Chapter 50: Changing Natures
Changing Natures
"Are you ready, Illya?" Shirou asked, looking at the naked forms of his sister and her maids, who were lying in a corner of his shed in the middle of a Magic Circle so vast and complicated a normal Magus would have cried bitter tears in jealousy and desperation upon beholding it.
It had taken Shirou no less than four days to draw it, four painstaking days that had been a real challenge even for his enhanced body, but all that work had definitely paid off. The Circle was complete, and all necessary components for the ritual had been gathered.
It was time to change the three Homunculi into real people.
"I'm ready, Shirou." Illya replied tersely, putting on a strong front even though her expression was tight with worry, before making an attempt at being snarky. "Just like the previous dozen times you asked."
Shirou smiled a bit guiltily in response, but even so, he knew that he was probably going to ask that question at least five times more. How could he not, with her looking so nervous?
He understood why she looked apprehensive of course. Magi in general weren't keen on having someone cast spells over them or mess with their bodies, and Illya had a hundred more reasons to fear such things than the average Magus. That it was him, her trusted big brother, performing the ritual made no difference to her terrified subconscious, and Shirou was honestly impressed that she was still lying there.
Most people in her situation would have run for the hills already.
Sella and Leysritt on the other hand lay perfectly still, not moving a muscle. They hadn't been created with the kind of instincts that would prompt them to flee or fight against rituals, so they didn't share Illya's fear. Tools weren't supposed to be scared after all.
"Will this hurt?" Illya suddenly asked out of the blue, lifting her head slightly, and Shirou blinked once, before smiling reassuringly, kneeling down next to her to place a hand on her head.
"Not at all." He promised, before slightly amending his statement. "Maybe a tiny little bit in your limbs as they grow, but it will hurt no more than a soft pinch."
To demonstrate, he softly pinched her bicep, drawing a giggle from the little sprite.
"Promise?" Illya asked, sounding like the little girl she looked like rather than the adult she was, before holding out her pinkie.
"I promise." Shirou nodded, linking his own pinkie-finger with hers in a solemn vow.
"So I won't feel like a thousand suns are exploding in my head?" The little sprite continued, and Shirou blinked again in surprise.
"…No." He said eventually, a bit perturbed by the question. "Why would you even think that?"
"Just something I saw on tv, with the alligator and the penguins who were going to swap their brains to chase out the rat invaders."
Illya's answer did not make things any clearer, and Shirou seriously started wondering what on Earth was on tv these days. A show about heroes in a fantasy world he could somewhat understand, but penguins and alligators teaming up to fight rats? What mind had come up with that?
"It's not going to feel like a thousand suns are exploding in your head." He assured her eventually, softly rubbing her head. "At most, you'll get stiff from having to lie on the ground for a while."
"Will I get a lollipop after it's over?" Illya asked hopefully. "A big one?"
"I'm sure that can be arranged." Shirou nodded swiftly, giving her a smile. "Perhaps even more than one."
"Hehe." Illya grinned at him, before she laid down on her back again, much calmer than before. The undercurrent of nervousness was still present, but now, it was much more along the lines of a child about to receive a vaccination than someone about to be consumed by a thousand suns.
"Uhm." Leysritt was the next to speak up, turning her head sideways to look at Shirou, her expression both hopeful and sheepish. "Can I get a lollipop too?"
"Of course." Shirou knew there was a small candy shop in downtown Fuyuki, and he made a mental note to visit it as soon as possible to buy all the lollipops they had in store. If that was what Illya and Leysritt wanted, he'd get it for them.
"Leysritt." Sella sighed, though she did not move a single muscle aside from her lips and tongue. "It is improper for servants to ask for a reward."
"Sella wants lemon drops." Leysritt barely acknowledged her sister however, instead addressing Shirou again. "As many as possible."
"No problem." Shirou laughed, and it spoke to how right Leysritt was that Sella didn't say a word of protest, choosing to keep her silence this time.
Not wishing to needlessly prolong their waiting, as that was often worse than the process itself, Shirou then went over the Magic Circle one last time to make sure everything was beyond perfect.
He gently moved Sella a centimetre or two to the left, made a small cut on his arm to draw the blood he needed to make one line of the Circle a bit more pronounced, and did some other minor adjustments, going over every square centimetre with a magnifying glass.
Some might say he was exaggerating in his carefulness, but they would be wrong. With a ritual this big and complicated, it wasn't possible to be too cautious, not when a careless mistake could very well kill Illya, Sella, and Leysritt, or damage the Leyline, or blow up his whole shed alongside half the city. Perhaps even all of the above at once.
No, Shirou was doing this by the letter, something that was also reflected in his current outfit.
He had done away with anything synthetic or mechanical and wore only traditional Japanese garb that had been hand-made from purely natural resources. His outfit consisted of umanori hakama, traditional loose-fitting pants, hadagi, an undershirt, and haori, an ancient type of vestment.
He'd looked into getting himself a set of geta, wooden clog-like shoes, or setta, straw slippers, as well, but since there was no reason he couldn't go barefoot in his shed, he hadn't put in much effort.
Most likely, the traditional outfit was entirely superfluous, as he would be using an alien Ritual that didn't care in slightest about whether he wore synthetic or natural materials, but after Kiritsugu's lessons and especially Lord El-Melloi's classes on rituals and Formalcraft, taking such precautions served to lessen his anxiety if nothing else.
The outfit also looked pretty cool, if he said so himself.
During the last check-up of the Circle, which was taking many minutes, he could almost feel Illya's impatience rise again, and she wasn't the only one feeling the stirrings of anxiety.
"Is he finally going to start now?!"
The remark was made in a whiny tone, and almost prompted a smile from the redhead.
"He will start when he's ready, Ayako."
"But he's been fiddling with that Circle for hours now! Days even! Don't tell me you're not impatient too, Rin."
"Unlike you, I understand the importance of making sure that every aspect of a ritual is perfectly in order before conducting it. Even the rituals that I use for some of my research can have catastrophic consequences if I am careless in preparing them, and I have never done anything that was a fraction as complicated and daunting as this one appears to be."
"But Rin!"
"No buts!"
As was perhaps obvious from the noise, Rin, Sakura, and Ayako were also present for the ritual, if only out of politeness and/or academic curiosity. They had been there since the start and waited with varying levels of impatience for him to begin the Ritual itself.
They were standing a good distance away from the Circle however, exactly as Shirou had instructed them. Although he had read everything that Nasu had given him pertaining to this ritual, there were still many things about it that he didn't understand. As such, it really was for the best if people who were not involved stayed far away from the action, lest they be unwillingly involved in some way.
He'd never forgive himself if he accidentally drained their Souls to power his Magic, or if he changed them into something monstrous.
As they were even-minded, sensible people, the girls had accepted his instructions without fuzz. They were standing on the other side of the shed, well out of reach of any possible volatile reactions. Of course, they couldn't see what he was doing from over there, but that was the price they had to pay for their safety.
"Shirou." Illya made a complaining noise to attract his attention again, and he promptly turned back to her. "Are you done yet?"
"You know, I do believe I am." He nodded, before getting up, automatically dusting off his hands even though there was not a speck of dust to be found anywhere nearby. "I'll start the ritual now. Make sure you don't move."
Sella and Leysritt had already been lying perfectly still, and Illya now did her best to emulate them, tensing all her muscles in an attempt to keep them from moving.
Feeling rather like a villain, with the three naked women lying before him in a Magic Circle while he prepared to cast a spell over them, Shirou picked up a green-coloured candle from nearby, freshly taken from the Vault, before lighting it and placing it right in the middle of the Circle, where it would serve as a focal point.
He ignored Ayako's excited chattering behind him, as well as Rin's short answers, holding out his hands as he breathed in deep.
"Are you ready, Illya? Sella? Leysritt?" He then asked yet again.
"Yes, we are!" Illya spat in response, a bit more aggressive than she perhaps intended. "Please just start already."
"Very well." Shirou nodded gravely, trying to ignore the nervous feelings in his gut, before he clapped his hands once.
