I'm dreaming of the field of swords again. Every time I close my eyes I see the same landscape. As far as the eye can see, this barren land is covered in swords. Some are rusted away, mere shadows of their formal selves. Others are brilliant, their names just beyond my perception, like I was looking at them through a blurred lens. Above, gears turn and the sound of industry fills the air. An immense machine groans over the silence of the blades. It is beautiful, this plain of steel. I realize that it is me. These swords are all that I am. My body is made of swords.
__________________________________________________ _______________________
"Hey Luchnik, wake will you?" With an elbow to the gut, Vasily roused me from my dream. I woke with a start, nearly falling off the metal bench that we were sitting on.
"Sorry," I said as I rubbed my eyes. "I must have dozed off."
"Yes yes, 'dozing'," he replied, making air quotes with his fingers. "Is term that weak use to justify laziness."
"You're a bit grumpy," I said, giving the man a sidelong glance. We no longer wore our fatigues. Doing our best to blend in with the crowds, we simply wore dark colors with long overcoats. Though, as an Asian with white hair, I stood out more than most. Vasily had gotten me through more checkpoints than I could remember.
After Luviagelitta's call, the two of us deserted the military and traveled south to Belgorod international airport. Despite my insistence that I go alone, Vasily demanded to come along. By now, I was glad that he had stayed with me.
"Yes, perhaps furious is better word," he said. "Look at man!"
He pointed ahead of us, at one of the two soldiers that stood by the airport terminal. Naturally, the entrances to the country were among the most heavily guarded, and this was enemy territory for Vasily and I. Foreigners like me had to be especially careful. Luviagelitta should be fine, since she could pass for Russian.
Honestly that girl annoyed me sometimes. She called out of nowhere and then said that her flight would arrive the next day at an airport a thousand miles away! And that was without explaining anything, just that she was looking for someone in Russia.
"I don't see anything wrong with him," I said, referring to the soldier. "And try not to point, it'll draw attention."
"Look at poor rifle of man," he said. I followed his gaze to the AK held loosely in the man's arms. It had an expensive optic mounted on it, and the front hand guard had rails and a flashlight attached. "It scream 'dear god in heaven, save please from disgusting products of Chinese slave factory'. Soldier believe that mutilate rifle make shoot straight, when he must simply make practice with many bullets. Then he does not need dumb shit on gun."
"You sound mad," I said with a smile. He sure took his weapons seriously.
"Yes, mad. What in fuck is man thinking?" he grumbled. "Cannot wait to make kill of him."
"Well not today. You said you wanted to come along, and so you did," I said. "Once we finish Luvia's job, then we can end this war."
It was almost like the war would be waiting for us. After our two man flank attack the other day, the revolutionaries were scattered and disorganized. An armored push from St. Petersburg had utterly annihilated their once powerful offensive, and the rest of their forces were now loosely spread across the countryside. While the President's loyal forces regrouped, the war was burning slowly.
Moscow was a different story though. The loyalists still held the city proper, but every day the guns of the revolutionaries moved closer, and it was rumored that Special Forces were already beginning to infiltrate the city to prepare for a final attack. With the defenders running low on ammo and fuel, it would only be a matter of time before they were crushed.
"Look, plane is landing," said Vasily with a nod towards the terminal display. He was right. Luviagelitta's flight was right on schedule. Now we just had to hope that she'd get through the intense security without a hassle.
The two of us waited silently for more than twenty minutes, staring at the doors where arrivals would enter the airport lobby. Every time a patrol of soldiers would saunter by, the two of us would tense up. Even with my powers, I'd be overwhelmed if a fight started.
Then I saw a familiar head of golden hair step into the lobby. Dressed as ostentatiously as usual, Luviagelitta spotted me instantly and began making her way towards through the crowd. To my surprise, she only pulled one bag behind her. As she approached our bench, Vasily and I stood.
"Ah Shirou, it is good to see you," she said with a smile. Then she noticed Vasily at my side and gave him a look down the length of her nose. "Who is this?"
"A friend of ours," I said as I picked up her bag. "We have a car outside."
"Ah perfect," she said with a short hum of satisfaction. "As always you're prepared. I would have rented a car and driver, but this war is making it difficult to find reservations."
Taking Luvia's bag, I nodded at Vasily and he led the way out of the airport. I watched our back, keeping an eye out for anyone following us. As far as I could tell, nothing was out of the ordinary.
We moved into the parking garage, where our stolen car waited. "It's surprisingly cold this time of year," said Luvia as we walked past row after row of nearly identical vehicles. I looked her up and down. She wore a royal blue blouse under a dark suit that clung tightly to her curves. It looked specially tailored, and her black boots were something out of a designer catalogue. I was surprised they didn't have heels, but I suppose she knew when to be practical sometimes. For some reason she reminded me of someone in the mafia, even with those incredible hair curls.
