Chapter 8: Recovery

First off, sorry for the late chapter. And by late, I mean REALLY late. And wow, my review, favorite and follow count have all seemed to increase! Thank you everyone for doing so. Enjoy this chapter.

Diclaimer: Ataraxia has been translated. /( 0 0)/

"…"

…

"…"

…

"…!"

Wha-!

"Kousuke!"

XXX

-Kousuke-

I woke up to a completely unfamiliar ceiling and room. Before I even realized what was going on, I was pushed back down onto the futon by my incoherently sobbing Servant.

"Goshujin-sama, goshujin-sama! Ueeeeen!"

"Guh-Tamamo!"

I pushed Caster off me and looked around.

"This is…a Japanese-style house? Caster, where are we?"

"We are in Emiya Shirou's house."

"Shirou? Wait, what happened?! What day is it?! And what happened to-"

Berserker. The memory of our fight with the mad Servant hit me like a lightning bolt. All I remembered was Tamamo using her Sesshōseki against him, then her soaring through the sky after she was punched, and then…

Berserker's axe-sword being brought down on me.

"Tamamo…did Shirou save us?"

She shook her head.

"No…you did…it was your oni blood."

I flinched for a moment, then relaxed.

"I see…my Inversion Impulse…I guess I owe you an explanation, Caster."

At first we were just a family of normal human mages with a bit of divine blood in our system, but during and after the time of the third head, everything changed.

The third head married an oni.

Everyone was shocked, even more shocked than when the second head brought home Kaede. No one had any idea how they had met, and they wouldn't tell anyone either. Her real name was never recorded either, so by the time of the seventh head, he was the last member of the family who knew her real name, and he never told us either. Also, after the third head passed away, the oni disappeared as well, and was never seen again.

But one thing that definitely remained was her blood in our bodies. At first it was extremely concentrated in the children of the third head, so much so that they were practically hanyō (half-yōkai) instead of human. But as time passed, the oni blood in us grew thinner and spread to more family members in the next generations. Now, not all family members have oni blood (like my youngest sister) but the family head always has it in varying thickness.

For example, I was confirmed to having a thickest oni blood running in my veins ever since the fifth head, and even he was not a Crimson Red Vermillion. In the latest generations, the oni blood has already become easily controllable due to its thinning and Inversion Impulses rarely happen. But some with thicker blood (like me) have to drink blood (medical blood works fine) to control it.

"I understand, Kousuke. From the moment I met you, I already had a faint feeling of it."

"You did?!"

"Yes, but I wasn't certain. And also, I have smelt the blood you drank when you were in Ryuudouji's guest house."

I sighed.

"And I was trying so hard to hide it from you."

"It doesn't matter, goshujin-sama! I will still love you no matter what are you are! Even if you were to become a full oni or a yōkai!"

"But still…I remember…I tried…I tried to hurt you! I tried to, didn't I!"

As I clenched my forehead in my hand, I felt Tamamo's embrace around me.

"It's alright…Kousuke. You didn't attack me."

"But-"

"And more importantly," she interrupted "You saved our lives and chased off Berserker and his Master, which was incredibly impressive, for a human."

I let a wan smile show on my face.

"A human, huh…I'm not even sure if I can be fully counted as one…"

"Don't say that!"

Tamamo grabbed my shoulders and looked straight into my eyes.

"Kousuke. No matter what you might say or think, you are still human, and always will be. Got it?"

Her honest golden eyes bored into mine, and I just relented.

"Yeah…thanks, Tamamo."

Suddenly, I remembered something important.

"Wait, what day is it?! Caster!"

She looked away.

"Tamamo!"

"You've been asleep for 2 whole days."

XXX

-Caster-

-Day 10, 9th December, Saturday-

I woke up with a jolt. For some strange, unknown reason, I actually felt that I should have been dead. Then, it hit me like a speeding horse cart.

'Berserker?!"

I looked around frantically.

"Goshujin-sama?!"

He wasn't in the same room as me! Panicking, I slammed the sliding door open and went to search for him. Running down the corridor, what I found was not him, but-

"Caster-san?"

"Emiya!"

