"Oh, it'll be fine for me, don't worry," The blonde troublemaker said easily with a self satisfied smile on her face. "After all this wouldn't be the first time that I've spent the night with Godou, he knows what I'm like in the morning. Also Shizuka should be getting accustomed to seeing me in the morning like that."
"Don't say things that are so easily misunderstood!"
Godou's shout of irritation and resigned despair did little to stall both Liliana and Yuri as they verbally pounced on him, demanding he clarify Erica's last statement.
"Godou-san what does Erica-san mean by that? Have you been having such improper relations?"
"Kusanagi Godou, as your knight I am sworn to follow your orders and aid you as I can, however that does not mean there are actions that I will accept quietly you know? Now please explain what Erica meant by that."
At that point the bell signalling the end of the lunch break rang. To the seventh Campione its shrill cry was a peel of salvation, an excuse to escape the situation he found himself in.
"Ah, come on, we can't be late now." His voice might have just been a tad squeakier than it would have normally been as he grabbed his bento box and dashed off.
-()-
To Shirou the rest of the day passed far faster than it should have. He only paid half a mind to his lessons; the majority of his thoughts were focused on wondering why a magic user would swear her services to a high school student. After coming up with a good half dozen potential answers, each of which was more implausible than the last, he had admitted to himself that he just didn't have enough information.
Finally the bell for the end of day sounded and the red haired teen packed up his books and left to find his sister. The two of them met and silently agreed to leave the academy immediately. A few minutes later they had been picked up by Yusuke-san who was now driving his newly purchased car.
"You know Yusuke," commented Shirou as the blue Ferrari joined the stream of traffic on the road, "I've been thinking about recruiting a few more servants for the manor. It seems unfair to expect you to not only serve as my accountant and aid but also expect you to be a chauffer and a part time house keeper. If I could recruit a capable maid or butler I imagine it would make life a fair bit easier for you."
"That's kind of you to think of Shirou-sama, but right now we have more important things to think about. This morning we had a pair of very interesting callers at the gate." The drivers tone was calm for the most part, but slightly tinged with excitement and worry.
"They weren't trying to sell us insulation were they?" Illya asked suspiciously. The snowy haired girl had developed a server distrust of salesmen ever since their second week in Tokyo. At the time she had been separated from Shirou and had seen a small crowd gathering at a squares corner. Curious as to what was drawing their attention she had investigated and had found the source to be a salesman demonstrating the utility of some ridiculously overcomplicated cleaning appliance.
Unfortunately poor Illya had never been exposed to the kind of aggressive marketing jargon that such street sellers used and was rather helplessly dragged into the salesman's tempo. After listening to him for the better part of half an hour she had rushed off to find Shirou and demand that he immediately purchase no less than three of the cleaning tools. Her adopted brother had listened to her parrot the salesman's slogans and catch phrases until she finally ran out of steam. Then he calmly reminded her that they were currently living in a hotel, and as such didn't have to do any cleaning.
The young Einzbern's entire thought process had come to a screeching halt as she realized the sheer absurdity of what she was doing. To this day she still maintained the belief that the salesman had used some terribly subtle form of mind control on her to make her act like that. Consequently she had developed the firm belief that all salesmen were agents of evil seeking to brainwash their customers into buying their goods. The last such fellow who had shown up to try and sell something to the new owners of the manor had fled the place howling in fear and babbling about demonic haunting. Illya had been especially proud of how she had modified the boundary field she had set up so that it could affect individuals she selected. Since then she had performed further modifications and was eagerly waiting for her next victim to show up so she could test them.
"Ah, no Illya-san, actually they claimed to be representatives sent by the History Compilation Committee, they confirmed that it was an organization dealing with the supernatural and stated that they wished to offer their services to the eighth Campione. I told them that you weren't in and they said they'd return at five o'clock to speak to you"
Silence reigned in the car for a short time.
"What was your impression of them?" Shirou asked carefully.
"Well I only spoke to one of them and it was only for a short time over the gates intercom. Still she struck me as a pretty sensible girl, but she did seem to be a touch intimidated and hesitant. Whoever these folk are I think it's a fairly safe bet to say that they're a fair bit intimidated by you."
"Remember what that magi said after you fought Hades?" put in Illya, "About a Campione being a supreme ruler because he can use the powers of a god and none have the power to match him? If we take that to be real then maybe the magi of this world treat Campione kind of how the Clock Tower would treat a true Magician. If that's the case then as long as we put up a strong front then nobody will try to move against you."
The adopted siblings spoke openly of their otherworldly origins in front of Yusuke. They had decided to make him aware of them since his loyalty was guaranteed and his wits might be able to aid them in their search for a way back.
"Shirou-sama," the reincarnated souls spoke up as he drove the car around a bend, "I know next to nothing about magic and magi, but I do know that you are a man who has slain a god and claimed his power for your own. I know you don't like for me to speak of it but you are my King, it is your power that gives me form and life and your will that rules over me. You are a kind liege and allow me to make my own decisions, but if you wished it you could order me to stand in a fire for all eternity and I would have no choice but to obey.
"You are a King, and these people seem ready to at least acknowledge that you are a power.
"My recommendation is that when you speak to them you take the position of the stronger party. I don't know what kind of resources they might be able to bring to bare upon you, but I don't imagine they can have access to anything that's more potent than a god."
Without answering Shirou slowly nodded, knowing his servant could see the motion in the rear view mirror. His advice made sense. He would be meeting them in his manor, in the place he and Illya had spent the last few weeks turning into as close to an impenetrable fortress as they could. Bonded fields, booby traps, undead warriors and prepared demonic monsters. If these emissaries did prove to be false they'd find themselves in a lot of trouble.
Still another fact kept on drawing his attention. They had called him the eighth Campione, the eighth. That indicated that there were at least seven others with powers similar to his own, possibly even more.
No, he couldn't lend credence to the notion that there could be many others. Angra Mainyu had caused devastation about himself while in his newborn state simply by existing. Perseus could have fought on an equal footing with most of the Servants in the Grail War, it had only been the fact that he had not brought that full power to bare upon him that had allowed Shirou to defeat and slay him. Hades may have lacked skill in combat, but his strength had been comparable to that of Saber's corrupted form and his invisibility would have done any Assassin proud.
The thought that such beings could be easily slain was simply unthinkable.
In his mind he began to draw up a list of things that he would try and either demand or purchase from this History Compilation Committee. And one thing that was definitely going to be on that list was information about Campione, both past and present.
-()-
Kaida stood in exactly the same place as she had that morning and once more drew in a deep breath to calm herself. Idly she thought that it couldn't be too good for her health to keep being driven to this state of worry only to calm down and then return to it less than a day later.
Once more Manaka reached out a hand and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.
Well, nothing ventured nothing gained. Firmly stamping down her fear the black haired Hime-Miko reached out and once more pressed the intercom button on the gate.
"Yes?"
It was the same voice as this morning; the one she had guessed belonged to Yamada Yusuke.
"This is Renjou Kaida, as advised this morning myself and my companion have returned and hope that his majesty Emiya-sama will consent to granting us an audience."
Her reply had been prepared and would hopefully serve to both convey her respect for the eighth Campione as well as stroke his ego a bit. During her training the user of the Dragon's Roar had sometimes been forced to seek tutelage from some of the more arrogant and less pleasant members of her clan. When dealing with them she had always found them to be more agreeable after she had heaped praise and respect upon them. With any luck at all a similar approach might work on this Emiya Shirou.
