- Chapter 2 -
The BMW i8 was an absolute marvel. The hybrid super-car could accelerate from a deadstop to 100 km/h in just 4.4 seconds with an electronic-limited top speed of 250 km/h. Those specifications all but assured that Allison would to abuse the car to its fullest, but doing so forced Shirou to cling on to the ceiling handles for dear life as the sleek, mirror-finished silver sports car flew down Academy Island's highway, weaving in and out of the traffic with ease.
Shirou wasn't just feeling uncomfortable because of the way Allison handled the i8, rather he was more uncomfortable with how she got her hands on such a spectacular vehicle. Judging from his brief encounter with Allison and Assassin back at the Church, the pair was certainly not above bloodshed or even blackmail.
"This baby?" smirked Allison. "Fully sponsored by our beloved Holy Church. Don't feel bad for them. If only you knew how much they got in donations."
At the corner of his eye, he saw a tiny red hilt peeking out from Allison's black jacket, that he recognized instantly as the handle of a Black Key. In his mind, Shirou began to connect the dots. Sponsored by the Holy Church, using Black Keys as a weapon, possessing knowledge of relics like the Holy Grail and having absolutely no problems with murder. In his mind, only one profession stood out like a sore thumb.
"... You're an Executor, aren't you?"
Allison burst into laughter and the i8 swerved momentarily as she took her eyes off the road.
"Do I look like one of those gloomy fuckers?" sniggered Allison. "I'm an atheist. The Eighth Sacrament would have me thrown out before I can say grace."
"Why would the Church sponsor someone unaffiliated with them?"
"Because I get the job done. And since I'm not affiliated, they can hunt me down with them gloomy priests if they aren't satisfied with my work."
Shirou looked out the window at the metropolitan skyline of Academy Island, a bustling island-city that was the heart of commerce in Southeast Asia, the highest concentration of wealth in the region and was also the most technologically advanced. It was also a city that was now doomed to face the same fate as Fuyuki City. Shirou blinked and suddenly he saw that the city was engulfed by angry red flames that reached for the night sky. Looming high over the cityscape was a swirling black hole lined by an ominous red corona, it resembled an eclipse, but Shirou knew that it was anything but an eclipse.
Though the Grail Wars were supposed to be fought incognito, it only happened on paper. In practice, the very opposite had happened for the Fourth Holy Grail War, ending in a fire that consumed the city, resulting in millions of dollars in damages, hundreds of lives lost including his own if he wasn't saved by Emiya Kiritsugu. A man whose ideas would go on to inspire Shirou's life.
Shirou clenched his fist. He wasn't going to let the same fate befall Academy Island.
"So we're up against Archer, Lancer, Rider and Berserker...? Father Urban warned us that - "
"Don't trust anything that shitty priest has said," snapped Allison.
"Wait what - "
"Don't trust anything that shitty priest has said," repeated Allison. "He's been lying to us."
"But we're allied with the Church - "
The Overseer having ulterior motives was certainly not new to Shirou. But Father Urban seemed a thousand-fold more trustworthy than the Overseer of the Fifth Holy Grail War, Kotomine Kirei. In fact, the priest had even laid bare his motives for the Sixth Holy Grail War - so long as the Church had the Holy Grail, they were not concerned with the outcome of the Grail War.
"The Mage's Association have only consolidated three Masters, not four," explained Allison. "The priest only mentioned four because he thinks it was more likely for the rest of us to team up. Bertrand Paulsen, Master of Berserker has gone rogue - "
"No, that's not right," interrupted Shirou with a raised eyebrow. "Bertrand Paulsen was instrumental to them during the civil war."
Shirou's mind was riddled with contradictions. Perhaps it was Allison Vaughn, the White Reaper who was not trustworthy. Hell was Allison Vaughn even her name to begin with? Father Urban had even asked her how she would like to be called when they introduced themselves. He shook his head and quickly pushed that idea out of his head - such poisonous thoughts would negate the purpose of an alliance, what good was it if they couldn't trust each other?
