Shirou entered the living room on the heels of Illya's proclamation, his muscles burning from the speed he'd put on. He stood ignored, hands on his knees and gasping for breath, as he bore witness to a battle of wills between his actual sister and the claimant to the title. Taiga's brows were narrowed, and she fingered the tiger charm strapped to her bamboo sword while gazing defiantly into Illya's red eyes. The younger girl's expression was equally challenging, if not moreso, and Shirou saw her fingers trace her silver hair from her perch atop Berserker's shoulders.

Illya doesn't know Taiga, Shirou thought with a jolt, but more importantly, she doesn't know that Taiga is ignorant of magic. This might go very, very badly.

He took a deep breath and cleared his throat, attracting the attention of his exuberant teacher and gleeful sister.

"Hello to both of you," Shirou started, then turned to Taiga. "I'd like you to meet–"

"Shirou, what the hell happened to you?!" Taiga interjected. "Where's your shirt? Why are you covered in blood? Where's Saber? Who's the freaky-looking girl calling you her brother?"

He held up a hand and tried to speak, but was beaten to the punch by Illya.

"Who am I?!" she rhetorically declared, jumping gracefully off of Berserker's shoulders to land in front of Taiga. The young girl jabbed a finger in the direction of her face. "I am Illyasviel von Einzbern, daughter of Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel von Einzbern, and I am not freaky!"

"Well, that's–" Shirou tried again.

"There's no freaking way you're Kiritsugu's daughter!" Taiga shot back. "You're what, seven? He adopted Shirou a decade ago!"

The teacher's face turned stormy.

"Are you claiming he slept with your mother, then ditched you both?"

This is getting worse, Shirou thought, on the verge of panic.

"Seriously, please–" he ventured.

"Ha! Who would ever abandon someone as perfect as me? I'll have you know that I was kept locked away from my father by my grandfather!" Illya paused. "And I'm not seven!"

"Damn it, just let me—" Shirou pleaded.

"Look, I have an overprotective grandpa of my own, but there's a limit to how much I'm willing to believe, and you're stretching it," Taiga shot back. "And if you're not seven, how old are you? Eight? Nine?"

Shirou looked over to Berserker, who was contentedly watching the shouting match. The magus mouthed 'are you going to do anything?' at the servant, but Berserker shook his head and grew his grin a tad wider.

"I'm not lying," Illya huffed, "and I'm actually older than Shirou!"

Wait, she's older than me?

"Wait, you're older than him?" Taiga asked, incredulous. "That's ridiculous. There's no way that you're older than ten, much less seventeen."

"I'm nineteen!" Illya glowered.

"Nineteen?" Taiga scoffed. "How the hell can you be nineteen and still look like you're nine?"

"It's because I'm a homoncu–" Illya began to explain, but was silenced by Shirou slapping his hand across her mouth.

"It's because she's messing with you, Taiga," said her brother, who sighed in relief, "and yes, hard as it is to believe, she is my sister."

Illya squirmed in his grip, but, to Shirou's relief, didn't bite or lick his hand. The male magus leaned down to speak softly in his younger sister's ear.

"Taiga – that's the name of the woman you're speaking to, she's my legal guardian – doesn't know about magecraft," he whispered. "We can talk about your claim of being older than me later, in private, where she can't overhear, but for now stick to non-magic stuff, alright?"

The girl nodded against his hand, and Shirou released her, standing up and trying to salvage the meeting. He turned to Taiga.

"As you've probably gathered, Illya here had a rather unorthodox upbringing. Do you remember when I talked about the job my dad was hired to do in Germany?"

Taiga thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Oh yeah, I do! The one where he worked with Saber, right?"

Shirou smiled.

"Exactly. The family that hired him was Illya's. While I don't know exactly how it happened, my dad fell in love with one of their family members, and my sister–" he laid his arm over her shoulder, "was the result. I'm sure she can fill in the details, but my dad spent a good deal of the past decade trying to rescue her from her grandfather."

The teacher peered down at Illya, who leaned back into Shirou's arm.

"So you're Shirou's sister, eh? You look nothing like him, y'know."

Illya opened her mouth, presumably to retort, but Taiga continued.

"Yeah, yeah, I know he's adopted. Still, you don't really look like Kiritsugu either. Are you an albino or something?"

"An 'or something'," Illya responded, obviously disgruntled, then turned to stare up at her brother. "But while I'm always happy to talk about myself, I think you had some questions for my brother. Like why he's covered in dried blood, or why he has the Anglo-Saxon rune for fire carved into his chest."

Shirou took a half-second to shoot a betrayed look at his sister, who responded with a satisfied smirk, though the girl opened her eyes wide immediately thereafter and seemed to regret her words. Before the boy could pull his own deflection, Taiga pounced on Illya's bait.

"Right, right." Taiga paused, then exploded, repeating her earlier reaction. "Shirou, what the hell happened to you?!"

"I got in a fight and then tried to learn swordplay from Saber," the boy replied, internally wincing at his off the cuff excuse. I mean, it's true, but this isn't going to go over well.

"I'm not sure whether I want the blood to be from the fight or the training," Taiga mused, circling Shirou and inspecting him for damage. "I'm going to assume it's from the former, since wooden swords don't cut."

He breathed a sigh of relief, but swallowed his impending reply as his teacher continued.

"Wait a sec. If you were in a fight, where the hell did the, uh, whatchamacallit..." Taiga crinkled her nose in thought, then smiled, snapping her fingers. "The rune! Yeah, where did the rune come from? I'm pretty well acquainted with the gangs around here, and I'm pretty sure no one's using such a simple design. I could always ask my granddad to snoop around, though. In fact, that's what I'll do!"

