There is a tranquility here that is a lie.
Blue skies, white clouds, and green fields. A gleaming city of white marble and shining steel stands on the horizon. Within dwell millions of souls, living in peace and prosperity, united by a common purpose and vision. This is the ideal state of Humanity as envisioned by Him on Earth. This is a model, an exemplar to which the rest of the Imperium aspires to.
This is the kingdom that will be offered to the Powers. This is Ultramar, in the age before madness and ruin. Yet even now, beneath the gilded facade, the darkness that will one day blossom grows.
This is the age of secret treacheries, the age of schemes set in motion in the darkness of the Great Crusade. This is the last age before the fall. In the shadow, destiny holds its breath, and smiles cruelly.
He and his brothers stand in a circle. At the center of the circle lies the desecrated body of one of their cousins – a son of Aurelian, captured in a joint operation and kept alive for years so that he might die on this day. The symbolism is important, though he does not remember why.
Beyond their circle stand two warriors in armor of sapphire and gold, silently watching. One of them will perish in the war to come, he knows, slain by a hero in a red helmet amidst the ruins of a city destroyed by plague and fire. The other will endure forever, twisted and remade into an extension of his liege's indomitable will.
He hears the words leave his lips, spoken along with the other eight Dark Angels. They speak words that are not words, learned during the first time of tribulations. They call out to the ones beyond, to the great powers. They call to the gods, that the gate of death may be opened.
"Arise, old priest, and be returned from the underworld. The Gods have a use for you yet."
November 21st, 2004 – Emiya residence
Shirou woke up. As he blinked in the darkness of his bedroom, images faded in his mind's eye – images of shadow and blood, and a grinning face so decrepit it resembled a skull more than any living human being.
He felt the bodies of Sakura and Rin pressing against his own. Their proximity helped calm his heart, as much because they reminded him of where he was as because he didn't want to disturb them.
It had been some time since he had last dreamt of the echoes of the Dark Angel's life, he reflected. In the days after his return from Kumamoto City and his battles against the shikome and the Enforcer, he had suffered from these nightmares every night, haunted by visions of treachery on black sands. They had faded over time, though the images of that first dreadful vision when he had touched the discarded gun in the corrupted shrine was still as vivid as ever in his memory.
That the dreams would return now, and with an entirely new vision, was worrying. He had never dreamt of that bountiful land before, and the scene had been too precise, too clear, to be anything other than a memory. Unlike the nightmares of hunting in shadowed woods or the slaughter of his own kinsmen, there had been a neatness to the recollection, even if, as always, the details were already fading from his memory. There had been names in that vision, he was sure of it, but try as he might, he couldn't remember them.
Shirou turned his head to the side, and let flow a small trickle of prana into his eyes – just enough to see in the room's near-total darkness. The clock on the side of their bedding showed that it was 3:47 AM – way too soon for him to be up on a Sunday, especially with both his lovers pressed against him. He prepared to try to go back to sleep, or, failing that, simply enjoy the presence of Sakura and Rin. Since the three of them had become … whatever it was they were – Shirou still wasn't willing to use Sakura's term of "harem" – chances for them to spend the night together like this had been uncommon enough to be savored.
He was about to let go of the prana in his eyes when his brain finally registered something that had been quite literally staring him in the face for the last few moments. While he slept, Rin had claimed his left arm as a pillow, and he had unconsciously hugged her to his side – which meant that his hand was in his field of view as he looked at the alarm clock. And on the back of his hand was something that hadn't been there when he had gone to sleep :
A crimson tattoo, that glowed in Shirou's Reinforced sight. It was shaped like a stylized arrow, and he could feel the power that slumbered inside each of its three components. He knew what this was, what this had to be, despite how impossible it should have been.
Command Seals. The proof of one's selection as a Master : the authority to give three absolute commands to a contracted Servant, allowing mere mortals to bind heroes of legend to their will.
And if he had received them …
Slowly, Shirou lowered his gaze, until he was looking at Rin's own right hand. Two incomplete circles, one inside the other, and a straight line next to them. He turned and looked on his right, where Sakura laid against him, her left hand laid across his chest. And sure enough, she too bore three marks, shaped like three third of a disc – or the petals of a flower.
"Well," Shirou calmly whispered to himself, before continuing in a much more emphatic tone : "fuck."
It took several minutes for Shirou to leave the bed without disturbing Rin or Sakura. Fortunately, this was a skill he had some practice in after having tried several times to get breakfast in bed to his lovers.
His mind was whirling. The Grail War had started, decades before its appointed time. The nightmare that had broken his father's dream, made him an orphan and killed hundreds of people, was going to start again.
Kiritsugu had been vague in his descriptions of just what was wrong about the Grail. Shirou had always suspected his father had known more than what he had shared, but given that the Grail War was never supposed to happen again, he had assumed his father had wanted to shield his younger self from disturbing truths.
And given what Kiritsugu had been willing to share with him …
What was he going to do ? He couldn't let the Grail be activated, which meant he would have to keep it from absorbing seven Servants' worth of mana. Could he and the girls simply avoid summoning a Servant, and delay the War long enough to find the explosive charges Kiritsugu had installed and trigger them prematurely ?
No. Surely the founders of the Heaven's Feel must have had contingencies for the case of a Master refusing to participate properly. With the Grail itself selecting Masters, they had to have considered the possibility – and that had been before the whole thing had begun to malfunction, choosing psychopathic serial killers as Masters and Servants both.
Explain the truth to the other Masters and convince them to stop fighting while they searched for a way to either purify the Grail or dismantle it ? No. Sakura and Rin would go along with it, but any Magus would refuse to believe him, especially if the Grail had chosen them. Kill the Masters, but keep the Servants alive ? Maybe. But if they were like the Caster of the Fourth War, keeping the city safe from them would be all but impossible …
He had to do something. He could not let the hellscape of ten years ago be unleashed yet again upon Fuyuki. He – could – not –
A familiar sound pulled Shirou out of his dark reverie. The phone was ringing. He picked it up quickly, before the shrill noise could wake up Rin and Sakura.
"Who is this ?"
"Hello, Mister Emiya," said a gruff voice Shirou recognized instantly. He hadn't heard it in months, since the last details of the Archibalds' settlement to Rin had been hashed out, but he didn't know many people who spoke to him in English.
"Lord El-Melloi II," he replied in the same tongue. "This is an unexpected call."
"Sorry to contact you so early in the morning, and on a Sunday no less, but there is something you should be warned about as soon as possible."
"Is it related to the Grail War ?"
"?! … How … No, never mind. You have been chosen as a Master, haven't you. Yes, this is related to the Heaven's Feel ritual. There has been a … complication. Beyond the fact that the War is starting decades too soon, I mean."
The Lord of the Clocktower went on to describe what had happened in the Animusphere Castle : the slaughter of its inhabitants, the disappearance of the Magi bodies, and the departure and subsequent vanishing off the radars of the family's private jet. He also shared his theories about what had occurred, though always with the caveat that these were just that : theories.
"I see," said Shirou once he was done. "And what are you expecting me to do ?"
"The potential threat of a mad Servant getting their hands on the Holy Grail cannot be overstated. But at the same time, we do not have enough evidence on our end to justify breaking the Clocktower's avowed neutrality in the Holy Grail War. As I said, for all we know Marisbury Animusphere is behind the entire massacre. Anyone I could justify sending to Fuyuki with the intel I have would be easy prey for any Servant. I would come myself, but, well ..."
But he couldn't. The geas prevented him from ever setting foot in Japan without Rin's permission, and even that needed to be given several days in advance.
"It's probably for the best you don't anyway," said Shirou. "If things are as bad as they seem, the last thing we need is for you to be selected as a Master as well."
"… True. We are keeping what happened under wraps for now, but it won't last long. And when the rest of the Association learn of what transpired, well, it might draw their attention to Fuyuki – and to you."
"Now that the Grail War has started, we cannot have Magi running around here," said Shirou vehemently. "There are things about the Grail you do not know, Lord El-Melloi II, and the consequences of anyone interfering in the hope of using the Grail to reach the Root could be apocalyptic."
"… That bad, huh ?" Waver sighed. "I can't say I am too surprised, given some of the things I saw in the last War. I will do my best to keep things quiet on my end as long as possible, but you will need to deal with the situation in Fuyuki."
Shirou raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You are trusting me with that much ?"
"I don't really have a choice, do I ? I know you are capable of holding your own in a fight, and with the help of the Tohsaka daughters, you will have an advantage over the other Masters. I am choosing to believe that you will do what is best, if not for Magecraft, then for the World as a whole."
