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The following is a fan-based
FICTION
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Chapter 8: New Plans, Old Ties
P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c
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It took a few hours to silence Setanta, but the bastard had the chance to find silence after she succeeded in throwing an empty rice cooker at his face.
Ria had enough of the mortifying experience which pretty much set her to find out who Berserker's Master was. Another woman, a gorgeous one at that- very young, barely older than her and yet carrying a very peculiar form of 'European Beauty'. Blonde hair and blue eyes were normal in someone native to Northern European countries, but white hair and red eyes? That was a surprise that left her unable to pick up from where this individual was from.
Further prodding through any knowledge she could think of about the war further yielded no results. Ria was back in the 'war room', and the air was tense for a few stupid reasons. As much as she had wanted to keep quiet about the whole thing, the blonde had to tell this to her allies. Setanta's reaction was expected, and, to some extent, Ana's vicious thoughts were somewhat foreseen through silly thinking. She didn't think it would have been as intense as before.
"I-It's alright, Senpai. We are going to have this molester hung by the time we are throught with her."
Vicious was not a term used lightly here. Even as Ana's Servant acted as a 'moderator' of these outburst, the sheer bloodthirst originated by this development left the purple-haired girl in a rather ferocious mood. Hugging her, giving her comfort, but still hissing all sorts of insults and foul terms to address the accidental kissing.
Ria knew the fellow girl hadn't planned the action, and she knew where the fault lied to. Her Servant, in particular, had been quite honest about it. How he had provoked a reaction to the white-haired beauty. But when asked about the reasons that drove him to this, Saber deflected by calling it a 'little bout of prank'. Nothing more, nothing else- and the blonde knew it was a lie.
Something, deep down, just felt more familiar with Joseph's own behavior. In fact, it felt like the more she spent time around him, the more he knew more than he was telling her. It was as if her guts were getting better geared to pick up his bullshit on the spot. She hadn't mentioned this to him, as she felt it was the sort of advantage she needed to decipher this 'Joseph of Britannia'.
Her Servant was helpful and gave her so much to think about, but seemed to be purposely holding back on some information that she knew was important. Something that made Berserker's Master enough of an 'amusing target' to actually play tricks to her. Why? How? She was tempted to think it was something about the family which he recognized, but the girl refused to see it as him holding a grudge. No, it was something more good than bad, something that... she knew she needed the answer to.
But prying that sort of information was nigh-impossible considering the man's smug attitude in deflecting. He knew she was onto him, and he had plenty of years of experience in that sort of dialogue to put her on an eternal chase for the sake of... eventually nothing. It was frustrating enough that Ria didn't even care if she was going to get any answer to it anytime soon.
What mattered now was setting up priorities. Now they had most of the Servants and Masters down to the count. They were missing on the Archer and Caster options, both seemingly eluding confrontations in most part and with Lancer failing to spot who was the one in charge of the Servant she fought.
The only odd factor the redhead brought up was that Archer had something... 'missing' to her. A female warrior with black hair and red eyes, using a particularly sultry outfit that revealed much skin but was shown more in a regal way- divine one Lancer mentioned. Her weapon was a large bow that held mystical power beyond what Lancer was familiar with. Yet, the Servant lacked the might to use its full potential for some reason. It wasn't a restriction, it was like she couldn't really muster what her body needed to activate the full power of the large bow.
With the war finally taking a clearer shape, Ria knew it was time to deliver the first strike rather than wait and be struck first. They had the advantage, and she saw a need to deal with the most dangerous option - The Master of Caster, Ninsuna.
The option was wholeheartedly approved by Setanta, while Ana needed more convincing to accept. In this case, Joseph's words on the matter summarized her reasoning.
"The Master of Caster has the potential to become a major threat even with our current alliance if provided with the chance to develop said potential. Right now, she has a Servant and one of the weaker ones considering that its fixed location is one and the same. We can plot a siege and beat them by overpowering what they are using as protection."
Crude, but it was the best option right now. Hesitation was not the reason they had been so quiet up to this point, and now that they had a better sight on the situation it was time to strike before Caster and his Master knew what was up. But not tonight, Ria argued to herself as today had been a crazy day. Tomorrow, with more tools and equipment to face it.
Setanta had items that could help against any protection Ninsuna herself could have set up, and soon a plan was hatched to bring down the most dangerous Master they were aware of. Of course, that was how they saw it and while they knew to an extent that it was true...
The most dangerous Master of them all was currently facing a Hero of Justice.
Shirou Emiya thought himself a hero.
Many would think this mere notion to be expected from someone that grew up in a household that taught him how to be a good young man around others and situations, but the truth behind that statement was a ramifications of two specific events that swerved him away from what should have been a highly-traumatic childhood in a different house than the one once owned by his deceased parents.
Shirou Emiya remembered the Fire. The vicious accident that devoured more than half of Fuyuki in flames. Gas pipes, that's how the news identified it as- a coverup from the Magus Association to prevent the discovery of the Holy Grail Wars. Shirou understood it was necessary to prevent the potential collapse of the world, but it didn't leave him any happier about it.
The first event was the 'set up' that led him to this life. The man that give him this new last name, Kiritsugu, had been the one that caused the fire. The Fourth Holy Grail War was even more vicious than the highly-destructive third war, the stakes raised demanding such a toll on human life and on the city itself. Kiritsugu competed for a just and noble dream, but was denied the chance to acquire this opportunity when...
His Servant went rogue.
Arthur Pendragon, the legendary King Arthur from England, saw 'something' in the Grail that had him used most of the power wielded by his Noble Phantasm. Had he had the chance, he would have unleashed its fullest, but Kiritsugu prevented the pure destruction of the Grail. The relic was damaged, but the Holy Grail endured the attack in the most.
