Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.
Transposition
Chapter 5
Shirou stared up in awed stupefaction at the girl calling herself 'Saber', and blinked once as he pulled his thoughts together. "Saber…?" he echoed, and blinked again as the girl stepped closer.
"Servant Saber," she repeated. "If you are my Master, then here I stand by your summons, and by the power of the Holy Grail."
Shirou struggled to his feet, but before he could say anything, Saber gave an alarmed glance out the doorway before rushing out. "Hey, wait…! Shirou said while rushing after her, but came to an abrupt halt just a step out the doorway, staring at the scene that met him.
Saber rushed forward, wind rippling in white patterns over a vaguely sword-shaped form held low to one side. Against her, the man in blue charged forward, the red spear aimed at her heart.
Saber was silent, while the man in blue roared his battle fury aloud. Their weapons came together with the ringing sound of steel against steel, partly-muffled by the thunderous boom of displaced air. The two figures fell back after the initial clash, and then in the next instant charged forward again.
Once, twice, they crossed blades, falling back after both times. "An invisible sword…?" Shirou murmured, focusing on the unseen form of the weapon Saber was holding in her hand.
"Coward!" the man in blue shouted at Saber. "Show your weapon!"
Face set as though in stone, Saber silently charged forward, the man in blue looking shocked at such seeming insolence. Saber slashed twice, powerful two-handed blows that the man in blue parried with great effort, air displaced in thunderous blasts.
Finally, Saber gave a sound, shouting her fury before raising her sword and bringing it down with even more power than before. Wind erupted as she raised her weapon, funneling into a whirlwind around her invisible sword, and exploding outward as she brought it down.
The man in blue growled in frustration as he fell back rather than take the blow head on, but the powerful burst of wind caused him to skid back further than expected. "What's wrong, Lancer?" Saber asked with a hint of mockery. "Is this the best you can do? If it is, then your class weeps for you."
"Just one thing," Lancer asked with a smirk. "Your weapon, it's a sword isn't it?"
"Who knows?" Saber asked with a small smile. "It could be an axe, a spear, or even a bow."
Lancer laughed briefly, and then his face twisted into a sneer. "Shut up, Saber." He spat. He brandished his spear forward with point down, its form beginning to steam before glowing a dull, angry red. "How about it? We could call this fight a draw for now, and save it for another day."
"I refuse." Saber immediately said. "You will be defeated here."
"Is that so?" Lancer said with a bloodthirsty grin. "I never expected to have to use this so soon, but now that it's come to this…"
Lancer broke off, charging forward as he did so. "Your heart is mine!" he snarled as he leapt at Saber who dodged to one side and past, Lancer twisting around to hurl his spear at Saber. "Gae Bolg!"
Saber's eyes went wide, and though she dodged the spear it bent up and stabbed through her chest, piercing armor, cloth, and flesh with ease and sending her flying. "Saber!" Shirou shouted, taking a step forward but stopping as he saw Saber quickly roll into a crouch, only to put a hand over her injury.
"You avoided getting killed by Gae Bolg…?" Lancer asked with unhappy surprise.
"Gae Bolg," Saber said softly in recognition. "The heart, or the body, is already pierced even before the spear is thrown, and its path alters to achieve that fate. Because of that there is no way to dodge, with only luck altering fate ahead of time capable of preventing a fatal blow. Such is the power of the cursed spear of the legendary hero of Ireland, Cu Chulainn: Gae Bolg, the Barbed Spear that Pierces with Death."
"I got unlucky, I see." Lancer said with a small laugh, relaxing and stepping away. "My Noble Phantasm is just too recognizable, and as you said despite the name using it doesn't automatically mean instant death. Oh well, that's just how things are I guess."
"Wait, where are you going?" Saber demanded as she saw Lancer beginning to walk away.
"Sorry," Lancer said apologetically, politely pausing to answer her over a shoulder. "Normally now that you know who I am I'd fight you to the death, but I've got a shitty Master who told me to retreat if I ever got into a serious fight or got discovered."
"Do you think I'm just going to let you leave?" Saber demanded, getting to her feet.
"I don't mind if you follow." Lancer said, turning away and walking over to a wall as he did so. "But if you do, then be prepared to die!"
Without another word Lancer leapt up and away, vanishing into the night. Saber stared after him, her bright green eyes unflinchingly focused in his direction, only turning away as Shirou approached.
