With the help of Rin and Saber's tracking ability, they were able to trace Shirou's location to somewhere in the woods, to a place that they had not yet been; The Einzbern castle. Looking onto it from the outside, it was huge. Archer had never seen a place like this before, and at first he was rather impressed by it. Every last detail about this place struck Archer as beautiful.
"He's in there," Saber said with determination in her voice. Rin nodded her head in agreement. They then began to step inside the entrance to the castle. The inside was a lot more open than Archer had imagined, as they were greeted by a very open floor with only a giant staircase awaiting them in the center towards the back. Rin took the first steps inside, followed closely by Archer. Saber was still resting herself on Archer's back, but she kept her senses sharp. They made their way up the stairs and through the giant gate like door that was at the top. Through the door they had a choice to either go left or right, both of which seemed like never-ending hallways.
"Well, which way?" Archer asked, shifting his head from left to right.
"Left," Rin replied pointing her finger. She looked to Saber as if to confirm her answer, to which she got a silent head nod. They quickened their pace as they moved down the hallway. On the way, Archer admired the hundreds of paintings that were on the wall, along with some of the other the decorations that were there as well. Archer could feel Saber's grip tighten on his shoulders as they got farther and farther down the hall.
"He's close…" Saber mumbled, keeping her eyes straight, constantly scanning the doors of the hallway.
"He's not the only one," Archer replied, his voice low and serious. Rin cringed a little as she heard Archer speak.
"So you feel it too?" She asked softly.
"Something would be terribly wrong with me if I couldn't feel something like that. They're here. Shirou was the bait to get us all in one place, and it worked like a charm." Rin was still trying to fool herself into thinking that they had snuck themselves in without being noticed, but deep down, she knew that the monster and its master were lurking about somewhere, and that terrified her. Archer still wasn't fully recovered from his fight with him last time; Rin hated to think about what would happen if they had another confrontation.
As they were walking, Saber suddenly jumped off Archer's back and started sprinting towards a door at the end of the hall. Archer tried to throw his arm out after her, but she was already out of reach. She charged to the door, and forced it open.
"Shirou!" She shouted as she opened the door. On the other side she was greeted by a red-headed boy holding a makeshift weapon that he must've grabbed from the fireplace that was in the room. Shirou quickly let his guard down when he saw the lovely smile that had appeared on Saber's face.
"Saber," Shirou said softly as he approached her. "What are you doing here?"
"That is the question that I should be asking you." Saber's gaze turned into a glare as she looked at him with a mix of anger, happiness, and worry in her eyes. Before Shirou could say anything else, Rin and Archer appeared behind Saber.
"Tohsaka..? And Archer too?" Shirou didn't know what he was feeling more; relief, or confusion. "All of you came for me..?" Rin placed her hands on her hips and put a smile on her face.
"Well, we are allies now, and I am kind of crashing your house."
"And I go where she goes," Archer chimed in as he too put a small smile on his face. Shirou returned the smile to them all.
"Thank you all for coming for me."
"Well, we aren't out of the woods yet. Literally. I wouldn't start a celebration until we're back at your house, this place is still very dangerous," Archer stated, trying to encourage them that they needed to leave.
"Archer is right, we should leave this place at once," Saber agreed. Shirou nodded his head, and followed behind the others as they turned and started back the way they came. Saber's breaths started to become heavy as she was trying to keep up with the group, she was still extremely exhausted, and wasn't quite ready for this vigorous running. They made it down to the end of the hall when Saber's exhaustion finally caught up with her and she fell down to the ground. Shirou was quick to notice as he quickly went back for her.
"Saber!" He exclaimed, worried about her.
"I'm… fine…" She panted; heavy breaths in between her words.
"No, you're not. Your body isn't-"
"I said I'm fine!" Saber snapped back as she pulled herself to her feet. Shirou had his hand extended out to her but she didn't take it. She just regained her stance and the two rejoined the rest of the group.
After spending a few minutes retracing their steps, they found themselves back at the entrance room of the castle.
"There's the exit," Rin muttered quietly. Archer's body tensed up as he stared at the exit door. He knew it couldn't be that easy. Rin took charge down the stairs, followed by Saber and Shirou, and then finally Archer. Rin was almost in a sprint as she darted to the door, but just as she was about to get there, she was stopped in her steps by the menacing laugh of a child coming from behind them. Rin felt her blood run cold as she stood there, frozen in her place. She didn't want to turn around.
"You really didn't think I would let you run wild all over my home and let you walk out the front door, did you?" The girl laughed from a top the steps. Rin finally managed to turn her body around, and just as she feared, waiting atop the steps, was Illyasviel. Her bright purple eyes beamed down at them, a smirk on her face. Saber and Shirou were standing next to Rin looking back at Illya also.
