Chapter Seven
Shirou looks speechless at the girl in front of him. Never before have he seen someone look as beautiful as she does to him. He can easily get lost in her emerald green eyes. As he stares, the knight looks at him curiously. The sound of spells and weapons clashing outside the shed brings them both out of it.
"Enemy servants detected. Moving to engage." She says heading out.
"Wait!" Shirou calls out. She pauses for a moment and he continues. "Caster and Mason are on our side, so don't attack them."
"Caster and her master are on our side?" She asks.
He answers, "Yes Mason is my brother. Lancer attacked me and they came to help."
She takes a moment before nodding and rushing towards Lancer. Meanwhile Mason is trying his best to hold the servant off. Caster is a good help, but Lancer seems to be able to dodge any projectile attack even in mind air. The male servant is right about this being a battle of stamina because Mason is finding himself out of breath. Using a fighting style that revolves around tiring your enemy out against an enemy that has endless stamina is like trying to keep ice from melting. However relief came to Mason in a color of blue and silver. The female knight rams Lancer into a wall. Lancer comes crawling out and observes the battle.
"Damn," He says. "Two servants and a master who can hold his own against me is turning out to not be in my favor."
"Perhaps it'd be best if you tuck your tail between your legs and run back to your master dog," Caster spits out.
"Oh, still sore about what I said about your previous master Caster? Why don't I help you see him in the afterlife." He holds his spear above his shoulder. "Gae-" He stops and gets an annoyed face. "Tsk, seems like my master is wanting me back. Always a buzz kill." He turns and runs off.
Mason sighs in relief and turns to his brother. "I sent you to get a weapon and you come back with a servant. You are full of surprises tonight aren't you?"
Shirou just shakes his head, "It wasn't my intention, but I can't argue the good it did."
"Glad to be of assistant Master," The knight says but keeps her eye on Caster. "I don't believe we finished introductions because of Lancer. I won't speak my true name in front of them, but my class is Saber and you can call me as such."
"Well nice to meet you, Saber. Don't call me Master since it's weird to be called that. You can just call me by my name, Shirou Emiya." Her master replies.
Her head shoots back in shock, "Emiya?!"
"Yes, that's my last name and my brother here is Mason Emiya. Why do you ask?"
"Um well it's not a name I'm comfortable with. I'll call you Shirou then." Saber tells him.
Shirou just shakes it off, but Mason gets suspicious. "Just a question, Saber, does the name Kiritsugu mean anything to you?"
Her expression goes dark, "Yes, I take it you know that man?"
Mason just plants his head in his hands, "Ugh, not only did you summon a Saber, but you summoned Dad's servant. Only you would have the luck to summon such a powerful servant."
"That man is your father?!" The dark in her face grows.
"Yes he was. He died five years ago. I'm guessing you two didn't end the last war on good terms?" Mason comments.
"No. Once the Grail was in sight, he made me use my Noble Phantasm to destroy it." Saber answers.
Mason and Shirou look at each other with solemn faces and Shirou speaks, "That would explain what happened ten years ago. Dad only told us that the Grail did that, but not the how or why."
"Hold on a moment. Master, Shirou, what are you both looking at each other like that?" Caster questions them both.
Shirou turns to her, "Ten years ago at the end of the last Holy Grail War, the Grail ended spilling its contents onto the city destroying over one hundred buildings, killing over five hundred people, and injuring many more. He said the Grail is corrupted and couldn't grant a proper wish and would only grant a monkey's paw wish. If he had Saber destroy it, then it would explain the how and why." The two servants are appalled by the information. Saber more so after learning that many innocents died because of those actions. The group however isn't allowed to think much more after the barrier around the house is triggered. Saber dashes away before any of them could react. Shirou quickly runs after her with the other two following. He finds her fighting a man in a red suit with a familiar twin-tailed hair girl. His eyes widen and he shouts at her to stop and she follows the instructions and returns to his side.
"You have my thanks, Emiya-kun, for not letting your servant kill Archer." The girl tells him.
"Tohsaka, what are you doing here?" Shirou asks.
"Well we noticed Lancer going after you and came to investigate." She sees Mason and Caster run to Shirou as well. "But it seems as if there was no reason to."
"Well since you're here, why don't we all go inside? A bunch of people in the street are going to track some attention." Shirou suggests.
