Saber Wars: IX

If there was one thought that was going through the mind of Heroine X, it would be how this situation was starting to wear away at her.

It had nothing to do with all the Servants that had been showing up, that was actually the only normal thing that had really happened to her. No, instead it related to one of the main reasons she had actually stayed in the first place.

Lily.

Saber's were the enemy.

It was something that she had to chant in her head over and over again whenever the small girl turned towards her or smiled or thanked her for doing something.

Heroine X remembered her mission - less of a mission and more of a hobby - and what was at stake if she couldn't see this through until the end. Yet she had found herself cowed when faced with actual Saber Servants twice now. One just completely walked off before she could do anything, they were probably still alive.

The other had been recruited by the Master in her group and then returned to their headquarters a few minutes ago on account of something to do with the mana cost of having so many Servants.

She didn't understand what they were talking about when they spoke of 'mana costs' but it seemed as though this world and time wasn't quite advanced enough to have the same sort of Servant population as existed back in her universe. She supposed that was sort of expected, just another piece of evidence for how primitive this time was.

The Saber Servants was gone and, for the time being, beyond her reach.

She did nothing.

Not a single thing as she watched them get carried away.

She should have done something, she should have stopped them or fought them to the death or something. Not even the harsh words of the 'Avenger' should have really stopped her, she would have been fast enough to drive her sword into the back of the Saber and kill them.

They weren't even worried about her.

Yet she didn't…why didn't she?

…Because for a split second, she had imagined the sort of disappointed face Lily would have made if she had done something like that.

Why should that have mattered?

Lily was a Saber, perhaps she was just nothing but a novice - a distraction, even - so there was no reason for her to have been so caught up with the thoughts of a simple Saber. Really, the only reason she had stuck around as long as this was because her pride had been wrangled a little by that jumped up Caster who claimed she could train a Saber better than her.

Obviously, she could not let that go.

So really, all this was basically nothing more than her just making sure the Saber Class was well respected, nothing more than that.

Yes, that is exactly what it was.

Lily was just a tool for that.

"What are you doing with your face?"

She paused at the rather sudden question, then turned her head and found the Master - whose name she couldn't remember - staring at her with a touch of bemusement, blue eyes shone with trace amounts of concern.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're scowling." Came the simple reply, then the boy inclined his head towards her. "And you're glaring into space."

She was?

Tch, she needed to keep a better handle on her emotions.

"Just annoyed about all the Saber Servants."

Silence from the boy, then he hummed and nodded his head up and down without saying anything.

Yet there was something that twitched away at her, so she pressed down on that urge and spoke up. "You don't approve of my mission, do you?"

"Not in the least." The Master didn't even hesitate to respond. "I think it is both insane and needlessly brutal. Not the sort of thing I can approve of in the least, running around and killing Saber Servants for the crime of being Saber Servants sounds utterly absurd, you're just punishing them for being talented with a Sword."

Heroine X bristled at that.

The problem wasn't to do with that, if that was the issue then the Saber Class would be utterly fine.

But the problem was there were so many made into Saber's who knew nothing about a sword in the least, who believed that just swinging around a stick suddenly made them a swordsman and that threw the entire class into complete chaos. Not to mention the effect it had on all the other Classes as well.

"But I can't deny you're passionate about it." The boy continued on, drawing her eyes back to him and furrowing he brows at his words. He shrugged his shoulders. "I can't approve of it, but I can at least say your committed…and there must be a reason for it, maybe not one that I can understand at all…but I won't ignore all the good you've done."

"The good I've done?" She muttered back, then shook her head. "I've let two Saber's escape-"

A sigh cut her short. "I meant helping with Lily. I know she appreciates it and…Well, I'm glad she is getting some help with her work. Though I'm sort of grateful to Gwynevere for the same reason, but I'm not comfortable in praising her to her face."

That last part came out as a quiet mutter, but she heard it all the same.

"You clearly hate Saber's, but you took the time out to help Lily out with her training when you didn't have to…so whatever else happens in regards to your sort of insane crusade against a group of sword wielders…I am grateful for that. Really."

Heroine X fidgeted on the spot, then turned her eyes away from the boy and scowled. "I'm just making sure she doesn't embarrass the Saber Class. If she is still one of those fake Saber's without any talent, then I'm definitely going to get rid of her."

The sensation of being stared at burned at the side of her head. "Even after Lily has gone through all this trouble to help fix your ship?"

Her body tightened at the words, but she said nothing, instead she felt her scowl deepen even further, brows furrow and eyes dance from side to side.

Yes, Lily knew what she was all about.

Heroine X made no sign to hide it and yet Lily - A Saber - had offered to help her all the same.

What was she supposed to say in response to something like that? What could she even say in regards to something like that?

Nothing.

She could say nothing.

She could refute it and just say that Lily was too kind and naive, it felt like the most logical answer but it did not strike her as the whole truth either. Really, for the life of her, she could not understand why Lily was so set on helping her, it could not be for the simple reasons that the girl had laid out.

That would be…

"...She is still a Saber." Her words came out cold and brittle, turning her head towards the boy and narrowing her eyes at him. "When the time comes, if she becomes a target, then I shall not hesitate to put her down. That is how it works, she is a Saber and I am the Saber who hunts other Saber's."

