Guest: It's a pleasure to please. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. As this chapter shows, Sakura and Archer have one thing in common which is a good basis for mutual understanding. Both know what it is to be a slave used as a mere object.

The Witch-King of Kalysha

Hero Emiya, the Archer Class Servant of Fuyuki's Fifth Grail War, was described as a cynical man. For some, like his former Master, he was even cynical personified. Whatever the situation, whatever the human miseries he faced, or the absurdities of fate, he looked at things with irony. He welcomed with an annoying smile or sarcastic repartee any attempt to move him or to get from him a few words of compassion.
Nevertheless, there were no worse cynics than the idealists disappointed by life.

As a young man, Shirou Emiya had been the greatest dreamer that Earth had ever worn. Eager to save everyone, the "gentiles" as well as the "villains" by sacrificing himself, he had led a meaningless life to invest himself in all the battles lost in advance... and to suffer disillusionment after defeats. His death had been the summit of stupidity, a sacrifice as vain as all the actions of his life.

Only death had not been the end for Shirou Emiya. Living, only his own foolishness had led him to promote himself as a hero of all lost causes. But to obtain the power necessary for his crusade of the impossible, he had made the ultimate sacrifice. He had asked Alaya, the Will of Humanity, to provide him with the power that he was lacking. In exchange, he would become a counter-force agent after his death.

Shirou Emiya was dead hanging with a smile on her face. Certain that at his death he would work for eternity to protect humanity from anything that might threaten it.

Only Alaya was not a third rate Magus convinced that he had a duty to save the world. She was a cold will that knew only one method to solve all the problems...

Shirou had become her favorite "dog".

She had sent him to Rome in 79 A.D. to kill those responsible for the fire that had ravaged the capital of the empire. Alaya had then sent him in 1789 to open the doors of the Bastille to the revolted Parisians. After the names and dates mingled in his mind... the defeat of the Mongols at the battle of Koan... The debacle of Napoleon in Russia... The battle of Babylon between the heirs of Alexander the Great... 1914... 1066... 1204...

Hero Emiya had killed...

Killed...
And killed again...

Sometimes when he was lucky, his mission was to eliminate a handful of terrorists before they triggered an attack. On other occasions, as in London in 1666, he had to set off a vast fire that had killed thousands...

After each mission, Emiya returned to Unlimited Blade Work with his Reality Marble. For every death he had caused, Shirou had planted a sword in the sand desert of his inner universe. After centuries, Unlimited Blade Work had metamorphosed into a mineral ocean strewn with blades of all origins... In the sky crossed by clouds of smoke turned gears as large as planets, symbolizing his mechanical existence as an Alaya dog exercising the dreaded "justice" of the Will of Humanity. He no longer had any will or purpose of his own... and the gears had come to a standstill, gripped by the absurdity of his existence...

For eternity, Shirou Emiya had become the unwilling slave of a merciless creature. Realizing that his idealism and stupidity was the cause of everything, Emiya felt a helpless revolt.

When Rin Tohsaka invoked him as Archer, Hero Emiya felt more joy than he had felt since his death. By killing young Shirou Emiya, Archer hoped to provoke a temporal paradox that would erase his existence from human history.

But...
How can I put it?

Nothing had worked out as planned. In the end, he had once again sacrificed himself to save his young Master and... this idealistic moron Shirou Emiya. Seeing Saber again was enough for Archer to return to his teenage nonsense... Truly, Hero Emiya was irretrievable. Under a thick layer of cynicism was a dreamer still as much in love with the beautiful Saber and always eager to save everything and everyone...
That should have been his end. Archer's consciousness should have been sent back as an additional experience to the true Hero Emiya still trapped in his Reality Marble.

Instead, Archer had received a new life, becoming a separate existence from his original, all because of an absurd, unrealistic, idealistic wish of this great dreamer of Shirou Emiya... Those who say the universe has meaning should be turned into a remote-controlled killer and spend a few centuries on a sand dune. They would understand that you have to welcome everything that comes your way with a cynical smile because nothing, absolutely nothing, makes any sense.