Immediately after, all lights in the shed went out, leaving the green candle as the only source of illumination. The flickering flame cast a dark glow over the Magic Circle, making it appear as if Shirou's blood was actually coloured a dark green rather than red.
Shirou then clapped his hands again, and the Circle itself lit up, his blood starting to emit a bright red light as power started coalescing inside of it, before focusing around the candle, which started acting like a vacuum, eager to absorb any Magical Power it could find.
The redhead's reserves were sucked dry in a matter of moments, both Magical Energy and the Mysterious Power, and he hastened to draw more Mysterious Power from the ocean that lay beyond his plane of reality, while also exerting great control over the Circle to prevent the candle from completely draining the Leyline as well.
The fact that it would have drained the entire city dry in moments if he'd not stopped it was honestly frightening.
A surprised hiss indicated that Illya was also being drained, but he had warned her beforehand that such a thing would happen, and he had no choice now but to trust that she knew how to regulate her flow of Magical Energy.
For several minutes, Shirou remained still, allowing the candle to continue absorbing his power, before letting out a massive sigh of relief when it turned from green to white, indicating it had absorbed enough energy to fuel the Ritual.
Then he breathed in deep, preparing to start the chant, and sensed more than he heard how Rin leaned forward in eager anticipation.
If she was hoping to learn from his chant though, she would be disappointed. This was an alien spell, one that was not at all based on anything developed on Earth, so if Rin expected him to cast it in English, Japanese, or even Latin, she was completely wrong.
"πεφϔϖϝþæ ÞØčĦłłƃƤƦ ƺǂȣȡȶɃ Ħłłƃ ϖϝþ εφ ƃƤƦ ǂȣȡȶɃ." Shirou began speaking in a language he barely understood, a language that was absolutely not of any version of Earth in either his universe or Thor's. A language that was unspeakably more alien than anything he had ever heard before. "ØƦƤȣƤč φĦƃþφłɃæ čȡƦƤϝǂȡƤ."
The sounds that came out of his mouth were utterly inhuman, without any roots whatsoever in the languages of man that had been developed based on human vocal cords and human tongues. It was a language more fitting for a species of sapient birds with three tongues and a compressed chest-cavity instead of vocal cords, and even they would have found his utterings beyond their understanding.
For some reason, Shirou himself was able to cast the spell, but he was fully aware that any human attempting to copy him would sprain and knot their tongue in impossible ways before they had even finished pronouncing the first word. Even his throat was getting rubbed raw by the very words, and he was immensely durable both physically and metaphysically.
Even hearing it was apparently not without consequences. Illya, Sella, and Leysritt looked more dazed with every sound he produced, the alien language taking its toll on their minds, and he would have stopped immediately, had it not been for the fact that Nasu's instructions had assured him there would be no lasting effects.
"Ħƃþφł ƦϖæϔÞŒ ɺɻɷʘʞϫϗϻ."
He continued speaking, and he was only marginally surprised to find that the words did not travel through air, like normal sound, but instead through waves of pure intent, like…
He didn't even have a comparison.
"ϗϫϻʞϖ ƦɻɺϻþĦ!"
He finished the chant barely a minute after starting, deeply intoning the last 'word', before gasping for air, coughing dryly.
His throat and lungs were itching terribly, his tongue felt numb as if the blood flow had been cut off, and he was quite sure that if he were to speak up now, his voice would either be a squeak or unbearably hoarse.
Being underwater for an hour didn't bother him, but this short chant had sucked all the oxygen right out of him.
There was no way he'd be able to chant another verse, but fortunately, the next part of the Ritual did not involve talking of any kind, only action.
His chant set in motion a series of events in the Inner World, and from the Circle he had drawn, countless threads of light sprouted like weeds, tightly locked together, forming a sort of three-dimensional tapestry, or perhaps a bush of immensely fine, interlocked seaweed.
These were not just mere beams of light though. This tapestry of threads was in fact nothing else than a visual display of a tiny part of reality's most basic form. God's own stitch work comprising a fraction of reality's basic form, made visible to Shirou's eyes.
Basically, Shirou was looking at the very essence of Sella's, Leysritt's, and Illya's existences, the very basic code that together formed the impression on reality that represented the entire concept of the three women. Everything was in there, from their age and their species to their experiences and their actions, and even the effects they'd had on everything and everyone around them in their entire lives.
If Shirou were to sever these threads, he would effectively remove Illya, Sella, and Leysritt from existence entirely. He would eradicate them so thoroughly it would be as if they had never existed in the first place.
But that was all theoretical. Shirou could not sever these lines even if he'd wanted to. He did not have the power or authority to interfere with God's own stitch work like that. That could not be done, not without becoming some kind of ultimate existence.
What he could do however, through the Ritual that Nasu had given to him, was coax a few of these threads to slightly alter their orientation within the tapestry, which would reshape reality, and make it so that Illya, Sella, and Leysritt became 'creatures similar to Shirou' from this point onward.
Something that would normally be utterly beyond him in any and every way, yet was now made barely possible through the Ritual.
So he started coaxing the threads, giving them immensely gentle pushes and prods in an attempt to move them elsewhere, so as to change the web itself.
It went mind-numbingly slow, minute after minute ticking by as Shirou pushed and pushed, and he wasn't surprised at all when Illya started shifting a bit, her expression both confused and exhausted.
She couldn't see the lines, nor could Sella and Leysritt, so for them, it had to seem as if he was just standing there, staring intently at nothing at all without any sort of progress being made.
He would have liked to reassure them, to comfort them with some kind words, but his throat was still raw from the chant and manipulating the threads took up all his attention, so he could only spare them a quick smile.
He wasn't able to see if the smile had any effect though, as he was reaching a critical point with his manipulations which took up every last bit of his focus, forcing him to look away from them again.
The three threads that he had to reoriented for the Ritual to be a success were starting to move a lot easier now that they had been loosened, and Shirou put them in exactly the right configuration, as prescribed by the Ritual. Once again, he took all the time he needed to verify their position and orientation, not leaving anything to chance.
The fact that he was rummaging around in the basic code of reality should have been insanely nerve-wracking, but Shirou was so absorbed in his current task that he barely even registered the sheer impossibility of what he was doing.
Only when he was completely satisfied did he let the threads go, at the same time releasing his hold over the Magic Circle, putting in motion the conclusion of the Ritual.
The tapestry flickered several times as it took note of the changes Shirou had just wrought to its structure, before it disappeared again, without any pomp or fanfare, the glow dying down and leaving the white candle once more as the only source of light in the shed, casting its shine on the three Homunculi on the ground.
It remained silent for several seconds after that, nobody moving a muscle or saying a word.
At first sight, nothing seemed to have changed, and it wasn't long before Illya hesitantly spoke up.
"Was that it-?"
She wasn't able to finish her question before the Magic Circle exploded in light, instantly encompassing both her and her maids, as Reality took note of the changes to its basic programming code and shifted to accommodate those changes.
It was bright, incomprehensibly bright, like a miniature star. Shirou did his best to keep looking, but was soon forced to close his eyes anyway, as the assault on his retina became too much for even him to bear.
This part of the Ritual went significantly faster than the other parts, and it was after only a few seconds that the bright star died down again.
With that, the three parts of the Ritual had been completed.
The first part, gathering the energy and casting the spell.
The second part, adjusting the orientation of the threads.
The third part, keeping the ritual under control while the changes in the threads were translated into actual consequences for Reality.
It was done.
The candle flame subsequently went out by itself, leaving the shed in total darkness. The candle's role was over, and it had gone dormant again until the next time that Shirou needed to conduct a large ritual.
"That was it." The redhead spoke, his voice incredibly hoarse, in response to Illya's earlier question. "I am done."
He clapped his hands again, and the lights went back on, brightly illuminating the shed, allowing him to see the results of his work.
Because of their positioning, Sella and Leysritt entered his line of sight first, showing him the effects that his Ritual had had on them.
Their previously stark-white hair had gained strong red highlights, exactly the same shade as Shirou's own hair. The highlights were rather eye-catching, probably a bit more than would be considered appropriate in Japanese society, but in Shirou's humble opinion, it looked good on them to finally have some colour.
