Chương 1057: 71
071 - Wrapping things up (4 of 4)
The walk back to the Emiya Residence is a subdued, if fairly pleasant affair. Just two siblings walking home together. There's no hurry, there's no worries, and there's nothing on our mind except enjoying each other's presence. Illya is hanging from my arm, humming happily with her eyes closed as she leans on me more than strictly necessary and overall looking nothing like the big sister she's supposed to be.
And I wouldn't have it any other way. Illya has had enough hardship in her life and far too little time to be a child.
In fact, it's easy to forget because she also acted like this in canon, but her life before Fuyuki was a mix of torture vaguely disgused as training and what I can only assume was not-so-gently enforced discipline. Granted, it's hard to top Sakura's record, but shitty childhoods aren't a competition. The way she bounced into her current behavior and personality the moment she got away from Jubstacheit's thumb is still nothing short of awe-inspiring.
"Hey, Illya." I ask suddenly, pointing at a small mom-and-pop candy store. "How about some shaved ice?"
"Shaved ice?" She eyes the place with curiosity. "Sella told me that's just frozen water with unhealthy syrup on top and that I should stay away from it."
"And she's right that it's unhealthy, but it's tasty and traditional." I bravely defend the cheapest and most emblematic tool the Japanese people have to combat the sweltering seasonal heat. "You can't say you've spent a summer in Japan if you haven't tried shaved ice."
"Well… since it's tradition, it wouldn't hurt to try just once, right?" She says slowly, a smile growing on her face as she considers the idea more seriously. "It's not like Sella even knows what it looks like to have fun!"
"That's my Little Big Sis, such a rebel…"
"Oh, shut up, Onii-chan!"
Since it's her first time, I get her the classic melon syrup for her bowl while I get a strawberry one for myself. I've long since learnt to be wary of strange and exotic flavors when it comes to shaved ice syrup. Haku will never let me forget the time I tried that weird blue 'smurf' flavored one. Truly, being adventurous doesn't always pay off.
Illya cheerfully devours her cheap treat -and half of mine, too- with an enthusiasm that puts a smile on my face. By the time we finally reach the street where the Emiya Residence is located, she's eyeing the empty bowl as if weighing the pros and cons of directly licking off the melted remains.
Then her eyes widen in shock and she hurriedly steals my own bowl. Without missing a beat, she proceeds to throw the both of them away somewhere out of sight that's definitely not a place one should be throwing trash into. It doesn't take me long to realize why.
Right at the same time as we turned the corner, but on the other end of the street, three figures mirror our steps. Ayako doesn't attract that much attention to herself, but it's definitely hard to miss Leysritt and Sella's aberration of a maid outfit. Truly, one can easily pick the declining state of the Einzbern by the ugly thing they make their servants wear.
I mean, what's the point of making your homunculus otherworldly beautiful if you're then going to stuff them into a potato sack and call it a uniform?
"Yo, Ayako." I greet my… Friend? Girlfriend? Fiancée? Not-yet-lover? We've done things a bit out of order, so it's hard to say for sure. "Looks like we got here at the same time."
"Indeed." Sella steps forward before Ayako can answer to perform a dainty curtsy, stern but perfectly elegant. "Thank you for taking care of our charge while we were away, Emiya-sam."
"It was nothing." I reply, noting how Sella manages to remain intimidating while performing an action that's specifically designed to look subservient. "We are practically family anway, you don't need to–"
"However." She cuts me off before I can finish, using that tone of voice mothers and caretakers around the world use to cow their charges into submission. "I'll be holding you responsible if snacking on sweets between meals spoils her appetite."
"How?" Illya asks in horrified incredulity, before catching herself and lamely trying to make an excuse. "I– I mean…"
"Illya smells like cheap melon syrup." Leysritt explains cheerfully.
"Indeed." Sella nods along. "I'm not so easy to deceive that I would ignore–"
"Makes you wonder why Sella knows what cheap melon syrup smells like, right?" Leysritt continues without missing a beat.
"L–Leysritt!" Sella stutters panickedly, turning towards her fellow maid with an expression of utter betrayal on her face. "I fail to see how that's in any way relevant!"
