December 20th, 2003. Emiya Estate. Miyama District, Fuyuki. 7:00 PM
Shirou Emiya
It had only been a few minutes since the flood of knowledge had left them collapsed onto the ground, but Shirou had hoped, foolishly, that maybe people would calm down and explain to him what the hell was going on. That, unfortunately, did not happen. Instead, He could only watch as what had been a peaceful dinner devolved into panic and chaos. His eyes turned to Sakura first, who was currently sitting silently and staring at the table with pupils shrunken to pinpricks, shaking like a leaf as her arms wound around her stomach. Sympathy filled his features as he reached over, pressing a comforting touch to her shoulder. The girl flinched initially, but her eyes met his own, and he gave her a gentle smile.
Shirou scooted a bit closer to Sakura to help keep her calm, shifting around the corner of the table so that he was right next to her. He could feel her shuffle closer as he settled into place, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders to pull her into a hug instead. He didn't quite understand why Sakura found his presence comforting, but he wouldn't let her suffer like she obviously had been a few moments ago. As he sat there, he let his gaze drift over to the other guest, who was pacing the floor and rambling angrily about the situation.
"-Ean, honestly! Who just goes and tampers with something as delicate as the Holy Grail?! What kind of magus even has that kind of power?! Is it a threat?! Are they just stupid?! Ugh!" Rin paced the room with a groan, hands flailing about as she ranted with all the energy she could muster. Her teeth ground against each other as she snapped. "And really! Going through all that effort just to blast Fuyuki's leylines and start an Apocrypha?! If they aren't insane, they're doing a damn terrible job of proving it! Ugh, at least they had the decency to tell us who the allied Masters are, but I don't even have a Catalyst yet!" She continued to pace aimlessly as her frustration mounted, and Shirou quickly decided to tune her out for now and look over at the last person in the room. When his eyes landed on Asahi, though, he nearly flinched.
Throughout this all, she had been deathly silent and entirely still except for her statement after first snapping out of the haze from the pain. He could see why now that he got a good look at her. She was angry. It was a rare thing for him to see his sister angry, not only due to her absence after Kiritsugu died but also because of her condition. She did her best to keep her emotions calm because the curses filling her body were more likely to act up when angry, but that didn't mean it never happened. Her bangs shadowed over her eyes, but her fists were clenched, and he could see a thin trail of blood running down her chin from how hard she was biting her bottom lip.
Suddenly, she stood from her spot at the table, turned, and walked towards the door. Rin stopped pacing momentarily to let the oldest of the gathered pass, but Asahi paused at the doorway. She stayed completely silent for a few more moments, standing there until...
"Sakura."
A chill ran down the spines of everyone else in the room. Sakura's face paled, and even Shirou couldn't help the small bout of anxiety worming around in his chest. Asahi had turned just enough for one eye to catch the two at the table, gaze sharp like a razor as she watched them. Shirou knew that look far too well, and seeing it once in his life had been one time too many already. He squeezed Sakura's shoulder and caught sight of Rin's hand, already reaching for something at her hip in case of danger. Shirou didn't blame her.
"Y-yes Asahi-nee?" Sakura could barely whimper the words as she stared at the woman. Asahi had never spoken to her like that before.
"Does Zouken have a catalyst for you already?" Her voice was completely even. There wasn't a hint of emotion in her words as she spoke, one eye still locked on the Matou girl.
Sakura took a deep breath at those words. So that's what this was about. She almost felt relieved that she hadn't somehow pissed the woman off, but it was impossible to feel any relief with Asahi still staring through her. She took a shaky breath and set her features, eyes meeting Asahi's with a hard stare. "Yes. I assume you wish for me to go retrieve it then?" Rin blinked, shocked at both the sudden callousness and how quickly Sakura had adjusted to it once she had heard Asahi's question.
"I'll join you, and we'll go tomorrow. We should summon as soon as possible so that we have the time to understand our Servants and what they can do. I'll speak to your grandfather for you if you wish, but I'm not working with that brother of yours. I would rather kill him." Shirou grimaced at the apparent lack of joke in that statement, but Sakura just bobbed her head in acknowledgment.
"That's agreeable. I'll be ready as soon as I can tomorrow." Sakura gave the older woman a worried smile and watched with resignation as Asahi gave her a simple nod.
"Wait, wait, wait. Summoning tomorrow? But even if you and Matou-san have a catalyst, what about Emiya-san and myself?" Rin piped up as soon as Sakura finished speaking, not exactly eager to allow herself to be cut out of any discussions on strategy. Asahi turned to look at her for a moment, and another shiver ran down her spine.
"Shirou also has a catalyst, though he isn't aware of it. It's the catalyst our father used to summon Saber during the previous war." Rin blanched, and Shirou perked up at the sudden revelation, a look of utter bafflement stretching across his face. Even Sakura looked surprised at that. "Additionally, We know from the information funneled into us through the link that the Caster and Berserker Class Servants have already been summoned. My catalyst will most likely summon a lancer, considering exactly who it is, which means that with Shirou's catalyst filling the Saber position, only Rider, Assassin, and Archer remain. I'm going to assume you want a knight class, which means you'll probably be summoning for Archer as a result, making a catalyst less necessary since historically famous archers are comparatively rare. Am I incorrect?" Asahi tilted her head, staring quietly at the Tohsaka heir.
Rin blushed at how quickly her line of reasoning had been dismantled and stuttered for a few moments before finally finding the words to respond. "I...I guess that makes sense...Wait, how do you know your catalyst will summon a Lancer?"
Asahi shook her head after a moment, then looked back at Rin. "Honestly, I don't know if it'll work at all, but I'm hoping it will. It could also summon as Rider, but that doesn't change my analysis here much because if I remember right, the catalyst Sakura told me that Zouken got is Greek, which means there's a high likelihood she summons either a Lancer or Rider as well. Now, I'm going to make sure I have all of my equipment ready. Please explain everything you can to Shirou about the Holy Grail War in the meantime, you two. I don't like it, but if he's going to be forced to fight, he needs to know what's happening. Shirou, after they're done explaining, you can get a guest room set up for Rin. I probably won't be back out tonight." With that, Asahi turned and left the room without another word.
Rin sputtered at the assumption that she would stay over, stumbling over her words to try and find the right way to express how annoyed she was getting at the woman, but Asahi was already gone, and Rin just slumped forward with a groan. She eventually returned to the table and sat down, her forehead hitting the table with a sigh. Sakura and Shirou, meanwhile, kept their eyes on where Asahi had just left. Sakura still didn't know what to make of what had just happened, but Shirou did. After all, he had seen a face like that before once, and he knew what had caused it the second he saw the Command Seals on the back of his hand again.
Asahi had been taken. Otou-san went to find her. Before he left the house, though, he made sure Shirou knew not to follow him. Looking into his father's eyes that day, he finally saw what Kiritsugu told them he had once been. He had never believed him before that, but now he understood. He understood what his father meant when he said he was nothing more than a machine.
Shirou shuddered at the memory and blinked away his thoughts, ignoring the curious expression on Sakura's face as he did so. He wouldn't let his sister turn out like that. If she started walking that path...he would save her, no matter what.
December 20th, 2003. Ryuudou Temple. Miyama District, Fuyuki. 6:55 PM
Caster
She didn't quite know what to do when she first felt it. The information tore through her head like lightning, and if it weren't for her connection to the Grail, it probably would have put her out as it did him. Luckily, she was still strong enough not to collapse as he did, which meant she could help him.
