"I should have been paired with a great Roman Emperor," Tiberius grumbled, his frustrations with Archer already fully known by his fellow Masters of Red.

"We can trade Servants, if you'd like," Mordred offered sarcastically. "All you have to do is beat me in a fight."

Morgan slammed her staff on the ground before Tiberius could respond to the taunt, silencing both. "How childish. We are supposed to be united by common cause; yet you two, among those most intend on destroying Arthur, bicker like children. We have already lost enough with Klingsor and Caster's deaths." She was about to threaten to enchant the two the same way she had Gareth and Gaheris, but thought better of it.

For one, without Klingsor and Caster, the enchantment was maintained exclusively by Morgan herself. Tiberius knew that, and if she gave him the opportunity, he would defy her authority by acknowledging her inability to so deftly control four of them at once.

Second, she knew Mordred had some misgivings about the enchantment. Mordred understood the necessity, of course, but that hardly meant she agreed with it. Threatening to do the same to her risked her favourite child's loyalty. And as the Master of Saber, that was something she could not allow.

Mordred's Servant had proven essential in the continued existence of Morgan's Red Faction, especially in light of the early loss of Caster and the utter ambivalence of Archer. Nero Claudius' striking resemblance to Arthur - arguably even closer than the king's own sister - allowed the enchantment keeping Gareth and Gaheris in line to latch onto the likeness to sell them on Morgan's lie: that Arthur was a usurper, while Nero was the true King Arthur. Saber of Red had a surprising number of enemies on the rival team, but she ensured that two of Morgan's children were not among them.

Of course, the late emperor had reservations about playing this part in Morgan's manipulations, but a Command Spell from Mordred was all it took to keep Saber in line. This demonstration of the obedience one could instil with a Command Spell was highly valuable to Morgan, who was able to plan around the individual wills of the Servants with greater ease. This would be valuable in keeping her own Servant in line, especially.

Vortigern - brother of Uther Pendragon and thus uncle of Artoria and Morgan. He was the incarnation of the destructive White Dragon of Britain, and the opposite of Artoria, who had been born to embody the Red Dragon that opposed him. His ability to deprive her and Gawain's swords of their light would be invaluable to Morgan's war effort. This power had not saved him from being slain with Rhongomyniad, but he had not been backed by Mordred, Morgan and the Servants of Red at the time.

In truth, Morgan had gathered a catalyst and summoned Vortigern primarily as a siege weapon and a tool to prevent Excalibur and Excalibur Galatine, two weapons that could easily match a Servant's power, from being used against her forces. And his destructive tendencies could be curbed with Command Spells, which could also be used to have him destroy himself should he successfully outlive the competition.

Despite his relatively recent reign of destruction, it seemed there were still many who remembered him as a king, not a dragon. This may go some way to explain why his form as a Servant was that of a man clad in draconic armour. Even she had initially been somewhat intimidated by the eyes that burned white-hot beneath his helm, even when not overcome by the archetypal rage of the Berserker class.

In fact, Morgan continued to be amazed by how amiable the White Dragon could be. But she supposed he was willing to bide his time until he met Artoria again. From Mordred's report on the first encounter, even the enemy Rider had moved with the ferocity of a Berserker against her Saber, due to their own history. Morgan could vividly picture Vortigern doing much the same when the time came. She already sensed he was beginning to grow restless, especially since that initial skirmish that he had been left out of.

Morgan had to carefully consider whether it was better to let him get it out of his system soon, use a Command Spell to temper his rage as she had upon his initial summoning, or take the risk of letting things be for a time. If only Gawain could be at her side now. Then she could have consulted one of those that had battled Vortigern to the death. Then again, Gawain's presence may have made Vortigern beyond controlling, so it may have been for the best that he be in the enemy ranks instead...

