Nasuverse Fate/Prismatic Chaos
- Thread starter Alyeris
- Start date
Because Gil isn't the only one with a mobile armory...
Rin: hehehe you've outdone yourself this time Rin. Now to for- I mean, convince Kirika to wear this lovely little number...
*Rin finds Kirika and is about to ambush her until she notices Archer aproching Kirika*
Rin: *hides*
Kirika: Oh hello Archer ~
Archer: *nervous* Oh hey kirika, do you hear Rin? I think she's calling me Gottagoseeyabye!
Kirika: *Grabs Archer* Not so fast big boy, you said you'd show me that big strong sword of yours remember? You said you'd show me the proper way to handle swords... ~
Archer: That was before *shudder* yesterday. I'm still tired because of you you insatiable little brat.
Kirika: No excuses! Now come with me I'm sick of waiting!
*Drags Archer towards her room*
Rin: *Blush* Th-that... No that can't be, I must be misunderstanding things. Kirika can't be... Maybe, she was spending alot of time hanging out with that blonde friend of Kirei... No I'm just mishearing it, yeah nothing is going on. Now I'll just pretend like this never happened and be on my way!
*10 sec later*
Rin: *holding glass to Kirika's door*
Saber: What are you doing?
Rin: Kyaaa! Crap did they hear?! Saber keep it down! *covers Saber's mouth
Saber: Rin why (Rin: shhh!) *whispers* Rin why are you listening in on my master? *glare*
Rin: Well Archer-
Saber: What What has that pervert done-?!
Rin: SHHH! Shhh! They might h-
Kirika: Okay Archer I'm ready ~ now whip it out! Oh, it looks even bigger than last time! Ahhhnnnn~<3
Saber: *busts down door* ARCHER! YOU DISPICABLE *ANGRISH!* YOU WILL NOT SULLY GOSHU-IMEAN-MASTER!
Rin: DAMN YOU ARCHER I'M THE ONLY ONE ALLOWED TO DO THAT TO KIRIKA!
Archer: Wait please it's not what it looks like! She was just making me trace-
Kirika: Excalibur-kun, Ahn~<3 I love you so much. Wait is that*snif sniff* Another Excalibur-kun! two at once, oh my. *blush* well maybe just this once...
Rin: hehehe you've outdone yourself this time Rin. Now to for- I mean, convince Kirika to wear this lovely little number...
*Rin finds Kirika and is about to ambush her until she notices Archer aproching Kirika*
Rin: *hides*
Kirika: Oh hello Archer ~
Archer: *nervous* Oh hey kirika, do you hear Rin? I think she's calling me Gottagoseeyabye!
Kirika: *Grabs Archer* Not so fast big boy, you said you'd show me that big strong sword of yours remember? You said you'd show me the proper way to handle swords... ~
Archer: That was before *shudder* yesterday. I'm still tired because of you you insatiable little brat.
Kirika: No excuses! Now come with me I'm sick of waiting!
*Drags Archer towards her room*
Rin: *Blush* Th-that... No that can't be, I must be misunderstanding things. Kirika can't be... Maybe, she was spending alot of time hanging out with that blonde friend of Kirei... No I'm just mishearing it, yeah nothing is going on. Now I'll just pretend like this never happened and be on my way!
*10 sec later*
Rin: *holding glass to Kirika's door*
Saber: What are you doing?
Rin: Kyaaa! Crap did they hear?! Saber keep it down! *covers Saber's mouth
Saber: Rin why (Rin: shhh!) *whispers* Rin why are you listening in on my master? *glare*
Rin: Well Archer-
Saber: What What has that pervert done-?!
Rin: SHHH! Shhh! They might h-
Kirika: Okay Archer I'm ready ~ now whip it out! Oh, it looks even bigger than last time! Ahhhnnnn~<3
Saber: *busts down door* ARCHER! YOU DISPICABLE *ANGRISH!* YOU WILL NOT SULLY GOSHU-IMEAN-MASTER!
Rin: DAMN YOU ARCHER I'M THE ONLY ONE ALLOWED TO DO THAT TO KIRIKA!
Archer: Wait please it's not what it looks like! She was just making me trace-
Kirika: Excalibur-kun, Ahn~<3 I love you so much. Wait is that*snif sniff* Another Excalibur-kun! two at once, oh my. *blush* well maybe just this once...
it's wrong if i imagine a Meeting of tracers - EMIYA, Shiro (and if possible the one who was raised by Zeltrech in the Snippets from HELL thread), Archerko and Kirika- battling against ORT/the Shadows at the rythm of Back to Back by Hammerfall and then when manifesting their versions of UBW EMIYA starts to beat, culminating the figth with Breaking their traces on a final stand with Broken Phantasm in the background?
sorry for the absence of links, currently i'm on my mobile wich doesn't allow linking.
sorry for the absence of links, currently i'm on my mobile wich doesn't allow linking.
what if it's ORT-kun, the cavalry to Gil, or fighting another equally awesome adversary?
now i'm thinking of the dimension hopping Tracer-team+Gil, Lancer and Iskander (team GARwesome minus one) going to recruit THE Herakles(and Ilya) who is protecting her master from the wolves.
Gil-chan mmmm now i'm thinking of Gil-ko :drool:
now i'm thinking of the dimension hopping Tracer-team+Gil, Lancer and Iskander (team GARwesome minus one) going to recruit THE Herakles(and Ilya) who is protecting her master from the wolves.
Gil-chan mmmm now i'm thinking of Gil-ko :drool:
Kirika: Yes. Yes! YES! OHGODYES! Oh Archer, more more! Give me more! Gil you too! Show me what you got.
Gil: Please no more! I'm begging!
Archer: Too tired Kirika, and Rin's watching.
Kirika: I want her to watch, now you too give me more or I'll force you to!
Lily: Mistess, why do you go with them when you have me!?
Rin: Saber...
Saber: ...yes Rin
Rin: Is it just me or is this sword training exercise starting to get... disturbing?
Saber: ... Maybe-
Kirika: Yes Archer trace those swordes, now give em to me! Gil No holding back let it all out of those gates of yours!
Saber: ...Maybe just a bit.
Gil: Please no more! I'm begging!
Archer: Too tired Kirika, and Rin's watching.
Kirika: I want her to watch, now you too give me more or I'll force you to!
Lily: Mistess, why do you go with them when you have me!?
Rin: Saber...
Saber: ...yes Rin
Rin: Is it just me or is this sword training exercise starting to get... disturbing?
Saber: ... Maybe-
Kirika: Yes Archer trace those swordes, now give em to me! Gil No holding back let it all out of those gates of yours!
Saber: ...Maybe just a bit.
Kirika: Lily...
Lily: Yes master?
Kirika: Why are you dressed like that, or more like WHY AREN'T YOU DRESSED AT ALL!?
