Author's Notes:

AH HAA! You thought it was going to be the new chapter, but its ME, the Notes. Anyways just wanted to quickly explain the changes Im making to this fic. From here on out, there will be two types of chapters. Chapters that focus on the life after the war, like we had so far. And the new type, starting with this one, chapters that showcase snippets from the war. No I will not write the war in its entirety, just small stuff focusing on our two fakers. These chapters will be sorted out via the names. Chapters after the war are named "New Flame" and chapters during it are named "Remnants".

That is all, I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

Have a good one.

"Ugh…" Emiya Shirou awoke in the dark hallways of Homurahara Academy. He hissed in a breath as he tried to stand up. It hurts, everything hurts. But his chest hurt in particular. 'What the hell happened?' He wondered to himself before the memories started flooding in. He stayed late at school when he heard weird noises coming from the school courtyard. He checked it out to investigate and was greeted by the sight of a man in red dueling a man in blue. Even on the very first glance it was obvious the two men were not human.

Their movements carried such power and speed that the very ground beneath their feet cracked. Even with the growing feeling of horror in Shirou's being, he still noticed the girl watching over the fight. Tohsaka Rin, a schoolmate of his. To be more exact, she was the school idol. 'What is she doing here?' He thought to himself. The question would be forgotten the moment he accidentally stood on a twig and alerted the warriors to his presence. He had no idea just how it was possible for the two men to even notice such a small sound from so far away, but he wasn't exactly keen on finding out.

He bolted off as the man in blue called out for him. He ran as fast as he possibly could, and just when he thought he was maybe safe, the blue man appeared from thin air and stabbed him in the heart. After that… he… died?

As the memories were processed Shirou realized an obvious contradiction. He was stabbed in the heart, so why isn't he dead? He hurriedly checked himself for wounds, finding a hole in his shirt over where the heart is. As well as some blood staining said shirt. But despite that evidence of a stab, he found no actual wound on his skin, only a scar. He could vaguely remember hearing someone's voice while he was bleeding out, did they save him? Before he proceeds to head home to figure things out, he notices a pendant on the floor, it holds a heart shaped ruby. Assuming it to be his savior's he takes it with him.

He arrived back home in the dead of night. He flopped down onto the floor in exhaustion. His hand placed atop the place where he was stabbed. Thoughts were racing in his mind, trying to process everything. Unfortunately, he would quickly realize he was not out of the danger just yet. His body practically moved on its own, rolling out of the way as the man in blue appeared just like before.

The spear ended up embedded into the floor, and its wielder turned to Shirou as he scrambled for a rolled up poster. The man spoke, a faint smirk on his lips. "And here I was trying to be considerate. I figured it'd hurt less if you never saw it coming," Shirou finally found his footing. "Never before did I find myself killing the same person twice in one day. I guess the world is just as crazy as always."

Shirou did not respond to anything his attacker said, instead he focused on creating his magic circuits so he could reinforce the poster. Seeing the redhead perform magecraft piqued the man's interest, despite the lack of magical talent. "Hoooh? So you're a mage, I guess that's how you survived a blow from my spear to the heart." He flipped his spear around as he got into a combat stance.

"Well that's gonna make this a bit more fun, at least." To call what ensued a battle would be generous. Each blow thrown by the man had almost taken Shirou's life. And it was clear he was holding back. Soon enough Shirou found himself knocked through the window leading to his courtyard. As he tries to get up, the man in blue is already upon him and kicks him into the side, sending him flying for a few meters.

The poster was bent by now and hardly usable. Shirou needed another weapon and he needed it fast. He bolted towards the shed, abusing the fact his opponent wasn't seeming to be keen on putting much effort into a chase. But Shirou still had to turn around to face him the moment he stepped into the shed. A thrust aiming straight for his chest is met by the unrolled poster. No lethal damage is done to the boy, but he is still knocked down to the floor from the force; His poster was shredded and he was left with nothing in reach to defend himself with.

"You're an interesting one, kid. Quick on your feet but no magical talent at all. I wonder if you would have maybe been the seventh." The man spoke casually, baffling Shirou with how little he seemed to care about killing someone. It wasn't just baffling however, it made him furious.

