"Where are we going, Rin?"

Ignoring her Servant's question (which she could not blame him for asking), Rin trudged down the stairs without a word. There were too many thoughts going through her head at the moment, and she felt like she would let something slip if she took the time to reply him.

Archer, on the other hand, simply sighed and went into his spiritual form. He had opted for corporeal form on their way back, but now that she was home Rin no longer required his protection; the Tohsaka manor was a fortress, and he heavily doubted if anyone would be reckless or stupid enough to try and launch an assault here.

Instead, he considered the staircase Rin was descending. Even though she had made him clean up the place like a maid, Rin had explicitly forbidden Archer from entering the basement. Even if she did come down here every now and then with his company, she had never taken this particular flight of stairs. When asked about it, the magus simply said that it was nothing, and that he did not need to think too deeply about it (something which Archer was inclined to do, thanks to her Command Seal).

And now, even though he was finally going to see what was down here, Archer was no longer interested. After the events that had just transpired, there were about a thousand things on his mind that required his attention instead.

For a brief moment, he entertained the idea that Illya had somehow traveled back in time like he had, that she had decided to return to the Fifth War to kill her past self. Maybe – just maybe – she had somehow been brainwashed by his own goody-two shoes ideals, and had decided to pursue a life of saving others after winning the war in her universe. Perhaps she, too, had been betrayed by living a lie, by obstinately mimicking ideals she knew nothing about. Perhaps she was here to erase that mistake.

But Archer knew that would never happen. It was not a matter of her mindset, or of her character – it was a matter of her physical limitations.

Even if his memories were fragmented, he knew what Illyasviel von Einzbern was. He was well aware that she was a homunculus and not human, no matter how well she passed off as one. He was far too familiar with the lifespan of a body like that, and harbored no fantasies about how long she had to live. And that was assuming her 'contents' did not destroy her first.

"Shirou is…"

"Archer."

A familiar voice. A familiar face. A gentle, soothing smile. Those were the things his memories recalled, and they were the precious bits he struggled to keep. Even if the Illya he had just met and battled was not wearing the same expression, he held little doubt about her identity.

The same silver hair. The same pair of ruby-red eyes. The same look of childish mischief. The same aura of helpless resignation. The Master of Berserker was the exact mirror image of the Illya he knew, complete with the massive protector by her side. The girl in the red cloak, no matter how similar in appearance, was ultimately just someone else.

"Shirou is… so kind…"

He recalled the white fingers caressing his cheek. Her fingertips, soft and fragile, slid across his skin, their ice-cold surfaces searing the side of his face. He had never held her in his life, but he had not expected her to feel that… empty. So distant. So very, very cold. It was difficult to accept that fact even now, especially when her smile was just so warm.

He remembered her last moments clearly. He had seen death, but it was nothing like it was with Kiritsugu. Illya did not drift off to sleep, nor did she even close her eyes. Her fingers never left the cheek they were caressing.

She just paused, froze, like a machine suddenly out of power. She was a puppet tangled in strings, without a puppeteer to help her move again. She just… stopped functioning.

"Archer!"

Snapping out of his trance, Archer hastily attempted to fix his expression in order to appear neutral. Then, recalling that he was in spiritual form and thus had no face Rin could see, merely went silent at his own stupidity. Still somewhat lost in his thoughts and unable to wrench that horrid memory from his mind, the Servant of the bow faded into existence, appearing before his Master as though nothing had happened.

"What is it, Rin?" he asked.

"What're you spacing out for?" Rin asked crossly. "We may be back home, but it doesn't mean you can just let down your guard like that."

"Don't worry," Archer assured her. "I'm always ready to intercept any enemy that comes our way. I was just curious about this room, that's all."

That was not entirely a lie; while Archer had indeed been preoccupied by the memories of his previous life, he was indeed interested in the room Rin had brought him into. He had never step foot in this place before, and compared to the rest of the mansion, it was a rather queer place to say the least.

Unlike practically every other room, this one was rather small, and whatever space it had was occupied by a couple of tables and an old, wooden chest. Papers and books littered the floor and tables, gathering fair amounts of dust against the dim illumination of a lone candle's flame. From the corner of his eye, Archer could make out something that looked like a magic circle, with what looked like shattered jewels resting atop of it.