"Souichirou-sama!" The woman panicked a bit when he fell over, clutching his head. She looked no older than twenty at most, more likely to be around seventeen or eighteen, with short, pale-purple hair that fell to around her neck and a braid tied into one side behind her ear. A black mantle with gold trim framed her slender shoulders, and her navy dress clung to her figure as she ran to his side. She could hear him snarl and groan from the agony of so much information being packed into his head like an overstuffed trash bag. Her expression wilted sympathetically as she began to apply healing magecraft.
"Shhh...Here, this should help." She didn't need Pain Breaker for this, so she had not retrieved the first of her two Noble Phantasms; instead, she opted to apply simpler Mysteries to soothe his pain. Soon enough, she saw it subside in his eyes as he began to pull himself into a sitting position, and she sighed in relief. The man had taken care of her. He had been kind to her. She would not let him suffer if she could avoid it. He looked at her, one hand still resting on his temple.
"Caster. I know some of these names. Should we seek them out tomorrow? If the Grail has decided we are to be working together, it would be best to contact them as soon as possible." Kuzuki spoke with his usual even tone despite the pain he had only just recovered from, already considering all of the information he had just gained.
Caster bit her lip at the question as she repeated the information in her head. Eventually, she nodded but couldn't help the twinging feeling in the back of her head. She knew what it felt like to be manipulated and to find herself in that position so soon after finding someone to fight for sickened her. "Yes, Souichirou-sama, it would be best to solidify our position with them posthaste. I will prepare myself some clothes for the outing. If I may ask, though...how do you know them?"
Kuzuki stayed silent momentarily as he looked at her, then spoke up. "Some are or were students of mine. I am quite glad they have been designated as our allies, though I do not believe children should fight in such events."
"I see. I do hope they prove to be reliable then." Caster's eyes shadowed over a bit at the frustrating revelation. Yes, she had been summoned in a somewhat younger state, but she still had access to her entire legend. If they were children, she could not imagine how useful they would actually be. After all, if someone could do all of this under her nose...what chance did a couple of kids stand?
December 20th, 2003. Einzbern Manor. Germany 11:10 AM
Illyasviel Von Einzbern
A harsh SMACK accompanied the small body being flung across the tile flooring, skidding quietly to a stop a good five feet from the elder of the Einzbern family. She winced as she lay there for a moment before slowly pushing herself up, piercing red eyes glaring at the man who had hit her.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN NOT FIGHT THEM?!" The man spat the words out, his wrinkled features contorting into a vile snarl as he stared down at the girl. "ALL WE HAVE DONE IS TO PREPARE YOU FOR THE WAR, AND NOW YOU HESITATE?!"
The girl stumbled to her knees as best she could, calling Berserker to her side with a thought, who scooped her up into his arms carefully. Jubstacheit's eyes narrowed, but he took a step back. Even he could not expect to eke out a win against the monster they had given her.
"It is...as I said, Grandfather. I cannot fight them. Someone has tampered with the Grail. My ability to interface with the Grail itself has also most likely been revoked. An unknown third party has enacted the Apocrypha failsafe by force and designated teams of engagement without any form of consultation. Someone has played us." She could see that her words had caught his attention. Good, he should learn to let her speak more often before jumping to conclusions. "I still fully intend to win the grail, but as those two have been designated as my allies by whatever force has intervened, and even I do not appreciate Berserker's chances against a possible thirteen other servants." Berserker was the strongest, but even he had his limits. She was not stupid enough to ignore that.
Jubstacheit considered the information as she spoke, his eyebrows creasing as he bit back the urge to scream. After everything that had been done to them by that slimy fool, they had not only lost their opportunity to get the revenge they so deserved but would have to place their faith in his unruly ilk again. That didn't even begin to cover his frustration at the revelation of someone tampering with the Grail, though. No magus of the Three Families had the knowledge necessary to create a lesser grail AND tamper with the Grail to the extent that Illya described. This meant that their mysterious interloper was a complete unknown. "...Fine. You are to work with the Emiya family and any other designated allies to the best of your ability to win the Grail. Additionally, you are to have Sella and Leysritt assist you in investigating the culprit who has tampered with the Grail. Whoever has done this has insulted and embarrassed the Einzbern family alongside the Tohsaka and Matou families. Even if we are no longer the allies we once were, this insult shall not be taken lying down."
Illyasviel swallowed the feeling of bile in the back of her throat and nodded in agreement. After everything that had happened, everything she had gone through, she was expected to place her trust in the people who abandoned her. It felt like a knife in her heart, and the worst part was that there was nothing she could do about it.
"I understand Grandfather. I won't let you down. I will prepare for departure as soon as possible. I assume I am to offer the Einzbern Castle as a base of operations?"
"See that you do not...and yes. As much as I am loathe to admit it, the Castle will function even better as a fortified position if the nature of the war has turned into a team battle. You may begin packing. You are dismissed." And just like that, Berserker turned and carried her away, his heavy footfalls rattling the floors with every step.
December 21st, 2003. Miyama District, Fuyuki. 11:30 AM
Asahi Emiya
Asahi looked at Sakura as they made their way down the street. They had barely spoken this morning at breakfast, and even Rin had had hardly anything to say on the matter. As it was, everyone was currently stewing in their frustration, not that she could blame them. Even Sakura was annoyed with how things had gone last night. Asahi knew she was partially to blame for that, though. She may not have had a hand in the sudden changes to the Grail, but she had still snapped. It was her fault that she hadn't been able to control herself. Now breakfast had passed, and they were on their way to the Matou Estate, and she still hadn't apologized. She ground her teeth together, focusing on the young girl beside her. "Sakura I..."
"It's fine Asahi-Nee, I understand. We were all stressed last night. Still are." Sakura smiled back at the woman gently. She had been scared of Asahi at the time, but Asahi would never hurt her. She knew that well.
"But, Sakura, I..."
"Just drop it. Please, Asahi-nee?" Just because she understood didn't mean she wanted to talk about it. She just wanted to get this over with and return to the Emiya Estate.
Asahi flinched at the response, though, despite everything, she couldn't help but feel a little proud that the girl had started to grow some backbone. "Of course. Hopefully, we won't have any more surprises today."
"You do know you just jinxed it, right, Asahi-nee?" Sakura turned to her with a telltale frown on her lips, though it quickly devolved into a soft giggle. It was...easier for her to do this with Asahi here. She had no doubt it would be the same with Senpai, but he was...indisposed currently since Rin had decided to take it upon herself to brush up on his combat skills with him. He didn't exactly AGREE with such an arrangement, but that didn't really matter after Asahi had approved it. Oh well, Senpai was strong. He'd be okay.
Asahi groaned at her words, shaking her head for a moment and rubbing her temple. "Dammit, you're right. The Emiya family luck would never allow me to have an easy day after saying something like that...Ah well, at least I know Shirou is suffering almost as much as we are."
Asahi flashed a grin at Sakura as she finished speaking, trying hard to ignore the pit that had settled in her gut since the night before. It wouldn't do for her to show weakness now, not when things had gotten this bad. Shirou was a Master. Shirou was a Master. She and Sakura had both hoped so desperately to keep the boy out of all of this, and some bastard had gone behind everyone's backs, tampered with the Greater Grail of all things, and set it in stone! She needed assurance. She needed to make sure that her little brother would survive this. She would do anything to keep him and Sakura safe, but Shirou took priority over all others as he was the least prepared. Her eyes glazed over as a memory flashed through her mind.
