A/N: Thanks again to Greatkingrat88 for his beta work on the chapter and for those who reviewed the story.

Its back, and I apologize for the long delay in updating, I had a lot of problems to deal with over the past few months in real life that left me very depressed. But I am beginning to come out of it now.

Now just to clear it up with some folks, the posting of my Honkai Impact and Code Geass (Honkai: Apostle's Revolution) wasn't meant to be a sign I was abandoning any of the current three stories I was working on, this story included with the rest being Kingdom Hearts: Lelouch of Infinite Hearts and Sunrider: the Mask of Zero. But my beta who works on these stories also does beta work for other writers too, so the time in between him doing beta work for them before its my turn again, can take a while.

The posting of my new crossover was really to provide readers with something to tie them over if they were interested and to see how much I had improved as a writer under Greatkingrat88. I had chapters for that story since I am adopting a new rule for myself I will not post stories unless I am able to make a large amount of pre-made chapters beforehand. On that point, I do have a poll for a future project I am planning on my profile page if you guys want to check it out.

That being said, let's move on with the story. I apologize for this chapter looking short, but things should get more interesting in the coming chapters.

Chapter 17

New Complications

"So, what makes this Napoleon guy so special?" Nobunaga shooting a glance at the unconscious National Guard officer. Wounded and unconscious, ragged and thin with dark skin and long hair, he did not seem all that impressive.

"He may not look like much," said Lelouch, "but one day he'll go down in history as one of the greatest generals of all time, if not the very greatest."

"I am right here, Master," Genghis Khan said amusedly. "I broke empires. I conquered half the world. How could this nobody measure up to the likes of me?"

"You are one of a handful who measure up, Khagan. Only you, or Caesar or Alexander the Great could be considered greater, and that is not a sure thing. He made all of Europe tremble. He faced the greatest empires of Europe, the strongest powers on earth, and he broke them all. His military genius was unsurpassed in his age."

"Now you've got me curious," Nobunaga said. "He did all that? How?"

Lelouch sighed.

"It's been a while since school, and we don't have the time for a full lecture, but he came from a poor noble family on the island of Corsica, born just as France took over the place. When the French revolution rolled around and they executed their monarchy, Napoleon rose as a commander in the revolutionary army. Most officers were nobles and fled the country, opening up huge opportunities for advancements. He proved himself first at the siege of Toulon, putting down a counter-revolutionary rebellion, and later trashed the Austrian empire in Italy, forcing them out of the war almost single-handedly. In 1800 he took power in a coup and became dictator of France, and in 1804 he proclaimed himself emperor. The monarchs of Europe- Austria, Prussia, Russia and Great Britain- feared him and declared wars many times, but his army was modern and disciplined, and under his leadership they were seemingly invincible. He conquered most of Europe- Spain, Italy, Germany, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Holland; they were all under his rule.

"Then after he won a crushing victory at sea in Trafalgar, he invaded Britain and conquered it as well, leading to the English royalty fleeing and founding what would become Britannia in North America. Napoleon became master of Europe, and founded what would later become the European Union. He spread liberal values wherever he went, and turned hundreds of disparate kingdoms and duchies into one union. He was so feared at war that the main response to his approach was to just flee and hope to fight one of his not-as-brilliant Marshals. He created new laws still in use today, and preserved the values of the revolution. His men loved him, and it was said his presence on the battlefield was worth twenty thousand men. He was the greatest conqueror Europe ever saw. One day, he will be all of this and more… unless our enemies have their way."

"I still say he doesn't look like much," Genghis Khan scoffed.

"Regardless, we must protect him," Marie said. "Regardless of what he may have done… we cannot let our enemy win. What is the plan once we find a safe place to lay low?"

"Once we're in a secured location, I'll contact Chaldea and inform Roman of what happened, and pass it on to Ritsuka and Hakuno," Lelouch replied.

