Chapter Eight
Rin rubs her temples after hearing Shirou's second hand knowledge about the Force and what Mason can do. Never has she ever heard of this and she's pretty sure neither has the Clock Tower. Mason coming from sci-fi land and having space wizard powers is insane, and said power sounds very overpowered. But that's not the worst of it. No, the worst part is that there is literally an evil cult who are fully trained in it and they are after the Grail! She groans just thinking about it and takes a sip from the tea offered to her by Shirou. They arrived back at the Emiya house and have settled Mason in his bed for now as they go over what they know.
"As if this night could get any worse," Caster mumbles coming back from the makeshift magus workshop in the shed.
"What is it?" Shirou asks.
"Oh nothing much. Just that when I went to check the Grail's condition, it's so jacked up that it makes string theory look simple in comparison." She states.
"I'm guessing there is more going on than it being corrupted." Rin says.
Caster nods, "Yes there is. It seems there are a few people that have found a way to piggyback on the Grail to influence it or use its power directly. There's also what appears to be a botched job of making a lesser grail container and whoever did that used really revolting magic. It seems the makeshift one has traces of the last war's Grail in it."
"The Einzberns are usually the ones to provide the greater grail container with homunculus. So making a makeshift lesser grail one makes no sense. Unless they plan on trying to fully take control of the Grail." Rin states. "Looks like one of our objectives should be to find it and get rid of it before it becomes uncontrollable."
Shirou frowns, "You mean we'll have to kill whoever is the container?"
"Yes. We can't risk them becoming the cause of a world ending threat." Rin says.
"But what if they are innocent and have no desire for that?"
"Doesn't matter. They can be manipulated or forced to do so, and I can't allow that to happen." Rin flatly states having no need to discuss it further. She turns to Caster, "So what do you know about the piggy back thing?"
"Not much. From what I can tell is that they are using something that the Grail manifested as their way in. Though it is fairly weak so I doubt they are able to get what they want properly," Caster answers.
Rin sighs, "Ugh I don't like the sound of that either. Let's add that to the list of things we need to stop. I'm going to take a guess that the cult Mason was talking about has their hands on one of those things. For now I suggest-" She stops when she sees her cup of tea floating in front of her. Other things in the room start floating as well along with the rest of the house.
Shirou's eyes goes wide, "Oh no." He quickly gets up and darts towards the hallway. "Damn, damn, damn," he continues to say as he makes his way through the house. The others just look around the house in shock following him.
"Emiya-kun, what's going on?" Rin asks the redhead.
"Mason's having a bad dream," Shirou shouts back.
"So things start floating when he gets nightmares?"
"No, just during bad dreams. Nightmares are way worse. I pray he doesn't get one."
"What's worse than this?" She asks before one of the floating cups of tea fly towards her with great speed. Saber quickly grabs Rin before it smashes on the wall. "I just had to ask."
They continue down the house dodging objects until they reach Mason's room. Shirou opens the door only to be greeted back by a desk flying out the door. Saber once again prevents someone from getting hit as the desk flies into the wall. They peak into the room to see what appears to be a tornado of furniture and clothes flying around Mason. Shirou quickly runs in ducking under anything trying to hit him. He reaches the center and begins to grab Mason into a hug.
"Mason," Shirou calls to his brother. "Mason come back to us. You're stronger than this. Hear my voice, you are safe. Calm down." After numerous attempts, the objects start to slow their speeds until they suspend in the air. Shirou, noticing the sign, calls to the others, "Get down!" They follow his direction and immediately everything gets thrown, along with Shirou, and crashes. The objects and the house settle down afterwards with Shirou groaning and Mason remaining unconscious.
Saber picks up her Master, "Are you okay?"
Shirou nods, "Yeah. I'm used to it by now, so there's no need to worry."
"This has happened before?"
"Yeah. From what I put together it's pretty much PTSD mixed with his Force powers which makes a very dangerous combination." Shirou explains.
