A/N: Something went wrong when I published my recent chapter 5 (6) and for some reason it just put the prologue into chapter 1. Sorry for the inconvenience.

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The Einzbern's Hero

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Chapter 1

xxxx

Walking through the doors of the Einzbern castle made Archer really uncomfortable. Despite what his master and the old man believed, it was not his first time walking through those doors. However, that was a story for another time. Archer looked around taking in the setting of the giant entrance. Straight across from them was a staircase that had a red carpet that from the front door, across the marble floor, and up the stairs. Beside them were white marble columns that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Beside each column was a maid dressed in that attire that Archer had always found ridiculous.

'Too white, and that head dress,' He thought.

A small memory came to him of two similarly dressed maids, both standing to the right and left of someone. People whose names and faces he could no longer remember.

Hearing whispers near him caused Archer to glance around him as he, Saber, Kiritsugu, and his master walked towards the stairs. Men and women, who were probably actual members of the Einzbern family due to their lacking white hair and red eyes, were all around them staring.

"I thought they were only allowed to summon one Servant, how did they manage to summon two?"

"Look at the puppet's hand, she's a master?!"

"What kind of joke is this?!"

"First, Grandfather allows that disgrace of a magus to join our family, and now the doll has her own Servant. How shameful."

Some of the whispers were about Saber.

"Is that the legendary King Arthur?"

"So they actually managed to summon him?"

"He's so pretty."

"Yeah, he seems almost...feminine."

Others... were about him.

"Who do you think he is?"

"I've never heard of someone from any legend with white hair and tan skin."

"His outfit is ridiculous, and just look at that hair."

"He was probably a barbarian in life."

"Look at him, he looks... mangy."

At the mention of "mangy", a certain blue-haired spear-wielding dog popped into his head, causing Archer to scowl.

They finally stopped at one of the rooms in a hallway. Irisviel then turned to look at Saber and him.

"Saber, Archer stay in this room while Kiritsugu and I report what happen at the summoning to Grandfather," She told both the Servants.

They nodded and watched as both of their masters walked back down the hallway.

They entered the room. It was small, with only a small round table and chairs in the middle of it. Archer went to one of the walls and leaned his back against it, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes, while Saber decided to look out one of the windows.

Archer tried not to, but he couldn't help but stare at Saber. He... knew her at least somewhat. He knew from the moment he had recognized her that she was King Arthur, the Saber-class Servant of Kiritsugu Emiya and ten years from now the Servant of Shirou Emiya.

His former Servant.

'No... no, that's not right.' Archer thought.

She wasn't his Servant. No, she was...

His partner.

His friend.

Archer let out a heavy sigh, frustrated at the hand he had been dealt. The sigh, however, was not unnoticed by the blonde swordswoman, who turned to look at him.

"Is something the matter, Archer?" She asked him.

"No, just wondering," He told her, cracking one eye open to look at her.

"About?" She inquired.

"...Which one of us our Masters would kill off."

Saber's breath caught in her throat. She narrowed her eyes at the white-haired Servant.

"Come now, Saber, this is a match that can end with only one result. Even if our Masters are spouses, there can still only be one winner," Archer said, with a patronizing smirk on his face.

"Archer! You don't truly think our masters would be...!" She said, outraged that Archer would even consider such a thing.

"Ah, but I do Saber," Archer interrupted her. "I told you didn't I? I'm from a possible future, I know how modern magi think."

Saber kept quiet as Archer continued.

"Now, had it been any other magus, I actually do think that they would have us duke it out in a final battle if we were the last two left. However, your master is quite the oddball."

Saber started at him confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've said too much now already. I don't want to give too much about myself away just yet," Archer said amusedly.

"Archer!" Saber snapped at him.

"However..," He interrupted her again. "A word of warning, do not trust your Master to do things your way."

With that little tidbit of information, Archer closed his eye and continued resting against the wall, leaving Saber upset and confused. She turned around and walked back towards the window.

