บท 23: Chapter 23: Healing

After the discussion, Jacob came and sat beside shirou. His palm began glowing with the light emitted by the now active circuits. The white light fell on the wounds on Shirou's forearms melting the 1st aid kiritsugu applied.

Shirou felt a sharp pain as the wound became raw and bleeding began. He also had an uncomfortable itch on his forearms making him jerk the arm, prompting kiritsugu to hold his arm steady.

Within 5 minutes the wounds closed and Jacob said

"His potential must be pretty good. I have told the family butler to arrange a room for you."

Closing his circuits and removing the bounded field he continued

"Now go and bring him back at night for me to observe and identify the reason for this peculiarity."

After saying his piece Jacob released a tired sigh as he left the room. The father and son pair talked as they waited for the butler mentioned to arrive.

To answer the questions about the identity of mage craft Jacob used kiritsugu said.

"The magecraft practised by the Miller family is centred around the quickening of natural cycles of the human body."

"This gives them an edge in healing and surgery. Jacob accelerated your natural cellular division cycle making your wound heal. The side effects should be about to kick in about now,"

Shirou listened to Kiritsugu`s words but his mind was going back to the events of last night for a reason unknown. He recalled his desperate search for some form of weapon in the dream but he wasn't able to move.

The butler came and guided the father and son pair to a room on the 1st floor of the castle. The room had a large window giving a panoramic view of the snow-covered outside. Shirou looked around the room and found it extremely luxurious but monotone.

All curtains and rugs and even bedsheets were spotless white. Leaving his tired body to rest on the bed shirou was hit by hunger pangs. Confused he woke up from the bed and saw a meal covered in a glass dome kept by the bedside.

Looking at the convenient positioning shirou remembered the talk about side effects he had with his father. After eating the food he went to the bathroom and then fell asleep.

…

In fuyuki, japan

In a basement illuminated by faint yellow light, 2 blurry figures were seen clashing. One was an adult male wearing priest clothes with a cross swinging on his neck. The other was a little girl with black twin tails wearing a tight pant and a t-shirt tied on the back to be tight.

Kirei and Rin fought using only martial arts. Rin was being thrashed by the priest in a very similar way to shirou being beaten by Taiga but here the environment lacked the warmth that Taiga had for shirou.

Kirei had that gloomy aura and utter apathy when beating up Rin during her training in Bajiquan. This all started in the name of self-defence training for Rin and now has become a regular occurrence.

While ignoring the pain and standing up Rin thought

Rin though showed her ample dislike for kerei. She herself didn't know why but from the 1st time she met him she had a dislike and distrust for the priest.

Alas with her being a minor the guardian for her and the one who currently manages the tohsaka family was Kerei, so she had to meet with him repeatedly.

After her training and sending the priest back to church Rin went to the magus workshop in her basement. She picked up an ornamental-looking dagger and started pouring mana into it.

< she said that he went on an urgent business trip to Europe with his father and will be absent for a week. Europe….. the magus association…. Be safe emiya. Because i have prepared a surprise for our next fight.>

….

Shirou woke up after 2 hours and had another meal after calling the butler. After finding his father maintaining the guns, shirou went to the bag and brought out a katana.

Running his palm over the blade shirou adopted a meditation position and put the unsheathed blade on his lap. He opened his magic circuits and letting mana flood his body and the blade he began the use of structural grasp as well as to project what he understood.

Time passed and shirou was shaken awake from his trance by kiritsugu, who said

"It's time shirou. It's already midnight Let's go to Jacob."

Leaving the room they are guided to the basement by the same old butler. The man walked with confidence and elegance not matching his aged appearance and greying hair as he guided them to a door covered by a bounded field.

As they reached the door it opened by itself revealing Jacob wearing a lab coat, looking like a scientist and not like a magus. The room was comparatively small, it only had 4 long tables filled with apparatus and 4 adjacent shelves filled with boxes and jars of liquid.

As shirou took in the surroundings Jacob said

"I will give shirou a sleeping agent that will let him enter deep sleep and have the highest chances of the nightmare occurring."

Kiritsugu nodded his head and motioned for shirou to take the vial handed by Jacob. Promptly drinking the drug shirou went to bed lying in a corner of the room looking out of place.

As shirou hit his bed and closed his eyes he slowly fell asleep. The two men look at each other with visages full of seriousness, taking this as a signal Jacob moves his hands glowing with circuits as various bounded fields cover the area and some specially designed bounded fields cover shirou.

….

Shirou opened his eyes in the place he dubbed the void. Waiting till his vision swirled he was unable to see the ground below him.

The ground below him now had various protruding handles ranging from shinai to deformed katana and talwar handles. The most impressive was the huge handle of a bastard sword protruding out from the red steaming sand releasing some orange sparks.

Shirou opened his eyes and took in the surroundings, it was the fuyuki city at night. The once prosperous city now had a fordeading atmosphere and the streets are strangely vacant.

As Shirou was taking in the gloom and heaviness in the air his vision started drifting towards the Miyama region. When he reached the region his speed increased till he was above the area next to Ryuudou Temple.

On the steps of the temple, he was 2 people climbing the steps. One was the same orange-haired boy that he suspected to be his future self and in front of the teen was sabre, in her armour welding her invisible sword.

They were talking as they walked but shirou was unable to hear anything due to distance. Abruptly shirou accelerated and his vision shifted to the point of view of his future self.

As soon as he synchronised he heard himself say

"I definitely think it's a trap. Saber, can you tell what is going on inside from here ?"

She replied turning towards him with a serious look

"No. I can only determine that there is some sign of a servant in there."

"I see, so we won't know anything until we go inside." said shirou which resulted in Sabre nodding

"Let`s go, nothing will happen to us until we see their faces." said shirou as the pair moved towards the temple gate.

Suddenly his vision was covered in darkness and the moonlit sky was covered in clouds.

"Huh– hold on saber." says shirou as he sees a glimpse of a beautiful snake in the woods.

"Shirou?" says Saber as her golden hair twirls with the movement of her head, the reflected moonlight simmering them with a glow.

<moonlight..... but its cloudy>

Shirous vision starts to blur and he hears Saber turning around with vigilance as she says

"Enforces transference, impossible! In this age, this magic is not possible…. I see its caster!"

Saber`s image distorted like a mirage and shirou was left pondering what kind of magecraft this is. He heard himself say

"Pull back sabre your body is …..fading away." hearing this she says

"No it is you shirou, take my hand before you are transported away."

"Shirou give me your hand quickly before you are transported."

As soon as she said this the figure of a servant knocks her away. Shirou just saw the flash of purple hair and black blur in his distorted vision. He heard a charming but cold female voice say

"You have let your guard down sabre. Your high magic resistance has proven harmful, your strength makes you unable to protect him."

Two servants collide in black and sliver flashes, sprinkeled with yellow and purple. Shirou was teleported away as his body shouted

"Wha– saber! Saber!"

With his vision flashing white shirou lets out a grasp

"Arg- auck!"

As his body hit the floor some small stones hit him in various places. He felt the blood in his body running backwards. He felt like another living thing was inside his body and wiggling.