9/9/23 Edit: Fixed grammar mistakes and restructured sentences to make them more cohesive.
~X~
~ Fuyuki City – Homurahara Academy ~
Ritsuka Tohsaka
The plan went off without a hitch so far. Everyone played their roles perfectly. Caster stalled Berserker, Mash launched me perfectly, I killed Berserker, and Saber managed to protect me from the explosion. Berserker is now regenerating his body. Saber and I regrouped with Mash and Caster, who were standing a good distance away to the side. This was so Mash could use her shield to protect us, just in case. Yuki said that what she was going to do was going to cause some serious collateral damage.
"Trace On"
I heard the familiar trigger words. It's all up to Yuki now, and it looks like she's preparing. Although, I have no idea what she's going to do. She sounded like she had a way of taking out 9 of Berserker's lives. If she does, then that's incredible. But… it seems like she's just standing there. Looking into her eyes, I can see that her mind is not here; it's somewhere else. What's going on?
I didn't have to worry too long, as a second later, she seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in. She stood still for a second, not doing anything again. The look on her face was… odd. It was a mixture of sadness, pity, regret, and… anger? Why does she have that look?
The look left as quickly as it came, and determination showed on her face. She ripped off what was left of the bandages on her right arm, showing her non-broken, healed arm, and raised it into the air.
"Trigger Off…"
A huge burst of mana blasted from her. The winds picked up, and I could see her mana crackling through the air like lightning, Yuki's Magic Circuits shining brightly beneath her skin on her visible arm, and there was a ball of mana moving around just above her hand.
I'm sure that my jaw had dropped as far as it could go from the sheer power that was coming off of Yuki. The others were completely shocked as well. Mash and Saber looked surprised, then ready to defend everyone. The Director looked to be in disbelief. Kana had hope in her eyes, and Caster had a smirk on his face. Whatever Yuki was about to do, I could tell, was going to blow everyone's minds away.
And I was right when the chaotic ball of mana transformed into this giant sword. Although, calling it a sword is a bit generous. It looked like a giant slab of stone that was jaggedly sharpened on one edge for the "blade." It looked completely nonsensical, but it looked like Yuki knew what to do with it. She has this fierce look on her face.
"Nine Lives… Blade Works!"
I don't know how to describe what happened next, but it was amazing to see. One second she was there, and then she was gone. It looked like she completely vanished. The next thing I see is that she already has her sword stabbing through Berserker's chest.
Then the most amazing part… Nine deep grooves were carved into the ground behind Berserker. They quickly kept going on into the gymnasium, crashing into it and destroying the structure. And I'm pretty sure they kept going after that if all the debris and trees being destroyed further in the distance is any indication.
Berserker looks the worst he's ever been. There were giant slashes on his body, and some chunks of him went flying. Not to mention, that giant stone sword is stabbed through him. Berserker stood there unmoving for a few seconds, and then he faded away in gold dust.
The stone sword in Yuki's hand faded into blue dust, and she passed out, falling face forward.
We all stood there for a few minutes in silence, completely mind-blown. Caster was the first one to snap back to his senses and rushed to Yuki and turned her over on her back. She looked bad. She was bleeding all over, and she had wounds that looked as if her skin was ripping apart.
He started making some runes, and a bright light came from his staff as he pointed it toward Yuki, who started glowing. The rest of us followed soon after to check on her.
Eventually, someone finally spoke.
"So… what the holy hell just happened?" Kana was the one to break the silence.
"I think it's pretty obvious," Caster spoke with something akin to respect on his face. "We just watched the missy here take out Berserker," he is still healing her injuries.
"Yeah, all nine lives at once…" I said, still in disbelief at what I just saw.
"How is this possible? How can one magus be so powerful to defeat a Servant like that? Just what was that spell?" I heard the Director mutter to herself.
"How did she get those wounds? Berserker didn't hit her during her attack; she was moving too fast," Mash asked, worried for Yuki.
"Will she be okay? Saber asked, showing a worried look on her face.
"Heh, well, that move she used is the cause of her injuries. Her body couldn't handle the strain and was tearing itself apart," Caster explained. "Don't worry, Saber. This is not as bad as it looks. She'll be fine."