For a long moment, Master and Servant just stared at each other, and then with a blink, Shirou glanced at Saber's injury, which was healing right in front of his eyes. "Amazing…" he said, before looking back up at Saber's face. "But, who are you?"
"As I said," Saber said. "I am the Servant Saber. By the power of the Holy Grail, I have answered your summons, to fight alongside you in this Holy Grail War."
"Holy Grail War?" Shirou echoed. "Wait, I don't know anything about that!"
"I understand." Saber said with a nod. "You are an improper Master. But even so, I have answered your summons, and bound your fate to my sword. Therefore, I will fight in this war for your sake, as much as for my own."
"As I said…" Shirou began in his turn, only to break off and clutch at his right arm as the tattoos he belatedly noticed began heating up. "What is this?"
Saber ignored him for a moment, looking off into the distance, and then turned back to her Master. "Master," she said. "More enemies are approaching. Heal me."
Shirou looked at her in surprise, his expression quickly morphing to one of apology. "Sorry," he said. "But I don't really know any healing spells. And besides, didn't your wounds heal already?"
"It only looks that way on the surface." Saber said, already looking away again. "Still, I should be good for one more battle, at least."
"Hey, wait!" Shirou shouted after Saber as the blonde girl ran off, Shirou in quick pursuit behind her.
Wind erupted as Saber raised her sword, funneling into a whirlwind around the invisible blade, and exploded outward as she brought it down in a two-handed stroke with all her might.
The black and white scimitars shattered like glass at the blow, their fragments joined by those of Archer's armor. The Servant of the Bow grit his teeth in pain and frustration, and began to crumple from the serious injury inflicted by Saber's attack.
"Archer, astral form now!" Sakura shouted, a second command spell vanishing.
It was done in an instant, and in the next Saber was charging forward, sword held low. Hissing, Sakura leapt back on reinforced limbs, a brilliantly-glowing jewel flying from her hand towards the advancing Servant. It should have exploded with the force of an A-rank High Thaumaturgy spell, enough to level an apartment building, but the moment it struck Saber's armor the gem shattered with the prana inside dispersing harmlessly into the air.
Oh no! Her magic resistance…it's…!
"Saber stop!"
Saber stopped abruptly, eyes wide at the interruption. She turned her head over a shoulder, and looked back at Shirou who'd run after her. "Why?" she demanded. "She is an enemy! The Master of that second Servant! She should be eliminated as soon as possible!"
"Don't talk about killing people so casually!" Shirou shouted back. "And I don't even know what this whole thing is about either!"
"This whole thing?" Saber echoed. "This is the Holy Grail War. And it's precisely what it sounds like. So I will not obey those orders!"
For a long moment, silence fell, Shirou and Saber just stared at each other, and then the silence was broken as Sakura relaxed and took the initiative. She wasn't quite sure about her current situation in its entirety, but at the very least it seemed that she had at least gained a little breathing space to avoid getting killed by a Servant, what with her own Servant unexpectedly incapacitated.
"This isn't really something to be chatted about in the open like this." she observed lightly, at least on the surface, and drawing the attention of Saber and her Master, the former narrowing her eyes at the hidden steel beneath Sakura's words. Shirou however, just looked at her from the distance with a wary but confused expression on his face, as though he couldn't quite recognize.
It was understandable though, as they hadn't really interacted much before, and she was standing in the shadowed area between the cones of light from the streetlights. And he was standing somewhat far away too.
"Lower your sword Saber, and let's discuss this in private." Sakura continued, but as the realization of who Saber's Master was sunk in, Sakura's mind was thrown into a whirl.
Sempai…Emiya-sempai…that hardworking, kindhearted idiot upperclassman of mine is a Master. But that means he's a magus! And one right under my nose all this time!
If so…could it be…he…
No…what he said just now…he doesn't know about the Holy Grail War…an amateur maybe? Someone who isn't…one of us who isn't…hasn't been…
If so…then maybe…there's still…
"My sword is not lowered before an enemy!" Saber shouted, and Sakura laughed softly.
Holding out her arms to her sides and showing her empty hands, Sakura slowly stepped forward, ignoring Archer's warnings and questions in her head about what she was doing. "Then finish the job." Sakura said with a small smile and a challenging tone, surprising even herself at the sheer nerve of the gamble she was taking. "Though, I wonder if someone as knightly in appearance as you, can strike down an unarmed opponent, and one who's invoked parley."