But Archer wasn't.
He kept his gaze straight forward, looking at the door that would lead them outside. He didn't budge, even as Illya spoke to them. His eyes never wandered to Rin, they never left the door. His face was as serious as Rin had ever seen it.
"Tohsaka, what should we do..?" Shirou whispered to Rin.
"I… I don't know…" She replied, her voice trembling a little.
"There are three options," Archer spoke up, his voice bold and stern. All eyes shifted to him, but his never left the door.
"We run and get hunted down by the duo with a small chance of escape, and with Saber in her current condition, the chances only go down. Option two, we stay and fight and at least go out with a bang. Or…" Archer let his voice trail off, as he closed his eyes. "Somebody stays behind and serves as a distraction so that the others can get out." Archer clenched his fists as he spoke his sentence. Rin immediately rejected that idea.
"And by somebody you mean you, right? There's no way that you could stand against Berserker! You're not even recovered from last time! I think the best choice would be to just-" Rin was cut off mid-sentence by the quick and swift movements of Archer. He planted his lips on hers and put his hands on her waist. Rin was taken off-guard by the kiss, but she didn't do anything to stop it. She let it continue until Archer pulled away from her. As he pulled his lips from her, he tightened his grip on her waist and looked her straight in the eyes, a very sincere smile on his face.
"You have to live," Archer said, his eyes shaking a little. Rin was still in a trance from the kiss, and unknowing to her, a tear fell from her eye. Archer picked her up off the ground and tossed her towards Shirou. Her body went flying and crashing into him, knocking them both to the ground. Archer then summoned his swords and tossed them into the ceiling, causing the roof to collapse down on them. The ruble that would fall would cut him off from them, but it also meant that it was their window to get out. Rin was quick to get back onto her feet as she tried to go running after Archer, but she was stopped by Shirou grabbing hold of her by her waist.
"Archer!" Rin cried, tears in her eyes and sadness in her voice. Archer still had his hands raised above his head from when he had let his swords go. He looked back to her, still smiling a smile that read 'I'm sorry'.
"Keep her safe," Archer said as the last few pieces of rubble fell from the ceiling and cut him off from his friends.
Rin continued to cry out for Archer has the last few pieces of rock cut her off from him. She turned her head and smacked Shirou across the face in frustration, tears still falling from her eyes.
"What were you thinking?! Why did you stop me!" She shouted. Shirou brushed his hand on his cheek where Rin had slapped him, but he didn't answer her; he didn't know what to say.
"Tohsaka…" was all he could manage to say. Rin looked back to the rubble wall that separated her from him.
"You are such an idiot… what were you thinking…" Rin sobbed, trying to start holding back her tears.
"Isn't that obvious? He was thinking of you," Saber spoke up, catching Rin and Shirou off guard. "He isn't doing this to be the hero, or doing it because he's idiotic, he's doing it for you."
"Saber…" Rin said softly, shifting her eyes back and forth between her and the rubble.
"And while it isn't my place to say, I don't think he would have wanted us to continue to stand here and argue about this."
"Saber-" Shirou had started to say, but he was cut off by Rin.
"No, she's right… we should leave," Rin replied, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. Shirou slowly nodded his head and watched as Rin walked past him and out the door. Shirou started to follow when he noticed that Saber was about fall over again.
"Here, get on. We need to move fast and this will help," Shirou said, offering his back to Saber. She wanted to argue against it, but decided not to, for time's sake. She got on his back and tossed her arms around his neck.
They ran out the building and started bolting down the path that would lead them back home. They had traveled for a few minutes when a loud explosion caused them to stop. The sound came from behind them, and upon looking, they saw a blue light shoot out from the roof of the building. All of them looked upon this light, each of their mouths hung open with aw.
"What is that..?" Shirou asked.
"While I can't say for sure, I think that light is mana," Saber replied.
"It sure is bright…"
Rin watched the light for a second, but soon it began to fade away. She took a look at the command seals on her hand and then held them against her heart, trying not to cry again.
"Come on… I saw a place on the way up here that we could use as a hideout for tonight. It should last us long enough until sunrise and from there we can make our way back to your house," Rin said as she began to walk away. Shirou made sure he had a tight grip on Saber, and then followed after. Soon, Rin's pace began to quicken and quicken, until it was to the point that she was running. She didn't know why though, she wasn't sure if she was running for safety, or if she was running from her fear. Whether she wanted to think about it or not, she had grown attached to Archer, and just the thought of him might not returning made her sick to her stomach. She wanted him around her, she wanted to see his face each morning when she woke up. She wanted to use his body as a pillow each night when she fell asleep. Unable to fight it any longer, the ice queen had fallen in love.
