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Chapter 005 - Losing It All – Part 2


The caravan came to a halt, black mist coming off the corpses of the group of Beowolves that had been slain. The guards began to close ranks, readying themselves for more Grimms coming at them, as there were always more of the creatures of darkness lurking beneath the cover of the forest.

Rider stood atop of the truck as she withdrew her chain-daggers, her signature weapons used to kill the Grimm with fatal precision and unearthly grace. The Servant speared the Beowolves through their skulls, before she yanked them back to target another, all in a single movement, executed so flawlessly one might believe it was routine. Black ichor and dissolving bodies splayed about the caravan, almost forming a perfect oval around the train of vehicles, with the woman killing the beasts before they could come any closer to the vehicles.

The guards looked upon the magenta-haired beauty, taken aback with awe and gratitude, and now convinced that she was a Huntress. It would certainly explain her capacity for lethality and the jaw-dropping beauty her eye-mask could do little to hide. No regular human or Faunus could dispatch Grimm with such efficiency if they were not highly trained, Aura or not.

Shirou had opted to help the Servant, though he took position close to the vehicle that held his female companions, ready to dispatch any Grimm that the Gorgon's attacks would have missed, even if such a thing was unlikely. One did not survive a Grail War without becoming paranoid, and the red-headed man would die before allowing Sakura, Illya, or Rin to come to harm.

Soon enough, the offending creatures were beaten back, allowing the guards to catch their breath once more and reassess the situation. The leader reorganized his men with a worried expression at the sight of so many Grimm, even if so far, they had been dispatched by the mysterious Huntress that had appeared from seemingly no-where. But he wasn't one to look a gift-horse in the mouth and gladly accepted her assistance rather quickly, simply because his men weren't equipped or trained to handle such a large swarm of Grimm, even if they were just Beowolves. This area was supposed to relatively safe, so even regular guardsmen should have been able to pass through without much trouble, if the purple-clad Huntress had not shown up, he had held no illusion that his caravan would have been wiped out. They had been prepared for a few groups of Beowolves and the occasional Ursai, not a swarm of over fifty beasts attacking simultaneously.

He made sure to pace over to the Huntress and express his thanks, but said thanks were received almost dismissively, which had him a bit miffed, though he ignored the sting to his pride and went back to barking orders. He would have time to deal with his bruised ego later, for the moment he had a defense to get ready, while the woman ignored his sullen departure.

The long-haired beauty's attention never left the forest line, knowing that more of the creatures of Grimm laid beyond its leafy veil. Though for the moment, the beasts had withdrawn, clearly clever enough to understand that all that awaited them if they kept coming as it was, they would only be slaughtered. The Servant certainly had the capability to rush in and decimate the evil beings, but her concern was more towards her charge who sat in the truck she stood atop of.

With a graceful step, she hoped off the roof of the truck and walked over toward the back of the vehicle. There she found the young, copper-haired man she had grown rather attached to in the past few days. A simple sword rested in his hand, that he had commandeered from a guard that had been injured-but survived-in the initial attack so he could avoid projecting a weapon. When the Beowolves had first attacked, Shirou had almost projected Kanshou and Bakuya, seemingly on pure instinct, but caught himself, recalling Rin's earlier warnings and the strange nature of his grafted arm.

The two exchanged a moment's glance before they focused their attention on the truck's occupants. Rin and Illya were attending to a frail Sakura, whose condition had slightly worsened due to the bumpy terrain. A slight fever had set in, but the young woman kept a brave face, knowing that they would eventually be safe, and trusting them to make things right.

It also helped that relatively little could possibly threaten them under the protective watch of her Servant, at least from the types of Grimms they have encountered, both from the miasma of the Holy Grail and their Remnant-counterparts. Not to mention that her steel-eyed paramour had taken a watchful vigil only an arm's length away, his gaze cold and hard outwards, reminding her raven-haired sister of her former-Servant's own posture he commonly adopted. With such protectors, there was little to fear, indeed.

"GRAAH!" A distant, wailing screech echoed through the air, eliciting a gelid shiver through the bones of all present. The two protectors snapped their gaze in the direction of the screech.

"What the hell was that!?" Called out a panicked voice, belonging to one of the guards.

"No idea, but that sure as hell wasn't a Beowolf or Ursa!" came the fearful answer of another of the men.

"Everyone load up!" ordered the caravan leader, not wanting to risk his men to further Grimm attacks or whatever the origin of that screech was. His orders were followed immediately by the scrambling of the men to load up and move their wounded.

Rider however, did not move from her position next to her companion, her gaze locked in the direction where the monstrous roar came from.

"Rider?" asked Shirou, his gaze locked on the Servant.

"The source of that screech…" began the Gorgon, her voice tenser than usual and her lips set in a frown. Turning to look where she gazed, he realized that the screech had come from the village they had left earlier, and that they had narrowly avoided being attacked by whatever had screeched earlier.

He gritted his teeth, his hands balling into fists. His first and only concern was getting Sakura to safety and medical care for a proper checkup, but could he just go on and abandon everyone else once more? He had already abandoned Fuyuki when he decided to save Sakura, so why did he hesitate now? He unbound the vice-grip on his red-clothed arm and stared at it for a moment.

"Sempai?" Whispered a soft voice directly behind him, and he turned around to find dull-crimson eyes that stared back at him with a look of deep concern.

A hand rested on his shoulder, and he turned to face his partner from the very beginning of the Holy Grail War. Eyes of sapphire stared into his steel eyes, wordlessly conveying the message behind them.

Gathering his thoughts, he gazed once more down the path that led to the village.


While the caravan was defending against the Grimm onslaught, the Scarlatina family were blissfully unaware of the violence that took place not too far from their humble abode. The matriarch softly hummed to herself as she toiled away in her garden and pulled out weeds, while her two daughters scribbled on paper as they did their schoolwork on a wooden table not too far from their mother.

"Hmm…" Murmured the ash-haired Clover, sticking out her tongue in deep concentration, as she focused on the last of her homework.

"Hey sis," she spoke, getting the attention of her sister, "What's seven times nine again?" she asked, staring intently at the multiplication table, as if hoping the answer would suddenly write itself down.

"Let me see," Replied Velvet as she looked over the young girl's homework. Most of the questions were blank, a testament to her baby sister's poor math abilities. Luckily for the younger girl, the older girl was good in Math.

"Well, look right here," she said, pointing a finger at different problem: 14, with Clover's answer written in with her cute, neat handwriting. "You got this one correct, how did you get this one?"

"I already knew that one, we did it in class," pouted the youngest Scarlatina.

"Well, remember how multiplication is just repeated addition. What happens when you add seven, five times?"

"You get…" She began as she rose a finger every time she added seven. "7, 14, 21, 28...35!" Beamed the young girl when she arrived at the same answer they did in class.

"So, what happens when we add seven, four more times?"

"Um… you get… 42, 49, 56… 63!" Exclaimed the young girl, her chest puffed out in delight from her accomplishment.

"Now if you look at these other problems, we also answered these ones!"

"Oh! This makes sense now! My teacher didn't explain this that good. Thanks sis!"

"No problem, just remember that it can work backwards too, s gets 35 too."

"Kay!"

The eldest Scarlatina's Faunus ears flickered as she overheard her daughters work on their homework. Her heart swelled in pride at the face that her first daughter had not outright given the answer, but helped her sister review and come up with the answer herself. A motherly smile graced her lips as she uprooted another weed that threatened her garden.

She truly was grateful for oldest daughter's ability to mostly keep the huge bundle of energy that was her youngest daughter in check and help when her sister needed help with her homework. However, sometimes her little bun was a bit too mature for her age, and she knew that Velvet kept a lot of her concerns close to the chest so that her mother did not have to deal with it.

Although honestly, it stung a little bit when Clover went to her chocolate-haired daughter instead of herself when she needed help with school work. She hadn't been able to show off to her daughters in a while! But she supposed it was better than having to worry about their grades all the time. The mother-of-two hadn't even gone to parent-teacher meetings since she knew her little-buns were doing fine in school-that and she didn't want to deal with the other parents, especially the married ones that reminded her of her late-husband-.

Resuming her humming, she brought her attention back on her garden. However, it was cut short by the sounds of cracking pops. The muffled noise could barely be heard through the air, but they were Faunus for a reason. The Scarlatina's Faunus heritage granted them superior hearing as her tall-rabbit ears stood at full attention and listened to the otherwise inaudible sounds of cracks. More popping sound came, and she recognized that it came from the direction of the village.

'Is someone shooting off firecrackers?' She pondered and looked over to her daughters who seem have picked up the sounds as well.

Pop… Pop… Pop…. Pop…. Pop…

"GRAAH!"

A sudden and violent high-pitch screech assaulted her sensitive hearing, making her wince and release the weeds she had been holding, as she used her hands to fold and cover her sensitive ears, her daughters doing the same as they all held their heads in pain. Thankfully, the shriek quickly subsided, sparing the family from further ear-piercing noises.

"Ah! My ears," cried the gray-haired girl as she covered her Faunus appendages with her small hands, "Mom!" She wept, tears misted in her eyes. Her sibling had done the same, but remained silent as their mother rushed over to their side.

"It's okay, sweetie, it's over," assured the mother, gently rubbing her daughter's head, "You alright, little bun?" She asked her other daughter, who nodded slowly, her ears still twitching.

"Still, let's go inside while I figure out what's going on," added the older woman, pulling out her scroll. She sent a quick message to their family friend, asking about what was going on, hoping that they would have more information. The two girls obeyed their mother, grabbed their belongings, and returned indoors with little protest.

'Is it the Grimm? Sure, the Grimm are around these parts but they've never been a major problem,' she mused, her face serious. With the Grimm always ready to swoop in and kill unsuspecting people, it was always better to be a bit paranoid. Better a small scare for nothing than dismissing it as nothing and getting killed.

'Still, the alarm hasn't been sounded, so things are probably okay. However, I have to stay calm for the girls. If it is the Grimm we have to stay calm or they'll bear down on us.'

Shutting the door behind her, she took another look at her scroll.

*No new messages*

'Hm, that's odd. He usually responds pretty quickly.'

*RING* *RING*

Her ringtone suddenly came to life and caused her to involuntarily yelp in surprise, the scroll almost slipping out of her grasp, as she fumbled to answer the call.

'I should really change that ringtone, nearly gave me a heart-attack.'

"This is…" Started the woman, but was immediately cut off by the sound of heavy wheezing.

"Ha… Ha…Anya? Ha…Is that you?" The man on the other side sounded exhausted as he gasped for air like he had just run a marathon.

Just out of sight of the ash-haired matriarch, her two daughters hid just at the top of the stairs and quietly listened in to the conversation her mother had on the phone.

"Sherman? What's wrong?" She worriedly asked.

"Oh god… Anya…." Muttered the godfather, before a fit of coughs overtook his words. "They came out of nowhere."

"Slow down, what do you mean they came out of nowhere? What's going on?"

Pop… Crack… Pop…. Crack…

The sound of gunfire crackled over the scroll's speaker, men shouting in the background, children crying.

"This… thing. I don't even know what species of Grimm it is, but it's damn smart. It took out the bell tower first. It's how it caught most of us off-guard, by the time we knew what was going on half the village was dead. I'm surprised it hasn't taken out the CCT repeater. I think the mayor sent out an SOS in time, but I have no idea if he succeeded. That thing destroyed the wing of the building he was in."

"Where are the Huntsmen? There was a team in town this morning."

"We don't… We don't know, some of the other men said they went out into the forest this morning, but haven't responded. I honestly don't know anything, just what the militia are repeating."

The scroll echoed with the sound of more shouting and shooting, along with a few screams.

"Sherman! Are you okay?"

