AN: Hello everyone, I'm back. Let's take a quick look at your comments shall we? "The Bag of Holding," yeah…pretty much. " ," I finally bit the bullet and used a translate program; I will consider it, if I can think of a way to do so without removing Rin I will put it up to a vote somewhere down the road. " ," that was just a Christmas special, so probably not until next year or if I do a series of semi-interconnected one-shots staring Shirou. "Cross of Death," may I suggest you hold judgement till the end? I have quite a few tricks and turns up my sleeves. "Mythic Imagination," I have an interesting reason already, though you did guess part of why this war is so fubar'd. "DragoFae24," I would like to point out I mentioned all the servants in earlier chpts, though I will be revealing them all to Naruto in the next few chapters. One last thing, Tactician's character was created by Uncle WAAAGH. Anyways on with the fic
Speech
Thought, magical communication
Higher Being (i.e. Demon, Grail, ect) speaking, Berserker Class talking, Scene/POV change
Higher Being thinking
The Grail War Begins Pt 4: Of a Shifty priest, and the Sons of the Gods
Our Lady of Fuyuki Church: Ten minutes after the last chapter:
The two humans, and eleven astralized servants, approached the foreboding church "Father" Kotomine ran. As they did, Naruto's thoughts were on his ninth servant and the problem in her summoning that he had probably caused inadvertently. The silver and blue armored lancer was unable to leave the estates, her soul bound to the grounds, preventing her form from leaving...Thankfully that was the only problem any of the summonings
He was going to have to find a way to "unbind" her, for lack of a better term, without "killing," read dismissing, her. While some of his other servants might be able to help with that, there were more pressing concerns at the moment. Like going into the creepy ass church to meet with the creepy priest who seemed to thrive on people's misery…If it wasn't for all the garlic and other things vampires and dead apostles were supposedly allergic to that the man ingested the blond would have sworn he was a blood sucker.
But now he was getting off topic, coming back to the present he was unsurprised when Rin simply pushed the door open without a concern…Though he was a bit more hesitant. After all, his father and Kotomine had been enemies during the last war, and while the former executioner hadn't seemed to care about his adoption before, but things change…and a healthy dose of paranoia never really hurt anyone. Yes he was aware he was being a hypocrite by not being more wary of Rin, but no one ever claimed he was perfect.
Casually checking the alcoves of the church, he caught a brief glimpse of a blond man with red eyes, before he vanished completely. For the brief second he saw him, the unknown man reminded him of his golden armored servant…provided of course that they were the same gender…He was distracted from contemplating this further when Kirei showed himself.
The quasi-retired executioner was clad in his usual vestments, and seemed unusually amused when he saw that Rin had brought him along: "Now Rin, I know you like Naruto but that's no reason to drag him to meet me like a stranger being introduced as your new boyfriend to your father."
Naruto sighed as his friend started sputtering. Kirei had pushed the affection button, you never do that: "W-what are you inferring you stupid fake priest? I was just doing my duty and bringing the last competitor here to register!"
The black haired man chuckled lightly at his erstwhile ward's fuming, "So then, Naruto Emiya, you have been selected as the last master in this rather unconventional war. The other masters all have teams of three; would you care to declare yours?"
Emiya was tempted to lie about his numbers, as it would be smart to keep that secret. But something told him this was just a formality, and the "moderator" already knew…His feelings on these kinds of things had never truly let him down, and as such he decided to be honest, knowledge he didn't fully understand filled his brain for a second: "Seven sabers and two lancers, I will of course choose not to disclose their identities to retain that surprise."
A bemused expression crossed the priest's face: "I would have strongly suggest surrendering if you had thought it a good idea to share their identities with anyone. Though the number of Heroic Spirits you summoned makes you the strongest force in this war from a purely numbers stand point. But don't be over confidant, if your servants are weak, they will easily be defeated."