"Oh, this?" Rin asked nonchalantly. "I just don't have much use for this room, that's all. Anyway, there's something I have to check, so get your weapon ready."

"Why do I need my weapons if you're just checking something?" Archer asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because what I'm about to check is the most vile object you've ever seen," Rin replied, a haunted look in her eyes. "If possible, I'd have wanted to never see it again, but it looks like I don't have a choice here."

"Care to explain what that means?" Archer asked. "I'm completely lost here, you know."

"It's just a hypothesis," Rin said, walking over to the chest and putting her hands on it. "But Archer, anything that comes of this chest and tries to escape… I want you to blast it into oblivion, got it?"

"… Okay," Archer said hesitantly. Nonetheless, he did not produce his weapons, and just stood there as Rin took a deep breath before opening the chest.

"Here goes."

She opened the chest.

"RIN-SA-"

She slammed the chest shut.

Archer blinked a few times without speaking, possibly trying to make sense of the situation. He recognized the voice and the shape, but he still had no idea what was going on.

"Uh…" he said. "What was that?"

"What do you think?" Rin asked, sounding rather annoyed. "It's the same stupid stick that the girl 'Illya' was holding. It's that loudmouthed Mystic Code that likes to call itself 'Ruby'."

"It's 'Magical Stick of Love and Justice, Ruby-chan'!" a muffled voice protested from inside the chest.

"Right…" Archer said slowly. "And why is that here…? No, wait; how did you even-"

"Because it's mine," Rin sighed. "It's a unique Mystic Code that's not only powerful, but also extremely annoying and has no respect for its master."

"But I merely thought those dog ears suited you, Rin-san!" the stick inside the chest said, sounding like it was sobbing. "In order to make up for your sorry-sized chest and pitiful looks, I thought that the cuteness factor would-"

"Archer," Rin said firmly, stepping away from the chest. "Blow it to bits."

"While I have no complaints, Master," Archer sighed exasperatedly. "I would like to remind you that thanks to your Command Spell, I feel inclined to follow through with everything you say. As such, I can't guarantee I'll be able to hold back. Is that alright?"

Rin considered his words for a moment. While she seemed to have no qualms about letting him blast that accursed stick into oblivion, she did not seem all that enthusiastic about being incinerated along with that stupid thing.

"… Well, maybe later," she said at last. "We have bigger things to worry about."

"Like how're you're going to be an old mai-"

"Archer," Rin declared loudly, her tone making even Archer wary of her imminent wrath. "If this stupid chest makes one more sound, I want you to erase it from existence. Understood?"

"Fine," Archer replied, causing said chest to immediately go silent.

"Now then, back to the topic at hand," Rin said. "Like I just said, this Mystic Code is one of a kind. Since the spells surrounding the house have not been broken, I can only assume that the same stick we saw in the hands of that girl 'Illya' is a replica of sorts. Except that there's no way to replicate this Mystic Code."

"So you're saying she's from another universe or time?" Archer asked.

"You sure jumped to that conclusion fast," Rin pointed out. While she did not know, Archer was someone from an alternate universe himself, so the idea was far more believable to him.

"Servants are Heroic Spirits from a time different from now," Archer replied, purposely ignoring the words 'from the past as well as future'. "It's not hard for me to believe something like that."

"True," Rin nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer. "And to be honest, I had arrived at the same conclusion as well. She seemed to know Emiya-kun and myself, even though we didn't know her, and then there's the Master of Berserker… Coupled with the stupid stick she had, it'd only make sense if she wasn't originally from this world. And that complicates things."

"How so?" Archer asked. "While I agree that her abilities are strange, she poses no threat. The abilities the three of them demonstrated – the ability to assimilate the powers of Servants – is intriguing, but ultimately just that; they aren't powerful enough to actually stand toe-to-toe with proper Servants in this war."

"That's true, but only if what we've seen so far is really what they can do," Rin said. "If they were holding back just to throw us off guard, we'd be walking right into their trap when we decide to launch an offensive on them."