"Emiya-sama has been waiting for you and would be glad to speak with you. Please wait there and I will escort you in."
The reply came quickly and without hesitation. This time the resurrected soul had been quite sure as to his response to her query.
"Well, it looks like we will be meeting with Emiya-sama after all." She commented to her friend in a voice that only had the faintest hint of a quaver in it.
"You don't have to do this Kaida-sama," the witch warrior's voice was almost pleading, "You don't have to offer yourself up to this Campione like this, we can just leave. I know some people who can get us out of the country if we want; once we're on the mainland I have a few contacts we could use. Between the two of us we wouldn't have any trouble finding a place in one of the societies there."
Before she had grown to know her somewhat odd friend Kaida would have regarded such a suggestion as a bitter betrayal of both her family and the Committee they were a part of. Now though she saw the offer for what it was intended to be, a show of loyalty and solidarity. Even if she was an adopted member Manaka regarded herself as a proud member of the Kuhoutsuka clan, for her to even bring up the possibility of abandoning it was nigh unthinkable. That was how much she cared for the Hime-Miko she had declared herself the bodyguard of.
"Thank you Manaka-chan," Kaida's voice was soft and warm, "having you here gives me all the strength I need. Don't worry, everything'll be fine."
Any further conversation was cut of as, with an electronic whirring, the gates to the manor slowly opened and a thin man in his late middle years with a small and tidy beard came out to greet them. He was dressed in a suit of good but modest cut and his posture struck her as being surprisingly at ease.
"Emiya-sama is waiting along with Illya-sama to see you inside, please follow me."
Without a word the Hime-Miko nodded and followed the servant into the manor grounds.
As she and her bodyguard walked through first the garden and then the manor halls Kaida took careful note of everything that she was seeing. The gardens were clearly of fine lay out and tastefully set out, however there were small hints of neglect, as though they hadn't had enough attention paid to them recently. The manor was in a similar state, well furnished and maintained, but with some touches of dust here and there that indicated a lack of recent cleaning.
Under normal circumstances the user of the Dragon's Roar would not have noticed it, however cleaning up had been one of her duties at her shrine. She had ferociously sought out every spot of dust and dirt that she could and had set about cleaning them up with the grim determination of an inquisitor purging heretics.
As such she guessed that while the eighth Campione had recently taken up residence here it seemed he had yet to find any full time servants other than Yamada-san. What could that mean though? Was it a sign of weakness? Or perhaps it was an indication of fear, an inability to trust those not firmly under his control? Could it simply mean that his attention had been otherwise engaged and he simply hadn't had any spare time to address the issue?
There were so many possible answers and so little information that could help narrow them down. She'd simply have to meet the devil King for herself and see what she could glean from the encounter, assuming she live through it of course.
No, she would not allow such thoughts to creep into her mind. She was going to do this well, she would establish a meaningful line of communications with Emiya-sama and she would ensure that peace was cemented between him and the Committee, any other outcome was simply unacceptable.
A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that Manaka was still following steadily behind her.
That was another reason she could not afford to allow things to deteriorate. If the worst came to worst and the eighth Campione decided to attack her for some imagined reason Kaida well knew that the only way he would ever touch her would be to do so after stepping over her friends cooling corpse. She knew that even in the face of a god slayer Manaka would not relent in her determination to protect her.
In all truth the Hime-Miko was still not quite sure why the more martially inclined agent of the Committee had been so adamant about becoming her guard. For all her flaws Manaka was regarded as one of the best field agents that the Committee had available. She might lack the raw power of Seishuuin Ena or the trained stealth of Touma Amakasu; however despite her lack of specialization she had a reputation for achieving excellent results even when she found herself in over her head. There was rumour that last year she had been assigned to recover a stolen minor talisman and had found herself embroiled in a plot to summon Amatsu-Mikaboshi. Somehow she had managed to foil the plot and capture the perpetrators, even though it should have been a task beyond her skills.
She didn't know why the witch warrior had chosen to serve her but whatever the reason she was grateful.
-()-
Kuhoutsuka Manaka walked behind her chosen charge and did her best not to let her temper get the better of her. This was humiliating, the mere notion that Kaida-sama would be handed over to this new Campione like some kind of prized dog set her teeth on edge. With every step they took that led further into the god slayer's manor the urge to simply toss the Hime-Miko over her shoulder and take off at top speed grew more pronounced.
Manaka knew that she was not a very likeable person. She was well aware that her attitude rubbed people up the wrong way and her own overwhelming sense of confidence was ether intimidating or irritating. The thing was that most of the time she simply didn't care.
It all came back to her secret, the one thing she had kept to herself ever since she had first worked it out when she was a little girl.
At first she hadn't been able to fully understand it, when she looked at people in a special way she could see other images that overlaid them. These other visions were transparent and easily see through, so they never obscured her sight, yet at the same time they were vivid and defined. She called these visions 'aura signs'.
She knew of others magi who, with practice and patience, could learn to read the auras of others. Doing so allowed you to 'see' a great many things about a person, their general temperament and mentality, some aspects of their recent history, what kind of magic they used, things like that.
Her own gift went somewhat further than that though. To her it was as though a person's aura had been condensed down into a single image. By looking at both the form and composition of this condensed aura she could glean much about a person's personality and abilities in a mere glance. Furthermore the form that the sign took was always symbolically linked to the person whom it represented. For example one of her teachers when she was younger had possessed a sign in the form of a satyr. From that she had been able to determine than in his future lustfulness would become one of the predominant aspects of his life.
This had led to her general attitude towards others. When you could see the truer and less pleasant aspects of others at a glance it became easy to dislike them. Oh she wasn't anywhere near the point of deciding that humanity was worthless or anything like that, she could also see all the good that was in people, a fact that kept her off such a poisonous road. Yet at the same time her gift made it so much easier to become annoyed and contemptuous of others. Of course there was also her own pride to consider, she was good, damned good, and she knew it. If she was ever going get on with others it would be with those she considered her equals, not people whose weaknesses and flaws were practically waved in her face all the time.
There had been many in the Committee who had sought to acquire her permanent services. Despite her being technically a part of the organization she had been a sort of freelance agent within it. That meant that nobody could just assign her to someone without her agreement. And the fact was that she had never really met anyone to whom she felt truly comfortable staying with.
Then she had met Kaida.
When they had first been introduced she had thought the Hime-Miko was a pleasant enough girl, there was kindness and dutifulness in her, but there had also been gnawing worms of doubt, uncertainty and fear. Her aura sign had been a steely shield with an intricate carving of dragons upon it, but those twisting currents of negative emotions had spoilt its grandeur.
So Manaka had gone on to be her normal 'charming' self. She supposed in a way it was also a sort of self defence mechanism. If she was so abrasive that it pushed others away then there was less of a chance that they would want to spend more time than was needed in her company, and that meant she wouldn't be forced to see their hidden doubts and fears more than necessary.
Everything had gone as per normal until the black haired shrine maiden had finally lost her temper.
Then she had released a massive wave of power than had caught the witch warrior completely unawares. Before she had known what was happening she had found herself flying through one of the room's paper screens and landing in the temples koi pond. The display of power, unintended though it might have been, had been impressive. She was a trained fighter, one used to people trying to kill her, and yet there had been no tell tale signs of power of perceivable build up of strength. There had simply been nothing one instant, and the next there had been a solid wave of invisible force baring down on her out of nowhere.