"Screw you." He finally spoke back to the spear wielder, a defiant gaze in his eyes even as he was met with his own impending death. To think someone could so carelessly take another's life was unthinkable to Shirou.

He was saved all those years ago and now once more not even a few hours ago. There was no way in hell he was going to allow himself to die here to a man like this. "My life was saved. I cannot die here before I fulfill my duty!" What were supposed to be his final words, echoed out into a space beyond. Three command seals formed on the back of his hand, burning with determination. The Throne of Heroes was a universal record of humanity's greatest legends. countless beings who shaped humanity's path throughout history. Most would think of heroes like King Arthur. But the Throne was not limited to just heroes, nor by the question of whether these legends ever truly existed in history.

One such soul heard this call. And something deep within her, unknown to even her, resonated with the caller. She was not even supposed to be capable of answering these summons in the first place, but this one was different for some reason. And so, in a bright flash of light, her answer came as she appeared from the magic circle only a few feet away from the two men.

'I just had to open my fucking mouth!' Lancer screamed internally in frustration at the turn of events.

She dashed at the man in blue and with one strike, stopped his attack from reaching the one who called her as well as launched the man out of the shed.

Shirou found himself at a loss for words. The woman standing before him was not of this world. Flames followed her appearance and despite their heat he felt the room's temperature drop. Every fiber of Shirou's being told him to run, but he couldn't dare make himself move in this presence. The moment that seemed to stretch on for eternity ended as soon as it came when the woman turned to him.

His breath hitched in his throat as he was given a good look at her face. She was without a doubt the most beautiful person Shirou had ever laid eyes on. A girl that looked barely older than him with ashen white hair and her eyes were shining gold. Those eyes almost had a hypnotizing effect on him as they contrasted to the world around them.

The golden shine stuck out next to her pitch black outfit and the dark shed which was only illuminated by the moonlight. It was so weird when he looked at it in hindsight, but in that moment, even despite the uncaring look in her eyes, Shirou felt a sense of yearning towards her.

"Servant Avenger. Summoned upon your request."

Her voice echoed out in the night. Confusing both of the men there, although for different reasons.

"Servant?" Shirou had no idea what she meant by that.

The spear wielder on the other hand, knew all about the servant part, it was the other part that concerned him. 'Avenger? What kind of class is that? Isn't the only class left supposed to be a Saber?'

Avenger looked at the redhead and spotted the red markings on his hand. Taking that as confirmation that he is indeed her master, she turns back to the enemy servant who was already in a combat stance. 'Action right at the start, this summoning seems like it's gonna be fun.' Leaving her master in the shed, she dashed out towards the enemy and engaged. Clashes of metal and bursts of flames filled the courtyard in a mere blink. Shirou could only watch as the two superhuman beings went at it.

Lancer and Avenger were both powerful, but neither was allowed to go all out as it was now. Lancer was held back by his master's orders to only scout out the opposition, and Avenger could feel no mana from her master, leaving her with only the magical reserves she has upon summoning. Thankfully, as she was summoned at full capacity, she could afford to perform with her stats still near her peak. Allowing her to match the Lancer's speed and power with ease. Even overpowering him as he wasn't at the top of his game.

The flames she kept letting out were a particular pain in the ass. They technically weren't projectiles which meant his protection from arrows did little to protect him against them. After a few short minutes of them exchanging blows, Lancer was already covered in scorch marks.

It was like he was trying to fight a flaming beast. If he was going to finish this he needed to use Gae Bolg, but this damn woman wasn't giving him any breathing room. 'First I somehow failed at killing a teenager, TWICE! And now said teenager summoned a class I have never heard of before! A servant who is seemingly really good at being a pain in the ass! Between this and that priest I'm starting to really hate this fucking grail war.'

As the man was growing more and more frustrated with the fight, Avenger only kept up her assault. Her efforts were rewarded when she found an opening and managed to finally score a proper hit on the man. A deep wound was opened along Lancer's side, even managing to catch a bit of his arm. That was going to be a problem. The wound will interfere with Gae Bolg and there was no doubt that Avenger was going to press her advantage further. He wasn't given even a chance to figure his way out of this one as his master had decided it was enough and ordered him to retreat.

