Disclaimer: Caesar in The Saga of Shirou's Summons adheres much more to traditional Western standards of handsomeness than his depiction in Fate/Grand Order. If this causes you some kind of distress, you are welcome to skip over this chapter.
From the moment he met the boy, he could tell that he attracted danger. A man in blue was carving him into ribbons, and while he had seen many a young man die, this was different. At his core, he knew that this boy needed to live. So, he did what any good man did when given a target. He charged into action. Just as quickly, the man leapt out of his range, carefully sizing him up in the process. The fact that the man was capable of dodging his blow confirmed to Caesar that his opponent was indeed a Servant. "Oh ho ho," he chuckled, "you have brought your death upon you, Servant! For now is the time I shall crush you."
"Look out!"
Caesar glanced back with a wicked smile. "Oh, I know, my boy. We are going to be the best of friends soon. But first, this interloper must be dealt with. Lancer, I presume?" Indeed, he had to presume, as looking back to the boy had allowed his opponent to land a glancing blow, cleaving some skin from his cheek. Fast little bastard.
"Damn! If I had been a bit faster, you would've died just like the kid was supposed to." Lancer replied bitterly. "What the hell are you supposed to be, anyways?"
Caesar considered. "Your worst nightmare." He grinned. "I am a God given flesh, I am the man who conquered the world and the world could not see his vision!" He drew his sword, the blade glowing brightly. "I am the apotheosis of man's aspirations!" He stood a little taller than the other Servant, and he leaned his head forward as if looking down upon him. The garland upon his brow glittered in the light.
The Lancer did not take kindly to being looked down on, and responded to the taunt with another strong swing. Caesar could always measure a man by the way he would speak, fight, and most importantly, use his feet. It said everything about their preferences. He could dodge for now, but he needed an offensive option. He did not waste time with his weapon. He was not going to be swayed by words. No, only one language would speak to this man in this moment.
"Your Noble Phantasm is really something." Lancer commented with a smirk. "But it won't be enough. Prepare yourself, Roman." Oho, the Servant could tell that much. Perhaps the trappings and crown were too much. But in that moment, he could see what the Lancer was doing. He hooked his foot into the back of his spear, and the head glowed a bitter red. "Gae Bolg!"
His master had provided him a pitiful amount of mana. Not enough to be able to activate his Noble Phantasm. Not that he used very much mana, anyways. "You're one of those little Celt children!" Caesar derided. "Bring in your spear, boy! Let's see if it can harm my divine person!" He positioned his sword defensively, but it lacked its normal luster and beacon of victory. He saw the spear coming,
Oh the spear did hurt. It very much did. A bad gamble on his part. The Servant had called his bluff. Caesar took the hit, his armor and partial divinity saving his life. Crocea Mors wouldn't have even blocked the damn thing. But when he rose, muscles rippling and chest firm, he could see the utterly shocked look on the Lancer's face.
"Are you a Roman God?" The Lancer asked cautiously. If his legend was correct, the boy grew up in the generations immediately after his brutal domination of his little islands.
"Your spear has failed, little Celt. My thumb is entertained by your cheek and actions. If you leave now, I won't come for you. You've made me draw my sword, at least. You'll need to do something more to make me use it." He raised the blade, angling the untouched weapon towards the spearman. "So sayeth Gaius Julius Caesar."
"My Master is forcing me to withdraw. But this isn't over." Lancer grimaced, stepping back and hopping towards the wall. "We'll meet again, Roman!"
"I broke your entire coalition with one personal duel and four battles. What makes you think it will turn out different this time?" Caesar called after him. "Our first battle ends now, but I will be surprised if you can do better than Cassivelaunus!" The Lancer retreated, and Caesar only laughed. At least until he was sure the man was gone, and then he spat out a gob of blood. "Alright, my boy. You've done it. You summoned me," taking a look at the man who was his master. "You may call me Saber, though I am the Heroic Spirit Gaius Julius Caesar."
He was broad of shoulder and tall. He appeared resolute, and did not shy away from battle. The redheaded young man looked up at him with the utmost confusion. "What's going on? Why did he attack me?!"
Ah. This might take some time to resolve.
[Sleight of hand finds a slighted man]
Such was his first night of the Holy Grail war. The morning after contained much less confusing things. The boy was attending an academy. He would be there until late into the evening. "Master, would you mind terribly if I went exploring through town? I would be happy to meet with you once your educational requirements are met."
"I'm a bit worried about you looking out of place. You don't look like you can slip into a crowd."