"He has PTSD?" Rin asks.
"Yeah we both do. Sleep is pretty much our enemy. Mine is from the aftermath of the last Holy Grail War, and his is from being in an actual war and its aftermath when he was a child." They all stand in shock for a moment as Shirou continues. "We both get dreams from it, but Mason's power makes it a lot more dangerous. Our father had his hands full dealing with two PTSD kids, but oddly enough the two of us together made those dreams die down. Whenever I am here then he breaks out shortly after as you all just saw."
Caster suddenly gets and slaps Shirou, "So you're telling me that you almost got yourself killed, you risked your PTSD brother getting his condition worse?! Do you realize the kind of mental damage you could have done to him if you did die?! Who's going to be there to stop him from having another nightmare attack after the one person who can stop it dies? Your guardian? No, she doesn't even know about any of this. You'd be dooming him to a fate worse than death if you selfishly got yourself killed!" The Greek servant then storms out of the room with Rin and Saber following shortly after trying to avoid the tension. Shirou makes sure Mason is alright before setting his bed back and leaving him to rest. Shirou closes the door as Archer rematerializes against the wall next to him.
"They make a good point you know," Archer tells him.
"I don't wish to discuss this with someone who tried to kill him." Shirou says flatly.
Archer crosses his arms, "Don't take it personally. At the time I figured at the end of the day, only one Master/Servant duo can win the Grail. Our trace was only temporary and I took the chance to take out one of the threats. I suffered from that mistake, so I won't be trying it again as long as my Master has an alliance with you both. Besides, things are playing out far too out of control for me to be killing off any allies we can get." Not to mention that hardly anything is playing out the same way as last time.
"Fine I trust you won't try to kill any of us now, but that doesn't mean I have to like you."
"What a coincidence, I don't like you either. You chase after an unreachable dream and you disregard the people around you. You have people that need saving here, but you don't think about what will happen to them if you die."
Shirou sighs, "This again? Yes they will be sad, but they'll get over my death."
Archer's face drops, "You are an idiot if you think that. Didn't you listen to what Caster said earlier? Your brother would only get worse with your death. There is more to saving someone than preventing physical harm. I know from experience. I have seen people that I protected from dying go into a mental state that ends up with either themselves or other people's death. So unless you plan on leaving mentally broken people to become an empty shell, I'd suggest reconsidering what a hero really is." Archer then goes back into spirit form leaving Shirou to his thoughts.
Archer sighs to himself. I planned on just killing him to prevent what happened to me from coming to pass, but I am still not healed enough to try without Caster and Saber stopping me anyways. Plus Mason's situation prevents me from killing my younger self. The ramifications that would appear from Shirou's death is too great to overlook and killing them both is a no go since that would be even harder to do. That leaves me with little options then. There is no other Master/Servant duo I can trust to team up with to kill them. Rider would be too weak to do anything, Lancer's Master is just someone I'd much rather kill than be on the same team with and his friend would try to kill me because of my abilities, Assassin is presumably dead, and Illya would much rather kill me. So that leaves Shirou changing enough to avoid my past. That's an uphill battle, but it's the only path set out for me. Besides, the counter guardian of me is more concerned about the Grail and the cult. He chuckles to himself. I guess old habits die hard.
Lancer gazes at the construction that is taking place at the Ryuudou Temple early the next morning. "Seems like the boy was right, Master." He says through his telepathic link.
"So it would seem." Kotomine agrees, watching through what Lancer can see. "They are unknown even in mage society. My contacts can't find any records of them. We should be cautious. They could very well ignore any and all rules regarding the Holy Grail War."
Lancer nods, "As much as I hate you only letting me do recon, I can't help but agree with you this time. The power coming from this place is similar to what the boy did last night, but way darker. It gives me the creeps." Lancer then gets a feel for the energy surrounding the place before noticing something. "Hey I'm picking up the presence of Servants within that place."
