Saber Alter is probably my favorite Servant, right up there with Musashi. I tried to write something special for her in my limited schedule, and this was the best I could manage. So please read and enjoy it if possible.
Btw, if this particular couple offends you, I apologize...for nothing!
Also, this story not in any way connected to Shinjuku Ablaze.
Singularity 0 - Fuyuki
There was so much darkness. The scent in the air could not be recognized by anything but death and ash. There was a strange light like an aura around the place. A miasma of pure evil. The cracks running across the ground itself exuded malice on an entirely different level that no human could contain. It was like the whole world's evil concentrated into one area.
The Greater Grail's silhouette was an enormous void ripping a gap within the chaotic hellscape.
Ritsuka stared at the face of despair standing below the dripping miasma of the void. A single Servant there embodied death and fears he didn't know he had. She brandished a sword of solidified shadow. Across the otherworldly weapon was a mass of blood-red lines drawing an ominous sigil, pulsing with vicious energy. The dark, murky armor they wore was almost camouflaged by the deteriorating landscape.
"She's coming, Master!" yelled Mash in front of him. She was already holding her shield up with her lithe arms.
Ritsuka snapped out of it and saw the Saber dramatically launch a few feet up into the air, only for her to descend upon the group.
"Stand back, boy!" Cu Chulainn nudged him back with a hand, making him stumble a few steps away, then made signs with his fingers to ready his runes. As the light appeared in his hand, the Saber, Arturia Pendragon, slammed her muddied holy sword against the Mash's shield, sending a tiny shockwave that pounded against his chest.
"Engaging the enemy now." Mash gathered her strength and pushed back the sword, yet Arturia quickly returned another swing. And another. And another. Each blow could create gusts of wind and shake the earth.
"You're doing a good job holding her off, missy! Keep her within your sights or that sword of hers will blow you away!" Cu struck the ground with his palm, causing runes of light to spread out from him. The earth then shuddered followed by massive tree roots wriggling free of the lifeless dirt. They were far too numerous and fast to count. As Ritsuka watched in awe, they rose high up several feet and aimed their sharp ends at the lone knight.
While Mash tried to hold onto the deadlock, but the platinum blonde Saber overpowered her, pushing her away. Mash's heels slid across the ground, but she was too off-balance to keep her shield in front of her again. The red sigils along Arturia's sword came alive. Jetblack energy burst and surrounded her blade. Even with the enormous amount of power she held, she swung it wide from the side of her belt to across the space around her as easily as if it were a wooden bat. All the roots which were diving towards her were singed and sliced in half as soon as they came into contact.
Ritsuka was paralyzed with fear while watching the battle. He had only joined Chaldea and was expected to join the reserves or end up doing clerical duties if that wasn't necessary. He was just a regular teen who had loving parents and siblings. He was in the swim club back in high school, he had a brief love life which ended in him getting dumped, he worked a part-time job in a convenience store, all the typical things you'd expect from a normal person, so this was beyond his imagination.
He suddenly felt a hand grab his shoulder. "What are you doing spacing out, Fujimaru?!" Olga Marie shook his entire body brusquely. "In case you haven't noticed, we are fighting a top-class Servant here. Stop being so incompetent for one second and order Mash what to do!"
"E-even if you say that…" He turned back towards Cu who was firing bolts of sweeping inferno and Mash who was trying to stand up from the rubble. What am I even supposed to do here? I can hardly keep up.
"What the heck are you saying?!" The woman shook him by the collar in the midst of the fearsome fight. "Didn't we train you before this mission started?!"
"But…." He saw how the lone Servant dealt with their allies. It's not that they were weak, it's just that she alone was too strong. The viciousness of her strikes and the cold-blooded air she exuded sent unpleasant shivers throughout his body. She didn't care about how the landscape was reshaped with her absurd bursts of mana or how she was surrounded, she was like a walking disaster.