Seated around the living room table was Shirou, a girl with long, indigo hair I've seen with Shirou before, and-

"Rider!"

As I saw her, I immediately prepared to defend myself and so did she, but Shirou stepped in.

"Wait, Caster, Rider is not an enemy! And Rider, neither is Caster!"

As his words slowly sunk in, we both dropped our defensive stances. With a sigh, all I could say was-

"Can someone please tell me what is going on here!"

XXX

-Shirou-

With Caster seated at the table and a cup of tea to calm her nerves, I told her what had happened.

Last night, when I was walking home with Sakura, we noticed that the power was out in some parts of the neighbourhood, including my house. And when we arrived home, she was standing in the dark entryway of my house.

"Emiya-kun, would you mind telling me why the power is out in your house and half the neighbourhood?"

"Toh-Tohsaka!"

After some heavy conversation, Tohsaka left, but before she did, she left us a warning.

"Oh, and just a word of warning. Berserker has been around, but he's gone now, according to Archer. Just make sure you don't run into him. He probably just got into a fight with another Servant, and judging from the residual mana, there's only one Master-Servant that could have been fighting him."

After she left, I was torn between going to check on the site of battle and taking care of Sakura, but she just told me-

'Go if you have to, senpai. And take Rider with you, just in case."

So I did, leaving Sakura in the darkened house. When we arrived at the scene, what we found was ridiculous. It looked like a miniature Godzilla had came and left. Among the wreckage, lying flat on the road were you and Kousuke. Rider was about to finish you off, but I stopped her in time. With her carrying Kousuke and me carrying you, we brought you home, and put you in the rooms you woke up in.

"Hmm…has Kousuke woken up yet?"

"No…"

"I see…"

Caster sighed.

"Well, what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to the Einzbern forest to meet with Ilya."

In the instant I said Einzbern, I could see all of Caster's fur in her tail and on her ears stand on end.

"Do you have a death wish?! You'll get splatted by Berserker! And I seriously doubt that you'll be able to stand up after that!"

"No Caster, listen!"

I told her that we had met before in the day, she also helped me once when I has to make a hard decision, and that she doesn't seem that intent on killing me. When I finished, Caster thought for a while. Finally, she shrugged and sighed.

"Fine, if that is what you wish. I don't have the right to stop you. But do you honestly think that you'll be safe, travelling so far out by yourself and without a Servant?"

"…I have no other option."

XXX

-Caster-

Shirou had just left. Despite his insistence that he did not want Rider with him, Sakura still sent her after him after Shirou had left. Following that, she returned to her room.

"…I really have a bad feeling about this…"

Especially with our current condition. My Master is bedridden, and Rider's Master seemed a bit off, like she was having a fever or an illness. And worse of all, this place barely had any defenses!

I thought about my Master as I looked for the kitchen. Why didn't he just tell me that he was a mixed-blood? Was he worried? That I wouldn't love him anymore? Of course not! I will love and protect him as long as I live!

"Alright, here we go."

With a measuring cup prepared, I took the sharpest knife I could find in the kitchen and braced myself.

"!"

I let out a small gasp of pain as I felt the blade cut into my arm and watched as my blood flowed into the cup. There definitely are many more efficient ways to do this, but right now I had no other method.

"Th-That should be enough…"

After healing my wound, I brought the cup with my blood in it to my sleeping Master. Sliding open the door, I hurried to his side for Kousuke was turning in his futon and sweating profusely with a pained expression on his face.

"Don't worry, Kousuke, I'm here!"

Gently, I grabbed hold of his head, opened his mouth and trickled some my blood into it. When I was going through Kousuke's luggage while were still at Ryuudouji, I found a few packets of blood, all labeled with lots of Japanese and English words, so I assumed that he drank blood to control his inner oni.

Of course, since that was normal blood, I didn't really expect it to do much. Mine however, is the blood of a god and yōkai, and would definitely sate his oni blood.

"That's good, he's recovering."

Despite the fact I only gave him half the blood I extracted from myself, my Master was already breathing calmly and had fallen into a peaceful sleep. With a sigh, I stood up and turned around.

"Now, to handle the other problem."

