Chapter 5 - Luck of the Irish

Streets near Fuyuki Central Park, Fuyuki City - Main Fate World - Three Hours after the end of the previous chapter, Five Days before Rin Tohsaka summons her Servant, Current Date: 26th of January 2004, Time: 8:47 am

(Jeanne d'Arc Alter/SI's P.O.V)

"Master, are you alright?" I hear Serenity say in my head as both Arturia and myself are walking down the streets of Fuyuki with our destination being Fuyuki Central Park because I did promise the blonde King of Knights to take her there last night, mostly so that I can once and for all confirm my claim that the grail is corrupted and have her full support.

"I'm fine [Assassin], any sign of hostile Servants?" I ask in response to Serenity's question before getting a negative response from the purple-haired Servant, prompting me to turn my head toward Arturia who seems to be ever so slightly anxious being away from her master right now so early in the morning.

However, Arturia and I had to leave before Taiga or Sakura arrived because we had not yet figured out how to explain her presence, figuring that we couldn't exactly use the same excuse that I used to wave away why I was staying at Shirou's house.

Getting out of the house fast was easy for me because both my Shinjuku Casual attire and my full Servant armor could be freely swapped around with my Shroud of Power, so I could pull what Arturia does in the last Holy Grail War without a bunch of preparation beforehand

Arturia on the other hand…

If Arturia were just like any other normal Servant then perhaps she could go into spirit form and follow me right over to Fuyuki Central Park rather than walk alongside me to the park as she is now, unfortunately for her despite having been properly summoned she still can't enter spirit form.

Thankfully we didn't have to worry about trying to find clothes for her to wear as in this timeline, Shirou is a girl so it was a lot easier to have her wear something spare from the redhead's wardrobe, even if it did fit a fair bit loosely on her body.

Admittedly I was tempted then and there just to wrap up Arturia in my Shroud of Power right then and there to save us the headache of trying to get clothes that fit her that way, but I didn't want to pull that just yet when I was still trying to earn her trust.

Make no mistake I do fully intend to bring Shirou's Servant into my retinue proper, but it'll be when I believe it'll be time to bring in this uptight and oh-so-noble king under this Dragon Witch's embrace and not anytime before~!

Thoughts of bringing Arturia into my retinue aside, I can tell that the blonde's anxiety over being so far away from her master and walking alongside an [Assassin] and an unknown Servant that can somehow be a master is starting to show more visibly.

"[Saber] she may not look it at first glance, but your master has some very nifty tricks that can keep her safe, so do yourself a favor and don't stress about it so much," I say offhandedly to Arturia who just gives me a look of frustration before she sighs as the anxiety begins to bleed out of her body ever so slowly and allowing herself to become calmer than she was a few minutes ago.

"You must understand Miss Jeanne, I dislike being too far away from my master as it may leave her vulnerable to enemy Servants," Arturia says after calming herself, her words belaying her concern for Shirou as she isn't exactly aware of her unique skills that can potentially allow her to go toe to toe with Servants, one of the sole few in the modern era who can really, even if it is under certain conditions.

"Oh I understand [Saber], I just think you're being too much of a worrywart," I say in response to Arturia's concerns, slipping into French at the end mostly as a way to have her focus on something other than said concerns as I watch her frown and try to figure out what I just called her.

Just before I do end up trying to tell her what I just said though, we soon reach Fuyuki Central Park with the sheer potent feeling of malice hanging so intensely around us that our conversation regarding Arturia's concerns dies down in favor of what we feel right here and now.

Arturia can feel the malevolent spiritual energies mixed into the soil of the park thanks to her nature as a Servant, effectively eliminating any lingering doubt about my claims about the grail as there is no way to fabricate something like this overnight if it is even possible to fabricate it in the first place.

"Miss Jeanne, sensing all of these incredibly potent negative feelings here at the park, I can no longer harbor doubts about your claims regarding the corruption of the grail," Arturia says with a grimace on her face as she looks over the large, barren park before noticing that I am not responding to her words and turns to look at me.

Arturia might only be able to feel the potent negative energies due to being a Servant, but what I can feel compared to the blonde King of Knights is something wholly unique to me as an incarnated [Avenger]-Class Servant.

As an [Avenger]-Class Servant I can empower myself in various ways through the incorporation of grudges and negative emotions which helps sustain my own mana reserves, even if my own [Self-Replenishment (Mana)] skill wasn't already ensuring I could safely maintain my own power while providing for Serenity thanks to it being at Rank A+.

