Chapter 5

First Test

Hakuno-chan and her 3 main servants walk along the golden path. The soft-spoken brunette can see from a distance a very large circular dark cloud with lighting striking from time to time over a large castle. She figures that this might be their destination as long as they stick to the path. The path itself looks easy, but with BB's magic, anything can happen. She cannot let her guard down. So far, they have been walking along the path for about 15 minutes and no sign of danger.

It is then that they come across a fork, two paths that can lead to somewhere good or bad. Nero walks over toward the split paths, looking back and forth and then turns around to her friends and shrugs while shaking her head sadly.

"Well…?" Hakuno-chan rubs her chin in thought and turns to Tamamo. "Caster? Any thoughts?"

"Eh? Hmmm…if we come across something like this….ummm…" The fox girl rubs her chin in thought as well.

Hakuno-chan sighs. "This is hopeless. How are we supposed to get to Sakura on time if we keep stalling ourselves?"

"Umu! I say take the right path!" Nero points to the right.

"Oh, heavens no!" Tamamo argues. "Right is always the wrong way! I've figured it out now. Left is always the right way to go!"

"Really? You had no clue before!" Nero takes a step forward, glaring at the fox girl.

"Well, I've figured it out now. It just took some time to come to me, that's all!"

"You really have no idea where to go, do you?" Nero counters.

"And do YOU have any better ideas!?" Tamamo shouts.

"Girls!" Hakuno-chan shouts, stopping both the Caster and Saber. "Do we really have the time to argue about this?"

Nero sighs in defeat. "You're right. We're going to have to fight to the death soon to make it out alive. And somehow convince Sakura to come out and listen."

Altera looks at the split paths and points to the right. "Let's try the right one. If it doesn't work, let's go back and take the left."

"Fine by me," Nero shrugs.

"If you say so," Tamamo casually says.

Hakuno-chan pets the tanned servant on the head. "I'm very glad I have you, Altera."

"Ahhhh…th-thanks for the praise…Master," Altera gives a bashful smile.

"Umu! Let's go! We have no time to lose~!" Nero raises her fist and walks ahead of the group.

Hakuno-chan quickly catches up, along with the rest. However, once they walk down that path, the left one quickly disappears and it becomes a invisible wall afterwards. Altera quickly takes notice and reaches out a hand to feel nothing but wall.

"No way!" she exclaims. "You mean there's no going back?"

"I guess we have no other choice, do we?" Hakuno-chan sighs.

The Caster and Saber class servants nod and Hakuno-chan walks ahead of the three. Nero quickly catches up so she can be with her Master. They walk along the path for 10 minutes, watching some flowers and birds chirping until they come across a large gate. It seems that it can lead some something that can move them forward. One step closer toward their goal. But of course, this gate has a lock. And there is no key anywhere.

Just then, the area around them becomes brick walls and transforms into a large, empty room with torches lit on both sides of the gate and on the corners of the walls.

"Wh-what is this!?" Hakuno-chan panics.

"I think this is some test!" Nero says. "We cannot walk through that gate without some sort of accomplishment!" She turns to see a dark cloud appearing in front of the gate and it forms a figure. When it is complete, her eyes widen at a sight of a pale skinned warrior with silver hair and black armor. She also has a black sword in her hand. "No…way!"

Hakuno-chan gasps at the sight of a dark servant before her. "Is that…Saber Alter?"

"It appears to be," Tamamo says. "This is definitely BB-san's doing."

The soft-spoken brunette turns to her strongest servant. "Then I guess it's time to fight fire with fire."

"And by fire, you mean Saber-san," Tamamo says. "Good thinking, my husband!"

"Go for it," Altera says.

"Gladly!" Nero summons her big red sword and points it at Salter. "You're going down, Alter! This will be a snap!"

Salter doesn't say anything as she readies her own weapon. The two charge at each other and clash blades. However, Salter's power is far stronger than Nero expected. She gets pushed back from Salter's strike and then another and another strike soon after. Nero keeps backing up from each strike, unable to counter her attacks.

"What is happening?" Tamamo says. "Was she always this strong?"

"Not that I can remember," Altera replies. "This one seems way tougher. I don't think Saber can handle this kind of strength."

Nero and Salter clash blades once again, but the pale skinned warrior pushes her against the wall, pinning her. Nero tries to push her away with all her might.

"We should help her out!" Tamamo says. "Come on!"

Before Tamamo and Altera go in, they are blocked by a glowing barrier around them, making it impossible for them to escape.

"Hey! What gives!?" Tamamo kicks the force field. "BB-san! Come on!"

Hakuno-chan gets a notification on a holo screen to her right. She expands it and there is BB on screen.

"Sorry, girls," BB says. "But this is Saber's fight. No assistance is allowed in this game."

"Come on, BB," Hakuno-chan pleads. "If Saber gets destroyed-"

"Then she loses. Nothing you can do about it. Saber Alter wins and you all lose the whole game," BB says. "Better make your choice fast. Later~!" She then disappears.

