Everything was quiet.
And then the pressure points across my body vanished in sequence, one felt by boots crunching on grass, another by cloth sliding across soil, a third by the vibrations of spells being cast.
Next, a pair of footfalls echoed as two, but only one pushed weight into soil. The second existed only as sound, arriving with minimal vibration for its moving mass.
Illusion magecraft, then.
"Boring, couldn't they have a little more backbone and try to take a shot or two?" Medea huffed, fingers snapping as countless violet magic circles flared awake from dormancy across the mountain's surface like a garden of explosive mines.
"They didn't try to attack, it shows their tactical acumen." Shifting Illyasviel on her shoulder, Artoria let Invisible Air go slack, no longer needing to hold it taut.
Medusa didn't say anything, but the crimson ribbons of [Blood Fort] bleeding off her body dissolved in air, stake-chains dissipating from her hold.
"First order of business is to go to Shirou's home and settle Illyasviel there," I said, bringing my hand up, palm closing into a fist.
The magic circles behind us unwound with a whirring snap, rings collapsing in on themselves until their shape thinned from loops to threads, hovering where they had rotated a moment ago. Each glowing eye in the sky closed from the horizon's edge first, silver rushing back until only a single line of light remained, that final thread falling and disappearing into my feet.
"By the way, Master, what were those silver threads? And how did they help you copy my magic circles?" Her staff descending, Medea dismounted from it, feet touching the ground. "They looked like Irisviel's threads."
I glanced at her and stepped down from the stairs, pseudo-magic circuits receding from my face, other hand sliding into an empty pocket, both arms held loose. "They both come from the same origin, so confusing one for the other is indeed logical."
"So... you mean to say that it was the Grail?" Medea flicked her wrist, and that staff broke into particles at the gesture, alongside those violet magic circles peeling off the ground and fading away. "You did say something about merging with it earlier."
"Master, did you really do so? Merging with the Grail, I mean." Artoria walked down the steps, her brows furrowed, grasp tightening around Illyasviel's waist. "Shouldn't that be dangerous? Why didn't you consult with us beforehand?"
Clasping her arms behind her back, Medusa followed, eyes on her feet as they skipped the steps in a playful rhythm, her head tilting left, right, left, stealing glances at my back in between.
Looking over my shoulder at Artoria, then sideways to Medea, I clarified. "It was a calculated risk against whatever lies ahead. If I didn't use everything we have to its maximum limit, then it would've been a waste of our resources."
"But how can you even do something like that?" Medea asked, leaning closer, poking my arm with her finger insistently.
"You already know how Irisviel can connect with other things." My chin dipped down to the bracelet still resting on my wrist for a breath before lifting. "The Grail is just a bigger terminal than her, so I had it, or more precisely Justeaze, merge with my pseudo-magic circuits."
"I see. You used the dragon marrow and other robust ingredients in creating those tattoos to bear the 'weight' of the Grail's threads," Artoria deduced as her gauntlets and leg-armour dematerialized, rolling her free shoulder with a crack.
"Essentially correct, though many more complex variables needed to be accounted for during the integration than just bearing its 'weight,' as you put it." Saying so, I noticed Medusa fidgeting her fingers mid-stride.
That psychological cue pointed toward a tinge of nervousness mixed with anxiety, which was understandable, meeting Sakura again after all this time.
"Then, since you can learn my [High-Speed Divine Words], won't you have to become my student and learn under my tutelage?" Medea cupped her cheek with her palm, eyes darting away from me, cheeks flushed red. "Hehehe~ my student..."
I raised an eyebrow at her abrupt and illogical reaction, and before I could reply, Artoria snapped her face toward Medea, her voice flat and composed. "Sleepwalking with your eyes open is a lethal habit, even for a witch."
Growling like an annoyed cat jerked awake, Medea glared at Artoria. "Come again? I dare you to say that twice."
Shaking her head firmly, Artoria pointed out, "Master needs no teacher. One glance at your work, and he'd already have surpassed it."
"Oh? Say it again, I'm curious how brave you really are."
"He certainly doesn't need lessons from someone with your... history of betrayals."
Their banter continued in the background as Medusa sneaked over, her fingers intertwining with mine, hidden in the space between our sides.
"Hey, snake! Hands off, what are you playing at!?" Medea's scream made Medusa yank her hand back, glancing over at my other Servants with a tilted head, eyes wide in feigned bewilderment.
"I'm merely... walking next to Master, that's all."
...
We reached the base of Mount Enzo, the staircase shrinking behind us.
Artoria and Medea moved two steps behind, and flanked between them was Medusa, one of her hand grabbed by Medea and the other by Artoria.
"Saber, don't loosen your grip, she'll slip over to Master again the moment you blink." Commanding with a scrunched nose, Medea tightened her hold on Medusa's wrist.
"Watch her closely, Caster. A thousand snakes couldn't match how slippery she is." Artoria kept split her attention between Illyasviel and Medusa, eyes narrowed.
After looking left and right, Medusa pursed her lips, her gaze finally landing on my back.
I felt her gaze on the back of my neck and swept my gloved hand, the embroidered circles on it rotating.
R1 materialized ahead, resting on its stand, pulling all of us to a stop.
Turning back, I glanced between everyone here. Artoria. Medea. Medusa. Illyasviel. And myself.
"Who will take the bike? Five people won't fit in our car."
At my question, a smirk broke across Medea's face. "Master, why complicate things? Just toss Artoria in the trunk."
"You dare! I propose Medea rides strapped to the roof, courtesy of Rider's chains." Artoria's retort was just as sharp.
Both of them were about to go at it again when Medusa dematerialized from between them, her voice resounding in my head. Spirit form works fine... I'll follow that way.
Good, I replied, shifting my attention back to the others.
"Alright. Medusa's following in spirit form, everyone, get in." I swiped my hand again. The R1 vanished, and in its place now stood our matte-black Mustang.
...
..
.
Emiya household.
We stood before the front gate of Shirou's home, Illyasviel still on Artoria's shoulder behind me, Medusa leaning against a nearby street pole, and Medea reclining against Mustang's hood some distance away.
I brought my hand up and pressed the bell, waiting.
Ten seconds. Fifteen. Twenty.
After nearly thirty seconds, the sound of shuffling footsteps came from inside, wooden door sliding open.
A familiar face peeked out from inside. Shirou.
"Ah, Kamukura-san, it's you again." He paused, then swept his gaze around, expression cramping. "And with more than one woman in tow this time."
Shirou reluctantly pushed the door open. "Come in, come in—" His voice cut off midway, legs buckling, body slumping sideways onto the ground, eyes rolling up, froth seeping from his mouth.
Huh? I froze for a second. I hadn't done anything this time.
Snapping my head back, I passed my gaze over everyone present. "So, which one of you was it?"
Artoria blinked, and her body language was parsed in a breath. She didn't know anything.
Medusa had been facing away before, only now looking this way. Not her.
Medea was busy on her phone, having glanced up once before returning her focus to it. Not her either.
Then who?
Five seconds passed in silence.
"Haah..." A sigh slipped out of me, and I pointed my chin at Shirou. "Artoria, sling him over your other shoulder and bring him in."
I paused.
"Third time being reported to the police would be pushing it."
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[15 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Author's Thoughts]
Two apex predators, one mountain, neither backing down, that's Artoria and Medea for you. Natural selection would've sorted this out already, but where's the fun in that.
Meanwhile I'm over here writing a fifth wife into a harem I don't even get to enjoy, arguing with myself about car trunk space at midnight like that's just a normal thing to do now.
Going to go touch grass. Assuming I remember what grass is.