Chapter Nineteen
Mason grits his teeth as he falls to his knees again with his weapon sliding across the room. Sweat pours off him and makes his clothes cling onto him. He grunts as he pushes off the floor and pulls his weapon back to him with the Force. "Again!" He declares once the wooden sword makes it to his right hand as he glares at his opponent. Saber narrows her eyes as the silver haired teen draws strength once more and accepts his challenge as she blitzes him with speeds the eye cannot perceive. Mason attunes his senses to the Force enough to be able to block the attack he couldn't see. The sweat on his hand makes gripping the practice sword hard to hold onto, especially when the attack comes from a Servant with B rank strength. He however isn't given the chance to readjust as Saber continues swinging at him with all of her strength and agility. Mason's Soresu instinct kicks into overdrive as he attempts to block her attacks. However, solely relying on the defensive stance won't work against his near limitless stamina opponent and any attempt to push the offensive is batted away easily.
"Stop using the standard attacks," A voice tells Mason in his mind. "She saw your Soresu style enough to predict your movements. Use the unorthodox."
"Of course Master Bastila," Mason answers as he redirects an attack to his right side which allows his new puppet left arm to let go and reach down towards his belt where a blaster pistol is holstered. The new arm moves much faster than his old one and is able to be pointed at Saber before his right arm can come back up to his midsection. The Servant is briefly taken aback from the shift in tactics that allows the first bolt to clip her chest armor. The rest of the blots miss their marks as she weaves away from them only to have Mason charge her and clash with her own practice sword. Her emerald eyes meet his mixed matched gold and silver eyes before she sends a kick that sends him flying into a wall. The air is knocked from the teen as his weapons fall from his hands. Mason falls to the ground and briefly struggles for air before his lungs start to work properly again.
"Your aim and peripheral vision seems much better now that you have depth perception again," Saber compliments as he goes to him and offers her hand.
"And you still handed me my own ass," He comments as he takes the hand and is pulled upwards.
"That's to be expected when a human, no matter how enhanced, takes on a Servant." She explains simply as they make their way through the backyard of Rin's house. Since it is a proper magus house, it doesn't have a dojo for everyone to practice fighting in, so they make due in the backyard. "But you are lasting much longer against me now than you had when I was first summoned."
"At least I have something to take away from this." He pulls the blaster to him and holsters it as the two practice swords disappear from being projected. Mason then looks at the sleeve that covers his puppet arm before removing the glove that covers the hand. He flexes it as the silver metal arm closes shut before opening again.
Saber notices it and voices about it. "Still not used to having a new arm and eye?"
He shakes his head. "Being able to see on my right side is a little bit of a shock, but it is something I quickly got used to as my body remembers what it is like from ten years ago. The hand though is completely different. I can use and direct it both consciously and unconsciously as I do my right arm, but I have little to no feeling in it. It's like my brain acknowledges what it does, but doesn't fully accept it."
She pats his shoulder, "It has only been a couple of days since you received both of them. Give it time and I am sure your body will learn to adapt to it."
"I hope you are right." He replaces the glove before they finally meet a few others who were watching the fight from the sidelines.
Shirou, being the one who projected the practice swords, is the first to greet them, though his eyes never leave Saber's figure. "Welcome back, Saber."
The Servant is equally entranced by him as her eyes see him and only him, forgetting that there are other people around them. "I'm back, Shirou." They stay locked on each other as their faces inches closer to one another.
"Yo, can you not keep it in your pants for a moment?" Mason calls to the two of them with a smirk on his face as they both pull away from each other with blushes on their faces. "Or at least wait until you both make it to your room? I'd rather not see a dick measuring contes-" He is stopped mid sentence as he is elbowed by the blond.
"For the love of Britain, can you stop bringing up the fact I had a dick?!" Saber shouts as she draws back her elbow.
"Calm down Saber," Shirou tries to calm her with his arms wrapped around her waist. "You know he does that to get a rise out of you."
She lets out a huff before relenting. "Of course. You are right, my sheath."
Mason, of course, can't help but comment on that. "Sheath? Damn Shirou, I didn't figure you for a taker. Although now that I think about it, you would make a good house wif-" Saber lands a fist on his head which sends him to the ground as she starts to stomp on him with a furious blush.
"HAHA, I HAD A DICK! VERY FUNNY! ISN'T IT SO FUNNY?!" She yells as she continues her onslaught.
Shirou tries his best to restrain her along with Berserker and Assassin. "Saber, even though this is justly deserved, wait until after we beat the cult." They eventually drag her away kicking and screaming while Caster, Illya, and Sakura remain at Mason's side, the former of which are already tending to his wounds.
"You know you did deserve this," Caster comments as the bruises start to fade away.
"Yeah," He agrees as he lay on the ground. "But you have to admit, her calling Shirou a sheath was a joke that was waiting to happen. It'd be stupid not to take the bait, even if this is the outcome."
