"And we finish this morning episode with a thought for the day: those who live by the sword, die by the sword, but what of the sword itself?" God proclaimed from the small handheld radio.
Not as impressive as a burning bush, but still a source of divine revelation.
It was not my radio, although I did have an identical one.
Mars had turned on his own radio and was listening to it with a pensive twist of his lips.
God's radio station was perhaps not the most cheerful thing to listen to in the morning, but it was the only station available on that radio. And that was the only electronic device that was allowed at camp.
It did suit my mood.
The rest didn't help as much as I had hoped.
My dreams consisted of disjointed memories from both of my lives, and I was still far from sorting myself.
It was a little better.
As a grounding exercise, I focus my thoughts on a short summary of Rin's life. Strangely I did not need to do so with Sasha's.
Those memories felt more settled and somehow more stable and older.
That was not right.
I needed to note that anomaly. When devising an hypothesis anomalies like this must be accounted for.
If my initial hypothesis was correct: that Rin was the origin of the phenomena; then Rin's memories should have felt most stable, and Sasha's memories should have felt like the latest addition, not the reverse.
After all, it was Rin who dabbled into occult and esoteric.
I needed to think more about that.
And one mystery. Why the hell Sasha had memories of an alternate timeline with the female version of Rin as a visual novel? And anime. And manga. And expansions. And fanfiction. And wiki pages. And more video games.
Well, it could be proof of the Narrative Resonance Hypothesis.
That theory tried to explain the similarity of stories among parallel words. That theory stated that if the events that were significant in some way were recorded outside time and the word axis. From there they seeped into the unconscious mind, inspiring storytellers.
For a moment I wondered if other universes I knew as fictional were real. Theoretically, it was possible, but I should not make any conclusions based on so few samples.
The counterpoint was the Narrative Limitation Hypothesis, which stated that stories were similar because there were limited ways to tell stories that would be pleasing to humans. Proving either one was seriously hampered by a limited number of qualified observers of parallel words.
The problem was with applying that hypothesis to this particular circumstance: Sasha knew a version of part of Rin's life as a story.
The medium was not really important here, the significance of the event was. Perhaps it was the summoning of Servants that significantly strengthened resonance since most stories Sasha knew from that set of Worlds were centered around them.
Except those about vampires.
Enough. I was running in circles. Perhaps some water would help.
Mars was leaving for the shared bathroom, and ruched to join him.
This morning we washed together.
My bare hand, where I still expected to see the Command Seals that I had worn for so long, was painful to look at.
It was the remainder what, who, I had lost. In truth, I also missed other people I had left, from both lives, but they would all survive without me, while Archer's very existence depended on me.
That was generally true of any Master Servant pair since Servants need a Master to stay anchored in the world.
Thanks to the "improvement" devised by Tohsaka for the summoning ritual Servat summoned by it, like my Archer, would not only be unable to take another Master but also would only be able to replenish magical energy in a very specific way.
The modification of the summoning ritual was based on the Mystery "Angels who defile themself by copulating with a human shall be bound to Earth", as it was written in the Book of Enoch, and in that way staining the spiritual bodies of the Servants with the dust of mortality.
It took four lines to be added at the end of the ritual, not unlike the modification to summon berzerkers. Those lines were burned in my memory and silently recited them.
'And this is the wrath of God, that these things should be thus.'
'And this is the grace of God, that these things should be thus.'
'Wherefore I charge you that ye come unto me in the Beginning; for if ye take but one step in this Path, ye must arrive inevitably at the end thereof.'
'This Path is beyond Life and Death; it is also beyond Love; but that ye know not, for ye know not Love.'
In a way, it was soothing. It was a bit like probing a loose tooth with a tongue.
I called it improvement because while this method imposed limitations, like limiting prana transfer to the consumption of union and making it the only way for Servant to regain prana, it also made both the transfer so much more efficient and bound Servant more closely to the World, increasing both powers of Servant and reducing Servants upkeep.
Other people that I knew I would potentially meet again in the future, but he was almost certainly gone. How? The same thing that most probably got me in this predicament Kaleidoscope: Operation of Parallel Words, the Second True Magic.
