The Story of Illya Emiya

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Fate Stay franchise or the characters associated with them.

"talking"

Thoughts

Berserker III

". . . . Install . . . . Rider" Illya chanted. With those words, the spell became active as all her magic circuits were kicked into overdrive as they lit up all over her skin. Radiating a bright golden aura, a purplish like flame erupted around her as she was draped in it's power.

With her new spell, she was becoming something new. Something never before seen in the previous wars as it was unheard of or even considered in the realm of possibility.

She was becoming something that was neither master nor servant.

She was now both with two existences in one form. As the flames faded off, Illya's appearance had completely changed. Her cloths were replaced adorning a look similar to Rider with a few tweaks in design. But the most noticeable changes was a longer wavier hem line of her dress, a purple ribbon tied at the end of her hair, and an eye patch that covered her right eye. With the one eye that was revealed, her pupils were square as the irises shined like crystals. A beauty that could only have existed during the age of gods.

With little thought to anything else she acted quickly. Just as Berserker raised his hammer to end the mage smith, Illya with Rider's superior speed had grabbed Shirou as she swept him to safety. Dropping him in what appeared to be a safe place, "stay here. I'll take care of this". Quickly returning back to the battle, Illya showed the mad servant just how powerful Rider was.

Spotting the purplish black blur coming at him Berserker swung vertically only for his opponent to drop to her knees as she slid under it.

Spinning back Illya kicked off the ground as she slashed at his back leaving behind a minor cut.

Growling at taking the hit, Berserker swung again only for Illya to easily dodge countering back managing to cut his arm this time.

Evading her opponent was near effortless now for Illya. Being one with Rider, she had her strength, experiences, and skills at her disposal as she reacted and thought the same way she would. Though Berserker's magic resistance was high, her mystic eyes Cybele were in effect causing her opponent's movements to be sluggish as he strained himself to move. With those small windows, it was more then enough for her.

As she fought, Illya had a passing thought as how pitiably Shinji was. If he had been a decent master or even a mage for the matter Rider most certainly would've been a force to be reckoned with. But perhaps it was fortunate at how circumstance had smiled at her with such a blessing.

However at the rate she was fighting, she didn't have the attack power to end the mad servant. Nor did she dare try to summon her pegasus as she wasn't certain how it would react with her as it was a sentient mythical beast. But she counted on Saber and Archer already heading back to her position. If that was the fact, she needed to cease Berserker's movements so that they could deal the killing blow. As such she had just the plan for it as she disappeared for a moment and reappeared before striking the ground with her chain nail. Positioning the chains, they crisscrossed all throughout the forest as some even went through the ground.

Seeing the chains spin around him, Berserker howled swinging his hammer just trying to catch the homunculus turned servant. But the moment he caught a glimpse of her she was gone again leaving behind a purple after image as she continued to run circles around him.

With her bindings stretching for at least four hundred meters throughout the forest, she enacted her plan. Illya then whipped her chains around Berserker's arms, legs, torso, and neck as she backed them up by more and more. However the metal links were loosely fastened as they were backed by other chains looped elsewhere. It was like a spiders web as she needed to ensnare him keeping him stationary and immobile. Having all the chains in the right places, they all led back to Illya as she was holding several of them in both her hands.

Spotting his target Berserker tried to charge at her.

". . . . I can feel it" thought Illya as she concentrated on her other senses. "The feel of the forest, the vibrations in the ground, every living thing all around me".

These were Rider's skills as her other senses were as good as seeing itself. The moment Berserker's foot hit the ground she saw every detail of it. Position, weight, posture, intent, it was all an open book to her. Anticipating how Berserker would move she repositioned her chains to cancel out his leverage holding him in his spot.

Feeling her chains rattle as if they were screeching in agony, "what freakish strength" as she was barely holding the binds together. Even the trees and ground they were anchored onto were shaking as the mad servant was literally trying to move a quarter mile of forest and earth just to take a swing at her.

Calling down a bolt of lightning, it too was rendered ineffective with the chains grounded.

With Illya busy holding off Berserker, Kuro was nearby watching.

When her servant unleashed his attack, she was temporarily blinded from the flash of light. But upon regaining her sight her eyes went wide as she couldn't believe what she saw. Illya had become a servant. "Unbelievable" were the first words to cross her lips. Such a thing like this was not supposed to be possible. Yet here it was. Though she didn't know how exactly Illya was doing this, she was able to make a few reasonable assumptions about her current state.

