Command Seals are on Archive of Our Own.
He was looming over a cowering Trojan soldier, about to plunge the tip of his sword into the man's neck. Then he suddenly experienced a feeling he had never felt before. Pain. Unbearable pain, coming from his heel. It felt as if a lion had just raked its razor-sharp claws over the back of his ankle. It was then immediately followed by the feeling that some jerk had just poured and rubbed salt into the gaping wound. The young man slowly looked over his shoulder, down to his heel, where pain was radiating from. An arrow. An arrow had managed to find his weak spot and sink deeply into it.
Achilles blinked. "Wha -?" Who had shot him? And how did that person know he was mortal there? Only the gods should. Before he was able to look up and answer the former question, another arrow sunk into his flesh. This time it entered through his back and speared him through his heart, having easily slid between ribs.
Achilles slowly turned around, finally seeing who his attacker was. Far behind him, on top of a ledge, was a man with short, curly brown hair. He wore a blue chiton with a tan chlamys over it. His left hand was holding a golden bow and his right pulled the string on the bow taut. An arrow was already notched and ready to fire. This was Paris, brother of Hector, the man Achilles killed. However, since Achilles had never met Paris before, he was confused as to who this person could be.
He was taken from his thoughts as Paris released the readied arrow. The projectile sang through the air and found its mark in Achilles' chest. The soldier Achilles was about to kill had already scampered away and gotten a few other Trojan soldier with him to go on the attack against the young man. It should be easy to kill the Greeks' greatest fighter, since he was already suffering from two fatal wounds.
At least, it should have been easy. However, as soon as one soldier came within range, Achilles snapped around and took off his head. At the same time, a second soldier lunged at the dying Greek, swinging his sword down. Achilles blocked the weapon with the blood-covered azure tip of his spear.
"Don't you go forgetting about me, monster!" Paris' shout was punctuated by a third arrow burying itself in Achilles' heart. Achilles only gave a grimace of pain before knocking the opposing sword off his spear. Before the Trojan could recover, Achilles drove the spear into the man's chest. "Just die!"
"What's your beef with me?!" Achilles demanded, glancing at Paris. "If this is just because we're invading Troy, why aren't you trying to kill other Greek officers?!"
"You killed my brother!" Paris snarled. He let loose yet another arrow into Achilles. At this point, Achilles collapsed onto one knee. A third soldier, trying to take advantage of this brief opportunity and tried to remove Achilles' head. He was met with the spear taking off his left hand, which held the sword. The Trojan screamed in pain and that's when Achilles silenced the man forever by slicing him through his chest, cutting the man in two. The last two soldiers, deciding not to risk their lives, fled to another part of Troy.
"Your brother..." Achilles said, panting, facing Paris once more. He could feel his life escaping him. Since Paris was wearing a chlamys, he must be nobility. And that would make it likely that his brother is, too. And that must mean... "Are you talking about Hector?"
A fifth arrow entered him. Achilles was back against the earth, hanging on to the tiny spark of life he had left. "Of course I am! And now I'll kill you!" Before Achilles could reply, a sixth arrow went into his heart. Everything in Achilles' vision was getting blurry. How he's still alive is beyond him.
All the noise from the Greek and Trojan soldiers fighting, Paris' screams, everything faded into nothing. He also thinks he could hear Apollo laughing. He didn't even feel the seventh and final arrow strike him. All the color in his vision melded together before finally fading into black.
His final thoughts were 'Odysseus...Ajax...I'm sorry...'
Mikoto slid out of bed with a groan. "Thanks for that downer of a dream, Rider." It was his second time dreaming of his Servant's past so he knew who that was from him. He went down to the bar. A few Red Clansmen stayed the night in the main area after staying too long and were just starting to mill around now that they were awake.
Shouhei looked around. "Where's Rider?"
"He went to the house of a girl last night," was Mikoto's simple reply. Shouhei swore he could hear Yō grinding his teeth.
Saburouta snickered. "If he isn't careful he'll end up with another kid."
"If he wasn't a spirit, I would tell him to wear a condom, given what happened after he had his way with Deidama," Izumo said.
It was outside of a cave. A younger Heracles was creeping up behind a centaur, careful not to make any noise. He froze up when the centaur spoke without turning his head.
"You'll need to do better, Heracles."
"Okay, how did you know what I was attempting?"
This time the centaur looked back. "Years of getting used to it. Besides, I can easily tell when a child of your size tries to play at being sneaky. You need to learn how to work around that."
"Can you show me how to?"
A sigh. "I'll try, but my methods are for centaurs so I don't know if I can help you there."
Adolf opened his eyes. "That must've been when Heracles was in training with Chiron." Then he glanced at the time. "Crap! I overslept! I'll be late!" He threw off the covers and grabbed a random shirt to put on. Neko, who had chosen to sleep on Berserker's lap instead of on the bed in cat form last night, yawned and rubbed her eyes, cracking one open in time to see her King hopping around as he tried to get his pants on.