She agrees and all six of them find themselves in the living room. Caster used some magic to repair the house and Shirou made tea for everyone. Rin discusses the Holy Grail War to the boys and they share what they know. Everyone sits around the table except Archer who is leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. There is something not right here to him. He knows everyone here, but the silver head boy. Who the hell is he and why is Caster here? Why isn't Caster at the temple with her master? His eyes lower to the boy's hand and sees the command seals. Okay, that explains why Caster is here, but that doesn't explain who the boy is. Caster never had him as her master last time. Most of all, he wants to know how/why the hell he and Shirou are brothers. He never had a brother. The only sibling he had was Illya, but she isn't supposed to be here until later tonight. Archer knows that Mason has also looked over at him a few times already. Almost as if the boy knows something.
"Shirou, why don't you explain to Tohsaka what we were telling our servants earlier. Perhaps being the heir of one of the founding members, she might have some better insight of it. I'm going to excuse myself for a moment." Mason gets up and walks out of the room, but not before glancing at Archer to follow him. Archer does and the two stand on the back patio. Mason speaks first, "I guess your wish to become a Hero of Justice worked out didn't it?"
Archer flinches at that statement before recovering, "I have no idea what you are talking about."
Mason stares at the servant, "Please, I would notice my brother's Force signature anywhere. While yours is slightly different, it's too similar enough to mistake it for anything else Shirou."
Archer's expression goes mad, "Do. Not. Call. Me. That. I will not be compared to him. I am not the stupid boy chasing an impossible dream anymore."
Mason goes sour, "So it's like that huh? Can't say I'm too terribly surprised, Shirou would eventually figure out he can't save everyone."
"Hm, he's a fool. He will die before he gets the chance-" An orange blade appears at Archer's throat before he can finish.
"I have no idea what happened to you between now and when you died, but if you try or say anything bad to my brother one more time then I will send you back to the Throne of Heroes myself." Mason threatens. Archer looks at the weapon pointed at him. It's unlike anything he has seen, and surprisingly he cannot trace it. How is that possible? The only other weapon he couldn't trace was the Sword of Rupture, or Ea. Mason notices the confusion on Archer, "You've never seen this weapon before have you?"
"No I have not," Archer admits.
Mason lowers the lightsaber and turns it off. "I'm going to guess you've never met me either."
Archer admits again, "That's right. I have no clue who you are or what that is. In fact he isn't isn't supposed to know about the Holy Grail War until tonight nor have any skill in magic except strengthening and analyzing. What the hell is going on?"
"That is what I would like to know. Let's get back inside and perhaps we both can find the answers we are looking for. I will keep your name a secret for as long as you don't make any moves on your younger self." Mason tells him. Archer grumbly agrees and they return to the room.
Rin meanwhile is in shock, "The last Grail was corrupted? This is troubling. And since there was no winner in the last war then it explains why this war started so early. There's a good chance that the corruption might have carried over as well. We should take this information to the mediator at the church to get his opinion. I don't like him, but he might know more about it. We need to get both of you registered anyways, so two birds one stone."
"Wait, do you mean that church with the fake priest on the hill?" Mason asks, walking in.
Rin slightly startled by his sudden reappearance answers, "Oh! Well yeah, his name is Kirei Kotomine. Why do you guys know him?"
The two brothers and Saber show a look of disgust before Shirou replies, "Know of him. Our father told us a little about him, and from his journal Dad states that Kotomine is the one he worried about the most in the previous war and warned us not to interact with him unless necessary."
Rin's brow shot up, "Your father was in the last war? I read my father's notes about the last war and I think I read something about there being a magus killer named Emiya in it. Kotomine was the first one to lose his servant last time at the start of the war and my father summoned Gilgamesh. So if the infamous magus killer was more worried about the fake priest than my father and servant, then that is terrifying to know. Despite everyone's feelings about him, he might be our best option for how to move forward about the possible corrupted Grail."
"As much as I'd hate to be around the guy, Rin has a point." Saber states.
"Let's just get this over with," Shirou says.
The group makes their way to the church and the servants wait outside of it.
"Welcome, I thought it would be about time the last masters would make their way here." The fake priest tells them. "I'm assuming you are here for me to discuss the Holy Grail War in greater detail as the mediator."
"They seem to already have a good grasp about the war. We are here for another reason than getting them registered." Rin tells him.
"Oh? And what must that be about?" He asks.
"Oh nothing much, just that the Grail is possibly corrupted and we have an outside cult trying to steal servants to get to said Grail." Mason informs him.
Kotomine's expression goes from curious about the corrupted to serious about the cult, "Do tell."
The brothers go over everything they know so far. The attack on the temple, the attempted capture on Caster, the Shadow appearing, and all their father's notes about the Grail. They make sure nothing is left out. Meanwhile Kotomine keeps the same face throughout it all. "Hmm. While I don't know anything about the cult or the Shadow, the Grail itself would be something I'd have to look into myself. Though if the cult ends up becoming too much of a problem and interferes with the war too much and does not have a master then I'll get in touch with the Church or Mage Association to remove them if necessary."