XXX

-Sakura-

-Dressing room-

"Haah…haah…"

Finally, my nausea went away, and I weakly clutched onto sink.

"Yes…it's all alright now…because…senpai can't fight anymore…haha…"

"As I thought, it was you after all."

At the sound of the voice, I gasped and tried to turn around, but lost my grip on the sink and fell on the ground. In front of me was Caster with a completely emotionless expression on her face. The difference was so great it was astounding. It was almost like the person at the table this morning and the one standing before me right now were two completely different people. Even the few worms in my body seemed to writhe in fear from her currently overwhelming presence.

There was no doubt about it.

Caster was definitely one of the strongest Servants in this war.

As I raised my hand to try to help myself up, her cold voice cut right through the air.

"Don't even think about summoning Rider or calling up that shadow, I'll kill you before you even realize you're dead."

Everything froze. My body, my brain, the only things that were still moving were the remaining worms inside me.

"No…I'm not…I'm not the shadow!"

Caster's lips curled up in a small smile.

"Oh? Interesting…I never said you were."

I squeaked as I realized that I just made a horrible mistake. Then all of a sudden, I could feel her hand on my head.

"-!"

Caster started muttering rapidly in old Japanese. No…was I really going to die here? No, no, I don't want to! I still have to do…still have to see…?

"…Eh?"

Caster had stopped speaking, and she had removed her hand as well. But…I was still in one piece? Just then…I realized something else.

The remaining worms and crest worm…the one the priest didn't remove…were no longer moving.

"Impossible…did you kill the-"

"No, the worms are not dead. If I did kill them, you would be dead too, not to mention that their owner would be alerted."

"Then?"

"I just put them in a state of temporary suspended animation, but I made it so that they were still relaying false information to whoever is using them."

Lowering herself to the ground, Caster's face became a gentler, albeit still serious face and asked-

"Now, while my spell is still working, tell me. Who did this to you, what happened to you, what is going to happen to you, and what is going to happen to the rest of us."

I bit my lip. Despite the fact I knew that grandpa would not know about this, I was still hesitant, due to the nature of my body.

"Sakura. If you don't tell me, I won't be able to help you. No one will and I can bet that right now that I'm the one with the highest chance of helping you, do you understand?"

She said those last words with such force I couldn't help but look up, and I saw her fierce, golden eyes burning straight into mine. Finally, I withered under the pressure of her gaze and my whole body just relaxed.

"Alright…I'll tell you…everything…"

-Evening-

"Hmm? Where's Caster?"

As I followed Ilya, nee-san and Shirou into the living room, Kousuke's Servant was nowhere to be seen. Ilya spun around.

"Caster?!" She said angrily "Don't tell me she's here too!"

"Ilya, it's alright," said Shirou, trying to placate her "Kousuke and Caster were my-, our allies from the beginning."

"But they attacked Berserker! They killed him almost 4 times!"

"Was it because you attacked them first?"

Ilya fell silent at this. Then, all of a sudden, Caster popped out of the kitchen, surprising all of us.

"Oh, you're all home! To repay you for taking in Master and I, I took it upon myself to help make dinner, and-"

She stopped talking as she saw Ilya.

"Geh, so Berserker's Master is now on our side as well."

"Caster, it's alright, she's-"

"Nope, I don't need to hear another word," she said, cutting Shirou off "I trust Emiya-kun's judgment. But, I still haven't forgiven her for what she did to my Master."

"I should say the same for what you did to Berserker, Caster. But it doesn't matter anymore, because he's GONE," replied Ilya icily.

"Berserker has been defeated? But who took him…the Shadow."

"Yes. Not just the Shadow. A version of Saber, corrupted by it was also there."

I flinched as I saw Caster's eyes flicker at me for a second, then looked away.

"Well, I guess that leaves me and Rider to- WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR ARM?!"

We all jumped as Caster raised her voice suddenly and ran forward to grab Shirou's left arm, wrapped in the red cloth. We all watched as Caster examined it while muttering under her breath, shaking her head all the while.

"No, no, no, this won't do! Argh! It's just one problem after another! What is wrong with you Fuyuki people?!"

