Last Crack At Hope

Debris & Concerns

Only returning a headshake towards his female traveling companion, he crouched downwards and placed his hand on the ground. As he mumbled to himself, green lines glowed from his arm to the ground and ran across the hall. The brunette hummed to herself as she saw the lights shoot from his arm and across the dirt sporadically.

"Interesting," she softly muttered to herself. "Not exactly as proficient as your tracking, Yuu-san." The female shuffled in place as he spoke. "You heard that?"

He acknowledged her question. "Yes," he answered. "However, as I mentioned before... It's not as proficient as yours. I do recall you finding me under rubble during that one time." The silver-haired male scoffed at the memory. "It was an embarrassment for me... having to be brought to safety by someone of a much smaller stature."

She huffed, following the male as he got up and cautiously walked through the debris. "Excuse me for donning a short appearance. I cannot magically increase my height permanently, Em." A chuckle emerged from his throat. "Not what I'm saying, Yuu-san. I'm saying that you're quite strong."

The brunette softly muttered a thank you as they traveled down a direction. A sudden thought entered her mind and caused her to tug on her companion's arm. "Hm, something's up?" The male glanced back at her, although she nodded a no.

"With how it feels too quiet right now, there's a good chance someone may be listening in." Grabbing a marker from her shoulder bag, she uncapped it and held her hand out. "Give me your arm, Emiya." Duped at the brunette's action, he held his right arm out and she pushed his sleeve upward. She wrote a funny-looking letter F on his wrist before letting go and writing the same letter on her left wrist.

"Did your stupidity just increase?" Only sighing, she put the marker away and had her left hand gripping his right hand. Waving her finger, she muttered a single word before the two symbols gleamed, though only for a brief moment. Letting go, her lips tightened at the corner as she gestured in front of them.

"I may not be the best when it comes to explaining my plans, but this is for precautions only." A voice sounded through his head, causing him to take a few steps back. "Don't you worry. The marker is washable and what you're hearing now is through telepathy. I placed a runic spell called Ansuz. I never needed to use the spell since... Well, I was working alone. At best, I temporarily tamed a wolf for investigating purposes before but that's another story to tell. Also, this only works if you're trying to speak with me directly. I don't hear your inner thoughts unless you choose to have me hear them."

She chuckled briefly, seeing the emotions change from questionable, surprised, and then to dull on his face. "I... see–wait no. I understand. This... is a strange feeling. It's as if I've felt this before. Not sure how." Satou briefly stood in place, unsure of what the white-haired male meant. "I'll get used to this telepathic notion soon enough. I got the general idea of the vicinity and whatever is underneath from earlier."

The male turned his head, nodding briefly to indicate their path, and the two began to walk down an unusual set of stairs. "These sets of stairs go down to different hallways. Usually, I would investigate all of them, but we are tight on time. We will need to split up, find the victims if there are any, and take down Icecolle as soon as possible."

Avoiding fallen debris, Satou inwardly sighed as her mind wandered to the potential victims that were still alive. "What happens if the people we find are in cahoots with Iceolle?" She wasn't the type to permanently get rid of people–after all, all she excelled in was healing and self-defense. Nothing she had in her caliber was to exterminate...not to her current knowledge, that is.

"They're to be exterminated as well." Her head whipped toward Emiya's direction, anguished and shocked at how he calmly answered her question. "B-But what if they were coerced or something?"

He only breathed out heavily, to his annoyance. In the end, the two of them are entirely on different spectrums. Her way of life is to prevent their death while he is to facilitate it. What... did he expect? What more can he say before he loses another trusted companion? Was it even worth it to explain his true goals to someone he would temporarily cooperate with?

He inhaled sharply only to exhale afterward as if it was a way to clear his mind. "Let me tell you this. You heal people to live... care about them... prevent humanity from dying through certain causes, right?" Satou's eyes briefly wandered before agreeing with his statement, confused about where he was getting at. "I, too, prevent humanity from dying... by eliminating the very cause of it. Whether by inadvertent association or directly involved, they are to be disposed of."

The female drank in this set of information–something she did not expect that particular message would leave his mouth for someone who has a dry humor and is high on the ego scale. "... You're joking, right?" Her voice trembled as she softly spoke. It was an answer she deserved, but was it an answer she wanted? Not at all.

He nonchalantly shrugged, turning away from his female traveler. "Interpret however you please. Whether or not you want to believe it or not, I don't care right now. Just need to complete this job and be over with." In fact... it was the complete opposite of what he wanted to say. His inner mind truly cannot make peace with his damn mouth of his.

'What a piece of—whatever. Fine, he'll get a kick later after this.' Her mouth twisted tight, turning away as well from him. "I'm going down this hallway. See you later." Quickly throwing a rock with an embedded rune into the air, it soon flew in a swift path and she followed it down the dark wreckage.

Leaving the male to himself, he only sighed heavily as he scratched his head and squatted down. His forehead creased as his eyes wandered off in the direction Satou was last seen. "Fuck. I hate not getting my point across... Ugh."

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AN: Beyond torn for writing and writer's block for this long. Please excuse this poor writer and enjoy the chapter.

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