The Empress' Generals.

Shirona walked across her home in the Fantasy Tree, dressed in a fancy silver suit with golden details. She had to look good, as she was going to meet with her trusted Generals, the 5 people she commanded to protect the 5 fortresses that protected her Fantasy Tree.

"It's been a while since I last saw them, I hope everything is fine in their territories" - she said to herself just as she reached the door to the room where the 5 were waiting for her. With a smile, she opened the door and entered the room.

A large one designed for meetings, with a round table with 6 seats and overlooking the sea. 5 of them, those at the sides, were already occupied, while the one at the center was empty, waiting for her to arrive.

"Good night my generals, how are you all in this beautiful night?" - she asked them, but received no answer from them - "What's the matter everyone? Not in the mood for some friendly chatter?" -

"Why would we be interested in talking with you?" - one of the generals asked, and Shirona answered with a simple laugh.

"Oh Rama, I see that even after all this time, you still have that bravado of yours. Good, it would be a shame if you lost it" -

The 5 Generals of the 5 Fortresses that rule the corrupted world of Arcana, all of them captured Servants that once served the World and Humanity, now forced to work under Shirona's rule.

The Saber Servant Rama, ruler of Shiva Fortress.

The Rider Servant Dobrynya, ruler of Ivanov Fortress.

The Archer Servant Chiron, ruler of Chronos Fortress.

The Lancer Servant Jaguar Man/Tezcatlipoca, ruler of Huitzilopochtli Fortress.

The Berserker Servant Minamoto no Raikou/Ushi Gonzen, ruler of Amaterasu Fortress.

"Now, my Generals, I hope that everything is going fine in your territories" - she said as all 5 of them looked at her with murderous intent, but she acted like nothing was going on - "So? I'm awaiting your reports" -

"There was a revolt during an execution on Shiva Fortress a few hours ago, and…" -

"Chaldea's Servants were there. I know that one Rama, I faced them directly" -

"Chaldea…" - Chiron whispered to himself, as Shirona's view turned towards him.

"Is something wrong, Chiron? Are you perhaps thinking of another masterful plan to beat me?" - she said in a mocking tone.

"N-No…" - he answered.

"That's just what I thought. Tezcatlipoca, Ushi Gonzen, Dobrynya, anything new to report?" - she asked the remaining three.

"Nothing from me" - Jaguar Man answered.

"Everything's normal" - Dobrynya followed.

"Do not refer to me by that name…" - Raikou said as she strengthened the grip on her sword.

"Oh?" -

"My name is Minamoto no Raikou, not.." -

"No, it isn't, and it hasn't been for a few years, hasn't it?" - she said as she walked towards the Berserker - "I know exactly what you want to do, Gonzen. You want to use that Noble Phantasm of yours to kill me and free the world from me… But you can't do that, right? None of you can" -

The room started to tense up, as Raikou looked towards Shirona, filled with rage and intent to kill.

"Go on then, unsheathe your weapon and strike me down, I'll give you the chance. Come on Ushi Gonzen, I'm wide open" -

The other 4 looked as Raikou got her sword out and started reciting her Noble Phantasm's chant, but just before finishing, she dropped the sword to the ground, and she herself fell to her knees, only to rise again, red glowing eyes staring down Shirona.

"Well done, now bring back Raikou please" - she ordered, and the eyes of the Berserker returned to normal as she stumbled backwards for a bit.

All 5 Servants retained their free will, and thus were filled with anger and hatred towards Shirona for what she did to them. Yet, despite not being controlled by her, they still had a curse placed upon them, they can't do anything that would go against Shirona's wishes, thus binding them to her.

With this metaphorical leash around their necks, Shirona forced them to rule over her 5 Fortresses, relishing the fact that, no matter how much they want to stop her, they can't do anything.

"Ah, my heroes, you've taken good care of this world and aided me so much in my rule, I can't thank you enough" - she said with her arms extended - "And now, I want to give you another order" -

All of them looked at her eyes, changing from their usual colors to a deep golden - "I want you to keep an eye on the Chaldean Servants. I gave them 1 week to live in this world and decide if they want to stay and be in peace, or go to war" -

"They're never going to accept living in this horrible world" - Dobrynya said to her.

"Horrible? I'm wounded that you would say something like that" - Shirona said in a neutral tone - "Aside from that however, I want to think they'll be smarter than you were during our battle, but even if they're not…" -

"You want us to prepare to fight against them, don't you?" - Rama interrupted her.

"Exactly, dear Rama. If they do anything that disrupts the peace we've created, I want you to stop them, kill them if you have to" -

All of the 5 nodded, while silently praying that this 'Chaldea' would be able to stop her.

"Thanks, dear friends. We're done here, you're free to leave now" -

The 5 started to teleport back to their Fortresses, with Rama being the last one to leave. Before returning to Shiva Fortress, he said one last thing to Shirona.

"You're going to lose, sooner or later. Maybe not us, but someone else will stop you" -

She simply looked at him, and smiled - "Funny, Sita said much the same" -

Rama then left, and Shirona looked at the moon through the window of the room. A few seconds afterwards, she heard steps walking towards her location, Ritsuka was approaching.

"Ah, good night my child. I hope you had a good rest" - she said with her motherly voice, only to be met by Ritsuka's cold tone.

"What did you do to them?" -

"Huh? What do you mean?" -

"The Servants, why are they working under you?" -

"Oh, them. Simple, I saw the value in them, they were more useful alive than dead after all" -

She saw the anger in Ritsuka's eyes, yet before she could even try to reason with him, she was met with a strong hit. Her son had used the powers that she gave him with the Viper, and delivered a powerful strike to her face.

She, however, just smiled.

"Ah, getting rebellious, are we?" - that attitude made Ritsuka shiver - "I guess I'll have to teach you how to behave properly, and you'll see I have some.. Rather, interesting punishments" -