Chapter 20: Evening Plans
Before we get started, seeing as quite a few prominent figures passed away while I was busy with this, I, uh, felt it be right to do this first:
RIP Hayden Panettiere, Dolly Parton, Tim Curry and Peter Cullen. Thank you so much for the wonderful roles and stories you contributed to.
"Hmm, this is rather a shambles..."
Kirei Kotomine glanced up from his spare bible to study the only other person currently about. "Is there something bothering you, my King?" He inquired politely, his spiritual senses determining that Lancer hadn't left the sewer network. Probably sulking again over his circumstances... "You're under no obligation to stay by my side."
Gilgamesh scoffed while casting a disdainful eye to the underground walls. "Why you persist in using that misshapen madman of a Caster's old playground as a reserve hiding place even ten years later, I will never fathom." He even refrained from calling forth wine or other vice from his treasury to distract himself; the stench would've ruined it.
"It's far enough out of the way that most people wouldn't come down here save for whichever maintenance worker drew the short straw," Kirei nodded to a set of Japanese letters carved along the path, "and the wards dull their senses enough to lose interest. As for magi or Servants, only one other group besides my Assassin ever stumbled upon Caster's hideaway in the Fourth Grail War, and they didn't disclose its location to others. Not even Emiya's old team knew of it." He slid a bookmark in between the pages (Galatians 5:19–20) before setting the bible aside. This conversation was obviously not going to end just yet. "As for the smell, air fresheners help. Somewhat."
"Yes, yes," the reincarnated Archer-class Servant waved his hand, "better to not try burning incense down here lest it ignites some flammable gas or another. A good explosion may do this pit some favors, though..." He eyed the water tank on the other side before turning back to his technical Master. "But you mentioning the prior War is fitting, Kirei, for I was referring to the current one. Decidedly more chaotic and unpredictable by comparison."
The priest nodded while rolling his reattached arm's shoulder. "More participants, for one, and warriors of new worlds mingling with old rivals of ours." He suppressed a smirk as his conversational companion's fingers drifted almost reflexively up to his forehead hidden by his blonde bangs, the scar there barely visible yet unchanged despite the passage of time. "If I may, you seem a little conflicted," Kirei noted in his politest tone.
"...A fitting observation." Gilgamesh's lips shifted between a snarl and a smirk at feeling the slim blemish upon his skin. "Amusing as some among this new batch of mongrels may be, I am rather displeased about the older dogs running about in their wretched... condition." He finally settled on a disgusted snarl. "Crushing the King of Conquerors and his deranged mutt anew would offer no satisfaction if they are not in control or even aware of their actions. And as for what dragged them back onto the battlefield..."
He cast his gaze upon the human seated a ways from him, his relaxed posture belying the corruption within his veins. "I doubt you have not recognized the part Dark Energon..." A hiss slipped into the King's voice at those two words and the memory of the upstart they brought about. He took a breath, then continued. "...Plays into this reanimation of fallen Servants. Tell me, Kirei, I thought that with your Servant scrap metal, you remain the only one in my garden walking about with that rancid power." That the priest was his anchor to this time as well as an entertaining chap were the only reasons Gilgamesh hadn't atomized him to erase that foreign blight from his garden once and for all.
A fact Kirei understood himself, hence why he had always timed exploring his bond with Dark Energon for when the mercurial tyrant wasn't around. "I thought so as well, my King," he prefaced, allowing the slightest amount of genuine worry to mix in with the confusion he put forth. The most convincing lies always carry a kernel of truth. "And after considering it, I believe I am still the only human of this world who wields Dark Energon." Golden brows furrowed together; yes, his choice of words had been noticed. "But... the old Rider X upon dying would've been assimilated into the Grail like all the others." Kirei opened his arms and leaned back. "What if the corruption within found a way to tap into it somehow? Whatever Dark Energon's origins back in its home universe, here, it began as a Noble Phantasm."
The King of Heroes tilted his head, visibly mulling this theory over. "That mud would've taken a shine to such putridity..." he conceded after a couple seconds.
"And I imagine Zouken Matou deliberately called for the new Caster X, which Angra Mainyu may've enabled as well." Kirei had been honestly thinking about the machinations of that old magus, so he also voiced these thoughts now, albeit while omitting another little hypothesis. Namely that Zouken, Caster X and Angra Mainyu had a little help in harnessing Dark Energon. Help from the very being who had introduced it to this world, who knew it intimately, and who had very likely survived the climax of the Fourth Grail War.
Gilgamesh had rarely ever spoken of Megatron these last ten years, only a reference (typically including the term "upstart" or some synonym thereof) every now and then. Playful as their animosity had gradually become, history's first hero hadn't shown much interest in giving the leader of the Decepticons much thought. He certainly didn't seem to hold Rider X in as high regard as other Heroic Spirits that tended to pop up a little more in conversations (albeit not by name): Artoria Pendragon, Iskandar, Kenpachi Zaraki, Gandalf the Gray...
That last name made Kirei's contemplations return to the current topic. "From what I gather, this Caster X actually appears to originate from the same world as the prior one. Saruman the White might've been an old rival of the Gray Wizard, perhaps even his superior, which may lend further credence to his skill in magic."
A scoff from Gilgamesh. "A rival, perhaps, but superior? That decrepit conjurer is little better than the wretch prancing about as the native Caster. Those two mongrels together, at the height of their power, couldn't hope to hold a candle to... him." A hint of melancholy slipped into his words, and Kirei suspected he'd almost intended to say something else. Intriguing...
