Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, names, and any copyrighted material used in this work. This is a fanfic, period. Everything belongs to their respective owners. Comments and constructive criticism are all very much appreciated.

Legacy of the Ancients

Chapter 4

"Again with your jokes, King of Conquerors…?" Sabre retorted. "Caster may not be a knight, but magi have their own pride. I find it unlikely that…"

"Now, now, Sabre…" Caster admonished the blonde gently, sounding for the entire world like a teacher rebuking a student that was talking out of place. The situation looked so farcical that Irisviel actually giggled at Sabre's expense, earning her a betrayed glance from the blonde. "…I believe the King of Conquerors addressed the question to me."

Caster turned back to Rider and paused dramatically before giving an answer. "Well I suppose if it's simply a matter of who gets the Grail I could just give it to you. My wish isn't too much, and in any case considering my…situation I've already come up with a few…hypotheses as to alternative means of achieving it. Don't misunderstand though; I'm not saying I will join your army…yet."

Rider tilted his head to the side. "Oh?" he began. "Alternative means to obtain your wish? Curious…care to share?"

Caster laughed and said "Maybe…why don't you gather the other Servants and we can all share our motivations…"

Rider laughed uproariously. "That's a great idea!" he said happily. "I was already thinking of gathering the other kings to discuss important matters, but since we're all Heroic Spirits here, why not just gather everyone else?"

Caster blinked - it was meant as a joke - and all but gaped at the King of Conquerors' nigh-insane proposition. However she was swiftly prevented from replying when an arrogant voice again spoke from the shadows. "You Servants talk too much." It retorted. "Lancer, what are you doing? Letting the others…"

"Hey, hey…" Rider interrupted. "…Master of Lancer, there's no need to be so bloodthirsty now is there? Lancer and Sabre may indeed have a score to settle with each other, but there's no need to rush the confrontation. Let the flowers of the battlefield bloom in their own time, says I."

Lancer and Sabre smiled slightly at the implied complement, while Medea reached out and narrowed her eyes as she pinpointed the origin of the voice. "You're a mouthy one aren't you?" the voice said contemptuously, and Rider could only sigh in response.

"And pray tell…" Caster said just as contemptuously. "…who are you to talk down to Heroic Spirits?"

She didn't really expect an answer, and as such was surprised when none other than a trembling Waver Velvet gave one. "H-he's Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi." He stammered out.

"So you remember me, do you boy?" Kayneth said before Caster could respond. "Of all the people in the world I never expected you would be the one with the temerity to steal my catalyst. Now then Waver Velvet shall I instruct you as to the true terror of a battle between magi?"

Waver fell to his knees in terror, clutching his head while mentally asking himself what could have possessed him to do such a suicidal thing…only to be comforted as one of Rider's meaty hands landed on a shoulder. The young magus looked up in surprise, and saw Rider looking at him like a lion reassuring a cub. "Hey, Lord El-Melon or whatever you call yourself!" he shouted accusingly into the darkness. "You claim to have been meant to be my Master? Don't make me laugh! A coward like you who taunts from the shadows has no right to be my Master! Only one with the courage to risk the flames of war by my side has that right!"

"Well said King of Conquerors…" Caster said while clapping her hands. "…perhaps I too have no right to say anything considering my Master is not here but in her defence she is rather…frail. I've no doubt that she would stand by my side should the choice be given to her, but I would not risk her for the world." Caster paused and glanced at Waver. "Tell me boy, how far does the Lord El-Melloi's bloodline go back?"

"I…" Waver stammered out, and continued after an encouraging nod from Rider. "…I think it goes back nine generations."

"Nine generations…?" Caster said neutrally before giving her usual smile. "That's not bad…for a modern magus."

"What did you say?" Kayneth snarled angrily, incensed at a lowly Servant's apparent disregard for his family's descent. Caster's response was to raise her right hand, and to snap her fingers…and the illusions which kept Kayneth from sight shattered like glass, exposing the shocked mage-lord for all to see.

"Let me tell you a secret…" Caster said poisonously. "…I was born, raised, lived, and died at the height of the Age of the Gods. So my Lord El-Melloi, if it's a question of magic, which of us is truly superior?"