Shirou took a moment to process Taiga's barreling locomotive of thought, then widened his eyes in horror.

"Don't do that!" he snapped, before forcibly calming himself. "You don't have to try to find out where the rune came from."

"And why not?" Taiga asked, hands on her hips. "You're absolutely covered in blood, and while I trust you, I feel like this is one of your hero moments. If a gang beat up my brother—" Shirou heard Illya's soft growl, though Taiga appeared not to, "I'm damn well going to get payback."

Nothing for it, I guess. Time to lie, because the Fujimura syndicate getting involved with the grail war would be a disaster.

"Taiga, that's not what I meant. I mean that the scratch didn't come from the fight. It came from my spar with Saber."

"What? How could you be cut by–oh." Taiga frowned, then sighed, shaking her head with a mournful expression on her face. "You used real weapons, didn't you?"

Shirou scratched the back of his head and gave a sheepish smile.

"I wanted to get an accurate sense of our respective sword skills. You know as well as I do that wooden weapons work differently than steel."

"I'd lecture you," Taiga retorted, "but I know you're too stubborn to listen, and I suppose he is a professional."

She paused, then tilted her head.

"Where did you get real weapons, anyway?"

"Saber brought them along with him," Shirou replied. "If you'd like, when he gets back, I'll ask him to show them to you."

"I'd appreciate it," a smiling Taiga responded, before muttering under her breath. "Maybe I'll actually be able to get a spar out of him then."

The teacher opened her mouth to continue, but an obviously annoyed Illya cut in.

"Where is he, anyway? I'm hungry."

Shirou pretended to think for a second, surreptitiously shaking his head at his sister.

"I think he said he wanted to see the town? I assume he's on his way back right now."

The male magus took a second to check in on his servant, and found the king looking contemplatively at the site of their battle with Lancer. The blackened area had been cordoned off, but aside from a man in an apron staring tempestuously at one of the charred storefronts, there was no one in sight.

"Hey, Arthur, would you mind making your way home? Illya and Taiga are here, and I'd really prefer not to deal with either of them while they're hungry."

"Of course," Arthur replied, "but I admit to some confusion as to how you gleaned such a negative impression of your sibling in so short an interval."

Shirou winced.

"Negative isn't the right word, really, but Illya has a very strong personality. I've talked with her for maybe a minute and I already have a handle on how she thinks."

"And what, exactly, is this impression of Miss von Einzbern?" Arthur queried, fading once more into intangibility as he began moving in his master's direction.

"She's very forthright. Enthusiastic. Deceptive. Definitely a bit possessive." Shirou paused. "I'm not painting a very good picture here, am I?"

"Regardless of whether your descriptions are accurate or not, I shall be meeting her in due course," Arthur sidestepped, a light smile gracing his leonine face. "Judging by your comments alone, however, she does sound like quite the bother."

"It could be worse: she hasn't tried to flirt with me yet," came the magus' sardonic response, cutting the mental conversation to the sound of Arthur's chuckling, before Shirou refocused, catching the tail end of what seemed to be another argument between his guardian and his sibling.

"–too young!" Taiga all but yelled. "Besides, I'm pretty sure he's already dating someone, and even if he isn't, there's another person with a much better claim to him than you."

Just my luck, the boy thought with a mental sigh. Time for even more damage control.

"I didn't follow the whole argument," Shirou stated, turning to the squabbling pair, "but for the record: I'm not dating anyone right now, and I refuse on principle to date my sister."

"We'll see about that: Illya is remarkably adept at irritating others into submission."

Berserker chose that moment to interject, a wide grin splitting his face. The three non-servants spun in his direction, his prior silence leading them to dismiss the hulking man.

"Be quiet, Berserker," Illya said, a pout coming to her lips. "Some people just need more convincing than others, and the best way to convince them is to make the alternative as unpleasant as possible."

"Sure, if by 'convincing' you mean 'whining until you get your way'," the servant shot back, still grinning.

"I don't whine," Illya whined, "I'm way too well-mannered to whine."

Taiga sidled up to Shirou, whispering to him as Illya and her servant traded verbal barbs.

"So, uh, who exactly is this 'Berserker' guy? And what's with that name?"

"He's Illya's caretaker and servant," Shirou whispered back, keeping his gaze planted on his sister. "Berserker isn't his real name, but I don't actually know what it is: you'll have to ask Illya."

He paused, thinking.

"On an entirely different note, I'm going to go take a quick shower, then figure out where Rin is. By the time I'm done cleaning myself off, Saber will probably be back, and we can eat dinner."

"Oh, Tohsaka's still here?" Taiga questioned, her eyes narrowing as she smiled sharply. "Are you sure you don't actually intend to invite her into the shower with you?"

"No matter how many times you imply it, we're still not dating," a blushing Shirou replied. "I just figure she'll be hungry."

"Right, right, that's why she's apparently still over at your house, having presumably spent the entire day with you," Taiga drily retorted. "Besides, you don't need to date someone to have sex with them."

"Taiga!"

"What? You're a teenager, you should know this stuff already," she defended. "As I said earlier, just be careful to use protection."

"I'm not sleeping with her," Shirou responded, walking away from his smirking guardian before turning to his sister and her servant. "I'm going to shower. We'll eat afterward."

His piece said, the blood-covered magus trudged towards the bathroom. Taiga's laughter followed him there.


An hour and a half passed without incident. Rin, it turned out, had been holed up in her room, feverishly searching her books for any mention of divine flame. Shirou's invitation brought her and Archer to dinner, the contents of which had, to Shirou's surprise, apparently been prepared by said servant.

I was just going to order takeout, Shirou thought with a smile, biting into the blueberry pie Archer had baked. Hopefully this satisfies Taiga, even if it's not exactly cake.