Their eyes, previously so bright red, had dulled considerably, and were now not as much red as they were a soft golden-brown.
Their skin had gotten a bit less white, moving them away from unhealthily pale to what a natural redhead lacking pigmentation would look like.
Lastly, they had become more muscular. Their biceps were larger, their thighs had filled up considerably, and the beginnings of a six-pack were showing on their abdomens.
Their outward appearances were not what was important though. What really mattered were their inner natures, and those had changed far, far more than their looks.
Their lifespan, previously measured in a single digit, had increased by leaps and bounds, probably crossing into the centuries if they lived properly.
Their Homunculus programming, reminiscent of the code used to make computers work, had been replaced by proper brain-functions, with a solid foundation of human instincts built over millions of years of evolution.
Their bodies, which had previously contained no more than the absolutely necessary components such as the heart, lungs, and several blood vessels, had been properly restructured to include all organs Shirou himself also possessed, and several which he didn't, such as wombs and ovaries.
And at the basis of all those alterations and improvements was their change in race, having shifted from Homunculus to part human and part Asgardian.
In other words, the Ritual had been a complete success for them.
Seeing that, Shirou fist-pumped, grinning widely.
Then, he looked at Illya, just as she got up from the floor, and his grin became so wide as to be almost painful when he saw his success with Sella and Leysritt reflected in her.
It was all there. The change in race, the increase in lifespan, the disappearance of her inborn deficiencies, and on top of that, her Magic Circuits, which had been so cruelly grafted onto her by her creators, had not only been preserved and strengthened, but they were now also embedded comfortably in her Soul, where they wouldn't harm her even when used intensively.
But the biggest change of all, the greatest success of the entire Ritual, was the fact that her capacity to become the Lesser Grail, the container supposed to hold the defeated Servants of the Grail War, had disappeared. In other words, Illya could no longer serve as her family's tool.
She was truly free at last.
The Ritual's success exceeded his wildest imaginations, and Shirou had to put in actual effort to stop himself from crying in relief and delight.
"S-Shirou, w-what's wrong?" Perhaps spooked by his emotional display, Illya asked the question in a nervous tone, patting herself up and down in search of any obvious changes. "H-How do I look?"
Not trusting himself to speak coherently, Shirou wordlessly Projected a large mirror, figuring it would be best if Illya saw for herself what had changed, rather than just hearing it from others.
Illya cautiously peered into the mirror, apprehension and worry evident in every facet of her expression, before she blinked in abject confusion.
Because the girl staring back from the mirror was not her.
The girl in the mirror was a fourteen-year-old girl rather than a ten-year-old. She was tall, mature-looking for her age, and with secondary sex-organs that were starting to develop properly, something that should never have happened to Illya.
The girl in the mirror had white hair, but she had red highlights too, so many that they made up almost half of her total hair.
Furthermore, her eyes, while bright red like Illya's, possessed numerous tiny golden flecks that shimmered in the light of the lamps in the ceiling, resembling stars in a red universe.
On top of that, the girl's skin was slightly darker than Illya's, though still quite pale, and she had far more muscle mass than Illya too.
If anything, this girl looked like a proper mix of Illya's different families, Einzbern and Emiya. She had many of Irisviel's traits, a few from Kiritsugu, and a fair bit of Shirou as well.
It was enough to make Illya almost jealous of this unknown girl, and she frowned deeply at her, pouting petulantly, before nearly biting her tongue in surprise when the girl in the mirror did exactly the same.
And with that, the recognition slowly started to creep in, and Illya realised why Sella was gaping at her in shock.
"The… ritual was a… success." Shirou croaked out as best as he could, ignoring the pain in his throat as he smiled down at her. "You… are healthy… now."
It took a while for his words to sink in, but then Illya began shaking slightly, her breathing becoming irregular, while Sella froze in shock and Leysritt's eyes misted over.
"You are… like me."
His words were the blow that shattered the dam that had been holding back the flood of their emotions. The maids let the tears flow freely over their cheeks, experiencing the intensity of proper human emotions for the first time, while Illya finally let her mask come undone.
"WaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Illya cried, laughed, screamed, and wailed all at the same time, starting out rather soft, before almost tearing her own lungs out at the end, roaring her happiness and grief to the Heavens above.
Sella and Leysritt, having lost none of their caring instincts, swiftly moved to embrace her, and Illya eagerly reciprocated, hugging them in return with every bit of strength she possessed.
The former Homunculi, now turned human, celebrated their newfound humanity together, sharing an experience that no one else in the world could relate to, and Shirou, even though he wanted nothing more than to embrace them as well, kept his distance for now, giving them a moment of privacy together.
On the other side of the shed, Rin was trying to bury her own feelings of delight under analytical interest in these newly created, humanish beings, while Sakura tried her best to stop her sister from ruining the mood while burying her face into Rin's back to hide the fact she wasn't able to keep her eyes dry either.
Ayako on the other hand didn't hide anything, and she went straight for Shirou himself, eagerly thumping him on the back with one hand while wiping away a few stray tears with the other.
"Nice work, Shirou!" She beamed at him, pressing a kiss to his cheek, before nuzzling her face against his. "That ritual was something else! I mean, I had no idea what was going on, but it was awesome! How are you holding up after all that?"
"I'm tired." Shirou answered bluntly. The ritual had drained him, magically, physically, and mentally, and he had to fight to remain standing. His throat seemed to be recovering, but it was the only part of his body that was getting better in any way.
"Of course you are. Well, how about you leave the clean-up to us, then you can go back to the house and crash on the couch for a while?"
"That sounds wonderful." The redhead admitted, scarcely able to think of anything better than lying down for a few hours, the brunette coming in and out of focus as his eyes struggled to continue working as they should. "Will you be alright here?"
"Sure." Ayako nodded, flashing him a confident grin. "You can leave it all to us."
"Then I think I will go back inside. Tell Illya I'll speak with her… later…" Shirou turned towards Ayako to kiss her goodbye, but stumbled suddenly as his sense of balance seemed to evaporate from one second to the next.
"Oi, Shirou?!"
The redhead stumbled backwards, a sense of vertigo washing over him, and the only reason he didn't fall over was because Ayako was holding on to his arm.
But soon, even that wasn't enough anymore, and he toppled over, the exhaustion becoming too much for him to bear. Vaguely, he noted how Rin and Sakura rushed over to him, but although their lips were moving rapidly, he wasn't able to discern any sounds, aside from some short flashes.
"Emiya-kun?!"
At first, he struggled to stay awake, gaining motivation from the girls' worried expressions, but soon, his eyelids became too heavy for him to bear.
The last thing he saw before darkness claimed him were three pairs of eyes looking down at him, one brown, one blue, and one purple, and then there was nothing.
"SENPAI!"
Wandering alone through the Black Forest at night would have been a scary, if not outright terrifying experience for most people. The almost oppressive darkness, the complete silence aside from the rustling leaves, and the constant sensation of living beings moving around soundlessly was a perfect mixture to put the fear of the unknown into the minds of nearly all humans alive.
To Lorelei Barthomeloi however, it was business as usual.
The Vice-Director of the Clocktower was a being that was almost without fear. She could still be afraid, theoretically, as she had the necessary functions and pathways in her brain, but in all honesty, she hadn't been afraid of anything since she was ten years old.
She'd been apprehensive since then, yes, and cautious, and maybe sometimes even a little nervous, but scared? That feeling had long since been beaten out of her.
And even if it hadn't been, Lorelei was too powerful and competent to be scared of something like the dark or the silence.
She had her magical lamp, her reflexes, and her instincts warning her of impending danger, so there was nothing for her to fear.
Nothing aside from the unknown beast she was hunting.
Over the past days, she and her team had made no progress whatsoever in tracking down the creature that was lurking in the Black Forest. It was too well-hidden, and too adept at covering its tracks.
Reasoning that it was perhaps their presence as a large group that was warning the creature of their approach, the head tracker had advised her that they would be better off splitting into smaller groups. It would be a risk, as small groups were easier to ambush and defeat, but they were getting nowhere, so perhaps taking a risk was exactly what they needed to do.
