Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Fate: one half ❯ Chapter 5

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: kilich

Day 5

Ranma slowly left the dreamland, his senses telling him that it was safe enough to take his time. Waking from the dream where he was with two women that looked a lot like his girl form.

`Some sisters. They treated me even worse then Pops did.' He thought as he remembered their relentless teasing and stopped when he caught himself.

`Sisters? But I don't have any!'

`Damn, this curse is messing with my mind again.' He thought when he opened his eyes and saw his gloved hands hugging Sakura who snuggled as close as possible.

`I don't even feel the difference between my forms now; it's almost as if I was born that way.' Rider thought with displeasure, carefully removing her hands and moved away from the girl, her long hair trailing behind.

Ranma stopped when Sakura turned in her sleep and revealed her face.

`Man, what happened yesterday that made her cry again? And more importantly why I'm in cursed form? I don't remember splashing myself.' she thought slightly worried and decided to wake the girl.

“Sakura. C'mon, wake up.” She said, lightly shaking the girl, but Sakura only faintly smiled in her sleep and tried to pull the older girl closer.

`What the hell happened to her? She's holding me like I was holding the cliff when Pops trained me how to climb it and I almost fell down.'

Deciding to use harsher methods, Rider pressed several pressure points on other girl`s body, immediately waking her up.

“Rider? Good morning.” said Sakura releasing her and said in voice that Ranma only heard peple talked about losing something dear to them.

“I'm sorry I splashed you yesterday, I just wanted to be near you.”

“Why?” asked Ranma, slightly puzzled by her tone but she felt too relieved when she understood that she changed because of cold water and not because the curse self-activated as she first thought to think more about it.

Sakura rose from the bed and went to change to her day clothes, causing her Servant to turn around and slightly blush.

When she finished, the younger girl answered the earlier question with slight hesitation as if she tried to veil her thoughts from showing in her voice.

“After Shiro fell asleep I thought that you might feel lonely and came to you.”

“Right…” Ranma felt that she should ask more, but decided that delicious smell that came from the kitchen was more important then pursuing some vague notions.

At the breakfast, when Shiro helped Sakura with bringing food and Taiga called away Saber for a minute to talk about something, Ranma asked Rin who sat near at the opposite side of the table.

“What happened to Sakura yesterday? She had me worried in the morning.”

Rin looked at the Servant and answered.

“After we returned I said to Sakura that in the end of this war she'll have to either void her contract with you, or hurt Shiro, because, most likely, he'll not be willing to cancel his contract with Saber.”

Rin paused when the door opened and Shiro and Rider's Master walked in with trays full of food, but continued when everybody took their places.

“What do you think about it yourself, Rider?”

Ranma waved that question off before she started to empty her dish.

“I'll think about it when I'll have to.”

After the meal, Masters went to school, followed by incorporeal Archer and Rider was having fun practicing her stalking skills while she followed the trio. Saber stayed at home because Shiro didn't want her to come to school with him and she could neither disappear, nor she was skilled at stealth.

After the long uneventful day, when they were returning from school, Shiro separated from the girls because he had to go to the hospital to visit Ayako.

He found her yesterday, in one of the alleys where she laid unconscious, while he and Saber looked for other Masters and immediately carried her to the nearest hospital.

Now he wanted to check on her and ask if she remembered anything that could lead him to whereabouts of other Masters.

Several hours later, when Shiro walked home, he decided to relax in the park and buy himself something to eat. A little peace and quiet, even a short one sounded nice, because when he arrived to Ayako, he met a policeman that searched for the girl and who didn't let him go until he heard in detail about how, when and why Shiro found the girl and carried her to the hospital.

“Good evening, Shiro.” said frighteningly familiar and cheerful voice, breaking the silence that seemed to permeate the evening air.

Shiro recoiled as if he wanted to run away but saw that Ilya was without Berserker and calmed a little.

“Hello, Ilya.”

“What are you doing here all alone, onii-chan? Its dangerous.” asked Ilya, walking closer and slightly leaning so she could look into his eyes.

“You are here to kill me?”

“No. I don't want to kill you, yet.” answered Ilya and her eyes suddenly became red.

“Oh, you are caught already.” pouted the girl, seeing Shiro body freeze as soon as she used a paralyze spell.

“You're so defenseless, Shiro. It's even cute.” said Ilya and when his eyes started to close she added.

