P a treon: p a Treon.(c om) (backslash) themaster4444
Beta-ed by NoXIV
Yang sighed as she strolled down the streets of Vale, the shattered moon barely glowing in the black night.
All around her, people mulled about enjoying the nightlife, though not as many as there once was. The Fall of Beacon certainly put a damper on the citizens' spirits, but with time and the few remaining Grimm confined to the school, the young and foolish were starting to get their party spirit back.
Normally, Yang would probably be among them, hopping from club to club with Nora and Coco, or old friends from Signal, drinking herself through a good time. Instead, she was trudging back to Professor Port's cabin at the edge of the city, her spirits as crushed as they were normally these days.
She'd spent the day at the hospital watching over her father. As she held his hand, she wondered if he had done the same to her when she was in her coma. Perhaps he had prayed that she would wake up.
She envied the simplicity of his situation. Obviously, she would have preferred that the both of them were happy and healthy, but at least when he watched over her, he could be confident that the best thing was for her to wake up. But with him, she didn't know if she wanted him to wake up. After all, if he woke up, that just meant he would feel the agony of his warped aura.
And die all the quicker.
No, Yang wasn't sure what she was hoping for when she stood over her father's broken form.
A miracle, maybe?
Ha. That would be the day. It wasn't like she had any way of letting Ruby know what had happened. Her sister was a continent away and blissfully unaware of their father's dire state. And if she didn't know, she couldn't use the grail to wish for his salvation.
'Of course, she's not the only one that can fight for it…'
No!
She slapped her left hand over the back of her right, covering the infernal red marks there.
Going after Ruby wouldn't do anyone any good. She was just a directionless dog. If she tried to reach any sort of dream, she'd just get everyone she cared about hurt. And if she went without a dream, without that drive that let Ruby, Blake, and Weiss keep going despite everything, she'd be a burden, just like she was at the Fall of Beacon.
No, the best thing for her to do was stay and watch over dad.
And when Raven returned for Rider… she'd deal with it.
Somehow.
She arrived at Port's front door, a massive fortification manned by huntsmen off to the side. During the Fall, a section of Vale's defensive walls had somehow been torn down, leaving the city even more vulnerable than it already was. Yang had even heard that a bunch of Goliaths had gotten in before the kingdom's forces took control. How the entire population had survived that was a mystery.
Whatever the case, the breach didn't disappear after the chaos was over. As long as it existed, Grimm had an open path into Vale. Fortunately, Goodwitch had created a solution, with multiple teams of huntsmen taking shifts manning temporary fortifications until the wall could be rebuilt. So far, it had worked out well, but Port had apparently thought danger was still imminent and had built himself a new cabin right next to the area so that he would always be on hand to help if things ever went south.
Honestly, as boring as the man's stories were, Yang was starting to wonder just how many of them were actually true.
She sighed at that thought. She missed the simpler days, the ones where her biggest worry was how to get Weiss to let copy her notes on Port and Oobleck's lectures while making sure Ruby and Blake didn't try to isolate themselves. Back before the end of the world seemed to happen every other week, when she could just sit back, eat, sleep, and cuddle with…"
She opened the door. A ball of fur leaped onto her face and tackled her to the ground.
"AARF!"
"Zwei!"
Yang's face lit up for the first time in what felt like ages, her corgi relentlessly licking her cheeks.
"Hey, hey, down boy, down boy" she laughed. "I need to get up."
Zwei let up his assault and panted happily, his tail wagging merrily as he laid on top of Yang's chest.
She hadn't had time to think of him during the chaos back on Patch. When they'd gotten to the hospital, she'd realized in terror that he might have burned up with the house. She couldn't leave her father's side to look for him though, so Oobleck had promised to search for him in her place. She'd have to thank the good doctor when she got the chance.
In the meantime, though, she gathered her dog in her arms and closed her eyes, just enjoying the feeling of laying there with her trusty corgi.
"Hello, master! So, you've finally returned. Excellent, you're just in time to join the discussion."
Yang sighed. It was nice while it lasted.
