Fate Th(re)e Heroes
Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
A/N: Thank you guys for your reviews, Legends Storyteller, Shin XIX, Planeshunter and coronadomontes.
Chapter 52: Stories Without End
"I am surprised", noted Zouken with honest bewilderment. "I thought you dead apostles were actually more competent. Yet in all the times I've watched the Holy Grail War, I had yet to see someone lose their Servant in such a way. I don't know if I should be disappointed or amused."
War on the other hand was quick to chose his opinion.
"This is no laughing matter", he raged. "I mean, what the fuck, Pest?! You just lost one of your Servants for some sentimental bullshit! How can you be so calm?!"
"I…", began the albino-colored vampire but he didn't managed to form any more words. He wasn't calm. In fact, it could be said he was the complete opposite of calm. When Avenger had left, he had just gone with flow, not thinking about what do to. Generally, when it had come to her, Pest had acted and talked quicker than usual, brooding less about what to do.
But then, after she had taken flight and he somehow had to break the news to his companions, he had gotten really nervous. Just how was he supposed to face them? What was he supposed to say? Especially his brothers. They were all risking everything for this war and now one of their Servants had gone away without being defeated.
Yet he couldn't regret it. Avenger had hurt so much all the time because of her sins that he couldn't be more happy for her now that she was free of them. Even if it meant that he would never see her again.
Still, that didn't help him right now, as the rest of the black team became tangled in a heated discussion:
"Good riddance", decided Archer of Black, "why should I share my Master with such a weakling?!"
"That weakling was stronger than you", pointed Famine out but before the Knight of the Bow could retort, Saber raised his voice.
"As a woman of divine lineage, it should be her duty to help me defeat all my enemies!", he declared. "That she would run away like that is simply unforgivable!"
"It wouldn't be the first time she wouldn't follow orders", added Brawler his own opinion, "personally I would have erased her a lot earlier."
"What is done, is done", interrupted Lancer of Black who, upon getting his appearance revealed in the fight against Saber of Red, had stopped hiding his face under his hood, "it is no use to search a guilty for something that could not be foreseen. Just as it is no use to cry over ones fallen allies. Let us rather readjust our plans to account for the new development."
Death had to agree, not only out of pragmatism, but because that matter might split their alliance if they dwelled too long on it. But then, as he looked at the Knight of the Lance, he noticed something that actually made him completely forgot the issue at hand.
"Lancer", the dead apostle addressed the Servant, "where is the Spectator (The Eye of Five Visions)?"
At once every Master in the room turned their attention to Famine's Servant while Archer looked confused at the speaker.
"Didn't you had one of your crows get it?", he asked perplexed, making the dead apostle fill with dread.
"You're kidding", escaped Famine as realization hit him.
But it was Brawler who voiced the what he was thinking:
"You don't know where the Spectator (The Eye of Five Visions) is?"
"Wa-?", exclaimed War in surprise. "Are you serious?! We've lost the Spectator (The Eye of Five Visions), too?!"
"No", rebuked Zouken serious, "not lost." And then with bitterness in his voice he continued to utter the name of the one who was at fault for this: "Saver!"
Or so he thought. But funnily enough, the Servant in question had no idea where the Noble Phantasm had went. Still, it did not change the fact that some yards away in a random tree near a random street was a bird sitting in his nest. A bird that was singing in high spirits, as birds were known to do:
"Shiny, shiny, I've got something shiny!"
"You are taking this surprisingly well", noted a young woman as she studied the teenage boy in front of her.
She had straight dark blue hair that did not reach her shoulders, an average build and seemed to be some kind of scientist, as she wore the characteristic lab coat over her plain t-shirt and jeans. Further supplying that hypothesis were multitudes on computers monitors, cables and stacks of paper around her, as well as the swivel chair she was sitting in. Though the lack of experiments meant that she was either conducting them elsewhere or was more working on the theoretical side of science.
On the other hand, Tokiomi was sure that the boy in front of her was no scientist, since his characteristic unruly white hair and bored look on his face with the red eyes indicated him to be his Servant, Archer of Red. Yet, his most striking feature, his crutch, was still missing. The same went for the choker, which he had needed after receiving a brain injury.
