Yo! I'm finally back, after like…. 5 months. After I finished high school I haven't had any motivation to get back to writing this. After rewatching UBW, I just felt like I had to.
Now, with the fanfic, while I haven't been writing I have been thinking, thinking that I really don't want to drag this FSN arc out - since I'm not the most well versed in the Nasuverse and won't be able to go into as much detail as I'd like… so it might seem a bit jumpy.
Continuing on the topic of Fate, FGO has been killer recently. First was Okeanos, then it was Halloween, and a week later it was Guda Guda, then Christmas, now it's Valentines and soon the KnK collab. DW, STOP KILLING ME!
Storywise, I'm removing Mahouka's canon storyline, because I realised it didn't fit at all with the mythological theme I'm going with. So I'm only taking a bit of their backstory and their characters.
Ugh… onto chapter 4!
P.S. Most of the more intense FSN UBW soundtracks would help set the mood while reading.
Tatsuya tried to relax his mind as he rubbed his temples. How had he gotten to this point again? Point - being staring down the face of arguable the most famous and legendary demigod again? Oh, right. It first started when he summoned a second servant. How, you ask? Simple.
…..
18 hours ago
With Medea's help, he had managed to graft a second set of three Command Seals - this time onto his right hand, with a symbol that vaguely had an overarching shape of a diamond. She had convinced him, with her seer-like powers inherited from Helios that he would be better off not knowing about the Moonlit World, as it would bring him too much pain and suffering. She then told him that there was still something strange, something foreign still inside his body, which should have dissipated once his Command Seals were removed. He then finally noticed the slight stinging sensation he felt ever since coming into contact with the red-haired boy that he had not realised, too busy caught up in everything else that happened.
Using his newfound powers inherited from Miya, he delved through the memories of the redhead. And what a sight it was.
Hot. It was very hot. The rising smoke all around, the orange flames blanketing the entire landscape around him. Protrusions of wooden beams and half-burnt houses made it evident it was a warzone. Broken and desperate screams were everywhere, every which direction he turned to. But he kept walking forward. Drowning the chaos out. Trying to live. He had a lot left to live for, didn't he?
But Tatsuya was getting sidetracked. He reaffirmed his determination, and focused harder, trying to dive harder into the boy's memories. And that was where he saw it. A dazzling, gleaming light that lit up the foggy memories that the boy still clung to. An entity that was extremely old, yet remained imperfectly perfect. He approached the dazzling light with a body that wasn't there, before reaching out and grasping it.
From outside the boy's mind, Medea watched as his master seemingly telepathically withdrew a shining, golden scabbard, lined with criss-crosses of royal blue that emitted a strong holy aura many ancient swords would. At the same time, from the corner of a room, a large summoning circle lit up as if in welcome of the golden scabbard. Not long after, Tatsuya woke from his unconscious state.
"There doesn't seem to be any more foreign entities left in his body. This scabbard seems to have been the major offender."
Medea only hummed in response.
"Is that another summoning circle?"
"Yes. It seems that the grail has recognised your second set of Command Seals, though this rune looks just about a decade old…."
"That's….odd. Nonetheless, it is a boon for us."
"Agreed. Let's find out what it has in store for us, no?"
Tatsuya nodded his head in agreement, before standing and approaching the runic glowing engravings, scabbard glowing ominously in hand, as if interacting with each other. Recognising this, he placed the scabbard in the centre of the circle before standing back, and repeating the words used to summon Medea.
Once he finished his chant, the entire shed lit up in a shower of blue. Then there was the blue mist, the signal of a materialisation of a servant. The entire upper torso of the figure was covered in separate pieces of steel armour – the armguards, gloves, a chest plate angled so sharply forward it could probably be used as a weapon in itself, and pauldrons, all overlayed by a royal blue and white fur cape. The lower half of the figure also had steel greaves, blue leggings that came up to the thigh and a long skirt that didn't look like it fit on the battlefield. Last of all was the intimidating steel helmet they wore, lined with fur over the top and out of the back of the helmet, giving the visage of a steel lion.
"I ask you. Are you worthy to be my master?" the figure, feminine, if the voice was of any indication, questioned.