Saber nodded and allowed a look of relief to show on her face.
"I think we should head back into the school building. We all should get some rest and wait for Yuki-san to wake up," I said to everyone.
"Hmm, as much as I want to fix this Singularity as soon as possible, we can't move forward until Emiya is awake," the Director gave her opinion on the matter.
"Okay, let's go."
Saber picked up Yuki-san, and we went back to the school building.
~X~
~ 12 hours later ~
I had just woken up from my rather long sleep. I guess that makes sense after everything we've been through so far. We were all camping out in the nurse's office since there were beds. Caster had healed Yuki-san as best he could. He couldn't heal her completely, so Saber, with the help of Mash and Kana, replaced her old bandages and bandaged her new wounds. Of course, after the girls kicked Caster and me out.
Saber, Caster, and Mash were somewhere else, guarding the area to make sure there were no other surprise enemies. Yuki-san is still unconscious, lying down on one of the beds. I got to sleep on a chair as the Director and Kana claimed the beds after calling dibs. The Director is not in the room, so I guess she woke up before I did and wandered off somewhere. Kana is still asleep.
"Hey, bro? You awake?" Never mind, Kana is awake.
"Yeah," I said.
"Yuki sure is something, isn't she?"
"Yeah, she certainly is," no normal magus would be able to pull off what she did.
"Do you think…" Kana trailed off.
"Think what?" I tried to get her to finish.
"Do you think she's our sister? Or at the very least, related to us?"
I was silent for a little bit because I needed to think about this.
Yuki Emiya… I never thought I would hear that family name. Kana and I were shocked, to say the least when we heard that. We didn't know what to think. We would ask her questions, but the situation doesn't give us the time to do that.
"I'd certainly say she's at least related. You saw her use Tracing. There's only one person we know who knows how to do that."
"Yeah, Dad…" Kana trailed off again. "What's more, her Tracing is better than mine. Heck, I can't even use Tracing yet," she said with a tinge of bitterness.
Haah, this is a sore subject of hers. Because I'm the older twin by 2 minutes, I'm the heir of the Tohsaka Family. It means mom spends more time with me, and not Kana since she needs to teach me the things involved with being the head of the family.
Don't get me wrong, Mom loves the both of us equally and goes out of her way to spend time with both of us. But because of my future responsibilities, she spends a lot more time with me.
Because of that, Dad went out of his way to spend more time with Kana to make sure she wasn't lonely. She definitely grew up as a daddy's girl, something I like to tease her about. Though I guess I'm not one to talk since I pretty much grew up a mama's boy.
Growing up, Kana always adored and admired our dad. It was only a matter of time before she asked to learn his brand of Projection Magecraft, also known as Tracing. When she did, Dad was more than happy to teach her.
The thing is, she never really took to it. She was a good magus and picked up on other spells easily, but when it came to Tracing, progress was always as slow as a snail. She never lets it show because she's like a ball of optimism, but as her twin, I could see her frustration. She was frustrated that she was making slow progress while I was progressing rather quickly through Jewel Magecraft.
Now Yuki-san shows up, throws us for a loop with her family name, and shows a mastery of Tracing that we've only seen before in Dad. Kana can't help but seem to feel a bit jealous about that fact. I know she won't take it out on Yuki-san because it's not her fault. This is just a part of Kana that she needs to deal with at some point.
And I'll try to help her as best I can.
"She could be our sister from an alternate timeline. We know for sure those exist since we're sort of in one," Kana said trying to take her mind off Dad and back to Yuki-san.
"It's possible," I agreed. "We could ask her."
"No, I tried that earlier. She said she grew up an orphan and doesn't know who her parents are," Kana shook her head.
"I think we can try to make an educated guess. What do we know about her?" I asked.
"Well, for starters, we know her name, Yuki Emiya," Kana stated. Emiya is our Dad's family name.
"We know she can use Tracing," I added. Tracing is Dad's specialty. "She also uses the same trigger words as Dad."
"She looks a lot like Saber," Kana said. Hmm, she does look like Saber.