By now, Tiberius had left Morgan and her daughter alone. Well, not entirely alone. Nero and Vortigern were both present in spirit form, she sensed. Ironically, it was Nero Claudius' presence that had initially forced Morgan's hand in compelling Vortigern's obedience when he, much like his great-niece, mistook Saber for Artoria.

Nero's summoning, despite those initial setbacks, had been fortuitous, given that Boudica and Artoria were among the enemy ranks. Through Boudica, a spotlight had been shone upon Nero and her visual similarities to Artoria. If Nero continued to flaunt her body as she had been, highlighting how very similar Artoria appeared to this woman, it may result in Artoria's own secret sex being exposed. And what chaos that would sow within her ranks...

For now, Morgan needed to plot her schemes around the ticking timebomb that was Vortigern. She would need more intelligence on the enemy forces. "Mordred."

"Yes, Mother?" Mordred responded as dutifully as Morgan expected.

"I have a mission for you and Saber. There is one among the enemy we know little about in regard to the War. I want you to find him and learn as much as you can about his role in Arthur's plan."

"We can do that. Who is he?"

"Two more steps to the left, Caster!" Gawain called out to the blue-clad mage that had joined him as his Servant. She, atop the walls of the ruined outpost, followed his direction perfectly. Her mirror, held aloft, was able to reflect the sun's light in a beam directly onto her Master. "Perfect," he uttered as he felt the sunlight imbue him with strength. He showed off this strength by, with but a single slash of his sword, cutting a nearby tree in twain. "Alright," he said, wiping sweat from his brow, "come on down!"

She was down at his level in short order. The pink-haired woman approached with a fond smile. "This is quite the intelligent strategy, Master," she praised. It was quite the contrast with her initial assessment of the knight.

"No longer threatened by my sun affiliation, are we?" he teased, recalling their early interactions.

Blushing slightly behind her paper fan, she nodded. "I admit, you are not the threat to my position I initially took you for. And I cannot deny that our abilities complement one another marvellously. You, the gallant knight wielding the power of the sun that I cast down upon you. You should be thankful you were granted a Servant as perfect as I!"

"Perfect as a Servant, or perfect as a woman?"

"It would be unbecoming of a maiden to make that assessment herself. But I wonder, what does my handsome Master think?"

"I think your radiant smile could empower my blade even without your connection to your country's sun god."

"Hoho, such a flirt my Master is! Are you not a married man? Is this a forbidden love affair?" Her hands covered her cheeks, akin to a maiden hearing the latest romantic gossip.

"So long as nothing comes of it, some harmless flirting never hurt anyone. Especially with one not considered human."

Caster brought a hand up to her chin in a playfully thoughtful manner. "I wonder, should I take offence at that comment? Is it because I am a Servant, or a fox?"

"I... would much rather you not take offence."

"Hmm... Strangely, I get the sense that you meant nothing by it. Very well, Master. None taken."

"I appreciate it. Now, shall we get back to planning, Caster?"

"Of course, Master. Our enemies will be in for quite the rude awakening when next they set foot into our territory."

Unbeknownst to the duo, they were being observed by another duo consisting of a child of Morgan and a Servant perfectly suited to their service.

"Ugh, that buffoon," Mordred cringed, watching her brother flirt with the fox woman.

"That Blue Caster; I do not like her," Saber growled.

"It isn't like you to drop your mask of unbreakable composure," Mordred observed from her side.

"Pretence? Surely, you jest, Master. This Roman Emperor, as all those before and after her, was trained from birth to be the absolute master of her emotions."

"Assassin told me about your little chat with Archer."

Saber gulped.

"I don't trust him either," Mordred admitted. "So I want you to keep an eye on him. Gaheris agreed to have Assassin co-ordinate with you on this. But take no action without my explicit command."

"As you wish. In the meantime, perhaps we can strike down that troublesome fox?"

Mordred groaned. "Gawain is the last person we want to fight during the day. It puts him easily on par with a Saber Servant like you. We need to gauge how much of that power he can maintain with his Servant at night."

"Very well," Saber sighed.