Kiritsugu Emiya stood over her as she fiddled with the disassembled rifle, eyes sharp as a razor as she cleaned each piece before starting to put it back together. Asahi could see it. Each part made perfect sense to her. She wasn't absurdly skilled at Projection like her brother, but she was almost as capable as he was at structural grasping. It made learning tasks like this easy for her. Weapon maintenance, explosives, subversive tactics, and all other manner of skill. Kiritsugu had only been teaching her for a year since they had been found at her continued insistence, and she had absorbed the knowledge like a sponge...well, she absorbed theoretical knowledge like a sponge. In reality, she was far too reckless to utilize any form of subtlety whatsoever in a fight.
"Asahi," Kiritsugu spoke calmly, and Asahi perked up immediately, placing the half-assembled rifle in front of her.
"Yeah, old man?" She smiled a bit, but it felt wrong. It always felt wrong. She didn't deserve to smile like this. She didn't deserve any of this.
Kiritsugu sighed at the comment, glowering at her before shaking his head and giving up. She'd never stop calling him that. He took a deep breath and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small letter and handing it to her. "I was able to pull some strings and contact someone who can help teach you how to use that thing." He motioned to the Philosophy Key embedded under Asahi's skin on her left arm. "A member of the Yasunori family who I did a favor for a few years back. He'll be here next month to begin proper Magecraft training for you. I know it was cruel of me to ask you not to continue practicing after I adopted you two. He'll help you set up a proper Workshop here, and I've already arranged for renovations of the Estate to accommodate such."
Kiritsugu continued to speak, but the thirteen-year-old girl he had adopted started to vibrate in her seat. She could finally practice her Magecraft again? She wasn't banned from it anymore?! She could continue the family craft!
He turned his head away from her as her excitement bubbled up in her chest, grimacing at the familiarity of how she acted. God, she had always been so much like Irisviel that it hurt to talk to her sometimes. As such, he was wholly unprepared to be essentially tackled by his adopted daughter in a hug that squeezed so tight he could hear his bones creak. "A-ack! A-Asahi! My back!"
Asahi squeaked and let him go, brushing off her dress with a sheepish grin on her face. "Sorry, old man."
Kiritsugu stared at her for a moment and grunted before sitting down. "Just promise me something, alright, Asahi? Promise me that you'll keep your brother safe." He looked back up at her as he spoke, and he almost flinched at the expression on her face. It had been a long time since he had seen a face like that, and he couldn't help but feel that it was his fault she wore it now. She was nothing like her brother, that was for sure.
Asahi stared back at him, head tilted as she processed the request. Her eyes were wide open, pupils contracting down into pinpricks as her lips curled back into a...not a smile. Whatever that was, it was not a smile. He saw her teeth, sharpened and malformed like a carnivore's, and the regret washed over him in another wave. The curse of Angra Mainyu was already starting to mutate her body. It was better than a daemon possession, but hopefully, her new teacher could find a solution when he arrived.
Asahi chewed her lips as she thought of how to respond before speaking up. "Of course. He's my little brother. I'll do anything to keep him safe." It was a chilling statement, not because the girl was particularly scary, but because he could tell without a doubt that she was not lying. He just hoped he wasn't about to create a monster.
"...-sahi-...e...Asahi-nee. Asahi-nee!" Sakura's voice snapped her from her rumination, jolting her out of her thoughts as she looked around wildly. Sakura frowned, staring at the woman, who was jerking her head around like a cornered animal looking for a way out. She always acted like that, and Sakura wasn't stupid. She had recognized it ages ago, all the way back to that weekend she had come clean about what was happening to her to the woman. Even with as much as Sakura knew about what Asahi had gone through, she didn't know everything. "We're here, Asahi-Nee. You said you'd talk to Grandfather while I get my catalyst?"
Asahi recovered after a moment, looking down at her with a confused expression as she realized that, yes, they had somehow gotten all the way to the Matou Residence while she had been reminiscing. She nodded dumbly, still not quite all there but understanding well enough.
She stared up at the Matou Manor as they made their way to the front door, taking it all in as invisible Shikigami flitted away and stuck to various trees around the Estate. Hopefully, the old bastard's worms wouldn't notice them. They would help monitor the city if not, and outside of the initial crafting, Shikigami didn't cost Od to upkeep as they took in Mana from the area around them.
Asahi's thoughts were again interrupted by the sound of the front door opening, and she could feel Sakura tense up next to her as the old worm slowly stepped outside. Asahi's jaw set on instinct at the appearance of the man, eyes hardening and posture straightening as she prepared for what was sure to be a...frustrating conversation. Sakura looked up at her for a moment before turning, taking a deep breath, and walking forward alongside her.
"My, my, I don't think we've been introduced yet. Hello there, young lady. My name is Zouken Matou. How nice it is to meet you." The shrewd old man grinned as they approached, leaning against his cane and watching them carefully. Something had happened last night that was...troubling, but he wasn't quite sure what the extent of it was yet. Despite his intimate knowledge of the Grail systems, he had no idea what exactly had gone down. He hoped to glean some information from the brats while they were here.
"Hi. Asahi. Nice to meet you, Zouken." Asahi had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the act. Shitty old geezer could stuff that cane up his ass for all she cared. "We're just here for Sakura's catalyst for the Grail War. We're summoning tonight, so we needed to pick it up." There was no need to mince words here. They just needed to get in and get out.
"Oh? How interesting. I was unaware that my granddaughter intended to participate; more than that, she's already formed an alliance. You surprise me, Sakura. Regardless, I must ask why she would be summoning now instead of later, much less away from our home." As he spoke, something flickered in his eyes, and he glanced over at Sakura, who shuffled closer to Asahi in response.
"To make a long story short, someone tampered with the Grail. Apocrypha has been enforced, and the Emiya Estate, alongside a few other locations in Fuyuki, is far more suitable as a base of operations compared to the Matou Estate. I'm sure you wouldn't want the Tohsaka or Einzbern heirs anywhere near your workshop, much less a representative of the Edelfelts. After all, who knows what they would find down there." Asahi stared down the old man with a barely concealed grin while Sakura stared in abject horror at the fact that Asahi was so hostile off the bat.
As Asahi explained the situation more, Zouken's mask cracked and withered away into a sharp glare. He stared at Asahi briefly, mind racing over the new information. None of the three families could tamper with the Grail to that extent in their current situations, especially as the Einzberns weren't in Fuyuki currently. Someone had waltzed in and completely bypassed one of the most complex pieces of spellwork in the modern era. That was concerning. This brat in front of him was also concerning, though. She knew more about them than he liked and was brave or stupid enough to use that in bargaining. He'd be almost impressed if he weren't insulted. "I see. I'm sure you're aware, then, that Sakura here needs a consistent source of external Mana, or else her body starts to break down. An unfortunate side effect of the Matou craft. Are you willing to provide?"
"I've been providing Sakura with Prana for a couple of months now, actually. I should be able to handle it. Though I am surprised you weren't aware of that. I was sure that little seaweed-haired brat would've complained by now." Asahi spoke much more casually now, trying not to betray the fact that she was still terrified of this man despite her demeanor. Luckily, she had been taught by Kiritsugu Emiya. Her mask was perfect. It was always perfect.
"Oh? I wasn't aware my granddaughter was into older women, though I had heard the worthless whining of my grandson. I simply brushed it off as useless prattle as always. Not like he can contribute anything else." Zouken smirked a bit, flashing his teeth. Sakura cringed at the implication, face contorting into disgust at the mere idea.
"Ew, not like that...Though I almost feel bad about hating the little prick now that I know you do...Who knows, maybe I just dislike agreeing with you that much. Anyway, can she grab the catalyst or not?" Asahi grimaced. She didn't even want to entertain the thought of doing something like that with Sakura. Zouken, however, smiled. He had at least gotten a bit of information out of the girl. He looked at Sakura and frowned, then gave her a quick nod.
