't think he's even aware he has a human form. He had a few moments where he spoke normally, but... he was so obsessed with battle that it consumed him. From what little I was able to get out of him, he wasn't always like that. I suspect it may be due to some neural imbalance that resulted from the process not having been perfected yet when he was created, and I probably don't have much to be concerned about, because it should have happened to me by now if it was going to happen but...
His eyes met hers. I... I don't want to lose myself like that. All I have that keeps me from truly just being a weapon is the fact that I have intelligent, rational thought. I... I don't want to lose that, not for anything.
She gave his hand an earnest squeeze and offered him a smile. Repressing yourself isn't healthy either- again, something I know all too well about. Sometimes you have to be who you are, but learning how to temper it and control it isn't an impossible thing.
Her cheeks turned bright pink as she looked away for the last part. . . .I actually sort of liked it when you did that. That I shattered your control so much. That someone wanted me like that. I mean, if there had been more foreplay and . . . The tone of her mental voice changed, became shyer and a little sheepish. I probably would have let you done whatever you wanted. Within reason.
His eyes widened in surprise at that. He sat there a moment, silent, a bit shocked. Suddenly, his own cheeks flushed, red and bright. He sat up and looked her straight in the eyes... before nervously having to look down.
Y-you... enjoyed that? I-I mean, I would have to work on my self control of course, but... Y-you liked me being so predatorial in bed? He flushed even brighter. N-not that I didn't enjoy it myself, for all my reservations about the circumstances, certainly. I-if there's one thing I would have to say I liked about all this is that I did find it quite... His eyes studied her form, quite appreciatively. A-and your body... The way you smelled and tasted and everything was quite... erm...
He blushed as hard as he could blush and looked away. He wrapped his arms around himself and looked down at the bed, shocked that he'd even said that out loud. Well, telepathically out loud. ...Well, Forest had heard him say it anyway, so it counted.
-
"I admit Connor isn't bright but he's not an idiot so if he says you attacked my daughter I'm inclined to believe him. Your threat is acknowledged but it only proves you're a brute, now leave this room" Rin replied keeping her guard up and palming a jewel.
"Oh, but the mick is an idiot you see Lady. He apparently can't count to two or realize when a woman needs something. And I'm still waiting on Lancer to come back down here to help me finish this bottle."
I twirled it a little in my hand just to make my point.
"And no, I didn't attack your daughter. If I had, I'd be dead at the moment you ungrateful bitch. Forest lets your daughter stay here and have a bed and you accuse her of being a fool."
-
Forest's eyes widened as she noticed that Tom's hand shook ever so slightly as he took hers in return. Their fingers intertwined together as he said, "I appreciate those words, but... I know I am a monster. I killed the majority of the scientists working at the laboratory I was being kept in the day I escaped, if not all of them. I may have been persecuted and tortured, but I also know I myself am no innocent."
"No, you were acting in self-defense. You were being hunted, it was you or them," Forest said shaking her head at his confession. She wasn't surprised that they tortured him; he was someone's pet scientific project after all. "You made a tough call, but it was one you had to make."
She tilted her head at his question and answered, Well, first you have to realize it's part of you. If you neglect it one day it will come crashing down on you some way, some how. Then you have to accept that is a part of you, and then sometimes you have to act on it. You just have to find ways to act upon it that won't hurt yourself or others.
Her fingers found his white hair and stroked it back from his face again as he made his confession. She replied, You're feeling regret after what happened. That alone proves that you're more than just some monster, Tom.
Then he blushed and she smiled as sat up straighter and looked at her with those wide, purple eyes. Heat from borrowed blood filled her cheeks as he looked over at her, his confession tumbling forth. He wrapped his arms around himself, letting her hand go, and looked away. Quite pink herself, she wrapped an arm around him, biting her lip.
She stammered, W-well, maybe doing that will help. Releasing tension occasionally and stuff . . . I liked the way you smelled and tasted too. Acknowledging that side of yourself. She felt dampness that had nothing to do with the seed still sliding out of her start to form. Bowing her head she managed to say aloud, though in a whisper, "M-maybe we could try again sometime. With better circumstances."
-
Hearing Lancer's words, Kiyoshi gave a sad nod.
He was a little disappointed that Ryoko couldn't fulfil her promise to cook with him, and somewhat surprised at how quickly she'd managed to drink all that whiskey, but he could understand if she was too tired right now. At very least he'd wait for Lancer's explanation of what had happened.
Kiyoshi waited for Rin to reply or Lancer to return. However, instead, the idiot vampire spoke.
"Has anyone explained the birds and the bees to this kid? Because he's about the right age for that. Also, I'm not a murderous psychopath, you're the one who'd put someone's eyes out without even knowing them", he said.
Of course I know about that, but what does that have to do with hurting people?
Before Kiyoshi could reply, though, Rin spoke up.
"You attacked my daughter. My daughter who was helpless in bed, you clearly are as dangerous as Kiyoshi treats you. You are every bit the monster my father in law spoke about. I'm honestly not sure why you've been let stay here, if I were to hazard a guess I'd say because Forest is out of her mind for the moment and a bleeding heart otherwise. In short, take the bottle and vacate the kitchen you twit", she said.
Kiyoshi then turned to the vampire.
“I know about all that stuff, but what does that have to do with hurting people? Plus, you're not married to Forest, and I don't think she can have children anyway”, Kiyoshi replied, confused.
“And, plus, like Aunty Rin said, you still tried to attack Sakura whilst she was helpless, and presumably do the same to her as you did to Forest. I was just protecting my family”, he added, angered at the man's comment.
However, the man did not reply to him, instead focussing on Rin once more.
"Well, if you'd sit down and listen to someone who isn't dickless there, I didn't attack her. And your father in law? Who the fuck is that, and how the hell would I know him?" the vampire said, holding the bottle in a somewhat threatening manner.
"Don't push me Satan Woman. It won't end well for anyone here", he added.
Kiyoshi frowned. Moving in front of his Aunt protectively, he summoned up his swords once more, ready to fight off the vampire if necessary.
Kiyoshi's face contorted with anger as the two of them continued to argue. Finally, he was able to respond.
“Don't you dare threaten and insult my Aunty”, he said angrily, his swords crossed in front of him. “You did try to attack her daughter, and now you're acting threatening towards her, and insulting her for trying to defend her own daughter. Just leave us alone.”
-
I poured out another shot. Maybe this time.
"Here's something for you to chew on kid - no. For that matter, how the hell wouldn't you know she's your auntie eh? Ain't that a little suspicious? And I suspect she isn't your auntie, the one you know, wherever she comes from. She's probably an imposter."
-
Taiga then asked "what's your name mister?"
Rin stayed silent prepared to blow the vampire away the moment he so much as twitched.
-
"No, you were acting in self-defense. You were being hunted, it was you or them," Forest said shaking her head at his confession. She wasn't surprised that they tortured him; he was someone's pet scientific project after all. "You made a tough call, but it was one you had to make."
"I suppose that's true... Had I escaped without blowing the place up, they likely would have sent people after me right away. Still... there was probably a way I could have escaped without so many casualties. Though I suppose it does little good to fret over something I cannot change."
She tilted her head at his question and answered, Well, first you have to realize it's part of you. If you neglect it one day it will come crashing down on you some way, some how. Then you have to accept that is a part of you, and then sometimes you have to act on it. You just have to find ways to act upon it that won't hurt yourself or others.
He looked away for a moment, still doubtful, before giving her a small nod.
I suppose I can try. The prospect is still a frightening one for me. Though, I suppose... all I can do is learn to try to control myself. Perhaps break through it by sheer will, if nothing else.
Her fingers found his white hair and stroked it back from his face again as he made his confession. She replied, You're feeling regret after what happened. That alone proves that you're more than just some monster, Tom.
He found the feel of her fingers against his hair once again... rather pleasant. And her words were encouraging. So much so that he found it difficult to form his own. Tom just sat there, silent. But he did manage to give her a small smile at that. A silent, "thank you."
Then he blushed and she smiled as sat up straighter and looked at her with those wide, purple eyes. Heat from borrowed blood filled her cheeks as he looked over at her, his confession tumbling forth. He wrapped his arms around himself, letting her hand go, and looked away. Quite pink herself, she wrapped an arm around him, biting her lip.
She stammered, W-well, maybe doing that will help. Releasing tension occasionally and stuff . . . I liked the way you smelled and tasted too. Acknowledging that side of yourself. She felt dampness that had nothing to do with the seed still sliding out of her start to form. Bowing her head she managed to say aloud, though in a whisper, "M-maybe we could try again sometime. With better circumstances."
His face still red as a beet, he gave her a somewhat shaky nod. "I-I... I'd rather like that too. I-In better circumstances of course. W-with that predatory side and everything, if you like that... T-though with more control, and, um.."
He swallowed before mirroring her action and placing his arm around her, and gently pulling her to his side so she rested against his shoulder. Had he not already been blushing as much as he could blush, he would have blushed harder. Any further words now caught in his throat, he simply let her rest against him, just allowing himself to enjoy the moment. ...Even if he was extremely jittery about the whole thing.
-
Taiga then asked "what's your name mister?"
Rin stayed silent prepared to blow the vampire away the moment he so much as twitched.
"Jack." I replied, downing the drink. Still ash.
"And you can't argue with me about that eh lady. You aren't his auntie. You just look like her. A cardboard cut out that can't act the part."
-
Forest blinked as Tom wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. He was tall enough that her head rested perfectly on his shoulder and she could turn to relax her body perfectly into them. The fit was an exceptionally good one, and she felt him blushing, his heat radiating against her.
She relaxed against him, there was a bit of nervousness there too. She shifted, feeling the sticky slickness between her thighs. Still blushing, she whispered, "I . . . need to clean up." Biting her lip she offered, "Want to join me?"
******
Lancer came back down the steps and saw Jack and the elder version of Rin at a dead lock. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and asked, "What the fuck is wrong now?"
-
While Tom was still quite nervous, he found himself enjoying the feel of Forest resting against him. He sighed, content through his anxiety, when she made her offer.
"Of course! I-I mean... You may need help getting cleaned up, and I'm sure there's enough room in there for us both, and..." He forced himself to clam up, and helping Forest to her feet, accompanied her to the shower. The fact that he was going to wash again didn't bother him in the slightest. In his eyes, there was no such thing as being too clean.
-
Taiga opened her eyes staring straight at Jack.
"Jack stop talking and leave the house, do not come back" Taiga ordered. Before in the hotel Taiga didn't have a name or a direct line of sight but here she had both and had issued a simple command. Her magic was in full effect.
Rin waited to see if this jack would follow the magical command or if he had protection.
-
Kid. You saw how that nut of a cop reacted to that lady being evil, how do you think he will react to meeting the man responsible for over seventy percent of the crime in Nexus City?
Shuya shrugged as he finally obtained a recess allowing him some breath. "I get that alright. Your choice was just so obvious."
On one hand I got the judges not to mention the DA in my pocket and my Lawyers would rip him to shreds, but on the other hand I don't need an negative publicity in the press.
"If it's that much trouble, you should have killed him. Surely someone like you wouldn't have trouble to dispose of a mere body. Same goes for covering it up." He gestured for his pocket, expecting to find his pack loaded. He had forgotten that he was out.
"Damn, I need a refill." He was hearing some ruckus coming from yet again that damn kitchen. Might be just the fuckin' room being cursed or something. Shuya found it strange that Lawrence and Ran didn't so much as talk back when the cop asked them to follow him. Perhaps they didn't want to create trouble for Forest. Or it was just them being stupid. If he was in a good mood, he would have just went and helped them escape. On the other hand, they would owe him one. And it was always a good way to obtain favors.
The mixed blood checked how late it was and nodded pensively. If he remembered well, there were few places around the cop station selling what he needed. Plus the fact that it was getting all noisy in here again.
"Guess, time's as good as any for a little stroll," he said to himself, leaving the place.
----
The Familiar blinked slowly as the credits ended rolling. He had lost notion of time and basically anything not on screen for a while. When he came back to reality, he realized he might have been focusing maybe a bit too much on the magical girl display. But it had been a completely new experience for him. He didn't know people managed to make drawings move like that, but it sure was impressive. Probably a magician did it.
Ruu sighed longly. Finn had been well advised to recommend being attentive to what was going on, because a lot had happened. He felt himself ready to oblige into whatever kind of inquiry would follow concerning the anime series. He had Hakuno's back covered, just like he promised.
He turned around to see what was going on. To be honest, he had pretty much ignored his surroundings since he was so immersed in watching TV. Now would be a good time to take a break and check on the others. Talking about others, he noticed how Archer was there, with by his side, a resting girl. Could have been Hakuno, Finn said she was interested in it after all. Maybe she was even there to evaluate Ruu once he would be done? But she didn't look like quite ready for it.
He tilted his head and looked Archer's direction.
"Does she need anything?" He was not sure what to do or say. His voice was a bit coarse, he would need some water soon. He approached the girl, he could perceive an hint of subtle yet faint thoughts released unconsciously. She was asleep, that, he was sure. However, something needed to be done for her to rest more efficiently. "Ruu will be back quick," he said to the Servant before quitting the room.
It only took him few minutes to come back with a blanket. The room temperature wasn't really cold but it wasn't optimal for a human being. Ruu doubted Archer would be in trouble himself, but for as long as Hakuno would be sleeping, it would be better to keep her warm. He made his best to cover the girl, which wasn't exactly a brilliant result, before turning back to the door. "Ruu will go for now. Eagle should rest too." And with that, he closed the door behind him.
Ruu started walking, even humming while doing so, when he sensed danger. His whole body stopped. He felt a curious chill crawling up his spine and shuddered oddly. For him, the concept of fear was alien, yet, he felt his breath getting ragged and he tensed up. He heard a sound, like some fabric creasing. Then, slowly, ever so carefully, he turned on his left and he saw what was lurking there... He saw his own end.
The Familiar felt his body overproducing sweat and a bead rolled down the side of his face. Not daring to blink, he watched with uneasiness the creature and it watched back, hungrily at that. For a whole second, prey and predator focused on each other. A mere instant before everything would turn to hell. Ruu was worried for the other occupants of the place, but survival had to come first. Despite wanting friends, nothing was worth such a risk.
Ruu attempted a step in the opposite direction, and the beast let out a mighty howl, signaling the start of the hunt, no doubt.
The Familiar reacted on instinct and ran with all his might towards the stairs. He heard the monster follow, its steps destroying the floor as it accelerated, pounced and missed him by a thread. Ruu managed to not scream and jumped the whole set of stairs in one go, bounced against the nearby wall and rushed as fast as he could in the direction of people's voices. He heard his nemesis following without getting distanced in spite of his audacious attempt to shake it off. He knew it was now a matter of seconds. He didn't look back, he didn't dare too. With all he had, he jumped in the kitchen while screaming helplessly as claws with the strength of a dragon captured him while in mid-air. The predator let out a cry of victory upon capturing Ruu as they both flew through the room.
Then, he and Vanessa went through a window and everything turned black.
-
Kiyoshi stiffened at the vampire's aggressive approach. He clearly had no intention of acting reasonably or taking responsibility for what he had done.
Yes, and? thought Kiyoshi in response to his comments about Rin.
The guy seemed to have no understanding whatsoever of the situation. Kiyoshi knew full well she wasn't his real Aunty, but she was still fundamentally the same person, and she was showing him kindness and affection as his real Aunty would, so he honestly couldn't care less. She treated him like family, so she was family.
He could see his Aunty clutching one of her gems, and he knew full well what that meant. He'd seen her and his sister Aoi fight often enough to know their methods. He tensed slightly, preparing to assist his Aunty if she saw the need to attack.
Meanwhile, he heard Taiga ask the vampire his name. Jack, apparently.
Hmm, is she doing what I think she's doing? Kiyoshi thought.
He'd seen her use her eyes before, but it seemed like this time she was going to make sure that she only affected her real target.
Rin, however, made no response to Jack's comments. Perhaps because she was too busy preparing. Or, perhaps, because she knew that he was mostly correct and, further, that Kiyoshi knew this and couldn't care less....
"And you can't argue with me about that eh lady. You aren't his auntie. You just look like her. A cardboard cut out that can't act the part”, Jack continued, still taunting Rin.
Then, before Kiyoshi could speak up, Lancer approached.
"What the fuck is wrong now?" he asked, clearly somewhat exasperated.
Kiyoshi turned and addressed Jack.
“She isn't arguing because you are right, mostly. And, because she knows that I couldn't care less.
She's not my Aunty, no, not my real one. But, she certainly isn't just a 'cardboard cut-out'. She's a version of my Aunt from an alternate world, whose outlook on life is not so different from my version. And, she is most definitely acting the part.
I don't care if she's an alternate version rather than the 'real thing', she's still kind, loving and protective just like the Aunty I know, so I'm proud to call her family”, Kiyoshi said, looking at his alternate Aunt proudly.
Then, he turned to Lancer.
“This idiot threatened my Aunty”, he said, angrily. “She doesn't feel comfortable around someone who tried to murder her daughter, so she asked him to leave, and he flipped-out again”.
Then, as Kiyoshi had expected, Taiga opened her eyes and issued a command.
"Jack stop talking and leave the house, do not come back", she said, her Mystic Eyes turning her simple words into an order that could not usually be disobeyed.
Of course, Kiyoshi knew that, when it came to concepts like Mystic Eyes, there were always other concepts that could negate them....
-
"Of course! I-I mean... You may need help getting cleaned up, and I'm sure there's enough room in there for us both, and..."
Forest blinked as he stood up and helped her to her feet, taking her hand. He was ushering her to the shower in the room. Part of her was horrified at the idea. She had her own bathroom that was connected to her bedroom. It had a whirlpool tub almost big enough to swim in and had all of her bath supplies. However, they would have to get past everyone, and then there was poor Finn asleep.
Then there was the fact he did want to get into the shower with her, and they were both already here.
"I'm pretty sure there's enough room for us. I've never really used this room before," she said as she flicked the light on in the bathroom. The first thing she was aware of that this room did have a mirror, and Tom was reflected back in it while she wasn't.
******
Lancer felt the influx of power from the tiny girl in the small hand chariot. Wheelchair the knowledge left over from the Grail, Bazett and Kotomine's influence pointed out to him. The wee lass's magic was strong, strong enough to make him leery as he heard the command in it.
Then there was the elder Rin palming a gem. Forest would be quite upset if her kitchen had been demolished a second time tonight. Even though that means the bowman would have to clean it up again, a petty part of Lancer's brain pointed out with glee.
He looked at Jack then back at the witch and the tiny, terrifying lass in the hand chariot. Taiga had just attempted to take Jack's will away. Just like that wanker priest. He gnashed his teeth and waited to see how things would play out.
-
Monster Commander
Ruined Circle 1
Just 6 of them left, with over half of their forces gone and no hope of reinforcements they had little chance of winning, but even then if they were going to die then they were going to die trying.
"Raaaaoooooggghhhhh!!!!"
With a furious roar the commander rallied the remaining troops, just himself 3 lizardmen and 2 of the sorcerers one injured from the rubble collapsing.
'So your wish is to succeed?' They all heard the voice and recognized it immediately, their supreme commander, the one whose order's they obeyed until death.
'Then give yourselves to ruin, allow the hatred and anger that flows in your blood to ignite in a fury!' They were the blood and the energy of ruin, their entire bodies were the lifesource that kept the machine running, and they would serve until their last breath.
"Awhooooooooooo!!!!...."
******************************************
Downy Reed
Inbetween Dimensions
It did not take Downy much longer for him to appear in the ruined alleyway, the ground was now covered in rubble.
However what he did see now was that there was a lot more commotion going on, it appeared that Gabriel had acquired a few new friends but so had Downy.
There were now 5 monstrous looking things in place of the former monsters of ruin, what little sanity they had as monsters was now gone. Now they were nothing but beasts to be controlled by Ruin. Sadly though and with a click of his tongue Downy could see that one of the monsters had not survived the process and was nothing more than a horrible mess of blood and guts, oh well it'd take to long to reanimate him back and Downy had more on his hands anyway.
'He may be resistant to my magic but can he resist this!?'
"מטאור!"
An enormous fireball emerged from Downy's fingertips and headed straight for the ruins of the buildings above, Downy was prepared to take them all down both Gabriel and these newcomers.
***********************************
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
The world inbetween worlds
"Here? Nope... How about there? Nope... Maybe here? Nope..." The book that shone in a bright red light against the pitch black nothingness rapidly flipped between pages as if searching for something or someone.
"Commander I realize how difficult this must be on you but we don't have forever you know, isn't there anyway you can speed this up a little bit?" The figure beside her was growing impatient, it had already been 3 days since Downy's disappearance and they couldn't afford any more interruptions if they were to continue the war.
"Ha! If you think it's so easy than why don't you give it a shot? Unless Downy himself provides us with a beacon the only way for me to reasonably locate him would be to search world by world until we find him."
It was at that exact moment that a giant beam of light shot straight up from beside them, grabbing all the nearby lifeforce and creating a vacuum from nearby worlds.
"A beacon such as that?" The second figure now had a smirk on her face, while she didn't know where Downy was she knew at least that he wouldn't just sit there.
"Precisely, now go fetch the other two if they haven't already killed each by now. We haven't a moment to lose!"
After they had all gathered the first figure's book rapidly began to flip pages yet again, some of them flew out of the book while others stayed in their binding. "Now hold hands everyone if you let go who know's where you could end up!" Faster and faster they turned until finally a bright flash of light and they disappeared without a trace leaving nothing behind except the faint smell of burnt paper.
-
He was buried within the rubble, unseen. He had been for a very long time, but now the earth was not so deep or tightly packed. A smell finally reached him through the cracks, tantalizing with the scarcest promise of life nearby. Life to drain, life to kill, life to feel crushed between his fingers and leave ruined on the hill.
The raw essence of fear began to seep out of the earth, which shifted subtly while everyone else fixated on the flames and the Hibernian fighters who opposed the mad warlock. Subtly, for but a moment, until thin and wiry arms shoved their way through to reveal the roughly person-shaped mass of corroded lorica segmentata that had lurked beneath. He began to crawl out, driven by the will of the Beast that now craved within as he craved without and deeply took in the sights and scents before him. Blood.
A gurgling hiss escaped his mouth, barely audible to the senses of something so keen as a vampire; it could not be louder due to the dirt packed into his lungs. He slumped down to cough out as much of it from his throat as he could, pushing down the Beast for but a moment lest any meal that came could not even make it into his stomach. He tore the wreckage of his helmet from his head. Many of the plates of steel fell from his lorica with that motion, but more still clung stubbornly despite the eons that had worn away at their bindings.
Eyeless sockets shined with a light, mad and blasphemously red, just before he took to leaping silently through the air to the nearest available corpse. The one that had fallen apart, now nothing but meat and fluid, he descended upon. Instinctively drawing into the cracks between the rage-filled minds of the monsters, he escaped their attention.
Blood blood blood blood blood blood blood
Then he stooped down, reached in, and began to squeeze the blood from the dead creature's organs into his waiting mouth with his fingers and jaw.
FEED
-
That being said, Valda looked over her shoulder to Luka and adjusted her glasses. "And thus, we are informed. There is no royal family and there never has been; the rulers of the country are elected by the people, and likely the same with the city. We have nobody of any real authority to introduce ourselves to, and businesses run everything of importance."
She turned around completely after that to approach the counter and deposit the cold and floating life-shell's payment to the cashier, fulfilling her end of the bargain.
Sir Bonesington nodded appreciatively at Valda and them hummed very blatantly.
"I grow curious about the castle that nervous chap mentioned. When I caught a glimpse of it among the buildings on the skyline, it felt somewhat like magic. How about we have a little peek at it while we explore town?" He asked.
To reinforce his argument, he twirled in place spreading snowflakes around him and continued in an encouraging tone.
"We should have no problem securing a place for the night! Just walk in the direction of the biggest and most pleasant-looking building with the word 'HOTEL' stuck on it. And tomorrow we can go take care of our transactions and so such. But we just arrived and haven't really seen anything yet, so I think we owe ourselves some time for it! What I am trying to say is..."
His arm shot pointing up, somehow sparkling at the end.
"We must venture forth! Be brave and bold!" He clamored, excitedly, before switching to the Thalassian of the elves for emphasis. "I can feel it, it shall be a very magnificent and surprising adventure!"
Unbeknownst to the lich, however, to everyone from the modern world the latter half of his statement had been better heard as simply French.
-
"Of course! I-I mean... You may need help getting cleaned up, and I'm sure there's enough room in there for us both, and..."
Forest blinked as he stood up and helped her to her feet, taking her hand. He was ushering her to the shower in the room. Part of her was horrified at the idea. She had her own bathroom that was connected to her bedroom. It had a whirlpool tub almost big enough to swim in and had all of her bath supplies. However, they would have to get past everyone, and then there was poor Finn asleep.
Then there was the fact he did want to get into the shower with her, and they were both already here.
"I'm pretty sure there's enough room for us. I've never really used this room before," she said as she flicked the light on in the bathroom. The first thing she was aware of that this room did have a mirror, and Tom was reflected back in it while she wasn't.
Although the flush on his face had died down somewhat, it came back a bit as he realized that he forgot that Forest had a room of her own. Of course she would, why had he been so foolish as to forget?
He turned to her, an apologetic look on his face. "O-of course, we could go down to your own quarters, if you would be more comfortable with us bathing there. I'm certain I could devise some way for us to sneak past anyone else undetected, I have had forced to be rather stealthy before."
But he noticed that her attention had been turned to the bathroom's mirror... and her lack of a reflection in it. It actually didn't bother him too much, really. He could still feel her hand in his, after all, and considering what his reflection sometimes appeared as... well, he found mirrors somewhat overrated anyway.
He still recognized it as a potential source of discomfort for Forest, however, knowing what he had heard and read, and gently gave her hand a squeeze. Whatever decision she made would be fine with him. After all, he was quite certain he would be quite satisfied with the experience either way, andso long as it was clean, he wasn't particularly picky about such things.
***
Hakuno had watched for about an hour or so before her exhaustion got the better of her. She now slept quietly against her Servant, who had taken the liberty of placing an arm around her shoulder to help her become more comfortable. His ears were still a bit red from it.
The little familiar Ruu in the meantime had been watching with rapt attention, utterly enthralled with what had been happening on screen until he too drifted off to sleep.
Archer was honestly tempted to change the channel, but he couldn't quite reach the remote, and he didn't want to disturb his sleeping Master or the drowsy familiar. So he endured watching as the marathon went on and on and on, more interested by the various outcries and outbursts he kept hearing all throughout the compound than what was on screen. But at last, Ruu at least had awakened from his slumber.
He tilted his head and looked Archer's direction.
"Does she need anything?" He was not sure what to do or say. His voice was a bit coarse, he would need some water soon. He approached the girl, he could perceive an hint of subtle yet faint thoughts released unconsciously. She was asleep, that, he was sure. However, something needed to be done for her to rest more efficiently. "Ruu will be back quick," he said to the Servant before quitting the room.
It only took him few minutes to come back with a blanket. The room temperature wasn't really cold but it wasn't optimal for a human being. Ruu doubted Archer would be in trouble himself, but for as long as Hakuno would be sleeping, it would be better to keep her warm. He made his best to cover the girl, which wasn't exactly a brilliant result, before turning back to the door. "Ruu will go for now. Eagle should rest too." And with that, he closed the door behind him.
Archer found a deep, buried part of himself found himself quite appreciating the little familiar's kindness. Low enough so as to not awaken Hakuno, yet just enough so Ruu could hear it, he said, "thank you."
As the familiar shut the door behind him, Archer decided that he was bored enough to take the little familiar's advice, and, pointedly ignoring the latest round of shouting and hollering, adjusted the blanket so it covered himself and Hakuno more efficiently and allowed himself to fall asleep. Soon his soft snoring intermingled with Hakuno's quiet breaths as the two slept on the couch together.
-
"No. I'm not leaving."
It was hard to fight against her mind control. A fucking wizard. But, the nature of the blood is a defense against such assaults. Along with my own will, I was able to resist the pressure...
And then a girl and a kid jumped out the window. What the fuck.
"You're not in charge here, and if anyone should leave it's you auntie. I doubt that Forest invited you inside. And for chiefs sake kid put those swords away!"
-
"I'm sorry but you are a monster, you tried to kill my daughter and for the sake of my family I'm not going anywhere. You were asked to leave and now you've been told. So I'll be clear that the next time I will kill you, no fanfare, no bravado, just dead. Stay away from my family and leave this kitchen" Rin replied.
Connor moved to make certain the monster couldn't reach Taiga
-
Kiyoshi frowned.
Wow, he resisted Taiga's eyes....
“I'll put my swords away when you stop threatening my family”, Kiyoshi said angrily. “Now, why don't you get out, like Aunty Rin said. You hurt Forest and attacked her guests, why would she want you to stay here?”
-
Gabriel gritted his teeth as the remaining casters were shaped into something other. He had seen something similiar before in the 1980's and someone had hired it to kill his Godmother. A movie theater had been demolished in the process.
These monsters were bigger and nastier, and he wasn't his godmother.
Gabriel took a step back and his new companion hefted his sword. Dark brown eyes met Gabriel's and the other man shrugged. "I've faced through worse and live."
"I'd rather not face this at all," Gabriel replied.
The other man squared his broad shoulders and said, "If I don't do something a lot of innocent people are going to die."
"And if these circles are not taken care of your conscience isn't going to matter because there won't be enough of you left," Gabriel replied.
Then his new companion's head turned to look at something.
******
The smell of freshly spilled blood was thick in the air and Angel wasn't the only one enticed by it. He watched as a humanoid figure dug itself out of the rubble and clamp itself to a dead body. Sharp fingers dug into flesh as organs were lifted from the corpse and their blood squeezed from them.
Angel saw a hellish red light coming from eye sockets without eyes as blood was poured into a waiting maw.
"Well, great," the vampire with a soul groused with a sigh.
His violet eyed ally pulled out a WWII issue 1911 and clicked the safety off. "I hope you are handy with that sword, I only have so many rounds."
******
Forest smiled at Tom and said, "Thank you. It feels weird doing things in a room that isn't mine. Plus my personal bathroom? So much more wicked than this one. Not to mention, we won't wake up Finn."
She squeezed his hand in return before exiting the bathroom. Her clothing was quickly gathered and she dressed in her pajamas again. A grimace passed her face as she put on her underwear knowing she was just going to have to get all new things after getting cleaned up.
Or I could just wear nothing at all. It's my bloody room, she thought.
******
Lancer cleared his throat as he started to poor the tea in a cup for Millie. He said, "If anyone blows up the kitchen I will ram my spear up their ass. Secondly, if you're going to kill someone stop threatening them and just do it. Third? Jack, please just get the hell out of here so she can calm her tits down."
-
Tom couldn't help but smile right back, brief as it was. Something about all this was rather... nice. He'd never been treated like this before. As sorted as the circumstances had began, he started to realize that this had lead to perhaps some of the happiest moments of his life.
Somewhat shyly, despite their intimate liaisons, Tom allowed the towel to slip off him and quickly slipped his boxers back on. He dressed himself completely except for his coat, which he was content to sling over his shoulder. The glasses he still put back on, even if he was going to take them off soon enough. He was rather fond of his glasses.
Yet another blush stained his cheeks red at Forest's thought, the image of her tantalizing nude form popping up in his mind and eliciting a bit of a... reaction from him, before he gave her a firm nod. "Lead the way, and I will follow." He gave her a small smirk. "I'm honestly quite curious about this 'wicked' bathroom of yours."
-
Rin sighed "Only reason this stand off exists is because you said Forest saved my daughter, from this vampire as far as I can tell Lancer. I'm respecting her home by asking him to leave, under any other circumstances I'd have called in a full team and already finished him off. Kiyoshi put the weapons away, Lancer is Forest's voice for the moment. You too Taiga"
Taiga growled "No"
Rin frowned "Come on now Taiga, what do you think Satoshi would say?"
Taiga frowned in turn and released him
"There, now go" Rin told the vampire.
-
Forest squirmed, the panties were starting to stick to her rather sensitive and sticky anatomy. When Jack slid his glasses back on she grinned before reaching a finger up to adjust them on his face. His cheeks turned bright red and she could see herself nude in his mind.
She took his hand and said, "Well, British so . . . 'wicked' would mean 'cool' or 'neat' in American slang I think. It's my personal bathroom so . . . I had it built to my tastes."
Closing the door carefully behind him, Forest began to lead Tom to her quarters, her stomach fluttering in both nervousness and anticipation.
******
Lancer raised his eyebrows at Rin's words and said, "A team? What's the fun in that."
Then he looked at Jack and gave him a pen and a pad of paper. "Look, Fore's going to want to get in touch with you. Jot down her number and leave for now. Maybe next time you can taste the whiskey."
-
Kiyoshi smiled at Lancer's direct comment, before he heard Rin speak.
At her words, he nodded and desummoned his swords. There was no reason not to, he could re-summon them almost instantly and it could possibly prevent harm coming to his family.
Then, he turned to Jack.
"OK, please, just get out of here, like Lancer said. We don't want a fight, we just don't want to be attacked", he said.
Then, he turned to Lancer.
"We're not fighting for fun, though. If I want to do that I'll spar with my dad. We were fighting to protect ourselves", he said.
"Anyway, now that we're done, what happened with Ryoko? She looked really ill...."
-
"Right. Right."
I stood up, passing Lancer a buisness card.
"And I never attacked her. The mick is full of shit. Oh, and lady, if I'm a monster..." I chuckled. "You don't want to meet some of my clan. You really don't."
With that, I shifted back into a crow, cawing before flying out the broken window. Screw it, if someone was watching this place they had to be crazy."
-
Tom intertwined his fingers with hers as he replied, "Oh, that much I surmised, about the word 'wicked' I mean, given the context and everything. It's just I'm quite curious to see what makes it so wicked for myself."
The psychic blushed yet again. "I... I've not been in too many elaborate bathrooms before, to be honest."
He allowed Forest to pull him along, more than a few butterflies in his own stomach. He had never bathed with anyone else before, much less someone of the someone of the opposite sex. And certainly not with someone this attractive of the opposite sex.
-
Rin sighed "I'll make arrangements for an alternate place to stay if he comes back. Thanks for listening Kiyoshi, Sakura is getting a hospital visit right now so the soup will have to wait a bit. For now can you take care of Taiga while I talk to Lancer for a minute." Rin asked.
-
"You'll see when we get there," Forest said with a grin as they managed to get into the lower level of the complex.
She unlocked her bedroom door and lead Tom inside. The room was done in various shades of violets. There was a gorgeous painting of a murder of crows hanging on the wall that made Forest smile when she looked at it. The bed was large with micro fiber blankets and satin pillow cases and sheets. It had a large closet, a vanity without a mirror that was full of bottles of finger nail polish, makeup, and several jewelry boxes, and a clothes press as well.
"So, this is my bedroom," she said, gesturing around.
There was an amethyst cathedral tucked into one corner. She noticed that the crystals matched Tom's eyes. Grinning, she said, "Hey, you match my bedroom." Then she gently tapped his cheek under his eye for emphasis.
She then led him to her bathroom.
It was large and set up with black marble floor and a wash in greys, stainless steel, and black. A huge black whirlpool tub took up almost half of the spacious bathroom. There was a large shower stall with a removable massage shower head and a nice sized toilet- which she never really used, but she had one in there because there might be someone who needed it one day. The sink was without a mirror, but there was toothbrush, toothpaste, and dental floss resting on it in a cup shaped like a black crow.
Then there was a shelf with a nice stereo on it with an Ipod sitting in its dock. She walked over to the stereo, turned it on and flipped through her playlists. After a moment and a few adjustments, low classical music was playing.
Squirming, she pressed her thighs together to help alive the weird sensitivity in her core. She gestured and said, "So, this is it."
******
Lancer took the card and put it in the same pocket as Axe Cop's. Then the crow made a dramatic exit out the window.
He turned back to Rin and said, "There, happy now?"
-
She unlocked her bedroom door and lead Tom inside. The room was done in various shades of violets. There was a gorgeous painting of a murder of crows hanging on the wall that made Forest smile when she looked at it. The bed was large with micro fiber blankets and satin pillow cases and sheets. It had a large closet, a vanity without a mirror that was full of bottles of finger nail polish, makeup, and several jewelry boxes, and a clothes press as well.
"So, this is my bedroom," she said, gesturing around.
Tom couldn't help but look at the room with wide eyed admiration. He'd toured Kalos a bit a month or two after he escaped, so he'd seen some lovely houses and architecture there, but never had he seen a room so gorgeous and yet so homey as this one.
"So, this is my bedroom," she said, gesturing around.
There was an amethyst cathedral tucked into one corner. She noticed that the crystals matched Tom's eyes. Grinning, she said, "Hey, you match my bedroom." Then she gently tapped his cheek under his eye for emphasis.
His cheeks flushed yet again. "Indeed, it seems I do." He took in all the shades of violet that decorated the room. "You are rather fond of the color purple I see." He chuckled. "Perhaps your attraction to me is no coincidence."
He followed her into the bathroom when prompted, and he found himself looking at it with some awe.
It was large and set up with black marble floor and a wash in greys, stainless steel, and black. A huge black whirlpool tub took up almost half of the spacious bathroom. There was a large shower stall with a removable massage shower head and a nice sized toilet- which she never really used, but she had one in there because there might be someone who needed it one day. The sink was without a mirror, but there was toothbrush, toothpaste, and dental floss resting on it in a cup shaped like a black crow.
Then there was a shelf with a nice stereo on it with an Ipod sitting in its dock. She walked over to the stereo, turned it on and flipped through her playlists. After a moment and a few adjustments, low classical music was playing.
Squirming, she pressed her thighs together to help alive the weird sensitivity in her core. She gestured and said, "So, this is it."
"This... this is quite nice. You appear to have excellent taste, from my limited experience at least." The squirming anxiety continued to plague him as his cheeks once again became a brilliant red. "S-so then... are you ready?"
-
His cheeks flushed yet again. "Indeed, it seems I do." He took in all the shades of violet that decorated the room. "You are rather fond of the color purple I see." He chuckled. "Perhaps your attraction to me is no coincidence."
Forest blushed as well and said, "Well, I might wear mostly black, but violet is my favorite color. It's also the color of the Third Eye, which is the seat for physic power." She chuckled and said, "Hey, I'm not a total ditz."
"This... this is quite nice. You appear to have excellent taste, from my limited experience at least." The squirming anxiety continued to plague him as his cheeks once again became a brilliant red. "S-so then... are you ready?"
Forest smiled at that, her own blush was fading. The "borrowed" blood was synchronizing more with her system and the ability to blush was becoming lost. "I . . . umm . . . Yeah." Then she turned around and started to undress, pulling off her clothing and throwing them into a lidded hamper. Naked once again, she turned back towards Tom, but she had her left hand between her legs to keep from making a mess and to keep him from seeing her like that.
-
Forest blushed as well and said, "Well, I might wear mostly black, but violet is my favorite color. It's also the color of the Third Eye, which is the seat for physic power." She chuckled and said, "Hey, I'm not a total ditz."
Tom tilted his head. "I never got the impression that you were one to begin with." He smirked. "Perhaps this is why I happen to have some fondness for the color as well. Like attracts to like, I suppose."
~
Even though she had turned her back to him, Tom still found that he had plenty to admire. Still, he quickly focused on becoming undressed himself, not wanting to become too excited. He stopped for a moment before deciding to follow suit and place his clothing in the hamper, including his coat. It was thankfully quite washable.
He gently set his glasses next to the hamper before waiting for Forest to make the next move.
-
Forest stared at him, more in her right mind this time. He really is lovely, she thought, drinking in the details. He was even starting to swell ever so slightly and she felt his eyes on her while she undressed.
Nervously, she looked at his glasses before looking at him. Tom was still, not making any movements. She moved her hand from between her legs, giving a shaking laugh at the white slickness she found there. Her hand shaking, she held it up for Tom. Then she lowered it back down the soaked golden curls to spread herself open for him.
Her pink folds were swollen and slick. Pearly whiteness was trickling out of of her. However there was something about displaying herself to him like this though, something that coiled pleasantly within her.
"See," she said in a soft voice, "Total mess."
She did not move her hand away. Her stomach tightened, but she wanted to see his reaction. So her nimble fingers kept herself splayed open for his gaze.
-
Tom swallowed, hard, as he looked at her display herself for him. His chest began to tighten, and he felt himself harden as he drank it all in, from her perky breasts to her elegant fingers to the shining blonde curls to her glistening folds. The beast within him began to take hold again, wanting him to ravage her right there, taste her sweet, salty lust against his tongue, hold her against the bathtub as he-
No. No, he had to control himself. Besides, he told his inner predator, we need to get her cleaned out first.
Swallowing once again, he went over to her side and sat down beside her. "Then let's get you cleaned up." He took a pair of fingers and gently began to scoop out the sticky seed, all the while finding it increasingly difficult to maintain his control...
-
That being said, Valda looked over her shoulder to Luka and adjusted her glasses. "And thus, we are informed. There is no royal family and there never has been; the rulers of the country are elected by the people, and likely the same with the city. We have nobody of any real authority to introduce ourselves to, and businesses run everything of importance."
She turned around completely after that to approach the counter and deposit the cold and floating life-shell's payment to the cashier, fulfilling her end of the bargain.
Sir Bonesington nodded appreciatively at Valda and them hummed very blatantly.
"I grow curious about the castle that nervous chap mentioned. When I caught a glimpse of it among the buildings on the skyline, it felt somewhat like magic. How about we have a little peek at it while we explore town?" He asked.
To reinforce his argument, he twirled in place spreading snowflakes around him and continued in an encouraging tone.
"We should have no problem securing a place for the night! Just walk in the direction of the biggest and most pleasant-looking building with the word 'HOTEL' stuck on it. And tomorrow we can go take care of our transactions and so such. But we just arrived and haven't really seen anything yet, so I think we owe ourselves some time for it! What I am trying to say is..."
His arm shot pointing up, somehow sparkling at the end.
"We must venture forth! Be brave and bold!" He clamored, excitedly, before switching to the Thalassian of the elves for emphasis. "I can feel it, it shall be a very magnificent and surprising adventure!"
Unbeknownst to the lich, however, to everyone from the modern world the latter half of his statement had been better heard as simply French.
Valda blinked once, then twice, at his sudden change in language. After a moment to translate his words in her head she could only respond one way:
"They speak French in your world?"
Such a strange thing... oh well. She went back over to Luka and took him by the hand yet again, ready to go onward. To... well preferably not adventure, but something was giving her the feeling that she would be dragged along anyway.
"... they speak English in your world?" She then asks, looking at Luka and feeling very confused.
-
"Oh," she said in a low voice as two nimble fingers carefully began to clean her up. Automatically her knees started to go week and it took every ounce of will power not to just sink beside him. She put her free hand on his shoulder to help stay upright as she studied his intense profile.
He wanted to claim her, that much she could smell on the his skin without reading his mind. He was already hard and swollen for her and she wanted to bend her head and suck on him. She wanted to feel him shudder and spend on her tongue.
Tom wanted to stake his claim on her.
She wanted him to.
"Tom," she said with a gasp, her toes curling on the floor.
I . . . If you're curious . . . You can play with me how you want, she sent to him in a soft mental voice, looking shyly down.
-
Valda blinked once, then twice, at his sudden change in language. After a moment to translate his words in her head she could only respond one way:
"They speak French in your world?"
Such a strange thing... oh well. She went back over to Luka and took him by the hand yet again, ready to go onward. To... well preferably not adventure, but something was giving her the feeling that she would be dragged along anyway.
"... they speak English in your world?" She then asks, looking at Luka and feeling very confused.
Sir Bonesington blinked himself.
"French? I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be Thalassian." He said, trailing off in mumbles to himself.
"Come to think of it..." he said, more to himself than Luka and Valda. "I did find it quite strange that everyone in America and Britain spoke Common back when I was there..."
-
"French? English? Thalassian? What are those? You've both been speaking Language this entire time," he said, already more confused than Valda and Bonesington.
"No they haven't," a sing-song voice whispered on the breeze.
Since their unspoken agreement to keep the presence of the spirits secret had already shattered, Luka didn't bother making the conversation mental. "What do you mean?" he asked Sylph.
"They've been speaking some mumbo jumbo the entire time, so I've been translating for you! Language is sound, and sound mainly goes through air, so I can do with it as I please~!" the wind spirit replied, her image appearing momentarily in the air, doing barrel rolls and flying around like a frolicking fairy.
"That... feels kinda forced," Luka said, ever the sceptic.
"Did I ever tell you about how I'm a published author?"
"Forget it! Forget it... I'd rather focus on the adventure. At least magical castles are somewhat believable."
-
"French? English? Thalassian? What are those? You've both been speaking Language this entire time," he said, already more confused than Valda and Bonesington.
"No they haven't," a sing-song voice whispered on the breeze.
Since their unspoken agreement to keep the presence of the spirits secret had already shattered, Luka didn't bother making the conversation mental. "What do you mean?" he asked Sylph.
"They've been speaking some mumbo jumbo the entire time, so I've been translating for you! Language is sound, and sound mainly goes through air, so I can do with it as I please~!" the wind spirit replied, her image appearing momentarily in the air, doing barrel rolls and flying around like a frolicking fairy.
"That... feels kinda forced," Luka said, ever the sceptic.
"Did I ever tell you about how I'm a published author?"
"Forget it! Forget it... I'd rather focus on the adventure. At least magical castles are somewhat believable."
"I may need more mana before we go off into danger," Valda says, with a pointed look to the Bonesington. Then she looked to Luka again. "Though of course, I trust you both to keep me safe from whatever harm I am being led into."
It helped that Luka was just so... trustworthy. Among other vaguely desirable qualities that she'd somewhat identified in their short time together so far.
-
"The french are elves. I knew it Rupert!"
Henderson was enjoying the company he was in at the moment. Even if it was likely a hallucination. Skeleton Bro sounded awesome.
-
And as the last bit of seed found its way out of Forest, Tom's control nearly shattered completely. Gone was the nervous, overly serious young man from before. In his place was a confident predator. And he wanted to take what was his.
I . . . If you're curious . . . You can play with me how you want, she sent to him in a soft mental voice, looking shyly down.
He cupped her chin with his free hand so her eyes met his. A devious smirk crossed his lips, the look in his eyes almost inhuman. I think I will take you up on your offer.
The fingers he had just used to clean her out began to move in and out of her as his lips crashed against hers, his tongue hungerly sampling her lips before slipping inside her mouth. The hand that had held her chin went to the back of her head, his fingers now entangled with her golden locks.
-
Forest's eyes went wide as he cupped her chin. Her own lust was starting to seep from her core again at one look at those intense violet eyes. Then he smirked and she felt her stomach tighten at that look.
The kiss caught her cry as he began to move his fingers in and out of her, his tongue tasting her before ravaging her mouth. She wrapped her arms around him to help keep balance as the hand on her chin moved to her hair. She felt herself flutter around his fingers as she kept up with his furious kisses.
He tasted like tea and a hint of clove. She rocked her hips in time with his fingers. Not to be out done, she moved one hand down his body. His length was almost scalding hot on her palm, and impressively thick.
Big, she thought as she began to lightly stroke him, rubbing her thumb lightly around the thick head.
-
"Forget it! Forget it... I'd rather focus on the adventure. At least magical castles are somewhat believable."
"Right so! Don't mind the plot contrivances and just focus on the adventure!" Sir Bonesington said, laying a hand on Luka's shoulder and making a sweeping gesture in front of him with his other arm.
"I may need more mana before we go off into danger," Valda says, with a pointed look to the Bonesington. Then she looked to Luka again. "Though of course, I trust you both to keep me safe from whatever harm I am being led into."
It helped that Luka was just so... trustworthy. Among other vaguely desirable qualities that she'd somewhat identified in their short time together so far.
Bonesington removed himself from Luka to stretch out his hands and begin conjuring another mana potion.
"Of course, of course! Though bear in mind, this is all I can get you for today. Conjuring isn't exactly an easy school of magic."
A strong glow emanated from between his hands before settling and gaining shape - a transparent bottle with almost translucent blue liquid. Bonesington picked it up from the air in front of him, and handed it to Valda.
-
Monsters of Ruin
Ruined Circle 1
Their minds were nothing but a blank canvas of which Downy could paint any masterpiece he wanted, and the sudden charging of the 3rd thing prompted them all to respond violently, the center eye embedded in their torso began to glow a violent red, all 5 of them targeting the newcomer who dared to come close to them.
***************************************************************************
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
The White Void
"Almost there! Just a few more moments!" Due to the roaring noise of traveling fast enough to transcend worlds shouting was the best she could manage. Though they could see nothing but white the constant inertia and twisting beneath them were certainly annoying factors.
Finally out of the bright white light came darkness. "This had better be the damn place, I can't take any more of this crap." One of the figures shouted, he had grown impatient and if had to keep holding these idiot's hands any longer he feared he might go insane.
"It should be just give me a moment to confirm..." Rapidly skimming through the book in her hands she ran countless calculations making sure that she had done everything correctly, after a few moments more she gave a confident nod thanks to having such a bright beacon to work off finding it was little trouble for her. Finally with a wave of her hand yet another turn of the page she casted the final transport spell, if she was correct in her calculations this spell should take her right to where Downy's beacon was launched.
"תחבורה!"
-
As the unit made her approach, she noticed a portal opening, and from it, a large amount of flesh and bones began pouring out. Soon after, the rotting flesh began to rise, merging itself into the shape of a large humanoid giant. The flesh titan simply stood there, guarding the main circle.
“Unidentified creature sighted. Analyzing...”
The unit landed with a loud crash, just a few meters away from the magic circle. She raised her gaze towards the giant, her internal systems trying to figure out what exactly was the thing in front of her.
ANALYSIS COMPLETE.
“UNIDENTIFIED SUBJECT”
SPECIES: UNKNOWN
COMPOSITION: ORGANIC MATTER, UNKNOWN
INFORMATION IN DATA BANKS: NO MATCHES CONFIRMED
If the unit had any emotion, it would have frowned. No creature in her memory matched with the monster that stood in front of her. There was still one more possibility which her systems immediately took into account.
MIST LEVELS DETECTED IN THE AREA: CONFIRMED
TRACES OF MIST DETECTED WITHIN THE CREATURE
POSSIBILITY OF FAMILIAR OR MISTBORN: 47%
PROCESSING NEW DIRECTIVE...
It was a small possibility, but with the huge amounts of Mist flowing through the circle, she wouldn't take any chances. The unit immediately readied her weapon, and braced herself.
ELIMINATE “UNIDENTIFIED SUBJECT”
OBTAIN COMBAT DATA ON “UNIDENTIFIED SUBJECT”
“Directive accepted. Maximize thruster output. Commencing execution.”
Green flame erupted from her back like wings of fire, as the unit soared through the air and towards the flesh giant. Whatever that thing was, she couldn't allow it to interfere with her main directive. If needed, she would abandon the fight and force her way through to destroy the circle. However, this fight could grant her some useful data for future reference.
Once she got within striking distance, she swung Harvester at the beast's torso with incredible speed.
-
"Uh, Miss Valda, remember what happened the last time you tried one of those?" the boy said sheepishly. "I mean, I have full faith in your abilities, but if we get a similar reaction, it could be dangerous, especially with that necklace on. Are you sure it's safe?"
-
Marius
Monsters of Ruin
Ruined Circle 1
Their minds were nothing but a blank canvas of which Downy could paint any masterpiece he wanted, and the sudden charging of the 3rd thing prompted them all to respond violently, the center eye embedded in their torso began to glow a violent red, all 5 of them targeting the newcomer who dared to come close to them.
Normally such a thing would not prevent him from going unnoticed ... but perhaps in his hunger, he was not so thorough as he could have been. The Beast snarled silently in his breast as it noticed the interruption to their meal, and he tilted his head. Hair remained fixedly in place despite the motion, defying gravity to keep the grotesque tableau of his appearance intact.
For perhaps the slightest fraction of a moment it considered which of the five was the weakest link in this threat to their existence, and how close they were relative to them. Then they picked up the largest remaining portion of the body he had just been feasting on and hurled it with the force of an oncoming train at the nearest creature.
His legs coiled and propelled him after it, and he hissed as he landed behind the momentarily distracted creature and put it in an arm-breaking hold in which to feed on it before it could recover from the distraction they had created.
-----------------------------
Valda
"Uh, Miss Valda, remember what happened the last time you tried one of those?" the boy said sheepishly. "I mean, I have full faith in your abilities, but if we get a similar reaction, it could be dangerous, especially with that necklace on. Are you sure it's safe?"
She was about to say something scathing in response to him; how dare he even think to prevent her from satisfying her constant need? From quelling the hunger that kept her from feeling any sense of comfort, day after day, until she'd forgotten what it was like to feel full from anything?
... on the other hand, there may have been a glimmer of wisdom there.
"Sir Bonesington? How long will this potion continue existing?" Valda asks him, gently waving it around beside her face.
-
"Sir Bonesington? How long will this potion continue existing?" Valda asks him, gently waving it around beside her face.
The lich rolled his eyes up in thought for a moment before answering.
"An hour or so at most I suppose. Like I said, conjuring isn't the easiest school of magic."
-
"Sir Bonesington? How long will this potion continue existing?" Valda asks him, gently waving it around beside her face.
The lich rolled his eyes up in thought for a moment before answering.
"An hour or so at most I suppose. Like I said, conjuring isn't the easiest school of magic."
Well, that ruled out keeping the potion in stock for later use. Just in case of an emergency shortage. With that in mind she looked at it carefully, considered it for all of five seconds, and popped the cork. Then with a smile she drank it all at once and just... shuddered.
Her hand tightened around Luka's, and the bakery became much warmer. Still, this time Valda was expecting it. She could control her power, enough that she wouldn't waste it all in a glorious display of this fraction of her true power. "No..." she said with a satisfied purr in her lightly accent voice. "I think I can handle it this time, dear Luka."
-
Kiyoshi looked on with slight disgust as the vampire transformed into a crow and left the room. For most children it would be downright scary, but Kiyoshi had seen plenty of unusual things in his time.
What "clan"? he thought.
Then, Rin spoke up.
"I'll make arrangements for an alternate place to stay if he comes back. Thanks for listening Kiyoshi, Sakura is getting a hospital visit right now so the soup will have to wait a bit. For now can you take care of Taiga while I talk to Lancer for a minute”, she asked
Kiyoshi frowned at her words. He didn't want her to leave.
Then, Lancer turned to Rin and said "There, happy now?"
“Thank you, Lancer. And, please don't leave, Aunty Rin. If that idiot returns I'll protect you and Taiga”, he said.
Then, he turned to Taiga.
“Are you OK?” he said.
"Oh, and, Lancer, don't believe what that idiot said, he did try to attack Rin's daughter. I saw him. Please keep that guy away from us, he can't be trusted", Kiyoshi said.
-
Taiga nodded slowly, a lie but she was just a bit tired.
Rin shook her head. "It's about planning ahead in case Kiyo, I'm not going anywhere unless we have to. It pays to be safe, your mom would agree."
she then turned to Lancer. "happy? Have you met me?" she joked.
"Seriously though, cut an old lady some slack Lancer, I just had to send my daughter to a medical ward." she added with a sigh.
-
Forest's eyes went wide as he cupped her chin. Her own lust was starting to seep from her core again at one look at those intense violet eyes. Then he smirked and she felt her stomach tighten at that look.
The kiss caught her cry as he began to move his fingers in and out of her, his tongue tasting her before ravaging her mouth. She wrapped her arms around him to help keep balance as the hand on her chin moved to her hair. She felt herself flutter around his fingers as she kept up with his furious kisses.
He tasted like tea and a hint of clove. She rocked her hips in time with his fingers. Not to be out done, she moved one hand down his body. His length was almost scalding hot on her palm, and impressively thick.
Big, she thought as she began to lightly stroke him, rubbing her thumb lightly around the thick head.
A wicked smile was on Tom's lips, even as he continued to kiss her, as he her lust stained his fingers, revealing as she rippled around them, getting tighter and tighter. The taste of oranges was on his tongue, and he wanted more, more!
And then he felt himself being stroked and his head being rubbed and he stopped kissing her, a moan escaping his lips.
He had to up the ante. If he was going to get everything he wanted, he needed to up the ante. Hmm... Well, I am a psychic, aren't I? Perhaps there's some fun to be had with that...
He remembered the massage shower head, and untangling his fingers from her hair, he floated it over to his side. With a flick of his wrist, the water turned on enough to power the shower head before he picked it up and gently sprayed her glistening folds, the fingers of his other hand continuing working their way in and out of her.
But this was nowhere near the limit of what he could do, oh no. Focusing of what he had felt of her breasts before, he began to massage them without lifting a finger. That left his hands free for... other things.
Suddenly he noticed the blush that had left her face. What a shame, his mate needed to feed again. Well, there was always... With a smirk, he offered her his neck. He could ravage her again in a bit. For now, she needed blood, and what better blood to give her than his own.
-
Forest smiled as Tom moaned against her lips and moved to stroke him a tiny bit harder.
Then a familiar heated, pressurized warmth poured over her core. There were tiny tugs at her nipples before her breasts were gently kneaded. Her body arched up as she had to let go of him in fear of hurting him. More and more pressure was bubbling up within her, a near sensory overload as tiny cries escaped from her lips.
Tension was building more and more. Tiny little flutters clinched around Tom's fingers as warmth, pressure, and sweet movement worked its magic upon her. She arched forward, dimly aware of him tilting his neck towards her.
All Forest could do was feel, every bit driving her farther and farther. Then all that tension and pressure built up to a head before she shattered. Black stars exploded behind her eyes as she screamed, her body arching as her core collapsed around Tom's fingers.
******
"And I thought the Master was ugly," Gabriel's new companion said in a soft voice as the nightmarish creature tore through bodies in its frenzied feeding.
Gabriel swallowed and said, "Well, I do know his table manners are horrendous."
"Well, I guess I gotta put a stop to him too," he said with a sigh before bringing his sword up.
Gabriel grimaced and thought, It's just like Godmother.
******
Lancer shrugged and said, "The Rin I know is less bossy than this, and the reason you had to send her to where ever was because she was stupid and did magic beyond her means."
-
The predator briefly retreated at the sound of Forest's scream. Tom, concerned, reached into Forest's mind to ascertain her condition...
And let out a not inconsiderable cry of his own. It took every ounce of control not to release himself right then and there. He... he'd done it. He looked down at his fingers, the fingers that were now held tightly inside her. The beast made a swift return as he surveyed the results of his work with considerable satisfaction, as she was quite glistening and wet from more than just the gentle spray of water.
He placed down the sprayer and placed his hand on her back, gently directing her towards his exposed throat. He leaned down. "Something tells me you need this, now more than ever," he whispered to her, seductively. He then began to nibble on her ear, awaiting her fangs sinking into his neck.
-
Forest was trembling as Tom pulled her close. His heart beat was thundering in her ears and she could see the throb of his pulse underneath his pale skin. His voice sent chills down her spine as he whispered, "Something tells me you need this, now more than ever."
His blunt teeth were gently nipping at her ear and she felt her fangs lengthen in response.
The world sharpened in its focus as her canines throbbed to the beat of his heart.
Her cool tongue swept over the hard line of his throat before the gentle prick of her fangs penetrated his skin. At the first splash of hot, rich blood on her tongue she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly. Her nails dug into his back as she was swept into the powerful tide of his blood.
-
Tom shuddered in delight as her tongue tasted his throat. Then those fangs of hers plunged into his throat and his world was awash with pleasure. There was no pain, just sheer ecstasy. Her nails digging into his back, he could hardly feel it. No, the only discomfort he could feel was his length hardening to the fullest.
His need began to overwhelm him. He wanted to take her. He needed to to take her. And he would get what he desired, all too soon...
-
Warmth was flowing through her, causing her to flush. She pulled her fangs out of him and then licked the bite closed. She kissed the area, laving over his clean skin and inhaling his scent. Her hands ran through his white hair as she looked up at him.
Her eyes were glowing crimson, her lips were swollen, and her fangs were peeking out through her parted mouth. She swallowed as she watched him, stroking his face. Her eyes closed and her fangs retracted back to their normal length. When she opened her eyes again they were back to their indigo color.
-
Rin sighed "And the Lancer I know is far less judgmental and more fun. What my daughter did is my business, I'll give her a talking to if I see fit at a later point."
-
Warmth was flowing through her, causing her to flush. She pulled her fangs out of him and then licked the bite closed. She kissed the area, laving over his clean skin and inhaling his scent. Her hands ran through his white hair as she looked up at him.
Her eyes were glowing crimson, her lips were swollen, and her fangs were peeking out through her parted mouth. She swallowed as she watched him, stroking his face. Her eyes closed and her fangs retracted back to their normal length. When she opened her eyes again they were back to their indigo color.
The crimson glow of Forest's eyes did not frighten him, nor did her fangs. Indeed, the awakened predator recognized a kindred spirit, and looked at her with satisfaction as her color returned to her.
He smiled and gave her a quick kiss before trailing his free hand down her frame, positioning them both so he could use the tub to get between her legs. He freed his fingers gently while his tongue tasted one of her thighs.
Once again, he began to telekinetically caress his breasts as he kissed his way to her slit. He stopped to lick his lips again before sending her a message, in much the same voice he had used to whisper his order to drink from him into her ear:
Now it's my turn.
His tongue licked her trembling lips before parting them with his fingers so he could see everything. It was bright, healthy and pink inside. And he found himself to be ravenous. His tongue slid inside her, exploring her folds, relishing every detail. He found himself unable to stop, wanting more and more, his hunger not easily sated.
-
Forest returned his kiss, stroking his hair and his cheeks. He didn't show any fear when he saw her other nature exposed, if anything he seemed somewhat pleased. She smiled at him as he trailed his hand down her body.
She felt her body tighten in anticipation. Automatically she started to move so he could thrust inside of her, but however he eased her onto the tub so his head was between her thighs. There was a sudden emptiness as he slid his fingers from inside of her and she shivered as he laved her sensitive inner thigh.
Muscles tightened in anticipation as he kissed up to where his fingers had just been. There was that odd but delightful touch on her breasts; her nipples where so hard it was almost painful. Those violet eyes met hers and he licked his lips in a way that made her shiver.
Now it's my turn.
She gasped as he licked her before parting her folds open with his fingertips. Then he started lapping at her, tasting every inch. A hand flew up to her mouth to keep herself from crying out.
Her head was spinning as he played with her body so masterfully. His mouth was hot and hungry upon her, as if he wanted to devour her. And she was helpless, any attempt to return anything and overwhelmed her.
Tom. Tom. Tom.
******
"Eh, the Lancer you know also didn't have the fantastically shit night that I've had either," Lancer replied as he poured himself a drink. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
-
Tom found it difficult to stop devouring her, but after he at last got his fill, he finally managed to pull himself away. There were only two logical places he could go from here. His hardened shaft was beginning to ache his need was so great, so he swiftly moved to the first target.
The bright pink nub sat there, open and exposed, just waiting for his eager lips to surround it. And surround it they did, his tongue eagerly toying with it. His fingers released her lips and slipped inside her to once again caress her folds, now that his mouth was preoccupied with her womanhood. The invisible force massaging Forest's breasts shifted upwards, gently beginning to caress her hardened nipples.
Soon, very soon, all would be at it's height, and they could at last join again as one.
-
Still sensitive from her last peak, Forest found herself being driven to the edge even faster this time. The sweet pressure on her weakness was going to be her undoing. Tiny shocks filled her with the teasing on her nipples. She was spiraling higher and higher, faster and faster. There was no reasoning, no thought, just sensation.
One of her legs wrapped around his shoulder to keep him there as her fingers clasped at his hair.
Her cries were completely drowning out the music she had put on, but she wasn't aware of it.
"Tom!" she cried out, arching hard. It wasn't just one peak, but over and over, her body lost and shuddering to bliss again. White lights danced behind her eyelids this time as her body seemed to shatter over and over again.
-
From the fingers tangled in his hair to the leg holding him in place to how utterly soaked his fingers were as she crashed against them, over and over and over again... His victory was now almost absolute.
There was only one thing left, now. The nub now retreated into its hood, he let go, freed himself of her leg and got to his feet, towering over her. He scooped her up and sat where she had sat, placing her on his lap. The invisible hands trailed down to her inner thighs, his real hands taking over massaging her breasts, rubbing over her erect nipples. He nibbled and lathed at her neck, almost desperately, hardly able to contain himself at this point.
Then, suddenly, with a sharp thrust of his hips, he was inside her. Once more, they were one.
-
Well, that ruled out keeping the potion in stock for later use. Just in case of an emergency shortage. With that in mind she looked at it carefully, considered it for all of five seconds, and popped the cork. Then with a smile she drank it all at once and just... shuddered.
Her hand tightened around Luka's, and the bakery became much warmer. Still, this time Valda was expecting it. She could control her power, enough that she wouldn't waste it all in a glorious display of this fraction of her true power. "No..." she said with a satisfied purr in her lightly accent voice. "I think I can handle it this time, dear Luka."
"Right-o! Let's get on our way then!" Sir Bonesington said, making a determined gesture with his closed fists.
He floated over to the exit and thoughtfully held up the door for Luka and Valda to pass.
-
"Skeleton Bro, do you guys need a lift?" Henderson asked in perfect French... Or was it Elfish now? "Rupert is saying we're likely going in the same direction. I've got room in the Century, and you all seem to know a lot about me lawn gnomes."
Lighting up another blunt, wrapped in pages of that weird Mormon cults bible, Henderson took a hit as he tossed down enough to cover his tab and a tip.
-
"...the Century? Does he have access to one of those self-propelling carriages I'm seeing on the street?" Luka took another look outside the bakery. They were zooming by pretty fast, and he was hesitant to call the situation safe, particularly with a rather addled man behind the wheel. Some vague warnings about not fighting while intoxicated stirred in his mind. He wouldn't have minded walking. It seemed much safer.
-
Forest arched back, her hair a wild blond tangle spilling down her back, and gripped Tom's arms for balance.
A tiny murmur of surrender was given when Tom fully sheathed inside of her. All she could do in response was gasp and marvel at the utter fullness of him inside of her. There was no pain, just a pleasant feeling of hard heat deep within her core. He was filling and stretching her; going deeper than she had experienced before. The angle with her in his lap was perfect for him to be hilt deep inside of her.
Her body was tingling as he teased the hardened tips of her nipples while there was that invisible caress on her thighs again. Slowly, she rocked her hips up, moaning at the first spark of sweet friction before moving a hand to entangle in his soft, white hair again. She leaned up with a kiss, her hips starting to move in a rhythm as old as time itself.
******
Archer took Rin's hand, surprised at how natural it felt to do so and grinned at her. He said, "Come on, let's get you something to eat and see what everyone else is going on about."
-
"...the Century? Does he have access to one of those self-propelling carriages I'm seeing on the street?" Luka took another look outside the bakery. They were zooming by pretty fast, and he was hesitant to call the situation safe, particularly with a rather addled man behind the wheel. Some vague warnings about not fighting while intoxicated stirred in his mind. He wouldn't have minded walking. It seemed much safer.
"They are referred to as cars, Luka," she says, gentle in her chiding. "And they are quite common, so I would suspect he does in fact have access to one."
Whether or not he had the capability to safely maneuver one was an entirely separate matter. Of course her own license likely had no value here, but at least she knew she was capable of it. However... she felt like moving under her own power. Her real power, even just this fraction of it that she had now, she let her go at much greater speeds for much longer times than she had ever been capable of in this fragile human existence.
Oh, how she looked forward to it.
"Still, it may be better for us to walk at this time. It is quite a nice day."
-
Well, if Luka and Valda were saying so, it couldn't be helped. While it had been a while since Sir Bonesington had ridden in a car, he would defer the decision to his companions. It was an occasion to take in the rest of the local sights, after all. He turned his head to address the gentlemanly scholar who had so kindly offered them a ride.
"It is as you hear, good sir. We thank you for your kindness, but it appears we will be walking. Or hovering, in my case. Nevertheless, your gesture is appreciated, mister...?"
-
Well, if Luka and Valda were saying so, it couldn't be helped. While it had been a while since Sir Bonesington had ridden in a car, he would defer the decision to his companions. It was an occasion to take in the rest of the local sights, after all. He turned his head to address the gentlemanly scholar who had so kindly offered them a ride.
"It is as you hear, good sir. We thank you for your kindness, but it appears we will be walking. Or hovering, in my case. Nevertheless, your gesture is appreciated, mister...?"
"Henderson," Henderson said, "And my feathered friend here is Rupert. Say hello Rupert."
There was a distinct lack of noise from the stuffed bird.
"He'll warm up to ya eventually," said Henderson, taking another hit off the cigar sized blunt he'd rolled.
-
Kiyoshi looked at Rin with concern.
“I agree that you need to be safe, but you're not going to just walk away from me, are you?” he said. “I don't think you'll find anywhere safer than this, this city is dangerous and Forest is strong.”
He stood and listened as Rin and Lancer talked to each other, until he heard Lancer make a statement that he simply could not let go unchallenged.
"The Rin I know is less bossy than this, and the reason you had to send her to where ever was because she was stupid and did magic beyond her means", Lancer said.
“Hey, that's not fair, Aunty Rin is always bossy”, Kiyoshi said, spectacularly missing the point. “And, if Sakura hadn't made that car we'd have been stuck in the middle of nowhere.”
Then, Kiyoshi turned to Taiga.
“So, would you like something to eat? I can cook for you if you want.
Ryoko-nee ordered some pizza, but she seems to have gone to bed, so I'm not sure who's going to pay for it...”, Kiyoshi said.
-
"Henderson," Henderson said, "And my feathered friend here is Rupert. Say hello Rupert."
There was a distinct lack of noise from the stuffed bird.
"He'll warm up to ya eventually," said Henderson, taking another hit off the cigar sized blunt he'd rolled.
In his mind, something of a wicked desire awakened in Sir Bonesington. He chuckled and answered, focusing just a tiny bit of magic on his hand.
"I'm Sir Bonesington. A pleasure to meet you, Henderson!" His hand went to pat the parrot's unmoving head. "And you, Rupert!"
His temporary trick of necromancy did its work as the parrot's throat trembled and it let out a strangled "brawk".
"BRAAA-WWK - Nice to meet you too!" the parrot spoke, strident and somewhat grating voice resounding. It looked back to Henderson, brawked "grandpa", and then went still again.
-
Rin paused in thought. "no no, it's fine Lancer, we can talk about it later. Clearly you've been though quite a bit when you won't entertain soft jabs. Have a rest, I can take care of things from here." she replied.
Turning to Kiyoshi Rin smiled. "That's right, but in my case I am the boss so I have to be bossy. I won't leave Kiyoshi I'm just getting prepared in case. It's like earthquake safety, better to have the plan and not need it. And yes Sakura did that to keep you safe but Lancer is also right, it wasn't a good idea."
Taiga nodded "just some water" she replied to Kiyoshi, she was hungry but her body wasn't up for eating.
Rin smiled hearing about the pizza "I'll pay for it, I haven't eaten anything all day anyway"
-
Forest arched back, her hair a wild blond tangle spilling down her back, and gripped Tom's arms for balance.
A tiny murmur of surrender was given when Tom fully sheathed inside of her. All she could do in response was gasp and marvel at the utter fullness of him inside of her. There was no pain, just a pleasant feeling of hard heat deep within her core. He was filling and stretching her; going deeper than she had experienced before. The angle with her in his lap was perfect for him to be hilt deep inside of her.
Her body was tingling as he teased the hardened tips of her nipples while there was that invisible caress on her thighs again. Slowly, she rocked her hips up, moaning at the first spark of sweet friction before moving a hand to entangle in his soft, white hair again. She leaned up with a kiss, her hips starting to move in a rhythm as old as time itself.
Tom let out a cry of his own as she closed around him, holding him so deliciously tightly. His lips went up from her neck to meet her own, his hips rocking in time with hers so they were both in perfect synch. The invisible caresses moved back up to her breasts so one hand was free to go to hold her waist, the other to now entangle itself in her hair.
His endurance had much increased since the last time, and he found it easier to keep himself from sweet release. He kept moving in perfect rhythm with her, waiting for her to be ready this time before he let go.
***
Archer took Rin's hand, surprised at how natural it felt to do so and grinned at her. He said, "Come on, let's get you something to eat and see what everyone else is going on about."
Rin's cheeks glowed pink as his large hand enveloped hers, but she found her fingers intertwining with his, ever so naturally. She nodded at him with a smile. "Something to eat and some tea would be good, definitely." The smile faded as she sighed. "They have been really noisy down there, haven't they? I hope no one's done anything stupid."
-
“See you later, Angra”, Rider said with a smile, before turning around and walking out of the castle.
Hmm, now, where was that apartment again? Rider thought.
She stood there for a moment, wondering which way to go. She knew the general direction, but without visual cues she didn't think she'd be able to find it exactly.
Well, then, I guess I just need to get airbourne, she thought.
Whilst summoning her Pegasus was not that large a drain on her prana supply, when she'd had no source of prana she could not afford to waste even a tiny amount without necessity. Now, though, Satoshi had filled her up, and if she needed any more she knew he would quite happily provide it, so there was no need for her to be quite so frugal with her supply.
Therefore, she summoned up her weapons and, after changing into her battle outfit to avoid damaging her clothes, she used the nail to cut her own throat. There was a bright flash and, then, in front of her, appeared her beloved mount.
“Good boy”, she said, softly, stroking the horse's mane whilst she changed back into her casual clothes.
Then, she climbed on his back and, after giving him another gentle pat, gave the signal to take off, lifting her into the air high above the castle.
She looked in the direction she knew the safe-house was and, after a moment of searching, found what she was looking for.
“OK, let's get going”, she said, softly, directing Pegasus to fly towards Forest's home.
-
Lancer relaxed somewhat and said, "The place we ordered from is really fantastic." He frowned and added, "But no matter how much I offer to pay them, they still won't bring their brews. They have this one, gods, it's . . . It has to be brewed by Brigid herself. Just amazing."
He shook his head and said, "Are ya sure you want to pay? We ordered a lot. Fore has cashed stashed for me in case I need it."
******
"T-tom, Tom," she cried out between kisses, holding on to him as tightly as she could.
Each thrust propelled her higher and higher, the tension deeper than before. She felt herself clinch around him, tiny little sporadic movements she couldn't control as she rode him. A strange bit of light headedness was washing over her, and the rest of her felt that tense-yet-weightlessness feeling that had over come her many times tonight. Yet it was different. Deeper somehow in a way she couldn't put into words.
She tried to fight it, not fall so easily, but her nerves were tingling, each movement inside of her and on her skin artfully bringing her to the breaking point. Her rocking became faster, less controlled as she held onto him. He was so hot inside of her, and thick and long and her thrusts became more and more frantic. Tiny gasps and cries were being forced from her lips as the weightless tension began to close in on her more and more, her head spinning with the feeling of it.
Then once again, she felt herself be pulled into the undertow, shattering yet again.
Her cries became a loud scream as she arched hard, muscles tense as her inner walls greedily collapsed around her lover. She clung onto him, her body helpless as she shuddered in bliss. Ripples of ecstasy rang out from her core and through out her entire body. Everything was lost to her, except the feeling of Tom inside of her and around her, and her body's complete and utter surrender to him.
******
"I think your hopes are going to be dashed, Rin," Archer said with a sigh as they headed towards the kitchen.
He let Rin's hand go as he saw what looked like to be an older version of Rin. She was still beautiful, but there were a few lines around her aquamarine eyes and mouth. He looked at his Rin and whispered, "You might want to stay here."
Then he heard Lancer say, "Are ya sure you want to pay? We ordered a lot. Fore has cashed stashed for me in case I need it."
That's my cue, the corrupted Servant thought with a smirk as he walked into the kitchen.
"So, you're freeloading off your vampire then? Well, at least this master is a lot more attractive than your last one," Archer said as he frowned at the mixture of what look like swamp water on the stove.
Lancer glared and said, "Bugger off."
"What's this?" Archer said, gesturing to the questionable mixture on the stove, "Someone deiced to boil swamp water for drinking?"
"Bugger, it's Millie's tea," the Celt said, grabbing a mug and a strainer, "It'll help with her headache. Can't do anything about the prana drain in her condition, but after some sleep she'll do better."
Archer smirked and replied, "I thought someone with your reputation would know all about prana restoration."
"Unlike you, I'm not going to take a girl when she's helpless and ill," Lancer replied, crimson eyes narrowed, "Arse."
-
Rin took a deep breathe. "ok now, you" she pointed at Lancer "stop the swearing there's children present, do one better and stop this fight before it starts and I'll get my brother in law to send over a crate of beer." she added.
turning to Kiyoshi she smiled "Ok kiddo, do me a favor and take Connor and Taiga out of here, it's about to get crowded with stuff."
she then turn turned to the darkened version of her former servant and current husband. " this" she motioned to his face and eyes "how and are you ok with it?" she asked peeking into the mostly empty fridge.
"And yes Lancer I'll pay, I'll expense it when I get back home" she finished awaiting Archer and Lancer's replies.
-
"I'm not censoring my fucking language just because there's kids present. Hell, the little ankle biters have already heard worse and this one," he pointed at Kiyoshi, "Has already cut a guy up." He gave the redheaded boy a little salute at that.
"So, I don't think my fucking language is a fucking problem," Lancer replied before putting a strainer into a mug and pouring the "swamp water" into it.
Archer smirked and said, "Don't worry Rin, we're not going to start a fight indoors. Lancer's 'Landlady's' leash is too tight for that."
"Fuck off you cheating asshole," Lancer said extending his middle finger as he threw the contents of the strainer into the trash.
He gestured at his face, mirroring her movements and asked, "What? You don't appreciate my new body art? That version of your little sister had to work so hard to get it to take, but then again, that's just something else on her extensive lists of sins."
-
Rin nodded and watched her lover/former (or perhaps even current, depending on one's point of view) Servant walk into the kitchen. It was probably a good idea, because she didn't like the looks of this older version of herself. Something felt... off.
And it seemed her fears were validated, because she could still hear what was being said, and Rin was already beginning to dislike her supposed older self. Must be from his world... she thought to herself.
Rubbing her temples, and knowing full well she may well have to break up a fight between two Servants soon enough, she walked in and turned to Lancer. "I'll go ahead and pay for the pizzas. I owe Forest that much for letting me stay here."
She heard what the Darkened Archer said about her sister and frowned. So Sakura must have never been freed from Angra Manyu's control then, not in his world anyway. That's the only explanation.
She walked over and gave Archer an overly pleasant smile, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. The me from Satoshi's world must be pretty unstable, from what her daughter was like. Time for a distraction. "Archer, do you mind making the two of us some tea? I could definitely use some, I haven't had a chance to just sit down and relax with a cup all day. Something good, but strong, I want a cup of it to be sent up to Mille too when Lancer delivers his, with my regards." She looked at Lancer's concoction and wrinkled her nose a bit. "I think she'll want something to wash down Lancer's medicinal tea with."
***
Ryoko had gotten little sleep, she knew that much. Her sleep had been restless, and in spite of the whiskey, the shouting that now came from below yet again had made it short lived. Thankfully the effects of the alcohol hadn't quite worn off yet, so no hangover at least yet, but she still wasn't feeling that great, regardless.
She was about to go back to sleep when she realized something. ...Crap, the pizza! Even if she couldn't pay for it herself, she still needed to leave the money down there.
The magus found the trip down the stairs a bit of a treacherous one due to her somewhat drunken state, but she managed. She rushed her way to the kitchen.
"Lancer, wait! I forgot to give you the pizza money!"
Money in hand, she was about to hand it over to the Irishman when she froze mid-step. Even drunk as she was, the lovely girl in the red t-shirt and slacks, the tall, handsome man with the signs of Angra Manyu's taint painted on his body... Mom... Dad... She stood there speechless, the money still firmly in hand.
Rin turned in the direction of the shout and found herself similarly speechless. Wait... no way, it can't be....
Mother and daughter stared at each other in shock. And then both were unconscious.
-
A streak of white light dashed through the night sky of Nexus City. To any regular person looking up, it would've looked just like that. But to him, a winged white animal being ridden by someone or something was distinguishable. He didn't understand the sight, and it almost felt like an illusion or trick of the light to him, but he could definitely still recognize that.
His gloved hands clenched tighter around the newspaper he had looked up from. Then he sighed with an unnecessary breath. He let go of the paper pages with one hand and lifted it to his forehead, rubbing softly over one eyebrow, as if expecting a migraine. He didn't have one, of course. The dead didn't have headaches. Not physically, at least.
But if psychological migraines existed, Maximillian Achterberg was certainly feeling one coming.
He stopped rubbing his skull to just bend forward, place his elbow on his leg, and support his head with the back of his fist. He forgot he was reading the newspaper to begin with and his other hand's grip on it loosened. He then (uselessly) tried to organize his thoughts.
Just the other night, Max had been incautious and fed a little too heavily from a drunk thug who looked entirely too uncoordinated to walk even before he sank his fangs into him. As a Kindred, he wasn't that used to feeling the drink hit him. At least not as heavily as it did. So the end result was that he stumbled into a ditch, and decided to just sink into the ground and pass his daysleep there.
And then Max had awoken in some place he didn't recognize, but that was definitely not Berlin, nor in Germany for one. He later learned, over the course of two nights, that this town was called Nexus City, was in the USA but no one knew in which state, Euros were accepted as currency for whatever reason, and it was a place where private companies ran most of everything.
Oh, and as he found out from snooping around, the supernatural was common knowledge but willfully ignored, an inconclusive bloodbath that made front page had actually been a werewolf slaughter, and there was a group of vampires running something behind the scenes and in actual control of a great deal of things in town.
After discovering all that, there was a moment where he actually wished all of this was just a crazy torpor dream. He would've honestly welcomed it at that point. But the world decided to brutally dash Max's hopes this very night by allowing him to witness what was apparently some kind of mystical flying being and its rider. He brought his peaked cap down to cover his eyes with another sigh.
'How weirder can this get?' he mentally asked himself with a shake of his head.
Smoothing down his trench coat and dark grey uniform, he got up, folded his newspaper and stuffed it into a pocket. He smoothed back his dirty blonde hair before readjusting his peaked cap and looked up to the skyline. Max knew it was no use to be restricted by his logic right now. So the best thing he could do, was to put it to some use and proceed as he normally would.
He began to walk away from the park, preparing to dive back into Nexus City and uncover its secrets.
-
"T-tom, Tom," she cried out between kisses, holding on to him as tightly as she could.
Each thrust propelled her higher and higher, the tension deeper than before. She felt herself clinch around him, tiny little sporadic movements she couldn't control as she rode him. A strange bit of light headedness was washing over her, and the rest of her felt that tense-yet-weightlessness feeling that had over come her many times tonight. Yet it was different. Deeper somehow in a way she couldn't put into words.
She tried to fight it, not fall so easily, but her nerves were tingling, each movement inside of her and on her skin artfully bringing her to the breaking point. Her rocking became faster, less controlled as she held onto him. He was so hot inside of her, and thick and long and her thrusts became more and more frantic. Tiny gasps and cries were being forced from her lips as the weightless tension began to close in on her more and more, her head spinning with the feeling of it.
Then once again, she felt herself be pulled into the undertow, shattering yet again.
Her cries became a loud scream as she arched hard, muscles tense as her inner walls greedily collapsed around her lover. She clung onto him, her body helpless as she shuddered in bliss. Ripples of ecstasy rang out from her core and through out her entire body. Everything was lost to her, except the feeling of Tom inside of her and around her, and her body's complete and utter surrender to him.
Tom's movements remained in synch with Forest's, even as she lost control, even as he himself was starting to completely lose control. He felt like he could barely feel his body, only aware of the thrusts and rocking and her body against his and the tightness around him that held him like a vice. If he had made any sound of his own in his euphoria, he did not know, because all he knew was how gloriously high he was, his length feeling harder and harder by the minute until he thought he would explode.
She screamed in ecstasy, and as she shattered, so too did he. He cried out as he experienced sweet release, awareness of all else except her and his presence inside her vanishing into the ether.
Consciousness slowly returned to him, and he looked past her shoulder to look at the two of them joined. Inside him the beast howled its triumph- his conquering had been absolute. His arms enveloped her torso, his lips gently brushing her neck before his head rested lightly on her shoulder. A dark smile crossed his lips from the beast within him assuring him that she was now indeed completely and utterly his.
-
Kiyoshi nodded.
“I understand that you want to be safe, but please don't leave, Aunty Rin”, he said with a smile. “And, thanks for paying for the pizza, I wouldn't want to disturb Ryoko-nee.”
Then, he turned to Taiga, a frown on his face.
“Are you sure you don't want any food?” he asked. “You can't have eaten for hours.”
Kiyoshi stood and listened as Lancer spoke up, before an odd-looking man entered. He looked a little like Kiyoshi's father, but his face had weird red lines that looked rather similar to the lines in his swords.
Kiyoshi listened as the man bickered with Lancer. He couldn't help but laugh at his description of the horrible-looking liquid that was apparently tea.
Well, I guess tea isn't native to Ireland, so I can't really blame him, he thought.
Then, his Aunty Rin spoke up. Kiyoshi nodded at her request to take Taiga and Connor out of the room. However, before he could turn to Taiga and ask her to come with him, he heard Lancer speak.
"I'm not censoring my fucking language just because there's kids present. Hell, the little ankle biters have already heard worse and this one has already cut a guy up”, he said, pointing at Kiyoshi and saluting.
“So, I don't think my fucking language is a fucking problem".
Kiyoshi looked at the man, unsure of what to say. He did not share Lancer's enthusiasm for pointless violence, and did not see his statement about “cutting a guy up” as a complement.
“Well, of course I know all those words, I'm not deaf. Mummy would go mad if she heard you using them in front of me, though. And, I don't hurt people for fun, I only did it to protect my family and friends”, he said.
Then, though, the Darkened Archer spoke up.
"What? You don't appreciate my new body art? That version of your little sister had to work so hard to get it to take, but then again, that's just something else on her extensive lists of sins”, he said.
Kiyoshi glared at him angrily, and then looked at Rin, who had asked about the lines, making it clear that he expected a response from her too.
How dare he insult mummy like that? he thought, considering whether or not he should summon up his swords in response to the insult.
Before he could say anything, though, the younger version of his Aunt walked into the room and, smiling at the idiot who had insulted his mother, took his hand.
What? Why is she holding his hand after he just said that?, Kiyoshi thought, angrily.
She spoke to Archer, asking him to make tea. When she was finished, though, Kiyoshi finally spoke, the anger and hurt clear in his voice.
“Don't dare talk about my mother like that. She's kind, loving and caring, she would never hurt anyone”, he said, shouting at the darkened servant.
Then he turned to the younger Rin.
“Did you not hear what he said about mummy?” Kiyoshi said angrily. “He insulted her like that and then you hold his hand and smile at him? What is wron...”
Suddenly, though, a cry of "Lancer, wait! I forgot to give you the pizza money!" interrupted his tirade, followed by thump as Ryoko and Rin both collapsed to the floor.
“Ryoko-nee? Aunty Rin? Are you OK?” he said, concerned, as he ran towards them.
-
Rin sighed "Kiyoshi calm down, they just fainted and Archer is going through the stage one process of his condition, it's called silent outrage. He's not moved to stage two yet so he's still prone to snapping on about it. Don't go off and make his condition worse by drawing attention to it."
she paused "you two boys hurry up and find a place to lay down those two and it would be best to do so separately if this is any indication. And everyone out of the kitchen, we seriously don't have the room for how much I'm bringing in. And let the kid keep her money, I'm paying."
she then paused again and smile "hurry now, and Archer, if you have it in you, I would very much like tea and your view on what has occurred"
-
*JACK*
I noticed the big flying animal incoming towards the compound while floating upwards on a thermal. In the distance, towards the downtown, the Beast rose its hackles, smoke and fire visible. Far enough away not to set me off, but close enough to put my teeth on edge metaphorically speaking. Brianna and my office lay at least out of the firestorm, but down there, it must be a nightmare for any kindred living above ground.
If the fires raised the hackles of the Beast, so did the incoming animal and Rider. The stench of blood clung to both as they flew towards the building I just left.
I could not, in good conscience, let Forest be blindsided by this arrival, especially considering how I'd left her at a disadvantage. At least Lancer should know. Pulling an immelman turn (in bird form no less) I swooped down towards the compound, and back through the open window as fast as I could, shifting back and smashing into the table as I arrived.
Vampires being eerily graceful is bullshit.
*RAUL*
Raul sipped from a bottle of hotsauce as he regarded the group of Lizardmen that surrounded him. They were unlike the Reptilians he knew of, less humanoid facially, more like an actual reptile.
Oh, and they had swords. That was different as well.
Hissing, one swung at him with a sword... far too slow. Raul was already out of the way, elbow swinging up to crush a windpipe, as another lizardman wiffed his attempted stab only to run into his fellows blade. Raul, with an eerie grace, plucked the screaming lizardman's dropped blade out of the air and running him through with it before turning to its now rather less confident fellows. The sound of the first lizardman convulsing to death as its choking attempts to breath started to splutter out underscored Raul's smiling words. "Sorry. If you weren't the cause of all this slaughter, you might have lived longer."
Blood and screams from the alley of quite a different variety from those of the surrounding neighborhood.
Search and destroy. That's what Raul was made to do. The hunt was on.
-
“Don't dare talk about my mother like that. She's kind, loving and caring, she would never hurt anyone," Kiyoshi shouted, his voice raising over the clamor.
D. Archer raised his eyebrows at the kid before smirking, leaning forward ever so slightly. "So you're her kid then? If I was able to, I'd pity you. Your mother has a darkness to her, kid. I know because she put it in me."
"Archer, do you mind making the two of us some tea? I could definitely use some, I haven't had a chance to just sit down and relax with a cup all day. Something good, but strong, I want a cup of it to be sent up to Mille too when Lancer delivers his, with my regards." She looked at Lancer's concoction and wrinkled her nose a bit. "I think she'll want something to wash down Lancer's medicinal tea with."
Archer smiled as Rin took his hand and gave it a little, "Please don't get into a fight with Lancer right here or provoke him anymore," squeeze. He looked at Lancer's swamp water and said, "That would not be a problem. Hopefully Lancer's Landlady has something palatable."
"It's medicinal, it's not suppose to taste good," Lancer said with a scowl, "For Dana's sake, it has willow bark in it."
"Lancer, wait! I forgot to give you the pizza money!"
Lancer grinned and said, "Ah, thanks Ryoko . . ."
Before he finished, "Mother" and "daughter's" matching aquamarine eyes made contact with each other. Archer blinked, surprised at how the young woman's features were a perfect mix of Rin's and . . . his. Complete with coppery red hair. Then both young women fainted dead away.
Archer reacted, lunging forward to make sure that Rin didn't hit the floor. Lancer had done the same, cradling the redheaded girl in one arm and his cup of swamp water in the other. Both men frowned at each other as they rose to their full heights, cradling their precious cargo.
Archer frowned and asked, "How the hell did making eye contact . . ."
Lancer smirked and asked, "What, can't recognize your own daughter?
"I don't have a daughter, even though it would be plausible. I do have a physical body now so my semen may be valid now," the corrupted Servant said thoughtfully as he realized that he had unprotected sex with Rin. The corrupted part of him rejoiced at the memory, the part that was still Emiya Shirou was starting to freak because he and Rin could have conceived tonight.
He kissed his Rin's forehead and said, "I'll make her comfortable, but I don't want to leave her side."
Then a giant crow crashed into the table and Archer stared at it.
Lancer blinked and said, "Jack, you know you really shouldn't be here."
******
Forest moaned at the rush of warmth that spilled into her with each pulse of Tom's release. She leaned into him, holding onto him as he lost himself as well. His arms crept around her waist and she felt him smile against her shoulder.
She snuggled into his embrace and stroked his hair and back, kissing the side of his face. Languidness filled her body as she bathed in the afterglow, smiling in contentment. Movement would have been impossible at this point, so she just held him.
Besides, she didn't know what to say either. Yeah, I doubt saying, "I didn't know it could be like this!" would really be apt. Especially with someone I barely know . . . Even though I like what I've seen so far. And, it didn't hurt, she thought in wonderment.
-
I shifted back into human in time to do a dignified faceplant into the table.
"Fuck you on that one, the bitch is the truly uninvited guest here. I've got news. Probably bad." I paused, noticing the two unconcious women on the floor in front of me. The hell was that about? "...I'm not sure what's going on so I'll make this quick. There's some woman smelling like blood and riding some crazy ass thing coming towards the place."
Giving a fanged grin to the standing woman in red, I snarked at her, "Miss me Satan Bitch?"
-
A sound not unlike a TV being turned on was in Rin's ears as consciousness returned to her. A buzz filled her ears as she forced her eyes open, almost a watery sound, as Archer's face came into view. Well, sort of, it was turned away from her, looking at something. The way his features came into focus was unnatural, and everything seemed overly bright and maybe just a touch fuzzy.
"Ugh... A-Archer? What happened?"
***
Forest moaned at the rush of warmth that spilled into her with each pulse of Tom's release. She leaned into him, holding onto him as he lost himself as well. His arms crept around her waist and she felt him smile against her shoulder.
She snuggled into his embrace and stroked his hair and back, kissing the side of his face. Languidness filled her body as she bathed in the afterglow, smiling in contentment. Movement would have been impossible at this point, so she just held him.
Besides, she didn't know what to say either. Yeah, I doubt saying, "I didn't know it could be like this!" would really be apt. Especially with someone I barely know . . . Even though I like what I've seen so far. And, it didn't hurt, she thought in wonderment.
Tom sighed in his contentment, enjoying Forest's fingers in his hair, her body held so tightly in his arms, the soft kiss on his cheek. Had he been in his true form, he would have been purring.
He heard her thought and laughed against her shoulder, the predator still active enough in him to give him that sort of confidence. He hadn't laughed in genuine, joyful amusement in so long, it made him nearly giddy.
Honestly, I didn't know either. Though then, this is only my second time, and my only other time's been upstairs with you. But I think I rather have to agree with you, I'm rather liking what I've experienced so far. And... He found himself blushing, and was for a moment glad that his face was still buried into her neck. E-even if we haven't known each other that long... To be perfectly honest, I'm glad it was with you.
-
Archer watched as the crow morphed, rather painfully with some unusual crunching noises, into a swarthy, dark complected man. Said man looked at the elder Rin and said, "Fuck you on that one, the bitch is the truly uninvited guest here. I've got news. Probably bad." He then paused, noticing the two unconcious women on the floor in front of him. "...I'm not sure what's going on so I'll make this quick. There's some woman smelling like blood and riding some crazy ass thing coming towards the place."
Giving a fanged grin to the standing woman in red, he snarked at her, "Miss me Satan Bitch?"
At the sight of the fangs being bared to Rin, even though she wasn't his Rin, put Archer on edge. Considering the shapeshifting he'd just witnessed, this newcomer wasn't some adorable Friendly Neighborhood Vampire like Lancer's Landlady was. If his hands hadn't been full of his Rin, his blades would have been out right about now.
Instead Archer said, "It would be 'Satan Bitch-sama', Apostle. And that woman on her way is just Rider. She's not a threat unless you're a school girl with delicious blood, but I bet that's something you know about isn't it?"
Then he felt a stirring in his arms and saw a familiar pair of aquamarine eyes slowly open.
"Ugh... A-Archer? What happened?"
Archer answered, "You fainted. Gave me a bit of a scare." Not caring who saw, he gently kissed her forehead. Then he looked at the other Rin and said, "I'm sure you have a theory, care to share it?"
Lancer sighed and shook his head.
******
Tom laughed against her shoulder and Forest blinked, frowning at him slightly. Then she remembered that he was just as telepathic as she was, and she was probably projecting to him. She felt the lightness in his laugh, the surprised joy of it and she giggled in return.
Honestly, I didn't know either. Though then, this is only my second time, and my only other time's been upstairs with you. But I think I rather have to agree with you, I'm rather liking what I've experienced so far. And... His face was warm against her neck, she realized he was probably blushing and stroked his hair and back more. E-even if we haven't known each other that long... To be perfectly honest, I'm glad it was with you.
She blinked at that and found herself blushing as well. She moved back so she could look him in the eye and ask, Really? You are? Even though you were tricked into it and everything?
-
Archer watched as the crow morphed, rather painfully with some unusual crunching noises, into a swarthy, dark complected man. Said man looked at the elder Rin and said, "Fuck you on that one, the bitch is the truly uninvited guest here. I've got news. Probably bad." He then paused, noticing the two unconcious women on the floor in front of him. "...I'm not sure what's going on so I'll make this quick. There's some woman smelling like blood and riding some crazy ass thing coming towards the place."
Giving a fanged grin to the standing woman in red, he snarked at her, "Miss me Satan Bitch?"
At the sight of the fangs being bared to Rin, even though she wasn't his Rin, put Archer on edge. Considering the shapeshifting he'd just witnessed, this newcomer wasn't some adorable Friendly Neighborhood Vampire like Lancer's Landlady was. If his hands hadn't been full of his Rin, his blades would have been out right about now.
Instead Archer said, "It would be 'Satan Bitch-sama', Apostle. And that woman on her way is just Rider. She's not a threat unless you're a school girl with delicious blood, but I bet that's something you know about isn't it?"
Then he felt a stirring in his arms and saw a familiar pair of aquamarine eyes slowly open.
"Ugh... A-Archer? What happened?"
Archer answered, "You fainted. Gave me a bit of a scare." Not caring who saw, he gently kissed her forehead. Then he looked at the other Rin and said, "I'm sure you have a theory, care to share it?"
Lancer sighed and shook his head.
I frowned, pulling myself off the table and grabbing a washcloth and turning on the sink. As the cloth soaked up cold water, I spoke up again. "No clue what you just said friend, but I'm no Apostle. Whatever that is. Besides, schoolgirls aren't my type. I think I'll be having a talk with this Rider then..."
Tossing the cloth to Lancer, I pointed out Ryoko. "Help her out will you? I think your friend will try to beat me to final death if I get close to her."
I realized my mistake once I noticed Lancer holding a cup of... something as well. Something hot. Shit.
-
Archer answered, "You fainted. Gave me a bit of a scare." Not caring who saw, he gently kissed her forehead.
Still disoriented, Rin blushed from the kiss, but frowned a bit regardless. "I... I did? But what made me..." She noticed him start talking to someone else and she leaned back in Archer's arms, still trying to get her bearings.
***
She blinked at that and found herself blushing as well. She moved back so she could look him in the eye and ask, Really? You are? Even though you were tricked into it and everything?
Violet clashed with indigo as their eyes met. He did not shy away from her gaze in the slightest as he nodded. I was not happy about being tricked, no, but... well, in spite of all that, I don't regret my time with you, not in the slightest. I may still be somewhat displeased with Ryoko for deceiving me like she did, but... well, if it weren't for her doing so I never would have... His eyes widened a little in surprise. Do you think... Do you think this was Ryoko's intention all along?
-
Henderson simply took a long look at his blunt after Rupert talked. Man, this was some seriously good shit.
"I'm not that old Rupert."
-
Sir Bonesington laughed heartily at that.
"You seem to be one of a kind sir. I'll look forward to meeting you again, maybe sharing a blunt sometime." He said with a wink, before turning to Valda and Luka. "Shall we go then, dear companions? To adventure!"
-
Sir Bonesington laughed heartily at that.
"You seem to be one of a kind sir. I'll look forward to meeting you again, maybe sharing a blunt sometime." He said with a wink, before turning to Valda and Luka. "Shall we go then, dear companions? To adventure!"
Valda was not much impressed with such casual displays of necromancy. She was actually much more interested in whatever mystical processes allowed the skeletal being to ingest food and partake of recreational drugs and somehow attain satisfaction in such a manner. That was a much greater mystery to be concerned about.
It may have shown on her face for a moment, or perhaps in the way her head tilted to the side quizzically.
"I believe we shall."
-
Kiyoshi listened as Rin spoke up.
"Kiyoshi calm down", she said, "they just fainted and Archer is going through the stage one process of his condition, it's called silent outrage. He's not moved to stage two yet so he's still prone to snapping on about it. Don't go off and make his condition worse by drawing attention to it."
Condition? Kiyoshi thought, slightly confused.
Hmm, wait, he does feel a bit like mummy, and he looks like my swords. Is he corrupted, like Ryoko-nee was, and Satoshi still is?
Then, Rin continued.
"you two boys hurry up and find a place to lay down those two and it would be best to do so separately if this is any indication. And everyone out of the kitchen, we seriously don't have the room for how much I'm bringing in. And let the kid keep her money, I'm paying."
Kiyoshi nodded. As soon as he'd finished his conversation with the dark Archer, he would do as she asked and take Connor and Taiga out of the room.
Rin finished speaking, and then the dark Archer lend forward, smirking.
"So you're her kid then? If I was able to, I'd pity you. Your mother has a darkness to her, kid. I know because she put it in me", he said.
Kiyoshi scowled. Whilst he could understand the man's feelings - being corrupted by All the Evils of the World couldn't be fun - he still found it very upsetting to hear his mother, who he loved more than anything and practically idolised, spoken about in such a negative manner.
"You'd pity me? Really?
I couldn't wish for a kinder, more loving, more protective mother. I know her magic is connected to Angra Mainyu, she spent most of her life learning to control that connection and I can still feel the curse when she does magic or when I travel in her shadow dimension. And, I know she has regrets about the past, although I don't for a second believe she willingly harmed anyone who didn't thoroughly deserve it. But, I also know she would never ever harm me, or any of the rest of her family."
Kiyoshi didn't know exactly what had happened in the Grail War, but he did know Angra Mainyu had been involved, and that he had been connected to his mother somehow. So, between Archer's words and those of the elder Rin, he had a fairly good idea what might have happened to this Archer.
Another alternate father..., he reminded himself. And, seemingly, another one that hadn't turned out so great....
"Look, I understand you being upset about being corrupted, but I'm sure mummy never intentionally harmed you. She'd never do that, especially not to you, dad. Mummy would walk through hell for you...", he said, still clearly upset at the attitude being shown towards his mother.
Before Archer could reply, though, Rin collapsed in a heap and, before her head even hit the floor, Archer had grabbed hold of her. Lancer did the same with Ryoko.
Kiyoshi listened to Lancer and Archer talking.
"What, can't recognize your own daughter?" asked Lancer.
As he heard that, Kiyoshi had a bright idea.
"Hey, Ryoko, couldn't that guy who took the taint out of you get it out of Archer too?" he said, excitedly, forgetting that she was in no state to reply.
Whilst the darkened Archer had irritated him, he was still his father, and Kiyoshi did have some sympathy for him. If he could find a way to help he would take it.
Then, suddenly, a crow came flying in through the window, before turning into a human just in time to smash into the table.
"Jack, you know you really shouldn't be here", said Lancer.
"Fuck you on that one, the bitch is the truly uninvited guest here. I've got news. Probably bad", the man said in reply. "...I'm not sure what's going on so I'll make this quick. There's some woman smelling like blood and riding some crazy ass thing coming towards the place."
Does he mean Aunty Rider? thought Kiyoshi, excitedly. It has to be!
Before he could ask, though, the man turned to the elder Rin.
"Miss me Satan Bitch?" he said, baring his fangs.
At that, Kiyoshi tensed up once more, and resummoned his swords. Before he could say anything, though, the darkened Archer spoke up, clearly angry at his attitude towards Rin.
"It would be 'Satan Bitch-sama', Apostle", Archer said, causing Kiyoshi to break into an amused smile. "And that woman on her way is just Rider. She's not a threat unless you're a school girl with delicious blood, but I bet that's something you know about isn't it?" he continued.
With that, Kiyoshi's mood lifted.
Aunty Rider is coming back! he thought, practically jumping with joy.
But, still, the idiot had to be dealt with,
"Leave my Aunty Rin alone!" he said pointing his swords at the man once more. "Lancer told you to leave, and if you don't Aunty Rider will make you. She won't let you hurt me or my family."
However, the man seemed to ignore his comment.
"No clue what you just said friend, but I'm no Apostle. Whatever that is. Besides, schoolgirls aren't my type. I think I'll be having a talk with this Rider then...", he said.
"An Apostle is a vampire in our world. Aunty Rider isn't one, though, and she doesn't hurt people. Mummy wouldn't let her.
And, the only talk she'll be having with you after what you've done will be to kick you out of the house...", he said, angrily.
-
"Shit," Lancer said as the wet washcloth went flying towards him. One arm had Ryoko and the other had Millie's tea, there wasn't any to catch the cloth. Instinctively, he lunged forward and his mouth snapped open and shut. His nose curled at the taste of wet cloth clinched between his teeth but he did it. Craining his neck, he rested the cloth on Ryoko's forehead.
Archer chuckled and said, "Nice catch, exactly what you'd expect of a well trained hound."
Lancer glared at him, but pulled out a chair with his foot and gingerly placed Ryoko on it. "She had a drink earlier. She's something of a light weight . . ."
******
Archer shook his head as he kept Rin nestled into his arms. He smoothed her hair back and said, "I think you got a bit of a shock, that's all."
He was the one use to seeing alternate versions of his friends, family, and himself. There were records of him repeating the Holy Grail War, but finding them would be all but impossible. Unless he had someone looking through with him.
Archer looked at the boy who was fiercely protecting his "Aunty Rin" against the Not-Dead Apostle. "So, what happened?"
******
I don't know, maybe, Forest replied. She tilted her head and asked, Did you know her, from before?
-
Rin nodded "this city isn't in a universe, it's beside or between them. As a result time isn't a solid concept. Rin is the equivalent of seasick since Ryoko is her future daughter. It will pass, I've been through it before."
she paused and smiled "As Archer and Kiyoshi said, Rider is no threat and Lancer is right, so hit the road jack."
Connor laughed as Lancer caught the cloth "ten points" he said.
-
Archer shook his head as he kept Rin nestled into his arms. He smoothed her hair back and said, "I think you got a bit of a shock, that's all."
"But what did I-" With a bit of effort, she maneuvered herself so she could see a little better. The girl who had a mixture of Archer's features and her own remained unconscious in a chair nearby, and the sight of her kick started Rin's memory.
With a sigh, she once again leaned back against her lover. "Great, another daughter," she muttered. "But... I didn't react like this the last time, nor did..." She looked up at Archer, her eyes wide. "You... you don't think that she's our real..."
***
Tom nodded. I did, but not for very long, admittedly, only for a few days. I found her fighting a werewolf, and proceeded to quote on quote rescue her.
He chuckled. She wasn't particularly pleased about it, something about "kill stealing" her werewolf. But she did not look well, and I was curious about the nature of her abilities that she had displayed during battle, and thus I took her back to my temporary place of residence so she could rest. We spoke, long enough to become acquaintances at the very least, if nothing else.
His eyes left hers for a bit, his expression darkening. Perhaps that is why I was so hurt initially after I found out about her trickery. She was the closest thing I had to a friend in this world, and then the moment we meet again, she uses me. His eyes met hers again, a smile on his face. I can hardly complain, however. It did lead to one of the best nights of my life, after all, if not the best period. I simply wish Ryoko had arranged this in a less underhanded way.
-
Archer frowned as he looked at the girl still asleep in the chair then at Rin.
He said, "That's impossible though. If she came back through time she would have created an alternate reality. You should know that better than any of us, Rin. She might be the daughter of an alternative version of us, but she can't be our daughter."
******
Forest smiled at the best nights of his life if not the best night. She tilted her head and said, aloud, "Maybe she didn't really have a choice. And there wasn't anyone else who could have helped at the time. I was . . . well, pretty far gone."
Normally I'm . . . pretty distant from this sort of thing. I don't let people in. Also, I don't think Ryoko thought that things would escalate like they did. Plus from what she saw I don't think she's going to want to get near you for a while. I think you gave her some super spooky look.
-
Rin nodded "Normally you'd be right Archer but this isn't a universe, it's a waypoint, a nexus of sorts. That means there is no future or past in the typical sense. She is your daughter, trust me, this has happened before. As for not collapsing earlier. Sakura isn't your daughter time wise. Ryoko is the future or at least possible future of your time line."
Rin turned to Kiyoshi "you and Connor go to your room and take Taiga, I'm counting on you boys if this situation gets worse, please Kiyo" she said.
-
Archer frowned as he looked at the girl still asleep in the chair then at Rin.
He said, "That's impossible though. If she came back through time she would have created an alternate reality. You should know that better than any of us, Rin. She might be the daughter of an alternative version of us, but she can't be our daughter."
"O-of course I'd know that," Rin sputtered. "But..." Her gaze returned to the girl in the chair. "I don't know... Ugh, this sounds really stupid, but... I didn't feel the same sort of connection with... well, you-know-who that I do with this girl." She looked up at him again. "I think we need to talk with her when she wakes up, either way. Maybe my head's still a bit scrambled from passing out, but it doesn't hurt to confirm for ourselves."
***
Forest smiled at the best nights of his life if not the best night. She tilted her head and said, aloud, "Maybe she didn't really have a choice. And there wasn't anyone else who could have helped at the time. I was . . . well, pretty far gone."
Normally I'm . . . pretty distant from this sort of thing. I don't let people in. Also, I don't think Ryoko thought that things would escalate like they did. Plus from what she saw I don't think she's going to want to get near you for a while. I think you gave her some super spooky look.
"I suppose that could be true," Tom mused. "It was possible there was simply no one else she trusted. Certainly a bit of a strange way to show it..." He smiled a little. "Though it seems your condition has far improved. I suppose for that at least we can all be grateful."
I can understand that, all too well... It is quite possible that, under normal circumstances, it may have been quite some time before I had sexual relations of any kind. I tend to keep to myself, keeping others at arm's length. You... you're the first person to know this much about me in quite some time.
He closed his eyes, his features darkening again. And... if she did, I could hardly blame her. What I wanted to do to her.... It must have reflected in the look I gave her. I could hardly blame her if she never wished to speak to me again.
-
A possible future . . . Archer thought as Lancer doted on the sleeping girl in the chair. Wait, that idiot is making eyes at my potential future daughter.
He nodded at both Rins' words and said, "This place is exceptionally odd. However, knowing too much about one's future can change everything. What if us talking to her prevents her from being born? Or . . ."
She has already been conceived. Ice filled Archer's veins at the thought. While he enjoyed his corruption for the most part, he didn't want to infect Rin with it or any child of theirs. His stomach clinched at the thought of his tainted seed already taking hold in Rin's womb. He didn't think. In fact, he purposely came inside of her because of some stupid possession thing.
Lancer scowled and said, "When that tattooed bitch was here causing trouble, Ryoko had problems until Lawrence like sucked something from her."
******
Forest blushed at Tom's words and said, ". . . I don't know if I said this yet, but thank you. For you know, everything." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek.
Thank you for letting me in, Tom. Honestly, I can say the same as well. Hell, I was brooding in my office about being alone before everything happened. Sometimes being alone is good, but others . . . Loneliness can be the worse thing there is.
She took his hand and said, Well give her some time. I'm sure she'll come around. I don't want you to lose your not-quite friend. Then she sheepishly looked down and added, Besides . . . if you ever want to do that to someone . . . you can always come to me.
-
Rin frowned. "'Tattooed bitch?' Wait, you don't mean Angra Manyu, do you?! How? And... if it affected Ryoko, that means..."
Suddenly, there was a groan, and the girl in question looked blearily at the occupants of the room, cradling the washcloth to her head, visibly confused. "What the hell happened? I ran down to give Lancer the pizza money, and-"
She looked around and Archer and Rin came into better focus. "...Mom? D-dad?"
***
Tom blushed in return. "I-it was nothing, really. I-I mean, it wasn't nothing, but I certainly didn't mind doing it in the end, and-" He found himself unable to finish his sentence, finding even more heat found its way to his cheeks.
I can understand that all too well. Though... I suppose I never realized how much I was missing out on until tonight. Not truly.
He found himself instinctively giving Forest's hand a soft squeeze as he replied to her other statement. I suppose all we can do is hope. But you are not to blame for that. That was my doing, and mine alone. Even if I wasn't in control of myself, I still have to account for my actions.
As she gave him her offer, he was silent for a moment. His cheeks lit on fire, and he found himself squeezing her hand again. Are... a-are you certain? I-I mean, of course, i-if you'd desire to make love again I... I-I mean... He looked away from her. As a vampire, I suppose I'd have far more difficulty hurting you, but... what I wanted to do to Ryoko in that moment was a bit... harsh. Nor am I certain that I would be comfortable doing such a thing to you, even with your consent. Are you certain that you are comfortable with that?
-
"D-dad?" Archer forced out, his dark eyes widening as he looked at Ryoko and then at Rin.
If it affected Ryoko then it means she was conceived with the taint of Angra Manyu, Archer thought before looking at Rin.
******
Forest lifted her free hand to idly toy with a lock of her tangled hair before reaching up to stroke his hair. Her cheeks were pink as she replied, I mean . . . not right now. I'm pretty much jelly at this point, but maybe in the future. If this becomes anything. I mean, you even match my decor.
She grinned at that and squeezed his hand while her fingers toyed with his white hair. Well, what did you want to do then? "Harsh" in your playbook might be "cuddling and vanilla" in mine. Besides, after all you've been through, maybe you deserve a chance to cut loose. You should be happy; it looks good on you.
-
Rin slowly turned to meet Archer's gaze. As lacking in telepathic ability as she was, she found for once she could read the Servant's thoughts. They matched her own perfectly.
A sigh from the chair made Rin's head snap back in Ryoko's direction, perhaps just a touch too quickly. "I guess I can't blame you guys for being shocked. I mean Mom's only... well, eighteen right now if I remember right, I can't blame her for being kinda freaked out. Well, I always figured I'd need to present proof if this ever happened..."
Ryoko cleared her throat before speaking. "My mother, Tohsaka Rin, was sent to the Nexus by the Association in pursuit of one Millie Garrison. She is sent with one Ruby, who in a moment of bitchiness, decides to drop her in midair only to be caught by Archer, Servant of one Kishinami Hakuno. So she, this version of Archer, and Lancer all go to this one alleyway where this big mess happens. And then after all that happens, Lancer over here sweeps Rin off her feet to take her back to Forest's Complex when they're stopped by..."
She paused to look at the still stunned Servant. "...My father, the presently Darkened Servant Archer, his Darkened state gifting him with a real body, and, well... Naturally, the two are quite attracted to each other right off the bat, to Lancer's chagrin, and things start off swimmingly there when there's this whole big mess with a bunch of vampires, and Garrison ends up saving the day by setting most of them on fire."
Ryoko stopped to take a breath. "Everyone is exhausted after that and makes their way here. Then Mom and Dad have a really romantic evening which I'm glad to say that they failed to give me details on, but the way they look and talk to each other about it at home suggests it was a good night. Or something. I don't really wanna know the details of my parents' sex lives in any explicit detail. It also may or may not have been the night my dad's sperm and my mom's egg met to create, well... me."
Ryoko let out a sigh before looking at her parents again. "That all sound familiar?"
***
Tom's cheeks were still reddened as he nodded to her. O-of course. I naturally wouldn't ask that of you right now. B-but indeed, in the future, if you ever wanted me to... He chuckled a bit, although it was somewhat nervous. Well, after all, as you said, I do match your decor. It's not every day you can accessorize to that extent.
In spite of his nervousness, he couldn't help but sigh in contentment as her fingers toyed with his hair. However, his face remained serious. He was frowning, in fact, due to the subject matter. In that particular case, it's less of what I want to do and more the unpleasant combination of my most carnal desires and my anger. It would essentially be what I fear would happen if I lost control completely. I fear I could hurt you, or worse... even force myself on you, which is not what I wish at all. Even the most gentle of sexual liaisons I do not wish to partake in if it is done without the consent of my partner.
His features softened, however, as he considered her words. You should be happy; it looks good on you.
My happiness? His eyes met hers. Honestly... I do not think I would have to let my inner predator entirely loose to be happy. Tonight was more than enough proof of that. Just having another night like tonight would be more than sufficient. Though perhaps...
He looked away from her for a moment. His eyes met hers again as he gently stroked her cheek, his hand shaking a little. Perhaps one thing my inner beast and I can agree on is that I should earn my right to be with you. S-so then...
He gave her hand another squeeze, his face practically glowing red. Well... I-I was perhaps wondering... If we could perhaps go on a date sometime? I mean, it wouldn't have to be anything elaborate of course, it could simply be a quiet night together in this apartment complex, but... Well, a chance to get to know each other better. O-of course, you're completely free to decline, if you so wish.
-
"An Apostle is a vampire in our world. Aunty Rider isn't one, though, and she doesn't hurt people. Mummy wouldn't let her.
And, the only talk she'll be having with you after what you've done will be to kick you out of the house...", he said, angrily.
I cocked an eyebrow at that. "Apparently she has a taste for schoolgirls, so she probably has hurt people, and will likely continue to do it. Maybe you don't realize shit kid but news flash - I'm not your enemy. And mummy ain't here kid. Besides, if there's even more types of vampires out there Deacon Frost will want to hear about them."
I simply ignored Satan Bitch's (her real name was apparently Rin, but like I was going to call her that.) lecture on the inbetween universes thing. Leave that shit to the Dragons to figure out all the little things about our home here. Instead, I focused on the unfolding drama before us. Apparently Ryoko's mother was knocked up here, at this time, by Archer. And her mother was Rin, but not the same Rin as Satan Bitch, and they apparently had another daughter that wasn't theirs. This was like one of Brianna's soap opera shows but in real life. Not that I ever watched one of them... OK, maybe a couple episodes when I'd needed a laugh.
"So can anyone give me a rundown on these Dead Apostle things? There aren't literally 13 of them running around with names like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John right?"
-
It was sudden, Satoshi felt his chest pierced through. Blood sprayed the back of the squad car and then burst into flames on Satoshi's cue. Amid the smoke Tsukasa dragged him into the shadow making it seem as if he had spontaneously combusted.
Tsukasa released her shadow travel three blocks away. "I win" she stated triumphantly.
Satoshi coughed and nodded. "we should head to Forest's got to check on Connor and Sakura, there's a hulk in this city."
-
Kiyoshi stood there gripping his swords, listening to the conversation going on around him, and waiting for the vampire to exit.
"Yu and Connor go to your room and take Taiga, I'm counting on you boys if this situation gets worse, please Kiyo" Rin said.
Kiyoshi nodded once more. But, before he could leave, he had to deal with Jack.
Kiyoshi continued to listen, hearing Ryoko explain her existence to her shocked parents. Finally, the vampire spoke up.
"Apparently she has a taste for schoolgirls, so she probably has hurt people, and will likely continue to do it. Maybe you don't realize shit kid but news flash - I'm not your enemy. And mummy ain't here kid. Besides, if there's even more types of vampires out there Deacon Frost will want to hear about them.", Jack said. "So can anyone give me a rundown on these Dead Apostle things? There aren't literally 13 of them running around with names like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John right?"
Kiyoshi relaxed slightly, and desummoned his swords. The man had claimed not to be an enemy, and whilst Kiyoshi did not fully believe him he could resummon his swords rapidly if necessary.
"Mummy doesn't need to be here to stop Aunty Rider. Aunty Rider would never do anything that would upset her, or me. She does need magical energy to survive, though. Usually she gets plenty from mummy, but mummy isn't here so I think she attacked Hakuno to get some. She wasn't going to kill her, though.
If you want me to believe you're not my enemy then stop insulting my family. You tried to kill Sakura-nee, and you are now going after Aunty Rin. Why should I trust you?
And, Dead Apostles are our world's form of vampire. I don't know the full details, but there are certainly more than 13...."
Then, he turned to Taiga.
"I just need to finish talking to him, then I'll take you out of the room like Aunty Rin asked, OK?" he said, sweetly.
-
He had found the store closed. Of course, he could have searched further and eventually visit Lawrence and Ran, but the idea felt pointless as he walked through the streets. The night was already running and both of them would still be there by the morning. Or maybe not, if that cop would release them earlier. So, he made his way back to the compound, a bit disappointed to not have anything to smoke for a while.
Shuya entered the kitchen just to hear a guy he didn't know from Caine ask about the vampires. The room was full, apparently Archer decided he was done shagging his girl, although it was still reeking of lovey dovey mood. The mixed blood snorted at that. Whatever, he would tease the Servant about it later. Lancer was there, with another girl. Kiyoshi was also present and didn't seem too happy right now. The kid in the wheelchair was in the room too with another dude. And there was someone who looked familiar to Archer's girlfriend, older though. Might be another parent. Shuya found it funny how the probabilities went about it, reuniting people from not only the same realm, but also with a common past and even blood bonds. There might have been a reason for that, but this whole family thing looked like a huge headache anyway.
The swordsman eyed the curious guy.
"Apostle's just a word to design themselves and wank their kind. The twenty seven elders, or 'Ancestors', like they prefer to be called, are top dogs on the food chain, well, the undead one at least. Some are very old and supposedly as powerful. But in reality they're mostly a bunch of aristocrats so far up each other's asses they are probably close to reach Akasha." He gave the unknown man, a grin. "Like the boy said, that's our version of blood suckers except they can differ greatly from basic vampires. A few became something more, whether with intent or not. But hey, I'm sure they have some great parties. Can't live that long and don't learn how to have fun, right?"
He poured himself some alcohol and tasted it with appreciation. Finally some comfort! A quick glance was enough to gather that something important, or not, he would bet on the latter, happened here. Forest wasn't around, which meant she was either busy fixing another mess or hiding somewhere from yet another conflict. After a moment, he decided to ignore the tension and move on with it.
His eyes shifted on the older Rin, Ryoko, Connor and, finally, Jack."So, who are you guys? New around?" He raised his glass to them with amusement. "Name's Shuya. Not sure if nice to meet you, but don't let that get in the way."
Shuya watched Kiyoshi for an instant. "You seem to take the fact that she would attack someone way better than expected, kid. Anyway, isn't she supposed to be back by now? Perhaps, things didn't go all too well with that dude. Maybe, it wasn't a good idea to let her go alone to that bastard's castle..."
-
"Castle? Wait, Satoshi is in a castle?" Rin's face was white. She snapped out her phone and dialed on the touch pad. "Get here now" she spat clearly angered.
Satoshi answered the phone hearing Rin's voice he sighed "Yes madam president" he replied.
Tsukasa raised an eyebrow.
"Gonna get an earful" Satoshi replied as the two faded into the shadows again.
"Ok, now seriously out of the kitchen, I need the space people" Rin repeated the request calmly before starting to mark the wall.
-
Archer looked at Rin with a frown. The girl, Ryoko, which was a name he'd always liked, had just described tonight's events pretty much to a T. He did take Rin's hand, not knowing what to say.
He did note that Ryoko looked like a normal magus girl; there wasn't any signs of corruption on her.
The Not-Apostle said, "So can anyone give me a rundown on these Dead Apostle things? There aren't literally 13 of them running around with names like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John right?"
Kiyoshi gave his explanation and then Shuya cut in. After that, the elder Rin was telling everyone they needed to clear the kitchen.
Lancer scowled and said, "Listen, you have no right to tell us to leave this kitchen. You're not Forest, and if anything since she's not here because of Jack, no offense, I'm acting in her stead. We're staying until we can move the girls from here."
Then Archer frowned and asked, "Are you writing all over this poor woman's kitchen?"
******
Forest blinked as Tom rested his warm hand on her cheek. Automatically she leaned into the warm caress and returned the squeeze to her fingers. Her eyes widened at her words and she blinked before smiling.
I would love to go out on a date with you, Tom. So, I accept.
Then she leaned forward and gave him a gentle kiss, a silly smile on her face but she didn't care.
-
Rin nodded "it's just a bit of marker, it'll wash off. I need it to line up the portal" she replied.
-
Ryoko, still rather disoriented and drunk, waved an overly friendly hello to the newcomer. "Ah, you must be that Shuya guy, right? Name's Ryoko, how's it goin'?" She looked around and spotted Kiyoshi. "Kiyoshi! Hey, how's it going?"
Then she looked around to see... some weird ass alternate version of her mom telling people to leave and drawing a mark on the wall.
"Hey, what the hell's your deal?! And what's with that mark on the wall, this ain't your kitchen, it's Forest's!"
Rin temporarily was released from her stupor enough to register more of what was going on. Bring stuff in? She keeps saying that, what's she going on about? Other than throwing her money around like an idiot...
She gave Archer's hand a squeeze before adding on to her... daughter...'s comments. "Stop acting like you own the place, this is Forest's building, not yours. I don't know what you're up to, but don't you think you should at least, you know, ask before you do something like this? I mean, seriously, misusing the 2nd for something like this, what are you thinking?!"
Even the shock of learning that she might be pregnant wouldn't stop Tohsaka Rin from commenting on the bizarre version of herself's idiocy.
***
Words being lost to him in his joy, Tom returned Forest's gentle kiss, his fingers running through her hair as he held Forest's hand tightly in his own.
And for the first time in his life, he was honestly and truly happy, with no regrets.
-
Forest was smiling, her indigo eyes bright as she parted from the kiss. She stroked Tom's hair back from his face and said, "You know, a bath would be absurdly nice right now. Join me? Just give me a minute to spray off and I can get things going."
-
Tom smiled back at her, his own lavender eyes bright to match hers as he moved his thumb over the back of her hand. "Certainly, I'd be delighted. Take as long as you need."
-
"Thank you," Forest said with a grin before giving him a quick kiss. Humming to herself, she walked to the shower stall to rinse off. As she walked, she felt the odd crawling feeling of Tom's seed crawling out of her. She squirmed a little until she got into the shower and quickly rinsed off.
Fair skin gleaming with water, she returned to Tom to get the bath started. Grinning, she asked, "So, how do you like the smell of lavender?"
-
"A-Adventure!" It was the last word Luka could hang on to without feeling confused or getting something wrong. But at least he wasn't alone. Was this what his father had felt, adventuring with his friends? Compared to having only an unreliable girl as his companion, it was certainly much more... comfortable.
-
Tom patiently waited until she returned, allowing himself to bask in the moment. When she returned, he found he wasn't disappointed. Her fair skin glistened with water, and his eyes were not found wanting.
He smiled before responding to her question. "I rather like it, actually. When I traveled around Kalos, they had a fair few lavender fields. I find the scent quite soothing. Especially when watching a whole field of it being gently blown about by the wind."
-
"Well," Forest said, bending over to a cabinet beside the sink and pulling out a festively colored tin box. "Lavender's scent actually is good for calming one down. Helping them relax. That's one of the reasons I wear so much of it."
She grinned at him as she opened the box. "I'm kind of high strung." A lavender ball caught her gaze and she lifted it up. "I remember those days when I could watch a field of it. It's not exactly a night blooming flower, but hey technology."
Then she walked over to the tub, shut the hot water off and then turned on the jets. The lavender ball was dropped into the water, fizzing and dissolving almost instantly. The smell of Lavender filled the room as did steam from the tub. Smiling, she stepped into the frothing water and held out her hand to him.
-
Tom watched the water with almost childlike wonder as the ball Forest dropped in the water fizzed and dissolved, turning the water the color of his eyes and filling the room with the scent of lavender. Still in awe, he took Forest's hand and followed her into the tub, his first foot in somewhat cautious before stepping in entirely.
"That little ball you dropped in- what was it?" he asked, his eyes still widened.
-
Forest smiled at Tom's wonder as he took her hand. She made sure he was sure footed into the tub before she reclined in the water. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, relaxing in the near scalding warmth. She propped a foot on the ledge of the tub and answered, "That was a bath bomb. They make the water fizzy, smell good, and a pretty color. This one also has a few things to soften one's skin too."
Toes with the nails painted burgundy wiggled as she crossed her legs at the ankles.
"They're a little absurd, but I do enjoy them."
-
Tom followed Forest's example and reclined next to her in the water. The scent of lavender was strong, and he found himself quite relaxed indeed, the scent of lavender, the motion of the whirlpool jets and the almost scalding water working their magic on him almost instantly.
He almost mimicked her motion of popping a foot out of the tub before deciding against it. He turned to reply to her. "Oh, I hardly think it's absurd to enjoy such a thing. It's quite interesting really, watching them fizz into nothingness. Plus the scent is quite pleasant."
Nervously, he reached an arm out to place around her waist. The heat combined with the attempted motion left his cheeks rather flushed indeed.
-
As his arm settled around her waist, Forest turned to Tom, resting her head on his muscular chest. His heart beat was steady in her ear and his skin warm against her cheek. She rested her hand on his chest and looked up at him.
"The first time I got one these I giggled and clapped my hands," she admitted, "I thought it was sort of wonderful."
-
His heart beginning to race as Forest rested her head on his chest, he arranged his arm so it was securely around her, holding her close.
He chucked and smiled down at her, albeit with a touch of nervousness. "To be quite honest, I can understand that sentiment." His face reddened a bit more. "You could say I was having the same reaction, only internalized."
He chuckled. "Perhaps sometimes it's the small things in life that seem the most wonderous."
-
She looked up at him and said, "Your heart's racing." She lightly stroked his chest, hoping to calm him down, but she smiled at his words.
"Sometimes its the little things that keep one going. If one focuses on all the horrible then the nice little things like this seem to be worthless. And when that happens getting by doesn't seem worth it."
-
He swallowed, his heart rate spiking upward a bit as she stroked his chest. "My apologies. I'm just still getting used to all this." But in short order, he found himself calming down, the water and its scent working on him once more, Forest's closeness and her strokes becoming far more of a comfort to him. Now at ease, he sighed in contentment.
"Indeed, that is true." He smiled grimly. "Perhaps that's something I need to improve on, really. I tend to think overly long on what's wrong in this world, and it makes it difficult at times."
-
"It's okay," Forest replied, looking up at him, "I . . . understand." However his heart rate did begin to drop to a more normal rate as more tension eased from Tom's lithe form.
She sighed and said, "Hey, at least you weren't trying to hide from everyone like I was before everything else that happened."
-
Undead Behemoth
Central Circle
The behemoth was cleaning cut in two, bones and mashed up body parts flying everywhere. However it was not done, though the beast was large it was not all that slow, it quickly brought it's fist down right where it sensed the attack had come from. The two pieces slowly beginning to merge back into one.
********************************
Monster of Ruin
Summoning Circle 1
Dazed from the sudden body being thrown at it then followed by being grabbed by the thrower. The monster attempted it's own hold on the man, it then began to glow an eery red if the monster was going to die then it would rather take someone down with it!
********************************
Downy Reed
Summoning Circle 1
His monsters were busy dealing with the crazed Vampire like creature, so it was up to Downy to deal with the other two. Preparing his next action he finally recieved the call he had been waiting for.
'... Mas... ..ear Master! Can you hear me!'
'Iminity! So you've finally found me and not a moment too soon. Where are you right now?'
'We are on route, it should only be another few moments before we arrive, we managed to locate your beacon and are signalling in on it.'
'Excellent! With any luck we can defeat the few that have dared to stand against me. And then we can continue our conquest as soon as possible.'
**********************************
The 4 Generals of Ruin
Travelling on Route
A final flash and they were high above the city slowly levitating down thanks to Imnity's levitation spell.
"Alright everyone you know our goals, locate Downy, aid him in whatever he's doing, and then leave this place. Now let's go!"
And they were off split into 4 different groups, each one headed towards a different location.
-
"Eh heh... Actually, I do tend to hide quite a bit. I do stroll out in public on occasion, but I still tend to keep to myself." His expression became serious. "It's almost a necessity, really, in my case. Even if a sample of my DNA were to be taken and replicated, this whole city would be in terrible danger. And... if I were to be captured again..."
He thought too hard about it and suddenly a rush of memories came back. Even though the circumstances kept him calmer than normal, his breaths became rapid, his heart pumping wildly from the adrenaline. Sweat began to bead on his face, from more than just the heat of the water.
A myriad of eyes staring at him, objects poking and prodding at him, pain of various types and varieties as he was experimented on, helpless in spite of all of his power, helpless to stop any of it- he screamed for it to stop but they wouldn't stop, it just kept hurting and hurting and hurting-
Something warm and wet making its way down his cheek snapped him back to reality. He realized that he was holding Forest just a bit too tightly, and he sat there, trying to reacclimate himself to everything. It was a shame, really. Up until now, it had all had been so perfect. And what would Forest think?
-
Tom's hold on her tightened and his whole demeanor changed. His heart rate spiked up, his eyes were darting around but focusing on nothing, he was sweating, and there was the smell of fear in the air. Every one of those muscles of his were tense.
Then Forest saw it. The memories that haunted her new lover. A spike of rage tinted her vision red as she saw the people staring at him. Poking and prodding on him like he was just some lab rat while he was helpless to their whims. Pain, endless pain as he was experimented on.
She recognized some of the implements they had used on him. Needles for blood samples. Various narcotics to keep him calm. Restraints and other things.
She brushed his tears away and shifted so she could hold him. Again, her hand stroked his thick, wet hair as she held him close. "No one is going to hurt you," she told him, "You're safe now. Anyone tries to capture you . . . Well, may their god have mercy on them."
Tom, you're safe. I'm not going to let anything get to you.
-
Tom's breathing started to become more regular, his heart slowing down as Forest held him close, her fingers running through his hair, her presence soothing.
"No one is going to hurt you," she told him, "You're safe now. Anyone tries to capture you . . . Well, may their god have mercy on them."
Tom, you're safe. I'm not going to let anything get to you.
Even as frightened from his memories as he remained, something about her words made him feel... safe. He'd never felt something like this before. Not even as a child had he felt truly secure like this. Never had anyone cared so much for his welfare. Never had anyone sworn vengeance for his sake and his sake alone.
His arms surrounding her, holding her tightly, Tom mentally whispered the only words that he could think to say.
Thank you.
-
You're welcome, she sent back to him, stroking his cheek.
Tom, look at me and breathe, in and out, she prompted as he held onto her for dear life. You're here with me, and you're safe.
Then she kissed him.
-
He returned her kiss, his body relaxing as the familiar taste of orange was on his lips once again.
It was odd, but... he felt something stirring inside him. Not lust, no, even if she'd certainly elicited that in him before, but something else. Forest was making him feel something he'd never felt towards anyone. Something that made him want to be with her always, and yet ensure her happiness.
For the first time in many years, the icey shield around his heart began to crack, letting a ray of sunlight work its way in at long last.
-
Forest gently moved her lips and tongue in a slow rhythm with Tom's. She felt him relax against her, felt something change that she couldn't put into words. Lips swollen again, Forest ended the kiss with a tiny smile.
She needed to protect him and keep him safe. He'd been through too much already; it was his right to be happy. She stroked his cheek and met his eyes.
Better? she asked.
-
He couldn't help but smile back at her as he answered her. Much better, thanks to you.
He gently placed his forehead against hers, holding there for a moment before releasing and pulling her into an embrace, cradling her body against his. He sighed contentedly as his fingers stroked her hair. Somehow, holding her close like this, he already felt safer.
-
Forest smiled back at him as he rested his forehead against hers. She shivered slightly at the contact. They were both telepathic and now their Third Eyes were touching. The wave of contentment that she sensed from him caught her unaware.
He shifted so he could hold her again, cradling her against him. She curled into his embrace, surprised at just how well their bodies fit together. Automatically she arched into the touch in her hair with a smile, noting how comfortable he was with her.
And oddly enough, how comfortable she was with him.
You're welcome. After all, you helped me.
-
He leaned so his head rested against hers, his fingers continuing to stroke her hair.
This may sound strange, but... I feel as if you helped me more tonight than I could ever hope to repay. So helping you was a pleasure.
He laughed, still as strange sound to his ears. Quite literally, really.
Reveling in how perfectly their bodies seemed to fit together, he simply sat there, allowing himself to just take it all in. This was one night he wished would never end.
-
Marius
Monster of Ruin
Summoning Circle 1
Dazed from the sudden body being thrown at it then followed by being grabbed by the thrower. The monster attempted it's own hold on the man, it then began to glow an eery red if the monster was going to die then it would rather take someone down with it!
Noticing its prey struggling and preparing strange things, the Man gave the Beast the slightest nudge to focus on more than just draining the strange creature dry in their iron grip. And so while his own torso was being held onto the starving and enraged Marius let go of its arms, grabbed the thing's skull and twisted. The sharp sound of its neck snapping followed shortly.
Then they went back to gnawing away at it, spitting aside gibbets of flesh and drawing more blood out of the steaming corpse. After all if the prey was not going to be subdued the usual way, dead was probably better. Most things could not retaliate once you killed them.
-
"Apostle's just a word to design themselves and wank their kind. The twenty seven elders, or 'Ancestors', like they prefer to be called, are top dogs on the food chain, well, the undead one at least. Some are very old and supposedly as powerful. But in reality they're mostly a bunch of aristocrats so far up each other's asses they are probably close to reach Akasha." He gave the unknown man, a grin. "Like the boy said, that's our version of blood suckers except they can differ greatly from basic vampires. A few became something more, whether with intent or not. But hey, I'm sure they have some great parties. Can't live that long and don't learn how to have fun, right?"
His eyes shifted on the older Rin, Ryoko, Connor and, finally, Jack."So, who are you guys? New around?" He raised his glass to them with amusement. "Name's Shuya. Not sure if nice to meet you, but don't let that get in the way."
Shuya watched Kiyoshi for an instant. "You seem to take the fact that she would attack someone way better than expected, kid. Anyway, isn't she supposed to be back by now? Perhaps, things didn't go all too well with that dude. Maybe, it wasn't a good idea to let her go alone to that bastard's castle..."
So, they were vampires. The kid confirmed it. Only 27 elders though? New York, while I was still there, had 7 alone at least. Ancient bastards, old enough to have seen the start of the country and perhaps beyond that. Apostles sounded a lot like chumps to me.
"Call me Jack. New, not really. I've been here for years."
I heard Satan Bitch do her 'I'm in charge so listen to me' shtick, and simply decided to ignore her. "Like hell I'm leaving here. Not until I can apologize to Forest, and make sure this Rider won't try and eat anyone. No matter what you say kid, I'm not trusting someone smelling like blood."
-
Max
Maximillian groaned in annoyance as he ran up the creaking fire escape of the building. Ordinarily, he would've mentally complained why Americans insisted on having these everywhere, given how easily they could be exploited for felonies and the like, but he had other things in mind. Reaching the roof of the monotonous grey apartment block, his eyes immediately locked on to what he was looking for.
In the distance, he could see the supernatural lights, he could hear the strife ongoing, and above all else, he could smell the smoke and blood brought in his direction by the wind, and feel the Beast stir. Max's eyes narrowed and he clicked his tongue as he started to run across the rooftop.
His plan had simply been to spend the night gathering more precise information about this "Deacon Frost" that apparently headed the vampires of the area. But then he noticed the agitation that people in the streets downtown seemed to be in; a few of those odd vampires that felt like kin but not Kindred hastily went past him in the shadows before he took notice of the commotion which seemed to be building on the rooftops. He decided it seemed too big to ignore.
Taking speed, he reached the edge of the building and jumped.
Soaring through the air towards the next rooftop, he touched down with a thud and a roll. He rose from his crouch and looked in the same direction as before. The smell of blood was stronger, and he could distinguish them now, the shapes and numbers of the figures locked in bloody struggle on the rooftop where the supernatural light of what appeared to be a mystical circle shone.
Max had seen similar things in his time as an Ouroboros Division agent. Magic wasn't something he was entirely unfamiliar with.
He walked across the rooftop and jumped up to a higher building packed extremely close, seeking a better angle of vision at the events. Judging from the large number of monstrous critters guarding it, it was likely that the shining ring was a summoning circle or ritual of sorts. Whatever it was, though, he had a feeling it was nothing good.
Suddenly there was a flash in the sky, and Max looked above to see something - rather, some people appear out of where it originated. He furrowed his brows. It looked like things were about to get worse.
Max hummed to himself, then drew on his powers. With a thought, he completely erased his presence and vanished in the night. For now he planned to simply watch carefully. Without a sound or sight of his person, he began to move closer to his object of observation.
-
Rider smiled as she used the reins to drive her beloved Pegasus towards the apartment, patting him gently on the mane as she did.
"Good boy", she said, smiling, as she approached the apartment at supersonic speeds. She had no time to waste, after all.
In no time she had arrived above the apartment.
Hmm, how should I get in? she thought, momentarily.
She listened for a moment, but she heard nothing untoward going on, although everyone seemed to be collected in the kitchen.
Well, I'm not in a hurry, so I guess I can just ring the doorbell....
"OK, you can land now" she said to the winged horse, patting him once more.
He did as asked and set her gently on the ground. Rider climbed off his back and, still holding the reins, rang the doorbell. However, she did not tell him to leave just yet. After all, he had just given her a ride to the compound, it was only fair that she give him a little bit of affection in return.
As Shuya had noticed, Kiyoshi was indeed not happy, and Shuya's arrival only made him feel even worse. The guy was clearly and obviously a bad guy, and as far as Kiyoshi was concerned there was no reason whatsoever for him to be here. At least the vampire seemed to care about other people.
Kiyoshi listened to Shuya talking about Dead Apostles, before he then turned and addressed Kiyoshi himself.
"You seem to take the fact that she would attack someone way better than expected, kid. Anyway, isn't she supposed to be back by now? Perhaps, things didn't go all too well with that dude. Maybe, it wasn't a good idea to let her go alone to that bastard's castle..."
Kiyoshi looked at Shuya with contempt.
How dare someone like him judge Aunty Rider. What else was she meant to do? Die?
Had he not heard Jack's words about her return, Shuya's comments would have worried him. As it was, though, he was confident that Aunty Rider was just fine.
Before he could reply, though, Rin spoke up.
"Castle? Wait, Satoshi is in a castle?" she said with a white face.
Taking out her phone and showing surprisingly-good telephony skills she dialed what was, presumably, Satoshi.
"Get here now" she spat, clearly angered.
Ah, I see, I think she just realised he's turned Dark....
"Ok, now seriously out of the kitchen, I need the space people", Rin repeated calmly, before taking out a marker and writing on the wall.
What is Aunty Rin doing? he thought.
Whilst the tone of her voice indicated that she had been making a request, the way she had gone about it, as was typical of his Aunty, had been rather abrupt and demanding about it. And, then, she'd taken out a marker and started drawing over the wall of someone else's house. Kiyoshi trusted her enough to believe she had a good reason, but even as a twelve-year-old child he could see that it wouldn't come across very well to everyone else.
As he'd expected, both Lancer and the darkened Archer spoke up, clearly irritated with her words and actions. Then, Ryoko turned to address him.
"Kiyoshi! Hey, how's it going?" she said, before turning to also castigate the alternate version of her mother.
"It's going well, thank you Ryoko-nee. Aunty Rider is coming back soon!" he said, excitedly. "Are you OK?"
Whilst he was speaking to Ryoko, the vampire addressed everyone else before, finally, turning to Rin.
"Like hell I'm leaving here. Not until I can apologize to Forest, and make sure this Rider won't try and eat anyone. No matter what you say kid, I'm not trusting someone smelling like blood", he said.
"Aren't you a vampire?" he said, scowling, clearly unhappy at the guy's hypocricy. "As for Aunty Rider, I don't know what happened to her at the castle, but Jack told us that she's returning right now, so I'm sure she's fine."
Then, he sighed.
"Look, Aunty Rider is really nice and kind. She would never cause real harm to anyone. It's not her fault she needs prana to live.", he said, addressing Jack and Shuya.
Then, he turned to the others.
"Look, I'm sure Old-Aunty-Rin didn't mean anything bad. She just wants to bring some drink in for everyone to enjoy, and she's not used to having to ask permission to do things...."
Then, he moved behind Taiga's wheelchair, preparing to push her, and then addressed the two of them.
"OK, do you guys want to get out of here like Aunty Rin asked?"
Before they could move, though, he heard the doorbell ring.
"That must be Aunty Rider!" he said with excitement.
He turned to Lancer.
"Do you mind if I let her in?" he said, excitedly.
-
Rin continued marking as she replied. "Well you see miss Tohsaka, I am the master of the second magic, when you master it you can feel free to come by and critique my use of it. Until then keep your opinion under your skirt."
she paused activating the magic and forming the portal. "That is exactly what Zelretch said when I accused him of the very same. Yes this is Forest's home but I already said it would wash off and more importantly the woman saved my daughter from death or the curse of unlife. As such I'm filling her cupboards and cooking her dinner as well as giving her a nice place to eat. It's a small start, frankly she deserves more but without meeting her I can't tell exactly what to do next for her." she finished as she tapped out a message on her phone.
-
Inferno Cop's car exploded. The guy in the back seat went flying in some direction, like a ragdoll. One would wonder if he was already dead, just looking at him. Inferno Cop meanwhile landed on his feet with a gentle tap, right on top of a nearest building.
"Hm, what the fuxx was that?" He asked himself almost too calmly. "I guess it's just the usual, then."
He turned around, wanting to make his way back to the station even though he didn't remember for what purpose, and instead saw something majestic.
A billboard, with old people and little people. What was better than the people was the scenery though. It was magnificent.
Just as when he saw the pyramids or the grand prix reward money, he decided that that shit should be his.
Inferno Cop problem fell on himself in a storm of lightning, and then he was an F-16. He revved up his own engines, and took off causing massive property damage to nearby buildings. It was okay though, he was a cop.
"Get ready, Fuxxers! Time for... New Zealand!" He shouted, darting through the sky.
X=X=X=X=X
Lawrence pushed me down to the bed, and I landed with the slight noise of the mattress being pushed down.
He didn't wait at all, going right for my breasts and putting me under another kiss.
I reached for my pants, untying the baggy pants with all the speed I could muster. The knots undone I started pulling them away, and the rest happened by itself, the scene and its actors already set.
We banged. And it was good.
-
Shuya smiled, before the waving girl. She seemed a bit out of it. A good chance to have fun by simply messing with her. "That would be me, but I'm actually a girl, can't you tell?" He frowned, faking a worried expression. "How much did you drink to end up in that state?"
The man in his apparent thirties answered him, and Shuya nodded. "Jack then. If you've been there for that long, you might have some decent info about the place. Anything you deem worth sharing?"
"Like hell I'm leaving here. Not until I can apologize to Forest, and make sure this Rider won't try and eat anyone. No matter what you say kid, I'm not trusting someone smelling like blood"
Kiyoshi answered to that and Shuya chuckled. "A legitimate point. However, our new buddy doesn't actually reek of blood, Kiyoshi." It was in fact a bit odd that he didn't. The half demon eyed him, his interest picked. "How long since you fed? You might need to get your fix before instincts kick in."
Look, Aunty Rider is really nice and kind. She would never cause real harm to anyone. It's not her fault she needs prana to live.
"Oh, she would cause harm if needed. Granted, her motivation might be a righteous one, like protecting you, but she could, definitely. Even indirectly, it sometimes happens. Can't really go through life without hurting others anyway."
The bell rang, Rider was apparently there. "Talking about the devil."
The mixed blood listened with a grimace, the woman scold her younger self? So she was Archer's future wife or something. Shuya gave a mocking grin to the corrupted man. "Now would be the time to change your mind, future doesn't look so bright for you." He didn't know her much, but she seemed like the bossy type and stubborn with that.
-
"Ah, there's the good wizard," the violet eyed man said with a nod towards the redhead in the cape.
Angel tilted his head and asked, "A cape? Really?" Buffy and Cordy would have mocked this guy for his fashion sense. Hell, I want to mock his fashion sense.
