Saten had to admit, she really didn't get it. All that magical jargon didn't make any sense at all to her, really. But from what she was told during that confusing conversation with Kamijou, Index, and even Mikoto, magic was real! But even then, she could not wield it because she was a "talented" person. Because she had learned science rather than magic.

So she was lost on both sides.

She was forever stuck a Level 0. Powerless.

She knew deep down she was going to be stuck powerless. She'd thought she came to terms with it, truly she had. But that small hope was rekindled when she was taught about magic a mere couple of hours ago. She sat on the edge of her bed, idly kicking her feet.

"Damn."

She let out that simple curse. It was less disappointment and more self-scorn. Why did she let herself get her hopes up? Why did she bother asking? The nun and that gun woman made it so very clear. Saten bit her lip so hard it drew blood. She wished...

She wished she wasn't so weak.

She wished she wasn't so useless.

She wished she wasn't a damn Level 0.

And beyond the stars, her wish was heard. Somewhere out there, there was a silent acknowledgement of that wish.

Saten paused, thinking to herself. Her home is currently host to a shadowy battle royale for a wish granting cup. She was powerless, and magicless, so it's not like she could participate. So even then, such a wish could not come to fruition. You needed power to be able to wish. She just had to sleep like any other student. She had to sleep, wake up, go to school, repeat.

Oh well. No thrilling novel-like adventures for her. Back to the monotonous grind of being a student. She'd oughta sleep, Uiharu was already unconscious.

"Onee-sama, I think that ape is out of his mind."

Kuroko Shirai was laying on her bed within the dorm that Misaka and herself shared. She didn't buy a single word that came out of the mouth of that silver sister and Brit. She went along and agreed because well, why question the madwoman with guns? Kuroko scoffed, continuing.

"I mean seriously. Magic? As if such a thing truly existed! There are Gemstones, and there are the espers of Academy City. If magic was real, that's basically saying that abstract concepts such as luck exist. That's like saying that-" Kuroko paused. Her onee-sama had a really concerned look on her face. That was worrying.

"Don't tell me there's a shred of truth to that nonsense?" Kuroko was shocked. Misaka still hasn't uttered a word, so she waited patiently. If her onee-sama believes all this, what does that say about her? Is her onee-sama brainwashed?!

"Kuroko..." Misaka started quietly, looking up from her hands to see eye to eye with the girl. "What if I told you that I've seen magic firsthand?" Misaka didn't twitch. She didn't laugh. She didn't giggle, and she didn't spark. She was serious.

"Haah..." Misaka sighed. "I haven't seen a lot, admittedly. But I've seen enough. It'll take a bit to explain, but trust me." Misaka's stance relaxed ever so slightly. Kuroko's mouth was agape. Or, at least for a little bit it was. A fly flew in her mouth and she started coughing.

Misaka continued, an unreadable expression on her face. "That idiot is a lot of things. But delusional liar is not one of them. When it comes to magic? You'd better accept every word that leaves his mouth as truth."

Shirou was swimming. Swimming in an endless sea of thoughts and cries and agonized screams, and then finally...

Silence.

"Do you believe in heroes?" A voice asked simply. Shirou recognized it as the voice of the alchemist, Atolla. Or, so he'd thought they were an alchemist. He isn't quite sure WHAT they are at this point. He focused, though, and answered their question.

"For a time, yes. I believed in heroes like those out of manga. I'd believed in heroes that saved everyone with a smile on their face. I believed in heroes that were unstoppable." Shirou looked almost sad as he spoke. "But as I came to realize, that sort of thing is a pipe dream. A fairytale. There are no heroes, none that exist like that." He finished the last part bitterly, like a bad candy that left an aftertaste in his mouth.

"Oh boy. I didn't ask for all of that." Atolla appeared before Shirou in that weird thought space. Or was it real space? She'd crossed her legs, a bored expression on her face. "You could've just said yes or no. No need for your life story."

Shirou was shocked. "What?! I did answer the question! You didn't ask for a simplified answer!" He was baffled, how could she be so unserious?!

"It goes without saying that you don't need to yap to your enemy. For all you know I could've slit your throat and left you to rot midway through your damn sentence." Atolla deadpanned, before tapping Shirou on the forehead.

"Shut up! I knew that! I was just..." He sighed, putting his head in his hands. "Anyway! Where the hell are we?" He wasn't gonna let himself get dissed by some random ass cryptic girl! Said cryptic girl stared at him, before leaning back, arms behind their head. Why are they so lax?!