"True enough," he posited while considering a little test. "I certainly wasn't expecting young Sakura to wield True Magic like he could." Ah, a tiny twitch in Gilgamesh's facial muscles. "But the greater surprise came when Gandalf himself appeared from her, defending her from both Casters, no less. I suppose that scene alone would confirm your statement, my King."
"Most surprising indeed. Especially when one remembers how dreadfully boring her father was. Oh, I wonder what sort of miracle that old apparition must have bestowed upon her..." Kirei read right through the act; while Gilgamesh hadn't known what specifically Sakura was becoming, he was notably unsurprised. Almost as if he'd already had an inkling...
Kirei Kotomine couldn't resist probing just a mite further. "Curious how she managed to stay under the Magus Association's radar for this long. Though we can't blame her for keeping her connection to that wizard secret..." He kneaded his fingers together. "Dutiful as Rin is, she might see this as a golden opportunity to make a name for herself-"
A cold chuckle interrupted him. "What a boorish idea, Kirei, and how pessimistic you think of your ward. Do try to restrain yourself from meddling, watching how their story as sisters plays out under its own weight is more amusing, I suspect." Gilgamesh's smile sharpened a bit: a quiet warning for Kirei not to try anything with the younger Tohsaka sister. Well, he'd already been advised (most strongly) to leave Saber to the King of Heroes, but this didn't feel quite the same. My my, Kirei mused, he actually seems protective of Sakura.
"It's not as though I could meddle if I wanted to," he assured indirectly even while filing this away. Just in case. "Rin would have her Servants disembowel me on sight, and that's assuming Shirou Emiya's aunt didn't get to me first." To think that female drone who had followed Kiritsugu Emiya about persisted in trying to hamper his efforts... Amusing, yet also oddly irksome. Particularly how from what scant glimpses he'd managed to spy of her and the Emiya boy, the golden second chance God had provided him for a nemesis, she appeared more emotive than when Kirei had first fought her. Happier, even.
Oh, as if he didn't already have enough on his mind besides the presence of Caren and that... curiosity of a Servant somehow contracted to her. Decisions, decisions.
Hence his rising from his seat now. "Anyway, I've been feeling rather restless myself, my King. I hope you don't mind if I may step out for a little fresh air this evening, see if I can't stir up a little more excitement." He already had one or two ideas for that, perhaps confirm a lingering theory. Maybe even reunite with an old friend and mentor... If Fate willed it so.
The King of Heroes snorted. "No false modesty now, Kirei. Such an endeavor is easily within your power." He in turn tucked his hands into the pockets of his black pants and sauntered for the exit. "I believe I will observe for a while longer before... re-introducing myself. This War is a shambles, but an amusing one. And it's certainly more appealing than waiting for entertainment in this wet pit..." He paused briefly before casting a red-eyed leer over his shoulder. "And I do wonder what other sorts of reunions await."
"As do I, Gilgamesh." Kirei couldn't help but ready his Command Seals and tap into Dark Energon at that look. It seemed his fellow veteran's suspicions hadn't been laid entirely to rest. How much he knew or suspected was still unclear. Deliberately so.
But what was clear was that whatever "friendship" existed between these two, they had kept secrets from one another. And the other suspected. And they both knew that the other suspected, just as they knew it was only a matter of time before these secrets came to light.
Whether or not their "friendship" survived all this, well... Such is life, both men concluded as they went about their own businesses.
Since joining the Fifth Holy Grail War, Bazett Fraga McRemitz had been in for quite a few unexpected events. Some more pleasant than others, Kirei Kotomine's betrayal firmly in the latter category while this War's unusual circumstances moreso in the former. Seriously, if someone had told the Sealing Designation Enforcer only a year ago that she'd be down an arm, fighting for her life in a War full of superpowered familiars, and waking up every morning safe and snug in the legs and wings of a dark-scaled, sweet-hearted cuddle bug of a Dragon? Bazett would've assumed them crazy, trying to scam her, or both.
And right now, looking up, she was treated to yet another amazing sight.
Bazett and Rider X had arrived at the Emiya residence following a successful field test. Among their collaborations of rune magic and Hiccup Haddock-style mechanics had been a series of engravings all along Toothless' saddle to function as a perception filter: So long as one didn't know of the Night Fury or its companions, they wouldn't see either up in the sky or on the ground. This allowed them to fly about during daylight, and currently, the gear was undergoing a sort of stress test.
Grass strands and clothing fluttered about across the yard from the wind rushing alongside Toothless' flight, a high-pitched whine following that may remind one of a dropping bombshell. No wonder Vikings feared the Night Fury's approach, Bazett conceded as she watched that black blur ascend. Still, despite the sound's volume, no one outside the grounds seemed to have noticed, which meant the charm was still working just fine. "They've picked up quite some altitude," Assassin X (or maybe one of his duplicates ) commented beside her, Maiya Hisau (also potentially a doppelganger) on the Servant's other side.
"And they're not even trying yet." The Master beamed at the impromptu loop-de-loops now being performed. "Oh, those showoffs... All it takes is a little audience, and they whip out the circus acts."
"Not that any of us are complaining." His quip drew a laugh from her before she noticed him eyeing her now. "This your first time being part of the audience?" She nodded. "Well, I'll bet being a passenger has its own appeal." That she couldn't argue with. Given how much she'd gotten the opportunity for that since summoning Hiccup and Toothless, Bazett didn't mind letting another enjoy the experience. It hadn't taken much convincing on their part to let her try flying along, just a round of impossibly large shimmering emerald eyes.
