Chapter Fifteen

Sakura is pacing through the Emiya household waiting for the group to return from paying a visit to the Einzbern Castle. She knows something must have happened for them to not have returned yet. She thinks back to the memories that were sent to her from that… shadow. From the looks of it, the battle royal of the Grail War was amplified into three sides. Sakura hoped that sending that thing with those computed Servants would deal with the war right then and there. But most of all, she wished that Mason would have returned needing to be cared for and become dependent on her. It would have been perfect. However she seemed to have underestimated both the cult and Archer. The latter was an oversight she should have predicted since she recently overheard him being a future version of Shirou. The former really threw a wrench in her plans with Lancelot protecting Saber at the end. However there is no point crying over spilled milk.

An energy from the backyard pulls her from her thoughts as she rushes out the back door to see the cause of it. A dark bubble expands in the middle of it and then disperses. What came from it was the group returning with a few white haired girls and a hulking Servant. Sakura quickly deduces that they are from the Einzbern faction, but that is not her concern at the moment. The rest of the group looks to have been through hell. Archer has a few wear to him, Rin has a few scrapes as she helps Caster who looks drained, Saber has cursed markings on her body as Berserker carries her, and Shirou looks to be a human porcupine with the swords sticking out of him. While they look worrying, they too are not her main concern. That would be the lack of Mason among them.

"Well luckily for us, I can still teleport with the meager mana supply I have." Caster tells the group. "Herc, would you be a dear and set Saber in her room? It's the third door down that hall." She then looks at Archer who sighs.

Archer moves to Shirou and grabs him by the shoulder. "Come here. While I still have nothing but hate for you, at the moment you are too valuable to be killed off just yet. I'll show you how to deal with the sword mending problem."

Caster nods at him before turning to Rin, "Help me to the shed. If I am to be of any use to anyone, I'm going to need to siphon some mana from the magic circle inside. You other three can use a guest room and do whatever it is you do."

They all start to do their different ways in the house, but Sakura stops them. "Where is Mason?" The purple haired girl demanded.

"Matou I'm assuming?" Illya asks. "What right do you have to request the location of my brother?"

Sakura scoffs, "Brother? You have no right calling yourself a sibling of the Emiyas after not being a part of their lives for ten years."

Shirou frowns, "Sakura that was a little out of line. By that logic Mason doesn't have the right to call himself my brother after not being in my life for five years."

Sakura fumbles for a second before speaking again, "That may be true though he didn't leave you because he hated you, but because he wanted to protect you, Shirou."

Archer is quick to pick up Sakura not calling the redhead 'senpai'. Not only that, but he also notices Saber winces whenever Sakura comes closer. He narrows his eyes for a moment hoping his hunch is wrong. The only way to prove this hunch is to test it. "To answer your question, Mason has been captured by the cult." Archer observes as the light in her eyes fades leaving nothing but a souless expression. He prays to Alaya that it doesn't work.

Sakura stands there with no signs of life. Moments past as everyone is unsure of what to do.

The group watches in shock as her eyes turn blood red in an instant. The darkness in Sakura starts to emerge. The yard starts to darken and the grass around her feet die. Berserker sets Saber down and growls as the two maids stand defensively in front of Illya. A muttered laugh comes from the girl they thought was shy and it grows sinister. Little black orbs start appearing around the yard.

"Out of the frying pan…" Illya starts as Berserker draws her to his shoulder.

"And into the fire." Archer finishes as they all back up cautiously. He moves his arm as the orbs start to spike. Deciding that everyone's feelings for her are not worth the danger Sakura is producing, he projects his twin swords three times and throws it at her. A black wall forms in front of her and sucks the swords into it. They begin to lose power and lose their intent within it. The wall shrinks back to the ground only for the swords to later tumble to the ground from black spots on the house.

She laughs even more as her shadow from a streetlight changes from her form and into the form of the Black Shadow. The shadow from Sakura moves directly to her feet and they watch as the shadow takes her body. The dress goes black and red and her hair goes white. Red markings cover her clothed body but lines of it are seen from her wrist, legs, and one coming from her neck and lower left cheek. Everyone watches in horror at figuring out who she really is. Sakura looks coldly at the group. "You allowed my Mason to be stolen from me by that cult?!"

Illya forms a frown, "Yours? Hate to break it to you, but my brother didn't mention anything about belonging to a botched lesser grail vessel like you. Being a proper vessel myself, I can tell your fate the moment I arrived. Besides, if you are making a fuss about my brother's current whereabouts, where the hell were you when he was taken? I can assure you that I wouldn't allow a member of my family to be taken freely from my sight!"

"Maybe we should…" Shirou tries to get in the conversation.

Illya raises a hand, "Not now Shirou. Your Onee-san is talking to the Matou homewrecker."

"Homewrecker?" Sakura asks with a smile on her face that states anything but happiness. Pools of darkness surround the area and one close to Illya shoots out a tendril that is caught by Berserker and ripped in half. The maids move forwards to eliminate the threat of their lady only to be stopped by Rider. They halt their attack not wanting to kill themselves fighting a Servant when they have four others on their side. Archer and Saber take notice that Rider this time has a stronger presence in her compared to their school fight. Then behind the group, a twenty foot humanoid shadow familiar grows to life and everyone can feel the mana it holds. Sakura laughs at their hesitation. "What's the matter? Is this homewrecker too much for you?"

Shirou steps between them with an arm to each. "Both of you stop! We can't be fighting among ourselves while Mason is captured! I know how you feel Sakura, but none of us are able to rescue him at the moment. I hate to say this, but the best we can do is hope he can hold out until we are back into fighting shape."

Sakura looks coldly at the redhead. "So you are willing to leave Mason to the fate of his captors? I see that my so-called 'nee-san' is spreading her influence into you."

Rin is taken aback by the accusation. "Spreading my influence? What does that mean?"

Ice seems to fill the air as Sakura focuses her attention on her blood sister now. "Are you so pampered at being the oldest that you can't see your own misgivings? I begged countless hours for you or anyone of your family to save me from my captors only for all of you to leave me to my fate! Take a good look at me and rue what has become of me because of it. I will not leave Mason to suffer the same fate I spent the last ten years in. Rider comes, we seem to have a deal to withhold and I will ensure that the alien bitch gets what she is owed."

"Sakura, wait!" Rin shouts for her younger sister, but Rider summons her pegasus and flies from the house with Sakura and the familiar goes back into the darkness Rin balls her fists before going over to Archer and socking him in the jaw. "Why the hell didn't you mention Sakura is the Black Shadow?!"

Archer rubs his jaw before answering. "Because I didn't know. I've never seen Sakura and the Shadow being the same thing. I figured that the old man had some influence over it, but never that it is a part of Sakura."

"Well what about the fact that she is the Master of Rider?!" She demanded while rubbing the hand that hit him.

"That is because I only had a speculation about it and I didn't want to make false claims. I believe I mentioned the fact that Rider died while Shinji was her Master in my time." He takes her hand and casts a small healing spell to heal it. Rin allows him to heal it while biting her lip from getting answers she already knew. When he is done, she pulls her hand from his grasp and rushes to her room. Shirou starts to follow her, but Archer stops him. "I know that the hero side of you wants to try and save her from her feelings, however there are some things that are beyond your abilities. This is between siblings and you can't get in the way of that or else you will make things worse. She needs time to process it just like everyone else here."