He tried to recall the events that transpired at the top of the Clock Tower. Rin and him were outnumbered by... three Servants. Allison was telling the truth, which logically meant that Bertrand, the Master of Berserker did indeed have a falling out with Lord Auteur. Following that line of thought to its conclusion, it meant that by the end of the civil war, Bertrand had already gone rogue and the third Servant whose class he was uncertain of - the knight in silver armour had to be Rider.
"Bertrand the Mad Enforcer," corrected Allison. "With a Servant as powerful as Berserker, he wasn't likely to stay tied down to authority anyway. Not with something as intoxicating as revenge clinging onto his mind."
"Revenge?" said Shirou, raising his eyebrow in intrigue.
There was a moment of silence as Shirou stared at Allison.
"He thinks that I killed his wife," said Allison in her as-a-matter-of-fact voice, ending the long pause.
Shirou opened his mouth, but decided to suppress the incredible urge to ask well, did you?
"Thank you," said Allison.
"What for?"
"For not asking if I did."
"Don't mention it - "
Allison suddenly floored the brakes and the i8 skidded to a halt.
"We're here."
The doors of the i8 slid open upwards and Shirou stepped out of the vehicle, only to be stupefied by the splendor of their apartment.
The Pinnacle was a 50-storey monstrosity smack in the middle of Academy Island's central business district. Standing at 156m in height, the Pinnacle boasted not one, but two sky gardens - one on the twenty-sixth floor and the other on the fiftieth floor. The gardens also acted as a sky bridge, spanning through all four apartment blocks. Shirou had a nagging feeling that their impressive accommodation too was -
"Fully sponsored by our beloved Holy Church," smirked Allison.
Shirou started to imagine the sort of negotiation that Allison had gone through for the Church to extensively sponsor them with such excessive luxuries.
"Did you have to sell your soul to the Church for all this?" asked Shirou. "Maybe even a kidney or two."
"Nah, my soul is beyond redemption in their eyes," said Allison. "The deal is simple. We hand them the Grail as promised, we get the full support of the Church. Though what they've provided us is pretty bare bones, if you ask me."
But then again, the Holy Grail was not simply an artifact to the Church, it was 'the only artifact that matters' according to Father Urban. It made complete sense to Shirou that these zealots would pour any amount of resources to acquire an item of that importance. And if Allison's fabled accolades as the legendary White Reaper were true, just her skills alone warranted such treatment from the Church.
- 0 - 0 - 0 -
Saber tipped the keg and arched her head back so that she could drain every last drop of the sparkling golden liquid. The label, Erdinger Weißbräu was stamped onto the side of the keg, but to Saber it only mattered to her to know that it was wheat beer. Who would have thought that drinks in the twenty-first century would still taste this good? From a foreign country no less.
"BWAHAHAHAHA! This is... awesome stuff! Ally... Alli-chan, you should have one yourself!" shouted Saber, exhaling deeply. "What's the use of keeping so many kegs of this stuff and not drinking any?"
Saber put down the empty keg beside four other empty kegs by the drinks counter. Five kegs in and she was still by her own measure, alive and kicking. Her world had only just began to spin, which meant that she needed more alcohol.
"Y'know, Saber. There's more in the store where that came from," came the voice of whom Saber at this point, could only recognize as a girl with platinum hair.
Allison Vaughn, which Saber was quite certain was Assassin's Master began to swim into view. The girl was stark naked except for the towel she used to dry her platinum hair, and Saber could easily see why she would do that - Allison had an incredibly shapely figure to flaunt. She had a well-endowed chest that Saber had to exercise the herculean restraint not to dive in and grope her breasts. Her waist was slim, but it expanded organically to her wide hips that then led down to her long, bountiful legs. But simply saying she had a nice figure was not enough for Saber, she had to know. As an expert swordswoman, Saber had acquired the Empyrean Eye, a variation of Mystic Eyes to which she would abuse tonight to make out that Allison's three sizes were:
"B-85, W-56, H-84...!" declared Saber with her nose in the air.