Still magnificent as the power had been it had not been that that had set her loyalty to Kaida-sama in stone. It had been what she had seen in that brief instant between the manifestation of the force and the moment it had struck her.
In that tiny fraction of a second Kaida-sama's aura sign had changed, it had become something else entirely. That was something that had never happened to her before, certainly aura signs could change over time, however such a process was normally a slow gradual affair. But the thing that had really caught her attention had been what it was that the shield had turned into.
What she had seen had been a set of statues, she hadn't been able to see how many or of whom they all were of. But she had been able to clearly make out the features of two of them. One had been Kaida-sama, slightly older and more mature, dressed in more elaborate robes and carrying some sort of ceremonial mirror. Standing behind that statue and slightly to its left had been a statue of herself. That Manaka had been garbed in a sort of close fitting armour, and had appeared to be more of a knight than the kind of witch warrior that she normally styled herself as.
Both those small statues had screamed at her, no they had roared. They had thundered of loyalty, friendship, glory and triumph. Even as she had been flying through the air she had felt the sheer force of those emotions and promises burning themselves into her mind. It had been in that instant that she had made her decision to remain by Kaida's side. What she had seen had hinted of a future yet to come, one that she would give anything to see realized.
And that was what was setting her teeth on edge right now. The thought that that golden vision of the future could be trampled by this Campione's interference made her want to scream.
That was one of the lesser known qualities of the god slayers, their inexplicable ability to defy prophecy and prediction. It was as though the same quality that allowed them to do the impossible and kill a deity also allowed them to defy destiny. By the simple act of stepping into the same room as the eighth Campione the Hime-Miko might be throwing the promised future she had seen in that aura sign to the winds.
Walking with her left hand holding her right wrist behind her back she consciously exercised her will to keep herself from making fists. Giving in to her emotions would serve no purpose here. Kaida-sama was set on her course and there was nothing that she could do to change it. All she could do was offer her silent support as the shrine maiden began her negotiations with the devil king.
And that was another source of her frustrations, her sense of absolute helplessness. She knew she was good, she knew she was resourceful, she knew she was competent; she also knew that when compared to a Campione she was an ant before a juggernaut.
As part of her training when she was fifteen years old one of her teachers had taken her over to America where a witch who was an acquaintance of his had offered to confer one of her more secret spells upon his student as a way of clearing a debt between them. Manaka had enjoyed the trip as she had never travelled to any other foreign countries save for those in Europe. She had learnt her lesson well and added a potent shield piercer spell to her arsenal.
It had been on their way back to the airport to catch their plane home that both her and her teacher, along with a couple hundred normal people, had been caught in a Divine Ancestor's plan to regain power by way of a mass sacrifice. Trapped inside a spell shield the young witch warrior had poured every bit of her strength into her newly acquired spell in an attempt to break free. All that she'd managed to achieve had been a small dent that had immediately smoothed itself out.
Helplessly caught in that confine and feeling the life force being leeched from her Manaka had honestly thought that she was going to die. That had been when the fifth Campione, John Pluto Smith had made his enterance.
By that point she had only been semiconscious due to how much of her energy had been drained, but in spite of that two things had stood out in her mind.
The first was that even though his appearance should have been ridiculous it somehow wasn't. What should have been clownish and laughable instead was dramatic and larger than life.
The second was the sheer ease with which a single one of his mystic bullets tore through the barrier that had been utterly impregnable to her. She had felt the strength of that field and knew that no human could ever pierce it, but a Campione was a mortal that wielded the power of a god. It wasn't much of a stretch to consider them more than human.
She had not seen the rest of what had taken place, but when her vitality had returned she had been able to see the aftermath. Craters large enough to hold houses, empty buildings razed to the ground. The Divine Ancestor had thrown all their resources at the American Campione, even going so far as to relinquish their eternal youth in order to become a dragon. In the end it hadn't served them at all. The so called king of the underworld had torn their scheme apart and then slain the former goddess.
She knew how pointless it was to even try to stand up to one of the devil kings, all she could do was grit her teeth and dutifully follow after the one to whom she had sworn her loyalty.
At least it seemed that if they would be forced to live here if they entered the Campione's service then they would not live in squalor. The manor through which they were walking was quite large and possessed an impressively sized garden as well as several attached buildings. Manaka didn't have any real knowledge of property prices in Tokyo, but even she knew that such a large plot mush have cost a literal fortune. She had heard rumours among the other agents of the Committee that the newest of the Campione had access to immense wealth, but to actually see it was another matter.
"This is the room in which Shirou-sama and Illyasviel-sama will see you."
The voice of their guide pulled the warrior witch out of her thoughts. It seemed that they had passed right through the manor and were now in the rooms that faced the back gardens of the estate. As she watched Yamada-san slid a door open and ushered them through.
The room they entered was sizable, but not overly so, a fair sized family could have comfortably eaten in here if they had so chosen. On wall was taken up with a large set of sliding doors that led out onto the garden so the late afternoon sun illuminated the room nicely while still not being oppressive. In the middle of the room were two small tables, actually they were more like traditional desks than they were tables. They were arranged to be facing each other and in front of the table closest to them were two cushions ready for their use.
Behind the other table were two people she instantly recognised. Ever since their agents had been able to obtain decent pictures of them the images of the eighth Campione and his companion had been shown to every member of the organization. The pictures had been accompanied by very specific orders to be extremely polite and courteous to them if they were encountered.
Even as she looked at them her secret gift came into effect and their aura signs appeared.
The first was the young girl with silver hair. Her aura sign was unusual, rather than being a defined object it was a sort of shimmering globe of silver and blue power. Looking at it did cause a word to rise up in her mind though; 'Wish' that was what it made her think. Within that sign he could see certain things about her; her strength in magic was immense, almost on par with a Divine Ancestor. However that power was . . . strange. Magic was invoked by the use of spell words, and those powers were always influenced by divine powers, that was why many spells took the form of prayers to gods. This was true of all the schools of magic that she knew of, even Daoist Arts and Hermetic magic was influenced by divine beings.
So why was it that this girl's magic had not a hint of divine power in it despite its clear potency?
Aside from that she could see some of the girl's personality, there was anger there, deeply buried but simmering like lava beneath the earth. She could also see love, love that shone like a newborn star. And there was ruthlessness, a cold surety that actually took Manaka aback. The small white haired girl before her was perfectly able to decide to kill her and go through with the deed if she so chose, of that the warrior witch was absolutely certain.
With a slight narrowing of her eyes she made a mental note to keep a wary eye on the younger girl, then she turned her gaze on the Campione. It would be interesting to see what his aura sign would be. When she had seen John Pluto Smith she had been so out of it that she had been unable to properly take note of what his had been.
She blinked in slight surprise as she saw it. It wasn't hovering in front of him as most signs did, rather it floating behind his right shoulder. A sword, not a misty and transparent image like most peoples signs, this one was clear and solid. Indeed the only reason she knew it was an aura sign and not the real thing was by the tell tale impressions it radiated.
No, wait, that wasn't right. It wasn't one sword, it was three. Three swords, each of which seemed as solid and tempered as the real thing.
Her vision seemed to swim for an instant, and then as she regained her sight she saw that there were now as many as twenty swords hanging in the air behind the god slayer.
