I sent a Caladbolg ll spiraling into the front of the house; it slammed into the door and reduced it along with the surrounding area to splinters.
Walking inside, I didn't transform; I needed my soul gem to recharge, and becoming a witch now would be one of the worst times possible.
Looking around, the house was decrepit and run down. I didn't know where the base was, so I started to search. I heard skittering sounds and a slight cough behind me a few minutes into my search.
Turning around, I saw the decrepit form of Zouken Matou. Raising an eyebrow, I started to speak before he could. "I'm just searching for Sakura. Tell me where she is, and I'll leave."
Frowning, the worm that walks spoke in an ancient voice. "I ask that you leave; I have business to attend."
As we looked at each other, I could hear the clicking of tiny feet walking around me. He seemed to be planning to attack me if I did not leave.
Raising my hand, I sent out a gout of Celestial Flame. It wouldn't put Zouken down for good, but it would give him a hell of a hurt.
As the brilliant fire swept over him, he screamed, and his body collapsed into hundreds of tiny wormlike beings. The worms scattered, shrieking as they burned.
Walking away from the beings, I almost slammed into another person. He held a hastily packed suitcase in one arm and looked at me, eyes wide behind blue hair.
Looking around, I didn't see anybody else. This was strange as I knew Byakuya was Shinji's father and would presumably bring his son. I didn't know much else about him, though.
Grabbing his shoulder, I pushed him against the wall ignoring the squeak of pain he made. "Where is Sakura?" I asked.
The man's eyes widened, and after several seconds of spluttering, he pointed towards the back of the house. Peering around the corner, I saw the door he pointed at.
RealisingReleasing him, he grabbed his suitcase and ran, almost tripping over his feet a few times before I heard the door open and slam shut as he fled.
Scowling, I walked towards the back door and threw it open. I heard the sound of thousands of bugs squirming in the basement.
Walking down the steps, I saw worms piled high in a pit. I could also see a few strands of purple hair that lay about. Raising a hand, I conjured daggers and sent them toward the worms, scattering them.
I reached a hand into the biggest pile of worms and pulled a waifish form from under them. Looking at Sakura, I heard a faint roaring in my non-existent ears.
She was conscious, but her eyes were glazed over, and she didn't respond when I picked her up. Striding towards the stairs, I raised a hand and pulled deep, my rage empowering me.
Celestial Flame spread from my fingers like a flamethrower and engulfed the basement. As I walked towards the front of the house, I could see the fire climb.
As I exited the front of the house, I felt somebody slam into my legs. Stumbling, I turned around; I saw a child around six or seven with blue wavy hair.
It was Shinji, and as we looked at each other, he started to speak, the words tumbling out before becoming stronger. "H-Hello, can I come with you? My dad left me behind."
I wasn't a good person, but this pissed me off. While it would be smarter to leave him behind, I couldn't. My jaw twitched as I nodded and opened the path.
Shifting the path behind me, we walked towards my house. The next step was to find Kariya. I could use Sola-Ui and her skills to promise to remove the worms from both to assist in getting his aid.
"Shinji, I need you to head inside and grab something for Sakura to wear," I told him as I gently placed her on the grass; she twitched, eyes slowly clearing up.
Shinji nodded as he walked inside. I saw 5.0 sitting on the grass, eyes cast towards the path that led out of here. A few minutes later, Shinji came back out with some simple clothes.
It was too early for Shinji to have done something, and I felt creepy at the thought of dressing a young girl, so I turned to Shinji and asked him.
"Shinji, could you please dress your sister? I'll be getting help to make sure she will be ok." He looked hesitant for a moment, but as I mentioned help, he nodded and started to help Sakura get dressed.
I walked over to the circle containing Sola-Ui. I would be using Brainwashing to get her to work for me. I did need to figure out what personality I would be giving her.
A servant's mind would work. She would be the same except for the fact she worked for me. I did need to figure out the details.
The issue was that it was a false personality and not true mind rewriting. She could snap free if harmed, and if I gave her a servile personality, she would likely have little to no initiative.
Shrugging, I started casting; I would cross that bridge when I came to it. The ritual was simple and leaped from my lips as Sola-Ui twitched monetarily as the spell took hold.
As I dispelled the circle, she blinked slowly before rising to her feet unsteadily, looking like she had just woken up.
The Grimore's power grew as her eyes caught sight of me. New and old information surged into my mind. My fingers twitched as I remembered the strings of a violin they played years ago.
I could now see where I had gone wrong and ached to fix those errors, but that would have to wait. I returned my focus to Sola-Ui, who seemed to be relaxing from a curtsy and was waiting, arms clasped behind her back.
"What tools do you need to perform spiritual surgery?" I asked; she blinked for a moment before rattling off dozens of supplies.
The vast majority were things that you could find in a surgery room. A few were more exotic and required her to describe them in detail as I conjured them from Dust.
It was fortunate that I had directed my simulacrum to grab Kayneth's supplies as quite a few of the more complex items were packed away with his other mystic codes.
Soon enough, a small room was set up inside the house. The house was not a mansion or anything of the sort, but it did have plenty of spare rooms.
As I walked back outside, I could see that Sakura was slowly looking around while being embraced by Shinji. Walking toward them, I ignored Sakura's flinch and sat down.
