—Chapter 10—
Debris & Concerns
"... Do jog my memory once more on who and why again?" The snow crunched beneath the heavy boots and echoed through the horrid mana-induced weather as the female furrowed her brows. Puffs of white clouds escaped her lips as the two travelers trudged across the land.
"Celenike Icecolle—a member of the Icecolle family pertaining to the practitioners of the dark arts." The white-haired male spoke with disdain. "Her crimes... torture, murder, abuse of children, usage of curses, and many more. I have only heard said crimes from my sources, but this " Emiya heard the footsteps behind him stop and turned around.
Frustration and anger fumed the female's face as she heard the crime descriptions. "What you're thinking is probably along the lines of 'Why would she be associated with this weather manipulation?', am I around the ballpark?" She collected her thoughts as she breathed in before breathing out with a more calming appearance.
"Yes. With how you describe this heinous being, it doesn't make sense how a dark arts practitioner would have access to changing the weather." The white-haired male scoffed. "Let's turn this around. How does someone who deems themselves a florist have access to magic and is well-rounded as a fighter?"
Her brows frowned in discontent as he stifled some laughter. "Not at all funny, to the least Em. All of that is self-defense so I'm an exception." Emiya shrugged at the comment. "Whatever you say, Yuu-san." He casually waved his right hand toward the East, indicating to head towards there as both of them changed directions.
"That's not the only concern we have here for this witch. I can infer that she's using someone else's abilities to manipulate the weather. As to who has this particular ability... no one was reported missing in any of the countries." The male sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Only way to find out is to get to the core of the problem and that's about..." He paused and intensely glared into the distance for a few seconds. "...about 800 meters (0.5 miles) from here."
The brunette furrowed her brows as she attempted to glance in the direction her companion was staring at. "...Em, I don't see anything there. Are you sure we're in the right area? Even within my powers, I don't sense a single thing due to this weather." Satou looked at him in discontent and confusion as she had no idea where she is going... After all, this job of his was something she just caught onto recently after that dilemma she was in a week ago.
"Just follow my lead." The white-haired male responded. "You're still recovering from your stupidity earlier." She huffed, smacking the male on the back. "Shut up, Emiya. That wasn't my fault entirely." He chuckled, sensing the familiarity returning from the female as she has pretty much recovered to her original state.
"Let's get going, shall we?"
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The female finally saw something which seemed to be a building–medieval-like of the sorts. It was pretty worn down, looks like it was abandoned for hundreds of years. The ground has been battered, and stone pillars were disheveled and worn beyond one can imagine. Despite it being a relic of the past, it was surprisingly... clean. Dust seemed to be non-existent on the pillars.
"This doesn't look right." The female whispered to her companion. "Of course, it doesn't look right," he sarcastically retorted back. "We're looking for someone that abuses humanity for their pleasure and satisfaction. What else is not looking right?"
Satou grimaced at the heavy sarcasm that oozed out from the white-haired male. "Really, Mr. Not-Egotistic-Over-My-Head?" Both stared at each other for a brief moment. Sarcasm radiated from both of them as if it were a normal thing. "Alright, enough about my ego, woman." The white-haired male sighed before looking back through the desolate hallway. "You first, Emiya."
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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