"I am taking this well?", the Knight of the Bow repeated the scientists words. "What? You thought I'd be fucking angsting around just because I am not the number one anymore?"
"Yes", answered the woman bluntly, surprising the Servant. "But I am glad this is not the case."
Archer snorted.
"I don't need to become the fucking Level 6", he retorted. "I really only did this out of curiosity. As long as angel-boy leaves me alone, he could become fucking Level 10 for all I care."
"Is that so?", mused the scientist quietly, before continuing louder:
"Attention, please! Saver has requested a meeting!"
Huh? What was that about Saver?! And why did she suddenly spoke in a male voice?! A voice that sounded just like Lancer?
With a startle Tokiomi woke up.
"So, what is it now?", asked Archer of Red, just like always with an annoyed tone in his voice.
And as expected Saver didn't took this one without remark on his own:
"What? First you want me to postpone our meeting and now you can't wait to start?! Talking about bipolar!"
Last night Archer had been resting on the couch when Lancer of Red called through the castle and told them that Saver had requested a meeting. Since he had taken a rest and this was already their third meeting after they had their taxing confrontation with the black team and they had met twice before that, too, he put his foot down and demanded, if this wasn't a matter of life and dead, he should just keep it until the next morning. He got support from a big number of Masters and Servants, not to mention that some of them – like Akage and Tokiomi – had already been asleep and so Saver grumpily conceded to set the meeting in the next morning. Of course that meant that now he would not let the opportunity pass to make some fun of the others.
"Restrain yourself", reprimanded Brawler her Master, disapproving of his retribution plans.
"But I've worked so hard to figure out Rider of Black's identity and then nobody wanted to hear it!", he responded, while pretending to pout. Though one could see right through him as he couldn't help but smile at the now interested faces of the Master and Servants around them.
"You've figured out the true name of a Servant?", repeated Lancer with a raised eye-brow.
Kirei chuckled.
"This is already the second time he managed to do so", noted the priest happily, "I think with this he is currently in the lead."
"Saber of Black doesn't count!", Brawler proclaimed loudly.
Saver turned to face his Servant, his eyes narrowed to slits.
"Oho? And why not?"
"Because you knew each other already!"
"He is from a completely different alternative reality than I!"
"That doesn't change that you figured him out because he had a connection to you!"
"She actually has a point there", interrupted Berserker and Lancer decided to add his own two cents:
"You are also the only Servant who knew about Heroic Spirit-Complexes! We didn't got that information from the Holy Grail."
"I didn't get any information from the Grail", Brawler piped up.
"That's because I've summoned you with the help of Il Principe (The Aims Justify the Means). Your participation itself is already a cheat."
"You used a Noble Phantasm to summon her?", repeated Tokiomi surprised at Saver's slip of the tongue. "Then why didn't you say so when we first met Brawler? If you had told us, then Risei would have had no sound reason to reward your death with a Command Seal!"
After all, the only reason they prosecuted Saver was because they had assumed, he had tempered with the Grail System. But a Noble Phantasm was part of the Servant. So, no matter what kind of ridiculous powerful Noble Phantasms he had, they were his Noble Phantasms and thus he was allowed to use them. So, why did he not told them?
The answer came at once:
"Because if I had told you, one of my Noble Phantasms was capable of summoning Servants, you would have wondered how many of my other many Noble Phantasms are capable of similar feats. And you might have teamed up to take me out just in case. This way you thought I was using a loophole instead and by using Schindler's Liste (One Who Saves One Person Saves the World) to stop Risei, I conveyed the message, that I wouldn't be able to deal with so many Servants at once.
Oh, by the way, in case you are interested, the loophole that a Servant can summon their own Servant actually exist. If the Servant in question is a magus and there is still a place open for a Servant. I guess that's what Caster of Black used."
"Anything else you want to tell us, before we can go to the fucking point of this meeting?!", Archer asked impatiently. Why it was not completely uninteresting what Saver told them, it didn't mattered for the duration of this Grail War. After all,
"if you still had another Noble Phantasm up your sleeve to summon a Servant, you would have used it by now, right?"
