PhantasyPen presents…
"The Glory of the Name"
Lancer was in an extremely foul mood. First his true Master was killed and the bastard who did it was forcing him to recon all the Servants that came to him, then his match with that Archer was interrupted by some poor kid finding them. And then he found out he would need to kill the damn kid twice in one day, and if all that wasn't bad enough he had gotten so damn distracted that he never noticed the glowing summoning circle until a brown-haired midget had burst out and blasted him out into the yard.
"Not bad kid, who'd have thought a half-pint like you would pack such a strong attack?" Lancer taunted the olive-skinned Servant even as he examined him. The Servant was dressed in a Grecian toga over a blue tunic, with pauldrons on each shoulder and metal greaves on his legs. In the Servant's left hand was a circular shield engraved with ancient lettering that practically oozed magic while in his right was a banged-up and very rusty broadsword.
"Although, shouldn't a Saber have a more… well-maintained weapon?" Lancer wondered aloud, which resulted in an angry retort from the Servant across from him, or more specifically from the strange blur behind the Servant's left shoulder.
"How rude, I'll have you know that Saber's sword is the finest in all of Greece!" The blur shouted, the voice which was distinctly feminine while Saber himself remained stoically silent, merely positioning himself for a charge, shield in front sword arm in back.
"Is that so?" Lancer retorted, grinning as he got ready for the attack, only to blink as he was sent flying by a basic strike packing more power than that five foot eight frame should rightly have been able to hold, the strike from the sword gaining even more power from the explosion of pure kinetic force that rushed off of the weapon.
"What the hell was that?!" Lancer shouted excitedly, slipping into his customary attack position, Gae Bolg beginning to vibrate with the prana packed into it. "Let's see if that fancy shield can match your sword skills then." Lancer said with a smirk, thrusting forward with Gae Bolg, only for the lance to make contact with the shield and scream as raw force tried to repel it, the two techniques colliding as they fought for supremacy before canceling out, the shield cracking as Saber made a cheap shot and hacked the blade off of Lancer's spear.
"Damn it!" Lancer swore as he leapt away, wanting to continue but unable to now that his spear was gone.
To say that Illyasviel von Einsbern was confused was an understatement on the level of saying magma was kinda warm. From the moment her Berserker had attacked Onii-chan's Servant she had been nearly sent into shock. First, her Berserker actually spoke even though she had sealed away his ability to think, and then when she made him attack every single strike he used was matched by raw power from Saber's smaller and far rustier sword.
"I gotta admit Heracles; it's painful to see you like this." That damned blur was talking to her Servant again, she had realized almost right off the bat that her Servant was well-known to Saber, they were both Greeks after all, but the fact that they were so evenly matched bothered her. No, they weren't evenly matched; Saber was much smaller, and therefore many times more dexterous than her own Berserker's lumbering blows.
"Arrrrrgh! Berserker! Take him o- !" Illyasviel never got to finish her command, she could only gasp and stare as the silent Saber casually hacked off Berserker's arm, the disciplined callousness of the blow catching her completely off-guard.
"Berserker!" Illyasviel shouted, and in an instant her Servant was at her side, picking her up gently with his remaining hand and leaping away, carrying her to safety.
Shirou Emiya was most definitely in shock, he had known ever since the match against Berserker that Saber was very powerful, but he had never expected it when Rider had accused him of being Heracles as well, after all, wasn't that Berserker's identity?
Putting that aside, Rider's Pegasus was coming in for another attack, and Saber's rusty sword looked like it was going to break, wait, was the sword glowing?
"NiNe-LiVeS!" It Was the first time Shirou had heard his Servant speak on his own, instead of letting the nymph that came with him speak for him. Saber's voice was slightly deep, but it was overall sort of the voice one would expect from an eighteen year old like his Servant looked to be, what was odd was the weird static like a bad stereo which made what he said hard to hear.
The collision of the two attacks was immense, in an instant Belleropheron was overcome, Saber's glowing and completely restored blade cutting the white Pegasus and its rider apart as Saber himself danced about with his sword in hand.
"Nice work Heracles, your sword dance is as powerful as ever!" The nymph that accompanied Saber at all times praised, jumping up and down like a cheerleader.
Saber felt enraged; in fact the intensity of his anger actually caught even the Servant of the Sword off-guard as he reached inside his tunic and drew forth the flute he kept hidden there.
"It's painful to see you go mad like this Heracles, so here and now I set us both free." Saber vowed darkly as he raised the flute to his lips and began playing. The sound that came out was not bad per say, in fact one might say he was very good at playing, but it was extremely obvious that he had no clue how to play this particular song. The sound was so bad that even Berserker stopped as he all but writhed in pain.
"Glory of Heracles..." Saber intoned, his skin becoming grainy and wooden until he was exposed for what he truly was, a human-sized marionette with the face of a handsome Greek youth and a shard of Heracles' own soul.