*Ha… ha…* "No, I got torn up pretty bad when we were escaping to the shelter in the town hall. This horde came out from the forest after it broke the main gate. I…" coughed Sherman, his voice cracking at the end.

"Look I can…"

"You won't do anything!" he yelled, raising his voice over the scroll, "You are not going to risk your life when you have to take care of your daughters. Take Velvet and Clover, hunker down in the cellar, and for the love of Oum, do not come out."

"No! I won't sit here like some housewife waiting for her husband to come home! I can go get help from Vale! That caravan left not too long ago, maybe I can…" she argued, her voice growing desperate.

"Goddamn it Anya! You're not some huntsman, your husband was! And he's dead!"

"…" His sudden and underhanded outburst stunned her into silence, "That wasn't fair…" She muttered and bit down on her lower lip as she held back tears.

"Look I'm sorry that was too much, but you have to think about the kids. I'm not going to have you go chasing down a caravan that might already have been killed off, in a Grimm-infested forest."

Anya stayed silent, but her shoulders sagged. Despite what she wanted to say, she knew Sherman was right. She was no Huntress, and she had two daughters to care for, she couldn't do something as suicidal as running into a Grimm-infested forest if she wasn't certain to make it.

"Okay… What should I do?"

"There's another wave coming! Get ready!" called another man's voice, the sound of boots hitting the ground, and weapons reloading, echoing from the scroll.

"Shit… Get as much food and water as you can and barricade yourselves in the cellar, " ordered Sherman, the sound of a rifle's safety being cocked faintly audible over his heavy breaths.

"They're breaking through! Move everyone upstairs!" called a voice, near pleading in desperation. The sound of wood snapping coursed through the air. Screams echoed, gunfire rang out, guttural snarls and sound of flesh being ripped from bone echoed over the scroll's speaker, allowing the three Scarlatina females to have a morbidly good idea of what was going on at the shelter. Even without the image, the sounds were simply too vivid to not paint a horrifying picture.

"Sherman!" called Anya, her heart hammering in her chest, and her voice tainted with desperation, hoping that her friend would answer her.

"Sherman!" She called out once more, but no response came back, only the sound of the call disconnecting came though. She pulled the device away from her ear and glanced at the screen.

"No CCT signal detected. Please contact your nearest administrator…" she read mechanically, before the enormity of the situation finally crashed down on her. The village was lost, the people at the shelter were dead, and she, along with her daughters, were perhaps the only survivors of the attack, with Grimm still prowling all over the place.

"Oum… no…" sobbed the mother, falling to her knees and hugging her legs. 'Please let this be a joke or a bad dream…' But a traitorous part of her mind knew better, knew that everything was falling apart, her quiet life had been shattered. Her world was tumbling down, 'Not again…'

"Mom?" A quiet, timid voice called out. Her daughter, Velvet, stood at the bottom of the stairs with her ears hung low and draped over her bangs.

The ash-haired woman immediately sprang to her feet, rushed over to her daughter, and embraced her in the fiercest hug she had ever given her.

"Everything is going to be okay, Little-bun," she whispered in her daughter's ear, but it was more to assure herself. She wasn't even sure that Velvet believed her, her daughter could be scarily perceptive when she wanted to, but the gesture was for both of them.

Resolved of what she needed to do to protect her family, she broke the hug and held her daughter by the shoulders and stared directly into her mocha-colored eyes.

She swallowed her trepidation and hoped not to frighten her daughter any further. The mother-of-two hardened her voice as she spoke. "Velvet-sweetie, I need you to be strong for mommy, okay?"

Her daughter nodded solemnly and did not voice a single word. She was glad for her eldest daughter's ability to stay calm in those circumstances, as panicking would do them little good, and would only attract Grimm to their house.

"I want you to go get your sister, okay? We're going to the cellar for a while."

"Okay, but…"

The girl's protest was cut off by her mother placing a single finger on her lips.

"I'm going to be right behind you Sweetie. I'm just grabbing food and water so we can stay down there for a while. I know! Think of it like a camping trip! You like camping trips, right? You remember the one we went on with your father when you were younger?"

"We camped in the backyard, Mom…"

"Well… yes, but it was fun, right?"

"Yeah…" mumbled Velvet, "I miss dad."

"I do too, Little-bun, but remember your father was the bravest person I knew. So right now, I need you to be as brave as him. Can you do that for me?"

The young girl bobbed her head up and down before she broke away from her mother's grasp to get her sister, scurrying up the stairs as she went.

The mother immediately went to work and rushed toward the closet under the stairs. She opened the door with a loud creak, and traces of dust in the air spilled out from the compact space. The woman threw aside random junk and possessions that had accumulated over the years until she reached what she had been looking for. A steel storage locker.

She rested a hand on it and took a deep breath to brace herself. The metal case swung open and revealed a sleek, gray-coated rifle with several clips and Dust ammunition boxes.

It had been several years and she hadn't even been able to so much as to even glance at her husband's first weapon. The memories of him, despite loving him with all her heart, she couldn't bear it sometimes. So, she locked away anything that was related to the profession that took him away from her and prayed her daughters would take up a more peaceful, and more importantly safer, profession.

But now wasn't the time to dwell on the past, her family was more important than her inability to cope.

She quickly threw the ammunition and clips into an old backpack—It was Clover's old one, before her youngest daughter decided pink wasn't a color that suited her her—, the matriarch then reached for the most important thing in the box and ran a finger along its intimidating form before she yanked it out from its mold.

Her husband's voice and hands guided her as the faint memories of two lovesick teenagers resurfaced, giggling to each other as her younger-self fell back from the recoil of the gun, the glass bottle she had been aiming still standing.

She pulled back the bolt and glanced into the barrel. Empty. Pulling the bolt back into its position, she popped out the empty clip and flicked the safety. Idly aimed at the wall, then pulled the trigger.

*CHINK*

Good, the internal mechanics still worked. Grabbing one of the loaded clips, she inserted it into the magazine, locked it into place, and worked the bolt once to load a bullet into the chamber.

The sound of a floorboard's creak broke her from her musing, and she swiveled her gaze to find Clover and Velvet as they stood in the middle of the hallway. One looked at her in awe, the other in apprehension, from the sight of the firearm in their mother's hands.

"Velvet, take this bag and wait by the door. Do not open it," ordered the eldest Faunus, her tone serious, before handing her more responsible daughter the backpack with ammunition. There was no way she'd give the bag to her youngest, not with it holding ammunition, and with Clover being as curious as she was.

A single nod was returned, and both her daughters ran down the hall towards the back door, hand in hand.

Redirecting her attention back to the task at hand, she swung the weapon around her shoulder and rushed into the kitchen, spotting Clover's current backpack—a bright blue one—strewn out on the counter. Pushing the thought to chastise her daughter into the back of her mind, she grabbed the bag and emptied out its contents into the sink, then promptly began to fill it with foodstuffs, water, juice boxes, cans of non-perishables-grabbing a can-opener when she realized she didn't have anything to open it with-, filling the bag to the brim.

She threw the bag onto her back and ran across the kitchen toward the hallway.

Just before she entered the hallway, she stopped in place and glanced into the living room. Her gaze fell on a lone picture frame that sat above the fireplace, a memory of happier times. She rushed over to the hearth and grabbed the picture frame, fumbling with the latch that held the picture in place, before successfully grabbing the old picture, barely glancing at it as she put it in her pocket.

The woman spun around and took a single step before she froze in in place. Her teeth clenched, breath hitched, and eyes opened wide.

Just outside the front window, a pair of glowing, crimson orbs stared back into her own, as if daring her to move, to give the owner of the eyes something to attack. Bone-white plates armored its body, hinting that the Beowolf was much older than its counterparts. A guttural noise came from the monster's jaws, and putrid breath fogged the window as it condensed on the glass.

Her hand slowly inched closer to the rifle that hung from her shoulder. The snarling raised in intensity. The aged-Grimm's eyes narrowed, as if it knew what the Faunus attempted to do. It reared back onto its hind legs, letting out a thunderous roar as it leapt forward, the glass shattering as the Grimm smashed through the thin pane, shards of glass flying in all directions.

A single shot rang out, shattering whatever remained of her peaceful life.


Crimson eyes that belonged to a young white-haired girl snapped open. Illya, while not a great fighter herself, could create constructs to do so for her, and said constructs, which were made of her hair, were also extremely useful as scoots. Proof being that she had just discovered survivors of the attack, survivors that they might have missed if not for the artificial birds.

Her brother had asked them to help him save as many people as possible-for the sole male in the group knew it would be difficult, if not impossible, for him to hold back the Grimm when he couldn't trace anything without risking his life since they didn't know what Archer's arm did to him. The survivors of the Holy Grail War were all in this together, otherwise she wouldn't have even batted an eyelash. Plus, it was the duty of an older sister to help her idiot brother out sometimes.

Another one of her familiars had flown around the other side of the cottage, its gaze falling on two little bunny-eared girls as they ran back inside the house. A pack of snarling Beowolves circled the cottage, with some that hid in the foliage of the forest, cutting any hope of retreat for the girls. Her ruby eyes widened in shock as she recalled the adorable Faunus siblings the Einzbern had run into in the ice cream shop.

Her memories of her own trials, those the Einzbern-head had forced upon her were brought to the front of her mind. Where she had almost died from the pack of wolves before Berserker saved her in the snowy German wilderness and was perhaps the single most terrifying experience she had ever gone through. And here were two little girls who were even younger than her going through a comparable situation.

She had a minion to save!

Immediately ordering the two constructs onsite to protect the siblings, she shifted her attention to the Servant behind the wheel. The Homunculus knew that she needed the haste of a Rider-class Servant to reach them in time.

"Rider!" Her young, yet commanding voice echoed over the roar of the engine as the Servant pushed the limits of the truck, speeding down the dusty road at a speed that would have been suicidal for anyone who did not possess her incredible skill with vehicles of any sort. Her passengers held on for dear life, knuckles white with effort tightly gripping on whatever they could find as the truck lurched about.

The purple-haired woman cocked her head, acknowledging that she was listening, her gaze never leaving the road.

"My familiars found some people, but we have to hurry! There's a pack attacking them!" yelled the Einzbern Homunculus, her voice surprisingly steady in their situation.

"Where?" Asked the Gorgon, not even questioning the girl's words. Such was the strength of their bonds created during the Grail War that she knew she could trust the girl. She simply glanced at her Master for permission, already knowing that Sakura would agree at the behest of Shirou.

"Over by… actually," started Illya, before pausing. She grasped another one of her long silvery hairs and fabricated another one of her familiars, moving it through the window and making it fly over the tree line, where the truck could not follow, "Follow that, it'll bring you to them!"

"Shirou, take the reins."

"Eh!?" The young man in the passenger seat was caught off guard as Medusa opened the door of the truck, leaping from the vehicle and accompanying the familiar as she rapidly maneuvered down the path and into the trees, her purple-form instantly disappearing into the dense, emerald foliage of the forest.

The truck veered violently and jerked its passengers around, as the steel-eyed man regained control by carefully decelerating, driving back to a speed more manageable for a human, or a Servant who didn't have a Riding skill as high-ranked as Rider's.

"Oi! There are people back here!" complained the Tohsaka Heiress, from being forced to be the impromptu cushion between the side of the truck and her sister, rubbing her shoulder where it made contact.

"Sorry Tohsaka," the human-Servant apologized, without taking his eyes off the dirt road, his steel-eyes narrowed as he spotted several black-clad forms dead ahead, "But we've got company."

"Well this seems like a nice opportunity for a field test, then," viciously grinned the female Magus, pulling out the crystal she had shown to the others earlier that morning. She held the white crystal in her left hand, and charged a curse in the right. Leaning out of the window, the Magus loosely aimed the spell, down the path and at the Beowolves. Drawing upon the embedded power that resided within the raw crystal and using the same technique than she would with her jewelcraft, she overcharged her spell and launched it at her target.

