Fate/Clusterfuck (Fate/Stay Night)

[Erien]

[X] [Of a Weeping Woman]

[X] [Of a Girl Saving Humanity]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

—

You scream into the woman's hand, your voice muffled and producing no understandable sounds. She glances down at you, moving the hand away for a moment. Then chants… something before you have a time to scream out your spell…

Then things go rather dark.

—

Then things are… rather less dark, instead, your world is lit by an orange flickering that casts a schizophrenic light on everything. You blink, your eyes adjusting, and you find yourself no longer in the air, no longer being held, in fact, you find yourself standing… somewhere that was definitely not Fuyuki. You stood upon a beach, not the one of your hometown, and not the one of Circe's land either. But it was… familiar, the scraggly plants, the deep blue waters turned nearly black by the night, and the snow capped gray mountains in the distance were all vaguely familiar by now as being European. Or, at least, vaguely Grecian.

Your mind however, was not able to focus on that scenery for incredibly long, as your ears perked up at the sound of a sobbing woman. You turn left, away from the crashing waters, to see the source of that orange flickering light. A-

A town was burning, flames pillaring into the sky as screams echo in the distance. For one, brief moment, you had nothing but the sound of crying and that of water. And then, seemingly just by acknowledging it, a terrible moment came to pass. A village, not a large one, built in a similar style to what Circe lived in was aflame. Crashing timbers and yells of fright filled the air as trees lit, crops burned, and animals ran. You could see figures distantly sprinting, fighting the flames, running out of buildings alight. It was chaos, a familiar… sickening chaos.

Then you hear the sobbing again, and you tear your gaze away despite yourself. Looking far closer to see… Medea. She stands on the sands, staring out into the distant horizon, ignoring the flames and screams behind her. Her eyes are vacant, with heavy tears running down them to drip onto clothes. Her hair was matted with… blood, it appeared, streaks of it dripping down onto her face and onto the sand, painting the white a dull brown all around her. In her hand was… some form of knife, jagged and misshapen like a lightning bolt.

The blood upon her wasn't near all of it, bodies laid around her, decorating the sand. Men, women, children. A good half in all, none moving, but each had deep wounds decorating their bodies. Most, at a panicked glance, had the same shade of hair as her, with some blonde mixed in as well.

Drip drip.

The knife dripped blood onto the sand, held in a grip so tight her fingers were bleeding. She didn't notice.

"Caster?" you say softly.

You take a step forward, or, make an attempt to. Only to find your feet rooted on the spot, the sand you were standing in holding tight to your feet.

"I want to go home…" Caster's voice speaks up, so quiet you almost think it was an illusion. "Why can't… I go home?"

"Caster!" you shout. Struggling, the sand was like a living thing, crawling up your leg and crushing it.

You collapse forward, something snapping in your legs as the sand grows fingers to dig into your flesh. Then it tugs, yanking you back in the sand. Your fingers slam into the beach, tearing rivets in the ground as you are pulled back into the Earth. "Medea!"

Then, only then does Caster look up towards you, only for her hands to jerk to her chest, grabbing onto a blade now protruding from it. Appearing like a wraith or spirit, a man with blonde hair now stands behind her, a blank expression on his face as he wrenches the blade back, slicing Caster's hands to ribbons in the process.

The woman pitches forward onto the sand, and you try and crawl forward, wrench your legs free. Do anything, but the last thing you see if the man standing over her before you are yanked fully into the ground

—

You cough, sputtering, puking out wads of sand that aren't there as you kneel over the… asphalt. Your body ached, your legs throbbed, your throat felt raw, and your fingers were bleeding. But you were… fine. Then you looked up to see if Caster was there, and you were far, far less than fine. Your eyes stung immediately from the smoke that surrounded you, but you hardless noticed. As in front of you was…

Homurahara academy.

Or, at least, it used to be. Your heart chilled despite the heat around you, a sickening feeling spreading throughout your entire body. As, what was just earlier today a building you were working in, was now in ruins. Chunks were missing from the walls, from the ground, entire sides of the building were just gone. Through the windows and across the grounds were raging fires that engulfed the building. Just ahead of you, no more than three or four feet away from the edge of the street. Were your classmates,

Were.

They were petrified, frozen in a moment of time, shock and horror etched onto their now forms made of… stone? This… couldn't be happening. Not again, not in Fuyuki, again. Your mind flashed with scenes from that night, and you scrambled to your feet, your fingers scraping against the asphalt and concrete as you forced yourself upwards towards the first student. They were… you couldn't tell. Where their head had been was now just a bloody stump of a wound that ran down onto the gray like a macabre waterfall. Something had ripped it off, or broken it, but whoever the student was, they were far from alive.

Bile filled your mouth, then erupted unbidden, your hand clamping over your mouth as you puked out what little lunch you had eaten earlier in the day onto the ground. You found yourself there, on the ground. A puddle of blood was on the ground from where the student had been decapitated, and your manic, wide-eyed expression was staring back at you.

As was a skeleton, illuminated by the flame reflecting off of its bones.

You jerk to the side, rolling through the blood as sparks fly off the ground. In the skeleton's grip was a wicked looking, jagged black blade that just narrowly missed you. The skeleton turns its head to look at you, your eyes meeting the empty sockets of its skull. A growl made of chattering bones sounds out from its unhinged jaw. Then it lunges again.

You scoot back, your feet digging into the ground as you try to slide across the rough asphalt road you had landed on. The skeleton raises its blade to slam down, and you jerk your own hand up. "Αερο!" the spell comes out of your throat, less the careful conjuration of a magus, and more the desperate scream of a teenager trying not to be killed in the burning remains of his hometown.

But your circuits come to life nevertheless. A blast of wind slams into the torso of the skeleton, causing it to bend backwards until with several snaps of breaking bones the torso is violently ejected backwards away from the rest of the body, causing the rest to fall to the ground with a clatter a moment later.

