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Clarent Blood Arthur: A Fate/Stay Night Fanfiction
Chapter 9: When the Waves Die Down
"So...anyone want to talk about the shitstorm that happened earlier?"
She knew it was an awkward subject, but it was all Rin could think of at the moment; That titanic battle back at Homurahara, the two knights of Camelot as well as the existence of Servant called Ruler was all she could think of.
Frankly, it was a bothersome mystery she would rather solve sooner than later.
"That's the first thing today that makes sense." Archer answered back, lingering after Rin and Shirou in spirit form as they walked through the Miyama district under the starry sky.
"Uhm..." Shirou began to ask "If I can judge by your reactions...this hasn't happened before?"
"...Not to my knowledge." Rin answered after some thought "Ever since the first War, there have always been seven Servants. That's what the Holy Grail has stuck to. What I want to know is-"
"Why, now of all times, did it decide to bend the rules and throw in three extra Servants?"
If Archer was in physical form, his Master would've been giving him a glare "Yes Archer, why indeed? Was the Grail THAT bored of no one winning that it decided to have some fun?!"
As Shirou watched her rage against the air, that cracked image he had of "Tohsaka Rin, Honor Student and School Idol" began to fracture even more. Still there was an unspoken question he wished to ask:
"What do we tell Saber?"
Rin turned to him with her eyebrow raised, the gesture indicating her confusion "What do you mean?"
"Well..." The red-head stammered a little before continuing his trail of thought "We all know that she's King Arthur right?"
"Yes, and it'll help me later when I have to deal with you after we finish cooperating. What's your point?"
"My point is this: Despite her stance, I don't want her to fight Berserker if I can help it." Shirou explained rather crossly to his current ally "I...I don't think it's right for family to be at odds like this, you know?"
Little did he realize that he had struck a chord deep within Tohsaka Rin, though she didn't allow any of it to manifest beyond a small, subtle wince. "Shirou." she answered back "If you do that, it'd be like a slap on the face to both of them."
"What do you mean?"
"She means that we are Servants. We are SUPPOSED to fight for the Grail." Archer interjected for his Master, the disembodied Servant's tone becoming more stern than usual "Family or not, both Saber and Berserker are willing to put it all on the line for what they believe in. Also, Mordred wasn't exactly thinking of that when she led that rebellion against her 'father'. In the end, you can't make everyone happy."
"But-"
"If you insist on following that silly little ideal, then by all means." He sighed as if he shrugged his shoulders, having nothing more to say on the matter "All the more reason I should kill you." he was tempted to say aloud, but chose not to.
Shirou turned to Rin, the pig-tailed girl sighed as she walked "I understand where you're coming from, but what my asshole of a Servant is saying is right: As much as you don't want it, Saber will have to face Berserker sooner or later. When fighting for the Grail, family will have to come second."
The red-head managed to pick up a hint of hesitation in her tone, but chose not to acknowledge it for the time being as they neared the Emiya Residence.
"At any rate, I'll have to call that priest first thing in the- Oh."
"Oh?"
"I believe you're in for an interesting sight, boy."
Shirou focused his gaze on what the smirking Master and Servant are talking about; Sure enough, Saber stood at the door clad in the white dress shirt and blue skirt Rin had picked out for her. The dainty Servant's arms were crossed on her chest as she tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. What Shirou noticed the most was the bulging vein on her right temple, as well as that overall frown of disapproval.
It was then Emiya Shirou remembered three things: The fight made him stay later than he should have, he did not summon Saber when he needed to and, most important of all:
Saber was not fed.
"Master." she spoke in that kingly tone that struck fear into the hearts of Britain's enemies as well as her Master's "We are to have words."
An hour later...
"I see..." Saber finally spoke as she, Rin and Shirou sat at the table. The latter two had just started telling her pretty much what went down in school after the Servant gave her Master a proper scolding "So the Master of Rider has ordered her to deploy a Boundary Field..."
"Which would feed off the souls of those inside once activated." The red-clad girl nodded as she finished that line of thought "Shirou and I stayed late to undo the seals to at least delay it's activation."
"Yes, that is indeed the correct course of action." The blonde King of Knights nodded "Many innocents would suffer if it is activated. But..." she turned to her Master, her stern expression unchanging "Why did you not call me when Rider attacked? If Archer was able to fend her off, then I should be more than a match for her."
"Well..." Shirou took a deep breath "Something else happened..."
"And what would that be?" Saber blinked in confusion from seeing her Master act uncertain about what he was about to say.
Fortunately for the Servant and unfortunately for Shirou, Rin got right to the point "Berserker and her Master made an appearance too."
