Being watched

"Didn't I specifically say, to stay away from nigh omnipotent beings that will lure you into their metaphorical white vans?"

"Well it was more of a spur of the moment kind of thing, to be honest."

"Ah, I see Alaya is one sneaky and manipulative bitch." I nodded in understanding. If I had to guess, he was in some desperate situation. Then Alaya showed up at just the right time, to make a deal with him. Wow, Alaya kind of sounds like one of those old fashion devils.

We fought for awhile until we got bored, then decided to just sit back and watch the show. It wasn't a serious fight, so I didn't end up losing myself in battle.

"Do you regret it?"

"'...I'm not sure. My memories are a bit hazy, but I didn't regret choosing to accept at the time."

"And after?"

"I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of. Then again, it's not like I ever had any pride to begin with."

"I'm sensing a but here."

"But I believe I probably would have ended up making the same choice, if I was given the chance again."

His face was unreadable. Whether he lamented his situation or not, I wasn't completely sure. This EMIYA seemed to be different than the one I was expecting.

"I don't know what you've done or went through. I only have a general idea." I gazed up at the night sky. The stars were bothering me again.

"But for what it's worth. Im glad you don't seem to be suffering too harshly." I smiled fondly. "But for my first student to end up as a Counter Guardian. I don't know whether to be proud of such an achievement or depressed at what such a position entails."

Archer remained silent at that, opting to just gaze at the starry sky with me.

I considered trying to help him, but honestly there was nothing I could do. Even if I took him with me, this isn't even the original version of him.

"By the way, where's your servant?" Archer broke off the silence after awhile.

"I thought your memories were still hazy." I raised a brow.

"I don't remember everything, but I still remember general things about this war. Like you having a servant, can't remember which."

"Ah, well I ordered Assassin to spy on the Rider." I actually did summon a servant recently, but only because I was curious if Medea was still capable of tweaking the grail to allow her to summon Sasaki Kojiro.

I didn't doubt she was capable of such a thing. A wraith like Kojiro was already an outlier as far as servants are concerned.

"So, I'm guessing you don't even remember the reason you wanted to be summoned?" I finally asked. Each servant had a reason, the original EMIYA's was to kill his past self. But this one was different, I can't even begin to fathom why he would accept the call.

"I'm not sure why I did, I think it was more of a whim than anything." Archer shook his head. "It looks like the battle is over." His eyes glanced towards their direction.

"How terrifying, my eyes can barely see that far." I mused, impressed

"Yet they can see the stars like a telescope."

"They're specialized like that." I shrugged

∞

"Emiya-kun, tell me again why you thought it was a good idea to bring the enemy to your house, with a berserker servant hovering over us?" Rin smiled sweetly as vitrol practically dripped from her tone.

"Well... I didn't think-" He began but was cut off.

"That's right! You don't think!" She threw her hands up in the air, completely done with the situation.

"I'm sure we can settle this by talking it over."

"Yes, and that worked so well when you tried earlier. And where is Archer!?" She was considering the use of a command spell to bring him here.

The group had relocated to the Emiya household, where all they could do was wait until Illya woke up. It was uncomfortable to say the least, with Berserker silently watching them like a hawk.

Eventually the Einzbern girl woke up, without much fanfare. She sat up, not a word was said.

"Um, would you like some dinner? Although it's a little late for it, I still have some leftovers in the fridge." Shirou broke the silence and offered a bit hesitantly.

"I-" *GROWL sfx* her next line was interrupted by her growling stomach. Unfortunately she was so gung-ho about killing Shirou today, that she had skipped her own dinner.

"I'll heat up the rice." Shirou smiled gently before moving to the kitchen.

Dinner was short and quiet, mostly with Shirou trying to talk to his sister. Eventually the white haired homonculus bid farewell, leaving the two Masters.

"I can't believe you just let her go." Rin sighed with exasperation. She would have growled or shouted, but she was just tired now.

"It wouldn't be right to keep her here against her will."

"Better that, than let her be free to just ambush us in the future."

"I don't think she'll do that."

"I don't know where your confidence comes from."

"Just a gut feeling." He shrugged.

"Following your guts is generally a smart move from my experience." A familiar voice came from outside. Rin snapped her head towards it, her eyes landing on what looked to be a pale-skinned man with white hair and pale blue eyes. in casual clothes.

"Archer?" Next to him stood her absent Archer servant, who hadn't responded to her for awhile now. He stood relaxed with his arms crossed.

"Apologies Miss Tohsaka, I had matters to discuss with your servant." Zieg gave a slight bow of courtesy towards the girl as she was still the Second Owner.

"And you are?" Rin narrowed her eyes at the unknown person. However Zieg responded by raising his brow.

"You don't know who I am?" He blinked with confusion on his face.

"Should I?" She raised a brow in return.

"I believe I asked your teacher to give my greetings to you. I asked him to inform you of my stay in your territory and if you had any questions, you only needed to ask."