You'd catch your breath, or even just take a moment to process that. But what you saw ahead of you was…

There was a small horde of the things, climbing over crashed cars and ruined streets. Pouring out of the buildings that surrounded the school to get to you. But that wasn't what you were focused on. It wasn't the bodies. It wasn't the scent of blood. It was the smoke and flame, it was all you could see for miles into the distance as Fuyuki burned, again. It was a memory you had held all of your life, it was your earliest memory. Now it had returned with a horrible clarity. Only before… only part of Fuyuki was ablaze, the screams, the shouts of agony. The people dancing within the fires, the heat peeling away at their flesh around you. Now? Now there was nothing but silence and a dead city. The only noise being that of the clattering skeletons running to end you.

Had they done this? Or was it something else.

Did it matter? Soon they would be on you, and nothing you had been taught could even deal with that many. Was there even anyone here to help? Would anyone even be here to help you? No. You couldn't think about that at the moment, pressing your hands down against the asphalt you pushed yourself back up onto your feet. Then you ran, sprinting through the streets as more and more of the skeletons crawled out of the buildings. Your feet skidded across the asphalt, slipping in the gas, oil, and… worse things as you leapt over rifts in the asphalt from where it has been torn open.

The world around you becomes a blur as you sprint through the west-end of Fuyuki, trying to find someone, something, anything.

And then you hear it, distant, like a bell. But it becomes more and more pronounced the farther you run.

Clang.

The sound of clanging metal and shouts of effort. You pump your legs faster, ignoring the flames and skeletons around you. Trying to get to something that resembled a sign of life in this hell you had wandered into. You leap past a skeleton reaching out to you, its body covered in viscera. Then land just in front of the bay, you jerk back around to blast it. Only to find… it, and the rest just standing there. Staring at you. They all stopped as one, their jaws clicking and their bodies swaying from side to side, but they weren't moving forward any longer.

Clang.

You looked ahead to see… two girls and a monster. The two girls were closest to you, one with pink hair and one with a bright orange not dissimilar to your own. The pink one was swinging a gigantic shield around, while the other was standing just behind her, watching the ongoing fight.

What they were fighting was… another woman, but impossibly tall. A good ten feet or higher, with long purple hair and a black dress. In her hands was a long, wicked looking scythe that was swinging with abandon in front of her to slam against the shield. The girl with pink hair was being pushed back repeatedly, but she held it up regardless.

You started to run again. You had no idea what was going on in Fuyuki, you had no idea if this even really was Fuyuki. But someone was in danger. That was reason enough. The woman with the scythe swings it around again, knocking the girl with the shield off balance and to the side. Then, with a wicked laugh she charges forward, bringing it to bear onto the orange haired woman. You dive, tackling her out of the way and onto the pavement.

The scythe screams overhead, narrowly missing you. And you find yourself staring down at the girl, she herself looking up at you in abject confusion. "A… who?"

"Master, a survivor!" a voice calls out from behind you. It was then quickly followed up by a shout.

You turn your head to look back, only to suddenly feel rather weightless all of a sudden. You blink, then look down as you are raised off of the ground by a scythe jutting out the front of your chest. It was… surreal, and strangely, without pain. You looked back down to see the orange-haired girl looking at you in complete horror.

Then you are flung.

You don't feel much of anything after that.

—

You feel… warm, a comfortable warm. Not the warmth caused by flame, the warmth caused by… thick blankets on a Winter's morning. It was joined in addition by the scent of… pancakes? How lovely, Taiga must have cooked a breakfast for you.

Wait.

No.

That didn't make sense.

You snap your eyes open to see-

—

Yes this has consequences.

[] [A Purple haired woman]

[] [A… maid]

[] [A young girl with snow-white hair]

 

[Erien]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHQ_L_bA2gY

[] [A young girl with snow-white hair]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

—

Your eyes snap open, and the first thing you feel is… confusion. As you find yourself staring up at the roof of a four poster bed. You had seen one before, in a museum, but had never laid in one. That in itself was unusual. Beyond that the room you were in was… odd, it wasn't Japanese in the slightest. Floral pattern wallpaper, marble pillars holding up the roof. A wood burning fireplace decorated by a gilded mirror, and little stuffed animals placed around the room. It was, in appearance, the room of a little princess. In a castle straight out of fairytales.

"Grhm." You grunt. Your mind feels… clouded, and your body feels heavy. You could feel your blood moving through your veins throughout your body.

Your nose twitched again at the smell of pancakes, and you turned your head to see… a little girl. She was wearing a purple dress and a white skirt, and between that, her bright red eyes, and her snow-white hair there was something… otherworldly about her. Not in any horrific way, or what you felt from time to time on Circe's island. No, this was like she had been plucked from a storybook and put in front of you. She was sitting on a wooden chair, a small smile on her face. Just beside her on a little table was a plate of steaming pancakes and… orange juice?

"Good morning, Shirou." The girl says, her voice soft and pleasant.

Was it… morning? Your eyes glanced towards the end of the room towards the windows, where, indeed, soft rays of light were coming in. Then you jerked yourself up in a sitting position, your mind snapping back into focus. How did she know your name? Where were you? Why were your hands tied up!?

You stare down at the ropes binding your wrists together. Your mind whirring, the last thing you remember was… getting kidnapped by the woman with purple hair. Before that there was… Rin showing up with a servant, and you… Your memories were a blur, a mess of images and sounds all crashing into each other as you try to desperately push through the haze.

You shake your head from side to side, then turn your focus onto the little girl. "Do we… know each other?"

The girl smiles a touch wider. "I know you, Shirou… Emiya. Do you know my name?"

You stare at her. She rather stood out, it's not a face you would easily forget. But you didn't recognize her.

"I don't." you reply. Then you move to adjust yourself on the bed, but find the bindings on your hands make the task rather difficult. The ropes were tight, far too tight for you to break. "Why am I tied up?"

"So you can't run away of course! That wouldn't do at all." the girl replies, smiling beatifically. "Do you not like being tied up?"

"I… can't say that I enjoy it," you reply.

The girl giggles. "Well, I could just throw you in the dungeon as we do the rest of our enemies."