Shirou wanted to give Rin a glare, but didn't have the time as Saber went on the attack "Is this about what we talked about earlier? Did I not elaborate that I'm willing to do whatever it takes to win the Grail, even if I must face my usurper of a son?!"
"I know that!" Shirou answered back in irritation "But I still think you two shouldn't fight!"
"And I think you should consider your actions more carefully! If it had not been for Rin, you would have died a fool's death!"
"That is not the issue here!"
"Nay, the issue is my Master's hesitance to fight a War in which his life will be on the line and his tendency to make mistakes that will kill him many times over! Or did forget what happened with Lancer?!"
"Okay, enough!" Rin decided to play mediator upon seeing the intense glaring contest both Shirou and Saber were locked in.
"Why did you stop them, Master?" Archer chuckled, his disembodied voice sounding in the room "It was about to get interesting! If they killed each other, then we wouldn't have to fight them anymore, right?"
"Shut up, you're not helping." His Master lashed out as a retort, immediately silencing him "Look, since Sakura and Fujimura-sensei aren't coming tonight, why don't I make dinner?"
"...Very well."
Saber sighed deeply before locking her gaze at Shirou while Rin got up and made her way to the kitchen "It does not mean that I'm letting go of this."
"Fine by me." Shirou sighed in annoyance. That, and her insistence to share the same room was really wearing him down.
"Oh, and there's something else you ought to know, Saber."
"What is it, Rin?" The Servant asked as Rin's head peeked out of the kitchen.
"There's a new Servant called Ruler mediating this War." The Master of Tohsaka said, noting that Saber's surprise was quite similar to their own when they first found out about this game changer "And there's something else."
"Something else?"
"Shirou and I will tell you later." Rin continued while Shirou listened intently "But there are two extra Servants with that Ruler and...well, let's just say you know them VERY well."
"I...would like to apologize, milady." Lancelot, going by the alias "L", knelt on one knee before the blonde girl known to most as Leticia Delacroix, the pretty french exchange student in Homurahara Gakuen "I have acted rashly and gave in to my thirst for vengeance, behavior unbecoming of a knight. It has caused much trouble and for that, I am sorry."
"Hmm..." The petite blonde placed a finger on her chin in thought, mulling over the predicament they were in in her usual casual fashion. She, L and G were in a small two-room apartment near Kotomine Church that can be described as homey and rustic; the living room and the kitchen (which had an oven and stove) were adjacent to each other, the bathroom nestled in between them. "I suppose there is nothing we can do about it now. I only ask that you do not do this again. Otherwise, I would be forced to use a Command Seal to restrain you."
"Yes, Ruler." The black knight nodded his head before she beckoned him to rise, ending that discussion rather quickly.
"I take it that you do not mind being revealed, milady?" Gawain a.k.a "G" entered the room with a relaxed smile.
"They were bound to learn it sooner or later. It was just a matter of time" Ruler sighed as she began walking towards the kitchen in a calm pace as L took a seat on the green sofa situated in the living room "Our next move, then, would be to visit the church, where the mediator is taking residence."
"When do you wish to act, milady?"
"Soon enough, L." She nodded as an answer "I believe he should hold some answers as to what went wrong the last War."
"The Great Fuyuki Fire." Gawain nodded slowly "It is hard to believe that the Holy Grail these magi have built is capable of such unwarranted destruction."
"Aye." Lancelot nodded in agreement "That is the reason why we are here, is it not? To make certain that it does not happen again?"
"Precisely." Leticia affirmed her answer "That is why we must do all we can to prevent such a calamity to occur once more."
DING!
"Ah, it's ready!"
"What is, milady?" Both G and L blinked in surprise as the blonde French girl grabbed an apron from the counter, put it on and walked towards the oven.
"These croissants I was making while I was waiting for you two to return!" She giggled as she put on her oven mitts and pulled out the baked goodness out of the oven "When I was younger, I would always assist my mother in baking the bread my family would have for dinner. I suppose growing up in the peasantry has it's benefits."
She giggled when she saw that L and G were just gawking at her in astonishment. Then again, did they expect anything less from the humble beginnings of one of France's greatest heroines?
"Well, what are you waiting for? Allons manger!"
As the two knights of Camelot settled themselves for some pastries (and, from the look on their faces, were enjoying immensely), she had thought of the last person she had baked these for.
"Master...I wonder how you're doing now."
10 AM, Einzbern Manor, the next day...
Daigoro Morimoto let out a small sneeze as he was polishing the finery. "Hmm, must be the dust." He mused as he put down the goblet. He had just finished his duties of polishing the china and, as per his mistress's orders, was about to go prepare a late breakfast for her and her Servant, making note that he should make his servings extra generous when it comes to the latter.