Funny how she jumped into defending herself without even considering the accusation is incredibly easy to refute. Guilty much?
… Anyway, one way or another and with our dignity more or less trampled, we all find ourselves inside the building. As the host, it falls upon me to make sure they all feel welcomed, but I have a good excuse to be brief with them and barricade myself in the kitchen. There's a big celebration coming up and nobody here to stop me from hogging all the cooking duties for myself.
Oh, sure, Sella tried to butt in, but I'm an old and shrewd hand at that game, a veteran of the kitchen wars with years of experience wrangling usage rights from jealous competitors. I just pointed out the fact that Illya would be living here from now on and someone would need to make sure the living conditions of whatever free room she chose to claim as hers were up to standards.
… Probably make sure she claimed an actual free room too. As opposed to, I don't know, trying to share mine or something.
There was also an attempt at throwing a tantrum, but I had a last ace up my sleeve.
"Illya, are you sure you want to waste time arguing?" I point out with a mischievous smile. "A lot of people are going to get new living quarters today, and only one of them can get first pick~!"
I'd say that was the end of the argument, but it was just the end of the part of the argument that involved me. Dear me, considering how much she protested the whole marriage interview thing, one would never assume Ayako would fight so hard to get the closest room to mine.
And… that was that, really.
As the day progressed, more people trickled into the house and, depending on their temperament and prior association with the residence, roughly divided themselves into three groups: Those who would be moving into the residence today and would bicker with Ayako and Illya, those who have their living quarters already sorted out and wanted to kick me out of the kitchen and those who didn't care about either.
That third group tended to join Leysritt in front of the TV. Or maybe it would be more correct to say they gathered around the trays of snacks. The second group, my would-be challengers, are usually worthy opponents, but they were being punished today so I made short work of their arguments and sent them packing.
Altera and Rin were the very last to arrive, with such perfect timing that I'll never believe they weren't stalking us from outside to make a flashy appearance as soon as the party properly started. She even seemed smug about it when I mentioned the possibility, only to make a face when she learnt that means all the free rooms had been occupied while she was away and the last one at the end of the corridor was the only remaining one.
Dinner was served between laughter. Drinks were drunk, songs were sung… Much merriment was had. Or, in Taiga's case, way too much merriment. Though, considering I'm currently standing on the table to try and get everyone's attention, maybe I'm not in any position to talk.
"Alright, now that our dear legal guardian is out cold…" I trail off to gently kick the softly snoring tiger collapsed on the table before continuing. "I'd like to propose a toast for the real cause for celebration here!"
I glance around as I raise my glass, taking a look at everyone gathered here today.
Haku, who has been here with me since the very start. Rin, who taught me the basics of magecraft. Ayako, who gave my life a semblance of normalcy as the Archery Club captain. Sakura, who somehow managed to hold to her kindness through all the horrors she experienced. Medea, the best Servant I could ever ask for.
Ecchan, the cutest sith lord cum evil dragon in existence. Jackie, who still seems dumbfounded about the fact she's developed bonds towards me. Altera, whom I'm basically only familiar with through metaknowledge and really need to spend more time with. Medusa, who deserves all the happiness she was denied in life. Illya, the Little Big Sister I've been missing my whole life.
Atalanta, impassive and standoffish until the very instant a child enters her field of vision. Leysritt, lazy and snarky but so very loyal. Sella, serious and hardworking but with a surprisingly cute hidden side. Barbatos, who really shouldn't exist but I'll be the last to complain about it … There's Taiga too, I guess.
It's been a long, strange trip since I woke up in the middle of the Fuyuki Fire all these years away, hasn't it? But it's reaching the end.
"There are no enemies remaining in this Holy Grail War! And, thanks to Gilgamesh's generous contribution, we have four Servant's worth of energy stored. More than enough for our resident expert to finalize the ritual in a satisfactory manner!" I pause to nod at my incredible Caster. "For Team Emiya and for Victory! And for winning it without wasting a single Command Spell!"
"For Victory!"
"For Team Emiya!"
"Kanpai!"
"Oooosu!"
