Hello my peeps!

Chapter 4 is up!

Okay first off, a happy new year to you all. Woah, can't believe it's finally 2020, the year's just gone by within a blink of an eye. So here we are again, with a brand new chapter and i'm going to end this year on a high note with the final chapter this year being made BEFORE 2020. So here's the poll's result's so far:

56

Male: 38

Female: 18

So far, Male is still in the lead and i have noticed some of you, have left reviews, wanting a fem Gil's but i can't promise nothing. The poll goes down at the end of January. So remember to vote. It's my birthday today, so it would make me happy if you all left me nice reviews. So as always i don't own Marvel or Fate-verse.

So here we go.

Chapter 4: Return To The Nightmare Part 2, Piece's Of The Dark Past And The Grimm Reaper

Xero's POV:

I'm floating.

Or at least, i think i am. I'm floating in some sort of empty space. Nothing was around me, just an void of blackness. No light, no people, no air, nothing. I moved my limbs and i felt like i was in some sort of zero gravity field. Nothing was holding me down and i thought i'd float away.

But where too?

There's nothing here or around me.

"You shouldn't be going back to Blackwood mountain."

An emotionless female voice spoke form within the darkness. I can't see her or pin point where he voice was coming form. Her voice wasn't loud, nor was it quite. It wasn't far but nor was it close.

This wouldn't be the first time, iv'e been in a place like this. If nothing else this was MUCH more pleasant, as i would usually end up on a broken battle field, a burning city or god knows what else. But this isn't right though.

This is...different.

Am i even dreaming or is this another vision?

"I cannot decide if you are just foolish or incredibly brave. Truly i have chosen a unique yet difficult master."

What?

Where is she, no what is she? Is she a servant?

CLING

Suddenly i felt myself go stiff, my body froze, as if a great terror has taken hold of me and has no plan of letting me go. Then i saw her, the same woman who stopped me at the hospital and gave me that bizarre warning. She had long white/sliver hair, with a slender body, brown skin and red eyes. Her outfit, if you want to call it that, was nothing more then a white bikini top and underwear.

Who is she?

I feel like i know her, but how?

And my god, what is this aura? Her power it's...unbelievable. It's like i was looking at an avatar of death.

She gave me a blank, emotionless look and spoke,"Fool or not, you are my master and as a servant, it's my duty to ensure you're survival. Even if you don't remember, you risked everything just to save me form my own darkness, despite me trying to not only kill you but all life on earth. But even then, you still saved me for no other reason, then merely wanting to help out a complete stranger. I will be eternally grateful for that. Once i was Vrabel's vanguard but you have shown me a different path, a better one and now i am gladly YOU'RE Vanguard. I'll be watching master and when the time is right, i will reveal myself to you. Until then, stay safe my master."

Suddenly my world span and i blacked out

Normal POV:

"Master, master!/Hey kid, you okay?!"

Xero blinked several times, before his eyes came into full focus. Tony and Jeanne were the first two people he saw, standing over him? Blinking again, Xero put his elbows under him and realized something.

"When did i end up on the floor?"

He groaned, rubbing his head, as Tony,"You don't remember kid?"

When his son shook his head, Jeanne answered him,"You suddenly froze up master. Then you blacked out and hit the floor."

Xero blinked again, he did? He groaned again, rubbing his head, which now had a big nice bruise on it,"Well that explains where this came form."

Tony helped his son up, using his arm to gently to push Xero up to a sitting position. Jeanne was sitting on her knee's, as everyone was crowded around him, making sure he was okay. Xero himself merely shook his head, as his father and first servant helped him up,"Bloody hell. That was nuts."

"What was?"

Xero blinked, as he looked at the green haired lioness. She didn't know? He began to debated on if he should tell them about the maiden in white or not. They should have known, given their mental link, so did they mean they didn't or rather, couldn't see what happened to him? If so then did that mean, the maiden in white prevented his servants form seeing her?

If so was did that show how powerful she is or was it something else entirely? Xero pressed his lips together and made his choice.

"Nothing, it was nothing at all."

Xero ultimately decide against it. No need to worry everyone anymore then they already are. They had enough problems as it is and they don't need to linger on his dream.

Vision?

Whatever.

He'll tell them, once the mission is over and deal with it appropriately. They have enough to worry about as it is, no need to add more onto the plate.

"Then again-"

Xero thought to himself, feeling his eyebrows twitch,"My luck is the devil's luck. So more then likely something big and dangerous is going to happen and it'll through my plan out the window."

"Most likely master."

Xero groaned again, hearing the voice the Archer Of Red aka Nameless aka Shiruo EMYIA, agreeing with him. The very least he could do is water is down a bit or be a bit more gentler with that fact, rather then being blunt. Then again it wouldn't be Archer if he wasn't always blunt.

And grumpy.

Like, he's not the easily angered type, just the "I'm always grumpy" type.

And protective of those he loves too.

...And straightforward.

Really he is able to say some of the weirdest and most embarrassing things with a completely straight face, kind of straightforward.

Where was he going with this?

Anyway, Xero mentally shook himself out of his thoughts, letting Jeanne and his father to help him up and sit back down on one of the chair's. He sighed to himself, leaning back. God above what the hell was he thinking in accepting the deck? No one told him ANYTHING about all the insanity and shenanigans that would follow, nor nearly dying like every other day.

