“Princess… erm, wouldn’t it be… time to move… a bit?”
Avenger’s heart was beating faster than he had expected. The sudden closeness of the black-haired girl had always felt weird… but now those emotions had reached their peak. He didn’t know how to react. He didn’t know what he should have done. He was only here to supervise the whole ordeal… he wasn’t supposed to be involved in something like this!
Yet, the young girl with her ragged breathing and moist eyes… for some reason Avenger didn’t want her to move.
“M-mm… I… I know, but…”
Azaka felt like her cheeks were on fire. Only her extended hands kept the distance between him and the tattooed youth. Yet, at this point, she wasn’t sure what she wanted: to kick himself off the ground and get as far away from him as possible… or to just let her hands go limp. She didn’t even know what the true reason of this ordeal was… and yet she felt that her heart was confused by completely another matter.
Yet, the tattooed youth with his wild eyes and unreadable expression… for some reason, Azaka didn’t want him to go away.
It was a stale-mate between the two, a locked situation where neither could act. Had it been several repeated days ago, they would have immediately bounced off each other, followed by screaming and cursing. But now, after such a long time spent together… neither knew how to react. In fact, it would have been odd for them to know what to do. Listening to the events that passed, sharing bits and pieces of each other, learning what made the other tick… growing so close in such a short span of time was enough to make anyone question the nature of their relationship.
But, for a girl who could not admit it, and for a boy who could not understand it… love was such a distant concept.
Suddenly, the screen of the phone on the ground lit up. It had fallen next to them in the squabble, and after a moment of thinking, it seemed to have decided to make a call; and as Azaka could see from the screen, this would be the final call the phone was going to make. After this, the battery life… would be gone. Their last chance… their last hope… it all rode on this single phone call.
“Avenger…” Azaka said, her eyes glued to the phone. “Please… Allow me to stay like this, just… for this phone call. If it does not work… I need someone to support me.”
The eyes of the tattooed youth narrowed, but with a firm expression, he nodded.
“Yeah. Don’t worry ‘bout it, princess,” he said. “If you’ll fall… I’ll be there to catch. I might drop you later, though.”
Azaka made a sound that was somewhere between a chuckle and a sniffle.
“I know. That’s why… I want it to be you.”
Before Avenger could inquire what she meant, the phone connected.
And their final call began.
Twelve Days of Noel
Day 11
Mirror, mirror, on the wall
“I thought I’d find you here, Master.”
The sound of a man’s voice called back the young girl from her thoughts. Immediately, she shivered as the cold wind whistled through the courtyard of the mansion, announcing just how deep the world was in December. The girl automatically searched for the warmth of her jacket, but found only the thin fabric of her nightgown.
Ah, that’s right, Matou Sakura thought. I didn’t get properly dressed.
Hearing footfalls in the soft grass behind her, the purple-haired girl turned to look at the approaching young man. There, standing like a lonely knight before the imposing dark mansion behind him, was her Servant: a young man cloaked in black cloth and donning a silver-and-white light armor. He stood defiantly against the wind, not letting a single bit of discomfort to be seen despite the harshness of the cold. The smile on his face, the one that never disappeared despite the atrocities required of him, was there like always, trying to warm the smile of his Master.
“Rider…” Sakura softly spoke the name of the man. “Is Nee-san done with you for today?”
“Yes. She pitted me against Saber and his Master, but unfortunately we had to call off the battle before a conclusion could be reached,” Rider reported. “A spy of Caster’s, it seems. Not that it was your sister who found it. It was Saber himself.”
“Rider, I know you… don’t like Nee-san,” Sakura said with downcast eyes. “But still, give her some credit. Please.”
Rider frowned despite still continuing to smile. The mere memory of the blue-haired, haughty young girl with more bravado than actual talent was enough to affect his positive mindset; something which was not easy to do. But for the talentless heiress of the dying family of magi it was a natural gift.
“If it is for the sake of your own personal safety, then I shall not,” Rider coldly answered, despite his ever-present smile.
Hearing her Servant speak those words, Sakura couldn’t help but to stare in utter shock. However, what he said next was enough to calm down her raging, hurt emotions.
“… For I am waiting for her to give me a reason, a single reason, to cut off her neck and rid you off your tormentor forever, Master,” Rider stated, gripping the edge of his cloak with determination. “Do not think badly of me, Master, but I believe in removing the root of the problem, not the fruits.”
“I can see that…” Sakura smiled solemnly. “But still, I wish you would not fight with Nee-san. She is how she is, but I believe she truly fancies you, Rider.”
The wavy-haired man couldn’t help but to gag at the thought.