Shirou glares at his future counterpart. "I don't agree with that, but I'll follow your lead for now on that. However, we shouldn't be sitting here doing nothing. Sakura is out there and is going to need our help!"

"That is where you are wrong Shirou, we are taking the moment to heal your wounds before we do anything else." The elder sister tells the redhead. "Besides, she doesn't need our help and if anything, her dying would simplify things. She is an improper Grail vessel and would only become more unstable the more the Grail fills. If I had to describe the difference between me being a vessel and her being one, I would be the white and pure Grail and she would be the black and corrupted Grail. And if the Grail truly is already corrupted, it would be amplified if it manifested through her. As hard as it might sound to you, her dying would only make our situation better."

Shirou doesn't lose his maddened expression. "No one will be the vessel of the Grail nor will either of you end up dying! Mason and I only just finally got you to come home and I will not allow you to be a sacrifice for the Grail like Mom did! Nor will I allow a long time friend to do the same!"

Illya looks at him with pity. "The Grail war is not a fairy tale that has a happily ever after ending. This body of mine is no true human body and is made to only live long enough to be the vessel of this Grail war. So even if I didn't end up fulfilling my design, I would only live perhaps a year afterwards if I'm lucky. Our goodbye is inevitable in the near future. The only question would be whether I should be the vessel and not allow the corrupted Grail to birth Avenger, or allow Sakura to be the vessel and allow Avenger to be born into our world. As an Einzbern and a magus, I cannot allow the Avenger to be born and choose the former. If you wish to be a Hero of Justice like Dad, you need to learn that there are times when you can't save everyone. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." She then leaves Shirou to think upon those words.

Valia awaits in the dead park of the city. She heard that this was the epicenter of the travesty that happened ten years ago. Calling it dead is right on the nose since nothing living remains here even after so many years. Only the husks of trees and the artificial grass the city has placed are left. It makes her think of what the planet will turn into once they finally bring back Nihilus. Her red face goes darker in a blush and her loins burns at the thought of all the death and carnage that will happen because of it. Now if that girl will hurry up and bring me what is promised I can get Skorr to help relieve these urges. She thinks to herself. The Sith isn't kept waiting much longer as a white pegasus flies overhead and lands near her. Sakura slides off it while Rider recalls her pegasus away. Valia senses malice from the girl and licks her lips in anticipation. "I was wondering when you would show. I was beginning to think you had gone back on your word."

"Of course I haven't forgotten what is owed to you." Sakura tells the Sith as she reaches into her dress and pulls out a chunk of metal. The energy from it radiates enough for all present to feel it. She holds it out with a smile.

Valia grins greedily, "Excellent! With this, everything my organization has worked towards is only a step away."

Sakura keeps her expression. "Well wouldn't that be wonderful."

The Sith is confused by what the girl meant by that, but writes it off as slang. "Either way I will thank you on behalf of them on this gift. With a fragment of a previous Grail, we will have the power needed to no longer have to hide ourselves." She grabs the 'gift', but when she pulls it, Sakura keeps her grip firmly on it. Valia gives the girl a look of concern. "What are you doing? Release the fragment. I held up by the end of the deal, now uphold your end of it and stop this joke."

Sakura cocks her head to the side still with a smile, but her eyes tell of a different story. "I've altered the deal, and you won't live to pray I don't alter it any further. You will get what is owed to you." The moment Sakura's smile fades, a dark shadow on the ground forms and a tendril shoots from it and grabs the Sith on her arm. She roars in pain as ignites her two sided lightsaber with her free hand and cuts it off her. She then Force pushes Sakura away from her and the fragment is flung away from them.

"So that's how it is? You actually had me fooled for a moment. Luckily for me, you remind me of myself so much that I planned for you to double cross me." A snap of the Sith's fingers and a swarm of shadow Servants surround the tree tops and numerous troopers litter the ground.

Rider quickly scans the battlefield before relaying it to her Master. "I count over six dozen Assassin class Servants in the trees and three dozen armed men on the ground. While the shadow Servants are different individually, all are weaker than normal Servants of that class and share the same presence. I conclude that the Servant they are supposed to be is able to split themselves many times."

"Seems like you ladies could use a hand," A new voice calls to the duo before landing near them. They look at the newcomer to see a man in blue armor and a red spear.

"Lancer, what are you doing here?" Rider asks him while gripping her chained daggers in each hand.

"Easy now Rider. I was doing my patrol of the town and felt the presence of a ton of Servants and can rushing over. My Master is a party pooper and won't give me many chances for a proper fight. Besides, I have a score to settle with Miss Psycho Lady over there." Lancer points his spear at Valia.

The Sith only grins. "Have you returned to be our new battery? Well I have to decline our previous offer as the girl here just brought us something better. However I'm sure I can find some other use for you. Even if I can't, I can just use you as a stress relief and pull your testicles through your nose."

Lancer shivers. "You said that already crazy lady!"

Valia shrugs, "What can I say? I like emasculating men in creative ways. Women are allowed to pursue our pleasure as we see fit."

"Geez you make Medb's pursuit of me actually seem tempting, which I never thought would be something I'd say."

"Are you two done with your lover's spat?" Sakura asks Lancer. "The longer I listen to you two talk, the more I'm likely to kill you with her."

"Well seeing as I'm here to help, I'd rather not be threatened by said help. But you are right that our talk should come to a close." Lancer grips his spear and smirks with excitement. "If the two of you deal with the small fry, I'll take the crazy lady head on. While I don't doubt Rider's fighting abilities or whatever you do, I have the only weapon that can resist that lazer sword of hers."

"Tsk, fine," Sakura relents. "However, if she is still alive by the time I'm done killing the others, I'm interrupting the fight and killing her myself."

"Sounds agreeable to me!" Lancer shoots forward in the air and sends an overhead strike that impacts on the red blade. He lands on his feet and sends a flurry of jabs at the Sith who is forced to be on the defensive to keep up with his speed. Valia notes that fighting a Servant is harder than she anticipated and she realizes just how far behind she still is to her Master who was able to keep up with Servants better.

Rider whips her chains around her and wraps it around a leg of an Assassin before pulling him out the tree and slamming him into another tree with enough force to force the tree to topple over. She continues whipping the chains around and a trooper that was too close was chopped into pieces as if someone forgot to put a lid on a blender. She then grabs two Assassins with the chains and smashes them like smashing a ketchup packet.

The Assassins not near Rider focus on eliminating her Master as per their role. One of them throws a handful of dirks at Sakura, but a wall of shadow sucks them up before they could hit her. A dark shadow forms near that Assassin and spits the dirks back at him. He falls off the tree with blood from her throat. Dark orbs form around Sakura as she stands there. A few Assassins try to get close to her and weave through the orbs before they spike outwards and impale them. Some troopers try shooting at her only for the bottom of her dress to form tendrils and shield her from the blaster bolts. When they stop firing, she lowers the shield and out stretches her hands for tendrils to shoot from her sleeves and ensures them. She tightens the hold on them and squeezes them like a toothpaste container.

The cult funnels their people towards Sakura as they deem her to be more of a priority. If they can kill her, then Rider will soon be gone with her, or so the plan was. Sakura smiles seeing herself getting surrounded. "It appears as if I'm outnumbered. Let's even those numbers." She then creates two dozen giant shadow familiars. The troopers momentarily stagger at the sight. The familiars start their rampage pounding the ground and using their own tendrils to stab and crush the ants under them. The Assassins try to attack the familiars to little effect as the familiars start tearing through the trees and killing them as well. The grass around them starts to stain red.