As she said that, she grabbed Shirou forcefully and dragged him out to the yard.

"Caster, stop!" exclaimed nee-san. "Shirou just had that arm transplanted onto him, he needs rest!"

"Don't you tell me he needs rest!" snapped Caster "That arm will be the death of him if something isn't done about it! Shirou, there's a containment Bounced Field in that shed, right?"

"Ye-Yes."

"Good, I'll need it."

Before they entered the shed, Caster looked back at us.

"If any of you enters the shed before we leave, I can guarantee that Emiya-kun will die almost instantaneously, got it?"

And she slammed the door shut behind her.

XXX

-Shirou-

-Shed-

I sat on the floor and watched as Caster took out several things from the folds of her robes and began working on the magic circle on the ground by adding more writing to it. As she worked, she muttered to herself in really old Japanese. In between verses, she asked me:

"So. Tell me what happened to you, all the way to the finest detail that you can remember."

"I lost my arm to the Shadow while Archer lost his core, I think. Then, we were brought to the Church where Kotomine transplanted Archer's arm onto my body."

After she finished on the circle on the floor, its size had doubled and now she was writing some charms and was pasting them throughout the interior of the shed.

"Technically, that should be impossible, because first of all, a Servant is an astral being made up of prana, while you are a physical being of flesh and bone. And assuming that the transplant actually succeeded in attaching a Servant's arm to your body, you would be killed by the arm itself almost immediately, because it is made of pure prana as well as the fact that it belonged to someone much more powerful than you."

'Yeah, Kotomine told me that much."

"So, I have come to the simplest conclusion…that Archer is you."

"…Eh?"

"Archer is an Emiya Shirou that has ascended to the Throne of Heroes, simply put."

"I…became a hero?"

"Yes, once."

"Once?"

"At least once. You see, the Throne of Heroes is a place that exists outside of time itself, it is similar to the Akashic Records. No matter how many different parallel worlds and timelines exist, as long as one existence in any single one of those worlds becomes recognized by the World as a 'Hero', everything about that person will be recorded in the Throne of Heroes."

So…I became a Hero? Did I really do it? Fulfil the dream Kiritsugu couldn't?

"I would stop daydreaming about heroes if I were you. Heroes aren't the only beings who make it to the Throne of Heroes."

"What do you mean?"

"The thing is, most 'Heroes' are limited to individuals before the 19th century. Most 'Heroes' from the future after this period are mostly…Counter Guardians."

"What are those?"

"Simply put, they are heroes who are not worshipped, utilised as a mindless Counter Force by Alaya. Also known as Beasts of Alaya, some of them including human spirits pledging their service to Alaya for favours in their lifetime."

"Ok…"

"Shirou, you must understand. No matter the circumstances, you absolutely must not make a contract to become a Counter Guardian, even if it means that you get to be a hero and save the world. That is not what being a Counter Guardian means."

"I don't understand. Isn't it alright as long as I get to save people?"

"Alright, let's put it this way. There are seven continents on the planet. Let's say a catastrophe happens, and mankind will perish unless one continent is destroyed. Would you destroy that continent?"

"Of course not! I'll find a way to save everyone!"

"Well too bad, because Alaya will make you do that," said Caster in a frosty tone. "Alaya will always dispatch the Counter Force whenever humanity is threatened, and their actions usually result in 'saving the majority and sacrificing the minority'. Kill 10 to save 100. Kill 100 to save 10000. Let's say the War that is happening right now becomes a serious threat to mankind. You can bet that they will appear and just wipe Fuyuki off the face of the Earth."

"No way…" I slumped against the wall "That is just…horrible…"

Caster let out a small, derisive laugh as she continued tacking more charms all over the place.

"Well, I don't like them much either. But then again, they must dislike me more. I killed quite a few of them in the past, after all."

"You did?!"

Caster sighed.

"Yes…they came after me because…well…Shirou, do you know what an Anti-Hero is?"

"Anti-Hero…the opposite of a hero? A villain?"