The issue was the 'reaction' to the attack. Dark mud lit on fire and shredded through life and concrete with utmost ease. It was unknown to both Kiritsugu and his wife how the mud came to be, only that the reaction had been explosive... And it had caused Irisviel to 'burn up' her connection to the Grail for some reason, forcing her to be bedridden.
The development had left both husband and wife stunned as this was as much of an odd development as it was an ominous one. To the point where Kiritsugu had tried to destroy the Grail itself by damaging the leylines around the city. The action had, through what they could see now, failed but it had prompted something that had indeed brought change- the War was happening much earlier than expected.
There was a recharge time of a few decades that the Holy Grail had to go through to be ready for the ritual. Usually it was between 40 to 50 years each war, but the Grail had gone and done something peculiar- it had finished its recharge time within ten years. Unexpected but, as one would expect, not something Shirou wanted to linger about. He needed to win the wish out of commitment, a wish that even Rin wanted to take part to.
Both had been yanked away from their families by the Holy Grail, and only by conquering it they would find peace. They had a wish in mind, peace all over the world and the chance to bring an end to all conflict. It was why they had gone through a rather dangerous path: the one that Rin personally took as a chance to give them a 'willing Servant'.
A Pseudo-Servant was indeed useful if one ignored that they come with limited control over the specific powers of who they were allowing in their body. The fragment of the Sumerian Goddess Ishtar that found a place in Rin's body was quite compatible, but it offered none of the mighty powers the Goddess could usually boast about. She would also impose a few traits on Rin's body, a form of boldness that seemed to carry beyond the skimpy outfit the twin-tailed girl is forced to manifest whenever using the deity's power.
Rin was more territorial of him, which felt heart-warming at times and highly disruptive in other occasions. Still, beyond these disadvantages, Ishtar proved to be enough to handle a threat like Lancer. Their clash had been formidable as a testing ground and confirmation that they were on the right path.
Or... so was what they thought.
The second fight with a Servant was with Berserker. And the Master in charge of the expected furious monster was none other but Kiritsugu and Irisviel's daughter. Both had now a bigger reason to try and win that fight as they found the young woman that was Illyasviel taking a stroll near to where the Holy Grail was located.
They tried to fight smartly, but the end result yielded a bad outcome. Ten minutes, that's how long it took for them to be demolished by the Einzbern heiress. The delicate frame of her, so similar to Irisviel, was actually sturdier when it comes to punches. Despite the training Shirou obtained when it comes to his Projections and just enough Magic Circuits to handle the connection with Avalon, Illya succeeded in incapacitating him through a modified use of the Einzbern constructs, with the pure-looking curtain tightly wrapping around his chest, arms and legs rendering him unable to use any sword and putting him in a bad spot.
He wanted to say that this was the worst possible, but that was reserved to his adopted sister. Rin's body had greater endurance as Ishtar, but what could Endurance do if she was put against the fists of a methodical monster such as Berserker. There was no rage in the man's attack, but the sheer brutality still left him unable to give Rin any words of encouragement.
He knew that if he did that, the girl would have been put more pain as there was no way out of that- Rin was using the powers of a long-ranged Servant, where Berserker was effortlessly catching up to her attempts to draw some distance between the two and punching her weaker. Soon her body went limp and bloodied, but still alive. Ishtar retreated back to her mind, leaving her original body behind, unconscious.
"Y-You should help us! The Grail- We can use it to save the world!"
Shirou's begging was met with a degree of unexpected scorn.
"Our parents sacrificed much for this and- and yet you refuse us, why?"
Something in this response actually got more than just a huff or a snort, with Illya's gaze glowing as fierce as blood against his confused ones.
"You two sure have a lot to understand, Imouto and Otouto," Illya muttered dryly, "I am not here to entertain a hopeless cause. The Grail is not a toy for abstract ideas, it's a material solution to material problems. Peace is not an option for that."
"W-What about helping... helping mother?"
"No."
The redhead froze, shocked by what he was hearing. Illyasviel didn't care? Was this the girl that Irisviel had so long waited to meet again? An ungrateful child?!
"W-Why wouldn't you-"
"It's more complicated than how you are putting it as. I am no selfish monster as you are screeching about. I am a realist, and if Mama ever needs something it will do through what is already available rather than a glorified faulty cup."
Illya left after that, her mood sour at the conversation, but Shirou was given one last warning through Berserker. The titan stopped to give him a silent look. One that tried to be understanding, but that showed outright agreement with his Master's view of the situation. Shaking his head, Berserker was off and... The construct broke, allowing him to reach back to Rin and check her conditions.
Much to his surprise, the girl was no longer injured, the remaining blood now no longer pouring through wounds as those had been healed up and the girl was pretty much just unconscious.
...What was going on with his older sister?
AN
So, I don't have much to say about the chapter as this is pretty much self explanatory.
What I have to say is that I have two new stories in QQ:
1) Truly a Chaotic World is similar to 'Indeed an Insane World' (as the name may suggest) but rather than explore the Anime world of the 80s/90s, it goes through a unique plot set in cartoons and other western media, starting from Gravity Falls and going through a few other shows similar or not to it;
2) The Family Man is a subversion of what one would expect from the 'Fat Bastard' stereotype. In a world where hentai is rationalized, Ike Takanori is a happy family man that actually adopted a few moral concepts that makes him stand out from the rest. As the proud husband and father of two, he is venturing the few dark aspects of his world and dealing with it through his mature consciousness after enduring a troubled Childhood.
Readers can find the link in my discord server (link to it up by the chapter's title for all chapters).