So they had indeed split up, in groups of three or four, and had wandered off in different directions. They all had various means of communication, and even several switches that would alert the others if someone died or was grievously wounded, so the chance of being picked off one by one, which had been Lorelei's biggest concern, was practically zero.
Satisfied with the precautions, Lorelei had set out on her own.
It had been about five hours since then, and Lorelei had finally stumbled, completely by chance, upon something potentially interesting.
She'd picked up a trace of Mystery from somewhere ahead of her in the forest.
She couldn't say if it was Magecraft or something else, but it was definitely not normal. It made all of her Magic-attuned senses go off, and when she set out in the direction that it appeared to be coming from, that sensation only got stronger, mainly translating into a sharp smell, as the brunette primarily detected Mystery through her nose.
It was a bit strange though that she could suddenly sense Mystery so strongly after feeling nothing of the sort before, even at the site where the creature had recently killed six men, so she took into account the fact that it might be a trap. It wasn't unusual for even the stupidest of Magical Beings to possess some measure of cunning after all, and this creature was many things, but stupid definitely wasn't one of them.
Hence, she kept her eyes peeled and her hand on the hilt of her rapier, ready to unsheathe it should it become necessary.
Her rapier was essentially a sharper version of her iconic riding crop. Both were her weapons of choice, specifically created and attuned just for her, but the rapier was capable of more power output and could be used as an actual weapon as well, unlike the riding crop, which could almost be considered a mere symbol or trinket.
She almost never used either weapon though. In her opinion, there was no reason to use weapons to strengthen oneself when one's opponents didn't warrant it, and most of her opponents didn't.
She hadn't even used them during the Purge. As momentous as that occasion had been in the political field, the Meluastea and their cronies simply did not possess the kind of strength that made it necessary for her to wield either riding crop or rapier.
That it made her feel ever so slightly proud that Fujimaru did use a weapon, his hammer, while she did not, was a secret that no one else but her needed to know about.
She did always carry both weapons with her though, just in case, and she had a personal rule that she would not hesitate to use them if she encountered anything new, something she'd never seen before. Unknown things were the most dangerous, especially in the Moonlit World, making it foolish to treat them with any flippancy.
Which meant that the current situation more than qualified for the use of her rapier.
Her hand on the hilt, Lorelei cautiously made her way through the forest, following her nose, before she arrived at a place that seemed like her destination.
How did she know it was her destination? Because there, she saw something that could not in any way be natural or ordinary.
Before her, numerous massive oak trees had been planted in a slightly curved line, the orientation of which indicated that they likely formed an enormous circle together, practically separating a part of the forest from the rest.
The distance between each of the trees was just enough for two Loreleis to walk through shoulder to shoulder, while the trees themselves were so massive a truck could have been hidden behind them.
Even though it was autumn, the oaks were still fully green, and not a single leaf had dropped from the branches as far as Lorelei could see. Furthermore, the trees were practically identical, every last one of them, and they had such a powerful aura of Mystery that even a mundane person could have felt it.
Behind the oak trees, a greater variety of plants, bushes, and trees could be seen, practically drenched in Mystery and emitting more Magical Energy every second than most Magi could produce in an hour.
It was a forest within the Black Forest, entirely separated from the area outside of the circle of trees, as if it were its own world. A sub-forest, essentially.
Upon seeing this ominous sub-forest, Lorelei immediately unsheathed her sword, keeping her guard up and activating her Magic Circuits in preparation for combat, countless fire-based spells on the tip of her tongue.
In the Modern Age, a mystical forest was a cause for great alarm, as there was only one of them left now that the Age of the Gods had fully ended.
The Forest of Einnashe. The seventh Dead Apostle Ancestor.
When the former seventh, a vampire by the name of Einnashe, had been mortally wounded by Arcueid Brunestud, he had managed to drag himself away into a forest before he died. There, he had bled out at the foot of an oak tree.
The oak tree had absorbed the Apostle's blood, gaining vampiric traits of its own, and had then changed the entire forest surrounding it into a Phantasmal Species over time.
Now, it was a sentient forest, reportedly over forty kilometres in diameter, manifesting itself every fifty years to engulf entire villages to consume every living thing inside through its roots and branches, impaling and trapping everything that moved.
It was a being that could not be killed by mundane means, that consumed all Magical Energy in its vicinity, making the use of Magecraft within its borders impossible, and that could endlessly regenerate, even when burned with solar flames. It more than deserved its position as the Seventh, as well as its reputation of being one of the strongest Ancestors to have ever existed.
Of course, what Lorelei saw before her could not be the main body of the Seventh, as it was too small. However, the Forest of Einnashe had the annoying ability to sever certain parts of itself and manifest them independently. In other words, it could be in multiple places at once, something other Dead Apostle Ancestors gleefully made use of, transporting those parts into the homes of their enemies.
The notion that this could be a partial manifestation of the Forest of Einnashe was enough to make Lorelei's hackles rise, and she had already created and discarded several dozen contingency plans in the seconds before she realised that this forest was very different from the Seventh.
She should know. She had encountered a partial manifestation of the Forest of Einnashe before, and it had looked and felt nothing like the sub-forest in front of her.
The oak trees and the forest behind it felt too calm, too peaceful, to be part of that ancient monstrosity. Also, this forest emitted Magical Energy rather than absorbing it, and Lorelei could see several small animals moving about behind the oak trees, animals that weren't being drained of all their blood.
She didn't sheathe her sword, nor did she drop her guard, but she did move in slightly closer, to take a better look.
She inched closer to the tree line, keeping a sharp eye on both the branches and the roots, ready to jump backwards should they make even one unexpected move, before-
"Come in, or go away."
A deep, echoing voice suddenly sounded from deep within the sub-forest, bringing with it a breeze that held so much Magical Energy that a mundane person would have been brought to their knees from the sheer intensity.
Even Lorelei, the Strongest Magus of the Modern Generation, felt the tips of her fingers and toes tingle slightly, indicating that whatever was hiding in the sub-forest, it was powerful indeed.
It was also clearly sapient, and it had just extended an invitation to enter its realm.
"Carelessly entering a domain of an unknown nature is against all policies and guidelines of both the Clocktower and the Barthomeloi-family." She responded promptly, though she was unsure whether the creature in the woods was even listening to her.
"Then leave."
It was indeed listening, and it didn't appear to care much about what Lorelei chose to do. In fact, it sounded almost bored with her presence.
"Tsk." Lorelei made a displeased noise at the implied dismissal, something that stabbed right at her pride, and she promptly decided to do the opposite. She was going to enter this forest and find the creature.
Though not before taking several precautions. Through a communication-based Mystic Code, she quickly alerted her followers that she had encountered a possible danger and left a beacon at her current location for them to find. That way, even if she didn't survive, they'd be able to track her down.
Lorelei didn't plan on dying of course, but if this forest was anything like the Forest of Einnashe, entering it would be like stepping into the dragon's maw, something even she would find hard to survive.
Not that that would stop her. The possibility of dying had never bothered her before, and it didn't now. Lorelei spent nary a thought on the consequences of her possible death, the trouble it would bring to the Magus Association, and instead focused fully on the hunt before her, her lips twitching in anticipation.
Mirei Montmorency would have shaken her head in consternation, Waver Velvet would have considered it madness, and even Emiya Shirou would have scratched the back of his head in bemusement, but to Lorelei, it was only natural that she would risk her life.
Everything worth doing was worth dying for after all, especially on a hunt.
With a confidence in her own abilities that would have bordered on arrogance if she hadn't genuinely been so capable, she walked past the oak trees, entering the sub-forest proper.
The moment she did so, the world around her changed completely.
In the Black Forest, it had been almost past midnight. It had been dark, silent, and cold, exactly as forests should be at night, with nary a trace of Magical Energy to be found anywhere.
In the sub-domain however, in the forest beyond the oak trees, it was morning, as indicated by the light of the rising sun peeking through the canopy. Birds were chirping, squirrels and rabbits ran past her on every side, and the leaves of the trees and the bushes rustled merrily as a warm breeze passed through them.