He looked across the table to his sister, whose attention was aimed solely at the two plates of dessert set in front of her.

Berserker could at least try to pretend to be her caretaker, Shirou groused internally, glancing at the hulking servant. He seems more interested in checking out Taiga than stopping Illya from giving herself diabetes.

His mind was forced back to the rest of the table by a loud guffaw from his guardian.

"...and so I said, 'It's not my fault that he's never seen someone eat a banana before!'," the teacher exclaimed. "Of course, I couldn't resist getting a popsicle right after."

Rin sighed, a slight smile wiping itself from her face almost as quickly as it had appeared.

"Listening to how you tormented your most recent ex-boyfriend is amusing, but Ms. Fujimura, is this really the time and place for it?"

A grin appeared on Taiga's face, followed shortly thereafter by a prescient look of dismay on Rin's. The woman held up a finger as she replied.

"First, we're not in school. Call me Taiga, alright? Ms. Fujimura makes me feel old. Second, would you prefer to discuss your current romantic situation?"

"Again, Shirou and I are not dating," Rin responded, rubbing her temples.

"I didn't say anything about Shirou," Taiga snickered, "but please, let's hear all about your most-definitely non-romantic relationship with him."

"Why do you insist on tormenting me and Rin?" the boy in question interjected, prompting a muted, grateful smile from said girl. "It's not like the situation has suddenly changed in the last 2 hours, so what's with the repetition? Is it a teasing thing?"

The teacher laughed.

"Shirou, it's my job as your big sister—" he heard Illya let out a snarl, though it was muffled by the pie she had in her mouth "—to unfailingly mock you, your friends, and your potential girlfriends. You rarely have anyone over besides Sakura and me, and then it turns out a pretty girl from school is sleeping over at your place? It's like finding a freaking swimming pool in the middle of the desert; of course I'm going to take the opportunity to make fun of you!"

Well, that's annoying, Shirou thought, but I guess it's understandable. I don't give her all that much to go on, heroism aside.

"Whosh Di—," Illya began, her mouth full of food. The girl swallowed, then tried again. "Who's this 'Sakura' person?"

Taiga waved the question away.

"You take this one, Shirou."

Way to put me on the spot, he grumbled, but straightened at the expectant look on his sister's face.

"Sakura is a friend of mine who comes over to help with chores whenever she can get away from her place. She's really nice, and I'm sure you'll get along well with her when you meet her," explained the magus, looking at his guests.

He turned to Taiga. "In fact, I'd have expected her to show up by now. She wasn't here this morning, either; did you see her at school?"

The teacher's face scrunched up, then lightened slightly, a bemused frown on her lips.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't. Weird. I'm sure she's alright though, she's only a year younger than you."

"I wish I had your faith; the last time she went missing for a few days, she pretty much locked herself in my bedroom, sobbing."

Out of the corner of his eye, Shirou noticed Rin's fist tightening. I wonder why she's upset...?

Before he could ask her, the previously reticent Arthur presented a question of his own.

"Are you aware of what might have prompted such a reaction from your friend?"

"I don't think she has a very pleasant home life, but I'd prefer not to say anything else publicly," the male magus replied, an unpleasant feeling twisting in his gut. He switched to mental communication, conversation around the table having fallen into a lull at the shift in mood. "At least one person in her family is a magus, though I don't think she is one herself; I was never able to pass through the bounded fields around her house to determine either way."

"I gather from your words that you indeed made such an attempt," Arthur returned. "At what point did you do so?"

"It was around the time I broke into Rin's house, actually. My dad pointed out the various magical families in the area when he started teaching me magecraft, and I decided to take initiative. I met Sakura a few years later when I saved her from some bullies, and we've been friends since."

"Ah." The king paused. "On the topic of initiative, I quite enjoyed supper, but I feel that the time for merriment has passed. What do you feel is the best method of enticing your guardian to take her leave?"

"I was thinking that you might want to take up her offer of a spar," Shirou replied. "It's not ideal, given that you'll have to miss the strategy session, but I'm pretty sure it's both the simplest and most reliable option we've got."

A brief look of cogitation passed across Arthur's face before settling into determination. "I am willing to accept this offer, but I require a promise from you in return."

"What promise?" Shirou warily relayed.

"In my absence, I will be unable to contribute to our plans. Moreover, I lack the means with which to forestall any of your more reckless suggestions. Thus, I beseech you: vow to consider your own well-being. Promise that you will not offer to risk your life beyond that which is absolutely necessary."

"Because if I die, you can't make up with Mordred, right?"

"Should you fall, I will lose my chance at reunition with my son, yes; however, my wish is by far the lesser reason for my imploration."

Shirou didn't respond, his silence bidding Arthur continue.

"Shirou, though our camaraderie has existed but a single day, I perceive naught but virtue at the heart of your actions. Your dedication to your ideals are beyond reproach, and were you present in Camelot, I am certain you would have risen to the very pinnacle of knighthood. And yet..."

Arthur's face twisted, and a pleading mien found itself atop the servant's countenance.

"I fear for you, Shirou. I fear that in pursuit of utopia you shall have sacrificed all that you are and hold dear. I fear that the will that has carried you to the edge of divinity shall hurl you into the depths of despair, and I fear that in seeking dreams, you shall lose hold of reality. I plea not for high-minded ideals, nor petition thus for personal gain; I implore you because heroism unchecked shall spur you to ruin."

The king paused, letting his words linger in the boy's head.

"You have incalculable worth, Shirou. I pray you realize it, but at present, my entreaty must suffice."

Shirou opened his mouth to break the silence at the table, then closed it, opting for silent affirmation instead.

"I promise, Arthur. I won't plan to risk myself unless I have to."