With one hand holding onto Rider X's side, Saber stretched out the other, basking in the winds zipping against her arm. Toothless flew so quick and smoothly about the whistle he made echoed in her ears, but in a pleasant manner. It reminded her of her time zooming through Fuyuki on her beloved V-Max ten years ago, a treat she feared never to taste again.
(An apologetic Maiya had explained that the damage Megatron had done to the Yamaha had rendered it completely unsalvageable (talking over Shirou's grumbles about letting him take a crack at it), and it had been one of a kind due to its experimental origins. Along with the original designer having been incarcerated on account of some scandal involving tax evasion.)
But this was a step up from even that experience. The rush of elation coming from the front, the twin blurs on both of her sides, these the ex-motorcyclist knew quite well, but now, they came with an extra dimension of the whole world beneath her, natural biological warmth coming from her mount rather than mechanical heat. Even the odd rumble Toothless made was similar to the Yamaha V-Max yet... livelier. She looked about marveling at how large the clouds appeared up close, the expanse of the blue sky around her... The afternoon sun appearing so much nearer to her now.
The other Servant glanced over his shoulder with an approving glint behind his mask. At a nudge, Toothless slipped into a barrel roll so fluidly it might've risked throwing a passenger off, but the knight-class Servant simply laughed as she let her other hand grip Hiccup's side; not tight enough to inconvenience him, but he was still a little impressed at how easily she kept herself steady. Gotta love the Riding Skill, Rider X reminded himself, though a part of him wondered if there mightn't be something more.
Nevertheless, the stunts continued with swoops and sudden turns that would've been a bit much even for Rider and Dragon back when they were alive, but in their current physical states, neither could resist. They can't resist the chance to test their limits as familiars, eh? Not that Saber minded the entertainment at all. In fact, the more tricks they pulled, the more her attention wandered to Rider X's metal foot and the way its little twitches and shifts made the Night Fury's own prosthetic open and close.
A dip towards the ground and a prompt swoop back upwards drew a yelp from a nearby Rin as she instinctively ducked her head, her twin tails being blown forward and then backwards again as the ballon in her hand exploded. She aimed a glare that lacked any real heat at the blur in the sky before scoffing at a sound beside her. "What're you laughing at?"
"Nothing," Lancer X denied as best as she could while stifling her giggles. Her eyes followed the airborne antics in mild envy for a bit. Then she blew up a fresh balloon while her Master straightened her hair again, tied a quick knot in the rubber and held it over to her. "Don't beat yourself up, Kakashi did say this is the hardest step to doing that cool move."
"Yeah, I know." The magus accepted the stretchy blue sphere but didn't begin channeling od in it again. Not yet. "On paper, it's a simple concept, not that far off from Conversion of power with which I store mana and spells on gems." Maybe that was why she found herself so drawn to the foreign technique. And not just because Conversion was the trademark magecraft of the Tohsaka line and Rin's pride egged on. She found the Rasengan curiously beautiful from the moment Assassin X demonstrated it: The raw energy swirling about within that spherical form, the force contained in that perpetual spiral...
And of course: "Putting it in practice is one hell of a challenge." Rin couldn't help licking her lips while making its surface wriggle a bit as a warmup. A challenge she had every intention of matching. "But until I've worked it out," she added with a pointed smirk at her Servant, "I'll just have you compete with Saber and Rider X's Dragon for cuteness. Maybe that'll win us the Holy Grail." Stranger things had happened, she'd bet.
Ruby crossed her arms in a playful pout. "I'm just a piece of meat to you, aren't I?"
"Put on a smile until I say otherwise, lamb chop," Rin joked back, silently grateful that neither her jabs nor the Huntress' carried any bite to them. While she still had a lot of baggage to sort out with Sakura, Ruby at least seemed to have forgiven her for the most part. Considering how she simply blew a raspberry before zipping over to where Saber X stood, probably to talk about weapons with the initially bemused boy. Well, she's a better person than I am. The Master winced upon remembering her own accusations that night, and as much as Caster X's nasty little trick accentuated the worst in her words, they had still come from her mind and heart.
She glanced about to distract herself from these ruminations. In another part of the yard, Shirou Emiya and his clones had taken up different training programs, one engaged in jutsu/ninja training with Assassin X, the other learning about dual-wielding from one of Ruler X's followers. At a request from Sakura, the special-class Servant had provided her with three Jedi for assistance (Matou had quipped "Teacher's pet," upon learning of this, earning him a double smack upside his seaweed-haired head from Rin and Emiya). The one sparring with Emiya (or his duplicate, it was still pretty hard to determine which was which) introduced himself as Joclad Danva and apparently specialized in martial arts and fighting with more than one sword. The latter was proven in how deftly he wielded two shinai while helping Emiya correct his own form, the latter already showing noticeable improvement.
Not far from him, the younger Tohsaka was engaged in her own practice with another Jedi, a man with dark-grey skin and wrinkle-like features all across his face. Introducing himself as Sora Bulq, he quickly established himself as an accomplished swordsman as well, pressuring a staff-wielding Sakura with fast-paced strikes of a shinai and a wakizashi-length wooden sword. The fluidity and aggression in his moves, with him clearly holding back a bit, were sort of a neat mid-way between the girl's performance last night and Ruler X's own fighting style (hence Saber X's acute interest while watching them training). Rin kept sneaking glances over in between her own session, a tiny wince escaping her whenever one of Bulq's blows came a little too close for comfort, but the Heroic Spirit of Arbitration serving as a very attentive referee mollified her. Somewhat.