"Right", agreed Saver, "I can't call anyone else to replace our fallen comrades. So, as Archer wishes, I'll come to the original point of this meeting!
Now, just like me Rider of Black isn't really known by his original name but by his title, the Witch King of Angmar."
"Never heard of it", commented Berserker and all the other Servants and Masters had to agree.
"Well, Rider belongs to a group of special wraith called Nazgûl or Ring-Wraith..."
"Huh?!"
All eyes flew to the one gasping in surprise: Uryuu Ryuunosuke. Saver raised an eye-brow.
"You've heard that term?"
"I think so… but I don't know where…" Ryuunosuke had put his hand on his temple, as if it would help him remembering. In fact, he was thinking so hard, that the hand had already fused with his head so that thanks to his liquid body one could not make out, where one part ended and the other began.
"Don't bother too much", Saver told him, "I'll tell you! Every heard of The Lord of the Rings (One Ring to Rule Them All)?"
Since Ryuunosuke's English wasn't the best, it was the second part that jogged his memory.
"Oh, he is that guy!", he exclaimed happily. "Coooooooooooooooooooooooooool! I can't believe I actually got to meet him!"
"You have The Lord of the Rings (One Ring to Rule Them All) as a Noble Phantasm?", repeated Waver in disbelief.
He had never read it, but when he had gone to school some of the people there had been downright obsessed with it.
"But it's just a fantasy book", he continued, "and it isn't that old either! How did that become a Noble Phantasm?!"
"All Noble Phantasms are symbols and it is like the most well-known fantasy trilogy of the century", responded Saver. "Besides, I never said it was a good one. No, as a Noble Phantasm it really sucks. All it does is make you invisible to the naked eye which means that Servants can still sense your general area and the longer you use it, the more it takes of your sanity. Yeah, I'd be better off using runes."
"Then what does this have to do with Rider of Black?", wanted Irisviel to know.
"The Witch King of Angmar is one of the big antagonists of the story."
"Wait", interrupted Berserker, "does that mean that Rider of Black is a fictional character?!"
Saver stared at him blankly.
"Why you are so surprised about this?", he asked. "After all, we are all fictional characters-"
"Say what?!" Archer had jumped up from his seat, his usual boring look replaced with a mixture of disbelief and anger. "What do you fucking mean with we are fucking fictional characters?!"
"Yes, explain yourself", added Sola-Ui. "Are you really implying what I think you are implying?"
Everybody stared intensively at the irregular Servant in question.
"Well", he began, "considering you guys think that's such a big deal… I'm going to go with 'no'."
"I think it's a pretty big deal if someone claims that your entire life is just a story made up by some unknown guy", Lancer commented.
"It is not really that different from some religions", pointed Kirei out while Ryuunosuke added his own two cents.
"I always knew that God was the biggest entertainer of them all!", he proclaimed, not bothered in the slightest. Archer's head snapped towards him.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!", he asked the Master. "All the things I went through, all the people I've killed, all if it is just supposed to be on the whims of an storyteller?!"
Saver sighed, redirecting his attention back to him.
"Yep, that confirms it", he noted, "you guys completely misunderstood me."
"Then what did you mean", inquired Irisviel, wanting to quickly defuse the situation.
Saver cleared his throat.
"Well, how familiar are you with the Second Magic, the Kaleidoscope?"
"What has a children's toy to do with it?", wondered Brawler.
Saver just looked at her dumbfounded before he sighed again.
"Right. Do you know about the multiverse theory?"
"Oh, yes. So it's called Kaleidoscope here?"
"Yes, it is."
"But what has the Second Magic to do with the fact that our lives are stories?", wondered Akage.
"Well, you know every coin toss creates at last three parallel universes."
"Three?", repeated Irisviel and Saver nodded.
"One where the coin lands on heads, one where it lands on tails, one where it lands on the side and one where you fail to catch the coin and it goes through a crack in the floor, down the drain, gets snatched out of the air by a crow or similar."
Some of the people present rolled there eyes.