Archer turned his back to the wall that was formed and shifted his gaze up to Illya who was staring back down at him, the same smirk on her face.
"You're a very noble man Archer, it's a shame I have to kill somebody like you," She said snapping her fingers. As she did, her servant finally emerged, coming down from the giant chandelier that was hanging at the very top of the ceiling. A shock wave was sent through the ground when he landed.
As the dust blew past Archer, he materialized his armor over the street clothes he had been wearing.
"Although you're noble, you're also a fool for trying to take on Berserker by yourself. While you and that other annoying servant, Lancer, were able to do a little damage to him, you both almost died." Archer let out a slight chuckle as she ended her sentence.
"Who said anything about fighting alone," Archer smiled as he raised his hand and pulled back his sleeves, revealing his command seal. This caused a very surprised look to emerge on Illya's face.
"What the…" She mumbled, still surprised. Archer looked to the seal that was on his hand, and as he did, he could hear the words "Do it" race through his head. He closed his eyes as one last thought went through his mind.
It looks like this is it, it's all or nothing. With the power of this seal, I call forth the power of the servant the dwells within me. Archer, let's do this.
He reopened his eyes and watched as the seal on his hand vanished. It was only a matter of seconds later before he could feel the rush of mana flow thorough his body.
"Ahh!" He roared as he bent his neck backwards and looked up at the ceiling. His fists were clenched and held at his side, but the rest of his body was shaking with power. Just as the full effect of this went through, there was a small moment where it felt like time was frozen and Archer was taken away to the room where his Servant resigned, but he wasn't sitting in his usual throne, in fact, the entire layout of the room was different. Archer didn't pay it much attention though, as he could feel the presence of his servant standing behind him, back to back.
"You ready?" His servant asked him, confidence in his voice.
"Oh yeah," Archer replied with a smirk on his face. As he finished his statement, he felt his servant begin to phase into his body, and it was at this moment that time began to unfreeze itself.
Archer was engulfed in a blue light as the mana was still swirling around his body, still waiting to be calmed and controlled. The surge was so great though, that it caused a blue light to blast through the roof and shine bright into the sky.
When the light finally dissipated, a new Archer stood before Illya and her servant. His hair had faded to a white color and the armor that he had been wearing had been overlaid by a red and black trench coat, the very same coat that his servant had worn.
His gaze slowly turned away from Berserker and up towards Illya. She could tell that something had changed with Archer, but she didn't know what exactly, or what his new limits were.
"If you think a new outfit and hair color is going to save you, you're dead wrong! Berserker! Kill him!" Illya commanded pointing her finger at Archer. The mighty beast let out a loud roar and raised his stone slab above his head and took charge at Archer. Once he got in range, he swung his weapon down to the ground, as if to crush Archer like a bug. His slab was on the way down and it looked like it was going to hit, but it was met with a very loud "clinking" sound. Archer summoned his swords and crossed them above his head, blocking Berserkers attack. Illya gasped at the sight of her servant's attack being blocked so easily. Berserker growled and raised his slab above his head once again and slammed it back down, but to no avail; he couldn't break through Archer's swords like he had been able to do so easily in the past. As he raised his slab once again, Archer to the moment to retaliate. He jumped up from the ground up at Berserker, getting in his face. He slashed his swords, causing two slash marks to appear on the throat of Berserker. Blood began to gush from these wounds as Berserker dropped his weapon and brought his hands up to his throat, trying to cover the wounds.
Archer landed back on the ground, but this time he was standing behind Berserker, locking his gaze yet again with Illya, but this time, the smirk she had on her face was gone. For a second, and only a second, a look of fear appeared on her face as she stared into the deadly gaze of Archer. That moment was broken though when Berserker had stopped trying to fight his wounds and took hold of his weapon once more. He turned around to face Archer with a loud roar. Archer was a little shocked, but he already knew that he must have had some way to either heal himself or just not take damage, because this isn't the first time that a fatal wound had been dealt to the giant.
"I see…" Archer mumbled. His voice was different though, it was now a mix between his and his servants. "It's not the fact that your servant can't die, it's just there's a certain amount that he can die before he's gone for good…" Archer finally realized what had been going on, or at least some of it. Berserker roared again as he took charge at Archer, this time swinging his slab from the side. Archer was quick on his fee and jumped back into the air to dodge the strike, and as he did he made another slash attempt at Berserker's neck, but this time, it didn't work. He saw his blades clash against the skin of Berserker, but there was no wound inflicted. Archer was taken by surprise upon seeing his attack fail, and he wasn't ready to counter Berserker's retaliation strike. The giant swung his free hand at Archer and smashed him in the side, sending him flying across the room and crashing into a wall. Even though his body had been increased in power, the smack from Berserker caused him to cough up a little blood, and re-cracking some of his ribs.