Meanwhile, the third Jedi, that tall figure with goat-like horns from last night who went by "Saesee Tiin" apparently, alternated between keeping watch and following the Servant-Dragon flight with visible interest. An emotion shared by both of Shinji Matou's Servants, from the looks of it. Well, not that one could completely tell in Rider's case, but she stood with her head raised towards the sky and her body locked in a weird kind of tension Rin saw every now then in sports-enthusiastic students right before they broke into a run or something. Matou didn't seem bothered by her state, though, busy as he was trying to burst his water balloon in between coughing fits.
A particularly loud whoosh made Rin and the others look up to find Rider X having steered Toothless (What a strange yet cute name for the pinnacle of Phantasmal Beasts) into a straight climb, then they stopped to simply hover a few dozen meters. It looked like they took a moment to chat, though the trio were too high up for even the Servants' ears to make out what was being said. The best they could tell how Rider X fidgeted behind himself, patted his mount's neck... and then slid right off the side.
A gasp slipped out of Sakura even as she hastily made to exchange her sparring staff for her magic one, only for Master Windu's hand to bar her path. "Don't worry," he told her, "I suspect we're in for a show." The surety in his words calmed her down enough to look back up in time to see Toothless follow his friend in a relaxed dive.
Then the Heroic Spirit tugged his arms downward before snapping them out, red appearing on both sides, and suddenly both he and his scaled friend were flying one after the other. Well, not really flying in Rider X's case, Shirou recognized after another few seconds of watching, but he was gliding leisurely down to the ground thanks to the twin wings on his suit. For a moment, his suit began to glow a bit and he did seem to start flying.
Hiccup Haddock swooped down after a couple seconds, landing for once gracefully on his feet. Runes are holding up nicely on the Flightsuit. A light thump behind him confirmed Toothless' arrival, too, followed by an amused garble. "Yeah, a lot more graceful than my usual landings, huh, bud?" He joked before pushing up his mask to flash the gathered audience a grin. "Sorry, folks, but that's all for today. Can't go showing rivals all my tricks."
Lancer X moaned a little in disappointment at the implication that there wouldn't be other rides today, and a beaming Artie pressing her whole front against Toothless' head didn't help. Next time, Hiccup mouthed to her with a wink, and her spirits raised as she remembered all the questions she had for his gear. She could guilt-trip him into showing them, after all.
(Further away atop the highest point of a certain temple's walls, a certain Viking shieldmaiden turned savage stood beside her dearest companion. She paid only some attention to her partner's preparations below for the imminent battles, even the burned one offering token cooperation at the mind, for her gaze had been fixated on the antics of the other Dragon-rider from afar.
Tears gathered anew in Astrid Hofferson's eyes, but for a single instant, her madness permitted her a single moment to smile in appreciation that the man she loved hadn't changed. Stormfly rested her chin on her left pauldron, her rider stroking her neck.)
Now that the show had ended, the younger Masters returned to their respective training, and Archer took a break in his vigil to study the other Servant's suit. Collapsible wings with a web design not unlike that of a modern squirrel jacket, a fin for the back that allows for some steering... He put a lot of thought into putting that gear together, and engineers in present day would be inspired by it. His gaze sharpened at the slight glow and telltale whispers of mana on certain parts: the gauntlets and boots, the wings... Ah, he's even upgraded the whole thing with runes. Must've learned about them from his Master, but to be able to implement them himself in just a week, even for a Servant... Hmm. It's not technically a weapon, but its inspirative nature does make it qualify as a Noble Phantasm, albeit a low-level one. And none of the suit's components appear to be exclusive to Rider X's world...
Even as he began drawing up mental blueprints, the Counter Guardian noticed at least one of the boy's clones also eyeing Rider X, stalling his Rasengan training in the process, but in a rare moment, Archer wouldn't have criticized that idiot. He himself couldn't help but respect a true craftsman, after all. Especially an innovative one like the Viking Heroic Spirit.
All of this also had the fringe benefit of keeping his attention away from how Saber lovingly snuggled with that preening Dragon while still atop his back. For crying out loud, Ginrei grumbled to himself, I can't believe I'm getting jealous of an oversized plasma-spitting reptile! What a ridiculous Grail War he'd been summoned into.
Hiccup for his part didn't notice the attention he or Toothless had gained, as his own was currently captivated in a comparison of weapons with two other Servants. Saber X tilted the dragon-shaped hilt slightly in his hand, his fingers drifting along its details with distinct care while his red eyes gleamed with interest. There were also certain parts he only analyzed without touching, such as the trigger on the bottom end. "Deceptively sturdy considering how little it weighs, designed to automatically coat the blade with fluid when it extends, easy to remove and replace parts for upgrading…" he muttered to himself. Finally, he nodded and held Inferno out almost reverently. "This is a work of art, Rider X."
"Thanks," the young Viking accepted his Noble Phantasm and in turn passed back Enten, "I could say the same about yours, Saber X. You had a hand in making this, didn't you?" He gestured to the katana he'd been studying so raptly on his part. "The blade's slimmer than what I'm used to seeing, but it's seriously tough and perfectly balanced. Not a detail too little or too much. Plus the way you treated Inferno tells me you've got forging experience, too. It's Hiccup, by the way."
