Disclaimer: The following chapter was written by one of my Loresingers, Kat-2V, for a story he published that was intended to be similar to mine in structure. However, he decided that he would rather focus on other things, and handed this over to me to add to Saga. All credit for this goes to him.
Altria Pendragon was no stranger to poor luck, but even by her standards this was an entirely new low. That was all the more infuriating coming after how painfully close she had come to succeeding in the past war, how extremely well that engagement had been going until near the end.
Kiritsugu Emiya had been the perfect Master. Ruthless, efficient, pragmatic, and doing it all for the good of the many over the needs of the pathetic few. She had enjoyed her discussions with him, planning their engagements. True, her dragon's blood would have preferred to cut Lancer down by her own hand, and killing his pathetic Masters once he was dead had been somewhat wasteful, but it had not been anything she couldn't overlook.
And doing proper battle with Lancelot had been... satisfying. Not that she truly blamed her old Knight, her thrice-damned sister had played them all like a fiddle in their age, but he'd still been sloppy enough to get caught with his pants down and he'd known what the consequences would be.
Then... then it had all fallen apart.
Her perfect Master had betrayed her, forcing her to obliterate the Holy Grail, forcing her back to the moments before her death with absolutely nothing to show for it. Still, she was the King of Knights, a single setback was nothing to her, and she had willingly answered the call when the Grail had summoned her once again.
...to find herself the servant to Shirou Emiya.
...the son of a betrayer.
...a teenage boy who could barely provide a trickle of mana.
...a self-sacrificing pacifist of a teenage boy.
Her battles, short as they were, with Lancer and Berserker had given her some form of outlet for the rage she felt, but even those limited engagements had left her feeling drained and exhausted. Then, to add insult to injury, her Master proved to be the kind of cook who felt the need to go over-the-top with even the simplest of meals, forcing her to wait far longer than was actually necessary before she could even eat.
She'd eaten half of the snacks in his cabinets before he'd even finished breakfast, and then stormed off to the dojo to stew when the fool insisted on going to school of all the idiotic things. A school that would, at the very least, have one if not two Magi present, plus a teacher whose very existence declared him to a competent warrior.
Honestly, it was as if he was actively trying to get himself brutally murdered.
"You seem to be in a fine mood this morning."
Altria gave Archer an irritated glare as the man appeared against one wall, his arms crossed in his usual cocky pose. "How did that boy even survive to his current age?"
"I honestly have no idea." Her fellow servant actually smirked, "I take it you sympathized with my Master when she ranted about she would have won this war easily if you were her servant."
"We would have," she answered flatly. "I do not doubt that you are more than your appearance, but you would be no match for me at my full power."
"Lucky for me that you aren't then."
Her teeth ground together. "Did you do as I requested last night?"
"I had nothing better to do," he replied.
More grinding made her jaw begin to ache. "And!?"
"There is nothing in his workshop that would serve as a relic for you, nor could I find anything in this house."
That made her snarl as she spun away, black armor shifting as she began to pace across the dojo. She wasn't entirely sure why the other Servant had volunteered to aid her, beyond his obvious dislike of her so-called Master, but in her current state she wasn't one to turn down assistance freely offered.
Especially when it came to resolving the question of her summoning.
With or without an artifact she was certain that Kiritsugu could have summoned her; their personalities, goals, and methods were in tune enough to create a bond between them. Shirou, on the other hand, should not have been able to summon her even if Merlin himself had been guiding him through the proper rituals… they had absolutely nothing in common, which meant he must have used some form of catalyst to force her appearance.
The boy swore up and down he hadn't even intended to summon her, or anyone for that matter, and if nothing else the brat was painfully honest… which meant that Kiritsugu must have left Avalon in his possession. She had all but torn apart the tiny workshop as soon as they had returned, trying to find it, but had come up empty.
If Archer, who could at least go into a spiritual form and move through walls and ceilings, had not been able to locate it hidden somewhere on the grounds either, that left only place left for it.