"Go ahead, you know where it is. The boy is out in Shinto right now, so he won't pester you."
"Thank you, grandfather. I won't disappoint you in this Grail War. I promise." Sakura bowed, then turned and ran inside the house to collect the catalyst. She wanted to leave as soon as possible.
"See that you do." Zouken watched her run off with a curious expression, then turned to leave back into the house as well, leaving Asahi alone outside.
December 21st, 2003. Emiya Estate. Miyama District, Fuyuki. 11:40 AM
Shirou Emiya
"Anfang!" A dagger pierces her heart.
"Trace on. Trigger off." The hammer strikes the firing pin.
Rin's body surges forward as she charges Shirou, Reinforcement lighting up across her arms and legs. Her form blurs, and she turns as she gets close, twisting her hips into a pivot that generates force like a wound spring. Two simple shortswords are in his hands to meet her. His eyes narrow into slits as he brings them down to block the elbow driving towards him from her rear hip. Metal shatters and dissipates into Mana against the first strike, and another sword is in his hand to meet the follow-up strike with her opposite knee.
Her lifted leg immediately twists to the side as her body tilts back, taking advantage of her position to lash out in a proper kick that finally strikes true. Her heel slams into his chest, driving the air from his lungs and launching him back like a rocket. She's on him again in an instant, and it's all he can do to block the palm strike with another sword. He stumbles as he's put on the back foot, but he's used to being here against his sister.
He stabilizes quickly, tracing a sword. He sees the hammer arm coming down and brings up the blade in his hand to block. It shatters, and he lets the momentum push him down, revealing the sword he traced behind himself. It fires into her torso like a bullet, but she sways to the left to dodge. That's fine; her momentum is broken.
He swipes at her legs with another sword to catch her attention, and three more blades fire at her from different directions. The swords are wobbly as they tear through the air from how new he is to this extension of his Projection, but it's stable for now. Rin grits her teeth and twists her hips again, dropping down onto one knee mid-spin and lashing out with her palms to strike each of the swords from the air as they get close to her.
Her eyes meet his, and she grins, driving forward and up to slam her knee into his jaw. The impact sends him reeling and stumbling back onto his feet, and she moves like lightning to press her advantage. A palm strikes his gut, then immediately slams up to slap his arm away, stopping him from projecting another sword as her other arm lances forward in a second punch. Her rear leg twists into a sidekick that hits him in the Solar Plexus, immediately followed by a Rear Horse Kick that skips him across the dirt.
Shirou lands flat on his back, gasping for breath like he had just run a marathon. He attempts to scramble to his feet, heart pumping like thunder in his ears, but he's stopped by a knee planted firmly on his chest, followed by a fist held an inch from his nose.
"I win." Rin gives the boy a teasing smirk as she pulls away, holding out a hand for him to pull him to his feet as she stands. This was the fifth spar they had done now, each lasting just slightly longer than the last, but Shirou was outclassed as usual. It was nothing he wasn't used to since everyone he had been learning from had years of training over him, but he did worry about being a burden.
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks for going easy on me, Tohsaka-san." His legs wobbled as he pushed up to stand with her help, still taking deeper breaths to get his chest back to feeling normal. He could still feel the sharp pain in his ribs as he tried to steady his breathing, hands moving slowly to a rhythm that matched his inhales and exhales almost perfectly. Asahi had taught him a bit about Breathing and Walking in the past. He was no Miracle Child, but he could do enough to quicken his recovery a bit.
He brushed himself off after a few moments, knocking the dust off of his clothes, unaware of Rin's gaze on him. She watched him quietly, reminiscing about her school years. She remembered Shirou well even now, flashing back to the day she watched the young boy spend hours attempting a nearly impossible high jump in the school field. Embarrassing as it was, she had actually had a crush on him for a while after that, which had only faded in the past two years...Not that anyone would ever get her to admit to this. She'd rather die than ever mention it. Now, though, she realized how little she knew of the boy. His sister had never even come up before, and finding out that not only were they a magus family, but that Shirou had a catalyst from the Fourth War without even knowing about it...What had happened to the Emiyas? And what was that last night?
"Ne, Shirou."
"Hm?" He perked up, looking over at her.
"What..." Rin trailed off for a moment, trying to figure out what exactly she wanted to touch on. "What's your wish for the Grail? You got hand-picked for this by whoever it is that messed with The Grail last night, and you've seemed pretty committed to helping out, so what do you want to wish for?" There, that was an easy way to learn more about him. She cocked her hip, arms crossed as she awaited his response, eyes twinkling expectantly.
Shirou, for his part, just gave her a confused look. He shuffled his feet a bit and ran a hand through his hair. "Oh. I Don't have a wish. I don't really care about this Grail business at all, but this whole thing is going to be dangerous, and if I help out, I can keep people from getting hurt." One corner of his lips tugged into a half-smile, but Rin stared at him as if he'd grown a second head.
"You mean...there's nothing you want to wish for at all?" She stared at him incredulously, searching his eyes for any sort of lie. There was none.
"Nah, I don't need it." He started cleaning up the damage from their spars as he spoke, wandering the grounds and picking up various objects that had been flung around.
"That...I...Ugh." Rin groaned and scrunched up her face, rubbing her eyes with her fingers and thumb. "That makes no sense, but alright...in that case...What was wrong with Asahi last night? She seemed a bit off." Rin's eyes turned serious, and she pressed her lips into a thin line. She felt a small spike of anxiety when she asked, remembering how cold the woman had looked the night before. She vanished after that last exchange and barely spoke this morning before leaving with Sakura.
Shirou paused, grimacing at the question and looking away. Memories of smiling children running through a field, one of the few he had left from the time before the fire, flash through his mind.
"Asahi...Asahi has problems. A lot of them. She's also really overprotective of me, so when she saw I got one of those sets of...Command Seals, you said? That probably set her off. She was probably just worried about me. She tries to keep calm, but sometimes, she just has to leave to avoid snapping at people." Shirou explained as best as he could, knowing very well that there was more to it than this, but that information was private, and he wouldn't betray his sister's trust like that.
"Is she going to be a liability in the Grail War?" Rin narrowed her eyes a bit, voice hardening somewhat as the corners of her lips tugged into a frown. If Asahi had the potential to cause problems, she needed to know now.
"W-what? No, no, Asahi is strong. She has her issues, but she's really smart and a much better Magus than I am. She actually has the family's Philosophy Key, after all." Shirou stammered and stumbled over his words, rubbing the back of his neck and laughing awkwardly. It wasn't the Emiya family's Philosophy Key, but Asahi would probably be annoyed at him if he brought up that fact. Rin stared at him for another second before sighing and nodding in understanding.
"It doesn't take much to be a better magus than you, seeing as you can only cast three spells. Honestly..." Rin couldn't help but scoff at his words, rolling her eyes a bit and crossing her arms. "Alright, as long as she doesn't cause us problems, it should be fine."
Shirou chuckled and was about to respond when the doorbell rang. The sound echoed into the garden, and he perked up, curiosity coloring his features. Rin's shoulders tensed, on edge after everything that had happened in the past day or two.
"Let me get it." Rin turned without another word and approached the front of the Estate. Shirou saw how she tensed up and followed behind, rolling his eyes a bit.
"Calm down Tohsaka-san. There's no way someone involved in all this would show up that quickly. They even rang the doorbell. It's probably just...one of...Raiga's...guys..." Shirou stared at Rin as she gave him a look, eyes darting between her and the now-open door. Souichirou Kuzuki stood there quietly with his regular dead expression, and next to him was a young woman who looked about eighteen, giving off so much sheer Prana that it felt like the air was heavier.