But the most obvious was that though her other had the powers of a servant she was still a flesh and blood body. That made her vulnerable enough for her to stick a knife into her back

Sensing footsteps behind her, Illya cringed as there was nothing she could do about Kuro. It was taking all her strength and concentration to just hold Berserker in place. Though with Rider's eyes, she knew Kuro couldn't approach her so easily. But like the legend of how Perseus defeated Medusa, all she had to do was not look at her.

Projecting a reflective surface, Kuro steadily approached her with a knife in hand.

As the dark homunculus inched closer Illya was twitching. Gritting her teeth she was trapped between a crazed demi-god and his deranged master. Quickly rifling through her options she felt another presence near Kuro.

"Gandr!" Rin shouted as she tried to shoot behind her back only to spectacularly miss.

"Rin!" Illya almost shouted out ecstatically.

"You're going to have to explain this all to me later. Archer and Saber will be here shortly. So just hold on for a bit longer. I'll take care of Kuro till then".

"Like you can" as Kuro charged at her to which the brunette magus engaged. For this rematch proved extremely difficult as they couldn't face each other properly. Due to the effects of Cybele, the petrification would occur just from even looking at Illya's direction. Though they were gifted as mages there own magic resistance could only do so much. So they had to be careful as it would be an instant loss if either of them even glanced in that direction.

Meanwhile Illya kept Berserker in check as she moved her chains around to keep him stationary. Feeling her body ache, she figured it must have been muscle fatigue as it was taking everything she had to keep him down. "No . . . . Something's wrong. Something's wrong with my body". Initially it started off as minor annoyances which were easily tolerable. But as time continued, the pain started to intensify in several magnitudes for each passing moment. Clenching her teeth trying to endure it was starting to become unbearable. She wasn't sure what was going on inside her body as it felt like it was being pulled apart in all directions. Her blood, her muscles, her veins and arteries, her heart, everything about her felt like it was about to break. In turn she could sense Rider's spirit trying to disconnect itself from her. But she couldn't allow that, not yet. She needed this power till Saber and Archer arrived. So using every bit of willpower she could muster she held onto the purple servant to try to maintain her form. "I have to endure . . . . Just need to hold on for a little while longer . . . ." as sweat dripped down her face.

"Damn this is becoming a pain" thought Rin. But she wasn't in that boat alone as Kuro was forced to do the same. Rin used her jewels to create a few mirrors while Kuro generated some reflective surface projections so they both could look around. However the most important part was that they had to block Illya from their sight. They couldn't risk hand to hand confrontation as even a glance at the young homunculus could spell the end for either of them. Hence they had to settle for distance as they fired energy shots at each other.

But maneuvering their defenses around, it was a stalemate as neither could get the upperhand.

Elsewhere Shirou had finally come too recovering from his near brush with death. Looking to his right arm, it was curiously back in good condition. Quickly checking himself over, his body was relatively unharmed aside from minor soreness. However he was certain after Berserker broke his defense he should have had a few bone fractures and lacerations. But upon inspection there was nothing that was apparently wrong with him. "I can't worry about myself right now! I need to get back to where they are!" Getting to his feet, he ran back towards the danger. As he made his way there the same thought kept swirling around his head concerning the transformation his sister had undergone. But when it concerned Illya, he shouldn't have been too surprised what she was capable of concerning her sorcery trait which theoretically gave her an endless bag of tricks. But like all power, it came at a price. So what price did she have to pay in order to attain it? Allowing that thought to sink in, "Illya . . . ." the mage smith thought in worry.

Back at the battle Illya was shaking violently straining just to stay conscious. Permeation in her hands and her weakening muscles didn't make this any easier as Berserker continued to rampage in her web of chains. Bleeding out from her eyes, she felt herself regurgitating blood as she tried to keep that faint metallic taste down. Feeling that shock like a stab to her heart, she coughed out as her blood dripped out her mouth trailing along her body till it hit the ground. ". . . . I . . . . I can't . . . . I can't hold it any longer . . . ." as the chains slipped from her hands. The moment she fell to her knees, her servant form shattered like glass as she was back to her normal form.

Now free and uninhibited, Berserker raised his hammer ready to turn the young homunculus into nothing but a smear on Mjolnir.

But at times like these you had to love impeccable timing. Taking up a sniping position, Archer needed to find an area in which he would have a clear line of fire. Seeing the enemy approaching Illya, the red servant chose his arrows carefully as it was a danger close shot. So focusing more on stopping power rather then overall damage, he fired one bolt after another as it struck the demi-god slowing him down. But he was still walking through them like minor annoyances. "What freakish resistance" Archer commented offhandedly as he continued to shoot.

Splitting off from Archer, Illya was Saber's first priority above all else. Dashing in she scooped her master up as she attempted to move her to safety.