Lily: But I am dressed, I'm dressed in this whip cream & Cherries! Does this get you hot master?
Kirika: No.
Lily: If this doesn't do it that what will!?
*CRASH*
Archer: *Sprouting blades form UBW* I'm sorry Saber! It was a missunderstanding I swear! She just likes swords that's all! Please do-urk!
Kirika: *grabs Archer* You. Me. Room. NOW!
Lily: ...
Gilko: *comes out form under the table* I-is she gone? Please let her be gone!
Lily: gilgamesh why is the king of heros in such a sorry state?
Gilko: Kotomeany said drinking this potion would make her stop but it didn't and it just made the other one dress me up like this! I-I just want this war to be over! I want to go home!
Lily: Aw, you poor thing why don't you come to my room and lie down for abit and I help you forget all about it *evil smirk*
Lily: Yes master?
Kirika: Why are you dressed like that, or more like WHY AREN'T YOU DRESSED AT ALL!?
Lily: But I am dressed, I'm dressed in this whip cream & Cherries! Does this get you hot master?
Kirika: No.
Lily: If this doesn't do it that what will!?
*CRASH*
Archer: *Sprouting blades form UBW* I'm sorry Saber! It was a missunderstanding I swear! She just likes swords that's all! Please do-urk!
Kirika: *grabs Archer* You. Me. Room. NOW!
Lily: ...
Gilko: *comes out form under the table* I-is she gone? Please let her be gone!
Lily: gilgamesh why is the king of heros in such a sorry state?
Gilko: Kotomeany said drinking this potion would make her stop but it didn't and it just made the other one dress me up like this! I-I just want this war to be over! I want to go home!
Lily: Aw, you poor thing why don't you come to my room and lie down for abit and I help you forget all about it *evil smirk*
Sneaks in. 
h43r:
Looks around. :unsure:
Posts final section of part 3.
RUN AWAY!
______________________
3-5
The Origin.
The first concept, the final answer. From it all things came, and within it could be found power beyond the realms permitted to mortal man.
It was in order to reach this impossible goal that the three households of Einzbern, Makiri and Tohsaka came together in Fuyuki. The body, the spirits, and the power of the land. Together the contributions of the three families formed a magical trinity that could, however briefly, open the gates to the Origin for even the most humblest among them. As with any attempt to reach that most holiest of places however, fate intervened in order to destroy that which had been wrought.
Perhaps it was the counterforce, that power which worked against anyone who sought that which was forbidden. More likely however, it was simple human greed that shattered the path that had been built. With the revelation that there existed power enough for only one attempt to reach forth into the Origin, the alliance of the three houses stood little chance of holding together. Each house had their own idea of how the Grail should be used, and with dreams hundreds of years old on the line, none of them were about to back down. In the conflict that ensued the chance was lost, and as each of the houses blamed each other for the failure, the seeds were sown for a struggle that would continue across the centuries.
Of those who had overseen the initial ceremony however, few survived. As long lived as mages could be, the passing of three centuries was more than any human could withstand. The few who still walked among the living could no longer be called 'men', and among them it was Matou Zouken who had given up the most as he jealously clung to his life and his goals.
Three hundred and some years he had devoted to chasing the grail. Three hundred years during which he had clawed together all the cards that he could in order to prepare his chosen sacrifices for the Grail Wars. Three hundred years of failure as time after time the Matou mages failed to subdue their opponents. Three hundred years spent watching as his family slowly fell from their once lofty position to become little better than a passer-by on the street. Throughout this time he had done some terrible things, but regretted nothing. Everything for the Grail, all for the dream that he had once shared with two others.
Three hundred years of endless effort. The results of which were now burning down in front of his very eyes.
"Do you have any idea what you have done, child of the Tohsakas?" Zouken asked of the arsonist with barely restrained anger evident in his voice. Behind him, the Victorian style Matou mansion burned as red flames licked at the left side of the house.
"After seeing what you were doing in there?" Rin glared back at the ancient monster of the Matous with defiant eyes. "Enough to know that I can't let it stand."
"Foolish girl," Zouken snarled, his withered face contorted with emotion. "What business do you have judging the path that another family has taken?"
"What business?" Rin frowned. "I am the second owner of Fuyuki, Matou. It is my right to judge what those who live here do."
"And just what is it that I have done that angered you so, girl? I have broken no laws of the Association, nor have I revealed any secrets to the world. So, I ask again. What right do you have to judge me, you insolent child!"
Rin clenched her fists as Zouken roared at her with a surprisingly deep voice for his shrivelled frame.
"By right of blood, Matou. I saw what was down there, and there is only one possible use for such things," Rin's nails dug into her palms as she tightened her fists with rage. "Do you truly claim to be innocent after submitting Sakura to such -."
Rin's angry remonstrations were cut off as Zouken suddenly began to choke with laughter. The old man's body shook as the laugh grew steadily louder, until finally he was supporting himself with his walking stick so that he would not fall over.
"That was what angered you? Such an insignificant detail?" Zouken shook his head, and then roared at Rin. "Such idiocy! Such naivete! You call yourself a mage? Not every path to magic is as neat and tidy as yours, child! Right of blood? Such rights were broken when your father gave the girl over to me! Yet, you still seek to judge what I do to her? You do not have the right!"
Wearing a visage twisted by anger, the Matou patriarch thumped the floor with his walking stick, revealing its double purpose as an artifact as black energies began to spread outwards from it.
"As you have judged, be judged, insolent child of the Tohsakas." Zouken growled as the black light began to gather into clumps of of twisted flames that hung about the bugs that always accompanied him.
"I had no intention of letting you go anyhow," Rin replied coldly as her crest began to glow with cerulean light. "Archer, kill him. We are going to be taking Sakura as soon as we find her and there's no time to waste with a senile monster like him."
"With pleasure, Rin," Archer answered as the servant appeared behind her, bow already drawn.
"Be gone!" Zouken shouted as he shot the bugs at the pair.
The Matou mage's age was not for show, as was evident from the spells that he commanded. Imbued with foul energies drawn from the mansion grounds, each of the bugs was equivalent to a C rank spell in terms of destructive power and effect. Had Rin been alone, she would have had to use one of her best gems in order to block the thirty nine bugs that were coming at her, or be ripped apart as the bugs blew up and spread their curse.
Zouken's failure however was the presence Archer by Rin's side. An eirei was a conceptualisation of mysticism far beyond that which most mages could command, and before such beings a spell such as the one Zouken had used as almost as useless as a kitchen knife would have been.
One shot, loosed before Zouken had even finished speaking. The prana charged arrow blew through three of the bugs before it split Zouken's head into a hundred pieces. Those bugs that had been destroyed exploded in the arrow's wake, setting off eleven of the remaining bugs as they flew.
A second shot, released a split second after the first. Five of the bugs were caught in its path as it headed towards the house. Zouken not the target this time as the detonations scattered the paths of another seven bugs.