The boy watched her, then shrugged. "Then we'll be there to help her, simple as. Though I really don't think it will come to that sort of thing."

Heroine X opened her mouth, then snapped it closed again and sharply turned from the sight of the boy, growling in the back of her throat and folding her arms once more, doing so even tightened and dropping her head down so her eyes were covered by the shadow of her cap.

There was no doubt in her mind that crashing her ship was leading to one of the most complicated things in her life.

This was so much easier when she could just see a Saber and then kill a Saber.

"So what do you normally do aside from hunting Saber's, anyway?"

Heroine X blinked twice, then turned to him and raised her brows, unsure for a moment whether or not she had heard the question correctly. He waited with an expectant expression before he saw fit to elaborate.

"Sorry, it's just that I've realised we don't actually know that much about one another beyond stuff to do with Servants and Saber's." He explained, waving his hand and smiling. "I…Well, I'm curious as to what else you do, given you're from the future and all that. What sort of things actually happen in the future when you're not fighting Servants?"

What did she do when she wasn't fighting Sabers?

…Why was nothing coming to mind?

She felt the stare linger and her face slowly started to heat up as the dark haired boy remained with that patient expression. Perhaps the worst fact of it was that there wasn't even an ounce of judgement on his face, he was just content with waiting.

"H-hang on a second! Just give me a moment to think, you just asked so suddenly!"

The boy just hummed and nodded his head up and down, smiling at her as if nothing was the matter.

…It made her feel even more put on the spot.

"Stop looking at me like that, you're making me forget everything!"

The boy - Ritsuka - just shot her a puzzled blink as though he didn't realise what he was doing, then inclined his head to one side and continued to stare at her. Then he started to laugh, by that point her cheeks felt as though they were on fire, grabbing her scarf and yanking it upwards to cover the lower half of her face while she glared at him.

Unfortunately, Ritsuka seemed immune to the power of her Saber-patented intimidation glare.

It was only Rank D, so that wasn't a big blow.

Ritsuka waved his hand from side to side as the chuckle started to die down, "Sorry, that probably put you on the spot a bit. That was my bad, I'll start off…"

Then he went quiet, the smile slowly tapered away into a frown as his brows sunk down, mouth still parted and expression frozen. For several seconds he remained that way, then he blinked and his expression turned blank.

"Actually yeah, trying to think of something on the spot is a little hard, isn't it?"

Heroine X snorted, then shot him a triumphant grin. "What's the matter? Weren't you going to think of something, hmmmmm~"

With a dry look aimed at her, he rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Laugh it up…Mecha."

She blinked at the words. "Huh?"

"Mecha. I pretty much love everything to do with mecha and or giant robots." Ritsuka replied, bringing up a hand and gesturing with it. "If it has giant robots, I'm there. Giant monsters as well, but I am more of a robot guy to be honest. Like, there is this Servant back at Chaldea called Tametomo - you might have seen him, the big dude in white armour - and I will not lie…he is probably one of the coolest looking Servants."

She blinked once again. "...What class is he?"

"...Archer."

Well, he wasn't a Saber.

The good news was that at least he wasn't one of those fake or terrible Saber's, so it was a sort of grey area at least.

"What else is there…" Ritsuka scratched the underside of his chin for a moment, then hummed. "Big sucker for romance stories as well, sometimes I play matchmaker but I have also been called nosy as well…one time I had the nickname of cupid because people asked me to hand around the valentines day cards that they were nervous about handing out themselves. So that was sort of fun as well."

Heroine X…wasn't expecting that. "You just handed out valentines day cards? Wouldn't people suspect they were from you instead?"

Ritsuka paused, then turned to her. "Weirdly enough, that never came up. Which…should I feel weird about that? You'd have thought at least one person would have suspected I was just acting like I was doing someone a favour. Like one of those 'asking for a friend' things but…uhm…no, never came up. Weird, huh? Must have just had one of those faces, I guess."

To be honest, she wasn't all that sure what he was supposed to do in response to that either. She had never really had that problem before.

But him talking about romance had given her an idea.

"Sci-fi…" She paused, then frowned. "Well, you'd call them sci-fi. But they aren't really because it's all pretty much in the future. We don't get much more sciency than that in the Servant-verse, so I guess you'd just call them action movies. Those are always pretty good, I guess the B-movies are my favourites."

Ritsuka chuckled. "The so bad they're good? The sort of crazy dialogue and nonsense plots with the acting that ranges from bad to hilarious? Along with the plot-beats that end up being so predictable you'd have thought you were born with the ability to see the future."

She sniffled a bit, then nodded her head up and down, dropping her scarf. "Yeah, you do get it. Especially when they have those classic sword fights at the end. It kind of sucks that both guys don't die because they obviously aren't Sabers but…well, there was this one film where the bad guy was a Lancer, which is actually pretty rare."

An expectant brow.

Heroine X elaborated. "Usually Lancers are the henchmen, because of class advantages and all that, they just get wiped out by the Saber protagonist or something, but the film was odd because it was an Assassin who was the main character. It was 'Exit of the Reptile' or something like that."

For whatever reason, Ritsuka wheezed out and quickly covered his hand with his mouth. "S-seriously? Exit of the Reptile? G-good lord…"

Her posture loosened a bit, the smile formed on her face as they spoke.

This…wasn't so bad.

