"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Master/Servant Link"

Noble Phantasm


Chapter 29: Peering into the mirror.

"There's only one entrance to the Greater Grail in Mount Enzo." Kiritsugu stated as he sat in his seat, arms crossed with a heavy scowl on his face. "The link to the Grail itself lies within a sanctum in the centre of the mountain. The path to get there is long but straightforward enough."

"Assuming that Gilgamesh has no forms of magical surveillance." Archer frowned "His Gate of Babylon holds all manner of ancient treasures and magical artefacts. Although whether he will use them is an entirely different matter." he continued on, he knew that Gilgamesh was certainly arrogant enough that he might overlook setting up a proper boundary. However, that would imply that he needed one.

"So could we take him by surprise?" Illya asked, tilting her head and speaking in a slightly subdued tone, she fidgeted awkwardly when nearly half a dozen eyes fell on her "J-just asking…"

"Unlikely." Archer replied to her in a clipped tone but not a dismissive one "With only one entrance that we know of, we have only one avenue of attack." the Servant looked away in a thoughtful manner "And I do not know if we would have enough time to create a new opening or not. Even if we did, it's likely Gilgamesh would suspect something."

Irisviel spoke up in a firm tone which brought Archer's attention to her "I'm not taking any chances." her eyes burned with a burning determination "Not with Shirou."

"That is the ultimate problem." Bazett frowned "The presence of a hostage that we currently have no method of retrieving."

"Perhaps not." Luvia muttered under her breath, biting her thumb "We still have the Class cards in our possession and the Assassin class is known for its Presence Concealment." the suggestion was met with a few frowns "If we provide a distraction for Gilgamesh, then the holder of the Assassin card could retrieve Sherou without worry."

"The distraction being myself and Berserker, I assume." Archer dryly replied, giving a short hum afterwards "That is certainly an idea, however he is only expecting Miyu to arrive and if Berserker comes with her then that will likely provoke a reaction from the King of Heroes." his finger repeatedly tapped on his forearm "And Berserker cannot stray too far from Miyu."

"Damn." Luvia clicked her tongue "In that case we are back where we started." releasing a sigh, the blonde haired girl slumped down into a chair and leaned forwards with a tired frown marring her face "Even if Miyu approaches Gilgamesh, he would be able to sense her link with Berserker."

Her eyes fell onto Archer with a dispassionate gaze "I do not suppose you have anything that could be of use?"

"...Maybe." Archer admitted, leaning against a nearby wall and crossing his arms while leaving one eye open "Although whether or not he could use it and what his reaction would be are the deciding factors." he frowned "For the mean time, our plan on dealing with Gilgamesh very much relies on the Element of Surprise."

He paused and darted his eyes over to the Miyu "Unless...What knowledge does the Caster card imbue onto you?" he inquired with narrowed eyes.

"Eh?" Miyu blinked at the sudden question "It...I…" a thoughtful frown made its way onto her face "I could understand the steps to take to cast spells?"

"If I may, Archer-san." Sapphire spoke up, raising herself into the air and assuming the centre of attention "The Card system imbues basic skills onto the holder ranked down one from their original. It becomes second nature for the wielder of the Class Card to utilise the same skills that the Heroic Spirit in question has available to them…" the stick trailed off and tilted itself in a confusing manner.

Bazett turned her head to stare at the Servant "You have a plan in mind?"

"Hmm." Archer nodded, opening his other eye "The Caster Card was still Medea of Colchis. As a Caster she would be high ranked due to her notable teachings and naturally her skills would reflect her talent."

Luvia quickly caught on with slightly widened eyes "You suggest using the Caster Card to create a Mystic Code of some kind?"

Archer nodded "One that need only conceal the drain of magical energy Miyu currently exhibits. For a Caster Class Servant of such renown, her Item Construction skill would naturally be high." he looked towards Sapphire for clarification.

The Kaleidostick nodded along "Indeed. I made a record of Miyu-sama's parameters while in possession of the Caster Card. Her Item Construction skill was Ranked at B."

Kiritsugu leaned forwards "Even if you deal with the prominent drain on her magical energy, it does not change the fact that Berserker cannot stray far from her." he pointed out. Archer gave a grim nod of his head and darted his eyes over to the corner of the room – where Berserker was in spirit form – before looking back to the others. It was still a major issue.