You don't know if she's kidding. Frankly you are afraid to ask. This whole situation was… surreal. You tug your wrists again, but the rope barely budges. When you last were… conscious, Rin was in danger, as was Caster.

The girl's eyes flit to the ropes. "Even if you broke free you would never get away from the castle, we're surrounded by miles of forest in all directions. Why don't you just give up and eat breakfast? Or is your servant that important to you?"

You take in a breath, then parse your situation. When you were last conscious, Rin was being chased off by a… second servant of yours? You were still unsure, your house was partially demolished. Then you were kidnapped, and if the sequence of events were what they appeared to be… "She is. Are you the master of the servant who kidnapped me?"

The girl blinks, then nods. A look of surprise flitting across her face before she gets out of her seat to give you a curtsy, her fingers delicately lifting up her skirt as she bows her head towards you.

"Illyasviel von Einzbern." Her head then lifts, her eyes meeting your own. A rather expectant look is on her face. The standoff lasts for several seconds, before she drops the skirt, standing straight once more. "Do you know who I am?"

You shake your head slowly.

The girl's eyes widen, and a manic twitch goes across her face for a moment before she closes her eyes and lets out a slow breath. She shakes her head from side to side, the glittering white hair waving around her. Then she smiles once more, unlike before however, this smile was obviously forced. "That's… fine. Please eat, I will be back shortly."

Then without another word she walks past the bed and out the door in the room, the wood hitting the frame with a slam. You stare after her for a moment, then turn your head back towards the plate sitting on the table. You had no idea where you were, who that was, why you are here… but you are damn hungry. You wanted to go after the girl to ask what was wrong and if you could help, but she seemed… a little upset. And you had enough practice avoiding people that were upset at you for reasons you didn't understand. It usually ended in pain, physical or emotional.

Scooting across the bed, you gingerly grab the fork with your bound hands and take a bite.

It's… good.

You aren't sure why that surprised you. A fairly loud portion of your mind was screaming at you for stopping to eat when there was a chance people needed you. But… your stomach aches, mana drain? You weren't sure, all you knew was that the food was ambrosia that was quickly wiping away the pain your stomach was announcing.

"Surprisingly calm, aren't you? Is that bravery? Or just a brave face I wonder." A soft voice speaks up just a few feet in front of you.

You snap your head up as the purple-haired woman fades into view. Literally. Her expression was flat, with a blindfold over her eyes to make it doubly hard to read her. You jerk back, the fork clattering down onto the floor as your back hits the bed.

That causes the woman to smile. She steps forward, leaning over you, her purple hair blocking your vision to either side as she hovers just a half foot or so above your own face. "Interesting…"

You don't respond, instead you ball your hands. You doubt you could do much, but at the very least you could get a jab into her stomach then run if she planned on killing you.

The woman leans back again, one hand moving to her hip. "Are you worried about your servant?"

You pause, staring up at the woman. It wasn't a question you expected. Frankly, you didn't know what you did expect. This had been so far a very weird morning. But you also didn't see any point in lying. "Yes." You answer.

The woman smiles wider. Then take another step back. "Then allow me to make you an offer. I can guide you out of the castle. But after that you are on your own. Or… you can stay here. Illya means you no harm after all.

You highly doubt that, but you don't say that aloud. "Am I really supposed to believe you'll just let me out of here?"

The woman flicks her wrist up, and with the sound of snapping fibers the ropes around your wrist falls away. Cut cleanly through. "I am not letting you do anything. I was asked to bring you to the castle, what you do after is of course up to you. Though Illya will be upset if you flee."

—

[] [Flee]
You have to help Rin and Caster.

[] [Stay]
You feel like this is a trap.

---

Once again sorry for the short length, today was the first time in a while that I was able to eat, brain is still... fuzzy.

 

[Erien]

[Stay]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

—

You… don't have a lot of options. A certain, very loud and desperate part of your brain was screaming at you to leave. To make a break for it. To get back to the house and help Caster and Rin. That was your purpose in life, your goal, that was what you were saved for to begin with. You had to help people.

But…

You didn't know where you even were. Even if you got out of here, even if the servant was lying. You had never seen anything close to this near Fuyuki. Even a glance out the window showed a thick, snow covered forest as far as the eye could see. With precisely none of it resembling the surroundings of Fuyuki in any way. Were you still even in Japan? You had no idea, you had no idea how long you were even unconscious. The one thing you had at the moment, the one thing that kept you at least somewhat anchored, was the fact that your command seals were still present on your wrist. Which meant, hopefully, that Medea was still alive. Whether that meant anything regarding the second servant you had no idea, but for now… you would trust in Caster.

You look back towards the other servant, you had a sense the woman was studying you despite her apparent blindness. "I don't wish to stay, but I don't know the way back. And Illya seemingly wanted me here for a reason, and I want to know why."

"Do you not care about your servant?"

You glare at the woman. "Of course I do. But I also trust her, and I assume Illya doesn't plan on keeping me here forever. I don't trust you enough to believe you wouldn't stab me in the back the moment I stepped outside this mansion."

"Harsh words." The servant says, amusement in her voice. "Bravado?"

You don't answer, instead just stare at the woman. Then she fades from you, turning into little motes of golden light before she is gone completely from view. Leaving you alone in the pastel colored, gaudy child's room with naught but a plate of pancakes for company and your own thoughts.

—

They were good pancakes, but now that you had gotten your senses fully back in order you were about ready to find out what was actually going on in this… mansion. Pushing yourself off of the bed you make your way through the room towards the large and heavy wooden door. It was a good seven feet tall and looked thicker than every wall in your house combined. But, much to your relief you find it unlocked.

It swings open with a long, drawn out creak, and you find yourself looking out into not a hallway, and… as you slightly were expecting you didn't find yourself staring into the maw of a torture chamber either. No, you were staring at a garden. Reds, purples and white flowers decorated out of season green grass. Despite the open air above, there was no snow here, it piled on the roofs surrounding the garden, but none fell directly onto it. Each bed was decorated in addition by little statues and fountains, giving an austere, European air to the entire scene that was hilariously out of place when compared to where you were fighting just a short… hopefully just a short time prior.

