Chapter 7
Kokutou Azaka.
Emerging from the flaming portal like a fiery angel, the black-haired girl took her first steps on the snowy street, and from the start it was clear that pure determination drove her forward. Each footfall was like a toll of a cloister bell, making heads turn around and eyes fixate upon her. People on the streets, Christmas shoppers, young couples, kids and adults, all looked up at this girl and her grand entrance.
One of those people was, of course, Caren Ortensia. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the figure of her rival. Emotions bubbled to the surface, and for a moment, she was about to step forth and confront the black-haired girl… but then she heard it.
Yes, the people around Azaka, all across the streets, had begun to sing a song; a song that seemed awfully familiar to Caren.
Azaka, hearing this song, did not look surprised at all. Instead she jumped on top of the railing that separated the road from the street, and from her high vantage point, she broke into song of her own, addressing the whole audience that had gathered.
“How do you do? Name’s Azaka! I’m here to bring back my boyfriend! Even if I have to fight Medusa! I will not let this be the end! We made promise, we made a vow! To see this through to wedding bell! Don’t matter when, don’t matter how! If it’s for him, I’ll fight through hell! So if you can, if you may. Show the way! Show the way!”
And in accordance to her powerful voice, the people rose up to another set of chorus, each looking around to see if they could find this man Azaka was looking for. Of course, the only one who really could point his location with some accuracy was Caren, but she was in no hurry to help Azaka.
“Look down, and fear, her passion-filled rage! Look down, look down! Free her man from his cage!”
Azaka, dropping down from the railing, took her place in the middle of the road. The people moved aside, forming some sort of aisle of respect, in which Caren was nicely hidden from Azaka’s furious eyes. The white-haired nun watched on as the girl continued to sing.
“There was a time I loved my kin! True love that could never be! Now I fell for a man of sin! After his heart he showed to me! Fight for a second chance this is! I’ll push on, even out of breath! Here are my choices: lover’s kiss! If it’s not that then give me death! Forever! Together! Avenger! Avenger!”
And the people all around answered with a spirited chant, channeling the energy emanating from the black-haired girl.
“Look down, and fear, her passion-filled rage! Look down, look down! Free her man from his cage!”
Meanwhile, down the street that Azaka was walking forward on, far away from where the passionate yell of people was ushering the flame magus forward, another group of people had broken into song. This group was none other than the residents of this strange timeline: Matou Sakura, Tohsaka Rin, Emiya Shirou and Mitsuzuri Ayako. With them was Illyavenger, leading the song by humming the tune.
The confused was chasing after the battle that moved with high speeds towards the broad bridge of Fuyuki City. Far ahead of them both Avenger and Sakura Saber had engaged the tonttu in melee, forcing the monster to keep moving.
It was an absurd situation to say the least, the song emanating from the group’s lips reflected that. Ayako was the one to start, and the rest answered her in unison.
“Is this gonna end?”
“Are we gonna live?”
“Something’s gotta happen now;”
“Something’s gonna give! It’ll come, it’ll come, it’ll come, it’ll come, it’ll come!”
Matou Sakura then shot an angry glare towards her sister, who answered it with an equally unflinching gaze. The white-haired magus continued the song.
“Aren’t you owner of this land? Aren’t you gonna end this show?”
However, Tohsaka Rin was quick to rebut her sister.
“Why do you think I have something planned? In case a freak jumps out of snow!?”
Sakura stuck her tongue out to Rin in a disrespectful manner, almost biting it thanks to the fast-paced run they were in a middle of.
“So you say you were caught pants down? Where’s your elegance and all that crap?”
Rin managed to be nimble enough to flash a rather rude hand signal to Sakura, even though she was the one leading the group in their sprint.
“In your insults go and drown! Unless you prefer good ol’ slap!”
Thankfully, Shirou caught up to the two sisters and set himself firmly between the two, giving them both a disappointed face that made them go rather meek compared to their earlier fire. He even used the last bits of song to admonish the two.
“Can you cut out this sisters’ spat? This is not the time thaaaaaaat!”
Both Ayako and Illyavenger cheered from behind the trio, and two sisters at least had the decency to look ashamed. But they didn’t have much time for it. After all, they were finally gaining up on the people fighting ahead of them.
And up ahead, the fight was approaching its climax, just like the song.
****
Clouds of dust rose up as the three combatants entered into a high-speed combat, sprinting down the road while exchanging a flurry of attacks. Thanks to having claws both at its feet and its hands, the tonttu was able to attack from every angle it could, filling the air with hungering strikes aimed at Avenger’s flesh.
But, for a predator to fight a predator, something more than simple instinct was needed. This might have been the form of combat most natural to the tonttu… but for Avenger, it was the only form of combat available.
“Kihihihhahahahahahaa—! I’ve been waiting, waiting, waiting for something to help me let out some steam!” Avenger screeched, dancing around the attacks like they had been falling feathers. “You arrived at the right time, bastard!”
The tattooed form of the weakest Servant danced under the starlight, daggers flying like pinwheels in a tornado. It was no longer the case of slashing and hacking; his form was closer to that of a fanged tornado. The warped daggers carved a path of carnage in the beast’s skin and then retreated, spinning around as fast as their owner did.
Avenger was the annoying sting, the venomous claws that kept wounding the tonttu from the front, and the target which it chased after.
As for the one behind it…
“Ha, ha, haa------!”
