Medusa Lily watched as Tohsaka's Archer brought out a new Noble Phantasm, the Nightingale Pledge.
Unfair. He could just pull out a new Noble Phantasm to fit the situation. It was unfair. But, he was doing it to protect Sakura. He was doing it to save Sakura. And that was her goal right now. To save her Master, a girl who was like her younger sister. And Medusa was used to being the younger sister instead of being the older one. She could see why her sisters liked being the older ones so much.
Then a pair of knives appeared in his hands and the boy stepped forward with an iron-cast expression that seemed familiar.
The other Heroic Spirits in there with him involuntarily stepped back as nightmares about a psychotic nurse flash through their minds.
Nightingale left… strong impressions on Heroic Spirits. Strong enough for them to remember her even counting the fact that remembering experiences from previous summonings was extremely difficult for the Servants. It was impossible to forget the woman who bluntly told the most powerful Servants that they were sick and needed to be healed and then promised to do it even if it killed them. And meant every word.
Shirou yelled "I will save you even if I have to kill you! Commencing Operation!"
And then he brought down the surgical knives into Sakura.
Medusa tensed and leapt forward to save her Master from the madman—
Only for a flash of memory, a fragment from a previous summoning—a Grand Order?— of a red-clad woman with white hair drenched in blood as she performed surgery.
Medusa blinked as she suddenly found herself pressing against the wall. Her eyes momentarily left the male nurse currently doing open chest surgery and moved towards Gilgamesh, across the room, who was also pressing against the wall. Their eyes met and conveyed similar horror and shock.
No, it couldn't be. Not her. The magus Servant couldn't be channeling her.
Some things were so traumatizing that they affected Heroic Spirits even after the Servant body was undone.
EMIYA drew back from the incision he had cut into Sakura, British knife dispelling, and projected a large, empty needle into his empty gloved hand. A very large needle. As in, the length of Medusa's arm and the width of her head large.
Medusa found herself ramming into the door as she tried to flee, too terrified to even bother with the doorknob.
Why wouldn't the door open!?
The hinges were blasted off and the door fell back as Gilgamesh tried to bolt past her only for Medusa's A rank agility to beat out his C rank as they both fled out of the room and up the stairs.
Not the needles! She didn't want her check-upppppp!
Not even her sisters would do this to her!
* * *
Archer shifted himself into a higher plane of existence, the astralization ability that every properly summoned Heroic Spirit had. The Crest Worms were both physical and metaphysical. Part of the physical plane and outside of it. As such, if you wanted to remove the Crest Worms from a human, you needed to be interacting with them on the plane they were in. Just physically removing the Crest Worms wouldn't work because, as disgusting as they were, Crest Worms were Phantasmal Beasts.
Yet, Sakura was human and her existence had weight. As such, getting to the Crest Worms by only spiritual means would involve a great deal of spiritual damage to her. Enough to definitely kill her.
In comparison, a series of physical holes were much better than spiritual ones.
* * *
Zouken sat quietly, the core of his being wrapped around Sakura's heart as he felt the other worms he had left be removed from Sakura one by one. The two Servants had hunted down every Crest worm he had left, killing every Crest Worm in his mansion and grounds. But he had a few stashes outside of there. Some were going to be quickly wiped out by those Archers but a few might survive.
Only if he was careful. One of the Archers was Gilgamesh and Gilgamesh had high Clairvoyance, a high enough Clairvoyance that could allow him to see the future. When Gilgamesh had been content to only observe, Zouken could act freely. In contrast, now that Gilgamesh had moved against him, Zouken had no choice but to concede this war. Any action that he could do, Gilgamesh would see and know and then move to come down on him like the wrath of a king. And as the trio of Servants had proven at the estate, you couldn't win a war by being on the defensive.
Such a pity. Sakura was a rare windfall. Except, she had been just too strong to easily break and be molded by him. Unless he could overcome a setback like that, she would be useless as his Lesser Grail.
Once she was broken though…
Well, Servants were familiars. Powerful ones that only a fool would dismiss as only a familiar. Most of these Servants had already surpassed their Masters in both achievements, power, and knowledge. But at the end of the day, Servants, even Gilgamesh, were spiritual beings stuffed into a container linked to the Greater Grail.
A weakness, if you knew how to exploit it.
But he could make do with a lesser tool. His ambition could still be fulfilled in the next war. He would just need to salvage this war's Lesser Grail. Assuming that she didn't win it, which, by having Heracles as her Servant wasn't quite impossible assuming that Gilgamesh didn't intend on participating.