"I guess you could say we're in a pocket space designed to showcase thoughts. Don't get it confused for a reality marble, this is something separate I used." She made a show of tapping her chin as if she was truly pondering something. "It wouldn't be incorrect to call it a realm of thought. A realm that can be altered actively by my thoughts."

She grinned in an odd way. It wasn't quite right, but it wasn't quite wrong either. "I brought you here to show you something." The world around them shifted, until it became a battlefield. Well, not the traditional kind. It was the ruins of a city. Within that city there was a crater, and within that crater...

There was a man with black spiky hair. He sat alone, holding something in his arms. The moment almost seemed frozen in time... or perhaps looped. Shirou walked toward the crater, wanting to see what was in the man's hands. In his hands lied a woman.

Long, silver hair. A white nun's habit with golden embroidery, uncharacteristic from the usual black, tattered and bearing a hole where the chest is. There was no blood. Her emerald green eyes were half lidded, it seems her life was fading. Despite her state, she did not have it in her to cry. She reached up to softly cup the man's cheek, a wistful smile on her face.

"Don't be sad."

Shirou found it odd. Even on her deathbed, she had it in her to reassure the man? Even at the end, she thought not of herself? He strained his ears to listen further, perhaps the man would say something?

"I should've been faster. I should've been there." The man spoke bitterly, his voice strained. He sounded tired, worn from fighting. His attire shared a similar look. A heavily tattered t-shirt and jeans was all he wore. The man was lanky, not overly muscular, average in every way. He barely seemed over the age of twenty. So why did he sound like he had aged a hundred years?

"I should've been there for you. I saved everyone I could. I stopped a great tragedy from happening, I saved the world! But..." The man frowned, a look of anger in his eyes. "In all my power, I couldn't have saved you. If I could do it all again..."

The woman seemed to frown at the man, almost pouting. She reprimanded him as if he was a child. "You keep acting as if you're perfect. If it were up to me, I would've made sure you did the exact same thing. My life is a small price to pay for all the people you saved. It doesn't mean all that much in the long run-."

The man interrupted, a blend anger and sadness in his voice.

"It is everything to me!" He went quiet as quickly as he had spoken. He hugged the woman tightly. It was all he could do. The woman reciprocated the hug weakly, before her life finally came to an end, a perfect smile on her face. She was too good for this world, truly.

He grit his teeth, setting her down gently. He then stood up, his hands clenched into fists. He seemed to be staring off in the distance at someone or something. Shirou couldn't make it out, perhaps it was outside of the space.

It seemed that presence the man was staring at was the cause of his unfortunate situation. The scenario came to an end, and Shirou was left with a multitude of questions. What was the purpose of showing him that, huh? He turned to Atolla.

Atolla herself seemed to be frowning, before returning his gaze. "That was a memory. Not mine, but a memory I... Let's say, inherited. It's what's bound to happen if things continue on the path that they are. I'm here to make sure a certain someone doesn't win the Holy Grail war."

She bore a smile on her face once more.

"Originally, you were meant to have taken my place in this war. But I changed the 'script' ever so slightly. I cannot let you stop me, Shirou Emiya. Hopefully, this will help you understand what I will do next."

Shirou raised an eyebrow, before the worst sensation flowed into his body. Swords. Thousands, perhaps millions. His entire body was consumed by swords. The pain was so searing, he couldn't stay awake. Of course, he was not truly filled with swords, it was a sick mental trick that felt real. But it was enough to put him to sleep, painfully. She warped his body to a safe spot, somewhere, and then she returned to the fight.

It was time to wrap things up.

Kamijou Touma was sat on the ground. Exhausted, and bleeding a little. It seems the aftereffects of allowing Mordred to use her Noble Phantasm were taking it's toll.

Mordred had gone berserk, her transformation solidified with a roar that was nowhere near human. Her claws dug into the flesh of the freakish creatures, her hate and anger pouring through every vein in her body. It was so overwhelming that her foes were burning from that alone.

She tore the skull off of one, a blackened substance rupturing from where their head had once been. For another, she smacked it with a fist so powerful, it was reduced to a mist. For yet another, she tore it to pieces by hand. Her current state was nothing like that of her calm and composed self from before. Kamijou watched with a mixture of fear and... Amazement?

