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[faithfulflame]

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[swordboning]

...my Master is gone. In the meantime, I'll need a temporary Master before I fade away and I've decided that you're the best option.

[Said after heading in, of course.]

[faithfulflame]

[The spoon in her hands drops and she blinks in complete shock.]

Tohsaka-san is gone?! [The door closes and the birds squawk noisily, sensing Rei's distress.]

And you're going to fade away? Please, sit. Explain. [She rather briskly heads into the main room, worry creasing her brow.]

[swordboning]

You'll have to forgive me if I don't sit.

[Not an Archer habit. He still follows behind.]

Without a proper source of mana, I cannot exist. Those are the rules. One of my class skills allows me to linger as long as I have my own mana, which is fortunate because any other Servant would have vanished within an hour. I have a minimum of two days and a maximum of however long I can string out what I have.

[faithfulflame]

[She will, but she does sit. Gracelessly, she just plops on her couch.]

So. She was your mana source. And you've been going for days without anything to sustain you at least.

[That explained a lot about what was going on, her nose wrinkling, her thoughts screwing up. Him disappearing would be bad. He needed someone, and he was someone she did honestly care about, despite outward appearances. And the colony really did need him, in it's own weird way.]

So you need a new anchor, that's it. [Looking at him, she quirks her head to one side.]

Why me?

[swordboning]

Why?

[He shakes his head.]

Because you're competent, are capable of being detached, and can be trusted. The latter being important because if Rin returns, I expect to break my contract with you and make another with her yet again. Another person may just attempt to take advantage of what I can do and forbid it from happening.

[faithfulflame]

[That makes sense to her. She certainly wouldn't want to keep Archer from his partner.]

That would be wrong of me, yes.

[Laying her hands on her legs she continues her frowning.]

What would this entail? What exactly am I going to be giving you? And what does it mean? I don't really know anything about it other than you work...worked...for Tohsaka-san.

[swordboning]

All I need from you is magical energy. In return, I'll do what you wish and you have three absolute commands you can give me, whether I like it or not.

Of course, you'll get the normal cooking and cleaning that tends to be involved with me.

[There were other things here. Like dreams and the like, that he wasn't mentioning.]

[faithfulflame]

I don't think there are any commands I'd have to give you. Our wishes tend to align, though you tend towards more extreme action. [Like training.]

Would you need to move into this apartment or would taking one nearby still be alright?

[swordboning]

I'll stay where I am. But I'll probably show up before anyone in your apartment wakes up, to make sure breakfast is ready.

[faithfulflame]

Alright.

[Rei touches her heart, and it begins to glow bright red beneath her chest. The Sailor Crystal there positively radiates power, and she looks him up and down.]

My Sailor Crystal can provide nearly unlimited energy. It's the sort of thing that was meant to fuel a star. I doubt it will strain me in the slightest to maintain you.

Is there a ritual I have to perform?

[swordboning]

Any ritual you'd perform to gain a familiar is good enough here. It's essentially the same thing.

[He doesn't mind making it seem simple. Which it really was that easy.]

[faithfulflame]

Fair enough. I take it this needs to be done now. For your health.

[She stands up and nods, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a box of chalk]

We'll need to go outside, on the roof. Come on.

[swordboning]

Of course.

[he doesn't exactly follow for the moment.]

Don't you think you should ask your girlfriend first? I have enough time for that, at the least.

[faithfulflame]

It'll be alright. Minako-chan will understand.

[She will. It may annoy her at first, but she'll get over it after a well done meal or two. That's how she is.]

It's not as though there's a romantic link between us, as far as I understand.

[swordboning]

If you insist. But I won't like any yelling in my ear, if it comes to that.

[Just stating his preferences. If Rei is sure, though, he's going to follow now.]

[faithfulflame]

It's fine.

[She is sure. Minako and Rei and Ami all trust one another, and it's temporary. Plus she doesn't completely believe that he's completely fine, the damaged link worrying her.

Up they go, and Rei immediately starts setting up a chalk mandala of old characters on the ground. A summoning and binding circle.]

Step in there. And I'll make it happen.

[swordboning]

[Even if he isn't as adept at magic as nearly every other mage, he knows what that is.]

Alright.

[One step and he's there.]

[faithfulflame]

[And then Rei begins to chant in a low voice, an old, old prayer. It's more similar to one an onmyouji would use to summon or bind a shikigami than anything a proper mage would do, and that's because she's a hedge mage at best. She doesn't know proper "magecraft" and that's obvious to anyone with an eye for it, but she's able to channel raw cosmic energy from her Sailor Crystal into the working to make it function properly.

The circle lights up with flame along all the chalk, her voice rising in pitch, the words still coming fast and fluid. Fire swirls, grows, and then contracts inward, hemming in around Archer while Rei's chest glows. Layer after layer of will and power flows into those lines, overlaying them, forming a wall, and after a few more moments the heat contorts into a thread, wrapping around his wrist and her own. And just like that, the deed is done.

What should she feel, she wonders, as she opens her eyes.]

Is that functioning as you need?

[swordboning]

It's good enough, thank you.

[At least he could feel power flowing back into himself, even if it didn't fix the actual emotions he hid as well as he could. Missing Rin was a pretty big blow, to be completely fair.]

What would be your first task?

[faithfulflame]

I don't know what I'd even ask of you.

[She frowns a little at that, feeling just a sliver different inside, her fingers running over her left wrist and the command seals.]

What does one really ask of a Servant like yourself?

[swordboning]

Mostly telling me who to fight or where I can support you. Things like that.

[faithfulflame]

Well I...don't really need anyone to fight for me at the moment. What sort of support talents do you have, besides the domestic ones?

[swordboning]

Depends on what you're looking for. I can create weapons that have an innumerable number of attributes that can be used. For most people, that would be good enough.

[faithfulflame]

Fair enough. Is there a way I could learn to do something like that, myself or is that your unique skill?

[Because she remembers that spear, it was cool.]

[swordboning]

Creating weapons like that? No, that wouldn't be possible, no matter how much practice you're capable of putting into it. If you're interested in the physics of it, I don't mind explaining it.