Heroine X jerked when they suddenly stopped, her eyes turned to the front and realised that everyone else had stopped walking as well.

"What's the hold up?" Ritsuka spoke up first, losing his smile and hardening his face, immediately switching into a more tense stance.

…He sort of looked a little cool as well.

The voice of the 'Avenger' called back towards them.

"Found something in the grass, I'm going to examine it now."

She stepped to the side, followed by Ritsuka, and allowed herself the chance to watch the blonde approach whatever it was they had found. Her eyes narrowed as she caught sight of the item lying in the grass a good few metres ahead of them. Though, for the life of her, she could not make sense of it.

"The heck is that?" Ritsuka muttered, squinting by her side.

"It's a…Saber monument?" She explained, though still couldn't quite believe it. The silence that followed encouraged her to explain. "Sabers use them to rank up their powers. You go from the silver monuments to the gold ones. The guys who get to the gold ones are the guys who have earned their max rank as a Saber…though it's the same as every other Servant, to be honest…but…"

But why would one be out here and just laying there in the open?

That didn't make sense.

And why did this situation feel so familiar to her?

"So it's a power up then." Ritsuka spoke in the background, her mind still whirling to make sense of everything. "Guess it must have fallen out of your ship when it-"

Ritsuka continued to speak, but she was no longer focused on that.

Heroine X raked her brain as she narrowed down why this felt so familiar.

Her mind stalled.

It all came flooding back to her the second she watched Ash lean down and take the monument into his hands.

"Don't touch-!"

A second too late.

She was a split second too late.

He touched it and pulled.

Then vanished in a flash of light as an explosion rippled out from right beneath his feet, vanishing in the torrent of fire and earth. Heroine X watched the world burst up around her, the ground pulled apart as the shockwaves tore their way towards the group, few others were even able to react to the speeds at which they explosion travelled towards them.

She stepped to the side and swung an arm out, acting purely on instinct as she tackled Ritsuka and pulled him down to the ground, sweeping her body over him as a flash of blue light surged up from in front of them, a wall of azure spread across as the surge of heat and dust rushed right past them.

Heroine X grit her teeth as her mind ran in circles to make sense of it.

Those were her tactics.

But she hadn't set up any Anti-Saber traps, so then how had they just fallen for one of her traps?

It didn't make sense in the least.

How could they have-!?

Her hairs stood on end, instincts blared through her skull and she whipped around, gold formed in her hand as Secret-calibur forged itself into the world, swinging it up and clashing against the falling blade that would have otherwise have taken her head off at her shoulders.

Gritting her teeth, she pushed back and then froze.

Her own face stared back at her, but not just that, her entire outfit was copied right down to the scarf, the only difference being this one was bleached white.

"Wha-ooof!?" A leather boot buried itself into her gut, she fell backwards with a wheeze and dropped her left hand to clutch at her chest, the breath escaped her before her eyes shot wide. The single slip allowed her mirror to close the distance with their sword coiled back for a thrust, already the blade sang through the air towards her chest-

"Ha!"

Only to be parried away by the blue and golden sword of Lily, the white dressed girl continued onwards with another slash down, the follow up was blocked, yet the girl pressed the attack and swung once more.

"Tch." Clicking her tongue, the attacker stepped back and retreated to avoid the blow, sliding to a halt and raising her head up, glaring at Lily for a moment before her eyes fell towards Heroine X herself.

Lily jolted as she seemingly saw the attacker for the first time. "What the-? Miss X? What is-who is-that person-!"

Heroine X said nothing, instead she stared with wide eyes at the copy of herself.

This went beyond being a Saber face, everything about them, right down to the spirit origin, they were virtually identical to her.

"Who…?" Her arm trembled, Heroine X slowly rose up and stepped backwards, watching the attacker in complete shock. "Who are…?"

"Hmph. So being here has made you slow and stupid, Heroine X?" Spat the white dressed girl, then her glare turned onto Lily. "But I should have expected suck weakness from one who consorts with Saber Servants. One who allows themselves to fall victim to sentiment and ignore the mission set out before them. What an utter failure you are, Heroine X."

Bringing up their own sword, the copy thrust the golden blade in her direction.

"You should have just let me cut off your head, you hack, it would have been better for all of us."

Coughs from underneath her, Ritsuka pushed himself to his feet and turned a scowl towards the white copy before he blinked twice and stepped backwards, a look of surprise as his eyes darted between herself and the copy several times before he returned his gaze to the stationary attacker.

"What the heck is this supposed to be?" Ritsuka all but demanded, then he blinked before he looked at her once more. "Wait, you were being serious with that Saber-face thing? What the heck? No wonder you're complaining about them. This is just freaky."

She couldn't answer.

A scoff from the copy, squaring her shoulder. "Saber-Face? You act as if I am no more than some cheap imitation? What foolery. I am no mere fake, I am Ultra Heroine Z!"

It was accompanied by the girl thumping a fist into her heart.

Then silence descended.

"...You're who now?"

Heroine Z blinked, then frowned at the speaker - Ritsuka - before she stomped her foot. "Mysterious Heroine X failed in her duty to wipe out the Sabers, or rather, she should have succeeded. But in doing so, she would become the greatest Saber, thus it is only natural that someone would be sent to ensure she was killed as a result of being a Saber!"