"...We would have to determine the level of self-awareness Berserker has." Archer grumbled as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Umm…" Illya raised her hand, looking around nervously "Archer? Can I ask a question?"

"Yes?" He looked up and towards her, Illya frowned in thought as she made to speak.

"Even if we do hide Berserker from the bad guy...how are you and me going to approach him to save Onii-chan?"

Archer blinked and then frowned, even if Illya did use the Assassin card to sneak in alongside Miyu and Berserker – provided Lancelot approved of the weapon in question – that still didn't change the fact that he didn't have the same sort of ability. He could use Carnwennan to conceal his presence in much the same way he planned to do with Lancelot but that wouldn't change the fact it was still a low level presence concealment at best.

For someone like Gilgamesh, his arrogance would likely allow him to look over a single feeling of discomfort and dismiss it, but for two feelings and the minor concealment granted by an Assassin card would not be something he would overlook. At which point he'd likely act before Archer could get into position and before anyone could retrieve Shirou.

He tapped away at his forearm as he mulled over in his head for ideas.

"I have a brilliant plan!"

The room almost collectively cringed at Ruby's upbeat tone "What's with these lousy looks? I'm being helpful here!"

"Having been on the receiving end of your 'help' for some time now, I dread to think what you have for us this time." Archer muttered with a derisive tone.

"Well, if you're gonna be like that…" Ruby gave an exaggerated huff of annoyance "...Alright, I'll tell you anyway!"

Archer was already managing his low expectations.

"Just hide in the mirrorverse!"

"...Huh?"

"Nee-san!?" Sapphire let out a shocked sputter "That plan is completely unacceptable!"

"Why?" Ruby tilted her body and shrugging her wings "It would work. Hide away in the Mirrorverse and pop out and beat up that blonde dumbo's stupid hair."

"I thought the mirror world was only accessible through the Class Card disturbances?" Miyu questioned with a frown before looking at Sapphire "Isn't it?"

Sapphire turned to Miyu "The Mirror worlds themselves are reflections of the world we currently exist upon made available to us through the presence of a Class Card." the Kaleidostick explained "It is theoretically possible for us to still access it without a Class Card present but the Cards themselves acted as stabilising anchors. It is why the radius of the Mirror worlds began to decrease in scale the more Cards we collected."

"So...it exists without the Class Cards?"

"It does, but its a world of a thousand reflections." Luvia explained "The Class Cards worked to link the worlds and prevent the reflection from moving away…" she paused as she thought of something she could use as an example "Think of the Mirror worlds as cars at a road and the Class Cards as a stop light. The moment the Class Card is removed, the light turns green and the mirror worlds resume their random journey. You could still theoretically access one." she sent a glare at Ruby "But it would be a completely random world with no way of knowing its size or stability until after you entered it."

"...Still a plan though." Ruby muttered quietly "I wanted it discussed."

"Discussed and ignored." Archer rolled his eyes "Moving on from your stupid plan-"

"What if you could stabilise it?" Ruby pointed out "Didn't think of that, did you?"

Archer released a sigh and turned an exasperated look upon the Kaleidostick "And how would you go about doing that?"

"Well...the Class Cards acted as anchors and stabilised the Mirror Worlds, no?"

"The manifested ones did, yes." Archer nodded, then scowled "You cannot mean to suggest attempting to manifest the Class Cards Heroic Spirits all at once just to create a path to Mount Enzo?"

"No, no!" Ruby shook her head "That would be crazy!"

"Hmph."

"I was going to suggest bringing in a few people will the Class Cards and then having them wield them to create a distortion in the Mirror world and cause an expansion of space." Ruby replied in a clinical tone "The sudden influx of at least three wielders of the Class Cards would certainly act as an anchor."

"Except that didn't work with the Class Cards we already collected." Archer reminded her "The moment we defeated the Servant, the mirror world they inhabited started to collapse."

"Because it was a Mirror World built upon their specific presence." Ruby chided Archer with a tone as if he were a child "I'm talking about doing something similar and placing ourselves as the power base for the Mirror world. We enter with all those Demi-Servants...hey! I like the sound of that!" she giggled.