"Ah. I see...I'll brew some tea." Shirou turned around, returning to the kitchen where the world wasn't out to prove him wrong.
December 21st, 2003. Miyama District, Fuyuki. 12:10 PM
Sakura Matou & Asahi Emiya
Sakura clutched the mirror close to her chest as they walked back towards the Emiya Estate, eyes locked once more on Asahi. Despite what she had said earlier, she was worried for the older woman after what happened the night before. This woman had helped her so much these past few months to be more assertive and less of a pushover. She had even helped her with her magecraft despite the sheer differences between their crafts.
"...Asahi-nee, what exactly was that last night? I know you were worried about Senpai, but I don't think I've ever seen you that angry." Sakura watched Asahi as she spoke, searching the older woman's eyes carefully for any hints as to why she had been so distraught. Say what you will about Sakura, but she wasn't an idiot. She had become quite good at reading people over the years and could tell just how desperate Asahi had been. It was why she forgave her so quickly.
Asahi refused to look at her, staring off into space as another set of images flashed through her mind.
Alone in a burning house, clawing at the doorframe until the skin on her hands is rubbed raw from the heat.
The corpse of a toddler, no more than two. Black hair framed her shadowed face.
She bundled Shirou in a blanket and ran, tuning out his questions. She couldn't bring herself to tell him why she wasn't moving anymore. She couldn't explain why their parents were gone.
She refused to lose both of her siblings to that hell. She dug her claws in tight and refused to let go of her little brother. She'd never let go again.
"I...We're familiar with loss. Don't worry about it." Asahi said nothing else. That was the end of the discussion, and she made it very clear. Sakura stared before wrapping an arm gently around the woman's back. Asahi tensed as if she had been struck before settling into the side hug.
"You helped me a lot, Asahi-nee. These past few months have been some of the happiest I've ever had...Please don't forget that you need help sometimes, too, though. I may not be as smart as you, but I'll do my best..." It was a somber promise that rattled around in Asahi's mind like a caged animal, even as Sakura held her in the hug.
Asahi wished desperately to say something, but her lips thinned, and her jaws were shut like a steel trap. She was the older sister. She was the one who was supposed to protect them. They were not supposed to protect her. She could handle it.
She wrapped a hand around Sakura, rubbed her shoulder, and began to speak when she suddenly froze. "...Someone just broke my Bounded Fields."
Sakura's heart stopped in her chest at those words, eyes going wide as fear etched into her face. "What?!"
"We need to move now!" Asahi was already sprinting by the time she had finished her sentence, Sakura stumbling a bit behind her as she tried to keep up. They ran the entire distance back to the Emiya Estate, fear and worry running through their minds. What had happened? Was an enemy already here? Was Shirou okay? Was Rin okay?
They finally came to a stop at the house. Sakura stumbled and hunched over, hands on her knees and breathing heavily as she tried to steady herself.
Asahi was already at the door, flinging it open and cringing at the sound of unfamiliar voices reverberating through the halls that immediately followed. Her lips curled into a snarl as she drew a set of four paper talismans from the inside of her jacket, stopping at the closed door of the Dining Room. She took a deep breath to prepare herself for what she might see, then swung the door open to the sight of...
"Okay, what the fuck?!" Asahi stared at the four inhabitants of the room, one of whom was obviously a Servant. Rin, Shirou, and an older man joined her at the table and held cups of tea as they stared at Asahi. Shirou looked at them, then back at her, and then an awkward laugh escaped his throat as he scratched the back of his neck.
"Ah, uh...Asahi-nee...I, uh, I forgot you can feel it when your Bounded Fields break...uh, sorry?" Shirou gulped, taking a sip of his tea and hoping desperately not to die to the wrath of his sister today. Asahi's eye twitched, and the deep well of primal fear in his chest seemed to double out of nowhere when Sakura came in behind her, still breathing somewhat heavily with a wide-eyed look of fear in her eyes before taking in the scene before her and falling into a similarly frustrated expression.
Everyone was silent for a moment before the Servant cleared her throat and took another sip of tea. "Well? Are you going to introduce yourselves, or are you just going to stand there thinking of ways to murder this boya?"
Asahi glared at the woman momentarily but eventually resigned herself to a low groan as she slapped her palm against her forehead and rubbed her temples with her fingers and thumb. Sakura took another heavy breath and then smiled very politely at Shirou. Rin would've felt sorry for the boy if she hadn't been enjoying this far too much.
"Name's Asahi. I'm assuming you're Caster of Black, then? You don't exactly look like a Berserker, after all. If I had to guess, you're Greek, which narrows the list down considerably as well..." Asahi's lips tugged down into a frown as she spoke, quickly losing herself in thought as she tried to guess exactly who this woman was. Caster gave her a deadpan stare.
"Medea of Colchis. Charmed." Okay, maybe she was more affected by her unusual summoning than she thought. She definitely felt like a teenager again, and her composure had taken the hit to match. She took another sip of her tea, trying to appear nonplussed at the situation.
Asahi blinked, then nodded once. "Okay...anyone wanna explain what exactly happened here?"
Rin spoke up at that point, unwilling to watch this clown show any longer. "Kuzuki-san has a good memory, apparently. He checked my address, then Sakura's, then here. I'm not sure how I feel about my old teacher still remembering where I live a year after I graduated, but...details." She slumped in her spot at the table, rubbing her forehead. "Anyway, did you two get what you went out for?"
Asahi glanced over at Sakura, who pulled out a small mirror with snakelike designs all over it. She gave them a weak smile, then flinched when Medea appeared before her and inspected the mirror with fervor. She tilted her head to the side, eyes narrowing with scrutiny underneath her hood. Everyone else, sans Souichirou, watched in rapt attention, curious as to what exactly she was looking for.
"Hmmm...The catalyst itself is rather weak, but..." She turned her head up to look at Sakura now, giving her a once over and walking around her to look at her from all sides before stopping back in front of her. "Yes, you'll most likely have enough compatibility with her to make up for it." She had a strange look on her face as she spoke, and a familiar glint shined in her eyes as she considered something.
"Wanna let us in on the secret, or are you gonna keep it a surprise?" Asahi crossed her arms, eyebrows furrowed as she glared at the woman.
Medea, in response, lifted her hand so that her fingers covered her lips, letting out a soft laugh. "Fufufufu, I think I will leave it a surprise, seeing as you're such a rude little girl. Now, come and sit down. It would be rude to continue standing after all."
Asahi glowered at the woman as she motioned to a spot at the table next to Rin as if she owned the place but finally sat down at the area Medea had indicated. Sakura took her spot next to Shirou, placing herself between her Senpai and Medea. The witch snickered and rolled her eyes under her hood before returning to Asahi and Rin. As far as she was concerned, they were the only ones worth talking to right now. "Now then, I was informed by this one-" she motions to Shirou, "that you will be summoning tonight? If I may ask, will you tell us who you intend to summon? I have a good idea of who the girl will summon, but what of the rest of you?"
"I'm not sure who any of us will summon. I know Shirou has a catalyst for a Saber-Class Servant, but Dad never told me who it was, and he only gave me that much because I bugged him endlessly about the thing after he used it to save Shirou's life. My catalyst can most likely summon a few different Servants and one in particular who I'm hoping for. Unfortunately, I can't really give you any other details than that other than it's of Chinese origins, and it should be a Servant from the Age of Gods." Asahi ran a hand through her hair as she spoke, posture loosening as she explained. Medea didn't seem too happy with the answer and turned to look at Rin.
