Shirou finished strapping the last of the plates of armor to his shin and asked his lover again, “So, we’re going to go where Archer tracked down this girl and attack her and her Servant?” He made his tone intentionally accusing as he wasn’t so sure about hunting down what had been described to him as a teenaged girl.
His wife sighed and said, “Yes, but we’re going to just neutralize the Servant, my Shriou. We’ll leave the girl be and she can get back to her life.”
“Are you sure about that?” he asked, testing her. “Aren’t you afraid of her trying to bind to another Servant in the war?”
She shot her head towards him and glared. “Don’t you dare try to entrap me! I said I will let the girl go and that’s what I mean!” she yelled at him. Her tone was angry and forbidding any retort.
Shirou was satisfied for now. He loved Rin with all his heart, but she could be very cold and calculating sometimes. Honestly, he didn’t really think she would intentionally hurt the girl, more like use it as an alternative. And the fact was, if she did end up killing the girl, it would hurt her more than she knew.
His lover had it in her mind that she could do any number of things to attain victory, but he knew that it just wasn’t true. Or rather, that if she did those things it would backlash on her horribly. It was residual from her training as a Magus, both her father and that bastard Kotomine filling her head full of selfish ideals and a power-hungry attitude.
Luckily, her underlying personality was one of kindness and it had never been fully quashed. True she seemed uncaring sometimes, but it was mostly all for show. For those she loved, there was little she wouldn’t do. She’d complain and make a big show but in the end, there was no better ally than Rin Tohsaka. Or lover.
Shirou rose and put on his jacket, feeling the familiar weight of the armor laced in the sleeves tug at him. He was about to tell his lover that he was ready when there was a knock at the door. Archer immediately took a stance and Rin stiffened as well. Shirou held up his hand and then headed for the door to see who it was.
He looked through the peep-hole and then chuckled slightly. On the other side was a cheerful face framed with fiery red hair. Sensei was sticking her tongue out at him and then started kicking at the door more to be let in. Sometimes he was nearly certain that the Fifth Magic was really something that just halted mental aging.
Shirou opened the door and his Sensei barged in saying, “Took you long enough, Shirou! Damn!” She sauntered through the room and then fell onto the bed, exhaling overdramatically loudly. Shirou turned to see Rin glaring at the woman and Archer looking a bit bewildered for once.
“Oh, that’s right!” Sensei said while laying on her back. She shot up and then looked around adding, “So where’s this Saber. Supposedly a little girl that’s… all …powerful…” She trailed off as her eyes fell upon Archer. Her head tilted slightly as she looked him up and down. Getting off the bed, she walked right up to him and began inspecting him closer.
Rin was tense as a board while she was examining her Servant. She didn’t say anything, but Shirou knew that she was still embarrassed over what happened and was loath to hear what Sensei would have to say. Archer himself was tense as he was now a spectacle to this woman. His eyes followed her as she looked him over, his expression not as stoic as he had thought it to be, perhaps.
Sensei finished her inspection and then looked to Rin. There was a few moments of silence that seemed to last an eternity. Then the Sorcerer began to crack up. Within moments she was holding her sides laughing and pointing at Rin. Shirou sighed and shook his head as the room was filled with the woman’s boisterous laughter.
“Oh, you screwed up BIG TIME, didn’t you, Rin!!” she called out between fits of laughter.
Rin’s anger was palpable and she yelled back, “I sodding HATE you, Aozaki!” His lover quickly tossed her hair back and announced to him and Archer, “We’re leaving. Now!”
*******************************************
The air was cold, but she didn’t care. For the first time in what seemed forever, Jessica was outside! She had forgotten the wonderful smell of the open air and the expanse of a room without walls. She quickly steered her chair to the edge of the ramp and happily inhaled deeply, almost causing her to cough.
The slight rumble in the ground told her that Berserker was right behind her, making sure that she wouldn’t roll down the ramp. He was always so considerate and kind to her. With a friend like him, there was no way that anything was going to get in her way in this war. She would win and prove those idiot scientist just what she could do.
“Well, she seems to be enjoying herself,” Isaac said from behind her.
“Not that it matters,” replied Hector and then he walked up to her and her Servant. “Now go along out and play girl. If Berserker runs around and breaks things, that’s alright. OK?”
It was the first time he had really spoken directly to her. The first time he acknowledged her capacity for language. And it had been as if he were speaking to a dog. She knew her duty and it wasn’t to go out and ‘play!’ She turned the wheelchair to face him and glared up at him.
“You listen here, you creeps!” she said to both of them. “I’ve obediently stayed silent all this time while you’ve talked about me as if I were dumb. Well, I’m not. I may not be a stuffy science guy, but can understand you two just fine!”
The two of them just stared at her. She honestly couldn’t tell if they were simply stunned or horrified. Or both. “Now that I’m out of your little rooms, I’m free to do my job as I see fit!” she continued. “I’m not going out to play you idiot! I’m going out to win a war.”