"I thought I trained you better than this?"
"Master Rissa, you know as well as I that you barely even had a few months at best to actually train me before the clones turned on us," Mason answers the voice of his Jedi master out loud.
"That is something I doubt I'll ever get used to," Illya states as she watches over her younger brother.
Mason shifts his attention to his albino sibling. "Trust me, it was a surprise to me as well when my Master started to use her weird soul imprint technique to speak to me when I am awake. Not only that, but a few more of my ancestors took advantage of it to start speaking to me and giving me advice. But as weird as it is, it has been helpful at times."
Sakura thinks for a moment before wrapping her arms around her chest. "Are they able to do this all the time? Like if you were in a certain situation where privacy would be preferred?"
The three females could almost hear the cogs move in his head before a lightbulb turns on as he understands what she meant and falls into a blush. "Well, I am able to block them out if needed to, but they do have enough tact to know when to give me privacy."
Caster finishes healing him and he is helped up by Sakura, "Good. On a different note, you are covered in sweat and are in need of a bath."
"Alright, alright, I'm going," He tells her after she gives him a shove towards the house.
When Mason is out of earshot, Caster catches sight of Sakura eyeing her prey with lust. "That wasn't subtle in the slightest." Sakura quickly glances at her acknowledging the words before looking back towards Mason. She licks her lips and moves to follow him. The two remaining females watches her walk away as the Servant comments on this, "It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. I'm just surprised the girl lasted this long."
Illya however crosses her arm and looks over to Shirou wrapping Saber in his arms after she stops being murder happy. She then pouts, "It seems both of my brothers have been taken by harlots." But soon her lips faintly upturns, "At least they won't be alone when my body reaches its short lifespan."
Mason tosses his shirt into the pile of clothes he has stripped off and heads to the tub that he already has filled, but stops when he walks by the mirror. Usually he would pay no attention to it and avoid mirrors, but his impulse to see the damages on his body wins over. Even with the healing powers of a mage from the Age of Gods, it couldn't prevent a lot of his torture wounds from scaring with no two scars looking the same. Jagged, smooth, discolored, if he could describe his body looks, it would be as if his body tried to imitate a dalmatian in the worst way possible. He clenches his right fist and slams it onto the mirror, shattering it. Removing his fist from the broken mirror, Mason grits his teeth as he uses the Force to remove the bits of glass from his hand and moves all the broken bits of the mirror into the trash. It was a stupid thing to do and he knows it, that is why he avoided mirrors since he awoke from being rescued days earlier. Mason then takes the first aid kit under the sink and bandages his only natural arm. "If I was going to do such a thing, why didn't I use my prosthetic arm?" He then makes his way into the tub with his injured hand hanging off the side. Mason is prepared to soak in the water for a long while, but the sound of the bathroom door opening ruins that thought. "Occupied."
"I know," The voice of Sakura calls out a few moments later which makes him turn towards her in an instant. He sees that she has already stripped off her own clothes and is covered in only a towel with a blush on her face, which he then matches.
"I didn't expect you to take advantage of me blocking my mind so quickly," Mason jokes to attempt to hide his nervousness.
She opens her mouth to retort only to close it as she sees his bandaged hand. "What happened to your hand? I know Caster wouldn't have left any part of you hurt, so don't you dare say it was from Saber."
He takes his right hand and nurses it with his other one. "I didn't like what the mirror was showing me."
Sakura walks to the tub and kneels beside him, taking his hand. She then looks him over with a very careful examination. At first, she did it to take in his naked body, but it slowly turned into her tracing the scars that he bears. The best thing she could come up with seeing them is that his face at least is scar free from his time as a prisoner. The only scar that is on his face is the one that took out his right eye ten years ago. She traces that scar with her fingers as he leans into her touch. "Do you want to talk about it? You haven't spoken of what you went through since we brought you back."
Mason shakes his head, "No, I'm not ready to relive what happened if I can. My nightmares do that enough as it is."
"I can understand that. It took me until the past few weeks to finally say a portion of what I endured living as a Matou, and what I have said of it was just said out of anger." She tells him with a sad smile. "However I do think that eventually there will come a day where I might be willing to tell you all what I went through."
Mason wraps his bandaged fingers around hers and looks her in the eyes. "Sakura, what are we?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean what is our relationship? We kiss, we share our backstories, you are there to help me through my nightmares, I hold you when we sleep to keep you from being lonely, you walk into me having a bath with the obvious intent to join me, which I knew would happen when you sent me up here, we both deeply care for each other like a couple would, but we never took the moment to discuss us." He elaborates.
"We never had the time to do such a thing. You've been concerning yourself with the Cult since the moment you took Caster as your Servant and I've been doing all I can to cut myself off from my adopted family. The only time we ever got to be in the same place together was either during a fight or when one of us was bedridden." She answers with a finger twirling the bath water. "But we are discussing it now. What do you want our relationship to be?"