It wasn't her Gandr shot, the signature Scandinavian curse she usually employed, but another one designed for lacerations and dismemberment. After all, her targets weren't human and dissolved upon death, so no gruesome remains were left behind to clean up. And it wasn't like she wanted them alive either, she would have nowhere to experiment even if they did catch a few of those creatures alive.

The red wave left her hand, shooting down the forest path and taking up the majority of the width of the road. The curse quickly reached the snarling Beowolves, slicing some in two, decapitating others, and shredding the few left, leaving behind nothing dissolving bodies, and surprising the twin-tailed Magus.

"Wow, didn't expect it to be that strong."

But her blue-eyes narrowed in a calculating look as the white crystal in her hands shifted into a dull gray, its white luster now a dull matte. She hadn't meant to drain the crystal of its mana entirely. Oh well. If her information gathering was correct, Dust crystals were moderately affordable and she could always get more once they settled. Just the mere thought of the possibilities to improve her family's Magecraft with the discovery of Dust had her almost cackling in glee.

"Nice Tohsaka!" called Shirou, swerving to avoid a rocky area that would have murdered the truck's suspension.

"Of course," huffed the aforementioned Magus, briefly glancing back at her partner before turning back to her sister, "How are you holding up Sakura?"

"I'm doing alright, Nee-san," assured the once-possessed girl. Her face seemed a little flushed to her elder-sibling, which was probably just a carryover from her slight fever, but otherwise she appeared to be doing fine. However, the raven-haired Magus still held concerns on the long-term implications, if there were any, of both Sakura's and Shirou's conditions. It was a shame they had yet to be able to conduct a proper physical examination on either of them, but it would be required in the near future, if only to make sure that her sister was devoid of any bad surprises left by Angra Mainyu, and how much Shirou could use his new arm before it began becoming dangerous.

The former-Matou's eyes narrowed, "Rider just reached the family."

"That's good," replied Shirou, still driving and doing his best to lessen the truck's tremors, "And it looks like we've made it as well."

Everyone looked forward. The gate that led into the village had been utterly destroyed, the bits of metal and wood laid scattered about, a watchtower had its peak completely ripped off suggesting something massive had collided with it, and the buildings had windows smashed in and signs of a great struggle littered the pavement. As Shirou carefully maneuvered through the gate, the gruesome remains of people could be spotted as they littered the village road, but strangely no creatures of Grimm were in sight. The night was utterly silent, save for the sound of the truck's engine.

They had arrived, but it seemed to be too late.


Back to the outskirts of the village, a purple figure zoomed through the trees, following the silver bird-shaped construct flying just over the canopy and her guide to the survivors. The dense foliage did little to hinder her progress or speed, but the density of the greenery began to lessen, and eventually the Servant broke out from the cover of the forest and kept her pace as she rushed out into the clearing toward the cottage that sat in the middle. Several Beowolves surrounded the once-homely looking building, which now sported shattered windows and its front door completely ripped off its hinges.

Gunshots rang out from within the home. The bullets struck two infantile Beowolves that were trying to enter through a second-story window in their barely formed bone masks, who plummeted off the home, and hit the ground with a thud as their body immediately began to dissipate. However, there were still numerous other Grimms surrounding the house, snarling and growling as they tried to enter what was likely the last bastion of human life in the area.

Fortunately for the family inside the house, two silvery birds gracefully maneuvered around the vile creatures, casted spells, and shifted into lances of light as they struck down the creatures of darkness. Illya's constructs, while not suited to kill off large groups of creatures, were still able to distract the Grimm, who kept looking around, confused, each time one of their own died, likely trying to spot a human or Faunus but unable to see the constructs.

Materializing her weapon, she surged forward, becoming nothing more than a streak of purple, and threw her weapons with almost blinding speed. It skewered an unsuspecting Beowolf through the back of its throat and another through its skull as both were killed instantly, not even yelping as they died. Their brethren didn't notice that their numbers were being culled as they were picked off one-by-one by the purple-haired Servant, their attention fully focused on the beings inside who radiated despair and fear.

The crack of the firearm stopped as the last of the Grimm were defeated and an oppressive silence fell over the Gorgon's surroundings. Coming to a halt, the long-haired woman came to what remained of the front door, the once-thick wooden door now laid shattered, splinters of wood littering the entrance of the house.

She took a step inside and the crunch of glass under her heel painfully echoed through the stillness of the air. Her gaze surveyed the home, the ruined upholstery and furniture that once made up the humble abode lying in pieces all over the floor, while the stairway to the second floor had its railing completely ripped from its edge, and bullet holes covered the wall of the living room. And most worryingly, a trail of crimson drops stained the wooden floor, but did not, thankfully, accompany a body.

Her serpentine nature immediately picked up the scent of blood and followed the trail up the stairs. Moving with grace of a predator, she made her way up the stairs, her steps not even making the slightest noise over the wooden steps. More than blood, however, her superior senses could pick up the scent of three people, along with their elevated heartbeats.

She stopped just before taking the last step onto the second floor, however, knowing that it would be a bad idea to surprise the people present if they were armed. They certainly had a gun, since they had used it to kill the Grimm, and while as a Servant gunfire did little to her, it would be much simpler to act like a human than explain why she could dodge bullets.

"Is anyone there?"

Her instincts screamed and the Servant quickly stepped to the side as a gunshot ripped through the wall, where she just stood moments ago. Again, it would do little to her even if she was shot, but with the mysterious nature of Dust in Remnant's weaponry, it was better to avoid taking any chances, especially given the current situation.

Something to test in the future, she mused.

The attack on her person having done little to affect her, she called out once more, this time playing off what she had heard the guardsmen say about her earlier, this time with a louder voice.

"I'm a Huntress here to help."

"Huntress?" A feminine voice repeated, making Rider frown at how high it sounded, 'Gods, a child.'

"Yes, I'm coming out slowly," called the Heroic Spirit, as she left the cover with hands held up, trying to appear as harmless as possible.

"Okay…" The pitiful voice called out.

Taking the last step onto the second floor, Rider peered down the hallway and followed the crimson trial of blood. She immediately spotted the collapsed form of an older woman lying face down on the floor. A long claw-like gash perforated the woman's back and her shredded clothes were stained with the blood that oozed from her wounds, the gashes slicing her body from her right shoulder-blade all the way across her spine to the left-side of her lower-back, and appearing to be quite deep with possible spinal damage. But she wasn't a healer, so she could not provide any more detail.

As she looked for the source of the voice, the Heroic Spirit glanced down the hallway, past a doorway that led into to a room. There stood a young brown-haired girl with very noticeable rabbit-ears that stood ramrod straight and made the girl seem taller than she really was, given that the ears added almost an entire foot to her height.

Rider could make out her frantic heartbeat, her body pumping adrenaline through her bloodstream to keep her alert and ready in a 'flight or fight' state. Her eyes, dilated and full of fright, slightly softened at the sight of another "human", but she refused to lower the rifle, her mind refusing to part with what it perceived as the last rampart before death, even if the weapon was shaking in the girl's hands.

"I…" stammered the Faunus girl, unable to find the words to voice her relief to her apparent savior. Next thing she knew, a soft hand rested on the one holding the rifle up, gently rubbing her fingers.

"It is alright, little one. It's over," whispered Rider, soothingly whispering to the traumatized girl, and rubbing her back gently, the riffle slowly slipping from the child's grip. The weapon clattered loudly on the wooden floor and broke the girl out of her stupor.

The young Faunus suddenly latched onto the Gorgon and dissolved into quiet sobs, tears pouring from her eyes nonstop as the situation dawned on her. Caught off guard by the sudden physical contact, the Servant said nothing, only softly caressing the girl's back in a bid to comfort her.

Her curiosity rose slightly as she took in the pair of hare ears that sprouted from both the young girl and the woman laid unconscious in front of her, but she pushed it back for the moment. She herself was no stranger to having a slightly animalistic nature due to her affinity with serpents as a Gorgon, and it was hardly the place and moment to ask.

Her eyes narrowed, though, as she could feel a small amount of Od or some sort of power coming from within the girl, or rather something that coated her body. Was this the supposed Aura that the others had been so curious about? It didn't seem like much, a rather harmless energy—soothing actually-, but the Servant chalked it up to the girl only being a child.

Still, for someone this young to go through something so horrific. While she held no love for humans in general, she would never condemn a child, regardless of species, to this kind of ordeal. While not quite on the level of horror the other members of her group had to go through, it was still far more than enough to traumatize any child.

'I have found survivors, but there is a woman here who is severely injured,' reported Rider, as she continued to rub the brown-hair Faunus's back.

'Alright, we'll head over to you. Nee-san just scavenged some Dust from the depot, just in case,' answered Sakura.

Slowly peeling the girl from her, the Servant asked, "What is your name?"

"Velvet…" mumbled the Faunus. Her chestnut eyes stared at her savior's face, or rather the rather elaborate blindfold covering a large part of her face, including her eyes.

Rider cocked her head and looked past the brown-haired girl at a closet door that was shut. She could hear another heartbeat, but she had to make it seem as if she didn't know that, as she doubted that hearing people's heartbeats was a normal feat, even in this new world.

"Is there anyone else?"

The girl's ears shot up in surprise, obviously only then remembering the person hiding in the closet, "My sister is in the closet."

"Go get her, I need to take care of your mother's wounds."

"Okay…" Timidly whispered the Faunus girl as she staggered over to the closet, wiping away her tears as she did so. The door clicked open and revealed an ash-haired little girl curled up and hugging her knees, softly rocking her back and forth, her own ears flattened between her chest and knees.

The visibly shaken Velvet rested a hand on her sister's knee, but the smaller girl flinched in fright at the contact. However, once her gaze raised at the sight of her sister, most notably her still alive sister, she seemed to relax. Her cheeks stained with tears from the terrifying experience she had just been put through.

"Come on Clover, there's a Huntress here to help us…"

The Servant left the two siblings in the room behind her as she approached the fallen woman and knelt to her side. The wounds were severe, enough so that the fallen woman would bleed to death if left unattended, that much she could tell. She raised her dagger and cut away the bloody and shredded top the woman wore and exposed her mangled back. The lacerations were much deeper than she originally thought, but seemed to have missed any vital organs or the woman would have perished long ago. It was remarkable the Faunus mother had survived this long and even now took shallow, rapid breathes, holding on to life by sheer willpower.

The creak of the floorboards drew Rider's attention back to the room where the two sisters stood, with a horrified and sickened look at the sight of their bloody and marred mother.

"I need clean linens or sheets," she ordered, her voice stern and commanding to snap the two girls from her stupor.

"T-they're in the closet down the hall…" stuttered the brown-haired girl.

"Go get them, both you hurry," the purple-haired Servant ordered, not wanting to fumble around trying to find sheets in a house she was unfamiliar with, and the two girls stumbled down the hallway.

The Servant returned her gaze to the woman, who had fought with everything she had to protect her daughters from the Grimm. As a protector herself, she would do everything in her power to see her healed, this she swore.


"Ha!" Grunted Shirou as he decimated yet another Beowolf that strayed too close to their location outside the depot. He and Illya had made a temporary defensive circle with her familiars —any more and she swore she'd go bald at this rate— around the building, as Rin scavenged for Dust, the Magus needing the ammunition, and with the previous occupants unable to protest, there was little reason to refrain from just grabbing the precious resource. The Tohsaka had already loaded up a few cases of the uncut crystals and gathered them back in the truck. There was nowhere near enough to hold a siege, but there was still more than enough for their immediate needs.

