I do not own anything.


FOXTAILS AND WHIRLPOOLS

Chapter 1- A Brave New World…Or Not


"Hidden…Leaf Village? Well, it certainly lives up to the leaf part." A strange feeling of nostalgia washed over Tamamo as her golden orbs took in the settlement before her. Slack-jawed, she allowed her mind to wonder backwards to when she was alive. It almost…reminds me of Heian-kyo, only more…modern. The architecture interestingly mixed modern and ancient designs; the combination killed her blooming theory that they'd traveled back in time. Perhaps some of the largest trees she'd ever seen rose upwards and mixed with the urbanization, in fact, it seemed as if the village had literally been built around the massive brown and green pillars.

Hakuno was still too blown away by the sight and sensations, rocking his body to properly voice his thoughts. Removing his right glove, he held up his right hand allowing the wind to gentle caress his arm. It felt…good, great. After a few flexes of his fingers he moved his hand towards the evening sun, basking in the warm rays that assailed his skin. "Ya' know, this place isn't so bad, Tamamo."

"Er, you two aren't from around here, are you?" The child between them asked after staring back and forth between them.

"Heh, you could say that, Naruto." Hakuno laughed. "Say, why exactly were those men after you?"

Nervousness broke out across the child's face as if he'd just been caught red-handed. Given everything he'd seen, Hakuno imagined that was the case. "Well, you see, I kinda-"

"Why don't we ask them, it appears they've decided to get serious with us." Tamamo's voice was as cold as the ice she'd hurled at their pursuers.

Shielding Naruto behind his leg, Hakuno turned to find what must have been a small army of the masked men standing before them. Even though all their faces were obscured, Hakuno could tell none of them were pleased. Hopefully Tamamo hadn't killed or seriously injured any of them, but she had probably scarred their dignity and that wasn't going to be taken lying down. Though Tamamo was by far and large the greater threat, he felt their predatory eyes focus on him. He couldn't exactly blame them as he was still dressed in his combat fatigues. Hakuno didn't fancy fighting these men, especially while protecting Naruto. Shooting a glance in his Servant's direction, he silently asked her for her input.

Though they might not have had the best of first impressions Tamamo was not eager to involve the young child in a battle, less so if blood was visibly shed. The boy too young to see gore and bloodshed, and Tamamo wasn't going to explain to his parents why their son has just been traumatized for life. She'd incapacitate them, yes, they may come out of the ordeal with some scars and dented pride, but they'd live and she wouldn't have to listen to nagging parents.

Both sides prepared themselves to act until the masked men mysteriously backed down. Several of them that had their hands on their swords remained them. Keeping their eyes on them, they began to part allowing a newcomer to enter the view of Master-Servant pair.

"Heheheh, hiya, Gramps, nice day, huh?" Naruto greeted. He sounded…scared, comically scared mind you.

Hakuno and Tamamo sized up the newcomer with interest. He was old and it showed on his face. Yet, he walked with and gave off an air of regality and kindness that put them somewhat at ease. His haori stood in stark contrast to the red kimono he wore. Both matched perfectly with the triangular hat he wore upon his hand, the highlight of being the "fire" kanji in bright red on the front. A smoking pipe hung from his lips which he calmly removed while sizing up the pair.

"Yes, Naruto, it seems you've been using the daylight hours wisely as usual, and you appear to have found some…friends." Confusion laced the old man's eyes as he looked between the human and Servant trying to figure out what to make of them. Though he was elderly Tamamo could sense something from this man, something that told her not to let her guard down. Hakuno was less cautious. Standing at the head of the mysterious men he should have been intimidated, but there was something about his posture that told him they had no reason to worry. Plus, Naruto's almost casual response to him. "Am I correct to assume you two…aren't from around here?"

Hakuno and Tamamo glanced between each other, debating who would answer. The latter faced the elderly man with a dry stare and readied a response, but Hakuno cut her off. "Yeah, we're…um, well…yeah we're really not from around here."

"I figured as much, mind telling me where you two came from?"

"They came from the sky, Gramps!" Jumping out from behind Hakuno's leg, Naruto walked up to the old man without a shred of fear or unease. Simply in one glance, Hakuno and Tamamo were able to summarize the type of bond Naruto and the old man shared-a parental one. Tamamo let her feral glare soften seeing the child go free, then yelped when the blond pointed to her. "They fell right out of a hole and the sky. And then I saw her use some weird paper bombs to freeze a bunch of the Anbu! It was awesome! Can I learn how to do that one day?"

"Kiyyyyah!" Tamamo cried. "This is why I don't do children, they talk too much!"

"I seem to remember you having a blast playing teacher and den mother to all those orphans back in Axhe. Then there were the bunch of kids Rosheim and the ones we ran into in Neo-Shibuya who took to calling your 'Momma Tamamo' and you couldn't get enough of it." Stated the human male, wearing a foxlike smile of his own.