"She looked pretty clueless to me," Archer shrugged.

"Don't be ridiculous," Rin snapped. "A random kid couldn't be in possession of such a dangerous Mystic Code, and besides, a brat who's really as clueless as she looks couldn't have survived the Holy Grail War."

"Well, that's true," Archer nodded, before furrowing his brow. "Wait. You just said 'the Holy Grail War'. What makes you think there was such a thing in her world?"

"She had those weird cards with her," Rin reminded him. "Even though the power was weak, they were undoubtedly cards with the powers of Heroic Spirits in them. Not only that, they were powers belonging to the exact same Servants as the ones we've seen so far. And she's a mirror image of Berserker's Master. Too much to be a coincidence, don't you think?"

"I guess," Archer said slowly.

"While I don't know what sort of rules that War had, it has to be related to those cards," Rin said. "The parallels between those cards and the Servants are too eerie otherwise. But if that was so, why does she have more than one Servant card?

"Her dark-skinned counterpart has your card," she went on. "The other one had Saber's. The girl herself had Lancer and Caster, from what I've seen. Her little friend even said they had beaten Berserker before. She was able to cancel Lancer's contract with his Master thanks to that weird dagger of hers, too. A person with that much power can't possibly be unfamiliar with the Holy Grail War, don't you think?"

"Well, yes," Archer admitted. "But if that was the case, wouldn't forming an alliance with the Emiya side be more beneficial? You saw how strong that Berserker was. If she had that much power, she could help us take out that Servant.

"Indeed, but… She knew who I am," Rin said. "There's no telling what she might be plotting under that innocent expression. She seems to be drawing the attention of Berserker's Master, though, so we can just use her and Emiya-kun as bait and take out Berserker afterwards. Assuming she doesn't murder Emiya-kun in his sleep tonight."

"Somehow I doubt that," Archer muttered, but he could not entirely disagree with Rin's view; after all, the Illyasviel von Einzbern he remembered had an innocent expression as well, but she was in no way as safe as she appeared. Maybe the axe sword-wielding giant with her had something to do with that. "So, you want to wait and see before making a move, is that it?"

Rin was silent for a few moments as she pondered her replied. Archer waited her out, knowing that it was wiser not to rush her for an answer.

"I guess that's all we can do for now," she said eventually, heaving a long, drawn-out sigh.

She felt the comfortably warm water embrace her, relieving her of the fatigue she had accumulated. Granted, she had not done much that day, but for some reason still felt like she had just climbed a mountain.

"What was with her…?" Illyasviel wondered aloud.

That girl had just come out of nowhere, saying all sorts of nonsense. She made her fool of her with that stupid expression and running around, and she even said that she was Illyasviel. Did she really think she was as gullible as she looked?

"She can't be…" she muttered, only somewhat aware that she was just saying that to convince herself. "… Can she?"

The room was silent, with only the sound of splashing water replying her question. Frustrated and without answers, Illyasviel found herself almost throwing a tantrum like a child.

She was, despite her appearance, a mature young woman. She was better than this, and she would not be swindled or thrown off her game by such an obvious lie. And it had to be a lie. It had to be.

She remembered the comforting smile on his face. She remembered his voice, caring and strong, whispering into her ear as he held her close. His warmth was assuring against the winter cold, and his words a brilliant ray of sunshine:

"Daddy loves you too."

He had said that he would return. He had said that he would come back for her after his work was finished. He had said that he loved her. And yet, he had never returned.

She had believed in everything she was told. She had approached everyone with an earnest heart, and believed that everyone would do the same with her. She had had absolute faith in her father's words, and he had betrayed her. Abandoned her. Tossed her aside for someone he had never met.

He had lied to her, and that one lie shattered her heart.

She swore that she would never let herself be hurt like that again. She swore that no one would ever hurt her the same way. She swore that she would be strong, and discarded that weakness in her heart.

But she could not help but want to believe her words.

The girl was weak. She was powerless, she was defenseless, and she was naïve to a fault. She had no Berserker by her side either, so she was doomed to die in this Holy Grail War. There would be no pity in Illyasviel's eyes for her when she draws her last breath, but…

She had been so earnest.