"Chihiro," the dark-haired boy returned the courtesy while reclaiming that fearsome blade. "It was my father who really crafted Enten, though. I just supported and followed his instructions. It was his final work before he was killed…" He flicked the blade loose and studied his reflection in it before sheathing it again. "If he saw half the stuff you've built, he'd be singing you praises until his throat went raw."
Picking up on the subtext, Rider X offered him a lopsided smirk. "For the record, my dad would've ordered an epic written up in memory of you and the way you fight."
"Look who's talking, 'Pride of Berk!'" He groaned and cast a pretend-betrayed eye to his Master who looked completely unapologetic. Quit playing down your accomplishments, buster, she chided over their link. Neither Toothless nor I will stand for it. "Pride of Berk," his metal foot. He didn't even last five minutes as chief, look at what became of Astrid! If Dad were here right now, he'd-
"Yeah, don't sell yourself short, Hiccup!" Lancer X joined in, startling the Viking from his self-loathing and cradling Gronckle Iron Shield with an excited gleam in her eyes. "Just look at this baby, the balance, the shifting of the components, the firing mode-!" She held it towards the side before setting it into crossbow mode and making a grabbing motion with her other hand. Her partner manifested and tossed to her a low-level arrow which was loaded up and fired, a medium-sized rock blasted to pebbles. "Beautiful..." Ruby whispered at the result while brushing the shield's surface like a newborn kitten. Ginrei sidled up to her, smirking but no less impressed judging by the look in his eyes, especially when she passed it over.
"You ought to know!" Hiccup pointed laughing at the collapsed weapon affixed behind her hip. "Guns didn't even exist in my time, and you go and build one into a scythe?! And not a hand-sized one either but the kind to hack through whole fields! Do you have any idea, Ruby Rose, how many of the Vikings back home would've tried adopting you on the spot just so you could make them more weapons like that?" He gestured to a certain friendly robot on the side. "Seriously, your little masterpiece there looks like it could've come out of his world!"
A laugh drew his attention to "And your gear doesn't?" Bumblebee pointed at the two. "Either one of you would've been named honorary Cybertronians with the transforming things you've built."
"Aw, shut up, both of you!" The blushing yet grinning leader of Team RWBY still unfurled her sweetheart and allowed Rider X to inspect it, even hold it, something both Archer and Rin knew was a super-rare privilege. The air soon became filled with technological jargon that baffled some like both Tohsaka's and Matou and could be more easily followed by the likes of both Saber X's, Maiya Hisau and Shirou Emiya (both versions).
(And the older of the latter two used the opportunity to discreetly unscrew a Gronckle Iron bolt from the shield and pocket it before returning the Noble Phantasm to its owner.)
A rustle notified Maiya to one of Shirou's clones walking over. She glanced towards the kitchen window and saw movement; yup, the original was still in there. "Whether you admit it or not, Rider X," the clone's voice brought her back to the present, "you've got a knack for building things." True enough, Maiya decided with a glance towards the Servant's Master who was petting the Dragon's head affectionately. Four metal fingers gleamed from the sunlight as they curled and straightened smoothly along the scales. Each time they had met since their introduction, McRemitz' prosthesis resembled a human arm a little more, and anyone with half a working brain could recognize who was its inventor just by seeing it.
"Besides," the Shirou double nodded over to Toothless as Saber finally dismounted, "you've got Dragon-tamer and Dragon-Rider down on your resume, too."
But Rider X shook his head. "I didn't really tame Toothless. It's more like... Well, after I got his tail wing banged up, he was stuck in a grotto for a while, unable to fly out, so I had lots of time to visit and watch him. Took a while for him to get used to me and me a while to not constantly worry about him blasting me or biting me or returning the favor for his tail in some other grisly manner." He smiled to himself recalling the time they spent bonding in that grotto. Some of the best weeks of his life. "Then when I started making his new wing, it took a lot of trial and error for both of us. We... taught each other how to work together, I guess." The Night Fury sauntered over to his best friend's side, Hiccup patting his head before checking his saddle. "I learned as much from Toothless as he did from me." He tugged on a leather strap that had gotten a little loose. "Maybe more."
"A rarity, that." He glanced up to his native counterpart. "Not all Riders make the effort to develop such a bond with their mounts. Some prefer to simply subjugate them through the Riding Skill or other means." The woman's mane shifted slightly as she nodded towards the duo. "He's clearly a clever fellow himself, so you shouldn't deny your own success in earning his trust and affection. It's no small feat to look past the beast and see the person." Hiccup half-smiled at her praise, though he wondered why the other Rider got so downcast.
"And how you described your time with Toothless is a true gift between learners, Hiccup Haddock." Ruler X offered a still-winded Sakura Tohsaka a water bottle before stepping forward (that grey, wrinkled colleague of his flickering out of the physical plane). "A teacher is blessed if they get to learn from their students while teaching them." Assassin X nodded immediately at that, and Saber's smile softened as she glanced over to "Illegal" Saber X.
The conversation gradually moved on to other topics (much to an increasingly flustered Rider X's relief, seriously, why did people heap praise on him after his colossal failures in life?!), and as the afternoon began transitioning into evening, some of the Emiya household's guests began to take their leave. First was Bazett who re-confirmed her offer of aid when this makeshift alliance turned its attention to Kotomine as well as her team's hope of trying to save Berserker X.