"Just wait until you hear him talk," the raven haired sex offense said with a smirk before looking straight at Downy Reed.
"So one circle down, two more to go correct?" he called out, a smirk across his inhumanly gorgeous features.
And what is this guy? He doesn't smell human, but doesn't smell demonic either, and why the hell do I just wanna bend him over and . . . I need to stop that train of thought right now because its even weirding me out, Angel thought. If Buffy or Cordy had been here, they would have teased him. Knowing Buffy's secretly kinky nature (Ethan Rayne had told "Twilight" about the kinky threesome dream Buffy favored with him, Spike and herself in a nurse's uniform), she would have playfully pushed for a threesome. Cordy would have probably scolded the guy for being so gorgeous and told him to stop making Angel all weird.
He missed them both. Buffy may have been his Great True Love, but he loved Cordy too as both friend and more. He also missed having Faith at his side; now there was someone with he had a complicated relationship with. Admittedly, he was lonely without a pretty and strong willed girl at his side.
Then, suddenly semi-automatic gunshots began to cut through the flesh golems and wizards.
******
"Okay, I want these sad fucks buried. Do you fucking hear me? I want their fucking asses dead. I'm not letting some cunt like Ginger Wizard Boy cut in on my town and digging into my food supply."
With those words, Deacon Frost folded one arm over his chest and thumbed his nose with the other. His ice blue eyes were narrowed at the sight before him, the necromancer and his big nasty everything. The vampires under his lead were already in motion, faces changing, eye colors shifting, and fangs and claws being bared. He'd been surprised when he had been dropped into Nexus, and not as the bloody splatters that Blade had turned him into.
He still had some of La Magra's power. Immunity to sunlight, which was the most fucking awesome thing ever, super regeneration, and insane speed. Trade off was that he had feed more, but that wasn't a problem. There was already a nice set up in his new base that provided him with all the fresh blood he needed. It was the first step in his bid for vampires to take over.
Luckily, there were other like minded vampires already here. Just they were more supernatural than him. Hell, some of them were even dead- like those guys with the bumpy, ugly faces and the yellow eyes. He especially liked them because if someone strong enough came along they just followed them like loyal puppies.
His keen eyes narrowed at the circle that had been deactivated. The guy with the braid and the duster had some how killed the magic with his blood. He tapped the communicator in his ear and said, "And leave the pretty, pointed eared guy with the fucking braid and duster alive. He could be useful."
He eyed the ancient looking vampire having himself a blood bender and added, "And don't kill Geritol either. He might join our cause."
******
Dark Archer eyed the future version of Rin and grinned at her. He said, "You seem a little uptight, Rin. Maybe you need something up your skirt."
He squeezed his Rin's shoulders and whispered to her, "She's not you, and you're not her. You have similiar origins, but are not the same. Like the Archer with his pet mouse and myself."
To Jack he asked, "So what did you do? It wasn't severe enough for you to provoke a reaction in Lancer, because if it had you would have already been dead. Again."
******
Lancer blinked at Rin and said, "You know Forest is a vampire right? Cooking her a nice meal isn't going to really help her much. Unless you decide to get a bunch of oranges. Maybe she's a fruit bat instead of a normal bat . . ."
Archer asked Jack, "So what did you do? It wasn't severe enough for you to provoke a reaction in Lancer, because if it had you would have already been dead. Again."
Lancer scowled and said, "That isn't your goddamned business."
"Now I'm really curious," Archer said with that infuriating grin.
Lancer frowned and thought, Maybe I should go check on her. She's been gone for a while, even if she was with me. If that damned Tom Cat has hurt her I'll wear his guts for garters.
Then the doorbell rang.
"That must be Aunty Rider!" the kid said, lighting up and all but dancing.
He turned to Lancer.
"Do you mind if I let her in?" Kiyoshi asked in an excited tone.
Lancer sighed and said, "Aye, aye." He pointed at Connor and said, "But you need to go with him. It may be something not friendly or nice to look at as Rider is, so if you're my son you'll give him back up."
"Look at you, being all mature and reasonable. I am suitably impressed," Archer said from where he was still kneeling by Rin's side.
Lancer extended his middle finger and said, "Sit and spin, arsehole."
******
Forest smiled at that then frowned, a little sad that tonight was one of the best, if not the best, in Tom's life. She held him tightly, in thought. His life's already been enough tragedy, maybe I can help with that. Maybe Ryoko knew that when she made her suggestion. Or maybe everything is a giant coincidence.
Sometime she would have to go back to the "outside world" and check on everyone, but it didn't seem as daunting of a task as it did before. Besides, she was awake from all of their activity and feeling better than she had in years. "Not to be a kill joy, but eventually I'll need to go back out to the real world and check on everyone. And let Lancer know I'm okay. Sometimes he can be such the old lady."
-
Shuya smiled, before the waving girl. She seemed a bit out of it. A good chance to have fun by simply messing with her. "That would be me, but I'm actually a girl, can't you tell?" He frowned, faking a worried expression. "How much did you drink to end up in that state?"
She narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better look. His visage was a bit blurry.
"Huh, you're a girl? But my parents told me you were a guy. Eh, I guess you're feminine enough to be a girl." She grinned. "I guess we're birds of a feather huh, two boy-ish girls for the price of one!" She continued grinning as she held out one finger, thankfully not her middle one. "And that'd be one. One shot of whisky! It's some good stuff. Got my drunk real quick." Her grin quickly faded as Tom's frightful gaze returned to her mind. "I kinda needed to get drunk fast."
"It's going well, thank you Ryoko-nee. Aunty Rider is coming back soon!" he said, excitedly. "Are you OK?"
Ryoko gave the kid a wild grin at first. "Nah, I'm doin' good. Just grea-" Then the words "Auntie Rider" sunk in. Her skin quickly became pale. To Kiyoshi's second question, she managed a nod, but the news that "Auntie Rider" would be paying a visit trapped any other words in her throat.
-
The man in his apparent thirties answered him, and Shuya nodded. "Jack then. If you've been there for that long, you might have some decent info about the place. Anything you deem worth sharing?"
"Like hell I'm leaving here. Not until I can apologize to Forest, and make sure this Rider won't try and eat anyone. No matter what you say kid, I'm not trusting someone smelling like blood"
Kiyoshi answered to that and Shuya chuckled. "A legitimate point. However, our new buddy doesn't actually reek of blood, Kiyoshi." It was in fact a bit odd that he didn't. The half demon eyed him, his interest picked. "How long since you fed? You might need to get your fix before instincts kick in."
Look, Aunty Rider is really nice and kind. She would never cause real harm to anyone. It's not her fault she needs prana to live.
"Oh, she would cause harm if needed. Granted, her motivation might be a righteous one, like protecting you, but she could, definitely. Even indirectly, it sometimes happens. Can't really go through life without hurting others anyway."
The bell rang, Rider was apparently there.
"God, where do I begin? First off, Frost controls all the vampires in the city, officially. In reality he controls directly probably about... half to Two thirds or so. It's a big big city, and not all of us exactly officially support him. Hell, I just do a little information feeding from the rumor mill to his thugs some of the time. Mostly, I keep my head down and protect my turf." I explained, pulling out a chair and watching Satan Bitch totally forget how vampires work.
"Frost is crazy, at least to me, but a few view him as god because rumor has it he can walk in the sunlight and not go poof."
Shifting a little in my seat as Kiyoshi left the room, I finished my bit with the one armed man. "As for feeding, I did that about 15 minutes ago. And everyone seems to think I'm a monster for not feeding on someone who didn't offer to be a source. Seriously, fuck Connor McDickless for lying about who I was going to feed off of."
With that, I looked to the door. The smell of blood was strong.
-
Connor nodded and stuck with Kiyoshi and Taiga
Rin laughed "Well darn, usually when someone hits on me I get to say he's bigger as I point my husband out." she smiled as she started to move the the boxes coming through the rift.
"I'm glad you have a me around to help you Archer, you're scary on your own." she added sliding the fridge open and began filing it.
-
Rin gave her older self an overly nice smile. The smile of the perfect honor student. "It's a shame really, I would think learning the Second would have maintained one's humility, but it seems that's not the case. Until a certain Master of True Magic keeps her ego under her skirts, I'll keep my opinion where I please."
Of course, Rin was fuming underneath. What a shallow, frivolous, egotistical, bitchy, half-baked excuse for a magus. Rin didn't care if this version had mastered the Second, her bearing was not that of a proper magus. No proper magus would so casually use a Miracle in this way. She was a disgrace to the name of magecraft. Rin vowed to herself to always maintain her humility on her own path to True Magic, as never did she want to end up like this horrid old hag.
Dark Archer eyed the future version of Rin and grinned at her. He said, "You seem a little uptight, Rin. Maybe you need something up your skirt."
It took all of Rin's self control not to snicker at that. Though perhaps he wasn't quite right. Perhaps there was instead something rammed firmly up her buttocks instead that needed removal. Likely her large ego.
He squeezed his Rin's shoulders and whispered to her, "She's not you, and you're not her. You have similiar origins, but are not the same. Like the Archer with his pet mouse and myself."
Rin found herself relieved to hear that from her Archer's lips. He's right. My future hasn't been decided yet. I even already know it to be different, the girl I know to be my daughter turned out completely different. ...If a bit drunk. I shouldn't let this woman bother me so much. She isn't me. She frowned, briefly lost in thought. I need to distinguish her from myself somehow. ...I'll call her Lin. It's backwards enough.
For once allowing herself to show such a thing publicly, she managed to get herself upright and gave Archer a hug. "Thank you," she whispered.
She ignored everything else, even Archer and Lancer's bickering, even the fact she was still in Archer's arms, to focus on the situation at hand. Something still needed to be done about Lin. She was going to form a portal in the kitchen, which was quite dangerous, no matter how much of a master of the Second Lin claimed to be.
Either Forest needs to come up here, or I need a plan. Otherwise who knows what'll happen.
***
Forest smiled at that then frowned, a little sad that tonight was one of the best, if not the best, in Tom's life. She held him tightly, in thought. His life's already been enough tragedy, maybe I can help with that. Maybe Ryoko knew that when she made her suggestion. Or maybe everything is a giant coincidence.
Sometime she would have to go back to the "outside world" and check on everyone, but it didn't seem as daunting of a task as it did before. Besides, she was awake from all of their activity and feeling better than she had in years. "Not to be a kill joy, but eventually I'll need to go back out to the real world and check on everyone. And let Lancer know I'm okay. Sometimes he can be such the old lady."
Tom did not catch Forest's thoughts that time, as even if he could delve quite deep into one's mind, he did have some courtesy. Some things were best left private, after all, even in one's mind.
He felt a bit of disappointment at Forest's statement, but it was inevitable, really. Someday the dream had to end.
Regardless, he gave her a gentle enough smile. As gentle as he could manage at least. "I understand completely. You still have to attend to your duties, after all." His smile turned into a smirk. "And I wouldn't want to have your Hound bark at you too much. I imagine it would get tiresome rather quickly."
His expression became milder once again. "Would you like me to accompany you? Perhaps I could be of some use to you." He paused for a moment and then began to blush. "Although... I may need some clothing, I'm afraid. My spare change of clothing is upstairs, in my bag that I left in the kitchen, and all my other clothing is in the laundry hamper with yours." He flushed even further. "My sincere apologies."
-
Ryoko gave the kid a wild grin at first. "Nah, I'm doin' good. Just grea-" Then the words "Auntie Rider" sunk in. Her skin quickly became pale. To Kiyoshi's second question, she managed a nod, but the news that "Auntie Rider" would be paying a visit trapped any other words in her throat.
Whilst Ryoko was trying to make out that everything was OK, Kiyoshi couldn't help but notice that her face had gone pale at the mention of "Aunty Rider".
Eh, does she not like Aunty Rider? he thought.
Kiyoshi honestly couldn't understand it. Sure, he could understand her knowing Aunty Rider, she was Ryoko's Aunt's servant after all, but he couldn't understand why anyone could possibly dislike her, at least someone as fundamentally nice as Ryoko.
However, before he could ask her what was wrong, though, Shuya spoke up.
"A legitimate point. However, our new buddy doesn't actually reek of blood, Kiyoshi", he said, before turning to address the vampire.
Then, turning back to Kiyoshi, he added, "Oh, she would cause harm if needed. Granted, her motivation might be a righteous one, like protecting you, but she could, definitely. Even indirectly, it sometimes happens. Can't really go through life without hurting others anyway".
Kiyoshi looked angrily at Shuya once more.
How can he of all people condemn Aunty Rider?
Before Kiyoshi could respond, the doorbell rang, and Kiyoshi moved behind Taiga, ready to push her out of the room once Lancer gave the OK. He looked to Lancer to wait for a reply.
"Aye, aye", he said, before pointing at Connor and adding, "But you need to go with him. It may be something not friendly or nice to look at as Rider is, so if you're my son you'll give him back up".
Kiyoshi nodded his head and smiled, before pushing Taiga out of the room and heading towards the door, Connor following behind them as asked.
As he left, he turned to Shuya.
"So what if Aunty Rider smells of blood? She's a far, far better person than you are, and that's all that matters.
And, sure she harms bad guys, but she'd never truly harm a good person, unlike you", he said as he left the room.
Once he'd left, he continued towards the door of the house, pushing his little half-sister's wheelchair in front of him.
Placing her wheelchair to the side of the hallway so he could reach the door, he walked up to it and pushed it open, revealing his beloved Aunt, as he had hoped and expected.
"Aunty Rider!" he shouted happily, walking out the door and holding his arms out for a hug.
Rider grabbed hold of him and gave him a tight hug, a smile on her face. Seeing Sakura's beloved little boy smiling like this always made her feel wonderful. And, even beyond her feelings for Sakura, she loved Kiyoshi in his own right. Over the last thirty years, Rider had honestly come to see Sakura's family as her own. They had accepted her into their house and into their life, treated her as one of them, and she had in turn accepted them.
After a brief hug, Kiyoshi let Rider go. He looked around and saw the horse standing beside her.
"Hey, you brought Pegasus!" he said, excitedly, before walking over to the winged horse and starting to stroke it.
"Can we go for a ride?" he said.
"Not right now, Kiyo, I need to get inside", she said.
Kiyoshi looked at her disappointedly.
"Yeah, I guess...", he said.
-
Archer blinked then smiled as his Rin wrapped her arms tightly around her and whispered, "Thank you." He returned the hug and stroked her hair. The urge to just kiss her was strong, but she would have freaked out with as many people in the room as there were.
He gave her a little squeeze and replied, "You're welcome. Remember, I'm sort of old hat at dealing with versions of myself."
Then he looked at the elder Rin and said, "Rin, you should know that I'm always the 'biggest' man in the room."
Lancer snorted hard at that. Really, really hard. Still shaking his head, he picked up Millie's still warm tea and said, "I have to go deliver this."
He then proceeded to look at the portal, sigh, shake his head, and say, "Fore is going to have my arse for this." Then he started to head back to Millie.
******
Gabriel frowned at the people carrying AK47s and shooting at the assorted wizards and other things as they approached. Their movements were unified and fast. Not to mention, their aim was fairly well for a machine gun.
"Well, looks like your wizard friend pissed someone else off," his dark eyed companion said as he suddenly stood to his full height. Gabriel noticed that some of the men's faces were twisted and ridged. They sported golden eyes and fangs. On a closer glance, he saw fangs and inhuman eye colors on almost every one of the gunners.
"Great, vampires with guns," the swordsman said with a sigh before swinging his sword.
Gabriel reached out, grabbed his arm, and said, "The enemy of our enemy is our friend."
******
Forest found herself grinning at Tom's endearing blush. She leaned over, gave him a quick kiss and stroked his hair back. "It may be a little big on you, but my godson has clothing you can borrow so it's not a problem. If you like, tomorrow we can take you shopping. Could be part of our date."
Sighing, she leaned forward, turned off the jets and unplugged the drain. The lavender water started to swirl into the hole. She rose to her full height and shook her hair out. "So don't be embarrassed. I like taking care of people, it's what I do." Then she grabbed them both a towel and started to dry herself off.
-
Rin replied to Archer's statement with a sly smile on her face. Granted, with a blush still on her face from the gentle hug. "I guess I'd know better than anyone, wouldn't I?"
She then turned to the portal, glaring at it. It's presence there made her rather uncomfortable, nor was she sure where Lin was getting the food from.
***
Ryoko's veins seemed to pump ice water as Rider entered the house- she could hear her voice echoing through the halls. Desperate to escape, she tried to get up from the chair before sliding to the floor. Ryoko decided to just lay there like a slug. It was her only defense.
***
Tom continued to blush as Forest let the water run down the drain. "I would like that, thank you. If it's not too much trouble of course. And again... thank you."
He listened to her second statement, contemplating it quietly. He took the towel from her and began to dry himself off as well. "This may seem somewhat of a particular thing to say, but... you're quite a good person."
-
Rin chuckled "I had honestly hoped you'd have picked up the sub text here Rin. When I was in the fifth I had to lecture Shirou about talking in front of enemies. Did you not do that? In any case" she paused pointing at Jack.
"He's my enemy" she said "Now I'll ask you another question, would Rin Tohsaka ever waste magic when her husband is an equally frugal person? in the case now the man beside you for the purpose of this question."
she paused again. "And seriously, I'm just teasing about Zel, don't get your panties in a bunch" she finished pointing the beer crate out to lancer as she set it on the floor.
Satoshi and Tsukasa reappeared checking the map "we're here" Satoshi said sighing.
Tsukasa was bouncing back and forth.
"no tackling" Satoshi stated seriously.
Tsukasa quietly nodded as they headed for the door.
-
Archer grinned and said, "Well, you seemed to enjoy it."
Then he looked at Ryoko, frowned, and said, "Did she just deflate?"
******
Lancer found himself at Millie's room and gently knocked on the door. He said, "It's me, Lass. May I come in?"
*****
Forest wrapped the towel around herself and turned back to Tom. She grinned as she replied, "I swear its not a problem. Here."
She took his towel from him and started to dry his back for him, then fluffed his hair with it.
"This may seem somewhat of a particular thing to say, but... you're quite a good person."
Forest blinked at that, looked down and the smile on her face didn't quite reach her eyes. She wrapped the towel around him and said, "Thank you. I try to be, but there are times where I just feel . . ."
Like people are taking me for granted or no matter what I do it doesn't matter.
-
Rin grinned right back at her lover. "You know I did."
Then she looked at her daughter, lying rather pathetically on the floor. Rin found herself both concerned and embarrassed at the same time.
Anything to distract her from the atrocity happening in the kitchen, Rin spoke to Archer again. "I think we should help her up. She seems a bit pale."
***
Mille had been sitting there for quite some time, waiting patiently. She had fought off her exhaustion just for the sole purpose of awaiting Lancer's return. And as time had passed, she had grown... oddly sad. Like he was never going to come back to her. Minutes seemed like hours.
Then, at long last, there was a rap at the door.
"It's me, Lass. May I come in?"
Mille's eyes were bright, but she tried to hide her sudden burst of enthusiasm behind a more serious voice and face. She was failing somewhat. "Of course you can come in. I've been waiting for you."
***
Tom blushed even deeper as Forest helped him dry off.
There was a moment's pause, however, as she heard what he had to say.
Forest blinked at that, looked down and the smile on her face didn't quite reach her eyes. She wrapped the towel around him and said, "Thank you. I try to be, but there are times where I just feel . . ."
Like people are taking me for granted or no matter what I do it doesn't matter.
Tom found himself feeling... oddly sad at that. But soon after, he quickly found himself a purpose. "I can understand that. Perhaps not quite in the same way, but... I can understand."
Steeling himself, he approached her and gently cupped her chin so her eyes met his once more. "But what you do does matter. You've already done far more than me tonight than so many others have done in years. You deserve to feel like your actions matter."
He let her chin go, and began to blush again. "S-so then... If I must be the one to help you feel that way, then so be it. It's the least I can do, after what you've done for me."
-
"I think the idea of Rider being here terrified her," Archer said with a bemused grin.
Then he frowned, remembering how Rider liked to chase after teenage girls. "Do you think . . .?" Then he moved to Ryoko's side and helped her back into the chair. It felt sort of odd doing this, but yet not. He picked up the wet rag again and rested it on the back of her neck.
******
Lancer sighed as he walked into Millie's bedroom. He pressed the cup in her hand and said, "It tastes sort of like arse. I'm sorry. It isn't swamp water though."
Sighing, he sat down beside her on the bed and ran his hand through his thick, blue hair. "It's been a fucking nightmare. I'm sorry its taken so bloody long. So, this vampire comes in and needs to feed right? So Forest being Fore is all wanting to help. Anyway, someone provokes this guy into going all riestaid and of course Forest goes to stop him. So he chomps on her.
"Wellll apparently his bite is like an aphrodisiac and she's lust crazed. Like it's painful. I don't know what to do to help her; I can't sleep with her. Not now anyway. A week ago I would have carried her away and stated us both but there are other factors now. Besides, she's someone I pledged my loyalty and spear to. I can't just fuck her.
"So Ryoko, you'll meet her later, has this asshole cat man kiss her. He suddenly decides to go all possessive. I was going to get your brother. Well, I still got your brother and I think there was a threesome; no one has shown back up after this. Forest might be wearing them out.
"Anyway, this other version of Rin comes in all high and mighty and what not, bossing us around and threatening the poor vampire guy, who's name is Jack by and by. She thinks Jack was going to eat her daughter. Not that I blame Jack, tasty helpless morsel you go after it. Then a whole bunch of other shit happens and now you have your tea."
******
Forest blinked as Tom gently tilted her chin to look up at him. Those violet eyes bore into hers as he said, "But what you do does matter. You've already done far more than me tonight than so many others have done in years. You deserve to feel like your actions matter."
She blinked, wide eyed, as he let her chin go, his own fair skin flushing pink. "S-so then... If I must be the one to help you feel that way, then so be it. It's the least I can do, after what you've done for me."
Even white teeth worried her lip as her fingers wrung the edge of the soft towel. Cold tears stung her eyes and she briskly wiped away a bloody tear. "You don't have to . . . I mean . . . Lord and Lady I . . ."
Gritting her teeth, she wiped away another crimson tear, as bright as a ruby, and then another and another. "Bloody hell," she whispered before she started to cry.
-
Rin sighed at Archer's question. Knowing Rider like I do, that's exactly what I think.
She took Ryoko's hand- a somewhat alien and yet familiar gesture all at once, and looked into Ryoko's eyes.
"Are you okay?"
Ryoko turned and looked at her parents. Her body relaxed somewhat, though the color didn't quite come back to her face.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She smiled, but there was a fakeness to it. Her normally exceptional acting ability had fled her entirely.
Rin sighed and gave her hand a pat. "Maybe we should get you up to bed."
She looked at the money still being clenched in a vice-like grip. "We'll go even on the pizza money, how's that sound? I pay half, you pay half."
Ryoko looked at her mother in astonishment before nodding. "Sounds fair." But then she hesitated for a moment. Suddenly, she shoved the lot into Rin's hands. "You can pay me back half of it. Not that it really matters to me that much anyway, but it'll save you a trip upstairs or whatever. Sound good?"
Rin considered the offer for a moment before nodding. "Alright." She frowned. "But I will be paying you back. You understand that?"
Ryoko chuckled, a huge grin on her face. "You wouldn't be you if you didn't say that, Mom."
Rin turned back to Archer. In his ear she whispered, "we should get her upstairs. I don't think she's fit enough to handle whatever happens down here right now."
***
Mille sat there for a long while, absorbing everything Lancer had just told her. Guilt began to swell up in her, for being so impatient. After all, he'd gone through so much.
Struggling to keep tears from welling up in her eyes, she pouted a bit. "W-well, what are you apologizing for? I mean, you went through all that mess just to get me some tea to make me feel better, i-it doesn't matter how horrible it tastes, I should appreciate it no matter what!"
And with that, Mille drunk down the tea. It didn't take long for Mille to start gagging a bit.
No, no, Lancer went through hell and back to get me this tea, and by all the magic circuits in my body, I will drink this tea and keep it down! I won't let it defeat me! I won't let this tea be my downfall! I! Will! Not! SURRENDER!
Had she not been drinking the rancid tea, the halls of the complex would have been filled with her resounding warcry. As it was, she drank down the mess with heroic vigor, until at last not a single nasty drop of it remained.
She placed the cup on the bedside table with perhaps a bit more force than she should have and wiped her mouth. She was shaking a bit, but she had done it. And she wasn't even throwing it up.
"I-I drank it... All of it." She looked up at him, giving him a pitiful attempt at a smile. "I-it tasted just fine."
***
Tom's eyes widened with a touch of worry as he rushed over to Forest's side and gently began to try and wipe away her tears. Realizing it wasn't doing much good, he instead took her into his arms and held her tightly, his fingers running through her hair.
They stood together in silence, for there were no more words to be said.
-
Max
Max frowned as gunshots began to rain over the busy rooftop, tearing into the ranks of the magic circle's defenders. The attackers, holding AK-47s, were approaching from the adjacent buildings, moving as though performing an organized assault. Even without the Beast's warnings, he could tell just by looking at them and taking into account the circumstances - these were Deacon Frost's vampires.
But even from where he was, he could tell that these vampires were not the same as the handsome man in the duster wielding the sword. He felt different from them, even if he wasn't a Kindred proper either - unlike the ravenous, unrelenting, feral figure in deteriorated remains of armor that was feeding on the fleshy, and now bloody, titan with frenzy-like brutality. And he had no idea exactly what the exotic looking man standing alongside the not-Kindred vampire was, but he was sure he wasn't mundane either.
Those three that had previously been fighting alone against the creatures set to protect the magic circle and their master apparent, were for the time being being ignored by the advancing armed vampires. Whatever the magic circle was supposed to be, and whomever the redhead in the cape was, it seemed Frost thought them the greater concern. Yeah, if even the local power accumulating, morally questionable crime lord vampire didn't want them around with such fervor, they were likely not the advents of anything good.
Then again, from Max's experience, people like that disliked any sort of force that could oppose them.
The sound of gunfire still echoed in his ears, and Max scoured around him as something came to mind, scanning the rooftops. The vampire troops in engagement were acting as a group, despite not appearing to be professionals. More likely than not there was someone giving them orders on the go.
In this situation, he wasn't going to act against the commander. But it was always better to have as much control over the situation as possible. Especially if he came to need it.
His eyes caught a lonely figure in a building further away, and he smirked, already moving to a new position in the battlefield.
-
Shuya chuckled, before Ryoko reaction. She was rather hilarious. She looked like the funny and overhappy kind of drunk. Were it in other circumstances, she could have been a good drinking pal. Well, if she actually did have a better tolerance to it.
I kinda needed to get drunk fast.
Shuya couldn't help but nod. "We all do at one point. No point dwelling on it. You ain't supposed to care about anything once inebriated."
Jack gave him a rundown about one of the vampire factions.
Shuya pondered over that. Usually, it was rather difficult to get rid of a vampire's nest. And this guy was apparently well organized to deal with such a large covent. Jack had been well aware to keep to his own business. That's what Shuya would have done. A religious leader meant zealots unafraid to die for him. And in that case, it was the already dead kind of adepts. Not much to fear when you're all but immortal to most weapons.
Shuya sighed. Probably a bad idea to get on that Frost's bad side. Still, a vampire able to walk under the sun... "I assume he isn't too fond of sharing his secrets, right?" That would be bad news if the guy could mass produce daylight vampires.
As for feeding, I did that about 15 minutes ago. And everyone seems to think I'm a monster for not feeding on someone who didn't offer to be a source. Seriously, fuck Connor McDickless for lying about who I was going to feed off of.
"Don't mind them. People around here are bloody saints and the like." Shuya had vaguely noticed Lancer ordering Connor about accompanying Kiyoshi before taking his leave himself. Connor was supposedly his son from wherever. He was also the very same dude who got in an argument with Lawrence. "Bet you would get along just fine with Law." The kid probably intended well, but seemed to screw up quite often. Shuya gave the vampire a crooked smile. "Even if he's a stupid boy, don't kill him just yet. The Sin-Eater would come after you for stealing his target."
So what if Aunty Rider smells of blood? She's a far, far better person than you are, and that's all that matters. And, sure she harms bad guys, but she'd never truly harm a good person, unlike you.
Shuya watched Kiyoshi leaving the room without a word. There wasn't much to say, the young magus hated him anyway. Not that he didn't deserve any of it. Well, at least Purplehead was back, contrary to his expectations. Rider's arrival triggered a slight change in Jack.
"Ease up, man. No need to be so tense. Forest is of the forgiving type, so, I bet she will overlook that offense of yours. But come on, she will be pissed off if another conflict happens when she's back." He pointed at the old Rin. "She will probably freak out knowing someone used magic inside already."
Meanwhile, Ryoko oddly decided to lie flat on the ground. He raised and eyebrow unable to fathom what could have triggered this. "I don't think you should let her drink again." He declared to her parents.
-
Rin chuckled "I had honestly hoped you'd have picked up the sub text here Rin. When I was in the fifth I had to lecture Shirou about talking in front of enemies. Did you not do that? In any case" she paused pointing at Jack.
"He's my enemy" she said "Now I'll ask you another question, would Rin Tohsaka ever waste magic when her husband is an equally frugal person? in the case now the man beside you for the purpose of this question."
she paused again. "And seriously, I'm just teasing about Zel, don't get your panties in a bunch" she finished pointing the beer crate out to lancer as she set it on the floor.
"Oh, this looks like a waste of fucking magic to me. As your 'enemy', I think that's a fucking stupid fucking thing to do," I said. Really, Satan Bitch was a total moron. Whoever she was in her universe, she obviously wasn't in charge, and if she was, I pitied whoever was below her for having such an incompetent and stupid leader.
"And really, I'm not your enemy. McDickless lies."
Shuya sighed. Probably a bad idea to get on that Frost's bad side. Still, a vampire able to walk under the sun... "I assume he isn't too fond of sharing his secrets, right?" That would be bad news if the guy could mass produce daylight vampires.
"Yeah. Neither am I honestly," I said, shrugging.
Shuya had vaguely noticed Lancer ordering Connor about accompanying Kiyoshi before taking his leave himself. Connor was supposedly his son from wherever. He was also the very same dude who got in an argument with Lawrence.
"Bet you would get along just fine with Law." The kid probably intented well, but seemed to screw up quite often. Shuya gave the vampire a crooked smile. "Even if he's a stupid boy, don't kill him just yet. The Sin-Eater would come after you for stealing his target."
So the idiot mick had another person who wanted to beat his face in for being, well, and idiot mick? Couldn't blame them for that. "I'll keep that in mind."
Shuya watched Kiyoshi leaving the room without a word. There wasn't much to say, the young magus hated him anyway. Not that he didn't deserve any of it. Well, at least Purplehead was back, contrary to his expectations. Rider's arrival triggered a slight change in Jack.
"Ease up, man. No need to be so tense. Forest is of the forgiving type, so, I bet she will overlook that offense of yours. But come on, she will be pissed off if another conflict happens when she's back." He pointed at the old Rin. "She will probably freak out knowing someone used magic inside already."
Meanwhile, Ryoko oddly decided to lie flat on the ground. He raised and eyebrow unable to fathom what could have triggered this. "I don't think you should let her drink again." He declared to her parents.
"Eh, maybe not straight malt whiskey. Beer's probably more her speed."
Watching the situation with Ryoko resolve itself and the door opening, I moved out of my seat into the doorway, with the woman smelling of blood. I needed to keep a close watch on her for the moment. "Rider, right?"
-
Kiyoshi stood stroking the gentle horse.
"Kiyo, I need to desummon him, he can't come inside", Rider said.
"Oh, OK", Kiyoshi replied, stepping away.
"OK, my boy, you can go now", she said with a smile.
With a bright flash, the horse vanished.
"Let's get inside", Rider said.
Kiyoshi nodded, and moved to go inside. Before he could, though, he noticed two people come around the corner. Satoshi, and some young girl who looked clearly excited. A young girl with purple hair and eyes, just like...
Mummy? he thought, his face brightening.
She was clearly too young to be his real mother, but it could easily be a past version of her. Kiyoshi stood there and watched her come closer.
Who else could it be?
The girl's face and body looked too much like a younger version of his mother not to be related to her, and he knew that his mother's hair and eye colour was not natural, and thus would not be passed on to her children.
Mummy!
Kiyoshi ran towards her at top speed.
"Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!" he shouted, excitedly.
Rider looked in his direction, sighed and nodded her head in exasperation at Kiyoshi's enthusiasm, before turning around and walking into the house. She knew that the girl was not Kiyoshi's mother, or even an alternate version of her, but there was no point trying to stop him. Tsukasa and Satoshi would correct him soon enough, and she knew they could be trusted not to harm him.
Kiyoshi ran up to the girl and glomped her. In his excitement, he had not considered the fact that, even if it were an alternate form of his mother, she would not know him. He was just too happy to see any form of his beloved mother here.
"Mummy, I missed you", Kiyoshi said, tears in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Rider had entered the house, not shutting the door since she knew the others would soon be following. She saw Kiyoshi's little sister, Taiga, and two people she didn't recognise, one of whom seemed to be connected to Taiga somehow, judging by how they were standing.
Before she could greet them, though, one of the men spoke up. She couldn't help but notice that he looked somewhat unusual, although she couldn't understand how.
"Rider, right?" the man said, somewhat gruffly.
"Yes, that's me. So, who are you?" she said.
Then, she turned to Taiga.
"Hi, little Taiga. How are you doing?", she said, smiling.
Finally, she spoke to the other new person.
"Hmm, so who are you, then? Are you one of Satoshi's family too?" she asked.
-
"Jack."
My hands slipped inside my coat pockets, casually slipping on the brass knuckles within. Can't always use the claws in polite company, and some mugger had been more than willing to donate these after some feeding. The stench of blood coming off the woman was nearly overwhelming.
"And the other guy is Connor McDickless. Mind if we have a short chat in private Rider? Forest is a little tied up at the moment."
-
Connor blinked "Right sorry, I just started thinking a bit too deeply there. My name is Connor, I'm a family friend, my dad is the guy you probably know as Lancer. Me mum is his master from the fifth Bazzet. As fer the kiddo there, he just gave Tsukasa a real compliment. Sakura got a bit messed up so she ain't here but her mum came by, I'm sure she'd like ya meet you" he replied.
Satoshi chuckled "well ok, some tackling"
Tsukasa hugged Kiyoshi tightly for a moment and then let up "Not quite Kiyoshi, I'm Tsukasa, I'm your big sister but thank you for the compliment, mama is very pretty." she replied hugging him again.
Taiga fidgeted and then replied "There's a bad man in the kitchen, he tried to eat Sakura, Connor and Kiyoshi saw and then miss Forest got hurt I think. I was downstairs at the time but Kiyoshi and Connor aren't liars, that's him" she said pointing to jack, fidgeting anxious to see her brother.
Rin sighed as she continued to load the cupboards and the fridge "even if I believed you, and I don't, Connor, Kiyoshi and Lancer all contradict you and are far more trust worthy" she replied.
-
"Not quite Kiyoshi, I'm Tsukasa, I'm your big sister but thank you for the compliment, mama is very pretty", said Kiyoshi's 'mother'.
"Oh...", said Kiyoshi, disappointedly.
He had so hoped that this would be an alternate form of his mother. For a moment, the disappointment was clear on his face. But, as he thought about it more, his mood lifted again.
Yay, another big sister! he thought, his face brightening once more.
"Nice to meet you, Tsukasa-nee" he said, hugging her tightly.
Whilst he was disappointed that she wasn't his mother, he was happy to meet another family member, and one connected to his mother, at that. She seemed nice, too.
Still, Kiyoshi was rather curious. If she wasn't his mother, then why did she look so much like her?
"Hmm, Tsukasa-nee, why do you have mummy's altered hair and eyes? Me and my siblings have her natural colouring, like Aunty Rin", he asked, curiously.
"Jack", the man said, slipping his hands into his coat pockets.
"And the other guy is Connor McDickless", he continued. "Mind if we have a short chat in private Rider? Forest is a little tied up at the moment."
Rider licked her lips at the thought of Forest being tied up.
No, this is not the time for fantasies..., she thought.
Whilst Rider thought that the man's actions looked somewhat suspicious, she could see no reason not to agree to his request. If he had bad intentions she very much doubted she couldn't handle him and, besides, if it did come to that she would rather not have Kiyoshi get involved.
Before she could speak up to agree, though, Connor responded.
"Right sorry, I just started thinking a bit too deeply there. My name is Connor, I'm a family friend, my dad is the guy you probably know as Lancer. Me mum is his master from the fifth Bazzet. As fer the kiddo there, he just gave Tsukasa a real compliment. Sakura got a bit messed up so she ain't here but her mum came by, I'm sure she'd like ya meet you" he replied.
Rider smiled at Connor. Whilst she had never met a "Bazzet" and barely knew of Lancer either, she saw no reason not to trust him for the moment. And, she would certainly be glad to meet another version of Rin.
Then, finally, Taiga spoke.
"There's a bad man in the kitchen, he tried to eat Sakura, Connor and Kiyoshi saw and then miss Forest got hurt I think. I was downstairs at the time but Kiyoshi and Connor aren't liars, that's him" she said, pointing at Jack.
Tried to eat her? Rider thought.
It was obvious that Jack had done something pretty bad, but the fact that Taiga had used the word "eat" made it sound like he had a motive beyond just malice, and Rider was hardly in a position to judge him for that, at least without more details.
"Hmm, he did, did he?" Rider said to Taiga.
"Well, I think me and him had better have a little chat", she added, glancing menacingly at Jack. "I won't condemn him for being what he is, but nor I will not allow anyone to harm my master's family, however hungry they are...."
Then, she turned to Connor.
"I've never heard of a 'Bazett', and I only really know of Lancer as the guy who tried to kill my master's husband. Still, Kiyoshi seems to be OK with you, and you're Satoshi and Taiga's friend, so I am willing to trust you, for now at least."
Finally, she turned to Jack.
"OK, well, then, let's have that talk. I would like to hear your explanation for why you attacked Sakura...."
-
Connor nodded as Satoshi, Tsukasa and Kiyoshi appeared suddenly.
"That's why, because I have all of mama's powers" Tsukasa answered Kiyoshi.
Satoshi patted Taiga on the head and for the first time in hours she smiled "Big brother!" she exclaimed.
Satoshi lifted her out of the chair into a big hug "Sorry I was away for so long, won't do it again I promise." he replied.
Connor raised his hand and Satoshi instinctively high fived him "Sup dude?"
"Nothing big, cept this arse tried ta eat your sister" The red head replied.
"Makes sense with aunty's call, ok fangs, now I've been to a vampire dimension and I have a number of vampire friends, so I won't hold the whole blood to live thing against you. However that doesn't mean I will overlook any attack from this point on. Touch my family or my friends and I will make certain you go away permanently" Satoshi replied staring at Jack.
-
Archer nodded to Rin and whispered back, "I think you're right." He did lean forward and add, "Rin, you can't ask her too many questions. If you do, you might endanger her existence. The chance of a Paradox is slim to none, but it is still probable."
He moved over to Ryoko, lifted her up and said, "Apparently you're a lightweight like your old man is. Come on, let's get you to bed before you do something stupid."
******
Forest cried as Tom held her, his fingers tenderly stroking his hair. She calmed herself down to wipe her own bloody tears away with her towel, glad that it was black and would hide the blood stains. She gave him a wan smile as she rested against him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to become such a girl just then, but . . . No one's really offered me what you just did and thank you," she said in a weak but happy voice.
-
Rider licked her lips at the thought of Forest being tied up.
No, this is not the time for fantasies..., she thought.
"Well, I think me and him had better have a little chat", she added, glancing menacingly at Jack. "I won't condemn him for being what he is, but nor I will not allow anyone to harm my master's family, however hungry they are...."
"OK, well, then, let's have that talk. I would like to hear your explanation for why you attacked Sakura...."
Its a creepy thing when one of our kind licks their lips... especially like that. With her eyes on you, in that specific way. This is one of those times I'm glad I don't need to shiver. I have bad memories of eyes like that. Very bad memories.
There was a basement room, Forest's apparent office. I'd planned on using that room, she wouldn't grudge me for that, I think.
"Yes I do, and I'd rather discuss that fact in private Rider."
Long hair, smelling of blood and sweat and oozing sex. Memories. So many memories. I don't want to drag them up, not now. The Beast remembers though. And so do I.
"There's a room we can talk in without being disturbed. Forest won't mind if I use it I think. Come on."
Turning my back on her was the hardest thing I'd done all night. Every instinct screamed to not let her out of my sight.
Connor nodded as Satoshi, Tsukasa and Kiyoshi appeared suddenly.
"That's why, because I have all of mama's powers" Tsukasa answered Kiyoshi.
Satoshi patted Taiga on the head and for the first time in hours she smiled "Big brother!" she exclaimed.
Satoshi lifted her out of the chair into a big hug "Sorry I was away for so long, won't do it again I promise." he replied.
Connor raised his hand and Satoshi instinctively high fived him "Sup dude?"
"Nothing big, cept this arse tried ta eat your sister" The red head replied.
"Makes sense with aunty's call, ok fangs, now I've been to a vampire dimension and I have a number of vampire friends, so I won't hold the whole blood to live thing against you. However that doesn't mean I will overlook any attack from this point on. Touch my family or my friends and I will make certain you go away permanently" Satoshi replied staring at Jack.
And then there was this asshole.
"I have a name prickhead," was all I said. I'd deal with him later. And seriously vampire dimension? What a fucking joke.
-
Connor laughed "I don'na think that Alex will be letting you talk privately about why you attacked his sister without him being there Jack."
Satoshi nodded as he put Taiga down "Right, not a chance I'm missing this fangs," he stated firmly.
-
Hopping across rooftops while dressed in his night sneaking gear, Axe Cop paused to let a lady riding a pegasus roll past him. He didn't spare her a second glance as he continued his exploration, other than to note that said pegasus didn't have a registration number and could be counted as an illegal vehicle.
The night was getting strange. He'd seen explosions all around the city, far too distant and numerous for him to get there in any reasonable time frame. On top of that, portals had opened in the sky, disgorging crazy amounts of lizard men and monsters. He could still hear their screams as his axe cut through their necks, but there were far too many for him to handle by himself.
"Team, report," he said on his police radio. "Check in. Inferno, Doom, what happened with the castle investigation? Gun Cop, how are the prisoners? Oh, and if any of you meet some monsters during patrols, make sure to note down how many you destroy for the report later."
He replaced the radio on his belt and looked up, sniffing the air. All he got was a comforting whiff of mustache, along with the smell of blood. Hm. Vampires. According to a few civilians he'd grilled, the city was crawling with 'em, and most weren't of the nice variety. Axe Cop growled lightly. Vampire infestations were tricky. Almost as tricky as chihuahua infestations. If this didn't let up... Forest would be answering some questions.
-
Kiyoshi was momentarily shocked and disoriented as the world suddenly plunged into blackness.
Mummy usually asks first... he thought as he recognised where he was.
As the shock passed, though, Kioyshi found the sensation oddly comforting. All-too-quickly, the light reappeared, and Kiyoshi found himself in the house, still hugging Tsukasa.
Odd, she didn't have a familiar in here, Kiyoshi thought.
Even more oddly, he noticed that Kuro had grown significantly, and no longer fit into his pocket. Seemingly he had absorbed energy from Tsukasa's shadow dimension. The little familiar moved and sat on his shoulders.
Tsukasa spoke up.
"That's why, because I have all of mama's powers", she said.
"That doesn't explain why you look like her, though. Mummy would never put you through whatever that monster did to make her look that way", Kiyoshi said calmly.
Then, Kiyoshi pulled back from his hug to give a demonstration. The little crest on Kiyoshi's arm glowed green, and a couple of small shadow tentacles popped-out and waved at her.
"Plus, as you can see, I can use mummy's powers too, and Aoi-nee can do so far better than me, so that doesn't really explain it", he continued.
"Also, how did you get us in here, anyway? There aren't any of your familiars around...."
Whilst he was waiting for an answer, Kiyoshi looked at Taiga and smiled. He was glad that her brother had returned.
Rider listened to the others speaking. Apparently Kiyoshi had adopted yet another member into his rapidly-growing family. Not that she minded, though, if it made him happy. Plus, this was Sakura's daughter, so Rider also felt protective of her.
Meanwhile. Satoshi backed up Rider's threat with one of his own. He seemed to share her sentiment about the vampire.
"Yes I do, and I'd rather discuss that fact in private Rider", Jack said.
"There's a room we can talk in without being disturbed. Forest won't mind if I use it I think. Come on", he added, before turning to walk out.
Rider felt somewhat unsure of his motives but, even with Satoshi around to add support, she felt it was better to go with him and keep Kiyoshi out of it. Even if he was somehow powerful enough to defeat and kill her, she would rather that happen than Kiyoshi get himself killed defending her.
Doesn't Satoshi deserve an explanation, though? she thought.
Even so, she saw no reason not to come. If Satoshi wanted to know then he could always ask himself. She was about to follow Jack when Connor spoke up.
"I don'na think that Alex will be letting you talk privately about why you attacked his sister without him being there Jack", he said.
"Right, not a chance I'm missing this fangs", Satoshi said, placing Taiga back down on the floor.
"Yeah, sorry, Jack, but he does have a right to hear this. It is his sister, after all...."
-
Meanwhile, Ryoko oddly decided to lie flat on the ground. He raised and eyebrow unable to fathom what could have triggered this. "I don't think you should let her drink again." He declared to her parents.
"I think I'm inclined to agree with you," said Rin, rubbing her temple.
Archer nodded to Rin and whispered back, "I think you're right." He did lean forward and add, "Rin, you can't ask her too many questions. If you do, you might endanger her existence. The chance of a Paradox is slim to none, but it is still probable."
Rin nodded in agreement. "Right. The less we know, the better." She then pouted a bit. "You do know that I'd know that, don't you? I am studying the Second, after all." She glared in the direction of Lin and the portal. "Enough to know a waste of it when I see it."
He moved over to Ryoko, lifted her up and said, "Apparently you're a lightweight like your old man is. Come on, let's get you to bed before you do something stupid."
"Heh, who says I haven't already?" said Ryoko, a somewhat lopsided grin on her face. It didn't quite reach her eyes. Shortly after, she passed out in her father's arms.
Rin looked after her daughter with concern. "I'll go with you upstai-"
The sound of paper crackled around in Rin's hand, and she remembered the pizzas. With a huge sigh, Rin turned to her lover.
"No, never mind, I'd better stay here. Someone has to pay for the pizza. I'll wait here for you."
She gave him a look that clearly said, "please hurry back" before giving her daughter once last worried glance.
***
Forest cried as Tom held her, his fingers tenderly stroking his hair. She calmed herself down to wipe her own bloody tears away with her towel, glad that it was black and would hide the blood stains. She gave him a wan smile as she rested against him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to become such a girl just then, but . . . No one's really offered me what you just did and thank you," she said in a weak but happy voice.
He continued to stroke her hair as he replied to her gently. "I can understand all too well. It's alright. And it's no trouble at all. It's the least I can do."
After a few moments or perhaps even many moments more of sweet, contented silence, the psychic lifted a hand from her long enough to lift his glasses so they levitated onto him. "Let's go and get dressed then. That way you can check in on everyone, and then come back down here to relax." He blushed yet again. "Or wherever you wish to relax, I just thought of this place first because it seemed the most comfortable for you."
-
Archer frowned at Ryoko's words before nodding at Rin.
"It shouldn't take too long. Then I can be here and look intimidating for you."
With that, he gathered his future daughter in his arms and headed to one of the spare rooms.
******
Lancer watched wide eyed as Millie downed the medicinal tea then clapped his hands.
"Nicely done. I couldn't have drank it like that without puking all over the place," he said with a grin.
Then he sighed, shook his head and said, "It's been a night, Millie."
******
"No, I'd definitely need to relax here. With this many people it gets loud," Forest replied as she tapped the side of her head to show him exactly how got loud.
She grinned at the glasses and said, "I have to ask, do you even need those? Or are they just for The Pretty?"
-
Lancer watched wide eyed as Millie downed the medicinal tea then clapped his hands.
Mille's eyes brightened, and a nice pink flush was on her cheeks. "R-really? I-I'm honored, thank you." In spite of the horrid tea that still plagued her tastebuds even now, she could already feel herself feeling far better than she was before, in more ways than one.
Then he sighed, shook his head and said, "It's been a night, Millie."
Her entusiasm faded a little. She sat there for a moment before her cheeks flushed again. "Umm... w-well, would it help if you took a break in here for a bit? E-even a great hero like you n-needs a bit of rest at times."
***
"No, I'd definitely need to relax here. With this many people it gets loud," Forest replied as she tapped the side of her head to show him exactly how got loud.
Tom understood immediately what Forest meant. He'd had trouble with that a few times himself. He was quite good at filtering out the white noise at this point, to the point where he no longer heard it at all, but he could sympathize with her entirely.
She grinned at the glasses and said, "I have to ask, do you even need those? Or are they just for The Pretty?"
"Oh, I don't need them to see or anything. I'm just fond of how they look." He frowned slightly. "Not entirely sure why, to be honest. I apparently just like the look."
-
Lancer grinned at Millie's flustered words. He said, "Well, this bed is big and comfy enough for two."
With that, he swung his legs up so he was laying beside her and wiggled his eyebrows at her with a grin. He folded his hands behind his head and looked up at the ceiling before looking back at her. He asked, "Do you feel any better?"
******
"Ah, so it is a bit of vanity," Forest said with a giggle as she lead him out of the bathroom and back into her bedroom. She picked up a brush and started to work through the tangled mess that her hair had become with a grimace.
"So, would you like pajamas or real clothes for now?"
-
Mille's face was practically on fire as she turned to look at him and nodded. "Much better, I think. My headache already seems to be gone, and I'm already feeling less sick and weak than I was before."
***
The psychic considered for a moment. Before he hadn't planned on staying, let alone living in the Complex, but now that his priorities had shifted, perhaps...
"Perhaps the pajamas? The regular clothing would be more practical, but I would hope things would be dying down upstairs by now. After all, I would imagine most of your guests are not as nocturnal as we are."
He looked over to see her struggling through her hair. "Would you like any assistance with that?" he asked politely.
-
"Yeah, sorry, Jack, but he does have a right to hear this. It is his sister, after all...."
I gave Rider a Look. The capitals are necessary. "He doesn't have the right. This isn't his world, or things for him to know. Quite frankly, it isn't Sakura I want to talk to you about, because that's merely a coincidence."
The crazy aspect of this was the fact that this 'Alex' was apparently looked up to by Rider. Sweet Jesus, Apostles really were chumps. And really, anyone that McDickless liked was obviously someone who couldn't have an actual brain. "Besides, he'll probably try to poison whatever I say with extreme prejudice."
-
Satoshi raised an eyebrow. "Not my world? Just what exactly do you think my world is vampire? You supposedly tried to eat my sister, no matter what you think it's my business. So get to the explanations and if you lie I'll know" he snapped.
-
I had to grin at that. "Seriously. You don't even get the concept of vampire things being sorta well, only for vampires? Certain things aren't your business, and as I said, this isn't your world. The night isn't your world kid, it's my world. So shut up and leave me and Rider to our business."
-
Rider was utterly bemused at the man's words. Nothing he was saying made the slighest sense to her.
The right to what? she thought.
Rider considered asking him what he was talking about, but Satoshi beat her to it.
"Not my world? Just what exactly do you think my world is vampire? You supposedly tried to eat my sister, no matter what you think it's my business. So get to the explanations and if you lie I'll know", he snapped.
Rider could see that Satoshi was getting irritated, and she could understand why. And, behind her, she could also see Kiyoshi was looking at the vampire rather angrily. She really didn't want this to turn into a fight, not with Kiyoshi around.
Jack spoke once more.
"Seriously. You don't even get the concept of vampire things being sorta well, only for vampires? Certain things aren't your business, and as I said, this isn't your world. The night isn't your world kid, it's my world. So shut up and leave me and Rider to our business."
Oh, I see, thought Rider.
Apparently, the guy thought she was a vampire. And, honestly, that was not a particularly unreasonable conclusion to come to, given the information that he had. She did drink blood on occasion, after all, and she knew that she did also smell of blood, too.
Rider pondered her options for a moment. She could admit the truth, but if she did she suspected that the guy would clam up, and right now she needed more information. Whilst she had no fundamental issue with vampires, if the guy was anything like the Dead Apostles from her own universe, she wouldn't want him within ten miles of Kiyoshi. On the other hand, he could be like Forest, a nice, friendly vampire who she would happily trust to babysit her master's son. Or, more likely, he could be something in between. Without talking to him, she couldn't discover the truth.
So, she decided it was best if she let him keep assuming for now. He might be a little upset later, but without knowing the truth she couldn't allow him to remain anywhere close to Kiyoshi anyway. Plus, in a sense she was a vampire. After all, she did live off the energy of others, even if it was magical energy and not blood, and even if it was usually freely given by her beloved master. So, assuming the guy even cared about her omission, she did have an argument to justify herself, albeit a completely fabricated one.
"Toshi, I think it's best if I talk to him privately", she said, smiling.
Then, she turned to Jack. She hadn't completely discounted the possibility of a trap, but nothing in this guy's movements or words had made him seem like he was powerful enough to prevent her even calling for help or escaping, and she very much doubted he'd have been able to set up any equipment to trap her in Forest's house.
"OK, we can talk. If you try to attack me, though, I will make sure you regret it".
-
Lancer peered at the slight redhead - Even though she has the sort of curves made to pillow a man,- and said, "You sure about that?"
He placed the back of his hand on her forehead with a grin. He asked in a lilting voice, "Sure you don't need any prana?"
******
Archer laid Ryoko on the bed and made sure she was tucked in.
******
Forest blinked at Tom's offer and handed him the brush. She turned her back to him and said, "You know I don't trust just anyone with my hair."
She fidgeted slightly and said, "I mean, I'm not sleepy but I'm not planning on going out again, it's too close to sunrise."
-
"Toshi, I think it's best if I talk to him privately", she said, smiling.
Then, she turned to Jack. She hadn't completely discounted the possibility of a trap, but nothing in this guy's movements or words had made him seem like he was powerful enough to prevent her even calling for help or escaping, and she very much doubted he'd have been able to set up any equipment to trap her in Forest's house.
"OK, we can talk. If you try to attack me, though, I will make sure you regret it".
I started heading down towards the stairs with that. "Good. I can say the same to you - attack me, and you will regret it just as much."
Posturing, on both our parts. Standard practice, especially here. But I'd dealt with that type of power before. Submitting totally to a human though, that was a new one. The office was nice though, some old movie posters.
Army of Darkness. Classic.
-
Satoshi nodded "Fair enough, I thought he was trying to say something else. Go, take care of the vampire business." he replied letting Rider go.
-
Lancer peered at the slight redhead - Even though she has the sort of curves made to pillow a man,- and said, "You sure about that?"
He placed the back of his hand on her forehead with a grin. He asked in a lilting voice, "Sure you don't need any prana?"
Mille's heart began to beat wildly, her face red as a beet. She swallowed before replying, both missing the message and not at the same time. "Well, I could use some prana, it's how I got like this in the first place."
***
Archer laid Ryoko on the bed and made sure she was tucked in.
Ryoko woke up for a moment as she was tucked into bed. Blearily looking up at him, she softly said, "thanks, Dad," before falling back to sleep.
***
Forest blinked at Tom's offer and handed him the brush. She turned her back to him and said, "You know I don't trust just anyone with my hair."
"I'll be sure to be careful and thorough." A bit nervous at first, he worked through her golden locks cautiously. But after a bit, it came more naturally, and soon he was making his way through her hair without damaging it. Perhaps he had come to possess such finesse when he had been training to control his powers, he wasn't for certain.
She fidgeted slightly and said, "I mean, I'm not sleepy but I'm not planning on going out again, it's too close to sunrise."
"And I certainly can't blame you for that. I imagine sunlight doesn't agree with you particularly well," he said, continuing to work with her hair. "I prefer the night myself, so I can't say I find that too bothersome. After all, there is safety in the dark..."
Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from the adjacent room. His body tensed. At least he was essentially done brushing through Forest's hair, that was a plus.
"We'd better dress quickly. It seems you have a visitor..."
-
Lancer chuckled at Millie's blush and said, "I don't think you're ready for me to donate it directly to you. At least not yet. Even though I'd make sure we'd both enjoy ourselves."
Then he winked at her with a grin.
******
Archer blinked at Ryoko's words as she woke up for a moment before falling back to sleep.
"Y-you're welcome," he replied softly before heading back to find Rin. His mind was churning, picking through information.
******
"Well, you've proven yourself to be thorough already," Forest said, flushing slightly herself. However when he started getting into brushing her hair it took every ounce of willpower she had to simply not melt. Still, she was slightly leaning on him, a smile on her face as her eyes closed.
She raised her eyebrow as she heard footsteps in her office. "Of course there's a visitor. There always is one."
-
The strike had been successful, and the behemoth was cleanly cut in two pieces. The unit was already preparing another attack, when the creature suddenly lunged at her and brought its fist down towards her. It was surprisingly fast for its size, catching the unit off-guard. It barely registered the attack, and as a result could not evade it in time and received the full brunt of it.
The unit tumbled to the ground a few meters away, though she managed to use her boosters to immediately spring back into a combat stance and steady herself. Her systems had already begun assessing the damage, though fortunately, her armor had absorbed most of it.
DAMAGE: 23%
PROCEED WITH CAUTION
“Directive accepted.”
She would have to maintain her distance, it seemed. As the unit finished its assessment, she turned towards the creature. Pieces of rotten flesh and bones began to twist and connect, as the two halves of the monster once again began to merge together.
“Subject shows regenerative abilities. Processing...”
If the creature could regenerate itself, undoing any physical damage to it, the unit would have to find another way to dispose of it.
“Activating Mist Cannon”
From her chest, a medium-sized cannon came out, aimed towards the beast. In a fraction of a second, it began drawing Mist from the surroundings towards it, fully charging itself before firing a powerful energy blast.
-
Mille, somewhat missing the point for a moment in a fervor of passion, looked at Cu Chulainn with a determined expression on her face. "I-I'm ready for anything! I can't become stronger if I'm not! Bring it on, I'll face any challenge that's presented to me!" She paused for a moment. "P-provided it's halfway within reason," she added sheepishly.
***
Sad that this all had to end so soon (Forest leaning into him had been strangely pleasant, after all, as had been working through her hair), Tom made one last stroke before replacing the brush on the vanity.
"I'm not normally one to believe in such things, but perhaps I jinxed us by saying things would die down." He smirked. "Perhaps pajamas are the best choice of apparel after all for the moment. It would indicate that you are in a state of mind where you do not wish to be bothered."
-
"Fair enough, I thought he was trying to say something else. Go, take care of the vampire business", Satoshi said as she walked out of the room.
Hmm, I didn't expect him to go along with it quite so enthusiastically, she thought.
Rider followed the guy downstairs, taking little notice of his threat. She had yet to see any evidence that he could come even close to harming her, after all.
The guy entered what appeared to be Forest's office. There was a poster on the wall saying "Army of Darkness", a nice retro desktop computer and a decent-looking old-style stereo system. Honestly, it reminded Rider of her master's younger years, when Aoi and Kariya had been mere children.
After taking a moment to look around, Rider addressed the vampire.
"OK, what is it you wanted to talk about? And, why did you attack that girl? I assume you needed to feed, but why attack her?" she asked.
-
Lancer laughed at Millie's enthusiasm and his innuendo going right over her head. He chuckled at her determined proclamation then sheepish amendment. Then he stroked her hair with a grin.
"Any challenge within reason eh? Well, I don't think you're ready for my kind of challenges," he said with a wink.
******
Forest said, "If you jinxed us I'll . . . think of something really creative and somewhat naughty later, but pajamas would be good. Besides, this is my bloody abode. I can where whatever the sod I want."
Then she wandered into her huge walk in closet, finding something for both of them. She appeared with her arms full of clothing. A pair if black silk boxers and black silk pajamas were thrust upon her lover. They would fit Tom, if a little big in the shoulders and waist, but not overly so.
"My Godson's chest and shoulder are bigger than yours, so they'll be a little loose," she explained as she began to put on a pair of violet micro-fiber pajamas. Frowning at the sheer unsexiness of the outfit, she realized she might have to go lingerie shopping.
-
Mille's heart began to pound even more wildly- even if her stubborn nature meant she was misunderstanding him, her body certainly didn't.
"A-and what sorts of challenges would those be?" she asked. "T-though... I suppose if a hero of your caliber says I'm not ready, I'm not ready," she added, with just a hint of disappointment. Not in him, really, but in herself.
***
"If you jinxed us I'll . . . think of something really creative and somewhat naughty later, but pajamas would be good. Besides, this is my bloody abode. I can where whatever the sod I want."
"That's fair," Tom replied with both a bit of a chuckle and also not even the slightest hint of sarcasm.
Then she wandered into her huge walk in closet, finding something for both of them. She appeared with her arms full of clothing. A pair if black silk boxers and black silk pajamas were thrust upon her lover. They would fit Tom, if a little big in the shoulders and waist, but not overly so.
"My Godson's chest and shoulder are bigger than yours, so they'll be a little loose," she explained as she began to put on a pair of violet micro-fiber pajamas. Frowning at the sheer unsexiness of the outfit, she realized she might have to go lingerie shopping.
Tom stood there for a moment, not used to wearing clothing with this luxurious of material. "I don't think that'll be much of a problem," he said with some bemusement.
He dressed himself in the silken boxers and pajamas before floating the towel to the laundry hamper, not noticing Forest frowning at the lack of sexiness in her pajamas in the process. As Forest had said, they were a bit loose, but it was hardly noticeable, and it was still quite comfortable. He would have to get used to the feel of silk against his skin, however.
"Thank you." He turned to her only to see her in her own pajamas. She looked quite comfortable, and while they weren't form fitting, they still looked nice on her and somewhat... what was the word? Cute?
"Those look nice on you," he said with a smile.
-
"OK, what is it you wanted to talk about? And, why did you attack that girl? I assume you needed to feed, but why attack her?" she asked.
"Because I didn't fucking attack her." God this fucking misunderstanding the Mick had created. I had half a mind to bust some teeth out of his head sometime.
"The idiot, Connor, decides its a lovely idea to scream at me as I'm trying to exit. He thought I was trying to attack the girl he was obviously planning to fuck in her sleep. Now, I'm tired, low on blood, and being screamed at and threatened with the sharp end of a bedpost. So, like we're prone to doing I start to fall into a frenzy, but I keep a leash on my instincts, and I'm about to calm down before I jumped on the mick and tear out his throat with my teeth after draining him dry when Forest decides it's a good idea to touch me. So instead, I bite her, she cum's buckets from the Kiss, and fucking hell breaks loose."
Taking a slight break to imitate a sigh - not a bad job considering I can feel the Blush of Life starting to drain away and my gut beginning to reject the drink - I launch into the second half.
"Anyway, misunderstandings ensue, namely spearheaded by Connor. But enough about that, we have some matters we need to discuss, especially if you're new to the city."
-
Lancer tilted his head and heard her heart pick up. He patted her leg and said, "We just met. Besides, sometimes the chase is almost as fun as claiming the spoils."
******
Dark Archer started his way back to the kitchen, lost in thought. He saw the group of people gathered by the steps and moved to avoid them. However, that wasn't so easy when it involved a blind girl in a wheelchair.
******
Forest blinked at Tom's complement and said, "Thank you . . . Plus they're super comfortable too." She absently tugged at the too long sleeves while studying Tom. The black silk contrasted nicely with his white hair, fair skin and violet eyes.
She smiled and said, "Well, you look fantastic." Then she reached up to help straighten his glasses. "There."
-
Satoshi moved Taiga out of the way and signaled Tsukasa to take care of the kids.
"Archer, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked
-
Mille blinked before the innuendos finally started to sink in. If she hadn't been flushed full blast already, she would be now. "...I think now I understand what you mean. I'm probably not quite ready for that yet." Stubborn and strong willed as Mille was, there were cases where even she had to admit she was in over her head. This was one of them.
***
Tom nodded a "you're welcome" to Forest- he was glad that the garment was comfortable and easy to wear, but that seemed obvious enough, given how they looked.
She smiled and said, "Well, you look fantastic." Then she reached up to help straighten his glasses. "There."
His cheeks turned pink. "T-thank you."
However, the blush didn't last long, as he could hear voices coming from Forest's office. He narrowed his eyes as he turned towards the door.
"It appears your intruders think your office is fit for their private discussions. Shall we interrupt?"
-
Lancer laughed and said, "That's what I thought. I'm just having a bit of fun at your expense, that's all."
Unlike Ryoko, who had just grabbed him and kissed him. He shook his head at the thought of the two very different redheads he'd met tonight.
******
Archer sighed, looked at the blond kid and said, "This has better be worth my time."
******
"If anyone has touched the Army of Darkness poster I will have someone's ass," Forest said in a low voice as she headed towards the office. She paused, her keen hearing able to pick up the conversation.
Scowling, she threw open her door and stalked to the office with a cry of, "I did not cum buckets!"
-
Satoshi nodded "I think it will, we should talk in private though" he replied.
-
Mille sighed. "I should have picked up on that sooner." She looked away. "Maybe some people are right. Maybe I'm too serious about things."
***
Tom followed Forest only to pause at the sound of her outburst. He rushed to her side, giving the conversing pair one of his best intimidating glares.
If you wish me to inflict some sort of harm on either one of them, just give me the word, Tom said telepathically to Forest.
-
Scowling, she threw open her door and stalked to the office with a cry of, "I did not cum buckets!"
Speak of the Devil.
"If you didn't I'm the pope. You freaking collapsed on me there. Also, sorry about all this crazy shit tonight."
-
"Well, you are wound a bit tight," Lancer said eying her, "Not that's a bad . . . yes, it can be a bad thing."
He thought of Forest and the dam that Jack had broke with his bite and shook his head.
He poked her and said, "You need to lighten up. Have a bit of fun now and then."
******
Archer sighed and asked, "Where?"
******
Thank you, but this sort of harm I want to personally inflict, she replied to him as she walked into her office to see Jack and the gorgeous, voluptuous, and just Made-For-Sex form of Rider standing there.
Great, Jack just told Rider that I 'cum buckets' from being bit, she thought, just wanting to go hide somewhere when she looked at both Jack and Rider.
She then folded her arms across her chest, scowled, and muttered, "I did not cum buckets. It was just one orgasm, it's not my fault that I'm sensitive to that sort of thing, and I should have listened to my Godson about this much repression being dangerous and I'm going to shut up right now."
-
Satoshi thought for a minute "Given your class I'd say the roof of the building, no one will bother us there and we can get a proper view of the city while we talk" he replied seriously.
-
Thank you, but this sort of harm I want to personally inflict, she replied to him as she walked into her office to see Jack and the gorgeous, voluptuous, and just Made-For-Sex form of Rider standing there.
Great, Jack just told Rider that I 'cum buckets' from being bit, she thought, just wanting to go hide somewhere when she looked at both Jack and Rider.
She then folded her arms across her chest, scowled, and muttered, "I did not cum buckets. It was just one orgasm and I should have listened to my Godson about this much repression being dangerous and I'm going to shut up right now."
"...Again, I'm sorry about the Kiss. I didn't expect that strong of a reaction from you."
Really, it'd be hell for someone to repress it for all eternity. Sometimes, being damned has an advantage - sex takes a backseat to feeding for us... except for Daeva. I have some first hand experience with that one.
"And don't get any funny ideas Rider. She's not one of the schoolgirls you seem to love feeding on so much."
-
"Well, you are wound a bit tight," Lancer said eying her, "Not that's a bad . . . yes, it can be a bad thing."
He thought of Forest and the dam that Jack had broke with his bite and shook his head.
He poked her and said, "You need to lighten up. Have a bit of fun now and then."
Mille frowned. "I can't afford to though. I have to train as often as possible, to show the Association that I'm worthy. To show them all that I'm worthy." Her expression became a bit sad, albeit not by her own volition. "If I don't train, they'll never respect me..."
***
Tom frowned. So that's what caused Forest to enter that state. The Kiss? He must be a vampire himself, so it must be a side effect of his bite.
He turned to Jack, still glaring at him. "Then why did you bite her? Other than the obvious, that is. But I wasn't aware that another vampire would be the primary target for feeding."
He ignored the comment about Rider's feeding habits as he looked over at Forest and noted that she seemed quite uncomfortable at the moment. He wanted to give her an embrace to comfort her, but didn't know how kindly his new lover would take to that at the moment. As it was, if she needed such a thing, he was more than happy to provide it.
***
Rin, beginning to get bored just standing there, heard Archer's voice, and with a frown, creeped towards the sound, making sure she was out of sight.
She listened in silence... until Satoshi mentioned taking him out on a rooftop. Right where no one could do anything if he tried to kill him...
"He's not going on any rooftop alone," Rin said, glaring at Satoshi. She walked over to the darkened Servant's side. "Not unless I go with him."
-
"No Rin, you aren't following them. Private conversations are between the parties involved and no one else." Tsukasa interjected.
Connor nodded "I'm sorry ma'am, but I agree with Tsukasa, if Alex asked fer private discussion then it would be rude to go listening in"
-
"It's not your decision to make."
Shuya showed up with a smirk plastered on his face. He eyed Connor, Tsukasa and Rin.
"If I remember well, your buddy threatened a bunch of people. Plus, he said that he would hurt Rider's master only to lure Purplehead into that castle of his. You can't expect the girl to accept your private talk rules bullcrap when such a coward is involved. Besides, the girl's keeping an eye on her man, that is all. There's nothing wrong in that, just like there was nothing wrong in your buddy worrying over his sister. Although, I would question how much worried he really is if he doesn't even go check up on her after she has supposedly being attacked by a blood sucker. I assume discussing with the tanned dude must be far more important than her well-being."
The half blood turned to the girl he had almost attacked earlier that night.
"Do what you want."
He spared a glance in Connor's direction.
"I don't know what kind of guy you really are but, you have already screwed up twice tonight. Don't make it worse." His tone was neutral, however, when he spoke to Tsukasa, his tone was less polite. "As for you, mind your own fucking business. You have no right to order people around."
-
Kiyoshi stood waiting for Tsukasa's response to his question, but she did not reply. Even after Satoshi asked her to take care of him and Taiga whilst he talked to Archer, she still did not seem to respond.
"Tsukasa-nee?" he said as he listened to the discussion between Satoshi, Archer and, then, Aunty Rin.
Apparently, Aunty Rin was getting rather protective of Archer, and didn't want him to go to the rooftop alone.
Surely Satoshi won't kill him, he thought.
He honestly wasn't entirely sure what to think about the guy. He knew his Aunty Rider had gone away to fight Satoshi, but she had returned seemingly unscathed and on good terms with him, so he can't have caused her any harm. Plus, he had saved them from Angra Mainyu at his own cost, so he did at least have a good side. But, at the same time, he was darkened, and his Aunty Rider had been rather angry with Satoshi before she went, so he must have done something wrong.
Finally, Tsukasa decided to speak, giving her view of the situation.
"No Rin, you aren't following them. Private conversations are between the parties involved and no one else", she said.
Kiyoshi wondered what to do for a moment before deciding to try to convince Rin to let them talk.
Whilst he still wasn't entirely sure that Satoshi could be trusted, he was a sibling and, also, Shirou's son. Kiyoshi thought it unlikely that he would attack an alternate version of his own father for no reason. But, even more importantly, Tsukasa was clearly supporting him, and despite only knowing her for a few minutes Kiyoshi already found himself growing very fond of the girl. She was kind and lively, and the fact that she looked almost exactly like a younger version of his beloved mother made him naturally drawn to her.
And, in any case, Kiyoshi didn't want to see his family fight. He'd hated seeing Rin and Sakura argue, he didn't want to see Satoshi and Tsukasa arguing with Rin too. He knew Aunty Rin cared about him, so if he gave his view she might relent.
However, before he could say anything, Shuya spoke.
"If I remember well, your buddy threatened a bunch of people. Plus, he said that he would hurt Rider's master...", he began.
He did WHAT?
Kiyoshi was absolutely livid. His very own brother had threatened to hurt his mummy. Not even bothering to take notice of the rest of Shuya's statement, he summoned up his swords angrily. Only the fact that Satoshi was his brother and Tsukasa's friend stopped him from attacking immediately.
"How dare you threaten my mother! Explain yourself right now", he shouted, clearly ready to attack at a moment's notice.
"And Tsukasa-nee, how can you ignore that? He threatened to hurt mummy!" he continued, the anger clear in his voice.
-
Rider stood and listened quietly as Jack gave his side of the story. Whilst she didn't blame Connor for how he reacted when faced by a vampire who he obviously believed wanted to eat his friend, nor could he blame Jack for being what he was. If she accepted his words then he had tried his hardest to avoid giving in to his bloodlust and had mostly succeeded.
That orgasmic bite sounds fun, though, I wish I could do that....
The one worry Rider did have, though, was whether he could be trusted around Kiyoshi. After all, Kiyoshi could be rather volatile at times. She would have to discuss that with him to be sure, as well as asking him what it was he wanted to talk about.
Before she could reply, though, Forest came bursting into the room.
"I did not cum buckets!" she cried.
Rider couldn't help but burst out laughing at Forest's angry denial. She also couldn't help but notice the rather scary-looking but rather sexy guy standing beside her glaring at them angrily, or that both he and Forest were dressed in pyjamas.
Hmm, so that's how she relieved herself, is it? Rider thought, amused.
Her amusement only got greater as Forest tried to argue that she absolutely hadn't orgasmed, well, maybe just the one time, hey it's not her fault that she's sensitive and repressed. She couldn't stop laughing.
She should have taken me up on my offer, although I guess she found a worthy replacement..., thought Rider, pouting slightly.
Finally, Jack apologised for giving her a wonderful orgasm and, apparently, hooking her up with a hot guy, before turning to Rider.
"And don't get any funny ideas Rider. She's not one of the schoolgirls you seem to love feeding on so much", he said.
Rider scowled.
"Hey, I don't go seeking out schoolgirls, I attacked one, who I wasn't intending to kill, and I never even fed from her in the end", Rider said, carefully avoiding mentioning her true nature for the moment.
"As for the stuff with Sakura, whilst I don't share your view that Connor is to blame for reacting defensively towards a vampire that seemed to be taking an interest in his friend, I don't blame you for being what you are, and it seems like you genuinely tried not to harm anyone. I am, however, a bit worried about whether you could control yourself around Kiyoshi, the boy who you met outside. He can be a little.. volatile at times, as you might have noticed, and you said that Connor set you off by shouting and trying to attack you.
I have nothing against you personally, you cannot help what you are, but I will not take risks with his safety. If you cause him genuine harm I will kill you. If you make any attempt to feed off him, even if he offers himself, I will kill you. If you kill him or cause him permanent damage I will kill you slowly. The same goes for any of the rest of my master's family, too, when they arrive.
And, no, I will not accept excuses or justifications. I don't care if you were in a 'frenzy' or even if he attacked you first, if you harm him, you will die. Full stop", she said, looking at him menacingly.
"Anyway, now that's done with, what did you want to talk about?" she added, her voice becoming suddenly much softer.
-
Lancer stared at Millie and said, "So?"
He rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck as he did. He stretched and said, "So what? From what I've heard about the Association they can go fuck themselves. The question is, do you respect yourself? Are you happy with this?"
"If you're not having fun, then why bother?"
******
Archer blinked at Rin's sudden surge of protectiveness and found himself smiling at it.
Then some girl who was almost a doppleganger of Sakura spoke up. Her voice even sounded like Sakura's, but yet wasn't.
"You were sempai, once."
The fingers that touched his cheek were like ice upon his heated skin. Archer couldn't breathe, pressure was binding him as he was being filled with darkness. He rejected it as much as possible, but the Shadow overtaking a girl that had once been his friend was too strong.
Archer shook himself out of the memory before the ginger kid put in his two cents as well. Archer folded his arms over his chest and said, "Look kid, whatever you tell me I'll end up telling Rin anyway. Apparently she's worried you're going to try to kill me."
******
Forest scowled at Rider's laughter as Jack kept apologizing.
She rubbed the bite scar on her neck and said, "It wasn't your fault. I blame my sire, that Roman Bastard."
Then she said to Rider, "Kiyoshi's had kind of a rough night. 'Family' keeps popping in and getting him excited."
She looked back at Jack and asked, "Vampire business?" She did reach behind her so Tom could take her hand.
-
"Hey, I don't go seeking out schoolgirls, I attacked one, who I wasn't intending to kill, and I never even fed from her in the end", Rider said, carefully avoiding mentioning her true nature for the moment.
"As for the stuff with Sakura, whilst I don't share your view that Connor is to blame for reacting defensively towards a vampire that seemed to be taking an interest in his friend, I don't blame you for being what you are, and it seems like you genuinely tried not to harm anyone. I am, however, a bit worried about whether you could control yourself around Kiyoshi, the boy who you met outside. He can be a little.. volatile at times, as you might have noticed, and you said that Connor set you off by shouting and trying to attack you.
I have nothing against you personally, you cannot help what you are, but I will not take risks with his safety. If you cause him genuine harm I will kill you. If you make any attempt to feed off him, even if he offers himself, I will kill you. If you kill him or cause him permanent damage I will kill you slowly. The same goes for any of the rest of my master's family, too, when they arrive.
And, no, I will not accept excuses or justifications. I don't care if you were in a 'frenzy' or even if he attacked you first, if you harm him, you will die. Full stop", she said, looking at him menacingly.
"Anyway, now that's done with, what did you want to talk about?" she added, her voice becoming suddenly much softer.
"I'm rather hard to kill. There's a woman a lot like you who can attest to that."
Well, at least she was up front with her threats rather than hiding them behind smiles and seduction like that other woman had been. Rider's seduction came after the threats of violence apparently.
Cold chains, flashing teeth, blood trickling down my neck. Goat thrown into the room, ripped apart as I fed. Maybe there was something other than a goat once. Perhaps more than once. It screamed and yowled before I chewed its throat open. Cold grey eyes as she'd coo at me as I'd suck down on her wrist. All I knew was that I hated and loved and hated her. And she knew it, taking from me her payment. Blood. For blood. Hate and Love for Hate and Love.
The flashback hit me unexpectedly. Forest could probably sense it. And worse, see it.
Rider was so much like her. The same smell, same long hair, same way of oozing barely contained lust and sex and violence. It was hard, not to listen to the Beast's howling desire to make sure she wasn't a threat to me anylonger. "And keep that kid on a leash. There's things that if he did threaten 'em would kill him without a second thought. Too many of them in this city.
Forest scowled at Rider's laughter as Jack kept apologizing.
She rubbed the bite scar on her neck and said, "It wasn't your fault. I blame my sire, that Roman Bastard."
Then she said to Rider, "Kiyoshi's had kind of a rough night. 'Family' keeps popping in and getting him excited."
She looked back at Jack and asked, "Vampire business?" She did reach behind her so Tom could take her hand.
I still felt like shit about practically forcing her into a threesome, but I nodded. "Vampire business. If you ever, ever, hear some vampire asking you to do something for the Deacon, or join his flock, refuse, or make sure you know what the fuck you're getting into. Deacon Frost has a stranglehold on a lot of the bloodsuckers in the city, and a load of fanatics who think he's god. Rumor has it he can walk in sunlight, and a bunch of other bullshit. Oh, and the blocks around 43rd and Yossarian? My turf. Feed on anyone there without my permission, and you will end up in the gutter missing fangs. Understand?"
I let go of the brass knuckles after my little lecture. If Rider decided I was a threat needing to be silenced now, I'm pretty sure that between Tom, Forest, and I we could take her down.
-
Taiga shouted "He's a bad guy big brother, he tried to hurt Sakura and Rider."
Satoshi laughed "Thanks, chump ignored then."
he turned to Archer "I very much doubt that, it's not the sort of thing she would understand. But messaged received, I won't bother. I don't kill, no matter what she thinks."
Rin sighed "Satoshi go find a room and take your sister, meeting in ten. Tsukasa, take these" she said handing her a set of black boxes after she finished filling the cupboards.
Tsukasa and Satoshi turned around and walked away taking Taiga upstairs.
Connor wordlessly grabbed the large black trunk that had been the final item through the portal as in shut and followed the three upstairs.
Rin sighed again "thirty six hour days are a real bitch, anyway you guys have fun, I have to get back to the job" with that Rin left following the group upstairs.
-
Rin blinked over at Shuya, surprised. Perhaps I misjudged you a bit, before. While she didn't say the words, she looked the half demon straight in the eyes, and nodded a silent "thank you."
Naturally, upon hearing his own mother had been threatened, Kiyoshi was both angry and shocked. Satoshi made no attempt to explain himself, so Rin turned to the boy. "Kiyoshi, what Shuya here said was true. He threatened to kidnap and kill your mother over the phone to lure Rider there to fight him."
She leaned down, her hands on her knees, her voice soft. She would have hugged him, perhaps, if not for the sudden urgency of the situation. Or the fact that he was wielding blades in his hand, that too. "Listen to me, Kiyoshi. I want you to be a big, strong young man for me and do me a favor. For my sake and that of your mother and my sister. Let Aunty Rin and Uncle Archer handle this guy, I want you to go get either Forest or Lancer. It's your choice, but I want you to bring back one of them as fast as you can. Can you do that for me?"
Taiga shouted "He's a bad guy big brother, he tried to hurt Sakura and Rider."
Satoshi laughed "Thanks, chump ignored then."
he turned to Archer "I very much doubt that, it's not the sort of thing she would understand. But messaged received, I won't bother. I don't kill, no matter what she thinks."
Rin rolled her eyes at the girl's shout. "Your big brother's more of a 'bad guy' than Shuya here, I can tell you that. And even then, at least Shuya has the decency to be somewhat open about his 'bad guy' tendencies. I'd certainly trust him more."
She turned on Satoshi and narrowed her eyes. "Nothing to say to the boy who's mother you threatened at all? I wasn't quite sure of it before, but I know it now. You really are a monster. The taint you bear now hardly changes anything. And I think I'm more than intelligent enough to know a threat when I see one, thanks."
But she found herself to be swiftly ignored in favor of Lin and other members of Satoshi's posse carrying bento boxes... and a very suspicious looking black trunk, which had an ominous feeling about it... almost as if there was something magic inside...
I knew that portal was nothing good.
Rin pointed a finger at the group before they could even reach the stairs and began to charge prana to her finger. "Hold it right there!"
The Tohsaka heir quickly took note of everything around her. She was outnumbered, the only allies she had in the room were Shuya and Archer, but it'd have to do. She also spotted something flit past up the stairs out of the corner of her eye.
....Ruby?
-
Rin sighed "Change of plans, we're leaving now."
Tsukasa and Taiga looked rather sad and Connor sighed.
Satoshi nodded "Ok, later Kiyoshi, tell Rider I'll see her later dude." he said placing Taiga back in her chair.
Tsukasa opened the door waiting for the others to walk through it
"Bye Kiyo" she said still frowning.
-
Bonesington
The trio composed of a sealed primordial goddess, an adventuring hero and a lich archmage strolled down the adequately busy streets of Nexus City, led by the lich, taking in the sights around them. Sir Bonesington hummed a melodious hymn, processing all he caught in his sight, as behind him Luka still "oohh"-ed and "aahh"-ed lightly at the wonders of the modern world, interposed by offhand commentary from his spirits. Valda also followed and analyzed her surroundings, but in much less expressive way than her two companions.
Sir Bonesington suddenly stopped, straightening himself up in the street. His skull turned with a snap to the left and everything from his neck bellow followed in a single movement, like some sort of comedy act.
"I see a park! And it appears to have historical remains of cultural importance that one really cares about!" He said, pointing a dramatic finger at the path through a large green area on their left, open to the sun and empty of imposing, grey buildings. Only some ways in through the tall trees and foliage could one see a stone bridge over a pond and an ancient looking building that might've once been a small church.
This place... was terribly convenient! And suspicious! Why, it was almost the perfect place for some old urban legend to come to life! And if this city had more supernatural in it than the three of them, this was surely a place where they could find them! In other words, it was a story flag! A temptation of destiny! A possible fun encounter!
Yeesss. Sir Bonesington decided. It was time for an exciting detour!
He turned to Luka and Valda and spoke with an enthusiastic timbre. "My friends, what do you say we make a bit of an exciting detour and see what this lonely park here has to offer? I quite appreciate flowers, and this seems like a good place to see some. Not to mention, it's a park. It might make an nice hang out spot!"
-
Valda
This environment was full of wood, greenery, sunlight and water. Valda was glad for that light, as it made purchasing a new set of pants unnecessary due to the drying effects of the warmth. She could have done this herself readily enough, but that would have been a waste of precious mana for the purpose of dry cleaning.
If she had a more stable source of mana... her eyes gave Luka another look over, and then did the same to clusters of naturally growing wooden pillars, and she contemplated the prospect of utilizing such a place to
extract
what she desired from him. Plus entertainment value that would leave them flush with desirable hormonal responses. Yes, the idea was pleasing. Perhaps the skeletal creature's enthusiasm was not entirely misplaced when it revealed this place to them.
Valda grabbed Luka's hand and squeezed. "I believe a journey through the park will be... pleasant. Lead on."
-
Monsters of Ruin
Summoning Circle 1
The beasts seeing their former ally killed roared in rage and charged the thing now feeding their claws sharp as a sword they weren't about to let this thing get away with what it had done.
Of course this was their thought pattern right before they were swarmed with bullets from multiple sides, despite how tough they may be not even could withstand such a relentless assault.
*************************************************
Downy Reed
Summoning Circle 1
Things had gotten a little too hectic for Downy's liking, he preferred to at least keep things under his control to a small degree, but with a flash he had disappeared once again, the bullets that were destined for his head now passing through the air and into the beasts he had so easily abandoned.
'Best to split these people up before they get a chance to negotiate an alliance. Imnity! Send the order to Mudou and Lobellia, tell them to intercept the two at the summoning circle while you will meet up with me as we deal with the new ones, Shezar will focus on defense guarding the other two circles with all of his being!'
'Of course Master.'
Just a moment more and he had arrived onto the same rooftop as these new folks, remaining hidden inside the in-between of dimensions, Downy could tell there were quite a few of them up there, though he couldn't make out the exact number it would be risky even for him to attack alone.
*************************************************
Imnity
The Inbetween
Relaying the commands she had just received from Downy via telepathic summoning, she herself was away. Calculating Downy's position was simple, he simply remained in hiding nearby the large force of magical beings. Dealing with them should be simple enough she thought, they would all fall to just a few of her mighty attacks.
A bright flash of light and she was directly above the group high in the sky, using her magic to levitate into the air she casted one of her favorite summoning spells.
"!מטאור"
A massive ball of fire and molten rock emerged directly below her and headed straight towards the group on the rooftop, she intended to utterly decimate the group before they had a chance to react.
*************************************************
Lobellia and Mudou
On Route to Summoning Circle 1
"So the General wants us to deal with these fools? Fine they shall be quickly eliminated."
"Yeah yeah I just hope they don't bore me like the rest of these worlds, I'm getting damn tired of all this crap!"
The two figures rushed from building to building jumping with the utmost of speed and style, for the smaller one she propelled herself with the bones of the dead while the much larger figure simply glided with ease.
They passed the other two circles leaving them in Shezar's care and headed straight for the burnt out core of the first.
It was only a moment more before they arrived from above, the sounds of gunfire and the screams of the monsters taking the hits could be clearly heard.
"It's been too long, I'm going to start this!"
Despite yelling that to his partner Mudou grabbed his sword and jumped from the ruined building above aiming straight toward the prettier of the two.
'The idiot he really shouldn't of done that, fine I suppose I will have to help him somehow.'
"!עצם מקלחת"
Lobellia then proceeded to follow Mudou charge with a shower of sharpened bones, being careful not to hit Mudou she aimed her attack toward the second of the two her blood-red sword at the ready in case of any surprises.
*************************************************
Undead Behemoth
Main Circle
The beast took the hit full force body parts and rotting flesh flying everywhere with a heavy burnt smell lingering in the air. It's right arm was now missing but again it's started to reform itself yet at a slower rate than before. Grabbing some rubble lying on the ground with it's good left hand the monster chucked it straight at the robot.
*************************************************
Shezar the Assassin's Blade
On route to Circle's 2 and 3
'Finally away from that large idiot, I was afraid I couldn't take much more of him. Ah well now getting back to what I do best.'
As fast and silent as could be Shezar was quickly hopping from building to building his aim the other two circles glowing in the day, it was at that point he noticed a figure in the distance heading straight towards him.
'An interruption? Fine they may very well be a threat so I shall deal with them first.'
Changing directions he quickly prepared for combat his body heading straight towards the figure.
-
Luka
"Wow... I know it's just a park, but seeing green again feels a bit strange in this place, when everything else is stone and metal." Still, the boy visibly relaxed as he saw the flowers and smelled the scent of nature, which had been so faint before. He didn't really understand the first thing about climate change, eradication of rainforests, or the encroachment of humanity upon the wild, but the feeling of wrongness that had been disturbing both him and the spirits since they'd woken up dissipated as they neared the park, if only slightly. Bonesington, though, seemed abnormally excited by a few trees and some grass. Perhaps the lich knew something Luka didn't?
With a giggle, Sylph materialized on the wind and flew off, flying between the trees and dancing on the tops of the green leaves. Undine reformed using the moisture hanging in the air and made her way to the river with only a cursory goodbye, while Gnome knelt near the roots of a particularly large tree and dug her fingers into the dirt that her body was made of. As for Salamander, she remained in Luka's head, strangely unmoved by the sight. Ever since the bakery, she'd been quieter and quieter, as if deep in thought about something, and the park had no appeal for her.
"I believe a journey through the park will be... pleasant. Lead on."
"A-alright. Follow me," Luka said. He closed his eyes and extended his senses for a moment, searching the park for the perfect place to go. After a moment, he opened them again. "There's a nice trail this way, Valda." As for their other companion... "Mr. Bones, would you mind checking out that building across the bridge? I think there used to be some holy power there, although it's mostly gone, and I'm not really a very good investigator compared to someone as experienced as you. We can explore the woods a bit. I think there's a clearing with some ambient mana further in."
It was true, though Luka felt a pang of guilt knowing that his motives weren't purely honourable. The fact of the matter was that he needed to speak to the sealed goddess in private. Though he was certain that the lich meant no harm, some part of the boy's mind (or perhaps a tiny bit of meddling from his resident spirits) told him that there were certain things which could only be spoken of in private.
He spared Valda a glance. She'd eaten several times more than him at the bakery, yet she didn't appear the least bit satiated. Though she held herself with composure that would put kings to shame, a deeper hunger was visible in her dark brown eyes. Even the mana potion hadn't helped. For the first time, Luka wondered if her hunger wasn't that of a human. Well, that was something he could ask her once they were alone. Perhaps in the relaxing atmosphere of the park, he could learn a bit more about Valda Becker.
-
*RAUL*
The source of the Reptilians was easy enough to determine - levels of Aether were rising as he approached a certain area of the city. Enough Aether was in the air for him to actually siphon some off to replenish his own supplies, yet he couldn't sense any Infrastructure providing it. Strange.
Another figure was racing across the rooftops, closing in on him. Raul noted it wasn't an Angel, yet...
It sent shivers down his Cover's spine. Raul prepared to shed his Cover as he approached the figure as well. If push came to shove, he'd rather be in his Demonic form than his Cover body, especially with something moving so fast.
*HENDERSON*
The furry that had attempted to carjack him having been roasted by his improvised anti-carjacking flamethrower, Henderson cruised away from the laser light show, towards the Party Castle.
"Rupert, are you ready to get funky?"
"..."
"Damn straight you are." Henderson took another hit off the Necronomiblunt as he executed a perfect three point turn and seemlessly merged with traffic. The night was still young, and he hadn't been to a party since that one thing in the gym.
Besides, lawn gnomes loved Party Castles.
-
There was a fact about Sir Bonesington that usually came as a bit of a shock to people who had just gotten to know him. And that was that he liked plants. No, he did not like plants, he loved plants. He loved gardening and farming; he appreciated the sweet scent of flowers in blossom; the buzzing of the bees as they flied to collect the nectar; to see the growth of lettuce and cabbages slowly over time; and to collect beautiful and mature fruits when the time such arrived; and he delighted in the harvest of the grapes to make the fine wine he so enjoyed.
Yes, he did love such things. Which was why finding such a rich green spot right in the middle of Nexus City had been nothing but a blessing for him. Ahh, come for the adventure, stay for the nature, he thought as he inhaled the delicate scene of a lively pink orchid among a number of them.
How ironic.
"Mr. Bones, would you mind checking out that building across the bridge? I think there used to be some holy power there, although it's mostly gone, and I'm not really a very good investigator compared to someone as experienced as you. We can explore the woods a bit. I think there's a clearing with some ambient mana further in."
Bonesington turned his attention away from the flowers for a moment to listen to Luka. Hearing his words, he expanded his senses to note that yes, there was in fact a clearing with some significant ambient mana further in the park, although he couldn't sense anything in the direction of the building... yet.
He almost had to contain a shudder at the thought of holy power. Too much of that was bad for his bones. Nonetheless, seeing the logic in Luka's request, he nodded in confirmation.
"Alrightie. Time to get the rust off of my magical crime scene investigator skills! I'll go there then, so if you two need any help in the meanwhile, just shout. Or yell at my mind directly with a telepathic warning. Ta ta, and have fun exploring your side. I shall notify you in case I find a dungeon or loot to split." He said, before turning to the bridge and starting to float over that way, following the path.
He absentmindedly wondered if Luka was going to be okay, what with the increasingly ravenous shine in Valda's eyes.
... he's young, he can handle it!
-
Marius
Lucidity returned as the hunger was satisfied, his eye sockets losing their red glow... just in time for the first of the monsters to drive a sword into the bulk of its deceased comrade in his arms. The worn and corroded remnants of his lorica kept the weapon from actually reaching his body after the loss of momentum caused by the corpse. With that to jar him into awareness all concerns about the situation he found himself in were put aside. The strange architecture that made up the battlefield he found himself in, the presence of another of his own kind nearby and holding a very strangely shaped spatha blade in hand, and the foreign tongues he was hearing in the distance and had faintly overheard through the haze of his rage would all be addressed later.
Alas, lonely cadaver, the fate of the vanquished is naught but woe and being thrown at your former comrades like a limp and heavy battering ram. Just in time too, as the strange projectile weapons tore into them and they were left with no balance to avoid them.
He immediately reached to his side for a weapon, but he had no such thing.
A curse would have escaped his throat if he didn't have what felt like several centuries' worth of dirt trapped in his lungs. All he could do now was leap for cover after seeing the brutal efficiency of the projectiles arrayed against them.
--------------------------------------
Valda
Valda's eyes wandered to the wooden pillars- trees, damn it, she had the background to identify them by name.
Anyway, she could admit to herself that she would enjoy burning all the wood and leaves and grass if she had the mana to spare for that. But she didn't, so she didn't do it, and besides she had promised to help Luka get home and she couldn't do that if she burned him to death and that would be bad. Breaking that promise would be hypocrisy on her part, and she was not a hypocrite. Mostly.
She was a lawyer, so there had to be a little leeway there, but aside from the requisite amount necessary to be a lawyer she was not a hypocrite.
Once the skeleton was gone, Valda focused on the road ahead of them and allowed Luka to pull her along the well worn trail of dirt and tree roots, and was once again glad she did not wear shoes with too high of a heel.
Not much further now before opportunity presented itself... and they were somewhere that wasn't full of uncomfortable roots. She had a minimum standard of comfort and she wasn't starving enough to get past that right now, even if the mana just seemed to seep out of Luka's lean, neatly compact and wonderfully symmetrical frame to tantalize her. She could almost smell it, a form of synesthesia that her limited mortal perceptions made us of to represent a sense that it did not properly possess. It smelled... very Luka-y. Luka-ish.
She required a new adjective to describe it properly, perhaps.
"How much further are we going?"
No, she wasn't being impatient, she would insist if asked. Valda pushed a lock of her blonde hair back behind her ear though, in what might have been a nervous tic back before her memories were properly awakened.
-----------------------
'Rose'
It was busy even during the day in this house of vice and decadence; every those who couldn't fit into the building wanted to be patrons of the Pricking Pickle Cornerclub. Which was really strange, because Rose had been under the impression that most bars (who had decided to call it a cornerclub? what precisely was a cornerclub?) saw the majority of their business after this realm's sun set. Strange inconsistencies, these mortals had, but who was she to neglect their needs? They kept coming, just to see her and allow her to ply them with drink, and all was well in the house of merriment!
It was not even a very large building she was working with; it wasn't even larger on the inside than the outside, like a proper place. These strange spatial limits were quite, well, limiting in their way even if they were fascinating.
She shook her head and finished cleaning the glass like she'd seen the previous owner of the place do at one point.
The patrons watched her glorious red hair move in time with her motions, and she knew exactly what it was doing to them. Good! Let them see it and jockey for the limited positions at the bar close to her. It was all like holding court back home, and she had much favor to share with those who were willing to amuse her with their efforts.
Maybe when the evening was done she'd see what the victors' livers tasted like after being marinated in so many spirits. Especially the wine-filled ones.
Her tattered mantle gave a faint hum of approval at the thought, unheard over the dim of the afternoon crowd.
-
Kiyoshi grew angrier and angrier as Satoshi completely ignored his question, instead talking with his family. He became angrier still when the older Aunty Rin turned to him and told him to take Taiga upstairs for a "meeting". Neither he nor Tsukasa had even acknowledged Kiyoshi, let alone responded, and now they were heading upstairs.
What the hell is wrong with them? He threatens my mummy and doesn't even try to explain himself.
As far as Kiyoshi was concerned, his actions were just proof of guilt. He stiffened and prepared to attack the man who had threatened his mother, but before he could the younger Aunty Rin bent down before him.
"Kiyoshi, what Shuya here said was true. He threatened to kidnap and kill your mother over the phone to lure Rider there to fight him", she said.
Kiyoshi was shaking with anger now.
He did what?
He moved his hands impatiently, waiting for Aunty Rin to move so he could kill the bastard for what he'd done. But, instead, she continued speaking.
"Listen to me, Kiyoshi. I want you to be a big, strong young man for me and do me a favor. For my sake and that of your mother and my sister. Let Aunty Rin and Uncle Archer handle this guy, I want you to go get either Forest or Lancer. It's your choice, but I want you to bring back one of them as fast as you can. Can you do that for me?" she said.
Kiyoshi was still livid, but he understood that Aunty Rin wanted him to go and get help, and that she was better-placed to deal with this than he was. Unfortunately, though, he didn't actually know where either of them had gone....
He decided to ask Aunty Rin, but she had already moved on to address other people.
"Your big brother's more of a 'bad guy' than Shuya here, I can tell you that. And even then, at least Shuya has the decency to be somewhat open about his 'bad guy' tendencies. I'd certainly trust him more", she said, talking to Taiga.
Kiyoshi frowned. Whilst he was very angry with Satoshi, Aunty Rin seemed to be being rather more complimentary than she'd like about Shuya. Her next statement, though, was one he fully agreed with.
"Nothing to say to the boy who's mother you threatened at all? I wasn't quite sure of it before, but I know it now. You really are a monster. The taint you bear now hardly changes anything. And I think I'm more than intelligent enough to know a threat when I see one, thanks", she said.
Kiyoshi was livid at Satoshi's refusal to even acknowledge him. He was supposedly Kiyoshi's brother, and not only did he apparently threaten to murder his mother in cold blood to get at Aunty Rider, he didn't even have the decency to answer the accusations.
Then, Rin turned to the group and, charging her Gandr, shouted "Hold it right there!"
In response, though, the elder Rin made a snap decision that they were going to leave.
What the hell?
Kiyoshi was angry beyond belief. His elder Aunt had only been here five minutes, and now she was decreeing that his new-found family would have to leave. He could see the sad look in Tsukasa and Taiga's eyes but, nevertheless, they obeyed, for some reason. Tears welled up in his eyes.
And Satoshi had still not given him a response. He was no longer prepared to wait.
"I want a damn answer, Satoshi. Why the hell did you threaten my mother? I will not just let you walk away without giving a damn good reason", he said, waving his swords around angrily.
Then, he turned to the others. He really didn't want them to just leave like this, especially not Tsukasa.
"As for you, Aunty Rin, what is wrong with you? You only arrived five minutes ago and now you're ordering all my new family to leave against their will without even a proper goodbye. Nice Aunty Rin would never do that to me...", he shouted, the sadness clear in his voice.
Then, he turned to Tsukasa, looking at her pleadingly.
"Please don't go, Tsukasa-nee, you're nice and kind and like mummy. I want to get to know you better...", he said, sniffing somewhat.
-
Satoshi shook his head " Tsukasa, evac." he said
in a split second Taiga, Connor, Rin and Tsukasa were swallowed up and disappeared into the shadow teleport.
"I did Kiyoshi, but I wasn't about to discuss this sort of thing in front of my sister. Rin knew that and took charge, I suspect she had another reason for doing as she did as well. Although to be honest I dunno what that is. The full explanation of the situation is quite long. Satoshi said pausing.
"You have a right to know about the whole situation Kiyoshi but for the moment I'll answer your immediate concern. The short answer is I needed to fight Rider at full power to burn away mana, so I bluffed to make sure she wouldn't pull her punches. Ask Rider yourself if you don't believe me Kiyoshi, she's just fine, right?" Satoshi explained.
"As for my other threats guys, all bluffs. In two thousand years I only ever took one life. And I resurrected him and gave him back his dead girlfriend so I'd say we're even. I have been through many wars but I am a doctor, not a soldier. I find death abhorrent. I do however acknowledge that bluffing is good tactics. As long as no one is hurt I think such misdirection is fair game. So Rin, Archer, Kiyoshi. Have I harmed a hair on anyone's head?" Satoshi finished.
-
Rider noticed Forest scowling at her laughter, and felt a little guilty.
"Sorry Forest, the way you were acting was just amusing", she said, desperately trying to contain her laughter.
She also heard Forest's words about Kiyoshi, but before she could say anything, Jack spoke up.
"I'm rather hard to kill. There's a woman a lot like you who can attest to that."
Eh, what is he talking about, a woman like me?
"And I am likewise difficult to kill. I have no desire to fight, but if I must I am sure I could take you down, especially if my family is at sake", she said.
"And keep that kid on a leash. There's things that if he did threaten 'em would kill him without a second thought. Too many of them in this city."
Rider nodded. His words were all-too-true. This place was dangerous for Kiyoshi, and his actions so far had not helped ensure his safety at all. He continued to talk, addressing the two "vampires" in the room to discuss his "vampire business".
"Vampire business. If you ever, ever, hear some vampire asking you to do something for the Deacon, or join his flock, refuse, or make sure you know what the fuck you're getting into. Deacon Frost has a stranglehold on a lot of the bloodsuckers in the city, and a load of fanatics who think he's god. Rumor has it he can walk in sunlight, and a bunch of other bullshit. Oh, and the blocks around 43rd and Yossarian? My turf. Feed on anyone there without my permission, and you will end up in the gutter missing fangs. Understand?"
Rider laughed. Walking in sunlight was not something she considered a particularly great thing, although she was aware that, for a vampire, it was rather unusual.
"Hah, that guy doesn't impress me, I have no issue with sunlight.
Don't worry, I have no intention of joining that asshole, or doing anything he asks of me. My loyalty is and always will be to my master, and the fact that some vampire has extra-strong sunblock or something won't change that. And, don't worry about the feeding, either. Satoshi will provide me with as much prana as I need until my master arrives and I can draw on her power once more, so I no longer have any need to attack people, schoolgirls or otherwise.
As for Kiyoshi, I am well aware of the danger his actions pose, but I cannot control his emotions. He's always wanted to be a hero, and he wants to protect his family.
He's not used to this sort of world, or to dealing with truly dangerous enemies on his own. There are dangerous things in our world, of course, but they're hidden, and far less active. Kiyoshi is aware of them, of course, but his parents keep him well away from anything that can truly harm him.
But, now, he's suddenly been thrown into this strange world, and his parents aren't here to protect and comfort him. He's scared and lonely, and he misses his family, but he also sees a chance to actually be a hero for once, without his parents here to stop him. So, when he does find some new 'family' here, he protects them with everything he has. Nothing I say to him is going to change that. Even his mother can't persuade him to be more cautious, and he loves her more than anything in the world", she said.
-
"And I am likewise difficult to kill. I have no desire to fight, but if I must I am sure I could take you down, especially if my family is at stake", she said.
Rider laughed. Walking in sunlight was not something she considered a particularly great thing, although she was aware that, for a vampire, it was rather unusual.
"Hah, that guy doesn't impress me, I have no issue with sunlight.
Don't worry, I have no intention of joining that asshole, or doing anything he asks of me. My loyalty is and always will be to my master, and the fact that some vampire has extra-strong sunblock or something won't change that. And, don't worry about the feeding, either. Satoshi will provide me with as much prana as I need until my master arrives and I can draw on her power once more, so I no longer have any need to attack people, schoolgirls or otherwise.
As for Kiyoshi, I am well aware of the danger his actions pose, but I cannot control his emotions. He's always wanted to be a hero, and he wants to protect his family.
He's not used to this sort of world, or to dealing with truly dangerous enemies on his own. There are dangerous things in our world, of course, but they're hidden, and far less active. Kiyoshi is aware of them, of course, but his parents keep him well away from anything that can truly harm him.
But, now, he's suddenly been thrown into this strange world, and his parents aren't here to protect and comfort him. He's scared and lonely, and he misses his family, but he also sees a chance to actually be a hero for once, without his parents here to stop him. So, when he does find some new 'family' here, he protects them with everything he has. Nothing I say to him is going to change that. Even his mother can't persuade him to be more cautious, and he loves her more than anything in the world", she said.
So Apostles could walk in the sun? That... was not a comforting thought. That they seemingly didn't consider themselves vampires was concerning as well. Chumps no more apparently, except for the master bit. They needed a master to survive, without attacking anyone. Interesting.
"I have no intent to target you and yours. But if you break my rules... you will never see it coming. I can promise you that. And that kid seems on the fast track to an early death. No offense."
-
"Not much longer. We're almost there."
The thin trail opened up into an atypical clearing about with a diameter about as large as the length of one of those horseless carriages (cars) that Luka had seen in the city. Unlike the rest of the park, the trees were dense around the clearing, enough to block out any sight from outside, with only the trail serving as an opening. The clearing itself had unmistakably been the sight of a strange event. The grass was burnt and blackened, crumbling under Luka's step, and the center bore faint marks of what might have once been a magic circle.
Once they stepped inside, Luka released Valda's hand to kneel down and inspect the circle. Apart from the ash and burnt grass, he couldn't make any sense of it. In his haste to enact his fairly unimaginative plan, Luka had forgotten that he himself was almost clueless when it came to magic. "Well, um, this is it," he said, standing slowly and turning to face Valda. "As you can see, it's obvious that, uh," waving his hands around as if he knew what he was doing, Luka tried to explain. "Well, a highly complicated... something took place here. I think. Maybe."
-
Valda took a deep breath of the air, filled with faint traces of inaccessible mana. It teased her, not being able to draw it in properly on her own. She needed permission, and she could not get it from inanimate air. Oh, certainly, if there had been a spirit of air around to ask whether she could draw it into herself. The earth gave her the same frustration once the two of them got closer to the circle. And ah, the glorious scent of her essence scorching away the flammable greenery... or at least, the aftermath of it.
Truly, this place existed to make her forget any sense of satisfaction and drive her forward.
Forward she went, kneeling down behind her shorter companion so that she could wrap her arms around him slowly. Valda rested her chin on his right shoulder, pressing comfortably into his back and spreading a comfortable feeling of warmth into him. And she observed as he observed, a little smirk on her face. "It looks like a summoning circle, Luka. Someone called something fiery from somewhere, or else tried to bring forth something else and failed."
-
Tom continued to glare at the two conversing vampires (well, as far as he could tell at least), a bit miffed that he was being almost entirely ignored like any self respecting feline would. No cat took kindly to being blown off when they were putting such effort into being threatening, after all, silken pajamas and glasses or no.
He took Forest's offered hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Shall we continue upstairs? It seems these two are mostly done with us. Though I could evict them from your office if you would like.
***
Lancer stared at Millie and said, "So?"
He rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck as he did. He stretched and said, "So what? From what I've heard about the Association they can go fuck themselves. The question is, do you respect yourself? Are you happy with this?"
"If you're not having fun, then why bother?"
She froze at that. Unconsciously, the vulnerable girl beneath all the armor began showing herself again. She didn't remember the last time she'd been happy. She remembered toiling endlessly to try to make herself worthy, to the point where some days she'd get herself sick from overworking, but she kept going anyway, because she had to prove them wrong.
She had to prove them wrong. And so long had she worked that the days where she'd reveled in magecraft for its own sake seemed like a distant dream.
Three generations? Hah! Some American? Are you kidding, she'll never be anything with that!
Come on, give her some credit. Once she hits puberty she'll be good breeding stock anyway.
I guess you're right. She's got good circuits anyway, from what I hear, so she'll be good enough to marry into one of the major families maybe. She'll be good for producing strong children at least.
The words that had haunted her for years. The words that she had heard echoed in other ways all throughout the Clock Tower. The words she'd toiled ten years to try to forget.
But no matter how hard she tried, it never seemed good enough.
And so her heart had grown bitter, her eyes turning green with jealousy towards those like Rin who had heard just as much as she had heard. And thus she hid herself away in isolation, searching for miracles where no one could see her create them.
She didn't notice that she was crying. She just felt numb. Numb as the waste that had been ten years of her life hit her like a tidal wave.
"I... I don't know."
The door opened and closed as Ruby made her way inside. But even the often heartless staff kept quiet, remaining unnoticed. Some moments were best served with silence.
***
Rin glowered at Satoshi. "How is any of that an excuse. You still threatened someone for a petty reason. Why couldn'tve you just, I don't know, asked nicely?! Plus to do that to someone you hardly know, no less. The fact that Rider sounded happy enough when she came back means that this time it was just a bluff, but what about next time? You say all that garbage about how old you are and how great you are and how you haven't harmed everyone, but what evidence is there of any of that? You're expecting us to believe that on faith alone, and what I've seen of you thus far makes me very much inclined to believe you're just lying through your teeth."
She gestred back towards Kiyoshi. "You think that's enough of a justification to threaten this boy's mother, and my own sister?! It's not. And I swear to God, I don't care how special or overpowered you are, but if you try to harm a hair on her head, or even dare to threaten her again, I swear I'll make you regret it. You've made Kiyoshi cry enough tonight, and I'll do my best to make sure you never make him cry again."
She stepped forward. "And that goes for Archer too. I may not technically be as strong as he is, but I won't let you get away with hurting him either. That's why I refuse to let you speak to him alone on a rooftop where no one else can hear you." For some reason, she had the sudden urge to start sobbing with her next words. Valiantly, she fought the urge back as she spoke. "I already lost him once. I'll be damned if I lose him again. Especially to the hands of someone like you."
She narrowed her eyes. "Now I know for a fact that no one would use the Second magic for petty reasons. There's something in that black trunk that could hurt us all, isn't there? You and my so called older self are planning something, aren't you. Start talking!"
-
"Of course he would have reinforcements," Angel said with a sigh as he took to defend himself from the two people going to attack them.
The violet eyed sex offense smiled, grabbed Angel's arm, and said, "I have a trick or two up my sleeve." Before Angel could even protest, there was a gentle roar in his ears as the world around him shifted, as if he had walked into another room. Blinking, the vampire with a soul looked around at the alien environment that stretched out around him.
Deep blues, violets, grays, black, and flashes of dark red flickered around them, ever changing but the color scheme staying the same. Angel could make out familiar shapes in the weird semidarkness as he noticed that his companion's fair skin was glowing, as if moonlight had been trapped beneath it. Those violet eyes, now glowing as well, met Angel's and Angel stared.
He had the urge to grab his charcoals and capture the man's unearthly beauty. The thing of it was Angel hadn't drawn anything in years, not since Connor, not since Wolfram and Hart, and certainly not since Twilight. There had been a few moments, with Buffy, when they created that new reality together, where he had been inspired again. He wanted to capture that sheer happiness on her face, the delight in those green eyes. She had even talked him out of staying in that perfect reality together.
Then she had told him that he just wasn't the love of her life, that he was the person she wanted to spend it with.
And he had ruined all of that.
Even after resurrecting him, Rupert Giles' death was still on his head.
He shook the thought off as he noticed that his gorgeous companion was still holding his arm and leading him through the shadows.
"There are three more circles to disarm before tackling the main one. If I miscalculate these things could go off in a tragedy that made Hiroshima and Nagasaki look paltry in comparison," the glowing man said.
Angel nodded, sighed, and said, "Yeah, that takes priority over the fanged gang back there and the melodramatic wizard's back up."
"I'm glad you see that. By and by, my name is Gabriel, Gabriel Umbra," he said, shaking Angel's arm.
Angel blinked and replied, "Angel."
"Vampire?" Gabriel asked.
Angel blinked again, frowned, and said, "Yeah, but I'm not evil. I have a soul." After a moment he asked, "How did you know?"
"No last name, reckless heroics and little regard to personal safety. You remind me of my Godmother," Gabriel answered with a grin.
Angel asked, "Godmother?"
"What else would a Faerie have as a godmother other than a vampire?"
******
Forest frowned as she saw Jack's memories. She could sympathize. There was a myriad of reasons why she called her sire "that Roman Bastard".
She held up her hand to Jack and said, "Woah, woah, Rider's not a vampire. She's a Servant. Which is something complicated, spiritual, magical, and possibly involving the Holy Grail. By that point when Lancer explained it to me he kept ranting on about corrupted priests and cheating assholes."
She eyed Rider and said, "And you're Kiyoshi's guardian there. Look, I know its hard when they don't listen, but sometimes you have to let kids make mistakes. If they don't, they'll never learn, and when that happens you have to be there to pull them out of the fire. Plus, he does seem just a tad bit spoiled. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but . . . "
Then she looked back at Jack, smirked, and said, "Oh, I know all about Deacon Frost. I'm a bloody thorn in his side. I'm Law Unto Herself after all."
If he hadn't heard of Law Unto Herself, I might be a little hurt, she sent Tom, who was looking a bit millfed about no one was paying attention to him. She admitted he really did look like a cat there as he squeezed her hand.
Shall we continue upstairs? It seems these two are mostly done with us. Though I could evict them from your office if you would like.
She grinned at his offer and said to Jack and Rider, "Look, we need to go back up stairs and tell Lancer that I'm okay, Finn's sleeping it off, and see if some other place in my house got blown up. Think the two of you can behave?"
******
Lancer sighed at Millie's answer and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Look Lass, at the end of the day, the person's opinions who matter are yours and those you love. You did well today, with your circle. Even Scathach would have been impressed, well as much as she could be, with your talent with ruins," Lancer told her.
He gave her shoulder a friendly squeeze and said, "Live for yourself and those who you care about. Everyone else can fuck themselves."
******
Archer tried not to laugh as the eleven year old boy brandished poor replicas of Kansho and Baykura. He resisted the urge not to show the boy how to really create swords as Kiyoshi made his pleas and his threats. Then to make matters even more amusing the elder Rin was bugging out because apparently the rest of that clan couldn't stand the heat.
Then Satoshi opened his mouth and served a lovely pack of lies that made Archer's Rin completely livid.
With good reason.
He stood back as Rin had her tirade at him, then blinked as she said, "I already lost him once. I'll be damned if I lose him again. Especially to the hands of someone like you."
Archer knew that train of thought all too well. After all, he thought it every time she had been in danger since he found her again. He walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Archer eyed the corrupted young man and said, "Well, is there something nefarious in your 'aunt' Rin's box?"
-
Valda's embrace was so measured and gentle that Luka barely noticed it until her arms were around his body and she rested on his back, her breath tickling his ear as she spoke of portals and magic and things that he suddenly had a great deal of trouble focusing on. The world seemed empty and lifeless, but he was almost painfully aware of her warmth wrapped around him, chasing the cold away with her very presence. When she spoke his name casually, he couldn't help but shudder. She was a bit close, wasn't she? Too close for comfort, for sure. Yet...
This was just an otherworldly custom, the young man told himself. Women of Valda's world were probably much more casual about physical contact than those of his. Or perhaps as a goddess she had no idea of human customs. Yes, that had to be it.
"W-well, I was thinking," he began, voice slightly hoarse for no reason at all. "You could absorb some of the mana left over from the summoning, if you n-need it." Luka was a hero who had defeated countless opponents, yet this strange woman from another world made him feel like he was at Level 1 again. He'd called Valda here for something. A question about how she had been sealed, so that he could learn more about her. Yet with each passing second, that goal seemed less and less important. It could wait, he told himself.
The spirits had gone, and Salamander was silent, with only her heavy breaths to remind Luka of her presence in his mind. Ever her mental flames, however, felt like a cool breeze now.
It was warm now. So, so warm.
-
Valda took a deep breath through her mouth at his suggestion, as if tasting the very air around them for the bounty he had just promised her. It was faint on her tongue, dull to her senses, but her proximity to him may have just spoiled it by comparison. Where he came from shampoo was not a simple concern; in fact he may not even know what it is, though he smelled faintly of some kind of soap that tickled her nose when she sniffed at his hair.
She relished the distant familiarity of such a rustic scent, bringing to her faint memories of beautiful sacrifices in her name. Especially the willing ones, who beheld her and knew it was right, had prepared themselves like this in the waters of her temples beneath the light of sacred flame...
And then to hear his voice go hoarse, well, she brought the fingers of her left hand to lay a soft touch over his throat. Her thumb began to rub along its length, as if to soothe whatever rough discomfort had overtaken Luka there. "Sadly, I can't seem to find enough here to taste," she said, sounding almost apologetic to him as if she regretted not being able to accept his suggestion.
"But there's another way you could feed me, Luka. It might satisfy me for a while... and I think you'd have fun with it," Valda suggested in turn, her voice low and thick with promise by his ear. It could have melted butter.
-
High in the sky a great white bird flew across the city, if anyone could look closely and more importantly carefully they just might notice that it was in fact merely a great many sheets of blank paper coalesced to form the shape of a bird.
-
The bird flew alone for a while, and then the unexpected occurred.
A second bird, also initially appearing ordinary at first glance, flew up to the first folio from the opposite direction, catching up with ease belying its fragile appearance. Upon closer examination, it too was most certainly not biological in nature, but unlike its manuscripted mirror, the second was a darker shade, formed of twisted metal, wood, and plastic. Its feathers were tiny razors layered on top of each other, and its beady marble eyes gazed at the first bird intently.
The construct bird opened its tin can mouth as wide as it would go, and then wider, from within, a laughing, croaking caw emanated, itself sounding more like something from a blown out speaker than a real cry.
-
There was only a sea of darkness. The murky, dense blackness wrapped everything it involved in stillness, and pressured all under its weight into silence. It was a darkness that did not allow one to see, where light didn't reach, a true abyss of shadow. And that complete unknown was frightening.
Frightening to who?
It was only natural for Humanity to fear the darkness. Humans fear what they cannot see, recoil from what they cannot comprehend, and in doing so they worship it, granting it power. A terrifying enemy that was strengthened by the very hearts of the men that it preyed upon. Fear was only natural.
He feared.
He once feared the darkness. And because of it, he wanted to conquer it. He wished to rule the darkness, and so he sought power. He dabbled in the forbidden arts for the sake of this morbid desire, amid those who considered him their better, unbeknownst to them that spoke the same prayers of magic as him. All to to increase his domain and selfishly satisfy himself. He reached out so far, that even the voices of the night called him.
"Won't you come over to this side?"
He was unfit to search for power. His identity as a human was changed by it. His endeavors brought out the rotting vices buried beneath the virtues of his soul. His perverseness lay bare, and he was rejected, chased and prosecuted. And so he cursed in return.
"Tsuchimikadoo!!"
He toiled, and toiled, but he was banished and destroyed.
"Just as Seimei drove off Ashiya Doman, the house of Tsuchimikado today bans you from this world, Ketsumoto Uchiten! Perish!"
Flesh and life end, but feelings persist. The bitterness of his lost life remained - and nurtured.
Hate
Hatred festered. In the shadow of the light of the capital, black wishes gathered, and negative feelings were drawn in. Resentment aged and grew in that sea of darkness, maturing like fine wine. It boiled with desire, bubbled with the need of vengeance. Darkness devoured darkness, growing larger, and eventually, its intent gave it form. The hatred that had once flowed through living veins was pumped through a body once more. His twisted heart beat madly inside his new form, and his persistent, embittered, twisted spirit finally regained awareness, reborn as a being of darkness.
He cursed. He laughed and delighted, excitement building up inside of that body. He laughed while cursing his enemies, bellowing with promises of retribution, and he shivered from the power that coursed through him. He had remade himself from his grudge alone, and in the process become more. He had joined the realm of Yokai. And relishing his dark feelings, he was a specter of revenge that could strike with the power of a thousand calamities.
That's right, his power was to wish harm on others and bring about disaster. With that...
He was a 「CURSE」.
He had cursed. He had cursed, and killed, destroyed, sowed chaos, spread despair and tormented the souls of Man. Again and again he had brought his revenge down on the descendants of those who had killed him, and those that would oppose him. They fought many times, and destroyed one another. The death and suffering he brought about had been joyous. In the end, to the battle of the modern age that had ended him, that was what mattered to him. He had killed, he had struggled, he had spread despair, and he had sowed chaos. He had had his selfish fun. So he had won.
The sea of darkness shifted. Deep within it, the specter of Ketsumoto Uchiten was awake. His existence had no vanished yet. He still wished for strife. He still desired mayhem. He still spited humans. He still resented.
Once again, that resentment anchored him to the world, and restored him.
In Nexus City, the selfish desires and negative feelings of people gathered, and the evil spirit of Uchiten reappeared again to torment the living.
-
Tsukasa-nee..., thought Kiyoshi, sadly, as the girl disappeared into the shadows with the rest of her family excepting Satoshi.
Fighting back the tears, Kiyoshi listened to Toshi's explanation, and Aunty Rin's response. Whilst he did sympathise somewhat with his Aunty Rin's viewpoint, and was really happy to hear her act so protective towards his mother and, even, to him, Satoshi was still his brother, and deserved the benefit of the doubt.
Aunty Rin was right that his justification was a little flimsy, but he clearly didn't mean any ill-intent, and the fact that Aunty Rider was not currently attempting to add a few nail-shaped holes to his body meant that, not only had he clearly not harmed Kiyoshi's mother in any way, but she clearly believed there was no realistic likelihood of him doing so in the future.
Similarly, whilst she was right that Satoshi had provided no evidence for his statements, unlike her Kiyoshi saw no reason not to believe him. His status as Kiyoshi's brother and Shirou's son meant that Kiyoshi was inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“Where did Tsukasa-nee go? She's coming back, right?” Kiyoshi asked Satoshi, tears welling in his eyes.
“Satoshi, whilst Aunty Rin is right that what you did was a little mean, you're my brother and you never meant or caused any real harm, so if Aunty Rider can overlook it then so can I. I don't know if what you say about yourself is true, but I've not seen you hurt anyone, and you're my brother so I'll trust you until you give me reason not to”, he said, sniffing.
Then, he turned to Rin.
“Thank you for standing up for me and mummy, Aunty Rin”, he said, smiling through the tears. “But, please don't attack him. I understand how you feel about him, but if he was in any way a threat to me or mummy he would have a couple of nails in his back by now, and he is still my brother, so I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Plus, if you scare him off then Tsukasa-nee won't come back....”
Finally, he turned back to Satoshi.
“I would like to know what is in that chest, though...”, he said.
-
The evil spirit Uchiten reappeared to torment the living... on a barstool.
Indeed, the first stimulus to reach his senses was the smell of alcohol, sweat and a whole assortment of rotting flowers. The second was the sensation of his rear plopping down onto a stool just in time to deprive a mortal patron their opportunity to grab a spot at the bar.
Others had to be content with the tables spread around, filled with that sweet rotting flower fragrance much more potently, and wait for their chance. Envy filled the room, mixed with lust and a slow burning rage deep in the hearts of men and women and other things.
And it was all focused on the redhead in the tattered mantle in front of him and across the counter, eyebrow raised in curiosity and her hands paused in the middle of cleaning a tall glass. Then Rose squinted and leaned forward just a little to get a better look at him. "Well, look at you there little sir cadaver. I don't recall anyone letting you in... ah! I see now."
She put the glass down in front of him and smiled. "What will it be?"
-
Satoshi stepped past the three to take a seat and began to pull colorful plastic parts from his pockets. "I am not great or special, I have never claimed such nor do I wish for such distinction. I acted in the name of saving lives. And in my actions no one has come to harm." he paused having finished assembling the legs of the model.
"Archer clearly demonstrated why I couldn't ask nicely. He, and the other version are dismissive. When dealing with him I've found that the only way to make him back off is like with animals, look as big as you can and they cease their aggression." he continued finishing the body.
"The only regret I have is never finishing my verbal assessment of the situation so I could show Shirou where he failed. He may be on the wrong path but that doesn't mean he should be given up on." he added finishing the head.
"Whether you choose to believe me Rin is up to you. I cannot and will not force someone to believe as I do. In addition, while I understand your concern for Archer I can't help but be utterly insulted. Not only would Archer have a ridiculous advantage on a rooftop in a fight but more importantly you're accusing me of having the ability to kill my own father." he finished assembling the model.
"High grade Zaku two, Char custom." he said standing it up.
"Tsukasa is either holding the teleport in the same spot or is either outside or more likely upstairs. Your familiar should be able to track her power. As for the box, I have no idea but in the future Rin, take your own advice and ask nicely." Satoshi finished waiting on their replies.
-
Rider heard Jack's words. The fact that he claimed to be able to kill her without her even seeing it coming was something she was a little wary of, but attacking him right now would be a very bad move indeed, and there didn't seem to be any reason they should coem into conflict, so she simply chose to ignore it for the time being.
Then, Forest spoke, telling him the truth about her, before discussing Kiyoshi. Rider listened and, when she had finished, replied to her.
“Yeah, I'm not a Dead Apostle”, Rider admitted. “I'm sort-of-like a vampire, though, I died a long time ago and I require the magical energy of others to survive in my current form. Usually I obtain that energy from the person who summoned me, my master, but it is also possible for me to obtain it by drinking blood or through sex.
As for Kiyoshi, as you say, I'm his guardian right now, until his mother gets here. If anything were to happen to him she would be devastated, so I need to protect him no matter what. Letting him make his own mistakes is good, yes, but not when those mistakes are potentially fatal, and don't seem an awful lot like mistakes until they are. Like Jack said, there are things out there that would kill him without a second thought, and he does tend to provoke them. He needs to learn not to do that before he runs into one of them.
And, yes, he is a little spoiled, honestly. His mother wants to make his childhood as happy as it can possibly be, so she gives him everything he could ever want and hates punishing him. Plus, she wants him to live his own life, so she avoids telling him what to do unless she really has no choice.
I know that's not necessarily the best approach to parenting, but she has very deep personal reasons for being that way, and she's a really kind and loving mother who would do absolutely anything for her children”, Rider added.
Finally, Rider addressed Forest's final question.
“And, yeah, I can live with him”, she said, pointing at Jack, “he doesn't seem to have any intention of harming me or any of my family. Honestly, though, I think I'll come back up with you. I want to check up on Kiyoshi...”, she said.
-
Luka was many things. A Hero, a slightly henpecked partner, and often, a playmate for several monsters powerful enough to level a castle, many of them unwilling to do silly things like wait for their turn or acknowledge the existence of the no doubt fictional construct known as consent. Many would call him a bit clueless, and rightfully so. He was, however, not a fool, or at least, not entirely.
The warmth was spreading to his body now, reminiscent of when he called upon Salamander's power. Yet this fire was gentler, somehow, stirring up his body, quickening his heart beat, and calling upon long suppressed desires. Desires that needed to stay sealed. As he opened his mouth to deny Valda before things went too far, he felt the woman's hand caress his throat, her fingers moving over his skin ever so lightly, ever so gently.
As soothing as the sensation was, it was also completely foreign. Gentleness? In such a situation? It was unheard of, yet Luka couldn't get enough of it. The boy's senses expanded on their own, and he took in everything. The smell of charred ashes, and burning wood. Other scents he couldn't name, only attribute to Valda. The familiar pressure against his back called up another pressure in his body, this one much lower. This was much worse than being beaten down. Luka's very desire to resist faded, not from some sort of mystical art, but from seduction that not even a succubus could match.
He... was a hero, right? And heroes helped those in need. She needed something, and was offering, so he had to help, right?
In the end it wasn't the feeling of Valda's chest on his back or her breath in his ear that settled it. Not the tightness in his pants, her arms around his waist, or the warmth spreading through his body. No, it was the hand lightly tracing over his, whispering of a promise with gentleness he had never experienced before.
Within Luka's mind, a breathless voice whispered: "Yes."
He melted. "W-well, I guess... if it helps you, then I suppose this one time is fine."
-
The evil spirit Uchiten reappeared to torment the living... on a barstool.
Indeed, the first stimulus to reach his senses was the smell of alcohol, sweat and a whole assortment of rotting flowers. The second was the sensation of his rear plopping down onto a stool just in time to deprive a mortal patron their opportunity to grab a spot at the bar.
Others had to be content with the tables spread around, filled with that sweet rotting flower fragrance much more potently, and wait for their chance. Envy filled the room, mixed with lust and a slow burning rage deep in the hearts of men and women and other things.
And it was all focused on the redhead in the tattered mantle in front of him and across the counter, eyebrow raised in curiosity and her hands paused in the middle of cleaning a tall glass. Then Rose squinted and leaned forward just a little to get a better look at him. "Well, look at you there little sir cadaver. I don't recall anyone letting you in... ah! I see now."
She put the glass down in front of him and smiled. "What will it be?"
Suddenly immersed by the smells and sounds of the locale, taking in the raging emotions around him, the vice in the air, the open hearts of corruptible men and women; and most of all, the not quite human redhead with the feeling of something other about her, standing there like a drug of presence alone, with the poise of a queen of sin among her her slaves; Uchiten lost it.
He burst into loud laughter. Seriously, he thought he was gone for good, but all of sudden he found himself unnaturally restored, and overwhelmed by dark and enticing sensations as soon as his body materialized. And right in front of a supernatural being of such high poise as this one. Haha, what was this place, even? Such a den of easily exploitable emotions and human weaknesses all strung together, played by this woman...
It was such a pitiful spectacle that it made him laugh. His mood was roused, and it made him unable to even be confused about how he had ended up there or come back from disappearing. He did not mind them, but he noticed, the expressions of shock and turn-off on the faces of the other patrons at his reaction. He had to bring a hand over his mouth to restrain his giggles. This congregation of barely disguised human ugliness, how amusing it was.
The laughs coming out of his throat slowly started to settle. A hand went underneath the dark red lenses of his glasses to wipe away the tears of humor in the corner of his eyes, while another smoothed down his semi-formal choice of tie-less grey suit and black shirt. Ahhh, coming in from limbo and being subjected to such a sight all of sudden was too much for him.
He managed to regain his composure enough to finally address the woman who was in a way, responsible for his outburst. Smiling widely, he answered her earnestly.
"Saké."
-
Lancer sighed at Millie's answer and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Look Lass, at the end of the day, the person's opinions who matter are yours and those you love. You did well today, with your circle. Even Scathach would have been impressed, well as much as she could be, with your talent with ruins," Lancer told her.
He gave her shoulder a friendly squeeze and said, "Live for yourself and those who you care about. Everyone else can fuck themselves."
"She... she would have?"
As she blushed yet again at the squeeze to her shoulder, a number of questions and thoughts ran through Mille's mind. Had it been wrong of her to take what those boys had said so seriously? What others had said? Had she been so blinded and bound by the standards of others that she had lost sight of what she'd gone to the Clock Tower for in the first place. ...Had she been wrong about Rin?
Her mother and father and Finn. They had always praised her. They were always so proud of her, always looking at her accomplishments with smiling faces. Every good grade, every bit of magecraft successfully performed, it was always met with adoration. But there was a voice in the back of her mind. One that said that this wasn't enough, that they would sing her praises no matter what because they were family. And so she ran away.
But was that a mistake? Had they been able to see her worth all along when she could not? And here was a hero of legend, giving her such high praise! Magecraft worthy of Scathach's respect even! So then... was she wrong? She didn't regret the training so much, but... As the years had gone by, it almost felt like something had gone. Seasons passed, Mille worked and trained endlessly, and yet somehow it'd felt... meaningless. The spark that was there was gone.
Her mind wandered to recent events. Her trip through the portal, the werewolves, the Bounded Field and the ring of fire. She had to admit... She hadn't felt so alive in a whole decade. Did that mean then... that it was because she was so obsessed with winning praise from those that had deemed her unworthy that she had accomplished so little?
Did I do nothing but run away and hide?
She sat there and pondered over everything. Gears turned frantically. The silence was a long one.
At last, she came to a conclusion. A tenuous one, one that was based off of what little she could piece together from the jumbled mass of thoughts, but it was a conclusion none the less. A decision.
I won't hide anymore. If they judge me for good or ill, so what? They can't see me if I don't make myself visible.
She turned towards Lancer. A determined expression was on her face. There was some uncertainty there too, her vulnerability still showed. But oddly enough... somehow she seemed a bit stronger, too.
"I... I'll do my best. The Association's opinion of me be damned, if I become worthy in their eyes or not, it doesn't matter. I've wasted enough of my life trying to please them. I'll try doing things my own way. I won't run away anymore!" She blushed. "A-and... m-maybe try to have a little fun sometimes too."
"Aww, someone's starting to remove the stick rammed up her butt~"
The winged pentagram finally fluttered into sight. Just because she wouldn't interrupt a sad moment didn't mean she wouldn't interrupt a triumphant one.
-
Archer looked at the young looking man bearing the same taint as he did. This Satoshi reminded him eerily of Saber, not in his bearing, but in his looks. It was a reminder of a time he really didn't want to think about.
Then the kid started talking.
And talking.
And talking
And had somehow produced a Gundam model from his person and started to build it while he was talking.
Archer calmly folded his arms over his chest and said, "Yare, yare, aren't you just a mess? And I don't mean the blackening. To stand there and say your actions have caused no harm? To save someone you must harm another, it's a simple fact."
He eyed the Zaku and said, "First you come to me wanting to talk, then you insult me? Kid, your diplomatic skills suck."
******
Lancer nodded, grinned and said, "Aye, in her own crabby way. That's the spirit though. Live for yourself and do what makes you happy."
Then that freaky stick came in the room to taunt Millie.
He stood up and headed for it. "Oy, you want me to throw this thing out the window or something?"
******
Forest listened to Rider's tirade about how Sakura was a loving mother who spoiled her children and so on and so forth. When Gabriel had been born, Forest had been more worried about hiding his existence from Faerie and keeping him safe. She also didn't want to mollycoddle and raise someone who was parasitic on society. Which considering what wonderful things she'd been hearing about Rider's master, it was all too possible.
Luckily the kid apparently had some good genes that pointed him more towards being a super hero and fighting bad guys than to leech of his trust fund.
She looked at Jack and said, "Well, dawn's approaching so you're free to spend the night here Jack." Then she looked at Rider and said, "Of course. Kiyoshi will be happy to see you and you might be able to talk him into getting to bed after he gets a spot of supper. And maybe I can continue to amuse you."
She smiled at Tom and said, "Oh this is Tom. Tom, this is Rider."
******
"I fucking hate this Sword and Sorcery magic bullshit," Frost said to himself as he saw the giant ball of death come crashing towards his forces. Gnashing his fangs, he put his finger to his ear for his blutooth.
"Evac now! There is some apocalyptic shit coming right on your heads! So, get the fuck out of there now," Deacon Frost bellowed, at least knowing his forces were replaceable.
-
While Tom was intrigued by what was being said, in true cat fashion, he was still irked that he was being ignored.
At long last though, the conversation ended.
She looked at Jack and said, "Well, dawn's approaching so you're free to spend the night here Jack." Then she looked at Rider and said, "Of course. Kiyoshi will be happy to see you and you might be able to talk him into getting to bed after he gets a spot of supper. And maybe I can continue to amuse you."
She smiled at Tom and said, "Oh this is Tom. Tom, this is Rider."
Tom couldn't help but smile back, his expression softening. However, it hardened somewhat again as he turned to look at Rider. His greeting was but a simple nod.
***
Mille glared over at Ruby. "Go right ahead."
"Oh, what good would throwing me out a window do you?~ I'd just fly right back in~"
She began to fly back towards the door slowly, waggling a bit as she flew. "I guess you don't want to hear about the shadow magic that was just used to transport an evil black trunk that a version of Rin that's even more of an old hag brought in through the Second Magic that contains some sort of weapon that could potentially kill us all~ I guess that doesn't interest you one bit~"
Mille blinked and sat there for a moment before responding.
"Wait, what?!"
***
Rin held back a sigh. Kiyoshi had just complicated things. Now she found herself between a rock and a hard place. She still didn't trust Satoshi in the slightest, but she didn't want to upset the boy. Though she had no intention of attacking Satoshi unless he attacked her, so Kiyoshi would be satisfied on that front. No, her weapon would be her words, which she guessed Kiyoshi didn't think to exclude.
It did create a dilemma, however. If Satoshi revealed himself to be the snake he truly was, it would deeply hurt Kiyoshi. But if she sent Kiyoshi away, he would likely still think that Toshi was a good person, and get upset if there was a fight between them. And she didn't want the boy to cry again. Not knowing what to do, she pondered her options as she turned to Kiyoshi.
"Well, Sakura is my sister, and you're her son, so I'd be doing her a disservice if I didn't say or do anything to protect her. And I won't start battling with him. Not unless he tries to attack me first."
Then Satoshi began to speak.
Satoshi stepped past the three to take a seat and began to pull colorful plastic parts from his pockets. "I am not great or special, I have never claimed such nor do I wish for such distinction. I acted in the name of saving lives. And in my actions no one has come to harm." he paused having finished assembling the legs of the model.
"Archer clearly demonstrated why I couldn't ask nicely. He, and the other version are dismissive. When dealing with him I've found that the only way to make him back off is like with animals, look as big as you can and they cease their aggression." he continued finishing the body.
"The only regret I have is never finishing my verbal assessment of the situation so I could show Shirou where he failed. He may be on the wrong path but that doesn't mean he should be given up on." he added finishing the head.
"Whether you choose to believe me Rin is up to you. I cannot and will not force someone to believe as I do. In addition, while I understand your concern for Archer I can't help but be utterly insulted. Not only would Archer have a ridiculous advantage on a rooftop in a fight but more importantly you're accusing me of having the ability to kill my own father." he finished assembling the model.
"High grade Zaku two, Char custom." he said standing it up.
"Tsukasa is either holding the teleport in the same spot or is either outside or more likely upstairs. Your familiar should be able to track her power. As for the box, I have no idea but in the future Rin, take your own advice and ask nicely." Satoshi finished waiting on their replies.
Rin looked at the model. She wasn't impressed. A dark, well hidden part of her wanted to blow the figure into pieces, but that wouldn't have been elegant at all.
She let Archer speak first and found herself nodding in agreement before saying her own piece.
"So you blow off Kiyoshi almost entirely again. It's like you hardly care about him at all."
She gave Satoshi a dry look. "You say you don't think you're great or special, huh? That's hardly the impression I got. From what I heard, you regard yourself as practically a saint. False humility is even worse than none. At least if you admitted to singing your own praises you'd be honest."
She glared at him. "But I'm certainly not seeing what's worth all the praise. I'm hardly seeing a saint. Someone that compares my Archer to nothing but an animal is certainly no saint."
Her eyes narrowed. "And it's funny that you say that you won't force me to change my opinion. Because that's exactly along the lines of what you wanted to do with Archer. Even if the path he walked wasn't the right one, you think you have the right to force your vision of things on him? All you can do is act as a guide and keep them from going astray. After it's been this long, do you really think you can force him to accept your viewpoint? That's for him to decide, not you."
Suddenly Rin found herself glad that Archer's hands were on her shoulders. Otherwise she would have had to fight the urge to deck the smug bastard before her where he stood. "And what you claim about not being able to kill your father? Is a bald faced lie. You threatened to kill Hakuno's Archer. When he was just threatening the man who tried to shoot her so he wouldn't do it again. After defending the shooter for his actions. Right in front of Hakuno herself. Right after she'd nearly been shot! No, you'd never hurt anyone. You'd kill a girl's Servant right in front of her to protect her shooter, but you'd never hurt anyone."
She calmed down a bit as she said her last words. "As for asking nicely? I'll ask nicely when the person in question deserves being asked nicely." For some reason, Rin found herself shaking. How inelegant. How especially inelegant to let the shaking be caused by the heartless man in front of her.
-
Valda
The last time she had done this was back in law school with her class' would-be valedictorian. Would-be, before she wore them out for the entire weekend right before the end of the final semester. They had to settle for second place after that pleasant distraction, but nobody was complaining. First tasted so very sweet for her... but not as sweet as Luka's consent and the taste of him between her lips when she gently bit down on his earlobe from where she knelt. Valda slowly rolled the soft bundle of skin between her teeth, while her nails teased lines against his neck where before they had only rested.
Then she smiled around him, flicked at the little piece of him she had trapped between her teeth with her tongue, and let it go. "You're such a nice boy, Luka..." she murmured in that mild German accent of her's. Her right hand gently pressed against his chest and kept him close to her, filling him with heat, and the tracing left made its way up to his face so her warm fingers could feel its contours.
Valda rubbed her face against the opposite side of his, so that his head was pressed comfortably between her. Then she graced his cheek with a kiss there, and worked her way lower. She was smiling against his neck, in the brief expanse that was left exposed to her attention by his ill-fitting scarf.
He tasted as rustic as he smelled all sweat, old unscented soaps and the very essence of nature suffusing his body, and it brought back even older memories as the faintest haze in the back of her thoughts. But that wasn't important right now; all that mattered was the wonderful feeling of his willing submission in her presence, and the satisfaction she was about to finally get.
Her hand on his chest began to slide under his shirt and work circles around him there. "This can't be anything new for you, can it? The girls of your world must adore you."
--------------------------------
Rose
With the finesse of a painter touching up the faint highlights of a masterpiece she extended a strand of desire from the tips of her fingers to reach out to the patrons surrounding her. It would do them no good to focus on the strange stranger who insisted on being strange in her establishment instead of her, so she returned their attention firmly where it belonged. With a soft inhalation she took in the aroma of their feelings, better than the finest wine, and then focused on her 'job'.
Jobs were a fun little distraction, she thought to herself.
"Let's see..."
Rose reached under the counter and found the only bottle they had of this 'sake', rice wine, and she poured him out a glass of it.
"So, what is your story?" she asked him as she slid the glass his way.
-
Shuya stood there, listening without reacting Satoshi's answer. The aunt and nephew had a different reaction to it. Kiyoshi was apparently okay with it, showing that he was willing to believe in him. Rin, on the other hand, was clearly not satisfied with that level of excuses. Archer didn't let himself get emotional at the insults thrown in his direction, which didn't really surprise the Oni descendant.
He stared at Satoshi, not quite sure what to make of him. The guy was clearly showing some level of arrogance. However, since the whole bait thing had been just a bluff, he was willing to not participate in this farce any longer. There was still the matter of the trunk content but, apparently, he, himself, didn't know much about it.
"Fair enough, you made your point." His eyes fell on Rin, the magus was boiling inside and shaking with anger. Getting too emotional would cause trouble for everyone. "You should let it go. The guy's clearly stubborn. If, by now, he didn't admit being cause of harm, he probably won't ever. Very unlikely you'll get an apology for something he doesn't consider an offense, no matter how much you berate him for it. I get that he rubs you the wrong way but, all that energy seems to be wasted on him. "
Shuya turned to Archer. "All that's left is pretty much to decide if you'll go have that talk with him or not."
And in that case, he was done here.
"I'll be on that very same roof for a smoke." He walked without a word until he reached the first steps. He gave a quick glance to the son of Arturia. "You know, for someone who never intended to cause any harm, I would say you're doing pretty badly when it comes to hurting feelings. Perhaps there's a lesson to learn here."
He took off after that.
----
Isa found herself alone. As expected of Vanessa, she wouldn't stay put no matter what. Part of her sister felt hugely irritated by it, the other loved it. With a sigh, she decided to go fetch for her before she would cause trouble to others. Peering outside her own room, she found the corridor empty. She stepped out, making her way while scouting for any sign showing Nessa was around. She also wanted to have a word with Shirou if possible.
She bumped into something which made her trip and fall head first. But before she could hurt herself, she was pulled back up smoothly. When she looked who helped her, she found out a little boy with purple hair and silver eyes staring at her with interest.
"Thanks," she said.
The child-looking person bent his neck on the side, as if to examine her further. She smiled slightly, not sure what was wrong with this child.
"Interesting, it looks very similar to the other one, yet her thought process is different. The eyes have a different color too. Couldn't it be they are artificial constructions of the same series? No, look like humans, magi even." The silver eyes seemed to glimmer for an instant. "What are you?"
Isabella looked at the unknown kid with bemusement. "... Well, my name is Isabella."
The Familiar approached the magus and poked her on the belly. She stepped back with a small cry, more surprised than anything. Ruu looked at her with curiosity and repeated the same process.
"What exactly are you doing?"
"Ruu confirms the Isabella being a real human."
"You don't have to touch me for that, do you?"
The Familiar blinked.
"What is the other one? A replica?"
"A replica? Oh, you mean Nessa, my sister. She's human, like me. We're both magi."
"What's the reason the Nessa model tried to capture Ruu?" He frowned. "Did it try to bring it to other magi for experimentation?"
Isa scratched her head, feeling uneasy. Did her sister attempted to wound the poor thing?
"I don't know why she would do that but, I doubt it was to experiment on you."
Ruu looked at Isa with suspicion. "Ruu isn't a tool anymore," he said with what appeared genuine concern and perhaps a bit of fear.
She knelt to his level and looked in his eyes.
"You keep repeating this word, 'Ruu', is that your name?"
"No, the name is Luern Uuoruuocon. Lancer said 'Ruu' is better. So it uses Ruu, now."
She gave him a smile.
"A wise choice. Ruu, then. You don't have to worry, I won't hurt you, nor would my sister."
"Then why did it attack Ruu?"
"She likes cute things, so I suppose she tried to make you, well, hers."
"Ruu doesn't understand. It isn't a tool anymore."
He keeps saying that.
"What do you mean by 'not anymore'?"
"Ruu is a Familiar but it doesn't obey anymore. It wants to live with its friends, like Finn."
She looked at him for a bit.
"It seems a good idea," she answered, fascinated that a Familiar could develop its own personality.
"Ruu must go," said the Familiar with an air of importance.
"Where to," replied the girl trying to keep a serious expression.
"It is currently searching for the Landlady for an important business."
"Forest? I would like to see her too. Can I tag along?"
Ruu inspected her as if weighing his options. She was baffled to have to ask permission to follow a Familiar but, if he wanted to act as a person, she wouldn't deny him that.
"Would the Isabella keep the Nessa at bay?"
