Hey guys it's me, finally getting back into this after a bit of a hiatus. Had some health problems that I had to worry about, and that kept me distracted from my writing projects for a bit. Thankfully getting that all sorted out so I'm back to writing once more. Hope you are all enjoying yourself, and just as a heads up, I'm doing a bit of a rewrite on Broken Angel, I've done a lot of changes in the early part of the story, and I'll be updating it, and trying to make it a better read, all the way up till now. I'll also be uploading those updates to all the sites that Broken Angel is on, so hopefully that'll be an improvement. Hope you all are having a great time, and I hope you enjoy.

Broken Angel: Rising Demon

Chapter 49: Fifth Grail War.

-Fuyuki City, Japan. January 22nd 2004-

Riley watched from the sky, as a Shadow moved across the city. It was an impossible thing. A creature that made no sense, even to Riley's worldly mind. Like a living black and red cloth, it moved stealthily through the city, until it encountered some random civilian. The man never saw it coming. The Shadow fell upon him, and drained away his magic, leaving him comatose, before departing. Riley blinked at the sight, curious as to the nature of the strange dark creature. She observed it throughout the night, as it attacked others, continuing to drain their magic.

"What is going on here? Are you involved in the war, or are you just an enterprising entity who sees and opening for a free meal?" Riley hummed thoughtfully as she examined the creature from afar with her Byakugan. She chose to observe the strange entity until it dissappeared from sight, fading into the dark background magic of the city itself. Riley was left puzzled and curious as she wondered about the strange sight.

-Shirou's House-

Rin Toshaka could hardly believe it. She was actually sitting across from the Queen of Albion, a figure of Legend. King Arthur, in the flesh!

She took the time to really examine the mythic figure, taking careful note of the presence of the Rinnegan in her eyes. She had heard a rumor going around that the Princess of Albion had somehow transferred her powers to her wives, granting them some of her ocular prowess.

Rin certainly didn't know the whole of it, the hows, the whys. All she knew for certain, was that one day, Riley's wives and girlfriends showed up carrying the Rinnegan in their eyes, and the proof was in the pudding. Artoria, Katie, and Kaede all had it, though Kaede's was red, instead of the metallic purple.

Silence held in the room as Shirou brought them all tea. As Rin took a sip of the offered drink, her eyes briefly flickered to Shirou's servant, Saber, whom hadn't taken her eyes off of her counterpart since they arrived.

"You seem to have questions for me?" Artoria noted, glancing at her servant self.

"I have many questions. Firstly how I ended up looking like that." Saber responded, causing Artoria to smirk.

"Merlin gave me an aging potion to assist me in my reproductive duties for the realm." Artoria responded, earning genuine surprise from Saber, and dumbfounded amazement from Rin.

"Did she say Merlin?" Rin uttered in disbelief.

"Merlin is here?" Saber asked.

"Yes. He returned to us some time ago, and has resumed his station as my adviser." Artoria answered.

"So that's why you two look different despite being the same person? You took some sort of potion?" Shirou inquired, as he glanced between them.

"Yes, when I was younger I gained immortality, it kept me from aging, so I was stuck in my teenage body. It helped at the time, as I could pass off as a boy, but in modern times, that's less of a concern. Still I was fine as I was, until Merlin pointed out that it would probably be better for me, and any future children I might have, if my body was allowed to finish growing." Artoria explained to the boy, causing him to slowly nod in understanding.

"Yes, you have a son don't you?" Rin remembered hearing about that. Her question caused Saber's mouth to fall open in disbelief. A reaction that earned a chuckle from Katie and Kaede.

"Y-You have a son?" Saber repeated.

"Yes. Elric Pendragon. My son." Artoria confirmed with a warm smile.

"H-How is he? I mean, is he doing well?" Saber couldn't help but ask.

"He's doing very well. Happy and healthy by all measures. He's still just a baby but he's getting along well, along with all of his half-siblings." Artoria replied.

"Half-siblings?" Saber blinked at that.

"Yes, Elric has many half-siblings. The children of his sire, more accurately my wife, Princess Riley Uchiwa Pendragon. My wife is married many times over. She belongs to a powerful set of bloodlines that need to be restored, so she took a wife for each of her family lines, to assist in their restoration. She also went through a few political marriages as well to form alliances for Albion, our kingdom. Her marriage to the Kazekage, the rule of the Sand Village, and to the Two-Tails Jinchuriki of the Cloud Village, helped us form a three-way alliance. In total, she has eight wives, these two included." Artoria explained, gesturing to Katie and Kaede. Katie offered a friendly wave, while Kaede gave her a nod of acknowledgment.

"Huh… so you all share the same wife? How does that work?" Shirou wondered, trying to wrap his mind around the idea while Saber gawked in disbelief.

"It works very well. That's all I'll say." Katie replied, smirking as she shared a glance with Kaede and Artoria.

"While I'd love to hear more about this fascinating dynamic, perhaps we should save it for another time." Rin spoke up after a moment, her serious side coming through.