The latter goal, Ruler X privately considered a long shot even if he sympathized with the context between the Viking Servants. That, alongside a subtle poke from Sakura's staff, dissuaded him from speaking his mind. Force help me if she and Depa ever crossed paths...
Shinji was the next to sign out by declining Emiya's offer to stay another night. "Fun though it is to sleep inside a thick enclosed space surrounded by piles and piles of heavy boxes and junk stacked haphazardly on top of one another and liable to topple over if you so much as sneeze... I'd rather not tax your hospitality or your super-scary aunt's patience." He even exaggerated his drawl so as to not let on how that was still the most relaxing sleep he'd had in years. "I had the blue geezer scout out some decent places to crash in Miyama, so we can take care of ourselves."
"First time for everything." The two boys ended their snark with a pretty cordial handshake given the situation, though Shirou held on a little longer. "Hey, I know you don't like relying on others and we're supposed to be enemies, but if crap hits the fan, I know you'd have my back. And you better know I've got yours."
"...Yeah, I do," Shinji admitted making sure to smirk and not to smile. "But let's hold off on the riding together into oblivion, yeah?" He tugged his hand away before letting it meet Shirou's in a fist bump. Then he turned on his heel and made for the exit, both Servants slipping into spirit form on either side of him. But you and your team better watch your own backs for now, Emiya. Whatever nasty schemes Uncle and Grandfather have cooked up, I bet they're about to boil over soon enough.
Shirou watched him leave, old habits kicking up the worry inside him. "Don't let your guard down around him." He clenched his fists and tried not to snarl. Of course Archer would find an excuse to lecture him. "That boy's spent years under the same roof as the most dangerous magus in this city. There's no way he's innocent, even if you're content not thinking about all the things he might've done to stay alive in that household."
"Shinji's the first to admit he's not a saint. Hell, he likes to brag about it even when nobody's listening." The Master refused to rise to the red-clad asshole's bait or even dignify him with a glare, instead heading over to Kakashi who held out a shinai. Shirou accepted it and began engaging in some practice swings, his recent lessons guiding his arms. "And he definitely doesn't have any love or loyalty to his family."
"The enemy of your enemy isn't always your friend." Archer's footsteps sounded to his left, but he deliberately kept his focus on his weapon. Just because he and Tohsaka were... working together didn't mean he needed to listen to- "If you really want to keep up this little game of yours, you need to start yourself some hard questions. For example, what happens when an unstoppable attack meets an all-powerful defense?" Shirou paused in mid-swing, something about the question snaring his full attention. Or was it really that Archer had asked it...?
EMIYA watched the gears turning in the boy's stubborn head. Not that it would likely be enough, fate seemed insistent on having this idiot pursue his hopeless path despite the odd deviation here and there... but at least for appearance's sake, he'd try and play the gritty mentor a little. "The result is like the question itself: a contradiction. A paradox."
Assassin X nodded and tilted his head as though in thought. "You've got a point there." He bent down to pick up a small piece of rock produced by his earlier demonstration of his (and Archer might've been admittedly mildly inspired by that Rasengan technique). "Still, let me offer in turn a saying from my world: an expert with a pebble…" With a flick of his thumb, the rock shot through the air and landed smack-dab in the center of an archery target leaning by the shed. "…can beat a novice with a shuriken." He shrugged and nodded towards the target. "The quality of the wielder is no less important than the quality of the weapon."
All the more reason for me to keep at all this, Shirou Emiya decided before continuing his training with renewed energy. I might be a lousy magus or a weird excuse for a ninja, but that's no excuse for me not to improve myself and my goals.
Archer for his part only snorted and turned away, though with less irritation than usual towards the shinobi's words. Oh, they and the boy's reaction confirmed that he was reassured in his suicidal bullshit now, but they had sparked something else in his own mind, a distant memory what had already been stirred from a comment Ruby made yesterday... back in Unlimited Blade Works...
Speaking of the scythe-wielding Heroic Spirit, she was engaged in a conversation with another of the boy's clones, Illya's Big Bro and Ruler X. The latter person made the Counter Guardian tense up ever so slightly, particularly with how Ruby's smile steadily gave way to a thoughtful solemnity as the talk went on. But eventually the group parted, and she didn't throw any suspicious looks Archer's way when he checked on her. "I'm okay, Ginrei," Ruby assured him with a half-smile, "just... thinking." She then walked off to fiddle with Crescent Rose, leaving her partner both relieved and worried for her.
His eyes quickly darted towards the setting sun. Not much time left before they made their move. And making things more complicated, Rin had her own plans for tonight, and Archer was still considering the best way to resolve what came next with the least amount of collateral damage.
About ten minutes later, Saber X was the next one to retire, him having a bit of a ways to head back assuming his Master and partner didn't meet up with him somewhere. He exchanged his own goodbyes amicably enough and had a few more quiet words with Ruler X and Sakura on the way to the grounds' exit, the girl sporting a mild blush as she came back.
Rin picked up on it and offered her a half-smirk born from dual emotions. "That swordsman didn't start flirting with you, did he? Maybe we should have a little word with him next time we cross paths." A pointed look towards her Servants confirmed she wasn't entirely joking.
