EDIT: Stained glass, the red kind, used to be made of gold! In the past, glassmakers would sprinkle fine gold dust on the glass to produce wine red and violet stained glass. Nowadays we use copper to produce better shades, but think about how much money was spent on those ancient churches with their stained red glass.
Hello all! I have some bad news, but in case you want to skip these intro notes, I'll be posting the same news at the bottom (Just to make sure nobody is caught off guard)
Before that though, I'd like to shout out a reader named nandro for getting us to the 500th follower milestone! Halfway to a thousand, hopefully on the fast track now!
I would also like to shout out myself, for producing a brand new short story inspired by your contributions to my straw poll (www .strawpoll .me/18129592). The first two chapters for "Fate: Edge of Eternity" have been released as of posting and I might consider writing a prologue for "Fate: Child of Swords" but only if it gets more votes!
Give Fate: EoE a read and see if you enjoy it!
Don't be mad at me for the late chapter update - in fact, don't be mad at anyone! My beta works just as hard as I do but he gets busy like anyone else. I've got the next chapter done for both EoE and Fate:US
As for the bad news: My laptop is dying. I've done everything I can to save it, reformatting the drive three times but there's a problem in the hardware that I just can't fix. I don't know how long it'll last, and it's lasted for this long, but if I don't make a post for a while - you know what has happened. There's nothing I'd like to do more than buy a new one and get on with writing for you all, but uni is coming up again and I just don't have the money. It's unfortunate, but stuff happens. I'll do my best to keep putting out content for you, but should my laptop finally bite the bucket, I'll be forced to write from mobile, something which could delay new chapters by a month at the minimum.
With that depressing bit over, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
It was finally coming together. The Holy Grail War was rearing its ugly head and there was nothing Shirou could do to stop it. It was threatening to him, though rightfully so considering he had so much to lose and so little to gain. He could lose his friends and family. The one thing he had worked so hard to protect could slip straight through his fingers in an instant.
Illya had command seals which meant she was a certified master. The information was more concerning than he had anticipated. His tracing identified the command seals, recognizing their makeup and adding it to a stored database within his mind. It immediately made comparisons to two specific people, Caren and Rin.
They both shared similar symbols and at that moment, everything was perfectly clear. Rin also had command seals and had been hiding them from him for some time - but what sort of explanation was there for Caren's command seals? She was the impartial mediator for the coming War. According to Kiritsugu, the extra unused command seals would have vanished with Risei, though that didn't seem to be the case.
"So what do we do now? Do I have to hide these under gloves?" Illya asked, looking over the symbols on her hand for the dozenth time.
Kiritsugu shook his head. "It would be useless at this point. Something like that would be deviating from the norm and tip anyone that has a brain off. It's a drastic change that wouldn't go unnoticed."
Shirou lowered his head, saddened by his father's indirect insulting. "Rin started wearing gloves a couple of months ago and I didn't think anything was wrong," he mumbled, getting a muffled giggle out of Illya.
Kiritsugu blinked awkwardly at the boy before clearing his throat. "It may be a more effective tactic than I had originally thought. Regardless, it is still unnecessary. As Illya is an Einzbern, it is expected that she be a master. If Rin started wearing gloves, it's safe to assume she had acquired her command seals as well."
Shirou contributed more information. "I've traced both Rin and Caren and they have the same signature as Illya. That means they're both masters, right?"
The Magus Killer nodded, humming in thought for a moment. "I believe so, yes. It's odd that the mediator for this year's war would also be a participant, although stranger things have happened. So the command seals leave a verifiable signal you can detect. If you ever come across another master, we'll know - that's very good."
"Because knowing who we'll be up against is one of the most valuable pieces of information, right?" Shirou asked, getting a nod from Kiritsugu.
"If we know our opponents, we can plan against them and make our victory assured."
"We don't have to kill Rin and Sakura though, do we?" Illya asked hesitantly, looking at her father with concern.
The man offered a long, serious stare in response. "It's not a requirement, however, if they prove unyielding, that may change."
Shirou let out a long breath, closing his eyes and reconsidering the information. "So they either work with us or they'll have to be dealt with. I don't know if I can do that," Shirou admitted, opening his eyes to reveal his worry.
Kiritsugu maintained a cold face, staring through his son rather than at him. "Then it will just have to be done for you."
… … …
… … …
Beads of sweat made gentle pats on the soft tatami of the dojo. He had pushed himself harder than he should have, but with the most difficult trial of his life rapidly approaching, every one of his limits would soon be tested.
His arms were quivering, but he had set a goal and he would reach it no matter what. Five full minutes in a handstand, trying to perform as many press-ups in that time. It was the last challenge in a long list and after wearing down his body the entire afternoon, this was definitely the hardest.
Five minutes passed by in a mental count, though he had no intention of voluntarily stopping. He wanted to, he really did. Each passing second was making the pain exponentially worse and his self-confidence was rapidly declining.
He decided to create some self-inspiration to make his training seem easier. What if he needed to hold this potion for six minutes in order to protect Illya? Would he do it for her?
The boy squeezed his eyes shut and grit his teeth, attempting to force the pain away. If that was what it required, he would do it. It didn't matter if it caused irreparable damage, so long as she was safe.
Six minutes passed by and it wasn't one more second before he collapsed straight onto his face, the rest of his body landing on the dojo floor with a loud whump. He let out a pained groan and would have lifted his upper body from the mat, but his arms weren't responding to any signals from his brain. To make matters worse, they were absolutely numb. It was as if he had slept on them both at the same time.
Effectively stuck, he let out heaving breaths while his screaming muscles recovered enough to regain function. Before he could move on his own will, a small hand touched the side of his head.
Struggling to look at the owner, he spotted bright crimson eyes beaming down at him with concern. "You're going to end up hurting yourself if you keep pushing yourself this hard."
Shirou bared his teeth, struggling with both arms to lift just his top half off the tatami. "I need to be stronger for the Grail War. I need to grow stronger before then and training is the only way."
Illya sighed, moving the hand on his face to rest between his shoulder blades. The girl applied a small amount of force and he collapsed on his front again, unable to mount a defence against a girl less than half of his own weight.
"If you train yourself like this just before the War, even a weakling like myself could defeat you."
Fighting to no avail, Shirou eventually acquiesced to his demanding sibling. When his squirming stopped, Illya returned to affectionately patting his head and toying with his hair. "I think Daddy is going to be a master again," she murmured, voice empty in comparison to its usual emotion.
The two were silent as they digested the meaning behind her words. "Are you sure? He didn't have the same signature as you or Rin."
Illya nodded. "I've seen the marks on his hand but they aren't like mine." The girl paused to admire her own command seals. "They're faded, almost like they aren't really complete."
"I guess that's how I missed it. The signature must not be complete." Shirou tested his arms, finding that he could at least move his fingers and hands with some degree of precision.
"Why don't you have your command seals yet?" she asked, gazing at the back of his extended hand.
Shirou himself clumsily shifted his head to look at the appendage as well, claiming, "I don't know. Could the Grail still be deciding? Maybe Kiritsugu is supposed to be the master instead of me." He tried to shrug, but it looked more like he just twitched on account of his arms not working.
"He already had a war, would it really choose him a second time?"
Shirou sighed, feeling the numbness work its way back from his wrists. "Like the old man says, stranger things have happened." The boy quickly remembered something and his voice changed from a saddened tone to something more questioning. "What time is it?"
Illya blinked but answered his question regardless. "Just after six, why?"
Shirou grunted, trying to move his arms but only managing to make a convincing fish-out-of-water demonstration. "Caren will be here in a half-hour or so. I'll need to start getting dinner ready."
"Do you really think it's a good idea to invite a potential rival master to our house?"
Feeling started returning to his arms at an increased rate. He could now move everything past his elbows. "I think it's a great idea. We can find out for sure if she is a master or not. She already knows all of us and where we live, so she can't gain more knowledge about us than she already has."
Illya donned a very dry expression. "What are you going to do? Take her by the hand and blatantly look to see if there's something there?"
While shaky, he managed to lift his upper body partly from the floor. It was enough to allow him to shake his head in disagreement. "It's really not that hard to see the back of someone's hand. I only have two examples to go off of, but it seems like all command seals are on the right hand. While Caren isn't right-handed, she uses her right hand to eat with. We'll be able to see clear as day then."
Illya scrunched up her face. "Do you always make a point of noting which hand people eat with?"
Straining to seat himself cross-legged, he gave a weak nod. "Of course. That way I can place people at the table so they don't bump elbows with other guests."
Illya blinked several times, shrugged her frail shoulders and carefully stood upright. "I guess it's not as bad of an idea as I originally thought. Did you tell Kiritsugu?"
"We worked together to come up with the idea in the first place. The old man and I have been planning things out a lot more with the War so close," he admitted.
Illya turned to leave with a soft exhale, making it halfway to the exit before speaking with a raised voice so it would reach him. "So you've got a set plan for every situation then? That's nice, I hope those plans include tomorrow's dinner!"
Shirou could barely open his mouth before the girl shut the door behind herself. While he should have been upset, he could only smirk. If the inner workings of Illya's mind were ever made into a movie, ninety percent of its runtime would be flickering images of food. Whether it was in her nature or due to him spoiling her with his cooking was up to debate, though Kiritsugu would claim it to be the latter.
Since his legs were still working, Shirou made an effort to stand - something which was heavily dissuaded by his sore midsection. He managed to stagger into the bathroom where he could wash up after his training. In fresh clothes and with the sweat washed away, Shirou started preparing dinner.
He had barely gotten all of the ingredients out before Caren arrived, solemn and silent as usual. The priestess did nothing to hide her hands and even from the kitchen, Shirou couldn't see any sort of command seals. Regardless, the signature remained. He wasn't imagining things, he simply couldn't be.
Maybe the seals were elsewhere on her body? Was such a thing even possible? Kiritsugu certainly hadn't informed him of such a possibility, and so far, three out of four cases had seals on the hand. It was a possibility for sure, but he couldn't legally check Caren's entire body. He would just have to go with the assumption that his tracing was picking up something different.
Conversation carried on, though it was a touch tenser than Shirou was used to. Once Taiga arrived - expectedly late - things picked up significantly, though that was just Taiga's way. While Caren wasn't known for lengthy conversations, she was a great listener. It was a trait which paired well with Illya and Taiga, who were both well known for talking at length about the most insignificant things, especially to guests.
Dinner went as could be expected, though it was still much quieter than he was used to. While no event with Taiga could ever be called quiet, there was still a lack of distinct voices. Rin seemed to be growing ever distant with each passing week. It had started with her not visiting the house but had grown to her cancelling their lunches at school. He knew she was avoiding him and it was likely due to her command seals appearing. She believed him to be clueless about the Grail War, so maybe it was an attempt at sparing him?
While Rin had become something of a lost cause, Sakura was still there. It just so happened that she was at her own home that day. Most of the time, she stayed at the Emiya household, having just re-moved in only recently.
Not even Missy was present. The girl had gone alone on a trip two days ago, on Monday. He had been left in the dark on the reasoning once more, but Shirou was starting to get rather annoyed with the espionage. His father was supposed to be forthcoming with everything, what reason could he have to hide something?
He was drawn from his mind by a tapping on his arm. Turning his head, he spotted Caren, who had an emotion on her face he couldn't quite place. "May I speak with you in private?"
The request caught him off guard, causing his brain to enter a "restarting" period where he could do nothing but gape. Recovering, he softly agreed, expecting to speak with her after finishing their meal. He was surprised to find she had meant that very moment if her standing and soft excusing signified anything.
After excusing himself, Shirou followed the priestess out of the hall into the backyard, far from earshot of the dining room. Caren didn't waste any time being dramatic or tense in the night air, deciding to fire off her request as soon as she was facing him.
"Could I live at your house?" The question was as unexpected as a slap to the face and Shirou found himself reeling, asking if she could repeat it so he could be sure what he heard was correct.
Unfortunately for him, it was. "Why would you want to live in my house?" was the first question he asked, one of many in his head.
The priestess tilted her head, giving him a peculiar look. "Is that a rhetorical question?"