"Sure thing."
The Familiar started walking before apparently remembering something unpleasant.
"It shall not grab nor rub Ruu's face with its own."
"I won't," she promised, biting on her lip in order to not burst out laughing.
Ruu nodded and they went on their, somewhat, merry way.
-
Satoshi nodded "He has a point but feelings are immaterial when the person feeling them might die because I hesitate. In the end I have told the truth, that is all I can do. Since neither of you wish to believe me I think it best to stop wasting my breath. Kiyoshi I'll answer any further questions you have later but I have to get upstairs to deal with a meeting." he said standing up.
Satoshi picked up the model placing the six inch figure in his pocket and left the kitchen starting up the stairs. Suddenly he stopped.
"Actually Kiyoshi, I think you and Rider should be a part of this meeting, so if you want get Rider and bring her upstairs, I'll make sure to have Aunty wait if you want." he said turning to his younger brother.
-
Max
Max suppressed a groan of complaint threatening to come out of his mouth as everything went even more to hell.
Apparently the armed vampires hadn't made the situation chaotic enough, as an imposing brute and a blindfolded swordswoman crashed into the area with brute force and a hail of bones respectively. The broadsword wielding vampire and his ally, whom the entry had been aimed at, took the chance to make themselves scarce and scram through the shadows before they were hit. Which had left the two new arrivals to start evening out the numbers between the lizardmen and the offending vampire attack group.
The wizard had evidently taken exception to being outgunned and outmatched, and now these two had arrived, and the tables had turned.
In fact, they had turned so badly Max could swear the commander apparent of the vampires was starting to sweat as he bawled out orders in a hurry. Max himself was starting to consider just getting away before this got any worse, but several things were restraining him from doing so. One, he couldn't in good conscience ignore something this big escalating further. Two, he wanted to know as much as possible about anything that could disrupt the status quo of the city and endanger innocents.
And three, the only Kindred he had seen since awakening in Nexus City was still in the middle of that mess, and he seemed to have finally come out of frenzy.
-
Rider smiled at Forest's words.
“Yeah, hopefully I can get him to sleep. I want to return to the castle with Toshi, I have things to do there....”
Then, she turned to Tom, who clearly wasn't too fond of her.
“Hi Tom”, she said.
Then, she turned back to Forest.
“OK, should we get going upstairs?” she asked.
"Well, Sakura is my sister, and you're her son, so I'd be doing her a disservice if I didn't say or do anything to protect her. And I won't start battling with him. Not unless he tries to attack me first”, said Rin.
Kiyoshi smiled at her words. He was glad to have a kind and protective Aunty like her, and happy that his mother had such a wonderful sister to help protect her.
After she spoke, Satoshi also started to speak. Kiyoshi watched with confusion as Satoshi sat down and, whilst still talking, began constructing a plastic model.
What is he doing? Kiyoshi thought.
Focussing somewhat on the model, Kiyoshi didn't pay too much attention to Satoshi's words, although the mention of the alternate version of his father worried Kiyoshi slightly.
Finally, Satoshi finished the model.
"High grade Zaku two, Char custom." he said, standing it up.
Hmm, isn't that one of those Gundam things from that old show? Kiyoshi thought.
The show was a bit before his time, but he still knew of at least the basic principle behind it.
However, that was over-shadowed by what he said next.
"Tsukasa is either holding the teleport in the same spot or is either outside or more likely upstairs. Your familiar should be able to track her power. As for the box, I have no idea but in the future Rin, take your own advice and ask nicely”, he said.
With that, Kiyoshi smiled brightly.
“Yay, Tsukasa-nee is still here!” he shouted.
Then, Archer spoke, causing Kiyoshi to sigh at his cynicism, before Aunty Rin also added her opinion, causing Kiyoshi to frown.
She obviously doesn't like Satoshi, he thought, sadly.
He could understand why, to some extent. Satoshi's threat on his mother had clearly riled her up, as had the threat he'd apparently made on Archer's life. Kiyoshi could understand that he was only bluffing, but Rin had less reason to trust Satoshi than he did, and she seemingly wasn't willing to accept that.
Finally, Satoshi spoke once more.
"He has a point but feelings are immaterial when the person feeling them might die because I hesitate. In the end I have told the truth, that is all I can do. Since neither of you wish to believe me I think it best to stop wasting my breath. Kiyoshi I'll answer any further questions you have later but I have to get upstairs to deal with a meeting." he said, before standing up, placing the model in his pocket and walking up the stairs.
Kiyoshi frowned. Satoshi seemed to be ignoring him once more, like Aunty Rin said.
Before he could leave, though, he stopped and turned to Kiyoshi once more.
"Actually Kiyoshi, I think you and Rider should be a part of this meeting, so if you want get Rider and bring her upstairs, I'll make sure to have Aunty wait if you want", he said.
Kiyoshi smiled brightly.
“I'd love to, thank you”, he said.
Then, he turned to Rin.
“See, he's not ignoring me, he even invited me to his family meeting", Kiyoshi said with a smile on his face.
Then, he continued, his face turning slightly more serious.
"Look, Aunty Rin, I understand you not trusting him after he threatened mummy and your servant, but he was just bluffing, he said so himself. He's my brother, Aunty Rin, I don't think he'd kill a good person. He might have threatened Archer but he'd never actually go through with it.”
Then, he walked up to her and gave her a hug.
“OK, Aunty Rin, I'm going to find Aunty Rider and then go up to meet Tsukasa-nee, Satoshi and the rest. See you later, OK?” he said, smiling.
-
There was something disturbing about gentleness, Luka was beginning to realize. Valda hadn't even forced him, yet he was already bending to her will without a single spell or hypnotising glance.
"...no," he said, trying to keep his voice under control and failing, shivering slightly as her hand glided over his chest. "Never like this." They had never asked, never seduced, never pushed their way through his guard so easily. He had never been given a choice, and he'd learned to live with that. To expect it. To fight futilely, and in the end, enjoy it.
The new sensation, weak and soft against his skin, was even more terrifying because it had achieved the exact same result. Just the thought of Valda pressing against him, the tips of her breasts rubbing against the fabric of his shirt, was too much. He couldn't lift a finger to resist. Yes, he had already been rendered powerless, his attempts at gaining the upper hand easily rebuffed. He had arrived to ask questions, to be the one in charge, yet Luka knew he had already been defeated in a most pathetic manner.
All that remained was to suffer at the hands of the one who had defeated him. Even though, or perhaps because the thought of it filled Luka with shame, his body tensed in preparation for what he knew was to come, his loins slowly stirring at the thought of it. He would be mercilessly exploited without being able to resist at all, and he wouldn't have it any other way.
"I don't think," Luka gasped, hands moving jerkily. One grasped the end of his scarf, slowly pulling it down and removing it from his neck as a preliminary to what would be coming. In seconds, it floated serenely to the grassy ground. The other sneaked underneath his shirt, drawing up to Valda's own and entwining with it. "...I've ever met someone like you."
-
Bonesington
The vegetation covering the path to the building seemed a little familiar to him. He noticed as he pushed a thicket to the side to pass, how the trees didn't seem as typical for the climate as the ones visible from the outside of the park. With a claw-like bony hand, he scratched a mark into the thick trunk of one with leaf-less branches arcing up like a gate, before going under it. The air was growing more humid, and the amount of green sparser, as he went in further. The ruins he had glimpsed above the greenery came fully into view moments later, in the middle of a clearing with scattered naked trees.
Part of the rooftop and a stone spire stuck out into the sky, but one side of the building was completely broken open. An expanding crack ran from the base of the wall to the mostly exposed roof, leaving it open to the air and the peeking sun. The stone it was made of looked discolored and battered, and vines had grown over the walls and windows. Above the slightly ajar deteriorated wooden doors, there was a circular window of tinted glass, cracked and half of it now missing. Eroded shards stood out on the ground beneath, just the same as the bricks and broken bits of stone on the side of the destroyed wall.
Despite its state, Sir Bonesington recognized the style that had gone into the making of this church. Slowly and silently, he approached it.
Uchiten
He caught the glass of rice wine as it slid into his hand, and lifted it to his lips.
"Kanpai." he said, offering the toast to his welcoming host and her charming show of debauchery that had greeted him back to the world. He gulped down the contents of the glass in a single stroke, then brought it down with a clack onto the counter with a satisfied sigh.
He stretched his hand and empty glass towards her in request, and responded to her question in turn.
"My story is one that should have been over already. But it seems the gods conspire to let me remain and reenact my bloody spectacles. Maybe they are fearful I will take Yomi from them."
-
Valda
"No? Oh..."
Valda shivered so slightly at Luka's reply as her imagination wonderfully filled in the gaps between what little she knew with only that simple statement. That she was taking something from him beyond just the satisfaction of her hunger, something that the scraps of human in her felt calling with such intimacy, was almost too much. She wanted to push him down and sear away the coverings that kept them from pressing skin to skin everywhere, wrap her fingers around his narrow wrists and her legs over his waist and take until he had nothing left to give her. She wanted to consume him in the fire of her desires like he was the choicest of human sacrifices offered willingly in her name, and she wanted him to thank her for her.
Her hand on his face reached up into his hair, and the tips of her fingers began to work at his scalp.
“How sad that they would not care enough to...”
But no; she restrained herself even as she kissed her way back up his neck.
“... treat you kindly,” she whispered into his ear, then blew gently at it to make him squirm. “But don't worry, Luka; I will. I'm not like them, and I can show you.”
With that she slide her lips down again, to kiss along along his jaw, the metal frame of her glasses brushing faintly against his cheek where her lips had pressed only moments before. She was getting so close to his mouth, but from here...
Her thumb started to rub the back of his hand, the nail scraping oh so slowly along his knuckles there, and she spoke more firmly now. “Turn around for me. Then help me get undressed.”
And once he turned she took that chance to complete the journey she had begun before, leaning down to bridge their difference in height and kiss him with a hardness that belied her hunger and desperation despite all her efforts to be soft on him. All of this was a contrast that only highlighted everything else she'd done up to that point in her own mind, a testament to her admirable self-restraint.
Valda kept his hair in a delicate grip to discourage any attempts to pull back, but not stop them completely. The more he willingly submitted, the better it was. When she came up from the kiss she was short of breath. Her panting breaths were hot against his face, and she was grinning with a gleam in her eyes from her excitement.
If ... when he started on removing her blouse their hands would part, and she would start taking his tunic top off almost from the inside.
-
With a smile, Forest took Tom's hand and advised him mentally, It maybe crowded up there. If it gets to be too much, let me know. She was amused by his annoyance of being ignored, as if he was some giant cat. Which, considering how he likes his ears rubbed, that's not too far off, she thought to herself.
She looked at Jack and Rider. "Well, follow me I guess."
Then she began up the stairs, mentally preparing herself for whatever shit had hit the fan in the last hour or so.
******
Lancer grabbed Ruby and held the stick tight. He scowled at her then looked at Millie before giving Ruby a good shake. "Listen, you try anything funny and I'll make you regret it."
Then he looked at Millie and asked, "You up for this, Lass?"
Then he headed to the door, holding Ruby with his supernatural strength so she couldn't easily escape.
******
Frost's vampires were understandably freaking out as the meteor of death headed towards them. They were trying to escape the point of impact.
******
Archer watched as the kid gave Rin a hug. He stepped back, not letting go of Rin's shoulders but made sure not to get touched by the kid. As he trotted off, he moved closer to Rin and gently rubbed her shoulders.
He asked, "You okay?"
******
Gabriel pulled himself and Angel out of the Shadows when they arrived in the middle of the second circle. Angel's dark eyes blinked and asked, "What just happened?"
"I'll explain in great detail once I've killed these circles," Gabriel said as he dug his fingers into the wound on his hand, getting it to bleed again. At the sting, his eyes watered as he let his blood dribble into the circle, his unique makeup nullifying it.
Angel blinked and said, "Your blood, it's killing the circle. I know you're not human, but you don't smell like a demon either."
"I could be considered half," Gabriel said before grabbing Angel and pulling him back into the Shadows.
-
I followed the Law Unto Herself (A nice title, sounds sorta ego-maniacal but it fits I suppose.) and her Tomcat up the stairs. "No thanks. I think I can make it home before sun-up. Besides, Brianna's got to be worried as hell about me right now. I'd rather not keep her waiting."
And because I needed to throw up soon. "I'll stick around for a minute or two though, that Alex and his moron friend probably did something stupid."
-
Satoshi nodded at the sight and headed up stairs finding his group in an open room.
"Rider and Kiyoshi are coming, so we need to wait. Anyone got tweezers?" Satoshi asked.
Tsukasa handed the blonde her tweezers and leaned against the open doorway.
Satoshi removed the figured from his pocket finishing the details and accessories as he waited.
Rin folded her arms "So?"
"So what" Satoshi replied before beginning to build the second figure he had, symmetry was a curse even thematically for him.
"What did he say?" She replied seriously.
"That he'd tell that young fire breathing version of you" Satoshi answered continuing his work.
"I see, well ok, our time table will be longer but we should manage." Rin Sighed lightly sitting on the black chest
-
Rider nodded at Forest's words, before turning and following her up the stairs. Hopefully nothing bad had happened whilst she was talking to Forest and Jack....
-
It worked.
The behemoth's flesh burned away from the heat, sending gore flying everywhere. It still kept regenerating, however, but apparently burning its flesh seemed to have more effect as its regeneration seemed to slowed down considerably.
The unit barely had time to take all this information in when the monster used its good hand to grab some rubble and send it straight towards her. Luckily for her, she had made sure to pay attention to the creature's movements this time.
She immediately bolted to her left, swiftly avoiding the pieces of rubble that were coming her way. As she did so, she also started closing the distance between her and the beast, her weapon at the ready. Once close enough, instead of striking immediately like last time, she activated her thrusters and shot herself towards the sky. In one swift motion, she swung the large scythe at the creature's head, and continued flying upwards until she was sure she was at a safe distance.
Turning to face the flesh titan, her chest armor opened to reveal the Mist Cannon, and after a short amount of charging, fired again towards it.
-
Rin continued to glower at Satoshi as he spewed his last words. Had she not been fond of more elegant words, she'd say this man was full of shit.
However, she heard the invitation to Kiyoshi and Rider and a feeling of unease began claw its way into her stomach. Something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what...
“See, he's not ignoring me, he even invited me to his family meeting", Kiyoshi said with a smile on his face.
Then, he continued, his face turning slightly more serious.
"Look, Aunty Rin, I understand you not trusting him after he threatened mummy and your servant, but he was just bluffing, he said so himself. He's my brother, Aunty Rin, I don't think he'd kill a good person. He might have threatened Archer but he'd never actually go through with it.”
Then, he walked up to her and gave her a hug.
“OK, Aunty Rin, I'm going to find Aunty Rider and then go up to meet Tsukasa-nee, Satoshi and the rest. See you later, OK?” he said, smiling.
She hardly responded, still lost in her thoughts as she was. She gave Kiyoshi a tight squeeze and absently nodded as the boy ran off.
And Rin quickly regretted letting him do so as the pieces all came together.
"Sakura" had had nothing but praise for Satoshi, had been reverent and defensive of him. Everyone that she remembered and knew that came from his world acted rather differently than normal. His so called family followed Lin's orders almost blindly (the Irishman didn't seem to be an actual family member or a Servant). They were exclusionary and rude to almost everyone except their own. All those from Satoshi's world seemed to follow his ideals at least to some extent, even if it contradicted beliefs they held in most other timelines. Satoshi, in spite of his denial, clearly regarded himself as a saint, and so did others from his world.
Lin had brought through a trunk that may well have a weapon inside.
Family meeting. Cult meeting. She couldn't be for sure, and it probably sounded a bit silly, but...
One thing was for certain, however. Cult or no cult, all of Toshi's allies would be in one room with a concealed weapon in a trunk.
And Kiyoshi and Rider were going up there.
....Oh God.
She almost jumped at the gentle rub to her shoulders.
"You okay?"
Rin found herself trembling a bit again, her skin noticeably pale as she turned to face her lover. She took his hands into her own and gave them a squeeze, as much for her own comfort as anything.
"We have to tell Forest about all this." She looked towards the stairs. "I really don't like the idea of what's in that trunk..."
***
Lancer grabbed Ruby and held the stick tight. He scowled at her then looked at Millie before giving Ruby a good shake. "Listen, you try anything funny and I'll make you regret it."
"I don't think you'd be smart enough to notice if I did~" the stick replied, giving him a naughty wiggle.
Mille glared at Ruby. "Be glad I don't have much prana right now, or you'd be in several pieces on the floor."
"With those stick arms?~ I don't think you could manage it."
The magus grabbed her own forearm. Her arms were noticeably toned, even if not excessively muscular. "Try me sometime."
Then he looked at Millie and asked, "You up for this, Lass?"
Then he headed to the door, holding Ruby with his supernatural strength so she couldn't easily escape.
Mille nodded, sparks nearly erupting from her pupils she was so determined. "I may be low on prana, but I can still hold my own in a fight. My some of my training was physical as well as in magecraft. I'm not a master or anything, but I can provide you some back up."
She pointed at Ruby. "And if we have to, I can always use the stick over there. If not to change into a magical girl, at least beat people over the head if nothing else."
"Oh, such mindless brutality~ You two really are well matched~"
Had Mille been the one holding Ruby, she would have slammed her into the wall. As it was...
"Let's go."
She followed Lancer closely, not sure what was lay ahead but still somehow... excited.
***
Tom gave Rider another nod of acknowledgement. Brushing over her thoughts, he found himself somewhat amused that she thought he wasn't fond of her. Mistrust her and Jack? Yes. Was unhappy that she and Jack had practically ignored him? Yes. Hate her? No. Either way though, it didn't concern him greatly.
With a smile, Forest took Tom's hand and advised him mentally, It maybe crowded up there. If it gets to be too much, let me know. She was amused by his annoyance of being ignored, as if he was some giant cat. Which, considering how he likes his ears rubbed, that's not too far off, she thought to herself.
She looked at Jack and Rider. "Well, follow me I guess."
Then she began up the stairs, mentally preparing herself for whatever shit had hit the fan in the last hour or so.
He smiled back at her. No need to worry for me in that regard. I am quite good at filtering out the thoughts of others at this point. Otherwise I likely would have gone mad the moment I entered the Nexus.
With that, after Forest was done addressing the others, Tom followed Forest up the stairs, his hand still entwined with hers, not quite certain what he would find when they reached the top.
-
Sometimes I think I'll go mad despite the control. Then some people just project, which is bloody annoying. I know they can't help it, but warning about Rider. She broadcasts perv to no end. Which isn't her fault, Forest sent to Tom as he kept holding her hand.
It was a little odd. The last person she had walked with and held their hand had been Gabriel, and he'd been a little boy at the time. To hold a lover's hand and walk with them was something she hadn't had in centuries.
She noticed that Tom's hands were mostly smooth and his skin soft. There were a few calluses, nothing like her hands from using an axe every day when she was alive, but it at least meant Tom wasn't one of those fussy, lazy types. Considering his musculature, he kept himself in very good shape. It wasn't the same sort of build that the two Archers or Lancer had; the Archers were built like blacksmiths- heavy muscle for working metal. Lancer was built like a lean predator; lithe, toned muscle made to hit hard and to hit fast. Tom on the other hand, had that perfectly sculpted body; as if he'd been crafted by an artisan. Which only added to his alien faeness.
Forest heard voices from the kitchen right before Jack said, "No thanks. I think I can make it home before sun-up. Besides, Brianna's got to be worried as hell about me right now. I'd rather not keep her waiting."
Then after a moment more: "I'll stick around for a minute or two though, that Alex and his moron friend probably did something stupid."
She was about to ask who Alex was when she saw Kiyoshi leave the kitchen. She heard one of the Archers, their voices were identical for the most part, as he asked if someone was okay.
Then Rin said, "We have to tell Forest about all this. I really don't like the idea of what's in that trunk..."
Forest frowned at Tom before leading him in the kitchen.
******
Archer nodded and said, "This whole secret meeting thing just seems like bullshit. Unless they're trying to protect the residents of this place or some such nonsense."
He did give Rin's hands a squeeze as he noticed how pale she was. He pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair, not saying anything. She was scared. She needed comfort, but she was too sharp to see through any pretty lie he could tell her. So he held her, enjoying the feel of Rin in his arms again.
"So, what do you need to tell me about?"
Archer looked up at the sound of that husky, exotic lilting female voice. First thing he noticed that Law Unto Herself was holding a white haired man's hand. Secondly, he could tell by the way that the white haired, admittedly absurdly handsome man was carrying himself that he claimed the pretty vampire for his own. I wonder how Lancer would feel about that, he thought for a moment, not quite hiding the sudden smirk on his face.
The blond's nose twitched and she said, "Someone worked magic in my kitchen. Bloody hell."
******
Lancer flashed his elongated canines at the mystic code. "Try me, I know how to deal with stuck up bitches."
He nodded at Millie's enthusiasm, not bothering to hide his smile, and said, "Right along then. Just stay behind me, Lass." Then he headed out of the room.
He looked at Ruby and asked, "Now, where was this plotting going on and who do I need to beat down with my lance?"
-
James noted the junk bird dismissively until it let out it's cry. Snapping into evaluation mode he considered all possible origins based on previous case files and then all outcomes given his position.
he chose a simple exit. The familiar burst into it's component parts suddenly and James retrieved a paper cube and after falling for a few moments caused it to unfold into a huge paper sheet. It took another moment for his powers to create an effective parachute lift with the paper mass but eventually he reached a rooftop.
"This city may be an enemy stronghold, I'll have to get more paper." He remarked.
-
Seeing his Aunty nod, Kiyoshi let go and headed for the stairs.
Before he was out of sight, though, he heard Archer speak.
"You okay?" he asked.
Worried about her well-being, Kiyoshi turned around, to find her shaking and noticably paler than she had been a second ago.
Aunty Rin?
"We have to tell Forest about all this", she said, looking in Kiyoshi's direction. "I really don't like the idea of what's in that trunk..."
Kiyoshi ran over to her quickly, worried about her well-being, and hugged her once more. As he was running, he heard Archer's words, but he was too worried about Rin to respond immediately.
"Aunty Rin, are you OK? You look really pale, and you're shaking", he said, worried.
Kiyoshi continued hugging Rin, attempting to comfort her, whilst Forest spoke. Then, when she'd finished, Kiyoshi responded to Archer's words.
"I'm sure it's nothing bad, they're all Tohsakas and Emiyas, so they'd never hurt a good person. Well, except Connor anyway, and none of my family would ever be friends with a bad guy, so Connor must be nice too. Plus, he's acted nice so far", he said.
Rider followed Forest up the stairs. As they approached the room, she heard Rin speak.
"We have to tell Forest about all this. I really don't like the idea of what's in that trunk..."
Trunk? thought Rider.
She wasn't sure what was going on, but if Rin was worried about something it usually wasn't good. Rider quickly followed her into the room.
As she did, she heard Archer speak, and saw Kiyoshi running towards a visably-distressed Rin.
"This whole secret meeting thing just seems like bullshit. Unless they're trying to protect the residents of this place or some such nonsense", he said.
Oh, I see.
Rider wasn't totally sure what was going on, but it was obvious that it involved Satoshi's family somehow. Whilst she now knew Satoshi's intentions were good, he did have a tendancy to do things in an overly-complicated and secretive manner, and he also did seem to have a rather bizarre thought process at times. She still wasn't happy about the way he'd defended that bastard alternate Shirou, for example, and made out that his life was more valuable than Archers and, by extension, her own. So, she could understand why the alternate Rin would distrust his family, especially when you took into account the natural repulsion that existed between alternate forms of the same person.
But, even so, Rin did seem to be unusually disturbed by what was going on. She couldn't see why having a family meeting and bringing some sort of magical device into an obviously-dangerous world was a cause for so much fear and worry.
After Forest had asked what was going on, Rider heard Kiyoshi respond to Archer's statement.
"I'm sure it's nothing bad, they're all Tohsakas and Emiyas, so they'd never hurt a good person. Well, except Connor anyway, and none of my family would ever be friends with a bad guy, so Connor must be nice too. Plus, he's acted nice so far", he said.
Exactly.
Whilst Rider knew the world was not quite as simple in reality as it was in Kiyoshi's mind, she did know that the Emiya and Tohsaka family were generally decent people. There was no reason whatsoever for Satoshi and his family to attempt to harm them right now, and no reason to expect that they would desire to.
"Rin, Kiyo is right. They might not be the same as you, but they're unlikely to be hostile. Satoshi might have made some odd decisions but his heart is in the right place. He'd never hurt someone who didn't deserve it, I'm sure, and if he won't even kill that asshole murderer Shirou I doubt he'll kill any of us", she said.
"I understand you not trusting them fully, but there's no way they're here to cause real harm. I'd like to know what is in that chest, yes, but even if it is a weapon I doubt it's going to be aimed at any of us. And, the family meeting is probably just them catching up and discussing where they should go."
-
"This city may be an enemy stronghold, I'll have to get more paper."
"Not at all," a voice replied from the other side of the roof. Sitting on a noisy air conditioning unit was a rather garish man in a red suit, with ridiculous blond hair and sunglasses that didn't fit at all considering it was the middle of the night. He grinned, easily jumping down and straightening with his hands in his pockets. "Well, no, actually, you're right. This place isn't very kind to most people, what with all the bloodsuckers running around, although I wouldn't say that everyone is an enemy."
The air conditioner sputtered and ground to a halt. The man kept speaking, although he didn't attempt to approach James at all. "Nice Trick, by the way, with the paper. Still, even considering the paranoia needed to survive here, don't you think straight up dismissal is a bit much? Here I was, looking to greet and share some info with a kindred spirit, but now I can't even do that properly." The metal bird from before finally landed on the roof, falling apart into bits of junk the moment it touched solid ground. A light bulb rolled to a stop near the red man's foot, and he bent down to pick it up. For a moment, it seemed to glow on its own, but once it was in his hands it was just an ordinary piece of rubbish.
The man tossed aside the bulb, not flinching as it shattered on the hard concrete. "If it's paper you're looking for, then there are some libraries around that wouldn't notice a few of their works going missing," he said. "If you're willing to listen to what I'm offering, just say so. If you aren't... then I won't follow you."
-
Sometimes I think I'll go mad despite the control. Then some people just project, which is bloody annoying. I know they can't help it, but warning about Rider. She broadcasts perv to no end. Which isn't her fault, Forest sent to Tom as he kept holding her hand.
I could perhaps help teach you how to block it out entirely, if you so wished. O-of course, if it's your choice, if you feel I'm belittling you by making such an offer, please tell me. He frowned a bit at the last statement. He took a quick peak into Rider's mind- and quickly retreated, instantly regretting it. He found himself shuddering.
He found himself faintly blushing the entire walk up the stairs. Never had he walked hand in hand with someone before. ....Well, there had been one time, as a child. One of the scientists had lead him off by holding his hand. His childhood had been lonely and isolated, but it hadn't been horrendous. Especially compared to his teenaged years. That's when the experiments had begun in earnest. When his life turned upside down and everything became a living nightmare...
He desperately fought back the memories before they could flood into his mind again and instead shifted his focus to the fingers intertwined with his. The texture told a story all it's own, the rough calluses confirming that Forest had indeed had a rough lot in life, filled with work and toil. But he found he liked how her fingers felt against his, the roughness against the relative smoothness of his own hands. It grounded him in reality, that yes, he was holding her hand, that it was all real and not just some beautiful dream.
Her fingers were still long and elegant, and intertwined so well with his own that it felt natural. Her well manicured fingernails shimmered like amethysts in the light of the hallway. A part of him wanted to take one of those lovely hands and press his lips to it, but as it was, he just gave the hand he was holding a gentle squeeze.
As they made their way up the stairs, he could hear two people speaking, a man and a girl.
Forest frowned at him in concern as the girl voiced her reservations about some sort of trunk, and she moved closer. Their hands still joined, he naturally followed.
"So, what do you need to tell me about?"
The question was aimed at the girl, who was visibly shaken and was holding on tightly to the man who'd been speaking earlier, who held her closely in turn, her hair gently being stroked. Her head was buried in his chest, but at the sound of Forest's voice, the girl turned to face her.
Tom found himself a bit... uneasy with the man, but that was swiftly forgotten as he took in the pair's appearances. Those facial features... they must be Ryoko's parents.
He found himself worrying for Ryoko a bit. Had she been hurt in the meantime, perhaps something to do with the way he'd looked at her? He quickly looked through their minds, and his fears were soon abated. She was fine, apparently- rattled, it'd seem, and rather drunk, but at the very least safely asleep.
He focused back on the couple. The man, Archer, was smirking at him. Frowning, Tom skimmed his mind.
I wonder how Lancer would feel about that.
So it would seem that Archer had an interest in Tom's relationship to Forest. If only because it would displease the Hound. And indeed, it would. Tom was about to engage him telepathically in conversation over it when the sound of Forest's voice shifted his focus.
The blond's nose twitched and she said, "Someone worked magic in my kitchen. Bloody hell."
That seemed to snap the girl, Rin, back into reality somewhat. There was visible displeasure on her face, though not aimed at Forest.
"Not just any magic. A miracle beyond the scope of most magi. The Second Magic. Something that's not to be used lightly."
Rin sighed, placing her cheek against Archer's chest. She looked like she had a bit of a headache just thinking about what she was going to say next. "Basically, an alternate version of myself created a portal to another universe to bring in beer crates and restock your shelves, all without asking first, not even stopping when Lancer asked her to stop."
She frowned, skin that had begun to regain color blanching once more. "...And a black trunk. A black trunk that has some sort of weapon inside. At first I thought it was just a frivolous misuse of a dangerous miracle, but I should have known better..."
The young boy Tom had seen in the kitchen earlier seemed to notice Rin's distress and hugged her legs.
"Aunty Rin, are you OK? You look really pale, and you're shaking", he said, worried.
Rather reluctantly, Rin turned away from Archer so the boy could hold her more properly. She smiled at him. The smile didn't quite reach her eyes, but not because of the boy. "I'm fine, Kiyoshi. I just need something to eat."
"That does not seem to be the actual issue," said Tom. "The source of discomfort is something else entirely, even the boy can see that."
Rin glared at the psychic, but said nothing.
The boy (Kiyoshi apparently), in the meantime, turned to Archer.
"I'm sure it's nothing bad, they're all Tohsakas and Emiyas, so they'd never hurt a good person. Well, except Connor anyway, and none of my family would ever be friends with a bad guy, so Connor must be nice too. Plus, he's acted nice so far", he said.
Rin just absently began to stroke Kiyoshi's hair. From a quick peak into her mind, she clearly didn't believe it, as apparently they didn't act like any of the Emiyas and Tohsakas she herself knew, but she didn't want to crush the boy by saying the truth.
Then the woman from downstairs, Rider, began to speak.
"Rin, Kiyo is right. They might not be the same as you, but they're unlikely to be hostile. Satoshi might have made some odd decisions but his heart is in the right place. He'd never hurt someone who didn't deserve it, I'm sure, and if he won't even kill that asshole murderer Shirou I doubt he'll kill any of us", she said.
Tom was about to leave Rin's mind when he felt her anger. A certain phrase from what Rider had just said flashed across her consciousness.
He'd never hurt someone who didn't deserve it
He felt her trust for Rider diminish significantly, the rest of Rider's words completely unheard. Doing her best to try and control her anger, Rin spoke softly to Kiyoshi. She didn't entirely succeed, as what she said next still had a certain bit of sternness to it.
"Kiyoshi, sweetie, I need you to go in the other room."
Tom used his free hand to rub at his temples. We don't have time for this... If there is some sort of weapon, we need to investigate now instead of focusing on all this drama.
After digging through Rin's mind more than a fair bit and getting a clear picture of recent events through her perspective, he turned to Rider. "We don't have time to waste with this nonsense, so I'm going to cut this to the quick. You chose your words... poorly. In regards to Rin at least. You disregarded the fact that another Archer apparently was threatened by this Satoshi person, and apparently it didn't appear to be a bluff in Rin's eyes. To her, you basically just said that Archer was a person that deserved death by Satoshi's hands. The point about them being people with names she's familiar with is apparently null in her eyes because they act so much differently from those that she knows and loves. What's more, your almost blind trust of this Satoshi seems to make her less willing to trust your judgement in such matters."
He braced himself and searched through Rider's mind. He shuddered profusely as he left, but thankfully he found the answer that he was looking for quickly enough. ...Now if only what he saw would leave him. "Trust it would seem that is based almost entirely on the fact that you have had intercourse with him. ...At least, I think that was intercourse, it looked more like torture to me. It is possible Rin has a point there."
My trust of Forest was based around our night of intercourse, yes, but she also opened her heart to me, offered me kindness and warmth no one else had ever offered me before, gave me clothing and a place to sleep, and vowed to protect me from capture. As far as I can see, all this Satoshi person did for Rider was have sex with her. I am not quite certain why she trusts him so.
He looked at the assembled room before giving the assembled party a curt nod. "Forgive me for the breach of psychic etiquette, but if there is indeed a weapon up there, we cannot waste any time reaching it. Certainly not in favor of in-fighting and trying to protect the boy from something he'll likely find out eventually anyway."
Rin stood there, flabbergasted. She didn't know how to react. Anger, shock, surprise, embarrassment, fear, fascination... all these emotions and more swirled in a vortex within her, and it left her leaning against Archer, stunned and still a bit pale.
Tom turned to Forest, giving her a rather apologetic glance as he did. He didn't imagine she'd appreciate him digging around so much in people's minds, even if he had good intentions.
***
Lancer, Mille, and Ruby rushed down the hallway. Ruby had converted from her staff form to more portable form, some sort of radar device sticking out of her.
"My magic tracking device says that they went this way~ I'm pretty sure where they went based off of intuition alone, but it never hurts to be prepared~"
Mille raised an eyebrow. "That seems awfully convenient, doesn't it?"
Ruby wiggled her wings. "For such a smart girl you're awfully stupid~ I'm a magical artifact of immense power, of course I'd have a magical tracking device built into me~"
Mille glared at the mystic code. "It still seems awfully convenient to me..." she muttered.
They reached their destination in short order. Voices could be heard from inside the room, indicating there were at least two people inside.
"Here it is~" Ruby whispered. "Go get 'em~"
-
Kiyoshi held onto Rin as she turned herself around to face him and smiled. She claimed to be fine, but he could see she was still distressed.
Before he could respond, though, the new man who had just come from downstairs spoke up.
"That does not seem to be the actual issue", he said. "The source of discomfort is something else entirely, even the boy can see that."
Kiyoshi nodded as Rin began to gently stroke his hair. It felt comforting, but he knew that something was distressing her. Before he could ask, though, Rider spoke up.
Immediately, Rin turned to him and spoke.
"Kiyoshi, sweetie, I need you to go in the other room", she said.
He could tell from the look she was giving and the stern tone in her voice that she was clearly upset with something Aunty Rider had said. Normally he would have tried to resolve it, but when Aunty Rin was feeling angry, he knew it was best to keep out of her way. So, accepting her request, he let go of her and walked towards the stairs.
As he was doing so, he turned to Rider.
"Oh, by the way, Aunty Rider, Satoshi asked us to come to their family meeting. It's upstairs, come up when you're ready", he said, smiling, before heading upstairs.
As he approached the room, though, he noticed something odd was going on. The guy called "Lancer" was standing outside the door to what had been Sakura's room, together with a girl he didn't know and that amusing magical stick that occasionally caused his Aunty Rin and Yuki-nee to put on funny costumes and act oddly. They didn't look like they were particularly friendly towards the occupants, either.
"Eh, what's going on?" he asked.
-
Forest frowned at Rin's pale countenance and the fact that the - she wasn't sure if she could call him "Evil" because while he was an asshole, he wasn't Evil
Good Ash. Bad Ash. I'm the one with the gun, she thought, realizing that the guy really did have a Bruce Campbell Complex considering how he was doting on Rin. Still, the young woman did look rather shook up. Automatically, she pulled out a chair for Rin to sit in once Kiyoshi let go of his aunt.
"I'm sure it's nothing bad, they're all Tohsakas and Emiyas, so they'd never hurt a good person. Well, except Connor anyway, and none of my family would ever be friends with a bad guy, so Connor must be nice too. Plus, he's acted nice so far", the boy said.
Forest did nod at that and said, "That Sakura girl is a bit of a bitch, but she's a teenager. It sort of goes hand in hand in most cases, but I haven't met this new person yet. Satoshi on the other hand . . . Seems like one of those boyscout types who see things in black and white and ignore all the grey in between. He hits like a mack truck though."
"Rin, Kiyo is right. They might not be the same as you, but they're unlikely to be hostile. Satoshi might have made some odd decisions but his heart is in the right place. He'd never hurt someone who didn't deserve it, I'm sure, and if he won't even kill that asshole murderer Shirou I doubt he'll kill any of us", Rider said.
"I understand you not trusting them fully, but there's no way they're here to cause real harm. I'd like to know what is in that chest, yes, but even if it is a weapon I doubt it's going to be aimed at any of us. And, the family meeting is probably just them catching up and discussing where they should go."
Forest scowled, the scowl intensifying when she noticed that someone had scribbled magic symbols all over her kitchen. Looking at Rider, the blond vampire said, "Well, he also threatened Archer. Not Bad Archer here, but still threatened him. In front of Rin."
"Bad Archer?" the former Servant asked, his odd molten pewter and steel eyes sparking with barely repressed mirth.
Forest waved her hand and said, "What? I need to find someway to keep you two apart. I'm not calling you 'Asshole' in front of the lad."
"Why don't you call the other one 'Faker'? It's appropriate," Archer asked, smiling.
Forest narrowed her eyes and said, ". . . I'll keep that in mind, but I don't know the tragic story of Rin and Archer, but I do know she was happy to see him and then Satoshi threatened him. I know I'd be right pissed if someone threatened my beau in front of me. Well, they'd be lucky if they got to keep their teeth. I also understand that you had Magic Funtimes with him, Rider. Don't deny it, I can smell him on your skin, so I know partly why you're in the Team Satoshi camp."
Then she listened to how this other Rin used some sort of Big Magic to bring stuff here including some black box that could contain a weapon. She noticed that Tom was watching all of this. She heard him think, We don't have time for this... If there is some sort of weapon, we need to investigate now instead of focusing on all this drama. He rubbed his forehead with his free hand.
She squeezed his hand reassuringly as he became the voice of reason in the room. She let go of his hand and said, "So, I'm going to do the sensible thing. I'm going to go and ask nicely what's in the box, see how that goes. I mean, I saved Connor from getting bit. And someone scribbled all over my sodding kitchen. They owe me that much."
She then looked at Tom and said, "Could you stay in here while I go ask? I'll be fine, I promise and if I need help you'll know it. I have a very loud yell." Regrettably she let his hand go but gave him a quick hug.
Archer guided Rin to the chair and said, "I think you should sit down, you do look pale. Apostle-chan, do you have anything that passes as tea here? Or does that conflict with your liquid diet?"
"Cupboard above the sink. Try the Liver Disaster, it's kind of amazing," Forest said with a sigh as she reluctantly let Tom go.
******
Lancer cursed as that damned kid appeared. He eyed the boy and said, "I'm going to bust in there and open a box."
-
Satoshi shook his head as he stepped out of the open doorway "The door has been open waiting on Kiyoshi and Rider. I'm not sure what you would be breaking down."
Satoshi turned to Kiyoshi "hey buddy, we got food. Your mom made it, I got a present here too, just finished it" he said brightly
Satoshi glanced at Ruby and sighed.
Tsukasa popped into the doorway "Hiya Kiyo!" she said happily
-
Forest did nod at that and said, "That Sakura girl is a bit of a bitch, but she's a teenager. It sort of goes hand in hand in most cases, but I haven't met this new person yet. Satoshi on the other hand . . . Seems like one of those boyscout types who see things in black and white and ignore all the grey in between. He hits like a mack truck though."
"Rin, Kiyo is right. They might not be the same as you, but they're unlikely to be hostile. Satoshi might have made some odd decisions but his heart is in the right place. He'd never hurt someone who didn't deserve it, I'm sure, and if he won't even kill that asshole murderer Shirou I doubt he'll kill any of us", Rider said.
"I understand you not trusting them fully, but there's no way they're here to cause real harm. I'd like to know what is in that chest, yes, but even if it is a weapon I doubt it's going to be aimed at any of us. And, the family meeting is probably just them catching up and discussing where they should go."
Forest scowled, the scowl intensifying when she noticed that someone had scribbled magic symbols all over her kitchen. Looking at Rider, the blond vampire said, "Well, he also threatened Archer. Not Bad Archer here, but still threatened him. In front of Rin."
"Bad Archer?" the former Servant asked, his odd molten pewter and steel eyes sparking with barely repressed mirth.
Forest waved her hand and said, "What? I need to find someway to keep you two apart. I'm not calling you 'Asshole' in front of the lad."
"Why don't you call the other one 'Faker'? It's appropriate," Archer asked, smiling.
Forest narrowed her eyes and said, ". . . I'll keep that in mind, but I don't know the tragic story of Rin and Archer, but I do know she was happy to see him and then Satoshi threatened him. I know I'd be right pissed if someone threatened my beau in front of me. Well, they'd be lucky if they got to keep their teeth. I also understand that you had Magic Funtimes with him, Rider. Don't deny it, I can smell him on your skin, so I know partly why you're in the Team Satoshi camp."
Then she listened to how this other Rin used some sort of Big Magic to bring stuff here including some black box that could contain a weapon. She noticed that Tom was watching all of this. She heard him think, We don't have time for this... If there is some sort of weapon, we need to investigate now instead of focusing on all this drama. He rubbed his forehead with his free hand.
She squeezed his hand reassuringly as he became the voice of reason in the room. She let go of his hand and said, "So, I'm going to do the sensible thing. I'm going to go and ask nicely what's in the box, see how that goes. I mean, I saved Connor from getting bit. And someone scribbled all over my sodding kitchen. They owe me that much."
She then looked at Tom and said, "Could you stay in here while I go ask? I'll be fine, I promise and if I need help you'll know it. I have a very loud yell." Regrettably she let his hand go but gave him a quick hug.
Archer guided Rin to the chair and said, "I think you should sit down, you do look pale. Apostle-chan, do you have anything that passes as tea here? Or does that conflict with your liquid diet?"
"Cupboard above the sink. Try the Liver Disaster, it's kind of amazing," Forest said with a sigh as she reluctantly let Tom go.
******
...I'm guessing this Satoshi idiot is Alex. What a surprise. Vampire friend guy apparently has some serious freaking brain damage if he did that.
"If he hits like a mack truck, I've seen worse."
Dead blood rusted the chains around my wrists, feeble things already. Love hate love hate love hate love hate love hate to love hate her. I hatelove her.
Can... can I kill her? Then no one else but me can hate her more. That's love. I've decided that's how I'll love her. I waited a long time after deciding that.
The door twisted open. I waited. She came in, long hair smelling of blood and perfume. One chance. One chance to kill her.
Vitae in dead limbs. Power. Strength - not vigorous but the beast letting loose, chains decayed and ready to go. Hands around hers. Shift the body, force her down. Fangs, pierce neck. Feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feed feeeeeeeeeeeeed. She stops moving. Withered corpse. All the blood gone. All mine. Sweet like honey.
She's not dead yet. So I do worse than kill her. Destroy that face I hateloveloath. Eyes ripped out. Neck broken. Good enough. Still not dead. Good enough. And I leave.
...The flashbacks are getting stronger. I don't like it. I don't like remembering shit like this. It's a pity I can't drink to make it go away. That might do it.
"And yeah, the one broad screwed up your kitchen. Bitch seems to not understand the concept of personal property." I suppose I could go now, but how this was all unfolding was very interesting. Plus, maybe I'd get a chance to knock a tooth or two out of that smug mick's head.
-
"I can show you," she had said. Luka, caught between fear, lust, and curiosity, couldn't control himself any more. Following Valda's instructions he turned, finally meeting her eyes and seeing within them exactly how much of her own desire she had been suppressing. For a brief moment he saw within, to the goddess that hungered for mana, and understood. Then she kissed him, and he didn't care.
If her embrace had been a deep warmth, then the kiss was a forest fire. At first Luka was confused, his instincts completely failing him. He realized that before, the times he had experienced a kiss could be counted on one hand, and none could be compared to something as intimate as this. Unlike Valda's measured movements from before, the kiss was rougher, and more passionate for it. At first, Luka instinctively tried to pull away, before realizing that she had taken this from him as well. Not even a moment later, as his body burned from within, he acquiesced, moving his lips in an attempt to match Valda's expert ministrations. The shame of his lack of experience was there, yet he no longer cared enough to acknowledge it. He was supposed to be the donor in this agreement, yet he found that he wanted something.
He wanted her.
They broke apart, Valda grinning even as she sucked in air for another dive. Luka, caught off guard, was too bewildered to do anything other than meet her gaze and breath. "I..." He was cut off as she kissed him again, even harder. Before Luka could close his mouth fully, Valda's tongue invaded it without hesitation, once more sending the boy into a spiral of confusion. However, he recovered more quickly this time, following along as his partner took the lead in their dizzying dance.
Too much. It was too much. She had yet to do more than caress and kiss him, yet his body was more eager than it had ever been from more direct stimulation. No longer caring about promises or responsibility, Luka lost himself in Valda's warmth. He was unaware of his own body heating up as he subconsciously called up the fire from within, or of Salamander's own voyeuristic arousal. Instead, he recalled Valda's command from earlier.
Undressing... he wanted to see her. Valda's body, that she'd hidden using clothes in stark contrast to the monsters of his world, was somehow all the more erotic for it. Without seconds thoughts, Luka's hands moved for the first time in what felt like forever, reaching for Valda's blouse even as his mind was trapped by her kiss. He fumbled with those damned buttons, only keeping himself from ripping apart her clothes through the knowledge that she wouldn't be happy with it. An eternity later, one popped open, quickly followed by the second. Moments later, Luka was helping Valda slip out of her blouse, while in return her deft hands slid his tunic down his shoulders, letting it fall to the floor amidst the already cast off clothing. The sight of her bare shoulders and unblemished skin sent even more shivers down Luka's spine, despite having seen his share of naked bodies. For some reason, this was different.
Alas, Luka's objective lay beneath yet another layer of protection, a brassiere that cupped her ample breasts, preventing access, and with no obvious method of removal that didn't involve ripping her clothes to shreds. For the first time, the boy found himself angered, a long suppressed instinct within him protesting such devilish trickery, demanding that he go forth and let his desires go wild.
Instead, he broke away from Valda for a moment. "How?" he panted, reduced to one word sentences between deep breaths.
-
James raised an eyebrow "If the cage is good enough the animals won't know they've been caged. That said, go ahead and tell me what you want" there was no movement from the Englishman.
-
"What do you think the cage is?" The man spread his arms. "This city itself, of course. I've seen all sorts of people and things appear from nowhere, almost none of them having any idea where they were. Sorcerers, powerful warriors, and vampires. Too many damn vampires. They get thrown in, but no one leaves. Not you, not me. We are imprisoned here, and no one knows who has the key."
As if punctuating his words, the pair felt a slight rumble, and a distant part of the city lit up as a magical explosion rocked one of the buildings. Tiny figures could be glimpsed flying through the air, clashing against each other. The man didn't spare the scene a glance.
He paused paused, breathed a sigh, adjusted his sunglasses, and then retrieved a sheaf of papers from within his suite and held them up. "Apologies. That's enough blabbering. What I can offer you is information, and support. Money, paper, lodgings, whatever it is you need, no questions asked, in addition to information about anyone. That right there is a quick summary of some of the bigger players in this city. Deacon Frost, the Law unto Herself, what's left of the police, it's all there. All of this is relatively easy to obtain, of course. The good stuff comes later, so consider it a free sample. All I ask in exchange is that you perform a service for me. I am not without my own abilities, but there are certain things that cannot be accomplished single-handedly. The reason I am asking you in particular is because you aren't a vampire, you're obviously new to the Nexus, and... well, you're the first person I've seen here who can Trick. Perhaps we're just caged birds, but if we work together, a possibility of escape could be created."
At the end of the sentence, the man let the papers fly, throwing them gracefully towards James, who would no doubt be able to manipulate them easily enough. The very top sheet had a familiar photo of the red man himself, followed by a short biography. Only, more than three quarters of it was blocked out, leaving a bare bones story about a former black collar hacker who had somehow acquired supernatural powers through a freak accident, and a name: Sissel.
-
James drew the papers to him and speed read the files. "Interesting. As for your offer, you'll have to detail what you want. I have strict orders regarding certain objectives and as such I can't blindly agree to anything."
James was wary of the man but given Mister Gentlemen's own abilities a strange city like the one detailed in the files was not out of the question.
-
Sissel considered going off on another rant about cages and cities, before deciding against it. He wasn't the kind of person who dragged things out, unless said things happened to be enjoyable. In this case, it was merely a matter of business.
"It shouldn't be anything too serious, since the ways to accomplish the objective here are too numerous to count," Sissel said. "All I need you to do is capture a vampire for me. Deacon Frost is out of the question, since the man is surrounded by bodyguards at all times. The Law Unto Herself is living in an apartment with a bunch of people so inbred that they make the cast of Jersey Shore look normal, so she's not an option either. However, I'm not picky. There are hundreds of the creatures running through the streets of this city. Any one will do, as long as it's alive, or as close to it as one of those things can get."
-
"What's your maximum containment and budget? Do you have Intel on their nest locations and the like?" James asked
-
Rider couldn't help but notice the anger in Rin's face when she heard her comment.
Eh, what did I say? Rider thought.
The irritation clear in her voice and her half-smile, Rin turned to Kiyoshi.
"Kiyoshi, sweetie, I need you to go in the other room", she said.
Accepting her request, Kiyoshi let go of her and left the room. As he did, he turned and spoke to Rider.
"Oh, by the way, Aunty Rider, Satoshi asked us to come to their family meeting. It's upstairs, come up when you're ready", he said, sounding rather enthusiastic.
Rider nodded. She didn't quite share Kiyoshi's enthusiasm about meeting new family, but nor did she see any reason to avoid them. After all, Satoshi seemed nice enough, at least once you got to know him, and the daughter of his universe's version of her master seemed like a sweet, if rather perky, girl, as she would expect. Once she'd dealt with this Rin's issues, she'd come up and see what this meeting was about.
As Kiyoshi left the room, Tom spoke once more.
"We don't have time to waste with this nonsense, so I'm going to cut this to the quick. You chose your words... poorly. In regards to Rin at least. You disregarded the fact that another Archer apparently was threatened by this Satoshi person, and apparently it didn't appear to be a bluff in Rin's eyes. To her, you basically just said that Archer was a person that deserved death by Satoshi's hands. The point about them being people with names she's familiar with is apparently null in her eyes because they act so much differently from those that she knows and loves. What's more, your almost blind trust of this Satoshi seems to make her less willing to trust your judgement in such matters.", he said.
Oh, I see.
Rider thought back to what Forest had said just before.
". . . I'll keep that in mind, but I don't know the tragic story of Rin and Archer, but I do know she was happy to see him and then Satoshi threatened him. I know I'd be right pissed if someone threatened my beau in front of me. Well, they'd be lucky if they got to keep their teeth. I also understand that you had Magic Funtimes with him, Rider. Don't deny it, I can smell him on your skin, so I know partly why you're in the Team Satoshi camp."
She knew all-too-well about Rin's feelings for Archer. Even in her time, 30 years later, Rin still occasionally pined for him. So, she could fully understand Rin's upset at Archer being threatened. She just hadn't realised before how Rin would interpret what she said.
Rider felt her mind being invaded as well.
"Trust it would seem that is based almost entirely on the fact that you have had intercourse with him. ...At least, I think that was intercourse, it looked more like torture to me. It is possible Rin has a point there", Tom said, clearly shuddering from her memories.
Despite the situation, Rider smirked. She was distinctly unimpressed with him invading her mind to tell Rin pretty much what Forest had already told her, and she was glad he'd got his just desserts.
"Sure, but it was damn good torture", she replied, hoping to discomfort him further, before turning to Rin and Forest.
"I'm sorry, Rin, I didn't mean it like that. I know Archer doesn't deserve death. If it wasn't for him, you would be dead and Shirou would never have been able to save Sakura. What I meant was that I don't think Satoshi would ever go through with it, just like he was bluffing when he threatened my master.
Perhaps you're right, maybe I shouldn't trust him as much as I do. Maybe I am putting too much belief in someone whose main selling point is the willingness to torture me for a few hours for my sexual pleasure. But, he is Kiyoshi's brother, and Shirou's son, I can't believe he would truly hurt someone so trivially. Plus, as Forest said, he seems to just see the world in a bit too much black and white, much like his father. And, remember, it was his father he was defending. As much of an asshole as the guy is and as much as he deserves to die horribly for what he did to his version of my master, he is still Shirou.
I don't blame you for being upset at what Satoshi did. If he'd directly threatened Sakura in that way I'd have killed him where he stood. And, I know how much Archer means to you. Even in my world, you still pine for him sometimes. I just don't think he's as bad as you make out, and I don't think it's unreasonable for him to protect his own father, even an alternate version. Plus, Kiyo trusts him, so I have to give him the benefit of the doubt, for Kiyo's sake.
I'm sorry for making it sound like Archer doesn't matter, though. I am a servant too, after all, and I agree that what Satoshi said there was wrong. We aren't less important than assholes like that murderous cunt. If I had to make the choice I would save Archer over a million of that Shirou", she said.
She could understand Rin's feelings. But, at the same time, Satoshi still seemed trustworthy to her, and she saw no reason to go against that.
"So, I'm going to do the sensible thing. I'm going to go and ask nicely what's in the box, see how that goes. I mean, I saved Connor from getting bit. And someone scribbled all over my sodding kitchen. They owe me that much", Forest said.
Then, Forest turned to Tom.
"Could you stay in here while I go ask? I'll be fine, I promise and if I need help you'll know it. I have a very loud yell", she continued.
Rider nodded.
"Yeah, I think that the other Rin should explain herself a bit there. If she truly has no ill-intent, then she can surely tell us at least", she said.
"And, if you need support I can come with you. I was invited to the meeting anyway, and I see no reason not to take them up on that offer", she added.
However, she did not move just yet, instead waiting for Rin's reply. She watched as the dark Archer guided Rin to a chair and told her to sit down, offering to make her tea.
That sounds about right, she thought.
Rin had told them plenty of things about how awesome her Archer was. Ultimately, though, they pretty much all boiled down to one thing. Being Emiya Shirou....
Kiyoshi looked at Lancer suspiciously, preparing to summon up his swords to protect his family if necessary. Before he could, though, Satoshi stepped out into the doorway.
"The door has been open waiting on Kiyoshi and Rider. I'm not sure what you would be breaking down", he said, before turning to Kiyoshi.
"hey buddy, we got food. Your mom made it, I got a present here too, just finished it", he said.
Yay! Mummy's food!
Kiyoshi always enjoyed the taste of his mother's food. It was delicious. Plus, he was actually really quite hungry.
Then Tsukasa popped out.
"Hiya Kiyo!" she said happily.
Tsukasa-nee!
"Hi Tsukasa!" Kiyoshi said, excitedly, giving her a quick but loving hug. "So, what's for dinner? Satoshi said you had some of mummy's food, and I'm starving".
He released her and walked into the room.
"Do you enjoy cooking, Tsukasa-nee? I love helping mummy and daddy in the kitchen", he asked, still smiling.
-
"If it's money you're looking for, I can give you up to a million on short notice, and more if you give me a few days to gather it," Sissel said, straightening his glasses again and withdrawing a pack of bills from within his suit to make a point. "I also have access to an underground shelter originally meant to survive earthquakes and meteor strikes, so containing the vampire will be relatively simple once it's in my hands. In addition to that, there are several safe-houses all over the city, which can be furnished to your liking."
He then spread threw a folded up piece of not-quite paper on the ground. It unfolded on its own, turning into a person-sized map of the entire town, with several areas marked with names and factions. "Most vampires are loosely organized, but Deacon Frost has a veritable mafia of them, so his territory is risky to enter," Sissel continued. "The Law Unto Herself has a small area of influence, but is known to venture outside of it and has many powerful allies with unknown abilities, so she's dangerous in a different way. They will be relatively easy to avoid. As for territory... it's difficult. Very few vampires are powerful enough to stay alive long enough to solidify a claim, so the power dynamic has been shifting rapidly. It is known that they tend to wander until finding a place they like, and then settle down there, feeding on everyone within at their leisure. This one." He pointed to one area labelled 'Jack'. "Is one of the longer surviving ones. An ideal start if you don't want to comb the city at random. The vampire's profile is included in the packet I gave you, although there isn't much information to be found on such a nobody."
-
"A million dollars, twenty armed and trained extraction specialists, a trailer full of paper and a complete list of the city's book store. I can get you an entire nest with that. If you give me a helicopter I can guarantee you Deacon Frost." James replied.
-
Mille frowned at the blonde haired man. It was closed until you opened it, she thought to herself dryly.
Suddenly, an overly enthusiastic looking boy appeared. She watched in bemusement as she watched the boy and some purple haired girl greet each other with enthusiasm before going inside.
The young magus frowned. It seemed that there was some sort of secret meeting going on here. In Forest's house. Possibly without her permission.
She turned to Lancer. "Did Forest approve of this little meeting of theirs?" she whispered. "I don't recognize this man at all, or that girl."
-
Sissel shook his head, although James' words brought a smile to his face. "Initiative. I like that." The smile faded as quickly as it had appeared. "Sadly, while I can provide most of your requirements with ease, manpower is one thing I'm quite short on. It's the reason I'm making this offer in the first place. Material goods are easy to acquire here. Employees, not so much, especially when the people are too scared to leave their houses most of the time and no one enters the city but confused stragglers. You're the third person I've made this offer to. The first tried to pump me full of lead and then ran off, and the second said something about needing to find his pet monsters before swearing to protect the world from my devastation." Sissel shrugged. "I didn't even get a chance to explain myself that time. He just materialized some kind of giant bird and flew into the sky on its back. That's what led to me taking my search to the air, really."
"Anyway," Sissel continued. "While it would certainly be a boon to capture Frost, he isn't my primary target. I'm not a freedom fighter seeking to rid this city of blood suckers, although that might certainly be something I accomplish down the line. First, I need just one vampire. I'll likely ask for more afterwards."
A glint of light entered the man's eyes, and he sported a wry smile. "After all, when courting a woman, don't you usually save the good stuff for the third or fourth dates?"
-
"Just point one out, I'll have them caught in under a minute" James replied simply
-
Rin stood there quietly, listening to everything Rider had to say. She had a bit of a frown on her face at the end of it, but she responded with a nod.
"I don't know if I agree with you on everything, and I still don't trust Satoshi in the slightest, but... I understand." She sighed. "Trusting that man won't come easily for me though, no matter who's son he is. He spent the last ten minutes or so belittling me, insulting Archer and going on about how he would never hurt anyone while claiming he doesn't think highly of himself, so it won't come easily. But I won't fight him for now, not unless I have to."
She looked down. "I just wish I knew what was in that trunk..."
Rin looked up as Forest spoke. She finally noticed that the vampire seemed to be holding hands with the man who had so rudely invaded her mind... and did a double take.
W-wait a minute. Forest is dating someone? I don't remember seeing this guy before. But I thought she wasn't dating. Where'd this man come from? The man presently seemed preoccupied with Forest, so Rin took the opportunity to glare daggers into his back. I don't care how gorgeous he is or that he is dating Forest, he could at least let people have mental privacy if nothing else.
In the meantime...
She then looked at Tom and said, "Could you stay in here while I go ask? I'll be fine, I promise and if I need help you'll know it. I have a very loud yell." Regrettably she let his hand go but gave him a quick hug.
Tom returned the embrace, holding Forest tightly. His body was oddly tense, but she had the scent of lavender about her, and he relaxed a bit. But only a bit.
"I understand. If you are unable to yell though, you can always contact me via telepathy. I will be by your side in a heartbeat."
He reluctantly released her and watched as she walked away.
Rin watched all this as Archer guided her to the chair, the glare she'd directed at Forest's new beau but a moment ago replaced by a look of utter bemusement. So much so that she didn't even notice the unusual name of the tea that Forest recommended.
"'Liver Disaster,' hm? An unusual name, but if Forest recommends it, then I suspect it must be good tea."
Rin snapped back into reality for a moment at the sound of Tom's quite musing. The bespectacled psychic turned to the remaining occupants of the room, the sharp violet eyes regarding each of them warily.
Rin turned to Archer. "I-I'll take that then. I suppose it's worth a try, if nothing else." She watched him go reluctantly, now stuck between the Rider she'd just had a bit of a fight with and the psychic with no sense of privacy as she was.
There was a rather awkward silence. Then the doorbell rang and Rin nearly jumped out of her chair. To her amusement, Tom seemed more than a bit startled himself.
"It must be the pizzas," Rin said. She looked down to notice that she still had the money held tightly in her hand. Funny, Ryoko was holding it like this not to long ago. ... I think it's crinkling the bills a bit.
Rin gasped as her hand seemed to open on it's own and the money floated out of it. It levitated over to Tom's open hand, the other one seeming to make small beckoning gestures. He gripped the money out of the air and turned to look at Rin. "You are still rather pale, and there's no guarantee that the people at the door are the ones delivering the pizza for certain. I will pay it for you."
Rin sighed. "You could have just asked you know."
She watched him walk off towards the door. It's so weird... The way he acts around Forest, it's almost like he's an entirely different person. But to everyone else he's... well, kind of an asshole. Rin tapped her finger to her lip a couple of times. Huh, it feels like I've seen something like this before but I can't quite put my finger on where...
Meanwhile, Tom opened the front door to find himself confronted by a rather scraggly looking youth, loud rock music bursting its way out of his earbuds. His car sat idling not far in the distance, a fairly new vehicle that still managed to be rather beat up and mangled, the top of the pizza delivery sign having a rather noticeable bite out of the top. The psychic noted that there seemed to be a shotgun mixed in with the various pizza boxes.
The unfortunate pizza delivery boy swallowed as he looked up at Tom. "Hey, dude, like, is this *insert address here*?"
Tom tilted his head, trying to remember if he even knew the address of this place. He had found it via instinct, after all, not by a map or anything similar. A glance into the greasy haired young man's mind confirmed that he had their order though, based on a few scattered images that he'd seen earlier. Thus the psychic gave the employee a solemn nod.
Obviously wanting to get out of there as soon as possible, the young man rattled off a price and Tom shoved the money at him. The delivery boy counted out the money and grinned after he finished counting.
"So like, do you want me to help you carry it all in and stuff?"
Tom shook his head. "It's fine, I should be able to handle this on my own."
The car door opened, and their entire order began to float towards Tom, the pizza boxes stacking neatly next to Tom's feet, floating a bit off the ground, the liter of pop floating just a bit above them.
The delivery boy just watched the whole thing slack-jawed. When the food had finished it's journey, the youth looked up at Tom with wide eyes.
"That was like... some major Harry Potter shit, man."
Tom raised an eyebrow. "What you saw was hardly impressive. Surely you've seen someone perform telekinesis before."
The delivery guy... "Billy," according to the pin on his shirt, just continued to stare at him in reverent awe.
Tom responded to this with an irritated glare. "Don't you have something else you need to be doing?"
Billy remembered that the way the dude was staring at him was so not cool and nodded, retreating rather quickly to the beat up pizza delivery car.
"Thanks for the righteous tip, dude!" he shouted. He slammed the door shut and drove off much too quickly.
The psychic made his way back inside, the pizzas and pop bottle floating after him. Rin watched the display and shook her head.
"Do you make even the slightest attempt to hide your powers?"
The boxes and pop floated on to the kitchen counter as the psychic regarded the magus with a slight tilt of his head.
"Is there any reason I should? Where I come from, while psychics aren't hugely common, there's still enough of them present that seeing people perform telekinesis is hardly unusual. I don't think they could levitate as many of these boxes at once as I could, certainly, but it's still relatively mundane. I see no reason to hide my abilities. After all, there must be more than a fair few in this Nexus that possess ESP related powers."
Rin sighed. "If you say so. I would still be careful who you use your powers around."
The food now delivered, Tom walked a bit closer to Rin, but still maintained a fair amount of distance. "Your magus society is fairly secretive, is it not? I suppose to you, my openness with my powers even among those who have none is rather strange, even taboo."
Rin frowned as she regarded him. "Did you get that out of my mind? Or did someone tell you?"
"I had someone familiar with magus culture tell me a few things. She too was rather secretive about a number of things. But I can understand the need to hide such things from the world, even if I am willing to be open about my psychic powers. After all, I too have certain abilities that I wish to remain hidden."
On that cryptic note, there was another silence. Tom used telekinesis to open one of the boxes and float a slice of cheese pizza over to himself. Rin regarded the whole thing rather guardedly, still fairly certain that this was a waste of energy on his part, even if it was nothing compared to what she initially thought happened with Lin's use of the Second.
She decided to instead ask the newcomer about something that'd been bothering her.
"So then... how long have you and Forest been a couple?" She looked up at him. "By the way, I don't think I caught your name."
"Thomas Hale. And..." To Rin's surprise (and secret delight), Tom blushed. "Well, we just started today, really."
Rin stared at him for what seemed to be the longest time. "You... wait, you two just started dating now?"
Tom nodded.
"B-but, the way you were acting together... it's like you'd been together for months."
His flush deepened. "I-I hardly see what that has to do with anything."
Rin pondered over everything for a moment before it finally hit her. She looked up at Tom for a moment. ....Before giving him a rather devilish smile indeed. "Oooooohhhh... I see what this is~" There was a rather mischievous twinkle in Rin's eyes. "You're in love with Forest, aren't you?"
It was Tom's turn to grow pale. He choked out a few sounds resembling syllables in an attempt to speak, but was unsuccessful. Suddenly, the blush returned to his face with all the rage of a humongous forest fire, and he glared at her with every ounce of feline indignity he could muster. "T-that's not- y-you don't- I-I..."
Tom covered his mouth with his hand. A-am. A-am I really?
Rin watched Tom's response with much amusement indeed. I can kinda see why things moved forward so fast between this guy and Forest now. He's so cute when he's flustered~
Tom did manage a glare in response to that before putting his hand down and rather grumpily taking a bite out of his pizza slice.
-
"The 'Jack' will do," Sissel said. "We're not too far from his territory, and you have his physical description. You need to capture him alive, although I won't get angry if he loses a few limbs in the process. These things feed on humans, so mercy isn't necessary."
-
James thought for a moment "Fine, but I want my pay, half in advance and the other half when I finish. I'll catch you a vampire but I can't guarantee that Jack will be the captive though. I also need pass codes and directions to the holding facility"
-
"Of course." Sissel tapped the ground twice with his heel, and the front of the once sputtering air conditioner fell open, revealing a shiny metal suitcase in a hidden compartment. The man fiddled with it for a moment, removing several wads of bills and a single piece of paper before closing it once more. "You can also receive the second payment electronically if you wish," he noted. "The information about the facility is here as well. And yes, any vampire will do. It need not be anyone in particular." He tossed the packet over to seal the deal.
Some would say that he was being incredibly unsafe about his business practices. Talking to random people, offering anyone money without care, such acts could easily lead to betrayal. Sissel knew that. He also knew that every single thing he was offering had belonged to the city the previous day, and that he could easily drum up resources of that level again. And as for his own self being at risk... well, death wasn't something he could fear.
-
"I can show you," she had said. Luka, caught between fear, lust, and curiosity, couldn't control himself any more. Following Valda's instructions he turned, finally meeting her eyes and seeing within them exactly how much of her own desire she had been suppressing. For a brief moment he saw within, to the goddess that hungered for mana, and understood. Then she kissed him, and he didn't care.
If her embrace had been a deep warmth, then the kiss was a forest fire. At first Luka was confused, his instincts completely failing him. He realized that before, the times he had experienced a kiss could be counted on one hand, and none could be compared to something as intimate as this. Unlike Valda's measured movements from before, the kiss was rougher, and more passionate for it. At first, Luka instinctively tried to pull away, before realizing that she had taken this from him as well. Not even a moment later, as his body burned from within, he acquiesced, moving his lips in an attempt to match Valda's expert ministrations. The shame of his lack of experience was there, yet he no longer cared enough to acknowledge it. He was supposed to be the donor in this agreement, yet he found that he wanted something.
He wanted her.
They broke apart, Valda grinning even as she sucked in air for another dive. Luka, caught off guard, was too bewildered to do anything other than meet her gaze and breath. "I..." He was cut off as she kissed him again, even harder. Before Luka could close his mouth fully, Valda's tongue invaded it without hesitation, once more sending the boy into a spiral of confusion. However, he recovered more quickly this time, following along as his partner took the lead in their dizzying dance.
Too much. It was too much. She had yet to do more than caress and kiss him, yet his body was more eager than it had ever been from more direct stimulation. No longer caring about promises or responsibility, Luka lost himself in Valda's warmth. He was unaware of his own body heating up as he subconsciously called up the fire from within, or of Salamander's own voyeuristic arousal. Instead, he recalled Valda's command from earlier.
Undressing... he wanted to see her. Valda's body, that she'd hidden using clothes in stark contrast to the monsters of his world, was somehow all the more erotic for it. Without seconds thoughts, Luka's hands moved for the first time in what felt like forever, reaching for Valda's blouse even as his mind was trapped by her kiss. He fumbled with those damned buttons, only keeping himself from ripping apart her clothes through the knowledge that she wouldn't be happy with it. An eternity later, one popped open, quickly followed by the second. Moments later, Luka was helping Valda slip out of her blouse, while in return her deft hands slid his tunic down his shoulders, letting it fall to the floor amidst the already cast off clothing. The sight of her bare shoulders and unblemished skin sent even more shivers down Luka's spine, despite having seen his share of naked bodies. For some reason, this was different.
Alas, Luka's objective lay beneath yet another layer of protection, a brassiere that cupped her ample breasts, preventing access, and with no obvious method of removal that didn't involve ripping her clothes to shreds. For the first time, the boy found himself angered, a long suppressed instinct within him protesting such devilish trickery, demanding that he go forth and let his desires go wild.
Instead, he broke away from Valda for a moment. "How?" he panted, reduced to one word sentences between deep breaths.
She had already succeeded at the most important part of this, Valda realized as she felt Luka begin to fully respond to her attention. He was already forgetting any apprehensions he might have had, becoming so much more eager and responsive to her. She got the unfamiliar article of clothing off of him with little trouble, though she had to make his arms stretch out to allow it. She could hear it so much more clearly now that she could see his chest, built so subtly for battle that she had to blink to recognize its tone.
And... ah. Even the little flame inside of him was breathless and dim from her presence, the little one who felt so much like home to her.
'You enjoy this too, I see. When was the last time someone gave as well as took?' Valda whispered silently through the warmth passing between them and to the Salamander in the young man's heart. 'How hard has it been for you, observing from within poor Luka?'
Any answer had to wait a moment, because now she had to resist showing her own amusement at his show of restraint. Her gleaming eyes swept down his bare skin, ending at his waistline, then back up, and recognized the intensity of the desire she had instilled in him with little more than brushing and words. She stretched out slowly before his gaze, eyes closed; her arms reached back, up to her blonde hair and... pulled.
It spilled down to her back and shoulders, wavy and curled with the pressure that her chosen style forced on the long strands and locks. It was allowed to fame her face now, and the flushed smile she wore, and shine in the midday sun. Valda's eyes opened again, her lips moved, and she murmured the answer he lusted for. “Reach around to my back. It isn't that hard, dear.”
'Did nobody wear such things for him to take off? Or were they simply... made differently, where you are from?' she inquired of the Salamander, if she could even bring herself to the right state of mind to respond. 'Or perhaps they simply did it themselves, as a prelude to taking what they wanted.'
Rather than leave him fumbling more, she turned around on the grass and showed him. She looked over her shoulder invitingly at him, brushing her hair aside so they could see each others' faces clearly still.
When dear Luka had figured that out, she turned, and he could see... everything. The soft curve of her chest, just a little over a handful to his small hands, the perkiness of her nipples at the very front from her excitement. And, as she leaned back, the unzipped dress slacks that remained covering her slid oh so slightly down her hips, now hinting at what lay beneath.
She beckoned him with a curl of her index finger, and a deep inviting breath.
“Worship me,” she said firmly in that soft voice, like velvet covered steel.
It was all up to him if he obeyed; she was not holding him down, or still.
-
James collected the descending paper from his familiar "Wait here, I'll be back in about ten minutes" he said as the paper swirled around him collecting and exploding like a rocket skyward.
the paper mass deteriorated revealing a huge paper airplane with James seated in the middle flying across the city.
-
"Here. If you need to call." Sissel tossed a mobile phone into the mass of swirling paper, knowing that James would catch it. "My number's already inside."
As the man flew off on a plane made of paper (which Sissel was pretty sure couldn't be physically possible no matter how odd your technology), Sissel sat back down on the air conditioner. It hummed back to life as he extracted a laptop from the briefcase and opened it.
"Interesting abilities," he silently noted after creating a new text file. "Much more limited, yet specialized than my own. Doesn't seem to be a ghost, so perhaps a living psychic? This city is strange enough that I can't rule anything out. A professional, at the very least. Didn't even bother with names. Well, I suppose I'd luck out eventually."
Eventually. Sissel looked up into the night sky again. Somewhere out there existed something he needed. He wasn't sure what form it would take, or when he would find it, but the assertion that it existed was unshakeable. He would find the secret to the realm between life and death, and a bloodsucker would be the first step forward.
The man shared a small chuckle with himself. Here he was, thinking about experiments and research, acting more like a scientist than a ghost. Well, there were first times for everything.
-
James had found his target within two minutes. A male vampire, not a listed target but good enough. He tapped the man on the shoulder as he silently landed. The hapless woman cowering from the vampire looked confused yet relieved as the man turned away from her.
"You are under arrest courtesy of the United Kingdom." James told him.
the vampire cursed and hissed some modern slang and swiped at the paper master. A scream followed as the vampire's arm was removed by four sheets of paper and then muffled by a swarm of paper.
"James ma'am, now listen, I want you to take this book and the money inside, go get something sweet, or a meal and then clean up and head home. Now off you pop" he said handing the book and flashing his ID.
the woman nodded taking the book "Thank you" she muttered running off.
James took to sky again returning to the rooftop. "There's your Vampire mate, I'll need the rest of my money" he said motioning to the mummified vampire.
-
"Wow," Sissel said, visibly impressed. "Didn't think you'd manage it that fast. I tried catching one of those things earlier and it damn near tore my head off." The vamp was missing an arm, but otherwise fine, if 'completely mummified by papers' could be considered fine. "Well, a deal's a deal. Here's the rest." He momentarily opened the suitcase to show that the remainder of the money was inside, before throwing it to the Paper Master. He put one foot on the vampire's chest, listening to its muffled curses for a moment.
He looked back up. "If you ever need more money, you have my number. Do you have a card or something, Mr...?"
-
"Agent scissors, check the book stores if you ever want to find me" James replied collecting the money and the paper.
"If there's nothing else then I'll take my leave." he finished waiting to see if the man had anything else to say.
-
"No, no, that is all. Thank you for the good work. I too shall be taking my leave." Sissel grunted as he knelt down and picked up the mummified vampire, lugging it over his shoulder. A man of his size would barely be able to hold such a load for longer than a minute, but he didn't even seem winded.
"Oh." Right as he was opening the door to the stairwell (How else would he leave the roof? Fly?) Sissel turned one last time. "How long is the paper going to hold? I wouldn't want this thing getting free before I have time to lock it up."
-
"Eh? Never timed it actually, missions don't usually last long enough. Probably best I stick around with you till you lock him up. As a matter of professional courtesy." James replied.
-
"Did Forest approve of this little meeting of theirs?" Millie whispered. "I don't recognize this man at all, or that girl."
Lancer shook his head and said, "She wasn't in the mind to approve anything a while ago." And if that asshole hurt her, I am ramming my spear so far up his arse the tip will come out of his mouth.
******
Forest blinked against Tom's neck as he returned the hug, his embrace rather tight as if he was afraid she'd slip through his fingers. His body was stiff against hers, tension clearly running up and down his limbs. She heard him inhale in her hair and felt him relax ever so slightly.
"I understand. If you are unable to yell though, you can always contact me via telepathy. I will be by your side in a heartbeat."
She smiled at him as he slowly let her go and pushed his glasses up on his nose. "I know, I should be fine though."
She blew him a kiss before leaving the kitchen.
******
Archer tilted his head at the odd array of tea and tea like items that were brewed with hot water in the cabinet before him. There was normal loose leaf teas in tightly sealed glass jars, several boxes of teas from a company called "Bigalow", most of which were orange and labeled, "Constant Commit", and a sealed white plastic bag with a cartoon character on it indeed (http://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=15619) indeed labeled "Liver Disaster". Frowning at it, he picked it up and opened the bag.
He was greeted by the scent of ginger and fruits. He didn't know if Rin would like it, but it did smell rather delicious. The part of him that was Emiya Shirou was dying to try it, maybe see if there was a snack that would complement it. So, he grabbed the purple tea pot and kettle there as well and went to prepare the tea.
"'Liver Disaster,' hm? An unusual name, but if Forest recommends it, then I suspect it must be good tea."
Archer raised his eyebrows at that, curious beyond belief. Then his expression turned into a scowl as the glasses wearing pretty boy took the money from Rin's hand to get the pizza. Sighing, he set the kettle full of filtered water on to boil before looking at Rin.
He was about to ask how she was doing when Tom came back in, pizzas and a bottle of soda floating behind him. Lecture oncoming in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .
"Do you make even the slightest attempt to hide your powers?"
And we have Tohsaka Rin ignition.
He waited for the onslaught, the white haired man cowering back under her anger, but he brushed it off, as if the display was nothing. Sadly, Rin was so tired that she wasn't rising to the occasion like she normally did as did the white haired pretty boy began to eat a piece of cheese pizza.
"So then... how long have you and Forest been a couple?" Those keen aquamarine eyes were watching him. "By the way, I don't think I caught your name."
"Thomas Hale. And..." Tom blushed. "Well, we just started today, really."
Rin stared at him for what seemed to be the longest time. "You... wait, you two just started dating now?"
Tom nodded.
"B-but, the way you were acting together... it's like you'd been together for months."
His flush deepened. "I-I hardly see what that has to do with anything."
"Oooooohhhh... I see what this is~" There was a rather mischievous twinkle in Rin's eyes. "You're in love with Forest, aren't you?"
It was Tom's turn to grow pale. He choked out a few sounds resembling syllables in an attempt to speak, but was unsuccessful. Suddenly, the blush returned to his face with all the rage of a humongous forest fire, and he glared at her with every ounce of feline indignity he could muster. "T-that's not- y-you don't- I-I..."
"You're in love with Apostle-chan," Archer said with a shrug, "It's pretty obvious. Your reluctance to let her in a potentially dangerous situation. That look in your eyes when she was holding your hand. Let me guess, you're feeling a whirlwind of emotion and it's brutal and amazing all at once."
He smirked and said, "Lancer is going to adore this."
******
Forest walked to the open door where a violet haired girl was enthusiastically hugging Kiyoshi and there was Satoshi at the door with Lancer, Millie, and that evil stick. Lancer was all but gnashing his teeth at Satoshi all about what was in the box.
She walked up to the Hound of Ulster and placed a hand on his shoulder. He blinked at her and then hugged her with enough force that she felt her spine crack in multiple places. Once her feet were on the ground, his hands were on her shoulders as he was looking her over.
"Thank the gods, you're alright," he said with a sigh and a shake of her head, "Did that asshole hurt you?"
Forest patted his head and said, "I'm fine. I'm sorry, I wasn't myself . . . . And it got weird. Are we cool?"
"Why do you think I turned you down? I didn't want it to get weird," Lancer said with a grin.
She sighed and said, "Good, now, stand down. I'll see what's up here." Then she turned to Satoshi, suddenly wishing she was wearing something more intimidating than fuzzy purple pajamas. Or something more business like.
Smiling, she said, "So, apparently I missed a bunch, there's scribbles on my kitchen, and something about an evil black box that has most of the people here spooked?"
-
Satoshi chuckled as Rin twitched "Not a word!" she snapped.
"Yeah, I guess a bit. We're having a meeting about stuff, how about it aunty?" Satoshi asked.
Rin nodded "Of course, she saved my daughter" she replied.
Satoshi smiled "Well we're still waiting for Rider to start but in the mean time come on in, it's a family meeting and that means you too."
he retrieved the models from the table and knelt down "This is about as close to store bought gifts as I get." Satoshi said handing the completed models to Kiyoshi.
Tsukasa smiled and patted Kiyoshi's head "we have a chore calendar for the house" she answered.
Taiga wheeled up to Forest and tugged her pajama cuff and out stretched her arms as if to be picked up
-
Forest blinked, not knowing what to do when Taiga wheeled over to her and tugged on her sleeve. The little redhead lifted up her arms, as if she wanted to be hugged or picked up or something. One thing Forest had become rather good at over the years was hugging children.
So she dropped down and gave the girl a hug, making sure she was secure in her chair the only time.
"So, meeting?"
-
Rin stepped over and hugged Forest from the other side "It starts when Rider gets up here. Seriously though, thank you Forest. I'm not sure if you've raised children but my daughter is the most precious thing I have ever had the the honor of calling my own."
Taiga hugged Forest tightly "Thank you miss Forest, everyone would be sad if big sister was gone"
Connor and Satoshi looked at each other somewhat relieved. "Our family stands together, all for one and one for all" Tsukasa said smiling.
Connor laughed "You're part of the family now, the hugs and smiles take a bit to get used to. But you're a tough lady, I'm sure you'll manage. Just a heads up, they trust you enough to walk off a bridge on faith alone. Weird but definitely the best feeling in the world when they got yer back"
-
Forest blinked as the tiny girl hugged her tightly and then her other side was embraced by the elder version of Rin. "It starts when Rider gets up here. Seriously though, thank you Forest. I'm not sure if you've raised children but my daughter is the most precious thing I have ever had the the honor of calling my own."
The vampire bit back a wave of bitterness at that. Even though she had raised Gabriel, Wynn made certain to remind both of them who Gabriel really "belonged" to. As she was, unless there was some miracle or strange plot twist like Moria blood making her a living, breathing girl again, she wasn't going to get a child of her own.
"Thank you Miss Forest, everyone would be sad if big sister was gone."
"Our family stands together, all for one and one for all," the girl with purple hair said.
Then Connor laughed and said, "You're part of the family now, the hugs and smiles take a bit to get used to. But you're a tough lady, I'm sure you'll manage. Just a heads up, they trust you enough to walk off a bridge on faith alone. Weird but definitely the best feeling in the world when they got yer back."
There was the urge to bolt. She barely knew these people; she was just doing what she did when she saved Connor from Jack going off the reservation. She'd been an orphan, and her mother's family that raised her kept her at arms' length. The only real family she had that wasn't named "Umbra" was reincarnated every hundred or so years, but even their relationship was strained.
"Thanks," Forest said standing up, looking around the room. She looked at the girl with purple hair and said, "I don't believe we've met."
-
Satoshi saw it. While he had become stuck in his old age he had always been good at reading people. Satoshi wasn't sure exactly what the issue was but it definitely had something to do with family.
Tsukasa smiled "Tsukasa Tohsaka, and no we haven't. I understand it may seem strange but that's just the way it is. It's a pleasure to meet you, thank you for saving Sakura." she said greeting Forest.
"Seems nothing, it is strange. I hope you aren't too put off Forest, we're an odd bunch I know but still we consider you very important for what you did. I honestly can't thank you enough" Satoshi injected.
-
Lancer shook his head and said, "She wasn't in the mind to approve anything a while ago."
Mille frowned. They seemed quite comfortable here already too, as if this was already their home. They seemed a rather entitled sort, something that grated on Mille a fair bit.
Then Forest came up the stairs and Lancer swept her up into a rather tight embrace. As Lancer checked on Forest's condition, Mille thought she felt... well a pang. An irrational jolt of jealousy. Guilt quickly mixed with it, as it was obvious their bond was a friendship rather than a romance, but... Still, it was good that Forest was alright. She'd seemed a decent enough sort, despite being a vampire.
Mille was so preoccupied with all this that she didn't notice that the embrace could have very well crushed Forest's bones to dust were she not a vampire.
But her being blinded green with her own envy didn't last long. For Satoshi and his family spoke. And spoke. And as they spoke, Mille found herself stepping backwards, for there was something more than a bit... unnerving about the way they spoke, the words they spoke.
No... No, I can't run away. I can't let myself be a coward, least of all in front of Lancer. I can't run away anymore.
Mille frowned as she felt something in her hand. It felt like... flesh. She felt callouses against her fingers, callouses from hard work and battle alike. Against her hand, there was warmth, so much so that she didn't know how she didn't notice it.
She turned to see that her hand had found its way into Lancer's. She must have grabbed it out of reflex. Mille's face went red as a beet. She looked up at Lancer and gave him an extremely apologetic look, and yet, oddly enough, her hand found difficulty leaving his...
-
I'd decided that curiosity had killed the cat a long time ago, but then again I was already dead. I managed to flip the Obsfucate on and follow this potential train wreck.
Listening to everything, I'm pretty damn sure that this group is a cult. A rather scary magical cult with some strange, strange idiotic people in there. I should probably take this information to Frost's goons sometime. They're nuts. And really, who the hell were they talking about saving? Forest didn't save her, she saved the idiot Mick from me. Idiots.
I guess it was time to return home now.
-
Sissel took another look at the tied up vampire thrown over his shoulder. He could already tell that the man wasn't human. The creature's soul and body felt fundamentally different than normal, through a sixth sense Sissel couldn't even bring a name to. That sense was now warning him that vampires were not to be trifled with.
"Sure," he said to James. "It won't be a long walk." Missions not lasting long... had he lucked out and hired an assassin?
The door opened, revealing an cramped elevator instead of stairs. When they entered, a switch that had been panelled over flipped itself, starting the shuddering ride down. Several minutes and floors later, they had descended below ground level and were several metres beneath the surface of the earth. With a shuddering halt, the doors opened into a dark, metal hall.
As Sissel stepped forward, the lights came on seemingly by themselves, with no switches in sight. He nudged the first metal, reinforced door on the right open, and then threw the struggling vampire inside. When it shut, it instantly cut out the muffled screams.
"That's it," Sissel said. "I appreciate the assistance. Don't hesitate to call me again if you're in need of a job and some money. The elevator will take you upstairs, just press any floor."
-
James took his money with a nod and left via the elevator intent on finding a place to nest, preferably near a grocery within walking distance of the book stores.
-
Kiyoshi listened as Forest asked Satoshi and Rin about the meeting, and they invited her to join them.
Satoshi then bent down to him and handed him the models he had been making downstairs. Kiyoshi smiled and took them, holding onto them tightly. He didn't want to lose his alternate brother's gifts.
He felt happy that Satoshi was treating him like a brother, and wanted to keep hold of the gifts as a reminder of his alternate family.
Meanwhile, Tsukasa responded to him.
"We have a chore calendar for the house", she said.
"Oh, you have to do chores? Mummy and daddy do most of the housework in my house", he said.
"I do enjoy cooking, though, and mummy and daddy love teaching me. Do you like cooking too? Did mummy teach you?" he asked, enthusiastically.
Hmm, speaking of food, where is it? he thought, feeling rather hungry.
Then he turned to Satoshi.
"Thank you", he said, smiling. "I'll make sure to keep these safe".
Meanwhile, he noticed Taiga wheeling over towards Forest, seemingly after a hug. Then, after Forest reciprocated, Rin came over to her and also hugged her. Rin, Taiga Connor and Tsukasa then all offered their thanks to her for saving Sakura. Apparently, they had decided that she was part of their family, and worthy of absolute trust.
Kiyoshi could understand them being deeply thankful, he would be devestated if any of his family were killed. But, even so, it seemed a bit extreme to consider her as family and put undying trust in her based solely on this one event. Even idiots like that Shuya were capable of doing good things sometimes and, whilst he had no doubt that Forest was a genuinely good person, calling her "family" and giving her the absolute trust and unconditional love that came with that based solely on the fact that she saved their sister/daughter still seemed a little much.
And, where is the food? he thought.
Then, Tsukasa spoke up.
"Tsukasa Tohsaka, and no we haven't. I understand it may seem strange but that's just the way it is. It's a pleasure to meet you, thank you for saving Sakura", she said.
Kiyoshi found it interesting that she, and presumably therefore his mother, possessed the name of her birth family. It meant that his mother had likely not married, and had instead petitioned to be re-adopted into her true family and to retake their name. That wasn't in itself unexpected, he knew his mother would likely have done the same if she had not married his father, but it did beg the question of who Tsukasa's father was. Not that he'd expected it to be his father, of course, he knew his father was married to Saber in that universe, and his father wasn't the sort of person who would cheat on his wife.
"Seems nothing, it is strange. I hope you aren't too put off Forest, we're an odd bunch I know but still we consider you very important for what you did. I honestly can't thank you enough", said Satoshi.
Yeah, it is a bit strange..., thought Kiyoshi.
Still, they were nice, at least, and very loving towards those they cared for. Much like his own family, in fact.
He looked to Tsukasa.
"Hmm, where is the food? I'm starving", he said, carefully slipping the models into his pocket so he would be able to eat.
-
Tsukasa moved to the table sorting through the boxes and found the one she had been looking for. "Here you go Kiyoshi" she said handing him the small black lunchbox. "It's still plenty warm" she added with a smile.
-
Kiyoshi smiled brightly.
"Thanks, Tsukasa-nee", he said, before opening the lunchbox, causing his smile to become even brighter.
Wow, it looks delicious, he thought.
Kiyoshi was, of course, entirely used to eating food like this. But, even so, getting to eat it now was not something he'd expected.
Not wasting any time, he picked up a bit of the fish and started to eat.
"It's delicious", he said, the sound slightly muffled by his eating.
Rin stood there quietly, listening to everything Rider had to say. She had a bit of a frown on her face at the end of it, but she responded with a nod.
"I don't know if I agree with you on everything, and I still don't trust Satoshi in the slightest, but... I understand." She sighed. "Trusting that man won't come easily for me though, no matter who's son he is. He spent the last ten minutes or so belittling me, insulting Archer and going on about how he would never hurt anyone while claiming he doesn't think highly of himself, so it won't come easily. But I won't fight him for now, not unless I have to."
She looked down. "I just wish I knew what was in that trunk..."
Rider nodded at Rin's words, noticing her frown.
"I understand, Rin. Until I got to know him better my impression of him was not so great either. Even now, I think he's a bit less thoughtful than he could be.
I don't need or expect you to trust him, Rin. I just need you to accept that I do and, especially, that Kiyoshi does, and to not start a fight. Kiyoshi's family has always been there for him, and now they've suddenly disappeared and he's in some weird new place. Seeing his new-found family members fight really hurts him, and I want to avoid that.
As for the trunk, I can't really promise to tell you what is in it, that would turn them against me, which would upset Kiyoshi and deny me my prana source. But, I will promise that I won't let them use it to harm you or Archer, and I will try to get them to let me tell you what is in there. Plus, I don't think Forest is going to allow them to keep it secret from her, and, even if you don't trust them, surely you trust Forest...", Rider said, hoping she could smooth things over with Rin.
Rider watched as, after recommending some tea for Rin, Forest let go of her new lover and walked upstairs. Archer then went to make some tea for his new lover. Apparently it was called "liver disaster" or some odd name, but Forest seemed to think it was good and Archer and Rin saw no reason not to accept her recommendation.
Hopefully that's not a descriptive name..., thought Rider with amusement.
She stood there in silence for a while, waiting for Rin's reply, but none came.
I should get upstairs like Kiyo asked.
However, before she could leave, the doorbell rang.
"It must be the pizzas", said Rin.
Pizza?
Rin seemed to have the money to pay for it, but Tom offered to do so, claiming it was unsafe for her. He took the money and walked off, paying the man and, then, collecting the pizza using his telekinesis. Right in front of the delivery boy....
Rin won't like that one bit..., thought Rider, with amusement.
As she had expected, as soon as he returned Rin spoke up.
"Do you make even the slightest attempt to hide your powers?" she said, before the two of them launched into a long discussion about secrecy in the use of magic.
Rider chuckled at Rin's lecturing, but nevertheless it was an important argument. She could understand both their viewpoints. The world she had been born in was one where magic was used openly, but she knew that, in Rin's world, honesty about her magic would get her, and most likely the rest of her family, locked up in the Clock Tower and experimented on.
Here, though, Tom's viewpoint clearly made more sense.
"Rin, this is not our world. There is no Association here, and the existence of supernatural elements is public knowledge. We do not need to keep our magic secret, and attempting to do so will just cause us problems. Our enemies will not bother to do so, after all...", she said.
"Anyway, I have to get upstairs for this meeting. I'll talk to you later, Rin", she added, before heading up the stairs and towards the door of the room.
Arriving at the room, she found the door open. Kiyoshi was inside eating what looked like a lunchbox. Also in the room were Satoshi, Rin, Forest, Taiga, Connor and Tsukasa. Just outside stood Mille and Lancer.
"Hmm, what's he eating? There's some pizza downstairs if anyone wants it...", Rider said.
-
Lancer blinked as he felt something warm and soft grab his hand. Automatically he looked down to see Millie holding his hand, looking slightly worried at the sight before them. Lancer himself wasn't too upset by it, but then again he had done a few heroic feats and won himself into a few families as well.
The people in that room were a tightly knit clan. They did things their way and it worked for them. Then again, that's what clans did. Each member was part of the working whole and very important to it. Even the little girl with the hand chariot. Which, admittedly, Lancer wanted to try out for himself.
Forest on the other hand looked as if she wanted to bolt. He wondered if the mental "noise" was getting to her, or if too many people were too close to her at once. All concerns of a powerful and sensitive telepath.
He patted Millie's hand with his free one and smiled at her. He whispered, "So, since she saved . . . Technically she saved Connor, but they're saying she saved Sakura and whatever. Since she saved one of them, she's earned the right to be in their clan. At least, that's what I'm getting from it."
"Hmm, what's he eating? There's some pizza downstairs if anyone wants it...", Rider said as she approached.
Lancer perked up, gently squeezed Millie's hand - after all the girl couldn't take the punishment that Forest could shrug off and retaliate- and said, "Wicked. You've gotta try this stuff Millie. It's crafted by the fae of Mag Mell themselves!"
*****
Tsukasa smiled and said, "Tsukasa Tohsaka, and no we haven't. I understand it may seem strange but that's just the way it is. It's a pleasure to meet you, thank you for saving Sakura."
"Seems nothing, it is strange. I hope you aren't too put off Forest, we're an odd bunch I know but still we consider you very important for what you did. I honestly can't thank you enough." Satoshi injected.
Forest saw Kiyoshi put Char's mobile suit in his pockets as his thought patterns were torn between thinking that his alternate family's behavior was odd and that he was hungry. Pretty much the normal thoughts of an eleven year old boy. Except Gabriel's, but my poppet has always been special, she thought, wondering what trouble or bed her godson was in now.
She smiled and said, "You're welcome, but it was actually Connor that I saved. Jack was just eyeing Sakura because she's a pretty girl and for some vampires feeding takes the place of sex so there you go."
She watched as Kiyoshi started to dig into a bento box, the smell of perfectly cooked fish in the air.
"Hmm, what's he eating? There's some pizza downstairs if anyone wants it...", Rider said, entering the room.
Glad to see a face, even if it was Rider's, that she knew better than the people in this room that had adopted her into their family, she made her way over to the lovely woman. "Apparently the Sakura of their universe made Kiyoshi a bento box. Wasn't that nice of them? As for the pizza, well, if it's the place that Lancer favors I rather not. Garlic and all of that."
******
-
Satoshi closed the door softly and stuck a paper seal to it "Okay, now we can talk about the situation at hand. For Rider, Kiyoshi and Forest I'll explain the meeting's protocol" he said pausing as he leaned on the door.
"Typically these meetings are out in the open but given the situation at hand this has to be private. As such what's said in this room doesn't leave here." he explained.
Rin nodded "the seal on the door sound proofs the room. The situation as I understand it is shady at best. Satoshi can you explain how exactly that younger me came to breathe fire like that? She's not too far removed from myself at that age"
Satoshi's face contorted "Well ok, first, Forest how much do you know about the grail war? I want to skip as much as possible"
-
Forest frowned, remembering what Lancer had told her. She said, "Something about some Christian artifact, a lying bastard priest, seven mythical heroes summoned for a Battle Royal to the death, and a cheating asshole."
-
Satoshi nodded "language aside Lancer is right. A battle royal for a wish. Seven masters and servants face off for the prize, that's not to say that every servant is out to win the war for wish itself. Some like Rider fought for their master. In the case of Archer, the cheater to whom Lancer was referring. Archer is in actuality heroic spirit Emiya. In other words another version of my father Shirou Emiya." he paused frowning.
"Because of the events in his timeline he became what is known as a counter guardian. A counter guardian is a sweeper, unlike my father's ideal of saving everyone the guardians show up after a terrible incident and eliminate all living beings in an area. I'm sure you can understand why sure an existence would hurt him." Satoshi continued.
"He was burned out from the separation of his ideal, reality and the counter guardians. So he made a plan, he wished to escape the cycle of hurting people as a counter guardian and bet it on killing himself. The paradox he thought would make him cease to exist." Satoshi sighed pausing to breathe.
"In my own journey I've witnessed it, the fight between Shirou Emiya and Archer. Hundreds of times and no matter the winner I can't stand to see it happen again. The long and short is I jumped at Archer's threat, I should have continued my evaluation of the situation and finished it." Satoshi admitted.
"Shirou, back in that alley Forest. He was wrong and I never got to tell him so before Archer and Rider interjected. My fault but thank you for being more level headed then I was there" Satoshi finished looking fairly saddened by his mistake.
-
Oh. Oh shit.
I'd been trapped. I was still inside the room when that seal was placed - and good god was this situation turning weird.
Apparently Satan Bitch was unable to comprehend that people from other universes are different from you - big surprise, and they were talking about something called a... grail war? As in the Holy Grail? There's something that sounds... really tempting. Something that could allow me to well, be human again, or perhaps transcend all a vampires weaknesses. The Lancea Sanctum would go nuts if they heard this. The fucking Holy Grail. Holy shit. Ho-lee fucking shit.
The battle to the death thing and the cheating could be a problem, but if I could get the grail...
Any means would justify that end.
Satoshi's egocentric lecture gave me a little more ammo against this idiot too. Saving everyone huh? That's apparently Satoshi's ideal as well, considering how much he's rambling about it. Fine. He'd watch that burn in flames if we came up against one another. Where was he when I was with Her? No one can save everyone. It's a fact of life. You need sweepers to make sure life works. Those who “abjure” violence can only do so because others are committing violence on their behalf. George Orwell stated that.
I settled into a corner of the room. This might take some time.
-
Lucas
I'd woken up in this place a little more than a week ago, leaning against the back of a wall. I already hated it. The smell in the air, the buildings , the lack of forests and trees that spread untouched over everything... I came across a lily, yesterday. It was dying. In all my life, I hadn't ever seen a plant die. Even when something was trampled, or scratched, broken in half, or even burned - it always grew back. At the very least, this place is also overrun with beasts and devils, things that only pretend to be human - so not that different from where I came from.
A couple of days ago, after taking some clothes from one of the many stores that line the streets of this city, I came across an old, abandoned bookshop tucked away from prying eyes. I made a base there, after changing it to my liking. Now, a layer of soil has replaced the floorboards, after I ripped them up and filled the space in. After taking as many plant seeds and baby trees as I could carry, I planted them into the new layer of soil, and already, they're nearly full-grown.
I can barely smell the pollution of the City, anymore. Another day or two, and this place will be the perfect refuge. I can feel my strength returning as I stay here - for some reason, being away from areas with lots of greenery makes me weaker. I still have enough strength to deal with the pack of giant wolves that came past last night, but being outside isn't the best idea for me right now. At the very least, I am still immortal - one of those wolves took my head off, last night. The shock on its face when I ripped out its' spine was priceless. I made short work of the rest of the pack, but if I hadn't been so close to the bookstore, things might have been a little more difficult.
Even though leaving the bookstore isn't a great idea right now, I've been gradually increasing the distance I get from it. Staying in one place too long, though I can do it, gets to be a little stifling... I've also found that this city is infested by a new breed of monsters, something I haven't heard of before - they're called "vampires", apparently. A creature that grows stronger at night, and makes other vampires by feeding on living things, like a parasite. They seem to resemble humans, like me, but have fangs and... golden eyes? This "Twilight" book doesn't seem to be the right material... a book titled "Dracula" turns up better results that correspond with the things I've heard about.
Turning humans into vampires by drinking blood, creating familiars, turning into mist, bats, and dogs... it seems the only way to get rid of them is with fire, silver, decapitation, or impaling them through the heart. I'm not fond of fire, and don't have a supply of silver... it seems that decapitation and impalement are the only ways to destroy them available to me right now. The bookstore has many shelves and low and high ceilings - it's a rather odd looking place from the inside, and the numerous trees, vines, and other plants growing in it now only add to it.
Ducking into a narrow doorway, I enter a small side room. It probably used to be storage or an old office, judging by the number of books lying around. Now, above the small desk in one corner is a marked map of the city that I convinced a vendor to part with. I had to go outside in the daytime, when people were outside, to do that, so I was already cranky - he gave me the copy for free after I snapped at him. After finding out what I could, I drew areas of influence on it in accordance to the various factions of this city. It isn't very detailed - just circles, drawn in a red marker with names inside of them, and a species underneath in parenthesis. Vampires cover the majority of the map - more than any other race, they seem to be suited for this city. I'm not, at the very least, and that puts me at a disadvantage, so I have to be careful. I've also marked out the parks and gardens that give me strength in (what else?) green marker, so I know where to go if things go south...
Investigating about these creatures is One of the circles on the map catches my eye, and I take a closer look at it. It doesn't really have a name, just a title, with the standard notation of (Vampire) underneath it.
"The Law Unto Herself..."
An old vampire, a female, physically young, wears a jacket, and seems to have a large group of allies with unknown combat potential. She seems to have a gun, and uses that to fight. That's about all I know on her - if I need to investigate the habits of powerful vampires, she might be a good candidate. I'd need to be careful with observation and combat, but- actually, why should I bother? I'm immortal - I don't need to sneak around all the time. As long as I am touching the Earth I cannot die. And, if worst comes to worst, I still have "that" in reserve. I gather my thoughts and head out - I can't really say I've ever had much of a plan, for anything, so this suits me just fine.
An apartment building across the street from me is where she's holed up. My objective at this point is to either kill her, lessen her amount of allies, or capture one for interrogation. Goal 1 is more important than Goal 2, which is more important than Goal 3. Simple enough - either way I should be able to learn more about vampires. I knew the area, but not the exact building, so I was prepared for a search. That is, until a pizza delivery van came by, with a young teenager carrying multiple pizzas and sodas. I had watched him idly, somewhat curious as to who would order so much food; at least, until I saw who opened the door. A silver-haired boy (well, an adult, but still on the young side) greeted the boy delivering the food and telekinetically seized it, pulling it inside as he paid the delivery boy.
This must be one of the allies of the vampire - an "ESPer" as this culture refers to them. Someone with psychic abilities, in other words. And now, thanks to this group's mistake, I now know with certainty where 'Law Unto Herself' lives. After the pizza van leaves, I cross to the front door of this place, slowly, taking care to appear nothing more than a mere human. Knocking on the outside of the door in a rhythm, I wait for just a moment before acting. On the final knock I draw upon my power. I'm not that close to sources of greenery, so I can only amplify my current level of power by two times; but that should be enough for this.
My fist hits the door hard enough to blow it off of its hinges, and I move inside so fast that I blur. The vampire isn't on this floor, so therefore she must be upstairs-! I move for the stairwell with inhuman speed, ready to fight.
-
Kiyoshi sat eating his bento, savouring every bite, as Rider entered the room, mentioning the pizza.
Oh, damn, Ryoko got that for me too, Kiyoshi thought.
Still, right now he wasn't particularly bothered about the pizza, particularly since Ryoko had already gone to bed. His mother's home-cooked food was miles better than anything any restaurant could make, and surely Ryoko could understand that. Plus, he could always have some pizza later.
Forest responded to Rider's question.
"Apparently the Sakura of their universe made Kiyoshi a bento box. Wasn't that nice of them? As for the pizza, well, if it's the place that Lancer favors I rather not. Garlic and all of that", she said.
"Ooh, Sakura made food? Is there any spare?" she said, enthusiastically.
Whilst she didn't need to eat and gained no nutritional benefit from doing so, Rider was still capable of enjoying food, and Sakura and Shirou had always encouraged her to eat with them, to make her feel more like part of the family.
"And, well, my master is a truly kind person, she would never want someone to go hungry, especially her own child", Rider quickly added, a bit embarassed at her outburst of enthusiasm.
Kiyoshi laughed slightly, but he was too busy eating the bento to really talk.
The two of them sat and listened as Satoshi explained the format of the meeting, both nodding in agreement when he said they could not tell anyone else what had been discussed. Then, they began to discuss the younger Rin, and the Grail War.
Rider knew that she needed to explain what the younger Rin had said, so they understood where they stood. Kiyoshi, of course, was too engrossed in eating his mother's delicious food to say anything....
"The other Rin acted as she did because she doesn't know or trust any of you. Her first meeting with Satoshi involved him threatening to kill Archer, and her second meeting with him involved him threatening to kill my master. I know he was bluffing, but she has no reason to believe that or to trust him. And, when she met your daughter, they ended up arguing, and your daughter ranted about comparing Toshi to some 'gold-plated eff box'. She doesn't trust you and she thinks you act oddly, so she is really worried about what you might do with whatever is in that trunk, and is really suspicious of the fact that you are keeping it secret", Rider said.
After she had spoke, Forest responded to Satoshi's question about the Grail.
"Something about some Christian artifact, a lying bastard priest, seven mythical heroes summoned for a Battle Royal to the death, and a cheating asshole", she said.
Rider laughed at what was evidentially Lancer's attempt at a description.
Lying bastard priest? Does she mean Kotomine?
Rider had mixed feelings about the priest. On one hand, were it not for him her master would be long dead, and he had ultimately assisted in the destruction of Zouken. But, on the other hand, his intentions towards her master had never been particularly great either.
"Language aside Lancer is right. A battle royal for a wish. Seven masters and servants face off for the prize, that's not to say that every servant is out to win the war for wish itself. Some like Rider fought for their master. In the case of Archer, the cheater to whom Lancer was referring. Archer is in actuality heroic spirit Emiya. In other words another version of my father Shirou Emiya", Satoshi added.
Rider nodded as Satoshi continued to speak. Kiyoshi was listening slightly more intently, although so far he knew most of the details.
Satoshi continued to speak, explaining why he had acted as he did. However, his words had a strong effect on Kiyoshi.
Dad ended up like that? he thought, sadly, his eating becoming less enthusiastic.
The idea of a group like the Counter Guardians repulsed Kiyoshi. Someone who would show up and kill everything in the area just to be sure, and who would attack anyone who looked remotely dangerous.
Like mummy....
Kiyoshi hated the thought of his father in that form, attacking people like his mother without any hesitation or compassion.
"Is that really true? Did dad really end up like that?" he asked, clearly upset.
Rider, meanwhile, added her input to the discussion.
"Yeah, there are seven servants, each summoned by a human master. In theory we're all after a wish, but my wish was just for my master to be safe and happy, I never had any desire for the Grail for myself. The Grail is powered by the souls of the defeated servants that are stored in the Lesser Grail, but masters can be spared. My Grail War was not a standard one, though, so you might be better off asking Satoshi for the details. I never even met Lancer, for instance.
As for the other Rin, she's basically a past version of the Rin I know. Her Grail War was the same as mine, as far as I can tell. So, I can understand her a little better, hopefully", she said.
-
Tsukasa handed a box to Rider with a silent smile.
Satoshi frowned feeling anxious "in regards to Rin, well, I just said that I jumped at the threat, it was wrong but I tried to tell her that down stairs and she ignored me. If she chooses to ignore me when I tell the truth there isn't much to do"
he paused looking oddly around the room then turned back to Kiyoshi " the world tricked dad Kiyo, counter guardians aren't able to act on their own and it appeared that he would be saving people the way he hoped and not just hurting people"
he paused again rubbing the back of his neck "What Rin said set my sister off. Sakura had a right to be angry based on Rin's enduring self belief alone. What Gilgamesh did. It's not for polite company."
then Satoshi realized it. A hidden person, it took a few seconds before he finally got a look at the intruder despite a hefty urge not to look.
"Sup fangs, you can leave now" he told jack with a laugh.
-
He could see me.
Fine. I looked him straight in the eyes, keeping Obsfucate on and up and running. This had to be a fluke. Or he had secrets that I would like to know. Probably both. Obsfucate wasn't foolproof. But Obsfucate was very effective. If he could see through it, I'd lost an advantage against him. Irritating, to be sure, but anyone else seeing through it wasn't very likely, considering the enviroment and my own actions. So, I decided to do the most optimal form of action.
I stood stock still, aside from slowly raising my arm and flipping the fucker the bird. True revenge for calling me fucking 'fangs' would need to wait. It wasn't even a clever nickname or a good insult. "Vampire friends" my dead ass.
-
Shezar the Assassin's Blade
The Rooftops
An Assassin must strike swift and hard, such is the nature of their craft.
'Art of Duplicity.' A flash of light and the one figure running was now two than three figures. Still rushing their foe.
Faster and faster they ran the buildings below leaving nothing but a blur below their feet.
Just 30 meters to go before they reached their target...
**************************************
Downy Reed
The Inbetween
The Vampires now in chaos from the incoming meteor Downy left his partner to handle the Vampires he had more pressing matters to attend to.
'Damnit not another one! Well they won't get the last one I'll see to that'
And into the shadows he went from the quivering of the second circle he knew by now it was already lost his last hope remained in the final functional circle.
Having the advantage in speed he made his way as quickly as possible towards the third and final circle and there he waited in ambush if they dared to make their appearance known anywhere around he'd be the first to know.
****************************
Imnity
High in the Sky
*KABOOOOOOM!!!*
With a mighty roar and an even mightier crash the meteor hit it's mark straight into the building. With it any vampire's or other beings in the near vicinity took the full force of the blast being completely incinerated in a mighty wave of heat and molten rock.
As for the ones that did manage to get away Imnity then began her next task, she would sense them out and destroy them one by one, one such vampire who had only partially gotten hit by the blast was weakened but alive.
With a wave of her hand a page of her book she was instantly by his side. 'If my knowledge is correct you beings have a knack for regeneration I must eliminate you before you can show me such ability.'
“הכסף בלייד.”
Another action and another page as a silver blade emerged from a portal nearby and into her hand, with one swift motion she decapitated the head of the vampire and away she was again onto the next target as quick as a flash leaving nothing but the burning smell of pages and the dead and decaying body of her victims.
**************************
Mudou the Betrayer
The Alleyway
“Hey! Where'n the Hell'd they go!? Is this Imnity's doing!?”
Looking around he spotted the only other thing still alive in this rotted and spoiled alleyway.
“Hey you! What do ya think you're doing!? You wanna die!? Fine I'll grant you your wish!”
“Mudou we don't have time for this, we must go and find them before they cause any more of Master Downy's plans to go astray.”
“You shut up! I'm sick and tired o'all this running! I want blood!! If ya wanna deal with those bastards then get out o my sight!”
With another mighty roar Mudou charged the unarmed sickly looking man.
**********************************
Lobellia Reed
The Alleyway
'I don't have time for this idiots games, if he wants to go off and die on his own fine I'm sure finding a replacement will be easy enough.'
Ignoring her partners mad charge she quickly jumped from wall to rubbled wall until she once again reached the top of the buildings, with a step of her feet she was off, her target the main central conduit for the ritual, if in case the circle's were all taken down then they'd need to be directed lest they all hit her Master.
******************************
Undead Behemoth
Main Circle
It's senses now dulled from the swing of the weapon the Behemoth shrieked in rage it's hand now finally fully regenerated it was began to counter when a second mighty blast from the cannon struck it straight in the center chunks of flesh and bones along with the heavy scent of rotten and burning flesh everywhere.
Another cry from the beast and it grabbed the nearest pile of bone and rock flinging more and more at the target before slumping down into a mess it's humanoid shape slowly beginning to form into something more circular.
******************************
Medea
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
At first she had cursed herself for her misfortune, brought again into the world of the living only to meet yet another terrible fate. Was this her destiny? Forever one to feel the misfortune of the Gods?
Would she find no happiness? No joy? No chance to live?
Those were her thoughts, the feelings that emanated from her very being for the longest time. Even as she took the life of the very one who gave her this second chance she cursed them yet again.
Even her grandfather as he sheltered her from danger, she could tell in his eyes, he had nothing but pity for her, her life was nothing but suffering and death, and she knew it most.
So why was she here? Why was she cursed to die yet again with nothing but sorrow?
Though her eyes were clouded her mind was not. It was with her own hand alone that she took her very own brother's life. As her hand dissected the one she once loved she could tell, those eyes were once again nothing but pity.
Yet why was she here? Shivering in the darkness as her eyes began to cloud and the last flickering lights of life began to fade. She cursed them all. Was she meant for nothing but sorrow?
And then he came... Silent but caring in his own way he appeared in her life like a gentle breeze to fuel the once flickering flame he appeared.
At first she thought of him as nothing but another one of those pathetic men. Yet another one who would either use her till she was useful no longer or pity her sad existence. But he was neither, he asked no questions and desired no rewards for his actions.
He was like the fuel for the flickering candle that gave it yet another chance. And though her body was old her heart was still young, it yearned for these raw emotions.
She knew it could very well end just as horribly as all the rest but she decided to give it just one more chance. This time no God or Man would stand in her way, this time she would find the happiness she had once yearned for. And this time she would not fail...
So even as her very mind and body faded from this world yet again she was not sad. She didn't hate... Nor did she curse...
In fact she happy, ecstatic even. For she had no regrets, to her even if it meant dying in his stead she would give her very life and soul to him if it meant she could protect his life even a moment longer. So as she faded from this world, as her broken and battered body began to shimmer in that familiar light she held his head one last time and uttered his name.
To her even though it was her last moments in this world she was satisfied. If there were people like him in it then perhaps the world wasn't so bad after all? Perhaps she should give it a second chance as well?...
****************************************************
So why was she here? In the ruins of an old and decrepit building she awakened. But she was alone, she could no longer sense the feelings of her loved one. Yes, this time she was truly alone, no Master to force her down another cursed path and no Gods to pity her. This time she was truly and utterly alone...
But this time she had a goal. Even though it might be impossible, even if it took a thousand years she would meet "him" again. She would find "him" even if the very Gods cursed her own being!
So she set off once more, this time no one would stand in her way. This time she would finally find the happiness she had once thought impossible. This time she would create a miracle. This time she would create her own Destiny!
-
Shirou paced silently through the halls of the Apartment Block, golden eyes searching each and every crook and cranny with hawk-like intensity. Whilst everybody else had long since relaxed, believing the place to be impenetrable, Shirou remained vigilant. He knew from personal experience that this period was among the most dangerous times of day, and that nowhere was ever completely impenetrable if one was determined or wily enough.
And if nothing else, it allowed him to idle the time away without revisiting old events in his sleep.
He was passing by the stairwell, his feet gliding along as silently as a wraith, when he heard it. The distinctive sound of a fist smacking into the door, once, twice, then an explosion as the door was smashed across the hallway, splinters peppering the room.
An enemy. A powerful one, or a stupid one, based on the brazen way he'd entered the building.
For a second, Shirou hesitated. Was there any point to attacking? If they were after him, he could easily slip away into the night, with no one the wiser. Certainly, the people here were strong enough to handle themselves. But...to do so would go against his ideals, the one thing in life he'd sworn himself to on that night so very long ago. A hero wouldn't leave if things became too dangerous. And for once, this wasn't a case of sacrificing the lesser for the greater. He thought of Forest, Isa, and all the other people he'd been slowly getting attached to. All those alternate universe kids of his...
The solution was obvious.
Reinforcing his legs, the familiar pain coursing through his Circuits, Shirou jumped the banister, falling through the air, whilst simultaneously retrieving his Forest's revolver from his coat. He landed on the Ground floor, coat billowing around him like a cape, just in time to catch a figure moving towards him at an inhuman speed, a blur really. He could just make out a man in his 20s, around average height and slim in built, his skin as pale as a ghost. he was dressed in a black coat which didn't really fit him, most likely stolen. The one unique feature which really caught Shirou's attention was the man's eyes: a golden colour with narrow slit pupils which clearly showed him as a supernatural being, possibly a Dead Apostle. Narrowing his silver eyes in concentration, he quickly fired twice, the gunshots sounding like explosions which echoed around the room. He quickly traced Bakuya in his left hand, ready to fight in close quarters if it came to it.
-
Shezar the Assassin's Blade
The Rooftops
An Assassin must strike swift and hard, such is the nature of their craft.
'Art of Duplicity.' A flash of light and the one figure running was now two than three figures. Still rushing their foe.
Faster and faster they ran the buildings below leaving nothing but a blur below their feet.
Just 30 meters to go before they reached their target...
Raul, seeing the foe split himself into three, decided that it was time for himself to show his true form. The silver wings unfolded, the face morphed into the smooth globe of his natural appearance, arms and blades revealed themselves as the feathery armor covered his silver form.
A push of his wings later and Raul had adjusted his course to meet the foes head on, thirty meters cleared in milliseconds. He activated his embed, his first Key, Strike First. Reality warped around the blades of the Demon's arms, striking forward with a supernatural speed to decapitate one of his opponents, the other two arms angling to impale the middle opponent while his one of his wing swung around like a club towards the head of the third. The initiative would be his for at least the first strike in this battle.
The being known as Raul had an odd feeling that this wasn't going to be enough to quickly dominate this battle, but for now, it'd be more than enough.
-
'You enjoy this too, I see. When was the last time someone gave as well as took?' Valda whispered silently through the warmth passing between them and to the Salamander in the young man's heart. 'How hard has it been for you, observing from within poor Luka?'
"S-Shut up," Salamander gasped, her arousal impossible to hide. "I've dominated dozens... hundreds!" The metaphorical air around the flame spirit was steaming, as her sweat and juices evaporated instantly from the heat, both hers and Valda's. Indeed, it was true. The spirit, while considered a bit of a reclusive hermit by most monsters, still took her fair share whenever she felt that itch. At the same time, this was a completely different feeling. Salamander's fingers twitched, playing around her opening, dripping with unrestrained desire. "No one gives... that's not how it is..."
'Did nobody wear such things for him to take off? Or were they simply... made differently, where you are from?' she inquired of the Salamander, if she could even bring herself to the right state of mind to respond. 'Or perhaps they simply did it themselves, as a prelude to taking what they wanted.'
"We take," the spirit sighed, her mind slowly steaming up as Luka's fumbling fingers finally managed to undo the clasp of Valda's bra. "We take what we want, from who we want. No one stops us, not Heroes, not Goddesses... that's the way the world is." Perhaps it was feedback from being in close proximity to a kindred spirit, or Luka's lust carrying over to his mind's tenants. It was the best explanation for why the ageless spirit was so turned on by what was in all appearances an ordinary human woman. "But you... not even a Succubus could be this subtle. The boy never learned to deal with someone like you. What... what are you?" A rhetorical question. Salamander knew exactly what Valda was, and the spirit's fear of being consumed by her greater counterpart had twisted into a forbidden desire.
Meanwhile, Luka stiffened again upon finally seeing Valda's mostly naked body. Her bare breasts and barely covered hips tantalized his instincts, blanking out any rational thought. "Goddess..." he murmured.
For the first time in his life, Luka took. He moved, all gentleness gone, replaced only by blind hunger as a lifetime's worth of repressed instincts announced their awakening with an inaudible roar. He surged forward, enveloping Valda's lips with his own, and her breasts with his hands, paying no mind to thoughts of foreplay. Clumsily he imitated what his partner had done with her tongue, doing his best to take the lead, all while knowing that he was, in fact, being manipulated into doing so. His fingers sank into bare flesh, his palms felt Valda's raised nipples rubbing against them, and Luka revelled in hearing a pleased gasp from the woman who held the lead, even as she soon gave back just as much.
From within, the previously silent spirit spoke. "Lower..." Salamander hissed.
Luka obeyed. His left hand cupped Valda's breast, two fingers gently pinching and squeezing a nipple while his right crept lower, towards her promised, hidden spot.
-
Undead Behemoth
Main Circle
It's senses now dulled from the swing of the weapon the Behemoth shrieked in rage it's hand now finally fully regenerated it was began to counter when a second mighty blast from the cannon struck it straight in the center chunks of flesh and bones along with the heavy scent of rotten and burning flesh everywhere.
Another cry from the beast and it grabbed the nearest pile of bone and rock flinging more and more at the target before slumping down into a mess it's humanoid shape slowly beginning to form into something more circular.
Her tactics were having a noticeable effect now. The creature had become desperate, and was now flinging whatever it could find at the unit. The unit easily evaded or deflected all of the attacks; without coordination or tactics, it would be close to impossible to even graze her.
As she kept evading, she also maintained a steady stream of fire from her cannon. An advantage of being close to a circle absorbing Mist unto itself was that the unit herself could use this Mist to her advantage, fueling more of her attacks.
However, she momentarily paused when she noticed the creature suddenly slumped down into a putrid mess, taking on a rounder, more circular shape.
“Enemy appears to be neutralized. Standing-by.”
She used this moment to let her armor vent out. Large amounts of vapor were expelled from the armor's exhausts, letting out all the heat from her continuous usage of the Mist Cannon. However, while she took the moment to observe the beast's behavior, she wasn't letting her guard down, and had taken a defensive stance, her weapon at the ready, just in case.
-
INITIAL REPORT ON VAMPIRES
- Subject shows signs of extreme durability and regeneration, beyond that of a human. Subject was able to shrug off bone-breaking blows, and bullet penetration was minimal with handguns. Higher calibres showed more effectiveness, but still achieved less than ideal results. Striking with average human strength using tools resulted in more severe injuries, even with swords and bladed weapons, but regeneration proved to be an effective countermeasure and durability was high. Stabbing appears to be most effective, and could likely kill the subject with proper placement of blow. Subject attached fingers within seconds, limbs within minutes. Removing the head has not yet been attempted.
- Subject shows extreme aversion to flames. It screamed and shrunk away upon seeing a simple butane lighter. Exposure of flames to a finger proved most effective in destroying the limb, and regeneration afterwards was slowed down by over 80%.
- Similar results to fire tests achieved with partial exposure to sunlight. Artificial light does not produce such results. Higher levels of exposure not yet tested for fear of accidental elimination of subject.
- Allowing the primary body to be bitten by subject did nothing. No blood was extracted, and no changes were observed. Regeneration of primary body was unchanged. Analysis concludes that the subject possesses no ability to permanently damage primary body.
- Drinking subject's blood with primary body produced identical results, despite claims to the contrary. All possible changes were immediately reversed. Subject showed fear and anxiety when shown the results.
- Possession proceeded as planned, but control was weakened significantly. Control was initially almost impossible, as host soul resisted beyond human abilities, barring anomaly #5 in the previous world. Host soul was not active in altered time, and could not be communicated with, although it seemed to sense my presence. Over the course of several hours, control became more effective, but it remains to be seen whether the property lies in the subject or my own abilities adjusting. Will have to acquire more subjects. (Note: Hire Paper Man once more? Will need to gather funds.)
- Current levels of possession allow for almost perfect control of ordinary body movement. However, previously observed abilities present in the subject's species cannot be accessed, although the subject attempted to use them on its own earlier. Will need to test further to see where these abilities originate, and if they can be harnessed through possession. Will also need to see if abilities differ between individuals. Will have to acquire more subjects.
- Subject was unwilling to speak about Deacon Frost or Law Unto Herself, presenting no new information. Whether this was due to shoddy interrogation techniques, loyalty, or lack of knowledge is to be seen. Will have to acquire more subjects.
Final Conclusion: Testing partially inconclusive. More subjects needed.
Many, many more.
-
Bonesington
Sir Bonesington pushed open the large wooden door and entered the church to a sight of shattered glass, rocky debris, and ruined overturned pews. Weak sunlight shone inside through the open roof and ruptured wall, filtered through the thin clouds he could see gathering outside over the building. He coolly regarded the damage the church had suffered. He had no particular like for such places, but the artist in him mourned. What a pity, this state was. The altar at the end of the hall seemed to be the only thing untouched by time and misery. Bonesington gave it a curious look, then moved towards it, past the collapsed seats and hunks of stone littering his path.
Although the glass murals above it were cracked, eroded and partially missing too, they still illuminated the altar and the steps leading up to it with their colors, as they did in times. Atop the altar, was a single thick book, and besides it...
Bonesington stopped to look at the old, torn and battered standard draped on the ground next to the altar, and the symbol on it.
(http://i.imgur.com/blzMIxk.png)
The lich recognized it for what it was with some measure of interest, but at this point the confirmation did not faze his cold head in the slightest. The symbol in that damaged standard was the Gilnean coat of arms. And so, there was no doubt. This uncommonly damp spot in the green park and these dreary ruins were a small, ancient piece of the country of Gilneas, somehow transported to the middle of Nexus City.
"I do wonder..."
Maybe him and it weren't the only bits of Azeroth that had come here. There was no comfort in the notion for him, for his dead self had no insecurities despite lacking any real idea of how to return there, but it filled him with a tiny bit of morbid wonder at the fun happenings that such a thing could result in.
Without him noticing, something shifted in the shadows just as he was having these thoughts.
Humming, he floated behind the altar. The book on it was leather bound, heavy-looking, and its name stood out proudly on the cover in a showy and ornate font. "The Teachings Of Holy Light" was the name of the book.
Bonesington 'hmph'-ed lightly at seeing it, and ran a finger over the letters on the cover, more strongly than necessary. And as he did, he noticed a stark difference between everything else here and the book.
Not only was it remarkably well preserved, there was no dust on its surface.
-
"Fuck[/b]!" Deacon Frost all but roared, his eyes turning a pale, icy blue as his canines lengthened to true fangs at the sight of the giant death rock taking out a good chunk of his forces. His eyes narrowed as he watched that redheaded prick vanish, after the pretty man with the pointed ears and his vampiric companion. Due to his ascension to La Magra, Frost could sense other vampires even if they weren't from his native reality. So Pretty Man's friend could be a potential ally, but right now Pretty Man could kill that fucker's magic bullshit which made him a huge asset in Frost's eyes right now.
He put his hand to the communicator in his ear and said, "Anyone who wasn't fucking pulverized by that meteor sound off and give me a sit rep now."
There was static over the line. "Goddamn it," Frost said as he ripped the device from his ears and leaped into the air, twisting into a graceful dive towards a woman who was starting to cull his remaining forces.
******
"Our over dramatic foe is going to be waiting for us with some sort of trap," Gabriel told Angel as they stopped, standing in the middle of the Shadows.
Angel gave a terse nod and said, "Let me handle the wizard while you shut this thing off."
"He's a necromancer," Gabriel said with a slight cant of his head, "I really don't want him getting control of your body."
Angel smirked and his face transformed. His slightly overhanging forehead changed, eyebrows receding to leave a ridged and demonic countenance. Dark eyes like smoky quartz were now the color of lemons, and not only did he have fangs, but the teeth around them were curved in and sharp as well, allowing for a stronger bite.
"He's going to get a fight if he wants to do that," Angel said, his voice distorted by his fangs and a low growl.
Gabriel blinked and said, "That's rather unattractive." Then he smirked and stepped out of the shadows, letting go of Angel's arm as they entered the third circle.
******
The wards of the compound activated the instant that Lucas decided to barge in. A loud shrieking sound filled the compound, echoing through the amethysts strategically placed at various points through the fortress. The air started to reek of ozone as power was drawn out through the stores of the myriad of crystals collected there.
It focused on the one who activated it, sending a powerful binding spell down their path.
******
Lancer yelped as the loud, shrill sound filled his ears and almost doubled over and howled. It felt as if thousands of needles were being pushed and dug into his ears and his vision blurred. Forest had warned him that the wards were loud, but this was insane.
He also sensed a gathered spell being forced into effect and looked at Millie. "Someone's decided to make their way in," he said, trying not to wince as he let go of her hand.
******
Lady Wynn Noreen Umbra watched the battle below from her rooftop perch. A scowl marred her exquisite features as she saw the sheer sloppiness of the spell casting going on below her. Dabbling with the flesh of the dead was never a pleasant thing, and that golum made of dead parts was an eyesore.
So was the nimble mechanical monstrosity fighting it.
However the circles that were summoning pointlessly and gathering more and more power had a more nefarious purpose. They were a ticking time bomb that would go off and destroy everything around her. The Nexus City would be awash in magical flames and no more, save for the wizard who started the fiasco, who was an over dramatic redhead. However that over-dramatic wizard did not account for her son throwing a very nasty wrench in his plan.
She watched Gabriel with a mixture of sadness and pride.
If he had been a true Faerie he would have fought this rank melodramatic head to head with his own magic, showing him the true power of the Fae. However the incubus blood tainted his veins, but it was just the thing to completely and harmlessly annihilate the circles the redhead had created. Gabriel was clever.
All but one of the circles had already been destroyed in rapid fire succession in hit and run patterns. The wizard wouldn't be able to touch Gabriel. However, instead of just accepting this knowledge Gabriel had even gotten himself an insurance plan.
Apparently there had been some good-doer vampire helping the people of this town against the monsters pouring from the circles. Not that Wynn could find anything adverse to that. After all there was a certain do-gooder vampire she was quite fond of, but the fact that Gabriel had already had this won but created plans in the chance that anything went awry spoke volumes of his cunning.
Tired of watching, she decided what she needed now was a good absinthe and went to go look for such a place that served them.
******
Forest frowned at both Rider and Satoshi's Info Dumps and said, "Why does the Grail War matter here anyway? I mean, it was already won in your two realities right?"
Then at that moment the wards in the compound decided to go off.
"Bloody hell, we've got a bit of a problem," the vampire said, heading for the door.
-
As he fired, Shirou suddenly heard an ear-splitting screeching noise echo throughout the building, some form of warning system. He winced as the soundwave crashed into his eardrums, filling his ears and reverbating through his head like a jackhammer. His vision wavered momentarily, but enough to affect his aim. The bullets he had fired whipped to the side of the intruder, one passing close enough to part the man's hair as if disturbed by a strong breeze.
Snarling, Shirou resteadied his aim. The man was closing in now, Shirou only had precious miliseconds left to fire again before he was forced into close quarter combat, something he didn't think was a great idea based on the opponent's determination to get close.
Suddenly, his nose filled with the scent of ozone, a definite sign of some powerful spell being activated in close proximity, most likely a binding spell of some form. In any case, it meant he should most definitely put some distance between him and the intruder. Reinforcing his legs, Shirou threw himself backwards,flying backwards like some bizarre human rocket until he landed at a safe distance from the intruder. Crouching down to ease the strain in his legs, he watched with narrowed eyes as the spell began to activate.
-
Vanessa was done looking for the kid Familiar. While she was indeed responsible for it running away, she didn't expect to have to search for so long. Giving up, after checking behind a bush, she decided to make her way back inside.
That's when she noticed that suspicious guy. Brown hair, wearing a black coat and apparently having an interest in the compound. She missed an heartbeat when she saw him enter the building with all the subtlety you could find in a bulldozer.
She frowned, and ran after him.
---
Shuya dropped his cigarette butt when he spotted the guy approaching the place. He had been fed up with the constant complaints and arguments. He growled, his instincts reacting to the annoyance he felt. Weighing his options for an instant, he scowled.
He could just leave right now.
Or go back inside and deal with the fucker.
Leaving meant giving up on any pretense he had concerning a battle with Rider. At least, for a while. He could wait a bit for it but, he doubted she would ever accept something she didn't want to take part in. Worst case scenario, he could always attack her straight. No. She probably won't even accept it. The only option he had would be to blackmail her with Kiyoshi's life. That would surely motivate her. But he couldn't do that. Besides the fact he was just a kid, he sort of a liked the boy. He was stubborn and quick to judge but he was skilled and fun to mess with.
His eyes drifted to the sword by his waist.
Should he just abandon them with that newcomer? After all, he didn't owe them anything.
Besides a ridiculous hawaiian shirt and a shot of booze.
He smirked, thinking about every one of the people he had met that night. Perhaps there was some worth in companionship after all. His decision made, he unsheathed his katana once again.
"Alright, after that fucker's dead, I'm gone."
With that, he went back inside.
---
"Not this one either," declared Isa with a sigh as she inspected the room.
Ruu closed the door and turned to the magus. She didn't seem happy but suggested something. "Searching like that is a waste of time, Ruu. It would be wise to ask the others if they saw her?"
The Familiar didn't answer. He could feel something approaching. It was like a part of nature itself moving around. A chill ran through his whole body as ancient protocols implemented since his conception awakened. His sentient mind overrode by the surge of priorities taking over his body.
Prioritize survival.
Protection by prevention.
Eliminate threats.
Isabella, approached the kid-looking creature with worry on her face. "Ruu, are you okay?"
The Familiar ignored the magus and started walking away. From the stairs, Shuya appeared and took a quick glance at the improbable couple.
"What are you doing here," he questioned as if annoyed. "Find somewhere t-..."
He was interrupted by the wards triggering noisily all over the place. The magus covered her ears with a gasp and the mixed blood gave her a stare. "Go back to your room." He ordered.
She replied with a frown. "What are you going to do?" He showed her his blade with a disturbing smile as a response.
Isabella was about to yell something back but she didn't. Before she could even formulate a complaint about the way he was willing to deal with the matter at hand, the Familiar was by the half-demon's side. With a movement too quick for her to see, Ruu jumped and hit the man in the face. The body of the swordsman fell with a thud, a large puddle of blood spilling from the emplacement where Shuya's skull used to be. It was like his whole head had burst like a balloon. Scattered in all directions were teeth fragments, bone shards, brain matters and dark blood.
"Threat eliminated."
His statement empty of emotion made her shake to the core. The adolescent girl raised her eyes to Ruu only to see him watch her back. Too shocked to speak, her confused mind ran rampant, trying to make sense of the scenery. She stepped back utterly baffled by the random reaction.
"W-why did you..?"
No answer, the Familiar walked away. She shook her head, horrified by what she thought was an amusing fellow few seconds earlier, and raised an arm.
"Stop right there!!"
She couldn't let him go, he could attack anyone. She wouldn't allow that. Whether her call reached him or failed because of the wards still echoing through the hallfway, she didn't know. She reacted by instinct and tried gathering prana in order to seal the Familiar but, it was a mistake. She sensed a horrible pain going through her sternum. When she blinked, Ruu was looking at her, his left forearm plunged his her chest cavity. "...why?" No answer came to her, only the cold and inhuman look of a puppet.
"Hindrance eliminated," he said with a monotonic voice.
With a disgusting sound, the Familiar ripped the warm heart from her chest. Covered in the girl's blood, what once was Ruu turned back and walked to the stairs.
---
The pain ran through Vanessa like a thunderbolt and she fell face first. She didn't even have the time to question what happened, nor could she worry over her sister. It only took an instant of dreadful agony before her own life stopped.
---
She had pledged herself to a King she thought was a God. She had vowed to demonstrate her worth to a distant Father. She battled many a man and, through her resolve and guts alone, won on countless battlefields in His name. Working on being the perfect knight, she never let her pride dictacte her conduct.
She pushed aside the venomous glares and whisper on her path to the Throne. She ignored the temptations from her mother. She burred her doubts and angst in a Heart of Steel. She had decided to devote herself to the King.
Yet, all for nothing. The Father she sought for so long wouldn't acknowledge her. The King she thought so mighty rejected her legitimate claims. The blood of Morgan le Fay was the reason. Even though she also had His genes, Arthur would never accept her as a successor.
With bitterness shattering the Heart of Steel, she lead the rebellion against Him. As they finally met each other, both Father and Son exchanged blows. Mortally wounded, she attempted to reach the King but, it was not bound to happen. Instead, a sword pierced this Fathers of hers, as she finally met her end on this hill covered in corpses.
She gasped when she felt her body once more. As her entity manifested through the container of a Servant, informations were inserted forcefully in her mind. She had been called beyond time in order to fight again. Being given another chance to shine. To prove her worth.
In the Nexus, as two men entered the third circle, the magic construction emitted a faint glow, a strong pulse accompanied with a flash. As the summoning ended, a swirl of energy gathered around a sole figure clad in silver and red armor.
The Servant didn't move for a moment, examining the vampire and hybrid. Mordred stared intently through her helmet at the two individuals. Both seemed to be more than humans, but none was exuding the prana a magus should have been. And to make it even more confusing, she didn't feel a connection with any of them. In fact, she had no anchor at all.
Something was wrong with her summoning. She checked her surroundings and confirmed quickly that the magic circle used to bring her here had the necessary energy to do so. However, there were no apparent traces of it disappearing after the deed. Things were awkwardly complicated but, it would take far more than that to shake the Knight of the Round. Still, as powerful as she could be, without an anchor she couldn't sustain herself for long. Determining her Master's identity and why her contract wasn't complete was essential right now.
She walked slowly in the direction of the two unknown individuals. One of them had a strange and disturbing face, with pointy teeth, no fangs would fit better her. A Dead Apostle? This one didn't possess the characteristic red irises, but it wasn't uncommon for them to possess a set of Mystic Eyes. He didn't look like a magus at all, more like a fighter. However, his companion radiated a certain charisma she didn't see often. He was also attractive and had a peculiar aura. If anyone around here could be her Master, surely someone like him would match her perfectly.
She stopped a few meters away from them. With a simple gesture, her adorned silver sword, about as long as her own height, was planted in the ground. She watched the Dead Apostle, and then, his attractive partner. With her voice distorted by her helmet, as another measure to conceal her identity, she spoke to Gabriel.
"I ask of you, are you my Master?"
-
Satoshi shook his head and put his against the door "Someone kicking down your door is more than likely looking for you, going out there is painting a target on your chest. I'll deal with this, you stay here and here the rest of the details, Rider could you help me with this?"
Connor, Rin, Taiga and Tsukasa turned to Jack "You should leave with him" Rin told the hiding vampire as Satoshi opened the door.
-
Blood. I smelled blood as that door opened. I smelled so much blood.
I smelled it moving.
I smelled it pouring itself out on the floors.
I smelled the one who caused it.
Obsfucate was still working. Claws sprouted from my fingers and knuckles. Eyes narrowed. Kill. I wanted to KILL SOMETHING. The noise of the Wards going active. So much. So much. I needed to kill EVERYTHING. The Beast wanted out. The Beast wanted to kill. So. I let the chains slip enough - just enough. Just enough to let the Beast's strength augment my own. Whatever that thing that was covered in blood was, was going to die. It was going to die. It was going to die. It was so close. So close, within reach. It wouldn't be able to see me. It was going to die. I was going to kill it.
I was going to kill it or I was going to kill everyone in this room. The choice was obvious. I'm sorry, whoever you are. I won't ever know your name. But you'll die. I promise you. You will die.
Leaving the room, I smelled him upstairs. Actually. I could see him right in front of me. Sorry Friend. YOu DiE. NoW. Kid couldn't see me. Fangs out. Claws out. Jugular targeted. Knock him down. Use weight to rip throat out as he falls, drink the blood as he bleeds to death. His arm is covered in blood. I'd lick that off his corpse.
There was a split second, between my attack, and when Obsfucate came off. If he could die now, that'd be nice.
-
Knocked down, Ruu rolled with his unexpected aggressor.
Another hindrance to dispose of.
He was strong enough to make it lose its balance but not enough to overpower it that easily.
It saw the predatory look in his eyes but didn't show any emotion as the Kindred attempted to kill it. The puppet raised its left arm and placed it inside the monstrous jaw in order to stuff it. Without a care to what would happen to its limb, the Familiar smashed the beast against the nearby wall with enough force behind so that both would end up in the adjacent bedroom, making short work of the wall in between.
It repeated the process. A bathroom. Again. A silent and empty room. Again. Broom closet. And Again. A library. They went through the last wall and both ended up falling outside the building.
-
One of the things Resilience is great at is keeping you alive. Keeping you moving. Keeping you killing.
Even as he tried to smash me to death, I was gnawing through his arm, fangs slicing through tendons and my own strength allowing me to start draining him of his energy. This things blood was fucking pure energy. Bone crunched in my mouth as I finally severed his hand, after being smashed through a bathroom. I kept my arms tight and closer to my body. It was strong. Not a Kid. It was still going to die. I shifted my grip. CLaws started to impale the things throat from underneath and from above with claws digging into the top of its skull. Fuck. This. Thing.
I felt the blood within start shifting as the moonlight struck my back. There was a boiling in my blood. A boiling in it, sparked by the blood of fae and vampire. Sparked by frenzy, sparked by the weight of ages, sparked by the machinations of the Beast itself. So. My claws changed. I willed it. They changed. Sharper now. Stronger. Flesh rotted from around them, exposing this things skeleton. Its skull was cracking, the claws cutting through this false bone with a strength unmatched. It was bleeding from the now gaping and necrotic wounds in its throat. I could kill it.
And as we fell, as I sunk my fangs deep into the arm, as I rotated the pair of us into mid air so he'd land below me. I knew.
I knew that I would kill him.
And you know what? I couldn't give a fuck about it.
-
They fell, the puppet unable to gain the upper hand in mid-air, didn't fight to get above his opponent. It wasn't possible with such aggravated wounds. They hit the ground with a strange sound, their weights creaking the asphalt. The puppet blinked, its opponent was getting stronger as time went on and the regenerative powers embedded in its body couldn't sustain such high damage rate. The beast proved to be extremely durable and battled with frenzy, with enough power to be able to cut off a limb with only its jaw. In fact, it looked like it got stronger with time.
With its remaining arm already being drained, the childlike creature circled the vampire's waist and started compressing it with all its might. Its head collided violently with Jack's, trying to free itself from the inhuman grasp. Understanding it could very well meet its end here, it hit him again, and again, and again. While it had been created to be resilient to most damage, the Kindred fought up close, something the puppet wasn't used to. It had underestimated this opponent and was now paying the full price for it. In order to even out its chance, it had to take desperate measures. Since the vampire was draining its essence through the bite, there was only one thing to do. Dislocating its own jaw, it bite the vampire by the jugular, trying to tear it off.
It seemed this power struggle would be the determinant point in this battle.
-
The Vitae was running out. It was trying to crush me. If my internal organs hadn't have already been practically liquefied the impacts earlier, that might have been dangerous. As is, I was slowly dying, liquid organs and dead inert blood being squeezed out of ruptures in my abdomen. I was stealing some strength from it but it wasn't pure wasn't good wasn't delicious. At this rate, I'd lose without killing it. Then. It made its mistake. It tried to bite my throat through. It gave me an option, and one that was as simple as it was effective.
I couldn't gnaw through thick bone like this - the bones of the wrist and its tendons? I'd chewed through stuff like that before. But a fullblown arm? No way. Not when the little bastard was trying the same trick I tried to use.
But I knew where its head was now, and I had an arm free. Its throat was reduced to just bone and some muscle now. I was on top. I had the claws. And I knew just where to slash. Instinct. One to hold the head in place. One to sever the spinal cord. Then PULL.
The first punch impaled the head claws digging in through. Not good enough. Other arm trapped in hold, to escape it meant breaking it and possibly with it my chance of survivial.I broke my arm, and with the last bit of enhanced strength I could muster, drove the claws through his neck. The crushing stopped. The bloodlust faded. Its head was ripped from its shoulders, slack jaws falling from my neck.
And for the first time in my Requiem. I had killed.
And for the second time that night. All I wanted was blood.
-
James had found it, an area perfectly spaced from all the necessities and the book stores. He bought it for the next three years and a mountain of books to go with all the food he'd bought. He'd spent a good two hours shelving books and then nested in a sheet under the large coffee table with a head lamp for light.
he was content despite the fact that all his spending meant he would have to work again soon. In truth an apartment building would cost quite the penny to fill so he would have to work regardless.
-
Lucas
Dodge the bullets (barely), drop, move forward ready to-
"Ghk!"
A screaming, piercing noise erupts from the walls of the compound, reverberating in my ears. It hurts like red-hot needles being hammered into my skull. Frenzied, I move forward towards the man with the rifle, until suddenly, I can't move anymore. Something's stopped me, as what sounds like sirens wail throughout the compound. I can barely move even with the amplification that I've given myself; I might have to use "that".
Using it in such an enclosed space is dangerous, but I won't get another chance like this again. Even as my movement slows to a crawl, even as I strain my powers against this strange binding magic, I know I can do this. Everything slows for just one second, as they residents of this house react, and that's all I need. That I would need to use it against them angers me, but I don't have a choice. Here we go-
The binding that held me becomes inconsequential. Everything inside this house is inconsequential. They will not harm me. They cannot harm me. Throwing back my head, I howl inhumanely loud, louder than the wailing of the alarms. The weeds in the sidewalk outside, the trees, the flowers, any plants in the house; they all begin to grow incredibly fast, surpassing their normal sizes in a heartbeat. Long, thick vines begin to crash through the house as I scream, my body reverting to its true power, beyond the limits that this city has imposed on me. My eyes begin to glow, burning gold as I focus on my opponent.
I can't think of anything else right now other than crushing the vampire and her allies. My mission dominates my mind, the last thing that I thought of before entering this state. Shrieking louder than the alarms, I spring forward at full speed as the rifleman lands after his jump. Drawing an arm back as my hand curls into a claw, I shoot it towards his face, aiming to smash him through the wall so I can focus on the vampire.
-
"You're in love with Apostle-chan," Archer said with a shrug, "It's pretty obvious. Your reluctance to let her in a potentially dangerous situation. That look in your eyes when she was holding your hand. Let me guess, you're feeling a whirlwind of emotion and it's brutal and amazing all at once."
He smirked and said, "Lancer is going to adore this."
Am... Am I really? I... I suppose it makes sense, but...
Tom looked at the Servant in bemusement. "I suppose I did, but..."
The last statement snapped Tom back to attention. He raised an eyebrow. "The Hound? Considering how he was barking at me earlier, I suppose it's not entirely shocking that he'd absolutely loathe this. But what is your interest with-"
The psychic was cut off as the atmosphere completely changed. The door burst open as the intruder quickly made his way inside.
The man's primary thoughts were as visible to Tom as a neon sign- capture or kill Forest. And this was far from being any ordinary man.
...I have no choice.
The intruder was quickly stopped by a young man with a shotgun who looked suspiciously similar to Archer. That was all the time Tom needed.
Tom quickly stripped of everything and sent all his clothing to sit on a clean chair nearby in the kitchen, but before Rin could even protest or get much of a chance to admire those perfectly sculpted muscles, his form swiftly began to change.
Bile began to raise in Rin's throat as she caught sight of bits and pieces of the transformation. She had to look away, which was rather timely of her considering the flash of light that soon followed. She turned to look... and her eyes widened.
Tom was no longer a man. Far from it. The feline creature that stood in his place towered over even Archer, the sleek, alien form visibly tensed, the long, purple tail lashing about like a whip.
What... what the...