Her Master choked on his drink, spewing volumes of brown soda on the marbled floor from his nostrils.
Saber shook her head in disappointment. The poor child had passed up on the alcohol. Which by Saber's honest opinion was the biggest letdown. She had been thoroughly satisfied with her Master in every aspect until discovering tonight that he did not indulge in alcohol. 'Not very Master-like' was the phrase she remembered she'd used. Or was it? Her memory was becoming sketchy. Whatever the case, that was three kegs ago and it no longer mattered to Saber.
"Oh? Seems like I'm not the only one with keen eyes," teased Allison.
Saber punched her hand into the air. Approval and praises were the only other things she liked as much as alcohol.
"Don't do that we are not encouraging this," sighed Shirou in exasperation.
Allison called out, "Saber, be a pal and hit me with a mug of that stuff - "
"Can you please put on some clothes?" begged Shirou, trying his best to avert his gaze. "Gosh I sound like a parent - "
"Your mistake," croaked a voice slightly muffled by bandages. "Is that you treat her as a woman. That's exactly the kind of thinking that will get you killed."
- 0 - 0 - 0 -
Dull, blood-red miasma gathered and Assassin revealed himself. The Heroic Spirit of Assassinations had been slouching cross-legged on the sofa beside Shirou the whole time.
"You talking about Saber or - "
"Both. Why make the distinction?" asked Assassin enigmatically.
"I wonder if we should just make a switch. Those two are practically... "
"... made for each other." finished Shirou and Assassin together in unison.
Assassin looked away and started to fiddle with his M9 bayonet.
"Nah... that look in your eyes. You're a Hero of Justice. It'll do you good to stay away from an assassin like myself," said the hooded man. "You'll be... disappointed if you were to pair with me."
Before Shirou could say a word, Saber and Allison, now wrapped loosely in a bath robe crashed into the sofa across Assassin and Shirou with their arms around each other.
"OKAY! Let's err... talk about how we gonna win this Grail ...thingy!" yelled Saber, holding high her sixth keg of wheat beer.
Allison took a swing of beer from her own mug, then pushed a button on her remote control. An overhead projector whirred to life, showing an overhead view of what appeared to be a cargo-hold by the harbour with all its vantage points and other strategic locations highlighted in different colours.
"Before I begin, may I know Saber's true identity? Her fame and legend does affects her strength as a Heroic Spirit - "
"My true name? Shinmen Musashi no Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu. But you can just call me Musashi!" declared Saber proudly.
Shirou immediately slapped his face with his palm. It had been incredibly fortuitous of him to summon one of the greatest, if not the greatest swordsman in Japan, Miyamoto Musashi. While he shared her sense of justice and righteousness, her pride and cavalier attitude was her ultimate weakness. Hell, it directly resulted in her giving up her true identity without any resistance and was even proud about it. A Servant's true name was something that every Servant should guard with their lives even around allies, some do not even reveal it to their own Masters. Knowing a Servant's identity was effectively half the war because all it took was for the enemy to make a trip down to the library and pick up a history book to discover everything about the Heroic Spirit's strengths and weaknesses.
"Miyamoto Musashi?" said Allison in awe. "Then my plan should work fine."
Shirou glanced to his left at Assassin. "Assassin, what's your true identity?"
"Assassin," replied Assassin curtly. "I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to thanks to my Master's competence at summoning. My memories are all still scrambled."
"How convenient that must be for you if that were true - "
"Are you questioning me, Emiya Shirou - "
From the glare that Allison gave Assassin, Shirou concluded that Assassin was telling the truth. Rin's Servant, Archer had gaps in his memory during the Fifth Holy Grail War too, so it wasn't out of the question for Assassin to be plagued by the same problems. Besides, Shirou wasn't about to pick a fight with the only other sensible person in this apartment.