"I'm sorry to break this off so soon, but we need to get those worms out before Zouken tries to hurt you," I said, looking at both children.
Shinji flinched while Sakura gazed at me with apathetic eyes. Reaching out a hand, I offered it to Sakura; she very slowly dragged her hand and placed it limply in mine.
If before her eyes were glazed over, then apathetic, I could now see the tiniest glimmer of hope. Giving her a soft smile, I stood up and walked towards the room that had been set up.
Inside, Sola-Ui was examining the tools according to her specifications, but I could see a few changes she had made. She had shifted the room around and changed how certain things were placed.
I had no clue what any of the differences made, but she was the expert, not me. Guiding Sakura in, I allowed Shinji in and watched as Sola-Ui talked Sakura through what she would be doing.
I could see that most of the magical babble was going over her head, but she seemed to enjoy the fact that this was being explained to her.
Sakura was soon undressed and lying on the surgical table. Mentally I bemoaned the loss of so much Dust, but it was worth draining my meager reserves dry.
Sola-Ui then picked up a scalpel and got to work. She was quick and efficient in cutting open and removing the worms. As time passed, she filled the jar next to her.
A few hours later, Sakura was sitting, legs dangling over the edge of the table clothed. I could tell even now the worms' changes to her.
When she hopped down and walked around under the direction of Sola-Ui, she was no longer moving gingerly. It would take a while for her to recover mentally, but it would happen.
Closing the door behind the new guest room where Shinji and Sakura had gone to sleep, I slumped against the wall, sighing.
I now had to find Kariya, which would typically be very hard, but now he had a massive mana source hovering over his shoulder at all times.
Lancelot would be in astral mode most of the time, making it more challenging as that masked Servant's output, and I didn't want to wait until he got into a fight because that would cause other issues.
Standing up, I walked to the table and sat down, rubbing my fingers on my temple. It didn't do much, but the placebo was nice, and it was a habit.
I could ask the kids, but I doubted they knew the address of their uncle, doubly so since he had moved back only a year ago. My metaknowledge was also ruined as the banquet of kings happened early, and I killed Lancer.
As I was thinking, my head shot up; I had the leftover crest worms, which could be used to find Kariya as he had them implanted. I would need to get my hands on an Origin Bullet sometime to finish off Zouken.
Growling slightly at the thought of Zouken, I stood up and walked towards the surgery room. I saw Sola-Ui diligently cleaning her tools; as she turned and gave a curtsey, I waved her off and grabbed the jar containing the crest worms.
It was a relatively simple operation, almost identical to the other locater rituals I did. It was slightly more annoying as the worms squirmed and attempted to flee, but I was able to complete it before long.
Soon enough, I had a new Dust-made compass twisting around widely. I assumed it was because I was technically in another dimension, and it couldn't track him.
Opening a Path to the beach, I walked out while looking at my compass. As soon as I stepped onto Earth, the compass's needle snapped towards the city and stayed locked on.
That meant step one was complete; I now needed to determine how to approach this. Kariya was unstable; depending on how I arrived, he could flip out and send Lancelot after me.
I had the same issue that Gilgamesh did when facing Lancelot. It was even worse because I didn't have the mana to just throw more things at him, and my primary method of damage was Unlimted Bladeworks. In addition, he had Magic Resistance which further exacerbated the problem.
I could run, but that meant I would be down his support, and he would chase me to retrieve Shinji and Sakura. Opening a Path back to my house, I walked until I heard strange sounds.
As I walked into the clearing, I saw Komainu and Shinji playing some kind of game while Sakura and Sola-Ui watched. It was clear that neither Komainu nor Shinji were super interested in the game, but they were both attempting to cheer Sakura up.
It didn't seem to be working all that well, as while her lips were curved up in a facsimile of a grin, her eyes were still mostly dead. The Grimoire grew as I strode forward with a grin on my lips.
As the power settled in my bones, empty of any new powers, I plopped down and gestured for the other kids to sit in front of me. Komainu and Shinji darted over while Sakura shuffled over. As they sat down, I cleared my throat and spoke.
"In a bit, we will be traveling to meet your uncle. He will take care of you, and I will ensure that you remain safe; Zouken will not bother you."
My voice was firm and displayed none of my hate for Zouken. While part of my hate was that what he did was inefficient, the sheer nature of his crimes still disturbed me.
He adopted a child only to defile her in the worst way possible, and when people tried to help, he twisted them to torment them further. I was by no means a good person. I had kidnapped people to serve as batteries and brainwashed people to serve me but what Zouken did was beyond the pale.
As Shinji and Komainu darted off, I saw that spark of hope in Sakura's eyes grow slightly more prominent and gave her a soft smile as she walked back to watch the other two play.
Powers Gained
Play Along With Me
Music is the soul of mankind… and, well, your soul isn't in your body anymore so it makes perfect sense you'd be good at it, right? What? That doesn't make any sense? Well, who cares! Pick a single mundane musical instrument. You are now amazingly talented at playing said instrument. You can, if you wish, give magical abilities you have a 'musical' aesthetic by having the sounds of your chosen instrument play along with whatever sounds your magic makes...though this won't add anything except a personal touch to it, mind you. Go forth, Jumper. And play.