Here's the next chapter guys! Sorry it took a long time, school has been killing me! Papers to write even during spring break!
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Chapter 13- UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS
Burning. Burning. That was the only smell in the air as she road through the city. It used to be beautiful with gleaming golden temples with jewels at the top. Town used to be filled with laughter and love; now there was nothing but screams of terror; blood and fire filled the air and ground. The place she had sworn to protect was burning. She would save what she could.
She gritted her teeth as she raced through the streets on a black stallion, trying to ignore the blood smearing the remains of her brilliant silver Armour and how it spilled out of her shoulder and stomach; adding to the blood of the streets.
She had just reached the palace when something slammed into her back, knocking her off her stallion as it cried in pain as it too, fell to the ground. What was it? What had knocked her down? She could feel something thick, sticky and warm flowing down her back. Blood.
Quick as possible, she gently pushed the source of the blood off of her and turned herself; her blood freezing at the sight in front of her. Smooth, but muscled tanned skin, messy dark hair matted with blood and quickly dulling green eyes was the sight that greeted her and she wanted to scream in despair. No, no, no, this couldn't happen! Hadn't she already lost everything?! Why did the man she love have to die right before her eyes?!
Her own frantic eyes scanned over the man's body, looking for the source of his bleeding, the only problem was that there were too many deep wounds; there were a series of deep lacerations against his chest and torso and his left arm, including the bone had been ripped from his body.
His dull green eyes, which had always been such a brilliant and beautiful emerald met hers for one last time, his lips moving, but no sound came out; instead a stream of blood started to cover his chin.
"I-I'm sorry." She gasped out, tears streaking through the soot on her face, "I'm so sorry, this is all my fault."
"...not your fault..." he rasped out, coughing out even more blood as he struggled to speak. "... Love you...Ryse." Those we his last words before the light completely left his eyes.
The girl stared stunned at his lifeless form, her breathing ragged. She couldn't deal with this. Not anymore. Not while covered in his blood, so she did the only thing she could think of, despite her station. She screamed her despair and and fury out to the stars that still dared to shine brilliantly overhead; cursing herself and the Divine all the while.
Ayaka POV
"So what do you think of public school?" Ayaka asked, trying to make small talk with Ariene who was walking beside her.
"Not bad. Though I prefer the tutors that Cleo got. Less students and the tutors were first-rate." Ariene said, she scanned their surrounding, her eyes going to the setting sun. Ayaka had stayed late to help organize some papers that belonged to Reirouken Misaya and Isemi, the two corrupted people that they had met at the cave; one that used to be a Master while the other was actually Rider.
Ayaka had felt that it was her responsibility to sort things out for the two of them, even though they would both never go back to the school Isemi or Rider had been defeated and Misaya was now a deformed monster, but still, she couldn't leave their undone work alone.
Beside her, Ariene stopped walking and Ayaka stumbled to a stop when she noticed the black-haired Servant no longer moving beside her. "Ariene?" Ayaka asked on edge.
"Down!" Ariene snapped, tackling Ayaka to the ground as the ground and buildings around them started to shake violently. The lights from the street lamps flickered before the glass of the lamps exploded outward, raining down shards of glass on them; the thin pole of metal also seemed to shake, as if the lamppost might topple over.
"What's happening?!" Ayaka demanded, trying to move her head to the side to see around Ariene's body as she protected her from the glass.
Ariene glanced up, feeling rather than seeing a surge of energy build in front of them at first. The magic was thick in the air as the magical energy continued to build up. "Damn it..." Ariene muttered, her eyes straight ahead.
Ayaka followed Ariene's gaze and saw a swirl of blue and white light at the intersection in front of them, the light seemed to build up as the size doubled, energy swirling around the light. The source of magical energy was so thick in the air now that even Ayaka felt like she could suffocate on it. "Wh-what... is that?" Ayaka asked, feeling terror build up in her.
Instead of answering Ariene pushed Ayaka even closer to the ground, so much so that Ayaka could swear she could feel each individual bump in the asphalt dig into her skin. Ayaka kept her brilliant blue eyes on the source however, gasping when a streak of red shot out of the light, quickly followed by a streak of blue.
The streaks of red and blue light seemed to clash, destroying the walls that separated the brick walls that separated the houses from the street and destroying the street itself. Ayaka let out a small scream as the rubble from the street started to rain over them, Ariene adjusting her body so that nothing hit Ayaka, though she did grunt as a rather large chunk of asphalt hit her back.
