Chapter 23 - 2

=== FUYUKI GROUP ===

The ride was awkward to say the least.

No, it was not cramped. It was rather spacious with everyone spread about. It was not the new environment either, nor was it the Rhodes Island operatives that Ch'en had never met. Rather, it was the situation she found herself in.

Ch'en lowered her head when Kal'tsit's narrowed eyes lasered her from across the bay. That was only one of her problems, the other was her current employers. Or rather...the previous targets she ordered the LGD to hunt down. Ch'en looked up at them uneasily, Rin was in a silent argument with Sakura, both of them flipping their sights between her and Misha...another one of the targets she and the LGD tried to capture.

Judging from the less-than-positive expressions on the two Fuyuki doctors, the conversation was not going well. Ch'en silently kept an ear out to hear what the argument was about, but she couldn't hear anything for the life of her.

Rin and Sakura were just two meters away from her and Misha, yet nothing could be heard.

Some form of sound arts maybe?

Ch'en shook her head. No matter. Whatever happened next, she would be grateful that the sisters even got her on the VTOL aircraft. She was closer to reaching Chernobog now than she was ever getting the chance to in Lungmen. Swire alerted her that the Lungmen council wanted all hands on deck. All hangar bays were under watch and no ships were allowed to disembark from Lungmen.

Rhodes Island was the only exception, mostly because Kal'tsit strong-armed Wei Yenwu into it. Their position as the leading Oripathy research organization had its perks.

"...fine." Rin sighed. Sakura smiled and whisked paper out of thin air.

"Would you please read this over and sign below? It's a basic contract before we make the official one. We gave the same to Misha." She passed the floating contract over to Ch'en. The girl's surprised expression quickly disappeared when she gave Misha a questioning glance.

"U-um...they did the same to me." Misha scratched her head.

Ch'en took the floating contract midair without asking where it cme from and settled down to read it over. It was short and simple, aside from the extremely heavy focus on the services being kept secret. Whatever the two doctors ordered would follow her to the grave.

Weird.

She wasn't one to complain, seeing that they were giving her the opportunity to enter Chernobog with them. The contract was fair too. If Ch'en found herself being forced to follow an outrageous order, she was free to decline and raise up alternatives so long as both sides came to an agreement.

All in all, it was a standard arrangement. Ch'en quickly signed it with a pen Sakura provided.

"We're getting close." Kal'tsit called out to them. "Please finish your preparations quickly or we leave without you." The message was clearly for Rin and Sakura, who stopped in the midst of their muted discussion to hear Kal'tsit out. Then proceeded to return to whatever they were in a rush about, talking without sound that Ch'en knew was the result of some form of muting arts.

Ch'en looked out the window and saw the Rhodes Island landship they were heading to. The huge rectangular vessel stood like a lone fortress in the middle of the wild craggy landscape of rock. It cut its own shape out of the horizon compared to its surroundings, making it easy for anyone to see and identify. Their VTOL aircraft circled around the top before landing through an opening and into the interior hangar bay of the organization's landship. Inside, numerous employees ran about, preparing two other VTOL aircraft and coming in with tools and gas to give theirs a quick check and refuel.

"Follow us." Rin ordered. Ch'en and Misha jumped to their feet and hurried after the two sisters. They met up with Kal'tsit disembarking the aircraft and were provided a map of the landship. Many areas were redacted for security purposes, but one blinking room caught her attention.

"This will be the room provided to you. All the materials you requested have been prepared."

Materials? What were they going to do?

It took them two minutes to reach the reserved area. The room was near the hangar bay, probably one used for storage judging from the emptied shelves pushed to the sides. In the middle were two crates. Sakura locked the door behind them while Rin walked up and opened the first. Their contents caused Misha and Ch'en no small amount of caution. The black-red crystals within were all too familiar to the two assistants.