“Good night, onii-chan.”

“Shiro.” Saber looked up from her meditative pose she usually spent her time in and rose to her feet.

“Rin, Shiro is in trouble. Most likely he's captured by an enemy.” She said when she found Archer's Master in the yard.

The sorcerer turned around to her. “Archer ran away somewhere on his own. And I don't want to use my second Command Seal to summon him here yet.”

Rin turned back to where she was facing before and asked, pointing forward. “Tell me Saber, is this where Shiro was taken to?”

Saber checked in which direction her link with Shiro went to, and nodded.

“Yes, it appears that Shiro was taken in that direction.”

“If Archer went to help Shiro, then maybe we can defeat even Berserker.”

Shiro was in the dreamland. It was only explanation why he was near a hill that was half surrounded by an army of medieval knights that were shouting praise to their king.

“Long live the king!”

“He never ages!”

“He is an incarnation of a dragon!”

“He never showed fear since he took up his sword!”

`King?'

He looked up the hill and saw Saber stand on the very top with both of her hands on hilt of a vaguely familiar sword.

`Saber?'

`That sword. I think I saw it somewhere.'

Soon the dream ended and he found himself tied to a chair in unknown room.

“Onii-chan, finally you are awake.” said Ilya suddenly appearing before him.

“Where am I?”

“You are in my room. Be thankful for that Shiro, usually captives go to prison in the cellar.”

Ilya walked to him and sat on his knees before saying.

“Become my servant Shiro. Then I won't have to kill you.”

“What?! No, I can't be your servant.”

“But when I kill Saber you won't have to be Master anymore. I'll protect you forever.” said Ilya, hugging the boy.

“No! I won't let you hurt Saber!”

“Shiro, you should remember that I hold your life in my hands. You shouldn't make me angry.” said Ilya silencing his outburst.

“You're special to me but if you betray me, I'll kill you as well.”

“I can't become your servant Ilya, I can't betray Saber.”

Ilya jumped down from his knees and said while she walked out.

“Then stay here, Shiro. I'll kill all other Masters and Saber. Maybe then you'll regret your decision.”

When the door closed, Shiro immediately tried to break free, but the remains of Ilya's spell still hindered his movements.

“I'll just have to clean her spell out of me.”

He concentrated and felt one of his spell circuits activate, forming the spell.

“It forms much faster than usual. Must be because of the jewel Rin made me swallow when we first met.”

“Just a bit more. Yes!” exclaimed Shiro, pulling his hands out of the ropes.

He sneaked towards the door and was about to open it when the window behind him shattered and a familiar figure jumped into the room.

“Archer?! What are you doing here?”

Archer smirked and created two falchions in his hands. One sword was black, while its twin brother was white.

“I came to kill you Emiya Shiro.”

“What!? Didn't Rin said that we have a truce!?” yelled Shiro, not believing that TÅsaka could do such a thing.

“I came here on my own free will.” answered Archer, crossing the swords in front of his chest.

“My True name is Emiya Shiro. World's Counter Guardian. A man who betrays the beliefs he swore not to break every time he kills a hundred to save a thousand, a thousand to save a million.”

Archer glared at the redheaded boy, intently, and added.

“That's why you have to die. I will remove myself from the history!”

With last words said, Archer leaped at the boy, his swords prepared for an overhead swing.

Shiro desperately thought about defense and, suddenly, he remembered Caster's words.

`With your talent you'll be able to recreate my Rule Breaker when you'll need it.'

Bringing his hand to a position to block Archer's attack, he imagined the dagger appearing in his hand.

A falchion met with Rule Breaker and shattered while its twin missed when the force of the first blow threw the boy through the door and into the wall.

Coughing, Shiro stood upright and pointed the weapon at his opponent.

“I don't believe you! I would never betray my ideals!”

Archer cursed in disgust at the speech of his younger self and leaped forward before Shiro could react and jump back. The dagger pierced Archer's shoulder with a flash of light and the Servant took a step back.

“Now that you have removed my contract with Rin, I have more then enough time to kill you. In the end there's nothing you can do to save yourself, Shiro.” he said creating another pair of swords.

`This is bad. I can't fight him with only a dagger, I need a stronger weapon.' thought Shiro gripping Rule Breaker and searching his memory for a stronger weapon. However, Archer wasn't willing to give him enough time and attacked, one of his swords meeting the dagger while the other one cut deeply in the Shiro's arm.