What Mordred was doing was right out of a game, it seemed like. A one sided slaughter of her opponents that was so vicious, the opposition was running in fear. She found every single straggler, every single freak of nature that had poured from that building. All torn to shreds. Mordred's shiny black armor was darkened to a matte texture by the sheer amount of mess she'd made out of the monsters. Truly a Berserker.

After she'd finally completed her goal, her reddened gaze was focused onto Kamijou. He feared she might leap at him, but she simply fell onto one knee after approaching him, and returned to normal. Armor gone now, she panted heavily, before standing back up.

"Those things are all gone now, Master." She didn't even blink in that moment. "We'd better get rid of that Avenger as well while we're at it." Kamijou nodded silently, before staring up at where the Avenger and the girl had been fighting. Where were they, anyhow?

Well, his question was answered soon enough.

Rin flew into the sky, locked in combat with the Beheaded. Melee combat was admittedly her forte, but she couldn't put it to use with a weapons freak like this servant! Her entire body was covered in glowing golden lines, a form of reinforcement that was empowered by her divine tagalongs. It allowed her to fight this intensely with a servant in the first place.

She drove her fist into the stomach of the Avenger, and she heard it curse in aggravation. The punch had sent it flying upward, just enough for her to follow up with a leap and an axe kick. "Can we please be done? Just sit still and die already, you damn Avenger!" The words flowing from her mouth weren't exactly the kindest, but she was at her wit's end. Rin's hair, normally a flowy black color, slowly changed to a blonde shade. She grit her teeth, and raised her hands to the sky.

A blue flame circled the servant, but they didn't seem to be worried. At this, she tilted her head. Why so unconcerned... Well, she'd figure that out after she finished. Slamming her hands together, a confident grin spreads across her face. Beneath Avenger, the head of a dead Tyrannosaurus Rex comes from the ground, and clamps down around him, consuming him whole.

Or so she'd thought.

Even though the T-Rex was supposed to have dragged him down into the underworld right alongside it, the Avenger was still alive. Well, mostly alive. Only a weird, writhing green mass was left. The spark that was the sole eye of the servant was still alight.

"How in the world did you survive THAT?! It wasn't a noble phantasm or anything, but still!" Rin was more than irritated, her eyes full of exasperation. She sighed, and pointed her finger at the mass. A mix of blue and gold energy start swirling at her finger, and her hair once more changes colors to a mix of black and blonde. She lets go of the small ball of energy, essentially using her finger as a gun.

"Goodbye, you annoying Avenger. I will not be missing you." And so, the energy flies toward the remnant of the servant, and all seemed to be over. It was erased, and she could relax. She turned around, walking away. Easy as pie.

Silence.

A deadening silence that was soon filled with a familiar sound. The sound of the supernatural being removed from this world.

Rin's eyes widened, and she turned around, a look of surprise on her face. Kamijou Touma had ran between the two of them, and negated the blast before it erased Avenger. Even Mordred was surprised. She'd thrown him atop the building the two were fighting on so as to help Rin, but...

"You idiot! Why the hell did you do that?!" Rin glared at the boy, rushing over to grip him by the shirt. The writhing mass used that time to run away, and Rin was beyond pissed. "Do you not understand?! He was dangerous, and he needed to go!" She clicked her teeth, setting the boy down. "Ugh. Just like him..."

Kamijou only stared, before he finally spoke up. "I don't know what's going on completely, I'll be real. All this explaining over the past day or so has been... Confusing, to say the least. But I do know that I ain't killing anybody! Even if it's a bastard like that, I'm gonna make sure everyone can walk away from this still alive!"

He stood up, his fist clenched. "Got a problem with that?" Rin was really really annoyed, and she didn't have enough patience for him at all. "It's a Grail War, dummy! Weaklings die, big deal. Your opponents are not your friends. They are to be killed. That's how it is." She pointed at him.

"What the hell are you, anyway? Doing something like that... That was a ball of divine mana, it's not something you can just swipe away!" Yes. Rin, on top of being angry at the boy for saving Avenger, had a bruised ego. Well, less her, and more the goddess Ishtar within. But, who wouldn't?

The boy stared at her, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. "Oh, this?" He raised his right hand. "Nothing much. You don't need to know." For once, the boy had thought ahead. He didn't know if she was friend or foe, so he kept his ability secret. It's the smart move. Their little conversation wasn't allowed to last very long, though.

Atolla appeared before them, her face blank. The three of them didn't even have time to ponder what she was doing. She'd already raised her arm, and the ground in front of them was carved up, as if someone sliced right in front of them. She missed, as a warning. In her head, she knew her goal. She was not to kill her target, simply... Discourage.