Kotomine waves it off "So that would mean that someone in there is the Master of the missing Assassin."
"No that's not it. I do feel Assassin's presence there, but it's weak and not what has me concerned. No, I feel more Servant-like presences and another Servant from within."
The fake priest's interest peaked, "Other Servants? That's concerning. There are only supposed to be seven Servants summoned, but you say you feel the presence of more? See what you can find out."
Lancer jumps from his position and goes to take a closer look. Using the cover of the morning fog, he sneaks his way to the stairs. About halfway, there is a figure standing in his way.
"Oh, it's my lucky day. Not only did I stumble upon Assassin last night, but a Lancer makes his way to me as well!" The woman in armor says with excitement in her eyes.
"Look lady, I'd advise you to stop looking at me like that and move out of my way." Lancer tells her.
"Awww. Don't be such a party pooper. I have so many things planned for you. You'll do much better than Assassin as a connection link to the Grail. I can already hear the screams you'll make when I scramble your insides." She holds her hands to her cheek as she blushes.
Lancer gets a look of disgust, "I think I'm going to be sick. I'm not the one to be sticking my dick in crazy, so I'm going to have to pass on that offer."
Valia tilts her head with a confused look on her face, "What do you mean? That wasn't an offer. You have no choice here. You are a Servant, a tool, and you will be used however I wish whether it be fetching me tea or tearing out your testicles through your nose."
"Um Master, remember how I said I hate the way you use me? You can scratch that. I'll take you over her any day." Lancer thinks slowly backing away.
"Where do you think you are going? I didn't say you can leave." She calls out to the Irish hero. She then knocks over a few trees over the stairs below with the Force.
"Tsk. You are persistent, but a couple of knocked over trees won't stop me. I'll just have to kill you then." Lancer shouts.
Valia shakes her finger, "I don't think so. You'll be too busy fighting for your life to worry about killing me?"
"Oh? And why is that?" Lancer's answer is shown by a snap of her fingers. Three shadowy figures appear around him. One is in a chariot, one has red and yellow spears, and the last looks like a black knight with a red visor. Lancer's eyes stop at the one with the spears. "I recognize those spears. Those are Gae Buidhe and Gae Daerg! They belong to Diarmuid Ua Duibhne! Though he seems different. Like he is incomplete and a shadow of his true self. The guy in the chariot feels incomplete as well. Just a shadow version of himself. The last one has the presence I was concerned about. Although he is also covered in a smoke-like shadow, he feels like a complete Servant."
"The other two are Iskandar (Alexander the Great) and Lancelot. They all were the Lancer, Rider, and Berserker of the Fourth Grail War." Kotomine tells his Servant. "While I don't know why the first two are the way they are, Lancelot was very much this way in the last war. Possibly this cult has found a way to summon additional Servants with Assassin has the conduit. Do not underestimate them, Lancer. Even as Shadow Servants, they along with Lancelot can and will beat you. Get out of there before they do what they did to Assassin on you!"
Lancer doesn't even hesitate and quickly makes his escape. The three go in pursuit leaving Valia to salivate over what she would do to the Celtic man. Lancelot picks up a fallen branch and it turns black with red crack-like lines covering it. He swings the branch at Lancer and misses and destroys a tree, leaving the branch unharmed.
"Yo Master, you seem to have knowledge of these Servants. I already have Diarmuid's skills and abilities known given our shared Celtic myology, but I got nothing much to go on for the other two." Lancer says dodging another tree branch attack and blocking one from a spear.
"Iskandar is mostly effective in this chariot. It is fast and allows him to fly as well. Outrunning him will be difficult, but he is in a weakened state so I doubt he and your kinsmen can keep chasing you forever. Other than that, he has an EX Rank Noble Phantasm which will take the battlefield to his own Reality Marble filled with an army of his most loyal subjects during his time as king. I doubt the Shadow Servants can make use of Noble Phantasms of such power, but I wouldn't advise finding out. As for Lancelot, he is simpler. He retains his fighting skills as a knight, but what makes him a wild card is his Noble Phantasm, Knight of Owner. Whatever he touches can fall under his influence and turn into his Noble Phantasm." Kotomine explains.