"According to the Church's intel, the Grail will be at the harbour tomorrow night," began Allison. "Best case scenario, only the three Servants with the Mage's Association will be there. Worst case scenario, it becomes a clusterfuck where all seven Servants play hot potato over Grail."
"Sounds like an uphill fight," commented Shirou. "Things are complicated when they are not simple."
"Actually the plan is super easy, barely an inconvenience," smiled Allison and pointed at the map. "As the strongest Servant class, everyone will be looking to get rid of Saber first. Hence Saber will be on the front lines drawing fire, which buys Assassin time to search the cargoes under Presence Concealment."
"That doesn't sound very hero-esque," moaned Saber.
"You potentially get to cross swords against Archer, Lancer, Rider and Berserker. That sound heroic enough for you?" said Allison.
"Meh, they'd better be good, Alli-chan," said Saber.
"Our objective is the Grail. Once Assassin has gotten the Grail, Shirou use a Command Seal to get Saber to withdraw. We don't need her to stay longer than she needs to. It's the first day into the Grail War, a tactical victory and some information about the enemy will be sufficient."
Shirou shook his head, something didn't add up.
"You've not accounted for Caster and the other Masters. They're going to be some of the most powerful Magi - "
"Sniper fire," interrupted Allison, cocking her Remington 700 sniper rifle.
The White Reaper pointed at three vantage points she marked out on the map in red, then at another vantage point in yellow overlooking all three red ones.
"If they are dumb enough to show up at any of these locations as spectators, they will be retiring from this Grail War early."
"Even if Saber could hold off for long enough," asked Shirou. "What good is the Grail vessel without the Greater Grail?"
"We use the chalice to break up their empire from within," replied Allison.
Ryuuzaki knocked on the red door three times.
"Come in Onii-chan!" sang the voice behind the door.
Reina was overjoyed to see her twin brother, but her elation was short-lived. Her face soured when she noticed that he was not alone.
"... Oh it's you," murmured Reina in a markedly lower voice.
Today she did not even bother to contain her dissatisfaction at the sight of Tohsaka Rin. It was almost as if Reina's mood changed with the weather and it was currently a devastating thunderstorm outside the Pleiades mansion.
"I.. brought a little something for you," said Ryuuzaki.
He put a basket of fruits by the window beside her bed and then patted her head affectionately.
Silver starlights shimmered and Rider materialized beside Ryuuzaki.
"Sieg-kun!" exclaimed Reina.
"My lady," the dragon knight dipped his head to acknowledge Reina's greeting, then turned to face his Master. "Master, an urgent summon by Lord Auteur. It seems like their plans have changed regarding tonight's operation."
Ryuuzaki adjusted his kabuki mask and sighed, "I'll be back in a bit... Reina, be nice."
The red door closed shut and the two girls stared at each other awkwardly in silence.
"Well Reina-san, if you could let me see your arm so that I can get started," said Rin, trying her best to force a smile.
Reina stuck her horrible tube-infested arm out, but looked out of the window at the raging tropical thunderstorm.
As expected, Reina's power as a Magus was that she had an exponential number of Magic Circuits. Rin herself as a Magus of exceptional magical talent had an inborn count of 40 Magic Circuits, even her pompous rival, Luvia had 100 Magic Circuits though it was unknown how many were inherited from the Edelfelt's family Crest. What Rin was looking at was absolutely incredible. Reina's arm alone contained anywhere from 100 to 500 Magic Circuits each brimming with mana, it was actually hard to believe how her tiny body could hold so many Circuits. Such power would have guaranteed that Reina be bestowed a Sealing Designation by the Mage's Association.
Reina took a deep breath and spoke.
"So, Rin-san," Reina said in her cutesy voice as if she was talking to her brother. "What kind of deal did you make with Ryuuzaki-nii?"
Rin was taken aback by Reina's sudden change in voice.