"You shall tell no one of whatever happens next." Rin warned the two as she opened the next container. A small amount of mist leaked out as the preservation unit's cold interior clashed with the external temperature.

It was a container full of bloodbags.

Rin and Sakura tore open the Rhodes Island provisions and quickly painted a circle on the ground reminiscent of those Ch'en saw in movies. MIsha didn't understand what was going on unlike Ch'en who recognized the Fuyuki doctors preparing some sort of magic circle. They finished the first layer and quickly moved on to the following ones, laying down six others after the first.

"Misha, Ch'en." Rin called them over with a serious tone while Sakura double-checked the formalcraft circle. "I need you both to hold on to this." She pulled out a crooked dagger the likes Ch'en and Misha had never seen before. It was purple with an elaborately designed handle which looked more ceremonious than one used for everyday use. "When I give the order, I need you to stab the fifth array." Rin pointed to the second outermost layer. "Whatever you do, make sure not to lose your grip on it. If that dagger hits any part of the circle, we're all dead."

"What?" Ch'en hissed.

"It's only when the situation becomes too dangerous. We'll immediately stop if the summoning doesn't go the way we want it to."

Summoning?

Misha gulped at her side nervously. She didn't know what they were trying, but it seemed extremely dangerous judging from the serious expressions on the two doctors.

"Rin."

The three turned to Sakura who knelt in the middle of the circle. The Originium crystals were spread around her in rows following the circumference of each circle.

"Stay quiet and don't disturb us. We need to focus. If we finish in time, we'll join Rhodes Island on their way to Chernobog." Rin stood in front of Sakura while flexing her arms.

"...and if we don't?" Ch'en asked.

"We'll fly there ourselves."

Rin held her arms out. One by one, the circles started flashing. The innermost started first, followed, by the second, the third, the fourth, fifth, and sixth. A seventh line surrounding all six appeared, drawing even more confusion from Ch'en. Misha bit her lips nervously, but had her attention absorbed by the glowing sigils that started to appear between each array.

"Sakura, you may begin."

Rin put all her focus on Sakura. The formalcraft arrays pushed to the back of her mind as she watched the changes unfold in front of her. Years of research was spent to avoid this moment. A significant number of years poured over securing the curse away, to stop it from emerging back into the world.

This was truly the height of stupidity.

It took a lot of sacrifices to have Zelretch and Touko Aozaki personally oversee the creation of these sealing arrays. Sealing arrays that could contain even the worst concepts of the world for a short duration. They wouldn't last long if Sakura couldn't keep herself in control as she tapped into the Minor Grail inside her.

...directly in contact with a small portion of Angra Mainyu and All the World's Evil.

An hour passed before changes started to appear. Ch'en's nerves calmed down half an hour earlier after it dawned on her that whatever was happening wouldn't happen immediately. If there was anything that would happen, she would see the reactions from Rin before they appeared. Her employer was like a statue that stood still while she held her arm out to Sakura's knelt form.

When sweat started appearing on Rin's face, Ch'en nudged Misha at her side. The younger girl instantly caught on and stared at Sakura for any signs.

The first thing that they saw was the hems of her clothes turning black. As the second hour inched forwards, more of her clothes darkened. Red marks started emerging from Sakura's skin, becoming visible with agonizing slowness. Each minute passed like an eternity as their attention switched between Sakura and Rin. Sakura's expression remained at peace even as her clothes all turned black, red markings slowly crawling up her face.

On the other hand, Rin's face was in full alarm. She was sweating, breathing sharply, and was shaking from head to toe. Misha pressed herself behind Ch'en while she tightened her grip around the weird purple dagger.

"Ch'en."

It was the first time Ch'en heard her name properly uttered by the woman. Only a whisper, but it might as well have been a scream after nearly two hours of silence.

Ch'en stabbed the dagger forwards.

The dagger hit nothing.

Misha screamed.