"My boy, I know you have your job once schooling is complete. It would comfort me to at least assist you in that. Every moment you spend alone and away from other people is a moment where other Servants and Masters can target you."
"This Grail War is only supposed to happen at night when everyone is asleep, right?"
"Boy!" He gently gave his brain a nudge. With a ham fist. "Were you not nearly executed yesterday before the sun was down completely?" His tone grew soft. "I have fought wars and battles aplenty, my boy. But even I was killed in broad daylight by the men who I once considered kin. I will see you at your school once all others have gone away."
"Alright, Saber." Shirou finally relented. "Just be careful, alright?"
"I am the man who conquered the known world and left a mark upon it so strongly that even in these far off places you recognize it. I will be careful, for both our sakes." He paused, raising an eyebrow in thought. "What exactly are you learning in this academy, hmm?"
"Archery, math, economics, philosophy, history." Shirou considered. "You know, normal stuff." Caesar considered that the stuff of expensive Greek tutors. Normal, indeed.
"I will visit a library and see what history your modern world considers worth learning. These academies sound like the place armies could be made." Caesar sighed in wonderment. "I look forward to seeing it."
"Just be careful." Shirou re-affirmed his concerns as he left for school.
Oh, he was careful. He spent the entire day watching over Shirou's little school. He had a feeling that other Servants were, too. There was definitely one near the middle of the district, passing through. He could feel the charge in the air, and the wind dying. The scent of ash on the wind, the precursor to a dangerous meeting. He wasn't capable of presence concealment, and he didn't particularly care to hide himself anyways. So, he went looking. He was dressed like any other man on the street. Other than his hair and physique, he fit in along with everyone else. He saw her at the same time that she saw him. She was at a cafe, reading a book. Supposedly. He knew that she had him in her sights. If this were indeed an Archer he was approaching, he would have been dead long before he could see them.
And see her he could. A beautiful woman, standing out from the crowd. She had purple hair that trailed to her ankles, and a comfortable outfit on. Some reading glasses adorned her face, and her eyes were far from human. There was no way she could simply disappear into a crowd like he could, though in his current class, that wasn't particularly likely for him either. "Wait, please." He said, holding up his hands. "I only wish to talk." The woman was about to stand, and he didn't want conflict. Not yet.
She did not appear even the slightest bit interested in his presence. "Tell me what you want." A cold hearted beauty, indeed. Her voice offered no warmth or playfulness. Certainly not like his dear Cleopatra.
"My master believes that this war does not need to involve the deaths of civilians and innocents. He believes in an idyllic and fantastical world where the war will be fair and honorable. He was already targeted for killing by a Servant before he summoned me." He glanced at the still clenched arm of the other Servant. "Where are my manners? May I sit down?"
She nodded. The moment he did so, she stood up to leave. "Would you give up the advantage so soon, my lady?" She stopped at that. "By my sire, Venus herself, I swear to provide you information."
"You see me as a tool." She said coldly. "To use and cast aside."
"If I wanted to take you into a love hotel, my lady, you would already be ensorcelled and in bed with me." He said, never doubting it in the slightest.
The other Servant twisted her head, hair tumbling like snakes through the air as she matched eyes with him. Her gaze promised death, and Caesar was fairly certain that he didn't want to play those odds any further. Her reply was a hiss between her teeth. "No more words."
"Not even the identity of Lancer?"
"Not even then."
"Then I most certainly hope we do not come into conflict, my lady. I won't apologize for my words, but I do not mean harm. I only intend to trade information. As Servants, we are asked to do many hard things, or things we do not agree with. I just wanted to assure you that my master means to keep the rules of the war, and to assure you that I mean to win."
The Servant waited, considering her words carefully. "Mine does not intend to keep the rules. Do not approach me again."
Caesar hummed a song in his head as the spectacular woman left. "Truly, I am a lover of women." He chuckled. "Oh, but she is not worth the might of Rome, not in the slightest." He bought something from the small cafe, enjoying the flavor of the modern world as he sipped from the porcelain cup. "Oh, how I love my home. Perhaps a visit to a library is in order."
His Master was in for a very tough war at this rate. Ah, well. Two down, four to go. One of these Servants would have a weakness to exploit. There was no way of hiding his own identity and he didn't prefer to. His enemies were heroes in their own right, but he very much doubted that they had conquered the world. Unless Alexander the Great himself were on the battlefield, he had no doubt to his success. With that on the mind, he ambled his way towards the school. Wearing the suit and tie of any business man, he passed by dozens of youths without even a glance. It felt odd to not be recognized on every street corner by one and all.