But if Zouken died in this War, he could not achieve his immortality and…
Curse the loss of so many Crest Worms. He couldn't remember what the original goal was. Only that he needed a perfect immortality to see it through.
* * *
Sakura died.
* * *
"Patient has died," Shirou noted down in the basement as he killed another Crest Worm that had not come out easily.
Pity. But the Nurse of Steel, or his pale imitation of it, was not to be deterred by mere things like a patient dying. He would save Sakura even if he had to kill her! Besides, he already knew what he had to do. Death would not stop him!
"Beginning resuscitation procedure!" he yelled, channeling the Berserk Nurse. "First, find the airway! Tilt the face sideways, and if there is anything inside the mouth, scoop it out with your fingers!"
Shirou did so, willingly sticking his hand down Sakura's mouth just to double check if something was there.
"Next," Shirou continued, reciting from memory what the amazing Nurse of Steel had said in her CPR demonstration. "Lift the chin up, pinch the nose, and blow in with all of your might for one second!"
Shirou eagerly put his mouth where his words were, planting his lips so hard on Sakura's that her head smacked against the back of the table despite being laid right upon it.
* * *
A sense of shock swept over Zouken. Surely, they had someone reliable and capable to heal the girl they had gone to such extents to save? Admittedly, Zouken had done his best to make it impossible. That was why he was now a Crest Worm wrapped around and a bit into her heart. Removing him would kill Sakura. He was sure of it.
But had they found him? Were they even aware of him controlling her heart? Zouken didn't think so. They had found several Crest Worms but not this one. Nothing had probed his 'granddaughter's' being well enough for this Crest Worm to show up. What kind of quack doctor had the Servants found? Sure, he had been removing his Crest Worms, not a simple feat considering that they were Phantasmal Beasts, but to kill his patient in the process? Who had given this guy a medical license?
Something was happening, Sakura's recently deceased corpse was having something done to it, around the head area in particular. Were they trying to analyze his Mysteries that he had implanted into the girl?
* * *
"And most importantly," Shirou recalled, putting both hands between Sakura's voluptuous breasts above where the heart was. "The chest compressions!"
* * *
Zouken finally remembered the CPR and first aid lessons he had encouraged Homurahara Academy to put onto their homeroom classes's schedule. It had been shot down (as he had expected) but the image had been good for his purposes in the community as PTA president.
Well, at least the Servants valued Sakura's life. Though CPR might not work, Zouken had come to a grudging and annoyed respect for Sakura' will. If she wanted to live, CPR might just bring her back. He hadn't thought that Sakura's self of self would last this long so maybe she would, through her own sheer stubbornness, refuse to die.
But didn't CPR include—
* * *
"Punch the chest one hundred times per minute to force the heart to restart!"
* * *
OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH!
A rapid and intense sense of crushing pressure landed straight on Sakura's heart and Zouken Matou.
OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH!
One half second, he was crushed, the next he was released only for the next half-second to feel like a boulder was landing on top of him, and the cycle repeated all over again!
OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH!
He went from one excruciating moment to the next moment of relief. Only the relief was stolen by the dreadful knowledge that the next moment would have the torturous force come right back again!
OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH!
* * *
Shirou's punches intensified, Sakura's dead body jerking about from his strength.
However, since Sakura wasn't a Servant like him or the unwilling sacrifice volunteered example that Nightingale had been demonstrating on, Shirou did moderate the force of his compressions.
He didn't want to punch through Sakura's ribcage after all.
* * *
OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH!
Zouken vowed that he would find whatever university had given this failure of a quack a medical degree and he would crush them and their student!
OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH!
If it was the last thing he did!
OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH!
* * *
Shirou had learned so much from Nightingale!
Such a wonderful and amazing nurse who had saved so many lives!
* * *
OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH!
And the doctor too!
OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH!
Would have a lifetime of misery!
OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH!
Even if it killed him!
OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH!
* * *
She was truly a Hero of Justice!
* * *
OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH! OW-OOH!
* * *
And Sakura was alive again! Perfect!
Time for the next surgery!
* * *
Oooohhhhh… I don't feel so good…
* * *
Hours later…
"You know, that was fun," Shirou hummed as he skipped out from the flight of stairs leading to the basement, a broad smile on his face from saving someone. "I should have been a surgeon."