"Don't you have responsibilities as a priestess at the church?"
The girl nodded. "If I lived here, I would commute to and from the church daily. It would be good exercise though I would have to end the twenty-four-hour confessional program."
Shirou stared at the girl for a moment before signing and rubbing his eyes with one hand. As the War's mediator, could she really live in the same house as a master? Wasn't that against some sort of rule? At the very least, it would show the other masters that there was some sort of favouritism and he would become their first target. As much as he wanted to ensure that the girl wasn't lonely, now just simply wasn't the time to play host.
Eventually, he shook his head and took the time to crouch down to her level. "I'm sorry but you can't." It was subtle, but he noticed that her face had taken on a sad expression. "The church needs you. If it was any closer to the house I would agree but you would have to travel across Fuyuki every day and you're only thirteen."
"I can travel on my own," the girl defied.
"You probably can, but in the case that something happened it would indirectly be my fault and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself." Shirou wasn't lying. Beyond the fact that hosting her would be a conflict of interest, he was worried about her own safety. Caren wasn't a combat-oriented magus, so it wouldn't take much for another magus to defeat her.
The priestess' shoulders dropped and her golden eyes seemed to peer through him absently. "I must respect your decision, it is your home," she murmured.
Shirou stood and let out a soft breath. He could see that she was disappointed, he wasn't blind, though some would argue against him on that. "I can visit you every Monday if you would like. That wouldn't be much of a problem for me."
The girl didn't speak a word, nor did she move. Eventually, she lifted her head and blinked while staring into his eyes. "We can finish dinner now, thank you."
… … …
… … …
Caren did return the next week, though things were different. She was more talkative, something ill-befitting of her clinical, rigid speech. The priestess also tried to overshadow Illya wherever she could. If she ate a considerable amount of food, Caren ate more. If Illya was close to him, Caren tried to be closer. Once Illya caught on, the two formed a very strange rivalry. It was a competition for his attention and the two continually tried to one-up the other, unwilling to be beaten.
For that reason alone he was thankful to have declined Caren's request the month prior. He couldn't imagine what sort of trouble the two girls would get up to if they had to live with one another.
The two would likely set up a war between one another and he would end up being a casualty, probably. Leaving the thought as it was, he turned to the shorter girl diligently studying from a textbook. "How is Japanese coming, Lectra?"
The girl scratched the back of her head with a pen, letting out a frustrated sigh. "Not very well. The writing system you have is so strange," she admitted. When he thought about it, Lectra attending high school was interesting. She had been twenty-one last year, meaning she was twenty-two this year. Assuming she graduated at eighteen, four years had passed only for her to return to high school.
It was funny enough to bring a smile to his face. If an older, wiser version of himself suddenly appeared and told him something like that about his future he'd probably just laugh. "I understand what you mean, though learning English was the same for me."
It was Sunday, a day where he would usually pick up a shift at the Copenhagen. Surprisingly, Lectra had called his house and requested a private tutoring lesson at her home. At the end of the day, he was supposed to be assisting them wherever he could and declining might have just been enough to put him on a suspect list. He sent a call to Neko and rather than sounding disappointed or upset, she was almost happy.
"I'm proud of you, Emiyan. You're finally taking my advice and cutting work for some recreation time. Go have fun, I'll see if I can get someone else!"
The girl withdrew a few pages that he clearly identified as Japanese language arts practice questions. With the pen in her hand, she carefully scrawled an answer for the first question. He waited until she was finished, but before she carried on he extended a finger to point at her mistake. "You're missing the second stroke here. Unless you want to cast your employees in metal, that is."
Groaning in frustration, the girl dropped the pen in her hand and placed both palms on her forehead. "I'm never going to get this stuff right. The only thing I can do is understand it but I still can't even speak it properly."
Defeated, the girl laid her head on the table and produced another sorrowful noise. He made an attempt at consoling her by patting her shoulder. "You'll get it eventually. Is Luvia helping out at all?" The blonde in question was supposedly out for the day running errands, leaving the entire Edelfelt manor open to the two of them. It was lavishly furnished almost to an extreme. Comparing it to the Tohsaka manor wasn't really fair considering that there were nearly a hundred years of difference between the age of decor. The modern style was far more accommodating but there was something to say about the Tohsaka's antique vibe.
Lectra spoke with defeat in her voice toward the table. "She tried but that was the whole reason behind why I called."
Shirou couldn't help but chuckle. "You think she's useless?"
Lectra snorted, lifted her head and stubbornly retrieved her pen. The girl fixed her mistake and moved onto the next question. "I don't know if I want to talk bad about her when she's not here but I also don't want to lie and say you're wrong."
The two shared a brief laugh before an awkward silence descended over them both. Eventually, Shirou cleared his throat and thought of something that could start a conversation. "I've heard Luvia mention someone named Flat. Pretty strange name, is it someone back home?"
Immediately, the girl's cheeks flushed with blood. "I-uh, he's a guy back home, yeah," she murmured, immediately growing sheepish. From what he remembered, Lectra was never one to get embarrassed, through that changed drastically when the topic of conversation turned to relationships. It was nice to see that she hadn't changed.
"Luvia makes it seem like you talk about him all the time, must be pretty special."
The girl produced a very shaky laugh, lifting her hands to throw her hood over her head. "C-can we talk about something else maybe? Luvia already teases me enough."
Shirou chuckled, leaning back so he could stretch his arms. "Alright, why don't you try speaking some Japanese and I'll try to correct you if you're wrong."
Lectra made a dismissive noise. "Nice of you to think any of it will be right."
… … …
Closing the door behind himself, Shirou took a deep breath of the autumn air. The end of 2003 was approaching faster than he would have anticipated. Sighing, he began the walk back to his own home, casting a glance in the direction of the Tohsaka mansion. Were they just rivals now? Rivals with a friendly ceasefire until the war commenced?
Even though the Grail War was a few months away, his command seals had yet to appear. It was concerning. He had been training and preparing his whole life for this war, so why would the Grail be so reluctant in selecting him as a master?
Not like there was much he could do about it though. He just had to hope that he would be selected as one of the seven. So far there were still only three for certain. Rin, Illya and Sakura. While Sakura didn't have command seals, she was a Matou, so her selection was inevitable.
Something itched at the back of his mind and he unconsciously snapped his head around to pan his surroundings. There was a soft breeze, the scent of distant ocean water and something else. It was faint, but he could detect perfume.
Re-examining the area twice, he found nothing. Considering how paranoid he must have looked, he brought a palm to press against his forehead, questioning his own actions. Why had he done that? He had such a compelling feeling that someone was watching him and his body acted on its own accord.
Lifting his head to check over his surroundings one final time, he decided to continue his walk back home.
Not even ten minutes passed before the sensation returned, stronger than ever. Snapping his head over his shoulder, his eyes flickered across various potential hiding points, still unable to find a lock on who or what was watching him.
Put on edge, he murmured a very soft "trace on", concealing his lips with a faked mouth wipe with one hand. Tracing the ground brought a stabbing pain to his brain, but still garnered no results.
Standing amidst an empty street, the chilling breeze and his isolation became overwhelmingly obvious. Did he return home and risk leading this tail back to his family or did he try to outmaneuver them with his knowledge of Fuyuki's streets?
He took an extra second to glance in the direction of his home and the Edelfelt manor he had come from before making his decision.
Muscles snapping to life, he exploded into a sprint, taking a sharp right turn down another street that sloped downward. Picking up extra momentum, Shirou constantly checked his flank over his shoulder while planning his next move. In a half block, there would be a left turn he could make onto another street. Twenty meters after that, an alleyway opened up, giving him the option of doubling back on himself. From there, he could loop back toward the Tohsaka manor and make use of the alleys between the scattered stores. After that, he could switch their roles and become the tailer instead of the tailee. Or play it safe and return home without risking his neck. Both options had their merits, though he did promise Illya that he wouldn't risk his life alone anymore.
Skidding into the first alley, he slowed his movements and made them especially deliberate to minimize the sound produced. Moving as quickly as he could under these new conditions, he doubled back onto the street he initially turned onto and carried on with his plan.
From there, he took an alternate route back in the direction of his home, just further north to avoid running into his tail. This time, his walk was uninterrupted by any sensations. The feeling he had experienced earlier failed to return, so he wasn't being watched anymore - thankfully.
… … …
What the hell happened? She had been patiently waiting for the past two hours for him to leave her home. When he finally appeared and she started watching him walk, it was like he knew something was up and he took off running like a wild animal.
If she had been a normal human, she would have been too far away to keep up, though that wasn't a problem for her as a magus. Moving as fast as a car, the girl had closed the distance but lost her mark after he turned a second corner.
She had done her best to look but came up with absolutely nothing.
All that time waiting was wasted. But at the very least, a potential lead revealed itself. She had initially planned to follow Shirou home and discover where he was living. She still had to, of course, though she now had more important answers to discover.
Like how a normal human could both realize he was being watched and escape a trained mercenary magus with ease. Or how that same normal human could have an entire family that nobody within the entire school seemed to remember.
Things just weren't adding up and with Shirou's similarities to Blade, he was becoming a more likely candidate by the second. There was no avoiding it anymore, Luvia and Lectra had to focus their sights on him and unravel the mystery behind the Fake Janitor.
Stumbling into the grounds of her home with an aura of depression, she unenthusiastically shambled inside to meet Lectra, who took her visage with some concern. "What are you doing here? Did he see you?"
Luvia shook her head. "There was no way, but it sure seemed like he did. He took off running as soon as he walked into my sight." Groaning with exasperation, the girl leaned back on the door she just entered, sliding down until she hit the floor. "This is going to get worse before it gets better, I can just tell."
Lectra crouched ahead of her, maintaining a solemn silence before taking a great inhale. "Look, we can pretty much say for certain that Shirou is a magus, but we're not certain if he's Blade - so we still have a chance."
"Because if Shirou is Blade and Shirou is working with the Magus Killer, we're screwed, royally."
Lectra begrudgingly nodded. "Even together, we'd be hard-pressed to take Blade on alone. Combine him with the Magus Killer and our chances are virtually non-existent."
Luvia rather loudly banged the top of her head against the door behind her, closing her eyes in frustration. "I know. I hate admitting it, but there's no way we could handle Blade if he was putting effort into fighting. I couldn't even get the upper hand when he was letting me win." The Edelfelt couldn't stop a scowl from appearing on her features as memories of the Tournament returned. Even after Blade's supposed death, she never forgot that slight against her.
It had actually infested her mind and festered over the last year, culminating into a cancer which made her despise the man. Did he really not value or respect her enough to fight her fair and honourably in combat? Was she just that worthless to him? Nobody did anything out of the good of their heart, so what was his ulterior motive?
"So what's the plan then? Call this whole thing off and go home where we're safe from becoming pincushions?" Lectra dryly asked, humour falling flat to match the tone of her voice. Luvia thought about it for some time. It would be easier to tell her family that there wasn't anything here, but the lead was too strong, the proximity to her goal too alluring. Eventually, the blonde shook her head, throwing drill curls about in every direction. "We stay here until we're certain. We have to know if Shirou is harbouring or working alongside the Magus Killer."
Lectra drooped her head downward, letting it bounce limply before throwing it back up and moving some hair from her face with one hand. "Alright, so we need to find out where he lives and go from there."
"I agree. Thankfully, I just thought of a way to get the location of Shirou's house without following him or trying to get invited." The girl in the hood tilted her head and made a questioning glare, prompting the Edelfelt to elaborate. "There's nobody we know that simultaneously has the knowledge of the Emiya family and is open enough for us to speak with."
Lectra narrowed her eyes. "I feel like there's a but coming up."
The blonde nodded. "You'd be right. There is one person that both has the knowledge, and is someone we can speak with. What makes it better is that she's someone who we spend time around five days a week."
Luvia held silent a moment as her apprentice struggled with determining who the mystery person could be. Just when the girl was about to admit defeat, her face brightened with a sudden realization. "Miss Fujimura?"