The world seemed to waver around her, but she didn't pay it any attention. Her eyes were locked on the swords behind the Campione. The world swam and seemed to whirl away as those swords continued to inexplicably multiply. More and more of them appeared, the walls of the room disappeared and the rest of the world seemed to fall away. All there was in existence was her, Emiya-sama a vague impression of a floor and an empty void that was filling with swords.
Swords, so many swords, swords of every type, every size, every style. So many, so many swords, swords, swords, swords, swords, swords. Swords swords swords swords swords swords swordsswordsswordsswordsswor dsswords. Swords, weapons, blades, blades too many to count, blades beyond counting, blades beyond numbers, blades beyond limits. Limitless blades, blades without limits, unlimited blades, unlimited blades, Unlimited Blades, Unlimited Blade Wor . . .
With an almost audible crash the vision before her seemed to shatter out of existence.
Manaka let out an explosive breath that she hadn't realized she was holding. With an effort she kept herself from slumping to the ground even though her limbs felt as though she had just run a marathon.
What had that been? It was as though his aura sign had grown and swelled until it had consumed her entire consciousness. Almost against her will her eyes went to the Campione once more. The massive sign was gone now; instead there were only two signs, one hovering behind each of his shoulders. A sword and a scabbard. Both were magnificent, their beauty almost unearthly. And yet she couldn't sense anything from them, not like she would from others. Oh there were feelings and impressions radiating from them, but she couldn't understand them. She was like someone who only knew hieroglyphics trying to read Japanese kanji. She could tell they were something but just what that was she had no idea.
She couldn't read him. The thought rose up in her like some sea monster ascending from the depths. She had no idea what to make of him, what his abilities were, what kind of a person he was, what darkness he hid, she didn't know any of it.
As the warrior witch sat down next to her friend she felt an unfamiliar sense of uncertainty grip her heart. Her greatest asset was blind to this man and her personal strength was as nothing before him.
All she could do was hold her place by Kaida's side and hope for the best.
-()-
Shirou looked at the two young women who had entered the room. In all truth this was not quite what he had expected, he had envisioned more mature magic users, men or women in their middle years. Instead he was faced with two girls of about his own age. Both of them were beautiful in their own way, the black haired girl dressed in white and blue shrine maiden outfit had what he could only think to describe as a 'calm' beauty to her. Her companion was by contrast what could be called a 'dangerous' beauty. Everything about her seemed to hint at hidden strengths and not so hidden competence.
After they had rushed home both he and Illya had moved as quickly as they could to throw on some clothes that were of good quality but weren't too elaborate. They both wanted to convey a certain sense of decorum and power, and showing up to the meeting in their school uniforms would not go towards that at all.
So right now Illya was dressed in more or less the same style that she had worn during the Holy Grail war, a purple blazer like shirt with a similarity coloured scarf at the neck, a white dress that reached to just below her knees and simple purple indoor slippers. It was oddly nostalgic to see her garbed so, it brought back memories of their first meetings back in Fuyuki. Things certainly had changed since then.
Shirou himself was clad in black trousers and a white silk shirt. In all honesty he would have much rather have been wearing his normal jeans and sweater combo, unfortunately his adopted sister had strictly forbidden him from wearing such informal clothing to this meeting. He understood why, he really did, unfortunately that didn't change the fact that he felt like a waiter in these clothes.
Still he couldn't allow his personal feeling to interfere too much here. This was an important meeting and he couldn't allow himself to become distracted.
Both the girls were now seated behind their own desk and were facing him. Both of them were obviously a little nervous, though for the most part they were hiding it well. Oh well, no more delays. Taking a deep breath he launched into his planned introduction.
"Well, I'm happy to bid you welcome to my home. In all truth your arrival has been most fortunate; I've been planning to make contact with the local magi circles for some time. Unfortunately circumstances continued to interfere, causing me to keep putting it off until later. Please allow me to introduce myself, I am Emiya Shirou and this is my adopted sister Illyasviel Von Einzbern.
Now, please tell me who you are and whom and what you represent."
He was careful to keep his tone light and even, but at the same time made sure not to allow his voice to become too companionable. This was a formal meeting; he could try to make friends later if the opportunity arose.
It was the black haired girl who spoke. That wasn't really much of a surprise, even though her attendant was clearly the more combat versed of the two it was equally obvious that she deferred to her weaker companion.
"I thank you for your greeting and welcome Emiya-sama, I am Renjou Kaida, and this is my friend and . . . bodyguard Kuhoutsuka Manaka. We have come here as representatives of the History Compilation Committee. We are an organization devoted to managing all supernatural events in Japan as much as we are able. We also take steps to hide their existence from the normal people through various means such as manipulating the media and memories. It has been our task since the Meiji period to ensure that this country remains stable and prevent the supernatural from interfering with the lives of the normal citizens as much as possible. If we can't manage to shield them then we do our best to mitigate the damage that is done."
The small speech was delivered in a practiced fashion. Shirou was no great analyst of a person's oratorical style, but he'd have been willing to bet that the young shrine maiden had been practicing that delivery in her head for some time.
"That sounds like a worthwhile purpose for an organization to have," the eighth Campione commented while allowing a smile to touch his lips. "However it doesn't explain why you have come to see me."
"Emiya-sama, you are a Campione, and I don't think that you fully understand the importance that you hold. Aside from perhaps one other there isn't a single practioner of the mystic arts in the country that could be considered of higher rank than you."
Shirou forced himself to keep any expression from appearing on his face. What they were hinting at confirmed his own suspicions of what it was that he had become. However they also seemed to be aware of his ignorance. Could he afford to ask questions? Could he afford to expose potential weaknesses?
Internally he wanted to scream in frustration. He just wasn't cut out for intrigue and plotting. When faced with people appearing at his gate saying they were from some organization that he wanted to make contact with his first impulse was to invite them to his dining room and offer them tea. That had been his character before the Grail war and it seemed that even all his experiences and having several other lives rammed into his brain couldn't erase it. It was the knowledge that it wasn't merely his own life that he would be putting in danger if he misstepped, but also Illya's kept him as cautious as he could be.
Still perhaps a small chance could be taken. Right now he was in the heart of a manor that he had equipped with a large number of potent surprises and there were only two potential threats before him. Sure he wasn't about to underestimate them, but at the same time he wasn't going to overestimate them to the point where he paralysed himself into indecision.
"Very well Renjou-san, I'll be frank with you. Both I and my sister would be interested in opening communications with your organization; however we both have secrets we wish to keep. Therefore before we can continue any meaningful discussions I would like to see just what information you and your committee have been able to gather on us."
There was a brief pause while the young woman mulled over what had been said to her. Then, with a small nod to herself, she reached with her left hand into her right sleeve and pulled out a small sheaf of papers that had been stapled together. It wasn't a very large sheaf, only about ten to twelve pages, but still she handed them to Yusuke to pass to him.
"Our organization doesn't have too much solid information on you Emiya-sama," she said as his resurrected servant passed the small collection of documents to him. "What we have is mainly theories and deductions. Those documents were provided to me in preparation for my approaching you for this meeting."