"Ehehehehe...I...don't actually have a catalyst. I'm going to attempt to summon an Archer, so hopefully, it won't be as necessary since Archers are comparatively rare as far as heroes go." Rin shrank in her spot, playing with her hair and looking away from everyone. "Look, that shitty fake priest at the church wasted all my money while I was growing up! It's not my fault!" She huffed, crossing her arms and pouting. Medea just blinked at the display before shrugging her shoulders.
"I see. You won't tell me what Servant you're hoping for, will you?" Medea's eyes were hidden from the rest, but she was obviously shooting Asahi a dirty look from underneath that hood of hers. Asahi's lips twisted into a lopsided grin in response.
"Nah. I think I'll leave it a surprise, seeing as you're such a rude little girl." Asahi flashed her teeth, and Souichirou's hand immediately found itself on Medea's shoulder. He gave her a look and shook his head before she had even finished standing up to try and lunge over the table.
Shirou stayed utterly silent, more than happy not to draw any attention from the four terrifying women at this table.
December 21st, 2003. Fuyuki Church. Shinto District, Fuyuki. 6:00 PM
Kirei Kotomine
It would not be an exaggeration to say this was one of the worst days of Kirei Kotomine's life. After the unfortunate events of the night before basically ensured he would not be able to participate in the Fifth Holy Grail War, he had had to endure hours of complaining from a certain golden man who had been present in the church all this time. Then, if that wasn't enough, she showed up.
He closed his eyes and opened them again, hoping the woman would disappear and this frustrating conundrum would prove to be a simple bad dream. Unfortunately, Morgan Le Fae sat quietly among the pews, humming a little tune while Gilgamesh snarled at her.
Two command seals were gone from the pattern of red tattoos on her stomach, and she had a smug grin decorating her face as The King Of Heroes sat there, unable to do anything due to the Command Seals used. "You mongrel bitch! How DARE you bind me here?! I am Gilgamesh, King of all this world has to offer!" Gilgamesh bared his teeth at the woman, face flushed with frustration. Sha Naqba Imuru had been restrained, but even then, it should have told him of something as brazen as this. For this woman to walk into the church as if she owned it and immediately spend two Command Seals on him to both bind his location and deny him the Gate of Babylon in its entirety, claiming herself as one of two Rulers of this Grail War, it was unthinkable to him. An insult to his face that needed to be rectified, preferably in her blood. Blood that he could not spill due to her restrictions on him.
"Oh? Is that so? And yet here you are, calling me a mongrel while you bark like a leashed dog. Do not worry, though. Your time will come, King of Heroes. Rest assured, I will take great joy in watching your life burn out when that time comes." Morgan chuckled, eyes glinting in the light as she turned her nose up to him.
Gilgamesh bristled, already embarrassed and insulted by this entire debacle. "Insolent witch. I will have your head for your transgressions against the King! For what reason do you have to so foolishly set yourself against one such as I?" Red eyes narrowed into slits, and he took a deep breath to compose himself. He could do nothing for now, so he would have to bide his time, but his eyes could tell him nothing of this woman, which meant he had to speak to her properly to understand her actions.
Morgan rolled her eyes and let her bident rest against the pews, placing her hands gently in her lap and faking a smile. "Well, you see. I am Morgan Le Fae. You should know very well who my sister is as a result." Morgan cleared her throat, smile fading into a sharp glare at the so-called King of Heroes. Gilgamesh scoffed, crossing his arms.
"I see. It's jealousy, then. All this simply because you cannot accept that one would find that most delectable flower more intriguing than yourself." The golden man huffed, frustration still evident on his face. It only grew when the woman burst out laughing again.
"Ha! O-oh my goodness, you actually think I am jealous of my dear Artoria for attracting your twisted affections? No, no, it is not something so foolish, so perish the thought. I wouldn't lay with someone like you if you were the last man on earth. No, it is simply the fact that, well, no one messes with my little sister but me, and I take great offense to your very existence. You remind me far too much of my uncle." Gilgamesh's eye twitched at the witch, clenching his fist as he tried and failed to summon his Gate for the fifth time since this situation had sparked up.
Kirei simply watched the entire exchange go down before turning away and wandering off toward his study. Strangely enough, he felt his lips curl into the smallest of smiles once his back was turned to the two. Maybe he would find more entertainment in this situation than he expected. After all, there was no suffering more exquisite than that of the King himself...not that he would ever say that aloud. He wasn't a fool, nor did he have a death wish.
December 21st, 2003. Emiya Estate. Miyama District, Fuyuki. 10:55 PM
Shirou Emiya
Shirou took a deep breath, eyes hazy as he sat down next to Medea and Asahi. Kuzuki was currently set up in one of the guest rooms as he had to deal with parent-teacher conferences tomorrow. He was thankful that Taiga wasn't around this weekend since she had to take the Kendo Club to an event in Kyoto. It made all this much more manageable.
He let his mind wander, thinking about how Asahi and Rin had set everything up. The Emiya Estate was close enough to a Leyline to support two Servants being summoned at once, but no more. Rin and Sakura would summon first, then Shirou. Asahi would summon after he did, as apparently, her Servant would cost an absurd amount of Mana for the initial summoning if she got who she wanted, and it might blow up in their faces if they didn't give the leyline a moment to rest after three summonings in a row. He wasn't sure that made any sense, and it was highly likely that Asahi just wanted a dramatic reveal, considering what he knew about his sister.
He felt Asahi tap him on the shoulder, and he perked up, jarred from his thoughts. His lips curved into a weary smile as he turned his attention to the two girls in the center of the garden area, each standing over a summoning circle. They began to chant in unison, Sakura holding her mirror in one hand and a small vial in the other while Rin had her clenched fist out in front of her.
"Silver and iron to the origin. Gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone."
"The ancestor is my great master."
"The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulates."
Shirou watched as a gentle green light began to radiate from the circles as Sakura tipped the vial in her hand over while Rin crushed the gems in her fist.
"Fill."
"Fill."
"Fill."
"Fill."
"Fill."
"Repeat every five times."
"Simply shatter once filled."
The liquid faded as it struck the circles, and the green light quickly shifted into a harsh, dark red hue. The wind picked up as prana swelled around each of the girls, their hair fluttering in the swift breeze.
"I announce."
"My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny."
"In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer."
"Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world, and I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world."
"You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance!"
The red light grew brighter and brighter until it was nearly blinding. As the two reached the end of their chants, Asahi leaned forward, excitement brimming just beneath her chest. Despite the terrible circumstances, she was pretty excited to meet actual legends from the past. The two finished, and prana exploded out from around them, blinding everyone in the area.
When the light settled, two figures stood before the girls. In front of Sakura was a slightly taller woman with purple hair cascading down to her ankles and a blindfold over her eyes. She wore a tight black dress paired with thigh-high boots and a set of what looked to be arm warmers that had Asahi and Shirou both a bit flushed, especially with how little of her uh...form it hid. She seemed to be able to see through it just fine and had her head angled down at Sakura with a slight tilt to the side as if inspecting her.
The other was interesting for a different reason entirely. Asahi and Shirou both felt a collective chill run down their spine as they turned their gaze to the dark-skinned man. He stood almost as tall as Asahi, dwarfing Rin. Piercing silver eyes and pitch-white hair struck a powerful appearance when contrasted by the black armor he wore, along with what seemed to be a Holy Shroud fashioned into his coat if Asahi's blood trying to jump out of her veins was any indication. The most striking thing about him was how familiar he seemed, though. Shirou bristled as he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, an almost uncanny dislike for the man appearing out of seemingly nowhere.