But Rin was given very little time to adjust. The wards went off and suddenly there was a cacophony of sound assaulting her ears, and she was forced to cover them.
Tom- or rather, the thing that was Tom, visibly winced at the noise, but the increase in power that accompanied the assailant breaking free of whatever force field that had come down to contain him seemed to shift his focus.
It seems I made the right decision... Tom thought to himself, and as the inhuman man made to swipe at the young gunman, the psychic grabbed him in a vice-like telekinetic grip. The things this creature was thinking... What he wanted to do to Forest... The scent of blood. It took every ounce of willpower for Tom not to twist the intruder's head off like a bottle cap, or snap him in half like a twig.
Frantically, Tom cast his mind out further like a net, searching for Forest. To his relief, he could feel her still.
Forest, I have the intruder. ...Though I must warn you, once you get down here, you may be in for a bit of a shock. He didn't want to reveal this part of himself to Forest so soon. For once in his life... He found himself ashamed of his truest self. But what alternative was there? To have this creature try and tear the woman he loved limb from limb?
He turned to face Rin and Archer. While the eyes were still most assuredly Tom's, their piercing gaze combined with the new, distinctly more terrifying form made Rin wince a bit.
Get Forest, and bring reinforcements. I have contacted her myself already, but I wish to be certain she arrives down here safely. I should be able to contain him for quite some time, but the faster we deal with this threat, the better. I would rather simply kill him, but I suspect Forest wants answers. Despite the fact that he had aimed that command mainly at Rin and Archer, he allowed the gunman to hear it too.
Rin would have normally objected to being ordered around like this. But given the circumstances and the source of the order, she simply nodded, albeit somewhat bemused. She had no idea he could talk in this form, even if it was via telepathy.
She looked at Archer, signaling him to follow as she made her way up the stairs, her worry increasing as the metallic scent of blood and death began to subtly pervade the air...
***
Lancer perked up, gently squeezed Millie's hand - after all the girl couldn't take the punishment that Forest could shrug off and retaliate- and said, "Wicked. You've gotta try this stuff Millie. It's crafted by the fae of Mag Mell themselves!"
Mille nodded absently. His explanation for the creepy group's actions made sense, but... Even so, Forest was still obviously bothered by it, and the way they went about it seemed... Off. Very off. Even knowing full well that Forest could handle herself, Mille was having reservations.
Maybe we should stay. I mean, if anything goes wrong, we could always serve as a back-
Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of her stomach growling. The young magus's cheeks flushed bright red.
"W-well, if you say it's good, it must be worth a try. I guess then we should head down-"
Suddenly a horribly loud, shrieking noise came out of nowhere. Mille made a small cry as the sound threatened to pierce holes in her eardrums.
Lancer yelped as the loud, shrill sound filled his ears and almost doubled over and howled. It felt as if thousands of needles were being pushed and dug into his ears and his vision blurred. Forest had warned him that the wards were loud, but this was insane.
He also sensed a gathered spell being forced into effect and looked at Millie. "Someone's decided to make their way in," he said, trying not to wince as he let go of her hand.
Mille merely winced in reply. But all of a sudden, there was a cacophony. Cries, shrieks and shouts... and then, the scent of death and blood. Mille's body tensed as she felt Ruby tap her hand, now back to her normal form.
"Uh oh, this looks bad... I'll let you use me again just this once, this is quite the emergency~"
Mille didn't argue. Instead she took hold of Ruby, and within moments, she was ready for battle. Suddenly, there was the sound of crashing walls and general destruction. Mille turned to Lancer, a grim expression on her face. "Should we go upstairs, then?"
-
Tumbling through the air, Shirou watched in satisfaction as the intruder was slowed to a halt, arcane symbols wrapping around his body like a chain. The infernal noise continued echoing throughout the house, grating on his senses; though this was nothing compared to its effect on his enemy. He was howling like a wounded animal, eyes becoming bloodshot, clearly being driven into a frenzy by the noise.
Shirou landed with a thump at the end of his arc, quickly reloading his revolver. To his horror however, the intruder began screaming even louder, straining the bonds through sheer physical strength. Snapping the revolver back together, he quickly aimed at the enemy's head, trying to end the fight as quickly as possible. As he fired however, giant weeds smashed through the windows and walls as effortlessly as a knife cutting through butter, deflecting each bullet. He was quickly forced to use Kanshou to cut away some of the rapidly growing weeds, lest it immobilised him.
Clearly this enemy had some sort of connection to nature, enough to influence the plants around him. No doubt he also had some form of rapid regeneration or invulnerability when conneted to the Earth, or a similar power. Shirou was snapped out of his musings by a blur of motion in thecorner of his eyes. He turned in time to meet the crazed eyes of his opponent, speeding like a rocket towards him, clearly about to thrust his claw-like hand through Shirou.
Instincts took over.
"Rho Aias!" he screamed, the petal-like shield snapping into existence just in time to intercept the fist. Shirou groaned at the force behind the punch, then screamed as two petals broke. Quicly pushing away, he threw two grenades and a flashbang at his foe. Jumping away as it exploded, he somersaulted through the air, retrieving his MP7 in the process.
"I am the bone of my sword," he gritted out, a stream of blood trickling out of his mouth. A wall of swords appeared behind him, many of them possessing fire abilities. He quickly loaded incendiary bullets he kept handy on his person, Precautions against magi or Dead Apostles who made use of plants to fight.
"Full Trace, Continuous Fire!" he yelled, the swords flying forward like missiles at his foe. He opened fire at the same time with his weapons, hoping to at least incapacitate his foe until more capable allies arrived.
-
Rider took the box happily and smiled back at Tsukasa, before opening it.
Mmm, delicious, she thought.
As she was listening to Satoshi speak, Rider started to tuck into the bento, savouring each bite. Kiyoshi, meanwhile, was still somewhat upset at Satoshi's revelation about Archer. He heard Satoshi's explanation, and frowned once more. He hated the thought of his dad being tricked into such a thing.
"Don't worry, it won't happen to your dad, he cares too much for you and mummy to do anything like that", Rider said between mouthfuls of the delicious food.
"Yeah, I guess...", said Kiyoshi, sadly.
Then, Rider turned to Satoshi.
"Look, when Rin made that comparison, she wasn't talking about Gilgamesh. Neither I nor Rin have ever met him. I'm sure he was just the typical ancient hero, so I'm not surprised you hate him, but Rin had no way to know that.
The comparison might seem bad to you, given the sort of as..jerks that usually become servants, but in our Grail War most of the servants died early on. Rin's only real interaction was with me, Saber and Archer, all of whom I am sure you would not mind being compared to. That's the comparison she was making, not to people like Gilgamesh, or Perseus", she said, practically hissing the name of her killer.
Before Satoshi could reply, though, he turned to the apparently-empty corner of the room and spoke.
"Sup fangs, you can leave now", he said.
Eh, what? Why is he talking to that... wait, what is that?
For a moment, Rider wondered why Satoshi was talking at that weird unimportant thing in the corner that something was telling her wasn't important.
But if he's talking to it, then it must be important, she thought.
Ignoring the thing in her mind telling her to just ignore it, she looked more closely. As she did, she could see that it was, in fact, Jack.
How the hell did he do that?
Kiyoshi, on the other hand, was just confused. His mental defences were not quite as strong as Rider's and, consequentially, he was torn between the logically obvious fact that Satoshi was talking to something and the strong compulsion he felt not to look.
Finally, he managed to overcome the compulsion somewhat, and looked in the direction where Satoshi had been looking. He could make out some sort of vague shadowy person-like figure, but he couldn't quite bring himself to look at it for long enough to tell what it was.
It's probably nothing....
But, still, he couldn't quite shake the lingering doubt, and the feeling remained until Forest's words jolted him out of his thoughts.
"Bloody hell, we've got a bit of a problem", she said, before heading towards the door.
Before she could leave, though, Satoshi spoke up.
"Someone kicking down your door is more than likely looking for you, going out there is painting a target on your chest. I'll deal with this, you stay here and here the rest of the details, Rider could you help me with this?" he said, as Rin turned to Jack.
"You should leave with him", she said, as Satoshi opened the door.
As soon as the door was opened, the vampire ran out as fast as he could. Rider could smell the blood.
God, what's happening?
Rider briefly considered whether she should accept Satoshi's request, quickly determining that she should. Whilst she had no particular interest in risking her life to protect random people, there were several people out there who she considered to be friends. Further, even if she had not been inclined to help, with Kiyoshi around doing nothing was not an option. And, even if that were not the case, it would be better to keep Satoshi's family on her side.
"Yes, let's get going, quickly", Rider said, sadly putting down her bento.
Kiyoshi, having also put his bento down, summoned up his swords and prepared to follow.
"No, Kiyo, whatever is out there could bypass us and come here. You need to stay here and protect everyone else", Rider said, pointing at the others in the room.
She knew, of course, that that was a complete lie, they could quite easily protect theirselves. However, if Kiyoshi came with them, he would be in danger, and their attempts to deal with whatever the problem was would be compromised by trying to protect him.
Kiyoshi wavered. He wanted to help Aunty Rider, but he didn't want to abandon his family.
"Kiyo, you wouldn't want Tsukasa-nee, Aunty Rin or Taiga to get hurt, would you?" Rider said, softly.
Kiyoshi looked around the room at his family, at Tsukasa-nee, Taiga and the alternate Rin. There was no way he could abandon them. Sometimes, being a hero meant you had to just stay back and protect everyone.
Kiyoshi sighed.
"OK, Aunty Rider, I'll stay here and protect my family", he said, desummoning his swords and returning to the bento.
-
Legs were broken, but the muscles were intact. I moved through, the pain, Resiliance keeping my body together as I moved forward, into the busted down door. There was a corpse in front of me. A girl. No heartbeat. Glassy eyes. No breathing.
Still warm.
Someone, someone up above me, was looking out for me. I didn't question this gift, simply collapsing over her and drinking deeply of her blood. Fresh. Fresh blood. All mine. And even as I fully drained her, I knew I'd need more. Even as my flesh knit itself back together, I knew I'd need more. I could walk now though. And that, that was worth more than anyone would ever guess.
-
Satoshi shook his head and put his hand against the door. "Someone kicking down your door is more than likely looking for you, going out there is painting a target on your chest. I'll deal with this, you stay here and hear the rest of the details, Rider could you help me with this?"
Forest's eyes narrowed as she moved towards the door. She said, "If some wanker has the stones to attack me in my own home, then the least I can do is face them."
That's when she noticed the smell of fresh blood in the air. Isa's. After helping tending to the poor girl's injuries tonight, Forest was quite aware of what the younger twin smelled like. Then she smelled two other blood sources, neither of which was human and one was undead. Considering the only other undead person here was Jack, he must have used his Invisible Man ability to get the hell out of here when the wards started to scream.
However, Isa was in trouble, and Forest wasn't about to let her get hurt again. Indigo eyes met green and the vampire said, "I'm going. Bugger off."
She moved to the opened door when she heard a very familiar voice in her head. Forest, I have the intruder. ...Though I must warn you, once you get down here, you may be in for a bit of a shock.
The blond blinked. Tom sounded okay, but there was an undercurrent of rage and she swore shame in his sending. Concerned not just for her charge, but her lover, she moved past Satoshi and out the door. I'm on my way, she said, taking off in a run to find her lover.
******
"The Hound? Considering how he was barking at me earlier, I suppose it's not entirely shocking that he'd absolutely loathe this. But what is your interest with-"
Before Tom could finish, the other man's demeanor changed. Archer scowled, wondering why he stopped. He lacked the instincts of Lancer and Saber. He also lacked their sense of hearing; his intensified vision was his sight. However, he had been in enough situations to sense danger.
The other man started to strip in front of them and Archer blinked and was about to say something when a loud squealing sound filled the compound, like an alarm. The air reeked of ozone and even Archer could feel the power growing. The wards were beyond those guarding the Tohsaka house and made the wards protecting the Emiya home look like a pathetic tin can alarm.
While this was happening, Tom started to change, his body twisting into something else. There was a bright flash of light, Archer had to look away, and when he looked back he saw first the terrified look on Rin's face. The pretty man was gone, and what was standing before them was some giant, bipedal cat-like creature who's tail was angrily slashing the air.
Somewhere in the house, Archer heard the familiar sound of traced swords being launched in machine gun speed. Which means that idiot found our intruder first, he thought.
Get Forest, and bring reinforcements. I have contacted her myself already, but I wish to be certain she arrives down here safely. I should be able to contain him for quite some time, but the faster we deal with this threat, the better. I would rather simply kill him, but I suspect Forest wants answers.
Archer raised his eyebrows at the feline-Tom's confession. He looked at Rin and said, "Come on, let's get Apostle-chan."
******
Lancer nodded at Millie and said, "Aye, let's go!"
He looked at the stick and said, "Can you reinforce her to keep up?"
Without waiting for an answer, the Hound of Ulster took off to where the sounds of battle were ringing out.
******
Angel stared as the petite and fully armored knight dressed in red appeared before them. The gaze under the helm raked over both of them before looking towards Gabriel. The voice coming forth was distorted and wrong, and made that way by magic. Something he knew all too well; he had Amy distort his voice why he had been "Twilight" so Buffy and the others wouldn't recognize him.
She, because Angel knew exactly what a girl smelled like even beneath layers of steel armor, asked, "I ask of you, are you my Master?"
Gabriel stared at her from where he was digging fingers into his still open wound. There was something off about the other man's blood, but considering he wasn't human Angel wasn't surprised. It wasn't as if it smelled bad; if anything Angel got the impulse to bury his fangs into the other man's neck while he buried . . .
Okay, just stop it. Yeah, so, Spike and I experimented, but this is like some compulsion or something, Angel thought, mentally shaking himself.
Gabriel answered, "The only Master I am of is of myself."
"You sure? I mean, you look like you could be into some kinky stuff," Angel said with a shrug, his voice slightly distorted by his fangs.
Gabriel sighed and said, "She's a familiar of some sort. A very powerful one, aren't you love?"
-
He looked at the stick and said, "Can you reinforce her to keep up?"
Without waiting for an answer, the Hound of Ulster took off to where the sounds of battle were ringing out.
"What do you take me for, some cheap knockoff? Of course I can~"
Mille glared at the rod before silently taking off after Lancer, her flight keeping her within short distance of him.
-
Satoshi twitched, not from Forest's somewhat silly affirmation but rather from the smell swamping his senses. "I get Forest's attitude, I really do but this is a tactical mess" he grumbled like the old man he truly was.
Rin handed Satoshi a vial from the chest and he drank it instantly without question "Kiyoshi, I'm counting on you to keep Tsukasa and Rin in this room, lock the door" he remarked as the curse bled from his features returning his emerald eyes and natural complexion.
"Rider not that I enjoy giving orders but I'm going to be busy playing medic so I need you to back up Forest" he said as his armour came to appear on him.
Silver and blue like his mother's own with a shroud and mantle resembling Archer's own save that it was blue with gold accents with the emblem of Pendragon emblazoned on it.
"Time for a bit of intimidation, admittedly I will look like an ass but either the bad guy runs off or attacks me directly" Satoshi remarked giving a smile to Rider.
"Either way everyone is safe" he said giving another old man sigh.
he began writing in midair blue and gold symbols then stopped "Those who come for battle, those of ill will. Here shall be your legend or your shame. You have come to face others but you shall now face me. I am the dragon who shall burn through time. Run now, for it it your last chance" his words were projected throughout the compound and spoken even and firm with no hint of anger or bravado as he began to march towards the battle
-
Lucas
Shrieking wildly, I hit the barrier that suddenly appears in front of me as my enemy leaps back, breaking two of it's petals. More and more vines grow through the building, crashing through the walls and floor as I rear back my fist for another strike. A bright light suddenly blinds me as my enemy throws some kind of explosive; my vision recovers and I move to attack again until-
"I am the bone of my sword," he gritted out, a stream of blood trickling out of his mouth. A wall of swords appeared behind him, many of them possessing fire abilities. He quickly loaded incendiary bullets he kept handy on his person, Precautions against magi or Dead Apostles who made use of plants to fight.
"Full Trace, Continuous Fire!" he yelled, the swords flying forward like missiles at his foe. He opened fire at the same time with his weapons, hoping to at least incapacitate his foe until more capable allies arrived.
Multiple swords pierce through my body in an instant, burning and searing my flesh. I scream until a sword goes straight through my head, taking off the top only for it to regenerate. Shrieking again, I run into the hail of burning bullets and swords; even as my body is cut and burned, it grows back, healing from even fatal wounds. I barely even notice the flash of light at the edge of my vision, so focused am I on killing the white-haired man before me.
In that moment, what seem like iron bands form around my body, and I am incapable of moving. My opponent takes full advantage of this moment to keep firing with his guns - the bullets tear through my immobile, immortal body. In between my eyes being put out by the rain of steel fired at me, I catch glimpses of something that looks like a large, purplish cat. That must be - more bullets slam into and through my head, burning as they go and stopping my thoughts. I don't have time for this!
Straining my hardest against my bonds even as my body is destroyed and regenerates, I roar louder than the gunfire, louder than the alarms, loud enough that my mouth rips open as I bloody my throat, my scream reverberating through the area.
"▂▂▃▃▂▂▃▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!!"
There is no 'Lucas' now, only a mad dog whipped into a murderous frenzy. The vines that had grown into the house now grow even faster, smashing into the compound as nature overruns the area I reside in. Any plants inside grow to far beyond their natural size, trees seeming to spontaneously grow from the floor. I strain against my bonds and move - not at full strength, but it's enough. I begin to run towards my new opponent, stumbling as I strain against the invisible bindings that hold me in place.
I can hear nothing else other then the overwhelming desire to kill my enemies that echoes inside of my mind. No mission, not difference between humans and monsters; my only thought now is destruction. Stumbling into a slowed run, still moving against my bindings, I make my way towards the cat-shaped monster, ready to kill him.
-
"The only Master I am of is of myself."
So, it happened that this attractive figure was not her Master. She couldn't detect prana from the man but, there was still this mystical aura about him which made for an unexpected yet conflicting concept. Not a mage then, something else. A spiritual entity maybe. Possibilities were endless.
"You sure? I mean, you look like you could be into some kinky stuff."
Her eyes shifted to the vampire. He didn't seem to show much interest in her. Little chance he would be the one summoning her either. She didn't appreciate how little attention he paid to her. Couldn't he detect the elegance and might surging from her like a blazing sun? Was he such an ignorant fool to not recognize such a glorious heroic spirit?
"She's a familiar of some sort. A very powerful one, aren't you love?"
Love?
A frown appeared on her hidden face. She would have been impressed for him to find out that easily if she didn't like that particular term. Mordred was not of one these brainless princesses raised only to end up as political hostages. Perhaps did he think that finding out her gender would allow him to become condescending? She would have to correct this misconception of his. But, until further affronts were aimed at her person, she would forgive the man who praised her. The Knight of Treachery decided to answer the inquiry.
"You don't look as clueless as your companion," she replied with arrogance. "You guessed right. I am Servant Saber, so, you're allowed to call me that. I came forth in order to answer the Master's summons and participate in the Holy Grail War."
She took a second to examine her surroundings. "Something is wrong, I should be able to sense my Master. Even if they happened to be failures of the utmost despicable kind, they should at least had obtained the Command Spells."
Mordred walked to the vampire and examined forcefully his hands and forearms without asking permission. No Command Spells. "You do not fit either," she said in a mutter.
The knowledge granted as a Servant covered a large range of possibilities but nothing matched. She could only suspect an interference in the summoning process. In particular, this circle, which, oddly, didn't fade after her appearance, looked very suspicious at the moment. For now, she needed two things, informations and someone to act as an anchor. The first couldn't wait, the latter could, for a bit. She would not, however, stoop so low as to feed on souls. Such an unbefitting act was not for the likes of her.
Oblivious to the fact that her silver gauntlets still held Angel's wrists captive, she spoke to him. "For now, I shall decide to make do with your companionship." Her voice was imperious, almost ordering the two to give an appropriate response. "Introduce yourself and enlighten me on this place. What exact purpose does serve this magical circle?"
-
Archer raised his eyebrows at the feline-Tom's confession. He looked at Rin and said, "Come on, let's get Apostle-chan."
Rin nodded at him before rushing upstairs. They needed to find Forest fast- she had no idea how strong Tom was, and from what she could tell, the intruder was quite strong...
***
What... what is this creature?
Tom's eyes widened. Even as severely injured as he was, even as the inhuman howl ripped from the man's lips, he still had the strength to attempt resisting the telekinetic bonds that bound him. Never had Tom encountered anyone of this strength before, even here in the Nexus. It almost caught him off guard enough to make him lose his grip, but he reinforced it even tighter, ensuring that his now berserk adversary was held in place.
No. He couldn't let the intruder live now. He was far too dangerous at this point. He knew Forest would need answers, to see the circumstances behind the man's "visit," but their immediate survival took precedence. Sadly, just ripping the answers from his head was a futile effort. Even before he had gone mad, the strange being's mind had been too alien for him to properly explore, at least within these circumstances.
But Tom could not kill his opponent by himself, not now. Now it took far more of Tom's energy than anticipated just to hold the monstrous man in place, and even just trying to snap his neck could mean the hold would break.
The young man that looked like Archer- yes, he had managed to injure him. The psychic's gaze shifted to the exhausted youth.
It is up to you now. If you have the strength to finish him, do so. He appears to be weak to the iron in your swords and bullets, so use that to your advantage.
He sighed. Also, if you could do so without hitting me, I would appreciate it. I cannot produce a barrier and use telekinesis at the same time, and if I somehow manage to die or sufficiently lose my concentration, our assailant goes free. Attack wisely.
-
So he had been correct. His enemy did have a healing factor.
Shirou's circuits burned, a familiar white-hot pain filling his entire body as he pushed it to its limit in order to sustain the continuous fire. He quickly dropped the revolver when it ran out of ammo, retrieving his Glock from his coat in order to continue firing, the air in front of him literally resembling a wall of iron. Yet if he didn't resort to these drastic measures, he would undoubtedly be killed, as the man, howling like a wild animal continued to press through.
Shirou watched in amazement as a sword ripped through the man's head, only for it to literally regrow the next second, his body continuing forward despite momentarily lacking a brain or nervous system. Even some of the higher Dead Apostles weren't that strong!
Suddenly, the creature (he could define it as nothing else) was forced to a halt. Taking a quick look around, Shirou noticed a strange feline creature staring angrily down at the immortal man. Shirou sent the next wave of steel onward, warily regarding the feline. Was it a threat?
The creature screamed once more, before abruptly changing targets, launching itself into the air towards the new aggressor. However he was stopped in mid-charge by some telekinetic force, most likely from the cat. As it hung in the air, Shirou noticed that its wounds seemed to heal at a slower rate: a wound which had been knitting itself together suddenly slowed down, moving at a quarter of its former speed.
A man's voice sounded in his head, similar to Forest. It is up to you now. If you have the strength to finish him, do so. He appears to be weak to the iron in your swords and bullets, so use that to your advantage. He sighed. Also, if you could do so without hitting me, I would appreciate it. I cannot produce a barrier and use telekinesis at the same time, and if I somehow manage to die or sufficiently lose my concentration, our assailant goes free. Attack wisely.
Iron? No, he had clearly been healing unrestrained under that barrage of steel earlier. It was something else.
Even so...it couldn't hurt.
He turned over the blueprints of his favourite swords in his mind, before calling into them into existence with his special form of magecraft. Nine swords, each devastatingly powerful, and each long since faded from human memory, hung in the air. They formed a circle, rotating slowly, as he worked out the best angle to maximise damage to the assailant whilst minimising damage to the cat.
He thrust his hand towards the floating target. The swords' arrangement changed, each now targetting a different vital point on its body.
"Nine Lives Bladeworks Revised!!" he yelled, the blades shooting towards their targets, gleaming silver missiles which cut through the air at supersonic speed.
-
Lucas
An even stronger force holds me in place now, as I hang in the air. Even this is not enough to hold me back - slowly, very, very slowly, I am moving in the middle of the air. For me time is slowing down to a crawl as my hands inch forward. I am completely focused on the cat-like being before me, and so I don't notice when my first opponent calls nine swords forth, each imbued with power that humanity has long forgotten.
Even as I howl, vines crashing sideways through the walls and up through the floor at the being in front of me, the white-haired man behind me begins his attack.
He thrust his hand towards the floating target. The swords' arrangement changed, each now targetting a different vital point on its body.
"Nine Lives Bladeworks Revised!!" he yelled, the blades shooting towards their targets, gleaming silver missiles which cut through the air at supersonic speed.
An attack I didn't see coming hits nine of my vital points at once, swords slamming into my body at speeds faster than sound. Two of them go straight through me towards the feline creature, but the res bury themselves up to the hilt. Death is almost instantaneous - in the air, I can die. I know this. But if even the smallest drop of my blood touches the earth, death is meaningless.
-
Once more, Tom's eyes widened. The creature's body was dropped as Tom created a barrier, the blades and vines alike bouncing off of it.
That was too close...
But Tom was still wary. While the monstrous man appeared to be dead, he had massive regenerative abilities when touching the ground. ...Could it be possible?
The psychic hissed as he dispersed the barrier and snapped the vines, before picking up the attacker's corpse from the ground telekinetically.
The fairy creature's corpse had touched the ground, albeit only for only a minute at most. Even with the body now suspended in the air once more, would that be enough to ensure his death?
-
Lucas
My body is dropped to the Earth as the feline creature in front of me defends himself. I touch the Earth for one moment, and that one moment is enough. My eyes flick open, the nine fatal wounds on my body regenerating almost instantaneously.
Sanity is beginning to be restored to me, which is bad. I'm starting to weaken - this is my only chance until I'll be too weak to resist the creature's binding ability.
I'm picked up into the air before I can move again, but I strain my bonds as I am lifted into my air, my howls weakening as my power begins to drain away. I can barely move, my hands and feet slowly twisting through the air as I keep straining. In a couple moments, with this creature's true power bearing down on me, I won't be able to move at all.
-
Shezar the Assassin's Blade
The Rooftops
The blade's struck clean through the first's body leaving nothing but an empty useless husk.
The second Shezar reacted much quicker than the first, he immediately changed course using his momentum to jump high into the air. From his belt he grabbed a hand grenade and quickly thew it directly at his foe.
The third Shezar was as quick as the second, taking a dive to the ground he grabbed from his belt a pair of SMG's quickly firing them straight above at his foe.
*******************************************
Undead Behemoth?
Main Circle
The defaming Behemoth was quickly losing the strength to fight it's as if it's Master had finally given up on any hopes of it winning. However just as soon as that happened did a female voice emerge from the beast's core.
"!להפיח חיים"
From the magical energy that was constantly flooding into the nearby Circle a small stream of it began to trickle right back into the beast. Reinvigorated anew the beast was quickly regaining shape and size it was only a matter of time before it fully restored itself.
But this new foe was not done yet, hidden amongst the building she controlled the Behemoth from a distance so long as she could maintain her connection and feed it with energy than she could continue the fight.
"זריקת עצם"
The skin of the reforming beast began to bubble and pop emerging from it countless bones shot forth and straight towards her foe she intended to prevent any interruptions!
*******************************************
Imnity
Meteor Ruins
*Schwing!*
After making sure that the life of her victim was gone she began to turn and leave when she spotted one that seemed unharmed from her attack.
'The leader perhaps?'
"Unfortunately for you my Master has ordered me to eliminate all possible threats, however you should relax, I'll make your death quick and painless. ברק אבוקה!"
A wave of her hand and a few more pages of her book burned into the air. Up high in the air the clouds quickly began to darken and waver charged with magical energy they let out a roar before releasing a might bolt of electricity straight at her target.
********************************************
Downy Reed
The Inbetween
He was only seconds away from responding when a new threat appeared causing him to immediately cancel and observe this new development.
'Another one of his tricks? No this one seems different the energy inside them flows differently from Gabriel's. Then perhaps the other?'
Curious but making sure to carefully hide his location, Downy observed their conversation listening in as they talked.
"Introduce yourself and enlighten me on this place. What exact purpose exactly does serve this magical circle?"
It was at this point that Downy decided that it was the perfect time to take action.
"That my dear, was my doing." Walking in from the shadows nearby it only took a moment to make sure his troops would not interfere.
"My name is Downy Reed and I am the creator and summoner of this magical circle." Making a polite bow to this stranger he made a gesture of peace before continuing, being careful not to let the other two out of his sight he quickly continued.
"The circle itself was created to gather magical energy then use it to summon beings outside this world. Meaning if you were perhaps summoned by it then you've come to aid me?"
-
Rider couldn't help but notice the urgency in Forest's second response. It was obvious that something she'd smelt had made her very worried.
What's going on? she thought.
Rider prepared to follow her out of the door as Satoshi had suggested, but before she could he spoke once more.
"I get Forest's attitude, I really do but this is a tactical mess", he grumbled, before taking a vial from Rin and drinking it.
Rider looked on in astonishment as his face and eye colour visably changed back to what they had been before Angra had corrupted him. Apparently, whatever he'd drunk had somehow broken the curse. Somehow.
What the hell is that stuff? And, where did it come from? I don't recall Rin being able to make anything like that....
And, if she had something to do that, why didn't she give it to Toshi as soon as they entered the room?
Unfortunately, though, now was not the right time to ask such questions. There were more important things to deal with, like whatever the hell was going on outside. Of course, Rider knew she needed to make sure Kiyoshi was safe first.
As Satoshi returned to normal, he turned and addressed Kiyoshi.
"Kiyoshi, I'm counting on you to keep Tsukasa and Rin in this room, lock the door", he said.
Whilst she knew he was almost certainly humouring Kiyoshi, and keeping them in the room where they would be safer from whatever was out there was not a bad plan, his statement still seemed rather odd.
Rider couldn't help but find Satoshi's statement a little odd. For one thing, even Kiyoshi was capable of breaking through a locked door with little difficulty, so any enemy that was any real danger to them would almost certainly be able to do the same. Secondly, whilst it did perhaps make sense for Tsukasa and Rin to remain in the room, surely it was a little rude to ask Kiyoshi to basically keep them prisoner, even if he was clearly only humouring him.
Kiyoshi, though, couldn't care less. He was just overjoyed to have the chance to protect his sister and Aunt. In his world, his Aunt was always protecting him.
"Of course, I'll keep them safe from anything that comes near", he said, smiling, still eating the bento.
Well, I suppose that if it gets Kiyoshi to stay here then what Toshi is saying isn't so bad, really. Plus, Rin and Tsukasa don't seem to mind, so they must have caught on to what he's doing. Not that it's exactly subtle..., Rider thought.
Then, Satoshi turned to address her.
"Rider not that I enjoy giving orders but I'm going to be busy playing medic so I need you to back up Forest", he said.
"Really? Because you certainly seemed to enjoy giving me orders back in the castle", Rider said with a smirk.
Speaking of which, I really hope that potion didn't harm Angra. I'm really looking forward to acting on that deal we made....
For a moment, she considered what to do. Ultimately, though, there was no reason for her not to do as Toshi had requested, at least for the moment. She had no particular preference for who she would assist (although she would, of course, need to ensure that the other Rin was safe and well, for the sake of her alternate master), and Toshi obviously had some sort of plan that she saw no reason to disrupt. Plus, whilst Sakura was always her priority, Rider did like Forest, so she would prefer her to remain alive if possible.
"Sure, I'll back up Forest", she said, turning to follow the vampire out of the door.
Toshi spoke up once more.
"Time for a bit of intimidation, admittedly I will look like an ass but either the bad guy runs off or attacks me directly", he said with a smile, now wearing a suit of armour much like that his mother wore and a blue shroud emblazoned with the red dragon that symbolised the Pendragon family.
Well, he certainly does look rather intimidating....
Rider left the room and followed after Forest. But, even so, she heard Satoshi's words, which seemed to be projected throughout the entire house.
"Those who come for battle, those of ill will. Here shall be your legend or your shame. You have come to face others but you shall now face me. I am the dragon who shall burn through time. Run now, for it it your last chance", he said.
Rider couldn't help but think that Satoshi had forgotten to consider the third option, that the bad guy would just ignore him entirely. Admittedly, if they did so she knew Satoshi was entirely capable of just jumping in and dealing with them anyway, but he did still seem rather too willing to act honourably and assume everyone else would do the same. As far as she was concerned, a battle for your life was no place for rules or honour. All that mattered was survival.
Still, I guess it's worth a try. Perhaps the guy will take the bait....
-
Medea
? ? ? ? ? ?
But first to get a bearing on her location. A quick look around and a check of herself revealed just about nothing except the fact that for some odd reason despite having no current anchor she hadn't yet disappeared. As for what she could see it looked like just the ruins of an old abandoned building.
'This place is unsuitable for a base, I must relocated.'
She needed a place where she could safely gather information, it would be a risk but at this point she shouldn't even be alive.
With a wave of her cloak she gathered the shadows from around her safely concealing her identity, making sure to check for anyone nearby she lept out of the window and into the cold air her cloak safely taking her above the city to scout out locations more suitable to her desires.
-
"Hey, don't you know it's dangerous for a woman to be wandering around town at night, and alone at that?"
As she flew out of the window, a voice addressed the woman clad in a cloak of darkness. The window had led to a balcony, and on the balcony a man sat, reclining and looking for all the world like someone enjoying a tan. Well, a tan in the middle of the night, while fully clothed in a rather garish red and black suit, sporting sunglasses of all things.
It was strange, of course. A Servant could sense the presence of human beings, and a magus from the Age of Gods had similar powers as well. But that sense was limited to living things. One could no more be aware of a chair's presence than that of an old corpse's.
The dead man spoke again, a smile gracing his angular features. "Not that I'm implying you aren't capable, ma'am. On the contrary, that ability of yours is impressive. But you must surely be new here. New to my humble palace," he gestured to the run down building, which was coincidentally built on top of one of his larger bases. "And new to the Nexus, a city formed from ragged space, of vampires and refugees from a whole kaleidoscope of dimensions. Am I not correct?"
-
Medea
Old Apartment
"W-what!?"
Startled at the sudden appearance and at the fact that her reconnaissance failed, she immediately went into defense mode her finger directly pointed at the man.
"Tell me who are you! Were you the one who summoned me!? And don't you dare think about lying, one wrong word and your body will be nothing but holes!"
She tried sensing for any type of Seal or contract but even then she could still find nothing of the sort, was he really the one?
-
"Summon you?" The man chuckled. "If I could manage something like that, I'd have a lot less problems. No, Sorceress, I didn't. You appeared in my building out of thin air, un-beckoned, like many of the recent inhabitants of this world. Actually, I'm glad you did. My cameras should have recorded the phenomenon for later viewing."
He didn't seem at all intimidated by Medea's threat. "And I'm afraid knowledge of my identity doesn't come cheap. The bit earlier was a freebie, but if you want to know who I am, it'll cost you."
Then, the man grinned. "Of course, using that magic of yours to turn this body of mine into minced meat will be a fine payment, if you're up to the task. I must confess that I've never witnessed someone kill using magic, and I'm itching to see it in action."
-
Medea
Old Apartment
"You want me to kill you?" She had never recieved such an odd request before. By this point she had already realized he was no living breathing human, perhaps something closer to her own Servant would better describe him.
"Fine I'll grant your request." Still slightly hesistant at such an odd offering she casted a quick spell nonetheless to a Servant it would be easy to dodge and even for a human it wouldn't be impossible, the best to way to fine out how serious he was would be something like this.
"πάγος!" 3 Icicles shot out in quick succesion straight towards the man, if he wanted to die now was his chance.
-
To give Medea a better target, the red man stood, stretching out his arms and baring his chest. As soon as he saw three icicles heading his way, the man moved to dodge. Within human levels, his eyes registered the action, and the nerve signals were sent to the appropriate neurons. Everything came together with maximum efficiency. A reasonably fast and agile athlete would have a fair chance of surviving in that situation.
He was barely able to flinch before three daggers of frozen water pierced his chest. One went straight through his heart, and the others put an end to his lungs. Limply, with blood erupting from his mouth, the man slumped backwards into his chair.
A moment later, his arm rose and ripped an icicle from his chest with a sickening crunch. Discarding the bloody point, he repeated the action with the other two, the entire process taking about 30 seconds as he struggled to get his hands around the slick weapons.
When he straightened, there was no sign of injury. Even his clothes had somehow repaired themselves.
"Fascinating," he said, smiling easily again. "Not the desired result, but I hardly expected a casual miracle, so you may consider your payment accepted."
He bowed slightly. "You may call me Sissel. I too am one who was summoned into this world, though I know not for what purpose, or who is responsible. There are others like you and I, sharing only circumstances in common. Though no name exists for their - our kind, I usually refer to us as Drifters, ones who for some reason were drawn to this city. I've witnessed monstrosities appear in the streets, only to be slain by confused men and women, boys and girls with blades of steel and fire. I've seen vampires infest the Nexus in less than a week, and Kings bereft of their kingdoms prowling the alleys and cursing the heavens. Lichs, sentient machines, necromancers, all manner of aberrations exist here. To explain them all would take hours."
"Is that satisfactory, ma'am?"
-
Medea
Old Apartment
'Advanced regeneration? Perhaps even greater then my own, he would have made an expert specimen back home.' Of course if she had wanted she could have done much much worse than a few simple Icicles but for her it was better to keep such secrets under wraps, the less people knew about her, the better.
"You must have good eyes if you have kept track of all this by yourself... However given the situation it is good enough for the time being."
Pausing to think for a moment she checked her surroundings once again before continuing.
"My name is... M-m... Caster, you can call me Caster for now. You mentioned before that this was your base of operations?"
Pausing yet again to get a feel for the area she determined that as far as bases go his was only so-so, of course nothing compared to something she could whip up. But given more time and effort perhaps it could be improved upon?
Finally lowering her finger and returning it to her shadowy side she thought for another moment before speaking yet again.
"I suppose you'll have to forgive my earlier rude behavior. As you may have guessed, I was a little bit shocked at my situation. At the moment I have little trust to share and I'm sure you're feel the same way, however if possible I would like to see about getting out of this situation as quickly as possible and I'm sure you would too. Therefore I would like to make a proposal of sorts. Why don't we make an alliance?"
Perhaps it was because she had softened up a bit thanks to her previous Master but she decided that at least for now that she'd need the time, energy, and manpower if she was going to find a way back home and she couldn't do it alone, if she was going to get back to him then the fastest way would be though the help of others.
-
Satoshi nodded to himself "keep the questions you have in the back of your head, I'll answer them after we clear out the bad guys" he told Rider. Her face had said it all although even knowing that she had them he couldn't tell what the questions were.
moving out Satoshi heard the sounds of steel piercing bodies but before he could turn to find out the exact situation he was confronted with two clearly dead bodies. He paused wearing a frown as he knelt down to examine them.
the male was completely beyond hope and sadly the girl was long gone as she didn't even twitch when Satoshi tried to heal her. Blood stuck to his armour as he rose up.
"I'm sorry" he muttered placing a barrier spell on the bodies to make sure no one disturbed them.
-
Shirou fell to his knees as soon as the swords were on their way. His body was burning from the strain he had placed on it, his circuits practically cooking his body from the inside. More blood trickled out of his mouth as he slowly got back up: that single punch had come close to pulping his innards. He would need to get some medical attention for internal bleeding sometime soon. He coughed out more blood from the effort. Scratch that, he needed it very soon.
He looked up just in time to see his swords hit their target, practically ripping the creature's body to shreds. He cursed though when he saw the two swords fly through the target, forcing the cat-like thing to block. In that short interval of time, the creature's body fell to the ground, where its wounds began to heal at its previous frenetic pace.
"I knew it," Shirou muttered. The thing needed a connection to Earth to sustain its powers. Reinforcing his legs, ignoring the pain from his protesting Circuits, he leapt up to the two creatures. The humanoid was being suspended in the air, but he could see that it was starting to break free, a desperate final attempt to save itself.
He contemplated shooting it in the head, but realised that wouldn't stop him one bit. Though added pain may drive him insane again, Shirou saw no alternative.
His face blank, he traced out several pure iron swords. Methodically as a surgeon, He sunk each of them up to the hilt into the creature's body, aiming for its joints to restrict movement, ignoring the screams it emitted as he did so. His job complete, he stepped away, wiping away a bit of blood from his face, confident that the cat had it under control.
-
"My name is... M-m... Caster, you can call me Caster for now. You mentioned before that this was your base of operations?"
"Indeed it is, Caster," Sissel replied. The name was a strange one. Most likely a title of some sort, signifying magical ability. But to use it as a name suggested it was unique. Perhaps there were other, similar titles? Sissel discarded the thought for later. Now was not the time for idle musing. "Well, it's one of many, actually. I have a few more underground bases in different parts of the city. I rather like this one, though. This building deters visitors and prevents people from finding the entrance, and is an excellent vantage point from which the city can be observed."
"I suppose you'll have to forgive my earlier rude behavior. As you may have guessed, I was a little bit shocked at my situation. At the moment I have little trust to share and I'm sure you're feel the same way, however if possible I would like to see about getting out of this situation as quickly as possible and I'm sure you would too. Therefore I would like to make a proposal of sorts. Why don't we make an alliance?"
"It's fine," he said. "At least you had the courtesy of speaking before shooting. Some of the others I've met here were not so polite. As for your offer..." Sissel's grin faded into a contented smirk. "It would be a pleasure. A mutually beneficial agreement is always welcome. Let's work together to find the truth behind our circumstances."
He extended his hand, waiting for her to take it. Not exactly a legally binding contract, but in a pinch, a handshake would do.
-
Caster
Old Apartment
Pausing only for a split second to dispel her shadow making sure to keep most of her face still hidden under her cloak, she cautiously took his hand.
"I don't suppose you could show me around? If this place is going to be our base of operations then I'd like to see about strengthening it as much as possible, and for that to be done I'd need to know more about it."
-
Lady Wynn Noreen Umbra flicked her fingers as one of the lizard men came rushing at her. Shadows came to life in rippling raven ribbons and surrounded the beast before hardening to something akin to steel with a razor edge. Blood oozed out first before squiring forth as the shadows sliced the lizardman into small bits before she released the shadows. Reptilian chunks splattered the ground as the Faerie continued to walk, a slight frown marring her features.
Her heels clicked the pavement with each step and as she went about on her quest for absinthe. The hairs on the back of her neck rose on end as she sensed something akin to her but different. Turning, she looked up to find a bar with most unusual clientele. Curious, the Lady of the Shadows walked in.
******
Any other moment Forest would have rolled her eyes at Satoshi's over dramatic transformation and "challenge". However, her concerns were elsewhere. Her keen nose followed the scent to Isa's blood and she stopped cold at the sight of Isa and Shuya's corpses.
Blood was splattered everywhere, staining the carpet and the walls. Shuya's head was nothing but paste, and Isa . . . Poor Isa. The vampire's hand shook as she lifted it to her hand as she looked at Isa's glazed over eyes.
Under the smell of all the blood and gore, she also smelled Ruu's odd scent and nothing else. Puzzled by all of this, Forest stored the information for later and continued running towards the sounds of fighting. There was an oddly beautiful sound of metal clanging over and over followed by gunshots. She was in motion again and was first greeted by the sight of many swords stuck into her walls and floor.
Then she saw the man with auburn hair pinned to the wall by multiple blades, Shirou on his knees and a giant purple feline. Her eyes widened as she recognized a very familiar pair of violet eyes. She shook it off and stared at the man who decided to break into her house.
******
Lancer was heading to the sound of the commotion when he heard the sound of blades clashing. He looked at Millie flying at his side and nodded. His keen nose smelled the scent of blood and he scowled.
As they ran down the steps, Lancer came across a very familiar form and stopped cold in his tracks. Shuya and Isa were almost unrecognizable in a spray of gore and blood. "Hell," he whispered, shaking his head.
******
Deacon Frost didn't flinch as the spell ripped through him. There was pain yes, and his body was torn asunder by the spell, but the damage was quickly being repaired. Hell, even his clothing was mended to true as well.
His eyes turned completely red as he smirked at his attacker, showing his fangs. "Nice try, sweetheart," he said with a hiss before lunging at her at superhuman speed.
******
Gabriel lifted his bleeding wrist over the circle as the Knight grabbed Angel's hands and looked him over. The vampire's monstrous face looked confused and he looked at Gabriel. Gabriel shrugged, more intent on stopping Downy Reed's circle.
"Introduce yourself and enlighten me on this place. What exact purpose exactly does serve this magical circle?"
Before Gabriel could answer, Downy Reed appeared right as Gabriel's blood hit the circle. "That my dear, was my doing."
"My name is Downy Reed and I am the creator and summoner of this magical circle." Gabriel noticed his polite bow, but the wizard made sure that he didn't take his eyes off Angel and Gabriel.
"The circle itself was created to gather magical energy then use it to summon beings outside this world. Meaning if you were perhaps summoned by it then you've come to aid me?"
Angel scowled and said, "He created this magical circle to destroy the city." Those golden eyes looked at Gabriel and he asked, "Right?"
Gabriel smirked and grabbed Angel's arm again as the magic circle died. He bowed at Downy Reed and said, "I doubt our knight friend would be able to aid you. Not against me anyway." Then he grabbed Angel's arm and drug him into the shadows.
Once they were there, Angel's features shifted back to normal and the vampire asked, "What the hell are you doing?"
"Strategic retreat," Gabriel answered, "We've stopped the excuse for a magic user for now, but we'll need reinforcements. Fortunately for us, I know where I can find some."
-
Lucas
Something like this isn't supposed to happen. I suppose I underestimated these people and creatures living with Law Unto Herself. Vampires seem to surround themselves with powerful allies - even as I struggle to break free in a last-ditch effort, I am seconds away from collapsing-
His face blank, he traced out several pure iron swords. Methodically as a surgeon, He sunk each of them up to the hilt into the creature's body, aiming for its joints to restrict movement, ignoring the screams it emitted as he did so. His job complete, he stepped away, wiping away a bit of blood from his face, confident that the cat had it under control.
I scream as iron swords are forced through my joints, crucifying me to the wall above the ground. I've never liked iron, and this is a crude (but effective) way of stopping me. I'm rapidly weakening… this is bad. My enemies seem to have figured out how to weaken me, and I'm nowhere near full strength.
My struggles become weaker and weaker, until, still snarling, I lose consciousness as my blood drips down to the floor, but not until I catch a glimpse of the vampire I came to destroy staring at me. She looks almost human - I haven't regained enough strength to regenerate from a pool of blood, so I can't do... much... else...
My head slumps as my conscious fades, still crucified to the wall with iron blades.
-
Mille didn't know what to expect when she headed up those stairs. She certainly didn't expect what she saw.
Her skin paled as she surveyed the carnage before her. Bits of skull and brain matter still stained the walls. Blood was everywhere. Isa's sightless eyes stared endlessly, right into Mille's soul. The whole room smelled of gore and death.
It took considerable resolve to fight back the nausea and lightheadedness, but somehow the young magus managed. For a long while, she just stood there, silent and staring. Even Ruby had nothing to say. But eventually, as Lancer quietly swore in the background, she walked closer to examine the corpses. Her body's reaction worsened, but through sheer resolve she kept herself from vomiting or falling unconscious. There wasn't much more that the blood spatter could tell her for the moment, not by itself.
She turned her attention to the damage in the wall, not willing to examine the dead much longer. There was a noticeably human shaped hole in the wall. Careful not to disturb anything, she looked through the opening. A series of similarly shaped holes went on for quite a considerable stretch. She could see the night sky.
Mille turned back to Lancer. "I think we can track the killer if we go through here. I'm going to go investigate."
Without waiting for an answer, Mille pushed forward through the holes, her body small enough to walk through them unimpeded.
***
At last...
With some relief, Tom released the auburn haired man from his grasp. Holding him up was no longer necessary, as he was rather firmly pinned to the wall. To the psychic's shock, his adversary was no longer dead, merely unconscious.
We cannot let him touch the ground. If we do, this could happen all over again.
Tom shifted his gaze over to his kneeling ally. He was plainly injured.
He was quite useful, so it may be in my best interests to restore him to health. Tom slowly walked over to the redhead, doing his best to try not to startle him. He kneeled down so he was on the same level.
I am certain that you are rather wary of my approach. Tom said. There was no gentleness in his voice, just a frank firmness. Shirou, is it? Do not be alarmed, I am merely here to heal your wounds. But I must have physical contact to do so properly. Hold still.
He placed a three fingered paw on his patient's chest and began to focus. Wounds began to heal, cuts closed up in an instant, bruises vanished into nothing. It would do nothing for Shirou's exhaustion, but at the very least, most if not all of his injuries were gone.
Tom stepped away from Shirou rather quickly, not fond of being so close to someone he knew so little of. By the time he had stood up again, he caught a glimpse of a very familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.
The psychic's features softened considerably as he turned to face his beloved.
Forest, you're-
Then his mind registered what she was seeing. The hint of a smile that had been developing vanished, his eyes took on a sad cast, the tail that had been wagging back and forth ceased it's movements and drooped a bit.
His features became serious again. This is the intruder, Tom said, gesturing to the pinned fae, now addressing everyone in the room. We cannot let him touch the ground. If we do, he will regenerate, and fast. He was actually dead a moment ago until I was forced to drop him to prevent myself from being skewered. For now at least, he is disabled.
He stepped a bit closer to her, but not completely, not as close as he would have liked. She likely still needed to adjust to his appearance.
What do you wish to have done with him? If we keep him prisoner, he will have to be suspended off the ground at all times.
-
Satoshi marched to the the room where he heard the battle. He found Forest, Shirou and a large white creature holding a man skewered by no doubt projected swords.
Satoshi thought about commenting on the fact that a Pokemon was standing in the room but quickly reconsidered given the city's insanity.
"Two dead upstairs, I'm sorry, is the attacker here still alive?" Satoshi asked.
-
"Well, I'm sure as hell going with you," Lancer said, gingerly easing himself through where Millie was going. "Shuya can't take revenge, but I sure as hell can."
He wasn't as small as Millie, but he was flexible enough to travel through the holes. It would just take him a bit longer.
******
Forest watched as the giant cat-like creature healed Shirou. She made a note to chide the Magus Killer later about treating himself better, but right now she was concerned with other things. First off there was some dude all but crucified to her wall, blood everywhere, and her boyfriend was apparently a male Jean Grey kitty cat werepuma thing.
Tom's harsh features softened when he saw her, his mental voice reaching her. Forest, you're-
Then she realized she must have been staring with some slack jawed expression because something like pain crossed in Tom's eyes before he moved closer, but still keeping some distance between them. Tom's voice was serious as he said, This is the intruder, Tom said, gesturing to the pinned fae. We cannot let him touch the ground. If we do, he will regenerate, and fast. He was actually dead a moment ago until I was forced to drop him to prevent myself from being skewered. For now at least, he is disabled.
He stepped a bit closer to her, and even though she wasn't empathic she could sense that he wanted to be nearer to her, but there was a combination of shame and hope of acceptance.
What do you wish to have done with him? If we keep him prisoner, he will have to be suspended off the ground at all times.
Satoshi arrived in his resplendent armor and completely free of his taint.
The blond man said, "Two dead upstairs, I'm sorry, is the attacker here still alive?"
Forest eyed the intruder and nodded, "He's not looking too pretty, but he's not going to die anytime soon. Apparently this wanker gets his power from the earth, so we can't let him touch the ground."
Then she moved closer to Tom and sent, Somehow I'm not surprised you can turn into a giant cat.
-
Mordred looked at the approaching figure with interest. She could sense his ability to use magic and nodded as he introduced himself.
"My name is Downy Reed and I am the creator and summoner of this magical circle."
He bowed, and Saber relaxed slightly. At least, the man didn't forget his manners even in this confusing situation.
"The circle itself was created to gather magical energy then use it to summon beings outside this world. Meaning if you were perhaps summoned by it then you've come to aid me?"
She was about to speak but, the Dead Apostle decided to give his take on it.
"He created this magical circle to destroy the city."
Behind her helmet, a surprised expression as she turned to the mage. Before she could ask for an explanation though, the Vampire was yanked forcefully out of her grasp by his comrade.
"I doubt our knight friend would be able to aid you. Not against me anyway."
The sentence, full of confidence, made her grind her teeth. Then, they disappeared, merging somewhat with shadows.
"What an impudent ruffian... I will make sure to make him regret these words," she growled.
Before giving her attention to the necromancer, she walked by her sword and picked it up. She refrained the envy to destroy her surroundings and turned to the only other person left in her presence.
"If you're indeed my Master, you'll show me proof of your right to command me. Show me your hands, let me see your Command Spells." Her sword lying on her shoulder, Mordred walked to him. "And then, be kind enough to justify the reason you tried to destroy the location for the Holy Grail War."
-
"Well, I'm sure as hell going with you," Lancer said, gingerly easing himself through where Millie was going. "Shuya can't take revenge, but I sure as hell can."
Mille turned back and nodded, a determined light in her eyes. With that, she pressed onward, through the many holes and destroyed furniture and plumbing until she reached the opening to the outside.
She looked down and reinforced her eyes so she could see. Another corpse. This one what appeared to be a young boy, but in this case, Mille knew better. There was a lack of blood from where the head was torn from the tiny body, which told her that the boy must truly be a familiar.
Mille turned to Lancer. "There's a body down there. I'm going to fly down and investigate." With that, Mille flew down to the ground, landing near the fallen familiar.
She observed the blood. Whoever had made the man-shaped holes must have been the source of the bits of blood spattered about. Mille crouched down and examined the familiar more closely. The blood on the familiar's body... It must have been the killer.
The young magus stepped away from the broken familiar, waiting for Lancer to jump down after her. It was best that she didn't continue on alone, even with the power of a Kaleido Stick on her side. After all, who knew what else was lurking about this night, especially after that assault on the Complex...
***
Tom found himself relieved as Forest closed the distance between them even further. So far, while she was naturally still absorbing the nature of his true form, she didn't seem repulsed by it yet, something he was quite grateful for.
Somehow I'm not surprised you can turn into a giant cat.
He couldn't help but smile a bit at that. Like in his human form, it looked more like a smirk.
Ryoko described the tension between the Hound and myself as similar to the natural animosity between a canine and feline. If only she knew just how very correct she was.
Tom was just glad that Forest was alright. He wanted to take her into his arms, to confirm for certain that she was safe and well, but... For now, all he could do was help her with this situation however he could.
-
It hurt.
As if something was broken. It couldn't feel its body. Yet...
It hurt a lot.
Its sensations were numbed, as if something was gone. It could see its twisted body lying a bit farther. It shouldn't be able to feel anything. Still...
It hurt so much.
A lone figure under the night. A familiar scent. It couldn't see clearly the person because of the conduct watering his eyes, but it could smell Finn. Why...
Did it have to hurt so much?
It couldn't see anymore, its vision too impeded at this point. It wanted to apologize. It wanted to repent. It wanted to be punished. It wanted to say goodbye. How...
Could it be so painful?
Flash of what happened. Killing a man. Piercing the girl. There was no way to make amend. So, that was the reason...
It felt like been torn apart inside.
It couldn't move anymore. Couldn't breath. Couldn't blink. There was only one thing it could do. With the remnant of what was left of his artificial life, the not-boy emitted a simple sentence from its distorted jaws.
"S-sorry Finn, Ruu can't be friends with you anymore."
Tears finally rolled but it was dead before the drops could reach the ground.
The Familiar's final words didn't reach his friend. In the end, it couldn't be granted this simple request. A price fitting for one who committed ominous acts.
-
As he stepped back, Shirou felt a spike of pain smash into his gut, his knees buckling as if unable to withstand a great force pressing down on him. He coughed again, throat spasming painfully, blood speckling the floor, indistinguishable from the other puddles of blood spreading across the floor.
Looking up wearily, he noticed that the creature had finally stopped screaming, its head dropping weakly onto its shoulders as it fell unconscious. Grimacing, he looked away: now that the creature had finally stopped thrashing around, he could no longer picture it as anything other than a man.
He caught movement from the corner of his eye. The cat-like creature! Now that the assailant had been subdued, it may have decided to turn on him. He shifted slightly, right hand gripped around the hilt of a knife strapped onto his belt, silver eyes staring down purple.
The creature approached slowly, careful not to startle him. Suddenly, Shirou felt a male voice sound in his head:
I am certain that you are rather wary of my approach. Tom said. There was no gentleness in his voice, just a frank firmness. Shirou, is it? Do not be alarmed, I am merely here to heal your wounds. But I must have physical contact to do so properly. Hold still.
Shirou tensed as the creature placed a three fingered paw on his chest, but did nothing else. The creature focused, a blue glow emanating from its hand. Wounds began to heal, cuts closed up in an instant, bruises vanished into nothing. Shirou felt the pain in his midsection slowly fade away until nothing remained, and he no longer felt the urge to cough. With this realisation, Shirou relaxed, silver eyes shifting back to gold, hand releasing the well-worn hilt of his knife.
As the creature stepped away, Shirou noticed Forest coming over. He nodded in acknowledgement, before slowly getting up. The creature's magic had healed his wounds, but not his exhaustion: looks like he would need that rest after all. He wasn't looking forward to it.
He observed Forest's interaction with the creature. Both's body language showed that they were completely relaxed in each other's presence, and the creature's strange cat-like features screamed of affection towards Forest. The lady in question seemed a bit confused, but otherwise reciprocated this affection. Shirou smiled. Lovers then. He was happy for them.
He dropped his smile as soon as Satoshi walked into the room. Though he may appear to be neutral for now, Shirou hadn't forgotten his previous threats.
His mood soured at the man's report. He failed after all.
"Who's dead?" he demanded.
-
Rose
She was in the middle of hearing the most fascinating story from this slightly tipsy shell of a man which called itself Uchiten, about a time when he ended up trapped in a tea cup that was still full of tea. It sounded like quite a waste of good tea to her, but apparently humans are quite inclined to such bizarre displays! Rose just nodded in the right places, passing him another drink to keep him talking, when quite suddenly-
Her heels clicked the pavement with each step and as she went about on her quest for absinthe. The hairs on the back of her neck rose on end as she sensed something akin to her but different. Turning, she looked up to find a bar with most unusual clientele. Curious, the Lady of the Shadows walked in.
She turned her eyes to the door, and blinked. Her eyes flickered between the hue she had chosen for tonight, and the color of her newest potential patron's hair, as she tilted her head and considered her. So familiar...
... well, if the shadowy woman could find her way to the bar and overcome the immense competition to have a chair so close to her, then she might be worth talking to!
That meant getting someone to vacate a seat. Not her problem.
------------------
Marius
He had no context for this war. He knew not the principals, the environment, or the stakes at risk beyond the potential for his own unlife to come to a sudden and violent ending. Which was, admittedly, how he expected everything to end eventually anyway. Still, he was not inclined to invite that end before its proper time and place.
A time that was certainly not right now.
He was also ill prepared to fight it in any case; his equipment was clearly corroded to worthlessness, from his dagger all the way to his armor. That last piece, his armor, was pressing deeply into his skin and cutting deep with every movement as he took a leap up and away from the chaos of the battle. Marius wrapped himself in obscurity, disappearing from all awareness, and... and...
Oh.
Oh, gods. What obscene conurbation was he witness to here? In what time had he found himself, that the insulae of the common laborer would be built of stone, and reach to such heights? Where were the hills of Rome, and the fine white polish of its temples?
If his lungs were free of debris, he would vocalize this strange feeling as he stood amid the teeming masses filled with blood, unseen.
Everything, it was just so...
-
Max
Scheisse.
Still reeling back from seeing the numbers of the vampire assault forces in the rooftops eradicated by damn meteors, Max had been seriously contemplating his chances and wondering if this wasn't the best time for a strategic retreat before a stray shot got him, a feeling that was helped in no way by the fact that tall-handsome-and-not-quite-kindred and his even more handsome buddy had decided to bail a while ago, and the commander of the vampires had just gotten himself involved in the fight, completely torn up by some sort of spell hurled at him, and then regenerated.
The area was turning into a place where he didn't want to be more by the second, and the only thing holding him back was the presence of his ancient kin still in the midst of that hell, about to be charged by an enemy.
It was, until said kindred leaped away in retreat and vanished alongside all traces of his predatory aura. And then Max cursed.
Today was not his night.
With the air far too hot to be around for no reason, he rushed down to the street level, jumping down a rusty set of fire escape stairs into an alleyway. The proceedings above were too much to ignore, but as he was right now, there was nothing he could do to interfere that would not put him at an unreasonable risk. And this was the first Kindred he'd seen since awakening at Nexus City. There was both the thought that it was the logical course of action to seek an ally in him, and the urge to simply communicate with someone that was familiar in a way in this world he was still very much a stranger to. Max couldn't simply let him escape like this.
He dashed to the street and ran in the direction he saw the Kindred jump down towards. Searching for traces of his target's passage (that crumbled armor must have been leaving pieces behind), Max delved into himself and poked the Beast, turning its predatory instincts loose around him to uncover anything hidden in the shadows.
There.
His senses were shaken with what was not quite a smell nor a sound, a primal recognition disturbing the edge of his perception with the fact that there was something there, and he acknowledged that presence.
Max grit his teeth. It wasn't entirely safe, but any other means to call his attention was too indiscreet. He had no choice. With a moment's focus, he dropped the veil concealing him from the world, and let loose the aura of his Beast at his target in as restrained a way as he could.
-
Satoshi moved to the skewered man and counted off the swords "I'll finish up here, there might be more than one attacker, the two dead upstairs can't be moved for now, I put a spell around them to keep ghouls, shaman and the like away from the remains, I'm going to put a float spell on this guy so he can't touch the ground" Satoshi stated. His voice was hollow as if a machine had said it.
-
Ryoko described the tension between the Hound and myself as similar to the natural animosity between a canine and feline. If only she knew just how very correct she was.
Forest did smile at Tom's response before Shirou demanded, "Who's dead?"
Her face fell as she could clearly see Isa and Shuya's bodies in her mind. Biting her lip, she turned to the white haired magus killer, a sad look in her eyes. Before she could deliver the bone crushing news, Saotshi said in a wooden, mechanical voice, "I'll finish up here, there might be more than one attacker, the two dead upstairs can't be moved for now, I put a spell around them to keep ghouls, shaman and the like away from the remains, I'm going to put a float spell on this guy so he can't touch the ground."
Forest said, "If any ghouls got in the wards would react, but thank you."
She bowed her head and said, "Shirou, it was Isa. Shuya's gone too. I haven't gotten a chance to look for Vanessa. From the look of it, it was at least quick." Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the floating captive. "However my gut's telling me it wasn't this wanker who did it."
Isa . . . I promised her that she'd be safe. I even gave her a crow pendent to protect her . . . Forest sent to Tom.
-
"Honestly, if you want to keep him from touching the ground, good old fashioned iron chains suspended from the walls would work better. There's too much that could potentially disrupt a spell. With chains at least you can replace or repair them as needed. Which is something I could do on both counts."
Archer brushed a piece of vine off his shoulder shortly after saying this, Hakuno standing close behind him. "Sorry for the late entry. We had a bit of a greenery problem in the living room. Somehow only the walls and floor were damaged, but it still gave us a bit of an unpleasant time."
He then surveyed the area. "...Yare yare, I just fixed up the kitchen. Now I'm going to have to repair the whole apartment building. And I thought the days in the Moon Cell were overly exciting."
Then Forest replied to Shirou, confirming the identities of the dead. Hakuno stood there in wide eyed shock. Death of her companions was no strange thing to her, yes. But somehow... when outside of the Moon Cell, somehow it all seemed worse. Archer put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
Rin, who had saw Forest run past on the way to fetch her, stood silent for a moment, her eyes shut. Steeling herself, she opened them and walked over to where the others could see her.
"Then we need to find the killer, fast. Ensure that no one else suffers their fate, if nothing else." She stood up straight, taking on an air of command. "One group should stay here and guard the intruder pinned to the wall while another group searches for the killer. We don't know how far they've gone, but the least we can do is search the area. Shuya and Isa deserve at least that much."
On the side, Tom received Forest's telepathic message. He may not have known either of these people, nor was he overly upset by their deaths... But Forest was clearly devastated by it, and in his mind, that was enough.
He walked to her side, closing the distance between them. Despite his monstrous form, he wanted to hold her. He wanted to give her at least some small comfort. But for now, he simply placed a paw on her shoulder.
Do not blame yourself. Some things are beyond prediction, even for someone as powerful as yourself. Even I, in all my power could not save them. All you can do now is find their murderer and ensure you are strong enough to face the next threat that would dare to attack you or your charges. And I will do everything in my power to aid you. I am not certain if that is of sufficient comfort to you but... That at least, I can do for you.
-
Satoshi caught word Moon cell and paused before speaking a mostly unintelligible sentence save for the last word which was float. "The spell lasts three hours Forest and don't thank me, I didn't save them so I don't deserve it. Avalon couldn't heal them, but I might have another way to save them, so thank me if that works." he replied to Forest as he tapped the intruder once and then began yanking out the swords.
"Archer. I am sorry for the way I confronted you, hearing you're from the moon cell does change the situation. However confronting you was my only choice as things stood. Death is death, I can't go watch people die needlessly, more over, I will not watch you kill yourself again." he stated removing the final blade.
he moved effortlessly into healing the wounds of the man, Avalon's blue glow sealing his wounds "That vampire is still running loose, it's unlikely however he killed the two upstairs, the rest of you should find out the rest of the situation, I can take care of this guy" Satoshi's words were simple statements the emotion slowly dying in his voice was the only thing that kept him from screaming in rage at the utter nonsense of the situation.
-
Lucas
The iron blades are pulled out of my body, and my wounds are beginning to be healed by an outside source. Are they... are they healing me? That is the height of foolishness, but I'll take it. They've offered me such a great chance to act, so I'll be gracious enough to do so.
As the last blade is pulled out of my body, my eyes open. It's a shame, what I'm about to do. I liked this coat. I kick out, my leg aiming to strike the man in the face with all the force I can currently muster.
I utter the first and last word of arrival, my voice rough from disuse.
"Fool."
My hand shoots forward, intent on ripping his head from his shoulders-!
-
Uchiten
"- It was very cramped. I couldn't even work up an effort to get out of there with how uncomfortable I felt - not to mention it would've been a shame to ruin such a nice cup - and dozed off for some two decades. It's like falling asleep on the couch far too early in the night in an awkward position and then you wake up and you feel sore but it's too much of a pain to actually move to your bed, but you're still tired so you let yourself stay there."
He paused for only a moment to raise his drink to his lips and moisten his throat. Then went on.
"If nothing else I'm grateful to that chi wizard for having the mind to put such a lovely antique to use and boil himself some tea, waking me up in the process, but trying to get anything at all done in that town with that kid and that... creative martial artist I'm not even sure was ridiculously unlucky or stupidly lucky or what was one note too much for me so I hitched a ride back to Japan, by which I mean I possessed someone going there and once at our destination painfully burst out of their body -"
Uchiten continued to entertain his kind host with his selection of amusing tales from his times of tomfoolery in the mortal world, alternating his expressive descriptions and tirades with sips of sake. He had to say, it was pleasing to talk to something who seemed genuinely interested and sharing some stories for a change. Taunting, torturing, deceiving, lying and bringing mortals to despair got somewhat passé after a while if you did nothing but those things.
If he had anything to say about it, he was yet going to convince her to join him in drinking and storytelling. Where he was wasn't important - what kind of place he was in was, but more than anything, right now he was interested in her.
He finished his cup and extended it to his host to fill up again, about to voice a request to hear her due response to his stories, but what happened next irredeemably split his attention.
Her heels clicked the pavement with each step and as she went about on her quest for absinthe. The hairs on the back of her neck rose on end as she sensed something akin to her but different. Turning, she looked up to find a bar with most unusual clientele. Curious, the Lady of the Shadows walked in.
He noticed her entering. How could he not? Dark, glorious, tempting and powerful, she made him stop and turn to see her waltz in.
He let a small sound of wonder float up his throat, and the feeling show in the almost unchanging mask that was his expression. Seeing her cast her gaze around, this lady of strength and shadows that did not feel dissimilar from his host, the corners of his mouth quirked upwards in a smirk. He held up a hand towards the woman on the other side of the counter, wordlessly requesting that she hold the booze for now, and turned to the fat, lost looking but blissful drunk on his left.
"Hey." Uchiten called out.
The human blinked once then turned to him with a peeved look on his chubby face, and spat a question at him.
"Whut?"
"Get up and free that seat, will you?"
The man's expression twitched dumbly as the curse hidden in the specter's words sunk in. His body moved without protest from his mind, removing him from where he sat, and he walked away without even picking up his unfinished beer.
Uchiten gestured softly towards the vacant seat with an inviting look at the fae newcomer.
-
Rider nodded at Satoshi's words, before following Forest up the stairs and into the room. Forest froze in shock as she entered, but Rider walked past her and into the room.
What she found when she got in there was utter carnage. There was blood everywhere, and on the floor were two bodies. One looked like Shuya, which Rider thought was no great loss, but the other....
Isa...
Rider stood there staring at the dead girl in shock and sadness.
She was such a sweet girl..., she thought, sadly.
Rider had killed many people in her time, but this was the first time she had seen someone she actually cared for die. Aside from her sisters, of course, but by that time she had been too far gone to care. Only a few hours ago, Rider had been talking to the girl, even promising to protect her, and now she was dead.
I failed her....
Out of the corner of her eye, Rider noticed Forest turn and run towards the fighting. Toshi had told her to go with Forest, but....
Some bastard killed Isa. She was kind, like my master....
Rider was angry and upset. She had been rather fond of the sweet young girl, and someone had killed her. She wasn't sure exactly who, but whoever it was, Rider wanted revenge and justice for the poor girl.
And, plus, whoever it is is still out there, and dangerous.
Rider wasn't sure exactly what had gone on, but it was pretty obvious that this had not been a mutual killing. Someone had killed at least one of the two people in the room, and most likely both. And, judging by the lack of damage on the rest of their bodies, whoever had done this was rather powerful. She knew Shuya was very strong, and he hadn't even so much as put up a fight.
What if Kiyo had been here?
Rider shuddered at the thought as she saw Satoshi enter the room and walk up to the bodies. He bent down to Isa and touched her.
Is he trying to heal her?
Momentarily, Rider felt some hope for Isa, but there was no sign of life in the girl. Satoshi placed some sort of barrier spell on them, before standing up and leaving, muttering an apology to her as he did.
Rider looked at the hole in the wall. Whoever had done this had clearly gone that way.
What happened to Jack?
Rider was somewhat suspicious. She didn't think the vampire had killed these two, there were no signs of a vampire attack and he had seemingly reacted to an existing situation, but she was still wary of him.
Regardless, though, she would not let Kiyoshi be the next victim. Whoever did this had to die.
Rider turned into spirit form and headed for the hole. As she did so, she heard Lancer and Mille enter the room and start talking. Apparently, they wanted to investigate what happened.
Well, let them investigate, I'm going to find who did this. And kill them, she thought, still clearly upset at Isa's death.
She moved through the holes from room to room, looking for the culprit until, finally, she reached one that led outside. Seeing yet another body down there, Rider jumped out of the hole. It was a young boy, his head ripped clean off. Oddly, though, there was no blood.
What?
Looking at the boy more closely, she could see that his internal structure was not normal. He seemed to be more like a magical construct.
A familiar?
Her thoughts were interrupted as Mille floated down and landed beside her. She seemed to be looking at the blood on the familiar.
Did this boy kill Isa?
Rider would have been shocked, but if he was truly a familiar, then his look was entirely unrelated to his capabilities.
Well, if he's the killer, then I guess there's nothing more to deal with.
Still, she couldn't be sure. For one thing, someone had killed his boy.
Possibly Jack....
It could be Jack, yes, but then it could not be. She needed to be sure. She rematerialised, and turned to Mille to ask her a question.
Before she could, though, a sound came from the familiar's detached head.
"S-sorry Finn, Ruu can't be friends with you anymore", he said.
Wait, did he just speak? Is he still alive?
Whatever had happened, he clearly seemed upset. He certainly didn't act like a cold-blooded killer, that's for sure.
Rider turned to Mille.
"Is he the killer? If so we need to make sure he doesn't get back up, he's too dangerous. And, we should find whoever killed him, if it's not Jack...."
-
Jack
I could hear heartbeats outside. I could hear a voice. The abominations, I think, just for a second. Then it went quiet again. The girl - the dead girl that I had found, was now empty of blood. I still closed the wound though, that my fangs had caused. It wasn't much but... it was as much respect as I could pay for her. Bringing her back would...
I don't know what it would do. But... perhaps it was better to be dead than in the state I am in. Bringing her back would ruin whatever peace she'd found. It wasn't something any Kindred could do lightly either. Her death had been quick, that much I could tell. A sudden stop, the lights suddenly going out, and the Reaper's embrace soon after. I hadn't gotten that dignity. I hadn't gotten anything close to a choice in becoming Kindred. So, I wouldn't be doing the same with this girl. To drag her back to the world of the living unwillingly, and damning her in the process, would be a cruelty beyond measure.
be
Closing her eyes, I adjusted my bloodstained and splattered coat. This was going to need to be replaced, considering all the damage it'd taken. For that matter, I still needed more blood. Stepping outside, I went to make sure that the thing was dead. I wasn't taking chances here.
Raul
Tricky bastards. The Demon's wing batted the hand grenade right back at its thrower, before coming together and shielding the being against the gunfire from the third assailant. Raul wouldn't win this in pure speed, likely. As the light rounds warped and deformed against his bladed feathers, Raul prepared for his next strike, blades coming up and intending to disarm the one with the guns. Literally. His blades swung down in a calculated arc, intent at the very least to sever the guns in half, or knock them away. This fight was going to be difficult, but Raul had come out ahead against worse odds than this before.
-
"Shirou, it was Isa. Shuya's gone too. I haven't gotten a chance to look for Nessa," Forest said, grief visible in her eyes.
Shirou's face became blank, robotic even. Not a trace of emotion could be seen on his face, a far cry from the emotions churning inside. Isa, Nessa...new names to add to the list of regrets he had accumulated throughout his short life. It was a long list, so long that Shirou could not be certain if it was worth all the good he had done to try to make up for it.
"I see," he said emotionlessly. He placed a hand on Forest's shoulder, searching for ways to comfort her, but ultimately failing. He had never been good at this, dealing with the aftermath of a death of a loved one. "Don't worry, you do not hold any blame for this," he said lamely, "No none does, except the murderer. Don't beat yourself up over this."
In a rare moment of tact, he chose not to tell her that Vanessa was most likely dead as well. The twins shared a bond which allowed one to feel the pain of the other. There was no way Nessa would be alive if Isa was given an instantaneous deathblow, as the shared pain would almost certainly have stopped Nessa's heart.
Shirou moved away, shoving the matter to a secluded corner of his brain, a maneuver he was quite familiar with. Catching a hint of magic, Shirou turned to face Satoshi, eye's widening when he saw the man healing the Creature.
"No don't!" he yelled in a panic, watching as the Creature attempted to decapitate itself with its hand. He quickly groped inside his pockets, retrieving a single-shot tranquilizer gun and firing in one smooth motion.
.
-
After everyone had left, Kiyoshi put down his bento, walked to the door and locked it, as Satoshi had asked him to.
"Don't worry, I won't let whatever is out there hurt us", Kiyoshi said, before returning to his bento.
"This is wonderful", he said, still eating. "Your version of mummy is as good at cooking as mine."
-
Satoshi stepped into the attack causing the kick to instead become a knee to the ribs which his armor absorbed easily enough. The second attack did damage although not as Lucas would have liked, instead it wrecked the armour around his free hand and caused a gash in his arm.
Satoshi heard Shirou fire a dart weapon but Satoshi doubted it alone would stop someone who regenerated as fast as Lucas so Satoshi pushed him against the wall to pin him and cast a sleep spell hoping one or both would work.
Connor nodded towards Kiyoshi.
Tsukasa's smile was as bright as ever but deeply hidden she lamented her position.
-
"There's a body down there. I'm going to fly down and investigate."
Lancer nodded and waited until Millie floated down. An icy knot was starting to eat away at his gut. There was a familiar smell in the air; the smell of someone he had played with and talked to just hours ago. Someone who called me Mr. Wolf, Lancer thought, which he realized the boy was probably complementing him.
Lancer knew he was a hound, but to be compared to the more noble wolf was something he never heard. Hounds were loyal and good to have around. Wolves were amongst the divine; cunning and family oriented.
While he was contemplating this, Rider moved in front of him and gracefully leaped into the hole. His eyes narrowed as the lavender haired Servant approached Millie and the corpse. Without a word, he jumped down and nimbly landed beside Millie.
That icy knot clutched his innards as he recognized the body before him and the broken head beside it.
Ruu's eyes were unfocused as he said, "S-sorry Finn, Ruu can't be friends with you anymore."
Then Lancer noticed the blood on the boy's hands. Hell, he could smell its coppery sweetness in the air and recognized the nicotine and steel scent of Shuya and some young girl who was probably a magus. The familiar himself didn't bleed, but then he was a doll. A very good doll, but one who lived a tragic half existence.
"Is he the killer? If so we need to make sure he doesn't get back up, he's too dangerous. And, we should find whoever killed him, if it's not Jack...." Rider said, breaking Lancer out of his trance.
Lancer eyed the boy and sent a swift prayer to Manannán mac Lir and turned to the exquisite Servant. "Aye, he's the killer," Lancer said before biting the tip of his pinky to get it to bleed. He traced the fire ruins on Ruu's head and body. "May you find peace in Tír na nÓg, little Ruu."
He looked at Rider and said, "Something made him do this. He was programed, I believe that's the word used for it, and considering his age and what made him something set him off. He was made to protect nature and something triggered him."
His smile was blood thirsty and more a baring of teeth than anything else. "And if it was Jack who caused it, I want first crack."
******
Wynn entered the bar and felt eyes upon her. Some overweight patron was forced out of his seat to make room for her. Wynn bowed her head in thanks before striding over to the seat, her long raven braid swishing behind her like a tail.
She perched herself upon the bar stool and held out her hand to get the barmaid's attention.
******
Tom's paw on her shoulder was warm and oddly comforting.
His voice was in her mind - she had the feeling it was the only way he could communicate in this form -, Do not blame yourself. Some things are beyond prediction, even for someone as powerful as yourself. Even I, in all my power could not save them. All you can do now is find their murderer and ensure you are strong enough to face the next threat that would dare to attack you or your charges. And I will do everything in my power to aid you. I am not certain if that is of sufficient comfort to you but... That at least, I can do for you.
Her jaw tightened at that, knowing that Tom was trying to comfort her.
Before she could reply to him, she saw Shirou's face come completely devoid of emotion, as if it had been wiped away. "I see," he said, his hand going to her shoulder, "I see," he said, his voice completely void of emotion. It reminded her of Quinn and she inwardly shivered at that. He placed a hand on Forest's shoulder. "Don't worry, you do not hold any blame for this," he told her, "No none does, except the murderer. Don't beat yourself up over this."
Satoshi was removing the swords holding the attacker's body up and was casting some sort of floating spell. Then she realized he was also healing the wanker too. Before she could protest amber eyes opened and he said one word, "Fool."
Then he moved to punch himself in the head after shoving Satoshi off of him. Satoshi took the blows like a champ and Shirou fired a tranq dart into the wanker. Then Satoshi started to press the guy into the wall, casting yet another spell.
Forest didn't move, she didn't have to. She just harnessed every ounce of anger, grief, and guilt she was keeping tight inside and bundled it together. Then she focused on the thing before her before shoving her mind into his with all the force and subtlety of a battering ram.
She wanted to hurt the thing who invaded her house. Chances were that he was responsible for Shuya, Isa, and probably Vanessa's deaths. So she made the mental invasion as brutal as possible.
No. You're not getting out of this that easily, you wanker, she said, moving to take control of the being's nervous system, You came looking for me. Well, I hope I don't disappoint.
-
"And if it was Jack who caused it, I want first crack."
"If you're talking about the state that thing was in..." I said, stepping out towards the heartbeats. Lancer. Some girl I didn't recognize but who smelled like a hint of chalk and a little like Finn. Rider. "Yeah. It was either frenzy on everyone in the room, or frenzy on that fucking monster."
Blood dripped down out of my jacket. Fuck this. I pulled it off, letting the bloodstains on it speak for themselves... that and the bit of a rib - wait no, several ribs - I just noticed was sticking out of my chest. Looks like that'll need some healing. "'Course, if you're talking about something else, I ain't got a clue." I really didn't. "And if anyone has some blood or something that'd be nice..." The beast was growling in its cage, desiring more food. "I sorta got fucked up with that guy."
It was then I noticed that my entire spine was practically fractured at impossible angles, and I wasn't exactly standing up straight. Motherfucker.
-
Medea and Sissel
Secret Base
After their initial confrontation Sissel and Medea started working together. Combining their unique skills they set to work on their plans turning a once weakened apartment into a mighty fortress.
While Sissel worked on capturing more prey for their research, Medea worked on fortifications and research into her projects being careful not to be to expose herself with her magical energy sucking skills. She admitted silently to herself that she had hit a stroke of luck, whether Sissel had knew it or not his base was on an area of the city ripe for gathering energy almost like a leyline in everything but appearance.
They saw the Castle appear out of nowhere, they saw Downy's crazy plans, but yet they kept quiet. Allowing others to do their dirty work without even knowing that they were there. Always watching from the shadows, silent as could be. There was nothing they didn't know and there was no one who knew them.
Finally after one month had passed and events unwinded before them they decided that then was the best time to take action.
-
Lucas
The armored man steps into my kick, and I only get him in the ribs; my strike at his head only ends up mangling the armor around his arm and giving him a large gash. Something hits me in the side, but I barely feel it as the man steps forward, pushing me against the wall and casting another spell. I feel drowsy, but-
Forest didn't move, she didn't have to. She just harnessed every ounce of anger, grief, and guilt she was keeping tight inside and bundled it together. Then she focused on the thing before her before shoving her mind into his with all the force and subtlety of a battering ram.
She wanted to hurt the thing who invaded her house. Chances were that he was responsible for Shuya, Isa, and probably Vanessa's deaths. So she made the mental invasion as brutal as possible.
-!
"▂▂▃▃▂▂▃▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"
The same inhuman howl that I let out earlier rips itself from my throat again. A psychic attack hits me full force, shattering the effects of what could have only been a sleep spell of some sort. The attack searches through my mind with tremendous force, learning everything about my motivation for coming here and the events that took place in an instant.
Even as this happens, I react, shrieking from the pain. I focus on all the memories of the wounds I have received during my time in this compound and bring that experience to the forefront of my mind, trying to make the attacker experience that pain in a very crude defense. I break an arm free from the armored man's hold, and shoot it forward at his eye, only to suddenly be halted as my attacker tries to take over my nervous system.
No. You're not getting out of this that easily, you wanker, she said, moving to take control of the being's nervous system, You came looking for me. Well, I hope I don't disappoint.
Through the pain, I give her a brief response, trying to fight her powers.
DiE ALoNe aND UnlOvEd!
-
'You enjoy this too, I see. When was the last time someone gave as well as took?' Valda whispered silently through the warmth passing between them and to the Salamander in the young man's heart. 'How hard has it been for you, observing from within poor Luka?'
"S-Shut up," Salamander gasped, her arousal impossible to hide. "I've dominated dozens... hundreds!" The metaphorical air around the flame spirit was steaming, as her sweat and juices evaporated instantly from the heat, both hers and Valda's. Indeed, it was true. The spirit, while considered a bit of a reclusive hermit by most monsters, still took her fair share whenever she felt that itch. At the same time, this was a completely different feeling. Salamander's fingers twitched, playing around her opening, dripping with unrestrained desire. "No one gives... that's not how it is..."
'Did nobody wear such things for him to take off? Or were they simply... made differently, where you are from?' she inquired of the Salamander, if she could even bring herself to the right state of mind to respond. 'Or perhaps they simply did it themselves, as a prelude to taking what they wanted.'
"We take," the spirit sighed, her mind slowly steaming up as Luka's fumbling fingers finally managed to undo the clasp of Valda's bra. "We take what we want, from who we want. No one stops us, not Heroes, not Goddesses... that's the way the world is." Perhaps it was feedback from being in close proximity to a kindred spirit, or Luka's lust carrying over to his mind's tenants. It was the best explanation for why the ageless spirit was so turned on by what was in all appearances an ordinary human woman. "But you... not even a Succubus could be this subtle. The boy never learned to deal with someone like you. What... what are you?" A rhetorical question. Salamander knew exactly what Valda was, and the spirit's fear of being consumed by her greater counterpart had twisted into a forbidden desire.
Meanwhile, Luka stiffened again upon finally seeing Valda's mostly naked body. Her bare breasts and barely covered hips tantalized his instincts, blanking out any rational thought. "Goddess..." he murmured.
For the first time in his life, Luka took. He moved, all gentleness gone, replaced only by blind hunger as a lifetime's worth of repressed instincts announced their awakening with an inaudible roar. He surged forward, enveloping Valda's lips with his own, and her breasts with his hands, paying no mind to thoughts of foreplay. Clumsily he imitated what his partner had done with her tongue, doing his best to take the lead, all while knowing that he was, in fact, being manipulated into doing so. His fingers sank into bare flesh, his palms felt Valda's raised nipples rubbing against them, and Luka revelled in hearing a pleased gasp from the woman who held the lead, even as she soon gave back just as much.
From within, the previously silent spirit spoke. "Lower..." Salamander hissed.
Luka obeyed. His left hand cupped Valda's breast, two fingers gently pinching and squeezing a nipple while his right crept lower, towards her promised, hidden spot.
'
'I am like nothing you have ever beheld, dear flame. Your world is as I will it to be. I will give, he will give, and your ways will give way to mine.'
Oh, but she found the word 'goddess' coming from his breathless lips so... agreeable.
'And you will thank me for the gift. I promise.'
Luka was just so clumsy; his inexperience with a woman this way, giving him any measure of freedom to act, was even more obvious now with this. Yet despite that, she wanted more. He had so much enthusiasm to share with her. He was trying; grasping and kissing until her body shivered from his eagerness, so unlike the uncertain and uncomfortable boy from before. She giggled into his mouth as his fingers pressed against her soft and heated skin, unintentionally tickling her; with their tongues entwined this was almost completely muffled.
It did not matter. She pushed him, just a little, a bit of roughness in return. Her nipples stiffened, and it had nothing to do with the cool air contrasting with her natural warmth this time. It was like this incarnation of her's had returned to younger times, eager to play with her crumbling food here.
Valda's skin, so sensitive and warm, flushed beneath his hands. Luka's fingers were trapped between her pants, held in place by her sitting position on the ground, and the warm folds between her legs that were his desire. She squirmed just a little, not sure if what she felt there was discomfort at the pressure or just a psychosomatic response from her mortal form to her anticipation.
She shifted her hips away from him, ignoring the uncomfortable friction of the ground beneath her so that her pants would get out of the way and he could appreciate her properly. Then Luka came up from her lips for air, at last.
Valda leaned forward until their foreheads were touching, her long blonde hair brushing again their faces while they caught as much air as they could.
“Slowly,” she breathed out against him, before a very fortunate touch made her shudder and smile. She tilted her head back and to the side a little, exposing her neck to him invitingly.
Harmless wisps of steam slipped from her fingertips, pressed against the bare skin of Luka's chest, and seemed to seep into him. And 'dear flame', the Salamander, had been promised truly, as each wisp seemed to gently wrap around and caress her in her host's heart. The essence of heat, hungry and alluring, rubbed against her like delicate silken scarves. So easily broken and blown away, if she wanted them to be.
But Valda already suspected that she would not, and so it was only a matter of time before Salamander breathed her in and partook of her gift.
'Is voyeurism all you... ah... want to do, little one?'
Her sweet temptation was interrupted... or perhaps enhanced, by the sighing and squirming that she needed no acting to embrace.
-
Tom, Archer, and Rin looked on in bemusement as Satoshi attempted to heal the unconscious intruder. Rin was slackjawed. Tom had announced the man's ability to regenerate after all, even beyond death, and from the damage done to the room it obviously took a lot to take him down, so why would this idiot try to heal-
But before anyone in the room could protest, the fae (rather unsurprisingly) took the first chance he could to try and escape.
The assailant was tranquilized by Shirou and the Imbecile chanted some nonsense that Tom suspected that was a spell. Doubtless it would have little effect coming from this idiot.
Then he felt it. He felt Forest focus all her rage, and grief into one brutal telepathic assault as she took hold of the fairy creature's nervous system.
Tom found himself conflicted. A part of him reviled at it, for he himself knew what it was like to have another take all control from him, and he could not help but feel some anger. But on the other hand...
This wasn't cold and calculated like what he had suffered. This wasn't causing the suffering of another merely for personal gain. This was fueled by pure, unbridled rage, and he knew that if he was equally consumed by anger, he may have tried the very same thing if he felt unbridled hatred towards his victim. So what anger there was towards Forest's actions there was overwhelmed entirely by understanding, his feelings for her, and... well, perhaps even a bit of fear. Both of himself and Forest.
He reminded himself not to ever go out of his way to get on her bad side.
But this enemy was strong, both physically and mentally. The latter was fueled by madness, his mind beyond most human comprehension, beyond what most could fathom. But these words at least were perfectly clear.
DiE ALoNe aND UnlOvEd!
The psychic entered the fae's mind for a moment. Only for a moment, as he didn't want to interfere with Forest's assault too much.
I think not.
The creature was telekinetically yanked into the air, and floated up to the left and higher on the wall, where he could be hit without hurting anyone else.
Tom turned to the other people in the room. We need to pin him to the wall like he was before. The swords weakened him because of the iron in them, is there anyone here that can produce swords out of thin air just like Shirou could?
Tom wasn't optimistic, as he suspected it was a rather rare ability, but a man that looked almost exactly like Archer spoke up. There was a faint bit of bemusement in his voice, more that he was having this discussion with a giant psychic cat than anything.
"I can. Stand back, I'll pin up your fae for you."
"Like shooting fish in a barrel," Archer muttered to himself. "Not my cup of tea, but... It looks like there's not much choice here."
With that, Archer projected a pair of swords, and threw them at the fae's shoulders.
Off to the side, Rin quietly snuck over to where the darkened Archer stood.
"We need to make sure that idiot over there doesn't mess things up again," Rin whispered, low enough so only Archer could hear. "Knowing what I've seen of him so far, it wouldn't shock me if he did."
-
"Okay, what the fuck is this shit?" The blonde haired man complained. "After all that failed transaction with the motherfucking shitskin gang, we landed on some weird-ass shithole that steals shit from other cities. We saw motherfucking Lady Liberty over there, now I fucking see Eiffel Tower on the horizon. I mean, where are we, China?"
"But Neo-san," The black haired lady beside him said. "That is not the Eiffel Tower, that is the Tokyo Tower."
"Oh, so yo' telling me that this shit over here is a fucking imitation of Japland's Eiffel Tower imitation." Neo snickered and replied. "This shit's getting mo' impressive by the fucking minute and whoever designed this city seriously has some brass balls. I just wonder why nobody ever gets sued for this shit."
The brown haired man, who is beside the lady and observing his surroundings, commented "But that's the thing about landmarks, Neo. Anybody can reconstruct them in their own lands and nobody will get the right to litigate. China, as you mentioned it, can freely build imitations of traditional European cities in their land and nobody minds it because there is no international law that states you can't do such. The only thing that keeps other countries from doing such is that they don't want to get ridiculed."
"And Rattus, man, I think we just found the second fucking country to do the same shit as those cunt-eyed Chinks." Neo commented and nodded to himself.
"But what is this country, Rattus-san?" The black-haired woman asked.
"I don't know, Yukina." Rattus replied. "I have no idea."
Neo then looked at his back and saw the tugboat that delivered them to his place. They moored the tugboat right beside the one of the city's piers in its docks, fearing that the merchandise that they have in that boat might drift away. Neo then asked "Man, we still have a lot of unsold gats in that boat. What we gonna do about it?"
"Find new buyers, of course." Rattus answered. "Since this is a new city, we might as well as expand our operations in here."
"Well, startin' ova' again, huh?" Neo said. He then pulled out his butterfly knife and checked its blade. "That shit's as easy as pumpkin pie, motherfucker."
"Can we then go home after that, Rattus-san?" Yukina asked again. "I do not have a good feeling about this place."
"Again, I don't know, Yukina. Perhaps it would take us a while before we get back home." Rattus said to her. "As for now, I think we should remove the merchandise from the tugboat and secure them to better location."
"Great fuckin' idea, I don't want that shit flying away either." Neo agreed.
Rattus and Neo then hopped back into the tugboat to carry the crates out of the vessel. Meanwhile, Yukina awaits at the pier with a warehouse trolley, where all the crates that have been taken out of the boat have been loaded in, when the boat is finally empty and the trolley full, they quickly pushed the trolley into one of the warehouses in the dockyard, where they finally unloaded the trolley and secured the crates. "I guess they will be there until we can find a buyer for them, I think." Rattus said, then pulled out a hip flask, from which he took a long drink before keeping it back inside his coat.
Then all the came out of the warehouse to check if anyone saw them. When they scanned the area with their eyes and saw that there were no witnesses, Yukina finally asked another question. "What should we do now, Rattus-san?"
-
Wanderer
For a very long time… how long? Longer than the lives of all the humans in the world. That's how I got this name, you know. Wanderer, who never stays in one place, moving with the wind and the sun and the clouds. One day I simply wandered here while I was waiting for the end of things. It was rather humorous, actually; I walked right into a hole in space without looking. It lead me to this place, with no way back.
The longer I stay here, the easier it is to see that this city is beginning to realize my presence - I can feel the battles breaking out over the city as I walk. Before, when I had all of the land to wander through, I could merely leave a place for a while, and the effects of my presence would fade away unless the war was too far gone. This city is big enough that wandering from district to district seems to slow things down, but soon something will happen.
I can feel it. I sit on a powder-keg of the factions, conflict, feelings, and rivalries of this city, and my presence will spark it if I stay here. I keep moving, my feet aimlessly wandering down the street. I have my trench coat and my hat on, the brim low enough to cover my eyes. I carry my shotgun slung over one shoulder as I walk - here, it seems that carrying unconcealed weapons is not so uncommon.
As my feet carry me through this place, I see a bar. The very sight invokes the memory of bars in the land that I walked through, ranging from simple wood to grand affairs of stone and metal. Lacie followed me into such places, sometimes, even though I told her to stay behind. She always was so very curious about everything...
Just being in there for a little while should not spark the tension that brews alongside the beer in almost every bar. I walk in, my leather boots echoing on the wood. The place is somewhat crowded; I should not stay for too long, then. I walk over to the bar, a slight hush falling over the crowd as they go about their business. In humans, even though they cannot understand who I am without my telling, my presence inflicts unease. In this place it should not be so great - these humans are distracted by their drinks and boasts and games of chance.
This city is full of strange things, creatures and begins from all aspects of the universe(s) gathering in one spot, and this place is no exception. At the bar, besides a crowding of humans competing for the attentions of the fae barkeeper, I see a spirit and another faerie. Perhaps I might stay a little longer than I had planned, perhaps not. It is not often that I meet the fae races, and the two at the bar are interesting enough. The spirit I pay less attention to, but nonetheless I nod to him, and the other two beings in this place.
I look over at a human, a simple, cursory glance, and he vacates his seat almost immediately. My ever-changing eyes seem to unnerve him, and I take his seat as he moves away. My voice is a little rough as I hold up a hand for the bartender.
"A shot of whiskey, please. Any kind will do, as long as it's strong."
-
Rose
"Ah, but isn't that such waste of good tea?" she asked of her spectral patron of Eastern spirits, as earnestly as one possibly could ask such a question. Tsk tsk, she shook her head. "But then again, I suppose he did get to enjoy it before the end."
Humans really had to be more appreciative of the positive sides to things like that. Why, she would bet good odds that the man hadn't even thought of such a thing before the strange lightning stopped flashing in his head meat!
Then she held up a finger as if to tell Uchiten 'wait'.
Wynn entered the bar and felt eyes upon her. Some overweight patron was forced out of his seat to make room for her. Wynn bowed her head in thanks before striding over to the seat, her long raven braid swishing behind her like a tail.
She perched herself upon the bar stool and held out her hand to get the barmaid's attention.
And her other hand reached out and took hold of kin. A wide, thorny smile overcame her face at the sight. "Oh, but you look so thirsty! What will satisfy you tonight, fair night bird?"
Her other hand idly poured a whiskey for the wanderer who asked, as well; she didn't take her eyes away from her fellow faerie throughout.
The glass slid his way, and not a drop was spilled.
-------------------
Marius
The familiar sensation of another Kindred's Beast pressing against his own, alerting them to its presence, shocked him out of his rapidly accelerating breakdown through simple force of instinct. Fight or flight, the need for confrontation and evaluation, a challenge to his Arete as the Greeks would have put it across the Meditteranean.
It must be one of the Africans, to perceive and provoke him in such a way; it is the only way he would have been recognized at all. His unattended nails clicked against each other as his hands clenched into fists, and he turned to face the foreign creature.
A pause.
It dressed strangely, as the living in this place and time appeared to. It... he, was some form of Gallic from the northern territories, or at least the descendant of one. He had that look about him.
His eyeless face must have shocked the northerner, because he saw the twitch as they resisted the urge to step back. Marius' thin face stretched into something resembling a smile, as he took the initiative from his observer.
"Ave."
-
"S-sorry Finn, Ruu can't be friends with you anymore."
Tears rolled from the little familiar's eyes as it- no, he, finally fell silent, forevermore.
Mille stood there, silent herself, unable to look away from Ruu's remains. She felt... numb, inside. She couldn't quite place why. Was it because he mentioned her brother's name? Was it the sad, regretful tone in his voice? Was it the tears? Mille didn't know. She just knew she felt nothing when she knew she should be feeling something.
She didn't notice the arrival of the two Servants, barely even processed Rider's words. Something about what just happened... had left her dumbstruck. And it made a part of her want to scream.
She watched as Lancer performed the last rites, and wished him well in Tír na nÓg, in Paradise. And even still, her mind was numb, her heart was numb.
Why? Why couldn't she feel anything? Did it mean she didn't care? She'd never felt this way before. So why? Why now?
She turned away. And caught sight of the Dead Apostle. And his many injuries, ribs sticking out and all. Suddenly, despite that will of steel, her lack of experience with such carnage and sorrow got the better of her.
She quickly moved a short distance away so she wouldn't disturb the area around Ruu's body. Her chest began to heave, and soon what little had been in her stomach stained the pavement. She was shaking a little, her skin white as a bedsheet.
"Hmph, some tough as nails magus you are~" Still, Ruby's taunt was gentler than usual, and the rod even bent down to give the girl a few awkward pats on the back.
-
She turned away. And caught sight of the Dead Apostle. And his many injuries, ribs sticking out and all. Suddenly, despite that will of steel, her lack of experience with such carnage and sorrow got the better of her.
She quickly moved a short distance away so she wouldn't disturb the area around Ruu's body. Her chest began to heave, and soon what little had been in her stomach stained the pavement. She was shaking a little, her skin white as a bedsheet.
"Hmph, some tough as nails magus you are~" Still, Ruby's taunt was gentler than usual, and the rod even bent down to give the girl a few awkward pats on the back.
"...What, I don't look that bad." I said, scowling at the holes in my coat I was starting to notice. Not that it mattered anyway. Liquified organ stains ain't exactly the easiest to get out of any sort of fabric. This coat wasn't exactly salvageable anyway, at least for polite company. Maybe some lucky homeless guy would gain a new coat. Good for him.
-
Rider nodded at Lancer's confirmation that this was Isa's killer, and then watched with a mixture of relief and some sadness as Lancer said a prayer for the boy before cremating the body.
Normally, she would be happy that Isa had been avenged, but the familar's final words had sounded regretful, and made her feel he was not fully responsible for his actions.
Her suspicions were confirmed by Lancer's next words.
Rider nodded sadly at Lancer's statement, feeling sympathy for the boy despite what he had done. She knew all-too-well what it was like to have someone she cared for used as a tool to kill others, after all. She was just fortunate to have had allies who could help save Sakura before it was too late. Even then, it had been a close-run thing, and Sakura still felt guilt about her actions to this day.
As for Jack, though, if he was responsible for what happened, then there was no doubt he had to die. Both the little familiar, Ruu and those he had killed deserved justice. However, she had no particular issue with letting Lancer do the job, as long as she could be sure he would succeed.
“Hmm, I see”, Rider said, sadly.
“Well, if he was programmed to act like this, then I don't hold him responsible. I know what being a familiar means, even if I was fortunate enough to be summoned by a kind master who won't abuse her position, and I understand what it's like to have someone you care for forced to do horrendous things, too. I hope the poor boy and Isa can be happy in the next life.
As for Jack, if he is indeed responsible, he must be destroyed. What he has done is unforgivable, and he is simply too dangerous to be allowed to live.”
Just as she spoke, Jack walked into view.
Speak of the devil....
Rider couldn't help but gape at the state he was in. There was blood everywhere, bits of rib sticking out of his chest, and he was standing oddly, as if his back was broken.
"If you're talking about the state that thing was in... Yeah. It was either frenzy on everyone in the room, or frenzy on that fucking monster”, he said.
Rider practically growled at him. For all that Ruu had done, she didn't think it was fair to call him a “monster”. He was, after all, a familiar, just like her.
"'Course, if you're talking about something else, I ain't got a clue." I really didn't. "And if anyone has some blood or something that'd be nice.... I sorta got fucked up with that guy."
Rider stared at him angrily, considering whether to attack. He had obviously killed Ruu, but that in itself was not a bad thing, given what the familiar had been doing. The question was whether he'd set Ruu off in the first place. He'd admitted to what Lancer said, but she wasn't sure if he really understood what Lancer was asking.
Before she could say anything, though, she noticed Mille standing staring at Ruu's corpse, before bending over and throwing up the contents of her stomach over the pavement. She was clearly not coping well with what she'd seen.
"Hmph, some tough as nails magus you are~" said Ruby.
Normally, Rider would have laughed, but right now she too felt hollow. Isa, her friend, was dead, and poor Ruu too.
"...What, I don't look that bad", said Jack in response to Mille throwing up.
“You look pretty awful to me...”, said Rider.
“Anyway, do you know what caused Ruu to act like this?” Rider asked, wanting to determine if he was responsible.
“And, no, I don't have any blood, at least not real blood.”
-
Rider nodded at Lancer's confirmation that this was Isa's killer, and then watched with a mixture of relief and some sadness as Lancer said a prayer for the boy before cremating the body.
Normally, she would be happy that Isa had been avenged, but the familar's final words had sounded regretful, and made her feel he was not fully responsible for his actions.
Her suspicions were confirmed by Lancer's next words.
Rider nodded sadly at Lancer's statement, feeling sympathy for the boy despite what he had done. She knew all-too-well what it was like to have someone she cared for used as a tool to kill others, after all. She was just fortunate to have had allies who could help save Sakura before it was too late. Even then, it had been a close-run thing, and Sakura still felt guilt about her actions to this day.
As for Jack, though, if he was responsible for what happened, then there was no doubt he had to die. Both the little familiar, Ruu and those he had killed deserved justice. However, she had no particular issue with letting Lancer do the job, as long as she could be sure he would succeed.
“Hmm, I see”, Rider said, sadly.
“Well, if he was programmed to act like this, then I don't hold him responsible. I know what being a familiar means, even if I was fortunate enough to be summoned by a kind master who won't abuse her position, and I understand what it's like to have someone you care for forced to do horrendous things, too. I hope the poor boy and Isa can be happy in the next life.
As for Jack, if he is indeed responsible, he must be destroyed. What he has done is unforgivable, and he is simply too dangerous to be allowed to live.”
Just as she spoke, Jack walked into view.
Speak of the devil....
Rider couldn't help but gape at the state he was in. There was blood everywhere, bits of rib sticking out of his chest, and he was standing oddly, as if his back was broken.
"If you're talking about the state that thing was in... Yeah. It was either frenzy on everyone in the room, or frenzy on that fucking monster”, he said.
Rider practically growled at him. For all that Ruu had done, she didn't think it was fair to call him a “monster”. He was, after all, a familiar, just like her.
"'Course, if you're talking about something else, I ain't got a clue." I really didn't. "And if anyone has some blood or something that'd be nice.... I sorta got fucked up with that guy."
Rider stared at him angrily, considering whether to attack. He had obviously killed Ruu, but that in itself was not a bad thing, given what the familiar had been doing. The question was whether he'd set Ruu off in the first place. He'd admitted to what Lancer said, but she wasn't sure if he really understood what Lancer was asking.
Before she could say anything, though, she noticed Mille standing staring at Ruu's corpse, before bending over and throwing up the contents of her stomach over the pavement. She was clearly not coping well with what she'd seen.
"Hmph, some tough as nails magus you are~" said Ruby.
Normally, Rider would have laughed, but right now she too felt hollow. Isa, her friend, was dead, and poor Ruu too.
"...What, I don't look that bad", said Jack in response to Mille throwing up.
“You look pretty awful to me...”, said Rider.
“Anyway, do you know what caused Ruu to act like this?” Rider asked, wanting to determine if he was responsible.
“And, no, I don't have any blood, at least not real blood.”
"No fucking idea. No fucking idea about what set him off." Some blood flew out of my mouth as I spoke. Oh that sucked. And what sucked more was that the blush was fading, with the amount of physical damage I'd taken. Hunching over, I voided my stomach as well. Whiskey and blood, mixed together. "And I don't give a shit, at the moment. Any blood. Anything at all. I'm in serious pain over here." Oh, not as much as I should be, but did this hurt somewhat? Yeah. More like a slight headache than anything else.
-
The castle was even bigger from up close.
The ruddy man looked up, craning his neck to stare at the castle's parapets. Beside him, several upright skeletal warriors stood idly, awaiting their next command. On the ground a half dozen police officers lay sprawled, their uniforms trashed and weapons destroyed. The man had little fondness for law enforcement. He had even less for displays of power worthy only of the Middle Ages.
"Go," he growled around sharpened incisors. As one, the mass of Dragon Tooth Warriors obeyed.
The gate had been breached before, and the supernatural strength of the warriors was soon set upon breaking it open again. While that group became a battering ram, others scaled the walls with inhuman agility, finding an untiring grip in even the smallest of cracks between stones. The scuttled, spreading over roof and jumping into any open courtyard they could find and spreading out like a spider's web.
They had not been ordered to refrain from violence, only to make attempts to spare the lives of those they defeated, for further interrogation. Any movement would be met with near mindless aggression.
It had been a bit presumptuous, the man 'behind' the man knew, but he couldn't bring himself to care about disposable troops. Doubtless the owner would soon return and find his palace ransacked, but that was fine as well. Putting their name out into the city was almost as important as finding information about its visitors and inhabitants. Stories of walking dead would spread fear into people's hearts, and if they were lucky, those without hearts as well.
And if they ended up slaughtering the place's inhabitants, there would be no regrets.
The man walked to one of the fallen policewomen and prised a cell phone out of her hand. He flipped it open and dialed a number.
Many miles away, a similar situation was preparing itself. A woman with dead eyes and an undead body gazed at an ugly apartment complex without blinking, a mobile phone pressed against her ear. Around her, and around the complex, a much smaller group of skeletal troops had formed up, surrounding the place from the ground. Behind her, a collection of junk and metallic parts shifted around, growing and coming together like some kind of sentient monstrosity.
The woman had been standing there for a few hours. The camera set up on a tripod beside her had been there for more than twenty four of them. She crouched down next to it, and with clumsy fingers replaced its battery. It had been beaming its video to a different location all day, and it would need to last at least another hour to document the events that were about to take place. It had seen explosions, assaults, slaughter, and some rather creepy cult-like behaviour, but it had yet to see what truly mattered.
"Bait," the woman said. The dozen skeleton warriors, as one, let out an inhuman howl, not from any sort of theoretical emotion, but as a calculated announcement of their presence to the Law Unto Herself. As one mass, they trudged forward, their only goal to get inside the apartment building while killing anything in their way. Unknown to their non-existent minds, their true purpose was simply to stir up the hornet's nest some more. The cameras secured to the insides of their rib cages would show those watching everything they needed to see.
The main camera's light beeped red to show it was on and broadcasting, as did countless other cameras all around the complex.
The woman dialed another number on her cell phone.
Even more miles away, on the other side of the city, a man in a red suit relaxed on a recliner on a balcony. He closed the phone in his hand and pocketed it. He took the bottle of alcohol on the small table beside him, twisted off the cap, and poured a small portion into a glass in his other hand, taking a flavourless sip before replacing the bottle and glancing at the second, untouched glass next to it.
"It's begun," he said to the hooded sorceress on the other side of the balcony. "Tequila?"
-
After a long silence from the three, Rattus finally spoke out. "Take out your bags from the tugboat."
"Wait, we fucking forgot that but not the guns? Goddamn, I swear this group's having a fucking collective memory loss. We're all being fucking senile!" Neo commented.
"Uwaah... It cannot be helped." Yukina said rubbing the back of her head. She and Rattus then jumped back into the tugboat to get their bags. Neo stayed behind in the pier.
"Neo, are you not going to get your belongings?" Rattus asked him from the boat.
"Just toss them to me. And don't fucking drop them into the water, you asshole." Neo said, before he pulled out from his leather jacket a packet of Lucky Strikes. He pulled a cigarette stick out from the packet before he kept the rest back into his jacket. He then put the stick on his lips, flicked his fingers which created a small flame from the tip of his pointer finger and lit the cigarette before he waved his finger around to extinguish the flames. By the time Neo was done lighting his cigarette, his two fellows were done unloading the tugboat with their belongings. Except Neo's bags. He noticed this and asked "Okay, why the shit didn't you get mah bags?"
"I suggest, in order to keep our privacy regarding our personal effects and not blame each other for any damage to any of our belongings, that you get onto this boat and get them by yourself." Rattus flatly said, as per typical of his voice.
Neo stared at him for a while, then looked away and snickered out of disappointment. He then uttered "Fuck you." before hopping into the boat, getting his bags and tossing them into the pier before the three of them moved out of the boat. They then carried their own personal bags and walked away from the pier.
Rattus then said, "I was planning to buy us a small house or rent a hotel room for us in this city but we don't know what country is this, so I don't know what currency they are using."
"Well, this is where I do my fucking awesome magic." Neo commented.
"Is that so? How would you deal with this situation?" Rattus inquired.
"This is all I need." He said as he pulls out his butterfly knife. "If you don't rememba', I used this as a money-making machine on the streets back in the good ol' days. If it's a different fucking place, it doesn't matter, this can get you far. Same shit, different city."
"B-but maybe we could just ask the people who live in this place what money they use, right? We do not have to have any bloodshed." Yukina intervened, hesitant of Neo's method.
"Bullshit. If they knew were fresh off the boat, they'll con our asses, that's the name of fucking game." Neo retorted. "And besides, I also get some extra moolah this way. That is, if Ratt allows me to do my work..."
Rattus and, by extension, his fellows went silent about making a decision. But he finally arrived to it with the words "Neo, you have my permission. Do your work. Report back with results. Try not to get caught."
Neo chuckled for a couple seconds and said, "You don't fucking trust me, don't ya'? Put this shit in your minds, I ain't gonna fail." Neo then kept his blade back and started to walk away from the two of them and out of the dockyard.
Yukina and Rattus looked at each other, before he said "Yukina, let's go bring out bags to the warehouse, take a rest and wait for Neo to finish his assignment." She nodded in agreement and the two of them went back to the warehouse.
-
Wanderer
The shot of whiskey slides over to me, gliding across the surface of the counter without spilling a drop. That's good. The barkeeper knows what she's doing. I raise it a little in appreciation to her, even though her focus is entirely on the other faerie, and toss it back. It burns on the way down before evaporating as it enters my stomach, the flames that sit inside burning it away. No matter how much I drink, I can never seem to get drunk... Lacie never had that problem. She used to sing and dance upon the tabletops... those were good times, while they lasted.
I set my glass down, about to signal the bartender for another, but she seems to have shifted entirely to the other faerie that sits upon the bar, smiling with a mouth that contains countless teeth. Never be fooled by the illusions of the fae, if you can. Always remember that they are not human, and very few bear love for the mortal folk other than as pets or pieces in a game.
I am not human either, of course, and the sight of the thorny teeth inside the mouth of the barkeeper does not disturb me. I wait, as she touches the hand of the dark-haired fae that stirs next to the dark spirit and myself. I turn to take inventory of the bar - it is still as crowded as it was, but I might stay here a little longer. I tap the surface of the bar with a single finger, with the brim of my hat covering my eyes. The barkeeper can refill me when she has the time; for now, I'll sit here and drink.
-
Medea
Secret Base
"No thank you, I prefer not to drink. It dulls the mind and I've had enough of such things." Politely declining his offer she took a seat near his taking from her pocket a glowing crystal ball. Holding it direcly in front of her she whispered into it.
"παρατηρώ."
The orb slowly lifted from her hand and took position in between them, from there it began to show images of the ensuing fights.
"I'll never understand why you choose to use such barbaric devices as that." She made a quick glance towards the phone the phone he had recently hung up on.
"Such fragile devices they are, only able to be used so long as another of it's kind exists. Oh well, I'm not one to judge." With a shrug she ended her comments there, instead turning to look at the views that appeared before them.
-
"Oh, but you look so thirsty! What will satisfy you tonight, fair night bird?"
Wynn smiled at the woman holding her hand, straightening up slightly. The contact was pleasant, perhaps even more so. Wynn replied in kind by resting her other hand on the one grasping hers, gently rubbing her thumb on the top of her wrist.
"Your observation is astute," Wynn replied, "I am quite parched. Perchance, do you have absinthe, briar dear?"
If she knows how to properly serve absinthe, I will be insanely pleased, Wynn thought, giving the briar's hand a tiny, friendly squeeze.
******
Lancer frowned as Rider approached, not at Rider herself, but at the situation. Then Jack, looking like utter shit, came along as well. Both Servant and blood sucker were perplexed, and poor Millie decided to just flash herself at that moment.
It was understandable. There was Ruu's remains and Jack was a mess of paste and bones sticking out from him. The stick made some comment but patted her back. Lancer knelt beside her and pulled her hair back as she emptied her stomach.
"Easy now," he said soothingly.
Then Jack threw up as well, the stench of blood and rancid whiskey strong enough to make Lancer's nose burn. He didn't gag at the stench, but his nose did curl up at it. Once the vampire was finished, he said, "And I don't give a shit, at the moment. Any blood. Anything at all. I'm in serious pain over here."
Lancer cocked his eyebrows at the vampire and said, "What, wasn't my Landlady offering you her vein good enough for ya?"
He was about to add something else when the sound of movement caught his ear. Then the howl of challenge rang out and he stepped out into the early morning air. He looked at Rider and said, "Look lively love, we've got company."
Then with a smirk, he charged off to face the the skeleton warriors with a loud bellow of his own, Gae Bolg materializing in his hands.
******
So, you thought I was responsible for all the vampire here and hurting the world, Forest thought to herself as she continued to get her answers. He blamed her for the Earth's pain and decided she needed to die or something. Which was outright ridiculous; for Lord and Lady's sake she still worshiped The Morrigan regularly and had one of the most Green compounds in the city. She might not have been an active Druid, but she respected the Earth like any Druid born Celt.
Then Lucas attempted to overwhelm her with all the pain and sensory overload that he'd been given since arriving. It would have worked on a lesser telepath, but Forest was use to that trick. In fact, she had mastered it back when she had been alive. If anything it just broke on her black tourmaline-like mental defenses as he continued to wail in protest. The sound was almost deafening, but she continued, getting her answers.
He hadn't killed Isa and Shuya.
However his presence triggered what did.
DiE ALoNe aND UnlOvEd!
I think not, Tom's mental voice reached her.
Forest disconnected as Lucas and Satoshi holding him, were hoisted up into the air. Aloud she snorted to Lucas, "Been there and done that. Try to be just a little more original in your curses, okay?"
She noticed that Rin and her dark paramour entered the scene as well as well as Archer and Hakuno.
Poor Hakuno looked white as a sheet and barely on her feet. Rin herself didn't look any better, so Forest bet they were now aware of Isa's death. She gave the girls a sad look as Tom sent out, [We need to pin him to the wall like he was before. The swords weakened him because of the iron in them, is there anyone here that can produce swords out of thin air just like Shirou could?
"I can. Stand back, I'll pin up your fae for you." The non-asshole version of Archer stepped up. The cute one that had been wearing the bondage gear earlier.
"Like shooting fish in a barrel," Archer muttered to himself. "Not my cup of tea, but... It looks like there's not much choice here."
With that, Archer produced a pair of swords out of thin air, and threw them at Lucas' shoulders, pinning him there.
Off to the side, Rin quietly snuck over to where the darkened Archer stood.
Forest eyed Satoshi and asked, "Now why the fuck did you heal him? If you give me some bullshite answer involving morality and kindness I will knock your sodding teeth in."
******
"We need to make sure that idiot over there doesn't mess things up again," Rin whispered, low enough so only Archer could hear. "Knowing what I've seen of him so far, it wouldn't shock me if he did."
Archer nodded at his lover and said, "Well, he does seem violently retarded."
Then Forest made her point and he had to smile. "Well, Apostle-chan's taking it into her own hands, however . . ."
He walked up to the Fae and said, "Pinning him up by his shoulders is going to cause a lot of stress there and it might rip him free. Considering his insane healing factor we should stabilize his weight so that doesn't happen, freeing him to regenerate."
Hands held out to his sides he imagined the seven pieces in his mind. Then he combined the seven pieces into the one composite and said, "Trace On." Durandal appeared in his right hand and El Sid in his right. He pivoted in a graceful movement, imbedding Durandal in Lucas' left leg and El Sid in his right, further pinning him to the wall. He took a step away from the pinned Earthbound.
He said, "And if he becomes a problem again, I can just set those swords to explode."
******
Gabriel pulled Angel out of the Shadows in front of Godmother's compound to see pandemonium reigning. Considering his Godmother it wasn't entirely surprising, however these rejects from a Ray Harryhousen film were vexing. Luckily, Angel was fast and extremely good with that sword.
"Are we really fighting skeleton men?" the vampire asked, his face transforming again.
Gabriel's eyes narrowed as he saw the girl with the camera. He said, "Hold that thought, if you please." He then stepped into the Shadows and walked to the vampire girl. He emerged so he was in front of her, a smile on his face.
He looked directly into the camera and asked, "Now, is this on?"
-
Unit R31-N4
Main Circle
Although her expression still failed to convey any emotion, the unit's eyes did widen as the putrid mess of flesh once again reformed itself at an incredible rate. It was impossible. Its flesh had been damaged beyond repair, and its life force had seemed exhausted. There was simply no logical explanation for the event. However...
“Scanning....Mist fluctuations detected.”
It was the only explanation. However was responsible for the circle must have figured out the behemoth was about to bite the dust. She immediately began tracing the flow of the Mist, trying to track down the sorcerer responsible. As she did so, a large amount of Mist was being transferred into the creature, who had finally regenerated itself at this point.
“Tracing...tracing...point of origin: unknown. Unable to confirm source of transfer.”
Suddenly, a strange gurgling noise caught the unit's attention. She saw the creature, whose flesh had suddenly started to bubble and pop. The unit barely had time to react before countless bones shot out of the creature's body, all of them aimed at her. She immediately started deflecting them with Harvester, slowly pushing her way forwards while avoiding the incoming barrage.
However, the beast kept shooting, and despite her best attempts at evading, a few bones managed to impact one of her wing boosters. The unit had veered slightly off-course, and in that small fraction of time, several other bones had impacted her directly. She tried once again to deflect them, but it was too late.
WARNING: DAMAGE LEVELS EXCEEDING 75%. WARNING. WARNING
The cold iron angel fell, small traces of Mist from her booster trailing behind her like feather-fall, and she plummeted onto the rooftops once more. She crashed and tumbled, her armor leaving heavy marks on the floor beneath her as she finally came to a stop some meters away from the creature.
Sparks were shooting around her; although she was programmed not to feel pain, she could still feel her systems slipping away. She placed her right fist on the ground to try to lift herself up, and used her weapon as a crutch, unable to keep her own balance.
WARNING: DAMAGE LEVELS EXCEEDING 87%. WARNING. WARNING
“Start...self-repair process...”
DAMAGE LEVELS TOO HIGH. SELF-REPAIR FUNCTION HAS BEEN DISABLED.
It was useless. Her body and armor had been too damaged, and without proper support, she would most likely end up being scrapped. But she couldn't let the sorcerer get away...
“Redirect...”
It was her directive. Her one purpose.
“Redirect...all energy...”
It was the only way. The only way she could get a favorable outcome. If things went right, she would not only take out the creature, but she could even take out the circle.
That was all that mattered. To complete her mission. No matter the cost.
“...to Null Driver.”
-
"Why do you think people drink this stuff?" The man took another sip of the alcoholic drink, going through the motions before letting it slide down his throat. "If I were still capable of drowning my sorrows, dear, this would be my preferred drink. As it is, this is just a matter of habit." He lowered his cup.
"As for my over-reliance on technology," he began, gazing into the mesmerizing sphere that still amazed him every time it was summoned. "One can only do what they can do. Circuits and transmission is where I shine, so I'll stick to that even if a better alternative arises. Besides, there is a certain romanticism in two things that can only exist together, and are useless alone." A certain bitterness made its way into the man's words as he said them. The irony hadn't escaped him.
"Speaking of which, I have a call to take." He flipped open the phone once more and put it to his ear.
Miles away, the emptiness in a certain vampire's eyes faded the tiniest bit, and they moved to track the new, rather attractive arrival, who had slunk out of the shadows to meet her. She smiled, lowering the phone that had been held up to her ear as a stranger addressed her. "For a while now, yes," her words were slightly slurred, but still understandable. Her smile was the calm, placid kind that could only come from either complete serenity or a mind all but destroyed by drugs and magic. "It would be a shame to miss the action."
She paused for a moment, and shuddered. "You aren't the Law Unto Herself, are you? Barring a sudden sex change, it seems unlikely." Then she frowned, feeling a sudden rush of endorphins and hormones that didn't belong, like a sudden de-sync between player and reality. "Tch. That feels... wrong."
-
Satoshi sighed "I was only told to keep him off the ground, the swords were not for sealing and you never mentioned a healing ability. What's more is both Shirou and I would have immediately corrected the error if not for someone jamming a thumb either psychically or magically into this guys brain. I sealed his wounds because you can't question the dead. Simple." he said as the man's shirt tore leaving him holding a scrap of fabric as Lucas rose up.
Satoshi threw up a shrug and then stepped towards the door pausing long enough to frown at Archer "however you may have been offended by my earlier comparison Archer, it does not give reason for such offensive vulgarity. Next time try a yo mama joke if you want to get back at me" he said leaving the room immediately and noting that the dark Archer was no longer an option for assistance unless absolutely forced.
-
Uchiten
Uchiten smirked morbidly at his host's thorn-filled smile as she lavished her attention on kin. He supposed he should've felt insulted at being so blatantly ignored in favor of another beyond the realm of humans, but the current scenario was rare enough to see that he would happily forget the slight. Her open display of inhumanity in contrast against her friendliness cheered his mood, filled him with some perverse enjoyment born of that dichotomy. In the east, beings like her and the lady she was busy engaging would simply be classified as a kind of spirit or youkai. But in the west, they were called fae.
It was comforting in an odd way, that no matter how they looked, no matter where they were or how genuine their smiles were, monsters were monsters. Their true selves beyond human understanding, their motives their own, and each and every feeling out of their hearts born from a twisted bundle that mortals could not empathize with.
Of course, this included him as well. And he was good at being a monster. Maybe because it was all he had left of what was once "himself".
And speaking of monsters... the wanderer who had entered and asked for whiskey was definitely one of some kind.
From the moment he had entered the bar, Uchiten's attention had been split again and forced to focus on him. It wasn't that he exuded a extremely powerful presence outwards. It wasn't that he had a common face. It wasn't that he felt familiar. He knew this man the second he laid eyes on him. And his two oni that he could feel stirring in the back of his mind through their link, they knew him too. No, in fact, they knew him better than Uchiten himself did, for they were more experienced than he was. Because they had fought more, been at the forefront of more battlefields, and tasted more blood than he had directly.
This man had been there. At every conflict, every battle, every slaughter. He was similar to him, who fed on strife and suffering, but he was one who caused it instead. Ahh, yes. His presence, his temptation, his suffocating power over the minds of men that slowly seeped from him even under his disguise. It was almost like he could hear the screams, the clashing of weapons, and the extinguishing of life just by focusing on the wanderer.
Comprehension dawned on Uchiten with all the excitement a child would feel if they were to meet Santa.
He knew who this man was. And if his presence delivered what it promised, things were about to get very.... very fun.
-------------------
Max
Max shrunk in surprise further as the Kindred with no eyes took the first step to communicate. The greeting that reached him was not well known to him, but it was still dreadfully familiar in a way. The gesture and the intent behind the sound reverberated through him for just a second with how practiced it seemed, bringing to the front of his mind memories of legions saluting their supreme leader with a thunderous boom.
He shook himself out of it and made himself return the greeting.
"Ave."
Slowly stepping closer to his fellow Kindred, Max finally began to take in his appearance where he had failed to a moment before due to surprise. Empty dark sockets stared at him from a pale, emaciated face forming something resembling a smile with thin lips. The only thing that looked alive about that face was the unnaturally well kept shoulder length brown hair. If he had any doubts from what clan this vampire was, they were dissipated. He couldn't be anything but a Nosferatu.
As Max closed the distance, he noticed they were similar in height (maybe he was slightly taller?), but the Nosferatu had a harder, slightly bulkier build, which was covered in remains of armor. Whatever color the rusted metal plates and the frayed bits of cloth once possessed had all but faded away, and tiny pieces of it were crumbling to the ground still. And judging from the rock and dirt still sticking to it, it had been buried for quite some time to become that eroded. So whomever its owner was...
Was old.
He stopped a safe distance away from the Nosferatu. Irreparably damaged as it was, it was still recognizable. He had seen that kind of armor before...
"My name is Maximillian Achterberg, Kindred of Germany. You seem to have been in torpor for some time. Do you understand me?" he asked, taking off his peaked cap and holding it to his chest.
It was then that it hit him where he'd seen the armor before. The Lancea Et Sanctum had often put to use armor that looked very similar in structure during their public and ceremonial showings (and even in combat), mostly for what he understood were symbolic reasons. Roman armor.
And the nosferatu had just greeted him with 'Ave'.
"... Roman kindred?" he slipped and asked out loud as the doubt emerged in his mind.
-
Lucas
I think not,
Forest disconnected as Lucas and Satoshi holding him, were hoisted up into the air. Aloud she snorted to Lucas, "Been there and done that. Try to be just a little more original in your curses, okay?"
I snarl at her, my consciousness strengthening even as it begins to fade. Now that the vampire has withdrawn from my nervous system, I can speak. The armored man that so foolishly healed me falls as I am lifted into the air, a piece of my shirt ripping off into his grasp.
"Then, va-
"I can. Stand back, I'll pin up your fae for you." The non-asshole version of Archer stepped up. The cute one that had been wearing the bondage gear earlier.
"Like shooting fish in a barrel," Archer muttered to himself. "Not my cup of tea, but... It looks like there's not much choice here."
With that, Archer produced a pair of swords out of thin air, and threw them at Lucas' shoulders, pinning him there.
"Ghrrgk!"
Two swords pierce straight through my shoulders, leaving me hanging in the wall. I can feel the strain on my body, strain that will soon rip my arms off and let me fall freely to the ground. I work a plan in that second, beginning to dim as my exhaustion overwhelms me… land on the ground, regrow my arms, and flee. It's insulting that I would have to run from these creatures, but they have proved too powerful to face directly.
He walked up to the Fae and said, "Pinning him up by his shoulders is going to cause a lot of stress there and it might rip him free. Considering his insane healing factor we should stabilize his weight so that doesn't happen, freeing him to regenerate."
Hands held out to his sides he imagined the seven pieces in his mind. Then he combined the seven pieces into the one composite and said, "Trace On." Durandal appeared in his right hand and El Sid in his right. He pivoted in a graceful movement, imbedding Durandal in Lucas' left leg and El Sid in his right, further pinning him to the wall. He took a step away from the pinned Earthbound.
He said, "And if he becomes a problem again, I can just set those swords to explode."
Two swords, one a holy creation, slam into my legs, pinning me to the wall and leaving me unable to move. I sag, slowly, beginning to tire rapidly as my energy drains away. A side-effect of using all of the power available to me in this place is that doing so is tiring, but with everything else that's happened here, I'll have to give up for now.
I stare over at the vampire, a single golden eye opening to peer at her.
"You... may not be responsible, vampire, but I would... kill you... all... the same..."
The armored man walks out in a huff, and I grin as I fall prey to unconsciousness. It is not a pretty sight.
"And... if you guard me… don't... let it... be him... Killing a fool... like that... is just pathetic..."
I close my eyes and my head sags as darkness finally overcomes me.
------------------------
Wanderer
As the fae asks for absinthe, her hand grasping the barkeepers' own, I feel another gaze upon me. I turn, and the dark spirit's eyes meet mine. I can feel his excitement, as the eyes of dying soldiers stare into his eyes of black and white. I can feel the corruption that brews inside of his soul, the hunger for chaos, despair, the need to tear apart order and those proclaiming themselves as good... he reminds me of myself, before I became a true wanderer.
I smile at him, a bestial grin that, no matter how I try, always seems off somehow. Lacie didn't seem to mind, but other people seemed to find it disturbing; I'm not quite sure why. I hold up my hand for the barkeeper, interrupting her conversation for just a moment.
"Put his tab on me, ma'am."
How interesting, indeed. This city is full to the brim of creatures that even I have rarely seen, for this spirit is unique amongst many others that I have met. His strength must be great, to command the ogres that I feel inside of him. One may not always be able to sense such a thing, but I am 'special', and those who drown themselves in me have always been easy to find... I refocus on the spirit before me, speaking in a lowered voice so that the humans in this place do not hear us.
"I see you recognize me. In this time and place, I am known as Wanderer... and you, spirit? By what name are you called?"
My older speech patterns are beginning to resurface; it is to be expected, perhaps, being in this city so full of discord and conflict. Such things are calling to me, but I will not ride tonight, or any other night here - not yet, at least. Perhaps being called here was a sign of the end? No matter; I wait for the spirit to respond, my constantly changing stare still focused on his ringed eyes.
-
Rose
She turned her head to the whisky man, considered, and then nodded and returned her attention to the task at hand.
"Oh? Well, normally I wouldn't, but..."
She reached down with her free hand and pulled out a fine glass, a glass carafe that she quickly filled with water, and a very particular bottle. She poured from the bottle until the glass was a fifth of the way full.
"I can make an exception for a woman like you. Sugar? Yes, no?"
This was, apparently, how humans prepared the drink. Rose would of course play the part of the proper tender of bar, even if the reason for all the ritual eluded her. It was amusing, and that was enough.
---------------------
Marius
Ah; the barbarian could not understand the civilized tongue he used, and his words... the words of this 'Maximillian', were foreign in ways with which he was not familiar. Strange, that he had woken up so close to the surface. His memory was beginning to return.
Titus remembered the work crew he had been overseeing during his time off from policing the atheist Christians. Their work on expanding the dark tunnels of Necropolis had apparently gone wrong enough. An inept hand cutting at the wrong surface of stone, or perhaps an inexpertly arranged piece of scaffolding. The next thing he remembered was the roughly man-height tunnel collapsing on top of him, his bones shattering and his armor piercing through dead muscle... and then the dreams.
His head tilted to the side, and his neck was audibly creaking from the strain of motion after a millenium of stasis. Then he nodded at this 'Maximillian' and his question. That much, at least, he understood.
He attempted Greek, and then Gaelic since it was one of the only barbarian tongues from the North that he was good enough at. If he responded in the affirmative to either then this would go much easier.
Of course, he did not actually speak. His lungs were full of dirt and stone. Close examination revealed that his mouth did not move with his words.
-
At first it was only a twitch of the finger, like a lingering signal sent by the brains to stimulate what couldn't move anymore. A second later, it was a full spasm running through her left leg. Then, her heart resumed its beating. With the nerves awakening once more, she could feel the cold, hard floor upon which she was lying. Then, came the pain, intense and alien, it assaulted her like a numbing electric current. Her lungs, in an attempt to replenish the body in oxygen, contracted forcefully. As her consciousness came back, she knew something in her had changed, simply not exactly what. And she couldn't sense it anymore. A particular bond. One she once had with her sibling.
Opening dry eyes, a view of the ceiling appeared to her. That was true, she had lost her twin, their precious link severed forever.
A bundle of emotions should have broken her where she was, but for an unknown reason, she couldn't bring herself to feel sad. Maybe was she in a state of shock. Or perhaps had she lost the capacity to feel for others. Or else, she couldn't bring herself to believe such an event occurred. In any case, she was thankful for the fact that the bond didn't exist anymore. Otherwise, she would have been crushed under the weight of her sister's death. And crying right here wouldn't help.
As numbed as her feelings were for now, she couldn't help but find another matter surprising. Her powers didn't seem to respond and she sensed no od circulating in her anymore. As if her magic circuit had ceased to be. Another source of worry but, she might find out a solution about this later.
However, she felt conflicted. What would she do now? She was alone. Her thoughts stopped. No, she was not. She could feel a new bond. She knew where it would lead her. She could sense this individual's presence, their exact location. It was something strange, yet filling her with hopes. With an effort, she stood up, her muscles protesting under the strain. She was in a world of pain, yes, but could manage that much, or rather, she will have to.
Forget fighting but, at least, I should be able to walk.
She was weak and nauseous but more than that, a new craving seemed to have grown in her. Not something particularly strong, no. Still, she desired what she had never wanted in the past, blood. Disturbed by this, she scowled in the dark. She couldn't be a vampire, since she was still breathing.
Then what am I?
Her frustration built up when she couldn't find a sound explanation. Many questions needing a proper answer. She couldn't afford to waste time though. If the compound was under attack, she had to do something. And right now, it meant making sure the person she felt the closest to would be safe. For an instant, she turned her gaze towards the inside of the building, where she knew her sister was. If things had turned differently, if she hadn't left her alone, they would probably be fighting side by side right now. With a regretful expression, she turned her back to Isa and walked out the garage, looking for Jack.
-
Uchiten
Uchiten's excitement was only increased as he locked gazes with him. The eyes of dying warriors stared back at him, peering into his own even through his red shades. Exhilarating. It had been far too long since the spectre had been in a proper war. He almost missed it.
He was about to return the crooked, bestial grin, but clamored an "Oh?" of bemusement at the offer he was presented before he could. This being he was conversing with was one with whom he had had the pleasure of sharing his company many times in the past, but he had never imagined that one day the messenger and embodiment of war would offer to pay for his drinks. Well, there was no time like the present, not to mention it would be truly impolite to refuse.
Uchiten listened as he introduced himself with his preferred pseudonym for this time. Wanderer, was it? Of course true names had power, especially one like his, but he wondered about the choice. A harbinger forever wandering the Earth until the day of final judgement, was it? How poetic.
He nodded with a composed smiled and returned the etiquette, voicing his thanks for handling the bill.
"My thanks for your kindness, Wanderer. You may call me Uchiten. It is a pleasure to meet you like this."
Despite the risk, the evil spirit shared his given name, as he had with the faerie bartender. Normally, such a thing would have been a risk, but it was not his full name, and even if it had been, it was not something that was closely attached to the core of his existence, unlike with many other things. Not anymore.
And when dealing with beings of such power, it was only proper respect to share at least part of it. They were worthy of such.
-
Imnity
Meteor Ruins
"Hmph." A wave of her hand and just as quickly as he had attacked, did Imnity disappear once more.
"מבול!" Jets of water came gushing out of thin air straight towards her foe, Imnity re-emerging directly behind him book in hand.
The third circle began to fade in and out, it's connection destroyed by the fae blood.
***********************************
Shezar
Rooftops
The one on the ground dropped one of it's guns and grabbed from it's sleeve a short blade, using both the dagger and the smg it prepared to block.
The airborne Shezar unable to change it's course as easily as the first took from it's belt a dagger of it's own and threw it at the on coming grenade hoping to at least catch them both in the blast.
'Oh what a fool, revealing his true form so early in a fight. I shall show him the er'r of his ways.'
From nearby in the shadows a figure crawled awaiting it's chance to strike.
************************************
Downy Reed
Final Circle
"Command Seals wha?"
It was then that he realized the very small pain concealed beneath his sleeve, quickly removing the sleeve revealed 3 glowing red marks.
But by then it was too late, Gabriel taking advantage of Downy's sudden glance had already destroyed the third and final circle disappearing just as quickly.
"Oh no… My dear I would like to talk more but we must leave… Now!"
Without even bothering to wait for her response he grabbed the newcomers hand and into the dimensions he went, he didn't have time to come up with a location by then it would be far too late.
Into the swirling darkness they went, where they would end up they had no clue.
************************************
Lobelia Reed
Main Circle
"That doesn't sound good, the circle must be protected Golem, do your job!"
The golem let out a roar and charged his foe, it was intent on swallowing his foe whole!
-
Chiyo
The first thing Chiyo became aware of when the plot hole closed behind her was the familiar sounds and smells of a human city. It was a common thing in every city, plus or minus the scent of certain types of foods and spices. Sweat, cars, chatter, smoke, and oil, all bouncing off the walls of whatever open-aired place she found herself in now. She did not know what exactly it was, because her blindfold was still on and she hadn't pulled the knowledge from the stream of Time yet. It would be boring to just cheat like that right away, and painful to actually look, so she played the guessing game first.
It was, perhaps, an alleyway. It smelled particularly badly, so either it really was an alley or she was in the City of Ground Beef over in Locus Tinnareth again and she'd ended up in the slums. Vera, the Power of Space, had once taken them there while looking for a good deal on wholesale foods. That big breasted megalomaniac wanted it to reward her hidden legions of sorcerously enhanced soldiers after the successful conquest of ... where did she take over again?
Stupid hidden things, can't even remember what they'd gotten up to or where they'd taken over. Well she could, but it would take effort and she was already bored with that line of thought.
Maybe there was a butcher nearby... that would be the simpler answer. Of course, in her life the simple answer was only occasionally the correct one. Chiyo was kinda hungry now, even if she never actually needed to eat, so if there was a butcher's shop she could use her apparent blindness and age to bum something off the owner. Once she knew where she was, perhaps.
After a while of standing there, all alone, bouncing on her heels, she finally decided to throw her hands up and ask the question.
Revelation of Unfathomed Eras
There was nothingness. A place without a history, where the eternal, unutterable whispers of Time itself had no record to draw from and furnish their queen with answers.
At first she thought that she'd looked too far back and reached the end of Time in the opposite direction. She had done it once before, attempting to discern the state of the universe prior to the term 'prior' having any meaning to it.
A second look, she decided as her head tilted to the side.
Revelation of Unfathomed Er-
Then came the sense of vertigo, and she fell flat on her ass against the hard pavement.
"Kyaah!"
Time brushed against Time against Time against Time gainst Time times infinity, until the steams flowed together into a limitless fractal pattern rolled around a single point like it were one giant bloated gyre. At the very edges of her blindfolded vision were the iridescent globes that lurked behind all angles and all stars, omnipresent across Time and Space, and the mad drumming that accompanied them.
She felt a sinister pressure on the top of her head, and knew her father was being a smug, solipsistic little bitch again.
"Oh go make Jesus or something, you giant string of butt beads," Chiyo muttered to herself, fully aware of the calamity she would bring down upon the spherical blasphemy that was Attaris Ebrôt Appekā with her speech.
Her vision, mercifully, cleared up soon after that and returned to the comfortable blankness of her blindfold. The soreness of her bottom went away, too.
Okay, okay, at least she had her answer now. This place was some sort of nexus between realities, like back home on the Plateau of Leng. Each of those realities were within the boundaries of her Estate of Time, but they were timelines she hadn't looked at before and which seemed to rely on different rules across all of them. They all met here, and converged into a unique dimension of their own.
Well, at least she had her orientation!
Chiyo nodded, bounced back to her feet, and grinned to nobody as ideas quickly formed in her cute little head.
This was gonna be neat.
-
The one on the ground dropped one of it's guns and grabbed from it's sleeve a short blade, using both the dagger and the smg it prepared to block.
The airborne Shezar unable to change it's course as easily as the first took from it's belt a dagger of it's own and threw it at the on coming grenade hoping to at least catch them both in the blast.
'Oh what a fool, revealing his true form so early in a fight. I shall show him the er'r of his ways.'
From nearby in the shadows a figure crawled awaiting it's chance to strike.
The demon's flashing blades in onslaught were simply murderous. Striking from four different angles simultainiously, there simply was little chance for the assassin on the ground to survive, especially as the grenade exploded in midair, catching all three of them in it's shrapnel radius... which simply pinged off the armored form of the being known as Raul. If he'd been in Cover, said grenade would have killed him. Probably. But metal has a nasty ability to simply deflect shrapnel everywhich where - actually making the area behind Raul even deadlier than it would be otherwise. The assassin that threw the grenade could probably consider himself dead, killed by his own explosive.
-
Mordred was pulled by her Master into what looked like an unknown dimensional plane.
They didn't even have the time to properly introduce themselves. The Servant didn't emit a complaint to be forced in this strange location.
"Master, why such a haste," she inquired. "Surely we had time enough to prepare ourselves for the battles ahead."
Truth be told, she was vexed to not have been even given the time to formally acknowledge him. Though, the man had clearly the talent and proof enough of their pact as partners for the Holy Grail War. She gave him a glance, since it was only the two of them now, she could remove her helmet. Which she did.
"I'm the Servant Saber, if it raises any interest," she said, clearly pouting. "Would you be so kind as to reveal me where we are headed?"
-
Neo
The messy-haired blonde kept walking away from the dock for half-an-hour to find a perfect spot for him to do his work. Until finally, he saw a rather ordinary-looking young woman walking alone by herself in a long narrow road. He noticed that she was approaching towards him, he then turned towards her direction and walked approaching her in a manner which isn't obvious, as if they were just crossing paths.
As the Neo passed by the woman, which means her back is turned on him, Neo suddenly pulled out his butterfly knives, rushed to woman from behind and stabbed her heart through the back, once. The woman fell down unconscious quickly in a matter of seconds and he pulled out his knife from the stab wound out cleanly, almost without any blood. Whatever blood that was in the blade was appropriately wiped by Neo using the clothes of the woman. He then began frisking the woman for valuables and found a wallet. He checked the bills and what he saw brought a smile in his face. He then pocketed the bills, threw away the wallet and immediately left the scene, along with the corpse of the woman.
-
Shezar
Rooftops
The first Shezar was going to die, it knew but it cared little for it's own safety, the blades struck through it it's weapons only a small hindrance, emerging from it's dying corpse came a flurry of ropes. They swirled up and around their foe's limbs tying and tangling themselves as they went. The ropes wouldn't last forever but they were perfect for a nuisance.
As the grenade exploded the second Shezar was caught straight in the blast the shrapnel tearing it to pieces leaving nothing but a useless corpse.
'It is time. Aim, Fire...'
A rocket came shooting out of the shadows, straight towards Raul's currently entangled limbs.
-
Even with Lancer's comforting words in her ears, Mille couldn't help but feel ashamed.
Emotions began to rush back to her in a torrent. In contrast to the utter numbness from before, it threatened to overwhelm her, this sudden tide of conflicting feelings. It took every bit of fortitude that she had to not just start sobbing.
"Look lively love, we've got company."
Mille snapped back into reality for a moment as she heard Lancer bellow and charge at a mass of skeletonized soldiers. The young magus narrowed her eyes.
So few of them...
Why would they send?
A secret part of her grateful for the distraction, she flew upward to get a bird's eye view of the complex. Her eyes widened. As she had suspected, the place was surrounded by small troops of skeleton warriors.
"They're coming from all sides!" she cried out, making sure Lancer and Rider both heard her. Her focus shifted to the group closest to getting inside the complex.
She wasn't entirely familiar with what Ruby could do yet, but she had to try. She hurtled herself towards the warriors, those emotions that had threatened to overwhelm her before being repurposed into becoming fuel for the fires of battle.
A molten circle of light melted a bit of the asphalt for a moment before a massive inferno burst forth from the ground, reducing the warriors to ash.
She didn't stop for a moment, and hurtled towards the next group. With a wave of Ruby, a barrage of fire hurtled towards the next group. The balls of flame exploded on contact, and this group of skeletons too was reduced to ash.
Mille flew back upward to get a better view again, to reorient herself and figure out what group to attack next.
"Fire based spells, huh?" said Ruby. "You know... You're not very creative~"
"I-it's my element! W-why wouldn't I take advantage of it?"
"No creativity whatsoever~"
"I-I'll show you creative!"
She began eying another troop of them, contemplating how to set this next group ablaze.
N-no creativity, huh? I'll show her!
-
Marius
Ah; the barbarian could not understand the civilized tongue he used, and his words... the words of this 'Maximillian', were foreign in ways with which he was not familiar. Strange, that he had woken up so close to the surface. His memory was beginning to return.
Titus remembered the work crew he had been overseeing during his time off from policing the atheist Christians. Their work on expanding the dark tunnels of Necropolis had apparently gone wrong enough. An inept hand cutting at the wrong surface of stone, or perhaps an inexpertly arranged piece of scaffolding. The next thing he remembered was the roughly man-height tunnel collapsing on top of him, his bones shattering and his armor piercing through dead muscle... and then the dreams.
His head tilted to the side, and his neck was audibly creaking from the strain of motion after a millenium of stasis. Then he nodded at this 'Maximillian' and his question. That much, at least, he understood.
He attempted Greek, and then Gaelic since it was one of the only barbarian tongues from the North that he was good enough at. If he responded in the affirmative to either then this would go much easier.
Of course, he did not actually speak. His lungs were full of dirt and stone. Close examination revealed that his mouth did not move with his words.
Max
Max did his best not to show his confusion on his face, but he had a distinct impression it was obvious no matter how much he tried to hide it just because of how genuinely awkward the situation felt. He couldn't understand either of the distinct languages the nosferatu had experimented to communicate with him, although he could vaguely recognize one of them as being some form of Greek.
Never did he think he would regret not indulging the academic passions of his twisted former Major. Of course he had to have found a recently awakened Elder from the old vampire-dominated Rome of all things. It couldn't have been a vampire from World War I. Or the American Civil War. Hell, he would've taken a guy from the Renaissance over this.
He sighed in resignation and then shook his head in apology towards the nosferatu. He seemed peaceful enough, but this was not going to be simple. How could Max formally welcome him as an possible ally and help him with his circumstances if they couldn't even communicate due to the elder's outdated language skills?
And speaking of outdated...
Max gestured up and down to indicate the nosferatu's decayed, armored clothing, and then made an inviting movement with his hand in a thumbs up over his shoulder, pointing down the street.
It was probably a good start to get him a new outfit.
-
Rider pondered Jack's request, considering whether or not she should offer some blood to him. Whilst she honestly couldn't care less that he was in pain, she knew that, if he someone didn't volunteer to give him blood, he could potentially attack someone to get it, and Rider didn't particularly like killing people as a precaution. On the other hand, though, giving him blood meant losing some of her prana, and she wasn't even sure it would work.