Ch'en found herself frozen in place as dark tendrils held her in place with almost no pressure. She couldn't feel them physically, but she couldn't feel herself moving even with all the force she was exerting.

Her eyes rose up to Sakura who was standing over her with a dark smile.

Since when did she move?

Sakura hadn't even seen her move. Sakura had spent nearly two hours without moving just like her sister. But unlike Rin, she hadn't shown any changes in her expression, any signs of something going awry. She was calm. Composed. Even as her body darkened and red marks covered her, nothing phased Sakura out of the kneeling position she placed herself in.

Red light filled her sight.

"Let her go."

Ch'en slowly glanced up behind Sakura. There, a sword glowed- bathing the room with red light. Her eyes slowly crawled to the black gauntlets holding the blade aloft, inching on forwards to arms, shoulders, until it finally landed on to the face of the man holding on to it.

So why did he sound like a girl?

"...and what will you do?" Sakura turned towards him without changing her smile. "Kill everyone aboard?"

"Sakura, get a hold of yourself." Rin breathed out weakly. She was trembling now. Ch'en could see the woman's nose bleeding and her eyes bloodshot while still holding her arm out towards Sakura. Everything about her was different now. Her breath was weak, and her arms caked with black crystal shards.

Originium. Ch'en's mind recognized.

So much of it. So fast.

"I'm simply stating what may happen next if she unleashes that blast here." Sakura stepped back and waved at Ch'en. She felt herself lowered to the ground and released from the invisible force holding her in place. Ch'en forced her screaming nerves to calm down as she edged herself backwards.

Released from the tendrils, Ch'en's mind finally caught on.

They were absolutely wrong. So so wrong. Disgusting. Terrifying. Unnatural. Filthy. Cursed. Damned. Defiled. Scorching. Scalding. Crawling. Viscous. Visceral.

No words could ever explain what she felt.

The same could be said for the glowing red light that washed over her. Unlike the black tendrils, its overbearing weight was enough to feel like her body was getting crushed under Lungmen's tracks- if that was how it ever felt to be flattened by one.

It was like she was about to be executed.

Sakura walked back to the center of the array, casually stepping past the dark-armored figure carrying an abomination of a sword. The pressure lifted itself as the light weakened, the sword revealing itself- a black blade with red markings unlike those on Sakura. Ch'en's eyes locked onto it, unable to bring her eyes away.

Everything about it looked wrong.

"Sakura, you have to stop interacting with the Minor Grail." Rin coughed. She had fallen to her knees.

"Not until we find Shirou. I can feel where he is." Sakura tilted her head while still carrying that unnerving smile. "He will feel the Holy Grail is reacting to me. He knows what's coming."

"You're not coming with us- Shirou won't let you."

"That's not for him to decide."

"I..." Rin grimaced. "You altered the seal mid-ritual."

Sakura raised her hand up. On it, a recognizable command spell could be seen.

"Indeed. Saber is mine. Isn't that right?" Sakura turned to what Ch'en assumed was a knight.

"Yes...master." The man- woman?- closed her eyes.

Sakura's smile grew.

Rin scowled.

Ch'en knew that something very wrong had just happened.

Misha had long since fainted.

===

Author's Note

...

Thank you to all the readers of We're Not Really Doctors. All of your donations have gone into the medication of our family dog of 12 years. He got some sort of blood infection that weakened his entire body in the past week and it's gone to the point that even medicine didn't help him. We're currently leaving him at the vet for 24/7 supervision.

Yes, I know I originally mentioned in several past chapters that I didn't want to bring servants into this. I'm never making future promises anymore because I can't even keep them. *Insert meme template* Oh no! Anyway... who's ready for Seibaaaaaa???????

This chapter (and next couple) has been brought to you by Unoriginal Name, Dovar, and Wawa. Very very special thanks to all of you because it really helped me a lot this week.

Each little donation helps me out and motivates me to finish chapters earlier, so it would mean a lot to me to have your support!

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