"Yes, she's right. We have work to do. This war must be brought to an end, and the Grail destroyed once and for all." Artoria agreed.

"So, we need to either defeat or convince the other servants and masters to put a stop to this. Once we do, how do we summon the grail?" Shirou asked.

"A certain number of servants are needed to summon the grail. Five of the seven will allow it to manifest, which is what we need. So we need to kill the other five servants, or at least, convince them to give up and return to the grail so we can force it's manifestation. Once it shows, I'll use the power of Excalibur to destroy the grail's true form, putting a stop to it's darkness forever." Artoria expressed to them.

"Alright, we know what's needed, now the question is, how do we go about acquiring it?" Shirou stated questioningly.

"Before we begin on that point, I'm curious about something, if your wife is as powerful as my master claims, than why isn't she here?" Archer asked Artoria.

"The Princess is preoccupied with an equally if not more important matter. I'm sure though, that if for whatever reason, things go poorly, she'll make herself available to aid us. For the moment, her help is not needed." Artoria answered.

"Riley tends to be quite the presence as well. Having her here would no doubt draw the attention of the whole world, which we'd rather not have to deal with until the threat of the Grail is gone for good." Katie added in.

"A reasonable position I'd say. Berzerker's master while surprised, did not seem overly so by your appearance." Archer noted to Artoria.

"Yes. She did seem as if she was expecting something like this, perhaps not me, but maybe an intervention from an outside source." Artoria agreed.

"Yeah. That girl, who was she?" Shirou asked.

"An Einzbern, most likely. She seemed strangely interested in you, Emiya." Rin replied.

"Yeah she did. That name, Einzbern… it's familiar to me. Sakura's grandfather mentioned something about it when I met him the other day." Shirou noted thoughtfully. Artoria watched the groups reaction and made several interesting discoveries. Rin's eyes seemed to harden at the mention of this 'Sakura', Archer had a very minute expression flit across his face when Shirou's focus seemed to land on the white-haired girl who was the master of Berzerker. Both reactions were interesting to say the least, and hinted to her that the two knew more than they let on.

Neither servant or master said anything, keeping their personal opinions to themselves. The group continued their discussion for an hour or so, before deciding to break for now. With the sun coming up in a few hours, the master's needed to get a bit of sleep. Because the Grail War was a secret, the servants wouldn't be fighting until night fell, so they had some time to recuperate and prepare for what would come at them in the evening.

Rin and Archer departed, stating that they would return later, while Shirou and Saber took a few moments to discuss some things for themselves, namely Shirou was curious about his adopted father Kiritsugu, though Saber couldn't offer much on him, having known him only as a master, and only for a short time. He asked if she knew anything about the Einzbern family, and she admitted that she knew of them, but knew very little about him. She suggested that if he was truly curious, he return to the church they had visited the previous night, to speak with Kirei Kotomine once more. Shirou didn't exactly like it, he got a weird feeling from Kirei, and Saber revealed that he was wise to feel that way, since Kirei had been a master in the previous war and had fought against his father Kiritsugu.

Shirou decided to go and speak with Kirei later, after the sun went up, and went to go and get some sleep.

Saber took the opportunity to approach her alternate self to ask some questions of her own.

"You seem curious." Artoria noted as she stood watch for the night alongside Katie, and Kaede, all of whom took perimeter around Shirou's home.

"Why wouldn't I be? Encountering you, learning of what ultimately became of me, it's enough to fill anyone with curiosity." Saber admitted.

"Fair enough. So what did you want to talk about?" Artoria turned her attention to Saber.

"I was curious about your life now. You once more became a ruler, have a family, a wife, and a child… I'm curious about all of it." Saber stated.

"My people needed me. Albion had lost it's previous Queen, it's royal family was wiped out by a vicious vampire attack. Their government was destroyed, and they needed a leader. My wife, revealed to our countrymen my true identity, and asked if I would be willing to take up the responsibility again. It wasn't something I wanted, nor was it something I'd ever intend to pursue. I was content to live my life by her side. Being Riley's lover, being with her, protecting our people, defending them from harm, it's all I really wanted. Someone else could have led, and I would have happily continued my role. But when I looked upon the faces of my countrymen, when I saw the hope and desperation there, I knew what needed to be done. They believed in me, in spite of my failures. They wanted me back, in spite of every misstep that I'd made. Even Riley believed in me, despite having been one of the few I'd ever shared my doubts with. She knew my personal thoughts about my rule, she knew how I'd felt like a failure, yet she still believed in me. I accepted the crown, and took up the throne of England. We worked together to give rise to the first magical nation this planet has known in modern times. We built Albion from the ground, and made it what it is today." Artoria recounted the events that caused her to resume her duty as monarch, despite her misgivings about it.

"How do you manage it? How do you avoid becoming what we once were? A king who could not understand her people." Saber questioned intently.