… … …
… … …
Shirou was lost in a pot of soup. Specifically, a large pot of jambalaya soup - a new dish he'd decided to test out. He had read the recipe in a cooking magazine and the colourful display had caught his eye. It was much more alluring in person, and he was quite lost in the bubbling sauce.
With a blink and soft shake of the head, he returned to himself all before stirring the fragrant blend of vegetables and meats. It had been a struggle to get quality andouille in the heart of Japan but Shirou had found something passably similar.
While it had been gradual, the dining room had become quite empty during the course of the day. Typically, Kiritsugu watched the news while enjoying coffee, conversed with Missy or did whatever he did on his laptop - a surprisingly useful piece of tech, so it was claimed.
Recently though, the old man had spent significantly more time in his room and Shirou wasn't certain why. Missy frequently came and went from it at various times in the day as well. Knowing his father as well as he did, it wasn't for anything nefarious, though it was concerning.
That thought was enough to bring his thoughts to the girl in question, Missy. She had been taking trips on her own for some time now and each time she returned, she appeared more exhausted than before. The soft, demure woman Shirou remembered seemed so distant to the bag-eyed, quiet one that was in her place. While still respectful and polite, it was obvious that she was worn out - why, Shirou could only guess. Though with the number of injuries across her body, his guess was likely to be on point. He hadn't spoken to anybody and Kiritsugu certainly hadn't said a word to him, but he would bet money that Missy was working under the old man.
There was no other explanation. The secrecy, unexplained injuries and the exhaustion clearly showcased on the woman's face all told a concerning tale. While he was worried about her safety, there was nothing he could really say or do for her. His father, while skewed in his methodology, knew what was best and did what had to be done.
The most admirable quality of his was that he never forced anyone to do something or be someone they weren't entirely comfortable with. He strongly suggested doing certain things but understood that he would be unable to change others. That meant Missy had chosen this route on her own and Shirou had to respect that.
An audible sniffing from behind brought his attention to the door. Casting his head over his shoulder, he found the excited expression of a miniature girl. "What are you cooking today?" she asked, before being overshadowed by a louder, deeper voice from behind.
"Whatever it is, it's making everyone in the house hungry." Stepping past his daughter, Kiritsugu glided into the dining room, peering into the kitchen from the partition but going no further. After he nearly burnt down the house trying to make toast that one time, Shirou had banned him from entering the kitchen.
Turning to resume stirring the pot, Shirou let the two know its status: "It still isn't going to be ready for a few minutes."
"Regardless, it is certainly a tantalizing scent," came a much softer voice. Glancing back to confirm his suspicions, the tall but tired sight of Missy greeted him.
"Senpai is trying something new," came an even softer voice. It hardly took him a moment to recognize the voice of Sakura.
"If you wanted to eat a little earlier, one of you could set up the table." Both Missy and Sakura simultaneously claimed the role and the two shared the load of the task. The timing ended up being perfect and Shirou moved the large pot to the table just as the preparations were being finalized.
Shirou delegated Kiritsugu to call over Taiga and within five minutes the girl arrived - though she was admittedly out of breath. With all guests for the night present, dinner began and everyone dished out a helping from the single large pot in the center.
Conversation was quite sparse while those present enjoyed the quality meal before them, though Taiga did her best to keep something going. "It looks like you've got two other girls after you, Shirou," she claimed, giving him a smirk.
Furrowing his brow in confusion, he asked for some clarification as to what she meant. Months ago, just before they arrived, Kiritsugu had expressly informed the teacher not to speak with either of the two new magi. Obviously, that suggestion had failed to stick.
"Those two foreigners were talking to me the other day all about you," she claimed innocently, though the entire mood around the table shifted drastically.
"What sort of questions?" Kiritsugu asked, tone entirely serious.
Caught off guard by the change, Taiga's face faltered. "About Shirou's cooking and the house."
"Anything else?" the Magus Killer pressed.
"Y-yeah. They wanted to know if Shirou had a family. I said yes but didn't tell them anything else because there wasn't any reason for them to know," she admitted.
Both Emiya males let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Taiga hadn't let out anything of major importance, though there was still a pit stubbornly residing in Shirou's gut. It was possible that Luvia had pegged him as a potential suspect in her search, though why wouldn't she have asked him directly?
Shirou was about to question the old man with his concerns but before he could swallow the food in his mouth, the doorbell chimed through the house. The two Emiya males shared a glance of concern while the present Matou stood to answer it. Shirou stopped her short and rose up himself. "Let me get the door this time, just in case."
Out of the dining room, down the hall to the front door, Shirou spotted a very concerning silhouette. He knew in advance who was on the other side but was unable to hesitate as it would only incite suspicion and make the situation worse.
Sliding the front door open, he greeted his fate head-on, exclaiming a surprised, "Luvia?" as the blonde fully revealed herself.
The bright smiling Edelfelt offered a short wave, an act that was copied by the smaller, much more genuine girl behind her: Lectra. "Good evening Shero, how is your night going?"
Blinking a few times while his mind had a quick reboot, Shirou stumbled out a polite greeting and asked what the two were doing at his home.
"Well…" Lectra chimed, turning sheepish even though she was practically hiding behind the more confident woman.
"We're sorry to be so intrusive but Lectra really needs the extra help with Japanese," Luvia bowed heavily, an act which wasn't really necessary and verged on being rude - but at least she was trying. "She's struggling and I'm not a very good teacher evidently."
Shirou blinked a few more times, furrowing his brow and putting on a look of confusion. "How did you find out where I lived? And why would you show up at such a late hour?"
Both girls were visibly surprised by his quick questions and Luvia's voice caught in her throat, though before either could make a response, a loud clattering noise sounded from behind, deeper in the house. If Shirou had to guess, Kiritsugu or Illya had heard who was at the door and were working to make themselves scarce.
Unfortunately, it gave the two girls an out from his questions, prompting Luvia to ask: "You have company over?"
Withholding a grumble of frustration over whoever made the noise, he focused on getting the two girls away. Shirou flashed a brief smile and nodded, excusing himself by saying, "Yes I do and we were in the middle of dinner - something I'm sure we would like to return to."
His hand reached out to grip the sliding door. While it would be rude to shut the door in their face, he had to or he ran the risk of having them discover something. "We? How many guests do you have?" Lectra asked, offering a questioning glance.
Shirou twitched at his slip of the tongue. "Yes, is it strange that I have many guests for dinner?"
Luvia shook her head, continuing to smile despite his uncharacteristically sharp response. "Not at all. But if you have guests, you've made a large dinner to feed them and it really wouldn't hurt to have two more, would it? After dinner, you can help Lectra with her Japanese and we'll return home as quick as we can."
Shirou stiffened, unconsciously gripping the door tighter. He tried to conceive of a reason as to why they wouldn't be able to stay. He wasn't rude enough to blatantly deny them and he couldn't think of anything that would send them away. He had one last attempt at driving them off, even though he doubted it would work. "I might not have enough food to feed you both," he claimed, moving the hand from the door to scratch at the back of his head.
Luvia spared a glance toward Lectra. With his sharp ears, he caught the mumble easily. "Are you hungry?" she asked, getting a nod from the smaller. Turning to face him again, Luvia nodded herself. "That's fine, we can pick something up on the way back."
The girl took a step forward, but Shirou planted his arm on the wall, blocking her path. "Before you can come in, you have to tell me how you found my house. I don't think I've ever told you."
Luvia stood tall, placing both hands on her waist while shooting him a smug smile. "Miss Fujimura told us how to get here and said," the girl adorned a resolute face and recited in a deeper, Taiga-like fashion, "if you ever need help, Shirou will be there!"
The person to ruin months of meticulous planning was Taiga, of course. The loose end nobody could control.
… … …
To say it was tense around the dining table would be an understatement. Shirou, Taiga, Sakura, Lectra, Luvia and Missy were all eating in dead silence and the raven-haired woman continually glanced between the two new guests and Shirou himself, verifying that things were still amicable.
The cover story was that Missy was a friend of Taiga's. It wasn't very far off, considering both women were around the same age and got along well enough. The fact that she was living in the Emiya house was omitted. As was the existence of Shirou's father and sister who had fled somewhere in the house.
Shirou couldn't find out where they were through tracing either since activating his circuits would tip the two girls off to his magus status and open a whole new can of worms. The original girls, not including Lectra or Luvia, had finished eating at similar times, though Taiga had eaten two entire helpings for Missy and Sakura's one. All guests began light idle conversation either between themselves or with the two girls - who were still on their first helping. As Shirou expected, Sakura and Lectra spoke more than anyone else, holding their own conversation while others took place.
Shirou was halfway through his third bowl, though he was slower than normal as he spent most of his time watching the two new guests. As he lifted the bowl up to finish its contents, Luvia made a soft noise.
"What's this?" she asked, reaching toward the zabuton to pluck something from its surface. Lifting her hand aloft to the light, it became obvious what she had discovered. Between her fingers was an excessively long pure white hair.
Flickering her eyes between it and the hair atop Shirou's head, she found the distinct dissimilarities. "Well, this obviously isn't yours."
As Shirou struggled to think of a half-truth he could tell, Missy suddenly giggled softly and took the hair from the blonde. "That would be mine. You wouldn't think so, but I used to dye my hair white for a while." Producing a warm, genuine smile, she continued. "I returned to black once I realized it was making me look old."
Luvia made an appreciative noise, reciprocating the smile. "I see, well, I imagine you look good regardless of your hair colour." The girl dropped the matter and returned to admiring the room before making a clearly emphasized, smug noise of surprise. Reaching toward another zabuton, she retrieved a significantly shorter, black hair. "And this one?"
It was time for both Shirou and Missy to lock up now. That was undoubtedly Kiritsugu's hair, but they had no cover left to use. "That's from one of my friends, Reikan Ryuudou," Taiga blurted out.
Shirou snapped his head to look at the teacher in confusion. "I didn't know that you invited him here," he claimed.
Taiga tapped her fingers together, laughing awkwardly. "Well, grandfather was home and you weren't here so I thought I could use it for-"
Shirou thrust out his open hands, shaking his head sharply. "That's enough, don't tell me any more."
Lectra had stopped eating to cover her mouth - and laughter - with one hand while Luvia just seemed stunned. "A very interesting home you run, Shero."
The boy himself placed his face into one hand and grumbled softly. "Sometimes it surprises me as well."
"I see you entertain quite a few guests, with or without your knowledge. I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise with all the stories of your glowing hospitality of course." Removing his face from his hand, he saw the girl beaming a sickly sweet smile. She was planning something, though he could only hope it wasn't what he was expecting.
"I enjoy cooking and the more people I can entertain, the better." He returned her smile with one of his own, adding on to his statement with, "though there are days where I prefer the presence around the table to be a little smaller and not as full." It wasn't a full lie. Normally he enjoyed serving as many people as possible but there were rare occasions where eating as a small family was all he desired.
Retaining her smile, the blonde tilted her head partly to one side. "I can understand that. It would get straining to entertain so many at once, especially if you had guests who didn't really see eye to eye."
Shirou closed his eyes softly and responded with a soft nod. Without looking, he took hold and popped the last remaining piece of food in his bowl - a shrimp - into his mouth.
Luvia's next question was the worst yet. "Shero, where's your adorable little sister?"
Three separate mouths opened to form an answer but each one would claim the wrong thing and blow their intricately crafted lie sky high. "Caren," he emphasized, trying to surely make everyone else aware of his lie. He tried to think of something he could say that wouldn't reveal he was lying, but he couldn't think of anything. Instead, he donned a frustrated look and hoped that someone would cover for him.
"Didn't you say that Caren was visiting her friends?" Sakura asked, shooting him a concerned look from across the table. "She didn't tell you that she was also spending the night, that's why you made so much extra food."
Shirou nodded, trying to play off his lack of an excuse on failing memory. "How could I forget," he murmured.
Missy chimed in. "Perhaps it's all the stress you have with school, errands and a part-time job."
"I warned you that Neko would work you to the bone," Taiga scolded, even though it was entirely false.
Clearing her throat, Lectra suddenly contributed to the tense conversation. "I've seen houses like this in books and movies but never got to see one in real life, even once I came to Japan. It seems very rare and antique."