Maybe it was because she had her face, but Illyasviel could tell that she was not lying. She did not know why, but she could tell by looking into her eyes that she was telling the truth. There was even a part of her deep down that wanted to believe it was true. To believe that somewhere, an Illyasviel von Einzbern who looked more human than she did existed. And yet, as she wished for that very thing, she could also feel the pangs of jealousy gnawing at her heart.

"What should I do…?" she asked, unable to sort out her maelstrom of intersecting feelings.

Sometimes, Illyasviel was more than just a child physically. And sometimes, she could not bring herself to care.

"So, um…"

Shirou made an effort to find the right words to say, but nothing came out. Attributing it to the sudden increase in the population of his house, he tried to make sense of his current predicament.

After the battle with Berserker, their group – now three people larger – had made their way back. The strange black-haired girl had cast aside her armor and sword, opting for a plain white shirt and pants that looked far more modest compared to Illya's blue tights. The other girl, Kuro, who was pretty much a tanned Illya, had recovered shortly after Rin's departure and was now seated across the table looking rather crestfallen. Although she too had been wearing a rather revealing outfit before, it was now magically a regular tank top with matching shorts.

And then there was Lancer. For some reason, after the battle with Berserker, the Servant of the spear had decided to tag along with them, for reasons even he was not entirely sure of. According to him, he had somehow lost his Master thanks to Illya's attack, and had apparently become Illya's Servant instead.

In conclusion, nothing made sense to him right now. What a surprise that was.

"Onii-chan," Miyu said, breaking the silence and actively ignoring Saber's glare. "Please explain the situation."

"W-wait a minute," Shirou said hastily. "I don't know what's going on either, but could you drop the 'onii-chan' part…? I-I've never met you before, so…"

Blinking a few times in open surprise, Miyu looked down, her cheeks a faint tinge of pink. Murmuring something inaudible under her breath (which might have been an apology, but Shirou could not tell), she just stayed silent without another word.

"T-then, 'Shirou-san'," she muttered feebly after what felt like an eternity. "I-I'm sorry for being so rude…"

"No, it's okay," Shirou said immediately. Forcing a little girl to the brink of crying was not something on his to-do list, and he had no intention of making such a mistake. "I-I'm not blaming you or anything, so… er…"

"T-that's right, Miyu," Illya chipped in. "I mistakenly called Shirou 'onii-chan' too, so don't worry about it!"

"Heh…" Kuro mused, apparently recovered from her earlier loss. "So 'Shirou' and 'Shirou-san', eh? Then… I get to call him 'Onii-chan'!"

"E-eh?!" Illya exclaimed. "That's playing dirty, Kuro! He's not even the onii-chan we know!"

"I know," Kuro replied mischievously. "That makes it less problematic, right? Legally speaking…"

"W-w-w-wha- Y-you-!"

"Besides, since you call him 'Shirou' and Miyu calls him 'Shirou-san', I need to call him by something else right?"

"That's no reason to-!"

"If I may," Saber interjected, her authoritative tone instantly silencing the three bickering girls. "I would like an explanation as to what is going on. After what I have seen tonight, I have trouble accepting your identity. I request that you fill us in on what you know."

"I have a heap of questions I'd like answered too," Lancer said, staring at Illya. "Particularly with regards to you, ojou-chan."

"Before that, don't you owe us an explanation?" Kuro retorted, looking at Saber. "It's not like we know who you are, or who that red-cloaked guy with Rin-san was. Or that oji-san in blue tights in the corner, either."

Lancer said nothing, but Saber opened her mouth to speak. Before she could actually speak her thoughts, however, Illya voiced out a question of her own.

"Wait, Kuro," she said. "Shouldn't you already know who the man with Rin-san is?"

"Why would I know that?" Kuro asked, raising an eyebrow.

"B-because you have the Archer card," Illya replied. "Earlier, when I did an Install with the Lancer card, I had all these… memories flooding my head. I knew which the Heroic Spirit's power resided in the card, and I knew their name. It's the same for you, isn't it, Miyu?"

Wordlessly, Miyu nodded.