Shirou nodded politely as he quickly flicked through the pages in his hands. This was quite interesting; it seemed that this Committee had come to the conclusion that he and Illya were the apprentices of some sort of hermetical teacher. That was why there had been no trace of them prior to their appearance in Naples. There were other things to, they knew of his resurrection and enlistment of Yusuke as well as his ability to tap great wealth, however they lacked details. They also knew about him fighting Perseus, but had no information on Angra Mainyu. As a result their knowledge of his abilities seemed to be patchy and possessed of some pretty gaping holes.
It also seemed that they had only the vaguest knowledge of Illya's capabilities. He had to struggle to keep his face impassive as he read of their theory that her enormous natural power was due to her being the third or fourth generation descendant of a god. What was of real interest was a small note that spoke of how her bounded fields seemed to frustrate their every method of mystic searching.
It took him less than five minutes to read through the whole thing, then he wordlessly passed it to Illya. His adopted sister had agreed to remain quiet unless he moved to draw her into the discussion. Her task was to see what she could work out about the capabilities of their guests by observation and passive scanning.
As she read it his mind went over what he had found out and tried to think of how it could be worked to their advantage. One thing that looked especially promising was their theory about their origins. If they assumed that their ignorance was due to their being raised and trained in seclusion then any questions or mistakes on their part could be explained away with that rather than risking their extra dimensional origins being discovered. Another thing it revealed was that they were largely unaware of his full capacities. As far as his Authorities were concerned they had only a general knowledge of two out of five, Mount of the Hero and Rule of the Underworld. Also they had almost no knowledge whatsoever about his Tracing, as far as they knew he was just conjuring up sword shaped shells. That meant that every Noble Phantasm he could trace was another race up his sleeve, if he ever had to go up against this Committee then that would grant him a huge advantage.
Of course all these speculations were dependant upon the fact that what he had just read was indeed an accurate report and not one doctored for his eyes so as to lull him into a false sense of security. For all he knew they had discovered all his abilities and had prepared a dozen different ways to counter each one.
No, he must not fall into the trap of paranoia. Even if his knowledge was small he was fairly certain that that small passage that the magus they had interrogated had recited was of at least some validity. Campione were those who wielded the power of gods, even if they weren't the total overlords that the passage suggested they were the power of a deity was not something that could just be dismissed.
Seeing that Illya had finished reading through the pages he reached out and touched her shoulder. Her eyes met his and he deliberately glanced down at the report before returning his gaze to her face and raising his eyebrows slightly in question. His white haired sister seemed to think for an instant before giving a single accenting nod and then tilting her head in the direction of their guests. With a replying nod of his own Shirou turned back to face the two young women seated across from him.
"My congratulations to your information gatherers," he said in an even tone. "It seems that they've been able to deduce a fair amount about our background."
He paused for a moment as the scenario that he had put together ran through his mind. It was a bit of a rush job, but the story he was about to weave would have some elements that came close to the truth so it would be fairly easy for him to keep it straight in his mind. It could also be matched to their 'official' story, and any inconsistencies could be explained by the fact that they were trying to conceal the existence of magic.
"As I said there are certain secrets that we wish to keep, however what I can freely tell you is that your theory about our origins is largely correct. Our . . . teacher was, disturbed. He'd go on about how magic was a filthy corruption of what it was meant to be, how it was impure, tainted, stained, I'm sure you get the general idea. Don't worry though; neither I nor my sister share his views.
"To make a long story short our teacher found out about his granddaughters extreme potential soon after she was born and elected to raise her in total isolation from the rest of the supernatural community so as to teach her his own 'pure' style of magic. I was adopted into the family only a short time ago and received instruction only in my personal speciality."
To punctuate his statement Shirou traced a purely mundane Arabian scimitar in his hand then dismissed it.
"Unfortunately because of his abhorrence of the 'impure' our knowledge of the mystic world in general is minimal at best. As such it is only recently that we even became aware of the existence of gods as anything other than legends, as for Campione, neither of us had even heard the name until after I killed Hades."
He ended his fictitious explanation as he saw that both his guests were staring at him in what could only be described as 'goggle eyed astonishment'.
"But-but that's impossible," spluttered the blue eyed girl in the tight suit, speaking for the first time since they had entered the room. "There's no way that magic can be accomplished without invoking a god or one of the governing powers."
Silently Illya raised on hand and suddenly dozens of softly glowing golden threads extended from her clothes and the floor around her. The eighth Campione looked on with some small interest, she'd spoken of this to him but this was his first time seeing it. Ever since they had bought the manor and set up their workshops his sister had told him she was working on a way to upgrade the razor wire alchemy mystic code that she had previously used against Perseus.
"I don't need to call on gods or other powers," the white haired Einzbern said, her voice light but at the same time hard as steel, "all I need is my own prana and that is enough to actualize my mystery."
That was a nice touch, Illya was using terms that were normal to magi from their own world but would sound strange and foreign here. That would serve to heighten the sense of dissimilarity in their casting methods.
"We can further discuss this later, right now we're getting a bit off topic," Shirou's words brought his guests attention back to him. "Let me ask that we all lay our cards on the metaphorical table; what is it that you want from us?"
Again there was a pause as the black haired shrine maiden seemed to consider her reply while looking him over with those vivid green eyes.
"The History Compilation Committee wishes too form some sort of association with you, perhaps even develop a friendly professional relationship. I have been sent here to offer my services, in whatever capacity you so see fit to place me in, as a show of our esteem for you. However if you should not wish to enter into such an arrangement then there is little we can do about it.
"As a Campione you are essentially the supreme ruler in any land or country that you chose to inhabit. There your word is law and none save a god or another Campione can gainsay you. If it were your wish you could take me and Manaka as slaves or mistresses regardless of our wishes and no magus would have the right to protest. If you so chose you could reduce Tokyo to a sea of flames and slaughter all who live there and no human on the face of the earth save for your fellow Kings would be able to raise hand against you. As a devil King you have only one responsibility, to face and defeat the Heretic Gods that run rampant in the mortal plane, so long as you fulfil this duty all else is allowed to you. That is all that the Committee can ask of you, that you fulfil that one responsibility."
As he listened to Renjou-san's explanation the young Emiya could actually begin to feel the blood slowly drain from his face. As her words ended he actually began to feel a little faint. This . . . this was far beyond anything that he had imagined, he had thought that being a Campione was like being a high ranking member of the Clock Tower or being a wielder of True Magic. Such individuals were highly respected and feared for both their influence and their power, but they were not absolute rulers. If someone like Zelretch were to actually do something to be a danger to humanity or to threaten the security of magic then steps would be taken against them. This resigned submission, it the kind of reaction that could be expected from a single untalented magi facing a TYPE, he just couldn't fathom it being directed at him.
"I'm . . . I'm sorry Renjou-san, but you're going to have to explain this to me. I honestly can't understand how you or anyone else could act this way in regards to another. I am a Campione and I really can't see what it is about us that would induce such . . . acceptance of our actions."
She blinked in surprise as he answered and looked at him in puzzlement.
"Emiya-sama, as a Campione you are what every mage in the world tries and fails to be. You could have not known a shred of magic and the instant you became a Campione you would have towered above event the most powerful magic users in the world. Aside from that is the simple fact that no mage can stand against you, even in groups or even armies, if we came against you and you had even the slightest inclination to resist then we would all be crushed.
"It is as the famed Italian mage Alberto Ricardo wrote; A Campione – a Godslayer – is a supreme ruler.
"Since he can kill a celestial being, he can therefore call on the sacrosanct, divine powers wielded by the gods.
"A Campione – a Godslayer – is a lord.