Lancer had found a small opening and managed to land a kick to Avenger's side. Which was all he needed to bolt right on out of there. He hated it. The fight, despite the frustrations, was getting quite fun for him. "My master is calling me back. We will finish this at a better time." With that, he vanished from sight, leaving Shirou and his servant on their own in the yard.

"Hey, get back here bastard! I'm not done with you yet!" Avenger yelled after him, but he was already gone. And before she could even think to chase after him, she noticed her master was coming up to her, if a bit apprehensive.

"H-Hey, are you alright?" She still gave him chills, but Shirou couldn't deny the fact she just saved his life. It would be unfair of him to assume the worst of her simply because she seemed dangerous.

Avenger was on the other hand, a little bit stunned by the question. It was clear that her master was apprehensive about her but he was still concerned over her, even while looking pretty roughed up himself. "I'm fine, Master." She replied dismissively, she was already getting a bad feeling that her master was gonna be goody two shoes or something like that. A shame, this summoning was pretty fun so far.

"Master?" Shirou questioned.

"Yes, you are my master. And I am your servant." She clarified, irritated confusion evident in her tone. Did this idiot not know what she was?

Shirou was only getting more confused. "What the hell are you talking about? Servants? Masters?"

"Are you serious? How the hell did you summon me? Do you not have those command seals for a reason?"

Shirou finally noticed the red markings on his hand now that they were pointed out. "What are these?!" Another question joined the pile.

"Command seals, I think the name is pretty self explanatory. Don't waste them by the way, you only get three. Once they're gone you are no longer a master." This summoning was no longer seeming nearly as fun as it did earlier. Her master seemingly summoned her completely by accident. That probably explained why he was not feeding her any mana.

"Okay, could you please stop with the master thing? My name is Emiya Shirou."

Avenger could only blink, unsure how to react to that. "Ummm, Avenger." Thankfully, a distraction arrived as she sensed another servant incoming. Her head snapped in their direction. "I sense more enemies coming. Stay here while I deal with them so you don't die like an idiot." Before Shirou could even respond to that, she was already jumping across the rooftop of his home towards her target.

Within moments, she had reached the edge of the property and could see the incoming servant and master. Both dressed in red, a young girl with raven black hair and a tanned man with white hair. The servant noticed her just in time and blocked her opening attack. Just from that first clash she knew she had a huge advantage in physical stats. An easy picking it seems. That was the case at least until the man managed to handle himself quite well by parrying her attacks.

It would have been a war of attrition which she would have easily won since he had to defend his master who was right behind him. Unfortunately, Shirou had arrived on the scene and saw what was happening. Avenger was laying a heavy assault on the man in red he saw previously, and right behind him was Tohsaka Rin.

His mind couldn't keep up with his actions as he outstretched his arm towards them and yelled for Avenger to stop. At once, Avenger could feel her body freeze up. Anger soon followed. "What the fuck are you doing?! Are you trying to get us both killed?!" She rounded on her master, she had a guaranteed victory and this idiot just messed it all up. She even told him to NOT waste those like an idiot not even five minutes ago.

As for Rin and her own servant, they were processing what the hell was happening. Archer in particular had a hard time comprehending it all. 'Interesting, this world is quite different from mine it seems. This servant is nothing like what I remember of Saber.' Although, he could still see resemblance between the two women, not the personality by any means, but the facial structure was very similar. She even had the same ahoge on the top of her head.

'Maybe they're related.' Was his thought until he looked a little lower to the woman's chest. 'Yeaaaahhh, definitely not relatives.' Oh dear Archer, you have yet to meet the Lancer variants of your dear servant.

A short moment later he remembered to simply trace her sword, soon enough her identity was revealed as Jeanne d'Arc…. Alter? That was a new one to the Counter Guardian. He had to admit however that her history was an interesting one to say the least. Not that he could ponder for too long on that as his master had finally gotten a grip on herself and decided to interrupt the bickering duo in front of them.

"So, that's how it is?" Her voice reminded Shirou and Avenger of their existence. "Well, for starters, good evening, Emiya-kun." Archer decided to dispel his short swords, seeing how this would be resolved in a peaceful manner.