"But"

Xero paused in his musing, looking at Jeanne and smiling a little,"It's more then well worth it. Iv'e met some incredible people and while we've had bad times but we've also had some pretty damn good times too. Saved a lot of good people and even solved and resolved many problems and mysterious world wide. Hell i even mended broken relationships between both mankind and my servants. Looking back at it all, i wouldn't change a thing about it. Couldn't even image my life without them anymore. I just simply love you all too much."

Jeanne, noticing her master smiling at her, smiled back, feeling some red tinge her cheeks. Because of the mental link, she knew what he was thinking and was very happy about it,"I can't image living in this world, without you in it either master."

The female Archer, Saber and Morgan all blushed at hearing that, while the Lancer gave his master, what one might call, a brotherly smile.

"We love you too, master."

The rest of the servants, yes even the Berserker's(Really it was more or less "Grunts" and "Happy growls" but you get the idea) Altera/Avenger class servants and a certain golden king all chord in agreement. Xero couldn't help but look at the team he had put together. Aside form Morgan, who was a mistress in the mystic arts and Artoria, who was king Arthur form the legend and wielded the legendary sword, Excalibur the sword of promised victory. Both of them are five star servants and the others weren't anything to scoff it either.

The Archer's real name is Atalanta aka Hunter Of Chasity. A four star servant of the bow, deadly accurate and she never miss's a target. If you're caught her ire and are in her sights you're already dead.

Next the Lancer's real name is Cu Chulainn aka Child Of Light, a three star servant of the Lance, one who had trained under another one of his servants, Sacthach. She was a, funny enough, five star servant. While stronger then him, Cu's spear was in fact a cursed spear that once it has a target, it never miss's.

Ever.

The Saber of red, was known as Nero Claudius aka the Emperor Of Roses. A four star saber servant and the fifth emperor of Rome. A woman who embraces beauty in all aspects of life and likes to see the best in everyone. She was a bundle of energy and fairly easy to get along with, so long as you don't harm her beloved master in anyway, otherwise you'll get burned.

Badly.

Summoning two five star servants wasn't very easy but doable. The entire reason he couldn't summon them during the terrible nightmare, was because his magical circuits and core itself just needed a break. He himself simply needed a break form his daily life of saving people, risking his life and his servants shenanigans. It was Florence Nightingale, a five star servant and known as Angel Of Crimea, told her master he needed a break.

He and everyone else agreed, as he was human and humans needed a break, before he had a complete physical and mental meltdown.

So she had sealed his magical circuits for twenty-four hours, enough to alone him to function normally but not enough to use mage-craft. This would give them a much need break and would not only be safe form overloading itself due to the massive strain it's been put through but would in-fact be stronger then ever.

So naturally with Xero's luck, it would be one of the worst night's he ever knew.

Never the less, that why he summoned some of his weaker servants. Not only were Cu, Nero and Atalanta best suited for this particular mission, Morgan could use this as a chance to prove herself to the other servants. Despite her saving Mash, they still didn't trust her. Though given her history, he can't really blame them, especially the Knights of the round table, all the Artoria's and Mordred.

But he trusted and would give her the chance to prove she can be trusted by the others.

He just hoped it didn't back fire horrible on him.

As for Tony, he saw the interaction between the two and the rest of the female servants blushing but decide not to comment. He really did what to get to known his son, but now wasn't the time. Plus he figured his son would tell him, when he's ready. Though one of the unnamed SHIELD agents did have a question for his son,"Not trying to pry, but why did you get the tattoo? The one on you're eye."

Just like that, the tempter in the room dropped, as the servants, especially Jeanne, face's darken with rage. Atalanta's eyes turned to silts, as clanking could be heard form Artoria's armored gauntlets, while Cu gripped his spear very tightly it threaten to break under his grip. Morgan meanwhile said nothing, nor do anything, but one could feel the angry rolling off her in waves, as Nero had small flames dancing around her form, burning the floor beneath her.

As for Xero, he merely sighed subconsciously rubbing his tattoo,"Well it's not a tattoo. Well i mean it is and it isn't."

Yeah, that made a lot of sense.

Judging by the looks on everyone's faces they understood...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Sighing again, Xero went into further detail,"To put it simply, it IS a tattoo but i didn't get it on a whim. It's covering up a real nasty scar, i got when i was younger."

"Who gave it to you?"

Tony asked. While he didn't want to pry into his son's past, he couldn't help but feel a surge of angry rise up in him, his son was hurt so badly it left a scar on him? Oh that would not stand! But his next words made everyone freeze and understand why his servants had such a dark reaction to his scar being brought up.

"My mother."

Xero said bluntly without any real care, as if he was talking about the weather.

Silence regained the arena, as the only sounds that could be heard, were the jet's motor running. Finally it was Clint who, as usual, broke the silence,"You're...mother, gave you that scar?" The disbelief was clear for all to hear, as if he simply couldn't believe the concept of a mother doing such a thing to her child.

When he nodded, no one knew what to say. What could they say? I mean really, what do you say to something like that? Rhodey himself felt anger surge in his and he spoke before he could stop himself,"The hell is wrong with people? What kind of mother does that to her own child?"

"An evil, conniving, bitch that's who." Jeanne all but spat out, the Ruler class servant was unable to stomach the thought of her master's mother, without an uncharacteristic surge of rage to rip through her body. She wasn't normally a person to hold a grudge. She was a holy maiden and liked to see the best in everyone, but Xero's mother, Lilith, she can make an acception for.

That woman was all kinds of fucked up.

