Fate/Roots
A Fate/Stay Night x Fate/Zero xover
This is a fanfiction that generates 0 revenews, it is a work of art and I claim 0 authorship of anything other than the story, all characters belong to Type-moon sensei.
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Chapter 3: Dark seeks Light/ Light seeks Dark
Kotomine Risei was sighing, this grail war was off to a bang it seems, using his influence he instructed for any and all damage to be hidden, repaired or have it covered up via magecraft, it was his duty as the arbiter of this bloodsport of sorts. What's even worst is that there has been an increase on murders, ones which reek of supernatural, it is said that if someone has not much mana to help materialize a servant they could allow a servant, or force them to consume souls.
He knew all of the competitors had more than enough, save for 2, the Matou candidate, and the master of Assassin, knowing the personality Berserker's master had he ruled him out, that only left Caster's elusive master.
Kotomine Kirei was bothered when Assassin informed him that one of their bodies had been dispatched, hence Kirei had little to no knowledge of how things went there.
He could, of course, ask Archer, however it was more than likely that rather than say anything he would only glorify himself and talk down on the others.
Something he was told made him stop for a second.
The Assassin had been killed by an arrow, or arrow-like projectile.
The speed needed to get Assassin unaware and the distance done…
It was not a human who did that.
There was someone else, a third party in this conflict.
Tokiomi contacted Risei and Kirei took the opportunity to speak up on that.
Tokiomi began to ponder, looking up at the ledgers his ancestors had about the Grail War to see if it was possible, however it lacked much as the Tohsakas only provided the venue in which the war was to be done due to the leylines it had. Only the Einzberns and Makiris (now Matou) could have more information.
However…
"It is an impossibility, for that to happen they would need to tamper with the Greater Grail, Which has not been called upon in all iterations of this war, however I do share in your concerns, have Assassin's double up, that way should something happen the other could give and account on what happens should they survive this… interloper." Tokiomi said.
Tokiomi deduced that the interloper had to be someone who specialises in combat, while stronger than a regular human, Assassin's were not warriors, a human of excellent skill could hold them off, or, in rare cases, even defeat one, that is not to mean he was calling Assassin class servants as useless, they were simply geared toward covert combat.
Meanwhile, somewhere else a disturbing duo were speaking.
Ryonosuke and his servant Caster, who was looking at a scrying crystal ball, were watching the ongoing battle at the docks.
Caster, Bluebeard, began to cry in joy.
His holy maiden had returned at last and he would endeavor to bring her to his side. The holy virgin.
Ryonosuke was taken back, but Caster had shown him things beyond his wildest dreams.
He was a pleasure killer, someone who killed to find pleasure, this all happened due to him never seeing true "horror" from splatter house style films and thus decided to try and find "it".
He was a prolific serial killer with 42 murders to his name, but due to his nature, and his own natural born skill at erasing and destroying any evidence of his crimes, and the fact he never stole anything from his victims, made it hard to find him. There was no motive other than to find an "answer", his victims where of any gender and walks of life.
Having summoned Caster he was now able to look even further for the enjoyment of "death", as Caster extended the lifespan of Ryonusuke's victims as he cut them and made his macabre "artwork". Extending their lives as they died slowly and with suffering.
He was a person who was, like Kotomine, born evil, however, unlike Kotomine he was never indoctrinated with moralities as he was. That made it so he had no hesitation to seek his "pleasures"
He was also very unlike how someone in his shoes would be.
Energetic, upbeat, and openhearted. A dichotomy if there ever was.
And with that, Caster let the scrying ball to Ryonosuke to watch as he went up to pick his Holy Maiden of fate.
Elsewhere
Saber was, for once, doubting she could survive this, she was legitimately afraid for her life.
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration" she said the mental mantra as Irisviel took a super sharp turn around the edges of a mountain pass at full speed as they were returning to the Einzberns castle in the forest in Fuyuki.
Irisviel was having the time of her life, her driving skills honed to the max by playing Mario Kart games.
This tidbit made Saber fear for her life even more. Irisviel, it seems, did not know ANY traffic rules.
Just as they were going for another sharp turn Saber noticed something.
"Watch out!" She said as she took control of the car and slammed on the breaks.
In front of them was what could only be described as an innsmouth-like person.
Caster was on the scene.
Matou residence
"You must have a death wish to so brazenly come here, Servant," Zouken said.
EMIYA gave a condescending smirk. "Oh? What makes you think I am a Servant? All slots have been filled after all."
"I might be old, but not senile enought to forget, it was I who made the command seals to control your ilk afterall." The decrepit worm magus said.
"It's ironic really, no servant recognized me as such, yet a cadaver that forgot to die has" he said.
"If something happened to the grail to make it go outside the control of the church, the Einzberns and Matou made a failsafe… if all classes have been filled it is only one class that could possibly be summoned without a master… the Ruler class" he said.