"Yes. Though I have to ask…" Tatsuya trailed off, reaching for the scabbard that was still present on the summoning circle "Is this yours, by any chance?"
The figure's entire body straightened in response. "No way… it's still here! After all this time…."
Carefully reaching for the scabbard, both hands of the figure caressing the ends of the scabbard. "Avalon….." she murmured, taking a deep breath and holding it towards her chest, before it dissolved into golden particles and accumulate itself within her body.
"Then I am servant Saber. I will henceforth be your sword, and my fate is your fate. The pact has been sealed. I am grateful in lieu of you returning something that I once lost, so thank you." She bowed her head.
"Avalon, huh? There's only one person in the history of mankind that had a scabbard worth mentioning. King Arturia, no?" the other female figure in the room pondered out loud.
"And who are you over there? Are you perchance another heroic spirit?" the apparent King retorted with suspicion.
"I am indeed a servant like you, kukuku. Servant Caster, if you will. Our gracious master here has been granted the chance to summon two of us you see. It will make our odds far greater in the upcoming battles we may face." Medea explained.
"Yes, it will. I am Tatsuya of the Yotsuba clan. Now that we have introduced ourselves to each other, we may like to introduce ourselves to the… welcoming party outside. Saber, conceal yourself. We don't want to give away our advantage just yet."
Arturia only gave a passing glance to Tatsuya, before smiling and nodding. Good. She seemed to be in good hands. A second later, there was a blue shimmer and she vanished.
….
"Hmm… you're not the person I was expecting here…" A familiar twin-tailed girl stated
"Then who were you expecting?" Tatsuya replied
"The one who is supposed to be living here, duh. You also said you were going to be home, but this clearly isn't." Was the witty reply.
"I've already dealt with him, so to speak. He'll live a normal life from now on. And to answer you, we have no need to return back to our base just yet."
"If I'm to believe you, then it is a good thing. That boy doesn't seem to have any luck in life." It looked like Rin was going to forgive him, but her servant, Archer, seemed to have other ideas.
The whiz of an arrow was the only warning Tatsuya had to leap to the side. The arrow impacted the ground, a small crater forming.
"Archer! What are you doing?! I was talking to him!" Rin shouted seemingly to no one
The Archer then took that as a cue to materialise, before retorting, bow loaded with another arrow ready to fire. "He is a dangerous one, Rin. More so than any other master. I fear he may even be stronger than me right now, as a servant."
"Then what makes you think you have any chance to kill him then, Archer?" Medea asked. "Surely you don't think I'm going to let my dear master fight alone, do you? Or are you that foolish?"
"Ah, well. My policy WAS to take the opportunities that do present itself to me…" Rin relented. "But we're having a talk about who's making the decisions here when we get back, Archer!"
"Yes, yes, RIn."
"Are u done talking yet? I'm getting bored here." Caster frowned.
"Hmph. You better watch out behind you then." Archer smirked.
In response a blue blur shot towards them from the corner of his eye. He would have no time to dodge that. So he did the only thing he could.
"Saber." He called.
The blue blue came to an instant halt as he collided with an invisible object, one that materialised an instant later. The revealed Lancer was immediately shoved backwards by Saber with immense force.
"A second servant?!" Rin exclaimed "Are you serious?! This is SO unfair!"
"In war, there is no such thing as fair." both Tatsuya and Arturia replied in unison. They looked at each other awkwardly for a second. Even though Saber was wearing a helmet, you could tell she was smiling under it. A comment from Lancer interrupted their mid-encounter interaction.
"Tch. To think I got the jump on you. Maybe I underestimated the 2nd master. Having Caster around you masked Saber's own presence!"
"Saber. Deal with Lancer. Use your strengths at your discretion." Tatsuya ordered.
"And have a bit of my help too, good King." Caster added, before Arturia momentarily glowed purple.
Saber, feeling lighter, faster and stronger, wordlessly rushed in the direction Lancer, who had retreated a ways back, likely to isolate her. 'Fine' she thought. 'I love a good duel, anyways.'
