fate/first order derivative [FSN]
- Thread starter philopoemen
- Start date
Syqadelic
That's not a mountain.
- Location
- Earth
You could replicate this incident and ask young-Shirou, who remembers his mom, by the way, what his full name is.
Also, only one person has mentioned it so far, but it seems that our time-loop is related in some way to Scathach and either the Land of Shadows or Imaginary Number Space.
I wouldn't be surprised if Scathach is investigating on her end and is trying to reopen the Gate of Skye.
Also, only one person has mentioned it so far, but it seems that our time-loop is related in some way to Scathach and either the Land of Shadows or Imaginary Number Space.
I wouldn't be surprised if Scathach is investigating on her end and is trying to reopen the Gate of Skye.
Last edited:
- Location
- Academy City
- Pronouns
- They
Old!Shirou still has his memories too, he doesn't have amnesia. He's just repressed them.
I'm not sure if the other Fate games are canon yo this fic, but I think Scathach is a playable character in Extra with her NP being Gate of Skye, which pretty much just sucks everything into the land of the dead and kills them.
Nothing about her legend relates to time as far as I know (though given Nasu anything goes) except Gae Bolg's causality warping effect, which is less time travel and more undodgeable projectile. I guess it's possible that Tom has some sort of passive magecraft thing that responds specifically to space-time disruptions and magnifies that effect somehow; although given the connection to Zelretch I'm wondering if he's actually transferring Jo's consciousness to different timelines instead of actually time travelling..
Nothing about her legend relates to time as far as I know (though given Nasu anything goes) except Gae Bolg's causality warping effect, which is less time travel and more undodgeable projectile. I guess it's possible that Tom has some sort of passive magecraft thing that responds specifically to space-time disruptions and magnifies that effect somehow; although given the connection to Zelretch I'm wondering if he's actually transferring Jo's consciousness to different timelines instead of actually time travelling..
Syqadelic
That's not a mountain.
- Location
- Earth
Do you have a source for that?
Isn't the reverse casualty bit causing this somthing Cu came up with on his own?
Mirvein
A Tea-Fueled Monstrosity.
- Location
- In the middle of nowhere.
One of Shirou's dreams in the early-game of HF. There he mentioned his parents who were telling him to wait outside the house for them.
No citation as I have no access to PC, so something like this.
iii.5
- Location
- USA
Part III.5
> skip to: iteration 29, day 7, afternoon
But we don't see Rin the next day. Apparently, the hospital can't discharge her without her legal guardian present, and Kotomine claims he's booked solid. The jerkhole.
She's not the only one missing. Emiya says there was no sign of Shinji in class today. For that matter, he hasn't seen Issei in the past day or two either. Not sure what either of those things mean yet. Hopefully nothing.
> wouldn't count on it dude
Anyway, the day's pretty much a wash -- up until Archer calls my cell phone right after school. Guess he was running back and forth between the hospital and Rin's house, keeping an eye on things, when he picked up on Rider's scent. He says he tracked her into the big park downtown. Came across another two victims in the process. Looks like Shinji decided to change up his usual hunting grounds.
> victims?
Two middle-school girls. Archer says Rider just drained them and left them in a ditch somewhere. You can imagine how Shirou reacts to that. Saber, too, for that matter, albeit in a more low-key way.
> so hero time?
Hero time. Figure I'll tag along. With Rin still out of the picture, the team could use another set of eyes... and anyway, seeing Matou get his shit kicked in is never not gonna sound like a good time in my book.
***
> skip forward
It's pretty close to sunset by the time we arrive in front of Fuyuki Central Park's front gate. It's deserted, but that's no big shock. Nobody really comes here. The riverside's way more popular.
"Finally," Archer snaps as he materializes on top of the wall. "This way. Come on."
He leads us a little ways around the park's perimeter to a public phone booth. (Guess they haven't quite gotten rid of them all yet. Good thing, too.) Two girls lie slumped against each other on the sidewalk, unconscious. Christ. The smaller one looks like she isn't even out of elementary school yet. Every time I think Shinji's lowered the bar as far as it can go, he just keeps on surprising me.
Saber examines them. "No obvious wounds..."
"I already healed them," Archer says. "They're still weak, but they should be fine eventually. Now move it. I need to get back to Rin."
I blink. "You're not staying?"
"I've left her unguarded for too long as is." Archer notches an arrow into his bow. "Besides, I'll be able to cover you from the hospital roof once I'm there." He cuts me off before I can ask something else. "No more questions! Go!" He vanishes.
"Come on, this way." Shirou breaks into a run. He leads us to a side entrance into the park, where he stops and turns back. "I just thought of something. There's no telling how many more victims Rider might have left scattered throughout the park. We need to search for them, too, just in case. So we should split up to cover more ground."
"Heh." Keeping up with him and Saber has nigh-completely drained me of breath, but I still manage to wheeze out a chuckle. "Thassa good one, dude..."
Saber nods. "Good idea. I can move faster on my own."
"Bwah?" I look back and forth between the two of them. "You're -- you're joking, right? Come on! That is, like, a textbook bad idea! You want us to get picked off one by one here?! Because that's how you --"
"Then you two stick together." Saber draws her sword. "If all else fails, find a break in the trees. You can use that --" She motions to the flashlight I'm carrying. Grabbed it out of a utility closet on our way out of school. "-- to signal Archer. He should be able to get word to me somehow."
"But --" Before I can bring up any of the other multitude of concerns I have with this idea, she launches herself into the air. I stare after her as she vanishes beyond the treeline. "... the Scooby-Doo plan? Really?"
"Come on." Shirou motions in the opposite direction. "Let's go." Reluctantly, I follow him off into the trees.
***
> skip forward
I find the first of what is no doubt many things wrong with Saber's plan as the sun sets. Specifically, I'm pretty sure the batteries in this flashlight are older than I am. I keep the thing turned off and tucked under my arm for now, trying to coax as much juice out of them before they head off into Planned Obsolescence Heaven.
The lack of light doesn't seem to bother Shirou in the slightest, or slow him down. "Watch it," he mutters as we go along. "Rabbit hole coming up on your right." Guy must be part cat or something, I swear.
I eye Shirou's back. Speaking of things that bother him -- I wonder if he minds being back in this part of town. He doesn't show any signs of having issues with it, but you know what he's like. And considering that flashback yesterday...
> what do you mean
Oh, I didn't say? This park is where the Great Fire happened ten years ago. Back when this was the center of the brand spanking new Shinto District. The city never managed to get anyone to redevelop this particular section afterwards, so eventually they just gave up and made the whole area green space. That's another reason the place isn't too popular. People think it's creepy.
> so he has a personal connection here is what you're saying
Yeah. Though, come to think of it, I guess he isn't the only one. My dad actually grew up in this area.
> really
Yeah. Way before the fire, of course, and even before the city expanded out in this direction. My grandma was one of the few holdouts left when they started construction on the new district, so they sort of wound up building next to and around her. (Not that she didn't make serious bank selling off the rest of her land to the developers, but that's besides the point.) I've even got vague memories of visiting her house back when I was really young. Before... y'know. All the burning.
> so wait
> you mean your grandma was still living there during the great fire
Oh, yeah. She made it out fine, though. Her house was on the edge of the district, so she got wind of what was happening before the flames hit. Even had time to save that monstrosity of a parakeet she owned.
All the same, you see why I haven't told Emiya about this. If he lost his mom in that whole thing... well. Mentioning that my own family got away comparatively unscathed would just feel like rubbing it in, you know?
> withholding information to spare his feelings
> where have i heard that one before
Har, har. You know this is completely different. For one thing --
I run into Shirou's outstretched arm. "Did you see that?" he whispers.
> ulp here we go
I swallow. "See what?"
"I thought I saw something move. Up in the trees. Over --"
Someone screams out in the distance. Until the sound abruptly cuts short.
Shirou and I look at each other. "Go get Saber," he says, pulling out a large wrench. "I'm going ahead."
"Dude, wait. That's not --" But he's already off and running. Of course. Goddamn Emiya.
I turn and start running through the park, in the vague direction I last saw Saber going. I also take out the flashlight and turn it on. The beam's still pretty weak, but it's visible. Okay, next issue -- how do you say SOS in Morse Code again? I can't remember -- is it dot-dash-dot, or dash-dot-dash? Dammit, of all the shit to --
I trip over a root. The flashlight slips out of my hand and hits the ground. I hear something break and the beam cuts out. Of fucking course.
> womp womp
Of fucking course! I grab the flashlight and stumble to my feet, tightening the cap and switching it off and on as I go. No dice. GRRRWARGH.
So now what? Can I maybe still signal Archer using the light from my cell phone? Just how well can he see, anyway? -- shit, cell phones! Why the fuck can't we all just have cell phones like normal fucking people?! Is that really so much to ask?!
"Tom!" Saber grabs me by the back of the neck.
I scream even though I know it's her. More out of habit than anything, maybe. "Oh thank God Saber listen we heard a scream and Shirou sent me to find you even though that's dumb since it could be Rider -- fuck of course it's fucking Rider --"
"It's not Rider."
"How do you..."
She bodily turns me to the side.
A short distance away, caught within a web of her own chains between two trees, hangs Rider -- or at least what's left of her. Of her four limbs, she has exactly one arm left that hasn't been hacked off or diced into pieces. Blood leaks from her body and down off the chains like rainwater through a mangled sieve.
I groan. "I need so -- much -- therapy..."
> i know
> try to notice any details anyway
Just one -- she's hanging upside down, right? Down below where her arm dangles limply, it looks like she wrote something on the ground, inside a puddle of her own blood. The light's really dim and it's all smudged and splotchy and stuff... but I think it's 景?
> remind me what that means
Um... "scenery." "Scene." "Vista." Something viewed. Also "scene" in the sense of, like, a scene in a play. I think.
> you think
> isn't this like
> elementary school stuff for you
I am under stress here what do you even want from me. Anyway, no sooner do I notice that that Rider starts doing the whole purple dissolve-y thing. The body, the chains, the blood, all of it. The whole grisly scene vanishes into thin air. That Servant self-cleaning feature, you know.