The whole universe is a freak show.

But sometimes... sometimes... the absurd was a chance.

Archer did not know if his existence was definitively separated from Hero Emiya or if he would return to Alaya's slavery when he died. Then he was ready to enjoy his new life to the fullest, determined to finally live for himself.

I mean, that was Archer's plan...

Except, of course, nothing went as planned. By reflex, he rushed to the aid of his former Master when he discovered that at the death of the parents of her new incarnation, an unscrupulous uncle had decided to take over the family inheritance by arranging an accident for Rin and Sakura.

Nothing Changed! Archer was always an idealistic idiot.

He had remained in Torrent throughout the childhood of the two reincarnated Japanese and had - of course- found himself involved in an Angra Mainyu's plot that threatened Tamriel. Archer had fought to keep Wayrest from falling into the hands of the Orcs. The fall of the capital of Menevia would have caused the invasion of all Hight-Rock... and enough suffering to allow the resurrection of Avenger in the form of the Supreme Principle of Evil.

Sakura Tohsaka was better known as Sakura Matou. She had the bad luck to be born gifted for the Magecraft... yes, the bad luck.

Most of Magi's families would have sacrificed newborns in Beelzebub so that one of their descendants would have as much latent power as Sakura. But Tokiomi Tohsaka - her father- already had a daughter with abilities as impressive as Sakura. And as Rin was the eldest, in the world of the Magi, ruled only by interest and cold logic, Sakura was only a... useless spare part.

Magus before he was a father, Tokiomi Tohsaka had given his daughter to Zouken Matou, head of the - once-powerful- Makiri family. In his mind, he gave his daughter a chance to become a true Magus.
But Zouken was an immortal, cynical and brutal monster, a parasite who fed on the lives of others. He did not need a pupil or an heiress but "food" for the monstrous magic-eating insects that formed the Worm Crest, the basis of his Magecraft. There is a limit to what words can express. Nothing I could write could even touch upon the horror of the "training" received by Sakura. The little girl, only five years old, was... raped by giant insects and her torment continued mercilessly until the end of the Fifth Grail War.

The latter taking place only ten years after the Fourth, Zouken was not ready to claim the Grail seriously. So he let his grandson, Shinji Matou, participate in the conflict. However, the latter was not a real Magus and Shinji was unable to bind a Servant It was Sakura who was tasked to summon Rider before handing over control of the Servant to her adoptive brother thanks to the Book of False Attendant, a book used for magical contracts where Sakura had inscribed one of her Command Spells.

The only source of joy in Sakura's creepy universe was Shirou Emiya. His "grandfather" having sent her to spy on Kirritsugu Emiya's adopted son, Sakura discovered a very kind and devoted boy... someone different from the cruel, selfish, and cynical beings that had always surrounded her.

After being continually abused, demeaned, and used as a mere object, Sakura had become introverted and shy, unable to express her love for the red-haired boy. Only, for the first time, she showed a willingness to oppose her "grandfather" and her adoptive brother rapist. Sakura came every morning and night to Emiya's house even after Zouken decided that spying on the teenager was no longer useful.

Sakura's gentle appearance and submissive behavior concealed an iron will... a characteristic that explained why she did not sink into madness.

The teenage girl with purple hair crossed the Grail War without the other Servants suspecting that she was Rider's real Master.

Then... Shirou and Saber won the conflict. Their two wish allowed her to have a new life in the Fantasy world of Nirn, a life that meets her secret hope of being reunited with her sister and being freed from the evil hold of Zouken.

Unfortunately, Sakura was not the only one to whom Avenger had granted a new life in accordance with his secret desires.

