Fate Th(re)e Heroes

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews, Legends Storyteller, coronadomontes and Shin XIX.

Chapter 51: The Repercussion

"Alright. Let's recap the results of the last skirmish against the black team", Saver stated as the members of the red team had gathered back in the Fuyuki Church. "I'll start with the good stuff first. We managed to get all the people infected by the Black Blood (There Is no Fun in Sanity). Also we placed enough advertisements that Zouken will not be able to let his Blade Wing Worms fly through the city, anymore. I managed to figure out how to fight against Saber of Black and had a lot of fun kicking that arrogant fellow down a notch. Ryuunosuke had some fun, too, and Archer even managed to kill Byakuya. Not that that's much of an accomplishment but it's at last something since that means, now two of their Servants will have to share one Master.

Now, onto the bad part: Tokiomi had to use a Command Seal on Archer, Archer failed to convince Avenger of Black… oh, and Saber got killed. Anything I forgot, Kiritsugu?!"

The irregular Servant looked accusingly towards the former Master of Saber. But the magus killer didn't bat an eye.

"It was his choice", he just plainly stated which made Saver of Red's eyebrow twitch.

"We had an agreement", he reminded him, "an agreement that clearly said that everybody was supposed to get clear once they were compromised! That was the condition I put to the whole operation yet lo and behold! Saber did exactly the opposite!"

"If he had not stayed around and stalled the enemy, the whole operation would have been pointless."

Saver shrugged.

"So what? Sometimes you have to accept the fact that your mission is lost! And if you thought stalling them would be a good idea, then why did you so intelligently decided to use up all of your Command Seals?!"

"He was up against four Servants and already heavily injured. One Command Seal would not have been enough."

"That's why I said, you should just have called him back!" Saver sighed. "Well, not that we can change anything at this point. Saber got defeated but we managed to save all the innocents. Yippee!" One could nearly see the sarcasm dropping from his words. "It's not like we need an advantage in numbers over them. We are heroes, after all. We'll just defeat the bad guys with the power of love and friendship!"

"You are joking, aren't you?", inquired Akage, stopping his Servant in his tracks. Slowly the manifestation of evil turned around to face him. Then, not deeming it necessary to dignify that question with an audible response, just gave the young boy a look that screamed 'duh!'

Shrinking under the gaze of the Servant, Akage turned completely silent.

"What are we going to do now?", interrupted Brawler of Red, redirecting her Master's attention away from his Master to her. "Stay here?"

Saver shook his head.

"The church just doesn't have the space for so many people. We'll have to keep to the castle. Besides, now with Death always on the lookout for Lancer of Black's Corridors of Darkness, they won't get in through the backdoor unnoticed. Not to mention that prolonged exposure to those Corridors of Darkness is detrimental to one's health."

The master of the aforementioned castle raised an eye-brow.

"You think that will stop them?", the Knight of the Lance then voiced his doubts.

"Maybe not later", Saver of Red admitted. "But right now, even the black team cannot risk a full straight-on battle. The reason for that is Saver of Black! No one knows what this guy's up to and it would be really bad for either of us if we grind our forces down on each other, only for Saver to swoop in afterwards and steal the price out from under our noses. The only reason why Zouken even did send out his Black Blood-infested Crest Worms was because he was sure he could get at last one of us, without losing one of his own. Not that we proved him wrong."

Regardless of what he had said beforehand, the irregular Servant didn't seem to be willing to let the matter drop anytime soon.

"That said, if there are any more questions you better ask them before midnight because afterwards I'm going to read my newspaper and see, if there are any information I can get out of Saber's little stunt to maybe turn this into not a complete loss!"

Nobody raised their voice or hand.

"Then I'll be going back. You guys do whatever you want, since that's what you can do best, right?!"

"Tch. Cut the crap, Saver", Archer reprimanded him, "the victim routine doesn't fucking suite you!"

Saver shrugged.

"Oi, I am Angra Mainyu, remember? So, if someone gets offed because they disregarded something I've told them to do, you can bet I'll be milking it for days to come!"

"So fucking annoying!"

"If you find it so annoying just remember to never do a Saber yourself! Berserker, Lancer, my books, please?"