No survivors had been found during their sweep through the village, as if someone had made sure that no survivors made it through the attack. Sakura and Rin were worried about how it would affect Shirou, given his broken mentality, but he only offered a few solemn words that he would be alright.

He said little else as he stared at the mangled corpses at his feet. He leaned over and closed the opened, empty eyes of one of the dead, offering a small gesture of passing. Sakura hugged him when he came back to the truck but said nothing as they stood there, silently comforting her paramour.

Once Rin was done loading Dust, and Shirou finished with the dead, they all hopped back into the truck and the third-rate Magus drove away, Illya giving him directions to the house that contained the survivors, but they did not run into any more Grimm as they proceeded down the cobblestone street. It was eerily silent, the only noise being the guzzling of the truck as it fired its pistons.

"It's too quiet," muttered Shirou, leaving the more developed part of the village and entering the outskirts. His eyes scanned the path and surroundings for even the slightest of movement as they drove down a dirt path lined by trees, but he found nothing, "Illya, how close are we?"

"It's just down this path Onii-chan… oh there it is!" Exclaimed the Einzbern, pointing a pale finger at the small cottage that came into view. The white-haired girl winced at the sight of the battered house with its front door smashed in, windows shattered, and debris strewn about. It was one thing to see it through her familiars, and another to see it in person.

"Rider is inside there?" he asked, looking around for any Grimm that the Servant might have missed.

"Yup," answered Illyasviel, as the redheaded teen drove the truck up to the house, parking it, though he left the engine running. Just because so far they had dispatched the Grimm with ease didn't mean that there couldn't be a far more dangerous one lurking around, and with Sakura unwell, he was unwilling to fight anything that might strain their group.

As he parked the truck, Rider strode out of the building her gait assured and her face serious.

"I have a mother who is in dire need of healing, she does not have long."

"Alright, coming through!" Yelled Rin, grabbing a case of Dust and rushing behind the Servant.

Shirou elected to stay outside to keep watch of their surroundings and to be by Sakura's side as he quietly whispered reassurances to her, though he noticed his sister's fidgeting, the albino girl gazing around nonchalantly, only for her to keep glancing at the doorway.

"I'll keep watch out here, go ahead Illya," he offered, putting a hand on his sister's shoulder and gently nudged her forward.

The fairy paced forward with a weary look on her face as she entered the building. The bright light of a soothing blue glow came from up the stairs in front of her, but to her right, in what remained of a humble living room, sat the two familiar Faunus siblings as Rider looked over them.

The Servant looked up at the Einzbern.

"Rin is upstairs healing the mother."

The Homunculus nodded. No doubt her Magus college did not want an audience while performing the delicate operation and not to reveal Magecraft to two girls who knew nothing of their ways.

The brown-haired girl—Velvet, remembered Illya—looked up as Rider spoke.

"Illya?" muttered the Faunus girl, her tone disbelieving, as she stared at the girl Clover and her had met earlier that day. It was understandable, really, after all who expected to meet a young girl that seemed to belong to high-class nobility in the middle of a Grimm attack?

"Illya?" repeated Clover, looking up and her face brightening. It was clear that the girl was happy that at least one person she knew was still alive, especially someone she got along well with. Familiarity was an excellent way to calm a distraught child down, too.

"Hey there," waved the deceptively young-looking girl, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Did they save you too?" Asked Clover.

The Einzbern shook her head, much to the confusion of the siblings as they tilted their heads in confusion, making Illya inwardly squeal at how cute they were. Ah, how much the she wanted to just rush over to them and pat them on the head and stroke their soft ears, but this wasn't the time for that.

"No, I'm actually with them," she explained, calling for one of her familiars. The wire-construct flew through the shattered window and landed on her shoulder.

The two siblings' eyes widened in awe at the magnificent creature. Neither of them had ever seen a Semblance, and few of them were as easily visible as Illya's, nor as beautiful.

"Oh, so those bird-looking things were yours? Is that your semblance?" asked Velvet, marveling at the "bird".

"Indeed," grinned Illya, puffing her chest out in pride, and indulging in the small lie. Semblance, Magecraft…They were practically the same, right?

Suddenly, Clover jumped up from her spot next to her sister and rushed over to hug the Homunculus. A look of surprise flashed on her face as the ash-haired girl embraced her, but she quickly got over it and hugged her friend back.

"Thank you Illya, those meanie Beowolves would have gotten me and Sis if you didn't help," mumbled the youngest Scarlatina, without letting go of her embrace. However, Illya was at a loss to respond to such an outright showing of gratitude, she had never been exposed to friends or affection like this other than the brief time she'd been with her brother. Still, she liked it.

"It's... um... no problem."

"Illya," Velvet started hesitantly, her voice desperate, "Is our mom going to be okay?"

"I don't know," winced the Homunculus, "We'll see when Rin finishes."

"Oh…Okay…" deflated the older girl. It was clear that she had hoped her sister's friend would tell her everything would be alright, but alas Illya was never one to beat around the bush in a case where lives were involved.

"Don't worry, even if I don't like her very much I can tell you she's pretty skilled," tried to reassure the albino girl. Truly, their attitudes just rubbed each other the wrong way, but despite all that, Illya could not deny that her former opponent in the Holy Grail War was a skilled Magus. She, of course, was far better, that much was obvious.

A strained smile appeared on the rabbit-girl's lips just as the blue glow from upstairs died down.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the home as they lumbered down the steps, and a heavily breathing Rin plopped herself on the staircase. Her skin glistened with a sheen of sweat, the teen no doubt winded and a bit exhausted from the emergency healing.

Rider offered a bottle of water she had grabbed from a bag she had found to the tired Rin, and she gladly accepted it and gulped down the water with little care as to how undignified she appeared.

She let out a sigh of relief just as she finished her drink and found the two cute Faunus kids looking at her, waiting in anxiety for her report.

She grinned and gave an exhausted thumb up, a report of success at having saved the mother. It took a moment for the two exhausted girls to realize what she meant, but when they did their faces lit up in joy and the Magus suddenly found herself with her arms full of two very relieved Faunus girls, who were sobbing in relief and repeating "thank you" again and again.

'Ah… so this is how he felt…' realized the raven-haired girl as she patted the two girls on the head, a warm smile gracing her lips as she gazed at the two Faunus girls soaking her lap with tears of joy.

'Oh, their ears really are soft, Illya wasn't joking.'

She looked up at her Einzbern-rival and found a smug grin on Illya's face, making her scowl and mouth 'What?'

The white-haired Magus rolled her eyes, though her grin didn't disappear, while she made sure to articulate: '~Nothiiiing~'.

"Hey, you two," she started, in her more pleasant tone of voice, getting the attention of the girls, "Why don't you head outside and get in the truck. My friend and I will get your mother."

The two girls nodded and scampered after Illya, who led them to the truck. But Velvet stopped just before she came to the door and scampered back to the female magus.

"Um..." She mumbled, "can you get the gun upstairs, it's my dad's and I don't want to leave it behind…"

Rider paced over to the young girl and leaned against the wall next to her.

"Don't worry little one, I'll get it for you. Go join your sister."

"T-Thanks… there's a backpack with Dust ammo too, you might need it…"

"We'll get them," Assured Tohsaka, an easy smile on her face, but her smile fell flat as the brown-haired Faunus left to rejoin her sister.

"How bad?" Asked the Servant.

Rin winced slightly.

"It was pretty bad. I sealed the wounds, but…" she paused, checking that the children really were out of earshot as she recalled their superior hearing. Her voice became even lower almost to the level of a faint whisper.

"She lost a lot of blood so there might be some organ or brain damage from the lack of circulation, not to mention her spinal cord got severed in the attack. I think I fixed most of it, but I couldn't tell. Repairing nerve damage isn't easy, even for me," admitted the Magus, despite her being a genius amongst her peers. Jewelcraft, while having a vast array of application, was not made purely for healing, and it showed. She had done an admirable job if she said so herself, but her Magecraft was not suited to healing something as complicated as a spinal cord. Regenerating wounded organs, yes, she could do that, but the spinal cord was a lot more complex in its structure, so she couldn't be certain of the results of her work. Not to mention that even if the spine was connected again, it would be useless if it didn't convey the electrical signals required to make the body work.

"If we had arrived only a few minutes later, those kids would have lost their mother."

"And I know how hard it can be to lose a parent, Sakura and I lost both of ours in the 4th war. So, I can think I can say that I did not want that kind of fate for them."

The Servant hummed at her master's sister. Perhaps there was more to the Magus underneath that cold and pragmatic exterior.

"But seriously, she reminded me of a certain idiot with just how much she held on. That kind of stubbornness can be… admirable. God, that idiot is really rubbing off on me," she groaned as she planted her face between her knees, "An entire case of Dust gone…I really hope I don't have to burn through the rest of it."

"I must agree as well," Replied the Servant, "It certainly is contagious."

The two stared at one another in the wake of their little moment and gave each other a sincere smile.

"Anyways, let's grab the kids' mother, the gun, and get the hell out of here," Rin sighed, rising to her feet. The Servant mimicked her actions as she pushed herself off the wall she was leaning on.

She went and grabbed Shirou—with Rider taking over his watch—and brought him to help with fashioning a makeshift stretcher for the unconscious woman, not wanting to agitate her injuries any further. The stretcher was a rickety looking thing, slapped together with spare parts from furniture, sheets, and other furnishing, but with a generous application of reinforcement—courtesy of Rin—it would hold just like any proper version.

They carried the unconscious Faunus only halfway outside before Illya started yelling at the two to hurry up. Illya looked rattled, but tried not to cause panic in her friends who looked on with anxiousness. Explaining, she said that something had killed her familiars that were sweeping through the village in a violent instant.

Whatever had attacked the town was coming.


The truck came to a squealing halt. In front of them were the smashed ruins of a building as it littered the cobblestone path in front of them, blocking their advance.

Shirou's steel-eyes narrowed. He recognized what this was, this was most direct path they had taken, so he was pretty sure that it wasn't like this before. Noting the debris seemed to have been clumped together across the street like a wall, so it was highly unlikely that the building just collapsed on its own. Whatever had done this, it was smart and had enough power to smash buildings and move their ruins.

He shot a cursory glance at the Servant behind the wheel, and she seemed to have drawn the same conclusion. Yet for everyone else, they were just confused thinking they had taken a wrong turn.

"This is a trap," he gravely stated in a faint voice, "get us out of here. Now!"

With no delay, the Servant shifted in reverse and slammed on the gas, tires screeching.

From the rooftop to their left, a Beowolf leaped at the truck and slammed into the metal frame, jolting its occupants as the passengers screamed in surprise and terror. However, the Grimm was far from alone, as other of its kind started to emerge from the wreckage, or from behind buildings.

"Hold on," ordered the Servant as she spun the wheel, flinging their extra passenger off and running it over as they accelerated forward.

"YRAAAAAA!"

Just as they got rid of the Beowolf, a nightmarish shriek echoed through the night, so deeply unnatural and wrong that it sent shivers down the spines of the group, Clover and Velvet screaming in terror as they huddled together.

Another wall of debris blocked their path, and forced them to take a sharp, ninety-degree turn to the right. A second Beowolf crashed into the side of the truck, this time digging its razor-sharp claws into the metallic body.

The truck steered to the left, narrowly missing a lamppost, though the Grimm crashed headfirst into it, smashing its bones instantly.

"Rin!"

"I know!" growled out the Magus, already letting loose a barrage of spells from her fingers through the open windows, targeting any of the creatures approaching too close.

A thunderous crash shook the vehicle as a building in front of them crumbled to pieces, revealing a towering blackened form, partially covered by the dust cloud, though two crimson orbs pierced the cloud, staring hungrily at the vehicle and its occupants, animalistic intelligence focused on them.