"Nee-san…" Sapphire reminded, Ruby sputtered and composed herself quickly.

"Right, right." She nodded her head "Anyway, if we were to utilise a number of us with Class Cards and position ourselves as the power base with all those Demi-Servants, the size of the Mirror World would easily be enough to cover the distance between here and the mountain. We enter the mountain, while Miyu is fighting Gilgamesh with Berserker we can jump out and surprise him with a bunch of Demi-Servants or Card Servants or whatever?" throwing her wings wide, Ruby scanned the room "Well?"

Luvia stared at her with mild horror before her head fell into her hands "I...I don't know what's worse...the fact that plan sounds completely and utterly ridiculous to even consider or the fact it might actually work."

"...It might?" Archer sported a heavy frown now.

"Hmmm." Ruby's tone was nothing but smug and despite lacking any form of facial features whatsoever – or even a face – she still managed to project an aura of a heavy smirk towards Archer "Weeeell~?"

"And how much of a risk does her plan have of failing?" He turned towards Sapphire, the Kaleidostick having fallen silent in the wake of Ruby's plan. The blue Mystic Code slowly turned to look at Archer.

"We would need to discover a Mirror World large enough to house all of us while the calculations were made." She started off with "Then there is the time required to expand the Mirror World to factor in and coupled with the safety implications of wielding the power of a Heroic Spirit for too long…"

"Safety implications?" Irisviel's head snapped towards Sapphire at lightning speed "It's dangerous?"

"Not for us Magical Girls!" Ruby boasted "You can wield them for however long you want!" she paused "Except for the Berserker Card...madness Enhancement is still a thing so its a bad idea to wield it for too long." she turned to Irisviel "But the others are perfectly safe!" she hastily reassured the woman, who seemed to simmer down slightly as a response.

"In case you haven't noticed…" Luvia dryly stared at Ruby "We only have two magical girls available to us and one of them will be playing bait." she scowled "As dissatisfying as I find it." a sigh escaped her throat "So how do you intend to use the Class Cards to expand the Mirror World?"

"Technically anyone with magical circuits can use the Class Cards." Sapphire hesitantly pointed out "However, they draw upon the users reserves directly which is why it is easier for individuals like Miyu-sama and Illya-san to utilise them for longer periods of time as they have access to the same amount of magical energy that myself and Nee-san do."

Luvia blinked "...So how long would you estimate someone of my calibre could utilise a Class Card?"

"That would heavily depend upon the Card." Sapphire replied "The Saber, Berserker and Lancer Cards would consume more magical energy than that of the Rider, Caster and Assassin Cards." she paused "Although Chloe-san has already confirmed that you can utilise the Class Card for however long you have magical energy...however there is a difference between utilising the Cards full power and simply having access to the physical skills."

"She means using the Noble Phantasm would likely be a one use device." Archer surmised "And afterwards?"

"...There is a high probability of passing out from mana exhaustion." Sapphire grimly remarked "In this situation-"

"You die." Bazett nodded her head "...How destructive are the Noble Phantasms?"

"We've already seen Berserkers." Archer frowned "Gilgamesh knows full well how to counter that, Hassan phantasms are usually directed towards a single person, Lancer's Noble Phantasm is Gae Bolg-" Bazett perked up with her eyes widening "- which is currently our best bet, but you would need to get close to Gilgamesh to use it and he would know that as well. Saber's is Excalibur-"

"Arrr….thurrrr…" Several people jolted in surprise as Berserker manifested behind Archer, giving a low growl at the mention of the sword.

"Berserker." Miyu frowned at him "No."

"Shishsishishishi…" The Servant dissipated into motes of light, although Archer could still sense them behind him.

"...Moving on." Archer continued without without showing much reaction at the Servants sudden arrival and equally sudden departure "The Saber's Noble Phantasm is Anti-Fortress and with Gilgamesh being inside a cavern…" he trailed off with a grimace on his face as he left the others around him to fill in the blanks. The grimaces which began to sprout up indicated that they could also see the issues with unleashing such a powerful Noble Phantasm in a confined space. "Rider's is liable to be less destructive but equally unideal to utilise in such a situation."