Lancer parries an attempt from Valia to sweep his feet. "Seems the advantage is no longer in your favor crazy lady."

"Then your short sightedness will be your downfall!" The Sith locks her saber to his spear then sends a shock of lightning at him with her free hand. He is sent backwards, but the curse on her arm halts her current actions.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but what is short sighted about seeing a teenager wreaking havoc on your small army?" He gestures to the familiars destroying the park. Rider is barely seen as she is quickly ripping through the battlefield with speeds most will see as a blur. "Besides, that mark is causing you pain and is making you sloppy."

"This is nothing," She refers to the curse. "My kind only grows in power when we are in pain. If anything, it is only a matter of time before I'm powerful enough to stand above everyone!"

Lancer dismisses her statement. "You're delusional, lady. Whether by my hand or the scary goth girl over there, you will die before dawn. Now come, I want this fight to be enjoyable!"

They charge back at each other and resume their fight. Again, Lancer's speed at which he can easily jab at her steals the offensive. Valia blocks the attacks and locks onto his spear again. She then shifts her lightsaber to swing around his spear and aims to hit him with the other end of her saber. He ducks and hits her side with the butt end of his spear. Valia stumbles and Lancer maneuvers to her backside to stab her in the back. The Dark Side warns her of the attack and she positions her saber to block her back as she bends down to direct the spear away. She spins around and takes the offensive with a couple swings of her own. Lancer leans his back and feels the heat of the red blade pass inches from his neck before he parries the follow up from the other end of the saber. Valia swings again, but something wraps around her leg and pulls her away from him. She is lifted in the air before being slammed into the ground. Blood spits from her mouth from the impact.

"You guys cleaned house faster than I expected." Lancer disappointedly tells the two females walking to him. "I was finally enjoying this war, but I didn't get the satisfaction I wanted."

"There's a whole cult and many more Servants still alive for you to fight. I want this kill myself." Sakura informs the blue Servant before looking at the Sith.

Valia smirks as she lay in her small crater. "I'm guessing this is about the child of Revan. Hate to break it to you, but my master will not let his prize go so easily. Not even threatening my life and killing me will force his hand. While we do share love, we use it only in the pursuit of more power. In fact, he will welcome my death as the pain that it will cause him would only fuel his anger and make him stronger. Such is the way of the Sith. That is the path that Revan's blood will now be on under my master's care."

"Not when I save him."

Valia scoffs, "You fool. He will never be the same. The boy you knew will never be seen again. He will either be broken forever, or the corruption of the Dark Side will blind him of who his enemies are and he will only end up killing you all if released early. Regardless of which one proves to be true, Mason Emiya will forever be dead to the universe."

Sakura scowls as a tendril shoots from her dress and wraps itself around Valia's throat. "You bitch! I will not allow that to happen! After I kill you, I will get him out of there!"

"*cough*" The Sith chokes from being strangled, but a small smirk remains on her face. "Who… Is to say… You live long enough… to see the light of day?" A sound of an engine is heard coming overhead and the three look up to see a craft flying towards them. At a closer look, they see it carrying something underneath it. "I heard… this country has a history of bombs… while not big enough to compare… it will do its job…" At that moment, the craft releases what it is carrying and a whistle is heard coming downwards.

"FUCK THIS SHIT!" Lancer shouts as he quickly runs off and dematerializes. Rider grabs hold of Sakura and summons her pegasus. They quickly take flight and make their way from the incoming blast. The whistle is still heard growing fainter as they move further from the park. When the whistle stops, a loud and massive explosion fills the air expanding ten city blocks and still growing. The heat of the bomb fills the air and singes the hairs of the pegasus' tail. The shockwave rips through the air and makes Sakura lose her grip on the pegasus. The last thing she sees is Rider turning downwards towards her before seeing black.

Numerous alarms around the city welcome the new day as Archer closes the blinds on the windows. He returns to the kitchen to complete breakfast. On his way, he passed by Rin, Illya, and a now sword free Shirou in the living room watching tv. A reporter is on screen standing behind a large pile of rubble that used to be part of the city. There are spots of fire and smoke within it. "As you can see, the damage is worse than any of the other attacks over the course of this month. Over two dozen city blocks were caught in the explosion last night. The city has labeled the attackers as a terrorist organization and there are talks of the military being sent in to deal with them. While Marshal Law has yet to be called, the government has called for a strict curfew for all. No one is allowed to venture out of their homes between the hours of seven am to six pm. With that, there will be no groups larger than five wandering the city at any time. Schools are still to be closed, and any non essential jobs or businesses are to be closed as well. Anyone caught breaking any of these rules that is not an emergency will be arrested on spot. Meanwhile-" The tv is turned off before the reporter can continue.

Shirou lays the remote on the table. "The cult is getting more dangerous by the day. We need to stop them before they destroy the whole city."

"Given that half of our forces are injured, we can't really storm the temple and take them out." Rin tells him. Her eyes are a little puffy, but she masks her feelings like she was taught. "You are still recovering from being impaled from the inside out, and super healing or not, won't be much use to us for another day or so. Caster has been cut off from her previous mana supply and is running on fumes. It'll take her a few days as well to be able to keep herself alive. Then worse of all, there's Saber's condition. Those curses are eating away her strength and mana. No offense Emiya-kun, but your lack of proper training and mana reserves are making it tough for her to do anything. Not only that but Caster seems to be the only one who can help her, but like I said, she is dealing with her own mana troubles. So whenever Saber is able to be battle ready is up in the air. The only ones able to fight are Archer, Berserker, myself, and her." Rin points to Illya.

Illya crosses her arms and sighs. "I think that was meant to be a jab at me, but I can't disagree with you much. Even though Berserker's only threat is a fully powered Saber, I will not risk sending only him against the cult. If Mason is partly trained with the Force power and managed to take one of his lives, I have no doubt that a fully trained Sith can take a lot more. Sure Berserker would win in the end, but it would be a waste of lives to do so. So when we save our brother, I want to make sure we aren't just trading one life for another."

Shirou slouches on the table. "Argh, why do you have to make sense?" Archer comes into the room with Sella and Leysritt to bring them food. "And why do I have to give up my kitchen to him?"

"Because you are in no condition to be doing anything other than recovering." Archer tells him, laying down a plate of bacon and eggs. "When the sword stitching occurs, the recovering process needs to be delicate. Otherwise you would only end up killing yourself in the process. I almost died when it first happened to me and I had no one around to help me through it. Be grateful you don't need to go through trial and error like I did." Shirou just mumbly chews his food.

Later that day, the boundary field goes off at the Emiya house in the backyard. The ones able to move head for the back door only to find Rider holding an unconscious Sakura back in her normal state with blood running from her head. Her clothes are also charred and burn marks cover her body. Rider lowers her head, "I've not come to fight. Normally I wouldn't consider bringing her here where some are a bit hostile towards her, but you are the only ones able to treat her and the only place where she is relatively safe."

Shirou walks out to the tall Servant. "Of course Sakura is always welcomed here despite what the other houseguest will say. Are you willing to play nice, Nee-san?"

"Hffm, I guess since it's your house so I can't very well tell you no." Illya huffs.

"It's your home too, so that is why I'm checking with you."

Illya shrugs, "Fine but the moment she goes murderous, Berserker will pay her a visit."

"Oh? Is that so?" Rider asks coldly. She reaches to the back of her eye mask and unclips it. "If you wish, we can settle things here and I'll remove the threat on her life."