Ayaka tilted her head as the streaks of blue and red beams of light clashed, though she was starting to see dark silhouettes in the lights themselves. The silhouette in the red light seemed to be male and he was wielding what looked like two swords that had a curve to them. The figure in the blue light looked to be female and was wielding only one blade, but was easily countering the strikes from the male in enveloped in the red light.
"Ariene... what are those?" Ayaka finally asked, her large blue eyes unable to look away as the figures in the beams of light continued to clash. The longer they fought, the more distinct the outline of their bodies became, but she still couldn't see any distinguishing physical characteristics.
"Servants." Ariene said, her eyes narrowed as she watched the two figures fight, a frown on her face. "Our situation just got worse. Hate when that happens." She smirked down at Ayaka before her eyes went back to the two fighting Servants.
"Why are you smirking?!" Ayaka demanded as more ruble rained down on them as a crater appeared in the asphalt.
Ariene didn't respond, her eyes shooting back to the swirl of white and blue light, she now knew it was a portal and she was more wary of why it still hadn't closed and what else could come out of it. Turned out she was right to be cautious since something else did come out of the portal.
What came out was a young man with slightly spiky orange-red hair, somewhat tanned skin and golden-brown eyes. He wore simple jean along with a simple long sleeved t-shirt that was white on the body and the sleeves were dark. What had just stepped out of the portal before it closed was... a human.
Ariene blinked as the male human ran out of the portal, staring with wide eyes at the destruction around him. Said human also seemed to catch the attention of the fighting Servants because they both glanced at him and a second later, the Servant clad in the red light switched directions and made to attack the unknown male human.
"Look out!" Ayaka cried out, drawing the male human's attention to her as she tried to push Ariene off her, but she wouldn't budge. "Aren't you going to do something?!" Ayaka demanded, shocked that Ariene hadn't moved to intervene.
"You would have ended up shredded if I moved." Ariene responded, watching as the female Servant clad surrounded in blue light quickly pushed herself in front of the male human to parry the attack by the male Servant clad in the red light.
As their blades clashed again, the light surrounding their bodies finally dispersed, revealing their appearances. The male Servant had rich olive toned skin, dark coal colored eyes and white hair. He also wore sleeve-less black armour with silver trimming and accents, a red shroud that covered both his arms and a matching red mantle that was attached to his waist. In his hands were two slightly curved blades one, black with a red hexagonal pattern on the black metal and the other was just a plain, cloudy white blade, though both had the yin and yang symbol near the handle.
The female Servant on the other hand had a slim, small build with flawless fair skin, blonde hair pulled into an elegant bun by a tiny blue ribbon and intense green eyes. The female Servant also wore a royal blue old-style dress that had gold trimming and what looked like a white under-dress; over the dress was gleaming silver armour that covered her body. In her hands, she had a typical western sword made of polished metal with a gold and royal blue design near the guard, the guard itself being golden and the grip of the sword being sleek and blue. What was the most amazing thing about the sword however, was that it seemed to be radiating a golden light from the blade.
"Enough, Archer!" The female Servant snapped, sending the male Servant back a few feet with a strong swing of her sword.
"Saber... you still plan to protect him?" Archer asked calmly, straightening his stance as he glared at the blonde.
"Shirou is my Master," Saber said, her voice equally calm. "It is my sworn duty by my oath to protect him."
Archer tightened his grip on his swords as his eyes narrowed. "It would be a mercy for him to die. A fool who believes that he can save everyone without harming anyone. A hero of justice... such a goal is truly a Fool's dream."
"It isn't!" Shirou snapped, pushing his way pass Saber despite her objections. "To want to protect and save human lives isn't foolish!"
"It's an honest dream." Ariene said, notifying the two Servants and human to their presence. She pushed herself to a standing position before helping Ayaka back up to her feet. Her clothes were now covered in dust.
"Who are you?!" Saber demanded, watching as Ariene and Ayaka approached them, though Ariene made sure that Ayaka was behind her.
Ariene scoffed, materializing her own armour as she took bother Servants in. "Shouldn't you introduce yourself first? I mean, you burst out from nowhere and destroy the whole street. You're lucky that no one has come out to investigate!" She looked between Saber and Archer, before peering at Shirou with curious eyes. "Both of you stand down. If you keep battling here, you'll destroy the entire neighborhood. Why don't we all talk this out."