Saber grabs me by the shoulders. "Which way to Shirou?"
"Oh, um --" I wave vaguely in the direction that I came from.
She sweeps me off my feet and jumps. Then we're bounding off through the trees, all Naruto-style.
"What happened to the flashlight?" she asks.
"Yeah don't even start," I snap.
> skip forward (slightly)
It isn't long before we land in a clearing. Saber drops me onto my feet. "Here," she says. "I smell blood."
I glance around. The light's gotten way too dim for my eyes now. I go fishing for my cell phone, but Saber's already on it. She draws her sword, which starts to glow with a dull gold light. Glamdring mode. Neat.
I take a step forward, directly on Shinji's face. Or, well. Really more in his face, to be honest.
> fuck
I slip backwards onto my ass, uttering a loud string of profanities that I honestly don't even hear. Bits and pieces of Matou -- including most of his skull, and his jaw, and so on -- are strung out all around us. And yeah, on the one hand, it's Shinji. But on the other...
> jesus fucking christ
Exactly! Did someone hit the Texas Chainsaw Massacre/Silence Of The Fucking Lambs button while I wasn't looking?!?
Also, at the edge of the clearing, Shirou's lying face-first on the ground with this gigantic katana sticking out through the back of his head. So that's a thing.
> skip to: iteration 29, day 7, afternoon
But we don't see Rin the next day. Apparently, the hospital can't discharge her without her legal guardian present, and Kotomine claims he's booked solid. The jerkhole.
She's not the only one missing. Emiya says there was no sign of Shinji in class today. For that matter, he hasn't seen Issei in the past day or two either. Not sure what either of those things mean yet. Hopefully nothing.
> wouldn't count on it dude
Anyway, the day's pretty much a wash -- up until Archer calls my cell phone right after school. Guess he was running back and forth between the hospital and Rin's house, keeping an eye on things, when he picked up on Rider's scent. He says he tracked her into the big park downtown. Came across another two victims in the process. Looks like Shinji decided to change up his usual hunting grounds.
> victims?
Two middle-school girls. Archer says Rider just drained them and left them in a ditch somewhere. You can imagine how Shirou reacts to that. Saber, too, for that matter, albeit in a more low-key way.
> so hero time?
Hero time. Figure I'll tag along. With Rin still out of the picture, the team could use another set of eyes... and anyway, seeing Matou get his shit kicked in is never not gonna sound like a good time in my book.
***
> skip forward
It's pretty close to sunset by the time we arrive in front of Fuyuki Central Park's front gate. It's deserted, but that's no big shock. Nobody really comes here. The riverside's way more popular.
"Finally," Archer snaps as he materializes on top of the wall. "This way. Come on."
He leads us a little ways around the park's perimeter to a public phone booth. (Guess they haven't quite gotten rid of them all yet. Good thing, too.) Two girls lie slumped against each other on the sidewalk, unconscious. Christ. The smaller one looks like she isn't even out of elementary school yet. Every time I think Shinji's lowered the bar as far as it can go, he just keeps on surprising me.
Saber examines them. "No obvious wounds..."
"I already healed them," Archer says. "They're still weak, but they should be fine eventually. Now move it. I need to get back to Rin."
I blink. "You're not staying?"
"I've left her unguarded for too long as is." Archer notches an arrow into his bow. "Besides, I'll be able to cover you from the hospital roof once I'm there." He cuts me off before I can ask something else. "No more questions! Go!" He vanishes.
"Come on, this way." Shirou breaks into a run. He leads us to a side entrance into the park, where he stops and turns back. "I just thought of something. There's no telling how many more victims Rider might have left scattered throughout the park. We need to search for them, too, just in case. So we should split up to cover more ground."
"Heh." Keeping up with him and Saber has nigh-completely drained me of breath, but I still manage to wheeze out a chuckle. "Thassa good one, dude..."
Saber nods. "Good idea. I can move faster on my own."
"Bwah?" I look back and forth between the two of them. "You're -- you're joking, right? Come on! That is, like, a textbook bad idea! You want us to get picked off one by one here?! Because that's how you --"
"Then you two stick together." Saber draws her sword. "If all else fails, find a break in the trees. You can use that --" She motions to the flashlight I'm carrying. Grabbed it out of a utility closet on our way out of school. "-- to signal Archer. He should be able to get word to me somehow."
"But --" Before I can bring up any of the other multitude of concerns I have with this idea, she launches herself into the air. I stare after her as she vanishes beyond the treeline. "... the Scooby-Doo plan? Really?"
"Come on." Shirou motions in the opposite direction. "Let's go." Reluctantly, I follow him off into the trees.
***
> skip forward
I find the first of what is no doubt many things wrong with Saber's plan as the sun sets. Specifically, I'm pretty sure the batteries in this flashlight are older than I am. I keep the thing turned off and tucked under my arm for now, trying to coax as much juice out of them before they head off into Planned Obsolescence Heaven.
The lack of light doesn't seem to bother Shirou in the slightest, or slow him down. "Watch it," he mutters as we go along. "Rabbit hole coming up on your right." Guy must be part cat or something, I swear.
I eye Shirou's back. Speaking of things that bother him -- I wonder if he minds being back in this part of town. He doesn't show any signs of having issues with it, but you know what he's like. And considering that flashback yesterday...
> what do you mean
Oh, I didn't say? This park is where the Great Fire happened ten years ago. Back when this was the center of the brand spanking new Shinto District. The city never managed to get anyone to redevelop this particular section afterwards, so eventually they just gave up and made the whole area green space. That's another reason the place isn't too popular. People think it's creepy.
> so he has a personal connection here is what you're saying
Yeah. Though, come to think of it, I guess he isn't the only one. My dad actually grew up in this area.
> really
Yeah. Way before the fire, of course, and even before the city expanded out in this direction. My grandma was one of the few holdouts left when they started construction on the new district, so they sort of wound up building next to and around her. (Not that she didn't make serious bank selling off the rest of her land to the developers, but that's besides the point.) I've even got vague memories of visiting her house back when I was really young. Before... y'know. All the burning.
> so wait
> you mean your grandma was still living there during the great fire
Oh, yeah. She made it out fine, though. Her house was on the edge of the district, so she got wind of what was happening before the flames hit. Even had time to save that monstrosity of a parakeet she owned.
All the same, you see why I haven't told Emiya about this. If he lost his mom in that whole thing... well. Mentioning that my own family got away comparatively unscathed would just feel like rubbing it in, you know?
> withholding information to spare his feelings
> where have i heard that one before
Har, har. You know this is completely different. For one thing --
I run into Shirou's outstretched arm. "Did you see that?" he whispers.
> ulp here we go
I swallow. "See what?"
"I thought I saw something move. Up in the trees. Over --"
Someone screams out in the distance. Until the sound abruptly cuts short.
Shirou and I look at each other. "Go get Saber," he says, pulling out a large wrench. "I'm going ahead."
"Dude, wait. That's not --" But he's already off and running. Of course. Goddamn Emiya.
I turn and start running through the park, in the vague direction I last saw Saber going. I also take out the flashlight and turn it on. The beam's still pretty weak, but it's visible. Okay, next issue -- how do you say SOS in Morse Code again? I can't remember -- is it dot-dash-dot, or dash-dot-dash? Dammit, of all the shit to --
I trip over a root. The flashlight slips out of my hand and hits the ground. I hear something break and the beam cuts out. Of fucking course.
> womp womp
Of fucking course! I grab the flashlight and stumble to my feet, tightening the cap and switching it off and on as I go. No dice. GRRRWARGH.
So now what? Can I maybe still signal Archer using the light from my cell phone? Just how well can he see, anyway? -- shit, cell phones! Why the fuck can't we all just have cell phones like normal fucking people?! Is that really so much to ask?!
"Tom!" Saber grabs me by the back of the neck.
I scream even though I know it's her. More out of habit than anything, maybe. "Oh thank God Saber listen we heard a scream and Shirou sent me to find you even though that's dumb since it could be Rider -- fuck of course it's fucking Rider --"
"It's not Rider."
"How do you..."
She bodily turns me to the side.
A short distance away, caught within a web of her own chains between two trees, hangs Rider -- or at least what's left of her. Of her four limbs, she has exactly one arm left that hasn't been hacked off or diced into pieces. Blood leaks from her body and down off the chains like rainwater through a mangled sieve.
I groan. "I need so -- much -- therapy..."
> i know
> try to notice any details anyway
Just one -- she's hanging upside down, right? Down below where her arm dangles limply, it looks like she wrote something on the ground, inside a puddle of her own blood. The light's really dim and it's all smudged and splotchy and stuff... but I think it's 景?
> remind me what that means
Um... "scenery." "Scene." "Vista." Something viewed. Also "scene" in the sense of, like, a scene in a play. I think.
> you think
> isn't this like
> elementary school stuff for you
I am under stress here what do you even want from me. Anyway, no sooner do I notice that that Rider starts doing the whole purple dissolve-y thing. The body, the chains, the blood, all of it. The whole grisly scene vanishes into thin air. That Servant self-cleaning feature, you know.
Saber grabs me by the shoulders. "Which way to Shirou?"
"Oh, um --" I wave vaguely in the direction that I came from.
She sweeps me off my feet and jumps. Then we're bounding off through the trees, all Naruto-style.
"What happened to the flashlight?" she asks.
"Yeah don't even start," I snap.
> skip forward (slightly)
It isn't long before we land in a clearing. Saber drops me onto my feet. "Here," she says. "I smell blood."
I glance around. The light's gotten way too dim for my eyes now. I go fishing for my cell phone, but Saber's already on it. She draws her sword, which starts to glow with a dull gold light. Glamdring mode. Neat.
I take a step forward, directly on Shinji's face. Or, well. Really more in his face, to be honest.
> fuck
I slip backwards onto my ass, uttering a loud string of profanities that I honestly don't even hear. Bits and pieces of Matou -- including most of his skull, and his jaw, and so on -- are strung out all around us. And yeah, on the one hand, it's Shinji. But on the other...