"Byakuya's demise was unfortunate but not unexpected", Zouken stated at the same time in the Einzbern castle. "He often had some trouble deciding when it was better to just keep quiet. Unfortunate is only that we have now one Servant without a Master. If Avenger does not receive a new Master soon, she will fade from this world. Now that she has proven herself to be this useful, it would be such a pity, wouldn't it?"

"I'll take her", decided Pest at once without any hesitation-The declaration came so fast that it prompted his brother Death to sigh and his second brother Famine to let out some small laughs. His third brother, War did not really care either way.

"You do realize that if you went through with this, both of your Servants would be weakened this way, right?", asked the gray-clothed Master of Saber for confirmation.

As Pest's own Servant, the reaction of the Knight of the Bow was a lot more vocal.

"We don't need her!", the gunner declared. "I am really supposed to share my power with someone like her?!"

"She did a lot better against Archer of Red than you did", pointed Brawler of Black out, looking really smug as he said this thanks to his goatee. "I wonder if you would be able to do the same if you had the same resources as her?"

"Of course!", he raged but Famine just shook his head.

"Don't bother", he interrupted chuckling. "Pest won't budge on this. He llllikes her!"

The dead apostle made sure to roll the "like" for added emphasis.

The brother in question looked down and a black taint appeared on his cheeks. Death on the other hand let out another sigh. But this time it was one of relief. Listening to Famine now, it really looked like the trauma he got from the Euangelion Ioudas (Gospel of Judas) had been only temporary. Throwing a glance towards War, he could see an annoyed scowl on his face. Good. So while he was still silent, he, too, seemed to have overcome the worst. He was so glad…

"El-Melloi managed to split up the Master contract so that the person providing the prana and the person holding the Command Seals were two different ones", Pest voice broke him out of his musings as he tried to convince the current Master of Rider. "Can't we do the same?"

"Are you thinking about her?", inquired Zouken and Pest nodded. "Well, I can't promise anything but I think it would be quite interesting to try. For now, it would be good if you were to make a normal contract."

Pest nodded and held out his hand towards Avenger of Black.

"I hereby propose.

You shall come under my command and your blade shall control my fate.

If you accept my will and reason, answer me under the summons of the Holy Grail!"

"Fine", responded the winged Servant unenthusiastically, followed by a sigh. Pest's Command Seals glowed and bound the contract but he did not receive any new ones. Yet the dead apostle could not bring himself to care much about that. He had noticed her lackluster response and looked towards her with worry in his eyes.

"Good", concluded Zouken, "then I will research a way to alter the summoning contract. "Anything else to mention? No? Then you are dismissed."

That was the moment that Death noticed that Zouken had become the leader of their team for real. Though while he would usually object to being under someone else, he could not deny the effectiveness of Zouken's strategy. That Byakuya died was his own fault, for sticking out his neck where he shouldn't. So for now, until the red team was defeated, he would accept him as their leader.

Like usual Saber didn't notice the thought process of his Master but this time it was because he himself was occupied. Unconsciously he grabbed his shoulder, or to be precise, the place where Saver had hit him. For the first time they had fought against each other for real, neither holding anything back.

Angra Mainyu's attacks had been fierce and unpredictable, only his high reaction speed had saved his life. And his adversary had been fast, too fast for him to activate Barmāyeh (Ox-Headed Mace) even once in the close quarters that they had fought. And the way he used the three dimensions in their fight… yes! This was exactly what he expected from his archenemy! It was such a pity that at one point he created an explosion of sound to ran away once again. Nevertheless, for now he was satisfied. They would meet one more time and then they would hopefully finally finish what they started today.


Avenger of Black went to pick up some empty cardboard boxes before going into her old Master's room. Methodically she began to pack all of his belongings. She had only tidied up the day before, so the amount of trash and empty bottles was rather small. So was the amount of actual personal things he owned. It didn't take long to clear out the room and fill the boxes. After she had finished, she went to get a broom. But before she could venture out of the room, her way was blocked by Pest who stood in the door frame. The dead apostle took one look at the room before resting her eyes on her.

"Please step aside", Avenger asked of her current Master but he did not budge.

"Are you alright?", he asked her and she just looked at him emotionless.