Opening one eye, Shirou watched her while he finished chewing before opening the other to respond to Lectra genuinely. "This manor was built toward the end of the seventeenth century. Back then it was built for the shogunate but instead housed daimyo and their families. In 1872, it was purchased by a wealthy businessman and was passed down for a few generations before trading hands quite a few times during the Second World War. It ended up in the hands of a young man-"
"Mister Saito!" Taiga blurted out, contributing her own knowledge to the building's history.
Shirou nodded. "The Saito family had this building until our family purchased it after his death. As he never had children, it was either that or the site would become an architectural museum."
"So we're in a building that's over three hundred years old? That's really neat," Lectra admired, looking around and taking in the sights with renewed respect.
Shirou chuckled but nodded again. "Of course, much of the original building has been renovated to keep it structurally sound, but the original design hasn't changed and the renovations performed have retained the traditional way of construction. Expensive, sure, but it doesn't detract from the quality of the architecture with modern elements as much."
"You wouldn't be able to show me around so I can see more, would you?"
Shirou repressed a twitch. While he should have expected such a question, it did surprise him. "Yes, I could, though there are rooms that I've filled with furniture and others that are specific rooms for guests like Taiga and Missy, who essentially have a second home here."
Lectra agreed wholeheartedly and after a brief moment to relax after their meal, the three - Lectra, Luvia and himself - all explored the manor. He showed them specific rooms which were empty guest rooms, cleverly avoiding the occupied rooms. While Illya hardly spent any time at all in her own room anymore, it was still packed with personal trinkets and the like.
Finishing the tour without issue, the three returned to the dining room but just as they were about to enter, Luvia cleared her throat and gathered the attention of the other two. "I don't think we'll be able to tutor Lectra with her Japanese today. It's getting late and if we try, it'll wind up being midnight before we leave and we all have school tomorrow."
Shirou peeked into the dining room to take note of the clock within, agreeing with the blonde. "I feared the same, so I agree that it would be best for you to leave." Without much trouble, Shirou led them to the door and expressed his farewells as the girls returned home.
Once the door was closed, he pressed his back against its surface and breathed out a sigh of relief. That was the second time an enemy he was trying to avoid had snooped around his house. Though these two were far less thorough, it was still equally as tense.
"Trace on," he murmured, scanning the house to locate the two fugitives. As he should have guessed, they were both on the roof again. It was quite cold out, so they could likely use what remained of the hot dinner he made.
… … …
"You didn't see it, did you?"
"You mean how awkward and weird Shirou was acting? Pretty hard to miss that," Lectra replied, scowling while she begrudgingly trailed behind the other girl. "No matter how distracting that delicious food was, he was like an entirely different person."
"I meant that girl with the dark hair, Missy."
"What about her?"
Luvia rolled her eyes. "You're telling me you didn't notice the pistol pointed directly at us the entire time we were eating?"
The other girl visibly paled and her face drooped. "She was what?"
"And there were four toothbrushes in the bathroom. If Missy and Taiga only stay there occasionally, they wouldn't keep a toothbrush at that house, and where does the extra one come from?" Lectra furrowed her eyes deep in thought. "I'm almost certain that he's hiding something. Shirou is the most prominent suspect we have so far so we'll need to focus our attention on him until we either find something substantial or prove his innocence."
Lectra looked back toward the Emiya house, keeping close to her partner. "Since we know where he lives now, we can keep watch and see what we find, right?
Luvia nodded. "If they're magi, they'll notice any familiars that watch their property but we can use video cameras instead. The quality of the visuals won't be as good, but it'll be untraceable."
"So I won't be able to use ether clumps, damn." There was silence as Luvia was distracted with deep thought, leading Lectra to look back at the Emiya house another time. "She was really pointing a gun at us the whole time?"
… … …
… … …
"When I was a master, we summoned Saber four days prior to the declared beginning of the War. Since this date has yet to be declared, we'll have to wait a little longer - though it's good to be prepared." Grunting, the man used his back to shove a large table aside, freeing up space in the stone shed.
"Is this going to need some complex magical knowledge?" Shirou asked, watching his father work to prepare the area.
The Magus Killer made a soft "tsk" before looking over his area. "Believe it or not, the ritual is so simple that someone could do it by accident. The only reason we'll be creating a magic circle and chanting incantations is to provide a better anchor for you, Illya and the servants you'll summon." Extending one hand, he requested a hammer and chisel, which Shirou projected into his grasp easily enough.
"So we're making up for our inability and lack of true magus capability," Shirou summarized.
With strain as he descended to his knees, the old man agreed. "Not entirely. A major component of anchoring servants is the application of mana. For this reason, Illya is in a significantly better position than you are since she can pour as much as needed into solidifying them. You're the main point of concern due to your comparatively small mana pool."
"I suppose that makes sense. Since you're making it permanent, Illya will probably be able to use it again after me, right?" The man nodded while Shirou moved to lean up against one of the workbenches. "Don't we also need some sort of item to summon a servant? I know I'll use Avalon, but what will Illya use?"
"Avalon," the man responded curtly. "You'll utilize the sheath inside you, summon Saber with it and allow Illya to summon her servant using the same relic."
"What? Is it possible to use a relic in summoning like that? Wouldn't it summon two copies of the same servant?"
The man shrugged while tapping away at the floor. "I honestly have no idea, but it wouldn't be that big of a problem if we summoned two versions of Saber. Double the firepower," he murmured the last part, pausing to inspect his work.
Shirou scratched his head. "And if the second copy is summoned as the berserker class?"
"Illya has enough mana control to handle a berserker servant. If it turns out that she doesn't, the use of a command seal from her would more than solve the matter. Due to the quality of her circuits, any order would demand near-absolute obedience."
Shirou made a noise of admiration, pausing to scratch his face. "Seems like there's a lot of uncertainty in this plan."
Kiritsugu resumed chiselling the floor. "You want certainty in a ritual that will summon a legendary ruler who's been dead for hundreds of years?"
Shirou realized how foolish his question was when his father posed a reworded version back at him so rhetorically. "Alright, I get it. We're sort of shooting in the dark but we have no choice. I have one last question before I need to start on dinner: Since you summoned Saber and I'll likely summon her again, what will happen when she recognizes you?"
"That won't be a problem," the man replied immediately. "When a servant is summoned, a copy of the hero they were in their prime is ripped from a sort of storage cell called the Throne of Heroes. They hold no memories of any event following their death, but every memory up until that point. The Saber we summon will be as clueless and simple as the one I started with." Kiritsugu paused to chip away at the floor with a bit more focus, resuming shortly after. "Imagine it like a photocopier, except the original can't be recovered. You can draw or paint whatever you want on one copy, but it doesn't matter at all to the others."
With his question answered, Shirou felt more at ease. Deciding to leave his father to his work, he moved to leave but stopped short at the door. "How long do you think we have until the beginning of the war?"
Kiritsugu hummed at length, slowly mumbling to himself. "Today is December sixth, the Fourth War began on January seventh." Lifting his head and staring monotonously toward his son, he gave the estimation of "four or five weeks."
So a month to tie loose end, train and mentally prepare for the War. Where had all the time gone? "Don't stay out here too late, dinner will be ready in an hour - alright?"
The man grumbled in agreement, a signal to Shirou that the conversation had ended. He took that moment to leave and get to work on feeding his family.
… … …
… … …
The official "start" of the Grail War, January sixteenth, was revealed to them on Christmas day by Caren herself. She had been invited to spend the day relishing in the festivities and had spilled the information just before leaving to handle Christmas mass. That, along with her statement that she could no longer visit their home. As expected as it was, Shirou couldn't help but be surprised.
They were required to show their command seals, state their willful participation in the War as well as declare the servant they had summoned to her before midnight of the fifteenth. Before then, masters were honour-bound to maintain a ceasefire, lest they face extreme punishment from the Church. Late submissions and potential masters who existed or appeared after the fifteenth were "free game" as it were, able to be killed with impunity, regardless of whether or not they managed to summon a servant.
Supposedly this was deemed fair, but it only stressed Shirou further. It was no wonder why Rin avoided him after gaining her command seals. She was worried about being killed by Kiritsugu - or even Illya - before her chance at claiming the Grail.
The average fall had gradually turned to a warm winter. While void of snow and harsh winds, it was still cold enough to demand the use of a scarf and heavier clothing.
Shortly after her impromptu visit, Luvia had started avoiding him. He was somewhat understanding after such an awkward encounter, but something wasn't adding up. Foremost, she had spoken and studied with him for the first week or so after. Why would she decide to avoid him a significant time after that encounter? At the start of December, she was abruptly absent from school for two weeks. Lectra had claimed rather genuinely that Luvia had unspecified medical issues which needed to be handled and, while nothing serious, it would keep her away from daily activities. It did, though after she returned, Lectra spontaneously required additional help throughout most of the day, occupying much of Shirou's time as their "guide".
She claimed that Luvia was no help to her Japanese and she was struggling enough to almost be failing. Wary of some sort of deception, Shirou tutored the girl as much as he could and even with all his effort she only improved marginally - enough to pass. All the occupied time meant her exposure to Luvia was minimized. Likewise, her exposure to the general student body was at an all-time low.
In fact, the going rumour at Homurahara was that she died and her spirit was all that remained to wander the halls. Both points of the story served well to explain her rapid personality shift and practical disappearance from interaction. It was curious, but Shirou could do little to investigate it further without being able to speak with her directly.
On the ninth of January, Kiritsugu made an executive decision. Shirou and Illya would summon their servants early to acclimate them both to the associated mana drain. During the time between then and the start of the war, they would establish their roles and define how the masters would work alongside their servants. After many answered questions, the two becoming masters were more confident in their roles.
"The ceremony will take place at midnight, supposedly the most stable time for major formalcraft," Kiritsugu claimed, answering Illya's question. The man ran a hand through his messy hair, revealing the still blotchy image of something on the back of his right hand. If they truly were command seals, they still weren't fully formed. Shirou had often wondered why his father wasn't summoning Saber again, but the first time he brought up the question, he was harshly reminded of the old man's journal and told that Saber had to be summoned by himself, not Kiritsugu.
"How do you know about magecraft like this?" Shirou asked, genuinely curious. It wasn't like his father to spit knowledge about magic, that was Rin's department.
"Years ago I borrowed books from Rin in preparation for this moment. Several superfluous books to make the truly informative tomes seem innocuous by comparison. She had and likely still has no idea of my plans."
Silently agreeing that it was a wise idea, Shirou cast an uneasy glance from his father to Missy and back again, speaking the question that his eyes conveyed. "What about Missy? Should she really stay here when this is about to happen?"
Kiritsugu stared at his son for a moment before letting out a regretful sigh. "I haven't told anyone yet, but I should be entirely transparent with you all about this." Taking in a small breath, he looked between his two children and informed them both that, "Missy is acting as my disciple and she had been for some time now."
Shirou couldn't be that surprised. He had assumed such a thing anyway with the number and severity of wounds she had received. Illya seemed to be more confused than surprised, though he supposed it was an appropriate reaction as well.
Bowing her head and moving a considerable amount of hair in the act, the girl stared softly into Shirou's eyes. "I understand the risks and have accepted them fully. I am indebted for the humble generosity and kindness you have shown to me, among the saving of my very life. This is how I aim to repay that debt."
There wasn't much he could say in response. He didn't feel as if she owed them anything, but he had little doubt that Kiritsugu had told her the same thing. If she committed herself willingly, he couldn't say anything to stop her. From the corner of his eye, he caught a rather excessive pout from his sister; perhaps she felt the same way. With all of their questions answered, the family waited until the midnight hour was neared.
At eleven fifty, Kiritsugu guided his two children into the chilly, damp shed and directed them on what to do one last time. Because Shirou was acting as the summoning catalyst, he needed to be closest to the circle, though not so close as to always be in contact as that supposedly caused other problems.
After ensuring his children were prepared, Kiritsugu offered a "good luck" and left the shed, closing the heavy door behind him. He claimed that this was done to prevent the interior from becoming too cluttered. Four people were already enough to make the space cramped. With two servants added to the crowd, it would become quite uncomfortable.
