Diclaimer: Still don't own neither Type-Moon nor Blazblue.

Something went wrong with the linebreaks so I had to reupload this.


Sitting in his hotel room with his hand on the Calico submachine gun that he had just reassembled on the table in front of him, Emiya Kiritsugu impatiently stared at the cross-shaped Command Seals on the back of his other hand.

Fifteen minutes ago, after he had found the letter, Archer had deployed her Noble Phantasm. That was the only explanation for the uncharacteristically large quantity of prana that he had had to provide. The activation had lasted for approximately one minute.

From this, he could deduce several things.

First, Archer had encountered an enemy Servant. While her Magic Resistance was not on the level of a Saber, he found the thought that a Master could have forced her to resort to her final trump card without some sort of large scale magecraft, which she would have known better than to approach, to be ridiculous. Considering Archer's personality, it was also likely that the enemy Servant had forced her into a fight.

This meant that there was at least one Servant who had chosen to disregard the rule of secrecy that was a tacit agreement among all participants of this war. Even Kiritsugu, widely regarded as a heretic, would not have done so without a way to deal with the situation.

Secondly, the amount of time that had elapsed between the activation and the deactivation offered two options; either Archer had swiftly dispatched the Servant following the activation of her trump card or she had been forced to retreat.

After some thought, Kiritsugu concluded that Archer had emerged victorious from the encounter. Otherwise, she would have kept her Noble Phantasm active to discourage pursuit.

With this conclusion, he had called Archer to rejoin him through the bond between Master and Servant. It was unfortunate that only simple directives could be transmitted in such a way, which meant that he had no idea why Archer took longer than necessary to return.

Finally, more than five minutes after the time he had estimated, Archer opened the door.

"What happened?"

While waiting for her to compose herself, he took in her appearance.

Gone was the cloak and beret that she had worn since her summoning, replaced by a small jacket that barely extended past her shoulders and exposing a white shirt that left her back the beret, her long hair freely flowed down her back.

Did the change of outfit mean anything, or was it simply a result of unleashing her Noble Phantasm?

"Oh! Hum…" Under his gaze, she straightened her back and looked to the side. "I'm sorry for being late. I've…taken care of Caster and his Master."

"I see." That fit in with his deductions. There was no reason to doubt her. "I thought I'd told you to report to me if you found another Servant?"

Archer breathed in and for the first time since her summoning, his Servant stared back into his eyes without wavering.

"They were killing children. I won't apologize for my actions."

With a sigh, Kiritsugu closed his eyes to erase the image of a small, silver-haired figure.

Archer's actions had been reckless. He couldn't use a Servant that wasn't guaranteed to obey his order. Excessive sensibility was a weakness that war would bring to the front and trample upon. There was no guarantee that no one had observed her battle against Caster. For all they knew, her Noble Phantasm was now something that the other Masters would be prepared against.

And yet he couldn't find it in himself to condemn her decision.

Truly, how weak had he become?

"I get it. Good job, Archer."


All considered, the day was going rather well.

Archer, who had expected Kiritsugu to take offense to her independent actions, had instead received praise.

Her Master was a good man, after all. There was no reason to hesitate.

With what she suspected was a silly smile on her face, she kept watch around the appartment. Kiritsugu had asked her to make sure that no one was present and had apparently come to believe that Assassin was alive.

Since she had felt the contact between the blast and it's target, Archer didn't see how that was possible – surely, Assassin couldn't be that resilient?

Still, she faithfully kept guard. Thanks to the fact that the Holy Grail had recognized her abilties as the Eye, she possessed the rare advantage of being able to spot even non-materialized Servants.

That wouldn't help if Assassin was on the other side of a wall, but she would definitely be able to see him if he entered the room.

"Iri, it's me."

When the phone call finally connected, those were the first words that her Master spoke. It wasn't that she meant to eavesdrop, really, but this wasn't such a big room.

"Caster has been eliminated."

Irisveil Von Einzbern. The things that Noel knew of this person could easily be written on her hand and leave ample space.

They had never met, but her Master had told her that she was someone whose survival was mandatory to acquire the Holy Grail; someone that she would have to protect at all cost if a fight ever occurred near the castle where she had first been summoned.

And…more than that, Irisveil was the only name that opened Emiya Kiritsugu's heart. This, she hadn't been told but had witnessed. For the brief moments during which he had briefed her and now that he was speaking to that woman, her Master was overcome with loss.

It was a kind of loss that she recognized, though she had never felt it herself. It was the one of someone who had lost something irreplaceable and was faced with a reminder of it. Like what that great hero had felt when he spoke with Tsubaki.