Touma, despite his minor injuries, turned to the girl. He ran forward, right hand clenched. His body burned, and for good reason. His decrepit, novice mana circuits were drained so suddenly by Mordred's Noble Phantasm. Of course he would be pained. But that wouldn't stop him. His attack would connect! Or, would've anyway.

The ground beneath him exploded, and he was sent flying into the air. He didn't let that stop him, and he stuck his fist out. Only for the girl to grab him, rot his arm off, and throw him down. And then he woke up. Staring up at the sky, cool asphalt beneath him. Had he... imagined the entire exchange? Mordred was still kneeled on the ground, her teeth grit. She was steaming, as if she'd just gotten done fighting.

How did he imagine a whole moment with someone he didn't even know? He wasn't even over there! His body felt sluggish, like someone had just woken him up from a century long nap. The hell had he been doing this entire time?! He stood up, but he could not rise. His arms burned, blood seeping from them like water from a fountain. He felt woozy, out of it. Mordred had most definitely handled the monsters... Is he experiencing side effects of her Noble Phantasm, truly?

He saw a bright light atop the building, probably the girl from earlier. He watched her race down to the ground over to Mordred, she was clearly injured herself, as if she just got done fighting someone off. Kamijou started to lose his vision after she began walking toward him. He could barely register her words before the world went black.

"Damnit." Rin clicked her tongue, sighing. She sat on her haunches, looking down at the unconscious boy. She didn't get to get rid of the servant or their Master, it really pissed her off. Why'd the girl just appear and make an explosion right before she blew the Avenger to smithereens?! She had him right where she wanted! It wasn't even an attacking kind, it was more like a getaway! She sighed again, turning her attention back to the boy, looking him over.

Not exactly the worst shape, fixable. His servant... She couldn't quite tell who it was, being unlike a servant she's seen normally. She lifted the boy with ease, motioning for the servant to follow. She'd figure things out eventually, but she had other things on her mind. Like where the hell Shirou was! "Ugh..." She turned to the servant. "Do you have a base of operations or something? I need to heal him somehow."

Mordred didn't say anything, simply standing up completely and motioning for Rin follow behind her. Mordred was more focused on her Master being well. After all, if she lacked a Master, she'd be done for. "I'm trusting you, girl. If it turns out you're against us..." Mordred trailed off, letting her glare do most of the speaking.

Rin wasn't amused all that much, looking at Mordred like she was slow. "If I wanted your Master dead, I would've evaporated him already. I need him just as much as you do, now. Just lead the way." The twintail girl lacked even an ounce of fear for the Servant. Why would she? Goddess, remember?

That wouldn't stop her from complaining sbout the boy in her arms. Why was he surprisingly heavy?!

Othinus sat with her arms and legs crossed. She was in a little makeshift bed made from matches. She'd been abandoned by her understander. God forbid she takes a nap... She looked over at the cat on the ground, and weighed her options. She concluded all she could do was wait. Index was asleep, anyhow. No way for her to do anything.

The door opened, and Othinus turned her gaze to it. The first thing she saw was the unconscious (and very bloody) form of Kamijou, and then the girl holding him. Mordred came in last. "What happened?" It was all she could ask.

Rin responded, not batting an eye at the fairy. She was aware of the Denmark incident, the Mage's Association allowed her to know that much at the least. Not much about anything else BESIDE her apprehending was told to her. She placed Kamijou on the bed, and began to use a simple healing spell on him.

And then the familiar sound of supernatural extinguishing was heard.

Rin blinked. Once, twice, three times.

She tried again.

The sound rang out again.

Another time.

Usual negation.

She was stumped. How was she supposed to heal this kid?!

And that's it. For now. Crappy cliffhanger, I know, but that's where I thought I best end it. As usual, here's where I yap about any plot holes or things I'm sure might be brought up.

"Where's Shirou?" He's deadass unconscious in the street somewhere. Anti-Skill will probably pick him up.

"Why did the mage do that illusion?" I really did that so I could flex her capabilities. Make her seem more untouchable. No one knows the extent of her power. She's less of a direct fighter, and more of a mind games typa person.

If the fight sequences are too slow, that's my bad. I'm still trying to get used to writing them. I know my style of writing might be a bit... expedient. I'm working on it, so the chapters can only get better.

Anyway, good morning, good afternoon, and goodnight, readers.