Mason softens his gaze, "I wouldn't mind if we became an official couple."
Mischief catches in her eyes, "Oh I don't know. What are the benefits of being a couple?"
"This for one," He catches her with both of his hands and lifts her squealing off the floor and into the tub with him.
The red ring in her eyes burns brightly at this move and she positions herself over his legs. "You're making a good point so far," She purrs to him. "Is this all, or is there more?" She challenges knowing full well Mason won't be able to resist.
"Well for the rest, you won't be needing that towel."
[Lewdness ahead]
The now wet towel is quickly flung off from her body as he takes her in fully. If he ever questioned her womanhood before, the way just one of her breasts overflows his hand as he cups them removes any doubts, not that he ever did question it from the start. The perkiness of her nipple is just asking to be tended to, which Mason is fully willing to give. First he wraps his fingers around it and massages it, which makes Sakura moan softly. Deciding he wanted a greater reaction, he takes the other nipple and covers it with his mouth and begins suckling it. She is taken by surprise at how vigorously he attacks her breasts, sucking and wrapping his tongue around it, and is unable to hide a loud moan. The moan only makes Mason double down on his prize.
Sakura isn't one to back down from a challenge and plunges her hands under water and grabs the shaft of his dick. This sudden action stops him from his attack to let out a moan of his own. She then catches his lips with hers before he is given the chance to latch back on. As she kisses him, she can feel the moans in her mouth as she rubs his shaft up and down. Sakura then breaks off from the kiss and leans to whisper in his ear, "This is mine now."
Mason moves his free hand under her and pinches her ass which makes her jump. "That goes both ways as this is mine now."
The redness in her eyes glows brighter as he eyes him under her. "I don't think you understand what you have invited into the tub with you." She brings her hips down and guides him inside her with her hands still on his dick. They both moan as he enters her and she begins to move up and down. Slowly at first, but it is not long before she speeds it up and has water splashing out of it.
"If you think you are going to be the one in control, then you have another thing coming." Mason growls out as he wraps his arms around her waist and carries her out of the tub with him pushing her against the wall. He then starts to thrust himself in her as she is pend to the wall. With every push, her hair starts to turn white and her eyes go more red.
"Oh, you are far from being the one in control here." Sakura kicks off the wall and both of them stagger towards the ground. From the shadows, red and black tendrils wrap around the two of them and slowly guide them to the floor. She then straddles on top of him once again as the tendrils hold his arms and legs.
"Oh that's just cheating." He complains as he struggles to get free.
As she starts to bounce her hips, she leans down and kisses him. "All is fair in love and war, darling."
A smirk then crawls on his face. "If that's the case, then you won't mind if I did this." Mason then disappears from under her and out of the grasp of the tendrils. Sakura isn't given a second to process it as she is pushed onto all fours from behind and feels a body mounting her from behind. A look over her shoulder, she sees Mason with the same smirk and his golden eye shining brightly. He cups one of her breasts with his right hand as he holds onto her love handles with his other and starts to move his own hips.
"With the way you have been grabbing my boobs, I might begin to think that is all you are interested in."
Mason bends over and whispers into her ear, "Among other things."
"How about we give you a better view of them?" She pushes her hips back and makes him take a sitting position while she turns around and faces him, making them go right back into their starting positions.
"Damn, I don't think I'm going to win this one. I'm about ready to…" He moans as she happily thrust her hips on him.
"So am I. Don't worry about it and give me all of it." Sakura directs him. She isn't left disappointed as he starts to fill her up and she makes sure to collect all she can before her legs give out and she lays on the floor. Mason soon follows her and lays next to her. They both start panting and Sakura's hair and eye color begin to recede back to their original purple color.
[Lewdness over]
"So, was that a yes then?" Mason asks as he pulls her into his arms.
Sakura rested her head onto his chest, "After that, there is no doubt that my answer is yes."
They lay together for a couple of minutes before Mason breaks the silence. "Looks like we need a second bath."
…
"So who was she?" Sakura asks Mason as she clips her bra together after their second bath.
He pauses pulling on his jeans, "She? What are you talking about?"
"The girl you were with before me." She answers after throwing on a blouse.
"How do you figure there was a girl before you?"
"Because there is no way that a virgin would have been able to have sex like we had without finishing so soon." Sakura attempts to straighten her hair without a mirror since Mason broke it. "I'm not mad that there was one since I myself haven't been a virgin for around ten years, but that wasn't really by my choice. I'm just curious about what type of girl caught your attention."
Mason buttons his shirt together trying to figure a way to explain himself. "Well, you know that I left this city for five years. It was during my fourth year of traveling the world that I came across Romania and have been offering myself as a gun for hire to make money, but still be able to keep traveling. The Yggdmillennia, who are pretty much one of the biggest magus clan in that county, enlisted my services as a bodyguard for the Forvedge heir, Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia. The Yggdmillennia don't get along with the Mage Association and the Association has sent tons of magus to shut them down or something, I really don't know why since it wasn't necessary information for my job. She's a couple years older than I and despite being bound to a wheelchair because of her magical circuits, I can say that she is undoubtedly the only magus in the organization with true talent. Anyways she was always nice and we spent half a year together, so naturally we gravitated towards each other. However we both knew that what we felt was just a fling and was never going to last, as it was proven when they no longer needed my services. Not much else to really say since a couple of months later, I came back home."