"Then our choices are limited." Luvia bit her thumb, shaking her head "Regardless, the Cards themselves are useful for the Strength they offer, no?"

Archer gave her a curt nod "The parameters are lower than a normal Servant however they still are above modern magi in terms of strength." he frowned "The fact of the matter is that the King of Heroes will require more than numbers to take him out and our choices are severely limited as is."

Kiritsugu hummed "Will he not also be restricted?"

Archer shook his head "Limiting himself to just throwing the weapons at us won't hamper his abilities too greatly." a stern expression came to his face "If we are to beat him, we will have to play to his weaknesses."

"Which are?"

"Arrogance for one." Archer replied "He has already used his most prized possession on us out of desperation and will be unlikely to do so again. At best he would consider us vermin in need of extermination."

"Then he will hold back?" Luvia guessed, Archer's expression stilled before a slight grimace came upon him.

"I do not know…" He admitted "With my ability to copy his treasures and Berserker's ability to become the owner of any weapon he touches it is very likely he will become more incensed at our combined presence." the Servant ran his hand through his hair and exhaled "It is far from ideal...and I have already played my trump card against him, he will be expecting it next time."

Bazett pursed her lips before looking towards Archer "How much time does his Noble Phantasm take to activate?"

Archer turned to her with a raised eyebrow "...for his lowest setting it's activation is around five seconds." there was a brief pause "However, I suspect for a stronger power it will take longer."

"Hmm." Bazett hummed "I will deal with it then."

Archer blinked once and then shrugged "If you believe so…" his eyes darted to the cannister in the corner of the room and narrowed "I assume it has some relation to that?"

Bazett stared at him in silence.

A tiny smirk made its way onto Archer's lips "Dear me, are you still upset about the incident earlier?"

The Enforcer continued to remain silent, although her shoulders tensed and her eyes narrowed while the tips of her ears began to turn a subtle pink colour. At this point the woman was on the verge of glaring at him before she looked away "Of course not." her denial was barely strained "That would be unprofessional of me to hold a grudge in such a manner."

"Hmph." Archer released an amused huff "Indeed."

"Is now really the best time for you to pull our your quirky pickup lines?" Ruby quizzed with a mirthful tone of voice. Archer and Bazett stared at the Mystic Code with equally blank expressions.

"Is it possible to complete this mission with only one of the Kaleidostick's?" Bazett inquired to Archer with a raised eyebrow, the Servant gave an intrigued hum in response as he weighed the option in his mind.

"It would be difficult but perhaps not impossible." He turned his gaze towards Sapphire "We already know that she can't be with Miyu for the initial meeting." his lips slowly quirked themselves into a smirk "It depends on if she can transfer the contract to Illya."

"H-hey…" Ruby nervously fidgeted in response "Your tough talk doesn't scare me! What? You really think you can just ditch me right before the big showdown and have my sister steal away my magical girl!" she waved her wings towards Illya "I found her first! You can't make me ditch her!"

Archer raised an eyebrow "At what point did I inform you that your consent was needed? I can break the contract quite easily-"

"Shirou." Archer abruptly paused at Irisviel's cold tone, the Servant slowly craned his head to see her staring at him with a blank expression. "As annoying as she is-" the woman levelled a glare upon the Mystic Code that had Rub shiver despite not having an organic body. "-we still need her." a silence hung in the air before her red eyes narrowed with purpose "For now."

The Servant stared at her for a few minutes and then shrugged "Very well." his eyes flickered back to Sapphire "I shall assume the Mystic Code to hide Miyu's link to Berserker will take time to manufacture." he frowned "And we have around a day remaining before the Gilgamesh's deadline."

"I'll install the Caster card." Miyu offered, standing up and walking towards Sapphire "Begin work on the code to hide Berserker from Gilgamesh."

"So...If we're gonna do the whole 'Side kick assemble'" Ruby crossed her wings and nodded her head "We'll need to decide who gets which card." she then paused as if realising something "Wait...Should Rin-san not be here?"