Shirou stops her hand. "Hey I thought I said no fighting! Rider, why don't you take Sakura to her home. I'm sure you probably know which one that is. And Nee-san, don't go picking unnecessary fights in our house. This house is large enough where you both don't need to run into each other, so stick to your part of the house until you both are able to have a decent conversation."

Rider faces her head to the boy for a moment before clipping back her mask. "That sounds agreeable to me. Though I will guard my Master until I deem there are no threats to her life." She then walks into the house with Sakura still in her arms. Rin follows the Greek to Sakura's room. "May I ask why you are following?"

"Because you brought her here to be treated. Since Caster is currently out and Einzbern wants nothing to do with her, that leaves only me to fill that spot. Besides, as her elder sister, I should be here to help her and try to make up for when I wasn't." Rin replies with a faint blush.

Rider finishes placing Sakura in bed and faces the twin haired girl. They stay silent for a moment before she speaks. "I will allow it. My Master reminds me of myself and it makes me only want to protect her even more. I too am a younger sister, and many in my time call me a monster. I have no doubt that what she is currently dealing with may end up with her being called one as well. Though she may mask it, she does have love for you still. I can only hope that unlike me, she doesn't end up killing you. When I was banished to live on an island, Euryale and Stheno followed me out of their love for me. I was extremely happy because as long as I had them, I had all I ever needed. However the humans thought that I stole their goddesses and started to hunt me for it. It was through their hunts and the curses of Olympians that I turned into the monster they thought I was." Rin could swear she saw a hint of the eye mask moisten. "When I became the Gorgon, I lost what was left of my self and ate my sisters out of hate. It is a day I will never forget and will always regret. They kept their love for me through everything, and I killed them for it. So if there is a chance that I can prevent that from happening between the two of you, then maybe I can keep a new monster from becoming a legend."

Rin walks to Rider and bows her head slightly, "Thanks Rider. Hopefully I can do something for her to prevent us from killing each other as well. If we are able to include the two of you to our team, then saving Mason may come quicker than we thought."

"Mason…" The Servant muses as Rin goes over her sister's wounds. "He's an interesting boy. He is her current fixation that I'm not sure if it would be wise for them to be in a relationship or not. All she wishes is for him to be at her side, but a decent amount of things she wants from him are not what I would consider healthy. But the way he treats her is better than most others I've seen. I do mean no offense to you, but my only knowledge of you is what she has shared through her dreams. Most of it has been twisted by what her family has done to her. I had no remorse for when she killed Shinji."

Rin stops and looks at Rider in shock. "She killed Shinji?!"

"Yes. He attempted to rape her once again and threatened to tell Mason about the amount of times he took her for himself before killing him. I felt no sorrow for that leech." Rider replies with disgust.

Rin gets a furious scowl, "She has been raped by him more than once?! If that bastard was still alive, I'd march myself over there and kill him myself! I can't believe that family!"

"From what I saw from her memories, what he did to her was only mild compared to what the old man did." If Rider is excluding any hint of anger, her mask hides it easily.

Rin holds a hand up while biting her lip hard enough for blood to spill. "I've heard enough. I don't think I can handle much more of what she endured. If my father was still alive, I'd strangle him for selling her off!" She then grabs Sakura's hand and brings it to her face. "I'm sorry I couldn't have been a better sister." She whispers before returning to heal Sakura.

Rin walks out of the room later that night with sweat on her forehead. She walks into the living room to see Caster being the only one in there. Caster looks over and greets her. "Good evening. How was the hidden Shadow girl?"

"She was caught up in the blast last night. The fact that she is still alive is amazing." Rin answers exhaustedly.

"I can imagine trying to heal her is no small feat. When I get enough mana, I can take over for you." Caster offers after giving her a drink of water.

Rin shakes her head. "No, my duty as her sister makes it where I should look after her. You have your hands full with a bed ridden Saber. How is she?"

Caster groans, "It's not easy. The curses are as if from the Grail itself. It's going to take a lot of mana from myself and her to get rid of them."

"I did offer to contract with you to help supply you with mana."

"So did Shirou and his sister. It's appreciated, but Mason is my Master and I won't betray him by getting a new one. I'll make do with what I have until he is saved and I am able to reform our pact." Caster clearly states.

"Alright so let's set aside your mana problems since you already have a way to regain yours and move to Saber's problem. She's so much of a heavy hitter that we can't afford to have her sideline too long." Rin changes the topic.

"I have a few ideas to circumvent the issue. There's an option that I'm fairly sure is going to need some convincing to Shirou to work. However I'm going to put that on the back burner for now. First I'll see if I can't also direct some of the siphoned mana into her and we'll move from there." The older woman explains. The two then speak of other options before Rin returns to her room. Caster gets up and makes her way to the workshop in the shed. Though when she gets outside she sees Berserker sitting on the ground. She takes a seat on the back porch near the hulking Servant. "Hey Herc, we haven't had the chance to talk yet have we?" Berserker grunts. "I never expected to encounter someone I knew when I was first summoned, and I'm sure you probably didn't either. I know our acquaintance was only through Jason, it still is relieving to talk to an old face again."

Berserker grunts again and stares at Caster. His face then slowly relaxes, but not to the point of a smile. "It is good to see you again as well princess."

Caster is shocked to see him talking, but she laughs it off. "Please, call me by my name. We know each other well enough to bypass familiarities. Though I'm surprised that you are able to talk through your madness enhancement."

"That would be my Master's doing. When we finally bonded, she took on part of my madness as her own." Hercules explains fondly.

"Who would have thought that we are reunited through a pair of siblings? The world is a strange place." Medea chuckles to herself.

The mass of muscle lets loose an upturned lip. "Indeed. Perhaps her brothers show enough promise so that I am able to go peacefully after the war and let them take my place as her protector."

"Despite the cynical personality Archer has, he is very capable. I'm sure you can see the power my apprentice will wield in the future. Though I plan to make him better than his counterpart. As for Mason, he is driven by love. He spent his whole life loving a sister he never met, and I doubt he'll allow her to leave now that she is here. But I guess we need to bust him out before he can do that."

Berserker nods, "They've already proven to be strong. Mason being able to take one of my lives would have already made him a legend in our time. Since we already know what Shirou would be as a Servant, I wonder what the other would be like."

"Hopefully a charming young man. That boy experienced too much a boy of any era should have been through. He deserves a happy life."

"Luckily for the people of this time, there are no gods to interfere with their lives. Makes one wonder what our lives would have been like without them." Hercules looks up into the night sky.

Medea smiles and looks up as well. "I wonder about that a lot, but I wouldn't have been the woman I am now without it. I hate it, but I wouldn't change it. Because without it, I wouldn't have ended up a Servant and found the love of my life."

He takes a little interest in this. "So you found someone in this time? Though I'm hardly surprised. It's not difficult to find someone better than Jason. They call you the Witch of Betrayal, but what they don't realize is that it was you that got betrayed. I believe the saying goes, 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'."

She pats his large hand with a grateful smile. "Thanks Herc."

"You're welcome Medea." Hercules offers back.

They hear footsteps and they turn to see Rider standing in the distance. "I'm sorry Lady Medea, Lord Hercules. I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation."

Caster waves her over, "Lady Medusa, come join your fellow countrymen. We shouldn't let an opportunity like this go to waste." Rider is hesitant at first, but accepts the offer and joins them. "Now, let's get into something personal if you both don't mind. I know the Grail is now off limits given it's a monkey's paw/world destruction capable now but assuming it wasn't, what would your wishes be for it? Lady Medusa, why don't you start?"