"No, wrong. Anti-Heroes are heroes who are not completely pure and respectable. Proper heroes are created from respect, gratitude, and the feelings of guilt of mankind. Anti-Heroes however, die as 'evil' beings but as time passes they will eventually be treated as victims, so they will not stay as 'pure evil'. Their state of being requires them to be both 'victim and assailant', created by humanity but not part of humanity. They are a contradiction that makes them the "the enemy of the world", but allows them to be exempt from all of the restraining forces of the world."

"I see…does that mean you're an…Anti-Hero?"

As I said those words, Caster stopped working.

"Yes…I am. Emiya-kun, take a guess, do you know who I am?"

"Well…you must be Japanese…and you have kitsune features…um…I'm not too well versed in mythology…"

"Alright, some hints then. In the past, I single-handedly killed an 80000 man army. I used to serve the retired Emperor Toba. And most importantly, I am one of Japan's Three Great Monsters, and most probably am the only dead one."

Just as my mind was spinning from all the information Caster just gave me, I suddenly remembered an elementary school field trip I went on, the year after Kiritsugu rescued me.

It was a one day trip to Nasu, Tochigi.

"You are…Tamamo-no-Mae?"

Caster turned around and smiled.

"Yes, that's me. I'm glad that normal citizens still know who I am. Did you know, despite the fact that I was super powerful in the past, most of my powers are sealed as a Servant. It's only due to the fact I was summoned with the proper catalyst by a competent Master with a massive prana pool from family who worships me in my homeland that I have the amount of power I have now."

She bent down near me.

"Alright Emiya-kun. I'm going to begin now. Please put your left arm, and only your left arm up to its attachment point in this circle."

"Ok."

"Now, I am going to have to remove this shroud, and it will hurt. A lot. So please bear with me, alright?"

I just gulped and nodded. Satisfied with my reaction, Caster took a deep breath and made a single hand gesture with her left hand.

"############AAAAAAAHHH############"

Blinding pain shot through my body from Archer's arm like a lightning bolt as the Shroud of Martin unwrapped itself from the arm. Through the haze of pain I could see the magic circle glowing, the talismans and charms glowing, heck everything was glowing. Caster was chanting rapidly in archaic Japanese. Drawing a pentagram with her right hand, some kanji I couldn't recognize appeared at the points of the star and they adhered themselves to what I thought was my arm before vanishing.

"—"

My vision was half gone by now and I was seeing wild bursts of bright colours as my body spasmed uncontrollably, but I was held in place by whatever spells Caster was using. I could see kanji forming in the air and slamming into my something, but I felt nothing. Not just that, the lines from the extra circles Caster drew were literally crawling up and around it. Half of her talismans had detached themselves from the walls of the shed, and they were being blown around us like we were in a tornado.

And just as suddenly as it begun, it ended. The shroud rewrapped itself around my arm and the whole shed was silent except for my heavy breathing and panting. Caster let me rest for a few minutes, then she asked me:

"Well, how is it?"

I tried moving my left arm. To my surprised, it actually responded. Slightly. Before it was like a dead lump of heavy lead, now it was more like a clunky mechanical arm that I haven't gotten used to.

"Well, at least it's actually responding to me."

"Before this, you would have died in less than a decade with that arm stuck to you. But with my seal, you can live with it forever as long as you don't do anything rash."

"…"

"Which of course, I assume you'll end up doing anyway. Trouble seems to have a way for finding you, Emiya-kun."

Caster stood up and went to the door.

"Well, I guess it's time we head back."

"Caster…"

"Yes?"

"If…If ever I need…to completely unseal my arm…how do I do it?"

Caster was silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry Caster, but I need to know. At the rate this war is going, I have a feeling that an emergency is going to happen sooner or later. And when that happens, I will use this arm, even if it kills me."

"…despite the fact that almost everyone in that house will disagree with what you're saying now, I myself can't help but have a bad feeling that you're right. Listen carefully. This seal itself has no name as it is a mixture of seals, but the way I sealed your arm, your whole existence itself must have the overwhelming desire and need to undo the seal, so much so you can no longer think of anything else. When that happens, the seal will break. A verbal command helps, but not very much."

"What is the verbal command?"

"There isn't one. You just have to come up with one on the spot. Now come on, I haven't finished dinner."

"Right…thank you, Tamamo."

