Fate/Clusterfuck (Fate/Stay Night)

[Erien]

View: https://youtu.be/B-QCPX6nabI?si=QGiMAXN3X_xpwdeD&t=22

[The Worst Possible Timeline]

Commissioned by my good friend @Dragontrapper

*Circe POV*

Soon, you would be with him, in the real world. The training had been lovely, and you knew he had been getting lessons from your niece. You would turn him into a proper magus, you would leave your final mark on this world before you died, and you would get a certain itch scratched. So you charged in, mounted upon your pigs, and saved his life, but you found…

You found…

"Hello again auntie!" a cheerful voice greeted you.

You stared down at the blue haired girl standing in front of Shirou, the staff she wielded was nearly twice again as tall as she was, and, despite the fact that she was on a blood covered battlefield, she looked every bit the angelic princess you recalled her being when she was twelve. You stared at her, then slowly raised a hand to pinch your cheek. This shouldn't be… this couldn't be. "Me-Medea?" you ask, maybe it was just a servant that looked like her and the Throne had made a mistak-

Your doom tilted its head. Then smiled. "Of course! Are you here to help?"

You stare down at Medea. Processing that, the battle forgotten. Distantly you could hear Archer being shot to death by Brihanalla, but that wasn't important. "Why… why are you here?"

Medea blinked. "Because my prince rescued me!"

You stare at the witch for a moment, then turn to look at Shirou. "I thought you rescued… she was… has she always been a child?"

Shirou stared at you for a moment, then nodded. "Yes?"

"So when she attempted to… seduce… you…"

Shirou nodded again.

"I'm waiting for my noble prince to take my first time!"

You draw in a breath, it is a leveled, controlled thing. Taught to you by eons of magical training. A witch does not panic, she takes things as they come. So what if Medea was twenty years younger than she was supposed to be, so what if the timeline had violently changed on you, so what if you even got close to Shirou now she would stab you in your sleep?

You could deal with thi-

You turned to head to the heavens and howled. "Hekate! I'll fucking kill you!"

And somewhere, far beyond in the stars, an alien machine chortled.

 

[Erien]

View: https://youtu.be/bMb_sBG-gFE?si=jgVyzE8hgd1IvcVi

[Mordred]

This is non-canon, but in another time, it could be.

—

"Ar…thur." Mordred says quietly, staring at you. She tilts her head one way, then the other, green eyes staring… not so much at you, as around you. Like an unfocused camera, she was taking everything in, but not really 'seeing' it. She was in a borrowed outfit, a red t-shirt to hide the bloodstains and a pair of pants from your younger years that managed to fit her. The woman was fit, but was far from weighty.

"Good timing," You say with a smile. "Mordred, can you get that spatula sitting there by the oven?"

Mordred blinks, one eye, then the other. Then she slowly turned her head to look at the oven, her movements were sluggish, very tired. She tilts her head, then slowly walks over to it, bare feet slapping against the tile floor of the kitchen before she comes to a stop before the oven. She reaches a hand and grab-

"No, the thing just to the left."

She grabbed the spatula. "Arthur."

"Thanks, bring it here?"

Mordred stared at the spatula for a few moments, then slowly made her way over to you. She then gently placed it down onto the counter.

You smile again. "Thank you Mordred." Then you pick it up and begin to place the eggs onto the plate. One… two… eight… twelve… and lightly more yet still will be needed. It promises to be a big breakfast, and to think, there was time when you thought feeding Taiga alone was enou-

"Ar…thur?"

"Yes?" you ask, turning to look at your servant.

Mordred was staring at the display of fruit in a basket nearby, her hand reaching for, but stopping just short of an apple there. She slowly turned her head towards you, "Arthur?"

You smile a touch wider. "Go ahead."

As Mordred removed the fruit you watched her, her movements were… unreal. She moved like she was trapped in a thick syrup. Medea had stated more than once that there wasn't anyone 'there' not truly. A ghost of a person that had once existed. Her attitude in battle was that ghost just taking over temporarily.

"Want some juice to go with it?"

Mordred did nothing for several movements, then nodded with two minute jerks of the head like a piece of unoiled machinery. You turned towards the fridge, then paused as you felt someone press against your back. It was her head, unmoving, she was simply standing behind you and pressing her forehead against your back.

"Shi…r…o…u"

You closed your eyes, and let her stay there as long as she needed to. "Always." You say quietly. "Thank you for all your help so far."