But standing here at the Fuyuki Central Park right here and now, I can feel just how much Mana trying to incorporate all these residual grudges directly would garner me and have to actively resist the urge to do just that because if I tried that now I risk being overloaded with mana due to the sheer potency of the grudges found here.

Truth be told, I don't want to find out what being overloaded with mana made from grudges born from the soil that was tainted by the grail mud would do to me, assuming that I don't kill myself in the process of directly infusing myself, still the passive draw that I'm getting should be more than enough for the time being.

Might have to keep this location in mind just in case I ever need a massive burst of mana as well as a way to avoid the potential downsides of incorporating so many potent grudges in a short amount of time, not to mention it would be a good place to accelerate the replenishment of my mana reserves after a fight.

It is then that I am shaken out of my thoughts by Arturia who looks rather worried at how zoned out I looked just now, making me shake my head to push away such thoughts to the back of my mind for now as I turn back to the blonde [Saber]-Class Servant.

"S-sorry, this is admittedly my first time being so close to such potent residual grudges," I say which makes Arturia look at me weirdly before shaking her head and glancing around at the empty park before walking onto ash-grey grass and beginning to explore the park, prompting me to sigh and follow her.

Arturia continued walking forward with a somber expression on her face as she looked around her, feeling a wave of guilt over her brief resentment of Kiritsugu Emiya back when she believed he had betrayed her, the more she looked around the more she cursed past self for not seeing the signs earlier.

I could tell her thoughts were slowly starting to spiral into a torrent of self-recrimination prompting me to reach out my hand to her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks, and force her to turn and face me because the point of bringing her here was to clear up any doubts, not add to her self-doubt for crying out loud.

"Look [Saber], whatever happened in the past has happened, there is no changing the past no matter how much one may wish for it, but what we can do is strive to not be like total imbéciles (Fools) we were in the past, got it?" I say to Arturia who looks startled at my words before turning away, her thoughts turning to her intended wish as part of her wishes to deny what 'unintentionally' said regarding her unspoken wish.

Honestly, this might be the closest I can even get to speaking about that wish without Arturia herself bringing it up, not to mention I can lambast her about that wish when she finally opens up about it, and preferably not when we're out in the open like this.

Arturia soon turns to look back at me and gives a conflicted yet slow nod to what I have just said to her, prompting me to sigh and release my grasp on her while pinching the bridge under my nose in frustration, knowing that I will have my hands full with not just one woman with a martyr-complex but two before this damn grail war finally ends.

"Master, I have found what looks to be a woman who is on the ground nearby missing one arm and looking close to dying soon if nothing is done, what are your orders?" Serenity suddenly reports out of nowhere as my current train of thought screens to a halt, my yellow eyes widen as vague memories from my past life regarding a woman who would have been [Lancer]'s master pop into my head.

Shit, I have forgotten all about her until now!

"[Saber] I need you to trust me and come with me, the life of a potential ally is at stake and I need to go help them now!" I say before rushing off further into the park with Arturia soon trailing behind me as I have Serenity give me directions toward where the dying woman is, hoping I'm not too late to save her because if it IS who I think it is, then I might have to use my Shroud of Power on her fast.

You see whoever I was before I became Jeanne d'Arc Alter had a very vague plan regarding a certain Irish former master of [Lancer] that heavily depended on if I ended up early enough before the canonical start of the war, one that was so vague that they never really bothered to check when exactly they'd die.

Admittedly I could be very wrong about the woman's identity and just by sheer chance, she is just some bystander in Fuyuki but I'm banking on the possibility that I am right about who the woman without an arm is, hence why I'm rushing to where Serenity says she is as fast as I can.

As I rapidly get closer to the location indicated by Serenity, I begin to smell the faint scent of blood and before long I stop myself right as I approach a small clearing, soon walking slowly into the hidden away clearing as I spotted her…

Short Magenta hair and wearing a slightly torn two-piece business suit while a pool of blood could be seen from where her left arm should have been, her face fairly pale and her breathing labored as she stemmed the bleeding from the spot where her entire left arm used to be with her right hand and some parts of her business suit to create a makeshift bandage.

Once I entered the clearing proper she turned her head to look directly into my eyes, her red eyes lighting up with but the faintest amount of hope as even someone like me could tell that if someone didn't help her, she would die today right here in this barren park within a hidden clearing.

"Miss Jeanne, shouldn't have run off so–" Arturia says before her eyes widen at the sight of none other than one Bazett Fraga McRemitz, even though she doesn't exactly know who that is, looking deathly pale and missing an arm, the magenta-haired woman looking slightly surprised by Arturia showing up that's probably more that she might be able to tell her nature as a servant.

