Special Hell

Disclaimer: Fate/Stay Night and Tsukihime belong to Type-Moon and their respective companies.  I do not own either properties or the characters contained within.  This story is not written for profit, just entertainment.

Special Hell
By: Jennifer L. Bratcher</b>

She was working with him.

The whole reason he was putting himself through this special Hell was because of him.

Pewter eyes narrowed at the redheaded boy walking home, hands shoved into his pockets, head held high with sherry brown eyes sharp with alertness but soft with kindness and a sallow head full of dreams.  He continued to watch from his lofty perch, his Master unaware that he was here.  She’d hurtled sharp words at him with long fingered hands curled into fists planted on a small waist.

Eyes even more intense than the color of aquamarines sparkled at him in anger, sharp, dangerous and beautiful as the sea the jealous stones were named for.  It was a look that, even after everything he’d been through, still managed to heat his blood in ways he couldn’t take advantage of.  At least not now, not in this time.

Again, adding to that Special Hell of his, even more Special than the one reserved for child molesters and people who talked at the theater.

So, he fell into step with the boy as he started the journey to the vast home he lived in.

The sherry eyes narrowed as the boy narrowed at him as he snapped, “I don’t need you to walk me home, Archer. I can take care of myself.”

“Because you won’t summon your Servant because you’re a fool,” Archer retorted with a smug smirk that caused the teen’s eyes to narrow stubbornly, sending up even more painful memories in the Epic Hero’s mind, further encasing him in his Special Hell.

The teen pointed at Archer and said, “I am going to keep Saber safe at any cost.  I’m not going to let anyone die if I’m going to be a part of this stupid war.”

“It’s a war, Boy, people die,” Archer snorted as he shook his head, “Just like people die when they’re killed.”

Shirou’s eyes narrowed even more as he started to ball up his fists.  He replied, “Not if I can help it.”

“Then you’re a fool,” Archer drawled as he rolled his eyes.

Those sherry eyes bore into his as Shirou took a step into his, their, personal space.  Archer glared at the teen as he looked up at Archer’s lofty height and took in the red hair and warm eyes, remembering a time before stress drained the color of his hair and his Reality Marble turned his eyes into the color of what he Traced.  An earlier time, a simpler time, a time the Servant wasn’t going to revisit nor let the boy make the same mistakes that he did.

Shirou spat, “Go away, Archer, I sure as hell don’t need you to walk me home.”

“Then run home, Boy, before someone kills you,” Archer said with a dark smirk.
“And don’t call me Boy, asshole,” Shirou shot back as he started to walk home.

Archer leaned against the iron fence of Rin’s home and watched as the redhead faded from view.  He easily leapt onto a point and began to casually walk the fence as his keen eyes caught Shirou in his sight again.  He held out his hand and focused.

Warmth poured from his blood, through his bones and focused through his palm.  He concentrated on the image, each intricate detail from the carvings along the sides to the elements that created the alloy of the item at hand.  The length, the elegant curve, the razor sharp string that only his hand could pull, the weight of it in his hand, the tension of the string, and everything else as it forced itself into being in his right hand.

He held out his left hand and focused there.  The alabaster sword with the gis for one of the other Servants formed easily.  He twisted the shape of the sword until it was spiraled for aerodynamic flight and resembled an arrow of sorts.  He nocked the bow and aimed at he coppery red hair glinting in the setting sun.

Save him from my Special Hell, he thought as he lifted the bow.

“Interesting use of Tracing,” a husky feminine voice said behind him.

Archer frowned at the voice and spun around.  He glared at the woman standing easily as he was on the fence, balanced on white sneakers.  Blood red hair whipped about her like a banner for a moment before settling and falling nearly to her jean clad ankles.  She smiled and folded her arms under her breasts.

“Who the hell are you?” he demanded as he kept his bow pointed towards her.

The redhead took a step and reached out a pale hand.  Archer jumped back and flicked his wrists.  The bow and arrow transformed quickly.  The bow took shape and the metal darkened to ebony with geometric patterns of glowing red within the curved blade.  The arrow gleamed white as it transformed into the sister of the black sword.  He spun the Chinese falchions once as he took a stance.

The redhead chuckled and her eyes narrowed with mirth as she replied, “You’re wondering how the hell you didn’t sense me coming.”

His eyes flickered to the mansion looming behind him.  He could see Rin in there, drinking her tea, a tiny scowl on her face as she awaited his return.  With a wordless shout, he charged the redhead.

The redhead’s hand shot out, finger pointed at him like a gun.  Brilliant sapphire light formed at the point of her finger, radiant and glowing, like a small captured star.  Her blood red hair streamed out behind her like a banner as the energy shot at him.  Archer crossed his swords over his chest and braced himself.

Only to end up knocked flat on his ass.

He blinked up, dizzy and aching from his chest down to his toes.  His body armor, crafted to withstand magical attacks to a point, revealed a gaping hole revealing his chest.  Smoke rose up from his armor as he started to stand again.  The redhead held out her palm, even brighter energy welled up there, such dazzlingly bright blue light with a sapphire core at its center with her hair whipping behind her.

“Now, Shirou, are you going to attack me again, or am I going to have to keep you knocked on your ass for a while longer?” she asked with a tiny grin, eyes like sapphires reflecting her magic’s light, “Because, I can.”

Archer used Bakuya to help pull himself to his feet as he held out Kansho at the ready.  “If you hurt Rin . . . I don’t care how powerful you are, I’ll kill you.”

“I’m not a part of your stupid Grail War,” she said as she flicked her hair back and lowered her hand.  The power there sank back into her skin as she placed her hand on her hip.  Her blue eyes flickered over him curiously.