"Is this that parad-"

"Yes." Came the exasperated reply of the white haired woman from somewhere behind her. "But that shouldn't have come into effect. None of the Servants we have battled have been killed and only two of them have been Sabers. How then could the paradox have come into effect without the Sabers present to be killed?"

"...I don't know." Heroine Z just shrugged her shoulders, the earlier look of coldness gave way to indifference. "Really, I don't actually know what is going on anymore. I stopped thinking stuff went as normal when I saw the Goddess and the other Servants…actually, what the heck is with this line-up? Aren't you too well stacked for a training team?"

Ritsuka made a noise and shrugged. "Ehh…not really."

He glanced over his shoulder, past her and towards the pillar of smoke where Ash had been, his face hardened in a second as his head whipped back towards them, he straightened his posture and took a half step forwards. "So it's a fight to kill us then, is it? Hoping to catch us all with that sneak attack."

"Naturally." Heroine Z responded with absolute confidence, brandishing secret-calibur once more. "But since that only killed one of you, I shall be forced to deal with the rest of you myself. But it could hardly be called a challenge…Especially since Heroine X is content to allow a Saber to live. Truly, her softness surpasses even the greatest of marshmallows!"

She flinched at the words, there was no denying them.

No, that wasn't the case.

Heroine X narrowed her eyes and pointed to herself. "Softness? You lie! I'm still as tough as-"

"Tough?" Heroine Z spat with disgust. "Then why does Lily draw breath? Your role is to end the existence of all Sabers, yet you take it upon yourself to start training one? Not just that, but you allow the defeated Sabers to live and retreat? You are without shame! No, you are unworthy to call yourself a Heroine!"

She recoiled from the words as if they physically struck her.

"I cannot accept those words!"

Lily's voice rose beyond what she had heard before.

The girl thrust Caliburn forth like an arrow and pointed it squarely towards Heroine Z, though she could not see the face of the younger blonde, she did not doubt it wore that of a scowl.

"To call Miss X weak? No, I reject your claims completely! It is you who is weak, Z!"

Both Heroine's wore a look of surprise.

"To talk down to another's dream, to spew insults at them? That is the easy path to take! But to work and aid them, to train them despite knowing how it will end? That takes strength of heart you will not possess."

Caliburn was thrust into the ground, Lily placed both hands atop the pommel and continued onwards.

"I announced myself to be a Saber. I placed my trust in the capabilities of both Queen Gwynevere and Miss X. They argued with one another, they spent most of their time trying to one up each other, but I could sense their earnest desire to see me improve in my work. Not just me, but everyone else who fought with me as well."

Lily brought a hand up, then turned side on and swept it over all of them.

"Miss X came to us as an enemy, that is true, but even if we cross blades, I shall never consider her an enemy. For Miss X, who without any true reason, took it upon herself to train me when she could have done nothing - even if it was for the pride of a Saber - it was clear through her words that she held nothing back. She wished only for the best of my skill to be brought forth. That is her pride and that is who she is."

Caliburn was pulled from the ground, Lily swept it to the side and cast off a layer of dust from the ground with the swing.

"If you look upon those actions and see only weakness, then there is no doubt in my mind…that you do not deserve to be called a Heroine. There is nothing ultra about you, Z"

Pointing a hand, Lily shouted out as loud as she could.

"You're not Ultra! You're cringe!"

Heroine Z stumbled backwards with a gasp, looking at them with wide eyes as if she could not believe what she had heard.

Someone snorted, it might have been Ritsuka.

Then Marie cheered from the side "Yeah! You tell her Lily!"

Lily gave a single nod of the head, then leaned to the side and whispered. "What does cringe mean, Queen Marie? You said it was something for bad people…"

Heroine X stared at the back of Lily's head for a few moments, her lip quivered ever so slightly as she beheld the small girl. Then felt a sniffle escape her, picking her scarf up and wiping away at her eyes to dash away the tears. She wasn't going to cry over something like this…even if she really wanted to.

A hand fell on her shoulder, her head gave a sharp turn as Ritsuka patted her twice then strode past her, moving to stand beside Lily, folding his arms.

"You've received your answer, Cringe Z." Ritsuka spoke without even a hint of wavering in his voice. "If you want to get to Heroine X…You'll have to face a true Saber first."

He dropped his hand onto the shoulder of Lily in support, patting it and with a smile clear in his voice.

"And for someone like you…that's impossible."

"You're absolutely right, Ritsuka!"

"Yes, Senpai!"

"Hmph. She could hardly be said to be worthy of a training dummy."

Striding past her, one after another, came the Servants she had spent the last few hours travelling with. Her eyes danced between all of them, unable to contain her surprise as she stared at them. Then her eyes turned to the back of Ritsuka and Lily, focusing more on the latter.

"But…I…" She sniffled, Lily turned around and stared at her with that same gentle smile. "But you're a-"

"Miss X." Lily cut her short with a soft voice. "No matter what happens, no matter what your objective might be…for the help you have given me in my training, for the work you put in to helping me…I shall be your ally."

Heroine X scrunched up her face.

It was all she could do to stop herself bursting into tears.

Another figure walked past her.

The white haired woman who was a clear doubter of her.

The two stared at one another.