Fortunately, this time he didn't flew into the wall but along the corridor and upon landing he, as quickly as he could, stood up and ran toward the exit.

He ran into the big hall and noting the stairs, he ran down still hoping to reach the door, but already hearing the whistle of Archer's twin falchions that flew to him.

Suddenly, Ilya voice cut through his ragged breathing.

“Berserker!”

Instantly the giant jumped down and with one swing deflected the flying swords, his landing shaking the floor enough to throw the redheaded boy to the ground.

“Nobody will kill him but me!” said Ilya in an angry voice appearing from shadow before the staircase where she hid and yelled.

“Berserker, tear that Servant apart!

Her Servant roared and charged Archer who dodged his swing, but even the air pressure waves from the giant's weapon proved sufficient for a deep cut to appear on his shoulder.

Using his swords, he tried to block the next, fatal, attack but was overpowered and thrown in to the wall.

“Heh. You live up to your reputation, Hercules.” smirked Archer and leaped to the second floor.

“I'm the bone of my sword.” started his incantation Archer and bow and an unusual looking sword appeared in his hands, the sword reshaping itself to an arrow of light when he prepared to fire.

He released his arrow towards the boy that was in the middle of the hall, but with surprising agility Berserker intercepted it.

The impact created an astonishing explosion that sent a pillar of energy through the ceiling.

“Berserker had to block? Who is he?” murmured Ilya when the dust and debris settled down and both the Giant and the redheaded boy looked unharmed.

“Berserker, kill him quickly before he kills you!”

Archer once again created a pair of swords in his hands and looked defiantly at Hercules.

“Steel is my body. And fire is my blood.”

“Oh, man. Something bad is happening there.” said Rider in a worried voice when a column of light tore upwards out of the castle they were heading to.

“Archer is dead. I hope that means Shiro is still alive.” said Rin and worriedly looked at Saber, who was carrying her.

“It would've been easier if I didn't have to carry you along.” grumbled the other Servant, looking down at the plum haired girl who had two red seals adorning one of her hands.

A few jumps and ten seconds later they knocked down the door and half destroyed hall appeared before them. In there, fought Berserker and …

“Archer!?” yelled Rin, at first glance she thought that since he was alive then somehow the contract between them was broken and she could get him back, but Berserker seemed to… defend Shiro from Archer.

“Rin, get Sakura out of here! I'll get Shiro.” said Ranma materializing her chain.

When the girl nodded and pulled the other girl back, she jumped in and sent her weapon towards the boy. When it tied itself around him, she pulled but Berserker suddenly turned around, slashed the chain apart and charged at her.

`This is bad.' appeared the thought, before her reflexes acted and she jumped high in the air, simultaneously reforming her chain.

Archer took his chance to attack and would've killed his target if it wasn't for Saber who blocked his swords and forced her enemy to jump back.

Looking at his enemy, Archer smiled a sad smile and continued his incantation.

“Unknown to death, nor known to life.”

`Heh. Stupid brute.' thought Ranma, jumping from one wall to another in a path that'll carry her over her target and as soon as she saw Berserker's back, she attacked. Her spikes dressed into a purple light and spinning madly, shot out of her hands with a speed that rivaled a low-speed bullet.

The giant roared when two more bloody holes appeared in his back and tried to grab the chain, but Rider, clinging to a wall far out of his reach, already retracted them and prepared to attack again.

“Berserker! Kill them all now!” yelled Ilya, now angry beyond belief. Her entire body covered in arcane symbols representing magic circuits and her Servant, with a blue aura appearing around him, roared and smashed his fist into the floor. That simple rage-driven move carried enough power to shake the building and even cause his purple haired enemy to lose her hold on the wall.

Ranma's eyes widened when Hercules, moving with lightning speed, jumped to her and his weapon swung to cleave her in half.

Using the axe-club as leverage, she pulled herself out the gap between the weapon and the wall, a moment before it closed with thunderous crash. But she was unable to disengage because Berserker grabbed her with his free hand and squeezing her hard, threw her into another wall.

`Well, if odds are not in my favor, I just need to turn them around.' thought Rider, trying to keep her consciousness when her body slid out of the crater she just created.

Shaking her head free of the fog and rising to her knees, she looked at the approaching giant and leaped away.