After fixing a broken window and one very simplified explanation of what kind of event Shirou had found himself in, many things became clear to the people present. To Shirou it was becoming evident just how deep he was in the gutter as well as finally experiencing how cruel the moonlit world could be. And to Avenger and Rin, they understood just how much of a novice Emiya was. Rin in particular wished his father was still around just so she could rip into him and question just what kind of mage he was.

Although it was something she had to put into the back of her mind as she wondered just what kind of class was an Avenger. That was highly unusual and would probably need some kind of investigation.

Deciding it best to bring Shirou to the official overseer of the war, Rin took him to the church. Avenger, unlike most servants, followed them on foot in physical form. Shirou had offered her a bright yellow raincoat so that she wouldn't draw attention. An offer which was met with a cold "You try to make me wear that and I will shove it down your throat." It was rather effective at convincing him to drop the idea, to say the least. In hindsight, her pitch black outfit was arguably far less noticeable than a bright yellow raincoat.

After a long walk across the city, they found themselves before the church. Despite the fact it was supposed to be a holy place, it still sent a twisted feeling of dread down everyone's spine. Especially for Avenger, due to personal reasons. Shirou turned back to look at her once he saw she stopped outside the gate. "Not a fan of churches, I'll just wait out here." Nodding, Shirou followed Rin into the church. Leaving the servants alone outside.

Avenger looked towards the Archer who was watching her from the top of the church, almost like he was studying her. "What!?" She questioned him, clearly not a fan of his stare. He decided to just look away, best not to anger this one. "Yeah, that's what I thought!" Oh, how he wished to just throw caution into the wind and give it his all to antagonize her. He could tell she would be a very fun one to tease. But he held back, it would just cause trouble if he let into his desires here.

Inside the church, Shirou was given a more detailed explanation of just what the Holy Grail War was. But most importantly, Kirei Kotomine, the overseer of the current war, had decided to reveal the fact that the fire from ten years ago was caused by the previous war.

As Rin watched from the side, she had started to truly feel pity for her fellow schoolmate. His father did a horrible job at teaching him magecraft, he was killed and then thrown into a war that he was completely unprepared for. And to top it off he was now having his deep personal trauma be exploited for the sake of some fake priest's sick twisted pleasure.

They had already at the start mentioned the oddity that was an Avenger class servant being summoned. Kirei assured her he will investigate the matter. They were still going to proceed with the war as normal though, as now all seven servants were summoned, even if the Saber was replaced with an Avenger. Both Shirou and Rin couldn't help but get the feeling that Kirei was secretly very delighted to hear that.

In the end, Emiya Shirou was confronted with one question. Will he fight in this Holy Grail War? Nobody would have really blamed him if he said no. However, despite the dangers that would follow him if he said yes, Shirou couldn't allow himself to just turn a blind eye to something like this. He made a promise to his father, and he intends to keep it.

Back outside, Avenger turned her head when she heard the church doors opening, seeing her master, Archer's master and a priest exit. For some reason the priest gave her the creeps, she could just feel something inside him was messed up.

The priest gave a quick glance to her, faint interest showing itself on his face for a single moment, before he looked back to the two masters, specifically at Shirou. "Rejoice, boy. Your wish will finally come true." After one more short interaction with them, Kirei Kotomine returned into the depths of his church, closing the doors behind him.

"So how'd it go?" Avenger asked casually, seemingly unaware of the thoughts rampaging through her master's head.

Shirou did however turn his attention to her. "I've decided to fight as a master in the war. Avenger, will you agree to fight as my servant?"

A small bit of surprise hit the servant, expecting the guy to run off the first chance he got. "Huh? You're asking me? I became your servant the moment you summoned me in that shed. And you deciding to keep those seals just sealed the deal. I'm stuck with you whether I like it or not."

Shirou frowned at that. "And that isn't how I want this to work. I am still unsure how I feel about you, but I'm willing to believe we can work together in this war." He extends his arm out to her, a faint hint of a smile appearing on his face. "So, Avenger, do you accept me as your master?"

Well, she didn't know whether to think of this as a good or a bad thing. Just as she suspected he was a goody two shoes to the bone, but she couldn't exactly deny that it was nice for a master to not let the command seals get to their heads.

