Author Notes: I knew I shouldn't start this one, but it's too late for regret.
Did you ever wonder what would happens if Shirou summoned multiple versions of Saber during the Holy Grail War? I saw some attempt at the idea, however I am speaking about a serious story and not crack. Turn out that no, having multiple servants is far from a game-breaker for our famous tracer as one would first think. Still I'll admit that despite my best at putting the maximum amount of actions scenes in this story, most turn out to be planning or comedies. Maybe it's good, maybe bad. Truly I don't know but won't progress if no risks are taken, hence here I present this modest contribution to the fandom.
King of Blades - Tricolor Swords - Day One
*story start*
To think he had a feeling the day would be wonderful when he woke up this morning, a certain boy decided to never trust again his sleeping instincts.
Shirou Emiya observed a blue magic circle appear on the ground wondering just what was to the next disaster that would fall upon him now. So far he had been killed by a spear wielding maniac, or at least he should have but for some reason when he came up to he did have a wound yet he was alive. Considering the spear should have pierced, no, had pierced his heart. Shocked and still in shock he tried to get home to get a good night of sleep and hope all this would end up being a dream when he woke up next morning. He hadn't counted on some spear maniac coming back and clearly not as happy as Shirou to see the boy alive.
The circle shone brighter and light illuminated the shed. Slowly yet in a mere instant a form emerged as if coming out from the circle itself, discolored illusions of the form appeared on both side of the main body, each like an altered copy of the center one. The two copies transparency sole proof that they were indeed illusion. Under the pale light of the moonlight Shirou observed the newly appeared form, his eyes taking the sight of the magnificent entity standing before him. It was a girl clad in silver armor with blue clothes extending down in a robe itself covering white frills. She had blonde hairs hold together in-
Shirou's thoughts froze, his mind momentarily going in a strike as a new development appeared. The girl opened her eyes slowly and her eyes settled upon the boy laying down with a stunned expression. With an unworldly grace she spoke. "Are you my master?" There was a double echo to the voice. "Huh?"
Shirou observed silently as not one but three girls stood before him, the two image he believed to be illusions had materialized. Now there were two more girls. The three girls looked like twins except for their clothes, one was in white, the middle one in blue and the other was fully dressed in black. After all three released an expression of surprise they looked at each others inquisitively, the three lowered their stance like swordsmen excepted Shirou couldn't see a sword in any of their arms. The one in white at the left glanced between Shirou and the other two with a perplexed expression and muttering something along the lines of: 'This isn't how I pictured it.' The girl in blue was clearly the most confused of the three, her eyes dancing between the people present at a frenetic pace even as she tried to figure out what was going on. Finally the third girl in black observed the situation with an impassible expression, and yet her yellow eyes with fended pupils like of a cat were staring upon the others like a promise of death. No, actually she blushed? Again wrong, that stare of death couldn't be... no wait, now she blushed again. Shirou was fairly certain her body faintly trembled, and she was blinking at a fast pace too.
"Argh!" While the three were still in their stare contest a burning pain filled Shirou's right hand, a red glow filled his sight as something started to appear on his right hand hold by his left. A stylized mark imprinting itself upon the back of his hand, amid the pain Shirou wondered why every damn magic things had to inflict pain upon people without asking.
"So..." The white girl began tentatively "He is a master at least..."
"My master indeed, I don't know who you are but I won't let you harm him!" The girl in blue claimed as she took a step place herself between the two others girls and the redhead boy who was still struck at the 'master' part. However as the blue one moved the dark one raised hand, wind of air raged briefly from her hand before the blue girl as to prevent her from approaching the boy.
"My master." She said both in warning and with a finally that admitted no discussion. The girl in blue briefly observed the whirlwind move of the air that quickly ceased before settling her eyes on the black girl.
"Preposterous! I can feel the bound working right now!"