A third shot. This time the arrow shredded Zouken's right shoulder and arm into mince as it punched through two of the cursed bugs. Another three bugs were caught in the secondary explosions and lost their way.
A fourth shot, with a final fifth shot released almost at the same time. The remaining eight bugs were picked out of the air before they got anywhere near Rin, and Zouken's upper torso was blown apart as the last arrow exploded upon impact.
Five arrows. All it took to negate an attack that drew on power charged over three hundred years. The most damage that Rin took in the exchange was a blast of air that made her close her eyes for an instant.
As Archer lowered his bow, Zouken's remains fell back onto the ground. Rin spent a moment coldly looking at the lump of dead meat before she sniffed and turned towards Archer.
"Good work, Archer," Rin told him in what was possibly the first time she had really complimented him since he was first summoned.
"Of course, Rin," Archer replied with a smile, only for the expression to falter as Rin continued.
"It's good to confirm that you really are an Archer after all. I was a bit worried after you started dancing around with your swords," Rin said in a cheeky tone.
"... Dancing?" Archer muttered as if shocked.
Ignoring Archer's fixed expression, Rin took a look around the devastated Matou estate. On the lawn, shattered garden ornaments and craters marked the centres of what had been a formidable ward system, destroyed by Rin and Archer as they forcibly gained entry. Further in, the once imposing mansion was a wrecked shell of its former self. What wasn't broken was fast becoming blackened as the flames spread across the building. It was possible that there were items in there that belonged to Sakura, but Rin had no misgivings in letting them burn. Better to destroy all trace of what was here, so as to allow Sakura to make a clean start to life under her care.
"No one's here, right Archer?" Rin asked of her servant to confirm what she knew.
"No, there isn't," Archer responded stonily, still miffed by Rin's opinion of his skills.
Rin nodded to herself. "Okay then. Let's go. I can find Sakura at school tomorrow and the anti-perception wards are going to fail before too long."
Agreeing, Archer fell into step with his master as the two left the grounds. Before leaving however he looked back once more at the spot where Zouken lay.
Nothing, just lumps of meat where once the old mage had been. It was strange though. He remembered little of the Grail War, but something in the back of his head was telling him that there was something about the Matou patriarch. What that was however, he had no idea.
-x-x-x-
An hour or so after the two left. The anti-perception wards that surrounded the mansion had yet to fail, and though a pillar of smoke was rising into the night sky, no one had as yet come to find out what was going on. This reprieve from the world's attentions however could not last, and from the sounds of sirens drawing nearer in the distance, it was clear that someone had spotted the telltales signs of a fire and had called the fire department.
It was then that the remains of what had once been Matou Zouken began to move. Bulging and rippling in a grotesque fashion, the still intact lower body began to draw numerous insects to itself. The chitinous mass covered the bloody lumps, and immediately began to gain a shape. As the seconds passed, the features of the mass of insectile flesh started to become defined, and the gaunt visage of Matou Zouken once more became visible to the world.
"Kuh... Gyah... Hah... Hah... I am getting far too old for this," Zouken groaned as he began to painfully raise himself up.
"Then perhaps it's time you find your eternal rest, grandfather," a cheerful voice suddenly told him.
Zouken frowned, and then relaxed slightly as he saw that it was Sakura. Then he realised what she had just said, and frowned in annoyance once more.
"I see that it has been too long since you were disciplined, girl," Zouken told her in a voice that promised pain in the near future. "Now, come over here. I need your help if I am to completely restore myself."
Stepping out into the ruddy light provided by the flickering flames that still clung to the burnt wreck that had once been the mansion, Sakura smiled coldly.
"Get your own help, old man," she told the figure who had until recently invoked terror in her with just a change of tone. "It's long past the time when you should have gone to your grave."
Noticing that something unusual was going on, Zouken stopped and looked closely at Sakura. Now that he looked, he could see that Sakura was very different from the subdued girl that he had ordered about just this morning. Dressed in a tight fitting plain black and red dress, the girl had an air of confidence about her that he had never seen before. Though she wore a smile on her lips, her green eyes were cold as they gazed upon him, and Zouken was displeased as he realised that the emotion he read in them was one of contempt.
"You forget your place, Sakura," Zouken warned her as he got to his feet by himself. His footing was unsteady however, and it took all his efforts not to fall over again.
"What place is that, grandfather?" Sakura asked calmly. "Crying in pain as the bugs eat away at my circuits? Whimpering at your feet after Shinji is done with me? Pray, tell me."
Something was very wrong about the situation, and Zouken did not like it one bit. Though he did not find the idea of using what little of his prana remained in such a fashion, Zouken realised that he was going to have to teach Sakura a lesson if he was going to suppress this rebelliousness that she had suddenly exhibited in the face of his temporary weakness.
Zouken sent a silent command to the insects in Sakura's body. He then waited for Sakura to fall to the ground in agony, the insects driving her crazy with pain and lust as they ravaged her body and soul. As the seconds ticked by however, nothing happened, and Zouken realised with shock that Sakura had somehow cut him off from the insects in her body.
"Wha-what? How?"
"Surprised, grandfather?" Sakura said with a giggle. "I bet you were not as surprised as I was though. How sneaky of you, hiding yourself away like that? I mean, who would have expected that the core of your true being would be hiding in my heart?"
The Matou patriarch's eyes grew wide as he took in the meaning of Sakura's words. They would gotten wider if that was at all possible when Sakura took something out of her pocket. A crystal ball, within which was suspended a mass of red flesh that moved to a soft steady rhythm. A human heart to be precise.
"Who... How?" Zouken was so shocked that he could not speak coherently.
"Huhuhu, let's just say that a new friend of mine is very good when it comes to surgery grandpa," Sakura told him gleefully. "So, I don't need to be afraid you anymore."
"Sakura, give me that thing," the old wraith of the Matou's told the girl as he recovered his senses.
Sakura blinked. "This? Why should I?"
"You have no idea what you are doing! Stop fooling around and give me that!" Zouken told her forcefully, habits ingrained over the last decade spurring him on.
Sakura's eyes grew colder. "Find then, grandpa. If you want it so badly, you can have it."
Saying that, she tossed the ball to Zouken. The old man jumped with surprise and scrambled to catch the crystal ball, and in his haste fell to the ground.
"A much better look for you," the adopted daughter of the Matou's told him. "A fitting position for an overgrown insect."
Zouken ignored her as he made sure that the ball was intact. Now that he had it in his hands, he could feel himself inside the ball, and was struck by the intricacy of the item that had somehow fooled him into believing he was still inside Sakura.
"What are you thinking, girl?" Zouken finally asked as he calmed down a bit. "You can't possibly be thinking to continue on as before after going this far."
Sakura nodded. "Of course not. I simply came here to tie up a loose end. It's fortunate though that Tohsaka-san came here first."
"What?"