The interior of the shed was illuminated in low-level orange light by candles strewn about the space. They were new, unscented and had been placed specifically for this purpose. When Shirou trained his magecraft inside, he typically left the door open and allowed the moonlight to light the space. It was different but not entirely unwelcome for that glow to be replaced with flame.
Ahead was the faintly pulsing crimson circle that would produce Saber. How or why he didn't know. But it was something he had to do regardless. "Well?" Illya asked from his side. Turning his head to meet her eyes, she shrugged. "I guess this is it. We really get to be masters now."
With a hoarse voice, Shirou croaked out an agreement before clearing his throat. "Hopefully our servants don't kill one another," he chuckled, producing an equally nervous laugh from the girl.
"Well then you'll just have to look for another servant," she continued.
"Me?" he asked, peering down at the girl questioningly.
"Well, duh. My servant will be so much stronger than yours, so you'll have to get a new one if mine kills yours," she explained, nerves replaced with humour.
Rolling his eyes, he couldn't help but laugh - both from the amusement gleaned off the comment and the anxiety striking at full force. Cautiously, he moved forward until he was an arm's length away from the circle. Then, he settled onto the cold stone floor with his knees.
Shirou hovered his hand over the surface of the circle. The skin facing its partly luminous surface prickled as if it was being electrified with low current. He wasn't even flowing mana into the arcane craft yet, but residual mana from the air was collecting and condensing within the magic circle at a surprising rate.
Sucking in a deep breath, Shirou nervously examined the back of his own hand. He still didn't have any command seals, so could he really be a master in this war? Would this summoning even work?
Clearing the thoughts from his mind, he decided that it had to, for him to protect his family - summoning a servant had to work. "I guess you can start whenever you're ready," Illya claimed softly from behind him.
The boy nodded in confirmation of his preparedness - both to her and himself. When he was absolutely certain, he gently shut his eyes to concentrate on his circuits. This would need all the power he could offer to form a stable contract. Running a mental checklist, he found everything to be in order. The last step would be to chant the incantation. It hardly took more than a thought to recall the incantation instructed to him by his father. Supposedly, it was the exact one he had spoken all those years ago. With the words on the tip of his tongue, Shirou activated his magic circuits and channelled the mana within to his outstretched hand. Like a leech, he could feel the mana within his body being forcibly drawn out through the skin of his palm. The electrifying sensation intensified, still at a level that was more uncomfortable than painful.
"Heed my words, my will creates your body and your sword creates my destiny." With how many times Shirou had chanted an aria, this one felt different. It was as if he were connecting with something beyond his relatively puny human existence: Something greater than him in every way. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel the air grow thick with mana, making the simple act of breathing a struggle.
"If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reasoning - then answer my summoning!" he chanted, confidence swelling in tune with the draw of his mana. There was a soft gasp behind him, and the shade of light hitting his eyelids shifted from orange to blue. "I hereby swear that I shall be all the good of the world and defeat all the evil of the world!"
Immediately, a searing pain pulsed through his body, something which began at his outstretched hand. Opening his eyes to the pain, he spotted glowing crimson markings etching themselves onto the flesh of his left hand: It was something tribal, with a fat triangle pointing toward his fingers, followed by two connected curved segments and a long tapered line leading toward his elbow. Beyond his hand, the magic circle was pulsing an ominous, deep crimson as it was overburdened with mana. It was a colour that tried and failed to battle the polar opposite glow of the candles they had lit just moments prior. Instead of orangish-red, each one now produced a tall, wild blue flame that flickered unsteadily, reacting to the unstable atmosphere being created.
His ears popped from the rapid pressure difference, bringing pain but mostly discomfort. Grimacing away the annoyance, he focused on the last line and struggled to get it out clearly above the pressure-induced silence in his ears. "From the Seventh Heaven, attended by the three great powers, come forth from the throne O-Wielder of Promised Victory!"
At the end of his last syllable, the room exploded violently with a light brighter than the sun. Clamping his eyes shut so they wouldn't be damaged, the subtle clanking of metal plating and a wave of smells struck him simultaneously. Rather than the stale damp air he had grown used to, his nose was assaulted with thick, rich scents of heavy leather and luxurious wine with the subtle note of brimstone behind it all. Opening his eyes, he was met with a heavy mist which swirled around as if there was an ongoing tropical storm. That wasn't the source of the scent however, there was something else here - his summoning had worked!
Through the haze, he spotted something, and his eyes rapidly acclimated until the full picture came into view. It was a woman, standing tall with intricately braided golden hair and piercing green eyes who glared down at him with righteous authority. In her right hand, was nothing, though her hand obviously gripped something.
He was captivated, both by her jaw-dropping beauty and the sheer strength exuded by her very form. It was a woman, certifiably, and her appearance was stunning. He was no stranger to good-looking women. Rin, Sakura, Luvia, even Lectra and Missy were all attractive - but this servant, his servant, Saber, was on a level above them all, at least in his mind.
He couldn't form words, but that didn't stop her or Avalon. The sheath was radiating brilliant golden energy within his mind. It was so bright that he could see it every time he blinked. He was thankful that it wasn't threatening him with pain in an attempt at being brought out to the real world. With its genuine owner in his presence, it actually seemed much calmer and significantly more effective. "I ask of you, are you my mas-" The woman cut herself off, eyes snapping to something behind his shoulder. With a voice full of surprise, she mumbled out, "Illyasviel?"
"Saber?" the girl replied with equal measures of bewilderment.
Shirou blinked, awe quickly shifting to confusion. "You remember Illya?"
As he spoke, Saber's eyes snapped back to him and he almost wished that he hadn't opened his mouth. The knight slowly raised the hand holding nothing to point in his direction. With his circuits activated, he was able to trace the item held, though the information which flooded his brain sent a stabbing pain straight to his brain. Even shrouded in some sort of compressed air, Shirou could see its entire construction plain-as-day. It was the greatest holy sword ever made, a weapon designed by the Fae and passed down to the Once and Future King, Excalibur.
And it was about to take off his chin.
Falling backwards to avoid being scarred, he collapsed on the ground and lifted a hand in surrender while the knight loomed threateningly above. "I ask again, are you my master?"
"I- uh," he stammered, considering the question. "Yes?" Shirou asked sheepishly, unsure of how to really answer. Was it that easy to bind a servant to a summoning contract? Just accept it?
The woman nodded and withdrew her sword to rest peacefully ahead of herself. "Then our pact is complete." Shirou blinked, was it really that easy? It was almost comically simple. The knight turned toward Illya and smiled nostalgically. "How is such a thing possible? Sixty years have passed yet you still appear so young? I am glad to see you remain in good health." Seemingly ignorant of Shirou, the knight stepped toward the small girl and kneeled to her level.
Shirou was able to stand in the time it took Illya to find her voice. "It's only been ten years since the last war," she cracked out, clearing her throat before sniffling. It didn't take much more than a glance to see that Illya was on the verge of tears. Did they have that much history? "I missed you, you were one of the few friends I had back in the castle," she admitted, haphazardly wrapping both arms around the woman's neck.
It seemed to surprise them both, as the two simultaneously flinched. As Illya sobbed quietly, Saber's face quickly turned to a soft smile. Hesitantly, the servant used the single gauntlet-clad hand not wrapped around a sword hilt to return the embrace. "It has not been as long for me, but I assure you that you have been missed as well."
The two were embraced for a while before Illya stopped sniffling and returned to normal. As the homunculus removed her arms, Saber must have caught the command seals on her hand, as she abruptly stood upright and took a step backwards. "You are an enemy master?"
Shirou practically leapt at the ominous question, placing himself defensively between his sister and his servant. "No! She's not an enemy master. We're family and we'll be working together," he explained, fearful that Saber would attempt to skewer her before understanding what was happening. "I want you to treat her as your second master so everything you can tell me you can also tell her."
Saber's face tightened, but oddly enough the grip around her blade loosened. "As you wish, master, though your caution is misguided. I would never willingly harm another master, even if it was in my benefit to do so." The knight stared at his face impassively, before squinting and scowling in the next moment. "You remind me of someone I have met once before, master. I am willing to introduce myself in private, but please introduce yourself here."
Furrowing his brow in confusion, he stated his full name without much problem, visibly catching a twitch the moment he said "Emiya". The statement of his name did abate the scowl on her face, though only somewhat.
"Son of Kiritsugu Emiya?"
"Adopted son," both children confirmed, watching her scowl fade entirely.
"I hope that your surname is where the similarities to your father end." The statement was enough to make him sour then. What about his father was so bad? He simply couldn't see it.
"If you don't like Daddy then I don't think you should go outside just yet," Illya murmured, scratching the top of her head with a wide close-eyed smile.
Shirou nearly watched the blood drain from her face. "Kiritsugu is still alive? And he's here?"
"Yes, he's just outside - but please stay in here so we can prepare you first," Shirou clarified, holding out an arm to block the knight's path as her body lurched forward toward the exit.
Saber threw him a cutting glare. "As my master of the previous war, I must speak with him - at least to discover the true outcome and apologize for my failure."
Shirou opened his mouth to speak but replayed the words she spoke in his head, an act which made him stumble. So she wasn't upset at his father? She was hoping he wasn't the same as he was but all the while regretted her failure in capturing the Grail? Giving his head a minute shake, he focused. "You can apologize later around the table. For the moment, remain here so we can summon Illya's servant."
The knight stared up at him for a moment before nodding sharply. "As you wish."
Without much warning, a hand yanked down on his collar, dragging his ear down a whole foot so Illya could whisper into it. "Kiritsugu told us not to let her know about Avalon, how are you going to explain having to sit close to it?"
Turning to look at her, he merely shrugged. What did Saber know about summoning other servants? The chances of her asking a question like that were minuscule. Standing upright, he used his hands to gesture where Saber could stand. Thankfully, the knight obliged and stood in the background as the two children prepared to summon another servant.
Things went nearly identical to how Shirou had summoned Saber, though there was a great difference in the amount of mana in the air. Like usual, he was a drop of water compared to Illya's ocean of mana. As the flash and fog subsided, more clanking metal sounded, though a male's voice clearly rolled out through the dark area.
"I ask of you, are you my master?" Unlike the summoning with Saber, no new scents dominated the area. In fact, it was almost as if his sense of smell was deadened by this new individual.
Whoever it was, they wore rather bright armour. The dim light of the shed was more than enough to showcase his figure. This was due to the gleaming golden edging which gave intricate details to his white plate armour. Among the white and gold, blue also added to his attire. At the collar and on the front-facing tasset were medieval-looking symbols. At his back, attached to the shoulders most likely, were six long blue ribbons, each of which ended in small golden crosses. These items were the source of the jingling which accompanied every motion, though the extremely convoluted plate-design of his armour didn't help.
The fog cleared enough for Shirou to take note of his face. He was a very serious, rigid-looking man with a sharp, admittedly handsome, face that had controlled features. Above an angular, short nose were perpetually smouldering angry eyes which simultaneously looked depressed and remorseful. They were strange, though most of that uncanniness came from the fact that they were a light shade of purple.
This purple motif extended to both his eyebrows and hair. The hair of his face was a notably darker shade than his eyes and the extremely spiked, parted style worked well for his tall, angular face. Shirou briefly wondered if there was any relation to the Matou family, as they also had natural purple hair and eyes.
Before they could fully admire the new servant, a pitifully weak voice sounded from behind. "It can't be-" it croaked, despair evident in the tone.
As Shirou turned to the voice, he caught the new servant stiffen and gain a look of shock. Facing his own servant, he saw blatant depression, eyes wide and mouth agape as she stared at the man now behind him."
"My liege-?" the man questioned.
"You do not remember?" the girl interrupted with a question, looking hopelessly lost. Blinking, the knight furrowed her brow and put on a straight face. "I see, this is some cruel trick of fate."
"I do not understand what you mean. Beyond the obvious, is there a problem with my presence?" Stepping back, Shirou gripped Illya's hand and pulled the girl back as well. This allowed open space between the two servants so they could speak between one another.