The courtyard garden itself was a long rectangular thing, with a gazebo on one end, and a veranda overlooking the forest on the other. Surrounding it on all other sides was the building. A tall, multistoried building made of yellow brick and capped by tall and regal towers. It wasn't a mansion, it wasn't a manor. You had somehow managed to find yourself in a castle. Then, movement catches your eye. Standing up from where she had been hidden behind the flowers was a woman. She was dressed head to toe in… some form of maid outfit, and her eyes, blood red, meet your own for a moment before she wanders over to a different section of the flower bed to start pulling weeds, a wicker basket slung underneath one of her arms.

You walk forward, your shoes clicking against the stone paving of the garden. It was… warm, that was the first thing you noticed as you moved. The snow falling in the air should have made this cold, even more so with the sheer amount of stone around. But it was… pleasant, almost spring-like in temperature here. You come to a stop a few feet away from the woman, the maid you suppose pulling at weeds with machine-like efficiency.

"Where am I?" you ask.

The woman pauses, then turns her head slowly to look at you with an interesting expression. Namely that she didn't have one to speak of. She wasn't looking at you flatly, she wasn't even making a show of being neutral. She just had no expression. No light in her eyes, and no curve to her lips.

"The Einzbern Mansion," the maid replies.

"Where… is that?" you ask.

"Germany." The maid replies quietly, then returns to picking weeds.

Your breath halted, shortly followed by our heart as you processed that statement. What!? How long were you ou-

"That was a joke," the maid follows up. "Please watch your step around the flowers."

You look down to see that you are still standing on the steps, though your heart is currently attempting to go for a walk on its own going by the pounding.

"That was also a joke." The maid said, still no inflection in her tone.

You draw in a deep breath, forcing yourself calm over the course of several seconds. If kyudo taught you anything it was how to do… that. Then you focus on the woman again. "Are we still in Japan?"

The maid looks up at you from her work, then slowly nods.

"Where's Illya?"

She raises a pale finger to point past you towards the gazebo, where indeed on closer inspection you could make out Illya through the gaps of the wood. You couldn't tell what she was doing or if she was looking your way. But another maid was present there, staring directly at you.

"Thanks." You say, then leave the maid behind to walk over.

The gazebo, like everything else here, was fancy. White wood, intricately carved with golden decoration inlaid all over it. A white marble table sat in the center of it, next to which Illya sat on a white and gold chair, a tea set steaming into the air in front of her as she eyed you. You came to a stop at the entrance of the thing looking into it. Illya was as you last saw her, though her expression was painfully flat. A deliberate controlled expression like royalty looking down upon their subjects, careful to show nothing.

The maid standing just to her right however, made no such effort. She was near identical to the other one down to the paleness of the skin and the color of the eyes. The only change was that this one was remarkably more… svelte, would be the polite way to put it. She was, in any case, outwardly glaring at you, her eyes narrowed.

"So you are staying?" Illya asks.

"I would think your servant told you that already," you reply. "You seemed to know who I was, I wanted to know why."

Illya tilts her head slightly, her white hair shifting behind her. "I didn't expect you to leave your room so early. Do you not care about your servant mister?"

… She worded that exactly as the purple-haired servant did. You give the same answer. "I trust my servant to be safe and fine, if I could help her right now I would. But I don't know where I am or what is going on." You close your eyes then shake your head. "She is strong, and if you wanted me dead I would be already. Your servant easily got away with me, killing me would be… easy." You step forward into the gazebo, coming to a stop just across from Illya with the table standing between you. "You brought me here for a reason, I want to go back home. But I want to know why you wanted to meet me. Is it because I'm another master? I was hoping you weren't one, not someone so young."

You didn't know if the servant was just under her employ or lived with her. But the girl was making no effort in concealing the command seals on the back of the hand that rested on the table. Confidence? Or a warning. You couldn't say, you also were fairly sure it didn't matter.

Illya is staring at you, blinking slowly. An awkward few seconds pass before she lets out a sigh, her gaze falling to the table. "My father was Kiritsugu Emiya."


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSydVlRWfhc

You hear the words, but for a moment, you don't understand them. That's…

No.

Could you say you were surprised? Almost certainly yes, but was it something impossible? No. Kiritsugu never talked about his past, at all. He never talked about his family, never talked about his life before he met you. The only things you knew about Kiritsugu was that he was a magus and a hero. If he had another child… well, if he had a child. You weren't his flesh and blood despite how he treated you. You were surprised he never even mentioned Illya, if she was even telling the truth.

"I wasn't aware he had any children." You say slowly.

Illya blinks, looking very confused. "You are… Shirou Emiya?"

You nod your head. "He adopted me. He found me in the Fuyuki fire and rescued me, but he never talked to me about his past." The most he had ever done was leave on trips a lot when you were far younger, before that was beyond his health and ability. But he never even mentioned…

Anger flits across Illya's face, her hand twitching on the table. Before she lets out a slow breath. Reaching into a pocket of her jacket, she produces a small photograph and sets it out onto the table. On it was… her, in the center of the picture. Above her was another woman almost identical except for age and height, her chin resting on top of Illya's head as she wrapped her in a hug. While standing just beside them with a small smile on his face was Kiritsugu Emiya. You stare at it, at the man. His face was missing most of the lines you had known him to have, he seemed… happy.

You lean over the picture, taking in the details. This was more than you had ever known about Kiritsugu, more than you had ever expected to know. You had a little sister? That was…

Wonderful.

You look up towards Illya, a small smile on your face. "Did you bring me here so that we could meet?"

Illya smiles then shakes her head. "I originally brought you here to kill you. But my servant convinced me to talk with you first."

… The ease at which she said that concerns you. But then again… she likely had a rather poor opinion of you if you didn't even know she existed. "Well. I'm happy you didn't." Then you reach out a hand and place it on top of her head, smiling all the while. "I'm happy to meet my little sister."