"That … isn't the mindset I would expect from a Lord of the Clocktower." Not that Shirou considered Waver Velvet a typical Lord, of course. Even if their first meeting had been in far from ideal circumstances, Shirou hadn't been blind to the youngest Lord's qualities.
There was a dry, humorless chuckle.
"I understood a long time ago that I am a poor Magus, and an even poorer Lord. I have always been, and I will always be. Cultivating the talent of others is the best I can hope for. Try to prevent another disaster, alright ? I still owe Miss Tohsaka a sponsorship."
The phone call ended. After putting the phone down, Shirou spent several minutes standing, staring at nothing in particular, while wheels turned in his mind, no longer driving him in circles. Eventually, he came to an inevitable conclusion :
He needed to wake Sakura and Rin up. That was not going to be easy.
Waking up Rin Tohsaka early on a Sunday after an evening of vigorous nocturnal activity was not something to be attempted by the faint-hearted. In the end, after trying a number of gentle methods, Shirou had to all but force a cup of black, sugarless coffee down Rin's throat in order to get her to open her eyes. Rin's murderous rage at being woken up so early lasted exactly as long as it took her to raise her fist (while mumbling incoherent but still frightening threats) and see the crimson seal on it.
Seeing the marks on Shirou's and Sakura's hands only set her off worse, and Shirou had to hold her tight against him for several more minutes while reassuring her that no, the three of them weren't going to kill each other in a fight to claim the Grail. As Rin's (and Sakura's, though the younger girl wasn't quite as panicked as her sister) freak-out abated, Shirou directed her to get up and get dressed.
"I will prepare breakfast," he told them. "I will tell you everything after we've eaten, I promise."
For once, Shirou refrained from laying down a feast for his lovers. None of them were in the mood, but at the same time, they were going to need all of their strength in the coming day. The meal he prepared was relatively bland, but hot and filling. When the girls arrived, they all ate quickly and in silence, before Shirou cleaned up the table and returned to sit, facing the two sisters.
"There are several things I need to tell you," he began. "Some of them Sakura already knows, while others, I have only learned myself this morning."
"Firstly, Rin, the reason we won't be fighting each other for the Grail is …"
Telling Rin about what his father had revealed to him – the corruption of the Grail and the terrible choice Kiritsugu Emiya had made to save the world – was every bit as hard now as it had been when he had told Sakura, after he had saved her from Zouken. Rin's reaction to the revelation was much worse than Sakura's had been : the younger girl had never cared about the Holy Grail, beyond a vague feeling of distaste for anything that could drive the Matou family to inflict such horrors upon her.
Rin, however, had been raised to keep and maintain her family's honor, and the Tohsaka had sought the Heaven's Feel for generations. To learn that her bloodline's long-held dream would never be fulfilled – that all their efforts, all their sacrifices, had been for worse than nothing – came at a shock to her.
Perhaps even worse was the knowledge that both her lover and her sister had known about this all along, and only now were they sharing it with her. By the time Shirou was done relaying El-Melloi's warning, she was pale and shaking.
Seeing that the dark-haired girl was starting to relapse, Shirou took the plunge and chose to do something that was guaranteed to change the direction of her emotions : telling her what his father had planned to stop the Holy Grail from ever happening again.
She froze when she heard him speak, and slowly raised her head, glaring at Shirou with eyes that were suddenly hard.
"What was that, Shirou ?"
"Dad planted explosives to sabotage the leylines," he repeated louder, feeling sweat run on his forehead. Oh, he was going to pay for this, he knew. "He buried them at key points of the region and set them up to detonate ten years from now, in order to trigger a series of minor earthquakes that would permanently damage the leylines and end the ritual forever."
"And when," Rin's sweet smile as she spoke was the most terrifying expression Shirou had ever seen on her, "were you going to tell me ?"
"After our graduation !" Shirou nearly squeaked. "I was going to tell you about the explosives and the Grail once we graduated from high school, I swear ! I thought we had ten years left before that became relevant !"
She stared at him intently for a few seconds, before finally nodding in acceptance. When she sat back down, some of the weight on her shoulders seemed to have lifted.
"Hmm … Fine. I will let you off the hook, but only because we have bigger problems. We will talk about this again, Emiya-kun."
Shirou winced. Rin only called him that in private when he had really, really pissed her off.
Not that she didn't have good reason to be angry at the moment. Crippling the leylines would remove Fuyuki's position as a font of thaumaturgical energy, and cost her her status as Second Owner in the Association. Even without the end of the Heaven's Feel ritual and the path to the Root it offered, that would have tanked her reputation, painting her as an incompetent who couldn't manage her estate properly.
The fact that she was willing to let him off so lightly for now was a testament to how worried Rin was about the War and the Grail's corruption. That, and how little like a typical magus she actually was, despite her attempts to pretend otherwise (though these had certainly diminished in frequency and intensity since she and Sakura had become sisters again).
Still, better to have her angry at him that lapsing into shock and depression. He deserved it anyway, for keeping the truth from her for so long. It really had been a dick move, but he had genuinely thought they had years before any issue linked to these secrets arose.
"Just so we are clear," Shirou bravely forged on, "I have no idea where the charges are buried. Dad took that secret to his grave, and he told me they were buried too deep to be detected by any mean."
"And I suppose the Magus Killer would have known what he was doing. Fine. Fine. Let's ignore this casual desecration of my property, and the fact that you kept such secrets from me, for now." Both Shirou and Sakura winced at the hurt that wasn't quite hidden in those words. "While we are on the subject of unpleasant revelations, there is something I have been meaning to ask you for a long time, Shirou."
There was a hint of frailty – of fear – in Rin's eyes that made Shirou immensely uncomfortable.
"Did Kiritsugu Emiya kill my father ?"
A falling feather could have shattered the silence that followed that question, as Rin watched Shirou and Sakura watched Rin. Rin hadn't said "our father", not because she didn't consider Sakura her sister, of course, but because she was well aware of how her younger sibling regarded the man who had sired them both.
"No," he replied, making sure to look his dark-haired lover right in the eyes as he spoke, so that she could see the sincerity in his. "Dad did many things in the War, many terrible things that he regretted greatly, and would have even if the prize had been what he thought it was. But he didn't kill Tokiomi. He intended to, since he was Archer's Master, and that Servant was so powerful it was easier to kill his Master to defeat him. On the last day of the war, Dad broke into your family's house, but your father was already dead."
"How did he know that ?" asked Rin, clearly forcing her voice to stay firm. "Did he … did he find the body ?"
"No, but there was blood in the study charged with prana of the same kind as was in the underground Workshop," explained Shirou, remembering how Kiritsugu had described the events to him years ago, during that long discussion just before he had passed away. Thinking back on it now, it had been pretty irresponsible of Kiritsugu to share such a gruesome story with his young son – but then again, neither of them had been normal. "Too much of it for the victim to have survived. Given the skill at battle Magecraft Archer's Master had already demonstrated, Dad found it strange there wasn't any other trace of a battle."
"… I believe you," sighed Rin. "Perhaps we'll be able to find out what happened before the end of this mess. In any case, the Animusphere's plane could be arriving in Japan at any moment now. If the Servant used some ability, they could already be here, but in any case, we are operating on a short timer."
"We need to summon Servants of our own. We can't fight Servants ourselves. Well … maybe you could," continued Rin, before adding under her breath "because your powers are bullshit. But there will be four other Servants, and four Masters we will need to either convince to stop fighting and abandon their wish, or beat into submission without killing them somehow. And that means that we are going to need a lot of firepower, enough that it'll be obvious we could win the Grail War if we wanted to. That should surprise the other Masters enough to get a chance to talk to them."
"Somehow, I doubt it will be that easy. Considering what El-Melloi told me, it seems at least one other contestant is willing to go to any length to win. Remember, the Masters are selected by the Grail itself. It's possible the corruption is influencing who is selected in order to make sure the Grail manifests."
"If that's the case," asked Sakura, speaking up for the first time since the beginning of the discussion, "then why were we selected ? From what Zouken told me, for the Grail to choose a Master, they must have a strong wish they want to fulfill, one they're willing to fight and kill for. You and I both knew about the Grail's corruption, and Nee-san would not risk the World just to reach the Root."