"Ahhhhh! Master! Don' talk about stuff like that in front of strangers! Especially ones trying to kill us!"

"Ah-hem," Coughed the hat-wearing old man. Looking down at Naruto then to Hakuno and Tamamo, he spoke, "I believe there's been something of a misunderstanding here. As Hokage, I'll personally take the time to clear it up since you two…obviously don't look like ninja or normal civilians."

"Ninja?" They both questioned.

Though still confused Hakuno allowed his gaze to drift back to Naruto, worry lacing his features. "What about Naruto?"

In response to his question, Naruto turned to him and laughed somewhat sheepishly. "Y-Yeah, um, sorry about that Mister Hakuno and Miss Fox-Lady."

Groaning, Tamamo finally dismissed her talismans and shook her head. Clearly, she'd had her suspicions but didn't want to say anything until she knew for sure. Now it was a little late to say anything at all. "Nothing less than what I'd expect, I too was once your age, little one, though I was better at hiding and running when I had to."

"Hey! I'll have you know my track record is almost unbeatable!" Naruto challenged, puffing out his chest. Behind the old man, several of the masked wearing Anbu groaned in discomfort or annoyance. Several were eying Naruto as if they wanted to jump the boy right then and there. "If you guys hadn't come along, I would have been able to stay out of sight for another hour! My personal record's almost an two days without getting caught after pulling a prank!"

At that, Tamamo went blank-faced. Slowly she turned to the elder, her voice carrying the dry tone Hakuno knew signaled impeding criticism. "I…take it these men are supposed to be some sort of…elite guard?"

Clearly the old man saw the direction she was coming from and sighed. "Yes, they are the Anbu Black Ops, this village's most secure and well-respected line of shinobi."

"I'd recommend getting new ones."

Hakuno had to give these Anbu credit, even when openly mocked they all seemed able to mostly contain their composure, or maybe that was just their masks. "Um, sorry about the…chaos, everyone." He said, waving his hand in apology. This wasn't the first time he was in this situation and knowing his luck it wouldn't be the last.

At the signal of the old man the Anbu scattered save for one, a gray-haired man with a somewhat odd hairdo wearing a fox's mask marked by red and black markings. As with the old man, Naruto seemed to recognize him and practically jumped atop his back before he set off carrying the boy.

"Let me introduce myself, I am Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hokage and leader of this hidden village you see before you. May I get your names?" He asked in a kindly tone.

"Hakuno Kishinami." Looking over at Tamamo Hakuno debated rather or not to reveal her true identity.

Grunting, Tamamo dismissed her mirror and stared at Hiruzen with cold eyes. "You may call me Caster."

"I see then, in that case, Hakuno, Caster, if you'll please follow me, something tells me you have a lot of questions regarding where you are."

Throwing a sideways glance back at the village, Hakuno bit back a chuckle. "You have no idea."


As the saying went, "may you live in interesting times", Hakuno felt his entire existence might as well have been dictated by phrase. Of course, the flip-side of it was the saying was actually meant as a threat or ruse which also fit Hakuno's life perfectly well. Without a doubt he'd lived an interest life, and even when he thought the adventures were over it turned out to only be a temporary retirement, a break. He'd set out with his Caster on another hair-raising adventure that he thought would finally end with him dying for real, only for it to turn out fate had other plans for him.

Said plans included now being stuck in a world of…ninjas.

Ninjas…why am I still finding that hard to believe? The teenager thought, taking another sip of his tea. Strange as it was he was grappling with the fact he and Tamamo were in a world resembling feudal Japan, except instead of samurai the dominant power were ninjas. Ninjas that if he had to guess were a lot stronger than the kind he usually thought of. Hell, just from what he'd seen when they were on the run ninja here didn't even dress like typical ninja. Well, Hakuno felt he couldn't hold that against these people; he'd met a colorful cast of people who didn't look like what they were "supposed to look like". Rather it's here or the Moon Cell, life works in mysterious ways. Speaking of which, there was still a little something he was hung up on.

This world was real, not virtual but real and the people in it were flesh and blood. He was flesh and blood.

Looking around the office, he took in the fact that everything in it was real. The books and scrolls on the shelf were real. The furniture was real. The tea he was drinking was real, and the man standing before him was as real as things got.

"Hakuno, I take it you're still having some trouble processing all of this?" Hiruzen asked, noticing the spaced out look he held.

"U-Um, yes and no. I mean, believe me, I've been to some crazy places before it's just…hard to explain." For the tenth time, he stretched out his hands and flexed them. Those were really his arms and fingers and not simply digital simulations. "T-Thank you for the tea and explaining."