> jesus fucking christ
Exactly! Did someone hit the Texas Chainsaw Massacre/Silence Of The Fucking Lambs button while I wasn't looking?!?
Also, at the edge of the clearing, Shirou's lying face-first on the ground with this gigantic katana sticking out through the back of his head. So that's a thing.
- Location
- Academy City
- Pronouns
- They
He can't. This is either someone framing him or coincidence, with a remote third possibility of Medea using it (because it was on hand? Because he pissed her off a bit too much?).
It really doesn't seem like Kojirou - it's way too gruesome, I guess, especially the whole 'Rider hanging upside down in her own chains' thing. I think the clue would be the hint she wrote in her blood? Scene/play/view or something.
For a minute I thought that 'theatre' would fit until I realised this is Japanese Kanji and not Chinese so... I guess it's time for Tom to play detective.
For a minute I thought that 'theatre' would fit until I realised this is Japanese Kanji and not Chinese so... I guess it's time for Tom to play detective.
- Location
- Brazil
looking neat, hope for more.
iii.6
- Location
- USA
Part III.6
> continue: iteration 29, day 8, morning
I take a deep breath. "Okay, seriously, Emiya. What the fuck."
Shirou shrugs and rubs the back of his head. Then he winces and stops, because I guess that still hurts. "I dunno."
"Dude, c'mon. I was there, okay? I saw it. I don't care how many Cure Lights she threw at you --" I gesture at Saber. "No one just sleeps off frigging brain damage, all right?!"
"I'm with the rando on this," Rin agrees, her mouth half full of English muffin. Seems she finally got out of the hospital late last night, thanks to a friendly visit from the family lawyer. Right now, we're all at Shirou's place. "Generally speaking, people die when they're killed."
I blink and glance at her. "Um... sorry, what?"
"I said, people usually die when they're mortally wounded." She shoots me a glare, as if daring me to push the matter further.
I'm good, though. "Well, okay, then." That makes a bit more sense.
> whole lot less memeable tho
Shirou spreads his hands. "I don't know what you want me to say here. This shit just keeps happening to me, ever since Lancer stabbed me last week."
"So, what... the same spear that made me time loop, gave you a Wolverine healing factor?" I raise an eyebrow. "Not sure I'm seeing a common thread there."
I pause. "Mind you, if that is the case... kinda have to wonder which one of us got ripped off more."
"Yeah, I don't think you can call something that does that a 'weapon,' exactly," Rin says dryly. "Anyway, fascinating as this line of questioning is -- what the hell are we gonna do about Caster?"
"Oh. Yeah." I scratch my head. "Guess this does look pretty bad for her..."
> okay wait i'm missing something
> how does this connect to caster
Oh, you didn't catch that last night?
***
> skip back to: iteration 29, day 7, early night
Shit. Is he even breathing? I try to ignore the viscera scattered everywhere around me -- not an easy task, FYI -- and search for a pulse. At least Shirou looks intact. No organs or limbs missing. Just... you know... a fucking nodachi stabbed through his brainpan, like the sword in the fucking stone. (Which is kind of weird, come to think of it. I thought those weapons were supposed to be all about slashing, not piercing damage.)
"... Assassin?" Saber reaches out and puts her hand on the hilt. As soon as she touches it, the nodachi dissolves into blue dust.
Hole it made in Shirou's head is still there, though. Kinda glad it's too dark for me to see details.
***
> skip forward
"So, yeah..." I hesitate. "... can we maybe call her? I mean, they've gotta have a phone up in the monastery somewhere, right?" In retrospect, probably should have been way more proactive about this situation. But it's been all ambiguous since Tuesday, you know?
"And give her a chance to -- how'd you put it? 'Play us'?" Rin air-quotes. "Yeah, I don't think so."
"We should be cautious about jumping to conclusions here, Master," Archer says from the hallway. He leans just outside the door to Shirou's room. "For all we know, Assassin and his Master could have been acting on their own. For that matter, this whole scenario might be some sort of trick by an enemy mage, intended to put us in conflict with Caster's group."
"Hmmph." Rin crosses her arms. "I doubt the von Einzbern brat could pull something like that off... but that would be right up Kirei's alley. Smug bastard never even showed up yesterday..."
"What do you think, Saber?" Shirou asks.
"None of this feels right," Saber replies. She's been sitting quietly up until now. "The man I dueled on Monday possessed impeccable honor. Try as I might... I can't see him striking an opponent from behind, much less one without a sword."
"Maybe the Master used a Command Seal on him," Archer counters. "Or maybe -- and I'm just spitballing here -- fighting someone once isn't enough to give you a sense of their entire character."
Saber doesn't say anything. She just looks away.
I look around the room. "Kinda sounds like we need more information."
"Buh. Fine!" Rin throws up her hands. "I'll send out the owls today while we're at school. I hope you realize this goes completely against the entire spirit of the Murder-Death-Kill! I haven't gotten to maim or blow up anything all week thanks to this bullshit."
***
> skip forward
"Is it just me," I ask Shirou at lunch, "or is attendance kinda on the lean side today?"
"It's not just you," he says.
We're sitting in his homeroom this time. (Rin isn't with us. She mumbled something about expanding the search radius and ran off.) Half of the class seems to be out. Mine's even worse off -- we're down two-thirds and three teachers.
"Yeah..." I rub the back of my head. Clearly, this situation should be setting off all kinds of warning bells in my head. Problem is, damned if I know for what, exactly.
***
> skip forward
So I figured the plan was for us to meet back up for a strategy meeting tonight. Instead, Rin leaves this hurriedly scribbled note in Shirou's locker, saying she needs to check into something and she'll catch up with us later. Needless to say, this strikes me as the opposite of a good idea -- but at this point, there's nothing for us to do but trust her and Archer to watch their own backs. (Cell phones. Cell phones and GPS trackers. Need to remember that for next time.)
Instead, I wind up going home and sitting down with a kanji dictionary to try and figure out Rider's final message. I mean, was she trying to point us (or whoever she was trying to reach) in the direction of a certain vista or a particular scenic point? Did she intend to use one of the meanings of that character in Chinese, of which there are like five billion plus a surname? In terms of words she could've been trying to write, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume she didn't use her dying breath to convey information about a pachinko prize or Nestorianism (whatever the hell that is.)
In short, I'm just spinning my wheels when I hear a loud dull THUMP from somewhere nearby and the entire house shakes like a leaf.
> that sounds less than good
I look out of my window and see a huge cloud of ash rising up above Emiya's house. Oh, boy.
> follow standard procedure
First, grab coat. Second, run outside and down street. Third, notice the ash cloud's hanging over the backyard. Fourth, find the front door unlocked. Fifth, run through house and into the back --
"SHIROU!" I hear Saber roaring his name long before I set eyes on her. "SHIROU!" I finally get out back and find her tearing madly through the remains of the storehouse. The whole tool shed's been completely reduced to rubble. As I arrive, she turns and raises her sword in my direction.
"It's me! It's me!" I raise my hands. "What happened?!"
"I don't know!" She looks around wildly. I can see tears forming in her eyes. "He was practicing, I was in the dojo -- I didn't sense anything! No attack! No magic! That shouldn't even be --"
Saber vanishes into thin air. Poof.
I just stand there alone for a moment, no sound except for the rubble settling. Did... did she just die? Is that what happens when they run out of mana? Where the fuck was all that purple dissolve-y bullshit like when Rider died?! Do other Servants not get --
> calm down
> look around you
Okay, okay, okay. I take a deep breath... then stop, because the air is still choked with dust. I look around. We've got the debris from the flattened storehouse, including what's left of its tiled roof and the shattered remains of its stone walls. We've got the yard. We've got the dojo. We've got the house.
... we've got the bright blue light coming from around the side of the house. A light that looks a lot like...
"No way." I break into a jog. "No freaking way."
I reach the side of the house. I turn the corner.
Shirou lies on his back in the midst of some shrubs. He's covered in stone dust and pretty hideous-looking burns, but he otherwise looks intact. Saber kneels at his side, her healing hands on at full blast, her brow furrowed in concentration. (Shirou's hand seems to be down another Command Seal... I guess he used it to summon her? And now she's using whatever mana's left over to cast some kind of Mega Super Cure.)
Emiya's eyes focus on me. "... ow," he manages to whisper in a strangled voice.
I turn back and look at the ruins of the storehouse. If I'm remembering right, there weren't any doors or windows on that side of the building. Assuming the explosion came from inside, the only way Shirou could've been blown over here is straight through the wall.
Any way that I look at it... Emiya should be salsa right now.
I sit down on the ground next to them. "Right," I say. "First thing tomorrow, we're checking you for flight, super-strength and heat vision. And also, it's official -- magic spear totally ripped me off."
Soon after that, the police and fire department arrive. It turns into this whole thing.
***
> skip to: iteration 29, day 9, morning
"Tom? Tom!"
"Bluurrghhwha?" I blink groggily and automatically fish my glasses off of the shelf next to my bed. Dammit. Mom even said I could sleep in after being up half the night answering the cops' dumb questions over and over...
Oh, wait. That's not Mom. That's Saber.
Oh, shit, that's not Mom, that's Saber! I immediately sit up and wrap the covers around my lower body. "Saber, what the hell --"
"Shirou's gone." Saber stands at the end of my bed in full armor. (I see the window open behind her. I guess she somehow managed to open it from the outside?... you know what, I'm not even going to bother questioning it.)
"What do you mean, gone?" I ask. "Did they take him to the hospital or..."
"No, the ambulance workers cleared him last night." Saber's back to doing her whole stoic thing, but I can tell she's worried. "But when I went to check on him this morning, he wasn't in his room. No note. No signs of a struggle. I haven't been able to find him anywhere.
"Also... there's something outside that you need to see."
"Wha -- can't you just tell me?"
"You should really see for yourself," Saber repeats. She gestures towards the window.
I reluctantly get out of bed and trudge over to the window, my blanket dragging on the floor behind me. I look outside.
I see the large island floating placidly in the sky, a few thousand meters or so over the center of town.