Lancer avoids being run over by the chariot and another wild tree branch that cracks the ground on impact. "So that tree branch is currently a Noble Phantasm?"
"Correct. In the previous war, he took a fighter jet as his Noble Phantasm and had a dogfight in the air. He truly is a wild card and he being here under the influence of a cult who also are a wild card is truly a wild card."
"If you say wild card again I'm going to wild card you when I make it out of here." Lancer shoots back. He continues running through the city while fighting off the pursuers. They are not making it easy for him. Iskandar keeps cutting him off every chance he gets, Diarmuid is a nonstop fighting machine giving Lancer no break, and Lancelot is just screaming and causing chaos. After narrowly avoiding another attempt to be run over, Lancer finally gets hit by the tree branch launching him into a park. He lands with a hard thud and groans trying to get back up, but another tree branch hit knocks him back down. Then another, then another, and another. Lancer has had enough as he creates a rune to cause an explosion to knock the black night away from him. He then gruntly pushes himself up and sees that he is surrounded again, but this time they are on guard to block him from leaving. Lancer picks up his spear and readies himself for a last stand.
However salvation comes in the form of red and black tendrils. It grabs Iskandar's chariot and yanks it back. The rider falls off it as the chariot and its horses are pulled into the darkness of the woods. No, not darkness, a Black Shadow. A pool of purplish-black liquid surrounds the Shadow with plant life quickly dying around it. The tendrils then fly towards the rider who desperately evades. The Shadow grows relentless as it desperately wants to feed on its prey. Lancelot chucks his branch at the Shadow who catches it and crushes it. It now tries to go for the knight, feeling it having a greater presence than the shadow rider. Lancer takes the moment to escape with only his Celtic counterpart following him. The Shadow disregards the escaping Servant having already chosen its meal. The tendrils reach out to the remaining two as Iskander fights it away with his sword and Lancelot jumps around it. It gets fed up by the Shadow Servant's attempts and grabs his sword, yanking it away. It then manages to wrap itself around Iskandar's legs and pulls him off his feet. The rider struggles to escape and is rewarded by getting impaled by the tendrils. It slowly drags him into the pool around it. Lancelot, with what little sense he has left, leaves Iskandar to his fate and returns to the temple. The former king continues struggling as more and more tendrils wrap itself around him. Black corruption spots start to cover him from his wounds. Finally the Shadow pulls him fully into itself and sinks into the pool around itself making due with its meal.
Lancer and the Shadow Servant reach the opposite part of the park before facing each other. "You know, I always wanted to test myself against you fully Darmuid, but I can see that fate had other plans. You always held honor above everything else, so I'll do the honorable thing and end your current fate." The shadow remains emotionless as he stares at his target. Lancer holds his spear above his head. Red mana starts to burst from the demon spear. "Gae Bolg!" Lancer throws it at the two spear warrior who is unable to react in time as it pierces his heart. Darmuid falls over before disappearing leaving the red spear behind. Lancer quickly picks up his spear and moves to leave the area. "Master, I have a feeling this isn't going to be a typical Holy Grail War. Fighting empty shells of Servants from the previous war isn't normal."
"There are no typical Holy Grail Wars, but this one is setting a whole new bar." Kotomine agrees. "This cult is going to be a bigger problem than I anticipated. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky they only captured Assassin. If they had caught a knight class or Caster then you would have more than likely fought three properly summoned Servants, maybe even more. We should assume they have more Shadow Servants at their disposal along with a fully summoned Lancelot. Removing Assassin from their grasp should be the main focus for now. I'll work on figuring out how to do that."