The plants were perfectly green, the ground perfectly brown, the air was a clear blue, and if there was an imperfection anywhere in the landscape, Lorelei could not see it.
This was clearly not the Black Forest. In fact, it was too perfect to be any kind of natural forest at all.
It was as if she'd stepped into a forest from a children's tale. An ideal, perfect forest that should only exist in stories. The kind of forest that Little Red Riding Hood would have walked through, or in which the Sleeping Beauty had been raised, or where old Witches and wise Wizard would build their dingy shacks.
That the Mana in the air was denser than anything she'd ever felt before, even inside the Barthomeloi-manor, only supported the notion she was now in some kind of mythical wood. Something that should not have existed in the Modern Age.
Lorelei looked around with a mixture of curiosity and caution, her keen eyes tracking every movement in her immediate surroundings.
As said before, there were rabbits and squirrels, but also various birds, one of two hogs, and she even walked past a perfectly white deer, which was calmly grazing in a small, idyllic-looking clearing, not sparing her a single glance.
…Correction, a perfectly white unicorn.
Lorelei froze mid-walk, staring in abject confusion at the singular horn on the creature's head, the aura of power surrounding the beast indicating clearly that it was very likely an actual unicorn rather than a fake.
The Age of the Gods was over, everyone knew that, and all its remnants should have disappeared long ago, yet for some reason, one of the most famous Phantasmal Beings in existence was right there in the clearing, carelessly eating grass while ignoring Lorelei, as if it had every right to be there.
The brunette instinctively gulped softly, unable to tear her eyes away from the creature that by all rights should not have existed, and her hand itched towards her rapier again, when-
"Come further, your highness."
The deep, echoing voice snapped her out of her daze, and she let her hand fall down at her side, realising she was being foolish.
That it was a creature of the past did not mean she had to act against it, especially not inside its own territory. It was not a Dead Apostle or a Ghoul, and it did not deserve her hatred.
So Lorelei continued, away from the Unicorn and towards the echoing voice, walking past the trees and across the meadows, even crossing a small, picturesque bridge over a tiny stream of perfectly clear water.
That she also crossed paths with a wolf walking on its hindlegs and wearing a sharp suit was something she tried not to think about too much. Nor did she acknowledge the pig clad in a builder's outfit, carrying a large stack of bricks.
Then, at long last, she arrived at her destination.
It was a gigantic yew tree, so large that it blotted out the sun, casting the ground below it in shadow. Its roots extended for dozens of metres around, and its trunk was so vast that even the Big Ben of London would have felt humbled.
And in that tree, perched on a branch about ten metres off the ground, was an owl.
It was a large owl, about a metre high, coloured an even brown. It had a sharp beak, shining claws, and beautiful feathers that looked perfectly fit to stroke and pet.
It also wore glasses, a square academic hat, and a red scarf that was wrapped around its neck.
Frankly, it looked absolutely adorable.
"Welcome, oh queen." The owl spoke, confirming that it was the source of the deep voice, before it lowered its head in a show of respect. "Thank you for accepting my invitation on such short notice."
The owl was talking.
It was actually talking.
It wasn't a familiar being used as a relay by a Magus, but actually, independently talking to her.
"There was little choice after you goaded me." Lorelei showed not a hint of the shock she felt on her face however, instead giving it a reprimanding look, not giving away the conversation's initiative. "To atone, you shall tell me who and what you are."
"I am no one of importance." The owl responded humbly, and somehow, it managed to smile sheepishly at her with its beak. "I am merely the accumulation of various very similar supporting characters that appear in many myths and children's tales. I am the Wise Owl, guide of heroes and storybook characters."
"The wise owl?" Lorelei repeated in a questioning tone, receiving a nod in return from the sapient bird. "Well met."
"Well met indeed!" The wise owl looked delighted with her reaction, its feathers puffing out slightly. Then it cleared its throat, looking a bit sheepish again as it continued in a more controlled voice. "You must be wondering why I invited you here, into this fairy-tale forest, in the middle of your hunt."
Lorelei did not respond verbally, but she did incline her head in agreement.
"Because I have a rather urgent message to pass on."The owl's expression turned serious, and its voice became grave. "As you might have inferred from my presence here, Mystery is returning to your world at an alarming pace."
"Mystery is returning?" That piece of news was even more shocking than seeing a talking owl, and Lorelei's eyes widened in surprise.
Being the Vice-Director of the Clocktower, she didn't fail to realise the implications of the owl's statement, nor did she fail to understand what it would mean for her, her family, and the Moonlit World at large if it was speaking the truth.
If Mystery was indeed returning, if the decline was reversing somehow, then that would mean that all spells, Mystic Codes, Rituals, Bounded Fields, and all other forms of Magecraft would become more powerful and potent. Rather than weakening, Thaumaturgy would make a comeback, as if time had been reversed and they were getting closer to the Age of the Gods again rather than moving away from it.
That would have been very welcome news to any Magus, an occasion worth celebrating for centuries to come, if it hadn't been for the fact that Magecraft did not exist in a vacuum.
The return of Mystery and the strengthening of Thaumaturgy would also mean that the entire fabric of the Moonlit World's society, now focused on slowing down the decline, would be upended in a way that would make the Purge seem like a mere hiccup.
Magi would no longer have to hide and protect their crafts in fear of weakening them, but they could step out and use them without fear, safe in the knowledge that they would grow stronger anyway. The mindset of the Magus Association would switch from caution and preservation to a free-for-all, with all the consequences thereof.
Chaos and anarchy would reign for at least a decade as Magi desperately tried to figure out a new status-quo, and in that process, the Secrecy of the Moonlit World would be doomed entirely. Boundaries and laws that had been established at the very foundation of the Magus Association would shatter, and they would be lucky to have bits and pieces left at the end to try and put back together.
All kinds of doom-scenarios played through Lorelei's head, but she took a deep breath and pushed them aside, focusing on the creature before her again. She needed to know more before she could make accurate predictions.
"How?"
"A most relevant question." The owl hummed, shifting slightly on its branch as it turned its head upwards, looking at the heavens. "It is because of the godling."
"What godling?"
"A divine being that came from the Outer Dark, far beyond my sight. Its alien nature has so far prevented the World from banishing it to the Reverse Side like she has all other gods, and its very existence in your world now breathes new life into the Mystics of Old."
"Are you saying there is a god living amongst humanity right now?" Lorelei questioned sharply.
"That is exactly what I am saying."
That wasn't good. It was well known to all residents of the Moonlit World and a fair few of the mundane world too that gods were nothing but trouble. Callous deities that saw humans as playthings and played their games without regard for the misery they caused.
"Where is this god?" Lorelei continued her questioning, intending to pump the owl for every bit of intel it possessed. "What is its name?"
"I cannot tell you." The owl refused to answer her inquiries however, before holding up a wing when she glared at it. "I am the wise owl. It is my role and life's duty to be cryptic. I know the outlines of everything that happens in this world and all its parallel versions, but details are never revealed to me. I am sorry, but I do not have the answers you seek."
A disappointing outcome, but as far as the brunette could see, the creature wasn't lying. Then again, even if it was, there was nothing she could do about it, least of all force the truth out of it. Phantasmal Creatures were immensely troublesome opponents, and sapient ones even more so.
"The godling is not the reason I have invited you here however." The owl continued suddenly, its voice becoming even graver. "The decline in Mystery that you Magi have feared for so long is reversing, and as a result, it will not be long now until my contemporaries return."
"Your contemporaries?" Lorelei's blood ran cold, shivers working its way up her spine, as she instantly understood what the creature was hinting at. "More Phantasmal Beasts?"
"Many more." The wise owl nodded sadly, its large eyes blinking slowly. "Many of them far more savage and bloodthirsty than the unicorn, the wolf, the three piglets, or myself."
Lorelei's breathing became shaky, and she unconsciously took a step back. Though she'd never encountered any Phantasmal Species herself aside from Gremlins and the occasional enhanced Chimaera, her education had ensured that she was perfectly aware of what those creatures could be capable of.