With that she turned away from them and began to roll down the ramp from the large building and onto the sidewalk that lead into the city. “Come along, Berserker. We’ve much to do,” she said and heard his slight reply.
*************************************************
After Aoko had gone, Luviagelita had decided to take a nap so that she could be at her fullest when nightfall hit. Her sleeping had been erratic since the incident to say the least. Now that Mis… Aoko had cleared her, she could at least get some rest. She was still at a disadvantage due to this, but at least she was still in the game. Despite her being flushed out, her Servant was still hidden from her enemies.
After she had awakened, she showered and began to dress for the night of patrolling. She put on white long sleeved silk shirt and long flowing azure skirt so that she could move easily if need be. Over that, she put on her matching azure sport coat and then her long wool coat on top of that. She was used to the cold, yes, but she still needed to keep warm enough to keep her blood flowing well enough if she needed to defend herself quickly.
When she left her room, Rider automatically joined her side. It was comforting to have a Servant that understood her quite well. She rarely had to tell him what she wanted to do, as he would already be doing it. His observational skills were a credit to his legend and his thoughtful insight had already helped her quite a bit.
Yes, despite the setback, she would be the one to win this War. With or without any support.
She walked into the main foyer and halted, staring at the group of people gathered there. Almost all of her men (she did not call them servants. They were paid well for what they did and she valued their input on many situations) were there. They stood at attention, all in their pristine black suits and well groomed appearance.
“What is the meaning of this?” she asked them. “No doubt Father has recalled all of you.”
Even though it was said that she was the head of the Edelfelts, her father still controlled everything. She might have the crest, but he had kept the power for himself. Not even the Association knew that she was the head of the family in name only. Despite what a bloody fool the man was.
“He has,” replied Kaarle, moving only his mouth.
She cocked her eyebrow at him and folded her arms under her chest. “Then what are all still doing here?”
A slight smile, perhaps? “Serving our Master.”
Luviagelita smiled wryly herself. “So be it, then. I have work for all of you!”
“Yes, Ma’am!”
*************************************************
Rin still felt the burning sensation on the sides of her face from the anger she still felt for that bitch. Everything was so damned funny, wasn’t it, Aozaki? Her mind was livid with things she could do to retaliate, but right now she needed to concentrate on what they needed to do to neutralize this Servant. A Saber Servant at that.
Her Shirou parked the car a good block away from the apartment complex where Archer had followed the girl earlier. This area of town was known as Hadern and consisted mostly of single family homes with several large living complexes. There was a huge cemetery nearby and also a large hospital. The irony was not lost on her.
They got out of the car and Archer shifted into his spirit for and took to the rooftops. Rin led her lover towards the building, nonchalantly. It didn’t stand out especially, a standard apartment complex made of red brick and housing several units. Four other building identical to it were around this same area.
One problem here was that combat was going to be near impossible, unless they could draw their enemy out to the cemetery. The LAST fight she had had in a cemetery hadn’t gone so well, but that had no bearing on this. She mentally tallied it up in her head and it was a good three hundred meters to the cemetery from the building. Although, the Servant might agree to head there to engage in combat.
Rin realized the importance of not assuming everything was the same in this Grail war. Since there WAS no Justizia buried deep in the ground to provide the circuitry… just what were they using to manage the Servant and Master selection process. After Waver Velvet dismantled everything, there shouldn’t have been a way for them to retrieve the inner ‘circuitry.’
So, considering that, this Saber may not be the strongest class. And barring even that, she did have a slight advantage in that she had her Shirou with her as well. He was no Servant, of course, but he did have a Reality Marble and was formidable in his own right. And the two of them working together was quite the force to reckon with.
Still, it didn’t cost her anything to be cautious. As much as she loved her Shirou, he could be way too soft for this kind of thing. /Archer,/ she called out to her Servant.
/Yes Rin?/ he replied in her head.
Rin kept walking forward and made no outward indication she was speaking to anyone and told her servant, /As a last resort, kill the girl./
/Yes, Rin/ was his reply. There wasn’t a single thread of wavering or hesitation. It was almost chilling how different her Servant was than her lover, despite being the same person.
/Only as a last resort, though. As in, one of us is in mortal danger,/ she said to further clarify. Her Shriou would have a fit if he killed the girl outright, so she needed to avoid that if possible.
/I understand,/ he said.
/Good, now which apartment is it?/ she asked him.
/It is number 7 and it’s the one facing us to the left,/ he told her.
Rin took a knee to act as if she were relacing her boot and whispered to her Shirou the apartment they would be looking at. He intentionally looked to the wrong building in case they were being watched and then took her hand as she returned to her feet. They continued walking, although as if they were going to another building.