"You seem dressed properly though," I said.
"Well, these clothes are best in this weather," she said with a smile. "Plus, this may be difficult, so I didn't want to dress too flashy."
"No, not flashy at all," I said with a smirk. Her wardrobe probably cost more than my house back in Fuyuki.
"Oh, are you not impressed?" she asked with a sidelong glance and a proud smile. "Well, after being around Tohsaka-san so much, I doubt you recognize real style."
No, I'm pretty sure you're just a bit crazy, I thought. No use saying that out loud though.
"Ah, I shouldn't speak ill of Tohsaka-san," she said, covering her mouth quickly. I raised my eyebrow and glanced at her. "You two are friends. It would be in bad taste."
"That's unusually considerate of you," I said. I immediately flinched, getting ready for her to put me in a head lock. To my surprise, she simply laughed gracefully.
"I did ask you for help after all," she said. She opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could, a pair of men stepped out of the darkness to our right. They were in plainclothes, but their builds and manner immediately pointed them out as military. Their dark coats were open, and their hands hovered over what had to be weapon holsters.
"Stop please," said the first man. In front of me, Vasily immediately tensed up, and I could see Luviagelitta's eyes flicker back and forth between the two as she gauged the threat.
"Show us your papers," said the second man.
"I don't think we need to-" began Luvia, before the first man shoved a snub-nosed revolver in her face to silence her.
"Papers please," said the man again, smiling darkly.
Luvia stepped back, but before I could do anything, she reached out and grabbed his arm. With a sharp twist, she snapped his wrist, and he cried out as Vasily moved in from his left. As he pulled the gun out of the man's limp hand, a knife appeared in his other hand. Stabbing repeatedly, he tore up the man's throat in seconds. With a quiet gurgle, the man slid to the ground. Blood pumped from his neck like a broken pipe and pooled in all directions.
The other man stepped back and reached into his coat, but before he could pull his weapon I had already projected a sword. I pushed Luvia aside and stabbed forward, piercing the man's heart in an instant. I don't think he ever realized what killed him. His eyes just went dark and he fell backwards to join his partner on the ground.
"Shirou, are you sane?" said Luvia. She turned on me as my sword vanished and grabbed me by the collar. "You're projecting right in front of this man!"
"It's fine," I said. "He knows about everything."
I gently took her hands and her grip on my clothes loosened. She looked like she wanted to protest morebut thought better of it. "I see, so you two must know each other well," she said, breaking eye contact.
"Luchnik is good friend," said Vasily as he went through the mens' pockets. He tossed wallets and papers to the ground until he pulled out an ID card found in one of the coat pockets. "Ah look. These men are GRU. Perhaps they wait in airport for foreigners, or perhaps they simply decided to make robbery and assault of violent intent."
"In any case," I said. "They won't need those guns anymore."
"I take money as well," he said. "Will cast suspicion towards robbery. Even GRU can be kill by thieves."
As Vasily grabbed the guns and wallets, I took Luvia's hand and led her to the car. "Sorry you had to see that," I said when we were out of earshot.
"It's quite alright," she said. "Besides, I would have killed the both of them for pointing a weapon at me. You simply did it first."
I nodded as we reached the car. I quickly loaded Luvia's bag in the back seat as Vasily jogged up and jumped into the driver's seat. I squeezed into the back with Luvia and before the doors were even shut we were off.
As we pulled onto the highway, Luvia opened her bag, which sat on the seat next to her, and pulled out a thick folder. "I suppose I should explain exactly why I'm here," she said.
"That would be a good start." Luvia was the type of person that considered explanations and reasoning secondary to actual solutions. Honestly, I was surprised that she was explaining now, rather than just giving directions. She really was just like Rin, though I wouldn't dare say it out loud.
"As a part-time Enforcer, I've worked with a group of magi over a period of years," said Luvia. "The people that I've partnered with have come from various backgrounds. Some are from the Clock Tower, but many others come from other Magic conglomerates."
Before continuing, she passed me the top pages of her file. I looked down and my eyes were drawn to the photo paper clipped to the stack. A young, dark skinned man stared up at me. His brown eyes were intense, like they were looking into my soul even through the photograph. "Abdul Seif," I said. "Liaison from the Atlas Academy."
"Yes, I worked with him before the Engstrom case. He and I found a smuggler of alchemical materials and brought him to justice" she said. "Last week Abdul vanished from his London home, and two of his previous partners have just died under suspicious circumstances."
"So why Russia?" I asked. "You think he's here?"
"Yes, he lived here for some time," said Luvia. "According to our records, he still owns an apartment in Moscow."
"Moscow," I sighed. "That's going to be difficult. You know the city is under siege right?"
