CHAPTER 5:
BERSERKER
Rin quickly took command. Quietly, she said, "Archer…fire support. No collateral damage." After waiting a moment, presumably for Archer's response, before she turned to Arturia. "Saber…that thing's attributes are ridiculously high for a Berserker. Not just strength, but agility and endurance as well. Do you think you can handle him?"
"I do. Should I draw him to somewhere where your Archer can hit him?"
"Yes."
Arturia's eyes flicked down to a nearby park. Then, she said to Harry and Mordred, "And what of you?"
"Art, defend Shirou and Rin. I will deal with the girl," Harry said quietly. "I'll kill her only if necessary." Then, raising his voice, he said to Illyasviel, "But I'm definitely going to give you a damned good spanking."
"Oh? For whatever reason would that be?" the albino asked.
Harry held up a hand with three fingers. "One, you said I had an overinflated reputation. Okay, fair enough, the British wizards are a bunch of sheeple who like to put people on pedestals, but still…I'm a lot more competent than you think. Two, you threatened my friends with Mr Roid Rage Ronny there. And three…it's way past your bedtime, little girl."
"I'm shaking in my boots," Illyasviel snarked. "Berserker? Get 'em."
The noise that blasted from Berserker's mouth could not be considered remotely human, or even remotely animal. It was something primal, otherworldly, like the voice of a storm or a volcano or an earthquake. He leapt into the air, and Mordred roared, "SCATTER!" They dived out of the way, only for it to be a moot point, when a fusillade of enchanted arrows smacked into the beast. The ensuing explosion hurled him into the park, Arturia following.
Harry flung out a hand at Illyasviel. "Get over here!" With a squawk, she was flying through the air from Harry's Summoning Charm. However, a pair of birds, seemingly outlined in white light, like wireframe models of birds on a computer image, appeared, and fired jets of light at Harry, forcing him to dodge. "And of course it wouldn't be so simple," he muttered.
"You're the best Homunculus the von Einzberns could send out?" Rin asked.
"Well, it must burn at you, Tohsaka, to know that a superior Magus to all the supposed genius of your bloodline can be manufactured(1)," Illyasviel said as she got to her feet.
"And yet you're still a shrimp," Mordred taunted. "How old are you, anyway?"
This seemed to get Illyasviel annoyed, but before she could attack, Harry sent a couple of Reductos at the birds, destroying them. "I'm your opponent, shrimp." He used Apparition to close the distance with Illyasviel, and grabbed her, while Rin, Shirou and Mordred headed over to support Arturia. "Now, listen to me. Call your attack dog off, or I'll find where your Command Seals are and cut that limb off. I don't want to do it, but if it's between that and killing you…"
Suddenly, his face exploded in pain as Illyasviel headbutted him. He swore as the Homunculus broke free. "You're going to have a lot of trouble with that," Illyasviel said, rubbing her head with a scowl. "I have Command Seals throughout my body. Still, I will admit…I underestimated you."
"Maybe…but by what right did the von Einzberns send someone your age here…or maybe you're older than you look."
Suddenly, there was a noise from the park, and Harry watched as a dome of energy seemed to crystallise around Berserker, forcing him downwards, before another set of arrows blasted into him, exploding. Berserker appeared from the cloud of smoke, looking distinctly unimpressed. "Okay, he doesn't have a scratch on him. I call hax," Harry snarked.
"…Hax?" Illyasviel asked, tilting her head in a manner that was humorously quizzical.
"Yeah, hax! As in, you hacked the Grail so you can win, noob!" Harry had learned this sort of thing from one of Taiga's relatives, who was a gamer. He thought saying this might bamboozle the Homunculus girl and thus give him an advantage, even if it was a slight one. He even pointed an aggressive finger at Illyasviel to complete the image.
The albino girl merely facepalmed. "…He's so dumbfounded by Heracles' power, his sanity broke," she muttered.
Heracles? That living walking embodiment of steroid poisoning was the famous Greek hero Heracles?! Harry looked back at the massive and monstrous mountain of muscle…and muttered, "Okay, Disney got yet another thing wrong about him. Again. I guess I shouldn't be surprised…"
Mordred grit her teeth as she watched her father trying to survive against Berserker. As strong as she was by human standards, she wasn't quite at the level to take on a Servant, let alone one as powerful as this Berserker was. And not just powerful. For all its bestial and savage nature, it was surprisingly agile, and her father was in trouble! That was the galling thing for the former Knight of Betrayal. She didn't want to see her father dead anymore, even by her own hand. And she was a warrior.
