I do not own Fate/Stay Night nor any other Servants depicted here.
The Long Night
"Huh... Mas... ter...?"
Saber stared at him for that moment. At that moment she wondered why this young magus would want to take part in this War. Perhaps to prove himself? Yet, as she continued looking over him, she could clearly see the confusion marked on his face. Did he not know what he was getting into?
"I, Servant Saber... have come forth in response to your summons," she told him, hoping maybe that he was shocked at the prospect of having an unexpectedly strong Servant, and yet she could see that his confusion was true. "Please give me an order, Master," she requested from him. There was still confusion, but that was marred by pain when the boy suddenly winced, bringing up his left hand by reflex. There on his hand, clear as day, were the Command Seals.
"From this time forth, my sword shall be with you and your fate shall be with me," she announced at the confirmation of the contract between them, "Now, our contract is complete." She could feel the bond between them; it was faint but it was there. She held back a frown, assuming that this young magus probably made a mistake in the summoning, causing this weak bond. Then again, she couldn't blame him; clearly he was being attacked when he performed the summoning, otherwise the connection would be sound.
"Contract? What are you talking about...?!" sputtered her Master, his eyes going wide in surprise.
Her own feelings were almost displayed on her face. "Doesn't he know?" she wondered as she turned around to look at the doorway. It seems the enemy Servant had left. She remained calm but was on full alert now. The other Servant had some sort of lance or spear, so it was probably from the Lancer class. Taking a careful step outside the building, she paused to scan the skies. Nothing. Good. All she had to worry now was for ground-based ambushes. The area itself felt familiar to her. An old, Japanese-style housing area. Plus, the minor building... it reminded her of her time with Irisviel.
"I wonder what happened to her daughter," she thought, wondering how the little girl would be coping with the death of her mother. Her father... no... it was best not to think about him. That man...
"Who... are you?"
"...? What do you mean? I am the Servant Saber," she replied, turning to face her Master, who had followed after her, "You summoned me, so I do not think you should need to confirm it."
"The Servant Saber?"
"Yes, so please call me Saber," she requested. Yet she could still see confusion and uncertainty.
"I-I see. That's a strange name."
Now he looked as if he was embarrassed. "Truly odd. Why is he behaving like so?" she asked herself as another thought came to mind, "And what of his family? Surely his elder would have educated him when he had been selected for the War. Or perhaps... he was someone recently chosen? This might explain his confusion. This also means my summoning was not at all planned... or perhaps not according to plan..."
"... I'm Shirou. My name is Emiya Shirou... and I live in this house."
What!?
She stared at him calmly, while inwardly feeling quite shocked... and somewhat outraged at the name. "But... my Master looks nothing like him... perhaps he just happens to share the same name as his..." she reasoned.
"No, wait. I take that back. That's not what I meant to ask you. Actually..."
"I understand," she interrupted, "You are not a formal Master, correct?"
"Yes... perhaps it is purely coincidence."
"Huh?"
"But you are still my Master. As long as we have made the contract, I will not betray you," she assured him, "There is no need for you to be so cautious."
"That's wrong. My name isn't Master."
Quite upfront and too the point, it seems. It seems she might be able to get along with him. "Then I shall call you Shirou. Yes, I like the sound of that," she then told him, wondering why he started blushing when she said that.
"Wait a minute. Why are you calling me..."
And then he started wincing in pain again. Lifting up his left hand, he displayed the Seals, throbbing and glowing ever so slightly.
"Those are your Command Seals, Shirou," she began to explain, thinking she had better get him up to speed, seeing that he was new to this, "The three claims on a Servant's obedience and life of a Master. Please do not use them thoughtlessly."
It seemed that he had further questions, but it was then she sensed something... no... four presences outside. And two of them, who she suspected were Servants, were getting ready to attack. It seems she would be defending her new Master once more. She did wonder though, how did they know so fast? No matter. It is time to defend her Master's dwelling.