"... oh."
> continue: iteration 29, day 8, morning
I take a deep breath. "Okay, seriously, Emiya. What the fuck."
Shirou shrugs and rubs the back of his head. Then he winces and stops, because I guess that still hurts. "I dunno."
"Dude, c'mon. I was there, okay? I saw it. I don't care how many Cure Lights she threw at you --" I gesture at Saber. "No one just sleeps off frigging brain damage, all right?!"
"I'm with the rando on this," Rin agrees, her mouth half full of English muffin. Seems she finally got out of the hospital late last night, thanks to a friendly visit from the family lawyer. Right now, we're all at Shirou's place. "Generally speaking, people die when they're killed."
I blink and glance at her. "Um... sorry, what?"
"I said, people usually die when they're mortally wounded." She shoots me a glare, as if daring me to push the matter further.
I'm good, though. "Well, okay, then." That makes a bit more sense.
> whole lot less memeable tho
Shirou spreads his hands. "I don't know what you want me to say here. This shit just keeps happening to me, ever since Lancer stabbed me last week."
"So, what... the same spear that made me time loop, gave you a Wolverine healing factor?" I raise an eyebrow. "Not sure I'm seeing a common thread there."
I pause. "Mind you, if that is the case... kinda have to wonder which one of us got ripped off more."
"Yeah, I don't think you can call something that does that a 'weapon,' exactly," Rin says dryly. "Anyway, fascinating as this line of questioning is -- what the hell are we gonna do about Caster?"
"Oh. Yeah." I scratch my head. "Guess this does look pretty bad for her..."
> okay wait i'm missing something
> how does this connect to caster
Oh, you didn't catch that last night?
***
> skip back to: iteration 29, day 7, early night
Shit. Is he even breathing? I try to ignore the viscera scattered everywhere around me -- not an easy task, FYI -- and search for a pulse. At least Shirou looks intact. No organs or limbs missing. Just... you know... a fucking nodachi stabbed through his brainpan, like the sword in the fucking stone. (Which is kind of weird, come to think of it. I thought those weapons were supposed to be all about slashing, not piercing damage.)
"... Assassin?" Saber reaches out and puts her hand on the hilt. As soon as she touches it, the nodachi dissolves into blue dust.
Hole it made in Shirou's head is still there, though. Kinda glad it's too dark for me to see details.
***
> skip forward
"So, yeah..." I hesitate. "... can we maybe call her? I mean, they've gotta have a phone up in the monastery somewhere, right?" In retrospect, probably should have been way more proactive about this situation. But it's been all ambiguous since Tuesday, you know?
"And give her a chance to -- how'd you put it? 'Play us'?" Rin air-quotes. "Yeah, I don't think so."
"We should be cautious about jumping to conclusions here, Master," Archer says from the hallway. He leans just outside the door to Shirou's room. "For all we know, Assassin and his Master could have been acting on their own. For that matter, this whole scenario might be some sort of trick by an enemy mage, intended to put us in conflict with Caster's group."
"Hmmph." Rin crosses her arms. "I doubt the von Einzbern brat could pull something like that off... but that would be right up Kirei's alley. Smug bastard never even showed up yesterday..."
"What do you think, Saber?" Shirou asks.
"None of this feels right," Saber replies. She's been sitting quietly up until now. "The man I dueled on Monday possessed impeccable honor. Try as I might... I can't see him striking an opponent from behind, much less one without a sword."
"Maybe the Master used a Command Seal on him," Archer counters. "Or maybe -- and I'm just spitballing here -- fighting someone once isn't enough to give you a sense of their entire character."
Saber doesn't say anything. She just looks away.
I look around the room. "Kinda sounds like we need more information."
"Buh. Fine!" Rin throws up her hands. "I'll send out the owls today while we're at school. I hope you realize this goes completely against the entire spirit of the Murder-Death-Kill! I haven't gotten to maim or blow up anything all week thanks to this bullshit."
***
> skip forward
"Is it just me," I ask Shirou at lunch, "or is attendance kinda on the lean side today?"
"It's not just you," he says.
We're sitting in his homeroom this time. (Rin isn't with us. She mumbled something about expanding the search radius and ran off.) Half of the class seems to be out. Mine's even worse off -- we're down two-thirds and three teachers.
"Yeah..." I rub the back of my head. Clearly, this situation should be setting off all kinds of warning bells in my head. Problem is, damned if I know for what, exactly.
***
> skip forward
So I figured the plan was for us to meet back up for a strategy meeting tonight. Instead, Rin leaves this hurriedly scribbled note in Shirou's locker, saying she needs to check into something and she'll catch up with us later. Needless to say, this strikes me as the opposite of a good idea -- but at this point, there's nothing for us to do but trust her and Archer to watch their own backs. (Cell phones. Cell phones and GPS trackers. Need to remember that for next time.)
Instead, I wind up going home and sitting down with a kanji dictionary to try and figure out Rider's final message. I mean, was she trying to point us (or whoever she was trying to reach) in the direction of a certain vista or a particular scenic point? Did she intend to use one of the meanings of that character in Chinese, of which there are like five billion plus a surname? In terms of words she could've been trying to write, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume she didn't use her dying breath to convey information about a pachinko prize or Nestorianism (whatever the hell that is.)
In short, I'm just spinning my wheels when I hear a loud dull THUMP from somewhere nearby and the entire house shakes like a leaf.
> that sounds less than good
I look out of my window and see a huge cloud of ash rising up above Emiya's house. Oh, boy.
> follow standard procedure
First, grab coat. Second, run outside and down street. Third, notice the ash cloud's hanging over the backyard. Fourth, find the front door unlocked. Fifth, run through house and into the back --
"SHIROU!" I hear Saber roaring his name long before I set eyes on her. "SHIROU!" I finally get out back and find her tearing madly through the remains of the storehouse. The whole tool shed's been completely reduced to rubble. As I arrive, she turns and raises her sword in my direction.
"It's me! It's me!" I raise my hands. "What happened?!"
"I don't know!" She looks around wildly. I can see tears forming in her eyes. "He was practicing, I was in the dojo -- I didn't sense anything! No attack! No magic! That shouldn't even be --"
Saber vanishes into thin air. Poof.
I just stand there alone for a moment, no sound except for the rubble settling. Did... did she just die? Is that what happens when they run out of mana? Where the fuck was all that purple dissolve-y bullshit like when Rider died?! Do other Servants not get --
> calm down
> look around you
Okay, okay, okay. I take a deep breath... then stop, because the air is still choked with dust. I look around. We've got the debris from the flattened storehouse, including what's left of its tiled roof and the shattered remains of its stone walls. We've got the yard. We've got the dojo. We've got the house.
... we've got the bright blue light coming from around the side of the house. A light that looks a lot like...
"No way." I break into a jog. "No freaking way."
I reach the side of the house. I turn the corner.
Shirou lies on his back in the midst of some shrubs. He's covered in stone dust and pretty hideous-looking burns, but he otherwise looks intact. Saber kneels at his side, her healing hands on at full blast, her brow furrowed in concentration. (Shirou's hand seems to be down another Command Seal... I guess he used it to summon her? And now she's using whatever mana's left over to cast some kind of Mega Super Cure.)
Emiya's eyes focus on me. "... ow," he manages to whisper in a strangled voice.
I turn back and look at the ruins of the storehouse. If I'm remembering right, there weren't any doors or windows on that side of the building. Assuming the explosion came from inside, the only way Shirou could've been blown over here is straight through the wall.
Any way that I look at it... Emiya should be salsa right now.
I sit down on the ground next to them. "Right," I say. "First thing tomorrow, we're checking you for flight, super-strength and heat vision. And also, it's official -- magic spear totally ripped me off."
Soon after that, the police and fire department arrive. It turns into this whole thing.
***
> skip to: iteration 29, day 9, morning
"Tom? Tom!"
"Bluurrghhwha?" I blink groggily and automatically fish my glasses off of the shelf next to my bed. Dammit. Mom even said I could sleep in after being up half the night answering the cops' dumb questions over and over...
Oh, wait. That's not Mom. That's Saber.
Oh, shit, that's not Mom, that's Saber! I immediately sit up and wrap the covers around my lower body. "Saber, what the hell --"
"Shirou's gone." Saber stands at the end of my bed in full armor. (I see the window open behind her. I guess she somehow managed to open it from the outside?... you know what, I'm not even going to bother questioning it.)
"What do you mean, gone?" I ask. "Did they take him to the hospital or..."
"No, the ambulance workers cleared him last night." Saber's back to doing her whole stoic thing, but I can tell she's worried. "But when I went to check on him this morning, he wasn't in his room. No note. No signs of a struggle. I haven't been able to find him anywhere.
"Also... there's something outside that you need to see."
"Wha -- can't you just tell me?"
"You should really see for yourself," Saber repeats. She gestures towards the window.
I reluctantly get out of bed and trudge over to the window, my blanket dragging on the floor behind me. I look outside.
I see the large island floating placidly in the sky, a few thousand meters or so over the center of town.
"... oh."
aledeth
The Flesh is Weak
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I thought Rider got cut to bits as of last chapter. Giant floating island sounds more like Caster with too much time on her hands.
Avalon perhaps? The only other person I can think of being responsible would be Gilgamesh, but I can't imagine what reason he'd have to do this in this iteration.
- Location
- Academy City
- Pronouns
- They
Nah no one should have that, but things have been a little crazy
iii.7
- Location
- USA
Part III.7
> continue: iteration 29, day 9, morning
"What," I say flatly. "Just... what."
Thing is, it's not just a floating island, I realize as I stare at it. It's a floating mountaintop, and I'm pretty sure I know which one. I rush back to my desk and dig through a few drawers until I find the binoculars. Sure enough, soon as I get them adjusted, there's Ryuudo Temple sitting on top of the hovering landmass. Backed by... wait. Isn't that the big tower from the von Einzbern place?
> keeping binoculars by the window huh
Shut up! It's not like -- you're a bad influence, you know that?