Before she could come to any decision, though, there was a howl from outside the compound.
"Look lively love, we've got company", said Lancer, before charging towards a group of the skeleton warriors, screaming.
Rider quickly followed, although without the pointless screaming, picking out a group coming towards them from the opposite side to Lancer. She threw her nail at one as she approached, smashing it in half, before destroying another with a flying kick.
Pathetic, she thought.
These things really were weak. Even Kiyoshi could deal with them without much difficulty. She really couldn't understand why someone would waste their familiars in this fashion.
"They're coming from all sides!" came the shout from above.
Ah, I see, she thought as a large bunch of the warriors around the side were incinerated by the girl's fire magic, followed by another.
Rider looked up and shouted to the girl flying overhead.
"We can handle these, get the ones we can't see", she said, continuing to smash the bone warriors with her nails and strategically-placed kicks.
Whilst Rider was fully capable of taking to the air, doing so would require her to summon Pegasus, which would take time and waste prana. It made far more sense for the already-airborne girl to use her birds-eye view of the battlefield to their advantage.
-
Satoshi smelled it and immediately rushed out to the front. The earthen smell that was familiar to him, not dangerous normally but normally such creations as these sword wielding warriors were practice for himself and Kuzuki.
"Caster" he muttered.
the first of the four swung at him and was rewarded with flames turning it to ash, the second and third shattered by the blonde's fists and the fourth dodged as Satoshi had more than destruction planned.
he centered himself dodging to and fro as he began to speak in what all but a few people would think gibberish.
the dragon tooth warrior halted, Satoshi produced a folded sheet of paper and wrote a message.
"Good evening dearest madam M, I write to inform you that I am aware of your true identity and like my mother am not one to accept such an attack lying down. Therefore I, the prince of knights suggest from one royal to another that you cease any further attacks upon this compound or the tenants housed within it. If you refuse my suggestion I shall have to respond to such violence in an unpleasant manner. I am certain you would not wish to face a Saber upon whom your precious rule breaker will not work so what I ask is best, yes? Have a lovely evening at any rate. Sincerely Satoshi, Alexander Emiya Pendragon"
having written the message he folded it, handed it to the warrior and said "go"
the warrior heeded the command and shambled back towards it's master with note in hand.
-
Shezar
Rooftops
The first Shezar was going to die, it knew but it cared little for it's own safety, the blades struck through it it's weapons only a small hindrance, emerging from it's dying corpse came a flurry of ropes. They swirled up and around their foe's limbs tying and tangling themselves as they went. The ropes wouldn't last forever but they were perfect for a nuisance.
As the grenade exploded the second Shezar was caught straight in the blast the shrapnel tearing it to pieces leaving nothing but a useless corpse.
'It is time. Aim, Fire...'
A rocket came shooting out of the shadows, straight towards Raul's currently entangled limbs.
Raul could feel the rocket approaching, and a second before impact activated one of his Embeds. As the rocket struck him, Raul was ripped away from his bindings, the explosion and impact ripping and burning the ropes away. Raul was sent flying... seemingly untouched. A large scorchmark adorned his back, right between his wings, but he was free... and as his head swiveled around, the indentations where his eyes should be suddenly lit up green. No shadow could hide his foe from him now. Spotting Shazar, Raul engaged Strkes First once more, appearing like some avenging angel out of the cloud of debris. His target wouldn't escape this time.
-
She could hear the sound of battle as she made her way towards the sole individual but, decided to ignore it. She wouldn't be much of a help anyway.
It didn't take her long to spot the one she was looking for. She could feel her bond to him getting stronger as she closed the distance. It wasn't as powerful as her connection to Isa and she could tell already it wasn't something natural. It could be a sort of compulsion. Maybe she had been enthralled somewhat? She had heard about how some necromancers could bring back the departed but never as something which could still breath. She could be a ghoul, or a zombie for that matter.
Yeah right, a breathing rotting corpse. As if something like that could exist.
She still felt uneasy, after all, everything was possible in here. It was unheard of in her own world but, she was at a crossroad here. She walked to his level and stopped, staring at the Kindred, unable to decide what to say. She had questions, yes, but he looked in a very precarious state. A human would be long dead and probably a non-human wouldn't last long either. A heatwave reminded her how secure the place was for wounded people and Nessa decided to move. Without waiting for the guy's approval, she offered him a shoulder and forced him to stand straight, her hand supporting his back. The smell of blood and alcohol immediately surrounded her, yet, she paid no mind to it.
"Hey, I'm Nessa." Her voice sounded awfully coarse but she managed to keep a casual tone. "I don't know about you but, I would rather not get burned to ashes. Let's go inside, we need to tend to your wounds."
-
Final Circle
Mere seconds after Downy left the area the circle exploded in a bright flash of light, incinerating the surrounding monsters and anyone else unlucky enough to be close. The circle then fired all of it's collected energy straight into the sky creating a beacon bright enough to be seen even during the day.
*****************************************************
Main Circle
With all of it's connections cut the circle began to glow an eerie red. It hadn't yet gotten enough magical energy and it thirsted for more.
A vacuum began to form around the circle sucking any and all energy it could find into it's depths. The nearby Golem which had just began it's charge was the first to be caught in the vacuum.
Despite it's best efforts to hold on it too was swept inside both bodies and energy being torn to shreds inside the ravenous circle.
*********************************************
Lobelia Reed
Nearby the Main Circle
"Damn it Downy!" She had no choice but to postpone their current fight. If she didn't leave now she too would be consumed in the blaze.
But what about the other? Perhaps it was the touch of her old legacy but she couldn't just leave her.
"Rrrggghh! God Damn it look over there!? Do you want to die!?" Why was she doing this? She shouldn't be doing this... She really shouldn't be doing this...
Using the force of a bomb she propelled herself straight from the shadows and right into the weakened and broken body of her foe.
"Damn you Rubinas!!!!!" The two of them tumbled from the rooftops and into the alleyways just as the circle rapidly began to fluctuate in and out before releasing it's massive load into the air consuming all that it touched.
Farther and farther it stretched out and into the sky they monsters below letting out screams of anguish before being sucked into nothingness
It completely out shined the nearby circle as it reached way into the sky itself.
And then it dispersed.
*******************************************
Medea
Secret Base
Quickly rising from her spot she made for the door.
"I'm going to finish my side of things, make sure you don't mess yours up."
And with those words she was gone from the room off to do things most important to their goals.
-
She could hear the sound of battle as she made her way towards the sole individual but, decided to ignore it. She wouldn't be much of a help anyway.
It didn't take her long to spot the one she was looking for. She could feel her bond to him getting stronger as she closed the distance. It wasn't as powerful as her connection to Isa and she could tell already it wasn't something natural. It could be a sort of compulsion. Maybe she had been enthralled somewhat? She had heard about how some necromancers could bring back the departed but never as something which could still breath. She could be a ghoul, or a zombie for that matter.
Yeah right, a breathing rotting corpse. As if something like that could exist.
She still felt uneasy, after all, everything was possible in here. It was unheard of in her own world but, she was at a crossroad here. She walked to his level and stopped, staring at the Kindred, unable to decide what to say. She had questions, yes, but he looked in a very precarious state. A human would be long dead and probably a non-human wouldn't last long either. A heatwave reminded her how secure the place was for wounded people and Nessa decided to move. Without waiting for the guy's approval, she offered him a shoulder and forced him to stand straight, her hand supporting his back. The smell of blood and alcohol immediately surrounded her, yet, she paid no mind to it.
"Hey, I'm Nessa." Her voice sounded awfully coarse but she managed to keep a casual tone. "I don't know about you but, I would rather not get burned to ashes. Let's go inside, we need to tend to your wounds."
I just... stared at her. She was moving. I'd drained her dry. She was dead. NO heartbeat, I couldn't hear a heartbeat, I'd drained her dry I'd...
It hit me like a ton of bricks, the sin I'd just created. A revenant. And I was totally at its mercy.
"Sure..." I croaked out, bloody foam flying from my mouth. "Let's get back inside.
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Wandering The City’s Streets
Lycodrake had never encountered humans that reacted to his presence immediately by fleeing and shouts of fear. After the first dozen reactions of fear, he had kept to alleyways and dashing between shadows. He had never seen a city with buildings reaching for the heavens like the ones he was seeing now. New surroundings did not make him happy. His introduction to this strange place had not been a welcome one and continued in that vein.
‘There are so many high places and none of them at a height I’m comfortable with using to scope out the area. Humans aren’t acting normally, but this place is definitely not my type of normal either. What is Eris playing at, if this is her doing at all? Golden apples don’t just appear out of nowhere unless she’s involved.’
Quite frankly, he felt overwhelmed and really, really needed explanations as to where he was. The humans he had encountered thus far certainly weren’t willing to stop and chat and he wasn’t even taller than them in his non-gigant size.
‘Okay, priorities list right now. First, find out where I am. Second, find a place to rest safely and get some food and-or water. Third, avoid freaking out if I need to stay in a high place - stay at the center if possible. I can tell there’s a sewer system. If I must, I can find a safe place underground there or…wait what’s that?’
His inner monologue was cut short by seeing stair steps leading down into the earth. Just the knowledge that he could go underground, where he felt - generally - most secure, eased his worries. Muscles relaxed and his posture changed, light footsteps switching to plodding down the steps.
‘This will be much better than sewers,’ he stopped himself, ‘…hopefully.’
-
Neo
After doing his work, Neo decided to spend the money he just pilfered and went to the local bar. There, he quickly approached the bar counter and ordered, "Hey, whiskey. On the rocks." When he got his drink, he looked around the bar and noticed the kinds of patrons this establishment entertains. He saw all sorts of people and creatures taking a drink, chatting and generally being rowdy inside the bar. He just grunted and took a drink of his whiskey.
But one patron attracted his attention very quickly. This patron looked like a stereotypical cowboy, and is currently talking to someone else. Never in his life did the blonde meet this person, but he had a feeling that he saw this guy already several times in his life. And so, true to the fashion of his personality, Neo called out this man.
"'Ey yo', man. I think I know yo' ass. C'mon here. I think I saw you many fucking times already."
-
Shezar
Rooftops
"Your endurance it most admirable." He grabbed from beneath his belt a brightly glowing orange bottle and threw it straight at his charging foe.
"But you charge into things much too often." He dropped his rocket launcher and took a set of daggers. With expert precision he aimed and flung them straight at the bottle he just threw aiming to make them impact right as they reach the charging demon and using the momentum to leap back at the same time.
********************************************
Downy Reed
Heading Somewhere
"Haste? Do you not realize how close we were to dying? A second later and we would have been consumed in the blaze that blasted Gabriel has created. But what is done is done we can only learn from this and prepare yet again."
The knight removed their helmet a sign that they were at least willing to provide some ounce of trust.
"I'm afraid currently we don't actually have a destination, I had to create a the gate in haste unlike normally, because of this we are just floating in what would be called the dimension in between dimensions my dear." Pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts and calm himself properly Downy continued.
"Allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Downy Reed, I am the 42nd head of the Reed family and at this point in time currently a wanderer in this world. It has come to my understanding that this is not my home and if I am correct it may not be yours either. Along with the circle that apparently summoned you there were more of it's kind that I had created with the intent of making a way back home for myself as well as my friends. However that is now unrealistic thanks to Gabriel and his blasted magical affinities. Unfortunately I know nothing of this 'Grail War' that you speak of, so perhaps it is best you enlighten me?"
-
Medea
Secret Base
An opportunity had presented itself, one that was not likely to happen again and she would grasp it with all her might.
Inside the dimly lit room she was hard at work chanting and casting her fingers moving in exaggerated and complex motions the miniature diagram of the city glowing a slightly dim purple.
"Η μετακίνηση της ενέργειας."
She would not fail again. She could not fail again. She would see her precious one even if this city had to burn that was her mindset and that was what she would do.
"ενέργειας συγκεντρώσει."
As the energy surged forth into the sky she began with the best of her ability to channel it to set points inside the city.
"ταξιδεύουν ενέργειας."
The massive amounts of energy released from that fools plans would be useful to her, the perfect way to gather without being noticed.
And into the night she went so long as her partner did not make any mistakes she would go undisturbed until it was all collected.
-
Shezar
Rooftops
"Your endurance it most admirable." He grabbed from beneath his belt a brightly glowing orange bottle and threw it straight at his charging foe.
"But you charge into things much too often." He dropped his rocket launcher and took a set of daggers. With expert precision he aimed and flung them straight at the bottle he just threw aiming to make them impact right as they reach the charging demon and using the momentum to leap back at the same time.
"TAlKiiing IS wAstE FoR ThoUSe who BReaaaathe"
Reality had been warped. The bottles were thrown at a target that... simply wasn't there. The Demon was faster. The Demon was stronger. The Demon simply put, could not strike second.
"ShOUUUldddd HaVe sTTTTRuck wIthhhh ALll You hAAAd fIrsT."
Shezar would not escape. The Demon's wings themselves were pumping through the air, closing the gap without any seeming effort. He'd disarmed himself for... nothing.
"rAANgE wAAAS YouuuuR ERROR."
The Demon's blades flashed forth, leaving no escape, not at this range. The biomechanical monster had let one of its swords fold back into itself to allow it to grasp onto its target, an iron grip around the upper arm. The Demon was engineered as a killing machine. An assassin, of things that could strike first and fast and hard. He was a Wolf of Heaven, and he and his pack tore into their quarry without remorse or reason. Now, he was a Hound of Hell, and he'd lost his pack, at his own hands and blades. And now, they moved to impale the one who had a connection to this massacre, a massacre like those he'd perpetrated before in service to the God Machine he lothed.
"BeeCAuuSE Hell is MY DoooMAiN."
-
Archer watched as his darkened self finished pinning the fae to the wall and explained his reasoning. "I was about to do that," the Servant muttered to himself.
With that, Forest began to grill Satoshi.
"Now why the fuck did you heal him? If you give me some bullshite answer involving morality and kindness I will knock your sodding teeth in."
A number of eyes turned to Satoshi. A pair of violet ones in particular were glaring down at him from above, giving the armored man a look that would make most men relieve themselves in an instant.
Satoshi sighed. "I was only told to keep him off the ground. The swords were not for sealing and you never mentioned a healing ability. What's more is both Shirou and I would have immediately corrected the error if not for someone jamming a thumb either psychically or magically into this guys brain. I sealed his wounds because you can't question the dead. Simple."
Satoshi threw up a shrug and then stepped towards the door pausing long enough to frown at Archer "however you may have been offended by my earlier comparison Archer, it does not give reason for such offensive vulgarity. Next time try a yo mama joke if you want to get back at me"
There was a silence. Archer began rubbing his forehead. Rin just gave Satoshi a dry look. She knew to expect this by now.
She rolled her eyes before her eyes wandered over to Tom. Exasperation quickly turned to trepidation.
The look in those violet eyes was absolutely murderous. The tail lashed about like a whip, the odd three fingered paws were clenched. There was a feeling of raw, unreleased power in the room.
But before Tom could make Satoshi's head explode or make his heart explode or something equally explosive and painful like Rin feared he'd do, their now pinned intruder spoke up.
"You... may not be responsible, vampire, but I would... kill you... all... the same..."
Rin and Archer narrowed their eyes at the fae. Tom redirected his gaze, every bit as murderous as the one that had been directed at Satoshi.
"And... if you guard me… don't... let it... be him... Killing a fool... like that... is just pathetic..."
No one disagreed with him there. Tom calmed down a little bit in response. But only a little.
Suddenly Toshi just rushed out the door. Tom made to grab him, for he had unfinished... business, with the Imbicile, but Rin's voice distracted him.
"Don't. Just let him go, he's not worth it."
I hardly see what business this is of yours, or how you feel you have the right give orders to me. But nonetheless, he put his arm down.
Suddenly, there was the sound of explosions.
Rin frowned, tensing up. "Another attack? Already?!"
Archer frowned, already ready to project Kanshou and Byakuya. "Looks like."
Tom released his mental barriers and allowed his mind to search the area. He found the mind of a young woman, and extracted the details from her head. He felt her push back a bit, but he was able to get what he needed.
Not quite. It seems that it is already almost over. The explosions from earlier were from someone who is apparently aligned with us. He frowned. Odd, they seem fairly few in number. His eyes widened a bit. ...And it seems that there was at least one camera recording the complex. I do not know if our fairy adversary has anything to do with this, but I am at least certain of this...
His expression turned grim. Someone has declared war on us.
-
The loud crackling crash that emerged when Lancer swung Gae Bolg into the bone warrior was barely satisfying. The damned things were fragile as glass and shattered pretty much with the first blow. It was a battle of fodder, simply wrecking things.
In the sides of his eyes he saw bright flashes and looked to see Millie airborn with the stick, throwing fire like a proper witch. It made him smirk as he continued in his quest to break things. However, there was something nagging in the back of his mind.
Someone was after his Landlady.
Not that it was surprising, there were quite a few people who was probably very pissed at her. Then something lit up the sky in a straight giant beam. "Dana's titties," he groused to himself before kicking a skeleton dude apart.
******
Gabriel smirked as the camera woman was slowly coming out of her trance at the sight of him. Turn on the lure a bit more, he reasoned, doing just so as he looked into the camera. Smiling at the camera woman, he asked, "How much longer do I have before this goes to another feed then? I have a message to deliver."
******
"Damn it," Angel said, blocking the blow from one of the skeleton warriors as Gabriel continued to talk to the camera woman. He shouted, "A little help here!"
He ducked from the swing from another skeleton warrior only to hear a loud shattering. Scowling, the vampire found the very sharp point of a red lance leveled at his face. "Oy, what the fook do you think you're doing?"
The voice was Irish accent, but there was something off about it. As was the glowing crimson eyes meeting Angel's own. Angel scowled, pointed at Gabriel, and said, "That annoyingly gorgeous man brought me here!"
Then the sky seemed to light up. Automatically, Angel covered himself, but it wasn't sunlight. The blue haired spear man scowled at the light and said, "Ogma's balls!"
*******
Wynn smiled at the redhead and said, "The sugar is absolute. It is part of the ritual. To go without it means that the effect of the ritual would be lost."
She smirked at the nay-sayers and said, "Absinthe is an acquired taste. Part of its joy is the ritual to create it."
******
Deacon moved out of the way of the brat's magical attacks. Scowling, he struck at her with his claws until she retreat. Then he felt the entire area changing, so he threw himself back right before everything lit up like Hiroshima.
******
Dark Archer snorted as the boy retreated. He rubbed his forehead and said, "I feel slightly chided." Then he smirked at that only to see Rin get leery around the giant cat-man. It seemed as if Tom was having a bit of trouble keeping his anger on a good leash. His tail was whipping about and his fists were clinched. Automatically, Archer stepped in front of Rin, putting himself between her and any danger.
Their captive began to speak, threatening Apostle-chan.
The blond sighed and shook her head. She said, "Newsflash, I'm already dead. Moron."
"And... if you guard me… don't... let it... be him... Killing a fool... like that... is just pathetic..."
Archer smirked at this and said, "I doubt we're going to let him do anything overly complicated or even relatively simple for that matter."
******
Forest looked over at Tom, feeling the sheer bloodlust in him. Her new lover wanted to murder their captive and was dangerously close to doing just that. Before she could go to him and try to calm him down, Rin said, "Don't. Just let him go, he's not worth it."
Tom's reply was telepathic, I hardly see what business this is of yours, or how you feel you have the right give orders to me. However he put his hands down.
Then she heard a loud explosion outside and sensed a large outpouring of magic that died suddenly. It made her temples throb and she gasped, rubbing her forehead at the pain. She shook it off to see that both Archers were wielding identical swords.
Rin frowned, tensing up. "Another attack? Already?!"
Archer frowned, already ready to project Kanshou and Byakuya. "Looks like."
"It's outside though," Forest said with a frown, wondering who the hell she pissed off this time.
Not quite. It seems that it is already almost over. The explosions from earlier were from someone who is apparently aligned with us. Tom frowned. Odd, they seem fairly few in number. His eyes widened a bit. ...And it seems that there was at least one camera recording the complex. I do not know if our fairy adversary has anything to do with this, but I am at least certain of this...
His expression turned grim. Someone has declared war on us.
Forest sighed and said, "Well, it wouldn't be the first time that's happened."
She did close the distance between her and Tom, one hand going to his back. To her surprise her hand was met with velvet soft and warm fur. Before she knew it, she was running her hand down his back in an attempt to calm him.
So what, someone's declaring war on us? Big bloody deal. We'll just make them regret the mistake, she sent to him.
-
Tywin had taken a break in the subway system, news reports of some sort of monster attack popping up in the downtown area of the city. It seemed to be drawing to an end though, as some sort of explosion - or groups of them had occurred. Not to mention heavy resistance from the locals. Leaning back against a bench, he sighed, rubbing his artificial hand, feeling the runes carved within it. "Nexus City." Truly a city in need of a sense of justice - the police force was understaffed, undertrained, and underfunded, criminal elements ran rampant, and monster attacks seemed to happen daily.
Truly, the sort of place several of his more courageous cousins would consider Valhalla come to midgard. Tywin could sympathize with them - he himself had wanted to get involved in that scrum in the city, but at this point, it was probably better to leave it be. It had already sorted itself out. Besides, this place was in serious need of justice. And as a US Marshal, he had without a doubt, this city in his jurisdiction. As such, he could act with full and proper authority. Where some of his cousins found themselves drawn to the virtue of Expression, Tyr himself would admit more of a fascination and call for Order - one Tywin had answered. Leave the telling of sagas to those with the talent for it. He was fine with justice instead of songs.
The screams of the attempted passengers at the subway stop, and the cowered looks on one of the neighboring loiterers waiting for the train drew Tywin's attention. A gods damned, dragon - wingless, but still more than capable of being a threat - was walking down the stairs, without a care in the world, or so it seemed. God touched as well, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up to confirm his suspicions. A friend, or one sent to hinder him by a rival pantheon was a possibility, but cooperating in this strange city would allow Tywin to be able to cover more ground... and having a dragon as an ally would be more than handy if there was a need to get violent. Rather than cower behind, or scream in fear, Tywin stepped forth, nodding to the beast. "So who do you serve, dreki?" he asked, not even flinching at the beasts appearance.
-
Satoshi watched the bone warrior leave the area to scuttle back to it's master and sighed as he turned back to the inside of the house. He took three steps and felt it, the change, he had been using magic a little bit more than he did usually but it shouldn't have been so soon. Not even fifty times the magic should have changed but then he remembered it.
'well crap, I wasn't a victim I was the pillar. I forgot about mental stress, nothing to do but hide it, come on old man! If I get the kid there's no way they won't see through any lie I come up with' he thought.
with that done Satoshi snapped out a pocket book and scanned it casting three spells, the first psychic protection so neither Forest nor Mew two could read his thoughts or apply psychic tricks to force him to reveal the truth, second for a immaterial hour glass to observe the time he would have stuck as whichever form and finally an illusion of a deep robe to hid his change.
Satoshi walked back inside already feeling his body shifting, the illusion of the robe would keep others from noticing little things about his stance or walk and covered his face well with a massive hood. The robe appeared to be blue with gold accents which Satoshi hoped would further distract onlookers.
-
The vampire woman shuddered at Gabriel's words. For some reason his mere presence was causing... things to happen. Things that weren't supposed to be happening. Thoughts once repressed through unspeakable acts rose out of their coma. The disruption was controllable, but if the effect was strengthened... It was more than mere attraction, she knew, as her entire body shivered and her free hand clenched into a fist that could bend steel. Such a force could only be supernatural.
She brought her shaking hand up with some effort, offering the open phone to the man before her.
"Speak now," she said, unable to look him in the eye. "And you will be heard as well as seen."
The sudden explosion of magical energy served as a convenient distraction to keep annoying thoughts of begging for an embrace out of the girl's mind. She looked away, smiling as blue energy lit up the night sky. "Best hurry," she added with a smile. "Things are moving rather quickly tonight."
-
Lycodrake didn’t like the humans’ screams of fear; it wasn’t just that he didn’t like frightening anyone, but he was also in a strange city where humans reacted like this to his presence. That wasn’t the norm as he knew it at all. Though, he wasn't sure if it was related to the explosion he had heard and felt, or if it was truly all because of his presence.
The screams of the attempted passengers at the subway stop, and the cowered looks on one of the neighboring loiterers waiting for the train drew Tywin's attention. A gods damned, dragon - wingless, but still more than capable of being a threat - was walking down the stairs, without a care in the world, or so it seemed. God touched as well, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up to confirm his suspicions. A friend, or one sent to hinder him by a rival pantheon was a possibility, but cooperating in this strange city would allow Tywin to be able to cover more ground... and having a dragon as an ally would be more than handy if there was a need to get violent. Rather than cower behind, or scream in fear, Tywin stepped forth, nodding to the beast. "So who do you serve, dreki?" he asked, not even flinching at the beasts appearance.
He tilted his head at the young adult human who addressed and halted before him. Brown eyes that told of great purpose - matching that in the man’s question - and a runed, replacement hand caught his attention. “[Athena] Nike is my matron goddess and I have served her as messenger. My own question to you, sir: what is this city and why are humans fleeing from me? Where I come from, humans live beside creatures both like and unlike me.”
-
It happened suddenly, Satoshi's spine jerked as a massive pain shot through him.
'argh, god damn it! I forgot how painful this gets, without a cane I'm screwed. Ok Alex, just, just get up to the room. Aunty and Tsukasa will cover for me, and if those Archers and Rin are decent people they won't start shit with the kids there. I hope Tsukasa distracts Kiyoshi though, otherwise we'll have a problem.' he thought struggling towards the stairs.
catching the railing as his legs started to give Satoshi sighed, then, with some serious effort he began to ascend the stairs. Behind the illusion he was already the white haired old man, wrinkled and shivering, even the banister barely kept him steady.
"And so you shall, for all your courage, live all your days before you face me." he said aloud, then he chuckled and added "I showed you" his voice had graveled somewhat in the change but he paid it no mind and continued up the stairs.
-
He tilted his head at the young adult human who addressed and halted before him. Brown eyes that told of great purpose - matching that in the man’s question - and a runed, replacement hand caught his attention. “[Athena] Nike is my matron goddess and I have served her as messenger. My own question to you, sir: what is this city and why are humans fleeing from me? Where I come from, humans live beside creatures both like and unlike me.”
Ah, a Servant of the Dodekatheon. Tywin had interacted with them before. Despite their tendency towards extreme hubris and rather childish attempts to deny their fates, they could be counted on to help him bring justice... despite the fact they tended to flaunt the very laws he enforced.
"They call it the Nexus City. They aren't used to creatures like you, especially in a subway station. Come on, we can talk more on the train, dreki. Names, for one thing. Besides, I have a job to do here, and someone like you would be more than helpful in that task."
-
"They call it the Nexus City. They aren't used to creatures like you, especially in a subway station. Come on, we can talk more on the train, dreki. Names, for one thing. Besides, I have a job to do here, and someone like you would be more than helpful in that task."
"That would explain the reactions I've garnered since arriving in this place. I'm out of my element and actually having a destination, even if someone else's, would be very helpful," Lycodrake agreed. "As for names, I will give my own right now: Lycodrake Aptera. I hope our meeting was and is a blessing for us and our friends and allies, sir."
He decided to follow the human onto the train and awaited the other's response. He wasn't about to make an enemy out of a stranger if he could help it.
-
Mordred accepted his formal introduction with a nod. "My real name is Mordred but in order to conceal my identity, it would be unwise to use it. Saber will do. I will acknowledge you as my Master so long as you wish to fight in the Grail War."
She was a bit surprised to learn that he wasn't aware of his responsibility as one of the Masters. But since they didn't appear to go anywhere for now, she decided to use the opportunity to explain in details the whole thing.
---
Nessa allowed the broken Kindred to lean on her. They were both in a bad shape but somehow managed to pass through the garage and further in. She helped him few steps ahead and forced him to a seat. He didn't look better now that he was under light. Biting her lip, she asked.
"What do you need? Blood?"
At the mere mention of the word, her own hunger awakened.
---
The phone rang with the strength of an earthquake, or so he thought under the effect of his hungover. From under the sheets, a hand reached for the device. Kyle sighed as he checked who might call him in the middle of the night.
"Yeah," he answered with the tone of a kid denied his Christmas' presents.
"Kyle? It's me, Esther."
The werewolf raised to a seat and passed a hand on his face. He hated the forensic expert with a passion. She was unable to read the mood nor give a fuck about when or where he was when she requested his attention. Still, she was good at her job and it was more valuable than
"I could tell as much, what's going on?"
"I found something which you might be interested in. ~"
"Cut to the point, please."
The woman couldn't hide the excitement in her voice as she spoke.
"What would you say if I told you vampires feeding on vampires??"
Kyle checked his wristwatch with a disappointed look. Only half an hour of sleep.
"That you pretty much ruined my night," he answered with a yawn.
-
Kiyoshi smiled back and continued eating his bento, savouring every bite until, suddenly, he had a thought.
"Hey, Tsukasa-nee, I've not showed you my pet Kuro yet. Mummy made him for me!" he said, excitedly.
"Kuro, say hello to Tsukasa-nee. She's mummy's daughter", he said to the familiar in his pocket.
Kiyoshi expected Kuro to act somewhat more excited that he had before, Tsukasa was his mother's child after all, and Kuro was able to detect his creator's magical signature. However, even so he had not expected quite such a strong reaction.
As soon as the little familiar left Kiyoshi's pocket, he started dancing excitedly, waving his arms around, before running towards Tsukasa and climbing up onto her lap. He continued to dance around for a bit, clearly wanting to play with her.
"Oh, he really likes you!" Kiyoshi said with a smile. "He's not usually this enthusiastic, even with family."
-
"That would explain the reactions I've garnered since arriving in this place. I'm out of my element and actually having a destination, even if someone else's, would be very helpful," Lycodrake agreed. "As for names, I will give my own right now: Lycodrake Aptera. I hope our meeting was and is a blessing for us and our friends and allies, sir."
He decided to follow the human onto the train and awaited the other's response. He wasn't about to make an enemy out of a stranger if he could help it.
Tywin found it somewhat surreal getting on a subway with a dragon, but honestly, he'd probably end up in even weirder situations eventually. "My name is Tywin. Pleased to meet you Lycodrake." The other passengers in the car sidled away from the man talking to a dragon, and the actual dragon as well. Thankfully, this time, there was no screaming - but the car was deserted as soon as the train started leaving the station. That was fine by Tywin though.
"It certainly isn't for my enemies... that much I can tell you. I'm planning on raiding a Krokodil manufactury. Synthetic Heroin. Highly illegal, highly toxic, highly potent. Cheaper than the real deal too. I was planning to simply disable the fire suppression and let nature take its course with the factory, but now with you... I can accelerate that process. Set the entire thing on fire, kill the supply to the entire city. Are you willing to help out with this?"
***
JACK
Nessa allowed the broken Kindred to lean on her. They were both in a bad shape but somehow managed to pass through the garage and further in. She helped him few steps ahead and forced him to a seat. He didn't look better now that he was under light. Biting her lip, she asked.
"What do you need? Blood?"
At the mere mention of the word, her own hunger awakened.
"Yeah. And loads of it. " I said, leaning backwards into the chair. It was hard to sit upright. Or just for that matter, do anything. I probably should be screaming in pain right now, but... I can't actually feel anything pain wise below about half way down my chest. Resilience? Maybe the severed spinal cord? Fuck if I knew, but ether way, thank christ.
-
Small fires burned in various locations all around the complex. Bone fragments and ash were scattered all about. Other than the remaining scattered troops that the others defending the complex were fighting, all the skeleton warriors were slain.
But in spite of her victory, a certain magical rod was lecturing a certain magical girl regardless.
"You know, just because you used fire in so many different ways doesn't change the fact that you used fire, don't you? So I still say you're not very creative~"
"Isn't the fact that I used one tool in a number of different ways creative in of itself?"
"You have nearly infinite possibilities and yet you still chose to just use fire~ How's that creative?"
"Says the stick that insists on being as magical girl-ish about it as possible," Mille muttered.
"It comes with the territory~ But you could still be more creative about it~"
Mille rolled her eyes, and did a fly around to see if she'd missed any soldiers. There was a glint in the dark shadows of the buildings. Mille stopped and frowned. She turned around and went to investigate. It was probably nothing, but...
But indeed, it was something. It was a camera. Mille floated a little closer, still frowning.
So that's why they sent so few... They wanted to see how we'd respond.
A strange compulsion came over Mille. Forgetting her reputation as a magus for the moment, or her present garb, she proceeded to flip the bird at the camera before blowing it up with a ball of fire.
As she flew away, Ruby began shaking back and forth.
"Was that really necessary?"
"I think so."
"That wasn't very lady-like you know~ Or very Magical Girl-ish~"
"Like I care at the moment."
"Ooooh, temper, temper~ Be careful, or you'll end up being just like that hag~"
Ruby seemed to protest a bit as Mille squeezed her just a touch too tightly. Mille spotted Lancer talking to another man, and noticed that the two were surrounded. She made to fly towards them when she felt some sort of... presence, in her mind.
H-hey! Get out, would you?!
She tried fighting with the presence for a bit, but after awhile the strange sensation faded.
Mille's brow knitted as she rubbed her temples with her free hand. "What was that?"
"I don't know~ You tell me~"
Mille glared at Ruby before beginning her descent towards the remaining warriors and the two men. She could worry about the strange presence in her head later. For now, she had to help Lancer.
But even that was interrupted. For suddenly there was a bright flash of light that seemed to consume everything.
"What the hell?!"
"That's no talk for a Magical Girl~"
"You really think now's the time for that?!"
She hurtled herself towards the two men and put up a barrier, not knowing what sort of dangers the light brought with it.
-
"That would explain the reactions I've garnered since arriving in this place. I'm out of my element and actually having a destination, even if someone else's, would be very helpful," Lycodrake agreed. "As for names, I will give my own right now: Lycodrake Aptera. I hope our meeting was and is a blessing for us and our friends and allies, sir."
He decided to follow the human onto the train and awaited the other's response. He wasn't about to make an enemy out of a stranger if he could help it.
Tywin found it somewhat surreal getting on a subway with a dragon, but honestly, he'd probably end up in even weirder situations eventually. "My name is Tywin. Pleased to meet you Lycodrake." The other passengers in the car sidled away from the man talking to a dragon, and the actual dragon as well. Thankfully, this time, there was no screaming - but the car was deserted as soon as the train started leaving the station. That was fine by Tywin though.
"It certainly isn't for my enemies... that much I can tell you. I'm planning on raiding a Krokodil manufactury. Synthetic Heroin. Highly illegal, highly toxic, highly potent. Cheaper than the real deal too. I was planning to simply disable the fire suppression and let nature take its course with the factory, but now with you... I can accelerate that process. Set the entire thing on fire, kill the supply to the entire city. Are you willing to help out with this?"
Lycodrake relaxed when he sensed the other humans' fear draining away as they went back to their business. Turning his attention to Tywin, he recognized several of the words the man used, but not "Krokodil". He decided to not worry about it; he'd learn about it soon enough if he followed Tywin. "I have been raised to understand the neccessity of killing to protect innocents, Tywin, though I have not done so very often. I'll do what I can to help in that regard, though..." He couldn't help giving an embarrassed half-smile, "I don't breathe fire like most of my kindred."
-
Tsukasa was somewhat surprised by Kuro at first and the scooped him up gently with a smile. Laying her hands flat so the little shadow could stand Tsukasa brought him to eye level. "you're just like the guardians, well except you're black, it's nice to meet you Kuro, thank you for protecting my little brother" she said happily.
Turning to Kiyoshi she chuckled "yes, well because of how my magic works I'm like the big sister for all the shadow constructs mama makes."
Satoshi had reached the door and almost reached for the knob when he remembered it was locked, tapping on the door he waited.
Rin recognized the knock and stepped forward to open the door. The imposingly large robe threw her for a moment until Satoshi sighed audibly and Rin stepped out of the way letting him walk inside and closing the door behind him.
Satoshi took a seat "took a hit, nothing big though, you hear Tiger? So no worrying, you either Kiyo, I'm the big brother so I worry about you two, got that?" despite the gravelly voice there was a happy tone to his words and truthfully it may have been solely because he was no longer in the open.
-
Marius
Ah; the barbarian could not understand the civilized tongue he used, and his words... the words of this 'Maximillian', were foreign in ways with which he was not familiar. Strange, that he had woken up so close to the surface. His memory was beginning to return.
Titus remembered the work crew he had been overseeing during his time off from policing the atheist Christians. Their work on expanding the dark tunnels of Necropolis had apparently gone wrong enough. An inept hand cutting at the wrong surface of stone, or perhaps an inexpertly arranged piece of scaffolding. The next thing he remembered was the roughly man-height tunnel collapsing on top of him, his bones shattering and his armor piercing through dead muscle... and then the dreams.
His head tilted to the side, and his neck was audibly creaking from the strain of motion after a millenium of stasis. Then he nodded at this 'Maximillian' and his question. That much, at least, he understood.
He attempted Greek, and then Gaelic since it was one of the only barbarian tongues from the North that he was good enough at. If he responded in the affirmative to either then this would go much easier.
Of course, he did not actually speak. His lungs were full of dirt and stone. Close examination revealed that his mouth did not move with his words.
Max
Max did his best not to show his confusion on his face, but he had a distinct impression it was obvious no matter how much he tried to hide it just because of how genuinely awkward the situation felt. He couldn't understand either of the distinct languages the nosferatu had experimented to communicate with him, although he could vaguely recognize one of them as being some form of Greek.
Never did he think he would regret not indulging the academic passions of his twisted former Major. Of course he had to have found a recently awakened Elder from the old vampire-dominated Rome of all things. It couldn't have been a vampire from World War I. Or the American Civil War. Hell, he would've taken a guy from the Renaissance over this.
He sighed in resignation and then shook his head in apology towards the nosferatu. He seemed peaceful enough, but this was not going to be simple. How could Max formally welcome him as an possible ally and help him with his circumstances if they couldn't even communicate due to the elder's outdated language skills?
And speaking of outdated...
Max gestured up and down to indicate the nosferatu's decayed, armored clothing, and then made an inviting movement with his hand in a thumbs up over his shoulder, pointing down the street.
It was probably a good start to get him a new outfit.
Marius
Truly, this one was not of the Propinqui.
Or the languages had simply changed that dramatically in the time between now and when he last walked the night. Titus did note familiar terms and phrases, a certain... degenerate inheritance in some of the tongues in which this Maximilian attempted to speak, but it was so far removed from what he knew of any attempt at civilized conversation.
However, body language was blessedly universal. He understood this much at least: the youth wanted him to follow, and it had something to do with his armor. Either he was going to be introduced shortly to the nearest Centurion for reassignment and adjustment, or he was being led into a trap by a barbarian insurgent.
After a moment he nodded his understanding, and motioned with his hands for Maximilian to lead on.
It didn't really matter in the end. If it was a trap, he would crush the would-be ambush. This strange modern time had so much stone and metal everywhere, so it would be a simple thing to just... smash their skulls into something hard. Or smack them about a bit with one of these large self-propelled chariots that cut into his ears with their noise.
That would be quite fun, actually.
------------------------------
Wynn smiled at the redhead and said, "The sugar is absolute. It is part of the ritual. To go without it means that the effect of the ritual would be lost."
She smirked at the nay-sayers and said, "Absinthe is an acquired taste. Part of its joy is the ritual to create it."
Rose
"Ah, is that so?" She asked, blinking in what she assumed resembled innocence and confusion. "Forgive me, night bird! I am but a novice, and this is my first effort."
This was the absolute truth. It didn't change the grace and accuracy with which she moved through the ritual with the water, the sugar and the special spoon that was involved in mixing them all together.
-
Lycodrake relaxed when he sensed the other humans' fear draining away as they went back to their business. Turning his attention to Tywin, he recognized several of the words the man used, but not "Krokodil". He decided to not worry about it; he'd learn about it soon enough if he followed Tywin. "I have been raised to understand the neccessity of killing to protect innocents, Tywin, though I have not done so very often. I'll do what I can to help in that regard, though..." He couldn't help giving an embarrassed half-smile, "I don't breathe fire like most of my kindred."
"You'll be a fine distraction at the very least. Hard to ignore a dragon, when they don't want to be ignored." Tywin said, stroking his stubble thoughtfully with his prosthetic hand. "Not being able to breath fire though does mean that I'll have to go somewhat oldfashioned on this - no time for anything fancy, like thermite. I could jury rig a flashbang incindeary, but that'd be more likely to blow my good hand off."
He paused a moment before correcting himself - "Both my good hands. My mistake. So Lyco, here's the plan. You trigger a distraction, get anyone armed focused on you, while I chuck a molotov through the windows after killing the automated sprinklers. Simple enough."
-
"You'll be a fine distraction at the very least. Hard to ignore a dragon, when they don't want to be ignored."
Lycodrake couldn't help but think, 'Truer words have been spoken, but that is definitely up there with them.'
Tywin said, stroking his stubble thoughtfully with his prosthetic hand. "Not being able to breath fire though does mean that I'll have to go somewhat oldfashioned on this - no time for anything fancy, like thermite. I could jury rig a flashbang incindeary, but that'd be more likely to blow my good hand off."
He paused a moment before correcting himself - "Both my good hands. My mistake. So Lyco, here's the plan. You trigger a distraction, get anyone armed focused on you, while I chuck a molotov through the windows after killing the automated sprinklers. Simple enough."
"You want a distraction, hm? Well that I can most certainly do. Most of them won't have time to focus on you while I'm wreaking a bit of havoc," Lycodrake nods. While he normally stuck to his usual size around villages and towns, in a large city like Nexus he could allow himself to reach his full stature. He only hoped there weren't ice mages under the enemy's employ.
-
Wynn smiled and said, "You are doing just fine. I am of a certain age that enjoys prattling on from time to time."
She eyed the ghost and the intriguing large man who wasn't human at all. She said, "It has been sometime since I have entered an establishment such as this on my own."
******
Gabriel smiled at the vampire girl, but his mind was racing. He looked into the phone, careful not to touch it - sometimes he buggered with technology-, and his expression changed. His eyes hardened, the smile was gone, but a nonchalant smirk had taken its place.
The Faerie-incubus hybrid said, "I would implore that you would leave Law Unto Herself alone, but considering your dubious tactics I assure you that she'll be knocking on your door all too soon." He looked at the obviously brainwashed vampire girl, wondering what in the hell had been done to her to get her to such a state.
"I would suggest running, but it looks like you're not the sort who has enough sense to do so. However, don't say I didn't warn you."
He looked back to the vampire girl and said, "Would you like to come with me?" He held out his hand, turning on the Lure even more. His skin was beginning to glow and his eyes gleamed like amethyst fire. His Lure was overriding her programing at low doses, perhaps he could aid her even more.
******
Lancer looked over to see the said attractive man speaking to some woman with a few electronic devices on her person. The absurdly attractive man was glowing, his skin like moonlight almost. With the pointed ears Lancer knew him to be Fae, and he recognized the man's features.
After all, Forest had several stilled images of him on her vanity. He remembered asking if the bloke was her lover right after she had taken Lancer in; after all he wanted to know what potential competition to get into her pants. Then she showed him an odd stilled image in washed sepia tones with a gorgeous Faerie who shared the man's features, Forest herself dressed in clothing in an other era, and a child on her lap. She then had told him that was the man when he had been a child and he was her godson. However, the way Forest said "godson" sounded more like "son".
He asked the guy with the sword and asked, "So you're friends with Gabriel?"
"Maybe, I don't know! We just met. There was a bad guy and we ended up working together to try to stop him. I think that giant flash of light was the after effect of what Gabriel did," the guy answered, sounding increasingly agitated, "Then he just grabbed me and drug me here and now I'm fighting rejects from Clash of the Titans."
Millie came flying towards them, and Gabriel's friend stared at her with a look of complete confusion that would have been hilarious at any other time. Lancer felt the barrier she erected to protect them, but didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't needed. Instead, he grinned at her and said, "Good show, lass."
-
Shezar
Rooftops
Shezar would not give up so easily if offense would not work then he would simple switch to defense.
Switching from a mere leap backwards to a full out sprint Shezar lept from building to building he couldn't afford to slow down even or else he'd be caught in the furious storm right on his tail.
"You are nothing but a mindless beast, and I am the Master of Hell!"
'Catch me if you dare you fool.'
-
RAUL
The Demon took to the air at that... letting his opponent run would be easy. He'd tire before the demon did.
"RrrrrUUUN alL yOU WiShh. DiE TIreD."
*****
Old Man Henderson swung his Buick into a perfect paralell park just outside the bar. Rupert was getting a little thirsty, and the rave seemed to have ended.
"Thirsty Gnomes love beer. They might be here then Rupert?"
"..."
"That's Leprechauns? Rupert, that doesn't make any sense. Everyone knows Leprechauns don't exist."
With that, Henderson strolled on into the bar.
-
Rider sighed as her nail smashed into the last of the bone warriors, destroying it with ease.
That was easy....
Despite the ease of their victory, Rider felt wary. The bone warriors clearly had not been acting of their own accord, someone had sent them. Someone who was clearly a magus of some sort, given their use of familiars, and a relatively powerful one, despite the weakness of their attack.
And, she very much doubted that the target had been mere co-incidence, either.Whoever had done this was obviously targetting Forest, at very least, and she couldn't imagine that they honestly expected a few of these pathetic creations would break into a well-defended fortress like Forest's home. Plus, if they had targetted Forest they must surely have expected a response.
All the information pointed at the enemy holding back. Testing them. She had no real idea who was doing this, or why, but she strongly suspected that there would be worse to come.
Which means Kiyoshi could be in danger....
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light.
What the hell was that?
After the flash had faded, she noticed an extremely-attractive but rather odd-looking man talking to a female who seemed to be carrying some sort of camera.
Eh, who are they? Did they just arrive?
Before she could say anything, though, Lancer moved towards them and, then, Mille followed, putting up a barrier, presumably for their protection.
Well, they don't look dangerous, but maybe they have more idea of what is going on here....
Rider approached the group. She still felt a bit hollow about Isa's death, but right now her priority was ensuring Kiyoshi wasn't in any further danger.
"Well, those warriors were easy enough, but I somehow doubt that is the last we'll hear of whoever sent them", she said.
"What I don't know, though, is who sent them and why? Is Kiyoshi going to be safe here?"
-
Mille looked around... and saw that the light had just been that. A light. Her barrier had been needless.
She let it dissipate and landed, her cheeks slightly flushed. The young magus turned to face Lancer, only to see him grinning.
"Good show, lass."
In spite of her overreaction, she still felt a bit of a glow from the compliment, and nodded. She turned to take a look at Lancer's companion. Her flush increased when she caught sight of his expression.
Thankfully, a female voice from behind her served as a distraction.
"Well, those warriors were easy enough, but I somehow doubt that is the last we'll hear of whoever sent them", she said.
"What I don't know, though, is who sent them and why? Is Kiyoshi going to be safe here?"
Mille turned to face the Servant. "I'm not sure who sent them, but..." Her eye caught yet another camera, along with what appeared to be yet another vampire and... a very, very very, very attractive man. With considerable effort, Mille jerked her gaze away from him and gestured in that direction.
"I'd say whoever they are, they definitely have something much larger planned. That camera over there is not the only one. I found another one when I was flying around that I managed to destroy, though it wasn't being manned like that one. And whatever it is they have planned, with the cameras and everything, it has to be something fairly elaborate."
-
Alter twitched as she felt the air tighten, it was an unmistakable even without the stench of blood. Immediately the gold eyed king rose from her chair and produced her armour and drew her blade searching for the intruders.
the search took no more than a second as a tattooed woman burst through the door running from a legion of skeletal warriors. Alter frowned and gripped her blade but froze for a mere moment as the knights rose with her.
'they are not living men or even spirits of such yet, they have been kind to me, welcomed me and even happily honored me as their king. With that in mind, not to mention my vow, can I see them come to harm for my sake?' she thought.
her answer was a single word which destroyed the castle's roof and split the castle itself in two.
with the threat eliminated Alter was at a loss but the knights simply pointed and waved and then took up guard positions around the two women and began escorting them.
-
Whilst Kuro could not, of course, understand the meaning of Tsukasa's words, he was able to understand her general intentions and attitude. He could tell that she was happy with him and, due to her nature, she was someone he felt a strong connection to, so he was happy to have impressed her.
As she spoke, he started to dance around on her hands happily. Kiyoshi, meanwhile, was listening to her words with interest.
"Hmm, I don't understand. Isn't your magic basically the same as mummy's? How would that make you a big sister?" he said, still smiling.
"Also, what are 'Guardians'?" he asked, confused.
Then, as Kiyoshi finished talking, Kuro leaned in close to her and placed his hands either side of her face, attempting to imitate how his own master demonstrated happiness towards a person, especially one he'd just met.
"Aww, he's trying to hug you", Kiyoshi said, laughing.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Rin moved towards it and opened it, stepping aside to allow a man dressed in an over-sized robe to enter.
Momentarily, Kiyoshi tensed up, preparing to defend his sister from the strange man if necessary, until the man in question sat down and spoke.
"Took a hit, nothing big though, you hear Tiger? So no worrying, you either Kiyo, I'm the big brother so I worry about you two, got that?"
Whilst Satoshi sounded a little odd, Kiyoshi could still clearly recognise his voice, and relaxed as a consequence.
"Well, I just don't like seeing my family get hurt...", Kiyoshi said. "But, if you say you're OK then I trust you. You're dad's son, after all...."
-
"Would you like to come with me?"
His skin was glowing, the girl idly mused as she listened to his melodious words. It reminded her of a book she'd read in her childhood. But she'd hated the idea and called it stupid, yet now, in this very moment, Gabriel pulled it off so perfectly that shouldn't muster a single complaint.
...a childhood? Ah, yes. She'd been someone, once.
It was only when her hand was halfway to the pretty man's that she jerked to a halt, her face locked in a frown as contradictory orders began to assault her mind. He'd asked her to go with him, but a part of her said no to the idea, most vehemently. The voice in the back of her head was growing louder, sneering at her weakness and ordering her to back away immediately.
"I... he wouldn't like that," she said weakly, looking Gabriel in the eyes. "But I think I would."
With that, her brain had enough of the nonsense, and she collapsed, falling limply to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. However, just before her body shut down completely, her right hand twisted, throwing the phone it held backwards until it came to a stop next to a mass of metallic junk that didn't look like it belonged on a roof.
Wires extended from the pile, stabbing into the battered phone and reeling it into the heart of the ramshackle construction. With the rattle of a blown out speaker, a man's voice emerged from within. "I'll take that message to heart, stranger, and ask you to deliver one in return. Tell the Law Unto Herself that she can expect more of these visits. I doubt these constructs will trouble the inhabitants of this compound greatly, but enough water can wear away even the strongest stone. If she wants them to stop, there's another disposable phone in that undead's pocket. A talk might help, if it's her." A mass of wires twisted together to point a misshapen finger at the prone vampire.
With creaks and groans, the metal unfolded, rising as tall as a man and stopping its growth at a height of seven feet. A pair of cracked sunglasses lay perched on the thing's misshapen head, with a faded yellow traffic cone serving as the star to the tree. The thing had no rhyme or reason to it. It couldn't be called a robot, since many of its components floated inches away from each other with no visible connection, yet it walked and stood and talked, albeit irregularly. It stared down the shining man before it, judging him.
"I already have what I came here for," the speaker crowed triumphantly. "Since I'm feeling merciful, I'll let you keep that broken toy. I have many more. She won't be of any use, though, so I suggest getting rid of her quickly."
With that, the walking scrap heap turned away and, with an awkward punch that nonetheless moved smoother than it had any right to, sent the rooftop door flying down the stairwell. The mass ducked under and placed a hand on the frame, turning its 'head' back to Gabriel at the last second.
"Oh, yes," the speaker added. "Are you going to try and stop me from leaving? I wouldn't suggest it, but if you can, you'd likely stop the attacks completely before they can even begin."
-
Between his concern for Forest in response to her gasp of pain, the fear that he had potentially been caught on camera, and the murderous rage he felt towards both towards their fae attacker and Satoshi, Tom was rather tense. So when he felt Forest's hand gently stroking his back, at first his body tensed even further, his tall frame frozen.
Thankfully, it didn't take long for him to realize that the sensation wasn't a threat. In fact it was rather.... soothing. He found himself relaxing rather quickly, in spite of everything. His eyes closed, his world now enclosed in a safe blanket of darkness. All tension seemed to float away from his body like dust on the wind...
...Until he found himself being stared at with several pairs of rather wide eyes. Rin had come out from behind her Archer to look. Even the other Archer looked somewhat shocked.
Tom looked at the assembled group in both confusion and wariness. What precisely had he done this time to warrant such attention? He'd merely been standing there.
"Was he.... purring?" It was Rin who said this. Tom turned to her, utterly confused.
I surely did no such thing. I could not have been.
"It certainly sounded like purring to me." This was the less pale of the two Archers. Tom turned to him to see that the look of bemusement from before had been replaced with an amused smirk.
Tom's response was... a touch indignant. You all must have been hearing things. As I said, I am not capable of such a thing.
The last response was from the last person anyone would have expected to speak up. "It was actually pretty cute." The brunette at Archer's side, Hakuno. She seemed to be caught between a small smile and what appeared to be the urge to start giggling.
He whirled on her, causing her to move behind her Archer somewhat. ...but only somewhat.
I am no such thing. I am not cute. I am not adorable. And I certainly was not purring! His words were no longer just a touch indignant, but entirely indignant. His tail twitched back and forth, his arms were folded. And in spite of herself, Hakuno had to fight back the urge to start laughing.
"Awwww, Kitty-kun is so cute when he's in denial." Rin again. That mischievous glint in her eyes, the playful smirk. He had wondered a bit before, but truely, she and the paler Archer behind her were made for each other. The Red Devil indeed.
It would serve you well not to refer to me as such.
"If that's what you want, Mr. Kitty-kun." Hakuno again, oddly enough. She was blushing at her slip up.
Back in Rin's direction, Tom could hear Rin attempting to stifle some laughter. He gave her a Look.
W-we don't have time for this nonsense. We must address the issue at hand. As it is, the building is at least somewhat damaged, leaving us vulnerable to attack. Most of those protecting the Complex are either already exhausted or nearing exhaustion. I myself am immensely powerful, and can dispatch of most threats that would dare assault this place, but my power is not infinite, nor can I be everywhere at once. We need to form a plan if we are to defend this place from further attack.
Privately, he addressed Forest. I will ensure that they regret attacking us. His brow furrowed. What concerns me more are the cameras. It is perhaps unlikely that they will be able to discern how to subdue me from what footage they have, but... Even the knowledge that they may now know that I exist makes me wary. If they capture me, or even obtain a sufficient sample of me to extract my DNA, it is not just my doom, but the doom of us all. Because even if I refuse to serve them, they could attempt to clone me. And if they succeed... I guarantee you that this city would fall.
-
The knights led the two woman through the streets quickly and stopped pointing out a building some distance away.
"I assume that the castle's master is there?" Alter asked.
The knights nodded and Angra did as well and then she hit on a thought. "Yes, your son with Shirou Emiya, those people have him captive," she lied.
Alter paused seemingly in thought but instead of rushing off she struck Angra across the face. "No son of mine would fall to the dregs in this city, silence from now until I tell you to speak is advised," she said with a frown.
******
Tsukasa chuckled as Kuro tried to hug her. "The same magic yes, but my body is different. The guardians protect the greater grail."
Satoshi chuckled ,"Kiyo, taking a few scrapes is a part of being a hero, not to mention it's what I'm good at, being a shield is natural to me. Although this city is taxing so I think I'll be keeping away from the fighting for a while."
(Elf edit- scene break and fixed a few grammatical snafus while I was here.)
-
"I... he wouldn't like that," the female vampire said in a weak, small voice, looking Gabriel in the eyes. "But I think I would."
Gabriel smiled and said as her hand reached for his, "Then come with me. I have connections . . ."
Before he could finish the vampire girl's jerked, like a marionette being pulled upon its strings. Then she slumped forward, as if those strings had been suddenly cut. Cursing, Gabriel moved forward to catch her so she didn't completely fall to the ground. However he did see her right hand twist and the phone he'd just spoken to go flying. He caught the girl, supporting her as he watched the phone shift and move until it joined with a pile of junk upon one of the neighboring rooftops.
The pile of rubbish twisted and formed itself, taking shape in a vaguely humanoid form.
"I'll take that message to heart, stranger, and ask you to deliver one in return. Tell the Law Unto Herself that she can expect more of these visits. I doubt these constructs will trouble the inhabitants of this compound greatly, but enough water can wear away even the strongest stone. If she wants them to stop, there's another disposable phone in that undead's pocket. A talk might help, if it's her." Its voice was odd, full of white noise and static, like he was listening to bad radio reception. However, he was use to that in World War II, so he could understand the being's words.
Then the thing pointed to the vampire girl in Gabriel's arms. Gabriel's eyes narrowed. This wanker wants to attack my godmother. "Wear her down." He really hasn't done his research that well on her, has he?
"I already have what I came here for," the speaker crowed triumphantly. "Since I'm feeling merciful, I'll let you keep that broken toy. I have many more. She won't be of any use, though, so I suggest getting rid of her quickly."
With that, the walking scrap heap turned away and, with an awkward punch that nonetheless moved smoother than it had any right to, sent the rooftop door flying down the stairwell. The mass ducked under and placed a hand on the frame, turning its 'head' back to Gabriel at the last second.
"Oh, yes," the speaker added. "Are you going to try and stop me from leaving? I wouldn't suggest it, but if you can, you'd likely stop the attacks completely before they can even begin."
Gabriel laughed out loud and replied, "A challenge then? Do you think I'm foolish enough to walk into your trap?"
However he looked over to where Angel was standing, seeing an unfamiliar man with blue hair who's aura screamed "fighter", a sinfully lovely woman with curves to die for and the most glorious head of hair Gabriel had ever seen, and an oddly dressed yet becoming redheaded teenage girl. He lifted his prone vampire into his arms, hoping that there was something someone could do for her, and rushed over to the group.
******
Angel frowned as the redheaded teenage girl landed beside them, blushing furiously at the blue haired spearman's comment. Before he could ask what was going on, a woman who's every aura screamed "sex" approached. Her eyes were covered in a heavy blindfold, but her leather garb didn't hide much to the imagination, and her long, lavender hair spilled about her like sensual silk. Okay, what's with all the incredibly gorgeous people around here. I mean, I lived in L.A., but this is insane.
"Well, those warriors were easy enough, but I somehow doubt that is the last we'll hear of whoever sent them", The lavender haired dominatrix said. "What I don't know, though, is who sent them and why? Is Kiyoshi going to be safe here?"
The blue haired spearman ran a hand through his spiky bangs and replied, "Rider, this is fucking Nexus City. Sanctuary is far and little in between. If you don't think the boy's going to be safe then go ahead and fucking leave."
Then the redhead spoke up. "I'm not sure who sent them, but..." She looked over to where Gabriel was standing, talking to a girl with no heartbeat. So maybe one of the vampires from the other dimensions Angel had heard about since arriving. He did note it took her some willpower to look away from his new friend.
"I'd say whoever they are, they definitely have something much larger planned. That camera over there is not the only one. I found another one when I was flying around that I managed to destroy, though it wasn't being manned like that one. And whatever it is they have planned, with the cameras and everything, it has to be something fairly elaborate."
Angel watched as Gabriel started to glow - what the hell was that about- and reach out his hand towards the undead girl. She wavered, but she reached for it right before she slumped like someone had cut her strings. He watched as Gabriel caught her after she had thrown her cell phone.
Then after that, things got crazy. With his sensitive hearing, he could hear the whole conversation between Gabriel and the metal golum guy. "Damn it," the vampire with a soul said before looking at the three people around him. "Okay, I've gotta go help him because he's stupid but really good at manipulating things. I just don't know if he can pummel the forces of evil very well."
"I'll come with you," the blue-haired spearman said with a smirk, his crimson eyes glowing as he bared his canines, "He's my Landlady's godson, and she'd be all sorts of pissed if I let him wander off into trouble alone. Besides, that bloke looks like he'd be a good fight."
He then looked at the girl and said, "Come on, we may need your help with Gabriel's new lass." Then, without another word he was running towards Gabriel, with Angel cursing as he tried to keep up, wondering who the hell these people where and how the hell did he get mixed up in this.
******
Forest felt Tom tense under her hand as she petted him at first, but soon he was relaxing into her palm and she smiled. And then the low rumbling started, like a small motor in Tom's throat. She almost chuckled, but then realized cats purred when they were pleased and smiled even more.
She did notice that Dark Archer was watching with a very amused smirk while everyone else was looking with wide eyes. Rin had emerged from her spot behind her Archer and was staring with aquamarine eyes. Dark Archer was still smirking as Rin approached, and Tom looked at the assembled people warily.
Then the vampire found herself chuckling at the exchange before sending to her lover, You were purring. It was rather adorable. Kitten.
W-we don't have time for this nonsense. We must address the issue at hand. As it is, the building is at least somewhat damaged, leaving us vulnerable to attack. Most of those protecting the Complex are either already exhausted or nearing exhaustion. I myself am immensely powerful, and can dispatch of most threats that would dare assault this place, but my power is not infinite, nor can I be everywhere at once. We need to form a plan if we are to defend this place from further attack.
Then Tom turned to her, those violet eyes fathomless with a myriad of emotions.
I will ensure that they regret attacking us. His brow furrowed. What concerns me more are the cameras. It is perhaps unlikely that they will be able to discern how to subdue me from what footage they have, but... Even the knowledge that they may now know that I exist makes me wary. If they capture me, or even obtain a sufficient sample of me to extract my DNA, it is not just my doom, but the doom of us all. Because even if I refuse to serve them, they could attempt to clone me. And if they succeed... I guarantee you that this city would fall.
Forest took his hand and replied, They won't get a chance to catch you or extract your DNA, I promise.
Aloud she said, "Archer? The tan one, not the one corrupted by Angry Manjew. Anyway, can you start working on getting things repaired? Haknuo, you're about to fall asleep on your feet. It'll be best if you go to bed. I'll make sure you're safe."
Then she looked at Rin and said, "The wards on this house are pretty solid, but I don't think it would hurt if we had some more set up, do you? Think you could handle that? I have some casting supplies if you need them: gemstones, herbs, so on and so forth."
Finally she looked at the smirking Dark Archer and sighed. She rubbed her forehead and said, "I trust you as far as I can throw you."
"I'm sure you could throw me pretty far," he said with a smirk that she found herself curving her hand into a fist for, "But I can go outside, make sure there aren't any more cameras and take care of any other spies here. I can also do a security sweep and take first watch."
She blinked and said, "You know, that's actually . . . yeah, go do that."
Then she patted Tom's hand again and said, "Tom, you're with me." You might want to revert back to your human form, in case we're still being recorded.
-
Nessa gave a quick nod to the Kindred and continued onwards with a quick pace. Her run was short lived though.
What the hell??
Her eyes stopped on the hilts of the swords, to their blades stuck in the poor guy pinned to the wall. A group was present, discussing. Nobody seemed concerned about the dead, as much as she could tell from where she stood, dude. She quickly spotted familiar faces like the Archers, Shirou, the heir of the Tohsaka family, Hakuno and Forest. In spite of the Jesus remake display, which was clearly bad taste, there was a detail which drew Nessa's attention even more. The Revenant looked at the impressive figure in awe. For an instant, she even forgot why she had came for. They looked alien to her, like nothing she ever saw. Reminiscent of a cat or a kangaroo, but taller and with a strange color. She knew the Nexus was full of anomalies and monsters but, this one was... well, different.
The smell is strange too, but at least, they don't seem hostile.
Given how the Landlady and the others interacted with them, there was probably no reason to consider them a threat. For now. Still, her natural curiosity pushed her to step forward. The metallic tang which tickled her nose brought her back to a more pressing matter and she came to an halt.
That's right, blood!
She would question to whom the scent coming from upstairs belonged but, she would only waste time. Still, what she was about to declare could made her look like some
She scratched her head, pondering over how to formulate her request without looking like a damn weirdo.
Well, they're discussing with a particular life form to begin with, so, it might not look so odd anyway, right? Yeah, damn right, Nessa... It's nothing more than a half dead magus wanting to help feed a Dead Apostle who she doesn't even know to begin with, after all, she thought with irony.
Giving up any idea of lying or making it sound better than it was, she simply spoke. While still sounding hoarse.
"Sorry to ask that out of the blue. And it may sound a bit strange but, I need some blood. In quantity."
She didn't get too close to them, not daring to approach living beings until her own hunger would be sated. And only after she made sure the vampire would have explained in details what he had done to her.
-
Max
The Nosferatu had been cooperative enough to follow him without much of a fuss over who he was or any of the things around them. For that, Max was grateful. He was less happy about how the roman Elder had started to be difficult only once they were already inside the clothes store.
As soon as Marius (what Max had learned his name seemed to be, after some prodding and awkward pointing that had him worried the entire time he was going to accidentally trigger an anger frenzy from rudeness) had walked in behind him, his calm, somewhat humored look had shifted into a sneer of suspicion at almost everything. Max wasn't sure where Marius was expecting him to the bring them, but after taking one look at his face (which admittedly looked terrifying with a sneer), he had a pretty good idea this wasn't in the other man's expectations.
The Mekhet had to admit the place was a little... gaudy as far as these typical men-oriented stores went. Maybe because especial attention was being called to all the promotional sales.
That alone would've been okay to deal with, but Marius did not seem satisfied to even hang around, had already stared down a shop employee until the poor fellow almost literally crawled away, and appeared to regard most of the articles around with what Max guessed was some degree of disgust. He also didn't seem to appreciate the idea of the dressing rooms.
Max sighed as he heard another rip. This was the third shirt Marius damaged while testing their adequacy. Hopefully he wasn't going to find too much of an issue with the discreet, thick jacket he had just handed him. He'd scoffed at the previous one with a bit of a displeased arching of the eyebrows.
In hindsight, Max really thought he should consider himself glad he just hadn't commited any accidental slight upon Marius. Things would be much easier if they could just communicate, however...
Taking an absent minded look around him, he stopped and blinked when he saw a board hanging from a wall with the information that the shopping area had free wi-fi.
... Convenient. Now he hoped Google Translate wouldn't fail him at grammar and that his pronounciation managed to not be on the level of language-butchering.
---------------------------------------------
Bonesington
Sharp claws and fangs leapt from the shadows at Sir Bonesington before he could do or think anything else. With a growl, the dark shape stuck to the lich's shoulders and attemped to pierce them with its natural weapons.
To this, Sir Bonesington expressed some surprise.
"Oh dear!"
The sudden weight on his back made him float unbalanced down the steps, twirling around as the attacker continued to gnaw on the armored pieces across his shoulders and upper back. Which wasn't really hurting him, but it was both itchy and a bother. Bonesington gathered magic. No more of that.
Ice bloomed over him with a burst of frost that threw the offender off with a yelp of pain. The cold flowed around Bonesington and spread as he turned to his opponent, forming an icy protection.
Now crouched on the ground on all fours, grey fur-covered limbs tensed and ready to move, feral yellow eyes and a clenched maw of sneering teeth stared back at him. Like a beast, but built as a man, with the expression and characteristics of a wolf. A worgen.
"I never thought I'd find one of you around here. What a rude greeting, sir."
In response, it growled deepy from within its throat at him.
A feral worgen then. Well, then there was no point in conversation, he supposed. He treasured his bones too much to give them to a nutty worgen to chew on. Shining frost gathered in his hands.
"Frostbolt!"
A projectile of concentrated ice and cold was thrown from one of Bone's open claws, and then from the other, as he shot forward with each arm to produce the bolts of magic.
The worgen's response was immediate: he dashed to the side in an animalistic step, letting the first bolt blast against where he used to be, and jumped backwards to avoid the second one. Touching down on the ground, the worgen lowered itself and held himself like a drawn bowstring, eyes gleaming at Bones. And then it released itself like an arrow with a defying bark, claws and fangs outstretched towards Bones.
"Oh my." the lich said, and facing the flight of the wolf-man at him, responded by raising an open palm in its direction.
A sudden cone of cold hit the worgen right in the chest with force like a miniature blizzard and pushed it back. The worgen's frostbitten shape was jerked away through the air and fell upon an overturned pew. Accompanied by a muffled howl of pain, the rotten wood broke on impact and sent several shattered pieces flying, along a small cloud of dust.
Bonesington regarded the overturned dust cooly for a few seconds before he saw the worgen rise from it, somewhat beaten looking and with frost over its fur, but looking even more ferocious. It stood upright, glared at him, and howled in rage, a harsh sound that echoed inside the building.
Bonesington chuckled.
"So you want to play, Fido? Fine."
Magic started to flow strongly through him, with more frost and ice gathering in his hands as cold started to spread around him, and the light in the lich's eyes dropped several degrees in temperature.
----------------------------------------
Tân Gwyllt
In the skies of Nexus City, a ghostly figured soared across the night. A black knight and his black steed, both animated by fel fire, were flying and leaving a trail of green flames behind.
Tân Gwyllt, the rider, still did not know where exactly this city was, but the boundary between the physical and the spiritual world was thin and undefined here. Since he had arrived, days before, that he had been floating from one place to other to address the places where it was weaker and chase down mischevious little ghosts he had already seen flee into town. These were among the obligations of his self-decided duty. so there were no complains.
In many ways, it was also something that brought him satisfaction.
And now, at this time, he rode in the air on the trail of wickedness. Wickedness, that was something that he disliked. But eliminating it and burning it away too, were other things that brought him satisfaction.
He pulled the reins of his mount and stopped. Under him was a grey, non-descript and harmless looking factory. But what he could sense inside was unmistakable.
He chuckled through the grinning demonic face of his helmet, and descended.
-
"Interesting," as the temperature in the church dropped several degrees, a curious formation of ice made itself known, twisting and forming in the air until it was a rather jagged caricature that only barely resembled a woman. "You are a skilled sorcer, Mr. Bonesington," Undine said. "That ice magic approaches that of the Monster Lord herself."
The ice making up Undine's body broke and froze again as she perched on top of a rather abused angel statue, watching the situation with interest. "Should I presume that monster is from your world? Most of ours are at least able to speak."
-
Downy Reed
The inbetween
"I see, so you want me to lend you my power in this 'Holy Grail War' and in turn you will do the same for me? What a ridiculous concept, however I am not one to let a chance go to waste. Before we take any actions at all allow me to regroup so that we make a stronger stand.
'Imnity, respond! Give me damage control immediately, tell the others to regroup at my location.' However little did Downy know that telepathic speech was a tricky business, and once a link had been established it was hard to control even for himself. Because of this, his messages were sent to all recipiants while his recievers need only talk to him.
After a moments pause he got his answer. 'Master! I'm glad to see you're safe, it seems that all of what you had gathered has been wiped out after the cirle's were destroyed, as for the others. Shezar and Mudou are en route Lobelia has yet to respond I fear she may have taken a direct hit in some form.'
'Very well then, I expect your return with great haste. We must regather and plan our next course of action. If you find my ancestor please bring her here I'm sure she will wake eventually. She's rather stubborn like that.'
'Of course Master.'
*******************************************************
Imnity
Rooftop ruins
The explosion came just as quickly as ever.
"Tch, it appears we must end this prematurely. For your sake may we never meet again." Just before the explosion reached their location above the city did she disappear to parts unknown safe from any damage she would have recieved.
In the far reaches of the inbetween did she recieve her messages from her Master. To regroup and strengthen that was her orders. And she would carry them out with the utmost of speed.
'Shezar, Mudou, Lobelia, if you can hear me then meet me at these coordinates.' She sent a vision though her eyes one that they could easily follow if they had half a brain.
'We are to regroup, this is a direct order from the Commander, do not dare disobey.'
However out of the three only two made direct responses. 'What a shame, I was just about to have a little fun, and then you got and ruin it.', 'Damn't, just when I was about to get a piece of the action.', of the third she only recieved one faint word. 'Rubinas.'
'Lobelia? Is that you? What is your condition! I repeat what is your condition! Lobelia! Damn it!' Wherever she was, it was apparent she was in no condition to respond. Wost came to worst they would have to find her remains and go about it the hard way somethign Imnity hoped to avoid for now at least.
********************************************************
Mudou
Impatient as always Mudou was drawn to the blood. He watched the two Assassin's from a distance almost thinking that perhaps he could take them both out in one quick shot. "Nah too much trouble, best to stay quiet for now."
Even when his 'allies' rocket failed to finish it's target he continued to watch and then it happened, the explosions.
"Well look't that! Bound to be lots of misery over there!"
'Shezar, Mudou, Lobelia, if you can hear me then meet me at these coordinates.' A vision flashed in his head. 'We are to regroup, this is a direct order from the Commander, do not dare disobey.'
'Damn't, just when I was about to get a piece of the action.'
Now in a worse mood than before he send the order off to a few of his 'loyal' subordinates. "Distract my 'allies' opponent." A few heads nodded silently before taking off over the rooftops and straight towards the two figures in the distance, and then Mudou was off to respond to Imnity's call.
********************************************************
Shezar
Rooftops
It was a game of cat and mouse and he was the mouse or so he led his opponent to believe. But then it happened the explosion lighting up the daylit sky and then the order to retreat.
'What a shame, I was just about to have a little fun, and then you go and ruin it.'
"I am sorry but it appears this is where our little game shall end for now, may I kill you most painfully in the future." Grasping from his coat a small black sphere he through it on the ground. 'Secret Art, Illision's.' With a clasp of his hand what was one Shezar was once more 3. However unlike his previous time these other two were only illusions nothing physical using the newly created flash of light and smoke as well as his multiple selves he continued his run off to the coordinates. What he didn't even realize was that his own 'ally' had brought a distraction of his own to fend off his chaser.
*********************************************************
Ninja's
Rooftops
The three had their orders, emerging from their cover they ran full force towards the monster the flash of light and escape from the one he was chasing nothing but a mere distraction to them. However they knew not of what they were just about to come up against. The first of the three threw from his belt a flurry of shurikens each aimed at whatever vital he could hope to reach, the second a katana in hand went straight for close combat hoping to keep his opponent busy, the third however maintained his distance ready to pounce at a moments notice.
*************************************************************
Lobelia Reed
? ? ? ? ? ?
"Cmon Lobelia, let's go play! The others are waiting for you!"
"I am sorry Alstromeria but I am busy, besides you know how much I hate to go where the peope gather."
"But it's no fun without you, you know."
"We both know that it makes no difference whether I am there or not, so long as 'she' is there I prefer to stay here for the time being."
"But Lobelia!"
"No, means no!... I am sorry, I did not mean to snap at you, I know you were only trying to help. Tell the other's I am busy for today and will join them another time."
"If you say so. I know you may not realize it but we really do care for you, please try to come out more often. 'She's the one who misses you most of all."
The quiet footsteps and the small girl left Lobelia to her studies, depressed that she was unable to help her friend.
"Hmph, I wish that were true... Rubinas we both know how we feel."
-
Bonesington
Sir Bonesington turned away from the threat in front of him to greet the new arrival, his tone back to its jovial, carefree way.
"Why hello there! Thank you, you're much too kind. Nice of you to join me here!"
A growl came from the worgen at that, accompanied by a challenging swiped of its claws in the air. Bones's expression dropped to regard him flatly from the corner of his vision. He sighed and returned his attention to the man turned monster, but continued to speak to Undine.
"Oh, he was able to speak once, I'm sure. Not anymore. Where I am from, cursed ones like him are called Worgen. Of course, there are those that retain their mind, but not this chipper looking fellow." he said, leveling a cold look at the worgen. "Now if you'll excuse me for just a moment, it's high time I have him cool his head."
And as if in agreement with Bonesington, the worgen rushed at him to attack. The lich's hand pointed in the direction of his adversary, and released the magic that it was containing.
"Frost Nova!"
The space in front of him exploded in white mist, a blast that caught the worgen mid sprint, spreading a wave of cold through the air as ice crystals slowly formed from the epicenter. The frost spread outwards and the crystalline spikes grew, like a small scale montain of ice had erupted from the ground and sprouted in the middle of the church.
Soon, the haze around it began to thin and settle, though the cloud of mist still hung there. From within, Bones saw two lights that hadn't yet been extinguished glare at him.
-
Rider scowled at Lancer's response. He didn't seem to understand or care how important Kiyoshi's well-being was to her master.
Before she could reply, though, Mille also responded.
"I'm not sure who sent them, but...."
I'd say whoever they are, they definitely have something much larger planned. That camera over there is not the only one. I found another one when I was flying around that I managed to destroy, though it wasn't being manned like that one. And whatever it is they have planned, with the cameras and everything, it has to be something fairly elaborate", she said.
Rider looked in the direction Mille was indicating, and saw a camera.
So they were testing us....
"Hmm, I see, so this was just a test? To see how strong we were?" she said to the girl, before turning to Lancer.
"Lancer, your landlady seems to be a magnet for danger. Three people have died, and it seems like there is more to come from whoever sent that last attack. Sakura would be devestated if anything happened to Kiyoshi, I think it is reasonable for me to worry about his safety", she said, angry at his tone.
"But, I do not think we will be leaving, at least not right now. It is late and Kiyoshi needs somewhere to sleep. Plus, even if I wanted to leave, I doubt Kiyoshi would go willingly. He would want to stay here and protect everyone, just like his father.
Meanwhile, Rider noticed that the extremely attractive man was now talking to some weird metal golem.
Another familar, I presume..., thought Rider.
After a bit of discussion, the other new man turned to them and spoke.
"Damn it", he said. "Okay, I've gotta go help him because he's stupid but really good at manipulating things. I just don't know if he can pummel the forces of evil very well."
Quickly, Lancer volunteered to go with him, mentioning something about the new man being Forest's godson. He asked Mille to come too, before he and the new man both headed rapidly in the direction. Seeing no point in staying here and wanting to ensure that the golem couldn't endanger Kiyoshi, Rider quickly followed.
-
"Hmm, I see, so this was just a test? To see how strong we were?"
"Much more than that I think," Mille said softly. "I think they wanted to scout the place out. Get information on us. Learn our weaknesses." She looked up at the Servant grimly. "In other words, this isn't going to be the last we see of them. Not by a long shot."
She then listened to Rider's conversation with Lancer, frowning.
Suddenly, the new man spoke up.
"Damn it," the vampire with a soul said before looking at the three people around him. "Okay, I've gotta go help him because he's stupid but really good at manipulating things. I just don't know if he can pummel the forces of evil very well."
"I'll come with you," the blue-haired spearman said with a smirk, his crimson eyes glowing as he bared his canines, "He's my Landlady's godson, and she'd be all sorts of pissed if I let him wander off into trouble alone. Besides, that bloke looks like he'd be a good fight."
He then looked at the girl and said, "Come on, we may need your help with Gabriel's new lass." Then, without another word he was running towards Gabriel, with Angel cursing as he tried to keep up.
Mille nodded in response and flew after them, keeping good pace with Lancer. As much as a drawback as Ruby's personality and the silly dress was, Mille found there were many benefits to being a magical girl. Flight was definitely one of them.
-
Gabriel turned to see a flying redhead, a blue haired man with a spear with questionable taste in clothing, the woman in black, and Angel at the very back approaching. Gabriel gently laid the vampire down and said, "She needs help, and I need to go after that construct."
"And stop him," Angel said, "Do you think you can do that dimensional thing and catch him?"
Gabriel nodded, smirked and looked over at the new comers. "Friends of yours?"
The blue haired man spoke up, his voice so rough and Irish that Gabriel blinked. "A flock of crows is called a murder."
"So you know Godmother?" Gabriel said raising his eyebrows.
He nodded and answered, "Aye, she's my Landlady. I'm Lancer, lass floating is Millie, and that's Rider."
"Well, since we've been properly introduced hopefully we can get started," Gabriel said, holding his arm out for them to take so he could lead them to the construct.
-
Wanderer
"Uchiten... a fine name."
I turn back to my shot of whiskey, and downed it in a single swig. It evaporates in my stomach as usual. The drink is not necessarily important, but I have found that going through the motions puts others at ease; I should not stay here much longer. As we have spoken, and as the two fae continue their conversation, my presence is beginning to grow. Dirty looks are being cast here and there, insults are starting to be flung, and two men seem to be ready to face off with each other, backed by their friends and alcohol.
I wil guess that the bartender is more than capable of dealing with it on her own (though I hate to impose) and turn back to the spirit. I have not been in this city long, and, perhaps, another inhabitant will know more about this city than I - my thoughts are interrupted, for a moment. Something has come to this city that feels familiar. I can feel it only because it is so similar to my, a rider cloaked in green flame. I narrow my eyes in though. Only one of my brothers appeared in such a way. The oldest one of us. It doesn't feel exactly like him, but… if it is truly my brother, or my brother from another land, then I should give him a greeting.
"Ah, forgive me. It seems that one of my brothers," I put just the smallest amount of stress on the word, "has recently arrived. It would be remiss of me not to greet him."
Saying this, I make to get up, adjusting the shotgun that hangs over one shoulder.
"I must apologize - I cannot leave this matter unsettled."
I turn to the bartender, who is still within the maze-like conversation that faeries always seem to have. Behind me, a bar brawl is about to break out as my new state of agitation influences the patrons.
"Excuse me, ma'am, but might I have the bill? Oh, and if this man decides to keep drinking, please, allow me to cover it in advance."
I reach my hand into my pocket for several golden coins. My politeness now is mostly so that I can get to the location of my brother as soon as possible. If it is who the presence indicates, certain ...events might not be so far off. A blond man is trying to get me to come over, but I can't spare much more time in this location. I nod to him, absentmindedly, considering what I should do. Perhaps, if it really is my brother, I might have to go for a ride.
-
Bonesington
Bolts of cold and blackened icicles flew through the air inside the church in pursuit of the evading dark shape whose drive seemed inexhaustible. Ice had spread through the walls, snow had covered up the ground, masses of frost protruded out of the ground, and crystals floated down from above. The proof of the ongoing battle had marked itself around them, but neither combatant showed signals of yielding. Despite that, one looked to be far worse for the wear than the other, who appeared essentially untouched.
Sir Bonesington stopped hurling frostbolts for a moment of evaluation. The worgen stopped some distance away from him and wheezed loudly, catching its breath as it glared at him. The undead mage hummed to himself.
"Hmmm..."
Luka's water spirit was still observing the fight with what he recognized as wariness and interest, but the latter emotion was beginning to fade from him. After all that, and the worgen hadn't shown him anything too surprising. And he thought this one was going to be special. Ah well.
Bonesington sighed with a shake of his head. And during the split second his attention wavered, the worgen's eyes sparkled, and it moved.
If the lich had eyelids, you could say his eyes would have widened, seeing his opponent suddenly run at him, much faster than before, covering the distance between them in less than a second. His arm shot out, a hastily formed ice lance flying at it, but the wolfman dodged under its piercing trajectory. It shaved off the tip of its fur and continued, and in less time than it took for it to break against the ground, the worgen was on him.
A clawed hand smacked Bonesington across the skull with flesh tearing strength and a loud crack of impact.
"Hah."
Before the assailant could do anything else, cold erupted from the lich. Whereas the frost nova before could've been comparable in size to a car-sized explosion (except into ice), this one was more like an oil tank exploding. White mist expanded into the air to give way to an expanse of ice spikes bursting out, growing and spreading outwards in a instant. And in the center of it all, was Bonesington.
The worgen was sent flying with a yelp of pain, gushing blood from where the ice had pierced his body. Flung a ragdoll, it headed against a wall, but righted itself just before hitting stone. The worgen, growled from deep within its throat at him, and jumped back at Bonesington using the wall as a foothold. Expressionless, the lich lifted his arm and slapped the worgen away before it could swipe with its claws again. Its form smacked against the frozen floor and rolled to a stop. The worgen's blood tainted the crystalline ice where it fell and slid, and its form trembled in place.
Nonetheless, it got up again.
"You're a tough one, aren't you. Maybe I shouldn't have held back." Bonesington huffed out.
From the other side of the building, the worgen, covered in cuts and frostburns, missing parts of its fur and skin, bleeding all over, holes in its body and twitching from the pain, growled at him. As a wounded and furious animal should be, it refused to yield. But in its struggle, Sir Bonesington could see the majestic bearings of a great beast. His skull was frozen into seriousness, and he decided to acknowledge its resolve.
He raised one hand, and a number of thin icicles began to form around and above him, auras of frost and compressed air gathering with them. Soon, their number was large enough to almost cover the entire ceiling of the building, if it still had one. In its place, Bonesington's adversary tensed and ground its claws against the ground in preparation.
"This is going to hurt you more than it is going to hurt me." he stated, simply.
The azerothian werewolf accepted the challenge, and leaped at him one final time with mauling claws and ravaging maw poised to attack, like a blade hurled through the air.
"Mass Ice Lance." Bonesington said with a snap of his fingers.
The hail of sharp icicles was released at the werewolf with a blast of cold wind, whistling through the air like bullets. The rain of ice engulfed the worgen and the direction it shot towards, each icicle leaving thin trails of frost behind in the air. They continued to fly in a straight line, piercing what they met with deathly cold. For a moment, the barrage was so thick nothing could be seen through it. After few seconds, it started to thin, the number of lances to dwindle, and the last few finally transversed the air to give way to silence.
After a few moments, Sir Bonesington took a solemn and careful look at the scene of his victory.
"Good fight, old chap." he said to the shredded corpse of his foe, adjusting his monocle. May he be with the Light, if that was what his sliver of remaining humanity believed in.
The lich stretched himself. That had been a neat little workout, he thought as he wiped non-existant dust off of himself. He was a little rusty, granted, but he had a feeling that this world was going to fix that... soon enough. The thought made him chuckle.
He turned to Undine.
"I hope my skills at magic entertained you." he spoke, tipping his top hat slightly. "So? How would you rate me now?"
-
"Rate you?" Undine descended from her perch, hovering over what remained of the worgen. She looked at it without any interest. "Well, you're skilled, that much is certain. However, to do something like gauge your power, a more... hands on experience is needed."
With a crack, the shell of ice that the spirit had donned fell apart, revealing her in her true watery form underneath. She glanced at Bonesington.
"A friendly display of prowess," she suggested. "I've been dying to see how powerful I am in this world, and this is the perfect opportunity. Perhaps that flaming simpleton is rubbing off on me, but after a show like that I feel compelled to answer with something of my own!"
The moisture in the air thickened abruptly. Flakes of ice shook, clumping and melting together to form a haze that floated around Undine, coalescing into a twisting double helix that revolved around her body, picking up speed with every passing second. Her serene smile widened into a grin.
"Though I am one of the four elemental spirits of this world, I too am a monster," Undine continued. "In the past, before age taught me wisdom, I would slay and consume countless so called 'Heroes' who dared to challenge me for power. Much like you, I suspect. Now I teach each successive Monster Lord how to use water, granting my powers only to those who earn it."
The spinning helix coalesced into a drill-like construct, pointed straight at Bonesington. Undine didn't lift a finger to move it. Water simply obeyed her as if it was part of her body.
"Erect your barrier," she said. "I'll see how powerful it is."
"Aqua Drill!"
-
Bonesington
"Rate you?" Undine descended from her perch, hovering over what remained of the worgen. She looked at it without any interest. "Well, you're skilled, that much is certain. However, to do something like gauge your power, a more... hands on experience is needed."
With a crack, the shell of ice that the spirit had donned fell apart, revealing her in her true watery form underneath. She glanced at Bonesington.
"A friendly display of prowess," she suggested. "I've been dying to see how powerful I am in this world, and this is the perfect opportunity. Perhaps that flaming simpleton is rubbing off on me, but after a show like that I feel compelled to answer with something of my own!"
The moisture in the air thickened abruptly. Flakes of ice shook, clumping and melting together to form a haze that floated around Undine, coalescing into a twisting double helix that revolved around her body, picking up speed with every passing second. Her serene smile widened into a grin.
"Though I am one of the four elemental spirits of this world, I too am a monster," Undine continued. "In the past, before age taught me wisdom, I would slay and consume countless so called 'Heroes' who dared to challenge me for power. Much like you, I suspect. Now I teach each successive Monster Lord how to use water, granting my powers only to those who earn it."
The spinning helix coalesced into a drill-like construct, pointed straight at Bonesington. Undine didn't lift a finger to move it. Water simply obeyed her as if it was part of her body.
"Erect your barrier," she said. "I'll see how powerful it is."
"Aqua Drill!"
"Hoho~?"
The vague sound that was a mix between questioning and amusement echoed out of Sir Bonesington as he regarded Undine. After that battle, his fighting spirit had been roused. And so had his mage's outlook and a most pure sense of excitement from within him. Match magic against a greater elemental like her, and even better, of his favored domain of the arcane arts? The interesting information about herself that she had revealed slipped by him in the face of this. There was no way he could back down from such a proposal!
"Challenge accepted!" he said, with a clamouring gesture of the arms. He returned Undine's grin and focused his own magic as he saw her give shape to a spiraling helix of high-pressure, quick moving water. The power in it that kept accelerating and increasing was anything but small, and knowing that only shaped his anticipation even more.
Granted, he wasn't too used to conjuring magic to protect himself aside from Frost Armor. He usually relied on his inherent magic resistance for that. And... well. An archmage he may be, mages in Azeroth were not great adepts of defensive magics. In the domain of Frost, however, were where the most robust self-protection magicks resided, even if there were other defensive spells. And he was no simple mage, and most certainly not a run of the mill archmage. He knew and could wield spells that most could not.
He saw the drill of water line itself up towards him.
"This spell, I stole from the Lich King!" he proclaimed, and unleashed his magic.
"Glacial Wall!"
Magic, moisture and cold solidified into a tall and dense wall of solid ice in an instant, spreading diamond dust from where it rose, accompanied by resounding noise. The drill of water was fired at him with incredible force in response and impacted against his defense.
The water's power sheared in a lasting spiral, pushing against the mass and resilience of the wall, attemping to dig throught, break it. Like a drill, it began to carve into the surface of the wall, spreading even more ice crystals in the air and pulling them into its current. But that was as far as it went. Although the water grinded incessantly against the wall, it was unable to shred it further than a few centimeters.
Against Undine's water drill, the insurmountable ice wall of the Lich King stood firm. And then the cold spreading from it began to affect even the other spell, bit by bit slowing it down...
-
Rider nodded in agreement to Mille's words. She knew they would be back, and probably in far greater numbers. And, most likely, with more powerful familiars as well....
After the new man had spoken, they set off towards the man that was apparently Forest's godson, Rider keeping up with Lancer without difficulty. In his arms, the man was holding a vampire that he had apparently captured, presumably for interrogation, and who had fallen unconscious.
Well, I certainly wouldn't mind being "interrogated" by him..., thought Rider lustily. Or, even better, having him as my captive....
The idea of the man "interrogating" her turned her on, and the idea of him kneeling before her in chains turned her on even more. Despite his gender she found him exceptionally attractive, definitely someone she would be willing to use as a "prana source". But, such games could wait for later. They had more important things to deal with right now. Such as the metal golem. And the interrogation of the captive vampire....
As they arrived, the man laid his unconscious vampire captive down, saying, "She needs help, and I need to go after that construct."
Help?
Well, I suppose a near-dead unconscious vampire won't be much fun to torture, or particularly talkative for that matter, so I guess it makes sense....
The other new man replied to his words.
"And stop him. Do you think you can do that dimensional thing and catch him?" he said, to which Forest's godson nodded.
Dimensional thing?
Before she could ask, though, the attractive man looked towards them, before asking the other new man who they were.
However, before he could reply, Lancer spoke.
"A flock of crows is called a murder", he said.
Eh, what?
Lancer's comment made absolutely no sense whatsoever to Rider. However, the attractive man knew exactly what it meant.
"So you know Godmother?" he responded.
Oh, I see, it's some sort of codeword that Forest uses, she thought, making a mental note of it just in case it was useful in the future.
"Aye, she's my Landlady. I'm Lancer, lass floating is Millie, and that's Rider", Lancer said.
Rider smiled flirtatiously at Forest's godson as Lancer introduced her.
"Well, since we've been properly introduced hopefully we can get started", he responded, before holding his hand out.
"Well, you've not given us your name yet. I would definitely like to get to know you better...", she said with a hint of lust in her voice.
"And, what did the other guy mean by 'dimensional thing'? Could you get my master's son out of this city and back to his mother?" she said, hopeful that he could provide Kiyoshi with a route to safety.
Then, she reached out to take his hand. But, as her hand approached his, it started to feel numb. Then, as she grabbed hold of him, it started to shimmer and turn translucent, as it would if she were close to vanishing from prana loss. A sharp pain shot through Rider's arm as she felt something trying to erase it, and she pulled her hand back rapidly.
What? Is he using some sort of anti-magic power?
She looked at the man angrily.
"What the hell did you just do?", she said.
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Krokodil Factory
Upon arriving at the factory’s city block and after Tywin had left to find a back way in, Lycodrake could only guess that something was off. There was the smell of fire and smoke on the wind. There was some sort of percussion noise he didn’t recognize from within the gates once he stood in front of them and green light shined past the top of the gates and walls. “Well, I guess there’s only one thing left for me to do - if there’s already a distraction going on, why not add to it so Tywin can complete his objective here?”
Changing size was an interesting sensation. It wasn’t a good or a bad feeling, but more like a tingling from the core of his being that pulsed outward from his chest, through his spine, and on to the tip of his snout, claws, and tail. A small magic - alongside what little “heat” he could use - compared to his kin and peers, but very useful in this case.
He turned around and lashed his tail at the main doors with a loud whip-crack, with just enough “oomph” behind it that the doors abruptly swung inward.
The morbid sight of armored humans burning alive to green fire greeted him, a mounted figure standing routing and herding them like cattle. His appearance, for the men looking or running in his direction, caused the panic to double or triple. New cries began to resound: “monster”, “dragon”, “run”, “it’s going to eat us”, and a few others.
Lycodrake’s deeper voice rumbled out with amusement, “While I do enjoy a cooked meal, humans aren’t normally on my diet. Your fate is shared between myself and the horseman of green fire.”
Addressing the horseman, the wingless dragon inquired, “What say you, sir? They were in your hands first - it would be rude of me to intrude on your purpose here, though - should it be to punish these humans - I am ready and willing to assist.”
-
Gwyllt
Tân Gwyllt's fel flames which burned bright all around them pulsed for an instant in acknowledgement of the new arrival, and he turned his grinning helmet to the wingless dragon. A hearty chuckle crackled out from the furnace of his 'mouth', and he dropped the bumbling man he was holding by the neck on one hand to address the dragon.
"Fortune smiles upon me tonight! A draconic ally? Yes, that is right!" he bellowed with a clenched fist, and as he did, the flames moved to block the path of the men who sought to run away. The horseman pointed his sword up, and continued in a grand and powerful tone. "These cur deserve this punishment, and any help this one should receive, he shan't refuse!"
His steed nighed loudly and lifted its front from the ground as if in exaltation of its rider's words, and when it came down, Gwyllt unclenched his free fist and extended an open hand of cooperation to the wingless dragon.
"What say thee?"
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Krokodil Factory
Tân Gwyllt's fel flames which burned bright all around them pulsed for an instant in acknowledgement of the new arrival, and he turned his grinning helmet to the wingless dragon. A hearty chuckle crackled out from the furnace of his 'mouth', and he dropped the bumbling man he was holding by the neck on one hand to address the dragon.
"Fortune smiles upon me tonight! A draconic ally? Yes, that is right!" he bellowed with a clenched fist, and as he did, the flames moved to block the path of the men who sought to run away. The horseman pointed his sword up, and continued in a grand and powerful tone. "These cur deserve this punishment, and any help this one should receive, he shan't refuse!"
His steed nighed loudly and lifted its front from the ground as if in exaltation of its rider's words, and when it came down, Gwyllt unclenched his free fist and extended an open hand of cooperation to the wingless dragon.
"What say thee?"
Serpentine head held low as to acknowledge the other through eye contact - for what it is when from a giant dragon, Lycodrake addressed the helmed horseman. "That depends on what I can do to help, really. To my shame and the shame of my kin, I have no flame to add to yours, but my fangs, claws, and tail hold great might. An ally of mine, who brought this den of corruption to my attention, is within the building, routing those few inside and sabotaging it as we speak."
Swiveling to look at the herded men within the circle of flame, he continued. "You have hold of these corrupt humans within your fiery grasp, but I question how I may assist you in completing your task. I am not one for torture, truth be told - though I acknowledge some are - and would rather these men go straight to the underworlds. That is to say 'with godspeed'...only with less blessing."
-
Gwyllt
Once again, the horseman bellowed.
"You are good natured! So bear the following in mind, that it may guide you in kind: it is not fire that punishes, but RIGHTEOUSNESS!" he roared. "And righteousness takes many a form, but the important thing is: those who enforce it must not conform!"
He took a sneering look at the cowering, panicking fellows he had cut off with his flames before returning his attention to the dragon.
"And if your objective is to destroy this place, I shall aid you with the utmost haste! Deal with them as you see fit, and I shall do the same with my pick! Meet with your companion, tell him of this! I shall allow none to escape!" he continued, even as his steed turned to gallop further inside the building.
"I go by Tân Gwyllt, and I am he who rides between this world and the next! And you, friend?" the spectral horseman asked.
-
"The greater grail? Wasn't that destroyed or something?" Kiyoshi asked.
"And, what do you mean about your body being different? Surely you're just like anyone else...."
As he was speaking, Kuro, confused and a little disappointed at the fact that Tsukasa hadn't returned his hug, pulled back. But, even so, he felt comfortable and safe around his "big sister", and didn't want to move. Instead, he laid down in her hands, as if he were sleeping.
As he watched his shadow pet with amusement, Kiyoshi remembered the question he'd asked her before.
"Hmm, Tsukasa-nee, who is your father? It can't be dad, he's married to Saber...."
Then, he turned to Satoshi.
"Yeah, I guess. Dad is like that sometimes, he tries to act as a shield for mummy and us. Mummy doesn't let him, though, not for her anyway...."
-
Forest took his hand and replied, They won't get a chance to catch you or extract your DNA, I promise.
Tom responded by giving her hand a gentle squeeze. Thank you.
The earnesty in her voice, the determination. From that alone, he knew he had put his trust in the right person. He knew that she could only do so much, but the fact that she was honestly willing to put in the effort to ensure his well being alone was a comfort to him. Even if she had called him Kitten. There was still a faint flush visible even through the fine, white fur even now from that. Yet he found it extremely difficult to hold that or the fact that she had driven home the fact that yes, he had indeed purred against her.
Aloud she said, "Archer? The tan one, not the one corrupted by Angry Manjew. Anyway, can you start working on getting things repaired? Hakuno, you're about to fall asleep on your feet. It'll be best if you go to bed. I'll make sure you're safe."
Archer looked around him at the damage. That was followed by a rather heavy sigh. "Consider it done. Though I wouldn't expect to get through this wreck quite as fast as I did the kitchen."
Hakuno, in the meantime, gave Archer a worried look. She didn't want to be separated from him.
It is as Forest said, we will ensure your safety. I will help her keep that promise.
Hakuno's look of concern didn't fade, even with Tom's reassurances. Archer sighed and shook his head. "Master, do you really have such little confidence in me? I'll be fine. I'll be out of the way repairing the damage and reinforcing the walls anyway. I'll meet back up with you as soon as I can."
She didn't quite relax at first, but finally, after a moment or two, the worry somewhat slipped away from her features and she nodded. Her Servant gave her a quick nod in return before beginning to repair one of the vine ravaged walls.
Hakuno turned to Tom. "You'll protect me even after I still called you Mr. Kitty-kun?"
He tilted his head. As irritating as that nickname is, I fail to see why that would stop me from aiding Forest in fulfilling her vow. So yes, you can be assured that I will do my best to keep you safe.
Rin studied him with some surprise. Maybe it was Forest's influence, but this oddly heroic side wasn't something she had expected from the psychic cat man.
"In that case then, I'll go upstairs." Hakuno hesitated. "Though... should I stay down here?"
It is your decision. Though we can protect you either way.
"If you need a room, Kishinami-chan," Rin said, "you can stay next to mine. I'll give you the directions when you're ready if you choose to go upstairs."
Hakuno bowed to Forest, Tom and Rin before saying a quiet "thank you." The gesture surprised Tom, but he nodded at her in return. Rin just replied with a pleasant smile and a nod of her own.
Then she looked at Rin and said, "The wards on this house are pretty solid, but I don't think it would hurt if we had some more set up, do you? Think you could handle that? I have some casting supplies if you need them: gemstones, herbs, so on and so forth."
Rin's eyes brightened at the word "gemstones," but she tried to suppress her excitement. "Easily. Though it depends on what you want. Besides simply adding more wards, there's several other types of wards and bounded fields that could be set up around the complex. Is there something specific you had in mind?"
For a moment, Rin paused, then she looked up at Forest. "Garrison-chan's specialty is actually bounded fields, based on her file. We'd have to either somehow restore her prana or she's recovered it naturally, but with the two of us, ideally we could set up a magical security system even stronger than this one." Her eyes wandered to the damage the complex had suffered. "Given all the attacks tonight, I'd say it needs it."
Finally she looked at the smirking Dark Archer and sighed. She rubbed her forehead and said, "I trust you as far as I can throw you."
"I'm sure you could throw me pretty far," he said with a smirk that she found herself curving her hand into a fist for, "But I can go outside, make sure there aren't any more cameras and take care of any other spies here. I can also do a security sweep and take first watch."
She blinked and said, "You know, that's actually . . . yeah, go do that."
Rin was loathe to see him go, but it was necessary. She gave him a "don't be gone for long" sort of look, before her attention was drawn to the stairs.
"If he needs someone to go with him, I could volunteer." The red headed girl came down the stairs, nursing her head a bit. "I have a bit of a headache, and I'm not exactly in the best shape, but I think I can kick the crap outta a few enemies if need be."
Ryoko made her way down so she was in view of everyone in the room. ...And then did a double take. "I-is that... Is that a Pokemon?"
Tom began rubbing at his temple with his free paw. Yes, yes it is. His eyes met hers. Ryoko, it's me.
She stood there for a moment before those violet eyes and that intense gaze started to become quite familiar. ...Perhaps too familiar.
"W-wait a minute. So, that silhouette I saw the night I left... It wasn't just a trick of the light?"
He shook his head.
Ryoko ran her fingers through her hair. "That explains a lot," she muttered to herself. Collecting herself, she jerked a thumb towards the stairs. "Finn's fine by the way, from what I could tell. I heard the tap turn on in the room you guys were in earlier right as I was heading down."
Ah, Finn. I had forgotten about him. Tom found himself looking at Ryoko with curiosity, and the girl responded with a bit of a shudder. It seems she hasn't forgotten the look I gave her earlier, he mused to himself. I will have to apologize in private later. Even if it was not intentional, I went too far.
"Sorry to ask that out of the blue. And it may sound a bit strange but, I need some blood. In quantity."
All eyes turned to the next newcomer. Or rather, newcomers. Ryoko couldn't help but wince. Jack had obviously seen better days. The girl with him was holding him up quite well, all things considered.
"Nessa?" Hakuno walked a little closer to get a better look. Visible relief was on her face. ...That only lasted a moment before she found herself having to look away from Jack's rather nasty wounds. She also noticed that Nessa had a distinctly pale pallor to her skin now...
Ryoko walked a bit closer herself. "I can't really speak for Miss Forest herself, but I would suspect that there are probably blood bags some place. I don't know how many of us could spare some drops, but we can figure something out."
Hakuno spoke up. "I-I could try giving some."
Rin shook her head. "You're in bad enough shape as it is, Kishinami-chan. I probably wouldn't risk it with you unless several of us were giving blood at the same time."
Tom spoke up. Ryoko couldn't help but look rather incredulously at him. All things considered, she didn't know how well the two vampires would take the sight of an a 6 to 7 foot tall talking psychic cat.
I believe the blood bags would be the wiser option for now. With how many attacks there have been, we will need all our strength.
Rin found herself nodding in agreement. "If I need to, I can try giving a little blood, but I agree the blood bags might be the better option for now. Do you think you two would be able to hold out until we get some for you?"
Ryoko noticed that the new girl's gaze had shifted to the man skewered on the wall and was eyeing it with distaste.
"I think while we're all here, I don't think it'd hurt to explain what's exactly up with that guy. Because if he's a wall ornament, it's in somewhat poor taste."
He is a fae, actually. A powerful one, capable of regeneration once he touches the ground. If he is not suspended from the ground, he will recover and attack us again. He only attacked us not that long ago, intent on taking Forest's life. A certain Imbecile who is not currently present in this room ensured that we had to subdue and pin him again.
Tom gestured towards the unconscious fae. I assume we will arrange something more permanent once we get the chance. For now though, there he must stay.
Ryoko blinked before turning to the two vampires. "You guys catch all that?" She began rubbing her temples again. "This has been some night huh? And it just keeps getting weirder and weirder..."
Then she patted Tom's hand again and said, "Tom, you're with me." You might want to revert back to your human form, in case we're still being recorded.
If they have cameras within the complex as well, they would have captured footage of me already, he replied, privately. And I may need my full strength if our enemy decides to strike again. However... Assuming that we are going outside, and the cameras are exclusively out there, then it may be wise to follow your advice. As such, I will err on the side of caution for now.
His borrowed pjs, boxers, and his glasses floated towards him, the clothing folding over his arm while the glasses floated above his three fingered paw. With these articles recovered, he began to head towards an empty room nearby to change. As he walked, he shot one last private message to Forest, with a slight flush on his cheeks.
However, I will give you fair warning. If I am forced to change form later on, I fear that neither these boxers nor that these pants will survive the process.
-
Satoshi twitched sensing the approach of the knights, he rose slowly hiding his pain as he did and spoke "Yes, in your world I have no doubt the greater grail was removed. However it is different in our world, at any rate, I'll be back shortly." he said moving forward and opening the door.
None of the now old man's family and friends said anything to stop him, instead they watched carefully. Rin sighed and Connor frowned realizing that something major had happened.
Tsukasa petted Kuro on the head. "I'm a little big to hug you Kuro, I'm afraid I might squish you if I try" she said laughing.
Tsukasa closed the door as Satoshi left and turned to Kiyoshi with a light frown. "I'm sorry Kiyo, those are questions I can't answer right now. It's a long story, just trust me."
-
Neo
Location: The Bar
When the cowboy ignored him and only gave him a nod as he was about to leave, Neo then reacted "Wait, what the fuck?" and started to stand up from his stool to follow him. He turned towards the bartender for a moment and said "Put that damn drink on mah bill. When I'm done talking with this guy, I'mma pay you back. Okay?"
He then followed the cowboy to his direction while yelling, "Hey man! C'mon! I think I know you, man! I think I saw yo' fuckin' face in them dirty trenches! Or maybe in the Pacific War, man! Oh, I know, I definitely saw you in 'Nam! I don't fuckin' know, cowboy, but sure as hell as I saw you somewhere in a war, honky boy! C'mon, brother, maybe we can talk! Maybe we can tell each other about the olden days, bro! You were in a 'Merican war, I can feel it!"
Rattus and Yukina
Location: Warehouse, Dockyard
"Onii-chan, how long will Neo-san take to get his task done? You only asked him to take money so we can see what kind they are using here, right?" Yukina asked Rattus, bored while she sat on the floor in a seiza position between him and their bags of personal belongings.
Rattus then took his glasses off to wipe its lenses while he replied, "We can't expect much from Neo right now. I'm definitely sure he is exploring this city at his own leisure, especially that I did allow him to use robbery-homicide to get samples of the money being used here. Perhaps he is at a location where he could entertain himself, maybe in a red-light district or a place with liquor." He sat cross-legged right beside her in the right.
The young girl exhaled while she deflated her posture and said, "But that would take a long time, will it not?"
"Don't worry," Rattus assured her. "Once we know the currency and the possible location of this city, we will start establishing our base of operations here by buying a townhouse in the more affluent district of this city. Just endure it for a while."
She then smiled at him and said, "Alright, Onii-chan. I will."
"Very good." He said to her.
-
Neo
When the cowboy ignored him and only gave him a nod as he was about to leave, Neo then reacted "Wait, what the fuck?" and started to stand up from his stool to follow him. He turned towards the bartender for a moment and said "Put that damn drink on mah bill. When I'm done talking with this guy, I'mma pay you back. Okay?"
He then followed the cowboy to his direction while yelling, "Hey man! C'mon! I think I know you, man! I think I saw yo' fuckin' face in them dirty trenches! Or maybe in the Pacific War, man! Oh, I know, I definitely saw you in 'Nam! I don't fuckin' know, cowboy, but sure as hell as I saw you somewhere in a war, honky boy! C'mon, brother, maybe we can talk! Maybe we can tell each other about the olden days, bro! You were in a 'Merican war, I can feel it!"
"...VIETNAM!"
At that, Henderson clapped the man on the back. "BUY THIS MAN A WHISKEY ON ME!" He shouted, practically yanking Neo around. "So where were you, Key San, Teibet offensive?" he continued, "Man, I knew I'd seen you before, ain't that right Rupert?"
-
As the others spoke, Mille found herself having a rather difficult time taking her eyes off of Forest's godson. Even a will of iron could have difficulty against the power of teenaged hormones, and even more so when that iron will wasn't even being used to fight those feelings.
When introduced by Lancer, to her embarrassment, all she could manage was a slight wave and a small smile. She felt Ruby prod her playfully, to which she responded with a rather pointed glare.
"Well, since we've been properly introduced hopefully we can get started", Gabriel said, holding his arm out for them.
"Well, you've not given us your name yet. I would definitely like to get to know you better...", she said with a hint of lust in her voice.
Mille couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. Rider was far better looking, and older, and more willing to express her... desires. Surely the very attractive man wouldn't really notice her. She found that her arms had folded in front of her chest, her lips in a slight pout. Ruby once again prodded her, which was once again reciprocated with a glare.
"And, what did the other guy mean by 'dimensional thing'? Could you get my master's son out of this city and back to his mother?" she said, hopeful that he could provide Kiyoshi with a route to safety.
The young magus snapped out of it for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't think it's anything like the Second. Likely it's something that enables us to travel much faster, but not between dimensions." Her cheeks flushed. "T-though it's only a hunch."
Rider then began to reach for the man's hand. Suddenly, it began to shimmer and turn translucent. Mille frowned and watched the phenomenon carefully. She's a Servant. Servants are... essentially pure prana, right? The way she's starting to vanish...
The Servant pulled back her hand quickly and gave the gorgeous man a rather dirty look.
"What the hell did you just do?", she said.
"I don't think he did that on purpose," said Mille. "Considering that Servants are beings of pure prana, and the way you began to fade as soon as you tried and touch him... I think it's some sort of natural anti-magic bounded field." She turned to Rider. "Aside from that, he's Forest's Godson. Lancer trusts him, so I'm sure he's not here to attack us. Here, I'll prove it."
She began to walk towards the beautiful man and reached out to take his hand just as Rider had.
"Just warning you now, if you take his hand, you're in for a bit of humiliation~"
Mille shrugged Ruby off, from a combination of stubbornness and the strength of the half-incubus's lure, and took his hand. Her magical girl uniform faded in her instant, revealing her now loose and untied hair and the t-shirt and slacks that passed for her pjs. The young magus's cheeks lit on fire from the combination of embarrassment and the warmth of the rivetingly stunning man's palm against hers.
"Told you~"
Mille shot Ruby yet another glare before managing to make herself speak. "I-I can just change back once you take us to where you wanted to take us. I-I'm sure there's a way for Ruby to follow us."
"That there is~" Ruby chirped, now changed into her more portable, rodless form, a visible radar sticking up from up top. "This guy's anti-magic aura's really easy to track with my radar~ I can lead anyone who can't travel with this guy to his location~"
The young magus blinked before glaring at the sentient winged pentagram. "Then why didn't you mention that before Rider tried to take his hand?"
"Oh, it just didn't seem important at the time~"
Mille made a mental note to one day figure out a way to turn Ruby into kindling.
***
For most anyone else, the City was a fetid, dank labyrinth of gargantuan buildings, its every seedy corner filled to the brim with vampires and werewolves and other agents of death and destruction. The safe havens were no more comforting than the eye of a hurricane in the tempest of broken bodies and broken promises. A metropolis enveloped by a miasma rank with the fear and despair of the thousands upon thousands of innocents who attempted to still live a normal life within it's sprawling boundaries.
This was not what Rei Blackwell saw.
What she saw was a steel encrusted wonderland of new discovery and new places to see. And by golly, now that she was stuck here, she was gonna make the best of it!
The remains of the portal that she had tripped through had vanished. The device she'd repaired to create it in the first place must have shut off. Shauna was still back there, fighting those guys from the assassin's guild. Worry flashed through Rei's consciousness like a fever dream, but only for a moment. Shauna was a capable mage, she could handle those assassin guys and gals no problem. After all, both of them had faced far worse when it came to Bad Guys.
Rei's attention quickly shifted to her overwhelming curiosity for what lie in wait within the strange new land that lay before her. Her eyes were wide with wonderment, the gargantuan skyscrapers reflected in her glasses and aviator goggles alike. She made her way through the maze like alleyways, taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells- many of which were rather unpleasant of course, but did that register with Rei? Of course not, she had a city to explore!
As many things as Rei saw and observed, none yet made her stop and pause. How she had managed to avoid seeing a scene of someone being killed or mugged or otherwise have a very bad thing happen to them only The Powers That Be could know. But after a good while of trekking, the young alchemist finally stopped in her tracks.
The other woman didn't hardly even register in Rei's mind, not in favor of the prone, unmoving figure on the ground. Rei rushed to the armored stranger's side, her eyes wide in awe.
Never in her life had she seen an automaton or robot or any mechanical life form so... intricate. Whoever had crafted it had done a beautiful job. It was just so... lifelike. Well, as much as armor could be lifelike. Rei also couldn't help but notice the rather unfortunate fact that the intriguing mechanical life form was rather... well, broken at the moment.
"Well, let's see what I can do here. Hang on tight, I'm going to get ya all fixed up in a jiffy." She cracked her knuckles, a sound audible through even her work gloves, before beginning to repair the fallen automaton. Even if she had never seen a construction so intimate in her whole life, Rei was bound and determined to find a way to repair the armored figure back to normal. Any creation of this magnificence deserved at least that much.
-
"...VIETNAM!"
At that, Henderson clapped the man on the back. "BUY THIS MAN A WHISKEY ON ME!" He shouted, practically yanking Neo around. "So where were you, Key San, Teibet offensive?" he continued, "Man, I knew I'd seen you before, ain't that right Rupert?"
Neo
Location: The Bar
"Whoa, whoaa!" Neo was being tugged around by the old man in Hawaiian shirt, cargo pants and a stuffed parrot in the shoulder. But Neo fully believed that the old man was indeed a veteran. "Hold the fuck on, brother! I was just there from '62 to '66 befo' I went full fucking hippie! I ain't in Khe Sanh, that shit was on fucking '68! I'm fucking sorry, man!"
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Krokodil Factory
"I go by Tân Gwyllt, and I am he who rides between this world and the next! And you, friend?" the spectral horseman asked.
"I go by Lycodrake Aptera, sir Tân Gwyllt of the green flame; I am in the service of the goddess [Athena] Nike as messenger and confidant, but I am also lost and confused in this city-world of Nexus where man is apparently ignorant of the mythical. So I followed the man of justice, Tywin, to exact righteous fury upon this lot."
He paused to turn baleful eyes upon the wicked humans that cowered before the two beings. "I am not a stranger to killing the wicked, from my lady's immortal feud with her brother [Mars] (Ares) and the evil beings that warmongering god calls minions. So I ask you: what shall we do with these? Should you venture into the factory to assist Tywin, I am limited to biting, slashing, and swiping," here the large dragon allowed his fangs and talons to gleam in the residual flames, "and there is a chance a few may escape. Humans excel at courage, cowardice, and ingenuity when it suits them."
-
Uchiten
Wanderer
"Uchiten... a fine name."
I turn back to my shot of whiskey, and downed it in a single swig. It evaporates in my stomach as usual. The drink is not necessarily important, but I have found that going through the motions puts others at ease; I should not stay here much longer. As we have spoken, and as the two fae continue their conversation, my presence is beginning to grow. Dirty looks are being cast here and there, insults are starting to be flung, and two men seem to be ready to face off with each other, backed by their friends and alcohol.
I wil guess that the bartender is more than capable of dealing with it on her own (though I hate to impose) and turn back to the spirit. I have not been in this city long, and, perhaps, another inhabitant will know more about this city than I - my thoughts are interrupted, for a moment. Something has come to this city that feels familiar. I can feel it only because it is so similar to my, a rider cloaked in green flame. I narrow my eyes in though. Only one of my brothers appeared in such a way. The oldest one of us. It doesn't feel exactly like him, but… if it is truly my brother, or my brother from another land, then I should give him a greeting.
Uchiten's eyes were smiling. Not necessarily from Wanderer's compliment alone, but also from the tension dripping and thickening around the two of them, presumaly from the presence of this harbinger of conflict. The twisted onmyoji himself was too powerful of an entity to be so easily affected, but even he could feel the spectral blood in his veins begin to boil. He didn't know if it was simply the growing battle-thirst of his ogres leaking into him, or if it was something else, but it was not a sensation he disliked.
Seeing as the bartender was occupied, he took care of refilling his own drink, but something made him stop midway. There was an eyebrow arched slightly up as Uchiten noticed a change in his drinking companion's expression.
"Ah, forgive me. It seems that one of my brothers," I put just the smallest amount of stress on the word, "has recently arrived. It would be remiss of me not to greet him."
Saying this, I make to get up, adjusting the shotgun that hangs over one shoulder.
"I must apologize - I cannot leave this matter unsettled."
I turn to the bartender, who is still within the maze-like conversation that faeries always seem to have. Behind me, a bar brawl is about to break out as my new state of agitation influences the patrons.
"Excuse me, ma'am, but might I have the bill? Oh, and if this man decides to keep drinking, please, allow me to cover it in advance."
I reach my hand into my pocket for several golden coins. My politeness now is mostly so that I can get to the location of my brother as soon as possible. If it is who the presence indicates, certain ...events might not be so far off. A blond man is trying to get me to come over, but I can't spare much more time in this location. I nod to him, absentmindedly, considering what I should do. Perhaps, if it really is my brother, I might have to go for a ride.
The evil spirit's smile widened, going from a restrained polite one to an overbearing grin with an unnerving curve, although in reality his lips had not stretched that much. A light laugh made his way out of his mouth, but his voice was unnaturally level when he spoke.
"Ahh, I see. Yes, that is certainly something to be concerned about."
His mind, however, was contemplating the meaning of it. For yet another of the four to be here? Could it be that this world was doomed for a close end? Or was it, that in the same way it drew powers and many different beings togethers, it drew those strong and unyielding to confront each other and fates to be woven and tangled together in disarray that only grew greater?
To anyone with a common mind, being thrown into his position would be confusing and make them rebound, such the lives of people were bond to things like nolmacy and constants, with change and the unknown causing them great distress. But he cared not for where he was, and not for who those that surrounded him were, not for constants and boring expectations. He cared for what kind of place this was, for what interesting things he might see, for what entertainment he could draw from the resistance and efforts of others. Situations sudden as his and possibly many others were easy to wrap his mind around, and incredibly stimulating for his aged soul.
Since he had arrived, he had already sensed many things about this place. He had already seen, through the bartender, and through the other occupants of the bar. He had of course noticed the great release of magic from several places in this city, felt opposite sides clashing. He realized there was much going on, and that all of it was something he could potentially extract fun from.
He liked this sort of world. And the thought of it getting becoming more exciting before he even had a chance to taste all it offered already was humorous beyond bounds.
"Of course, Wanderer. Go meet your brother, by all means. I send my greetings, whichever he may be. My thanks once again, and have a safe trip." he said, offering a nod to the being beyond men.
He took another sip of his sake. For now, he was going to take it easy. Mayhaps the fae were already engaged with one another, but observing them was such a rare chance, and the atmosphere of the place was wonderful for his mood. He would finish his drink with time, waiting to see if any others of paranormal inclination entered the establishment (since it seemed to attract them like moths to the flame), and afterwards he would go out, and slowly take in this interesting city with his own eyes.
-
What kind of names are Rider and Lancer? They're more like job titles or something, Angel thought as he grabbed Gabriel's arm.
"Well, you've not given us your name yet. I would definitely like to get to know you better..." Rider said with a hint of lust in her voice.
Gabriel bowed his head and said, "Apologies Rider, I'm Gabriel Umbra."
"And, what did the other guy mean by 'dimensional thing'? Could you get my master's son out of this city and back to his mother?" the sultry woman asked, her eyes pretty much focused on Gabriel.
"I'm Angel," the vampire put in with a scowl, "That other guy has a name and it's Angel."
Then she reached out and touched Gabriel's hand. Angel blinked as her hand went completely transparent before she jerked back. Gabriel's wide eyes focused on the woman before he looked at Angel then back at her.
"What the hell did you just do?" Rider's lip was curled, her expression one of sort of terrifying fury.
Angel asked, "You can't control your magic killing thing, can you?" What if he breaks the curse? Then Angelus is out and . . . He realized he'd been in contact with Gabriel for quite some time. Maybe because how the curse worked he couldn't unravel it. Or something, but Angel figured to err on the side of caution.
"I don't think he did that on purpose," said Mille. "Considering that Servants are beings of pure prana, and the way you began to fade as soon as you tried and touch him... I think it's some sort of natural anti-magic bounded field." She turned to Rider. "Aside from that, he's Forest's Godson. Lancer trusts him, so I'm sure he's not here to attack us. Here, I'll prove it."
Gabriel nodded and said with a smile, "The young lady is right. It's something that I really can't control."
Then the red haired girl, Millie, had a few good theories before she flew over and touched Gabriel. Her clothing changed to something more normal and her hair was unbound. Lancer whistled, eyed Gabriel, and asked, "Aren't you a dangerous one?'
Gabriel tilted his head at Rider and said, "You're made solely out of magical energy. Fascinating. Are they're others like you? Perhaps when we're not after that slow moving monstrosity you can explain it in detail."
Angel blinked at the other man's excitement and then silently realized Gabriel was a bit of a nerd. Which made Angel smile. "You going to annoy her with questions?"
"I never annoy an attractive woman," Gabriel said as he smiled at Millie.
Lancer squared his shoulders, grabbed Gabriel's arm and then blinked. "That's odd," Lancer said to himself, frowning before he leaned forward and sniffed at Gabriel. To Gabriel's credit, he didn't shy away, but gave the man a bemused look. Then Lancer's eyes narrowed and said, "Your blood's odd."
"You have no idea, Lancer," Gabriel said with a sigh.
"That there is~" The Magical wand chirped, now changed into her more portable, rodless form, a visible radar sticking up from up top. "This guy's anti-magic aura's really easy to track with my radar~ I can lead anyone who can't travel with this guy to his location~"
Millie asked, "Then why didn't you mention that before Rider tried to take his hand?"
"Oh, it just didn't seem important at the time~"
Lancer smacked the pentagram with his red lance and said, "Oy, you rightly warn people of stuff or I'll shove you into the garbage disposal."
Angel said, "Or Gabriel could just grab you and make you useless." He looked at Rider and said, "Um, Rider right? Since you can't hitch a ride on Gabriel, why don't you take the vampire somewhere where we can interrogate her later."
******
Forest noticed that Rin's eyes brightened at the word "gemstones," but the young woman was obviously to suppress her excitement. "Easily. Though it depends on what you want. Besides simply adding more wards, there's several other types of wards and bounded fields that could be set up around the complex. Is there something specific you had in mind?"
For a moment, Rin paused, then she looked up at Forest. "Garrison-chan's specialty is actually bounded fields, based on her file. We'd have to either somehow restore her prana or she's recovered it naturally, but with the two of us, ideally we could set up a magical security system even stronger than this one." Her eyes wandered to the damage the complex had suffered. "Given all the attacks tonight, I'd say it needs it."
Dark Archer smirked and said, "Well, I'm sure Lancer could supply it to her and would be eager to do so."
Forest nodded and said, "Just let me know what you need and I can get it."
Forest also noticed that Rin gave her lover a "don't be gone for long" sort of look, before her attention was drawn to the stairs.
"If he needs someone to go with him, I could volunteer." The red headed girl came down the stairs, nursing her head a bit. "I have a bit of a headache, and I'm not exactly in the best shape, but I think I can kick the crap outta a few enemies if need be."
Ryoko made her way down so she was in view of everyone in the room. ...And then did a double take. "I-is that... Is that a Pokemon?"
Forest's eyes went wide at Ryoko's proclamation as she stared at her lover. A sinking feeling hit her stomach.
Tom began rubbing at his temple with his free paw. Yes, yes it is. His eyes met hers. Ryoko, it's me.
Then she realized how Tom was feeling about all of this. He was probably conflicted, and there was stuff about labs. So she wondered if he was some pokemon/human hybrid thing that could take either form. Which was heading into some weird Frankenstein territory.
"W-wait a minute. So, that silhouette I saw the night I left... It wasn't just a trick of the light?"
He shook his head.
Ryoko ran her fingers through her hair. "That explains a lot," she muttered to herself. Collecting herself, she jerked a thumb towards the stairs. "Finn's fine by the way, from what I could tell. I heard the tap turn on in the room you guys were in earlier right as I was heading down."
Oh Lord and Lady, poor Finn, the vampire felt guiltily.
"Sorry to ask that out of the blue. And it may sound a bit strange but, I need some blood. In quantity."
Forest's eyes widened as she saw Nessa carrying Jack, who looked like two miles of the road to hell. She could also smell that Nessa wasn't quite right. The smell wasn't that of a healthy, young magus, but something else.
"Nessa?" Hakuno walked a little closer to get a better look.
Ryoko walked a bit closer herself. "I can't really speak for Miss Forest herself, but I would suspect that there are probably blood bags some place. I don't know how many of us could spare some drops, but we can figure something out."
Hakuno spoke up. "I-I could try giving some."
Rin shook her head. "You're in bad enough shape as it is, Kishinami-chan. I probably wouldn't risk it with you unless several of us were giving blood at the same time."
Tom spoke up. Ryoko couldn't help but look rather incredulously at him. All things considered, she didn't know how well the two vampires would take the sight of an a 6 to 7 foot tall talking psychic cat.
I believe the blood bags would be the wiser option for now. With how many attacks there have been, we will need all our strength.
Rin found herself nodding in agreement. "If I need to, I can try giving a little blood, but I agree the blood bags might be the better option for now. Do you think you two would be able to hold out until we get some for you?"
Forest rubbed the back of her neck and said, "I . . . actually don't have blood bags."
"So you're not the paragon of good you want us to see you as?" Archer asked, a little smirk on his face.
Forest glared and retorted, "No, I can't drink dead blood you idiot. I have to take it directly from the living to work, wanker."
"I think while we're all here, I don't think it'd hurt to explain what's exactly up with that guy. Because if he's a wall ornament, it's in somewhat poor taste."
He is a fae, actually. A powerful one, capable of regeneration once he touches the ground. If he is not suspended from the ground, he will recover and attack us again. He only attacked us not that long ago, intent on taking Forest's life. A certain Imbecile who is not currently present in this room ensured that we had to subdue and pin him again.
Forest sent to Tom, I was adopted into their family.
Tom gestured towards the unconscious fae. I assume we will arrange something more permanent once we get the chance. For now though, there he must stay.
Ryoko blinked before turning to the two vampires. "You guys catch all that?" She began rubbing her temples again. "This has been some night huh? And it just keeps getting weirder and weirder..."
If they have cameras within the complex as well, they would have captured footage of me already, he replied, privately. And I may need my full strength if our enemy decides to strike again. However... Assuming that we are going outside, and the cameras are exclusively out there, then it may be wise to follow your advice. As such, I will err on the side of caution for now.
Forest patted his hand and replied to him, I really doubt that they managed to get cameras in here. The wards would have let me know if someone had been in here.
His borrowed pjs, boxers, and his glasses floated towards him, the clothing folding over his arm while the glasses floated above his three fingered paw. With these articles recovered, he began to head towards an empty room nearby to change. As he walked, he shot one last private message to Forest, with a slight flush on his cheeks.
However, I will give you fair warning. If I am forced to change form later on, I fear that neither these boxers nor that these pants will survive the process.
Forest shrugged and replied, Its fine, and I understand. You're not the first shapeshifter I've met. And one other thing.
She smirked at him. If anyone's going to be extracting any of your "DNA", it's going to be me.
*******
Archer went over to Rin and said, "I'll be back. I'm not going to risk myself needlessly."
Then he bent forward and gave her a kiss before heading outside into the remainder of the night to see a group of idiots talking on the ground and the metal monstrosity. However, he was going to find the camera's first.
-
Satoshi frowned at the stairs, and then suddenly burst into a small fit of laughter. 'The dragon, the immortal, the Prince of knights. Stopped by a flight of stairs, oh my, if Zelretch were to see this he would certainly never let me live it down' he thought cheerfully.
With his mood recovered and a smile at his lips Satoshi descended the stairs, albeit with the help of a projected cane. He made a note to buy one or build one in the near future and strolled as best he could to the door. Opening it he saw the knights marching to the compound with Alter and Angra. Immediately upon reaching the door Angra shouted.
"Protection, Mercy, Asylum!" she cried drawing a glare from Alter.
'Crap!!!!' Satoshi thought feeling the beginning of a headache.
Alter looked upon Satoshi and spoke clearly "I assume then that you are the master of the castle?"
Satoshi nodded "Yes King of knights, although, this current residence does not belong to me"
Alter nodded "Would be possible to seek shelter here? The castle was damaged in a recent assault" Alter was polite as she could manage, despite her outrage she understood that common people only had so much and that her position as king afforded her no liberties in the modern age.
Satoshi tapped his cane twice and nodded "I am certain that the young lady who owns the building can spare a room" he paused looking at Angra.
"You however, you shall stay here, you've clearly been here to cause trouble, perhaps I can convince her to let you in. I doubt it because she's smart but maybe she'll be kind enough" he barked.
Alter raised an eyebrow as Satoshi stepped out of the way to give her an entrance but said nothing. Silently Satoshi led Alter to the room and leaving the cane outside of view Satoshi tapped on the door.
"Forest, I'm afraid that there are a few things we have to discuss, for the moment one of two visitors needs to speak with you" Satoshi announced, his voice somehow worse then before.
Alter stepped forward a frown etched on her face. "Recently my residence met with an accident and, on the advice of loyal friends I found my way here. If possible, may I stay here? Temporarily of course." he was clear Alter was trying desperately to be polite.
Alter was clad in full armor but showed no hint of hostility despite her menacing eyes.
-
Jack
Vampire Friend, the dick, apparently didn't give a fuck about the impaled man on the wall, or a vampire with his chest practically caved in. Figured. The cane was odd, though. The catman thing was also creeping me out. A lot. That was Tomcat probably but it still looked eerie and rather unnatural.
"Blood packs wouldn't do it for me, or her, either. Needs to be fresh, or it doesn't do enough without a fucking mountain of it." I could see the bloody foam flying from my mouth. God, I must look like shit.
"Plus, I'm gonna need some blood to make the little miss here a full Kindred. I'm running on fumes here, and this is starting to hurt a little. Anyone willing to inject themselves with a mountain of pain killers before I chow down?"
Raul
The attackers this time were easily disposed, limbs flying in bloody arcs. The Demon still lost his intended quarry. But that wasn't that big an issue. He'd still proved himself superior.
Activating his last embed, Raul slipped away, shifting himself back into his human form. He'd need to acquire more hotsauce.
-
As soon as it was apparent that Undine's water drill wouldn't be able to pierce the wall of ice that had risen from the ground, it fell apart. The weapon's shape was lost as the spirit released her hold on the quickly freezing water in favour of focusing her power elsewhere.
"Respectable," she murmured. "But then again, water is not an offensive element. Come, then. If we are doing this like civilized monsters, then it's your turn to take the offensive."
She spread her arms, her watery tail curling around her body lazily. "Hit me," she challenged the lich. "And don't hold back. I am an elemental. As long as a drop of moisture exists nearby, I will eventually be able to pull myself together."
The helix appeared once more, but this time instead of focusing to a point it widened around Undine, flattening and elongating until a paper-thin sheet of water separated her from the outside. Her smile was easily visible through the wall, as were her glowing green eyes.
-
Mordred
"As you wish, Master."
The Knight of Treachery removed her entire armor, clothing herself in much more casual wear. She gave a wink to Downy, dropping the act of the perfect knight as easily as her physical protection. Breathing finally freely, her mood seemed to improve.
"All ready. So, are we to wait them right here? I'm curious to meet those allies of yours."
---
Nessa
Nessa sent Hakuno a short, awkward wave.
"Hey, Haku-chan. Glad to see you're safe."
She didn't want to bring Isa's topic now, simply redirecting her attention to how things will evolve for the Kindred.
I-I could try giving some
As exhausted as Nessa was, she could at least tell Hakuno was in no condition to give anything. She still found it fascinating that she would volunteer for someone she knew nothing of. She couldn't turn away from the girl, admiring such kindness.
This girl's really something.
Fortunately, people raised the blood bag option and Nessa found herself nodding at the prospect.
Good, it would avoid him, or myself for that matter, sucking someone dry.
But the option was short lived.
I . . . actually don't have blood bags.
The girl sighed in disappointment, as the Dark Archer jumped on the occasion to throw a verbal blow to the vampire. Her answer made it clear it needed to be a direct bite for her to feed. Jack's answer was basically the same, making her worries over feeding on the living a reality. She couldn't help rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, color me surprised. Why would feeding be simple, or even remotely civilized, after all?"
Alright, screw the blood bags. We will have to find another way to feed him then.
Plus, I'm gonna need some blood to make the little miss here a full Kindred.
"Oh sure, you do, old man," she grunted. "If I am to become an undead, at least don't do a sloppy job. Gimme the whole set of supernatural abilities so that I don't feel like being so screwed up I will want to throw myself on the first stake available." She was pissed off for a reason she didn't want to bring up, she was craving blood. Starving even. She eyed the wounded man and gave him 'a sorry for what I said' kind of look. "I am a bit on edge," she admitted to him, feeling guilty already. The guy might have done a poor job at turning her, still, he also made it so she wouldn't die, technically. Of course, she would have enjoyed it more if she would remain as before but, beggars couldn't be choosers.
At least, I'll be able to offer Isa some funeral.
I think while we're all here, I don't think it'd hurt to explain what's exactly up with that guy. Because if he's a wall ornament, it's in somewhat poor taste.
Nessa could entirely agree with that statement. And she got her answer, though it wasn't spoken but rather displayed in her own mind. The guy was the one who had attacked the place, apparently seeking to terminate Forest's existence. Nessa looked at the guy with enmity.
So, he's the one who killed her... I should tear him apart where he is.
Unfortunately, she didn't have the strength to take revenge. Still, she needed to express her anger.
"Is he the one who attacked my sister?" The calm that she expressed didn't reflect her internal, boiling anger. "Then, why is he still alive?"
Her eyes shifted on each of the people present. They stopped on Forest. Nessa felt her heart wavering. She had sworn that they would be safe, that she would protect them. Yet, she had broken her promise. Forest had betrayed that trust. She was no She-Angel. She was no heroine. Simply one person. Sorrow and frustration finally eroded Nessa's serene facade. Tears flowing down her face as she formulated a simple word in her mind.
Liar.
-
Nessa
Nessa sent Hakuno a short, awkward wave.
"Hey, Haku-chan. Glad to see you're safe."
She didn't want to bring Isa's topic now, simply redirecting her attention to how things will evolve for the Kindred.
I-I could try giving some
As exhausted as Nessa was, she could at least tell Hakuno was in no condition to give anything. She still found it fascinating that she would volunteer for someone she knew nothing of. She couldn't turn away from the girl, admiring such kindness.
This girl's really something.
Fortunately, people raised the blood bag option and Nessa found herself nodding at the prospect.
Good, it would avoid him, or myself for that matter, sucking someone dry.
But the option was short lived.
I . . . actually don't have blood bags.
The girl sighed in disappointment, as the Dark Archer jumped on the occasion to throw a verbal blow to the vampire. Her answer made it clear it needed to be a direct bite for her to feed. Jack's answer was basically the same, making her worries over feeding on the living a reality. She couldn't help rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, color me surprised. Why would feeding be simple, or even remotely civilized, after all?"
Alright, screw the blood bags. We will have to find another way to feed him then.
Plus, I'm gonna need some blood to make the little miss here a full Kindred.
"Oh sure, you do, old man," she grunted. "If I am to become an undead, at least don't do a sloppy job. Gimme the whole set of supernatural abilities so that I don't feel like being so screwed up I will want to throw myself on the first stake available." She was pissed off for a reason she didn't want to bring up, she was craving blood. Starving even. She eyed the wounded man and gave him 'a sorry for what I said' kind of look. "I am a bit on edge," she admitted to him, feeling guilty already. The guy might have done a poor job at turning her, still, he also made it so she wouldn't die, technically. Of course, she would have enjoyed it more if she would remain as before but, beggars couldn't be choosers.
At least, I'll be able to offer Isa some funeral.
I think while we're all here, I don't think it'd hurt to explain what's exactly up with that guy. Because if he's a wall ornament, it's in somewhat poor taste.
Nessa could entirely agree with that statement. And she got her answer, though it wasn't spoken but rather displayed in her own mind. The guy was the one who had attacked the place, apparently seeking to terminate Forest's existence. Nessa looked at the guy with enmity.
So, he's the one who killed her... I should tear him apart where he is.
Unfortunately, she didn't have the strength to take revenge. Still, she needed to express her anger.
"Is he the one who attacked my sister?" The calm that she expressed didn't reflect her internal, boiling anger. "Then, why is he still alive?"
Her eyes shifted on each of the people present. They stopped on Forest. Nessa felt her heart wavering. She had sworn that they would be safe, that she would protect them. Yet, she had broken her promise. Forest had betrayed that trust. She was no She-Angel. She was no heroine. Simply one person. Sorrow and frustration finally eroded Nessa's serene facade. Tears flowing down her face as she formulated a simple word in her mind.
Liar.
"Nah, he isn't the one. No blood on him. Not like yours. Little guy, artificial thing. Nearly fucking killed me... again, but I got him. I got him..."
It hurt to swallow, a bit. "...and yeah. Don't worry too much about the stakes until after I've gotten enough in my system to get you fully kindred. Christ, I hate that this is the only option for you. I didn't know you'd come back a revenant."
Forcing air into and out of my lungs hurt, each breath moving them through my shattered ribs. Speaking was starting to hurt. God, that sucked.
"Will someone seriously get over here and give me some blood before my spine fully rips in half? I don't want to have to heal that up again."
-
Bonesington
With a flick of his wrist and a cheerful hum, Sir Bonesington allowed the wall of ice to drop and looked attentively at Undine, considering her words about the suitability of water towards offense.
"Allow me a moment to think, then..." he said.
As powerful as he could make his frost spells, they were not magicks of outright power. Their power lay in controlling your enemies, catching them within your icy grasp and trap them in a cold early grave. Blizzard was one of his most powerful spells, but its strength lay on its large area of effect, and it was unsuitable for a single enemy. A impaling spike of ice would surely break against her defense. Just a Shadowbolt wouldn't be enough to phase her. He supposed he could Frost Blast her with all of his power, but the resulting icicles and frost would likely freeze the entire building. So all that was left was Death And Decay, quite possibly the most dreadful spell he knew.
It was his best option, but it would probably also make part of the building collapse on them. Unless...
Sir Bonesington grinned. Of course the answer would be in the basics.
"Here I come." he declared, beginning to channel all the power he had into invoking the dark energies he was about to use. Black smoke and decaying wind flowed around his hands, producing sparks of consuming light. The magic continued to gather, in amounts so large soon they would noticeable to anyone within the area of the park and beyond.
Bonesington threw his hands forward, releasing his shadow magic with all of his might with a shout of challenge.
"Death And Decay -!"
The ground beneath Undine flared to activity with a smoky sigil of arcane death, instantly darkening rock under and around her inside its perimeter. An outburst of magic flooded it in an instant. And...
"REDUX!"
The sigil instantly shrunk until it only just surrounded Undine, and its magic was released.
Darkness and necrotic vapor burst into being with a sickening hiss. An aphotic cloud of negative energy completely covered Undine, swirling around her and consuming all inside it with unforgiving hunger. What the dark mist covered was decayed and decomposed: stone caught in it blackened and crumbled in seconds, quickly decomposing to less than dust, and the air suffocated and withered. The darkness rotted and destroyed without mercy.
The spell continued to pulse in puffs of death, anything that touched it withering and being devoured.
-
Gwyllt
Lycodrake Aptera
Krokodil Factory
"I go by Lycodrake Aptera, sir Tân Gwyllt of the green flame; I am in the service of the goddess [Athena] Nike as messenger and confidant, but I am also lost and confused in this city-world of Nexus where man is apparently ignorant of the mythical. So I followed the man of justice, Tywin, to exact righteous fury upon this lot."
He paused to turn baleful eyes upon the wicked humans that cowered before the two beings. "I am not a stranger to killing the wicked, from my lady's immortal feud with her brother [Mars] (Ares) and the evil beings that warmongering god calls minions. So I ask you: what shall we do with these? Should you venture into the factory to assist Tywin, I am limited to biting, slashing, and swiping," here the large dragon allowed his fangs and talons to gleam in the residual flames, "and there is a chance a few may escape. Humans excel at courage, cowardice, and ingenuity when it suits them."
Tân Gwyllt laughed honestly as he voiced his response.
"Worry not, Lycodrake! As I said, I shall allow none to escape! My flames shall encroach, and trap and poach!"
The horseman's loud presence seemed to go silent for a moment just after he let out the last word, and he tilted his helmet to the side with an uncertain mumble before his vigor made itself known again.
"Nevertheless! Place thine trust in me!" he said, waving his hand in a wide arc in the air. The fires around them seemed to follow it, and although Lycodrake could not see it, they followed his command and began to spread outside, surrounding the building to his will.
"However your methods, they shall suffice! If you need, I will say it twice, or even thrice!" Gwyllt continued. "Let us both venture forth, and down these wretches as we go. If it was with your companion's quest that it began, then I shall cede to him its end!"
-
Forest rubbed the back of her neck and said, "I . . . actually don't have blood bags."
"So you're not the paragon of good you want us to see you as?" Archer asked, a little smirk on his face.
Forest glared and retorted, "No, I can't drink dead blood you idiot. I have to take it directly from the living to work, wanker."
"Blood packs wouldn't do it for me, or her, either. Needs to be fresh, or it doesn't do enough without a fucking mountain of it. Plus, I'm gonna need some blood to make the little miss here a full Kindred. I'm running on fumes here, and this is starting to hurt a little. Anyone willing to inject themselves with a mountain of pain killers before I chow down?"
"Yeah, color me surprised. Why would feeding be simple, or even remotely civilized, after all?"
Rin sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. She found herself agreeing with Nessa. "Well, there goes that option." She frowned. "But how do we give enough blood? Even between all of us, I don't know if we'd be able to give enough and still be strong enough to fight."
Tom's tail twitched in thought. I may have a solution to that, but I have to consider it first. Give me a moment.
Rin raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.
Tom proceeded to explain why the fae was pinned to the wall, along with the Imbicile's act of "charity" that could have gotten someone killed. Forest sent him a private telepathic message in response.
I was adopted into their family.
Tom winced. I assume you will be finding ways to avoid any family reunions then.
Privately, he expressed his concerns about the cameras to her.
Forest patted his hand and replied to him, I really doubt that they managed to get cameras in here. The wards would have let me know if someone had been in here.
The psychic feline found himself breathing a sigh of relief. It was an oddly audible sound. That is reassuring. Nonetheless, it does not hurt to err on the side of caution.
He then proceeded to head for the private room with his clothing in tow and gave her his warning about the potential fate of the pajama bottoms and boxers.
Forest shrugged and replied, It's fine, and I understand. You're not the first shapeshifter I've met. And one other thing.
She smirked at him. If anyone's going to be extracting any of your "DNA", it's going to be me.
Tom blinked. However, once he processed the innuendo, he responded with a smirk of his own. Oh? I suppose after tonight, it would not be the first time, now would it? But then... for your purposes, I would be quite willing to donate more. I take it you wish me to leave you another deposit soon?
Hints of lust began to tease his body- which, in this form, felt rather odd indeed.
"Is he the one who attacked my sister?" The calm that she expressed didn't reflect her internal, boiling anger. "Then, why is he still alive?"
Tom's attention was drawn away, and his demeanor quickly sobered.
"Nah, he isn't the one. No blood on him. Not like yours. Little guy, artificial thing. Nearly fucking killed me... again, but I got him. I got him..."
There was a tiny gasp, barely audible. Had it not been for Tom's keen hearing in this form, he would not have heard it. It was Hakuno. Her skin had turned white, she looked almost physically ill. Tom watched as Rin silently went over to her side, giving the girl's shoulder a squeeze.
Tom found himself frowning. How strange... from the grief this girl is showing, it seems that the being that killed the two upstairs was not normally hostile. Why then would it so suddenly switch to committing homicide? His gaze wandered over to the pinned fae. Unless...
"Will someone seriously get over here and give me some blood before my spine fully rips in half? I don't want to have to heal that up again."
Tom began rubbing his temples again as he collected his thoughts. That's right, the blood...
He spoke privately to Forest once more. Sadly, our liaisons will have to wait. As will my changing form. There is one last task that must be done before I change.
The psychic sent his clothes and glasses flying into the room he had chosen, but did not accompany them. Instead, he turned towards the two vampires and began to slowly approach them, trying not to startle them.
That leaves me with no choice. Given your injuries, these people cannot donate sufficient blood to help the two of you. But I can. His tail lashed. Within this form, I have the ability to regenerate quite quickly. Thus I will be able to donate to you what you need without weakening myself significantly. As alien as I appear, my blood should be still roughly equivalent to that of a normal human. So it should serve your purposes.
He moved closer and crouched down, offering his arm. Now then, drink quickly. We do not have all night, after all.
Rin, still over by Hakuno's side, found herself tilting her head. "Of all the people to be so heroic, who would expect it to be you, Kitty-kun?" She gave him an amused smile. "But then, I suppose we all have our hidden depths, eh, Kitty-kun?"
Please stop calling me that. He then said something that sounded strangely like "hmpth". This sound too, was surprisingly audible. And what I am doing now is hardly heroic. I am merely doing so out of necessity. I am the only one here capable of donating so much blood at once. I am simply doing what needs to be done, nothing more.
Rin smirked. "Whatever you say, Kitty-kun."
The psychic catman responded with a glare.
Liar.
Once again, Tom's attention shifted. The vampire girl was visibly crying. Her thoughts were loud enough to hear even without effort, and clearly directed towards Forest. Frowning, the psychic danced around the revenant's mental barriers to see the cause. Understanding soon dawned on him.
He quickly gave Forest the mental equivalent of a hug before closing off his thoughts so his mental conversation with Nessa was entirely private.
Listen to me, and listen well. I understand what you feel. I have felt what you are feeling now yourself. The betrayal, the shattering of trust, the constant barrage of questions as to why. I know.
He crouched down further, so his eyes met with hers. I also know that it will not avail you.