"Since the power to kill a deity is in his hands, he therefore looms over all mortals on Earth.
"A Campione – a Godslayer – is a devil.
"Since of all mortals who live in the world, none can assume a power to match his!"
It was the same passage that the mage they had interrogated after Shirou had fought Hades had recited. It would appear that it was the commonly accepted definition of a Campione. What was really getting to him was that he was almost certain that they weren't lying. That had been one of the talents that he had been able to access from EMIYA'S memories. His long experience had allowed him to get very good at spotting deceivers, an effect of his Eye of the Mind. Shirou's own abilities in that area were far more limited, but he was willing to bet his whole manor that this young woman was telling him the truth.
Again there was a pause as Shirou took a moment to order his thoughts. When he had his answer straight in his mind he placed both his palms on the desk in front of him and leaned forwards slightly.
"I am willing to fulfil my duties as a Campione, of that you and your organization don't need to worry. As for yourself and your friend . . . I ask you to give me a little time to think about your offer, I'm afraid that it wasn't something I was expecting.
"One thing we can discuss now though is my relationship with your organization."
As he spoke the young Emiya stood up and walked over to the large open door that led onto his manors large and beautiful back gardens. Turning back to face his guests he sat down again.
"As you have no doubt realized both me and my sibling are considerably lacking in general and specific knowledge about the mystical world. I would like your organization to provide us with what we are in need of. Tomes, scrolls, tablets, I don't particularly care, so long as it has useful information and will aide in the expansion of our knowledge then I want it.
"I will of course be willing to pay a fair price for these items. Later, after we've built up a bit more trust, I will be willing to trade services for some of the more valuable such items. I can think of a number of services that would be of value to a researcher or the like. Would such an arrangement be agreeable to your Committee?"
Both his guests were staring at him with odd expressions on their faces, not fearful or confused, more like . . . pleasantly surprised? He wasn't sure, still he decided to continue.
"One subject I would be very grateful if you could educate me on now is my fellow Campione. How many are there? Where do they live? Just what does becoming a Campione do to someone? I've noted some changes in myself since becoming one; can you explain it to me further?"
As he asked his questions he noted that both his guests had tensed for a moment before then relaxing again. There was a momentary pause and then Renjou-san began to speak.
"A full description of Campione and all that being one entails would fill many volumes Emiya-sama, some scholars have devoted their entire live to such a study and have left entire libraries full of their findings behind. However if you wish I could provide you with a basic summary, would that be sufficient?"
At a nod from Shirou she began her explanation.
"Well the first thing that you should know is that becoming a Campione will immediately revive you in a body that is in perfect condition. Any injuries you have will be healed and any old wounds will be mended as though they had never happened. There have been reports of individuals who managed to slay a god with their last breaths being made whole and healthy once more despite being mangled ruins just before.
"However becoming a Campione doesn't just return you to full health, it strengthens and improves you. God slayers are notoriously hardy, able to endure wounds and injuries that would incapacitate normal people with little difficulty. Your vitality is also strengthened extending your lifespan and youth to the point where you'll live for centuries."
On hearing that the eighth Campione really wanted to interrupt and demand clarification, instead he gritted his teeth and forced himself to continue listening.
"There are a number of other minor enhancements, such as an increased ability to grasp new languages, being better able to sense the magic in objects, better luck in games of chance, all minor but useful.
"The most famed and envied abilities of Campione, apart from their Authorities, are their increased magical reserves and their magic resistance. By taking onto yourself the power of a god your internal reserves of power are increased many times over, so much so that even a mage of miniscule talent can become the equal of an exceptionally talented practioner. However it is the magic resistance of the Campione that is most famed. Any mortal spell sent against you will simple break on contact, even the Authorities of deities or other Kings will be reduced in effect. The only way for a spell to affect you is if it is applied to you internally, such as by a potion or mouth to mouth transfer."
That sounded interesting, something similar to Saber's Magic Resistance skill perhaps. But Illya's thread golem had been able to affect him enough to carry him when he was unconscious, this would require further investigation.
"Aside from that the capabilities of Campione tend to vary wildly due to the nature of whichever Authorities they can manage to claim."
Shirou nodded as the black haired girl paused to draw in her breath.
"Can I offer you some refreshment? I imagine that might have left your throat a little dry." He offered courteously.
Renjou-san seemed to weigh her options for a moment then gave a grateful nod. Immediately Yusuke stood from where he had been sitting and made his way over to a corner of the room. There, underneath a white cloth cover, were a number of jugs of chilled tea.
"Would you prefer chilled Green, ginger, ginseng, lemon or mint tea?" The resurrected soul enquired as he prepared cups.
"Green tea if you would be so kind." Answered the shrine maiden.
"I'll take ginseng." Commented her companion.
There was a brief moment of silence while there guests helped themselves to the tea. In a gesture meant to ease any worries or suspicions they might have Shirou had a glass of chilled green tea himself. After a couple of minute the young Emiya decided to start up the talking again.
"So how many other Campione are there? What can you tell me about them?"
"With yourself there are now eight Campione in the world," Renjou-san answered him, "the oldest is marquis Sasha Dejanstahl Voban, according to our records he became a Campione about three centuries ago. For the most part he prefers to remain in his homeland of Hungary, but he has been known to travel to anywhere in the world if it will offer him a chance to fight a Heretic God.
"The second Campione is Luo Hao, the ruler of the martial arts world and undisputed head of the Holy cult of the Five Mountains. To the best of our knowledge she's over two hundred years old but somewhat younger that Marquis Voban. She rules over china and has tremendous influence in the martial arts circles as well as the Chinese underworld.
"The third is Madam Aishain who lives in Arabia or Egypt and is the Queen of the Cave. Nobody knows very much about her save for her title as the Eternal Beauty. She became a Campione at the turn of the twentieth century, but in the last few decades she has become a reclusive hermit.
"The fourth is the Black Prince Alec, otherwise known as Alexander Gascoigne. He is the nominal leader of the Royal Arsenal, an organization he himself built, but he spends a great deal of time travelling. He's the eldest of the current generation of Campione having become one twelve years ago when he was sixteen. He also has a reputation as both an adventurer and a thief, since he tends to 'borrow' anything that catches his interest for as long as he wants.
"The fifth is John Pluto Smith, the hero of Los Angeles. He made his first appearance about eleven years ago; however since he always wears a mask that hides his features his identity is unknown. He's known to have associations with the Sorcerous Sacrilege Investigation group and Samantha University. Unlike most Campione he remains hidden for the most part and guards his true identity jealously.
"The sixth is Lord Salvatori Doni of Italy. He's regarded as the strongest knight in Italy and was able to defeat a god using nothing but pure swordsmanship. He has close ties to both the Copper-Black Cross and the Bronze-Black Cross and his fighting prowess is widely respected. However he is also rumoured to be irresponsible and quite thoughtless when it comes to subtlety or tact.
"The seventh Campione is also Japanese and only attained his position a month or two before you did. Kusanagi Godou-sama is an ally of the Committee and-"
"Wait, wait, hold on a second," Shirou interrupted her while holding a hand up, "Did you say Kusanagi Godou?"
"Yes your highness," the shrine maiden answered, a look of confusion crossing her features. "That is the name of the seventh Campione."
"How old is he?"
"I believe he is sixteen Emiya-sama, he attends the same school as an acquaintance of mine."