> kekekekeke
So let me get this straight: Wednesday was... I don't know... Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Thursday was Silence of the Lambs. And now it's Miyazaki? What the hell?
> kinda like watching a netflix queue on random
I hear the roar of jet engines in the distance, followed by a loud noise that sounds like a combination pipe organ and meat grinder. A huge skeletal dragon the size of a bus passes over our heads and dives further down the hill. There's a loud crash and a number of screams as it lands somewhere below us.
Wokay. Make that Miyazaki with a side order of Harryhausen.
I look at Saber. She looks at me. "I should probably --," she says.
"Yeah. Please. Yes." I hastily get out of her way. Saber leaps out the window and is gone in a flash.
***
> skip forward
By the time I get dressed and catch up with Saber, she's standing in a crater over not one but two dragon skeletons, smack dab in the middle of what I'm fairly certain used to be someone's house. She holds up her hand as I approach. "Stay back. They keep trying to --"
One dracolich --
> hold up
> draco what now
Dracolich. That's what you call an undead dragon. +3 to CR.
> :cough:nerd:cough:
Whatever. What the hell else am I suppose to call them? Draco-zombos? The Flying Dead?
Anyway, one dracolich shifts a bony wing, despite currently lacking a head. Saber brings her sword down on its claw with a grunt.
"Pull back. I've got it."
Saber jumps out the hole. Before the skeletons can so much as twitch, Archer riddles them both with arrows. They explode. When the flames clear, there's nothing left.
Archer lowers his bow. He stands on the opposite side of the crater from us, alone. "Where's Rin?" I ask.
"She... went missing last night," Archer admits with a sigh.
"What?!" Saber glares at the other Servant. "Why didn't you tell us?!"
"Because I was busy actually looking for her, that's why," Archer snaps. "I can tell she's still alive, at least, since I'm still getting mana from her."
I glance at Saber, who nods. Same for her and Shirou, then. I tilt my head. "What about your telepathic link thing?"
"She hasn't been answering my calls," Archer says. "I got exactly one message back from her this morning. No details, just her location."
"So where is she?" I ask.
"Take a wild guess." He points his thumb behind him at the big floating island.
"So the little lady's stuck in the castle dungeon. Can't have that now, can we?"
Saber and Archer immediately turn their weapons on Lancer, who just laughs. He casually steps off of the utility pole he's perched on and lands on the ground as if the fall's nothing, spear slung over his shoulders. "Relax, gents," he says. "I'm not here ta fight. In fact, my Master's ordered me to help you. Given we are all sworn ta enforce mage law, last I checked. Meanin' we've got bigger problems than just ourselves right now."
Saber eyes him carefully. "True..."
"Oh, yeah." I scratch the back of my head. "I guess Kotomine wouldn't be the biggest fan of all this, would he."
"How did -- wait." Lancer seems to notice me for the first time. "You're not a Master. Who the feck are you?"
"I'm --," I start, but Archer and Saber cut me off in unison.
"He's a sidekick."
"He's a friend."
"Awwww, really?" I look at Saber, genuinely touched. "Thanks, boo." She gives me an ever-so-slight nod.
Archer coughs. "Might live to regret those words, Saber..."
"Eh, six o' one, half dozen of the other." Lancer walks towards us. Saber and Archer slowly lower their weapons. "Here's the big question, though -- can either of ya blaggards fly?"
There's a dead silence. Archer and Saber glance at each other. Lancer makes a face. "Guessin' that's a no, then."
For my part, it takes me a second to figure out that Lancer's being serious, and another to realize that it's a completely legitimate issue in context. "Wait -- what about that invisible mode you guys have?" I ask. "Don't you just kinda float around when you're like that?"
"We can't go that high," Archer says flatly. "We have to stay within a certain range of a large mass of people. Besides, Saber doesn't have that ability."
Lancer scratches the side of his face. "Think we could catch a ride on one of them skeleton beasties?"
"Tried it." Archer shakes his head. "They won't accept being steered, and they'll destroy themselves if they have to. What about knocking it out of the sky? Bringing it down to us."
"Tried that." Lancer shrugs. "Hit it with the full Anti-Army routine a few hours back."
"And?"
"Not a thing. Didn't know that attack even could be blocked. Whatever wards they got up there must be somethin' savage."
As if to underscore the point, a salvo of missiles or maybe rockets streak over us and head for the island. They all detonate in mid-air, as if they hit an invisible wall. It's all very Independence Day.
Saber eyes the military aircraft buzzing overhead thoughtfully. I think I know what she's thinking. Unfortunately, as cool as it would be, I can't quite see the JSDF giving three undocumented strangers a no-questions-asked ride up to a mysterious object hovering over a major city. How would that even go, anyway? We just show up on base, all "eyyyyy lmao guess what we got superpowers! You guys should totally trust us to --"
That's right about when a really terrible idea occurs to me.
Unfortunately, it's also the only one I've got.
> this should be good
I go over to Saber. "Two things," I whisper to her. "First, just making sure we're on the same page -- if Rin's up there, chances are Shirou is too. Right?"
She nods. "Agreed."
"Right." I swallow. "Uh, second thing. So that Riding skill of yours... does it only work on land vehicles, specifically, or...?"
***
> skip forward
One set of hastily-printed directions, a 'temporarily scavenged' car (or at least that's what I'm planning on telling the judge), and just short of three hours later, Saber stares at the arcane instruments in front of her. "... I have concerns," she says.
I only know about Fuyuki Civil Airfield because I happened to spot it while on a school trip a long time ago. (And even then, the only reason I retained that information was because there happened to be these dudes flying these small RC planes right as we were going by, which, at least as far as elementary-school me was concerned, was the awesomest thing to ever awesome, but I digress.) According to what information I dug up online, it's still an active public-use airport catering to hobbyist fliers and corporate jets. It's also completely deserted at the moment, which is a plus.
Unfortunately, most of the planes we find in the hanger seem to be partially disassembled, with one key part or another missing. (Maybe that's just how they store things for the winter around here?) Flaps, props, the entire engine... some of them don't even have wings.
Saber and I are currently sitting inside the only airplane that seems potentially ready to fly. I don't recognize the brand or the manufacturer. Rather than a yoke or something, the primary control here is an actual stick coming out of the floor, which I, for one, did not realize was still a thing outside of World War II dramas. The instruments and switches are all labeled in... I want to say Czech? The plane's user manual, in contrast, looks to be in French. Neither of which I know how to read, needless to say.
So I get where Saber's coming from. Unfortunately, though... "I think it's either this or the helicopter." I point to the rickety contraption behind us, which manages to look both intimidatingly complex and worryingly fragile at the same time.
Saber closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
***
> skip forward
And that's how I wind up crammed into a tiny cockpit with three Servants inside of a small, single-engine prop plane that seems to lurch with every passing breeze. Of which there is a lot, since we are currently about three kilometers above the ground. Assuming that I'm reading the altimeter right, anyway... and that I am looking at the altimeter and not, say, a Czech-style fuel gauge or something.
> oy
The good news is, Saber seems to have things relatively under control, at least at this point. (Takeoff was... a process.) Stone-faced, she holds the control stick in a death grip, her eyes fixed on the view outside. I get the impression that she doesn't know how to read the various instruments on the console any more than I do. It seems like this Riding power of hers basically comes down to her operating on pure instinct. Not the most comfortable feeling ever, I'm guessing.
The cockpit is chilly and loud and cramped -- a situation not helped by the fact that we only barely managed to get Lancer's spear inside of it. We wound up stowing the thing at this weird angle, where it runs between me and Saber and into the back seat, with the point positioned right next to Archer's head. No one says a word. No point in even trying to talk -- the noise from the engine drowns out all other sound.
That is, at least, until we hit a bump, and my knee hits a switch on my side of the console.
"Shit!... oh, hey." I notice my own voice echo through the headset I'm wearing. I just sort of instinctively put it on when I found it on the seat, because hey, free headset, you know? What's not to like. Everyone else seems to have followed my lead, perhaps under the mistaken impression I have some idea of what I'm doing here. Anyway, I guess this is some kind of intercom feature? "So... that's what that does. Good to know."
Archer sighs. "And here I was, trying to imagine how this could possibly get any worse. Once again, the universe provides."
"So this is one of them airplane things people keep telling me about," Lancer remarks. "Can't say I'm impressed."
We hit some more turbulence, including a sudden, nauseating two-meter drop.
"Are ya sure ya have this, woman?" Lancer asks, a hint of concern in his voice.
"No," Saber says bluntly. Her voice sounds eerily serene and distant, as if she's watching all this from a thousand miles away.
"... at least you're honest." Lancer shifts in his seat. "So I was gonna ask -- why'd ya bring the kid along? It's not like he needs to be involved in this next part." He motions his head towards me.
"Because I may need his help to operate this abomination against God and nature," Saber replies.
Archer shrugs. "I just figured the military's less likely to shoot us down if we have a minor on board." I hear nothing in his voice to suggest that he's joking.
"Wait, they can DO that?!" Lancer's eyes go wide. I'm starting to get the impression the Grail left a few minor holes in his education. "... I am clearly not drunk enough for this."
We hit another bump. Archer hits his forehead against the spear. "FUCK!" He irritably bats the weapon away.
"Oi!" Lancer indignantly slugs him on the wrist. "Hands off the merchandise, boyo!"
Archer eyes him for a second, then punches him in the arm. This goes back and forth a few times, faster than my eye can see.
> the whole childish-backseat-fight cliché
> really
"Boys, don't make Mom come back there," I say, an edge of panic in my voice. "Because if she does, we're all going to die."
"I miss the engine noise," Saber says flatly.
And that's when a Mitsubishi F-2 drops into view outside of my window.
It's practically right on top of us, close enough that I can see the pilot moving inside of it. Another jet roars up into view from below on Saber's side, this one sticking slightly behind us. (Side note: honestly, I'm kind of amazed they can actually go slow enough to match our speed. All of this would be really cool if it wasn't completely terrifying.)
"You're up, Jar Jar," Archer says.