Sakura stopped walking just a few steps short of Saber, two pairs of green and blue eyes staring into each other for a few moments, and then Saber lowered her sword. With a wary expression on her face she stepped aside for Sakura, who gave a small bow of respect and acknowledgement before stepping forward and past.
And as she stepped close enough for Shirou to make out her features, he gasped in surprise. "You...Tohsaka-san…?" he stammered out.
"Hey," Sakura said with a hand raised in greeting. "Good evening Emiya-sempai. It looks like we've got a lot of things to talk about."
Dark, bulging eyes watched as Lancer leaped over the skyline of Fuyuki City, the beetles' multifaceted, crystalline shells glowing gently with magical energy within. They watched from a safe distance, tracking the Servant's course and sharing this knowledge with others like them, either also watching from different places or waiting for the Servant to come within sight, and with one who could be called their 'mother'.
Lancer knew that he was being watched, of course.
He'd walked hundreds of battlefields, spilled so much blood, and faced death countless times in life, and his instincts were honed to perceive malevolent attentions directed at him from the vicinity. He didn't know who it was or how they did it, whether they would attack or not, only that he was being watched by unfriendly eyes.
Probably not Caster…if they were watching, they'd do it from a distance, and I wouldn't be able to tell. Definitely not Saber, and probably not Archer: I saw him and that Master of his going to Saber and her Master's place when I left.
So…Rider or Berserker, possible even Assassin if it's a sloppy one…
Lancer grinned as he leaped from one building to another, changing course to a less built up area that would offer less chances of being discovered like had happened earlier. Tonight's fights had been rather…disappointing.
Well, not really: Archer had proven surprisingly good at close combat, only that boy who had somehow summoned Saber before Lancer could finish the job had wandered into the fray and ruined the battle. And then there was Saber.
Oh she was good, he could tell, if something of a stiff at first glance. Not only that, she was actually lucky enough to avoid getting killed by Gae Bolg, which alone made her worth the time and effort to fight to the death. Only…
…that damn priest's orders to disengage should his identity be compromised.
"Hopefully if the watchers attack," Lancer thought. "It's Berserker. No restrictions if the enemy attacks first…and Berserker, no matter who they are, will undoubtedly put up a good fight. Though, I wouldn't mind Rider so long as they're a good one."
Lancer was still thinking that when he felt a Servant's presence. He grinned wider.
Challenge accepted…let's see what you're made of.
Lancer leaped from building to building, and finally arrived in the middle of a deserted, largely-completed apartment complex. "Show yourself!" he demanded. "You called me out here, so come on out!"
Please tell me it's not Assassin.
The sound of heavy footsteps caught Lancer's attention, and turning spotted an armored figure striding out of the building towards him. Lancer turned in its direction, and with a flash of light summoned his spear to his hand. The figure came to a halt.
For a long moment, the two Servants silently regarded each other. The newly-discovered Servant was on the short end of average, encased in heavy metal plates engraved with runes in blood-red, their face obscured by a visor, a pair of horns extended sideways and up from the Servant's helmet.
After a moment, Lancer grinned as he smelled the scent of blood that wafted from his enemy. Whoever this was, he could tell this fight was going to be good. He chuckled, and relaxing, placed his spear against a shoulder.
"You reek of blood." He observed.
"You would know, wouldn't you, Hound of Ulster?" A muffled voice responded from behind the visor, keeping Lancer from telling if the enemy was male or female.
Probably Rider then, though if they had Mental Corruption it could also be Berserker. It doesn't matter: from how much blood they stink of, I think I just hit the jackpot.
Lancer whistled at the enemy Servant's words. "Someone's observant." He quipped.
"Quite," the enemy Servant replied, and Lancer chuckled.
"You're getting impatient." He said. "I can tell. And to be honest, I am too. Still, you wouldn't mind telling me your class at least before we start, would you?"
There was a powerful blast of wind, flecked with crimson streaks of prana that reminded Lancer of blood. His eyes widened at the sword that appeared in his enemy's right hand, the enemy having swept out their hand to summon the wind and with it, their sword.
"I am Rider." The enemy Servant said, brandishing their sword, its long silver blade engraved with blood-red runes. Lancer narrowed his eyes, and stepped into his stance. The moment stretched, the two Servants staring at each other across the battlefield.