Bouncing off every surface she could use to escape her pursuer, even with her slowed movements, she made her way towards Saber.

“Let him take care of Archer!” she yelled and abruptly jumped aside, setting Berserker and Archer on a collision course.

Understanding the plan, Saber forgot about her opponent, who barely jumped out of harm's way, and taking Shiro's hand, dashed towards the exit.

Unfortunately for two Servants and Shiro, Archer managed to finish his incantation before they were out of his Noble Phantasm's reach.

“So as I pray. Unlimited Blade Works.”

With those words, everyone seemed to freeze in motion as light erupted from under his legs and a ring of fire expanded from him, changing the stone floor to a brown ground as it ran along it.

As soon as the fire ring reached the ceiling and closed above Archer's head, everyone found themselves in a dim-lighted barren land with a lot of swords sticking out of the brown soil. The sky was covered by dark clouds and giant gears were seen far away, as if they limited this strange place.

“What… A Reality Marble?” said Ilya as she looked around. “Where is he, Berserker?”

“A Reality Marble?” repeated Rider and looked at Shiro, who only clutched his bleeding arm harder and shook his head.

“I'm here.” said Archer's calm voice.

When everyone turned around, they saw his bloodied figure standing proudly with smirk on his face.

“As you can see, you are facing an unlimited amount of swords. The finest of swords. Even though my defeat is certain, I'll take you with me.”

With those words, Archer pulled the sword nearby out of the ground and charged.

“Berserker!” cried Ilya and the giant intercepted the red and black clad Servant.

When Hercules who seemed invincible in their previous fights, roared and fell to his knees with several swords protruding from his body, Ranma felt that Archer might succeed in killing them all here.

“Hey, what the hell?! This guy was dead!” she yelled when Berserker stood up, all of his injuries disappearing and with a leap he intercepted Archer before he could get close to Shiro.

“The strongest of Servants.” smirked Archer and changed his tactics. Now, whenever he found an opportunity and those happened quite often, he threw nearby swords at two Servants that protected Shiro.

“Ouch. What are these swords are made from? They pack more punch than a boulder.” hissed Rider when she deflected a sword thrown by Archer and felt the recoil painfully echo in her body.

“Stand aside.” commanded Saber and a strong wind that was coiled around her sword, concealing it, was released and made sure that none of Archer's projectiles could hit them.

A few minutes later, Archer stopped his assault and jumped away from the Berserker.

“Emiya Shiro. I have an advice for you.” his voice easily cut through other sounds, even the roar of Saber's Invisible Air.

“Get this straight. You are not a fighter, you are a creator. There's only one thing you can do, master that one thing.”

Archer's body started to disappear, turning into sparks, but he continued.

“Always remember. If you can't defeat your enemies with what you have, imagine what you need and then your only enemy will be you own image.”

When Archer stopped, the world around them changed back to the badly damaged hall they were in before.

“I can't believe he killed Berserker two times. I can't believe.” murmured Ilya, irritated, and turned to Shiro.

“Now, onii-chan. I'll kill those Servants.”

The redheaded boy climbed to his knees, still weak from the loss of blood, and asked.

”Stop this Ilya. I don't want to fight you.”

“No, onii-chan. I'm a Master and while I have Berserker I must kill other Masters.”

“Then… I will kill Berserker.” said Shiro, standing up with Rider's help, who looked far worse than he did.

Hearing Shiro's words, Saber stepped in front of them and raised her sword.

“Berserker! Kill them all!”

As the giant flew towards them, Saber's sword, now fully revealed, started to descent. “Excalibur!” she cried out and a river of crackling yellow energy shot towards the Berserker and engulfing him passed further, creating another huge hole in the castle's roof.

When the light subsided, only a cloud of sparks showed the place where Berserker stood, only seconds ago.

Saber smiled faintly and would've fallen on the ground if it wasn't for Shiro, who ran to her and held her close, hoping that she won't disappear as her armor and sword just did. He didn't notice when his strength ran out and he fell unconscious as well.

“Berserker!” whispered Ilya staring at her hand, where her Command Seals were, her heart filling with sorrow.

“Now, where's Sakura and Rin?” asked Ranma looking around.

“Even if I look okay, I had a way too rough night to be able to carry them both all by myself” she said when she spotted her target, a small abandoned shack, and walked to it, feeling every bruise that brute left on her body.