"She's still upstairs." Luvia remarked, rising to her feet "And I doubt she will wish to leave the Matou heiress alone in her current condition." she shook her head "For now, we will decide between u-"

"Lancer." Bazett blurted out quickly, causing the room's attention to fall on her. Remaining silent, the woman froze before coughing into her hand and straightening out her suit "I mean. I shall take the Lancer card."

Looking Towards Miyu, Archer spoke to the girl "Tell Berserker to meet me outside." before making to walk out of the room, pausing for a few moments just as he reached the exit "It is best you join me too in case he needs to be calmed."

Miyu tilted her head in surprise before nodding and following after him.


Archer stepped onto the grass, moving further across the field until he came to a stop far enough away from the mansion that if Berserker did kick up a frenzy, there was a good chance it wouldn't cause any harm to those within the mansion. Exhaling, he turned around to face Miyu, who was standing a few feet away from him with a slightly nervous expression on her face.

Nodding to the girl, Miyu closed her eyes to communicate with Berserker.

'This has to be one of the stupidest things I've done in a long time.' Archer thought to himself with an internal grimace. Berserker materialised in a swirling cloud of black smoke, the vague outline of his armour rose to its full height with the glowing red visor locking onto him. Taking a deep breath, Archer held out his hand and materialised a Noble Phantasm into his palm so that it would be in Berserkers line of sight.

The ornamental dagger dropped into his hand.

Berserkers head snapped to the weapon in his palm with a grinding sound of metal, Lancelot released a menacing growl as he took a single step closer to Archer – his eyes never leaving the weapon – with the Servant in question doing his best to appear outwardly calm in the face of the growing sense of danger.

"You recognise this then?"

"Aaaarrrrr…" Lancelot growled, slowly raising the helmet up to stare at Archer with an aura of accusation mixed with suspicion. Archer was internally impressed – and more than a little worried – at the level of self-awareness that Berserker was displaying. Normally the Servants were just mad dogs you'd aim in the direction of an opponent and let loose. That Lancelot wasn't entirely like that was the only reason Archer was entertaining this hair brained scheme.

"I'll take that as a yes." He grunted, flipping Carnwennan around so he was holding it by the blade "I shall also assume you are familiar with how it works then?"

"Tttthhhuuurrr…." Lancelot continued to stare at him prompting a sigh from Archer.

"I assume you have a sliver of rationality to you." He tightened his expression, lowering the knife "So I'm going to make this request of you and assume that you have enough sense to understand the danger your Master-" he nodded towards Miyu "-will be in if you don't listen."

Lancelot remained silent as Archer finished, the only sound to be heard was the whooshing vortex of dark smoke around the Berserker as he continued to stare at Archer.

"So when the time is right, I'll give you this weapon." He pointedly waved the dagger "And you'll use it to remain hidden until the time is right. Only when we begin our attack, will you forgo subtlety." his frowned deepened as his tone took on a low volume "Because if you fail, then your Master will die and then there is a good chance that we will all follow. Whatever else you think of yourself now, you are still a Knight of the Round Table."

Lancelot's shoulders began to tremble as the light of his visor intensified.

"I don't know why you answered the call to the Grail and frankly, I don't care." Archer bluntly scoffed "I don't know why you even manifested as a Berserker although given your history I can only assume it – in some part – relates to a certain King."

The trembling of Lancelot's shoulders grew in volume.

"Whatever you wanted, you're not going to get it here." Archer dispelled the dagger and crossed his arms "But you can at least act the part of the Knight and 'help the weak' as you all seem to champion yourselves as…"

Archer trailed off, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath. This next part was going to be the make or break moment. Unfortunately at the distance he was at, the 'break moment' would likely be him. Lancelot would no doubt be able to clear the paltry distance of two feet between them faster than he could comprehend, and certainly faster than Miyu could command him to stop, and likely tear him to pieces.

Steel grey eyes opened and locked onto the red visor, uncaring of how Lancelot already looked close to lashing out.

"If only so you don't become a greater source of perceived disappointment for her."

Lancelot abruptly stilled.

Madness Enhancement was a potent thing, moments of clarity were few and far between for him in his current state. But they weren't needed to discern who the Archer referred to. Miyu could sense the growing wave of emotion emanating from Lancelot, her eyes darted towards the Berserker as they stood stock still with their entire attention focused upon Archer.