Lancer laughs, "Kind of ironic you're trying to make an assassination attempt on Assassin without having an assassin." He rushes off after he tells his joke, not aware of being watched by two others. One is another shadow-like presence with long purple hair in a ponytail and a half skull mask that jumps away back towards the temple. The other has short purple hair and a similar mask. A mosquito lands in her, but dies immediately after touching her. She rushes off in a different direction.
Kotomine, at the church, turns to his companion. "So it seems the faces of our old foes are coming back."
Gilgamesh shrugs, "Of course the mongrel knight would be the only one to keep his sense of self, or lack thereof. He proved to be at least amusing last time, so perhaps I'll do you a favor and put the mad dog down for good. While I'm at it, I may go pay a visit to the girl as well. It seems she didn't take my advice to end herself, and now look at the mess she is making. I'll be merciful to her and end her misery."
Kotomine lowers his head to the Babylonian, "I would be grateful for that."
"As you should be," the King of Heroes replies.
Sakura jolts up awake. She looks around at her surroundings to find herself in her room. What a strange dream, she thinks to herself. She pulls herself out of bed and walks into the bathroom. She looks in the mirror and notices that her lips are redder than normal. Wiping her finger on it, red liquid comes off that tastes like iron. She just washes it off and continues getting ready for school. Sakura makes it to the living room and sees a tall woman with a mask over her eyes standing there.
"Good morning Rider," Sakura greets the woman.
Rider turns her head, "Good morning Master."
"Rider, we've been over this already. I transferred you to Nii-san, so he is now your Master."
"Right," was all Rider said about that.
"Well I got to go to Senpai's place, so take care of Nee-san for me," Sakura says heading out the door. Rider nods in confirmation. She heads towards the Emiya household and lets her thoughts drift. These dreams are getting more frequent and weird. Well I never said change was simple. I know I didn't, but it doesn't mean it didn't warrant an absentminded thought. If you're worried then take Rider back. I can't, he's the oldest and only bloodline heir for the Matou family. Why does that matter? I'm the one capable of magic. He doesn't have an ounce of it in him. Rider is wasted on him. That doesn't matter. The Tohsakas gave me over because I was the youngest and the Matou needed magic in their line. I know. They sold me off like a magical farm cow to be milked to the highest bidder. All I've ever been treated by both families is an object to be used. But they are my family, I can't go against them… Look where that line of thought got me! Our former family didn't care for our wellbeing! I have been nothing but a slave whore ever since I've arrived here! I've been violated almost everyday by crest worms since age seven! I've been molested and raped hundreds of times by 'Nii-san' and 'Grandfather'! I don't owe any of them shit! But Nee-san, I mean Tohsaka-san- Has done NOTHING to help me! She doesn't even try to talk to me! So don't 'Nee-san' me! … Nothing to say about that? Okay good, at least I am starting to see the point I am making. The only ones who have EVER done anything positive to me in the last ten years are the Emiyas and Fujimura-sensei. Speaking of which, I wonder how Mason is doing? He took off in a rush last night. I can find out when I get there, but I do hope he is okay. It'd be terrible if something happened to him. … What? Oh nothing. Just that he took off because Senpai was in trouble, but I seemed to pass over that and am more worried about Mason. Perhaps my feelings have shifted. Sakura faintly blushes, Shut up!
"Hey Sakura-chan!" A voice brings her out of her thoughts.
She looks over and finds the owner in front of the Emiya house, "Good morning Fujimura-sensei." She quickly runs over to her.
"You're here a bit late today," the school teacher says, opening the door for them both..
"Ah I got held back. Took a little longer to get ready today." Sakura replies.
"That's alright. We all have an off day every now and then. Well, except for the two boys who live here." Taiga shrugs and gets a giggle from Sakura. The two continue walking towards the living room to find two other women they've never seen. One has blonde hair and the other has indigo hair. Sakura quickly puts together that the latter is Caster, but without a hooded cloak on.