Saber shut her eyes, shaking her head a few times. Even Shirou noticed that she was visibly distressed. Shaking her head a few short times, the girl put on a weak smile. "No, no. It is good to see a… familiar face," she claimed, carefully selecting her words.
The knight in white stumbled to produce a response. It was odd to see such a strong, royal looking knight being so clumsy. He cleared his throat and regained some composure eventually at least. "We must speak in private later, my liege." Turning to the small homunculus beside Shirou, he spotted the faintly glowing command seals on her hand. "Our connection is unmistakable, you are my master - and a powerful little one at that."
The compliment brought a smile from Illya and she maliciously sneered up toward her brother. "I told you my servant would be stronger."
The boy opened his mouth to speak but a haughty feminine voice from toward the entrance beat him to the punch. "Pardon me?"
… … …
… … ...
Gathering in the dining room, Kiritsugu quickly went to work explaining the current state of the war to the servants, ensuring they would not hold any rivalry against one another. He made it expressly clear that there was no chance for any wish to be granted, and that they were fighting for victory in the War to dismantle the system entirely so it wouldn't destroy the world by actualizing Angra Manyu, the supposed corruptor, to grant another's wish. These facts were all well known to everyone in the Emiya house besides Lancer, who took the news as well as could be expected. He agreed to assist, claiming their goal to be righteous and just.
Kiritsugu had taken a considerable amount of time making the heinous nature of the Grail perfectly clear and toward the end, Shirou and Illya were struggling to stay awake. Once certain the servants were clear on their motivation, he asked for their input. It was then that Saber decided to voice her concerns from earlier.
"I bear no ill will to you for the end of the previous Grail War. We were up against an insurmountable force and your command seals were unjustly stripped from you. I may not agree with your actions and methodology, but that does not excuse me for failing you as a servant and for that I apologize." The girl bowed her head deeply. "I hope you can forgive me, Kiritsugu Emiya."
Awkwardly, the man in question cleared his throat. "I accept your apology, though I feel the blame is shared on both our parts," he admitted, taking a sip of coffee as the servant seated herself.
"How can you remember the last time you were summoned?" Shirou quickly asked, getting the most concerning question off his chest.
It was only due to his still active circuits that he caught the imperceptible tensing of muscles within the knight's body. "I do not know for certain, but it is best to use the information to our advantage whenever possible."
"Saber's right," the old man added on. "All that is important is that she does remember. She is more familiar with the current situation than our new servant, a benefit no matter how it is looked at."
Seated across the old man was the male knight. It was amusing to see such a large person in gaudy gear settle onto a small zabuton, though that was beside the point. Staring at the much smaller, dark-haired man across from him, he spoke. "I admit, I feel like quite the outsider at this moment." With a soft bang, intricately crafted gauntlets were seated squarely onto the table, halfway into fists.
"You are Lancer, correct?" Kiritsugu asked, getting a nod from the large male knight. "We were quite fortunate to summon another Knight of the Round. I hope this is a sign that our attempt at the Grail will be trivial."
"The Knight of the Lake, Lancelot. It feels good to be fighting alongside my king once more." He offered the king in question a pained smile which went unreciprocated.
"The Once and Future King, Arturia Pendragon. I have met both Illya and Kiritsugu before, so my greeting extends mostly to you, master." Her emerald eyes bored holes into Shirou's, almost forcing him to turn his head with the intensity.
"I don't have any titles, but it's nice to meet you both," he responded. Reaching up to scratch the back of his neck, Shirou continued with, "do you think you could stop calling me master as well? My name is Shirou."
The blonde knight nodded. "Very well, Shirou." Hearing such a royal foreign accent speaking his name gave him a strange feeling that made him subconsciously look away.
Lancelot leaned down toward Illya, armour producing a creak as he did so. "Master, does your sibling always blush like that?"
Illya snickered. "I'll tell you what I think later. I don't want Saber to kill me."
"In any case, the odds are stacked in our favour - so we can rest easy for today." Producing a large yawn and stretching his arms languidly, the man drearily looked at those around the table. "We'll start preparing and training tomorrow. During the night, Lancer, I would like you to patrol the exterior of the house as you can enter spirit form - correct?" The servant nodded, giving his king a questioning look but nothing more. "Saber can ensure the interior remains protected."
The two servants looked toward their respective masters who both nodded in agreement with their father's plan. "I will oversee Shirou's safety by staying within his room through the night," Saber commented, garnering strange looks from everyone else - including her own knight.
Shirou sent a look of concern. What was she planning? "Uh-"
"No!" Illya finished for him. "Shirou and I already sleep in the same room, he doesn't need anyone else," she pouted, appearing quite hurt.
With each comment, Shirou wanted to sink further into the ground and disappear. If this conversation got any more awkward, he would honestly throw himself out of the nearest wall. "Can we just get some sleep?"
… … …
… … …
"I doubt you will ever be able to forgive me, my liege," Lancer began, staring bitterly toward the starry sky.
Saber approached his side, pausing as she tried to spot what he might have been staring at up there. "You are wrong, Lancelot. I never once resented you for your decisions. I blame myself for what happened between you and Guinevere. It was foolish of me to expect a different result."
"You're wrong. I renounced everything and destroyed your trust by claiming your queen as my own. I ran away, fearful that I would face punishment, though I did try to return in your aid at the battle of Camlann." Twisting her head to gaze up at him with surprise, he merely nodded softly. "Gawain turned me away. Rightfully so, after I had slain his next of kin in cold blood when I rescued Guinevere from execution." His voice took on a resentful tone. "I can't help but wonder if my involvement would have spared Briton from her fate."
"I admire your loyalty, Lancelot. Even after all that had transpired, you attempted to return to my side." Taking in a shaky breath, the King of Knights examined the face of her greatest and most loyal knight. "Would you believe me if I told you I killed you in another life?"
He chuckled humorlessly, turning and staring down at her with that stern face of his. "Absolutely. Considering I deserve death for my actions."
Saber shook her head. "What if I told you it was during this life. Not then when we were alive, but recently - ten years ago." Flickering memories of that rainy night battling Berserker came back to her. That twisted, pallid wrinkle-filled face and those wild eyes. Teeth sharpened to points and murderous intent in every action. He was the embodiment of the insane grief she had directly caused. It was her fault that he became that monstrosity. All of that was nothing to the man she faced now, the man she knew. Could she find redemption in him now? "As you've heard, I've been in this Grail War once before - and you were as well."
Lancer was rightfully taken aback, staring down with concern. "If that is the case, why do I not remember such a thing as you do?"
"Because I am different," she claimed, hesitantly looking around. "You and I are servants, but that is where our similarities end." She was harbouring her secret though her comrade could tell easily.
The concerned look grew deeper but abated after a moment of eye contact between the two. "You withheld secrets then for good reason, so I will place my trust in you now."
"You were part of the berserker class."
Surprisingly, he hardly reacted at all. In fact, he even shrugged and nodded. "I can see that quite easily, yes." Producing a hollow laugh, he faced the stars once more. "Rather fitting in fact. I assume you were the target of my madness?"
She nodded, recalling several times where Berserker had singled her out specifically. "I understand that I was the source of your madness, hence why I blame myself."
"It hardly matters in the end. I never went mad during my lifetime. Once Briton had fallen apart around us, I entered a monastery to repent of my sins and died peacefully in my sleep during my senior years. I felt no remorse for what I had done to you, but was plagued by the lingering guilt of what I had done to Guinevere, condemning her to cry forevermore."
Saber nodded, closing her eyes with her face pointed toward the ground. "As I have said before, I shall say once more. Guinevere shouldered a burden greater than any Knight of the Round. It was a tragedy, truly."
The two comrades in arms sat silently, digesting their dialogue before Lancer cleared his throat and softly asked, "So I can assume I claimed victory in our battle?"
Snapping her head upright, Saber narrowed her eyes at the man. "You lost to me countless times in the circle, you assume something to have changed in your favour?"
The saddened smile on her knight returned. "I would like to note that you did not agree or disagree, so I'll be claiming victory should anyone ask."
Narrowing her eyes further, the King of Knights felt her blood boil with competitive rage. "We shall see how well you perform in the dojo tomorrow. I surely won't be holding back."
"Nor will I."
Saber forced air through her nose, letting the silence of the night return. "Lancer," she began suddenly when a question struck her. "If you became a servant, you must have had a wish. What might it have been?"
"A wish?" he asked himself, looking down to his own two hands. "A wish, yes." Turning to face his king, his face split into an unnaturally genuine grin. "The chance to fight alongside my king once more." A smile edged itself onto her own face. "Though-" he began, before being silenced by the clearing of a throat off to their side.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," came a soft excusing. Stepping down from the engawa, the pale figure of a woman moved toward them.
Saber had caught sight of the girl earlier and while she wasn't seated at the table during their briefing, Kiritsugu had informed her that the woman's name was Missy. So Maiya had fallen during the last war? Or had Kiritsugu gotten her killed sometime after? Regardless, it didn't take long for the man to deceive another into working under his rule. "Not at all, did you desire something from us?"
The girl nodded, lifting the folded article in her hand into view. "Master Kiritsugu suggested I give these to you - he said you would enjoy such a gift." Transferring the attire over, the woman turned to Lancer before bowing partly. "I apologize but we do not have anything in your size as of yet. In two days, we should be able to find something similar, if you so desire."
Saber recognized what it was immediately, but she unfolded it to allow Lancelot to bear witness. It was her black suit, the same one - at least appearance-wise - that she had worn while serving under Kiritsugu. As it had been selected by his wife, Irisviel, rather than the man himself, she had no ill memories associated with it.
"I see all of the attention formerly spent on upholding justice was moved to tailoring. Petty comments aside, I must admit that it is quite dashing," Lancelot agreed, admiring the suit from over her shoulder.
There was something attached to the tie however, a metal clip that was extremely out of place. Removing the piece and turning it over, Saber revealed a single squarish key with the words "Yamaha" engraved on the metal.
… … …
He couldn't sleep. Illya had fallen asleep quickly enough, but Shirou simply couldn't relax enough to drift off. Beyond that, he had the feeling that his nightmares were going to get particularly bad. Kiritsugu hadn't experienced it himself, likely on account of his inability to sleep period, but the man had explained that masters often had glimpses into the history of their servants through dreams.
That wasn't the most pressing reason as to why he couldn't sleep. He was concerned about his sister and that was brought on entirely by the sunlike glow of Avalon. If it was reacting and working this way inside of him, was it reversing the harmful effects plaguing Illya?
He hoped so, he really wanted it to be so. If Avalon, fueled by Saber's mana, was enough to extend her life by even a couple years, it was more than worth the effort of going through the Grail War.
Even if he died but she lived on happily for those few extra years, it was worth it. Closing his eyes, he softly murmured his iconic phrase and the lines to increase the quality of his projections. As was ritualistic for him every night since the first night he began this, he created a projection of Avalon, dematerialized the partially degraded one within Illya and replaced it with a freshened copy. While one copy would last two days without fully disappearing, he preferred being safe.
As the golden sheath was fully absorbed the girl made a soft noise and shifted in the futon, murmuring something in her sleep. "Shirou? Where are you?"
Her hands reached out to where he would have been laying, instead landing on the soft quilting with a dull thump. Carefully, he used one hand to pull back the hair from the side of her face, resting his palm against her cheek. The brief contact was enough to pacify her and the girl quickly returned to softly snoring in the dark room.
Running his hand along the side of her head to comb back her hair, he stood quietly and moved toward the dresser near the entrance of his room. Opening the top drawer, he carefully withdrew a steel case with two snap latches and placed it on top. Opening the latches as quiet as he could, he cracked open the lid and was surprised to find the indented foam was empty.
This had been Shirou's gift. The pearl-handled showroom pistols engraved with the name of Kiritsugu's former assistant. Had they been stolen or moved? While he could always project them, he did enjoy appreciating the genuine article every now and then.
There was one thing that remained. He hadn't caught it upon first glance, but a closer look revealed a small folded note. Taking and opening it up, he read English obviously written by Kiritsugu: "Borrowed".
