Fate/Broken V1 C14: Unlocking the Gates

"Wait. What about Akira? We can't leave him like this. Even if he managed to conceal everything inside Dimensional Realm, there is no guarantee the others didn't notice and wont come looking".

Sabre was against Gil in leaving Akira alone, who was still unconscious, with two people who were unable to use Magecraft.

"We have no choice. We cannot take him with us in this state!"

Lancer however did not want to let the Grail hurt Akira again, and wanted to take it out as quickly as possible. Gil had updated them on what had happened at the baths.

"I guess there is no choice. There is only one option".

Hearing all this, Gil felt there was only one option left. He wanted to save this for until after they got the Grail, and even then he was hesitant since he knew getting the Grail would not be the end of all this. But there was no choice in the matter now. Next to Akira, from out of his Gates of Babylon, he took out a folded set of clothes, a book, and a music box. He also kicked over some debreis and liberated Akira's belongings that got buried in the changing room, which included his staff and his phone. He put both on top of the clothing he left, and then opened the music box. It began to play a tune so enchanting, if the Territory had not boosted their stats Leena and Alex would have been entranced.

"What...what is this?"

"Let the song play while he sleeps. No matter what happens, do not stop the song. Keep him pinned if you have to, but keep him inside this Dimensional Realm. Likely, he created it also to keep himself hidden away while this happened. And read that book, it contains thousands of stories. Don't worry, its enchanted so you will get through them all. Once you are done, you must speak his True Name. Meanwhile, me, Lancer, and Sabre will go and fight the Grail".

Once he finished speaking, he started to walk away towards the exist with Lancer who was in agreement, and Sabre who had given in. However, it was Leena herself who had a question.

"What is his True Name then?!"

"Sorry, but if I say it now, he might wake up instantly. The music will help ease him into it. Honestly, I wanted to have him sleep with this next to him for several days to do this, but we are out of time and his condition will only worsen. But, I do have this message for him. Since he will have his old memories, tell him this once he wakes up. Better catch up quickly, slowpoke".

And then, without leaving any chance for more discussion, the three of them immediately began to dash at full speed towards the Clocktower, leaving the Dimensional Realm.

Leena then took hold of the storybook with Alex, and the magic activated causing them to remember various fairy tails of old. Not just King Arthur or Jack and the Beanstalk, to smaller and simpler ones like the Three Little Pigs, Jack and Jill, and such. It would take awhile for a full download, but it was much faster then reading the entire book. And by the time they were done, they would have all the pieces they would need for Akira's True Name.

Bradamant the Lancer, Jean D'Arc the Sabre, and Gil the (other) Archer. The three knight classes had made a temporary alliance to go for the Grail and stop this madness, though each one had other reasons as well.

They were using their stats as Heroic Spirits to their limits though, jumping and running from rooftop to rooftop as top speed.

"We are out of earshot now right? So what is it? What is Akira's True Name?"

Gil looked around, and then seeing as how it would not remain hidden and Assassin already knew it, there was no point as Akira was also going through the process of remembering now. And so, in a soft voice the others were just barely able to hear, he spoke the name to them.

And once they heard those words, after questioning their sanity, they went into shock as they headed towards the clocktower.

"No way!"

"Are...are you serious?! That is who Akira is?!"

"Yeah...now you understand everything right?"

"But that...for that to be true..."

"That is just...to think that was the case..."

Gil was not at all surprised by their reactions, and just accepted it as he had expected this to be the case. After all, it was pretty unbelievable. With that identity however, the way he was summoned, his Noble Phantasms, his attitude and fighting style, all of it made sense. Even his personality, while not quite the same, could be explained.

"So for now, lets just focus on dealing with the Grail. Once he is finally awake, he will probably scold us if we have not beaten this thing yet".

"Ha? That does not..."

"No no! We definently have to deal with the Grail before then! Just keep moving! The Clocktower is in sight!"

Up ahead, among a variety of buildings with an older but more elegant outer architecture, was a Clocktower. Not just any Clocktower though, it was the exact same as the Clock Tower that was the head of the Mages Association. A perfect duplicate on the outside. But oddly enough, not a single person seemed to be coming in or out of it, nor were there guards preventing access.

In fact, Gil, Jean, and Bray were able to land right in front of it, walk up to the front doors and open them. No one paid any attention, no alarms were raised, nothing changed or was out of place. And when they entered, only then were there clear differences. It was just a room that had some tables, desks, and chairs, but what was the most notable was the spiral staircase. There were two ways, up or down, from the floor they were on.

"It is down. I can feel it now, the moment we entered this tower. Something powerful is down there".

"Indeed. I can sense it as well. This power...it is definently the source of what called us".