I participated in nine more Holy Grail Wars besides the first one to learn more about Second Magic. I can say this about Wizard Marshall Zelretch, his lessons were cheap, in that he didn't charge anything for them, but end-of-year exams were murder.
Once more I got lost in thoughts. If this continued I would need a map and a compass.
I finished washing and went to take care of my hair, but there was one problem. Among the things packed in my bag, there was one necessity missing, a brush.
I could make one using magic, ordinary brush was simple enough to create using Gradation Air, but until I read that bible very carefully no magecraft for me.
And maybe it would be better to borrow one. I could have asked Mars, but his hair was short, so he probably used a comb.
I could use it too with my longer hair. I had done that before, but I didn't really like to use a comb on my hair. A brush would be better.
Also, I was avoiding talking to him. That I had to stop. Just because of whom he reminded me was no reason to ruin a kid's summer vacation. Buddies were assigned for the whole duration. So I just used my fingers to try to make my messy brown hair look more presentable.
"Mars..." I tried to start a conversation after we exited the bathroom and started changing out of our nightclothes into our camp uniforms. They were similar, the same beige slacks, and brown vests that we wore over our t-shirts. Dull, but serviceable.
"Yes?" Mar put on his vest, finishing dressing as he replied. That wasn't the first thing we said to each other this morning. We had exchanged standard greetings when we had been woken by the announcement system.
It seems that camp organizers preferred to ensure that all kids at camp would be awakened early enough to have to wash before breakfast.
Whatever I planned to say next, and I was not sure what I wanted to say, I wasn't very good at breaking the ice, was interrupted by another announcement, "Scouts, please gather in Manna cabin. Breakfast starts in 15 minutes." Good thing that I also had finished, so we could leave.
This was a scouting-themed camp, so naturally, adults called campers scouts. Though the uniforms were not what I had expected from scouts.
As Sasha, I had gone to summer camps, almost every summer. Both those were English and math camps.
As Rin I had never gone to any summer camp, duties as second owner and training precluded doing so before the first Holy Grail War I took part in. After it, there really was no time. And I was too old for it.
I picked the bible as we went out. I know it's strange to bring it to breakfast, but I wasn't sure that I would be going back to our cabin right afterward and I had planned to look it over.
Our cabin did have a name. It was written on a big wooden plank over the door. It was "Luke." All cabins had a name that was displayed in the same manner. Like "Manna" where we were going now, or "John", "Matthew" and "Mark" the cabins for the other three groups of scouts, who were also just exiting their cabins.
We looked much the same in our uniforms. Although I thought that scouts should have had very distinctive uniforms, what we wore was not it. There were two more named cabins in the camp, "Peter" where adults slept, and "Thomas" which was an ambulance. There was also an unnamed warehouse that doubled as a garage.
We joined others. Mars greeted them first. Unlike me, he remembered some of their names.
I just couldn't bother.
In the "Manna" cabin there were five tables, one for each scout cabin and one for adults. So Mars and I had a table for ourselves. For this meal one of the other groups was drafted to help with setting tables.
I wonder what would happen when it was our turn. Would counselors assign us more help or did they just expect us two to do it?
No matter.
For breakfast, we had some sort of porridge with dried fruit and honey. I started to eat, but when I looked at my bare hand, I lost my appetite. I forced myself to eat.
"It's not that bad, although I would have cooked it a little more," Mars said to me, obviously noticing that I was not very enthusiastic about this breakfast.
The food was not bad, and I usually liked sweet things. But still, I grabbed an excuse to pause eating, "You know how to cook. Do you like it?"
"I suppose so," he replied. He sounded indifferent.
It was strange to Emiya Shirou's alternate who didn't enjoy cooking. If Mars was his alternate. I still had no proof of that except that he looked like him. Which was pretty thin.
"Well, maybe we could volunteer to help in the kitchen if you like it?" Camp buddies are supposed to stay together most of the time. So, there would be no point in just one volunteer. And we would have to do some chores, cooking was too bad.
He grunted affirmatively and then returned to the meal. I forced myself to eat even if I wasn't hungry. When the meal ended, we were yet to be dismissed. The same group of scouts that had laid the table now picked used utensils and took them away. Then they closed all the windows and pulled the curtains.