He too wondered about this new player in the game, this Servant Ruler. He, much like Rin, wondered why the Grail decided to throw in this new Servant into the furnace. However, he chose not to dwell on that today, for he had duties to accomplish.
Little did he realize that those duties would be put on hold.
"Morimoto-san! Morimoto-san!" The elderly butler turned to see Sella going towards him in a hurried pace.
"Whatever is the matter, Sella-san?"
"It's ojou-sama! She's disappeared!" The silver-haired maid explained "And Berserker too!"
"...Oh dear."
At that same time...
Shirou had found himself walking through the market place in the Miyama District on this fine morning to buy ingredients for food. Why was he not at school, you ask? Well...
"There won't be school for a few days?!"
"Yeah." Taiga relayed to a rather the shocked trio of Rin, Sakura and Shirou during breakfast "As it turns out, much of the school property such as the classrooms had been completely wrecked yesterday. Each of them looked like they got struck by a hurricane.
"Wow...I wonder why?" Rin laughed nervously much to Sakura and Taiga's astonishment. She knew exactly how that came to pass.
"Archer, you and I will have to talk about collateral damage later..."
And so, this was how he found himself buying ingredients for their lunch later. Taiga had to leave on account on grading some papers as well as Sakura due to family matters (though Shirou wished, for her safety, that she didn't know about Shinji's involvement in the Grail War).
That left him, Rin and Saber with house all to themselves. The Master of Tohsaka did not waste any time, immediately setting out of the house to head for Kotomine Church. He, in turn, decided to go to the market place to buy ingredients to make lunch for when Rin gets back, making sure to buy some dora-yaki along the way.
In many a timeline, he would have done this alone. However, Saber had other ideas.
"In light of your recent actions, I will not leave your side. I shall go with you while you procure ingredients in case a Master as brazen as the Einzbern's attacks again."
This led to what was happening now, the red-head walking down the street with the blonde girl by his side. He often noticed this before, but as he turned to glance at Saber, he could easily see that while the armor and sword suited her, she looked rather cute in her casual garb.
"Is she okay, though?" He wondered to himself. Their argument yesterday aside, her reaction to the news regarding Ruler was something of a revelation...
"It can't be...Are you sure?"
"Yes." Rin affirmed as the three of them were eating the stir fried strips of succulent beef strips and vegetables seasons with soy sauce "The ones who appeared before us, among which the one who fought Mordred to a standstill, is Gawain and Lancelot, both Knights of your Round Table."
The shocked expression on Saber's face spoke a thousand words: Both of them were not only among the greatest her knights had to offer, but also very dear friends. This made this Grail War all the more painful for her, as the members of her court who impacted her the most were all summoned at the same time.
All this did was painfully remind her of her failings as a king, the reason why she fights for the vaunted Holy Grail.
"I see...Excuse me." The blonde knight spoke somberly as she abruptly stood up and left her food untouched and a bewildered Rin in her wake. Shirou would later note that for a fleeting moment, she saw that those beautiful jade orbs, usually brimming with fierce conviction, lost their light in them.
And he did not see her for the rest of the night, not even as he when he went to his room to turn in.
Though she was back to her stoic self come the next morning, there was a hint of that melancholy that remained within her, a small hint of sadness that Shirou detected, a small stain of regret that stained the otherwise perfect picture.
"That must be part of why agreed to her request in the first place." Mused the boy as they walked past the various stores littered about "Still, there must be something I can do."
Ever much the hero, he did not want to see anyone suffering in front of him, emotional pain included. That was just the kind of guy he was.
"So, anything you'd like to eat in particular?" He asked the morose blonde who walked beside him.
"Hm?" Saber looked to him with an expression that expressed her confusion "I do not have any preferences. I trust in your capacity to make quality food that will nourish me."
Even if she said it with such a straight face, Shirou couldn't help but smile at that. The sight of Saber, a girl who for all intents and purposes is much smaller than he, devouring enough food to feed several grown men was an admittedly amusing scene. Though it is necessary so that she can replenish her mana (since Shirou, for some reason, lacked the means to do so), she found herself enjoying his cooking.
"I'll take that as a challenge, then." He chuckled as he turned a corner to one of the marketplaces. His thought processes were in the midst of making a grand menu to cheer Saber up when the aforementioned girl abruptly stopped in her tracks.
"Master..." she murmured, her eyes wide due to shock.