Then the woman shrugged her shoulders and turned her head. "Ritsuka has made a choice, he takes responsibility for it…besides, whatever else, you have assisted Chaldea. I'm hardly going to let an asset like yourself be stolen away without some argument. I do have my pride, after all."

Heroine X just sniffled.

A growl came from in front of them, her eyes returned to Heroine Z.

"Tch. To think that it would come to something like this…But fine! I knew that I would definitely get beaten up if I fought you all as you are right now. It's actually a little intimidating how quick you all were to get weapons even after I blew up your comrade!"

"Oh, Ash?"

For whatever reason, Ritsuka started to chuckle.

"Yeah, it would take more than a bomb hidden under the ground to take him out. Whatever else I can say about him…Ash is pretty damn stubborn and a bit simple when it comes to fighting. I mean, the guy told us he literally ran at a dragon and punched it in the face once. You don't live like that without being able to take a few blows."

Sure enough, she heard a groan from behind her.

Whipping her head around, Heroine X watched in surprise as the blonde stalked out of the dark cloud, the only evidence of ever being caught in an explosion was the layer of dust over his armour and the ruffled hair he now held, but nothing more than that.

Ash rolled his shoulders, green eyes turned cold and swung in her direction.

Though she was not the recipient, she shuddered a little.

He reached backwards and grabbed something concealed in the smoke, then dragged it forwards and out into the open.

She stared, her features dropped as he swung about a lump of metal that was nearly twice his height and mounted it on his shoulder.

It was a sword…

But it was too big to be called a sword. Massive, thick, heavy and far too rough. Indeed, it was a heap of raw iron with a handle.

His left hand crackled, fire flowed across his fingers, dazzling and chaotic, shining like the rising sun and spreading up across his arm, coating his entire hand and venturing up his wrist. He continued to stride forwards without pause, giving no indication he reacted to any of them.

Heroine X turned back around and saw the confident look on Z start to evaporate.

"Uhh…hang on, I did prepare for this…just one second." Bringing up her right hand, Z brought two fingers up to her mouth and clasped them between her lips. Then she blew.

The noise was akin to a dry heave.

Z made a face as her cheeks burned a brilliant red, then wiped her hand along her hoodie. "H-hang on a second. I just need to get this right. One moment and-"

She put them in her mouth once more.

Then gave a loud whistle.

Heroine X tensed herself.

Something flared behind her, she turned around-

"The field of battle is set. The Warriors have come to test their mettle, and mettle shall be tested."

A voice, confident yet young.

"Let the gathered champions do battle for their skills, for their title and for their glory."

Power burst around her, the ground shimmered and she found herself taking a step backwards.

"Come one, come all! Let only the bravest step forth! Let the language of steel be sung loud and clear! Tournament of Undead!"

An explosion of force threw her backwards, a thin row of rocks burst from the ground and twisted around, curving to form a wall that stretched for at least a dozen metres across on either side. The smoke was cleared away in an instant, revealing a person stood behind Ash, wearing only a chainmail top and some sort of skeletal mask.

In one hand was a bronze shortsword, in the other was held a shield with the face of a lion engraved into the front.

She stepped forwards-

"Do not!"

Gwynevere's words stopped her a step short, she turned to the woman, who frowned at the scene.

"Space has been commanded, should you step forth, you will be accepted and cannot leave."

A bounded field?!

Ash looked around in a frown, then turned about and stared at the armed individual before he called back.

"This will not take long. Deal with Cringe Z-"

Ritsuka burst into a cackle for whatever reason.

"-and I shall join you shortly."

He did not wait for a response, instead he turned and marched towards the chainmail figure.

Heroine X narrowed her eyes and swung back to Z. "You work with a Saber?!"

Z stuck out her tongue. "Actually, he's a Caster! So it's alright!"

"What cheap reasoning! I hate that I'm using the same logic as well!" She stepped forth, both swords falling comfortably into her grip. "But all we need to do is just beat you up and send you on your way? Easy!"

For some reason, the smirk of Heroine Z immediately put her on edge.

"Bateren, bateren nomaku kandara, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg…"

"Wait, what did she just-!?" Olga barely got a word out before Z swung her arms wide and shouted.

"Saber Ninja Art: Three Wave Duplication!"

Light flashed around Heroine Z.

Then another Heroine Z stood there as well, smirking rather confidently.

Then another.

And another.

And another.

Heroine X felt herself falter a little as she watched the copies form without end to them, what was worse was that she couldn't tell which was the real and which was the fake. Not through her senses alone, the moment they started moving, she would lose track of which one was the genuine article.

"What the-!?" Ritsuka let out a strangled noise. "Ninja art? What the heck-!? Where did this come from? You're telling me you're some sort of paradox space ninja from the future!? That's insane!"

"Don't get mad because the tables have turned now." Z boasted loudly, spinning the twin swords in her hand while the copies did the exact same, each one wearing the same smirk on their faces. "This time, Heroine X, I shall purge away the filth from this galaxy - no, this universe - and bring about the proper way of things."

Heroine X narrowed her eyes and stepped forwards. "Bring it on!"

She said that, but she was a little bit nervous.

How come this person could do these sorts of things and she couldn't? She'd never even heard of this before in her life!

Ritsuka shifted his posture and looked ready to move, Lily looked ready to dart forwards-

The Goddess was the first to act, stepping forwards and raising a hand to hold the others back. Heroine X barely caught the expression on her face, but the polite smile she wore now held a rather ominous note to it.