"I am hoping we were selected because the Grail's corruption is mindless and has to follow the rules set by the ritual's founders. One of the members of each founding families must be selected as Master, then three Masters are selected from within the ranks of the Association, and the last set of Command Seals is a 'wild card' that is assigned to whoever the Grail judges to be most suited. Since I live in Fuyuki and am a Spellcaster, I may just have been the easiest candidate."
"And as for the wish condition … all three of us have things we would be willing to kill for, don't we ? A wish to protect something can be just as strong as a wish to gain something. Perhaps that was enough for the Grail."
"That may be the case," admitted Rin. "But I know you, Shirou. You don't believe that."
He closed his eyes, seeing images of a burning city under a crimson sky, illuminated by a black sun. For a brief moment, he was back there, in the Hell that had borne him unto the world.
"No," he said softly. "I don't. You and Sakura are the last members of two of the three founding families, so it had to choose you as Masters. As for me, whether I like it or not, I became who I am today because of the last Grail War, and as a direct result of the Grail's power briefly being unleashed upon Fuyuki. Maybe whatever evil taints the system recognized that and selected me. Maybe …"
Maybe it chose me because I am as much of a monster as Caster of the Fourth War, or whatever is coming from the Animusphere castle, he did not say, but both girls heard it anyway. Rin fidgeted on her spot, unsure of what to say, but Sakura quickly moved to Shirou's side, hugging him without the slightest hint of hesitation.
"You are not a monster, Senpai," whispered the younger girl, holding him tight. "You are a hero. You are my hero – my guardian angel. You saved me from the abyss, and no matter what else happens, I will never let you fall into it."
"R-right !" declared Rin, moving to hug him on the other side. "Honestly, you are such an idiot, Shirou. No one else would look at what you have done so far with your life and think you were a monster in the making."
He smiled. "Thank you, Sakura, Rin. I feel better knowing you have such faith in me."
His smile faded and his expression grew more serious.
"Now," he said, "let's get ready."
There were preparations to make. Summoning a Servant would always have been a great undertaking, but El-Melloi's information about what had happened in the Animusphere Castle meant that they needed to be extra careful.
For a start, there was no way Shirou was going to let either Sakura or Rin summon their Servants before him, nor would he let them perform the summoning without him being present. The danger of them summoning something they couldn't control was too grave. The very reason Command Seals existed was to curtail the Heroic Spirits' famous independence, but with the Grail's summoning system compromised, there was no telling what manner of nightmare they might accidentally call forth.
Shirou would be the one to summon his Servant first, while Sakura and Rin provided support. They didn't know if Shirou could defeat a Servant, even if he drew on the full extant of his powers, with the sisters' help in absorbing the backlash. But it was the best option they had.
With Avalon implanted within Shirou's body, there should have been little doubt as to which Servant he would summon, and with his status as a Sword Incarnation, the question of Class was obvious as well. But they didn't know how the spirit that had fused with his soul in the previous Grail War would interfere, nor how the corruption of the Grail might influence the result.
They needed to be prepared for anything, which is why the three of them walked through the cold streets of Fuyuki at dawn, toward the Tohsaka household. Before leaving, Rin had performed a quick spell on their hands, hiding the glowing Command Seals from view.
That precaution was likely pointless : the streets of the city were entirely empty at that early hour, but that did not mean there weren't familiars watching. They moved quickly, and went inside the empty house once Rin lowered the additional Bounded Fields she had added after leaving for the Emiya residence for the week-end.
They went straight to the Workshop, which had become filled with all manners of projects and treasures since Rin had gotten her hand on the Archibalds' compensation money. Even in a field of Magecraft as expensive as Gemcraft, twenty million sterling pounds went a long way, and the confiscated books the Church had delivered as an apology for Kirei's misjudgement in the affair had also helped. Rin had made great strides in her research, even while splitting her time between it, school, and the hours she spent at the Emiya residence.
Working swiftly, Rin filled several boxes with prana-charged jewels. Some of them were loaded with her own energy, while others contained energy she had extracted from Shirou through their contract. The mystical bond between the red-haired boy and his two lovers was still as strong as when it had been created, thanks in no small part to the nights they all spent together.
Even without that added mystical value, the jewels Rin was gathering to use as ammunition in the Grail War were easily worth tens of millions of yens. Clearly Rin was taking this seriously.
Along with the jewels, Rin put a few books aside to be taken back – some on Gemcraft, others on the Grail War itself. Once she was done, she went to a shelf on the far side of the Workshop, which was covered in a thick cloth. Removing it, she cautiously removed an ornate box from the shelf and set it on a nearby table. She looked at it with a conflicted expression before finally pressing her finger against the lock and whispering the release incantation.
The box clicked open, revealing a short blade with a red jewel encrusted in its pommel. The letters "AZOTH" were engraved in the ruby.
"Kirei gave this to me when I finished my Magecraft training under him," she explained, taking the dagger in her hand and testing its weight. "It was my father's, but he gave it to him after that fake priest completed his own tutelage prior to the Fourth Grail War. I don't like to use it, but it can amplify the energy of its user, and we are going to need every advantage we can …"
"… Rin." Shirou's voice was very, very calm as he spoke. "You know how my Magecraft allows me to perceive the history of bladed instruments ?"
She blinked. "Huh ? Of course I do. What ? Did Kirei use this to murder someone before he gave it to me ? It would fit what passes for his sense of humor, I guess …"
"… Rin, put that dagger down."
"Oookay …" Rin raised an eyebrow as she placed the dagger on the table. "Shirou, you are worrying me. What exactly did you see ?"
"Rin, Sakura …" Shirou took a deep breath. "This dagger was used by Kirei Kotomine to kill Tokiomi Tohsaka by stabbing him in the back, a few moments after Tokiomi had handed it to Kirei."
"What ..." Rin's voice trailed off as she stared at the weapon, horrified.
Next to her, beyond her concern for her sister, Sakura appeared untroubled by the revelation. Any filial piety she might have felt for the previous Tohsaka Head had long since disappeared, replaced by contempt and disgust for the man who had given her away to the Matous. That feeling had somewhat diminished since she had been freed from Zouken, but Shirou doubted she would ever forgive the man who had condemned her to that hell.
By contrast, Rin's reaction was far more pronounced.
"He raised me," choked Rin. She was shaking, her skin pale and her eyes wide. "After Mom … he trained me, taught me everything my father had taught him of Magecraft, along with some of what he had learned as an Exorcist. And all that time, he … he … That bastard ! That complete and utter bastard ! I am going to kill him. I am going to -"
"Nee-san. Look at me."
Sakura took Rin's head between her hands, forcing her to look away from the Azoth dagger and straight into her eyes, her own face mere centimeters away.
"We will make Kirei pay, Nee-san," she said in sweet, soothing voice that was somewhat at odds with the actual words she was speaking. "But you need to calm down first, okay ? It happened a long time ago, and we have a lot of things to do. Remember ?"
"I … yes. Yes. You're right, Sakura. Just … just give me a moment …"
"Of course, Nee-san," replied Sakura, before enveloping her sister in a hug.
Leaving his second lover in the care of his first, Shirou moved to pick up the dagger, forcing his disgust at touching the treacherous weapon down and putting it back into the box where it had remained for years. He put the box back on the shelf and replaced the cloth that had covered it for years.
Once Rin had calmed down, they went back to the Emiya residence, with Shirou carrying several heavy boxes. Rin had already decided that she would be staying there for the duration of the War, and had packed up some additional clothes and supplies in addition to the stuff she had already moved there months ago.
They put the mundane supplies in the house and made their way to the Workshop. The shed had become quite cluttered in the last year, as Shirou no longer saw any need to conceal his abilities from Rin. The Tohsaka Head had intensified her teaching to her sister and lover, as well as her own research into Gemcraft. All three of them were determined not to be caught in the same situation as when McRemitz had attacked again.
While Rin pursued her family's brand of Magecraft, Sakura had learned to make use of her connection to Shirou in conjunction with her rare Imaginary Element trait. The younger girl cared nothing for the research applications of that talent, despite the fact that many Clocktower magi would have paid a fortune to have access to it. All she was interested in were the practical applications; specifically, its use in battle. She had instinctively grasped the fundamentals of it during her battle against the Enforcer, and had spent long hours practicing until she could draw upon Shirou's od reserves to cast offensive spells well beyond what her already exceptional Magical Circuits should allow.