Various emotions played out quickly over Kayneth's face within the next few moments: anger, fear, humiliation, hatred…ultimately he turned his back on them and walked away. "Lancer…" he spat. "…I grow tired of this farce. We're withdrawing."

"Yes my lord." Lancer responded before turning to Sabre. "King of Knights, it seems that I must retire from the field for now. Live, and let us meet again to settle the score."

Sabre nodded, and Lancer gave a nod at both Rider and Caster before vanishing. "That was some impressive spell-work there, Caster." Rider complimented her, and Caster shrugged it off modestly.

"Child's play…" she said, and Rider laughed with amusement.

"Well now, it seems that we've reached the night's conclusion." He said before turning to Sabre. "Sabre, finish your battle with Lancer, and I will gladly face the victor."

The blonde looked uncertain, but gave a nod regardless. "As for you Caster, well you didn't give an outright refusal, so my offer still stands." He said with a measuring expression. "We could always use an arcane master."

"Is that what modern Humans call 'praises from Caesar'? I'm flattered." Caster replied with a bow, sending off the King of Conquerors laughing into the night sky. The Servant of the Spell then looked at Sabre, and the two women stared at each other silently. After several moments Caster smiled, and broke the silence. "Considering that so many heroes are men, I must say I'm honoured to meet another of the same gender."

Sabre remained silent, and Caster continued to smile. "Well if you don't have anything to say to me, then I suppose I shall take my leave." She said while pulling her cloak close to herself. "Oh that's right, here's a little parting gift: watch your back, Assassin is still alive after all."

As Caster teleported away from the battlefield, she laughed at Sabre and Irisviel's expressions.


Archer threw open the doors of Tokiomi's private chambers, ignoring the blood dripping down an arm and ruining the expensive carpeting. The magus himself was already up from his chair, standing almost at attention. Archer had to concede that for all his sycophancy and nigh-impudent arrogance and greed, Tokiomi Tohsaka understood his place…barely.

"Explain…" Archer demanded. "…you have one chance Tokiomi."

"Your Majesty…" Tokiomi said while bowing from the waist. "…I admit that it was rash of me to use a command spell on your person, and I understand your wrath at being disrespected so by a mad dog such as Berserker. However, as you yourself said, your enemies are merely mongrels and pretenders. It is your right no doubt to dispose of them as you please…however at the risk of incurring your ire further, would it not be better for them to fight and cull themselves? If that were the case, then the victor would be of greater worth to you as an opponent, if only by the tiniest fraction."

Archer remained silent, stonily gazing at Tokiomi's bent form. Sensing Kirei approach, Archer held out his arm. "Priest, you may attend to my injuries." He said. Kirei hesitated briefly, but then swiftly complied. "The armour will repair itself in time, as there none in this dull era with the skill to repair it, much the less the right to touch it." Archer said as Kirei healed his arm and Tokiomi continued to bow to him.

After a few moments Kirei bowed and stepped back, and Archer held up his arm before him and briefly examined his healed injury. "Impressive…" he said to Kirei. "…your skills are impressive priest."

"As for you…" Archer said to Tokiomi. "…your words have merit, but know your place. My mercy is granted, so be grateful you sycophantic dog."

As Archer strode off, Kirei swiftly closed the doors of the chamber behind him as Tokiomi wearily stumbled back into his chair. "Archer is powerful…" the magus said. "…too powerful one might even say. He does not truly understand who the Master is and who is the Servant."

"It is as you say."

"At the very least we now know the identities of three other Servants: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, King Arthur, and Alexander the Great. Berserker and Caster remain mysteries, but we now have a clue as to who the latter is, seeing as she said she was from the Age of the Gods."

"Furthermore it would seem that Caster's Master is truly her weakness." Kirei added. "She admitted that her Master is frail, and implied it would be a greater risk than normal if she were to enter the battlefield."

"We could also be meant to think that." Tokiomi countered. "Regardless, Caster's Master will no doubt be heavily-protected. She also knows that Assassin is still alive, does she not?"

"Yes…" Kirei confirmed. "…she's also passed this information onto Einzbern."

"Einzbern is allied with Emiya…" Tokiomi mused. "...why would Caster do so?"