Rider is caught off guard with the question but answers, "My only concern is making sure my Master survives the war. I don't care for anything else."

"Brrrt, wrong answer." Medea crosses her arms in an X shape. "I'd say we've all been blessed with good Masters that we care about at the moment, so making our Masters survives is a given. No, what is your personal selfish wish that you want to either change or be true?"

Medusa remains silent for a few moments. "Well, if I could get anything I desperately wanted, I guess I would wish to be with my sisters again. I could be banished to the end of the world with no one but them for company, and I could never want anything more. Sure they tease me for my height, but they were also really protective and I really looked up to them, figuratively speaking."

"Being with your family, huh?" Hercules nods along. "I can understand that line of thought. Like what happened in your legend, I too ended up killing my wife and children." He then snarls as the madness enhancement kicks into overdrive. "The damned Olympians and their sick jokes!" He pounds the ground hard enough to create a fist sized whole in the dirt. He then takes a few breaths before continuing. "I would say I too would wish for nothing more than to be with my family again. I want to hold my wife, watch my children grow, spoil any grandchildren I might have had. When I'm with my Master, I can't help but think of my kids and will do anything to protect her."

"You can lop me in that boat as well. What I wouldn't do to be reunited with Souichirou once again. It doesn't matter where we are reunited, it could be in the depths of Tartarus for all I care. I just want him back." Medea raps herself with her arms.

"Is that the lover you mentioned earlier? I'm guessing he is no longer in this world then." Berserker asks with some warmth in his voice.

She sniffs as a tear rolls down her cheek. "Yes, that's him. He was my second Master in this war. I won't get into the first as he was a cunt. Souichirou found me on the rainy streets dying from lack of mana and took me in. He was a fairly stoic man, but also very caring and took an interest in my work. He wasn't a magus of any sort and I got little in terms of mana from him, but he had what really counts in a man. It wasn't until the cult rolled up at the temple that took him away from me. I didn't even get to say goodbye…" Tears are pouring out of her eyes as Hercules wraps an arm around her shoulder. She accepts and leans into him. "I'm sorry I'm such a mess Herc."

"You are anything but." He assures her. "Death is never pretty and despite it being glorified as a hero, I never saw it as such. I will not hesitate to kill, but it doesn't mean I delight in it. You'd have to be a monster to do that."

"Lord Hercules is right, Lady Medea," Rider reaffirms. "Although I never cared for mortals, I didn't go out of my way to kill them until I turned into the Gorgon."

"Thanks, you two." Caster lifts herself off of Berserker. "Honestly if Mason hadn't taken me in afterwards, I would have killed myself trying to avenge his death by myself. Now that Mason has been taken, it is my turn to save him." She gets up and brushes herself off. "I enjoyed our talk. Let's do this again before the war ends." The other two nod before going into spirit form as Medea heads towards the workshop.

Mason huffs painfully. He doesn't know how long he has been in this room. There is no clock or window to tell time. His body seems to be stained red by this point. Chunks of his skin are scattered on the floor. He hasn't broken yet, though he knows that it is only a matter of time. In the real world, there is no such thing as holding out from torture indefinitely. Sure, the Jedi Order gave a simple lesson on preserving one's mind from mental attacks, but there is nothing about physical ones. The Jedi may take children from their parents anywhere from a newborn to a toddler, but they aren't going to make children go through abuse. Regardless, none of his training can help him here. Especially since he can't even use the Force. One thing that surprised Mason is that he still has his Command Seals on his right hand. Though any hopes of contacting anyone was shattered when he couldn't feel the link to Caster. Whether that means their contract was broken, or that she is dead is a mystery to him. He hopes it's the former.

Mason blinks away a stream of blood pouring from his head. Skorr had scalped some of his hair earlier and he can feel the flies having a field day with it. He is forced to deal with the pain as he can't shoo them off with his bound hands. Each 'lesson' has gotten progressively more painful and longer. Luckily his manhood has been avoided, but he dreads it when it comes time for it. His ever growing fear for that day is most likely one of the reasons why Skorr hasn't gotten to it yet. Though the Sith has gotten fairly close to it. A blow torch 'accidently slipped' from his red fingers and left a nasty burn on Mason's inner thigh. A few blisters from it have already popped since then. Skorr also has gotten creative with dealing pain by gluing tape onto his body then ripping it off once it dried. Mason has already wished for death multiple times, but the cult has been giving him just enough bacta and blood transfusions to not die. However despite all the blood on the floor and the missing skin on his body, Skorr does not dispose of anything he takes off of Mason. As to what the Sith does to the pieces, well the boy has to be fed somehow…

Mason internally groans as he hears the door open. He tries his best to prepare himself for the next 'lesson', but he is left waiting without anything happening. He eventually looks up and sees the same droid that he saw the first time he was here. They look at each other in silence before the droid finally speaks. "Query: Are you truly the one they call Mason Shan, meatbag?"

Mason blinks in shock for a moment. "Meatbag?"

The droid does its imitation of a snort. "Answer: Yes, that is what you organics are. Your skin is the bag that holds your meat in. Now answer my question, meatbag."

"I no longer go by Shan anymore, but yes. Shouldn't you know that if you are part of them?"

"Correction: I am not a part of this cult. While I would generally love to be around meatbags who don't care if I kill, this organization is not for me. They worship the wrong Sith meatbag. If they had a working brain, they would be worshiping my former Master." The droid answers.

This confuses Mason. "Your former Master? Who's that?"

"Mockery: Do you not know who I am? You must have been severally brainwashed by the Jedi meatbags if you don't even recognize the faithful murder droid of your ancestor."

His eye grow wide once he hears that. "Wait, you mean your HK-47?!"

"Answer: Yes I am. I'll be honest and say that I was worried that I would have been forgotten over a thousand years after my Master Revan was alive." The droid confirms. "Now as to why I am here, I knew that if any of Master's bloodline would still be alive, then it would be only a matter of time before this cult found one. So I went undercover and functioned as a 'normal' droid until such time. That leads us to now. While you look pathetically weak and allowed yourself to be captured, you are still of his blood. Master Revan had programmed me the last time I saw him to follow the orders of his blood. As such, you are now my new master." It walks to Mason and breaks the cuffs around his hands and feet. "Statement: I don't have high hopes for you to be as fun as Master Revan was, but I do expect you to allow me to kill someone every once in a while. However if you turn out to be a goody to shoes and deny me of any fun, then I will find a way to override my programming and kill you myself like the meatbag you are."

Mason, having collapsed on the floor, struggles to a sitting position before addressing his new droid. "Well at the moment I'm in the middle of a war and this entire cult are my enemies. I give you all the permissions to kill them at your leisure."

"Commentary: I like you already Master. I have envisioned the day I could tear these meatbags apart many times. Keep this up, you may end up being the second meatbag I don't hate." HK then reaches behind itself and pulls out a blaster pistol and hands it to him. "I know Jedi prefer their laser sword, but I am unable to get one for you. You'll have to make do with this."

Mason takes the blaster and HK helps him off the floor. "That's alright. I don't have the strength to be using a lightsaber anyways."

"Mockery: A Jedi meatbag who isn't uptight enough to use a blaster. Has the Order finally pulled the sticks out of their ass?" HK swings Mason's arm over its shoulder to help him walk.