What the hell..? The thought passed though his mind as he pulled himself from the wall and summoned his swords to his side once again.
"It seems the same attack won't work twice" He heard the voice of his servant echo through his head.
You can hear me..?
"Of course I can, you and I are the same person right now. We see the same things, think the same things, we are the same."
Just another perk of this then, eh?
"That's one way to put it." Archer laughed to himself as he wiped some of the blood from the corner of his mouth with his coat sleeve.
"Well then, if the swords won't work again, let's try this," Archer tossed his blades to the side and materialized a bow. He took hold of it and then jumped from the ground onto the railing of the room above. He was standing on the rail, looking down at Berserker, holding his bow at his side.
"What are you waiting for?! Kill him!" Illya shouted angrily. Berserker leaped from the ground up towards Archer and swung his slab where Archer was standing, causing even more of the place to fall down in rubble. Archer was able to dodge it though, leaping across the room to the other side. Archer drew his bow and took aim at Berserker, an arrow now forming in the drawstring. Archer let the arrow go, aimed towards Berserkers head. He quickly rose up his arms to block the incoming strike, and once Archer saw him bring his arms up, he leaped from the railing again, this time positioning himself over the top of Berserker. The initial arrow he had fired exploded on impact with Berserker's arms, causing a small cloud of smoke to appear around him. Archer then fired a montage of arrows from above, causing them to rain down on the exposed and defenseless head of berserker. The arrows weren't strong enough to take a life from him though; they were just merely another distraction as Archer landed on the ground and pulled back his bow once more, this time charging his arrow.
"This one should do the trick." After a few seconds he let the arrow fly, this time causing a much larger explosion on impact. He raised one arm above his forehead to block the incoming dust from getting into his eyes as he watched the cloud of smoke. Once it cleared, he could see the mark where he had injured Berserker, but in a matter of seconds, it was soon healed. Archer turned his attention away from Berserker for a second to look at Illya, her teeth were clenched as she watched another life get taken away from her servant. Archer moved his gaze back to Berserker, and got ready to charge him, but just as he began to sprint, he felt a very sharp pain rush through his body, causing him to lose his balance. Berserker punished him for this with a slap from his weapon. Archer was able to raise his swords in time to block some of it, but this time his weapons shattered, and he was sent flying back into the wall.
That pain… what… was that..?
"Your mana is a finite resource, even in this form. All you got was an increase, and just like always, it has a limit. You're body isn't used to this change, so you're expending it a lot faster than you can maintain it."
So then, what should we do? I've only taken two lives of his, and who knows how many he has. Lancer has claimed one aslo, so that's three…
"Well, I've been thinking about this, and I think it should work, but in order for this to happen I need you to trust me."
What do you need..?
"Give me full control of your body for a few seconds. Thirty seconds is all I should need."
Not that I don't trust you but… why?
"I want to try something."
Alright, well here goes something…
Archer closed his eyes for a few seconds, and when he re-opened them, they had a new color to them.
"This is the end." Archer pulled himself from the wall once more and stared into the eyes of Berserker, but only for a second. He then closed his eyes again and began to chant something under his breath.
" I am the bone of my sword
Steel is my body and fire is my blood
I have created over a thousand blades
Unknown to Death, Nor known to Life
Have withstood pain to create many weapons
Yet, those hands will never hold anything
So, as I pray..."
Archer opened his eyes as the world around him began to change. The ground that he was standing on began to get engulfed with flames.
"Unlimited Blade Works"
The entire atmosphere around Archer had now changed. They were no longer inside of the Einzbern castle, instead, they were in a wasteland that was filled with swords. The sky was no longer the soothing blue color that it should be, and the moon was no longer present. Archer looked around at this place, he knew he had seen it before, this was his servants noble phantasm.
"We don't have a lot of time in this place, our mana pool is just about on empty."
Well, you're still in command so come on, show me what this place can do.
"Heh, if you insist."
Archer smiled as he summoned up his blades, but this time, they were different. They were longer, much longer, and they were sharper as well.