The Grimm was massive, bigger than any other those in the group had ever seen, greatly different from the Beowolves as well. It was humanoid as well, but there stopped the similarities with the wolf-like Grimm. The newcomer was gigantic, towering over buildings, with a body made of compact, pitch-black muscle, contrasted only by the bone plating that covered its body, along with the two giant wings protruding from its back. Shark-like, serrated teeth filled every inch of the abomination's mouth, with strips of flesh still dangling from some of them.

A horrific and demented angel had appeared before them, this one taking the form of the Grimm.

"Shit!" Someone swore as the truck swerved around the gigantic Grimm and blared past the massive bone-plated hand that reached for them. The force behind the attack nearly toppled over the vehicle with just the air it displaced, but avoided such a fate due to Rider's skills.

Thunderous footsteps chased after them, crushing the streets underneath and littering it with massive foot-shaped craters, the very earth shattering under the weight and strength of the stomping, while its massive wings collided with buildings and streetlamps, shattering them into pieces as if they weren't even there.

The truck sped down the street as quickly Rider's skill and the street itself could physically allow, but they quickly ran out of space to flee from the monstrosity that pursued them. The town's gate came into the view of the superior vision of the Rider and Shirou, but no longer did it allow passage through for it had been destroy even further and the debris blocked the gate.

Both occupants in the front seat looked at another for but a split second, understanding they were boxed in and had no choice but to confront the grotesque creature and the lesser creatures that followed them, if evident by the howls and snarls that could be heard in the air.

The rest of the truck's occupants face formed into one of apprehension as they drew the same thoughts the two most combat-ready individuals. The Tohsaka magus hefted her large crate of Dust crystals, ready to defend against the siege intent on making the truck into a bunker of sorts, already reinforcing the exterior of the truck to be nigh impenetrable. Illya constructed even more familiars that a whole flock of the wispy doves arrayed themselves around the truck like a halo, already firing off barrages of mana bullets at the horde but it took all her concentration and willpower to control so many.

Sakura drew in the two Faunus girls and held them tightly against her knowing she could do little else as she held no combat potential of her own. The two girls in her arms terrified at the swarm of Grimm that descended upon them just on the other side of the glass windows.

"Tohsaka!" Yelled Shirou front the front passenger seat. "Rider is going to distract the big one while we take out the rest!"

The raven-haired magus took one look at her partner, and glanced back at the winged-Grimm that threw a piercing look in their direction as it screeched at them once more. Knowing they had little time for arguments, she nodded only once at the Servant and partner in the front seats and returned to firing off a barrage of spells from her fingertips as she burned through Dust crystal after another, decimating two or three of the Beowolves from a single blow.

"Rider, get us somewhere more open!" Shirou Emiya ordered. Sakura glanced at her lover's cold stare that she could not recognize. For a moment she could see the overlay of the red-clad Servant Archer imposed over her paramour and it frightened her, even more so than the horde of Grimm that bore upon them. His face set into the same scowl and hardened eyes the Servant of the Bow usually sported, devoid of any kindness she was familiar with in the young man's eyes.

The sudden jolt of the truck broke her from her thoughts as the vehicle came to a stop and Shirou, Rider, and Rin immediately launched themselves from the metal chassis to face the creatures of Grimm.

The Rider class Servant barreled through the swarm of Grimm, elegantly and lethally dispatching any of the Grimm that stood behind her and the grotesque mockery of an angel to impede its progress. Ducking and weaving through the Grimm with a speed far too fast for the lesser beings to keep track of her as they instantly perished as the servant passed them by.

Shirou unsheathed his commandeered weapon. "Trace on…" and poured his prana into the blade as blue traces lined the metallic edge, reinforcing it far beyond the capabilities the mass-produced sword could ever hope to reach. His left arm burned, but ignored it as the first of the Beowolves leapt at the magus, snarling with claws and jaws outstretched to maim the copper-haired young man.

He quickly sidestepped the airborne Grimm and brought his sword down upon the Beowolf, dismembering its right arm like a hot blade through butter as the creature howled in agony and brought its other claw around to retaliate. Redirecting the razor-sharp claws, he sensed another Grimm descending upon him from behind, but paid no attention as a cutting curse from a sniping Tohsaka bisected the Beowolf and dissipated as it died instantly.

He offered a brief nod of thanks towards his partner as he cut down the amputee Grimm. This time relieved it of his head, joining the rest of its fallen comrades as dust in the wind, and continued onwards to the rest of the Grimm came seemingly all directions.


Velvet squirmed free from the hooded girl's grasp, stealing a glance at the fighting individuals who sought to keep her and her family safe.

Her brown eyes greedily drank the scene of the red-clad lady who fired off a barrage of ominous red curses at the Grimm, glowing blue lines forming intricate designs over her body when a Grimm came too close and needed to be dealt with up close and personal. She used earth-shattering punches and kicks on any unfortunate Grimm that decided she was the easier target, violently fracturing their bone protections and killing the creatures of darkness without respite.

She was filled with awe at the sight of the young man with red hair who ruthlessly cut down any Beowolf that strayed too close, or was foolish enough to target him. His eyes were cold and dark as he swung his blade with cold efficiency, showing no fear at the horde that hopelessly outnumbered them. Each of his attacks left trails of beautiful blue light, what had to be Aura flowing through his blades, faintly glowing in the darkness of the night.

She glanced over the white-haired fairy that sat across from her and held her crimson eyes tightly shut in concentration as her strange, yet beautiful, birds fired pulses of energy and became literal swords of light, impaling countless Grimm. Beads of sweat condensed on her face as the limit of her abilities to control the flock of mystical birds pushed her to the limit.

Yet, despite her awe at all of these people, the eldest Scarlatina daughter could only watch in disbelief the purple-clad Huntress who leapt and ran circles around the towering white-winged Grimm that threatened to crush her very bones the moment she made a mistake. She could barely keep up with just how fast the woman climbed over its massive body, leaving countless wounds and gashes along its black, muscle-bound form. A howling screech of agony came from its incisor-lined mouth as the long-haired Huntress stabbed her dagger into the beast's right eye, blinding it, and leapt away, hulking arms flailing violently to catch the slippery woman.

Something trembled in the depths of her consciousness, something warm and comforting, yet desperate, hungry, and eager to be unleashed upon the world, as she took in the scene of violence before her. It wanted to join them, not content with sitting on the sidelines contributing nothing to protect her mother and sister.

This is what she wanted. To have an ability like these incredible individuals had so her family would never suffer hardship or be threatened anymore. For her mother to never cry ever again. She had done her best to help, but clearly it wasn't enough. She needed power, real power, if she wanted to help her family, and these people were clearly prime candidates to ask for training.

Still, at the moment she could only watch, and burn in her brain the sight of the Grimms being slaughtered, her family's saviors tearing through their ranks like they were nothing.

But apparently, the towering monstrosity knew it was losing a failing battle as its smaller comrades fell by the droves. Huffing its chest even Velvet could hear air being sucked it, letting loose an unholy screech that pierced the air and caused even her protectors to flinch at the nerve-rending wail. Ignoring the long-haired woman that ran circles around it, it took one earth-rumbling step towards her and burst into a full-on sprint towards the truck.

Panic struck all those present as they realized the humanoid Grimm was targeting the maidens hunkered in the reinforced truck, but no amount of reinforcement could stop a monster like this.


Urgency filled the sword-wielding magus as he decapitated another of the Beowolves that leapt at him and broke into a desperate charge to intercept the charging horror. Noticing Rider coming in from the other side, with a grunt he jumped at the monster and plunged his sword deep into the black, muscular leg before being thrown off by the immense force of the beast's lumbering steps, the force too great to hold on.

The humanoid Grimm stumbled, yet still persisted in its suicidal charge, but this was all that the second interceptor needed. Two daggers sunk hilt-deep into the Grimm's neck, and it was yanked away by the purple-haired servant, redirecting the beast's stampede down another street, away from the truck where Sakura and the Scarlatina family took shelter in.

Recovering from his rough landing, Shirou glanced at Rin, who dispatched another one of the less dangerous creatures of darkness with a cutting curse, receiving a nod while the twin-tailed Magus motioned for him to follow Rider and her foe, her eyes telling him that she and Illya could take care of the remaining Grimm, since their number had been sufficiently culled to be manageable by the two female Magi.

Without Rider's noble phantasm, the servant did not have much penetrating power without putting Sakura at risk from the mana drain and the two magi knew that. They needed to get rid of the biggest threat and could do so now that Rider had brought the fight elsewhere, being less hindered by the need to defend the truck and its occupants. Shirou being the only heavy-hitter of the group left, it fell to him to kill the Grimm, since the others could do little more than slow it down.

Offering a nod back, the copper-haired man took off, following the trail of destruction and massive footprints in the streets to aid his purple-haired friend. Not that it was hard, the fight was hardly silent, and with most of the other Grimms killed, all he had to do was follow the sounds of battle.

His gaze trailed upwards, where Rider leaped away from a rooftop just as the hulking winged-Grimm crashed through the building where she stood just moments ago. The monster howled at the Servant and it chased after her, smashing countless buildings and structures in its attempts to squash the bug that irritated him.

"Trace on…" whispered the magus. His hand now held a nameless steel broadsword, ignoring the eager call of two twin black and white blades, as his previous weapon was lodged in the calf of the pursuing humanoid monster. He felt Archer's arm burn him, the corruption of his body likely spreading, but he ignored the pain with practiced ease. He knew enough about his body to know that he had yet to cross the boundary that would put him in immediate danger of being taken over, so he could ignore the pain since it meant protecting the person he had forsaken his ideals for.

With a grunt, Shirou swiftly dodged, one after the other, the monster's attempts at grabbing him with its massive hand and maneuvered between its legs. He sliced its left calf and ankle, leaving deep gashes, but the leg was too thick and the muscles too resistant, to completely cut through.

The Grimm fell to its knee, wings tucked in, and let out a howl of agony as it shrank on itself, curling up and tensing its muscles.

'What is it doing?'

With an earth-shattering vault and howling gust of wind from the flapping of its wings, the demented angel leapt into the air, using the massive appendages on its back to propel itself away from the Magus, flying several dozen feet backwards and crashing, feet first, into a building, turning it to rubble.

The force from the momentous leap threw the Magus sideways, landing in a roll as soon as he touched the hard cobblestone path, recovering his stance. His eyes widened as a wall of debris filled his vision, throwing himself to the side, narrowly dodging the makeshift projectiles that slammed into the building behind him.

While Shirou kept the Grimm's attention, Rider leapt from one building to another as she neared the monster, an easy enough feat given her agility and how slow it was compared to the speed she was capable of. Though she did not underestimate it, while slow, a single hit would do a lot of damage to her, Servant or not, and with Sakura being so weak, she could hardly afford to drain any more of her prana.

The Servant launched her dagger at the four-armed monster's face in hopes of blinding it in the other eye, but instead narrowly glanced the front of its face as it leaned back, protecting its sole-working crimson eye.

The Grimm-Angel maliciously grinned, biting down on the chains in front of it, its serrated teeth closing over the metal with a horrible grinding noise. While it did not manage to break the chains, it pulled with as much might as it could muster and threw the chains—and a shocked Servant along with it—across the street, slamming both into the side of a building and howling in triumph, thinking it had killed the annoying woman.

"RIDER!" yelled Shirou, worry gripping his heart, but he let out a sigh of relief when the Servant de-astralized beside him looking no worse for wear.

"We must rethink our approach Shirou, this demon is above its lesser counterparts, and cannot be slain like them," remarked the Gorgon, taking a stance, her chains once more materializing in her hands.

The monster snapped its crimson-eyed gaze to the duo and let out a blood-curdling screech at the sight of the woman it thought had killed.