"If it's a bound with the young one here, I've one too." The white one said, calmly taking two steps toward Shirou still half-sitting half-laying on the ground despite the glares from the other two. With a radiant nobility she lowered a knee on the ground and leaned toward Shirou, her two hands resting in the air on something invisible. "I, servant Saber, shall and will serve you in this war of the Holy Grail with to the best of my abilities." She declared her oath with the dignity of a knight.
Shirou felt speechless and nodded. His poor brains were overloaded with too much information, too much events happening in a rapid succession. He felt like the sole actor in a play who didn't know his script nor even the title of the piece.
"Wait a moment!" The blue one roared scandalized "I am not going to let some imitator servant steal my master and class!" Shirou corrected himself, he wasn't the only one who didn't have the script, or rather the three girls apparently shared the same role and were fighting over who would have it. Truly, comparing his situation to theater helped his poor brains deal with the situation. Thus Shirou somewhat managed to follow the movement of the black girl as she approached him, and unfortunately his thoughts went blank again as he realized just how frightening the appearance was and how fearsome her glare and presence was.
"Mine." the black girl said pointing her invisible item toward the redhead boy, the other two were about to speak when they all turned toward the entry of the shed. There in all his majesty stood a lone man dressed in a tight blue armor and holding a red lance.
"Ahem...Good evening?" The man tentatively tried even as the three girls tensed and readied their battle posture once again. As for Shirou although the appearance of the killer frightened him his mind no longer tried to follow the various events happening around him. This sheer absurdity of the evening combined with a recent and unexpected death was too much for an high-school student, fourth rate magus or not.
"Ah, my killer." Thus why he blurted an absurd statement upon seeing the lance user. Three pairs of eyes settled upon him, two green and one yellow.
"Killer?" The three asked in surprising sync. Mechanically Shirou nodded, the feminine trio's gazes lingered a few seconds on the human boy who didn't seem much death but quickly directed their gazes toward the newcomer who shifted uncomfortably.
"Well, tried to be at least." Lancer said fully realizing he was only worsening his case. A glance at the boy revealed the command seals on his hand, why there was three servants here puzzled him to no end. That was why he had been cautiously approaching the shed in the first place. Still under the gazes of the three women he shrugged helplessly, then it hits him. "I know!" he said joyously as he pointed his lance toward the room at a large. "Splitting ability!" He claimed with blinking one eye, confident in his insight and sure that he wouldn't be fooled by this servant's tricks. The three women looked at him as if stunned, then looked at each others. The white and the black ones questioningly and the blue one shaking her head negatively, although no one could say if it's was firm negation or simply rejection of the idea. "What? Not bull-eye?"
"Master. This." The black girl asked Shirou as she pointed her hand holding the invisible weapon toward the blue man. "attacked you Right?" She deliberately not precised what 'this' was but the meaning went through as Shirou nodded thoughtlessly, still too confused to discuss the point. "Good." The black girl slowly turned toward the man, although her face was impassible her eyes were ferocious. She took a step toward the spear wielder who took a defensive stance while watching warily the one who was undoubtedly about to charge him. However she did not charge, instead she glanced at the two others women who were standing on either sides. The white one who had presented herself as servant Saber observed warily the situation. The blue one was as tense as a string, more to keep her feelings inside than to focus on the possible incoming battle.
"Lady black and blue?" The white servant raised a hand to get the other two attention. "You two are knights too, right?" The other two answered affirmatively even if the black one seemed uncomfortable. "Since the situation isn't clear, I propose" She paused and looked at Shirou "an agreement between us of non-aggression either of any of us three or of the young master here, whoever his servant is. Is that agreeable to you?"
"On our honor as a knight?" the blue asked looking more upbeat at the idea. She straightened her posture as the other nodded. "That's acceptable, I swear on my honor that I will not attack either of you nor the master until we've solved this ridiculous situation."
"...I accept." The black one said "...and swear." she added as an afterthought before glancing toward the white one.
"I swear too." The black one nodded and briefly glanced at Shirou behind who was patiently waiting to see how the situation was evolving, with a hand on the steel bar that he had used earlier to fend one attack from the spear wielder earlier. Looking reassured the black girl turned toward the man in blue. And charged like a tornado.