Turning his attention from the male to the female, Hiruzen noted how intently Tamamo had studied the map he'd laid out before them so they could get a grasp of the new world they were in. He'd lived long and seen much, enough to know a potential danger or ally when he saw one. Never mind the fox ears and tail, what he took notice of were her eyes. The careful analytical shine in which she studied the map, surveyed the room, and lastly listened to him reminded him all too much of the Second Hokage. By the time he was finished explaining the Five Great Nations and shinobi system he was able to tell this woman was the exact same kind of person Tobirama was, which meant he had to be extremely careful in how he interacted with her. And he had to keep her as far away from Danzo as possible. Something in his bones told him the two meeting would…not bode well for anyone involved.

She'd drunk nearly all of her tea and had yet to ask for a refill, instead maintaining a quiet and somewhat distant air about herself. Finally, her golden eyes shifted to Hiruzen himself, and he knew this woman was far more dangerous and intelligent than she let on.

"It almost reminds me of my own homeland." She finally said in a near-flat tone.

"Yes, now then, if either of you wouldn't mind…would you tell me where you're from?" He asked, hoping to sound as gentle as possible. While the blue-dressed woman held the aura of a seasoned politician her companion looked more…open, unsure. From the camouflage pants he wore and military harness he guessed him to be some sort of soldier, but up close he was beginning to rethink that statement. He almost reminded him of a seasoned but still fresh chunin.

"You…took the idea we're not from this world pretty well." Hakuno finally stated, attempting to start off light.

"Yes, well, as I've said, when you've lived as long as I have you see a great many things others would dismiss as fantasy. Besides, parallel worlds and whatnot is not entirely out of the ordinary. There is a branch of ninjutsu here catergorized called space-time that heavily centers on concepts such as teleportation and dimension-hopping." The Hokage explained.

"So this world has its own version of the Second Magic, that…complicates things a little." Tamamo noted, narrowing her eyes.

"Second Magic?"

"It's…well, magic that governs the viewing and traveling through alternate worlds. It's…in our world it's highly coveted and almost nonexistent, matter of fact magic in our world practically is nonexistent."

"And yet your partner here uses it so freely."

"What I use is Witchcraft, a much older and more archaic branch of magic." Tamamo responded somewhat arrogantly. "Besides, what my Master means is he comes from a world where magic is all but extinct while mine is from-eep!" Slapping both hands over her mouth, Hiruzen stifled a chuckle seeing the formerly composed woman drop a rank or two on the maturity scale. Turning to Hakuno, she seemed to silently debate with him on what to say to recover.

The male gave her a smile Hiruzen recognized all too well before reaching out to take her hand. Though strangers, he could tell simply from looking at Hakuno that these two meant no harm to the village. The boy held no malice in his heart or eyes, showing himself to be more open and considerate.

Finally, he turned back to him. Breathing inward then exhaling, Hakuno placed both hands on his knees. "Mr. Sarutobi, if I tell you any of this…can I trust it won't leave this room?"

"You have my word."

With a nod from Tamamo, Hakuno bowed his head and began to explain. "We're…from a place called the Moon Cell. It's not actually a physical place, rather it's a virtual world. One composed of data and information. True to its name it's located on my world's moon, it's supercomputer." Looking up, he saw his tell had caught the old man's attention. "In our world a catastrophic event hit the planet wiping out a good chunk of humanity. What remained was…"

"Best saved for another time." Tamamo cut in. "While humanity continued to survive it began to stagnate; technology, medicine, and ideas, all of it slowed to a crawl making the world a dreary and depressing place."

"Hm, how does this Moon Cell fit into this? Was it some sort of creation of humanity to reverse this stagnation?"

"Not quite," Hakuno answered. "Mr. Sarutobi, the Moon Cell wasn't built by human hands, it's actually older than my planet, much older. It's just something that's always been there. People began to migrant to the Moon Cell partially because…" Briefly balling his fists, he shook off the old tremors that came with accessing his older and darker memories. Now wasn't the time to wallow in the past. "In our world, there exists a battle, a tournament called the Holy Grail War, it's a conflict fought between Masters, people like me," Moving his hands from his knees to the table where Tamamo clapped her hand over his he opened his mouth to speak, but the Hokage beat him to the punch.

"It is a battle royal until only one is left standing, correct?" The child nodded causing Hiruzen to lie back in his seat, a look of deep thought on his face. That explains it, this boy has seen war and it too has scarred him. Lord Hashirama, it appears you were right, there's always conflict, wherever the place or whenever the age. "I take it you two you pulled from the midst of this war?"

"Actually no, we were the victors…sorta." Tamamo responded. Though her gaze was still sharp, it wasn't quite as threatening. As he'd done to her, she'd dimed him a non-threat thus felt safer in relinquishing some information. "My Master and I were the winners of the Holy Grail War so to speak, but to win I had to…access some of my forbidden power." Once she would have felt fear in revealing information regarding herself to others, but the man beside her had worked long and hard to help her shake that fear. "I am a being called a Servant, a Heroic Spirit called from the Throne of Heroes. In our world heroic and legendary figures of the past go to a separate dimension when they die so that one day they may be summoned to do battle in Holy Grail Wars. I answered my Master's summon as his Caster-class Servant and fought beside him."

