AN: FATE ZERO EOS IS OUT. IT IS CURRENTLY IN THE F/SN AND CG CROSSOVERS SECTION WITH FOUR CHAPTERS OUT. PLEASE READ THE FIRST CHAPTER OF F/ZE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON. Here:

http:/ www. /s/7996190/1/Fate_Zero_Eos

Let's hear it … for MR. SPARKLES. *applause*

And now, for a short bit of Saber and Shirou interactions. I apologize for the short chapter, final exams are near.

THIS CHAPTER IS CURRENTLY BEING EDITED. GAAAHHHH FINALS.

Chapter 9.1: A Knight's Interlude

11 August 2017 a.t.b., 2315 hours

…

I'm standing in a fallen field.

Fallen … That may be putting it a little too harshly.

It's nowhere near a beautiful field. It isn't the sea of green it should be.

There is a strange feeling on this field.

I see that it is green, but I feel that it isn't.

And … there's something strange in my hand.

I bring it up.

It's half of a sword, the remains of a tool.

In any other place, I would have immediately thrown it aside. It would have been rubbish anywhere else, useless.

But here, it fits.

It turns easily in my hands, its craftsmanship superb, even in its broken form.

There isn't any ornamentation. It gleams gently. It's a large hilt, but-

Hm. If anything, this was a sword of peace. It has an edge, but it was made to protect.

The sword turns again in my hands, and … How do I put it?

The person called Emiya Shirou- no, Shirou Emiya is fascinated with this broken tool.

I don't know why I think this.

I don't know how I know this sword.

Irresistibly, I walk forward. The top of the hill is a short distance away, and this strange field may show something different from another view.

But I'm disappointed.

If anything, it's just like the old field in Fuyuki.

There's nothing worth looking at here. Even the quiet isn't worth much.

A missing movement catches my eye. The grass moves, but there's a length of ground where it doesn't, right in front of me. There's a scar in the ground. That's what it is.

The hilt turns in my hands again. This sword deserves a resting place.

Strangely, the sword fits perfectly into the scar. It slides smoothly-

A connect. I don't know what to make of-

It's a match, a meeting of the two halves.

The sword is complete.

Immediately-

"Hkkk-!"

A cold warmth plunges into my stomach.

This Sword of Peace …

How brutal.

No, it's fitting. The wielder of this Sword was as brutal as the spear that killed him.

It was the Sword that was abused, broken when its wielder fell.

I find myself staring up at the sky.

Since when was it nighttime?

I prop myself up with my arms.

There's yet another missing patch of grass.

It isn't as wide as the one the Sword of Peace occupies.

It's one from a simple, vertical puncture into the dirt.

I lay back down, closing my eyes.

Of course, the wielder of the Sword of Peace drew blood. His enemy rested on his sword.

His enemy would have been resting, and then …

His enemy would be looking down at him.

That's why …

That's why there's someone standing over me right now.

The oppressive eminence, that's what Lelouch would call it. It's directly over me.

I open my eyes.

"Hello, Shirou."

"Saber?"

I open my eyes, and I see-

Saber's face.

But it was a strikingly beautiful face, paler than normal, with similarly lighter hair.

Her eyes, they were no long pools of verdant.

They were of the tranquil gaze of a predator.

Gleaming depths of gold, illuminant even in the night.

In this instant, I am afraid.

She's beautiful, but it's like the story about how the rabbit loved the lion.

The rabbit was captured by the lion's majesty, and it was eaten.

Here, it's as simple as that. I will be destroyed if I'm not careful. Or …

Perhaps I've already been destroyed, and this predator is simply waiting for me to realize it.

If the Saber I know is so able in defending me, what is this Saber capable of?

I sit up, and I'm about to turn around-

She sits next to me, her black dress folding about her small frame as she brings her knees close.

She looks at me.

"I hope you have been enjoying my vision, Shirou."

… I don't know what to say. She seems harmless enough now. To tell the truth, I wasn't expecting her to evoke the same impression I had when I first met Saber.

She looks so small. I almost forget my wariness.

"Where are we?"

"A battlefield. My home."

Does she mean that this battlefield is over her home, or that her home is the battlefield? "Saber, what do you mean?"

She sighs. "My legend was born on this field. Look."

I follow her gaze.

No longer is the field a sea of grass.

It is a field of blades, a dead ground.

There are no cries of the wounded. There is no life here.

Only swords and spears embedded in earth, armor, and flesh.

Oddly, the air is still and untouched by death.

Saber gets up, and begins walking into the field.

"Follow me, Shirou."

I stand in the center of the field, next to this alternate Saber.

I see the Saber I know and a red knight talking.

"… Saber, what's going on?"

"Just watch."

I catch Saber's voice. It's unfamiliar, emotionless.

" -You who are pursuing this war, for your own personal grievances against me?"

"… Personal grievances?"

A tremor shook the knight. It was as if the crimson knight had lost all composure, and only his armor was holding it in.

Slowly, he pulled the helmet off.

How-?

Underneath was Saber's face.

It was older, it was crueler.

The fury set in his eyes was completely different from Saber's expressionless face.

"Personal grievances? Perhaps I have some personal stake in this, King, but I was not the man who took the Armies over the channel in order against a single man. I was not the one started the grudge whom your own foster brother and so many others died for, far away from home. I am not the one who would scorn that which came from his flesh and blood—"

He stopped midrant.

In response to his tirade, Saber simply looked at him with her emotionless eyes. Saber didn't say anything.

There wasn't anything in those eyes.

You were never worthy of even that emotionless gaze. You should have been on your knees, begging your king for forgiveness, worshipping the very ground she stood on.

