With a blink Shirou processed the information transferred from the jewel to him and simply stared at her for several seconds. Rin subconsciously squirmed where she stood feeling embarrassed at his stare for reasons she couldn't quite identify. For some reason his stare made her feel… dirty.
"I see" said Shirou nodding his head before looking away "…stripes Rin, really?"
"What…?" asked Rin in confusion before her face suddenly reddened in realization and she too looked away to hide her now furiously blushing face. Embarrassment and feminine fury came to her in equal measures as she made a silent vow of vengeance. She was going to kill that vampire! It would be glorious! It would be brutal! And it would be oh so very satisfying!
Rin had severely underestimated the cunning trap laid before her by the ancient Dead Apostle Ancestor. Such a trap containing her image could be nothing less than super effective on her naive apprentice!
"We-well" said Rin before letting out a small cough to clear her throat "did you at least get the information on the mystic code?"
"Which one?" asked Shirou causing Rin to blink.
"There was more than one?" asked Rin in surprise.
"Several" said Shirou lifting his hand up to count off his fingers "there are blueprints on how to make something called Kaleidosticks, synthetic Kyber crystals, a Jeweled Sword, a-"
"The Jeweled Sword" interrupted Rin with a small grin of triumph before turning contemplative "…what exactly do the other objects do?"
The term Kaleidostick sounded oddly familiar to her and not in a good way. The repressed memories sort of way.
"I don't know" said Shirou with a shrug "all I got were the blueprints. I didn't get any operating manuals or any of the objects history."
"Oh well" said Rin with a smile reminiscent of a cat that just ate the canary "I think its about time we got started anyway. This will be my greatest plan yet!"
"I see" said Shirou as he nodded to himself sagely "so this is how the world ends."
"Oh, shut it Shirou" said Rin as she lightly swatted his head.
"Well" mumbled Shirou rubbing his head "at least there is absolutely no way that things get any worse this time."
"Uh huh" said Rin rolling her eyes and pulling out a small crate of jewels before opening it.
"…Rin" asked Shirou a he stared into the crate blankly "how much did this all cost?"
"Lets just say" said Rin as she looked away twirling a strand of her hair "that we are now officially broke for the next two years even with the Tohsaka family's patent revenues so we better get this right on the first try or else."
"This must really mean a lot to you" stated Shirou as he looked towards her with determination "what do you need me to do?"
"Enter the magic circle and alter these jewels to follow the blueprint" said Rin as she smiled at her apprentice "I will take care of everything else."
"Trace On" said Shirou as he activated his magic circuits.
With a thunk a shredded tire shot into reality from nothingness and both magi stared for several seconds as the wheel rolled into a wall before falling on to its side.
"Shirou" questioned Rin as she turned to face her apprentice "what have we said about you hoarding in your Reality Marble?"
"…Not to" admitted Shirou "but in my defense it's not like you are any better. I have seen your room. And your basement. And your workshop. And your-"
"My room and basement don't contain priceless noble phantasms" replied Rin with narrowed eyes "it's the principle of the matter!"
"Then would it be okay if I removed the noble phantasms instead?" asked Shirou seriously "I would rather keep the cooking equipment."
"Sure" said Rin with a roll of her eyes "now about that Jeweled Sword?"
With a shrug Shirou entered the circle as Rin placed jewels of the highest purity onto their corresponding runes. As the one who would have to manage the materials at heir component levels for Shirou to alter along with keeping foreign prana from interfering with the ritual her job would be no less important than Shirou's.
Ever so slowly lattice after lattice formed until after what seemed like an eternity a dagger was formed. In reality, only several minutes had passed but that was besides the point. The Jeweled Sword of Zelretch had been remade. It wasn't perfect, but as far as Rin was concerned the ritual was a complete success.
"Rin" said Shirou as he stared at dagger "did you know that this sword allows for time travel?"
"It allows for a lot more than just that" stated Rin as she pocketed the dagger to carry on her person.
"I now have a sword that allows for time travel in my Reality Marble" said Shirou gravely "now my future selves can travel back in time to kill me."
"Shirou you are being ridiculous" said Rin as she stared at him incredulously "if your supposed future time traveling selves were going to kill you then they would have done so already. There is no way that they would wait until after you gained a sword that allows you to channel the freaking second magic."