"What is it?" he asked as he slowly turned his attention to whatever Saber was gawking at. Soon enough, he found himself gawking too; standing before him was the familiar petite form of the young Master of Einzbern, Ilyasviel, clad in her usual purple long coat and her ushanka doing little to disrupt the flow of her silver hair. Right beside her was Berserker, clad in her own casual wear. Her hair was done quite differently than Saber's; whilst the Servant of the Sword had it tied in a prim and proper bun, hers was tied in a ponytail that was wild and disarrayed, perfectly matching her fiery spirit.
"Berserker!" Saber growled, instinctively moving in front of Shirou "Do not tell me you wish to fight us here?!"
"Heh, if my Master wills it, then I would gladly do so!" The Knight of Treachery answered her with an intense grin, her fist clenched as if she was ready to start punching the living day lights out of someone.
"This is bad." Shirou thought frantically since, A. Berserker and Saber were willing to go at it in broad daylight and in view of many bystanders and B. The Magus Association and the Church would have their heads if they pushed through with it.
"...You're all saying funny things." All three turned to see Ilya, her expression that of an angry puppy "We can't fight in broad day light, remember?"
"Thank goodness." He sighed a sigh of relief, glad to see that Berserker's Master was being sensible...even if she tried to kill him on two occasions now.
"Now, will you please calm yourselves and not make a mess, Berserker and Oniichan's Saber?"
Both Servants looked like they really wanted to protest and end things here and now. Saber glanced at Shirou, who nodded, then took a deep breath and stood down.
"Very well." Berserker released her fist and sighed as well "It would be distasteful to settle our rivalry in such a manner anyway."
"I concur."
"So..." Shirou spoke, wanting to divert the subject away from people killing each other "You're Ilya, right?"
"Eh?" The silver-haired girl blinked in confusion.
"How dare you address my Master with such pretentious familiarity!" Berserker growled, getting ready to engage in fisticuffs, Saber reacting appropriately, when she was stopped by her tiny Master.
"I-I'm sorry! It's Ilyasviel, then!" Shirou stammered out quickly in apology
"It's okay, Berserker." she said before whipping her attention towards Shirou "But you better tell me your name!"
"My name?"
"Yeah, it's not fair if only you know my name, you know!" Ilya's cheeks grew puffier as she spoke.
"Ah. It's Shirou. Emiya Shirou."
"...Emiyashiro? That's a very funny name."
Shirou found himself sighing at the whimsical girl before him while Saber stood impassive "If that's too hard to say, you can call me Shirou, if you like."
"Shirou..." the little girl murmured softly before beaming up at him "That's a nice name! Now we're equal!"
"Equal?" The red-head questioned.
"Yup! We even brought both our Servants with us!"
"I trust you have a reason for coming here, if not to do battle, Master of Berserker?" Saber interjected with a skeptical brow raised.
"Despite what you believe, we did not come here for combat." Berserker sighed deeply "In fact, I wonder why my Master has decided to sneak past the help and come here in the first place."
"Geez, I told you already, Berserker!" The tawny silver-haired fairy pouted at her Servant "I came here to speak to Oniichan!"
"To speak to me?"
"Uhuh!" Ilya giggled before suddenly grabbing his hand and dragging him along against his will "There's an abandoned park nearby, so we can talk there!"
"W-Wait a minute!" Shirou was about speak, but it was too late as they were already enroute to the park.
"Wait, Master-!" Both Saber and Berserker were about to yell in protest before both their Masters were headed for the park. Both Servants momentarily sized each other up with a glare, as analyzing the other's move, before deciding to move towards where the other two went.
"I take it that your whelp of a Master has informed you about Servant Ruler?" Berserker was the first to speak, not making eye-contact as they sat in a park bench across from Shirou and Ilya, the two of them having their own conversation.
"He has." Saber replied with in a tone that contained steel. Trying to be civil in broad daylight was hard "And I had heard that Lancelot and Gawain are assisting that Servant."
"Yes, a rather grand reunion of the Round Table, I am sure." The Servant of Madness replied with barely hidden contempt "A bunch of self-righteous fools, the lot of you."
"I do not wish to hear that coming from the one who betrayed us." Saber growled in response "And what on earth is that outfit? Are you without shame?!"
"It was a gift from my Master, so I find it best you do not insult it." The Knight of Treachery growled; While she did hold that outfit in contempt, it was a gift from Ilya "And while we are on that subject matter, did Lancelot not betray you as well when he romanced your wife?"
"Yes, he did romance Guinevere, but I was still to blame."
At this, Berserker blinked in surprise at her statement; she had fully expected to justify his actions (which she did), but for her 'perfect father' to admit that she was wrong, as well as the fact that she looked vulnerable...this was new.