"By filling my life with them, and rejecting perfection. Long ago, we sought to be the perfect king, and we accomplished our goal. By becoming perfect though, we lost our humanity, we separated ourselves from our people. I knew such dangers would always exist for me. That I could find my way back there, if left to my own devices. Thankfully, I was not alone. I had advisers, men and women I greatly respected, to keep me grounded. I have Riley, to fill my head with distractions, and keep me from becoming the machine I was before. When he returned to us, and learned of my decisions, Merlin offered me his wisdom once more. He said to me, love is a powerful emotion, it is a distracting one, and with it in your life, you will make mistakes, you will fail. Then he said that he was certain my reign would be prosperous not in spite of that, but in fact, because of it. I allowed myself to be human. I allowed distractions into my life, because it was what I wanted. I embraced love, and family, and friendship, and yes, it keeps me from being perfect, but it allows me to be something more. It allows me to know them, to understand my own people, and it gives me the confidence to continue, each and every day, knowing that I am like them." Artoria laid it all out. Becoming what she was now, was a process, one that she'd built up to long before it happened.

Saber was quite for several long moments as she reflected on what was said. Finally she noted. "Your wife means a great deal to you."

"She is the first person I've ever fallen in love with. I did not truly know romantic love until I knew her. I didn't know what it meant to fall in love, or feel such desires or wants for a person. Love was always a distraction before, one that I avoided because I saw what it did to others. In her though, I saw my other half. I saw a chance to be whole, to find someone who would never stop trying to understand me, and to whom would give me every chance to understand her. She showed me kindness, and respect, in spite of how easily she could have bested me, she asked for my knowledge and advice, despite being much smarter than I am, she was willing to love me from afar until the moment she knew that I felt similar feeling for her, and the moment she knew, I knew she'd never let me go. She is my best friend, and I would give the world to make her happy, and I know she'd do the same for me." Artoria offered with a smile.

Saber couldn't help but smile as well, taking note of how different her alternate self seemed. She was so much like how they were when they were younger. Despite being older, she was more passionate, more lively. That cool temperament was still there but it wasn't the only temperament she displayed. She allowed herself to smile, or grow impassioned like she was now, talking about her wife.

The two continued talking throughout the morning, until Shirou left around midday to go and speak with the priest Kirei, who happened to be the overseer of this Grail War. Saber went with him, while Artoria, Katie, and Kaede began patrolling the city, getting a lay of the land, and familiarizing themselves with their surrounding so they were ready for when night came and the war would resume in earnest.

That night, they got to meet with some of Shirou's friends, and his housemate and teacher. Sakura Matou, and Taiga Fujimura. Taiga was his teacher, and presumably his caretaker at the moment. She was a lighthearted yet wild individual and was absolutely starstruck when she met Artoria. Sakura reacted with surprise as well, and both were curious what the troop of women were now doing at Shirou's house. Katie offered a lie, claiming that they were there to investigate a runaway magus who'd stolen Albion secrets, and had encountered Shirou who offered them a place to stay. This of course earned him a ribbing from Taiga, who questioned if he had any nefarious motives for offering four beautiful women a place in his house.

Sakura also seemed to sense something was up, but didn't outwardly display it. She seemed kind, and gentle, and was very soft-spoken. She had dark purple hair, and matching eyes. Despite her apparent gentle nature, the girl instantly set Artoria, Kaede, and Katie on edge. A hellish darkness boiled beneath her skin. Dark magics churned within her, the kind of darkness they'd only ever seen in a demon before.

"Riley… quick question, what the hell am I looking at?" Katie questioned her wife through their bond. She felt it, the moment Riley began looking through her eyes, taking in the sight of this girl. Quiet held for a moment or two before Riley spoke.

"Someone who is deeply disturbed." Riley answered.

"Is she a demon?" Katie asked.

"No. I can see the purple hue of this blackness. Demonic energy is red. The purple signifies that it comes from humanity, though it can be mixed with demonic power. She might be a half-breed. Half-demon or devil. Her power is massive though, and the way it's flowing inward, instead of outward, is intriguing. It's like she absorbing ambient darkness from around her." Riley responded thoughtfully.

"Huh… so what is she then?" Katie asked again.

"Not sure. Like I said, most likely she's someone deeply disturbed. I'd be careful around her if I were you." Riley suggested.

Katie shared a glance with Kaede whom nodded, signifying that she'd heard that conversation as well.

The three kept their cool, though they observed Sakura carefully. For right now, she wasn't their focus, since as far as they could currently tell, she had no involvement in the war, and until that changed, so long as she didn't do anything to bring them to harm, while they dealt with the Grail War, than whatever was wrong with her could be left to someone else. They had to remain focused.

Artoria dealt with the fanfare, all the way up until night fell, when she, and her guards departed, along with Saber and Shirou to go looking for the other master's and servants. The trio took one part of town, while Shirou and Saber took another. They'd join up if one group encountered an enemy servant. They were quite certain that Rin and Archer were going to be doing the same thing, so it was likely they'd be able to knock at least one of the servants off the list tonight.