“So, do not agitate her… and do not worry about me so much, Rider,” Sakura concluded, her gaze aimed to the ground and arms wrapped around her shivering body. “It is for the best. For all of us.”
“I am afraid that you will have to use your Command Spell, Master, for me to do such a thing.”
Before Sakura could react to what was going on, Rider had taken a few quick steps to reach her. Then, with a flurry of a movement, he took off his own cloak and threw it around her, wrapping her into the black color tightly. Warmth spread through her body with a startling speed, and for some reason, she could feel that all the tormenting thoughts at the back of her head seemed to be further away.
It took her a moment to realize what it was. But then, it hit her: that warmth was Rider’s feelings for her.
She no longer could stop tears from forming in the corners of her eyes.
“Rider…” she silently sobbed. “Why? Why do you care about me so much? Despite everything I’ve done…”
Rider couldn’t find the words to answer his Master, not immediately. He directed his gaze to the stars, and to the snow falling from the skies. Christmas Eve, time of magical wonder for the rest of the world… and still the household of his Master was filled with gloom. He couldn’t blame the people living in there, of course. If anything, he would have liked to exterminate the monster controlling the family and release them from the darkness. That, however, had never been the option.
He could only silently stand and support the frail girl to whom he owned his life to.
Suddenly, two hands grabbed his shoulders as tightly as their feeble strength allowed. Sakura, clinging to her Servant with all of her might, fought back the tears that just wouldn’t stop from falling. She ended up leaning her head against the chest of the Servant.
That sight was too much for Rider to see without taking an action; gently, he wrapped his left arm around the girl, while slowly petting her head with his right.
“Ma-… Sakura. There is a reason I cannot leave you alone,” Rider finally said. “You live your days like they were a curse put upon you, continuing only because something is expected of you: never smiling, never knowing happiness… completely and utterly alone. That is something I cannot alone.”
As the girl continued to stay silent, urging him to continue, he tightened his embrace and leaned his head against the top of hers.
“I once saw a monster: a truly horrible monster, with no remorse about taking lives of humans or destroying the world around it. I have never seen such a sickening creature, full of hatred and anger against anything it saw,” Rider spoke quietly. “But at the same time, I saw something else in its eyes: loneliness. Though legends told of three monsters that inhabited the island, I only found one. I… never tried to find out what happened to the other two, but I can guess. After all, such a deep loneliness can only stem from one fate. A fate more horrible than death of your own.”
As he spoke, Rider gently cupped Sakura’s head with his right hand and lifted it slightly up, so that the two of them looked each other straight in the eyes. The tears of the girl had stopped, and now only wonder inhabited those tranquil, formerly dead, pools.
“… It is that same loneliness that I see in you,” Rider stated. “And Sakura… I cannot stand idly by, not anymore. I was unable to help that monster, for she was too far gone: but I can still help you. I can still make it all alright. If only… if only you’ll allow me to.”
Rider sighed, took a deep breath, and then brought his face only inches away from Sakura’s.
“Sakura…” he said. “… I want to save you.”
The tears were free again. Yet, at the same time, something else was released. Sakura’s mouth, tight line that it had been before, twisted its corners upwards, until a haunt of a smile, emotion almost forgotten, touched it.
“Rider…” she cried. “Please… save me.”
Thus, a contract was renewed through emotions, not through necessity. It was sealed through the longing of the two, touch of their lips as the two lost themselves in the first kiss they shared. It was neither gentle nor rough… only powerful, fueled by their raw need for each other.
This was the moment that the Holy Grail War of these two truly started.
“Aw, man… looks like it wasn’t a hit after all, princess,” Avenger groaned, slapping his forehead. “It looked like a right combo for a moment… but we got the wrong Rider. Figures.”
The tattooed Servant chuckled in self-deprecation. He had initially believed the idea of calls being their salvation being ridiculous, but the faith that Azaka seemed to have on them had rubbed off on him, too. Although he knew just what would be needed for the chest to open, he had thought that maybe… just maybe… they could connect to the reality outside.
Such hope was, of course, in vain.
“So? Want to fall?” Avenger finally asked. “I’m all deflated because of that anticlimactic ending to our journey, so it might be a bit rough fall.”
He was expecting something to break the mood, perhaps a cry of despair or a punch of anger… something, anything, that would have switched the mood from the emotionally confused one before the phone call. However, he heard nothing, felt nothing… and thus he turned his gaze into the girl above her.
To his surprise, Avenger saw something of awe and realization on Azaka’s face.
“I… I think… “ Azaka whispered, her whole body quivering. “I think I know why I ended up here.”
To be concluded today...
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Originally Posted by Seika
