Remaining Days: 2
We take a deep breath before stepping into the Arena. There was not much progress for us to make to find information about Jabberwock, but we only need to get past it, not beat it. Yet, that is. Eventually we will have to be able to kill it, but for now with Saber's new armour and the Code Cast Rin sent to me we should be fine.
At least the armour will prevent Saber from getting hurt again, or so I hope.
As we step in, Saber materialises her heavy armour and we move forward, to the place we lost to Jabberwock. "Isn't this armour uncomfortable?" I cannot imagine feeling comfortable in this big chunk of metal. "Not when you're used to it," Saber shrugs.
Right, after all, she probably wore this armour most of the time of her actual life, so now as a Servant it is especially unbothersome. That reminds me of what Dan said—Saber really seemed to be a knight. She surely does not seem the fairy tale image of a "knight in shining armour", but she is surely much stronger than that, so that makes up for it.
It does not take much of a walk until we face the big Berserker, who groans inhumanely upon noticing us. Though there is no trace of either Alice yet. Maybe they are invisible, or waiting around the corner? Not that it matters yet, first we have to get past their Servant.
Saber glances at me, nonverbally asking for my consent to attack. She did not seem to notice anyone else's presence, neither do I, so it should be fine. I trust her instincts and reflexes regarding traps, too, and in the worst case I can still heal her. I nod at her, then raise both of my hands to activate Rin's Code Cast. Blade_Burn(0.9);
Clarent is engulfed in red flames right away, and Saber does not lose any second before sprinting towards Jabberwock. Yet, it is faster and strikes her with its arm, though Saber's boosted strength deflects the attack almost with ease, after which she slashes its torso, leaving a fire on the wound.
Jabberwock screams out - probably in pain, though it is impossible to make out - and goes berserk . It thrashes around wildly, and if I would not be so sure that the light barrier walls cannot be destroyed, I would fear the water may break in and drown us. This gives Saber a harder time to place an attack as she is busy dodging the attacks, though whenever his fist hits her still, her armour seems to protect her as well as I hoped it would.
"No, Jabberwock!" Suddenly, Alice runs past me towards her Servant, but her twin materialises near it and holds Alice back. "Sorry, Alice. He needs to go now, home," she says bitterly. Alice faces down, but seems to accept this. "Okay. Be a good boy, yes, Jabberwock? We'll play again," she says and waves him goodbye, as the second Alice lets Jabberwock disappear in a blinding light.
"Wait, what?" Saber is just as confused as I am. They cannot possibly have killed their own Servant, right? That should not be possible. Or, even if it is, why would a Master do that? Alice turns around to face me. "Why did you hurt my friend, Big Sis?"
"We—Sorry, he was in our way and… wasn't he your Servant?" Alice tilts her head. "Servant? No, he was Alice's friend. And he played with me, too," she explains, until her twin steps to her side and holds her hand. "Yes, he was our friend. But don't worry, Alice, I'll never leave you." She smiles at Alice and I do not know why, but this makes me somehow sad. But if Jabberwock was not their Servant, then who is?
"Let's go play now," says Alice, as she runs off. Before following her, the second Alice looks at me. "You should be nicer to Alice, after all, you should understand her the best, shouldn't you?" Before I can question her, though, she is gone. What does she mean? Maybe, that I am the only one of the Masters they have faced yet who tried to get along with them? I do not know.
"Weird. Time to get the Trigger?" Saber asks, as she rests Clarent, ceasing its flames, on her right shoulder. "Yes, let's go get it."
We did not meet either of our opponents in the Arena anymore, and with Jabberwock gone it did not take us long to find the first Cipher Key: Trigger Code Epsilon. Finally, we can take a breath and everything is closer to fine, as long as we also manage to retrieve the second Trigger tomorrow. But for now, we head back to our room.
When we sit on our bed, a bit earlier than usually, I am still pretty awake, just like Saber. I remember a question that has been on my mind for a week now and since this Round does not look too well, I should ask or I will never get an answer.
"Saber, last week, after Aoko and Touko told us that we swap memories in the Alteration of the Soul, you said you only saw black. But you seemed down afterwards, so… What was wrong?" She seems very surprised by this question. Of course, probably she has hoped I would forget about this and not ask again. "I kinda lied," Saber says, facing away. "About what I saw, I mean."
Why would she do that? Maybe she did not want Aoko or Touko to know, because she does not trust them. "What did you see then?" It seems that she is looking for words, before she faces me; I have never seen her this tense about a mere conversation topic. Can it be as worse as what I have seen, her being stabbed? Being killed? Her last moment? … Wait.
"I was in some kind of capsule. In front of me was glass, it reflected your face. I felt so confused, and scared. And tired, so tired. I couldn't keep my eyes open, they slowly closed. And then… black, just black," Saber explains, as she trembles.
I am speechless, nothing will come out.
Does this mean I am dead?