"And that Saber is King Arthur since she can wield Excalibur," I stated this fact.
"That was Dad's Servant during the Fifth War."
Mom and Dad told us about the Fifth War when Kana and I reached the age of 16. They told us what happened, but I feel like they left some things out. Like the Archer Servant, they gave us an in-depth explanation about all the Servants except for Archer, for some reason.
"Anything else we know about her?" Kana asked.
"Nope, that's all…. Admittedly, this is very little information," I noticed. We don't know much about her.
"Well… we've only met her recently, and we never had a chance to talk to her with all that's been going on," Kana pointed out.
"That's true," I agreed. "Still want to make a guess on her parents?"
"Not… really. The info we have makes it seem like Yuki is the daughter of Dad and Artoria Pendragon," Kana said. It's a logical conclusion. Her family name is Emiya, and she knows Tracing, like Dad. And she looks a lot like Saber.
"It does seem that way, but I feel like that guess is wrong," I said. I don't know how to explain it, but the idea of Yuki-san being Saber's daughter doesn't feel right.
"Yeah, maybe she's Dad's kid from another timeline, but she doesn't feel like Saber's," Kana agreed with what I was thinking.
"Unfortunately, we have no way to know for sure if she's Dad's kid," I stated.
"Yeah, but what if she is?" Kana asked.
"Then… that would make her our sister, in a sense." Where is she going with this?
"What do mean, 'in a sense'? She would be our sister, we have the same dad. Sure, she's from an alternate timeline, but still! How old do you think she is? 15 at the most, right?" Kana seems excited at the prospect of a younger sister. She always did want younger siblings.
"Kana, like I said before, we don't for sure if she's Dad's kid," I tried to bring down her excitement.
"I guess… but still!" She would not give up on this thought.
"Just wait until we can confirm it. Maybe when we get back to Chaldea, we can…" I trailed off as a thought occurred to me. "Actually, will Yuki-san come back with us to Chaldea when this is over?"
"Why wouldn't she?" Kana questioned.
"Well, she came to this timeline in a different way than ours. We were Rayshifted; Yuki-san accidentally came here through some type of rift. When we fix the Singularity, she may be sent back to where she came from," I stated my thoughts.
"I guess that might happen… Mou… I want to get to know her better," Kana whined at the thought of our potential sibling leaving already.
"So do I. But we don't know if she's going back or if she's stuck with us. So, let's wait until then," I said.
"Okay," She accepted.
.
Kana then developed a thinking look on her face.
"What's up?" I asked, wondering what she was thinking about now.
"I was going over the fight with Berserker in my head. Specifically, in the ending, when Yuki pulled off that move she did. What did she call it again?" asked Kana, tapping a finger on her chin.
"Nine Lives Blade Works. That was one hell of a move," I still feel in awe whenever I remember seeing it.
"Yeah, it was! How do you think she did it?" Kana was also excited about that technique.
"I guess she used Tracing," I shrugged my shoulders. Tracing is not my specialty, so I can't say how she did it.
"Well, yeah. But how?"
"I don't know. You're the one who was learning from Dad, so you should know how she did it."
"Well, I don't. That's why I'm asking you," she said back.
"Kana, I know next to nothing about Projection and Tracing. Dad didn't teach me anything about i,t and I never asked," I shook my head. "Maybe you can ask Yuki-san when she wakes up."
"Maybe. Whenever that is-"
"AAAHHH!" came a loud scream from Yuki's bed.
Both Kana and I jumped up from our sitting positions and rushed over to Yuki's bed to see what was wrong. She was sitting up, eyes wide, and hyperventilating.
~X~
~ 15 minutes earlier – Rooftop ~
General POV
When the battle with Berserker was over, the others brought Yuki to the nurse's office to lay her on a bed. Afterward, the other humans took the opportunity to rest. The Servants decided to patrol the surrounding area so there were no more surprises.
Artoria was standing on the rooftop and looked out towards the mountain. Her mind was elsewhere, once more going over the situation. Somehow, Berserker had managed to make his way inside the school perimeter without anyone noticing. He managed to sneak attack her Master and the girl named Kana. Artoria believes that Yuki's quick reaction and thinking are the reasons for her and Kana's survival.