The ground broke beneath Rider's feet, the armored Servant leaping forward with a powerful burst of prana and wind. Lancer snarled at the speed, jumping back to avoid a one-handed swing that smashed the ground he had been standing on just a moment ago, and then Rider was leaping forward, launching wild but powerful swings one-handed.
Lancer danced away, and then brandishing his spear overhead charged in with a roar. Rider parried the first two blows, and then twisting away caught a third on an arm, sparks flying as it skidded off their armor.
Rider then counterattacked, two wild swings that Lancer avoided before stabbing in and forcing Rider into the defensive. Lancer pressed the offensive, launching a lightning-quick barrage of stabs that Rider dodged around, and then twisting around the final strike closed to slash upward two-handed.
Lancer stepped back, Rider in close pursuit. The silver sword rose and fell missing Lancer but blowing the ground apart and sending clouds of dust and debris into the air. After a moment, Lancer leapt clear, and turned around in time to see Rider charge out at him.
Lancer dodged swing after swing, and feinting with his spear kicked at Rider's gut. The Servant staggered back, Lancer kicking off to flip through the air and land in a crouch. Roaring, he charged forward, his spear aimed at Rider's heart.
Rider regained their footing in time to turn the attack down and to the side, and sparks flying where their sword skidded against Lancer's spear, charged in to punch Lancer in the face. Hissing in surprise, Lancer leapt back several times, Rider in close pursuit.
Brandishing his spear with a flourish, Lancer charged to meet Rider's own, the latter holding their sword high. Sparks and blood flew, and then the two Servants were past each other, slowing to a walk before coming to a halt.
Lancer reached down to his side, and took his hand away wet with blood. Rider did likewise, Lancer's spear having cut into their side as they dodged to one side, avoiding getting skewered if still taking a hit, and having twisted around as they passed Lancer had struck a glancing blow to his rear.
It mostly missed…but the furthest points of the swing had cut into his side, making this exchange even.
It didn't sit well with either, though they reacted differently. Lancer just grinned with excitement and settled back into his stance. "Looks like first blood's a draw." He said. "Shall we keep at it?"
"I'll make you pay for spilling my blood!" Rider spat, shaking with rage. With a roar they charged forward, sparks flying and thunderous booms erupting as their weapons repeatedly struck at each other.
And from one of the apartment units above, a girl watched, leaning against a wall beside an unfinished window. She was tall, with long violet hair that reached halfway down her back or pooled around her shoulders. She wore a white blouse under a long-sleeved sweater of lavender, over a knee-length skirt of black and matching knee socks and shoes.
A beetle flew in and settled on her shoulder, and Rin Matou closed her eyes for a moment. As she opened them, she reached up and patted her familiar with a hand, while narrowing her eyes at Lancer below.
"Damn you," she thought. "I'll make you pay for hurting Shirou. And more than that…for giving Sakura a chance to sink her talons into him."
Rin closed her eyes, and sighed, her expression turning sad. "She saved his life." She thought. "Not me…"
The thought trailed off, Rin's expression turning cold as she glared back down at Lancer below. "Damn you," she thought. "Whether you knew it or not, Lancer, and Kirei Kotomine."
Sakura coated the jade bead with her blood, her crest glowing on her arm, and tossed it onto the broken windows. The gem flashed as it struck the heap of broken glass, and to Shirou's awe and stupefaction, the windows pulled themselves back together. "Amazing…" he said.
"Hmm?" Sakura hummed before giving a short laugh. "Thanks for the compliment, but it's not really amazing. In fact, it's overly complex: a better magus could do that with just a drop of blood where I had to use a gemstone."
"Really?" Shirou asked. "So why can't you?"
"Oh, you're quite rude aren't you sempai?" Sakura asked with a teasing smile and tone, leaning in close. "I don't recall being related to you, that I should tell you the details of my mysteries."
Sakura grinned, feeling surprisingly warm talking to Shirou like this, while Shirou chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess that was a bit rude, wasn't it?" he asked. "Sorry about that, but anyway…even if you say it isn't amazing, it's quite amazing to me. I can't do anything like that."
"Hmm?" Sakura hummed again, looking surprised. "Well, um, do you mean you can't do it like I do or you can't do it all?"
"And who's asking about mysteries now, huh?"
Sakura made a squeaking sound, like a stuffed toy being stepped on, and Shirou laughed. "No, it's alright." He said. "I don't mind. As for your question I can't do it at all."
