Dears,

last one or two chapters + epilogue will come and… we'll be back to the 5th Grail War, to one of 'what if' timelines from the story of our Emiya Alter. Be ready for a completely different tale with our old friends (including Shirou Matou, Ilya and… Kiritsugu) and one completely new Servant. The title will be: "Another Time", please keep an eye on updates if you are interested.

Thank You for reading this far! You're the best.

Chapter 13: Remember Me

"You really needed to wait for the end of the world to tell me this?"

Blood. It was all Bazett could see when she opened her eyes.

It was not her blood, someone shielded her from collapsing wall of one of the buildings, using his own body. Lancer was breathing with short, loud breaths, his back covered with crimson.

"Cú Chulainn?"

"Oh, you're awake? Good…"

Bazett blinked, probably suffering a concussion.

"W-what are you doing? Standing here and bleeding… why?"

A heavy sigh instead of an answer.

"Cú…?"

"Well, this building collapsed on our heads." He was calm, almost relaxed, as usual, but also tired. Yet he certainly did not look like someone who plans to die right now. "Runes were not enough, I suppose. But don't waste too much energy for healing me, Master. We'll be needing it later."

"How could you?!" – a sudden, mad scream.

Lancer stared at his Master, evidently not knowing what's going on.

"You're dumb! You really don't understand? I would rather die in a fight at your side than live a single day without you." Tears in Bazett's eyes, while she was punching him mercilessly – unusual view, indeed. "No stupid sacrifices, you hopeless moron!"

"I will not feel any better, if you keep hitting me." He grabbed her chin and wiped away her tears. "You really needed to wait for the end of the world to tell me this?"

She punched him really hard for this and clung to him, crying.

"It's your fault for being dumb!"

"Yes, Master, whatever you say…" Lancer caressed her short hair and smiled with affection. "But now we must go. We have a dragon to defeat."

Sound of gunshot echoed in the alley. Bullet passed Tohsaka by and hit the stray ghoul behind her.

"What are you waiting for? Get up and help me fight them."

"Don't order me around, bitch."

Taika whistled through her teeth, pretending to be amazed.

"I think that we should settle the score between us after dealing with this filth." Rin was trying to interrupt her, but Necromancer threatened her with the gun again. "Or maybe you want to break your familiar's heart?" A vicious smile in response to Rin's angry gaze. "I mean - literally. He has a curse inside his chest. So better behave, Tohsaka."

"I will kill you anyway. I can wait few more minutes."

"Good. So let's dance with the dead, Tohsaka."

Rin frowned, readying her sword and last jewels. She was heading towards the dragon anyway, so having someone to cover her back on the way was not that bad, even if it was this psychopathic woman. At least she was able to fight and Rin had some time to prepare a plan and get out of this strange situation victorious.

Truly, it is some kind of insane danse macabre, she noticed and shivered at the thought.

I think I'm not going to make it this time.

Zombies were not a problem, he already left tens of corpses behind him, wading through destroyed streets. He was careful enough to not bump into the shadows for some time. But now luck seemed to abandon him.

Shame of you, you're both Emiya and Tohsaka, why do you even dare to think of giving up?

Well, positive thinking is a good thing, but… it would not wound these creatures, would it?

Archer clenched his teeth and jumped on one of the ruined low level roofs. He still had some chances of survival if he was beyond their reach, and if he was fast enough. As long as these things won't realize that they can move on every surface they want.

He'd almost forgotten that he was not this skilled anymore and cursed the fact that he needed sisters' help to dematerialize. It was at the moment, when he wrongly measured the distance – or his own abilities, perhaps – and fell down to the street below.

It was painful as hell but his bones were not broken… yet. But his twin swords, fragile because of blackening, had shattered, while hitting the ground. Archer barely managed to get up, when shadows rushed at him, like hungry dogs which finally found some fresh meat.

Nameless 'Servant' attacked the creatures from unknown direction, fast like an arrow covered with shadows, and killed them with a few powerful slashes. His darkened Black Keys were perfect for this task.

"I thought that Rin Tohsaka told you that you are not allowed to die?" He was looking not at Archer, but stared at Kanshou and Bakuya, which were lying among rubble, completely useless. "They were corrupted anyway. They don't fit you anymore."

Archer picked up broken blades and realized, that his possible future self was right. He was not the same person anymore, even Grail's remnants wanted only to feed on him right now.

"It's nice that you're helping me, but… why are you doing this?" – bowman asked just to be sure.

"Isn't it obvious?" 'Servant' did not turn around or even glanced back at Archer. "If you die here, all my fighting will be in vain. You are the only hope for all of us."

Archer swallowed. Us… He meant all EMIYAs who ever existed in this and other worlds. Does it mean that I'm the only one? A dream about rewriting their own fate came true only in my case? So it seems…

"I will not die here."