Unfortunately, Yuki did not come out of that underhanded sneak attack unharmed. Despite holding Lord Camelot, Yuki's arm was shattered by Berserker's attack. It was surprising to see the Shield of the Round Table in a broken heap on the ground. As far as Artoria knew, the shield was supposed to be as strong as the user's heart. Artoria knew her Master certainly had a lot of strength in her heart, so the shield should have held firm… but for some reason, it did not.
Maybe because the shield Yuki used was a copy and not the genuine article was the reason why it did not have that particular aspect? Hmm, it does not matter now at this point, so Artoria dropped this line of thought. Otherwise, she would go back to berating herself for allowing her Master to become injured again while under her watch.
What was more on the Servant's mind was the way Yuki had defeated Berserker. Somehow, Yuki had been able to increase her strength to that equal to Berserker's, and her speed became even faster than Berserker's as well. She had never seen anyone accomplish such a feat. Her Master was all sorts of mystery.
The biggest mystery is her relationship with Saber. No matter what Artoria does, she cannot get her Master's physical appearance out of her head. If Artoria and Yuki are truly related, then Artoria will do whatever she can to have some sort of relationship with her.
Artoria takes family very seriously, and after the mess she made with Mordred, she was going to at least try to get along with someone of her bloodline. That is if Yuki truly is her descendant. Something she believes to be true. There is no proof yet, but something deep down inside was telling her that they were related.
"Yo, Saber. Got a minute?" a voice called from behind her, knocking her out of her thoughts.
Turning around, she saw it was Caster. "Caster… what do you want?"
Caster said nothing and walked towards Saber's direction, stopping at the edge of the roof. He stared out toward the town. Saber kept an eye on him, waiting for him to talk. He looked to be thinking about what to say. Saber couldn't be sure because he had a neutral look that did not give away anything.
"Your Master sure is something, huh?" he said, still looking out toward the town.
"I suppose," Saber simply said, deciding to go along with this small talk.
"What do you mean, 'you suppose'?" Caster turned his head towards Saber with a smirk. "She had knocked out nine of Berserker's lives all at once while everyone else was struggling to take out one. It's extremely tough for a human to be able to kill a Servant. So for your Master to be able to, that makes her pretty interesting."
"Where are you going with this?" she asked with a bit of a threatening undertone. She did not like the idea that Caster may be planning something with her Master.
"Relax, Saber. You got nothing to worry about for your Master," Caster then frowned. "Truth is, I've been making small talk as a way to work my way up to what I want to tell you."
"Then just tell me," Saber said.
Caster took a breath, then spoke. "What I want to tell you has to do with the identity of the Saber Class Servant that we're going after," Saber gave him a nod to continue, so he did. "This person is someone you're very familiar with," Caster looked for a reaction but didn't see any and continued.
"Anyone who's been struck by her Noble Phantasm will recognize it immediately."
"Her?" Saber muttered to herself, but Caster didn't hear it and kept talking.
"It's the most famous holy sword, even in this time period… Its name is Excalibur," Caster revealed, staring straight at Saber.
As for Saber, she may look calm on the outside, but on the inside, she is a swirl of emotions. There is only one person in all of history who has ever wielded Excalibur.
"It's the sword that belongs to King Arthur, the King of Knights… Your sword," Caster is giving Saber a meaningful look.
Yup, that confirms it. It seems she will have to fight against a version of herself from another timeline. Saber… is not entirely sure what to think about this. But one thing she knows for sure is that she helps her Master return home. Even if she has to fight herself.
"…I can see the resolve in your eyes. Good. I had to make sure wouldn't hesitate to fight another version of you," Caster commented.
"It is my Master's will to return home. I will make sure that it is fulfilled. I will not be swayed from this just because my opponent happens to be myself," Saber declared with conviction.
"No need to convince me further. I saw it for myself," Caster said, and Saber nodded.
"Is there anything else, Caster?" Saber inquired.
"Not really-"
"AAAHHH!"