"Woah!" The spearman stepped back outside the shed yet found himself inexplicably pushed back by the sheer pressure on his lance. A low upward slash that would have cleaved his arm apart from his body if he hadn't blocked just in time. "Invisible wea-?"
His black attacker frowned as she saw that her attack had failed, the girl shifted her stance by moving her advanced left leg back and then started to spin. "Raaaahhh!" Roaring the obscure frame was surrounded by a malevolent wind as she spun from right to left, the unnatural wind preventing the sparman from switching his stance even as the black girl finished her movement this time with a downward diagonal slash. With inhuman reflexes the spearman used the end part of his red lance to block the attack, the black wind surrounding the invisible weapon of the black girl giving him an idea of where it was.
"He's going to pierce her toe." The white girl commented by Shirou's side, both her and the blue blonde staying at equal distance from him in a protective manner. Before Shirou could speak servant Saber's comment was proved wrong as while the cursed spear was indeed pointed toward the black girl foot, something unexpected happened.
"Wh-?" The blue spearman shouted in surprise as a whirlwind of black current roared and passed around his spear to strike him. With the pressure of the invisible weapon on his lance and his stance ready to hit he found himself completely unable to counter, scrapes of his armor flew as the vicious air showered his body. "Damn!" Giving up on countering he rolled away from his opponent and began to stand up, already the black girl was on him. Despite being in an unstable stance the man trusted his lance and forced the other to dodge. Using the brief respite he regained his stance and started exchanging a fury of blows with his opponent. The black servant retaliated, or rather enchained her strikes and slashes with almost reckless abandon, each of her blows carrying the mighty black wind that peeled off the man's armor layer by layer. The man cursed as he blocked yet another blow, it wasn't that the damage of the wind was huge, rather the problem was that it couldn't be blocked and the damages would accumulate to a dangerous point. Taking it on the face was already painful enough, not blowing but cutting his skin despite the supernatural defenses of a servant. "Tch." Seeing he wasn't going to win this way the blue lance wielder started to dance in the courtyard with his black opponent who kept furiously close to him.
"This is a rather frightening technique." The white girl commented again.
"Yes, without some sort of shield or long ranged weapon, you're condemned to lose unless you can take and keep the offensive." the blue one continued as her eyes barely left the fight between the two servants.
"Hum. Shouldn't we... help her?" Shirou managed to ask, still completely nonplussed by the situation but still unwilling to let the black girl fight with his killer. The others two looked at him with surprised glance. Then the white one spoke.
"Well we can, although she seems to be doing very well."
"Yes, also it is a break of chivalry to interfere in a duel." The blue one pointed out. Servant Saber nodded with her left hand on her hips, she seemed more relaxed than the blue one who was gripping her weapon tightly with her two hands.
"A duel? How is this a duel?" Shirou asked even more confused while pointing out at the inhumanly fast two forms dancing around each others with a clear intent to kill each others. "That guy sure didn't wait to attack me, and they haven't even given each others names." The two blinked looking again surprised. Shirou really wished someone would give him the script of tonight events right now. By now he didn't bother mentioning how impossible the skills and physicals abilities of the two fighters were, the situation was just too bizarre to care anymore.
"True enough, though that man must without a doubt be Lancer." the white blonde girl said while eyeing the unfolding battle. "As for our black servant I am-" Servant Saber interrupted herself as the battle suddenly ceased in the same instant, the two fighters standing merely a couple meters away but stopping their attacks as a new couple entered the area. A man with white hairs and red clothes that hardly looked like civilian clothes and behind him a girl with black hair, a short black skirt and a red sweater with a cross on it. The man had two swords and Shirou recognized the man who was fighting with the spearman earlier, he had stopped by the entry and was now seemingly speaking with the person behind him. The redhead thought the man had a surprised expression but he couldn't be sure.