And of course, they had all invested weeks of work trying to figure out just what it was that dwelled inside of Shirou, while the sole male of the trio had dedicated a considerable portion of his training to mastering that power, learning to draw upon it without either losing himself to the shift in his mind process or overflowing his connection to Sakura and Rin with prana. On a table were all the notes they had made in their investigation of Shirou's nature, from the results of thaumaturgical examinations to exhaustive descriptions of every dream and vision he remembered. After over a year, they weren't any closer to uncovering the nature of the creature that had entered Shirou's body in the Fuyuki Fire.
They had taken to calling the entity "the Dark Angel", using one of the names Shirou had been able to remember from his visions. He was fairly confident that name hadn't referred solely to the creature he was fused with, but until they learned more, it would have to do.
Vast forests haunted by monsters hunted by knights; a fortress spanning an entire continent; a fratricidal battle fought with guns and blades on black sands … None of these made any sense. Even when taking into account the fact that most of the history of the Moonlit World had been lost or had never been recorded in the first place, there was nothing, even in the most obscure of the legends had survived that could be connected to Shirou's visions. Not without resorting to the sort of mental gymnastics and possibility-stretching normally reserved for deranged conspiracy theorists, at least.
In the end, the best theory Rin had been able to come up with was that, in the aftermath of the Grail's destruction, Shirou had been partially possessed by a damaged spirit from an Earth-That-Never-Was, brought into existence by the elements of the Second Magic that had been incorporated into the Greater Grail's system by the Tohsaka Head that had participated in its creation.
If the Dark Angel hailed from a timeline where, say, the Age of the Gods hadn't ended and Humanity had been forced to adapt, then the abnormalities in Shirou's visions could be explained. The huge sword he had used to kill Zouken and the shikome could have been invented by a version of Mankind that had combined Magecraft with technology in order to be able to fight Phantasmal Beasts on equal footing.
Of course, Rin had already announced that she would need to reconsider that theory in light of what she now knew about the Grail's corruption. But that was a matter for another time. For now, the three of them cleared up the Workshop, and Rin and Sakura prepared themselves to fight or flee if needed.
Rin traced the Formalcraft circle they would use for the summonings as far from the containment one Shirou had inherited from his father as she could. While she worked with Sakura's help, Shirou memorized the aria of the summoning spell, going over each line over and over. There were already going to be far too many unknowns in the summoning ritual, he wasn't going to add any by half-assing it.
Shirou was the only one who needed to learn the aria : Rin had studied it years ago as part of her heritage as the Tohsaka Head, while Sakura had been forced to memorize it during her "training" at Zouken's hands. Thinking back on it now, Shirou realized that the old worm must have known that the Grail War would start early. That was the reason he had subjected Sakura to such torments that would surely have killed her years before the next War's normal date.
And if he had known about that, just how much else had he known about the Grail's condition ?
"We are done, Shirou."
Hearing Rin's voice, Shirou lifted his gaze from the piece of paper he had been intently studying. The clock on the wall indicated that he had been sitting there for nearly an hour, reading the same words over and over and dwelling on dread implications.
"Alright," he said while standing up. "Let's do this, then. Are you both ready ?"
"We are, Senpai. We will stay back and absorb any overflow, and provide support if this goes wrong."
"Thank you. Remember, if the Servant attacks, let them focus on me. Even with Tracing Avalon, I am still a lot tougher than the both of you."
"None of us are getting injured," declared Rin with a scowl. "That's final. Now get to it, Shirou. This is only the first step – and the easiest one."
"… Alright."
Walking toward the circle, Shirou closed his eyes, and flicked his Circuits open, one by one. He focused on the sheath that resided within his flesh, the Noble Phantasm that Kiritsugu had dissolved into his body to save him from a slow death after pulling him from the flames.
The more he learned about the Dark Angel, the more amazed he was that Avalon worked at all for him. King Arthur's sheath was a thing of good and law, the incarnation of Utopia's promise. The memories he had glimpsed of the creature with which his damaged soul had merged were clear that, whatever it had once been, the Dark Angel had become a monster entirely opposed to those long before it had become lodged into his body. And yet, Avalon had still healed him, had still saved his life when he had been a child.
Rin thought that was because the Dark Angel, as a creature born of the Second Magic, wasn't actually "real", and therefore couldn't be judged as evil by Avalon's rules, enforced as they were by fae magic. Sakura had a different opinion : she believed that Shirou's own nature outweighed whatever sins he may have inherited from the spirit.
Regardless of the truth, Avalon had always helped keep him safe. More importantly, it had helped him save Sakura. It had recognized him as worthy of wielding its powers, but it would always truly belong to its intended owner, the one it had been made for in another Age of the World.
And it was to that hero that Shirou called now as he began reciting the aria.
"For the elements, silver and iron.
For the foundation, stone and the Archduke of Contracts.
For the ancestor, the great master, Schweinorg.
Close the gates of the cardinal directions.
Come forth from the crown, and follow the forked road leading to the Kingdom."
Perhaps it was the tentative connection with the Greater Grail, where dwelled the source of the calamity that had destroyed and reforged him. Perhaps it was Avalon suddenly activating and radiating its power inside him with no wound to heal. Perhaps it was the words of the aria resonating with the Dark Angel's unknown origin.
"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill.
Repeat five times.
But when each is filled, destroy it.
Set."
Whatever the reason, Shirou felt the part of him that wasn't him stir, and power that, for all that he had advanced far on the path to mastering it, was not his yet, suddenly flowed his Circuits.
He gritted his teeth and went on. He could not stop now; all he could do was hope that the Dark Angel's power wouldn't influence the summoning too badly.
"Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny.
If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me.
I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world.
That I shall defeat all evil in the world.
You seven heavens, clad in the three great words of power,
Come forth from the circle of binding,
Guardians of the Scales !"
Contact acknowledged. Catalyst recognized.
ERROR. ERROR. Inhuman contamination detected. Initiate -
EnoUgh – ThE ChiLD oF FiRE anD SHADow WilL pLaY His pARt
Initiating linking process to / THErE WaS only EvEr oNe suITED for HIM
Accessing backup storage imaginary space / HeR CaPTIvitY EnDS
Beginning manifestation process / ShE WiLl Be MaDE tO SeRVE
ThE ShE-DRAgoN WilL KnEEl BeFOre OUr DaRK AnGEl
She had been drowning in darkness for a long time. It was all around her, pressing down on her. She could not breathe, but she dimly remembered she didn't need to.
She remembered the darkness tearing away pieces of her. Her spear, her kingdom, her memories, until all that remained was the war for the cursed chalice, the battles and the grief – and then the plunge, and the darkness.
She knew her name, at least, for it had been spoken by foe and ally alike. She knew who she was supposed to have been – a king, high and noble, leading her people to glory. But it was a distant knowledge, unlike that of the war she had fought in this new era, that was so different from the one she had been born to but was now the only one she remembered.
She remembered meeting the empty-eyed man who was her Master, and the vibrant and tragic figure who played that part to deceive their foes. She remembered fighting other heroes, and battling a great abomination that had been brought forth by a madman seeking to bring ruin to the World.
She remembered how desperately she had pursued victory, but she could not remember why. What could she desire so much ?
It did not matter. The chalice's promises were lies. Her wish would never be granted.
She had seen that clearly, in her last moments before the mud had engulfed her. As the chalice overflowed with all the world's evil, and her Master commanded her, unleashing the full might of her sword and more, she had seen the truth of the prize they had all fought for, and understood why the man who held her Command Seals had made his decision.
Perhaps if she could still remember her wish, she would have hated him in spite of this. But she understood, even if his actions had led to her being trapped in the darkness. To do anything else would have been to surrender to it, to let it win, and that was something she could never tolerate.
When she had first come here, the darkness had tried to break her once it was done tearing pieces off her. It had tried to make her bend, to force her to submit by desecrating her very nature and polluting it with its own corruption.
But then, something had ignited inside her, something hot and wrathful. A great heat, that for all her mortal life and reincarnation had been kept contained, had surged across her entire being, bringing pain and salvation alike. The darkness had recoiled then, unable to taint that power as it slowly altered her. She thought it had screamed too, a cacophony of sounds that weren't voices, yet amidst that mayhem she had recognized a single word, full of spite and fury :
Dragon.
She had been spared from the darkness' final corruption by the draconic power that dwelled inside her, which had waxed strong to fill the hollowness left by the pieces the darkness had taken from her. Ever since then, she had remained in the darkness in a state of dread equilibrium, the darkness unable to do anything to her, but she in turn unable to do anything to escape.
Time had passed without anything changing, leaving her trapped with nothing to do but sleep, and dream of the vengeance she would take on the darkness when – not if, when, for she refused to consider the alternative – she got out of this dismal purgatory.