The Berserker remained silent for what felt like hours.

Archer assumed that the fact he hadn't been ripped to bits by an insane Knight of the Lake already was proof enough that his words might have somehow gotten through the Berserker.

Lancelot stopped hunching over, creaking metal signalled as their body straightened itself out to its full height. Eventually – and almost painstakingly – Lancelot gave a single nod of his head, the creaking of metal as his head inclined itself down and then back up was akin to a roar in the dead silence of the garden.

"Baaaa…" Lancelot's groan this time was far softer and at the very least sounded as though it was one of acceptance before the Berserker took a single step backwards and slowly dissipated back into spirit form. Archer watched at the Berserker vanished and then felt as though his presence disappeared, moving away from him and Miyu until it was far enough away from them.

"Phew…" Archer allowed himself an uncharacteristic sigh of relief as his shoulders visibly slumped, his right hand moved up to cradle his forehead as he gently shook his head "Perhaps I've been here far too long, that was perhaps one of the stupidest things I could have done."

Miyu blinked at Archer, tilting her head "But...It worked?"

"There was a good chance it wouldn't." Archer grunted, his lip curling into a cynical smirk "In which case, there was a good chance we would have been a servant down."

Sapphire titled her body in a questioning manner "If it was so risky Archer-san, why did you make the attempt?"

"Because our options are limited." Archer offered in the way of an answer with a shrug "And it would have been better to present him with the dagger now rather than spring it upon him later...I suspected that showing him Carnwennan would elicit some reaction from him."

Sapphire jolted "Is that not one of the Noble Phantasms affiliated with King Arthur?"

Archer gave a wordless nod.

"I see." Sapphire acknowledged "Given how Berserker has so far treated anything with an affiliation with King Arthur, it is understandable that he would react strongly to it…" the Kaleidostick gave a thoughtful hum "Were you already aware of how to convince him?"

"He's a Knight." Archer placed his left hand on his hip and raised an eyebrow "They pride themselves on Chivalry and even as he is, I suspect that Lancelot still has some semblance of that old Knightly spirit within him, I just appealed to his pride as a Knight of Arthur." he shrugged "It just so happened to work."

Sapphire let out a small gasp of understanding "Very well. So this means that Berserker-san will be more agreeable?"

"You'd have to ask her." Archer nodded towards Miyu, the girl blinked at suddenly being addressed "Well?"

Miyu frowned as she concentrated "He's...troubled?" she spoke in a strained voice "Angry...confused? He'll...he'll help." she nodded her head eventually.

"There we have it then." Archer grunted, crossing his arms in front of his chest and scowling "...Although I never imagined I'd attempt something so risky. Perhaps being here has made me more foolhardy." he clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Miyu's lip twitched into a faint smile "I don't mind."

Archer's eyes darted back to her, she froze before she watched his shoulders relax themselves and a sardonic smirk make its way onto his face "You wouldn't though, would you?" he spoke in a knowing tone, eliciting a tiny giggle from the girl.


Chloe's whole body ached as she felt consciousness return to her, especially around her face. The left side of it felt as though it practically didn't exist which – even in her currently lucid condition – she knew wasn't a very good sign. Her eyelids felt as though they weighed tonnes, lifting them as well was a herculean task.

Then opening them almost blinded her as she felt light immediately assault her vision, prompting a hiss from her. Unfortunately it involved moving her mouth which immediately sent a flare of pain through her jaw and forced it to clamp shut, a deep growl of pain instead managed to emanated from her as she lay on something.

It was soft, unreasonably so, with a faint warmth covering her from the shoulders down. Blinking repeatedly to focus her vision, she eventually managed to clear it long enough to find herself staring up and an unfamiliar ceiling. Her brows furrowed as she tried to recall what had happened that managed to get her into this state.

She remembered rushing back home, the door had been broken inwards and…

Her eyes widened in remembrance.

She'd fought Gilgamesh.

The logical part of her brain, courtesy of the Archer card in her chest, took control and calmly assessed her condition. She was injured, that much was obvious, but she wasn't dead. She'd been moved to a new location, likely to recover from her fight. Her injuries still hurt so she'd either woken up only a few hours after they had occurred or they had been more severe than she was expecting.