"Come on, this is getting ridiculous!" the blue man complained as he found himself surrounded on all sides by a total of four servants. "I'm out!" He dodged one blow of the black girl who tried to stop him and jumped over five meters high, completely disregarding the wall of the property. Shirou witnessed yet another bizarre fact as the man vanished in midair as he entered spirit form.
"Master, I'd suggest to retreat for now." Archer suggested her master Tohsaka Rin, his voice tense as he observed the situation before him. "We're outnumbered."
"Can't believe that boy became a master." the girl behind him muttered in a disbelieving tone as she took in the impossible sight of three similar looking servants. "But" she looked at the similar yet different features of the three blonde inhuman entities. "Aren't those the same servant? They look alike."
"No, their prana is too high for that. Also you'd better choose fast because that black one has her eyes on us." True to her servant words, Tohsaka Rin saw the black servant leaning toward them in preparation of charging the duo. "Really fast." Archer added wryly.
Tohsaka Rin observed the servant clad in black and then glanced at her supposed master who also had two other similar looking servants by his side. The gears of her mind clicking quickly she came to a decision. "Very well Archer, let's leave." Her servant sighed in what she could only interpret as relief before stepping back while keeping his sight on the black servant, then grabbed his master by the waist as he jumped backward carefully keeping his guard up with one his short sword.
Shirou watched the two newcomers leave with a relieved sigh, finally things were settling down. Or at least he thought until he saw the black blonde girl who was fighting now looking back and forth between him and the retreating couple with the frustrated expression of someone who didn't know what she should do. "Master please, give me your orders." she finally settled to wait for Shirou's decision. The redhead high school student sighed again, looked at the black speaker, then at the two by his side who also looked expectantly at him. Sighing he placed both hands on his face and proceeded to rub his eyes, then opened his eyes again and upon witnessing that the three girls were still there, was forced to admit that no, everything that happened tonight weren't a bunch of hallucination or some wicked dream. Yet again Shirou sighed before answering the jumpy black girl.
"Come." He said as he began to left the sheet toward the house. "you two too." he said to the blue and white girls behind him without turning back, if he did the rest of the fleeing adrenaline would leave and most likely his legs would give up under him. "Then..."
*break*
A certain hummed quietly a relaxing aria as the meat started to give out pleasant scents. He noted that he had put too much rice too cook and hoped his visitors were hungry enough, it was more like a snack than truly a dinner but used to Fuji-nee appetite he overestimated the dose. With that thought he glanced behind him at the trio sitting in line at the table, the way they sat in a perfect seiza manner told him they had some knowledge of Japanese culture. A good thing, he didn't have the ingredient for western cooking but it hinted they had some experience with this country's cooking. As he glanced at them the trio met his eyes, he shifted uncomfortably and turned his gaze away toward the stove, unwilling to meet their unhappiness at the situation. The trio had most likely expected them to get to business right away and settle their whatever confrontation about which of them was supposedly the owner of their master. Though 'owning a master seemed ridiculous.'
Thus when Shirou told them to sit by the table while he was making them something, the disbelieving stares he got had almost made him waver, almost. Truthfully he had just tried to use cooking as a mean to restore some sense of normality in the definitively not normal events of the evening. Ignoring the 'Wait master-!' exclamations he had forcefully entered the kitchen, letting the trio settle by themselves in the dining room. So far there hadn't been anymore act of violence, in fact there had been only silence save for the sound of cooking and his occasional humming in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. It was met with very limited success as the general tension had increased exponentially as the scent of food lingered in the air. Finishing the last touches Shirou placed the pile of food on two plates and processed to take them to the room.
As he approached the table he watched warily the tense expression of the of the three girls, aligned together in a row at the table they were as stiff as bows ready to snap. Actually he was fairly sure the way they were looking at the plates was something akin murderous intend. And as bizarre it was, the black one seemed to be the least fearsome in her glare. He put down the plates on the table making sure to keep the trio in sight for any possible outburst. Still with the bearing they bore themselves that could only be described as 'noble', he rather feared that they would deny his efforts at making some decent food and let it lonely cool down while pressing him with their concerns. "So..." He said giving each of them a portion of rice and gesturing them to help themselves with the food. Surprisingly each of the three women trembled as if under heavy and conflicting emotions much did nothing to reassure the boy.