Either way, I walked over to Bazzet with a grimace as I weighed my options carefully as to what to do regarding the admittedly tenacious woman trying her best to cling to life despite how unlikely that is with an arm missing.

Yet despite all of that, fortune seemed to have smiled on her as it's today of all days that I came to the Fuyuki Central Park and ended up stumbling upon her dying body thanks to the scouting efforts of Serenity, with a certain shroud that could restore her back to full health assuming she agrees to a certain condition.

Luck of the Irish indeed…

"[Saber], I ask that you stand guard just in case her assailant was another servant while I help her as best as I can," I say to Arturia, catching both the blonde King of Knights and Bazzet off-guard for various reasons, for Arturia it's mostly the fact I 'believe' it was an enemy servant that did this, for Bazzet it's just the fact that she ran into what she believes is another master in the Holy Grail War.

"W-who…a-are…?" Bazzet tries to ask, as I hold up a finger against my lips as a gesture of silence from the magenta-haired woman, Arturia reluctantly agrees to the order I gave her and stands to watch over the entrance to the clearing as I move over to the Irishwoman, slowly but surely manifesting my Shroud of Power from my clothes as I knelt down to her.

"I have an offer I wish to make of you Bazzet, an offer that should you agree to it you shall live to see another day and be in the company of allies who can help you," I say as quietly as possible while the Shroud of Power has fully manifested, her red eyes widening as she watches it begin to surround her.

"This is best described as a sort of mystic code, that can integrate you into what I can best describe as my family and before you even get any ideas, this is completely unrelated to dead apostles or anything of that nature," I say with the latter half added swiftly as to not concern her about that as, unlike Shirou, the Irishwoman has at least some understanding of the moonlit world meaning I do have to make sure to clarify this sort of thing.

"But to do this instantaneously I require your consent to integrate you through my Shroud and considering your current pale complexion, you don't exactly have any better options," I say while my yellow eyes glance at the exposed socket where Bazzet's left arm used to be.

"W-why save me?" Bazzet asks after a period of silence, with me noticing Arturia turn her head slightly to hear my response, likely wanting to learn more about who I am as a person which prompts me to sigh and chuckle before giving the magenta-haired woman a dark grin as I think of a certain priest that I burnt to a crisp back in the Orleans Singularity, my eyes alight with the hatred I felt and still feel about that man to this day.

"Because between you and me, I know how it feels to be fucked over by a bastard of a priest and you at least deserve a chance to get even~," I say as I can tell Arturia is frowning at my words, likely wondering what I'm talking about and as for Bazzet, her expression is that of surprise before she schools her features and gives a shaky, weak nod.

"V-very well then, do it," Bazzet says as deep down she wants to not just deal with one Kirei Kotomine, but also regain the allegiance of [Lancer] should the opportunity arise and she can't exactly do that if she dies today.

With that one single sentence of consent, there is a feeling of satisfaction that ripples through me as I immediately have my Shroud of Power wrap around her within seconds, covering every inch of her body as almost instantaneously I could feel a new bond establish itself with me and Bazzet.

As I pull my shroud back into myself, a shroud has formed over her own body which quickly integrates into a now fully repaired two-piece bodysuit as her physical state has been completely restored thanks to [Body Tune-Up] with her left arm once more back on her body, albeit with no Command Seals in sight.

Bazzet soon looks at her left arm with wide eyes, having not expected it to be restored in such a manner that it looks as if she never lost it in the first place with Arturia nearby having turned her head around in pure shock at the full regeneration of Bazzet's missing arm, the blond's mind turning to recall a certain missing sheathe and she begins to wonder where Kiritsugu left it as he couldn't have simply lost Avalon after the Fourth Holy Grail War…

"Let's head back home [Saber], Bazzet here will want a chance to rest after essentially regaining her arm in the manner that she has," I say as I hold out my left hand to the Magenta-haired woman, who soon reaches out with her own and pulls herself up, still trying to process the fact she has her entire left arm again.

Arturia looked over to me, then to Bazzet before nodding as the three of us quickly left Fuyuki Central Park while trying to remain as casual as possible, with the blonde King of Knights often looking at me with a frown as we walked away from the park.

It's clear to Arturia that the more she interacts with me, the more begins to suspect that I know a lot more than I appear to do, with the interaction with Bazzet being the most recent example of how unusually knowledgeable I am regarding both the previous Grail War and key details about this particular war, with the situation with Bazzet only serving to highlight this.