That left the standoff between Medea & Tatsuya and Archer & Rin.
"I've already seen you two fight. It seems Lancer was ever the opportunist." Tatsuya stated. "I know Lancer is not with you."
"However, that doesn't mean we're going to let you go." One of his Silver Horns materialised in his left hand. He had learned that neat trick during one of the classes. It made carrying things around much easier.
Medea ascended into the sky, unfurling her cape as to give the impression of a large rainbow-coloured butterfly, before she willed into existence several circles of shimmering violet behind her. Not one to stand and watch in awe, Rin retreated backwards while Archer leapt forwards before leaping up to engage Caster.
Unfortunately, there was still Tatsuya, who fired a blue bullet of energy towards her using his Silver Horn. She only shift her head of the way just enough that it zoomed by, cutting her right cheek open.
There was no time to curse for Rin, however, as Tatsuya approached, with a closed fist descending upon her. She crossed her arms together in front of her body with only millimetres to spare, before she grunted, being pushed back about a metre or so as a result of the impact.
Now with a little breathing room, Rin was finally able to enter her martial stance – her left hand slightly in front of her right, with her legs glowing with a maze of angled green lines – Reinforcement. Ready to counterattack, Rin shot forward with her empowered legs, throwing a wild Gandr from her forefinger at Tatsuya. It was only a hopeful attempt though, as his lightning reflexes allowed him to bend over backwards, completely avoiding the red beam.
The two's bodies collided once more, this time in a more even bout. Rin threw a punch to the right, but it was blocked with an open hand. The same could be said for the next few hits. She then tried to sweep out his legs, but in a surprising amount of flexibility, he leaped entirely over her head and landed behind her, outstretching his arm and karate chopped her backside. She lurched forward as a result, nearly face planting into the dirt as a result – the only thing preventing such a thing was her reinforced legs.
'Tch. So I'm not the only one with hand-to-hand combat training.' Rin said to herself, annoyed.
"Looks like your servant Archer isn't doing very well" Tatsuya stated with an impassive expression.
"Kuh. Looks like Archer spoke too soon…." Rin sighed, turning her body around to face him once again.
"I don't have anything against you, fellow master." Tatsuya declared. "You have your life ahead of you. Don't waste it too early. Your servant, on the other hand…." He trailed off, before vanishing in a gust of air, reappearing a ways behind Archer.
"Wait!" Rin shouted in futility. "…. Damnit! That's the second time!"
…
Currently, Archer was unable to deal with the arcane barrage Medea had conjured. Every violet beam was strong enough to destroy each of the sets of Kanshou and Bakuya that he projected and used to block. While he could do this for a long while, he had to keep in mind his master Rin still had to fight that other master, and he couldn't go for the offensive before he'd be skewered 15 times over by the beams.
"Is this all, Archer? I expected more from you. Maybe you should have kept your mouth shut!" Medea exclaimed.
"Hmph. Trying to taunt me, witch? You'll have to try harder than that" Archer retorted.
"I'm not taunting you. I'm telling you." Medea grinned from under her cowl.
"Wha-" before Archer could give another snarkily reply, a fist collided with his cheek, sending him flying towards the rough ground and closer towards Medea. It didn't stop there. Tatsuya fired a bullet with enough energy to disintegrate him. With his slightly superior speed over Tatsuya, he rolled out of the way and got back to his feet.
"Trace… on!" he shouted once more, having already done so multiple times within the short bout. This drew an inquisitive look from the master of Caster, but said nothing.
Another set of the Married Blades appeared in his waiting hands once more, he steeled himself, before charging towards Tatsuya. 'This master isn't human. I can smell it! And.. I need to know what!' he thought.
Unfortunately for Archer, his brief hesitation had allowed Tatsuya to draw his katana, the blade held horizontally perpendicular to his body, ready to block any front-prone strikes. Thus, his two falchions smashed against Tatsuya's katana in a shower of sparks. If there was something Archer would have thought he'd have an advantage in over any human (or the like), it'd be his swordplay. They grunted as their blades struggled against one another in a momentary battle of strength, one that Tatsuya won easily, forcing Archer back. He pivoted on the ball of his foot to reissue his attack, his twin falchions parallel to one other, once again generating sparks as it collided once more. The third, fourth, fifth strikes went much the same way. The sixth, however, Archer decided to infuse his swords with even more prana. He couldn't use the chant to make his triple-linked Crane Wings. No. This master wouldn't give him enough time to.