They moved in sync, each of the blonde girls having a pair of chopstick in their right hand, then they began to ate. Shirou watched dumbfounded as he assisted to a triple repetition of an unrelenting cleaning of the table, they indeed ate bit by bit like he would expect from well born girls, however the manner left him too shocked to utter a word. With a frightening simultaneity each was mercilessly emptying the bowls of rice with matching virtuosity, within a few dozen seconds the bowls were empty and Shirou refilled them for a second service. None of the girl uttered a single word as they continued to vacuum the dinner, their focus unwavering and an impassible expression of concentration on their faces. As the last piece of food vanished the Japanese boy whose cooking skills were something he was proud of couldn't help but let a pitiful whine escape his lips, and not because he didn't eat any of the now gone food. "You know..." he began mournfully. "it isn't because I delayed explanations that you've to eat so fast without even tasting the food..." Frankly, it felt less painful to get his heart pierced by the blue maniac than to see his confidence in cooking denied in such a merciless manner.
The trio suddenly looked at him in a startled manner, as if they just realized their actions. The white one coughed, the blue one stared at the boy with a dumbfounded expression and the black one started to fidget while bashfully lowering her head in an embarrassed manner, shaking her head as she did so. "No master." the white and blue one echoed, then looked at each others surprised by the other exclamation.
"Good." The black one timidly said still not looking up from her now empty bowl. Again the other two stared.
"Yes." the blue one deadpanned while the white one smiled as she added her own comment.
"It was delicious, I cannot recall the last time I ate such fine dishes. As your servant I cannot help but praise your abilities."
Stunned but nonetheless pleased Shirou nodded with a relieved expression. "Scared me for a minute here." He sighed deeply. "Now..." and then he sighed again, a very long sigh. "What just happened tonight? No first, we should start with introductions. As for myself, I am Shirou Emiya." He didn't add any detail, whatever detail like him being a magus or a student felt trivial compared to what he had seen tonight.
"Ah." The blue one was surprised but quickly caught herself and then put her hands together in her lap. "I am servant Saber, answering to your summon I am here to become your sword and shield and win this Holy Grail War under your command." There was a somber undertone in her voice but Shirou ignored it in favor of trying to understand her words.
"Servant Saber? You too?" He said as he glanced between the white and the blue girls in armor who both pretended to be named Saber and be a servant. "And what is this Holy Grail War?"
"You don't know?" blue servant asked with a raised eyebrow, not bothering to hide the disbelief in her voice. "And while I don't know if that woman" she glanced at the white servant Saber "is of Saber class, I am sure of what I am. And there is only one servant of each class summoned."
"Hum." The doubtful expression came from the black one which brought the eyes of the room onto her. "I am Saber." She claimed daring anyone to contest her claims.
"And here I thought you were Berserker." The white one said with an intrigued expression.
"am not." black Saber spat with hint of irritation, then she turned toward Shirou. "I, servant Saber, answered your call and will slain your enemies until our final victory." It seemed to be a too much of a mouthful for her as she took a deep breath afterward.
"Three Sabers class in one war, this is heresy!" the proud blue girl shouted unable to contain herself any longer. Shirou sighed and raised a hand to prevent the situation for going out of control. As he did so the three of them effectively went silent and observed him. The boy held back yet another sigh as he had the nagging feeling this situation wouldn't be solved anytime soon.
"Maybe it has a relation with us looking alike." The white one offered thoughtfully.
"Leaving for now the issue of why all of you claim to be Saber, or a Saber for all it matter. Can someone finally tell me what is this Holy Grail War before I get killed again by some lance maniac?" The three froze and stared intensely at Shirou, looking at every part of his body.