"There is nothing wrong", she answered. "Now step aside."

But when she tried to push him away, he grabbed her hand.

"You lie", he noted, "what is troubling you?"

"I don't know how that is important to you", she coldly responded and freed her hand out of his grasp.

"I am your Master", he explained, "also… I care for you."

"Don't bother. I already had a boyfriend when I was alive."

"Even if your boyfriend was here… I would want to help you… and your boyfriend… isn't here!"

Avenger turned away.

"There is nothing you can do to help me!"

Pest wasn't convinced.

"Try me!", he demanded.

She snorted.

"Fine", she conceded. "If you want to help so badly, why don't you answer this one question: Is the Holy Grail corrupted?!"

Pest blinked dumbfounded.

"Wa-?", escaped his mouth and Avenger laughed.

"And that is the reason why I do everything on my own. You just can't trust anyone else."

"Who… who told you this?", he inquired aghast.

"Archer of Red."

"But he is an enemy", he pointed out, "he killed Byakuya."

"Do you think I don't know?!", she raged. "Do you really think I didn't think about any of this?! But you weren't there! You weren't there when he looked at me with his eyes full of pity! When he looked at me like I embodied his past failures! When he spoke about Angra Mainyu corrupting the Grail and his desire to kill him for it! Or when he looked at me with utter contempt while talking about the innocent who died today! How can I continue to fight, to add all these sins onto me, if I don't even know, if there is even a price? Tell me!"

By the last sentences tears had started to fill her eyes as all the frustration and helplessness came out once more. Pest looked at her. He intensively stared at her before coming to a conclusion:

"You believe him." It wasn't a question. "And I believe you." Avenger stopped crying and looked up. "But I cannot believe Archer. I cannot stop my search for the Holy Grail because of the words of an enemy which might just have been a psychological attack."

Avenger laughed dryly.

"Of course not."

But Pest wasn't finished, yet:

"But I will not ignore the possibility of the Grail being corrupted. Which is why we need to find out the true nature of the Grail ourselves."

Avenger stared at him aghast.

"You want to what?"

"If we cannot trust the accounts of other people, we have to see it with our own eyes. But before we can look at the Grail... it first would had to manifest itself."

"And to do that I would first had to defeat all the other Servants", Avenger commented. "How convenient."

"Yes", agreed Pest, "however, we will reach for the Grail in a way that you won't leave any regrets behind. I'll make sure of it!" He held his hand out towards her. "Trust me."

Avenger couldn't place it, but hearing the words of the dead apostle, she actually wanted to believe him.

"Fine", she accepted his offer, actually feeling a bit more at peace thanks to his encouragments. But Pest wasn't satisfied, yet.

"No, not 'fine'", he denied her. "I don't want to hear a 'fine'. I want to hear that you really mean it!"

Perplex she looked at him. For some reason his image overlapped with someone she knew, a shadow of the past. A gray-feathered angel like her. One which she had pushed away.

'Right', she acknowledged in her mind. 'I am sorry, Rakka. I should have listened to you. I promise you that I won't push anyone away ever again!'

She steeled her resolve and then spoke the words out loud:

"Please, help me!"

Suddenly Pest's Command Seals glowed in a bright light. And not just the usual red glow, no, the light this time was pure white.

"What-what's going on?!", exclaimed Pest in panic, as the light intensified before suddenly breaking off in white shards like glowing porcelain. Mesmerized Pest tried to capture one but they dispersed into white dust.

"What just happened?", wondered Pest dumbfounded while Avenger stayed silent. Pests Command Seals had returned to normal. However…

"…our connection", noticed Pest panicking. "It got broken!"

"No", interrupted Avenger. She… she felt free. As if all her burdens had been taken away from her. Instinctively she knew what happened. "I've been forgiven." So that was all it took… I am really sorry, Rakka.

"Thank you", she addressed Pest. "Thanks to you, my wish finally has been fulfilled."

"Your wish?", wondered Pest, before recognition filled his eyes. "Your sins are gone?! ...then what happens now?!"

"Now, I will have to say good-bye."

His eyes widened.

"Already?"