"So…" Kiritsugu Emiya said as he sat back in his chair. "…Assassin is still alive. The question now is why would Caster confirm it for us?"

"Perhaps she means for us to eliminate Assassin for her?" Maiya essayed.

"It's possible…" Kiritsugu said while thinking the matter over. "…she probably suspects as we do that Assassin's Master is allied with Tohsaka. For some reason it would seem that Caster sees Assassin and his Master as her primary enemies, but is unwilling to take direct action due to Kotomine's association with Tohsaka and his Archer."

"So she's trying to use us as a meat-shield…?" Maiya replied with disgust, and Kiritsugu nodded.

"So it would seem." He agreed. "At any rate let's just keep our guard up. For now we'll focus on the Lord El-Melloi. Archer and Kotomine aside, Tohsaka's not really that much of a threat compared to the Lord El-Melloi. Even if Lancer isn't nearly as strong as Archer, as a magus the Lord El-Melloi is the most dangerous of all the Masters."

"Once the Lord El-Melloi is gone, then what…?"

"Caster or Rider should be our focus, or perhaps Berserker." Kiritsugu said while lighting a cigarette. "I wonder though; who is the Matou Master, and which is their Servant?"


"Calm yourself Kayneth…" Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri said to the enraged mage-lord. "…getting angry will do you or us no good."

"How can you just…?"

"Caster may be a Servant, but if she was telling the truth, then she truly is from the Age of the Gods." Sola interrupted him. "A magus of that time and age is not to be underestimated Kayneth. You know as well as I do that in those times the line between magic and magecraft was blurred beyond what it is now."

Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi took several deep breaths before sitting down at a convenient chair. "Yes, you're right." He conceded. "Caster may indeed only be a Servant, but as a magus she is superior to any of us. Perhaps I may have been…rash in my approach to her."

Sola knew all too well that moment of humility could only have come with no small amount of internal conflict on Kayneth's part.

arrogant bastard…

It wasn't that Kayneth wasn't talented, it was just that his talent coupled with a lack of worthy challenges from their peers had made the man somewhat believing in his own self-entitlement. That belief in self-entitlement along with most magi's close-minded approach to the world made for a very arrogant person. Sola had detested him long before their arranged marriage had even been considered.

I have my flaws but at least I'm not nearly as bad as he is.

Sola knew that she was in her own way cruel, spoiled, and only somewhat less arrogant than Kayneth was. But at least she was fair. Kayneth would never agree to anything that disagreed with his mentality. Sola however didn't need to have her ego get stoked every waking moment.

For instance there was that boy, Waver Velvet's little theory. There was no doubt at all that his theory would never have gained recognition considering the way the Clock Tower was run, but the theory was sound. She'd gone over the manuscript that Kayneth had disdainfully left lying around and examined it every way she could think…and couldn't find any way to refute it.

"Talented instructor my foot…" she mentally sneered. "...more like a close-minded ass without any sense or appreciation of creativity."


The following day it rained very hard. Caster didn't really mind the rain, though she quickly had to find something to keep herself busy, otherwise she tended to reminisce about the past. And her past was not something to reminisce about. Fortunately the rain slackened off in the afternoon, and she cheerfully predicted that it would end by evening.

As she walked down the hallway she heard Sakura happily playing with something in their room. Curious, she walked closer and opened the door…and blinked. It was a cat.

A cat or rather a kitten with red fur was playing with Sakura, a wet towel lying nearby.

"Mom…?" Sakura asked. "Is something wrong?"

"The cat…?"

"Oh…this is Miu." The little girl said happily, picking up the kitten and holding it up. The kitten regarded the Servant with its golden eyes and mewled at her.

"Yes, I gathered that much." Caster said. She didn't really mind that Sakura had a pet of her own – pets were a good way to teach little children about responsibility – but she did want to know where it came from. It probably wasn't a familiar – she didn't sense anything from it – but it might have some sort of weird disease. "Where'd you find it?"

Flashback Begins

Sakura walked down the street with an umbrella, heading back to Ryuudo Temple from school. She did have to keep up to her mundane responsibilities after all, including mundane education, even if it wasn't as fun as magical education.