Asahi's reaction was even worse, her breath hastening as something in the back of her mind screamed at her that whatever this servant was, they were an impossibility. She knew this man, and she didn't know how, but his very existence was her failure somehow. It was like staring at a nightmare given form to her, and she had no idea why. It ate at her over and over again, screams flickering through her mind as the flames ate at her ate at her they kept eating at her. Why were they eating her? They devoured her until she was nothing but curses, nothing but-
"..Sahi...Asahi-nee! Snap out of it!" Asahi jolted as Sakura shook her shoulders violently, calling her name with glistening eyes as she saw her 'older sister' in such a distraught state for what had to be the third or fourth time in the past two days. The blindfolded woman stood a few feet behind Sakura, letting things play out without interruption.
"F-fuck, sorry, Sakura...I don't...I don't know what happened there." Asahi ran a hand through her bangs, chuckling quietly as she tried to shrug off the fading feeling. "So, you two gonna introduce yourselves?" She changed the subject with a glance at the two Servants, ignoring the telltale frown on Sakura's face as she did so. She'd deal with that later.
"Are you sure you're alright to keep going tonight, Asahi? You look like you saw a ghost." Rin walked over and stood next to Sakura as she studied the older woman. Even Medea looked a bit put off.
'I'll be fine. I just...have a small condition. The holy shroud your servant is wearing is making it act up. An old curse put on me that reacts badly to Sacraments and such." Yeah, that was a decent excuse. That should work. Rin's eyebrows quirked as she leaned forward, scrutinizing her with a small frown.
"Fine, but if anything else happens, we're done for the night." She turned to look at the man she summoned and watched as he dispelled the red coat before she even spoke, a slight scowl spreading across his face. "Huh, it really was a Holy Shroud. You can introduce yourself first. We're all allies here."
The man turned to look at her, eyes flickering with something unreadable, before closing his eyes and scratching the back of his neck with an exasperated sigh. "Unfortunately, Master, it seems as though you made a mistake with the summoning ritual. I seem to have lost some of my memories. My true name is lost to me currently, though it should return with time. Nonetheless, I can inform you confidently that I am of the Archer Class." Every eye in the group turned to him with varying degrees of shock and annoyance...mostly annoyance. Rin's expression hardened, and she shot him a look that Shirou had already learned well. Unusual feelings be damned, he pitied the man right now. That look brought only pain.
"Hmph! Alright, Archer, I'm going to at least assume that you've been filled in on our unusual circumstances." Rin huffed and put her hands on her hips, matching his scowl with her own. Archer's face contorted in response before bobbing his head slowly. He didn't exactly seem happy about the situation.
"Yes, Master. Personally, I find it hard to believe someone was able to tamper with The Grail to such a degree, but I will save my opinions on the situation for now. We simply have to live with it. I'm going to get a lay of the land and see if I can track down our other two 'allies.'" He turned and dissipated into spirit particles without another word, leaving Rin gaping at the spot where he had been standing while Sakura slowly inched away from the furious Tohsaka.
"You know...I almost feel bad for the guy. We're actually gonna see the first recorded instance of a Master murdering a Servant with her bare hands." Asahi snickered and nudged Shirou to stand up and get ready, then turned to look at the other Servant, pointedly ignoring Rin's fuming glare being turned on her.
The woman turned to Sakura questioningly, and Sakura jumped in surprise at something before shuffling her feet and nodding, both hands gripping the hem of her shirt.
"Servant Rider, my True Name is...Medusa. I look forward to working with you all." Medusa bowed her head quietly before sauntering over to the porch to sit down. Rin's eyes followed the woman as she walked, then turned to Sakura with a sour expression.
"U-uh...is something wrong?" Sakura took another step back from Rin, color draining out of her face at the thought that she had somehow angered the older girl. Shirou paused on his way to the summoning circle, watching the situation carefully to make sure an argument didn't break out.
"How come you get such a strong Servant, AND she isn't rude like that annoying Archer?" The spell of worry that had overtaken everyone utterly shattered as Rin's sour expression turned into a childish pout, eliciting a soft giggle from the Matou Heir. Sakura's shoulders relaxed as she gave the Tohsaka a half-smile.
"If you need help finding a fitting punishment for Archer-san, I'm more than willing to help you, Tohsaka-senpai." Sakura held her fist over her mouth, trying to stifle another fit of giggles, while Rin tried to hide the ghost of a smile that flickered across her face. The two girls sat down next to each other, leaving Asahi settled between Rin and Medea. Of course, if Asahi thought about it for more than a few moments, she'd realize how terrifying that would be to most people with common sense, but she did not have common sense, so things like survival instincts didn't clue her in here.
"Alright, Shirou, you're up!" Asahi flashed him a grin, and he responded with a very awkward thumbs-up. Shirou took a deep breath and turned around to face the Summoning Circle, lifting the small piece of paper the chant was scrawled onto as well as a small vial that had been given to him by Medea.
"Silver and iron to the origin. Stone and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone."
"The ancestor is my great master."
"The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulates."
Shirou shivered as he began the chant, turning the vial over in his hand as he felt...something strange. Something began to resonate inside of him, a soft glow of golden light radiating off his skin in motes as he began to pour the liquid onto the summoning circle. The glow this time was blue as the Ritual Circle lit up in response to his chant.
"Fill."
"Fill."
"Fill."
"Fill."
"Fill."
"Repeat every five times."
"Simply shatter once filled."
The liquid faded once more as it struck the circle, and the blue light quickly shifted into a shimmering gold that matched the motes of light flitting about his skin. He shuddered at the sight, and the people on the porch watched with rapt attention. That was...unusual. The wind picked up, and the motes of light lifted and fluttered all around the boy, dancing like faeries in the moonlight.
"I announce."
"My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny."
"In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer."
"Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world, and I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world."
"You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance!"
Shirou finished his chant, and the space was once more filled with blinding light that quickly died down to reveal...a woman. She stood a few inches shorter than Shirou, with blonde hair pulled up into a braided bun and bangs that framed her face perfectly. She wore a dark blue mantle with a hood around her shoulders, alongside a set of silvery white pauldrons matched with an exposed gauntlet on her left hand, while her right had a strange furred sleeve on it. She wore a well-fitting cuirass over her shirt, which transitioned into a set of faulds that fell down to about knee-length. Underneath these was a long cloth dress split into three strips similar to a tabard that hid most of her greaves.
The woman's face was even and near-emotionless, but even so, her hair shined in the moonlight as if sprinkled with gold dust, and her eyes glimmered like seafoam. Almost everyone there was captivated by her as she stood there, processing the information provided by The Grail before tilting her head up slightly to look at Shirou. "Servant Saber, responding to your summons. I ask of you, are you my Master?"
Her voice echoed in Shirou's head, and he stumbled a bit as he tried to compose himself. He looked back at Asahi to get a bit of help here since he...honestly didn't know what to say to that, but he froze when he saw her.
She was utterly entranced, jaw slack and lips slightly parted as she watched the scene. Sure, everyone was staring at his Servant, probably for the same reason he had been when he first saw her, but the faint glimmer of light he saw in Asahi's eyes had been dead and gone for years. A single crack ran through the glass that was Shirou Emiya's heart...and he smiled. His decision was made just like that. He turned back to look at his Servant and gave her a simple nod, ignoring the slight confusion etched on her face. "So it seems. I look forward to working with you, Saber...You really don't have to call me master, though. Just Shirou is fine. Speaking of, I'm sure most of us don't want to just go around calling you Saber. Are you alright telling us your name?" He chuckled a bit, scratching the back of his head.