We toast and we drink. And then someone else toasts too so we drink again. And we continue in that fashion for some time, until Rin slams her glass on the table to get everyone's attention.
"Alright Emiya-kun." She says once the room quiets down. "Spill."
"What?"
"Don't try acting innocent now, Emiya." Ayako pipes in. "Celebrating how we won 'without wasting a single Command Spell' is a strangely specific toast to propose."
"What?" I insist, taking both hands to my heart in a show of utter sincerity. "Can I just use strangely foreboding words without meaning anything by it?"
"Onii-chan can claim so…" The eldest Emiya cheerfully adds her two cents to the unfunded, unfair and painfully correct accusations. "But nobody is going to believe him."
"Et tu, Illya?" I cry out in shocked betrayal. Nobody seems particularly swayed by my theatrics though, so I have no choice but to give them up. "Okay, fine. I have a last plan. Something I was saving for the end because it required everyone saving up their Command Spells and I didn't want to make you guys hesitate if you really needed to use them. But now that we're all alive and well… Let's make sure we can properly celebrate, okay?"
"What could possibly require us all saving our Command Spells past the end of the War, Emiya-kun?"
"Come on, Rin, you know Onii-chan better than that by now." Illya answers for me, pointing an accusatory finger towards my face. "That's his 'I know something that you don't' face."
"That's my Little Big Sis." I comment with a sigh, wiping an imaginary tear from my eye. "She knows me so well…"
"Well? Are you going to keep us waiting?"
I still take my time meeting everyone's eyes before doing anything, just to be contrary, but there's not much I can do to raise the tension any further and too much teasing only grows stale. So I raise my right arm to show off the marks on the back of my hand, making them glow with a crimson light as I pour my magical energy into them.
"Caster, by the power of my Command Spells…" The whole room holds their breath as I trail off, my grin only growing wider as the amount of magical energy in the air starts creating wind pressure. This is it, the moment of truth. A promise fulfilled… or a shameful failure. "Incarnate into a body of flesh and blood!"
A sudden spike of pain throbs through my arm, making me grit my teeth to keep myself from crying out. Command given, the three crests on my hand consume themselves to bring forth a desire beyond the realm of possibility. A single Spell can cause miracles, giving the already ridiculous existences known as Heroic Spirits the energy they need to go beyond the limitations of their containers. The three of them used as one? They can twist the very laws of nature.
But the energy stored within them was never supposed to go all of at the same time. And they burn!
I'm man enough to admit the pain makes me lose track of my surroundings until the process is complete, so I'm not sure how things develop. The only thing I know is that, once my eyes stop tearing up and I can look around, everyone is trading incredulous looks between me and Medea.
"You…" Rin is the first who manages to find her voice. "The Command Spells can do that?"
"I mean, I wasn't a hundred percent sure it would work until I tried, but…" I trail off with a shrug. It worked for Perseus, but Prototype is dubiously canon. "My sources said there was a good chance it would."
A stormy expression replaces the shock on Rin's face but, as she opens her mouth, no doubt about to demand answers about those 'sources' of mine…
"Jackie, by the power of my Command Spells…" …Medea's voice echoes through the room, cutting Rin off. "Incarnate into a body of flesh and blood!"
As you can imagine, Haku and Sakura trip over themselves to follow suit and we soon have a room filled with recently incarnated Servants incredulously poking at themselves and each other.
"Well, that went great. Congratulations on your new bodies, everyone!" I clap my hands to gather everyone's attention. "Now, before we lose ourselves in celebration, let me go over the downsides, just in case. You're not spiritual entities anymore. Your bodies are incredibly, unfairly powerful and resilient, but they're still made out of flesh and blood, this means you're no longer capable of astralizing, no longer fully immune to mundane poisons or weapons and—"
That's as far as I got before Illya incarnates Berserker. Who immediately proceeds to grab her Master in a fireman's carry and charge straight at me.
"Berserker, let me go! What are you–?" Illya tries to protest, only to shut up when she realizes Atalanta has put me on her other shouler and is making a break towards the master bedroom. "Oh? Ooooh! Good going, Berserker! First strike is ours!"
And such I was kidnapped and taken into… my own bed.
I think you can guess what happened next.
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