--------------------------------------------------Go with Andrea and Archer
“Andrea. I'm not sure I trust any of the other Masters. Could you...?”
I'm not sure why I stop there.
But she nods, and so does Archer.
“Just give me a few minutes to get my strength back.”
Archer sounds half-dead.
There's a period of intense silence.
Then there's the soft rattle of a sliding door.
It's Aunt Ilya, wheezing and rattling so much she almost looks her age.
She's stooped over, hunched so badly she's less than a meter tall.
One hand is wheeling a canister of oxygen, which is hooked up to the tubes in her nose.
The other is holding a IV, which is softly glowing blue in a way I don't think most hospitals would allow.
Her eyes are heavily lidded, and she looks very much the worse for wear.
“I'm awake.”
Mother snorts, a gentle grin spreading across her face.
“I can see that, Ilya.”
Aunt Ilya slowly limps across the room, before pausing and staring at the blade on the table.
“Excalibur.”
She's a little quicker now, shuffling with a little more speed, a little more energy.
It's kind of strange seeing Aunt Ilya like this.
She's usually so peppy, so I'm not used to her being this low on energy.
She slowly sits down at the table, more like a geriatric old woman than a girl in her late thirties, or the eight-year old she still appears to be.
Weakly she draws the blade towards her, lifting the heavy iron with a grunt.
Running her hands over the length of the blade, she closes her eyes, deep in thought.
She traces what used to be gold filigree, now just more iron.
She sniffs the blade daintily, even biting it softly.
“Hmm.”
She murmurs, her eyes squeezed shut.
“The enchantments are still in place. I'm not familiar with faeries, obviously, but the thaumaturgy is legible and the sylphatic guards are still directing the magic where it needs to go. There are a couple places where I think another magus tried to add on some features, but the runes didn't connect, and have decayed-”
She pauses, noting all our blank expressions.
Suddenly a big grin covers her face.
“Sorry. Forgot you were here, Kiritsugu, Onii-chan.”
She lays Excalibur back on the table, and smooths her skirt.
“It might be simpler to think of it like a machine. As an Einzbern, I could go pretty in depth about Magical Constructs, Enchanting and Thaumaturgical Chi Directioning. But I think I would lose everyone here, so I'll describe it simply.
“The main basis any enchantment works on is redirection and amplification. Kind of like how a bicycle would redirect the work your legs put in and amplify it, so that you can go faster than you normally would. Strengthening magic is considered a very basic offshoot of enchanting in this way, since you're using magic to amplify the “strength” of an object, by removing flaws and filling them with prana.
“A more involved enchantment, like Excalibur, is a lot like a more complicated machine in this way. Except unlike a machine, the enchantment sometimes isn't locked onto an actual object. Excalibur's enchantment was like that, like a theoretical machine made out of it's own fuel; prana.”
Mother lays her head on the table.
“It's like being back in the tower.”
Aunt Ilya shoots her a look, which is about as threatening as one can get while strapped to a IV and pressurized oxygen.
“The point I was going for, Rin, was that if Ecalibur's enchantment had truly failed, it would be simply gone, and not... This.”
She lifts the blade once more and lets it fall onto the table with a clunk.
“That's what's really weird. Anything strong enough to depower Excalibur should have broken some of the directional apparatuses that gave the sword its shape. Basically, it should be dust right now.”
Saber mewls from the couch, a depressing sound not unlike a sad kitten.
“Excalibur is just missing a power source. Which is good and bad.”
Aunt Ilya looks over at Arturia.
Arturia's wide eyed, mouth hanging open in shock.
“So we-”
“Yes! The good news is that we can fix Excalibur. You're still in the fight.”
Aunt Ilya smiles widely, before breaking into a fit of hacking and coughing.
Everyone breaths a sigh of relief, even Archer and Andrea.
I guess they were concerned too.
I suppose they didn't want to see Saber go out in such a pitiable way.
“The bad news is that we will need to find a energy source for Excalibur. Which means finding something with enough power to sacrifice a portion of their energy to refill the blade, and convincing them to do that.”
The house returns to melancholy.
“So we would have to go find a Fairy and convince them to put some magic into the blade?”
Arturia sighs.
“That's going to take too much time.”
Aunt Ilya nods, but Father seems lost in thought.
“Ilya, just what level of power would it take to get Excalibur back?”
Aunt Ilya blinks, and then scratches her head.
“I'm not a expert at raw Enchantment like this. The Einzberns specialize in Magical Constructs like Homunculi, even though Enchantment is part of that, it's not our specialization. But I'd say that logically, it would be something around the power of the creator, so something along the lines of a True Ancestor, any sort of Sentient Phantasmal Beast. But there are no True Ancestors left, and any remaining Phantasmal Beasts are those too reclusive or too weak to be worth hunting down.”
Father sighs and runs a hand through his hair, before making a fist and smacking it against his palm.
“Looks like you're headed to the Church anyway.”
“..............?”
I gaze at Father, wondering why we're heading to the Church if we're not done fighting.
“Look, the Church is an organization that keeps track of magical creatures. If there's anything around her powerful enough to get Excalibur back in working order, they will know where to find it.”
Mother grins and ruffles Father's hair.
“Good job, Shirou! Perfect timing for your 'Good Idea of the Year'.”
“I have more than one good idea per year!”
“Liar. They're so rare, I keep track. Unless you want to count the blender accident.”
“T-That was you!”
“Now you kids be good and get going. You need to get Saber back in the fight before Rider kills everything we love.”
Mother, why would you say that in such a cheery tone?
Sometimes I wonder if she's some sort of psychopath.
Andrea and Archer seem ready to go though, and Arturia is helping Saber to her feet.
I get up and dust myself off.
I'm not quite out of hope yet.
I'm coming for you, King of Kings, and no amount of Ruin is going to stop me.
The streets are dark.
It takes a few minutes of walking to be able to make out more than black forms in the shadows, but eventually our little group finds itself at the foot of the hill capped by Kotomine Church.
There hasn't been much conversation.
It's Saber, Andrea, Archer, Myself, and Arturia.
I've been supporting Saber, who's still only just able to stand.
After some thought, I've worked out that Ruin was some sort of Magic-sink, sucking away all the Magic in the area.
That would explain how Excalibur lost it's power source but not the enchantments, why it hit Servants much harder than Masters, and other things too.
I have the growing suspicion that as the most mundane person in our little group, that means I'll end up fighting Rider.
The thought kind of frightens me.
But at the same time, I'm determined to bring him down, whatever it takes.
With such thoughts swirling in my head, I almost don't notice the pair on the road.
Luckily, they don't notice us either, and I have the chance to get a good look.
Haruhi is talking in hushed tones to someone I don't recognize.
He's shrouded by shadows from here, but Haruhi seems relatively relaxed considering what she just went through.
I'm left with a choice.
I-
1) Interrupt their conversation2) Move on, and don't be seen
Author
Topic: Fate / Lunar Sun (Read 26469 times)