And then, something changed.
After so long in the same darkness, she noticed the disturbance immediately. Far in the distance – she could not tell if it was above or below, for direction had long since lost all meaning – she glimpsed a light amidst the endless, churning darkness.
She knew this light. It had been hers, once, and as she saw it, she was filled with desire to possess it once more. She reached out toward it, and it reached back to her. In that light she saw the shadows of great wings, and the idea of a hand stretched out to her.
She took it, or it took her, and suddenly she was moving through the darkness, moving away from it. It roared as she flew, perhaps in anger or perhaps in laughter, she didn't know and didn't care because she was escaping -
When the flash of light faded, a figure stood in the circle, and Shirou could feel the new connection to his Circuits, along with the ones he already had with Sakura and Rin. The drain on his reserve was low, but noticeable.
Still tense, ready for anything, he took in his Servant's appearance. A thick suit of plate armor as black as starless night contrasted with porcelain-white skin, yellow eyes, and blond hair so pale it was almost white. Even in armor, there was no hiding how petite she was : the top of her head would barely reach Shirou's chin. And yet, as she blinked and stared at him, this didn't diminish her sheer presence any. Her features looked more like those of a girl than a woman, but her gaze spoke of both power and age.
In her hands she held a sword, its tip resting on the ground. That sword -
That sword -
What the hell had happened to that sword ?!
It was wrong. There was no other word for it. He had used Structural Grasping on it by reflex, and immediately regretted it.
Its story, its legend, had been overwritten. It was crude and awful, the work of a demented child painting over the Mona Lisa with blood and shit. Just enough of the original past remained visible to make Shirou want to weep.
The false legend that had been plastered over the truth was the fevered, crazed dream of a sociopathic man-child. It was a simplistic tale of slaughter and conquest, a grotesque fantasy of violence and domination inflicted on one-dimensional caricatures of actual people. It was made horrific instead of merely despicable only by the power the sword possessed – and what power it was.
Despite its defilement, the sword – which must have been Excalibur itself, but Shirou refused to name it as such now, even in his head – remained incredibly powerful. The only thing he had ever seen with that kind of power was the weapon El-Melloi's apprentice had concealed on her person when she had come to Fuyuki the previous year.
And, even more surprising, it was still bound to the will of its wielder. Even after all the alterations that had been inflicted upon the weapon, the identity of its master remained the same.
For a moment, Shirou thought that their fears had become reality, that he had summoned an evil version of King Arthur, tainted by the Grail's corruption. Cautiously, he extended his Grasping to the armor she wore, taking in each piece of plate individually.
Reading the history of armor was more difficult for him than it was with swords, but he was still fairly adept at it. When the information resolved itself in his mind, he felt a wave of relief. Unlike the sword, his Servant's armor was the black of something that had been charred by fire, not the rotting color of corruption.
He looked deeper, at what laid beneath the armor. Immense power swelled there, radiating from the Servant's heart and across her body. The corruption that clung to her sword like mud was absent – somehow, Shirou had the impression that it had been burned away by that power.
Dragonfire, the word came to his mind, and he remembered the stories he had read when researching Avalon. In the records of the Moonlit World, it was written that Merlin, the greatest mage of the last thousand years, had implanted a Dragon Core within Arthur, granting the future king with immense power.
The fact that King Arthur was a woman didn't take him by surprise. While Kiritsugu hadn't told him the identity of his Servant, he had used "she" when referring to her, and Avalon was far too valuable a relic for him not to have used it as a catalyst ten years ago. Yet Shirou doubted that the Saber his dad had fought alongside in the Fourth Grail War had looked quite like this one.
His hands tightened into fists. She had escaped corruption, but there was no denying that something had happened to her. What had the Grail done to the woman before him ?
She took a deep breath, and spoke slowly :
"Servant, Saber. I ask of you : are you my Master ?"
Swallowing his anger – she wasn't the one it was aimed at – he raised his hand, showing the Command Seals.
"I am, Saber. My name is Shirou Emiya."
"… Emiya ?" she whispered his name in a curious tone, frowning. "I see. Tell me, Shirou Emiya. Do you desire the Holy Grail ?" The more she spoke, the easier her words came out. "Have you summoned me here so that we may fight together and claim it, to have our wishes granted ?"
Ah. Yes, they had known this part was going to be tricky. The Grail was supposed to select Servants who had a wish of their own, so that they would be willing to fight even without the Command Seals to compel their obedience.
(Nevermind that, in order to complete the Heaven's Feel and reach the Root, all seven Heroic Spirits needed to be sacrificed. That particular bit of knowledge was absent of the information uploaded in the Servants' minds, for obvious reasons.)
But there was no point in lying to her : she would find out the truth eventually. And more importantly, Shirou refused to deceive someone he was going to fight alongside.
Also … somehow, he had a feeling that her question was a test. It was, after all, a strange thing for a Servant to ask. Why else would they have been summoned ?
"No," he replied in a definitive tone. "I haven't."
"No ? Why not ?" Her voice was utterly neutral, devoid of any emotion, be it anger or surprise.
"The Grail is corrupted, Saber," he explained, trying to be as gentle as he could but knowing there was no cushioning that particular blow. "If it could ever grant wishes, now it is an instrument of ruin, capable only of causing destruction and pain. My objective in the Grail War is to prevent the Grail from manifesting, and to keep the damage to this land to a minimum."
He took a deep breath, trying to keep the images that sprouted in his mind as he spoke of what the Grail might unleash.
"I know you were summoned because you had your own wish, and I am sorry, but the Grail of Fuyuki won't grant it."
She smiled, for the first time since her summoning, and Shirou was taken aback by the sudden realisation of how beautiful she was.
"I know," she said.
… What.
"… You know ? What do you mean ?"
"Precisely that. I know that the Grail is corrupted, though I did not know the specifics. I was there when the last Grail War ended, Master. I saw what resides within the Grail."
"That's impossible," interjected Rin. "Servants summoned by the Heaven's Feel cannot remember the previous times they were called to participate in it. It's a fail-safe to prevent any of the Masters from gaining an advantage by using a Servant with previous experience ..."
"I know that," interrupted Saber, looking slightly annoyed that her words weren't immediately accepted. "And yet, I remember it. I remember fighting under the orders of Kiritsugu Emiya. I remember watching this Formalcraft circle over there being drawn. I remember the faces of the other Servants, and the deaths of three of them. And most importantly, I remember what happened when the Grail manifested at the end of the War."
She went on to describe how Kiritsugu had ordered her to destroy the Grail. How she had resisted his command at first, before the strength of a second Command Seal had overridden her will. How the might of her Noble Phantasm had struck the manifested chalice …
… and how a tide of black mud had erupted from the fractured vessel, submerging her within seconds and dragging her into a lightless realm where she had been trapped ever since.
"And I remember how you pulled me out of that darkness, Master."
While the three Masters were still reeling from her revelations, Saber moved, her armor disappeared in burst of black motes, revealing what Shirou could only describe as a black, backless gothic dress underneath. Her sword vanished in the same moment, and Shirou breathed an involuntary sigh of relief.
He would not soon forget its warped history, but its removal from his sight was still welcome.
That brief distraction, however, was enough for Saber to close the gap between her Master and her.
Before Shirou could react, the pale woman had put her hands against his chest.
She moved next to him and pressed her palm against his chest. Shirou sensed Avalon react to her proximity as the relic recognized its original – and true – owner.
There was a strange glint in Saber's eyes as she looked up at him. It reminded Shirou of how Sakura and Rin (the latter when she thought he wasn't looking at her) sometimes looked at him. But it wasn't quite the same.
You will be mine, her eyes seemed to declare with absolute confidence.
"I ask you again, Master : why did you summon me ?"
"We need your help, Saber. The other Masters don't know of the Grail's corruption. Their fight will endanger all of Fuyuki, and if they succeed, the entire world will be in peril. Will you help us ?"
She smiled again, and this time, the expression was far more predatory.
"Yes, Master. I will help you. Together, we will destroy the Grail, and make that cup pay for what it did to me."
If any Arthurian scholar could hear those words, Shirou thought, they would surely faint. For a moment, Master and Servant remained in place, looking in each other's eyes while half-embracing.
"How long are you two going to stay like this ?!" blustered Rin, moving to separate them. Behind her, Sakura was looking at them with a smile Shirou hadn't seen in some time now. It was the same smile she had shown in the days following the establishment of their contract, when she had goaded ... tricked ... persuaded Rin to put herself in situations where the three of them inevitably ended up having sex.