"Hopefully they are doing alright," Marie said, worried for their well-being.

"They have two teams of servants together. If they run into any trouble, I am sure they could handle it," Lelouch said confidently.

Earlier that same day Hakuno was sleeping in an old farm house they had found. It seemed to have been abandoned for quite some time, but the house was in good enough shape to be used for shelter. Tossing and turning in her sleep, Hakuno was lost in a dream, and not an ordinary one at that. She was not herself; she was her servant, seeing as if through its eyes. They opened their eyes, seeing what appeared to be the interior of a dojo.

"Finally done," The young man said. "It's late already? No wonder I am exhausted. I guess this took longer than I thought."

No, that can't be him speaking. I must be hearing his inner thoughts, Hakuno realized.

From what she could glean from the young man's surroundings, seeing racks for archery bows, quivers full of arrows and related equipment and protective gear, she figured the boy had been cleaning up an archery dojo.

Once upon a time, I think schools in Japan had archery dojos like that before the war, Hakuno thought.

One thing was certain, seeing what was a modern school building easily narrowed down whose memories Hakuno was experiencing.

So Emiya's life was ordinary in high school?

Suddenly a noise came from the school's courtyard. Curious about what was happening, young Emiya walked out to see what it was. He likely had expected to see something like a brawl between students, but what he found instead stunned him.

In the courtyard was Emiya, the servant, and not his younger self whose eyes Hakuno was seeing through, engaged in battle against another Servant.

Wait, is that…

Hakuno recognized Emiya's opponent, the outfit was different, but his blue hair and eyes were exactly like the Caster they encountered in Fuyuki, Cú Chulainn. He was a Lancer, wielding his long spear quite deftly. Much like Hakuno, the young Emiya was awestruck at such an intense battle happening before his eyes. Cú Chulainn wielded his spear with tremendous skill and speed, having disarmed the older Emiya multiple times, but the Archer-class servant had quickly summoned new blades to replace the lost ones, just barely keeping pace with the Lancer. Suddenly Cú Chulainn broke away from his fight, his eyes falling upon the younger Emiya.

Fearful, realizing he was witnessing something he shouldn't have, the young man quickly ran away, making for the nearest school building. He could hide in here; he would never be able to outrun a creature like that. Hakuno could feel the young man's alarm and survival instincts taking hold as he scrambled through the hallways, closing doors behind him in the hope it might slow down any pursuit. Sadly, he failed to realize what he was dealing with until he felt a sharp pain in his gut.

Emiya turned to see Cú Chulainn standing in his path, having bypassed most of the walls and doors in spirit form to intercept him. Young Emiya didn't know that, only that he had been skewered. The young man's strength left him as he stumbled back, falling onto the floor, bleeding out.

"Sorry kid, it's nothing personal. But the rules say all non-magi witnesses must be eliminated. It's not like I could say no. But, it's better for me to give you a quick clean death than someone else," Cú Chulainn said, a hint of regret in his voice before leaving.

So that is how I guess the Grail Wars stay secret. Anyone not meant to know about them or magecraft are killed on the spot, Hakuno thought as she saw the young man's vision begin to fade. But before losing consciousness, he saw someone approach after Cú Chulainn had left. But before she could see who it was, Hakuno woke up with a start, wondering what had just happened.

I am pretty sure those were Emiya's memories I experienced. But why was he also fighting in the Holy Grail War? Some kind of weird time paradox? Hakuno thought before sitting up in bed, seeing the morning light peeking through the window.

She was curious to learn more about what happened. Somehow, Emiya had to have survived that. She wanted to know if her suspicions about some kind of time paradox were true or not, but at the same time, she doubted Emiya would be eager to share his past so easily.

Maybe sometime I might ask him, if the opportunity comes up, Hakuno thought.