She opened her eyes and saw Rider standing over her, his boisterous grin shining fiercely. He no longer wore his leather armor and fur cloak, instead having secured pants and an embroidered maroon jacket from Port. Why the professor had clothes for someone several sizes bigger then himself was a mystery, though he had mentioned he was waiting for the growth spurt that would 'finally make me taller than Barty!'
Given that the man's hair was already grey, Yang decided to let him dream.
Zwei barked happily and leaped at Iskandar, the Rider happily catching the corgi by the scruff and joyfully rubbing his underbelly.
The Servant chuckled as the dog panted with pleasure. "Truly, you are blessed with a noble companion, master. Doctor Oobleck has already regaled me with tales of his heroic efforts at the Battle of the Breach. Not since Bucephalus have I heard of an animal performing such wonders on the battlefield."
Yang cocked an eyebrow. "Bucephalus? You had a dog when you were alive?"
"A horse, actually." Iskandar grandly swept his hand through the air. "Together, we conquered everything from the steps of Persepolis to the banks of the Nile. He was my most trusted companion and when he died, I named a city in his honor."
A frown fell upon the Servant's face, his brow creased in thought. "Actually, I suppose even that city is no more in this time."
His solemnity surprised Yang, but she sympathized with it. After everything she'd been through, losing Zwei too would be beyond crushing.
However, his dour mood passed as if it had never been there at all and a moment later Iskandar was smiling again. "Oh well. I'll just have to name another one after him, ensuring his name is never forgotten."
The Servant gazed around Vale. "This one should do."
"This what? Vale?" Yang asked incredulously. "You can't rename Vale after your horse."
"Why not? Once I conquer it, I can name it whatever I like" Iskandar pointed out. "Besides, what kind of a name is Vale, anyway? Sounds like something to hide behind, like a coward trying to disappear under his mother's skirts. A city should have a glorious name, one that proclaims the eminence of its people to the entire world. Like Alexandria. Though, looking back, I may have overused that one."
Yang could only stare blankly at him. "You are insane."
A blur of green and brown zoomed in between the two and pulled the huntress back to her feet. When it stopped moving, Yang recognized a familiar bespectacled face.
"Now, now, Yang" Doctor Oobleck lightly chastised. "If we can't learn to understand the intricacies of other cultures, we're no better than savages. You shouldn't go around dismissing others' beliefs as insanity."
"He just said he was going to conquer the kingdom!"
"And when the time comes when he attempts to do so, we will stop him, but until then there is no reason not to be polite."
"Haha! Well spoken, good doctor" Iskandar complemented. He kneeled down and set Zwei on the ground, the corgi running back to Yang. "Master, you are truly blessed to have such a wise and open-minded scholar as your teacher. Trust me, we are not all so fortunate."
Oobleck preened at the praise. "Thank you, your grace. Though we best get back to the kitchen before Peter forgets the conclusion of his little tale."
Iskandar's eyes widened in worry. "By Olympus, we can't have that! I must know how he defeated an entire pack of these Beowolves with only a shoe."
The Servant dashed back into the house.
Yang raised an eyebrow at her old professor. "What the hell have you guys been doing?"
"Nothing much" Oobleck admitted, pushing his glasses back on his nose, a far more serious expression on his face than when he talked with Iskandar. "He and Peter played video games for most of the day before I showed up, and then we started swapping stories. His were… intriguing to say the least."
Yang sighed. "I'm guessing by the whole 'your grace' thing that he spilled the beans on what's going on."
"The Holy Grail War? Yes, that came up rather quickly" the doctor confirmed. "I didn't believe him at first, but his spirit form is difficult to refute as a semblance. It is unfathomably fascinating, actually. Humanity has no record whatsoever of a time before the Grimm, and yet by the means of magic of all things, a living remnant of that era sits in Peter's kitchen. The contributions he can make to history is almost limitless. It makes me jittery just thinking about it."
"Great. At least one good thing came out of this mess" Yang snorted. Zwei whined balefully, rubbing comfortingly against her leg.