Tatsuya seemed to have sense the change, and in a seemingly random bout of madness, had dropped his katana and brought his fists up, ready to intercept the blade swings. What happened after, shocked both Archer and his master, who was seemingly forgotten in the background.
Kanshou and Bakuyabroke.
Tatsuya, still nurturing a neutral expression, immediately took the opportunity to deliver a deluge of punches, reinforced by Caster as indicate by the violet glow, at Archer's midsection, so rapidly that he had managed to land at least 30 hits before Archer hit the ground for the second time in the fight. The palms of Tatsuya's hands were bleeding, but they were quickly healed by some magic that Archer thought was eerily similar. 'Avalon?! It'd explain how he was able to summon Saber, but…. No. I don't get a divine feeling from him. Rather, I feel a demonic presence from him.' Archer deliberated.
"What kind of master is able to defeat a heroic spirit?! This is madness!" Rin exclaimed, reaching towards her coat pocket for her jewels. "Ugh! Take a load of this!". She hurled several dark amethyst gems towards Tatsuya, who currently had his back towards her, in a desperate attempt to relieve the pressure on Archer. It was yet another futile attempt as Tatsuya simply held out his hand, and the gems willed themselves out of existence, thanks to Tatsuya's Mist Dispersion.
"I thought I told you to not to waste your life, girl."
"Well, you're kind of trying to kill my servant, you see?!"
"So?"
"SO?! Is it not the point of the war to try to win?!"
"Some fights you can't win, little lady. And besides, what do you value more? Your servant?" Tatsuya vanished, reappearing with his blade in hand, pointed at Rin's neck. "…. Or your own life?"
"How did you-" Rin's eyes widened in surprise at his inhuman speed. "Keh. Archer! By the power of 2 Command seals! USE EVERYTHING IN YOUR ARSENAL!" The command seals on the back of her hand glowed before vanishing. That was all she got to say, before Tatsuya slammed the butt of his katana into her solar plexus, knocking her out cold.
The damage was already done. When he turned around once more, he saw that Archer was back up, thought his was clothing was torn in several places, the majority of his rib bones were fractured, and he was rapidly losing blood. His body was glowing red from the use of the two command seals by his master. Several dozen magnificent looking weapons materialised behind Archer, all pointed at the Yotsuba scion. If he was dealing with anyone other than the scion, they would have been awestruck at the beauty of such blades he had willed into existence.
"Trace Bullet. Continuous Fire! Let's see how you deal with this!" All the weapons quickly accumulated velocity and shot towards Tatsuya.
It was unfortunate event after unfortunate event after unfortunate event. Tatsuya, with his Elemental Sight, was able to discern the nature of the magic he was faced with. He was known among his peers as one of the best mages in the country in countering other mages, and it was showcased when Tatsuya was able to decompose over half of the weapons within a blink on an eye using his Gram Dispersion. The weapons simply dropped to the ground dead with a loud clang, or shattered into millions of fragments before they were able to get close. The others, Tatsuya batted away with his mere fists or dodged out of the way. Medea also aided by using her own magic to counter the projectiles. Together, they were able to weather the storm, bringing it to a halt, rendering Rin's commands futile. It only further demonstrated how poorly Archer was outmatched from a magus' point of view, despite being a servant with supposedly inhuman abilities.
Archer, having being mentally fatigued, didn't see Caster's Αερο pierce straight through his stomachand was thrown like a ragdoll into the air. Out of nowhere, steel chains surrounded Archer, snaking around his arms, legs and neck, before lifting him into the air against his will, constricting any sort of movement. Archer knew that if he was a competent mage at all during his own lifetime, he would have been able to break out of this predicament rather easily. However, it was not to be. With his master incapacitated and almost out of mana, there was nothing substantial left that he could use to escape. Thus, he was left dangling in the air, at the mercy of Tatsuya and his servant Caster.