"Um Mas-, I mean Shirou," The blonde calls to the redhead in the kitchen.
Shirou comes out with a tray full of food and greets them with a smile, "Good morning you two! You're just in time."
Taiga immediately burst, "What is this Shirou-kun?! Who are these girls in your house?"
Shirou sets the trays down, "Well that's easy to explain. That's Saber and Caster-'' Caster's head bangs on the table right when the words came out. Sakura blinks multiple times and stares at Saber for a minute.
Saber gives Shirou a questionable look, but plays it off, "Yes I am Saber. I'm from England and knew Kiritsugu, so I decided to pay him a visit. Sadly I found out he died, but Shirou was gracious enough to offer a place to stay since I didn't have a hotel."
"Oh Saber-san, you knew him? I'm sorry you didn't get to see him again. Um, Caster-san, are you here for the same reason?" Taiga asks.
Caster raises her head, "No I'm afraid I don't know him. I'm here because of Mason. My lover died and I had nowhere to go. I knew Mason beforehand and he was kind enough to take me in for a bit." Which is technically the truth, she muses to herself.
"Oh that's really too bad Caster-san. I'm sorry for your loss. The two boys taking in and offering shelter to people sounds exactly what they would do." Taiga says taking a bite of food.
"Three people actually," Rin comes in, tying up her hair. "The Emiyas helped me with schoolwork, but by the time we got done it was already late at night. So I took an empty bed for the night." Sakura nearly chokes on her food seeing Rin come in. "Are you alright Matou-san?" She asks after taking a seat.
Sakura nods after taking a sip of her drink, "Yeah I am Nee- I mean Tohsaka-san." She looks around the table and notices someone missing. "Where's Mason?" Everyone but Taiga pauses for a moment.
Shirou answers, "He, ah, got sick and isn't feeling well today."
This gets Taiga to stop eating and she gets worried, "Sick? Really? The two of you have never been sick before."
A gust of wind appears and they all find Sakura's seat empty. They all looked at each other confused, but Caster faintly smiles. "I knew there was something between those two." She says softly, though Rin and Shirou heard it.
"You think so too?" The redhead asks.
Taiga flips her head between the two, "What are you both talking about?"
Shirou shrugs, "Just something I've observed between them over the last couple weeks since Mason came back. He's been mentioning her a lot lately and asking me things about her. She tends to sneakily glance at him as well."
"Wait a minute!" Taiga calls out, "You mean to tell me you can see when two people start liking each other, but you never once noticed Sakura's feelings towards you the last couple of years?"
All heads shift to Shirou, now interested in this gossip. He shrugs again, "Mason has already pointed it out to me about how she felt the day after he came back. And like I told him, I don't really see her in that way. She's my friend and precious kohai, but I don't see us getting together. Besides, I've been hoping they would though. They seem great for each other." Saber has already resumed eating by this point and is on her third helping with her ahoge waging at each bite.
Taiga taps her chin, "Hmm, I can kind of see what you mean. Sakura-chan is a good girl and Mason, if he stays in one place, is fairly reliable and has a good heart along with you. It could work."
Rin takes a moment to process the information. "Wait, hold on now. Sakura has already had two guys she likes and meanwhile I haven't found one? And how long has Sakura been coming over to this house for them to be accustomed to it? I feel so out of the loop."
"Don't beat yourself down like that. Some people just take longer than others." Archer says.
Rin blushes slightly, "Did you listen in on my private thoughts?"
"No, you had your telepathic link opened for that. No need to be embarrassed by that. Though this could work out to our favor."
Rin arches a brow, "How so?"
"Well Shirou does have a point about them being great for each other. Mason needs someone to help him out with his past trauma on the off chance Shirou does something stupid to get himself killed, and Sakura can provide that. On the flip side, Sakura needs a rock to anchor herself with her own demons." Archer explains.
"Sakura has demons? How would you know that? You said you have no memory of who you are or your memories, and I haven't said a word about the girl the whole time."