"That damn fake priest!" She once again shrieked in annoyance and rage. "Why didn't you just come to me?!" She pointed at him.

"I believed it would have been rude to just drop in unannounced, thus I believed it would have been best if you were informed by someone close to you. Such as your teacher. Since you never responded back, I assumed you did not care much for my presence here." Zieg succinctly replied as if he had rehearsed the lines multiple times.

Rin's countenance morphed and twitched through a myriad of different expressions, deep down Zieg was having too much fun with this. It ended with the girl finally falling down on her rear, arms in her face, muffling her screams. After everything that happened tonight, she had finally lost it.

"Zieg, please don't mess with Tohsaka too much. It's been a long night." Shirou stepped up and sighed, patting the girl on the back.

"Hm alright, I suppose it's been a rough night for you two." He nodded before taking out a pouch. "Consider this a greeting gift Miss Tohsaka." He held it out towards the girl who peaked up from between her arms.

The speed at which she snatched the pouch from him was so quick, that Zieg barely saw it.

The girl's eyes were glued on the contents of the bag.

It was full of gems, randomly found throughout Zieg's journey so far.

"Well now that I have your attention, I have some things to speak to you about Miss Tohsaka." Zieg coughed, getting the girl's attention again.

"It's going to be a long explanation, Shirou get us some tea please."

∞

"Do you think she'll help us?" Shirou asked after Rin left.

"It's up to her, I gave her the information. Whether she believes it or not is up to her." I shrugged. "However she isn't dumb, it should be obvious that there's something fishy with this war to begin with."

"Oh right, did you talk to Saber?" I asked to which he nodded.

"She says she'll help us." He confirmed. I'm not surprised, she's one of those good aligned servants who wouldn't stand by while evil is happening. Even if that meant that she wouldn't get her wish again.

"Well, I suggest getting some sleep. You've had a long night."

"Right, good night." He yawned before walking away.

"Oh and Shirou." I called out, he turned around. "Good job." I said out loud. I didn't look at his face as I continued to gaze at the distant stars.

Even if he doesn't really feel anything from praise, I felt the need to give credit where it's due.

While everyone had left to sleep, I continued to watch the stars. Although I am pretty sure Saber was awake and guarding Shirou till sunrise.

Some might be wondering, what exactly was I looking for? Well a lot of things actually. The fates of people, the conceptual power of the stars, the past and present that is recorded into the stars.

...And the Eldritch deity who is looking at me.

The hairs on my back stood up, a tingle ran down my spine.

I slowly turned my gaze away from the outer god, who I was pretty sure was still watching me. I knew I felt something odd since I got here. The feeling of being watched, and it turned out to be some outer god.

There were eldritch beings in Elden ring, but I don't know how they would compare to the ones here. Personally, I'd rather stay away from lovecraftian entities.

I don't know why this thing has taken an interest in me. Is it because I'm connected to the Primeval Current? Is it because I'm an outsider? Or maybe it just decided to look at me, knowing that I could feel it's gaze.

I let out a breath to calm myself. It can't really do anything to me, without some sort of catalyst to manifest it into the world. Luckily it didn't hijack my summon earlier, I'm not sure how I would deal with having a Foreigner servant.

"How did it go?" I asked out loud, there was no one else around. And I definitely wasn't speaking to the outer god.

I waited for a moment in silence. Time ticked by until a figure revealed itself, kneeling before me.

"No movements." The girl answered. She was Assassin, one of the Hassan. She wore a black, form-fitting outfit and the traditional skull mask. She looked similar to Hundred Face, sharing the violet colored hair.

"Did you figure out the layout of their home?" I continued, to which she handed me a hand-drawn blueprint of the Matou estate.

"There were some bugs skulking about, but I was able to remain unnoticed." I hummed a little impressed, that's A+ Presence concealment for you.

"Well done, Serenity." I smiled, perfect it was all coming together. "You can take a break now. We won't make our move yet."

"...Master?" I glanced to her, she was still kneeling in front of me for some reason. She was also sort of fidgeting.

"Oh. You know, you don't have to ask this as a reward or anything. I don't mind." I realized what she was waiting for.

I held out a hand towards the girl, to which she hesitantly took.

A girl who's entire being is poison. I silently thanked Robust health and Rykard's rune for making me basically immune to poison.

When I summoned her, she was incredibly distressed when I touched her. I did it for science! Mainly because I wanted to know if I would die from her poison.

I felt nothing from contact, so it feels good being immune.

Not sure what she thinks of it though. Thankfully she didn't think I was trying to put any moves on her, granted she looks beautiful. I can see how she lures her targets in for the kill.

At some point I ended up stargazing with Serenity on my lap. It was a quiet night, a poisonous girl on my lap, an eldritch deity staring at me and me staring back.

Holy shit, what the hell is wrong with my life?