Now that she thought about it…there were quite a few things that her Master and sir Hakumen had in common. Although, considering their strong personalities, it was probably better if they never met.

But why would her Master feel so badly when talking with someone that was still alive?

For a brief moment, she considered asking Maya, who was standing guard by the window. However, the already cold woman now seemed completely closed off.

Better keep to herself, then.

"It won't be long now. Goodbye, Iri."

With his eyes closed, Emiya Kiritsugu shut down the phone. When they opened again, the black orbs shone with renewed intensity.

"Maya. Archer. There's been a change of plan. Someone's invited us to a meeting. This is what we'll do."

Snapping back to attention, Noel set aside her thoughts. No matter what, she would make sure that Kiritsugu wouldn't have to feel that loss again.


There were many who would expect the King of Conquerors to be displeased at his current situation.

His Master was perhaps the weakest of those involved in the war. The prana that he received would be insufficient to make up for his true trump card. As he could not count on the fall of other Masters, he would have to be ready to face all six Servants by himself.

In truth, there was little that could please him more. He had been slightly disappointed that his offer had been denied, but it wasn't surprising that his fellow heroes would also be strong-willed.

He would simply have to overcome that will.

So what if his Master was currently inexperienced? So what if he could not expect him to become strong over the few days of this war? It was the duty of the king to show the proper path. To overcome against all odds would simply make his victory all the more glorious!

Waver thought himself weak and that he was simply being dragged along. Nonsense! The weak could not follow the king, even if they were being carried. A true coward would have commanded Rider to leave him behind and fight alone. Compared to those who hid and only voiced support from the shadows, he judged his hesitant and struggling Master to be far superior.

The only downside was that he could not go out during the day to witness the customs of the people he would conquer. But even to that, he had found an answer! With the admiral's shirt that he had acquired and the trousers that his Master had promised, he would be able to pass unnoticed.

Well, not really unnoticed, but as close as he ever did.

All he needed was to present his Master with the proof of his strength by defeating an enemy. It was a shame that one of his competitors would have to fall so early, but it could not be helped. At best, he could hope that the King of Knights would not be the one that he would encounter. There was much that he had to discuss with a fellow king before they could have a true battle.

He would wait for the night and once the sun set, the world would once more know the might of Alexander.


When he received word from Assassin that the way was clear, Kotomine Kirei restrained himself from showing any expression.

For the first time in recent memory, perhaps in his entire life, he could feel his heart beating loudly in his chest. The world that he had grown used to now shone more brilliantly than it had a moment ago.

Emiya Kiritsugu had answered.

Not alone, of course. Assassin had spotted Archer on a nearby rooftop and had warned Kirei that they had also seen at least one woman that was likely to be an associate of Kiritsugu.

But that didn't matter to Kirei. The Magus Killer could take as many precautions as he wanted and prepare for all eventualities, it would not matter.

That confidence arose from the simple fact that Kirei had no intention of tricking his adversary, no ambush to spring and no hidden ambition.

As his letter had indicated, he was here to talk. Perhaps not for the reason that Kiritsugu would assume, but definitely to talk.

What had changed, all those years ago? What was it that had, all those years ago, convinced this ghost of the battlefield to settle and fight for the Einzbern?

For the sake of obtaining his answer, Kirei was ready to take great risks. That was why he had instructed Assassin to allow Kiritsugu to keep his weapons and to not interfere unless an outsiders attempted to interrupt their talk.

And if diplomacy failed and he had to face his counterpart in battle…then that, too, was acceptable. They would speak with their fists and he would obtain his answer through bloodshed.

In his mind, Kirei sent an apology to the teacher and the father that he was indirectly betraying by meeting with an enemy in secret. He would not lie and pretend that he felt guilty. In a way, it was inevitable that his path would deviate from that of Kotomine Risei and Tohsaka Tokiomi as they could not understand him.

To put an end to his aimless wanderings, there was nothing that Kotomine Kirei would not do.

When he emerged from the parking garage that he had been waiting in and laid eyes for the first time upon the black-coated figure that had been in his mind ever since the beginning of the war, a fire began to burn within Kirei's heart.

With no sign of emotion, black eyes followed his path to the table, tense but without excessive stress, one hand resting inside his coat to easily reach a weapon. This man, who rejected both conventional morality and the path of the magus, was the one that would provide him with the answer that he had endlessly prayed for.

God worked in mysterious ways.

Slowly, he came to sit in his assigned chair.

"Emiya Kiritsugu."

"Kotomine Kirei."

At the time of their meeting, fate had already spiralled out of control.