Chapter 17

I am so sorry about how long it's been since I last updated. Until someone reminded me today I had completely forgot to keep posting this. That won't happen again!

There was a dream that Luvia had been having with some regularity for five years now. In that dream, the world was ending within a never-ending storm. Most of the streets were long since flooded with water, and it had been an eternity since anyone had seen the sun. Luvia found signs of human life, but only a genius like herself was capable of noticing where the dreamers were hidden. Anyone else would only see statues.

She held the dream very near and dear to her heart. Or at least, she used to.

The dream she was experiencing now was just a pale reflection of the dream she had faced then. Any tell magus would have been able to tell the original dream had been no simple fantasy, but this one was. All she was doing was replaying the events of that night long ago in her mind. There was nothing she could do to change the outcome. She could only watch.

Her younger self, five years in the past, had been frightened at first. As an Edelfelt she had been raised to understand that being a magus meant walking with death, and been told all about her family's many enemies. But she soon determined there was no real danger. This was nothing more than a fading dream. Nothing here would ever effect reality.

But it was oddly beautiful...

She did not recognize the city or even know what country it was in, but she made her way easily through the flooded streets. As this was a dream, it worked by the logic of the unreal. All she had to do was imagine a boat, and it would appear. One did not need to be a magus to know that. Any old lucid dreamer could manage it, and even a child could manage the simpler trick of travelling by simply deciding to move.

Which was why, when she saw a young boy with striking red hair around her own age that was struggling to climb up the flooded streets, she was so shocked. Just what was he doing? Not only were the streets filled with water up to his waist, but he was also going uphill so the current was naturally against him. Each step he took was painful, she could see the struggle in his eyes, but he didn't relent even when he was pushed backwards and lost an hour's progress in the span of a few seconds. He just climbed and climbed.

It was oddly entrancing.

This went without saying, but time in a dream did not match up to time in reality. The boy could have struggled for days in here without even an hour passing back in the real world. He would not need food or rest, so theoretically he could struggle forever. But Luvia knew he would have to give up eventually. Even if his body did not give up, his mind surely would.

So she watched, and watched, waiting to swoop in with her boat and rescue him when he finally relented to the inevitable. She watched the statues as she did, admiring them more with each passing glance. But he never stopped. He floundered, he missed his footing, he even cursed and whined, but he never stopped. Impossibly, the boy completed the entire journey to the centre of town, arriving beneath the tower under his own power.

"How interesting." Luvia said. She felt like something had lit a spark inside of her. She turned her imaginary boat into it's higher speed, and arrived just behind him in a fraction of the time.

The town was structured like one big hill. In the very centre was an imposing black tower at the highest point, with every other road in town leading towards it. The dark clouds above released an endless stream of water that gravity pulled downwards. The water submerged thousands of bowing statues, that all offered supplications towards the large tower.

She confronted the boy at the base of the tower, where he was looking for a way inside. The two of them could not have been more different. He was muddy and soaking wet from his climb. She was dressed in her finest blues, without even a speck of dirt in her hair. But for some reason she thought he was the more admirable of the two.

Yes, he was a man she could...

"Who are you?" He asked.

Every time she re-watched this dream, Luvia wished that she could change what came next. But of course that was impossible. Instead of answering him, she got defensive. Afraid of just how much he was affecting her. "I'll ask the questions here!" She yelled. "Just who are you, and what are you trying to do?"

"Shirou Emiya." He said. "I'm just trying to figure out what's going on."

Luvia puffed up her chest – which at the time had been more or less nonexistent – and glared at him. "There's no need to do anything at all."

He tilted his head at her. "I see. Do you know what's going on here?"

She sighed, realizing that someone who worked so hard to get here wouldn't give up quickly, and decided to just give in and tell him the simple answer. Besides, denying him felt wrong for some reason. "Everything you can see here is no different than an animal's death throes. This world will come to an end all on it's own."

His eyes widened. "The world is going to end? Can we do anything?"

Only in hindsight did she realize the misunderstanding that had taken place. When she'd said the world would be ending, she'd meant the dream world they were inhabiting. He'd thought that she meant the world. He was asking if they could save it, and she'd thought he'd been asking about speeding it along the way. She liked to think she wouldn't make a mistake that dumb again, but she gave herself some leniency for being a child.

She nodded. She'd been planning to do something to bring this dream to a close anyways. Even if it only lasted a night in the real world, it had already been almost a day from their perspective and it could last several more. How tedious. "Do you see those statues?" She asked, drawing his attention to the statues dragged into the water. It seemed like he hadn't, despite all the time he'd spent in the water. "What do you think of them?"