EMIYA rose an eyebrow, he never knew of this tidbit of information back when he was alive, nor as a servant. Maybe said info would have been given by the grail should it warrant for it.
However, this old worm gave EMIYA a NEW cover.
"I demand you to leave Ruler, you forget your station, you cannot interfere with the masters so long as rules of the war are being respected, and no one of the Matou line has done anything to warrant your interference" Zouken said.
"I see, it is true… however, I never said I was after the Matou's master candidate" EMIYA said.
Zouken was taken back, his insect familiars moved frantically as if agitated.
"Matou Zouken, who are selected to be Ruler servants?" EMIYA asked.
Zouken tried to remember the failsafe.
"The criteria to be summoned for the Ruler Class is impartiality and possessing no desire for the Holy Grail. Those who qualify are most often Saints, and any Ruler summoned to preside over a Holy Grail will be a Saint under normal conditions." Zouken said.
"Then tell me, what would a saint, or any person of morals do, when a young girl is violated by parasitic worms familiars?" EMIYA said with a hint of sarcasm and righteous fury.
Zouken attacked immediately.
A wave of carnivorous worms and other insects flew towards EMIYA, whom knowing of Zouken's magecraft, swiftly dispatched them.
He knew attacking the body would be a waste. He needed to find the linchpin. The one that absorbed mana and kept HIS soul intact, or whatever passes for it.
Why? Because Zouken lived too long prolonging his life via unnatural means, meaning that time has been eroding his soul.
It was possible, QUITE possible, that his original goal had been forgotten in the madness.
"I am the bone of my sword"
Words with power.
From the origin to the magic.
Peerless blades shot out at the monstrosity in human(?) flesh along with sacramental black keys. The main body had been immobilized, however it would be but a temporary measure, his familiars would unpin him in but a few minutes, however it will cost him quite a few of them, as the blades would destroy such abhorrent beings.
The house was protected against spiritual intrusion, meaning astral projection and servants in their spirit form wouldn't be able to just phase in.
EMIYA destroyed said countermeasures when using Rule Breaker.
He moved around until he found a hidden section, a basement level of sorts.
"Of course, Rin had a place like this too in her home" EMIYA said to himself.
Inside, with eyes like that of a dead fish, lay a young girl with purple hair in the middle of a wriggling mess of worm familiars.
It made him sick.
Another blade flew out, hitting the girl.
"Protect the innocent, ward evil away and shelter the needy, Curtana!" He said.
A barrier emerged from the blade, the girl was shocked that the sword, while being deep inside her, had not hurt her in the least.
Obviously it would never do that.
Curtana, the sword of Mercy, it was a sword that would NEVER harm. It would protect and shelter the needy and the just.
Then a black key was fired, this one had an incineration sacrament.
The whole place was filled with otherworldly wails of pain and suffering emanating from the worm familiars as they died, incinerated by holy fire.
"You BASTARD! I WILL HAVE YOUR SAINT GRAPH DESTROYED! YOU WILL NOT STOP ME, YOU OVERINFLATED FAMILIAR!" He heard Matou as he felt the burning and death of each familiar of his.
"This should put quite a dent on him, now I need to take her away, I should bring her to the Einzberns castle, this will make that decrepit husk of life send Berserker's master and servant to get her back and my plan will start, I just hope the old man doesn't mind this addition to the plan, oh well, it is for the best after all" he said to himself after he jumped from a window with the young girl in his arms.
He rushed towards the entrance of the forest, and to do so he would need to go via rooftops.
Meanwhile Zouken was beyond rage and fury. A large amount of his familiars had been incinerated. He pushed himself up as his dark soul commanded all his familiars around Fuyuki to find Ruler.
With Saber and Irisviel
"I welcome you, oh Holy Maiden," Caster said in a reverent tone.
Both women were taken back.
"Do you know him?" Irisviel asked.
Saber was taken back by this man's intensity "No, I don't know him at all"
Caster wailed in lamentation "IT IS I, IT IS I, GUILLES DE RAIS!l, YOUR ETERNAL DEVOTED SERVANT! I HAVE PRAYED FOR YOUR RESURRECTION AND HOPED FOR THE MIRACLE OF THE CHANCE TO MEET AGAIN! AND SO I HASTENED HERE AFTER SO MANY AGES JUST TO SEE YOU JEANNE!"
Irisviel was taken back at the being in front of her, specially his name.
Saber decided to disabuse the man of his error and thus acted in a proper way of a person of her station and creed "Since you have declared yourself , then in accordance of chilvaric custom, I too, will state my True Name. My name is Arthuria, king of Britain and heir to Uther Pendragon. But I do not recognize your name… nor do I know of this Jeanne you speak of" Saber stated.