Tony clenched his fist, once again feeling the knife of guilt driving it's way into his heart. Jesus Christ, why was it every time he learned something new about his son's past, it's something horrible?! First he learns he has a son, when he's on death's door and now he hears his mother was evidently abusive enough to not only leave a scar on his boy, but could have blinded him in one eye!

Rhodey was right, what the hell is wrong with people?!

Tony blinked as a thought hit him or rather a memory of a woman with the same shade of purple as his son's eyes. He looked at the shaking holy maiden and asked,"What is his mother's name?"

Blinking Jeanne looked at Tony, then her master, who merely shrugged. So what if his mother, beat him senseless for no reason and nearly cut his eye out, it was a long time ago. He no longer gave a shit about the woman, nor did he care who knew who she was. Hell he didn't even keep her last name or even what it is. Though he did wonder why she just suddenly changed one day.

Taking his shrug as the go ahead, Jeanne looked back at Tony and answered,"Lilith."

Ah.

That's right, now Tony could remember the beautiful woman's name, he remember the woman herself. Never the less, Tony felt like he needed to know what happened to his son. Judging by his attitude towards the woman, he figured it would be best to get the story form him,"Can you tell me?"

Blinking, Xero looked at his father with a raised eyebrow. Something that made Tony ask more clearly,"Can you tell me about you're mother and...why she did what she did."

Xero pressed his lips together and looked up to the ceiling of the jet and thought it over,"What's the harm? I mean really, she's dead and dad wants to know, so why not?"

While Xero doesn't outwardly call Tony, dad, he IS his father by blood and has done nothing but try to help him before and after he woke up. He just wasn't comfortable with calling Tony, dad, to his face.

Yet.

He nodded and spoke,"Well she wasn't always an abusive woman. She was in fact a very kind woman, at first. She held me when i was scared, tucked me in every night, taught me anything i wanted to know and never once did she make me feel as if i was unwanted or unloved. She gave me the name, Xero, because of the circumstances of my birth."

Tony frowned, not liking the implications, as his son continued his story, everyone respectively staying quite,"I was born with a weak body, the reason being is because i was a premature born baby. My immune system was very weak and i was five pounds lighter then a normal baby should be. Mother told me the doctors didn't expect me to survive the night. Actually said i had 'Zero chance of survival' but i was determined to live."

Xero chuckled fondly, as he looked out the window,"That's how i got the name Xero, because i had beat fate and survived when no one else thought i would. She told me i nearly brought the hospital down with my loud crying."

"Sounds like to me, even as a baby, you were annoying."

Clint joked, as Xero merely stuck his tongue out.

"Oh yeah. I was loud, annoying and i'm damn proud of it."

The two laughed, as Natasha butted into the conversation,"So what changed? How'd she go form a loving and caring mother, to a childish abuser?"

Xero frowned at that, as he put his chin atop his hands,"I'm not sure. The day before she changed, she came into my room, to give me a gift, something that would also protect me. She always wanted to protect me, with my condition it wasn't that surprising and she even went so far as to give me" he lightly touched his golden rosary,"My rosary. Told me that it would keep me safe form danger. No matter what. She told me to keep it on my person at all times and thus no evil shall be able to touch me."

He looked down and frowned a bit,"She gave me this and after word she...changed."

"Changed?"

Sam asked, confused. The way he said it, made very little sense to her. What did he mean by, changed? Tony wondered the same thing, the sinking feeling in his stomach returning, as Xero nodded,"Yeah to this day, i don't know what happened. But the one thing that always bugged me about her, was this dark glint she had in her eye."

That got everyone's attention, especially Tony, who wanted to know more on why his son was treated so badly and of course, his servants(Both in physical from, astral from and card from) all payed attention,"It was slow at first. For years, that tiny glint seemed ti get bigger and more darker as time went on. I...i think she gave me this rosary as a last form of protection."

"Protection?"

Tony asked, confusion lacing his tone,"Protection form what?"

"Herself."

Xero answered, as his eyes gained a lost look."I think she knew something was going to go wrong with her, like she knew some type of darkness was slowly corrupting her and was unable to stop it form happening. So she took steps to ensure that i would be safe form her, when she changed."

"But that makes no sense."

Emily butted in, the Asian girl shook her head, making her shoulder length black locks sway,"People don't just go form loving to being outright hateful."

Xero grimaced,"Well my family's NOT most people."

"What happened to her?"

Mike asked, as Xero looked up at the ceiling and said,"I don't know. On my 12 birthday, it was worse then usual. I remember being in so much pain that i wanted nothing more the for it to end. The next thing i know, the house's in on fire and Ruler is carrying me to safety."

Coulson stayed silent and looked at Xero's rosary,"Would that fire have something to do with you're rosary?"

"I've had my suspicions."

He answered, silently fiddling with the golden cross,"I felt there was something more to it but if there is, i haven't found it yet."

Looking out the window, Xero saw the snowy white mountains and decide to change the subject,"Were almost there. Artoria, you said you had my mask right?"

The saber class servant nodded and pulled out form her dress, a metal face mask. It was a rough looking one, steel in color, with red lines and rough eye holes that looked like it has several liens in the eye holes. Everyone looked at the mask, some with awe, some with disgust at the crud workman ship on it and others with...fear?

"You wear that thing?" Emily asked, her face wrinkling her noise in disgust. Xero merely gave her a smile.