Shinji Matou wanted to be a Great Mage and to be respected by all... His self-esteem was a constant sore. Angra Mainyu gave him what he wanted and much more... he nourishes the burning desires of the reincarnated Japanese. Although Angra Mainyu was neither particularly intelligent nor very subtle, his nature of All the World Evil made him an excellent judge of human weaknesses. By giving him more and more, the Servant had only whetted an unlimited appetite for power in Shinji. The more Shinji Matou received, the more he believed to become powerful and free... But, in fact, Shinji became more and more the slave of Avenger.

When the time came, Angra Mainyu had just shown him Sakura Toksaka. The reincarnated Japanese woman lived happily with her sister, protected by Archer. Her talent for magic had finally blossomed. All marveled at her immense power and mastery.

Jealousy was one of Angra Mainyu's most powerful curses.

Jealousy made Shinji sick with rage.

He had to demean and humiliate those who rose above him. The shadow that was Angra Mainyu smiled... He told Shinji a secret known only to Zuken.

Kiritsugu Emiya forced Saber to destroy the Grail during the Fourth Grail War. But even the light of Excalibur strengthened by two Command Marks had not been enough to completely destroy the cup overflowing with curses. Fragments had survived. Zouken had implanted them in Sakura without her knowledge, making of her a second Lower Grail... the Black Grail of the Makiri!

Avenger, therefore, proposed to abduct Sakura and use a ritual that would force the Black Grail to manifest. As the Makiri's heir, Shinji would then have access to unlimited magical power...

The idea delighted Shinji as much for the power that he would receive during the ritual as because it would return to him his "natural right" to abuse and belittle Sakura.

Of course, Avenger didn't say everything.

It did not matter to him that Shinji became the greatest Magus of all time thanks to a usurped power...
In fact, Sakura was the key to his resurrection. Even if the failure of his plans did not allow Angra Mainyu to create a situation where fear, death, suffering, and grief gave him enough power to be reborn as the Supreme God of Evil, Shinji would unwittingly provide him with the complement by using the Black Grail.

Proud, jealous, eager for recognition, the young Matou was an ideal pawn.

Like all Angra Mainyu's plans, the kidnapping of Sakura had resorted to individuals corrupted by their desires and an enormous amount of power used without much talent.

It was simple, simplistic even. After all, Angra Mainyu had at most the intelligence and emotional maturity of a fifteen-year-old teenager... it was not to be expected of him a strategy involving genius.

However, even a fool would become dangerous if he had all the power of the Grail of Fuyuki.

Avenger may have used his strengths without subtlety but he had defeated Merlin and forced Rin Tohsaka, Artoria Pendragon, and Shirou Emiya to run for their lives.

The opponents who had inflicted defeat after defeat was eliminated. The victory was within reach. Avenger lowered his guard.

He did not even realize that a reincarnated Servant, both cynical and idealistic, had overcome all obstacles to reach Sakura.

Embarrassed, Archer stroked Sakura Tohsaka's purple hair.

Face against his chest, the girl was crying with relief...

Only a monster could not be moved by her reaction and Archer was quite shaken. Rin's sister welcomed him as a savior and it was rather flattering.

With a sigh, he took her by the shoulders and pushed her back within arm's reach. When Sakura raised her beautiful cherry blossom colored eyes, all traces of discomfort had disappeared from the face of the ancient Dog of Alaya. His mocking smile had returned:

"Okay, this is all cute, but I have more important things to do. Sakura, can you help me defeat Shinji?"
The teenager nodded slowly:

"Yes, but... first... where are Shirou and Rin?"

Archer hesitated for a brief moment, but it was not in his habits to spare others the reality's brutality:

"Unfortunately, you'll have to settle for me." As the expression of the young Tohsaka was veiled with worry, the Wrought Iron Hero made himself smile in a reassuring way. "No, they're fine. Simply put, the attack on Shinji forced them to turn back to Wayrest. They certainly didn't want to leave you in the hands of that crazy Shinji, but they had no choice. If Merlin had not teleported them to safety, they would have died. For the time being, we are reduced to our only resources."