"Well, the Master-Servant pair gets a pair of wishes at the end of the Grail War... Rider has sworn on his honour as a knight to wish for what Ryuuzaki wanted, and he in turn agreed to let me have the other wish - to dismantle the Greater Grail for ever."
Reina muttered something inaudible.
Rin continued to work on Reina's arm. On closer look, Rin noticed that the tubes were not draining any mana from her arm, but rather, were monitoring a very specific set of Magic Circuits - the ones glowing green like the symbol on Rider's heart. She then traced the tubing back to the heap of gemstones, here her expertise in Mineralogy kicked in. Lord Auteur himself was a known prodigy at jewel magecraft, but through years of reading through her father's old notes, Rin could tell that the majority of gems were set with explosive functions. She finally understood what the whole setup was for.
"It's a kill-switch," muttered Rin, her eyes widened. "It's a chain reaction set to blow you up if those Circuits exceed a certain threshold of mana. I-I can remove the rig, but it's going to take some time... No wait - "
Her father's old notes. Rin suddenly remembered a strange observation Tokiomi had made in his notes about the Fourth Holy Grail War. The Master of Lancer had formed a special contract such that Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald held the Command Seals, but his fiance Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri supplied the mana to sustain their Servant. Could it be...?
Everything started to click in Rin's mind. If the same kind of contract was indeed being made between the twins, then Ryuuzaki who held the Command Seals was Rider's true Master, but Reina who had the exaggerating number of Magic Circuits supplied mana for Rider safely behind the enemy lines in the Pleiades mansion. A logically sound strategy, Rin would have done the exact same thing. To further ensure that Ryuuzaki and Rider stood in line, Lord Auteur must have hooked Reina up to a kill-switch as insurance. But then... Why set it to blow at a certain mana threshold?
Mana threshold... Mana... Yes of course, a Servant's most mana-consuming action was the activation of their Noble Phantasm, and Rider was normally associated with having the strongest Noble Phantasm amongst the seven Servant classes. But no, there were more complications. For Rider to keep his end of the deal, Rin needed him to be the last Servant standing. And this seemed practically impossible if he was not allowed to use his Noble Phantasm.
Rin suddenly had a stroke of brilliance, she carefully selected a few tubes and severed their connection to the jewels. She then slumped into her chair beside Reina's bed, satisfied with her work.
"Reina-san, I've done the best I can for today. If I'm right about your condition, I should have no problem removing it completely tomorrow."
"Thank you, Rin-san. That's... more than I can hope for," said Reina awkwardly, such that Rin could tell that she had rehearsed her lines.
"Rin-san... Do you know what it's like to love someone?" said Reina, this time dropping her cutesy voice entirely.
The image of Shirou smiling came into Rin's mind and she blushed. "Y-Yes of course...!"
Reina reached into the basket and took out a pair of apples.
"Would you like an apple?"
"Yeah. Sure," said Rin. From the corner of her eye she noticed a silver glint and yelled. "Holy shit - "
Reina was holding a gleaming silver knife in her right to skin the apple in her left. Ryuuzaki's words haunted Rin's mind - knives and crucifixes. Was he referring to her skill at skinning apples? If so, Reina looked like she was an expert at it - the girl had removed all the skin in a perfect, continuous spiral, yet left the succulent flesh beneath unmolested. She smiled and tossed Rin the apple.
"Ryuuzaki-nii always had a thing for older girls..." began Reina, delighted to see that Rin was eating her apple. "When we were twelve years old, he started talking and laughing with this fourteen year old girl next to our cell... I will never forget her. Her name was Emilia."
Cell... So the twins did receive a Sealing Designation from the Mage's Association and spent their childhood locked up under the Clock Tower, studied and experimented on by the Mage's Association in complete secrecy. Rin turned her head and saw that Reina was skinning her own apple, but there was something different, something disturbing about the way she did it. She skinned it slowly, gently, almost lovingly, all while talking to Rin.