"Why do you think I contacted you?" she asked with a wide smile. "Of course, I always enjoy your company, but when somebody needs to get somewhere dangerous, Emiya Shirou is the one to call. I thought of hiring some mercenaries, but you'll do."
"Your vote of confidence flatters me," I said dryly. "What do we do when we find him?"
"Obviously we must learn who he is running from, and why," Luvia said. "I have no record of any of his research materials, nor are there any people that I know would want him dead."
"That's simple enough," I said. "Vasily, do you think you can get us into Moscow?"
"I believe yes," he replied. "I know city like inner workings of AK-74M rifle of assault."
I looked at Luvia with a smile. "See, we'll do just fine."
"Of course," she said, brushing her hair back with a smile. "I have absolute trust in you, as well as those that you choose to work with."
"We'll probably be in a combat zone," I said, looking out the window. Next to us, a column of military trucks pulled onto the highway, loaded with soldiers and supplies. "I know you're tough, but you'll have to listen to Vasily and I."
Luvia crossed her arms and looked at me down her nose. "I understand well enough, Shirou," she said. "I'm not stupid."
"I never said you were," I said, raising my hands in an attempt to calm her down.
There was a bit of silence as we drove on. Luvia was flipping through her files, looking for any clues as to why her partner Abdul had vanished so suddenly. I had the suspicion that she was just looking through the papers out of desperation though. She probably had it memorized word for word now.
"You've changed," she said, dropping her files onto the bag at her side. "I only now realized."
She crossed her legs and leaned closer to me, staring up directly into my eyes. I tried to pull away, scooting back up against the door of the car. "What are you talking about?" I asked nervously.
She giggled as I retreated, then relaxed and pulled back. "You seem more confident. Your head is held higher now. Your vacation must have been good for you."
I looked out the window as I thought up something to say. She couldn't have known, but what happened with Ayako was still weighing heavily on my mind. I felt like it would be best to just stick to the truth.
"I managed to save a lot of people yesterday," I said finally. "My projections are easier to pull off, and I feel like my prana reserves are infinite."
"Oh, sounding a bit cocky are we not?" Luvia laughed. "I feel like that isn't the whole story. Care to tell me?"
"Another time," I said with a smile.
"Very well. I shall expect an entertaining tale from you then." Luvia smoothed out her jacket and stretched out her neck.
"Was it a long flight?" I asked.
"Just worrisome," she said, "Thank you for the concern. When this job is behind me, I shall take a vacation as well."
"It would probably do you good," I said. "You and Rin are constantly working."
"Indeed," said Luvia, covering another yawn with her hand. "She's been working as hard as I have. She gave the Engstrom case everything she had."
"Did you just compliment her?" I asked, trying to conceal a smile.
"Perhaps, though I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything." Luvia crossed her arms and looked away.
"You two really are friends, huh?" I said. Luvia was easy to tease like this, and since we were rarely alone I decided to indulge myself.
"W-we just spend a lot of time together," said Luvia with a huff. I knew she wasn't as graceful as she pretended to be, but she certainly tried to keep me fooled. "We end up complaining about the same things, usually you."
"Me?" I cocked my head in confusion.
"Yes, you," she said, poking a finger into my cheek. "You're always making her worry one way or another. She had a lot to say about you recently."
"Ah yeah," I said quietly. "I'm sure she did."
"Tohsaka-san didn't give me any details, just that you were being troublesome. I'll have you give me the full story at a later time"
"Once this is all over, I'll answer any questions you have." I put my hands on her shoulders and slowly pushed her back into her own seat. She was really keen on violating my personal space, and after seeing her in fist fights, I wasn't too eager to be in arms reach of her.
"I'll hold you to that," she said. She smiled at me, a sincere smile that was completely unlike the smirks that she usually gave me. "It is good to see you again, Shirou. You have a simplicity to you that puts people at ease."
"I'll take that as a compliment," I said with a smile.
"You should."
"For love of God," groaned Vasily from the front seat. "Is banter of playful type all that foreigners speak? I feel that buddy cop movie of American Hollywood has made real."
"Sorry," I said with a smile. "This is just how we act."
"This is point in movie where superfluous side character is kill to show how evil villain is. I am not anticipate next scene."
__________________________________________________ _______________________
It was the early morning before we arrived at the outskirts of Moscow. Taking us down back roads to avoid the military, Vasily drove us north into the suburbs. The city was dark, but flashes of tracer fire and explosions lit the night better than any streetlamp could. With Luvia's address in hand, Vasily took us through the city as quickly as he could, only stopping to wait for soldiers to pass. We must have been spotted once or twice, but we were never engaged. It looked like neither side wanted to attack possible civilian targets.
"Here, we must stop," he said. He pulled over to the side of the road and shut the engine off.
"What's the matter?" I asked, leaning forward to look out the windshield.
"Enemy attack is now and there is more risk of contact," he replied, reaching down between the seats to pull up his rifle. "We must make walk to apartment. Is not far."