"Unknown Servant, do not interrupt our battle." Archer said, he didn't even turn to look at her, and his tone was neutral and cold.
"Guardian, I demand you cease your actions." Ariene's tone had become commanding and regal, her eyes growing cold. "If you do not, then you will find yourself battling two Servants instead of one." The situation was already unstable as it was, they did not need two new Servants causing chaos in an already unpredictable singularity. What if more showed up? If they were willing to play along and become their allies, all could end well; if they insisted on fighting however... well who knew what would happen? What if they caught Manaka's attention and the whole neighborhood or Tokyo became a battle ground?
Archer scoffed, a curious smirk forming on his lips as he faced her. "Guardian... are you saying you know who I am?"
"I know you." Ariene nodded, Chaldea had a version of Archer after all, they also had a version of Saber; both of which had actually gone to the Londinium Singularity with Kakeru. "Better than you think, so I can also tell you that killing that boy won't work."
"I won't take that answer from anyone. Especially someone I don't know." Archer said. "The outcome of me reaching my goal may be near zero, but as long as there is even a percent of success, I will not turn away."
"What are you talking about?" Saber demanded, looking between the two of them, completely on guard.
"You know him Ariene?" Ayaka asked quietly, she did not like the way Archer was looking at them. His face was a calm mask, but his eyes were the eyes of a man who had nothing to lose.
"You can say that." Ariene said, her eyes once again going to the reddish-orange haired boy named Shirou. "Archer, will you not listen to reason?"
Archer scoffed, "Reason is pointless. As long as the fool before me lives, I have one clear goal. However, since you know who I am, I see no reason to hold back." At his words, dozens upon dozens of swords suddenly materialized in the air surrounding him, aiming at Saber and Shirou and Ariene and Ayaka.
Ayaka let out a suppressed her scream of fear as she watched the swords point at her. "Ariene!"
"AYAKA!" Said girl flinched as her head jerked to the right, her eyes widening when she saw Arthur suddenly appear on a nearby rooftop with Gawain, fully dressed in their armour. They then dropped down beside Ariene and Ayaka. "Are you alright?!"
"F-fine." Ayaka stammered out, completely forgetting that she was mad at him this morning. "Ariene shielded me." She looked at the Servant and for the first time saw blood dripping down her arm and cheek. Had she gotten that while protecting her from all the glass and flying asphalt?
"Are you okay?" Arthur demanded, his green eyes scanning Ariene's face intensely. There was a strange, burning light in his eyes as he saw the blood on her.
"Glass and concrete won't kill me." Ariene scoffed, keeping her eyes on the swords in the air. "I'm already healing."
"Ariene!" Ariene looked up when she saw Cleo and Rin suddenly run towards her and Ayaka. "What the hell happened?"
"Everything went to hell quickly." Ariene said, she was going to say something else when Rin gasped as she looked at Saber, Shirou and Archer.
"Shirou! Saber!" Rin called, looking like she was about to run to them but Gawain held her back, his blue eyes cautious. "Hey! Let go!"
"It is best that you are cautious Master." Gawain said, distrust in his eyes as he looked at the female Knight who strangely looked like his King and her Master.
"I know them! And that stupid Archer!" Rin snapped back, struggle to get out of Gawain's grip. "They're people from my world!"
"What?!" Everyone looked stunned at Rin's world.
"Rin!" Shirou hurried over to her, concern and relief in his eyes, "You're alive! Saber and I thought Caster killed you !"
"Turns out what happened wasn't Caster, I'll explain later." Rin said as she finally pulled herself away from Gawain so that she could hug Shirou. "I'm glad you're alive too! I was certain Caster would have killed you after I disappeared."
"Caster would have." Saber confirmed, frowning as she slowly made her way towards them, still facing Archer in case he decided to attack but being equally wary of the three new Servants around. Without a doubt, she recognized Gawain, but she could tell from his stance that he thought she was a threat and she didn't recognize the other two Knight-like Servants, though the blonde male seemed to have a strong resemblance to her. "Lancer arrived and was able to kill Caster's Master by surprising him and... Archer killed Caster himself, by summoning dozens of swords and impaling Caster with them."
Rin narrowed her eyes as she looked at Archer, feeling her fury rise as he only smirked, his swords still poised to strike at all of them. "Really? How many Masters do you plan to betray Archer? You betrayed me and formed a new contract with Caster so that you could kill Shirou and then you practically save him and Saber by killing Caster. Whose side are you on?"
