The True Skull: As I said before, "The Universe of Rifts, the Rift Rules.". Demons are vulnerable to Excalibur but in Rifts, you can't kill in a single shot even in case of a critical strike. In addition, the major demons have hundreds or even thousands of M.D.C. points (remember 1 point Mega-Damage = 100 points of Structural Damage) so... a single demon has as much vital energy as several thousand or even tens of thousands of ordinary humans! In Rifts, fights against demons or other supernatural creatures tend to last a very long time.

SentinalSlice: I speak from Saber's point of view. But, effectively, Shirou likes her for reasons other than her 'girl's side'.

Call to War

After the obstacle of the stream, Rin and Archer had to face a high ridge of slate that tore the horizon like the teeth of a gigantic saw. The Servant took Rin in his arms and jumped swiftly, bouncing on rocks or even running vertically over cliffs.

It took only a moment for the Servant to triumph over the trial. Alas, the astrological forecasts were not to be favorable for them that day. In the forest below, the silence was made in one fell swoop while on the contrary, all the birds flew away.

EMIYA had the skill Mind's Eye (True), a sixth sense very useful in combat that also warned him of the natural dangers he had experienced. And he was Japanese...

"Earthquake!"
Archer grabbed Rin and threw her to the ground before lying over her, covering his Master's head with his folded arms.

His reflexes preceded the event by a few seconds. All of a sudden, the whole mountain behaved like a mad horse rushing to try to eject a rider.

Crackles resounded around the Master and the Servant. Rocks were rolling down the slope and trees were lying down as cracks spread through the ground.

It seemed like an eternity.

Then the earthquake experienced a lull before a second tremor was triggered, even more, violent than the first! A snap sounds before a formidable rumble of drums. The ground lifted up and new cracks appeared extending even further. In an end-of-the-world convulsion, a mountain spur collapsed, precipitating tons of rocks towards the abyss in a gigantic landslide.

But in the depths, the seismic forces finally calmed down.

Remaining motionless for several minutes, EMIYA eventually straightens up.

"I think it's over."

Gallantly, he reached out to his Master to help her get up. Mechanically, Rin put his wrinkled clothes in order, his wide-eyed eyes staring in turn at the birds in the sky, whimpering in circles, and the last stones bouncing off the slope.

She finally nodded:

"Japan has always been a land of earthquakes."

"I think the country is even more so after the Rifts eruption. Remember what the inhabitants of the Empire of Japan told us... for two hundred years, the coasts were devastated by tsunamis, while volcanic eruptions and earthquakes razed the villages of the mountains. In fact, natural disasters are responsible for 90% of deaths in the Dark Age."

Rin crossed her arms in a bad mood:

"Thank you for the history lesson. I understood... a long time ago... Fuyuki was Rifted into a dangerous world. Needless to say."

EMIYA spread his arms in a gesture of apology, but he closed one eye, leaning his head to the side with a mocking smile, a mimic that showed well that he did not take himself seriously:

"Rin, Rifts Earth is a world that does not allow error. Even nature is hostile to man. Humanity has survived in fortified enclaves under constant attack. We are now outside. Don't forget it and don't let your guard down."

They resumed their advance, descending towards the plain. Nevertheless, the earthquake had caused a major upheaval of the terrain and many cracks were now cutting into the valleys or had caused the cliffs to collapse, creating new obstacles. If it weren't for Archer, who was jumping through the cuttings of the field with a single bounce, Rin would have spent the whole day searching for a way out of this unstable maze.

Half an hour after the earthquake had ended, Archer let Rin stretch her legs in a clearing. They had moved far enough from the epicenter of the earthquake to meet only negligible damage. Although violent, the cataclysm had been much localized, probably because the alluvial deposits of the Nagoya plain had absorbed some of the vibrations.

Nevertheless, as they relaxed, the ground rose up!

This time it was not an earthquake. Archer Traced Kanshou and Bakuya blocking a part of the ground that fell over them... Tohsaka's eyes narrowed as she realized what a trap they had fallen into. They had stopped on a mimetic monster that had dug under the ground, covering itself with branches and leaves to disappear in the reliefs of the ground and wait for its prey in ambush!

"Rin, get away!"

She nodded.

"All right, but you?"

"I follow you!"

Rin whispered in a low voice: "Anfang". Immediately, the Magics Circuits on her legs lit up as the young Magus applied the Reinforcement Magecraft: "Es ist groß".

She jumped and ran to the nearest trees.

From there, Tohsaka could see what monster had attacked them. It was a huge bivalve shell! At least this monster had the appearance, although it probably has nothing in common with seafood apart from a superficial resemblance. Again, it was an alien creature that had come here through a Rift and adapted to its world of exile.