Oobleck placed a firm hand of her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Yang. I know there is more going on than just my intellectual curiosity. You have suffered tragedy beyond imagining, and still face even more danger."
"No, I don't. Didn't he tell you, I'm staying to watch over my dad" Yang refuted.
Oobleck frowned. "Really? He said you were just mulling over your decision."
"He did what?" Yang barked. "That son of a—"
"Mmmmm!" Zwei whined loudly, his literally puppy dog eyes begging his mistress to calm down.
Yang kept her fist tight for a moment but dropped it with a sigh under her pooch's gaze, her rage evaporating like smoke. Zwei was a therapy dog, gotten by Uncle Qrow for her dad after Summer Rose died. He was trained to sense emotional distress from his masters and do his best to help heal them. Sometimes he was so good at it, Ruby theorized it was his semblance.
Still, no amount of cuddles and puppy dog eyes would actually solve her problems. But she couldn't say they didn't help.
Oobleck patted her on the shoulder. He reached into his jacket. "I got back from your house around noon. Unfortunately, most of it had burned down by the time I arrived. However, aside from dear Zwei and some of your clothes, I was able to recover this."
He pulled something out of his jacket and held it out to her. Yang's heart nearly skipped a beat as she took it in her hands.
It was Team RWBY. The photo they'd taken after the mess when they'd found out Blake's past. Ruby had been so eager to solidify the newly restored bonds of the team that she'd forced them all to take it and then spent half her allowance on a frame. After scribbling an excited 'NEW FRIENDS!' in red marker of course. It wouldn't be Ruby without that childish and yet charming touch.
The others were just as she remembered them. Weiss trying to stand taller than she was with the cracks of her true happiness sneaking through her icy façade. Blake composed and collected as ever, an easy confidence seeping off her in waves.
And then there was someone else. A girl with long blonde hair, a shit-eating grin plastered on her face with her fist pumped triumphantly in the sky. A girl who was the picture of confidence and strength, her arms wrapped around Weiss and Blake like a wave of invincibility.
What had happened to that girl to turn her into Yang? What happened to all that confidence, all that lust for life? The eagerness to see what thrill was going to come next?
What use could one with true ambition have for a sad, little girl, desperate for love?
She'd learned just how hollow her striving was. How useless she was to those around her.
How she was destined to be alone.
"Thank you" she whispered. "It's good to have this."
A memento of when she could pretend to have a purpose.
Oobleck gave her a warm smile, not noticing her crushed psyche. "Don't mention it, Yang. Now, let's get back to the others before we miss the end of the story. It really is a gripping tale."
The good doctor dashed away in an emerald blur, his coat flailing behind him in the breeze.
Yang sighed and picked up Zwei in her arms before heading in.
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"And so, with the Alpha distracted from the audacity of my maneuver, I straddled the beast and choked the life out of him with the laces" Port narrated boldly. "The demon never stood a chance."
"Hahahaha!" Iskandar laughed boldly. "Wonderful! Simply wonderful! An impeccable use of your available resources!"
Truly, the King of Conquerors was blessed to have been summoned into such a wondrous time. When he fought beside Waver, he had been forced to keep his true identity a secret from civilians for fear of bringing down the Mage's Association on his young master's head, but in this time, there was no Mage's Association. Leaving him free to share the full magnificence of his presence and the glory of the Holy Grail War to all.
Oh, what a joy it was to be summoned again. Now that he wasn't… wherever he had been after the Fourth War, he was pretty sure it wasn't the Throne of Heroes, he could begin his quest for the grail anew. And even if Waver and their time together resided only in his Reality Marble now, he knew he would never lack for worthy companions. Why Peter Port had already demonstrated his magnanimous generosity by allowing he and his master to stay at his lodgings since her own was destroyed. Not to mention his magnificent tales of battle against the monstrous Grimm the grail informed him of.
His new master was… a more complex matter.
To have called a Heroic Spirit as mighty as himself by will alone was no small feat, and the passion and determination he had sensed in that summoning more than proved her worthy to fight by his side.