The teenage girl with purple hair nodded, shaking her hands against her chest. When she looked up, the former Servant saw that she wore a resolute expression:

"I'll help you, Archer-san... but only if you promise not to kill Medusa and Shinji!"

Hero Emiya took a moment to understand what the girl was saying. His face took a stupefied expression:
"What?! Save Shinji? After what he did to you, are you still trying to defend him?"

But Sakura simply nodded:

"Yes, he's not that bad. He's also a victim of Zouken."

But Archer shook his head:

"I don't need you to find Shinji."

Sakura had a strange smirk, a little superior, totally unusual in this shy girl:

"I'm sure, Archer-san... but could you cross that part of the palace without disturbing a guard and..."
At that moment, the empty belly of Hero Emiya began to scold and Sakura accompanied this demonstration with a little pearly laughter:

"._and would you be able to find the kitchens?"

Archer looked at her with a mixture of surprise and a touch of whimsical fun:

"It's a low blow worthy of your sister!"

Sakura laughs again:

"I'll take that as a compliment, Archer-san. So, are you okay?"

The Wrought Iron Hero raised his arms to heaven in an exaggerated act of anger:

"Why must I always come across some damned idealists who want to save everything and everyone?! All right, we'll do as you ask... you have to believe that Shirou's stupidity is contagious and that you've spent too much time with him."

Sakura beamed:

"Senpai has succeeded in saving all the Masters and Servants of the Fourth Grail War!"

Archer sighed:

"Yes... The thousands of people who died because of this moronic wish must thank him from the bottom of their graves! Sakura, saving some people is condemning many others. It's time you understood that."

Sakura crossed the labyrinth of secret passages that constituted the upper levels of Kalysha as if she had always lived there. As Archer pointed out to her, the teenager nodded:

"The source of Shinji's power is this fortress. To unleash the power of the Makiri Black Grail, Avenger used the magical power that flows between its walls. It tied me to those old stones. I now know the slightest passage, the slightest trap of Kalysha, the slightest enchantment cast by the Snow Elves upon the fortress."

After several hours of walking through tunnels, secret passages, cold and dark rooms, they reached a narrow staircase:

"The kitchens are at the top of these steps, Archer-san."

Sakura pointed to the passage with a grimace of disgust which expressed eloquently what she thought of the fare delivered by the cooks of the fortress. Rin's sister leaned on a stone that protruded into the wall and in a scraping a section of wall slipped aside, revealing a vast room heated by a wide fireplace where a hellfire burned. A large pot of oatmeal cooked there.

Sitting on either side of a large table, the two cooks were busy drinking an alcoholic beverage. Half drunk, they did not notice the arrival of the two youngsters. But that will not be long.

In addition, we heard the sound of many voices coming from a nearby room. Sakura confirmed Archer's thought. The refectory was next to the kitchen.

Fortunately, shortly after his arrival in the fortress, the former Servant had found an abandoned alchemy laboratory. There were many potions kept in a cupboard and among them... a sleeping potion.
As quick as he was discreet, Archer crossed the room to pour the contents of the vial into the cooking pot.

When Sakura reopened the door they were greeted by a disturbing silence only by a few snoring. The Reachmen lay everywhere, some had fallen asleep at the tables in the refectory, others had collapsed on the ground.

Leaving aside the canteen of the simple warriors, Sakura Tohsaka pushed a door that led to a smaller room:
"This is where Shinji's meals are prepared."

Archer raised an eyebrow and looked at the equipment as a connoisseur. Although this kitchen is much smaller, it had everything it needed to prepare a real gourmet meal. Opening a hatch leading to the reserve, Sakura returned with ham, fresh bread, sausages, a country pate, fruit, and a bottle of Tamika wine.