"We need to get rid of its wings somehow, it's too mobile with them," nodded Shirou, ignoring the lances of pain coming from his crimson-wrapped arm, the appendage seemingly asking to be used.

"Agreed, I will take care of the wings," coldly whispered the Gorgon, immediately sprinting to the side to flank the Grimm, who had recovered, and was now bearing down on them with a manic snarl exposing its teeth, along with the strips of flesh dangling from them.

'Here goes nothing,' he thought, raising his commandeered sword and pointing it at the Grimm. The monster did not appreciate the show of defiance, as it opened its maw wide, roaring a challenge to what it considered a puny human challenging it.

"Trace on…" whispered Shirou, prana circuits coming to life, as he Reinforced the sword he held to the utmost limit, the blade beginning to glow with blue light due the amount of prana forced inside it. He ignored the agonizing pain shooting through his body, feeling as if his nerves were being dipped into acid, with ease borne from a long history of being in pain. Once he was done, he took a moment to "feel" the result, and, satisfied, he took a stance, ready to face his foe.

The Magus lunged forward, setting himself directly in a collision course with the false-angel bearing down on him as a frightening speed. The monstrosity reached forward with two of its arms in another attempt to grab the young man, but once again Shirou dodged as he changed his direction suddenly and ran his blade across the monster's arm, a fountain of black ichor dropping from the cut and staining the street.

At the same moment, Rider rushed from the other side of the creature, leapt onto the muscular back of the Grimm, and stabbed both her daggers deeply into the joints where the wings connected with its shoulders. The angel howled in anguish and violently thrashed about, trying to shake off the purple-haired Servant, or to reach her with its bulging four arms. It kicked and flailed about, almost crushing Shirou in its efforts, the Magus swiftly taking some distance with it as soon as he realized the danger he was in.

Satisfied that her chains would keep the Grimm's wings from opening now that they were firmly stuck inside their flesh, Rider backflipped off the creature's back, hastily retreating back to Shirou's side, tugging her chains in the hopes of forcing their foe to attack them. And true to their hopes, it once again knelt down and tucked in its arms. The duo recognized what it was about to attempt and leapt away, out of the range of the shockwave about to come their way.

However, this is what Rider was waiting for.

Just as the Grimm leaped into the air with the aid of its colossal wings, Rider felt the overwhelming force that threatened to sweep her off the ground through the grasp on her chains. But the Servant held fast and tightened the tension on the linked rings with her tremendous B rank strength, making it thrash around in the air, but the Servant did not relent, opposing her own monstrous strength to the Grimm's. And true to her hopes, the opposing forces caused severe damage to the abomination, tearing and crunching sounds echoing through the night as ligaments were torn, muscles were split, and the monster shrieked in agony.

Spotting the opening, Shirou rushed forward, straight at the Grimm's center, the creature so focused on breaking free from Rider's ensnarement it ignored him. Diverting what was left of his prana to reinforce his legs, arms, and the broadsword held in his right hand, he surged forward with newfound speed.

The large-white wings were forcibly ripped from the back of the demented angel as the final string of muscle finally snapped from its back. It howled in agony and black ichor poured from the stubs where its wings were once connected. Without the chains that held it back and no wings to keep it airborne, its body fell downward, directly above the now standing Shirou, who had prepared himself for this opportunity to finish the fight once and for all.

He swung the sword with as much force as he could muster and struck the monstrosity as it careened downward, shrieking in pain, anger, and defiance, all at once. His blade ripped through the muscle and tissue and exploded in a torrent of black gore, Shirou putting everything he had into slicing through the densely packed muscle and flesh.

With a yell of renewed strength, steel split the monster's throat as he overloaded the sword with prana and promptly detonated the weapon embedded into the Grimm's chest, utterly shredding a large part of its torso and neck. The false-angel desperately brought its hands to the gaping wound in a futile effort to stem the flow of blood, crimson eyes staring confusedly at the hole in its body, unable to comprehend it had been bested. It let out one last, gurgled screech, before the light of life left its baleful crimson eyes, dead before it even touched the ground, the corpse toppling forward and its head slamming into the stone of the road.

The corpse then promptly began to disintegrate into black smoke, disappearing so fast that only a few instants later, there no longer was any trace of the gigantic monster that had laid waste to an entire village, aside from the obvious signs of battle and destroyed buildings.

A sigh of relief left Shirou's lips as he fell on his backside in exhaustion, the Gorgon calmly walking over to her master's lover and sitting next to the tired young man. They both took a moment to regain their bearings, the fight having left both out of breath, reinforced human and Servant or not.

"We should rejoin with the others," suggested Rider, having recovered much faster than Shirou, as she stood up and dusted her dress, before turning and offering her hand to the young man. Said young man gratefully grabbed the offered appendage, grunting as he pushed himself to his feet, his body still sore from the stress he had put it through, though he ignored the slight pain with practiced ease.

They walked briskly through the down the street, ignoring the corpses and destroyed buildings as they weaved through the obstacles on their path, unwilling to leave their companions alone for too long, even if the major threat had been neutralized. For all they knew another of those gigantic Grimm angels could be in the area, and while Rin and Illya weren't exactly helpless, neither had the power to kill one of those beasts.

Their walk was rather short, as the truck had stopped a few streets over from where they diverted the now deceased Grimm, and was now being approached by snarling Beowolves that Rin and Illya were doing their best to keep at bay.

As soon as Shirou and Rider approached though, dispatching the remainder of the Beowolves, she jumped from the truck, marched over to the redhead's side, and started poking him in the chest, glaring up at him with all the might her diminutive stature could muster as she scolded him on the insane attack he made to redivert the humanoid beast.

Rider, ignoring the lecture, walked by the pair and towards the truck, where Sakura had apparently found a first aid kit and was meekly gesturing for her crush to come over so that she may treat him.

The young man only sheepishly chuckled Shirou, sitting next to his lover, who dabbed at his wounds with an antiseptic-covered cloth. He ignored the sting with ease, having experienced far worse than the unpleasant sensation, while Sakura apologized quietly as she treated him.

Rin huffed with arms crossed underneath her chest. As she glanced at Shirou, her eyes trailed up Archer's arm, her brow furrowing.

"Emiya…" she whispered, her voice low, so that only the pair of them would hear, "Did Archer's arm reach that far before?"

With a puzzled look on his face, he looked down at his chest and froze. The tan skin of his grafted arm had spread even more across his chest, spreading from his shoulder like a cancer, and now making up part of his chest, up all the way to part of his neck.

She hissed under her breath, glaring at him, while Sakura observed their interaction with worry. While she couldn't hear what was said, she could at the very least tell it wasn't anything good.

"I can't believe I have to remind you Emiya," groaned Rin, rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration, "But we have no idea at all what that arm is doing to you, until I know more you are banned from using ANY type of Magecraft. Got it!?" she growled, jabbing her finger into his chest.

"Nee-san," began Sakura, putting herself between her sister and Shirou. Almost immediately, Rin's anger faded, the teenager unable to stay angry when her sister gave her a pleading look to let things be.

"Fine… anyways," the twin-tailed Magus mumbled, redirecting the conversation and glancing at the two Faunus children that sat in the truck, along with their unconscious mother. The brown-haired Faunus seemed to be staring at Rin with a look of utmost reverence, making the Magus wince and look away uncomfortably, "We should get to Vale quickly, I don't know how thorough my healing was so we need to get their mother to an actual doctor, not to mention get Sakura checked out, somehow."

"I don't think that'll be necessary Tohsaka," remarked Shirou.

"Oh, why is that?" she growled, her tone challenging. It was obvious she was not happy with what was implied, though then again, it had been a long night and her already hair-trigger temper was not helped by the adrenaline and lack of sleep.

"That's why," explained the redhead, pointing a finger to the horizon where several gray forms flew toward them in the distance.

"Oh, now they show up!" growled an exasperated Rin, her anger towards Shirou replaced by sheer frustration towards the incompetent authorities. While she didn't know much about this new world, she knew that Vale wasn't that far from the village. The authorities should have arrived hours earlier, she knew that much, so how had they managed to be so late? Had they somehow decided to take a scenic route?


The airship ride had been relatively quiet in comparison to the intense situation of mere hours earlier, the group whispering between themselves when they made conversation, or simply not talking at all.

The medic onboard worked as much as he could to clean up and stabilize the woman whose back was covered in fresh, bright-red scars from Rin's healing—which highly confused him-, but there was little he could do from the turbulence, nor could do more for the Faunus until they arrived at a hospital. He had neither the facilities, nor the training to treat her, as his specialty was field medicine, more oriented towards making sure people were still alive to be handed over to specialists than actually healing them.

The two Faunus sisters sat on the hard, cold seats that lined the bullhead's walls, their arms around each other's shoulder, with Clover curled into her sister's body, snoring softly, having exhausted herself after crying so much and desperately seeking comfort in the only person she was familiar with. Velvet herself wasn't saying anything, her gaze never leaving her mother's back, and deep in thought.

Almost unconsciously, her teeth grinded together and her hands curled into fists, Shirou looking over the girl in sorrow, knowing exactly what was going through her head. While he had never seen such a look in others, Archer had, and its implications were not lost on the redhead since he now had the memories of the Heroic Spirit floating around in his head. Velvet would be training to become stronger, pushing herself to the limits and surpassing them, or she would break. She would accept nothing less, and trying to dissuade her from her chosen route would be an exercise in futility.

The hold's speaker crackled to life and redirected his attention away.

"Beacon will be in view just as we clear this peak, we will be landing momentarily," stated the female pilot over the intercom, the airship flying over one last mountain.

Both Shirou and Sakura shuffled in their seats as they sought to peer out a portside window, but Rin seemed to have beaten both to the opening, her jaw dropping for a moment before it snapped right back up, obviously impressed by what she had seen, and her eyes never leaving a specific point of the landscape.

The couple came to the Rin side and squeezed in to get a view themselves and found themselves in wonder at the sight.

A massive lake laid at the bottom of an imposing sheer-vertical cliffside with several rivers cascading down and creating impressive waterfalls, and at the center of the rivers, built over a large patch of land accommodating it and all its dependencies, was a massive building, that Shirou deduced was Beacon itself.

The Academy itself was almost a fantasy like castle, with towering white spires only dwarfed by the colossal central tower that held large glowing green orbs—and squinting his eyes revealed it to be a clocktower as well as he saw the large mechanical gears slowly ticking away-.

"That's the CCT tower," whispered Rin, with her sister and partner dumbly nodding in reply at the sight of the mountainous structure. That's it, Shirou took back all misgivings he had on the CCT network, the tower was a monster of engineering and certainly made sense if they had never made it to space with communication satellites. His limited experience with the subject of engineering told him that the only other viable alternative to broadcast a signal supposed to link continents together would be such structures, towering over even mountains.

The academy's pearly white buildings dotted the grounds, only contrasted by the vibrant blanket of green of the grass and trees, presumably for dormitories, research labs, training rooms, and other facilities that inspiring and hopeful students would use to further their training and education in becoming full-fledged Huntsmen and Huntresses. The only analogy Shirou could come up with, would be that someone had somehow fused a medieval Fantasy castle with an American University campus, and even that description didn't do the Academy justice. One needed to see it for themselves to truly realize the marvel of architecture that it was.

How they would like to just walk through the Academy's huge campus and explore every nook and cranny of the awe-inspiring feat of architecture and engineering. Or just to sit underneath one of the numerous trees and lay in soft grass with to unwind in the soft breeze. To have just one moment of peace to enjoy the landscape without having to worry about their health and life.

It hardly looked like an institute to train the future protectors of the world, and more like a fantasy castle for a royalty to live in, far removed from the commoners and proceedings of the outside world, which in this case was the Kingdom of Vale that resided farther down river.