Upon spotting his prey escaping Berserker roared as he ran after them. Even with Archer laying down cover fire, the mad servant simply used his hammer to block it. As he chased, a bolt of lightning had struck his hammer as he was ready to strike.

"I'm not going to make it!" Saber cringed. She couldn't defend her master and fight this monster at the same time.

But then dashing right right past her, "trace on!"

"Shirou?!" said the knightly servant in stunned surprise as the mage smith charged in bravely in an idiotic way against an opponent he was no match for.

"Get Illya away from here! I'll hold Berserker for as long as I can!" Shirou shouted.

Taking her priority into account Saber took Illya to safety which left Shirou and Archer to deal with this dangerous opponent. With the mage smith on the ground and the red servant as fire support, they were barely holding off Berserker. But after a few exchanges, "No . . . . That's not quite it . . . ." they both thought. They weren't quite holding him off. Rather he appeared to have been weakening. Though not obvious at first, he was indeed growing slower. Thus they questioned why? It certainly wasn't their doing as they were hardly damaging him.

"You're fighting too slow boy" said Archer as he joined him on the ground. "Why don't you stand aside before someone get's hurt" summoning his own duo blades.

"Don't treat me like a child Archer!" Shirou shot back. "I can hold my own just fine! Besides I'm not going to let this bastard touch Illya so long I still draw breath!"

"Hmm" Archer then scoffed. "Well let's see how how that last" as the battle continued to rage on.

Meanwhile elsewhere, "put me down Saber. I'm fine . . . ." Illya whispered out.

"I cannot" Saber retorted. Her master was in frail state as she looked like she would break if she held her too tight. Her blood tainted her usual pristine appearance as her silver hair and pale skin were painted crimson. She needed to attend to her first.

"Put me down now" Illya grunted out.

"But Illya . . . ."

"Do as I say . . . . Please . . . . Saber . . . .". Hesitant to obey, the knightly servant put her down carefully as she laid her against a tree. Laying her head back, the young homunculus took a deep calming breath exhaling out to the cold night air. "This battle . . . . Has to end my way as I cannot accept any other outcome. I'm sorry . . . . If I'm asking too much . . . . But I know it in my heart that this is right. Even though it might be self-fish or perhaps overly self-righteous of me" as Illya gave a strained chuckle.

"Illya . . . ." as Saber looked to her in worry as she understood what she wanted her to do.

"Return to the battle" Illya then commanded as her eyes reflected her resolve. "And finish this".

"Understood" as Saber turned back. Within moments as she ran through the forest she had returned to see Shirou and Archer barely holding Berserker at bay. But at this point Archer had taken the lead as Shirou was fatigued just trying to keep up with the heroic spirits. However he was too stubborn to withdraw from the battle. As ordered by her master, she was going to end this now with one swing of her mighty sword. Removing the wind veil, Excalibur was fully revealed in all it's magnificence as golden light began to shine.

"Such a troublesome person you are" Archer scoffed. "Looks like I'll have to cover you till you've fully charged" as he first threw Shirou aside much to his annoyance as he was more of a distraction at this point. Going for a couple more passes against the mad servant, Kansho and Bakuya broke shattering as they faded off. Not that he cared as he could easily create new ones. But all he had to do now was buy time till Saber was ready. Though he didn't care to constantly rebuild his duo swords. So he figured he might as well show off a little.

Just as Berserker swung Mjolnir, Archer countered back to the surprise of everyone who saw a Mjolnir of his own. As the two mighty hammers collided, a bell like chime was heard followed by an intense flash of light. As a result the two servants were thrown back grinding against the ground trying to stay on their feet.

Berserker seemed to have been growling in delight as he gripped his hammer tighter.

Archer as usual arrogantly smirked. But his hand trembled in slight numbness as he narrowly canceled that attack out while his fake Mjolnir had several cracks all over it. "I guess it's a little too much to ask against the real thing" applying his mana repairing his weapon. "However I'm not going to go down that easily!" as they charged at each other again.

Noticing the shifts in the battle, Kuro could not delay any longer. To see this through to the end she was going to reduce the entire forest to ash. Saber was preparing her noble phantasm, Illya was nowhere in sight, Shirou was going to be an unfortunate casualty, Rin was just being an annoyance, and Archer was proving to be quite a wild card. But as she had told them, this was going to end in one of two ways. Either they died or she did. "Enough playing around Berserker! Kill them now with everything you got! Scorch everything to the ground!" using her third and final command seal.