As Rin had moved away, EMIYA went on the counter-attack. He threw Kanshou and Bakuya into the monster's mouth while jumping back... and even before the shell closed Traced two more Married Blades replicas that he threw in the monster direction.

He had just fallen to the ground when his big black bow appeared in his hand. He Traced a prana arrow, fired, and then started again. His hands stretched and released the rope so quickly that the movement became blurred. Each arrow at the peak of its trajectory gave birth to several doubles. So it was as if a battalion of bowmen had targeted the shell.

The result?

The ground was shattered, widened by deep and smoldering craters. Yet the shell had closed and its outer shell, of an extraordinary hardness (Mega-Damages materials), had withstood the attack.

"Tssk!"
The Wrought Iron Hero clasped his tongue, while a brief expression of irritation pinched the corner of his lips.

"I am the bone of my sword

Steel is my body and fire is my blood

I have created over a thousand blades"

The Servant of the Bow reached out and an Arab yatagan appeared in his hand. The weapon was made of recognizable wootz steel with the blade's black blue with moire patterns. The guard looked like two widely spread wings, the pommel had the appearance of a raptor head with ruby eyes. It was Al-Saqr (The Falcon) the scimitar of Sultan Saladin (1).

The Servant of the Bow placed the curved sword on the bow and prepared to fire. However, as he pulled the rope back, the blade of the scimitar straightened and thinned as the guard took on a more aerodynamic form. At the end of the transformation, a strange sword-arrow flew away.

" الصقر" shouted Archer.

A detonation similar to that of a jet fighter crossing the wall of sound shook the air, forcing Rin to cover her ears. Wrapped in a bluish aura, Al-Saqr crosses the distance between Archer and the alien shell in a mere second.

The impact sounded like an explosion. But in fact, Al-Saqr had 'simply' pierce the monster's shell from side to side... as well as about fifty meters of land and rocks below! However, the shock wave caused a wrinkle that lifted the ground and spread around the carnivorous shell. Then nothing moved but the last jolts of the strange monster in agony. EMIYA's instinct had guided his arrow to a vital point of their enemy, leaving him no chance of survival.

The Servant turned to his Master:

"Well, when I said we couldn't afford a single moment of inattention... Anything can happen on Rifts Earth. A giant shell living in average mountains, a carnivorous and mimetic monster that hunts on the lookout while buried in the ground... Yes, really, you can meet anything!"

EMIYA said these last words in the same tone that he would have used to say "but I assure you Rin, I didn't drink anything!" while shaking his head with perplexity... After centuries as Alaya's dog, Archer had become completely cynical and nihilistic, he thought nothing could surprise him anymore. And then... he discovered that the world kept in store perfectly unpredictable surprises, even for someone like him.

Rifts Earth was a world of horrors and wonders that left no one indifferent.

The Wrought Iron Hero smiled as he heard a kind of roar of thunder. He turned to Rin. The Red Devil was holding hands. She seemed embarrassed, looking away from him and a drop of sweat was running down her cheek.

"I thought Saber was with my stupid version. You took her in your pocket?"

Tohsaka quickly turned around, making her twintails fly:

"Well yes, I'm hungry. We haven't eaten since this morning... and I'm not a servant! I need to eat to live!"
EMIYA laughed and looked up at the sky. The night would soon fall.

"Anyway, it's time to find a place to camp."

He looked around them. In a nearby cliff appeared the opening of a cave. He walked to the natural entrance, ready to summon the Bridal Blades at the first alert.

The cave being obscure, Archer Traced a minor Noble Phantasm, a sword whose blade was bright. This improvised torch revealed that the cave was a simple natural recess covered with chalcedony flowers.

"All right, there's no danger in that cave. Stay here, Rin, and I'll look around for the game. I would take this opportunity to neutralize threats."

Tohsaka agreed:

"Well, make it quick."

Archer put the sword in the ground and leaped out of the cave. As he walked away, Rin hurried to defend their temporary shelter. She had learned Runic Magecraft as a child. In combat, she frequently employed Gandr, a simple curse that decrease the physical health of the target. But most of the other Runic Magecraft demonstrations were ineffective in her homeworld. The Fateverse Magi had Magic Circuits. Faced with a runic curse, they simply had to circulate prana in their Magic Circuits to chase away the foreign energy that affected their organism.

In fact, Runic Magecraft was a survival of the magical system that existed at the time of the Age of the Gods, a vestige that has lost most of its effectiveness. Unlike more modern forms of Magecraft where incantation was only a form of self-hypnosis, it was impossible to use runic magic without naming the rune that was being used, visualizing its appearance, and harmonizing himself with its symbolic meaning.