"You say class so I'm assuming there are more of you, or rather different types of Servants."

"Yes, there is Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Assassin, Berserker, and finally Caster," Producing a talisman from her hand, Tamamo lit it ablaze. "We Casters are Heroic Spirits of Sorcery, admittedly we are very weak Servants who rely on our magecraft and sorcery to do the fighting for us."

"Most of the time." Hakuno chuckled. Matching eyes with Hiruzen, the old man joined him in his repressed laughter. Tamamo was not pleased.

"Mr. Sarutobi," She began, wearing a half-comically sneer. "You're not being a good host, not even a good gentleman!"

"Sorry, sorry, not offense attended." He said, waving his head. "You said earlier you were forced to call upon forbidden power in order to win, what was it?"

Though she was sitting, Hiruzen caught the nervous swooshing of her tail and twitching of her ears. "Mr. Sarutobi…I don't need to tell you I'm…not exactly human, do I?"

"No, you do not." Despite the piercing glare she gave him, Hiruzen showed her nothing but kindness and understanding. Seeing the relaxed posture of the elderly ninja did not change. "I'm assuming you had to summon up your…eight other tails?"

Tamamo took notice the slight hesitation in which he spoke with. Without a doubt she knew this man had some prior experiences with foxes. Immediately, she thought to Naruto who seemed to see him as some sort of parental figure. "Yes, I…was forced to summon up the power of my other tails. Heh, things went…wrong." Wrong, that word didn't even begin to describe what had happened. "Long story short, my eight other tails splintered from myself and began a rampage across the Moon Cell. My Master and I along with a coalition of allies attempted to stop them when we were…"

"Cornered at the Moon Cell's core. We readied ourselves for a last stand when the Moon Cell just…I really don't know how to describe it." Hakuno finished, racking a hand through his hair. Even now it all still seemed hard to describe, never mind accept.

"I believe I can venture a guess, if this Moon Cell is somehow sentient it might have acted in self-defense in relocating the threat to another location." The older man theorized, placing a hand to his chin. While he certainly knew next to nothing about supercomputers and magic, he knew self-defense and survival. "Why it chose our world of all the possible parallel worlds out there I can't say, but I need to ask, were there others besides you two?" Shock laced the faces of both young adults.

Looking at each other, fear and unease slowly began to spread through the Master and Servant. Hakuno looked across the room expecting a sheet of ice to begin forming or a sudden network of red Tron Lines appear, signaling the arrival of their most antagonistic Master-Servant pursuers. Tamamo meanwhile did her best to quell the disgusting feeling rising up in her stomach. She prayed, prayed to herself that likely existed in this world's heaven that she hadn't been transported to this world as well.

"We…we don't know. After the light swept us up, we everything else went…" His hand went to his chest, turning his partner's fear to concern. Reaching for him, he lightly stopped her hand while still gripping his chest. Looking back to Hiruzen, he responded, "Everything went white, then we woke up here. Naruto found us next, apparently we…fell out of the sky."

"Yes, I'll talk to him to get his side of the story."

"Where is he anyway? He's not going to be punished, is he?" Hakuno asked, showing genuine concern for the young blond.

Laughing, he poured Tamamo and himself another cup of tea. "Oh, don't worry about that. Naruto is actually the village prankster. I've long since grown used to his antics and even grown to enjoy them, even though they cause me headaches."

His head as blank as wide and his smile stiff as stone Hakuno nodded. "I know that feeling all too well."

"Mikooon! Master!" Just as he expected Tamamo latched herself onto him, completely disregarding the flustered look the Hokage shot them. "Master, how can you speak so ill of your dear wife!"

"W-W-W-Wife?!" The old man finally croaked, showing honest shock for the first.

Still in the death-grip of his pink-haired lover, Hakuno shot the Hokage an apologetic smile. "Yeeeah, see Mr. Sarutobi, Caster is sorta my-"

"I am his wife!" In a flash, the fox-eared girl was proudly bolting upright holding up her left finger from which a silver ring shined brightly. Hakuno, wearing a defeated smile held up his left showing Hiruzen not only a series of red markings but a matching silver ring on his ring finger. "I am his Servant, his wife, and his eternal protector! For my dear Master, I broke my self-imposed taboo and accessed my forbidden powers, reawakening as-" To Tamamo's credit, she managed to stop herself before she really began saying too much. Regaining some form of regality, Tamamo settled into her seat. "I mean, for my Master's sake I tapped into some powers I rather would not have. Not that I regret a single thing." She added, winking the teen's way.