Saber paused for a moment before nodding in affirmation, standing tall, and turning to address the group. "I am Artoria Pendragon, Servant Class Saber. If we are to be allies as The Grail has decreed, then I look forward to working with you all."
Asahi choked as the woman introduced herself, with Rin and Sakura not fairing much better. They each stared with varying degrees of shock at the woman before one of them said what the other two were probably thinking. "Holy shit, it's King Arthur. Holy shit, it's King Arthur." Asahi stammered out, jaw still slack. She didn't know why she was so shocked by this, considering Medusa and Medea were right near her. Maybe it was just because, somehow, Kiritsugu Emiya was able to work with King Arthur of all heroes...Then again, maybe that was why things went to shit as badly as they did, as he had so eloquently put it when he had given her the brief rundown of the Fourth Holy Grail War.
"Ehehehehehehe." A dark aura radiated off the witch sitting next to Asahi, and Medusa immediately scooted a few feet away from her. Rin and Sakura leaned over to stare at the Caster and Asahi...Asahi stood up and walked as far away as possible from her. Artoria stared at the woman before shrugging and moving to sit next to Sakura. They were allies, so it was probably nothing. Nothing good came from immediately assuming foul intentions from those you had to fight alongside, regardless of who they were in life.
Shirou sat down next to Medea since no one else wanted to and then looked up at Asahi, watching as she pulled a scrap of cloth from a small box. She rolled it around between her fingers before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Her eyes snapped open, and she crushed something in her other hand as she began to chant.
"Let silver and steel be the essence."
"Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation."
"Let black be the color I pay tribute to."
Asahi began her chant softly, adjusting the incantation slightly as she did so. She wanted to get this done before the time became an issue. A gentle blue light once more radiated from the Ritual Circle as a liquid dripped from her clenched fist into the lines of magic.
"Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall."
"Let the four cardinal gates close."
"Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate."
The wind began to pick up as the liquid vanished into the lines, Prana once more starting to gather in this space as the fourth summoning of the night took place.
"Let it be declared now; your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword."
"Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail."
"Answer if you would submit to this will and this truth."
Asahi ground her teeth together, her Magic Circuits already flaring as they attempted to forge the connection. This was the final hurdle remaining: Even with her large amount of circuits, did she have the Od to summon who she wanted to summon?
"An oath shall be sworn here. I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven, and I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell."
"From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!"
Asahi finished the chant with a slight snarl in her voice, frustration mounting as her circuits burned from expenditure. The other Masters gathered looked on worriedly, able to see the large number of circuits flaring with a sharp glow through her clothing, but soon, they were blinded by the light just as they had been before.
When the light cleared, and they could see again, they could hear a gasp escape Asahi's throat as she stumbled on her feet, but when they looked at the Servant...They couldn't really understand why it had caused her so much trouble. The servant was only around 120 cm tall, and they were completely covered by a red cloak that hid their entire body. The signature they gave off was quite small, and Rin, in particular, grimaced. Was it a dud summoning? If she had messed up, then Asahi definitely could as well.
The servant spoke quietly, tilting their hooded head up at their summoner. "Servant Lancer. I ask of you, are you my Master?"
Asahi gave a short nod, then flopped back on their rear to sit on the dirt, exhausted. "Yeah...did I...are you?" She could barely finish speaking, but the cloaked figure nodded, and a huge grin stretched across Asahi's face. "Hell yeah. Go ahead...and Introduce yourself...haah...I'm...just gonna sit here." Now that really got Rin confused. This Servant was who Asahi intended to summon? They felt so weak, though! She tried to take a look at their stats, but it was completely blurred out, and she cursed inwardly.
The Servant took a single step forward and took in a deep breath. When they exhaled, the world got heavier. The Humans all shuddered as the Servant's signature suddenly expanded, Prana flaring around them like a wildfire. Medea and even Artoria jerked a bit at the sudden shift, eyes locked on the Lancer. To Medea, it felt almost like being in the presence of that man again, the peerless child of Zeus who had once been her dear friend. That worried her.
"KEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, what a glorious day it is that I need not hide myself! Thank you, Master, truly I thank you! I can already tell you are my ideal partner!" The Lancer cackled, making a sound not unlike a monkey's screech, before reaching up and grabbing their cloak. They tossed it high into the air, where it burst into a single, golden hair, and the Lancer revealed themselves to the gathered party.
The first thing to note was that despite how humanoid they looked, they very much were not human. Instead, they were a...well, a monkey. Golden orange hair covered most of their visible body, and a long tail curled around them on the ground. The hair on their head, in particular, was rather long, falling messily down their back and ending at their waist. On their feet were a pair of black, pointed boots with what seemed to be scales inlaid into them that looked similar to Hanfu Boots, which ended mid-calf. They wore red robes as clothing, and over that, they wore a set of golden, scaled chainmail that consisted of pauldrons, gauntlets, a mail shirt, and faulds. Their face was painted white, with red markings decorating their features almost clownishly, but the most striking thing about them by far was their eyes. Pitch red sclera wrapped around a golden iris with no pupil in the center, colors constantly shifting and giving an appearance like that of a flickering flame.
"Allow me to introduce myself!" The Servant puffed their chest out, pulling a small needle from behind their ear and tossing it into the air. When it fell, it was a pillar that stood fifteen feet tall, and they leaped to the top to strike a pose, swinging their arms out wide and holding them there. "I am the Sixfold Immortal! The First Pilgrim of The West! I am The Stone Monkey King! I am The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong!" The now-named Sun Wukong curled their maw into a fanged grin, putting one leg back and dipping into a showman's bow with one hand on their chest. "...And I look forward to working with you all."
A/N: Alright, so... I fucking hate writing Zouken. No matter what I do, it feels like I'm getting his personality wrong.
Also, we finally see some of the cracks in who Asahi is. A major theme of this story is going to be healing from trauma and learning to be human again and what exactly that means to the different individual characters involved, and I'm really excited to dig into it because it's gonna get spicy...I'll also admit that I kinda wanted to deconstruct the 'Edgy Anti-hero' Archetype that's so common now but god I'm tired of people turning Shirou into that so I wrote a whole new character since I'd rather he stay his kind, dorky self.
Also, in case you haven't noticed, I have skimmed over a lot of the early development stuff that gets covered in a lot of fan fiction. I don't have the patience to write a bunch of chapters about their childhood leading up to the war or the way Sakura and Asahi's relationship developed pre-war since this fic would take like...15 years to complete at that point. I'm using flashbacks and one-shots for this stuff instead. Realistically, we've all read through those events quite a few times at this point.
New magecraft terms: Shikigami
Shikigami - Shikigami are technically a form of contracting spell. Generally used to bind a contract to a Nature Spirit to function in a manner similar to a self-sustaining familiar. Additionally, Shikigami can be used to make contracts with any living thing as long as there is a medium of connection, generally through a physical object connected to the contract's target. Once enacted, it does not matter if the target actually agrees to the contract, as the medium functions as an agreement regardless. This can be used to heal, transmit physical or spiritual conditions, or exert some level of influence on someone similar to how one might think of a voodoo doll, though it is rather difficult to pull off as a whole.
Ah, also! Servant changes based on the timeline. I'll list them all below:
Medea of Colchis has one new skill and can actually use Argon Coin. Additionally, she has access to both Pain Breaker and Rule Breaker, as is evident. She's been summoned somewhat younger than usual, though not as Lily.
Artoria Pendragon has the Prototype Arthur gear instead of her normal armor, and Excalibur is, of course, Prototype Excalibur as well.
I've linked to the AO3 page where my servant sheets are posted: /works/51661231/chapters/130593997