"Really? You didn't ask once during the six months why they are at odds with the Association?" Sakura asks, rather confused.
He just shrugs, "It wasn't my job to know why. My job was only to keep her safe and that is what I did."
She hooks her arm to his, "Well regardless, thanks for telling me. I'm just happy that for now on, you are mine."
"Inquiry: Are we sure that this will work? For all we know, the meatbag has decomposed to the point of no longer being a meatbag."
"For the eighth time HK, we don't know! However, even for the small possibility that it does, it's worth the chance to try." Shirou shouts back as he dumps the dirt from his shovel. With the two are Mason, Caster, Assassin, and Saber. They are all currently at the graveyard digging up Kiritsugu's body to try and recover his magical crest. Or more accurately Shirou and Mason are, while the other four are keeping an eye out for a patrol.
"Why did you bring the droid, Master?" Caster sighs in her hand.
"Because he was getting antsy being in the house and this is the best chance for him to get some aggression out if we get into a fight." Mason explains as he wipes the sweat off his brow from the midday sun. He then shovels a few more piles of dirt until he hears Shirou's shovel hitting something hard. They look at each other before they get to their knees and dig with their hands. It doesn't take long until they get to the coffin holding their father's body. "Hey we got it!"
Caster then uses a spell to lift the coffin and the boys up until they are out of the six foot hole. The brothers use the shovels to pry the lid open and set them aside to allow the Servant to do her work. "Hmm, I must admit, the burial process for the modern day is much better than during my time. In Ancient Greece, there would be nothing but a skeleton in less than a year. However it seems like your father still retains most of his skin. It's very thin and moldy, but it's there nonetheless. There's no sign of any muscle left, and most organs have either shriveled or decomposed. But I can't tell from just a glance if his crest or circuits remain. I'll have to bring it to Rin's workshop to get a better idea of what I have left to work with." She then stores the coffin away using the same spell used for Taiga's body.
"Let's get out of here," Saber tells them. "We've been in this graveyard two too many times in this war. I would rather not have another crater here."
"Caution: Master, there is a Sith Transport ship at the bottom of this hill." HK points out when they get to the edge of the graveyard.
"What are they doing?" Mason asks.
"Answer: Medical transportation," HK answers after zooming in his lens. "Observation: We have discussed needing to take out the starship, but we currently do not have a way to get up there. Suggestion: We steal this transport and kill the cult meatbags using it."
"That's not a bad idea," He muses. "But we'll have to be quick about it and take out the pilots first before they fly away."
"Leave that to me," Assassin quickly volunteers.
Mason nods, "Take HK with you since he is the only one of us able to fly it. The rest of us will deal with the others."
"What about their wounded?" Saber asks.
The silver brother goes grim, "We can't allow them to live and report the transport stolen. We'll have to kill them."
"What?!" Shirou shouts, surprised. "Even if they are our enemies, there should be a line for us not to cross."
Mason whips to his brother, "Why bother with making a line when they won't do the same for us? We are in a war, there is no time for things such as honor or morals when our enemies have already taken them off the board."
"Excuse me but I've led multiple wars and they all held honor and morals for my side." Saber defends her Master. "If you fight like them, then what point is there to win when you are no different?"
"We have no time to argue about our different point of views," Caster steps in. "If you and my apprentice have a problem with killing the injured, then don't. Master and I will do it so that you can keep your hands clean." The four glare at each other before breaking off and start heading down the hill, out of sight of the cult.
"Assassin, when we get their attention, go across the street and head straight towards the ship." Mason orders through his link behind a destroyed house. The transport is in the middle of an intersection for more room to maneuver. There are a mix of troopers and hooded swordsmen working to load up their wounded into the ship. He moves out of cover and behind a trooper who isn't paying attention. The whole cult team freeze in their tracks at the sound of an ignition and look towards the sound to see the trooper with a purple blade piercing her chest. Mason kicks the trooper down and raises his blade for the next attack. Shirou then comes out with a bow and nails a trooper in the head with a projected arrow. Saber comes out in a blitz and takes out multiple troopers in one swing as a lightning spell from Caster bounces off five cult members, killing them instantly. A swordsman comes at Mason with a wild swing, but he manages to block it with his new lightsaber. Block, not cut through. The man got a wild smile at having a lightsaber resistant sword and glides his sword down the purple blade in the hopes of destroying the hilt. What the cult member did not factor into his plan was the fact that there are two holes on the sides of the blade emitter which produces two smaller purple blades to make a crossguard and stops the sword in its tracks. Mason smirks at the swordsman's shocked expression and angles his lightsaber to cut the man in two at the bicep. He then takes note of a trooper taking aim at him and moves to deflect it before drawing his blaster and firing.