From there Kotomine went on to give a brief description of the few rules of the tournament, including the one that had nearly cost the blond his life earlier. Due to the secrecy around magic, and the Clock Tower's fanaticism about preventing its discovery, all witnesses were to either be wiped of knowledge…Or if the person who catches the witness can't wipe their memories, killed.
Thanking Kirei for his "help," they left. As they crossed the threshold of the Church, they could hear the voice of the executioner in their heads: "To those selected to participate in the Fifth Grail War, I wish you good fortune in attaining your wish…For now with the registration of the last master, in accordance with my position as the overseer of the Grail Wars, I hereby declare the commencement of the Fifth Holy Grail War!"
Rin shook her head in exasperation: "Well you can't say he doesn't have the requisite level of dramatic presentation for this…" Naruto's slight chuckle in reply got Rin to relax a bit, as that showed that her interactions with her friend before weren't with a mask, "At any rate Emiya, about that alliance…"
The blond smiled lightly, "Relax Rin, how about an alliance until we, and if we find someone else who we think would be a good fit, are the last one standing…Unless we find a way to cheat the Grail System, though that's unlikely."
The Toshaka heiress nodded in acceptance, right before several powerful presences washed over their senses. The feeling originated in the graveyard, and when they arrived to investigate they saw a late teenaged silver haired girl in a purple coat and hat sitting on one of the tombstones, the coat was rather bulky and concealed the majority of her body except for her face.
Nothing about her seemed, at least on the surface, to be dangerous…But in the world of magi, nothing was as it seemed. A fact that was reinforced when she spoke: "Fufufu, well it seems you two were able to sense that. Not that I was trying to hide at any rate. Though I am surprised that my adopted brother would fall for such a blatant trap, get those skanks Berserkers and Tactician!"
At the silverette's declaration, the cemetery was filled with servants. On the one side arranged in a defensive formation was the combined forces of Naruto and Rin…On the other were three figures.
One was a towering muscle bound hulk of a man, standing at twelve feet tall and completely unarmored. His skin was a dark grey, and his hair was a wild mane of ebon hue. His weapon was a massive seven foot long blade, though club would also have been accurate considering how bulky it was.
Besides him stood a figure that looked as if he had stepped out of the most stereotypical piece of art about Vikings. Standing at six foot six and clad in chainmail with a red cloak, upon his head was a fully enclosed helmet with foot long horns rising from the side. In his hands he carried a halberd with a silvery blade, which was covered in runes that seemed to emit an unnatural energy.
The final figure though froze four of the combatants on Naruto's side. It was not as tall as the first, it stood at roughly six foot nine…but what it was clad ebon full plate armor that covered him from head to toe and a black mist seemed to emit from the plating. In his hand he carried a black blade.
The blue dressed swordswoman was immediately attacked by the black knight, who roared as he did: "ARTHUUUUUUURRRRRRR!" The blade of the shadowy figure nearly bisected her before two figures stepped forward and blocked the deadly blade.
One was the knight currently serving Rin…The other was the pale blond woman in black armor…She spoke quietly: "So, this was one of your Knights then. I understand the pain of a betrayal like this all too well. For that reason I will do you a favor, I will fight him in your stead, go fight the mountain. I have a feeling it will take half our number to stop him alone."
The blue dressed woman hesitated for a second, before regaining her composure and leaving the black clad knight to the black armored swordswoman. The Black Knight raged and tried to chase after her, only to be blocked by the golden haired man's blade: "Come now Lancelot, we have unfinished business. I still have to chastise you for your role in tearing down our Liege's realm."
The black armored knight roared in frustration as he swung his blade, way too fast for Toshaka's saber to follow, only for a blood red spear to come up and deflect it. A coy smile played on the face of the purplette wielding the spear: "Well now, it seems your former comrade isn't interested in chastisement. I think it will take quite a few of us to stop him."
The swordswoman in red nodded as she, Rin's Archer and the silver armored white dressed woman from Naruto's team came forward, "As much as it steals from the glory we can earn in the eyes of our praetors, working together may be for the best."
