We actually get to see a bit of Assassin fighting now. I feel the need to explain again that she is not an Original Character. She is in the Fate/Stay Night storyline and her abilities can all be explained once you learn her full story.

You get to learn of her beginning in this chapter as well, might like it, might not. All I know is it's where the idea for this whole thing sprung up from...and then I was sad to learn I misunderstood it which led to me wanting to change how it turns out so it wasn't a misunderstanding.

Also in this chapter, how fast did Rider rush into the Emiya compound when she felt her Master's danger? What happens to Rin's body? Will Sakura accept Archer as her second Servant? Will Ilya put up with being ignored any longer? Why was a stone snake able to summon Assassin? Just how crazy is Assassin? Find out Ne-this time on...

Torment of Rebirth

Chapter 3

Revelations of Red and Gold

Archer's Torment

Shirou's Perspective

"Oh wow, what a big home! Anybody here?" Shirou's gaze was torn from the newly arisen Matou and instantly went to the door even though there was no doorbell, "It couldn't compare to the castle, of course." Shirou saw the small white girl mumbling to herself, "Ah, Onii-chan, it's you!" Her smile was blinding, "I was walking by when I noticed that the front gate was torn off its hinges. I came to let you know and I found a body, not to mention the front door was destroyed as well. I was expecting there to be only ghosts left." Shirou stared at the girl through the human sized hole in his front door. He wondered briefly what happened then decided to focus on the girl.

"I saw you the other night, didn't I?" He asked to try and pull the conversation away from the destruction of his father's home.

"You remember me, Onii-chan!" Her expression brightened.

"Since you're here so late, why don't you come in for tea? I have a few guests over as is." Red eyes closed as the girl smiled widely and nodded, "What's your name?" Shirou asked as he opened the door for her.

"Ilya. Call me Ilya." Her hand went behind her back for a second before she walked in behind Shirou, "And yours, Onii-chan?"

"Emiya Shirou." He informed the girl.

"Emiyashirou? Ey-me-ah-she-ro? Emi Yashiro?" Ilya mumbled to herself trying to figure out how to say it.

"Just call me Shirou." Shirou said as they walked into the living room.

"Okay, Shirou." Ilya smiled as they walked in. Sakura had gotten up and Archer had his hands on each side of her head. Her eyes were wide and watering as they stood like that for a moment more before Sakura moved in to hug him, "Are they in love?" Ilya asked, watching them with a confused frown.

"Yes, I'll do it." Sakura said while still hugging Archer. Shirou scowled slightly.

"Sakura, I don't mean to be rude but we have a guest. Any chance you can take this into another room for the moment?" The girl's eyes widened as she registered the small girl and nodded before rushing out. Archer and Rider followed behind them, "Ilya this is Saber, Saber Ilya." Shirou introduced the two girls left while glaring at the door the three had just left through, "I'll get some tea." He looked at Saber.

"I'll help." She said and followed Shirou into the kitchen.

"What was that about?" He asked the Servant quietly.

"Archer asked if she would be his Master then showed her his memories so she could know his intentions. You saw the result." Saber frowned as she too glanced at the door, her gaze then turned to Ilya, "Who's your guest?" She asked.

"She was coming to tell me that the front gate was destroyed. She saw Tohsaka." Shirou paused, his hand hovering over his left pocket for a second before he shook his head and moved on, "What are we going to do?"

"I will find a place to make her death more natural. It's only right that her family is able to grieve over her. You said you had no magic so I assume you can't fix the gate but we can work together to fix it in the morning." Shirou nodded as he set the kettle on top of the burner, "Be wary, Master. Even if the seals around the house sensed no hostile intention, all interactions at this time are suspicious." Shirou decided not to tell Saber what Ilya had said to him when they met. He let the Servant leave to take care of the body.

Assassin's Rebirth

Sakura's Perspective

Assassin landed in front of Sakura despite the distance.

"Master, what is it you wish for me to do?" She asked the girl.

"The red one seems to not like you." Sakura stated to Assassin, the Servant gave a short laugh.

"Archer, I knew him in my lifetime. He likes very few people." Sakura nodded. The white girl seemed to be annoyed by everything going on.

"Forget all of this nonsense. Berserker, kill them all!" She announced. The creature let out a loud roar before heading for the closest victim, Shirou. Saber's defense of him from Assassin had led to him having his back exposed to Berserker.

"Save him." Sakura ordered Assassin. The Servant nodded and sent mana to her feet, allowing her to speed herself and run past the shocked Saber. Berserker had been running with his blade to his side, Assassin launched herself into a flip so she landed with her hands on Berserker's shoulders. Blackened fingertips went up his shoulders then back down as gravity pulled her back to the ground, dragging her fingers down his back. Assassin instantly turned as she hit the ground and launched for Ilya as blood exploded out of the lines she traced. Berserker roared yet again and charged for the woman attacking his Master. Sakura watched as the blonde Saber and the red Archer charged after different opponents.

Saber went after Berserker. The blood had stopped flowing from his wounds moments after it started.