Sakura blinked. "But," she began. "That's actually quite a simple and basic spell. Even if you don't have the right affinities, there are ways to go around the limitation like I did."
"Yeah," Shirou said, again rubbing the back of his head. "It's just that, I only…had my dad to teach me and well…"
"I see." Sakura said with a nod as Shirou trailed off. "Well, there's nothing shameful about that. What matters is you do your part, and what you pass on is greater than what you got."
Shirou nodded in agreement, and then Sakura crossed her arms before glancing at Saber standing silent and watchful a couple of steps behind Shirou. "So," Sakura said. "Am I right in guessing that you're an amateur then?"
Shirou laughed shortly and nodded. "I guess I can't deny it, can I?" he said, spreading his hands.
"Hmm," Sakura hummed in thought. "This doesn't make any sense. You're clearly telling the truth, and yet you somehow managed to summon Saber, the most outstanding of all the Servants. How you could have done that given your situation is beyond me."
Shirou just smiled apologetically and shrugged. And then he blinked, and his expression turned serious. "More importantly," he began. "Tohsaka-san, can you tell me about the Holy Grail War? What's it about? And what's all this Servant and Master business?"
Sakura hummed, looking into Shirou's eyes for several moments. Shirou was briefly taken aback, but held his ground. After a while, Sakura sighed and nodded.
"I'm probably not the best person to tell you." She said. "About the Holy Grail War, that is. I can tell you about the Master and Servant system though."
Shirou blinked, and then Sakura pointed at the tattoos on his hand and arm. "See those?" Sakura asked. "Those are command spells. They symbolize the contract between you and your Servant, who shall remain loyal to you and obliged to fight for you and to obey you so long as you have them. And they have another function."
"What's that?" Shirou asked, lowering his right hand and arm, having closely regarded his command spells while Sakura was talking.
"They're not called spells simply because." Sakura said. "Each of those tattoos actually allows for a single, absolute, and overriding command. Put another way, using them allows you to order your Servant to do something that they wouldn't normally do, even against their free will if necessary."
"That's barbaric!" Shirou exploded, and Sakura smiled.
"I guess it is, isn't it?" she answered. "But, I didn't come up with the command spells, I just received mine. And they can be useful, and not necessarily barbaric depending on how they're used."
"How can something which violates a person's free will not be barbaric?"
"Did I say it always violates their free will?" Sakura asked back. "It can do that yes, and yes, it can force them to do something they normally wouldn't do…or could."
Shirou blinked, catching the emphasis on the last part. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.
"In theory," Sakura said. "A Servant could do things just short of True Magic when empowered by a command spell. For instance, I get separated and cornered far from my Servant. By using a command spell and ordering him to come to me, he can…in an instant to boot."
"Teleportation?" Shirou echoed in surprise.
"I guess…it does fall in that category." Sakura said with a shrug. "It's more complex than that, but yeah, it fits."
"I see." Shirou said with a nod, again looking at his command spells. "Well, I guess it's not all bad, so long as it isn't abused or used for something that's inherently wrong."
"As you say," Sakura said with a nod before stepping past Shirou towards Saber. Saber neutrally regarded Sakura as the girl's crest flashed to life, and Sakura began moving a hand seemingly at random through the air around the Servant.
"You feel…incomplete." Sakura finally said. Saber regarded her for a moment, and then nodded.
"Yes." She agreed. "The connection between Shirou and myself is incomplete, and recovering prana will be difficult. And I cannot assume astral form."
"Hmm," Sakura hummed before glancing at Shirou. "Sempai, you heard that right?"
"Yes…"
"Sorry to say sempai," Sakura said. "But Saber's woes are all the result of your flawed summoning…however you did it."
Shirou made a few incoherent noises before coughing. "Any way to fix them?" he asked.
Sakura glanced at him, and then smiled and nodded. "I have a few ideas." She said, but she didn't elaborate. Instead, she walked away, and turned to look at Shirou and Saber from across the room. "More importantly, shall we get going?"
"Go?" Shirou echoed after a glance at Saber. "Go where?"
"To the person who's best suited to explain to you the Holy Grail War."
"And who's that?"
"Why the Overseer of the contest, of course."
A/N
And we have our first divergence from stations of the canon.
Rider Mordred from FGO is a joke character, so while this incarnation of Mordred is of the same class, she's more...normal, so to speak. That's all I'll say at this point.