"Alright Berserker, this is it. This is my everything, so you'd better prepare yourself!" Archer tossed his blades into the sky, and in an instant, they shattered into what seemed like a thousand little shards. Then, each of these little shards began to take the shape of a sword, and soon they filled the sky. Berserker looked around, staring up at the sky, then down at the ground, and then finally back to Archer. The blades were growing in numbers as more and more continued to pop up. Then, with a signal of his hand, Archer made the swords rain down from the sky. The blades tore through the body of the behemoth, piercing his body over and over again. Archer's breaths started to become heavy as more and more swords kept appearing and shooting at Berserker.
"We're at out limit, we need to break this now!"
No, he's not dead yet.
Archer intensified his gaze at where Berserker was now standing, and one last rain of swords fell down upon him, but this time, the swords were denser, and stronger. The swords began exploding on contact, causing a giant smoke pile to appear over the area where Berserker was standing.
Once the last sword had fallen, the reality marble began to fade away, and slowly the world around them went back to normal. Archer was now standing in front of the rubble pile, looking out towards the cloud of smoke where Berserker was standing. He started taking deeper and deeper breaths, and eventually, he collapsed down onto his knees. His hair faded back to its normal color, and the new armor he had gotten shattered away. His vision was now starting to become blurry as well, just barley being able to keep focus on the smoke cloud. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but any hopes of anything good were shattered when he heard the roar of the beast.
The smoke had now cleared and there Berserker stood, unscathed and good as new. Illya stood behind him up on the stairs, her eyes trembling with anger and shock. As he stared out to the duo that stood before him, his normal armor also shattered away, putting him back in the street clothes he had been wearing.
"I have to admit, you are certainly an honorable opponent… you were able to take a total of seven of Berserkers lives with that last attack, plus the two you took from him earlier, and the one Lancer took…" Illya grit her teeth. "No matter though, we still have plenty left to finish off the other servants without trouble."
Archer couldn't respond, he was using everything he had to control his breathing. His vision slowly blurred in and out, and soon, he collapsed down to the ground, falling face first. His arms remained at his side, and he slowly turned his head out in front of him.
"I would have Berserker crush you now, but your body is already starting to fade away, so you won't be around too much longer anyways. Besides, we've got a game of hide and go seek to play with your friends. Come on Berserker," Illya snappe dher fingers and began to walk away. She made her way past her servant and then past Archer. The two locked eyes until she was completely past him. Her servant followed quietly behind her, and Archer was left alone in the rubble of the castle.
What Illya had said though was true, Archer could feel his body starting to fade away. He used to much mana, and no longer had enough to sustain himself in this world. As he lay on the ground, he turned his head to the side and noticed that the picture that he had gotten of him and Rin had fallen out of his pocked and was now on the ground. He looked at the picture, the two of them were making stupid faces, but they both looked happy. Archer put a smile on his face as he looked at the picture, and then, he closed his eyes.
Once they were closed, he began to feel just like he had that night that he had been summoned into this world. He felt like he was floating in space, with nothing around him but emptiness, but unlike that time, this place began to take shape. He was soon brought back to the place inside him where his Servant dwelled. When the room finally became clear, his servant wasn't in his throne, but instead, standing right in front of him, and just like his body, he too was fading away.
"Thank you," Archer said to his servant with a smile on his face. He didn't have to answer because the look on his face was puzzling enough to portray his confusion. "Without you, I never would have gotten a chance to make it this far. I wouldn't have made it through the Moon Cell and I certainly wouldn't have lasted this long in this world either." His servant snickered at his words.
"Going all soft are we?"
"Heh, I guess I am, but I mean it though."
"Well then, how about as thanks, you do one last thing for me." Archer was now the one who had a confused expression on his face.
"What is it..?"
"Shake my hand." This caused a repeat of the confused look to appear on his face.
"What? Why?"
"Just do it." Archer was still very much confused, but he did as his servant requested and accepted the handshake that was offered out to him. But when the two locked hands, there was a flash of light where there hands met, and his servant gripped onto his hand tightly.
"Ow! What the hell are you doing?!" Archer yelled.
"I'm giving you the little bit of mana I have left in my body. It's not much, but it should be enough to keep you alive. Individually, we're both so drained that we'd fade away, but if our mana is combined, it should be enough for one of us to live."
"Wha..? No, I can't let you do this! I'm still your master, and I'm ordering you to stop!" His servant replied with another laugh.
"Heh, you don't have a command seal left for an order like that." With those final words exchanged, there was one last burst of light, and his servant's body disappeared.
*AN* Updated 4-28-2017. This chapter is probably the one that has changed the most since I've started revising them. I basically rearanged the order of events, but i think it makes more sense this way. I cut out a few bits as well, and also changed some dialogue. Overall, the plot is still the same, it just looks better.