But Yang Xiao-Long had been far more subdued since then. Her father's condition explained a great deal of her state of mind, but her refusal to seek the grail to cure him of his illness confounded the King of Conquerors. Perhaps he would be more hesitant to enter the fray if he knew he would face his mother, but with the stakes as high as they were and her sister reportedly already active in the war, he could not understand why she remained docile.
He would not force her to fight. He would give her the time she needed and help her regain that fire he sensed when she called him from the circle. Then, they would ride forth and claim the grail.
Besides, it was a king's duty to inspire others to their full potential. He had done it with his men so long ago, he liked to think he did it with Waver, and he had no doubt he could do it with Yang.
He'd see fire behind those violet eyes yet.
Still, in the meantime, the company was far from unpleasant.
A green and brown blur entered the room and landed in an empty chair. "A harrowing recollection, Peter, as always" Doctor Oobleck praised.
"Thank you, Barty" Port replied. "But it was hardly a trial. Now the time I wrestled a King Taijitu as Mountain Glenn collapsed around me—"
"Actually, I was hoping to take a break from our own time" Oobleck interrupted. He eagerly turned to Iskandar. "I would very much like to hear more of your efforts at cultural assimilation. After you took control of this… Persian Empire?"
Iskandar's grin widened. Though he did wish to hear more of Port's adventures, he found Doctor Oobleck's interest in the logistics of his conquests gratifying. He had a great respect for learned men, especially those who sought to learn more. His own idol in those matters, his former teacher Aristotle, had failed him utterly in that regard, lambasting him for seeking to incorporate the customs of the lands he conquered into his rule. His refusal to accept anything not one hundred percent Greek drove a wedge between the two of them that never healed. Thus, he found the good Doctor's eagerness to understand utterly enthralling.
"After we took Persepolis and I received word of Darius' assassination, I made sure to take control of the Persian mail system to ensure all corners of the empire could start providing supplies for the next campaign" he explained eagerly. "We began the recruitment of Darius' former generals and men immediately, as well as sending for reinforcements from the other territories like Egypt. Some of the men took issue with these new officers having authority over them, but I have always believed that a man should have his station based on his skill, not the other way around."
"A reliable sentiment," Oobleck remarked. The doctor shook his head woefully. "Shame it so rarely seems to translate into reality."
"A king shapes his reality" Iskandar declared with a smirk. "I refused to budge against the fools, even took the Persian version of my name, Iskandar, to show my support for the newcomers. It took some time, and it wasn't always a smooth process, but eventually, tensions settled down. And because of my stalwartness, I marched for India with an army of a hundred thousand at my back, each one as loyal as the ten thousand who came with me to Persia."
"Haha!" Port cheered. "Inspiring. Truly, my friend, I wish you had been born in this era. You would have defeated the Grimm in the blink of an eye."
Iskandar chuckled, his opinion of the Grimm low as it was. The specimens he had dealt with coming after the wall certainly didn't impress. "The world cannot serve two lords, and I will never allow such demonic creatures to have dominion over this realm. I showed you that when we played Kingdoms of Remnant."
"He actually beat you, Peter?"
"Beginner's luck!"
Iskandar smiled at the friends' bickering and turned to the hallway that led to the door. His master came through shortly after, her dog Zwei in her arms. There was a photo sticking out of her pocket that he didn't recall seeing before, but it wasn't at the right angle for him to catch a good look of it.
Yang pulled up a chair and sat down, mindlessly scratching Zwei behind the ears.
The jovial atmosphere in the room disappeared. Port and Oobleck stared back and forth with each other, seemingly communicating without a word. Finally, Port cleared his throat.
"How is your father, Yang? Has there been any improvement?"
The blonde girl shook her head. "No. He's still sedated."
Iskandar hummed thoughtfully. He turned to Oobleck. "Is there really nothing your medicine can do for him?"
The professor shook his head sadly. "Aura has always been a difficult field at best. Despite the best efforts of history's brightest minds, what we know of its specifics is murky at best. Certainly not enough to even begin to mend a rupture of the like that has stricken poor Tai."