Sakura smiled, her eyes again still cold. "It means that I don't have to spend as my effort to kill you, grandpa."
Realising Sakura's intentions, Zouken instantly raised his hands in order to call forth the remainder of his insects so as to attack Sakura. It was a pitiful effort compared to his earlier attack on the Tohsaka child, but it would be enough against this girl that he had raised as the vessel of the Matou family's future ambitions.
Or at least, it should have been enough.
"Break," Sakura said softly as she stared at the crystal ball in Zouken's hands.
As soon as she said the word, the ball shattered, exposing the contents to the air. Unbeknownst to Zouken, the liquid inside was not blood. Instead an alchemical compound dissolved in water was what had filled the crystal ball. When exposed to the air, the mixture instantly caught fire, covering the immediate surroundings with flames that burned hotter than any forge on the planet.
"Gyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!" Zouken screamed in pain and outrage as his true self burned, and with it his body and ambitions. "I caaaaan't die like this! Cursssse yoooou Sakuraaaaa!"
"Goodbye grandpa," Sakura said with a faint smile on her face. "I won't miss you."
She bowed slightly to the mage who had made her life a living hell for the last ten years, and ignored his screams and curses as she then walked away from her former life. The method of her severance with a portion of her life was much different than what Rin had imagined, but it was just as final. There was nothing more to restrain Sakura from doing as she wished, except such bounds as she chose to set herself.
What those bounds were, only she could know.
h43r: Looks around. :unsure:
Posts final section of part 3.
RUN AWAY!
______________________
3-5
The Origin.
The first concept, the final answer. From it all things came, and within it could be found power beyond the realms permitted to mortal man.
It was in order to reach this impossible goal that the three households of Einzbern, Makiri and Tohsaka came together in Fuyuki. The body, the spirits, and the power of the land. Together the contributions of the three families formed a magical trinity that could, however briefly, open the gates to the Origin for even the most humblest among them. As with any attempt to reach that most holiest of places however, fate intervened in order to destroy that which had been wrought.
Perhaps it was the counterforce, that power which worked against anyone who sought that which was forbidden. More likely however, it was simple human greed that shattered the path that had been built. With the revelation that there existed power enough for only one attempt to reach forth into the Origin, the alliance of the three houses stood little chance of holding together. Each house had their own idea of how the Grail should be used, and with dreams hundreds of years old on the line, none of them were about to back down. In the conflict that ensued the chance was lost, and as each of the houses blamed each other for the failure, the seeds were sown for a struggle that would continue across the centuries.
Of those who had overseen the initial ceremony however, few survived. As long lived as mages could be, the passing of three centuries was more than any human could withstand. The few who still walked among the living could no longer be called 'men', and among them it was Matou Zouken who had given up the most as he jealously clung to his life and his goals.
Three hundred and some years he had devoted to chasing the grail. Three hundred years during which he had clawed together all the cards that he could in order to prepare his chosen sacrifices for the Grail Wars. Three hundred years of failure as time after time the Matou mages failed to subdue their opponents. Three hundred years spent watching as his family slowly fell from their once lofty position to become little better than a passer-by on the street. Throughout this time he had done some terrible things, but regretted nothing. Everything for the Grail, all for the dream that he had once shared with two others.
Three hundred years of endless effort. The results of which were now burning down in front of his very eyes.
"Do you have any idea what you have done, child of the Tohsakas?" Zouken asked of the arsonist with barely restrained anger evident in his voice. Behind him, the Victorian style Matou mansion burned as red flames licked at the left side of the house.
"After seeing what you were doing in there?" Rin glared back at the ancient monster of the Matous with defiant eyes. "Enough to know that I can't let it stand."
"Foolish girl," Zouken snarled, his withered face contorted with emotion. "What business do you have judging the path that another family has taken?"
"What business?" Rin frowned. "I am the second owner of Fuyuki, Matou. It is my right to judge what those who live here do."
"And just what is it that I have done that angered you so, girl? I have broken no laws of the Association, nor have I revealed any secrets to the world. So, I ask again. What right do you have to judge me, you insolent child!"
Rin clenched her fists as Zouken roared at her with a surprisingly deep voice for his shrivelled frame.
"By right of blood, Matou. I saw what was down there, and there is only one possible use for such things," Rin's nails dug into her palms as she tightened her fists with rage. "Do you truly claim to be innocent after submitting Sakura to such -."
Rin's angry remonstrations were cut off as Zouken suddenly began to choke with laughter. The old man's body shook as the laugh grew steadily louder, until finally he was supporting himself with his walking stick so that he would not fall over.
"That was what angered you? Such an insignificant detail?" Zouken shook his head, and then roared at Rin. "Such idiocy! Such naivete! You call yourself a mage? Not every path to magic is as neat and tidy as yours, child! Right of blood? Such rights were broken when your father gave the girl over to me! Yet, you still seek to judge what I do to her? You do not have the right!"
Wearing a visage twisted by anger, the Matou patriarch thumped the floor with his walking stick, revealing its double purpose as an artifact as black energies began to spread outwards from it.
"As you have judged, be judged, insolent child of the Tohsakas." Zouken growled as the black light began to gather into clumps of of twisted flames that hung about the bugs that always accompanied him.
"I had no intention of letting you go anyhow," Rin replied coldly as her crest began to glow with cerulean light. "Archer, kill him. We are going to be taking Sakura as soon as we find her and there's no time to waste with a senile monster like him."
"With pleasure, Rin," Archer answered as the servant appeared behind her, bow already drawn.
"Be gone!" Zouken shouted as he shot the bugs at the pair.
The Matou mage's age was not for show, as was evident from the spells that he commanded. Imbued with foul energies drawn from the mansion grounds, each of the bugs was equivalent to a C rank spell in terms of destructive power and effect. Had Rin been alone, she would have had to use one of her best gems in order to block the thirty nine bugs that were coming at her, or be ripped apart as the bugs blew up and spread their curse.
Zouken's failure however was the presence Archer by Rin's side. An eirei was a conceptualisation of mysticism far beyond that which most mages could command, and before such beings a spell such as the one Zouken had used as almost as useless as a kitchen knife would have been.
One shot, loosed before Zouken had even finished speaking. The prana charged arrow blew through three of the bugs before it split Zouken's head into a hundred pieces. Those bugs that had been destroyed exploded in the arrow's wake, setting off eleven of the remaining bugs as they flew.
A second shot, released a split second after the first. Five of the bugs were caught in its path as it headed towards the house. Zouken not the target this time as the detonations scattered the paths of another seven bugs.
A third shot. This time the arrow shredded Zouken's right shoulder and arm into mince as it punched through two of the cursed bugs. Another three bugs were caught in the secondary explosions and lost their way.
A fourth shot, with a final fifth shot released almost at the same time. The remaining eight bugs were picked out of the air before they got anywhere near Rin, and Zouken's upper torso was blown apart as the last arrow exploded upon impact.