"The last time I checked they still call them uncivilized. Besides, I left the Jedi life behind years ago after I changed my name. My former Master is the reason for my missing eye." He confides with his new droid as they head to the door.

"Commentary: So you are no longer bound by their rules. This is good since it means that I'll have more chances to kill something. Now follow me Master. I know meatbags like your clothing, but I couldn't bring you yours without raising suspicion." HK leads Mason out the room and goes at a pace slow enough for him to keep up in his state. The droid has memorized the patrol routes of every guard and the positions of the cameras just for this.

Mason meanwhile is amazed at how different the temple is since he was here last. It has been built up and transformed into a fortress with the main temple being used as HQ. Outside a window he sees multiple turrets line the high built metal wall. Towers are also placed at every corner of the wall. There is also a landing pad with a dozen aircraft around it. There's also a fair amount of armored walkers and tanks. "They look like they are planning to be sieged or something."

HK responds in a low voice. "Answer: That is because they are. This is only a fraction of the actual force they have on this planet. It's only a matter of time before the government of this country finds out about them and decides to use military force. The cult are banking almost everything on this and are preparing to hold off any military strike that may happen until the other forces pack up and arrive from around the world. The cult has been on this planet for over a century in secret, failing to revive the meatbag Nihilus many times and only learned of the Grail Wars ten years ago when one of their agents saw multiple superpowered meatbags fighting a monster in the river of this city."

"Sounds like you have a bunch of insight on the cult."

"Mockery: I didn't infiltrate them and sat on my ass for centuries. I made sure to download everything there is to know about them if the day ever came that I would be able to kill them." HK leads Mason down a corridor before stopping at a corner. The droid watches the camera slowly turn from one side to the other. It then shuts down and HK moves forwards. "Shift change." Is the only explanation it gives as they continue. Once they pass the camera's sights, it turns back on.

As they make their way through the base, Mason stops at a door feeling something different about the room. Even as the Force suppression collar remains around his neck, the power he feels from the room is strong enough for him to notice. "HK, wait. There's something strange about this room."

The droid would sigh if it could. "Master, we do not have time. I have calculated the best route at precise times to escape unnoticed. While I did calculate having minutes to spare because of your injuries, I did not for sightseeing. Going into that room and messing with anything in there will set off the alarms."

Mason arches a bloody brow, "Set off alarms? What's so important that there are alarms set for this room specifically?"

"Answer: Because inside houses the 'battery' they use to connect themselves to the Grail." HK responds.

"If they have a connection to the Grail, then we have to get rid of it. It'd be too dangerous to allow them to summon any more Servants than they have already." Mason directs them to the door.

"Commentary: And here I hoped my new Master wasn't the hero type. I blame the Jedi meatbag Bastila for deluding Revan's bloodline."

Inside they see a black body that is hooked up to various types of machines. Incisions litter the body with blood running from each wound. The body is missing his right arm and has a skull mask sewn into his face. The man doesn't look towards them as he begins to speak. "Back for more? I'm already running on fumes and still you come? Just kill me and be done with it. I tire at being your lab rat."

"We're not here for that." Mason tells the man.

"You're not? Then why are you here then? To pleasure yourself with torturing me more?" The man finally turns and faces the two. His harsh tone changes after seeing Mason looking like he grinded his body to a cheese grater. "Oh, my apologies. I see they have found a new person to torture. You have my sympathies then. Seeing that you are not in your cell, I'm assuming you are on your way out. If so, may I ask a favor? Kill me. I would much rather be sent back to the Throne of Heroes than to spend another minute in this condition."

"The Throne of Heroes…" Mason then connects the dots in his head. "Wait, are you Assassin?"

The Servant's head moves slightly. "So you know about the Grail War. That's unfortunate for you. I once dreamt of obtaining the Grail, but my dreams were shattered the moment I came into the world. The sadistic bitch attacked me with such a power I have never seen in a mortal before. Now here I am, Masterless and used as a battery. I no longer care for the Grail. I again ask that you allow my favor to come true."

"Commentary: Master, as much as I would love to kill a meatbag any day of the week, this one is too high of a target to kill and get away with it. Especially in your current state." HK adds in his own opinion.

Mason contemplates for a moment. I don't want to kill him but leaving him alive this way is too much of a risk. Plus it would be cruel to leave him like this. But on the flip side, killing him would only fill the Grail and we can't let that happen either. Argh, what would Shirou do? He looks down and notices something. Oh, he would do that… "I have a better idea." Mason raises his hand to reveal his command seals.

Assassin widens his eyes. "You're a Master? But where is your Servant? Unless they have died, which would explain why they captured you."

"The connection to my Servant broke when I was captured. I have no idea what happened to her, but at the moment I am a Servantless Master and you are a Masterless Servant. Let's make a pact," Mason offers.

"Master, you aren't actually considering bringing him with us? He is in worse shape than you are." HK mentions.

"The robot is right and I'm sure that if your Servant is still alive, that they might not be too kind about you having a new one." Assassin adds in.

"HK, his condition can be fixed once we make a contract. And Assassin, Caster would understand my situation. Besides, we have been gathering all the Masters and Servants to one side to fight this cult. You won't be much use to us as you are." The naked and bloody teen explains.

The Servant remains silent for a moment before coming to a decision. "Alright, you make a decent point. If coming with you allows me to get vengeance on this cult, then I will follow you." Mason smiles and they quickly make their contract. Assassin fills the mana rushing through his system and feels better than he has in weeks. With him finally having a mana supplier, his wounds also start to heal. He quickly tears off everything connected to him and that sets off the alarms. "Alright Master, let's get going."

"Just one second, you're missing something." The Master raises his command seals as one shines brightly. "By the order of my Command Seal, Assassin regrow your arm!" One of the wings of the seals fades on his hand as Assassin regains his cursed right arm. It is almost twice the size of his and red.

Assassin flexes his arm before nodding in approval. "Thank you Master. Perhaps I will be able to put it to better use under your command. Now come, we must not waste any more time."

"Commentary: The new meatbag looks like he might actually pull some weight in this escape. Let's hope his inclusion is worth it." HK then leads them out of the room. They head down the hall before on the other side there is a squad of troopers appearing. HK passes Mason to Assassin then takes out a second blaster and begins firing at them. With perfect aim, he takes them out with little effort. "The joy of finally being able to kill. How I missed this."

After a few more hallways, they round a corner where an E-web heavy blaster is set up with a number of troopers guarding the exit. The three quickly take cover as blaster fire flies down the hallway. Assassin passes his Master back to the droid and grabs some of his dirks. "Allow me to deal with them." He then rushes into the hallway and bounces all over to avoid the bolts. He flings his dirks from his hand and kills the ones manning the heavy blaster. Assassin then lands on the squad and swiftly takes them all out. The other two catch up as they then head to the door.

"Observation: Master I believe we no longer have the time to retrieve your clothes in this situation. However, if you still do not wish to continue being naked, perhaps we could quickly relieve one of these dead meatbags of theirs." HK suggests.

"It's better than nothing." Mason reaches down and begins to loot the dead of their possessions. More specifically, one of their pants. "I'll just go with this. Time is of the essence as they say, so I'm fine shirtless." The wounds on his legs bleed into the pants as he pulls it up.

Once outside they see searchlights moving and a number of people running each and every direction. They attempt to sneak through the confusion towards the exit of the base. They managed to get close only for a mouse droid to spot them. It quickly runs off from them only for a large number of troopers to come from its direction. The three take cover behind come crates as a rain of blaster fire comes down to them. Mason and HK return fire as Assassin uses his mobility to take down any troopers that stray too far from their squad.