Archer went for another swing as Berserker flew up dodging it. With the command made as his master invested all the mana she could, a storm was gathering. One the likes no one had ever seen before as the sky was blotted out by dark clouds as a sign of calamity. Once high enough lightning began to gather converging striking Berserker's hammer as all that raw power made it shine.

"Heh, looks like I should bow out on this one" said Archer as he withdrew quickly grabbing Shirou and Rin getting them to a safe distance. Though he knew plenty about Excalibur and Mjolnir, what happened next even he didn't know for sure. The light of the holy sword against the thunder of the divine hammer. Two high grade weapons of legendary proportions as this was the only moment in time that these two would ever clash on the battlefield. But it was certain that if these two powers ever met, you didn't want to be anywhere in between them once the light show got started.

Taking her cue as well, Kuro went for cover. Once Saber was dealt with the rest would easily fall into place.

Raising her sword above her head, Saber continued to concentrate as Excalibur radiated it's ethereal golden light taking the shape of a giant blade. As she continued, beautiful beads of light rose all around her as angelic feathers danced to it warm glow. A brilliance that had guided the lost souls across many battlefields of both past and future. A sword that has never known an equal or tasted defeat was to challenge a weapon nearly equal in history to itself.

Continuously gathering lightning from the skies, Mjolnir grew brighter. A mighty hammer forged by the best dwarf craftsmen, it was truly a weapon made for a god. Though incomplete due to the interference of a certain trickster it still remained formidable within the hands of Thor. An existence whose fame surpassed that of his father Odin. A tool of both creation and destruction, it was a force not to be challenged. Now at the pinnacle of all the power it could muster, Berserker was ready to attack.

With nothing held back, they unleashed their most devastating attack.

"Excalibur!" Saber cried out swinging her sword. Aiming for her opponent, a beam of beautiful yet destructive light flew at the mad servant in an attempt to obliterate him.

Responding in kind Berserker roared out aiming his hammer as all the power it had gathered was unleashed.

Colliding in the center the power of the holy sword and the divine hammer met in a devastating swirl of energy destroying everything that was caught up in it's path. After the initial shock, vibrational forces continued to tear up the terrain as trees and stones were torn asunder. Even the clouds that Berserker had summoned were forced to disperse from the power being generated.

As the two powers continued to clash it seemed rather even with neither side able to attain any ground. But that was not quite the case as Saber was at a disadvantage.

Seeing it within the corner of her eye, the ground was destabilizing. The surface was distorting in various ways from cave in, upheaval, or simply from being blown away. If she lost her footing, it would be over as she needed to concentrate all her effort into overcoming Berserker. A concern the mad servant didn't have to worry about being up in the air.

Watching from a distance Kuro just needed to wait. A little longer and the knightly servant would be no more leaving the rest at her mercy. But then huffing, she gave a choked laugh as she placed her hand over her heart. "Hmm . . . . I guess it was too naive of me to think I could win . . . ." She had been feeling it for a while now. Since the start of her battle, she had been burning through her mana quickly. With taking on both Rin and Illya plus powering her servant the upkeep was quite taxing as she was balancing on the very thin line between this world and the next. Upon her final command, she used up what little power she had left for her champion to finish off her opponents. "Heh . . . . I guess in the end . . . . It just wasn't enough . . . ." Feeling numb as she had expended all the energy she had left, Kuro collapsed as her end was upon her.

With the link between master and servant weakened, Berserker's power output significantly dropped. With that window of opportunity Saber saw her chance. Gathering whatever she had left in her Saber in war cry gave her final push as Excalibur's light expanded consuming Mjolnir's lightning as it soon completely swallowed Berserker.

With her attack finished, the light of her sword faded off as Saber breathed heavily trying to catch her breath.

From the sky, Berserker fell back to the Earth hitting the ground violently. Initially concerned as the knightly servant took up a defensive stance she soon lowered her guard as she re-sheathed her sword.

She sensed no more killing intent from her opponent as his body was far too damaged to continue fighting. But more so he seemed calm now. Perhaps even a bit glad as he stood before her now almost content with the situation.

With a faint chuckle, Berserker spoke. "Well done warrior. I truly enjoyed our bout though with how short lived it may have been". Gazing upon his adversary, a small grin stretched on his lips. "A truly magnificent sight you are. The beauty of Sif with the strength of Brunhilda. You truly do deserve your title as the king of knights". Then sighing his body began to fade away. "The taste of defeat . . . What an interesting sensation it is. Let us someday face each other again in Valhalla warrior. I look forward to facing you once more . . . ." as Berserker was now gone.

". . . . Till that time Berserker" said Saber. Scanning the ruins of the battlefield, there was just one last loose end to tie up.