She got out of bed, using a prepared bowl of water to quickly freshen up and use a nearby comb to take care of her bed hair, before joining the others downstairs. She found Ritsuka and Mash downstairs together with Emiya and Tamamo, working on breakfast together in the kitchen. The rest of their servants were likely patrolling the surrounding area in their spirit forms.

"I guess someone slept in," Ritsuka said jokingly.

"Oh come on, it's no big deal. For an old bed, it wasn't too bad," Hakuno said, waving her right hand dismissively. "I've slept on worse."

"I can understand," Ritsuka replied, nodding. "Finding a decent bed to sleep in when living in the ghettos was a luxury, and then you had to worry about people stealing from you."

"Very true," Hakuno agreed from her seat at the table..

"Was living conditions in the ghettos of Japan that awful?" Mash inquired.

"They were, and probably worse for others depending on the ghetto, I think," Hakuno replied. "I heard about all kinds of dark rumors from places like Fuyuki Ghetto and Saitama Ghetto, so I made it a point to avoid those places."

"I think I heard about them too," Ritsuka added.

"What rumors? If you don't mind me asking," Mash said curiously.

"From Fuyuki Ghetto, there were stories of people vanishing. Some thought it was the police, or criminals abducting people to use for underground fights or human trafficking," Hakuno answered.

"I heard similar rumors," Hakuno remarked. "Most people tried to steer clear of any ghettos where any unsettling business was going on, but there aren't a lot of livable places in a ghetto. You were lucky if you found a stable place with a roof and a decent bed, or even a bed at all."

"Beds were a luxury for many of us," Ritsuka confirmed. "As was eating, sometimes…"

"How awful," Mash said, appalled. She hadn't considered where they had come from; to know what they had gone through this far… it made her realize how strong they were.

"In that case, why don't I see if I can make your living conditions at Chaldea better once we get back?" Tamamo offered, clapping both hands together. But suddenly Tamamo's cheerful expression vanished, replaced by a serious look.

"Master, two individuals have just breached my barrier, and they are not human. They're servants," Tamamo said, as Emiya summoned his swords into his hands.

"Sempai, and Hakuno, keep close to me," Mash said, quickly grabbing her shield.

The attack had already begun, and the clamor of battle could already be heard outside. Hurrying to a window while Emiya, Mash and Tamamo stayed close, Ritsuka and Hakuno saw the clash from a distance. But it was not two enemy servants attacking; rather, it looked to be two spirits, one running and one chasing.

The enemy Heroic Spirit was covered in an ominous black mist. Although it obscured the figure, they could see they were wearing medieval plate armor, as black as the mist surrounding it.

The hostile servant's prey was a young girl, seemingly around the same age group as Hakuno and Ritsuka. However, she didn't look fully human; curved, dark purple horns adorned her head, and she had a lizard-like tail complete with a pink bow tied on the end. Armed with a black spear-like weapon, the young girl's expression was one of fear and panic.

Siegfried was the first servant to engage the dark knight. The mist-shrouded warrior quickly backed away from the Saber-class, dodging a swing from Siegfried's sword. The black knight grabbed and uprooted a wooden pole from the ground, holding it up to face the Saber.

"There is no way that could be used as a…" Hakuno said. A wooden stick to fight against a sword was madness. But when the wooden pole became shrouded in a dark mist with red lines covering the surface, she realized it was not that simple. To her shock, and Siegfried's, the knight parried Siegfried's sword with the pole.

"That's impossible!" Tamamo exclaimed.

"It has to be some kind of Noble Phantasm at work," Ritsuka said.

"So that person… is it a man or a woman?" Hakuno said. The black mist was still obscuring the knight. It would be easy to assume the knight was male, but after learning King Arthur's real gender she thought it was best not to assume. "They have a Noble Phantasm that can turn whatever they grab into a weapon?"

"I think that might be the case," Mash said in agreement.

