Fate Endless Moon Ep:2

[Dekar]

Fate Endless Moon Ep:2

~April 17th: Sparring~

I roll over in my futon and open my eyes, in front of my lays an attractive woman with light blue hair sleeping peacefully. I sit up in my futon and let the cool morning air clear my head.

“…” I look over next to me again, then look half way across the room at where the second futon was located “How the hell did she get all the way over here? Is there really a magus that moves so much in their sleep?” I wonder quietly to myself as I get up.

“Wow Kotorii I didn’t realize you were such a smooth operator.” Rider’s voice calls as she appears in over by the door.

“Give me a break Rider, you know I didn’t do anything.” I reply exhaustedly.

“True enough but it is surprising she rolled all the way over to you while you both were sleeping. It’s almost like fate.” Rider teases

“Well it’s definitely weird no doubt about that.” I sigh anyways I should probably go see Kazuto, I begin to walk towards the door when it suddenly slides open and in front of me stands another familiar magus.

“So there really are two of them staying here.” The voice sighs “Well I suppose it was inevitable for another war to occur “I kept telling him not to accept anyone who asked to stay here during the war but of course Kazuto is far too kind hearted.” Before me stands Sako, I had never actually met her but she was a pretty well known enforcer for quite a long time.

“And now it’s Sako, I didn’t expect this town to have so many powerful magi.” I admire as I look at the woman.

“Oh? So you know who I am, you must be an enforcer then, since I’m not famous like Aylia or Kawaru.” She laughs quietly “I’m glad our son is still in England, I didn’t want him competing in this war. Why don’t you two come eat breakfast we can talk there.”

“Sure, I’ll wake Sierra up in a moment.” I respond as I go to my bag to get a change of clothes.

Sako leaves and I wake up Sierra and relay Sako’s message, since the two already knew about Saber and Rider we decided it would be easier if they were present as well so the six of us sit down to eat.

“So why are the two of you searching for the grail?” Sako asks a question that is very inappropriate for a one magus to ask another. However, since we were taking up residence in her home we didn’t have much of a choice but to answer.

“I’m looking for it because I want to be able to do the impossible.” Sierra answers plainly “I don’t really care about it itself but I want to prove that if someone strives for something hard enough anything can be achieved.” She says merrily as she digs into the bowl of rice in front of her.

“I don’t desire the Holy Grail, I got dragged into this war against my will, but at the same time something inside of me is telling me I want to win. So I guess I’ll just say it’s to prove that I’m the most capable magus in the war.” I reply in a disinterested tone, to be honest I have no idea why I’m really fighting in this war, but I want to see it through to the end, if I win maybe, just maybe I’ll find a way to make time flow for me again.

“You remind me a bit of Rin Tosaka.” Sako laughs as she puts down her chop sticks

“Huh? Why?” I was surprised Rin was the head of the Tosaka household and an extremely influential magus, I hardly saw a resemblance between someone like her and a trained murderer like myself “Just so you know I will not allow violence in the temple if a fight starts I will request that the competitors relocate.” Sako warns

“Fine with me.” Both Sierra and I agree to the condition.

“Hey Kotorii I’ve been wondering what’s your last name? Mine’s Raven.” She informs us. Sierra Raven I’ve never heard of her so she must now be very high up in the magic association if she’s even a member.

“My name is just Kotorii, I have no last name and this one is just the one I was given at the association.” I reply, truth be told I can’t remember anything about my parents; my first memories were of being raised in the magic association.

I notice that the mood at the table had been considerably worsened and so I decided it was time to pick up and get to work, I collect the dishes and begin cleaning the kitchen.

“Hey kid, I don’t have anything for you to do today so feel free to go and do whatever you want.” Kazuto tells me as I finish cleaning the kitchen

“Okay, I’ll do that thank you very much.” I reply with a bow as I leave the building. I tell Sierra that I was going out for a bit and after many complaints I convince her not to follow me, but unfortunately no such excuses worked on Rider and she ended up following after me in spirit form.