"Well it's comforting to know you'll use the 'wait and see' attitude about the cult," Mason says.
Kotomine looks at him amused, "Well I am only a mediator in this war after all. I will only get involved if I have to and offer shelter to losing masters."
"Tsk," Mason clicks his tongue as he turns arounds to leave. "Coming here was a waste of time then." Rin and Shirou decide to follow him out as well.
Kotomine turns to the hidden figure in the room, "Well what do you think about it?"
A blonde guy in a suit walks out of the darkness, "I think it isn't anything that's worth my time. Though if that mongrel is right about the cult, then perhaps this war might be somewhat amusing. Until then, it is nothing worth getting a king's attention."
The fake priest gives a half smile, "Of course."
The other three make it back to their servants. The servants all heard the conversation via their mental link. "Honestly Master, you were right about it being a waste of time," Caster says. "I don't believe that man will truly do what is necessary about the Grail. With the proper set up, I could check it myself. It'll take a bit, but we all can prepare in the meantime. If you are right then-"
"Hello Shirou, Mason." A voice cuts in. They all look over to see a little girl with white hair, red eyes, and a purple coat and hat. Behind the girl is a huge hulking man with a rock/ax as a weapon. They all stand shocked for a moment, but for different reasons. The servants and Rin stare at the hulking man with a present as a servant. Mason and Shirou are looking at the girl herself for a more personal reason.
"Illya/Nee-san…" The brothers mutter out with Rin looking at them quizzically.
Illya just tilts her head to the side, "So you do know who I am. I wondered if Kiritsugu even bothered to mention me after abandoning me." Saber studies the girl and notices she looks very similar to Irisviel from the previous war. "Not that it matters now. Since you both have your own servants, that means I'm free to kill you. Get them Berserker." She instructs the hulking servant in a playful tone. The beast of a servant jumps forwards towards the group, only to be blown out of the air by an explosion. They look back to who caused it to see Archer standing on a building with a bow in hand.
Caster takes the moment to speak, "I know who that servant is. We are facing Hercules." All eyes go wide.
"Hercules?!" Rin shouts out.
Illya cracks a smile, "Yep. I have the strongest servant so even with the three you have, it won't matter much after you are dead. Anything you do to him, he'll easily heal making him impossible to kill. Go Berserker! Rip their heads off and defile their bodies to your heart's contempt!"
Berserker smashes through the rubble and charges back to follow her words. Saber runs out and meets his weapon with her own. He kicks her out of the way only to be bombarded by a mix of attacks from both Caster and Archer. The three masters try to go for cover only to come across white bird familiars from Illya attacking them. They all get blown back and Shirou is already up and running towards her. Mason groans getting up and watching the redhead, "Damnit Shirou, there is a time and place for everything but this ain't it!" Rin looks at Mason with an arched brow. "He's going to try to get to our homicidal elder sister in hopes of talking to her while she's actively trying to kill us. That stupid suicidal Hero of Justice…" The two takes off after said suicidal hero.
Meanwhile the four servants are still battling each other. Well more like Berserker is shrugging off hits while the other three try to survive. Saber is able to get knocked down a couple times and keep going, but Shirou's mana for her isn't going to allow her to keep it up. She has to admit that even with the madness enhancement Berserkers get, Hercules is still able to somewhat keep his skills on par enough to her own. If she was able to have a master who can provide her mana enough to be at full strength then she might be able to fight Berserker off on her own. But she does have Archer and Caster to be able to pick up any slack she may have; even if Archer doesn't care if he hits his 'allies' with his bombardment. Luckily for her, both her and Caster's masters are brothers so Caster is actively trying to keep Saber in the fight by enhancing her further. Though Berserker grabs her head and smashes it into the ground then runs his weapon through the ground and into Saber flinging her outwards with a bloody wound on her gut. When she lands, the hulking servant jumps towards her to finish her off.
Back at the suicidal hero and his two sidekicks, they are still trying to reach Illya while evading her attacks. A task easier said than done. The road and graveyard battlefield is covered in nothing but rubble and craters. Mason swears if they might it out of here alive, then he's going to beat Archer to the punch of killing Shirou for coming up with such a stupid plan. They should be trying to escape not run after their murderous sister, even if Mason also wishes for her to come home with them. (Un?)luckily for the ex-Jedi, Shirou predictively does something even crazier. The redhead chooses option three, which entails he rushes in front of Berserker and not letting Saber get hit. The slash he receives goes from Shirou's right shoulder down to his left side stomach. They all just stop and look astonished at the brave (or stupid) young master. Even Berserker temporarily stopped his next attack to try to process what happened. The only one who was unfazed by this is Archer, who took the chance to complete his goal. He projects Caladbolg II and readies it on the bow. The sword turns into a spiral arrow as he draws the bowstring back and shoots it at the redhead. Berserker regains his madness and charges back at Shirou and Saber.