… … …
An echoing boom rattled the very walls of the dojo as two shinais locked into a power struggle. So much force had collided, it was a miracle that both hadn't exploded violently into splinters. In fact, they already had once before. Shirou had projected and reinforced these ones so they wouldn't meet the same fate as their ancestors.
One of them wasn't even his own anymore. He had projected it, sure, but as soon as Lancer had wrapped his hands around it, he lost all control over it. In fact, it was so altered, he couldn't even dematerialize or recognize it was his own creation. To signify this shift, the entire surface was altered into an eerie violet with spiderwebs of golden lines in random, asymmetrical patterns. Tracing the modified weapon, Shirou realized that it had become a noble phantasm and its properties were elevated to levels he couldn't even dream of reaching.
One thing was for certain, it was more powerful than a normal shinai as Saber had to actively use mana bursts to counter the increased strength. "Too slow!" the man shouted, planting his foot between Saber's feet. Advancing forward, he forced the girl stumbling backwards while simultaneously shoving her ruthlessly with his upper body.
Thrown entirely off her feet, Saber landed unceremoniously on her rear, Shirou quickly called the fight in Lancer's favour and recounted the score. "Eight to two in Lancer's favour."
Growling like an angry animal, the petite knight bounced to her feet and readied her blade. "Best of seventeen," she stated ominously, re-engaging with the allure of victory blazing in her eyes.
The two had changed since last night into much simpler attire far from the metal plate mail they both donned for combat. Both servants had the capacity to dematerialize their armour, but the obvious age of their attire made them stick out. Oddly enough, Kiritsugu had a set of conservative, effeminate modern clothing that fit Saber perfectly. How he managed such a thing was probably best left unknown. Lancer wasn't offered the same luxury, as none of the clothing anyone else had was large enough for him to wear comfortably.
"So what I can see from this is that my servant is definitely stronger," Illya taunted once again, getting a sorrowful sigh from Shirou.
"I don't think it's about being stronger. What matters most is whether or not a servant can successfully counter another. Both of our servants would be useless if the enemy held them at range."
Struggling to hold back the rage-filled Saber, Lancer shot Shirou a fleeting glance. "Speak for yourself. I have mastery of all things considered a weapon, so ranged opponents are no problem for me-!" he shouted, batted away Saber's shinai with the back of his forearm and moved to swing the wooden blade overhead with one hand toward her face.
With dexterity Shirou could hardly comprehend, Saber contorted her body to barely slip along the side of the attack. With a bark, the woman slammed the hilt into his shoulder, blasting him back with mana to give her time to prepare a stance.
She was using an incredible amount of mana, though he didn't notice it as much as he expected. Was she somehow mitigating the draw on his own body? To make matters worse, this was only a spar - not even a real battle. With a very vague guess, he estimated he could only fuel her with mana for an hour at full power. If he projected weaponry or clothing, that time would only go down.
Shirou scratched the back of his head. "Well, I guess we're well-rounded in that way then."
"Not to mention my servant has three noble phantasms," Illya gloated, admiring her servant as he battled the King of Knights.
While Saber technically had three as well, Kiritsugu had specifically told him not to allow her to see Avalon. Shirou didn't ask why that was, but he was the Magus Killer after all - he undoubtedly had his reasons. "Still have to remember counters," Shirou pointed out - though he did feel as if he had drawn the shorter of the two straws in this situation.
If adaptability was his strong suit, a servant like Lancer would work much better. He could quite literally give the servant any weapon and make it their noble phantasm. For that reason alone, Shirou felt that Lancer would have been the better servant to summon though since he hadn't witnessed Saber in genuine combat, it wasn't much of a fair assessment.
The door to the dojo slid open and the form of Kiritsugu stepped inside. Rather than wear his lush kimono for lounging, the man had put on a suit Shirou had only seen a few times before.
"Ah, I see you've already begun testing one another, splendid." Stepping further inside, he watched the two servants make battle beside his children. There was an obvious winner and it definitely wasn't the one whose name should have indicated a skill in swordsmanship. "I have to say, you summoned quite the servant, Illya. Shirou, what are his parameters in comparison to Saber?"
Shirou hesitated for a moment but quickly moved to focus on the two servants. As if something else was speaking to him, six parameters and their corresponding letters were revealed to him. "Endurance and Agility are both A rank. Strength and mana register as B, luck comes in at E and his noble phantasm is A plus, plus."
"Interesting. So the Berserker variant likely had skills above that. To think Saber managed to defeat such a creature," Kiritsugu mumbled, squinting at the blonde knight. "The two-plus modifier indicates that his noble phantasm has the ability to perform at three times the normal level. This multiplication relies on specific scenarios or events. It could derive its power from his emotions, see what you can discover about that, Illya."
The girl nodded while staring intently at Saber. "Strength, endurance and agility are all B rank. Mana and luck are A rank and her noble phantasm is also A plus, plus. Looks like your servant is luckier but not as tough or fast."
Still watching Lancer, Shirou caught something. "Hold on, his parameters just changed while he made that swing. For a minute, he had B plus ranked strength."
"That's impossible, parameters don't change," Kiritsugu commented, turning his head to Illya as she made a hum. "And his agility just changed to A-plus then."
"At the same time, his strength returned to B," Shirou confirmed. "Lancelot is changing his parameters to suit his needs somehow," he concluded.
Kiritsugu made a strange noise. "I've never heard of a servant doing such a thing."
Saber made a pained noise, skidding backwards in an attempt at remaining her balance while raising her weapon to defend another attack. Lancer was relentless, easily pushing the smaller woman to her limits with a flurry of blows Shirou couldn't even keep track of before spontaneously gripping her sword and converting it into one of his own noble phantasms. In a puff of silver and golden shards, the shinai exploded and allowed Lancer to swing his own blade straight for her head.
Expecting a loud thwack, Shirou was surprised when Lancer stopped a few inches away. "I'd call that a victory, wouldn't you?"
With fire burning behind her eyes, Saber made a "tsk" and dejectedly turned away from the knight.
Lancer merely smirked, resting his palm atop the shinai that was out to his side. Kiritsugu raised his voice toward Saber then, asking, "Still have energy to burn, Saber?"
The knight turned toward him and nodded rightfully. "My reserves are adequate."
"As expected. Shirou," he called, placing one hand upon his son's head. "I'd like to see how you fare sparring with Saber."
Several voices questioned the man's sanity with a single outraged word. Saber was the most appalled. "You can't be serious. A normal human stands no chance against a servant."
"So they say," Kiritsugu murmured. "Whether you can be harmed or not doesn't matter. I would like to see if Shirou could survive contact with a servant and I imagine he does as well."
Questioning eyes turned to the boy who made a half-hearted shrug. "I was interested, but I don't think I could stand a chance against an expert of the blade like Saber."
"Nonsense, you won't know until you try."
"At least it won't be as difficult as fighting me," Lancer pointed out, merely teasing Saber more.
Eventually, the boy stood and asked, "Are you willing to spar with me, Saber?"
The question seemed to calm the girl down somewhat, as she looked toward him and nodded rigidly. "If that is your desire, I will oblige."
Lancer traded placed with Shirou, with the former becoming a spectator as Shirou projected new shinai to be used during the match. Unlike Saber, Shirou used two shinais, altered to be shorter, heavier and perfectly balanced. He knew how to use the shinai as it was intended, with two hands, and despite the queer looks he received, he knew better than anyone that this was his preferred style.
Once the two agreed that they were ready, the spar began and Shirou found himself quickly on the defensive. Saber was fast, absurdly so and equally as strong. Defending the initial strike rattled his arms and made him realize that he needed to reinforce himself as if this were a fight of life or death. By the time he had completed that, the second strike had landed. With his body fully prepared, he handled it much better and he started migrating to his suicidal tactic to start predicting her moves.
He understood her tactics. He had been watching her battle Lancelot for the past hour and he had all of her combat history from Excalibur to further support him. Couple that knowledge with her lack of his ability, he had a decent chance to succeed in this first spar.
With a cry, the girl tried to exploit a seemingly open space on his side. Having already expected her to fall into that trap, he used one weapon to defend and the other to make a sharp thrust toward her abdomen.
Eyes opening wide, the knight twisted, and bounced back out of his range. He could see in her eyes that she understood her underestimation of him was a mistake. He had nearly gotten the better of her and if he had used Time Alter, he would have made a decisive strike.
Reevaluating her plan of attack, the knight returned to striking range with more caution than her first attempt. Comparing Saber to Bazett would be an insult to the servant. Like the executioner he had fought, Saber was stronger, faster and more experienced than he could hope to be and it showed with the seamless, powerful strikes of the knight.
He had been able to make an attempt at striking in the first few strikes, but there was no such opening any longer. There simply wasn't a gap in her blows anymore and the power had been increased significantly. He needed to use both weapons to block each strike and the reinforced shinai in his hands were on the verge of shattering as consequence. Saber broke away for a moment, which gave him a chance to reproject a new set of shinai but only after throwing the two near-broken ones toward her as distracting projectiles.
His tactic was effective, as the knight used her weapon to bat the objects away, simultaneously leaving her wide open. "Time Alter: Double Accel!"
Time slowed down around him and he immediately moved to capitalize on the opening. Dashing forward, he ducked underneath Saber's guard. Using one hand to keep the lower arm holding up her sword in place, he jabbed the remaining weapon into the center of her chest, ending the time alter as he contacted her.
With a hollow thump and a sharp exhale, the woman stumbled backwards, gasping for air as her diaphragm reacted to the sudden impact. As he returned to moving normally, Shirou felt surprisingly good.
Normally whenever he used Time Alter, he felt absolutely terrible and had full-body pain. This time, the pain had faded away almost immediately. He was so distracted by the new change, that he barely caught an overhead strike rapidly approaching.
Crossing his two shinais in the same path, he caught the blade, producing another miniature explosion as the raw power shook his arms down to both legs. The servant redoubled her efforts, and after the third defended strike it proved too much for his faulty weapons.
When her shinai rebounded off his own weapons, they shattered entirely and the blade carried through to strike his side. With a grunt, the weapon collapsed his body to the side and Shirou scrambled to stand.
The pain was sharp, shooting and would leave a gnarly bruise but it faded surprisingly quick into a dull ache. Unable to survey the damage, Shirou recreated his weapons and barely parried another incoming attack.
Saber wasn't letting up and she was pressing him to the ropes at every turn. As it typically was, this was another fight he couldn't win, but one he could survive. After blocking an innumerable amount of blows at breakneck speed, his guard finally faltered. His tired arms had miscalculated where he needed to place his guard by two inches, but it was enough to off-balance his weapons and lay the foundation for his ruin on Saber's next attack.
Trying to compensate for the slip-up while simultaneously reacting to another attack proved impossible and Saber's blade quickly slipped past his guard entirely to rebound off the side of his skull.
With a mighty crack, Shirou's vision temporarily blacked out before returning in a painful flash. Subconsciously, he used his arms to break the fall, but he didn't realize he was already staring at the floor for a good minute. There were too many stars floating around his darkened vision to have confirmed such a thing prior to that.
Shaking his head to try and clear these abnormalities was a mistake as a ruthlessly pounding headache struck him with every movement. "Even though you lost, to survive for so long going against a servant is extremely commendable," Saber commented somewhere in the distance. At that moment, Shirou was having trouble differentiating between an inch and a foot, so he couldn't really tell what was going on.
"While unable to handle my greatest attempt, you managed up until that point, which is unprecedented for a human." Casting a bleary glance toward his servant, he was able to see her point something in his direction. Whether it was her hand or the shinai he projected, he couldn't tell. At this point, he was worried that she had turned parts of his brain into paste.
"How did you acquire the strength necessary to perform such a feat?" she asked, somewhat mimicked by Lancer who had asked the question to Illya and Kiritsugu.
Struggling to form words, Shirou did reply eventually. "I've been preparing for this- my whole life."
The answer satisfied the knight, as she carefully kneeled down to his side, laying a hand on his shoulder. At her contact, there was a noticeable wave of relief that forced its way through his entire body. A moment away from asking what she had done, he watched his vision clear and the headache he was experiencing disappear as well.