There were four adults at camp: Camp Director, Bonfire Captain, Cook, and Nurse. All were male. As we are campers as I had seen. If adults had names beside those tiles I didn't know them.
They were just introduced to us by their jobs. Each of them doubled as the main counselor for the cabin. The Camp Director was in charge of our cabin. He was a busy man, so we met him only briefly yesterday when he took us to our cabin.
He called me and Mars and ordered us "Go to the side room. There you will find a projector and screen. The projector should be on the third shelf from the left. Don't forget to bring an extension cable."
We did as he asked. If I was in a better mood I would have spent more time looking at odds and ends inside the room, but I mostly ignored strange packages, sirens, crystals, light bulbs, and several stacks of incense. Was that bottle labeled myrth? No matter, I grabbed a projector and an extension cable. It was a bit unwieldy but I could carry it alone. Mars had grabbed the screen. It was taller than he was.
With some difficulties, we both managed to safely bring them back to the dining room. I went to the staff table, while Mars went to set the screen. After that was done we went back to our table.
Scout's motto was: be prepared. Be prepared for what? In this case: possession by the devil.
"God has created men in His image. Devil is jealous of that fact. Therefore the first sign of possession is loss of human form," Camp Director lectured. I didn't know how one could make possession sound dull, but he managed it.
The pictures didn't help. Stick figure. Arrow pointing to next…? Well, I didn't know what that was supposed to be. I look a bit like that ink blot that was part of psych tests. I wondered why he bothered with the projector.
When that dubious priest taught Rin about similar the priest had much better, much more gruesome pictures. Not something one should be shown to a kid, but for a Magi, such rules did not matter.
Although the reasoning was different, the result of daemonic possession was remarkably similar to what we just learned.
I really should stop doing it. I had to accept that Rin and old me and the newest me were all the same. Otherwise, I could develop multiple personalities. No one needed yet another mad mage.
How curious. Rin's earlier memories felt a bit less like mine. Perhaps another clue about what had happened?
But to return to the previous topic. Whether the devil was transforming sinners because of jealousy of divinely inspired human form, or the daemon was imposing alien login onto its host to better fulfill host desires, results were almost identical.
"Note that once it begins possession advances quickly. It takes from five minutes to half an hour, depending on a sinner." I returned my attention to the lecture. I had gotten lost in my head once again. The map would be insufficient, what I needed was a mental GPS. I would say that it was dual memories that led to that, both Rin and I had a slight problem with paying attention.
Next slide two stick figures with crosses versus the inkblot. Arrow. Three stick figures. I think that they were praying or celebrating or both.
"Once it starts it could not be reversed until the devil fully manifests. But once the devil is defeated, possession is fully reversible. Do not worry: There is nothing to fear when there are two against the devil. That is the reason why you were assigned in pairs. As long as trust in God and each other, you will always triumph over the devil"
There is nothing to fear when there are two against the devil. I have heard that before. But where?
"Once the devil is cast out, the host will eventually return to normal. That may be some temporary side effects. But they pass quickly." How fortunate.
That was all? Did we carry that projector and screen for only that? I wonder if there was an exorcism badge? If I remember correctly scouts should be getting badges for all sorts of activities, like knot tying for example.
Mars and I dragged back equipment back to the side room. This time I took the screen, and he dealt with the projector.
After breakfast, we had a patrol, which meant hiking through the woods. Nurse and Captain Bonfire were to lead it. Before we went they had inspected us, by us I meant all of the scouts.
"Bible? Well, it's a little old-fashioned, but you can do it like that if you want."
They didn't check for water bottles as I expected, but for radios, like one I found in my bag. It seemed that every camper had one just like that. I left mine at the cabin, but it seemed that the bible was a good substitute. For what? I suppose I would find out.
They set us in a single colon two by two, pairing camp-selected buddies. At least they didn't ask us to hold hands. The adults were at the front and back. Both were carrying long wooden poles, I think they were about a half of a meter or so above their heads, with two sirens on top of each one. I noticed there were a lot of those all over camp. I meant sirens, not poles. Although there were few poles too. And one flag.