"Oh sorry it's not up to date. But you know, it's a means to keep me safe and making it form nothing but garbage and junk, it think it's the prettiest thing in the world, next to my devilishly handsome face. Wouldn't want to damage the merchandise, otherwise many pretty ladies would cry. But please, lets see YOU try to make something like this form junk and scrape."

Em scowled but said nothing, as Cu and Nero laughed and the others had small smirks on there faces. Despite this however, the agents of SHIELD all looked at the mask and then at Xero's cloak, putting too and too together.

"Figures."

Natasha thought to herself,"Of course, Stark's son has to be the Grimm Reaper."

The Grimm Reaper was something of an anti-hero in the world. A masked figure, wielding a scythe that kills the worst of the worst. Another person of interest to many people, SHIELD included, as he had killed many bad people and even a few of SHIELDS own personal. It was latter discovered that these people were secretly working for HYDRA, so it was no great loss to the organization.

Though it was a black eye to them.

After all, they had rats on their ship and it was someone who had nothing to do with SHIELD that not only found them, but took care of them. It was both an insult and a service to them and Nick Fury wanted to know, how was an outside force, was able to discover and tale care of their little rat problem.

And see if he could be talked into taking care of a few other ones.

Natasha made a mental note to ask him later, afterward. They had a mission to complete and people to rescue after all.

Everything else could wait.

As for Tony, the man eyed the mask and asked,"You built this yourself?"

"Yepper! Built it form a bunch of scrap, but it's good for what i use it for."

Xero said, with some pride in his voice. Tony agreed, the mask looked similar to his mark 1 Iron Man armor face plate. Only it wasn't nearly as bulky as his own.

"Mind if i see it?"

Tony asked, as Xero thought for a moment and nodded, giving the metal mask to Tony. The Man Of Iron looked it over with a critical eye and spoke,"It's certainly impressive kid. Despite the obvious problems with it, wiring out of place and rough surface aside, it's well designed. At least for a scrape metal piece."

"Thanks. If i had access to proper tools and what not, i could make it far better then this metal slab."

Xero said, with a shake of his head, after Tony returned the mask. Said man merely smiled,"I wouldn't worry about it kid. After this is over, how about i help you make a new one?"

"I would like that."

Xero said with a smile on his face. He figured this would be a good excuse to spend time with his father AND get himself a new and improved mask. Two birds, stone as they say.

Tony matched his son's smile. Okay, this was good. Making more progress and it was something they both could do. Double good but why did that mask look so familiar though? He have JARVIS look it up, when he got the chance.

Looking out the window again and seeing the mountain getting closer, Xero's face harden and spoke."So, lets go over the plan one more time before we disembark." Everyone nodded in agreement with that, all huddling around in a semi-circle. Xero looked at the three older teens.

"Mike, Sam and Emily will take point since they known the mountain better then anyone. Lancer, Archer and Saber, you will pair with them. Since we don't know if any Wendigo are still alive, i'd rather have them well protected form them or anything else we find here. Don't use you're more powerful and destructive, the arena is too unstable to hold under such punishment. Archer, with you're sharp eyes and skills as a huntress, i want you leading us in and out of the mines. If you think ANYTHING is off, do what you believe is best."

"Understood/Got it/Well do master."

Xero then looked at his father and Rhodey,"Tony and Rhodey, since you have advanced tech and armor, i want you to scan and light any dark corridors. I know you have good weapons, but we don't know if it'll penetrate their armor like skin, so referee form attacking. The mines are very unstable and any and all huge attacks, could destabilize the entire thing and either fall on our heads or the people trapped inside. If needing to defend you're selves, just blow them back."

"Make sense kiddio."

He then looked at the SHIELD agents and said,"You all, you're part is simple rescue and to fight off any stranglers we encounter, i doubt well run into any but hey, better safe then sorry."

The three nodded as Xero looked to the King Of Knights and the Dark Mistress Of Camelot,"As i said before, i'm not in good shape, so i'll need you too to cover me. I got the food the workers and Joshua will need, they'll be starving."

Everyone nodded, as the ship began to descended.

It was go time.

Line Break

Blackwood mountain was as dark and depressing as he remembered.

Stepping off the Quninjet, Xero felt the cold assault him very quickly, but the heating runes in his cloak prevented them form making him too cold. But that didn't mean he couldn't hear...certain things.

TRAITOR

KILLER

PAIN

BETRAYER

PAIN

TRAPPED

DEATH

PAIN

MURDERER

MONSTER'S

PAIN

HUNGER

PAIN

FLESH

SO MUCH PAIN

"HELP US!"

"Ack!"

Xero grabbed his head, feeling the voices of the dead, slamming into his skull, full force. His eyes screwed shut, as he tried(And failed) to block out the sudden rush of dark emotions. His servants were quick to try and help him, by grabbing him and preventing him form falling over, when he felt the sudden rush of emotions, nearly making him kneel over.

It was just so sudden and each one was filled with SO MUCH PAIN!

"Master, are you okay?"

Artrioa asked, as she tried and failed, to soothe her master's pain. The others, Tony most of all, were quick to try and help but found themselves unable to help. The woman wanted to ease her master's pain, but this wasn't something she could take a sword too.

Thankful, she didn't need too."Unfortunately this isn't something you can help with Saber."

Olga said, as she appeared in a blinding light. She walked to her master and without missing a beat, put her hands on his head. Artoria frowned but never the less backed off. Olga closed her eyes and with a pulse of mana, Xero slowly opened his closed eyes and let lose a shaking breath.

"Breathe."