I turned back to Luvia, who was getting ready to exit the car. "We may not be able to come back to the car. Do you want me to carry your bag?"
"It's just clothes," she said. "I can always purchase more. Could you take my files though?"
"Sure." I took the black folder from her and dropped it into my backpack. As I pulled my rifle from the trunk, I asked "Vasily, how far would you say we need to walk?"
"Perhaps five kilometers, as bird fly. More if fighting blocks path." He racked the bolt of his rifle and ran to the closest alleyway in a crouch.
"Let's move then," I said. Luvia followed me to the alleyway and the three of us vanished into the darkness. We stuck close to buildings and moved quickly and quietly through the city. The fighting was intense in the suburbs to the south, and we could hear the battle getting closer every minute. The revolutionaries were winning this one. The lack of numbers and supplies gave the loyalist defenders a clear disadvantage. I doubted that any would be alive by the end of the week.
"We are close," said Vasily. He pointed down the street towards another apartment building with blackened windows. "Apartment is there."
We ran quickly down the road. The streets were like a ghost town now. The Loyalist lines must have been spread very thin. It was entirely possible that command and control had fractured, and units were isolated from one another. If that was the case, then the battle was already lost.
We climbed up the concrete steps to the front door of the apartment building and quietly entered. The lobby was pitch black save for a few emergency lights near the entrance, and it only got darker as we headed for the stairs. Luvia and I could reinforce our eyes, but Vasily was making do just fine on his own.
"Luvia, strengthen your ears," I said. "Gunfire in this confined space would be bad."
She nodded and put her hand to her head. After a few seconds, we began our advance again. The stairs were silent and almost pitch black. Vasily lagged behind as he slowly climbed, relying on his sense of hearing and touch to follow us.
"Fourth floor," said Luvia as we reached the top of the first flight. I climbed the stairs ahead of her, ready to shoot anything that could possibly attack us. However just before we reached our destination, she grabbed me and pulled me back.
"Careful, there's something wrong," she whispered. She knelt down and traced the top stair with her finger, only for the dust to swirl away like a snake. The creature fled down an air vent, vanishing deeper into the building.
"Familiars?"
"No, it's different," she said. "I was looking for familiars so intently that I was mistaken. We've entered some sort of boundary field. That was just normal dust adversely affected by the magical energy in the air. A "prana ghost" of sorts that has the shape of a living being. We must be careful from now on. We've already fallen into the trap; all that is left is for the enemy to spring it."
"There's an enemy now?" I asked quietly.
"Someone set this field," she replied. That was all the answers I needed.
"Vasily, if you see anyone at all, ice them," I said. There wouldn't be any allies inside of a mage's boundary field.
"What is ice?" He asked with a confused expression, before laughing. "Ah, is joke! Will make enemy dead, because dead are cold like ice."
I took the lead as we stepped into the fourth floor hallway. Save for the flickering red lights at the opposite ends, the concrete corridor was pitch black. Papers fluttered about like moths as cold breeze whispered through the hall. Everything was silent until our footsteps intruded on this building's solitude.
Vasily watched our six as the three of us advanced. We crept down the hallway, moving as slowly and as quietly as we could. My heart pounded in my ears, and the sound of every breath made me cringe. Ready to shoot at any time, my hands opened and closed as adrenaline flooded my veins. I almost wanted something to attack us so that the tension would break. With footsteps that sounded like hammer falls in this silence, we slowly walked towards the apartment.
"Wait, this is-" began Luvia. Before she could finish though, every door lining the hall swung open, slamming into the concrete with a deafening crash.
A cloaked figure, dressed in the garb of a Bedouin, jumped into the hall in front of us, followed by two muscular men wrapped in bandages. Beneath the swaths of white cloth, I could only see chains and deep red eyes, glowing brightly in the darkness. The pair followed the cloaked man's movements robotically.
"Mekh, Thoth!" shouted the cloaked man. Like starting an engine, the two men shot forwards with surprising speed, pulling sickle swords from sheaths on their backs. I raised my gun to shoot, but the chains wrapping one of the men shot outwards and tore the weapon from my grip. I heard gunfire behind me as Vasily shot at some other new enemy, then a shout of rage as I heard his gun clatter to the ground.
Luvia rushed past me, shoving aside one of the bodyguards before charging the cloaked master. How nice of her to leave the dangerous looking ones for me. The two attacked together, covering each other's weaknesses like they were of one mind. Or maybe it was more like two puppets controlled by a single puppeteer.
The first sword blow came down for my head, just as the second aimed to cut the tendons in my leg. I reinforced myself instantly, catching the arm coming down at me. I kicked downwards, knocking the second blade away. His weapon gone, the second bodyguard tackled my legs, bringing the three of us to the ground in a thrashing pile. There wasn't any way for me to project. I just had to beat them like this.