The magus cut the mental connection, retreating within himself to consider.

I'll weigh the possibility of breaking my vow later, he pondered, but I do know that Arthur's request has merit. I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

The servant of the sword nodded to his master, then smiled, turning to Taiga.

"I recall that you desired a spar. Would you care to engage?"

Taiga discharged a smirk of her own as she replied, her eyes narrowed.

"I'd love to."


With Taiga and Arthur off to the dojo for a spar, the remaining five spread around the table, Rin and Illya flanking Shirou. The female magi stared warily at one another as their servants looked on, Berserker with an easy grin and Archer with an unreadable expression. None spoke, each daring another to make the first move.

Shirou peered to his right, inadvertently catching Rin's decidedly judgemental gaze. He quickly looked in the opposite direction, running straight into Illya's slightly too-innocent stare before angling his face ahead, this time locking eyes with Archer. The servant pointedly averted his vision from the magus, and Shirou slumped down in his seat, letting out a quiet sigh. Across the table, Berserker rolled his eyes.

I suppose I'll have to go first then, Shirou thought. He opened his mouth, but closed it as Illya's servant spoke up.

"If no one's going to talk, what exactly is the point of this?"

The long-haired man stabbed a finger at Shirou.

"You recruited Illya and me, and I'd bet you roped in Rin and her servant as well. That means you're the linchpin of this little get-together, so I figure you might as well start by explaining what exactly you collected us for."

I was about to do so, the magus mused, a tinge of sourness gracing his thoughts, but that's as good an intro as any.

"Alright," Shirou replied, rising to his feet. "We're here to win the grail war, or at least pare it down to our three partnerships. To make that goal a reality, we're going to need to coordinate, whether it be sharing information, planning ahead, or even developing battle tactics. As such, I wanted to use this time to get an idea of what you know, then work together on ways to stay alive. I suspect that we'll all keep some things secret, especially since the servants will ideally end up facing off at the end of this, but if we play our cards right, we'll be able to get out of this in good enough shape to hold some kind of structured fight instead of the current free-for-all."

He took a quick breath, then continued.

"I suggest starting this meeting with a quick summary of each of our experiences in the grail war up to this point, most importantly our interactions with the other servants. Any objections?"

A round of shaken heads greeted his question, prompting a smile from the magus, who turned to address his sister and her servant.

"Great. I'll start, I since I've been involved in this thing for the least amount of time. I got into this whole war while fighting against Caster, who tried to kill me at school then followed me home, but before she could choke me to death, I somehow summoned Saber. Rin came over to my house to try to explain the grail war to me: we allied, checked in with Father Kotomine, and fought against you two. The next day, we went to Rin's house to pick up some books, but got split up by Assassin trying to murder us and Lancer jumping in. Saber and I then fought against Lancer, who fled, and encountered Caster performing some kind of ritual. She nearly killed me, but I was saved by Rider, who claimed his master ordered him to do so. We all had lunch, he left, and you know the rest."

"That's it?" Berserker asked, a skeptical look on his face. "Surely there's more to it than 'I almost died, but didn't', repeated four times."

Shirou frowned before replying.

"I do know the identities of a few servants, but I was hoping to get an idea of what everyone's gone through before delving into specifics."

The man's mouth twisted to a smile.

"Fair enough. I'm certain that Illya summoned me well before Ms. Tohsaka called Archer, so I suggest she and her intractable servant go next."

"Certainly," Rin took over, swiveling her head towards Illya and her servant, "though I don't have much to add to Shirou's summary. I summoned Archer three days ago. While patrolling the city for other servants, I ran into Caster just before she could murder Shirou. After Archer and I destroyed her construct, I went to Shirou's house to explain the war, not that he needed it, Saber having made an appearance by the time I arrived. We went to see Kirei, easily defeated you, and went to bed."

She paused for a moment, an evaluating expression making itself apparent, then continued.

"I requested that Shirou accompany me to retrieve a few books, but we were waylaid by Assassin, who pestered Archer and me before vanishing into the crowd. We tried to track him or Saber, and instead found an, ah, very different servant, who walked with us to my house, then here. I've been busy reading since."

That's not exactly accurate, Shirou internally corrected, but I suspect that Rin isn't quite willing to divulge a potential path to the root, much less to an unknown.

"My turn," Illya declared, fixing her red gaze on her new allies. "Listen up, because I'll be annoyed if I have to repeat myself. I summoned Berserker back in Germany, two months ago–"

"Two months?!" Rin exclaimed. "How did you even get the grail to allow that?!"

"My family built the grail, so we know much more about it than yours, Tohsaka."

"But—!" Rin tried to respond.

"Rin, we can talk more about this later," Shirou interjected, sending a smile the way of his dark-haired classmate. "Let Illya finish her story, alright?"

A victorious smirk plastered itself on Illya's face.

"Yeah, Rin, let me finish. Anyway, after I summoned Berserker, I spent about six weeks getting to know him and his capabilities, something I almost regret—"

"Love you too, Illya," said Berserker, a slightly-taunting smile gracing his lips.

"Oh, shut up. After that, we went to Japan and started taking a look around this city. We ran into three other servants aside from Archer and Saber, but aside from a small skirmish, last night was the only time we've been in a fight."

"Which servants?" Rin asked, looking square at Berserker.

"Well there was a blue-haired guy who fought me with a red spear, so I'm pretty damn sure he's Lancer," replied Berserker. "We also met a woman with green eyes, long black hair, and a very flattering dress: she was busy cutting white berries with a silver sickle. She turned down my offer to get to know each other, to my disappointment."

"You just let her leave?" Archer injected, making his presence known. "That was rather boneheaded on your end."