While the group began hunting, Riley was busy observing the Shadow as it carried out it's own hunt, once more stealthily ambushing people in the city, leaving them drained of magic. It hadn't killed anyone yet, and Riley was still trying to piece together what this entity was, whether it was some kind of dark magical creature, or perhaps a familiar or puppet created by a mage. She didn't know. All she did know was that it gave off and incredibly negative energy, one that was strangely familiar to her.

-January 23rd 2004-

Saber and Shirou ended up encountering another master and their servant in a park within the city just after midnight. The master in question, was one of Shirou's close friends, a boy named Shinji, Sakura's brother. They found them in the midst of draining the magic out of some random woman, no doubt intending to use the stolen power to fuel their efforts in the war. Saber and the enemy servant, which was revealed to be Rider engaged in a surprisingly brief duel. Rider was noticeably weaker than Saber, and was swiftly defeated. As she lay defeated, Shinji began berating her, cursing her and demanding she resume fighting, his actions earning disgust from Saber and Shirou, the latter of which was struggling to come to terms with this apparently long-hidden side of his now ex-friend.

Before they could put an end to Shinji's rants, or put Rider down for good, an old man appeared. This man was Shinji's and Sakura's grandfather. The man appeared out of nowhere, burning the magical book that Shinji was using as a focus of some sort, and berating him as a failure. The old man then addressed Shirou, telling him that their family belonged to a long line of mages, and that Sakura had no part in this war. He then said that Shinji was a disgrace, and that they had been eliminated from the war itself, causing Rider to disappear, apparently succumbing to her wounds.

The old man then took his grandson and they left, leaving Shirou and Saber to get the woman that Shinji and Rider were attacking to medical aid. They brought her back to Kirei and after a brief discussion with the man, they met with Rin and Archer, along with Artoria, Kaede, and Katie, all of whom had sensed the battle and had been trailing behind the duo to learn what had happened.

Shirou brought them all up to speed. It was concerning to learn that Sakura's own brother had been one of the master's fighting against them, but ultimately, he'd been defeated. Rider was now out of the game. One down, four to go. They were left with Caster, Lancer, Berserker, and Assassin. Still, Shirou was left very thoughtful after this encounter. It was Rin who openly mused about how strange it was that Shinji was the Master, earning the attention of the others.

"I'd heard through the grapevine that the Matau family hadn't produced but one significant Magi in generations, and he had died during the Fourth Grail War. Their family has been on the decline." Rin stated.

"We did find them draining mana from a civilian." Saber noted, causing Rin to blink and then turn thoughtful.

"Probably as a way to supplement the Servant's power if the master is weak." Artoria suspected.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Still… seems like a risky gambit to play at. Attacking civilians risks exposing the Grail War itself and that would earn the wrath of those in power. Things like this are allowed, only so long as the secret of the existence of Mages is kept. Normal mundanes may look at this and just blame witches and wizards, but those same magicals will look at this and realize that something more is going on." Rin stated in agreement, though offered her concerns as well.

"I mean, aside from the obvious of not wanting people to know about the Grail War, why is it that Mages are so eager to keep themselves hidden from other magical beings?" Shirou inquired curiously.

"We're two entirely different cultures, and we've spent so long apart, and confined to our own magical systems, and our own anonymity that it's hard to allow those barriers to fall. Everyone has their secrets and it's easier to keep them from others, if most people don't even know you exist, let alone believe it. Plus with what we've seen since the fall of Statute of Secrecy, with how mundane people treat magicals, it's obvious that humanity still hasn't grown willing to just accept us, so to avoid our secrets being sought after, and to avoid be hunted by mankind, we hold to our secrecy, even from other magicals." Rin explained to him. "Though in all fairness, that isn't the universal opinion. There are some, even within the Mage's Association that believe we should begin revealing ourselves, since they've seen the progress being made through the cooperation between Shinobi, Witches, and Wizards in Albion."

"Oh… I see." Shirou nodded in acceptance of that.

"It's interesting, but it ultimately doesn't matter. Their part in this story has come to an end. Rider is dealt with, that leave four more to summon the Grail. We already know that Berserker is with that girl, and we've had previous engagements with Lancer already, that just leaves the identity of Assassin, and Caster still a mystery." Archer stated directly.

"He's right. We'll keep our ears open in regards to this Shinji Matou, but our focus should be the on the other servant. You two should return home and rest, allow us to continue the patrol for tonight, in case any other servants wish to make an appearance." Artoria instructed Saber and Shirou.

"You think any more will show?" Archer hummed in question.

"Likely not, but just in case, since we're still fresh, we should try. Already we've encountered a number of hidden locations within the city, our eyes can see magical energy, even the presence of barriers and wards, several places here have had protections placed over them, but I'm unable to tell how long they've been here. I'm assuming one such place will be the Matou household, and another will likely be where the girl is hiding with Berserker, so we'll patrol around them, and keep our eyes open for movement." Artoria stated, earning a curious look from Rin at hearing about that property of the Rinnegan while Archer merely nodded at her logic.