"Regardless, every single action, every accident, every single instance, creates two or more parallel universes. Sometimes the changes are small. Someone born as a girl instead of a boy, someone becoming a musician instead of a painter, heck sometimes two alternative universes really only differ in the result of one academic coin toss that changed nothing else in the world.
However, sometimes that one change is a lot bigger. In some alternative realities people messing around with genes gave people supernatural abilities, in some alternative realities there exist no thaumaturgy, in others the Age of Gods never ended. In some alternative realities all humans are green, in some alternative realities the world is governed by cats or dogs. And…" He looked meaningful at Archer. "…in some alternative realities people developed Psychic abilities through science."
"And?", interrupted Archer not impressed.
"Alright, that said, imagine someone, let's call him Mr. A for now. In one alternative reality at a certain day he went to go out and killed someone. In another he spend the same day inside, starting to write a story, instead. A story, about people who got Psychic abilities through the power of science."
"In other words", concluded Lancer, "you mean to tell us that we are real people from different dimensions that just so happen to be characters in stories from other alternative realities?"
"In a sense, but you are not taking this far enough!", exclaimed Saver. "People can come up with the most craziest shit when it comes to stories. And if one person can do it, there will be an infinite number of parallel universes where this person does it. Even without including how easy it is to create stories, I can be sure that every single person exist in some story in an infinite number of alternative universes! It's literally impossible for someone not to be!
Well, to be fair, that's only as long as the person is interesting enough to write a story about, but considering we are all either Heroic Spirits or people fighting in a magical free-for-all to the death, I think we've got that covered.
The only thing that's actually surprising is the fact that I can use the story about Rider of Black, The Lord of the Rings (One Ring to Rule Them All), as a Noble Phantasm in this universe. Though that works for us… yes?"
Brawler of Red lowered her hand.
"How does Fourth-Wall-Breaking facture into this?", she inquired making most of the Masters look at her in puzzlement.
"Fourth-Wall-Breaking?"
Akage was the one that voiced his confusion.
"Short, the ability of a fictional character to interact with the media or the creator", explained Saver. "Now there are two types. The first would be someone saying something like 'The creator is a ███████████████████████.'"
More than one person, namely the female adults and Waver, blushed deeply at the choice of colorful and descriptive curses while the aforementioned male quickly went to cover the ears of his confused Servant. The same that Irisviel and Volquart did for Akage and Avenger of Red respectively.
"There are ladies and children present", chastised Brawler her Master sternly and he chuckled.
"I'll keep that in mind. My point is that while I can say what I want about any potential creator, reader, viewer or similar, I can't really break the Fourth Wall, so I'd had no idea if or when the message hits home.
(A/N: It didn't. Thank you very much.)
However, someone who can really break the Fourth Wall actually can search for the worlds where people have made his own into a story and interact with the medium that it's depicted in. So someone like Zelretch could be able to break the Fourth Wall if he wanted to bother but knowledge of the Second Magic is not necessary to do so. In fact, some people I've met who where able to break the Fourth Wall never heard of the multiverse theory. They are like Kojirou or Okita Souji in that regard, using the Second Magic without noticing it.
On the other hand, when someone writes or tells a story about a character capable of breaking the Fourth Wall, you never know if it is an actual person doing it or not. It makes things so complicated."
"But didn't you said that all fictional characters were real?", inquired Brawler. "Then wouldn't there always be a person behind every Fourth-Wall-Break?"
Saver shook his head.
"I said that we are all fictional characters", he corrected, "that's, like, the complete opposite of what I said."
"How?", inquired Kirei, genuinely interested. "If the Kaleidoscope accounts for all alternative universes in stories, wouldn't it be possible for it to have a alternative reality for every story?"
"It's true that the Kaleidoscope accounts for every single possible", admitted the irregular Servant, "but what about impossibilities?"
"Impossibilities?", repeated the priest. "There is such a thing in the Kaleidoscope?"
"Two different types, actually", explained Saver. "First, the more obvious one, the rules. Every world works on a certain set of irrefutable rules. Though more often than not there is a difference between what you think are the rules and what actually are the rules, making predicting it next to impossible.
