DISCLAIMER: I do not take credit from the Fate universe and its characters. The rights and credits go to the original authors.
Read the notes in the first chapter if you haven't done it already.
This is my very first story. I'm confident in my grammar, but if there are any mistakes, then let me know and I'll try to figure out how to fix them as soon as I have time.
Hope you enjoy.
FATE/Oppression
-Arc II-
Chapter 7
Planet: Earth
Date: May 17 2020
Location: Private cottage – Outskirts of Boston (Lincolnshire - England)
(======)
"Hah... hah... hah..."
This was hell.
Gray looked over her shoulder, and saw a nightmare.
The house, destroyed. The people, devoured. The Magus, Jacob, murdered. Everything around her was now gone, annihilated completely by the flames and that monster.
Only one thing, one person, remained beside her. The Servant: Eric Bloodaxe. The Berserker was fighting it. He was fighting that creature with a bellowing roar and a mad scream of rage. She had no doubt of the Servant's abilities, but just looking at that... abomination of the natural laws, she felt her mind going crazy. She fought back a shiver of fear on her back.
The blackness of the body. The repulsive presence that permeated the air with every breath it took. The disgusting stench it emitted. The heart-stopping roar every time it shouted. The tremor in the ground as it stepped on it. All these assaulted her senses, overwhelming them like never before.
She felt sick.
She panted, desperately trying to quell her upset stomach, but all it did was make it more uncomfortable. However, she tried to remain focused. She had to stay strong.
It was all in vain. The Berserker suddenly crashed right in front of her, a deep wound on his chest. His axe flew into the air, falling far away from him. He was growling, and thrashing and snarling in rage and pain while a steam of blood and prana came out of the wound on his chest. The... the creature had overwhelmed him. It was too strong even for a Servant. Gray had to swallow a whimper of fear from escaping her lips.
The Berserker looked at her, his eyes wide and filled with remorse and solemnity. "R-Run, child," he spoke, his voice hoarse. Whether it was because of pain or his Mad Enhancement, she had no way of knowing. "Run away... n-now!"
Gray trembled, clenching her fists. She tried to do as she was told, but it was too late.
The creature leapt at the Servant, landing on him with a loud thump and biting his neck with a feral roar. He tried to fight and resist, he tried to punch it away, but he failed. The wound was too deep, the monster too fast. With a scream of pain and a fierce growl, Eric Bloodaxe disappeared in a dust of prana.
The girl trembled as the creature rounded on her. She took Add from the cage and it readied itself, becoming a scythe all of a sudden.
The beast that had destroyed the house was clearly no ordinary monster. It looked like a large werewolf, yet at the same time it was different. A normal werewolf was usually slightly taller than a human, with soft fur, sharp eyes and long fangs and claws. This cruel mockery of a beast intead possessed a horrible black, half-solid body similar to a coagulating and repulsive liquid, with two rows of teeth baring madly at her. It was at least four meters tall, faster and stronger than normal, and large drops of liquid dripped from its body, creating pools of corrosive tar on the ground. Its eyes were red and glimmered with insanity, drool hanging off its open maw as it howled to the moon.
Without waiting, the beast attacked.
Gray reacted on instinct. She felt her scythe dig into its neck, just as its claw teared her shoulder open. The momentum of its leap was countered splendidly, but her still immature strength was insufficient to fully decapitate the monster and halt its charge, resulting in an injury to her.
With a yell, she threw the beast aside, its corpse melting into liquid and disappearing into the earth...
…only to reform a second later with a creepy growl and a snarl.
She forced strength into her legs, desperately trying to keep moving. Without any treatment, with only her palm pressing into her wound, she felt her right arm going numb. Yet, she ran forward without stopping, trying to escape from the roaring beast. Her scythe, Add, was screaming something at her, but she didn't listen.
The monster leapt at her, nearly biting her wounded arm, but she threw herself on the left just a second before it could land a hit. The monster stumbled forward, roaring, and Gray rolled to the ground with a whimper of pain. Add fell from her grip, completely forgotten, and the girl remained helpless before the fangs of the beast and its vicious snarl.
The horrifying creature lashed its paw, and Gray screamed in pain as she was flung aside, crashing into a wall of brick and stone. Her shoulder cracked, the wound throbbed with pain, and the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. Then, her ears began to ring and everything went blank for a while.
'Is... Is this how I die?' she mused with tired panting.
The beast roared, running at her with jaws wide open and ready to bite her. Add screamed madly.
Gray felt a tear trickle down her cheek.
'Teacher... I'm s-sorry...'
The beast lunged.
She saw it lifting its right paw, and a flash of black as it swinged it down.
Then, nothing.
...
A body fell heavily to the ground.
...
'Am I... dead?'
No, she wasn't.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, not knowing when she had shut them before.
An arm gently lifted her upper body, allowing her to see her savior.
A man.
With worried eyes, he was asking several questions to her, probably pertaining to her injuries, but her hearing wasn't working. Maybe it still hadn't returned from its damaged state. She didn't care. Her whole world was occupied by that man, by her savior, and his gaze focused solely on her.
His face was uncommon. It could be considered as 'handsome', almost otherworldly so. So much so, in fact, that for some reason he seemed to glow and stand out greatly in her eyes. 'Rugged' was what she could call him, too. Judging from the arm supporting her, he was also quite well-built. He had copper-red hair paired with golden-brown eyes. Again, quite uncommon. And if relief wasn't fooling her, her eyes caught a glimpse of two other people behind this man.
But that was all she was able to analyze as her head was struck by a severe dizziness, causing her consciousness to dim into pure black.
Planet: Earth
Date: May 18 2020
Location: Boston (Lincolnshire - England)
(======)
Inside a modest inn in the middle of nowhere, a beautiful woman with golden hair sat down all by herself.
If one looked closely, her bearing wasn't one of the local inhabitants or travelers who came to visit the famous port and market town of Boston. They all had a similar disposition of curiosity and carefree, despite their differing personalities and habits, one which this woman didn't seem to possess. Instead, she seemed... clean, prim and proper, like the nobles of London or those living in castles or towns of ages past. Of course, sitting there, she still managed to make herself blend in, just barely, and the other occupants didn't pay much attention to her… mostly.
This woman was none other than Artoria Pendragon, the King of Knights. In order to blend in with modern society, two days ago the Clock Tower had provided her with new clothes to make her look less flashy and eye-catching than she was when she wore her usual armor. Now, the woman wore an elegant dark blue dress, along with a small white cloak that covered her right shoulder and arm which gave her a very breathtaking look. Her dress was elegant, with golden trim on the shoulders, chest and zipper, and gold buttons. She wore dark gloves, and long black stockings on her legs, along with a pair of elegant but practical boots. Basically, as mentioned earlier, she looked like a noblewoman formally dressed for an important event. Some people in the inn were glancing at her with intrigued looks, and a couple of men were definitely staring at her with interest and wonder. She paid them no mind. She didn't come here to be ogled by people, but because she had a duty to uphold.