"I'm honestly surprised that it worked." Tasiele Shan admits in his mind.
"Of course it worked, Mother," Satele says proudly. "While the crossguard lightsabers were even less used than the double bladed or even the lightsaber pike, there were a select few Jedi who saw the weakness most lightsabers had which was the exposed hilt. However the crossguard limits the fluidity the average lightsaber has, which led to it not gaining much attraction. But luckily Mason has a fully intact kyber crystal so he can switch it on and off to fit the situation."
Rissa comments, "I honestly had no idea this type of lightsaber design existed until you mentioned it. By my time, the only lightsabers that were used by the Jedi Order were the original, a shota, or a lightsaber pike which were used by the Temple Guard."
"There are perks for being the Grandmaster, such as knowing all the different types of lightsaber designs." Satele gloats.
"Hey, while it's all well and do that you guys are getting along." Mason says in his mind as he cuts down another trooper. "How about you hold off the history lesson of all the different types of lightsabers for when I'm not in a fight?!" He takes a look around to see that the fighting has died down with only the six of them remaining. "Is that all of them?"
Caster kicks away a formerly wounded, now dead, trooper away from her foot. "Yeah, that's all of them."
They hear the engine of the transport start up with HK calling to them, "Statement: All systems are clear and the transport is secure. Get aboard meatbags so we can leave." They all follow suit and enter the transport before it takes off. Most go to find a seat, but Mason decides to shift through the few crates scattered within.
"Finding anything worthwhile?" Shirou asks as he moves next to his brother.
"So far it mostly is just some bacta pads, pain meds, and other various medical supplies." He answers as he moves to the next unopened crate and pops it open. "Oh, HK will like this, a blaster crate. He has been complaining about only having a blaster pistol for a while now. Weird that there's one in a medical transport. Must double as a supply transport as well." After not hearing a response from his brother, he looks over at Shirou to see a conflicting expression. "You didn't come over here because you were actually interested in what the crates held, did you?"
The redhead shakes his head, "No, I merely wanted to speak about what you did about the wounded soldiers."
He groans, "Shirou we've been over this-"
"No, you've been over this," Shirou cuts him off sharply, before taking a deep breath to calm down. "Look, I didn't come here to argue with you. I just wanted to say that you shouldn't darkened yourself by making choices like that often. You've been fighting to stave off the darkness within you, and it wouldn't do if you ended up falling to it before the war is over." He leaves Mason at that with a pat on a shoulder before sitting down.
"Your brother has a point, padawan," His Master agrees. "A Jedi shouldn't-"
"I AM NOT A FUCKING JEDI, MASTER!" He angrily shouts out, which makes everyone in the transport focus on him. "If you haven't noticed since you've been in my head, I break the code like a to-do list!"
"Rissa, I know it's hard to accept, but not everyone wants to be a delicate little monk who ignores the true problems in the galaxy." The Sith Inquisitor snidely comments.
"Oh that's rich coming from someone from the Sith High Council. You Sith are the reason why there are the most problems in the galaxy." Tasiele remarks. "In fact, it is probably your fault why Mason has so much darkness in him. Tell me, when you finally met my grandson, did you spread your legs immediately or did you have the courtesy to go out for dinner first?"
"Hey, watch how you talk about my wife!" Theron Shan demands.
"Dank farrik! Go argue in someone else's head!" Mason then shuts the link to them off and heads up to the cockpit and sits himself down in the co-pilot seat.
"Statement: If it pleases you Master, I for one am glad you do not limit yourself to the Jedi ways." HK tells him in the pilot seat.
He lets out a heavy sigh, "Thanks HK. Who would have thought having a head full of Jedi and Sith would lead to them arguing?"
Caster brings Shirou down to the workshop where she and Illya have been working throughout the day. "So did you have any luck?" He asks, taking a seat.
"We have salvaged what we could, but we couldn't get all of the crest because of the deterioration of his body for the past five years." Illya starts to explain tiredly. "Though we believe that we saved enough to at least retain the time manipulation."
"Why does it sound like a 'but' about to be said?"
"But there is a great risk that you will die during or after the implantation." Caster explains. "In fact, there are too many factors against you if we are to implant it. Firstly, this is a crest that has been on a dead body for five years and hasn't received any mana or support during the whole time, so it's quite possible it is unstable. Secondly, and more importantly, family crests are passed down to compatible people. It has been known to reject and kill people who are not related, and occasionally even those who are blood related, like cousins or nephews. The most compatible people are usually their children. You are neither your father's actual child nor a blood related one. Add a possible unstable crest on top of that, we are looking at a five percent success rate, and that's me being generous about it."