After a while, Kiritsugu and Irisviel came back. Irisviel then began to explain what happen in their meeting with the head of the Einzberns. There wasn't much to tell, as Kiritsugu and Irisviel had simply reported what had taken place in the church. The head, called Grandfather by Irisviel, was surprised at first but was later very pleased as their chance of winning was now doubled, and sent them away after they were finished.

Kiritsugu then took Irisviel's place as the speaker and informed the Servants of his plan for the Grail war and...

Well...

"This is unacceptable!" Saber shouted at her master. "You can not honestly expect me to leave you unguarded and pretend to be lady Irisviel's Servant so we can deceive the other Servants while Archer strikes them from behind! It is cowardly and distasteful," She said with disgust.

Her Master just ignored her and looked at Irisviel.

"This will be the plan for as we long as we can keep Archer hidden," He explained to her.

All Saber could do was stare in shock as he flat-out ignored her presence.

Irisviel then turned to look at Archer.

"Archer, are you ok with this?" She asked him to which Archer just sighed.

"If my Master is willing, then use me to your heart's content, Kiritsugu Emiya," The red Bowman said a tad dramatically, surprising his would-be foster father.

This, however, did not sit well with Saber.

"Archer, as a fellow heroic spirit, how can you condone this!?" She snapped at him.

Archer looked at her for a moment before speaking.

"How about this, Saber? Since I see you have no intention of backing down, I will not interfere in your battles unless the situation is absolutely dire. And in return, you shall protect my master?"

Despite having said this, Archer had no intention of keeping his promise. He saw the benefits of Kiritsugu's plan, and as much as he admired Saber's sense of chivalry, all it would do is cost them their chance at winning.

After that Saber conceded and accepted Archer's proposal.

"Great!" Irisviel said excitedly. "Now with two of the seven Servants on our side, there's no way we can lose!" She and Kiritsugu began to walk towards the door before Archer called out to them.

"Wait, Master. I'd rethink that if I were you," He told her.

Irisviel and Kiritsugu looked at him, confused, as did Saber.

"What do you mean, Archer?" The Servant of the sword looked at him confusingly.

"I was indeed the last Servant to be summoned, but I was in no way the seventh. During my...'summoning' I felt 'connected' with someone, as though we were apart of something similar. I believe there is a second archer-class Servant in this war," He explained and also praying that it wasn't who he thought it was.

He doubted his E-ranked luck would let him be right, however.

Kiritsugu stared at him for a second, no doubt scouring his face for lies. After finding none he responded with a curt "I see" and left along with Irisviel. Leaving Saber and Archer alone once more.

Archer turned towards Saber and said, " Might as well go explore."

Then he left, leaving Saber alone.

xxxx

At this point all Archer could do was sigh at how stupid he was. He had told them about what had happened before his summoning and how it seemed there were eight Servants this round rather than seven, and how there were two Archers instead of one.

It was important they know that as not knowing it would've left them at a huge disadvantage. However, he didn't tell them about the Grail and how it was corrupted, at least not yet. It would be better to work behind the scenes for now on that project or he might accidently change something he didn't mean to and could not fix later- at least. that's what he was telling himself. For now, though, he would focus on his job as a Servant and protect his master.

The reception they got from the other members of the castle had been less than stellar, but it didn't matter too much to him what other people thought of him. With the life he led, he had gotten used to people badmouthing or underestimating him.

The main problem at the moment was that the Grail had to be dealt with- not just because it could hurt innocent people, but it could hurt humanity as a whole. He knew he had until the end of the Grail war to figure out a solution to that problem. Maybe bringing the old man in on that little bit of info would be helpful, but...

Well, it could lead to a conversation that he'd rather not have...ever. Not to mention how different he was to what Archer could remember. Of course, he wasn't completely in the dark about his old man's time as the Magus Killer. He knew that Kiritsugu had done some very bad things before they had met.

Then again, so had he in his servitude as a hound of Alaya.

Maybe if he spoon-fed the info and made it seem like it was from clues he had picked up during the duration of the war. Yeah, perhaps that would work.