"Good. Caren, I need a little more!" Priestess, who was observing them from relatively safe distance, shivered with pain, but nodded and let him release more power. Daggers appeared from the air and destroyed all shadows around. "Thank you, it's done. And you go for Rin. She's somewhere up there." His broken, future self showed him the way. "We'll go help Lancer and Bazett."

"Good luck!" Archer hid his smashed swords and ran, not looking back anymore.

Sakura and Lord El-Melloi II decided to move to better location, there was no sense in standing so far away from the battle. Their tried to pass through the chaos on the ground untouched, covered by the magical barrier. It worked well, but Sakura was losing her strength quickly, not fully recovered from her wound yet.

She almost fainted on the stairs, when they were climbing to the new observatory point on the skyscraper's roof. Instructor caught her on time and held her tightly in his arms.

"I'm sorry, I..."

"Don't be." Strange embarrassment in his voice. "Just rest for a while."

Sakura was surprised that he did not let her go yet. Maybe he was suggesting her to stay like that, in this awkward but also warm hug?

"You are very nice, Lord El-Melloi." She said with a soft smile, making the man feel extremely strange. His face suddenly turned red and he was unable to speak for a while. "What's happened? You're blushing."

"N-no i-it's nothing, r-really." Magus helped Sakura stand up, and looked away. "You're feeling well now?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I understand now why you and Shirou can't get along well. But you will, I'm sure. You're so much alike…"

"What do you mean?" Lord asked, a bit too loudly and too roughly, and stared at her. "There's no way we have anything in common!"

Sakura's smile widened, her voice was full of calm sincerity.

"I mean you both have a good heart. And you care for others much more than it seems."

"Oh."

Oh? It was all the great Instructor from Clock Tower could say? This is… cute.

But silence between them started to be awkward. Fortunately it was El-Melloi who spoke first.

"I just thought that… if we survive… let's go out together somewhere? A dinner? Or coffee… maybe?"

Sakura opened her mouth, like she wanted to say something, but hesitated. Her eyes brightened when understanding came. She smiled.

"Sure. Why not. Let's go on a date later." She chuckled, amused by her own thoughts. "I hope we'll get through this alive then."

Lord El-Melloi II was standing there, with a strange mix of satisfaction and shock on his face. He was much more handsome when he did not act like a completely cocky, supercilious prick.

"And you won't change your mind?" – he asked shyly.

"No, I promise." She smiled again and it was her special, warm smile. It somehow made his heart pounding fast. "This is the first time I've been asked to go on a date…"

"Well, this is the first time I've asked someone, to be honest."

"Good." She stroked her hair and grabbed the bow. "But first we must help everyone make it happen."

Look out, Rin, she will attack you from behind! Archer warned her mentally. Feeling his presence nearby, Tohsaka's regained her composure and will to fight.

Rin turned around, preparing a powerful blow with her Azoth sword, aiming for Necromancer's head.

But Taika was standing still, with a strange, peaceful smile and a trace of blood running down from her mouth. The gun slipped from her hand and fell to the ground. Then Rin finally noticed an arrow in red-haired woman's chest.

Archer was standing on the nearest roof. He was breathing heavily, after running all the way here, his clothes stained with blood, bow in his hands.

"I see, so it was useless from the start. I was pretending to be alive, yet I was dead from the very beginning," Necromancer whispered to herself, while hitting the ground.

There was a child who never cried, a girl with blue eyes, cold like the northern sky. Everyone in her village feared her. They even did not give the girl a name, calling her "magic" instead.

It was truth that nobody had ever loved her.

And soon the day came, when her parents just left her far away from civilization, in the wastelands covered with snow, to die.

She did not cry, she did not call for help. She was just walking through the snow, as long as her legs numbed with cold. No living creature dared to approach the dying child, afraid of magic carved in her soul. Even wolves did not attacked her, at least not living ones.

All she knew about world, she learned from the dead. And finally even the dead betrayed her.

Her memories were shattered, chaotic, without any proper plot. A vampire's bite. Aurora borealis dancing on the distant sky. A team of vampire killers, freelancers to hire. And death, death, death…

Why are you showing me this? – Archer asked, unbearable pain in his chest where the cursed bullet stuck.

I've always doubted myself, if I was truly alive. Remember me. Please. Otherwise it will be like… like I had never existed.

Rin was standing no more than two steps from the dying woman, not sure how to react. Taika gave her a very annoying smile.

"Ah… I get it now. It looks like all this time I was… I was just jealous." She chuckled, spitting blood. "You share something far beyond me. I will never touch this, never understand it." Necromancer closed her eyes. "Hurry up, Tohsaka. Or you will have the second Dead Apostle here soon."

Rin did not hesitate anymore. Azoth sword cut Necromancer's head off with ease. Being almost transformed into a vampire, woman's body changed into a pile of ash.

And Taika, a girl who never cried, vanished in the wind, like she had never existed.