"I've always had a weakness for pretty women," Berserker nonchalantly replied, brushing off the servant of the bow, "but while we're on the topic of my interactions with other servants, I'm sad to say that the fight with Lancer was entirely uneventful. Just a small spar, really; I could only tell that he was a servant because of his superhuman speed and strength."

I guess Lancer didn't feel like revealing anything else about himself so early on, Shirou thought. That's unfortunate, though I assume knowledge of runes and Gae Bolg's various abilities should go a long way towards figuring him out.

"And the third servant?" inquired Rin, impatience manifest in her tone.

"Rider," came the laconic reply.

"Fine," Rin plowed ahead, "how did that interaction go, then?"

"All I'll say about Rider is that his goals are beyond reproach. It isn't really my place to speak further."

Shirou saw a deep frown pass over Archer's face, but the red-clad servant was expressionless when Shirou next looked.

"That's completely useless," Rin snapped. "Many of the combatants have noble goals—" a flash of pain on Illya's visage, vanishing in an instant — "but we'll be down to one pair in the end, regardless. He saved Shirou, so he's unlikely to be an enemy. However, he's an unknown, and him retaining that status while we fight Caster, Lancer, and Assassin is unacceptable."

"I can clarify a bit," Berserker responded, his words inflected with something unidentifiable, "Rider is not a threat to win the grail war. He's a threat to kill all of you, though I don't believe that is his current intention."

I don't like the sound of that, Shirou grimaced, opting to reenter the conversation. "If he's such a threat, why won't you tell us anything about him?"

He turned to his sister.

"Illya, do you have anything to say about this?"

The girl looked back, frustration evident in her scowl.

"I wish. Unless Berserker's been talking with Rider while I'm asleep, I've only experienced them speaking short sentences to one another, and those in a language I don't know. Rider did whisper something to Berserker when we first ran into him, but I didn't catch the content and probably wouldn't understand it anyway."

"It's rude to talk in the third person about people sitting next to you," the servant in question stated, raising his uncovered eyebrow. "I'm right here, you know."

"Yes, but you might as well not be," Rin sniped. "If you keep hiding things about Rider, I'm not sure I can trust anything you have to say, or your desire to win altogether."

Berserker shrugged, his lips curled just upwards.

"There are things more important than dreams, achievable though they may be. While I don't know Rider's plans, I do know that his aims are impeccable, and that's enough."

"For you, perhaps," Archer added, staring his counterpart in his one good eye. "For the rest of us, it certainly isn't."

"I will not justify myself to you, Archer," Berserker returned, gaze narrowed. "There is only one to whom I bare my soul, and it isn't you."

"I hope you're talking about me, Berserker," Illya interjected, dubiously real indignation plastered on her overpale face. "Anyway, stop fighting. I want to hear my brother discuss what he knows."

Shirou flashed a smile at his sister.

"Thanks, Illya," he said, turning from her to the group as a whole. "I really would prefer that we not argue. While it would be nice to know more of Rider, if Berserker is willing to at least tell us if we'd get in his way, I say that's good enough."

Considering the alliance is liable to disintegrate if I don't defend him, I don't have much of a choice.

"Are you saying this because you believe in him, or because you feel you have no other option?" Rin asked. "Is this coming from your head, or from your heart, Shirou?"

I don't know, the male magus thought, grimacing. I wish I did.

Before he could formulate an answer to Rin's question, Illya piped up.

"Look, Tohsaka, I don't like you. You're a rival for Shirou's love—" Rin let out an indignant squawk, coloring at the remark, though Illya heedlessly pressed on "—but, to my annoyance, you are apparently my big brother's friend. That's why I'm going to be nice, and call you a moron instead of something even less pleasant."

"Excuse me?!"

"You heard me, moron. Everyone in this room has secrets that they don't want to share, but none of that stops us from working together to get rid of the other four servants. If Rider isn't an actual threat to win, we can just let him do whatever he wants to do, then kill him. Maybe it'll mean the grail war takes a bit longer, but that isn't an actual problem."

Shirou flashed a grateful smile in Illya's direction. She preened.

"I have no intention of our relationship going anywhere beyond familial, and Rin isn't a moron, but well said."

The boy turned to Rin.

"If this really becomes a problem, then you and I can try to dispose of Berserker. Until and unless that happens, we can unite to take out Caster, Assassin, and Lancer."

The Tohsaka heiress gave a humph, but nodded, mollified. Shirou grinned at her, then spun back to face all four of his allies.

"Well, now that that's settled, Rin, would you please give your thoughts on the servants you've faced up until now?"

"I suppose I should, yes."

The girl stood with a sigh, pushing her bangs out of her face as she turned towards Shirou.

"Archer and I have fought against two servants thus far, while if you include toying with your sister, we've faced three. After you fled from school, we defeated Caster and her construct, though if you are to be believed, she was instead after you, leaving an illusion behind. Either way, we destroyed her creation without too much trouble: it didn't seem all that much more powerful than its base materials."

"Why, Tohsaka, do you have a habit of breaking things?" Illya chimed in.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Rin said, "but if you're done acting your age, I'd like to continue."

Illya looked like she was about to retort, but the words retreated back into her throat, leaving a scowl behind. Rin smirked.

"Einzbern's defeat aside, the other servant we fought was Assassin, just earlier today. He seemed..."

She scrunched her features, a troubled frown replacing her prior expression.

"I can't really say. I suspect that he possesses an overly powerful form of obfuscation, though whether it's always active or conditional is beyond me. Regardless, beyond obscuring his presence, all he did was jump in and out of the crowd at us, aiming his weird scimitars at our throats. It's probably unwise to assume that all he can do is hide and swipe, however."

"Sicae, not scimitars," Shirou corrected, focusing on the image of Assassin's weapons. "Curved daggers used by various ancient civilizations in the Balkans and Mediterranean."