"Well, then our course of action is clear." All present looked to the King of Conquerors, but he only had eyes for his master. "If no modern means will be sufficient to heal him, then our only option is to use the grail."
Yang narrowed her eyes. "I already told you, we're not going after the grail. If I can figure out some way to tell Ruby, she'll deal with it."
"You'll leave her to fight the battle in your place? Why? With the Gordius Wheel, we can catch up in a matter of days."
"She left to fight. More than that, she can actually win."
Iskandar raised an eyebrow. "You don't think you can win? That's absurd. No master incapable of winning the Holy Grail War and achieving their dream could ever have summoned me."
"I don't have a dream" Yang growled. "That's why I can't win, and why Ruby can. It's why she and Blake left me behind."
"I thought it was because you were in a coma?"
"We're not going and that's final!" Yang roared, releasing Zwei and smacking her hands on the table.
Peter and Bartholomew's eyes widened in shock at her outburst. Zwei whined in fear.
Iskandar just stared at her. He had faced far worse than a wounded child.
"Gentlemen, might I have a moment alone with my master?" he requested.
The huntsmen nodded and exited the room.
Yang stood up and glared at Iskandar, her eyes blazing crimson. "I don't care what you say. I am not risking my sister's life just so you can try to conquer the world."
"But you'll risk it so you won't have to try and help her?"
"I am helping her. By not weighing her down."
"How can you weigh them down when you refuse to even try to join them?" Iskandar demanded. "You claim to want to heal your father, but you refuse to take action to do so. You simply use his condition as an excuse to cower from the war."
"That's not what this is about. I won't leave him."
"Why?"
"Because he's the only one who never left me!"
Yang panted heavily, tears pooling in her now violet eyes. She pulled the photograph out of her pocket and slammed it onto the table. Iskandar observed it was a picture of her with three other girls. She was much livelier than he'd ever seen her.
"My mom left me and dad after I was born. My stepmom died a few years after Ruby was born. Our uncle could never stick around long. This… Team RWBY was supposed to be different. Something permanent. Somewhere that I didn't have to worry about people leaving" Yang explained. "Now, they're all gone. And all of them had good reason to go."
"Then it is not your fault" Iskandar comforted. "It is not your fault that they chose to chase their dreams."
"Maybe" Yang mused. "But it is my fault that I couldn't follow. I don't have a dream, anything to drive me like they do. The closest I had was meeting my mom, and you saw how well that went. I was a thrill seeker, looking for the next high. And that's… just not enough to keep up with people like them. People that actually matter. People that live for a dream."
The broken blond girl sank back into her chair. "I deserve to be alone. After all, I can't help anyone, so why should they have to stay behind and help me?"
Zwei whined pitifully, rubbing against his master's leg.
Iskandar scratched his beard as he contemplated her words. His master had allowed her suffering to bury her in despair, twisting her own mind to try to justify the fear in her heart. He could not allow that. Even if she were not his master, even if he did not depend on her for the war, he could not allow anyone with their whole life ahead of them to be so thoroughly handicapped by their own dread.
He gathered his prana within himself. His words required suitable reinforcement.
He stood from his chair. His body flashed white and the clothing Peter lent him was replaced with his traditional armor and cape. Torrents of wind began to flow off him in waves.
Yang looked up in astonishment.
The King of Conquerors grinned. "Just because your friends have left, does not mean they are gone."
A typhoon erupted from him and the world went white.
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Yang yelped as her chair disappeared from under her. She flashed her aura immediately but found it useless when she hit the ground. The sand beneath her did not smash into her shield, instead sinking into her clothes.
'Wait. Sand?'
Yang whipped her head around and her eyes went wide. Professor Port's kitchen was gone. Instead, she found herself in a desert larger than the eye could see, the blazing sun the only blemish in an otherwise flawless cerulean sky.
"What the hell?" she muttered breathlessly.
"AARF!"
She whipped her head around and spotted a set of familiar stubby legs sticking out of a dune.
"Zwei!"
She dashed over and pulled on the legs. She was rewarded with one sand coated corgi. The dog shook himself, trying to remove the desert from his fur like water after a bath. The results were mixed.