I kicked out, knocking away the man on my legs as I slammed my elbows into the face of the one on top of me. With a metallic clatter, the sickle sword slid away, leaving us unarmed, but still fighting for our lives. This man's strength was monstrous. With a single arm, he pulled me up with him and threw me into the wall. My head spun, and before I could even get my vision straight, a fist crushed my face. I could almost feel the bones in my face compress under the punch, and I was momentarily blinded as stars filled my vision. I threw out an elbow and broke the torrent of blows coming down on me.
In the struggle, the bandages wrapping the man's head slipped away, revealing a dead, stoic expression on a dark face, reminiscent of Berserker. The red eyes were frightening, glowing like headlights in the dark. These things weren't humans, I realized. They were puppets, mindless homunculi used for battle. I pulled his arms down and drove a knee into his chest, then slammed a reinforced elbow into the side of his head. He stumbled, dazed, and I body slammed him. Together, we hit the opposite wall hard enough to jolt my bones. The second one grabbed me from behind, but I was too focused on the man in front of me. With a shout, I grabbed his ears and slammed his head into the wall again and again. After the third hit, blood dribbled from his nose and mouth, and the homunculus' eyes darkened.
Before I could recover my footing, I was pulled back by the second homunculus. Chains wrapped around my legs and arms, and an elbow locked around my throat. Again, we tumbled down to the floor, rolling and thrashing about. He was much bigger than me, but I had my strength from reinforcement. As we tried to strangle the life out of each other, I caught a glimpse of the other two fights in the hallway.
With a knife clasped in his hand, Vasily brawled with his opponent. The man was naked from the waist up, covered in tattoos and paint. Though he was unarmed, the markings on his body moved like water, flowing to his hands as he charged Vasily. Then as he reached out, the tattoos gathered on his arm and turned the pale skin black. As his palm neared Vasily's face, a blinding light emanated from the hand as it morphed into the head of a hissing cobra. The snake stretched from the stump of the man's hand, only to be caught by Vasily, who was cursing almost continuously in Russian as he tried to keep the thing's fangs away from him.
On the other end of the hall, Luvia fought the man leading the homunculi. Rather than defeat him at range, she was trying to get close for hand to hand combat. With a knife in his right hand, he warded her away with fast swipes. Then I noticed that his left arm was gushing blood, and spurts flew through the air with every move he made. Did Luvia manage to hit him with something? No, his knife was the one that was bloody. He had cut himself, and his blood was smoking where it had struck the walls and floor. His weapon wasn't the knife, but the blood that would dissolve whatever it touched.
As Luvia charged her opponent again, I rolled over and lost track of her. The homunculus climbed on top of me and began throwing fists into my face, only to stand and run towards Luvia to try to protect his master.
I scooped up the gun from where it lay next to me and aimed it as quickly as I could, lining the sights up with the homunculi's back. Then I fired three shots. The burly man took two more steps, slowly succumbing to his wounds as it fell to the ground. His master flinched at the gunshots, clutching his ears with his free hand. Evidently magi didn't know much about hearing damage.
Luvia turned back to me, and our eyes met for a split second. In her blue eyes I could see an intensity that matched my own. Just from that instant, I could tell that she had this fight under control. With a nod, I turned back to help Vasily, who had just thrown the shape shifter back. The snake had vanished and the man's dark tattoos had returned for an instant. Then they traveled up his body, materializing on his head. In a few seconds, his face was pitch black as tattoos swam across his features.
As I reached them, I projected two swords and swung them down to disembowel the magus. The man backpedaled, and his head was consumed in another burst of light. It nearly blinded me, doubling my vision and distracting me from the opponent's imminent attack.
"Luchnik, look out!" shouted Vasily. Emerging from the light was the head of a crocodile, jaws snapping as it attempted to tear out my throat. I raised my swords to block, only for the incredibly powerful teeth to destroy my cheap projections and clamp down on my arm. It was like having a vice-grip made of knives clamping down on bone. I couldn't concentrate enough to project a blade, and despite my kicks and punches, the magus wouldn't even budge as he chewed down on my arm.
It was Vasily that saved me from the looming dismemberment. Charging in with just a knife, he stabbed the body of the magus relentlessly. The magi's grip on my arm loosened, and as soon as the pressure lessened I projected a sword into my right hand. With a pained growl, I stabbed straight through the man, pinning him to the wall with my blade. Vasily cried out in fury and slammed his knife down to the hilt in the man's neck, then pulled a handgun from his rig and unloaded the full magazine into the crocodile face. With an animalistic death cry, the magus's life was violently ended. After a moment, the magus' body returned to normal. The reptilian head recessed and returned to a familiar human head, albeit a human head shot to pieces.