"Tch. This wasn't supposed to happen…." Archer muttered to himself.
"You didn't put up much of a fight, mister Red." Medea frowned, hand clenched in command of the chains. "Sad really, because archers were supposed to have been the one thing I'd have good fun against" she chuckled. "You underestimated my master." She clenched her fist even tighter, and the chains tightened even further in response, to the point archer was suffocating, and the chains were audibly straining against the servant's body. "And you dared to call me a witch!"
Medea, now with her staff in her left hand, pointed at Archer's prone body. Several ripples in the space above Archer materialised, each ominously glowing purple. "Now you die! Rain of Light: Machia Hecatia Graea!"
"What… kind of…. monster is… rrrgghh…. your master?!" was the only thing Archer could manage to spit out.
Then came the bombardment of light, which the name suggest, upon the area were archer hovered upon. The ground trembled under the force of the bombardment, and Archer was skewered so many times by Caster beams that by the end, there was no trace of Archer left, besides a burning red rag, and a few splotches of dried blood on the ground.
Caster slowly hovered back towards the ground and towards Tatsuya. "Good job, Tatsuya-kun. That was an excellent display of magic!"
Tatsuya smiled and nodded. "Let's go check on Saber."
…
(A/N: Keep in mind that Tatsuya hasn't told Saber about Lancer being Cu)
"You're a real tough cookie there, Saber. You can already keep up with my blows. But with that pesky caster's help, you're way TOO overpowered!" Lancer complained, parrying a downward blow from Saber and her invisible weapon. Before leaping backwards to generate distance between himself and Saber. "And are you a coward? You dare conceal your weapon in a duel?!"
"What's wrong, Lancer? No lancer with any mediocre amount of pride would stand still and allow the enemy to gain an advantage." Saber retorted from under her helmet. "If you won't take the offensive, then I gladly will!"
"Before that, let me ask you one single question. Your Noble Phantasm - is it a sword?"
"Who knows? It could be an axe. Or a spear or lance. It might even be a polearm. Why don't you come and find out, Lancer?"
"Very funny, Saber!" Lancer retorted, twirling his blood red spear as he change hand-grip, choosing to space his hands far apart, his right almost at the butt of the spear. Anyone could tell that was not a versatile stance. It wouldn't be able to block any weapon quickly enough. "Since this is our first meeting, would you be interested in calling this a draw?"
"I refuse. As a fellow servant of the knight classes, you should know why my master sent me."
"A duel to the end, huh? Only one will come out on top, am I right?"
"You willfall here, Lancer!"
"I see. That is a shame. I was only sent here to observe, but I couldn't help myself and I messed up" Lancer sighed, closing his eyes to take a sharp breath. When he opened them, his pupils contracted, his face contorted, veins visibly bulging with the feral grin he was displaying at the moment. His blood red spear coated itself in a flaming crimson aura, blanketing the surrounding area with the singular ominous feeling of death.
Saber only raised her weapon higher in response.
"I'll have your HEART!" Lancer declared, before surging forward towards Saber, cratering the earth behind him. To any normal human being, all they would have seen was the trail of red from the spear. He leaped into the air, rearing the lance as far back as he could, before thrusting it at supersonic speeds.
"GAE… BOLG!"
The ominous feeling of death only multiplied when the spear seemingly fractured itself, splitting into dozens of blurring crimson lines like moving petrified lightning. Saber was only able to angle her weapon to defend from one side, so she chose the right side. The dozens of crimson lines reconverged back into one. It looked as if it was about to strike her weapon with immense force, but instead curved itself back to the right and towards her torso, impaling the right side of her chest, armour, body and all.
"Gah!" was the only remark Saber was able to make before she was yanked into the air by the phantom spear left impaled in her chest, throwing her several metres up before she came crashing back down with a loud thud.
Lancer surged forward, not giving a moment's rest in order to finish the job, but he was confronted by another figure and had to quickly backpedal once more.
"This is as far as you go, Lancer. Or should I say…. Cu Chulainn, Ireland's Child of Light?" Medea stated, gently hovering in the space between Cu and Arturia.