I tried to talk to Mars during the patrol slash hike, but the adults stopped chatting. We marched in silence. No songs, no talking. Nothing but sounds of nature, and radios speaking with the voice of God.
The woods were pretty, but not very interesting. Perhaps there was some wisdom to be had from the radio, but I wasn't in the mood to listen to it.
I could have read the bible, it wouldn't be the first time I read and walked, but it would be impolite to do it company. Thus having nothing better to do I revised Rin's life. Memories of my multiple lives had mostly settled, but I still mixed them a bit from time to time.
In that life, my oldest memories started at age 10. The first memory I had was of the hospital, and of the priest sitting beside my bed.
From what I had been told, by that dubius priest no less, there had been complications in transferring the Magic Crest. The last thing Tokimi, calling him father would be strange since I had absolutely no memory of him, had given to me was the cause of me forgetting him. Irony at its finest.
That man had explained that I was so compatible with information stored in Magic Crest, that it had overwritten my personal memories. At that time I had no reason to doubt him.
The priest's name had been Kotomine Kirei. And had become both my guardian and teacher in magecraft. I didn't want to think of those times. Not because the time spent with him was completely horrible. But because it wasn't...
After all, he understood well for there to be betrayal he had to be trusted before it. And for that betrayal to really hurt there has to be love.
I stopped there. Some things were better forgotten. Maybe listening to the radio would help. I moved a little closer to Mars and gestured toward his radio. He was quite willing to share it.
Listening to the voice on the radio gained me nothing but boredom.
It was some meaningless parable about salvation and duty. From the reactions of Mars, it seemed that there was something personal for him in that program. I didn't like his expression.
It reminded me too much of Kirei's parishioners after his annual New Year service. We weren't allowed to talk, so grabbed his hand, and tried to offer what comfort I could.
It seemed to help a little. We continued walking and listening, but I stopped paying attention to it. What did pay attention to was Mars' expression. Whenever I felt that he was too down, I would squeeze his hand, and bump into his shoulder. Anything to distract him. I had been ignoring him a bit, because of who he kept reminding me of.
My usual approach to negative emotions was avoidance, but I promised myself I would be a better camp buddy. So I tried. I continued doing that until the sermon ended, and then I let go of his hand.
After that came a musical number. It was God's favorite song. You know, one that was much like the dwarven song "Gold" from Discworld, just replaced gold with glory. I didn't know if it was sung by actual seraphim but the voices were lovely. Woods were old, with massive trees casting everything in shadow. Just how I liked them. The path we were walking was a bit overgrown, but since Mars and I were near the end column it didn't bother us.
We walked for about an hour when it happened. It started first with a musical number suddenly ending on the radio, and a new sermon began.
"...rot that sets in the soul will be visible in flesh." I missed the first part. I had stopped paying attention to it, so didn't notice when the music ended. "Cure it with fire and water. Even those who wander alone through the dark woods are not lost as long as there are those who pray for them. Let us all take a moment to pray for lost strangers." That was not requested. That tone expected obedience. "It is certain that the devil is coming. Now we return to musical number: 'Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory"
The sirens mounted on poles held by adults began to wail. There was a stench of decay in the air. At first weak, but quickly grew stronger. And with stench, there was a presence. It was like the presence of a strong tainted source of magical energy, but somehow still different. I couldn't explain how. Leaves fell from above like strange green rain.
I prepared myself for combat. I took a loose stance, transferred my bible in my left hand, and opened my Magic Circuits. I was lost past needing to chant for a such simple action. Just quick visualization. Much of my magecraft required prepared reagents, like for example jewels that I had already filled with magic energy, and I was not used to fighting without my partner. But I was hardly helpless.
I heard a tree falling. More than one tree. I turned towards the sound. I was not the only one.
"Get ready!" Bonfire Captain commanded. Other scouts obeyed, brandishing their radios as weapons.
Well, almost all. I didn't have one and Mars dropped his.
Antennas of radios lit with various elements. One burned with fire, one crackled with electricity, one dripped water, and yet another was surrounded by a cloud of butterflies.
With that clue, I finally understood in which world I was. Another world known to me from Sasha's memories.
I was doing it again. From my memories.
I knew this one as a video game, more precisely another visual novel. The title was We Know the Devil.