"You see, Emilia had a cat. A fat, ugly gray tabby. She enchanted Ryuuzaki-nii with the cat. Soon, the cat was all those two would talk about. For a time, Ryuuzaki-nii was spending more time with someone other than me. For once, Ryuuzaki-nii had smiled at someone other than me. That vixen was taking Ryuuzaki-nii away from me. So I killed her cat. And I skinned it alive." whispered Reina. Her irises had lost their amber sparkle and had become cold and dark.
Rin froze and dropped the apple into her lap.
"R-Reina-san. That's... That's a joke right?"
A deafening bolt of lightning illuminated the room, and for a split second Rin saw that Reina cast an enormous shadow against the wall behind her. The shadow of a dragon spreading its powerful wings, rearing on its hind legs and opening its massive twisted maw.
Reina burst into laughter and spoke with her cutesy voice again. "Just kidding!"
Allison peered through her Leupold Rifleman 6x40mm scope while clutching the Remington 700 close to her chest by its walnut-finished stock. She had the bolt-action sniper rifle modified to be chambered for .30-06 Springfield cartridges. The seven bullets that once served as a Catalyst for her Servant, Assassin, now doubled as a Magus-killing Mystic Code housed in the Remington's 5-round internal magazine.
A Magus struck by one of the magecraft bullets would have their active Magic Circuits torn apart and then stitched together rapidly, causing them to go out of control, dealing severe damage to the Magus. A fatal shot was infinitely more merciful. Should the victim survive, the severed-and-stitched Circuits became useless - a crippling castration for any Magi, such that death would have been preferable instead.
From her perch at the roof of the building, she held the second-best vantage point with an obstructed view of the harbour, but a perfect view of the three most sought-after vantage points overlooking the harbour - just as she planned.
"Shirou, be careful down there," warned Allison through her earpiece.
"Copy," came Shirou's reply.
Despite her warning, her ally had decided to act against his own safety and stand by his Servant tonight. That was a foolish and irrational decision, thought Allison, and now she was forced to prioritize her cover fire over Shirou rather than to offensively eliminate any Masters who decided to show up on any one of the three vantage points.
Allison reached out with her mind to Assassin.
In position?
Searching the cargoes in the Northwest Sector. Nice to see that you put those old turkeys back to use. How many of them were there left?
Seven.
One for each Master then?
I'm only holding on to one today, firing even one would give my position away, firing more than that would be stretching my chances.
Use it wisely then -
Shut up. It's starting.
Allison peered her scope again so that she could see the center of the harbour where Saber and Shirou were standing.
A second Servant leapt from a tall stack of shipping containers, somersaulted gracefully in the air and then landed silently across Saber. This Servant wore a skin-tight bodysuit flanked by silver pauldrons on her shoulders. Her long hair was dark purple like her suit, and her eyes were crimson like the demonic lance in her right hand.
Lancer...
Saber's heart quivered with excitement.
The first battle of the Sixth Holy Grail War was her's. And she was going to show whichever Heroic Spirit that Lancer was, the power of Miyamoto Musashi, the greatest swordsman in Japan. But first, a test of temperance.
"Hey there, gorgeous!" shouted Saber, resting her katana lazily on her shoulders.
Saber was right. Tonight, Lancer had taken off the mask around her mouth, and without it, her face truly was a gorgeous sight to behold.
But Lancer wasn't having any of that. The Knight of the Lance kept her stoic composure as she slowly approached Saber, her lance at the ready.
"Why don't you tell me your name and I'll tell you mine!" teased Saber. Lancer was less than three meters away, but her katana still strung over her shoulders.
Lancer frowned, visibly annoyed by Saber.
"... Like hell I would just tell you name!" growled Lancer indignantly.
In a blinding quick flash of red, Lancer made the first move. She thrust the barbed blade of her spear mercilessly at Saber's undefended chest.
Saber responded with an equally quick parry. The clash of their weapons produced a shower of sparks and Saber grinned.