"Keh. Saber was able to dodge my ultimate blow, a single-blow kill with my spear. How troublesome." Cu Chulainn replied. "It's supposed to be a fatal blow, otherwise I'd have royally screwed up. Which it looks like I did…"
Meanwhile, Tatsuya was kneeled over, busy healing Saber, using his Restoration ability. It took only a few seconds before the gaping hole left by Gae Bolg had sealed itself, and Saber awoke from her momentary blackout.
"You alright, Saber?" Tatsuya questioned, a soft tone in his voice.
"Yes… thank you, master." Arturia returned. "Have you dealt with the other two already?"
Tatsuya nodded. "Are you still able to continue? If not, we can deal with the last one for you."
"For… me?"
"You wished to have a duel, did you not?"
Arturia smiled. "Yes. I will be able to continue. Thank you, master."
Tatsuya shook his head. "Call me Tatsuya. I am no master. You fight with me, not for me, got it?"
Saber nodded heartily. "Mmh"
"Sorry about this guys, but it seems my master is a bit of a coward, you see. You managed to evade my strongest blow, so he's ordering me home."
"You would run?!" Saber yelled, getting up from the ground and gripping her sword once more.
"Feel free to pursue me and track down my master! But if you do, prepare to die against an enemy of impossible proportions!" was all he said before he turned and leapt entirely over the backyard wall of some random home, vanishing into the moonless night.
"Looks like you'll have to finish that duel another day, huh?" Tatsuya sighed, strolling forward, placing his hand gently on Arturia's left shoulder.
Arturia removed her steel helm for the first time before shaking her head left and right, unfurling her creamy blonde hair. Two bangs rolled themselves down the front of her body, while the rest of her longer hair was braided and curled around the back of her head, held in place. A golden crown replaced her helmet, resting upon her head. But what was most striking were the emerald eyes and the glowing, seemingly divine white pupils she had.
"We'll deal with that later. For now, we'll rest. We've done well to eliminate Archer from the war. And I want to get to know the both of you." Arturia turned to face them as she spoke for the first time without her helmet, and Tatsuya could clearly hear the authority in her voice – as a leader, a king. "Do we have a place to rest, Tatsuya?"
Tatsuya nodded. "Yes. If you'd please, Medea." 'But what did that spearman mean by an enemy of impossible proportions?"
Medea simply hovered over the top of them, draping both Tatsuya and Arturia under her cape. They then vanished, leaving a trail of purple butterflies where they were.
xxxx
"So, you are a mage of some renown huh, Tatsuya?" Arturia confirmed. While inside the spacious apartment Tatsuya had been given, she had donned a midnight blue dress, with intricate silver details lining the end of her dress, contrasting her rather pale face and hair.
"Yes. I am a part of the Yotsuba clan – my mother is Maya Yotsuba, whom most if not everyone who is clued into the world of magic would know."
Maya Yotsuba was given the moniker 'Queen of the Night' as it was known that all who tried to go against her had never seen the light of day again. Many of the Yotsuba family members had their own monikers. For Tatsuya, although his name was not public known, his was "God of Destruction", after the events at both Okinawa and Yokohama, utterly annihilating naval warships and weapons with a single blow. Miyuki Shiba, Tatsuya's cousin (though he wouldn't dare say it in front of her, as she seems him as more of a brother) was given the nickname "Ice Princess" by her peers because of her signature magic: Niflheim (although she also uses Helheim as well).