Soon after, a couple of men stepped inside the inn and slided on the chairs in the other corner. Artoria stifled a smile at the sight of her Knights. Bedivere and Gawain had received new clothes as well, and now wore smart jackets of dark-gray color with white and yellow trim that matched both their look and her new clothes quite well. They looked stunning, in all honestly. Both of them ordered each a drink, the type unseen by her, but it didn't matter. Their drinks came by and they finished them. Then, they gave her a silent look and a nod before leaving.
Artoria nodded as well, before getting up from the table and exiting the door just after them, slightly apart to avoid people grouping them together.
The town of Boston was small and modest compared to the capital London. It was a port town, crossed by the river Witham, and full of old houses, modest dwellings and beautiful landscapes. Artoria much preferred this view over the overwhelming chaos of the metropolis. This kind of town reminded her of her past, her own town, her kingdom and the silence and peace that hovered through Camelot. It was a striking contrast to the continued sound of modern cities. The world had changed a lot since her days.
The King and her Knights gathered behind a secluded alley, looking around to make sure no one was spying on them. With their enhanced senses, they couldn't perceive any presence, neither from human nor Servants. It was then and only then that they exhaled a sigh of relief, starting to exchange information as agreed.
"My liege, there is no new information regarding the phenomena from two days ago, or the girl that's missing. The informations are always the same as before."
"I see," Artoria nodded at Bedivere's words.
She glanced to her other subordinate, but Gawain merely shook his head and didn't report anything different. He hadn't gotten any useful information either.
Regarding the phenomena they were talking about, she thought the timing was too perfect for it to be a coincidence or of no relation to the case the Clock Tower had reported to them.
Three days prior, a report came of an entire house located in the outskirts of Boston destroyed to the ground. Five people remained victims of the attack, the tenants of the house. It happened the day after Artoria and the others managed to defeat Jack the Ripper in the sewers of London. The murders and the serial killings in the city had suddenly stopped after the Assassin's demise; but right after the night had passed, this new disaster happened suddenly with almost too effective timing. Suspicions immediately fell on another Servants' fight because of the Holy Grail War. Because of this, the Mage's Association couldn't stand by and watch under this growing threat. Therefore, they had sent Gray – one of Lord El-Melloi II's assistants – along with a young Magus of the Association and one of the Servants who had joined their cause to investigate the problem while Lord El-Melloi II and the others rested after the fight.
However, after a single day, the report that reached London was terrible: their Servant had been defeated, the Mage of the Clock Tower had been found dead, and Gray had mysteriously disappeared without a trace.
Obviously, this didn't sit well with Rin, who thought of the girl as a little sister, and especially with Lord El-Melloi himself. The man snapped furiously at his colleagues of the Tower, blaming their incapacity, and soon after they immediately left in search of Gray, without a second thought. Artoria and her Knights decided to join them because of their desire to help. At the moment, their priority was to find out the cause of the disaster and somehow track Gray down. This was the mission.
Unlike Rin and the Lord himself, Artoria and her Knights didn't go straight to the former house site, but instead went to the town to conduct interviews and collect more information regarding what actually happened. A disaster like this... they needed to learn what was happening. When and why it was triggered? Who stopped it? How? There were too many questions, more than the King of Knights would like to admit.
From what their investigation had gathered over the last few hours, the disaster could only be attribute to one thing: a rogue monster attack. There was no doubt about it. People in town talked of screams and thunderous roars in the air that occurred during the previous day. Animal roars, too inhuman to be attributed to a normal Servant or a humanoid creature. This left only two hypotheses: either the entity responsible was a Servant with animalistic characteristics, or it was a monster. And since most of the fantastic creatures had disappeared from the face of the Earth since many centuries ago, the first hypothesis was the most plausible. Artoria was sure of it. And now that they had learned this, they planned on heading straight to the former house site to collect evidences and regroup with Lord El-Melloi II and Rin before deciding what to do. There was no time to waste.
And this without counting the most important detail: the Police reports said that a red-haired man passed through the town more than ten hours ago, right after the destruction of the house, only to disappear without a trace soon after. And he wasn't alone. He carried in his arms a little gray-haired girl with a dark hood.
This only meant one thing: Gray had been kidnapped.
Of course, all of this was only circumstantial at best. Before they could have certainty of the facts, they had to collect more definitive evidence. But all this still needed to be reported back to El-Melloi as it was. It was the only clue and option they could follow at the moment.
Aside from the unknown enemy, the other major suspect was the man who took Gray. If she survived, why did this red-haired man take her and leave without anyone's knowledge? Was he human, or a Servant? Was he running away from something? Or, sinisterly, was he responsible for the seemingly sudden attack three days ago? But what about the bestial roars, then? Besides, the fact that Gray had been taken away and the others not aroused much suspicion. Why everyone died but her? Did this man save her instead? Was she the only one he could save?
Artoria had no answers to these questions. She simply sighed.
'There's no use mulling it over now. Time to leave.'
Giving a signal to her faithful Knights, the three of them disappeared in a dust of prana and sprinted at top speed towards the others' position.
Planet: Earth
Date: May 18 2020
Location: Private cottage – Outskirts of Boston (Lincolnshire - England)
(======)
"…damn it."
Waver Velvet listened to Rin's muttered curses as they approached the barren and destroyed wasteland where the ruined house once stood. He ignored her frustration, strengthening his resolve as he strode undaunted toward the devastated remains of the cottage and the ruined garden. He was a man of culture, a Lord, a Magus who had seen and studied many things in his thirty-four years of life and teaching. He had seen battles between Magi, fights between Wraiths and beasts that shouldn't exist in the Real Side of The World, and even the results of a clash between Servants because of the War that suddenly erupted across the globe.
But this... this was a sight that even he had never seen before.
The whole house had been devastated. Nothing was left of it, except a large mass of rubble and tiles piled one on top of the other. The walls were completely destroyed, save for a single piece of wall completely ruined by the flames, and with obvious scratches and lacerations made by some kind of claws. The garden was also ruined. The trees were withered and burnt, with the soil rendered bare and full of ash and burns due to obvious signs of flames and fire. Everything had been destroyed by an apocalyptic fury, before being consumed by the flames.
And as if that weren't enough, a blackened corpse laid on the ground near the collapsed house. Lord El-Melloi II approached it with a sigh, holding back the rising bile as he examined it. Though completely burned by now, he knew who the body belonged to. The medallion he wore around his neck was still intact and visible. Jacob Fringer, a young Magus of the Clock Tower, sent here to study the anomaly and put an end to the disaster. The same person who had accompanied Gray on the mission. Judging by the body's current condition and smell, he must have been killed the previous night, before being burnt by the flames. Jacob, Gray, and the Servant Berserker were the members of the team the higher ranks of the Tower had decided to sent to investigate the situation. But unlike poor Jacob who laid dead here, there was not a single trace of Gray.
The black-haired man felt his anger grow inside him like an wakening volcano. His fists clenched in helpless fury. If only those fools from the Tower had sent him and his team to handle the situation instead of a young pair of Magi, maybe this wouldn't have happened. But now, because of those incompetents and their blinding arrogance, a young Magus was dead, a Servant was lost, and Gray disappeared without a trace. What a way to start the day, truly.
"What are we gonna do now, sensei?"