"We'll continue our patrols, and meet up again tomorrow, when we do, you should tell us about each location you found, I might know if they correspond with any know mages or groups in the area, and I might be able to tell you if they're new or not." Rin suggested.

"Very well, tomorrow then. Farewell." Artoria agreed before she along with Katie, and Kaede dashed away.

"Well then, good luck tonight. A part of me hopes you don't run into anything." Shirou directed at Rin, who gave him a playful smirk.

"I appreciate the concern but it isn't needed. Now go and do as the Queen suggested and get some rest. As easy as the battle was, your limited skills as a mage will have an adverse affect on Saber, so you should take every opportunity you can to catch some rest. Rider was easy, but we've seen how powerful Lancer and Berserker are, and from what I know, Casters have always been troublesome in these wars, so the hard part is yet to come." Rin said to him, earning a firm nod of understanding from Shirou.

"Alright, let's go Saber." Shirou directed at his servant.

"Yes. Good luck out there. We'll meet again on the morrow." Saber said her farewells as the two began to depart.

"Wait… one thing… before you go." Rin called after them, her gaze turning cool.

"What is it?" Shirou asked her.

"Sakura… just… be careful around her. Her grandfather said she plays no part in this war, but we can't just believe that to be true." Rin stated.

"You think she's another master?" Shirou asked, almost looking like he found that hard to believe.

"No… I mean… it's unlikely that two of the masters would be from the same family, but still. She is Shinji's sister. I don't trust that she had no involvement whatsoever. Just be careful what you say around her. I'm not saying she's a spy or anything, but mages can be mind-readers, so I wouldn't dismiss the idea of her family using her as a means to spy on us, even if she isn't willingly telling them anything. Just be cautious, and mindful, until this war is over, we have to keep our guard up, even around supposed friends. They don't know what we know, about the Grail, and we don't know why they might want it. So be careful." Rin explained herself, directing him to be cautious, even around his friends.

Shirou looked thoughtful for a moment, and though he didn't believe Sakura had any involvement in the war, he accepted Rin's warning that someone could use her to get information on them. A part of him did wonder why that would matter since Shinji had been eliminated, but he chose not to argue it, and instead accept the warning for what it was.

"Okay, I'll be careful. See you tomorrow Tohsaka." Shinji said to her, earning a nod from the girl as she and Archer began to depart as well.

"You think she's right?" Shirou asked Saber as they walked.

"I don't know. I don't know Sakura's character enough to have an opinion. She is right about Mage's being mind-readers, so that is a possibility. We'll just have to be cautious about what we say. Just know, that you still have some people you can count on fully. I wont betray, that is a promise. We are united in this mission." Saber swore to him, earning a genuine smile, and a nod from her master.

"Yeah. We'll stop the darkness of the Grail from ever being unleashed again. No matter what it takes." Shirou agreed with confidence.

After getting some rest, Shirou went to school and encountered Sakura there. While talking to her, he discovered a bruise on her cheek. He asked her about it, but she dismissed it as just an accident. Shirou though, had practiced Archery for a bit, and knew that kind of bruise had to come from being struck, and he had a pretty good guess about where it had come from. Knowing about Shinji's temper, he was quite certain the fool had struck Sakura out of anger after he'd been defeated the day before.

A little later he ran into Rin, and told her about what happened, and asked if she had any ideas about how to keep Sakura safe from Shinji. Despite her earlier warning, Sakura was still his friend, and he didn't like the idea of her being abused.

Rin suggested he convince her to stay at his house. It was dangerous, but it could also work in their benefit, if she was indeed being used to filter information back to the Matou's than they could feed her lies, and see how their enemy reacted to know for certain.

While Shirou didn't necessarily agree to the idea of using Sakura like that, he did agree with the suggestion to try and have her stay at his house while the war was going on. Sakura had been his friend for a long time, and he didn't want her to get hurt.

"One more thing, I was going to share it when we met up later, but I'll let you in on it now. "Archer and I found another servant hiding out at Ryuudou Temple. The magics around that place are strange. I think Caster might be there. You might have heard about the mysterious comas occurring around the city these last few days, I think Caster might be responsible. Probably conducting some kind of ritual there. We should look into it tonight." Rin said to him.

"Alright, tonight then. We'll discuss more when we meet later." Shirou agreed.

Later after school, Shirou was the last to arrive at his house, where the others were waiting for him. They questioned him on his absence and he revealed that he'd run into that white-haired girl, Berserker's master, at the market. Her name was Illya and she claimed she'd only wanted to talk to him, and they did, the two talked, and she was generally friendly with him. He claimed that she admitted to knowing Kiritsugu but didn't say how she did. She seemed friendly though, and she seemed to be genuinely disinterested in fighting Shirou personally. She wanted to remove him as a master by defeating Saber, but she had no ill will towards Shirou, which he found odd.