"Observation: We aren't going to be able to escape like this. By the time we take them out, the whole base will be on us." HK informs them while taking down two of the cult members.

Mason kills one before returning to cover. "Then I guess one of us will have to stay behind."

"I can do that," Assassin returns to his Master. "The fact that you have given me the chance to fight again is enough for me. Servants are meant to be sacrificial pieces anyways, so you lose nothing by leaving me here."

Mason shakes his head. "I'm the dead weight of us and will only slow HK down trying to get me out of here. The two of you should leave and I'll stay."

"Objection: I did not blow my cover just for you to be killed before we even leave the base." HK protest.

"They won't kill me," Mason argues. "Skorr wants me to be his apprentice too badly for that to happen. The two of you though have been behind enemy lines for so long and have information my people need. I want you two to join up with them and share what you know about them."

"Mockery: There is nothing I want more than to go to a group of meatbags I don't know and trade secrets like a teenage girl."

"HK, you can rescue me after you meet up with them. Taking down this cult is worth more than me at the moment."

"You claim to no longer be a Jedi, yet I can see their ways still within you. Fine, I will go to the meatbag group of yours. I expect to be able to kill a lot once I break you out again." The droid tells them before scanning the area for an escape route.

"At the state of things, you can collect all the bodies you wish from the cult." Mason tells it before firing once again. "Assassin, I will relay the location of my house with our link. If they try to give you trouble, tell the redhead he's a lousy Hero of Justice. That will convince him that you come on my behalf."

"I do not wish to leave you here, but I understand there is more happening than I seem to know. I will come back and return the favor." Assassin then goes with HK as Mason fires rapidly to cover their escape. They only encounter a small resistance as the rest of the base believes all of them to be at Mason's position. HK leads the Servant to a door it made sure was unlocked. Once outside the base, they make a dash for the forest surrounding it to cover their escape. Their illusion of freedom didn't last long as a dirk plants itself into their path. They prepare for a fight and see that they have been surrounded by a couple dozen Shadow Servants. Assassin recognizes who they are instantly. "Hundred Persona… to think that I have to face off against you though you seem to be a shadow of your actual self."

"These meatbags friends of yours?" HK inquiries pointing his blaster to them.

"More like we occupy the same position at work." Assassin explains. "We are Hassans, Old Men of the Mountains. The best Assassins from the middle east in our respective time. Each of us possesses a unique ability. I have a cursed hand, as you could guess. The one that surrounds us is Hundred Persona, they have multiple personalities that can split off and form their own bodies. Technically speaking, all these bodies are the same person."

"Observation: That just means more for me to kill." HK begins firing at the Shadows as Assassin fights his brethren. They manage to kill a couple from a distance before they start a melee. HK having fought numerous Jedi and Sith is no stranger to fighting up close and personal, nor is it above fighting dirty. It throws its blaster at one of them before picking up a dirk from the ground and stabbing it into one of them. It then uses the body as a meat shield to block another attack from behind before swinging the body at its attacker. They both take down a good number of them as the rest reassess their battle plans. The plans never take place as they then begin dropping like flies from a third. Assassin and HK don't know who the third is, but take advantage of the distraction to attack the rest of them. The two then look to the last Shadow Servant, but the newcomer jumps down behind the shadow and kisses her. The Shadow Servant drops and wrangles in pain before dying from poison.

Assassin is stunned to see who it is before chuckling to himself. "You are a sight for sore eyes. It's good to know the youngest the Hassan is still able to be worthy of the Throne."

Shirou knocks on Saber's door. It's been a couple of days since Rider has brought back Sakura. She is still resting and Caster believes it to be because of the amount of mana she used in her fight with Vaila since Sakura has never used much mana before to begin with. He sees his Servant lying in her bed when he is allowed to enter. "Hey Saber, you got a moment?"

"Of course Master," She tries to sit up.

Shirou walks to her and places a hand to stop her. "You don't need to move. We can talk as you are."

She stops and settles back into her original position. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well…" Shirou's face blushes as he tries to think of a place to start. "You remember how we put off the conversation about us until Lancelot was dealt with?"

Saber nods, "Are you wanting to finally discuss it?" Shirou nods. "Very well. I'm in no position to do anything else anyways." They both sit in silence having obviously not thought how to start said conversation. "This appears to be a topic that isn't as easy as I thought."

Shirou lets out a quick chuckle. "Yeah, same here. Honestly I haven't put much thought into being in a relationship with someone before."

Saber moves to sit up deciding that this conversation is too important to be lying down for. "Despite being in a marriage, I know little about actual love myself. I left most of my emotions behind when I pulled the sword from the stone. There was no room for Artoria as King Arthur. My knowledge for such a thing isn't much since I only acted to fulfill my obligation as king by having a queen. Guinevere tried a few times to engage in love talks about men many times without much success. She even tried setting me up with someone arguing that 'kings have been known to fool around on the side', but I held my honor too much to even consider such a thing."

"So does that mean you're a…"

"A virgin?" She finishes. "Well not really. If you remember, my sister Morgan got me drunk and took the seed I was going to put in my Queen. Also as I said the other day, Guinevere was the only one I could be Artoria for when we were alone and we did share a bed occasionally during some nights when I needed to relieve some stress that sparring couldn't get rid of." Saber looks at Shirou's surprised red face and is amused. "Just because I know little about love itself doesn't mean there weren't days where I wasn't sexually frustrated. Everyone has days like that, it doesn't matter who you are."

"I know it's just…" Shirou turns away and shifts to get himself under control.

Saber smirks cheekily. "Why are you looking away as if you're guilty of something? It couldn't be that you're imagining me naked getting down on another woman is it?" The jump he does tells her all she needs to know as she softly laughs at this. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about. In fact I'm flattered that you are able to think of me that way. I have a bit of muscle on me, so if the thought of me naked can turn you on then I can take pride in that as a woman."

He turns around with a deep red face. "So you don't mind people thinking about you naked then?"

A faint blush appears on her face as she smiles. "I only care if you do. I have no interest in anyone else."

"Well that is one thing you don't have to worry about…" Shirou admits shyly.

"Oh really? You mean you thought about me like that before now?" She asks with interest and gestures to him to sit next to her on the bed.

He nods weakly as he sits.. "From time to time."

Saber decides to dig deeper wanting to tease her Master more. "So do you stop with just thinking about me naked, or do you act on these thoughts?"

She delights as his face goes into a darker shade of red. "I… I may have thought about us while…"

"Well let me tell you a secret of mine," Saber blushes more and leans in to whisper in his ear. "I've also masturbated to you too." Shirou looks at her as she gives him a cheeky smile.

[Lewdness ahead]

She then grabs his shirt collar and pulls him to her face before kissing him. He is shocked, but his hormones make him return it even though he didn't need them to tell him to. The kiss quickly turns into making out before he is pulled on top of her. Their tongues feel for each other and explore their mouths. Saber's arms wrap around his waist and she tugs his shirt off. His hands find her chest and he quickly unbuttons her shirt to reach his prize. She moans as he grabs a handful of her breast. Shirou massages her breast before pulling down her bra and freeing her nipple. He pulls away from her lips and wraps it around her left nipple, suckling it. Saber moans a bit louder, no longer sucking his face to muffling it. Her hands find their way back around his waist and she starts to remove his pants next. His member flings and escapes his boxers the first moment it gets. It is his turn to moan as she holds his manhood.