Waver didn't answer to Rin Tohsaka's question, ignoring the way in which she returned to use the mannerisms and epithets from Japan due to her obvious concern. The Lord couldn't blame her. He knew that Rin and Gray shared a special bond. They were great friends, they had known each other ever since the first day they came to London to study, and they had formed a strong bond over the years. They were almost like sisters now. Therefore, her current concern was understandable.
But now it was not the time to panic.
"There's no sign of her," he said seriously, blunt and concise as ever. "Neither a footprint, nor a magical trace, nor a body. Only Jacob is here. This leads to one conclusion: she did not die here."
The man could literally feel the relief of his assistant even without turning to look at her.
"Then, where is she?"
Lord El-Melloi II glanced around, his eyes narrowing in thought. "Although some time has passed, a faint magic trail is still present in the air. Berserker was defeated here, no doubt," he said, looking at the ruined garden. What had caught his attention, however, were the large clawed footprints that were still visible on the ground. "These footprints are clearly recent. Whatever the creature that destroyed this place and killed Jacob and Berserker was, it was not human."
Rin moved beside him, looking at the footprints. "A Servant?"
"Do they look like the footprints of a familiar?" he replied.
"...no."
He crossed his arms as the girl glared at the world.
"Then what? A monster? A Phantasmal Beast?"
"Most likely."
The girl cursed. "How is that possible? Beasts and monsters shouldn't be able to reach the Real Side of the World. It's simply impossible. The only way for them to actually get here is... is..."
She stopped mid-speech, abruptly. Her eyes widened and her lips parted as Waver nodded gravely with a solemn expression.
"The only way for them to actually get here... is to be summoned by someone with a powerful spell," he concluded slowly in her stead.
He could practically sense the moment the girl paused after his explanation. Certainly, this possibility was not a pleasant one. It wasn't pleasant at all. The fact that someone purposely summoned a beast and used it to attack innocent lives was not something that could be easily ignored. Not now, not during a world-wide war. And especially not when it happened so close to London, the main base of operation and study of the Clock Tower.
If there was one thing that Lord El-Melloi II knew, it was this: they had to find the one responsible for all this mess, and stop him.
But finding Gray was of prime importance now.
"Sensei, do you think the beast was killed?" Rin asked again.
He nodded, pointing to the right. "The traces and scratches on the ground end at this point," he explained, observing the ground near a stone wall. It had been smashed by something in one place, shattering several stones and bricks. "Unlike Servants, beasts are unable to enter in spirit form. If its tracks disappeared so suddenly, then he must have been killed. Question is: who did it?" he mused, putting a hand on his chin.
"Maybe Gray? You know that... what she carries with her," the Japanese girl attempted.
The man shook his head. "Gray is not able to fully use Add yet, nor to release the full power of the Lance. No, this is someone else's doing."
"My thoughts exactly."
The teacher and his student turned slowly when they heard that voice speak from behid. In a white dust or prana, Artoria and her Knights appeared after two seconds, solemn and serious as ever. The King had a firm expression on her face as she talked about what they had discovered in the city. "We received a bit of information during our visit to the town. Apparently, a red-haired man passed by the town, holding a gray-haired girl in his arms, and then disappeared without a trace. He took the girl with her," she dutifully reported, completely serious.
Rin's body visibly relaxed upon confirmation that her friend had not been killed. The strained expression on her face did not change, however. Lord El-Melloi II reasoned furiously in his head. "I see. So we can safely assume that the man who killed the beast is the same who saved and took Gray away from here," he said slowly, reaching for his pocket and pulling out a cigar. "But where did he take her? And why?"
"The reports in the city have given us no other answers, Mr. Waver," Gawain said with utmost seriousness.
Rin grabbed the teacher's arm, forcing him to turn to look at her. "We have to find her," she said seriously. "We must find her."
He nodded. "We will," he reassured her.
Artoria took a couple of steps forward. "With all due respect, the five of us alone won't be able to cover much territory in this search. We need reinforcements," she stated, watching the Lord's expression grow more contrite. Her emerald eyes narrowed. "The day we met, you said the Tower had joined forces with five Servants. Aside from Bedivere, Gawain and the one who was killed yesterday, where are the other two?"
Lord El-Melloi II sighed. "Unfortunately, we won't be able to count on them right now," he admitted with remorse as he exhaled a puff of smoke. "Lancer went to Scotland with an associate of mine. And Archer... that guy prefers to do things in his own way. We left him in London four days ago, where he said he would join us in case things got out of hand, before disappearing and not to be seen again. I have no idea where he ended up to."
Bedivere clenched his fists. "You're not a very organized group," he noted with a hint of exasperation.
"You can blame the Clock Tower's terrible reputation for that," Rin snorted, crossing her arms.
"Regardless, what matters now is following in Gray's tracks," the black-haired man declared, looking at the female King. "King Arthur, you're able to perceive trails and traces of prana thanks to the core hidden inside you. Can you feel anything here?"
The woman nodded as she looked around her. "I do perceive a faint trace of mana in the air. But I have no idea where it went. Whatever is this man who took the girl, he's not an ordinary Servant. The difference in the feeling of the air is substantial, as is his trail. His trail of prana is much weaker and harder to perceive," she explained slowly.
The man sighed again. "Then we just have to explore the surroundings until we find something," he declared. "Let's head to the car. We will cover more ground that way."
"One moment," Artoria stopped them all of a sudden, grabbing everyone's attention. "There is one more question I need answered, Mr. Lord El-Melloi."
"The Second," he added, grumbling a little.
She ignored him. "Why was that girl kidnapped? Why was she taken away, unlike the Magus or the Servant?"
The woman saw extremely well the way the man's gaze became solemn and cold at that question, just as Rin's shoulders slumped in defeat and weariness. They both seemed extremely hesitant to talk about Gray and her 'special' condition.
Gawain narrowed his eyes. "Does this have to do with the fact that the girl looks extremely similar to our King?" he questioned, frighteningly serious as never before.
Their expressions fell further.
Artoria crossed her arm. "This girl... who is she, really?"
Seconds passed, followed by minutes.
Then, finally, Waver Velvet exhaled a weary sigh.
"Let's head to the car," he said with resignation. "We will explain it to you along the way."
Planet: Earth
Date: May 18 2020
Location: Abandoned building – Kingston upon Hull (East Yorkshire - England)
(======)
Shirou looked at his opponent with an amused smile.
The blonde girl returned her gaze with a fierce grin, strenghtening her resolve as she readied her broadsword. A single ray of light flashed out of the clouded sky, landing between them. Around the two sparring partners, the big, wide garden was quiet and peaceful, despite its current condition. It was filled with rooting herbs and plants infesting the walls of the abandoned building. The grass was tall, the fountain on the right worn out by time, the atmosphere giving the whole garden a ruined and sad look. Not a sound could be heard in the air, except the cirping of a few birds among the trees and the subdued noises of the city a few miles away.
"Alright," Shirou told her seriously. "Show me what you've got, kid."
Without any kind of warning, Mordred launched herself at him, sword swinging vertically from top to bottom.