They were simple, unprepared dishes, but Archer felt like he hadn't eaten as well in months.
Having swallowed as much as Saber in her best appetite, Archer felt much better and very optimistic. Having shared his meal, Sakura smiled:

"Kalysha's throne room is on this floor. Come, Archer-san, I'll take you there."

The corridor was typical of the old Falmer architecture. Decorated with geometric niches and statues on octahedral pedestals, the passage was illuminated by high windows closed by a lattice of elven metal.
There was only one door. Also made of elven metal, it had a warhead shape and was guarded by two Reachmen wearing Glass armor.

The "Glass" in question was not the one used to close the windows, it was a translucent volcanic glass of green color also called malachite. It was a very rare type of elven armor. As Archer looked at the men, he used his ability to Structural Analysis on these armors and the weapons carried by the guards.
He held back a whistle.

The armor protected the wearers from the elements and magic, reinforcing the ability to wear light armor. As for the glass swords... they were enchanted to deliver poison attacks. Even for Archer, the guards were dangerous opponents.

Hero Emiya focused on:

"I am the bone of my sword

Steel is my body and fire is my blood

I have created over a thousand blades"

Each line of his aria was a step in the pre-Projection process. When Archer spoke the first line of his aria, he reduced the cost of Tracing the Noble Phantasms stored in Unlimited Blade Work, pronouncing the first three lines, despite the magical energy cost, favored him when he expected a long fight. Each weapon he invoked would cost him only a fraction of his normal cost, without preparation. Moreover, Tracing became faster.

He ran to the guards. His feet did not make a sound on the ground and he moved from one shadowy area to another without any unnecessary movement.

His attack was dazzling. Without a cry, without a gesture to protect themselves, the two men collapsed simultaneously, Kanshou and Bakuya having ended their lives in an instant.

He caught up with the two guards and laid them on the ground so that their fall would not attract the attention of the occupants of the throne room.

As Sakura joined the former Servant, he pushed the double door and entered.

The room was large, octagonal. In its center stood a stair pyramid, at the top of which was a large stone armchair.

The place looked like... the room of a spoiled child.

Of course, the toys in question were not the ones offered to the kids. They were sticks and magicians' wands, chests filled with scrolls, magic rings, bewitched belts, and amulets... this bric-a-brac of spell-casters piled up against the walls, on the ground, on the steps of the throne and even around it.

Absorbed in the reading of large necromancy's spells books, Shinji Matou did not raise his head at their entrance. Nevertheless, while they had traveled half the distance between the door and the throne, the bottom of Sakura's robe grazed a bunch of magical objects in unstable equilibrium. Daggers, sticks, and wands rolled to the ground in a loud tinkling.

The Witch-King of Kalysha blinked as if he suddenly awoke and straightened himself:

"Who dares disturb me?"

The tone was intended to be imperious but was in fact whining. However, as he frowned and turned toward them, his expression changed... His jaw fell as his mouth rounded into an O of surprise and his eyes widened. This vivid image of surprise left the place to a look of abject fear:

"Rider!"

Whatever magic linked Shinji to Medusa, the call had an immediate effect. A large circle of stone blocks descended into a cavernous scraping. The pit that appeared before the throne was dark and cold air was blowing from the depths. Suddenly, a figure sprang up, swirled in the air to crouch down in a tinkling of chains.

Medusa Gorgon had just appeared before them. She was holding her nameless dagger and dressed in a short black dress. Her eyes were masked by Gorgon Breaker. On her forehead a mystical sign allowed her to perceive her environment at 360°.

With the mechanical movements of a puppet, she placed her fingers spread out on the floor and gathered her legs to straighten herself. No emotion was reflected on her face... She had the beautiful, curvaceous silhouette of an adult woman and skin as pale as snow contrasted with her long purple hair.
Pure as a priestess of a virginal goddess, Medusa was nevertheless wrapped in a heady perfume of blood.

Was she a woman?

Was she a monster?

A victim or a culprit?

We said everything and everything about Medusa Gorgon. One thing remains certain, her life had been hard and she had experienced the jealousy of the Greek gods, as well as the cruelty of their vengeance.