If Wyverns, Bicorns, Lamias, and the like would return, it would present an unprecedented challenge to the people of the Modern Age, probably resulting in hundreds if not thousands of deaths every time even just one showed up.
But that was still the best-case scenario by far. If a Dragon, a Hydra, or the original Chimaera would return, it would result in disasters that would make even the most destructive of wars between Magi seem like a playground spat.
The return of Jormungand, Typhon, or Vritra would spell the end of the world entirely.
"This is why I summoned you, oh Queen." The owl's voice cut through her thoughts, pulling her attention back to it. "You are the closest thing that the Moonlit World has to a leader. Of all the people currently alive, you are best positioned to prepare for the return of the Phantasmal Beasts, to prevent the destruction that they may bring about."
"Me?"
"You are the Queen, are you not? You hold the highest rank in the Magus Association, and in return, you are expected to lead the Moonlit World in times of chaos."The owl spoke, its voice turning stern. "Or is that title a mere façade? An ego-trip for your family and a cheap way in which to gain political power?"
"It is not!" Lorelei snapped, unable to let the dig at her family pass. "We are the true leaders of the Clocktower!"
"Then prove it." The owl snapped back, clicking its beak. "You have the necessary power, so put it to use!"
"I haven't even decided whether to believe you yet." Lorelei countered, still not sure the owl wasn't a trickster who was just spinning a tale for its own amusement. "What is your motivation in warning me in the first place? What do you stand to gain?"
"I am the guide of heroes. My given role is to protect and support humanity." The owl explained readily. "These tasks are rooted in my very existence. I cannot stop doing them any more than you can stop breathing."
"I find that hard to believe." Lorelei was aware that certain mythical creatures were supposed to be completely and utterly bound by their nature, but she did not know how true those myths were. And even if they were true, she still couldn't be certain that this owl wasn't just lying to her, about everything.
"Still, wouldn't it be better to believe me and prepare?"The owl argued. "An ounce of preservation is worth a pound of cure after all, and you lose nothing by being cautious."
"Preparing for the return of mythical beings when such beings are not returning will cost me a lot of political clout, goodwill, and respect." Lorelei pointed out. She knew the story of the boy who cried wolf, and she had no intention of becoming its protagonist.
"Which is nothing compared to what you will lose if you do not prepare and they do return." The owl's head turned from left to right, the gesture oozing irritation, before it calmed itself down, and gestured with a wing at the forest surrounding them. "Are our current surroundings not a good indication that my claims are leaning towards truthful?"
That was a good argument, and not one that Lorelei could easily counter. Every explanation that she could think of, from having been transported to the Reverse Side of the World herself to this being a Reality Marble, did require the involvement of powers beyond her understanding after all.
"…Alright, let us say that I shall believe you, for now." The brunette spoke tentatively, eliciting a hopeful look from the owl. "What am I supposed to do then to stop the return of the Phantasmal Species?"
"I don't know."
For a few seconds after the owl's nonchalant declaration of ignorance, it remained perfectly quiet.
Then Lorelei gave it such a hard glare it took a step back on its branch.
"Now now." It spoke in a placating tone, nervously flapping its wings as it felt how Lorelei's fierce gaze burned a hole through its plumage. "I am just the messenger! Please don't harm the messenger!"
"You don't know what can be done about the return of the Phantasmal Beasts?" Lorelei asked, her tone just a tab acerbic. "Even though you are the wise owl?"
"I am merely a guide, not a strategist or warrior." The owl huffed, the feathers on its neck puffing up slightly in indignation. "I can provide you with some general information. What you will do with that information is entirely up to you however."
"How useless." Lorelei snipped, not impressed by its indignation. "You truly have no idea?"
"…Might I suggest that you inform your subjects, as well as the Church and the other Magecraft-focused associations, about the possibility that they will encounter Phantasmal Beasts on a more frequent basis?" The owl proposed after a moment.
"It is unlikely they will believe me if I tell them that Mystery is returning to the world."
"You do not have to tell them that. Even before the arrival of the godling, Phantasmal Species hadn't disappeared completely from your world, had they?"The owl asked rhetorically. "You will inform them that Phantasmal Species will present a greater danger from now on, and even if they don't believe you initially, they will know who to turn to when the chips are down and Mystery does indeed return."
"They will turn to me." Lorelei surmised, her lips twitching as she wondered whether she even wanted that. It sounded like an awful lot of responsibility.
"I have every confidence that you can manage, so don't worry about that." The owl spoke, its tone supportive, and Lorelei looked away to the side. "Your bond with the godling helps as well."
"What?!" Lorelei's gaze snapped back at the feathered animal, her voice sharpening so much it could have cut steel.
"You have met the godling who is the cause of all this, and you have forged a connection with him." The owl explained, seemingly unbothered by her glare and her tone. "That is good."
Lorelei frowned deeply at that piece of information, and cast her mind back, digging into her memories to find out when she was supposed to have met a divine being.
Logically, such a being would be immensely powerful, large and imposing, unbearably arrogant, and utterly indifferent towards human life. A creature that would definitely make an impression on everyone around it.
All Lorelei could think of though that met those criteria were the Dead Apostle Ancestors. There wasn't really anything else she'd ever seen that could be considered even remotely godlike.
"I have no idea who you are talking about." She thus replied. "I don't recall meeting any divine beings."
"All will become clear in time." The owl smiled, which was weird, considering it only had a beak and no lips to smile with. "And when it does, you'll feel quite foolish for not seeing it sooner."
There was no question in the owl's words, so Lorelei didn't reply. She had her own opinions on the matter but didn't think it prudent to share them.
"That was everything that I could tell you now." The owl went on after a few beats of silence, before shaking its head. "No no, that isn't true. I can also tell you that the creatures you are hunting now are in fact Phantasmal Beasts, and that they do not necessarily have to be fought."
"What?"
"You'll see when you meet them." The owl said, waving a wing in a dismissive motion. Then, it looked up at the sky, which was suddenly turning dark. "It seems our time here is up. My power has been spent, and this place must return to the Reverse Side for now. Please go back in exactly the same manner that you came in, your highness, and don't forget to pet the Unicorn. It likes the attention of maidens."
The last syllable had barely left the owl's beak before the world seemed to darken around Lorelei, and the next moment, she found herself standing in the small clearing from before, right next to the Unicorn.
The mythical beast was looking at her with eyes full of expectancy, and Lorelei, after a split second of confusion, reached out and pet it, softly stroking the white mane.
Then the world darkened again, and Lorelei found herself back in the Black Forest, in the middle of the night, right next to the beacon she'd set earlier.
A quick look around for the fairy tale forest yielded no results. It was gone, without a trace. All she could see around her was the familiar scenery of the Black Forest, much the same as the other areas she'd been searching over the past days. Even the Mystery was gone, leaving nothing but the background traces that could be found in pretty much any forest in Europe.
If she could believe the owl, and she tentatively did, then the fairy-tale forest had returned to the Reverse Side because the owl's power had run out for now.
It could almost have been a dream. She would have believed it to be one, if it hadn't been for the few strands of Unicorn hair that were tangled around her fingers. Strands seemingly made out of pure silver, carrying so much Mystery that her hand was tingling as if she had been sleeping on it for an hour.
Those hairs made denying the truth a fool's errand, and Lorelei realised that that was probably exactly the reason why the owl had asked her to pet the Unicorn. To ensure she had physical proof of what had just happened.
The first thing she did upon realising that was to turn off the beacon and replace it with the 'all-clear' sign, signalling to her team that they did not need to rush to her location anymore. Right now, she was not in the mood for conversation, as she had a lot to think about.
Not only the sheer impossibility of what had just occurred, with her being pulled into what was almost a separate realm filled with anthropomorphic animals, but also what the owl had told her.
The news that Mystery, and with it Phantasmal Beasts, was returning to the world was absolutely earth-shattering to a Magus like Lorelei. As cool and composed as she normally was –if only in her own mind– this was something of such magnitude that she wasn't ashamed of showing various emotions in response to it.
By the Root, if she told this to her family, several of them would faint outright, cold exterior or not.
Worse, according to the owl, it would be her task to deal with them. To prevent Phantasmal Beasts from adversely impacting humanity, like how she prevented Dead Apostles from doing the same.