"Jounan Academy, right?"
A look of surprise crossed her features.
"That's right, how did you know?"
It was Illya who answered; Shirou was rather busy burying his face in his palms and feeling certain that some higher power was deliberately making his life more complicated than it needed to be.
"Me and onii-chan transferred to Jounan, and today was our first day. We had a nice lunch with Kusanagi Shizuka, her brother and his girlfriends. Hey Shirou, I just remembered, we didn't tell them your name until right before we left. Do you think they knew who you were?"
Having raised his face from his hands the eighth Campione was treated to the sight of seeing the blood drain from the shrine maiden's face.
"You-you've already met Kusanagi-sama?"
Shirou nodded his head as he sat up straighter once more.
"Yeah, as Illya said we had lunch together. He seemed like a fairly decent guy, though he seems to have a little trouble with the women in his life."
"And . . . there were no problems? No arguments or conflict?"
"No, everything went fine." A frown crossed his features as he looked at the girl. "Why do you ask? Should there have been?"
There was a pause and then Renjou-san let out her breath as she seemed to slump slightly.
"It's almost always the case that when Campione meet they come into violent conflict. It's to be expected I suppose, it takes a very certain kind of person to slay a divinity. Such people are skilled, forceful, brilliant or just plain insanely lucky. Such people always have . . . strong personalities, and when they meet up with others just as strong I suppose friction is inevitable."
She looked up at him and seemed to draw herself up as she regathered her composure and resolve.
"The Committee wished to keep you separated until such time as we could broker some sort of agreement between you. Now that you know of another Campione so nearby what are you going to do Emiya-sama?"
There was courage in her face, but he could also see weariness and concern. What did she think he was going to do? Rush to meet Kusanagi-san as soon as he could and challenge him to mortal combat?
"For the time being I don't intend to do anything in regards to Kusanagi-san," he said in as level a tone as he could muster. "As long he makes no move against me, I'll be happy to leave him alone."
A thought crossed his mind.
"You mentioned that you have an acquaintance in the school, it wouldn't happen to be Mariya-san would it?"
It was a shot in the dark, just a guess based on a hunch. She had mentioned that Kusanagi-san was allied to the Committee with a certain level of surety. Add in the knowledge that Liliana-san was a magic user and Kusanagi-san was a Campione and it rendered the odds of Mariya-san being an ordinary girl pretty slim. If she was some sort of magus then the chances were she was linked to some organization, and the Committee seemed to be the best available candidates.
". . . yes." The word was almost a mumble.
"Very well," he leaned backwards slightly and tried to project confidence and ease, it wasn't easy. "I imagine that Mariya-san will want to supply her Campione with as much information about me as she can. See that she gets all the information that you've amassed as well as anything that you've gained from this meeting. Have it all given to her to pass on to Kusanagi-san with my compliments. I also want you and her to pass on a message to him as well."
He leaned forwards now his expression coolly intent, or so he hoped.
"Tell him that I won't be the first to break the peace. If we come into conflict it will be by his own actions, not mine."
As Renjou-san nodded Shirou stood up and gestured for them to do likewise.
"I believe it is safe to say that this meeting has now reached its end. I've answered your questions as best as I am able, and I thank you for answering my own."
Both the young women stood up and straightened their clothes. Turning to face him Renjou Kaida gave him a polite bow.
"I thank you for seeing us like this Emiya-sama, your words have eased many of my worries and I'm sure that my superiors will feel equally relieved. With any luck at all this meeting will mark the beginning of a mutually beneficial association between yourself and the Committee."
"I certainly hope so," agreed Shirou while allowing a small smile on his face. Unseen by his guests though his left hand slipped into his pocket and closed around a small silk bag that was in there. "There's just one thing though . . ."
As he spoke he wordlessly drew on the power of Rule of the Underworld. The Authority seemed to protest slightly at his not using the spell words to activate it, but it none the less responded to his will. Around the room there suddenly appeared a score of spectral figures. Their appearance was skeletal and there bodies were slightly transparent, however that passed as their forms hardened into full solidness. In less than four seconds the room was lined with animated skeletons of ancient warriors from around the globe. One was a Spartan, another an African warrior, one was a Native American brave, another an olden samurai.
Renjou-san's bodyguard was well trained and brave; he'd have to give her that. At the first hint of danger she leapt in front of her charge and immediately assumed a fighting stance he didn't recognize, it vaguely resembled a boxing stance, but the foot positioning was wrong.
"Don't get excited Kuhoutsuka-san, this is simply a demonstration." He kept his tone dry and allowed none of his inner nervousness to show.
"You have told me a great many things Renjou-san, things that are useful, things that I shall base plans on. If my suspicion is unfounded then I ask you to bear with me, in time we shall establish trust. However . . ."
In his mind he reached out and sent a single command.
-Come to me.-
Turning away from his guests he stepped into the centre of the room and then turned to face them once more. As he did so a being that appeared to be a snake made from black oil seemed to slither out of the floor as though it were emerging from water. In defiance of gravity its viscous form seemed to slither through empty air as though it were climbing an invisible surface. Around and around it moved until its entire four metre long length was wrapped around its creator in a spiral that did not touch him. Its head swung around to face them and the bodyguard flinched back slightly as its eyes focused on her.
Unlike the rest of the creatures form its eyes were not composed of the same black thick liquid. Instead they were simply holes into its head, however from behind them emanated a burning yellow light. And despite the very thought being absurd Shirou knew that they were thinking that that light was somehow looking at them. He had felt the same way when he had first studied his creation.
This was one of the eight monsters he had created using Curses without End to serve as one of the last lines of defence for the manor. This was FEAR, a dangerous creation, but one that was less lethal than TREACHERY or RAGE. With any luck its abilities would work well for the little show he had planned.
-Scare them, - he ordered his creation, -Not too much, just enough to unsettle them.-
In response to its creators command the serpents head rose up and a cobra like hood flared itself. The light burning in its eyes grew brighter and the Campione could feel the waves of fear and dread begin to radiate forth form its form.
This time the reaction of the bodyguard was far more pronounced. She made a quick flicking gesture with both arms and was immediately holding two short metal rods, each about ten inches long and an inch thick. Shirou noted that their entire length was inscribed with rune that even his assimilated memories couldn't identify. Getting into a more ready stance Kuhoutsuka-san spoke to the shrine maiden behind her.
"Run Kaida-sama, I'll hold them as long as I can, just run!"
-Enough fade from their view.-
At the new command the black serpent ceased to radiate the emotion it embodied and sank back beneath the floor where he could feel it patiently waiting for his next order.
"I trust I have made my point," the young Emiya was doing everything he could to present a strong image, "If you have been honest with me then all well and good, however if you have lied to me, if you have presented me with incomplete or faulty information or plan to do so in the future then I suggest you recall one thing."
Suddenly the air around him was filled with swords as he traced them and set them to hovering around him with the points pointed at the floor.
"I will not tolerate deceit or manipulation, if your organization tries either then I will consider them and you my enemies. And if we come into conflict then I can guarantee that you will regret it.
"It may be that you actually know more about me than you say you do, it could be that you know all the capabilities of my Authorities. If that is the case then I suggest you go back and remind your superiors of one thing, I killed a god before I ever had them. I have resources available to me that your Committee has no possible way of knowing about, and if we come into conflict I will use them."