Within the idiot.
"It's in Emiya then," Archer noted, gray eyes tracking her as she moved. It didn't surprise her at all that he knew who she was, her black sword more or less made it obvious within moments. She'd have preferred he hadn't known exactly what she was looking for, but she supposed it couldn't be helped. "Without it, he's certain to get himself killed, and even if you do retrieve it—"
"—he lacks the mana to even let me wield it properly." She growled. "Dammit. Leaving it in place is my only option."
"Unfortunate."
That was certainly one word for it, though she had several others she'd have preferred to use.
"...have you relayed my offer of an alliance to your Master? As our first battles proved, neither one of us can defeat Berserker alone."
"I did." He gave her a shallow nod. "It was well timed considering she was planning to murder your Master once the school day was completed for his foolish act of going there without you, or perhaps she was merely going to steal his command seals."
She paused in her movements, considering that. "Could she support us both?"
"Hmm…" The man scratched at his chin as he hummed, openly considering it. "Doubtful. Neither one of us is particularly low-maintenance when it comes to mana requirements. Even if she did take them only one of us would be able to be active at any one time, and we would be on very strict time limits in regards to fully utilizing our talents."
"Tch. Then we will have to proceed as we are, and as we are we cannot defeat Berserker. We need more allies."
Altria felt her black gauntlets clench around her sword as she followed her naive, idiot, boy of a Master on a mission to kill those with the greatest chance to aid them in this war.
"You still angry with me?" he asked as they reached an intersection, turning and giving her a pathetic look.
"Anger does not begin to describe my feelings for you, Master," she replied without stopping, an armored shoulder ramming into his chest as she walked through him. The Command Seal may have been compelling her to go along with this farce, but that did not mean she couldn't make the fool regret it. "That you followed my advice and guidance in creating alliance with the Tohsaka girl is acceptable, even pleasing. However your moronic refusal to join forces with Caster until Berserker can be defeated, and daring to use a command seal to force me along with this ridiculous plan is infuriating!"
"I will not work with anyone who harms innocent bystanders," came the expected retort, feet striking the concrete as he pursued her. "She's killed people!"
"All wars have collateral damage," she retaliated, not even bothering to look at him. "Did you believe that your father and I won the past war without killing? That I did not bathe the land in blood when I created my kingdom?"
"Kiritsugu was a hero of justice, he was nothing like you or Archer!"
She scoffed, deciding to ignore such inane babble as she spotted the third member of their team ahead. "Tohsaka."
"Saber," the young magus replied as she stepped forwards. "Hurry up Emiya! You're going to make us late and miss him!"
The boy stepped forwards, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry. Saber... didn't want to come."
Tohsaka may have had a hidden bleeding heart, but she wasn't an idiot. A glance was all it took for her to confirm that he was down another command seal. "...you idiot! Archer doesn't want to do this either but I wasn't stupid enough to force him!"
It probably said something that Altria was cheered immensely by the notion that Archer had likewise thought this a fool's errand.
"I didn't mean to use it!" The boy held both of his hands up in surrender. "We were just arguing and it kind of... just happened!"
"You accidentally used the most powerful spell available to you!?"
The girl continued to berate her ally as she walked past them, compelled to reach the ambush point by her master's order, the two children following behind after only a short pause. Their one sided argument, such as it was, continued until they reached the intersection connecting the temple's path to the city proper. Then Toshaka quieted down, dragging the boy into a bit of cover as she set up a bounded field with commendable speed.
If only she had been her master, things would have been... far more tolerable.
"Saber!" Shirou whispered, "Come on, get into cover!"
She gave him a glower but felt her legs start moving regardless of her personal opinions, the magic that animated the servant evidently deciding that following that order was part of his prior command.
No sooner had Altria settled down onto a single knee behind the wall then the boy gave her an almost pained glance. "I'm... sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to."
"Keep your apologies to yourself, boy," she dismissed him with a glance. "Your enemy will be here shortly."