"And you know this how, Shirou?" asked Berserker, eyebrow raised.

"I have an affinity for bladed weaponry," the magus returned. And I'm certainly not about to say exactly how deep that affinity goes, not with Illya playing up her apparent age and Berserker keeping mum about Rider. I only wish Assassin's obfuscation didn't also include hiding the history of his blades.

"Oh, you're keeping your skills secret?" Illya jumped in, a hurt expression gracing her face. "Don't you trust me, big brother? Don't you trust your little sister?"

"About as far as I can throw your servant," Shirou drily replied, a smile on his lips. "And on that note, I'd better go over the three servants Saber and I have gone up against."


"So, to summarize," Rin said, "of the three servants we know to be hostile, we know the names of two, and have a rough grasp on the power set of one. We have no idea where they're located, assuming they're taking static positions in the first place, and we can't say for certain what they intend, or indeed want overall."

She sighed, dropping back into her chair. The girl draped her palm over her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"What exactly do we do now?"

"Well, we could always just wait until they show themselves," Berserker offered, quirking a smile. "We've got three servants on our side, and neither Lancer nor Caster sound like the type to join forces."

"I agree with Berserker," came Illya's contribution. "I really don't see any obvious moves to make here, and just stumbling around searching blindly for enemy servants is beyond stupid. Let's just sit back and see what happens."

"That really isn't going to work," Shirou responded, his brow furrowed. "We can't just react, not when Caster's slowly gaining power and Assassin's probably going to be able to pick us off one-by-one. We have to attack first."

Archer glared at the male magus, letting out a snort of disbelief.

"Right, because it's definitely that simple," he said, rolling his eyes. "You have absolutely no idea of who their masters are, where they're located, or what powers they have, but of course, all we have to do is decide we're going after them. They'll just show up for us to pick off, I suppose? Maybe send us a letter stating that they'll be tying themselves to an altar in Ryuudou temple, ready for slaughter?"

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," Shirou shot back. "I'm just saying that sitting around waiting isn't likely to be a winning strategy, much less one that minimizes the amount of dead people, given that Morgan has already killed at least seven. You might not care all that much, but now, unlike whatever historical time period you're from, mass civilian casualties aren't exactly considered acceptable."

The bowman looked ready to continue the argument, but was beaten by Illya.

"Wait, why should we care about people who aren't fighting in the war, again?" she asked, a questionably real look of incomprehension on her face. "And 'civilian casualties'? You have nothing to do with the military, Shirou."

"How exactly would you know that, Illya?"

"I've been closely observing you for the past two weeks."

Shirou frowned, then carefully responded.

"By 'closely observing', do you actually mean stalking?"

Berserker coughed.

"She absolutely does, yes. Our meeting on the street was planned about four days ago, from my clothing to Illya's lines. Good fight by the way, you held up better than I expected."

"Thanks, I think."

"As fun as this conversation is," Rin interrupted, "Shirou, I think you had best explain to your sociopath of a sister why dead innocents aren't a good thing. We can learn all about her less than ethical habits some other time."

I'd like to figure out just how deep Illya's feelings run, personally, but Rin's right. If it comes down to Illya or non-combatants, I'm not sure I'll make the decision I want to. Still, I'd best couch this in sentimentality, rather than ethics: it looks like Illya's internalized that magus' amorality my dad told me about.

The male magus nodded, then turned to his sister.

"Illya, if you've watched me over the past two weeks, you'll know that I spend my time helping other people out. It's a long story, one we really don't have time to discuss in depth, but I guess the long and short of it is that if I can prevent suffering, I will, no matter what it takes."

"That's stupid," Illya returned, her red gaze locked with his amber. "You're a whole lot more important than any random non-magus could ever be, Shirou. They're not worth the effort."

"Maybe they aren't, but nevertheless, I'll do whatever I can; not if it involves my death, sure, but everything up to it," he said, giving a tired smile. I'm sorry, Arthur, but I can't change who I am.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shirou saw something between misery and anger flash over Archer's features. The bowman's knuckles whitened, fists clenched, but the servant remained silent, thoughts guarded as ever.

"Hey, what's with the sudden morbidity?" interrupted Berserker. "I know we haven't exactly come up with any plans yet, but that doesn't mean it's time to talk about dying. Even if we can't really go on the attack without knowing who or where we're striking, we should still plan defensive measures."

"Thanks," Shirou said, his smile ever so slightly more relaxed.

Berserker winked, then responded in kind.

"Anytime."

"Right," Shirou said, wiping his face of emotion. "If we can't attack, we can at least find a means of defending ourselves, and that starts with knowing our plans for the immediate future."

He turned to Rin.

"I intend to attend school tomorrow, war or no war; do you think you'll be going with me?"

"Naturally," replied the girl, rolling her eyes. "I'm even staying at your home, for heaven's sake, I'm not going to just leave you alone at school."

She turned to face the third master in the room.

"That leaves you, little miss incest-lover. Do you have any particular plans?"

"I'm going to be playing with at least two of the gaming consoles I bought here in Japan. Shirou's welcome to join me after school; it's not like my manor doesn't have enough room."

"No. If he's going anywhere, he's going to my house," Rin hastily returned. "I'll even be magnanimous and allow you to come over as well."

I'd better try to head this off, thought the magus.

"You know, I think—," he began, only to pause at two sets of narrowed eyes, one brown, one red. Berserker covered his mouth with his hand, his eyes crinkled.

"Stay out of it," came the twinned response, prompting the two female magi to turn to one another. After a few moments, Illya looked away, grumbling, while Rin smirked.

"My house it is."