The city of Vale was an entirely different marvel of human civilization, as it encompassed nearly the entire field of view, stretching everywhere they could see. Even the elevated position granted by being in this "bullhead" only served to reinforce just how grand and spectacular the city was, not even considering it was one of four true bastions of human civilization. More than a city, it was a country by itself, housing a large part of the Human and Faunus populations of Remnant.

The airship flew from over the lake and hovered over one of the numerous landing pads lining the edge of the cliff, landing with a soft thud. The alarm blared as the cargo doors lowered and allowed the sunlight to pour in from the outside, temporarily blinding the passengers who had become used to the low-lit environment of the cargo hold.

The medic immediately shot forward, pushing the gurney holding the injured Faunus, to deliver the woman to the resident medical experts for treatment. Said experts, after a quick check over the woman, carted her away, leaving her daughters to stay with the group, who were now being faced with the welcoming committee.

Off to the side stood an older woman who was the very picture of the stern teacher, clad in a white shirt along with a black pencil skirt that would have exposed the fair skin of her legs if not for the black stockings worn underneath, her golden hair held back in a bun and meticulously curled in front. Her expression was stern, green eyes observing them with all the attention of a scientist examining an interesting specimen under a microscope. After a moment where the group felt like they were being examined under X-rays, the woman seemed satisfied with what she could see and walked forward to greet them, her tight-fitting clothes leaving little to the imagination.

"Hello, I am Professor Glynda Goodwitch, and I welcome you to Beacon Academy."

Her tone was strict as she delivered her greeting, her eyes scrutinizing each and every one of them, staying for various lengths of time over each of the members of their ragtag group. Her green eyes met Shirou's steel ones and her brow raised slightly, clearly surprised that someone was willing to meet her stare, but she otherwise showed nothing of what she was thinking. She seemed to linger on Sakura's hooded form, the teenager looking at the ground to avoid exposing her condition to the woman, but she did not voice any desire to see her raise her head.

Given that the situation was a golden opportunity to gather information, Rin stepped forward, taking control of the conversation, since all of them knew that bar Illya, they were not exactly good at interacting with other people.

"We just came from Oakenhille, but we were passing through when the Grimm attacked. These two, however," Rin beckoned toward the two silent Faunus children that held each other's hand, "are and their mother was just taken by those doctors."

Green eyes rested upon the two girls and a hint of sadness crossed her eyes, but her demeanor quickly returned to its business-only state.

"Let us continue this elsewhere and get you some medical attention and something to eat, no doubt you are all exhausted from your ordeal," commanded the woman, motioning for them to follow her.

Rin released a deep sigh. She really wanted to avoid this scenario of being taken in by the authorities, but she didn't want to risk running away. That would imply they were hiding something and the authorities would become undoubtedly suspicious if they suddenly disappeared now of all times, which could end very badly for them. They would have to handle this delicately, without revealing their Magus nature or their apparent lack of aura despite having fought off a horde of Grimm.

"Rin," spoke the Gorgon in a low voice. "We have made it to Vale. This is an opportunity to get Sakura the care she needs and we can take advantage of the situation."

"You're right Rider, let's try and stay positive. They don't know anything about us so far and I'd like to keep it that way," cheerfully nodded the young woman, but it was easy to see that she was not convinced things would go well.

And so, the group of Magi, along with two Faunus, followed the blonde woman. They entered the building, that smelt of antiseptic and illuminated in white light, and were led to a room where a pink-haired nurse stood waiting.

Rin wished she could talk about what they planned to do and to get their stories straight, but the presence of the nurse did not allow for it. Not to mention the open room could easily be listened in on. It seemed that her partner had also picked up on the situation as he gave her a knowing nod in response and quietly whispered to Rider to stay close to Sakura.

The nurse gave the two Faunus siblings a quick look over while they were given a simple meal that they devoured in silence, a meal made of food that their bodies would easily process. However, the nurse was stopped when she got to their group and was waved away by Rin and Shirou when they stated they were fine and just needed some rest.

The nurse relented with a confused look on her face, especially when she noticed the odd patch of tanned skin the young man sported on his neck and his odd mixture of hair color. She was about to ask what that was about, but Shirou waved her off, explaining it as a side-effect of his Semblance—a cover story that Rin had suggested the previous day, and had the benefit that it wasn't too far from the truth—.

Once the two children had finished their meal, which had allowed some color to return to their faces, the pink-haired nurse told them to follow her if they wanted to see their mother, who was resting in another room. As she opened the door, it revealed the same blonde that they had seen earlier, Goodwitch, the woman nodding to the nurse as the trio moved out of the room, before focusing her stare on their group.

"The Headmaster would like to see all of you in his office, so if you would please follow me," stated the teacher, her words suffering no argument as she led them out of the room. While it was early in the day, there were still a few students out in the corridors, all of them already clad in what was likely the uniform of the Academy, their group crossing a few of them on their way to the Headmaster's office.

A few of the students looked upon them with inquisitive… innocent glances, but ultimately did little to the group, since they were led by a Professor, whose attitude made it clear that any student interrupting their path for less than an urgency would not like the result. They did not want to draw the ire of their professor, who seemed to be quite the authoritarian figure at Beacon, and shirked away. Shirou and Rin were not at all impressed at the sight of the supposed future-guardians of the world, most of them being around their age, but showing absolutely none of the weariness they expected to see in people who were supposed to be fighting monsters. Then again, they themselves were about the same age and had lived through events that would have likely left these future Hunters and Huntresses traumatized and unwilling to even set foot out of their safe little homes.

Goodwitch led the group to the massive central tower they had seen before arriving to Beacon, that apparently housed the headmaster's office aside from being a CCT tower. And the office was clearly not at the base of the tower, since they had to squeeze into an elevator to reach it, Sakura clearly uncomfortable with the proximity to a stranger and doing her best to put Shirou and Rider between her and the teacher.

Upon their arrival, the elevator's door parted to reveal a sight that would have impressed less jaded people, with metal gears everywhere slowly cranking, their sound reminding Shirou of his and Archer's Reality Marble. Though to him, the Reality Marble was a much more depressing sight, since it represented his eventual end, alone on a hill of swords.

As they entered the room, their eyes immediately zeroed on the individual seated behind the ornate desk facing the elevator's entrance. It was a man with grey hair and a green scarf, analytical eyes boring into them and analyzing them down to their postures and stances, dissecting everything he could see to squeeze the most information out of it. There was little doubt that the headmaster of Beacon, for it could only be him, had the mindset of a Magus, keeping his secrets close to his chest and ready to do anything it took to see his goals accomplished. Worse, they could literally feel the man's power, which was nothing to scoff at, even if it was not at the level of a Servant, and, coupled with everything they could tell about the headmaster, it was accompanied with a lot of political power as well. In short, the headmaster was someone dangerous, incredibly so, for them, if they ever made an enemy out of him.

"Thank you Glynda," smiled the headmaster, the blonde nodding and coming to stand next to the man. He then gestured for them to take a seat, with a group of chairs, which just so happened to be the exact same number of people in their group. Not even Illya spoke as she seated herself, the situation making her Magus persona slip into place, as now was not the time to appear like the cheerful child she liked to portray herself as.

"Now I assume you are all wondering why I have called you here when you should be all resting from your ordeal. But first some introductions, I am Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy."


Ozpin was intrigued by his guests. While their culture encouraged individuality, most tended to distinguish themselves merely by using their symbol, whereas the each and every one of the people now seated in his office stood out like a sore thumb, even without using eye-catching clothes. Be it the way they held themselves, the atmosphere around them, there was simply something about them that would have marked them as different no matter how much they tried to blend in.

One by one, they introduced themselves to the headmaster, who arched an eyebrow at the strange names that seem to break the long-honored tradition of color-inspired names, aside from the man's, which, translated into English, meant "White". The tall blindfolded woman was interesting in a mysterious sort of way, as she held herself in an aloof posture, standing directly behind the hooded figure, and only introduced herself as Rider, an alias without a doubt. However, he was most intrigued by the hooded girl who refused to raise her face or lower her hood as she sat in close proximity to the young man with silver eyes, practically leaning on him. He was not blind to the way the entire group gravitated around her, subtly placing themselves in a protective seating arrangement, and allowing the sole male to seat next to her. There was a history there, something that had the entire group willing to protect the young woman.

His tired brown eyes hardened as they met the steel contained in the boy's, no, man's gaze, perhaps lingering a bit too long when Glynda politely coughed to break him from his thoughts.

"My apologies, it is not often I meet someone with an unusual eye color."


Rin arched an eyebrow at the strange comment. Silver eyes weren't normal, yet Illya's red eyes were? Odd. Then again, she had seen many students with hair of a variety of colors ranging from cheerful hot pink to a lime green, perhaps eye color was another trait that widely varied.

It was a bit of a culture shock for her, who had lived in Japan, where the culture was the exact opposite, with people desperately trying to fit the mold of society. It wasn't to say that there wasn't individualism, but the culture on Remnant seemed to almost force people to show themselves as unique individuals and not members of a group.

Something she would have to research in the future, if everything went fine.

"Regardless, I brought the five of you here to hopefully answer some questions about the events that happened at Oakenhille. We have a rough idea of what happened, but we would like to hear what happened from the point of view of people who were there during the events."

No one responded and so the gray-haired man headmaster took that as a sign to continue.

He asked a few basic questions like when the Grimm had attacked the village, where they were when it happened—revealing the caravan they'd left behind did indeed make it to Vale's outer wall-, and their actions afterwards. He commended them for turning back despite not saving most of the village, but he doubted the Faunus family they saved would fault them for it. Although his gaze turned stiff at the mention of the grotesque four-armed Grimm they had encountered and subsequently defeated.

"I must commend Miss Rider and Mister Shirou for putting themselves in harm's way to defeat this… Grimm, it speaks volumes of your personal capabilities. Although I must ask if you've received any training before."

The Servant elected to say nothing and maintained her silent aloof nature as she gave a blank stare behind that blindfold in return. The two Beacon staff members said nothing of Rider's unusual attire for they have long gotten used to the strange outfits Huntsmen and Huntresses elected to wear these days. Although, Glynda did note that it could use some serious toning down with the way her outfit hugged her well-proportioned curves.

"I'm… self-taught," said Shirou after a moment of deliberation, prompting Rin to roll her eyes in slight exasperation at the understatement. It was mostly true considering the events of the Holy Grail War and inheriting Archer's arm—who was just another version of him-. Then again, he couldn't exactly say "I've learnt most of my skills from an alternate future version of myself who tried to kill me after he was summoned into a tournament for a wish-granting device that happened to be corrupted and tried to end the world".


"Self-taught you say? Forgive me when I say that I find that a little hard to believe," chuckled Ozpin. He did not believe for one moment the young man in front of him was "self-taught". People did not manage to kill unique Grimm by being self-taught, they did so by training to their limits against stronger opponents. Anyone who was self-taught always had plenty of faults in their style, faults that would get them killed in a heartbeat when faced with powerful Grimm.

Most of his students would have been killed if faced with such a threat, one that even his fourth-years would be hard-pressed to kill, even with the entire four-man team assembled. To find that only two of them—he suspected that Miss Rider was far beyond the normal capabilities of a Huntress, not to mention the strange feeling she radiated, one the young man did exude as well, albeit to a lesser extent—had defeated a special-type Grimm a bit ludicrous. The young man in front of him couldn't be more than seventeen or eighteen years old, a first-year at most, yet callously charged in and defeated it.

These facts, if true, and along with the hardened gaze-that betrayed experience beyond his years—that Shirou was giving him, made Ozpin think he was far more skilled than most of his students. If he could only tap into that power and refine it.