Illya goes cross-eyed, staring up at the hand owlishly. Then she lets her eyes fluttered close, letting out a soft hum. The maid just to her side is now glaring at your hand, and perhaps you were taking this in a bit too quickly. A… lot had happened these past few days, perhaps that's why you were accepting this so easily. But another part of you was just simply happy to know more about Kiritsugu, and to have another member of your family. It was a lot to take in, and you were basically going on autopilot at the moment. But then, as you noted.

Your life has been weird lately.

"Are you… involved in this Grail War?" you ask.

Illya's eyes open again, a faint pink coming to her cheeks as she moves her head away from your hand. "Yes, I have a wish of my own."

You stare into each others eyes, saying nothing for several more awkward moments. You didn't expect this when you woke up today, how could you? While it seems this entire conversation wasn't going perhaps the way she expected.

She looks away a few seconds later down at the table. "Would you like… some tea?"

You smile and nod, moving to sit next to her. "Could you tell me about Kiritsugu? He never talked to me about his past."

Illya frowns for a moment, then shakes her head. "He…" She can't seem to figure out what she wants to say.

"Well, why don't you tell me about yourself?" you say, speaking up while she is struggling.

Illya looks at you, then smiles.

—

It was an hour later when you felt the twinging in the back of your skull. You had gone through several cups of tea, and the awkwardness had long since been replaced by a happy smiling little girl that seemed wholly interested in every little tale you had to tell her, her chin held up by her hands as she smiled at you. You were in the midst of telling her a story of how Taiga had once accidentally set Kiritsugu on fire when the pain became too much of a distraction. It was… a tickle, and then a pinch. Something pulling and poking at the back of your brain and causing your hands to shoot towards it in discomfort as pain lanced through you.

"-irou?!" a faint, familiar voice calls out in your mind, bouncing around like a violent intrusive thought.

Illya lets out a sigh, pushing herself up from the table as you wince once more. "She's almost through the barriers, unfair. It would take a first-rate mage a month to even begin getting through the communication barrier." She then clasps her hands behind her back, smiling beatifically at you. "It's been a good morning, but now it's time to go."

You open up your mouth to respond, but another, calm and familiar voice speaks up from just behind you.

"Is it time?"

You look back to see the servant from before standing just an inch behind your back, her gaze fixed on Illya.

"Yes, we'll speak again, big brother." Illya says.

Then you feel a hand press against the back of your skull, and you realize for the third time in as many days you were about to be knocked uncon-

—

You awaken to… birdsong. You open your eyes slowly, groaning. A grogginess fighting against you as you force your senses to come back. It felt like you had just slept for twenty hours, and knowing your days lately you quite possibly had. Your vision is a blur, a mess of white and gray for a second before things come into focus. You were… just outside of your home, past the backyard fence. You could see straight through it in places, holes in both it, the front fence, and the house for that matter showing clear in the daylight the damage from the battle of the night before. Blood caked the ground where the monster fell, as did bits of masonry.

You were pressed against a tree, tucked tightly into a thick, woolen blanket. So tightly you had to almost fight to extricate yourself from it. It was as you were doing so that you heard a voice shout for your attention, and you looked back up to see-

—

[] [Caster?]

[] [Taiga!?]

[] [Ayako!?]

 

[Erien]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfjconfe1BI

[Ophelia]

Olympus is kicking my ass and is basically satan.
Outlining next real chapter tomorrow.

—

"No." You say slowly. Pushing the box across the table with a soft squeaking sound that was aggravating to the ears. The ring was… different, alien to you, as nothing should be, that alone was enough to make you wary of it. The fact that it was something of power that was being offered freely was enough to make you alarmed of it. Your eyes could not see its possibility, and therefore… you were uncomfortable even thinking about being near it.

The man… if you could call it a man, across from you smiled. It was not a friendly smile, it was not a hurt smile, it was not even a smile that was being used to conceal something. It was just… a smile, the turn of the lips in that slight curve that you had seen countless fake copies of all of your life.

"It was a gift, nothing more. And a gift is free to be refused, a pity however. I thought it fitted you nicely." Oberon said, reaching down to pick up the box, he stares at the ring within it for a moment, then tucks it into the inside of his coat. Perhaps it was paranoia on your part.

No.

No, it was definitely paranoia. But you did not accept gifts lightly, or trust the words of others. Even if you were going along with Marisbury's plan. You look past Oberon to the man standing just behind him. Marisbury Animusphere, when did you first meet him? You couldn't say. He was a ghost of a figure in the Clocktower until recently, he was a man you had paid little attention to, the study of Astromancy. But…

You let out a breath. "Can we get started then?"

Marisbury smiles, his being far more warm… though the man seemed tired. Why was that you wondered? You pondered that for a moment, but your thoughts were disrupted by him nodding his head. "The mana crystals are prepared, if you are certain you wish to partake."

… Were you?

You weren't sure of anything you truly wished to do. But this was something, and perhaps you would find your path along it. Wasn't that always the way with you regardless? Perhaps, but now wasn't the time for idle thoughts like that. You stood up from your chair and made your way over to the magic circle surrounded by crystals, the magic so dense it chilled the air.

Then you extended your hand.

…

You didn't expect to get everything you ever wanted.

---

Tonight, Homeworld updates. So go read that.

 

[Erien]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IUIjW9FzVQ

[Medea]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

NSFW bits cleared with a mod.

—

The sound of the shouting carried over the crunch of the snow and something collapsing… somewhere inside the estate. You jerked your head over to see Medea… Caster, sprinting through the snow, her cloak flapping behind her as she rather inelegantly… by her standards, trudges through it to reach you. When she gets within about five feet she sinks to her knees, her hands slapping both sides of your face to hold it as her eyes bore into your own.

You were, as far as you knew, uninjured in anything but pride and dignity. But Caster didn't know that. She turned your head this way and that, then rather abruptly lifted up your shirt to look at where you had been stabbed in the torso. Of which all that remained was a hole in your shirt and a rather extensive bloodstain on both your chest and clothes. Come to think of it, it was rather odd that Illya wasn't bothered by that, but perhaps she was too caught up in the moment to think about it. You certainly were… caught up in the moment that is, you had noticed being nearly bifurcated by a spear with roughly all of the attention you could muster. In fact, despite the wound being gone, now being stabbed by the thing twice was rather strongly imprinted upon your memory.