"Assuming he even is Caster's master. He could be innocent."
Altria scoffed. "He isn't."
He gave her a disappointed look that bothered her not one whit, then stilled and lowered himself as a figure appeared in the distance. She watched the man approach, idly glancing at the children as they prepared themselves for battle. The pathetic master had drawn a shinai, pushing strength into its wooden frame, while Tohsaka settled a hand into the proper position to unleash a curse. She noted her other hand buried in a pocket, likely clutching a gem, then returned her gaze forwards.
"We're going to ambush Caster's Master and you're going to help!"
She turned the words of the impromptu command over in her head as the teacher's steady pace brought him closer, then past them on the other side of the street. Beside her, the girl had the patience to be a proper battle-magus, Altria would give her that much. She showed no sign of nerves or fear as she calmly tracked the moving target, licking her lips just once before releasing the curse.
...and Altria felt not an iota of surprise when Caster's robes batted aside the curse, the woman in question appearing beside her master before the pair turned to regard their would-be-attackers.
She only half-listened as the boy challenged his teacher about Caster's methods, rising and walking to one side as the conversation continued. The man's eyes locked on to her at once, never shifting away from her blade even as he corrected the lesser Emiya about what kind of man he truly was.
"That is enough." Her raised voice cut off anything the boy was about to say, and seemed to freeze Tohsaka in place as she prepared some form of spell. The girl had probably been preparing an offensive attack against either the master or the servant, seeking to take advantage of the boy running his mouth. "Your ambush failed, master, and a battle tonight would not be in our best interests."
"Saber!" Emiya's furious shout was entirely expected, "You heard them! We have to—"
Excalibur piercing the roadway, both of her hands resting on the hilt, interrupted his rant rather nicely. "Negotiate a proper alliance against Berserker and his insane master. Caster herself stated that she only killed before she had a proper grasp of the magic involved, now that she has done so she is merely weakening the civilians. Your complaints are childish."
He flinched, then rallied like the stubborn brat he was. "I thought you were going to help!"
"You ordered me to aid in your ambush," she corrected him flatly. "As I stated, your ambush failed. You have one command remaining, you may use it at your own peril."
The open threat made his mouth drop open, leaving him gaping at her. Which, to some degree, she could understand. Immature boy or not, he was still her Master, and the notion of betraying or harming him was one that was anathema to everything that her legend stood for. Betrayal, be it the quiet adultery of Guinevere and Lancelot, or the loud and reckless rebellions of Morgana and Mordred, was what had torn her glorious kingdom down after all.
Yet it was Kiritsugu's betrayal that had stopped her from being able to right those wrongs. Stopped her from being able to go back to the start of her reign, to do things properly, to ensure that her Britain would not be overrun. To ensure that the empire that her island would one day create would be ruled from Camelot rather than Londinium.
She despised the very notion of treachery... but that boy had no right to command her to obey his childish whims. He was a pale pathetic shadow of his father, nothing more.
And to save Camelot... it was not a choice. The emotions, whims, even the lives of a handful of foreigners in some distant future mattered not at all to her. What was their worth against the countless lives of her own kingdom, her own people? How many thousands would live if she simply dealt with her sister early on? If she could raise Mordred to be a proper heir? If she could force Lancelot to keep his damned dick within his armor?
No. There was no choice. Everything she did was for that dream, that second chance. For her kingdom.
"Caster." Altria raised her voice, ensuring it remained commanding. "Does your methodology leave you with sufficient mana to support an additional servant?"
Caster, who had been up to this point more focused on Tohsaka, twitched her head in the saber's direction and went still for several moments. Then she laughed, uproariously, joyfully. "Oh my! Here I had several plans all laid out about how I would steal you away from that little amateur, yet here you are offering yourself to me!"
She narrowed her eyes somewhat and called on her dragon's blood, black and red power dripping down her arms and sword. "I have conditions."
"Saber! You can't!"