Saber slid back across the ground after being warded off by Cu and Mash's defensive skills. Her outbursts of mana tore through the cavern's ceiling and the stalactites like a carving knife, leaving great gashes all across the battlefield. She readied her stance as she put her weapon at her hip. "It seems I must change the course of this trifle fight in a single stroke," she spoke as reciting a declaration of finality. "Vortigern." A swell of dark power engulfed her holy sword, spanning dozens of times wider than the weapon itself.
"Mash!" Ritsuka took a step forward. "She's unleashing her Noble Phantasm!"
"Roger! I may not be skilled yet, but I will do everything in my power!" She struck her shield against the ground and chanted the makeshift Noble Phantasm they named not too long ago, Lord Chaldeas. The tall, permeating shield of light grew wide enough to cover their entire group. Somehow, Ritsuka felt security behind its massive body, but as soon as Saber finished her preparations, all his hairs stood on end.
The power that Excalibur threw crashed like a hammer falling against the stern wall of Lord Chaldeas. Mash pushed her entire body, and Ritsuka felt compelled to support her as he ran, getting behind and adding his own limbs to support the wall. He heard something akin to a hurricane from beyond her shield. The storm was fighting back, propelling them with black energy.
"A-Are you alright, senpai?!" said Mash after the powerful beam dwindled.
"I'm okay…." Ritsuka's hands and feet were still trembling. What if he had been shot by that attack directly? Any of his limbs would have been erased just like that.
"Oi, this is no time for small talk, you two," called out Cu while preparing another set of runes. "It's not over yet."
Arturia straightened herself up and then examined her gauntlet. Its outline seemed to have started fading. "I concur." She clenched it before gripping her sword's hilt again with both hands. "It might have been insufficient, but I still have enough will to spare."
Mash tightened her hold on the shield as soon as Arturia advanced. As Cu finished his runes, which seemingly made his staff glow, he met the Saber partway through. The Caster surprisingly parried her sword and sent a flurry of winding blows with his staff, which Saber checked seamlessly. Mash moved to deal a blunt strike from the side.
"That's it, Mash!" encouraged Marie. "Use that shield of yours for all its worth!"
The Shielder struck Arturia's visor, revealing a portion of her face within, and Arturia returned the favor by creating a dark pillar around her sword and swung it wide.
"Not yet!" Cu buried the end of his staff to the ground. A small recess came out from underneath Arturia followed by several tree roots reaching out to surround the Saber's arm.
Arturia merely glanced at the hindrance as if it was some fly before cutting it into pieces with the same energy she had created. Cu was about to thrust his staff towards her, but she was quicker. Right before his weapon could hit her breastplate, she blew the Caster away with a single burst of her mana, just in time to turn and hit the large shield. The shield was sent flying in an instant. Artoria slashed the air with a fearsome burst, sending rubble and dust soaring up.
"Hiya!" Marie caught the draft straight into the face and was sent tumbling backward.
Mash got knocked back at the same time as she tried to protect herself with her arms, while Ritsuka lowered himself in order to clutch the ground. When the wave subsided, he found himself raising his head and coming face-to-face with Excalibur's pointed tip. A great knot swelled unpleasantly at his stomach as fear set in. He looked at the Saber's pale face and found it strangely captivating. Even with the fact that her gold eye contained nothing but cold, murderous intent, he saw an alluring beauty.
"I suppose I must commend you, Master of Chaldea," said the knight of darkness, "for you have prepared an entertaining fight for me. A good slaughter to slake my blade."
Ritsuka gritted his teeth. Is there anything I can do?!
"But I should berate you as well. If this is the only thing you can achieve, then you shouldn't have taken your position in the first place. You should just stop your pointless struggle and feel my steel through your skull."
"Do you really think so?" He scrounged up dirt as his hands balled into fists. He couldn't stop shaking with fear.
"You are weak, far too weak to even be called a Master." She pricked a millimeter of flesh and drew blood at the center of his forehead.