Olga instructed, her eyes still closed,"Focus on my voice master. Block out the others and just breathe."

Xero did as he was told and was slowly but surly able to block out the pained voices. He slowly nodded, as Olga let go and his other servants slowly let him go, but keep near just in case he did fall. Shaking his head, feeling it clear again he smiled at the white haired servant,"Thanks Olga. I don't know what i do without you."

Opening her eyes, Olga smiled a haughty smile,"Naturally master. It was no trouble for me, unlike certain people."

She shot the last part, at Artoria and the rest of the female servants, which made them all fume at her. All though, the Saber Of Blue didn't show it, she was gritting her teeth and seething inside. How dare this one star servant show her up IN-FRONT of THEIR master! She could easily crush the woman like a bug under her armored heel, but master certainly wouldn't like that, oh no sir.

Plus, as much as she hated to admit it, as a former master, Olga had a unique and special skill set that none of the other servants had. Caster or not, Olga was truly a special type of servant, like Mash and despite not being as strong as herself, Olga excelled in other things. One that helped their current master greatly. Much to many of the female servants annoyance and irritation.

No matter how much she wanted to wipe that smug and haughty smile off Olga's face, she didn't. No doubt Olga remembered their pact and decide to jump at the chance to curry favor with their master.

"Why did i agree to that stupid pact?"

The King Of Knights thought to herself, her mind wondering back too one year ago, when Jeanne, acting as the De-factor leader of the servants due to both, patience and being the first summoner, had decide to lay down the law with the female servants all bidding for their master's heart.

Flashback

"Okay, were here. So why did you call us Jeanne?"

Jeanne looked around to see all the female servants that she requested to be here, had come. Their master was sleeping at the moment, after completing another rescue mission and he had the four star saber class servant, Chevalier D'eon acting as his watcher for the night. Mostly because, not only was the saber class servant more then suited to protecting him, Xero was experiencing the man, female's? Past so it made sense he would be the guard tonight.

This allowed Jeanne to hold a meeting without him knowing it, as this was something he didn't need to known at the moment and as much as she didn't like lying to her master, this needed addressing.

The one to ask this, was Xero's teacher, Scathach the Queen Of The Land Of Shadows and a five star lancer class servant. Scáthach is a tall and extremely beautiful woman. She has long purple hair and red eyes, and wears a full-body outfit that highlights her curvaceous body, with metallic shoulder pads.

Seeing as she had everyone's attention, Jeanne decide to be blunt.

"I would not call you here, if i didn't think it was important. Namely our master."

They all tensed up, looking at the ruler class servant with narrowed eyes.

"What about him?"

A three star, rider class servant asked, her voice devoid of emotion but Jeanne can hear the tense undertone in her voice. She wore a purple metal blindfold with writing on it, a short black, purple lined dress, with high knee boots. She was a fairly tall woman, with long purple hair and fair skin. This woman was Medusa and one of the Gorgon sisters of legend.

Jeanne got along with her well enough, as the woman was highly logical and didn't talk very much. She was fairly easy to get along with but now that might change between the two, with what Jeanne was about to say next,"Beside the fact, every woman in this room is in love with our master, i believe we need to lay down some ground rules."

"Oh you're full of shit!"

This time, it was Jeanne's counter part, a five star Avenger class servant, Jeanne D'Alter.

Or as their master nicknamed her, Jean.

She wore a black dress, as opposed to her lighter counter part's blue dress and a black metal headpiece. She had the same body type, with the only real difference being her eyes were colored yellowish gold and she had slick sliver hair, instead of blonde hair and was pale in skin tone. As is the mark of an Avenger class servant.

With a fierce scowl on her face, the Dragon Witch glared and spoke,"Why the hell you going on about holy maiden?! I DO NOT love master in anyway!"

Despite her saying this, a burning blush made it's way to her face. Something that made the lighter Jeanne smile,"Oh then you're free to leave sister. I won't stop you."

Jeanne Altar or Jean, merely scowled more and crossed her arms, un-moving. She may not admit but she did indeed love her master, more then just in a friendly way or master/servant kind of way. So she wasn't going to let the holy hussy or any other hussy for that matter, get HER master. Seeing her other self making no move to leave, Jeanne took that as the go ahead to explain what she had planned. Though they all gave her critical eye's, wondering just what the Ruler class servant wanted to do in regards to that very true statement.

Unlike the anti-saint, many came to peace that they, are indeed in love with their master. Even some of the altar ones and they had no problem admitting it. Many figured Jean probably yelled, simply because it's Jeanne.

More then willing to find any and all reason, to fight and show up the holy saint. The fact it's about their master, makes her even more aggressive.

Though one of the other saber class servant's, a certain bastard "son" looked like her head was about to exploded form the blood rushing to her cheeks, but shocking she keep her temper in check. Which suited Jeanne just fine, as she didn't need the Knight Of Betrayal throwing a temper tantrum. It became apparent that the master bringing her and her "Father" back together and mended their relationship has done a lot of good.

For both of them.

"Now to put it bluntly master is human and as servants' we are swore to protect and follow his orders to the letter. But our master has proven to think of us as equals and family, even going so far as to use his command seal to ensure some of us don't use our Noble Phantasm's that would case us our death."

They all smiled at that fact, their master truly was a one of a kind, wasn't he?

Jeanne seeing everyone still listening, she continued,"Now as you all known, the master would never do anything to intentional hurt us. So if he knew that dating one of us would hurt the rest, he wouldn't do it and let's be honest, he's bit of a dud when it comes to love."