"Excuse me, Shirou, but there are enemies outside," she told him as she faced the wall, ready to go over it, "I shall repel them and we will talk shortly."
Noel was quite stunned by the turn of events. First having assumed a large scale battle was going to happen at the Emiya household, she was at first taken aback by the appearance of yet another Servant's presence, right inside the house itself. Then, the first Servant's presence suddenly disappeared.
"Did... did that boy somehow summon a Servant?" she remembered wondering as she continued speeding there, still worried that a fight might take place. Surely this new Servant will react to the other two presences and will definitely try and fight them.
Then, she got there, when the two others unexpectedly stopped right outside the boundary of the house. She could clearly see two Servant's there. One in red and another in black. The strange thing was that it was the Masters that were verbally fighting each other. That was not the most shocking part. What stunned her the most was that one of the Masters was Rin herself.
"Why... after all this time... I had to run into her... of all people..." she asked herself despairingly. She was not ready. And yet, there she was. And whether she liked it or not, Noel had to make herself known just to stop a potential fight in front of her.
It was then, matters somehow became worse. Or maybe not. Because the new Servant decided to show up and confront all of them. And it was someone she recognized all too well.
They were not expecting each other. One was making an attempt to save a boy her former sister knew. Another was on the way of doing what the Second Owner should have done, hide the existence of magecraft via hypnosis. And by mere chance, the situation started to become quite volatile.
"... Just what are you doing here, Edelfelt," asked Rin after getting over her surprise. If only her glares could kill.
"Oh, I don't know, doing what you were supposed to be doing?" Luvia replied nonchalantly with a smirk, "Although, since you're here as well, I suppose you are here to remedy your slip up?"
"... What are you rambling about?" the former asked, looking rather confused by what she said.
"Hmm?" the latter sounded, the smirk going away, "Wait, if you're not here to hypnotize Shirou, then what are you here for?"
"I have no time for this," the Tohsaka heir growled out before trying to get around the blonde.
"Oh no, you will answer me, Tohsaka girl," a frowning Luvia said harshly, getting in the way once more and pushing her rival back, "Let me guess, being the barbarian you are, you are going to silence him permanently then?"
"What?! Are you stupid?" Rin retorted, her voice going up a notch, "What in the world made you think I am coming all the way here, in the middle of the night no less, to kill him? Even after using my most powerful gem to heal him? Get out of my way Edelfelt, I have to get there before it's too late."
"Oh no, you are too suspicious... Rider, please take care of her," the blonde simply stated calmly, her mind seemingly already set on her course of action.
"Geez, we really should stop meeting like this," sighed Rider, his weapon of choice ready on his shoulder.
"Tch, Archer, please make this quick," the Tohsaka ordered reluctantly as she leaped back.
"It is useless to complain, Rider," Archer said as he materialized as well, both his blades ready as well, "This is what we are supposed to do, after all."
"Right... let's get this over with then," the Servant dragged out before readying himself, the frost already covering the black pole.
Yet, before they could begin their fight, a familiar sensation pulsed through the area. It came from the house that the both of them were heading to.
"You know..." started Rider, the first to break the silence, "Maybe we shouldn't start fighting? I'm sure you all felt that, right?"
"What aren't you telling us, Rin," Luvia frowned, making it sound more like a demand than a question.
"There is no time, you dumb blonde!" the Tohsaka shouted at her. Turning to her Servant, she ordered, "Let's go, Archer. For all we know, we may be too late and he is already dead."
"Damn it, you stupid girl," growled out the Edelfelt, "After them, Rider!"
The two pairs raced down the lane, but only for a short while. Something came over the wall and landed in front of them. A young woman in shining armor with an old styled dress colored in blue. She stood in front of them holding something. They did not know what sort of weapon she was holding; this put them on guard, ready to react to whatever happened.
"You shall not pass," she announced with a stern look in her eyes. She was on guard as well, her eyes slowly going between all four persons.
While the two Masters felt a little perplexed as to her class, Archer felt things get all the more difficult. On one hand, the boy summoned Saber, as expected. On the other, her presence made his goal in eliminating his former self a whole lot more complicated. Rider, however...