Ritsuka stood up on a wobbly leg. He was surprised the Saber didn't wipe him out of existence right there. "You are right. Surely I don't have any special qualities, but if someone as untalented as me goes down without doing a single thing, then all those who died at Chaldea would be furious at me!"
Arturia stood firm as the Master raised his fists. It was laughable. Her armor didn't budge from his punches. Yet, even with this ridiculousness, she gazed at him coldly, as if curious at what he was doing.
"Hahhh...hahhh…. Damn it." His knuckles became covered with bruises without him realizing it. When his arms gave in, he just glared at her and cursed. What should I do? Don't I have a Mystic Code? But how do I activate those again?! Damn, why am I so helpless in these kinds of situations!
"This is the end." Saber raised Excalibur over her head. His heart pounded inside his chest like a drum. Visions of his end flashed in his mind.
I really am weak. Even as he scorned himself, he didn't avert his eyes from his predator's unyielding gaze. In a way, she was right. Perhaps there was no meaning behind him becoming humanity's last Master. But even so, he didn't want to give up.
The sound of someone rushing from the side drew the Saber's attention. Mash readied her shield in order to strike, and Arturia lowered her sword and pointed it at the deadlier opponent.
Ritsuka watched on quietly as the events transpired and how Artoria unleashed her final Noble Phantasm, one that was weaker than before, and Mash blocking it with everything she got. The giant pillar of darkness that threatened to swallow her shield dispersed along with what's left of the Saber's mana reserves. It was a hard-fought victory yet a hollow one. When Artoria started to disappear in a show of golden glitter, she met his gaze one more time. Even though she didn't utter a word to him, he understood what she was thinking; he needed to get strong.
First Singularity - Orleans
"I'm sorry," said Siegfried as Mash carried him on her back.
The looming shadow dotting the sky flew overhead. Its wingspan could be measured in miles, a fact that sent chills down Ritsuka's back.
Around them was a lush forest. A perfectly peaceful plot of land in Lyon's countryside which would have been a perfect sightseeing destination if not for the wicked dragon stalking them.
"What should we do, senpai?" Mash turned to look at him. Despite running long distances while carrying such a large payload, she didn't give any hints of fatigue. "We cannot hope to beat Fafnir in our present condition."
Ritsuka was running alongside her, thinking up a storm on how to deal with this situation. If only Jeanne and the rest hadn't been separated from them, they could stand a chance. But he didn't lose hope. The situation presented itself as a challenge directed towards him, and he won't make the same mistake twice and stop thinking partway through. "Wait a minute. Isn't the leyline we stopped over a while back close here?"
"You mean to make an emergency summoning?" cut in Romani's voice from the space in front. "It's a risky gamble, but I don't think we have any other choice in the matter. Good job remembering that, Ritsuka. Checking on the area now….. Got it. Just run straight and you'll come across the thicket. You should find the goal beyond that."
"There's no guarantee we're getting the reinforcements we need, but at least we can regroup." Ritsuka parted a large bush blocking their path and immediately found a watchtower up on top of a lonely hill. "Found it!"
"Alright, I'll support in the summoning process however I can just don't forget to look out for Fafnir!" Romani said. "That dragon is closely attached to Siegfried, so I doubt it'll give up anytime soon."
The skies were a perfect blue hue with long streaks of clouds floating at a steady advance towards what Ritsuka thought was south. As they went in and prepared for the summoning, the Master caught the ominous sounds of wings flapping from the distance.
"I shall stand on guard then." Siegfried used his Balmung to prop himself up after being left beside the wall interior.
"Don't push yourself too hard," reminded Ritsuka.
"If it means the defeat of my sworn enemy, then I will risk my life doing anything I can." He clutched the great sword and then turned to face the open window.
Ritsuka thought those words sounded familiar but quickly turned his attention to Mas placing her shield down on the cobblestone floor.
"Beginning Heroic Spirit summoning, doctor," reported the Shielder.
"Confirmed. Let's hope this works!"