With the appearance of Medusa, the expression on Shinji's face had changed. He straightened himself up like a peacock doing the wheel and began to speak with a smug voice:

"Rider kills Archer. You better kill him last time, you idiot!"

"Yes, Master!"

Emiya shook her eyebrows. Master? She spoke to Shinji as if the Grail War were still going on. Sakura turned to the serpent-woman:

"Medusa, why do you always serve Shinji? Shirou's wish should have set you free."

Rider showed a slight reaction, the lower lip quivering:

"Do you know what my wish was?"

Sakura shook her head and the gorgon replied in a disillusioned manner:

"Becoming likes my sisters... but I was reincarnated on Nirn. Did you see Nirn's gorgons? They are monsters with snake hair, the lower body is a long scaly tail and they drag themselves on their hands..."
Rin's sister pressed her hands on her mouth, her eyes wide open with a horrified look. Medusa shrugged her shoulders:
"Exactly, my wish was fulfilled in a nightmarish way. I was made like my sisters... the gorgons of Nirn. Angra Mainyu came to see me and offered to give me back the appearance I had during the Fifth Grail War on condition that I place myself in the service of Shinji."

Archer took a step forward:

"I understand your reasons for fighting and I don't judge you. Besides... "Archer had a snide smile. "... I like you better that way too."

As Medusa turned to him, he spread his arms in an exaggerated act of contrition:

"Well, you know the expression 'waking up with a snake in bed'? (1) Well, if the snake in question was called Medusa, I wouldn't complain too much..."

This time Medusa was furious:

"Stop waving your tongue, Archer, if you don't want me to rip it off!"

As she ran towards him, swirling her chains, Emiya smiled:

"You don't understand sincere compliments!"

He made the Twin Blades appear and loosely dodged the furious assaults of the Gorgon. A mocking smile floated on his lips. He preferred Rider mad at him... she was faster and stronger than him if, in addition, he gave her time to think and plan, his chances of beating her were close to zero. And then it was so much fun to make her furious and it was so easy... suffice to talk about her physique. It was incredible that such a beautiful woman would be so self-conscious of her... let's say pleasantly... adults' forms.

As the former Servants clashed, Sakura turned to Shinji:

"Hello, big brother."

The tone of her voice and her warm smile had something disturbing and Kalysha's "Witch-King" swallowed violently. Suddenly he regretted ordering Medusa to attack Archer. He grabbed a black wand and pointed it at his "sister".

"Stay away," he shouted hysterically.

Sakura's smile grew stronger. As he unleashed the power of his weapon, she disappeared. A pool of darkness had appeared under her feet and had drawn her into the depths.

With the magic wand shaking in his hand, Shinji Matou spread his eyes looking for Sakura in the room... How? How did she do that? She couldn't... the Black Grail! It must have been the power of the Black Grail! But it was a sleeping power in Sakura. She could not draw at will from this power! According to Avenger's explanations, she couldn't use it because of security measures taken by old Zouken. Except that... The ritual drained the power of the Black Grail and concentrated it here, at Shinji's disposal... in the throne room.

Shinji swallowed again, feeling a presence near him.

He turned to discover his "sister" on the other side of the throne.

She was dressed in black clothing, her eyes were red and her hair white...

"We have to talk big brother."

The smile of Dark Sakura was so warm that Shinji would almost have believed in her sincerity... if an aura of fuliginous mist had not swirled around her.

He uttered a cry of terror and sought to escape.

Angra Mainyu and Shinji were two fools, and they had just made a monstrous miscalculation. They had never thought about what would happen if Sakura Tohsaka were brought inside the throne room! The ritual that stole the power of the Black Grail had just undergone the magical equivalent of a short circuit... all the stolen power had just poured into Sakura.

(1) It's a French saying similar to "nourish a viper in one's bosom" or "harbor a serpent".