I exhaled and nodded to Vasily in thanks. My sword vanished and the magus' dead body slid down the wall, leaving a dark trail behind it as it slumped to the ground. Behind us I heard a crack like a whip, and when I turned around, Luvia was standing over the body of her opponent. Her hand was smoking, and his corpse looked like he had been struck by lightning and his body was contorted unnaturally in a few places.
"Luvia, are you alright?" I asked. I jogged over to her and looked at the man she had killed. The blood seeping from his wounds was eating its way through the concrete like something out of a science-fiction movie. Behind us, Vasily checked the other rooms to make sure there was no one else waiting to ambush us.
"I am quite well," she said. She grabbed my arm and lifted it up with a sympathetic wince. As she looked over the bloody bite marks, I bit my lip. It was starting to hurt like hell now that my battle rush was wearing off. "That looks bad, Shirou. Let me take care of it quickly."
"Yeah well, I'll be fine." I tried to be dismissive about it, but Luvia wouldn't have any of it. She muttered under her breath as her hand glided across my injury. It felt warm, like running water was cleaning each and every gash in my arm. Dark clumps of coagulated blood pushed themselves to the surface and fell away, removed by Luvia's healing spell. Right before my eyes, my ruined skin closed, leaving smaller, manageable cuts behind. It was like comparing frenzied stab wounds to paper cuts. I breathed out in relief and gave her a smile that she immediately returned.
"Thanks, that was amazing," I said, flexing my arm and moving my fingers. She gently took my arm again, more like a child or wife than a doctor.
"It was nothing," she said. "Reinforce it so the bone stays whole. It may be fractured and my spell is only for light wounds."
"I will," I replied. Then we looked down at the man that she had killed. "Do you know this guy? If they were waiting for us then they must have known that someone would come to find Abdul Seif."
"This is Abu Bakr El-Hashem," she said as she kicked his corpse. "I only know him by reputation. He's a rogue alchemist from the Atlas Academy. He's no magus, just a master of creating poisons and puppets. That knife is a mystic code that he uses to transmit his acidic blood to his targets. He usually makes his business selling homunculi body guards."
"You said Seif was from Atlas as well," I said. "Do you think they knew each other?"
"I doubt it. El Hashem was rogue before Abdul was even in his teens. El Hashem is known to be a magus hunter, but I've never heard of him working with anyone else."
"I've never seen magecraft like that before," I said, nodding my head at the guy Vasily and I had killed.
"It's some sort of Egyptian magic," said Luvia. "From what I saw, it uses the tattooed markings to mimic animals. With a bit of time I could probably tell you whose family he's from, but it doesn't matter right now."
"Could he be Atlas too?" I asked.
"Possibly, but one can never be too certain. There are magic conglomerates all over the world."
"Vasily!" I called.
"What is it?" he yelled back. "Do not worry. I pile corpses in closet, will crush heads with extinguisher of flame so no identities found."
He came back to the hall and began dragging the bodies into one of the other rooms. By this point though, Hashem had nearly dissolved, leaving almost nothing behind. Curiously, his blood was inert now that he had died. After consuming his body, it simply pooled on the floor of the hallway.
"Do you think that Atlas is behind this? Sending rogues to kill people secretly?" I asked.
"I think this is something else. Atlas would never hire rogue alchemists. They have their reputation to consider."
Giving Vasily a sidelong glance, I joined Luvia at the door to Seif's apartment. It was unlocked, with no sign of forced entry. I pushed it open, and we were met with a room that made the hair on my neck stand on end.
The two room apartment was nearly pitch-black, and my flashlight cast long, unnatural shadows on the walls. The kitchen was filled with dirty plates, piling in the sink and on the counters. The fridge was empty, and opened cans were everywhere. It seemed like eating had become a distraction for him. He had no time to buy groceries, cook properly, or even clean up.
"Filthy," whispered Luvia under her breath. "How can commoners live like this?"
Past the kitchen was the apartment's living room, with a door to the left leading into the bedroom. The apartment was spartan at best, with a single couch and a desk against the far wall. It was at the desk that we found Adbul's corpse. He was leaning on the desk like he was nodding off, his face rigid with an expression of agony.
I walked over to the body and laid my hand on the cold forehead. "Dead for a while, but not more than a day," I said. He was gripping his desk tightly, and there was dried blood around his mouth. There was a small hole on his neck, but it was half-healed and didn't look like an obvious cause of death. Upon a closer inspection, I saw lines of black under his skin, radiating out from the wound. I opened one of his eyes and looked closely. They were lined with the black substance as well, and it was clear that he had gone blind at some point before dying.
"Could this be El-Hashem's poison?" said Luvia quietly to herself. Then she said, "No, he has nothing like this."
"I'm sorry," I said, looking at her sympathetically.
She dismissed my condolences with a wave of her hand. "We weren't close. He was just another partner."
