amber ♠ 02

[steelmyself]

I really have to wonder at how quickly we're destroying this place.

[ Archer announces himself over the amber with that casual and dire remark. His tone is bored. ]

First of all, we've upset the balance of nature by killing a predator and allowing defenseless prey animals to multiply unchecked. Those rabbits will probably suffer once they meet the cruel reality of life beyond this tree, you know.

And now we've nearly destroyed the tree itself with our meddling. Isn't that impressive?

[ Now his voice is just dripping sarcasm. ]

Well done, everyone. Whoever brought us all here should really have expected these results. It's exactly what human beings do, after all.

Comments

[steelmyself]

Naturally. She was with me the entire time, Shirou Emiya.

But Rin's safety is hardly your concern. You have an ideal to protect, don't you?

[onlypath]

[he was prepared to voice his relief, something that he genuinely felt knowing that Archer was here. and yet his words dismiss that notion once more, gaze narrowing slightly]

I can worry about whoever I want, Archer. [but at least he was here, while he went with Saber to look over everything else that was happening] If Tohsaka is okay, that's all that matters.

[in relation to this incident]

[steelmyself]

I suppose. Do you believe she's really okay?

[ His voice is calm, but there's something cutting in his eyes, even through the golden-tinted vision of the amber. ]

1/2

[onlypath]

......

[he'd be lying if he said that he hadn't expected to be talking to Archer about this. this wasn't something that he and Tohsaka needed to share with anyone else. this was their personal affair. and yet because it was him...]

I know that things are different. [his own voice is calm, reflective...] That I might not really know Rin Tohsaka after all. [a cutting confession, something that he even admitted to her the day that she finally called out to him]

2/2

[onlypath]

But, if she's really not okay, I have to help her. [if she's crying, he wants to make it stop. it wasn't wrong to want to make the pain go away for people. that...and he did love her. something about the way that Archer said that her safety wasn't his concern struck a nerve. but that very same nerve had been mangled so many times that it wasn't so bad anymore. but it was still there]

I haven't figured it out yet, but until I can find a way to get everyone back home, I will support Tohsaka.

[steelmyself]

[ Archer listens in silence, his expression distant and unreadable. But his response is the same as always: ]

You cannot support a human being as well as an ideal.

[ His voice is cold and remote, but bitterness creeps into it. He knows the same is true for him as well. He is a pile of broken ideals and regrets, and he will never be enough for Rin Tohsaka any more than Shirou is. ]

You chose to follow your ideal, but you will never be able to offer salvation to any one person because of it.

[onlypath]

You're wrong. [he's been here before. he doesn't want to be, but...it's just as Shirou himself said. things are different. it seems for both Rin and Archer]

I'm going to help everyone. If Tohsaka wasn't a part of that, I'd be betraying her too.

I'll hear you as many times as you want, Archer. But I've made my decision- and if making sure that Tohsaka is alright, that you're keeping her safe too, is what I want to do, then I'm not wrong.

Even if everything's not alright, I'm going to do what I can until everything is. [he stubbornly faces his ideal, his hypocrisies, the people that he cares about, that he doesn't care if the wish he strives for is a borrowed one]

[steelmyself]

Heh.

[ The coldness breaks like shattering ice, and he laughs. But it's not the hysterics he showed back then at Einzbern Castle, only a sound of bitterly amused resignation. ]

Well, you've made your choice, Shirou Emiya, even if I never saw it happen.

[onlypath]

[the laughter resonates with him, and admittedly he was expecting more resistance. so when he resigns the way that he does... he didn't realize how tense his shoulders had been until that very moment when he exhaled.

Shirou wouldn't thank him for something such like protecting Tohsaka, not when he would never have needed to ask that in the first place. though they would always clash, though he couldn't get along with this guy... somehow he had the feeling that this one would never betray her either]

Ah. [a nod through the amber piece. and something completely unrelated to any of this or what Archer said to everyone here comes to mind. though somehow he feels he already knows the answer] Archer?

[steelmyself]

[ A faint smirk. The brittle mask of cynical sarcasm is back in full force. ]

Yeah, what is it?

[onlypath]

[he had a feeling that however it would come up again, this wasn't over. but he won't take a hammer and try to crack it now]

How many times can you use projection in a day?

[steelmyself]

Ah...

[ The smug smirk fades into a more practical frown. ]

You noticed while we were working on the kitchen, huh? Yeah, normally it shouldn't be an issue at all, but here it seems I can only make five of anything in a day.

[onlypath]

So that's it...

[as if Archer had just confirmed a suspicion that he and Tohsaka had]

So this place is like some bounded field that acts like a limiter after all.

[steelmyself]

That was obvious from the moment Rin lost her fire magecraft, Shirou Emiya. Don't tell me you're just figuring it out now from your own travails.

[onlypath]

Hey, I was just curious because... ['you and I...' ah forget about it]

Anyway, the more I know about what's being done to us in this world, the better. It'll make things easier to figure out what's happening and how to fix it sometime.

[steelmyself]

You believe you can fix it?

[onlypath]

Yeah. [without a shred of doubt] I haven't figured out how, and it might not be me who changes it, but the least I can do is try and find an answer.

[steelmyself]

Ugh...

[onlypath]

[he knows why it hurts Archer to listen to this. to be faced with this again. to be forced to look at some old and faded picture. still...]

You don't have to thank me when I figure it out, Archer. Since this'll be good for both of us.

[he'll do it. if not that, he won't give up even if someone does figure it out before he does]

[steelmyself]

You shouldn't expect me to thank you for anything, Shirou Emiya.

[onlypath]

I won't.

[steelmyself]

Then continue working on your foolish quests. We'll see what comes of them.

[gandere]

[ She's not going to say anything to intrude, but she's smiling a bit at Shirou's words. It's nice to hear them even if they weren't directed towards her. ]