"Master! Are you wounded?" The three shouted once again in unbelievable sync. Shirou facepalmed and started to slowly rub his head in order to chase his growing headache.
*break*
"So, let me get this straight." Shirou said as he rubbed his head again with his other arm resting on the table. "Every sixty years there is a tournament in Fuyuki called the Holy Grail War. Seven magus designed master and seven servants, who are heroic spirits, fight to the last standing in order to obtain the prize. Said prize is the Holy Grail. At the moment this is the fifth time this tournament is started. There are seven classes ; Saber, Archer, Lancer, Caster, Assassin, Rider and Berserker, hence seven classes for seven servants. Did I get the general things correct?" He sighed as the three girls -his servants- made various expressions that could somewhat pass as affirmative. If things weren't unreal enough the three girls kept switching who was speaking, sometime interrupting each others and at others times speaking simultaneously on the same subject. "So this whatever-war has been going for over two hundred forty years? And no one ever won?"
"Actually..." the Saber in blue spoke looking somewhat perturbed. "The last war was ten years ago, and it ended in the destruction of the Grail."
"The destruction of the the Holy Grail?" Shirou muttered perplexed. "Then why is the Holy Grail War starting again? And why so soon after the fourth?" He tried very hard to avoid lashing out at the three girls, it wasn't their fault that he felt so tired and ended up with a master without any knowledge whatsoever about what they came for.
"The Grail isn't a physical entity, it seems even with a noble phantasm it isn't enough to completely destroy it. Beside in the last war, only five of the seven were killed before it was destroyed so it might have affected the rules." The blue one continued.
"And just how do you know so much about that war miss Blue Saber?" The blonde clad in white asked the blue one with both an air and a tone of suspicion. "I'm fairly sure the knowledge given by the Grail doesn't covert the past wars." The blue one glared at her angrily as again the white one called her 'Blue Saber' which she didn't seem to like.
"I fought in the last war." She was gritting her teeth so hard that Shirou thought they were going to break. The white one was going to speak again but the blonde answered the yet unasked accusation. "I was ordered by my master to destroy the Grail. It was only METERS away from my reach!"
"Command Seal?" the black one inquired while observing intensively at the other.
"Two of them in a row." The blue one muttered in a low tone, furious at having been denied her reward after being so close to obtain it. Shirou glanced at his hand where a red mark shone.
"You mean those?" He asked while raising his marked hand.
"Yes." The blue mumbled still fuming. "Three absolutes commands that a servant cannot disobey, they're the proof of being a master and of the master-servant pact." Shirou winced, if such a thing existed and was able to force a servant to destroy the Grail which was the very reason they entered the war, wasn't it akin to slavery? As if reading his worries the white Saber entered the conversation.
"They can still be useful even if there are no conflicts between the master and the servant. By using a command seal you can even do normally impossible things, like bringing a faraway servant to your emplacement regardless of distance, or to make or dodge an attack they couldn't normally do. They're aces that can be used in order to obtain an advantage."
"But careful, if exhausted..." This time it was the black one who spoke, despite her words Shirou couldn't decide if her tone was threatening or not. Then the blue one opened her mouth.
"Yes, once the three commands are used the master is no longer one, and if the servant had been forced to do things against his ideals..."
"It can end badly for the master, I see." Shirou nodded gravely as he reconsidered how double edged the power of the command seals was. Then- "Wait, you said the last war was ten years ago, right?" the blue Saber raised an eyebrow in wonder as the boy suddenly let his anger and tiredness lash out.
"That's right, although I don't like to speak of it..." Shirou didn't heard the words after the first two. He felt his teeth clenching together he buried his face in his hand, trembling under the shock of the unexpected revelations the blue servant told him.
It would be too much for it to be a coincidence, a fight between inhuman people and the incident that claimed Shirou's of his parents and now forgotten early childhood. A war for some artefact and a gigantic fire. Trying to keep his voice bland but failing badly Shirou asked the crucial question. "Are casualties common in this... thing?"