It was a good form, Shirou could admit that. The swing was balanced to avoid dragging her down, ready to change direction at any time if met with a block or a parry. The motion was also short and crisp, much better than those arrogant 'warriors' he met in his life who usually thought they were masters at swordsmanship. Especially elves. Heavens, how arrogant the elves were. But this was not the case here. Mordred was incredibly skilled, unlike a lot of cases he had seen previously during his life. Either she was an incredibly gifted and powerful warrior, or was very talented... or she was designed for combat given her homunculus status. Though, the God suspected the answer was a combination of the three.
Plus, she never gave him any warning to start with. Shirou had to suppress a smile. That was a good mindset. Like when Arjuna took her by surprise during their first meeting, firing an arrow without warning. That move taught her an important lesson: always react at the right time. And it showed her ingenuity and seriousness, not wanting to be caught in stupid rules and pride. For this, he had to give credit to her. There was no such thing as pride in a war.
Yet, it was still too easy for him. Shirou's sword moved, parrying Clarent with a minuscule circular motion. The power was generated from the ground up, culminating in such a small area of a circle, creating tremendous momentum. Then, the twisting motion was completed faster than Mordred could blink.
Her sword was wrenched out from her grip before she knew it.
Dumbfounded, she stood there, still in a swinging motion. Only, now she had no sword at all.
He flickered her forehead, sending her sprawling to the ground.
"Tch... damn it," she groaned, holding a palm to her forehead as she rolled to the ground in pain. She almost looked like a kid.
"If you lose your weapon, switch immediately to hand-to-hand combat." He walked towards where her sword was thrown, and flicked it to her with his foot. Clarent flew gently into the air, landing safely in her outstretched palm.
Mordred looked at him with wide, stunned eyes. "H-How...?" she stuttered.
"Like I said, kid, you are strong and skilled," he began to say. "However, there's an aspect of your swordsmanship I suspect you've misunderstood. Today, I'd like to teach you this one thing."
She scrambled to her feet, her eyes burning with eager curiosity.
He instinctively smiled at her buzzing enthusiasm, and thus began his explanations. "Try to attack me again."
She did as she was told, her attack coming with the same ferocity as before.
This time, her vertical swing hit only air, slicing only a centimeter in front of Shirou's nose, who simply half-stepped to the side. Then, before she could reverse her momentum, his palm locked her grip on the sword, preventing her from moving.
Gently, he moved her hand about in a curving motion.
"Your sword strikes are very well-balanced and powerful... by-the-book, shall we say. Plus, you know the basics extremely well. However, you always attack blindly and furiously, and that is extremely risky during a fight. Such attacks are always predictable, and..."
He lightly pushed her shoulders to the side, sending her stumbling to regain her stance.
"They're not too solid if countered to the side."
Indeed, after a quick Trace of her broadsword, Shirou learned plenty of information regarding her personal styles and habits.
Mordred was a homunculus, and as such she grew up with a decidedly different pace and lifestyle than that of a normal human being. Her entire life, literally, had been filled with training, fighting and relentless efforts to become stronger, and faster, and better. Her whole life was spent trying to reach her father's level, in order to consider herself equal to him. To be able to reach him and in the end, steal the throne from him. But putting Mordred's tragic story aside, he couldn't deny that she possessed a talent and a passion for fighting that were admirable. With his Tracing abilities, Shirou could see that her sword, Clarent, had seen plenty of combat already, making all her accumulated time come from rigorous, hard training.
And it was not often you see a girl so whole-heartedly devoted to swordsmanship, after all.
There was only one problem: the sword style she used was a style made for men.
He wasn't saying that women couldn't swing a sword as good as men, not at all. However, since their inherent musculature and mindset were different, one style which suited women could not suit men simply without modifications. Shirou guessed it was inevitable, since Mordred was raised as a man in her short life. Actually, she had been raised badly in all aspects except training. She had practically zero experience in dealing with anything that didn't involve swordsmanship and training; and because of this she still struggled to connect with him and Iskandar, after all.
Women's skeletal form was different form men's. They had a different core strength. Theoretically, their center of motion generated power from the hips rather than the waist, aided with their natural flexibility. It was this difference from men he wanted to teach and exploit to Mordred, in order to give her a proper advantage in a sword duel where mana or Prana Burst couldn't be used or in extremely dangerous life-or-death battles.
Obviously, though, Mordred usually suffered little from this disadvantage during actual fights because of her composition. Whoever taught her to swing a sword, he or she taught her swordsmanship in a different way, to optimize everything in her disposal. After all, a style utilizing Prana Burst and Reinforcement was worlds apart from the usual pragmatic style of a normal, ordinary Knight. But it was always a good thing to learn and improve a little more.
It never hurt to have another trick up the sleeve, right?
"If you can't use prana in a fight, square your shoulders more when you're striking. Try to hit with your hips, and stabilize your arms without stiffening them too much," he instructed. The female Knight furrowed her brows, but she obeyed without a word. Despite the initial distrust, he could see that Mordred was slowly starting to open up more and more. This was a good thing. She had been the one who asked him to spar with her, after all.
And he had to make do with what she had, maximize it, and teach her how to optimize it in every condition.
And so, at least until the Sleeping Beauty inside the building woke up, the garden was filled with the sounds of metal clashing against metal, with the occasional dull sound of a thrown flesh to the ground.
After fifteen minutes of sparring, Mordred collapsed on the ground, panting a little with an incredulous expression. "D-Damn it... another loss," she hissed with shaky breath, shaking her head. Her face was a mask of amazement and stupor as she gazed at Shirou's calm, impassive figure. "How? Just... How can you be this strong, Ruler?"
He merely smiled, offering a hand to help her get back on her feet. "I just have more experience, kid. But don't get too depressed. Your sword skills are almost unmatched. You really are an excellent Knight," he complimented her.
The blonde girl smirked. "You bet I am. I'm the strongest Saber!"
"Your overconfidence can be fatal in battle."
She pouted. "Tch."
It was at that moment that a third figure came out from the broken door of the abandoned building. Shirou and Mordred turned to see the tall and imposing figure of Iskandar advancing towards them, his expression more serious than usual. It was evident that he was worried for some reason.
The God of War looked at him with a serious look. "How's the girl?"
The King of Conquerors shrugged. "She's still asleep. Her wounds are healed, thanks to you; but her body is extremely fatigued. I don't think she'll wake up for a couple of hours," he replied, sighing slightly as he sat down to the ground.
"...what a bummer," Mordred commented with an annoyed expression.
The Rider laughed at her annoyed face. "I must say, this is not what I was hoping to see once we reached your homeland, Saber," the Rider joked, trying to lighten up the mood. "We've been here less than a day and we already ended up being involved in a monster's attack. Why, we must be lucky or something."
She only frowned further. "No shit. Damn it. I just hope she'll wake up soon. There are a lot of things I want to ask her," she spat with a face that was both irritated and confused at the same time.
Shirou glanced at her with a raised brow "Ok, time-out," he spoke, grabbing her attention. "What's with you and the girl? Why are you so eager to talk to her?"
She glared at him. "Are you kidding me? Did you see her face? That weird girl has the same face as Father! The exact same one! She... She looks like a freaking clone!" she replied, stressing on that particular with a hiss.
Iskandar and Shirou blinked. Then shared a glance. Then blinked again.