His expression became grim. You are learning a lesson now you are too young to learn. Something I learned when I was but a few years older than you. That there are no heroes in this world, or any other, that more often than not, someone will not be there to save you, or those you love.
His features darkened. When I was about sixteen or so, the laboratory that I was kept in changed ownership. With that change of hands, it changed in philosophy too, at least in regards to me. Rather than simply keeping me from the outside world, mostly in solitude, instead they decided to test me in every way possible. In short, I was tortured. Some of the scientists from the previous group were still there. None came to my aid, even as I could see the remorse in their faces. No matter how much I cried out for help, or protested, or screamed, none helped me.
Tom's eyes lowered. I had no heroes. Eventually, I saved myself. And left a pile of corpses in my wake. None survived my escape. I soon learned that more often than not, the only person you can truly count on is yourself.
His gaze met hers again. Or... so I thought. When I came to this world, I brought with me the assumption that no human or human-like being could be trusted. That, as always, I was to be on my own. Then I met Forest.
There was a certain earnestly in his eyes, for a moment. That faded, his features once again turning grim. There are countless tragedies that occur that cannot be stopped. That no one can stop. Even I, who could lift this entire building and everyone inside it up above and teleport it all to a different location with no more than a thought, could not prevent this from happening. Forest's intentions are quite good, but she is not invincible, nor perfect. None are. Not even those you humans refer to as heroes.
His gaze became more intense. I know you need an outlet for your grief, for your anger. But directing that anger at Forest, who has done nothing to harm you, who still even now cares for you, will solve nothing. Direct that rage instead at your enemies, those who would harm you and those who you hold dear. Have them suffer instead. Take advantage of your newfound strength as a vampire and make them pay the price instead.
He managed a small smile. It looked more like a smirk. I sense that you have strength within you. What you have suffered through this night will not be easy to bear. But you must be strong. For your sister's sake, and for those who have also fallen, you cannot let this defeat you. You must fight. This path will not be an easy one, but you must persevere. As those who have suffered, it is all we can do. For to give up to the anguish is to admit defeat.
He regarded her with a fearsome look. So then, tell me. Will you fight?
***
Archer went over to Rin and said, "I'll be back. I'm not going to risk myself needlessly."
Then he bent forward and gave her a kiss before heading outside into the remainder of the night.
She reciprocated his kiss passionately, forgetting for a moment that she may well have an audience, and watched him walk away. "You'd better be back. Otherwise I'll find a way to haunt you in the Throne. Don't put it past me."
Inside, however, concern still stirred about within her, burning away at her like a little fire. She had lost him once. She didn't want to lose him again. The magus gave Hakuno's shoulder another squeeze, every bit as much for her own sake as for her companion's.
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Krokodil Factory
Gwyllt
Tân Gwyllt laughed honestly as he voiced his response.
"Worry not, Lycodrake! As I said, I shall allow none to escape! My flames shall encroach, and trap and poach!"
The horseman's loud presence seemed to go silent for a moment just after he let out the last word, and he tilted his helmet to the side with an uncertain mumble before his vigor made itself known again.
"Nevertheless! Place thine trust in me!" he said, waving his hand in a wide arc in the air. The fires around them seemed to follow it, and although Lycodrake could not see it, they followed his command and began to spread outside, surrounding the building to his will.
"However your methods, they shall suffice! If you need, I will say it twice, or even thrice!" Gwyllt continued. "Let us both venture forth, and down these wretches as we go. If it was with your companion's quest that it began, then I shall cede to him its end!"
The wingless dragon tapped his foreleg's talons twice upon the ground, "That sounds reasonable to me, I must say. If need be, I am quite able to create my own entrance to their den of wickedness after we send these fools quickly to the afterlife." While not able to breathe fire like his kin, he could certainly slash through the walls of the factory with heat-imbued claws.
A few of the armed humans decided to foolishly shout out the orders to open fire on "these two freaks". Bullets were like blunt needles against Lycodrake's hide, and he had no doubt that the helmed knight of green flame could protect himself from them; if not, he would be embarrassed for being such a poor impromptu ally.
The spawn of Typhon and Echidna lashed out with heated claws into the ranks of men blocking his path to the door, his aim to clear the way and kill them quickly. His movements, though slower, were fluid and meaningful - no room for an incomplete attack. He held no love for bloodshed without purpose or reason, nor did he find pleasure in the suffering of others. Bodies were bifurcated and cauterized by his powerful swipes. His eyes held pity in iron; pity that these men had chosen to do evil and take advantage of others for their own gain and pity that they were within his way.
-
Gwyllt
The rider of green flames laughed in the face of puny mortal ammunition uselessly rebound off his plate and their desperate attempts at escape. He tugged at the reins of his dreadsteed with his mind and followed the lead of Lycodrake, jumping over the pitiful humans' heads to cut off their escape. Their landing was denoted by the crunch of bone and tearing of flesh caused by the nightmare's flaming hooves atop the one who was running forward.
Courage and even desperation dimmed and faded from the rest of the group that had come Gwyllt's way. The fragile, shaky legs of weak, wicked humans could not stand to face the maw and eyes of hell staring down on them, and they tripped among themselves.
Gwyllt raised his flaming sword above his helm and swung it down pityingly, bringing down a wave of green flame. Only a few seconds of burning stench and agonized screams preceeded their being put out of their misery.
Moving his steed around, the black knight's voice rumbled from within his helmet. "Forward!" he declared, his weapon a guiding arrow towards the locked doors.
The armored nightmare broke into a gallop towards the door and with a shout of strength of its user, broke through them in a single passage, splintering them into bits. The halls beyond that were filled with smoke and singled out humans scrambling to leave were overtaken by a cacophony of mad delight; the rider's sword swished in the air, the steps of his mount thundered on the floor, accompanying the uncontrolled cackle resounding from the walls, the orchestra of the inhuman hunter coming together.
The blade came down to gut a paralyzed thug, cooking his innards with the movement, and driven by its chosen purpose severed another's head from its shoulders as they passed. From his other hand, fireballs were chucked one after another, and more of the building caught on demonic flame as Gwyllt rode and sang his ode.
"RUN, MELIANTS WHO I SCORN AND SPURN! FEEL MY WRATH AND TASTE MY BURN! HA-HAHAHAHAHA!"
-
Caster (Tamamo No Mae, Fuyuki Ver.)
Street Nearby a Certain Bar.
The Nexus was one strange city. It was a jungle of concrete, a land apparently governed by the Will of Humanity, but in there resided not only humans - countless beings of the supernatural, Spirits, Monsters, Dragons and whatever mythical entity could fit into the many mythologies riddling history's page were present. They were not oppressed, they were not being removed from the system – they simply were. Walking about the pavements, driving in cars and tending to their own business like regular inhabitants of the city... this would've been no different from Tokyo or any great metropolis of the 'present' world, if it wasn't for the fact that some humans were replaced with phantasmal beasts and monsters of all kinds.
It had been a while since that time. A while since through some inexplicable phenomenon, the Servant Tamamo No Mae had been thrown into this dimension, a realm bordering between the physical and spiritual, never having a definite existence, fluid and ever changing. As much as Tamamo had tried to get used to it, which she did for the greater part actually, there still was the lingering feeling that even by her standards, this realm was more like a fantasy than concrete reality.
This really looked like these contrived crossed universes that spawned every time the audiences wanted interesting clashes between characters of different settings.
Truly a cliché scenario straight from fiction.
“Aiya... maybe that I'm being a bit too aware of things,” Caster thought to herself as she walked down the road, appearing fairly 'normal' to anyone that would cast an eye on her.
Well, that's what she hoped for.
The young woman wore clothes that, in theory, were meant to help her meld into the crowd. The term 'in theory' should note as important, for while her theory was quite good, Caster's tastes in civilian clothing were quite flashy... and excessive flashiness, as sad as it is, rarely melded in with the adjective 'stealthy'.
Caster had a magenta tube top with white outlines, exposing the entirety of her shoulders and a portion of her gorgeous cleavage. On top of the tube top, was an unbuttoned, somewhat large casual shirt, checkered patterns of a white and pink color making up the textile of the cloth's surface. A long light-blue jean fit tightly against her legs, following their gentle curves, and her footwear consisted of a pair of white laced boots.
She might've been better off on some sort of fashion model show rather than the streets of the Nexus, especially since quite a bunch of less refined individuals made shady advances on her or whistled as she walked by... but then, Caster did like looking pretty. 'A good wife has to, like, actually look good for her husband!'
So she thought.
Nevermind that she was more like a mother to her Master than an actual wife.
Caster walked on while letting out a sigh, somewhat exasperated that her Master was still such a young man. 'Too much of a young man,' she felt like complaining sometimes, but she acknowledged it wasn't her right to complain – her wish had been granted, so maybe that rather than being reactive, she should be proactive and cultivate the matter to its best potential...
The bags of groceries Caster held gently swayed in synchronicity with her every step, and her long waist-length hair flowed with a hint of transience as a gentle breeze blew. The hair was usually worn in a high ponytail, but Caster thought that she'd best change her hairstyle a today to something new. Having the same outfit on a daily basis would naturally be boring and a sign of her lack of creativity, which Caster didn't want.
'Hmm, I should hurry up back home, yes.'
Musing about her looks, while important for a woman that had to keep their dignity, was an act that needed to cede place when priorities such as 'What will I cook for the Young Master's meal tonight?' were at hand. Caster picked up the checklist she had stashed in one of the multiple plastic bags hanging from her arms, and thought of what interesting dish she could make.
Just as she was about to read though, Caster picked up the familiar scent of alcohol from nearby. It seemed to come from a building a few meters or two ahead. Raising her head, the pink-haired beauty noticed the board on which the establishment's name was written –
“Prickling Prickle Cornerclub...” Caster mumbled to herself as she walked up to it.
It was a fairly small tavern, its inside packed with all kinds of patrons, ranging from normal humans to shadier, strange beings that were clearly inhuman. These kinds of places, Caster generally avoided with care, but the Servant noticed something interesting being offered here -- on the menu displayed at the entrance, the alcoholic drinks that were sold at this tavern were relatively cheap in comparison to the shops where she went to get these most of the time, and this 'Prickling Prickle Cornerclub' did put brands of high quality on sale. Caster could use some wine or sake to cook up her special recipes of Teriyaki sauce and Honey Glazed pork. Her Master really liked these dishes... not that he knew that there was alcohol in them, but a then little of spirits didn't hurt much, had it ever?
Caster faked a cough before walking into the pub. She already told herself that she' make her business and stay here as short as possible.
But well, things rarely go according to plan.
Wanderer
...
"Excuse me, ma'am, but might I have the bill? Oh, and if this man decides to keep drinking, please, allow me to cover it in advance."
I reach my hand into my pocket for several golden coins. My politeness now is mostly so that I can get to the location of my brother as soon as possible. If it is who the presence indicates, certain ...events might not be so far off. A blond man is trying to get me to come over, but I can't spare much more time in this location. I nod to him, absentmindedly, considering what I should do. Perhaps, if it really is my brother, I might have to go for a ride.
The moment Caster entered, a mysterious figure quickly walked by her. There was a strange feel to that entity, one that was quite unsettling. It left a hollow cry in her ears, like the one armies fighting on a battlefield, clashing in blood, pain and death – a very unpleasant reminder of what she actually experienced when the existence known as 'Tamamo No Mae' killed over ten thousand soldiers by itself.
Caster froze still at the doorstep, eyeing this man that had the makings of a traveler. She did not know why she suddenly felt a certain sort of strange compassion for him – was it perhaps because he vaguely had an aura like hers, like an existence that had caused misfortune and death by merely being next to others?
Maybe that it was still such a kind of existence.
'Misukume, focus on what you're here for!'
Trying to stick to what she had told herself she'd do, that is, not spending a very long time in this place, Caster brought her attention back to inside the shop and headed towards the bartender.
Buying alcohol for home use in a pub was generally unheard of, but Caster couldn't really afford to pass on such an occasion to get some cheap drinks, as the store where she had managed to get a job at had recently had the courtesy of closing down - it was a mere two weeks after she got in, and all thanks to some idiots.
-
Uchiten
Uchiten let half a sigh slip from his lips while he entertained his course of action. It really was a shame Wanderer had to leave on such short notice, regardless of what his explanation to him had promised, but now with his company for conversation gone, the novelty of staying in the bar was beginning to wane for the specter. With the fae's attention far away from anything but their own talk, he was left with no other on his level to find some distraction in. The simple, easily influenced crowd in the bar made for poor company, while watching the one rough-looking man attempt to approach the retreating Wanderer in conversation and the odd old man butt in was interesting; but Uchiten had no desire of speaking to those two either, at least not at the moment. Maybe if they showed him something more alluring about themselves, despite already seeming like a cut above the regular mortal.
That was when a most fortunate coincidence happened which made him glad to have waited at his leisure, if only for the momentary sight of it.
The beautiful and composed woman who joined them in the delightful establishment caught his attention the moment she walked in. As she stopped at the passage of Wanderer, in turn did Uchiten pause at her form. She was.... familiar.
Not familiar in the way she reminded him of someone or you found a person on the street and remembered you had seen their face before, but in a more pertinent way than that. She looked human despite her beauty, but her presence unmistakably gave her away, to Uchiten at least. Her aura had the distinct tell of an Onmyo practitioner about it, but even more than that, it seeped of yokai energy. There was no feature about her that he could specifically recognize, but the air about her was the same as something he couldn't quite place.
He felt a little tug at his mind, and turned his attention to the link between him and his Shikigami. One of his Kitsune was excitedly calling him through it, sending the same expression over and over again.
'Fox spirit, fox spirit!'
He allowed himself to blink behind his dark glasses, and observed the woman walk up to the bartender with growing curiosity.
-
When Bonesington gathered death and despair in his hands, Undine was calm.
When the sigil appeared around her, Undine was prepared.
When it shrank and all that darkness was concentrated in a single tiny area, Undine gathered her power.
Yet, when the world began to fall apart around her, Undine screamed.
Nothing remained. The water shield that she had erected splashed harmlessly to the ground as the magical energy holding it up expired. The very floor she had stood on was gone, the floorboards eaten away by their own molecules. Microscopic reapers zoomed around the sealed area that she had too late realized was less meant to keep her out and more to keep them in, devouring all that they could get their hands on.
Water rose, gathering to do something, but fell apart just as quickly, its foundation destroyed and magic eaten up.
Thirty seconds after Death and Decay's descent, nothing remained of Undine.
Thirty one seconds after the spell, a single drop of moisture gathered together from the remaining humidity in the rotten air.
What followed was similar to watching a slow motion video of an explosion... in reverse. Dihydrogen oxide molecules drew together, pulled by a force greater than magnetism and gravity. The drop grew, bubbling and writhing as more and more of it was sucked in. The first words were audible after forty five seconds.
"Terrifying," Undine said, cracking open one eye while waiting for her body to recover the other. "Such a terrifying spell... such a terrifying creature." Her tail emerged alongside her arms, and the woman dragged herself out of the mass of floating liquid, plopping to the ground like a freshly birthed fetus.
"I expected ice," she confessed, gazing warily at Bonesington. "I did not think you could manage something like that. Fire will fade eventually. Earth will crumble, and the wind will be stilled, but water is one of the building blocks of the universe, too stable to completely destroy. Were it any other than I, the odds would be against their survival."
"As it is, I have to congratulate you on a fine performance. I would reply in kind, but I fear I'm a bit spent."
She raised one hand, stretching it out towards Bonesington. "Mind giving this lady a hand?"
-
Forest frowned at the back and forth about needing to drink living blood. She scowled and said, "Hey, I'm civilized about how I drink, thank you very much. I have willing donors."
Then she gestured to the Elemental currently pinned to her wall and said, "Why don't you drink from this arse here?"
Then Nessa said something very chilling, something that caught Forest completely off guard and hit her like a ton of bricks.
Liar.
The vampire froze for a moment going completely silent. Jack said something along the lines that it was Ruu who had went insane and killed Isa and thrashed him soundly. Still the girl was right. She had promised to protect Isa. The crow pendent should have helped with that, but if the girl didn't get a chance to activate it, it was moot.
Anything she could have said to the girl was hollow, an excuse, and it would have been. She could have apologized, but for what ends? Everyone was sorry. Everyone hurt.
A wise man had once had a character say, "If what we do doesn't matter, then what matters is what we do."
Forest had long ago accepted that she couldn't be everywhere at once. She didn't have the power to save everyone nor did she want to. There were a lot of people who deserved a bullet through the head more than a helping hand. Still Isa had been in her house, under her protection, and she failed the girl.
She felt the mental equivalent of an embrace and blinked as she felt Tom's mind envelop hers before he turned to Nessa. He was screening so she couldn't hear what he was telling the girl, but Forest had an idea. She quietly stood there, not knowing what to say or do.
Then she heard two others approach. She recognized Saber, but the robed figure was Satoshi (she recognized the ridiculous cape from when he had "sneaked" by a few minutes ago). However his scent was off. Older, like physically older.
Frowning, she asked, "What the hell happened to you? You smell like an old folks home. A well maintained old folks home, but there's definitely cell degeneration I'm smelling."
"Forest, I'm afraid that there are a few things we have to discuss, for the moment one of two visitors needs to speak with you," Satoshi announced, his voice somehow worse then before.
Alter stepped forward a frown etched on her face. "Recently my residence met with an accident and, on the advice of loyal friends I found my way here. If possible, may I stay here? Temporarily of course."
Forest sighed and said, "Sure, why the hell not." Then she tilted her head thoughtfully and said, "Actually, you could be pretty useful."
Then Tom offered to donate blood to both Jack and Nessa. A part of her bristled at the fact. He was hers damn it, but it was a logical solution.
*****
"You'd better be back. Otherwise I'll find a way to haunt you in the Throne. Don't put it past me."
Archer gave Rin a tiny wave and replied, "I wouldn't."
Then he stepped outside in the remainder of the night. He had business to take care of, first off, find out if anyone else had those cameras around here.
-
Alter nodded, the woman had a slight attitude to her but it was still kindness, so Alter despite her natural urge to strike Forest for considering her a tool Alter stayed her hand and kept calm.
Satoshi's robe hid him completely so the surprise on his face was hidden from view. He waved her comment off and replied "just part of my regeneration, I took a hit I shouldn't have. As for the other visitor, it's Angra, Connor messaged me earlier and said she'd been here earlier"
Satoshi paused audibly sighing before continuing. "Unfortunately, as I'm certain she caused trouble before, she has asked me for protection. As a knight I have no choice but to grant it, however, as this place is not mine you have every right to refuse her entrance. Of course, I will have to leave then as I'm bound by my oath. Act as you wish, I shall bare you no ill will."
he paused again and then added "As for recent events, ask me if you want help, I've learned volunteering isn't the way this place works"
-
Bonesington
It was an unnecessary act for one no longer among the living, but Sir Bonesington drew in a breath as soon as Death And Decay ceased. He had underestimated the cost of forcing such a powerful spell to concentrate in one spot like that.
And quite honestly, he had underestimated its effects as well.
Undine's struggling form was graceful even in defeat, and it would have made him feel bad if he were so simple-minded as that. But, he knew better than to show such a pathetic display after their magnificent mutual performance, and so simply drew close to her, bowed, and offered her his hand like a gentleman.
"Worry not, milady, for I believe I spent myself quite well already." he said with a teasing smile of just bone and cold.
He was not close to being empty for the moment, of course, but that was besides the point.
-
Nah, he isn't the one. No blood on him. Not like yours. Little guy, artificial thing. Nearly fucking killed me... again, but I got him. I got him...
She couldn't believe these words. Was he talking about the Familiar she had tried to hug not so long ago? Looking at the kindred, she examined his wounds once more. This thing did beat a full fledged vampire to this point?
But if he isn't lying, then this guy had already took revenge for Isa.
...and yeah. Don't worry too much about the stakes until after I've gotten enough in my system to get you fully kindred. Christ, I hate that this is the only option for you. I didn't know you'd come back a revenant.
She shook her head.
"It's fine. Accident or not, if it weren't for you, I would be a corpse right now. And you took care of the one who ended Isa's life. I'm in debt with you twice over already. You don't have to feel bad about it. Besides, I don't think being left in that state is that much more convenient anyway."
Soon, Tom approached Nessa and her broken Sire. He offered his arm in a distinct manner and delivered thoughts. Thoughts, she didn't bother to pay attention to.
It wasn't long before that mental voice reached for her once more. This time with a such a focus, she couldn't 'look away'.
Listen to me, and listen well. I understand what you feel. I have felt what you are feeling now yourself. The betrayal, the shattering of trust, the constant barrage of questions as to why. I know.
The creature crouched and locked his gaze in hers. She was too weak to even attempt to run away from the imposing being.
I also know that it will not avail you.
You are learning a lesson now you are too young to learn. Something I learned when I was but a few years older than you. That there are no heroes in this world, or any other, that more often than not, someone will not be there to save you, or those you love.
When I was about sixteen or so, the laboratory that I was kept in changed ownership. With that change of hands, it changed in philosophy too, at least in regards to me. Rather than simply keeping me from the outside world, mostly in solitude, instead they decided to test me in every way possible. In short, I was tortured. Some of the scientists from the previous group were still there. None came to my aid, even as I could see the remorse in their faces. No matter how much I cried out for help, or protested, or screamed, none helped me.
I had no heroes. Eventually, I saved myself. And left a pile of corpses in my wake. None survived my escape. I soon learned that more often than not, the only person you can truly count on is yourself.
Or... so I thought. When I came to this world, I brought with me the assumption that no human or human-like being could be trusted. That, as always, I was to be on my own. Then I met Forest.
There are countless tragedies that occur that cannot be stopped. That no one can stop. Even I, who could lift this entire building and everyone inside it up above and teleport it all to a different location with no more than a thought, could not prevent this from happening. Forest's intentions are quite good, but she is not invincible, nor perfect. None are. Not even those you humans refer to as heroes.
I know you need an outlet for your grief, for your anger. But directing that anger at Forest, who has done nothing to harm you, who still even now cares for you, will solve nothing. Direct that rage instead at your enemies, those who would harm you and those who you hold dear. Have them suffer instead. Take advantage of your newfound strength as a vampire and make them pay the price instead.
I sense that you have strength within you. What you have suffered through this night will not be easy to bear. But you must be strong. For your sister's sake, and for those who have also fallen, you cannot let this defeat you. You must fight. This path will not be an easy one, but you must persevere. As those who have suffered, it is all we can do. For to give up to the anguish is to admit defeat.
So then, tell me. Will you fight?
Nessa broke eye contact. With a long sigh. The tirade had been longer than expected.
"Alright, alright. You don't have to put so much emphasis on it. Dang, you talk so much I don't even remember half of it."
She gave Tom an amused look. The guy had been over-dramatic in his approach but that's also why it felt genuine.
"Though I suppose I understood the general idea."
Still, it was difficult to admit but, he was right on numerous points. One in particular. She owed her sister something. She had to find a way to live on. For Isa.
Nessa looked at Forest. She had to apologize. A challenge in itself, especially when she rarely even considered it. She looked at Tom.
Can you make it so that she can hear me? Oh, and don't listen. Girl's talk.
She eyed Forest for a second before, well, 'thinking'.
Whatever happened to my sister tonight is on me. It was my responsibility from the beginning. I just did a poor job at it.
She scratched her head, in an uneasy manner.
It's just... I had it wrong, Forest. Look, I'm sorry. It's just that I saw you as someone who could do anything. So, because of this misconception, I had unreasonable expectations of you. This town is so screwed up and I just forgot that there is probably no real safe place around. Probably had to do with how welcoming you've been with us, but for a moment, I was oblivious of the danger. I'm really grateful for trying to protect us though. But, even if I'm still a kid, I can't be selfish anymore and wait for others to shield me. That's why, I'm sorry. I put too much weight on your shoulders, I realize that now. I know it will not change the fact that I have been unfair to you, but I mean it. I'm not expecting forgiveness nor do I think there's room for it. Just don't blame yourself over Isa.
The girl had a grimace.
She would have hit me pretty hard for what I said earlier.
Looking at her feet, she continued, this time aloud since it didn't concern only the Landlady.
"Isa told me, how much support and concern you guys expressed for her. She was truly happy to have met you. To be honest, I was a bit jealous. Your group had been there for her in my stead. Thanks to that. She could fall asleep peacefully like usual in spite of what had happened with the werewolves. She told me she considered you as precious friends and I could tell she was grateful. I even saw her smile in her sleep. When I watched her, I told myself that you had already saved her. The events of tonight won't change that. I know that she wanted to be closer to you. She even asked me to help in preparing a party for everyone as thanks. 'You have to express your gratitude properly.' I told her that it was kinda lame but she wouldn't listen... She was the kind to worry over such little things.
That's why I have a request. If you are to remember Isa. Do it with a smile. Don't grief over her departure. Otherwise, she would never cease to worry for you all. She'll be fine by herself, I know she will. My little sister's tough like that."
She still had to take care of the body but, for now, she couldn't even stand any longer. At her limits, she finally sat by Jack's side and turned to Tom. Smiling impishly, she decided to poke fun at him. After all, he had been the one to deliver a sermon. She had to somehow pay him back for it.
"Now, Kitty-kun was it? While I wait for my Sire to get back in shape as he drains your vital essence, what about you tell me why I can smell lavender coming from you."
-
Uchiten
That was when a most fortunate coincidence happened which made him glad to have waited at his leisure, if only for the momentary sight of it.
The beautiful and composed woman who joined them in the delightful establishment caught his attention the moment she walked in. As she stopped at the passage of Wanderer, in turn did Uchiten pause at her form. She was.... familiar.
Not familiar in the way she reminded him of someone or you found a person on the street and remembered you had seen their face before, but in a more pertinent way than that. She looked human despite her beauty, but her presence unmistakably gave her away, to Uchiten at least. Her aura had the distinct tell of an Onmyo practitioner about it, but even more than that, it seeped of yokai energy. There was no feature about her that he could specifically recognize, but the air about her was the same as something he couldn't quite place.
He felt a little tug at his mind, and turned his attention to the link between him and his Shikigami. One of his Kitsune was excitedly calling him through it, sending the same expression over and over again.
'Fox spirit, fox spirit!'
He allowed himself to blink behind his dark glasses, and observed the woman walk up to the bartender with growing curiosity.
Lecherous stares were something that Caster could handle with ease. Heck, she took these as a compliment, for if every living being desired her body, her Young Master would only be more honored and graced in having at his disposition, and his only, Misukumep, the beauty that none could surpass!~
The stare of this man in black though was quite different. It didn't help that to Caster, he had an ominous, somewhat familiar feeling. In fact, he felt like a certain 'Dark Studmon Seimei'... only that the man's aura was even darker.
Caster threw an annoyed glance at him, somewhat unsettled by the smile drawn on his lips. He seemed quite happy at any rate... maybe too happy.
Yes, too happy for Caster to have a serene peace of mind, and also, the strange fluctuations surrounding his body were too agitated to let her rest assured her that this man in black wasn't a dark spirit of sorts.
'I'd better see what this strange chap wants with me before he ends up stalking me. I really don't like him, and him finding out where the Young Master and I live would be problematic...'
Caster slowly took a few steps towards the man in black with red shades, shopping bags swinging lightly in her hands.
"Is it that I know you somehow, mister Red Shades... or are you just happy to see me?" Caster asked tongue-in-cheek once she was next to him, tilting forwards as she began the second part of her question. The young woman closed the distance mostly because she wanted to have a closer look at this weirdo, and well, that is what she got.
This person definitely smelled the same as some sort of living curse -- there was anything but proper 'life' that was flowing out of his body, rather, it felt quite dead.
-
Uchiten
Still absent-mindedly following her with his eyes, Uchiten was not expecting the woman to unceremoniously almost get up on his face to talk to him, with a look on her face caught between suspicion and annoyance. Leaning quite a bit more to the latter however, if the sharpness in her words was anything to go by. In any event, it was anything but surprising that he too should raise the attentions of others. He wasn't particularly trying to hide his very telling presence, in the end.
In good humor, he smiled at her and responded. "Hmm, who knows. I'm not quite sure myself. Maybe I know you, maybe I don't."
Even as he spoke, his eyes dissected her aura, telling him of the power she exuded. He had been mistaken. It was not Onmyo. It was similar and might've worked like it, but her energy wasn't the same as a proper user. Onmyo was ultimately a power that encompassed much, but her signature only felt superficially the same. Instead, it was reminiscent of something baser, closer to demons and curses. And what's more, he could tell that much like him, she was primarily not of flesh, but of spirit.
How curious.
"In the way you put things, I should say I am happy to see you. But not as much as my cute shiki seems to be, miss vixen." Uchiten said after a moment of pause, leaning closer to her himself as he slowly spoke the last sentence.
-
Jack
"Uh, Tomcat... you sure you want to do this? I'm going to need a fucking shitload of it, then top off my tank just to be safe. It's going to take a while." I warned him... but didn't wait for him to deny me a chance at blood.
Grasping the hand, I could hear where the veins were, where to bite, how to bite, all these little little whispers of instinct - and I listened. My fangs bit down into the flesh of his arm, the Kiss applying itself to dull the pain, as I was seeking the pipeline. And I drank. The first priority was patching up the most severe damage to my body, namely my spine and chest. Vitae was surged through my veins and consumed, as flesh knit itself back together, bones cracked back into place, and assorted injuries healed themselves up. I wasn't fully patched up - I'd repaired most of the external damage, my internal organs were a mess for the most part - but it was more than enough that I could heal over time without too much more feeding. The amount of blood I'd taken here would have likely killed anyone else.
Actually, it would have been enough to kill several people. His blood wasn't as, well, nourishing, as human blood to me, but it was still blood. I needed more of it than he could likely safely provide. God damn, I felt horrible as I wiped some flecks of blood off my mouth as I pulled away. This wasn't what I'd wanted.
"Hey, girl. We'll be going somewhere else for this next bit. Some things ain't for polite company to see or hear."
-
Uchiten
Still absent-mindedly following her with his eyes, Uchiten was not expecting the woman to unceremoniously almost get up on his face to talk to him, with a look on her face caught between suspicion and annoyance. Leaning quite a bit more to the latter however, if the sharpness in her words was anything to go by. In any event, it was anything but surprising that he too should raise the attentions of others. He wasn't particularly trying to hide his very telling presence, in the end.
In good humor, he smiled at her and responded. "Hmm, who knows. I'm not quite sure myself. Maybe I know you, maybe I don't."
Even as he spoke, his eyes dissected her aura, telling him of the power she exuded. He had been mistaken. It was not Onmyo. It was similar and might've worked like it, but her energy wasn't the same as a proper user. Onmyo was ultimately a power that encompassed much, but her signature only felt superficially the same. Instead, it was reminiscent of something baser, closer to demons and curses. And what's more, he could tell that much like him, she was primarily not of flesh, but of spirit.
How curious.
"In the way you put things, I should say I am happy to see you. But not as much as my cute shiki seems to be, miss vixen." Uchiten said after a moment of pause, leaning closer to her himself as he slowly spoke the last sentence.
Vixen. That man had just called her a vixen.
'How conveniently lovely,' Caster thought to herself as a smile drew itself on her lips. It wasn't an amicable smile, nor was it like this man's knowing smile, rather, this was a forced facade to keep her dignity as an elegant woman worthy of the highest of courts. Caster would never have allowed herself to grab this man by the collar and strangle him alive, but it was clear that somewhere in her head, the thought of doing so still lingered.
Being associated to a 'Fox Spirit' never inspired many positive reactions from the pink-haired beauty's part... yes, being compared to, or even told about 'her' was something that Caster thought as disgusting.
Her golden eyes narrowed as the man approached his face, and Caster picked up the faint scent of sake from his mouth. The smell of alcohol wasn't very strong, and he didn't seem drunk, or rather, he seemed unable to get drunk.
'Perhaps because he was drunk on his own darkness all of the time? And what's this shiki that he was speaking about... could it be...'
Caster's index finger was lifted up to the man's nose, and gently, she poked the middle frame of his glasses, lightly pushing in them into the sides of his nose bridge, on which they rested.
"I'm afraid that your shiki is mistakenly rejoicing itself. Please don't call people what they aren't, they might find that rather offending, you know?"
The end of Caster's sentence was accompanied with a slightly stronger push on the glass frame, notifying the man in black that these details quite mattered to her.
-
Oh, I see..., thought Rider as Angel, Mille and Gabriel explained what had just happened.
Apparently, the guy had some natural anti-magic field, which obviously didn't interact very well with a magical being like her, and he had no means to control it. Mille was right, he had shown no ill-intent, and as Forest's godson it was unlikely he was here to attack. Plus if he really wanted to hurt her he could have done so in a much more effective manner. Further, whilst his nature meant that he could be extremely dangerous to Sakura and her family, there was nothing she could do to protect them but ensure that he never saw the need to harm them, and thus trusting him was the best option.
To demonstrate her point, Mille reached out and also took hold of Gabriel's hand. Unfortunately for her, though, Gabriel's anti-magic field worked just as well on magical girls as it did on Heroic Spirits, and as soon as she took his hand her uniform vanished, leaving her in her bed clothes, and rather embarrassed.
"Aren't you a dangerous one?', said Lancer in response.
Rider couldn't help but agree. His abilities made him extremely dangerous to her and also to almost every magus in existence, including her master's family.
Gabriel, however, seemed utterly fascinated by her.
"You're made solely out of magical energy. Fascinating. Are they're others like you? Perhaps when we're not after that slow moving monstrosity you can explain it in detail", he said.
Rider smiled at him, pleased he was taking an interest in her, whilst Angel asked, somewhat jokingly, if Gabriel was intending to annoy her.
"I never annoy an attractive woman", he said in response.
Rider smiled momentarily at his clear indication of interest, before her face fell suddenly.
Wait, I can't even touch the guy, how can I fuck him? she thought, disappointedly.
Meanwhile, Mille was having an argument with her stupid stick. Apparently, the damn thing knew that Gabriel had an anti-magic field, and could trace him from it.
"Oy, you rightly warn people of stuff or I'll shove you into the garbage disposal", said Lancer.
Rider couldn't help but agree. Usually, she found the antics of the stick somewhat amusing, mainly because she was immune to them and her master was sensible enough to stay well away from the damn thing, but right now she would happily snap the damn thing in half.
Still, the infernal thing was offering to help her follow Gabriel, and she was willing to take it up on that offer. However, Angel had a different idea.
"Um, Rider right? Since you can't hitch a ride on Gabriel, why don't you take the vampire somewhere where we can interrogate her later", he said.
Rider's face brightened at the thought of "interrogating" their somewhat-attractive female captive.
"Yeah, sure, no problem.
I can take her to my room, I guess. I don't need to sleep anyway. If she wakes up, I'll even start to..interrogating her for you, if you want", she said, with a hint of lust in her voice.
Whilst she was making an effort to hide it, she was becoming rather aroused at the thought of having the captive vampire at her mercy. A slight wet spot appeared in her panties.
This girl was a captured enemy and a vampire. She was most likely completely lacking in any morality, and had surely come here with the intent of killing every one of them. And, in order to protect Kiyoshi from future attacks, Rider needed to get as much information as possible from her on the nature of her master. As such, Rider saw no reason to show even the slightest hint of mercy.
Yes, she would have a lot of fun with this girl....
-
Uchiten
It appeared he had touched a sore spot.
Uchiten felt the frame of his glasses dig into his nose as the woman pushed at it a second time in punctuation, a false smile of the most polite and dignified seeming overtaking her face. Oh, and it was indeed a honed and masterful expression; it could've fooled him, if he wasn't who he was, or hadn't seen that same smile many times in the Fujiwara court. She must have been truly altered by his comment to need this facade to disguise her feelings.
He couldn't help but think her reaction had been such a fun one. So much that understanding escaped even though there were things that would've made him even angrier if said to his face; so much that when he normally would have felt much irritation from someone poking at his person like she did, the emotion did not even occur to him. To another, however, the slight was not something so easy to let go.
A transparent figure shimmered next to Uchiten, pointing the tip of an invisible sword dangerously close to the woman's neck. In the moment that happened, the onmyoji's eyes narrowed behind his shades and changed their target. Wordlessly, the sharp stare quieted it, and it disappeared.
Unfortunately, it was all it took for the air to be filled with tension.
Uchiten almost sighed. He emptied his drink and laid it down to wave goofily with his other hand, dispelling the atmosphere as he spoke in an exceedingly cheerful tone.
"Oh my, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I should know better than to always believe this childish familiar. Please forgive her mistake."
'Hey!'
He ignored the mental complaint and simply continued to speak. "Although, I should remind you that just as there are things you shouldn't say, there are still boundaries one should be mindful of when reacting to them."
In emphasis, his aura spread from him and creeped out slightly, like tendrils of shadow slowly crawling out from him.
-
Neo
Location: The Bar
"Whoa, whoaa!" Neo was being tugged around by the old man in Hawaiian shirt, cargo pants and a stuffed parrot in the shoulder. But Neo fully believed that the old man was indeed a veteran. "Hold the fuck on, brother! I was just there from '62 to '66 befo' I went full fucking hippie! I ain't in Khe Sanh, that shit was on fucking '68! I'm fucking sorry, man!"
"So? You still deserve a drink!" Henderson signaled once more to the bartender. "Make it a double, will ya ma'am?"
Rupert seemed unfazed by the commotion going on all around him.
-
"So? You still deserve a drink!" Henderson signaled once more to the bartender. "Make it a double, will ya ma'am?"
Rupert seemed unfazed by the commotion going on all around him.
Neo
Location: The Bar
Neo saw that the cowboy he was chasing was getting too far for him to notice any call for him to come. So instead, he just asked the old man, "Just leggo of mah fuckin' shirt, man! Just lemme go!" He then pulled out a rolled cigarette of cannabis and said, "Hey, bro, look! It's wacky tobbaccy, the real stuff, mah man! This shit made 'Nam damn better for us, 'member?!" At this point, Neo noticed that he felt no "brother feeling" with the old man, unlike with the cowboy even if he was far away.
-
Lancer whistled, eyed Gabriel, and asked, "Aren't you a dangerous one?"
Mille couldn't help but agree. This very handsome man could disable her spells in an instant, which left her at a severe disadvantage. Though it wasn't a problem of course. He was obviously on their side. In fact, it made him a quite valuable ally... And aside from that, Mille had other reasons not to be too concerned.
"See, this proves me right. On both counts." She realized she was smiling. She quickly attempted to revert to a more serious expression. ...Why did she smile?
Gabriel tilted his head at Rider and said, "You're made solely out of magical energy. Fascinating. Are they're others like you? Perhaps when we're not after that slow moving monstrosity you can explain it in detail."
Mille was about to quite happily spill all the details that she knew for him, but with an enormous show of willpower, relented, realizing that now wasn't the best time. Time was wasting, after all.
"You going to annoy her with questions?"
"I never annoy an attractive woman," Gabriel said as he smiled at Millie.
Mille blinked, surprised that he was smiling at her instead of Rider. Her cheeks flared up red and hot in a matter of seconds. Another small smile. Another attempt to fight it off. ...it seemed Mille was making quite the fool of herself tonight.
Lancer squared his shoulders, grabbed Gabriel's arm and then blinked. "That's odd," Lancer said to himself, frowning before he leaned forward and sniffed at Gabriel. To Gabriel's credit, he didn't shy away, but gave the man a bemused look. Then Lancer's eyes narrowed and said, "Your blood's odd."
"You have no idea, Lancer," Gabriel said with a sigh.
Did... did Lancer just sniff at him like a dog? She never imagined the Hound of Ulster to be such a literal title. Though, oddly enough, she found it rather difficult to hold against him. The question was... Why?
Things continued on and Ruby went on to continue attempting to aggravate everyone around her. It seemed almost too effective.
Lancer smacked the pentagram with his red lance and said, "Oy, you rightly warn people of stuff or I'll shove you into the garbage disposal."
"Oh, so brutal, so primitive~ Such a fitting plan from someone like you~"
"Or Gabriel could just grab you and make you useless."
"He'd have to try and catch me first~"
Mille glared daggers at Ruby. ...though somewhat halfheartedly. Not because she wasn't angry, oh no. No, it was because you can glare at someone.... or even something, and not get tired out by it after so many times. Aside from that, the accursed bauble had gotten herself high enough where not even Angel or Gabriel could reach her, let alone someone as short as Mille. Even worse, she was in her portable form at the moment, so no rod portion to grab on to. So any sort of retribution would have to wait.
He looked at Rider and said, "Um, Rider right? Since you can't hitch a ride on Gabriel, why don't you take the vampire somewhere where we can interrogate her later."
Rider's face brightened. "Yeah, sure. I can take her to my room, I guess. I don't need to sleep anyway. If she wakes up, I'll even start to..interrogating her for you, if you want", she said, with a hint of lust in her voice.
Mille's eyes widened, before regarding Rider with some disgust.
Ok, while some morals were a bit... looser, for people in more ancient times, even for those considered good, I wouldn't think it would be by this much. Isn't the Grail only supposed to enable the summoning of heroes?
-
"Yeah, sure, no problem. I can take her to my room, I guess. I don't need to sleep anyway. If she wakes up, I'll even start to..interrogating her for you, if you want."
For a moment Gabriel was reminded of his Mommy Dearest and how she liked to treat people, including his godmother, as things. Or rather, personal toys for her own entertainment. The wave of desire he felt from Rider about the idea of torturing the poor girl was almost overwhelming.
Angel said, "Well, you have to keep a delicate balance between fear and pain to get real information. If you hurt the person too much they'll say anything to get it to stop. From my experience." The odd vampire had the decency to look sheepish and rub the back of his head.
Gabriel shook his head and said, "I would hope that everyone here will refrain from using torture as a means to extract information from this poor girl. She was brainwashed- mystically and chemically somehow. She needs help, not a good dose of sadism."
******
Lancer almost smiled. Gabriel would have done his godmother proud, the Celt reasoned. However, he did notice something else.
Millie kept smiling at Gabriel like he was the second coming of Diramuid and the Hound could smell that Rider was getting wet. Hell, even that Angel bloke was acting antsy towards him. I don't see a love spot on him, the Celtic hero mused as he studied the admittedly stunning man.
"Oh, so brutal, so primitive~ Such a fitting plan from someone like you~"
Then the damned thing started to flit where he couldn't reach her, still taunting them.
"He'd have to try and catch me first~"
Lancer picked up a stone and flung it at Ruby with all of his might in true Celtic fashion.
******
Dark Archer shook his head as he watched the group below. There was Lancer, Rin's newest apprentice, Rider, some guy with an overhanging brow looking confused, and some pretty man with pointed ears and long hair. There was also a female figure unconscious as well, and the group was talking as the patchwork golum was waiting for someone to come and stop it.
So, because everyone was being violently retarded, Archer traced his bow and then with a whisper of, "I am the bone of my sword . . ." Hurunting formed in his hand. Nocking the bow, he began to charge the arrow with the prana that Rin had generously shared with him that night.
He took aim of the thing as he continued to charge it, the seconds endlessly ticking by.
-
Wynn smiled and said, "You are doing just fine. I am of a certain age that enjoys prattling on from time to time."
She eyed the ghost and the intriguing large man who wasn't human at all. She said, "It has been sometime since I have entered an establishment such as this on my own."
Rose
"Oh, I'm sure you're much older than I am. You must have such fascinating stories... like, what other places 'such as this' have you been to?" Rose asks her prettiest patron amid the mixing ritual for this oddly involved liquor.
Back in her place-self she would have had delightfully sullen servants to serve her such things, though it would have been extracted from the many fruits of the briar that grew up around there. This was truly her first time having to do this on her own. Oh, maybe if she did this well enough she'd impress this one, and have a new enemy to share with and show her appreciation for!
Once she slid it over to Wynn, Rose could finally get to the backlog created by her own fascination. The strange grey human with the bird in particular reeked of fascinating things, so she saved his order for last.
But there was a more important matter to attend to...
Her eyes turned to Uchiten, and his conversational partners. "Excuse me, dears? I'm afraid there is no fighting permitted in my bar." A smile graced her lovely features... and then opened wider, further than any face had any right to, revealing only to them the manifold thorns of this most delightful Rose. Then everyone blinked, and it was as though the sight had never been there: just white bone concealed by pink flesh. "This is your only warning."
-----------------------
Max
The Nosferatu had been cooperative enough to follow him without much of a fuss over who he was or any of the things around them. For that, Max was grateful. He was less happy about how the roman Elder had started to be difficult only once they were already inside the clothes store.
As soon as Marius (what Max had learned his name seemed to be, after some prodding and awkward pointing that had him worried the entire time he was going to accidentally trigger an anger frenzy from rudeness) had walked in behind him, his calm, somewhat humored look had shifted into a sneer of suspicion at almost everything. Max wasn't sure where Marius was expecting him to the bring them, but after taking one look at his face (which admittedly looked terrifying with a sneer), he had a pretty good idea this wasn't in the other man's expectations.
The Mekhet had to admit the place was a little... gaudy as far as these typical men-oriented stores went. Maybe because especial attention was being called to all the promotional sales.
That alone would've been okay to deal with, but Marius did not seem satisfied to even hang around, had already stared down a shop employee until the poor fellow almost literally crawled away, and appeared to regard most of the articles around with what Max guessed was some degree of disgust. He also didn't seem to appreciate the idea of the dressing rooms.
Max sighed as he heard another rip. This was the third shirt Marius damaged while testing their adequacy. Hopefully he wasn't going to find too much of an issue with the discreet, thick jacket he had just handed him. He'd scoffed at the previous one with a bit of a displeased arching of the eyebrows.
In hindsight, Max really thought he should consider himself glad he just hadn't commited any accidental slight upon Marius. Things would be much easier if they could just communicate, however...
Taking an absent minded look around him, he stopped and blinked when he saw a board hanging from a wall with the information that the shopping area had free wi-fi.
... Convenient. Now he hoped Google Translate wouldn't fail him at grammar and that his pronounciation managed to not be on the level of language-butchering.
Marius
It was fortunate that his capabilities prevented him from being recognized for the dead thing that he was right now. After frightening away the shop keeper he chose to conceal himself as just another part of the night's crowd, lacking in distinguishing features or memorable presence. It helped to soothe his mounting frustration at the living rabble's barbarian tongues, strangely marked numerals, and unpleasantly bright light fixtures.
What was this strange alternative to torches that they possessed? It was, perhaps, preferable to open flame and he would have to take one of them apart and see what was inside of course, but right now they just hurt his eye sockets with their brightness and their unceasingly loud hum. In fact the structure they were in was full of similar hums, a chorus of them, drowning out his hearing in their disgusting novelty. And the stench. It was as if the very air itself was a poison, one that he was fortunate to not have to worry overly much about.
On their way there he had vanished for but a moment, opened his chest cavity with a sharp scrap of metal that he found in a container, and removed the dirt from his lungs. At the very least he could speak without wasting precious vitae on projecting the illusion of communication onto his current guide. He of course had to replace the blood to heal with afterwards, but that was a simple matter.
This in no way eased communication. Titus was beginning to think he might get better results by... oh, this was a rather interesting bit of leather. Well he supposed he could try it on, just to see what it felt like.
'Oh my.' He stretched his arms out in the outfit. 'Hmm... a little stiff, not well suited for battle, but for relaxation purposes it seems to be rather well designed.'
He attempted to convey this to the Gallic seer who had misled him to this place to begin with.
-----------------------
Chiyo
'It's really tricky,' Chiyo thought to herself, 'to only look at a very specific thing.'
That's what she had to think when she took off her blindfold to look at the day's newspaper. By doing that, all she had to witness were visions of how that bundle of print might one day be destroyed. It could get wet, and fall apart, or someone might toss it into a fire, or the building it was in might have caught on fire and burned it to ash, or the dreaded locusts of Lithilanthapi would descend from the sky in their teeming, bleeding multitudes and make a meal of the city's tree byproducts, while leaving helpful quantities of sawdust-honey behind.
Not that she liked sawdust honey, but she understood it was considered a delicacy by the bodiless people of the world of Dionyl, who were only sapient articles of clothing capable of independent locomotion and speech. So she understood why some people considered those things desirable; if it was anything like the root-limbs of prematurely harvested Parasielians, then it was definitely worth calling a delicacy. N-Not that she harvested premature Parasielians! That would be immoral and wrong, and while immoral and wrong things were capable of being cute she wasn't herself immoral and wrong.
She was most certainly cute, though.
Not like the stuff in this newspaper tabloid; thinly veiled mythical activity was rampant in this place, and so it was full of ugly things that only truly uninhibited editors were willing to risk exposing even in vague references here. Like the scandal a month back about spontaneuosly arising castles, attributed publicly to a warlock-engineer in service to the Kardashian dynasty, or the violent noise complaints that people blamed on a migrating army of Jersey Devils. While the exact details were, of course, nonsense, the stories could put her on the trail of the truth far better than the sanitized nonsense of mainstream papers.
Chiyo felt that she needed to look into this, since she was here anyway. It was her self-appointed task for the cause of Hell that she carefully catalogue the ugly things that inhabited this place and make sure they did not have to stew in their ugliness and pettiness alone. Even the horrible things of the world deserved to be loved and acknowledged, and if she was the only one here willing to go there then so be it!
... as long as they didn't have a cup size over a B; there were limits even to her boundless benevolence, she reasoned.
She closed her eyes and nodded to herself. "Un!"
'Now then, who to investigate first?'
She turned the page and blinked her eyes open, repeating the process a few times so she saw only the newspaper itself throughout, until she finally found the ads. Then, she placed the newspaper down on the comfortable surface she'd been sitting on, knelt down to get a closer look, and began to sign off to the side. The True Tongue of Heaven, translated to a form even mute people could understand, was her most convenient way ordering Time to provide her the specific information she wanted. So she used that.
Not that she needed to use that, specifically; Time would have understood her if she'd written the demand for information in Martian hieroglyphs, and if she had a pen she might have gone with that one.
Revelation of Unfathomed Eras
The ads were replaced with ones more pertinent to her needs. Chiyo's perception of them was now of the ads that would be in this paper at some plot relevant point later on in Time, the vision pulled from the infinite branches of the future as if it were to be untouched by her own presence. It read quite simply:
Life-Impaired Necromancer Hiring Household Staff. Contact information below.
This... this is perfect!' she thought to herself, smacking at the paper.
Necromancers were always being oppressed and looked down upon, left without anyone to care about their fate except their charmingly devoted, pulseless followers! More than that, they were focal points around which other malevolent, ugly things tended to gather. More importantly, these ugly things rarely had any body fat to speak of and so would not exceed her appreciation threshold and cause her to fail in her self-appointed duties. Truly, this future den of iniquity and awfulness was where she was meant to go.
She put her blindfold back on, got off her knees, and left the alley she'd been staying in for the past indescribable period in which Time did not exist and so which could not be measured. Oh, right, she had to fix that part; she snapped her fingers, and the area returned to the flow of Time as it should.
The groaning of overconfident, brutalized young men behind her made her smile grow wider as she walked away. Their contribution to the removal of her ignorance, unwilling though it had been, was much appreciated.
Now she just had to find a pen and some paper so she could write up an application...
-
Uchiten
It appeared he had touched a sore spot.
Uchiten felt the frame of his glasses dig into his nose as the woman pushed at it a second time in punctuation, a false smile of the most polite and dignified seeming overtaking her face. Oh, and it was indeed a honed and masterful expression; it could've fooled him, if he wasn't who he was, or hadn't seen that same smile many times in the Fujiwara court. She must have been truly altered by his comment to need this facade to disguise her feelings.
He couldn't help but think her reaction had been such a fun one. So much that understanding escaped even though there were things that would've made him even angrier if said to his face; so much that when he normally would have felt much irritation from someone poking at his person like she did, the emotion did not even occur to him. To another, however, the slight was not something so easy to let go.
A transparent figure shimmered next to Uchiten, pointing the tip of an invisible sword dangerously close to the woman's neck. In the moment that happened, the onmyoji's eyes narrowed behind his shades and changed their target. Wordlessly, the sharp stare quieted it, and it disappeared.
Caster had been expecting a reaction from this man, but not from a familiar of his -- she hadn't picked up the traces of spiritual distortion floating around in the air, mostly because she expected that it was all coming from this 'evil spirit', not an entity separate from him.
Not having fought at all for a while and leading an arguably 'normal' life had put a dent on Caster's more cautious habits, also dimming her natural wariness of her surroundings.
The moment Caster began fiddling around with the old man's glasses, she picked up an intent that was not so far from one being murderous in nature, giving her a small window to react to whatever was coming. She felt an intense glare aimed at her neck, and 'something' was raised towards its direction.
Leaving no room for possibilities, Caster quickly inched away from the invisible threat. Using the weight of her body and the momentum of physics, she naturally found her entire body doing a hundred and eighty degrees motion -- perfect for transitioning into a handstand. Well, she wasn't there for gymnastic; the handstand was one part of the side-flip she was performing as an evasive maneuver.
From standing to a sideway handstand. From a sideway handstand to another standing position. A maneuver made up of two phases, but when witnessed in action, seemed like one fluid act.
'Why the pause on the handstand, rather than doing a normal cartwheel?' would be one's question.
To gauge wherever one had played into their own hands by evading, or into the enemy's hands rather. Flexibility was an important thing.
As a Servant, and one that was raised into a land where martial proficiency was expected even of women, one would think that it wasn't a warrior's evasive move, but rather, a dancer's elegant performance.
Caster landed without even putting the slightest strain on the floor beneath. She then quickly melded her form into a defensive stance. Of course, she first made sure that her shopping handbags which she had thrown in the air during her evading slid safely back onto her hands first.
Uchiten
Unfortunately, it was all it took for the air to be filled with tension.
Uchiten almost sighed. He emptied his drink and laid it down to wave goofily with his other hand, dispelling the atmosphere as he spoke in an exceedingly cheerful tone.
"Oh my, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I should know better than to always believe this childish familiar. Please forgive her mistake."
'Hey!'
He ignored the mental complaint and simply continued to speak. "Although, I should remind you that just as there are things you shouldn't say, there are still boundaries one should be mindful of when reacting to them."
In emphasis, his aura spread from him and creeped out slightly, like tendrils of shadow slowly crawling out from him.
Caster eyed the 'threat' that had showed up for a moment, but seeing that it was strictly under control, and that the man in black didn't seem to be wanting to pick up a fight, she decided to make the ofuda that had appeared in her hand vanish.
The piece of paper which had been conjured via the power of cursecraft disappeared as swiftly as it had materialized in Caster's hand while she had reacted, burning away unto an ethereal and 'cold' fire of a violet hue.
"Your shiki are very impulsive. Maybe that you should tighten the leash around their neck..." Caster retorted with a little hint of bitterness. A display of aggressiveness was still just that to her: a display of aggressiveness. It was far from being a pleasant experience... nevermind that internally, she was quite unbelieving of how much caution she had lacked there -- if it was a Saber or Lancer class servant that had swung their weapon, her head might've been gone.
"...but I suppose that intruding on the personal space of others was my fault too. Then if possible, we can just leave it at that and call the situation fair and square, I suppose?"
She didn't want anymore trouble from here -- Caster already acknowledged to herself that walking into the place just for the sake of getting some cheap drinks had been a terrible idea.
But now that she was here, the young lady might as well go the full way now.
As if 'luck' had struck her, Caster's antics with the 'evil spirit' had caught the bartender's attention... but sadly, not in the best of lights.
Rose
But there was a more important matter to attend to...
Her eyes turned to Uchiten, and his conversational partners. "Excuse me, dears? I'm afraid there is no fighting permitted in my bar." A smile graced her lovely features... and then opened wider, further than any face had any right to, revealing only to them the manifold thorns of this most delightful Rose. Then everyone blinked, and it was as though the sight had never been there: just white bone concealed by pink flesh. "This is your only warning."
'Great, so even the barkeeper is a weirdo.'
But hadn't Caster expected that from the moment she observed the clientele of this tavern? Maybe that she had been a bit too much of wishful thinker... yes, while it did not hurt to be optimistic, the young lady had perhaps been a little bit too lenient on inevitable realities.
"Aiya... sorry for the ruckus."
Caster spoke with a little bit of nonchalance, giving a light awkward laugh rather than appearing downcast or ashamed of her acts. She after all, never was one that had been too apologetic. She had her pride as a woman of the court, and as one of the peerless beauties of Eastern Asia. It was only when she was with her Master that she'd allow her facade to drop.
"But... I should do what I came here for. Do you mind if I buy a whole bottle of Juyondai Sake? I saw that there was a discount on its price."
-
Wynn took the absinthe and smiled her thanks.
"Oh, I'm sure you're much older than I am. You must have such fascinating stories... like, what other places 'such as this' have you been to?"
Wynn canted her head at the question and answered, "A few here and there from my, I believe you would call it 'point of origin'."
Then the ruckus began and Wynn turned her attention to it. A smile crossed her lips at the exotic, rose haired beauty and her graceful motions. The lovely woman's arcane talents weren't something Wynn wasn't familiar with; she had trouble speaking the heathen languages of far eastern cultures so she didn't bother with them. However, she did have to admit that the display was lively and entertaining, but Rose did not think so.
Rose's eyes turned to Uchiten, and his conversational partners. "Excuse me, dears? I'm afraid there is no fighting permitted in my bar." A smile graced her lovely features... and then opened wider, further than any face had any right to, revealing only to them the manifold thorns of this most delightful Rose. Then everyone blinked, and it was as though the sight had never been there: just white bone concealed by pink flesh. "This is your only warning."
Wynn smirked at the display, curious where her other talents lay. She had seen such savage shapeshifting in the Slaugh, but none of the member of the nightmare faction of Faerie were as lovely as the thorny Rose before her. Curiouser and curiouser, the Faerie noble thought with a smile as she began to sip her drink, shivering in delight at its brisk taste.
"I think you should heed Lady Rose's warning," Wynn said with a smile as she brought the milky, pale green liquid to her lips. It was a startling contrast to her near glowing violet eyes, raven hair, and fair skin. "She is providing hospitality for you here, it is only polite for you to be reasonable guests."
"But... I should do what I came here for. Do you mind if I buy a whole bottle of Juyondai Sake? I saw that there was a discount on its price."
Wynn eyed Rose and said, "If you have the bottle to spare, I would be more than happy to put it on my tab."
-
Rider was slightly irritated but not particularly surprised at the disgusted look that Mille gave in response to her slight verbal slip. She had spent enough time around Sakura and her family to know that modern people had far more moral limitations when it came to the treatment of captured enemies and people they considered evil than she did. Still, despite her clear unease, Mille had said nothing to stop Rider acting, and the helpless vampire was still in her hands to do with as she wished, so the look Mille gave did little to dampen her excitement.
Rider's excitement increased further when Angel spoke up. It was clear from his words that, unlike Mille, he had no issue with her torturing the girl and, indeed, seemed to outright encourage it. That meant she was more likely to be allowed to act as she desired.
Further, unlike her, who had only ever roleplayed interrogations for pleasure with consenting partners, he clearly had genuine experience, and was able to offer some useful advice. Although, given that her intentions were mostly to just enjoy herself and inflict as much pain as possible, it might be a good idea for her to just "soften her up" and then let Angel handle the information-gathering whilst she stood by and acted threateningly
Before she could respond, though, Gabriel spoke, shaking his head.
"I would hope that everyone here will refrain from using torture as a means to extract information from this poor girl. She was brainwashed- mystically and chemically somehow. She needs help, not a good dose of sadism", he said.
Oh, I see..., Rider thought, the smile falling from her face as she realised that the girl was merely another victim of their attackers.
Rider knew what it was like to be forced to act against your wishes, and felt nothing but sympathy for the poor girl's plight. Whilst she knew they still did need the girl to talk, and she would, of course, still find sexual pleasure in tormenting her, emotionally and morally she just wanted to give the girl a hug and help her fight off the brainwashing, just as she once had for her own master. She wouldn't hurt the girl unless it was absolutely necessary to ensure Kiyoshi's safety, and given the girl's reluctance to support the enemy she saw no reason why it should come to that.
Still, it wasn't so bad. She might have lost a chance at some fun with this girl, and Gabriel was out of reach due to his power, but Angra was waiting for her back at the castle, ready to submit willingly to her and allow her to do anything she wished. She could at least look forward to that, and also to the punishment Angra would enact on her in revenge after she had finally had enough.
Rider looked at Gabriel. Despite the fact that she knew she could never be together with him, she still felt an attraction to him, and felt upset that he would look down on her. She felt that she had to rectify the situation as best as she can.
"Sorry about that, I thought that the girl was a willing participant in the attack, and had intended to kill us all. I guess I should know better than to just assume that....
I promise that I won't harm her, unless there really is no other way to protect my master and her family. Whilst I would gain pleasure from doing it, I will not harm an innocent victim without very good cause", Rider said.
Then, she turned to Angel, smiling wickedly.
"Interesting, you seem like quite the expert on torture, do you have a lot of experience?" she said with an evil grin
"Perhaps you can teach me a few things, mock 'interrogations' of a consenting partner can be rather misleading in that respect. I'll even let you use me as a 'practice dummy', see if you can manage to break me", she said half-seriously, a hint of lust in her voice.
Whilst Angel was no Gabriel, he was not unattractive, and messing around with him was certainly fun. In the unlikely event he actually responded to her offer, she wasn't honestly sure if she would go along with it.
Finally, she turned to address Gabriel.
"You know, I would love to have let you 'interrogate' me for all that information you wanted, and anything else you might desire. I'm sure it would have been a most enjoyable experience for us both", she said with a combination of lust, amusement and slight regret at what could have been. "But, alas, your anti-magic field seems to make any such idea impossible.
Still, once you are finished with that monster, I would be more than happy to explain everything to you. I'm sure you will find it very interesting indeed...."
-
Angel said, "Well, you have to keep a delicate balance between fear and pain to get real information. If you hurt the person too much they'll say anything to get it to stop. From my experience." The odd vampire had the decency to look sheepish and rub the back of his head.
Mille looked at him, flabbergasted. W-why is he encouraging her?! We don't even know if that lady's evil or not. Hell, the way that Gabriel was holding her... I'd say not. What's with the eagerness to torture her?
She did at least note that Angel seemed to feel some embarrassment and regret about it, which gave him points over Rider, but she was still perturbed nonetheless.
The young magus was about to raise her objections, but she never got the chance to voice them.
Gabriel shook his head and said, "I would hope that everyone here will refrain from using torture as a means to extract information from this poor girl. She was brainwashed- mystically and chemically somehow. She needs help, not a good dose of sadism."
What little frustration she felt over not being able to express her opinion was overwhelmed greatly from the almost perverse level of pleasure she felt from being right. That, and someone as gorgeous as Gabriel agreeing with her, even if he wasn't aware with it.
Sadly, she felt there wasn't much more she could add to that. So she just nodded, trying to keep the sudden wave of smug satisfaction she was feeling in check.
"Sorry about that, I thought that the girl was a willing participant in the attack, and had intended to kill us all. I guess I should know better than to just assume that...."
This time Mille didn't hold back. "No, you shouldn't just assume. Nor should you leap to torture as the first option. Or... worse, a-as I suspect you were thinking. Seriously, why did you-"
I promise that I won't harm her, unless there really is no other way to protect my master and her family. Whilst I would gain pleasure from doing it, I will not harm an innocent victim without very good cause."
Mille's gut began to tighten, her sight frown deepening. Aside from everything that occurred tonight weighing on her mind, there also seemed to be another, odd source of frustration that she felt like she should have been able to identify and yet couldn't weighing down on her. And it was driving her nuts.
Rider proceeded to hit on Angel and Gabriel with a very... torture heavy context, and frustration slowly turned to anger. It didn't help that Ruby was still taunting Lancer, wiggling about mockingly after she managed to dodge the rock he had lobbed at her by some miracle.
Her mind frantically searched for something to try and calm her down, some sense of purpose, some- then she remembered.
The golem. They should have been going after the golem.
"W-we don't have time for this! For all we know the golem could have gone away by now. We have to get moving."
-
Marius
It was fortunate that his capabilities prevented him from being recognized for the dead thing that he was right now. After frightening away the shop keeper he chose to conceal himself as just another part of the night's crowd, lacking in distinguishing features or memorable presence. It helped to soothe his mounting frustration at the living rabble's barbarian tongues, strangely marked numerals, and unpleasantly bright light fixtures.
What was this strange alternative to torches that they possessed? It was, perhaps, preferable to open flame and he would have to take one of them apart and see what was inside of course, but right now they just hurt his eye sockets with their brightness and their unceasingly loud hum. In fact the structure they were in was full of similar hums, a chorus of them, drowning out his hearing in their disgusting novelty. And the stench. It was as if the very air itself was a poison, one that he was fortunate to not have to worry overly much about.
On their way there he had vanished for but a moment, opened his chest cavity with a sharp scrap of metal that he found in a container, and removed the dirt from his lungs. At the very least he could speak without wasting precious vitae on projecting the illusion of communication onto his current guide. He of course had to replace the blood to heal with afterwards, but that was a simple matter.
This in no way eased communication. Titus was beginning to think he might get better results by... oh, this was a rather interesting bit of leather. Well he supposed he could try it on, just to see what it felt like.
'Oh my.' He stretched his arms out in the outfit. 'Hmm... a little stiff, not well suited for battle, but for relaxation purposes it seems to be rather well designed.'
He attempted to convey this to the Gallic seer who had misled him to this place to begin with.
Max
Max couldn't hide his relief at seeing Marius finally like something in the store. Or at least he seemed to like it, if the attention he called to it was any indication. The Mekhet cautiously replied in vague gestures and with a nod of affirmation, having no other means to show immediate approval, but... hmm. Well, nothing was really going to be lost if he tried it and it didn't work.
Putting aside the pair of pants he had fetched for the Nosferatu for the moment, he read as fluently as he could from the screen of his phone, and spoke to his current companion in awkward and slow latin.
"Do you understand me?"
-
"Sorry about that, I thought that the girl was a willing participant in the attack, and had intended to kill us all. I guess I should know better than to just assume that....
I promise that I won't harm her, unless there really is no other way to protect my master and her family. Whilst I would gain pleasure from doing it, I will not harm an innocent victim without very good cause," Rider said looking at Gabriel.
Angel looked at Gabriel as he noticed a tick in the other man's cheek, but the polite smile didn't budge. The other man nodded and said, "Well, I thank you for that."
Then Rider turned towards Angel, a smile that he could only describe as "sadistically blood thirsty" (it was one he was familiar with with Darla) gracing her classically beautiful face.
"Interesting, you seem like quite the expert on torture, do you have a lot of experience?" Rider asked him. "Perhaps you can teach me a few things, mock 'interrogations' of a consenting partner can be rather misleading in that respect. I'll even let you use me as a 'practice dummy', see if you can manage to break me."
The vampire with a soul frowned, rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Oh, you can say I have a lot of experience . . . Bad past, but I'm trying to come clean . . . Path of redemption and I'm not evil right now."
"So you've been known to go evil?" Lancer asked eyebrows raised.
Angel shrugged and said, "There's this Gypsy curse. As long as I'm not happy, I'm of the good."
". . . Sounds like a shoddy curse," Lancer said, narrowing his eyes at him.
He didn't want to tell the woman, that if he didn't have his soul he would break her. So the Greek hottie is a bit of a sadist. In the words of your precious Slayer, "Please." Angelus taunted from within his mind, giving the mental impression that the demon was eyerolling.
******
Secretly, Gabriel agreed with Mille's outburst. However, he couldn't voice his agreement because Rider was turning her attention on Angel for the moment.
"You know, I would love to have let you 'interrogate' me for all that information you wanted, and anything else you might desire. I'm sure it would have been a most enjoyable experience for us both", she said with a combination of lust, amusement and slight regret at what could have been. "But, alas, your anti-magic field seems to make any such idea impossible," Rider said, turning her attention towards Gabriel.
Still, once you are finished with that monster, I would be more than happy to explain everything to you. I'm sure you will find it very interesting indeed...."
Gabriel kept the pleasant smile forced on his face, not too happy with the introduction of the fact that sometimes apparently Angel could be evil, when a Gypsy curse was in effect or something. Of course, this means he'd be the sort of man that Godmother is going to be attracted to, he thought while saying to Rider, "I assure you that I will. I'll look forward to getting a chance to talk in depth about the magic from your point of origin."
Millie said, "W-we don't have time for this! For all we know the golem could have gone away by now. We have to get moving."
Gabriel nodded and said, "She's quite right, now if everyone will just get a hold of me we can catch the fiend and stop his dastardly plan."
"Did you just say 'catch the fiend and stop his dastardly plan'?" Angel asked, a small smile on his handsome face.
Gabriel frowned and said, "I was born in the Victorian era. Allow me my stodgy speech pattern from time to time."
"Oy, Mille's right. Time's wasting," Lancer said with a scowl.
Gabriel was about to pull everyone he could into the Shadows when he sensed something magical and insanely powerful wizz by them toward their intended target.
******
Once Hurunting was charged, Archer kept sight on his target, smirked, and said, "Hurunting."
Then he let the arrow fly, making sure it would hone on its target.
-
Uchiten
Caster eyed the 'threat' that had showed up for a moment, but seeing that it was strictly under control, and that the man in black didn't seem to be wanting to pick up a fight, she decided to make the ofuda that had appeared in her hand vanish.
The piece of paper which had been conjured via the power of cursecraft disappeared as swiftly as it had materialized in Caster's hand while she had reacted, burning away unto an ethereal and 'cold' fire of a violet hue.
"Your shiki are very impulsive. Maybe that you should tighten the leash around their neck..." Caster retorted with a little hint of bitterness. A display of aggressiveness was still just that to her: a display of aggressiveness. It was far from being a pleasant experience... nevermind that internally, she was quite unbelieving of how much caution she had lacked there -- if it was a Saber or Lancer class servant that had swung their weapon, her head might've been gone.
"...but I suppose that intruding on the personal space of others was my fault too. Then if possible, we can just leave it at that and call the situation fair and square, I suppose?"
She didn't want anymore trouble from here -- Caster already acknowledged to herself that walking into the place just for the sake of getting some cheap drinks had been a terrible idea.
But now that she was here, the young lady might as well go the full way now.
As if 'luck' had struck her, Caster's antics with the 'evil spirit' had caught the bartender's attention... but sadly, not in the best of lights.
Uchiten was smirking at both her reproach and her graceful display of athleticism and preparation of spellcasting in response to his Oni's impulsiveness. Somewhere in his mind he immediately began weighing his chances against this oriental caster that reminded him so much of the era of his birth and life when he had no talismans or paper charms on him - and then forgetting about those concerns entirely as he simply contemplated if she would prove to be a good fight. Zan hadn't lifted his sword out of battle lust, and Uchiten had been far too entertained in a much more simple way to think of battle, until the woman demonstrated her willingness to respond with force and her decisive shift to a stance that would accept a fight.
But then she accepted her share of the blame for the situation and expressed her desire to let it go. And the spreading presence of Uchiten dissipated, his smile visibly deflating.
The upward curve of his lips still hadn't disappeared, but he almost sighed as he spoke.
"Very well, let us leave it at that then. You have my apologies for my unruly familiars."
He would have plenty of time to have the wild fun he was more used to, but in the end he grudgingly accepted that this was probably neither the time nor the place for it, convincing himself with the fact that he was not yet at his best and a truly entertaining battle required fitting preparation and setup.
Then the ruckus began and Wynn turned her attention to it. A smile crossed her lips at the exotic, rose haired beauty and her graceful motions. The lovely woman's arcane talents weren't something Wynn wasn't familiar with; she had trouble speaking the heathen languages of far eastern cultures so she didn't bother with them. However, she did have to admit that the display was lively and entertaining, but Rose did not think so.
Rose's eyes turned to Uchiten, and his conversational partners. "Excuse me, dears? I'm afraid there is no fighting permitted in my bar." A smile graced her lovely features... and then opened wider, further than any face had any right to, revealing only to them the manifold thorns of this most delightful Rose. Then everyone blinked, and it was as though the sight had never been there: just white bone concealed by pink flesh. "This is your only warning."
Wynn smirked at the display, curious where her other talents lay. She had seen such savage shapeshifting in the Slaugh, but none of the member of the nightmare faction of Faerie were as lovely as the thorny Rose before her. Curiouser and curiouser, the Faerie noble thought with a smile as she began to sip her drink, shivering in delight at its brisk taste.
"I think you should heed Lady Rose's warning," Wynn said with a smile as she brought the milky, pale green liquid to her lips. It was a startling contrast to her near glowing violet eyes, raven hair, and fair skin. "She is providing hospitality for you here, it is only polite for you to be reasonable guests."
"But... I should do what I came here for. Do you mind if I buy a whole bottle of Juyondai Sake? I saw that there was a discount on its price."
Wynn eyed Rose and said, "If you have the bottle to spare, I would be more than happy to put it on my tab."
The specter's eyebrow wriggled at Rose's thorned smile. Ah there it was again, that blatant show of inhumanity, showed off in that.... cheerfully eerie way. How it humored him. But his humor itself aside, since she was being so upfront with her words, it really would be better if he complied openly and clearly.
"Of course. I assure you you'll have no problems from me, Lady Rose." he said with a slight bow, continuing as he put down his glass on the counter and got up from his seat. "In fact, I was about to take my leave."
He hadn't decided this because of the happenings just now, but he had been waiting for a chance to say his greetings to the fae if he was to leave, unwilling to interrupt their conversation. Given Rose now had directed her attention to him, it was the best time. Besides, If he let himself stay seated in hopes of seeing more interesting sights, he would keep witholding it and would never get his ass off to actually explore this town. That wouldn't do.
His steps took him to right in front of Rose and Wynn, where he once again bowed, but much more strongly, a teasing half-smile on his face as he did.
"You have my gratitude for your hospitality Lady Rose. And it was a pleasure to meet you both." his gaze lifted up to Wynn a second after he began as such, and then he went on. "I sincerely hope we will see each other again, fair lady of shadows."
He rose from his bow and started in the direction of the door, but stopped to face the oriental beauty with whom he had been debating.
"After all of that, I never introduced myself, did I?" he asked her in the nonchalant tone of someone who feigns ignorance to incite a conversation. "You may call me Uchiten. Could I hear your own name before I take my leave? If not simply because I asked, then as a gesture of good will after that almost incident of ours."
-
"No, you shouldn't just assume. Nor should you leap to torture as the first option. Or... worse, a-as I suspect you were thinking. Seriously, why did you-", said Mille.
How dare she lecture me on morality! thought Rider, angrily.
Rider didn't know much about Mille, but she did know that she was a magus. And magi were assholes, by and large. People like Zouken and Sakura's father, who cared only about theirselves and their magical heritage, and like the magi at the Clock Tower, who would gladly turn Shirou and Sakura into exhibits if they understood their full abilities. Sure there were exceptions, like Rin, but even she had come within a whisker of murdering her own sister before she finally realised what truly mattered to her.
Before she could speak, though, Gabriel responded in a much kinder manner, although Rider could see he wasn't entirely happy.
"Well, I thank you for that."
Rider smiled at his words, happy that he seemed to have forgiven her.
"That's no problem, I don't hurt innocent people", she said.
However, Rider was still extremely unhappy at Mille's response, particularly since Gabriel seemed to agree somewhat. Before she could say anything, though, Angel responded to her question about his torture experience by informing them of his curse, leading to a discussion with Lancer.
"Oh, you can say I have a lot of experience . . . Bad past, but I'm trying to come clean . . . Path of redemption and I'm not evil right now."
"There's this Gypsy curse. As long as I'm not happy, I'm of the good."
Ouch, so if he gets happy he turns evil again? she thought.
Rider could fully understand how he would feel. After all, she too had been cursed in such a manner, turned into a monster through the whims of the gods. And, her master had also had a similar experience, and was still trying to atone for the consequences.
But, before she could attempt to console him, Gabriel spoke.
"I assure you that I will. I'll look forward to getting a chance to talk in depth about the magic from your point of origin."
Rider smiled at the gorgeous man.
"I'll look forward to it as well", she said, before turning to Angel, smiling kindly.
"I know all-too-well how it feels to be cursed, and what it's like for someone to have to atone for acts they did not willingly commit. I hope you manage to find redemption.
Then, she turned to Mille. The girl was clearly angering, and Rider was not pleased in the slightest with her attitude. And, worse, Gabriel seemed rather supportative of her statement.
"As for you, Little Miss Magus", she hissed, "isn't it a bit rich of you to criticise my morality? At least I only harm those who deserve it, or to protect those I care for, unlike you magi."
Then she turned to Gabriel and Angel, worried that Mille would succeed in turning Gabriel against her.
"Don't listen to her, magi are monsters who think nothing of torturing an innocent child in the name of experimentation or turning anyone who opposes them or looks interesting into nothing more than exhibits in the Clock Tower basement."
Oh, wait, what about Rin? she thought, realising that they might get the wrong impression of the versions of Rin in the house if she didn't correct them.
"Oh, but the women inside called Rin are nice magi, they don't do things like that. All of my master's family are nice, in fact, you can trust them without any worry. It's Magi like Mille that you need to be wary of...."
Then, Mille spoke once more.
"W-we don't have time for this! For all we know the golem could have gone away by now. We have to get moving."
Rider nodded in response as Gabriel responded somewhat archaically, leading to Angel teasing him and, then, Lancer angrily insisting that they get moving.
Well, I guess I should get going too, she thought as Gabriel prepared to take everyone else with him.
"OK, I'm going to take her back into the house, then. I'll let her rest a bit, then see if I can get anything useful out of her. I won't hurt her, though, I promise", she said.
Before she could get going, though, a magical arrow whizzed past them, heading straight at the golem.
Rider, of course, recognised instantly the source. Her master's husband or, more likely, one of the many alternate versions of him that had made it to this world.
Hopefully it's not that idiot murderer..., she thought, worried that, if he were to see this, he might see her, Gabriel and the rest as justified "collateral damage".
-
It all happened in a flash. Most of her systems were severly damaged just by her overloading her Null Driver, not to mention the circle's explosion and the fall. Several images flashed in her mind, somewhat making a picture of what had occurred.
One moment she was ready to self-destruct to destroy the flesh behemoth, who was about to devour her, the next, the giant circle collapsed. Her body was too damaged to do anything, though, and she was left standing there, ready to be consumed by the explosion.
Her mind drew a blank momentarily. The next image was of her falling through an alleyway. Her vision had faded severely, but she still felt the sensation of someone grabbing her. Someone had saved her from the explosion, but it seemed they hadn't made it that far, if the readings she had were correctly.
Another blank. Her systems were going haywire. Apparently, both her and her savior had crashed somewhere and she had received a large amount of damage from the impact. Her self-repair systems were useless, and what little energy she had left was being rapidly drained just to stay awake.
She could barely make out a figure approaching. It was a...girl, maybe? From the looks of it, she was inspecting her, with an almost gleeful curiosity.
"Well, let's see what I can do here. Hang on tight, I'm going to get ya all fixed up in a jiffy." she said.
Repairs...Yes. She needed repairs right now. She tried raising her hand towards the girl...
ALL SYSTEMS CRITICAL. PREPARE FOR SHUTDOWN.
The unit could no longer keep going, and her systems deactivated immediately. As soon as they did, her armor, without the energy to be maintained, dissipated into Mist, leaving the frail, battered body of the unit lying on the ground next to the stranger.
-
Rei hadn't even been able to touch the armor yet before it melted into mist right before her eyes.
What she saw was truely beautiful. Like a butterfly coming out of her chrysalis. ...Like a very battered and beat up butterfly, but a butterfly nonetheless.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"
The young alchemist clapped her hands in delight, a big, huge grin plastered on her face.
"OhwowohwowohwowshelookssorealthisisunbelieveableandincredibleandIcan'tbelieveI'mseeingthisand I should start repairing her, huh?"
Rei blushed, her grin fading as quickly as the armor had. She stopped to clean the fog off her glasses before leaning back over the damaged android. "Sorry about that, I just get awful excited around machines, especially one intricate as you." She smiled, but with a hint of concern in her eyes. "Looks like you took a real beating, huh? I'll getcha up and running again in a jiffy, just you wait and see."
With that, Rei set to work, her gaze steely and determined. She was going to make things right again for this girl, and nothing or no one was going to stop her.
-
What was taking them so long?
If the golem could look puzzled, or indeed, display any kind of emotion, it would. Instead, it sort of crumpled into a ball in its idle state, once more resembling a pile of junk as the force controlling it released its invisible grip. It was only as it heard a small whistling in the air that something within the metal shell 'reacted'.
It was funny, actually. Something unexpected falling from the sky had ruined its life once. For it to happen again was nothing but a nightmare.
It saw. He 'saw'. The arrow was already halfway there when he 'reacted' to it.
It was a fair hundred meters away when something within the golem's shell, something that resembled a soft, pink crystal shaped like a heart, gave off a bright glow.
At fifty meters away, His time stopped, and all was revealed.
It was an interesting mechanism, and had even the simple act of looking at the object not been painful in a way his soul had never known, he would have spent hours examining the arrow's flawed, incomplete structure. It was a fake, he knew, something that couldn't exist for a very long time. Well, that didn't matter. What mattered was that he had no way of changing the thing's velocity. The arrow was only capable of moving forward and...
The answer came to Him, and at a distance of 25 meters the Broken Phantasm detonated, fulfilling its purpose a slight bit too early. The Trick couldn't do what the arrow couldn't do, yet it could, in fact, do one simple thing. And that was enough.
Hrunting detonated 25 meters away from its target, 25 meters too far from where it had been aimed.
The golem rolled, blown back by the edge of the magical blast, several of its lighter components flying off into the streets. The sunglasses cracked, but held, and the orb in its chest pulsed once more before dimming. A periscope extended from the pile, moving and minutely adjusting its lens until it could trace the rent in the air created by the supersonic projectile. Back where it came... back where a man with a bow waited.
The golem came together again, stretching to its full height, looked at the man who was beyond human vision, and laughed, a creaking, metallic sound no more natural than the manufactured body that had released it, challenging the man to shoot again.
-
Mille watched as Rider continued to try to vouch for her own character, that she wouldn't harm anyone innocent. The young magus didn't believe that for a second. She was lying through her teeth, she had to be. Why else would she suddenly be so insistent on it if she wasn't trying to cover up for her own crimes?
"Interesting, you seem like quite the expert on torture, do you have a lot of experience?" Rider asked him. "Perhaps you can teach me a few things, mock 'interrogations' of a consenting partner can be rather misleading in that respect. I'll even let you use me as a 'practice dummy', see if you can manage to break me."
The vampire with a soul frowned, rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Oh, you can say I have a lot of experience . . . Bad past, but I'm trying to come clean . . . Path of redemption and I'm not evil right now."
"So you've been known to go evil?" Lancer asked eyebrows raised.
Angel shrugged and said, "There's this Gypsy curse. As long as I'm not happy, I'm of the good."
". . . Sounds like a shoddy curse," Lancer said, narrowing his eyes at him.
Mille nodded in response to Lancer's comment, but for different reasons. What he had said restored the points he had lost with her. He knew how to torture people, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it. He only used it when he had to, which, as Mille saw it, was how it should be. Only when necessary.
As for the curse... It couldn't be so simple as keeping him miserable. That meant that even some small happiness could set him off and turn him evil. So it must be something more specific... maybe absolute, true happiness? That's the only way that really makes sense, otherwise it'd be too easy for him to shake off the curse. ... Still, it means that he could potentially turn evil at any time.... We'll have to keep an eye on him...
"You know, I would love to have let you 'interrogate' me for all that information you wanted, and anything else you might desire. I'm sure it would have been a most enjoyable experience for us both", she said with a combination of lust, amusement and slight regret at what could have been. "But, alas, your anti-magic field seems to make any such idea impossible," Rider said, turning her attention towards Gabriel.
"Still, once you are finished with that monster, I would be more than happy to explain everything to you. I'm sure you will find it very interesting indeed...."
"I assure you that I will. I'll look forward to getting a chance to talk in depth about the magic from your point of origin."
Even if there was something forced in the way he said those words, for Mille, they stung just a bit. How could he trust her? Admittedly, she could see where distrust wouldn't be an issue, if he was seeking answers wherever he could find them, but surely there were more trustworthy Servants he could ask. Though then, Rider was the only one he knew of so far, so perhaps...
"As for you, Little Miss Magus", she hissed, "isn't it a bit rich of you to criticise my morality? At least I only harm those who deserve it, or to protect those I care for, unlike you magi."
Mille's eyes widened. Then they narrowed.
There was little doubt now, this woman was not to be trusted. How she even became a Heroic Spirit was completely beyond her.
But before she could respond, Rider turned towards the two men.
"Don't listen to her, magi are monsters who think nothing of torturing an innocent child in the name of experimentation or turning anyone who opposes them or looks interesting into nothing more than exhibits in the Clock Tower basement."
That was it. That was it. Mille began to see red, rage flowing through her bloodstream like the raging waters of a typhoon crashing along the shore. How dare she. How dare she.
She knew that there were magi out there who would commit such atrocities. But to sweep the whole group with such a broad brush. To accuse her of even being capable of such things. How dare she!
"You lying, manipulative bitch."
"Oh, but the women inside called Rin are nice magi, they don't do things like that. All of my master's family are nice, in fact, you can trust them without any worry. It's Magi like Mille that you need to be wary of...."
So then.... I was right all along. I was right all along. I can never trust Rin Tohsaka, ever!
Mille didn't notice the tears that started streaming down her cheeks, slowly. In truth, she was conflicted.
The Association had sent Rin. There was little evidence to dispute this fact. So then.... Why? Why had they sent Tohsaka? Was it true then? Was the Association bad after all, like her parents had always said? Like Finn had always said? Had... Had she been helping terrible people all along?
No. She had to focus on the monster they needed to fight. That's what mattered. That's what mattered. But why? Why?
She told them they needed to go. But she missed the three men's replies in agreement and Rider's assertion that she needed to go take the vampire girl back as something dawned on her.
Ruu.... Ruu had been a familiar. His final words and response seemed to indicate that what he did was via orders or some sort of internal programming rather than by his own volition. Rider's denials had been suspiciously specific. ...Rin. Could Rin be Rider's Master? Could the victims have been their doing? But... why? Why?!
All the emotions churning around inside her finally came to a head. A part of her knew it was irrational, that she could be completely wrong. After all, while she knew Rider's character to certainly be more than questionable, in spite of her doubts, Rin came off as haughty and too sure of herself perhaps, but not a heartless killer. But at the same time... she was desperate for an answer, for a face to match to the tragic aftermath she had witnessed. For a culprit, for the ability to avenge their deaths... and perhaps Ruu as well. And after everything Rider had said... About her, about magi, and then claiming Rin's innocence in the face of that... No... it had to be-
"You... it was you..."
Her ebony eyes seemed to light up as if they were coals, just recently lit. They focused on Rider, hard. Her body shook, it trembled. The tears streamed down faster, but to Mille, they remained unnoticed, her rationality buried deep beneath the weight of her emotions. Her fury burned at her chest, tight, aching, the flames blazing forth unchecked, her breaths slightly ragged, her heart feeling as if it would explode and burst.
"You MURDERER! You and Rin both, MURDERERS!"
The girl quickly let go of Gabriel's hand and reached her arm out.
"Ruby!"
"You know, I don't think you're thinking very straight right now-"
"Just help me!"
"Well, OK~ Just don't blame me if this goes badly for you~"
Changing back into wand form, Ruby floated down to Mille's hand. One transformation sequence later, and Mille attempted to fly towards Rider.... Before being thrown back into the arms of the three men behind her.
Ruby floated upward and changed back to her portable form, once again well out of reach. Below, the young magus glared up at the Mystic Code.
"What are you doing?! Are you on her side too?! She's connected to the killings, we have to stop her!"
Ruby moved one of her wings in Mille's direction, almost as if she was waggling it at her like a finger.
"Now now, I may allow some idiocy, but a suicide rush from a crazed, confused, and enraged teenaged girl who's big brain's on the fritz is not one of them~ I have some standards, you know~"
"Get back down here!"
"How about no~" As Mille continued to struggle and protest, Ruby turned her attention to the three men. "If I were you three, I'd make sure she's well restrained so she doesn't try anything stupid~ The pretty one keeping a good grip on her so she doesn't do anything that'd wind up wasting what prana she has left and frying her magic circuits to a crisp would be a good start~ Calming her down a bit might be good too~"
The Mystic Code whipped out a syringe, filled with strange pink liquid, seemingly out of nowhere. "Of course, I could always just inject her with this sedative~ You could put a raging bull to sleep with one shot of this, so I'm sure it'd work just great on Miss Firebrand down there~"
She put it away in the nothing she had retrieved it from in the first place. "Now then, while you all decide what you'd going to do with the wild girl, I have a few words for Miss BDSM~"
Ruby turned towards Rider.
"Now then, let's talk about you then, shall we~ Or rather, what a great job you did breaking Little Miss Stick-Up-Butt over there!~"
She started wiggling back and forth. "Congratulations~! You'd make a great villain~ I mean, points off for doing it in front of someone who can vouch for her, but hey, still, great job!~ I should have Haku-chan practice becoming a Magical Girl by trying to take you out sometime~ Now, you and I both know that you weren't the one that set that little familiar on those unfortunate two in the building like you've just been accused, nor was it the Hag, but you sure did a great job of making yourself look suspect~"
She continued to wiggle back and forth. Had her ruby eyes been present, they would have been twinkling with an ominous light. "I mean, ouch, even after she saved your skin from all those vampires that were trying to kill everyone, even that Kiyo-whatshisface, and after seeing her throw up after seeing those bodies, and after her clearly being on the same side as you even in spite of the objections she has about you, that's cold~ But that's what a villain does, right? Tears the group apart by making them suspicious of each other~"
There was something... mocking, about all that wiggling. "And oh boy, you mentioning the Hag? I bet now Miss Nothing-But-Fire here isn't going to trust her one bit now. Considering that she's Miss Hag's apprentice now and the Association wants her to keep an eye on Miss Temperamental... Whelp, I'm betting Miss Hag's going to be pleased as punch with you, isn't she?~"
Yes, there was definitely something mocking about the wiggling. Almost.... triumphant too. "You know how to pick-em too, you know? Aside from needing to be pierced with Dog-Man over there's spear to help get over that stupid attitude problem of hers-"
She took the chance to turn to Lancer. "You had the chance to do that you know, why didn't you take the opportunity?~ Do I need to spike your beer with something to help that along?~"
She turned back to Rider. "She's actually slightly more tolerable than the Hag~ But only slightly, what with that stick shoved so far up her butt~ Might be worth a spot on the B-Squad, but she's not protagonist material, not like Haku-chan~ So you just bullied someone relatively innocent~ Oopsie~"
The wiggling again. Ever the wiggling. "To sum it up in case you haven't been paying attention... You really screwed yourself over here, you know~"
-
"Oy, not this load of utter horse shit again," Lancer said, rubbing the back of his neck.
There was something that needed to be fought, and the longer they were down here bickering like a bunch of old folk it was getting away. He also wasn't happy that his Landlady's godson's new friend was pretty much a ticking time bomb. With a shoddy curse keeping him from becoming a monster. Well, if he does become a monster, its not like I haven't fought them before, he thought to himself eying the one called Angel.
He didn't have a heartbeat- Lancer couldn't hear it in his chest while he could hear the others, but oddly enough he could sweat. Forest didn't sweat; it was something he had noticed very quickly about her. She really had no body odor except apparently when she was aroused or injured and he could smell the blood. He'd asked her about the lack of body odor, after all it was sort of odd. She explained something about vampires and metaphysics and he'd lost track of it rather quickly.
Then Rider was going on about how magi were the worse sort of assholes ever but how her Master's family and Rin were good people and Millie was apparently some horrible murder.
He stepped up to the curvy Servant and said, "You. Quit being a judgmental bitch to impress the Faerie. You know nothing about Millie, and considering what I've seen of your 'family' from that brat you're so protective of, I wouldn't be casting too many stones, you ken?"
******
Gabriel sighed at Rider's accusations towards Millie, cleared his throat and decided to settle things diplomatically.
"What someone is doesn't dictate who they are. Magi might be murderous monsters in general, but it's a bit off putting to associate an individual with a whole. When dealing with people, judge how the person is by their own actions, not by what they are. Doing so may surprise you,[/i] Gabriel said.
Angel studied him and said, "You're pretty philosophical, aren't you?"
"That and I have this ingrained instinct to always play Devil's Advocate," Gabriel replied with a shrug.
Then he other Irishman, Lancer, decided he had enough of Rider and decided to settle this in a fashion his godmother would secretly approve of. Angel said in a loud voice, "Hey. Bad guy. Rooftop. Innocents in peril. We can argue semantics later."
Then Millie let go of Gabriel's arm. He wasn't empathic by any means, but he'd seen enough women in a pique of anger in his days to recognize the signs. Especially women who were passionate and tended to react towards violence. Millie did not disappoint.
The girl was crying as she summoned her magic to attack, until the stick decided that its current wielder wasn't in her right mind threw her towards them.
"What are you doing?! Are you on her side too?! She's connected to the killings, we have to stop her!"
Lancer caught her instantly, his arms going around her to hold her back. "Millie, Rider is a right bitch, but she didn't kill those people," he said, "She's not worth your time and effort, Lass."
Angel nodded and moved between her and Rider, acting as a shield between the two women. He said, "She's clean. There's no fresh blood on her hands. Whoever was killed, she didn't do it. If she had, I would have been able to smell it. Listen, I know we just met, but I really don't think you're the murdering type."
The stick continued to taunt because, Gabriel realized, that's what happened when someone gave a magical weapon sentience. It became a giant, as the popular phrase said, "Troll". He was a little disturbed by the sudden appearance and then remove of the pink syringe.
Ruby continued on, calling Rider a great villain and so on and so forth.
Then she said, "You know how to pick-em too, you know? Aside from needing to be pierced with Dog-Man over there's spear to help get over that stupid attitude problem of hers-"
She took the chance to turn to Lancer. "You had the chance to do that you know, why didn't you take the opportunity?~ Do I need to spike your beer with something to help that along?~"
Lancer's crimson eyes flared as he shouted, "That is none of your godsdamned business. Besides, she was weakened, it wouldn't have been any fun for either of us!"
Angel looked at Gabriel and said, "I'm missing something here."
"The poor thing's repression is almost overbearing," Gabriel replied.
"Anyway, you shut your fucking whatever passes as a mouth or I'll blow you straight to the Morrigan, and then she can use you on her withered bits!" Lancer continued.
Then there was a very loud, magical, and powerful explosion overhead. Gabriel looked up, seeing the brilliant red flare in the sky and shuddered at the destructive power. If that would have hit something, it would have been devastating, he thought. Then he realized that it was being aimed at the very thing they were supposed to be chasing. Another ally then? he mused to himself.
Lancer gnashed his teeth and bellowed, "Fucking bowman!"
"What the hell was that?" Angel asked, looking at the dissipating explosion, the damage it did to the buildings (mostly superficial), and then the direction it came from. Gabriel looked as well, and saw a man in black holding something in his hand. As he watched, the man on the roof nocked a rather huge sword to a rather sturdy bow and began to take aim.
******
Dark Archer did not enjoy having his skills tested like this. It wasn't like fighting Lancer, which admittedly he enjoyed because it was fun to piss him off. Or it wasn't the sheer exhilaration of fighting a losing battle, but making sure one went out as gloriously as possible as he had records with Berserker.
Still, that thing had managed to stop Hurunting.
He wasn't going to let that stand. He charged another phantasm to break as he mounted it onto his bow. He took aim and fired. Once the arrow was in motion, so was he, jumping from the rooftop to the next. Sniping at this thing wasn't going to be the answer, but to open fire machine gun fashion with swords required him to be closer.
-
Rin twitched sensing the familiar magic and stood up "I'll be back in a minute" she said slamming the door shut unintentionally as she left and took off at full speed for the roof. 'Between this city and Satoshi's over protective nature I'll have an an aneurysm before I can settle anything, hopefully miss bitter britches won't be with him, honestly she needs to take a joke. At least maybe I can get some answers.' she thought as she kicked open the roof access.
"Alright Archer, we need to talk, now!" Rin was usually calm but between everything that had happened and her own projection of the near future she had adopted her tone of authority on accident.
-
While Forest's suggestion to have the vampire drink from their captive invader instead was tempting, there was too much of a risk involved with that. The fae, after all, was able to regenerate just by touching the ground. It was possible something could happen when Jack attempted to drink from him. So as much as Tom wasn't thrilled about the prospect of being a blood donor, there was no other way. He felt Forest's possessiveness, however, and couldn't help but feel a sense of smug triumph.
As he... lectured Nessa in a numerous number of words in response to her one word statement, he noticed from the corner of his eye that the Imbecile had returned, with some armored woman in tow. He noted that they seemed to be pestering Forest about something and mentally that made him rankle. For the present time though, most of his attention was focused on the girl before him.
"Alright, alright. You don't have to put so much emphasis on it. Dang, you talk so much I don't even remember half of it."
She gave Tom an amused look.
"Though I suppose I understood the general idea."
While he was slightly irritated by her words, he could tell that she, contrary to what she had said, had at least paid some attention, and had taken away the main point. He couldn't help but smile wryly in response.
Good. So long as you have retained the most significant portions, my lecture was worthwhile.
Can you make it so that she can hear me? Oh, and don't listen. Girl's talk.
He nodded, connecting her mind to Forest's and attempted to heed her request to not listen. It was difficult, but he managed. From bits and pieces slipped through though, he got confirmation that his message seemed to have succeeded in it's intent.
After finishing her mental conversation with Forest, Nessa switched to speaking out loud.
"Isa told me, how much support and concern you guys expressed for her. She was truly happy to have met you. To be honest, I was a bit jealous. Your group had been there for her in my stead. Thanks to that. She could fall asleep peacefully like usual in spite of what had happened with the werewolves. She told me she considered you as precious friends and I could tell she was grateful. I even saw her smile in her sleep. When I watched her, I told myself that you had already saved her. The events of tonight won't change that. I know that she wanted to be closer to you. She even asked me to help in preparing a party for everyone as thanks. 'You have to express your gratitude properly.' I told her that it was kinda lame but she wouldn't listen... She was the kind to worry over such little things.
That's why I have a request. If you are to remember Isa. Do it with a smile. Don't grief over her departure. Otherwise, she would never cease to worry for you all. She'll be fine by herself, I know she will. My little sister's tough like that."
Tom watched the room in silence. Rin and Hakuno bowed their heads in silence for the first part. Tears fell down Hakuno's cheeks.
At the end, at the last request... the two of them did indeed give a smile. Hakuno was unable to do so without continuing to shed tears, but they heard the request, and fulfilled it, nonetheless.
With the eulogy said, Tom found his attention quickly drawn elsewhere.
"Uh, Tomcat... you sure you want to do this? I'm going to need a fucking shitload of it, then top off my tank just to be safe. It's going to take a while."
Tom nodded, but not without giving Jack a sharp look. There was an edge to his mental words.
Of course I am certain. I am the most logical donor for the immense amount of blood you need, even if I am not as close to being human in this form. Having you drain our intruder has too many risks involved. So it must be me.
He felt the vampire take his wrist. To be honest, Tom wasn't looking forward to this. There was something... unsanitary about it when it was some strange vampire he barely knew as opposed to Forest, and with his desire to keep himself quite clean and healthy, the prospect was not a comfortable one. But he was the most logical donor. Any other way was too much of a risk. So it had to be done.
He heard the Imbecile, who he noted smelled... odd, perhaps aged, speak to Forest. He noted that the moron claimed that he had volunteered his services.
The psychic's blood began to boil.
You hardly "volunteered" you foul smelling twi- "gngh!"
Even with the Kiss doing its work to suppress the pain, the feeling was still unpleasant. The fact that this wasn't Forest made it worse.
He couldn't help but note that Rin, Hakuno, and Ryoko were sighing in relief. Why they were doing so was beyond him. Surely they too thought the idiot deserved some kind of punishment.
"Now, Kitty-kun was it? While I wait for my Sire to get back in shape as he drains your vital essence, what about you tell me why I can smell lavender coming from you."
Tom first vowed some sort of small vengeance against Rin for allowing that little nickname to spread. He could see in spite of his blurring vision that she was smirking at the nickname's use, though only for a moment. Why didn't she revel longer than that? Secondly, he found himself grateful that he was focused more on the pain and making sure he had sufficient blood to give. It meant he didn't have to try and struggle for an answer.
He heard Ryoko of all people give a response.
"Oh, he's just sort of a neat freak. He likes smelling pretty, you know? So Forest helped him out, and now he smells pretty." Even through the pain he could see she was grinning at him. "You like smelling pretty, don't you."
He didn't know whether to be grateful or to wince at that. He decided on both. The latter he hoped they would assume was from being drained. He would have also vowed to take some small revenge on Ryoko as well, but what he had subjected her to earlier made him too guilty to consider the prospect.
He took his draining well, all things considered. He had to use Recover at least twice, but he made it.
When it was finished, he uneasily made his way over to the nearest wall so he could lean against it. He felt a bit... dizzy. He found himself grateful to be able to sweat, to not have to pant like some sort of pathetic canine. As a cat, he was far too dignified for that, even with the awareness that most of his "kind" didn't possess sweat glands.
It.. it is done.
Faintly, he heard Jack speak to Nessa in the background.
"Hey, girl. We'll be going somewhere else for this next bit. Some things ain't for polite company to see or hear."
He suspected that Jack likely meant his new protege no harm, but the comment unnerved him none the less. But there was little he could do about it now. First he had to get himself back in order...
***
Rin noticed Hakuno looking a bit... uneasy, as Kitty-kun was drained. She walked over and put her hands on her fellow teen's shoulders.
"Why don't you get some rest. You look tired, and it's been a rough day on all of us. I can get you a room next to mine if you want."
Hakuno shook her head. "I know I should, but..."
Something in Hakuno's eyes cued Rin onto the rest. She doesn't want to be alone.
Rin wasn't sure what to do. She needed to start working on the wards soon. She wouldn't be able to keep a very good eye on Hakuno, nor could she spare the time to carry Hakuno upstairs.
She turned towards Ryoko. She had said she'd needed something to do. Plus this would hopefully keep her out of trouble.
Her daughter responded with a sigh. "I'm guessing you want me to keep her company?"
"You've inherited your mother's quick perception~"
"Or Dad's knowledge of how your mind works," Ryoko said with another sigh. She turned to Hakuno with a smile.
"Alright then, why don't you come with-"
But before Ryoko could finish her sentence, an explosion went off outside. It was enough to rattle the complex a bit.
The three girls looked at each other. They had a pretty good feeling about the source.
Rin in particular was rather anxious. She trusted Archer to take care of himself, but...
But before she could so much as make a dash for the door, she found an arm barring her way.
Ryoko gave her a grin. "Leave it to me."
Rin shook her head. "After what you woke up from? Besides, he's my... he's my... look, it's my responsibility!"
"Forest asked you to reinforce the wards on this place, right? I can't do that, not like you can. Besides, I'm not in too bad of shape. I'm sure the old man's fine, I'll just run out and check on him. Easy peasy, I'll be back inside in no time flat."
Rin crossed her arms. "You'd better. If something happens to Archer, I'm going to have a busy enough time haunting him. I don't need to have to haunt you too."
Ryoko looked back at her mother's younger self with a huge grin. "All the more reason to come back in one piece, right?" With a wave, she started to head out after her father, confident that he was alright, but not certain of what she would find. Whatever it was though, it wasn't anything she couldn't punch in the face.
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Krokodil Factory
While his new companion rained down hellish fire burning these wicked fools in an instant, cauterizing death moved among the others in the form of the wingless dragon. Where others of his kind would have sought a bloody and burning solution, Lycodrake monopolized on his heat magic, dealing out mortal wounds with as little bloodshed as possible. Heavy slashes cleaved through armor and clothing, skin and sinew - burning gaping wounds before blood could be let.
A few of the humans close to the factory entrance bombarded him with small explosives, thinking him an easy, large target. Rather than taking the risk of being blinded by one, Lycodrake closed his eyes and allowed his other senses to guide him in his path of heat-death. He knew they would be hard pressed to pierce his hide with explosions and he wouldn't give them false hope by getting dazed by a flash.
He reached the entrance, a trail of bodies left in the wake of his assault, and debated whether he should smash the doors down or wait; Lycodrake worried for Tywin.
-
Rider finished speaking, and waited for a response. But, when it came, it was not quite what she expected.
"You lying, manipulative bitch", Mille said.
What?
"What someone is doesn't dictate who they are. Magi might be murderous monsters in general, but it's a bit off putting to associate an individual with a whole. When dealing with people, judge how the person is by their own actions, not by what they are. Doing so may surprise you", Gabriel said.
Rider frowned. Gabriel had clearly misinterpreted her somewhat, and was obviously not happy with what she had said. At the same time, though, Mille's words made it clear that she had also seen it that way, and she was obviously upset.
Did I really come across like that?
Before she could say anything to rectify the situation and defend herself, though, Lancer spoke up.
"You. Quit being a judgmental bitch to impress the Faerie. You know nothing about Millie, and considering what I've seen of your 'family' from that brat you're so protective of, I wouldn't be casting too many stones, you ken?"
Rider stared at him angrily.
How dare he insult Kiyoshi like that.
"Hey, Kiyoshi is not a 'brat'", Rider said angrily. "He's just a nice kid who wants to be a hero like his father, stuck in a dangerous world without his parents. Don't you dare judge him like that just because he is willing to fight to protect the people he cares about."
As she spoke, she noticed Mille looked rather upset, and seemed to be getting angrier and angrier. She turned to respond to Gabriel's words and placate the girl somewhat, but before she could, Mille spoke once more.
"You... it was you...", said Mille.
What was me? Rider thought, puzzled.
She could see Mille staring at her, shaking, tears pouring down her face. Obviously what she had said had upset the girl a lot more than she had expected. Was she genuinely unaware of the true nature of the Association?
Otherwise, Rider couldn't see why she would be so offended. Whilst she knew that there were some good apples amongst the generally-rotten bunch, and could admit that Mille had shown some signs of being one of them, the fact that magi in general were simply untrustworthy was not something that could really be disputed.
The girl, however, continued to shake, before losing control totally.
"You MURDERER! You and Rin both, MURDERERS!" the girl shouted, angrily, letting go of Gabriel's hand.
What the hell?
Rider was utterly confused. She hadn't murdered anyone, and she couldn't understand why the girl seemed to believe otherwise. Before she could defend herself verbally, though, the girl called for Ruby. After a brief argument with the sentient stick, it flew down into her hands.
She's going to attack me!
As Mille transformed, Rider summoned her nails and crouched down, ready to jump out of the way of any attack. She knew that she could almost certainly defeat the girl even with the power boost Ruby gave her, her strength, Magic Resistance and, if necessary, Noble Phantasms should make sure of that, but killing her, even in self-defence, would seriously upset everyone else present, and therefore endanger Kiyoshi. Plus, the girl didn't deserve to die, so Rider didn't want to kill her if she could avoid it.
Fortunately, though, whilst Mille had lost sight of reality, Ruby had not. Unwilling to let her wielder effectively commit suicide by charging at Rider as she had intended, she instead threw her back towards the three men, before floating up into the sky, out of Mille's reach.
"What are you doing?! Are you on her side too?! She's connected to the killings, we have to stop her!" Mille shouted.
What kill... wait, does she think I killed Isa?
Rider scowled. Isa's death still upset her somewhat, and to be accused of responsibility in it was something she wasn't remotely happy about. But, at the same time, she could tell that the girl was upset, so she didn't really hold it against her.
Meanwhile, Lancer had grabbed hold of Mille, and Angel moved between the two of them.
"Millie, Rider is a right bitch, but she didn't kill those people," Lancer said, "She's not worth your time and effort, Lass."
Rider wasn't too impressed with his choice of words, but at least he knew she was innocent of the crime Mille was accusing her of. Angel too backed her up, using his vampiric senses as evidence of her innocence.
Meanwhile, Mille continued to berate Ruby for refusing to help and Ruby, in turn, telling her she was clearly not sane, and asking the others to restrain her. Rider couldn't help but be a little amused at the way the stick acted, even waggling a wing at the girl as if she were a parent waggling a finger whilst lecturing a naughty child. She even produced a sedative as an option to calm the girl down, but didn't use it just yet.
Finally, with Mille securely restrained by Lancer, Ruby turned to Rider, and started to berate her for her actions.
"Congratulations~! You'd make a great villain~", she began. "I mean, points off for doing it in front of someone who can vouch for her, but hey, still, great job!~ I should have Haku-chan practice becoming a Magical Girl by trying to take you out sometime~ Now, you and I both know that you weren't the one that set that little familiar on those unfortunate two in the building like you've just been accused, nor was it the Hag, but you sure did a great job of making yourself look suspect~"
Rider couldn't care less about the villain jibes, she was used to it, and she was glad that even Ruby was aware that she had not harmed Isa. But, the threat to have Hakuno use her as "practice" was not one she could so easily ignore. She liked Hakuno, she didn't want to fight her, and nor did she particularly like the idea of dying.
Rider glared angrily at the stick, feeling the desire to snap it in half. It was a nuisance, with no redeeming features whatsoever.
But, Ruby simply continued talking, pointing out the things Rider had forgotten.
"I mean, ouch, even after she saved your skin from all those vampires that were trying to kill everyone, even that Kiyo-whatshisface, and after seeing her throw up after seeing those bodies, and after her clearly being on the same side as you even in spite of the objections she has about you, that's cold~ But that's what a villain does, right? Tears the group apart by making them suspicious of each other~", she added.
Oh, I didn't think of that..., thought Rider.
In her anger, Rider had failed to consider the clear signs that Mille was not a typical magus. Killing the vampires was not in itself much of an indication, it was something any magus would have done, even Rin's father. But, Mille's reaction to seeing the bodies definitely did indicate that she was no hardened magus. Indeed, it was the sort of thing she'd have expected to see in the younger Rin. That did not, of course, mean that she was necessarily a good person, but she certainly wasn't someone who tortured children for fun. And, whilst Rider had not accused her of directly carrying out such acts, it was clear that her words had been more upsetting than she had expected.
As for the "villain" thing, though, that seemed awfully like what Ruby was doing right now....
The accursed stick continued mocking her, this time bringing up Rin, and how Mille would likely distrust her now.
"And oh boy, you mentioning the Hag? I bet now Miss Nothing-But-Fire here isn't going to trust her one bit now. Considering that she's Miss Hag's apprentice now and the Association wants her to keep an eye on Miss Temperamental... Whelp, I'm betting Miss Hag's going to be pleased as punch with you, isn't she?~", she said.
Oh....
Rider had certainly not intended to ruin Rin's plans. Whilst Rin was not her primary worry, she still wanted Sakura's family to be happy, and stopping her fulfilling her mission would affect her status and, potentially, her ability to visit her sister. Plus, Rin was a friend of hers, and she wanted to remain on good terms with her, even if the possibility of getting her into bed was much lower now that the darkened Archer had claimed her.
Then, the stick turned to Lancer, getting into a discussion with him about why he hadn't fucked Mille. Not that Rider particularly cared about the details of the idiot ex-servant's sex life.
Finally, after more guilt-tripping from Ruby, she finally stopped speaking. Before Rider could speak up, though, Lancer responded to Ruby's jibes.
"Anyway, you shut your fucking whatever passes as a mouth or I'll blow you straight to the Morrigan, and then she can use you on her withered bits!" he said.
"Yes, I will not be threatened by a sentient flying stick that seems to exist only to cause trouble. I know what I said to Mille was unfair, but if you use me as target practice and force me to hurt Hakuno then I will snap you in half and throw the pieces on a bonfire.", she said.
Then, she turned towards Gabriel and Mille.
"Yes, Gabriel, you are right that it is wrong to judge people by what they are. But, being a magus means making an active choice to join the Magic Association and follow their rules and culture, and that culture is fundamentally selfish and evil in nature. What happened to my master is proof of that.
Still, I guess the way Mille has acted until now shows she is not a typical magus, and I know that not all magi are bad, so I should have given her the benefit of the doubt", she said.
Then, she addressed the still-angry Mille, feeling rather bad at how she had upset the girl, and annoyed that she had most likely caused problems for herself and Rin in doing so.
"Mille, I'm sorry if I upset you and made out that you were something you are not. Many magi do do what I said, yes, and the Association itself is fundamentally bad, but what I've seen of you should have told me that you were not a typical magus. In fact, you seem a bit like Rin was once, a good person who is just not yet aware of what magi are truly like.
I just got angry at what you said and the way you seemed to be attempting to make be look bad, and I lashed-out, and I'm sorry for that. It was wrong of me to assume you were just like the typical, uncaring Association magus, and to imply that you should be distrusted because of that", she continued.
"And, I had nothing to do with what happened to Isa, as the others have said. She was a genuinely kind, sweet girl, and her death truly upset me. I would have done everything I could to protect her", she finished, the sadness clear in her voice.
Finally, she turned back to Ruby.
"As for you, though, Ruby, you are nothing but a hypocrite. You talk about villains trying to tear the group apart, and yet that is exactly that you are doing. I know your tricks all-too-well, I've fought alongside you before, and seen how unpredictable you are. Rin avoids using you whenever possible for a damn good reason, and you have seriously endangered my master's family by your acts multiple times. I would gladly turn you into firewood if I could.
I honestly don't care if you or anyone else thinks I am a villain. Most of the world already sees me as one, thanks to the selfishness, lies and trickery of the gods, and humanity's amazing ability to jump through hoops to justify any action they take. Ultimately, the villain is just the person who the author of the story decides is in the wrong. But, to accuse me of trying to split up the group when you are desperately trying to discredit me and make everyone distrust me is outright hypocricy. Frankly, you are more trouble than the power you give is worth, and I would advise everyone here to hand you over to Gabriel and let him dispose of you."
As she finished speaking, she heard a loud explosion, as the arrow Archer had fired reached its target. Looking up at the roof, she could see the bowman (thank God it's Archer and not that asshole version of Shirou) preparing to shoot again. The way he was acting, he could easily kill someone with his exploding arrows. That wasn't something Rider wanted to see, especially with Kiyoshi around.
"Damn, you guys need to deal with that golem, before Archer destroys half the neighbourhood. I'll take the vampire back, if you still want me to. I promise I won't hurt her."
-
Mille found herself quickly restrained by Lancer, his muscular arms tight around her body. Normally she wouldn't have minded one bit, but as it was, her mind unclear and unfocused except with thoughts of enacting violence against her enemy, they were nothing but obstacles. Obstacles she couldn't overcome, not in her current state, not with as little prana as she had left. Even if she risked frying her magic circuits reinforcing her arms in an effort to escape, she couldn't hope to overpower a Servant, not on her own.
"Millie, Rider is a right bitch, but she didn't kill those people," Lancer said, "She's not worth your time and effort, Lass."
Angel nodded and moved between her and Rider, acting as a shield between the two women. He said, "She's clean. There's no fresh blood on her hands. Whoever was killed, she didn't do it. If she had, I would have been able to smell it. Listen, I know we just met, but I really don't think you're the murdering type."
It.. It wasn't her? So then what caused this? And why? Why did she?
Her struggles lessened. For the first time, she realized that she was crying, and felt ashamed to be so weak. Knowing Rider and Rin were innocent didn't solve much of anything for her. If anything, it made things even more confusing. It was starting to get to the point where she couldn't feel anything. Just numb. And that scared her. She'd always felt something before. Sad, angry, confused, something. But not now.
She remained silent and unmoving in Lancer's arms as Ruby continued conversing with her various antagonees.
Ruby found herself delighted by Lancer's reaction, but before she could respond to him, Rider responded to her words with her own words. Many. Many. Many. Many. Words. But not before trying to make some sort of amends.
"Yes, Gabriel, you are right that it is wrong to judge people by what they are. But, being a magus means making an active choice to join the Magic Association and follow their rules and culture, and that culture is fundamentally selfish and evil in nature. What happened to my master is proof of that.
Mille's brain told her that she should be upset at this. Ashamed maybe. Guilty, perhaps? Sad? Confused? But she felt nothing. Nothing. She was crying, oh she was crying, harder than she had before. She was almost sobbing even. Maybe she was sobbing. But she felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just the numbness. And she hated it. Oh she hated it.
Rider continued on with an apology and an assurance that she had misjudged Mille's character and she was a good person after all. For many, perhaps, that would have been enough. But for Mille, numb and confused and... dare she even think it? Frightened, as she was? No. She didn't know what to feel towards it. How to react. Because she didn't know anything at all anymore. Everything she had known was now a nonsensical mess. All the pillars of her psyche had crumbled, had turned to rubble, and with little to stand on, what could she do?
So she stood there, trembling, not knowing what to say, not knowing what to do, not even thinking to be ashamed anymore. Because there was only nothing.
Rider turned to Ruby then, who seemed to not be paying too much attention to her temporary wielder's turn for the worse, but instead focused on the Servant's rather wordy response.
"In other words, blah blah blah, you're still sort of missing the point~ At least you made up somewhat, that's a start, but that doesn't solve everything, now does it?~ After all, you can't unsay what's been said~ As for discrediting you, that's hard to do when you already did that to yourself~ You inflicted your own wounds, I'm just pouring salt into them~ And as for the villain bit... well, you know what they say, don't you?~ It takes one to know one~ It's a shame that you do need me, huh~ Haku-chan can't really fight right now otherwise, and neither can Miss Temperamental over here, not with that little prana~"
Suddenly, the earth shook as an explosion went off entirely too close nearby. Mille didn't even turn to look. The golem hardly existed to her now. Just the emptiness. Just the overwhelming unknown.
Ruby, conversely, very much noticed. "Welp, we just wasted a whole bunch of time, now didn't we?~ Time to actually do what we were supposed to do in the first place~"
She spotted Mille and seemed to tilt a bit. "Huh, does Mille look a bit pale to you guys, or is it just me?"
-
Archer heard the elder Rin's voice yell at him as he began to head towards the golum. He sighed to himself as he bounded from roof top to rooftop, getting closer to his target.
******
Angel looked between Rider, Lancer, Millie, and then at the remains of the giant explosion that happened a few moments ago. Its like Sunnydale all over again, he thought, remembering simpler days dealing with emotional teenagers. The scent of dawn was thick upon the air; he didn't have much time to be outside left without major consequences.
"Damn, you guys need to deal with that golem, before Archer destroys half the neighbourhood. I'll take the vampire back, if you still want me to. I promise I won't hurt her."
Angel looked up and asked, "So you know the guy in bondage pants doing hardcore parcore on the rooftops then?"
"I may not agree with his methods, but at least he's doing something about it," Gabriel said before grabbing Angel's arm. He let go of the girl, who wasn't looking too good. "Too many unknown variables. I think we were doing better with just the two of us, don't you?"
Angel nodded taking the other man's arm. "Too much drama, besides, sun's going to be up soon."
"Which means we have to act quickly," Gabriel said before pulling them into the shadows.
******
"What the goatfucking hell?" Lancer shouted as his Landlady's godson and that guy with the large forehead vanished into the shadows. Literally. Without them.
And Archer was currently heading towards their target. Rider's words meant nothing to him. At this rate, that asshole was going to get there first and then steal his kill. However there was Millie looking pale and wan in his arms. He wondered if this was from prana drain, but she was trembling in his arms.
"Lass," he said in a low voice, "I need you to snap out of this. We need you to get the girl inside and we'll take care of this. Once that's done we can sort everything out."
He gently stroked her tears from her face. "Now isn't the time to shed tears. You can mourn later, but right now I need you sharp."
Then, he leaned forward and did what he would hope would snap her from her trance. He gently pressed his lips against hers.
******
Forest reached out and took Tom's paw as Jack began to drink from him. Apparently the vampire's sheer need made it so that the bite wasn't enjoyable. Which also meant it was probably hurting like hell, but Tom was taking it.
She squeezed his paw as she felt him shudder as the other vampire drank. Considering his dislike for most other people, he was probably having an issue that it wasn't her touching him. Honestly, she had no idea why out of all the people he'd probably met that he lowered his defenses for her.
She looked over at Satoshi and her eyes narrowed at the mention that Angra needed sanctuary. Her knee jerk reaction was to tell Satoshi that the bitch could go fuck herself. However, that meant that potentially she would be out in the Wild to do whatever the spirit of evil wanted to do. Probably be a giant ho-bag, she thought with a frown.
Then again, if Angra was here as a prisoner she couldn't do anything. Literally. Forest said, "That tart can stay here on one condition. She's a prisoner. She's not to leave her room unless she's supervised. If I find out she does then deal's off. Got it?"
Then once Jack was finished, Tom ended up leaning against one of the walls, looking worse for well. Forest went over to him, smoothing his damp fur. "You need to get something to eat and drink. Healing factors are great, but something needs to help replace that lost blood."
-
Tom nodded, taking the hand that was smoothing out his fur into one of his paws and giving it a gentle squeeze.
Yes, you are correct. There was a hint of exhaustion in his telepathic voice. Perhaps sitting down would be wise as well. Maybe the living room? Or would you prefer that I eat in the kitchen?
His vision was still a bit blurry, but he noticed that Ryoko was making her way out.
You're leaving?
She stopped. Yeah, going to check up on my dad. He could feel concern from her. You going to be okay? You look kinda shitty.
I will be fine. I have endured far worse. I... also wish to apologize for before. I still have a few... issues, with the way you approached the situation before, but... the way I reacted, it was wrong of me. Especially when it seems your intentions were ultimately for my benefit, even if the execution left something to be desired. So for the look I gave you before, and the consequences it has had on you... I am sorry.
Through his shaky vision he could still see her blink.
Nah, I'll live. And I'm sorry about the way that all got set up. That was my bad, I should have thought things through more. Though hey, it worked out for the best, didn't it?
He couldn't help but smile. Yes. Yes, it did. And for that I'm grateful. Though we can talk more at length later, I'm keeping you from your father.
Yeah, I'd better get going. Hang in there, big guy.
I will. Good luck.
Hey, thanks. She grinned again. Not that I'll need it or anything~
The delay gave her the chance to realize that she would get out faster if she left out the roof exit. It was a longer walk through the building, but it'd put her closer to the source of the explosion when she went out. So she hurried up the stairs and to the roof, climbing down the ladder and rushing towards the sound of the blast.
While that mental conversation was happening, and soon after Ryoko taking her leave, Rin approached Forest, Hakuno trailing behind her.
"Alright, now that things have settled down a bit, I'll start on the wards. Is there anything other security measures you want me to add to them, or do you just want the current wards strengthened?"
She looked over at Tom after Forest was given some time to respond to the first questions. "You took quite a bit of punishment there, Kitty-kun. Make sure to get some rest."
Hakuno behind her nodded in agreement.
Tom sighed at the accursed nickname, but couldn't help but look at them with... some confusion. With Ryoko and Forest, the concern made some sense. He seemed to have grown some on Ryoko, as she had on him, and thus they had the beginnings of a friendship, as rocky as those first days had been between them. And Forest was of course his lover, and a kind soul, so her concern was quite natural.
But then.... why Rin and Hakuno? For that matter, Jack had also seemed to feel regret for having to drain Tom like he did, despite the fact that he wasn't human. Why? Why did they care? After his experience in the lab it seemed so... strange.
I am, after all, regarded as a monster, as frightening, as inhuman. So then... why are these people that have only known me for a matter of minutes so concerned for me? I should hardly be complaining, but... It just doesn't make sense.
He turned to the pair below him. He noticed that he towered over the pair of them even more than he did Forest, and yet they didn't even flinch when his gaze fell upon them.
I will be quite fine. I have experienced worse, so this is hardly a concern for me. Also, please stop calling me Kitty-kun.
"You're the stubborn type when it comes to this sort of thing, aren't you? You don't have to be Mr. Tough Guy on our account you know. Just make sure you rest up."
He sighed as Rin turned to Hakuno. "I'm going to work on the wards now, so I can't stay with you. Are you going to be okay on your own?"
Hakuno nodded, but she looked uncertain. Even Tom could see it.
With yet another sigh, Tom addressed Forest privately.
What do you wish to do about the girl? It is somewhat bothersome, and I am perhaps not the best choice for the task, but keeping her company would not be much of an issue for me, since I will likely need to sit down for the next two hours. But if you wish to spend some time alone with me, we can figure out an alternate solution. In the end, I leave it up to you.
***
Ryoko ran towards the series of buildings, reinforcing her legs so she ran much faster, towards the source of the blasts, only to see a small group waiting there. She noticed a couple of men vanish into the shadows. With a shudder, she noticed Aunty Rider was there too. Lancer was holding onto who she guessed was Millie Garrison, who even from this distance she could tell wasn't in the best shape. Ruby was there too, arguing with Rider.
As she got closer, trying to sneak past them, she saw Lancer kiss Mille.
Ryoko was more surprised than bothered. Not because of Lancer, but because of Mille. Still, the girl looked like she needed it, Ryoko knew of Lancer's polyamorous tendencies already, and she also knew she didn't have time to waste on petty jealousies, so instead she snuck to a set of stairs on the side of one of the buildings and made her way to the rooftops.
There she saw that her old man was making his way towards some sort of junk golem. Smoke rose up from below, implying that... no way...
Dad missed? At the rate that thing is moving? Something's up...
Normally Ryoko would have gone back for Ruby, but the way she was fighting with Rider, that'd take up too much time. Besides, the damn stick had a way of heading towards trouble. So hopefully she'd get her mitts on the obnoxious Mystic Code soon enough. For now though, there was no time to lose. Quickly as she could, she also made her way towards the golem, careful not to slip on the rooftops or draw too much attention to herself.
-
Satoshi nodded "Ok, and Mewtwo, sorry, but my psychic spell is garbling your transmissions, I understood you were trying to communicate but I can't actually hear it properly" he said before moving away and back towards the door to the garage.
Rin reinforced herself and chased Archer 'That ass! Teamwork, why does no one learn it?!' she thought trailing the blackened servant.
-
The only thing that managed to stop the golem's laughter was another one of those arrows. With a screeching halt, the once again premature explosion only blasted the various pieces apart, and it pulled itself together again, though several pieces now resembled little more than scrap metal.
With a metallic growl, the creature accepted the warrior's challenge.
It wasn't as if he liked fighting. Far from it. The closest the soul controlling the manufactured monster had ever been to a real fight was an incident involving him, a policeman, a young girl, and the unfamiliar gun in his shaking hands. He'd been terrified then, but the years had washed away such reservations easily enough. Spend enough time without a real body to lose, and you'll also end up forgetting the survival instincts ingrained into the human psyche.
However, he had yet to forget annoyance.
A hand came up. Only it wasn't a hand, but an industrial grade minigun, floating with no one to hold it up but his will. With a whirr, the barrels spun and warmed up for a few seconds. When it fired, the monster's laugh was drowned out by the sound of dozens of bullets being ejected from the gun in less than a second.
He had no sense of aim, but that was fine. Even a child could aim in a video game, and this was the same thing. His enemy was getting closer rather than fleeing, so targeting wasn't a problem. Even if only one in ten bullets were actually on target, that still left more than enough to kill anything that moved.
-
Oh, he's just sort of a neat freak. He likes smelling pretty, you know? So Forest helped him out, and now he smells pretty.
Nessa could tell at a first glance this girl was poking fun at the pokemon. In spite of that, she found herself grinning. The revenant didn't know her, yet, decided that she liked her. Newcomers were present but she was interrupted by her Sire before she could even get a good look at them.
Hey, girl. We'll be going somewhere else for this next bit. Some things ain't for polite company to see or hear.
"Alright, that doesn't sound creepy at all," she said, trying to offer some light words in order to dissipate a bit of the rudeness coming from Jack's words. He probably didn't mean to be blunt but, that still could be perceived as offensive and they couldn't afford to antagonize people. Especially those who offered their help. She scowled, pinching Jack's side slightly.
"You probably should show some sort of gratitude," she whispered to him. She turned to Tom and spoke louder. "Thanks for the treat, Kitty-kun," she declared before getting up.
And for the rest too, she added mentally.
With that said, Nessa gestured for Jack to lead the way. They had important stuff to discuss apparently and the wait was killing her. It did occur to her that she still ignored something concerning the kindred.
"So, old man, what am I supposed to call you?"
-
Rider watched somewhat guilitly as Mille trembled in Lancer's arms.
She's in no state to fight, and I certainly can't help her.
Before she could do anything, though, the stupid stick spoke up once more, again taunting her.
"Yes, you're right, I am a villain, but unlike you it is not a role I took willingly", Rider said in response. "And, whilst I don't disagree that you are useful, Hakuno managed by herself in the alley, and she has Archer to protect her if necessary. I'm sure she could cope if you were turned into the lump of firewood that you deserve to become...."
Still, the stick was right about the situation. They did need to resolve it, and fast. And, Mille did look very pale. Worryingly so, in fact.
Before she could say anything, though, Angel responded to her statement about Archer.
So you know the guy in bondage pants doing hardcore parcore on the rooftops then?" he asked.
Rider nodded. But, before she could explain, Gabriel spoke and, after a brief conversation with Angel about them running out of time, they both disappeared, leaving the unconscious vampire girl lying on the floor in front of them.
Wow, he can just disappear into shadows? Even Sakura can't do that, thought Rider, somewhat surprised at the man's power.
"What the goatfucking hell?" exclaimed Lancer, clearly shocked at Gabriel's ability to just vanish.
"It's called 'magic'. I'd have thought you'd be familiar with it...", Rider said teasingly.
Meanwhile, Lancer was dealing with Mille, trying to calm her. Eventually, after getting no response, he leant in and kissed her lightly on the lips.
Well, I guess that's one way to get her attention....
"Lancer, I don't think we have time to waste. If Archer is having difficulty killing it then it must be tough. I'm going to go after Gabriel now, can you sort out Mille and the vampire girl?" she said.
As she did, she noticed Ryoko sneaking past them and heading towards the roof.
What is she doing? She's almost as bad as Kiyoshi..., she thought, exasperated. If Ryoko got herself killed that would upset Rin, and an upset Rin meant an upset Sakura....
Rider pondered the situation for a moment. Even she would have struggled to survive having one of Archer's arrows fired at her, so if the monster was capable of doing so then she was probably not going to be able to defeat it without using her Noble Phantasm. But, at the same time, she didn't want to hand their enemy more information than she needed to. As a former combatant in the Grail War, she knew the importance of not revealing your true identity to your enemies.
Yes, I should definitely check it out first. I don't know what we're up against, I don't want to give myself away unnecessarily.
With that thought, Rider turned and ran in the direction of the golem. Running up the side of the building Ryoko had been climbing and bounding along the rooftops, she quickly caught up with and overtook the girl. But, right now dealing with the golem took priority over making any attempt to converse with Rin's rather-beautiful daughter, so she paid little attention to her, aside from some slight ogling as she approached from behind.
As she approached the golem, she saw the golem shooting at Archer with a minigun. However, as a spiritual being, Rider could not be affected by mundane weaponry, so she simply continued leaping over the rooftops towards the target, taking no notice of any attempt it might make to shoot her.
-
"Lass," he said in a low voice, "I need you to snap out of this. We need you to get the girl inside and we'll take care of this. Once that's done we can sort everything out."
Normally, Mille would have nodded and went to her task. But this wasn't a normal night.
She could barely move. Everything swirling inside her, all the thoughts and confusion filling her head and yet leaving everything so blank threatened to overwhelm her. There was at least, finally, at last, a hint of emotion. The one crack in the dam was enough to let loose everything else, and it took every ounce of willpower she had not to break down sobbing.
He gently stroked her tears from her face. "Now isn't the time to shed tears. You can mourn later, but right now I need you sharp."
She squeezed her eyes shut. She felt ashamed, so ashamed. How could she be so weak? Even if so little made sense anymore, why in the end was she letting it break her like this? She hated it, hated it.
She still fought it back, but the tears came down harder now, as it became harder to control.
Then, there it was. A brush against her lips. Her eyes opened, and...
He. He was kissing her. He was really kissing her. He was kissing her.
That... that had to mean something, didn't it? He wouldn't fight for her to wake up, wouldn't kiss her like this if she was worthless, would he?
There was still so little that made sense. Who she was, the validity of her choices, just how many mistakes she had made, whether she was a good person, or a worthy person, whether being a Magus was right, whether trusting the Association for so long was right... These, among other things, were now so uncertain. And it ate at her, threatened to consume her whole. But in spite of that, within the wreckage that was the pieces of her identity, there was a spark. A chance to rebuild.
She gently pulled away. She didn't know what to say. Even with that bit of hope, she still felt as if she had the weight of the world bearing down on her, her own shame for being borne down by it making it all the harder to bear.
With no longer a clear hold on her own identity, her barriers finally came crashing down. Needing some form of relief, any relief, without thinking she ran to him and embraced him, finally letting her tears flow freely.
***
"Is that really the best you got?~" Still, Ruby seemed oddly... preoccupied by the movement in the distance.
While Rider talked with Lancer, she changed back into her rod form and took off after the girl attempting to stealthily make her way across the rooftops. After all, there was little more for her to concern herself with here.
-
Oh, he's just sort of a neat freak. He likes smelling pretty, you know? So Forest helped him out, and now he smells pretty.
Nessa could tell at a first glance this girl was poking fun at the pokemon. In spite of that, she found herself grinning. The revenant didn't know her, yet, decided that she liked her. Newcomers were present but she was interrupted by her Sire before she could even get a good look at them.
Hey, girl. We'll be going somewhere else for this next bit. Some things ain't for polite company to see or hear.
"Alright, that doesn't sound creepy at all," she said, trying to offer some light words in order to dissipate a bit of the rudeness coming from Jack's words. He probably didn't mean to be blunt but, that still could be perceived as offensive and they couldn't afford to antagonize people. Especially those who offered their help. She scowled, pinching Jack's side slightly.
"You probably should show some sort of gratitude," she whispered to him. She turned to Tom and spoke louder. "Thanks for the treat, Kitty-kun," she declared before getting up.
And for the rest too, she added mentally.
With that said, Nessa gestured for Jack to lead the way. They had important stuff to discuss apparently and the wait was killing her. It did occur to her that she still ignored something concerning the kindred.
"So, old man, what am I supposed to call you?"
I felt my innards stitching themselves together - not a pleasant sensation and one I'd experienced too many times than I'd like - as I wheezed out my response. "My gratitude was shown already. You can call me Jack, by the way."
I started heading towards Forest's office... again. Christ, I'd be getting an earful from my ghoul if I stayed the night here. "And it sounds like creepy shit, because it is creepy shit. It comes with being one of the poor fuckers who are doomed to walk the night. We do get an excellent health care and dental plan though, as I'll show you." Despite the levity, my heart was sinking. Spreading my curse to this poor girl... perhaps it'd be kinder to kill her now. But doing that... I couldn't do something like that in cold blood. Besides, I had enough on my hands already - literally.
-
Satoshi looked at the knights assembled and then to Angra "Hold this" he said handing her a scrap of paper as he turned back to the knights.
"The rest of you, get back to the castle and bring the steel and the armours already made" he ordered.
the knights obeyed as Angra collapsed with such force as to dent the concrete floor of the garage. Angra made gurgling noises as Satoshi sat down on a near by Jeepers creepers brand roller board "You are officially a prisoner, and yes, I can in fact keep my word by locking you in a room" the blonde told the dark skinned terror.
-
"Shit," Archer said as his keen eyes picked up the golum lifting up an actual mini-gun. Just like the one that the Terminator used in the second movie. He threw out his right hand and whispered, "Steel is my body, and fire is my blood . . ."
He could see it clearly in his mind. There were seven layers, arranged in a brilliant flash of pink like a flower petal. Technically bullets weren't thrown, but the conceptual shield could stop them easily. "Rho Aias!" he shouted, and the pink petals sprang to life, the bullets hitting them and crumpling to the ground.
He continued to press on, his eyes narrowed at the golum as he readied Kansho and Baykura in his mind right before he landed on the rooftop with the golum.
******
Yes, you are correct. Forest frowned at the evident exhaustion in his voice. Perhaps sitting down would be wise as well. Maybe the living room? Or would you prefer that I eat in the kitchen?
She nodded and replied, The living room is fine. You need to get something in you though. I don't know how your physiology works, but when people donate blood they do need something to recoop. Pizza isn't my first choice, but it'll do. Water or juice though, no soda. The caffeine will actually make it worse.
She looked at Ryoko who was about to leave and nodded. She said, "Hey, poppet, be careful."
Then she looked at Rin and answered, "Honestly, strengthening them first, and anything you can think of that'll keep people out will be of the good. Magic really isn't my forte. So I'll trust your judgement, Rin."
What do you wish to do about the girl? It is somewhat bothersome, and I am perhaps not the best choice for the task, but keeping her company would not be much of an issue for me, since I will likely need to sit down for the next two hours. But if you wish to spend some time alone with me, we can figure out an alternate solution. In the end, I leave it up to you.
Forest nodded and sent back, We can sit in the living room together, I don't mind. Honestly, I'd suggest that you'd head for bed and rest after we get some food in you. I can stay with Hakuno, easily.
She smiled at the girl and said, "So kiddo, there's apparently a metric ton of pizza in the kitchen? You want to grab a few slices and wait until your Archer comes back?"
*****
"So, do we have a plan for when we walk out behind this creature?" Gabriel asked.
Angel readied his stolen sword and said, "If you can let us out from behind that thing I'll hit it as hard as I can. Maybe you should try grabbing it. If its magic and if you can nullify it that'll be a huge help."
"Not the most smooth of plans, but it's what we have to work on," Gabriel said with a nod as he reached out with the hand that wasn't holding Angel's and opened the shadows.
Angel shifted into his Game Face to channel his vampiric strength into the on coming blow. His senses sharpened and he noticed the thing had a mini-gun that was firing at the man in black. There was a brilliantly glowing shield that looked like massive flower petals in front of the white-haired man as he landed on the rooftop with them.
With a growl, Angel swung the sword as hard as possible at the center of the thing's back while Gabriel reached for it's "head" with his bare hands.
******
Lancer was about to say something when Millie pulled away. Then she ran at him, crying, her arms wrapping around him. Sighing he returned her hug and stroked her hair back, knowing that this really wasn't the time to break down.
He saw Rider speed after the bowman and almost smiled when he saw another familiar redhead heading towards the battle as well.
He said, "Lass, come on. Fires aren't put out with a bit of doubt."
-
Rattus felt sudden successive vibrations inside his coat all of a sudden. It was his cellphone and it prompted him to pull out and answer the device, flipping it open since it was a flip-top phone. "This is Rattus von Engels, please state your purpose for this call." he said, since the number was unfamiliar to him.
On the other side of the line, Neo was calling at a payphone, holding loose change at his hand. "Man, ya' don't kno' anymo' when it's me talkin'?"
"You only talked right now, Neo. Of course, I can't deduce that yet until you talk." Rattus replied. "So, do you have anything to report or did you just waste our time here waiting while you did nothing?"
"Well, sorta. I got myself some whiskey in the waterin' hole." Neo answered. "But I just found out that the paper they use here is some sort of a fucking joke or somethin'. It's so fucking unbelievable, man. It has to be a mo'fuckin' joke."
"Elaborate." Rattus commanded.
Neo then started explaining, "'While ago, I shanked a chick and took her bag, and she got these clusterfuck of different banknotes in her wallet, okay? I saw a five Kraut banknote, a fifty Limey banknote, an old-as-fuck design Abe Lincoln hundred US dollar, five Jap one yen banknotes and the rest can go fuck themselves 'cause I dunno where they came from. Even the spare change are like that, fo' fuck's sake. I just fuckin' used some sort of towelhead coin to call you from this payphone, ya' kno'?"
"So, to reiterate, you are saying that the currency they use here are a mix of different currencies from around the world." Rattus said.
"Yeah." Neo affirmed. "They also use designs that nobody uses anymore, like this Jap or somethin' coin with the square hole in the middle. Is it a Jap coin again?"
"I have no idea, Neo. Yukina's sleeping here and it would be very rude to wake her up just to ask about a coin that is no longer in use in Japan, if it is indeed a Japanese coin." Rattus then looked at Yukina's direction as she slept on the warehouse floor with a bag as her pillow.
"Well, I would fucking tell you to wake that damn bitch up but since I have four of those in mah pocket right now anyway, I won't bother her no more." Neo then inserted one of the said coins in payphone's coin slot.
"But in anyway, if everything that you said right now to me is the whole truth, then perhaps we can take advantage of it."
The blonde then asked, "How the hell you gon' do that?"
"If they are accepting all currencies here, that only means they would also accept our credit cards and checks." Rattus responded. "I am not so sure of that but we need to prove or disprove that hypothesis."
"Well, if you're right then shit, we can quickly buy ourselves a nice, warm pad here in Nexus City, Ratt. Ain't no bettah place like a real fucking house to sip beer in." Neo commented while slightly amused.
"Nexus City?" The bespectacled man asked. "Is that our current location right now?"
"Seems to be." He answered. "I see the fuckin' name everywhere in this city, so this must be Nexus City." Neo then looked at a direction and saw a plume of black smoke rising from the horizon. "And right now, looks like some poor motherfucker lost his house because he's a fucking idiot or something. I mean, I see black smoke in the sky, it's a damn fire. Want me to go check this shit out?"
"Yes. Report observations immediately." Rattus commanded.
"Okay. I'm out." Neo stopped the call by putting the handset back to the hook. He then immediately jacked the car nearest to him, which was just a few steps away. He drove and headed towards where the fire was and upon arriving there, he saw a four-legged wingless dragon, a law enforcement officer and a burning horseman attacking people inside the building, which are understandably but fruitlessly fighting back due to the three strange personalities raining down fire on them. Neo exited the car and watched the whole scene with all amusement, before he himself shouted "Go get them, motherfuckers! Go kill those assholes!"
-
The General's of Ruin
Shadow Dimension
All but one of the general's had assembled the one who had not had yet to be found.
"'Ey boss, who's the new broad? Did you get bored or somethin?" Mudou was the first to react to the new face his eyes were as vulgar as the rest of his body and he cared little for formalities.
"Really Mudou must you be so rude? She must obviously be here to 'help' us out. If your brain was not the size of a peanut then perhaps you could understand this." Shezar's mood had gotten a little sour as of late thanks to his previous battle. However that did not stop the insults from flying straight away.
"You little shit, you're lucky I don't just kill you right now." Mudou's temper began to flare.
"Try it if you dare, you barbarian." As did Shezar's.
"Enough you two! If you want to kill each other wait till after we've accomplished our goals. We have much more important issues at hand right now." Finally interrupting them Downy was not in the mood for their current bickering.
Still blatantly showing their hostile aggression towards each other the two sucked it up and stopped their bickering. If there was one person they respected (feared) it was their commander.
"By the way boss, where's Ms. rude and crude? She on some secret mission or somethin?" Mudou couldn't help showing his curiosity, but rather then Downy replying Imnity was the one who interrupted.
"She is currently MIA, I believe she is still currently in the city somewhere but at the moment there is too much interference for a direct pinpointing of her location."
"Damn, I s'ppose wishing she was dead was too much to ask for. So who's the new broad?" Still unable to hide his curiosity Mudou led them straight back to where they started.
"Her name is Saber, and she will be helping us out for the duration of this mission. Why don't you introduce yourself Ms.?"
-
I see..., thought Kiyoshi as he heard Toshi's words.
Before he could say anything, though, Satoshi made his excuses and left the room. Kiyoshi could see Rin and Connor were somewhat agitated.
What's going on? he thought.
Then, Tsukasa petted Kuro and spoke.
"I'm a little big to hug you Kuro, I'm afraid I might squish you if I try" she said laughing.
In response, the little familiar snuggled-down in her hand, clearly enjoying the sensation of being stroked. Kiyoshi laughed.
Then, Tsukasa moved to close the door, before turning to Kiyoshi, frowning.
"I'm sorry Kiyo, those are questions I can't answer right now. It's a long story, just trust me", she said.
Kiyoshi frowned in return, disappointed at her unwillingness to answer.
Why is this family so secretive?
"Oh, OK...", he said, somewhat sadly.
"What's wrong with Toshi?" he asked.
-
As its supposed 'trump card' was easily blocked by some kind of invincible flower petals that had appeared out of thin air, the golem was beginning to realize that this supposed 'magic' was a bit more of a pain than it had any right to be. He tried to reach into the shield and see if he could do something about it, but there was nothing to influence, no convenient self-destruct to press. All the spirit got was a metaphorical burnt hand as the sheer mass of spiritual energy inhabiting the thing pushed him back. The white haired one would have to wait.
If that wasn't enough, two familiar face appeared from behind, one swinging a sword at his center and another reaching for the golem's battered head.
If the thing had a mouth, it would be sporting a grin. Truly, even the worst of situations could be a blessing in disguise.
The sword would be easy enough to deal with. A crumpled bumper looted from a rather expensive car moved from the golem's shoulder to its back, right in the path of the sword. As for the Gabriel, his attempt to grab the golem's head was certainly successful. The dented yellow traffic cone came away easily enough, leaving him holding a useless piece of plastic with a pair of cracked sunglasses perched on the front.
Deep within the golem's body, a certain purple sphere flickered momentarily but quickly returned to effectiveness. It, unlike the spirit, was indeed magical, but a more direct touch would be needed to disable it, one that the golem didn't plan on allowing.
With a metallic roar, the thing's free hand swung backwards at an angle that would break a normal man's arm. Its fingers were a loose collection of sharpened steak knives, and its forearm a rusted chainsaw that couldn't turn on even if it'd been supplied with electricity. The golem's swipe was clumsy, like the rest of its movements, but no less slow for it, unencumbered by human weakness as it was.
-
"You know, you're not very good at being stealthy~"
Ryoko nearly jumped as Ruby snuck up behind her.
"Well, I couldn't get you to follow me if I was being completely secretive. You figured out we're on the same side fast enough."
The rod began wiggling about. "Of course, any idiot with half a brain could figure that out~ You couldn't be sneaking towards anything else but that golem the way you were headed~ Unless you were really stupid and trying to give that thing back up of course~ But your eyes give you away, you know~"
Ryoko raised an eyebrow at the double entendre. She expected Ruby to figure out her connection to Rin sooner or later, just not this fast.
"You that desperate to get some action in, huh?"
"Of course~ Arguing with Snake Woman was getting boring~ I'd even pair up with an over muscled amazon like you to get some excitement in~"
Ryoko grinned. "Sister, you have a low threshold for 'over-muscled' if I'm what it takes to flip your trigger. But hey, if you weren't enchanted to hell and back, I could break you in half with a bit of reinforcement. Hell, I wouldn't even need you right now if that thing weren't pretty much punch proof."
"But you do need me~ Not that I see someone who has muscles for brains like you getting much use out of me~"
Ryoko's grin widened. There was something... a touch devilish, to that grin. "Oh ho, we'll see about that~"
She grabbed hold of Ruby, and one transformation sequence later, she was already in the air, and already had an idea of what to do from what she saw before her.
"You say I don't know what to do with you, huh? 100% to offense~"
Ruby's wings dipped as she complied. "Ugh, you're the bossy type, aren't you?"
"You'd better believe it~ This meat head is going to work you to the ground."
Ryoko then positioned Ruby in front of her and began to focus quite hard, her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes, she whirled and sent an orb hurtling towards the machine gun arm with lightning speed, and whirled around again to send a differently colored one hurtling a bit more slowly towards the core.