He caught sight of the culprit as he blinked. Avalon had connected itself through him to its intended master and the healing factor was extreme - impossibly so.
What he had thought would take minutes or hours to recover from faded away entirely within a few seconds. He carefully stood, much to the shock of those around him. Cautiously, he checked the side of his body where Saber had landed a blow just a short time earlier. He had expected the first signs of a bruise, but the skin at that point was pristine. Touching it didn't even bring about any pain either.
"Your fortitude is commendable as well," Saber noted, looking as if he had just grown a second head.
"I guess," he began, looking down at his own hands, "you didn't hit me as hard as you thought." It was a lie, that strike would have outright killed him had he not reinforced himself as well as he had. It was a lie to preserve the illusion that her sheath didn't exist.
The knight paused to examine her own hands as the shinai grasped within dematerialized into blue sparks. "Where did you learn such an interesting combat technique? Were you instructed by another?"
Shaking his head, Shirou merely shrugged and explained, "Nobody ever taught me. It was just the style I felt most comfortable with."
Humming, the woman lifted up his arms and examined his body in fine detail, carefully prodding at various points that made him twitch though he didn't dare claim his discomfort. "You might have made for a passable knight in my time."
Clearing his throat from the side, Lancer quickly added in his two cents. "Of all the Knights of the Round, I have only witnessed two who were able to lay a finger on you, my liege. The first, myself and the second being Gawain during a summer's day."
"It is best not to give praise excessively, Lancer, lest the praised grow to be overconfident," Saber snapped back as cool as ice. Staring into Shirou's eyes she offered him a nod. "While you may be somewhat effective in combat, I would prefer if you did not risk your life handling servants I would be better suited for."
Shirou furrowed his brow. "You want me to sit back while you handle the servant on your own?" When she blatantly agreed with his clarification, he merely shook his head. "I'm not going to do that. I won't let you fight on your own and if we can work together, we can handle whatever threat is thrown at us."
Saber indignantly shook her head, face set in absolute seriousness. "The risk posed by your involvement is too great. You do not have the capacity to defend against noble phantasms and it is equally possible that your involvement could be a liability."
"You're saying I'll just get in the way," Shirou surmised.
"It is not that you are unable, but your sensitive status as a master makes you the easiest target for a servant or even enemy masters for that matter."
"Then what if we play a game of deception?" Kiritsugu asked.
Saber immediately voiced her opinion. "I refuse to play your games once more, Kiritsugu."
"Perhaps I used the wrong phrase. Strategy is far from a game. In the last war, our contact was limited to ensure your cooperation, but no secrets were held from you." Shirou knew better of course. The biggest secret of all, Avalon, had been - and was still being - hidden. "It was your own negligence in asking questions that made it appear to be deceit."
"Had I asked any question, you would have answered it?" The man agreed more or less with a passive gesture. He must have fallen into her trap because she narrowed her eyes righteously and asked, "Do you know the identity of Caster?"
Even from a distance and with a brain the consistency of oatmeal, Shirou could see his father stiffen. "I do, I have a very firm idea on who Caster was."
There was a period of silence following that was laden with expectations. Eventually, Saber realized what was going on. "You have no intentions of telling me, do you?"
"I do not. There was a reason Caster did not reveal it to you and it is more important than ever that you continue to seek the answer for yourself without guidance." His words were concise and clear while simultaneously being devoid of anger or malice. He was concerned, though could a man like him really be concerned over a servant?
"If I were to correctly guess Caster's identity, would you verify it?"
The man made an uncertain face. "I don't see how you could correctly guess such a thing, however, I will humour you and agree."
Lancer made a noise with his mouth, attracting the attention of the two rival strategists. "I have abilities which may coincide with what you intend to pull off, but if my king deems them dishonest or unjust, I wouldn't even so much as humour them in conversation."
The king in question wasted no time in responding. "I know precisely what you have in mind, Lancer, and we will not be doing something so underhanded."
The man lifted both hands to convey that his decision had been made. Kiritsugu didn't look disappointed. Rather, he seemed amused. "At least I tried. If that is your decision, you can attempt to persuade Shirou to follow it." The man casually stepped toward the door, pausing as he opened it enough to exit. "Prepare for a true test of your patience, King of Knights."
… … …
… … …
With a noise of pain, Shirou landed on his back, panting heavily as he struggled to move. "I have bested you ten consecutive times. Do you still refuse to take a passive approach to this War?"
Growling, Shirou used the shattered hilt of his projected shinai to heft himself onto his feet. "Of course. Whether you beat me ten or a hundred times it doesn't matter," he responded stubbornly, standing on wobbly, failing legs. It was obvious that he was in no condition to continue sparring but that certainly wouldn't stop him from making an attempt.
"Shirou, what will it take for you to see that you simply cannot match a servant?"
Locking his legs to regain some control, he stared defiantly into Saber's emerald eyes. "You'll have to kill me before I'll ever give up fighting to protect my family." The shattered weapons in his hands were remade into fresh ones.
Sighing at length, the knight lowered her weapon. "That's what this is all about? Is your faith in me really so low as to deem my protection inadequate? Not only I, but one of my greatest knights also stands beside me; is that not enough?"
"Shouldn't you know better than I do about this? The forces we face in this War might be more than all of us combined could handle."
Saber appeared quite hurt by that comment. "I assure you, Shirou, that I am capable of handling whatever enemy we might face."
The Emiya lowered his own weapons partly. "Then- I'll agree to stay out of battles." His servant looked hopeful, grateful to finally put an end to this once and for all. "On one condition: If we face an enemy you cannot defeat, I'll be allowed to assist."
The agreement would satisfy them both and it would also serve to put an end to this endless battle between them. While Saber couldn't tire physically, she certainly could mentally and in that capacity, she was at the end of her rope just as Shirou was. Fully letting down her weapon, the knight nodded with signs of exhaustion. "If that is the greatest compromise you are willing to make then I have no choice but to accept it. It is better than nothing at the very least."
Without a "threat" to urge him forward, everything non-essential shut down. His legs, arms and circuits all flickered off simultaneously and his body collapsed onto his knees. Saber shouted out her concern and while he tried to assure her that it wasn't a matter to be worried about, he just couldn't speak.
Hastily moving to his side, Saber was quick to try moving him toward help, concerned for his health. After claiming he was fine with what strength he had, she hesitantly looked toward the door while maintaining a tight grip on his arm. "You have pushed yourself too hard, why did you not stop earlier?"
"If I did, you would have used it as an example of my weakness," he pointed out. With Saber's contact came that strange, extreme regeneration he had experienced earlier. The wounds he had sustained, the muscles he had torn with repeated, excessive use and even the fatigue that plagued his body noticeably faded away.
It was all due to Avalon, of course. While Shirou had thought the relic to be something of a miracle before, it was simply ridiculous when fully powered by its true owner. Replenishing his mana pool was the only thing it seemingly wouldn't do, but that would be asking for quite a lot considering what it already provided.
Within seconds, he felt good enough to stand, and he surprised his servant by doing so. "Shirou, you-"
"I told you, I'm fine," he claimed, wiping the sweat from his forehead as she continued glaring at him with incredulity. "I'll start preparing dinner soon, but I'll need to clean myself up before then." Not waiting for her to respond, he began walking to complete his mentioned objectives, stumbling once as his body fully adjusted to the rapid shift from exhausted to energized.
… … …
… … …
Rin couldn't help but hold her head in her hand. Through the cracks in her fingers, she could see the brilliant crimson fluid etched neatly onto the floor of her workshop. Would it even matter now? What point would it serve to go through with the Grail War?
Caster, Lancer, Saber and Berserker were already summoned. At this point, the best servant class she could hope to get was Archer and the mere thought of considering that class the best outcome was pitiful.
Groaning in frustration, the girl moved her hand up to tug at her hair. She had practically lost already. She needed a Saber-class servant to ensure her victory in this war and honour her family. If she had missed her chance with Saber, she could have at least summoned Lancer, but that servant had been summoned the same night as Saber. Two knight-class servants taken in a single night; what were the odds?
After lamenting within her mind for long enough, the girl gazed at the seals etched across the back of her hand. Even if she wouldn't be able to summon the servant she wanted, she could still defeat the other masters using her supreme skill as a magus.
Glancing toward the large grandfather clock in the study, she noted the time. While it read ten to one, she knew better than to believe it. Months ago, after opening her father's box, every clock in the house had ritualistically moved forward an hour each morning. While initially disorienting, Aoi diligently fixed each clock soon after the change occurred to keep them in time.
There was only one clock left untouched - this one. As Aoi never entered the study, she couldn't fix the time so it remained one hour fast. Rin chalked it up to her father playing one more practical joke on her beyond the grave. It was either that or some symbolic message she couldn't find the meaning in.
In either case, she had a little work to do before she could summon her servant and finding her charged gemstones was first priority. How else could she summon the strongest servant?
… … …
"Stupid, damned-" she growled before mentally damning the consequences of her next action. In an instant, she reinforced her entire body and slammed it shoulder first into the door. The impact managed to blow the door open by shredding the wooden frame. Carrying forward into the living room, a loud bang echoed throughout the house as the door slammed into the wall unrestricted. "-door!"
There had been a loud noise from this room after completing her summoning. There was no other explanation for its source, but why hadn't the servant appeared within the circle?
Half stumbling, half walking, Rin made note of the collapsed ceiling and haphazardly strewn about furniture. It was almost like the servant had been a missile launched from the sky rather than a long-dead hero.
After assessing the damages, she immediately locked eyes with the oddity in the room - her servant. There was no mistaking that face; even though it looked older and held a smug smirk she had never seen before, she knew him well. There had been a look of familiarity shared between them as their eyes met, but all at once that familiarity became one-sided. Without sharing a word, she could tell that he didn't remember her.
"You're-"
A shout cut her off midway. It was Aoi, calling her name as she closed the distance. "Rin, what's going on? I heard a loud noise, are you alright?" Entering the room, the woman fell silent, likely coming across the same sight as her daughter. "It's-"
"Yeah, it is," Rin confirmed. Something of note was the look of surprised confusion on the servant's face as her mother entered the room.
A period of awkward silence ensued as the three people present took in one another and their silent expressions. Rin felt as if she was handling it the worst. She was claustrophobic, unable to get a proper breath which made her feel extremely light-headed. This meant so much, there were so many possibilities. She felt like crying, passing out and just giving up all at once. Had she instantly contracted a case of severe depression?
Soft footsteps broke the silence as Rin's mother calmly descended the stairs. Tenderly, she consoled her visibly distressed daughter by rubbing her back. "At least you know what he is capable of," she murmured, trying to find a light in the darkness.
Closing her eyes, the younger Tohsaka let out a shaky breath. "But now I might have to watch him die twice."
The servant who had been sitting with an air of cocky confidence rose with the shortened proximity of Aoi. Something about her was enough to make him act with more dignity. The woman sighed, looking the servant up and down to reconfirm what was already known.
"Why don't we all calm down with a cup of tea?" she suggested. "Shirou, do you still enjoy black tea with honey?"
Well, the Grail War is finally taking shape!
For all of you who expected Hercules - How?
Illya doesn't have the marble slab, so how could she summon him?
And yes, quite a few servants have already been summoned. Will you get to see who they are and who summoned who?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Guess you'll just have to wait and see in the next chapter!
As stated in the intro notes, I'm repeating the bad news I have here again: My laptop is dying. I've done everything I can to save it, reformatting the drive three times but there's a problem in the hardware that I just can't fix. I don't know how long it'll last, and it's lasted for this long, but if I don't make a post for a while - you know what has happened. There's nothing I'd like to do more than buy a new one and get on with writing for you all, but uni is coming up again and I just don't have the money. It's unfortunate, but stuff happens. I'll do my best to keep putting out content for you, but should my laptop finally bite the bucket, I'll be forced to write from mobile, something which could delay new chapters by a month at the minimum.
Sorry to end on a depressing note, as always - favourite, follow and leave a review! I love reading all of your opinions and input and answering your questions is my favourite. Good or bad, your voice is always important and worth using!