Five arrows. All it took to negate an attack that drew on power charged over three hundred years. The most damage that Rin took in the exchange was a blast of air that made her close her eyes for an instant.
As Archer lowered his bow, Zouken's remains fell back onto the ground. Rin spent a moment coldly looking at the lump of dead meat before she sniffed and turned towards Archer.
"Good work, Archer," Rin told him in what was possibly the first time she had really complimented him since he was first summoned.
"Of course, Rin," Archer replied with a smile, only for the expression to falter as Rin continued.
"It's good to confirm that you really are an Archer after all. I was a bit worried after you started dancing around with your swords," Rin said in a cheeky tone.
"... Dancing?" Archer muttered as if shocked.
Ignoring Archer's fixed expression, Rin took a look around the devastated Matou estate. On the lawn, shattered garden ornaments and craters marked the centres of what had been a formidable ward system, destroyed by Rin and Archer as they forcibly gained entry. Further in, the once imposing mansion was a wrecked shell of its former self. What wasn't broken was fast becoming blackened as the flames spread across the building. It was possible that there were items in there that belonged to Sakura, but Rin had no misgivings in letting them burn. Better to destroy all trace of what was here, so as to allow Sakura to make a clean start to life under her care.
"No one's here, right Archer?" Rin asked of her servant to confirm what she knew.
"No, there isn't," Archer responded stonily, still miffed by Rin's opinion of his skills.
Rin nodded to herself. "Okay then. Let's go. I can find Sakura at school tomorrow and the anti-perception wards are going to fail before too long."
Agreeing, Archer fell into step with his master as the two left the grounds. Before leaving however he looked back once more at the spot where Zouken lay.
Nothing, just lumps of meat where once the old mage had been. It was strange though. He remembered little of the Grail War, but something in the back of his head was telling him that there was something about the Matou patriarch. What that was however, he had no idea.
-x-x-x-
An hour or so after the two left. The anti-perception wards that surrounded the mansion had yet to fail, and though a pillar of smoke was rising into the night sky, no one had as yet come to find out what was going on. This reprieve from the world's attentions however could not last, and from the sounds of sirens drawing nearer in the distance, it was clear that someone had spotted the telltales signs of a fire and had called the fire department.
It was then that the remains of what had once been Matou Zouken began to move. Bulging and rippling in a grotesque fashion, the still intact lower body began to draw numerous insects to itself. The chitinous mass covered the bloody lumps, and immediately began to gain a shape. As the seconds passed, the features of the mass of insectile flesh started to become defined, and the gaunt visage of Matou Zouken once more became visible to the world.
"Kuh... Gyah... Hah... Hah... I am getting far too old for this," Zouken groaned as he began to painfully raise himself up.
"Then perhaps it's time you find your eternal rest, grandfather," a cheerful voice suddenly told him.
Zouken frowned, and then relaxed slightly as he saw that it was Sakura. Then he realised what she had just said, and frowned in annoyance once more.
"I see that it has been too long since you were disciplined, girl," Zouken told her in a voice that promised pain in the near future. "Now, come over here. I need your help if I am to completely restore myself."
Stepping out into the ruddy light provided by the flickering flames that still clung to the burnt wreck that had once been the mansion, Sakura smiled coldly.
"Get your own help, old man," she told the figure who had until recently invoked terror in her with just a change of tone. "It's long past the time when you should have gone to your grave."
Noticing that something unusual was going on, Zouken stopped and looked closely at Sakura. Now that he looked, he could see that Sakura was very different from the subdued girl that he had ordered about just this morning. Dressed in a tight fitting plain black and red dress, the girl had an air of confidence about her that he had never seen before. Though she wore a smile on her lips, her green eyes were cold as they gazed upon him, and Zouken was displeased as he realised that the emotion he read in them was one of contempt.
"You forget your place, Sakura," Zouken warned her as he got to his feet by himself. His footing was unsteady however, and it took all his efforts not to fall over again.
"What place is that, grandfather?" Sakura asked calmly. "Crying in pain as the bugs eat away at my circuits? Whimpering at your feet after Shinji is done with me? Pray, tell me."
Something was very wrong about the situation, and Zouken did not like it one bit. Though he did not find the idea of using what little of his prana remained in such a fashion, Zouken realised that he was going to have to teach Sakura a lesson if he was going to suppress this rebelliousness that she had suddenly exhibited in the face of his temporary weakness.
Zouken sent a silent command to the insects in Sakura's body. He then waited for Sakura to fall to the ground in agony, the insects driving her crazy with pain and lust as they ravaged her body and soul. As the seconds ticked by however, nothing happened, and Zouken realised with shock that Sakura had somehow cut him off from the insects in her body.
"Wha-what? How?"
"Surprised, grandfather?" Sakura said with a giggle. "I bet you were not as surprised as I was though. How sneaky of you, hiding yourself away like that? I mean, who would have expected that the core of your true being would be hiding in my heart?"
The Matou patriarch's eyes grew wide as he took in the meaning of Sakura's words. They would gotten wider if that was at all possible when Sakura took something out of her pocket. A crystal ball, within which was suspended a mass of red flesh that moved to a soft steady rhythm. A human heart to be precise.
"Who... How?" Zouken was so shocked that he could not speak coherently.
"Huhuhu, let's just say that a new friend of mine is very good when it comes to surgery grandpa," Sakura told him gleefully. "So, I don't need to be afraid you anymore."
"Sakura, give me that thing," the old wraith of the Matou's told the girl as he recovered his senses.
Sakura blinked. "This? Why should I?"
"You have no idea what you are doing! Stop fooling around and give me that!" Zouken told her forcefully, habits ingrained over the last decade spurring him on.
Sakura's eyes grew colder. "Find then, grandpa. If you want it so badly, you can have it."
Saying that, she tossed the ball to Zouken. The old man jumped with surprise and scrambled to catch the crystal ball, and in his haste fell to the ground.
"A much better look for you," the adopted daughter of the Matou's told him. "A fitting position for an overgrown insect."
Zouken ignored her as he made sure that the ball was intact. Now that he had it in his hands, he could feel himself inside the ball, and was struck by the intricacy of the item that had somehow fooled him into believing he was still inside Sakura.
"What are you thinking, girl?" Zouken finally asked as he calmed down a bit. "You can't possibly be thinking to continue on as before after going this far."
Sakura nodded. "Of course not. I simply came here to tie up a loose end. It's fortunate though that Tohsaka-san came here first."
"What?"
Sakura smiled, her eyes again still cold. "It means that I don't have to spend as my effort to kill you, grandpa."
Realising Sakura's intentions, Zouken instantly raised his hands in order to call forth the remainder of his insects so as to attack Sakura. It was a pitiful effort compared to his earlier attack on the Tohsaka child, but it would be enough against this girl that he had raised as the vessel of the Matou family's future ambitions.