Oh shit oh fuck oh shit! I go to the part of the console that looks the most radio-ish to me and start turning things that seem like they might be the power knob. I get it on the third try. "-- upon," a female voice says in my headset. "Repeat -- unidentified civilian craft, you have entered a restricted area."
("Ooh." Lancer raises his eyebrows. "Lady o' war."
"Don't even think about it," Archer mutters.)
"You are ordered to immediately change track to one three five true and descend to --"
"Uh, hi!" I blurt out. "Yes, hi? Uh, can you hear me?" I have no idea if this thing is transmitting.
"... roger, I read you," the pilot replies cautiously. Her plane is so close, I can actually make out the writing on its fuselage: MAJ. M. KUROHASHI. "BLACKOUT." 6TH TACTICAL FIGHTER SQUADRON. Fuck, even her real name sounds badass.
"Right, yes, hi! Great! Everything's under control. Situation normal," I say in the most cheerful tone I can summon. "Sorry for the wait. We, uh, had a slight radio malfunction, but everything's perfectly all right now. We're all fine here, thanks. How are you?"
There's a pause. "... is that fucking Star Wars?!"
"Uh." I falter. "N-no."
"That's the part before he says 'boring conversation anyway.'"
Oh. Oh God. She's right.
> did
> did you not realize you were
I genuinely had no idea I was doing that! Shit. I... I might have an actual psychological problem here.
> pretty sure nerd tourettes isn't a thing
"Are you OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!" Major Kurohashi roars, loud enough to make me wince. I hear Lancer snigger. "This is an ACTIVE COMBAT ZONE! Do you even realize what that MEANS?!"
Fuck. There's a sudden break in the cloud cover. I can see the island floating below us, just a few klicks away. If I can stall a little longer...
I start, "I --"
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! BEFORE I SHOOT YOU DOWN MYSELF FOR BEING THIS FUCKING STUPID!"
I lick my lips. "I know how this looks, okay? But believe it or not, we have a really really good reason for OH GOD DODGE DODGE I'VE SEEN THOSE BEFORE DODGE!!!!!"
I shriek that last part to Saber at the top of my lungs. Because a dozen of Caster's purple circles of death just popped up above the island. Pointed in our direction.
Saber swerves left. Beams of light (can't be lasers too slow maybe plasma or some kind of particle beam what the fuck is wrong with me why am I even thinking about this now) criss-cross through the sky around us. One of them lances straight through the major's wingman, slicing the other fighter to pieces.
"FUCK!" The major veers off, barely getting out of the way of another blast. She hits the afterburners. The F-2 rockets forward. Its wake clobbers us like a hurricane wind, sending us spinning away.
Somehow, Saber gets us back under control. She points us towards the island. Archer curses. I look and see at least a half-dozen dracoliches in flight just above the death circles. Heading straight towards us, naturally.
"... hold on," Saber says in that increasingly creepy monotone voice she's rocking. She puts the plane into a dive.
***
> cue the kenny loggins
Whatever this plane was built for, it sure as hell wasn't acrobatics. I hear the airframe scream as Saber dives us beneath the first two liches, weaves through the next two, and finishes with an honest-to-God barrel roll that I'm shocked doesn't tear our wings off.
When we come out of it, I find myself clutching my seat, my fingers digging into the upholstery, repeating the same phrase over and over again beneath my breath: "i'm a leaf on the wind i'm a leaf on the wind i'm a leaf on the wind..."
> oh no no no no stop stop that right now
> you're gonna jinx it
"You SUCK, TOM!" Archer yells in the midst of the lull.
Saber pulls us out of a dive as more beam spam sails over us, then reorients the plane. We seem to be beneath the aim of the death circles now, more or less on the same level as the island. Which we're fast coming up on.
> you've got an actual plan for the wards right
> you're not just assuming they're only on the bottom
Yeah, no. Archer said he has A Thing for the wards once we get up close. Nowish seems like a good time for that. "Uh, Archer..."
"I got it," Archer growls. "Just keep us steady, Saber."
"I am in no position to make promises," she replies hollowly.
"Fantastic." He abruptly vanishes.
Okay, what the hell is he up to? I feel a sudden blast of wind as the canopy slides forward a few centimeters, then slams back closed. I glance up. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Archer reappear on top of the plane, bow drawn, crimson energy swirling around him. Holy shit. How can he possibly be staying in place? The wind alone...
> best not to question it
Okay, he's definitely charging some kind of attack. That's good, right? I lower my head...
... and catch a glimpse of the two dracoliches closing in on us from either side. One on our left, one on our right. Both easily matching our speed. Things that propel themselves by flapping have no business being that fast.
> they're also flying without wing membranes fyi
> but you do you
"Uh..." I steal a glance at Saber. She sees them. I can tell by the way she's gritting her teeth. I also know, somehow, that there's nothing she can do about it. Any sudden moves might throw Archer off. And ten to one says he can't do anything while he's charging up...
... we're fucked, aren't we.
The dragon on my side suddenly explodes into a fireball. I hear a burst of machine gun fire above us, and turn just in time to see the dracolich on our left get swatted out of the air like a fly. The F-2 dives past us in a cobalt blur.
Lancer whoops. "Father's HAND, I need that woman's number!"
I have just enough time to wonder if Major Kurohashi saw Archer on top of our plane and how that must've looked to her before a swirl of energy -- a twisting vortex of the purest silver and a dark blue deeper than any ocean -- launches over the canopy and out ahead of us. There's a flash of green light, and somehow, the air itself seems to shatter like glass.
Saber's waiting for it. She easily dives through the hole in the wards, then pulls up. I look up to make sure Archer didn't get knocked off by a fragment of... solid air or whatever the hell that shit is. I see the tips of his shoes vanish. I wait, but the canopy doesn't open. So... uh... I guess he's staying out there, then? Wokay... you do you, man...
The plane swings high over the island. I take in a few details I couldn't see from the ground. The former mountaintop is still ringed by forest, but all the trees appear to be dead, bone-dry without a leaf to be seen. The entire temple seems to have been rearranged around the tower, with additional bits and pieces from the von Einzbern place mixed in amid the traditional buildings. There's also no sign of the walls that circled the whole complex, or of the big gate that used to be out front.
"Huh." Lancer narrows his eyes. "I'm not sensing the Anti-Servant barrier..."
I glance at Saber. "What're you thinking? The courtyard?"
She grunts and hits the flaps. I feel the deceleration like a punch in the gut as we start to lose speed. Saber wheels us around and orients the plane towards the big, flat space in front of the temple.
These aren't exactly ideal circumstances for a pilot's first landing, but Saber handles it like a pro. She slows us to the point we have just enough speed to get over the tree line, then aims us down at the stone tiles, nose angled slightly up. It's like watching a flight simulator's tutorial level.
It's only at the last second that I realize we've neglected one small detail. "Shit! Saber -- landing gear --"
Too late. We hit the ground wheels-up, the undercarriage screaming as we skid across the stone surface on the plane's flat bottom. The cockpit swerving as the machine starts to spin around like a top, all semblance of control lost...
***
> you can open your eyes now
... thank you. I uncurl my arms from around my head. The cockpit is tilted at a weird angle... but otherwise, we seem to be alive. Intact, too. Huh. Didn't see that one coming.
I hear Saber let out a deep breath. "... Tom?"
"Yeah?"
With some difficulty, Saber lets go of the steel control stick -- which not only bears the imprints of her gauntlets, but is bent in one place at a roughly forty degree angle -- and turns to me. Only now, looking into her eyes, do I get a sense of the size of the freak-out she's been suppressing. It is both terrifying and humbling in its vastness.
"Never ask me to do that again," Saber says. "Ever."
"... kay," I reply. Even though I have absolutely no idea how else we're supposed to get down from here.
Back behind me, Lancer starts laughing. Actual, genuine, unforced laughter, I should add, with only a slight hint of insanity. He slaps me on the back and wipes a tear from his eye. "Ohhhh... get me out of this fecking thing." Still chuckling, he throws the canopy open and leaps out, spear in hand.
I look at Saber, who still seems to be rocking the whole thousand-yard stare thing. I almost go for a reassuring pat on the arm before I think better of it. I could see that coming across as kinda patronizing, and I might need that hand for something later.
> heh
> phrasing
Shut it. "You need a second here?" I ask instead.
She nods slowly. "Yes, please."
"Okay." I unbuckle myself from the seat and crawl out of the cockpit.
***
> that's one small step for a tom
I set an unsteady foot on the ground. Feels solid enough. Looking back, I notice the plane is in surprisingly good shape, all things considered. It rests at the edge of the courtyard, its wing snagged against a petrified tree. A long trail of hull fragments stretches across the stonework. The tail fins look a little bent, but gliding it out of here might not be entirely impossible.
But anyway -- first things first. I take a deep breath. "Balse," I say in a loud voice.
I wait. Nothing happens. Damn.
> dark
"What's that about?" Lancer eyes me curiously.
"Nothing," I say. "Just trying to skip a few steps. Any sign of Archer?"
"Right here." Archer appears a few meters off to my right.
I glance again at the wide scrape the plane carved through the courtyard. "Don't tell me -- did you surf us through all that?!"
Archer snorts. "Are you kidding me? I jumped over here as soon as we got close enough. I can't believe you three actually tried to land that crate." The only response I can really summon is a weary shrug. "Well, okay... I can see why you and Saber would risk it. By why didn't you skip out when you could?" He looks at Lancer.
Lancer grins. "And miss all the fun?"
"... sure." Archer rolls his eyes. He turns and looks up at the witch's tower. "So... we're here. Now what?"
> continue: iteration 29, day 9, morning
"What," I say flatly. "Just... what."
Thing is, it's not just a floating island, I realize as I stare at it. It's a floating mountaintop, and I'm pretty sure I know which one. I rush back to my desk and dig through a few drawers until I find the binoculars. Sure enough, soon as I get them adjusted, there's Ryuudo Temple sitting on top of the hovering landmass. Backed by... wait. Isn't that the big tower from the von Einzbern place?
> keeping binoculars by the window huh
Shut up! It's not like -- you're a bad influence, you know that?