Outside the battle continued to rage on. Siegfried was able to match his foe blow for blow but was unable to find any cracks in their defense, the two warriors locked in a stalemate. But Tomoe began providing back up, firing one flaming arrow after another at the black knight, intent on turning the tides. The arrow just barely missed the Berserker's head, but when Tomoe aimed for the Berserker's chest it broke away from the fight with Siegfried to evade. The Dragon Slayer pursued the enemy servant as Tomoe unleashed arrow after arrow, trying to hit their nimble adversary. The Berserker hurled its weapon at Tomoe, like a spear, but the Archer-class servant dodged it.

Siegfried closed the distance, but the Berserker-class servant dodged his persistent foe's efforts to cut him down. The Berserker noticed some abandoned farm tools in the corner of its eye; a rusted farming scythe and an old hoe stuck in the ground, left to rust. After evading another attack from Siegfried, the Berserker grabbed the abandoned farm tools, and immediately they were infused with the same power as the wooden pole. With flawless aptitude, it wielded both tools at once to parry Siegfried's relentless onslaught with one and Tomoe's arrows with the other.

For a Berserker, whoever they are, they possess considerable skill despite trading their ability to reason for raw power, Tomoe thought.

Kagetora joined the fray, having exited spirit form to attack the Berserker from behind with a sword and a spear. Wielding them with the same level of skill and dexterity as the Berserker, Kagetora was matching the enemy servant's pace, locking him in combat. Meanwhile Siegfried pulled back, holding his sword up, channelling magical energy into it.

"The Evil Dragon shall fall, and the world will reach its sunset." Siegfried chanted, as his sword flared with power. "I will bring you down, Balmung!"

The Berserker class servant realized the danger they were in, but before they could evade they were hit by another Noble Phantasm.

"Bishamonten's Eight Phases: Wheel Charge Formation!"

Kagetora's eight mounted clones rammed into the Berserker, stunning him and ensuring he stayed in the path of Siegfried's incoming attack, before quickly escaping to get out of the way.

A blast of blue energy tore across the ground heading for its mark, and the black knight recovered at the last possible second. But it was too late, as the servant was hit directly, engulfed by the destructive blast. The energy kept going in a straight line, decimating everything in its path until it impacted some nearby hills, causing an enormous explosion that could be seen and heard for miles.

"That seemed a little much," Ritsuka said after a moment of silence.

"Overkill is more like it," Hakuno added.

"Yes, but he likely had no means of blocking it," Emiya added.

"Actually, I hate to say it, but that Berserker managed to escape," Tamamo said. The group looked at her in shock.

"Huh.. how?" Mash was the first to recover, eyes wide as she asked her question.

"He went into spirit form at the literal last second before Siegfried's attack hit. I see no sign of it attacking the others. It probably fled."

"I see. So even as a Berserker, our attacker realized he was at a disadvantage and retreated," Emiya surmised.

"He had no choice," Tamamo agreed. "But what kind of berserker thinks that far? They're not usually all that calculating."

"We'll need to relocate now, right? Even if that Berserker wasn't being commanded by someone, that explosion will have drawn attention," Hakuno said.

"It's true enough. I'll help pack everything up. Emiya, why don't you go with the masters and check up on that servant?" Tamamo said, pointing to the dragon tailed servant the Berserker had been pursuing earlier. She had been tied up by Charles, and was now shouting at him to be let go.

"Right. Mash, you should come along too." Emiya said with a sigh.

"Understood," Mash replied. As one, the group left to interrogate the captured servant, who was unsurprisingly upset by being tied up.

Mash and Emiya were cautious, mindful of the possibility the Berserker class servant or another enemy servant could attack, watched Hakuno and Ritsuka as they approached the tied-up girl. Her shouting and angry comments had forced Charles to gag her with a piece of cloth. By the time the group reached them the girl with the tail was still shouting, but nothing got through the gag. Siegfried, Tomoe and Kagetora joined them.

"So who is she?" Hakuno asked, keeping a safe distance.

