Land of the Blades

28. Padparadscha

It has been ten days after the battle against Rider, and everyone was still on high alert. Caster had tried to convince everyone to remain at school for the time being, but they all protested and said they HAD to keep patrolling. They compromised to reduced the area of patrolling and to stay in groups of four.

Shirou and I had been given some free time to recover from our injuries, so at that moment we were just laying in the grass right outside of the school. He had been sleepy and tired since the battle against Rider, and after the effort he pulled, it didn't surprised me. I was too emotionally drained to do anything else, and had remained motionless for a couple of hours just watching the clouds pass by. I ended being covered in butterflies. Livy was sleeping over Shirou's chest, while Shiro the dog had to be forced to stay with Ghost back at the library, otherwise he wouldn't have let us rest. I was starting to wonder if the clouds were gray enough to mean it would rain, when someone blocked my view. It was Rutile, with a smile on his face that meant that he needed something.

—I hate to bother you on your free day, but would you mind escorting this cute doctor for a short errand?

I really didn't wanted to get up, but if he had come to ask me it meant everyone else was busy and it was something important. I managed to at least put my body in a seating position and turned to look at her. As I did this, I noticed he was carrying a container in his hands.

—Where are you going?

—To the cliff of origins —he said.

I really didn't want to go now. That place was almost the furthest from the school without entering to the ocean, and I had really bad memories from my last visit to it. Then I remembered a reason why Rutile would want to go to that place.

—Oh, you are going to look for parts for Padparadscha?

—Yes, I haven't had the chance to go look for more samples since winter started, it has just been too chaotic around here.

I stood up and for a moment I considered leaving Shirou sleeping, he needed to rest. Then again, I wouldn't stand a chance alone if another "servant" would appear. Franny, "the woman behind the grail war ritual", could have crushed me easily if she had bothered to actually fight me. I couldn't see her eyes behind that veil she was using, but I could feel she saw me as less than a pebble in her way.

—Wake up, it's time to work —I said giving Shirou some light pats on his shoulder.

He opened his eyes.

—Huh? Are we going somewhere? —he asked, still half sleep.

Rutile explained what he wanted us to help him with, and Shirou agreed to help. Both of them had started walking away when they realized I was being left behind.

—Phos, are you coming?

—Eh? Ah! Yes, I'm coming! —I replied and after taking the spear that had been laying at my side, I ran to reach them.

I had been distracted remembering the talk I had with Shirou, when he revealed to me that his eyes where the ones I had lost. At least, that's what he believed, and it made sense for me. They were the same teal color than the rest of my phosphophyllite. I didn't know how I hadn't noticed before, I might have attributed it to Shirou's abnormal "birth". After all, we came to this world from the rock on the beach we were going at that moment, not as the beautiful creatures we normally look, but as hideous and barely humanoid beings. Sensei had to carve us all to make us look pretty, and gave us eyes made of pearls and our natural minerals to refract light to let us see properly. Shirou, on the other hand, took shape on his own and had eyes from the start, so I never questioned it.