The second type is the people themselves. Or to be precise, their behavior. For example… oi, Shirou, would you please go ahead and kill Rin?"
"My name is- wa?! What do you mean?! Why do you want me to do that?!"
Akage was literally freaking out, thinking that Saver wanted to kill the girl. The same with Kariya. But the rest realized at once what was going on.
"No need to panic" thus told Berserker of Red told the two Masters, "he's just making a point."
"Exactly", confirmed Saver, "for little Shirou here killing Rin just like that is completely unthinkable. If Rin was in danger the possible decisions wouldn't be 'leave her be', 'kill her' or 'help her', they would be 'save Rin', 'save Rin' and 'save Rin'. And even the Kaleidoscope can't change that."
"But I wanted to make my own world", complained Brawler, making Saver pat her back in mock-comforting.
"It's not like you can't make your own world", he told her. "It's just that it's more difficult than you thought."
"Are you two fucking done, yet?", shouted Archer agitated, as he was clearly losing his patience.
Saver held up his hands defensively in response.
"What?", he responded. "I am just making sure that nobody's going to suffer an existential crisis! If you are alright with everything, I have no problem getting back on topic!"
"Go ahead", Kiritsugu told him, speaking up for the first time and stopping the Knight of the Bow from getting into an argument with the irregular Servant.
"Great", exclaimed the person in question, but warily Saver kept an eye on the magus killer.
Opposite to the others he hadn't even flinched when he had told them they were all fictional characters. He really hadn't thought anything about it when he said that though in hindsight he could have let the others squirm a bit more. It had just been so long since he found out and he never had been a real person to begin with so he didn't think about the potential fun letting that information drop could bring. Well, what's done is done. But considering the magus killer just had one existential crisis, shouldn't he be really susceptible to another one? Did Saber's sacrifice actually helped in that regard? Now that would be just ironic. Well, he would ask him later. Subtle, of course.
"Now since there is a story of him here, this means that he'll get strength and weaknesses from the story, regardless of what happened in his home world", Saver explained. "And in his story there are quite some. First his Weakness towards Fire, which is big enough to show up as a personal skill. And he has a rather big dislike for running water but he has no trouble flying over it. We already know about his Worshipper of the Night which increases his parameters at night time, not to mention his Mystic Body and his Noble Phantasm which makes him invincible. Though thanks to his Weakness towards Fire, his Mystic Body does not activate when attacked with fire and furthermore his Noble Phantasm includes both translations for man. This means that only human males won't be able to hurt him. Females and non-humans can."
"What about half-humans?", wanted Berserker to know.
Saver raised an eye-brow.
"So you're a half-human?"
"I don't know about the "half"-part but yes, I am partly human, partly Shinigami."
"Say what?!"
Saver couldn't hide his surprise and he wasn't the only one.
"That is a thing?", wondered Brawler while Archer was a lot more skeptical.
"How come you have no Divinity then?", he asked.
"That's because we aren't really Divine Spirits", Berserker responded. "We are just some souls that after their death got special abilities. They are just called Shinigami because they are tasked with guiding the souls of the deceased into the afterlife. Regardless, since I got my abilities when I was still alive, I am a special case."
"Ah, I think I've heard of you guys ", mentioned Saver. "Still, I don't think you should risk it. Considering you Shinigamis used to be humans we have no way of knowing if you don't count as Man. And Rider had never had to deal with hybrids so that's another Unknown. And since his Mystic Body still works even if you manage to land a hit on him, I wouldn't recommend to try it."
Berserker nodded.
"Yeah, I think it's better not to take any chances with that", he agreed.
"Unless you two are the last ones left", added Brawler.
"We should avoid this scenario", decided Kiritsugu and Saver nodded.
"Yeah, we should make sure that Brawler and Rider of Red do not die before Rider of Black", the irregular Servant suggested. "Avenger might be a female demon but I wonder if she's strong enough to kill Rider."
"Hey", shouted the irregular demon in question but was quickly silenced by one "Am I wrong?" from Saver.
"Anything else important about Rider?", Kiritsugu continued. "What about his mount?"