"Sure," Shirou said, concealing a smile. "I don't really care either way, but it's good to know you two came to an agreement. What I was going to say was that we should take advantage of having three servants to juggle around. Maybe we should trade them off for the day?"

"What do you mean, Shirou?" Illya asked, her ire apparently forgotten.

"I mean that as we all seem to retain at least one command seal each, by having our servants stay around each other, we can ensure that we each get the maximum guard. If Rin and I were to be attacked, for instance, and Berserker was with us, we could both call our servants to us and fight as a group of five instead of four."

"That makes sense, but I see a bit of a problem," Rin countered. "We have two servants, while your sister has one. Unless you intend to have Archer and Saber hover by her, the math doesn't quite work out."

"True, but I was actually hoping that Archer could do something else," Shirou returned, gesturing to the taciturn man. "I was thinking he could try to scout around for the three servants we need to unearth. We're not going to get anywhere by only protecting ourselves, and I would hope that wherever Illya is staying has enough defenses to compensate for only having the one additional guardian."

I also don't trust Archer at all, he noted, so I'm not overly keen on relying on the guy to protect my sister.

Rin nodded, and turned to the servant in question.

"Archer, unless you have any particular objections, do you think you can follow this plan?"

"Of course," returned the bowman, his mild contempt plainly obvious. "The idea makes sense, loath as I am to admit it, and I'm rather certain that I'm the best scout in this clique."

"Okay," Shirou nodded, then turned to Illya and Berserker. "Are you two good with this?"

"Yup." "No objections here."

"Good. We'll talk more tomorrow afternoon; hopefully Archer will have found something by then, but for now, I'll get Saber and tell him to accompany Illya home. Once they've left, I'll show Berserker to one of the guest rooms."

"Sounds like a plan," remarked the servant in question. "I'd pretend to have expensive tastes in bedding to screw with you, but the truth is, I'm from a place where it wasn't overly unusual to sleep in a tent, so I'll just count having a bed as a win."

"You don't intend to stay up and do something productive?" Archer asked, eyebrow raised.

"Look, when you're offered a place to sleep, it's pretty rude to decline. While I could go out and try to scout around, that would force you to stay, and you yourself said you were the best out of all of us for tracking work. Then, if I'm sticking around, I might as well get some shut-eye, no? I figure Emiya here has some kind of alert system set up, so if we do get attacked, he can just wake me."

Archer gave a half-smile.

"Fair enough."

Before Shirou could use the lull in conversation to contact Arthur, he heard two sets of footsteps approach the dining room. As he turned towards the doorway, he saw Taiga, silhouetted by the light of the hallway.

"Ugh..."

The teacher entered the room proper with a groan, then turned to Shirou, stabbing an accusatory finger in his direction.

"Your dad's friend is way too good at swordfighting."

"Well, he does go by Saber. You'd expect him to be good, no?" cracked Berserker, shifting Taiga's attention his way. In the interim, a mostly pristine-looking Arthur entered the room, giving a shallow nod to Shirou as he did so.

"I don't know you, but I'm bruised, tired, and defeated. I don't want to hear it."

The hulking servant raised his hands in mock surrender.

"Of course, of course."

As he and Taiga bickered, Arthur contacted Shirou.

"What was the overall conclusion of the meeting?"

"It turns out no one really has all that much information to give us," Shirou sent back, "though Berserker knows Rider and refuses to tell us anything about him. I figured it wasn't worth blowing up the alliance for, especially as Illya's servant assured us that Rider's goals don't actually include winning the grail war, and further, that he isn't currently a threat to us."

"Do you trust his word?"

"I guess. Hopefully Rider leaves us alone, but I'm skeptical, especially since he knows about my abilities. We'll play it by ear."

"I see. Did you decide on an overall course of action?"

"Yeah. In light of our overall lack of knowledge, we'll just try to protect ourselves as best we can while Archer scouts for info. Illya and I are going to swap servants for a bit, to make sure that we can use command seals to add an ally if needed."

"I am to follow Miss von Einzbern, then?"

"Exactly. I'll be going to school with Rin tomorrow, and we'll all meet up again at her house afterwards."

Arthur frowned.

"Do you really intend on entering such a public location while targeted by multiple servants? It seems most unwise."

"Maybe so, but Rin and I frankly can't afford to miss too much school. This war is important, but it'll end eventually, and I'd rather it not completely ruin my chances of getting an education."

"I suppose I cannot argue all too strongly with your desire to better yourself, and the mass of your peers should help dissuade any would-be attackers. Nevertheless, please do call for me if you are in danger. There is no worth in refusing needed aid."

"I'll keep it in mind," Shirou concluded, slowly bringing himself back to the scene before him. Taiga and Berserker continued to fling words at one another, while the three others in the room were in various states of annoyance, ranging from Archer's apparently normal state of disdain to Illya's frenetic squirming.

"...okay, yes, I do need a shower, but couldn't you have put it in a nicer way than 'you smell'?"

"I'm just calling it as I see it. Or smell it, in this case. It's not exactly an insult to say that physical activity makes you sweat."

"No, but—"

"Enough!" Illya not-quite-yelled. "Please just leave, I want to go to sleep."

"Alright, Illya, whatever you say," Taiga said, smiling as she sauntered out of the room. "But I won."

Berserker rolled his eyes, but the fond smile on his face belied his exasperation. He turned to Shirou.

"Alright then, you updated Saber on our plans?"

The boy nodded.

"Great. I also want to go to bed, and your friend here—" he pointed at Rin, who rolled her eyes in turn "—looks like she wants to get out as well."

I could use some rest myself, Shirou thought, suppressing a yawn. It's been a long day.

The party dispersed, and after dropping Berserker off, the magus showered, brushed his teeth, and climbed into bed. A quick thought on events to come, and sleep claimed him.