Many gain strained smiles at that, their master was a great many things. But love was not one of them and he has a bad habit of throwing himself in the fire to protect another, without a second thought.

"Sigh, That's true, but that's just how he is. He can't stand to see another suffer."

This came form the purple haired, dark skinned caster class servant and four star, Nitocris. She wears a very revealing clothing with Anubis-like ears, golden earrings, and an elaborate necklace. The woman who became pharaoh through the death of many and pushed to be a puppet queen, killed any and all that dared to try and use her master, like she was used. She cowed easily to those who are great kings/pharaoh's, due to her past. Her master spent much time building back up her confidence to stand up to such figures and not cow to them.

Next to her, another caster class servant and three star, nodded in agreement.

The Caster's appearance is much like a witch that would be seen in a fairy tale. She wears a hooded bluish-purple robe She had blue hair that poked out of her hair, with light blue lipstick. This woman was Medea, someone who is VERY slow to trust and would attack at the sign of any type of red flag. So it came as a real shock, when her master was able to gain her trust completely, making her far more protective of him.

She hated lairs and hated those who use others for their own purpose's and would not stand for ANYONE manipulating her beloved master.

"What are you saying Miss Jeanne?"

This time, it came form Mash, a four star servant of the shield. Mash has shoulder length lilac hair and lavender eyes. She wore black armor with a hole exposing her stomach, black gauntlets and boots, a garter on her right thigh and a large cross-shaped shield on her back. Her eye that wasn't hidden by her hair, narrowed in an uncharacteristic manner,"What are you playing at?"

She thought to herself, as Jeanne merely cleared her throat and braced herself,"I'm saying that none of us can souly have the master's heart. Not when he knows, it'll hurt the rest of us."

Everyone nodded, knowing that was true. So what was the blonde playing at?

"So...the best we can do, is share him."

Aaaaannnnddddd Jeanne dropped the bomb on them all.

"..."

They all stayed silent, staring wide eyed at the holy saint. Some with mouths gaping at what she said, others merely filed away the fact Jeanne was willing to go these lengths and some plotted on how they can use this to their advantage. Soon the explosion Jeanne was waiting for soon went off:

"WHAT!/YOU'RE JOKING/YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"

Jeanne waited a few minutes for the loud noise to clam down and when it did, Jeanne spoke again,"I know. But let's face reality, no one of us can keep master to our selves, no matter how much we want to."

She said this, looking at a certain foxy caster class servant and dragon Berserker class servant, both with sour looks on their faces knowing she is very much right.

"So what do you propose then Ruler?"

Came the cold voice of Artoria Altar, four star, lancer class servant. Unlike the saber version of her, she was not only taller but she was a busty woman as well. She had pale skin, pale blonde hair and yellowish/gold eyes. She is clad in full dark-indigo and black armor with draconic feature, making her very intimidating. She was one of the servants that had become Xero's personal bodyguards and wouldn't hesitate to skewer anything that threaten him.

Servants also fell into this category, as she nearly skewer the Anti-hero ones and damn near killed Morgan when he summoned her and STILL tried afterword. She only stopped AFTER her master, asked her too stop.

Not order, asked.

That was one of the reasons, the woman fell for her master. He didn't see her just as a servant and bodyguard, but as a friend and person. He could have used the command seals, but he didn't. He in-fact only used them, when they needed a boost in power to "Fight with everything you have!"

The woman was knocked out of her thoughts, when the ruler class servant spoke again,"So what i'm propose is a pact. We ALL want master, but the fact of the matter is he is not only to young right now, it's his choice. So rather then fight each other to the death, we make a pact to keep our distance. Once he turns seventeen, then it's open season. But we must lay down some ground rules."

She gazed at everyone, seeing some wanted to protest but knew she was right, so they stayed quite,"We ALL get our chance at winning his heart and try to curry his favor BUT we can't be allowed to interfere with one another's attempt's to curry favor. That means no fighting, no messing with one another's attempts and most of all, NO TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER."

She made sure to stress the last words. Killing each other was a big NO-NO and many of the servants weren't above killing to get what they wanted. Once everyone looked like they made up their minds, Jeanne asked,"Agreed?"

She heard muttering among them all, quitely discussing Jeanne's plan. While it wasn't completely uncommon for a servant to fall for their master or servants, so this was no real surprise. But then again something like this has never happened before, with so many servants under one master's command and having been with him for as long as they all have. That and Jeanne did have several good points, so with this in mind, everyone looked at Jeanne and said in union with a 'grunt' form Fran:

"Agreed."

All the while, some were thinking of using their charms(Tamamo/Kiyohime) to sway him. Or maybe woo him with their magic(Nitocris/Ogla/Medea). Some thought about using there skills to ensure him, using their subtly and air of mysterious to get him(Mata Hari/Camilla/Semiramis/Shuten-Douhji/Jing Ke). Or just prove they were the better woman and able to protect him form anything(All the Artoria's/Mordred/Nero/Minamoto no Raikou/Frankenstein/Isthar/Boudica).

And that's just naming a few.

May god have mercy on Xero's soul, cause these ladies know what they want and aren't above using, certain methods to get him.

Flashback End:

"Oh right, that's why."

Artoria thought to herself, as she watched her master finally got himself back together. It was decided on whoever gets him first, would help ease him into the idea of loving them all. Plus given the fact that in the past year his hormones have been starting to make him ahem, notice them a bit more it might be easier then it sounds.