She held them back.

They could rush, they could fight whomever this was, but Gwynevere erd on the side of caution.

Soul splitting magic was something she was accustomed to, she understood the concept and had seen it practised many times.

That was why she was unsurprised at it's use here to even the numbers.

But that was not why she stopped them from intervening.

Lily was not yet ready. Nor, for that matter, was Mash. She had taken stock of the opponent long before this. Provided their capabilities remained on par with Heroine X, there was no doubt this was an enemy beyond their current strength.

Save, of course, for her child.

But he was otherwise occupied and there was no guarantee he would deal with whatever problem assailed him as swiftly as he had claimed. He would join them, of that she had no doubt, but time was precious in a battle and every second she bought for them was a second that spelled the doom of this one before her.

Lips curled into a polite smile.

"It was an amusing diversion, of that I will admit, but this recent development has turned it from a harmless distraction to a nuisance."

Heroine Z furrowed her brows, turning and staring at her. As if actually noticing her for the first time during the conversation. Though just as quickly as the gaze fell upon her, it dismissed her and shifted back to those behind her, specifically to the alternative version of herself.

"You hide behind Casters now? You're more defective than I thought."

Gwynevere let the dismissal wash over her, doing nothing but keeping her smile fixed. "Given how far above the both of you I rank, I would call her sensible for assuming a place in my shadow. It is safer there."

Z scoffed, short and amused. "You have got to be kidding. I don't care what sort of fancy jumped up Caster you think you are, but the fact of the matter is that I am a Saber and you're only good for making halloween decorations during festivals. Go find a cauldron to stir, why don't you?"

"Now that is rude." Gwynevere put on a frown, acting as if the comment had actually hurt her. "I am merely trying to have a civilised conversation and you think to throw cheap insults. Is this what makes the Saber class so vaunted in your homeland? Short tempers and childish threats?"

Z stiffened, her eyes narrowed into very near slits. Grip on her sword tightening as she pulled a wry smirk. "Oh, I see how it is. You're just stalling while you try to think of a plan, right? I can definitely feel that you've got a little bit of a Charisma skill, but that only proves how weak you all are. Between a Caster, a failure of a Heroine, a Rider moonlighting as a Lancer, a…whatever that one with the shield is and a novice Saber. I can hardly say I have my work cut out for me."

One hand fell to her hip, the girl in white leaned forwards with the smirk widening. "But you can always start begging if it will make you feel better. It won't help the others, but I'm here only for the Saber and the Heroine. If you scoot over to the side, I can just ignore you."

"You could ignore us now." Gwynevere replied with a raised brow, bringing her hands back to her front. She clasped them together over her waist, looking down and feeling the thrum of power pulse through her. Streaming just under her skin as it approached her hands. "You are so very far from home…How can we be expected to return your remains for proper burial?"

The smirk slipped of Z's face, she straightened back up and frowned. "Damn, that was actually kinda good…uh…you know what? Nevermind."

A sigh, she shook her head.

"You're just gonna make this a hassle for me, I can tell, so I'll just get rid of all of you now and-"

Gwynevere saw it.

The gap, the brief dismissal, had come to a climax.

And she moved.

A single step pushed her forwards, she could fool their senses, she could trick their minds into thinking she was no threat, but she could never fool their eyes. Not completely, not while they were staring right at her.

Yet she did not need to.

This one had fooled themselves far better than Gwynevere could have possibly managed.

Light pulsed between her fingers, she caught the brief widening of Z's eyes as she crossed the distance in a matter of blinks. She knew she would not reach the white haired duelist before she prepared herself, but the original was never her target.

The first rule was to think the numbers, to go for the weak links.

She that is what she did.

At the last moment, she turned to the closest copy and swung her body towards them, her hand lanced forwards and gripped tight. Light spilled from between her fingers and accelerated before snapping to a halt. In her hand, gripped like a blade, was a hissing bolt of sunlight.

Before the copy could react, Gwynevere had already plunged it deep into her chest, so far that her knuckles had briefly graced the ruffled clothing of the clone, then she turned and pulled. Tearing the bolt from the torso and reversing her grip, coiling her arm back and throwing with all her might.

A thunderous crash and a splash of light, the bolt claimed yet another life with a brilliant display of spark and dust.

She had not even seen the bolt land, she merely knew it had done so.

Already, she accelerated and her hand clenched again, this time the next clone was more prepared and had actually managed to raise her weapons. But the surprise - the shock - had not yet worn off and it proved to be bout.

That would be if she could even call it a bout.

Their weapons clashed only twice before Gwynevere forced the guard aside with a singular thrust and turned the throat into a sheath, twisting and jerking back.

She ducked on instinct, the strike that would have claimed her head instead whipped over the top of her, the attacker turned about and brought her swords high.

A clumsy move, the bolt pierced the heart of the copy with a single clean thrust.

She pulled back and turned.

Heroine Z was looking at her with wide eyes, not expecting this sudden development, and was already fumbling to get some manner of momentum going.

Gwynevere falling upon her, delivering a series of thrusts into her blades, stopped her from getting far. Each strike sent shudders up her arm, each matching blow splashed them both in sparks and lighting.