Lancelot roared in anger as he swung his sword, forcing the purplette down to her knees when she blocked, but was forced to redirect his attention to the red dressed swordswoman an the red coated "Archer" to stop their attacks...which he did with the grace of a master swordsman, and the strength of fifty men.
The Frenchman was a flurry of blades as he formed an immovable object, each strick was deadly accurate and had enough force to slice through armor like it was butter…Even fighting together none of the allied servants were even able to scratch the Knight's armor. A low growl emitted from the back of the servant's throat as he spoke for the first time: "Get out of my way. Only the King may chastise me for my failures Gawain."
The now revealed Gawain snorted: "In his condition from seeing you, that is not possible. So as the sole loyal retainer of our King here, I will have to chastise you myself. Though it was an extreme reaction, did his majesty see you like this before?"
As he fended off another attempt to kill him, the black knight growled out a reply: "Yes, we fought in the last war. I was weaker then. If he had chastised me, and issued a punishment when we had fought, I would not be seeking chastisement at his hand again. Though as you are stopping me, a question occurs to me, who are you, oh black clad specter who reminds me so much of my former liege?"
The woman bristled at du Luc's tone. But she replied nonetheless, albeit with a harsh tone: "I am no specter, betrayer of my other's trust. I am Queen Arturia Pendragon, ruler of an alternate Camelot to your own, and I shall chastise you in my counter part's place."
A low raspy laugh echoed from the helm of the warrior: "You can certainly try. Though I wager you'll have no less of a chance as my former comrade." With a roar of madness, the battle began again. Once again the skill of the former Knight of the Round and his hyper enhanced abilities made him untouchable.
Archer had unleashed dozens of projected noble phantasms against him from the bow he had traced…None of the weapons even came close to finding the mark. Nor did any sword strike from the others. Even Naruto's lancer's Gae Bolge failed to get through the monsters defense.
But this performance didn't make sense to Gawain. Even back in Camelot, at the height of Lancelot's strength, thee man hadn't been THIS good. Something special must have happened to boost his capabilities THAT high. But there was no time to investigate this, unfortunately…Something reinforced when the knight scored a deep furrow in his liege's counterpart from the other dimension.
Meanwhile the hulking mountain of muscle was easily fending off the combined efforts of the blue dressed swordswoman, a young blonde in chainmail, the black clad ninja, and the golden armored blond. Though it was obvious that the golden armored one wasn't putting her whole effort forward, whether it be due to not believing their foe worth it, or wanting to test the worth of her erstwhile allies she wasn't saying…and her comrades weren't in a position to ask.
The hulking mass of muscle wasn't nearly as fast as Lancelot, but even the blows that missed created gales of wind that knocked around his foes. Even near misses could cause denting to the armor worn by those opposing him. For a moment his eyes cleared, and he spoke in a rumbling roar: "You think yourselves a match for me? I am Hercules, son of ZEUS! None of you are a worthy foe for me!"
Golden chains sprung from the ground and bound the demi-god; a cold feminine laugh cut the air: "A mongrel like you DARES to claim to be MY superior." An expression of cruelty crossed the beautiful face of the red eyed blonde: "Mongrels like you…" Hundreds of golden portals surrounded the giant of a man, with various weapons appearing out of them: "SHOULD KNOW YOUR PLACE!"
The barrage was intense, but only a few even penetrated the supped up monster's skin…and even then none hit any vital areas. In fact all it did was piss of the giant even more…To the point where it BROKE the chains around his body.
This naturally stunned the golden armored woman: "Impossible…Nothing can break free of those chains! Even full gods can't escape being bound by them!"
A rumbling laugh escaped the son of Zeus: "Normally you would be right. But my summoning granted me more power than I could have ever DREAMED of. If I wanted to I could SHATTER the WORLD with my strength, weak chains such as this will not contain me!"