Second by second Hiruzen was beginning to realize this woman, this Caster…she might belong to a class all of her own. "I…see. I've heard of…well, young love, this is the first time in a while I've…"

"Believe me, I didn't ask for this, but I'm happy I got it anyway." He said, resulting in Tamamo's immediate squeal of joy and passionate hug. The veteran ninja returned his smile, giving Hakuno a small sliver of hope. Barely a day in and he'd already found a kindred spirit. "So, is Naruto going to be okay?"

"Yes, yes he will, I guarantee you, he'll be back to his usual antics by the end of the week."

"Hmph, well I certainly won't be there to rescue him." Tamamo stated, turning her head. "Still, to the elite guard of the village after him, as fellow fox I must say the child has promise."

There it is again. Hakuno noted, watching a look of unease cross Hiruzen's gray eyes. It'd been subtle, but Hakuno had learned to read people enough to pick up the slightest changes in their behavior. Every time Tamamo compares him to a fox he gets that look, one of worry like we're stepping on a tiger's tail.

"Fox…you say?" He began slowly.

"Yes, fox. Obviously, the child has some kitsune blood in him." Tamamo answered, catching up on the unease. Narrowing her eyes, she leaned forward a little. "Mr. Sarutobi, in my world foxes have a…checkered reputation, is it fair to assume the same holds true here?"

Looking between them the old man let out a deep sigh, somewhat answering Tamamo's question for her. "Yes…you…could say that. This village possesses an extremely rocky history with foxes." Hiruzen shot the pair a deep glance, his gaze in particular lingering on Tamamo. "If it's possible, could you two keep an eye on Naruto?"

That statement alone put the couple on instant alert and had them worry for the sake of the young boy. Hakuno let his worry show while Tamamo felt a creeping feeling beginning to blossom inside of her. Memories, centuries old memories she'd liked nothing better than to forget began to worm their way back into her head until she violently shut them out.

"Mr. Sarutobi, if it were acceptable, could my Master and I…stay in this village? You have my word we won't cause trouble." As she'd done a thousand times in court she bowed her head hoping, her words would have some sort of effect on the aged leader.

"Raise your head, Caster, the Leaf is open to all who have no place to go." Giving the pair a kind smile, he rose and walked over to one of the bookshelves. "I believe there's a few home vacancies where I can find the two of you."

"It doesn't have to be anything big, just enough for my Master and I." Tamamo said, still maintaining her professional tone. A break in the mask came when she felt a familiar hand fall over hers. Looking to her right, she saw the man she'd risked everything for smiling back at her. No, it doesn't matter. He's here with me so that's all that counts. Just him…just me and Hakuno.


Even the shrine maiden had to admit, Hiruzen had set them up with a nice home by her standards. That just left the little question of how they'd maintain it as Tamamo had a gut feeling the old Hokage wouldn't always be there to cover rent for them, not to mention Hakuno would feel the need to return the favor to him in some way. The weeks supply he'd given them would come and go in a flash meaning they had to settle in quickly. Given their history Tamamo believed it wouldn't be a problem.

It fit in well enough with the other buildings, having a handful of pumps running along the outside and a bright red-tinted rooftop. Two stories and spacious enough on the inside, granted a very thin layer of dust had begun to settle over the walls and floor. On the positive side, it was a tad bit bigger than their home back on the Moon Cell. It had all the essentials such as a kitchen, stove, microwave, and a washing machine on the second floor. Hakuno checked all the water faucets and found the water ran a little on the cold side. He'd ask for a toolkit tomorrow so he could do some work on the plumbing; he welcome the work as it'd offer a chance to cool down his mind.

As Hakuno discovered the home also still had a full-sized bed, albeit a sheet-less one. Standing in the doorway he found his Servant lying atop it, her usual vibrant face twisted in deep thought and depression. Behind them her evening sunlight flooded the room painting it sober mixtures of orange, yellow, and fading black. Tamamo's hands were tightly clapped together-as if in prayer. Without a word Hakuno walked over, sat down, and placed his arm around her. Automatically, the fox relaxed her head on his shoulder.

"Ya' know, Master, I kind of wish it were a single, it'd give us more reason to cuddle. "She began.

"Maybe, but I don't think it'd be too good on my back. After everything we went through a through at the core, I think it's best if I relax for a little while."

Giggling, she lightly began to drum her fingers along his chest. "Relaxation, why darling, why didn't you say something earlier? Here I kept you waiting for so long…"

Snickering he gently pressed his lips against her forehead, earning an affectionate sigh from his miko fox. "Mr. Sarutobi…he seems nice."

"He was wise enough not to pressure us. He knew we were lying, or at least telling him half-lies and half-truths. All he wanted to know is if we were a danger to him and his village." The worry lacing in his voice matched the darkness slowly consuming the room. "If we told him the whole truth, I don't think he would have allowed us to stay. We would have been lucky if they let us do some shopping before kicking us out."