“You know Kotorii you could have invited that Sierra girl, it could have been a date.” She teases I shoot her a malicious glare in response. I didn’t want to talk to her because it my draw attention if I start talking to myself. I didn’t need that kind of humor right now since I was trying to trace any magic energy in the air “Masters normally only come out at night so don’t bother trying to look for them in the day time.” Rider informs me.

Just great I can’t really look for them until I’m about to fight them, I sigh and enter a nearby clothing shop where I buy clothes for the next couple weeks, I didn’t want to wear blood stained cloths if I got injured or if the enemies blood got on my clothes.

“So I guess we’ll go hunting for enemies tonight?” Rider asks curiously, I nod in agreement I couldn’t leave things as they were 5 enemies was too many to worry about especially considering I didn’t know who 4 of them were.

“If this is going to continue I’m going to need to be better armed.” Kotorii

When I enter the bun shop I see a man with spiked back brown hair and a confident smile browsing through the gun selection, I wasn’t aware off hand if it was legal or own a fire arm but at the same time I didn’t really care. The one thing that drew my attention to it was that he seemed to be looking at combat fire arms. He suddenly looks over at me with a grin and I realize what was bothering me about him.

“Why hello there.” He greets me courteously and I glare at him “What’s wrong Kotorii? Not happy to see an old friend?” He asks disappointedly as he extends his hand.

“Takami, why are you here, they wouldn’t send another enforcer to a place they already have one stationed.” I ask with clear hostility in my voice.

“Of course I’m here, the Tosaka participate in every grail war, but I didn’t expect to see the stray dog of the association here.” Takami expresses genuine surprise but maintains a calm and lax manner. Takami Tosaka was actually a pretty nice guy, if you were to call someone my friend he would probably be the closest example. We were in the same class and he was the only person who talked to me but after becoming enforcers we started hanging out less.

“The same thing that you are.” I reply bluntly.

“As straight forwards as ever I see, but still this is unfortunate since it means we’ll probably have to kill each other.” He replies disappointedly, we may be close acquaintances but we were also trained enforcers if we fought one of us would probably die. Takami turns his head slightly “Opps gotta run let’s go drinking sometime, if we’re both alive that is.” He suggests in an easy going manner then leaves.

After I leave the gun shop I can’t help but look around cautiously “Of all the enforcers why Takami.” I mumble to myself. It wasn’t our relationship that was concerning me now, it was the fact that Takami was the only person who knew the nature of my magic and how I attained it meaning that most of my normal tactics wouldn’t work on him.

As I head back towards Ryudo temple I decide to ask “Rider, I’ve been wondering, what kind of Noble Phantasm do you have?” I ask curiously, I had no real interest in specifics but it would be good to know the general purpose of the phantasm in case I ended up using it.

“Hmmm? Such a sudden change in attitude until now you didn’t seem that worried about the war, what brought on the change?” She asks curiously with a teasing grin “Is it cause of that Takami guy?”

“To this point I’ve been working under the assumption that I can quickly kill any other master competing in the tournament, but thinking about it I don’t really know the magic I’m up against and if a powerful servant has a master that remains hidden, or the master specializes in defensive magic then I’ll need to use other tactics to win. Also Takami and I are about the same strength so there’s almost no chance I’ll be able to kill him quickly.” I reason out “So I should at least determine my tools.” I explain.

“My noble phantasms are both summoning style phantasms I have two, and they are both of relatively high rank.” Rider responds concisely “both can be used for defense and offense.”

I take note in my head about this as we walk up the temple steps when I reach the top I see an unexpected face as Tomoyo stands in the middle of the temple covered in sweat. She immediately turns towards me with a piercing glare. “What are you doing here?” she asks in a demanding voice

I’m about to respond but Kazuto walks out into the yard before I get a chance too. “He’s a resident here, he’s here on business and needed a place to stay so I’m letting him stay here in return for helping out with odd jobs around the temple.” Kazuto explains with a smile however something about him was different as I look at him I realize that his arms have several bruises on them since the rest of his body was covered I could only assume they were there as well. I also notice a sword that seems to resonate with magical energy grasped firmly in his hand. Tomoyo turns to leave and walks away but I could feel something off about her.