They spoke a bit about that, and what the girl's angle could be, but ultimately no one had any ideas. Saber and Artoria both made mention of how the girl had similar characteristics to someone they'd met in the last Grail War, who was a friend of Kiritsugu, who's name was Irisviel. That woman though, had died during the war, and this girl, Illya was far too young to have any direct relationship to her. She might be a niece or maybe even a sister, but she'd have been born after the woman's death so she couldn't know her personally. The girl looked to be around nine or ten. Meaning she had to have been born around or after the last grail war, nearly ten years ago.

It was all very interesting, and conversations quickly shifted to what Rin and Archer had discovered. A plan was formed for a three-way assault on the Temple to deal with what was likely Caster. Shirou and Saber would go in first, and act as bait while Rin and Archer hung back to attack from a distance when things popped off. Artoria, Katie, and Kaede would approach from the flanks to ambush Caster during the battle. Artoria especially would have an easy time dealing with Caster, as she revealed that he powers were specifically attuned to dealing with magic. She offered that he armor was magically resilient which was the same for Saber, but she kept hidden the part about her being the Preta Path and thus able to also absorb incoming magical attacks.

By then, Taiga had arrived, informing them that Sakura wasn't far behind. Shirou took the moment to ask Taiga for her aid in convincing Sakura to stay there with them for a few days. He hinted at some trouble he suspected at her house, but Taiga seemed well on board with having Sakura stick around as she seemed to favor the girl, especially when it came to the idea of any sort of relationship between her and Shirou.

Shirou then met with Sakura when she showed up, and he convinced the girl to stay at his house for a few days. She accepted, a bit bashfully though. She seemed to enjoy the idea, but her mood soon soured when she saw Rin. Rin pointedly ignored her, and Sakura seemed to do the same, revealing to everyone that the two knew each other, and had a complicated history.

Not long later, things took a bit of a turn as Sakura suddenly fell ill with a strange and unknown fever.

They placed her in one of the rooms, while Shirou looked after her. The three Paths could see some very strange fluctuations occurring with her magic, but were unable to determine the cause.

They wondered about it, but ultimately they ran out of time, and had to see to the Grail War.

Once Sakura fell asleep and Shirou was comfortable leaving her, the group departed to Ryuudou Temple.

All three groups quickly fell into position, as Shirou and Saber proceeded right through the entrance of the temple.

They arrived to find the place eerily quiet. All the monks were in some sort of trance-like sleep. They wandered through the temple until they came across a startling sight. They found a woman dressed in robes, sobbing and in panic. She stood over the body of someone Shirou instantly recognized. It was his teacher from school. The woman was soaked in blood and was holding the strangest looking dagger either had ever seen.

"Caster?" Saber questioned as she drew her sword.

"I didn't kill him. I didn't kill my master." She spoke, fearfully.

"Who did this?" Shirou asked.

"IT WASN'T ME!" She screamed in response, her eyes bloodshot in panic and heartbreak. She came rushing at them, swiping at Shirou as Saber pushed him back and dodged the incoming strikes of the dagger.

The swings were wild and crazed, coming to a halt as Saber side-stepped a jab and drove Excalibur into Caster's heart, killing her instantly.

The two stood over Caster as she collapsed to the ground, her panicked face still streaked with tears.

"What happened here? Why did she go crazy like that?" Shirou asked, staring down at her.

Saber shook her head, and glanced around the room, searching for other threats. Finding none, the two stepped outside. Shirou waved into the air, hoping that the others would see him and come there.

A few moments later, and they all arrived.

"What happened?" Rin asked, before Shirou gestured her to look inside.

She did so, along with Archer, both of whom reacted with surprise.

"Is that Caster?" Katie asked.

"Yeah. She was acting insane. I think someone else got to them before we did." Shirou spoke.

"This had to be Assassin. The wounds to this man's body, they weren't made with a spear." Kaede noticed.

"Yeah… you're probably right." Shirou spoke his agreement, his eyes landing on the body of his school teacher.

"Still… why kill the master, and not the servant? The servant is the one who matters. Killing the master doesn't immediately defeat the servant, it just cuts off their magical supply. Causing them to fade away back to the grail eventually." Rin questioned as she too took in the sight of their dead teacher.

"Maybe that is the reason. Maybe Assassin couldn't beat Caster in a straight fight, so they killed her source of power." Katie suggested.

"Hmm… that's possible." Artoria agreed.

"It wasn't Assassin… at least not the one you're thinking of." Came a familiar voice. All eyes turned to the door leading outside to find Riley standing there.

Archer, Saber, and Shirou reacted with confusion while Rin's jaw dropped in amazement. All three of Riley's wives eyed her curiously, mentally questioning her presence.

"Who was it then, Riley?" Katie asked her. Hearing the name, revealed her identity to the three who didn't know her, as Artoria's wife.

"There were two servants here. I saw one was attacked by some kind of Shadow. A thing of darkness that was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. I've been tracking it the last few nights. It comes out after sundown and absorbs magic from people, putting them into comas. This is the first time it's killed anyone. When that servant died the other Assassin, his body was used to raise a new servant. This one, a being of shadows, draped in black clothe. I think someone killed Assassin, than raised another Assassin in his place, and that second Assassin came here to murder Caster's master." Riley explained to them, her eyes heavy and thoughtful, and filling the room with an ominous pressure as her gaze passed over them.