Next problem: Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes should have been summoned this time as an Archer-class Servant. That fact that it seemed as if he and that arrogant king had so many similarities somewhat irked him. Sure, in the fifth war Saber had managed to kill him, but that was only because he was made human by that evil mud during the fourth war. Now, he was summoned as an Archer-class Servant and with all the perks that go with it. Not to mention Ea; just the thought of that blade made him shudder.

Yeah, the plan was another work in progress.

Alright, on to the next prob...

"Hey, mister!" A small child-like voice called out to him.

A sudden tugging on his cloak caught his attention and pulled the bowman out of his thoughts.

He looked at the cause of the noise and when his eyes landed on the figure, his breath caught in his throat. Staring up at him was a tiny child, one that would one day grow up to be someone he would care about very much. A little girl whose name had long since faded from his memory along with her voice, with only her image remaining.

Slowly, he bent down to look face to face with the young girl.

"Yes?" He asked.

The little girl looked him up and down as if sizing him up. Eventually, she stopped and smiled to herself as if satisfied with her inspection.

"You can play with me!" She said to him as if he should be honored.

"...Um, what?" He said wondering if he heard right.

The white haired little girl looked at him, a little annoyed.

"I said that you, Mr. Brown man, you are allowed to play with me," She said again.

Mr. Brown man? What kind of nickname was that?

Wait... did she just want someone to play with?

Well, why didn't she just say that?

However...

"And why would I want to play with someone who is rude?" He said as he poked the small girl's forehead, causing her to move back in surprise and rub the spot he poked.

"But...you're...I said you were allowed!" She told him stubbornly.

To that, he nodded.

"True, but why would I want to play when you haven't even asked me to?" He pointed out.

This caused the kid to look at the ground for a moment before she began to mumble something under her breath.

Archer raised his eyebrow. "Hmm..what is it?"

"Please...play with me," She said causing Archer to smile.

"See now, was that so hard?" He shot a small smile towards her, causing her to smile back.

"Come on!" She as she grabbed his hand and started to pull him down the hall.

"My name is Illyasviel, but you can call me Illya, what's yours?" She said.

At hearing her name, a small memory popped into his mind of a white-haired girl of another time introducing herself to him.

"Ahh...Illya...that was the name," He mumbled under his breath. This caused Illya to look up at him in question, but he told her it was nothing.

"So, what's your name?" Illya asked again. This caused the red bowman to think for a second. While he could tell her the same thing he told his master and Kiritsugu...

...What was the harm?

"You can call me...Emiya," He told her, causing her to look up at him insurprise.

"That's the same as Kiritsugu's last name!" She said in excitement.

"Yeah, but it's a secret between you and me ok?" He said putting his index fingers in front of his mouth in a shushing motion. Which Illya repeated and nodded her head.

"Good, now...what game are we going to play?" Archer asked.

"We're gonna look for walnuts!" Illya said as she and Archer stepped out the front door.

"What?"

xxxx

Kiritsugu was frustrated, to say the least. Even though Archer had revealed to them that he was from the future, the Magus Killer knew the red-clad Servant was holding info from then. Every time he had tried to pry anymore out of him Archer always deflected the question either with another question or by saying something completely ridiculous.

He had already figured out how to use to both the Servants in an effective way, with Saber pretending to be Irisviel and Archer staying hidden as no other master knew they had two Servants. That would give them the element of surprise and hopefully allow them to kill both enemy masters and Servants quickly.

Saber was against the plan, but Kiritsugu had ignored anything she had to say. To Kiritsugu's surprise,Archer had had no complaints and even had ended up convincing Saber to go along with the plan more willingly. While he had agreed not to interfere in her fights, the Magus Killer had a feeling that Archer wasn't actually planning on honoring that agreement.

Nonetheless, he had booked tickets to Fuyuki for him and Maiya a day before Irisviel, Archer, and Saber would arrive, as a means to check out any spots that would give them an advantage. In war, anything was fair as far as Kiritsugu was concerned.