"Well, his Fellbeast (The Dreadful Hawk) is pretty much a sitting duck while on ground. Its bite, breath and charge are quite dangerous though. Other than that I can't think of anything else though I can give you the book to read through if you think I've might missed something."
"That would be much appreciated."
"But I'll be expecting it back soon. I don't want you developing a split personality and hugging it to yourself while chanting 'my precious'!"
"I don't plan on using it."
"Just thought, I should be clear on that. Since you as a sniper might get tempted."
"It won't help me to reach the black Masters undetected so there is no reason for me to use it."
"Good to know. Anyone else still having some questions?" No one piped up. "Good. Then you can go ahead and do whatever the hell you want to do right now."
"Cool!", shouted Ryuunosuke. "Avenger, Rin, Shirou! Let's play!"
"My name is Akage!"
"Oh, right, sorry, my mistake. Let's play, Akage!"
Illya had woken up to find the bed empty. Both her Mommy and Kiritsugu were gone. Beside the bed stood one of this castle's maids who told her that Mister Emiya and Miss Einzbern were currently in a meeting and would soon come back. Then she had taken her to the bathroom, before washing and dressing her. Like always this included her preferred purple shirt and white skirt, as well as purple-colored boots. Though currently she had slipped off the latter, showing her white socks as she was sitting on her back and letting her feet dangle, not having anything better to do. Granted, she could draw something or play on her own but she didn't feel like it right now. Luckily it didn't take long until the door opened and Kiritsugu entered.
"Kiritsugu!", she shouted happily as she hopped of her bed and ran towards him. With a smile on his face he picked her up.
"Hello, Illya, did you sleep well?", he asked her.
His daughter nodded enthusiastically.
"There was this big, big cake that I got to eat all on my own!", she told him which draw a chuckle from Illyasviel who had come in shortly after her husband.
"Mommy!", shouted Illya happy as she finally noticed her mother. Kiritsugu walked over to his wife and transferred his daughter over to her. After some cuddling, Irisviel put her daughter back on the ground when Illya finally noticed was amiss.
"Mommy", she addressed the homunculus, "where is Big Brother Saber?"
Irisviel's face fell.
"Saber had to go home to his family", Kiritsugu told her, "he is sorry he couldn't say goodbye but it was really urgent."
"Stupid, stupid, Big Brother", Illya pouted, "he could have at last said 'good-bye' in person… But he will come and visit, right?"
"When he has time", lied Kiritsugu. Even if Saber was still alive in his world, he would most likely not be able to come to this one again. But he didn't want Illya to be sad about it. For now…
"Illya, there are some people I want you to meet."
"People?", wondered the girl, tilting her head questioningly.
"Yes, people", repeated Kiritsugu as he took her into his arms again. "Children of… acquaintances, to be precise. I would like for you to play with them."
"I'd rather play with Kiritsugu", mumbled Illya quiet but not quiet enough for the magus killer to miss it.
"Don't worry", he told her, putting his hand reassuringly on top of her head, "Daddy will still be playing lots and lots with you. Maybe you'll even have so much fun with the others that you don't want to play with Daddy anymore."
"No way, no way", Illya declared loudly. "I'll always am going to want to play with Kiritsugu!"
The former Master chuckled.
"Okay, okay, I'll take your word for it."
Taking Illya by her hand he walked through the castle, past some knights in dark armor and other monsters, his wife right behind him.
After helping Illya put on her boots, again, Kiritsugu took Illya by her right hand, his wife taking the left. Then, hand in hand, they ventured through the castle, past some knights in dark armor, big blue birds and a multitude of other monsters.
But just as they were closing in on their destination, a door on their side was pushed open and Rin ran out of it. Surprised the girl stopped in front of them and Kiritsugu took in her appearance. Usually the cat ears where her only animalistic feature. However, for some reason this time her complete face was that of a cat. Her eyes and pupils, her nose and mouth. She even had whiskers.
"Wa, it's a kitten!", exclaimed Illya with sparkling eyes and clasped hands as she regarded the newcomer.
Rin blushed and forced the transformation back, turning her face human again.