"If you say so," I replied. "I don't understand why he just let it happen though. We should look for clues. There's plenty to go through."
That was definitely an understatement. Papers were everywhere. Some typed out, some written frantically; they were strewn across the whole apartment. Everywhere we stepped, they crumpled under our feet. Even the bedroom and living room were covered in them.
Those that weren't being thrown about by the slowly turning fan were attached to the walls. Like a collage, they covered nearly every inch of the apartment, leaving only a few spaces where the green wallpaper was visible. They made little to no sense. Most were newspaper articles or cutouts from magazines and scientific reports. Had Abdul simply gone insane?
"If the killers were going to clean up after him, they must have wanted to eliminate tails like us first. That's the only explanation for why this evidence is still here," I said as I picked up page after page, trying to decipher some meaning out of it. "They probably didn't expect to get killed themselves. Do you think Abdul may have left a message for us hidden in all this junk?"
I walked into the bedroom, only to find more pages covering almost every surface. It was just like the living room, with paper stapled all over the walls as well as the ceiling. In the bathroom, two cans of red paint were almost empty, but there was no sign of any use and the paint at the bottom was completely dry. Whenever he had used it, it was some time ago.
"Here, look at this," said Luvia. I returned to the living room and found her still standing over Abdul's body. She took his closed hand and slowly opened it. Crushed in his palm was a piece of paper.
"How did you even see that?" I asked.
"I do not know," she replied. "It was simply a hunch."
I leaned over her shoulder as she opened and smoothed out the page. There were only two words, calmly written in a loose cursive. "Dominic Pius" it read.
"A name?" I muttered. "Leave it to a dead man to leave a cryptic clue. Is this the perpetrator, or another person of interest?"
Footsteps from the doorway heralded the arrival of Vasily. He stepped into the dark room, pulling a flashlight of his own off of his belt. "What is this?" he said. "Crazy house of murder victim. I see this in book of H.P. Lovecraft. Arab write novel, is violently kill by monster of tentacle persuasion."
"Unfortunately this is stuff we deal with every day," I said with a shrug.
"I wait outside. Will guard door," he said before exiting the apartment again. He was obviously realizing that he was getting in over his head. It was natural for him to feel that way. Most normal people wouldn't react well to magic, and I felt bad for dragging him into this situation, even if he did insist on joining us.
"Let's split up again," I said. "You check the kitchen, I'll go through the bedroom."
There was only one idea that came to mind. I walked into the bedroom and immediately pulled the mattress off the bed. It was a bit simple, but it paid off. Under the mattress, Abdul had hidden a lockbox. It was small enough to carry, and thankfully untouched by the assassins. They could have easily made off with it.
"Luvia, I found something," I said, walking back into the living room. I placed the box on the couch as she joined me.
I began to ask her if she had an unlocking spell, only for her to blast the lock with a gandr shot. "Well that's one way to do it."
With a sharp tug, I pulled the lockbox open and revealed its contents. I pulled out two sheets of paper, leaving a folded map in the box.
The first page was covered in frantic scribbles. They were names, I realized after a second, and almost all of them were crossed off. I swallowed nervously as I read the names.
"Malviola Carnac, Loren Yuresia, Jorus Sevvenson. . ." I muttered. "Luvia, just to be sure, these are people you know, right?"
She took a look at the sheet and nodded after a moment. "I recognize all of those names as friends of Abdul. He's worked with most of them at one point or another." There was a pause as she furrowed her brow. Then she said quietly, "They've all died in the past few years."
"What about this?" I said, pointing at the last few names on the list which remained uncrossed. Her eyes traveled down the page, and her face went pale as she read what remained.
Luviagelitta Edelfelt
Waver Velvet
Tohsaka Rin
Tohsaka Sakura
Emiya Shirou
"Why us? What have we done?" said Luvia, almost frantically. "Why are we being targeted?"
"I don't know, but I need to call Tohsaka," I said. I pulled my phone from my belt and quickly dialed the number.
"I'll get in contact with Lord El-Melloi as soon as I can," said Luvia with a nod. "Maybe he can figure something out for us."
My heart pounded as the phone rang in my ear. Three rings went by, then four. In the back of my head, paranoia began to set in. Had they already been killed? Then, like a splash of cold water on my face, I heard the line open.
"Hello?" said an incredibly tired Tohsaka Rin. I must have woken her up. "Shirou, what do you want?"
"Rin, I need you to listen to me," I said. "It's important."
There was a pause, and when she spoke again there was steel in her voice. "I'm listening. I take it this is about the situation with Luvia?"
"That's right. Somebody is targeting magi. The only thing that links the people in the group is Luvia. But your name is on a hit list, and so is Sakura's."
"Tell me more about this other group."