For now, at least she will trust her master's judgment regarding me as an ally and my claim regarding the corruption of the Holy Grail, but she will seek to confront me on how I am so aware of things that are going on in the Holy Grail War sooner or later…

Emiya Residence, Fuyuki City - Half an Hour Later

(Bazett Fraga McRemitz's P.O.V)

"Let me get this straight here before we go any further, you who had saved me from certain death is some sort of incarnated servant who is also the Master of [Assassin]" I say as I try to comprehend what I just ended up becoming a part of, with 'Jeanne' nodding her head with an amused grin at how I'm struggling to understand the situation.

"You also just so happened to be allied to the Master of [Saber] whose house we're staying at presently, who also happens to be the sole survivor of a fire created as a result of what happened in the previous grail war," I say to continue trying to wrap my head around what I've just been told, with 'Jeanne' once again giving a wordless nod with that same amused grin.

"And to top ALL of this off, the Holy Grail itself is so badly corrupted that any wish made on it would just destroy the entire world, did I understand the situation correctly Miss 'Jeanne'?" I ask to end the deconstruction of what I was just informed of by the pale-blonde woman, who smirks and gives a confirming nod once again.

"That's right and the best part is, almost no normal magus would ever be quick to believe us because, why would they right?" 'Jeanne' asks rhetorically with a sardonic grin on her face, prompting me to sigh as I pinch the bridge of my nose to try and stifle the headache I have regarding this whole nightmare of a situation.

To think not even several hours earlier I was arriving in Japan with hopes of winning the Grail War with [Lancer] at my side like I always wanted to, invited by my so-called friend Kirei Kotomine himself and positively filled with so much excitement at the idea that he asked for me to join, like a naive little girl.

Then within the span of those same several hours, not only did I get my left arm ripped off by Kirei and have my Command Seals stolen by the bastard after being led to a hidden clearing in that park without my servant, but was left there to bleed out.

I would have likely died if not for 'Jeanne' showing up with [Saber] and [Assassin], the latter of which guided the woman to whom I now essentially belong in every way possible and offered me a sort of deal that wouldn't look out of place coming from a dead apostle or something with a similar nature to such beings.

The reason I took the deal, in the end, is due to the genuine hatred I saw on her face regarding what she said about having been fucked over by a priest before although I have to wonder how she knew of my situation, I'm not about to worry about how she knew right now as I'm wondering just how the hell did the clocktower not pick up on any of this beforehand.

As a Sealing Designation Enforcer, I know that if this situation occurred closer to the clocktower it would have been picked up and torn apart before it could get so bad, and yet despite that I already know why the clocktower has not even noticed the potential disaster that could unfold.

Despite the Holy Grail system here in Fuyuki, Asia as a whole is considered a mere backwater region to the nobility back in the Clocktower so the various factions that vie for dominance in the political landscape within the Clocktower are simply uninterested in whatever is happening in this region of the world.

"What of the Second Owner, what's their word on all of this?" I decide to ask, hoping that 'Jeanne' is at least in contact with them so that we can at least coordinate things with them, although the immediate reaction to that question I get from the white-blonde-haired woman isn't exactly one I had hoped to get.

"We currently have absolutely no contact with her, mostly because we suspect that either she is already a master involved in the war or will be selected as one soon enough due to her lineage" 'Jeanne' says with a shrug of her shoulders, the admission only serving to compound not just my headache but also my concerns surrounding this entire situation.

I do at least note that 'Jeanne' is almost certainly aware of her identity at the very least if nothing else…

"That does admittedly greatly complicate things as the Second Owner's word on the situation would give credence towards making a case to the Magus Association regarding the situation here in Fuyuki," I say as I am still trying desperately to figure out what exactly we can do regarding the situation, briefly considering reporting Kirei to the Burial Agency for breaking his neutrality by attacking a master in the Holy Grail war.

But I hesitantly dismiss that idea mainly because even if I misjudged Kirei before, I at least know that he wouldn't so brazenly kill a Master out in the open unless he had something in his corner to ensure that any potential retaliation from the Church would be put down easily.

Perhaps in hindsight, it was a good thing I didn't bring the container holding [Fragarach] with me to the meeting with Kirei and had it stashed away securely so none of the mundane could find it, otherwise the bastard would have taken it with him even if he couldn't use it.

The problem is [Lancer] also knows where it is, so I can only hope he didn't end up being forced to reveal its location to Kirei through a command spell as it would take some time either retrieving or simply making another lead ball focus for it which would take a month to make just a single one of them.

"Hey look at the bright side, at least you're alive and able to even do anything about this shitstorm of a scenario~!" 'Jeanne' says with an almost mocking grin, as if finding some sort of twisted amusement in my frustration over the entire situation. However, it is abundantly clear she understands how bad things are here in Fuyuki, even if it doesn't look like it from the outside looking in, and is at least trying to do something about it.