The Heroic Spirit of the Sword defended herself not with her katana on her shoulders, but with the shorter wakizashi from her waist in a smooth, diagonal draw-cut with her left hand. Saber wasn't just skilled in the use of one sword. Miyamoto Musashi was the both master and founder of Niten Ichi-Ryuu, the art of dual-wielding both the katana and wakizashi.
"Whoops, seems like you're wide open, girl!" scoffed Saber.
Seizing her opening, Saber brought her longer katana down from its perch on her shoulder.
Lancer scowled and was forced to meet Saber's attack with the blunt end of her spear. But the second she did so, her strength ebbed momentarily from the barbed blade of her spear and that was all Saber needed. Her wakizashi moved in to assault Lancer's on her unguarded left side, which forced Lancer to disengage completely.
Saber smiled in satisfaction. Everything was going as she expected, she was dictating the pace of the duel and Lancer was being constantly forced to be on defensive. But simply showing her prowess with the sword wasn't enough for Saber. She wanted her enemy to come at her on full tilt.
"So that's all there is to the legendary Gáe Bolg?" taunted Saber, grinning at Shirou behind her. "Oh, I get it now! You're Cú Chulainn aren't you? Though I seem to remember my Master saying that Cú Chulainn was a dude - "
Lancer dove in and struck at Saber's chest once again with extreme prejudice. This time, she kept her distance so that Saber's wakizashi was safely out of striking range. Saber quickly realized that this was a stalemate - Lancer would continually overwhelm her with the superior reach of her spear, Gáe Bolg and she would be forced to tirelessly defend against her furious, continuous strikes. For her to change the status quo, she needed to get innovative. She sheathed her wakizashi and swapped it out for a second katana, that extra bit of reach could be the difference between victory or defeat in the hands of an expert like herself.
"I was expecting much more from the wielder of such a legendary spear," taunted Saber once again. "Seems like there really is nothing more to Scáthach than just a pretty face."
Saber's words rang a bell in Shirou's head. Of course this Lancer was Scáthach, the Witch of Dunscaith and Queen of the Land of Shadows. Shirou was already familiar with her student Cú Chulainn, Lancer in the Fifth Holy Grail War, he had his heart pierced by Cú Chulainn. As mentor and teacher to Cú Chulainn, it made perfect sense that she too would wield Gáe Bolg. But was that all there was to Scáthach? It felt all too simple to Shirou.
Lancer's attacks increased in furiosity in response to Saber's insults. Her attacks were becoming more frequent and telegraphed, such that Saber began to notice a pattern and an opening on Lancer's left.
"Hohoho, the way you're hitting me right now. You really are Scáthach aren't you?" chuckled Saber. Her voice was louder than their clashing weapons. "Well then, as promised, I'll tell you mine. My formal name is Shinmen Musashi no Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu, but for you sweetie, just Saber is fine - "
"I don't know how many duels you've been in," growled Lancer. "But there usually isn't this much talking!"
Lancer sprang headfirst into Saber's striking range and Saber was taken aback momentarily by Lancer's decision. Saber parried Gáe Bolg's lancing attack and swung her other katana straight for Lancer's unguarded left waist. Before the sword could rend Lancer's body in half, there was a brilliant flash of red light and a second spear appeared in Lancer's left hand. Saber barely managed to parry the second spear off-course, but while this spear was shorter in length, one of its unusually long barbs at its tip grazed Saber cheek as it passed.
The Servants disengaged once again. Saber wiped the blood off her cheek with the detached blue sleeve of her kimono and smiled at Lancer.
"Hahaha, now that's the Lancer I hoped to face tonight. You were off to a slow start, but it's nice to see that you've finally showed up... Shishou!" Saber complimented with a wide grin on her face.
"Hmmm, you're no slouch either Saber," praised Lancer. The Queen of Dunscaith finally let up and betrayed a satisfied smile on her face. "Your legend precedes you, clearly. But there can only be one winner..."