She still showed it at school from time to time, when Shirou and Mitsuzuri were talking in the Archery Club dojo. Seeing it now filled Shirou with dread.
"Oh ? I sense my Master's prana inside you, girl … and inside you as well," Saber said, her gaze moving between Rin and Sakura. "You know, the knowledge of this era that the Grail gave me suggested that modern society frowns on one person keeping two mistresses."
"Mistresses ?" Sakura cocked her head to the side while rising a finger to her chin, while Rin flustered and weakly tried to deny it. "Hmm … I guess that's accurate." She shrugged. "But none of us really care what society thinks. In any case, we have kept our relationship secret for now."
"I see." Saber looked remarkably unconcerned, and her next words made it embarrassingly clear why : "Of course, the man who would be my Master should at least be capable of handling two women at once. The two of you are Masters as well, correct ? Yet I don't sense any other Servant here."
"They are going to summon their Servant now," said Shirou, trying very hard not to blush. "I went first in case something went wrong." Her look told her that he didn't need to elaborate. "Sakura, it's your turn. Saber, can you stand back ? I don't want the first thing our new friend sees when manifesting to be another Servant."
Sakura looked at him and Saber for a few seconds, before deciding that now was not the time to tease him or Rin (who had fallen into a sullen silence). The purple-haired girl closed her eyes, and Shirou sensed the activation of her Circuits through their link.
"Be careful, Sakura," Shirou told her before she started. "The Dark Angel reacted to the aria – there might be interference during your attempt as well." He shot an apologetic look at Saber, who was frowning, having no idea of what he was talking about, and mouthed a 'later' to her.
With a final nod, Sakura opened her eyes, and began to chant.
"For the elements, silver and iron.
For the foundation, stone and the Archduke of Contracts.
For the ancestor, the great master, Schweinorg.
Close the gates of the cardinal directions.
Come forth from the crown, and follow the forked road leading to the Kingdom.
Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill.
Repeat five times.
But when each is filled, destroy it.
Set.
Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny.
If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me.
I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world.
That I shall defeat all evil in the world.
You seven heavens, clad in the three great words of power,
Come forth from the circle of binding,
Guardians of the Scales !"
Contact acknowledged. No catalyst detected.
Beginning analysis of contractor's essence / We sEE pASt ThE ilLusIoN of hOPE aND JOy
Evaluation of spirit and affinity / WE seE tHE SeED oF A GrEAT PoWer
Accessing available records / THEy BlOCk OuR SIGht, BUT we HavE TaKEN ENOuGH
Compatible Origin identified / PAIN cAlLs to PAIN CaLls tO US
Beginning manifestation process / NoW thE SeRpENt ShaLl Be ChaINEd To OuR DeSIGnS
AS IT WaS AlWAyS MeaNt To BE
She knew herself as the Monster.
She had been something, someone, else, once. But now only the Monster remained.
And that was fine. That was fair. That was what she deserved, as punishment for what she had done.
Now she had been pulled from her slumber, given flesh once more by the artifices of magi. She looked at the world around her with burning eyes, seeing through the covering that blocked her eyes' offensive properties. She saw a human standing before her, and sensed the connection between them.
Master, thought the Monster, and knew that this was her ally, her commander.
She saw that her Master had purple hair, and the sight made something inside her twist and howl in agony. The connection that bound them tell her far more than her eyes could ever have, filling her senses with the girl's nature. She could sense, deep within her Master, hidden in an abyss that stretched into forever, the potential to become a greater Monster than herself by far.
Next to her Master was a boy with red hair.
She saw the red marks on the boy's hand, saw the black-clad knight at his side. The knowledge the Grail had granted her filled in the blanks.
Rival, the Monster thought. Enemy. Threat.
The Master and Servant were enemies of her own Master, and she would not – she would not – she would not -
She would not fail to protect her again. Even if it meant she had to kill, to rend flesh and crack bones, she would not let her be hurt.
With a terrifying shriek, she leapt toward the foes who threatened her Master. The serpentine coils of her lower body unfolded, propelling her forward. In her hands, she manifested the scythe that had taken her head when she had last lived. Bathed in her blood, it had followed her into legend, imbued with the ability to kill those who were thought immortal.
Her prey's eyes widened as he saw the weapon, before starting to shine. He moved then, dodging her first strike by a hair's breadth. Before her next blow could land, he produced a great sword out of nothing – a huge blade that made her scaled skin crawl as it turned her attack uselessly away.
The Monster heard her Master shout something, but she could not make out the words over the beating of her heart and the all-consuming impulse to protect her, protect her at all costs, destroy her enemies, kill them, kill them all before they could kill her -
Overcome by rage, she let go of her scythe and struck at him with her claws. He blocked one of her blows with his sword, her talons scraping uselessly against the unknown metal, while his free hand caught her other wrist, stopping it dead. The Monster snarled and tried to withdraw, knowing she was exposed to a ripost, only to find that she could not break free of his hold on her wrist. She expected to feel that blade cut into her chest, hardened herself in anticipation of the pain -
But the boy did not strike. He did not cut her down.
The Monster did not understand. Why ? Why ? Why ?! He was her enemy ! And that sword – that sword was made to kill creatures like her !
She knew his kind, she recognized him from memories tinted with blood and madness. He was a hero, a slayer of beasts ! The same kind of man who had come to the island, over and over, forcing her to fight to protect her sisters, until she became the Monster !
So why ...
So why was he looking at her with such warm, kind, understanding eyes ?! Why wasn't he spitting curses at her as he cut her down ?!
She didn't understand, but her confusion only increased her strength. With a snarl, she pushed against him, her arms bulging with the power of the monster she had become. Caught by surprise, he dropped his sword, and she slammed him into the ground, looming over him, opening her mouth, feeling her acidic saliva run down her fangs -
- and still he looked at her with those eyes … still he …
As they struggled against one another, with him somehow managing to match her monstrous strength, his lips slammed against hers. The sensation felt strange, alien – and then, as their saliva mixed, power flowed from him to her.
The energy she tasted belong to no mortal. It was too strong, too concentrated. And, mixed with it, was another flavor, one she recognized, because she was already receiving it from her contract.
She recognized her Master's presence.
Her prey was linked to her Master. She couldn't hurt him without hurting her – but he would hurt her if she didn't kill him.
She froze, contradicting impulses warring against her. She had to kill him, but she couldn't. She couldn't kill him, but she had to. She …
"Berserker," said the voice of her Master, and she could hear it now, "by the power of my Command Seal, I order you to calm down !"
A simple Command Seal, given such a vague order, would have had little effect. At best, it might have temporarily granted the Monster – which knew herself to be a Berserker-class Servant – some measure of clarity.
But there was power behind that command beyond that of a Command Seal, and a will that had endured some of the worst atrocities ever perpetrated on Gaia without breaking. Those took the opening into the Monster's mind of the Command Seals and forced their way in, pushing back the black chains and thorns that had been placed around Berserker's mind by the conditions of her summoning.
The red veil, the fear, slowly faded from her mind.
As the madness diminished, her incarnation changed as well. She felt her lower body split apart as the aspect of snake was replaced with two human legs. She felt the scales that covered her body fade, replaced with smooth skin.
She pulled her face away from the boy's, smelling his burnt flesh from where her acidic saliva had eaten his mouth from the inside. She stumbled on her new legs, and suddenly became aware of a blade pressed against her throat, different from the one the boy had conjured. That one was no killer of monsters – it was destruction incarnate, a great and terrible power bound within the shape of a sword.
"You dare," hissed a voice from behind her, cold as ice and yet burning with anger. "You dare to hurt him ?"
She turned slowly, and saw a knight in black armor with pale skin and golden eyes glaring at her.
"Make one move," said the black knight, "and I will end you, to Hell with the consequences for the Grail."
She didn't move. She didn't know what to do. Her mind was clearer now, but in the wake of clarity had come so many questions, all of which could be summed up by : 'what was going on ?'
Movement in front of her drew her attention away from the sword and its angry wielder. A young girl – not her Master, though her hand also bore the crimson marks – rushed to the side of the boy.
"Shirou," she spoke in an urgent and worried voice on the edge of panic, "how hurt are you ?"
"I am fine, Rin," said the boy. His voice was raw and pained, but it should have been impossible for him to speak. He should have been crippled, his teeth dissolved in her acid, his tongue and cheeks annihilated. And yet he was already speaking, one hand running on his jaw, grimacing in pain. The damage their accidental kiss had inflicted upon him was healing before Berserker's occluded eyes.