Despite that I can't shake the feeling that she is a lot more aware of the situation than she makes herself appear to be as no normal person, servant or not, would rush to pose a life-saving deal to some random armless woman who just happens to be the dying former Master of [Lancer] which means she has some manner of foresight or at least knows someone who does.

As I am about to try and ask 'Jeanne' about how she even knew about my situation enough to offer a deal as she did, we both hear two people enter the house, both of them being perhaps teenage girls if what I can tell is correct which catches the attention of 'Jeanne' as she frowns and goes to check who has come alongside the owner of the house to the home.

"...Shirou, if you were a servant I would fucking classify your luck as F" 'Jeanne' says with the driest, most annoyed tone that I've heard from her so far which now has my own curiosity is now piqued as to who she's talking to as I peak out of the room and see two young women had just arrived.

The first is a young woman with red hair and amber eyes, who looks sheepish at what 'Jeanne' said to her just now as she looks away in embarrassment, [Saber] watching the newcomer carefully with her green eyes staring at the second young woman who has come over.

The second young woman has long dark-brown hair tied up in a twin-tails style of fashion, her poise reminding me of a typical young magus from back at the clocktower although she doesn't have the same pomp in my eyes.

"Good Evening you two, My name is Tohsaka Rin and I am the Second Owner here in Fuyuki, I'm here to inquire as to why not just one, not just two, but three magus have not made their presence known to me as per Clocktower Protocol," Tohsaka says with a downright saccharine smile on her face, prompting both myself and 'Jeanne' to sigh as we know convincing this young woman of the situation is going to be a nightmare somehow.

At least now we won't have to try and establish contact with her ourselves, even though it is extremely reckless of a young magus such as herself to be so brazen as to step into the home of at least one confirmed master like this and put herself at risk of potential harm although I don't feel like criticizing her too harshly due to how young she appears.

Instead, I feel the need to find out who exactly taught her how to be a Magus, as whoever they are, they are a terrible teacher…

Author's Notes

SUPRISE~!

I feel like this is becoming a running theme now, with any month I do Fate Saint Alter, I end up cranking out two chapters in the month rather than one like I normally do with stories, we'll see if it does end up like that.

Anyway, here we are at Chapter 5 with Bazett Fraga McRemitz now being a part of Jalter's retinue and actually on track to actually be involved in the Holy Grail War this time around, even if that does mean Hollow Ataraxia doesn't happen in this timeline at any point.

Now then, three plot points to discuss this time so let's get started with…

Trip to Fuyuki Central Park and Bazzet Binding

If I had to be honest with myself at this moment, I would like to believe that it is here that the story finally has its first major shift in the timeline mostly due to Bazzet's survival compared to all the other timelines regarding the Fuyuki Grail War.

It is also while Jalter is here at the park that she is able to much more personally understand to some degree what she's up against, while also pointing out how the park is perfect for an Avenger like herself if she needs extra mana in a pinch.

Not to mention that Jalter is starting to tip her hand on how much she knows perhaps a bit too much, to the point that Arturia is starting to notice something unusual about Jeanne, even more so than before, which will come up in the future at some point.

Bazzet's Perspective and Rin's proper inclusion into the story

This time around I wanted to try something a little different to keep things interesting, with that being shifting the perspective of the story to one who has not only just been bound, but clued-in on what the hell is going on Fuyuki, at least what Jalter has already freely shared so far.

Getting the perspective of someone who is not exactly from Fuyuki being made aware of how utterly fucked-up the situation is was admittedly a challenge but one I am eager to see if the effort has paid off your eyes dear readers!

As for the little cliffhanger of Rin being finally allowed to take center stage, I'll leave the events of the next chapter to speak for themselves rather than try to talk about this I haven't even started writing yet.

But what I can say is that Shirou Emiya, like always, has notoriously bad luck no matter what gender they are or whether they're human or servant…

The lack of Jalter and Arturia sparring

Originally I was going to have Bazzet pass out after being bound and allow her to rest, putting off briefing her on the situation until later but considering that she is a rather tough woman to begin with, I decided to shift that event to later down the line.

Don't worry I do intend to have these two fight each other at some point in the near future, just not sure WHEN exactly I plan on having it happen.

Now then I'll stop here before this Author's Note gets too long, so with that…

Next time on Fate Saint Alter: Talks with Rin, Planning ahead, and an unexpected encounter.

See you all Next month for real this time!