"What is your problem with her, anyway? This is clearly more than just Servant-versus-Servant animosity. Did you know her in life, Nero?"

"Hmph! To believe I would allow such a discourteous woman to exist in my Roman Empire!"

"Was it another Grail War, then?" Mordred proposed, choosing not to engage with that last comment directly.

Saber shook her head. "Truth be told, Master, it is only a feeling that I cannot explain. A strong desire to put that haughty woman in her place. I have little doubt that I have encountered her in another life, but if so, it is one I cannot recall."

"Is that normal for Servants? To be reset every time they return to the Throne?"

"Not necessarily. As you... may or may not have been informed by your mother..." Mordred sensed a hint of distrust towards Morgan in Nero's tone. "...the Throne of Heroes exists beyond the bounds of space and time. Many tangent timelines draw from the same pool of Heroic Spirits. I, for instance, may be derived from the Nero Claudius of this world, or from a different one altogether. Perhaps I was summoned to this other world once before, or perhaps not. But there is something about this world in particular..."

Morgan had explained the concept of worldlines and timelines to Mordred once before, when explaining the concept of Heroic Spirits and Servants. It still managed to make her head spin when she thought about it all, but she understood the basic concept

"What about it?"

"It feels... unnatural, somehow. I have consulted a few of my fellow Servants on the matter. We are all certain we have been summoned into Grail Wars in the past, yet none of us can recall any of the details."

"...Why not?"

Saber shrugged. "Even Caster knew not the cause. But she suspected this world was unusual; as if the rules here were somehow different."

"So, what, Servants aren't allowed to remember past Grail Wars in this specific world?"

"Not quite. Archer has boasted of past Grail War victories in this very timeline. But his recollections of Grail Wars held in other worlds seem to elude him as well."

"So then... someone or something is isolating this timeline? Keeping outside knowledge from creeping in?"

"Umu! That is the conclusion we have reached as well. My Master is surprisingly sharp!"

"Watch it, Saber," Mordred growled.

"Now, now. It is a compliment."

"It sure didn't sound like it."

"Be that as it may, the culprit and their purpose eluded even Caster."

"And none of you have brought this up before because...?"

"Because we do not believe it is a hostile intent that created this oddity. So it will likely have little effect on the outcome of the War. It is akin to... learning that your religion is incorrect, I suppose."

Mordred cocked an eyebrow. "How's that?"

"Master is a Christian, yes? If you learned that your god was a lie, that the Roman Gods were the true power in this universe, would that change how you live your life? Would it affect your ambitions and goals?

"Well... no, probably not."

"Umu. Then, all Master needs to worry about is winning this War and putting her father in his place."

"Yeah," Mordred nodded, smiling slightly. The world seemed somehow brighter for her Servant's words. "You're good at these little speeches. I can see why your people loved you so much."

"Umu! Master is very- Watch out!" Mordred was suddenly being held under Saber's arm as the Servant leapt from their hiding spot. Mordred had only a moment to admire her Servant's impressive strength before she saw the bushes they had been hiding in burn away to nothing as a beam of searing light obliterated their hiding spot.

Saber landed farther away from Gawain and his Servant, whom Mordred now realised had somehow spotted them and were currently preparing for a fight. Mordred rose to her feet and drew Clarent as her brother drew Excalibur Galatine.

"Darn. They evaded my attack," Caster of Blue pouted, lowering her mirror from over her head. "Apologies, Master."

"Don't worry," Gawain responded, his tone far more serious than during his earlier discussion with her. "We don't need the element of surprise to deal with this traitor and her fake Arthur. The two of us together are more than a match for any of the Red Faction."

Caster's cheeks flushed sakura-pink. "My Master is so cool..."

"Someone's confident," Mordred taunted. "You think having a sun-themed Servant gives you the edge against me?"