"Of course I don't," Kuro replied. "Unlike you and Miyu, I don't have the ability to Install a card. Like I told you before, I'm only borrowing the card's powers to maintain my existence. It's not the same as an Install, which requires Ruby and Sapphire as mediums to pull off. I don't have the memories of what hero this card supposedly holds."

"Er…"

Shirou, who was a complete novice when it came to magecraft, was utterly lost as to what they were talking about. Unable to follow whatever they were saying, he exchanged glances with Saber, who gave him a small nod of affirmation.

"For the time being," he said slowly. "Could we start from the top?"

Inwardly, he heaved a deep sigh. As he had feared, tonight was going to be a long night.

Luvia Edelfelt stared long and hard at the paper in front of her, and sighed. Even though the paper had nothing but what looked like harmless inkblots on it, the implications of those inkblots made her extremely uneasy.

"This situation is getting out of hand," she said, massaging her temples. "First Illyasviel, then Miyu… Just what on Earth have they gotten themselves into?"

"If we knew, we wouldn't be in this mess," Tohsaka Rin, her eternal rival and current housemaid, reminded her. "Besides, we might not be able to blame them for this one."

"What do you mean?" Luvia asked.

"Look at this," Rin said, producing another paper with inkblots across its surface and placing it next to the first. "This is what the mana flow in Fuyuki looks like right now."

"This is…" Luvia's eyes widened with surprise, and despite all her grace and pride she could not bring herself to care. "The Eighth Class Card is… gone?"

"Not only that, but the distortion's disappeared too," Rin pointed out. "Not everywhere, but areas with Illya's school and where the Eighth Card was as the center… The distortions along these places have significantly vanished. Initially, I believed that they simply brought that distortion over when they Jumped, but…"

"But what?" Luvia asked. "Stop being dramatic and speak your mind."

"I've been thinking," Rin said. "Maybe it's not so much of Illya and Miyu going somewhere, as it's… something on the other side pulling them over."

"What do you mean?" Luvia asked, sitting a little straighter in her chair.

"You know how the Class Cards are all hostile and trying to kill whoever steps into the Mirror World?" Rin asked. "What if the cause of the distortion is the same as whatever corrupted the Cards, and when Illya tried to Jump she somehow came into contact with it?"

"You're saying this cause is what dragged Illyasviel and Miyu into some other dimension?" Luvia concluded. "Do you have any proof?"

"No, I don't," Rin sighed. "At this stage it's just… my instinct."

"It sounds like you're discussing something really interesting."

"Y-you're-!"

Stepping into the room through the window, the uninvited guest smiled widely at the two young magi in front of her. Rin looked like she had just seen a ghost, and Luvia looked as though Bazett had come in holding Shero's dead body.

"What's this I hear about my cute daughters?" Irisviel von Einzbern asked. "Do fill me in, won't you?"

As the beautiful woman beamed, her face a sight that would make many men swoon, a thunderstorm rumbled in the distance behind her. Even though they were trained magi, Rin and Luvia could not help but take a step back from the force of nature that was just a few meters in front of them.

"You'll tell me everything, won't you~?" she asked sweetly.

For the first time in her life, Tohsaka Rin and Luvia Edelfelt knew what true fear felt like.

Yeah, about Kuro's ability here. It's going to involve spoilers to Prisma Illya 3rei, so if you haven't read it yet then don't go any further. You've been warned.

While it's true that when they Install a card, the girls gain the memories of the hero they Installed (like how Illya did against Beatrice), Kuro's case is different because when she fought alongside Miyuverse Shirou, she was able to use the card's power better but she was not able to tell why. She even said she had questions to ask him about his projection magecraft. If she had access to Archer's memories, she would have known that Archer was Shirou. While it has yet to be elaborated on, my interpretation is that Kuro is merely drawing on a part of the card's power to exist, but it's ultimately not an Install so she has no memories of the Heroic Spirit within the card.

Then there's Gilgamesh's card, which also doesn't need a medium, but Gil himself defies the rules with existing as his child form and as a card at the same time, not to mention he could take over whoever Installed his card so yeah…

Hope you liked this chapter, and see you in the next one!