"Yes." She hugged him, making him even more confused. "After all this time my Day of Flight has finally come. Thanks to you." She released him again. "Now, please close your eyes. It is tradition that a haibane vanishes unnoticed when her Day of Flight comes."

Pest stared at her aghast. He didn't completely understood what was going on. There were still so many things he wanted to ask and tell her… but he did not. When he looked at her face, at how happy she was, he felt that all these things didn't matter. So instead he just smiled and closed his eyes.

"Good-bye", he whispered. He heard the sound of small footsteps and when he opened his eyes again, she was gone.


At the Fuyuki Temple a young boy walked around the temple ground. When he had woken up he had felt the unimaginable urge to go to the restroom. He had wanted to go back to sleep right away, when a sudden gut-feeling made him go to the front gate. There he noticed some light coming up the stairs towards the temple.

First he thought it belonged to a lantern, but he quickly dismissed the thought. The light was way too steady and clear to belong to some fire. It also couldn't belong to a flashlight, since it was just so big!

Curiously he walked closer. Looking down the stairs he saw a great bright body of white light. Squinting his eyes, he could make out a person in the centre of the light – no the person was the one creating the light! It was a young woman with long white glowing hair and, as far as he could tell with no clothing on her body, whatsoever. But her most striking features were the two pure white feathery wings on her back and the glowing halo on top of her head. His eyes widened at the sight. Could she possibly be an angel or a god?!

The boy stood still as a statue as she slowly, step by step walked up the temple stairs. And as she noticed him standing there, she just smiled at him. She never slowed down but she neither sped up. She walked each step in the same pace as she did before. And suddenly, the boy hadn't even noticed it, she stood right in front of him. Before he could react, she stretched out her hand and ruffled his hair.

"Close your eyes", she told him as she walked beside him and took the final step on the stairs towards the temple. Suddenly her wings spread out from her back wide and her body erupted into an even brighter white light. The boy had to close his eyes less he was blinded as a pillar of light ascended towards the sky, pushing away all the clouds in its wake.


Saver of Red stormed out of his room where he had just read The Daily Universal Register (The Londoner Times). Brawler, Volquart and Avenger looked up, surprised at the distraught expression on his face.

"What is the matter, Saver", wanted Akage to know. His Servant's gaze landed shortly on him, before quickly going over to the other two Servants.

"Tell me, you've felt this, too!", he addressed them.

"What? Felt what?", wondered Avenger. Brawler had kept silent and closed her eyes, before suddenly opening them wide again.

"Now I feel it!", she confirmed. "What is that?"

"I have felt this only once", commented Archer of Red, who, supported by his crutch, had come in just at this moment. "And that was the angel Gabriel."

Avenger spluttered and Saver looked at him aghast.

"Gabriel?!", the irregular Servant repeated. "What the hell – I mean – what the heaven is Gabriel doing here?!"

Archer turned to face him.

"You've met Gabriel?!", he inquired with narrowed eyes.

"No, I haven't", Saver responded, looking at Archer as if the Servant was dumb. "What gave you that idea?!"

The Knight of the Bow abstained from arguing with the other Servant as his Master made himself known through their psychic connection.

'What is it, Master?'

'Kirei had just reported', Tokiomi answered. 'Avenger of Black's name has left the Spirit Board.'


Shortly before Avenger of Black's name vanished from the Spirit Board, everything was quiet in the Akaji residence. Only some insects could be heard. Nothing seemed out of place. The Akaji couple as well as their daughter Hana slept soundly in their beds. None of them had even noticed any of the events that had transpired this night.

But suddenly there was a movement in Hana's small room. Not from Hana herself, but from her small pet rock that sat on her windowsill. It suddenly started to roll over to the window and go right through the class without damaging it in the process. It was as if either the glass or the stone wasn't even there.

Outside it suddenly started to levitate upwards. It didn't stop until it reached the roof of the small house where it then sat itself down. Then suddenly, the stony surface shifted and revealed a big round red eye with a black pupil in the shape of a four-jagged star. Its gaze was pointed directly towards the place where a pillar of light reached the heavens.