"But... she's a girl," the Ruler commented.
"So what?" she retorted.
Iskandar scratched his beard. "Say, Saber... how could a girl from the present day have the same face as your father?" he asked, confused. "It's impossible. It must be a simple coincidence."
"No way! I'm sure of it!"
"...I think she's right."
Both the Saber and the Rider turned to Shirou.
He looked at them with a solemn gaze. "I too noticed a strange resemblance to Mordred as soon as I rescued the girl and saw her face," he admitted slowly, lost in thought. "I doubt it's a simple coincidence. Especially if Mordred is confirming the resemblance herself."
"Yes! That's it! Finally," she agreed with a roll of the eyes, putting her hands on her hips. "Trust me, she has the same face as Father, albeit a lot younger. She's a clone, I tell you."
Iskandar smirked. "Hoho? Are you saying that King Arthur was a woman like you?"
She rounded on the taller Servant with a snarl. "WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"
Shirou reacted instantly. He punched her on the head with a sigh filled with exasperation. The King of Conquerors openly laughed with his trademark grin, and the God of War promptly ignored Mordred's whimpers and her glare as she rubbed her head in pain. Instead, he glared right back at her, surprising the blonde girl a bit.
"Kid, I'm tired of this. Stop snapping at us every time we call you for what you are. What's wrong with being a girl?"
"I'm not!" she protested, clearly angy and upset about this matter. "I'm a Knight, not a girl!"
"And what's wrong with that?" he promptly replied, staring at her with a solemn gaze and an impassive expression. Mordred paused and stared at him with wide, angry eyes. "Who decided that a woman can't be a Knight? Who decided that a woman can't fight, or be free to do what she wants, or even live as she sees fit?"
Morded hesitated under his stern gaze, as if at loss of words. Her face became filled with uncertainty and hesitation all of a sudden.
The red-haired God sighed. "Listen, kid. There's no need to react like that just because you're a girl," Shirou continued, more gently this time. When he saw that she was about to argue again, he raised a hand and immediately silenced her. "Good grief, honestly..." he sighed again. "You should be proud of who you are. You are a girl, and you are a Knight. There's nothing wrong with being both of them. Who's to say that's wrong? Only you can decide what you are. Don't stress on other people opinions. Be proud of who you are, and hold your head high."
The female Knight paused. She said nothing for a long time aftet that speech, glaring at the ground.
"…that's not how it worked back then," she finally muttered after a while.
Shirou patted her head, smiling a little. "So what? You're no longer in Camelot, kid. And the gender of a warrior has never been a bother to me. As long as he or she can fight, that's fine by me," he reassured her, laughing a little at her stunned face. He ruffled her hair with a wink.
"He's right, Saber," Iskandar said after him. Mordred stared at the King of Conquerors as he nodded with crossed arms. "We are no longer bound to the rules of the past. Things have changed from when we were alive. Now, there's nobody who will say you can't be a Knight and a girl at the same time. You should be more relaxed about your gender," he agreed, for once as serious as he could be while he spoke to her.
Mordred looked down on the ground, for once completely oblivious to the fact that Shirou was stroking her head with an affectionate smile.
The God of War relaxed and smiled at her. "Are we clear about this?" he finally asked.
She nodded hesitantly.
"...alright."
"Well said!" Iskandar patted her shoulder with his usual grin. "But you haven't answered my question yet. King Arthur, your Father... was he a woman like you?"
The Knight of Treachery nodded again.
"Yes."
Shirou and Iskandar paused again. They glanced at each other again. And then, they exhaled a long, weary sigh.
"This... changes the current situation a lot," the Rider said, running a hand through his red hair.
Shirou nodded, smiling a little. "Like father, like son," he commented, ignoring Mordred's grumblings while he sighed with a shake of his head. "What about the Mysitc Code? Has it responded yet?"
Mordred raised an eyebrow. "The cube?"
Iskandar shook his head. "No. It has been completely frozen ever since the girl passed out."
Shirou sighed, looking in the direction of the building where the sleeping girl was resting inside. He had no idea who – or what – that girl was, nor why she bore such a similar resemblance to Mordred and her father, but one thing was certain in his mind.
"We need answers."
Three hours later
(======)
When Gray woke up, the first thing she noticed was that she was not in her bedroom in London.
The girl binked slowly, groaning a little as she felt a ray of light hit her in the face, waking her up from slumber. With a soft groan and a deep breath, she straightened her back and looked around carefully. She was inside a ruined and cracked room that looked very old and unused since a long time ago. She had been laid on an old mattress full of dust placed on an crooked bed, in the middle of absolute nothingness. And as if that wasn't enough, her head was throbbing painfully for some reason. Her mind filled with panic and anxiety as soon as she remembered what had happened.
The attack, the beast, Jacob, Berserker, her wou-
Her eyes widened.
She moved one hand to touch her shoulder in wonder. The wound the beast had previously inflicted on her shoulder was completely gone. She still felt a slight pain in her shoulder, but now there wasn't even a scratch on her body. She had been completely healed. How was it possible? What happened to her when she passed out?
'Where am I?' she finally mused, glancing around again.
Her eyes fell on a small bedside table to the right of the bed. Sheer relief filled her as soon as she saw the small, familiar object resting on top of it. "Add!" she cried.
She took the small cube in her hands, observing it with a careful gaze. The bird cage where she usually stored it was gone, and for some strange reason, Add was completely still and silent. It didn't even respond to her call, not even when she held it in her hand. Gray frowned in concern.
But she didn't have time to mull over any more questions.
A figure opened an old and weathered door, entering the room at that exact same moment. A young man, dressed in a black jacket, white t-shirt and blue jeans. Gray turned in his direction, visibly frightened and nervous, but the newly arrived man raised his hands in a soothing gesture.
"It's alright," the man said with a calm voice, approaching her cautiously with a smile on his face and his hands raised in a gesture of non-hostility. "It's alright. I don't want to hurt you. I promise."
Gray hesitated after hearing his deep, soothing voice, and studied him for several seconds with a worried gaze. Then, her eyes widened when she recognized him. "Y-You," she breathed, overwhelmed with relief. "You're the man who s-saved me."
The man smiled, nodding slowly. The girl felt her cheeks burn in front of that smile. Oh, no... h-he was handsome. "My name is Shirou Emiya. My companions and I found you while you were fighting a monster, and we brought you here after the battle." The red-haired young man explained, trying to calm her down. He then moved a little closer to her. "How are your wounds? Do you feel better?"
She blinked, blushed madly, and then woke up from her gaze. "O-Oh! Yes! I don't feel pain anymore!" she exclaimed quickly, startled and confused at the same time.
He exhaled a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. The treatment worked, then."
Gray stared at him. "Y-You... healed me?"
He nodded, smiling all along. "I did. I couldn't leave a little girl in those conditions, after all. I wanted to bring you in a hospital, but seeing your condition I thought it was best to heal you as soon as possible. I hope you don't mind."
"O-Of course not! Actually, I-I-I'm really g-grateful for what you did!" she exclaimed, making a hasty bow with an embarrassed gesture, her cheeks deep red. "T-Thank you very much for rescuing and healing me!" she stuttered, bowing to him.
