Illyasviel was wide awake in Someone Else's dream.

Unfamiliar laughter filled her ears. Unknown faces flooded her vision. She was a pair of floating eyes, watching a movie about Someone Else's happiness.

"Illya-san, did you oversleep again? I bet you were up all night reading manga, weren't you?"

Sella's voice echoed in her – no, Someone Else's – ears. There was a stern, insubordinate quality to her voice that Illyasviel could not understand. Sella was not capable of sounding like that.

"Mm…? What time is it?"

Someone Else's voice, buried under a sleepy veil, thundered in Illyasviel's ears. It was a child's pitch, but it was a voice full of confidence, of hurt, of a glorious mission.

Or at least, it was supposed to be.

But what escaped those lips that she could not control was a voice drowning in weakness. A weakness that was almost nostalgic.

"Geh! I'm going to be late!"

It was a voice full of carefree ignorance. It was a voice that deserved to be silenced, for she had no use for it. It was the same voice she had left behind ten years ago, in the field where walnut trees stood like tombstones upon the snow.

"I'm going off!"

A male's voice commanded her attention, forcing her eyes to travel across the tiny room towards the door. There stood a man she loathed, a man whose existence had robbed her of her happiness.

But he wasn't that person. He, too, was someone else. The look in his eyes, after all, belonged to another person, across another universe, in another time where impossible things happened.

"Wait, Onii-chan! Give me a ride to school!"

Joy. Excitement. Longing. Everything that Illyasviel would never direct at the auburn-haired man, or anyone else ever again for that matter, poured out of Someone Else's mouth. There was something in that voice Illyasviel would dearly wish to crush, yet desperately clung onto at the same time.

Someone Else still had the lifeline, dangling over the precipice of no return. Someone Else still had yet to fall into the abyss in which no laughter existed. Someone Else's hand still held the wish of Illyasviel von Einzbern.

But that was Someone Else. It was, and always would be, just Someone Else.

"Morning, Illya-chan~!"

The floating pair of eyes turned, tearing themselves away from the boy towards the source of that voice. That voice she had so sorely missed, since the day she left Illyasviel behind.

"Mama-"

Illyasviel woke to the sight of her own trembling hands. Her vision was slightly blurred, with strange colors swimming about before her eyes. A thin layer of heat spread across her pupils, robbing her of the ability to think or speak.

Pit, pat. Pit, pat.

Something was pecking at the back of her hands. Something small had collapsed against them, before sliding off her pale skin. Something wet and warm. Where it had come from, she had no idea.

"What was that…?" she muttered, her feeble voice dissipated by a passing breeze. "What's happening…?"

Slowly getting to her feet, the young homunculus finally came to her senses. Before her was her invincible guardian – her unbeatable Servant Berserker. She was not in some dream, and she was not living out some fantasy; she was currently fulfilling her family's purpose.

"Did you win, Berserker?" she asked, looking around for the remains of Tohsaka Rin and Archer. Even without Berserker's reply (assuming he could reply in the first place), she already knew the answer. She had not felt any changes occur to her body, so the Servant had to still be alive. And if he was alive, so was Rin.

Illyasviel vaguely remembered the battle. Archer, like the third-rate Servant that he was, had been unable to even scratch Berserker. The battle had been utterly one-sided until Archer said some strange words.

"I am the bone of my sword."

In an instant, the world had evaporated. Night turned to midday, and a large wasteland replaced the ground they had been standing on. The world had been replaced, swapped out with the image of someone else's creation.

A Reality Marble. A projection of one's internal landscape, capable of sealing off the normal 'reality' around the user. It was forbidden magecraft, and one that was considered close to being real magic. The creation of one in itself was not a significant feat if she considered Rin's ability, but Illyasviel was sure it had not been the Tohsaka magus who had created that scenery.

It had been her Servant, Archer.

And in that space, he had achieved the impossible. With movements that he had not displayed before, Archer ended up taking two of Berserker's lives before Berserker could land a hit himself. Just as Illyasviel started getting flustered, the Reality Marble erased itself, returning them to the nighttime landscape of Fuyuki.