Shirou dreamed of war and love.

He entered the oneiric realm to a siege at dusk. King Arthur stood proud atop a mountain, a skeleton crew of men defiant in the castle behind him. He wore silver plate engraved deep with glittering gold, and he hefted a light-sucking, cross-inscribed shield in his left gauntlet, matched by a softly glimmering Excalibur in his right. Below him stood an army of a thousand men, each drenched red in the blood of Camelot's allies, and between the forces lay the mountain itself, covered in corpses and speckled with the crowns of Britain's dead royalty.

The future servant stared hard at the forces arranged below, then gave a decisive nod. Excalibur lit in divine radiance, diamond-shaped flares of white erupting from its surface at each subsequent apex of invoked power. A thin ray of light stabbed through the darkened sky before widening, then another, and another still, until thirteen pillars of luminance drove from heaven down to Excalibur. The columns broke, the blade flared, and Arthur raised the sword in his right hand and brought his left to meet it, the shield Pridwen fading temporarily to null in the radiance of the weapon. Light twisted and twined around the blade until it reached to the horizon, chasing the gloaming before it until all but the sword was dowsed in shade. A beat, a whistling slash of matchless gold, and the world erupted in a dome of brightest amber.

His vision dissolved, and returned.

Shirou saw himself, intangible, in a darkened courtyard. His servant stood in the growing shade of a tall oak, the twilit garden around him masking the king's gleaming panoply. His head was bowed, but rose at the sight of a woman entering the garden, the setting sun casting waves of orange and pink about her oncoming form. Her blond hair sparkled in the sun's dying rays, and the low radiance gave her green eyes an eerie glow. Crow's feet dabbed at the edges of her face, the light wrinkles subtly enhanced by the soft smile playing across her pink lips, but she possessed a sense of youthfulness to her despite her apparent age, a sway to her gait that spoke of a mischievousness often lost in maturity.

She beckoned and Arthur followed, the man and woman each set on their path into the darkened depths of the castle. Shirou floated along beside the two as they turned through the torchlit corridors in silence, the woman bringing a finger to her lips and the man stepping gingerly to prevent his armor from clattering. The duo found their way to a bedroom, whereupon the lady embraced the king. The two blonds kissed, Arthur began to disrobe, and the scene fell to pieces around the magus.

The mirage reformed.

Shirou opened his eyes again, and he beheld a throne room decorated in silken streamers of white and silver. He recognized it as the heart of Camelot, but the dual-wood throne from which Arthur reigned was absent, replaced by a grand table, heaped to bursting by food and drink. To one side stood the women, dressed uniformly in gowns of periwinkle blue; on the other rested the men, bereft of arms but lacking unity among their garb. At the head of the table sat Arthur and another, a woman with night-dark hair and cinnamon-brown eyes.

From the grand doorway came a pounding, and the party as a whole exited the room through the opened path. Shirou followed the men, recognizing Kay and Bedivere among them, and they entered a grand hall where sat an aged man, his face exhibiting similar features to Arthur's companion. He stood and greeted Arthur warmly, gave a signal, and a rounded table appeared next to him, etched with arcane runes and topped by a weathered but hale magician. With a whispered word, the magician vanished, the table glowed, and the dream broke apart.

Once more, the vision flew back into a whole.

As the magus watched, he saw a grey stallion with a saddle and bridle of gold enter into Arthur's court. Atop the steed rose a youth dressed in purple, wielding in his hands twin spears of silver topped by steel, and twin greyhounds ran in turns beside and before the destrier. In front of the boy sat Arthur, dressed in midnight blue over silvered iron, and behind the king lingered a vast array of knights, courtiers, and servants, the whole of Camelot's multitude assembled in some manner or other. The youth knelt, his indigo-trimmed cape skimming the ground, and he spoke to the king, his tone hushed and his words fierce.

At deliberation's end, Kay detached from the mass and brought his blade forward, prompting a fleeting smile and nod from Arthur. Five knights stepped forth, then, and the magus recognized among them Bedivere and Gawain. Two of the unknown men fell in on themselves, returning as twin eagles that soared into the open sky, while the air about the final man rippled like water, cloaking him in a veil of naught. His vassals pledged to the quest, Arthur stood, proud, raising Excalibur to heaven as his men roared. A band of light struck off the patterned blade of the sword, time ebbed to nil, and ardent sunglow blazed through Shirou's vision.

The dream burned away, afterimages of a terrible giant, a beautiful damsel, and a monstrous boar searing themselves on the canvas of his mind, and Shirou slept, dreamless, guarded in himself by quicksilver and diamond.


AN: If a character acts, feels, looks, processes, and decides as if they were ten, and are biologically, emotionally, and hormonally ten, it doesn't matter if they've been on the planet for nine years more. They're effectively ten, not nineteen, for the same reason someone cryonically frozen as a baby and thawed out fifty years later isn't a fifty-year-old. Illya's a bit more complicated, and first impressions can be deceiving, but this is a fancy way of preemptively saying "no, I'm not going to put her and any other character into a romantic relationship."

I'm never a fan of pure reactivity, and so they're explicitly making plans: whether it'll actually work out for our protagonists is a different question entirely, but granting agency to characters is always good, and showing them to be competent is even better.

I'm deliberately writing the dreams in a much more impersonal style, one that comes easier to me; one reason why I'm sticking with such limited narration in the (non-action bits of the) story proper is to try to get better at writing dialogue and limited perspective. It rankles a bit, since I know full well that the story isn't as good as it can be, but hey, this is just as much for me as it is for you.

Expect new chapters at some indeterminate point in the future. The story aten't dead, and is in fact approaching the end of arc 1. 2-3 chapters to go.