The man, Shirou, laughed, and Gray felt butterflies begin to flutter inside her stomach.
"No need to thank me. I just did the right thing," he said, his voice sincere and his smile growing wider than before. The girl felt her face burn with emotions as she watched him. God, he was extremely attractive. For the first time ever, she was actually thankful that Add was completely silent now. It would have mocked her forever for her current embarrassment, otherwise.
Shirou knelt in front of the bed, looking at her with a friendly smile. "What's your name?" he asked.
She swallowed. "G-Gray..."
He widened his smile. "Nice to meet you, Gray. Are you hungry? Thirsty? If you come with me, I can introduce you to my companions and give you something to eat. You've been asleep for over fourteen hours, and it's already lunchtime," he offered with his friendly attitude.
She nodded hesitantly, before looking around with caution. "W-Where am I?" she asked suddenly. The man stratched his neck as he pondered the question.
"Hmm... If I remember correctly, I think this city is called Hull. My friends and I brought you here after you passed out last night," he explained, offering her a hand to help her get out of bed. "Come, I'll take you to the others so you can grab something to eat. We'll explain the situation to you once you eat."
Gray took her hand with a blush, lifting herself off the bed as she kept her head down. Her body was sore and stiff, but it didn't hurt too much. She could move with no problem. She got up from the bed and hid Add in her sweatshirt pocket.
Shirou smiled at her, leading her out of the room, walking towards the garden. "You have an interesting Mystic Code there. Did you make it?" he asked innocently.
Gray's head snapped in his direction in a fraction of second. "Y-You know about Mystic Codes?" she asked, visibly stunned.
Shirou chuckled at her shocked face. "Girl, I killed that Phantasmal Beast last night. Of course I know about Mystic Codes and Magic," he answered easily, with a small wink.
She blushed, clasping her hands together in embarrassment. "O-O-Oh... right..." she said, inwardly dying of embarrassment. Her face couldn't get more red than this.
Shirou looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Was that steam? Could ears do that? Nevermind.
"I'm sorry for the lack of hospitality," he said once again, grabbing her attention. He smiled apologetically, pointing to the crude, abandoned building they were in. "We couldn't take you to a crowded place after what happened yesterday. We didn't want to arouse suspicions. Besides, my friends and I don't want to attract unwanted attention. Ours situation is... delicate, to say the least," he explained with a bitter chuckle.
She swallowed a little. "Y-You're... quite different," she admitted with a nervous gaze, glancing at him with a confused expression. Gray might be young and inexperienced, but she wasn't stupid. Her body was not that of a normal human being, nor were her senses. She knew there was something strange, something odd about this man from the very first moment she laid eyes on him.
Shirou smirked, pointing to the exit of the building. Once she exited the ruined facility, her eyes widened as they saw the scene unfolding before her. She found herself inside an abandoned garden in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by brick walls at least four meters high that prevented her from seeing the landscape beyond them. A metal gate at the bottom of the garden was the only way to get out of there. The garden was large, at least ten meters in size, with a rusty fountain to the right and lots of rooting herbs all around it. but what surprised her were two other figures currently sitting in the middle of the garden, eating something while they sat on the grass with some strange bowls in their hands.
Her eyes immediately recognized what they were as soon as she saw them.
Servants.
A tall, muscular man with red hair and beard turned to her, a large, friendly grin on his lips. "Hoh? The girl woke up," he exclaimed in a deep, powerful voice. He laughed loudly at her stunned face. "Splendid. Come forth, little girl. Join us in this meal. We have a lot to talk about," he said cheerfully, pointing to the ground beside him with one hand. A massive hand, actually.
"About damn time," the other Servant, a girl with blonde hair and green eyes commented with her mouth full, eating noodles at a strangely fast pace.
Despite the oddity of the situation, Gray felt her skin turn even paler at the scene. "S-Servants... you're Servants," she stuttered, confused and nervous like never before.
Shirou put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to him with fear. "Don't worry, Gray, we won't hurt you. My comrades and I have no intention of fighting here, I assure you." Then, he gently took her hand and guided her towards his companions, making her sit next to Iskandar and placing himself next to her. The giant Rider offered her a grin, much to her confusion.
"Here," Shirou offered her a small bowl of instant noodles, coming straight out of a supermarket, along with a plastic fork. "I know it's not the best option for lunch, but it's a decent and quick meal. It'll help you regain your strength," she said seriously.
The girl took it cautiously, offering a subdued thanks. As she ate in silence, she saw that the two Servants were watching her carefully. The man with immense size was studying her with a curious smile, while the blonde girl glared at her with narrowed eyes and an expression that was both irritated and accusatory at the same time.
Gray blinked confusedly at her glare, feeling something strange begin to bubble inside her. A weird feeling that she couldn't fully describe and understand. She didn't know why, but that female Servant was incredibly similar to King Arthur; and – consequently – to herself. She swallowed nervously at that realization. The similarity was too blatant to ignore. But she still couldn't explain why she seemed so hostile towards her. D-Did she do something wro-
Shirou coughed forcefully all of a sudden. Gray turned to him, and saw the red-haired man cast a cold glance at the female Servant glaring at her. The blonde girl paled and looked away with an irritated expression. Then, Shirou sighed and gave her a smile.
"I think it's time for introductions," he said slowly, pointing to her with a gentle motion. "Guys, this is Gray. Gray, these are my companions. The one on the right is Iskandar, better known as the King of Conquerors from Macedonia; and the one on the left is Mordred, the famous Knight of Treachery of Camelot. You can say hi, they won't bite."
Gray blinked. Then stared. After that, she finally gaped, completely stunned by that statement.
"Hmm. It's nice to meet you, little girl. As the boy here has already said, I'm Iskandar, the great King of Conquerors. Class is Rider. Hope we can get along," the giant man declared with his powerful voice, patting her head with a gentle movement as he proudly introduced himself.
"S-S-So do I," she replied with a nervous smile, trying to calm her inner turmoil. Her hands clasped togheter in a nervous gesture. "U-Uhm... so, you guys rescued me? You know about the W-War too?"
Shirou nodded. "Indeed. But our situation is different from what you might imagine," he explained slowly. He pointed a finger at his chest, smiling at her confused face. "Unlike my companions, I am not a normal Servant. Let's just say that my class is special from a normal one. For a long series of circumstances, the three of us have joined forces, and our goal is to travel around the world and put an end this Holy Grail War. That's why we came here. We've been here in England for just over a day, and during our journey we sensed a source of prana coming from your location. This allowed us to track you down and save you from that Phantasmal Beast. That's how we found you."
Gray stared at him for several seconds, mulling over the information. "I-I see. T-Thank you very m-much for saving me," she finally said again, bowing in gratitude at her saviors.
Iskandar gently patted her shoulder. "Worry not, little one. It was simply the right thing to do. No honorable King could stand aside when someone needs help. I might be greedy, but I have a sense of honor too," he reassured her with a chuckle.
The teenage girl smiled, feeling her nervousness subside a little as the seconds passed. She didn't know why, but this strange group of Servants didn't seem dangerous to her. On the contrary, they seemed to be quite friendly and carefree. Even if that blonde-haired girl was staring at her with a scary look...