Her eyes flickered around the room as she willed strength into her body to try and sit up, another growl bubbled its way out of her as pain once again assailed her. She froze when she caught sight of a figure in the corner of the room.

The two stared at each other for a few moments before the man's shoulder slumped and he seemed to regress in age by twenty years.

"You're awake then…" Kiritsugu lifted his hands to cradle his head "That's...that's good. Iri will…" he let out a chuckle which lacked any sense of humour to it "...How are you feeling?" he timidly asked, Chloe had to stop herself from gaping at how small he sounded. That wasn't right, she'd rarely seen him – even in Illya's memories – look so unsure as he did right now.

Something felt wrong as dread began to bubble within her "...Still a bit sore." she answered, wincing in pain as her jaw once again flared up with pain, she lifted her left hand to cradle it "Hurts to speak." she managed to get out before stopping.

Kiritsugu nodded his head "Iri said that your jaw was broken...then there were the lacerations." he sounded more like his usual self, more clinical "A few broken ribs as well. Truthfully we weren't expecting you to be awake for a few more hours but…" a heavy breath escaped him "I suppose its your higher endurance as a Servant like existence."

Chloe gave a hum in response, narrowing her eyes and looking Kiritsugu up and down. Fighting through the pain, she eventually managed to ask the question that had been burning in her mind "What happened?"

Kiritsugu's form locked up, the man's eyes instantly darted to the floor and remained there for a few seconds. Then a full minute. The man remained completely silent before he sighed "How much do you remember?"

"Got punched." She tried to joke and winced in pain once again "...Gold guy was at the house."

Kiritsugu hummed in response "...Shirou gave himself up."

Chloe blinked once. The words completely failed to register in her mind for a few moments. The moment they did, it felt as though she had been punched a second time "H-huh?"

"Gilgamesh…" Kiritsugu sighed "He...Shirou gave himself up to Gilgamesh so he'd let everyone go…" he reached up and scratched his brow "We're...working on a plan to get him back right now. You just...rest for now." he pushed himself out of the chair, rising up although still slouched over "We'll get him back."

"Not without me you aren't." Chloe made to swing herself out of bed, the moment she attempted to move it felt as though she'd fallen down a flight of stairs. Her body contracted and she fell backwards onto the bed, gasping in pain.

Kiritsugu stared at her for a few moments before his expression almost broke, he moved across the room and gently repositioned her so she was back into a lying down position with the cover over her "You're still too injured right now." he reminded her – as if the pain she was currently experiencing wasn't enough of one – with a stern tone "You'll injure yourself a lot worse if you try to move too soon." he stood back up "I'll let Iri know you're awake. She'll be up soon to continue healing you." turning away, he made his way towards the door to the room, clicking it open before pausing "...We'll get your brother back, Chloe."

Chloe didn't have enough time to respond before Kiritsugu disappeared through the door and closed it behind him. The girl remained in the bed with her body still protesting at her earlier attempt at movement. She felt her eyes begin to sting as water tears began to build up in them.

She wasn't sure what was causing them, either the pain still assailing her body or the fact she'd failed to stop Shirou from being taken captive by a crazy Servant. She didn't care right now as the cold tears streamed down her cheeks. In the quiet of her room, Chloe felt the sting of failure, both literally and figuratively.

She'd been completely serious earlier, however.

There was no way in Hell they were getting Shirou back without her. She wasn't going to sit on the side-lines like a chump while that happened.

She didn't care if it made her a hypocrite, if it made all her arguments about Illya being stupidly reckless in fighting Servants.

Whatever else, that was her brother who had also been taken as well. She was going to get him back.


AN: Final day of the month and I'd realised about a week ago I hadn't updated this story in ages.

As you could see, I was very busy with other stories so my apologies for that. Anyway, here we are with the latest Chapter.

Is their plan plausible by Fate standards? Hell if I know but it sounded like it made sense in a magical sense so I'm doing it.

Also lets face it…

Seeing Bazett wielding Gae Bolg is something we all didn't know we needed but I'm giving it to you all anyway.

Also having all those Class Cards and doing nothing with the personal skills didn't make much sense to me. So we're using them for plans. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to write but I make no promises.