The statues were, essentially, people. They were the dreamers from this town but frozen in place. Despite being only half-conscious, like people usually were in a dream, they were still fulfilling the creator of this world's purpose. They were worshipping. They were submitting.

Something about them captivated Luvia. She had initially thought very little about them, aside from pity, but as she'd been watching them while watching Shirou complete his climb she'd been growing more enraptured. There really was something beautiful about them. About the simple act of submission on such a grand scale. Her life was difficult, even if she wouldn't trade it for anything. But wouldn't it be nice to put down the burden once in a while? Wouldn't it be nice to just... submit and trust everything about herself to a kind and caring Master? It sounded so perfect and relaxing that she didn't understand why she had thought about it before.

"They seem... faithful." Shirou said. His expression was clouded, but he didn't seem to dislike what he saw. "I feel like... it would be nice to have someone trust me that much."

How interesting. They had watched the same thing and come to the opposite conclusion. She wondered what it meant.

Luvia found that she had lost track of what she was going to say. Something about the statues? Oh, right. "They're supplicating towards the centre of this incident. If we follow their gaze, we'll find whoever is behind all of this."

Shirou clenched a fist as he stared in that direction, his eyes blazing with determination. Luvia wondered what it would feel like, if he looked at her in the same way. As he'd no doubt already suspected, they were all looking towards the top of the strange tower. "Can you see a way in?"

A way in? This was a dream. Luvia waved a hand and imagined a door appearing within the tower. As soon as she had, one materialized before them.

"Wow!" Shirou said. His simple awe made all sorts of butterflies appear within her stomach. "You're amazing."

As it always did, a blush began to creep it's way up her cheeks. She –

X X X

Something furry brushed against Luvia's face. She groaned, trying to go back to the dream, but the persistent feeling returned and this time it was even stronger. She opened her eyes to see an enormous polar bear beside her bed, poking it's nose into her face repeatedly.

Illya must have wanted her. That girl's refusal to enter this room under almost any circumstances was still so strange to Luvia.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Luvia said. As soon as it saw that she was awake, the bear turned away and marched back out of her room. Luvia didn't follow. She needed a few minutes to collect herself.

Although the dream had been interrupted, she knew the rest of it by heart. She and Shirou had climbed the tower, and he'd done a truly dazzling job fighting off monsters while she researched the cause of the attack. It turned out to have been created as an attack by Servant Caster during the Fourth Holy Grail Way, although after his death it had become powerless.

It frustrated her, that Caster had chosen to get innocent civilians involved. Worse, according to the memories she had dug through, his Master had been cheering him on. How pathetic. It was a Master's job to improve their Servant, not help drag them down.

Either way, her and Shirou had found the 'monster' at the centre of the dream and defeated him. As everything had faded away she had told Shirou something she considered vital.

"Tch. This is all the natural result of a poor Master getting carried away. Shero, promise me that if you ever find yourself becoming a Master with a Servant of your own, you need to become the ideal Master. Kind, but firm. Quick to punish, but quicker to reward. A proper Master is selfish enough to demand that his Servants fulfill his needs, but selfless enough to ensure their needs are met in return."

Of course, she'd been picturing herself as his Servant. She'd hoped that was obvious.

Where had it all gone so wrong? When had Shirou become her enemy?

She was going to fight him again soon. She was angry and jealous, but she didn't truly want to hurt him. Sadly her oath to Illya demanded it.

She'd rather be serving at his feet. Worshipping his cock, receiving his teachings all over her body...

She shook her head to force the horny thoughts out. That wasn't their relationship. Emiya Shirou had no interest in being her Master. And she couldn't willingly submit to him even if he did.

No, all that could remain between them was war.

X X X

"Master, it's time to wake up."

Shirou pulled open his eyes, coming back to reality. As he'd expected he had gone through that dream again. The one he now knew featured not a figment of his imagination but the very real young Caster.

Sakura was kneeling beside him, fully dressed. Rin was hovering near the doorway, also fully clothed.

In one way it was natural, but in another something about the situation annoyed him. After Sakura and Rin had served him in the bath again last night, he'd gone to bed alone. That had been his decision, but it still irritated him.

Maybe he was just cranky because he'd seen the dream, but he decided that this was a problem he wanted to solve. "Morning, Sakura." He said. "Hey. From now on, I don't want you two sleeping in your own rooms anymore. You should be in here instead."

Both of them began to blush, although they certainly looked happy about it. "Y-yes, Master." Sakura said, bowing in thanks.

"W-well I- I guess that would make sense. For safety!" Rin said.