As a colorful glow began permeating, forming into a ring, on Mash's shield, the thunderous sound of wingbeats coming from outside diverted their focus and filled their minds with dread.
"Mash, don't take your shield yet!" ordered the Master just as she was about to reach out.
"It's here!" Siegfried readied his weapon, but with his arms unsteady like that, Ritsuka doubted he could muster up any strength left to fight such a colossal creature, much less slay it. He had taken a considerable hit from both Vlad III and Camilla, so it's going to take a while for him to recover.
Ritsuka saw Fafnir swoop in from above and fanned the area with powerful gusts of wind, tearing through the wooden shutters. The stones making up the watchtower began rustling, and soon, the dragon broke through the entire top half, sending away bits of stone and wood flying out. After fending themselves off the debris, they were left staring face up towards the sky through the massive hole the dragon left behind.
Fafnir beat its sizable wings as it climbed higher and higher. Immense clouds of black smoke and streams of scarlet red fire seeped out from its nightmarish maw. It readied itself to rain death upon them.
Siegfried drew his sword closer to his body and gathered his energy. Mash secured her shield firmly to the ground, while Ritsuka watched with horror but quickly turned his fear into resolve, raising his Command Seals up. All hope seemed lost when suddenly the summoning circle flared out and blinded them. A great spear of darkness shot up towards the sky, sending shocks in its wake. Ritsuka thought he was going to be knocked away when he clung to the walls. Such an unbelievable burst of power shouldn't be able to manifest from the summoning itself, he thought, but he couldn't quite see clearly because of all the wind and dust impeding him.
The great dragon spewed out its immense fire breath. Both fire and darkness fought for supremacy in the air, creating an explosion of a massive scale.
Having fallen on his ass, Ritsuka watched in awe as the dragon's inferno was swallowed up. The dark energy eventually reached Fafnir's chest and repelled it back, flinging it across the sky.
As the dust settled, there was a shining ebony silhouette sticking out in the space that was hard to miss. Ritsuka heard the clanking of metal boots as the figure turned towards him, their sword held nonchalantly in one hand. He could never forget that scene. Platinum blonde locks held up neatly in a bun. An elegant yet ruthless stance even for a knight. It was forever etched into his mind.
"I have come in response. Are you to be my Master?" said the woman clad in malignant plate mail. Her visor prevented anyone from getting a glimpse of her eyes, but Ritsuka already knew who it was.
"Saber…?" muttered the young Master. "Arturia Pendragon?"
"Alter," she added before making a wryly smile. "It seems you already know I am. Perhaps our fates have crossed before."
"Ritsuka!" Romani ruined the moment. "Did Fafnir get defeated already? What was that huge blast?"
"Doctor, I believe we were successful in our summoning." Mash looked bewildered at their reinforcement.
Ritsuka didn't break his gaze as he stood up. He felt a pang of courage from her presence alone. Despite his terrible experience with her, he didn't feel the least bit perturbed. Rather, he saw this as a chance to redeem himself. "Will you accept my contract, Saber?"
"I find your bluntness a most welcome aspect, Master. Indeed, I accept." She spirited away Excalibur. "Point me to the enemies you want to be slaughtered, and I will make quick work of them."
"Ummm….is it just me or are you two being too chummy for your first time meeting." Romani's holographic face appeared between them.
"Not at all. I just feel a certain kinship with my Master," said Arturia.
Ritsuka blinked and saw his Servant take a glance at the horizon.
"I fear we must postpone our briefing." Arturia began heading for the exit. "There are enemies coming over. Come, Master. Let us smash them to a pulp."
"Right," he replied without missing a beat as he followed her out. "Let's crush them and end this Singularity."
"Hey! You two are way too in sync." Romani faced Mash. "Don't you think so, Mash?"
"That may be so, doctor, but I will not lose out." She picked up her shield quickly and then ran after them with a franticness that she rarely displayed. "Wait for me, senpai!