"Me." declared both Servants in unison.
Lancer spun both spears in a brilliant flourish and took on an offensive stance, the longer Gáe Bolg in her right and the shorter Gáe Bolg Alternative on her left. Saber did the same with both her katanas, except now her right katana was lit with aquamarine flames and her left was lit with scarlet flames, highlighting their hamon lines where the blades were differentially hardened and the wave-like patterns that spanned the length of her katanas.
Suddenly, Saber felt a wave of pulsating energy coming from the shipping containers just ten meters away. Saber reached out to Shirou with her mind and spoke. She was certain that her opponent, Lancer was doing the exact same thing with her Master.
Master, did you feel that?
Yeah. But it's impossible -
And yet here we are. Let Alli-chan know about this. The Grail... its here.
"Allison, we have a problem," Shirou reported.
"Problem? What problem?" came Allison's reply over his earpiece.
"The Grail. There's no need to search for it. Its somewhere here in the center," exclaimed Shirou, he could feel the artifact emitting wave upon wave of energy. "Both Saber and I can feel its presence from where we are - "
"Fuck!" cursed Allison over the comms.
"Call Assassin in," demanded Shirou. "Tell him to support Saber - "
"CASTER! S-#$ RO(^... R #$N!"
An ear-piercing screech sounded over his earpiece and he instinctively dug it out from his ears so that it wouldn't burn out his ear drums. Allison's last transmission was choppy at best. From her first message it was clear that she was attacked by Caster, but the second... Shirou had the fleeting suspicion that she was telling him to run, but his intuition told him to do otherwise. Mana flowed through his Circuits and he shouted:
"Trace... On!"
There was a blinding flash of blue light and a pair of falchions materialized in his hands. One black as night, and the other white as snow. These twin swords were Shirou's go-to projections, he had the motion of projecting them beaten into his head over the years of practice and by now was mere muscle-memory to him. Judging from the sound and rhythm of the person's footsteps, Shirou could tell that it was not a Servant, but a Master, an armed Master at that.
Shirou spun around to meet the incoming attack with both his swords.
Sparks ignited as their weapons collided into each other. But it only lasted for total of one second, for both of Shirou's swords shattered into a million fragments as the blades bit into each other.
Shirou's eyes widened in disbelief. But before he could call 'trace on' to project a new pair of swords to defend himself, he was stunned by the sight of his attacker.
She was a gorgeous girl with short, flame-coloured hair and had resolute, brown eyes. However, Shirou's own eyes were transfixed not on her pretty face nor even her lithe, athletic body, but the twin swords she held in her hands. One black as night and the other white as snow, both were emblazoned with Yin Yang symbols by their hilts. This girl was unmistakably holding -
"Kanshou... and Bakuya!"
Author's Notes
Once again, thank you guys so much for reading my work.
First up, I want to say how much I appreciate the absolutely scathing review Iota-Cassiopeia has left me on my opening chapter. I have taken his suggestion and moved the Servant and Master's info away from the end of the chapter. I agree that it did take away the suspense of discovering the Servant's identities as readers, but I felt that the Fate series has never been about concealing Servant's identities for the audience in fact it was quite the opposite. So for those of you who would like that information, its on my profile now and for those of you who would prefer the suspense, be sure to stay away.
Next, is with regard to Iota-Cassiopeia's comment on how I handled Rin. I apologize if I made her feel out-of-character, putting the plot before the characters is an amateur writing mistake. But in my defense, in this fic, ten years have passed since we met the Rin we know and love in F/SN UBW and this is how I imagined her character is at this moment in time. She's grown up and she's a nicer person. Less tsun and more dere.
Lastly, is with regard to how often I will be posting. I will try my best to do weeklies, but it's been really tough to pump out 6000 or so words of satisfactory content per chapter and then getting cross-eyed with reading my own work, so I won't be making any promises here.
Cheerio~