Among the supernatural world however, they were a mystery. It was said that only the highest levels of authority in each of the three Biblical factions, and the Greek pantheon knew who the Yotsubas, and the other Numbered clans were. The Ichijou, Futatsugi, Mitsuya, Itsuwa, Mutsuzuka, Saegusa, Yatsushiro, Kudo and Juumonji clans all shared the same original history – a result of the unions between the first devil, the true Satan, and the first woman who fell from Eden, Lillith. They were not children born of their union, but creations made in their then shared distrust of the Christian God. Each child, given a proper first name but a numbered surname, were more powerful than their children and remade in the image of Lillith, rather than Satan - they were all born humans. All of them had dormant devil blood within them – they had the choice to become full-blooded devils, and most of the firsts did. Each of the children had been granted different powers
This was such that they didn't feel like their birth was unfair – they could either follow in the footsteps of their human turned devil mother, or their angel turned devil father. It also granted them the advantage of being able to breed with other supernatural races, thanks to the flexibility that human blood granted them. As the centuries passed by, children sired between those created by the first devils, and in turn their descendants, grew in raw power as their powers mixed and matched. Soon enough, ten clans became twenty eight, and twenty eight clans became over a hundred by the end of the 20th century, almost 2000 years after their lineage first started. Within the last two hundred years, they had established a system of self-government within their collective called the Ten Master Clans, whereby the head of each clan would represent the rest of the clan and their interests. Of the hundred families, only twenty-eight had the potential to become one of the Ten Master Clans, be it power held within the family or contribution to the Japanese society – where they were now based in, soon after the Great War – each were given 5 years before their status was reviewed and a new set of Master Clans would be in place for 5 years. However, in the time that this government had existed, there was only ever one actual change in leadership as the Ten Master Clans – which actually occurred last year. It was the Kudo clan whom was replaced by the Shippou clan as the ninth seat of their government.
Further in, the three families who wielded the most power withing the Ten Master Clans were the Saegusa, Juumonji and Yotsuba clans. The Juumonji clan were the weakest among the three, though of all hundred clans, were the strongest in defensive magics, the shields they created often being nigh impenetrable – this sole fact was the reason that they served as the Numbered Families' (collective name of all the children and descendents of Satan and Lillith's creations) defense force.
The Saegusa clan were second only to the Yotsubas in overall power, infamous for their "omnipotency", having no clear weaknesses among the known systems and branches of both modern and ancient magic, as well as having the second largest family, only losing to the Ichijous.
Last of all were the Yotsubas. Even among the Numbered Families, less was known of them than any other family in Japan. They only shared secrets with the Saegusa clan, whom they were closely tied to, but they knew not to betray their trust.
It is said that the Yotsuba clan has fewer members than any of the smallest clans of the Hundred Families, yet heralded the strongest ever members know to the two millennia of their history. They managed three regions within Japan proper, only trumped by the Kudo clan whom had many times the Yotsuba clan in man power. However, even with the self-governing system the Numbered Families had created, the Yotsuba Clan is gradually becoming too powerful, even among the powerful Ten Master Clans. With Miyuki, Tatsuya, and Maya existing in the same family all at the same time, it is believed that the Yotsuba clan may become an existence that will eclipse the Ten Master Clans. Their ever growing power and influence has caused other Ten Master Clans to be wary of their growth and status to the point that some of the other families are trying to weaken them by any means possible.
In terms of numbers, the Yotsuba Clan were plainly outnumbered by the Saegusa and Ichijou Clans. Yet, their combat prowess was simply incomparable. In one on one confrontations, the Yotsuba would have the advantage. Despite their limited numbers, they were more than capable of becoming the counter-terrorism trump card of the government and carry out any action that went beyond the reach of the law that the government needed. In terms of black ops and assassinations, none among the Numbered Families could match the Yotsuba Clan.
In comparison to normal humans, the Yotsubas were impossible existences that transcended the definition of human. One almost to compare them to the likes of stronger Heroic Spirits without fail.
"I've got records of most of my ancestors and skimmed through their achievements and the like, but I never found out who my grandmother was. I tried asking my mother who she was… but she would only smile and say: "You'll find out soon enough."
xxxxxx
After the three had taken sufficient rest, they had decided to take a wander around the city, in order to figure out what places would have suited them best. There was a temple on the outskirts of a city that was conveniently (and suspiciously) directly over a leyline according to Medea, a red bridge that served as a great vantage point to the rest of the city, and a quiet park that oozed with the smell of death, by Arturia's words.
"I have… few memories. Of the last 10 years. You see… I was never summoned at the heroic spirit. It was when I was lying down, half-dead with an innumerable amount of soldiers laying around me, that I made a wish. A wish that someone could have undone my rule as King, taken my place and guided Britain to a better future. Then, I was summoned."