Having discovered that Magic on Rifts met the rules of the Age of Gods, Rin had experimented with Runic Magecraft. Unsurprisingly, in this universe saturated with magical energy, the runes had regained all their power (2).

Rin drew runes in groups of three in the sand at the entrance of the cave, first "ᚦ ᛗ ᚲ", then three "ᛁ" ,three "ᛊ", again three "ᛁ" and finaly three "ᛚ". At the same time, she whispered a runic incantation (a Galdr):

"Vorhersagen. Die Serie der strahlenden Runen, der magischen Runen, ich habe sie hier versteckt. Möge er unermüdlich draußen bleiben und aus Verrat getötet werden, wer das hier zerbricht. (3)"

Tohsaka finished the incantation by cutting her finger and pouring a drop of blood into each rune. The runes disappeared and the sand became united again... yet the incantation had taken effect.
She had just created a Bounded Field forbidding the entrance of the cave to any enemy, the violation of this prohibition was associated with a deadly curse.

Archer returned with the remains of a deer carelessly thrown over his shoulder. He stopped at the entrance of the cave... nodded and congratulated Rin on the Bounded Field she had just created.
Without being really surprised that the Servant immediately detected the Kekkai, Tohsaka was still a bit upset. She was sure she did a very good job of camouflage.

EMIYA showed what he had found, herbs, wild beans, and even bird eggs.

"I'm thinking of making a baka-nabe (4), is that okay with you?"

His Master nodded and her eyes lit up briefly. The expedition to the castle of the king of the Onis looked more and more like a gastronomic itinerary.

While the Wrought Iron Hero was skinning his game, Rin walked around the entrance without looking in his direction. The disgusting work seemed to disturb her. The young woman always did her best to adopt the behavior of a 'real' Magus, but she was far too sensitive.

Archer smiled and shook his head slightly... her idealism and her kindness (which only came after Shirou's) often annoyed him. However... well... at the same time, she was exactly the kind of person who stimulated Archer's protective side.

Gently, he spoke to offer her something else to think about:

"I have a question, Rin. Why are you letting Saber waste her time helping the armies of the Japanese Empire? It would be more effective to order her to attack Ikiru Ō's castle."

From the corner of her eye, Archer saw Tohsaka freeze. She crossed her arms on her belly, displaying an annoyed expression:

"Well, first of all, there's no point in us finding the treasure of the coronation if the Tennō is overthrown, so Saber and Shirou don't do anything useless."

Rin raised a finger like a teacher lecturing.

"Then Saber and Shirou draw the attention of our enemies to them. So they make an excellent diversion for us to approach without being seen. "

Finally, a tender smile on her lips, as she was shaking her head with amusement:

"And then... do you really think it's possible to stop Shirou from helping everyone he meets?"

Hundreds of miles away, a hideous black castle stood in front of a sort of gigantic crater around which worked thousands of Onis and Deevils who were building... something.

The throne room of Oniraku was hideous, filled with gargoyles of dark stone had its mouth wide open and its tongue stretched, twisted columns surrounded the room, grotesque decorations covered the walls. Fortunately, the penumbra erased the details.

Seated on a large black stone armchair decorated with a lot of bad taste, Ikiru Ō appeared as a fuliginous form wrapped in a dark monk's dress. Only his fluorescent eyes could be distinguished in the shade of his hood.

He was looking at a big stone cup in front of him where a strange light came from... actually the liquid reflected a scene captured by magic. Ikiru looked at Tohsaka Rin and Archer talking at the entrance of the cave:

"Then Saber and Shirou draw the attention of our enemies to them. So they make an excellent diversion for us to approach without being seen. "

Leaning his cheek on his hand adorned with long claws, the king of the Onis began to laugh mockingly:

"Congratulations, Tohsaka, your plan is working perfectly."

Ikiru Ō had managed to divide his adversaries and keep them apart without them even realizing it. Now, all he had to do was make sure they fell into the traps he had prepared to destroy them.

There was only one thing more pleasant than watching his enemies dancing in the palm of his hand, their despair when they become aware to have been his toys at the end of the game.

Meanwhile, in Fuyuki...

The beautiful teenager with long purple hair entered with much repugnance in the magical laboratory of the Matou. The place was in the cellars of the Matou Residence. Not only was this place not very far from her... "Classroom", or in other words the breeding ground of Matou Zouken's Crest Worm, but it was also the room where her grandfather spent most of his time.