"Hello", she greeted Illya, "I am Tohsaka Rin. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Illya was startled for a moment, before she reminded herself of what her mommy taught her and straightened herself.
"Ah, hello, I am Illya", she responded, doing a curtsey, "Illyasviel von Einzbern. Nice to meet you."
Afterwards she looked back towards her mother, beaming. Irisviel patted her head for a job well-done.
"Like she told you, this is Illyasviel von Einzbern, our daughter", added Kiritsugu. "I would like for you to let her play with you if it is no problem."
"No problem!", shouted Akage suddenly next to them, startling the females and with a 'Pyon' Rin's cat ears appeared again. "The more the merrier, right?"
The last question he directed towards Rin with a smile. Though the girl did not answer.
"Where did you suddenly come from?!", she instead shouted flustered.
Akage smiled and put his hands together, his index and middle fingers straightened out.
"I am a ninja!", he declared proudly.
"That wasn't an answer, Shirou!"
"My name is Akage!"
"What's a ninja?" The two stopped their children's squabble as Illya asked the question.
"Ninjas are totally silent and sneaky and stuff", explained Akage. "They are really cool. By the way, I am Akage."
"I am Illyasviel von Einzbern. It's nice to meet you."
"Right!" Akage took the two girls by their hands, dragging them with him. "Let's go to the others! They've already finished."
"Mou!", pouted Rin as she ran after her friend, the two adults following them. Soon enough Akage kicked open the door to another room. Inside were Matou Sakura, Saver, Brawler and Archer of Red, as well as Ryuunosuke and the Bat Company in the shape of the giant head.
"You are late, Rin", mocked the liquid form of Ryuunosuke, "are you perhaps tired? I mean, you didn't even found me!"
"But we found someone else", noted Akage as he pulled Illya in front of him. "Hey, guys, say hello to Illyasviel."
"Hello, little missy", greeted Caster of Red's Master.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Illyasviel", said the Bat Company.
"Hello", mumbled Sakura shyly.
"Hello, I am Illyasviel von Einzbern. But you can call me Illya."
"Hello Illya", said Saver and Brawler of Red at the same time.
"So, what do you want to play?", asked Akage the newcomer. "Hide and Seek?" But before Illya could answer the black-haired girl at her side interrupted:
"Not again", groaned Rin, earning her a surprised look from Akage.
"Huh, why?", he wanted to know, "don't you like it?"
"Of course you would have fun", complained Rin, "Sakura is the only one who ever finds you!"
"That's 'cause I'm a ninja!"
"No you aren't, Sakura is the ninja", corrected Saver, "you're a thug."
"A thug?", questioned Illya with wide eyes as Akage vehemently shook his head.
"I am not", he protested, "just because you used that Noble Phantasm doesn't make me one of them."
"So, you don't get the urge to strangle people in their sleep?", he inquired which earned him a slap on his shoulder from his Servant.
"Don't corrupt the young boy", she reprimanded him but before Saver could throw in a retort, Archer of Red showed interest for the first time since Illya had walked into the room.
"What Noble Phantasm are you talking about?", he asked. "Do you have a Noble Phantasm that can give someone stealth?"
"Yep, Confessions of a Thug (The Deceivers of Kali)", revealed Saver, "it gives the reader the skills of the thuggee. I am glad Shirou's finally starting to use them."
"My name is Akage!"
"Whatever!"
Archer stared at him in disbelief.
"So, you've activated a fucking Noble Phantasm just so that Shirou could win in fucking hide and seek?!"
"You are cheating?", exclaimed Rin shocked and Akage flushed as Saver laughed.
"Yeah, I am so proud of him."
Brawler looked at him accusingly.
"You are a bad influence on him!", she decided.
"I am not cheating!", responded Akage furiously. "Saver never used it outside training and Saber of Black makes everything gone, right?"
"Usually yes", admitted Saver, "however, thanks to the muscle memory you've got through your training, you've still got some of the skills. Not the Servant-level but peak-human, maybe even a bit more. The same goes for Archery (Its Theory and Practice) and Fior di Battaglia, Flos Duellatorum (A Fight Has to Be a Beautiful Dance)."