Or at least, it should have been enough.
"Break," Sakura said softly as she stared at the crystal ball in Zouken's hands.
As soon as she said the word, the ball shattered, exposing the contents to the air. Unbeknownst to Zouken, the liquid inside was not blood. Instead an alchemical compound dissolved in water was what had filled the crystal ball. When exposed to the air, the mixture instantly caught fire, covering the immediate surroundings with flames that burned hotter than any forge on the planet.
"Gyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!" Zouken screamed in pain and outrage as his true self burned, and with it his body and ambitions. "I caaaaan't die like this! Cursssse yoooou Sakuraaaaa!"
"Goodbye grandpa," Sakura said with a faint smile on her face. "I won't miss you."
She bowed slightly to the mage who had made her life a living hell for the last ten years, and ignored his screams and curses as she then walked away from her former life. The method of her severance with a portion of her life was much different than what Rin had imagined, but it was just as final. There was nothing more to restrain Sakura from doing as she wished, except such bounds as she chose to set herself.
What those bounds were, only she could know.
The problem with fanfiction is that if you put a scene in first and try to explain the reasons for such a scene later, it doesn't really work out. Of course, it could be that I'm just a crappy writer and I can't convince anyone about the characterisation... :sweat2:
Part 4 is going to revolve mainly around Sakura I think. Getting too many requests to explain her character :rip1:
4-1
Though it was early dawn, Kotomine Kirei was already wide awake and at work at his desk. Staring down at a stack of folders with a phone in one hand and a pen in the other, he looked more like a overworked salaryman at the moment than he did a priest.
"What do you mean it's already taken care of, Kirei?" asked the person he was talking to, the voice clearly audible over the phone's speakers.
"It's just as I said, Rin. As the Church mediator of this Grail War surely you did not expect me to wait for the police to begin investigating before I took action?" Kirei said sarcastically as he went over the report of the events last night once more. "After the mess you caused it took some effort to cover up the incident. As it is, there will be no police or youth workers looking into the Matous' case. Or was there something else that you wished to know?"
"... Youth workers?" Rin's sounded hesitant as she probed Kirei's choice of words.
"Matou Sakura and Matou Shinji are not yet legal adults, nor do they have any relatives within Fuyuki. I was forced to obscure some documents to prevent social services from coming in to make them wards of the state."
"Where is she now?" Rin asked.
"The Matou girl? I have found her temporary residence in a hotel," Kirei put away the folder. "Now that the head of the Matou family is dead it remains to be seen what will eventually happen to her. Since Matou Shinji is not a mage, there is a good chance that she could become the head of the family herself."
"..."
"Are you still there, Rin?" Kirei asked when the pause became stretched out.
"... I will talk to you again, Kirei," Rin replied as she abruptly ended the call.
Left with only a dead dial tone filling his ear, Kirei put down the receiver and leaned back into his chair. He was pretty much finished with the cleanup, and he could afford to spend a moment or two savouring the slight hints of confusion and guilt he had picked up in Rin's voice. Not too surprising really. From what he could make out of the situation, Rin had only now found out what the Matou path to magic had demanded of the girl who had been her sister. Just what that was he didn't know either, but he could make a guess from what he had seen as he carried out the operation on the girl last night.
"An unexpected present, that," Kirei mused as he remembered what he had seen. "I must remember to thank that old monster when I bury him."
Truly, a magnificent present, and one that changed his plans considerably. He could never have imagined when he met the girl a week ago now that she held within herself pieces of that most beautiful of chalices. The same one with which he had been baptised ten years ago. By its very nature it opened the door to a vast array of possibilities, which when considered together with the opportunities that the girl herself presented, filled him with delicious anticipation.
Ah, it warmed his blackened heart just to think about it. The guilt-ridden older sister, a naive young lass with dreams of being a hero, and the younger sister whose soul had nearly been broken by the experiences she had suffered. How events would proceed as they came together was not something he could foresee, but for now he had to make sure that none of the players retired from this grand game. Though he was familiar with the two girls who could be called his students in a way, he had as yet too shallow an understanding of the Matou girl to begin meddling in their affairs. Time was what he needed now, enough so that he could figure out her motivations and desires, so as to best figure out how to utilise her role in his play.
That script was a tragedy of course, or perhaps an epic. How else could one describe a story that was due to culminate in the birth of absolute evil?
-x-x-x-
Back at the Tohsaka resident Rin was quiet as she began to consider how to approach the situation before her.
After seeing what was in the basement workshop last night, she had been driven by righteous fury as she fought to destroy that which tied Sakura to the Matou name. Kirei's mentioning of the fact that Sakura was a possible candidate to become the next head of the Matou clan had surprised her, as she had never even considered the possibility that Sakura would not give up that cursed name. Now that she thought about things however, she was realising that things were not as straight forward as she might have wished.
Simply going up to Sakura and telling her that she had just burned down all her worldly possessions and her home of the last ten years? Not the best of circumstances under which to tell a long parted family member that you wished to be reunited with them. How else to ask her though? Since they had met in school, she had been thorough in her efforts to keep a distance between herself and Sakura as was the norm between members of two different houses of magi. Recent events were more of a hindrance than a help too. She had interrogated the other girl about the ward, and when provoked she had lost her temper and struck her. It was an act that she had immediately regretted, another block of guilt to add to the already heavy burden on her heart.
"Apologise first? About what? Write her a letter?" Rin rubbed her temples to ease her growing headache as she unconsciously mumbled out loud. "Uuuu... Just how am I going to do this without offending her again?"
"Offend who, Rin?"
"Huh?" startled by the sudden question from behind her, Rin jumped and turned to find Kirika there. From her apprentice's sweaty appearance, she had just finished her morning exercises.
"Is something wrong Rin?" Kirika asked considerately. "I heard you mumbling about apologising to someone."
"I-It's nothing!" Rin replied as she frantically waved her hands in denial. This wasn't a topic that she felt up to discussing with Kirika right now.
Upon seeing Rin's suspicious behaviour however, Kirika's concerns only deepened.
"Rin?"
"Really! It's nothing important!" Realising that her actions were making things worse, Rin quickly grabbed Kirika by her shoulders and pushed her towards the bathroom. "I'll make breakfast today, so go and wash up! Hurry! You stink of sweat!"
"Eh? Really?" Kirika would have stopped to sniff at the air but couldn't as Rin continued to push her. "Hey, I'm going already. Stop pushing me."
"Just hurry up and go, Kirika," Rin told her as she lowered her arms.
Still wary of Rin's strange attitude, but recognising her reluctance to discuss the matter, Kirika decided that it would be best to let Rin think it over by herself for now rather than push. Which didn't mean that she was about to let it lie just like that.
"Hey, Rin?" Kirika said as she stopped at the door. "We will be talking about this later, so figure it out by then, okay?"