"I don't know, he seems nice enough, besides, something tells me he wasn't being entirely straightforward with us too."

In Tamamo's opinion, Hakuno had reached a perfect balance between optimism and realism. Their many adventures through the Holy Grail War, Sakura Labyrinth, and crusade against her "sisters" had turned him from a wide-eyed idealist to a man she'd gladly follow into the depths of Yomi. Okay, he was always a man she'd follow to the depths of the underworld, but his calm yet ever bright outlook had made her willing to go places and do things she never would have done. Like open herself up if only a little for starters.

"I'm pretty sure if Scorn or Kenelm had been transported with us we'd know. I mean there'd either by a giant nine-tailed fox setting everything on fire or a loud British guy and his giant of a bodyguard swinging around his spear proclaiming how he's the greatest warrior in all of China. Since neither of those things happened, I'd say we're safe."

Tamamo wanted to believe him, but she couldn't write off their pursuers just yet. The warp couldn't have just been them, fate would never be so fortunate to them after already blessing the pair with a semi-competent band of allies and run of good luck. Without a doubt her "sister" and Kenelm and Lancer had been caught up in the warp, except they'd gotten lucky and all of them had been separated. She thought of the strange tunnel-like passage they'd traveled through, had all of them had to cross the same thing? If so she theorized at the very least their enemies should have been thrown off course, Master-Servant teams separated. However, that same rule also must have applied to their allies.

Flattening her hands against Hakuno's chest she sensed it, a presence, a force of power that almost rivaled her own within him. What was that? What did the Moon Cell do to you, my darling? She'd already given the supercomputer one beatdown to last a lifetime, and she regretted she couldn't give it another one for shooting who knows what into her beloved's body. "Hakuno-chan, are you…worried about the others?"

"…I am. Gazi and Robin, Emily and Hijikata, Beowolf, Franklin and Kintoki, Zia and Abhimanyu, Kotone," He paused looking over to her knowing the response the next two names were going to provoke in her. "Even Yasunao and Jinako."

Groaning, Tamamo buried herself against her husband's chest. "I don't think I'd mind if either of them got lost in the rift between worlds. Really, they'd make for wonderful shooting stars, especially Jinako. I mean she has the mass for it!" While her husband laughed, Tamamo placed her ear against his chest. Ah, like I thought, strong and warm, just like you, Master. "I'm happy I can finally touch you now, truly."

Running a hand through her pink locks, he pressed a second kiss atop her head. "I'm sure you are. Whadda say we go do some shopping? At least get a few pillows, some sheets, and something to eat? It'd be a great chance to see the village."

"Heheh, provided no one recognizes me from this evening's little run." Standing up she focused her mind, activating her signature Shapeshifting Skill. Right before his eyes, Hakuno watched Tamamo's characteristic fox tail and ears shimmer away. The transformation would last long as he'd learned even the slightest breaks in her concentration could cause her to revert back. He didn't mind it, to him Tamamo wasn't Tamamo without her ears and tail. "Come along, Master, we also need to get you some new clothes. As handsome as you look, I think it'd be best if we got you into something a little more…ahem, classical."

"Good po-ah…ah…achoo!" Swiftly bringing his arm up, he covered the sneeze. Almost immediately, Tamamo went on the defensive placing a hand to his forehead and asking if he had a fever or cold. "No, someone must be-ah…achoo!" He went a second time. Yep, someone's talking about me, probably cursing me. Standing up, he wiped his nose and walked with Tamamo to the door. Throwing it open, he was greeted to the sight of a bustling street bathed in the colors of the setting sun. The only question is, who is it?


In spite of everything, he'd been through Kenelm Carlyle was a patient man; however, even his patience had its limits.

When his opportunity to enter and participant in the Moon Cell Holy Grail War was stolen from him, he seethed but regained control. His family had resources he swiftly put to use in correcting the mistake and readied himself for the inevitable carnage he was about to step into.

When that was stolen from him, he roared-slamming his fist into the polish wooden table nearly splitting it in two. All his planning and preparation…for nothing. He'd been prepared to fight and win the Holy Grail or die trying…and then there was no Holy Grail, hell, no Holy Grail War period. For the rest of the foreseeable future. He'd bounced back from that, regained his composure and took the Carlyle name to .PH, engraving it into the digital world before the wretched Harways could do so themselves.

When the empire he'd built came under siege, he'd channeled his fury and sprang into action. Eight demons, Alter Egos set free by the hands of one stupid Servant in a desperate attempt to save her Master. The same Master that had stolen his glory. He tried to take things in stride, seeing it as God's way of making things up to him. He'd been half right. The hunt had been long and hard, but eventually he'd cornered his prey at the heart of .PH believing his moment had finally arrived.