"O-oh, no, nothing like that, Big Sister," Sakura hastily assured her before slipping into a brief mumble. "Honestly, I don't think Chihiro even knows how to flirt..." Chihiro, huh?Rin continued eyeing her little sister until she finally cracked. "Okay, he just wished me the best of luck. Me and my father." She blinked at the words even as Sakura muttered to herself again. "Seriously, how did he figure it out? Was it that obvious?" Rin noticed in the corner of her sight Emiya ending his training and trading a confused look with his team; right, Father was... long dead. Why would Saber X wish luck for a man he didn't even know and who couldn't benefit from it?
As the stares increased in number and intensity, Sakura groaned to herself knowing they wouldn't let her off without an explanation. This is so embarrassing... "Caster X... Gandalf. Or rather... the part of him that's... been with me. The name I use for him. Atto." She squirmed at seeing understanding already dawn on some of them; there was a twinkle in Kakashi's eye, Miss Hisau and Archer were smirking. Even the right corner of Mace's lip was twitching. Traitor. "It's actually an Elvish word he taught me. A familial term. The most approximate translation... I suppose... would be... Daddy."
Shirou quietly turned away to suppress a cough, returning Saber's amused gaze in the process. Poor Sakura's face resembled a tomato by now, especially with how Lancer X cooed at her. "Aw, don't worry, Sakura, Yang and I used to slip up around Dad even when we turned teenagers! And hey." She tugged the flustered girl over with one arm and a blank-faced Tohsaka with the other. "I think it's the best proof that you two really are sisters, deep down, you're both daddy's girls- Owowowowow!" The Servant of the Spear's cheeks being pinched by both of them provided further credence to her declaration, Shirou decided.
"You're right, Big Sister, Ruby here has the sweetest, softest cheeks ever."
"Yes, and how lucky I am, sister dear, that we can share this experience."
"Hhhhaaaaaaalpp... mmmmmeeeeeeee..." Reflex compelled Artoria to step forward and try to find a way of extracting her friend from this punishment, Bumblebee trying from the other side. Archer looked like he wanted to help, too, but he also seemed to half-see it as a futile effort. Not that such a thing would dissuade the King of Knights.
Ruler X hummed in mirth at the sisters' antics (and matching expressions), albeit while sensing a fresh drop of conflict in the older one. No doubt the wording and implications have rattled her a bit, he surmised. He'd felt a similar confusion involving his own parents, once upon a time, but the Jedi could tell Rin's love for Sakura hadn't diminished whatsoever. That said, there was something else about what his young friend had just said.
"Sakura." The addressee ceased her little experiment to see how far Ruby's cheeks could be stretched out and let go, granting the girl some relief (Saber quickly capitalized on the chance to tug her free from a still-peeved Rin), and faced a curious Mace. "Since we're on the subject of your... mentor..." Sakura tried not to blush all over again from his teasing tone and the slight snickering behind her. "You seemed to specify that 'Atto' was not the Caster X of the Fourth Grail War." Her face's temperature steadied itself again.
Assassin X inclined his head while recalling the words. "Right, you clarified 'the part of him that's been with me.' Sure, there were different circumstances involved between the Gandalf who's been looking after you and the Gandalf who befriended Saber and me, but did you mean something else?"
"Not really, but..." Sakura sidled a bit more to the front, a pensive sound coming from her until she huffed. "Okay, I wanted to talk about this anyway while Master Windu was here but without too much of an audience." Ah, a little careful about her circumstances around Shinji or a magus like Bazett, perhaps? Either way, she cleared her throat. "So, uh, I took the chance to talk things over with Atto last night, in my dreams. And he in turn had come up with an idea I'm still trying to wrap my head around myself."
["So," the younger of the two wizards paused to take a breath after her lengthy storytelling, "is any of this ringing a bell, Atto?"
"Oh, certainly, yelya." The old man in white stepped carefully around puddles as he surveyed the damage. Sakura's guilt prodded her insides again at the additional burdens she had lumped onto her mentor. "And while you've been away, I've found myself recalling more of Arda, er, Middle-Earth as well as the prior Grail War. More bits and pieces... But enough that I have come to a theory." With a wave of his staff, an uprooted tree was levitated gently out of the mud and set a few paces aside. "The more I mull it over, the surer I am that that I, or rather Caster X, must have invoked his Noble Phantasm to save your life." She frowned while using her own staff to move away some branches. "And in doing so, he imparted a fragment of his own soul into yours." There it was again; why the differentiation?
After a second, she understood. "This fragment... is you, Atto?" She paused and tried to connect the dots. "Then... are you trying to say you're not Caster X after all?"
"I believe I am a replication of him," Atto explained, "as he in turn was a replication of Gandalf the Gray." He chuckled at her perplexed expression. "Yes, I know my theory sounds rather complex, yelya, but let me try and unravel it." He directed her over to a bed of flowers which, thanks to the position of sturdy branches overhead, had weathered the storm better than most of their brethren. Elderly fingers drifted softly through them until coming across a drying sunflower that was nudged towards Sakura. "A Noble Phantasm can be said to be the gist of a Servant. It is the crystallization of their accomplishments, a reproduction of the weapons or deeds with which their legends are connected. No matter how massive or separate they may seem in appearance, all Noble Phantasms are ultimately part of the Heroic Spirits to which they are respectively associated. And perhaps each part," Atto gently plucked a seed loose of the flower and showed it to her, "contains the whole."]