"I said it's nothing!" Rin cried out in response, but Kirika had already closed the door on her.
Left to herself again, Rin sighed and headed for the kitchen. No matter how difficult she found this problem it was one that she needed to solve before she headed out today. Hopefully, inspiration would strike as she prepared breakfast for herself and the others... Or so she thought before she remembered that she had seen Archer in the kitchens beforehand.
This was just becoming one of those days.
-x-x-x-
Breakfast consumed, and dishes tidied away by, Rin was left with no excuses to hide as the combined gazes of three servants and one 'normal' human focused upon her.
"Spill it already, Rin," Archer told his master. "Why are you jumpy today? Is it because of last night?"
"No... Maybe," Rin corrected herself as she thought about what she had done. She spoke shyly which was highly unlike her usual self.
"Last night?" Kirika wondered out loud. "Didn't you say that you fought at the Matou estate last night? What did you do that you would need to apologise for?"
Rin and Archer shared a look as they considered Kirika's question. What did they need to apologise for? They could imagine a lot of things. Starting from trespass and grand theft all the way to arson. This was not the problem though, as the real problem that Rin was worried about had... Almost nothing to do with... A lot to do with...
Rin palmed her face. "Archer, remind me again why I thought it would be a good idea to set the whole mansion on fire?"
"Because you thought it a good idea at the time?" Archer replied. "Not that it wasn't. You just went a little too far, that's all."
Kirika's face had frozen when Rin mentioned that she set the place on fire.
"Rin... Just how much damage did you to the mansion?" she asked nervously, dreading the answer she suspected she would hear.
Rin looked away, reluctant to meet Kirika's eyes.
"Rin?"
"The whole place," Archer told Kirika when Rin continued to look away. "The house should be a burnt out wreck by now."
"Heh?" Kirika blinked twice in quick succession, not sure that she wanted to believe what she had just heard. "The whole place?"
"The whole place," Archer confirmed.
Lily spoke up as Kirika froze in place, shocked by the implications.
"Why is this a problem?" she asked Archer. "If the offence that you spoke of was so great as to require you to engage the Matou mage, surely it doesn't matter whether you damage his property or not?"
"Ah, well..." Archer glanced towards his master, who had fallen into a depressed state again.
"If only it were so simple," Rin muttered darkly. "First I argue with her, then I burn her house down. What was I thinking losing my temper like that?"
"Her?" Saber inquired this time. "Are you talking about the mage you fought with?"
"No, another person," Archer corrected her. "The girl in question is the grand-daughter of the mage we killed last night."
"You killed Sakura's grandfather?!" Kirika squeaked, so startled by the revelation that she couldn't get her voice out properly.
She was even more surprised however when Rin jumped up and shouted, "He isn't her grandfather!"
"... Huh?"
While Kirika tried to understand what Rin meant by that, Archer was silent as he nodded to himself about something. Lily and Saber on the other hand were lost as they tried to make sense of the conversation from which they seemed to have missed half the points.
The angry protest seemed to have been an unconscious reaction on Rin's part as the young magus realised what she had just done. The thought led to a moment of clarity for Rin as she finally comprehended how she truly felt about the issue that had been troubling her for the last hour or two.
Sitting down again, Rin opened her mouth to explain.
"It's like this Kirika. Sakura is my sister by blood," she said to start things off.
Unfortunately, she had picked a bad point from which to begin explaining, as was evident from the way that Kirika was looking at her doubtfully.
"Is this an early April fool's joke Rin?" Kirika asked hesitantly.
Rin sighed. She really should have expected such a reaction after such a simplified statement.
"No Kirika," she said tiredly. "I'm serious. Matou Sakura was born Tohsaka Sakura. She's my younger sister."
Silence for a moment as Kirika took this in. Then, in a manner that showed that she had picked up at least one bad habit from Fujimura Taiga...
"WHAT?!!"
... Kirika's shock was such that it took five minutes for Rin and the others to settle her down enough to begin explaining again. As a fortunate side effect however, having to explain the same thing over and over again to Kirika during this time annoyed Rin so much that she completely forgot about being depressed.
Part 4 is going to revolve mainly around Sakura I think. Getting too many requests to explain her character :rip1:
4-1
Though it was early dawn, Kotomine Kirei was already wide awake and at work at his desk. Staring down at a stack of folders with a phone in one hand and a pen in the other, he looked more like a overworked salaryman at the moment than he did a priest.
"What do you mean it's already taken care of, Kirei?" asked the person he was talking to, the voice clearly audible over the phone's speakers.
"It's just as I said, Rin. As the Church mediator of this Grail War surely you did not expect me to wait for the police to begin investigating before I took action?" Kirei said sarcastically as he went over the report of the events last night once more. "After the mess you caused it took some effort to cover up the incident. As it is, there will be no police or youth workers looking into the Matous' case. Or was there something else that you wished to know?"
"... Youth workers?" Rin's sounded hesitant as she probed Kirei's choice of words.
"Matou Sakura and Matou Shinji are not yet legal adults, nor do they have any relatives within Fuyuki. I was forced to obscure some documents to prevent social services from coming in to make them wards of the state."
"Where is she now?" Rin asked.
"The Matou girl? I have found her temporary residence in a hotel," Kirei put away the folder. "Now that the head of the Matou family is dead it remains to be seen what will eventually happen to her. Since Matou Shinji is not a mage, there is a good chance that she could become the head of the family herself."
"..."
"Are you still there, Rin?" Kirei asked when the pause became stretched out.
"... I will talk to you again, Kirei," Rin replied as she abruptly ended the call.
Left with only a dead dial tone filling his ear, Kirei put down the receiver and leaned back into his chair. He was pretty much finished with the cleanup, and he could afford to spend a moment or two savouring the slight hints of confusion and guilt he had picked up in Rin's voice. Not too surprising really. From what he could make out of the situation, Rin had only now found out what the Matou path to magic had demanded of the girl who had been her sister. Just what that was he didn't know either, but he could make a guess from what he had seen as he carried out the operation on the girl last night.
"An unexpected present, that," Kirei mused as he remembered what he had seen. "I must remember to thank that old monster when I bury him."
Truly, a magnificent present, and one that changed his plans considerably. He could never have imagined when he met the girl a week ago now that she held within herself pieces of that most beautiful of chalices. The same one with which he had been baptised ten years ago. By its very nature it opened the door to a vast array of possibilities, which when considered together with the opportunities that the girl herself presented, filled him with delicious anticipation.
Ah, it warmed his blackened heart just to think about it. The guilt-ridden older sister, a naive young lass with dreams of being a hero, and the younger sister whose soul had nearly been broken by the experiences she had suffered. How events would proceed as they came together was not something he could foresee, but for now he had to make sure that none of the players retired from this grand game. Though he was familiar with the two girls who could be called his students in a way, he had as yet too shallow an understanding of the Matou girl to begin meddling in their affairs. Time was what he needed now, enough so that he could figure out her motivations and desires, so as to best figure out how to utilise her role in his play.