The air around the battlefield grows increasingly heavy and right before both Berserker and Caladbolg could reach their target, they both freeze midair. Everyone now turns to the source of such power and finds the other Emiya brother at its center. Something within Mason snaps as he watches Shirou fall onto the ground bleeding heavily. Now the darkness within himself has been freed. Mason's lone eye turns a shadow of a yellow as the darkness has quickly taken over him. His arms outstretched and with a flick of one wrist, Berserker goes flying away without his ax and with the flick of the other, he returns Caladbolg to its sender which destroys the rooftop Archer is on. Archer reappears in seconds behind Mason, but the boy had already got a warning from the Force of the attack. The lightsaber ignites and destroys the projection of the pair swords, Kanshuo and Bakuya. Archer is surprised and projects them again only to have them easily destroyed as well. He then jumps backwards to try to reassess his situation of fighting an unknown, only to be impaled by Berserker's ax and pinned to a concrete wall. Nothing vital is hit, but healing will take awhile if he survives this. Archer gets his break from a roar. Berserker comes flying back in and smashing the ground around him. Mason turns to the servant and sends his anger towards him. Hercules starts feeling hot, then starts steaming, and finally he combusts and flames engulf him. He howls in pain before falling over.
Everyone is stunned as they watch the chaos of a human fueled by anger and hatred take on two servants. Granted the servants didn't treat him as much as a threat, but what he was able to do was something they didn't want directed at themselves. Illya is the most shocked by the performance from whom she saw was her replacement by Kiritsugu. Somehow he has the frightening power to kill Hercules and take one of his lives. She watches Berserker heal himself as life comes back into his eyes. Mason's attention still on the servant, makes a move to press the fight more but an arm stops him. He quickly looks over at the owner of said arm and finds Shirou struggling to stand himself up enough to get to his brother. The yellow in Mason's eyes simmers away as the original steel color returns. Mason grabs his brother and holds him tightly as Shirou weakly returns the hug. A cough from the redhead makes Mason stop to examine the wound. Mason then places a hand by the wound and channels the Force to it. The wound gradually closes leaving no trace of it even being there. Mason falls over in exhaustion and Shirou now grabs his unconscious brother, reversing the roles.
Illya starts reconsidering her previous plan. Sure Archer, Saber, and Mason are no longer combatants, and she doubts two masters and Caster would be a problem; but then again she never expected Mason to take on two servants and heal a fatal wound all within five minutes. "Berserker," she calls to the beast that has finished healing himself, "we're leaving." With that, Berserker picks her up and jumps away.
The moment they leave, Caster is already at Mason's side. "Dammit. I will not lose two masters in two days." She starts to cast spells to heal him. "He is very weak. Whatever he did to heal you has drained him."
Shirou replies, "I only know from what he has told me, but I'm guessing he used a very powerful form of Force healing. It uses the user's lifeforce to heal another. Honestly he talks about me killing myself to save people and then he does this."
Caster jerks her head towards Shirou, "Well he wouldn't have had to do it if you didn't jump in front of FUCKING HERCULES!"
"Hey! I was protecting Saber from getting killed!" He defends himself.
Saber limps over to them holding her gut, "That is not an excuse! I am a servant and getting hurt or killed is part of being one. As a master you should have been put safe."
"But-"
"The servants are right, Emiya-kun," Rin agrees. "If you die then Saber would be masterless and wouldn't have the mana to sustain herself. Which means she would have died regardless."
"I mean it worked out in the end," Shirou pointed out.
"BECAUSE MASON SAVED YOUR LIFE!" The three females shout at him.
"There was no need for him to. I have a healing factor." Shirou grunts.
Archer finally reaches the group last, "A healing factor doesn't give you an excuse to be so suicidal. If you don't figure out what is wrong with the way to try to save people, then you'll only end up making it worse for both yourself and other people." He catches Rin's shocked look. "What?"
Rin shakes her head, "Nothing. It's just I never expected you to say that. For a while I was convinced you were actually Satan."
Archer frowns, "Really? Ugh, I'm too damaged to deal with this." He goes in spirit form.
Caster sighs heavily, catching everyone's attention. "Good news, he is stable and won't go dying on us anytime soon. Bad news is he'll be unconscious for a while. How long? Shouldn't be more than a day or so."