> kekekekeke
So let me get this straight: Wednesday was... I don't know... Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Thursday was Silence of the Lambs. And now it's Miyazaki? What the hell?
> kinda like watching a netflix queue on random
I hear the roar of jet engines in the distance, followed by a loud noise that sounds like a combination pipe organ and meat grinder. A huge skeletal dragon the size of a bus passes over our heads and dives further down the hill. There's a loud crash and a number of screams as it lands somewhere below us.
Wokay. Make that Miyazaki with a side order of Harryhausen.
I look at Saber. She looks at me. "I should probably --," she says.
"Yeah. Please. Yes." I hastily get out of her way. Saber leaps out the window and is gone in a flash.
***
> skip forward
By the time I get dressed and catch up with Saber, she's standing in a crater over not one but two dragon skeletons, smack dab in the middle of what I'm fairly certain used to be someone's house. She holds up her hand as I approach. "Stay back. They keep trying to --"
One dracolich --
> hold up
> draco what now
Dracolich. That's what you call an undead dragon. +3 to CR.
> :cough:nerd:cough:
Whatever. What the hell else am I suppose to call them? Draco-zombos? The Flying Dead?
Anyway, one dracolich shifts a bony wing, despite currently lacking a head. Saber brings her sword down on its claw with a grunt.
"Pull back. I've got it."
Saber jumps out the hole. Before the skeletons can so much as twitch, Archer riddles them both with arrows. They explode. When the flames clear, there's nothing left.
Archer lowers his bow. He stands on the opposite side of the crater from us, alone. "Where's Rin?" I ask.
"She... went missing last night," Archer admits with a sigh.
"What?!" Saber glares at the other Servant. "Why didn't you tell us?!"
"Because I was busy actually looking for her, that's why," Archer snaps. "I can tell she's still alive, at least, since I'm still getting mana from her."
I glance at Saber, who nods. Same for her and Shirou, then. I tilt my head. "What about your telepathic link thing?"
"She hasn't been answering my calls," Archer says. "I got exactly one message back from her this morning. No details, just her location."
"So where is she?" I ask.
"Take a wild guess." He points his thumb behind him at the big floating island.
"So the little lady's stuck in the castle dungeon. Can't have that now, can we?"
Saber and Archer immediately turn their weapons on Lancer, who just laughs. He casually steps off of the utility pole he's perched on and lands on the ground as if the fall's nothing, spear slung over his shoulders. "Relax, gents," he says. "I'm not here ta fight. In fact, my Master's ordered me to help you. Given we are all sworn ta enforce mage law, last I checked. Meanin' we've got bigger problems than just ourselves right now."
Saber eyes him carefully. "True..."
"Oh, yeah." I scratch the back of my head. "I guess Kotomine wouldn't be the biggest fan of all this, would he."
"How did -- wait." Lancer seems to notice me for the first time. "You're not a Master. Who the feck are you?"
"I'm --," I start, but Archer and Saber cut me off in unison.
"He's a sidekick."
"He's a friend."
"Awwww, really?" I look at Saber, genuinely touched. "Thanks, boo." She gives me an ever-so-slight nod.
Archer coughs. "Might live to regret those words, Saber..."
"Eh, six o' one, half dozen of the other." Lancer walks towards us. Saber and Archer slowly lower their weapons. "Here's the big question, though -- can either of ya blaggards fly?"
There's a dead silence. Archer and Saber glance at each other. Lancer makes a face. "Guessin' that's a no, then."
For my part, it takes me a second to figure out that Lancer's being serious, and another to realize that it's a completely legitimate issue in context. "Wait -- what about that invisible mode you guys have?" I ask. "Don't you just kinda float around when you're like that?"
"We can't go that high," Archer says flatly. "We have to stay within a certain range of a large mass of people. Besides, Saber doesn't have that ability."
Lancer scratches the side of his face. "Think we could catch a ride on one of them skeleton beasties?"
"Tried it." Archer shakes his head. "They won't accept being steered, and they'll destroy themselves if they have to. What about knocking it out of the sky? Bringing it down to us."
"Tried that." Lancer shrugs. "Hit it with the full Anti-Army routine a few hours back."
"And?"
"Not a thing. Didn't know that attack even could be blocked. Whatever wards they got up there must be somethin' savage."
As if to underscore the point, a salvo of missiles or maybe rockets streak over us and head for the island. They all detonate in mid-air, as if they hit an invisible wall. It's all very Independence Day.
Saber eyes the military aircraft buzzing overhead thoughtfully. I think I know what she's thinking. Unfortunately, as cool as it would be, I can't quite see the JSDF giving three undocumented strangers a no-questions-asked ride up to a mysterious object hovering over a major city. How would that even go, anyway? We just show up on base, all "eyyyyy lmao guess what we got superpowers! You guys should totally trust us to --"
That's right about when a really terrible idea occurs to me.
Unfortunately, it's also the only one I've got.
> this should be good
I go over to Saber. "Two things," I whisper to her. "First, just making sure we're on the same page -- if Rin's up there, chances are Shirou is too. Right?"
She nods. "Agreed."
"Right." I swallow. "Uh, second thing. So that Riding skill of yours... does it only work on land vehicles, specifically, or...?"
***
> skip forward
One set of hastily-printed directions, a 'temporarily scavenged' car (or at least that's what I'm planning on telling the judge), and just short of three hours later, Saber stares at the arcane instruments in front of her. "... I have concerns," she says.
I only know about Fuyuki Civil Airfield because I happened to spot it while on a school trip a long time ago. (And even then, the only reason I retained that information was because there happened to be these dudes flying these small RC planes right as we were going by, which, at least as far as elementary-school me was concerned, was the awesomest thing to ever awesome, but I digress.) According to what information I dug up online, it's still an active public-use airport catering to hobbyist fliers and corporate jets. It's also completely deserted at the moment, which is a plus.
Unfortunately, most of the planes we find in the hanger seem to be partially disassembled, with one key part or another missing. (Maybe that's just how they store things for the winter around here?) Flaps, props, the entire engine... some of them don't even have wings.
Saber and I are currently sitting inside the only airplane that seems potentially ready to fly. I don't recognize the brand or the manufacturer. Rather than a yoke or something, the primary control here is an actual stick coming out of the floor, which I, for one, did not realize was still a thing outside of World War II dramas. The instruments and switches are all labeled in... I want to say Czech? The plane's user manual, in contrast, looks to be in French. Neither of which I know how to read, needless to say.
So I get where Saber's coming from. Unfortunately, though... "I think it's either this or the helicopter." I point to the rickety contraption behind us, which manages to look both intimidatingly complex and worryingly fragile at the same time.
Saber closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
***
> skip forward
And that's how I wind up crammed into a tiny cockpit with three Servants inside of a small, single-engine prop plane that seems to lurch with every passing breeze. Of which there is a lot, since we are currently about three kilometers above the ground. Assuming that I'm reading the altimeter right, anyway... and that I am looking at the altimeter and not, say, a Czech-style fuel gauge or something.
> oy
The good news is, Saber seems to have things relatively under control, at least at this point. (Takeoff was... a process.) Stone-faced, she holds the control stick in a death grip, her eyes fixed on the view outside. I get the impression that she doesn't know how to read the various instruments on the console any more than I do. It seems like this Riding power of hers basically comes down to her operating on pure instinct. Not the most comfortable feeling ever, I'm guessing.
The cockpit is chilly and loud and cramped -- a situation not helped by the fact that we only barely managed to get Lancer's spear inside of it. We wound up stowing the thing at this weird angle, where it runs between me and Saber and into the back seat, with the point positioned right next to Archer's head. No one says a word. No point in even trying to talk -- the noise from the engine drowns out all other sound.
That is, at least, until we hit a bump, and my knee hits a switch on my side of the console.
"Shit!... oh, hey." I notice my own voice echo through the headset I'm wearing. I just sort of instinctively put it on when I found it on the seat, because hey, free headset, you know? What's not to like. Everyone else seems to have followed my lead, perhaps under the mistaken impression I have some idea of what I'm doing here. Anyway, I guess this is some kind of intercom feature? "So... that's what that does. Good to know."
Archer sighs. "And here I was, trying to imagine how this could possibly get any worse. Once again, the universe provides."
"So this is one of them airplane things people keep telling me about," Lancer remarks. "Can't say I'm impressed."
We hit some more turbulence, including a sudden, nauseating two-meter drop.
"Are ya sure ya have this, woman?" Lancer asks, a hint of concern in his voice.
"No," Saber says bluntly. Her voice sounds eerily serene and distant, as if she's watching all this from a thousand miles away.
"... at least you're honest." Lancer shifts in his seat. "So I was gonna ask -- why'd ya bring the kid along? It's not like he needs to be involved in this next part." He motions his head towards me.
"Because I may need his help to operate this abomination against God and nature," Saber replies.
Archer shrugs. "I just figured the military's less likely to shoot us down if we have a minor on board." I hear nothing in his voice to suggest that he's joking.
"Wait, they can DO that?!" Lancer's eyes go wide. I'm starting to get the impression the Grail left a few minor holes in his education. "... I am clearly not drunk enough for this."
We hit another bump. Archer hits his forehead against the spear. "FUCK!" He irritably bats the weapon away.
"Oi!" Lancer indignantly slugs him on the wrist. "Hands off the merchandise, boyo!"
Archer eyes him for a second, then punches him in the arm. This goes back and forth a few times, faster than my eye can see.
> the whole childish-backseat-fight cliché
> really
"Boys, don't make Mom come back there," I say, an edge of panic in my voice. "Because if she does, we're all going to die."
"I miss the engine noise," Saber says flatly.
And that's when a Mitsubishi F-2 drops into view outside of my window.
It's practically right on top of us, close enough that I can see the pilot moving inside of it. Another jet roars up into view from below on Saber's side, this one sticking slightly behind us. (Side note: honestly, I'm kind of amazed they can actually go slow enough to match our speed. All of this would be really cool if it wasn't completely terrifying.)
"You're up, Jar Jar," Archer says.