This was his last chance. Everything rode on the fact the Grail could end this endless cycle of conflict and violence. This was his chance to finally come through on his dream: to create a safer, more peaceful world where no one would die. This was for all those he had sacrificed.

...And all those he would end up sacrificing.

To create a more peaceful world for his child and all those who were innocent. No amount of bloodshed, guilty or innocent, was too much.

A sudden noise interrupted his line of thought. The noise was familiar, it was used to alert Kiritsugu if one of his familiars had spotted something. The familiar that had set off the alert was the one that Kiritsugu had sent to keep an eye on the Tohsaka estate in Fuyuki, home to one of the other masters of the Grail war: Tokiomi Tohsaka. As far as his info went, Tokiomi was your typical magus. Nothing mattered more to him than his research and keeping his legacy alive.

However, Kiritsugu recently found out that Tokiomi had given his youngest daughter, Sakura Tohsaka, to the Matou family. That particular piece of info had the potential to be important in the future, as the black sheep of the Matou family, Kariya Matou, was also a master in this war.

Anyway, Kiritsugu began to look through the eyes and saw what was the Tohsaka's back garden. At first, Kiritsugu didn't see what had caused, but after awhile saw what it was. Appearing from the shadow was what appeared to be a man whose entire body was completely black from head to toe with the exception of the bone white mask on his face. Kiritsugu deduced that this likely was one of the Servants and that his class was Assassin if the stealth approach was any indicator.

It seemed the black Servant's sights were set on a red gem in the middle of the garden. As he walked towards the gem the barriers protecting it seemed to prematurely explode.

Once Assassin got to the red jewel, a golden light appeared from atop the Tohsaka mansion. Kiritsugu was fairly certain it was Tokiomi's Servant, however, the light was too bright and the familiar was only able to make out the outline of the Servant. From the outline, Kiritsugu could tell that the golden Servant was a man. Appearing from a golden light came a rain of weapons that cut down Assassin from where he stood without mercy.

Soon the golden light along with the Servant disappeared from the top of the mansion, and Kiritsugu cut the connection to his familiar to think about what he had seen. Assassin, it seems, was out of the war, but what about his master? Kiritsugu only knew of four other masters, other than him and Irisviel, not to mention an eighth unknown master according to Archer.

Archer...

What was he going to do about him? The Servant of the bow seemed to be alright with some of his methods, but how long until the heroic spirit becomes a liability? When it came down to it, only one Servant and master were allowed to obtain the Grail, and his wife was already doomed to die. How long would it be until Archer realizes that and he snaps after realizing he can't obtain the Grail? Preferably, that problem would wait until most of the other Servants and masters have been dealt with, but it would be best to have a plan in place just in case.

Suddenly, someone bursting through his door drove him out of his thoughts. The figure immediately jumped on his lap as he saw a small head of snow white hair that he knew belonged to only one person of that size.

"Hey! Hey, Kiritsugu, play with me!" Illya said with her beaming red eyes staring up into his.

Kiritsugu chuckled a bit at his daughter's antics. He knew that she knew that he would never deny her request. Even if he couldn't play with her right then, he would always promise her he would play later, and he never broke his promises.

"Of course, anything for you, my princess," Kiritsugu said rubbing the top of her head.

The man lifted up from his chair along with his daughter and carried her out of his office and shutting the door, ready to spend the next couple of hours with one of the people most precious to him before he headed off to war.

He, however, did not catch the evil look his daughter had plastered across her face.

xxxx

Archer was staring out the window of a small room. He had played with Illyasviel, in looking for walnut buds for about 2 hours. It was a contest to see who could find the most, and he had won, of course. Having perfect vision had also helped as the final score ended up as Archer: 15 and Illya: 4. After she admitted defeat, which took a while, she decided to use this knowledge to her advantage of how many walnut buds there were and went to get Kiritsugu to play. Archer was slowly reminded of the things the Illya of his time did just to win, whether it was in the Holy Grail war or just a small bet that she and...

Wait...who was it that kept antagonizing Illya again?