So she summoned her armour and Clarent, readying it. "SABER!" she roared, turning deliberately to face an area around the park that didn't have any houses, as far as she could tell. Even then, she'd have to hold back. Like her father's Excalibur, she could vary the power of the blast she could unleash from her Noble Phantasm.
Mordred was glad to see that her father understood swiftly, for she spared Mordred a brief nod. "Rin! I hope you have another restraining gem or whatever the hell that was!" Mordred snarled, as Clarent spouted an aura like blood-coloured flame.
"I've got one more to spare for now," Rin said.
"Art!" Harry yelled from where he was with the albino brat. "That thing is Heracles!"
Mordred gave a savage grin. The most famous Greek hero, one she had heard of in her old life? "Well, one Herculean Flambé comin' right up! NOW, SABER!"
Her father dashed in front of where Mordred was aiming, and Heracles followed, only to change course, and head for Mordred. Well, the canny beast had realised she might be a threat. Too late, though. Rin hurled another gem, and another dome of energy restrained the beast for a brief moment. It snarled in frustration.
"Shut up and bleed, you motherfucker," Mordred snarled, before she roared, "CLARENT BLOOD ARTHUR!"
She'd been holding back to avoid collateral damage, but she was sure that, even if this didn't kill the beast, it'd feel it, and maybe slow it down enough for her father to land a more decisive hit. The blast of crimson energy smashed into Heracles, sending the muscled monster skidding back. By the time the light cleared, Heracles was growling in pain, most of its skin gone, and chunks of its flesh gone. Smoke and steam rose from its body.
Her father needed no further prompting, dashing forward and running Heracles through with Excalibur, a brief pulse of golden light blasting through Heracles, splitting the beast's torso in twain, its mouth open in an imbecilic gape of surprise.
Mordred felt a thrill of triumphant elation, but tempering that was the exhaustion from the magic drain that came from using Clarent Blood Arthur. That, and an instinct born of years of experience on the battlefield. And judging by the look on her father's face, she felt something too, backing away. Then, the damned Homunculus brat began laughing, as if she knew the punchline to a nasty little joke…and the joke was on them.
"Rin…Shirou…get back," Mordred said as firmly as possible as the beast began to heal before her very eyes.
Her father said, "We need to lure it somewhere else, somewhere we can use our Noble Phantasms to their fullest. Rin, can Archer use stronger arrows?"
Rin frowned, before nodding. "If you can lure Heracles to a more isolated area, Archer says he can use something."
"Right! Come on!" Mordred was fatigued after using Clarent Blood Arthur, but she refused to back down. She followed her father.
However, she stopped and looked at Rin and Shirou. "Back Harry up, okay?" Then, she began running once more, knowing that Heracles would be on her tail…
Thankfully, Heracles went after Arturia and Mordred…well, thankfully because, while Mordred was no Heroic Spirit, she had broken human limits. Illyasviel, however, was staring at Mordred as she left. "…She used a Noble Phantasm…Blood Clarent Arthur…but…she's not a Servant, or else I would have known…but…but…" She whirled to face Harry, her eyes comically wide. "…How the actual hell can she use Mordred's Noble Phantasm?!" she yelped, the question odd coming from a child's lips. "No…THAT IS REALLY MORDRED?!"
"And not even a Heroic Spirit. That, von Einzbern, is the real Mordred," Harry said coldly. "And she's my friend, along with Shirou and Rin. And you, you little brat, you just tried to have my friends killed. I take exception to that." He fired off a Stunner, which she dodged, only to be hit by the next one. However, she was merely sprawled to the ground, dazed, not actually knocked unconscious.
"I'm a von Einzbern Homunculus," Illyasviel sneered, even as she blinked away the effects of the spell. "We're resistant to wizarding magic as standard." She plucked a pair of hairs from her head, and they formed more wireframe birds at a gesture.