Archer took a deep breath that made his ribs ache as he forced himself to his full height.  The redhead nimbly jumped from her perch to stand in front of him.  She leaned against the fence and crossed her legs at the ankles.

“How the hell do I know that?” he asked as he narrowed his eyes at her.

Her grin was knowing as she simply said, “I’m Aozaki Aoko.”

Archer’s eyes widened as he stared at the redhead leaning casually against the fence before him.  He looked back to the manor, where he could see Rin looking out the window.  Aoko’s blue eyes glanced up as well and she softly reassured him, “I put a Glamor so she can’t see us, Emiya.”

He stared at her before finally saying in a hoarse voice, “You’re Miss Blue, the Magic Gunner.”

“I hate that name,” Aoko sighed as she rubbed her forehead, “You try living with a name that is basically Blue Blue.”

Archer Traced his blades away and folded his arms over his chest as he looked at her.  He lifted one eyebrow and asked, “What does one of the five most powerful mages in the world doing here?”

“Looking for some moron thinking he can create a temporal paradox by killing himself,” Aoko shot back with a cocked eyebrow.

Archer snorted and looked towards the house.  Rin now had her hands pressed to the glass, a tiny frown on her pretty face as her aqua eyes watched the gates.  He turned back towards Aoko and said, “It’s a Special Hell that I live in, and I don’t want to feel it again.”

“Do you know how time works, Emiya?” Aoko said as she slowly began to spin her finger round and round in a slow circle.

Archer gripped the bars of the fence as he watched Rin and stated, “I don’t give a damn, Miss Blue.”

“If you kill yourself now, it doesn’t matter. You’ve simply created one time line by coming back here,” Aoko said as she pushed herself off the wall and approached him.  Those intense eyes bore into his as she faced him.

He quirked his eyebrows and looked back to Rin.  He repeated, “I don’t give a damn, Miss Blue.”

The Magic Gunner’s eyes narrowed as she drew back her fist.  Archer didn’t get time to dodge as the blow connected with his cheek.  Pain flared up from under his eye to his jaw.  He didn’t winch, but he did rub the blow with the back of his hand.  She reached up, grabbed his face and jerked it towards her.

“You made this choice and because you’re tired of it, you’re going to fuck things up for Tohsaka?” Aoko hissed at him, blue eyes furious.

Archer grabbed her wrist and shoved it off of him.  He held it at his side as he glared down at her.  He spat, “I’m saving myself.”

“By committing retro-active suicide?  Guess you saw too many James Cameron movies as a kid then, right?” Aoko retorted back at him as she snatched her wrist away with surprising strength.

Archer snapped at her, “Yes, I’m going to kill Shirou so what happens to me doesn’t happen to him.”

“You idiot, just your presence in this time line is doing that!  You kill him and Tohsaka doesn’t survive this war, and the Mage Association’s not going to be happy losing a mage as powerful as she is, and I don’t want them to bitch at me, got it?” she all but snarled at him as she grabbed his face again.

Archer blinked down at her and asked, “If I kill Shirou, Rin will die?”

“Yes, thankfully, it got through that thick head of yours!” Aoko sighed as she stepped away from him.

Archer frowned and asked, “Why do you care so much?”

“Like I said, Tohsaka is going to become quite powerful one day and the world is going to need her and Emiya.  Together.  You killing him could possibly mean the end of this world,” Aoko explained as she let go of his face.

Archer looked towards the window.  The almost set sun had spilled slashes of red light across the window Rin was standing at, the crimson highlighting her raven hair and spilling her in light like the rubies she so adored.  He was gripping the fence as he asked, “Rin and Shirou?”

“Together,” Aoko said with a nod.

Archer snorted and asked, “What about me?  And Shirou is distracted by Saber . . .”

“Well, there’s other ways to change Fate without killing yourself,” Aoko said dryly.

The Servant arched his eyebrow and smirked at the mage.  He drawled, “Really then.”

“It’s not going to be fun.  You’re going to have to do some things you probably wouldn’t enjoy under normal circumstances, but it’ll be the kick in the ass that hard headed kid needs.  Besides, saying that King Arthur needs protection?  It’s going to have to be quite a strong kick,” Aoko mused sardonically.

Archer closed his eyes with a dark grin as he said, “I’m used to doing things that are distasteful, Magic Gunner Miss Blue, it’s nothing new to me.”

“Well, good,” Aoko said as she bent down to pick up a suitcase that had been behind her.  Archer, just noticing the case frowned at it.

As she turned to leave, he asked, “How the hell did you know all of this?”

“I’m Magic Gunner Miss Blue, one of the five most powerful mages on the planet.  There’s not a whole lot I don’t know, or have resources to do so,” she cast him a beatific smile as she lifted her suitcase.
Archer frowned as she began to walk away.  He sighed and called out, “Do you have any part in the Grail War?”

“Of course not, this is just a stop on the way to visit a student of mine,” Aoko said as she gave him a cheerful wave with her hand, “Good luck Archer, you’ll need it.”

Archer looked up at Rin.  He took a deep breath and looked at the stars beginning to show themselves against a pale pink and indigo sky. He leapt over the fence and began to make his way towards the door.

He looked up and Rin glared down at him.  She tapped an imaginary watch on her wrist as she continued to scowl at him, aquamarine eyes furious.  Archer gave her a sad smile as he opened the door and walked in.

In his heart of hearts, the Hero prayed that Rin would understand and forgive him for what he was about to do.

After all, what was betrayal to someone already in their own Special Hell?