Unfortunately, there was so much less material about it. Just one short game. But what I knew was enough. I now knew the rules I had to obey.
I closed my circuits. I would have no need for them. I didn't need to recreate a miracle, I just had to ask for one.
There was just one tiny problem: I had left my radio at the cabin. Then I remembered what the Bonfire Captain had said to me: "Bible? Well, it's a little old-fashioned, but you can do it like that if you want."
So that was what he meant.
I suppose there had been devil sightings before the invention of the radio. I took my bible in my right hand and opened it as if I was going to read it. I focused. I was used to using magecraft but this was not magecraft.
At its most basic art of magecraft is the art of transgression. To use it was to inflict one's will upon the world. This was different. I simply asked and was given.
Miracle manifested as a swarm of metallic marbles that orbited me. Somehow, by instinct, I knew two things about them.
One: those marbles were actually droplets of quicksilver, and thus liquid.
I noted elemental alignment with the new name, but that was to be expected from what I knew of this world.
Second: they would obey my will.
In execution what I have done bore some resemblance to Formal craft, after all, I was not using my own power, but there were glaring differences. Like lack of structured ritual or need any secret knowledge, I just asked.
There was also that I could not sense any magical energy from orbs of quicksilver. It was true that the devil's presence overpowered my senses, and that stench didn't help, but the orbs were close enough that I should be able to sense any magical energy in them if it was present.
There was also a question why mercury? I was what magi call an Average One, the title given to those who have an affinity for Five Great Elements. Before I had no special affinity for quicksilver. Was it because of my newest name?
I took a second to look for Mars. I was a bit worried. After all, he had dropped his radio. I shouldn't have bothered. Mars had, even without a radio, managed to conjure a sword.
Heralded by more crashing sounds, the devil had arrived. If it wasn't so disgusting it would almost look comical.
Round body, almost like a ball, with stick thin, unnaturally long limbs. All four limbs ended in something that looked like a cross between bird claws and human fingers. It was covered in blackish filth, so much that it constantly dripped from him. Its head looked more like a pile of dirt, haphazardly placed on its body than a real head. It had no features, no eyes, mouth, or nose.
Where it, or the pieces of filth that separated from it, touched the earth rot spread. When rot reached the trees they would crack and fall. That was the source of the nose.
"Wait," Captain Bonfire gave the second command, but I could see that Mars had already disobeyed him.
He was running towards the devil.
I sighed. How familiar.
With a gesture, I sent most of the quicksilver to Mars. Mars covered more ground running than I expected. He was a little too fast.
Perhaps he had already managed to transform. I remember that transformation sequences were mentioned in the game, but since the protagonists were forbidden to use them I had no idea what they looked like.
When Mars was about halfway to the devil it started to shake, like a wet dog trying to dry its fur.
The pieces of filth flew everywhere. The stench almost made me gag.
I used mercury that I controlled to intercept those pieces of filth that would have stuck either me or my buddy. It was easier than I expected. I didn't need to guide each orb to each particle of filth, the will to protect was enough.
Where filth touched mercury it crumbled into orange dust, and no longer responded to my commands. I heard cries of pain. It seemed that not all were able to protect themself from the devil's attack.
My pulse quickened. This was getting dangerous. Is playing with new powers worth it?
But then I was short on my usual reagents, and if I used something different from others they may turn on me, which could make this situation even more problematic.
"Get back here!" Captain Bonfire yelled at Mars. My buddy ignored him and continued to advance toward the devil. He was nearing the rot that had spread from the earth touched by the devil's feet.
I didn't even want to think what would happen if he stepped on it. Considering what had happened to trees, nothing good.
I remembered that praying helped. There was nothing like that in the game, but the first thing I did when I realized that God was very active was test whether prayer worked.
The results were positive, although I needed to add being able to summon and control mercury to it.
"O Lord, in your mercy grant him a safe path!". It wasn't a very good prayer, but it was the best I could do at the moment. I wasn't someone who was used to praying. Mostly because it had been useless. God was either non-existent or omniscient, thus it was pointless to talk to Him.
I cast down the last of the mercury to create a path on the tainted ground. As soon as the mercury touched the soil it crumbled into orange dust. I didn't have enough to make a full line, just a series of small islands in the sea of rot, but Mars easily jumped from one to another.