"Is something happening?"
"I slept in. Dream about Berserker's past. It's fine. You should get ready for school. And no more borrowing Berserker just to make students wet themselves!"
Archer breathed out heavily through his nose, making the Gold King raise an eyebrow. Both were still in the Japanese house on the top of Mihashira Tower. "Is something wrong?"
"I used a clairvoyance charm from my treasury to see which Servant belongs to each Clan. I glimpsed into a Blue Clan dorm room and saw a very busty woman getting dressed."
Daikaku facepalmed with a sigh. "That would be Lieutenant Awashima...You were looking in the womens' dorm...So how long did your gaze stay in that room until you moved on?"
The Servant looked disgusted. "Of course I did! It's not the size of a woman's chest I care about!"
Daikaku didn't dare say aloud "but you'll do it with someone made of clay. What's your excuse there?"
It was the start of SCEPTER 4's work day. All the Special Squad members plus Saruhiko and Lancer were sitting at the table in the main room, going over today's schedule.
"Oh, and it's your turn to care for White Bean Tofu Stew, Doumyouji," Himori said without looking up.
Andy did a double-take at him. "What?!" Several snickers were heard. Lancer raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"I think I'm the only one who doesn't get why that's so bad."
"White Bean Tofu Stew is the name of a horse Strain in our stables. It can change it's appearance to Pegasus'. But that's all. It can't fly or anything the real Pegasus can do," Yuujirou explained. "Doumyouji has a...rough history with it."
"Damn horse kicked me in the face three times!" Andy suddenly exclaimed.
"Liath Macha only did that to me once. I think that was the hardest Láeg ever laughed at me," Lancer told him. "Now don'tcha feel better knowin' ya aren't the only one in this room humiliated like that?"
In one room of Ichigen's house was screaming, banging, and a crash from a vase hitting the floor.
Kuroh immediately dashed into that room. "What's going on this time, Caster?!" The ancient mage was running all over the room like she's chasing something, the bladed weapon representing betrayal clutched in a reverse grip in her right hand. She kept stabbing the places she stopped at. Even though the dagger's ritualistic, it was tearing the walls and floor like paper.
"What in the world are you doing?!" Kuroh demanded. As if on cue, a mouse ran out from a crack in a fallen shelf and scurried between Kuroh's feet to a small hole at the foot of the wall behind him.
Caster's eyes were wide and alert and her hair was a mess. She still had an iron grip on Rule Breaker. "I almost had it!"
"Had what?! What's even going on?!"
"I saw that mouse running around the floor!"
"So you tried to kill it with your Noble Phantasm?! What made you think it was alright to use a bladed weapon for this?!"
"Boy, you should be grateful I chose to not use any beams of raw mana."
"Hey, tell me something, Rider," Tatara said now that the green-haired man returned. "Did you see the Holy Grail in the Throne of Heroes?"
Achilles glanced at him. "No, I didn't. I didn't really see much of anything in the Throne. It only seemed like a moment had passed from when I was killed to when Mikoto summoned me. But why are you asking?"
Tatara just sighed. "I was wondering if there even is a Holy Grail at the end of this fight. If not, then all of this will all be for nothing." He looked down. "Besides, is this fight really the right thing for you and King to participate in? The loser of the fight not only has their dream ignored but it's destroyed. What if someone killed had a method for achieving the salvation of humanity?"
"But remember Mikoto would be killed instead." Tatara had wide eyes and took a step back; he had briefly forgotten that detail. "It's kill or be killed."
Lancer went to the dock to go fishing, something that relaxes him. How he got Reisi to agree is beyond everyone else. Was bribery involved? The man wore a colorful Hawaiian shirt Ren loaned him. Akira came in the room when he finished dressing and just stared. He thought Seri ordered Ren to burn that God-awful affront to fashion! So it fits people 185 cm tall.
When he made it to the dock he saw a blond man already there, a group of noisy kids gathered around him. The man was laughing heartedly.
"Keep it down, mongrels, or you'll scare the fish away! Well, they don't have anyone else to go to. None can hope to compete with me!"
Lancer couldn't help but roll his eyes. He sat down at a side of the pier, setting the carton of Blue Sparks Reisi gave the Servant beside him - he never thought the Blue King smoked until the Servant smoked his first cigarette with the man - and cast of the line of the fishing rod he held, again obtained from Reisi.
Soon, there was a tugging at the line and Lancer effortlessly pulled it out of the water, though he did have to reinforce the pole and line so they wouldn't snap. What he caught got the kids' attention.
"I can't believe Onii-chan caught a shark!"
The man narrowed his eyes. "Worthless dog..." A vein in Lancer's head bulged and he turned to the man, who he now saw is a Servant, but stopped himself. Something told him the man is too powerful for something like this. They had never met before, but this guy already knows Lancer's True Name? Is it due to a skill or something else?
"I take it that pisses you off?"