"You're sure it was Assassin you saw die?" Artoria asked.

"Yes. He was armed with a sword, so not Lancer, and he wasn't that brute you fought earlier so not Berserker. Wasn't Rider, and he couldn't be Saber or Archer, so that leaves only one left, since Caster is right here. Not sure why he was here, looked like he was guarding the temple, so maybe he was working with Caster as some kind of alliance." Riley offered them.

"This thing that attacked Assassin, what was it?" Shirou asked her.

"No idea. It's still here though, hiding nearby. It's blended in with the background darkness of this city so it's hard to sense, but being this close I can still feel it. I can feel it's hunger." Riley stated, her eyes falling to the corpses in the room, she took a step towards them, only for shadowy tendril to erupt from the ground, encasing the bodies of Caster and her master. A yellow light erupted from Riley's hand, rushing out to grab at the tendrils but they pulled away too quickly, pulling the two corpses into the ground, swallowing them up in an instant.

"What the hell was that?!" Shirou questioned in surprise, taking a fearful step back as he did.

"That was the Shadow." Riley spoke as she continued forward, the Yellow light of her power ring receding. She knelt over the blood-stained ground and gave it a curious and critical once-over.

"It's been meticulous these last few nights. Attacking and draining, than moving on to the next. Each attack it grows more bold, more vicious. It's getting closer and closer to draining people to death. This was the first time it's killed anyone." Riley revealed.

"Did you see who revived the new Assassin?" Artoria asked her.

"Yeah, an old man, made of worms. Strange shit going on in this city, I tell you." Riley replied with a shake of her head.

"An old man made of worms?" Shirou repeated, sharing a confused glance with Sakura.

"Some kind of worms I'd never seen before. Not a magical creature I'm familiar with, so they might be artificial." Riley noted thoughtfully.

"This old man, did he walk with a cane? Wearing plain but older style robes. Dark green, with a brown coat?" Saber questioned, Riley made a humming noise before nodding, causing Shirou and her to share a look.

"Sakura and Shinji's grandfather. Seems their family is getting back into the war." Shirou stated, causing Rin's gaze to harden at hearing that.

"I knew getting rid of Rider was too easy. So they took our Assassin and replaced him with their own servant. Guess we might be running into Shinji again." Rin bit her thumb in frustration as she thought on that.

"Why didn't you mention anything about this Shadow was going on?" Artoria questioned Riley.

"Until it came here, I didn't know it had anything to do with the Grail War, and I needed something to occupy my attention. You told me I couldn't be involved in this, so I found something else to do. Unfortunately, it seems that these two issues are intertwined." Riley answered honestly.

"You thought they wouldn't be. We're never that lucky." Kaede stated, earning a chuckle from Riley.

"You're right, I had my suspicions, but still, there are a lot of powerful mages living in this city, and around it. Not everything has to be connected. Sometimes two bad things can happen in the same place without their reasons connecting. Still… now I'm quite certain that they are connected. This Shadow might be some kind of weapon created by one of the Master's or at least, by the new Assassin's master. I'd be very careful moving forward. This thing is growing stronger whatever it is." Riley replied, rising to her feet.

"What is it you intend to do now?" Artoria questioned her with a pointed look.

"I'm going to observe for now, and I'll intervene when necessary. This thing is strange, and I wish to study it. When I see the opportunity though, I'll destroy it." Riley answered.

"Riley!" Came the chorus of complaints from her wives.

"Riley, you're pregnant. No fighting, especially strange entities that you know nothing about." Katie said to her, her declaration, earning further surprise from Shirou, Rin, and Saber, all of them learning the reason for Riley's distance from this conflict being that she was with child. It especially resonated with Saber as she couldn't help but wonder for a moment, if it was hers, despite knowing the chance was unlikely given that Riley had a total of eight wives, and could be having a child with any one of them, still though it made her wonder.

"Alright, no fighting. Just killing. Anyway… I remember when you looked like this." Riley shrugged before turning her attention to Saber, who blushed when Riley appeared in front of her and gave her a charming smile.

"You- I- You're…" Saber stuttered in embarrassment.

"Just as cute as I remember." Riley responded with a smile, reaching out to poke her forehead before letting out a laugh as Saber's face grew red.

"Stop tormenting me, Riley." Artoria instructed with a look of annoyance, while Kaede smiled at the sight and Katie giggled to herself. "You're not going to distract us from the earlier point."

"Oh I'm not?" Riley countered with a devious smirk. Astoria stared at her for a moment before her face turned red and she shook her head. Katie's jaw dropped and she let out a scandalized giggle while Kaede blinked and then glanced between Saber and Astoria letting out a hum of curiosity as she did.

"Stop that! Don't even go there. We have important business to handle." Artoria reprimanded her, blushing deeply at the lewd idea that had just been forced into her brain, courtesy of her demonic wife.