Sakura sighed with relief when she saw that the room was empty of all human presence. Nevertheless, she glanced in the hallway, shaking her hands against her chest... hesitated the last time and then walked through the door with a determined expression on her face.

Although located below the ground and without a window, the magic laboratory looked especially like a library with walls covered with shelves hosting many ancient books. There was also a large work table with drawers, a deck pad, and a lamp with a lampshade.

Other workstations were installed among the books. Among other things, she saw an alchemy kit, a pendulum (some sort of magical fax), and a Magical energy conductor (let's say some sort of magical radio with a phonograph old-style bell-type horn).

There were also safes. As a child, Shinji had spent hours searching them with rapture. There were magic wands, magic staffs, ritual dress adorned with stars and moon croissants, wizard hats as you would see in children's books, a magic bric-a-brac that had everything to excite the imagination. Alas... alas... the Matou Magecraft had nothing in common with the magic of Harry Potter...
She went to a section of the library devoted to invocation and covenants. With a hesitant finger, she brushed the back of the books, reading the titles: Incubus and succubus; Amulets; Safeguard pacts... her finger stopped on a cover: "Spirit Liners."

She took the book and opened it, quickly reading the introduction: the Spirits Liners were a superior form of the Wraith and included all spirits closers to elementals than the wraiths. Differing from how Elementals are "power" granted form using human imagination as a container, they are entirely woven from the ideals of people all throughout. The more powerful Spirit Liners are known as Heroic Spirits. They are freed from the constraints of time itself and removed from the ring of reincarnation, moved to the Throne of Heroe, a place existing outside of both the World and the time axis.

Still standing in front of the library, Matou Sakura frantically turned the pages and arrived at the chapter concerning the Fuyuki Grail War and the Heroic Spirit Invocation Ritual.

She had already had the opportunity to use this Ritual once and remembered it well. In fact, even if the process made it possible to invoke the most powerful existing Familiar, a Servant, the Ritual was surprisingly simple to implement, requiring only a magic circle and a fairly simple incantation, in the usual language of the Magus. The Greater Grail took over the most complex part of the invocation, allowing simple amateurs with little ability... even completely ignorant people (like Emiya Shirou) to invoke Heroics Spirits.

Finally, the most difficult thing was to find a Catalyst, an object capable of creating a link with the Hero that we want to invoke, a personal object for example.

"Sakura? What are you doing here?"

A chill of terror shook the young Matou. She turned towards the door. An old man in kimono was looking at her from the corridor. Small, his head shaved, bent by age, he leaned on a wooden cane... a harmless old man, at least until one looked at his eyes, two chasms of darkness.

"Grandfather..."
Matou Zouken walked into the room and took the book from Sakura's hands. He read the page she had just walked through and his eyes narrowed:

"Sakura, show me your hand."

Of course, the beautiful teen would have preferred to hide her hand, but she was too afraid to disobey. So she showed the three Commands Marks that had appeared on her hand. For several days, she had managed to hide the appearance of these claims of absolute obedience which made her a Master. And her terror was as deep as the ocean as she waited for her punishment.

Zouken would have easily served as a model for the definition of the word "cruelty". What he called "education" would have frightened the worst torturers of the Inquisition and would have brought tears of pity from them.

Yet the old man simply nodded and smiled:

"Congratulations, my granddaughter, you are the second Master chosen by the Grail for the Sixth Grail War of Fuyuki."

He went to a trunk which he opened to take incense and colored chalk.

"Come, follow me, let us summon your servant."

For once the breeding room served a purpose less harmful than usual. In the middle of the vast free space, with gestures born of a great habit, Zouken had just drawn two concentric circles, inscribing in the central part a star with six branches as well as strange signs, perhaps a form of writing, in some parts and also drawing smaller circles at the four cardinal points: A ring of purification around a ring of four purging circles, surrounding a ward of summoning. Finally happy with the result, he turned to his 'granddaughter:

"The most important thing now is to choose your Servant. We have different catalysts available as a fragment of the Round Table or..."

"I would like to summon Medusa."

Zouken seemed surprised, perhaps more by the will displayed by Sakura than by the choice itself. Usually, his 'granddaughter' was perfectly submissive, being content to follow orders without protest but with an inertia that others would have found frightening. To protect herself from the horror of her existence, Sakura had raised a barrier of insensitivity and indifference that protected her 'deep self'.

Zouken hesitated briefly, realizing that this choice was a form of resistance to his authority. Instinctively, he distrusted her... However, he had taken many precautions with Sakura. He had the mental equivalent of a shrug. Needless to worry, he had the means to regain control of his 'granddaughter' at any time.

"All right, if it's the Servant you want, I have no reason to object."