"So based on what I've been told, then you would be the only one of us that could accept the crest since you are Dad's only biological child?" Shirou asks instead of answering just yet.
"I…" She trails off with a thoughtful expression, showing that she has never given it a thought before now. However she quickly shakes her head moments later. "I don't believe it would be a good idea to test that theory. Even if I was birthed, Mom was a homunculus, thus lacking the necessary female reproductive organs needed to conceive normally with Dad. She actually needed to undergo a procedure to have a womb needed to carry me. Even then, my Grandfather made sure that I was designed as a modified Grail vessel, only living long enough to serve that role." Illya then sees the confused look on her younger brother's face. "To put it simply, I'm perhaps the most human homunculus to have been created, but that doesn't change the fact that I still am a homunculus at the end of the day. So the crest would most likely reject my artificial nature."
Illya then rested a hand on his knee, "You don't have to go through with this you know. We can find another way to deal with Dad. For example, we can do everyone a favor and throw the scrap pile of Mason's at him. It should be able to distract Dad long enough for me to deal with Mom then join you in fighting him. I've just gotten used to the fact I now have loving brothers and I would rather not lose one so soon over something this risky."
Shirou deadpans her, "We both know what type of person Dad is like. It'll take more than a murder happy robot to distract him long enough."
Illya sighs in relent, "Fine, but don't say we didn't try to warn you."
Kiritsugu lights a cigarette and looks towards the war torn city from the high walls around the temple. He doesn't like the idea of having all of his choices ripped from him and turning into the very thing he swore to destroy. Not only that, but Irisviel has also been dragged into this too. Her cheerful spirit doesn't suit being a familiar summoned only to kill the world. Even worse, their children are the ones who are left to stop this and he is going to be forced to kill them beforehand.
"You alright, dear?" The voice of his albino wife asks as she takes a spot next to him.
"No," He admits regretfully. "Here we are brought back from the dead, familiar or not, only to be made to fight our children instead of catching up with them."
She scrunches up her face in disgust, "You're telling me. I find out we have two sons and I'm not able to even give them a hug, let alone being a proper mother. Honestly, I thought our Holy Grail War was the one that got incredibly out of hand, only to see that the one the kids are fighting is much, much worse. The fate of literally the entire planet rests in their hands, and we are reduced to nothing but a road block for them. I can at least rest a little easier knowing they have each other and that Saber is with them." It's now Kiritsugu's face that goes sour for a moment before it returns back to the blank expression when Irisviel looks over at him. She giggles at him and leans her head on his shoulder. "Even ten years later, you still haven't come around to liking her. From what you have told me about Shirou, she sounds like more of a perfect fit for him than when she was your Servant. Berserker for Illya was a surprise at first, but I think her having a strong protector at her side makes sense. Mason and Caster however…"
"As much as I hate to say this about any of my children," He starts off, taking another drag off his cigarette. "Mason has always needed someone around to support him growing up. He takes too much upon his shoulders without a plan to properly dispose of it. Shirou has been that someone for him since I first adopted the two. So having a supporting type Servant sounds just about right for him."
She cracks a smile as a chuckle escapes her mouth. "It's still crazy to think that we technically have an alien son with powers we don't fully understand."
The Magus Killer curls his lip upwards as well. "That was an experience of itself when I first found out. I've seen a lot of strange and mysterious things during my career, but I can say with a certainty that Mason took the cake on that one." They stop their conversation there to just enjoy what comfortable silence they can have with each other.
"Sakura," Saber calls to the purple haired girl in the hallway.
"Yes, Saber?"
"May I speak to Lancelot?" The King of Knights asks the girl. Without a word, a cocoon of red and black rises from Sakura's shadow and opens for Lancelot to emerge. The teen then leaves the two knights and heads for Mason's room. "Sir Lancelot."
"My King," The helmetless Berserker knight tips his head. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I merely wished to be in the company of an old friend." Saber explains before mentioning him to follow. As they walk, Saber can't help but notice that Lancelot is much more calm as he is now in his corrupted blackened state than as a normal Berserker. Said Servant seems to know what she is thinking and addresses it.
"If you are wondering why my madness enhancement isn't affecting me, it is because that girl saw to it to lessen it considerably knowing that I am much more of an effective fighter with my head on straight." He explains as he is led out to the backyard where they take a seat on the ground.
Saber gives him a smile, "That is good to hear. It would have been a great shame to have an old friend so close, but unable to speak to."
"I too am glad of the fact and you honor me by calling me a friend despite what I've done to you in our time."
"Like I said at the Einzbern Castle, knowing Guinevere had found love and had someone to make her happy makes me happy. Had you not tried to run away together and told me, I would have been contempt with it and allowed it to happen, out of the public eye of course." She assures him.
"But she was your Queen and wife. What about your feelings for her? Didn't you love her?" The black knight asks.
"I did love her, but it wasn't romantic. She was a good friend and knew what she was getting into marrying me. I am grateful for it because I have finally found the real one for me." Artoria explains with a distant look and a blush.