He waved his right hand and the undead warriors disappeared from view and the hovering swords dissolved into prana fragments that themselves disappeared. He let the grim expression slip from his face and replaced it with a more natural smile.
"That said I hope there will be no such conflicts because a long and mutually beneficial relationship would be far preferable to open conflict."
He made another motion with his hand and both the girls jumped slightly as Yusuke slid the door behind them open. Evidently they'd been so focussed on him and his demonstration that they hadn't notice him walking behind them.
"Yusuke here will show you out. I hope that this will prove to be simply the first of many fruitful meetings."
With a polite gesture he indicated that they were now free to leave. Both the young women seemed unsure of what to do for a moment, then Renjou-san bowed deeply and after a moment's hesitation Kuhoutsuka-san did likewise.
"I thank your majesty for his hospitality and his cooperation; I shall forward your words to both my superiors and you fellow king Kusanagi-sama. I also hope that this will prove to be only the first of many agreeable meetings."
Then with graceful dignity the shrine maiden turned and walked out the door. Her bodyguard seemed to hesitate for a moment, apparently unhappy to bare her back to one she considered a threat, then she moved quickly to catch up.
As the door slid shut he wished he knew what was going on in their heads.
-()-
Kaida managed to maintain her composure until just after she turned the corner that brought her out of sight from the mansion. Just there was a bench set up against one of the walls and looking out over a small park, as was to be expected in the kind rich neighbourhood that they were in.
In was lucky that the bench was there because as soon as she turned the corner the user of the Dragon's Roar collapsed onto it as her legs gave out under her. Manaka was only a second or two slower in collapsing onto the bench next to her.
"That . . . was terrifying." Stated Kaida as she slumped backwards and tried to calm her nervously fast breathing. "He seemed so calm and reasonable; I wasn't expecting anything like that show at the end."
She glanced sideways at her friend and saw that the warrior witch was visibly trembling as she hunched over and rested her elbows on her knees.
"But you were so brave. When that snake reared up I just froze up, but you were ready to fight it for me."
Manaka sat up and flashed a rather weak smile back at her.
"Don't be fooled, it was all I could do to not drop my battle wands when I pulled them out. If that thing had actually attacked I think I might have fainted on the spot."
Neither of them spoke for a minute, both their minds were filled by the enormity of the eighth Campione's presence. He had seemed so . . . strangely normal when she had first seen him, had he been in a school uniform then the only thing that would have set him apart in a crowd of students would have been his unusual hair colour. Then as they had spoken he had seemed to be unusually mature in his behaviour for his age, a fact that she had been privately thankful for. The thought of someone childish wielding the power of a Campione had sent a shiver down her spine which she had quickly suppressed.
She had been pleasantly surprised by how reasonable he had been for most of their meeting. His suggestions of the future relationship with the Committee were actually quite generous since as a Campione he could have simply demanded what he wanted and not been obliged to pay for it if he didn't wish to. That he was willing to grant them fair terms was a very hopeful sign.
It had been at the end that she had been forced to realize just what she was dealing with. By that point his demeanour had almost led her to forget just who she was speaking to. Certainly his having already met with Kusanagi-sama had shaken her, but somehow she had been able to put that aside, maybe she'd subconsciously been trying to humanize him? She didn't know.
What she did know was that his demonstration of power at the end of the meeting had brought it crashing home that it wasn't a normal mage she was dealing with. He was the eighth Campione, an individual that towered as far above her as a mage did above a newborn babe.
"So . . . what do we do now?" Kaida's voice was unsure, which was pretty much how she felt. Right now if her friend had suggested boarding a plane for Brazil she might just have agreed.
"I guess we now head back to The Nanao Shrine and begin to put our reports for both the Committee and Kusanagi-sama as soon as we finish pulling ourselves together."
The Hime-Miko glanced over at Manaka in surprise. She must have seen it because she answered with a wry smile.
"What? Were you expecting me to suggest that we catch a trip on a boat and head off for the North Pole? It might sound good, but there's one major problem with that. If we skip town and Emiya and Kusanagi end up fighting then it'll be our fault, and they'll eventually find out about it. I don't know about you but I really don't want to go the rest of my life knowing I've managed to annoy two people like that!"
The sentiment rang pretty true to Kaida; she certainly didn't want to have to deal with Emiya-sama if he ever had justification to be angry with her.
"Good point. Let's wait here a bit to recover then get back to Mariya-san's shrine so we can get the report and messages written up."
Manaka nodded and leaned back in her seat tilting her head back so she could stare up at the blue sky. After a moments consideration the Hime-Miko did the same. As they both sat, side by side and letting the tension slowly fade, she wondered what Emiya-sama was doing right now.
-()-
Shirou slumped back against the wall and then let gravity pull him down until he was sitting on the floor.
"That . . . was only slightly less difficult than facing Berserker." He muttered.
"Have you ever thought of becoming an actor?" Illya asked, "I think you might have some talent."
His answer was a sideways glare as he lacked the energy to turn his head. He had honestly not expected it to be so exhausting to act the part they had planned out for him. After all it hadn't called for anything very strenuous, just him restraining some of his natural inclinations. As it turned out though there had been a bit more to it than that. Shirou disliked lying at all, and what he had just done had felt like lying not just with his voice but with everything about himself, even if he hadn't shown it he'd hated it. He'd had to constantly fight the urge to shift in place, clench his fists or glance away from them. He'd been able to keep his voice even, but at one point he had needed to clasp his hands behind his back to hide a nervous twitch to his fingers. All in all the effort it had needed to control himself left him feeling as though he had spent the last hour training with Saber while she was in a bad mood. The only difference was that he felt somewhat dirty from his dishonesty.
"We've learnt a few interesting thing though, haven't we?"
The red haired teen had to agree with that. Assuming that the information they had received was accurate then they had several issues that would require further consideration. Kusanagi being a Campione wasn't something he'd seen coming, nor had the sheer level of influence that being one granted. There was also this History Compilation Committee to consider. If all they had been told was true then it sounded like they might be a very well connected organization, the kind that could get their hands on all sorts of rare books and knowledge. If that was the case then they might prove to be invaluable in his and Illya's search for a way back to their world.
"You know, this just proves I was right." His adopted sister's pleased words pulled him out of his thoughts.
"About what?"
"The main characters always eat on the school roof. Kusanagi-san is a Campione, we know that Liliana-san is a magus and now we've found out that Mariya-san is an agent of this Committee. I bet that the Erica they mentioned is special too. It stands to reason that she must be if she's in his harem. Then there's you and me, the newest Campione and his beautiful and talented genius sister. We went to eat our lunch on the roof too. That just proves I'm right."
As the snow haired girl nodded to herself in satisfaction at her reasoning Shirou closed his eyes and let his head fall back until it met the wall with a satisfying 'Thunk'.
This was just wonderful. They had this bombshell dropped on them and Illya was using it as fodder to prove her theory of how reality matched anime. Maybe he really had let her spend too much time watching those damned shows.
Still his mind kept going back to the thought that Kusanagi-san was also a Campione. By tomorrow he'd be informed that Shirou was one as well, if he hadn't already known. What would happen then? Would they fight? Would they talk? Would they simply ignore each other as long as they could? So many questions and not enough answers.
With a weary sigh he clambered back onto his feet and headed for the door.
"Oh, where are you going?" Illya asked.
"To my workshop," answered Shirou over his shoulder, "I've just had an idea."