"Normally most participants try to keep things under wrap and avoid bystanders from being involved. But last war went out of control because of an evil servant who had a murderer as master." The blue one commented somberly. "After that it depend of the strategy of the masters and servants."
"What do you mean?" Shirou inquired liking less and less the whole thing.
"For instance it's possible for servants to kill people and order to gain mana and obtain more power. Although if I must prevent you that if such a thing pass through your mind I won't such a thing unless ordered with a command seal." The other two nodded in agreement.
"Well, that's a relief." Shirou honestly said while letting a heavy breath escape his lips, at least he didn't have to worry about his servants going on their way to commit slaughters. Still he couldn't chase the image of the fire, that damned and accursed fire that chased him so often during restless nights. This was what made him take his decision. "Fine." he said sharply simply before elaborating under the quizzical gazes of the three blondes. "I'll participate in that Holy Grail War." At those words all three girls let out a relieved breath. "but, I am not doing it for the Grail. I am doing it to end this as fast as possible and with as least bloodshed as possible. Is that clear?" He precised making sure to drive his point home, right now he could almost feel the heat of flames and the scent of burnt corpses invading his nostrils. He would allow no repeat of that disaster.
"That's acceptable, we knights can't drag innocent people into this." The white spoke proudly, again a mutual feeling of agreement passed between the three. "Now we can proceed onto the next point to clear out." Yeah, there were still tons of questions Shirou had. About the servants, about what heroic spirits were, about the rules of the war and so on. He sighed. Then the white one continued. "We've to clear up who is your true servant!"
Shirou's head slammed the table.
*break*
it was only half past ten, yet Shirou felt as his eyelids were desperate to close themselves. it wasn't a such a late hour for him, after all under normal circumstances it would be around the time he finished his training as a magus in the shed. No, it wasn't really late. Rather it was mostly mental tiredness, and maybe the aftereffect of getting his heart pierced. Thus he had perfectly acceptable reasons for keeping his face firmly planted on the table while the trio of girls started to argue again about who was his 'true' servant. After the black one took out her sword to show her determination to defend her rights is lawful servant, the other two following suit, Shirou suddenly grabbed the bottle of water and gulped down the whole content. Then he slammed the bottle on the table loudly. "Enough!" The triplet of Sabers stopped at his shout and stared at him, two of them with their swords raised above their body and the other equally in a battle stance. "Do I have to stop you with a command seal just to see who would stop?"
He got various outraged expression but it seemed his suggestion managed to calm down the whole group. Though he couldn't say if it was because they were finding outrageous to use a command seal for such an order or if the fact that there was a possibility to check who was the 'true' servant of Shirou was available. "You look like a bit tired, master." The white Saber pointed out politely most likely in an attempt to quiet down the tension.
"Because I am." Shirou deadpanned somberly. Then he looked successively at the three of the girl who looked so alike they couldn't be anything but a triplet. Only the yellow eyes of the black one was different. Then it hits him. "Wait... you're heroic spirits, right?" They nodded, the redhead continued ignoring their confusion. "And you don't know each others, right?" That was pretty obvious due to the way they didn't even know each others names and used nicknames. "Then how come you don't know each others, yet look so alike? Does heroic spirits have a generic face or what?" This seemed to schock the trio who once again contasted just how much similar they were to each others.
"No" the blue one finally said. "heroic spirits are representation of their mortal life. They have the same face and body as they had during their life." She looked again at the others. "Some of us could be ancestors or descendants of the others but still..."
"Whatever if we give our true names it'll be easily settled." the white one said. "But we must confirm who is this boy's servant first or it might give a potential enemy information. And if we, for whatever reason are all his servants, then we must make sure of it."