But, for the moment, the only thing that lingered was a brief phantom pain as she placed her hand where the wound was. Then her eyes once more shot to your face. "Where have you been? I have been attempting to track you since last night, but I had only just started to pin down your location when you started moving quickly."

You blink, wondering how to explain precisely what happened. The dangers involved. But at the moment as you stared at Caster and the partially burned house beyond. You had little desire to do anything but speak honestly. "My little sister's servant took me to meet her, I wasn't… aware I even had a sister until this morning, but she didn't seem to be lying about it. She's a master in this grail war as well, but I don't know if they are friend or foe. She was friendly though, for what it was worth, her servant was as well, if quiet."

Caster stares at you, her mouth opening and closing for several moments. Before her hand moved to rub at her forehead. She lets out a long, slow breath, shaking her head from side to side. "Master, they are all our enemies."

"They aren't my enemy unless they hurt me or other people," you retort. "And if she wanted to eliminate me from the war she easily could have."

Medea twitches at that, but closes her eyes and shakes her head again. "... In any case, Master. We cannot stay here, there are three hostile servants that know where we are."

You blink, processing that. You didn't… know if Rin was hostile, or Illya for that matter. Also you still hadn't fully processed Rin being a master. "Where's Rin?"

Caster continues to stare at you, not understanding.

"The girl who was here last night, where is she?" you explain.

"The master of Saber? Your new servant chased her through town, fighting a running battle throughout several parks and buildings before she got away. I was able to get her back to the manor afterwards. But we cannot stay here, our enemies know of our composition and location." Caster urges, then bodily lifts you up off of the ground.

"I don't have any enemies," you counter.

"You have many just by being a master." Caster hisses out.

You disregard the statement, steadying yourself a moment before you take a step forward. Even from the outside the damage to the estate looked back. You could, from the back, see clear through to the road on the front side of the house, the holes in the fences so numerous just from the shrapnel caused by the servants fighting the night before. That was to say nothing of the roof tiles that had landed even in the snow out here, entire chunks of the roof gone, along with a visible missing section of the house where the guest room had been just a short time prior.

"Was Rin injured?" you ask.

"... I do not believe she was," Caster replies. The woman straightening up as well. Her hood was down, revealing a rather stony expression on her face, though given the dirt covering it she likely hadn't had much in the way of rest since she had grabbed you at the school.

"It's going to take a while to get the house back together," you say, then take a step forward before pausing. Your mind comes to a screeching halt as you realize you have forgotten something important. You looked back towards Caster, the woman not having moved. "Caster… are you alright?" you had been so caught up in everything that you had almost forgotten to ask.

"I am uninjured." Caster replies.

You lean closer, looking her over as the woman stiffens. Her robes were cut in places, revealing scratches. But there was no blood, or indeed, anything resembling injuries. "That's good." You say with a relieved sigh. Then you turn and make your way into the house, Caster following along behind you a few seconds later.

Stepping through the gap in the rear wall, you have a look around, your heart sinking the more you take in. The ground was coated in a fine layer of blood covered in places by snow, but enough of it was around and frozen on the ground to make it so that your yard had a very macabre pond in it. The blood continued towards the hole in the wall out front, and you were honestly rather surprised the police weren't here. Your home was out of the way, but not alone in its neighborhood. Perhaps it was still too early, you hadn't any idea of the time.

You were also just attempting to distract yourself from how bad the situation had gotten. The wall of the guest room was utterly caved in, a fine layer of snow having blown into it and likely ruined the tatami floors in the process. That was to say nothing of the roof above and around it, entire chunks of wood and tile missing, spread along the ground both in and outside of the manor from where the magic had shot off to little effect. The shed was… not doing great either, shrapnel from the battle between the new servant and the monster having peppered the walls like someone had shot it up with a gun.

You stare at it all, taking it in, then step through the new door in the guest room and make your way into the house. The hallway and the surrounding rooms were… fine, from a glance, but as you entered the living area your heart sank. A boulder, you weren't sure from where, was sitting smack dab in the middle of the room whereupon your kotatsu had been previously sitting. Small chunks of broken wood littering the floor the only evidence that the handy little device had ever existed at all. The source of said rock, was likely the gigantic hole in the front of the house that had somehow narrowly managed to miss the door, yet still made a second entrance nearly as large as it. Dirt, snow, and dust caked everything, and chunks of rock were scattered over every little surface from the television to the kitchen.

Drawing in a deep breath, you square your shoulders. Then you look back towards Caster. "I'm going to need spare lumber from the shed to patch up the hole, you can use my room for the time being. I'll roll out a futon in the attic."

Caster's mouth opens slightly like she wants to say something, then closes it and nods.

You then glance down to your filthy, bloodsoaked clothes and let out a sigh. "But first I need to get out of this."

—

It was a small mercy your room was spared, as with a fresh pair of clothes you made your way over to the main bath in the house. Perhaps it was because your mind was wandering you didn't notice the moisture seeping through the door, or the faint wisps of steam surrounding it. You didn't notice any of that until your hand had grasped the door and pulled it open.

The door slams shut just as quickly as you see a familiar blonde woman, the same blonde woman you summoned last night in fact, standing in the tub. Her gaze turning towards you just as the door closed.

You jerk back from the door, panic and embarrassment both running through you. And you only just start to stutter out an apology when, much to your surprise, the door slides open.

It's the same woman as last night indeed, if proven by nothing else than the gaping wound in her center. Golden light pours through it, hiding the gore, but not its effects. Even as she stands there small droplets of blood drip out of it to land on the floor. She stares at you, eyes unblinking, but she didn't seem bothered, or embarrassed for that matter. She just… stared, no emotion on her face, her expression indifferent. Not a cold indifference, or that she was looking down on you either. It was… like she was barely even processing you were there. She tilts her head, blonde hair shifting on her head. Then she walks past you into the hall, dripping water as she lets the towel she was holding in her hand drop to the floor.