"Saber?" Shirou asked him. "What are you doing?" The young man was leaning out one of the second story windows above him, and his whispers were that of a farmboy. They could carry. Rather than have a conversation in the open, he stepped inside the school. Shirou met him in the pleasant location. If he had academies like this in Rome for the training of his troops, he could only imagine what kind of legions they would have been able to make.
"Coming to meet you, my Master." He said with a smile. "I've been through your town and it was delightful. The local sights are well worth seeing."
"Fuyuki City isn't known for—" Caesar interrupted that with laughter.
"Oh I was not talking about those sights." He sighed pleasantly. "They will be coming out of chests and rugs for you. I can already tell." He said, chuckling.
"Who will?"
"Women." He had to emphasize for the young man. "When your heart begins to—"
Shirou pushed his way past Caesar to a cabinet full of cleaning supplies. "I do not want to have a conversation about that with you."
Caesar couldn't help but laugh. It was long and loud. "Oh, my boy! You sound like one of my nephews. I like that about you." He took one of the mops that Shirou had grabbed, and began the work that his master did in this place. Together, they mopped and cleaned the surfaces of the school with vigor. It was companionable, at least. When they finished mopping the main level, Shirou took him aside to show him a small red seal, carved on the bottom of a pipe.
"Do you know anything about bounded fields, Saber?" Shirou asked him, looking curious. He tried to give him a serious look back, but a small chuckle bounced from his lips.
"Sadly, you have not summoned a Caster, boy. I know very little, simply that we should avoid them if possible. Magic was never my forte, though I can defeat almost any foe that we may face."
"Rin says that these are designed to kill people, to drain everyone at school so that a Servant can be more powerful." He looked at Caesar with some concern. "Did you make this happen?"
"I do prefer intrigue as a killer instead of the sword, it is true. But in this case these creations are of no part of me. But we can use them to our advantage."
"What?! We have to get rid of them!"
"Why? That does little for you."
"Because this will kill people, Saber!"
"Exactly." Caesar turned the haft of the broom to face Shirou. "The threat of death is enough. It breaks the rules. Involving innocents is not allowed, but neither is it your job to enforce those rules."
"But I'm in this war!" Shirou said, eyes roving. He seemed to be thinking. "Wouldn't it weaken our enemies if we took this tool away from them?"
Oh, this boy was a good one. The beginnings of Romulus in him, for certain. Appealing to his sense of tactics, he said, "If we cannot trap those enemies using this tool, then it instead only becomes a trap for us. This school has turned into Cannae, my boy. Only, I cannot tell if you are Gaius Varro or Hannibal Barca." He chuckled. "No, this is just one thing. While you've been at school, I have been going over the rules of this little war we are in," he grunted as he gave the mop a jaunty push, hitting a particularly bad patch of dirt, "and I have discovered that you might be the only one keeping them."
"How?"
"Women." A wide grin stretched across his features. "I am a lover of women, my boy, and this one was a Servant."
Shirou was shocked. "Did you sleep with one of our enemies?"
Caesar gave Shirou a dead stare. "I am not Mark Antony, my boy. They come to me, usually. No, we simply had a conversation." He looked around, sensing that feeling that a Servant was nearby. "It appears that someone is coming."
"A Servant?" The boy had good reflexes, clutching his broom like another would a spear.
"Yes. We should greet them amicably at the front doors." Caesar marched forwards, cape flowing behind him as he let his armor appear. "Diplomacy is the first flexing of muscles between great powers followed by squabbles over water, iron and valuables in between." He let his arms spread out, rolling his shoulders. "And then when all else fails, the sword is brought down."
"Um." Shirou muttered, coming to the doors and peering out the small windows with concern. "Aren't we already at war?"
"We have yet to decide the minutiae." He stated. "But there is always time." With that, he brushed by the young man and stepped outside. The doors opened quietly, and he looked around at the grounds. The Servant had not left, indeed, they were very nearly on top of them. "Come out, come out! If you hide from our sight, we can only assume it is to deny yourself the advantage of our company!" Caesar threw out his hands, palms open.
Shirou seemed skeptical. He was right to be so. A knife came flying out of the forest, and would have impaled Shirou through the arm. Odd that someone would aim to disable and not kill. "Behind me!" He belted, yanking the blade from the boy's arm. It had a chain on it, which he pulled. The other end of that chain came into view immediately. She was wearing black, and had a cover over her eyes, but it was the long purple hair to her ankles that evoked a response. "We meet again, my lady!" He grinned, as she came to a stop a few meters away.