An assassin brighter than moonlight, glimmering among the stars like one of their brethren. It was a skill that could not be reproduced, a unique way of the sword that seemed to take all of the space before it and make it her kingdom. Wherever that sword reached was hers, and hers alone.
The attacks delivered from behind the tonttu were not slashes; they were thrusts. Fast enough to fool the eye to believe the sword never left the sheath, the rose-madder swordswoman kept pushing the enemy forward, her eyes striking through the night as sharply as her sword.
Every thrust found its mark; the back of the tonttu was quickly riddled with bloody holes, no thicker than a sheet of paper. And yet, these wounds are deep enough to cause dangerous amount of bleeding. Precision above all else, lethality through concentration. That was the message that the curved, Japanese sword brought to the battlefield.
One from the front, and one from behind. Always in movement, never stopping. One with ragged, coarse breath, one with tranquil, flawless movement. It was a mismatching cacophony of beauty and grotesque that surrounded the tonttu and kept it on the move.
But inside the elegance, there is the unsightly death; and inside the unsightly carnage, there is the elegance of killing. Like Ying and Yang, two drops of opposing forces within the deep pools of their antithesis. Just like these two warriors, immersed in their battle against the blood-cloaked beast.
Yes, for reasons even they themselves could not quite explain…
—Together, Avenger and Sakura Saber had attained perfection that overwhelmed any opposition!
“I… I don’t know where it came from, or what it wants from us!” Sakura Saber shouted amidst her attacks. “But I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised!”
“Of what!? To get to sate your bloodlust?” Avenger asked and howled in screeching laughter. “You’re more of a monster than I thought!”
“Keep talking, killer!” Sakura Saber shot back, grin rising to her lips. “I just never imagined that I’d find someone to complement my style of fighting this perfectly!”
“Hah! In your dreams, idiot!” Avenger cackled, delivering a flurry of attacks with eyes bloodshot from excitement. “I’m the one who has to keep up with your overpowered ass! In other words…!”
Dropping to the ground like a lizard, Avenger used his legs to kick up the jaw of the charging tonttu. Immediately, having prepared for this, Sakura Saber came from down the skies with a furious yell, thrusting her sword deep into the back of the beast, and out of its stomach. And before the beast could even let out a roar of pained death, its head was turned into a mangled mess, as Tawrich and Zarich slammed against it from the both sides with full force behind Avenger’s arms.
“… I’m the one who’s ecstatic about this, fool,” Avenger answered with a grin, wiping the bloody mess from his face.
As the two Servants cleaned themselves up from the messy aftermath of the fight, the rest of the group finally caught up to them. It took the duo a bit of time to notice, though, as they were engrossed in an animate conversation about how their tactics and fighting-styles had messed together exceptionally well during the fight.
It wasn’t until Avenger felt the sly stare of certain little devil at the back of his neck that he realized to turn around.
“What?” He grumpily asked from smug-looking Illyavenger. “What are you staring at, little shit?”
“Oh, noooothing, Onii-chan. Just admiring your progress, that’s all,” she said and chuckled mischievously. “You too, Sakusaber-nee.”
Sakura Saber tilted her head in confusion as she sheathed the sword she had cleaned in the snow.
“Hmh? What do you mean?”
Illyavenger answered simply with a suspicious whistle, rocking back and forth on her heels.
“So, anyways,” Avenger said and chuckled proudly, turning towards the rest of the group. “We handled the tonttu. Things should be returning to normal now… though I do kinda wonder where it came from. I haven’t seen these freaks in years… I think. I can’t remember where I originally saw them.”
Rin, however, did not look happy. Instead, she looked downright furious.
“Over? Over!? It’s pretty damn far from over!” She bellowed, pointing at the corpse of the tonttu. “I’m not sure if you know, but tonttus always travel in large, large groups! These ones especially. In fact, these are pretty much the worst kind.”
“Wait, groups? I thought tonttus were like guardian spirits of household, lands and everything you could name as ‘closed circle’ of sort,” Sakura Saber said, looking confused. “Aren’t they sort of like elves?”
“’Sort of’ is a pretty generous term for them,” Rin said with dry tone. “I know most tonttus are guardian creatures of sorts. Hence their appearance. Watch dogs, and all that. But these? These are closer to väki. Think of the fair folk from the legend of Ireland.”
“Väki… but doesn’t that mean they have a specific concept they are tied to?” Avenger asked, looking more and more troubled.
“Yep. And these ones are tied to nothing bigger than whole of winter itself. Well, Winter Solstice to be more exact. But you get what I mean,” she explained.
This revelation, however, made a look of pure shock and horror appear on Avenger’s face. Realization struck down like a bolt of lightning, bringing back memories the tattooed Servant had tried so hard to forget. Both of where he had originally seen these creatures… and who their master was.
“Oh?” Illyavenger said and giggled. “I think Onii-chan finally realized who’s behind all this.”
“You did?” Sakura Saber asked, turning towards Avenger with excitement. However, having seen his face, that excitement died fast. “Who… who is it?”
“There’s only one goddamn thing that can control these creatures. He’s their leader, so to speak. And they’re his hunting dogs. His ‘little helpers’,” Avenger said and laughed a bitter laugh. “You heard what the Tohsaka girl said, right? They’re bit like elves. Now think of someone associated with winter, Winter Solstice, and who has army of elves helping him…”
A shiver, as if caused by a great northern wind ready to freeze you to the bone, ran through the group.
They had all arrived to the same conclusion.
5 Days to Go.
Originally Posted by Pokingmatter
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