A pitiful mewling caught her attention, and she stopped and looked around her. She found the source next to a nearby alley's corner, specifically from inside a cardboard box thoroughly soaked by the rain. Curious she looked into the box.

"Aww…" she said while kneeling and picking up the wet kitten with one hand. "…who would leave a cute kitty like you out in the rain?"

The kitten just mewled and snuggled closer to her, and Sakura couldn't help but giggle as she held the kitten close to her with one arm while she continued to walk home.

Flashback Ends

"And that's what happened." Sakura said happily.

"Well yes, who would leave a cat, no a kitten out in the rain?" Caster said in all seriousness. "That's…that's just wrong."

"Isn't it?" Sakura asked. "Can I keep her mom? Please…?"

"You have to take care of her by yourself." Caster replied. "That includes keeping her clean, feeding her, and cleaning up after her. So can you do it?"

"Yes!"

"Then it's okay." Caster assented, and Sakura squealed happily while hugging her new pet.


"We're not heading out tonight?" Sola asked with some surprise as Kayneth looked out over the city from their suite windows.

"The other Masters will probably have tracked us to our current location." The mage-lord responded. "They might be lying in wait to ambush us. If so, then we should force them to come to us."

"That's…that's rather foresighted of you." Sola said grudgingly, and then cursed inwardly as Kayneth all but began to preen at her praise. Fortunately his gloating was put to a halt as the telephone began to ring. Kayneth glanced in disgust at the modern convenience, and his fiancée sighed as she stood and walked over to answer the phone.

"Yes, what is it?" she asked. A few moments later she put the phone down and turned back to Kayneth. "It seems there's a fire on the lower floors, and the hotel administration has begun to evacuate the building."

"It's a trap." Lancer said as he materialized and Kayneth nodded in agreement.

"I think so too." He said, and then he turned to face Lancer. "Lancer, the enemy Servant will be attacking soon. This time don't let them escape."

Lancer bowed. "Should I move to intercept, my lord?" he asked.

"No…" Kayneth said. "…as I said earlier let them come to us." The magus smirked, and Sola inwardly rolled her eyes at the sight.

Yes, their entire floor was a magical fortress of the highest calibre. A twenty-four layer bounded field reinforced by three prana generators that could also be used to augment Kayneth's own powers, to say nothing of the wraiths and apparitions he'd summoned…and there was Lancer himself. All in all Kayneth had every right to be proud of his stronghold…but he didn't have to be so arrogant about it.

All he needs is a moustache and a top hat…

Sola's musings on the matter vanished as the sound of explosions filled the air, and the building around them began to collapse. "It can't be…!" Kayneth said as he struggled to stay on his feet and failing miserably. Sola would have been enamoured of the sight…if she wasn't also reeling from the building's on-going collapse. "They blew the foundations apart…? Cowards…!"

"My lord…! Lady Sola…!" Lancer shouted in concern, and an enraged Kayneth pulled out a test tube from which he swiftly poured out liquid metal.

"Fervour, mei sanguis…!"


Kiritsugu Emiya lit a cigarette and calmly observed the hotel's destruction from a safe distance. "I must be getting soft." He thought to himself.

It was true to an extent. In the past he'd just have blown up the building regardless of the civilian casualties, to say nothing of the collateral damage. But this time he'd set off a minor fire first, giving the authorities a chance to evacuate just about everyone from the building. Everyone except for the Lord El-Melloi and his allies, or at least he hoped.

There was a possibility after all that the Lord El-Melloi would see it as a trap and evacuate as well…but so far so good. Indeed, his familiars had detected a surge of prana in the upper floors indicating that Lancer's Master had just primed his defences for an assault that would never come…at least not in the way that he expected.

"Will this be enough though?" Kiritsugu wondered aloud. Magi – especially those from old families – could be tenacious to the point of stupidity after all. His musing cut off as the sound of gunfire emerged from his radio, which was currently set to Maiya's frequency.

"Maiya…damn it!" he said, spitting out his cigarette as he pulled out his Calico and began to run towards Maiya's position. As he checked his ammo and the weapon itself, Kiritsugu could only pray that he arrived in time before whoever the attacker was could finish Maiya off.


A/N

Seriously, who leaves cats/kittens out in the rain? That's just…wrong.