Archer went after Assassin. Maybe he held a grudge against her, after all. The war naturally led to killing other Masters. But that didn't mean that Sakura wanted to kill anyone.

'Don't kill her, Assassin.' Sakura reminded her Servant.

'I know, but the only thing Berserker will register is his Master. If he thinks she's in danger he'll abandon his attack. I'm going to trick Archer into Berserker's attack.' Sakura nodded to herself and watched as just that happened.

Archer was so set to his course that he managed to position himself between Assassin and Ilya. Assassin shot to the left just as she was about to reach Archer. Berserker-who had been right behind Assassin and had been in the process of attacking her-swung his giant axe-sword into Archer and carried the Servant's body around flinging it into the following Saber.

And that was when the curse placed by blackened fingertips had finally dug its way into Berserker's heart causing a life to be taken. However, as the curse had been digging, so too had Berserker been healing. His body had already been in the process of healing the wound before it was created. So Berserker had not been out for long, he only lost a single life.

And the only one who walked out of all of this unharmed was Assassin.

Archer's Torment

Sakura's Perspective

He was Shirou! Archer was Shirou from a life with Sakura. He was proof that they got together. But Sakura also saw within his memories their deaths in his time. And her sister's death only an hour before. She saw his torment as it happened just as she saw his emotions drained out of him by The World.

After they completed the ritual to have Sakura take ownership of Archer, Rider nodded and left. The purple-haired Servant was back under her brother's control but Sakura's command seals remained so she could control Archer.

"Won't grandfather just send Nii-sama after me?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"I was told that the worm within your heart was the one that contained his soul. There may be remnants of his desires left behind but they won't be coherent enough to tell Shinji what happened." Archer informed her. Sakura had seen the intensive studies he had made into her grandfather so she believed him, "One thing though." Sakura looked over at Archer, "I removed his influence and the taint, but you still can become a grail. It is under your control and you don't know how to control it, but you can learn. Until you do I suggest you avoid coming into contact with anyone producing mana."

"What about you?" Sakura asked, looking at Archer, "I just hugged you."

"And it drained a good portion of my mana. Fortunately, my magical circuits originally came from you and recognize your mana. The mana you supply me with activates the circuits as they had worked during my life meaning I have near limitless mana." Sakura's eyes widened, "Something I'm glad for since I wouldn't have been able to remove that worm without a ridiculous amount of mana."

"How do I learn to control it?" Sakura asked. There was a certain magus she didn't want to have to avoid.

"We'll wait till morning and then once my mana is replenished I can help you figure it out. I have used way too much tonight though. I believe I heard the kid mention something about tea." Sakura nodded with a smile and the two went back into the living room to find Shirou with the white haired girl he had brought in, the air seemed awkward.

"Am I wrong, Shirou?" The girl asked, Shirou looked at the two who just looked in with a frown, "Anyways, now that you two are back, I wanna talk about something!" The girl announced.

"Alright then, my name is Sakura." Sakura introduced herself, already knowing the girl's name and relation to Shirou from Archer's memories but not wanting to give it away.

"I am Ilya." She introduced herself as Sakura sat next to her and Archer sat next to Shirou, "And I just wanted to say that I am disgusted by what you forced your original Servant into, you should save her from your brother as soon as you can!" Two pairs of eyes stared at the girl in shock. Shirou's at the fact that she knew about the war and Sakura's from what she had just said. Archer smiled fondly for a second before it faded away, "You're making a mockery of my war and I don't want someone like him to even be considered."

"What are you…." Shirou started.

"Obviously Ilya is a Master." Archer said easily. Ilya looked over at him.

"And you have more mana than your Master should have been able to provide you with." Archer shrugged at Ilya who frowned, "Ew." Shirou looked confused while Archer was amused and Sakura blushed, stuttering something about being wrong that made no sense at all, "Look, I don't care what happens between Master and Servant. But we can all agree that if that guy somehow won, it would be bad, right?" Everyone took a second to consider it. All the color drained from Shirou and Sakura's faces.

"So, first matter of business should be to take care of Shinji, got it. What about you, young miss Einzbern without her Servant?" Archer asked with a smirk while Ilya looked at him weird, "At the very least your Servant must be outside. Very few could come in without triggering the alarm and I doubt an Einzbern would be willing to accept an Assassin."

"Who are you?" Ilya asked with narrow eyes. The girl knew she hadn't shared her last name.

"No one of consequence." Archer answered, glancing at Sakura with a smirk.

"I must know…." Ilya glanced at Sakura as well but the girl was frowning.

"Get used to disappointment." Archer said it so offhandedly Ilya became annoyed.

"If I kill you it won't matter." The small girl growled, "You already allowed one master to die, and you don't seem to care about her at all." Archer glared at the girl with his hands twitching; you could practically feel how badly he wanted to kill her in the air around them.

Sakura did feel that anger being drained out of their surroundings and Archer as well. Based on her reaction, Ilya did as well.

"You didn't…what could be so bad you would make that deal?" Ilya asked Archer, having obviously figured out his problem.

"You don't want to find out." Was Archer's only answer

Assassin's Rebirth

Assassin's Perspective

"Shouldn't we save senpai?" Sakura asked as Assassin started to walk away.