"The same could be said about Archer challenging me to a death duel" pointed out Shirou flatly "there were plenty of times he could have killed me before then."
"…You're not going to let this go, are you?" asked Rin as she stared at her boyfriend with twitching eye brows.
"Out of the two of us" asked Shirou seriously "who is it that has practical experience dealing with their future time traveling selves tying to kill them? It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you."
"…This is just so messed up" said Rin shaking her head feeling detached from reality "I think I'm going to go for a walk to clear my head. That ritual was mentally draining and holding a discussion about paradoxes isn't going to make me feel any better."
"I'll go pack some of the dinner I made so that we can bring some with us" said Shirou retreating smartly as he headed off to the kitchen.
"I'll go get our coats" replied Rin to his retreating back with a shake of her head. The closet was not far in their modest two bedroom apartment and it did not take Rin long to get there. Only one thing stopped Rin. There was a monster in her closet and it was wearing batman themed pajamas.
"This closet is currently occupied" said Zelretch from where he stood eating from a small bowl of soup. It smelt suspiciously similar to the dinner Shirou had just finished making.
Without a word Rin closed the door in the Dead Apostle Ancestor's face. She was far too mentally drained to deal with that right now. Someday vengeance would come, but that day was not this day.
With a slouch in her gait Rin arrived at the apartment door where she waited for her apprentice. It did not take long for Shirou himself to arrive after her.
"I thought you said you were getting our coats?" asked Shirou holding a modest pack filled with much needed nourishments.
"I changed my mind" said Rin as she briskly walked past him and out the door "remind me to buy some holy water and wards when we get back."
"Ok" said Shirou unperturbed by the random non-sequitur "I have some ski masks in my pack that we can put on."
With a shrug Rin went ahead and put on a mask while Shirou did the same. Rin closed the door and activated the wards she had set up before leading Shirou down the corridor. As they walked down the stairs they passed by several groups of men also wearing ski masks who nodded to herself and Shirou by simple way of greetings. Apparently masks were now in style or it was a lot colder than she had thought. It was not long before they were out of the apartment.
The weather was definitely on the chilly side even though it was still only early Fall. Rin was already starting to regret her decision to not bring a coat. Hopefully a nice bowl of hot steaming soup would be enough to-
BOOM!
Shirou simply turned to her and stared with a single raised eyebrow.
"Shut up!" yelled Rin as her shoulders slumped "that might not have even been our room. I absolutely refuse to believe that that you have time travelers out to get you!"
CHŶ†£® £∏∂
In a remote region far removed from civilization there existed a parasitic hole in the collective reality marble of the 'Age of Man' that slowly ate away at the boundary of the worlds sphere of influence. This eldritch hole held within it a sleeping monstrosity beyond earthly origins and human understanding. The very entity thats mere existence eroded 'the reality of man.' Its skyscraper sized spider like body towered over the living crystal landscape as it slept waiting for its time. A time when all would tremble before its might and fury at the beckoning of Gaia's call.
That time had come.
'This will be my greatest plan yet!'
Dangerous words beyond mortal comprehension echoed throughout spacetime and the Universe itself sought to respond in kind. The fabric of the Universe inverted and pulled.
The crystal entity abruptly awoke confused as it sensed a tugging sensation as powers both great and terrifying sought to transplant its infinite being to another location. With but a 'thought' the spider connected to the Akashic swirl in search of 'information' on this unexpected turn of events.
The necessary information was downloaded directly and an assortment of images and voices entered the spiders 'mind.'
'At least there is absolutely no way that things get any worse this time.'
The type-mercury was left even more confounded at this new information and about the sudden change in the Worlds plans. Clearly the information gathered on the present era of the world was insufficient and proper context was needed.
Fortunately, neither the spider nor the Akashic swirl were limited by such petty concepts as 'time' or 'causality.' Past, present, and future were revealed before the crystalline form in their truest from as the possible histories of the world aligned along a single thread of fate. The spider saw many strange and unusual things that were to come and had come to pass and further things that were to simultaneously pass and come to be.
Within those visions the type-mercury saw craziness and lunacy that it wanted no part of.
With but a 'thought' the spider stopped the pull of the worlds summoning. Someday its time would come. That was not this day. Possibly not even in this story. But that time would come. Maybe. It would probably go ahead and wait until humans weren't around anymore. That sounded like a good plan.