“Is her servant with her?” I ask Rider under my breath.

“No, I don’t sense the presence of anther servant, though if her servant is Assassin he might be, or if it’s Archer or Caster it could be watching her from afar.” Rider responds.

I stand and deliberate for a moment, she must have been doing some kind of physical training with Kazuto. I like all enforcers and trained in martial arts so it made me wonder how strong she was. “Kazuto would you mind sparing with me?” I request from my host.

“Oh?” He grins apparently realizing what I was trying to do “I’d be happy too.” He goes and puts down his sword then walks out onto the courtyard.

“You can use a wood sword or something if you’d like.” I offer as it was clear he was a swordsman.

“I doubt that will be necessary.” He replies confidently. I was being underestimated. He stands with his arms crossed and watches me as I enter a fighting stance “Lets to a three point match, that okay with you?” he asks I nod as this was acceptable, I didn’t expect to beat Kazuto as he seemed to have far more training than me but I should at least score a single solid hit. “Well then I guess I’ll come to you.” He grins.

In that moment all the expectations I had had about this match were blown away in an instant. Kazuto lunges towards me head on with speed like a bull, by the time he moved it was already too late for me to dodge. I put my guard up to defend against his blow but his palm come under my guard and hits me square in the stomach launching me back several feet and leaving me sprawled out on my back.

What the hell just happened? I thought to myself there was no way to explain such inhuman movements, in all the years I had spent as an enforcer I had never encountered anyone with half the physical prowess Kazuto had just displayed. I struggle to my feet and look at Kazuto who was standing with his arms crossed and an indifferent look on his face, it wasn’t just him however, if Tomoyo had really been the cause of those bruises on his arms that would mean that she is not only able to react but to fight back against this monster standing before me, for the first time since I had become a magus I realize, I may have gotten in way over my head.

“How did you do that? Magic?” I ask I hadn’t heard an incantation but it was possible he had augmented his body in some way.

“No, I wouldn’t do such a thing against someone I had never fought before, sorry if that was too much, I’ll try holding back a little more.” He apologizes

“No, it’s fine.” I crouch down and dash forward, he would definitely strike before I did even though I initiated the attack so my only hope was to judge where the attack would come from first. I begin I wide arched spin kick, but sensing his strike I quickly stop and bring my hands in front of my torso, I block his strike but the sheer force sent me skidding back several feet even if I reacted there was no way for me to attack.

“Why don’t you use some of your magic, so long as it’s some kind of augmentation magic?” Kazuto suggests I nod and wind begins to gather around me, as my limbs become lighter and I can feel the air glowing with my every movement.

“Well well I guess I should have expected it but you’ve got some interesting magic.” Kazuto muses as he crouches slightly he jumps straight at me with the same monstrous speed he had shown earlier, but this time I was able to avoid his strike but lunging to the side and using the wind to propel me, but this single evasion doesn’t change much as Kazuto immediately reads my evasion and follows me. I bring both hands in front of my chest to block his strike but his palm makes contact with almost no force behind it.

Before I realize it I’m laying on my back again when I look at Kazuto both hands are extended out. The first strike had been a feint to lure me into blocking. No, that’s not entirely right it was only a feint because I blocked it no matter which attack I blocked the other strike would have been the real one the idea seemed preposterous but my instincts told me I was correct, and just like that I had been entirely dominated in this match.

“Good job kid, most people don’t even avoid the first hit but you even managed to block one of the strikes as well. You’re definitely quite powerful.” Kazuto compliments I can only stare in disbelief, was he praising me? He had utterly destroyed me. Even if this had been a seriously fight and I had used all of the spells that I had at my disposal I would have only had maybe a 5% chance of victory.

“What…what are you?” I ask there was no other question that could truly describe what I wanted to know.

“I’m a magus that specializes in physical combat.” Kazuto replies plainly “I’ve spent almost my entire life cultivating the fighting that you just saw. Anyways let’s go in and have something to eat, do you know how to cook?” He asks

“Well I’m okay, but don’t expect anything amazing.” I reply honestly.