Artoria knew the sound of the voice that made that scream. It was Yuki! Using her A-rank agility, Artoria dashed off to the nurse's office to find out what had happened that made Yuki scream like bloody murder.
The worst-case scenario was already playing through Artoria's mind. She was afraid that Yuki was being attacked once again. If that was true then Artoria might not be able to live down the shame that Yuki was injured by a sneak attack a second time while she was supposed to be protecting her. Not to mention, Ritsuka and Kana were with her. So they may also be in danger.
Caster followed but fell behind as his agility was only at C-rank. She burst into the room, her sword sheathed in Invisible Air, ready to fight whatever danger was threatening Yuki. Fortunately, the worst did not come to pass, much to Artoria's relief.
What she saw was Yuki sitting up with a hand clenched over her heart and hyperventilating. Her eyes were wide and glazed over, meaning her mind was somewhere else right now. Artoria was able to tell that Yuki was having some sort of flashback. She had seen the same look before on some of her knights.
The twins are kneeling beside her bed. Ritsuka was trying but failing to grab her attention away from whatever it was Yuki was seeing in her mind. Kana is staring with a worried look on her face. Caster, the Shielder named Mash, and the annoying Director have shown up, in the meantime.
"What happened?" Saber stepped forward, keeping her eye on her Master.
"We don't know," Kana answered. "Ritsuka and I were talking when Yuki shot up and started screaming."
"She looks to be having some sort of flashback," Caster pointed out what Saber had already deduced. He too had seen the same look on the faces of people he fought with. Particularly, when they were recalling something traumatizing. That thought did not soothe Saber's worries. What traumatizing event could her Master be stuck in?
"What do we do?" Kana asked, hoping to snap Yuki out of this sooner.
Saber decided to do something. She motioned for the twins to move away, which they reluctantly did, and slowly made her way towards Yuki. She made sure to be in front of Yuki's eyes.
"Yuki, can you hear me?" Artoria asked calmly. Yuki did not change and was still wide-eyed and hyperventilating. "Yuki, listen to my voice. I need you to take some deep breaths and slow down your breathing. Can you do that?" Yuki did not slow down, but from the look in her eyes, it looked like Artoria's voice was getting to her. Artoria repeated her advice to take deep breaths, and this time, it seemed Yuki had heard her.
"Good, Yuki," Artoria said softly. "Is it okay if I place my hand on your shoulder?" Yuki gave her a slow shaky nod. Saber reached out and gently grabbed her shoulder. Yuki flinched a little but calmed down a little more.
"Do you know where you are?" Artoria asked.
Yuki slowly took a look around the room. "I-in some kind of infirmary."
"You are in the nurse's office of the school," Artoria confirmed. "Do you remember the battle against Berserker?" Yuki nodded, and she didn't look scared when thinking of the battle. So, Artoria decided to ask directly after waiting a little longer for Yuki to calm down. "You were having some sort of vision or flashback. Do you know what it was about?"
Yuki tensed a little before she took a couple of deep breaths to calm down. "I need to explain some context first. Take a look at my eyes," Yuki closed her eyes and then opened them. Everyone saw the difference. Some gasped in surprise, and others widened their eyes. Her irises have changed color from green to cobalt blue. There were golden flecks in her irises swirling around her pupils.
"Mystic Eyes…" The Director of Chaldea identified what they are.
"These are the Mystic Eyes of Myriad Truths. I unlocked them when I just started my training as a magus. They allow me to analyze anything and everything. They also allow me to see anything's entire history. I used these eyes on Berserker. Everyone following so far?" she saw them all nod and continued.
"We all know Berserker is Heracles. What do you think happened when I used these eyes on him?" Yuki gave the question to everyone. The Saber and Caster were quick on the uptake, but Kana spoke first.
"Since they let you see history… You saw Berserker's entire life!?" Kana exclaimed in surprise. Mash, Olga, and Ritsuka all went wide-eyed at that conclusion.
"Yes," Yuki nodded to Kana. "Decades of his life in about one second. …It's why I woke up screaming," Yuki looked down at her lap at that admission. "My brain didn't analyze all the history earlier because we were in the middle of battle. I was focused on killing Berserker, not his history. So when I was asleep, my brain started to properly go through everything I saw in his history."