He perks up at this. His King has found love? Was it a hidden affair during her time as King? Who was the poor fool who thinks that they could ever be good enough for the King of the Round table? "Who?"
She breaks her concentration and wipes her mouth. "It's my Master of this Holy Grail War, Shirou Emiya."
"Shirou, Shirou, Shirou…" He tries to think if he knows of the person before a lightbulb goes off. "Is it the red haired boy?" She nods with her blush that hasn't gone away and a smile. "But he's a guy…" Lancelot trails off as he takes a more careful notice of Saber before widening his eyes. "You're a woman?!"
Saber furrows her brows, "I am. Is that a problem, Sir Lancelot?"
"I apologize for my sudden outburst, but that honestly surprises me. I mean, we spent many years fighting together and not once has I or anyone else I've known known about your real gender. However, had I known, my loyalty towards you would have remained." Lancelot quickly explains himself.
"You are quite forgiven," She tells him before moving on to a new topic. "I have spoken to Sakura about using your assistance against an altered version of myself that wields Rhongomyniad."
He nods, "So I've been told. Anything I should be aware of? By my knowledge, using the divine lance wasn't something you've done but on a few occasions."
"The Rhongomyniad she has is different from the one I owned. It's darker and seems almost corrupted while still retaining some, if not all, of the holy power. So your knowledge is as good as mine." Saber says bluntly.
"So there's a chance the alter has some tricks that we don't know about." Lancelot muses as he thinks it over. "That makes things interesting at the very least."
"Which is why I wished to speak to you. We should formulate a plan before fighting." She tells him before the two start thinking together of their plan of attack.
There's a knock on the door to the house the next day, and Mason is the one who answers it. The ones on the other side are Raiga, his goons, and a woman in a military uniform. "Hello Raiga."
The mob boss smiles, "Hello my boy. It's good to see you looking better! The eye I got you looks like it's doing you good."
He blinks before nodding, "Oh yes, it's been about ten years since I could see what is going on on my left side. Would you like to come in?"
"Yes, I believe we would." The old man says as he gives a nod to his men to remain on guard outside. He then takes his shoes off at the door and heads on into the living room with Mason.
"I don't believe we have been introduced," The woman states as she follows them into the living room and sticks her hand out. "I am Staff Sergeant Yuko Tomiko of the JSDF that is deployed here, what's left of us anyways."
"Mason Emiya," He greets himself as he shakes her hand with his puppet arm. The look on her face when she feels metal tells him that he should explain, but doesn't want to give away the Moonlight world. "I got my arm cut off so I had to get a replacement. You'd be surprised at the level of technology the aliens have."
Yuko seems to accept his answer and lowers her hand. "Raiga-san here tells me that you and everyone else in this house are the ones who have the necessary power to beat back the aliens. I'll admit that I am skeptical of accepting that when the entire JSDF itself is struggling to do so across Japan, especially when he wouldn't go into detail about why."
Mason contemplates what to reveal before sighing. "I'll let Rin sort that out. Assassin," The half skull masked Servant appears out of nowhere, making Raiga and Yuko jump. "Can you gather the others?"
"Of course Master," Assassin then darts off to complete his task.
"What was that?!" The soldier asks as she lowers her pistol from instantly raising it for protection.
"He is one of the things that consist of the power Raiga mentioned we have." He explains as they reach the living room and gestures to them to have a seat. "It'll be easier to explain when everyone is here." It doesn't take long for everyone, except for Caster and Shirou, in the house to assemble into the room. Yuko jumps yet again seeing the hulking Hercules come into the room, but this time she doesn't raise her pistol seeing that everyone else is fairly comfortable with him here.
"Raiga-san, good to see you again," Sakura greets, having been the only other person besides Mason and Shirou (and by extension Archer) to know the man before the Holy Grail war.
"Ah, sweet Sakura." The man greets back with yet another smile. "Good to see you too."
"Um, why is there a member of the JSDF here?" Rin asks, unsure about having shown off the many Servants to someone not belonging to their world.
"As I told Emiya-san, I am Staff Sergeant Yuko Tomiko and I was told there was a power here that could beat back the aliens." Yuko explains yet again.
"Just one moment," Rin tells her before gesturing Mason towards her. The Masters and Servants then start to have a hushed discussion. Yuko and Raiga stand patiently as they hear Rin groan and slide a hand down her face. Then the group seemed to have come to an agreement as they turned back to their guest. "Alright, what we're about to tell you is something you cannot repeat to anyone, not even to your superiors. Unless you can agree to it, then we cannot help you and I'll be forced to insure that you won't speak of what you have already seen." To empathize Rin's point, Berserker lets out a deep growl. The JSDF representative furrows her bow, but seeing how outnumbered she is, she is forced to accept the conditions. The group then gives a brief lesson of there being hidden magus in the world and how the Servants are just familiars of ancient heroes long passed. It is enough for her to understand who they are, but not enough to reveal much of the Moonlight world. Need to know information basically. They also give what information they know about the aliens as well since they have already revealed themselves to the world.