"It feels...strange. I can feel overwhelming power from it, but...somehow it feels like it is actually weaker then it should. Does that make sense?"

Gil clenched his fists, as he became extremely irritated once Sabre spoke those words. He could feel a presence that was, at it's core, something he did not want to sense.

Something dark.

Something hated.

Something evil.

"We need to move, now. We do not have much time left. Even in this partial state, this is something that we cannot allow to exist".

No longer his casual self, or even the bit of consideration seen before, Gil had a totally new expression of tone. It was one of rage, and hatred. More then that, there was now despise and pure malice. And just a pinch of regret as well. Summoning forth chains from his Gates of Babylon, he jumped right down the center hole of the spiral staircase and directly fell towards the threat.

"Damnit! Wait up!"

"What the hell happened to Gil?!"

The two who noticed his odd behavior jumped down after him. It was a surprisingly large fall, at least two dozen stories before they landed in something different. Not the same design as the Clock Tower, now there were cables everywhere, tunnels that led all around. Access to all over the city, from this one room, and clearly someone or something was connected to it.

Gil noticed movement at the edge of his vision despite not sensing anything yet, and launched one of his swords there. But whatever was there skillfully evaded and hid in the darker tunnels. For now, it seemed to just be watching them.

"Is that?"

"I don't know. It does not quite make sense, but for some reason someone made it here other then us. But who could find this place other then us?"

"Could we have been followed?"

"From Akira's territory? Other then the Grail, there should not be any way to do so. We would have to have been tracked afterwards...my bet is that it is Assassin somehow".

The three were a bit unsure of how Assassin would have tracked them, but then Gil considered one possibility. He immediately went over to Sabre and started searching her whole body.

"He...hey, what are you doing?!"

"Assassin has already been seen doing crafty and atypical things, and so has Robin for that matter. I think it may be possible that he bugged you or something when you two first met. He would do something like that after all...here!"

Hidden near the collar on the back of her clothes, just barely visible under the armor, Gil managed to find a bug. Most likely, it was Assassin's attempt to track them back to Akira's place. That was why he never showed up, and why they never noticed anyone following them. However, Akira's territory blocked even technological tracking, although Akira himself did not set it up to do that but rather someone set it up for him.

"We need to hurry, we cant let Assassin reach the Grail before us!"

While he said that, Gil made a run for it with Sabre and Lancer beside him as the ran towards the source of the magic. The waves of magical energy began to get more chaotic, and with those waves creatures began to form from the walls, floors, and came from the tunnels and passageways that darted along the main hall as well. Even the darkness of this place seemed to creep in, to the point where normal humans would be unable to see anything in this tunnel. Iconic things such as Goblins, Kobolds, Giant Serpants and Spiders, all came to attack them and blocked their path. Although the trio was able to make quick work of them, they wanted to preserve as much strength as possible. They had not had the chance to rest properly after fighting with Berserker, so they were not at their top shape, only just managing to heal their wounds.

The situation they were in could be called dicey at best.

But after forcing their way through the army that continued to spawn, finally they reached a large room at the end of this main tunnel. Now it turned into something else entirely, a temple or an alter. Giant armored statues dotted the walls, and at the center was a set of stairs that led to the main alter. And on the main alter, there appeared to be a golden base for a chalice. Not a full Golden Chalice, but just the base of one. At the center, where the handle or stick would be, was clear signs that the rest was broken off. It was only this fragment that was here, and nothing else.

But from that fragment, a black aura was surging forth.

"Is that..."

"Yeah, its part of a Holy Grail I think. So that is what is going on...the Grail doing is one that broke. But, Grails have broken before so...why is this time different?"

"We don't have time to think about it. Let's just take it. We all should have a high enough Magic Resistance to handle it since we are expecting it, it cant catch us off guard like it did Akira".

The three of them began to walk forward, but then a huge vortex of darkness burst open in the center of the room, right in front of them. Furthermore, a figure could be seen fading into existence inside the fog. The other two were shocked by this event, but Gil was more shocked and annoyed at a different detail.

"The Grail Fragment is summoning a Heroic Spirit to act as a Guardian...I suppose, a Guardian Class Servant...but of all the people...to pervert the purpose of this person like this, the Grail Fragment is truly evil..."

As the vortex died down, a man appeared in front of them. No, based on his age and appearance, one might still call him a boy. He was of high school age, with auburn hair and Golden Brown colored eyes. His hands were empty, but that only made Gil even more cautious.

"Hey everyone. I am sorry, but can you please stop this? As a Hero of Justice, I cannot allow you to put everyone else in danger".

As the Heroic Spirit that was summoned before them was Shirou Emiya.