"Wait, stop!" Shirou yelled, placing himself between Harry and Illyasviel, having climbed back up from the park area. "Why are you doing this? Why did you call me big brother? You said that in a way like it meant something." After a moment, he asked, "Do you know me? Did you know…Father?"
Suddenly, Harry pulled Shirou away as the birds suddenly fired spells at the redhead, Illyasviel's expression filled with a cold and merciless fury. Apparating away with Shirou, Harry firing a Blasting Hex near Illyasviel, not to kill her, but to obscure where they were. Rin, who'd been taking cover, chose that moment to fire Gandr curses from her hand at the albino girl, and her constructs. One of the constructs was destroyed, but the other forced Rin to take cover. "Wait, stop! Please!" Shirou yelled at Illyasviel. "If you knew Father, please don't hurt the others because of what he did to you!"
"What he did to me…" Illyasviel said in a soft voice, before she snarled, "What he did to me was abandon me for you!"
Harry used a Summoning Charm to pull Shirou away from the furious Homunculus, before he quick-fired more Reductos at the construct. When it disappeared, he fired off an Incarcerous, and the girl was wrapped up in ropes with a squawk. But her words got to Harry, and as she struggled on the ground, he walked over to her, and knelt down next to her, holding up a hand to stop Rin, who was charging up a rather vicious-looking Gandr curse. "…You called him big brother not just as a term of endearment…you're Kiritsugu Emiya's daughter, aren't you?" he mused out loud. And judging by the way her eyes widened, he hit the mark.
"…She must've been only a toddler when he left. A kid her age made to fight…" Rin said, sounding disgusted when she realised the implications.
"No…Homunculus, remember? Or maybe half…" Harry said. "She might very well be our age."
"I have a sister?" Shirou asked quietly, walking over to Illyasviel. "…He never told me," he said quietly, and sadly, his golden eyes meeting the crimson orbs of his stepsister. "All this time, and he never told me…"
In a nearby graveyard, Mordred grimaced as she dodged a swing from that stone sword or whatever the fuck you called that thing in Heracles' meaty paw. She was tiring, and she wasn't really fond of that feeling. The only consolation was that the only reason her father was doing any better was because she was a fucking Servant! Anyway, when was Archer going to get off his fake-tanned arse and do something?
Suddenly, a bright light burst overhead, a red one. She looked up, and saw, somehow, the English word 'RUN' outlined in the sky in red light. Hopefully, Heracles couldn't read English, or anything, in his current state of Mad Enhancement.
With a snarl, she fled, her father alongside her. They dove into a nearby ditch just in time. A shockwave blasted over them, as if a small nuke had been set off. Once the wind died down, Mordred poked her head up out of the ditch, and saw the flames that had consumed the place. "I so want that, whatever that was," she said quietly with a shiver of pleasure, a feral grin on her face, before her eye was drawn to something that clattered to a halt near them. It was broken, but clearly once had been part of something beautiful, in familiar patterns of blue and gold.
"…Is that the hilt of a sword?" her father asked out loud.
"It kinda looks like the hilt of Excalibur or Caliburn," Mordred muttered, poking it, only for it to dissolve into blue particles. "That thing was Projected," she muttered. "Did Archer somehow copy a Noble Phantasm and turn it into a bloody arrow?!"
"A bizarre technique…but an effective one. Only, that was neither Excalibur or Caliburn," her father said. "I believe it was a copy of the blade of Fergus mac Róich, Caladbolg, a predecessor to my own blades." She looked up suddenly, and scowled. "Mordred…"
Mordred followed her father's gaze, and swore. Heracles' colossal figure was standing tall amongst the flames, regenerating, but clearly not dead. "How many times have we gotta kill this fucker?!"
"Twelve, perhaps, one for each of his Labours," her father mused grimly. "Mordred…go back to the others."
"Like hell I will flee like a coward!"
"Listen! You're tiring, Mordred! I don't want to see you slain out of pride! Fatigue is the enemy!" her father snapped. "You may be strong, but you're still a human, not a Heroic Spirit!"
"And I ain't leaving you!" Mordred snarled. "We haven't settled things!"
"Please, Illyasviel…I don't want to fight my own sister," Shirou said quietly, picking up the bound Homunculus and hugging her. There had been an explosion in the distance, but he didn't care, Harry knew. Though he hoped Mordred and Arturia were okay.