But it hadn't.

When he awoke after the near-burning flash of light he found he wasn't standing in the flooded sanctum of the Main Area, but the polished floor of some sort of castle. Raising his head, he found instead of a stupid teenager and his idiotic fox-eared Servant, he was staring down the faces of a bunch of ruffians and thugs dressed in semi-regal clothing.

"Wh…What the hell is that?! Who the hell are you!?" One of them screamed as Kenelm fully rose to his feet.

Kenelm looked around him, searching for his targets, amongst the string of Asian faces they weren't there. "No…no…no…no!" Like spidery legs, his arms rose while his head descended. "No…no...no…no…no, you've got…you've got to be fucking kidding…" More voices rose up around him, but none of them belonged to his targets. "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NOT AGAIN! NOT AGAIN GODDAMMIT!"

"Hey! Hey! Who the fuck are you and how'd you get into our hideout?!" Screamed one of the bandits, waving an oversized katana in his direction. Kenelm's cerulean blue eyes locked in on the man, immediately causing him to break out in a cold sweat. In one glance, he knew Kenelm was far more dangerous than he appeared.

And then a six-foot six mass of armor and muscle appeared behind him, startling the assembly of rogues and criminals.

"Ah, Master, I was concerned I'd lost you when we were going through the-"

"Lancer," Kenelm growled, keeping his head low. His dirty blond hair hung over his eyes keeping them obscuring, keeping the pulsating red veins growing around his cheeks from view. "Tell me…do you sense…either of those two?"

Placing one hand to his jet-black and straight-edged beard, the armored warrior closed his eyes and leaned his head back. A second of complete silence passed before his somewhat tan-skinned face twisted into a deep frown. "I'm afraid they have escaped our grasp once again, Master."

Kenelm heard the criminals around him barking orders. Swords and blades were unsheathed while demands for his surrender, identity, and clothing were made. The shouts grew louder and louder until Kenelm could no longer contain himself. "Shut your bloody mouths! Each and every last one of you!" Carrying the weight of thunder, he frightened each and every last one of them into silence. Raising his head, he searched the brightly lit room for a window or door. Surprisingly to his right he found one, a staircase he assumed must have lead upward based on what little he saw. "Lancer, kill them."

"Very well."

Whatever protests criminals had was swiftly silenced by the sound of Lancer's guandao followed by the swift sound of ice forming. Many of them never had their screams leave their throats before death claimed them. More came and Lancer proceeded to dispatch them. Kenelm didn't stick around long enough to see or hear it as he traveled up the stairs until reaching a door he swiftly kicked open. Sunlight blasted his vision, making his rage boil all the hotter.

Staggering forward, he placed his hand on a set of railing and looked out over what appeared to be an Asian-style city. He'd memorized all the Asian-influenced areas of the Moon Cell and what he was looking at wasn't one of those areas. Swiftly looking to the sky, he found no oversized lines of circuitry or pulsating waves of data, only an orangish-yellow ocean rapidly becoming died blue and purple.

"This isn't over yet…do you hear me? THIS ISN'T OVER, KISHINAMI!" Kenelm roared, slamming his hands against the railing hard enough to dent the metal. "I'LL FIND YOU! I DON'T CARE WHERE I HAVE TO GO OR WHO GETS IN MY WAY! I'M GONNA FIND YOU! YOU HEAR ME, YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" Beneath his feet, the ground broke apart as a red aura burst forth consuming the British Master. His blue eyes flashed crimson and his hands clawed at empty air while arcs of blood-colored plasma jumped between the tips. "I WILL FIND YOU, HAKUNO KISHINAMI!"


After a short burp, Guo Rong adjusted herself and stared at the literal painting of numbers calculations and diagrams drawn up by her new best friend. "Okay, so let me see if I have this right. Among the Moon Cell's many abilities it can access the Second Magic?"

"Yes."

"In times of crisis, it direct enough power to literally teleport something into another dimension?"

"Precisely. Something of a higher-grade application of the digitization process humans go through to reform themselves into data to enter the Moon Cell."

"And because things got so bad the Moon Cell, rather than delete us it teleported everyone within a…hundred-meter radius to another world?"

"Two-hundred and thirty-two meters actually."

"…Okay, so where the fuck are we?"

Slowly, Archimedes' face fell despite his attempts to remain calm and composed. The all too dry stare of the Chinese woman before him was most definitely not helping things. "I…honestly…don't know. I do not believe it to be humanity knows of."

"No shit Sherlock. Except I saw human footprints so I'm pretty sure this place has humans." Rong leered. Leaning back on the boulder, she'd used as chair while Archimedes drew up his diagrams and ran his numbers. "Alright, so basically the Moon Cell flung us across the multiverse to get rid of us, why didn't it just delete us? Don't tell me it was because you, the systems administrator was in the blast radius."