"My pleasure."

XXX

-Night-

"So…hot…"

I slowly murmured to myself as I slowly made my way outside. I had just woken up, drenched in sweat. No matter what I did, I just couldn't figure out what time it was or where I was.

Somehow, I ended up in the yard, to cool myself down. I didn't know whether this heat was coming from my room or my body, but-

"Guh- Ah!"

A sudden pain brought me to my knees. Breathing heavily, I finally came to my senses. I squeezed my left arm, the apparent source of the heat and pain. The Shroud was still wrapped around it, restraining my arm. I could move it, but it was wrapped so tightly it felt like its circulation was restricted. Maybe the cloth was the source of the pain.

"Maybe my arm's just as it was if I take it off."

That wild idea was incredibly attractive. First of all, I never saw my arm destroyed or transplanted. Even when Caster was doing something with it, I didn't get a good look.

But…didn't it hurt when she took off the cloth?

No…maybe it was whatever spell she put on me…yeah…

Maybe there's nothing wrong with my arm, and my real arm will be right there when I take this cloth off. My arm isn't steel, the cloth is just making my arm stiff…

So I unwrapped it.

What happened next was so indescribably painful I couldn't even find words to describe it.

I couldn't even breathe. My nerves felt like they were being fried. I was alive, but I couldn't feel anything. I had never felt closer to death before. Under that cloth, the arm was completely black.

An arm that was not mine.

"What—was I doing?"

I unwrapped the cloth because of my sudden idea. I did not understand what happened after that. What had been done to me. What would have happened to me. It only happened a few seconds ago, but I couldn't remember at all.

"This is bad, it's really…"

I would die if I release it. Both the priest's and Caster's words were completely true. I don't know what will happen, but what's under this cloth was not mine.

"Forget about it. It's just that my arm barely works. If I think about it anymore, I'll…"

I'll slow down because of fear. That is not allowed. Archer's arm wasn't transplanted onto me so that I could cower in fear.

"That's right, I have to think about Sakura instead of my arm."

Sakura wasn't that different this morning, but who knows when she'll collapse again. I have to defeat Zouken and obtain the Holy Grail before that. I have to think of a way to do that, a way to beat Zouken and Assassin with one arm. And not just them…the black shadow…and Saber as well. I don't know whether she became Zouken's Servant or not, but she's my enemy now.

"…"

To be honest, I know. We have almost no chance of victory. Kousuke is still out cold, Sakura will use up too much mana if she lets Rider fight more, while Tohsaka and Ilya have lost their Servants. I don't know what this pain will be like in the future. The difference in our powers is overwhelming, and I'm not sure of myself.

How can I protect Sakura in such a state?

XXX

-Rider-

Silently, after my conversation with him, I watched from the shadows as Emiya Shirou slowly walked back into the house.

"…"

"He's a real idiot, isn't he. Even after I warned him not to, he still took it off."

I quickly turned to my left and sensed Caster's presence.

"How long have you been there, Caster."

"All this time."

But how? She definitely didn't have the Presence Concealment skill, but I didn't sense her at all?

"Come on, relax. You were probably too preoccupied with Emiya-kun to realize I was here."

"…So where were you before he came out."

"I was inside, with my Master."

"…"

Just as I was about to leave, Caster called out to me.

"Come on, Rider. You must be tired after today. Come have a drink with me?"

Just then, I caught the faint scent of alcohol drift over from Caster's direction. To be frank, I did not want any…but I had not had any form of alcohol in a long, long time, so I decided to take up her offer.

"Well…just one cup then."

I made my way to where Caster was and sat next to her. I heard the sound of liquid being poured.

"Here, you go. I hope you like it."

I took the small, ceramic cup from Caster's hands and took a sip. It was mild, smooth and rich, unlike the alcoholic drinks of my time which were lauded for their strong taste.

"It's quite good."

"Thank you. Say…Rider?"

"What is it?"

"I heard…that you all were attacked by Assassin?"

"Yes, we were. Why?"

I heard the sound of Caster pouring more drink for herself.

"That's troubling. Master was absolutely certain that he had killed Assassin for sure."

"He did? When?"