Even if he was a dunce when it comes to love.

"Ok, does anyone mind telling me what just happened? Cause i'm lost."

Clint said, as Xero rubbed his head and looked at the archer,"Well to put it simply, i have a unique and special ability. I can, for a lack of a better word, hear the past form the land. You see, the land, the earth, the soil, the very air around this place has witnessed. Every person, every fight, every drop of blood, the land remembers it all."

Xero grimaced and looked around the dark snowy mountain,"And this place has seen and felt pain and blood. Lot's of pain and blood."

Seeing the confused looks on their faces, Xero went further into detail,"Okay let me put it this way: Everything has a way to remember history. Humans recorded it in text books and the land records EVERYTHING in the energy of the land, which i can not only sense but view."

"But it's not without it's draw backs, is it?" Tony asked, as his son nodded.

"Yeah. In some cases, like now the dark energy, the pain is so great, that in more or less rushes at me. Making feel all it's pain, suffering, everything all at once. And bloody hell, does it hurt."

Xero said, rubbing his head, as Olga continued,"The reason he didn't feel it the last time he was here, is because he didn't have access to his mana. So he couldn't feel it but he and i, sure as hell can feel it now."

She stated this with a frown, looking around the arena and unknown to everyone else(Besides Xero) she could see a cloud of dark energy, purple in color in the air. It was even worse then she thought.

"Because master is still not one hundred percent and his mana level are not only low, but having to keep out TWO five star class servants, i'll be staying out to help him block out the emotions."

Olga finished, holding her hand out and catching some of the falling snow, shivering a bit feeling the wind picking up and having a bit of a bite to it,"Damnit, it's even colder then last time."

"No shit."

Xero muttered, as Emily soon started rubbing her arms, despite wearing a black fur coat and pants, she was still cold,"So why the hell did we come back when it's dark? You know those things only hunt at night."

"That's the point."

Atalanta said, after making sure her master was fine and looked at the black haired girl,"We known very little about the Wendigo and all we got to go on, is what master and the rest of you experienced that terrible night. Better the devil you known, rather then one we don't. We known what to expect and how to act accordingly to fight them."

The Asian girl frowned but ultimately nodded. As much as she hated to admit it, the white haired woman had a point.

"Come on, let's go."

Xero said, as everyone nodded. Olga silently fell in step behind her master, her sharp eyes seeing the trail of dark energy in the air, the same as Xero. With Emily and Atalanta leading them. The walked in silence, following the make shift trail down the snowy path and after 10 minutes of walking in silence, with only the humming of the Iron Man and War Machine suit's breaking the silence.

The snow fell at a steady rate and the frosty cold wind ripped into everyone. Though the servants didn't show it, as Tony and Rhodey had their suits to keep them warm, Mike was glad he grabbed the old green jacket he wore before when he found his way into the old sanatorium. Natasha was fine, as the red room had given the woman a lot of things, that included being able to stand cold weather.

Clint looked like he wanted to crack a joke or two and or complaint about the cold weather, but with the tension in the air he keep his mouth shut. Coulson and the other three agents were just focused on the task at hand, keeping an ear and eye out for any monster. Though when the agent looked at Mike, he saw the black haired boy had a look on his face, as he looked to be complementing something.

"Something on you're mind, Mr. Munroe?"

Mike looked at Coulson and then looked at Xero,"You said you could feel the emotions here right?"

When Xero nodded, Mike spoke again,"Well you feeling a bunch of dark emotions makes sense."

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked, as the group looked to the boy. Mike rubbed the back of his head and decide to tell them what he found in the old sanatorium, the files and clues he found, while tracking down Jess's attacker.

"Well back in 1952, there was a cave-in that trapped a bunch of miners. It was all a big cover up by the ones who owned the mine. They knew the cave was unstable but they had it mined anyway. So as you can expect, the cave collapsed and thirty miners were trapped as a result. They were able to rescue at least twelve of them, but it was two late as those twelve were driven mad with hunger and succumbed to cannibalism. The doctors at the sanatorium keep them locked up and experimented on, till one the transformed miners escaped and unleashed hell. They were no survivor's."

Well that explained a lot and left everyone quite. They all just keep walking in silence at that little revelation.

Soon the group arrived to-"Get down!"

The Archer class servant suddenly hissed, as everyone soon hide behind a large rock.

"Archer, what is it?"

Xero asked, as the green haired woman inched her head to look around the rock, so he did. When he saw what made the lion woman hiss, his skin went paler then usually and he muttered,"Oh...yeah that IS a problem."

"What is?"

Olga whispered, as Xero did the same as Atalanta and once Olga saw WHAT made him go pale, she did too.

The group had made it to the second entrance to the mines, the one Emily ran out of and what they saw, was not a pretty sight. Before the group, was a large pack of Wendigo. But unlike the Wendigo they encountered before, these ones looked different. They had darker skin, they were infact taller and bigger. Unlike how skinny and lakey they were before, they had muscles and if somehow possible, their claw like finger nails were even more monstrous then ever before.

"Hey kid, you said they screeh and scream right?"

Tony asked, after seeing what they were seeing. Once his son nodded, Tony said,"Well no wonder. If i had a face like that, i'd be upset too."

Xero snorted and tried to not laugh, while the others gave Stark Senior a look. Was he serious right now?