A new person. Normally, Lancer could hear someone breathing 40 meters away but the chatty kids rendered that impossible. He let the shark go back into the ocean ans turned his head, seeing a familiar face at his side.
"You're the Red Servant, ain'tcha?" He yanked up the line, seeing he hooked an octopus this time. Well, Ryuuhou can make takoyaki for dinner. He put it in a cooler beside him to keep it fresh. "What are ya doin' here? Ya also fish?"
"I never had. But I'm a fast learner. I'm sure that if you show me I'll get how it's done."
"Take a seat. Oh, do you wanna cigarette. Unfortunately, the only brand I have now is Blue Sparks."
"Sure, but I haven't smoked yet. I saw Izumo and Mikoto smoke but forgot about asking to try."
Lancer handed the other Servant one. "Yeah, I didn't either until I was summoned. Took me a bit to get used to. Put it in your mouth and I'll light it."
Rider did that and Lancer used a severely weakened Ansuz on it. He inhaled then coughed, plucking it from his lips. "What the hell's in this?!"
"Same exact thing I asked my Master. You should enjoy it more if ya give it another try." Rider tried again without a problem. "Ya sure about bein' this far from your Master?"
"Our Masters are first-rate magi, so they can deal with most threats. I just hope Mikoto doesn't get careless against a Servant or he'll get his ass handed to him in no time."
"Same with Reisi. He's a clever guy but I can see him gettin' ahead of himself."
"I think they see the same with us."
"Yeah, but Servants like us are disposable. Those humans need to worry 'bout themselves."
A being that only destroys. That's what she was called even before becoming king of the Huns. For some reason, being called this was very familiar to her.
It was 12,000 BC. When she came to this planet they called her the blight from the Harvester Star and the bringer of the end of the world. The fearsome White Titan.
She loved the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair, though she'll never voice it, as she rode her horse through rolling plains.
It doesn't matter how many of these pesky gods try to take her down. They'll all be swatted down like the flies they are. She won't stop until she's razed the entire world, until only the ocean remains, according to the duty she was assigned by the Umbral Star.
Another Roman civilization fell to her. As her people celebrated, she glanced down at Photon Ray. It was only a matter of time before she made the rest of the empire bow to her.
She just struck down a machine god who claimed to be a personification of war, someone from a group trying to protect Atlantis, which she just sunk. Didn't he say his name was Ares or something? It doesn't matter now. He's been defeated and his sword was claimed as a trophy.
She gasped as she basically drowned in her own blood. Even though those around her tried to help, there was nothing they could do. The could only watch helplessly as their great leader took her last breath.
A golden light filled her vision, the light of the sword forged in the Reverse Side of the World by the six Great Father and Mother fairies, Divided Spirits of the soul of the world itself, and containing the hopes of all.
It's...hot...
When Nagare opened his eyes, he was confused. That dream was like from the viewpoint of two different people. He knows one was Atilla the Hun. But what about the other?
"Saber?" he said. The mentioned woman materialized at his side.
"What is it, Master?"
Nagare opened his mouth, about to ask his Servant if she perhaps had a past life, but what came out is "nevermind." Something told him that if he's right, then triggering a return of her memories could be dangerous.
"...And that's all for my report," Seri said. She was currently talking to her superior in his office.
Reisi got up. "Thank you, but I'd like to see the data myself. I assume it's in the information room?"
"That's correct, sir. Fushimi has it on his laptop to help in another case."
When Reisi walked around his desk, he tripped and began falling toward Seri. Her hands instantly flew to his shoulders to keep him from hitting the ground. But that wasn't necessary. Because his face landed in the crack between the two airbags on her chest.
Seri was completely frozen in shock and Reisi probably was too. Unless he's enjoying this more than is appropriate. Right when Seri thought things couldn't get any more embarrassing, there was a knock on the door.
"Captain, Benzai and I are here to give our report on the developing Beta case."
Seri wanted to scream "don't come in!" but the door opened and in walked Himori and Yuujirou. They froze at the sight they were met with and it took them a full five seconds to process it.
"U-um...Did we enter at a bad time..?" Yuujirou asked nervously, taking a step backwards.
"Nothing was about to happen, I swear!" But Seri didn't know what else to say to deny the fact it looks like she's currently being motorboated by her boss. And the fact her hands were still on his shoulders looked like she was encouraging it while his hands were gripped on the side of her chest, him having reflexively done that, somehow not on each boob, when he started to fall.
Himori scratched the top of his head. "I can't believe Doumyouji won the bet...Never thought you two had something like this going on..."
"We don't! The Captain tripped is all!"
"Lucky guy..." Yuujirou made sure to whisper quietly enough so Seri couldn't hear him.
Reisi then collected himself and pulled his face out of his lieutenant's breasts. He huffed, straightening out his uniform and fixing his glasses. Like Seri, his cheeks and ears were a brilliant shade of red. While he tried remaining dignified, the fact two other subordinates saw this made this his most embarrassing moment so far. "Let's all agree that this never happened. After your report call Doumyouji in. I'd like a word with him."