Infinity Blue
The Future is Endless
I hate my brother’s job. Whatever the occasion, the place would end up an incorrigible mess, with red paint and artificial limbs tossed everywhere. At least, that’s what I would tell myself. Watching his work so many times I’ve lost count, that small comfort was all I could afford to keep myself sane. Offending my brother’s passion was the last thing I wanted.
Today, brother wore a tight gray hoodie over skinny jeans, with vibrant red sneakers to compliment his attire. He was crouched over the aftermath of his work. He glanced over at me, triumphant smile in tow, and waved his red hand over. The paint smelled like iron. “Yo, Honoka, help me clean this one up, yeah? This job was a lot messier than I anticipated. Old man put up quite a fight, you know.” He reached below him and picked up something that faintly resembled an arm. “The surgery went flawlessly, though. Check it out; not one trace of his crest left!” Brother raised the object high up into the air, the same way the statue of liberty held up her torch. The difference was that this object was a lot more disgusting than the American beacon. The still-fresh paint violently dripped all over the floor.
“Brother, please put that down; it’s dirty.” I felt nauseated just looking at it. At least I’m not puking anymore.
“Still, this guy was probably the last major Magus that decided to stay in Tokyo,” Brother paid my concern no mind, and continued to wave the object around as if it were a toy airplane. “I’m worried we won’t be able to get any more crests for the ritual.”
“It does not only have to be good crests, brother,” I gave an automaton-like response. I inferred something horrible, and I’m conscious of it. As I am right now, however, I’m willing to do almost anything to appease my brother.
“Heh, you know I’ve been targeting these high profile punks for your sake, right? I get that you’re not the biggest fan of my procedures, so I’ve been going for the big boys. You know, higher yield, less casualties.”
“Is that so… Wait, what do you mean, for my sake?” I ask, genuinely confused. As far as I’m concerned, he’s never taken me into the consideration of his plans. I was always the one following his schemes unwittingly.
“It shows on your face, dear sister. I think it’s applaudable that you try so hard to hide your thoughts. Your expression as you try to withhold your disgust is just way too cute~,” He responded with that same triumphant smile. I instinctively retreated as he complimented me, only to realize a second after that he was teasing me. Bastard.
“I… I see…” I could only muster a meek response. I had always assumed I was doing a good job of holding myself back. Even though I knew I wasn’t completely desensitized yet, I thought I had at least made my face unreadable. I suppose I gave myself too much credit still. “Dear brother, you need not worry for me,” I lied to the best of my ability, “your mercy is the only reason I live, and so I shall serve you faithfully and see to it that your goals are reached.” I didn’t notice until I finished speaking, but my eyes were glued to the floor as I gave him my speech. Did he realize it?! A cold fear crept through my spine. Still, it was only going to get worse unless I faced him. I slowly inched my head up, hesitant to look brother in the eyes. Please don’t interpret my fear as a sign of disrespect. I reflexively slammed my eyelids down right before our eyes met. Be brave, Honoka. Be brave. Slowly, my heavy eyelids dispersed. To my surprise, there was no anger in brother’s eyes. Instead, I found a childish, innocent smile, without any of his usual malice, sprinkled across his face.
A small girl, clad from top to bottom in dirty black rags and emanating a powerful aura of filth, materialized and interrupted us, completely ignoring me and staring lifelessly at my brother. “Master, it’s time we left. This man’s security system wasn’t completely destroyed as you had hoped; it was only temporarily disabled. A distress signal has already been sent. We won’t have time for the cleaning if we want to make it out of here without dealing with Enforcers,” she spoke softly and quietly. It was a voice that was both soothing and haunting.
“Ah, shit. Looks like that’s the problem with these older generations, huh? You never know when they have a surprise in store for you, even after they’re dead,” my brother spoke without an ounce of worry in neither his voice nor face. He stood up and wiped some paint from his clothes. “Hey, Honoka, we’re close to finishing the Grail now, right? Just a few more conduits to get the system activated, and we’ve already set up the whole of the Yamamote line as a base, am I right?” he asked me knowing full well the answer.
“What are you implying, brother…?”
“Isn’t it convenient for us, that the last crests we need are coming straight at us, like a divinely timed gift? It’s time the Tokyo Grail War’s invitations have been sent out, no?” I see a devilish smirk make its way across my brother’s face. His hands tensed up into fists, and mana surged through him violently. “You can just sit here and watch. You haven’t summoned your Servant yet, after all. Me and Assassin, we’ll discipline these dogs of the Association. Ah, but don’t you worry, we’ll show some restraint.” The mana was transfiguring brother into something demonic. His hair turned silver, and his bloodlust came into the visible colour spectrum. His muscles bulged as if he had a heavy steroid injection, and his nails turned into claws. His face had been contorted into one of mad excitement and joy; I could see the veins popping around his eyes. “We’ll make sure one of them makes it out of here alive,” his voice, too, became distorted, “so they can give out the Tokyo Grail invitations to the rest of that damned Mage’s Association.” With his transfiguration complete, he ran ahead to greet the Enforcers mobilizing on our position. Assassin, however, showed none of the zeal that my brother did. She looked at me one last time, with that same lifeless gaze, before dissipating in front of my eyes to catch up to her Master. When they both disappeared from my sight, I fell on my knees, and felt a tear drop down from my face.
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So, I heard BL hates 6th Grail Wars.
Good thing Infinity Blue isn't exactly a 6th Grail War. After all, how can a 6th Grail War be possible if the Fuyuki Grail was dismantled after the 5th Grail War, right?!
I've prepared my flame shield regardless.
Stay tuned to witness Shirou's great-granddaughter duke it out with Rin's great-granddaughter in an all-out catfight. It'll happen. Eventually.
Special Thanks to Bloble for helping my writing suck less.
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