"What do you think, Luvia?" the Servant asked discreetly, "Should we do our best to take her out, or delay her while you girls run ahead?"
"Delay her," Rin interrupted, a plan already developing behind her brow, "We have to get to Emiya. For certain, her Master is nearby and is most likely with him as we speak. Archer, work with him." A subtle nod was the response.
"Do it," affirmed Luvia with a nod of her own.
"Right," he acknowledged. Glancing at the other Servant's choice of weapon, he asked, "You gonna switch to ranged or all in with me?" There was no response, for he had already taken off.
"All in it is then," the Servant of the Mount muttered, raising a brow for a moment before going after him, easily keeping pace.
Saber, seeing that the two other Servants were charging her down, tightened her grip and responded in kind. Both parties would have certainly clashed, if...
"Optic Barrel!"
A symbol appeared between them, two yellow revolvers forming an X, and exploded. Both sides ground to a halt, both searching for the owner of the voice, wary of any more sudden attacks. They didn't have long to wait.
"There will be no fighting tonight," said the owner of the voice as she landed a bit to the side of the road. She smiled a bit as she greeted a little hesitantly, "Hello. Nice to see you again Saber... and Rin." Despite the hesitancy, she still kept her guns trained on the Servants.
"Archer?!" said the two in surprise, the Tohsaka a little more subdued. The others were looking at her, and then at the other two, feeling quite confused.
"Saber! Where are you!?"
After that shout, a young man came running around the corner. He suddenly stopped, all movement halted in surprise the moment he laid eyes on the small gathering before him. And his words mirroring his surprise in minor labored breath, "Eh... Officer... Mackenzie?"
While the others looked at the supposed police officer in puzzlement, Rin's and Archer's was unreadable. Rin was a multitude of emotions behind that blank facade, but she was also intent in addressing them once everyone else was out of earshot. Archer, however, was quite concerned. In the beginning, he had fully expected having to come across Gilgamesh. That expectation slowly dwindled until it was eliminated completely when he met this young lady. The one who was supposed to be the previous War's Archer. Yet another unknown added to the mix and probably a ton more complications included.
"Well, it seems everything is coming out of the woodwork tonight," Rin stated clearly, breaking the tense silence that came upon them, although she sported a smile that unnerved the boy, "From unknown magi to forgotten Servants," making sure to look at those two newcomers specifically. "I should apologize though. Good evening, Emiya," she greeted, the smile suddenly becoming warm and welcoming.
"While that is all well and good Rin... Masters, if you would please ask your Servants to keep their weapons?" the former Archer asked nicely. Archer and Rider got nods from their Masters, and so they did, though the red clad Servant was a little more reluctant to do so. Saber went to a relaxed stance, as if she had already done so. The officer let out a sigh of relief. "Crisis averted... for now," she muttered aloud as she lowered her own weapons. Then, noticing the present confusion on Shirou's face, she said, "You don't seem to be aware of what you got yourself into, Emiya."
"Ah... yeah... I was going to ask Saber about this when she suddenly jumped over the wall," he replied, rather subdued, "I still have so many questions..."
"Not to worry, Shirou," Luvia suddenly said with a smile of her own, "Please, allow me to explain everything." With that, she suddenly took hold of him by the arm and pulled him towards his house. Rider and Saber stared at each other, the former shrugging before the both of them followed after.
"Follow them, Archer," Rin ordered with an annoyed sigh, "Make sure she doesn't make any stupid moves."
As the red dressed Servant nodded and went after them, she turned to face the former Archer. They both stared for a moment before she asked, "Why didn't you come and see me, Archer?"
"Ah... I..." she stuttered a moment before her shoulders sagged, "I go by Noel now... I used my real name. The Mackenzie's took me in at the request of Rider's Master... well, the Rider of that War..."
"Archer... Noel... please answer the question," the Tohsaka asked patiently.