"Oh, I hadn't been thinking about that. But you're right." Shirou said. After all, they had to worry about other Servants attacking them. He looked around the room, humming to himself as he thought about where would be the best place. "Rin, you said that it would be fine if I got back to projection magic today?"

She glared at him. "...I said you wouldn't be in danger of crippling your circuits. But you should still be careful."

Shirou nodded. That was fine. As long as he wasn't going to hurt Rin or Sakura by losing his access to magic, he was fine with a little pain. Inside his mind he triggered the switch Rin had helped him build, and his magic circuits filled to life. "Trace, on." He imagined what he wanted, picturing it as clearly in his mind as he could. It was something he had seen before, only larger. That was more difficult for some reason than recreating something else, but it was no struggle.

The light shimmered, and at the foot of his bed a large kennel appeared, large enough that a few people could crawl in, but not tall enough that anybody could stand up inside. There was no lock to the door, that was too complicated, but he had plenty of padlocks to use in it's place.

Feeling proud of himself, Shirou turned to Sakura and Rin. To his surprise, they were just staring at him. More confused than anything else. He scratched his chin. "Does it not look comfortable enough? We can put a futon in the bottom."

"Huh?" Sakura asked. She looked at him, and then the cage, and then back at him. There was no recognition in her eyes. He could almost see the question marks appearing over her head.

Rin got it a first. Her jaw practically dropped open as she stared at him. "Wait a second, wait a second, Master! Don't tell me... you want us to sleep in there!?"

"What!?" Sakura yelled, her expression just as shocked as her sister's.

Shirou nodded. He'd put a lot of thought into it, and it seemed like the best solution. "Oh." He said, realizing what the problem might be. "Well, sometimes you'll be spending the night in bed with me of course. This is only for when you're not. Instead of having your own rooms, I'll lock you in there overnight."

"That's not the problem I was thinking of!" Rin yelled. Her face was once again bright red. "Do you think you're dealing with animals!?"

Sakura looked no less comfortable than her sister did, but Shirou watched her fight down her distress and make herself nod. "Yes... understood, Master."

"Sakura!?" Rin yelled.

Sakura looked down in shame, and then recovered enough to glare at Rin. "Nee-san! It's our duty to follow Master's orders!"

"Well..."

Sakura's shut her eyes, but continued to yell as if she didn't want to have to admit to what she was saying. "B-Besides, I'm not the only one who thinks it sounds kind of nice, right!? I'm not the only one thinking that it would make me feel like just another one of Master's belongings!"

Rin took a step backwards, refusing to look at any of them. She didn't have the strength to respond to what Sakura was saying, but she clearly couldn't exactly refuse either. With her cheeks still red, she settled for changing the subject. "Look, we shouldn't be focusing on stuff like this. I wanted to have a strategy meeting, to decide how we were going to deal with Caster and Berserker. I have an idea for how we can defeat them. We'll prepare it today and hunker down, and then we can attack tomorrow night."

"That's perfect, Rin." Shirou said. He pulled her in to a quick hug, and patted her head. "You're such a good girl. I'm so proud."

"Master..." Rin whined, trying to hide her pleased reaction.

"Master..." Sakura said, staring at them with clear jealousy.

"But there's one thing you two need to know." Shirou said. He took a deep breath in. What he wanted to say was going to be difficult, and it wasn't something he had decided on lightly, but it wasn't going to be easy to hear either. "We're not going to just defeat Caster. We're going to claim her. I want her to be my Servant."

Rin went still in his arms. He expected her to protest, but she remained silent.

Sakura put her hands together, and to his surprise nodded at him. "Yes, Master."

"...Yes, Master." Rin said, a few seconds after her sister had spoken.

Shirou had to blink, he'd been preparing counter arguments for arguments that had never come. "You two are fine with that?"

Sakura nodded eagerly. "Yes, Master! I know I can be jealous but... it's your right as Master to take what you want, and it's my duty to help give it to you, no matter what it is." She smiled a little softly. "And, it will be nice not to be the newest Servant."

Shirou held out an arm silently, and Sakura moved towards him to join Rin in his embrace. Feeling the two women pressed up against him brought a big smile to his face, and thoughts that were not appropriate for the current moment.

Rin remained silent for a long time. When she finally spoke, she was barely talking above a whisper. "...Geez. I already knew you were going to be troubling when I decided to become your Servant. I guess all I can do is accept it, isn't it?"

"Yeah, thanks Rin. Thank you, Sakura." Shirou said. He hugged them even tighter against himself.

With them by his side, he could accomplish anything. Caster was going to be his.

They just had to get to her first.