I needed more mercury, so I silently asked for more. No time for prayer. And I feared that I would vomit if I opened my mouth.
Mars was close enough that the devil had tried to strike him with long arms. There was no skill, no elegance in that act. It looked more like what a civilian panicking would do when attacked. If it wasn't done by a monster.
Mars cut off the devil's left leg. It lost balance and fell forward. It began to tumble towards me and the rest of the scouts, like some sort of grotesque ball. A new batch of mercury had arrived. Once more a cloud of small orbs of liquid metal orbited my body.
Vines sprouted and rocks burst from the ground, impeding the devil's path. Lighting, fire, ice, light, and many other things all struck the devil. I was in utter chaos, as all of the other scouts unleashed their elemental power. Yet all of that barely slowed the devil. For vines withered, stone crumbled, the light dimmed and all things decayed at its touch.
I didn't join that barrage. If Mars acted as he had done before he would again rush the devil. So I made another safe path. I couldn't see what I was doing, so I just willed it and hoped that it would work.
"O Lord, in your mercy grant him a safe path!" Prayer worked once. I just had to treat it like an aria. I used self-hypnosis to imitate the faith I lacked. After a magus believing in just six impossible things before breakfast would be a mark of incompetence. 'Benevolent omnipotent being who genuinely cares about me in particular' should be easy.
The devil stopped. It stood up. It seemed that his leg had already regenerated. I could see discolored patches where the attack struck him on its hide, but it was already healing fast.
It began to shake again. And I was without any mercury. Perhaps it was time to use magecraft. I was willing to play by the rules of this world for now.
I hadn't thought that we were in much danger, since in the game they dealt with such manifestations of the devil with just two, and there were over ten of us here. I needed something to block the attack. Both for me and anyone else. Something simple.
But before I could do anything Mars struck. He had jumped between the thing's legs and cut the bottom of its body.
Filth fell from the cut like a disgusting black waterfall. The devil dissolved and the only thing that remained was a puddle of filth. And a human body in that puddle.
In the aftermath, Captain Bonfire went to reassure scouts and give commendations and lectures about our conduit.
Short commendation to me, nothing more than "Good work," and long lecture about recklessness, and dropping his radio, to Mars. From the mulish expression on the redhead's face, I didn't think it would do much good. Even if I kind of agreed with it.
When Mars picked up his radio, luckily it was undamaged, I noticed one thing. His swords had disappeared. Strange since other things like orange dust, or rocks or water, and other things that were conjured had remained. I hope someone would clean that up. If that orange dust was what I thought it was, mercury oxide, it was poisonous.
Meanwhile, Nurse had somehow managed to improvise a stretcher, and had put the body from the puddle on it. He assigned four boys to carry it.
We then began to march back to the camp.
As before, we walked in pairs. I used that time to try to recall what I remembered of the setting. It wasn't much, not only it was a long time ago I had played that game, but there was that it was rather short. You could have finished the route in about half an hour at most. And there were only four routes at most. I just hope that I wasn't in the True Ending. Inspiring to read, not so much to experience.
What did I remember? There was God and the Devil on the radio, but I already knew about God and had no interest in talking to the Devil. Even if she, well at least in the game, was supposedly much nicer. Tell it to the poor sucker we had just beat up.
What else? There was weird tech. Like those radios that could catch messages from God and serve as holy symbols, or those sirens that I now remember could raise alarm at the presence of malevolent supernatural entities. There was also something about how they were made, but it escaped for a moment. I just need to get to the cabin and examine mine.
And yet another thing. What to do about Mars? I was almost certain that he was an alternate Shirou Emiya. Does that mean Mercury was my alternate? I wish I had Mercury's memories as I had Rin's and Sasha's. I knew too little about this World.
And once again my mind wandered. Why was it so hard to think of him? He was a Servant. I knew that what we had had no future. I knew it was wrong. The lesson that came with the introduction to necromancy, to love the Dead, was to be moored in the past.
But Mars was not him. He was also not my former apprentice. He was his own person and a teenager at that. I should treat him like that. Even if it was hard. Especially since it was hard.