"Okay, I'm not fine," he coughed along with blood and dissolved teeth, "but I will be soon. Avalon is already healing the damage, see ?" He put a finger in his mouth and stretched his cheek, showing where his gums were healing, white teeth already piercing through.
Under her blindfold, Berserker blinked. She had rarely seen healing that fast, and never in a mortal. Then again, the boy wasn't entirely mortal, wasn't he ? The energies she had tasted during their kiss certainly seemed to indicate as much.
Her Master came in front of her. She barely came up to her chin, and looked up at her without fear.
"Hello, Berserker. Can you understand me now ?"
"I ... yes."
"Good. As I was saying : my name is Sakura Matou, and I am your Master." She frowned, looking at something only she could see. "Your Madness Enhancement has gone down from A to E. I can't see if it's permanent, though. How are you feeling ? Will my Command Seal hold ?"
"… yes. I can feel it in my mind, holding back the blind rage and pain. I could force through if I wanted, but if left alone, it will hold."
"Good. Don't force through it, Berserker," ordered her Master in a firm voice. "You shouldn't need to anyway. The Berserker Class is supposed to use the Madness Enhancement skill to compensate for lower stats, but you had already good stats across the board to begin with." She turned her gaze to the sword that was still pressed against Berserker's throat, then to the one holding it. "Saber, could you please remove that ?"
Saber looked over Berserker and Sakura at her Master, who nodded. With a frustrated look, she obeyed, withdrawing the sword.
"You're getting off lightly," scowled the other Servant. "Threaten my Master again and I won't be so lenient."
"Thank you, Saber," said Sakura. "I will take it from here. Listen, Berserker : you don't need to attack any of the people in that room."
"I have to protect you, Master."
The girl's expression softened. "Thank you, Berserker. But I don't need to be protected from anyone here. The man you attacked is Shirou Emiya. He is my friend, my savior, and my lover."
The expression on her Master's face as she spoke was one Berserker was unfamiliar with. She had witnessed the expressions of desire and lust, directed both at herself and her sisters, but the adoration and complete trust in Sakura's voice as she spoke of the boy was different.
"You will not hurt him, nor his Servant, nor my sister, Rin Tohsaka" she gestured at the dark-haired girl, "nor, once she has summoned them, her Servant. We are allies, Berserker. More than that; we are family."
Family. Berserker understood that bond, even if she had failed to honor it in life. And yet …
"There is only one Grail," she whispered. "They will turn on you. Or at least, on me."
"There is no Grail, snake" said Saber, her voice somewhat softer now. She had moved from behind Berserker, standing now between them and her own recovering Master. "The chalice is a lie; I have seen it with my own eyes. It will not grant our wish."
"It's true," confirmed Sakura. "The Grail will bring only destruction and ruin. We three Masters seek to prevent its manifestation by stopping the Grail War from progressing. … I'm sorry. You won't have your wish granted."
Her wish ? … What had been her wish ? She must have one, else the Grail would not have chosen her to be summoned. But she couldn't remember.
Was her wish sealed alongside her anger ? If so … then perhaps it was for the best. She still could fight as she was now. She could still protect her Master.
If these people were her family, then she could make sure that they didn't meet the same fate hers had.
"I understand," she said out loud. "Regardless of the chance for a wish, I'll fight to protect you, Master."
The girl smiled. "Thank you, Berserker. Please, call me Sakura."
The Servant hummed, non-committally. That seemed to be enough, and her Master finally turned away, rushing to the boy's side. He was being helped on his feet by the other girl, though it was obvious to Berserker's eyes that he didn't need the help.
He smiled at her. With the Command Seal in effect, the sight of it didn't drive her to distraction, but some part of her still wondered just how – and why – he could look at her like that, mere moments after she had tried to end his life.
"Are you feeling better now, Medusa ?"
Berserker froze. How … ?
It could have been a lucky guess. Her form before her transformation hadn't been subtle, and the blindfold covering her eyes was quite the clue. But the way he had spoken her name didn't sound like a guess or a bluff – he knew who she was, was completely certain of it. But there hadn't been any catalyst to perform her summoning; even in her mad state, surely she would have sensed the presence of something linked to her life.
Sakura sighed. "Of course. Senpai, you saw her True Name from her scythe, didn't you ?"
"Hmm ? Oh. Yes. Sorry about that. I think I may still be somewhat light-headed from the pain."
Berserker hesitated. "I … How ?"
"Shirou can read the history of any bladed weapon he sees," explained Sakura. "If your weapon is associated to your legend, even if it isn't a Noble Phantasm, he could easily get your name from it."
Her hands tightened around the hilt of her scythe, which had reappeared at her waist during her transformation. She wasn't sure how she felt about having her past exposed without her consent or awareness, but it wasn't pleased.
"We will talk more about this later," commanded Sakura, "when we are discussing our tactics. For now, Nee-san, it's your turn."
The Monster – Berserker – Medusa, there was no point in hiding it, at least not here in front of her allies – took her place at her Master's side, and watched alongside her as the other human girl approached the summoning circle and began to speak.
"For the elements, silver and iron.
For the foundation, stone and the Archduke of Contracts.
For the ancestor, the great master, Schweinorg.
Close the gates of the cardinal directions.
Come forth from the crown, and follow the forked road leading to the Kingdom.
Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill.
Repeat five times.
But when each is filled, destroy it.
Set.
Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny.
If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me.
I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world.
That I shall defeat all evil in the world.
You seven heavens, clad in the three great words of power,
Come forth from the circle of binding,
Guardians of the Scales !"
Contact acknowledged. No catalyst detected.
Beginning analysis of contractor's essence / ThE OnE WhO STANdS In BAlAnCE
Evaluation of spirit and affinity / IN aNOTHER TiME AnY COUld HaVE BeEN CaLlED
Accessing available records / nOW OUR eYeS Are BlInded, BUT ThERE IS a PIECE we cAn Yet PLacE
Compatible Origin identified / THE DREAM of a dream, YeT POTENt NONEtheLESS
Beginning manifestation process / ThE gHOST of a KING, aND ThE KINg OF GhosTS aND STORms
ThE MANTle WE tOrE FrOm ThE DRAGOn's SHOUlders, IMPRINTed wiTH THe MeMoRy oF HeR BLOODlust aND WrATH
For Rin Tohsaka, the entire day so far had been a rollercoaster of emotions.
She had gone from angry to horrified to shocked to angry again, all before they had even left the home. Then she had gone through shock and anger once more as she finally learned the identity of her father's murderer, surprise (and, though she wouldn't admit it out loud, a bit of lust-tinged admiration) at the sight of Shirou's Servant, which had been promptly followed by surprise when Saber had revealed that she remembered the previous War – and nothing else. She had no reason to doubt Shirou's word on the corruption of the Grail, but the Servant's testimony confirmed that there was something very, very wrong with the system.
Then she had gone back to fear as Sakura summoned her reptilian Berserker, then to shock and relief as they managed to calm her down, mixed with worry for that idiot Shirou.
For all that Saber had appeared clad in black armor and holding a sword that all but screamed 'evil, cursed weapon', Berserker had been ever more terrifying, towering over all of them as she stood on her snake-like lower body, her hair ending in serpent-shaped protrusions.
Not that Sakura's Servant wasn't a beauty in her own right, now that her appearance wasn't quite so scary. She and Saber had very different body types : Berserker was far curvier, and her outfit was far more revealing that even Saber's pretty black dress, being only made up of a few pieces of brass and purplish metal that looked more like a swimsuit than armor. Her long purple hair reached to her ankles, and her eyes were concealed by a blindfold of the same material as the rest of her outfit, with a crimson jewel incrusted in it that had her fingers itching to examine it closely.
So, she had experienced shock, fear, worry, embarassment and lust. And it wasn't even noon on the first day of the Grail War. At this rate, Rin wasn't sure her heart would be able to endure through the entire thing.
So she felt she could be forgiven for hoping that her own summoning would go without drama. And, for now, it seemed to have been the case.
Her Servant looked ... well, they looked terrifying, but so had Saber and Berserker at first, and at least she wasn't attacking like the latter.
Like Saber, her Servant wore full armor, though it was midnight blue rather than black. The only hint as to their gender was the chestplate, which was curved with sharp angles to accommodate breasts while turning aside frontal assaults. Her helm covered her head entirely, and two golden lights gleamed ominously through her visor. She held a spear in her right hand, point held low in front of her, and even without Shirou's ridiculous perceptions Rin could feel the weapon's power. It was thin and barbed, made of a material black as coal with glowing red runes circling the haft in interlocking patterns.
