Land of the Blades

47. Invasion

When I managed to return to the inside of the school, everyone was celebrating. Well, most of them, Bort was still trying to avoid his fans, but they keep following him everywhere he went. Shirou was cooking fish and vegetables over an improvised grill, with the Admirabilis sisters and Caster helping him. They looked like a family...

By just the smell, most of the Lunarians and Berserker were already drooling, and their faces illuminated when they started to eat, crying tears of joy after each bite. Even the shadow servants and Assassin seemed to be having a good time.
I... had been waiting a long time to eat Shirou's cooking, but at that moment, I felt like I wouldn't be able to taste anything. I made myself present with a smile, and then discretely disappeared into the upper floors. I just walked aimlessly, but I ended up going to the places where Ghost had been the most, his room, the long recovery facility, and the library. I finished my walk entering the room where Sensei was resting. I sat on the floor next to him, in a way that someone who peeked through the door couldn't see me behind the table. I extended my arm and grabbed his hand. I breathed slowly and tried to keep my mind distracted, but I couldn't avoid remembering Ghost. I knew he will return, and reassured myself that even if he wouldn't remember me, we could make new memories together. But even knowing that, my chest hurt and I couldn't stop crying golden tears.

—Se-sensei... please... —I murmured between heavy breaths.

Then, I heard a familiar barking approaching, and I hurriedly cleaned my eyes and tried to regain my composure. As expected, Shiro the dog appeared and jumped to my face, trying to lick me all over.

—Awww, I thought you have forgotten about me —I said, hugging him.

—Oh, so this is where you were hiding —Antarc said, taking me by surprise.

—I-I'm not hiding; I just needed a place to rest for a moment. It has been hectic since we went to the ocean. I'm not even sure how many days that took us.

—Well then, do you mind if I accompany you?

—No... not at all.

We stayed on silence for a few moments, I kept playing with Shiro the dog until it got tired and went to slept at my feet.

—Do you... think the Lunarians could help us fix Sensei?

I turned to look at him with wide eyes. The idea hadn't crossed my mind, mostly because I didn't wanted to think of both Sensei and the Lunarians at the same time. They needed him to go to their afterlife, so they will be willing to help us... but I feared they could do something to him while they were on it. If they repaired him just to fulfill the purpose of praying them away, they might ignore all his other functions. Even if he was fixed... if he were to choose to not pray for them, they might retaliate against us, going back to their attempt to use our grinded dust to decorate their moons. I didn't know how to explain all of this to Antarc, who surely wanted to see Sensei as soon as possible. Fortunately for me, at that exact moment, Cairn appeared.

—What are you two doing here? Shirou has been asking for you all night —He said, slightly irritated after having to come and look for us.

—Ah, is that so? Then I'll go see what he wants —I said while getting up, trying to put on a smile—, thank you.

—Wait. Is... —he made a long pause—... Is something bothering you?

—Eh?

—You wouldn't be hiding here without a reason. And that's more or less the smile Lapis did when he was hiding something. Ghost was your confident, wasn't him? I'm his successor, so if anything is bothering you, you can talk to me... at least until he comes back.