"That's good," Shirou states.
"I'd advise you to not do something like that again. Next time he might pour too much of himself into healing you." She turns to the blonde knight, "Come here Saber. I'll take care of that wound for you." She starts addressing the blooded gut. "Before you ask Archer, I will not be healing you. Especially that stunt you pulled attacking my master and that's not even counting on how you disregarded friendly fire when we were fighting Berserker."
"Thanks Caster," Saber says after the healing was done.
"Though I feel like we have yet to address the elephant in the room," Rin points out. "What the hell did Emiya-kun(2?) do?"
All eyes go to Shirou for answers who sighs, "Look I don't know much on this Force power Mason has, but I'll try to tell you what I know when we get back to my place. We've lingered here too long already."
At the Ryuudou Temple there is construction being done around it. Many Cult of Nihilus are everywhere building fortifications all around the temple grounds. High walls, barricades, blaster turrets, etc. Everyone living in the temple or coming to visit were mind tricked to leave with no memory to not raise any more suspicions. Inside one of the rooms in the temple itself is a bloodied room that is filled with screams coming from it. A woman with dirty blonde hair and a bloody doctor scrub walks out removing her mask. She addresses the man in dark armor waiting for her.
"Master," She greets with a bow.
"Apprentice," the man nods back. "Having fun with your new toy?"
Her face lights up in pleasure, "Oh the torturing is wonderful. Never have I ever had such a subject able to withstand so much pain without dying. I've been able to do things I've only dreamed of."
"I am pleased your new plaything causes you such joy beloved." He removes his helmet to reveal a red alien face and kisses her. "But Valia, has your work on him been able to provide results?"
Valia's face goes back to being serious, "Not as previously hoped Darth Skoor. Assassin is weak and his magical connection isn't that strong. Even with the Dark side and Sith magic, the best we've been able to produce is a weaker, shadow-like version of the familiars that the Grail can produce."
Skoor scowls, "If only we could have captured Caster last night. With that witch's magical abilities, we could have gotten the strength we needed to defend this place if the servants of this so-called 'war' banded together. If only that Jedi-" He gets cut off by a very dark Force energy hitting both of them.
"What was that?" Valia asks.
Skoor ponders with the Dark Side for a moment before coming to an answer. "It would seem my assumption of the boy last night being a Jedi may have been wrong."
Her eyes went wide, "That just now was from the boy? There must be some mistake. I've never felt such darkness coming from anyone other than you."
He nods, "Yes indeed. I would not mistake the Force signature of the only being that managed to land a blow on me."
"What will we do Master?"
"Hmmm, the boy has a lot of potential with the Dark Side. We could perhaps solve the problem we have while also gaining a powerful ally."
"If the boy can be turned…"
"We would be unstoppable." He finishes with an evil grin. "I'll see what information I can learn about him to turn him. If he is unable to turn, then we will use what we learn to kill him before he can prove undo everything we've done."
"Of course-" Something stops Valia before she can continue. She heads back into the bloodied room and turns to Skoor with a smile. "Well it seems all hopes are not lost Master. We seem to have at least one successful result."
A hoarse voice echoes throughout the temple, "AAAAaaaaAAAAaarrrrrthurrrrrRRR!"
Author's Note:
Yay another chapter done! I believe this is one hell of a way to start off a Holy Grail War. So concerns you all might have about Mason fighting two servants. As I mentioned, the servants weren't treating him as much of a threat. Berserker along with his Madness enhancement just saw Mason as a bug to be swatted away and paid for it. That class isn't known for their intelligence. With Archer, he has no idea what Mason can do or what the Force it and got caught of guard. That and as well as this being the first time Mason tapped into the Dark Side giving him a power boost. But even with that power boost and the fight continued, Hercules would have definitely killed him. Hope that clears what happened there. Moving on to the church scene, I'll be honest in saying I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to writing Kotomine. I can never figure him out whether I'm watching the anime, playing the VN, or reading other fanfics. So I hope you bare with me when it comes to him. Also I should mention that Skoor's alien race is a Sith Pureblood if the red face didn't make that connection. Anyways time for review replying.
keybladelight: I appreciate your feedback and ideas you've been providing so far. I am having it to where a lightsaber can't be traced, so no worries there. I also already had planned for Saber and Mason training/sparring together and I like your inclusion of him using a holocron to train. Though I do feel really bad about disappointing you with the direction I want to take Mason on which is not the same as the one you are describing. I may do the new lightsaber thing since getting one's kyber crystal is a great journey for Force users to take, but the rest isn't the path I want him to walk.
Well I think that wraps up everything for this time. Thanks for reading and I'll talk at y'all later!