"Out of all of them, Saber was the least injured. Berserker has a higher recovery rate but the girl seems uninterested in continuing." Assassin explained simply.

"You still won't tell me who you are?" Sakura asked her Servant.

"The job of an Assassin is to remain anonymous. A successful one is never known. You wouldn't know me by my name as no one ever learned it, only by my kills." Assassin smiled, "My most famous of which wasn't even seen as an Assassination, just an accident where future seeing eyes didn't notice a snake."

"Is that why I could summon you with a snake?" Sakura asked her Servant.

"You are curious today, aren't you?" Assassin looked at her Master and seemed to decide upon something, "I was born as a snake, just like any other until I ate a root." Sakura's eyes widened, "That root had me constantly being reborn into a new version of myself whenever the previous died. My first kill was the man who left that root for me to eat."

"So how are you human?" Sakura asked her.

"My deal with The World that left me in the pool of possible summons was simply to become human. I have since learned how to control if I am reborn or if I simply regrow. I can also change back into a snake if I really desire, but it takes me a few days to become human again." Assassin smirked as Sakura realized what that meant. All of her famous assassinations were done as a snake, seen as an accident while Assassin herself stayed out of the way for a few days before she became human again.

"If you're reborn, how do you have a family?" Sakura asked. Assassin wasn't surprised at her line of questioning.

"I can always possess an infant, sometimes even before they are born. What I prefer to do is to find a couple in the act of conceiving and create a life there. That way I can grow into an actual representation of myself and I won't be ridding anyone of their chance at life. Creates a better vessel anyhow." Sakura smiled. Her Servant may be an Assassin but she cares about children. Obviously she couldn't be that bad.

Assassin nearly laughed at how easy Sakura was to read. Then again, she had known everything there was to know about the girl in her previous life before that one little accident.

"One more thing, you said you knew Archer, did you kill him as well?" Sakura asked Assassin, the Servant frowned.

"No, he's the one who killed me. His deal to The World was the knowledge and opportunity to do so." Sakura's eyes widened, "But rest assured, that weakness of mine can only be exploited if I allow it to."

"The two enigmas together, why is that not a surprise? Why don't you two go ahead and kill eachother so I don't have to deal with your taint?" Assassin nearly laughed.

"Wow, speak of the devil and the devil shall appear, I never actually believed that saying until now." The golden man frowned as Assassin smirked.

"I am no devil, I am the king. All who live here belong to me and I don't want you. Disappear before me, eyesore." He waved them off.

"Golden Gilgamesh, great king of Uruk." Assassin started. The man's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing in suspicion, "Half-god King of Heroes with eyes that saw beyond those of the gods. Eyes that saw so far he couldn't be bothered with the little things." She laughed, "Couldn't see a snake stealing your immortality nor that same snake slaying you in your bedchambers. How were you supposed to know that only the first root from that herb granted true immortality?"

"You…." Gilgamesh growled, "That was a snake." A single blade launched out at Assassin. She let it hit her straight in the chest before pulling it out.

"Snakes shed their skins; who knows what they become." Assassin smirked as Gilgamesh turned his gaze to her Master.

"Even snakes need nourishment." As he shot ten swords at Sakura, Assassin grabbed her and jumped away.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked as they left.

"A wildcard who won't let his guard down again." Assassin answered with a frown on her face.

"Then why did you tell him who you were?" Sakura stated what had once seemed like the most obvious solution.

"He wouldn't have let down his guard in the first place if I hadn't gotten him angry. I never could've gotten you out otherwise. Unfortunately, that version of him is immune to my strongest abilities so I'll need an alternate plan to deal with him." Assassin scowled. She had forgotten about Gilgamesh. If nothing else, the golden Archer wasn't supposed to show up for a while longer. She had already removed the best option to defeat him, now she needed an alternative.

She knew where to find it as well, they just wouldn't be happy to see her again, especially not so soon.

Maybe she could have fun with that.

Yup, Gilgamesh's offhand comment about giving immortality to a snake inspired this whole bit of nonsense. And, Assassin does have fears-just of the first person she killed, not the one who killed her.

If you are the first person to find the convo-quote(basically multiple lines that are a quote) I put in here from one of my favorite movies and tell me where it's from you get...something! Not sure what. You can try making a request! I know I don't have any plans for who Shirou ends up with in Rebirth so you could pick that...or maybe just request to know who Assassin is, that's an easy one. Fight you want to see, flash back(or forward) to Shirou finding the death of a certain person(anyone you request is pretty much fair game...everyone dies at some point)

Also, I am making her unstable for a reason. She(obviously) has a ton of experience from her long lifetime and can rely on that when it becomes too much but Assassin is rather screwed up in the head, if she killed people secretly as a snake for years what makes her suddenly decide to go on a killing spree centered around a certain red-head? Plus, she is obviously forcing calmness around Sakura so her Master doesn't abandon her

This chapter is slightly shorter than the last two mainly because I wanted to finish it before going to bed. Not every chapter will be updated within a few days but I will try. For best results, review within two hours of reading xD