He'd barely finished the protest before a flick of Caster's wrist sent a ball of pink energy screaming through the air in his direction. Tohsaka was quick on the uptake, flinging a green shield into its path, but her magic was no match for that of a servant's. The shield cracked instantly, and she only just dragged the boy aside before it could wash over the pair of them.
The glare intensified to the point where Caster clearly felt it, the taller woman flinching back and wordlessly holding up her hands in apology rather than launching a follow up assault. "Ah, you wish them to live? Is that your condition?"
"The girl is youthful and somewhat naive, she will not work with us against Berserker if we harm the pacifist." Altria corrected her. "As we will also require Archer's help, my first condition is that you will leave them alive until such time as Berserker and Lancer are dealt with. Once we have dealt with Berserker, we will establish whose wishes shall be given priority. My own is not one requiring great power, I think it likely we may both be given what we desire."
Caster shrugged once. "As mine is much the same, such requirements are trivial. I accept your terms, Servant Saber."
"Like hell it is!" Emiya snarled. "That won't happen!"
Sighing and rolling her eyes, she turned to face him. "If you would simply accept the logic of this action, you will walk away unharmed... but you will not. Fine, lesser son of a greater sire. Draw your little sword. If you defeat me, I will entertain your whims."
"Emiya! Don't be an idiot, she's—"
The boy didn't give Tohsaka a chance to continue, his wooden blade held high as he let out a war cry... and charged.
Archer stood atop a rooftop, watching as Shirou Emiya attempted to do battle with his own servant, wondering if he would even get the chance to break a version of himself. It didn't seem likely... this blackened version of his old servant seemed to be doing quite the job on her own.
"Slow," she barked, ignoring a strike against her armored shoulder before simply backhanding him with her gauntlet. "Weak."
He watched without emotion as the boy staggered back, blood running down from his nose as he recovered, working to get his reinforced little stick back up. Altria didn't even bother coming at him, instead simply keeping her feet planted, blatantly daring him to force her to move even a single step.
"Emiya!" Rin shouted from where she was sensibly staying back, her attention seemingly torn between Caster and the train-wreck in the middle of the street. "Dammit Emiya you can't beat her!"
"Watch me!" the delusional idiot shouted back, holding up his weapon in what might have been a threatening position with an actual blade. "Saber! I won't let you help her hurt anyone! You were a hero, weren't you?! A champion of justice! Heroes save people!"
Altria gave him a commendably blatant roll of her eyes, "Re-read your classics, boy. Your beloved heroes leave trails of bodies behind them, and how many of those they slew truly deserved their fate?"
Archer could only nod slightly in agreement, but his alternate past-self let out another furious warcry and lunged forwards once more. He had at least had the brains to go for her unprotected face rather than her armored body this time, something that helped him not at all she batted his weapon aside with a dismissive gesture before slamming the flat of Excalibur's blade into his shoulder.
The blow drove him onto a knee before her, something she must have intended as she spoke again. "Just because your toy sword does not break does not give you strength, speed, or endurance, boy. Man up and accept your defeat."
The words seemed to infuriate her opponent, sending him bouncing up to his feet as he began to slash at her head once more.
A flicker of emotion made him glance aside to see Rin's fists tightening, and he quickly sent his voice across their bond. Rin, don't! Caster will kill you if you interfere!
Archer!? His master jerked in surprise, started to jerk her around, then froze as she had the good sense not to search for him. I told you to stay at home!
As if I would allow my master to wade into danger without me. He replied, feeling his lips twitch as Shirou Emiya was sent flying back amidst a shower of splinters when Saber broke his weapon. Remember what she said. Saber won't permanently hurt him, she knows you care for him.
But we can't lose her to—
Rin! Whatever was left of his heart ached a little at raising his voice to her, but he had to be as clear as he could. I cannot defeat Saber and Caster together, and even if I managed it that would just leave us open for Berserker or Lancer! She has already made her choice. Unless that boy uses his last seal to force her to kill herself, we have few options.
From the mixed anger, frustration, and the tinge of fear she let leak across the link, Rin knew as well as he did that Shirou Emiya would never be able to give that order.