“That’s fine why don’t you go cook something?” Kazuto requests, having no reason to refuse I nod my head and walk towards the kitchen “Oh one more thing, feel free to lets your servants materialize while you’re here.” Kazuto offers.

Not waiting for my response Rider takes the opportunity to materialize. She begins to stretch with a broad smile on her face “I can finally get some exercise.” She looks at Kazuto with a grin “Wanna help me get some exercise?” She asks

“Rider, you did see what just happened right?” I ask in complete disbelieve that anyone would be able to take Kazuto that lightly.

“You still don’t get it, huh Kotorii?” A voice asks from behind me. I turn around and see Sierra sitting on a rock “Just watch and you’ll understand.” She instructs

Kazuto enters the building the shed and comes out with two shinai, then passes one to Rider. He takes his stance and then gives the signal to start.

“Here I come!” Rider calls as she moves forwards the five meters that had been separating them were utterly meaningless Kazuto reacts with lightning speed parrying Rider’s initial strike and then swings the shinai one handed as a counter, which Rider blocks with the guard on her shinai. I can only watch in amazement at the display of skill and prowess both of them show.

“Understand now?” Sierra asks “Servants aren’t ordinary familiars, and yours is Rider so she’s not even the strongest melee fighter in the War.” I nod my head taken in by the spectacle I was watching “I now understood just how much of a difference there was between a servant and a magi, even if my magic was enough to harm or even kill Rider, she’d kill me seven times over before I would be able to gather the energy to cast such a spell and even then it would have to be magic far beyond my current capacity.

Sierra smiles amused by my reaction “You may be a powerful magus, but at a master you’re a novice.” She tells me and pats me on the back “be prepared because tonight we’re going out to look for other masters.”

I go to the kitchen to prepare food. Kazuto and Rider finish sparring and we all eat dinner together. The meal was pleasant but it gave me the anxious feeling of the calm before the storm. After dinner Sierra and I finish up the remaining chores like cleaning the dishes and polishing the temple statue. It was finally time.

“So Kotorii you ready to go?” Sierra asks me in an upbeat voice. I can’t help but wonder how she can be so positive as we were about to enter a life or death hunt with other masters.

“I guess.” I reply in a calm manner, if we were going out to fight I couldn’t afford to get nervous or tense, I take several deep breaths in order to calm myself and relax a bit, this was no different than my the jobs the association normally gave me, only this time I didn’t know who I was fighting and the odds were stacked against me. “How can you all be so confident?” ask in a pessimistic tone.

“Because we’re going to win.” Both Sierra and Rider answer in unison, Saber stands behind the two with a confident grin. Am I the only one who’s worried.

The four of us set out, Rider and Saber remain in spirit form since it’s easier to sense spirits who are materializes. I keep all my senses open missing a single detail might result in my death. I hadn’t felt this sense of tension since my early days as an enforcer. Once you get used to seeing death you can start to become desensitized to it, I guess I feel like this because I haven’t actually had to worry about defeat in a long time.

“Sierra, is there an effective way to identify where other masters are besides just walking around and looking for traces of mana?” I ask

“I don’t think so but masters normally only move at night and the people who are masters can vary so if we keep looking we might find something.” Sierra replies, her eyes were completely different than before we left the temple, her eyes were those of a serious magus, the eyes of someone who walked a path tinted in blood “How did you identify your targets for assassinations?” Sierra asks apparently also hoping for an idea

“Normally the association told me where to find them and even in the event that they didn’t I could often locate them because their workshops emitted mana, but it’s a bad idea to go to the home ground of someone with equal ability to you and I’m going to assume everyone in the war does.” I explain “That’s why I haven’t suggested we go after Tomoyo.”

“Huh? You mean the girl who was at the temple earlier? She was as master?” Sierra asks in surprise. I nod my head.

“I think so her parents are famous magi in the association, I’ve heard she doesn’t seem to be as powerful as either of them but since they are the governing magi of this town their almost certain to have a competitor in this war.” I explain.

“Is that so? But if her permanent residence is here, and her parents are powerful magi her home is probably completely protected.” Sierra reasons out. I nod in agreement as this is what I thought as well.