Ugh, he hated when his memory got like this. Archer could remember various things about him and his Grail war. The night of the fire, summoning Saber, destroying the Grail...

...Illya's death.

However, some things still alluded him, like remembering the names of his close friends or what they looked like. He could remember Kiritsugu, but not the person who took care of him after his death. He could remember scenes of happier days, but the faces of those involved were blank.

As he was thinking of this, his mind floated towards a certain blonde Servant who was currently residing somewhere else in the castle. She was a special case, even more so than himself. He remembered the conversation he had with...his friend. How Saber shouldn't remember past wars- while he could remember past wars as well, he couldn't in the way Saber could. He remembered repeating the fifth Grail warmany times.

When Archer had first arrived at this time he was shocked, but then that shock turned to hatred. He hadn't wanted to be there; he didn't want to relive his past. He had remembered enough of his copies going into the fifth war and seeing his past self become what they were trying to stop all over again that he found the entire thing pointless and irritating. He couldn't say that he remembered his copies going into the fourth war, but who knows? Maybe he had simply forgotten that he did that a lot. After living for so long, his mind could no longer remember much of his past life.

He knows he knew Saber when he was human, and he knows that he mostly called her Saber when they knew each other, but he knows that she was called something else as well. He knows she was King Arthur, as that's what the sword in the stone he has inside his world says, but she was called something else as well, from so very, very long ago.

A hand tugs his sleeve and he's dragged out of his thoughts as his eyes stare into red ones, the events that happened earlier today replay in his mind. His mind immediately thinks 'Illya', but after a second he realized that it was his Master, Irisviel- Illya's mother. Thoughts of what-ifs and what could have been flashed through his mind, but he shrugged them off.

"Archer?" Her words bring him out of his thoughts once more.

"Yes Master, is there something you require my assistance with?" He asked.

"Are you okay?" She asks "You seemed like you were spacing out."

Archer shakes his head "Ah, it is nothing Master, I was just thinking."

"You mean, like your past? Have you remembered something other than your name and time?" She asks with curious eyes.

"Just bits and pieces that I just can't seem to put together," He said.

"Ah, well that's a shame, I bet you were a truly interesting person when you were alive," She says sitting down at a table and began to pour herself some tea.

When Archer had met Irisviel, he thought she was going to be a little more...mature? Yes mature- caring, but mature. Well, she was, when she wanted to be, but she had a serious childish streak going on. Now he definitely knew where Illya got it from. She was always curious about everything and thus was seriously excited about going to Japan. She just wouldn't stop...bouncing. She was more hyperactive than her own kid sometimes. It was seriously weird how at one second she would be seriously childish then act with the elegance of a typical magus next.

"Archer," Irisviel said looking up at him and holding the tea kettle. "Would you like some tea?"

Archer just stared at her. "Master, you do know I don't need to consume food, right? I'm fueled by the prana you provide."

Irisviel just smiled at him. "Yes, but you will have some with me won't you?"

Shrugging Archer sat down across the table for Irisviel and watched as she poured tea into a cup and passed it to him. He picked up the teacup and took a sip.

As calmly as he could Archer put the tea cup down on the small plate and pushed it gently away from him, earning a curious look from his Master as she tilted her head to the side and looked at him. Looking straight at his Master all Archer could say was:

"I'm truly glad that I do not need food or liquid to keep my strength up or else we would be in serious trouble."

Archer then got up and headed towards the window, leaving Irisviel in shock. Outside, he saw Kiritsugu and Illya playing the game he and Illya had been playing a few hours ago. It seemed that Illya was beating her father if the look on Kiritsugu's face and Illya's haughty expression were anything to go by.

However, Kiritsugu surprised him by putting Illya on his shoulders. They seemed... happy.

Archer smiled for a second before it turned into a frown. Looking at this happy moment despite the fact he knew the fate that awaited them, filled him with...sadness? Anger? Dispair? He didn't know anymore, he had been filled with those emotions to the point he could no longer tell them apart. Archer then left the window and headed back to where his master was sitting. She had left while he had been in thought.