Laying there half dead on the ground, Kuro was fading from this world as she couldn't maintain her form. Looking up, Saber approached her with a neutral look on her face. Chuckling to how things turned out, "what are you waiting for? My life is yours to claim. So just take it already as I don't care to pointlessly beg or are you just here to watch me die?"

"None of those things . . . ." said Illya

Looking around the others approached as well with her other closely followed by Rin, Shirou, and Archer.

Standing next to her, Illya knelt down placing her hands on Kuro's shoulder.

"So you wanted the honor yourself huh? Fine, just get it over with . . . . I don't care anymore . . . ." as she closed her eyes waiting for whatever would come next. But to her instant surprise something warm pressed against her lips which snapped her eyes open as Illya was kissing her. With that contact a large amount of mana was transferred into her revitalizing her core. After a moment she pushed herself off. "What the hell was that for? Is this some form of pity for a fallen enemy?"

"No" as Illya shook her head. Taking a slow breath, she spoke directly from her heart. "Regardless of what you may think or say of me, I do understand Kuro. I understand the sadness . . . . The loneliness . . . . The hatred in your heart. The pain that can only be soothed by the suffering of others. Even if you called me stupid for it, under a very different scenario I could have ended up just like you . . . ." Then her eyes started to moist as she tried to keep herself from breaking down. "But I was given this chance for a better life . . . . A life with people that I love and care for. That's why . . . ." as Illya hiccuped as she needed to convey her honest feelings. "I needed to save you! No matter the circumstance or reason you're my sister and that makes you my family!"

Taken back, Kuro trembled as she had trouble finding her voice. "You're kidding me right . . . ." she stuttered. "Over . . . . Over something like that you wanted to save me . . . .? So stupid . . . . It's all so stupid . . . ." But she felt it. Illya's feelings had reached her as she sensed no deception in her words as her stupid other even cried for her. "But to tell me this now . . . . It's already too late" as her face tightened as her eyes became moist. Even with the mana transfer, she couldn't keep herself together as she had pushed herself too hard.

"Her body is degrading!" Rin exclaimed. "She won't be able to hold onto her form for much longer!"

"There has to be something we can do!" Shirou then said. "We can't just let her die like this!"

"You need to focus!" as Illya shook Kuro's shoulders. "Just hold on!"

"It's alright . . . ." Kuro spoke back. "I made my peace already . . . . I am . . . . Happy to know that this was how you felt . . . ."

"Don't be stubborn!" Illya shouted. "I won't ever forgive you if you just throw away your life like that! There are still lots of things in the world to see! Lots of things to experience! Don't let it end like this!"

Stunned again once more from her words, "but I . . . ."

"I won't give up on you! So you don't give up on us!" Illya cried out. "So wish! Wish with all your heart and soul and choose to live!"

Though she resolved herself to die long ago, some small part of her didn't want to accept it. There had to be something more to her life then the function she was given when she took her first breath on this Earth. Daring to hope one last time, the wall around her heart broke as tears spilled from her eyes. "I want to live!" screaming out her deepest desire enacting her sorcery trait. In a flash of ethereal light, her body stabilized.

"Kuro!" as Illya's tears began to stream. "Thank goodness!" as she hugged her.

With a sigh of defeat, Kuro gave a strained chuckle. "Just remember you asked for this and I'll have you take responsibility from now on".

To be continued . . . .

Author's notes: Hope this chapter was OK as I've been rather busy as of late with a lot of things going on in my life right now. So onto some commentary.

As noted, Illya's grail function has been tampered with as she is now something rather odd. But when she became Rider Illya, I didn't come up with her appearance as it's from the Prisma series. Just look it up and you'll find it. But considering the full power of a servant, no flesh and blood body could possibly handle the abilities of a heroic spirit for long. So if anything, think of it like when Illya took on Zwei form. A tremendous boost in power which almost killed her when she fought against kid Gilgamesh.

I don't know what grade Mjolnir is or it's full abilities as it's purely assumptions on my part. But I'd imagine Mjolnir was composed of matter Archer could understand and know how to reconstruct. If anything else who's to say he didn't encounter it at one point in his future travels and studied it so he could trace it and incorporate it into his UBW? Makes me wonder since he referenced Gungnir (Odin staff) in which it's power wasn't comparable to Gae Bolg when it went up his Rho Aias. As for overall output in the exchange between Excalibur and Mjolnir, that's up to debate.

So if there are any questions or concerns feel free to ask to which I'll try to get back to you.

So thank you for reading and I further extend my gratitude if you can review as well.