Seeing someone else's life… Someone as famous as Heracles. It must have been quite something, to see an ancient hero's life. To get the true history from the past. What if they were used on an object of a great magus of the past? The spells they could learn… the history they could learn…
These eyes have so much potential. A lot of magi would kill to have these eyes, and they probably would if it wasn't so hard to transplant Mystic Eyes into someone else. No, those magi would just have to settle for kidnapping Yuki and forcing her to use her Eyes for their own benefit.
…Not if her Saber or anyone else around her has anything to say about it.
"So, something that happened in Berserker's life was what terrified you?" Ritsuka asked.
"Yes," Yuki took another deep breath. "I saw the moment when Hera made Heracles go insane and forced him to kill his wife and children," everyone's eyes lit up in understanding.
"Ah… I guess it was pretty terrifying if your reaction was anything to go by," Ritsuka said.
"Yes, terrifying… and sad," Yuki was still looking down, her bangs covering her eyes. "I would like to rest a bit longer."
Olga was about to speak up against it, but Kana beat her to it. "Yeah, you can sleep a little longer. Maybe like another hour or two?" She looked to Caster.
"Yeah, an hour or two is fine," Caster allowed.
"Great! So get some good rest, Yuki," Kana helped Yuki lay back down.
Seeing as everything was over, Caster went back to patrolling, Olga left for somewhere, and Ritsuka left with Mash. Artoria and Kana stayed behind to keep an eye on Yuki, who had quickly fallen asleep. All of them have their own thoughts on Yuki.
Caster found her to be quite an interesting person. Someone with such potential as both a fighter and magus… For a second, he's actually having thoughts of training her, then he remembers that when this is all over, he's going to go back to the Throne. Maybe he can write some stuff.
Olga was thinking about the girl's potential as a magus. Mystic Eyes are a surefire sign of someone being a first-class magus. The fact that she naturally unlocked them so early on in her training is a testament to her massive potential. One that Olga wants to cultivate toward working with Chaldea. And if she brings in and trains such a magus, then maybe her efforts… No, let's not think about that right now.
Mash wasn't sure what to think, but she knew Yuki seemed to be important to her senpais. So she will do whatever she can to protect her. That's not to say she normally wouldn't. Even if Yuki was just a random civilian, Mash would protect her from any harm.
Artoria was now doubling down on her vow to be her sword. So far, she had defeated Rider and Assassin with the help of Yuki's planning. She was able to defeat Lancer with Mash's help. But with Berserker, Yuki had to kill him herself, and she managed to wipe out his remaining lives. But at what cost? Yuki had to witness one of Berserker's greatest tragedies and had seemingly broken down at what she saw. She does not want her to go through that again if she can help it.
Ritsuka and Kana were both upset that Yuki had gone through what she did. They wanted to help her out but didn't know how. They really don't know anything about her, but they really want to. There just hasn't been any time with the current situation they're in. Maybe when all of this is over, the three of them can finally sit down and have a proper talk.
As for Yuki, she was having a conversation of her own while in her sleep.
~X~
~ ? – ? ~
Yuki Emiya
I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming right now, but this feels too real to be a dream.
I found myself in a clearing inside a forest. Off to the side of the clearing looks to be a farm, with some crops growing and a small irrigation channel running right next to it. In front of me was a small one-story farmer's house that looked to have just enough room to fit a small family. It looks like a commoner's house from ancient times.
I didn't know what else to do, so I decided to go into the house. Just inside the door was a small dining area, and someone was already sitting at the table on the left side.
This person is this huge bronze-skinned man wearing a regular Greek chiton. He was about 195cm tall. He had this dark mane of hair that reached his back and golden eyes. It's pretty easy to tell who this is. After all, I just fought his Berserker form and went through his history.
"Greetings, little girl. I went through some trouble to be able to call you here. Have a seat," Heracles gestured to the seat across from him.
I stood there, stunned, for about a second before I snapped out of it and silently took a seat. Heracles was just looking at me, and I found it hard to match his gaze, so I started looking all around the house.