The look of disgust and disdain Gawain showed Mordred genuinely chilled her. While never especially close, the two had gotten along fairly well before all of this. Gawain was always an easy person to get along with, after all. But now, that friendliness was gone. To him, Mordred was not his comrade, nor his sibling; merely his enemy. And with that look alone, the gravity of this broken relationship truly sank in for Mordred.

But she couldn't let that discourage or distract her. She had her role to play in this conflict and he had his. The swordsmen were to clash, and one of them was to die in that clash. Saber, meanwhile, summoned her own rose-red sword and held it in Caster's direction.

"Your fox senses must be well-attuned to have spotted us like that, Caster. But they will do you no good in a real fight."

Caster brought a large sleeve up to her mouth and chuckled behind it. Her fox ears twitched in an attention-grabbing way. "Ohoho, is Saber of Red truly so foolish that she believes her incessant 'Umus' and egocentric declarations are anything but shouts to the heavens of her location?"

"Umu..." Saber growled.

"Yes, indeed. I see now why the Roman Empire fell, with such slow-witted emperors."

Saber drove her sword into the ground, a spattering of rose petals surrounding her has as she did so. "Berate and belittle me all you wish, fox, but be mindful of how you speak of my forebears and descendants. Disrespect their legacies at your own peril."

"My, what a brutish temperament. Each word thrown barbarically forth from your lips only proves my point further. Shall I procure you a rock under which you can die of shame?"

Caster had to dodge back to avoid being sliced in two by Saber's blade as the enraged emperor threw everything she had at the cheeky fox woman.

"Will you be okay with your Servant distracted, Gawain?" Mordred taunted, hoping to goad him the way Caster had Saber.

"Even at night, I could cut you down with little trouble, Mordred."

"Really now? Skill is one thing, but what about your heart? Can you become heartless like the king and cut down your own blood?" Although only his half-sister, her being the child of King Arthur instead of King Lot, the two still shared blood through their mother. Gawain was not one to hold a grudge or-

"If the duty of putting you to the sword should fall to anyone, I will gladly take it in my king's place." Gawain moved his sword into its ready position, prepared to unleash a powerful slash at any time. That surprised Mordred, but she was able to maintain her composure.

"Your king has you brainwashed, Gawain."

"Rich, coming from you. You turning traitor, I can believe. But Gaheris and Gareth? How much magic did it take Morgan to turn them to her side?"

Mordred had no way to argue back. Gawain was right about their mother using her magic to force two of their siblings to join her side and serve as Masters. It was one of the few components of Morgan's plan that Mordred disagreed with. But there was little she could do about it. Were she to declare her discontent any more than she already had, Morgan would likely place her under the same spell. For now, she could only continue the fight, bring the War to an end with a Red Faction victory, and make sure her brother and sister lived to see the future they were now fighting for.

If Gawain stood in her path towards that victory, then she would cut him down where he stood. Unlike their siblings, neither he nor she were innocents in this War. But Mordred, at least, fought for a noble cause. If whatever force had made this reality so unusual, according to Saber, were to pick a side in this duel of siblings, Mordred was confident it would be hers.

Then Caster made the sun glow brighter as Gawain charged at his sister.

I chose Vortigern as Morgan's Berserker because it just seemed like a neat idea. When I learned he could weaken the Excaliburs, it suddenly justified Morgan summoning him entirely. And yes, his design is derived from Lancelot's DLC costume from Extella Link.

The sun-themed Servant for Gawain was the one that took the longest to settle on. Originally, Gawain was paired with Longinus, but I decided the two users of that spear would fit better as a duo, despite it limiting their combat versatility. Gawain was then moved to Caster, who was originally Solomon. Then, the sun-user idea came to me and I struggled to decide whether to use Odin-Cu, or to imagine Quetzalcoatl or Ozymandias as a Caster. Ultimately, Tamamo seemed the ideal fit, for her connection to a sun goddess, her mirror being a simple way to harness the sun to her Master's benefit, and nods to Extra/Extella through her connections to both Gawain and Nero.