"On the same night you and Emiya-kun brought myself and Master to Emiya's house. Before we were attacked by Berserker."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I definitely felt his presence vanish, and it was because he had died, or was about to."

I was about to take another drink before I realized my cup was already empty. Caster then took my cup and poured more for me.

"Um, thank you."

"You're welcome."

Slowly, it seemed like Caster was becoming a much more likeable person. And that point, I remembered something.

"Now that I think about it, I did lift my visor once to confirm everyone's position. And Assassin looked a bit…different, than I remembered."

"How so?"

"Actually, he looked the same, except that he had a faint, red vein-like pattern running across his the whole of his black body."

"Hmm…Saber was consumed by the Shadow as well, and look what happened to her. The same thing probably happened to Assassin. And if that Shadow can turn any Servant it consumes into its own, then that means that Berserker…"

"Yes, it's something we must prepare for."

I accepted more drink from Caster.

"But I must say, Caster. Your Master is quite amazing. Killing Assassin, being able to at least keep up with me in battle, managing to hold off Berserker enough for them to retreat, and I even heard that he dueled Saber to a draw."

"Once Assassin was trapped by my seals, he was done for already, even if my Master wasn't there. Saber was weakened from taking Lancer's lance to the chest as well as from Emiya's inaptitude as a Master. Both nights after he fought you and Saber, he passed out immediately when we got home. No matter how good his swordsmanship or his Magecraft is, he is still a human."

"What about with Berserker then?"

As Caster spoke, I could hear her voice shake a little.

"What happened with Berserker…was something that could have been avoided. It's not his fault or his will…it's his blood. I don't ever want that to ever happen again. If it ever gets out of control…he'll be completely consumed by it…"

I had no idea what Caster was talking about, but I just assumed that Caster's Master had some inhuman blood in him.

"…You love him, don't you?"

"Yes. I do. Maybe even more than you love Sakura."

At her words, I gave her a wan smile.

"Hmm. Maybe…just maybe…"

And that night, between the two of us, we finished all of Caster's entire bottle of sake.

XXX

-Caster-

-Day 11, 10th December, Dojo-

I sat there, unconcerned, watching as Shirou, Rin, Sakura, and Ilya made plans for the future. I had already given Kousuke his share of my blood and prana for this morning, so I honestly had nothing better to do for once. Fufufu, goshujin-sama's sleeping face is so cute! Especially when I'm rap- I mean, lovingly giving him my prana so that he recovers faster!

"Well then, what are your plans, Caster?"

I look around to see all four of them looking at me. Seating myself in a more proper position, I give them my reply.

"I apologize. As long as my Master is unconscious, I do not wish to carry out any actions. I have a few reasons, one of them being my Master requires as much mana as possible to recover right now. But rest assured, neither my Master nor myself will do anything to oppose to you. You have our full cooperation."

Shirou nodded.

"I understand Caster. Thank you for your help."

And with that, the battle plans ended and Thaumaturgy Education 101 for Dummies: Drastic Measures Edition began. I watched in mild interest as the Rin forcefully made Shirou strip his clothes off while completely ignoring his feeble protests with Sakura staring daggers at them all the while. Well, what do you know. He has quite a decent build, but my beloved goshujin-sama's is much better!

"Um, Senpai…! W-We, um…made love, right!?"

"Ah—Um—"

I sighed with a smile. Youth is such a great thing, isn't it?

NOT THAT I'M OLD OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.

-Lunch-

"I'm done! Hmm, lunch isn't ready yet?"

I entered the living room and sat down at the table with Shirou and Ilya.

"Welcome back, Caster. Where did you go?" asked Shirou.

"I went out and placed two Bounded Fields around your house. Think of it as returning the favour you did when you rescued my Master and I."

"You did? What are they?"

"The first one is Hachigyō Sōgai. It's a double dislocation barrier that erases this building from the memories of anyone who knows about this building as well as erases the presence of this building to anyone who looks at it. People can only know of its existence, when I, the caster, tells them about it. Which means I have to tell Rin and Sakura later, or they won't be able to find this place if they leave it."