"I think we should kill her, just to be safe," Kagetora suggested. The servant's eyes went wide, shouting something unintelligible through her gag.

"Why?" Mash asked, stunned by the suggestion.

"This could be an elaborate scheme by the enemy to insert one of their own among our ranks," Kagetora answered sagely.

"Okay, but how would they even know we were here to do that?" Hakuno replied. When Kagetora couldn't give an answer, Ritsuka sighed.

"Why don't we ask her?"

"I don't know if that is a good idea," Charles suggested, looking down at the struggling servant. "Tying her and silencing her wasn't easy."

"Just undo the gag so we can talk," Ritsuka said, but the former executioner seemed hesitant.

"Go ahead. If she ties anything, I am sure you and Kagetora could deal with it," Hakuno said.

"Very well," Charles said, kneeling next to the girl down to undo the gag. "I suggest you behave yourself, my dear."

The girl dramatically gasped for air, looking to her captors with tears in her eyes.

"Please, don't kill me! All I was trying to do was put on a performance for the people in town!"

"Performance?" Tomoe asked, while Mash and the others looked at the girl, wondering what kind of performance she was giving.

"I want to be an idol, so I thought I'd sing for them, but then people ran away with others throwing things at me. Then that big black servant began trying to kill me, I was chased out of town and it still chased me for who knows how long until I ran into you guys," The girl answered, her voice shaking.

"It sounds like no one liked your performance, then," Hakuno said flatly.

"Well they were missing out on my best performance, but maybe having a better stage would've helped."

"Okay, but who are you?"

"Oh, you don't know me!? I am Countess Elisabeth Báthory, Lancer-class servant!"

"Uh…" Ritsuka said, scratching his head.

"We're from Japan, so I don't recall hearing about you."

"Wait, that name sounds familiar," Mash said. Charles' expression darkened.

"Master, allow me to kill her," he said, materializing his sword. "I know that name, and her crimes!"

Elisabeth saw the sword and began panicking again, struggling desperately to break free of her bonds.

"Crimes?" Ritsuka asked.

"Elisabeth Báthory was a Hungarian countess in the 1600s, going down in history as a serial killer who tortured and killed hundreds of young women to bathe in their blood under the belief it would keep her young. Her story and crimes inspired the story of Carmilla," Mash explained. It was an old and grim story, which she had read in her youth.

"In that case, I will help execute her. We can't let her harm the master," Kagetora said, raising a sword too.

"WAIT!" Elisabeth shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I mean sure I did those things, but how was I supposed to know it was wrong? I didn't know people would get so upset about it, but I swear I do not do that anymore. I promise I won't even consider it, just don't kill me! All I want to be is an idol loved by everyone!"

"Hold on!" Ritsuka said. Despite what he head heard, he could not help but feel sympathetic; she was a helpless woman, crying, panicking and begging for her life. "If you form a contact with me, will you swear to help us and don't hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it?"

"Yes, I will. I promise I won't hurt anyone, unless it's to defend you," Elisabeth said quickly, nodding desperately.

Ritsuka nodded. "Please put your weapons down. I'll take care of her,"

The former executioner and feudal lord exchanged looks with Hakuno, both of them hesitant to trust a former serial killer. Hakuno felt the same, but there was also something else nagging at the back of her mind.

I don't know why, but as much as I am getting the feeling she'll be a pain in the ass, we can probably count on her in a fight at least, Hakuno thought.

"Are you sure about this?" She said out loud. "You only just met her, and… well, she's a serial killer."

"The entirety of history, the world and all our loved ones are at stake," Ritsuka shot back. "We're outnumbered and outgunned. We can't afford to be choosy about our allies. And if Lelouch can command a warlord who killed tens of millions of people, why can't I enlist her?"

"Well… that is true," Hakuno said hesitantly. "I hadn't thought about that. But still…"

"Look, a Servant is bound to the will of their master," Ritsuka argued. "She won't be able to do anything against me, and if she does… well, we have a lot of strong, vindictive servants. She wouldn't survive long."