Oh shit oh fuck oh shit! I go to the part of the console that looks the most radio-ish to me and start turning things that seem like they might be the power knob. I get it on the third try. "-- upon," a female voice says in my headset. "Repeat -- unidentified civilian craft, you have entered a restricted area."
("Ooh." Lancer raises his eyebrows. "Lady o' war."
"Don't even think about it," Archer mutters.)
"You are ordered to immediately change track to one three five true and descend to --"
"Uh, hi!" I blurt out. "Yes, hi? Uh, can you hear me?" I have no idea if this thing is transmitting.
"... roger, I read you," the pilot replies cautiously. Her plane is so close, I can actually make out the writing on its fuselage: MAJ. M. KUROHASHI. "BLACKOUT." 6TH TACTICAL FIGHTER SQUADRON. Fuck, even her real name sounds badass.
"Right, yes, hi! Great! Everything's under control. Situation normal," I say in the most cheerful tone I can summon. "Sorry for the wait. We, uh, had a slight radio malfunction, but everything's perfectly all right now. We're all fine here, thanks. How are you?"
There's a pause. "... is that fucking Star Wars?!"
"Uh." I falter. "N-no."
"That's the part before he says 'boring conversation anyway.'"
Oh. Oh God. She's right.
> did
> did you not realize you were
I genuinely had no idea I was doing that! Shit. I... I might have an actual psychological problem here.
> pretty sure nerd tourettes isn't a thing
"Are you OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!" Major Kurohashi roars, loud enough to make me wince. I hear Lancer snigger. "This is an ACTIVE COMBAT ZONE! Do you even realize what that MEANS?!"
Fuck. There's a sudden break in the cloud cover. I can see the island floating below us, just a few klicks away. If I can stall a little longer...
I start, "I --"
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! BEFORE I SHOOT YOU DOWN MYSELF FOR BEING THIS FUCKING STUPID!"
I lick my lips. "I know how this looks, okay? But believe it or not, we have a really really good reason for OH GOD DODGE DODGE I'VE SEEN THOSE BEFORE DODGE!!!!!"
I shriek that last part to Saber at the top of my lungs. Because a dozen of Caster's purple circles of death just popped up above the island. Pointed in our direction.
Saber swerves left. Beams of light (can't be lasers too slow maybe plasma or some kind of particle beam what the fuck is wrong with me why am I even thinking about this now) criss-cross through the sky around us. One of them lances straight through the major's wingman, slicing the other fighter to pieces.
"FUCK!" The major veers off, barely getting out of the way of another blast. She hits the afterburners. The F-2 rockets forward. Its wake clobbers us like a hurricane wind, sending us spinning away.
Somehow, Saber gets us back under control. She points us towards the island. Archer curses. I look and see at least a half-dozen dracoliches in flight just above the death circles. Heading straight towards us, naturally.
"... hold on," Saber says in that increasingly creepy monotone voice she's rocking. She puts the plane into a dive.
***
> cue the kenny loggins
Whatever this plane was built for, it sure as hell wasn't acrobatics. I hear the airframe scream as Saber dives us beneath the first two liches, weaves through the next two, and finishes with an honest-to-God barrel roll that I'm shocked doesn't tear our wings off.
When we come out of it, I find myself clutching my seat, my fingers digging into the upholstery, repeating the same phrase over and over again beneath my breath: "i'm a leaf on the wind i'm a leaf on the wind i'm a leaf on the wind..."
> oh no no no no stop stop that right now
> you're gonna jinx it
"You SUCK, TOM!" Archer yells in the midst of the lull.
Saber pulls us out of a dive as more beam spam sails over us, then reorients the plane. We seem to be beneath the aim of the death circles now, more or less on the same level as the island. Which we're fast coming up on.
> you've got an actual plan for the wards right
> you're not just assuming they're only on the bottom
Yeah, no. Archer said he has A Thing for the wards once we get up close. Nowish seems like a good time for that. "Uh, Archer..."
"I got it," Archer growls. "Just keep us steady, Saber."
"I am in no position to make promises," she replies hollowly.
"Fantastic." He abruptly vanishes.
Okay, what the hell is he up to? I feel a sudden blast of wind as the canopy slides forward a few centimeters, then slams back closed. I glance up. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Archer reappear on top of the plane, bow drawn, crimson energy swirling around him. Holy shit. How can he possibly be staying in place? The wind alone...
> best not to question it
Okay, he's definitely charging some kind of attack. That's good, right? I lower my head...
... and catch a glimpse of the two dracoliches closing in on us from either side. One on our left, one on our right. Both easily matching our speed. Things that propel themselves by flapping have no business being that fast.
> they're also flying without wing membranes fyi
> but you do you
"Uh..." I steal a glance at Saber. She sees them. I can tell by the way she's gritting her teeth. I also know, somehow, that there's nothing she can do about it. Any sudden moves might throw Archer off. And ten to one says he can't do anything while he's charging up...
... we're fucked, aren't we.
The dragon on my side suddenly explodes into a fireball. I hear a burst of machine gun fire above us, and turn just in time to see the dracolich on our left get swatted out of the air like a fly. The F-2 dives past us in a cobalt blur.
Lancer whoops. "Father's HAND, I need that woman's number!"
I have just enough time to wonder if Major Kurohashi saw Archer on top of our plane and how that must've looked to her before a swirl of energy -- a twisting vortex of the purest silver and a dark blue deeper than any ocean -- launches over the canopy and out ahead of us. There's a flash of green light, and somehow, the air itself seems to shatter like glass.
Saber's waiting for it. She easily dives through the hole in the wards, then pulls up. I look up to make sure Archer didn't get knocked off by a fragment of... solid air or whatever the hell that shit is. I see the tips of his shoes vanish. I wait, but the canopy doesn't open. So... uh... I guess he's staying out there, then? Wokay... you do you, man...
The plane swings high over the island. I take in a few details I couldn't see from the ground. The former mountaintop is still ringed by forest, but all the trees appear to be dead, bone-dry without a leaf to be seen. The entire temple seems to have been rearranged around the tower, with additional bits and pieces from the von Einzbern place mixed in amid the traditional buildings. There's also no sign of the walls that circled the whole complex, or of the big gate that used to be out front.
"Huh." Lancer narrows his eyes. "I'm not sensing the Anti-Servant barrier..."
I glance at Saber. "What're you thinking? The courtyard?"
She grunts and hits the flaps. I feel the deceleration like a punch in the gut as we start to lose speed. Saber wheels us around and orients the plane towards the big, flat space in front of the temple.
These aren't exactly ideal circumstances for a pilot's first landing, but Saber handles it like a pro. She slows us to the point we have just enough speed to get over the tree line, then aims us down at the stone tiles, nose angled slightly up. It's like watching a flight simulator's tutorial level.
It's only at the last second that I realize we've neglected one small detail. "Shit! Saber -- landing gear --"
Too late. We hit the ground wheels-up, the undercarriage screaming as we skid across the stone surface on the plane's flat bottom. The cockpit swerving as the machine starts to spin around like a top, all semblance of control lost...
***
> you can open your eyes now
... thank you. I uncurl my arms from around my head. The cockpit is tilted at a weird angle... but otherwise, we seem to be alive. Intact, too. Huh. Didn't see that one coming.
I hear Saber let out a deep breath. "... Tom?"
"Yeah?"
With some difficulty, Saber lets go of the steel control stick -- which not only bears the imprints of her gauntlets, but is bent in one place at a roughly forty degree angle -- and turns to me. Only now, looking into her eyes, do I get a sense of the size of the freak-out she's been suppressing. It is both terrifying and humbling in its vastness.
"Never ask me to do that again," Saber says. "Ever."
"... kay," I reply. Even though I have absolutely no idea how else we're supposed to get down from here.
Back behind me, Lancer starts laughing. Actual, genuine, unforced laughter, I should add, with only a slight hint of insanity. He slaps me on the back and wipes a tear from his eye. "Ohhhh... get me out of this fecking thing." Still chuckling, he throws the canopy open and leaps out, spear in hand.
I look at Saber, who still seems to be rocking the whole thousand-yard stare thing. I almost go for a reassuring pat on the arm before I think better of it. I could see that coming across as kinda patronizing, and I might need that hand for something later.
> heh
> phrasing
Shut it. "You need a second here?" I ask instead.
She nods slowly. "Yes, please."
"Okay." I unbuckle myself from the seat and crawl out of the cockpit.
***
> that's one small step for a tom
I set an unsteady foot on the ground. Feels solid enough. Looking back, I notice the plane is in surprisingly good shape, all things considered. It rests at the edge of the courtyard, its wing snagged against a petrified tree. A long trail of hull fragments stretches across the stonework. The tail fins look a little bent, but gliding it out of here might not be entirely impossible.
But anyway -- first things first. I take a deep breath. "Balse," I say in a loud voice.
I wait. Nothing happens. Damn.
> dark
"What's that about?" Lancer eyes me curiously.
"Nothing," I say. "Just trying to skip a few steps. Any sign of Archer?"
"Right here." Archer appears a few meters off to my right.
I glance again at the wide scrape the plane carved through the courtyard. "Don't tell me -- did you surf us through all that?!"
Archer snorts. "Are you kidding me? I jumped over here as soon as we got close enough. I can't believe you three actually tried to land that crate." The only response I can really summon is a weary shrug. "Well, okay... I can see why you and Saber would risk it. By why didn't you skip out when you could?" He looks at Lancer.
Lancer grins. "And miss all the fun?"
"... sure." Archer rolls his eyes. He turns and looks up at the witch's tower. "So... we're here. Now what?"
I have no idea what Tom is trying to do here, either. I was grinning the entire plane ride, though. Kudos for managing to have these amazing moments of humour even while in the middle of something horrifying/terrifying. Having Saber pilot the aircraft was a stroke of (arguably poorly thought out) genius, I really like how you explore each Servant's personality and abilities more than the original FSN. And Lancer is a delight, as always.
- Location
- Out there
Tch! What a waste of a perfect opportunity, I guess GARcher had enough of awesomeness after being a counter guardian
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