Caster began to loose his mind even more (if such thing is even conceivable or possible I know not) lamenting over how Jeanne had forgotten herself, that it was a cruel thing of God to do that, but also so much in line, for he had done Jeanne a disservice by allowing her to be burned as a witch.
However after much prattling Saber had enough, with a swing of her blade she tore trough the road. She would not allow Caster to mock the wishes of the heroic spirits that are battling for the grail by saying that the grail was his already and his wish had been granted.
However Caster was deaf to anything but his own narrative and after promising to help her "unlock" her memories he vanished.
Irisviel sighed in relief, as dealing with a madman was tired some.
Just then, EMIYA landed.
"Uh? Did I miss something?" He asked.
Saber and Irisviel began to explain what had transpired, EMIYA sighed, it seems this war's Caster was unhinged in all the wrong places. At least in his timeline the Caster was someone who just wanted to live in the modern era with a man she loved, who happened to be her master
While she fed on the souls of people she at least had the tact to not kill then outright and rather make them become comatose for them to recover. Obviously recovery would take long time, but it is still better than dying.
It was then when Saber and Irisviel turned things around, as they said nothing of the small package EMIYA had.
"Archer… who is that little girl?" Saber asked.
"She is a victim and the key to further enhance our battle power, before you all say anything, Irisviel," EMIYA said as she turned to look at him wondering what he would ask. "Do you have enought mana to support that Beraeker?"
Irisviel whent deep into thought. "I should have enought to make him function normally, albeit his Noble Phantasm would drain me out quite severely, however if you were to use your class skill of independent action… it SHOULD mitigate expenditure somewhat" she said after a bit of thought.
Saber caught onto what EMIYA planned to do.
"You mean you will steal a servant from one of the master?" Saber asked in shock.
She did not like the idea. It went against her code of honor.
Irisviel was hesitating, and thus decided to take it to Kiritsugu.
It was decided that Saber would drive home, due to the small child now with them.
"Archer, you never said who this child is" Irisviel said.
"She is Sakura Matou, former Tohsaka" he said.
"A-A-A Archer! You don't kidnap her did you?! Please tell you haven't!" Irisviel asked.
"On thebfountrary, it would be more accurate to say that I saved her from something worst than hell itself, tell me, you know anything about the Matou magecraft?" EMIYA asked.
Irisviel pondered "if I remember correctly the Magecraft of the Matou works around the concept of "absorbing" or, from another perspective, "to bind something to one's self". Their method of teaching of Thaumaturgy is not by letting the mind absorb the knowledge through study, but by literally carving it into the body"
EMIYA nodded, "however the way they do so is most inhumane, specially to a young girl, they infested her with worm crest familiar who violate her in order to harvest her prana and feed that cadaver who calls himself the patriarch of the Matou house"
Irisviel who had a white skin turned into a bluish purple hue at hearing that, and looked at the poor girl who was asleep… and it turned even darker when she I shined that happening to her own daughter Illya.
"This child, she must be protected" Irisviel declared.
"Naturally, however Zouken saw me, he doesn't know whose servant I am, however he gave me a very good cover without meaning to do so… tell me, what do you know about the Ruler class servant?" EMIYA said with a smirk.
Once they arrived the their castle Kiritsugu was promptly informed.
"I see, your plan has merit Archer, if you can do what you said that is" Kitisgu said. "Taking the identity of the Ruler class would allow you to go about without attracting attention or getting into fights"
"Of course, I am your wife's Servant so I cannot be anything but the best" he declared.
This made Irisviel blush and Kiritsugu turned around, he had a very rare smile.
"However, the Berserker… he has an ax to grind against Saber, how would we go about that?" Kiritsugu asked.
"Berserker will be used remotely, he would accompany myself or Irisviel should Saber be unable to come to her side as she would be his master, that way Saber and Berserker would need not to interact nor be anywhere close to each other and triggering Berserker… after all Berserkers will berserk" EMIYA said with a shrug.
He couldn't help but feel that Archer was one who could understand him just as well as his wife and daughter could.
The night was still young.
"Archer… would you accompany to deal with a target?" Kiritsugu asked.
EMIYA looked at Irisviel.
"Go on Archer, we will be fine" she said.
And so Kiritsugu, Maiya and EMIYA left back to the city.
They were at the Hyatt hotel.
The plan was simple, they would Assassinate Lancer's master.
The plan was to use an explosive and take down the Hyatt hotel with him in there, due to the I here to magus mentality he would feel untouchable in his residency, which normally would be very true.
"Kiritsugu, I have a better plan than using explosives, so save them for another occasions, I have a better solution" EMIYA said.
And so they cleared the hotel by giving a bomb threat.
Unknown to the magus inside his downfall was already in route, he was expecting a duel as most magus would… however neither EMIYA nor Kiritsugu, albeit being magus, would comply and do things the most efficient way possible.
Chapter end.