Yang spat some of the sand out of her mouth and then stood. She caught sight of Iskandar, boldly standing tall in the middle of the massive expanse, his back to her.
"Hey!" She called to him. "Where are we? What the hell is this place?"
The Rider did not face her, merely raising his hand to calm her. "There is something you need to see."
Yang cocked an eyebrow in disbelief. "See what? There's nothing here—"
She stopped when she heard it. A familiar sound. One that had haunted her dreams for months.
The Symphony.
A stampede of roaring thunder.
She gazed at the lustrous blue of the sky. Just for a moment, she imagined it was an endless ocean.
The desert shook with anticipation as a hundred thousand footsteps beat like drums upon the horizons. The sand billowed like a cloak of the earth, desperate to keep such power hidden from the world.
But it could not hold, and the stampede broke through the storm.
That was when Yang saw them. Soldiers, more than she could count, massed across the desert, steadily marching forward. Some wore leather armor, some wore steel. Some covered themselves in black cloth and wielded spears three times their size. No face had the same features and no arms were the same size. And yet, they all marched together, steadily mustering towards the horizon.
Towards Iskandar.
When they reached him, they halted, all hundred thousand as one. They stood strong before the man they'd pledged their lives to. Their King.
The King of Conquerors.
"You" Yang whispered in awe. "You're the conductor."
Iskandar finally turned to face her, his wide grin no longer infuriating but inspiring.
He threw his arms wide as if to grapple the entire horizon. "This world is my soul made manifest. My glorious armies once rode across these sands, a place that all the heroes who stood with me through joy and sorrow will never forget. Behold! My endless armies! Their bodies utterly destroyed, and their souls offered to the Throne as Heroic Spirits, and still, these legendary heroes dedicate themselves to me! My bond with them is my greatest treasure, my path to kingship! The ultimate Noble Phantasm that I possess! IONIAN HETAIROI!"
A massive cheer went up among the soldiers, their lungs emptying completely in support of their king. They formed no words, only a visceral note of strength, unity, and loyalty. Their echo chimed across the sands, seeming to sunder the sky with their might.
Yang… had no response.
Iskandar lowered his hands to his sides. His smile softened into something more comforting, nurturing. Almost fatherly.
"Do you see now, girl?" he asked softly. "A comrade is not something you can lose. It is more than mere physical presence. You were never abandoned, for true friends, the most stalwart companions, always stand with you in your heart, whether living or dead. Just as you wish the best for your team wherever they are, they, in turn, lend their spirits to you, no matter your endeavor."
Yang blinked and snapped out of her trance. Her mind desperately tried to justify her motives while her heart could not help but waver in the face of the king's display.
"But… but how can I help them?" she protested weakly. "I can't keep up. I don't have a dream. These guys… they all believe in yours."
Even though he'd never told her, she knew what it was.
"The endless ocean."
Iskandar raised an eyebrow. A moment later, burst out laughing.
"Okeanos. You think my dream is Okeanos?"
He stopped laughing and flashed another brilliant grin.
"You are correct. But you are sorely mistaken if you believe it to be a mere sea." He smashed a fist to his chest, right over the lapel of his cloak. "Okeanos is the beating of my heart! The proof of my life, and all the wonders of its experience! The drive to challenge an unattainable goal, in the company and shared glory of all my comrades!"
His grin quieted to a smirk. "A thrill seeker, you might say."
"You…" Yang muttered. "You don't have a dream?"
"Of course, I have a dream! A dream to live, for to live is a dream! You need no more, master."
He walked forward and planted a firm, guiding hand on her shoulder. "And no one needs any more from you. Yang Xiao-Long fought and survived against impossible odds. Yang Xiao-Long summoned me forth to this battle."
His grin burst open once again. "And it is by the side of Yang Xiao-Long, that I shall claim the Holy Grail!"
His mouth reflected the sun's glare so brightly, Yang wondered whether it was truly the source.
She gazed down at her hands. The Command Seals still burned in her skin but they no longer felt mocking.