"Eh? You mean…everyone has forgotten about this house…and if anyone looks at it from outside…"

"It'll look like an empty lot. The second one is one I invented after being summoned here. Hakudan Keppeki. It's a special barrier and it's one and only purpose is to stop Servants from entering this home."

"How?" asked Ilya.

"After studying the Bounded Field around Ryuudouji which is able to repel Servants and the very composition of us Servants ourselves, I have developed a temporary barrier that denies entry to any Servant. It cannot be broken by brute force, or dispelled by modern Thaumaturgy. The drawback is the duration. It only activates on contact. When an enemy Servant enters its proximity, the barrier will activate for 15 minutes only. Then, it has to be completely reset."

"I see…what about you and Rider?"

"I've already written the data from the prana composition and signatures of myself and Rider into the Bounded Field, so we will be able to pass through unhindered."

"That's amazing, Caster."

"As expected of the Caster class," nodded Ilya.

"Thank you for the praise~"

XXX

-Kousuke-

-Day 12, 11th December, Guest room-

"I see…so much happened in the past two days…" and all this time I've been asleep, the shadow has just been killing more people?!"

Caster suddenly grabbed my hand.

"It's alright, Master. What matters is that you're awake now…and now we can help out to our fullest."

I looked at her and nodded.

"Right. Caster, what time is it?"

"Just after lunch. Why?"

I spoke as I got up from the futon.

"I have to see Shirou."

XXX

-Shirou-

It was just after lunch. Sakura offered to wash the dishes so Ilya and I were watching television in the living room when the door slid open.

"Emiya Shirou."

"Kousuke?! You're awake?"

"Yes."

I watched as he steadily sat himself down at the table and froze.

"You are…the Einzbern Master?"

"Yes. I am Ilyasviel von Einzbern."

I expected hostility from Kousuke, since Ilya and Berserker were the ones who landed him and Caster in my house in the first place. But he just nodded.

"Caster has told me about your Servant's passing and your alliance with Shirou. Your help will be greatly appreciated in our effort of defeating the Shadow."

From beside him, I heard Caster mutter.

"Tch, Kousuke, you're really too polite or something. At least give her a punch or something…accursed loli…"

"Did you say something, Caster?"

"Nope, nope, nothing at all~"

Kousuke turned back to me.

"Are Tohsaka, Matou and Rider around?"

"I can go call them now."

"No need, I'm just asking."

He finished his tea and stood up.

"Well, I have to be going now. If you ever need my help, all you need to do is call."

"Where are you going?"

"Back to Ryuudouji."

"Ryuudouji?!" said Ilya "The temple?! Are you nuts?!"

"No. The thing is, Caster and I have no doubts that the temple may be playing an important role in this issue. Also, the fact that a massive amount of negative prana has accumulated there is going to be no help to anyone. Thus, Caster and I are going there to try and clean the temple of its bad prana and set up a number of Bounded Fields there."

"But is it really necessary?"

"Yes. I just have this feeling…that the last boss will be waiting there at the end of all this. If a fight ever breaks out between it and us, the Bounded Fields will help to contain any damage to just that spot. Either way, we both left important things in the temple, so we have to go and recover them."

"I see…"

I stood up and held my hand out to Kousuke.

"Well. I don't really have anything that I can say to you now. Good luck, Kousuke."

"Same to you, Shirou. And thank you for these past two days."

"No problem."

And I watched their backs as they left my home.

XXX

-Kousuke-

-Ryuudouji-

"…This is horrible."

The air was thick with the stench of death and blood. All the negative prana almost manifested as a dark mist hanging over the area. And it was worst at the lake. There was literally, a thick, dark mist surrounding and over it. I looked to my right to see Caster holding numerous artefacts, all for the purpose of sealing off just the lake.

"Are you ready, Tamamo."

"As ready as I'll ever be."

And thus, the cleansing began.

Holy shit, that took much longer than I thought. I expected to finish this in under a month, but then I got really busy and now it took more than 3(?) months to finish. Thank you for reading as always, and a special thanks to spiderrock who included my OC and Caster in his own fic (which has progressed much faster than mine).

Once again, thanks for reading! And please leave a review, they help a lot when I'm writing my fic.