"Okay so basically the aliens came here to resurrect their leader by using the prana of people around the world?" They nod at Yuko's question. "And if said leader is resurrected, he will proceed to suck the life force of the entire planet and everyone on it?" Another nod. "Dear God, this is worse than the higher ups know." She slips down to an empty chair. "They figured the invasion was either for resources or subjugation, but genocide was one of the lesser accepted reasons. Do you know how long we have?"
"By our calculations, they should have enough mana in three days' time." Illya informs her.
"That long?!" Yuko exclaims. "If you all have all this power at your side, why haven't you been out there fighting?!"
"We have been!" Mason lifts his left arm. "At the moment, we are gathering all the strength we have left before going on one last offensive for the temple. We take that, they lose what they need to resurrect Darth Nihilus."
"You're going to need an army to assault that place. It's built like a damned fortress, and that's not even counting that big ass spaceship hovering over the city." She points out.
"Exclamation: All you meatbags are all the same! You rush to conclusions before knowing all the facts." HK states as if it is a fact. "Elaboration: We have already prepared a way of neutralizing the S-class cruiser. We have stolen one of their transports as a means of boarding it."
She raises a brow, "You have? I must admit, we haven't thought about stealing one of their transports to fly up there, mostly because none of us can fly one."
"We were thinking of sending half of us to disable the cruiser while the rest of us headed towards the temple." Mason tells her. "But as you said, we don't have an army to assault it."
"You do however," Archer points out.
Raiga then speaks up, "I was hoping you all had a plan. I can't speak for the JSDF, but I can say that both the common people and my men would be more than willing to be your army."
"As a military personnel, I can't advise that a civilian population charge into an active warzone. You need to evacuate the city." Yuko tells the mob boss.
"This is our city they are destroying and our loved ones they have killed! Many people want revenge and have already been fighting since the aliens showed up!" He tells her with a glare.
She holds a hand up, "Now hold on let me finish. If the evacuation just so happens to be in the direction of the temple, the JSDF is committed to assist in the evacuation of a civilian population."
He cracks a smile after seeing her loophole. "Ah, of course we would love to have the JSDF with us as we 'evacuate'."
Yuko then turns to the group at large, "Also I will report that I have commandeered an enemy transport to lead a team to sabotage the spaceship. And if a couple of civilians were to stow away on it, then we are to bring them with us to better protect them."
"Of course," Mason answers. "A couple of us may just happen to be exploring the transport and not realize it is being used until it is too late."
"Sounds like we got ourselves a plan!" Raiga proclaims with a grin. "Come now Sargent, we should inform the others about the 'evacuation'."
Yuko gets up and sets down a walkie-talkie on the table. "Keep this with you so we can inform each other when we are ready." With that, the two then make their leave as both sides goes to begin their preparations.
Author's Note: Yet another chapter down. I'll be honest, it took me forever to finally write something I was happy with. This chapter was a lot of writing and deleting. I even had to force myself to not play Jedi Survivor until I complete this chapter. This is the last slow chapter before the final battle begins, which will mean we are almost done with the story. Anyways, there was just a couple things of note in the chapter. First, Mason and Sakura are now officially together. Their scene wasn't as simple as Shirou and Saber's (or even Shirou and Sakura in HF), but with my Sakura having embraced her darker self earlier and not being forced to become the villain, I fully believe that simple isn't in Dark Sakura's sex dictionary. I did reveal a little of what he did during his five years traveling. Also I did skip Mason creating his lightsaber and getting the arm and eye because I didn't feel as if it was necessary. If you can't tell by now, I'm not one for describing things as well and didn't want to butch it. Last thing about Mason, is him having a connection to his ancestors. It's not uncommon for force users to here the voice of dead Jedi/Sith guide them at times, and I'm sure you can tell that Mason is still in need of guidance.
epantoja521: Glad you are still enjoying it and I am excited to write the big fights!
keybladelight: Taiga's funeral isn't going to happen while the invasion and Holy Grail War is still going on, though I may do one afterwards. I'm happy you enjoyed seeing a glimpse of Waver, Grey, and Kairi. Also I apologize for not going into detail about Mason building his lightsaber and showing it off. What I written didn't fit the chapter that already felt like it was all over the place. I don't really think that I will have Mason knighted as a Jedi, honorary or not, as the way I wrote him doesn't allow himself to be one. But there are other ways of honoring his ancestors, which I will reveal in the next chapter. I did however use your idea to have Mason steal a transport to fly up into the Sith cruiser. As I stated in above, the next couple of chapters will be all about the fights and will have lots of different battles, so we may see something like a space battle.
I hope you all are enjoying Jedi Survivor, as that is what I will now start playing since this chapter is finished! Thanks for reading and I'll talk at y'all next time!