No. They were a challenge.
She looked to the army, the endless legions stretching as far as the eye could see. More men that could be counted, all devoted to their king past any bonds of space or time. Before them, the horizon itself seemed a reachable goal.
And on the horizon, she saw them.
A girl in a white dress with a snowflake on her back, her posture poised and perfect, a rapier held lightly in her right hand.
A girl with long dark hair, confident and relentless, a large black bow placed squarely on her head.
And finally, the most enticing of all, a small girl in a red hood, her eyes glued towards the mesmerizing horizon.
They awaited her.
Yang's eyes welled with tears.
And for the first time in a long time, she smiled.
"Haha!" Iskandar cheered. "There is it! I knew there was fire behind those eyes."
Yang chuckled. Her arm came up to wipe the tears from her face. Zwei rushed to her side and barked happily. She knelt down to scratch his ears.
"Thank you" she whispered. Her words were meant for more than just her dog.
Iskandar's widening grin let her know he understood.
She rose back to her feet and stood tall, feeling strong and whole for the first time since the Vytal Festival.
"I'm going to fight" she declared proudly. "I'm going to win the grail or make sure Ruby does. I'm going to save my dad."
She thrust out an open hand. "Are you still willing to help me?"
The Rider clasped her palm before the words even left her mouth. "With pleasure, master."
"I may be of some assistance in that matter."
Yang and Iskandar both turned to the sound of the voice. From the ranks of the army walked a single man, tall and thin, with black hair longer than even Raven's. Unlike the rest of the soldiers who appeared dressed for war, this man wore a green suit with a black tie.
He walked before Iskandar and knelt. "My liege" he spoke reverently.
The King laughed and patted the man on his back, dragging him to his feet. "Oh, don't start on all that, Waver. Friends do not kneel here."
He turned back to Yang and collected the man in a hug that pinned him to his side. "Yang, this is Waver Velvet. He was my master in the Fourth Holy Grail War. He can probably give you some tips for the upcoming fight."
Yang cocked an eyebrow. Waver didn't appear to be in the mood for tip giving, a scowl dominating his face, and his brow furrowed in urgency.
"My liege, please. This is important, and the Reality Marble will only last a few minutes before your prana gives out" Waver protested. "I have information that may be crucial to your strategies in this war."
Iskandar raised an eyebrow, the rest of his face suddenly serious. He released his friend and gave him his full attention. Before, Yang saw the king that inspired his men to war. Now, she saw the commander who won them.
"Go on" he nodded.
"It's about my fate in this timeline…"
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The world flashed, and the huntress, Hero, and dog were back in the cabin's kitchen.
"Well, that was disconcerting," Iskandar remarked.
Yang nodded, her gaze pitying to her Servant. "Rider, I'm sorry."
Zwei walked up and rubbed against the hero's leg.
Iskandar smiled softly. "It can't be helped. What's done is done. We can only look toward the horizon."
"Right" Yang affirmed.
She gazed out the cabin window and saw the sun rising, the light of the dawn burning away the darkness. If she had her way, it wouldn't burn the brightest for long.
And with that fire, she'd take down Kirei, and Raven, and anyone else who threatened her family. She would protect her sister and save her father.
"Let's go."
Ah... been waiting for this one. Yang's got a much better experience with her Servant's Reality Marble than Ruby.
Yang's recovery is a bit fast, but please keep in mind that she had already started on her issues with Tai before this, and though Kirei's attack set them back, there was still some progress. Thus, Iskandar's Rank A Charisma and the majesty of Ionian Hetiroi had much less work to do. Though just because Yang is fighting doesn't mean her issues are over.
So, full confession time. I went through a phase of absolute idolization of Alexander the Great in middle school (oddly enough, before I'd even heard of Fate) and read a very good biography on him. I have forgotten some of it, but I plan to include what I remember in the story to expand Iskandar's character. I'm looking forward to some debates he'll have with Archer.
This takes place only a day after Yang's conversation with Raven, so she and Rider should be catching up to the others pretty soon. And they'll need it.
Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!
Go Forth and Conquer!