NOWHERE
In hindsight, this was probably not how one was supposed to experience the outside of existence.
Floating through an endless nothingness. Not thristing, nor hungering, nor even needing sleep. Surrounded by a silence so complete as to be deafening. This had not been how Gudao Tohsaka had expected to spend the rest of his life, it had to be said.
A multitude of memories assaulted him as he hurtled through the empty blackness, holding her close to him.
Ritsuka Emiya, adoptive daughter of the Magus Killer. The former Master of Saber and he hadn't exactly gotten off to the greatest of starts, what with him trying to kill her and all. He had tried to persuade her to step aside, to give up before she actually got killed. When that hadn't worked, he'd tried the 'mercy kill' route, which his servant Archer had been uncomfortably enthusiastic about. And when that hadn't worked, he had opted for an alliance.
Which had gone down hilariously poorly with their servants. Saber and Archer had actually left the Emiya residence so as to not breach the Rules of Hospitality in order to lay into each other with their blades. (He and Suki had watched. Suki had even made popcorn!)
Another memory came, and he briefly tightened his embrace on the young woman that made him whole.
"...'ey, Tohsaka?" Saber had addressed him as she began to fade. "Keep my Master safe, alright? Don't let her become that stuck up asshat of an Archer. Even if you have to continuously drag her ass around the world to keep her distracted, you keep that promise."
"Archer already beat you to it, Saber.." He had answered with an easy smile. "I've already promised that. Admittedly, it's probably in a hope that she'll cease to exist if I manage it, but she was always frustratingly vague."
"Ha!" She barked out a laugh. "That's true!"
"What about you?" He asked, still smiling. "You must be disappointed with how things turned out.."
"I'm the last servant standing, Gudao. Just like I said I would be!" Saber answered. "It's a damn shame about the Grail, but there's always next time."
"Guess so." He had shrugged. "By the way, if Kiritsugu Emiya is within the Throne…"
"I'll kick his ass for what he turned our Suki into, don't worry."
"...Thanks." His smile faltered a little. "..For that and...and everything else."
"Hehe…" The Knight of Betrayal was smiling as she finally faded away. "You are very welcome."
"...Goodbye, Mordred.."
He smiled at that. Because Ritsuka had been theirs, still was theirs. Oh, it was true that Saber had been Ritsuka's servant and not his. But they had worked together to drag their Suki out of her passive suicidalness and selflessness, and become friends in the process.
More so than he and his own servant, at least.
Archer had been...difficult. It was only later on, when he pieced together who she was, that he came close to understanding her hatred for Emiya. He in no way agreed with her pseudo-suicidal tendencies, mainly because he was fairly certain killing his Suki wouldn't affect Archer in any way, but he could at least understand.
She had at least died at peace. Any incarnation of Ritsuka Emiya deserved that much, at the very least.
And whilst his Ritsuka still struggled with emotion, their time at the Clocktower had drawn them closer. In the end, that was all The Holy Grail War had really got them both. An education and many, many pleasant memories.
Their cozy little apartment in London. Picnics in Hyde Park. Lazy mornings reading together on the sofa. Nights when their world became little more than heat and sweat and love and one another…
But alas, that had also put them on the path to their current situation.
"She was my sister." The redhead said quietly one afternoon as they lounged on their sofa. "I have to do this. I have to make the bastard pay for putting her through all that."
He had agreed without hesitation. Illyasviel might have been a vicious, bloodthirsty little bitch, but at the end of the day, she had been family. But that choice had got them into...whatever this was.
The battle had been a slaughter. Bodies of homunculi lay strewn across every courtyard and in every hallway. Even some actual Einzberns-in-name fell during their push to confront the family's Patriarch.
The confrontation had been short, quickly devolving into a battle. Old Man Acht might be strong, but Ritsuka had all but slain Gilgamesh in single combat and He had managed to bullshit his way through fucking over the Holy Grail.
The wretched golem could put out one hell of a fight, but the result was obvious…
Or, should have been..
"SHE WAS NOTHING!" Jubstacheit von Einzbern had roared in furious protest mere moments before he sent them adrift and Ritsuka's final arrow had found his heart. "YOU ARE BOTH..NOTHING!"
He wasn't even certain that Jubstacheit knew what he was doing. Screwing about with this sort of thing was usually the domain of another Old Man. But whatever he did, they had ended up here...in Nowhere.
Oh well. Spending eternity with the one he loved in his embrace didn't sound too bad..
AN INDETERMINATE AMOUNT OF TIME LATER...
Seventy-Two hours ago, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, Wizard Marshall and Old man of the Jewels amongst other numerous titles, had actually had to do his job.
Something had entered the world around Schloss Einzbern, the decaying ruin that was once home to the eponymous family before the Magus Killer and his wife swept through and wiped them out to a man. Something had entered the world from a completely different timeline (and one that was usually deliberately kept entirely separate from this one), so he had had to leave his comfortable office in the Clocktower to investigate.
Seventy hours ago, he had laughed harder than he had done in at least a decade. It was rare that something truly unexpected happened, but oh so very entertaining when it did.
For the something had in fact been someones. People! Magi! Magi from another timeline! Magi from another timeline that had survived in the space between worlds for who knew how long! A mystery wrapped in an enigma and dressed in winter clothes!
So he did the obvious thing, and took them with him.
(After the displaced pair had properly looted the ruins, of course. They were Clocktower Mages, after all. The money they'd make from their prizes wouldn't amount to some vast fortune, but it would be substantial nonetheless.)
Fifty hours ago, he had learned all he could from them about their pasts, and had been close to impressed with what he heard. The Holy Grail War had apparently continued after the failure of the Third one in their time, whereas here..
The Emiya's had ended it. The Magus Killer and the Last Einzbern had put an end to the Holy Grail Wars. All for the sake of their children.
How novel!
Two hours ago, he had cheerfully waved them off as a car took them to an airport.
The pair of would-be students in Fuyuki, dealing with the 'Class Cards' had yet to produce any real results. They could continue to attempt to sort things out, and might even succeed..
But sending these two to deal with the problem? The results would undoubtedly be absolutely fucking hilarious. And wasn't that all he could hope for from this debacle? A few months worth of entertainment before having to deal with the clean up?
So it was that Gudao Tohsaka and Ritsuka Emiya, Veterans of the Fifth Holy Grail War, unwilling dimension hoppers, gender-flipped versions of Rin Tohsaka and Shirou Emiya and a genuinely loving couple found themselves on a private plane bound for Japan.
'Suki' is Gudao (and Mordred's) nickname for Ritsuka.