In the end, it had only lasted a moment. Not that it mattered, since the world they just returned to was bearing witness to something much, much worse.

Illyasviel remembered the pillars of bright gold that ascended towards the heavens, erupting against the pitch-black squall that blocked out the moon. She remembered the panic in Tohsaka Rin's eyes as she fled the battlefield, towards the source of the pandemonium.

The last thing she remembered was flash of bright pink, colliding against two world-eradicating forces. Then she dreamed. She dreamed Someone Else's fantasy as the warm glow of the pink light washed over her.

That amount of prana… It's not normal, Illyasviel assessed. Is she responsible…? No, she shouldn't be able to do something like this… Did I let my guard down? Did she have help?

In the distance, the sound of something tearing could be heard. Somewhere beyond the sky, where two world-ending Noble Phantasms clashed, something was breaking apart. As the force from Gilgamesh's Enuma Elish obliterated the black Servant, Illyasviel was sure she had seen a white crack form against the starry canvas. In any other situation, the whole phenomenon would have been worthy of attention, but at that moment all she could focus on was that beam of pink light.

It was definitely impressive from a magus's point of view, and at best it would be able to compete with a regular Servant's Noble Phantasm. But in this case, it was barely able to push back the shockwave caused by the collision of two Eas. Even with that amount of prana, Someone Else had just barely protected the city beneath them.

It's definitely her, Illyasviel bit her lip, annoyed but unable to figure out why. It's definitely her doing… But how?

Whether it had been intentional or not (and Illyasviel had a hard time thinking that girl was capable of doing anything intentionally), that pink beam had managed to reach all the way to where Illyasviel was, and had planted that weird dream in her head. What was the point of it? Why make her see an illusion in the middle of the fight like that? It simply did not make sense.

Just a few kilometers away, the sky was torn asunder by the collision of two world-crushing weapons. Even though the explosions had stopped, the aftermath of the clash between two Kings could still be felt in the air no matter where one hid. It had been a battle on a scale which Illyasviel herself had never seen before, and she was the Master of Berserker.

And yet, despite being in the presence of all that, Illyasviel's attention was entirely directed at one simple, powerless child. A child whom she could not be sure was there, but was confident about her involvement all the same.

"Who are you…?" she asked, as the distant disaster settled into darkness. In the silence that followed, her voice dissolved into nothing, robbing her the reprieve of even her own verbal confidence. Not that she possessed any confidence at the moment.

"Who are you?" she asked again.

Illya was awake in Someone Else's home.

To call it a 'home' was accurate, but a huge understatement. The place was a humongous castle with corridors that went on forever, with a world of eternal white beyond the windows. It was a place she had never set foot in before, yet filled her with a sense of nostalgia at the same time.

"Where am I?" she asked to no one in particular. The snowstorm outside the windows occasionally replied with a distant howl, as though the storm existed somewhere far off and not just beyond the planes of glass. "Hello?! Is anyone around?"

Her question bounced off the walls and disappeared down the endless hallway.

How did I end up here? She wondered, taking timid steps down the expensive looking corridor. I remember… that gold Servant and that… that black Servant… I merged Ruby and Sapphire, then… there was pain, and… I blacked out?

Why are you here?

A scream of surprise died in her throat before it could even emerge. Tripping over her own foot and falling face first onto the floor, Illya scrambled to her feet and looked around desperately for the source of that voice.

You should not be here right now.

She recognized the voice. If she just thought about it, Illya would recognize whose voice that was. But something was wrong; the chills she got from hearing that voice was something she should not be experiencing. Especially after everything she had been through.

It's mama's voice, she thought, her eyes tearing across the ceiling and walls in the hopes of finding Irisviel's smiling face. But something's wrong… It's mama's voice, but mama wouldn't sound like that…!

"Who are you?!" Illya yelled, her empty hands tightening into shaky fists. "Where am I?!"

You are not the conduit. You are the same as that, but you are not the conduit.

"What're you talking about?" Illya asked. "I'm not the 'conduit'? What's that supposed to mean?"

And yet, you are still functional. That is why you are here.

"… Who are you?" Illya asked, her voice slowly losing its vigor. The voice was starting to scare her, and the space around her was starting to feel extremely unnatural. "What are you?"