She could feel the hum of divine power begging for release, to hold miracles such as this was not their purpose.

But they were her miracles.

And they would obey.

Gwynevere moved quickly, using everything she had to her advantage. Height, power, speed.

Her attack was as fearsome as it was rapid, giving no room for breathing, no room for thinking. They were both fighting on pure instinct now, yet Gwynevere was controlling the duel. Heroine Z stumbling away to get some distance, yet the Goddess chased her down every step of the way.

Determined not to let this one escape her.

In the corner of her eye, in the very air she felt it.

The slight tremors in the ground and nerves in her body.

Yet she did not turn, instead she continued to push Z backwards and swung her left hand about, pausing briefly as the miracle crashed with another blade and was locked in place. Only briefly did she deign to glance behind, another clone had thrown themselves towards her.

Gwynevere felt her lips pull down for a brief moment, a single instant, and then she was moving again. Thrusting and parrying, fighting to keep the momentum of the fight on her side and keeping it from changing hands. The moment that did so, it would certainly end badly for her.

How long had it been since she held a sword in her hand?

How long had it been since she had actually fought in a duel?

…Not since Artorias could she recall actually fighting any she trained, yet even those memories - cycles old - jumped to the forefront of her mind. She recalled how often she had knocked him down and, for a moment, she felt a pang of nostalgia at those simple times.

Just as quickly, it was buried.

Her mind was jerked back to the present, the here and now, and she was no longer sparring against Artorias, but was instead battling this fanatic and her clone.

A twist, her body ducked low and let the blades fly over the top of her, she bent her body at an marginally uncomfortable angle, and pressed her hands flat against the ground. Pushing up and rolling her body over and back onto her feet, eyes darting back and forth.

With both clones before her, the bolts of light formed in her grasp once more.

She pressed forwards and launched herself into the battle once more.

"We did not share names when we first fought, I shall correct this oversight this time around-"

Ash wasn't listening to a word he was saying, it might as well have been white noise for all the attention he gave it.

Marching closer and closer to the Gravetender, he said nothing as he tightened his grip on his sword and prepared the use of a pyromancy. Though he doubted he would need the latter. He had been good enough to kill this one with his own sword skills the first time around he met them.

He'd only gotten better since then.

But there was the problem with the wolf as well, not to mention the pressure he felt exuded upon him.

The Noble Phantasm told him that retreat was not an option.

Some manner of death match had been forced between them, like those that occurred when one was invaded by a dark spirit. The only options that remained were to fight or die.

Ash cared little for the latter of that as well.

He just needed this to be done so he could go and help Ritsuka.

Moving his left hand across, he clasped the handle of the large greatsword with both hands and pulled it from his shoulder. Hefting the enormous weapon above his head as the fires surged across the skin of the blade, burning waves lapped across it as the coat of heat spat and hissed.

He squared his body and swung down-

Something collided with him, he felt a tightness form around his waist.

It wasn't especially heavy, but it was sudden and the grip that followed was a crushing one, it was enough that he was briefly caught by surprise.

Ash stumbled with the sudden impact, the sword in his hands swept over to the side as he turned and looked down. A fraction of a second later, he felt something hit him just below his ribs. A tense feeling swept through him from some numb impact below the bones.

His body stiffened, whatever had struck him started to push and lift.

It was too close for him to wield his sword effectively.

And when he saw the second blur rushing towards his face, he dropped the blade and brought his right hand up, ready to cover himself. His fingers snagged the high speed blur and held it still.

It was a hand, or rather, it was a fist.

Further down was an arm, coiled around the limb with a tight embrace was a cleaning vambrace. But he saw more than that, the armour was not what concerned him. It was the three hooked claws that extended perhaps several inches beyond the knuckle that caught his eyes, and brought a numb sense of comprehension.

The tight feeling in his left suddenly made a great deal more sense.

Ignorant to what should have been agonising, he twisted his body to face whomever had tackled him and drove his leg up. He felt it strike something small, yet solid. The paradox of whatever being so diminutive and yet being so dense briefly sent him for a loop. For a precious second, he thought he had driven his knee into a steel breastplate.

His eyes dropped down and furrowed.

A mop of ragged white hair greeted him, the back of his attackers head.

Only for a moment, their gaze rose up and met his own with a resolute frown in those burning golden eyes.

He did not let the youth surprise him, despite the fact that this girl looked barely older than Lily.

His head swung down and he felt it pass through nothing but air, his body stumbled forwards as the piercing feeling was wrenched away from his side. Quick as lighting, he turned around just in time to see the girl press off the ground with both feet, twist her body towards him in the air and lance her soles forwards.

The drop kick caught him in the sternum, he took yet another step backwards as his attacker hit the ground in a roll, already surging to her feet and charging once more.

Her size concealed her strength, her blows packed a great deal more force than he would have expected from one so small.

Though with proper footing now, he turned his body and met her charge head on.

Her tackle caught him in the chest, the ground cracked under their combined strength a moment later.

Ash brought his arms above his head and clasped them together, he gripped so tightly that he half imagined to have broken his own armour with the power in his fingers. Or when he opened his hands, he would see the indentations of where his fingers had folded the metal.

With a short breath, he swung down into the space between her shoulder blades.

A dull crack, a faint gasp of what he assumed was pain and he felt the grip on his waist slacken.