"The rest of them are linked to an old partner of Luvia, a certain Abdul Seif from the Atlas Academy. That's all there is so far. Please, stay with Sakura and make sure nothing happens to her."
"I will," she said. "I wasn't planning on leaving Japan, so I'll come up with an excuse to have her stay with me for a while."
"Good, that's great." I breathed a sigh of relief and was about to hang up the phone when she spoke again.
"Your name was on the list too, right?"
"Yeah."
"Take care of yourself," said Rin softly. Then she added, "and Luvia too. She's tough, but she gets in over her head sometimes and won't admit it."
"I'll protect her," I said. "I'm not going to let anyone else die."
I ended the call and finally took a look at the other sheet of paper in my hand. Written cleanly on one side was a single sentence.
Find Subject Zero. The writing was smooth and easy to read, unlike the poorly written cursive on the list of names.
"What is Subject Zero supposed to be?" I asked myself out loud. "Some crazy experiment like Engstrom?"
"It makes no sense to me. Abdul must have been a part of something dreadful." Luvia shook her head.
"Then you're being targeted because he may have told you something," I said nodding. "Just like everyone else."
"But why you? Why Tohsaka-san and her sister?" asked Luvia. "I wasn't close enough to Abdul to have learned anything, and whatever he knew certainly wouldn't have spread to you!"
"I don't understand it either. I don't know why he only left these hints. Is he trying to mislead us, or are these small hints supposed to put us on the right track?"
"Maybe even Abdul didn't know the full extent of the plan," said Luvia as she pulled up the map from the lockbox. "He may have told us everything he heard"
I crawled next to her and raised my flashlight as she unfolded the map on the couch. "What city is it?" I asked, looking at the street names carefully.
"Prague," replied Luvia. "These marks are odd though."
I looked where she was pointing. The map was covered in small circles around buildings and street names. However, many of them had been crossed off after, leaving only four or five circles remaining.
"What do you think it is?" I said.
"I don't know, but if we're going to get any closer to solving this. . ."
"We need to go to Prague," I finished for her. "I have a contact there that can help us. She's not a magus, but she's working with the Association there."
"Are you ok with leaving here?" Her brow was furrowed in concern, an unusual expression for the typically graceful Luvia. "You came here to save people from the civil war."
"But you asked for my help, and whoever is behind this is targeting innocents," I said. "I promised Rin that I'd protect you, so I'm coming with you to Prague."
"I-if that's what you want," said Luvia as she stood and turned away. Her voice was hurried and a tad shocked. It seemed she didn't expect me to be so adamant about coming along. "I gladly accept your company."
I stood and turned to leave, but as I left the living room something caught my eye. I turned my flashlight back to the wall. Though it was covered by hundreds of individual pages, there were small gaps scattered across the living room wall. Shining the light on one of the gaps, I noticed red underneath. Wasn't the wallpaper green though? I reached forward and tore off the pages around the red mark.
"Luvia, you'd better get back here," I called as I tore of paper after paper, revealing the masses of red paint beneath. She walked back in while I was in the middle of my work, and immediately rushed to help me. In only a few minutes we managed to clear most of the wall, enough to read the message that Abdul had left. Smeared across the wallpaper with furious brushstrokes, the ramblings sent a jolt of apprehension down my spine.
YOU CANNOT CONTROL IT YOU CANNOT CONTROL IT YOU CANNOT CONTROL IT YOU CANNOT CONTROL IT YOU CANNOTCONTROLITYOUCANNOTCONTROLITYOUCANNOTCONTROLI TYOUCANN
"What is this?" I muttered. The message, painted haphazardly across every inch of the wall, was like the last words of a fevered patient. I swallowed and turned to Luvia, who was staring at them intensely. Sweat coated her brow, and she seemed as disturbed as I was.
"It seems that Abdul lost his mind," said Luvia. "But even the words of an insane man can be useful. Was this meant for us? Or someone else?"
I snapped a photo of the wall with my smartphone and said, "Whoever it's for, we should get out of here."
Together, we walked to the door and met Vasily. "We're done here," I said quietly.
"Ah, finish with crazy house? I hope you find clue to help Princess here." He fell in step with us as we quickly left the apartment building. In the distance, the sun was rising over the rooftops. Artillery shells and rockets whistled overhead, exploding further into the city.
"Vasily," I said as we stopped by the side of the road. "Luvia and I need to go to Prague."
He nodded gruffly. "I understand. This war is not of you. Is of Russia and people here. Go now and fight for what you believe."
I reached out my hand and he grabbed it. Shaking my hand violently, he said, "I will stay. Must fight for wife. Must kill until I am dead on side of road."
"I'm going to come back," I said. "I promise."
"Yes, I will be where fighting is thickest," he said as he released my hand. "I will not die."
With that, Luvia and I turned away and began walking to the west, the sunrise at our back.
Originally Posted by NewAgeOfPower
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