Once she's a few steps away a flash of light envelops the hallway, bright, but not bright enough to force you to look away as her armor from the night before reforms over her body. Broken and twisted, pieces of it dented and battered, with the shattered remains of a helmet around her neck. Her gait is limping, one foot partially dragging behind her, and you watch her move for a moment before your brain catches up with you.

"Are… are you alright? And who are you?" you ask, stepping after her.

The armored woman stops at the corner. Looking back towards you with the sound of shifting metal. Her green eyes stare through your own, and she squints at you for a bit, as if trying to remember. Then she speaks, very slowly, and very stilted. "Ber…serker." Then, like that somehow answered everything, she loses the squint, staring past you for a moment before turning back and wandering off down the hall again.

You step after her aga-

"SHIROU!?"

A girl's scream carries through the house… you know that voice. "Sakura!?" you call out. Your legs slip underneath you as you rapidly turn around, then you are running, cutting through the hallway and out the front door, the sound of clanging metal and swishing cloth behind you as Caster and Berserker follow.

The door slams open hard enough to bounce against the frame, and…

It takes you a moment to parse what you were seeing. There were four people standing just outside your house, Sakura, Taiga, and a man and a woman you didn't recognize. Sakura for her part looks to have fainted, her clothing singed and bloody. She was held in the arms of a man a good head or two taller than you, with deeply tanned skin and white hair. He was bedecked in armor.


View: https://i.imgur.com/VoZvT1Q.png

Taiga for her part was running towards you, tears of worry in her eyes. She was being chased after by a woman in… you could charitably call it clothing. With long brown hair and blue eyes. Silks trailing behind her.


View: https://i.imgur.com/jGImEAi.jpg

Taiga then reached you, her hands grabbing onto the front of your shirt and shaking you like her life depended on it. "Shirou!? What happened to you? Are you alright!?"

You can't recall when you had last seen Taiga so panicked. Never, you suppose. "I'm fine," you say. Reaching down to grab Taiga's hands… Then your heart sinks as you see the mark on the back of her hand, then your eyes flit to Sakura to see the same.

… You wonder what you did to deserve your life getting so complicated.

—

You didn't know the name of the brown haired woman or the white haired man, but you were rather grateful they were helpful at least. It wasn't hard to tell they were servants, even before you had noticed the marks on the back of Taiga and Sakura's hands. After… somewhat calming down Taiga by proving you weren't in fact injured, you had managed to get her into the house where she gave you the details of what she had been doing all night. Namely, she had been coming home from school to find the Matou mansion on fire, had rushed in to help, had found Sakura, then spent the rest of the time trying to find any sign of Shinji or Zouken, with little luck of either.

The fire department came onto the scene soon afterwards, and she had made her way over here after taking some time to rest at her house. The servants… well, that was just an added complication. But once again, helpful.

"Thank you," you say to the brown haired woman. She smiles at you, the boulder that was previously sitting in the center of the house held in her relatively dainty hands as she carries it outside. The image was… both shocking and hilarious, given how stick thin the woman was in… most aspects. The man for his part had almost immediately grabbed a broom, taking the time to start getting debris out of the kitchen without you asking.

… You weren't sure what to make of it, but then, this morning had been far from normal in any case. Caster was in the midst of explaining what the grail war was to Taiga at your request, while Sakura laid still next to the shattered remains of the table, your space heater sitting just nearby to keep her warm. Berserker, for her part, was standing just behind it, unmoving and unblinking, her eyes flitting to the other servants from time to time but otherwise neither moving nor saying anything.

To put it simply,

Things were rather strange at the moment. Taiga eventually let out a sigh as she processed what Caster was telling her. Her hand running through her hair before she looked towards her servant, then at you. "And you are sure you're alright?"

You nod, you had told her everything that had occurred, barring Illya. Mostly because you still weren't quite sure what to make of Illya yourself.

"Right, I still don't know what is going on here," Taiga says, moving her hands to her lap. "And I don't know anything about this… magic… crap. I always thought Raiga was kidding when he talked about it. But you aren't staying here, Shirou."

"Why?" you ask slowly.

"Because I'm not letting you stay in a place where you were just attacked!" Taiga cries out, causing Sakura to stir next to her.

"She is right master, there are now four servants outside of this abode that know of your residence and the state of this workshop." Caster says evenly. "As I stated before, it would be foolish to stay here."

You groan, moving a hand to your own hair, watching as the brown haired woman brushes past you to take a spot just next to Taiga. She smiles down at her, then clasps her hands in front of her hips. "It's not like I have anywhere else to go Taiga. You don't have enough space in your apartment and I promised Kiritsugu I would take care of the place."

Taiga stares at you for a moment, then she looks to the slowly awakening Sakura, to the servants, to the blood on your shirt, and then your eyes. You had never seen that look on Taiga's face before, it was unfamiliar to you. It was cold, it was serious. You didn't know she was even capable of it.

Without a word she stood, then made her way over to the telephone on the wall.

"What are you doing?" you ask.

Taiga picks up the handset then looks towards you once more, tears at the edge of her eyes. "Shirou, I don't know fully what's going on here, but whatever it is it is dangerous. Sakura's home burned down and I came here to find you covered in blood and this place trashed. Kiritsugu asked you to look after the house, but he asked me to look after you."

Then she rapidly dials a number and places the handset against her ear. "Grandfather? I need your help."

—

The house had never had this many people in it as far back as you could remember. Certainly none of this type, even when Raiga had last visited there had only been a small handful of his… friends. Now? There were a good fifty or more going through the grounds, lifting up furniture and utilities to carry them to a series of box trucks parked out front. The tattooed men working in well ordered teams under the watchful eye of Raiga as they, for lack of a better term, loot your house.

You didn't have the heart to argue with Taiga when she was crying, namely because you hadn't seen her do so seriously since Kiritsugu died, and with Caster backing her up… you had acquiesced. Now for the past half hour or so since they arrived the Yakuza had been taking out anything of value to be moved to the 'family home' downtown. It was an armed and sturdy compound, that you knew, and it was easily defensible and well monitored.