"Um, well, it's the way she comes off as." Archer tries to cover himself.
"Alright I'll bite, explain then." She demands.
Archer obeys, "Well didn't you notice how different she felt compared to everyone else?"
Rin tilts her head ignoring the ramblings of the others, "Well kind of. I just assume it has something to do with the transformation Matous did to her."
Archer sighs heavily remembering his own past concerning that family. "It probably has something to do with it, but it's like there is a darkness hidden among her."
"Can't say I didn't expect it. That family's magic is disgusting, so I wouldn't be surprised if she does have one." A lightbulb goes off in her head. "Ah I think I get what you are saying now. They both have a dark side within them and they can find a way to help each other through that way. A decent idea for sure. While I don't know what Sakura is hiding, I do know a little of what Mason is though and he definitely needs an outlet. Though I'm not sure I'm comfortable with using her like that."
"Oh? And how come?"
"None of your business, that's how." Rin finishes returning her attention to the other conversation happening.
"All I'm saying is that it's strange he is sick all of a sudden after never being sick before. It has me worried that he caught something really bad." Taiga says.
"I have experience in the medical field and I can tell you that he will only remain unconscious for no more than a day. He'll be up and around either tonight or tomorrow. Saber and myself will be right here to look after him today." Caster assures her.
Taiga settles down, "Alright fine I'll leave him in your care then Caster-san."
"Thank you. I better go check on Mason and send Sakura on her way with you guys to school." Caster replies back.
Sakura sits down beside Mason's bed. She can tell he feels weaker for some reason she can't place. A door opening startles her and she turns to see Caster. "What happened last night?" She asks the Servant.
"Judging by your reaction to hearing about Servants so far, I'd say you know about the Holy Grail War already. So it makes explaining easier. Lancer attacked Shirou and we made it back in time to save him. He then summoned Saber and sent Lancer running. We then ran into Rin and Archer and all of us headed to the church to get the war 'official'. Afterwards, we ran into Berserker and his Master. After fighting, Shirou took a deathblow that aimed for Saber. Mason must have broken something inside of him after seeing Shirou and Mason stopped both Archer and Berserker from trying to kill him. Afterwards Mason healed Shirou using his own lifeforce and I guess Berserker's Master got bored so she left us alone." She explains.
Sakura is mortified and places her hands over her face, "Will he be alright?"
"Yes, your man will be fine." Sakura twitches for a moment before composing herself. "He just needs rest and will wake up by tonight or tomorrow." Caster tells her.
"Okay thanks Caster. I guess I better go back to the others before the others start wondering where I am." Sakura takes one squeeze of Mason's hand before leaving the room. If someone tries to take him from me, I'll kill them myself. Now that is speaking my language!
Author's Note:
A new chapter within a week of posting the last one?! Well I was really in a Fate mood this week and wanted to ride the train before it runs out. So about the chapter, I know I am being a bit hard on Shirou but I believe it's needed. He has an unhealthy obsession of saving people and needs it to be worked on. And despite Archer's feelings about his younger self, he still has the flicker of a hero flame within himself and sees Shirou's value of being alive than dead when it comes to Mason. Archer is there to prevent what he went through, and there is more than the killing path to avoid that as shown in all three FSN routes. I hope this explains the method of my madness a little. And as you all have probably guessed, the Cult of Nihilus have indeed got Lancelot along with some Shadow Servants. Plus Lancer actually had a win for once and didn't die! He needs a break every once and awhile. Anyways enough of my rambling before I say more than I shouldn't.
keybladelight: I will definitely check out those videos for lightsaber fencing for references and I love the Jolee Bindo quote. I do have plans of incorporating holocrons in the story more, so no need to worry there. I also have a plan for Lancelot other than just randomly bringing him back just because. Love reading your comment after every chapter I post!
Well I think that is it for me, so I'll talk at y'all next time.