"What makes you say so?" she asked out of genuine curiosity.
"And why do you wish to know?" Saber asked back
"Out of curiosity. Because in my entire service as your knight, I have never seen you unsure about something."
Now it was Saber's turn to be surprised. She quickly realized that what she was pointing out was right, as the perfect king was not supposed to show any weakness. In her adherence to that belief, she came off as aloof to many of her subjects. This in turn sowed the seeds of discontentment in the hearts of her people, seeds that bore fruit when Mordred led her rebellion.
"For the Servant of Madness to be this perceptive." The King of Knights allowed herself a small laugh "Perhaps my edge has become dulled."
"It better not." Berserker huffed as she crossed her arms "I will not be content until I face you at your very best King Arthur!"
"Yes, I would prefer that." Saber nodded in response. She was going to ask how she came under the Einzbern's service when Ilya and Shirou walked up to them.
"We gotta go Berserker!" The tiny girl nudged the red-clad blonde "Morimoto-san's not gonna be very happy we sneaked out!"
"A fact I made painfully obvious earlier, Master." Berserker shook her head as she stood up.
"We have to go too, Saber." The red-head offered a free hand to his Servant with a smile "I can imagine Tohsaka not being too happy about us being gone to long. Besides, I'm sure you're hungry now."
"Yes." The knight nodded, letting out one of her rare smiles as she accepted his offer to get to his feet.
"'Father'."
Saber and Shirou turned to see Berserker speaking to them, the Servant of Madness' cheeks turning slightly rosy once she made eye-contact with the latter.
"Tell you Master that I owe him one favor. Only one." spoke the obviously flustered Knight of Treachery "After that, we shall settle our feud. So whatever doubts you have...I suggest you make peace with them now. In this War, there can be no room for doubts."
With a curt nod did Berserker and Ilya take their leave, no doubt heading back to their castle in the forest.
Out of the two, Saber was the most bewildered by what Berserker had said.
"Do you like it?"
"I find it quite delicious, thank you." Saber smiled as she took a bite out of the pastry, letting the red-bean paste filling linger in her mouth before it went down her stomach.
"That's good." Shirou nodded with relief, mostly with his Servant acting a little better "Um, Saber?"
"What is it?"
"I'm sorry for yesterday." The red-head began "I can tell that you have a lot on your plate right now, especially with Lancelot and Gawain, and I'm sure I didn't help matters."
"It's fine, Shirou." The blonde shook her head "I too behaved unbecomingly yesterday. My frustrations with this War have gotten the better of me."
"Does it involve Berserker?"
At that question, Saber could only nod. Shirou could only imagine the turmoil she must have felt to face the knight who ended her kingdom.
"If it's okay," the red-head began again "I'd like to fight alongside you." When Saber turned to him with a surprised look, he began to explain "I know I can't take your place stop you from fighting the other Servants. My experiences against Lancer and Berserker taught me that. Instead," He continued after stopping to collect his thoughts "I want to fight beside you, Saber. I want to make sure that you don't have to fight alone."
To accentuate his point, he raised his hand and offered it to Saber "So, what do you say?"
She stared at the hand with a surprised expression, then to Shirou who was giving her an earnest smile. It was these small gestures that made Saber prefer him as a Master; sure, he was by no means whatsoever a skilled Magus as well as a stubborn mule, but his heart of justice and his fellow man was something she had found quite noble.
"I accept." She nodded as she took his hand, the warmth of her smile making his heart skip a beat "I look forward to fighting alongside you, Shirou."
Unknown.
"I see..."
A raspy old voice sounded in a deep, dark basement shrouded in shadow "So there IS a Servant Ruler. Hmm..." the voice's tone changed, as if it was pondering on a riddle "For the Holy Grail to have deviated from it's usual format...Dear me, I supposed I must get involved after all."
As he spoke, a few delightfully grotesque worms crawling on the ground were all that could be made out from the shadows.
End Chapter 9
A/N: Ladies and Gentlemen! Chapter Nine is in the books!
Mordred: And not too soon!
Indeed! This is the first update of CBA since I've gone to America! Now, just one thing: I don't really know whether Joan of Arc baked in her early life (What I've found about her earlier is pretty vague), so I'm taking artistic license on
Saber: it's also the first time in a long time I appeared here. I have been absent for the past few chapters!
Well, you got a lot of spotlight in my other fics anyhow! Well, that's pretty much all I have to say for now, so kindly leave a review when you're done reading! See ya!
Next time on Clarent Blood Arthur: Crimson Lightning!