"If you're sure…"

"It's an opportunity," Ritsuka insisted.

"Then you can make a contract with her," Hakuno said, gesturing for her servants to put down their weapons. "But if she causes trouble, then they'll take care of her, agreed?"

"Agreed," Ritsuka said.

I am really beginning to see a worrying pattern here, Hakuno thought. On the flip side, perhaps they could get some useful information out of her if Elizabeth had been in one of the towns.

Meanwhile, miles away, a griffon soared through the air. It defied reason; the creature should not exist in this time, but despite expectation it persisted. But the strangeness did not end with the impossible creature; on its back was a rider looking like a young woman with bright pink shoulder length hair and a pony tail. The rider was outfitted with plate armor, white armored boots and a white cape with white feathers around the collar. Her violet eyes glimmered in mischievous light as she closed in on a crystal carriage, drawn by crystal horses.

"There, I've found you. Now it is time to save you!"

Diving down towards their target, riding upon his griffon, the effeminate knight willed a jousting lance into existence, holding it tightly and aiming for the driver of the carriage. The Heroic Spirit's surprise attack would've worked, except for the part where they had been seen coming. An arrow whistled past the rider, nearly grazing their cheek. The Khan grunted from his position, readying another arrow.

"Ha, you'll have to do better than that, villain!" The pink-haired griffon rider said, deflecting the arrow with their lance.

But the bow was only a distraction, as d'Eon came at the rider from above. The famed French Dragoon would've taken the Rider's head, if the griffon and its rider didn't suddenly teleport.

"Missed me!" The rider mocked.

"Nobunaga, we need you out here!" the Khan said, banging on the roof of the carriage.

Emerging from one of the doors on the side of the crystal carriage, an irritated Nobunaga summoned rifles to begin firing upon the griffon in the air above them, but the creature managed to evade and ascend higher making it harder for Nobunaga to shoot at her target.

Inside the carriage, Lelouch and Marie were alarmed. It was strange how the Heroic Spirit was taking them on alone. Either they were very confident in their powers and skills, or more likely in Lelouch's mind, they were a scout for an enemy party, meant to slow them down.

"What do we do?" Marie cried out.

"Push the horses to go faster. We need to make it difficult for them to get a lock on us!"

In the air, the pink-haired Heroic Spirit was trying to get close again, but a volley from Nobunaga's guns forced the griffon and its rider away.

"No way I am letting you get away with Napoleon," the knight said, teleporting ahead of the carriage, drawing a small black horn from their coat. Before anyone realized where the pink-haired Heroic Spirit had vanished to, the black horn transformed into a bizarre-looking tuba.

"Noble Phantasm: La Black Luna: Magic Flute That Calls Panic!" cried the rider.

Nobunaga and Genghis Khan turned, as did d'Eon, but it was too late. The tuba unleashed a destructive sonic blast that tore apart the road ahead and shattered the horses pulling the carriage. The carriage itself went out of control, veering off the road and plowing through some trees before coming to a complete stop. The three servants were thrown from the carriage by the blast. It seemed the crystal horses and driver had taken the worst of the attack.

"Ha ha, now I got you! Time to finish this." Cried the rider, sweeping down toward them.

A/N: Does anyone want to take a guess at who is attacking them? Could it be they are on the villain's side, likely not by choice, or could this be just an honest mistake?

Either way things are starting to happen with things being not so eventful for Hakuno and Ritsuka in this chapter. Ritsuka got a new servant so far, but the group will need to relocate especially with a certain Berserker in armor now roaming around who could attack again at any time. Of course the questions remains if he is a masterless servant or if someone is commanding him?

How Lelouch and his group get out of their current predicament will be seen next chapter, after I post the next chapter for my Sunrider and Kingdom Hearts crossover.

See you guys next chapter and thanks in advance for the feedback.