The vision faded, replaced by those blades.

"Saber."

The alternate Saber looks at me curiously.

"Was that you?"

She nods. She continues walking.

Fallen swords line the path that we take.

The quiet figure in front of me …

Even though I'm wary of her, I can't help but pity her.

I feel like she's someone familiar, but someone completely different. I shouldn't be so free with my sympathy, but …

Anyone would sympathize with someone who walked this path.

I pick up a sword.

Saber swept towards the armored knight, a red tunic enshrouding his metal chestplate. It became a deeper shade of red, the knight collapsing, his helmet falling and the blood pouring from the top of his neckpiece as he fell-

"You should not touch those swords, Shirou."

I unclench my hands, Saber's gold regard on me.

"Have you, Saber?"

"Every night. Every waking moment."

I feel helpless. She's been through so much.

"They- they were my knights. My knights chose to fight against me. I-"

She stops, turns around and continues walking.

The crimson knight lay upon the ground, the color from his armor bleeding into the earth.

The Sword of Peace was in two.

The King looked upon the fallen field with an unreadable expression.

Here was the full fighting force of a country, fallen by its own hands.

Just another one of the many casualties she had caused.

This King knew her time had come. This wound was not merely mortal, it was fatal.

And there would be no one left to resist the invaders

The field was lost.

The kingdom was lost.

And it was all her doing.

"… Your Highness!"

She looked up at the knight in blue and silver next to her. Her last remaining knight, tired but unbowed, held out a shaking hand.

"Your Highness, are you alright?"

The King looked up at him. The two had been friends on that day, both knights in training, that day when she became her kingdom's chosen heir. Since that day, her most loyal knight's hair had greyed from a thousand battles. Scarred and haggard, he was yet another victim of her misrule.

The King smiled sadly.

"Yes … just a little tired."

Saber's eyes closed.

… My King …

I'm at a loss. I try to speak. "Saber …"

"Do you know how much I despise that name, Shirou?"

A vicious undertone in that voice appears. It obliterates those two tender words spoken in complete supplication to the King.

"I didn't, Sa- I mean … Um, I don't know what to call you, then."

And she smiles. It widens, until-

The predator bares her fangs.

"I am not Saber, Shirou. I told you, my legend was born on this field. I am the embodiment of my kingdom's will to power. I have walked beside the realization of my kingdom's dreams."

She walks forward.

A grim hellishness reserved for those willing to grasp it, to embrace it in their arms and hearts, to be consumed by the delights of war. A mask for the solemn hedonism.

What a blessing. To march on the flesh of the enemy, to sing of the power in your hands. To crush those who were unworthy. To lay claim to your Kingdom, on that mountain.

On My Mountain.

Suddenly, a cold pressure is on my neck.

"-!"

My feet are no longer on the ground.

"Saber, why-"

"Do not presume to remind me of my failures. Am I not worthy of becoming chosen for this War? Tell me this, Master."

I gag. The cold hand isn't flesh. It's steel.

"Tell me. Tell me of every man that esteemed me.

Tell me of my might, of all that I have given to my kingdom.

Tell me of every knight I have slain for the survival of my kingdom."

Her grip tightens.

"Tell me of the worth I have next to a knight such as you.

You, the defender of the people. Tell me."

I can't speak. The expression on Saber's face intensifies.

A roar engulfs me.

"Tell me, 'heir'! Tell me what I could have done to deserve your pitiful respect! Tell me why I am not a participant in this War! Tell me why she is here undoing the damage you wrought on my kingdom!

TELL ME OF MY WORTH!"

She's mad. That terrible thought strikes me, as she chokes me.

She is a mad king.

But as I think this, she calms.

Imperious, she speaks.

"Crimson Knight, Tell me.

TELL ME OF ALL THAT I HAVE DONE. CONDEMN MY EXISTENCE, AND I WILL GIVE YOU MY ANSWER."

I can't breathe. My hands clasp at the gauntlet at my throat. The ebony surface of that armor-

"Let me demonstrate my worth. Begone."

The moment before my neck snapped, I realize something about Saber's expression.

Though her expression was one of a predator, her eyes were silent. They didn't show any passion behind the action.

It was just like the cold regard Saber had for that crimson knight.

She saw someone else, when she was killing me.

It was a mask.

She didn't want to send me back to-

...

AN: So, Fate Zero Eos is out. It's been out for a week.

And it.

Is.

EPIC.

Yeah, this is a shameless plug for F/ZE. But hey, if you're itching for more F/NA action, but you hate the really, really slow updates, you just have to look at F/ZE. It'll be updating weekly for the next month and some. So please, dive into yet another world, and see where it all began for Fate Nightmare Apatheia. So far, there are four chapter/prologues, and a lot more where that came from. Major credits to Mr. Sparkles for lending me some materials to base this chapter on.

Now, all I can ask you is to review, and to read the companion fic to F/NA. If you've liked F/NA so far, then I guarantee you that F/ZE will not disappoint.

For reviews … I'd like to hear what you thought of the first-person style of writing. What I'd like to hear from you guys is commentary on the interactions, the flow of the writing, the perspective, and the ideas presented in this alternate Saber. I've been (slowly) playing f/sn, and I hope the little experiment went well. I apologize for the short chapter (and the lack of replies to reviews). Finals are near, and I'm extremely busy. I've been swamped with planning, housing, and academics. You may expect a new chapter by late May/early June, full of replies to reviews, plot full of love or action. Until then …

Enjoy Fate Zero Eos.

Hail to the upcoming anniversary of Fate Nightmare Apatheia.

HeavyValor.