Then, slowly, she glanced at the frowning face of Mordred, who was watching her with an annoyed expression and arms crossed. "S-So... you're King Arthur's... s-s-son?" she tried, unsure of how to address her. To think that both King Arthur and his son were actually women... the world was much stranger than she imagined.
Mordred narrowed her eyes. "That's right. I'm his one and true heir, and the rightful King of Britain," she said with pride, staring at her and frowning even further. "What about you, instead? Why do you have the same face as Father? What is the meaning of this? You look like freaking clo-"
Gray blinked, completely confused, and saw Shirou punch Mordred in the head with disarming speed. She hesitated, speechless, as she watched the famous Knight of Treachery yelp in pain and roll patetically on the ground like a child, rubbing her head and cursing for the pain.
Shirou let out an exasperated sigh. It was clearly not the first one he had exhaled a sigh that day. "Forgive her, Gray. That kid can never restrain her impulses," he explained with some irritation. Then, he became serious all of a sudden. "But try to understand her. She claims that your face is extremely similar to that of King Arthur; she is absolutely convinced of this. And even Iskandar and I cannot help but notice that there is a fair resemblance between you and Mordred..."
Gray looked down with shame and fear. It was only then that she realized that she had been talking to them without her hood until now. She reacted instantly, hiding her face beneath it with a small whimper of displeasure.
The three Servants watched her closely with silent gazes.
"Is this a sore subject for you?" Shirou deduced slowly.
She nodded at his question, but she decided to answer anyway. She owed him this much, after all. That man had saved her life.
So, she began to talk, despite how much she loathed talking about her origins.
"I... I'm not a normal human being. I was born on a small village called Blackmore Cemetery. I-It's a graveyard in Wales, where it is said that some of King Arthur's remains were kept," Mordred head snapped up after hearing this, now having her full attention to the story. Gray didn't notice this. "The cemetery was tended by a line of gravekeepers dating back hundreds of years. T-They tried for centuries to create a perfect physical copy of King Arthur. I... I am the latest of their e-experiments..." she stated with her head bowed, visibly ashamed as she recounted her origins. "That's why I look like th-"
Her speech was cut short when Mordred suddenly punched the ground. The ground shook and a small crater formed into the point hit by her fist. Gray looked nervously at Mordred's furious face, trembling in terror as she snarled in rage with wide, angry eyes.
"WHAT!?" she seethed in anger, her face almost animalistic in her fury. "THEY TRIED TO DO WHAT!?"
"Keep it down, Saber. You're scaring the girl," Iskandar scolded her, giving her a disapproving look. The female Knight blatantly ignored him. For once, even Shirou said nothing to her, his face just as disgusted.
Gray swallowed. "T-T-They were trying to recreate King Arthur and bring him back to life," she replied, clenching her fists. "I-I was supposed to be the vessel for this ritual. B-But my teacher saved me, and took me away years ago. That's why I have this horrible face..."
Mordred reacted immediately.
Clarent appeared out of nowhere with a burst of prana and bolts of lightning. Then, the Knight sprinted to the right and swung it at the ruined fountain, completely destroying it with an explosion and a roar. A small crater of debris and crushed rock was generated in the garden. Gray watched her reaction with wide, strained eyes, while Iskandar and Shirou said nothing, deep in their thoughts.
The female Knight trembled in rage. "Where?"
"W-What?"
"Where is it?" she yelled in rage, her anger flooding her veins like a raging fire. "Where is this place? I'm gonna burn it to the ground and kill every single one of those bastards! Tell me where it is!"
Shirou moved with unprecedented speed. He appeared behind Mordred, fatser than light, and grabbed her arm holding Clarent with an iron grip. "Stop it, Mordred. This is not the time for this," he ordered coldly.
She rounded on him with a feral glare and bloodshot eyes. "Shut up!" she roared. "Shut the hell up, Ruler! You can't stop me! You heard what they tried to do! They wanted to resurrect Father! Desecrate his soul! This is an unaccetable blasphemy! It's madness!"
He nodded, glaring at her. His face was a mask of steel as he watched her with a solemn gaze. "I know, and I agree with you. Such a thing is unacceptable. But letting yourself be controlled by anger is not a good way to handle the situation," his grip around Mordred's arm became more oppressive, and the smaller girl had to repress a shiver of pain with a hiss of rage. "Calm down. Now."
Slowly, but hesitantly, Mordred took a deep breath and calmed down. Clarent disappeared in a cloud of prana soon after.
Then, finally, Shirou released her.
Iskandar nodded. "That's better," he sighed, turning back to Gray. "That's a truly repulsive thing, little girl. I'm sorry to hear you had to deal with this kind of madness. No one should ever be used for such folly. Ever."
Gray stuttered a little. "T-Thank you..." was all she was able to say. "B-But you don't need to worry, sir Mordred. T-The village has been destroyed two years ago. My teacher made sure of it."
Mordred spat on the ground. "Good."
Shirou guided her back to her seat, before sitting again next to Gray with a sympathetic expression. "I'm sorry I asked you to reveal this information. I didn't know you had such a tragic past."
She shook her head. "It's ok. Y-You saved me... it was the least I could do, Mr. Emiya," she reassured him.
"Just Shirou is fine, don't worry," he said with a slight smile. Then, he cocked his head to the side in confusion. "This teacher you're talking about... who is he?"
Gray visibly relaxed at that question. Her expression became softer when she thought about that man. "Teacher is a very kind and brave man. He took care of me ever since he took me away from the village. His name is Waver Velvet. He's a teacher from the Clock Tower of London and a member of the Mage's Association. He's currently traveling around the country, looking for Servants like you. He wants to create a group of Servants and join forces with them to protect humanity and stop the War."
Shirou let out a sigh at that explanation, while Mordred and Iskandar groaned a little.
"I see. So that's how it is... another member of the Mage's Association," the God mused with a deadpan.
"Y-You know of it?" she asked them, seeing their strange reaction.
Iskandar nodded. "We already met a woman from this Mage's Association of yours. It happened in America a few days ago. It was a very strange meeting..." he admitted.
Faced with Gray's confused expression, Shirou and her companions resigned themselves to explain their situation to her. They revealed their meeting with Olga Marie Animusphere, the offer she gave to them, their ultimate decision, the role of Shirou as a Ruler class Servant, and their trip from America to Britain due to the news that several strange phenomena were taking place in this country. Gray listened to them with bated breath from start to finish.
Then, when they were finally done, there was only one thing she could say.
"...wow."
Mordred sighed at her stunned face. "Well? Now what?"
Gray immediately seized the opportunity. "I-If you are not interested in the War, m-maybe you could join Teacher and his group too," she offered them in a small, shy voice. She glanced at Mordred with an uncertain expression from under her hood. "He a-already convinced several Servants to join his cause. A-And among them... King A-Arthur herself decided to help as well. She and some of her Knight are currently with him, right now."
Shirou and Iskandar widened their eyes at the revelation, utterly shocked. Their heads immediately snapped towards Mordred, watching her with obvious stupor. However, the girl's reaction was different from what they were expecting, albeit intriguing at the same time.