And as a prelude to it all, as some kind of demented introduction, she was now hunting exactly such a beast.
Not a Chimaera, not a Gremlin, not a Dead Apostle or rogue Magus, not even an ordinary serial killer, but an actual Phantasmal Beast.
Her heart was beating faster than normal again, but this time, it wasn't out of excitement over encountering something new. This was no longer new. To the contrary, it was old, old and powerful, and it wasn't supposed to have come back.
For the first time since her early childhood, Lorelei felt the stirrings of fear.
Shirou awoke from his slumber with a jarring shock.
He'd slept dreamlessly, peacefully, without any kind of nightmares, and there had been nothing in his vicinity that should have triggered such a strong reaction, yet even so, his awakening was anything but peaceful.
He shot upwards into a seating position before he even knew where he was or what was going on, startling the living daylights out of Rin, who was sitting against the wall nearby.
"Emiya-kun?!" She squeaked, looking at him with wide eyes. "Don't do that!"
Shirou didn't immediately reply though, looking back at her in a daze, still struggling to reboot his mind.
The first thing he eventually realised was that he was back in their bedroom, on their new bed.
The second thing was that it seemed to be morning, judging from the angle of the light falling through the window and the chirping of birds outside.
The third thing… was everything that had happened before he'd passed out.
The ritual, trying to change Illya, Sella, and Leysritt into humans and succeeding at it, feeling utterly drained afterwards, and…
…Oh, right, he'd fainted.
"So you know what happened." Rin concluded when she saw his expression of realisation, before getting up from the floor to walk over to him, her expression perfectly neutral.
"What? Oh right. I do, somewhat." Shirou nodded, as the haze in his mind was progressively disappearing, which both cleared some things up and raised a few questions. "How are Illya, Sella, and Leysritt? Did the Ritual work?"
He was pretty sure it had, but he couldn't be fully certain. Not when he'd fallen unconscious so quickly after the Ritual's completion.
Rin didn't reply to his questions though, and instead knelt on the bed, softly taking his hand in her own.
Then she opened her other hand, revealing three red gems, brimming with Magical Energy.
"Es ist groß. Er ist klein." She suddenly began chanting, blue lines spreading across her arms and her core, and Shirou recognised it a second later as Reinforcement Magic. "Vox God es Atlas!"
Then she dropped the gems, and twisted his arm, hard.
"Hey! What are you doing, Rin?!" Shirou protested against the sudden abuse, a sharp pain rushing through his arm and wrist. "Ouch, Rin?! That hurts!"
The black-haired girl paid no heed to his protests though, twisting his arm around and on his back, before forcefully pushing him face-down onto the bed, lying down on top of him with her full weight, pinning him in place.
"YOU IDIOT!" She then roared at him with a white-hot anger in her voice, accompanied by an extra twist to his arm to show just how displeased she was with him. "What on Earth did you think you were doing?! Who said you could suddenly faint like that!? Who said you could remain asleep for so long?! Do you have any idea how worried we were?!"
"Huh?" Shirou blinked in surprise at Rin's lecture.
"When you fainted, you almost stopped breathing! Your heart rate slowed! We thought you were dying!"
"No, it-"
"Did all your successes go to your head?!" Rin continued her furious interrogation, really pressing herself down on top of him, as if to crush him. "Did you think you could just do anything?! Perform each ritual that any alien god hands to you?! You fool! You thrice-be-damned fool!"
"Rin, I-"
"If you ever, ever pull something like that again, Root help me, I will smack you silly!" She thundered, squeezing his wrist even more tightly. "Is that understood?!"
"But I-"
"Is! That! Understood!?"
"I-It is!" He nodded as best as he could with his face being pressed into his pillow, giving up on his protests. "I understand, Rin. I will be more careful next time."
Rin remained silent for a few seconds, breathing heavily, before she huffed, letting him go again.
Shirou remained still after that, cautiously looking back at her, and only when he'd ascertained that she was no longer furious did he sit up himself, massaging his sore wrist while turning around to face her.
Then he suddenly found himself with his arms full, as Rin threw herself at him, hugging him strongly as she pressed her face against his chest.
"I'm so glad you are okay." She mumbled, almost inaudibly, and all the pain in Shirou's wrist and shoulder melted away immediately. "I don't know what I would have done if you'd died."
"Oh, Rin…" Shirou mumbled, a flash of guilt worming its way into his gut, and he hugged her tightly in return, trying to reassure her that he was still alive and well.
"Don't you 'Rin' me." The black-haired girl grumbled with no small amount of irritation, though she made no attempt to break the hug. "Idiots who remained asleep for two days have no right to use my first name."
"Ghk!"
"W-What?" Startled by the strangled noise he made, Rin pulled away, giving him a worried look. "What's wrong?"
"Two days?!" He spluttered, trying and failing to make sense of that number. "I have been asleep for two days?!"
"Well, yes." Rin nodded, putting her hands in her sides as she gave him a cross look.
"How did that-!"
No, that wasn't the question he wanted to ask.
"Where did-?"
No, not that one either.
"Did you wait beside me the whole time that I've been unconscious?"
That was the one.
"Huh?!" Rin blinked at the pertinent and entirely reasonable question, her mouth falling open slightly, before she rallied, her tone becoming incredulous. "That's your first question?!"
"You look exhausted." He clarified, now fully noticing the bags under her eyes and the paleness of her face. "Have you slept at all, Rin?"
"Huh? W-Well, I…" Rin had clearly not expected that, and for a moment, she struggled to answer. "I-I had no choice! Sakura and Ayako offered to take over from me, b-but they wouldn't have scolded you properly for being such a fool! I-I had to do that myself!"
"So you did wait at my bedside for all that time." Shirou concluded.
"W-Well, y-yes, I suppose so." Rin admitted, the tightening of her face indicating he better not make any funny remarks.
He did no such thing. Instead, he gently took hold of her head and kissed her, deeply, trying to convey his gratitude for her concern.
It was a testament to their deepening bond that Rin didn't freeze up anymore when he did something bold like that, and instead kissed him back immediately, taking hold of his wrists as she did so.
"What happened?" Shirou asked once they separated again. "After the Ritual, I mean."
"Finally, you're asking the right questions." Rin huffed, before she took on a lecturing pose. "The girls and I did some tests while you were unconscious, and we are now all but certain that the ritual you performed has had no negative effects whatsoever on Illya-chan, Sella-san, or Leysritt-san."
"I'm glad." Shirou sighed in relief. "I trust Nasu, as much as I can under the circumstances, but it was still scary to conduct such a big Ritual for the first time. When I think about all the things that could have gone wrong…"
"I understand completely." Rin nodded, squeezing his hand. "Big Rituals always make me nervous too, and this one didn't even function according to the rules of Magecraft as I understand them. I applaud your courage for going through with it. I certainly wouldn't have."
Shirou frowned a bit at her words, and he couldn't help but get the idea that she was calling him a fool again, if not directly this time.
"What about their own opinions?" He chose to let it pass however, focusing on the more important matter instead. "Of Sella, Leysritt, and Illya, I mean."
He imagined that having their very species changed was not something that the former Homunculi could just get accustomed to in a few days, and if they had any complaints, he wanted to know about them right away.
"They are perfectly satisfied so far." Rin betrayed his expectations however, giving him a lopsided smile. "Yes, they are still getting used to their new bodies and to having access to such a broad array of emotions, but since they still have their own personalities and knowledge and they look a lot better than they did before, some temporary discomfort is a small price to pay."
"So, it's all good?"
"That's what I said."
"They have no complaints?"
"None. I'm not sure why you think they would have."
"I changed their species, Rin."
"Yes, and because of that, their ability for Magecraft improved considerably, they have longer lifespans, they are immune to most poisons and diseases, and they are a lot stronger and tougher now too." Rin listed in a somewhat exasperated tone, before she placed one hand against her hip, cocking her head to the side as she gave him a ponderous look. "You know, now that I am spelling it out like this, I am getting a bit jealous. Is there any chance you can do the same for me?"