"Shi…rou."

"You're welcome."

—

It's funny to me, honestly. I don't particularly care about Mordred. Her being in this story was simply the point of divergence, the original one. I had simply planned on Shirou being delayed in the park, and Rin fixing her clock. But things quickly grew out of control from there.

Mordred is an interesting character to be certain, one nearly as tragic to me as Artoria is. In another time, things could have gone differently were it not for the actions of Morgan. But a lot of Arthurian legend is tragedy. Both in the Fate verse, and ours. Mordred hasn't had much of a role to play in this story, she can't, really. When I made her a berserker I deliberately wanted it to be an oldschool style. Berserkers being just regular servants with odd quirks (ie, FGO) annoys me. So she will remain broken, you can't remove madness enhancement forever. But that doesn't mean she isn't an interesting character, and won't have her own story to tell.

Because, hoo boy, there's spicy stuff coming for her to deal with specifically.

So please look forward to that, and have a Merry Christmas.

 

[Erien]

alt. Timeline where Shirou did team up with Rin…

Thanks to @Dragontrapper for the comm!

—

In another time, in another place… things went rather normally all things considered. Shirou got
stabbed in a hallway, then almost stabbed at home. A witch was found by another, Shirou bonded with Rin, and a conflict over a grail was had. In truth, it was remarkably similar to what had happened in all other permutations of the timeline. Barring a few, key, differences.

Namely, that things were… remarkably more tense, at least as far as the servants were concerned.

Brihannala's arrow shrieked through the air, and Mordred brought up her blade to parry it. Clarent screamed as the arrow skidded along its length, and Mordred ducked to the side as it went flying past, missing Arthur's armor by mere inches. Saber leapt forward, her backside missing the erupting flames of the explosion, but only barely. She landed with a crunch, sidelong with her 'ally' and grunted.

"We are allies in this fight, Mordred."

"Never said we weren't, now you gonna pass out? Or are you going to actually fight."

Saber said nothing, and charged. Saber sped to the right, her feet a blur as she crossed the distance between instants faster than the mind could process. Brihannala swung around, arrow already drawn, string taut, and released. Saber was a powerful servant, beyond that a king, beyond that blessed. And as she raised her blade, as she caught the arrow, it took every fiber of her being to try and hold it back. Metal screamed, Avalon howled. And distantly, at the very edge of her hearing she heard it.

"CLARENT, BLOOD ARTHUR!"

The world went red, every window in the church burst outwards, and distantly, Rin and Shirou watched with mute astonishment as the western facade of the building simply fell to the ground, then the roof collapsed, taking the rest of the building with it. They both stared, then, without a word, Rin raised a hand and slapped Shirou on the back of the head.

—

Saber raised herself from the rubble, dust, rock, and tile falling off of her in a clatter not unlike a hailstorm. Twenty feet away, Brihannala also rose, hair disheveled, dress torn. Their eyes met, weapons were rai-

"CLARENT, BLOOD ARTHUR!"

—

Shirou felt…

Shirou…

Woozy.

Shirou felt woozy.

—

Saber remained from where she lay on the ground, staring up at the night sky, wondering, briefly, why Rin had believed this alliance to be a good idea in any capacity. Perhaps it was simply the folly of Magus, perhaps she was an idealist. Perhaps she was an idiot. All she knew was that she was, admittedly, fine, but was rather nervous about sitting up again. Distantly, the crunch of gravel and stone was heard, and she turned her gaze minutely to see Mordred sauntering into the smoldering remains of the church, sword bouncing on her shoulder, a grin on her face.

She opened her mouth to speak, only for an arrow to catch her in the side, sending the rebellious knight tumbling end over end and out of the church with all the grace of a particularly lopsided bowling ball. Saber watched her go, then gently extricated herself from the ruin. Turning her head, she saw Brihannala, bow drawn, now pointed at her.

"You could have warned her." Brihannala noted.

"She, in her brilliance, has decided warnings are not needed. Lest they miss their 'allure' as accidents'."

Brihannala's eyes take on a curious sheen, then she smiles, ever so slightly. "Ah, yes, I am aware of the type."

"Family?" Saber asks.

"Family." Brihannala confirms.

Then the battle continued.

… Sans Mordred, as upon the attempted third noble phantasm, her master was reduced to drooling on the floor.