"You don't need to be so nervous. What happened to the girl who fearlessly took down my counterpart?" Heracles picked up on my nervousness and seemed to be a little amused. He tried to calm me down. It worked a little, so I got a good look at him.
"I remember you being taller," I said the first thing that came to mind with a straight face.
Heracles took a second to blink before he let out a booming laugh. It seems he found that amusing.
"What am I doing here?" I questioned him.
"I wanted to meet the person who managed to connect with my soul without going through a Persona Fusion," Heracles said once he calmed down from his laughter.
"Wait, you're my Persona now?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yes. Our souls have been connected. It wasn't through the usual methods but through something unheard of. I got curious and wanted to find out how it was done," Heracles replied.
"How did it happen?" I blinked at that info.
"It was when you went through the history of my counterpart. When you did that, your soul synchronized with it so well that it called me from the Sea of Souls," Heracles explained.
"Synchronized?" I asked.
"When you used that move, Nine Lives Blade Works, a variation of my Nine Lives, very impressive, by the way. Part of it was that you needed to copy my strength and godspeed. Your soul called for mine, and our souls synchronized so that you can copy my physical strength and pull it off," said Heracles.
"…Wow," is all I can say about the whole process to use the skill.
"Yup, now you know why I wanted to meet. This kind of thing has never happened before… But I think we can chalk it up to you being the Wild Card."
That's true. Wild Cards tend to do things that seem impossible. Always somehow winning unwinnable situations.
"Would I be able to do something like this again?" I asked curiously.
"Who knows? Anything is possible with a Wild Card," Heracles shrugged his shoulders.
"Hmm, is this all you wanted to talk about?" I asked.
"Yeah, I got everything I wanted to see. I'll say that I'm looking forward to seeing your journey. If you can defeat another version of me so early on in it… I can tell you're going to do amazing things later," Heracles was giving me a grin.
"Huh. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Herc," I honestly said.
There was a flash of light from the outside, and everything around me started disappearing.
"Huh, looks like your body is waking up," Herc explained what was going on. "We'll talk again at a later time, little girl. First, you need to get out of the living hell you're trapped in," he finished as everything disappeared from my view.
~X~
~ Homurahara Academy – Nurse's Office ~
I opened my eyes and slowly sat up with a groan. Jeez, my body feels way worse than before. I took a look around the room, and no one was here. How long did I rest? I didn't notice this earlier, but I'm still in Shirou's clothes. The right sleeve of the shirt and jacket are gone because I tore off what was left of it. There were some small tears around, and it's covered in my dried blood. My right arm is bandaged up once again.
Well, with no one around, this gives me time to go over my new notifications.
.
[Due to certain actions, a new skill has been acquired.]
[Nine Lives Blade Works] Level: 20 [0%]
A variation of Nine Lives used by Yuki by Tracing Berserker's Axe-Sword. Yuki can synchronize with Heracles' soul so well that she can copy his monstrous strength and the godspeed needed for this skill. This skill allows Yuki to deliver 9 simultaneous strikes.
- Base Damage: 1000% of user's STR times 9.
- Stamina Cost: 90%.
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[You have defeated Servant Berserker (Heracles).]
Rewards: 40000 EXP, Berserker's Axe-Sword, increased REP with the Chaldeans.
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[Due to certain actions, a debuff has been modified.]
[Severely Weakened Body]
Due to your intense fight with Berserker, the fact you fought while your body was still weak, and your injuries, your body has been severely overworked. You'll need proper rest to get rid of this debuff.
- Maximum stamina has been reduced by 40%.
- Stamina depletes 20% faster.
- STR, END, and DEX are reduced by 20%.
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No wonder why I feel so much weaker now. Haah, it's going to be annoying finishing the rest of this quest. I got out of bed and tried to stretch all the kinks out of my body. At this moment, the door opened, and Kana entered the room. She took notice of me right away.
"Yuki, you're up!?" Kana looked surprised and happy.
"Yeah. Where are the others?" I asked.
"They're around somewhere. I know Caster is down by the entrance of the school." Kana replied.
"Good, let's go meet so he can tell everyone I'm awake, and we can get a move on," I left the office and started making my way to Caster.