"She probably went to go check on Saber," He thought.

Ever since he finally recognized her after their little tussle in the church, he has pretty much tried to avoid her as much as possible. It wasn't the most mature thing he had ever done, but whenever she was on his mind his heart seemed to hurt a bit. It was the same kind of pain he felt whenever he glanced at Illya. The feeling of failure that hit him like a truck whenever he spent time with her- he knew what it was. Thoughthe reason was lost to him, at some point in his life, he had tried to save Saber and failed. He failed...

Had that been the starting point?

Had the regrets of his life started the moment she and he had parted ways?

Possibly, it just took until after his death to realize they were there.

"Archer?" Irisviel shook him by the shoulder and snap him out of his daydreaming once more.

"Yes, Master?" He said.

"Kiritsugu said that the maids are done with thepacking and that we're getting ready to leave," She told him. Archer nodded and dematerialized.

"Ah wait," Irisviel said.

Archer materialized again with a curious look on his face. "Yes, Master?"

"Here!" She said excitedly and handed him clothes...fancy clothes. "I made it myself!"

"Uh...Master?" He said holding up the clothes "What is this?"

"A suit!" She said with a smile on her face.

"Um Master, why are you giving me clothes?" he asked

"Since Kiritsugu's Servant gets normal clothes it's only fair that mine gets some too," Irisviel said in a matter of fact tone.

Archer mentally face palmed.

"But Master, I can just..," Archer froze.

'Uh-oh,' He thought

Irisviel had a look of kicked puppy on her face and looked as if she was about to cry.

The red-clad Servant justsighed a little.

"Truly, Master, do you think a few crocodile tears will get me to wear that?" Archer said pointing at the outfit in Irisviel's hand

Irisviel dropped her sad expression in a second, before looking at her hand that held her command seals then back to her Servant. A sinister grin appeared on her face. This caused Archer to take a step back.

"Master what...?" He said before he was interrupted by Irisviel, who was slowly walking towards him the outfit in one hand and the other raised in a fist pointing at him. Her smile was filled with an evil purpose.

"Archer..," Irisviel started.

'She wouldn't.' Archer thought as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"By these command seals..," She continued.

'She's bluffing, there's no way...'

"I order you..."

'I will not cave!'

The back of her hand faintly glowed red.

xxx

'I-I caved.'

Archer thought as he and Saber were watching Irisviel say goodbye to Illya, all three command seals still intact. He and Saber were wearing matching suits, but the ties were...different, while Sabers was a normal black one, Archer was wearing a...bowtie with the letter A stitched on it.

Kiritsugu and Maiya had left ahead of time to prepare. Irisviel and the two heroic spirits would take a later flight, Saber wanted to go with her master, but he ordered her to stay here. Archer was beginning to see why his old man and his former partner weren't on the best of terms.

After Irisviel was done with her, they began to head out when a small tug was felt on Archer's pants leg. He turned and looked down at the perpetrator and saw Illya looking up at him.

"Kiritsugu said that Mama wouldn't be coming home anymore."

She began shaking.

Archer listened as she continued.

"And Mama said that she'd always be with me even if she was gone," She began to sniff. "But...but..."

"Illya?"

"But I don't want Mama to leave, I want her to stay with me and Kiritsugu, so we can still be a family," She said as tears fell down the white haired girl's face.

At this, the Counter-Guardian's eyes softened and he kneeled down before Illya and patted her on the head.

"Illya," He said, his voice gentle as he spoke. "Your mom will always be your family gone or not, but I have no intention of letting her...disappear."

Illya looked him in the eyes.

"You promise?" She said as she held up her pinky.

Archer gave her a small smile and wrapped his pinky around her's.

"Of course."

He then wiped the tears from Illya's face and went after his master and Saber.

When he caught up to them all he could do was stare at the back of Irisviel's head.

He had made a promise, one he intended to keep.

He wouldn't fail her.

No, not again.

He was, after all, Illyasviel von Einzbern's hero.

xxx

A/N: Again sorry guys, but I have no idea what I put in the ANs.