You should know. This is what you were created for.

In the distance, Illya thought she heard someone's voice. This time, it was a human's voice; it was someone else trapped in this space with her, by whatever that chill-inducing voice was supposed to be. She was sure she had heard that voice somewhere before. But as she strained her ears in an attempt to identify the source, the voice was gone.

"Why're you keeping me here?!" Illya yelled to the unfeeling white walls. "Let me out! Where on earth am I?!"

In response to her question, the voice went silent. For a moment Illya thought the owner of the voice had gone away, but before she could say something else, it returned as a cold whisper that echoed across not only the long hallways, but throughout her entire being.

This, the voice of Irisviel said. Is the Holy Grail.

Archer had, for better or worse, faced several life-threatening situations in his life. For him, risking his life was the very definition of what he did as a Counter Guardian, and as such he had become accustomed to dangerous scenarios and foes.

This, however, was an exception.

He had known a magus by the name of Tohsaka Rin during his time as a magus (and a complete idiot), and he knew first hand just how tough she could be – on others and on herself. He had been fully prepared this time for the remarks and actions he had since grown accustomed to in another lifetime, but he had not prepared himself for this.

"Archer, explain."

With an air of authority befitting a first-class magus and Master, Rin stood facing her Servant directly as she made her demand. Archer had heard that tone of voice enough times to understand that simple excuses would not suffice this time.

"That thing you brought out in the battle against Berserker," Rin went on. "That was a Reality Marble, wasn't it?"

"… It's as you say," Archer conceded. "That's what you could call my 'trump card', so I didn't want to use it unless it was absolutely necessary. But as you can see, Berserker is simply too strong so my hand was forced. Well, not like it mattered, since I couldn't kill him even then…"

"You could've done more if you had just taken prana from me, couldn't you?" Rin asked. Or perhaps 'accused' was more accurate, given the cold look in her eyes. "The reason the Reality Marble dissipated wasn't because it was unstable by itself, but because you used your own prana reserves."

Archer opened his mouth to speak, then paused. She had not been asking him; she was simply making a statement.

"But I don't care about that right now," Rin went on. Archer could feel a distinct chill running down his spine. "What I want to know is this, Archer: since you're able to produce a Reality Marble, which manifests one's inner world, you must've recovered enough of your memories to know who you are, right?"

"… I wonder," Archer replied. "Something like that could be pulled out simply by instinct; after all, it's an image strong enough to overwrite reality with one's own."

"I see, that's how you're playing it. Then, how about I tell you what I know so far?"

Archer froze. There was something odd about the way she had said those words.

"During that huge explosion between whatever those things were," Rin said, seemingly ignoring Archer as she turned away from him and walked down the sidewalk. "There was this pink blast that protected Ryuudou Temple from the shockwaves caused by the impact. At the same time that it collided, I felt a strange migraine. I thought it might have been due to the exposure to such large amounts of prana, but then I saw something.

"For a brief moment, I saw a bunch of images in my head. No, I saw a bunch of memories in my head. Memories that belonged to someone else… to another Tohsaka Rin."

"And you're sure it's not some illusion caused by the enemy?" Archer asked.

"You're right. I did think that at first," Rin replied. "But then I thought about what we discussed before. The presence of a parallel universe and an alternative Holy Grail War, another talking Mystic Code that could theoretically access prana from parallel universes… That collision might have caused some sort of reaction, which allowed me to briefly see into the memories of the me from that world. The world where that other Illyasviel and 'Kuro' came from. Well, I'll know once I get back home and interrogate my own 'Ruby', so it's not a big issue.

"The issue is that a part of those memories mentioned something called a 'Counter Guardian'."

Archer, having returned to spiritual form as Rin started walking, did not reply. Had he been physically by her side, the mention of the term might have made him stop dead in his tracks.

"That tanned girl said it to 'me' in that memory," Rin went on, almost as if she was in a monologue at this point. "That while she didn't know his name, she knew that he wasn't a true 'hero', but a Counter Guardian – that is, someone who made a pact with Alaya to gain power in exchange for becoming an agent to its will. In other words, they're essentially not heroes in their own right and have no autonomy, appearing only in response to certain events."