It was perhaps a trick of the light, but it almost seemed as if Ruby's inset ruby eyes were blinking. "Phew, boy, are you a slave master. But do you really think those will be enough?"
Ryoko's eyes glinted with a sinister light as she watched her special orbs take off towards the golem. "Oh, you'll see. You'll see."
***
"Lass, come on. Fires aren't put out with a bit of doubt."
Mille drew back, rather reluctantly, her senses finally making some semblance of returning. She was still shaking, the tears still coming down in torrents. But now she had her mind back enough to feel ashamed, and it ate away inside her, along with everything else. Still, she tried to appear stronger, vainly trying to bat some of her tears away, not quite able to look Lancer in the eye.
"W-what do you want me to do?" She asked. She remembered what he had said about the vampire vaguely, and noticed Rider was gone. A tiny flame of anger began to grow inside her. She desperately grasped onto it, trying to regain focus. "Do you want me to take the girl back? I don't know if I could carry her that well, I'm pretty low on prana... B-but I could try."
-
Tywin was inside what some would call Hel. Thing is, Hel is cold.
The drug factory was a blazing inferno of death, and he was right in the center of it. The distraction the drakon had provided was more than ample time to let the cocktails ignite after he through them through the window. The entire place went up in flames within seconds, the chemicals catching fire. THere would be no salvaging this building. The trick was to make sure that the main cooker didn't escape. He'd likely be in his office, even now. Crazy bastard liked his own products a little too much - PCP, Meth, you name it, he could make it.
The heat was uncomfortable, but not so much as to be painful. Tywin had gone through worse. His shoulder broke open the door to the office just in time to have a shotgun blast fly over his head, blowing a nice chunk out of the wall behind him. Without really thinking, Tywin drew his Glock 18 and let it roar - the fully automatic fire aimed at a bad angle, but it should have the effect he wished - whoever was shooting at him dove into something to get out of the way. The scream of pain was a nice touch too. He'd probably winged the bastard.
The only cover the man could use in the room was his desk, too thin to stop a 9mm round, but Tywin needed something from it. More lab locations. Dealers. Other suppliers. Information in general.
The cooker's head popped out of cover just long enough to suddenly have his brains splattered all over the wall. The fire creeping up, Tywin went to plan B - grab everything and run. It's why he had a garbage bag in his pocket. Emptying the drawers of the desk into the bag, Tywin threw it over his shoulder before sprinting out the back once again - a small victory, he supposed, as the building burned behind him. No risk, no reward.
-
"I can't rightly say boyo, but whatever it is, it ain't fer us ta pry. Alex's always like that, him, an Archer, an Shirou and even Sakura a wee bit. Always worried about other people fore them selves. In the mean time, while he wait for the meeting to get back together. How about I tell you wee ones a story?" Connor replied taking a seat on the bed.
Tsukasa smiled and nodded. "I think that's just wonderful" she said continuing to pet Kuro.
-
Gwyllt
Not waiting for Lycodrake, the rider raced past him and broke through the doors of the factory to the crisp air outside, warmed (somehow only slightly) by the inferno that consumed the hive of degenerates behind them. He galloped into the open outside perimeter of the factory, and his mount reared high with a pull of the reins. Gwyllt's sword pointed to the stars, and his voice thundered loud in the air, enough for all close to the factory or inside it to hear.
"COWARDS CAN ONLY COWER! THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND WAR IS SOUR! REMEMBER THIS NIGHT, YOUR DESERVED SMITE!"
His roar was accompanied by maniacal laughter, piercing into any worm that still attempted to crawl away from hell.
-
Gwyllt
Not waiting for Lycodrake, the rider raced past him and broke through the doors of the factory to the crisp air outside, warmed (somehow only slightly) by the inferno that consumed the hive of degenerates behind them. He galloped into the open outside perimeter of the factory, and his mount reared high with a pull of the reins. Gwyllt's sword pointed to the stars, and his voice thundered loud in the air, enough for all close to the factory or inside it to hear.
"COWARDS CAN ONLY COWER! THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND WAR IS SOUR! REMEMBER THIS NIGHT, YOUR DESERVED SMITE!"
His roar was accompanied by maniacal laughter, piercing into any worm that still attempted to crawl away from hell.
Neo
Location: Krokodil Factory
"BULLSHIT!" Neo yelled defiantly as he heard the burning horseman's words. "WAR IS ONLY SOUR WHEN YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG OR LOSING IT!" He lit up a cigarette and went on. "Only faggots who like chivalry and shit like that look at war and complain that it's hell. Of course it is! Motherfuckers can't understand that war is where the shit happens and you can't polish shit. Even if you could, it's still shit. So why make it honorable? Why not enjoy the finer things in life instead? It's okay if ya' wanna fuck your enemy's wife, he's fucking dead meat anyway. In fact, take his skull as a souvenir or turn his bones into a nice necklace or some fancy shit." He then puffed some smoke from his cigarette. "You seem to like turnin' those homies into stiff, ya' know? If war is so sour, why ya' do that?"
-
Gwyllt
At hearing the man speak up some distance away, Gwyllt's mount came down to the ground, and he lowered his sword. His burning gaze settled over the man as he turned to face him quietly.
At doing so, he saw, he heard, he felt, past the man's looks and into his soul. And he did not like what he found. If Tan Gwyllt had a face, he would've scowled, but the rippling of the flames in his helm seemed to produce the same effect in its features of metal.
"That is the point, you thoughtless joint. You seem to know only of one war. But every wrongness in the world invites such gore." he responded.
His maw flared out in a disapproving puff of flame and smoke, and he spoke again.
"And deserves it."
-
Gwyllt
At hearing the man speak up some distance away, Gwyllt's mount came down to the ground, and he lowered his sword. His burning gaze settled over the man as he turned to face him quietly.
At doing so, he saw, he heard, he felt, past the man's looks and into his soul. And he did not like what he found. If Tan Gwyllt had a face, he would've scowled, but the rippling of the flames in his helm seemed to produce the same effect in its features of metal.
"That is the point, you thoughtless joint. You seem to know only of one war. But every wrongness in the world invites such gore." he responded.
His maw flared out in a disapproving puff of flame and smoke, and he spoke again.
"And deserves it."
Neo
"Ha ha, yeah." Neo agreed. "But you hit the spot, Johnny Blaze. Yo' right. I only know of one war..." He then paused for a moment to puff some more cigarette smoke. "...Because they're all the same to me. I was in Europe shooting pointy-hatted Krauts in the trenches, I was leapfrogging in the Pacific to shoot those motherfucking Jap retards and I was in 'Nam hunting Charlie Gooks. The shit I did back in my 'Merica might not count as 'wars', but sure as fuck that they were like wars to me. I mean, it's easy to sum up how wars work: Two sides who have giant hateboners and endurin' butthurt at each other wave their dongs 'round and flex their pythons, their guns. Then the first one who gets wrecked or turns into a faggot loses." He then briefly takes out the cigarette from his mouth to puff smoke and flick away the burnt tobacco from its tip. "In other words, the only reason you think you are the good guy here is because the huge-ass congregation of retards they call as 'society' backs you up. If it so happened that society thinks those motherfuckers you iced there are right or doing nothing wrong, you'll be the monster in this shitty story."
-
Gwyllt
Stalking closer to the man, the flame of Tan Gwyllt's sword dimmed along the light inside his helm, growing colder not in power, but in appearance.
"Calling me good? To be such, were that I could." He began, with a tone more restrained than he had so far used with this person. Then his voice twisted, bellowing from deeper within his armor with a dark crackling.
"I am a demon. Made of the darker things of man. I know where the evil in human nature is, and I dislike it. To those in my grasp who think they can escape their dues, I shall deliver punishment they deserve." He said, and an arm rose to point at Neo. "You spout excuses. Regardless of who wins, or what society accepts for its own convenience, wrong does not cease being wrong. Because something that hurts people is allowed once without consequence by fate, it does not justify another occurrence."
His steed huffed, letting out a swirm of black smoke as its hoove smacked against the ground once.
"I will not accept it. I shall take it into my hands, because I am a monster that dislikes monsters and likes peace. That is all there is to it." he spoke, his fel fire growing strong again as he finished, tone lifting into a sort of dark amusement.
His sword was raised in the direction of his conversational partner.
"Because I found them wicked, I burned that place and those men. And you, feel just the same as them."
-
Lycodrake Aptera
"You spout excuses. Regardless of who wins, or what society accepts for its own convenience, wrong does not cease being wrong. Because something that hurts people is allowed once without consequence by fate, it does not justify another occurrence."[/glow]
His steed huffed, letting out a swirm of black smoke as its hoove smacked against the ground once.
"I will not accept it. I shall take it into my hands, because I am a monster that dislikes monsters and likes peace. That is all there is to it." he spoke, his fel fire growing strong again as he finished, tone lifting into a sort of dark amusement.
His sword was raised in the direction of his conversational partner.
"Because I found them wicked, I burned that place and those men. And you, feel just the same as them."
Walking through the flames that followed Gwyllt and his steed, Lycodrake's draconian gaze fell upon Neo and the wingless one walked upon his talons to stand next to his second new companion. His feet were stained with blood and gore, but he staved off the desire to retch out his recent meal in favor of addressing the stranger. "I share my companion's thoughts in this matter and wonder what you are doing here. Are you an ally of these who trade in pain and suffering for personal gain?"
Lycodrake knew well his adamance on this subject. Ares or Mars, whatever name the bloodthirsty sibling god to his matron goddess took, the name didn't matter; those like him are those that he hates from the deepest part of his being. "More importantly, let me present a question to you, stranger: why do you fight? To protect or destroy? Do you enjoy seeing the blood of ally and foe upon the battlefield? Or do you fight on to protect that which or those whom you care about? Because I do not tolerate the bloodthirsty. Though I may be seen as a monster, a beast, and a creature of destruction for being a dragon, do not test my desire to protect the innocent." He allowed himself a rare smile, full of bone-breaking, skin-, muscle- and tendon-tearing teeth, "because I am proactive in doing so. So I ask again: why do you stand before us? Please let us know your intentions."
-
Neo
After being lectured by the burning horseman and being asked by the dragon about his intentions, Neo then puffed more smoke and said, "I was gonna say that I'm here to kick ass and chew bubblegum and I'm all out of gum, but I'd rather smoke weed right now and play Contra. On weed. What I'm after at, right now, is to figure out where the fuck are we and observe shit happening because we just arrived here via tugboat and have no damn idea about what's happenin' or why we here, yo'. So my mission right now is fuckin' reconnaissance or somethin' close like that. I just went here because something's burnin' and most of the time, when something like that goes down, it's interesting shit. Damn right am I, huh?"
"But, to address the questions you have given to me, gentlemen..." He said in a perfect General British accent, before switching back to his General American accent. "Yeah, I'm fucking bad, if you can call it like that. I used to kill people for fun and moolah, before it came to me that I should be fuckin' doing something more in my life than killing people for shallow shit like that. I am bloodthirsty, if you can call it that, so I got a job that's gives my hobby a point other than because I wanted to and my sideline is growing and selling weed. So, yeah, I'm a 'handyman' for someone and I sell weed. What mo' can ya' ask fo'?"
He puffed more smoke and went on, "As for Ghost Rider's violent reactions here, I have to call bullshit on some things you fucking said. If something that hurts people is evil, what is your stand on BDSM? It's people hurting each other with consent to get their booty calls. On smoking? If ain't so fucking obvious, I'm a smoker and I know it could fuck you up in the lungs. On getting drunk as fuck? It fucks up your liver and mind, go ask my boss. On smoking weed? Science has proven already that it ain't addictive, yo. On doing hard coke, heroin or shit like that? We all know what can do, addictive as fuck. On Orwellian surveillance? It doesn't harm anyone directly. I mean, they say 'you have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide'. On War? I like fighting wars, but we all know nobody else who is considered 'sane' or some bullshit like that likes it. But it's legal. On euthanasia? I mean, he might be a useless piece of shit right now, but he's still alive right? On littering? Many people litter, and pollution can kill everyone, man. And fucking heavy industries do it the worst. On famine? Usually no one causes famine, maybe except failed crops or fucking economics. So what, are you gonna kill nature? You gonna bring down the capitalist system? More so, what can you do actually do?"
Neo was about to puff some more smoke when he noticed that his cigarette was all consumed. So he threw away the butt and went on, "And to quote the Jelly Bean Man, President Alzheimer's Reagan, 'There's no argument over the choice of peace and war, but there is only one guaranteed way you can have peace — and you can have it in the next second — surrender.' We all know that you'll never fuckin' run out of people to punish, much less will you have your 'peace' as long as you live, because you seem to live forever, Johnny. So, if you're a monster that loves peace, why keep on chasing people you don't like? If you love peace so much, why don't you just sit down, take a sip of tea and have a Chinese meat bun?"
-
Gwyllt
If the matter was anything less serious to him, Gwyllt would've scoffed at this shameless bastard.
"You mistake simple pain for harm, hooligan. I have no business with those that choose to deal themselves pain, for whatever reason. But those that work to harm others for their own enjoyment or selfish reasons, those that trample on balance without justification, and those that commit atrocities of whatever kind on their fellow man; all of them I hate. You seem to enjoy defending yourself with vague examples and little things people do not often think about. There are many choices in the world that are neither good nor evil. But intent is what sets things apart. I know of what kind yours has always been, wicked one."
The blazing sword was leveled at neck height of the man as he spoke and drew closer.
"I can't change all that is wrong about the world. But I will not ignore what I come across, even if only for myself and myself alone." He snarled out. "But to answer your final question: because I could not enjoy peace knowing there are those who besmirch it for others with a smile on their face."
He pulled back his sword arm, fire dancing out of the weapon, before he finished his speech. "Like you."
And he swung it at the man's head with a wave of green fiery death.
-
Neo
Neo then quickly dodged away the blazing swing of the horseman's sword. He then stepped back, which a smug smile on his face and said "See? You got nothing to defend yo'self anymo' from my words, nigga. So, you get mad, and you use force. Just like a motherfucking idiot who can't get his way so he shakes up other people to get him big bucks. Did that once, ya' kno'? Do you really want to fuckin' prove that good, whatever the fuck it is, is dumb and only has force to back it up, Johnny? I ain't even attackin' once but then you go swingin' your sword and shit."
He then went on, "I think you fuckin' misunderstood what I said last time, dude. Many of the examples I've given: They're all considered harmful, take note, harmful not just to the self, but to people as a whole. Just because yo' ain't doin' some good ol' wholesale massacre doesn't give ya' a blank check to shit up the river for your business. And it's worse if you're indifferent to it, no one's gonna poison the river for the lulz, man. That's a more subtle massacre and science proves it. And yet, no one really cares about that shit. And then you said that every example I gave was vague and just little things people don't think about. It only proves two things: First, it's like you admitted that morality is vague as fuck. Second, it's you saying that as long as people don't think about it, as long as people don't care, it's free fucking pass. It's so fucking contradictory to what said, that your morality ain't connected to society."
"And yeah, you can't ignore shit happening to the world, you can't enjoy peace without thinking about 'evil' or any sort of faggotry like that, then you can't say you love peace. So it's either you have a job for eternity or just go sip some Jesus juice and relax, don't think about it."
"I'm an immortal but Ratt said there ain't no such things as immortals, so if I hit the ground today and stay there, if only proves that you ain't got shit on what I said and therefore, you operatin' on some illogical bullshit."
-
Rider landed on the rooftop next to Archer just as Angel and Gabriel completed their attacks. Unfortunately, she could see that they were unlikely to have much success. The golem seemed to have improvised a weapon of its own to block Angel's sword, and Gabriel's well-intentioned attempt to use his magic-nulling ability to destroy the golem had only resulted in him tearing off the golem's "head" to no real effect. Meanwhile, the golem swung its other hand back to attack the two people stood behind it.
Rider pondered the situation for a moment. How should she attack the golem? It was clear that attacking all the floating pieces that made the golem up was not going to do much, but something had to be controlling the golem, and there surely had to be some way of harming it.
Ah, of course, if it's a magical construct then it must surely have a spiritual core. If we destroy that, we kill the golem.
Rider, of course, was well aware of how magical constructs worked. After all, despite her human-like appearance and, even, her emulation of human bodily functions, she was in reality nothing more than a magical construct, just like the golem. Her body was simply a container for her magical core, to allow her to interact with the world. Damaging it was meaningless, just like for the golem. To kill her you had to attack her spiritual core, her brain and her heart.
Of course, the golem didn't have a brain, but it still surely had to have some sort of core to hold the soul that was controlling it, and that core would logically be hidden in the centre of the golem. So, that is where they needed to attack. And, whilst it was clearly quite powerful, it only had two hands. It couldn't defend against attacks from all angles. If she went for the core now, it would be defenceless.
Before she could attack, though, she sensed a powerful orb of magic heading in her direction. Turning around, she noticed Ryoko transformed into a magical girl holding onto Ruby, and several orbs heading towards the golem. The first, faster one was heading for the gun arm, whilst the second, somewhat slower orb was clearly heading straight for the monster's core.
Hmm, she worked that out pretty quick. She really is a smart girl.
Thinking quickly, Rider threw her nail at the arm, intending to pierce it and then manouver it into the path of the oncoming attack as best as she could. Then, once the first orb had reached the golem, she crouched, preparing for a further attack. Just as the second orb approached, Rider jumped out of the way, throwing her second nail at the golem's core as she did.
"Everyone, hit the spiritual core, in the centre. That's the best way to kill it", she shouted as she jumped.
-
Alter raised an eyebrow and sighed inwardly, despite successfully finding shelter she had nothing to do. Consequently it was no wonder she found her feet heading for the stairs. Ascending she looked around and finding nothing beyond the trappings of an ordinary house sighed again. Further investigation however turned up the two bodies, untouched thanks to spell cast.
'Hmmm, perhaps I am not so safe, for the time being I shall conduct myself in the manner I had without the curse, if it turns out I am right I can leave, or kill them as the case maybe' she thought nodding to herself.
-
Neo
Neo then quickly dodged away the blazing swing of the horseman's sword. He then stepped back, which a smug smile on his face and said "See? You got nothing to defend yo'self anymo' from my words, nigga. So, you get mad, and you use force. Just like a motherfucking idiot who can't get his way so he shakes up other people to get him big bucks. Did that once, ya' kno'? Do you really want to fuckin' prove that good, whatever the fuck it is, is dumb and only has force to back it up, Johnny? I ain't even attackin' once but then you go swingin' your sword and shit."
He then went on, "I think you fuckin' misunderstood what I said last time, dude. Many of the examples I've given: They're all considered harmful, take note, harmful not just to the self, but to people as a whole. Just because yo' ain't doin' some good ol' wholesale massacre doesn't give ya' a blank check to shit up the river for your business. And it's worse if you're indifferent to it, no one's gonna poison the river for the lulz, man. That's a more subtle massacre and science proves it. And yet, no one really cares about that shit. And then you said that every example I gave was vague and just little things people don't think about. It only proves two things: First, it's like you admitted that morality is vague as fuck. Second, it's you saying that as long as people don't think about it, as long as people don't care, it's free fucking pass. It's so fucking contradictory to what said, that your morality ain't connected to society."
"And yeah, you can't ignore shit happening to the world, you can't enjoy peace without thinking about 'evil' or any sort of faggotry like that, then you can't say you love peace. So it's either you have a job for eternity or just go sip some Jesus juice and relax, don't think about it."
"I'm an immortal but Ratt said there ain't no such things as immortals, so if I hit the ground today and stay there, if only proves that you ain't got shit on what I said and therefore, you operatin' on some illogical bullshit."
Gwyllt
Tan Gwyllt laughed.
"Just as my sword missed your skull, you missed my point. Ignorance does not make evil. It may make misfortune and victims, but not evil. Intent does. Willful ignorance, when born simply out of a desire to protect yourself from the darker side of the world, is not evil." he said, raising his open free hand.
A mass of fel flame flared to life and inflated over it.
"You can not deny your intent in hurting others is selfish, without consideration, and without remorse. I can see it in you." the horseman said, staring into the man. "And as for your last point... I do not expect you to understand my plight, but allow me to tell you why it is so. Because of something even a demon can feel, but you seem to lack: conscience."
And as rider finished, the time for talk was over. Holding the mass of flame, his arm shot at the man. The growing fireball expanded into a wide torrent in that direction, surging forward faster than any regular human would be able to react.
BURN
-
Neo
Seeing that a wave of fire is coming his way, Neo simply covered his head with his leather jacket and jump-dived headfirst into the wave. Any fire that caught his clothes was simply extinguished by him rolling forward on the floor. He then stood up, slowly stepped back again while he said, "Yeah, really. Only intent matters, not ignorance. Doesn't matter what you didn't fuckin' do, only what you did. So if you witnessed somebody being butchered, don't speak up because you're afraid for yo' family's safety, you don't fucking care or you don't want to get bothered by pigs. Never mind that maybe, if you talk up, that's going to be fair for the poor fucker and maybe, the guy who cut his ass up will get to the slammer and get some sweet ass-pounding."
He was then dusting off his clothes when he said, "So you're saying that I can be a fat-ass businessman that dumps toxic waste every-fucking-where or an gray-hat arms dealer who sells weapons to mo'fuckin' warlords who shit everywhere and get away with it, as long as I don't care about the effects? Sweet. Never mind that ignorance is not an excuse to disobey rules, huh?"
"Also," he went on, "How can I be fuckin' accountable if I don't get why killing is bad, huh? Dad told me that it ain't really a bad thing. He also told me society can't follow it's own rules for shit, so I get a free pass to ignore them as long as I can fend of the coppers and shit."
-
Kiyoshi nodded at Connor's words.Whilst he didn't know Satoshi that well, he knew that Connor was right about his parents. They wouldn't want to worry him with their problems, just like Satoshi.
"I understand. Mummy and Daddy are like that, always protecting us without a second thought, and always trying to avoid worrying us. They don't lie to us or keep us in the dark, but they do try not to worry us when there is a problem.
And, yeah, I'd love to hear a story, thanks", he said, smiling.
Meanwhile, Kuro just continued to lie in Tsukasa's hands happily, enjoying the petting.
-
Connor nodded and tapping his chin for a moment came up with the perfect story. "Once upon a time there was a castle, and in that castle lived a group of warriors. Each one was strong but none could defeat the great beast alone" he began.
Tsukasa raised an eyebrow and Taiga visibly shifted in her chair
"The beast was fearsome, and rumored to be unstoppable. So the six decided to use the castle as their base to launch an attack" he continued pausing to wait for Kiyoshi's response.
Alter caught wind of the noise in the room and without meaning to began to eavesdrop on the story.
-
Wanderer
I move quickly, the ground blurring beneath my feet as I take to the streets. I would not travel at such a speed unless there was an emergency, and it seems it is so, tonight. From what I have seen my brother, the oldest of us all, born at the start of all things, rides tonight. Earlier, I saw a rider cloaked in green flame, a trademark sign of my brother - if it is truly him, I will have no choice but to ride with him. A fight between us, of all the four, would bring this city to its knees merely from the presence of our true forms. Though I, and many others, consider myself dangerous - and rightly so - my brother is by far the most powerful of us all. The fact that he is here is not a good sign. It might even signal the start of our Ride.
At that thought my pace doubles.
The people, the few that walk the streets at this hour, become blurs to my sight, lines of color as tunnel vision takes over. Though they register my passing, they will soon forget it, I'm sure. The residents of this city are hardy people. I can scarcely see my passage effecting them- ah, I am close. I can feel it.
My feet hit the concrete and I leap with just enough force to clear the roof of the building in front of me, landing lightly on its surface. From here I see the horseman and his companion, a strange, wingless dragon. I watch as the rider unleashes a wave of flame at their enemy, a blond-haired man and self-proclaimed immortal. I seem to feel what has been described to me by Lacie as a "feeling of relief". This horseman, while he feels similar to my brothers and myself, is not one of us. In that regard, it seems that this horseman is similar to myself, a preserver of the Law.
Such a thing sounds contradictory to my nature as War, the incarnation of chaos, but as a Horseman I have duties which I cannot ignore. Something stirs within me, as I watch this demon - for I see him for what he truly is, now - continue to speak. The fire that burns within me is beginning to rise to the surface. I want to test his mettle, his resolve, his strength. As something born from us, the rider is, in a sense, an offspring of our legend. Interesting.
It is time to begin. I will not have much time to act, and so I begin to countdown inside of myself as the fire rises up, up, burning through me as I stride forwards upon the roof tiles. Flames begin to cover me, shadows writhing and merging with them, bubbling up to cover me, to expose me for what I really am. I open my mouth and laugh as the fire burns me away, burning as hot as a furnace, sparks flying up into the night air from my white-hot mouth and glowing eyes, two perfect holes against the writhing shadows of my body. I call out to the demon below me, both his companion and enemy hearing my words.
"Ho there, Rider! It seems you claim a mantle held in part by the Four!"
The laughter in my voice is bubbling through - I'm enjoying myself, as humans would understand it. I call down to the demon again, my words echoing with the crackle of a mighty flame, the heat scorching the building beneath my feet.
"I would test your mettle, Rider! Such a thing does not go unnoticed!"
I pull a sword out of thin air in front of me. It is not that sword; no, such a thing would be too much. It is merely a sword, once famed, that will serve its intended purpose for me tonight. As I touch it, it changes, blackening as flame dance along its slender edge. I walk further towards the edge of the roof. What I am about to do next will leave me with limited time - already, my presence presses down upon this city and the combatants below, a heavy, cloying thing that chokes the air with the stench of the battlefield, inciting anger and fear, calling forth the promises of glory yet bringing only death. I had forgotten the feeling of my true form; to take it again after so long feels almost liberating.
I raise my head to the sky and let out a cry of exhilaration that stirs the blood in men's hearts. There will be battle tonight, as my voice rings over the city. An answering cry calls back, and the ground beneath me begins to crack. I run forward, into the now hot night air, and jump. Beneath me, my horse, Ruin, The Red Horse of War, the reason I am known as the Red Rider, bursts forth, rising up to meet me.
For a moment, we are suspended, hanging in the air, cutting a fearful picture against the moon of a black rider atop a flaming horse. Then we are falling, and Ruin's hooves pound against the side of the building as we break into a gallop, searing the stone beneath us. We seek only to test the rider that sits opposite us, but the exhilaration of taking our true form is too great to ignore. I push Ruin forward, sword in hand, and we leap, laughing. Ruin's hooves pound into the ground and we circle around the downed opponent for a moment, before facing the rider, burning with excitement.
At this range, my presence and the heat it generates is stifling, choking down on those around us like a tangible thing. I call out to the rider before us, that same slightly mocking laughter rising through my speech.
"Perhaps you did not expect this, Rider, but it is good that you did not - challenges are at their best when unexpected."
I laugh again, beholding the form of his enemy near Ruin's feet.
"War is many things, immortal - I am many things. It is not wrong to one, but wrong to another? I have seen this conflict, and it amuses me. War is not wrong, or right - it merely exists, as you exist. War is merely a fact of life that began with Heaven and Hell. Such a thing is inescapable. Now, personal wrong and right? That amuses me greatly. I saw the Fall, the great tragedy that befell those who marched against the Lord. Was the Morningstar wrong to rebel as he did? He desired the freedom to act as he wished... Milton was not so far from the truth, you know, but neither was he correct... Rider, prepare yourself!"
I point my sword at the demon in front of me.
"If you are in a shape to discuss afterwards, perhaps we might continue."
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Between the green flames, the irritating blonde immortal, and the new arrival that also spoke of war, Lycodrake was beginning to feel overwhelmed. He had come to this place at the request of someone who gave him answers and had killed wicked men in the business of dealing out pain and suffering. He was growing increasingly agitated with the blonde man, his teeth gnashing together and only steps away from hissing and growling outright.
Neo
"Also," he went on, "How can I be fuckin' accountable if I don't get why killing is bad, huh? Dad told me that it ain't really a bad thing. He also told me society can't follow it's own rules for shit, so I get a free pass to ignore them as long as I can fend of the coppers and shit."
"You are very good at twisting the words of others, it seems. People like you I hate the most. 'I don't care about right and wrong because those are just labels society makes'? Just hearing your words and the way you speak is aggravating: it reminds me of Ares - Mars - and Enyo. I can't understand you and I certainly never want to understand them."
He turned to the new arrival, "And I certainly don't want to hear about the 'good' of wars - the only thing good about war is when it is fought to defend those you care about and those who cannot defend themselves. If you disagree, try not to make yourself out to be a fool like this one, please."
-
Gwyllt
Had he a face, it would be narrowed at the man in a sneer. The excuses of the wicked were no longer heeded, and he would be tolerated no longer. The horseman would tolerate him no longer, entertain him no longer, and he would underestimate him no longer. Gwyllt's fire had proven to have no noticeable effect on him, and he had dodged his sword once. But he would not remain unscathed any longer. If his fire was innefective, his sword would fly against him with the intent of punishment, and this time, with his full speed and power, it would cut through him.
Without a word, his steed's hooves broke the ground beneath and launched the two of them towards their target. In a heartbeat the distance between them was no more and his sword was swung down to kill.
But the blade whistling through the air stopped abruptly before it could complete its arc. Gwyllt had ceased his movement as he felt the air change, and the Red Rider to whom he was connected appeared in the night.
The being that called itself Tan Gwyllt was overwhelmed by his presence as the new arrival spoke. Even as the air grew heavy with the haze of War, Gwyllt was unconcerned. His attention slipped from the human he had just intended to punish, taking in the words of the true Horseman as he spoke to him. Never had he imagined he would be addressed by one of the four. And now, he was being challenged, asked to show his power, and to give proof of who he was, by War himself. It wasn't the same as being acknowledged someone you idolized. Gwyllt knew this Rider. He had been born from him and his siblings' legend. It would be no exaggeration to say he exited as who he was because of him. Gwyllt had nothing but respect for this being. And he was now about to engage in a fight with him.
The feeling was exhilarating.
"You do me an honor, great kin and progenitor of mine! I accept your challenge with pride, certain as the stars shine!" the demonic rider declared, pointing his sword in response at the red one.
Gwyllt roared out in laughter of his own, but the sound of his voice returned his senses of the current situation to mind. The fire inside his helm dimming slightly, he beheld the man he had been arguing with for a moment. Dismissing him with what would be a snort for a human, he instead turned to his companion in the venture of purging the factory. He too had expressed his dislike of the man, and though he did not appear fond of the Red Rider, he hoped the dragon would be able to answer this one request of his.
"My companion for this night. I may ask an unreasonable favor, but while I fight, would you restrain this man, and hold him tight, to prevent him from running with his blight?" the horseman asked.
-
Kiyoshi sat still, listening to the story with interest.
Hmm, I wonder if the beast is the good guy, like in some of Aunty Rider's stories.
-
"Everyone, hit the spiritual core, in the center. That's the best way to kill it," Rider's voice called out.
Archer gritted his teeth. The thing was sentient and was probably aware of everything they were saying. Then Rider just shouted that plan at them. Which meant the construct was going to protect itself even more.
Ryoko, wielding Ruby, was attacking from above. Then there was Rider throwing nails, however, Archer's focus was on the two men attacking the golum directly. They were about the same size, but one of them had twisted, horrific features and glowing golden eyes while the other was inhumanly lovely. When the golum struck at them, the guy with fangs and a sword moved to protect both of them.
They were working in tangent, and from the way the one was protecting the other, the guy with the elf ears was someone important. Or could do something to take this thing out, Archer reasoned, his mind already working through the variables.
Before Archer could say anything, the guy with the fangs and the sword said, "Everyone, distract him, Gabe, you know what to do. Now, let's get to work."
******
Gabriel bit his lip at Angel's words. Looking at the thing and all the steel - and iron - that created it and was protecting it. Angel went at it with his sword, and then the fellow with the white hair and absurd pants summoned swords into thin air with a gesture. Then with another shot swords at it.
Angel nodded at him as he swung his sword again.
Gabriel steeled himself and began to reach for the thing's core, peeling back junk to do so.
-
Neo
Lycodrake Aptera
"You are very good at twisting the words of others, it seems. People like you I hate the most. 'I don't care about right and wrong because those are just labels society makes'? Just hearing your words and the way you speak is aggravating: it reminds me of Ares - Mars - and Enyo. I can't understand you and I certainly never want to understand them."
He then turned to the wingless dragon and replied, "After shutting the fuck up for so long, huh you big-ass lizard? I have never felt such fucking honor from being called as someone good at 'twisting' the words of others. Only means them bitches know nothin' about what they're talking about and why they're being fuckin' wrecked when they get proven wrong. And what ya' say again, you can't and don't wanna unde'stand me? Then you so stupid and ignorant, foo'! But there ain't no blaming you. I mean, ignorance is bliss, right?"
Gwyllt
"My companion for this night. I may ask an unreasonable favor, but while I fight, would you restrain this man, and hold him tight, to prevent him from running with his blight?" the horseman asked.
"Fuck you, nigger, I ain't going with that shit." Neo reacted. "I'm just watching you bustin' asses in there and then I get roped for speakin' mah mind? Fuck that shit." He then began walking back into his stolen car and said, imitating a familiar voice, "Screw you guys, I'm goin' home!" He then started the engine, about to drive away from the site.
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Neo
"Fuck you, nigger, I ain't going with that shit." Neo reacted. "I'm just watching you bustin' asses in there and then I get roped for speakin' mah mind? Fuck that shit." He then began walking back into his stolen car and said, imitating a familiar voice, "Screw you guys, I'm goin' home!" He then started the engine, about to drive away from the site.
Lycodrake would not have the human, mortal or immortal, leave with those words in the air. His right forelimb lashed out and caught the vehicle in the back with his claws. "Speaking your mind is not the problem. You decided to antagonize us with your words and tone - that is the problem and the moment you were 'roped' into this. You have yet to prove to me that war is something to revel in; you mistake my silence for a moment as defeat. How arrogant and impatient. Did you misunderstand? I said 'I don't understand you' and that I 'don't want to understand them'. Don't and can't are quite different, but it seems you only want to antagonize and belittle our opinions while force your own."
-
Lycodrake would not have the human, mortal or immortal, leave with those words in the air. His right forelimb lashed out and caught the vehicle in the back with his claws. "Speaking your mind is not the problem. You decided to antagonize us with your words and tone - that is the problem and the moment you were 'roped' into this. You have yet to prove to me that war is something to revel in; you mistake my silence for a moment as defeat. How arrogant and impatient. Did you misunderstand? I said 'I don't understand you' and that I 'don't want to understand them'. Don't and can't are quite different, but it seems you only want to antagonize and belittle our opinions while force your own."
Neo
Neo, annoyed that the car is caught with Lycodrake's claws, then exited the car, turned to the dragon and said, "You're a fucking dipshit. I already said that war is terrible and the only way to unfuck it is to enjoy it. And I don't give a fuck if some titanic lizard just wants to shut to the fuck up, but it's better that way. And you the one misunderstandin' here, motherfucka'. 'Don't' and 'can't' are two different assholes. If ya' don't wanna do something, you're unwilling to do shit. If you can't, you're gimped and you are incapable of doing shit. Now let's apply that lesson here: If you don't understand, you're ignorant. If you can't understand, you're stupid. Either way, you have a bad case of the dumbs here, because you ain't capable and ain't willing to understand my words."
He then began walking towards another car right in front of the caught and stolen car. "And if you're simply concentrating on how I say shit, you're like saying you base your reactions on your fuckin' emotions." He was near the driver's door when he went on, "And I ain't forcin' shit, I'm only using my rights to call out a fool when someone's being a fool. If you get offended, ain't my fault."
-
It was too much, too fast.
First the man in red who could conjure exploding arrows out of thin air, then the other two, one with a mean sword and another that nullified all too much simply from a touch, and then a girl who looked like a bad Sailor Moon knock off flying through the air accompanied by a blindfolded lady in bondage gear.
It was too much for the golem to bear. "Do you think you can win with numbers!?" it roared.
The man's sword was knocked away. The minigun ran out of ammo. The golem's swipe was stopped by the bondage woman's nail wrapping around it and yanking it to pieces, just in time for a volley of shining orbs from the magical girl to blast holes through the several inches of armoured plating it had wrapped around the pulsating, purple sphere in its core, leaving it bared to the world.
"You little-!"
And then the last one's cold, cold hands reached out and touched the sphere.
It screamed. Not the golem, but the sphere itself. Magic that had been woven and carefully spun into a complex equation folded in on itself in an attempt to remain functional. The golem realized too late what had happened. The man was too close to deal with.
It cracked. The scream stopped, and the orb cracked. Then it cracked again, and again and again and again.
And then, when all the colour had faded and the golem had been rendered immobile, the sphere became little more than a bucket's worth of fairy dust, falling listlessly to the ground among the golem's other components. What had been a fighting machine was now little more than a collection of worthless junk that scattered all over the rooftop as if cast aside by a diety.
The golem had been slain.
Only, less than a minute after the thing's defeat, a noise rang out. Specifically, an old cell phone, half-buried in sand, its screen cracked and barely usable, started playing a mournful tune that sounded completely out of place in its environment.
"The jig is up, the noose is out
They finally found me
The renegade who had it made
Retrieved for a bounty~"
-
Ryoko listened to the phone play its final song, while somehow ringing simultaneously, before sputtering out into silence. She stood there, silent as the now dead phone, a clear look of bemusement on her face. The cellphone's face was now black, cold and lifeless as the City's air.
"Is... is that really it? That's all it took to defeat it?"
Ruby, on the other hand, was bouncing around in Ryoko's hand like a wiggling pile of jello. "Hah, we did it~ That thing was weak, hardly any trouble at all~" She turned to her wielder. "You're the obnoxiously loud hotblooded type. Why aren't you cheering?~"
Ryoko blinked before turning to face Ruby's glittering eyes. "Because it might not be over just yet. But eh..." She pumped the arm holding Ruby into the air. "We did it! That walking scrap heap ain't walkin' no more!"
She flew towards the group below, before landing on the roof beside them. "So, how's everyone doin'?"
-
Rin caught up to the group and quietly looked the scene over. 'Great, discount Cyberman, what's next? The Daleks?' she thought turning to face Archer, this time she calmly said "We need to talk, privately"
-
~Back in the recently distant past~
"Hey, girl. We'll be going somewhere else for this next bit. Some things ain't for polite company to see or hear."
"Alright, that doesn't sound creepy at all."
She scowled and pinched her Sire's side. Ryoko couldn't help but grin. She liked this girl already.
She turned to Tom and spoke louder. "Thanks for the treat, Kitty-kun," she declared before getting up.
Tom looked down at her with some bemusement, initially unable to form a response.
And for the rest too, she added mentally.
His features softened. First, he addressed her privately. You are welcome. I wish you well in your new life. Should you need such assistance again, I will attempt to aid you how I can.
Then he crossed his arms over his chest, his features hardening again. This reply was hearable by all still present. It was nothing. Though I did it because it was most practical for me to do so than simply making everyone else donate blood. It was merely the most logical choice. You had perhaps better appreciate it, there are few within this world that will ever taste my blood.
There was a pause. The silence was broken by the sound of laughter, and Tom found himself quickly turning towards the source. There were tears at the corners of Ryoko's eyes as she continued laughing, not bothering to heed the rather pointed look Tom was giving her.
May I ask what is so humorous?
Rin, who was giggling a bit herself, turned over to face him with a grin. "It was just so straightforward and blunt. Plus that denial. You're quite funny without really meaning to be, Kitty-kun."
Tom sighed. How humiliating. To not be taken seriously anymore in such a short amount of time. He looked at the laughing Tohsaka girls. In their case though, perhaps it is genetic... He frowned. I still fail to see what was so funny. Perhaps there are some things about humans I will never understand.
As Nessa and Jack left, he asked his question to Forest about where she wished him to eat, and so on.
She nodded and replied, The living room is fine. You need to get something in you though. I don't know how your physiology works, but when people donate blood they do need something to recoop. Pizza isn't my first choice, but it'll do. Water or juice though, no soda. The caffeine will actually make it worse.
Tom nodded back at her. That suits me just fine. I am not particularly fond of soda pop just yet. Juice would perhaps be best in this case.
She looked at Ryoko who was about to leave and nodded. She said, "Hey, poppet, be careful."
Ryoko hesitated for a moment, before grinning. "I'll come back in one piece, don't you worry." She then took off, towards the golem, and its now inevitable defeat by her hands and those of many others.
Then she looked at Rin and answered, "Honestly, strengthening them first, and anything you can think of that'll keep people out will be of the good. Magic really isn't my forte. So I'll trust your judgement, Rin."
Rin nodded. "Alright, sounds fair. I'll get started then. I'll be examining the wards first to see if I need anything beyond my normal magecraft to strengthen them. If I need anything more, I'll let you know."
Rin made to take off before she heard Satoshi speak to Tom. The psychic glowered in Satoshi's direction.
Do not say the name of my species so publicly. Several people here seem to be aware of it, but that does not mean that all are aware of it. My name, as far as you are concerned, is Thomas. And what sort of nonsense is a "psychic spell," how is that an excuse for any-
"Calm down, he's not worth getting upset over." Rin stepped in front of him, in an attempt to redirect Tom's attention. Satoshi walked off as she spoke.
"Look, he's a complete idiot and a self righteous jerk, but this isn't worth a fight, especially not when you're in this condition. Just get some rest and relax, it's going to be-"
A creaking from the stairs. Rin, Tom, and Hakuno's eyes turned towards the source, a rather bemused looking Finn. His clothes were the ones from before, albeit somewhat wrinkled now, his hair both fluffy from his recent shower and still just a touch damp. He slowly looked back and forth between everyone before giving an awkward wave.
"Er, hey guys, what's up?" He turned back to Tom. Stared for a bit. Blinked. Then his eyes widened. "Holy crap, is that a real mewt-"
Don't.
Finn's eyes widened further. "W-wait. Tom, is that you?"
Yes. The psychic didn't even bother to hide any of the exasperation in his mental voice.
The freelancer's eyes returned to something resembling their normal size. "Huh. That explains a whole bunch."
Tom rolled his eyes as Finn's gaze wandered to the Fae pinned on the wall.
"What's with this guy? Kinda cruel to keep him hangin' like that, though I'm guessin' you guys have a good reason for it." He turned back to the main group. "Where is everybody anyway? They gone to bed or somethin'? Rather late for a lotta people, after all."
Rin's expression turned somber. She walked over and gestured for Finn to follow her. "Come with me. I'll explain everything."
Finn frowned with concern as he complied. The pair of them went into a separate hallway, leaving Forest, Tom and Hakuno behind.
With Rin gone, Tom took the chance to inquire about what to do with Hakuno.
Forest nodded and sent back, We can sit in the living room together, I don't mind. Honestly, I'd suggest that you'd head for bed and rest after we get some food in you. I can stay with Hakuno, easily.
If it is not to much trouble with you... Then yes, I agree. Getting some rest would allow me to replenish my strength more quickly. He looked down at his front and sighed. Though I may need to shower first, albeit a quick one. Thrice be damned fae...
He stood up from the wall, and with some effort, steadied himself. As he prepared to make his way to the living room, Forest addressed Hakuno.
She smiled at the girl and said, "So kiddo, there's apparently a metric ton of pizza in the kitchen? You want to grab a few slices and wait until your Archer comes back?"
She nodded before turning to Tom. "I can grab some slices for you too while I'm in there. Is there anything you'd want me to bring you especially?"
Tom stopped, turning towards her and looking at her with bemusement. I ah... Erm, while it is not my normal preference, something with meat on it would perhaps be best. I have my own personal reasons for being adverse to meat, but there are some that simply do not apply to this particular world. Aside from that, it is perhaps wise if I get an extra source of protein.
She looked up at him with some surprise before smiling. "Meat pizza it is. I'll get it for you then. And the juice too."
Still somewhat stunned, he gave her a reflexive nod before turning to Forest. I will head towards the living room then. I will see you shortly then. He smiled at her. Naturally, with a spot right open next to me.
With that, he went to the living room. He sat down rather hard on the couch, exhausted as he was. He was rather surprised. The room showed no trace of damage. Not even a single stray leaf was to be found.
Was this Archer's doing? Quite impressive if it is.
He noted that the tv was currently on some sort of cooking channel- some sort of competition between chefs, from what he could tell. Not really feeling like changing the channel, he sat and waited for Forest to come join him.
-
Gabriel yelled as his hands finally found the core of the thing. There was searing pain in his hands, a hellish combination of cold so intense that it burned and the heat of his own blood. It dripped from his wrists, his palms, and his finger tips as he continued to dig. Then, when it became almost unbearable, his fingers touched something warm and he felt the pulse of power.
With a smirk he wrapped his battered hands around it and whispered, "Come after my godmother again and this will only be the beginning of your suffering." Then he tugged and the thing finally went dead, a battered cell phone clattering to the ground.
Gabriel's mangled hands were wrenched free, but they were twitching from damage. He couldn't find the dexterity to use the phone. "Oh come off of it," he said with a sigh, knowing that his Godmother was going to lecture him something righteous. [i[Maybe there's someone who can help me heal faster.[/i]
Then the phone began to play a very familiar Styx song and Angel, frowning, looked at them. He asked, "Anyone else think it's a bad idea to pick it up?"
"I apologize, but at this moment, I lack the dexterity to do so," Gabriel said, holding up his mangled hands.
Angel frowned and asked, "What the hell happened?"
"Fae and iron," Gabriel answered, wincing as blood dripped from his fingers.
******
Archer watched as the absurdly pretty man reached inside the creature and grabbed the core that Rider had mentioned. Almost as soon as the man's mangled fingers touched it, the whole thing crumbled. He either nullifies or disrupts magical energy, Archer realized, knowing Rin might find him an utter nightmare or utterly fascinating.
The phone clattered to the ground and began to play a classic American rock song.
The guy with a sword, who's features had reverted to something rather handsome if pale, asked, "Anyone else think it's a bad idea to pick it up?"
Archer smirked and said, "Why don't you find out?"
Ryoko landed and asked, "So, how's everyone doin'?"
A bit low on prana, but your "mother" will help me with that, Archer thought with a smile. Aloud he answered, "Could be worse."
The absurdly pretty man held up his hands and said, "I believe this answers your question."
Then that older, alternate Rin came up to him and said, "We need to talk, privately."
Archer smirked and asked, "But what would the others say? I knew you could be forward, but you're generally more elegant than this Rin."
******
Lancer cursed as he realized he'd missed all of the fighting. He sighed once he looked at Millie and scooped up the vampire girl. "Well, come on. They've got it under control. Let's get back in."
******
Forest reached up and stroked behind Tom's ear and said, "Just go sit down and get some rest. We'll get the food, Kitten. Once you've gotten something in you and rested a bit, shower then bed."
Reluctantly, she left his side with Hakuno to take her into the kitchen. Her nose started to twitch at the intense smell of garlic in the air and she resisted the urge to sneeze. She smiled as she got two giant giant glasses of juice. One for Tom and one for herself. She looked at Hakuno and asked, "Anything you want poppet?"
-
"Not the time Shirou, It's important." Rin replied, her eyes fixed on Archer's own
********
Connor smiled "There were six warriors, a snarky bowman, a dark skinned princess, a knight, a roguish man with unreal luck and a swampman. Which would you like you hear about first?" he asked.
Edit note: No idea why auto correct changed the names there
-
Mordred watched silently as the group gathered. The newcomers weren't like what she had expected. Her green eyes shifted from the obvious brute, to the assassin-like individual to the girl with purple twin-tails. It didn't take long for the two males to start bickering and the knight found herself sighing in exasperation.
From her Master's behavior, she had made up the assumption that his followers would be somewhat honorable, or at least educated enough to show proper etiquette in a reunion. With frustration, she realized that such expectation was somewhat related to her former organization. The knights of the Round Table, as despicable as the memory could be, still had the decency of behaving like adults. She felt shame for being associated with people unable to show proper dignity. Her mood darkened despite still showing a neutral appearance, something she was used to. In her quest to become the perfect knight, it was common to hide her feelings from her companions. She still listened as the woman reported that another member of the group had gone missing. She shook her head before the words Mudou spurted about Lobellia.
Her name is Saber, and she will be helping us out for the duration of this mission. Why don't you introduce yourself Ms.?
She nodded, approaching Inmity and offering a handshake.
"As Downy said, you can call me Saber." She pointed a thumb towards Mudou and Shezar. "I have to say, I am genuinely surprised that the Master is able to raise pig familiars to the point of learning them the language of men. Something worthy of praise, no doubt." Completely ignoring the men, she gave Inmity a smile. "Since we are to fight alongside, I hope we can get along, lady."
Mordred then turned to Downy.
"So, Master of mine, what is the next step? I assume you would want to correct the insult your suffered at the hands of these individuals who destroyed your precious circles. Would you want us to give them chase?"
----
Nessa accepted Tom's thoughts with a smile.
My gratitude was shown already. You can call me Jack, by the way.
"Jack, then. Lead the way. I'll be right behind you."
She followed the full-fledged vampire in what seemed to be an office of some sort. She was welcomed with the sight of an Army of Darkness' poster. She grunted at that,' Evil Dead' sure didn't sound as fun given her status right now. After all, she didn't know what to expect from now on. Would becoming a blood sucker affect her personality? Or would she have the mental fortitude to pull through?
And it sounds like creepy shit, because it is creepy shit. It comes with being one of the poor fuckers who are doomed to walk the night. We do get an excellent health care and dental plan though, as I'll show you.
She smirked with appreciation as she shut the door. Sitting on the nearby desk, she thrown a glance at him. He didn't seem happy. That combined with his previous apologies told her enough to understand he was indeed reluctant to make her his... What would be an adequate term? Apprentice? Infant?
"Why the long face? Is it the first time you have to do it? I mean, turning someone..." She threw her hands up. "There's no point in dwelling on the past, what's done is done. Let's focus on what's needed right now and deal with my condition as quickly as possible. I suppose there's much to discuss, so let's start already."
-
She smirked with appreciation as she shut the door. Sitting on the nearby desk, she thrown a glance at him. He didn't seem happy. That combined with his previous apologies told her enough to understand he was indeed reluctant to make her his... What would be an adequate term? Apprentice? Infant?
"Why the long face? Is it the first time you have to do it? I mean, turning someone..." She threw her hands up. "There's no point in dwelling on the past, what's done is done. Let's focus on what's needed right now and deal with my condition as quickly as possible. I suppose there's much to discuss, so let's start already."
**Jack**
"Yeah, it's my first time, and hopefully only. You lose a bit of what makes you human when you create a new vampire. Or more properly, we call our type 'Kindred.' " I said. I raised my wrist to my mouth, and ripped open a vein with my teeth, dark red vitae oozing from the wound. "There's a lot more I'll have to teach you, but for now... you need to drink this. My blood." Extending the arm towards her, I waited to see what her reaction to this would be.
-
Nessa grimaced at the sight of blood dripping on the ground. She kind of knew it would require something of the like, although her own idea involved him biting her, not the other way around. She stepped forward, uneasy and feeling sick. She still had the option to ignore him and run away. With how she was, she could still pass up as a human right? Now that it came down to it, her determination started faltering. Nessa thought she had come prepared but it appeared she wasn't. For a long minute, she observed her own hand. What were her options anyway? Leaving and becoming a pariah? Not quite a vampire but nothing like a human anyway. She probably would end up becoming insane by herself anyway. No. She had decided to move forward. Her life was already behind her. Isa wasn't here anymore and she was left in a cruel world full of monsters and degenerate creepers. Her only chance was right here, right now. She watched Jack and nodded. With a grunt, she pushed herself forward and bit the arm with a contorted face of disgust. Making sure to lap at the open vein in order to gather the plasma and swallow. It was an important step, denying her older self in order to accept the transition which would make of her a real Kindred. After what seemed to last a long moment, she finally released Jack's wrist and watched him with a predatory look, mouth and chin covered in blood.
"Alright, what now?"
-
Nessa grimaced at the sight of blood dripping on the ground. She kind of knew it would require something of the like, although her own idea involved him biting her, not the other way around. She stepped forward, uneasy and feeling sick. She still had the option to ignore him and run away. With how she was, she could still pass up as a human right? Now that it came down to it, her determination started faltering. Nessa thought she had come prepared but it appeared she wasn't. For a long minute, she observed her own hand. What were her options anyway? Leaving and becoming a pariah? Not quite a vampire but nothing like a human anyway. She probably would end up becoming insane by herself anyway. No. She had decided to move forward. Her life was already behind her. Isa wasn't here anymore and she was left in a cruel world full of monsters and degenerate creepers. Her only chance was right here, right now. She watched Jack and nodded. With a grunt, she pushed herself forward and bit the arm with a contorted face of disgust. Making sure to lap at the open vein in order to gather the plasma and swallow. It was an important step, denying her older self in order to accept the transition which would make of her a real Kindred. After what seemed to last a long moment, she finally released Jack's wrist and watched him with a predatory look, mouth and chin covered in blood.
"Alright, what now?"
"You need to clean your face off that's what." Vitae started to seal up the wound I'd created without a second thought, flesh knitting back together. I'd need more blood sometime or other, but bleeding all over Forest's apartment wasn't my best idea I'll admit. "Then I'll show you a few of our tricks. And tell you a little more about what we are."
Letting her recover a bit before she I start getting into the nitty gritty that our type of requiem entails would probably be for the best.
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Neo
...
He then began walking towards another car right in front of the caught and stolen car. "And if you're simply concentrating on how I say shit, you're like saying you base your reactions on your fuckin' emotions." He was near the driver's door when he went on, "And I ain't forcin' shit, I'm only using my rights to call out a fool when someone's being a fool. If you get offended, ain't my fault."
Insults have an interesting effect on dragons - most often rage born from wounded ego and pride. Despite himself, the Wingless One could hold back his emotions no longer. "You have cross the line from someone I don't want to be around to someone I want to inflict muting harm upon." He paused, flexing his talons into the metal of the car, before swiping sideways - intending to bat away Neo and let loose of the car at the same time.
-
For the first time in his life PARIAH was free. Years of captivity and years of experimentation but now, in this city, he felt alive. This place was a filled with life. Filled with
thousands of people an ocean of biomass. If he could consume it all there would be no limit to what he could do. So far he had only consumed three humans but he needed more. If he was to become perfect he would need much more.
So he changed.
PARIAH could feel the biomass moving around his body; changing fingers into five long blade-like claws. The memories of the consumed told him that there was to be a gathering of humans in the building he was looking at right now. It was a small house with several windows and was filled with dozens of humans that all looked a little similar. The memories spoke to him again. They told him that these people were their family. For a second PARIAH wondered what it was like to have a family, however a cheer from within the home reminded him why he was here. He chose a single window where he could see the family of humans gather around a table. Once he was sure they all were gathered he leaped. The family didn't even have a chance to react to the sound of broken glass before PARIAH's claws tore them apart. While he tore their bodies to pieces tendrils emerged from his body and attached to the chunks of flesh. They pulled the biomass towards PARIAH and it merged perfectly with his body. Within a few moments PARIAH was left alone in a puddle of blood.
He was free but he was still alone.
Not even the additional biomass could satisfy him. He used his newly gained memories to guide him to the largest bedroom and locked the door. Then PARIAH began to look deeper in the memories of the humans he recently consume. For a single moment PARIAH experienced what it was like to have a family, but looking into the lives of those humans had awakened a much older memory. One that belonged to him. Of a person who was different from the rest. Who was strong, fast, and smart. Someone who was just like him.
"Mother..."
-
JoJo
A flash of light.
In a back alley of a some metropolis, a large musclebound man in his 30s, with a beard and wearing glasses, just popped out of the thin air and landed in a dumpster. ''Ow, ow, ow!" he grumbled, rubbing his head after he jumped out of the dumpster. "Why such things always happen to me. But, it worked!" he roared out in delight, only to notice smoke coming out of the belt he was wearing. His enthusiasm waned. "Aw shit, the device got fried! How I am supposed to go back to my lab?" As he could not do much about it, he decided to see where he ended up.
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Insults have an interesting effect on dragons - most often rage born from wounded ego and pride. Despite himself, the Wingless One could hold back his emotions no longer. "You have cross the line from someone I don't want to be around to someone I want to inflict muting harm upon." He paused, flexing his talons into the metal of the car, before swiping sideways - intending to bat away Neo and let loose of the car at the same time.
Neo
The dragon's talon successfully hit Neo in the chest as it threw him sideways away from the car he was about to ride and hit another car right beside it, triggering it's anti-hijack alarm and wrecking one of it's side door. Neo, after hitting said car with his back, then slowly stood up, arched his back to snap back any misplaced vertebrae, and then told Lycodrake, "Okay, that's it! Ya' mo'fucking ass is getting wrecked, ya' damn lizard!" He then pulled out a round corked flask of smoke and threw in on the ground where the wingless dragon stood, making it break on impact and release the smoke, intending to envelop the dragon's head with the smoke.
Unbeknown to Lycodrake, it is a flask of vaporized marijuana.
-
Nessa obeyed Jack and was back quickly after making sure she didn't look like a freak anymore. She entered the office once again and resumed her seating, her dark blue eyes on the Sire.
"Now, show me what you can do!"
She didn't even try to hide her excitement. After all, it was supposed to be one of the redeeming features about becoming a night walker, obtaining abilities unaccessible to mere humans. And since she had lost her previous magical powers, she was eager to learn more about these 'tricks' he mentioned.
----
"Stupid girl," Kyle whispered to himself.
After the short meeting, it had been obvious Esther had summoned him for nothing. A case of leech feeding on another leech. While it puzzled the forensic, it wasn't too uncommon around these parts. Especially since Deacon Frost became a prominent personage in the vampiric community. Some cult dedicated to La Magra was said to involve some pretty immoral stuff. Rumors had it that attempts to reenact the phenomenon which made of Deacon a transcendent creature resulted in vampires being drained by their own kin. Kyle was used to it by now, in fact such 'normal' victims only served to push him deeper into boredom.
Disappointed, he decided to pass the rest of the night in some company. And the kind which doesn't talk and only serves to warm you from the inside. He stopped to take a leak in a back alley and that's about when he heard something heavy falling in a dumpster not too far away. Looking in the same direction, he saw a tall and muscular man in his early thirties. Human, given his scent. The werewolf, facing a wall, gave the giant guy a smile.
"Fancy meeting you here," he said with a wink.
Then, he unzipped his pants and went back to his current business.
-
PARIAH waited several hours before leaving the empty home. No one came to investigate and he saw little point in remaining. Then there was that itch in the back of his head, the need to consume, to become more. So he ran. Running up and across buildings in order to find another group of humans.
There.
On top of an apartment building PARIAH could see them. Standing on one side of the street a group of humans waited for the cars to stop. Perfect. He dropped down from the building into an alley. He quickly moved into the center of the group pushing or moving around anyone in his way. "Hey kid, where are your parents?" PARIAH looked up towards the male human. A tendril broke the man's neck, and people began to scream. Thousands of tendrils emerged from PARIAH's body. Even while the one man was being consumed others were being killed and those that tried to escape were dragged back kicking and screaming. They ripped through flesh, shattered bones, and crushed bodies. It didn't matter if they were young, old, male, or female. PARIAH did not discriminate. On that day the City's streets ran with blood.
-
Disappointed, he decided to pass the rest of the night in some company. And the kind which doesn't talk and only serves to warm you from the inside. He stopped to take a leak in a back alley and that's about when he heard something heavy falling in a dumpster not too far away. Looking in the same direction, he saw a tall and muscular man in his early thirties. Human, given his scent. The werewolf, facing a wall, gave the giant guy a smile.
"Fancy meeting you here," he said with a wink.
Then, he unzipped his pants and went back to his current business.
"Oi, that's not funny, you know, just pissing like that where somebody is stuck!" blurted out JoJo, his head popping out from the dumpster, and trying to wriggle out of t.
-
Downy and Co.
The Inbetween
"As Downy said, you can call me Saber." She pointed a thumb towards Mudou and Shezar. "I have to say, I am genuinely surprised that the Master is able to raise pig familiars to the point of learning them the language of men. Something worthy of praise, no doubt." Completely ignoring the men, she gave Inmity a smile. "Since we are to fight alongside, I hope we can get along, lady."
Imnity was as quiet and collected as ever, her response though curt showed every intention of friendliness. “Of course milady, I hope that our companionship in the future is a fruitful one.”
Mudou however, was about to speak up against their new-found companion when a searing glance from Downy made him shut his mouth and cross his arms in protest.
"So, Master of mine, what is the next step? I assume you would want to correct the insult your suffered at the hands of these individuals who destroyed your precious circles. Would you want us to give them chase?"
Downy then closed his eyes as he thought about something, a smile crossing his face. After another moment passed he finally spoke up. “Imnity, how much longer do we have before the time dilation meets up with this current world?”
Imnity opened the book that she held in her hand, her eyes quickly flickering through page after page as white and red complex symbols went through it. “According to my calculations we have exactly 24 days before they realign.”
“I see... Well that's quite a long time isn't it? Alright then I believe we should finish our 'business' here before then. Though I hate to split our already limited group up, after that last encounter I believe that to be the most wise of options currently. So here are my commands, generals of ruin as well as our new companion Saber... We must regroup and strengthen ourselves. Saber I want you and Imnity to go and provide us with reconnaissance. Gather as much information as possible but only attack when you are certain of the odds, we cannot afford any more missing people as I'm sure you can understand. Mudou and Shezar I want you two to go and locate our missing general, use Imnity's previous data as a starter and work from there. I'm sure you two can at least accomplish this much without killing each other. As for myself, well I shall locate us a 'proper' base of operations so as to enact a more fitting plan for the citizens of this fair city. I will alert you all once it is time to regroup again, Now go...”
Mudou's mood was only worsening after Downy's commands. “Urgh, to be stuck with this shithole, what a lousy day.”
“The same could be said to you.” While Shezar's was not fairing much better. After that and an another threatening glance from Downy the two set off, jumping straight into the blackened abyss that surrounded them.
Imnity, on the other hand was a lot calmer. She gave off a gentle smile as she held out her hand for Saber to take despite their rather large difference in size. “Shall we go? The jumps through the world between dimensions can be a little tricky at first so I recommend you hold on tight. If we are going to scout we should leave soon so as to still use what daylight remains.”
-
Rider frowned as Angel all-but told the golem to ignore the rest of them and focus his efforts on Gabriel, who was currently attempting to peel back the golem's outer skin to reach the core underneath.
What an idiot, she thought.
Fortunately, though, the Golem didn't seem to notice.
"Do you think you can win with numbers!?" it roared as the battle started to turn against it.
The orbs hit home as expected, blasting a hole through the armour and destroying the golem's arm before, finally, Gabriel reached in and took hold of the golem's magical core. Unable to cope with his magic-nulling touch, the orb cracked apart and, without the sphere's magic to sustain it, the golem fell apart, the various pieces of scrap metal covering the rooftop where it had been standing.
Rider smiled, before changing back into her casual outfit, her blindfold being replaced by her glasses.
Wow, that was a lot easier than I'd expected
Rider looked across at Gabriel, and noticed that his hands were bloodied and twitching.
What the hell happened to him?
Then, suddenly, the phone started playing a rather mournful American-sounding song, seemingly about some outlaw who was about to be hung, before it cut out once more.
Did something survive? Or was that just its death throes?
Then, Angel spoke.
"Anyone else think it's a bad idea to pick it up?" he said.
"Why don't you find out?" said Archer, smirking.
"Well, I don't see why it would cause a problem, and I think it's better that we grab the thing", added Rider.
Meanwhile, Gabriel and Angel were discussing the damage to his hands.
Gabriel is Fae?
Rider didn't have any personal knowledge of the Fae, since they were not a part of the Greek mythology to which she belonged, but she had researched into them, so she knew about their strengths and weaknesses. Although, given that they were magical beings, having one who nullified magic was rather odd....
Then, suddenly, she heard a shout come from behind her.
"We did it! That walking scrap heap ain't walkin' no more!"
Rider chuckled as she turned around to see the extremely-sexy magical girl pumping her arm in the air in celebration as she flew towards them. Rider kept her eyes on the girl as she landed on the rooftop beside them and spoke.
"So, how's everyone doin'?" she asked.
"Could be worse", answered the girl's father, whilst Gabriel responded by showing his hands.
"Just great, thanks. I'm glad the golem isn't a threat to Kiyoshi any more", Rider said, trying not to stare at the very attractive girl in the magical girl uniform.
Although, I definitely wouldn't say no to a 'prana infusion', she thought, grinning, the presense of the girl's father preventing Rider vocalising her intentions towards Ryoko.
For a moment, Rider wondered if Ryoko could heal Gabriel's hands, but it seemed unlikely given his anti-magic abilities.
"Hmm, I would suggest you try to heal his hands, but his anti-magic ability means it is unlikely to work", she said.
Then, she turned to Gabriel.
"So, you're a Fairie? I've read about your kind, but I've never met one before. But, I thought Fae were magical creatures, yet you have some kind of anti-magic ability. How does that work?"
-
"Hey, monster!"
The streets cracked. A mass of tentacles that had been shooting for a group of innocent bystanders was sliced into bits and then incinerated by an instrument of violence great enough to make Excalibur itself pale in comparison.
An Axe fell to the ground, and a man picked it up. But not just any man.
No, this man was the only Axe Cop there ever was.
"Listen up, kid," Axe Cop said, brandishing his axe threateningly. "You can't have more than 43 tentacles at one time. It's the law." It was the law because as soon as someone has 44 tentacles, they turn Evil. Not normal Evil like a giant squid, but Super Evil. The kid that was eating people had way more than 44 tentacles. "Now get rid of those tentacles and barf up those people you ate, or I'll chop your head off!"
-
"Hey, monster!"
PARIAH raised his head. He winced in pain after the tendrils were destroyed and gazed upon his attacker. It was a police officer with an axe. This... Axe Cop had managed to harm him. Overall the damage was practically nothing but it still hurt.
"Listen up, kid.""You can't have more than 43 tentacles at one time. It's the law."
PARIAH was no longer paying attention to the human's voice. Biomass shifted and his arms changed into tendrils and his hands into blades.
"Now get rid of those tentacles and barf up those people you ate, or I'll chop your head off!"
PARIAH swung his arms. One towards the regular humans and another towards the Axe Cop. Even though they were too far away to reach he just pushed more and more biomass in until the arms were long enough to strike the people. No matter how strong the officer couldn't protect the humans and himself. Upon impact he would manipulate the biomass of the blade and make it grow spikes. It would allow him to pull one of the civilians over to him for consumption or tear apart the insides of the police officer. Either way PARIAH would gain an advantage in either drawing first blood or consuming enough biomass to more than make up for the tendrils.
-
Sitting atop an apartment complex, two slit blue eyes belonging to the hero Karna took in every detail visible for miles as he wolfed down a takeaway box of curry and rice he had purchased from a street vendor. He could not discern the reason why he was in this peculiar realm, a modern metropolis where vile creatures like werebeasts, Vetala* and demons roamed the streets. Perhaps this was another prank played by the Lord Krishna, as another way to torment Karna far past his demise? It mattered little to him. All that mattered was that he was alive, and could once again enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Although Karna enjoyed spending time with his father in the Deva realm, a life in a world where his previous burdens were nonexistant wasn't bad either. The renewed mortal urge for sustenance had surprised Karna when he had first arrived in this foreign realm he had since found out went by the name "Nexus City", it was not a bad urge, and the joy of intaking good foods was one he had not experience for many years.
Of course, the true joy of being reincarnated in this realm was one that was entirely different than the one he was partaking in currently.
Alive again, he could participate in the bloodbath that was this city. For the first time in millenia, he could finally take part in the great sport of battle once again. His skills had not dulled in the slightest, and hundreds of interesting combatants roamed and fought in broad daylight. Very few of the warriors within the range of his senses could truly test his mettle, but that did not matter. What mattered was not the result, merely the battle itself.
With the tiniest movement of the side of his mouth indicating a smirk, Karna put down the now-empty cardboard food container, wiping both foodstains and the smirk from his own face, and leapt dozens of meters into the air, landing on the adjacent rooftop on the other side of the vast street. Dozens of hops followed as Karna began to close in on the first target on the edge of his vision, that of a disturbing child attacking an axe-wielding police officer trying to protect the peace with it's fleshy tentacles.
As he landed on a nearby rooftop, Karna manifested his bow and cocking a quartet of bright white arrows, he took aim.
'So it begins'...
*Vetala are evil blood-sucking spirits of hindu myth who haunted cemeteries and possessed bodies. Similar in reputation to modern vampires.
-
PARIAH swung his arms. One towards the regular humans and another towards the Axe Cop. Even though they were too far away to reach he just pushed more and more biomass in until the arms were long enough to strike the people. No matter how strong the officer couldn't protect the humans and himself. Upon impact he would manipulate the biomass of the blade and make it grow spikes. It would allow him to pull one of the civilians over to him for consumption or tear apart the insides of the police officer. Either way PARIAH would gain an advantage in either drawing first blood or consuming enough biomass to more than make up for the tendrils.
Suddenly PARIAH pulled back. His whips had yet to reach the police officer or any civilians but he stopped regardless.
There.
On a rooftop a human in a strange outfit had a bow aimed at him. Even if the shot connected PARIAH wouldn't be wounded, but something felt strange. The archer almost seemed to radiate an aura of power and that made PARIAH wary. So he raised his left arm and shifted it into a shield. Then his right arm warped into an enormous blade. One of the most deadly weapons he could use against a single target. Slower than the claws but it made up for the lack of speed with extreme cutting power. PARIAH charged without a word.
-
A bored but piercing look on his face, Karna observed as the peculiar child retracted it's fleshy appendages and charged his way, now arming itself with a shield of hardened flesh and a blade of the same material, sharpened like a sword. While one could praise the creature for having supreme predatory instincts, Karna could see past that. Behind the innocent mask of a child and the ferocity of a wild beast laid a sharp mind. It did not truly matter to the gold-and-black clad warrior. The remaining pedestrians had cleared out, and Karna could now cut loose.
The four arrows, now coated in an explosive layer of fiery prana, were let loose, and were instantly joined by another two dozen, as Karna lept into the street.
'This should prove most interesting', Karna thought as he unleashed fiery hell upon the interesting creature.
-
A bored but piercing look on his face, Karna observed as the peculiar child retracted it's fleshy appendages and charged his way, now arming itself with a shield of hardened flesh and a blade of the same material, sharpened like a sword. While one could praise the creature for having supreme predatory instincts, Karna could see past that. Behind the innocent mask of a child and the ferocity of a wild beast laid a sharp mind. It did not truly matter to the gold-and-black clad warrior. The remaining pedestrians had cleared out, and Karna could now cut loose.
The four arrows, now coated in an explosive layer of fiery prana, were let loose, and were instantly joined by another two dozen, as Karna lept into the street.
'This should prove most interesting', Karna thought as he unleashed fiery hell upon the interesting creature.
PARIAH was prepared for a normal archer. Not the inhumane skill shown by this human, no, person. White hot arrows destroyed the shield upon impact. PARIAH grimaced when he saw 24 more arrows fly at him. He enhanced his legs with biomass and jumped into the air. With a thought the blade detached. It only took a second for PARIAH to throw the blade at the person. If he was truly alive like he thought he was then the archer should survive it. He descended, regrew his blade and shield, and PARIAH watched.
-
The child's agility was impressive, to say the least. Even as it jumped into the air, unscathed from the gale of arrows, it reacted swifted with a toss of it's bladed hand before immediately regrowing both appendages. But this was no time for appreciation. Curiosity had killed many a cat, and Karna was no feline. Bracing himself for the incoming projectile, Karna swung forth an armored boot and collided it with the bladed limb, sending the sword flying for miles. Spinning with a stylish but wasteless flourish, Karna strummed his bow mid-spin and let loose seven fiery arrows, shooting at seemingly impossible angles to hit the child from all sides.
If this was to be a war of attrition, Karna was prepared for it. His first opponent did not disappoint him, and he would in turn show it the time of it's life.
-
The child's agility was impressive, to say the least. Even as it jumped into the air, unscathed from the gale of arrows, it reacted swifted with a toss of it's bladed hand before immediately regrowing both appendages. But this was no time for appreciation. Curiosity had killed many a cat, and Karna was no feline. Bracing himself for the incoming projectile, Karna swung forth an armored boot and collided it with the bladed limb, sending the sword flying for miles. Spinning with a stylish but wasteless flourish, Karna strummed his bow mid-spin and let loose seven fiery arrows, shooting at seemingly impossible angles to hit the child from all sides.
If this was to be a war of attrition, Karna was prepared for it. His first opponent did not disappoint him, and he would in turn show it the time of it's life.
PARIAH was impressed. This was obviously a person. He was fast, strong, and skilled. All traits that PARIAH associated with being truly alive. However PARIAH needed to deal with the problem of having arrows coming in on all sides. He could not block them all, so he would only let himself be hit by the ones that would damage him the least. A leap forward and 2 arrows were deflected by the blade while the other two punched through PARIAH's skin leaving identical smoking holes in his chest.
The space where his heart should have been was gone.
PARIAH almost slowed down. Now he was right in front of the archer. He moved the blade forward, ready to sink the it into his opponents stomach. Even as he struck PARIAH opened his mouth and instead of a child's voice the voice of all the consumed spoke as one.
"wHo arE YuO?"
-
The creature before Karna, now having replaced it's torso with a gaping cavity, was clearly not human. But it could not have been the child of neither Deva or Asura, for such a union could never bring forth an organism this vile. The pale warrior reasoned that whatever the creature was, it was likely a modern arcane construct gone wrong, given it's odd personality.
Even as it inquired about his identity, Karna stood his ground, his treasured bow having disappeared into thin air. As the swing of the biological sword came down, Karna swung a single fist forward, trapping the sword in the space between his arm and the golden blade on his forearm, stopping it to a halt with a fair deal of effort. With an unnatural twist of his arm and a quiet grunt of effort, Karna dislocated the sword-arm at a 270 degree angle before using the leverage from his twist to throw his spiked gold-clad foot, bathed in a thick parameter of fire, straight through the shield-arm's small limb, sending it flying.
Having disarmed the child, both literally and figuratively, Karna shoved it backwards a few meters, throwing it off balance, as he drew his Brahmastra in the shape of a Katar and subsequently shoved the dagger-like weapon through the child's head, spilling it's blood everywhere.
"Know that you were felled this day by the Son of Surya, Karna of Anga." With nothing more to say to the abomination, Karna turned his back, having no further desire to see the mutilated corpse of a child, regardless of it's abominable nature.
-
"Hey."
A voice interrupted Karna's silent exit. "I should be thanking you for the help, kid, but that's not how you fight a bad guy."
Axe Cop stood resolutely in Karna's way, mustache bristling. "For starters, that thing isn't dead yet. Turning your back on somebody like that is like asking to get your head chopped off."
-
The creature before Karna, now having replaced it's torso with a gaping cavity, was clearly not human. But it could not have been the child of neither Deva or Asura, for such a union could never bring forth an organism this vile. The pale warrior reasoned that whatever the creature was, it was likely a modern arcane construct gone wrong, given it's odd personality.
Even as it inquired about his identity, Karna stood his ground, his treasured bow having disappeared into thin air. As the swing of the biological sword came down, Karna swung a single fist forward, trapping the sword in the space between his arm and the golden blade on his forearm, stopping it to a halt with a fair deal of effort. With an unnatural twist of his arm and a quiet grunt of effort, Karna dislocated the sword-arm at a 270 degree angle before using the leverage from his twist to throw his spiked gold-clad foot, bathed in a thick parameter of fire, straight through the shield-arm's small limb, sending it flying.
Having disarmed the child, both literally and figuratively, Karna shoved it backwards a few meters, throwing it off balance, as he drew his Brahmastra in the shape of a Katar and subsequently shoved the dagger-like weapon through the child's head, spilling it's blood everywhere.
"Know that you were felled this day by the Son of Surya, Karna of Anga." With nothing more to say to the abomination, Karna turned his back, having no further desire to see the mutilated corpse of a child, regardless of it's abominable nature.
Pain. It burned through PARIAH's body, but it was fine. He would endure. What was a body to a virus? Nothing had any extreme importance. Limbs could be regrown, holes could be repaired, and the head was simply a tool for sight. Within a few moments the weapon implanted in PARIAH's skull dissapeared and the regeneration began again. Cuts were filled with biomass, holes were closed, and a new arm was created. He held out his hand and out of biomass life was born. Small shards of blades. Seemingly inanimate but sentient. PARIAH hurled the parasites with enough force to shred human flesh, but it only pierced the Karna's back. It was enough. Tendrils sprouted from the tiny organisms and they pulled themselves into his body. Within a second they would grow, fester, and tear him apart from the inside out. However, PARIAH was in no mood to watch. The loss of biomass was minimal but the pain of having an arm removed was extraordinary. Even as the Axe Cop began to warn Karna PARIAH reinforced his legs and leaped across buildings to make his escape.
-
Pain. A sharp sense of pain spread across and into Karna's back as the creature's tendrils invaded his innards, trying to rip him apart from the inside out, to ignore the great damage dampening effect of his father's heirloom. He had not seen the attack coming. Even an instinct honed for almost a century could not help against an attack from something that was, no, should've been dead. His lack of knowledge of the world he had only resided in for a few hours was surely showing right about.
Pain. The process he was experiencing would surely bring certain death upon any mortal made of flesh. Tendrils now burrowed in his lower torso, one would surely die from such a horrible process.
But...
Karna was not fully mortal, and no amount of pain could crush his iron will. Taking a deep breath, Karna steeled himself.
"Agni!"
Invoking the name of the God of Fire, Karna's insides were flooded with a gout of fire, reducing the foreign flesh to ashes. No amount of fire or heat could harm a son of the Sun, and Karna's insides went unharmed from the incineration. While the tendrils had damaged his innards moderately and even cut some of his vitals, this was nothing that his superhuman physique could not heal in a matter of a few tens of minutes.
An inelegant burp, caused by a combination of the buildup of combustible gas in his stomach and whatever damage the child's attack had done to his gastric track, escaped from Karna's mouth.
"Thank you for the, albeit late, warning, man of the law. No creature of my own era could survive and function without it's head. There is still much for me to learn about this interesting world, I suppose."
With that, Karna leapt into the air once again, landing on the same roof that he had begun the engagement from. The damage to his innards had left him awfully hungry, and he required time for his body to restore it's functions. With those thoughts in mind, he began his encroachment on the closest food stall, feeling a slight of eagerness towards trying more of the cuisine of the modern world.
-
Survival. That was all that mattered. If there was anything that PARIAH was certain of it was the knowledge that he would endure. That certainty had been challenged. That skirmish he had with that person... Karna. He was strong. Stronger than PARIAH. The amount of biomass destroyed had proved a little problematic, but nothing a few humans couldn't solve. However he needed to be careful. He had been weakened. PARIAH finally took a moment to survey the area around him but something was off.
There was a stench in the air. It smelled like... cattle.
PARIAH looked over and saw the strangest sight. A barn? In the city? He dismissed these questions. Why it was there didn't matter. Cows were much larger than humans, which meant even more biomass. He walked right in and consumed.
-
"It's fine, kiddo. Just be careful the next time you run into that thing," Axe Cop grumbled. "This city's getting too many new arrivals too fast, and we still have no idea what's causing it. There's already been a dozen firefights, a few blocks exploding, and a meteor show that wasn't scheduled until five years from now. Here, take this. If you start feeling like there's an alien parasite growing in your body, call Dr. McNinja." He handed the lost looking fellow a donut, gave him a pat on the back, and took off, leaping over rooftops in search of more trouble to fix.
That tentacle thing had gotten away once, but the next time, it wouldn't be so lucky...
-
Karna had accepted the circle-shaped pastry the man of the law had given him, and was now slowly munching away at it on a rooftop. It was too sweet for his tastes, but that did not matter to him, food is food. The worst of his injuries were already being restored, as the healing rays of the sun shined upon him.
His thoughts dabbled back to the ungodly creature he had fought not 30 minutes ago. The ability to not only survive, but also escape after having it's brain destroyed was truly something he couldn't have predicted, to the point where it had actually managed to land an attack on him when his back was turned. He still had many questions about the modern world, about what twisted technology could spawn such a horror. He decided that on his next encounter with the beast, he would not be so merciful as to refrain from his divine weaponry.
Karna wanted to fight the creature again, and soon. Though the lives of the mortals that would rejoin the cycle because of this creature's rampage mattered little to him, he had himself killed tens of thousands of times that number, his reason for desiring a rematch were merely a matter of his nonexistent pride. The creature had broken the Code of War, attacking him while his back was turned, and for that, it must die.
Finishing his snack and returning to his frown-y facial expression, Karna focused with his archer's eyes, looking for anything similar to the abomination within his ten-kilometer-measured piercing stare.
-
PARIAH was content. His predatory side had been satisfied by the cattle, and for the first time the drive for perfection was gone. However, without the excitement of the fight or the incessant noise of his predatory side PARIAH realized how alone he really was. Silence permeated the air and PARIAH felt hot tears spilling from his eyes. Even if the virus felt nothing, whatever was human in PARIAH wept.
-
"Leave me."
The business woman stared blankly, cut off in the middle of her speech.
"S-Sir?"
Red eyes connected with her own for the briefest of seconds. The sharply dressed woman turned pale, unable to move her gaze away from that piercing stare, the stare of a God looking down upon an ant and finding it wanting. She left hastily, a messy pile of papers and folders clutched in her white-knuckled hands.
The man - no, it would not be just to compare him to a mere man. The King lounged in his chair, something that, to all others, would be comprised of the very finest materials available. He found it lacking. The room where he resided, inlaid with gold and amber, built from cedar and marble, was found by his judgement to be basic, even though he had it constructed to his exact commands. Rising from his chair, Gilgamesh, He Who Surpasses All Other Kings, found the very existence of this building to be repulsive to him.
Passing by the reception desk, Gilgamesh gave but one command to the harried staff.
"I find this place ugly."
Such a phrase would be vague coming from anyone but Gilgamesh - when he found something ugly, it was immediately removed from his sight. The orders of the King were absolute. As soon as Gilgamesh emerged from the glass doors of the skyscraper, a limousine pulled up to the curb. Not tacky, black, with tinted windows, and a driver that was completely loyal to Gilgamesh (as all are, though some do not recognize it). The driver turned around as soon as Gilgamesh slid into the leather-seated car. His "Where too, sir?" was interrupted by Gilgamesh's command.
"Drive."
The limousine took off with a purr, skillfully weaving through traffic. Gilgamesh considered traffic lights unsightly, and was in the process of having them removed from the city. As such, his limousine did not stop even once during the journey, only coming to a halt when Gilgamesh gave the word. The driver immediately sprung out of the limousine and opened the door for "Mr. King", as expected of a commoner. Gilgamesh left the car without a second thought.
With a lazy jump, he had covered six kilometers, landing atop the roof of a building with unmatched grace. Taking a single step forward, The Original King surveyed his kingdom. It smelled of the foul stench of modernity. Humans that had once been so strong, so powerful, now sat and waited for everything to come to them. The consumerist life style had sullied the world, his possession.
In this city he had thought it was not so. Conflict brewed on the streets. All manners of creatures roamed the city, a worthy test for any warrior. And yet, even in this place, humans could not dare to do so. They hid in their fragile houses, never stayed out after dark, pretended that nothing out of the ordinary went on around them as they lived their rabbit-like lives.
The King of Heroes was sickened by this decay, this rot that had grown in the heart of the humanity that he loved so. Gilgamesh had only rarely appeared to the public that was no longer worthy to see him, so disgusted was he with their cowardice. His lips drew back in a sneer.
"Mongrels."
Looking to the horizon, Gilgamesh noticed someone, another who wore armor of gold and with hair that was pure white. Gilgamesh recognized him on sight, and would give him the honor of speaking to the King. A hero of the ancient age was infinitely better than those who walked upon the ground of this city today. With another step, Gilgamesh landed behind the figure. He had no doubt that the Indian hero knew he was there. Gilgamesh, bestowing the honor of conversation upon one of the rare few that deserved it, spoke first, as a King should.
"What troubles you, son of Surya?"
-
"King of Heroes." With dull surprise, Karna acknowledged the presence of the greatest king mankind had ever seen. If Karna was in any way shocked from this development, he did not show it. Truthfully, one with instincts like his could feel the all-encompassing presence coming from a distance of a dozen kilometers. For now, he remained seated, looking towards the vast city.
Internally he felt a small slight of awe. Even in his time, the King of Heroes was one of the grandest tales shared by village elders, the tales of the King who had been created by the Gods of his time, and yet rebelled against them. The man who could shatter mountains, slay even the Beast of the Gods, Gugalanna, and held all wealth of the world. Truly, he was graced by a man above men, a king above kings, a god above gods.
But even with that, Karna had sworn loyalty to but one Emperor of the World, and it was not this man. Therefor, he would not lose the last of his dignity by willingly prostrating to another lord.
"What do you wish for, King of Heroes? It is still noon, and I may yet provide you what you wish for. Provided, of course, that it is within reason." Karna was obligated, nay, sworn to assist all who came to him during the midday. It was simply the desire to help those who asked for it. The King of Anga could never bring himself to force someone to change. Change was hard, and something the person that was to change had to decide for themselves. For that reason, Karna would help anyone who could summon the courage to come before him.
-
"You do not face me, son of Surya? What ill manners, to not face the King when he deigns to speak."
Though he said it lightly, Gilgamesh was displeased by the Indian's reaction to his presence. To not turn to the King when he spoke, listening with rapt attention, was a grave offense. In older days he would have killed for that level of disrespect.
"What do you wish for, King of Heroes? It is still noon, and I may yet provide you what you wish for. Provided, of course, that it is within reason."
Gilgamesh scowled.
"I do not wish for anything, son of the Sun God. You had a troubled look about you, and as an existence above these mongrels," he gestured to the streets below. "I had come to learn why. Am I not kind?"
With but a single glance, Gilgamesh had already learned of the events that had taken place. The king saw the thoughts of others before they became words, leaving the need for an answer expressed through words useless. In truth, he had come here on a whim. In this city one that stood above the rabble was rare, rare enough to draw the eye of the King of Heroes. Walking forward, Gilgamesh spoke again.
"Look around you, son of Surya. Do you not see it? This city of cowards that hide behind their fragile walls, hiding from the moon and the night sky on the chance that they might meet something more than human?"
Gilgamesh stopped and looked for a moment, at the busiest time of day in this place where all things gather. It sickened him, to see drawn faces and darting eyes, the smell of fear ever-present. His displeasure was made evident in his voice as he spoke.
"Such a city should not exist."
-
"You do not face me, son of Surya? What ill manners, to not face the King when he deigns to speak."
"My apologies, King of Heroes, but for all eternity, I serve but one lord. You may be the greatest sovereign the world ever saw, but you are not the one I pledged myself to."
Utterly calm and collected, Karna finally rose to his feet. With a slight smirk, he continued, now burrowing his utterly piercing blue eyes into the red beads of the Mesopotamian.
"And regardless of my loyalty to Duryodhana, one king does not bow to another without first suffering the taste of defeat."
"I do not wish for anything, son of the Sun God. You had a troubled look about you, and as an existence above these mongrels," he gestured to the streets below. "I had come to learn why. Am I not kind?"
"All beings are created equal, God-King, it matters not whether they are orphaned outcasts like myself or the hand-forged perfect human made by gods, like you." Coming off as insulting, Karna truly meant nothing hostile with the sentence he had just spoken. That was merely his way of communicating, to always tell the truth, and to never hide what was on his mind.
"Look around you, son of Surya. Do you not see it? This city of cowards that hide behind their fragile walls, hiding from the moon and the night sky on the chance that they might meet something more than human?"
"Do you truly think so? You, who lead all of humanity in the war against those cruel and selfish Gods that sought to control them by proxy through you? I can understand that feeling, but I fear that I do not share your opinion. All humans deserve the right to choose their own fate, and if you feel that you have the right to choose the destinies of every man, woman and child in this realm, then truly nothing must remain in your jaded heart but the nature of a tyrant."
"Such a city should not exist."
"Unfortunately, this is where we come to a disagreement." A raging fire erupted in his right hand, and a spear appeared within it. This spear was black like a moonless night, and just it's spearhead was nearly the size of Karna himself. A pink thunderbolt was trapped between the near-split spearhead, and gold decorated the length of the spear in great detail. Truly this was just as much a work of art as it was a deadly weapon, forged in the hands of the Creator. Still not striking a battle stance, Karna continued.
"I would like for you to back down, King of Heroes, and cease this foolish endeavor. If not... Well, I don’t wish to myself, but it seems this will be where we part."
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Neo
The dragon's talon successfully hit Neo in the chest as it threw him sideways away from the car he was about to ride and hit another car right beside it, triggering it's anti-hijack alarm and wrecking one of it's side door. Neo, after hitting said car with his back, then slowly stood up, arched his back to snap back any misplaced vertebrae, and then told Lycodrake, "Okay, that's it! Ya' mo'fucking ass is getting wrecked, ya' damn lizard!" He then pulled out a round corked flask of smoke and threw in on the ground where the wingless dragon stood, making it break on impact and release the smoke, intending to envelop the dragon's head with the smoke.
Unbeknown to Lycodrake, it is a flask of vaporized marijuana.
Lycodrake expects something that would make his eyes water to the point of blindness, but instead gags on upon inhaling the vapor. Half-remembered sensations come back to him from his time spent around djinni, especially his partner Marie, but this isn't the same. Those relaxed and soothed him. Whatever this was, he could feel his eyes start to water and his tail swishing behind him felt slower. His balance faltered and his heavier frame fell onto one of his forelimbs, and he could feel his body rebel against the feeling of temperature change.
"I'll admit that that was a smart move on your part, human, but you made two mistakes: you've called me a lizard several times, increasing my ire constantly, and..." Concrete breaks under his talons as he stands back up. "Just because my mind and body are addled by it, it doesn't take me out of the fight!" Roaring, Lycodrake dashes forward - intent on making his opponent's death quick. A slam of his tail upon the human's skull should do the trick - or so he hopes.
-
"My apologies, King of Heroes, but for all eternity, I serve but one lord. You may be the greatest sovereign the world ever saw, but you are not the one I pledged myself to. And regardless of my loyalty to Duryodhana, one king does not bow to another without first suffering the taste of defeat."
"Oh? Such loyalty, son of Surya. How rare to find such a thing in this day and age."
One could feel the displeasure in the King's words as he locked his red eyes with Karna's blue.
"Then when you taste defeat at my hands, you will bow to me? Such a thing is all to easy to arrange."
"All beings are created equal, God-King, it matters not whether they are orphaned outcasts like myself or the hand-forged perfect human made by gods, like you."
"All beings are not created equal. Of that, I am the greatest example."
Gilgamesh took three steps forward, scowling. Such a statement would have been the death of many in his time, yet he allowed Karna to speak further.
"Do you truly think so? You, who lead all of humanity in the war against those cruel and selfish Gods that sought to control them by proxy through you? I can understand that feeling, but I fear that I do not share your opinion. All humans deserve the right to choose their own fate, and if you feel that you have the right to choose the destinies of every man, woman and child in this realm, then truly nothing must remain in your jaded heart but the nature of a tyrant."
The rooftop was overtaken by a deep silence, as still as a pool of water and as sharp as the point of a knife. The only sound that could be heard was the grinding of the Golden King's teeth.
"No man in all the world has the permission to speak to me as such. I suggest you hold your tongue, son of the Sun God."
"Unfortunately, this is where we come to a disagreement. I would like for you to back down, King of Heroes, and cease this foolish endeavor. If not... Well, I don’t wish to myself, but it seems this will be where we part."
The eyes of the King burned with anger. A single step was taken, and in that instant he was clad in his golden armor. Gilgamesh, King of all Heroes, regarded Karna as a lion would upon a mouse.
"None can command me, Son of Surya. There are those who have died for far less then the offenses you have committed here. The word of the King is the truth of the universe - yet for this disrespect I will only reprimand you. Am I not generous?" He paused for a moment.
"And yet, as I am a fair King, I will hear you out if you wish to plead for your life. I have special affection for things which have the value of gold. Your armor, your spear, or your head. If you present any of those to me, I will be satisfied. So? What is your answer to this generous offer?"
-
"An inexhaustible greed that takes and takes. Even with so much wealth, still you desire new treasures? …well, I do understand the feeling. In any case, my head is not worth even one penny. For you, even if you obtained my armor it wouldn’t be enough, but you’ll have to give up on that one, at least. It is the single proof of my existence, and since you have declined my offer, I cannot give it to you. That said, giving you my spear would leave me unarmed, so all that's left is my worthless head. Go ahead and take it. — provided, of course, that you can."
With that, the challenge had been issued. Jumping a few steps backwards, Karna took a lazy battle stance, looking relaxed but leaving no holes in his defense. It was now the God-King's move.
-
Kiyoshi thought for a moment. He didn't really have a strong preference, the descriptions didn't really tell him enough to say which he would favour.
Hmm, well, the bowman sounds a bit like dad, he can be snarky sometimes. Plus, mummy is an archer too. So, why not go with the archer? He's probably nice.
"The snarky bowman", he said, smiling.
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Lycodrake expects something that would make his eyes water to the point of blindness, but instead gags on upon inhaling the vapor. Half-remembered sensations come back to him from his time spent around djinni, especially his partner Marie, but this isn't the same. Those relaxed and soothed him. Whatever this was, he could feel his eyes start to water and his tail swishing behind him felt slower. His balance faltered and his heavier frame fell onto one of his forelimbs, and he could feel his body rebel against the feeling of temperature change.
"I'll admit that that was a smart move on your part, human, but you made two mistakes: you've called me a lizard several times, increasing my ire constantly, and..." Concrete breaks under his talons as he stands back up. "Just because my mind and body are addled by it, it doesn't take me out of the fight!" Roaring, Lycodrake dashes forward - intent on making his opponent's death quick. A slam of his tail upon the human's skull should do the trick - or so he hopes.
Neo
Might not have that Neo didn't expect for the dragon to still fight with his state of mind, he still managed to dodge the tail slam. One of the effects of marijuana is that it causes muscle relaxation and it inhibits motor skills, therefore making anyone who is under its influence move slower. This, aside from the fact that most people look at psychoactive drugs in a negative light and therefore strongly avoid using it, is one of the reasons why Neo uses vaporized cannabis and others like it as tools to help him fight.
Neo chuckled while looking at Lycodrake being affected by the vapors. "Ya' ain't gonna kill me like that so fucking quickly, baby. So I suggest that you find yo'self some damn big cow or somethin' to eat because yo' gonna have to fuckin' feed yo' munchies." Neo then walked into the car where he slammed his back earlier, went in the driver's seat, hotwired it and looked out at the car's window before saying, "So you don't like to be called 'lizard', huh? So fine, ain't calling you a fuckin' lizard no more..." He paused for a second to maneuver the car our of the parking lot, and then yelled at him, "Smell ya' later, alligator!" He then began to accelerate away from the site.
-
"An inexhaustible greed that takes and takes. Even with so much wealth, still you desire new treasures? …well, I do understand the feeling. In any case, my head is not worth even one penny. For you, even if you obtained my armor it wouldn’t be enough, but you’ll have to give up on that one, at least. It is the single proof of my existence, and since you have declined my offer, I cannot give it to you. That said, giving you my spear would leave me unarmed, so all that's left is my worthless head. Go ahead and take it. — provided, of course, that you can."
"So be it."
As Gilgamesh spoke, the area was bathed in golden light - not from the sun, but what laid behind the king. Distortions in the air, rippling circles that appeared like molten gold, had appeared, dwarfing the surrounding buildings in their multitude. They numbered at least eighty, and from each one a different weapon, a Noble Phantasm of the highest caliber emerged, the tips pointing straight at Karna. This was the treasury of the King, the amassed wealth of all the world - The Gate of Babylon.
The King of Heroes spoke again, but it was not a boast, nor an insult. It was a name, the name of the only friend that Gilgamesh had ever had.
"Enkidu."
In that instant, chains shot forth from the numerous circles of gold that had appeared at different angles. The Chains that bound The Bull of Heaven, that increased in their strength the higher the divinity of their target - for a demigod, such a weapon was all but unbreakable. In an instant, they wrapped around their target and bound him from every angle.
"I give you this last chance to plead for mercy, son of Surya. Do not waste this miracle."
Both Gilgamesh and Karna knew what the reply would be, but the mercy of the King was infinite, and he gave this last chance to the man who had transgressed and committed the gravest of sins - doubting the might of the Oldest King.
-
Karna was not surprised by the appearance of the golden gate that appeared behind the King of Heroes. One who had all the wealth of the world must have a way to use it after all. Scores of weapons from all ages lined up in the golden gate, locked onto him by the king's impeccable aim. His eyes worked over each one rapidly, seeing the power trapped within. He could block the strongest 36 of the 80 with ease, dodge another 34 and let the 10 weakest collide uselessly with his armor. Even if his estimates were somehow off, the barrage before him could not possibly kill him, and he was sure his adversary knew the same.
"Enkidu."
In that instant, chains shot forth from the numerous circles of gold that had appeared at different angles. The Chains that bound The Bull of Heaven, that increased in their strength the higher the divinity of their target - for a demigod, such a weapon was all but unbreakable. In an instant, they wrapped around their target and bound him from every angle.
There was no escape. The chains moved faster than his reflexes could follow and soon he was restricted entirely. Bound by his arms, legs, shoulders and waist, he could not possibly move a muscle. Still his expression did not change, mostly out of sheer defiance of his foe.
'I see, so that is your trick.'
The same chains that once bound Gugalanna now held him suspended, and for the first time in his long existence Karna's divine blood worked against him. However...
"I give you this last chance to plead for mercy, son of Surya. Do not waste this miracle."
Karna did not even dignify his opponent's trash talk with an answer. Gilgamesh should know, moreso than anyone else that his parlor's trick did not work.
Summoning the strength that once shook the universe from it's foundation and crumbled the chariot of his brother to dust despite the protection of two omnipotent beings, Karna began to overcome the chains' grasp on him. The chains tightened even further, but he did not let up, and finally, with an earth-shattering roar, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRz6cbrxb_k&feature=youtu.be&t=26s) the bindings that could not break were broken, and scattered uselessly across the rooftop.
In the same instance, before the golden visage before him could even fathom what was happening, Karna firmly planted his gold-clad foot in the underside of Gilgamesh's jaw and sent him flying.
-
Mordred experienced once again the strange sensation as they went through different plans. She suspected that Imnity was more skilled in that domain, or at least her ability looked more elegant than Downy's. It didn't take long for them to reach the Nexus.
They had been sent to scout the city until further notification. Saber knew her task was of importance, yet she had something else on her mind. The Knight urged her companion to a clothing store. Indeed, besides her armor, she didn't have anything to wear. And since it didn't seem the Holy Grail War will happen soon, she could spare some time picking up something. After half an hour, Mordred was out of said store, adorned in a rather revealing yet masculine outfit.
"This will do. Much more confortable."
They started wandering, the Knight not really sure what would be the next step. Looking at Imnity, she wondered what kind of relationship her new Master had with these underlings of his and, more than that, what kind of world did they come from. There was a lot she ignored from her new allies, and the sooner she could understand them, the better she could evaluate her future among them.
"So, how did you and Downy meet? I heard him call you Generals of Ruin. What kind of title is it?"
Not long after asking, the blonde girl thrown a glance on the other side of the street as a car engine attracted her attention. The vehicle didn't look any different than your average one, besides a busted door. On the other hand, the reptilian figure she saw totally surprised her. She stopped, tugging on Imnity's sleeve.
"Do you see what I see?"
Her mind quickly processed to identify the creature but even for an heroic spirit, it wasn't something common to come across a dragon. Oddly, it didn't have a set of wings. It was an even more strange sight since they were in the middle of a city.
----
Kyle simply chuckled.
"You zap out of nowhere only to fall in a dumpster, dude. Of course I would laugh."
Done, he gave the man a more closer look.
"Especially someone that big. Well, you don't seem be hurt in spite of your fall. You must be pretty tough, huh."
The black guy smelled the giant as he walked around him. Yes, definitely human. Strong too. The shapeshifter offered him a handshake, with the hand which didn't come in contact with his manhood.
"I won't say welcome considering this place sucks most of the time. Anyway, name's Kyle."
-
Kyle simply chuckled.
"You zap out of nowhere only to fall in a dumpster, dude. Of course I would laugh."
Done, he gave the man a more closer look.
"Especially someone that big. Well, you don't seem be hurt in spite of your fall. You must be pretty tough, huh."
The black guy smelled the giant as he walked around him. Yes, definitely human. Strong too. The shapeshifter offered him a handshake, with the hand which didn't come in contact with his manhood.
"I won't say welcome considering this place sucks most of the time. Anyway, name's Kyle."
Definitely, that man was not ordinary. Because who smells somebody like that casually. He had his suspicions, though probably not matching Kyle's nature. But of course he should be tolerant, it's the 21th century!
"I'm not funny" he grumbled, accepting the handshake somewhat reluctantly "Um, my full name is long, so call me JoJo. Do you know where I ended up anyway? It's not Georgia, right?" he asked.
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Krokodil Factory - Parking Lot
The human sped off down the road in the vehicle, leaving Lycodrake with the lingering effects of marijuana. He swore to himself that he would avoid that human as much as possible - his words had gotten under Lycodrake's skin far too much and the man didn't even care. Such apathetic, uncaring humans rubbed him the wrong way far too often, but dragons and humans are creatures of emotions. His ire and chemically-induced confusion did not help him when he tried to think of other ways he could have resolved the issues.
'With some sentient beings, you can only do so much, I guess.' The wingless one noted the human's words on eating soon and began to worry; he was not one to eat humans and had no idea of a place to sate his hunger. He thought it secondary to finding where he was and helping Tywin, but with his body rebelling and his mind addled, he felt weary. He collapsed onto the concrete and canceled his size-shifting ability to return to the size of a warg.
His thoughts became blurry and muddled. Adding to it all, he spied two small humanoid figures staring in his direction. He hoped they were at least members of a neutral party.
-
Eventually the feeling of loneliness faded. It always did. Now was the time for thinking.If one thing could endanger him in this city then he would watch and observe for threats. He could not afford to make a mistake. If there was anything as dangerous as Karna running through the city then he would need to know of it. The barn had been transformed. Flesh covered the insides while the outside remained practically untouched. It would serve as a decent cover. The barn's owner was long dead. Consuming him had revealed that the man was well liked. PARIAH's cautious nature had helped in greatly in making sure no one noticed the man's disappearance. He simply took the man's form and informed everyone that he was going on a vacation. This falsehood would not last too long but people wouldn't dare to interfere regardless.
Now he needed to set up his watchers.
With a thought the flesh burst and hundreds of blood red crows flew out. They flew through windows and began to spread around the City. Within a moment PARIAH connected himself to the hive mind and began to direct them. All beings of the virus were a part of the hive mind, and it allowed PARIAH to utilize the senses of all the creatures connected to it. Even while directing the hundreds of crows PARIAH was still capable of focusing on his home. With a thought dozens of pods emerged from the ground and burst.
Beasts emerged from the pods.
Each of them was as big as a large car. Fast, strong, and incredibly dangerous. Their skin had a pinkish hue with splotches of black and their faces had small eyes along with small slits for a nose and a large mouth. Hunters is what PARIAH called them. However, they were nothing compared to what came next. Monsters with grey flesh, slightly smaller eyes, larger mouths, and were simply bigger than their pink counterparts. They outmatched their counterparts in speed, strength, and intelligence. While regular hunters only had predatory instincts and were primarily guided by PARIAH, these "leader" hunters were nearly human in intellect and could command their brethren. All in all there were 100 hunters and 10 leader hunters. They were divided into groups of 10. One leader and nine ordinary hunters. PARIAH mentally ordered the squads to scatter and they did. Bursting through the barn door they jumped into the city. If the crows were to be his eyes and ears then these hunters would be his arm. They would test the people of the City and bring them here if they survived the first strike. Calmly he closed the doors to the barn and prepared the barn for an additional round of spawning. Now he just needed to wait and watch. He closed his eyes and focused his mind completely on controlling the creatures through the hive mind.
-
Imnity and Mordred
Out and About
Content to simple follow her fellow companion around for the time being, Imnity followed Mordred whims, even going so far as to compliment her on her new found attire.
It was a short while after this that Mordred brought up a question that Imnity guessed had been on her mind for quite some time now.
"So, how did you and Downy meet? I heard him call you Generals of Ruin. What kind of title is it?"
"We were introduced to each other through his ancestor Lobelia, who you have yet to meet. Thanks to our similar points of view we agreed that the best course of action was to work together which has led us to this current point in time. As for our title, well that unfortunately is a little more complicated to explain. Back in our original world, the world is very much divided into two as all worlds are in some shape or form. This title is simply a way to distinguish us from the other side. That is also why we have not yet given it to you, though you do meet at least a few of the required credentials. Unfortunately we appear to be short on time..."
Interrupting her, Mordred tugged on her sleeve so as to point out what Imnity had also noticed.
"Do you see what I see?"
"Indeed I do, it appears to be of draconian lineage though unfortunately I have yet to pinpoint any important factors. I suspect that if you wish to interfere you had best be careful, these types of beings are often full of annoying factors that can be hard to calculate. But I shall leave it up to you, should you wish to intervene or retreat I will provide support as best as I can. Perhaps this being could be of some use to us given the circumstances?"
-
Wanderer
The maze of shadows and flame that form my face twist into a horrifying grin as I laugh. The man who was pinned escapes, the dragon chases after - such things are of little importance. A swing of the cavalry sword unleashes a twisting curtain of flame that spreads around us, adding to the blaze. THis way there is less chance of an interruption.
"Shall we begin?"
The cavalry sword is dismissed, and now I grasp a lance of steel and hardened wood. At my touch fire and shadow crawl along its length, changing the weapon's very nature. I heft it and point the blackened lance at the green Rider across from me. More have arrived - I can feel them. It matters not.
I tighten my grip on the lance. The night air, already heated from the nearby fire, now burns with new intensity. My presence is choking to the point where mortal could easily find themselves on the ground, struggling to breathe.
I heft the lance and point the tip straight at the horseman's chest.
"Have at thee, Rider!"
With a snapping of the reins, Ruin shoots forward so fast we cover the ground between us in an instance. The black lance I hold in my hand is shot forward with incredible speed and power - and yet something is off. The blow is such that, conceivably, a being that strained itself could deflect some of the force. It's only the opening blow to this duel, but even so I feel such excitement. I hope that it will not disappoint.
-
In the same instance, before the golden visage before him could even fathom what was happening, Karna firmly planted his gold-clad foot in the underside of Gilgamesh's jaw and sent him flying.
Some of the officials were on their way up to the staff room for lunch and a quick discussion on new policies. Thanks to the money they had obtained from one of the massive company Golden Rule's grants, they were now able to expand the designs for the left wing, where-
A rumble shook the building as a golden-clad figure tore through it. Watching the building collapse as he flew past, Gilgamesh felt only anger. That one would dare lay a hand upon the King deserved punishment of the highest order. As the King of Heroes soared through the air, the golden ripple of the Gate of Babylon forming one again. As Gilgamesh passed over the distortion, from it emerged a gold and emerald ark, the Vimana, an ancient Indian technology controlled by the King's thoughts.
Executing a perfect barrel roll, it caught Gilgamesh perfectly, disrupting the momentum of the kick. It began to rise above the now-fallen building as The Golden King searched for Karna. Spotting him below, the King rose from his throne with an angry gaze. That Karna could break Enkidu was something that he had held no doubt of, but he had underestimated Karna's speed. Stepping forward, Gilgamesh raised his hand above his head as hundreds of portals opened up behind him.
From each pool of molten gold that hun in the air countless weapons emerged, each bearing power unheard of in this modern age, each a Noble Phantasm that surpassed the eighty before. Dainsleif, Harpe, Durandal, Gram, Vajra... these and more hung behind the King in a display that could be seen for miles upon miles. Spears that could split mountains, axes that froze the very air through which they traveled, swords that multiplied every passing moment, each with three times the force of a lightning bolt trapped inside the blade. All these treasures and more now aimed themselves at Karna, awaiting the King's command.
"Die, Son of Surya."
Gilgamesh snapped his fingers, and in that instant a barrage that could not be denied rained down upon Karna and the city before him.
-
Though a full smirk now clad Karna's white lips, he made a mistake and overshot the amount of force he put into his kick. He had hoped to follow up his attack, but the monstrous strength he used to break Enkidu had still permeated his limbs and so he sent the King of Heroes flying. Now an incredibly angry Gilgamesh was firing scores upon scores of deadly Noble Phantasms at him from atop a Vimana he did not recognize. Such an act was an affront to the gods, and for it Karna would make him atone.
His spear was useless here. Drawing forth his treasured bow Vijaya, Karna began rapidly shooting down the weapons of old in a systematic manner, firing his white arrows at such a speed that one could not even see his string pulled or his arrows flying. The strongest of the ancient weapons were plucked from the sky and fell uselessly to the ground, but Karna could not move nearly fast enough to nullify them all. Over two dozen of the shining projectiles collided with his body, and while none pierced through him, he was soon covered in scratches, wounds and deeper gashes, but he did not slow down. In fact, the overwhelming bloodlust contained behind Karna's mask of serenity was beginning to leak out.
"Now THIS is what I've been searching for, King of Heroes!"
With his calm smirk degenerating into a grin showing some of his gilded teeth, Karna considered the situation in the same calm manner he had so far. There was no way he could win this battle like this. Not only was his opponent nigh-impossible to hit while riding a divine chariot, he was also laying down a barrage that Karna could not match, even with his archery that matches that of the Para Brahmin. There was no other choice at this point, he would have to use an Astra and commit a great sin by destroying the Vimana.
Karna summoned forth a green arrow, similar in appearance to a snake, and chanted an incantation.
I condemn my target to a painful death with this Invocation.
मैं इस मंगलाचरण के साथ एक दर्दनाक मौत के लिए मेरा लक्ष्य निंदा करते हैं.
In this arrow I call forth the wrath of the mighty Naga
इस तीर में मैं शक्तिशाली नागा के प्रकोप आगे कॉल. यह सच है कि मेरे प्रतिद्वंद्वी हड़ताल.
May it strike my opponent true and throw him to the ground
और उसे भूमि पर फेंक कर सकते हैं
With every word the arrow seemed to come alive, hissing and spitting toxins from his arrowhead while glowing a poisonous green. Finally, With a massive leap into the air, aiming directly at the Vimana, he knew that with the Mach 6 speed of his arrow, he could never miss.
"NAGASTRA!"
Karna let the arrow fly.
-
The Golden King's face darkened as the Son of the Sun God shot down his treasures, moving so fast that a normal human would not even think that his bow was moving. Though Karna was an archer without equal, even he had not been able to fully deflect the might of the King, and numerous cuts and wounds adorned his body. It was not enough to truly harm him, as Gilgamesh knew. He watched as the Noble Phantasms that Karna deflected crash into the streets, exploding with great force or causing some other form of damage. Several buildings were reduced to rubble as the King and the Demi-God fired upon each other, both solely focused on the blasphemy that the other had committed.
"Now THIS is what I've been searching for, King of Heroes!"
Gilgamesh bared his teeth in response to Karna's grin. Even though the King felt overwhelming rage, he could also not help feeling a tinge of enjoyment. Rarely did a battle last much longer than several seconds in this day and age, with the frailty of modern humans preferring a court to a field of combat. Below him, as Karna endured the barrage of treasures, the Son of Surya began to chant.
I condemn my target to a painful death with this Invocation.
मैं इस मंगलाचरण के साथ एक दर्दनाक मौत के लिए मेरा लक्ष्य निंदा करते हैं.
In this arrow I call forth the wrath of the mighty Naga
इस तीर में मैं शक्तिशाली नागा के प्रकोप आगे कॉल. यह सच है कि मेरे प्रतिद्वंद्वी हड़ताल.
May it strike my opponent true and throw him to the ground
और उसे भूमि पर फेंक कर सकते हैं
Gilgamesh, who saw more than both Gods and Men, understood what was happening instantly. Fully baring his teeth in what could almost be called a grin, The King of Heroes raised his hand, nine more weapons appearing through the Gate of Babylon. Something about them, their bearing and countenance, marked them as even higher quality than the Noble Phantasms that came before. Among their number stood Durandal, the Peerless Sword, and Merodach, the Original Sin from which both Caliburn and Gram were drawn.
As Karna leapt into the air, pulling back on his mighty bow, Gilgamesh snapped his fingers in one fast, smooth movement.
"NAGASTRA!"
Nine Noble Phantasms shot forward, each aimed at an angle that ensured they would hit the arrow at the same time. In an instant's time, they exploded, dampening some of the Astra's force but not stopping it's momentum. As Durandal the Unbreakable Sword spun past his face Gilgamesh unleashed multiple shields stacked behind each other, each carrying stopping power that the Nagastra punched straight through, losing momentum and power each time.
Finally, as the powerful arrow honed in on Gilgamesh, He Who Surpasses All Other Kings reared back his fist and punched with strength that could shatter mountains. The Astra was instantly destroyed, causing enough damage to Vimana to cause it to falter once, twice, then fall.
Dismissing his ark, the King of Heroes fell, only to be stopped by the hilt of a massive sword rising from one of the golden pools of the Gate of Babylon. Landing perfectly balanced on one foot, the King looked at Karna, hanging in the air. For that moment, they were level with each other, and as their eyes connected Gilgamesh raised his hands to either side.
Hundreds upon hundreds of portals opened bearing the treasures of The Oldest King. From each a weapon emerged that could scarcely be imagined in this modern age, remnants of older times that have since long been forgotten. Gilgamesh's voice was soft when he spoke to the Demi-God before him.
"You are truly a powerful warrior, Karna, Son of Surya. I praise you for making me expend this effort."
The towering, disordered rows behind Gilgamesh could be seen from even the outskirts of the city. Gilgamesh, the first Hero, raised his hand once more.
"Defeat this with your strength if you can!" He brought his hand down, and from the Gate countless weapons were fired, a barrage that could destroy half of the city were it not focused solely on his target.
-
Karna's ever-true eyes could barely believe themselves. No man had ever stopped an Astra with sheer brute force before, and he could not help but felt impressed with what was conspiring before him. Though he had still been successful in destroying the Vimana, or at least disabling it for now, Karna's situation had scarcely improved. While his opponent no longer held the same untouchable speed, he had now summoned hundreds upon hundreds of weapons, even stronger ones than before, and they were now hailing down on him. Even if he were to use his shield, he would not last long against the infinite barrage.
Running into a side alley of the vast street he was in, Karna held his head low as the weapons merely began to tear through the buildings around him. A handful of the golden objects struck true, but in the bigger picture Karna was suffering no major injuries. Even the smaller gashes he had suffered just minutes ago were starting to patch themselves together.
Karna could only find one answer to fix his current situation.
He would have to go all out.
It was still high noon, where his father could support him to the greatest of his potential, and Karna considered himself truly fortunate to be able to fight on his own terms. His chariot would do him no good in the crammed city center, so there was only one option left.
With that, Karna's cape formed into the shape of two massive fiery wings, resembling those of a majestic Phoenix. Feeling the rush of being able to truly fly again, Karna soared into the sky with his bow drawn once again, firing arrows at the weapons that came too close for comfort. Now given another dimension to move in and massively enhanced speed, Karna sped across the skies, his bloodthirsty smirk now perpetually glued to his face. If his opponent could deflect even a directed Astra, Karna would simply have to provide the King of Heroes with an even bigger challenge.
There was no turning back. An arrow with a rock for a head manifested in Karna's right hand. Karna flew backwards at full speed now, aiming towards the sky above the King of Heroes. There were now four kilometers between the two golden visages.
Unlike the previous Astra, there was no lyrical incantation, only a single, harsh command given by the grinning pale man.
"पड़ना!"
"FALL!"
"PARVATASTRA!"
The sky turned dark, the sun was blotted out and all the cards were now played as a mountain, one the size of the Japanese Fuji itself, descended upon the King of Heroes from the skies.
'Let us see how you handle this, O Golden King!'
-
Gilgamesh watched as his opponent wisely fled from the the storm of blades that the King had unleashed. Countless buildings were reduced to rubble as the treasures of the King tore through the air, detonating with incredible force. He scanned the streets below for a sign of Karna, noting that he had ducked into one of the side allies. In an instant, forty swords penetrated the building Karna had ducked behind, reducing it to dust but missing the demi-god by a small fraction.
"Come, Son of Surya! Is this the best you can manage?"
The King of Heroes watched as Karna rose into the air on wings of flame - with a twitch of his hand, the rain of weapons ceased. Sha Nagba Imuru, the perspective of the King as both God and Man, understood what would happen hereafter in that moment. Gilgamesh leaped backwards as Karna did the same, coming to stand on the roof of a skyscraper of medium size, one that Golden Rule had built for mid-level accounting. Luckily enough for the employees, today was their day off, meaning that not a soul moved inside the building as The Golden King stood upon it.
A fierce grin adorned his face as Karna summoned an arrow with a rock for its head. The distance between them was roughly five kilometers at this point, yet the arrow of Surya's son crossed it in seconds. Aiming straight up, Gilgamesh watched it until it disappeared. The King of Heroes watched in silence as the sky slowly darkened, the air slightly cooling, as a massive mountain began to descend from the sky.
"पड़ना!"
"FALL!"
"PARVATASTRA!"
Gilgamesh stared blankly at the sky for a single second. The sheer size of the mountain that the astra had summoned could barely be believed. As it picked up speed, Gilgamesh refocused, looking up with narrowed eyes. Even as the massive creation descended upon him, the Original Hero looked surprisingly unconcerned.
"Is this the true might of the greatest of India's heroes? Is this all you can provide against me?"
A single portal of molten gold opened up above him, the tip of an ancient spear slowly emerging. It had become famous in the myths of China for its power, for inside the blade resided the strength to split mountains. With a single snap of his fingers, the spear shot forth from Gilgamesh's treasury, followed by two more, brothers of the first. They traveled the distance between Gilgamesh and the mountain in seconds, moving as fast as Karna's arrow.
With a great crash, they struck the mountain, stone fragments flying everywhere. Each of the three spears pounded into the mountain, reducing it to a fourth of its original size in an instant. Even though he could have reduced it to dust, Gilgamesh dismissed his treasury. The King looked up at the smaller mountain as it fell, headed straight for him. He bared his teeth once more and roared.
"YOU INSULT ME, KARNA! IF I COULD NOT HANDLE SUCH A THING," The mountain fell even faster, almost upon him. "I WOULD NOT BE KING!"
The mountain fell with a crash, sending clouds of dust into the air as it crushed the floors of the building below it. Ripping through each of the floors, it looked like it would destroy the building in its entirety.
But then, unbelievably, it slowed to a halt. (http://www.myinstants.com/instant/rules-of-nature/)
"GRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
The roar of the King could be heard as the mountain was lifted into the air by the unmatched strength of the King. Taking three steps, The King of All Heroes hurled the remnants of the mountain straight at the Son of Surya.
"KAAAAAARRRRRNNNNNAAAAAA!"
-
Saber gestured for Imnity to follow and approached the apparently weakened dragon kind. For some reasons, it seemed in a lethargic or weakened state. The fact that it underwent a reduced form and collapsed told as much.
Mordred kneeled, her green eyes examining the creature with interest and curiosity. In a childish manner, she poked the dragon's snout.
"How are you feeling, Wingless One," she asked.
---
"It's not Georgia, no. This is the Nexus. A place which seems to link different worlds."
He gave the man an emphatic look.
"And before you ask, no, I don't know the way back to your turf. There's a reason I had to earn a living in this dump."
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Saber gestured for Imnity to follow and approached the apparently weakened dragon kind. For some reasons, it seemed in a lethargic or weakened state. The fact that it underwent a reduced form and collapsed told as much.
Mordred kneeled, her green eyes examining the creature with interest and curiosity. In a childish manner, she poked the dragon's snout.
"How are you feeling, Wingless One," she asked.
"I feel as though someone cut loose the strings of a puppet." He knew he must look pitiful, a blow to his draconic pride. Everything seemed to exist in a fog around him and the unwanted relaxation annoyed him, but these two had nothing to do with it - he was not going to direct his grievances towards these two. "I thank you for your concern; it does my heart good to see it and that not all humans are terrified of me in this strange city. My name is Lycodrake Aptera."
He studied the blonde, green-eyed human and her red-eyed companion. "Though, I sense you are not normal humans, unlike those I encountered before. Whereas they felt like this city, the two of you do not. Nor do you act as though you have never seen a dragon. Have you perhaps past experience in dealing with my kind?"
-
Nessa obeyed Jack and was back quickly after making sure she didn't look like a freak anymore. She entered the office once again and resumed her seating, her dark blue eyes on the Sire.
"Now, show me what you can do!"
She didn't even try to hide her excitement. After all, it was supposed to be one of the redeeming features about becoming a night walker, obtaining abilities unaccessible to mere humans. And since she had lost her previous magical powers, she was eager to learn more about these 'tricks' he mentioned.
"...Fuck no. That'll spend blood I need for other things at the moment." I adjusted my stance slightly, to lean against the wall. "Besides, what I can do isn't as important as what you can do right off the bat. There's plenty of time to learn about turning into a bat and all that fun shit, but right now you need to know about the important stuff. We're Kindred, and we have three traditions. First, don't go around flaunting you're a vampire. Even here. Try to keep it on the Down Low if possible, unless you're dealing with another vampire. Second, create a vampire at your own risk. Don't be stupid and embrace anyone for love or something like that, or they'll hate your fucking guts for all of eternity." I could attest to that. Though I was the one doing the hating. "Third - don't drink another kindred dry, and with it their soul. It's fucking bad juju or whatever the kids call it these days. You'll lose yourself and start going into a spiral of repeating the same action again and again until you're nothing more than a husk only animated by our damnation."
I started to walk up and out. "Also. Welcome to Clan Gangrel. Keep calm about everything, if you don't want to flip out and go berserk."
-
I thank you for your concern; it does my heart good to see it and that not all humans are terrified of me in this strange city.
"I can only assume people living in this era aren't used to interact with your species. Truth be told, I am not quite sure of where nor when we are actually, I only have been summoned recently myself."
My name is Lycodrake Aptera.
The knight nodded.
"I am Mordred."
No reason to hide her identity to Lycodrake, and even less to Imnity which was an ally.
Though, I sense you are not normal humans, unlike those I encountered before. Whereas they felt like this city, the two of you do not.
"And you would be right, for I am..." She stopped dead in her tracks. Saber almost spurted out 'heroic spirit'. While the term might do for someone not acquainted with her past, she thought it would be wrong to declare herself as such. Any heroic deeds she accumulated in the past felt short before the unforgivable acts she put in motion in the last months of her existence. "...a kind of familiar."
Nor do you act as though you have never seen a dragon. Have you perhaps past experience in dealing with my kind?
Mordred found herself smiling. The irony was just too much.
Oh, you have no idea.
"Something like that," she said with a wink. "Although, you are the first I ever met in person. Back in my time, most considered your kind no less than a myth."
The Servant looked around, noticing the Riders getting on, the burning factory and though she couldn't see it from where she stood, she felt the power struggle in which two overwhelming presences were engaged into.
"We probably should get you out of here. It doesn't seem safe."
----
...Fuck no. That'll spend blood I need for other things at the moment.
"Whaaaaattt???"
The girl showed genuine disappointment in both tone and expression.
"All that build up and you aren't showing me. You're no fun, Jack."
She resigned herself with a sigh.
Besides, what I can do isn't as important as what you can do right off the bat. There's plenty of time to learn about turning into a bat and all that fun shit, but right now you need to know about the important stuff.
"But I want to know that fun shit," she mumbled to herself while crossing her arms.
Turning into a bat might be cool, though.
She wanted to complain some more but unfortunately, Jack was in instructor mode already. Feeling it would be a bad idea to interrupt, she listened carefully.
We're Kindred, and we have three traditions. First, don't go around flaunting you're a vampire. Even here. Try to keep it on the Down Low if possible, unless you're dealing with another vampire. Second, create a vampire at your own risk. Don't be stupid and embrace anyone for love or something like that, or they'll hate your fucking guts for all of eternity." I could attest to that. Though I was the one doing the hating. Third - don't drink another kindred dry, and with it their soul. It's fucking bad juju or whatever the kids call it these days. You'll lose yourself and start going into a spiral of repeating the same action again and again until you're nothing more than a husk only animated by our damnation.
"Don't reveal what you are, don't turn people without a good reason and don't suck on fellow Kindred. Got it."
Also. Welcome to Clan Gangrel. Keep calm about everything, if you don't want to flip out and go berserk.
She tilted her head on the side.
"Thanks, I'll try," she promised. She didn't see why she would 'flip out' but decided to go along because she had her own share of questions. "What about our weaknesses? I assume daytime strolls aren't for the best... What else?"
-
She tilted her head on the side.
"Thanks, I'll try," she promised. She didn't see why she would 'flip out' but decided to go along because she had her own share of questions. "What about our weaknesses? I assume daytime strolls aren't for the best... What else?"
"Fire. And I'm tough enough to take that - with time and some determination you might be able to do the same. Ignore all that holy symbol bullshit, running water, garlic... hell, stakes don't do much more than put us to sleep."
I had noticed her disappointment at not getting to see the 'fun shit.' Kids these days...
"Basically, most of folklore got it wrong, or got it right about a specific vampire. Some of us go crazy enough that we actually start thinking that holy symbols and the like harm us... so they do. The Blood is strange."
-
"It's not Georgia, no. This is the Nexus. A place which seems to link different worlds."
He gave the man an emphatic look.
"And before you ask, no, I don't know the way back to your turf. There's a reason I had to earn a living in this dump."
"Ehhhhh?! There is no way out here? Who is managing this city anyway? Do you mean they have no transportation here?" blurted out the man clearly confused at the situation he was in. "Damnit, if only my Stand could reverse anything permamently, I could be back in Russia in no time."
"
-
Karna's jaw almost went slack as he saw what happened before him. Three spears, native to a region of China Karna once conquered for his friend, slashed the mountain apart into 4 smaller pieces, though each still dwarfed a dozen skyscrapers. 3 of the fragments fell uselessly upon the city center, crushing buildings and citizens alike, but Karna took no notice of that. Instead, he saw as the King of Heroes simply digged his heels in, steeled himself and caught the mountain, breaking through at least a dozen floors of the skyscraper he was standing on top of, but never once seeming to lose his foothold. Truly, this was an opponent that not even Arjuna and Krishna would've been able to defeat.
'But that's just perfect...'
But then, unbelievably, it slowed to a halt. (http://www.myinstants.com/instant/rules-of-nature/)
"GRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
The roar of the King could be heard as the mountain was lifted into the air by the unmatched strength of the King. Taking three steps, The King of All Heroes hurled the remnants of the mountain straight at the Son of Surya.
"KAAAAAARRRRRNNNNNAAAAAA!"
Though the distance between the two visages had expanded to a full fifteen kilometers as Karna had flown backwards, the God-King hurled the massive chunk of the mountain towards Karna with an ear-shattering roar that could no doubt be heard by every man, woman and otherwise in Nexus City. Though the projectile was not particularly fast, it was not losing any momentum and would likely collide with Karka within 40 seconds. He understood immediately. This was a challenge. With a full grin of gilded teeth, Karna's bloodlust spiked and would likely be outright visible to anyone nearby.
Priming his bow with an arrow shrouded in a hurricane-like layer of wind, Karna began another incantation.
I pray to the lord Vayu for a great boon
मैं एक महान वरदान के लिए भगवान वायु से प्रार्थना
May my enemies be torn asunder by your divine winds
मेरे दुश्मनों को अपने दिव्य हवाओं से अलग - अलग फाड़ा जा सकता है
Ride forth and bring me great victory!
आगे की सवारी और मुझे महान जीत ले आओ!
"VAYVAYASTRA!"
The arrow was shot forth with the same impossible speed as the Parvatastra, but unlike the previous one, Karna shot the arrow behind himself and turned as it immediately detonated.
The wind that came forth was a hurricane beyond compare. No, comparing to any kind of wind-based natural phenomenon would be an insult to the wind that came forth from the detonating arrow. Even though the wind pointed entirely in Karna's direction, skyscrapers were sheared in half and smaller buildings were torn out by the roots. Karna was left undamaged, and rocketed forward, spinning like a black and gold tornado clad in a wreath of fire (http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/130/682/d82885be609887858d849309ce555dde.gif).
Raising his right hand clenched in a fist, Karna's grin radiated murderous intent, and finally, boosted to mach speeds by the Astra's wind, Karna's fist collided with the immense mountain chunk.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" (http://youtu.be/lRz6cbrxb_k?t=26s)
With a roar that could tear a man in half from the sonic force it emitted, Karna's ungodly strength sent the colossal rock flying back towards the King of Heroes, and, boosted by the same wind, unfolded his fiery wings once more and followed the rock, flying just behind it.
"HERE I COME, KING OF HEROES! CAN YOUR SOUL BURN AS BRIGHT AS MINE?!"
-
Fire. And I'm tough enough to take that - with time and some determination you might be able to do the same.
"So just fire and sunlight then." She would undergo any training if it helped limiting the chance to lose her non-life. "I might be interested in that, yeah."
Ignore all that holy symbol bullshit, running water, garlic... hell, stakes don't do much more than put us to sleep.
Indeed, he had mentioned stakes not being a worry earlier on.
Basically, most of folklore got it wrong, or got it right about a specific vampire. Some of us go crazy enough that we actually start thinking that holy symbols and the like harm us... so they do. The Blood is strange.
"Kinda like self-hypnosis?" She scratched her chin a moment. Next question. "You said using your powers would consume blood, why is that?"
----
Ehhhhh?! There is no way out here?
Kyle shrugged.
"There might. But as far as I know, you're stuck with the likes of me, here. Sorry buddy."
Who is managing this city anyway?
The werewolf grimaced.
"Kinda hard to answer that. There's a bunch of people running things, at least on the human side. But the real power in town would be the likes of Frost, so vampires. Heard he had some men up the administration. Never bothered to confirm though. Don't really care about leeches as long as they don't start painting streets in red. Frost, though, I would like to get rid of. Fuckin' immortal bastard deserves at least that much."
Do you mean they have no transportation here?
"Just not dimensional transportation."
Damnit, if only my Stand could reverse anything permamently, I could be back in Russia in no time.
"What do you mean by 'Stand'?"
-
The werewolf grimaced.
"Kinda hard to answer that. There's a bunch of people running things, at least on the human side. But the real power in town would be the likes of Frost, so vampires. Heard he had some men up the administration. Never bothered to confirm though. Don't really care about leeches as long as they don't start painting streets in red. Frost, though, I would like to get rid of. Fuckin' immortal bastard deserves at least that much."
At the sound of word 'vampires', Josip's fists clenched "To think they are even here..." he muttered in a cold voice. "My ancestors have suffered enough fighting them, but somebody has to do it. Are they vulnerable to sunlight where you live?" the man asked in a serious voice.
"What do you mean by 'Stand'?"
"It is something I summon to use my special ability. Eh, I have probably blabbered out one thing about what it can do, so showing it won't do any harm"
Behind the man a humanoid, or one could say robotic, effigy made of clockwork parts appeared.
"People who can see ghosts should be able to see it as well. If you can see it, you're obviously not a mundane human"
-
Gwyllt
Everything but the opponent in front of Tân Gwyllt was left aside in his mind. Only a single apologetic thought was spared to the wingless dragon for the trouble his request seemed to have given him; and the rider focused instead on his greater counterpart.
As a curtain of fire, brighter and more primal than his, surrounded them, Gwyllt pulled on the reins to his mount with a tightened and serious grasp. It was an unnecessary act, as him and his steed were one, but it spoke of his gathering focus. A few steps were taken back as they faced their adversary. The heat was immense, the very sensation of doom settling down around them, denser every second. To many others, it would've been oppressive, stifling, but that moment, all of it did nothing more than encourage him.
The pale shine over his sword grew stronger, fel fire spilled out of his armor, a mighty hell growing inside, and a hearty laugh crackled from deep inside his helmet in retort to the Red Rider's. Burning like a bottomless, undying furnace, his eyes and maw shone, twisting in crazed enjoyment.
"Onwards!" the horseman of black metal and green flame replied to the one of shadows and fire, sword at the ready, and trusty steed tensing in synchronicity.
And then, his opponent shot forward like a cannonball, the horseman's lance booming towards him with might unmatched by anything the incarnation of myth had seen before. The blackened shaft was aimed at the center of his chest, closing the distance to its target in an instant, and it would break through his armor and strike his very core with the power it was backed by. Gwyllt could not move out of the way. Retreat before the speed of this attack was not an option. So he would have to meet it in kind.
In the remaining shred of time before War's charge could completely close the distance between them, Tân Gwyllt and his steed kicked off from where they stood. They propelled themselves to meet the opening strike of the battle head on, a rumbling charge at the Horseman Of War, and the demon of the hunt and fire swung his sword at the blackened lance with all the momentum and power he could must.
The weapons collided with a strong clang that spread shadow and flames from its center. Metal and legendary power screamed against metal and wood and even more legendary power as the sword of Gwyllt parried the lance of War, diverting it from its course.
The joust of the red rider shaved off part of his plated shoulder, easily snuffing out the flames that covered it, and Gwyllt could not help not laugh inside as they passed each other in their mutual charge. This strength, this excitement... he had to respond appropriately to it.
He roared. The reins were pulled and his mount dug into the concrete, coming to a loud grinding slowdown; it neighed beneath him as it steered and turned, following his commands even before the unnecessary pulls of the reins, expelling jets of fire from its hooves, turning in a tight u-curve that left a molten and cracked path on the floor.
Boosted by fel flames, the demonic steed pursued the other. Doubling the intensity of the flames from his sword, Tân Gwyllt raced at War and swung at him like a berseker, blade guided by the intent of a hunter.
-
Grigori was entertained. This new world. Nexus City was a place filled with entertainment and new curiosities. Men who could take on the form of a wolf and vampires roamed the streets. However these vampires were completely different beasts from the ones he had engineered. Certainly another thing that could keep him amused, but the conflict raging around him took precedence. That was entertainment! From the top of one of the skyscrapers he watched the battle. Godlike beings clashing, impossibly powerful weapons being fired as if they were arrows, and mountains falling form the sky! Grigori smiled. This was the most interesting sight he had seen so far. With a thought he formed a mana construct in the shape of a bed and a barrier in the shape of an orb formed around it. He laid down in the bed and reached into his cloak and pulled out a bag of chips. A treat he had taken from one of the dead bodies in the street. Then he heard the archer speak.
I pray to the lord Vayu for a great boon
मैं एक महान वरदान के लिए भगवान वायु से प्रार्थना
May my enemies be torn asunder by your divine winds
मेरे दुश्मनों को अपने दिव्य हवाओं से अलग - अलग फाड़ा जा सकता है
Ride forth and bring me great victory!
आगे की सवारी और मुझे महान जीत ले आओ!
"VAYVAYASTRA!"
The powerful winds annihilated the building under Grigori, but the bed remained motionless. Even as ripples formed in the barrier and it looked as if it was about to fail he simply smiled. The spell stabilized and Grigori simply opened the bag and began to eat. They were a bit salty but they tasted fine.
"HERE I COME, KING OF HEROES! CAN YOUR SOUL BURN AS BRIGHT AS MINE?!"
Grigori laughed. These people would prove to be very amusing.
-
Lycodrake Aptera
"I can only assume people living in this era aren't used to interact with your species. Truth be told, I am not quite sure of where nor when we are actually, I only have been summoned recently myself."
"It is nice to know that I am not the only one feeling lost in this place. I found myself in a tunnel with rail-guided vehicles and frightened many humans. Fear is not something I enjoy causing in the heart or mind of another."
The knight nodded.
"I am Mordred."
No reason to hide her identity to Lycodrake, and even less to Imnity which was an ally.
"And you would be right, for I am..." She stopped dead in her tracks. Saber almost spurted out 'heroic spirit'. While the term might do for someone not acquainted with her past, she thought it would be wrong to declare herself as such. Any heroic deeds she accumulated in the past felt short before the unforgivable acts she put in motion in the last months of her existence. "...a kind of familiar."
Lycodrake was not oblivious to the young woman's pause, but chose to not pry into such a private matter. He couldn't tell if it was shame or embarrassment or sadness that passed through her eyes, but he knew he wore a similar one once upon a time. As a spawn of Typhon and Echidna, monstrous deities - or deified monsters both, he was not proud of his heritage and what it meant he was.
Mordred found herself smiling. The irony was just too much.
Oh, you have no idea.
"Something like that," she said with a wink. "Although, you are the first I ever met in person. Back in my time, most considered your kind no less than a myth."
The Servant looked around, noticing the Riders getting on, the burning factory and though she couldn't see it from where she stood, she felt the power struggle in which two overwhelming presences were engaged into.
"We probably should get you out of here. It doesn't seem safe."
"I know one of the two Riders and fought alongside him against wicked humans and my first companion, Tywin, I have not heard back from. However, I am in no state for combat, though I doubt any damage to us would be intentional by either Rider." He was embarrassed by his weakness. Being unable to stand on his own four legs wounded his pride more than he thought it would. "If you can carry me and know a safe place, I will entrust myself to you, Mordred."
-
I know one of the two Riders and fought alongside him against wicked humans and my first companion, Tywin, I have not heard back from. However, I am in no state for combat, though I doubt any damage to us would be intentional by either Rider.
"I simply esteem it more reasonable to back off from this location. We might get caught in their battle."
Of course a knight would never insult another fighter by getting involved in a former duel.
If you can carry me and know a safe place, I will entrust myself to you, Mordred.
"Just a moment."
She looked at him in the eyes and turned to Imnity. She couldn't say much about Lycodrake Aptera, having just met him, yet she understood his frustration.
"Can't you do something about his condition?"
She couldn't say much about Lycodrake Aptera, having just met him, yet she understood his frustration. Dragons were tough creatures, known for being extremely durable. The knight doubted whatever was affecting Lycodrake would last for long. However, they ought to move from here quickly. So, if Imnity had a way to fix the dragon, it would be for the better. She could always carry him, but she would bet her main hand that he would rather walk on his own.
The duel before her eyes was worrying somewhat. These were two formidable riders, and their steeds even more for supporting such might. Shadows, flames and steel clashed once and more, and she knew this place would soon be nothing but ruins.
A deafening scream resonated through the area, and she leapt on a nearby rooftop to have a glimpse from the battle of mythic proportions. What she saw from the South of her position, shocked her.
She was Mordred, proud son of the most noble and fairest King to ever walk the Earth. She had been summoned as Saber, the strongest of the seven classes. Yet, she was no match. She was like the kid fascinated at the sight of giants fighting each other. Not even the riders' duel had given her such an ominous feeling. Her instinct told her that the destruction would be unfathomable if they were not stopped soon.
"These fools will doom us all," she realized with anger.
----
My ancestors have suffered enough fighting them, but somebody has to do it. Are they vulnerable to sunlight where you live?
Kyle raised his hands.
"Hey, there are some reasonable ones. I know a few of them who are perfectly integrated in society..." He paused, his traits softening. "Some I consider friends, family even. Heck, I was raised by blood suckers. Some people might just see monsters when looking at them, but that's only because they never bother to actually know the person. Of course, there are some rotten apples as well, you might even say the non-spoiled ones are too few compared to the rest, but still."
What you are isn't who you are.
A line he kept in mind for centuries now.
"What I am trying to say is that, while I entirely feel for your family, you can't exactly go on a blind killing spree."
Are they vulnerable to sunlight where you live?
"Yes. Why you ask? Gonna pop out sunrays out you bum or something?" His tone was slightly amused, but not outright mocking the man.
It is something I summon to use my special ability. Eh, I have probably blabbered out one thing about what it can do, so showing it won't do any harm.
Kyle couldn't make out the whole figure of the being appearing behind Jojo, he could somewhat distinct the general shape of it. At least the scent was reminiscent of the man before him.
"That's a doppleganger of some sort?"
People who can see ghosts should be able to see it as well. If you can see it, you're obviously not a mundane human.
"Definitely can't see it clearly, it's kind of blurry to me. Its odor is similar to yours, yet oddly different. That's the first time I meet with someone possessing such an ability."
Kyle grinned to the man.
"Since you shared your secret with me, it's only fair that I do the same. Just don't freak out, ok?"
The next instant, he started stripping, folding and placing his clothes on a broken bench. Once he was completely nude, his body turned into one of a beast.
-
"Kinda like self-hypnosis?" She scratched her chin a moment. Next question. "You said using your powers would consume blood, why is that?"
"It just is. The more obvious... disciplines... I use, require a sacrifice. Vitae. The stuff keeping you and I mobile right now." She was inquisitive, that was for sure. "Basically, when we consume blood, we're really stealing life. Blood's just the fancy wrapping it comes in. It costs me - and you - life just to rise each night. We can't just not eat. To live, to exist, we need to feed. Humans, animals, other Kindred or vampires... they all have vitae. We can feed from them. Don't feed often enough, and you'll find the Beast getting harder and harder to keep down and in its cage."
I chuckled a little bit.
"For us Gangrel, that cages bars are too damn thin. When the Beast gets control, it's like... fuck. I can't explain it. You'll know it when it happens. You won't be in control anymore. The Beast will. And it's hard as hell not to listen to it."
-
Imnity
Warehouses
"Can't you do something about his condition?"
A unique creature with draconian lineage was hard to pass up, even for Imnity. "I'm afraid that healing is out of my realm of capabilities, my Master and Lobelia are far more suited to that task."
Even as Mordred jumped away to check on the ensuing chaos Imnity did have one option available to her. Turning to the weakened Lycodrake she offered him her own way of help.
"However, while I cannot heal you, I can transport you to someone who can. That is your choice however, I will warn you that my Master is not as gentle as I seem. What happens after I bring you I cannot entirely say. So what is your answer?"
-
(OOC: Finally got to reply. I would sooner if not for other obligations)
Kyle raised his hands.
"Hey, there are some reasonable ones. I know a few of them who are perfectly integrated in society..." He paused, his traits softening. "Some I consider friends, family even. Heck, I was raised by blood suckers. Some people might just see monsters when looking at them, but that's only because they never bother to actually know the person. Of course, there are some rotten apples as well, you might even say the non-spoiled ones are too few compared to the rest, but still."
What you are isn't who you are.
A line he kept in mind for centuries now.
"What I am trying to say is that, while I entirely feel for your family, you can't exactly go on a blind killing spree."
"I am skeptical, but I'll give a benefit of doubt. But don't expect me to be chummy with them?" he grumbled.
"Yes. Why you ask? Gonna pop out sunrays out you bum or something?" His tone was slightly amused, but not outright mocking the man.
Hey, I can transfer sunlight like energy from my body, but what you just said is so vulgar!" Josip protested at such a remark.
Kyle couldn't make out the whole figure of the being appearing behind Jojo, he could somewhat distinct the general shape of it. At least the scent was reminiscent of the man before him.
"That's a doppleganger of some sort?"
"This is essence of my life energy manifested, which in our world we call Stands because they stand by us" Jojo explained, in probably cheesy way from the viewpoint of Kyle.
"Definitely can't see it clearly, it's kind of blurry to me. Its odor is similar to yours, yet oddly different. That's the first time I meet with someone possessing such an ability."
Kyle grinned to the man.
"Since you shared your secret with me, it's only fair that I do the same. Just don't freak out, ok?"
The next instant, he started stripping, folding and placing his clothes on a broken bench. Once he was completely nude, his body turned into one of a beast.
"Eh?" Josip quipped puzzled at Kyle stripping for some reason. But once he started transforming:
"Ah, that's a bound Stand!" remarked JoJo in surprise, albeit clearly wrong.
(OOC: Inb4 Diego Brando)
-
"..."
The part about blood was fine, although having a need for it simply to awaken was something to keep in mind. Same for not burning blood unnecessarily.However, that 'Beast' he spoke of raised her interest.
"Your telling me that my instincts will take over whenever I'm low on vitae, I get that part. Still, why do you speak of it as a kind of... entity? And you're telling me it's harder for us, the Gangrel to deal with it?"
In short, she would have to stay away from people she didn't wish harm upon.
Wait a second.
"What happens if I have a crazy episode and you're around? Would I hurt you? Attempt to feed from you?"
----
The werewolf turned back into a human, laughing without holding back. Putting on his clothes, he said.
"A bound Stand, eh? I kinda like how that sounds, although, I'm afraid it doesn't look as useful as your own powers. You said something about reversing "
He calmed down by the time he was buckling his belt.
"Anyway, I'm a werewolf. See it as a kind of cursed humans. All of them can shapeshift like I did. Be careful around others though, especially if one is eager to give you the chomp. A single bite is enough to make you one of us. We're kinda like zombies in Walking Dead except we don't all smell like them." He took a second to verify his own scent. "I hope."
He invited his interlocutor to walk with him.
"Now Jojo, let's go see if an old friend of mine has room for a big guy like you."
He chuckled, anticipating the man's reaction upon meeting Law Unto Herself.
"I am sure you both will get along just fine."
-
"..."
The part about blood was fine, although having a need for it simply to awaken was something to keep in mind. Same for not burning blood unnecessarily.However, that 'Beast' he spoke of raised her interest.
"Your telling me that my instincts will take over whenever I'm low on vitae, I get that part. Still, why do you speak of it as a kind of... entity? And you're telling me it's harder for us, the Gangrel to deal with it?"
In short, she would have to stay away from people she didn't wish harm upon.
Wait a second.
"What happens if I have a crazy episode and you're around? Would I hurt you? Attempt to feed from you?"
"Depends on what you're frenzying from. If you're hungry, you'll try to drink something down. If you're scared, you'll bust through about anything and anyone to escape." I wasn't kidding about that. An escape frenzy was nothing to scoff at. "And if you're angry, you'll do anything you can to kill whatever got you angry, no matter how tough it is."
"But don't worry about this yet. You'll need to become... less human, before the Beast really starts rattling the cage."
I could hear him growling even now. Stronger, since I'd sired her.
-
The werewolf turned back into a human, laughing without holding back. Putting on his clothes, he said.
"A bound Stand, eh? I kinda like how that sounds, although, I'm afraid it doesn't look as useful as your own powers. You said something about reversing "
He calmed down by the time he was buckling his belt.
"Anyway, I'm a werewolf. See it as a kind of cursed humans. All of them can shapeshift like I did. Be careful around others though, especially if one is eager to give you the chomp. A single bite is enough to make you one of us. We're kinda like zombies in Walking Dead except we don't all smell like them." He took a second to verify his own scent. "I hope."
Quite confused, JoJo asked: "You don't mean, a real werewolf? There are rare people in my world who can use Stands bound to their bodies permamently to transform them. There are even records on people who could turn into half animals half humans. Well, there was a guy apparently who you would call... a wereraptor. Don't be surprised, there is crazier things out there I heard" Josip explained "You say, getting infected by a bite. I probably could purge that from my system, I heard about one of my relatives purging out something vampire put into him before it caused anything bad. Eh, we can say we are all cursed way or other " he shrugged "As for the reversal, I can temporarily reverse anything, even if it's a concept. That's the gist of it."
He invited his interlocutor to walk with him.
"Now Jojo, let's go see if an old friend of mine has room for a big guy like you."
He chuckled, anticipating the man's reaction upon meeting Law Unto Herself.