Archer sighed, running his hand through his hair as if all of this was just a complete inconvenience for him. "I didn't let them escape if that's what you're thinking, Master. Lancer covered their retreat, and even then, I wasn't able to kill Lancer either. When I caught up to the Fool and Saber, they had renewed their contract."
"Enough!" Rin snapped annoyed, "And what's that?!" She looked at all the swords hovering in the air. "Did you hide your abilities from me?"
"Isn't it obvious now Master?" Archer asked, a sarcastic, teasing note entering his voice. "Why don't you ask that Servant? She knows who I am." He nodded to Ariene.
Rin shot a look at Ariene before looking at Shirou. "I know who you are too, Archer. Emiya-kun, remember when you gave me back that ruby pendant before we went to fight Caster?"
"Yes." Shirou said, feeling as if he knew where she was going with this. "You said that Archer had already given the pendant back to you and that there was only one in existence."
"Yes, for there to be two would be impossible. Now tell me if I'm right Ariene." Rin said looking at the black haired Servant who looked back. "Is Archer's true identity Emiya Shirou?"
"What?" Saber demanded stunned, looking between her Master and Archer. How could they be the same people? They seemed completely different. And why would Archer try to kill Shirou then.
"I never knew who my Savior was the night the Fifth Holy Grail War began, all that was left was that jewel pendant. I kept it as a memento to my Savior... I never guessed it was you, Rin." Archer said.
"Wait!" Ayaka said, looking at Rin stunned before looking at Archer. "I don't understand what's happening! Are you saying that the Archer Servant is that guy?!"
"Yes. In life I was a rather mediocre mage, who couldn't do much. But I made a contract with the World and became a Heroic Spirit in death." Archer said.
"A Counter Guardian to be specific right?" Cleo asked, looking at Archer. He seemed so much more bitter than the one she knew in Chaldea. "Heroic Spirit EMIYA."
"So you know who I am too. I gotta say, I'm somewhat disappointed, this would have been much easier if none of you knew. Though, how did you two know? To my knowledge, we've never met." Emiya said.
"We will eventually." Cleo reassured, stepping around Ariene, "But I'm telling you that what you're trying to do won't work so stop. You're also at a disadvantage." She spoke, they had three Servants plus Shirou's Saber on their side and Emiya was on his own. She hoped he realized he couldn't win.
Emiya looked amused, "I may be alone, but you shouldn't underestimate me girl." After he spoke a dozen of the swords floating in the air shot at Cleo.
Cleo flinched back as the swords soared through the air towards her, but none of them touched her since Ariene shot in front of her and blocked the first half dozen, ready to protect her Master from the rest when the last six were suddenly destroyed as they flew through the air by a golden blur.
Ariene blinked as she saw a large golden spear embed into the ground. The blade of the spear was large and long, with serrated edges, the metal was bright gold with black ruby jewels in the middle and the end that wasn't in the ground was sharp like a blade. Ariene felt her entire body tense, she'd recognize that spear anywhere... but why was it here?
Archer also looked stunned as he looked at the weapon. He had never seen his blades destroyed with such ease. Who had done it?
"What is that?!" Ayaka demanded, scooting closer to Arthur automatically as Saber and Gawain took protective positions near their Masters as the possibility of there being another Servant around.
"How dare you..." A new voice echoed around the destroyed street. The voice was female, a smooth, contra alto voice that sent shivers down Ariene's back.
"Who are you?" Arthur demanded, looking around with green eyes. He could practically feel the malice and blood lust in the air. Whoever this was, had an extremely dark and murderous feeling.
In response to his question, a female Servant appeared on the rooftop of a house, she was dressed in thick, revealing golden armour with maroon red accents and a bright blood red sash around her waist. Her armour revealed her waist and stomach, her upper arms bare, but had spiked shoulder guards. The Servant had skin that looked too pale to be healthy and her white-blond hair with red streaks went down her back in thick waves; it was her eyes however that drew attention, they were an intense burning orange color. The color of hellfire.
Ariene stared at her, unable to look away. Why was this happening? Everything was spinning out of control. She honestly hadn't thought things could get any worse, but of course, she was just proved wrong. "Emerys."
The female Servant smirked as she stared back at Ariene. "Hello, Baby Sister."
Next chapter is going to be a full battle chapter now that the Fate/Unlimited Blade Works characters have been introduced!
Next Chapter: Queen of Hell
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