Conflicting emotions warred on Illyasviel's face, before she said, in an indecipherable tone of voice, "Berserker…come to me…"
Suddenly, the hulking mountain of muscle was there, a low rumble emanating from his body. The warning rumble was enough for Shirou to let go of his stepsister, before the Heroic Spirit carefully and surprisingly delicately undid her bonds. "We're leaving," Illyasviel said quietly to Heracles.
He put her on her shoulder, and then charged away, the only sound being the massive crunching sounds of his footsteps. "…That just happened," Harry said quietly. "Rin, I'd better hope that Archer didn't kill Saber and Art in that explosion."
"…You mean King Arthur and Mordred," Rin said quietly. "That albino brat was screaming about Mordred, and 'Art' looks so much like Saber, so they are probably relatives. I know she's not a Heroic Spirit, so how the hell did you pick up Mordred in Britain?!"
"She was in Hogwarts."
"And why is Mordred a girl?!"
Suddenly, as if by magic, Mordred was right next to Rin, a deceptively comradely hand on her shoulder, though said hand was both gauntleted, and grabbing just hard enough to be uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, do you have something to say about that, my dear Rin?" Mordred said in a deceptively sweet tone that fooled nobody, with an equally deceptively sweet smile on her fatigued face. "Choose your next words with care. It's been a very long night. I'm tired, and running on fumes and adrenaline, and I've just been fighting fucking Heracles, and was nearly at ground zero for an arrow-borne nuke that your Archer seemed to have made from a Noble Phantasm. After being with me for so long, my being a girl is what you're fixated on? Shame on you, Rin."
"…Mordred, please," Harry said quietly.
"Tch. Fine." Mordred took her hand off Rin's shoulder.
And then, possibly unwisely, Shirou asked, "But if King Arthur was a girl…how did she…?"
"Merlin," chorused Harry, Mordred, and a newly-arrived Arturia.
"Wait…" Shirou said. "…King Arthur was your father, right?"
"He is," Mordred said.
"…But wasn't Morgan le Fay your mother, and Arthur's sister?" Shirou asked.
"…She was," Arturia and Mordred chorused simultaneously, with resigned tones, knowing what was coming next.
"…Ugh, that's gross," Shirou groaned.
With an angered snarl, Mordred kicked part of the fence separating the park from the path. "You have NO FUCKING IDEA(2)!"
"It was not a willing coupling, Shirou," Arturia said. "Morgan seduced me in disguise while I was transformed into a male. I believe Mordred was a Homunculus based on the harvested semen."
"Too much information," groaned Shirou. "…Harry, can you just take us home?"
"Fine. Rin, you want me to Apparate you?"
"No. I'll have Archer escort me home. Don't worry, I should be fine. He's on his way as we speak..."
Harry Apparated Shirou and Arturia back to their home, though not before warning them that his mother would be probably around to want food and an explanation. Still, Harry and Mordred had identical smirks on their faces at the thought of the Once and Future King meeting the Tiger of Fuyuki. Even so, the first night of the Holy Grail War had been a trying one, with some rather startling revelations…and unfortunately, Mordred's identity blown out of the water.
Still, as they finally got into bed and spooned in their pyjamas, glad that Taiga decided to pack it in early, they'd managed to survive. And that was what mattered…
CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:
So, that just happened. It's interesting what a few differences in dialogue can achieve, and a bit of thinking. Plus, Mordred and Arturia working together. And Shirou being tactless. Next chapter: Moar Taiga! That being said, I'm taking a break from posting chapters for a day or two. Keep in mind, I do have up to Chapter 10 written, and a few of these are very long chapters, for me, many reaching about 3K words, including the battle at Ryuudou Temple. So there's a fairly substantial amount of story ready to be posted. I just want to let this story settle a bit, and allow more people to come to it.
As for scaling down Clarent Blood Arthur…well, if Excalibur can vary the energy attack it uses, why not Clarent? Also, as she's not a Servant, Mordred can't use it up to the massive energy wave she does in Fate/Apocrypha, though she can damage Heracles.