That script was a tragedy of course, or perhaps an epic. How else could one describe a story that was due to culminate in the birth of absolute evil?
-x-x-x-
Back at the Tohsaka resident Rin was quiet as she began to consider how to approach the situation before her.
After seeing what was in the basement workshop last night, she had been driven by righteous fury as she fought to destroy that which tied Sakura to the Matou name. Kirei's mentioning of the fact that Sakura was a possible candidate to become the next head of the Matou clan had surprised her, as she had never even considered the possibility that Sakura would not give up that cursed name. Now that she thought about things however, she was realising that things were not as straight forward as she might have wished.
Simply going up to Sakura and telling her that she had just burned down all her worldly possessions and her home of the last ten years? Not the best of circumstances under which to tell a long parted family member that you wished to be reunited with them. How else to ask her though? Since they had met in school, she had been thorough in her efforts to keep a distance between herself and Sakura as was the norm between members of two different houses of magi. Recent events were more of a hindrance than a help too. She had interrogated the other girl about the ward, and when provoked she had lost her temper and struck her. It was an act that she had immediately regretted, another block of guilt to add to the already heavy burden on her heart.
"Apologise first? About what? Write her a letter?" Rin rubbed her temples to ease her growing headache as she unconsciously mumbled out loud. "Uuuu... Just how am I going to do this without offending her again?"
"Offend who, Rin?"
"Huh?" startled by the sudden question from behind her, Rin jumped and turned to find Kirika there. From her apprentice's sweaty appearance, she had just finished her morning exercises.
"Is something wrong Rin?" Kirika asked considerately. "I heard you mumbling about apologising to someone."
"I-It's nothing!" Rin replied as she frantically waved her hands in denial. This wasn't a topic that she felt up to discussing with Kirika right now.
Upon seeing Rin's suspicious behaviour however, Kirika's concerns only deepened.
"Rin?"
"Really! It's nothing important!" Realising that her actions were making things worse, Rin quickly grabbed Kirika by her shoulders and pushed her towards the bathroom. "I'll make breakfast today, so go and wash up! Hurry! You stink of sweat!"
"Eh? Really?" Kirika would have stopped to sniff at the air but couldn't as Rin continued to push her. "Hey, I'm going already. Stop pushing me."
"Just hurry up and go, Kirika," Rin told her as she lowered her arms.
Still wary of Rin's strange attitude, but recognising her reluctance to discuss the matter, Kirika decided that it would be best to let Rin think it over by herself for now rather than push. Which didn't mean that she was about to let it lie just like that.
"Hey, Rin?" Kirika said as she stopped at the door. "We will be talking about this later, so figure it out by then, okay?"
"I said it's nothing!" Rin cried out in response, but Kirika had already closed the door on her.
Left to herself again, Rin sighed and headed for the kitchen. No matter how difficult she found this problem it was one that she needed to solve before she headed out today. Hopefully, inspiration would strike as she prepared breakfast for herself and the others... Or so she thought before she remembered that she had seen Archer in the kitchens beforehand.
This was just becoming one of those days.
-x-x-x-
Breakfast consumed, and dishes tidied away by, Rin was left with no excuses to hide as the combined gazes of three servants and one 'normal' human focused upon her.
"Spill it already, Rin," Archer told his master. "Why are you jumpy today? Is it because of last night?"
"No... Maybe," Rin corrected herself as she thought about what she had done. She spoke shyly which was highly unlike her usual self.
"Last night?" Kirika wondered out loud. "Didn't you say that you fought at the Matou estate last night? What did you do that you would need to apologise for?"
Rin and Archer shared a look as they considered Kirika's question. What did they need to apologise for? They could imagine a lot of things. Starting from trespass and grand theft all the way to arson. This was not the problem though, as the real problem that Rin was worried about had... Almost nothing to do with... A lot to do with...
Rin palmed her face. "Archer, remind me again why I thought it would be a good idea to set the whole mansion on fire?"
"Because you thought it a good idea at the time?" Archer replied. "Not that it wasn't. You just went a little too far, that's all."
Kirika's face had frozen when Rin mentioned that she set the place on fire.
"Rin... Just how much damage did you to the mansion?" she asked nervously, dreading the answer she suspected she would hear.
Rin looked away, reluctant to meet Kirika's eyes.
"Rin?"
"The whole place," Archer told Kirika when Rin continued to look away. "The house should be a burnt out wreck by now."
"Heh?" Kirika blinked twice in quick succession, not sure that she wanted to believe what she had just heard. "The whole place?"
"The whole place," Archer confirmed.
Lily spoke up as Kirika froze in place, shocked by the implications.
"Why is this a problem?" she asked Archer. "If the offence that you spoke of was so great as to require you to engage the Matou mage, surely it doesn't matter whether you damage his property or not?"
"Ah, well..." Archer glanced towards his master, who had fallen into a depressed state again.
"If only it were so simple," Rin muttered darkly. "First I argue with her, then I burn her house down. What was I thinking losing my temper like that?"
"Her?" Saber inquired this time. "Are you talking about the mage you fought with?"
"No, another person," Archer corrected her. "The girl in question is the grand-daughter of the mage we killed last night."
"You killed Sakura's grandfather?!" Kirika squeaked, so startled by the revelation that she couldn't get her voice out properly.
She was even more surprised however when Rin jumped up and shouted, "He isn't her grandfather!"
"... Huh?"
While Kirika tried to understand what Rin meant by that, Archer was silent as he nodded to himself about something. Lily and Saber on the other hand were lost as they tried to make sense of the conversation from which they seemed to have missed half the points.
The angry protest seemed to have been an unconscious reaction on Rin's part as the young magus realised what she had just done. The thought led to a moment of clarity for Rin as she finally comprehended how she truly felt about the issue that had been troubling her for the last hour or two.
Sitting down again, Rin opened her mouth to explain.
"It's like this Kirika. Sakura is my sister by blood," she said to start things off.
Unfortunately, she had picked a bad point from which to begin explaining, as was evident from the way that Kirika was looking at her doubtfully.
"Is this an early April fool's joke Rin?" Kirika asked hesitantly.
Rin sighed. She really should have expected such a reaction after such a simplified statement.
"No Kirika," she said tiredly. "I'm serious. Matou Sakura was born Tohsaka Sakura. She's my younger sister."
Silence for a moment as Kirika took this in. Then, in a manner that showed that she had picked up at least one bad habit from Fujimura Taiga...
"WHAT?!!"
... Kirika's shock was such that it took five minutes for Rin and the others to settle her down enough to begin explaining again. As a fortunate side effect however, having to explain the same thing over and over again to Kirika during this time annoyed Rin so much that she completely forgot about being depressed.