"... I was ashamed... I still am... my promise..."
"What? You thought... ugh..." she trailed off in disbelief. Keeping it together, she continued, "All that time, you really thought I wouldn't forgive you... Noel, you idiot."
"Eh?" she sounded in surprise.
"A magus walks with death," Rin stated, "The things we practice can potentially kill us in every way possible. My father knew that as well. Despite every precaution, skills, and power my father put into his plans, he already knew that there was always a slim chance that it may turn on him. He knew that and he proceeded nonetheless, and in a way, taking responsibility for his actions. My father's death is on no one's head but his own. You are not to blame. Not fully anyway." She smirked, looking at her astonished looks, "If it makes you any better... I, Tohsaka Rin, hereby absolve you of your promise."
The girl was quite surprised of the hug that came next. "Huh, well... now I'm really glad nobody can see this," she muttered, though with a real smile on her face.
"I... I have something to do now," Noel told her as she released the hug, "But, if you can, I need to meet as many, if not all, of the Masters of the War. If you know them, even better. There are things that happened in the past War that may happen again in this War if we don't stop it."
Stunned, the black haired magus said, "Well, I don't know about all the Masters but..."
"Please... I know you don't like the Edelfelt but you have to get her too," Noel stressed, "This goes well beyond everything you know of the War. And... no matter what, don't let anyone else know, not even the mediator. Not that I don't trust him, but if he is the one who I suspect he is, he may try to interfere."
"... Alright... I will try my best," she acceded.
"Thank you," Noel thanked with a grateful smile. Giving a wave with one of her guns, she quickly took to the roofs.
The smile was returned, and it stayed there for a while before it faded. She turned around and went into the house, hopefully to stop Luvia from being an idiot. What she found was strange. When she walked into what she assumed was the living room, she found the girl in question stock still and frozen, staring at Shirou like he was a stranger. She could hear her muttering something about Reinforcement. Saber was just standing there, seemingly calm about whatever had transpired. The other two Servants were not present there physically, more likely in spirit form. Shirou himself looked a little sheepish.
"Just what in the world happened to the ditz?" she asked the boy.
"Well... I just told her that..."
She crossed the rooftops with relative ease. It wasn't long after she had left Rin that she had felt another spike in power. It wasn't as clear as the other Servants but it was there, just a little out of reach from her senses. But it was close enough, and so Noel hurried there in hopes of catching the Servant red handed. Leaping off the next house, she deftly landed on her feet and continued her run. Around the next corner...
She skidded to a halt. It was a woman. She seemed to be wearing some sort of grey cloth robes with white trimmings and a rather large collar, as well as a darker grey cloth belt. She was standing over the body of a young man with a haircut that denounced him as a delinquent or a gangster. She was holding up some sort of dimly glowing green orb, which was dropped onto the body. The orb splashed onto the body and much to Noel's horror, melted it into a slurry which quickly evaporated. She also noticed several other wisps of pale smoke from two other places at the intersection. She then focused on the wayward Servant, glaring at her while readying Bolverk.
The woman finally noticed her. "Well, I certainly didn't expect anyone to catch me in the act," she said rather calmly, as if talking about the weather, "Though, I suppose it was inevitable. Be that as it may, I'm afraid that I have to remove you from the picture. I really dislike that rule about common folk, but I guess you can blame the ones that came up with this stupid secret war..." And yet, when she did notice the guns, her tone changed to be a lot more serious, "Then again, you don't seem to be one of the common folk, are you..."
Without taking her eyes away, the Servant held up her hands in front of her chest and began muttering in some unknown language. Noel tensed up, her hands gripping the guns a bit more tightly, her eyes not once leaving the Servant. Then, a ball of fire appeared, small at first but grew to be as large as the woman's head. The mutterings stopped and ball remained stationary in one hand.
"You seem to be clueless," the Servant stated, once again sounding calm, "If you don't know already, I'm Caster. You are welcome to try and attack me. Just so you know, if I lose control of this Fireball... well, you should know the results wont be very pretty. Although, fireworks would be nice to watch at this time of night..."