"It is good to see you again, Icarus." Berserker said, now freed of Mad Enhancement by Saber's flute.
"It is indeed Heracles." Saber agreed, Leucos, now a nymph, standing at his side as the colossal Servant began to laugh.
"I always knew you two would be stuck together." Heracles bellowed, his handsome face much more human now, "Axios and I actually had a bet going on how long it'd take you to get married."
At those words Icarus felt his face redden, causing him to look away, only to catch a glimpse of a skeleton knight bursting into the clearing, a massive army of the beasts following, a feminine and heavily robed figure approaching from behind them.
"Well well, I wondered why there two Heracles, now I see it was just a marionette playing at being a person." The Servant, Medea if his instincts were right, taunted the two of them.
"Hmph, if you're going to bring an army against us, than please bring one I can't destroy with a simple Arginoa!" Saber replied, smirking as the rays of sunlight formed his ultimate spell, three massive swords of light. Proportionally, all three of them were one-handed sword, but in terms of dimensions the only beings that would be able to hold these blades would be gods, after all, they were each the size of a large building, and in an instant all three of them flew at him command, carving apart the Witch of Betrayal's army.
Okay, I'm expecting to get flamed for this but please hear me out first! Saber in this little fic is the hero of the game Glory of Heracles DS, the first game of that franchise to make it stateside. The plot of the game is essentially trying to find your past, and that of your five companions, one of whom is the original Heracles. I won't reveal how you ended up with the shard of his soul but I will explain why my Leucos is so... bubbly instead of the zettai ryouiki-wearing tomboy. The answer is simple, being turned into a nymph messes with your head pretty hard.
Servant Class: Saber
Master: Emiya Shirou
True Name: Heracles (Icarus)
Titles: False Hero, Puppet Hero, Silent Hero
Alignment: Lawful Good
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 80 lbs.
Strength: A+
Mana: A
Endurance: A
Luck: B
Agility: A
N. Phantasm: B+
Class Skills
Riding: E
-Saber has a horrible track record with transportation, frequently being spontaneously ambushed by monsters, and being attacked without fail every single time he was at sea, as such, he is capable of driving modern vehicles proficiently but will without fail become involved in an accident of some sort, particularly around boats.
Magic Resistance: C
-Cancel spells with a chant below two verses, cannot defend against Magecraft on the level of High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals.
Personal Skills
Battle Continuation: A+
-Saber's physical body was effectively immortal, meaning fatal blows will merely leave him in a state of suspended animation. It is possible during this time however, to dismantle his body which results in a "death" and returns him to the Throne of Heroes.
Prana Burst (Force): A
-A normal weapon that is not on the level of a divine mystery can be destroyed in one blow. Raises defense by several times. (Saber's Prana Burst creates powerful kinetic explosions which he uses to compensate for his smaller form when compared to the original Heracles despite having comparable physical strength.)
False Hero: A
-Due to being attributed with the legend of another Heroic Spirit Saber's abilities, skills, and Noble Phantasms will appear to his enemies as those of the original Heroic Spirit unless he reveals his true nature. This has no effect on the original Heroic Spirit if they are fought however due to their knowing the other is False.
Knowledge of Respect and Harmony: B
-Regardless of how many times it has been seen Saber's sword techniques will never be predicted by his enemy.
Protection of the Fairies: N/A
-As opposed to the standard version Saber's Protection of the Fairies allows him to be accompanied by a beautiful nymph that acts as his voice and can cast protective and healing magic. Due to False Hero the nymph can only be seen by Saber and his Master.
Noble Phantasms
Titan Sword -Gift of the Elder Gods-: (Anti-Unit; A Rank) Saber's weapon, originally a rusty and blunt sword loaned to him by a close friend it was returned to its original brilliance by several Titans in exchange for their freedom. With it Saber channels his sword techniques into powerful attacks. Under the effect of False Hero the Phantasms is disguised as Nine-Lives. (1)
Shield-Lance -Weapons of the Commander-: (Anti-Unit; B Rank) A nameless Shield engraved and enchanted to reflect blows ranked below itself, it can be transformed into a knight's charging lance at will by the user. Under the effects of False Hero the Phantasm is disguised as Gifts of the Father. (2)
Glory of Heracles -Flute of the Marionette-: (Anti-Unit; C+++ Rank) A set of panpipes that Saber carries at all times. Despite constant practice he is actually rather poor with it but by playing it he can dispel the effects of Mad Enhancement as well as invoke Protection of the Fairies to carry his Master to safety. This Phantasm cannot be seen while False Hero is active and if Saber plays it his true nature is exposed, turning him into a wooden marionette while allowing him access to ALL of his original techniques, including lost magic from the Age of the Gods, unfortunately doing so burns up nearly all of his mana and will most likely kill him.
(1) Meaning that on a stat sheet it is called Nine-Lives, it does not mean the weapon is disguised to look like Nine-Lives.
(2) Again this just means that the name is changed to disguise the true Noble Phantasm.