Mordred didn't jump in shock, or scream in rage, or smirk in excitement. Nope. She simply remained silent, her body tense and stiff for several seconds, before dropping her shoulders in a gesture of resignation and sighing in defeat. Shirou studied her closely as he saw a myriad of emotions flash into her emerald eyes.
"I see..." she said slowly after a while, her face a mask of cold impassiveness. "Father has been summoned as well... and he decided to join you," she snorted a little. "I should have seen that coming."
Iskandar raised an eyebrow in clear confusion. "Saber?"
"I'm going to say this now," she stated suddenly, looking straight at Shirou with a determined expression and eyes buring with decision. She herself did not know why she wanted to say this to him in particular, but she decided to act anyway. "I will not join the Mage's Association. Even more so if Father decided to work for them."
Shirou remained impassive for several seconds. Then, he smiled a little. He was already expecting such a response from her. Honestly, this child was too predictable at times. "Of course. Why the uncertainty, kid? We already made a decision together, didn't we?"
"That's right. No true King should ever take back his words," the King of Conquerors agreed with a laugh. The two Servants smiled when they saw the female Knight visibly relax at their response.
Gray regarded them in confusion. "Y-You... won't join us?" she asked.
Shirou shook his head. "Sorry, Gray, but we can't," he confirmed with an apologetic smile. "You see, the three of us made a decision. We will fight to prevent the War from causing more massacres, but we will do it in our own way. It may sound like a contradiction, but we don't want to submit our will to the decisions of other Magi. Rest assured, though. This doesn't mean that we will get in your way. As long as our objectives are aligned, we will not bother you and your friends during your quest."
"I... I see," was all she could say, completley overwhelmed by confusion.
"And we'd better get a move on, too," Mordred added with an impatient snort of irritation. "We just saved this girl from a Phantasmal Beast yesterday. This cannot be a good thing."
Iskandar nodded. "Indeed. Saber's right. Beasts shouldn't be able to exist and roam free in the world. Let alone one as hideous and revolting as the one from yesterday. That means that someone summoned it. And if that's the case..."
"...then the culprit could possibly summon other beasts in the future," Shirou deduced seriously. "Only a Servant is able summon a monster as powerful as that. We need to find it and stop it as soon as possible."
Gray swallowed. "A-And... what about me? What will you do with me?" she asked shyly, hiding her face under her hood.
Shirou smiled at her in a reassuring way. "Don't worry. We'll simply take you to the city station. From there, you should be able to take a train and go back to London. We'll continue to our next destination soon after making sure you can go home safe and sound."
The girl was about to sigh in relief, but then the God's gaze became serious all of a sudden. "But first, there's one last question I'd like you to answer for me."
Gray's eyes widened when she saw the Ruler squeeze and hold Add between his fingers with a solemn and detatched expression. She gaped, flabbergasted. Her hands immediately moved to touch her pocket, and found it empty. W-When did he-
Her mind stopped, like a horse trapped in mud.
Shirou stared at her with a cold and inquisitive expression.
"Tell me, little girl... why is there a certain Holy Lance sealed inside this Code?"
Planet: Earth
Date: May 18 2020
Location: Waverley Station (Edinburgh - Scotland)
(======)
The Servant watched the big city from the roof of the station with a mad, crazed smile. He observed the streets, listened to the noises and studied every corner of the city, without missing a single detail. And in his insane and distorted mind, the cruel monster realized something.
This world was sad and corrupt. It was twisted and oppressed. It was in need of a correction.
It was a world that desperately needed peace.
And for that reason, he was here.
The Servant raised his hands to the sky as the cloudy sky of this country flashed with lightning and thunder.
"Ah, the fiend!" he exclaimed with a bellowing laugh. "The fiend! The fiend has come! The foulest fiend in all the world!"
Rain started to fall.
So be it.
He'll do it. He will give an everlasting peace to the world.
And the world had better to be prepared for it.
His hysterical laughter echoed across the sky, under the roar of thunder and the ticking of rain.
Because everything and everyone was going to die otherwise.
CODEX PLANETAE
[COUNTER FORCE] Database
Taken from the notes of Alaya
Subject: Tyr [-Shirou Emiya-], #1 among the Ancestral Heroes
Alias: God of War, Humanity's Liberator, Grand Hero, God-Slayer, First Hero of Humanity
Description:
Among all the weapons forged by Shirou during the Age of Gods, several of them are still remembered in the world as legendary weapons. Some of them are even said to hold unimaginable powers within them. This goes even for the present day. Most of the weapons, according to my calculations and recordings, were subsequently found and claimed by several legendary figures throughout mankind's history. And when a new weapon was found over the centuries, its legend was consequently detatched from Tyr's own and instead linked to the Hero who found it and mastered it.
This was the plan, after all. It was Shirou's very own will. After attempting one last contact with humanity and having commited suicide with "Caledfwlch", the God of War released and scattered all his creations around the world, giving them to humanity. He wanted, wished for humans to find and use them in case of need. The human race had to prosper. It had to evolve and keep growing even without him. So, he gave his weapons to them. This was his original intent. It was what he wanted. Therefore, neither me nor Gaia decided to stop this process during the course of history. If that's what he wanted, there was nothing we could do.
Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes and ruler of Uruk, was the first example of this. In his immense collection of treasures, Gilgamesh was able to recover and collect almost every single one of Shirou's original weapons, claiming them for himself along with all the goods of the world. As annoying and irritating as it was, my sister and I decided to let it slide. We didn't want to go against Shirou's will back then, and we still don't want to disappoint him even now.
But given the consequent evolution of the human race, it can now be admitted without doubt that Shirou's plan was flawed. Even if some of his weapons were collected and used by Heroes in order to achieve many good deeds... some of them were collected by another kind of people. People who were not worthy. People who didn't deserve them. People who decided to use them to pursue their nefarious purposes rather than the common good and the purpose for which the First Hero had given them to the world. And I'm not just referring to famous Heroes like Medea, or Morgan le Fay, or Ivan the Terrible. Countless have been the men and women who have killed hundreds of lives and distorted their very own values in order to get hold of his weapons and use them as they pleased. History is filled with such events.
Even now, after everything I've seen, I still wonder what Shirou would have done if he had a chance to foresee all of this. If he had known that many Heroes would have used his weapons to cause death and destruction, if he had known that dozens of people would have killed hundreds more and used his weapons in a distorted way, if he had known that his own creations would generate so much pain in the future... would he still had given them to mankind anyway?
Even to this date, I still haven't found an answer yet.
Guess who's the first enemy Servant for the second Arc? It's a bit harder than before, but still pretty obvious.
When I first discovered what the inhabitants of Blackmore Cemetery have attempted to do in order to revive Artoria and use Rhongomyniad, I really hated it. It's a revolting idea for me to use a human vessel in order to resurrect a dead person, in any fictional work. Gray may not be one of my favorite Saberfaces in the Fate universe, but she has a dramatic story behind her character. At least, that's what I personally think.
However, as you have seen, in my story some things are gonna be different.
Things will get pretty hectic in the next chapter. I can't wait to have our heroes fight and kick some ass once again.
See you next time.