He decided to let the subject rest for the moment and moved to another matter that interested him. He knew that he couldn't keep the group there for too long, as curious as he was, they were likely tired and needed rest, so he would have to keep things as short as possible.

"Now we know about the events that occurred, however there is still one matter that needs clarification. You have explained everything in detail, yet you did not say why you were in Oakenhille in the first place," he remarked, Glynda tensing slightly at his side.

The way they had explained everything yet kept silent of why they had been in the town was masterful, and anyone less used to deal with politics would have missed the fact that the reason of their presence had never come up in the conversation.

Ozpin could tell Glynda had noticed how the group had suddenly tensed. Apparently, the reason of their presence, whatever it had been, was a sensitive one, so he made sure to put up his best reassuring face.

"I assure you Miss Tohsaka, this is not an interrogation, you are not prisoners. However, it is unheard of for civilians to defeat Grimm in such numbers, and even more so for untrained people to kill off a unique Grimm. It is my duty as the headmaster of Beacon to keep abreast about unusual events, and, forgive me for saying so, what happened was unusual, extremely so. This has painted you as individuals to keep an eye on, and I shall not be the last person to be curious."


Rin let herself fall back on her chair and let out a sigh. This was the moment she had feared. While they could bolt and take Sakura with them, she highly doubted they would be able to leave without trouble, not when Ozpin reminded her eerily of the Magus mentality. Not to mention that leaving now, after accepting his invitation to his office, would have him scrambling to get information on them, if he did not have them hunted down. With Sakura in her current state, they simply couldn't afford that, but at the same time, she was highly reluctant to let anyone have even the slightest leverage over them.

"Fine, to answer your earlier question as to why we were in Oakenhille, we were traveling to Vale to get my sister medical attention for her…" she paused for a moment, searching for an appropriate term, "…illness."

"Illness?" asked Glynda, the professor's stern look melting away as concern entered her eyes, showing a more caring person that she had previously portrayed.

Rin bit her lip as she observed the pair, her mind racing, glancing at Sakura who gave her a small nod, before preparing herself in case of a violent reaction.

"We left our old home and on the way to Vale my sister contracted some illness," she explained, Sakura removing her hood with deliberately slow gestures.

Glynda let out a sharp gasp, and Ozpin's grip on his desk grew so strong the wood creaked under the strain, his fingers drawing lines in the hardened wood.

Before them was a teenager, younger than their students, with pale white skin and angry black veins marring it. She looked incredibly frail and thin, as if she had not eaten in a very long time, or lost a large amount of weight in very little time. Dull, lifeless crimson eyes stared back at them, eyes that belonged to someone who had seen horrors unspeakable and had been broken beyond repair. In fact, had the girl not moved, they would have believed that they were facing some kind of Grimm-infested corpse. But the girl in front of them was indeed among the living, giving them an uneasy and sad smile, as Shirou held her hand comfortingly, his own eyes staring them down and daring them to threaten her.

"Believe it or not, but her condition was even worse not too long ago," continued Rin, breaking the two adults from their morbid captivation with the sickly-looking girl.

"I see…" coughed Ozpin, his face once more set into the polite mask he displayed most of the time, his shock now carefully hidden, "That is certainly a valid reason, if any. Although, how did she contract this 'illness'? I have to know if such a disease is a danger to Vale."

"We don't know," Shirou intervened, earning himself looks from both teachers that told them they were perfectly aware their group knew more than what they let on, though they did not say anything, "Although we're pretty sure that it's not contagious, otherwise we'd all be like that."

"If you'd like," offered Glynda, "I can permit Miss Sakura to be cared for at Beacon's infirmary to monitor her health."

"That would be most appreciated," smiled Rin, "Although I must ask that one of us must stay with her at all times."

"That will not be a problem," assured Ozpin, waving his hand dismissively, "However where will the rest of you stay in the meantime? We cannot have all of you wandering the infirmary for an indeterminate amount of time."

They glanced at each other. Where could they go? They weren't from Remnant, it wasn't as if they had anyone they could return to, their only meager connections having died a painful death back in the village. It would take time for them to turn their situation around, and while they would undoubtedly be able to do so, they would need somewhere to live.

Ozpin had clearly noticed their shuffling, as he smiled gently at the group.

"How about this? Beacon's new year is going to be starting soon. I would like for some of you to officially join Beacon as incoming freshmen. I will even forgo the initialization as you've certainly already proven yourselves in combat against the Grimm."

Needless to say, they were shocked into silence. While all of them were happy for the offer, what kind of person offered a spot in their school to near-perfect strangers, people whose background was shaky at the very best? Given the way the usually unflappable blonde teacher next to the headmaster gaped, it was clear that she was just as shocked as them by the offer.

"Well of course, for Miss Einzbern we can arrange for her schooling elsewhere, she is after all a bit too young to be student at Beacon. And perhaps have Miss Rider on a fast track for a license, which I'm assuming she does not have, to officially take jobs as a Huntress. Even if you don't wish to be a Huntsman or Huntress we have many facilities that have job openings that are in desperate need of staffing or take courses for our civilian departments."


Glynda's eye twitched like she was having an aneurysm. She knew Ozpin was prone to strange acts, even when she was a student here at Beacon she knew about how eccentric the old man could be. And so far, the two years of being his secretary did little to change that image of him. He was known for his bleeding-heart moments, when he went out of his way to recruit potential students, although those students tended to end up forever indebted to the headmaster in some form.

She would have to question him later, but now wasn't the time to question her superior in front of... whoever these people were. While she was worried and concerned for them, she had not missed some of the signs that they withheld information from them, and that worried her.

"Well, that is something we will have to think about," answered Rin.

"Of course, I am not expecting an answer right away, but please keep it in mind," tempered Ozpin, receiving nods from the group.

"Let us get Miss Sakura to the infirmary and the rest to you to some emergency housing where you can stay the night," offered Glynda, leading the group back to the elevator.

Ozpin turned in his seat to stand, but a quick glance up showed the young silver-eyed man still rooted to his place at the other end of the table.

"Is there something else you wish to ask Mr. Emiya?"

"Yeah, there's just one thing I want to know," nodded Shirou, glancing at the elevator his friends had entered and waited for him, before his eyes went back to boring holes into Ozpin.

The young man came up to the edge of his desk, taking one longing glance at the young woman who seem to take comfort in his gaze, and whispered his question to the old headmaster.

Ozpin visibly relaxed as he heard the young man's query. With the way things were, he had been worried about what the young man had wanted to ask him, worried his question touched sensitive subjects that he was not comfortable talking about with someone he had just met. Giving a grandfatherly smile, he chuckled.

"I believe I can help with that, although may I ask why?"

"Just fulfilling a promise." Succinctly stated the young man.

"I see, although if you allow me to ask you one more question."

"Shoot."

His smile stilled.

"I know semblances can cause an unusual feedback on the person's body, am I correct in assuming that your appearance is because of that? And not because of this mysterious illness Miss Sakura had contracted?"

The young man stiffened immediately, whatever warmth in his steel-silver eyes disappearing completely to leave place to a cold, calculating light. His whole posture shifted from tense, to ready for battle, and Ozpin couldn't help but be impressed with the way his guest stood. It reminded him of a seasoned warrior, and truly served to highlight just how dangerous Shirou was, certainly much more so than the students attending Beacon.

"Yes," Shirou's answer was cold, clipped, and the young man then left, taking the elevator, before anything else could be said.

"I hope you will join us here at Beacon Academy, Mr. Emiya," called out Ozpin, receiving a nod from the silver-eyed warrior.

The elevator's doors rang shut, and Ozpin raised the scroll that sat on his desk. He stared long and hard at the footage, zoomed in many times, that showed two individuals that had just left his office as they weaved around a monstrosity as they tried to kill it.

Glas.

It had been ages since he had seen this creature, and the last time it had left only destruction and death in its wake, before it was eventually killed, albeit at great cost. If this monster had reappeared, it could only mean that she was watching, or perhaps intended to kill or capture one of them specifically. Why? That was the burning question that ran through his mind. Was it because of the young Miss Sakura whose appearance grimly reminded him of her? Or was this all just coincidence?

The Grimm overrunning a success settlement that had thrived outside the walls for years? Yet had been taken down overnight? The council wasn't going to like his report, and no doubt will want to pin the blame on him, calling it "another failure" on his part.

A report came through to his scroll, forwarded from the medical team. The Faunus woman that had been taken in, he recalled from Glynda. Normally he wouldn't have received it, but he had ordered all materials on this incident to be brought directly to him. Slowly, his eyes ran over the black text as he scrolled over, but picked up speed as he read more.

'Scarlatina,' now that was a name the headmaster had not heard of in a long time. A former student of his, he idly recalled. Top marks in combat, yet a bit slow in academics. Killed most unfortunately in an accident and the following debacle was quite the scandal. However, as with all scandals, it was merely forgotten shortly after.

Yet the more he read, the more he focused on what was supposed to be a simple medical report.

Another message blinked on his screen, this one concerning the children, more specifically the older sibling, Velvet Scarlatina.

Unlocked her aura? Perhaps a meeting with young Miss Scarlatina was in order, one that he would personally see to. Yet there were other, more pressing matters at the moment.

He exited the app, pulled up his contacts, and called one of many. The sound of the receiver having picked up the phone was heard from the speakers.

"What's up?" A drunken slur mumbled over the call.

"I have a new mission for you."

~[PROLOGUE] [END]~


Authors Notes:And as always, much thanks for Arawn D. Draven for beta'ing this chapter!

Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out! I had an extreme case of writer's block and just a lack of will to get anything done really. I was pretty worn out from the end of the semester so I practically slept for most of my free time. So, I'll freely admit this chapter was one of my weaker ones, mostly considering I'd never had written in such a manner that required vivid visualization and high-paced action. Not to mention just a general lack of creativity that would just not come to me when I wrote this as I neared the 20k words mark…. omg my longest chapter ever. Over forty pages… But future chapters will be no where near this long unless they are for extremely important chapters.

It was… difficult. But at least the 'prologue' chapters are over.

28k+ Views, 260+ Favorites, and 395+ Followers, I'm surprised on just how many people are following my story! Not too shabby for my first "real" story, despite not actually having done anything yet. Haha, sorry to those who waited so long.

I've also considered many reviews and PM's on how to work with Illya and I think I've come to a decision that will work out. It'll be in future chapters so look forward to it!


Answering Reviews:

rickyp01 – thank you for pointing that out, I wasn't planning on nerfing them and for some reason I wrote that out. In my mind, it was supposed to be for them not to draw attention to themselves because if an individual can basically conjure up an infinite number of weapons they would have the entirety of Remnant's gaze on them, especially Atlas. Also, looking at all the semblances (at the exception of Qrow's weird bad-luck semblance) they all can be explained as a form of energy manipulation, as you cannot create/destroy matter. Blake's, Sun's, and Emerald's semblances are a bit weird to explain under this however, since they make fake-copies of themselves and mental illusions, but I suppose it's something like projection of an image. It's still "made from something." But that's what I was aiming for.

ShippingJR – thanks, while I'm probably not quite going to go the route you have suggested, it has given me a few ideas that I may explore in the future.

ZenithTempest – Oh? It's not so much that Sakura is disfigured, it's just that she's very… unnerving to look at since she basically looks like she was possessed (think like Salem, but less… Grimm-y), think like a cadaver that just came to life. She was only possessed for a brief time. My apologies if that came out unclear, I'll look over my previous chapter and see if I can rectify it. She will get to her regular appearance after she recovers in due time.


Another note, I have started a new story alongside this one. Black Mage, a Familiar of Zero X Black Desert Online crossover, that I had started a while ago and have three chapters so far. If you like my writing, give my other story a look! (*cough* shameless plug *cough*)