My eyes narrow as and both servants appear in front of us. “What is it?” Sierra asks confused.

“I smell blood.” I reply without really paying attention to her, I was scanning the area something was wrong, not just the stench of blood but I could feel a murderous intent. I hear a faint cry and I wrench my head towards a nearby alleyway where a man stands over a small crying boy with a sword raised over his head, he notices us immediately.

Before I could do anything Rider and Saber were already charging towards the man at completely absurd speeds, Saber was faster than Rider and reached the boy first but there was nothing for him to attack the figure seemed to have disappeared into the shadows.

“Assassin,” Saber spits” ammit he got away.”

“Couldn’t he just be hiding?” I ask Saber

“Assassin class servants have reduced combat stats compared to other students, he won’t attack since wouldn’t be able to end it in one strike.” Saber explains “But more importantly it appears he’s killing people to store more magical energy.” Saber seemed genuinely angry as he looks at the kid trying to decide what to do.

“Spirits of wind become my implement and grant this boy a painless death.” I begin to cast a spell, it was common place to kill the unfortunate bystanders who got involved in magus conflicts. The least I could do was grant the boy a painless death.

But suddenly Rider steps between the boy and I. “What do you think you’re doing?” Rider asks in a voice that the boy couldn’t hear though looking at the blank expression on the boy’s face he was probably in too much shock to hear what we were saying anyways.

“Those who see us have to die. It’s a basic rule in the magi world.” I answer, but before Rider could address my response Saber hoisted the child onto his back.

“Good job Saber, we’ll take him back to Ryudo with us.” Sierra instructs “At least we were in time to save a single victim.” She lets out a sigh of relief then turns to me “I’m not an association magi and I don’t approve of that policy if you want to harm him you’ll have to defeat me first.” She declares. We glare at each other for a while but I eventually let out a sigh of defeat, there wasn’t going to be negotiation and I couldn’t afford to break the alliance now, I’d deal with this after the war was over, or at least after Saber was eliminated.

The four of us head back towards the temple it would be a bad idea for us to fight while the boy was with us and I didn’t want to risk getting ambushed by Assassin if another servant showed up. When we return Sako immediately runs out seeing the boy. “What happened?” She asks

“His parents were killed by Assassin, and Sierra decided to bring him back with us.” Sako could tell that this was much to my distaste but chooses to ignore it and takes the boy inside and lays him down in a bed. I drop my guard a little since we were safe for the time being and walk out to the outdoor alter. I take a cigarette out of my pocket and light up, the ember light helps me calm down, and I slowly breathe out the smoke then look up at the moon. “They say the moon records everything, I wonder if it appreciates irony.” I wonder to myself.

“Move forwards kid, don’t let it stop for you too.” I whisper advice to the young boy who could not hear my words. The stench of blood still stung my nostrils and the hacked up corpses of the boy’s parents remained fresh in my mind.

I close my eyes slowly and a fresh image appears in my mind. The image was gruesome and actually quite similar to the one I had just seen but it was also different. A boy sitting in between his two freshly slaughtered parents, but this boy was different his eyes were filled with enmity and he was snarling at a man in front of him wearing a robe with an outstretched hand…that’s right, that’s how I joined the association. The enforced charged with killing my parents decided to spare me.

“Looks like you’ve got a something pretty heavy on your mind.” Rider says as she appears beside me. A smirk a complicated smirk appears on my face.

“I suppose since you’re my partner in this you should know let’s go inside, Sierra you can come to if you’d like.” I say calmly Sierra steps out from behind a nearby wall looking disappointed. I don’t know what made her think she could sneak up on me, without even masking her mana. I don’t really care who knows about my past and if Sierra hears it maybe she’ll finally realize that the world isn’t a kind place that rewards optimists and dreamers. “Come on, I’ll tell you my story.”


~Preview~
Sierra: Hello, everyone I’m Sierra and I’ll be previewing the next chapter of Fate Endless Moon. Kotorii reveals the secrets of his dark past, and wounds that can’t be seen are brought to the surface. Also the boy we rescued wakes up, how will Kotorii interact with a person who shares the same scars as him?