"Is there a simple way to do that?" Shirou tiredly inquired. Judging from the expression of the white girl who titled her head on the side, if there was one it was going to be painfully long. "Forget it, for now what should I call each of you?" It wasn't like he could continue calling them white, blue or black; girls, servants or whatever forever. Following his words there was again an argument, the blue servant seeming very adamant in herself being 'Saber'. Seeing this was going nowhere Shirou tried to settle things with a suggestion. "Look, you three are Sabers and it's only alias, right? Just pick a word you like." The trio froze and then looked at him surprised.
"You know..." The white one began "this could actually be a good idea." She sat immobile for a few seconds, her eyes closed in thought. "Then... I shall be...Lily." She spoke the word that would be her name for some time a few more times as if to taste its sound.
"Fine." The blue one sighed as she wavered under the proposition. She hummed as she too closed her eyes to think, it lasted longer than for the newly named Lily but when she opened her eyes she seemed to have come to a decision. "Azur. That'll be my name." She said quietly, Shirou and Lily nodding in approval. It was only appropriate for the blue servant to chose a word based on the sky.
The third and last of the trio seemed to have more trouble with the suggestion. The black servant kept changing expressions that were like grimaces, she closed and opened her fellow eyes at an unnatural rhythmic. The redhead observed her silently, part of him wondering what could trouble her so much and yet a larger part of him was too tired to care. "Fail." The pale blonde finally said.
"Fail?" Shirou asked with a raised eyebrow, his wonder reflected in the two other servants expression. The servant in black nodded faintly, a hint of sadness in her eyes. "So, Lily, Azur and Fail. Good, now with that settled let's prepare you some rooms." To his surprise his suggestion was met with a battery fire from the newly named Azur backed up by Lily.
"We'll stay with you master, going straight after the master is the best way to defeat a servant without confronting him." The blue Saber plainly stated with a cold determination in her eyes.
"You can't be serious?" Shirou shouted in shock, unable to believe the young girl was seriously considering the idea. From the way Lily leaned to her pseudo-twin she seemed to support the idea. The only fact that allowed the Japanese youngster to get a hold from himself was the look of the black girl now named Fail who was looking down and fidgeting in embarrassment. Sadly for her, her paler skin compared to the other two only further enhanced the redness that began to spread on her cheeks.
"I agree with her master. We must be nearby to protect you in case another servant make an attempt on your life." Lily said calmly. "You must not feel uncomfortable for being with people of the opposite gender, I've been sleeping with many soldiers by my side during my life."
"I am not a soldier, and I'll definitively be uncomfortable..." He trailed off not quite willing to precise 'with sleeping with a trio of girls' but nonetheless feeling blood rush to his head at the mere though.
"Don't consider us as girls, we're but tools for you to use in order to win the Holy Grail." The proud girl clad in blue continued.
"Are not." Two sharps words cut the air like steel, startled the two blonde knight turned toward Fail who had spoken. The until then fairly quiet girl now glowering with a calm yet deep rage. "Am not tool." She repeated to drive her point home, then she glared angrily as she focused her sight on the two blonde twins. "And tools wouldn't contest their master's will." She concluded with a grudge.
"Now... the all of you just come, I'll give you the room adjacent to mine if you really want." Shirou intervened quickly taking the opportunity offered by the unexpected backup. "But don't ask for anything more. Especially not tonight, I'm hitting the bed as soon as possible." Without giving time for his servants to answer Shirou led them to the room in question.
"Fine..." Azur finally said while the boy was taking out some futon for them to sleep in. Although from the way the blonde girl was looking at the paper wall she seemed to like more the fact that the wall could easily be broken though than accepting Shirou's personal argument to avoid staying in a room with three girls. Lily stood silently by the entry of the room, an impassible gaze following Shirou movements silently. As the master of the house escaped the room he noticed Azur moving her futon closer to the separation between his and the three girls room.
Finally finding himself more or less alone in his own room. Shirou sighed a last time and let himself drop on the futon, the fatigue of the night finally taking their toll on his body. He heard the sound of the three girls breathing on the other side of the wall, but only the idle thought that he didn't give them sleepwear entered his mind before his consciousness blacked off into deep sleep.