"I see," was all Archer could manage. "And what does that have to do with anything?"

"The person he was referring to was the Archer Class Card," Rin replied. "The Heroic Spirit whose powers she borrowed and whose form she copied. And she looks and fights just like you. I think you know what I'm getting at, don't you?"

Archer, unable to reply, took up his physical form. Rin, having stopped walking, simply stood there in the middle of the sidewalk with her back turned to him.

"Counter Guardians gained their power from the Counter Force, meaning they had insufficient power on their own," Rin said. "In other words, they couldn't have become true Heroic Spirits in life through their own merits. Add that to you having a Reality Marble, and being able to produce so many copies of the same sword in your battle with Lancer… means you were using magecraft from the very beginning. Am I wrong?"

It was phrased as a question, but there was nothing in her voice that suggested she actually wanted a reply from him.

"That's why, you were likely a magus when you were alive," Rin deduced. "But there was no reason for you to hide that from me. Then I thought about it: I didn't have a catalyst prepared when I summoned you, which meant that normally the Holy Grail would choose someone whose personality was aligned with mine. But being the sarcastic jerk that you are, that couldn't have been the case. So that must mean that something about me or something in my house had called out to you during the summoning. In other words, you have a connection with the Tohsakas, and that's why you wanted to keep your identity from me."

With that, Rin turned to face her Servant proper. Even without meeting her gaze, Archer could tell what expression she must have been wearing then.

"Answer me, Archer: who exactly are you?"

Archer stayed silent. He knew there was no way out of this one; the compulsion brought upon by her first Command Seal aside, when Rin was like this she would more than readily use a second one if need be. In that case, it was simply a matter of how long he could delay the inevitable – even if it was only a few more seconds at best.

"… It's as you say," he answered at last. "I was a magus with connections to the Tohsaka through you. I studied magecraft under an excellent teacher, but wasn't able to manage anything of mention. Frustrated at my own lack of power, I became a Counter Guardian to protect those around me. The Tohsaka Rin I knew didn't agree with my methods, so that's why I kept it from you all this time."

Not lies, and yet not the whole truth either – that was the best he could offer her. He wanted to be completely honest with her, but he knew that was impossible; like he had said, Tohsaka Rin would never agree with his methods.

"Then… what's your wish for the Holy Grail?" Rin asked. "From the way you said it, you don't seem to regret turning your back on me in the future. In that case, what are you fighting for?"

"I'm not interested in the Holy Grail," Archer replied. "The only reason I'm in this war is to kill a certain man. That's all I can say."

There was no hiding it from her at this point. Now that it has come to this, he had no choice but to tell her as much as he could. And yet, he had refrained from saying his name.

The name doesn't matter, he thought. Knowing you, it's all the same.

"I see," Rin said, her voice not wavering in the least. "However, as the representative of the Tohsaka, I cannot and will not let you kill anyone, Archer."

"I expected as much," Archer replied with a wry smile. "That's why I didn't want to tell you anything."

"If that's the case, why don't you come join me instead?"

Echoing across the night sky was a voice Archer had hoped he would never have to hear again in his life. It was the voice of a witch who stopped at nothing in order to get her way.

"It's not very polite to be eavesdropping on people's conversations," Archer said, shielding Rin with his body as he drew his swords. "Although it's not very wise to reveal yourself either, if you wanted to launch a surprise attack.

"Oh, but I wasn't intending to fight," Caster replied, materializing out of thin air just a few meters from Archer. To face him head on at such a distance was tantamount to suicide for her, or at least it should have been.

It should have been, had it not been for the servant Rider standing by her side, and a new set of glowing Command Seals on the back of Caster's hand.

"I've come to make you an offer, Archer," she said, her lips parting into a confident smile. "I want you to become my Servant. In exchange… I'll let you kill whoever you wish."

Next chapter will be a continuation of this in a way, but I wanted that to be its own chapter because it's everyone's favourite Mama Iri, so please make do with Part 1 for now!

Also, special thanks to ItsaRandomUsername for helping me with the proofreading of this chapter!