Tamamo panics. "Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no! Master! You gotta do something!"

"How!?" Hakuno-chan says. "All I have are these command spells! I can't waste one of them on something like this!"

Nero gets shoved to the floor, but she rolls to her feet and blocks another strike from Salter. She grits her teeth. She can't be doing this forever. So she parries the next attack, rolls away to evade the next and then jumps to her feet, readying her weapon.

"Master! It's okay. If we have no choice, then go for it!" Nero says.

Hakuno-chan gives a nod, serious expression on her face. She closes her fist, showing her command seals. "Then...Saber...with this command spell...I order you...unleash your full strength. Show that Alter what you're made of." Part of the mark glows brightly and Nero begins to glow yellow. Power surges through her until the glow fades out.

Tamamo and Altera watch in awe. Nero has become as powerful as Salter now. Her sword bursts into flames as she readies it.

"Umu~! I can feel it, Master!" the Emperor says. "The power from you! Now I can dominate and win this for sure!"

Salter glares at her and charges with her dark blade. They clash swords back and forth and this time, Nero holds her ground. Salter's strength is just about equal to Nero's, but her flaming sword gives her a bit more power. She shoves Salter toward the wall and pins her against it, grinning.

Salter grits her teeth as she tries to push her away, but Nero continues to hold her ground. The Emperor pulls away and kicks her to the floor. Salter rolls to her feet and grips the handle of her blade tightly. It bursts into dark flames and finally opens her mouth.

"Excalibur...Morgan..."

She strikes diagonally upwards to the right, but Nero readies her blade. She raises it in the air as the flames glow brighter and hotter. She strikes downwards and overpowers Salter's Noble Phantasm, making the attack hit successfully. Salter stumbles back, severely damaged by the strike and drops to one knee. Nero pants a little and points her sword at the pale skinned warrior with a grin. Salter grits her teeth and then falls to the floor. She fades away shortly after. Nero relaxes her stance and raises her sword in victory.

"Umu~! The Emperor always rules!"

There is some silence for a few moments before the barrier disappears and then a key pops up where Salter had fallen. Hakuno-chan rushes in to grab it and run toward the gate. She unlocks it and opens it. The walls disappear and they are once again outside with the golden path appearing. They then see a small cottage with a river flowing next to it. There are stacks of firewood and a well. Hakuno-chan pops another holo screen.

"Congratulations," BB says. "You've won. But just so you know, you won't be as lucky as you were the next day. This game's not over yet, since you still have to reach me. You've proven your trust in your servants well, Sempai."

Hakuno-chan just nods.

"Be sure to be well rested," BB continues. "You still have a long way to go. See ya."

With that, BB disappears. The group sighs in relief and Nero drops to her knees, exhausted.

"I'm beat..." she says.

Hakuno-chan walks over to her strongest servant, patting her on the back. "You did well, Saber. You deserve a good rest."

"Thanks, my Praetor~!" Nero hugs her master happily.

"If we're all settled, let's go to that cottage," Atlera says. "I wonder if there's any good food in there. I'm starving."

**Later**

After eating a lovely meal (although Nero wanted to check for poison so she got filled up quicker), Hakuno-chan and the others bathe and get ready for bed. There are white long night gowns in the wardrobe closet on one side and then on the other side, there is a spare blue school uniform for Hakuno-chan and spare clothing for Nero, Tamamo and Altera, their usual attire. They assume that every time they arrive at a cottage, BB will provide the same thing and probably different food along the way until they get to her.

Since there are two bedrooms, Altera and Tamamo sleep in one room and Hakuno-chan and Nero sleep in the other. Although the fox girl wants to complain about it, she also feels it's right for the engaged couple to sleep together, so she lets that slide.

About a half hour passes before the four of them hit the hay and turn off the lights. Hakuno-chan and Nero climb into bed together and snuggle against one another with soft giggles. However, Nero isn't ready to sleep yet.

"Praetor," she whispers. "I was just wondering about this for a while since…we were transported here: Why are you willing to risk your life to save Sakura?"

Hakuno-chan turns away for a moment. "I guess…because she needs someone like me. No matter how much I hurt her…or if anyone causes harm to her….she's still lonely. I need to wake her up somehow and let her know these things. Maybe at least give her a hug."

"Umu. I know you can do it, my Praetor," Nero says as she reaches out a hand and gently grips Hakuno-chan's. "And I will protect you along the way. No…not just me, but Caster and Altera as well. All three of us are your servants. We'll fight to the death to protect you."

Hakuno-chan smiles and nods. "Thank you, Saber. That really means a lot."

They lean in, nuzzle each other's noses and then share a brief, but passionate kiss before dozing off.

A/N: Sorry for the super duper late update. Had to think things through with this chapter. I won't make any promises about the next update because…I kinda gotta think things through with the second test. So…yeah. XD

Have a nice day.