After a stunned moment of silence, she grinned. "Hmph. Fine then. If you wish to burn in my flames so much, I will grant you your wish, Shirou." She took his hand in hers. Shirou had to admit that his servant still very much so scared him, but he couldn't help but feel hopeful. The road ahead of him was going to be a daunting one, but with Avenger by his side, it didn't seem all that bad.

With that, the Hero of Justice and the Dragon Witch had become allies as Master and Servant. And perhaps, in time, as something more.

Omake:

Sadly things went south very quickly when the group was approached by the master of Berserker. Avenger and Archer together managed to drive the mad servant off, or at least, make his master decide to fight them some other time. Unfortunately, Shirou did not get out of the ordeal completely unscathed. The wound he received from dragging Avenger out of the blast radius of Archer's attack did a number on him, but nothing lethal.

He did still end up out of commission for a long while, leaving just Rin and Avenger to take care of him, with Archer seeming content to just not lend a hand unless asked to. Once they made sure he was stabilized, they were finally allowed a breather. During which, Rin had decided to show some good heart to the servant, and offered to lend Avenger some of her spare clothing, since the servant couldn't use spirit form thanks to the very improper summoning.

"You're very confident that I'm gonna fit into your clothing, aren't cha? There's nothing to be ashamed of being flat as a board ya know, Rin?" Unfortunately, Avenger couldn't help but note the obvious issue with Rin's idea. Not even Archer could keep quiet at that as the girls heard him struggling to hold in a fit of laughter while in spirit form.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE LAUGHING ABOUT, ARCHER!?" Rin was, expectedly, furious at both servants. She made her way out of the room and before she closed the door, "I HELPED YOU TWO ENOUGH ALREADY! YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN FROM HERE ON OUT!" And then she promptly slammed the door shut. Avenger could hear angry stomps getting quieter as she left. She almost wanted to follow just to watch the Archer get strangled by the angry master.

Unfortunately, she did have to admit the girl had a point. Well she had an easy solution to the problem.

As the hours passed, Shirou had woken up. He felt like a truck ran him over. HIs brain slowly pieced back the memories of last night. He would have written them off as a very weird dream if it weren't for the clear injuries he sustained.

Well in any case, he should get up. Once he dressed himself he made his way over to the living room. Where he was met with his servant, Avenger. Who was just lounging at the dining table, watching TV while eating snacks she dug up out of the kitchen. What was much more interesting however was her clothing. It was his clothes. He would recognize that white shirt with blue sleeves anywhere.

It was a size too big for her, he was at the end of the day much taller than her. However, it was still stretched out over the chest thanks to the size of her breasts. The stretched fabric over her bosom was quite alluring to the young redhead. He did manage to snap out of it, if just barely. He then noticed the several bags lying around not too far from her.

"Avenger, what's all this?" He asked with a slightly disbelieving tone.

"That Rin girl mentioned how I was gonna need some normal clothing, seeing as I can't go into spirit form. So I grabbed something from your closet and borrowed your wallet and got myself a lil something." She nonchalantly explained as she took another bite of a pocky stick.

Shirou was starting to feel his guts turning just from looking at how many bags she brought home. He really hoped this wasn't how the rest of the war was gonna be or he just might have to start dipping into that money Kiritsugu left him. But then another realization hit him. Avenger went out on that shopping spree in HIS clothes. Specifically, HIS shirt. The shirt he has worn for so long and so often that it became known by him. Some people had even started calling it the "Justice Shirt" in his honor.

If a girl like Avenger just one day started walking around wearing it…. He did not even want to think about it. 'Oh boy… that's gonna be hard to explain. Well at least it can't get any wo-...' Said line of thought was suddenly cut as he could hear the front door of the house opening, and it was followed by the sounds of a very energetic tiger that he knew all too well. How was he going to explain the situation to her? He had no idea.

Not to mention he had a nagging feeling Avenger was going to be far from helpful in defusing the situation. Just the fact she was wearing his clothes (a fact that he couldn't help but also feel happy about for some reason) was already going to cause hell to occur. Looking at the situation, he was really screwed with no way out, wasn't he?

'Well…. Fu*k'