"So you are still cheating", surmised Brawler making Akage blush even more.
However, soon rescue came from a complete unexpected corner:
"What's the problem?", wondered Ryuunosuke. "As long as it's cooool, it's no matter if it's cheating, right?"
Akage looked over to him, noticing the Bat Company. Then he looked at Sakura and Rin.
"We are all cheating, aren't we?", he suddenly realized, making Saver laugh out loud.
"Finally you noticed", he exclaimed, "I wondered how long it would take you, Shirou."
"My name is Akage!"
"Whatever!"
"But that means we really can't play hide and seek with Illya", Rin pointed out.
"Unless we all agree not to cheat anymore", added Akage and Illya responded with:
"I don't like cheating."
"Then it's settled", exclaimed Akage, "now, do you want to be 'it' or do you want to hide?"
"I am the best when it comes to finding things!", she declared proudly.
"Then let's see if you can find us!"
A/N:
Hi guys and gals.
This chapter shows a lot how fictional universes and Saver's knowledge of them fit into the multiverse theory and Angra Mainyu's ability to summon characters from them as Servants. So, while it might seem a bit off-topic, I think it was still necessary. I hope you had some fun this chapter, regardless.
On another note, I had actually wanted to show what happened with the Spectator the last chapter but I kinda forgot to add it for some reason. Which is why I had to switch up the topic of the black team's conversation to abruptly.
Gashadokuro Amanojaku
CLASS/TITLE: Rider of Black
Master: Matou Zouken
True Name: Witch King of Angmar
Sex: male
Strength: B
Endurance: B
Agility: E
Mana: B
Luck: E
Noble Phantasm: EX
Class Abilities
Riding: A+
Creatures on the level of Phantasmal Beast and Divine Beast can be used as mounts.
However, that does not apply to members of the Dragon Kind.
Magic Resistance:
Skills
Mystic Body: A+
Any weapon that hits him or produced an attack that hit him will get destroyed and a curse will be placed on the wielder of said weapon. The body part that held the weapon will become unusable.
Worshipper of the Night: B
Increase all parameters by 1 rank if it is night.
Weakness towards Fire: B+
Increase damage taken through fire by 50%. Furthermore, getting attacked with fire does not activate his Mystic Body.
Noble Phantasm
Fellbeast: The Dreadful Hawk
Rank: A; Anti-Army; Range: 2-10; Targets: 30 people
Gigantic flying pterosaur-like Phantasmal Beast, capable of high-speed movements that breathes foul air. It has a strong grip and bite, but only mediocre endurance. In the air it has extreme speed and agility but loses a lot of that mobility on the ground.
Noble Phantasm #2
Rank: EX; Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person
Rider can only be hurt by someone who does not fall under the category of "man". In his case that means "human" and "male".
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
Il Principe: The Aims Justify the Means
Rank: A++; Anti-Unit; Range: 1; Targets: 1 person
Allows to summon your own Servant of a class not present in the standard rooster by using the exact same summoning ritual as your Master. Cannot be used by someone with a Good-Alignment. Can only be used once upon summoning. Cannot be used if the Master had summoned you with a catalyst only fit for you or added lines to specify the class.
Schindler's Liste: One Who Saves One Person Saves the World
Rank: D; Anti-Unit; Range: 0-15; Targets: 1 person
Makes it impossible for one person to putt a bounty on your head.
The Lord of the Rings: One Ring to Rule Them All
Rank: D; Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person
Makes you undetectable by visual means but the longer it is active the more it takes away your sanity.
Confessions of a Thug: The Deceivers of Kali
Rank: A; Anti-Unit/Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person
The reader receives the skills of the thuggee. This includes stealth, deception and strangling.
Archery: Its Theory and Practice
Rank: A; Anti-Unit; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person
Teaches the reader archery on the level of a Servant of the Archer class.
Fior di Battaglia, Flos Duellatorum: A Fight Has to Be a Beautiful Dance
Rank: A+; Anti-Unit; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person
Four manuscripts with pictures which give those who read them the depicted fighting abilities.