The red eyed woman roared in anger as thousands of portals opened: "I'LL SHOW YOU WEAK!" And then the rain of weapons came down on the demi-god. This time more weapons fired from the portals managed to penetrate the thick skin of the berserker, but that was mainly due to them being of higher quality. One of the blades went straight through the heart of Hercules.
But before they could relax or celebrate, the wound rapidly sealed and deep laughter filled the area: "I stand corrected, you are a SLIGHT threat. Let's see you do it AGAIN."
As he spoke he swung his giant weapon, he missed just barely, but managed to put a massive dent in the golden armored woman's chest plate, and sending her crashing into a nearby mausoleum. Of course he didn't do that without retaliation, as a golden beam of light ripped apart his body, before he reformed again, ready to continue fighting.
While all this was going on, Naruto and Rin were staring down the master of the servants that had attacked. Rin had started subtly charging prana to fire off some curses at the snow white haired teen, only for the obvious target to laugh: "Oh come now Rin, you honestly don't think you'd be able to attack me do you? Especially if you look around us…"
Naruto had already noticed them, but Rin gasped in shock. Every tombstone was covered in animated glass birds; there must have been thousands of them. Even if she did hit her target, if it wasn't an instantly fatal blow then she would be torn to ribbons even if the blond tried to protect her.
The teen in the purple dress smiled smugly: "So, what shall we talk about, hm? Shall we talk about the failures of your family Rin, or compare servants…Or maybe even why my father decided to adopt you, Naruto, and why he never came back for me? Yes…I think the last one is the most important."
The ravenette at his side was shocked still at the last one, but the Emiya head blinked once before replying: "Huh, so you're my adopted father's daughter, Illya…Considering what his journals said about you, I'd expect you to still look like a child…After all you are half homunculus."
A laugh like tinkling crystal left the newly identified Eisenbern: "You would have been correct a year ago, but Grandfather found a way to increase my power along with my physical age up to what it should be."
Naruto nodded: "I take it that's also why two of your servants are so monstrously strong."
A smile and a nod was his answer: "I must admit, I am pleased that you aren't as clueless as you first seemed…but then again, appearances can be deceiving…Grandfather made sure I tried to remember that before he had me summon my servants."
At this point Rin couldn't hold her frustration in anymore: "Are we seriously having a conversation like this right now? She has us at spell point and yet you're acting like nothing out of the ordinary is going on!"
Naruto shrugged: "If she wanted us dead, she would have killed us already…After all, we are surrounded by her spell work. So what's the harm in engaging in idle chatter…Especially as she's my adopted elder sister?"
Rin grumbled but noticed something: "Where's her 'tactician' and your last Saber Naruto?"
CHAPTER COMPLETE!
NEXT TIME: The Knight of Betrayal vs the Warlord
Omake:
Shirou awoke slowly, it had been several months since he had summoned the two Santa servants, but they had left after they had delivered their gifts to the world. The last thing he remembered was Zelretch calling him for a meeting about his education…and then nothing.
As he opened his eyes he found himself staring at the stone roof of a castle. He also noticed that he was much smaller. Before he could investigate, a little girl with platinum blonde hair in a teal blue dress came charging into his room.
Her eyes lit up in excitement as she charged him: "BIG BROTHER!" A flying tackle hug swiftly met his stomach knocking him back onto the EXTREMELY comfortable bed he was apparently sleeping in.
As much as it was a foolish move, the first thing out of his mouth was: "Who are you?"
A childish pout met his question: "I guess the maesters were right that you might not remember everything once you came out of the coma you were in because of that assassin."
That one word, maester, told him all he needed to know. Zelretch had teleported him to the universe of "A Song of Ice and Fire," Aka "Game of Thrones." Which meant that the girl in front of him was a VERY you Daenaryis Targaereon, and as she had called him "big brother," that meant he had replaced a certain twat he hated. He had a brief urge to curse Zeretch verbally, but knew that it wouldn't be fitting to do so in front of a child…so he settled for doing it in his head as his new little sister prattled on trying to help bring back his memory.
Anyways, review please.