The rest was going to be tricky. They needed to reconnoiter the girl’s stronghold without drawing attention to anyone that might be watching them. They could only use Archer to an extent, because if the other Servant happened to look out, she would see him. It was already possible that she was keeping watch herself. There were a lot of variables here, although that came with the territory of being the aggressor.
Rin let the mana flood into her eyes and ears, enhancing her senses so that she could try and ascertain the situation. She knew her Shirou would be doing the same as they could only spare glances at their enemy’s stronghold. Archer would be ready if they were attacked at this point. All that was left was for her to move her pawn to prod her enemy.
Her eyes flickered to the building and for a moment she could see inside the partially open window. She expected bare walls or perhaps walls filled with books, but all she saw were quaint paintings and a shelf of nick-nacks. Rin pushed back the slight confusion and returned her gaze ahead. She had seen glimpses of a table or something so she would search that area next.
When she returned her gaze, she stopped in her tracks, nearly knocking her Shirou over. Rin now openly stared, her mouth partially open, at the scene in the house. The girl was there… with her parents. They were happily eating their meal and looked to be discussing the day. There were no magic artifacts lying around or open books or ANYTHING that denoted the presence of a Magus.
She opened her senses and prodded to try and determine if she was seeing a Glamour. After a moment, Rin gave up. It wasn’t a Glamour or anything like that. The girl was simply at home with her parents enjoying a meal. Now things were a thousand times more complicated. Not only were there more innocents involved, there was also…
“That girl is there with her parents, Rin,” her Shirou said. “We can’t attack her or her Servant like this. She might not even know what’s really going on…”
…that. With her Shirou here, her hands were tied. Not that she particularly wanted to bust up the girl’s meal and kill her Servant in front of her, but now they could do nothing. The whole operation was blown. What a sodding wonderful day.
“You’re right,” she said, emotionlessly. “Come on, let’s go back.” She sighed and then turned on her heels to head back for the car.
“Wait…” her Shirou said. “What if that girl doesn’t know anything? Shouldn’t we at least tell her what’s going on? What she’s gotten herself into?”
Rin held back her annoyance and replied, “There’s no way to do that without revealing myself a Master, my Shirou. And even if we got around that, I already told the girl I don’t know anything about this War. She’s not going to trust me when I’ve already lied to her.”
“Then maybe I can go talk to her,” he replied. “I’m not a Master, so that doesn’t really divulge anything.”
“No, of course not. She meets a Japanese woman today that her Servant said was eyeing her like she was a Master and then all of a sudden a Japanese man shoes up at her door mysteriously knowing she’s a Master. She won’t be able to figure that one out at all…” Rin snapped back, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“But she’s in danger, Rin!” her Shirou protested. “You told ME what was going on seven years ago, you know.”
“I told you because you spared my Servant and mine’s life by using a Command Spell! Don’t make it out to more than it was at the time!” She replied, waving her arms in exasperation.
He eyed her for a moment and finally snapped, “Fine!” His hands were shoved into his pockets and her trudged beside her, obviously not satisfied. She was in no mood to explain this to him now so remained silent as well. Rin knew that look, though. If she didn’t talk to him later, he’d be back here talking to that girl like an idiot.
Archer fell in step behind them, wisely not saying a thing as they approached the car. The most they could do now is attempt to patrol back in the more main part of the city. There really wasn’t much out here and they ran the chance of being discovered by the girl’s Saber, too. Maybe they’d have better luck elsewhere.
As she walked, Rin noticed that the temperature really seemed to be odd. It was steadily rising, was it not? She didn’t feel ill otherwise, but it was seriously getting hot here. Too late she felt the swell of mana and was then engulfed in a horrific white light. Automatically, she tried to shield herself… but there was no real attack. It was just suddenly daylight.
Rin spun around, squinting and then saw the wall of sand approaching her. None of this made sense at all, but soon all three of them were right in the middle of a sandstorm. There wasn’t elemental magic that she knew of at this high of caliber… But then again, this was another War of Servants.
**************************************************
Standing next to her Servant’s unique Noble Phantasm, Luviagelita chuckled and shook her head. “Tohsaka, you’re always so sure of how smart you are. But just how many crimson M5s with Brit plates do you think are IN this city?” she said aloud, although it was mostly drowned out by the rumble of the engine next to her.
The thick gasoline exhaust from the weapon filled her nostrils, but she only smiled as she witnessed her Servant’s Reality Marble. The Wustenfuchs was glorious and oh so fitting. Her enemies would never see the attack coming in a sandstorm such as this. Now Aoko would see her determination. She was not as weak as the woman thought and she would prove it.
“Rider, you may fire,” she said calmly. Luviagelita held her ears as the massive gun of her Servant’s weapon trained and then fired. The concussive blast was daunting, but it was a stern reminder of just how powerful her Servant was. The round left the Panzerkampfwagen III and tore into the storm, seething to erase those who stood against her.