Saver of Red couldn't believe it. First there had been the mysterious pulse which, as far as Archer of Red was concerned, had the same feeling as the archangel Gabriel. When he had asked Lancer of Red for a window in the direction the pulse had come from – in which he knew lay the Fuyuki Temple – they had seen this giant beam of light that reached from heaven to earth. As if an angel had suddenly decided to descend. But then there was the fact that at the same time Avenger of Black's name vanished from the Spirit Board. Yet none of them had anything to do with it.

Now, the most obvious reason for that would have been the black team refusing to give her a new Master, resulting in her prana running out and she vanishing. However, she had proven to be a capable fighter and so they would not let her vanish just like that. Not if they could use something like a homunculus to keep her anchored.

And then there was the fact that she looked so much like an angel, already. Her looks, together with the feeling from the pillar of light, were just too much to be considered a coincidence. So, an angel came down and she vanished right afterwards.

But what exactly happened? If it had been Azrael who had went down, he could explain her absence. Maybe even with Raguel or Camael. But Gabriel?! As far as he knew that guys role was to talk, nothing more. He wouldn't go down just to punish some pseudo-angel. So, what the heaven was so important to talk about that Gabriel himself bothered to contact the pseudo-angel whose Noble Phantasm was literally an embodiment of sin?!

Wait! Sin? That's it! This wasn't a descent! It was an ascension! For some reason or another the sin-bound Avenger had been forgiven and was allowed to heaven! And the reason why it felt like Gabriel was because A, he was the one opening the path, which wasn't that likely considering something like that would be more Zadkiel's job, or B, because she was similar enough to Gabriel that Archer confused her with him.

Saver chuckled. If that really was what happened, he would know at last four guys who would be really jealous of her right now. Maybe he should call them just to rub it into their faces, not that Foggy would answer him, mind you.

But Saver's good mood didn't hold on for long as his gaze fell back to The Daily Universal Register (The Londoner Times) he had left on the table. Sighing he sat down and once more read the fight of Saber of Red versus Archer, Lancer, Rider and Berserker of Black. He already gone through the same passage countless times, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't get anything out of it that he hadn't already known.

Well, there was the fact that Archer had the skill Crafting which was useful to know but it only meant that Archer could get bigger guns to use with his Noble Phantasm without having to buy them. Berserker was still the Demon Child with the blue flames and they had already known that Lancer could open a Corridor of Darkness in Reality Marbles, so nothing new there. Neither regarding Rider's abilities or his foul beast… wait! Foul beast? Wasn't there something about that… damn, it! It was maddening! It was as if he knew about that Phantasmal Beast but something prevented him from reaching the information in question… well, let's see if he could circumvent that! But first…

Saver took out a book and activated it:

"Kitāb ʾalf layla wa-layla (One Thousand and One Nights)!"

Nothing seemed to happen but then he started to speak loudly towards himself:

"Once upon a time there was a certain village. It was a completely normal village with completely normal people, living their completely normal everyday lives. The people there differed only in one major aspect from all the other people on the earth: They believed that they were born as sinners and to be free of sin, they had to find someone else to receive their sins, someone to become a sacrifice for them all. So they randomly took one member of their village and declared him the manifestation of All the World's Evil. They wrote all of humanities sins on his body, bound him and tortured him day for day. But he was not allowed to die of natural causes so that after his natural death he would take all their sins with him, saving them in the process.

Now it just so happened that one day a visitor reached the village. But this one was no human, no, it was the trickster and spider god Ananse. As the gatherer and keeper of stories, he was intrigued by the villager in chains and the story of how he came to be bound. Smelling an even greater story, he made a deal with the sacrifice: If the villager managed to find him, he would grant him part of his authorities, the abilities of Divine Spirits to effect the nature around them by right alone.

Alas it wasn't meant to be and the sacrifice died before he could escape. Ananse thought this was the end of his story, but he was wrong. The wishes of all the other villagers who wanted this one to become All the World's Evil, combined and turned the sacrifice into Angra Mainyu, the evil spirit of Zoroaster.

Imagine Ananse's surprise as he watched some people try to summon Satan, and instead the sacrifice came forth from the dead. Having technically found him, even if it was by accident, Ananse had no choice but to fulfill his end of the bargain. So he gave him the ability to draw written texts towards him, comprehend and copy them faster than humanly possible and use them how he pleased."