"...won't ever give up." The boy's words were slurred somewhat, his head shaking as he used his broken weapon to lever himself back up to his feet. "I refuse... to stand by while people hurt others for their own gain. I won't let it happen. I'll save everyone. I have to!"
"Do you?" Saber spoke as she finally began to stride forwards, lowering her weapon to let its tip send up sparks as she dragged slowly along the pavement. "A man who seeks to save everyone is a man who dies as a forgotten martyr, nothing more."
Archer felt that ache once more, unable to do more than stare as Shirou Emiya predictably planted his feet. The boy was a mess, his nose broken, shoulder and ribs probably broken, what was left of his weapon wavering as he tried to hold it properly, energy flickering as he foolishly reinforced what he could.
"I won't... I will never give up." He spat out blood. "I will protect everyone. That is why I survived, that is what I live for! I won't let you, I won't let Caster, I won't let any of you hurt anyone!"
Saber stared at him... then closed her eyes and sighed before holding an arm out, her fist closed. There was no time for Emiya to react before a flash of red and black mana shot out like a canon from his former servant, taking him across the chest. She must have pulled as much of the power as she could because it didn't simply turn his chest into bloody confetti, instead it simply sent him flying once more.
He flew in a mostly straight line, perhaps three or four meters backwards before crashing to the ground not far from Rin. His limbs seemed to hang for a second before dropping limply beside him, his body still as he lay in the middle of the street.
This time it was clear he wasn't getting up.
"Caster." Saber spoke as she resumed walking forwards. "Can you take his seal without permanent damage?"
"Of course." The other servant replied, casually drawing a small dagger from the folds of her robe. Rin shook with repressed emotion, only a second warning from him stopping her from reacting when Caster carefully drew a small cut across the back of Emiya's hand.
The magic broke with an audible crack and a muted flash, Caster preening a little as she stood, regarding the symbol now etched on the back of her own hand.
"Our pact is sealed." Saber nodded once. "Tohsaka, we will approach you when we have an appropriate plan of action against Berserker."
If looks could kill Saber would have been laying eviscerated upon the ground, but for once Rin kept a hold of her temper, no doubt keeping his words and warning in mind. Instead she merely swallowed whatever vicious reply she had prepared, then simply strode over and knelt beside Emiya, carefully beginning to check him over.
Avalon must have already been hard at work in the proximity of its mistress, and he groaned a little as she checked his pulse.
"...no..." The whisper was faint, but audible. "I... can't... no..."
"Goodbye, Shirou Emiya," Saber spoke as she walked past him, not so much as sparing him a single glance as she followed Caster and her master towards the temple. "You are a reflection of your father's image upon the water, nothing but an ephemeral copy, unworthy of his name. Grow in power, or you will remain nothing but a burden on your betters."
Shirou Emiya let out a choked sob, unable to do anything more as his servant departed.
I am sure you have a particular question on your mind, something along the lines of, "Why in all of God's green Earth did you use 'Altria Pendragon' instead of literally anything else?!" Kat intentionally wished to contrast the person that Artoria Pendragon is against her Alter self, and decided the best way to do that was to give her an alternate name. Try not to sweat it too much. He refrained from leaving any commentary here, so I will leave it be without much else from me.
I am, as always, grateful to the rest of my Loresingers for helping polish this up, though really there wasn't much to do. They are: Aberron, TungstenCat, Exstarsis, Kat-2V, KentaKazami, and our newest member, nd7878. Endy, as we affectionately refer to him, is the author of a story I plugged before, Afterlife, where Olga-Marie deals with a Singularity F that is far worse than canon and desperately summons Ereshkigal to help them get through it. It's really good, and having helped him a little bit with the upcoming chapter, I can tell you it only gets better. You should definitely go check it out, along with the rest of the Loresingers' works.
Your ending theme for this chapter is Burn in Hell by Andrew Hulshult.
Thanks for reading.