The obvious relief of the Young Matou made the monstrous vampire-like grandfather almost wants to go back on what he had just said and impose a Servant of his choice on Sakura. But he felt ridiculous... What was he afraid of? Sakura had never opposed him. She could not oppose him, even if she wanted to.

"Take off your clothes and get ready."

Sakura finished reciting the ritual:

"You will remain by my side, my destiny depends on your sword.

Called by the Holy Grail, if you grant my request, answer me.

May the oath take shape here, I am the embodiment of good in this eternal world.

I am the hunter of evil in this eternal world.

You, the seven heavens that support the great trinity.

Appears in the circle of constraints.

O Keeper of balance!"

There was a kind of explosion and a woman appeared in the magic circle. She was very tall and her long purple hair was lighter than those of Sakura down to her ankles, like a coat of the most beautiful silk. She was a buxom lady, wearing a short black dress, high boots up to mid-thigh, she also had long gloves. Her eyes were hidden by a mask and a strange sign was traced on her forehead.

Her pure white skin evoked purity, but the smell of blood lingered in her wake.

"I'm the Servant Rider, are you my Master?"

"I'm Matou Sakura, and yes I'm your Master, Medusa Gorgon."

Rider greeted with a nod:

"I recognize you as my Master."

Sakura had a little laugh:

"Nice to see you again, Rider."

But Medusa showed only a little surprise:

"See me again?"

Sakura blinked:

"I... I summoned you at the Five Grail War."

But Rider simply shook her head, showing that she had no memory of her. Sakura turned to Zouken:

"Grandfather?"
"Sakura, the Servants are copies of the original Hero, which remains in the Throne of Heroe. The Servant you summoned has no recollection of the previous invocation of Medusa as a Rider-class Servant. This Rider is like a twin of the Rider of the Fourth Grail War but... sh's not really the same person."
Matou Zouken had a thin smile when he saw the disappointed expression of his granddaughter:

"More importantly, do you feel tired?"

She bowed.

"No, Grandfather."

"All right, all right... I'm surprised the ritual happened so easily."

"Why, Grandfather?"

"Well, this is the first time a Servant has been summoned to Rifts Earth, isn't it? The Throne of the Heroes is in another universe. There was a possibility that invocation would prove impossible unless we opened a Rift to our original universe."

In fact, it was the very reason for Zouken's enthusiasm to help his 'granddaughter'. He had studied the manner in which the Invocations took place on Rift Earths. The fact that the Demonists and Summoners needed only simplistic rituals to call creatures from other universes had given him good hope that the Greater Grail could do the same without the need to add an open rift ritual in the Ryuudou Temple's Cavern. Zuken suspected that the near impossibility of invoking beings from another universe in the Fateverse had to be the result of Gaia and/or Alaya's opposition. But on Rifts Earth such entities did not exist. On the contrary, the barriers of separation with other universes were practically non-existent. Given that the ambient mana was almost a hundred times higher in this universe, the Grail also did not lack the energy to call a Servant.

Nevertheless, there was only one way to ensure that his hypothesis was correct. Try. And the summoning had succeeded... So Zouken's plans could be put into practice.

"Rider" said Sakura smiling timidly "the Grail War hasn't started yet... do you want to come with me to visit the city?"

At first surprised, the Servant had a slight smile:

"With pleasure, Master."

Sakura laughs again.

"And I'll buy you clothes so you can go to Verde with me."

"Verde?"

"It's a mall, there's a tea shop."

While the two girls were chatting peacefully, Matou Zouken had a scowl... Servants were mere tools. You had to be really stupid to consider them as people and especially to want to be friends with them.

(1) According to legend, during a diplomatic interview with Richard Lionheart. Saladin demonstrated the superiority of Arab weapons by releasing a silk handkerchief on the blade of his scimitar... the piece of cloth fell to the ground cut in half, hence the legend surrounding this yatagan. It would be able to cut anything.

(2) In Rifts Earth, Runic Magic is considered divine. After all, Odin had to sacrifice an eye and was hanged nine days pierced by a magic spear to learn this secret from Yggdrasil. As a result, Runic Magic is rarely used and the few and secretive Runecrafts masters were fearful that strangers discover their talent... Spugorths were famous for enslaving Runecraft users and forcing them to work for them. Runic weapons are the result of Runecraft and they are the equivalent of Noble Phantasms... which explains the value of Runecraft on Rifts Earth.

(3)"Doom prediction. The series of brilliant runes, magic runes, I've hidden them here. Let him remain without respite outside and be killed by treachery who will break this."

(4) Fondue of deer or horse that can be eaten with raw egg.