Prisma LxL

Normalcy

Chapter 11

Normalcy

An unearthly scream resounded throughout the vast desert of the Sahara and only three souls heard this scream.

Illya winced a little as the stray devil screamed, it's scorpion appendages thrashing about in the sand as it tried to get her big brother who dodged around and sliced off bits of the devil off.

She took a quick swig of her water bottle before taking a look at the sitting Cu beside her. Said wolf was looking at the fight with what she could only guess to be anticipation but disappointed whines would come from him ever so often.

It took her a while before she realized Cu whined whenever Archer hit a strike on the devil and his tail wagged whenever Archer dodged. She giggled at the revelation, distracting her from the one-sided fight Archer fought in.

Luckily, today was cooler than most days as nature seemed to favor them today.

"Stop moving you- Rah!" the stray devil cursed as its tail was removed from its body.

This particular stray devil has been eating up remote villages and was on the move before she and Archer caught her.

Illya felt anger at the stray devil but with the carnage that Archer was displaying, she couldn't help but turn away.

With a final screech, the fight was over.

"Couldn't you have just finished it from the start...?" Illya inquired nervously, her gaze directed away from the bloody corpse of the stray.

Archer shrugged. "Its armor is too strong, I needed to chip away the armor and if I used a noble phantasm..." His eyes looked to the distant caravan family who waved nervously at them from their spot on a distant sand dune. "Would you do the honors of altering their memories?" he inquired from Illya.

"U-Uh... I-I don't think mine is good enough yet..."

Archer ruffled her hair with a smirk planted on his face. "Oh? The midget finally admitted?"

Illya turned red.

-

"Shirou! I'll revive you!"

As a consequence of taking a contract that gave him money for barely any work, the duo has all the time in the world to relax and unwind themselves. Illya was also homeschooled, much due to her insistence.

"My hero," Archer deadpanned as his character laid dead on the ground and awaited for a revive. As it was, he doubted that Illya would take out the ones who took him out.

"I will save you, helpless civilian! Uwah!" With her little piece said, Illya charged her character through the horde with reckless abandon. An inferno of determination fired up in her eyes she rapidly buffed and debuffed her character while dishing as much damage as she could.

This determination had resulted in her death as her character barely made a third of the way to Archer's character.

With the inferno of determination now thoroughly extinguished, a state of depression overcame Illya. "Mu..."

"A superhero to a cow... Interesting character development," Archer laughed as he put down his controller and made his way to the kitchen.

Luckily for Illya, Cu came to her rescue and with the power of licks and whines, Illya's fire of determination was reignited. "Let's do it one last time, Shirou!" she declared as she stomped on the table with a fist raised. "With the power of Cu's kisses, we shall prevail! Guts!" Only for a growl to resound throughout the house.

Archer's chuckles rang from the kitchen. "An army can't fight on an empty stomach," he remarked.

Illya felt heat rush to her cheeks and ears as Cu, in a rare show of agreement, started to bark a bit. "N-Not you to, Brutus..." she mumbled.

"Did you... Just make a joke while being flustered...?" Archer muttered in disbelief as he stood in the kitchen doorway with plates in hand.

"W-W-Wha-"

He put a hand on his forehead as a distant smile stretched his face. "You're growing up so fast... Soon you'll be a non-midget..."

"Wha-! S-Stop being me-melodramatic!"

The distant smile on his face stretched into a smirk before chuckles erupted from him once again. "Yes yes, anyways, would you kindly help set the table?" he asked light-heartedly as he set down the plates on the table.

"R-Right!"

-

"You got this?"

"Yes...?"

Archer's blank stare burrowed into Illya. "You sure?" he asked again.

"I'm sure!" Illya affirmed with a pout. The raising of Archer's eyebrow expressed his doubt to her conviction. "I'm not a little kid anymore..." she mumbled as her pout intensified.

"And yet, you're so short."

"Wha! I am average! You're just too tall! Giant! Stilt legs!" she cried indignantly.

"Stilt... Legs...?" Archer muttered with confusion.

"Stilt legs! Stilt legs! Stilt legs!" Illya started to chant childishly as she waved her arms up and down.

The white-haired bowman put a hand to his forehead and started to massage it. "Right, right, right I am stilt legs, just go."

With a final huff, Illya faced her opponent, a chimera. She took a deep breath before extending her wandless hand towards the beast.

Activating. Her numerous magical circuits hummed as she activated them.

Isolating. All of her magical circuits besides the one in her arm switched off.

Concentrating. Visible wisps of mana formed on her palm.

Fine-tuning. The formless mass of mana started to take the shape of a sphere.

Firing! "Fuer!" her shout would have been heard by many if it weren't for the bounded field in the alleyway that hid them.

A fine beam released from her palm, which was definitely intended, however, the total eradication of the beast and the wall behind it was not. The result had left the duo blinking.

"Goodness me, now on top of fraud, we got property damage?" Archer said, shaking his head.

"Hey!" Illya cried indignantly, which only achieved in giving him a reason to chuckle.

"Although, I did not think you could dish out that much damage from the amount of mana you outputted," he remarked thoughtfully. "Were you practicing behind my back?"

"I'm not obligated to tell you," Illya declared with a huff.

Within the confines of her mind, however, a figure smiled warmly.

Chapter 11 End

Mostly just filler to slow down the plot a bit and prepare for the next arc.

I was also grounded for the past weeks and only gotten the last chapter out behind my parents' back; rest assured that I am ungrounded now.