Medea snapped her fingers. A magic circle with complex sigils whirled to life beneath us, siphoning mana straight from our surroundings. Purple light flashed and we were already gone from that location.
...
Emiya Household.
A magic circle materialized in the living room with a blinding flare. I walked out from it, Medea beside me, her arm supporting my side. Dozens of magic circles still rotated around my torn sternum, trying to prevent the wound from worsening.
Shirou, who had been in the kitchen, had his jaw drop at our entrance. He walked toward us while unconsciously cleaning his hands on his apron.
"Kamukura-san!?" His voice cracked upward, eyes wide with wonder before horror seized them at the sight of my injury.
Before I could reply, Medea pointed a finger at him. Another magic circle, this one compact, blazed above his head.
Shirou couldn't even react before his eyes rolled up, collapsing like a marionette with severed strings.
Blood trailed us as Medea dragged me toward Sakura's room and slid the door open.
Sakura was inside, resting on a futon with closed eyes and stable breathing.
Medea closed the distance between us, plunged her hand into the girl's chest without hesitation, and pulled.
[Avalon] materialized from her. Medea pressed it directly against my injury. It dissolved inside like a child returning home.
My injury started to mend itself, though it was countless times slower than any other injuries I had suffered till now.
It was so because my magic circuits had been severed and bound against one another in a chaotic and wrong manner.
[Avalon] did not just have to heal my injuries. It had to disentangle my damaged magic circuits or even regenerate the destroyed parts from scratch.
"Master... are you feeling better?" Medea asked while gently settling me on the floor, my back against a wall.
"If you're referring to my physical state then yes, I'm healing. As for my mental state? It had never deteriorated from the start." I tore a part of my coat's sleeve without a flinch and wrapped that cloth around my torn knuckles to stem their bleeding.
Medea wordlessly slid against the wall beside me. Her fingers wrapped around my wrist, trembling incessantly.
"Master... why did you stand in between me and Assassin!? You should've let me die rather than letting yourself get grievously harmed and nearly killed!" Her hold tightened over my wrist.
I gave her a glance.
"I won't let you die."
My words froze her. The trembling in her fingers stilled. Her tense shoulders slowly relaxed, deflating as if all her anger had drained out of her entirely.
"Why?" She looked down, a whisper trembling from her lips.
"Your survival is a necessary variable in my observation of hope," I stated flatly.
"I do not permit you to die until I have extracted that data."
Her head slid toward me, coming to rest against my shoulder.
"Master... You idiot."
I did not reply.
Five minutes passed like that.
Master! Where are you and Medea? I'm about to reach the Emiya residence. Artoria's voice resounded in my mind through our bond.
We're inside, I replied back.
I'll be there in a moment. Her voice was composed, but I could hear the worry underneath.
...
..
.
Sounds of hurried footsteps resounded soon. The shoji door slid aside as Artoria barged in. Her gaze landed on Sakura, then moved over to me and Medea.
Medea was ignored promptly. Artoria's gaze swept past her and locked onto my torn sternum.
"Master! Who did this!?" She surged forward, hand outstretched toward my wound—yet stopped just short of contact.
Artoria's composure fractured. Her jaw unclenched, and the stoic rigidness in her shoulders vanished.
Her hand, which had been hovering over my wound, redirected to cup my cheek with a grip that was almost too tight.
"Master... I'm not leaving your side from now on." Emerald and crimson eyes interlocked. Mine were blank. Hers carried only determination.
She was ready to protest if I denied. So, I gave her a slight nod.
Artoria's eyes softened at that.
"Ahem..." A cough from Medea broke Artoria out of her reverie. She pulled her hand back from my cheek with slightly red cheeks.
Medea ignored her for now. At any other day, she would've chewed this King of Knights out for touching her Master. But since he was injured this time, she let it go.
"We should go home. Staying here would only put Shirou and Sakura in unnecessary danger." I spoke while looking at both Medea and Artoria gazing at each other like cats ready to fight for territory.
Both turned toward me simultaneously.
Medea's eyes narrowed while Artoria let out a quiet sigh.
"Let's go home, Master." Medea mumbled and snapped her fingers.
Another magic circle loomed beneath us, its radiance drowning our surroundings. Just before we vanished, Medea glanced at Sakura and asked,
"Master, her health won't deteriorate, right?"
I followed her line of sight and replied.
"No. It'll just take her longer to recover."
Our surroundings dissolved into a kaleidoscope of colors. We were gone from the Emiya Residence in an instant.
...
..
.
Home.
We materialized in a flash of colors in the drawing room of our home.
"Master, you should rest right now." Artoria insisted and wrapped her arms around my arm, pulling me toward my room.
Medea opened her mouth to speak.
The click-clack of heels resounded before she could. Soon, Rider walked in with serpentine grace.
She ignored Medea. Ignored Artoria's pulling. And came to stand in front of me. Her blindfold settled on my healing chest.
"You... are injured."
I tilted my head slightly.
"You should... rest." She wound around my back and pushed me toward my room. Artoria pulled from ahead while Medusa pushed from behind.
I glanced over my shoulder at Medea. She followed behind us. Her mouth moved without sound.
You are resting now, Master. Those were the words she mouthed toward me.
All three—Medea, Medusa, and Artoria—shared a collective look and pushed me into my room, forcing me to lie down on my bed and stay like that.
I could still move with a pierced chest. But they seemed to disagree.
Artoria kept an eye on me, while Medea muttered something about 'cooking' while walking out of my room. Medusa silently stood beside my bed, keeping her blindfold trained on my wound.
With my back resting against the bed, I tuned everything out and checked on my magic circuits.
They had not healed yet. Not even one percent.
I reached one conclusion: I needed to find a solution. Fast.
Right now, only 35 out of my 120 magic circuits worked, only enough to sustain my two Servants.
My magic circuits were essential. Without them, I was vulnerable in ways that even [Avalon] couldn't fix.
This would be a challenge—perhaps the first true one I had faced in a long time.
Good.
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[5 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Authors Thoughts]
Alright... Some people might be might still ask. Why was Artoria near Emiya Residence?
Well, Izuru had told Medea to inform Artoria and have her fetch [Avalon] from Sakura.
...
Ahem... Ahem. Our boy Shirou gets knocked out again and again, even I have started to feel bad for him.
...
Note: I'll explain it right here for anyone wondering. Something similar to Origin Bullet only works on live magic circuits, and Izuru's magic circuits fired up after being pierced, so he was able to protect some circuits by shutting them down before they became affected.
Wondering how Medea could teleport and Izuru can mentain two Servants even now? Simple, Medea can absorb mana directly from her surroundings, remember that scene when she crystallised mana in her fingers right in front of Atrum?
Though both Artoria and Medea are still weakened due to the low supply.
Another day. Another chapter.
Take care everyone (*Waves bye)