Shirou has had enough holding back and leaves her breast to pull down her own pants. She blushes having been exposed fully to him. His penis twitches at the sight of her wet vagina. "Saber, I'm going to put it in." She nods as her hips move in anticipation. He guides himself to her entrance and she lets out a muffled seal through her hand as his tip touches her. Her moans grow as he moves ever more into her. Saber is amazed by how far he can reach inside her. Shirou has a harder time trying to keep his thoughts the further he goes. He finally fully enters her and he has a hard time keeping himself from ending it there. "Alright, I'm going to move." Saber nods again, biting her bottom lip.

He starts to move back as a hot sensation fills his body. It amplifies as he goes back into her. Shirou was going to move at a slow pace, but he quickly finds that his body has other ideas. Saber's head fills more with ecstasy the more he thrust inside her. The moans they hear from each other only makes them want this more. Saber opens her eyes and can tell that Shirou is almost at his limit. She doesn't mind as she is about to climax soon as well. "Shirou," She calls him to her as her lips find his once again. Her mind goes blank moments later and feels him shoot inside her. Shirou waits until he finishes before pulling out of her and taking a position next to her.

[Lewdness over]

Shirou grabs the blanket and pulls it over them. Saber wraps her arms around him and rests her head on his chest. He also holds onto her as if he will lose her if he doesn't. They remain this way in silence for a while. Shirou breaks the silence, needing to confirm what happened. "So, what does this make us?"

She listens to the rhythm of his heartbeat before answering. "I hope this makes you my lover. I do not know what will happen during the rest of the war or afterwards, but I have little energy to care at the moment. I've never felt as happier as I do now and I don't want to go another day wondering 'what if'."

Shirou kisses the top of her head. "I would gladly make myself your lover as long as you are equally mine."

"I'm a king, naturally that makes me deserve more of our love." She jest.

"If you are a king, then I guess that would mean I am a queen so I'm entitled to just as much." He points out.

Saber looks up at him with a light in her eyes that Shirou hasn't seen before now. "Do not worry, I make sure my queen remains satisfied while in my presence." They kiss before settling in the bed for the night.

Darth Skorr burst into the room that holds his future apprentice. When the cult recaptured the boy after his escape attempt, the Sith Lord did not hold back on his punishment. For eight straight, he made sure Mason would remember what will be in store for him if he should ever try to escape again. He made sure not a single anatomy part of the boy is left untouched. A squishy feeling comes from the bottom of Skorr's boot when he stands in front of him. He looked down to see what it was he stepped on. The floor is a mess as the Sith didn't care for cleaning the place afterwards of what he did to Mason like he normally does. It quickly adds up what it was under his feet from the context clues. A stream of blood goes from below his foot and leads into the half blown out sack that is positioned between Mason's legs. He wipes his foot on the floor, removing the ball from the bottom of it.

"I'll admit that your resistance to the amount of physical pain I inflict on you is impressive. I can see that you will make for a powerful Sith on the battlefield." Skorr comments. Mason remains quiet not wanting to waste energy to engage in conversation. "However as things are, I am on a time limit and will not be able to give you much more attention before long. So we're going to have to move things along. Bring her in!" He calls to the hallway.

An upright gurney is wheeled in with a cover draped over it. Wheeling it in is Valia, or what is left of her. Her lower half is nothing but machine and the same is said for the right side of her upper body. She wears a full body suit with only her head and left hand being the only visible organic part of her. She also wears a respirator to allow herself to breathe. "Master, Kohai." Valia greets with a mechanical voice box.

"My apprentice, how are your injuries?" Skorr asks despite knowing the answer.

"Manageable. The pain only fuels my strength in the Dark Side." She answers.

"Perhaps next time you come up with a better back up plan than blowing up a part of the city." He advises before dismissing her. "Now go back to your project. Despite your injuries, you did succeed in your mission so you get the honor setting it up." She bows before leaving the room. Skorr walks to the gurney and grabs the covering. "My apprentice had suggested that I should use your attachments against you when trying to turn you, so before capturing you I made sure to get a hold of someone you hold dear." The cover comes off to reveal Taiga strapped to the gurney. She is gagged and her skin lay bare. Muffled screams are heard along with a tear from her as she looks at the state of Mason.

What strength is left in Mason funnels its way around his body seeing her. "You son of a bitch, let her go!" He tries to reach her, but the cuffs prevent him from going anywhere.

The Sith grins viciously. "Now why would I do something like that after all the trouble I went through to bring you together?"

"You can do anything you want to me, but please leave her alone!" Mason tries to reason.

"But I already have my new apprentice. However you are still unwilling to turn. I'm afraid I'm forced to take drastic measures." He fakes being sorry as he makes his way to his tools. Her muffled screams grow louder as he pulls out a bloody potato peeler and brings it to her.

"Please!" The collar around Mason's neck starts shocking him as he tries to free himself to save his guardian. "I'll do what you want! I'll be your apprentice! I'll learn the Dark Side! I'll help you resurrect Nihilus! I'm not lying! I'll do anything, just please don't do anything to her!" Tears stream down his eyes as he begs desperately.

Skorr likes what he is hearing. "Oh I believe you, my new apprentice. However you have burned down any chance for negotiations after freeing Assassin during your escape attempt. Now all you can do is watch helplessly as I desecrate your guardian's body right in front of your eyes." He presses the peeler on her chest and Mason's lone silver eye flickers yellow as he follows it down her body.

Author's note: I know I'm going to get a lot of people mad about what is happening to Taiga. A couple of you have probably stopped reading the moment she was revealed. As much as I hate to do this, I felt it was necessary. As was shown at the beginning of the chapter, Sakura is too strong to be captured for the Sith to use to try and turn Mason. Even if she is untrained, Shirou had to project the Jeweled Sword of Zelretch in HF for Rin to get close to her. While there isn't much else to compare Sakura to, we can figure that she would probably pose a threat to most if she kept her powers or used it on anyone else. Which is also why Valia opted to bomb the place to try to kill Sakura. The only other person that would be able to effect Mason at such a level is Shirou, but the cult don't have any way of preventing Shirou projecting and escaping. So that left Taiga. On happier news, Shirou and Saber finally got together! I didn't plan to write a H-scene, but the words just flew to me and we ended up there. I'll admit that this is the first time I wrote a H-scene so I tried to keep it simple. I want honest opinions on it, so I know whether or not I should do more and if so, how I can improve. Also Assassin and HK-47 have joined our cast! Lastly, it might be a while until my next chapter as I pre-ordered the new God of War and Pokémon games come out this month, so I'll be busy playing those.

keybladelight: Mason can take himself out of the Jedi, but he can't take the Jedi out of himself. I hoped that was shown during his failed escape attempt. I didn't have Shirou become Caster's new master as his only goal with using Rule Breaker was freeing her. As for the sibling bonds, Illya has already shown how protective she is on her younger brothers when she confronted Sakura. I am very much mixing the different FSN routes together as each provide good plot points in each of them. As for the Holocron trick, I'm not sure I'm wanting to do that though it would provide something interesting to the story. I'll put it on the back burner in case I decide to use it. I'm leaving the rest of your suggestions blank since answering them would spoil the story ;P

Well that is it for me! I hoped y'all had a good Halloween a few days ago. I dressed up as Freddy Krueger for work this year. Anyways thanks for reading and I'll talk at y'all next time!