"I'll leave you to your war. I'll simply observe for now. No need to get your panties in a bunch." Riley stated dismissively as she turned and began to depart.

"Riley…" Artoria called after her, not finished with reprimanding her for the lewd suggestion, or for being here despite her wishes to the contrary.

"Later." Riley offered a smile and wave, before vanishing. Artoria and Katie sent a few mental threats towards their beloved wife to keep out of this until after she'd given birth. If she was that desperate to get involved she could go to Kamui for as long as it took to give birth, and then come back, but while she was carrying precious cargo, they didn't want her fighting.

With that finished for the moment, the group traveled to Kirei's church, to gain his help in dealing with all of the magically sleeping monks left at the temple, once done they returned to Shirou's house.

-January 24th 2004-

"What are you?" Riley stepped off the building she was on to land before the Shadow as it finished consuming the body of another civilian. It seems it finally had a taste for blood, as it had already killed two more people, no longer content with just draining them of magic, now it consumed them entirely, leaving nothing more than a blood stain behind.

The Shadow reacted to her presence, twisting the air around it in sharp, jarring motions. Riley stared it down with a calculating gaze. Whatever it was, it was incredibly dark, borderline evil, yet it was not a demon. She couldn't quite place what it was.

Riley watched as the darkness ebbed back and forth in front of her. It was a kind of evil she had only seen once before, yet this evil was touched by an unfamiliar madness. Pain danced within. Unbridled pain, and misery. Whatever, or whoever had summoned forth this darkness was filled with such a deep, and vast ocean of suffering that it nearly surpassed human rationale. Anyone to whom such suffering was placed before, would surely begin to crack under the pressure of it.

The darkness held it's place only for a figure to emerge from the shadows behind her, targeting Riley. A man draped in shadows, Assassin. He charged at her, cutting at the air, his strikes missing as Riley danced around them. She caught the man by the arm, and drove her palm into his stomach sending him sailing across the room, to slam into the hard wooden wall.

The blow was bone shattering.

It took a moment, but Assassin faded, only to again appear behind Riley, attempting to lash out at her. She dodged, and delivered another bone shattering kick that sent the servant sailing through the air. Before he could land, she was on him, she made a move to tear out the Servant's heart but the Shadow was suddenly on her.

Tendrils lanced out at Riley, only to be intercepted, and torn apart by yellow light. Riley slowly turned her gaze towards the assaulting shadow as Assassin once more fade from sight, molding his magical energy to blend into the background of the world, disappearing entirely from magical senses. Riley continued holding the Shadow at bay, even as more ribbons of darkness emerged from the ground around Riley to try and attack her. She held them off as more yellow light appeared to match the aggression.

Riley could feel it attempting to drain her. The shadow itself was trying to consume her magic, and was growing stronger as it did. Riley, in turn, countered the attempt by draining it's magic in turn. The Shadow seemed to sense this, sense the threat as it what was happening and quickly retreated.

"Two can play at that game." Riley grinned viciously, only for the Shadow to vanish into the ground, disappearing into the background magic of the city once more. The grin fell from her face at it's retreat and she let out a sigh of frustration.

"Such incredible pain. What happened to you?" Riley wondered as she rose up into the air.

"It's been a while since I've encountered a mystery like this. What are you? You have to be some sort of construct, like a puppet, but there's something so human about you." Riley thought to herself as she floated high over the city, activating her Byakugan to gaze out of the expanse of the city itself.

A few quiet moments went by before Riley closed her eyes. There standing before her, was the grinning visage of Mito Uzumaki. The look on her face spoke volumes to Riley.

It was like she was mocking her. Like she was saying, 'Look, it's right before you, but you cannot see it.' Riley let out a growl of annoyance as she banished the image from her mind. The darkness of the Shadow was familiar to her, it reminded her of the dark curse that had exploded out of Mito's body when Riley had killed her. Was that what it was? Was the Shadow formed from that inky black darkness? She didn't know, but she intended to find out.

Within her body, for the first time, Riley felt movement, something churning within her womb.

She blinked and rested a hand on her belly.

"Are you starting to take shape?" Riley asked tenderly, as she tried to reach her mind out towards her growing baby. Yet as always the child remained elusive, pulling away from Riley, keeping separate from her thoughts.

Riley let out a sigh, but let it be. As a full blooded demon, her child would be born with a manner of bestial intelligence. She may be it's mother, but that didn't immediately mean she wasn't a danger. She'd just have to coax the child out, when the time was right. For now, she allowed her focus to return to her earlier musings, and what she intended to do about it. For now, she'd continue to watch, but once the Shadow showed itself again, she'd move in to finish it off for good.

This Grail War was slowly evolving into something more than anyone expected it to be. Only time would tell just how bad things would become.

-To Be Continued-

Alright, there's the next chapter for you, thanks for being patient with me, hope you all are excited and intrigued with the strangeness going on, wonder just how far this is going to blow out of proportions. We'll see more in the next chapter, until then, later!