"Is Sakura—" Rin asked immediately upon seeing Shirou.
"She's asleep, alive and healthy!" Shirou gave her a thumbs up. "It was touch and go for a bit there, especially when I had to cut out the one in her heart, but the Nurse whose experience I borrowed is an amazing Hero of Justice!"
Rin visibly relaxed.
Then she saw all the blood splattered across Shirou. It drenched his head, his hands, his arms, his chest, his clothes.
Basically, if blood could go there, it was there. It made Shirou look like he had just waded through a bloody massacre worthy of the Blood-Axe rather than surgery.
And you could just see when Rin processed what Shirou had said about Sakura's heart.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
And hear it too.
* * *
"I'm a horrible sister," Rin shivered next to Sakura down in her workshop. She utterly refused to let go of Sakura's hand. If she focused, she could still detect a weak heartbeat in her veins.
Around her the workshop had been scrubbed clean. Sanitarily so.
Shirou had cleaned up after himself, removing all blood stains except for the ones on himself.
But Rin hadn't felt good until she had scrubbed everything clean.
Until it would have put a hospital to shame.
Then she had sanitized it.
Every inch of this room.
"What was I thinking letting Shirou do surgery on you?" Rin raved, her hands locked into position around Sakura's. "He's a Heroic Spirit, I thought. He wouldn't suggest it if he couldn't do it, I thought. He might become the most famous surgeon in history and end up on the Throne of Heroes that way, I thought. HE'S A FREAKING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT! OF COURSE, HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO DO SURGERY!"
Rin let the echo of her shout come back to her, bouncing off of the walls.
"But," Rin grudgingly acknowledged, looking over at Sakura. "You are alive now. And no longer under that monster's hand. Putting a Crest Worm into your heart…"
Rin trailed off, shivering at how much danger Sakura had been in. And for how many years had that worm sat there, making sure that Sakura couldn't even go to anyone for help in fear that the worm would move and kill her from internal bleeding before she could finish asking for help?
Rin shivered at the thought of being trapped like that. For Sakura to be trapped like that for year after year.
Father, Rin wondered. What did the Matou offer that you got hoodwinked into not ensuring that Sakura would be safe from something like this?
Rin didn't know. She had never looked for the record for the transaction between the Matou and the Tohsaka regarding Sakura as the Matou heir. But Sakura was free and safe now.
And most importantly, what Shirou hadn't been able to assure her of, was that she was healthy and definitely had enough blood.
After realizing how much of Sakura's blood was on Shirou, Rin had fallen down the stairs to get to Sakura. After seeing her pale face, pale from lack of blood, Rin had frantically dumped what little reserves she had left into blood synthesization for Sakura. She had even dug into a few gemstones that were optimized for healing magecraft.
Not that she had many gems capable of such sweeping healing left after rebuilding Shirou's heart.
But the pay-out from sacrificing that gem yesterday had turned out to be rather beneficial. Shirou had saved her sister. She wouldn't have been able to save Sakura without going to her father's murderer. Rin had nothing that could remove a Crest Worm from a heart and not kill the person. But Shirou had managed it. Rin hadn't had to go to Kotomine, who was proficient in spiritual surgery.
Rin didn't trust him to not kill her only sister in revenge for how she had treated him over the course of yesterday. Or he would kill Sakura just to see herself suffer, the sadist.
Shirou had done something for her that she would never be able to repay. Nothing, save for maybe marrying her Servant, would clear her debt to him. Besides, marrying him would render such a debt insignificant as you couldn't owe your family.
Rin carefully made sure that the thought of how much she owed him did not reach her Servant. She didn't want him to get a swelled head after all.
Rin eventually fell asleep down there, hand firmly holding onto Sakura's, not minding the lack of comfort.
After all, Sakura — no, her sister — was back home.
* * *
Once again. Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT follow the CPR procedure as told here. It is wrong. (Good luck telling Nightingale that.)
But I do think that Nightingale and Shirou would be an interesting take as a Master and Servant. Their goals would align quite nicely. They just want to save people. Nightingale fights against disease. Shirou wants to be a hero of justice. But had he ever considered a career as a surgeon? With the Origin of Swords, he would probably make an excellent surgeon. And Nightingale would encourage Shirou to do so simply because she wants more doctors to save more people. It would be a new path, a new way for Shirou to channel his dream, possibly one that even Archer would approve of.
But the Grail War would not let Berserker go free simply because she is working at a hospital...