Review-answering time! I'm glad most of you enjoyed Mordred and Arturia's reunion, and how it played out. While I could have had them duking it out, I decided it was better to have, if not a reconciliation, then the first steps towards it. Plus, I'm better at writing character interaction than fight scenes. Arturia and Mordred (or Moedred as OBSERVER01 dubbed her, apparently a common nickname in the Nasuverse fandom which I wholeheartedly approve of) have both been through somewhat life-changing experiences since their battle at Camlann.
Mordred's enjoyed a relatively normal life with people who acknowledge her and even love her, allowing her to distance herself from her resentment and hatred for her father, even if those feelings haven't entirely abated, and what's more, with Arturia as Shirou's Servant, well, she doesn't want to rob Shirou of a good bodyguard. Arturia has also been through all that shit she went through in Fate/Zero, and unlike canon Fate/Stay Night, where she has nobody familiar to confide in, here, she has Mordred, and while her own feelings for Mordred are complicated, Mordred is also probably the person who understands Arturia best out of everyone present. Plus, given what's happened, she's probably beginning to realise that she should try to reconcile with her child. Mordred and Arturia have another heart-to-heart about what happened during both Mordred's rebellion and Fate/Zero in Chapter 7.
I answered part of DalkonCledwin's initial review in correspondence, but as to their complaint as to how Mordred could speak modern English, I'd like to say a wizard did it. Specifically, Merlin. However, he does not have the Elder Wand. He's got basically my standard wand for him when he's raised in Japan, with a cherry wood, though after he found Mordred, the core was eventually replaced with one of her hairs. Considering that she, like Arturia, is part-dragon, well…
EmeraldGuardian7: This is a merged Potterverse/Nasuverse. Most Magi have heard of Harry, but they dismiss his reputation, quite rightly, as being blown out of all proportion by credulous wizards. For all their conservative nature and snobbery, I get the feeling that a key difference between Magi and Potterverse wizards is that they tend to be more rational, or at least try to think more logically. This is, admittedly, not a hard and fast rule. Of course, it helps that Harry did get some tuition in magic from Zelretch, and given his education under Taiga with kendo, he's actually quite competent in combat. That being said, he's mostly self-taught when it comes to magic and magecraft (Dumbledore, after learning Harry didn't want to come to Hogwarts and noting the absence of the Horcrux, which was burned away in the Fuyuki Fire, left Harry a number of spellbooks, as Harry wasn't keen on going to Mahoutokoro). In fact, he favours the former far more than the latter.
Guest (about Archer's comments to Mordred): Actually, while you have a point (and I do bring this up in the notes for Chapter 7), Archer's also being a dick. The main reason he doesn't like Mordred is not just because of what Mordred did to Arturia (though that is a factor), but rather, the fact that Mordred is clearly protective of Shirou, and thus a potential hindrance to his rather elaborate suicide plan. Mordred may not be at the level of a Servant, but she and Harry are wild cards that may scupper his plan. That being said, he's got Harry as a possible back-up Master for Arturia if Rin dies or is otherwise unable to become a Master. Remember, Archer's main plan, once he defects to Medea's side, is to kill Shirou and ensure Rin gains Arturia as her Servant. Unfortunately, it happens out of order.
OBSERVER01: Harry and Mordred WILL strap Arturia down to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It. Is. Canon. And Gilgamesh is aware of Mordred. In Chapter 9, he and Kirei have a brief discussion about Mordred, amongst other matters, and while Gilgamesh thinks her a poor imitation of his would-be waifu, he does admit to her skill in battle and her fire.
Guest (regarding the Killing Curse and Shirou's competency): Harry has never used the Killing Curse in this story, and doesn't know how to. Shirou is actually at the point where he can Project Noble Phantasms (he could do what he did against Kuzuki with less side effects right now, if he wanted to), but he doesn't know it, but most importantly, he's actually a much stronger mana supply for Arturia this time around, meaning that she is stronger than in canon.
Jostanos: To quote Berserker from Episode 2 of Fate/Cero, "That pun physically hurt me."
1. This comes from Project Mouthwash's Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works Abridged Episode 2: Burr-Zerr-Carr.
2. This comes from BlueDrakmaVA's Fate/Apocrabridged Episode 1: Clarent Call, modified from dialogue Kairi and Mordred have, though Kairi was trying to figure out why Wikipedia claimed Arthur was Mordred's uncle when she claimed Arthur as her father.