Ignoring the thinly-veiled jab, Archimedes put a gloved hand to his chin and thought for a moment. "While I do have several theories, I think the most likely is with the corruption the core had suffered it simply didn't have enough power to delete everything within the Main Area. Given Scorn was within earshot, I venture the core chose relocation because it was the quickest and safest option."

"So it didn't mind giving you up? Talk about no loyalty."

"Quite the contrary, I fully agree with the decision." The Greek countered, looking as collected as he usually did. He too took a seat on a boulder adjacent to hers. "Compared to what could have been lost, the Moon Cell made the correct decision. A new systems administrator will be chosen to oversee reconstruction."

Realizing she couldn't press him any further, Rong surveyed the landscape she had come to in. Rocky expanse stretching outwards that offered her a magnificent view of the sky and at the moment-the beginning of the setting of the sun. By her estimates, Rong still had at least an hour or two of daylight. She had no idea what was out there except a whole slew of other Masters and Servants who'd likely been caught up in the warp with her. Armed with only her pistol and combat knife, Rong knew her odds weren't too good. She didn't even know if this world would allow her to perform magecraft, but none of that mattered as she still had a job to do.

"Well, thanks for the info, math man. Good luck from here on out." Rong declared, jumping from the boulder.

"You're going to go look for your brother I premise?"

"Gee, so you're a psychic now?"

"Last I checked, didn't you have some sort of alliance with Kenelm Carlyle? Should your first concern not be regrouping him?"

Hearing that, the twenty-four-year-old couldn't help but snort in partial annoyance and amusement. "Fuck him. My family may have made a deal with his but this is a new world where neither my mom or his folks are here to hang that crap over my head. I'm finding my brother first and that's that. I'm not killing myself to nurse that guy's bruised ego."

The two held each other's gaze as a hot wind blew across the badlands.

"Very well then, since you have a destination in mind, I suppose you'll do for a Master." He declared, jumping from his boulder then standing before her. Though he stood almost a good inch or so above her Archimedes had to admit, Guo Rong did possess a certain fierceness to her that made her seem almost twice as large and powerful as she truly was. It wasn't for nothing she'd gained an admirable and somewhat feared reputation as an enforcer and detective back on the Earth and earned the hatred and mild respect of several criminal organizations on the Moon Cell. "Without a Master I won't last long, and I have no desire to simply fade away into nothing; since you're my closest option what do you say?"

"That depends," She said, crossing her arms. "My number one priority is finding my brother; can I expect any crap from you?"

"Unless I see you doing something unnecessarily stupid or idiotic, no, none at all." Archimedes said, holding up both his hands. "I'll help you to the best of my abilities."

"Then we have a deal." As she shook his hand, Rong felt a slight pain shot up her right hand. Pulling away she watched as a trio of sun-like disks with gear-like inner lining appeared on the back of her palm. "Alright then, Wizard of Balance, can you tell me if there are any Servants nearby?"

"Actually, there's one. I noticed him just a few-"

"HAKUNO! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Completely stunned, Rong looked to Archimedes who blankly pointed to the rocky hillside far to his right. She had no idea how he could see so far until a gear-themed lens materialized before her. Looking through it, she saw over hundreds of yards. Coming into her vision was a familiar white-haired warrior garbed in black, red, and gold armor, standing behind a kneeling woman with unruly brown hair that reached all the way down to her waist. In her hands was a phone, she was almost obsessively holding it upwards as if hoping it'd get a signal.

"Oh…" She said.

"Master?"

"Let's go."

"But what about-"

"Archimedes."

"…Yes ma'am." Sighing, the famous mathematician hurried behind her. Briefly, his gaze flickered to the sun which had begun its steady descent towards the horizon. "No such thing as bad luck, only bad timing, eh, Hero of Charity?"


They lied. In a manner of speaking. While Hakuno and Tamamo revealed the basics, they kept a ton of information from Hiruzen, said information will gradually be revealed through them and other characters.

Let me say this, this story is going to feature a very expansive cast of Servants from across the Fate franchise (Stay Night, Extra, Prototype, Grand Order, etc.), though I'll say this-some of them will be different from their previous interpretations. Either their skills, appearances, or personalities shall be more in line with their actual myths and legends or given more depth. The less savory or darker aspects of some Servants' legends will also be explored, so be prepared. There will be new, originally created Servants appearing in this story, several of whom possess personal connections to canon characters such as Karna, Proto-Arthur, and Tamamo herself.

There will only be ONE Saberface appearing in this story (It's not Nero or Artoria). Not to offend anyone, but this is Tamamo's story and thus she's the focus. As such each member of the Tamamo Nine will be making an appearance…in one form or another.

The Lancer Curse will be in full effect. Just look at who Karna's paired with. Also, Archers in this story are going to suffer quite a bit.