"Huh?!" That question was so utterly unexpected Shirou was literally struck dumb for several moments.
"Well, think about it." She elaborated, leaning forward slightly. "A stronger affinity for Magecraft is something I could scarcely dream of before, and I wouldn't say no to being stronger and tougher either. It means you won't accidentally hurt me when we are passionately squeezing each other, or pulling and pushing each other around."
"When would we be doing something like that?" Shirou wondered.
"During sex of course, duh." Rin said as if it was obvious, and Shirou flushed at the bold statement. "So really, you should perform that Ritual on me too some time, and probably on Sakura and Ayako as well. Like I said, it's all advantages and no downsides."
"Even if you say that." Shirou argued, not about to just agree thoughtlessly. "If I do such a thing, you wouldn't be fully human anymore, Rin."
"Neither are you." Rin countered easily. "We accepted you despite your inhumanity. Can you not do the same for us?"
"Of course I can." Shirou assured her passionately, as that wasn't the problem at all. "I will love you no matter what species you are."
"Well then-"
"But this isn't about me, Rin. This is about you giving up your humanity. I just want to know if you have thought about this properly." Shirou urged her to slow down. "Don't just jump into it because it seems convenient."
"Oh, cool your heels, Shirou, this is all academic anyway." The black-haired girl waved her hand dismissively, motioning for him to calm down. "I did pay attention when you were explaining the Ritual, and I believe you said it can only be used on Homunculi. You cannot alter me like you altered Illya-chan even if you wanted to, can you?"
"…No, I cannot." Shirou admitted, remembering that his ability to manipulate the threads only worked within the Ritual, and that Ritual was indeed limited to Homunculi only.
"Well then." Rin grinned, patting his shoulder. "It was just a joke, Shirou, a joke. No need to take it so seriously."
"…A joke?" Shirou blinked.
"Yes, Shirou, a joke." Rin nodded, giving him a fondly exasperated look. "You know, something you make to lighten the mood? A thing you say to cause amusement and laughter?"
"I know what a joke is." Shirou huffed. "It just… didn't feel like a joke to me."
"…Is that so?" Rin cocked her head to the side, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Why not?"
"I… I don't know." He admitted, unable to explain why Rin's request had struck him so deeply.
"That is a lie." Rin suddenly said, taking him aback. "You do know. You just don't want to say."
"I…" Shirou floundered for a moment, his mind rushing, before he realised that she was right. He did know, he just didn't want to admit it, even to himself. "I… I wanted you to be serious."
"You wanted me to be… Ah!" Rin frowned for a short moment, and then she made a sound of realisation. "You hoped I would really want to be like you."
"You, Sakura, and Ayako." Shirou nodded, taking a deep breath to gather courage. "I am not human, Rin, and you three are, and it sometimes makes me feel so distant from you."
These were not feelings he'd ever given voice to, even in his own mind, but now, after he'd changed his sister into a being similar to him, he couldn't help but wish he could have done the same for his girlfriends.
Because if he didn't, they would wither and die before he'd even reached his maturity, and he would be left alone.
"…Way to make me feel bad about my little joke, Shirou." Rin sighed, rubbing her face with her hands. "If I'd known you'd take it this badly, I wouldn't have made it."
"It was not my intention to make you feel bad. I am sorry."
"No, I was apologising… Oh, never mind." She grumbled, rolling her eyes, before she resolutely got up from the bed.
"Rin?"
"Forget about this matter and come with me." She told him, apparently deciding that a change in subject was warranted. "Sakura and Ayako were also very worried about you, as were your sister and her maids. You should set them at ease as soon as you can. We can talk about this later."
"Ah, right." Shirou also got up from the bed, agreeing to let the matter lie for now, and he made to follow her, before he stopped, as he noticed a small problem. "Hey, Rin. Where are my clothes?"
"Hm? Oh, we took them off when we put you to bed." Rin explained, before giving him a rather salacious grin. "No need to worry, we didn't do anything untoward, mostly."
"Mostly?" He huffed, opening his closet to gather a new outfit, one that was more than just his boxer shorts. "Do I need to be worried about my purity?"
"…No." Rin waited just a bit too long with her reply, before she quickly left to avoid more questions.
Grumbling to himself about lascivious witches, Shirou put on his clothes, and when he looked presentable again, followed Rin to the living room, where he was received by the rest of his family.
He was pretty sure he could call them that by now, his family.
Sakura and Ayako happily received him back, and while Ayako also scolded him for being so careless as to land himself in a two-day coma, Sakura didn't get further than half a sentence into the scolding before she ended up tearfully hugging him.
It were Illya and her maids however who were the main focus of the conversation.
"I feel great!" Illya proclaimed when Shirou asked about her condition. "My body feels so light, and nothing hurts anymore! This is wonderful!"
"It is different." Sella muttered, the look in her eyes speaking of her confusion, as she tried to acclimatise to suddenly having a mind of her own. "It is strange to no longer feel the deterioration of my body in detail, and I am feeling emotions I didn't know existed."
"I like it." Leysritt smiled at him, ever the utilitarian. "I can taste food now, I can see colours, and my baths can be even hotter."
All the feedback they gave him was unabashedly positive, and in general, the results of the Ritual appeared to be unilaterally approved.
"I am glad you are all so happy." Shirou smiled, interrupting their storm of positive comments, before he turned serious again. "But please do remain careful. This is unprecedented territory for all of us, and we shouldn't rush things. You should take your time to explore your new selves. If you notice anything off, inform me immediately."
"Don't worry, Shirou, I'll have all the time I want to get used to my new body and do some experiments once you are at school." Illya grinned, her gaze becoming a bit distant as she imagined what she was going to do with her copious free time.
"What are you talking about?" Shirou scoffed however, frowning at Illya, who froze stiff under the weight of his glare. "You're going to school as well, young lady. I have already made all the arrangements."
"EH?!"
The plane from Rome touched down in Fuyuki's airport far quicker than Caren would have liked.
The flight had been peaceful and rather pleasant, not in the least because she'd flown first-class. She had been comfortable for the full eighteen hours, and she was loath to say goodbye to the luxurious chairs and the excellent service in favour of stepping out into the cold and the drizzling rain.
As she exited the plane however, letting out a resigned breath, Caren had to admit that it wasn't the climate that made her reluctant to leave her first-class chair.
It was the assignment she'd been given.
She was to serve as the church's liaison to the Second Owner of Fuyuki now that the previous priest assigned to the city had disappeared following the discovery of his crimes. Essentially, she was her father's replacement, which made her dislike the city by association alone.
She was bound by duty however, so after she'd forced herself to leave the plane, she retrieved her luggage and made for the airport's exit, looking around to see if anyone was picking her up, though she didn't hold out much hope.
According to her superiors, the local Second Owner had been sent a message about her arrival, and since it was customary for Second Owners to be at least somewhat hospitable to their church-assigned liaisons, she had been instructed to wait at the airport for a while in case they wanted to pick her up themselves.
Caren frankly doubted that this 'Tohsaka Rin' would be so accommodating, but instructions were instructions, so she settled in to wait, sitting down on a bench in a corner of the airport's main hall.
It was still very early in the morning, yet even so, the airport was abuzz with activity, numerous individuals, groups, and families moving to and from, together forming a crowd that occupied every last bit of the hall, despite its immense size.
The hecticness and noise didn't bother Caren though. On the contrary, she enjoyed it. People-watching was one of her favourite hobbies after, and the more people there were, the better she could watch them.
And in this busy Japanese airport so early in the morning, there was plenty for her to see.
The businessman who had just walked past for instance was definitely having an affair in another city, as evidenced by his excitement, his visible arousal whenever he looked at a particular destination on the display board, and his shocked reaction and guilty sweating when his wife suddenly called him.
The two students who'd sat down close to Caren, one male and one female, outwardly looked like well-behaved honour students, the cream of the crop, yet their barely hidden disgust whenever they looked at someone in formal attire, the kind of videos they watched on their phones, and the magazines they put in their suitcases instead of their carry-on luggage because they didn't want to go through security with them suggested they weren't nearly as proper as one might have expected.