"Servant, Rider. I have been summoned upon your request, to crush everything that stands in your way. I see two Servants before me," said the Servant, "and one in whose heart dwells that which no mortal should claim. Am I to fight so soon after being called, Master ?"
"No !" replied Rin quickly. "No, no one is going to fight here. Hello. I am Rin Tohsaka, and I am your Master. Behind me are the Masters of Berserker and Saber. They are our allies. You see, Rider, there is something you need to know …"
For the third time that day, the Workshop of the Emiya family witnessed a Master explaining to a Servant what they knew of the Grail's corruption.
"I see," said the armored Servant once Rin was done. Her face was still hidden under her helmet, revealing nothing of her feelings in response to the revelations she had just been subjected to. "All I desired from this War was a chance to face powerful opponents. If what you claim of the Holy Grail's taint is true, then surely there will be many such opportunities."
"We are going to try and solve things peacefully with the other Masters," said Rin, "but I am fairly certain we will need to fight at some point. Will you help us ? I would rather you do it of your own free will than have to use a Command Seal," she continued, apologetically.
Something too refined to be called a snort came from under Rider's helm. "Yes, Master. I will help you, and fight alongside those meant to be my rivals." She looked at Saber and Berserker, who had dismissed their weapons and stood near their Masters. "And perhaps we can arrange some spars at some point. Purely so that we know each other's abilities, of course."
"Of course," repeated Rin drily. Great. She had summoned a battle junkie. Still, that wasn't too bad. "I am glad you understand … Shirou ? Why are you looking at my Servant like that ?"
While she had been talking to Rider, Shirou had been staring at the spear in the Servant's hand, eyes glowing in that way they always did when he used his version of Structural Grasping. When Rin called him out, he blinked, before looking at her. His expression reminded him of the one he had worn earlier that day, in her Workshop, and she felt a twinge of worry.
"My apologies, Rider," he said politely, breaking eye contact with Rin to look at the last Servant to be summoned. "As Rin said, I am Shirou Emiya, Master of Saber here. One of my thaumaturgical abilities is the reading of a weapon's history, and I just used it on your spear – more by reflex than ill-intent, I assure you. And … well, we need to discuss it. I think it will be important. Are you fine with your True Name being revealed ? We already know those of Saber and Berserker."
For several seconds, Rider stared at Shirou, before giving the slightest of nods. This close to her Servant, Rin could sense some of her emotions : right now, she was feeling a mix of curiosity and repressed … was that desire ? Bloodlust ? It was tinged with an edge of something Rin couldn't identify.
"Alright," breathed Shirou. "That spear is a magical construct of some sort, far beyond my ability to consciously understand, but I can see some of its history. It has many names and shapes, but the one that matters right now is Gungnir, the spear of Odin, the Allfather of Norse Mythology."
"However, you aren't Odin. You have this spear because of your connection to the legend of the Wild Hunt. Like Odin once did, you led that host of spirits, and inherited Gungnir along with the role."
Rider bowed her head. "That is correct. I never held that spear in life, though I assure you that I am more than competent enough with it to qualify for the Lancer Class."
"I don't doubt it," smiled Shirou, the expression curiously strained. "For it was through that connection that I learned your True Name."
Meanwhile, Rin was desperately trying to recall everything she had read about the Wild Hunt. Her investigation of Shirou's condition had made her study all sorts of folklore. The Wild Hunt was a popular European myth : its basic form was that of a group of supernatural creatures that chased prey in the night. The Norse God Odin was said to be its leader in some versions, while in others …
… Oh god. Had she actually summoned Satan ?!
"Rider," said Shirou, "sorry to be impolite, but ... could you remove your helmet ?"
There was barely any hesitation before Rider reached up and took off her headgear. Her face was crowned by short black horns, but those weren't what held Rin's attention. Her Servant's face was older, fuller, but unmistakable nonetheless : it was the same as that of Saber.
"Well," said Shirou, "I guess that confirms what I saw in your spear's and your armor's history. Hello, Artoria, King of Storms, Leader of the Wild Hunt. As I said, this is my Servant, Saber : also known as Artoria, King of Knights."
Somehow, Rin thought, Shirou and her had summoned two versions of the same Heroic Spirit, with one of them remembering her last summoning.
She felt a weight in her stomach, as she wondered how many other rules of the Grail War could no longer be relied upon.
AN : Well, would you look at that. I finally completed this, and before the end of the year ! Over a year after I started writing this story (it took me some time to write the bunch of chapters that was published at the beginning of this fic), and we have finally reached the point I had in mind when the idea first took root in my brain.
(By the way, MalcadorLite : curse thee once more for doing this to me. I have not forgotten, nor forgiven, and shall yet have my revenge in full.)
After pondering the question of what spelling of Saber's True Name to use, I realized that I had already used "Artoria" in the prologue of this story. So, for the sake of consistency (and because having the question taken out of my hands was a huge relief), I will continue to use that spelling from now on.
Saber looks like the Saber Alter version of her canon self. When Shirou summoned her, she looked like her 2nd Ascension self (I will be using the FGO terminology and pictures for this), which is basically her appearance from Heaven's Feel without the visor. The black dress she can transform her armor into is also the one she wears in both game and route/movie.
Is it cruel to make Medusa a Berserker-class Servant ? Yes, undoubtedly. But I would argue making Heracles into one is much, much worse. In Fate lore, Medusa succumbed to the curse of monstrosity inside her and devoured her own sisters, while Heracles (who at the time was known by his true name, Alcides, rather than the slave name he took later) was mind controlled into murdering his wife and children by the so-called goddess of family. If Heracles qualifies for the Berserker Class because of that episode, then surely Medusa also does : in my headcannon, while the Greek Hero's insanity is fueled by his rage at his fate, Medusa's is born of her own guilt and self-hatred for what she did to the only family she ever had.
Making Medusa into a Berserker-class also let me combine her appearances in the Rider and Avenger classes. Basically, imagine Rider!Medusa in Avenger!Gorgon outfit from her 1st Ascension, or perhaps Avenger!Gorgon in her 1st Ascension without the scales and snake hair.
For Rider!Artoria : she looks like Lancer!Alter Artoria from Fate/Grand Order, with Rin having summoned her in her 1st Ascension outfit (the weapon is different, of course, and her horse didn't materialize with her when summoned). If Medusa's qualification for the Rider Class in canon is that her blood created Pegasus, then surely being associated with the Wild Hunt is enough for an aspect of the King of Knights to qualify. I searched for a cool weapon I could have Rider use, and eventually had to give up and resort to Gugnir, despite it being the most obvious (and thus, in a way, boring) choice.
The action of the Fifth War will start soon. Writing the battles is going to be a challenge : fights involving Servant-levels of power obviously flow very differently from battles in the WH40K setting. Even a fight between two Daemon Princes or equivalent isn't quite the same. For lack of a better term, Servants fighting is just more "anime" than anything I can think of set in WH40K ... except perhaps for a certain fated (heh) confrontation in the Roboutian Heresy, that has yet to be written, but will take part in the skies of Cadia.
I understand some of you wanted to have Servants hailing from the WH40K universe. There are reasons why I stayed with Servants from the Fate franchise for the characters, and while I could wax poetically on those, citing the needs of the crossover and narrative, the main one basically amounts to "I am trying to write this as a fluff story, and characters from Warhammer aren't very fluffy, nor can they eventually end up in Shirou's harem". Also, one word : Caster. Trust me on this.
Besides, for those of you who have read the Roboutian Heresy, Saber's own summoning should remind you of another certain black dragon ...
What else ... ah yes : I really regret deciding to write the corrupted Grail's POV lIKe ThIS. It's a real pain, and I might just drop it in the future.
I may or may not have another chapter done before the end of the year, though not for this story (there is a lot I need to consider regarding the Grail War. I know the beats I want the story to go through, but the details are still very much to be hammered out - like, for example, what will the heroes do about Kirei ?).
That being said, the two short stories I have in the work aren't especially cheerful, so perhaps I should save them for after the celebrations. We have all already had enough bad stuff from this year, I think.
As always, thanks you all for your support, and please tell me what you thought of this chapter, and what theories you have come up with regarding Shirou's nature, that of the Grail's corruption's, Caster's identity, etc.
Stay safe, and have a happy end of the year.
Zahariel out.