"...An intriguing concept." Ruler X scratched his chin as Sakura finished her retelling. "And he may be right about the connection between Servants and their Noble Phantasms. Given the right circumstances and the type of Phantasm in question... So, this Gandalf hasn't truly been reborn, but in a way, a part of him literally lived on inside of you." And there was also something about the girl herself, something he'd noticed ever since they'd reconciled hours ago. Her presence in The Force had grown... brighter somehow. What had been a hidden candlelight before was now like a lantern slowly but surely growing in shine. Was it due to her own growth, or did it come from the entity within her soul regaining his awareness? Or was the answer an amalgam of both possibilities?
Rin for her part couldn't fully wrap her head around this. "What, so any Servant might able to leave little pieces of themselves behind? But... that can't be right." She dug into her pocket and retrieved after some shuffling a Gravity Dust round. "I might be holding this now, but it came from Ruby, a Lancer. And if she were to be killed or otherwise fade from the physical world, then anything she brought with her should fade away, too."
"But is that really the golden rule?" Emiya punctuated his question by biting his thumb and performing that Summoning Jutsu of his team, the little pug –Pakkun, Rin recalled after a second- appearing before him in a burst of smoke. "Pakkun and the other hounds all originate from Kakashi, but even with him gone for ten years, Aunt Maiya and Dad were still able to call on him, and even I got to join the contract for them." He then placed his index and middle fingers together into a handsign. "And what about the jutsu learned from him? Or does the part about Servants taking everything with them only apply to physical stuff?" Rin's frown deepened at the questions. She knew Emiya wasn't questioning her intelligence, but she couldn't think of a satisfactory answer, an irksome development.
Both teenagers, almost in sync, turned to Assassin X who was visibly mulling it over himself. "The physical aspect may be true enough for the most part," he began, "but there could also be select weapons or objects which can last on their own." He exchanged a wry look with his partner. "Conversely, there may be objects in the present a Servant comes into contact with and in turn follow them when they fade away, but that doesn't everything Servant-associated is dependent on us being around." The shinobi thumbed up at the sky. "Look at Miss McRemitz's new arm. Rider X might've built it for her, but even if the worst were to happen to him, it won't just disappear on her. As for my hounds, they're connected to my contract which initially only I had claim to, but when I let Maiya, Kiritsugu and Irisviel add their own names to it, it conceptually became bound to them, too, and remained in effect even after my departure, as Shirou pointed out. Gotta admit," he laughed self-deprecatingly, "I didn't expect it to work that well, but I don't think any of us can complain about the results."
That's debatable, Archer thought out of habit but didn't interject when Ruler X spoke up again. "And you found a way to teach your world's techniques to mages of this world, and they in turn are able to pass those techniques on to others." The special-class Servant gestured to the boy and his aunt. "It's really not that different from more 'normal' teachings: even if the people who originally devised them pass away and physical objects crumble into nothing, their lessons may remain, their stories may be told on and on." Archer watched this lesson sinking in turn in Rin and Sakura. The similarity between this idea and the origin behind Heroic Spirits was clear to him, too.
"As for this particular case," Artoria chimed in herself, "Gandalf was a Servant from another world and, truthfully, a bit of a mystery to us." She tilted her head akin to how Kakashi would. "As I recall, he once mentioned having walked Middle-Earth for 'three-hundred lives of Men,' and I doubt that was an exaggeration. Who knows what wizards like him were capable of?" Her head righted itself with a smile at Sakura. "That question, I suspect, is one you and your Atto have the best chance of answering." The young woman smiled back a bit; oh, the care she felt for whatever remnant there was of that man inside her was palpable. And I'd bet you have equal love for her, Gandalf, given how you've raised and protected her.
Privately, the King of Knights wondered if there was any chance she could meet that wizard again, even if only for a few minutes. But even if such a miracle was too far a stretch, she'd continue to look after the girl he'd saved, in both his memory and Lancelot's.
The debate went on for a while longer with different suggestions and queries as to what this could mean concerning the greater Grail War until Mace Windu excused himself, even declining an offer to stay for dinner. Tempting as it was (especially with the delightful aromas coming from the kitchen window), he couldn't afford to neglect his responsibilities with sunset only half an hour away. Definitely not with how lassies faire some people were about the rules and safety of innocent people.
That left Teams Emiya and Tohsaka plus Sakura, and they migrated over inside to the living room where some of Assassin X's ninja hounds awaited them to deliver their reports. Steady for the most part, save for this exchange:
"Don't be like this, you know how much I love you!"
"Oh really?" A snort. "Then why were you fooling around with him? I see how it is, I'm not good enough for you anymore, am I?"
"Come now, it's not like that, he's a friend! ...A very, very dear friend, I grant you, but-"
"Oh, don't give me that, I can smell him all over you!"
Maiya Hisau, Shirou Emiya, Rin and Sakura Tohsaka, Assassin X, "Illegal" Saber X, Lancer X and even Archer followed this quarrel in no small amount of ironic amusement. Who says this kind of scene only appears in soap operas? They thought nearly in unison. Bumblebee and Shirou even set up tea on the table which was universally accepted alongside the entertainment.
Ninja hound Guruko was lying on the tatami mats with his front paws crossed in front of him and a displeased mien on his face. Saber stood a respectful distance from him rubbing her forehead. "You boys and your sniffers..." She moved to his left but he deliberately turned away from her. "You have nothing to worry about, Guruko. I'll admit that I spent," she coughed into her fist, "a healthy amount of time with Toothless-"
"Yeah, I bet you did..." the hound grumbled before finally leering at her accusingly. "Alright, then give it to me straight, Saber: who'd you pick if you had to? Me or Toothless?"