Olga merely kicked her master, who again tried not to laugh but stopped when Olga glared at him. She turned back to the Wendigo and whispered,"Well how do we get past them? Their too close to the mine, any attack would possible make it too unstable or collapse all together."

Xero, after taking his mask off gave Olga a strained smile,"Well i DO have an idea."

"Well what is it..."

Olga trailed off, upon seeing the look on his smile, she felt a spike of fear. His smile wasn't a good one, it was the 'I have an idea but you aren't going to like it' smile. Olga back up, holding her hands up,"Master whatever it is don't-"

"Sorry Olga."

Faster then she could see, Xero grabbed her and started carrying her, BRIDAL STYLE?!

Olga let out a small and cute "Squeak", feeling her face flush red. Before anyone could do anything, Xero ran out form behind the rock, as Olga held onto Xero's neck, screaming"OH MY GOD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IDIOT?!"

Xero merely ignored her and yelled,"HELLO ALL!"

He came to a stop about 10 feet away form the Wendigo and then thrust'd Olga infornt of him, making the woman's mouth drop in shock. He held her in front of her, by her hips, in front of him like a human shield. No way. Their was no way her master was going to use her as-"I OFFER THEE, A TASTY SACRIFICE!"

Live bait.

Olga's face soon turned a lovely shade of red, upon realizing what he was doing. Unlike before, Olga face turned several shades red, with veins beginning becoming viable on her neck and forehead. Oh she's been mad before, but this one took the cake. But before she could even yell a little, the Wendigo turned to them and all let out an ear breaking:

"SCCCCRRRREEEEHHHHH"

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!"

So Xero and Olga acted like any sane person would and started screaming themselves. Only out of fear, so Xero moved, throwing Olga over his shoulder like she was a sack of potatoes and ran away, screaming like a little bitch.

The Wendigo followed.

Despite being much faster, the Wendigo didn't get far, before the three servants sprang into action. Nero, summoning her sword, appeared infornt of them and with a "WOSSH" of her sword, an eruption of flames bust forward and slammed into the now screehing.

"SCRREEHHH"

"Take this!"

Atalanta jumped up and used her bow to create several magical arrows and like falling stars, rained down on the man eating monsters, with a loud:

"BOOM"

Which created a large smoke screen to appear, covering the arena.

After a few minutes, the smoke settled, the monsters were all torn apart, with many holes in them. Everyone sighed, happy that it went off without a hitch. That could have ended MUCH worse.

"Well that went well."

Cu said, as the three teens that escaped the mountain the first time around, looked at the dead bodies and shivered. Sam shook her head,"This isn't right. These Wendigo they look...mutant'd."

"Like someone gave them testosterone? Making them look like one of those meathead body builders?"

Clint joked, but Mike cut in,"No. This isn't right, it's only been a mouth since we left and the Wendigo didn't look ANYTHING like this. Something else is going on."

Coulson frowned, as a ticking feeling began in the back of his head. Like he was forgetting something or rather he was trying to remember something but couldn't quite remember what. But before he could even try to remember what it was.

"YOU COMPLETE IDIOT! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!"

His thoughts were cut off, by a yelling, pissed off Olga. They all turned to see the duo, with Olga screaming her head off, face red. As for Xero, he merely cleaned his ear out. Jesus if this keep up, he probably go deaf.

Though he did kinda have it coming, so he let her vent.

"I was thinking we needed to get pass the Wendigo."

"BY USING ME AS LIVE BAIT!"

Xero just gave the white haired woman an obnoxious smile,"Well it worked didn't it? Besides they probably wouldn't have liked how you tasted, you do act very sourly at times."

Olga's face went several shades red, with more veins appearing on her neck and face, before she started yelling at Xero again. Meanwhile the servants sighed and sat down. Everyone gave them raised eyebrows and Artoria answered,"This is going to take a while."

Done.

Okay so we have seen some of Xero's past and we are slowly but surly getting into the Until Dawn Arc, which will be about 3 or 4 chapters long, as you may have noticed the Wendigo are different, but why?

What happened?

Found out next chapter.

Devil out.

Ps. Here's a short Omake

Xero x Frankenstein

It was inevitable

"Beep, beep, beep"

Frankenstein knew this was coming.

"Beep, beep, beep."

How could she not? Her master, her beloved master, for all he was, for all his power, he was a human.

"Beep, beep, beep."

Even now, she did her duty as a loyal servant and stayed by her master side. Even if his life was slowly slipping form her grasp, all she could do was stay by his side and make sure he wasn't alone in the end.

"F...fran."

Her master called to her and the pink haired servant was by his side in an instant. He was so old, his black hair was as white as snow and his skin was wrinkled and weak. Yet despite this, the servant couldn't help but still find him very handsome. He slowly brought his hand up to her cheek and wheezed out the words.

"T-thank yyyou for...for e-verything."

Fran felt tears build in her eyes, as she wrapped her master in a hug, feeling the heat form his body warm her own. This man had brought her so much joy and happniess over the years, and now? Now all she wanted was just to hold him and he holding her in return.

Weak as he could.

"Beep...beep...beep"

She wanted to stay like this with him forever.

"Beep...beep"

But sadly, time waits for no one.

"Beep..."

Everyone's time comes and no matter how much she wished it, her master was a human and she could not fight off the cold, dread hands of death forever,"

"..."

Fran cried, as the machine went silent and her master utherd his last breath, departing this world and his hands fell limp. She sobbed, even though she knew one thing. The day she made their pact, she knew this would happen.

After all:

It was inevitable