When he felt pain rake down his back and over his sides, he realised that it was not because she had been staggered from his blow.

He shoved her away, her claws detached from his body with a wet pop, the ground splattered with blood as he could feel something cold and sticky already sliding between his armour and his skin. Filling up in the space and coating his clothes. He could imagine the view from the back, where he had been opened up in half a dozen different places.

It didn't hurt, but it did feel discomforting.

Her retreat allowed him a second glance at his attacker.

The scent of Divinity was apparent right from the beginning, yet there was something about it that was…familiar…

A child of a God to be sure - there was nothing else they could be - but the nature of the God was…

…It was akin to Faraam.

The child of a War God?

She was shorter than him by a full head, but that meant nothing for her muscular build, well toned muscles were exposed to the world, honed through what he could only describe as combat. Rather, everything about the woman looked as though it was built for the sole purpose of killing.

From the spiked boots, thick gauntlets with overhanging claws, the twin shortswords strapped to her waist and the weapon in her hands. Something that could only be described as a chain with spiked weights on either end of it, with another tug, the white haired girl yanked it closer to her and narrowed her eyes at him.

A red mantle around her waist fluttered in the breeze, neither one of them said anything as they made little effort to hide their show of examining the other.

Ash knew why she was here.

The explanation of the Gravetender was apparent, she had come to fight and presumably kill him.

Her face though…why did it strike him as familiar?

No, he knew why that was.

She was attached to a memory…one that spoke of a great city and-

It came to him in a second.

Troy.

Penthesilea, the Queen of the Amazons, who arrived too late to aid Hector and was subsequently killed in a battle with Achilles.

Eyeing the claws on either hand, he frowned as he recalled the battle with Atalanta's Berserk self and what she did to him. Rather, what she would have done to his face if she had the same metal talons as this one did.

Reaching to the side, he brought out the diamond shaped helm of an outrider, then slipped it over his face and adjusted it to fit.

Penthesilea watched him and said nothing, merely tightening her hold on the chains with a slight rattle.

"...Are you prepared to face me then, warrior?"

The words washed over him, the white noise in his ears descended.

All he really cared about was getting back to where Ritsuka and the others were. The more time he spent dealing with this one, the less time he was granted to observe the safety of those who came with his mother.

A weight settled in his hand, a strong heat pulsed through his fingers and slithered onto the blade in his grasp. It growled and snarled, acting more like a beast than anything else. He barely noticed the faint scowl on the face of the girl as he neglected to answer her.

But Ash wasn't in the mood for talk.

She had come here to kill him for whatever petty reason and right now, he didn't want to waste time with her.

He stepped forwards and brought his sword high, an obvious attack from above and to the left.

She would see it and he watched the brief flash of incredulity and disappointment. Perhaps dismissing him as a simpleton.

It was why she didn't see the kukri in his left hand until it was already thrown from his fingers and approaching her throat.

A spray of sparks and the shriek of shattering steel, faster than one could blink the girl had retaliated and swung her hand out. Breaking the knife before it could make contact.

He jumped at her and breathed, a mist of poison permeated through. The thick cloud of deep purple billowed from between his lips and immediately engulfed the pair in its cold embrace. A faint chill as he could barely make out her silhouette through the murky haze, at least until the glowing spray of his sword brought her back into focus.

It struck her vambrace and hissed as it glided along the surface and into the ground. He sent force through the steel, it burned brightly and hurtled itself back up with greater force as the tip exploded with a loud bang. The explosion launched it back towards the face of the Berserker.

Another dip, she lowered herself as the blade hurled over her head and pressed backwards off the ground. The jump cleared away the cloud of poison with a thunderclap, but she had spent long enough for it to take effect.

Even as she retreated, he saw her eyes watering.

Burning red as the tears streamed down her cheeks without pause.

Her skin already turning red in places, she hit the ground with a sputtering cough, blasting drool from the back of her throat as the moisture in her mouth started to dry up. The cough ended with a dry heave, the lips curled down into a fearsome snarl, her lips cracked with the action and blood dripped down her chin because of it.

Ash didn't give her the chance to speak.

He'd already slammed his palm into the ground, black fire billowed from his fingers and snaked towards her. The roaring flames chased her down like a ravenous animal, a beast that has been starved for days and had only now caught the scent of fresh blood.

She twisted and jumped, her entire body launched into the action of avoiding the maw of the dark fire, she hit the ground with a thud and rolled. Something sparkled in her hand, he saw a weight settle there before the rattle of chains filled his ears.

A blur shot towards him and he swung out with the back of his hand, he felt the impact before he saw it.

The cast iron weight which was the size of his own chest, long thick spikes jutting from it at every angle. A twisted replica of a sun with a long bracketed chain attached to the end. Linking all the way towards the hands of the girl, where a second weight like the first resided at the other end.

His backhand sent the morning star careening into the earth, an explosion of soil blanketed his vision in dust and debris.

For all of a second.

He flexed his strength, exploding outwards and tearing the veil apart without even moving.

He spied her charging him down, turned on her and swung.

AN: I would like to remind everyone to keep things civil in the review section.

With that in mind, reviewer moderation will be in effect.

Refrain from uncivilised behaviour and comments.

To the guest reviewer who ignored the previous warning.

I hope you find a more productive use of your time.