"Are you sure? You just woke up," Kana followed me from behind.
"I just want to get out of this place," I told her with a tone of finality.
Kana kept silent the rest of the way to Caster. He was glad to see me up and walking, and he gave me this book on runes for whatever reason. He would not explain why. He then left to gather the others at the entrance so we could move forward.
Basics of Runes, By Cu Chulainn.
[Would you like to use this book to learn a new skill?]
Uh… yes.
The book opened up, and blue particles were coming off the pages. Those particles made their way toward me and disappeared into my body.
[Due to certain actions, a new skill has been discovered.]
[Rune Magic] Level: 1 [0%]
Rune Magic is the strongest form of Norse Magic. You can carve runes into objects to give certain effects or chant the runes' names and sounds to cast spells.
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Huh, who knew it would be that easy to get the basics started? Thanks, Cu.
"Woah! What was that?" Kana asked in surprise. Oops, I forgot she was here.
"That's a secret," I don't know how I should explain it to her.
"Oh, come on…" Kana whined, trying to get me to tell.
"Maybe I'll tell you another time. Just… keep this a secret from the others."
Kana agreed to keep silent, much to my relief.
Eventually, the others all came and were glad to see me up and about while also worrying about the fact I was up and about. I made it clear that I was done with this place and wanted to fix the Singularity as soon as possible, something Olga nodded in agreement with. With that, we headed off to the Grail Chamber.
"Saber, I tried contacting you through our link when I woke up, but it didn't seem to work," I told her, looking to get an answer as to why.
"I apologize, Yuki, but due to certain circumstances, I am unable to communicate through our bond," she explained.
"Hmm. Anything else I need to know?"
"I am also unable to enter the Astral Form all other Servants can use."
"Is this also because of these special circumstances?"
"Yes,"
"Will you tell me about them?"
"…I apologize," is all she said. That means she won't tell me. Well, I won't push her on it.
"Hey, Yuki?" Ritsuka caught up to us and got my attention.
"What is it? I asked him.
"When all of this is over, Kana and I need to talk to you," he said.
"About what?"
"Uh… just some things on our minds. We talk about them when we get through this,"
"Sure," I agreed to the talk.
"Great!" he retreated to Kana, probably to tell her I agreed. I wonder what they want to talk about.
…Haah, I wonder if I'm prepared for our next set of opponents. We'll run into EMIYA, the guy who's an alternate version of Ritsuka and Kana's father and someone whom I might be related to. Then, after him, we can finally deal with Saber Alter. I wonder how Saber will react to her.
Speaking of EMIYA, I need to try to convince Caster to allow me to fight him or, at the very least, be there to help fight him. I'm being selfish here because I've been getting rewards for defeating the Servants. I'm hoping to get some good rewards for defeating EMIYA.
We're almost finished. Hopefully, when we defeat Saber Alter, I can go back home. I've had it with this place.
~X~
Social Links:
0 – Fool (Igor) – Rank 2
I – Magician (Morgana) – Rank 2
V – Hierophant (Sojiro Sakura) – Rank 3
VI – Lovers (Ann Takamaki) – Rank 1
VII – Chariot (Ryuji Sakamoto) – Rank 4
XIV – Temperance (Artoria Pendragon) – Rank 1
XVII – Star (Issei Hyoudou) – Rank 3
Author's Note:
Chapter 8 is done. The Singularity F Arc should be done in another two chapters,
After that, we're going back to Persona and new Social Links.
As always, constructive criticism is appreciated.
(Preview)
"Her body has taken a lot of punishment in a short time, and she is incredibly exhausted."
"And she still wants to fight Archer!?."
"Like I said, she's acting stupid."
(x)
"The moment you pull out that sword, you will never be able to live a normal life."
"…You were there when I made my vow to carve my own Fate.
You were there when I made my decision in the Dimensional Gap.
What made you think that I ever had the option to live a normal life before this moment?"
All I received was a smile in return.
(x)
"I won't let you get away with this…"
"Oh? How amusing, you think you have the power to stop me?"
I gripped the black domino mask that formed on my face and tore it off.
"PERSONA!"