"... You wouldn't dare!" Noel shouted, shocked by the threat. She took careful aim at Caster, "The people here do not know of the War! Why would you drag them into it!?"
"You seem awfully concerned about their well being," the Servant said with a frown, "What an odd thing you are. Then again, perhaps you don't understand. If you attack me, people will die." And then she muttered, "Really, these are the kind of people the Knight-Captain had to face? Tiresome lot."
Noel had no reply. She had to stop her from threatening the ordinary people. She did not have any magic to call on nor did she have any special defenses that can negate it. But, she had something... a long shot... but it may work. And gamble she did...
"Optic Barrel!"
As she expected, Caster sent the fireball on reflex straight at her; the flaming projectile collided with her attack and engulfed the intersection in a bright explosion, sending her flying back. She was able to land on her feet and she instinctively shielded her eyes. When the brightness went down, she ran up to investigate. Nothing. Nothing except plenty of scorch marks everywhere. She did, however, hear something moving away from her. She gave chase, thinking that it was Caster. Down the road she ran and came to another intersection, a three way road, with a minor road leading to an alley.
"You are resilient enough."
Noel blinked. Was she seeing things or were there two Casters in front of her?
"By the way you handle those things, you must be Archer."
Two more voices behind her. She spun around and found two more Casters. What was going on?
"You know, if I was alive, I would have just Fireburst and be done with you."
And yet two more voices coming from the third road. Caster... and Caster...
"Oh well, a word of warning for the next time we meet."
Noel turned to the voice now coming from the alleyway. While the others looked as calm as the previous one, this Caster had quite a haughty look on her face.
"If you wish to play with fire, expect to get burned."
All of them suddenly vanished, leaving only faint wisps of smoke behind. Getting over the surprise, the former Servant let off a tired sigh. All that and she still wasn't able to stop her. Well, at least now she could put a face to the killer. But soon after, she groaned, her shoulders slumping in her depression. She had forgotten to tell Caster to ask her Master for a meeting.
Very little happened from the time at the Emiya house to the time when the group reached the church. Rider and Archer had gone into spirit form, leaving the other four to make the hour long trip on foot, though thanks to Shirou's short cut, it was made in less. Rin and Saber did get along well enough, though with Luvia alternating between snide remarks about the Tohsaka and keeping close with Shirou, it was still a little tense. With the journey over, the Servants remained outside while the Masters went in. Somehow, it still seemed well lit despite it being so late. And then the priest showed up. Kotomine Kirei. His explanation of the War was... informative. For both Shirou and for Luvia. Even more so for the Edelfelt, with all her assumptions about the War either being confirmed to be true or revealed to be just hearsay from the older members of her family.
Yet, Shirou seemed to be struggling with coming to terms with his involvement; it showed with the back and forth questions and answers between him and the priest. That was until the priest mentioned the previous War and the conflagration that occurred. The boy looked quite sick when he heard it.
"What? To think such a thing happened?" muttered Luvia, looking surprised.
Rin was not affected, having heard of it before, but...
"Emiya? What's wrong? You look quite pale... I know it's an uncomfortable story... but if you want, we can have a rest for a while," she offered, showing concern for the red-head's ill looks.
"Oh yes, you do look unwell, enough. Let me make it better," Luvia suddenly said as she moved into hug him.
"Can you really afford to act like this, you blonde ditz,"said the Tohsaka as she tugged the girl's dress, pulling her away from the boy.
"You stupid witch, let go! I am merely comforting him, something you are obviously unable to do," the Edelfelt retorted, rather angry with the interruption.
"Ah, please don't argue, I'm fine now. Really," spoke up Shirou, feeling rather glad for the concern, since it successfully brought him out of it.
And so the back and forth continued, until Kotomine asked him for his final decision.
"I will fight as a Master," he said, full of determination and conviction, "If the cause of the fire ten years ago was the Holy Grail War, then I can't let it happen again.