"I am sure you both will get along just fine."
"Hmmm, I'm practically homeless now, so I guess I have to follow you" Josip scratched his head, following Kyle.
-
Lycodrake Aptera
"Can't you do something about his condition?"
A unique creature with draconian lineage was hard to pass up, even for Imnity. "I'm afraid that healing is out of my realm of capabilities, my Master and Lobelia are far more suited to that task."
Even as Mordred jumped away to check on the ensuing chaos Imnity did have one option available to her. Turning to the weakened Lycodrake she offered him her own way of help.
"However, while I cannot heal you, I can transport you to someone who can. That is your choice however, I will warn you that my Master is not as gentle as I seem. What happens after I bring you I cannot entirely say. So what is your answer?"
Mordred leaping up to the top of a building surprised him momentarily. He wasn't expecting either of them to be average humans. The girl before him spoke in a way years beyond her, but what mattered now was getting out of the drug induced fog. He dared not try to "burn" it away from within. "I believe myself able to withstand harshness. If your Master or this Lobelia is willing to aid me, I would be most thankful. The risk is worth the possible benefit, though I would very much prefer not to be put down like a rabid dog if your Master is far less kind than you say."
-
Grim was feeling peeved. Another host had turned out unworthy. Grim still couldn't find anything like the bond that Venom had with his host. After seeing that Venom's child Carnage and the sheer joy the host and symbiote had together in permanent partnership it decided it needed to find the one. The one who it could be together with always. While lurking the streets for more potential host in this universe full of superheroes something strange happened.
Grim felt like he was falling despite being on solid ground not just a second ago. And a second later it felt a soft barrier. It had landed on a magical construct for sure but this construct was very soft not unlike the thing that its hosts tended to retire to and lay down on during the dark.
Around it was much sturdier barrier one that coursed with power one that Grim even with its new magical power could tell were to strong to escape. And inside this barrier was man. A man of great power who smelled of death and radiated the sweet nectar of magic upon the world. Grim had never seen such a feast of power to feed on.
In it's impatience and excitement it jumped to onto the mans arm.
That was when things started to get wrong. This man was too much. He wasn't a weakling to overwhelm, he could not be seen as somthing to work with. No this man was not a potential host for through the memories Grim gained from contact this man had tamed that much more terrible than it with just his will. No this man didn't terrify Grim with his power. This man had a will that could make gods bow. This was not host, this was not a puppet this was slaver. A master of all that stood in his sight and on whim would also command all his subordinates to die.
Then the man spoke to Grim.
-
Grim was feeling peeved. Another host had turned out unworthy. Grim still couldn't find anything like the bond that Venom had with his host. After seeing that Venom's child Carnage and the sheer joy the host and symbiote had together in permanent partnership it decided it needed to find the one. The one who it could be together with always. While lurking the streets for more potential host in this universe full of superheroes something strange happened.
Grim felt like he was falling despite being on solid ground not just a second ago. And a second later it felt a soft barrier. It had landed on a magical construct for sure but this construct was very soft not unlike the thing that its hosts tended to retire to and lay down on during the dark.
Around it was much sturdier barrier one that coursed with power one that Grim even with its new magical power could tell were to strong to escape. And inside this barrier was man. A man of great power who smelled of death and radiated the sweet nectar of magic upon the world. Grim had never seen such a feast of power to feed on.
In it's impatience and excitement it jumped to onto the mans arm.
That was when things started to get wrong. This man was too much. He wasn't a weakling to overwhelm, he could not be seen as somthing to work with. No this man was not a potential host for through the memories Grim gained from contact this man had tamed that much more terrible than it with just his will. No this man didn't terrify Grim with his power. This man had a will that could make gods bow. This was not host, this was not a puppet this was slaver. A master of all that stood in his sight and on whim would also command all his subordinates to die.
Then the man spoke to Grim.
Grigori's eyes were filled with mirth. "How foolish of you creature. To believe that you could make me bend when a god could not. However, you have potential." He held out his arm to exam the creature in depth. It was a mass of black goo with white eyes and a mouth filled with extremely sharp teeth. There were also line of light covering his body that pulsed with mana. If he allowed it to grow and flourish it may entertain him in the future. "Very well creature. If you restrain yourself and remain on my arm alone I will allow you to feed on my mana. In return I only ask for your name. A fair deal?" Even as he asked the question Grigori began to emit enormous amounts of mana. If this creature attempted to attack he would simply fill the barrier with fire. His cloak would keep him mostly intact and anything damaged could be healed, but this organism seemed to be made entirely of a fleshy substance. It would be incinerated in seconds.
-
Grim was feeling peeved. Another host had turned out unworthy. Grim still couldn't find anything like the bond that Venom had with his host. After seeing that Venom's child Carnage and the sheer joy the host and symbiote had together in permanent partnership it decided it needed to find the one. The one who it could be together with always. While lurking the streets for more potential host in this universe full of superheroes something strange happened.
Grim felt like he was falling despite being on solid ground not just a second ago. And a second later it felt a soft barrier. It had landed on a magical construct for sure but this construct was very soft not unlike the thing that its hosts tended to retire to and lay down on during the dark.
Around it was much sturdier barrier one that coursed with power one that Grim even with its new magical power could tell were to strong to escape. And inside this barrier was man. A man of great power who smelled of death and radiated the sweet nectar of magic upon the world. Grim had never seen such a feast of power to feed on.
In it's impatience and excitement it jumped to onto the mans arm.
That was when things started to get wrong. This man was too much. He wasn't a weakling to overwhelm, he could not be seen as somthing to work with. No this man was not a potential host for through the memories Grim gained from contact this man had tamed that much more terrible than it with just his will. No this man didn't terrify Grim with his power. This man had a will that could make gods bow. This was not host, this was not a puppet this was slaver. A master of all that stood in his sight and on whim would also command all his subordinates to die.
Then the man spoke to Grim.
Grigori's eyes were filled with mirth. "How foolish of you creature. To believe that you could make me bend when a god could not. However, you have potential." He held out his arm to exam the creature in depth. It was a mass of black goo with white eyes and a mouth filled with extremely sharp teeth. There were also line of light covering his body that pulsed with mana. If he allowed it to grow and flourish it may entertain him in the future. "Very well creature. If you restrain yourself and remain on my arm alone I will allow you to feed on my mana. In return I only ask for your name. A fair deal?" Even as he asked the question Grigori began to emit enormous amounts of mana. If this creature attempted to attack he would simply fill the barrier with fire. His cloak would keep him mostly intact and anything damaged could be healed, but this organism seemed to be made entirely of a fleshy substance. It would be incinerated in seconds.
Grim while of simple mind was not stupid. It could tell from the memories it looked at that this host would not relent. I could hear the thoughts of contingency it had if it refused so I sent one word through the link and in turn became a guantlet. It covered the arm of this "Grigori" and would call it master for now. It had lines extend past the arm of course but never to control only to secure and synchronize. It told him of the powers it would give but not like it would a true bond it was subservience and complete distortion of the cherished dream that Grim held of finding its true host.
While not enjoying on an emotional level the symbiotes body was humming with the power that this grigori radiated. His lines (one of his previous host's called them circuits) burned all the colours of the rainbow as it took in the varied magesty that was Grigori's mana.
It would wait but upon first opportunity if would find a new host. It would continue searching for the one.
-
Imnity and Lycodrake were discussing while the Servant kept her attention focused on the golden warriors.
Sending us to scout the city was a wise choice.
She could only praise Downy's prudence. Meeting one of these two warriors head on would have meant instant defeat. With a shake of her head, she left the rooftop and reached ground level.
...would very much prefer not to be put down like a rabid dog if your Master is far less kind than you say.
Mordred gave the dragon a confident smile.
"Worry not, Lycodrake Aptera. I shall not let that happen. You have my word."
With that, she lifted him on her shoulders with relative ease and turned to Imnity.
"Shall we be on our way, then?"
----
"..."
This time a long silence followed. It appeared Nessa was done asking, yet, her gaze stayed on the man. Only the faint sound of her legs swinging could be heard. After few more seconds she decided to enquire about one last point.
"It did something to you, right? Turning me." She paused to judge his reaction. "You don't have to hide stuff from me at this point."
----
The two men borrowed a taxi and they were on their way. Since they had time before reaching Forest's place, they could make do with a bit more chatting.
"Say, you mentioned a curse running in your family. Want to share some with your first pal in town? I suspect there's an interesting story behind it."
-
Grim while of simple mind was not stupid. It could tell from the memories it looked at that this host would not relent. I could hear the thoughts of contingency it had if it refused so I sent one word through the link and in turn became a guantlet. It covered the arm of this "Grigori" and would call it master for now. It had lines extend past the arm of course but never to control only to secure and synchronize. It told him of the powers it would give but not like it would a true bond it was subservience and complete distortion of the cherished dream that Grim held of finding its true host.
While not enjoying on an emotional level the symbiotes body was humming with the power that this grigori radiated. His lines (one of his previous host's called them circuits) burned all the colours of the rainbow as it took in the varied majesty that was Grigori's mana.
It would wait but upon first opportunity if would find a new host. It would continue searching for the one.
"Excellent" He began to flood his arm with mana and looked down on the combatants below. The archer called Karna was now charging at the King of Heroes with wings of fire along with what was left of the mountain. Grigori's construct shifted form into a comfortable looking throne. He sat down and began to watch the fight again.
-
If anyone were of a mind to pay attention whilst they were fleeing in terror they might have noticed an attractive blue haired young man in a school uniform, walking down the street calmly while the city is in turmoil. Those who were a little more perceptive might have noticed the red armband and gun holster, or the headphones. This young man walked through the streets listening to music as he walked up to a specific building.
This should be the place Elizabeth said to go...
Yes, because listening to her has never backfired before.
Quiet, you.
The young man took off his headphones and knocked three times on the door.
She said the person here would need some help, so I am at least going to offer, messiahs do stuff like that right?
Right.
Either way is fine with me, I'm up for anything where we get to kill stuff.
Yeah, I'm gonna go in with Messiah set, thanks.
-
Uchiten
Downtown - shortly before the battle between demigods commenced
Uchiten smiled regretfully as he exited the bar and its vicinity, leaving the hive of debauchery and all its interesting presences behind to greet the night air of Nexus City. The slight breeze that touched his face withered immediately after reaching him, but its feeling nonetheless made him reminisce. He wondered if the wind had felt the same when he was alive, or if becoming the way he did had changed it. Or maybe the wind of his homeland was different from this one. The evil spirit could not be sure, for his existence as a mortal was a thing long removed and forgotten from his current self. But either way, he didn't truly care for that, so it was useless to think about.
At the moment, what he cared more for was the tension in the air that the wind brought to him. Verifying it lightened his expression. Power and intensity were gathering and crackling in this town, ready to blow. His mystical senses were sharp enough to have detected this moments after he appeared here, but it was reassuring to be sure.
Hands in his pockets, he relaxedly walked down the dimly lit street, not sparing a glance to the mere intoxicated (or soon to be) humans who passed him; contrasting with the way he was avoided, as though there was an imperceptible stench around him, or an air of unpleasantness. It truth, it was simply that they knew to avoid him.
Of course they did. Say what you will about humans, deep in their hearts they still knew what was beyond them, and they knew what to fear.
But then, as he chuckled to himself about it, the space at his side ceased to be empty. A humanoid figure shimmered in the night, a transparent outline that quickly materialized itself. Motes of dim blue light shed off to reveal its form, closely following Uchiten.
Taller than the twisted onmyouji, surpassing two meters in height, he made for an impressive appearance in comparison. He wore a simple ensemble: pants, boots, a tucked in shirt, top button undone, and a black jacket. But his clothes were not what distinguished him most aside from his height. His build was not bulky, but it was hard, and toned muscles strained noticeably against his shirt; messy white hair covered his head; a sharp narrowed expression was present on his handsome face, and a single azure eye stared straight ahead. His other eye, the right, was covered by a large eyepatch, and a number of scars marked his hands, his face and his neck. But by far the ugliest and most jagged looking of them was the one that partially lay under the cloth affixed to his face, vertical-diagonally oriented from above his brow to the level of his nose.
Even without the scars, he had a particularly wild look about him, helped in nothing by the long sheathed japanese sword he carried firmly in one hand.
"Allow me to escort you, Master." he roughly spoke to Uchiten, more a statement of fact than a request.
The evil spirit chuckled at the rude means of address, but he acknowledged his shikigami nonenetheless.
"Zan." he began, before continuing with an off-hand tone. "That was unnecessary. You spoiled the conversation."
The reply was instantaneous.
"She was out of line." Now that made him wonder, and genuine interest was inflected into his next words.
"Oh? Is that really why raised your sword? Are you certain it wasn't that you simply sought an excuse to cut something?" Uchiten asked.
It was true that Zan had not raised his sword out of bloodlust inside the bar. But, to contend with it was entirely different from holding back irritation or any more primal, obsessive urge. This was something both of them knew, and hence, the onmyouji's questioning right now was closer to good natured ribbing than any sort of prosecution.
Nonetheless, the oni faced with his master's words hesitated slightly before offering a response. "My feelings are irrelevant. She was both too familiar with my master, and passed the line of acceptable rudeness. That is all."
And to that, Uchiten responded with honest laughter.
"Ha-ha! As always, you're so gullible. But don't worry. Your willfulness is what I like about you."
If he was surprised by the retort, Zan did not show it, and slightly bowed his head with a hum of concession.
Uchiten was smirking at him as they continued to walk, before suddenly stopping at a deserted corner.
The oni showed no reaction as the evil spirit removed one of his gloves and brought his hand up to bite down on the length of his pointer finger. Uchiten's teeth dug into his fake flesh with sadistic delight until he gave one stronger pull and ripped out a piece of skin from the finger, separating his mouth from it. The bit of meat was chewed between his teeth as dark blood dripped from the open wound he had created on himself. Swallowing, then smiling, he brought his wounded finger to shoulder level. And with a movement that seemed practiced, he swung his arm and hand up in an arc that swept drops of his blood high into the air.
As the black blood began to fall, both of Uchiten's hands were clapped together straightly in front of his chest, palm against palm. The sound that seemed far too strong to be natural spread outwards in a shock, and the thin rain of bloof froze mid-air as it passed it.
The droplets trembled, fizzled, and then began to expand and thicken with spluttering, wet sounds. From each tiny drop, a shape that fit into a person's palm formed. Uchiten's blood obeyed his silent command and changed into a band of small and featureless black birds that hovered above him, beating their wings to stay in the air. His smile widened, and he spread his arms in a large gesture as he ordered them.
"Go. Fly through this city. Be my eyes and ears."
Without a sound but the beating of wings that were neither of leather nor feathers, his makeshift familiars departed, flying off in every direction. Uchiten lowered his arms and returned the glove to his exposed hand, the small wound he had dealt himself already completely gone. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he looked back at Zan as he started to walk again.
"Shall we continue our stroll?" he asked.
The oni nodded and wordlessly followed.
-
Mudou and Shezar
The inbetween
Through the blackness they came, using the coordinates input by Imnity before she left they appeared far above the city right in the area of Downy's previous destructive spells.
"So she is here, perhaps she was unable to get out of the way in time. Should we start near the rubble?" Shezar held onto a small but very well constructed hand glider which he used to soar through the sky.
"Eh whatever, I don' really care." Mudou on the other hand flew with an old fashioned kite, a group of eyes obediently flying right behind him with similar tools.
"Well then, why not start with those two?" With his hands focused on holding him in the sky he used his vision to spot the two figures far below in crumbled alleyway. One of them appeared to be completely unconscious while the other was deep in work perhaps to try and heal them.
"Fine whatever, do what you want." Though his mood couldn't be much worse Mudou took the lead his enormous bulk easily picking up speed as he descended through the sky.
*Wabooom!*
The concrete below began to crack at the force of the weight Mudou had used due to his rapid descent. Landing gracefully by his side, Shezar on the other hand was much more elegant in his movements. "Must you be so vulgar? A man must give the utmost of elegance at all times, to do any less is a crime."
Ignoring the two they had originally targeted Mudou turned to face Shezar his face sour with Shezar's taunts. "Will you shut the hell up already, I'm getting real sick of yur damn attitude."
Though his face was concealed behind a thick gray mask, Shezar put his hand up to his head anyway as if to show the disapointment he had for his fellow 'partner'. "I can't help but point out your very well defined flaws, it's the duty of every gentlemen to do so. Both as a benefit to me and my brethren as a whole."
Mudou balled his fist in anger, he had completely forgotten the other two who were very nearby by this point. "Ya jackass, if I knew that downy'd be on my ass in a second for killin you during a mission I'd do it right here and right now."
Shezar on the other hand held up his hands in a sarcastic motion. As if to talk to the sky itself. "Must we go through this every time!?"
Even as they continued their bickering, their voices rang through the rubble of the broken alleyway. They no longer bothered to pay attention to the two they were supposed to be heading towards and if they had even a bit of common sense to stop and look around they would have found their comrades body very nearby.
-
The King of Heroes watched in near-disbelief as Karna, propelled by the winds that could lift an army millions strong, reared back his fist and punched the mountain with the force of a meteor. Skyscrapers were broken in half, and smaller buildings were completed lifted from the ground as the greatest hero India had ever seen pressed the attack. With wings of flame, the Saint of Generosity flew after the meteor, straight at Gilgamesh.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" (http://youtu.be/lRz6cbrxb_k?t=26s)
With a roar that could tear a man in half from the sonic force it emitted, Karna's ungodly strength sent the colossal rock flying back towards the King of Heroes, and, boosted by the same wind, unfolded his fiery wings once more and followed the rock, flying just behind it.
"HERE I COME, KING OF HEROES! CAN YOUR SOUL BURN AS BRIGHT AS MINE?!"
With a roar that shattered the windows of every standing building within a three kilometers, The Golden King met his challenge.
"YOUR SOUL IS BUT AN EMBER," The mountain approached at sonic speeds, wreathed in a corona of flame.
"BEFORE THE TRUE MIGHT-"
The mountain was almost upon him, glowing red with the fires of the Sun.
"OF THE KING!"
The mountain descended.
"MUUUDDDAAA MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAAA! (http://youtu.be/muOVF89VfLw?t=23s)"
The Original Hero's fists pounded against the mountain, unknown to the burning of the flames. Each strike pounded against the mountain with force only matched by Karna himself, craters forming in each place where the King's might touched.
Still letting out his wild battle cry, Gilgamesh tore through the mountain like it was paper, his blows breaking the sound barrier.
"MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAAAA! IS THIS THE BEST YOU BRING BEFORE THE KING, KARNA, SON OF SURYA!?" (http://youtu.be/muOVF89VfLw?t=23s)
-
The King above Kings had defeated this mountain once before, so it did not come to Karna as a surprise when his fists began raining down on one end of the mountain like a machine gun, pieces crushing anything unfortunate enough below. Karna could attack the King of Heroes from the side, but such an act would be cowardly and dishonorable. So instead, he was going to go in from the front. Even when faced with a mountain in his way.
"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!"
With a battle cry of his own, Karna's fists, covered in a layer of fire, began tearing the mountain to pieces. He and Gilgamesh, beating on the mountain from one side each, tore through the entire thing in a matter of seconds, reducing it to nothing but rubble on the ground below. Face to face, once again, Karna's fists collided with Gilgamesh's right cheek, only to suffer a similar blow on his own left not a second later.
Then, faster than any eye could follow, blows began to rain down by the dozen on each great hero. Fists were deflected, blocked, struck true and dodged five times a second, and the sheer force of wind from the blows caused nearby buildings to suffer extreme damage.
It was two unstoppable, immovable objects that collided a thousand times a minute. While Karna had the clear advantage in skill and the conceptual protection of his body, the King of Heroes was faster and stronger and tougher in body. Simply their heels digging into the building below them began to tear the tower-like skyscraper down floor by floor, as gold met gold in a flash of sparks for the ten thousandth time, and within minutes they were standing upon flat soil.
"Come on, King of Heroes. Is this all you can manage despite the venom you spat at me?! Show me the strength that toppled the gods and overcame death!"
-
The two men borrowed a taxi and they were on their way. Since they had time before reaching Forest's place, they could make do with a bit more chatting.
"Say, you mentioned a curse running in your family. Want to share some with your first pal in town? I suspect there's an interesting story behind it."
OOC: Should have responded sooner, barely noticed over the epic duel of Gilgamesh and Karna
"It's nothing very interesting. It's that our family members tend to inherit supernatural powers, and we attract the supernatural itself. Hence why get tangled in really weird stuff, often ending up in dire straights" he explained, rather casually.
-
...
...
...Repair Protocol Complete
All of a sudden light flooded her vision. It took a few milliseconds for her brain to start processing what was coming through her sensory cameras.
As it turns out, Elissa was laying down on a hard surface, looking up at a street lamp. Quickly sitting up, she immediately took in her surroundings: It was night, she was laying on the street, and she was surrounded by buildings.
The buildings were intact.
The buildings were intact.
It was obvious that she wasn't in the Seattle Combat Zone, that's for sure. Elissa then stood up; time to do a self diagnosis. Thrusters: intact and functional. Joints: Fully mobile. Casting Rods: Intact. Mana Collecting Fins: No damage. Prana Generator: Optimal. Prana Flow: Ideal. Prana Battery: 100% charged.
'Next step is to scout the surroundings.' Elissa thought. Quickly darting to an alley way for cover, she quickly scanned the next streeet over. 'Clear.' She darted to the next alleyway.
Kaboooom!
Response to the explosion was swift. Quickly aiming her right arm's casting rods in the direction it came from. So focussed on trying to find the source, Elissa did not notice the taxi cab turning around the corner behind her.
-
Imnity
Warehouses
"Very well then, please take my hand and hold on tight." After making sure that both of them were within holding on she sent a message to her Master and began to recite her well known spell.
'Master we are returning after some new developments, we have found someone who may be of use in the future.' A simple 'Very well then.' Was all she got back.
Since her hands were full the book that she often carried on her began to magically float in front of her, it flipped through it's pages automatically as Imnity recited her spell. Even as the chaos rained around them her skill was as excellent and focused as always. And then a flash of light and they were gone.
Where they arrived was once again all too familiar to them, after all they had just recently left. In front of them Downy was focused on a glowing blue crystal that floated in front of him. The crystal was projecting the fight between the two monstrous Servant and Downy's face to the chaos was one of content. Without bothering to turn back to his fellow comrades he spoke up to them. "Report."
Imnity the first to regain herself after their transportation spoke up. "As you can tell another grand battle has begun inside the city, the power's of the two opposing forces seem to be far greater than anything we've seen up to this point, perhaps rivaling that of the Sacred Armor itself."
A quick wave of Downy's hand and Imnity moved to her next topic. "Besides that we've also come across a beast of ancient draconian heritage. Though unfortunately it seems to have been injured somehow. As you are well away my expertise is not in healing, but due to the insistence of our ally Saber, we decided to bring it back anyway to see if you might be willing to do anything for it."
At the mention of an ancient dragon, Downy finally took his eyes of the chaos of the screen and turned to face the arrivals. Turning to face the sickened beast he spoke to it. "So, you wish to ask for my help? And why should I give it to you?" His eyebrow raised as he asked the question he awaited a response.
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Imnity
Warehouses
A quick wave of Downy's hand and Imnity moved to her next topic. "Besides that we've also come across a beast of ancient draconian heritage. Though unfortunately it seems to have been injured somehow. As you are well away my expertise is not in healing, but due to the insistence of our ally Saber, we decided to bring it back anyway to see if you might be willing to do anything for it."
At the mention of an ancient dragon, Downy finally took his eyes of the chaos of the screen and turned to face the arrivals. Turning to face the sickened beast he spoke to it. "So, you wish to ask for my help? And why should I give it to you?" His eyebrow raised as he asked the question he awaited a response.
He was not a stranger to teleportation magic, so the queasiness of the inexperienced did not take hold of his already addled sense. "By your words, you are not one for charity. Very well. I can offer my services and alliance as a combatant and messenger. While weakened at the moment, kindly do not count me as lesser to any other dragons you have experience with." Lycodrake could tell a little bit about the man before him by their eye contact: this man had no use for those without use to him.
"However, if you are the sort to target innocents, then I shall be on my way as quickly as I am able. I am grateful that your servant and ally aided me, but that gratitude will never extend to helping you if you are that sort."
-
The King above Kings had defeated this mountain once before, so it did not come to Karna as a surprise when his fists began raining down on one end of the mountain like a machine gun, pieces crushing anything unfortunate enough below. Karna could attack the King of Heroes from the side, but such an act would be cowardly and dishonorable. So instead, he was going to go in from the front. Even when faced with a mountain in his way.
"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!"
With a battle cry of his own, Karna's fists, covered in a layer of fire, began tearing the mountain to pieces. He and Gilgamesh, beating on the mountain from one side each, tore through the entire thing in a matter of seconds, reducing it to nothing but rubble on the ground below. Face to face, once again, Karna's fists collided with Gilgamesh's right cheek, only to suffer a similar blow on his own left not a second later.
Then, faster than any eye could follow, blows began to rain down by the dozen on each great hero. Fists were deflected, blocked, struck true and dodged five times a second, and the sheer force of wind from the blows caused nearby buildings to suffer extreme damage.
It was two unstoppable, immovable objects that collided a thousand times a minute. While Karna had the clear advantage in skill and the conceptual protection of his body, the King of Heroes was faster and stronger and tougher in body. Simply their heels digging into the building below them began to tear the tower-like skyscraper down floor by floor, as gold met gold in a flash of sparks for the ten thousandth time, and within minutes they were standing upon flat soil.
"Come on, King of Heroes. Is this all you can manage despite the venom you spat at me?! Show me the strength that toppled the gods and overcame death!"
"Well, this is beginning to get out of hand." Grigori was beginning to get a little worried. People where a renewable resource so their deaths matter little, but he still wanted to see the rest of the city. If the fighters didn't stop soon nothing would be left, and they didn't look like it was going to stop soon. "Going to have to take care of this myself."
Grigori held out his hand and blue light burst into existence. It twisted around his hands and he shaped it into a spell that would best fit the current situation. Normally he would do this without the theatrics but he was in a good mood today. Then the light became even brighter. He looked down to see the patterns on his arm glowing. It seemed like it was capable of boosting his magic with it's own. "How interesting creature. It seems you provide your own benefits." With that said Grigori released the magic and a massive blue dome began to form over the battlefield. Thousands of sigils moved across it. Repel, block, stop, and slow were just a few that were shown. It would be able to stop any backlash from the fight and hopefully stop it from spreading any farther. However, it was time to make a spectacle out of this fight. Everyone deserves a chance to see a battle of this magnitude. An enormous screen appeared in the air and the recording sigils within the dome began to activate. Grigori snapped his fingers and his voice became loud enough to be heard around the city. A chair and desk built itself out of the fallen rubble and he sat down.
"Hello people of Nexus City. I am your host Grigori and I am here to bring you the fight of the century. One one side we have the Son of Surya, Karna! On the other we have the one, the only, King of Heroes! So far they have wrecked multiple city blocks and crushed dozens of skyscrapers, and the property damage is only getting higher! NOW LETS GET THIS CITY READY TO CRUUUUUUUUUMBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
The desk and chair crumbled away and Grigori began to leave when he heard a voice. "Hey man! Let us out of here!" Grigori looked over to see a man in a ragged pair of jeans surrounded by a few others. "I'm sorry my good man but after all that effort I went to creating that barrier I simply don't feel like opening it for you. It would be much more entertaining to see if you actually survived this clash of titans. Come back to me if you do." He began to walk away. Even when they began to scream and curse he simply ignored them. Now that he could view the fight from anywhere it was time to see what kinds of people he could draw out. A simple burst of mana sent him flying blocks away from the barrier. Now that there was a suitable amount of distance he let mana pour out of him. Any human being would be able to sense it at this point. The deluge of magical energies would send tingles down anyone's spine. Those especially attuned to the magical arts could sense him easily now. It was just a matter of time before someone accepted his invitation.
-
Vatler observed the phenomena before his eyes with a frown. He had hoped to see the abilities of these god-like warriors, sons of the Tenbu themselves, would prove a challenge he could go all-out against, but now the battlefield had been sealed off by a gigantic sphere, though however had put it up clearly took as much joy in this spectacle as Vatler did, having covered the sphere of power with screens displaying the battle within.
Changing his expression to a smirk, Vatler had instead now found a different goal. While he would definitely keep watch on the spectacle, as golden warrior hit golden warrior for the hundredth thousandth time with world-shaking force without giving an inch, Vatler had instead detected a new source of entertainment. Whoever had put up this massive barrier was using a large amount of mana, an action that was trace on the wind.
'When a mage makes it this obvious that they are using magic, they want visitors. That's juuuuust fine with me.'
With a thought, Vatler's body decomposed into white sand and blew in the direction of this great mage.
-
It only took a few minutes for Minato to walk to the place where the magical energy was emitting from after seeing the barrier go up and feeling the outpouring of magical power.
A powerful looking person was just standing there radiating power like it was nothing.
Looking it straight in the face,
"So you are where that barrier came from," said Minato softly, "why the beacon?"
-
Saber simply crossed her arms. Now that she was in the presence of her Master, she waited for him to make a decision about the possible new ally. It was a good chance as any to evaluate him. As a Knight, she wasn't exactly convinced about his motivations but as a Servant, she had to follow his command.
So, you wish to ask for my help? And why should I give it to you?
Lycodrake offered his services in return but they had to take in account his own morality.
However, if you are the sort to target innocents, then I shall be on my way as quickly as I am able. I am grateful that your servant and ally aided me, but that gratitude will never extend to helping you if you are that sort.
And this is where things wouldn't work. Downy appeared to be the kind to use any means necessary to obtain what he wanted. As proved with the magic circles spread in town. The man who destroyed them had claimed that Downy aimed to kill innocents. Collateral damage since he intended to go back to his world through that process. But her Master never actually showed any remorse about it.
There was a world between their views, so, the knight thought about something that wouldn't cause conflict. Mordred carefully eyed Downy as she stepped forward.
"If I may suggest something, Master. I believe Lobelia hasn't come back to us yet. We could have him help us in locating her. That way, he can be of use to us without having to worry about bringing harm upon innocent people. I would consider it a fair deal if it helps us bringing back one of your Generals. But first, could you at least deal with what's weakening him?" She turned to Lycodrake. "One of us is missing. We would appreciate your cooperation in that matter."
----
"Well, at least you're used to troubles. Something that will come in handy around the-..."
His sentence cut short by a sudden collision, the werewolf hit his . The driver let out a yell on par with the brakes' volume as tires left a burned trail on the concrete. Before the vehicle even stopped its momentum, Kyle was out there, looking for what was the cause of their accident.
What he saw was a sort of robot lying on the ground. From where he stood, it was hard to tell if it had taken any damage. The driver didn't wait an instant to run away, leaving his car behind without second thoughts. Not an uncommon thing in Nexus though. Kyle checked inside the cab to see if his companion was fine.
"You alright, man? Looks like we found something pretty unique."
-
Grigori smirked when he saw the first person appear. A man with blonde hair and blue eyes dressed in a white suit. Then came another one. With blue hair dressed in what seemed to be a school uniform.
"So you are where that barrier came from," said Minato softly, "why the beacon?"
"I wanted to test the waters. Those two in the barrier have proved to be entertaining enough , but I want to stretch these old bones a little. However, it would be rude to not introduce myself. I am Grigori. I am not one for flamboyance but a first impression is important." He stretched out his arms and for a second he changed. The mortal shell was dropped for a single moment and the essence of a god was exposed to the world. The air smelled like rotting flesh and there were soft whispers. They spoke of the end, of eternity, of the ruin of all things. "Now, shall we begin?"
-
Minato feels a smirk starting to appear, normally he would be more hesitant to get into a fight, but it has been SO long...
"All right, let's see how you compare to the others."
The time it took to enter striking range was so short that it could not even be called an instant;
the slash showed the practice of a thousand and more battles;
as the blade of light, forged by Lucifer to kill God, rushed at the neck of the deity in human skin.
-
"Hooh, the essence of a death god? An intriguing power source indeed, but I'm afraid to tell you that won't do much by itself."
With that, Vatler raised his hand, and in the palm of it, he built up a sphere of purple magical energy, crackling with lightning. Then, as his sunglasses lit up, revealing that his light-blue eyes had taken a shade of blood-red, a vast beam of purple magic flew forward towards the faux-god as an odd teenager jumped into view at the same time, clearly stalking the same prey.
Things were about to get very interesting. Just as Vatler liked it...
-
Even as the teenager moved towards him Grigori had already made his move. A wall of rock had formed in front of him while the ground below him opened up and swallowed him without a sound. He felt a stinging sensation and realized that the boy had managed to cut him before he fully submerged. It was a minor cut and a spark of healing magic closed the cut. Grigori began to push mana into the rock. In a second the earth rumbled, and thousands of spikes burst from the ground. Then he aimed at the approximate location of the blonde haired man. A ball of light formed in his hands and he fired. It would blast through the rock and kill him instantly. Unless he was fast enough to avoid it. It would be disappointing if the man couldn't.
-
As both Gilgamesh and Karna tore through the mountain, Gilgamesh could not hide his feral grin or his rising enjoyment. As their fists reduced the mountain to fragments, shattering the stone with staggering force, The King truly began to enjoy this fight. It had been a long, long time since he had fought someone who could challenge him. And, as he contemplated that fact, the last part of the mountain was destroyed as both combatants unleashed a mighty blow.
The King of Heroes unleashed a powerful blow to Karna's left cheek only to receive the same on his right - in that instant, the fight was on. A hailstorm of blows that would crush any other man were unleashed from both fighters. Thousands upon thousands of strikes were exchanged in minutes, each so powerful that the shockwaves tore the building they were on to shreds. Fighting through each layer of the building even as he fell, The Golden King matched Karna's skill and endurance with raw power and speed.
Soon they stood upon the bare soil, surrounded by rubble, and fought on. Even as a massive dome went up around him, Gilgamesh didn't care. Though the skill difference was enough to match his power, that would soon change. Gilgamesh doubled, then tripled, then quadrupled the power behind his fists. Waves of wind from the sheer speed of his blows matched, no, exceeded the flame from Karna's fists as The Golden King slowly forced him back. Each strike shook the space within the dome, the air pressure from each of their blows cratering the ground beneath them in an expanding wave.
As the violence, strength, and speed of their attacks escalated, shaking the ground beneath them, Gilgamesh could not help but laugh. Laughing even as they tore through the city underneath the dome, the King of Heroes was truly enjoying himself.
-
This time a long silence followed. It appeared Nessa was done asking, yet, her gaze stayed on the man. Only the faint sound of her legs swinging could be heard. After few more seconds she decided to enquire about one last point.
"It did something to you, right? Turning me." She paused to judge his reaction. "You don't have to hide stuff from me at this point."
...She saw right through me. A resigned smile forced its way to my face, fangs extending slightly, just enough to show they were there. "I still have my secrets. There's always something one of our kind wants to hide."
I broke eye contact, for a few seconds, looking at the door out of the office. I could just leave her to her own devices now, that I'd taught her the basics. She'd learn about her own powers on her own. But, in the end, I'd never be able to forgive myself if I abandoned one of my Blood.
"And yeah. It did something to me. What I did to you now, wasn't human. Wasn't even close to human. So the Beast is stepping into that gap the Man has left."
-
I still have my secrets. There's always something one of our kind wants to hide.
"I bet," she answered with a shy smile in return.
She watched him as he looked at the door. Nessa could obviously tell what was going through his mind but she didn't dare say anything.
And yeah. It did something to me. What I did to you now, wasn't human. Wasn't even close to human. So the Beast is stepping into that gap the Man has left.
"..."
Nessa closed her eyes. She didn't have the words. She couldn't think of anything that would alleviate her sin. She was the reason a cursed man had been pushed further down the path of damnation. She could never restore back the part of humanity she stole from him. It caused her almost physical pain to even think about it. She couldn't even apologize to him. What purpose but to make her feel better about it? No, she wasn't allowed to do that.
Still, she couldn't let it go like that. The adolescent approached the man and hugged him gently.
"It's alright. You'll be fine."
She hugged harder.
"You said that you lost a part of yourself in the process. That you gave away your humanity for me. But you didn't lose it. I received your gift. I'm not leaving your sacrifice go to waste. I'll keep it in your stead. And I will stay by your side. That way, you will feel whole once again. We're family now."
-
Downy Reed
The Inbetween
Downy recognized the serious intent of the dragon's words. Though he had never met a Dragon in person he had studied them. They were often times very ancient and wise creatures though personalities differed they often stayed true to their own goals regardless of the situation they were placed in.
After a moment of thought had passed Downy finally spoke up. "Myself and my companions simply wish to finish a task laid out before us. There is a man named Gabriel, he has done a great misdeed to me. I simply want to repay him in full. As for the rest of the people in this city, the innocents that you speak of... I have no interest in them any more. They will not be harmed so long as it is avoidable, of that you have my word."
He let into a bow one most fitting of his stature and stared directly into the creatures eyes so as to show he meant every word he spoke. But would the dragon believe him?
-
Uchiten
Rooftop - amidst the battlefield of the warrior gods
Ketsumoto Uchiten was entertained. A smile stretched across his face beyond what would seem physically possible, painting an expression of extreme joy. Sitting in the air few centimeters above the dull grey floor, one leg held up by the other, hand under his chin, a little maniacal light shone behind his shades. His eyes were wide, taking in every detail of the cataclysmic clash happening so close to him. For a given value of close, because were he to stand closer than the tens of hundreds of meters from it he was now, he was certain to walk away worse for the wear. But even danger of serious injury or death would not dissuade him from watching this.
An impossible battle the likes of which he had never seen, godly powers and their holders colliding again and again with an intensity that only grew greater every second. A radiant, beautiful, remorseless and ruthless contest of wills, completely unnaffected by the extreme destruction it caused with every span. It was magnificent, unmatched, and glorious. Even if the powers involved were too much for him to join on a whim (and doing so would likely cause a disservice to the fighters, not to mention be incredibly rude of him), being this close and perceiving the exchange of blows was already extremely satisfying on a personal level. He could not remember the last time he enjoyed himself so much!
Besides Uchiten, with feet standing firm on the ground was Zan, eyebrows twitching, single eye wider than his master's as he too watched the spectacle. Cold sweat ran down his face and shaking wracked his body from head to toe, fear bearing down on him, but still a feral smile of excitement remained on his face.
The two were watching the confrontation from inside the boundaries of a simple square carved on the rooftop of a tall building. Its four sides were oriented according to the cardinal directions, and its area covered almost all of the surface on which they stood. The barrier, enforced by the power of Byakko, Genbu, Seiryuu and Suzaku, had so far prevented any harm from coming into the space it guarded. The powerful shockwaves, falling pieces of the destroyed mountain, and lashing typhoon winds had crashed uselessly against it, mere byproducts of the fight that they were. If an attack from either of the golden warriors came against it in earnest, it was doubtful it would hold without strain, but for the moment it was sufficient, keeping the top of the building mostly safe from the unfolding cataclysm.
The rest of the construction couldn't be said to be in as much proper form. Large parts of it had been sheared by the winds of Karna, the stray weapons of Gilgamesh had rent through it and destroyed it, and the effects of the fighting in general had reduced it to little more than a crumbling tower; the top floors somehow held in place, all but floating in clear defiance of the laws of physics as the boundary field sought to maintain the integrity of the absolute territory it protected.
Uchiten had had the luck of bearing witness to the opening blows of the conflict between the great heroes through the eyes of one of his familiars (soonafter shred to nothing by the backlash); and of having managed to secure a good observation point a safe distance from it before the environmental damage escalated.
Now, they were enjoying the view for all it was worth.
"Don't be foolish. Even if you are an old and powerful youkai, you are not their match. Were it anyone else, maybe, but even their sheer strength surpasses your own. As they are, you would keep up for no more than a few strikes before being obliterated; against either of them." Uchiten said, breaking the silence after taking a glance at his shikigami.
The oni responded between heavy panting. "No... if, if I...." and as he did, his free hand ever slowly rose, drawing near his eyepatch...
Until it froze from the iron tone of his master that left no room for questioning.
"Zan."
Then, suddenly straighting himself and pulling his hand back to his side, the youkai of slaughter hid his rampant excitement behind a professional face, and lightly lowered his head. The onmyouji's smile had shrunk, and Zan could tell so from his master's voice alone.
"My pardons." he offered in repentance.
Uchiten's piercing gaze once more slid to him, evaluated him shortly, and left to focus back on the fight, accompanied by a dismissive hum from its owner. Zan, too, returned his attention to it, silently securing his growing bloodlust.
As they both beheld it with their full attention again, the perimeter of the battle was surrounded by a transparent dome of magic, and the responsible made himself noticed by the leaking of power and his grandiose show. Zan frowned. Uchiten showed no outward reaction, and like his bodyguard, kept his concerns on following the brawl.
Inside his mind, he had a single thought of interest and let his smile grow larger again.
-
A ball of light formed in his hands and he fired. It would blast through the rock and kill him instantly. Unless he was fast enough to avoid it. It would be disappointing if the man couldn't.
A ball of light out of the ground, towards Vatler at a high speed... and flew uselessly through him as his body once again dispersed into mist before instantly reappearing, smirking as widely as ever.
"So you wish to play cat and mouse, great sorcerer? Very well, but know that I'm hard to satisfy that way."
Takshaka!
A massive grey dragon with a neon-pink pattern running down it's stomach appeared out of thin air behind Vatler. With a fingersnap of his, it opened it's jaws wide as a grey energy ball built up inside it's mouth. Not a second later, an endless rain of grey energy needles began to destroy the entire area around where his opponent had burrowed in. Vatler knew his opponent couldn't hide for long, and smiled at the thought.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are~!"
-
ERROR
PERFORMING SYSTEM CHECKUP...
CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE DETECTED...SYSTEM REBOOTING
…FAILED
EXTERNAL SYSTEMS OFFLINE. INTERNAL SYSTEMS...EXPOSED.
BEGINNING SAFETY MEASURES...
WARNING: SYSTEM OVERRIDDEN.
…
…
…
...SYSTEM REBOOTING...
ALL SYSTEMS...ONLINE. UNIT I.D. R31-N4: ACTIVATED.
The unit's eyes slowly fluttered open. She tried running scans of her systems, maybe even assess the events that had occurred earlier. But...nothing came. No matter how much she tried, she could not replay the information from her memory banks. Apparently, whatever had happened after her attempted suicide attack had left her with some serious damage.
Or, at least, it should have.
While she could not recover the information regarding said events, her systems and body seemed to be, while not in perfect condition, in working order. However, she did feel a strange sensation coming from her torso.
The unit peered down (now realizing she was laid down on the floor) and saw what appeared to be a young girl working repairs on her body. She seemed to have a...happy, yet determined expression on her face. Based on her recent scan, she seemed to be almost finished.
“Who...are you?” the unit inquired, her voice coming slightly monotone and tired. Just who was this girl?
-
A ball of light out of the ground, towards Vatler at a high speed... and flew uselessly through him as his body once again dispersed into mist before instantly reappearing, smirking as widely as ever.
"So you wish to play cat and mouse, great sorcerer? Very well, but know that I'm hard to satisfy that way."
Takshaka!
A massive grey dragon with a neon-pink pattern running down it's stomach appeared out of thin air behind Vatler. With a fingersnap of his, it opened it's jaws wide as a grey energy ball built up inside it's mouth. Not a second later, an endless rain of grey energy needles began to destroy the entire area around where his opponent had burrowed in. Vatler knew his opponent couldn't hide for long, and smiled at the thought.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are~!"
As the needles began to destroy his cover Grigori only smiled and formed a barrier. The needles were incapable of breaching it and with a burst of mana he flew 60 meters into the air. He raised his right arm and launched several blue fireballs at the man while his left arm crackled with electricity and sent several bolts of lightning at the beast.
-
. He raised his right arm and launched several blue fireballs at the man while his left arm crackled with electricity and sent several bolts of lightning at the beast.
Vatler was pleased that his opponent would not resort to cowardice, but he would have to try far harder than that to beat a monarch of the Warlord's Dominion.
"Takshaka!"
The already manifested Familiar used it's secondary function, the conjuring of metals, to bring forth a large lightning rod, which absorbed the bolts before they could even come close. However Vatler still had another set of projectiles to deal with.
"Sagara!"
Another Dragon, purple and black as night itself, manifested next to Vatler's left side, and immediately spewed forth a torrent of dark-blue water, drowning out the fireballs before descending upon the Sorcerer. At the same time, Takshaka shot the lightning rod into the fierce blast of water, electrifying it with the load from the lightning bolts.
-
"Well, at least you're used to troubles. Something that will come in handy around the-..."
His sentence cut short by a sudden collision, the werewolf hit his . The driver let out a yell on par with the brakes' volume as tires left a burned trail on the concrete. Before the vehicle even stopped its momentum, Kyle was out there, looking for what was the cause of their accident.
What he saw was a sort of robot lying on the ground. From where he stood, it was hard to tell if it had taken any damage. The driver didn't wait an instant to run away, leaving his car behind without second thoughts. Not an uncommon thing in Nexus though. Kyle checked inside the cab to see if his companion was fine.
"You alright, man? Looks like we found something pretty unique."
"I'm alright" replied JoJo, who was sturdy enough to come out of the accident with only some scratches. Using Hamon instinctively to reinforce his body to an extent could be the reason "What you say, is that some kind of machine?" he asked inquisitively.
-
"I'm alright" replied JoJo, who was sturdy enough to come out of the accident with only some scratches. Using Hamon instinctively to reinforce his body to an extent could be the reason "What you say, is that some kind of machine?" he asked inquisitively.
Once she was able to focus in on her visual and audio input, Elissa staggered up and quickly turned around. Catching sight of two individuals staring up at her, she quickly rose up her right arm and aimed the casting rods at the closest one to her.
"Which one of you was the operator of the vehicle?" Elissa demanded in a mechanical, yet feminine voice.
-
. He raised his right arm and launched several blue fireballs at the man while his left arm crackled with electricity and sent several bolts of lightning at the beast.
Vatler was pleased that his opponent would not resort to cowardice, but he would have to try far harder than that to beat a monarch of the Warlord's Dominion.
"Takshaka!"
The already manifested Familiar used it's secondary function, the conjuring of metals, to bring forth a large lightning rod, which absorbed the bolts before they could even come close. However Vatler still had another set of projectiles to deal with.
"Sagara!"
Another Dragon, purple and black as night itself, manifested next to Vatler's left side, and immediately spewed forth a torrent of dark-blue water, drowning out the fireballs before descending upon the Sorcerer. At the same time, Takshaka shot the lightning rod into the fierce blast of water, electrifying it with the load from the lightning bolts.
"You are a very interesting opponent. Such powerful familiars." With a gesture the water froze solid and with Grigori held the ice in midair. With the water frozen he could see the rod of metal inside. "Very clever as well. I wish to know your name before we continue this battle."
-
Vatler was truly beginning to enjoy this, his opponent providing the challenge he missed out on before. However, a proper duel could not be held without an exchange of names, and this Grigori, sharing name with a servant of his, was definitely worthy.
"I am Dmitrie Vatler, Duke of Ardeal, the first principality of the Warlord's Dominion, and born from my own lord, Lost Warlord, the First Primogenitor."
Even with his formal greeting, Vatler did not let up his attack. His azure eyes grew red once more.
"Vasuki!"
A red Dragon with green-tipped scales appeared and took the place of Takshaka, before opening it's jaws wide and unleashing a molten gust of fire, so hot that it melted buildings on contact and yet large enough to instantly cover a small forest.
-
Vatler was truly beginning to enjoy this, his opponent providing the challenge he missed out on before. However, a proper duel could not be held without an exchange of names, and this Grigori, sharing name with a servant of his, was definitely worthy.
"I am Dmitrie Vatler, Duke of Ardeal, the first principality of the Warlord's Dominion, and born from my own lord, Lost Warlord, the First Primogenitor."
Even with his formal greeting, Vatler did not let up his attack. His azure eyes grew red once more.
"Vasuki!"
A red Dragon with green-tipped scales appeared and took the place of Takshaka, before opening it's jaws wide and unleashing a molten gust of fire, so hot that it melted buildings on contact and yet large enough to instantly cover a small forest.
Grigori was extremely amused. He had not expected much from his first fight but this Vatler had proved to be a formidable adversary. Then he looked over to see the flames rushing towards his position and began to pull up more mana. One of the first ability a hydromancer learns is the ability to convert raw mana into water. Extremely useful in situations where there isn't a source of water nearby. With that in mind Grigori pulled upon his reserves and drowned out that incoming flames with a flood of water.
Grigori touched the water and the flood froze solid. He snapped his fingers, and the ice shifted into thousands of spikes. Another touch emblazoned the sigils of growth all over the ice. Even though the sigils had only been recently placed the ice began to grow on the ground and buildings. Even the spikes had this sigil on them, and they would grow on whatever they hit. With a single fingersnap the icicles were fired at the speed of bullets.
-
With a scoff, Vatler barely even acknowledged the oncoming storm of icicles. He had begun to realize that neither he nor his opponent felt truly into this fight.
"Vasuki!"
The red Dragon, having never disappeared in the first place, responded with another wave of fire, reducing both the fire and icicles to steam, hanging thick in the air.
"There is little to be gained from this fight. Neither you nor I have the intention of taking this seriously, so what do you say we call a truce, and behold the spectacle below?", Vatler asked, inclining the vast battle of the golden warriors with a shake of his head. As to prove his honesty, the two Dragons behind Vatler disappeared from sight.
-
"An excellent idea. However every good spectacle deserves good drink as well doesn't it?" The metal rod burst out of the ice and reshaped itself into two fine goblets with a metal dragon wrapped around the center. Grigori created water and poured it into the goblets. A single transmutation spell changed the water into high quality wine. "The skyscraper over there should prove to be a suitable location." He flew to the top of the building and held out the goblet waiting for Vatler to come along.
-
Vatler had a feeling that he would very much come to like this youthful looking faux-god a lot. With a single jump, Vatler had climbed half of the urban tower, covered another half by jumping off the wall, cracking it slightly in the process and then finally hoisting himself over the edge of the roof with a single relaxed hand motion, landing on his feet. Taking the overly ornate goblet from Grigori's extended hand, Vatler took a sip. The wine was nothing spectacular, but he did not mind, his standards for fine drink were admittedly too high to begin with. With a slight nod of appreciation towards his fellow sorcerer, he watched the spectacle appearing on the magical screen ensue.
-
Satoshi smiled as the knights returned carrying the steel. " Stay there, I'll be finished with your bindings in ten minutes" he said.
Angra gurgled in response.
-
Karna was forced back a few steps, a bruise on his face beginning to heal. This was not going as well as he would've liked. He and the Golden King had exchanged blows for almost 15 minutes now, and things were not in his favor. Minus the fact that he had turned Gilgamesh's armor into a dented mess, he had done superficial damage. It was clear to him that he would never win in a fistfight at this rate.
'But... I said myself that the result would not matter'
Truly just as the king before him, he was enjoying this fight more than any other he had ever participated in. He had been so into it that he had barely noticed that they had been caged and turned into an exposition. However, fighting with fists only was getting slightly dull, and Karna was at a disadvantage, his body covered in bruises, cuts and cracks in his armor that were regenerating at rapid speeds.
Molding his Brahmastra into the shape of a short sword and shield (http://www.agefotostock.com/previewimage/bajaage/d13773395038e68d26924235e77c6f32/DPA-MAA-69710.jpg), Karna pressed the attack, catching each of Gilgamesh's blows with the nigh-unbreakable sword and shield while laying down a fierce counterattack.
Minutes passed as golden fists met black sword and shield before Karna saw his opening. His opponent, in a brief moment of carelessness, had left his left shoulder open, and Karna struck, even as a fist bore down on the left side of his face, burrowing the sword deep between the Golden Hero's shoulder blades before sending him him flying with a shield slam to the midsection.
-
Ellen
These were closing hours of her computer service shop, and the sun was setting. She carefully checked on if the doors were locked, being slightly paranoid about people breaking and seizing something. The crime rate was on surge, after all. And she could not afford any major financial losses, as she barely paid off her student loan. Despite her considerable skill at computers and technology, she has been unable to secure some well paid job in her field without connections, so she had to be content with starting small. But better something than nothing.
On her way to home, something really nasty and unexpected happened. In form of fragment of rubble or some other debris piercing her body at high speed. Her lungs pierced, she spurted blood from her mouth and collapsed to the ground, gasping for air while lying in her own blood, have little strength to even curse her own fate. Drowning on her own blood, it seemed she would not made it even if she was quickly found by medical services. Only sounds her dwindling consciousness could register were echoing sounds of a distant but intense battle between two demigods which indirectly caused her demise.
(OOC: "Thanks", Gilgamesh and Karna).
-
That did Not just happen.
Which part? The part where the low class god avoided an attack moving at just over the speed of sound, or the part where we got blindsided by a vampire beam, sent through three buildings, and embedded in an inner wall of a fourth?
Shut up, both of you. I think we crashed into someone's home.
After a moments deliberation, Minato decides to wait a few minutes for his concusion to subside before doing anything else.
Not like you can move with all that rebar running out of you legs and chest.
Crap
Minato then decided to wait and hope someone would find and help him before the voices in his head drove him insane.
Hey! I resent that!
*Sigh*
-
"Hmm." Where had that kid gone? Grigori began to wonder and took a look around the landscape before he saw a home with an enormous hole in it. He lifted his arm and the part of the building where the hole was located was torn from it's foundation. "While we wait for our little friend to join us I have a question to ask. How did you manage to tame these magnificent beasts?"
-
"A matter of contract and convenience I assure you. My lord, first among Primogenitors, had captured the spirits of eight great Dragon Gods of the Orient in a demonic artifact, but no matter how hard he tried, they would not join him. He instead tried to have me enslave them by force, despite my inexperienced youth at the time, and they took a liking to me. Shortly after, the eight and I formed a contract. Sadly not an interesting tale, I know, but I would be lying if I said it happened otherwise." With that, Vatler stopped speaking once again while watched the black-and-gold clad warrior finally strike a serious blow, as the Vampire monarch swirled his goblet of wine casually.
-
"An interesting tale. It says much about yourself that any god would ever submit to you. However you have mentioned these Primogenitors several times. I'm curious. Are you some sort of immortal man or another type of creature? There is no other explanation for how you could meet the first of your kind" He pulled a bit more and the house was now floating right next to the skyscraper. With a fingersnap the bars of metal piercing the boy's body twisted around his limbs making the binding even more difficult to break out of.
Grigori looked towards the teenager. "You may speak after my friend tells me a little more about himself."
-
"The Progenitors are the chosen of the gods, the ones who initially blessed mankind with vampirism in a world not like this one. I come directly from his bloodline, and have consumed two of my kin to achieve powers close to his."
Grigori looked towards the teenager. "You may speak after my friend tells me a little more about himself."
"Let the poor boy down, I wouldn't want such a handsome youth to be too damaged."
"Nanda!"
A yellow dragon burst forth from behind Vatler before immediately shooting a massive blast of purple energy into the floating building, making it explode and then crumble, letting the young teen fall to the ground.
"Oops."
-
"Such a loss of control Vatler! I'm surprised you managed to make such a novice mistake." With that said Grigori raised his left hand and a blast of wind slammed into the teenager and knocked him back onto the building a few meters away from the pair of magic users. "That was for that cut you gave me. Now that we've finished business do you want to watch the fight?" Just in case of hostilities Grigori created a large ball of water in one hand, and took a sip from his goblet with the other.
-
Resist urge to megidolaon.
DO IT, DO IT, DO IT.
Shut UP THANATOS!
Minato, in short order was bound even more tightly, then blown up. Normally this would have the same impact that everything else does but luck was on his side as the blast dislodged the things that were preventing his movement.
The instant the metal bars left his body his wounds from the blast were already healed and a scant few seconds after a blast of wind slammed into him, a majority of the spell was disrupted by Messiah's resistance but the small gust that remained allowed him to right himself and kick off the nearby building with enough force to send him soaring, and landing near the two who had been blasting him.
"So," Minato says while working the out the small kinks that he incured during that short time, "Those two are still going at it?"
-
"Indeed, though I suspect that with the way their fight is going now, they could last for weeks. Truly a shame, I would enjoy conversing with one who had exceeded humanity by such a degree."
Vatler could not help but be somewhat enamored by the blue-haired teen before him, who reminded him so much of the very Fourth Primogenitor who had stolen his heart, and winked playfully at the sword-toting youth, tongue poking slightly out of his mouth.
-
"Well, I suppose I am acting like a third wheel right now aren't I? I will give you all the time necessary to display your affection for this young man Vatler." With that said Grigori drifted away from the building and formed a privacy barrier around it. Usually used for more... intimate encounters. A cube of yellow light formed around the top of the building. With a clap of his hands the sigils for darkness shined for a brief moment and the inside of the barrier became as dark as night. "Have fun you two! Don't get too messy in there!"
-
It only took a few seconds for Minato's skin to begin smoking and sizzling audibly as if he were being heavily burned.
Pain beyond mortal comprehension began to soak into his very being.
"Dark barrier, not the best idea."
The worst part was that this continuous damage robbed him of the concentration needed to switch to a different Persona.
-
Vatler strode forward confidently, taking the young man's chin in his right hand, looking him directly in the face.
"Does this hurt you too much, young man? Would a different setting do better for you?"
"Sagara!"
With that, a concentrated water jet from the Dragon, manifested outside the golden bubble, blew the barrier around them away before slowing down to a more gentle drip. Then, Vatler used his latent frost-manipulation from Anavatapta to build a small but exquisite room of ice on the skyscraper, trapping them in, but leaving plenty of light, allowing him to see the boy's face more clearly.
Shoving him backwards to land upon an impossible soft bed of layers upon layers of thin, watery ice, pinning the teen by pressing his hands down on the bed next to the sides of the teen, Vatler stared him in the eye intently.
"Does this suit the princess?"
-
Grigori could smell burnt flesh in the air. "Now that's something I haven't smelled in a while." He looked over at the barrier. "Can't be Vatler. No vampire would ever be weak to darkness which means that it's the boy." Then he saw the barrier explode and a room of ice form on top of the skyscraper. "I love that vampire." He formed a chair of frost and sat down. This was going to be amusing.
-
Well what do you know? It finally happened, all that time you spent grinding that charm stat has come back to bite you. Ah, ha ha!
Maybe I should just take a nap and let you handle this.
This is a serious problem that we should dedicate all of our resources to dealing with.
I thought so.
Now that the barrier is gone Minato switches to a Persona more suited to the frozen room.
A shatter of the mind and Minato changes the mask he wears.
Skadi is the mask chosen.
Not quite a princess but it will do.
With a thought the greatest ruler of ice reshaped the bedroom that had formed into an ornate tea room, complete with cushioned furniture and tea set.
"I think this suits my mood a bit better thank you," Minato said with a slight smile, "So why don't we talk over some tea?"
Was that wise?
Likely not but I am a bit curious about how either of them will react if they sense the sudden change in the nature of my soul.
Here's to hoping for violence.
-
Perhaps Vatler had been too forward? The boy had remodeled the room to a tearoom instead of giving in to temptation, much to his disappointment. He would've much preferred their previous state of affairs, but he supposed he'd have to settle with refreshments for now. This boy did not quite have his sexual appetite, so Vatler would simply have to wait. One did not live for a millennium and a half without learning some patience. Lifting a single finger and using it to slice a hole in the icy room's wall with a purple beam, Vatler stared upon the screen projecting the battle of the two greatest warriors of the city, pouring himself a cup of tea.
"I'll listen to your questions while observing this spectacle, young boy. What do wish to know?"
A while before the Karna/Gil battle ensued
La Folia strode down the street confidently, a slight swing in her wide hips drawing the stares of many an onlooker, though this was not a rare occurrence. She was a foreign beauty, with silver-white hair, eyes as turqoise as the ocean on a sunny day, large breasts and a butt that should be impossible on her small frame, disguised only by a short black skirt and a pair of admittedly skimpy lacey white panties. Even so, she had an innocent-looking face and a natural graceful way of carrying herself.
La Folia, however, was merely here as a tourist. She had no more duties for the month, having finished them all in a week so that she could take a plane to Nexus City, an urban paradise to see something different than the castles and manors of her homeland. Awing at pretty much every sight on the street, La Folia wanted to try commoner food, visit local sights... and just maybe have a certain itch scratched. You know, that one.
With the wonders of the commonwealth surprising her at every step, La Folia kept walking down the vast street, her frilly skirt dancing on her hip.
-
Satoshi clasped bits of metal between his hands as a searing noise began to sound, the heat would obvious from ten feet. Slowly adding more metal to the misshapen lump he eventually formed twin bracelets and after an utterance of magic words dumped them seemingly uncaringly into a projected bucket. Seeing as they had not shattered he muttered a few things and the bucket filled with water, water which immediately vaporized completely leaving the cooled bracelets.
"Shabby" Satoshi remarked "But then so is the prisoner I suppose" he added turning to go back into the apartment.
-
Lycodrake Aptera
There was a world between their views, so, the knight thought about something that wouldn't cause conflict. Mordred carefully eyed Downy as she stepped forward.
"If I may suggest something, Master. I believe Lobelia hasn't come back to us yet. We could have him help us in locating her. That way, he can be of use to us without having to worry about bringing harm upon innocent people. I would consider it a fair deal if it helps us bringing back one of your Generals. But first, could you at least deal with what's weakening him?" She turned to Lycodrake. "One of us is missing. We would appreciate your cooperation in that matter."
Downy Reed
The Inbetween
Downy recognized the serious intent of the dragon's words. Though he had never met a Dragon in person he had studied them. They were often times very ancient and wise creatures though personalities differed they often stayed true to their own goals regardless of the situation they were placed in.
After a moment of thought had passed Downy finally spoke up. "Myself and my companions simply wish to finish a task laid out before us. There is a man named Gabriel, he has done a great misdeed to me. I simply want to repay him in full. As for the rest of the people in this city, the innocents that you speak of... I have no interest in them any more. They will not be harmed so long as it is avoidable, of that you have my word."
He let into a bow one most fitting of his stature and stared directly into the creatures eyes so as to show he meant every word he spoke. But would the dragon believe him?
"I am indeed a skilled tracker, but I ask of you both: which is more important to be found, your ally or your enemy?"
Lycodrake trusted Mordred, but something felt off about this Downy Reed. It was not the air of magic about him, for Lycodrake had experience dealing with all sorts of elementals and magic users who used "evil" magic to protect innocents and those precious to them. He had offered his help in return for healing, and he was never one to break his word - unless the other side of the bargain broke it first.
-
"Well I wasn't really thinking of questioning you, but while I am thinking about it, what kind of magic was that first beam that hit me? I have been wondering because most attacks don't blow me away like that."
-
"Simply a tuft of condensed mana, boy. Nothing special to it, although given your weird elemental weaknesses, the shadowy powers of it may have been doing the trick." Vatler said, as he took a large sip of his tea.
-
Well what do you know? It finally happened, all that time you spent grinding that charm stat has come back to bite you. Ah, ha ha!
Maybe I should just take a nap and let you handle this.
This is a serious problem that we should dedicate all of our resources to dealing with.
I thought so.
Now that the barrier is gone Minato switches to a Persona more suited to the frozen room.
A shatter of the mind and Minato changes the mask he wears.
Skadi is the mask chosen.
Not quite a princess but it will do.
With a thought the greatest ruler of ice reshaped the bedroom that had formed into an ornate tea room, complete with cushioned furniture and tea set.
"I think this suits my mood a bit better thank you," Minato said with a slight smile, "So why don't we talk over some tea?"
Was that wise?
Likely not but I am a bit curious about how either of them will react if they sense the sudden change in the nature of my soul.
Here's to hoping for violence.
Grigori frowned. Something was wrong. Something was different. He hadn't felt something like this since the experiments on the soul he started on that one village. Well, time to find out what it was. Grigori rose from his chair and tapped the ice. It quickly broke apart into a hole large enough for him to walk through. He sat down in a chair and smiled at the two people within. "Did anyone here miss me?"
-
"Ah, that explains it. Well, that was actually my only real question." Minato looks thoughtful for a second before going back to his normal expression. "I don't mind if you want to ask me a few things though."
A few seconds later a hole opened up and the deity from before came back in reminding Minato of one simple fact.
"I never did introduce myself did I?"
"Arisato Minato, nice to meet you both."
-
"You may know this already, but I am Grigori. Grand Archmage, Death God, and a man in search of amusement. It is a pleasure to meet you Minato." Grigori smiled but it was far from kind or happy. It wasn't malicious but there was something off-putting about it.
-
"I am Dmitrie Vatler, the Duke of Ardeal, and humble servant to the Lost Warlord, the First Primogenitor." Vatler said with a polite nod of his head. "It is a great pleasure to meet you, Minato", the lust blatant in his voice.
-
So it looks like Grigori hast taken an interest in trying to figure me out, and Vatler is interested in me in an entirely different way.
For a moment, both of them looked like they wanted to say something but stopped, Minato then notices that the fight has stopped as well, and everything has turned grey...
Minato looks over at Vatler,
A sound of shattering glass,
A card appears in Minato's mind
(http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120710053929/megamitensei/images/thumb/5/52/00CardBack.jpg/125px-00CardBack.jpg)
(http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080716203259/megamitensei/images/thumb/2/2a/Devil.png/125px-Devil.png)
"I am thou, Thou art I.
Thou shalt receive even greater blessings from the Devil Arcana. "
Minato feels a surge of power.
A new social link has been formed!
Time flows again.
-
Grigori twitched. Something was very strange. There was something off about this teenager. He smiled. That would only make this more interesting. This Arisato Minato was proving to be a very entertaining person. It would be prudent to keep an eye on him.
"You are a very interesting person Arisato. In fact, I have no doubt that you will prove to be very entertaining. We could be good friends you and I. In fact, as a symbol of my willingness to befriend you take this."
He reached inside his cloak and within his hands an enormous amount of mana was turned into a construct. A simple deck of tarot cards. The only thing off about it was a single sigil that appeared on the back of each card. It was the symbol for sight and would allow him to use the cards as his eyes. He placed the unassuming deck of cards into the teenager's hands. "It is important to understand the forces that guide oneself."
-
"Tarot cards, huh? In the world I am from, "destiny designators" like these are mostly made redundant by modern magitech, but proper cards have a certain charm to them, do they not?" and with that, Vatler's hand struck out, picking a single card from the deck.
(http://www.biddytarot.com/cards/lovers.jpg)
With the tip of his tongue poking out of his lips, Vatler gave another playful wink at the blue-haired boy.
-
Gilgamesh was sent flying once again, turning in the air and skidding along the damaged roof of one of the few remaining skyscrapers that had not been completely destroyed during the course of the battle. He had received a deep wound on his left shoulder that would have been deeper without the mangled remains of his armor, yet the King looked unconcerned. Striding forward even as blood flowed down his arm, Gilgamesh dismissed the top portion of his armor, useless as it now was.
The Gate of Babylon opened once again, and from it the Original King pulled two things - a small vial of clear liquid and a long, golden key. Uncorking the bottle and pouring a fraction over his wound, he barely even took notice as the flesh and muscle knitted itself back together, boosted greatly by his already tremendous natural healing. The King strode to the edge of the skyscraper, and looked down on Karna once more. This time, though, his voice only the faintest trace of kingly arrogance.
"You are certainly impressive, Karna, Son of Surya. I see why you are known to many as the greatest hero in all of India."
Gilgamesh held the golden key upright and turned it. The key, not seeming to notice or care that there was no door for it to unlock, spun, glowing faintly as the various mechanical and magical parts on its handle whirred to life. Their clanking was a faint background to the voice of the King.
"Truly, you are worthy of your many titles. To fight again at such a level has brought me great enjoyment, and for this," thin, translucent red lines spread out behind Gilgamesh once again, extending out and upwards till they could be seen from miles away. "You will be given the greatest reward of all my foes."
It was almost unnatural to hear such words from the mouth of such a prideful King, for his words carried with them the ring of undeniable truth. When Gilgamesh spoke, his words became the law of the universe, and for an opponent to be acknowledged so could only mean that the King of All Heroes was granting them the honor of seeing his finest weapon.
The glowing red lines receded into a small, golden orb. Unlike the Gate of Babylon, it was a three-dimensional sphere, almost seeming like a globe with the pattern that played across its surface. It hovered above Gilgamesh's hand for a moment, before slowly floating upwards, leaving behind a golden handle. As it drew upwards more and more was revealed, until finally, the greatest of all the King's treasures was shown to Karna, Son of the Son God. (http://i.imgur.com/wg0eZrH.jpg)
The Brahmastra paled in comparison. Merodach, Durandal, Gram - each and every Noble Phantasm that had been shown during the course of the battle was nothing before this weapon. It was an existence that could scarcely be comprehended by those its lesser, for it was the original sword, born in the primal fire and water of creation, forged from a falling star. It had no name save what Gilgamesh had given it himself, and within it was contained the power to destroy the world.
It was truly magnificent.
Gilgamesh gazed down upon Karna, and the city before him. The barrier, a work of magic almost beyond the gods themselves, could not hold this power. Nothing could. It was a wave of destruction that ripped apart the very earth over which it passed, a force that could return the world to the state of Genesis in a single swing. Even so, The Oldest King was not deterred. He would not use its full power, even against Karna, but he would show him and all who looked on the might of the King.
"Spin, Ea, Sword of Rupture!"
The three sections of what passed for a blade began to rotate in different directions, moving slowly at first but picking up speed. As it spun the wind around it began to move as well, rotating with the blade to form a vortex of wind that shrieked across the battlefield. Long, red streamers of pure energy extended from the blade as it spun faster and faster, howling louder and louder. As it spun, it reached the maximum energy that Gilgamesh would allow it to contain in this place.
Looking down upon his opponent once more, the command of Gilgamesh was absolute. Roaring its name across the battlefield, He Who Surpasses All Other Kings released the power within his blade in a single swing.
--Star of Creation that Splits Both Heaven and Earth
"ENUMA ELISH!"
Absolute Devastation.
The energy within the sword ripped through space itself, tearing a void that led to the primal nothingness, the origin of all things. The very crust of the earth was pulled apart, magma surging across the landscape as the attack ripped across it. The sky was torn asunder, a bright red that pulled itself into the void of its own accord. Shining like a star in the middle of the blackness, Ea spun as it ripped apart the world. An inhuman scream rung across the battlefield as the fabric of Gaia itself was ripped apart and pulled into the void, forest and stone alike.
As the attack surged forth, it revealed the Truth of the Primal Chaos to the world. The distorted space that lay in its path revealed the origin of all things, and shining like a star, Ea's power could not be denied. This power, this might, this attack that could destroy all of the world in but a single blow ripped a path straight to Karna, howling with winds that echoed the screams of the violated planet as it was torn asunder.
There could be no defense, no respite from this attack. Any hope that remained was in the fact that even this was not its full power. The only way for Karna to save himself would be to offer an attack of equal power, or be swallowed by the primal abyss that rose to claim him.
-
Stepping down from his combat-ready stance, Karna looked on as his opponent rejuvenated his wounds before speaking in his loud and clear voice.
"You are certainly impressive, Karna, Son of Surya. I see why you are known to many as the greatest hero in all of India."
"The words of the greatest warrior of man honor me." Truthfully his opponent had seemed to have enjoyed this battle as much as himself, and even if they had caused mass wanton destruction of their surroundings, Karna knew that both he and the King of Heroes could easily fund any repairs needed, and most of the lost citizens had been sub-humans like Vetala and werebeasts, nothing Karna could truly convince himself to be concerned for.
Gilgamesh held the golden key upright and turned it. The key, not seeming to notice or care that there was no door for it to unlock, spun, glowing faintly as the various mechanical and magical parts on its handle whirred to life. Their clanking was a faint background to the voice of the King.
"Truly, you are worthy of your many titles. To fight again at such a level has brought me great enjoyment, and for this," thin, translucent red lines spread out behind Gilgamesh once again, extending out and upwards till they could be seen from miles away. "You will be given the greatest reward of all my foes."
It was almost unnatural to hear such words from the mouth of such a prideful King, for his words carried with them the ring of undeniable truth. When Gilgamesh spoke, his words became the law of the universe, and for an opponent to be acknowledged so could only mean that the King of All Heroes was granting them the honor of seeing his finest weapon.
The glowing red lines receded into a small, golden orb. Unlike the Gate of Babylon, it was a three-dimensional sphere, almost seeming like a globe with the pattern that played across its surface. It hovered above Gilgamesh's hand for a moment, before slowly floating upwards, leaving behind a golden handle. As it drew upwards more and more was revealed, until finally, the greatest of all the King's treasures was shown to Karna, Son of the Son God. (http://i.imgur.com/wg0eZrH.jpg)
Karna could not believe the feeling that ran down his spine as he saw the sword, no, drill being drawn forth from the Gate of Babylon. For the first time in his life, Karna felt a tingle of fear scratching his mind, a primal fear that all of humankind would feel if they looked upon such a sword. He could tell immediately that this was a construct of the Gods, a monstrous artifact so ancient that it predated mankind itself.
"Spin, Ea, Sword of Rupture!"
The three sections of what passed for a blade began to rotate in different directions, moving slowly at first but picking up speed. As it spun the wind around it began to move as well, rotating with the blade to form a vortex of wind that shrieked across the battlefield. Long, red streamers of pure energy extended from the blade as it spun faster and faster, howling louder and louder. As it spun, it reached the maximum energy that Gilgamesh would allow it to contain in this place.
The sheer buildup of power within the demonic sword before him finally convinced him of what he already knew; nothing short of the most forbidden weapon of the Gods in Karna's possession could possibly match up to the weapon before him, and he was aware of it's severe consequences and the sheer damage it would cause.
Whispering a quick prayer of forgiveness under his breath, even knowing that it could never make up for what he was about to do, Karna steeled himself in his objective of facing the final challenge of the Oldest King. Throwing aside his Brahmastra in the form of a sword and shield, they dissipated into thin air as Karna cracked his knuckles.
With that, Karna's right eye took on a shade of dull red as the weapon that was four times Brahmastra's superior manifested in his eye, causing it's clean and naturally piercing blue to take on the color of fresh-spilled blood.
There was no more hesitation. After all, a hero that couldn't kill with just his eyes was no hero at all.
Looking down upon his opponent once more, the command of Gilgamesh was absolute. Roaring its name across the battlefield, He Who Surpasses All Other Kings released the power within his blade in a single swing.
--Star of Creation that Splits Both Heaven and Earth
"ENUMA ELISH!"
Absolute Devastation.
The energy within the sword ripped through space itself, tearing a void that led to the primal nothingness, the origin of all things. The very crust of the earth was pulled apart, magma surging across the landscape as the attack ripped across it. The sky was torn asunder, a bright red that pulled itself into the void of its own accord. Shining like a star in the middle of the blackness, Ea spun as it ripped apart the world. An inhuman scream rung across the battlefield as the fabric of Gaia itself was ripped apart and pulled into the void, forest and stone alike.
As the attack surged forth, it revealed the Truth of the Primal Chaos to the world. The distorted space that lay in its path revealed the origin of all things, and shining like a star, Ea's power could not be denied. This power, this might, this attack that could destroy all of the world in but a single blow ripped a path straight to Karna, howling with winds that echoed the screams of the violated planet as it was torn asunder.
There could be no defense, no respite from this attack. Any hope that remained was in the fact that even this was not its full power. The only way for Karna to save himself would be to offer an attack of equal power, or be swallowed by the primal abyss that rose to claim him.
A bloom of red that was so indescribably beautiful began to tear the very world apart before Karna. It was nothing less than what he had expected, the only thing that had ever made him feel fear.
So of course, to a warrior without peer like Karna, he had to challenge that fear.
I call upon the greatest sin, the most forbidden of all Astra
मैं सबसे बड़ा पाप का आग्रह करते हैं, सबसे सभी एस्ट्रा के लिए मना किया
Let the four heads of Brahma consume all that ever existed
ब्रह्मा के चार सिर कभी भी अस्तित्व में है कि सभी का उपभोग करते हैं
Let my opponent feel the evil of every hell, of every realm
मेरे प्रतिद्वंद्वी हर दायरे के हर नरक की बुराई, महसूस करते हैं
Nothing shall resist it
कुछ भी नहीं है कि यह विरोध करेगा
Nothing shall stop it
कुछ भी नहीं इसे बंद करेगा
It will devour all before it
यह पहले सभी खा जाएगा
With that, his red eye lit up with an incredible light, and aiming his gaze towards the world-ending attack before him, Karna shot forth the apocalyptic armament of the Gods of his own.
"BRAHMASHIRA!"
An ungodly powerful and improbably huge beam of red light surged forth from the space in front of his eye with a massive roar, meeting the Genesis of Gilgamesh with a Revelation of his own. As the beginning and end of all things clashed, showing a vision of the cradle of the World within it's epicenter, everything around them was destroyed. Any remnants of the city were scorched to ash, the vast barrier around them was burst with ease and the very ground below their feet cratered. The attacks were evenly matched, showing no signs of budging before the two attacks simply exploded, both golden visages thrown to the ground as the center of Nexus City had been reduced to nothing but ashes and rubble.
-
--Star of Creation that Splits Both Heaven and Earth
"ENUMA ELISH!"
I call upon the greatest sin, the most forbidden of all Astra
मैं सबसे बड़ा पाप का आग्रह करते हैं, सबसे सभी एस्ट्रा के लिए मना किया
Let the four heads of Brahma consume all that ever existed
ब्रह्मा के चार सिर कभी भी अस्तित्व में है कि सभी का उपभोग करते हैं
Let my opponent feel the evil of every hell, of every realm
मेरे प्रतिद्वंद्वी हर दायरे के हर नरक की बुराई, महसूस करते हैं
Nothing shall resist it
कुछ भी नहीं है कि यह विरोध करेगा
Nothing shall stop it
कुछ भी नहीं इसे बंद करेगा
It will devour all before it
यह पहले सभी खा जाएगा
With that, his red eye lit up with an incredible light, and aiming his gaze towards the world-ending attack before him, Karna shot forth the apocalyptic armament of the Gods of his own.
"BRAHMASHIRA!"
Grigori looked and saw the absolute power displayed within the barrier. Right before it was torn to pieces. As the wave of force from the attack approached Grigori began to cast a bubble spell over the entire room. Nothing stationary could withstand the shockwave flying at them. When it reached them the skyscraper was reduced to dust, and Grigori was sent flying along with Vatler and Arisato. Then the bubble started to bounce.
"Oh god. I think I'm going to be sick"
They bounced off of skyscrapers, streets, and several smaller buildings. Until the bubble finally stopped and Grigori dismissed it. "Well, those two sure know how to put on a show! You two okay?"
-
Vatler pulled himself slowly out of the rubble, his head dripping blood as he slowly and deliberately took to his feet. He was fairly certain that he had been thrown for a few miles at best, and a dozen at worst. The two golden visages had unleashed divine attacks that could end the world as he knew it. It had been a great show, and truly enlightening but had, unfortunately, reduced everything in a ten-kilometer radius to a smoldering crater, and the devastation clearly affected much of the rest of the city as well.
. "Well, those two sure know how to put on a show! You two okay?"
"I'll make it, though I would worry more about our blue-haired friend."
-
Uchiten
The barrier had burst open, winds of destruction had erupted from it. Lives vanished without a single whimper from the unleashed might of two armaments worthy of gods, civilization crumbled in the red light of oblivion. In the center of Nexus City, the world had ended. Unidentifiable ruins and untamed void were all that had been left in the wake of the devastation, alongside the two fallen golden figures.
Uchiten threw his head up in the air and laughed loud and long. His cackling prolonged itself, falling into a dark and joyous rasping, filled with emotion. He was no longer sitting, and his whole body was shaking with morth. A crack ran down one side of his shades, his hair was messed up, and his clothes were torn, but this did not seem to bug him in the slighest.
The boundary field flickered, dying from withstanding just the shockwave. Every inch of the rooftop outside its marked perimeter had been unrepairably scarred by the clash of apocalyptic powers. The already crumbling and breaking down building now was even more so, for all effects reduced to pieces of floating debris and large sections of metal and concrete that could have once been joined.
There was no describing the spectacle Uchiten bore witness to. It was simply too astounding to be explained in words. In centuries, he had not felt his mind so alive and rattled as during this exihibition.
It was exihilarating.
His hand went over his face as if to wipe the uncontained smile off it, and combed back his hair in reassurence. In that sweep of the hand, his shades had been repaired, and his half-formal suit was as before. But his smile remained in place, and a look of hunger dripped from his expression.
In turn, the fingers of one of Zan's hands lingered in his mouth, bleeding between his teeth. He had forgotten when he started to bit hard enough to draw blood in hopes it would help him control his urges, but the lust for battle burned brightly nonetheless. He was kneeling, holding himself up with his sheathed sword, and as before, he was trembling.
Had it not been for the barrier and their distance, the two of them would no doubt have been blown away and wounded in the process. Uchiten had made no move to defend himself, but around Zan, demonic aura was still thick, instinctively flared in self-defense.
And, through the link between them, the rest of Uchiten's shikigami were all but yelling in his head, mixed reactions between absolute terror, excitement, fun, and shock. However, it was as if he did not notice them.
"MAGNIFICENT! EXCELLENT! THIS IS SUPEEEEEEE~ERB!" the onmyouji yelled, arms spread, his voice rising in liveliness and pitch along the words.
Zan twitched to attention. The rest of his fellow familiars quieted suddenly.
Bending forward, Uchiten grasped his face tightly in one of his hands and let unnecessary, deep breaths in and out of his body. His smile was murky, stretching like lines of ink, and invisible miasma rolled off his form, which had started to look even darker. Between the gaps of his fingers, he still stared in the direction of the two fallen combatants, far in the distance.
"Come on. It can't be over yet..." the mutter escaped from his lips.
-
When Minato was handed the deck of tarot cards he was somewhat surprised, such irony, such nostalgia...
Such an obvious monitoring spell.
Probably intended you to find it.
Before that line of thought could continue, Minato was stopped by the sudden feeling of twisting spacetime, he heard Vatler say something but it was lost as the barrier in the distance ruptured.
The instant the distortion was felt Minato switched his Persona to Thanatos to endure the impact as he was flung along with the others several kilometers, by some miracle landing on his feet after being bounced off the walls.
As he looked at the devastation that had been wrought upon the world...
A smile appeared on his face, his grey eyes began to glow, and as the tight grip he had kept on his power loosened, time and space began to flow in strange ways around him.
"I want to fight them."
The mask slipped, and for a time that was not even an instant an existence unfathomable even to the gods was revealed before control reasserted itself.
"Damn."
I don't think you've ever been this excited about anything before.
-
The ground between them was torn asunder as the unforgettable Truth of the Beginning met the undeniable Truth of the End. The two attacks met, each with the power to destroy the world, and for a moment, there was silence. Then the world shook, and sound returned in a crushing wave. Howling, shrieking, the wave of pressure that swept across the city shattered every window. Trees were lifted off of their roots, and lampposts shattered, the sheer force of the wave throwing any fool who had not holed up indoors off of their feet. Cars were simply lifted and thrown about like a massive hand had swept them away with a single movement.
All of this paled in comparison to what was happening at the center of the battle.
The sheer force of the two blows had annihilated anything caught within the blast radius, vaporizing it so utterly that not even dust remained. The clash of light and energy had completely destroyed the center of the city, and in it's place now stood a great crater, tens of thousands of feet wide and deep. This was what now remained of the might of the King of All Heroes and the Saint of Generosity, a place where nothing could ever grow again.
Each combatant had been knocked off their feet from the sheer power of their colliding blows, and had been thrown even farther away from each other, each at the end of a massive trench in the still-smoking crater. A bare hand emerged from one, grasping at the side for a moment before pulling the arm and body behind it up. Gilgamesh, King of Heroes, slowly rose to his feet and surveyed the landscape.
He was bleeding heavily, from his ears as well as the numerous cuts he had received across his bare chest. The armor that he had worn upon his hip had been almost completely destroyed, the red cape he wore little more than scraps. He took a single step forward and staggered, eventually falling on his back. Staring up at the clear, evening sky, from which the clouds had been torn away, Gilgamesh began to laugh.
His laughter carried far and wide, his body shaking with mirth as he ignored the pain it brought him. Calling out across the crater that both he and Karna had wrought as his wounds slowly healed of their own accord, the King's jovial mood could be easily felt.
"I am afraid we must stop here, Son of Surya! Were we to continue, there would be naught but corpses!"
Gilgamesh could not call Karna a friend. Only one man in all the world had ever been his friend, and this fact would never change. However, as a warrior, the King of Heroes felt newfound respect towards the man who could match Ea in a single blow (the sword now stored once again in the deepest part of his treasury). Still laughing, Gilgamesh laid back down, enjoying the sky. In this polluted, spoiled modern world, the beauty of the sky when it could truly be seen was not matched in these times by anything he had seen. Like Enkidu, its worth to him would never change.
Sitting like that in the early afternoon sun, the King of Heroes simply waited for the stars to emerge in the purified sky.
-
A look around revealed only destruction. Whatever buildings that survived the blast were left in ruin. Thousands were dead all over the city and chaos raged. It felt so nostalgic. Well, if anyone could help stop the chaos it would be the local law enforcement. Grigori would lend them a helping hand. Make them a credible threat to a few supernatural races and let them loose. Whether they would succeed or destroy each other would make no difference. Either way it would be fun to watch. He began to fly off towards the sound of sirens to the south, however he called out to Vatler before we left.
"It seems like our little friend has been knocked away from us Vatler. You should look for him. I'll be on my way. I need to entertain myself with a few toys now that the fight has ended."
-
Good Lord.
Technically, Ash had been "raised" as a Catholic. Her mother had been Irish by birth before immigrating to England in hopes of a better life. Instead she earned coin on her back, and while she gained the attention of a nobleman, it was just for a night.
Then Ash had been born and she'd been raised to earn her keep. She knew more of pleasure before she had her first menses than most married men at the time. Her virginity had been sold for a high price, which she only got to see a small part of. However Ash hadn't been an idiot, and she was fair of face and not eaten away by the pox.
She rose to become a cortisan and then became a vampire. The period after her first feeding and being chained up with silver in a barn was fuzzy. Apparently something she did had spooked her sire to do such a thing. Once she had been sufficiently weakened, the vampire decided that despite being half-starved, in severe pain, and weakened that her holes were still good for fucking.
Luckily for Ash, Law Unto Herself really didn't like rapists and had heard of Ash's little mishap the first time she went hunting. Instead of being granted a quick death, Forest had offered her hand in friendship and aid. Ash took it, not looking back.
While she and her mentor didn't exactly see eye to eye, Being that good has to be painful, Ash respected Forest. In a non-romantic way she loved her as her dearest friend. And maybe because of her goodness, a reminder that the world wasn't the awful place that Ash was use to, Ash wanted to protect her.
And there were times like now where she could clearly hear Forest's voice in her mind despite the fact that Forest wasn't anywhere near her or communicating with her telepathically.
Ash wasn't exactly sure what had happened. Apparently two overly-powerful wankers got into some giant cock fight and took half of the city out. There were casualties, a lot of them.
So, not one to starve herself, Ash went out once the sun had gone down to act as an "Angel of Mercy" of sorts offering a last bit of pleasure while feeding on the dying.
Hearing a fading heartbeat, Ash lifted rubble off a young woman. She knelt down, shaking her head. "At least I can make this easier for you," the vampire whispered, stroking the girl's hair out of her face.
-
Good Lord.
Technically, Ash had been "raised" as a Catholic. Her mother had been Irish by birth before immigrating to England in hopes of a better life. Instead she earned coin on her back, and while she gained the attention of a nobleman, it was just for a night.
Then Ash had been born and she'd been raised to earn her keep. She knew more of pleasure before she had her first menses than most married men at the time. Her virginity had been sold for a high price, which she only got to see a small part of. However Ash hadn't been an idiot, and she was fair of face and not eaten away by the pox.
She rose to become a cortisan and then became a vampire. The period after her first feeding and being chained up with silver in a barn was fuzzy. Apparently something she did had spooked her sire to do such a thing. Once she had been sufficiently weakened, the vampire decided that despite being half-starved, in severe pain, and weakened that her holes were still good for fucking.
Luckily for Ash, Law Unto Herself really didn't like rapists and had heard of Ash's little mishap the first time she went hunting. Instead of being granted a quick death, Forest had offered her hand in friendship and aid. Ash took it, not looking back.
While she and her mentor didn't exactly see eye to eye, Being that good has to be painful, Ash respected Forest. In a non-romantic way she loved her as her dearest friend. And maybe because of her goodness, a reminder that the world wasn't the awful place that Ash was use to, Ash wanted to protect her.
And there were times like now where she could clearly hear Forest's voice in her mind despite the fact that Forest wasn't anywhere near her or communicating with her telepathically.
Ash wasn't exactly sure what had happened. Apparently two overly-powerful wankers got into some giant cock fight and took half of the city out. There were casualties, a lot of them.
So, not one to starve herself, Ash went out once the sun had gone down to act as an "Angel of Mercy" of sorts offering a last bit of pleasure while feeding on the dying.
Hearing a fading heartbeat, Ash lifted rubble off a young woman. She knelt down, shaking her head. "At least I can make this easier for you," the vampire whispered, stroking the girl's hair out of her face.
Ellen was understandably a hair's breadth from death. Not only her lung got damaged in a gruesome way, but she was bleeding internally. But still, her waning consciousness registered the face of the one who just picked up. It cannot be afterlife? Ellen thought to herself, entranced No, but it's not fair. She regretted her fate. Why she had to die this young? One of things she carved into her brain when she was lying down in the pool of her own blood was the sight of two figures battling against each other. Her insticts told her that they were the reason why she is now dying. The reason why the city she was fond of, despite all its faults, got just ruined. I don't want ... them get away with this... They should pay... The woman was clearly upset about those two even though she didn't have much time left.
-
Avy fought as hard as he could against the vampire. He tried his hardest to make lasting damage but even after giving it his all and mortally wounding the vampire he got better. A tall white figure had come to stand behind the vampire and pulled the away the world around him like curtain. The figure that stood with the ears of rabbit now revealed that his master was fine and well. As if with that single hand motion he revealed a new reality to rest of the world.
Then the man spoke "It has been a while since one has been able me make me use my stand like that, you have shown spirit while guarding the corpse part, it is enough that I'll spare you."
The white figure moved upon Avy and raised it's hand again as if to draw a curtain.
"But I cannot afford to have you interfere with my plans, so I'll send you to where you can't interfere with them."
And with those words D4C pulled the curtain back and Avy fell.
A mind numbing assortment of sensation hit him as he traveled the gap between worlds and it felt like he was falling for hours. Then he actually fell.
On the some concrete rubble, after a 4 meter drop. The pain was just rubbing salt into the wound.
After that bizarre fall and brief period of unconsciousness Avy rose and surveyed his surroundings.
"What happened here?" Avy said as he viewed the ruins of what was once a great metropolis's district.
That thought was interupted as he heard screams from the rubble. While it seemed there were few who were able to withstand the cataclysm that caused the ones who did clinged on with what they could.
And with those cries for help he decided to truly discover the effects of that stand later and to now as he could help who he was able to.
So it was surety of heart that Avy called out One With You and started to move rubble possessing it to move away. His ripple while not strong enough to heal these people was enough to ease their pain.
After finding all the survivors he could Avy now decided to create a transport solution. Laying them out on some of the large pieces of rubble and using OWY to move them was only thing he could do as he now walked out of the crater that was once a part of cityscape to what parts of the city he could see intact.
-
Karna could not lift a finger at this moment in time. The sheer backlash of being in the center of the two attacks had done incredible amounts of damage to him, and wounds permeated his dark flesh, and his armor was all but completely covered in cracks and chips that, while regenerating, were far too rampant for it to have an effect if someone were to attack him now. Trying to stand up and get a foothold, Karna collapsed forward clumsily, his breathing still heavy. There was still at least a few dozen minutes before he would be able to walk again, he assumed. With the noon now gone, he could not call upon his father's aid to heal him, and would merely have to rely on his abnormal regeneration.
'But it had been all worth it'.
Despite their grand battle having lasted not even half an hour, Karna could easily chalk it off as the most exciting battle he had ever participated in. The King of Heroes had been the most awe-striking opponent he had ever faced, and he felt a tinge of pride that he could match the God-King in battle.
Unfortunately, their battle had cost many people their lives and homes, but Karna took no notice of this. Had he known them in person, he would've probably been sad, but instead he wondered how many vile Vetala and similar monsters had been wiped out by their actions. After killing as many thousands of men as he did, as sad as it were, killing became a routine, a natural part of his actions that he could no longer place many feelings in.
"I am afraid we must stop here, Son of Surya! Were we to continue, there would be naught but corpses!"
Karna tried but failed to stifle a chuckle. Truly he would loathe to not be able to battle the King of Heroes once again, so the truce the King offered was truly a welcome idea.
"Very well, Oldest King. Let us declare a ceasefire, for now."
Truthfully, Karna could never call Gilgamesh a friend, for only one man in his life had truly ever been that to him. However, newfound respect for the King he had referred to as a Tyrant bloomed within his chest, as Karna turned unto his back and looked up upon the vast, beautiful sky, a slight, but incredibly gentle smile on his face.
-
"What the hell am I doing?" Grigori was honestly curious. He went for a long term plan in exchange for quick fun? That never happened. A sharp turn sent him flying towards the enormous crater where the clash took place. A cursory look around showed the devastation done by the two fighters. Rubble where towering buildings once stood and instead of corpses there was a sea of dust and ash. Grigori smirked. He held out his hand a a dark red light formed and was sent flying into the dust and ash. It began to gather around the orb of light. All of it. Within a few seconds a massive golem of ash and dust formed. It was vaguely humanoid and was 18 feet tall. Extremely strong however considering the quick and easy job he did the construct would fall apart the moment the magical core was damaged. Grigori floated onto its shoulder and sat down.
"Forward my loyal slave!"
It trudged through the crater for a few minutes before Grigori saw something in the distance. "Now what could that possibly be?" He held out his hands and the sigils for "sight" and "far" appeared. A flick of his hand sent them flying towards a piece of glass on the floor. Another wave of his hand sent it flying into his hands. Then he saw a man in cracked armor and several wounds laying on the ground. Grigori recognized him instantly and had the golem rush towards the man with a mental command. In a few moments the construct of ash stood in front of the tired warrior. "Have you enjoyed your fight Karna? You seem to be in a little trouble."
-
Grim had laid quiet long enough. Enough time had passed and this was an oppurtunity to escape while its host was distracted. After helping its current host cast so many barriers it had gained rudimentary understanding of such spells. While the barriers it could generate were paltry they could be used to help Grim escape some difficult situations. After its host called to the man in armor on the floor that was the moment that Grim decided to take. It jumped off of its host's arm and dived into the rubble using a paltry shadow of the shadow magic its host used to cover its escape.
Now it needed to find someone new. Another host, another shot at finding the one. So onward Grim crawled towards its every distant dream of a true bond.
-
After his sense of excitement died down a few seconds later Minato remembered the tarot cards that Grigori had given him. He looked at them for a few moments.
Minato is aware of the monitoring spell...
>Keep Them<
He'll be watching you if you keep them.
I know, I trust him not to talk about it till he figures everything out.
!
The world shatters.
(http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120710053929/megamitensei/images/thumb/5/52/00CardBack.jpg/125px-00CardBack.jpg)
(http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080716203617/megamitensei/images/0/03/Justice.png)
"I am Thou, Thou art I."
"Thou shalt receive even greater blessings from the Justice Arcana."
A new Social Link has been established!
Two in one day, that does not happen very often.
Master.
Yes I know. The death count?
Abnormally low for something like this, just over a hundred.
Golden Rule must have finished those evacuation tunnels while I was in the basement. Well either way, there are far more injured past the blast crater than there are dead in it, and I am sure we can thank Gilgamesh and his foresight for that.
There are still a great number of people injured and suffering past the initial area, far more than a hundred will die if they are not helped soon.
Minato turned, switching back to Messiah, and began to head for the center of the blast crater.
Let's go do our job then.
-
Ash rubbed the back of her neck as she heard the young woman's thoughts. "Bloody hell," she muttered as she knelt beside the girl.
I don't want ... them get away with this... They should pay...
It was something that Ash could understand very well. While she was playing "Angel of Mercy" among those who were wanting their ends sped up and their suffering cut short, she was more use to being a tool for vengeance. Her favorite prey were rapists and child molesters, and she did ghastly things to them before she finally drained them. Ash understood vengeance and payback quite well.
Ash sighed, eying her, and said, "Listen, I can't guarantee you'll be able to go toe to toe with whoever did this, but . . ."
One thing she agreed with Hawk Hunters on was giving a choice to become a vampire. Her sire had offered her that choice and she took it. She was also perfectly fine with her existence, Forest on the other hand had it forced upon her. The blond had never been happy in Ash's time knowing her.
"I could make you a vampire," she said plainly, storm cloud eyes meeting Ellen's, "But you have to want it. Existence undead drinking the blood of the living and all of that."
-
"Have you enjoyed your fight Karna? You seem to be in a little trouble."
"Unfortunately, I am not in a position to help you right now, Death God. And I doubt I have much to offer you."
-
Ash rubbed the back of her neck as she heard the young woman's thoughts. "Bloody hell," she muttered as she knelt beside the girl.
I don't want ... them get away with this... They should pay...
It was something that Ash could understand very well. While she was playing "Angel of Mercy" among those who were wanting their ends sped up and their suffering cut short, she was more use to being a tool for vengeance. Her favorite prey were rapists and child molesters, and she did ghastly things to them before she finally drained them. Ash understood vengeance and payback quite well.
Ash sighed, eying her, and said, "Listen, I can't guarantee you'll be able to go toe to toe with whoever did this, but . . ."
One thing she agreed with Hawk Hunters on was giving a choice to become a vampire. Her sire had offered her that choice and she took it. She was also perfectly fine with her existence, Forest on the other hand had it forced upon her. The blond had never been happy in Ash's time knowing her.
"I could make you a vampire," she said plainly, storm cloud eyes meeting Ellen's, "But you have to want it. Existence undead drinking the blood of the living and all of that."
It does not matter... I am nearly dead anyway, and I will curse myself if I won't do anything about such things happening... Ellen did not mind what she would become. She did not use to believe in vampires, but since apparently Ash could hear her thoughts she was giving her a benefit of doubt. Besides, if two people being able to destroy things so casually existed, then why not vampires So I want it if I can be of help and don't let it happen again.
-
"Unfortunately, I am not in a position to help you right now, Death God. And I doubt I have much to offer you."
"You have already offered me plenty of amusement Karna, and it is easily within my capabilities to heal you. However nothing in this world is free. You have absolutely nothing to give me?"
-
"Unfortunately, I am not in a position to help you right now, Death God. And I doubt I have much to offer you."
"You have already offered me plenty of amusement Karna, and it is easily within my capabilities to heal you. However nothing in this world is free. You have absolutely nothing to give me?"
"You wish for parlor's tricks in return for my restored health? You are not much of a physician I take it."
Still, the offer was tempting to Karna, as he could then pay the respect he wanted to the King of Heroes, who still laid on the ground far away, covered in wounds like himself.
However, Karna's arms were still capable of movement, and with them he could give this failure of a physician his pay.
"Very well, I accept your conditions."
Summoning forth Vijaya, Karna strummed an arrow with a gemstone arrowhead, and aimed towards the blue sky. This Astra only required an incantation if it was to defile the earth it came from, so Karna merely let the arrow loose, with wondrous results.
A rain of gems, from the size of a nail to some the size of a grown man's head, of immeasurable value fell from the sky. All were cut like they had been treated by the hands of a God for a century, and they fell gently from the sky as if they were babies held by their mothers. The rain was kilometers wide, spanning not just the vast crater, but also a few kilometers of it's outside. Even a tenth of them could easily pay for the damage done. It was both Karna's way to please the magician beside him and to atone for the horrific damage Karna had done to the Earth Mother Bhoomidevi.
"Does this satisfy you, failure physician?"
-
"Does this satisfy you, failure physician?"
"It does Karna. However I doubt you'll be calling me a failure once I'm done with you." Grigori raised his hand and began to gather mana. Then he stopped. Why should he waste mana when there were hundreds of souls to use? He altered the spell and pointed a single finger at Karna while raising his other arm. Then he began to cast. His left arm gathered the souls of the dead and began to convert them into mana. His right finger channeled the mana and a wave of green erupted from it. Wounds were closed, bones repaired, and vitality restored. With that done Grigori clapped and dozens of the gems floated towards Towards the ash golem. They simply sunk into its body.
"Do you require any more aid Son of Surya?" Grigori asked with a mocking smile.
-
Cracking his neck twice, Karna had once again taken his full stature. Truly he had not expected this faking-Death God to do as good a job as he did, but he was not one to raise objections.
"Do you require any more aid Son of Surya?" Grigori asked with a mocking smile.
"None. For a failure in the department when it comes to the mindset of a physician, you have some powerful magic. I thank you for your aid."
Sparing the man not another word, Karna's cape once again took the form of two grand wings, aiding him in his vast jump in the King of Heroes's direction. Landing by the wounded man's side, he extended a single hand towards the radiant king.
"Take your bearings, King of Kings. I can tend to your wounds, but I require a more quiet place than this."
-
Downy Reed
The inbetween
After seeing that his Servant was not going to respond first, Downy took the reigns. "Our first priority at this moment is to find our allies first, our enemies can wait if my suspicions are correct they will not be going anywhere, anytime soon. And though she may not be a part of the core group I have created I also wish to help Saber here so that she may also fulfill her dreams."
-
Well it was time to find something interesting, or make something interesting come to him. Grigori stretched a bit. He hadn't played the damsel in distress for a while. Like most gods from his world Grigori had a male and female aspect. It took a few minutes before a change overcame Grigori. Hair lengthened, feminine features and moderately sized breasts formed, genitalia were changed, and her voice became more high-pitched. She was extraordinarily beautiful with a divine grace unachievable by mortals. Grigori smiled. She finally got to see the city with her own eyes. Now it was time to perform a little test. She looked over to the golem and gave it one absolute command. "Kill me." It instantly went into a rage and rushed Grigori only to be held back by a grey barrier. With a snap of her fingers the deck of tarot cards that Minato Arisato had transformed, and the sigil for "sight" became "speak". Sure that her voice would reach the teenager she spoke. "Arisato, you don't mind giving a lady some help do you? I'm closer to the center of the crater than you. About 5 minutes away." It was done. Now it was time to wait and watch.
-
Ally or enemy. For the former knight, there wasn't much of a difference. In the past, she had forged true bonds and declared oaths she thought as unbreakable as her will. Eventually, she betrayed everything she had in the name of her desire.
Once again, she looked at the dragon. The answer he sought, she couldn't provide. So she kept silent. As she did many times in the past.
Our first priority at this moment is to find our allies first, our enemies can wait if my suspicions are correct they will not be going anywhere, anytime soon.
Mordred approved of that choice. For now, it would be reasonable to find out what happened to Lobelia. After witnessing the ridiculous battle earlier, she had no doubt prudence would be the best option. Having a scaly companion would come in handy, even if temporarily.
And though she may not be a part of the core group I have created I also wish to help Saber here so that she may also fulfill her dreams.
She raised her head to her Master with surprise. The next moment, she grinned for herself. She didn't think he had other's interest's in mind.
----
What you say, is that some kind of machine?
"Yeah, something like that."
He saw the armored machine pointing something similar to a weapon.
Which one of you was the operator of the vehicle?
Kyle raised his hands calmly at the suspiciously
"Hey, easy there. The man's long gone."
It was the truth. Still, how do you convince a machine that you're not lying?
"We're not hostile if that's your worry."
He gave an 'help me there' look at Jojo.
-
Kyle raised his hands calmly at the suspiciously
"Hey, easy there. The man's long gone."
It was the truth. Still, how do you convince a machine that you're not lying?
"We're not hostile if that's your worry."
He gave an 'help me there' look at Jojo.
He understood while his new colleague expected from him. He came to rescue, trying to explain the things. "You see, the guy who drove it just escaped in panic, and we were just passengers of his. We are sorry for him" he grinned, in a bit awkward manner.
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Once again, she looked at the dragon. The answer he sought, she couldn't provide. So she kept silent. As she did many times in the past.
Mordred approved of that choice. For now, it would be reasonable to find out what happened to Lobelia. After witnessing the ridiculous battle earlier, she had no doubt prudence would be the best option. Having a scaly companion would come in handy, even if temporarily.
She raised her head to her Master with surprise. The next moment, she grinned for herself. She didn't think he had other's interest's in mind.
Downy Reed
The inbetween
After seeing that his Servant was not going to respond first, Downy took the reigns. "Our first priority at this moment is to find our allies first, our enemies can wait. If my suspicions are correct, they will not be going anywhere anytime soon. And, though she may not be a part of the core group I have created, I also wish to help Saber here so that she may also fulfill her dreams."
Mordred's behavior confused him, but he did not expect himself to understand the young woman in such a short span of time. Downy expressed himself almost too easily, too earnestly, but Lycodrake digressed from that line of thought. "Then we have an agreement: I will aid you in tracking down your ally Lobelia - by myself or with one of your own - in return for your aid in relieving the effects of the...drug I was dosed with."
-
Downy Reed
The inbetween
Very well then, I will need you to take my hand so that I can properly apply my magic. I will warn you it will hurt quite a bit at first.
-
"Hey, easy there. The man's long gone."
"We're not hostile if that's your worry."
"You see, the guy who drove it just escaped in panic, and we were just passengers of his. We are sorry for him"
Elissa lowered her casting rods, but kept her guard up. She didn't know were she was, or what side these civilians were on? They spoke English, but that didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. She turned her head to the orange glow of the horizon; there was definitely some sort of battle going on. Turning her mechanical head back to the two civilians, she decided upon a course of action.
"I am invoking Section Three of the Jordan Act: You are to take me to a secure location for questioning. I do not care if you are non-Americans, you will comply. Is that vehicle still operable?"
-
Elissa lowered her casting rods, but kept her guard up. She didn't know were she was, or what side these civilians were on? They spoke English, but that didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. She turned her head to the orange glow of the horizon; there was definitely some sort of battle going on. Turning her mechanical head back to the two civilians, she decided upon a course of action.
"I am invoking Section Three of the Jordan Act: You are to take me to a secure location for questioning. I do not care if you are non-Americans, you will comply. Is that vehicle still operable?"
"Eh? Just because I'm Russian, it's not excuse to just command me around. There is this magic word in your language called please" complained Jojo, crossing his arms. "And no, I don't know if the vehicle works."
-
Over the course of half an hour while walking towards the center of the crater, several things happened.
Ten minutes in, jewels began to rain from the sky; anyone watching Minato walk by instead of dieing, grieving, or indulging greed would have been surprised to see some of the jewels vanishing when they got close to him before they could hit the ground.
Twenty minutes in, Minato decided to call Thanatos on his lie.
Give me the real death toll.
I already told you,
This time not just the humans.
Well you were right, Golden Rule is exactly as ridiculous as you'd expect a company run by Gilgamesh to be; Ten kilometers almost entirely evacuated in eight minutes.
Stop dodging.
...Five hundred ninety seven vaporized inside the barrier during the initial blast, entirely unrecoverable. Outside the barrier, around six to seven hundred shredded or liquefied by the compression wave and shrapnel, also unrecoverable. Upwards of fifteen thousand stand at the border and will die in the next twenty four hours.
...
Minato remained silent as he walked for another five minutes until,
"Arisato, you don't mind giving a lady some help do you? I'm closer to the center of the crater than you. About 5 minutes away."
Is it just me or did Grigori just call himself a lady?
Oh, you caught that? Didn't the voice sound a little off?
Yeah kinda.
Minato decided that walking there may not be the best idea so he applied some of his not inconsiderable speed, covering a full kilometer in less than a minute.
Upon seeing the golem he decided to move a little faster.
To an onlooker it would look like a scene from a manga, one second a young woman appears to be barely holding behind a barrier as an enormous golem rears back to deliver an earth shattering blow, the next the golem finds that it's strike has been stopped by some blue haired highschool kid, said kid now holding the golem's fist in place with one hand.
Without any sign of concern over the large angry thing next to him, Minato turned his head to look at the now female Grigori
Oh right, I forgot some gods can do that; Can we do that?
No.
You sure? Cause I could totally see you as a bubbly redhead.
Yes I am, and shut up.
"So is there a particular reason why this thing is trying to maim you?"
-
So he was strong. Strange considering the fact that he looked no different from the average teenager. Interesting.
"So is there a particular reason why this thing is trying to maim you?"
"No reason in particular. Take care of him for me Arisato. If you do I may give you a much better gift then my counterpart." With that said Grigori snapped her fingers and a hundred blue eyes burst into existence. They floated straight through the barrier and took up positions surrounding the golem and the boy. She looked over at the golem and sent it another command. "Kill him." In an instant the arm that Minato was holding back came apart and reconstructed itself around his arm. Then the golem sent another strike towards the boy's face.
Now it was time to check for any other talents. "I would recommend magic Arisato. Physical attacks won't be very effective."
-
Vatler stood upon the head of Sagara as he surveyed the damage done to the city from a great height. A good ten kilometers of the city's center had been reduced to ashes, and it truly showed. Wounded laid in the streets, paramedics tried to contain the damage and Vatler could truly not give less of a damn, only interested in find the two godlike men who had caused it. Unfortunately, no matter where Vatler looked, they were not to be found. He had, however, found his playmates huddling in the center of the crater, a now-female Grigori riding a golem of ash and the peculiar falling jewels. An impressive construct, for certain, but an insult to something like his own Dragons. More importantly, the charismatic young man, Minato, was also to be found there.
Perhaps he would have found something interesting to do?
Sagara! Anavatapta!
Calling upon the Dragon that he currently stood upon, a meter-thin beam of water darted towards the eye of the storm, as a single snake from Anavatapta's massive ball darted through it, freezing the water as soon as it appeared. Vatler jumped from the head of the Dragon unto the ice slide and surfed upon it as the surge appeared mere feet before his own, and crumbled just behind them. Not even twenty seconds passed before he landed casually in time to watch Minato's hand be eaten by the Golem's own.
"What's wrong, dear boy? Your only weakness should be rebar, so how is this Golem stopping you?"
-
Grim had traveled outside of the crater that marked the clash of deific beings.
He now crawled along the edge of compound filled a lot of magic that he really wanted to feed on.
He craweld along the walls and crept in. He saw many knights as well as a man forging and a trying to trap a very dark being.
After the forging the man looked at the mass of darkness and deigned to insult it. This man had a lot of power he could make a great candidate for a bond.
So Grim leaped to the man and tried to establish a bond with him.
OOC: (the man is Satoshi by the way). Now onto Avy's story.
Avdol wandered into the city in a haze. He tried a phone line but the damage that the crater had reeked destroyed any connections. He tried to go to doors and look for help, anything anyone but all he could see were people he could needed help themselves, help, that sadly he could not deliver.
This city was strange to him. He it was metropolis unto which he had never seen. He had no idea where to go and had to travel long and hard to find someone to help him. The people he helped were few and there were so many more left back there. He had to find someone fast or else fate would be cutting a lot of strings today.
He screamed for help but no one would give it. So he walked on, occasionally using whatever pathetic ripple he had to help out his charges.
After some time at a point where hope was scarce and his voice lost from all the yelling he saw someone. He saw a figure of knight and was that a dragon?
It didn't matter. He had to go to them. "Please help," he whispered.
-
"This thing is annoying."
First is the arm.
Minato simply yanked his arm back and the hand-cuff that had been holding onto him broke apart.
Ok, now I'm beginning to feel insulted; Am I being underestimated by that much? I really would not need magic to beat this but,
Minato switched to Alice and reached into his pocket with his free hand pulling out a red slip of paper which he then slapped onto the oncoming fist while walking by it.
The lady wants magic.
After a moment the tag burst into a purple flame that formed into a circle and pulsed vanishing as a wave of dark power ripped through the golem's body. At the moment the spell was complete the life, such that it was, of the golem was in Minato's hands; Minato was not feeling very merciful towards the thing that was currently wasting his time.
"You are an eyesore, Die."
He continued to walk towards the center of the crater even as the golem began to disintegrate, even the jewels in it's body becoming dust under the powerful Mudo spell.
Switching back to Messiah, Minato decided to call back at his two new friends.
"If you are looking to see high output magic, follow me and you will see some."
-
Satoshi, at least in his elderly form, was not exceptionally fast. However he needed not to be fast in order to stop his current foe. As the creature leapt towards him he chuckled as his body burst into intense flames courtesy of the dragon.
"You will have to be better than that to best me creature" he said tapping his cane as he turned to the creature.
-
The new host rejected him immediatly. This was new to Grim. Grim ussually overwhelmed his opponent or established a partnership with the host. These were always paltry compared to the bond that Grim wanted but being rejected by candidate hurt Grim. It hurt more than the accursed fire that this candidate was using. Grim was angry, truly angry in the first time in it's two months of consciousness and this feeling did not sit well with Grim.
Being forced to rely on the his first ever consumed meal, Grim activated the Matou crest.
He sent water to the candidate that was aflame. He upon him again now using the binding magecraft of the Matou's to supress him as he tried anew to make him a host.
-
"If you are looking to see high output magic, follow me and you will see some."
"Well, don't leave me hanging, boy. Show me that you are worthy of my love."
-
Highly destructive. Dark magic. Possibly entropic in nature. Interesting.
"If you are looking to see high output magic, follow me and you will see some."
"Very well. I hope you surprise me Arisato."
-
Ash sighed as she started pulling rubble off the girl, briskly throwing it aside. Catching her eye were the myriad of gemstones lying on the ground in different shapes, sizes, cuts, and colors. Forest was a bit of a gem-phile, the elder vampire liked pretty things, however it didn't rub off on Ash.
Ash liked wearing jewelry, but if it was paste, glass, synthetic, or real made little difference to her. However, the stones looked quite real, which was odd. So what the hell happened? she thought to herself as she knelt beside the dying girl. She carefully took the girl in her arms and said, "Before I do this, do you have a name?"
She felt knots starting to form in her stomach. She was about to Turn someone, and on a bit of a whim none the less.
******
Wynn had paid her tab and made her way out of the bar, promising Rose she would return to visit her again. The Faerie noble made her way through the city, inspecting this odd place with its mishmash of features from other cities. There were beings similiar to ones she was familiar with, but yet far different. She was curious about this point "between worlds" and those who dwelt here.
As she wandered thoughtfully, something amazing began to happen.
Well, amazing and troublesome.
The ancient Faerie shielded herself as the two demi-gods had a battle for the ages against one and another, obliterating others without a thought. She winched slightly at the carnage with a thought, Well, this is going to displease both Gabriel and Forest,.
Once the battle was over, the city was in ruins and many had died as a result of the battle. The two combatants were exhausted at this point, and Wynn took the opportunity to approach them. The blond one was quite lovely, with his golden hair and ruby red eyes. She admired his features as she watched the two of them recover, the white haired fellow getting assistance from someone who's presence put Wynn on edge.
They would upset the balance of nature, and not for positive change, but their own amusement, she thought with a scowl as the white haired man decided that he should make it rain gemstones.
She sighed, rubbed her forehead, and said, "Now this will just ruin the economic structure."
-
Ash sighed as she started pulling rubble off the girl, briskly throwing it aside. Catching her eye were the myriad of gemstones lying on the ground in different shapes, sizes, cuts, and colors. Forest was a bit of a gem-phile, the elder vampire liked pretty things, however it didn't rub off on Ash.
Ash liked wearing jewelry, but if it was paste, glass, synthetic, or real made little difference to her. However, the stones looked quite real, which was odd. So what the hell happened? she thought to herself as she knelt beside the dying girl. She carefully took the girl in her arms and said, "Before I do this, do you have a name?"
She felt knots starting to form in her stomach. She was about to Turn someone, and on a bit of a whim none the less.
"I'm... Ellen" the dying girl managed to utter despite the situation she was in and the extent of her injuries. Oddly, she felt somehow at ease in the embrace of a stranger, though a bit of anxious about what would happen. Was she really going to become a vampire?
-
"I am invoking Section Three of the Jordan Act: You are to take me to a secure location for questioning. I do not care if you are non-Americans, you will comply. Is that vehicle still operable?"
Kyle heard Jojo's complaint about being threated rudely and nodded in support.
"Look, I don't know why you think you can order us around but things won't work if you ask in such an imperious manner."
He scratched his head.
"I mean, I don't mind bringing you to safety, however I'll ask that you threat us a comrades rather than slaves. The car's fine, only got a slight bump. But before we go anywhere, we should introduce ourselves, don't you think? The name's Kyle."
-
Grigori stopped. Someone else had entered the area, and their magical power was impressive. "My apologies Arisato, but I will be unable to see your performance myself." A dozen of the blue eyes moved over to the teenager. "There seems to be a disturbance that I need to attend to personally." Grigori propelled herself into the air and made her way to the center of the crater.
From the air she could see a woman with black hair and violet eyes. However the woman was clearly not a human. Those violet eyes were not fake, and her hair seemed as if it was drawing in the light around it. There was also her magical aura.
There was a difference between human magi and creatures of magic. Humans utilized the magic within them and around them and could only become so skilled. Creatures of magic were different. Any faerie or elf easily surpassed any human sorcerer. Either with sheer power, or they utilize the experience that their eternal lives give them. Considering the fact that her magical aura was nearly on the level of Grigori's own, and there was also the pointed ears which were a huge giveaway. Now if it were anyone else they would be trying to figure out whether or not the lady was a faerie or elf, but Grigori had interacted with the fae before. A long time ago. There was no doubt that this woman was one of them.
She sighed, rubbed her forehead, and said, "Now this will just ruin the economic structure."
"What could a fae possibly be doing here?"
-
Lycodrake Aptera
Downy Reed
The inbetween
"Very well then, I will need you to take my hand so that I can properly apply my magic. I will warn you it will hurt quite a bit at first."
"I am no stranger to pain, though I prefer to keep it a few marathons away." He offered a clawed limb to the magic user, making sure that clawed digits did not harm his would-be healer.
-
Wynn tilted her head and answered, "I wanted to see the idiots who caused this damage."
She gestured to the carnage to the person wondering why a Fae was indeed here.
******
Ash smiled and said, "Well, I'm Ash. This might be oddly pleasant."
Then she brushed Ellen's hair back from her throat, her grey eyes turning crimson and her canines lengthening to delicate but sharp points. The vampire licked the girl's throat before biting her.
-
Karna pulled back his hand from the King of Heroes, acknowledging the newly arrived Fae with a stare that could pierce granite walls and break shields.
"The "idiot" you would be referring to stands before you, and the other on the ground. I was about to treat his wounds."
"I would much appreciate if you did not stop me, for I am not one to show mercy against those who break the Code of War" Karna replied harshly, but genuinely. His mood did not matter, but he was a starch believer of fair combat regardless. If this newcomer were to attack the King of Heroes, Karna would run her through without hesitation.
A silent pressure that burned like a frozen inferno exuded from Karna.
-
Satoshi chuckled "Hmmm, water magic, perhaps I was mistaken, although other than Angra I don't see what else you could be except the alien costume. Regardless of whether or not you are one my tactics won't change." he muttered slashing the charm on Angra.
Angra twitched and then bolted inhumanly to the door slamming it shut.
Satoshi cast a wind spell creating a firestorm which deflected the water and served as a shield against further grapple attempts.
"I'm not sure if you can understand me, but it's a terrible idea to attack me. If you leave now I'll let you leave without harm" he said narrowing his eyes.
-
"I wanted to see the idiots who caused this damage."
"They are a unique pair aren't they? I used to believe that strong and stupid was going out of style before these two blew up the center of the city. However right now you are much more interesting to me then them. What House do you come from?"
Then Grigori looked over to the two warriors.
"I would much appreciate if you did not stop me, for I am not one to show mercy against those who break the Code of War"
"I doubt that she will Son of Surya. The Fae may be fickle, but thay are far from stupid."
-
Wynn smirked, folding her arms under her breasts as she eyed Karna. She said, "Warrior, if I was going to make an attempt upon both of your lives, you would not see me. I was just curious to see who had the severe lack of judgement to cause so much damage."
She eyed Gilgamesh with a smile and said, "I have no intention of stopping you. It would be a shame to lose someone so fair."
Then she looked at the woman with that same odd smile and answered, "The House of Shadows."
A shadow tendril appeared and picked up a large ruby from the ground. It flashed crimson in the sunlight as the stone was placed into her hand. She studied the play of light in the gem and said, "An impressive display, but a futile one. An abundance of what was once rare loses what made it precious."
-
This Candidate tried to reason with him. It continued to reject him when it had so much to offer.
If it knew of Grim's race why did it so reject him. Did the candidate not see how much it had to offer?
The candidate tried to keep warding Grim off with that accursed fire.
Grim was still angry. Grim was still hurt at the rejection. So grim pressed on despite the hell that this candidate projected before it.
Grim was now forced to be a little more creative in its assualt. It used the barrier that it had learned when bonded to the last host. It used the barrier to cut through the storm while quelling the edges with water magic.
Grim lunged again through the opening it made this time truly making it through and once again it was using the binding magic of the Matous.
-
Karna's building wrath died down, and the pressure that exuded from him turned from outright murderous to merely pressuring, forcing the Fae to nearly take knee at the sheer intensity.
"Even with the decay of value, what Bhoomidevi has blessed us with in the form of these gems shall easily fund the repairs needed. The loss of life is truly tragic, but the cycle of reincarnation is forever long, and the lost souls shall live a fortunate life. It is but Dharma."
-
"An impressive display, but a futile one. An abundance of what was once rare loses what made it precious."
"There is still enough filth in the world to give it worth Fae. Hmm. It will become tiresome if I have to refer to you as Fae all the time. Will you tell me your name?"
Even as she said that Grigori turned to the right and saw a crow standing on the ruins of a building, and it was staring at the little group at the center of the crater. "How forward of you sorcerer. Such a blatant familiar." A twist of her hand sent thousands of tendrils of shadow at the bird. It was captured in a moment and pulled it right in front of Grigori's face. "Blood. How cute. Come out wherever you are sorcerer! You would not like it if you made me come after you."
-
Wynn held her ground, not wanting to be cowed by the demi-god (after all, she was Fae, and earthly, his divinity meant nothing to her). She continued to play with the ruby, palming it back and forth. Already her mind was forming plans to forge it into something, making a charm or weapon.
"I do thank you for the gift; I can make use of it, but this may unstabilize the economy here. If these gems lose their value in a drastic way, they would not be able to fund the repairs needed," Wynn replied, her eyes meeting his. "The loss of human life little concerns me. Mortals kill each others in absurd amounts on a daily basis. If Fae were included in the death toll, our conversation would be going into a different direction."
She looked at Grigori and answered, "If you must call me something then call me Lady Umbra. You have not earned the right to my given name yet."
-
"Where's your manners, Wynn Noreen Umbra? It is important to give one's full name upon first introducing yourself to avoid confusion. I am Karna, though unfortunately, I have no surnames to hide behind like yourself".
With the saying of his own name, Karna pulled his hands together and gave a short bow.
-
Turning her head away from the crow Grigori looked back at the Fae.
"If you must call me something then call me Lady Umbra. You have not earned the right to my given name yet."
"Where's your manners, Wynn Noreen Umbra? It is important to give one's full name upon first introducing yourself to avoid confusion. I am Karna, though unfortunately, I have no surnames to hide behind like yourself".
"Such a long name. I think that I'll just call you Little Shadow."
-
Satoshi wasn't surprised by the creature's tenacity but impressed. "Blasted hell" he muttered as he switched from a passive stance to active defense and ripped a door off one of the cars to use as a projectile.
"Seriously, just stop" Satoshi snapped as he ducked away from the black mass
-
"Take your bearings, King of Kings. I can tend to your wounds, but I require a more quiet place than this."
The King of Heroes chuckled, his bare chest rising up and down as he breathed evenly. Gilgamesh's natural healing had begun to activate, though it was not as great as Karna's blessing from his father. The Original Hero stood in one, fluid moment, ignoring yet acknowledging Karna's outstretched hand. The pride of the King was immeasurable, after all - though not without reason.
"I thank you for your offer, Karna, but it matters not. Within my treasury is medicine beyond compare."
A single golden portal opened above the grinning Gilgamesh, depositing a medium-sized jar of oil into his hands.
"I must tend to myself for but a moment."
With that, the King took several steps back, before pouring the healing oil over himself. It spilled from the urn onto his hair, flattening it, and then dripped down his perfectly-formed muscles. Each bead of oil traced it's path along his abdominal muscles, before boiling away. The very skin of the King of all Heroes was burning red-hot, his wounds closing as the oil traced its way along each and every line of muscle on his body.
Gilgamesh tensed his muscles as the last of the oil burned away, surrounding him in a cloud of scented steam. Laughing out lout, Gilgamesh walked forwards to where Karna now stood with two others beside him. Each of the King's steps showcased his body, his perfection, the sheer aura of arrogance and power that surrounded him - for such a thing was only natural to The Original King.
"I wanted to see the idiots who caused this damage."
"They are a unique pair aren't they? I used to believe that strong and stupid was going out of style before these two blew up the center of the city. However right now you are much more interesting to me then them. What House do you come from?"
Gilgamesh's grin grew feral, before he calmed himself. He had already graced the undeserving with a demonstration of his power. It would not do to let them become accustomed to his generosity, after all.
"I would much appreciate if you did not stop me, for I am not one to show mercy against those who break the Code of War"
"I doubt that she will Son of Surya. The Fae may be fickle, but thay are far from stupid."
Gilgamesh looked over the two that had approached Karna. One was a mage that, even though she had changed her form, could not hide from the fact that she had cast the barrier. There would be an appropriate punishment for this, of course, but Gilgamesh allowed her this moment of rest. He beheld her true form as he looked upon her, and saw the ugliness that lay within. Without recoiling, or even showing disgust, the King continued walking forward
The other was a Fae creature, who took the form of a woman with dark hair. Like the other who stood before them - Gilgamesh divined their name in an instant - she held within her a vast magical talent, greater than that possessed by the King. Such a thing was to be expected, of course, but even so she could not match his might. The Golden King was unconcerned. Still walking forward, his muscled form rippling with every stride he took, Gilgamesh drew near to Karna.
"I have no intention of stopping you. It would be a shame to lose someone so fair."
The Golden King said nothing, his face impassive. The Fae was beautiful, of course, but a few words of praise was not even a gift. It was natural that all should praise and adore him, after all. He took it in stride and continued forth
"An impressive display, but a futile one. An abundance of what was once rare loses what made it precious."
"Even with the decay of value, what Bhoomidevi has blessed us with in the form of these gems shall easily fund the repairs needed. The loss of life is truly tragic, but the cycle of reincarnation is forever long, and the lost souls shall live a fortunate life. It is but Dharma."
"There is still enough filth in the world to give it worth Fae. Hmm. It will become tiresome if I have to refer to you as Fae all the time. Will you tell me your name?"
Even then, Gilgamesh did not speak. He had perceived the nature of the sorceress who now spoke, and did not recognize her as something with worth.
Even as she said that Grigori turned to the right and saw a crow standing on the ruins of a building, and it was staring at the little group at the center of the crater. "How forward of you sorcerer. Such a blatant familiar." A twist of her hand sent thousands of tendrils of shadow at the bird. It was captured in a moment and pulled it right in front of Grigori's face. "Blood. How cute. Come out wherever you are sorcerer! You would not like it if you made me come after you."
A single pool of molten gold cast its light upon the group standing near Karna for but an instant. In that instant, a blur to supernatural eyes that no mortal could perceive shot forth, piercing straight through the familiar and destroying it utterly, carrying it into the side of another building, far off. With that, Gilgamesh, King of All Heroes, had announced his presence to the gathered.
"You would accept that wretch's aid? You fill me with sadness, Karna..."
Karna had shown a fraction of his wrath to the Faerie standing before him, yet Gilgamesh took no notice. Completely ignoring the sorceress and the black-haired fae, the Golden King stopped just short of Karna, smirking.
"And yet, you fill me with a great joy. I have not fought so hard since the days of Uruk, in stronger times then this modern age."
Gilgamesh looked around him like he was seeing those gathered around Karna for the first time.
"And what do we have here? A Faerie and a soul stained with countless years of rot? Though it is but your choice, the company you keep is odd for such a man, Karna. Well, no matter".
Gilgamesh cast his eyes around the empty space where he had unleashed the might of his greatest treasure. He was impressed by the might that Karna had displayed, and said as much to the golden warrior.
"That attack was magnificent, indeed. Truly, the might of the greatest of all Astras rings true."
The Golden King finally deigned to acknowledge the presence of the two surrounding Karna and himself. His eyes fell upon the Fae, and he tilted his head, red eyes watching her with the casual, deserved arrogance that radiated from every part of his being.
"Where's your manners, Wynn Noreen Umbra? It is important to give one's full name upon first introducing yourself to avoid confusion. I am Karna, though unfortunately, I have no surnames to hide behind like yourself".
"Such a long name. I think that I'll just call you Little Shadow."
"Wynn Noreen Umbra."
The statement of her full name fell like an iron hammer from the mouth of Gilgamesh, for the true names of the Fae are rarely earned and even more rarely given. To call out a faerie's full name from the mouth of such a man, an existence closer to god than human, would catch the attention of any being in an instant. The crimson eyes of the King regarded her form. Gilgamesh spoke in a softer voice, musing.
"And what would an existence like yourself seek in such a city?"
-
"You would accept that wretch's aid? You fill me with sadness, Karna..."
"The wretched physician offered his aid, and as the noon has passed, I required it. There is nothing to be sad about, it was merely a matter of convenience."
"And yet, you fill me with a great joy. I have not fought so hard since the days of Uruk, in stronger times then this modern age."
"Truly, I have never enjoyed a battle quite this much. We must be sure to hold another performance this grand once again, King of Heroes."
-
This candidate continued to infuriate Grim to no end. The candidate kept on rejecting it. Why won't it just try?
The door threw it to the other wall but that did not stop Grim. He lifted the door and jumped back at the candidate with the car door grabbed at the front and this time he would get him. Grim used a simple spherical barrier and projected it around all both the candidate and himself just before impact. He would not run anymore.
-
Since Karna bowed, Wynn followed suit with a graceful curtsy and replied, "It is a pleasure to meet you."
She narrowed her eyes at Grigori and scanned "her". Deciding she was on the level of Hawk Hunters, an annoyance, she did not dignify the insult with a response. Besides, her attention was taken elsewhere when the golden haired one rose to his feet. Oil lovingly traced over his glorious, golden form as he poured it onto himself. Steam rose around him, leaving him whole and perfect once again.
She watched and appreciated as he approached, not attempting to hide her appreciative gaze. That was not faerie way after all. If one found another attractive or appealing, it was an insult to not let them know. So she made no attempt to hide the pleased smile as she watched his glorious approach.
He spoke with Karna, pleased with the fight that had just happened. Then he looked at the woman with scorn before turning towards her.
"Wynn Noreen Umbra."
Tiny, delightful shivers filled her as he said her true name. He said it with respect, a call out to get her attention. He did not want anything from her; after all he seemingly had everything.
"And what would an existence like yourself seek in such a city?"
In this meeting, he would not have to ask her something three times to get a true answer. Wynn wanted to be honest with him this one time. In future meetings she would plan to be more evasive and teasing, like all other Faeries.
She continued to play with the ruby and answered, "Curiosity, and to claim someone who belongs to me."
-
Uchiten
His visage had stopped flaring in inky darkness as the power in the battlefield died down. Recognizing the fight was indeed over, the smile on Uchiten's face had mellowed but not vanished, and an almost disappointed sigh made its way out his mouth. Despite how quickly it had been over, it had been a show without bounds. At the time, he honestly wished to express his gratitude to the two fighters for entertaining him so with such a valiant duel.
More powers were converging at the ground zero of the battle however, and his thirst for excitement momentarily quenched, the evil spirit decided caution was in order.
Extending his perception, he found one of his makeshift blood familiars close by, miraculously unscathed from the destruction and backlash of kilometers that the clash between the two demigods had wrought. Mentally directing it to the site, Uchiten saw through its eyes and chuckled inwardly as he took in the gathering.
Even as she said that Grigori turned to the right and saw a crow standing on the ruins of a building, and it was staring at the little group at the center of the crater. "How forward of you sorcerer. Such a blatant familiar." A twist of her hand sent thousands of tendrils of shadow at the bird. It was captured in a moment and pulled it right in front of Grigori's face. "Blood. How cute. Come out wherever you are sorcerer! You would not like it if you made me come after you."
A single pool of molten gold cast its light upon the group standing near Karna for but an instant. In that instant, a blur to supernatural eyes that no mortal could perceive shot forth, piercing straight through the familiar and destroying it utterly, carrying it into the side of another building, far off. With that, Gilgamesh, King of All Heroes, had announced his presence to the gathered.
Uchiten paused at that, blinking slowly. Then he laughed lightly and called over Zan with his right hand. The oni nodded and his form vanished in the night with a quick shimmer. Though no longer in perceptible or physical form, the shikigami stood on watch by its master's side. Then, the onmyouji raised his gaze up in assessment, and disappeared in a flash like a spark straying from lightning.
Using the spirit pulse that flowed through the land as a foothold and means of transportation, the distance of kilometers that spanned from his perch to the creater was astrally covered in seconds. The last attack from either warrior that had shaped the creater, however, had been of an intensity such it had completely disrupted the ley lines there. And so, where he normally would've been able to get much closer, the sorceror had to cut his jump short.
With another flash, Uchiten's form reappeared high in the sky near the edge of the creater. From then, he slowly floated down to ground level and joined the group surrounding Karna and Gilgamesh, taking in those there with mirth slipping into his gaze as it swept over each one individually.
Bringing one arm behind his back, he brandished the other in a grand yet proper gesture, and bowed deeply.
"Greetings to all. I apologise for my uncalled eavesdropping." he began, turning to Gilgamesh and Karna first. "King Gilgamesh of Uruk, Karna of Anga. I salute you for the excellent bout. It was a sight unlike any I have seen before, and it brought my jaded eyes much joy."
"Lady Wynn. It is a pleasure to see you again." Uchiten continued, turned to Wynn, before finally facing Grigori. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. Your magic is powerful indeed. I hope I will be able to see more in the future."
Rising from his bow, he fixed the group over his glasses and spoke once more. "I am Ketsumoto Uchiten, of Japan."
His full name exited his mouth without any particular will empowering it. The words that were like a curse in and of themselves could be dangerous even in such a mundane manner, but with this group, Uchiten did not dare fail his etiquette, and he had no doubt they were all far too powerful to be so simply affected.
-
"Belongs to you? Has a servant of yours taken a opposing side?" Karna was genuinely curious in the regards to the term. Was "belonging to someone" a phrase common to this world? Perhaps someone could literally own others as possessions in this modernity. What had the world come to while he was gone?
He barely showed recognition towards the presence of the newcomer. Truly, he was not one to acknowledge curses as living beings.
-
"I am Ketsumoto Uchiten, of Japan."
Grigori felt magic moving around her. A curse perhaps? Maybe a more passive effect started by calling the mans true name. How interesting. "Well, if we are introducing ourselves I should do so as well. I am Grigori, archmage, pioneer of the most obscure magical fields, and Death God." Now that introductions were finished she looked back to the Fae.
"Are you truly that cruel Little Shadow? I can understand the King ignoring me, for he holds the power of creation itself in his hands but you?" Grigori moved forward and with a single step forward touched Wynn's arm. From there she transferred a few memories. Nothing extravagant. A few centuries spent researching the arcane. No eating or sleeping simply more and more progress. Taking paths other have traveled and more obscure or forbidden ones. No substance. Just memories of the pursuit of knowledge, and at the end the true face of a god. Its essence made bare for the world to see.
-
Satoshi raised an eyebrow "I have had enough of being taken over, retreat, now!" he stated pushing his power to it's limit. "Retreat or burn!" he snapped releasing the full force of the Dragon's power engulfing the whole garage in flames.
the creature would likely die if he did not retreat but Satoshi could not risk being taken over again.
-
Ash smiled and said, "Well, I'm Ash. This might be oddly pleasant."
Then she brushed Ellen's hair back from her throat, her grey eyes turning crimson and her canines lengthening to delicate but sharp points. The vampire licked the girl's throat before biting her.
If Ellen was in any doubt that Ash was not human, her changed visage clearly confirmed she could be a vampire, as well as the fact she bit into Ellen's neck and started draining her blood. 'Oddly pleasant' was an understatement. Though single, the woman was not a virgin and have had her share of sexual experience back in college days, but the pleasure she felt even as her life was drained away was overwhelming her with rapture, making the pain go away.
-
Again it rejected him. "Why, why" Grim screamed in its mind. "Why won't the candidate accept my embrace?" was what rung in Grims mind again and again.
The fire hurt, it hurt like nothing Grim had ever felt before but a barrier surrounding Grim, some water magic and the paltry magic resistance Grim had helped lessen the blow.
Grim was still flying towards him and finally made contact again.
Finally Grim could use the Makiri magecraft of binding. So while in contact Grim drained as much mana as he could expelling any excess as water magic to further cool down himself.
-
"Eh? Just because I'm Russian, it's not excuse to just command me around. There is this magic word in your language called please" complained Jojo, crossing his arms. "And no, I don't know if the vehicle works."
Russian. That was a word Elissa didn't want to hear. However, his phrasing was off: Not even a spy would say something like that to cover his own tracks. No one can act like they didn't know that World War III was going on, especially since it was a few years in.
No, something isn't adding up here. This strange location, these people; this just cements it.
Turning her attention to the other individual in front of her "Check on the Taxi Cab, see if it is still in working condition. If it is, I'll follow you to the location you were heading. This place is a complete unknown, and I want answers."
-
Grigori chose to depart leaving some of what look to be magic eyes to witness in her stead, Vatler chose to follow. Upon arriving at the center of the crater, Minato turned to look at Vatler and asked,
"Tell me Vatler, how do you turn sixteen thousand into twelve hundred?"
At this Minato takes out the gun like evoker from it's holster and presses it against his head.
Two deep breaths.
"Per so na."
Pull the trigger.
Instead of the gore one would normally expect to see, a sight and sound reminiscent of shattering glass issues as blue mist flows outward and a figure appears in the air.
(http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080701231312/megamitensei/images/2/22/Messiah.png)
A figure of White and Silver, exuding a holy aura vast enough to be clearly felt anywhere in the city.
The figure raised it's right hand and spoke a single word in unison with Minato,
"Salvation"
And with that a bright, white light shone from the figure's outstretched hand. The light flowed outward, filled the crater and flowed out into the city, flowing through buildings, vehicles, and people; All the living it touched were fully healed, all disease and all ailments vanished as if they had never been. For twenty kilometers the light flowed, and the injured were healed, and the ailing were cured, and the souls of the dead were given peace.
Fifteen thousand lives were saved from death, twelve hundred souls given peace.
Arisato Minato, looking as if he had exerted a great deal, returned the evoker to it's holster.
"I'm hungry, wanna get something to eat?"
-
At the start of the magical battle between Satoshi and Grim, alarms, both mystical and mundane went off in a chorus of claxion cries. The sound echoed throughout the garage and spread through the compound, alerting Forest that again someone was stirring up shit in her house. Without a word to anyone, she took off in a mad dash heading for a room on the second floor.
This room was filled with various crystal, gem, and mineral specimens that would have been the envy to any museum or private collector. In the center of the room, sitting in a circle of clear quartz crystals, was a black box. Inside the black box was something very precious. There were five of them, five hematite crystals that had been steeped in her godson's blood. She picked up one of them and rushed towards the garage.
She was instantly greeted by fire and steam, and with a shout of a word in Gaelic, she threw the crystal in the center of the room.
It cracked, and deep red light crackled out of it, spreading over both fire and water. As soon as the light vanished, all magic in the room was nullified, leaving only charred and steaming remains.
Forest glared and shouted, "What the fuck is going on here?"
******
"Belongs to you? Has a servant of yours taken a opposing side?" Karna asked.
Wynn smiled and said, "I would not call her a servant, but I do consider her mine."
Then Grigori touched her arm, and she was disoriented for a moment from the flood of memories that the "god" was trying to impart upon her. "Are you truly that cruel Little Shadow? I can understand the King ignoring me, for he holds the power of creation itself in his hands but you?"
Wynn withdrew her arm and said, "If you care to keep that hand, do not touch me again. Your magics are perverse and against the act and order of nature. I am to create and prevent stagnation, to encourage growth and thriving, while all you do is drain. So yes, being cruel to a wretched thing such as you would be the sensible thing to do."
-
Karna, knowing now less than what he started with, retracted his statement. He could easily see the person and what the Lady Umbra would do to her, but what he saw unnerved him and only confused him further, a single drop of cold sweat appearing on his brow. Truly, he would have to find out how the modern world permitted ownership over other humans.
"I see. How very unfortunate for her."
-
Satoshi stumbled backward having lost his cane and robe. "Some kind of magical parasite, I thought it might be the same kind of symbiote as Venom since the Hulk was here earlier, probably not though, it doesn't seem smart. Little bit crazy but hate fire all the same" he explained coughing as he used the wall as a support.
Satoshi's elderly features were fully visible now as were the wounds from the over use of his power. He self consciously rubbed the top of his head patting the large bald spot tenderly, his hair now completely white.
his hands shook as he fiddled around in his pocket and retrieved his glasses. Putting the round frames on he added "I'm sorry, it'll be awhile before I can properly take care of Angra, the beastie here made me use a lot of magic and whatever you did took the rest"
-
La Folia came running down the street at a reasonable speed. She was sure she had heard the sounds of a fire, and maybe even the sounds of fighting. She had one hand in her inner pocket, reaching for her Curse Gun when she came upon the building she was sure was the source of the noise. A compound of sorts, seemingly untouched for the last while. Was it merely her imagination? She had heard the sounds of fighting a multiple of times walking through the vast streets, most if not all of which were mere brawls, but at the sound of fire, she had taken action, as innocents could have been in danger.
This city was really getting to her, but then again, that wasn't necessarily bad. It was a great change of pace from the stuffiness of her homeland.
Putting her gun back in it's place, La Folia took a quick second look at the building before shrugging her shoulders with a slight sigh, before she took her bearings and began walking away, the natural swing to her hips reappearing as she contemplated the situation. Sure, it was great that none had come to harm, but it also left her without much to do but keep looking around and hope for entertainment to show itself. She was also getting quite hungry.
-
"If you care to keep that hand, do not touch me again. Your magics are perverse and against the act and order of nature. I am to create and prevent stagnation, to encourage growth and thriving, while all you do is drain. So yes, being cruel to a wretched thing such as you would be the sensible thing to do."
Grigori shuddered. Feminine features dissapeared, and the male aspect resumed control "Prevent stagnation? I have done that for centuries. Conflict is an impressive motivator. Back an animal into a corner, and it will do anything to survive. I have pit nations, races, and individuals against each other for centuries. They have only grown stronger. Their wish to live makes them inventive. In order to avoid destruction they must make themselves powerful enough to withstand it. So they advance constantly, unwilling to let their race die out. Even immortals races such as the Fae pulled themselves into the race for advancement once they were given enough motivation."
Grigori twitched again, and the female aspect took control.
-
"I'm hungry, wanna get something to eat?"
"If that is what you wish. I do not particularly feel the need for food myself."
The display before him had been truly impressive, if slightly boring. Such a level of power would be much more fun if it was used for destruction. Vatler would have to witness the young man's growth for himself before he could truly deem that he was as interesting as him.
-
"Ok follow me. I know a place, You may like it; or if you would rather, we can go to my home and I can cook."
With only that, Minato begins to walk towards the edge of the crater.
-
"Very well, lead the way, dear. I'd prefer your cooking, however."
Karna looked to the sky, seeing the wave of pure white wash across the crater and it's proximity, dragging the dying back to the lands of the living. Karna looked around, his eagle-sharp eyes catching the sight of a young man who's output of power matched that of the vast blast of healing magic. Whispering a silent prayer of thanks to the man in the far distance, Karna turned himself back to the conversation at hand.
-
"All right that makes getting there more convenient."
Minato looks around...
!
"There it is."
Standing entirely undisturbed amidst the rubble is a door and frame, with nothing on either side.
"Shall we go then?"
Minato walks to the door, turns the knob, and the door opens into a large nondescript hallway which he then walks into.
-
Vatler was truly curious now. Walking slowly after Minato with his hands in his pockets, Vatler observed as a door, disconnected from any wall, stood among the ruins of some now-gone house. Following the boy to the door, Vatler looked on as the door then opened into a hallway from a relatively middle-class Japanese home.
"I see. Going by your uniform, this must be your doom room. I do wonder how such a dorm can exist in a space that should not be here. Would you care to enlighten me, Minato?"
-
"Actually it's a hallway, The Hall of Doors to be exact. Are you well versed in seven dimensional non-euclidean structures?"
And quite the hall of doors it was, such a bland hall way stretched for farther than any hallway should, and filled on both sides with doors of all kinds, shapes ,materials,and colors.
Carefully closing the door behind them and pulling the door an extra time to make sure it is closed Minato began to explain,
"The doors come out in multiple parts of the city and other places throughout the cosmos. Be careful, some of them open easily and lead to places less than hospitable to human life."
At this he gestures towards a door that looks to be made of some sort of crystal that is painful to look at for very long.
"That one for instance, leads to Mercury."
A few moments of walking leads to a simple green door.
"And here we are."
Minato opens the door revealing the ground floor of a relatively old western style dorm.
"Make yourself at home. Any preferences for dinner? I can cook nearly anything."
-
"Very interesting architecture. I cant say that anything I've seen has been quite so... all-spanning."
Minato opens the door revealing the ground floor of a relatively old western style dorm.
"Make yourself at home. Any preferences for dinner? I can cook nearly anything."
"Let's see, I haven't had Italian for a good while. Is this within your capabilities?"
-
Ash had never done this before. Not that she thought the act was abhorrent or anything of the such, but she figured Siring someone meant that you took responsibility over them. Even as much as she disliked Hawk Hunters, she had to admit he took care of those he Sired. Ash, enjoying her freedom above all else, didn't want to be tied down with such responsibility.
However she was familiar with the procedure. Apparently even hard wired for it. Once Ellen's heart started to slow to an almost crawl, Ash pulled her fangs out of the young woman's neck. She sealed the bite closed before slicing into her own wrist with her fangs.
Then she lifted her still warm wrist to Ellen's lips.
-
Ellen, though barely conscious at this point, felt the metallic taste on her lips, the blood trickling down her throat. As if to get over with whatever meant to happen, she tried to swallow the blood given to her.
-
"I Think so, I just got some fresh tomatoes yesterday, so I'll use those."
Minato turned to walk into the kitchen but paused just before going in and with a somewhat weary look said,
"Some of the rooms are much bigger on the inside than on the outside; Be careful of the weapons in the armory on the second floor, it is the first door on the right, some of them are cursed, a few are sentient, most are able to harm immortals; And no matter what, do not go into the basement, you lose your way down there and it will take centuries to find your way out."
That having been said, Minato entered his kitchen and began to prepare a meal he hoped would be worthy of his new found friend.