After that attempt on story telling, Saver closed Kitāb ʾalf layla wa-layla (One Thousand and One Nights) and took out another book:

"Bai Zé Tu (11520 Beasts)!"

Intensively he stared at the letters as he flicked through the pages in a speed faster than he should have been able to make out the contents. Until he suddenly stopped and smashed the book on the table, his flat hand forcing the book open. On the left page was a small picture of Rider's mount. A scary smile made its way onto his face.

"Gotcha!", he whispered with glee. "So, Fellbeast (The Dreadful Hawk), huh? Strong grip and bite. Mediocre endurance. Extreme speed and agility while in flight. Looses a lot of their mobility while on ground. Foul breath. Not native to this world. Commonly found in… Middle-Earth? Wasn't there…"

He took out another book. It was inconspicuously brown and the only distinctive feature was some kind of ring on the cover page.

"Well", Saver decided, "let's read a book!"


A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

For the first time a Servant is not taken out of the Holy Grail War because he got killed, but because he found no reason to continue anymore. Now while I usually don't think a Servant would really revoke its participation from the fight just like that, Avenger of Black has special circumstances, namely being a haibane. This chapter also shows without a doubt where this Avenger differs from her canon version.

Though I feel kinda bad for Pest. He just lost his crush, after all.

Lastly, I would like to point out that neither Archer nor Saver of Red have experience with a lot of different kind of angels and thus could not differentiate them by how they feel. Though because Saver doesn't know about his past, he is assuming Archer can.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku


CLASS/TITLE: Avenger of Black

Master: Matou Byakuya
True Name: Reki
Origin: Haibane Renmei
Sex: female
Strength: E
Endurance: E
Agility: E
Mana: E
Luck: E-
Noble Phantasm: C

Class Abilities

none

Skills

Deadly Everyday Life: C
Can make any object that wasn't created to kill people but is able to into a Noble Phantasm of Rank D as long as one person alone is able to carry it.
Actions Against the Church: B
As someone who in her life has actively rebelled against the leaders of a religion, after being summoned as a Servant she deals 50% more damage to such people.

Noble Phantasm

Reki: To Be Run Over and Torn Asunder
Rank: C; Anti-Unit; Range: 10; Targets: 1
Summon the reflection of her sins, that rushes at the opponent and upon engulfing him destroys the connection of the soul to the body.


CLASS/TITLE: Saver of Red

Master: Akaji Akage
True Name: Angra Mainyu
Sex: Male
Strength: E
Endurance: E
Agility: C
Mana: E
Luck: E
Noble Phantasm: A

Class Abilities

Counter Hero: A+
Induces an effective 3-rank parameter reduction against any opponent that can be classified as a 'Hero.' The parameter-down effect is reduced by one rank in the circumstance that the opponent is of the 'Antihero' category.
Charisma: D
Leadership-skill increases slightly.

Skills

Human Body: ?
Saver doesn't need a Master to exist and has a higher mana regeneration, but can not enter spirit form.
Collector: A+
The talent to collect high quality goods.
Saver is capable of collecting all books and written texts.
Acrobatics: B
Is the ability to use acrobatic feats in air combat.
Increases agility by one rank as long as Saver is airborne.

Noble Phantasm

Euangelion Ioudas: Gospel of Judas
Rank: D~A; Anti-Unit/Anti-Army/Anti-Divine; Range: 0-30; Targets: 30 people
A book with 30 pages. One can sacrifice a page to achieve a supernatural effect that the user can attribute to "sound" or "holy". One can use multiple pages at the same time to increase the strength of the effect.
The Daily Universal Register: The Londoner Times
Rank: E; Anti-Information; Range: infinitive; Targets: infinitive
A newspaper that has all the noticeable events of the day before in it. You can roll it up to use it as a telescope.
Kitāb ʾalf layla wa-layla: One Thousand and One Nights
Rank: E~EX; Anti-World; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person
By telling stories one can influence people and the world around the user and the user itself; the rank depends on the users talent to tell stories and the emotions the people get when listening to their stories
Bai Zé Tu: 11520 Beasts
Rank: C; Anti-Information; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person
A book in which depicts every Phantasmal Species and gives detailed information about them, including how to ward them off or how to defeat them.