The priest smiled in satisfaction upon hearing those words. "Then I shall approve you as Saber's Master," he announced, "In this instant, the Holy Grail War can begin. I approve the battle in this town, from now until only one Master remains. Everyone shall follow their pride and compete fully against each other."
At that point, they turned to leave. Rin wanted to grill the priest for information, as this would be the last time she would be allowed to come here until after the War ends. It was only because of the presence of the Edelfelt that she held her tongue. The priest followed after them, only stopping at the end of the row of pews. Just as they opened the door...
"Rejoice young man, for your wish has been granted."
Shirou halted in his tracks and very slowly, turned to face him, "What do you..."
"Every hero needs a villain, do they not?"
A simple question. The boy tensed up at those words. Rin and Luvia turned to face him with puzzlement on their faces.
"Farewell, Emiya Shirou. This will be my last warning to you. Be careful on your way home. Things will not be the same ever again. From this point, it is kill or be killed. You are now a Master."
With that, he turned around and walked towards the altar. Shirou took a moment to look at the back of the priest before exiting, the two girls following after.
"I do hope you listened, Emiya Shirou," the priest muttered darkly as the door clicked shut, a smirk etching on his face, "You really should be careful on your way home."
"That so called senior apprentice of yours is rather odd," Luvia started offhandedly as the door closed.
"Oh shut up, Edelfelt," Rin retorted immediately, "I never wanted him as a senior. Don't talk as if I had any choice in the matter."
After having informed Saber of Shirou's decision, the entire group moved to journey back to the other side of the river. After walking down the hill in silence...
"Ahhhh, you all sure took your time," let out Rider as he stretched, coming out of spirit form, "Things were so quiet out here, I'm getting a little restless. Though, I'd rather be in a bed right now than wandering around out here."
"Rider... you know that with Saber already summoned, the War has started right?" asked Luvia with a slight glare, "Instead of going back to bed, we should settle our differences right now."
"Geez, figures you'd be in the mood again," her Servant lightly grumbled, "Fine, we'll do it..."
"Edelfelt, there is nothing I'd like more than to shove those words in your face right now," started Rin, her own glare developing, "But... I have a feeling there are other things at stake."
"What do you mean, Tohsaka?" asked the surprised boy.
"Earlier, Noel... I mean, Officer Mackenzie, said something odd," she revealed, drawing everyone's curiosity, "She said something... she was quite secretive, but she said things that happened in the previous Grail War may happen again. Right now, I am hoping to find her tomorrow and get some answers out of her. It feels... disconcerting."
"Well, I suppose you can..." started the blonde...
"Hey, have you finished talking?"
A young voice echoes through the night. Everyone turned and looked up the hill. The revealed moonlight shone down to reveal a large silhouette; a tall and muscular man, his skin white as the pale moonlight with a red tattoo on one side of his body. Two handles, presumably of his weapons, jut out from behind his shoulders. Beside him was a smaller shadow, a young girl dressed in purple, with skin and hair just as white.
"I can't tell..." the Tohsaka muttered out in uncertainty, "It could be Berserker..."
"It must be Berserker... Lancer did not look like that," stated Saber as she pulled off the yellow raincoat, preparing herself.
The little girl smiled.
"Good evening, Onii-chan. It's nice to meet you again."
Commentary:-
King of Beasts, shadow ninja koopa, and... Joe. Correctly deduced who is Caster and Rider. My thanks to everyone who also guessed correctly as well (those who did not review, that is). And now, the Holy Grail War can commence in earnest. And first up? Berserker!
Well... not yet. That's next chapter. For this chapter... hmm, this has to be my longest yet. Starting with Saber's POV of her own summoning. And more screen time for Noel. And a very different confrontation near Shirou's house. As well as a little Caster hunting. And then Luvia putting on the moves on Shirou... that didn't come out quite right, doesn't it... hmm... oh well. Soon after, a wild Illya appears!
Before I forget, Please Read and Review! Would! You! Kindly!