She didn't bother replying, pivoting her feet and bringing the other end of the chain around. It never got the chance to hit Shirou. He stomped on it, pinning both sides of her weapon. "Tch."
"Come closer, mm? Rome itself would give you its mercy and friendship." Caesar let his free hand drop to his belt. To his sword, which he set his hand upon the hilt. "Or its judgement." He stood, waiting as the beautiful woman waited with him. "We can talk this out, of course. But if you make me draw my sword, this duel will be as good as over."
She tried to retrieve her weapon, and it became a question of strength. He flexed as he set his position, the chain unyielding. His arms and legs were sliced by the thrashing metal, but he held on. If this got free, it might hurt Shirou. He couldn't allow it, not when he barely had enough mana to draw his sword. A few cuts and wounds were well worth it to keep his Master alive. The metal post it was connected to bent, but held. She gave up after a few seconds, as he gave an arrogant smirk. He was stronger than her. But not by much.
"If you promise to never challenge us again, and do me one favor, I will agree to not report you to the rest of the Masters for breaking the rules." Caesar said. "My master believes in mercy." And he himself believed that one man's enemy was someone else's ally.
The woman stopped pulling, glancing back into the forest she emerged from. "We shall retreat." She finally acceded.
"Take a single step back and I shall report you and your fool of a master to the church." Caesar threatened. "We have already seen the seals you have begun to establish. As they are, you plan to use this place as a battleground. But if you are not the heroic individual I assume, you would use this to kill hundreds of children. Innocents that can hardly be considered safe."
Shirou stepped out slightly, voicing his own opinion. "I've already been attacked here by a Servant. If you want to prove your intentions aren't evil, show yourself." His master was a good one. A damn good one. "We don't need to resolve everything with violence. We both summoned heroes, after all."
There was movement by the trees, as another student made their way forwards. It was another boy, though, unlike his master, this one was less fit. He reminded him of Crassus, particularly the amusing way his face would skew when he was angry. "I'm not a coward. Emiya, I didn't know you were a master in this war." The tongue of a manipulator was clearly present, snake-like in his words.
Caesar turned to Shirou with a look at his wounds. He still stood strong. "Shinji." Shirou's tone grew richer with emotion. "Are you trying to kill people?"
"How are you a mage, Emiya?" The aforementioned Shinji deflected the question entirely. "How many generations does your family have viable?"
"I'm adopted, Shinji," Shirou mentioned, "and I don't know. We are both masters in this war, though. That's what matters. It's good to know I have a friend in this war. But I need to know why you're putting these in the school." Shirou paused to think. "I just know these kill people."
Judging from the look on Shinji's face, the friendship was not pure. But it was not his place to question the judgement of his master. "I come from a very old mage family, Emiya. If you work with me, then we can bring down anything that comes before us." A sly smirk wormed its way onto the boy's face. "You can trust me. My family has always been part of these wars, though we haven't yet won." Shinji seemed to relax, expressing himself openly. "I'm sorry about the bounded field. It's only a weapon of last resort, and the school is the only place I could think that I would have an advantage."
Shirou relaxed. "Okay, Shinji. Come on Saber, we can trust them. He's one of my best friends." With a grimace, he let the chain go, as it drew back to its very pleased owner. "We need all the help we can get if we want to stop people from dying."
Caesar took his bleeding hand off of his belt, sighing in relief. "So long as we get your arm bandaged up, Master, I will be pleased enough." He clapped a hand over Shirou's shoulder. "Any friend of yours is a friend of mine." He looked down upon the boy Shinji. He matched his smile with one of his own. It was the same smile that he gave Pompey when the man brought news of his daughter's death. "You are a most welcome ally, Shinji Matou." And he would be, until Caesar knew enough to decide if he would serve under Shirou's boot or die.
As they walked forwards, he swore he could smell the salty sand of Alexandria on the wind.
This chapter was written by Aberron, so he has the following to say:
"Caesar is very far from home, but please do remember that as a young boy Caesar convinced an entire pirate faction to hire him as their leader instead of ransom him. The man represented by Nasuverse is a perverse shadow of what his real self should be..."
This one has been in the wings for a while. Like Abe said, Caesar has been done a great, great injustice at the hands of the writing team at DelightWorks (as so many have!), so he took it upon himself to realize his historical self as it should have been known. As always, thanks to my wonderful team of Loresingers for their help.
Today's ending theme is War & War by Keigo Hoashi and Keiichi Okabe.
Thanks for reading.