"To the previous Fuyuki Holy Grail War?" Medea interjected.
Arturia gritted her teeth. "Yes. I cannot remember much of the time I spent in this era, but there were a few things I did. Like a gruffly, masculine voice that told me of how wishing to undo my rule would insult all those people - my knights, my subjects that died in my name. I also remember that one servant… he had blonde hair and was impossibly strong, with a… personality to match it, so to speak. And my master. I do not remember his face, but I do remember hating him with a burning passion."
Arturia took a deep breath to calm herself. The three stood in silence and the two magii stood there waiting for her to continue.
"After the end of the grail war, which I cannot recall, I was sent back to my own time. There, I roamed the lands. Because I hold both Rhongomyniad and Excalibur, I could not fully die. I was at the crossroads between life and death. I did not have Avalon – I had lost it when I fought my son Mordred at Camlann thanks to her mother, and my sister – Morgan."
It was a testament to Arturia's sister Morgan's knowledge of the world. By using the invading Picts and Saxons to invade Britain, they had scared most of the smaller supernatural creatures, including the Fae, from the mortal plane. With no Fae around, Morgan was able to magically extract Avalon the exact same time that Mordred had impaled her with Clarent. As such, Arturia had ended up losing Avalon – until now. It was the reason why Arturia had aged and developed much further than she did at the time of the previous Fuyuki Grail War
"Then you summoned me, Master. With your help, I was able to regain Avalon." Arturia bowed. Again, thank you for that, mast- I mean Tatsuya."
"I helped too, you know?" Medea pouted.
"You get the idea of it, Medea" Tatsuya rolled his eyes.
"Shut up."
Arturia had a small giggle at their playful banter. Tatsuya looked back at Arturia after their small bout.
"To have been summoned again, you must have had a new wish. What is it?"
There was a long silence, only interrupted by the chirping of the birds hanging around on the trees nearby. Arturia looked to the setting sun, perhaps in longing.
"…. To live life without regrets. Perhaps I could have wished once more to have another chance at living as king, but… these ten years have given me much time to think. I've never really…. Been myself before. Even when I was young, I was always practicing with a sword, listening to Sir Ector's words, or sparring with my brother Kay. I never really took a moment to live like the girl I always wanted to be. By the time I was old enough to go out alone, I was already holding the Sword in the Stone, Caliburn. I never had time to myself. Maybe I don't need the Holy Grail to achieve such a thing… but a woman can dream, can she not?"
All in all, it was a casual affair.
Until they ran into a miraculously vertically challenged, white haired girl in a fur hat that reminded one of an ushanka without the bangs, and a matching grape coloured fur coat that looked (and probably was) pricey.
They were walking down a dimly lit avenue that was out of the way, when they came across her. Arturia and Medea were both in spirit form for convenience. The approaching girl looked to be waiting for someone, before she stopped and frowned.
"You're not my brother…"
Tatsuya shrugged. "That would seem to be the case"
"Where is he?"
"I don't know. What does he look like?"
Medea spoke through their contract 'Tatsuya, I feel abnormal energy coming from her. She's definitely a mage, possibly a master!'
Arturia added 'If she is a master, then she is concealing her servant well.'
"He's a bit shorter than you, has red hair an-"
"His last name is Emiya?" (A/N: Tatsuya knows by going through his memories)
Illya huffed, before putting on the most intimidating face she could – an ominous smile "So you do know what happened to my brother. I will ask again, mister. Where. Is. He?"
"Didn't your parents tell you that listening to strangers was an extremely bad idea?"
It seemed to have hit a nerve, evident in the next words she spoke.
"Berserker! Attack!"
"Ah… crap."
Then there was a primal roar.
If you think Archer died too quickly, then lemme explain to you that Emiya is weak against Casters, and other mages in general. Medea alone is strong enough to take him on. Add Tatsuya and his hand-to-hand combat prowess, and Emiya is totally screwed. One can bombard him from afar, the other can take him on in melee combat. So unfortunately, he was always going to be the first to die.