You still couldn't help but feel a little grumpy that you were for the time being losing what Kiritsugu had entrusted to you however. The mid-afternoon sun was hovering in the sky, painting the scene of melted snow and working people. Sakura for your part had mostly hovered around you once she woke up, not quite sure what to say or do, while Taiga had been helping out the goons, the older men having rather briskly told you to stay out of their way while they worked.

The servants… it was a mixed bag, the man had joined in and helped, as did the woman whenever she wasn't accidentally distracting the men around her. While Caster was standing off to the side and Berserker… was doing nothing, literally. She was staring blankly off towards the forest, you aren't even sure if she had blinked in the past half hour.

…

Your days only grew odder, but you could at least pass the time while you were kidnapped again.

—

Choose three, winners are chosen by popularity, not by any particular plan.

[] [Caster]

[] [Berserker]

[] [Sakura]

[] [Taiga]

[] [The Man]

[] [The Woman]

[] [Raiga]

 

[Erien]

View: https://youtu.be/YJhC70dPN2Y

[Berserker]

[Taiga]

[The man]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

—

Your home… your father's home was in chaos. Men in suits that cost more than your entire kitchen were moving about, boxing up everything you owned and rather speedily moving it all to box trucks out front. It was a bewildering, confusing sight. It was something you understood but your brain didn't want to accept, like a bedroom you saw every morning after oversleeping, what was normally familiar was alien and confusing… and more than a little aggravating in your case. You understood the points both Taiga and Raiga were making, but it was also your home. It rather hurt to see it packed away like a seasonal decoration.

You were also pointedly in the way, as anytime you tried to do much of anything a rather polite, but firm 'friend' would take the box from you and urge you to step aside and let them handle things. You didn't much enjoy having the Yakuza in your home, you didn't much enjoy them coddling you either. Perhaps that is what led you outside for something resembling peace and quiet, not that you got particularly much of that with the men also in the process of disassembling everything that was in the shed for transport. That was also what led to you bumping into your new servant once more, the woman had moved little and said less after your 'conversation' this morning, having transitioned from merely following you around to simply… staring at things. She was curre
ntly standing roughly where she had been the night before fighting the monster, her eyes looking off into the forest behind the house, a faint clump of snow in her hair.

It wasn't snowing heavily this afternoon, in fact, it had barely snowed at all. But she had been still enough to have made a collection of it regardless. If she noticed, she apparently didn't care, her eyes unblinkingly staring off into the woods. She was also still in her armor, clumps of white covering the scarred silver in places like gauze in a wound. She… wasn't really looking at anything you noticed, her eyes were wide and unfocused, not paying the slightest bit of attention to the men deliberately moving around her.

She could hardly even be described as breathing… actually come to think of it, you weren't even sure if she was doing that. The gigantic hole near her stomach may have taken a chunk of her lungs as well. Servants were definitely unique beings.

"I'm Shirou," you say quietly. "Shirou Emiya, are you… my servant?"

The woman blinks slowly, then turns her head towards you. The action lethargic and drawn out, her green eyes first land on your lips, then draw themselves up glacially to your own. "...Yes." She says, her voice quiet.

"Are you alright?" you ask.

She simply stares at you, not responding.

"Do you… need anything?"

The same story, her eyes start to slowly unfocus, looking beyond you towards the house and the world beyond.

"Is your name… Berserker?" you try again.

She turns her head forward again, gazing off into the forest. Could she even hear you? Or was she merely ignoring you… or was there something worse going on? You frankly couldn't say, you didn't much understand how servants worked, but you would expect most people with a wound like she had would be more than a little dead. Could she not heal? Did she not want to heal? "Is… your wound okay?"

Berserker blinks, then cranes her head down to look at her stomach. She stares at it wordlessly for several seconds, then, raising her head, nods. Then, without a word she walks forward, her armored boots clanking against the ground as she wanders off around the back of the house. You started to move towards her, almost on instinct, but catch yourself as you see someone far more difficult to deal with making her way across the compound towards you. Taiga, being followed by no less than five men bedecked in fine suits. She stops just a few feet away from you, then glares behind her with her hands on her hips. The men almost immediately back up, then scamper back towards the house like chastened dogs.

Taiga then turns back towards you, then, to your surprise, reaches out to grab you by the arm. Without a word she starts walking forward again, attempting to drag you towards the back fence of the estate. You let her do so, stumbling for a second before following along. She stops just before the hole the monster made the night before, her head turning this way and that as if to ensure privacy. You didn't exactly have it, there were far too many people around now to have anything resembling privacy. But the noise at least would ensure a quiet conversation would remain relatively unheard to outside listeners.

Her hands then move to your shoulders, and you are reminded for the first time in a bit that you were actually slightly taller than Taiga now as she looks up into your eyes. "How long have you known about this magic stuff Shirou?"

Your first instinct was to lie, to do what Kiritsugu had always taught you and to keep magic secrets from those that weren't a magus already. But the cat was already out of the bag and had gone back to set it on fire. There was little point in lying about it, especially since you could see Taiga's servant watching you both. The brown-haired woman poking her head around a corner of the house to likely deliberately show you were under her watchful eye. Your servant was here as well, though in Caster's case she was currently in your shadow, in both an effort to keep an eye on you as well as get out of the way.

Perhaps she was also just shy. You didn't dare ask.

"Kiritsugu knew magic, but he only taught me a little. Did he mention it to you?"

Taiga shakes her head. "I saw… a lot of weird things in Sakura's house, and my… servant…" Taiga frowns at the phrase, apparently finding distaste in it. "She explained the gist of things to me. I still don't fully understand everything that's going on."

You tilt your head. "If it makes you feel better, I barely have any idea what is going on. Kiritsugu only taught me the basics, and I've never had any talent for it. What happened at the Matou household?"

Taiga frowns. "I was coming back from school and I saw her home was on fire, I rushed in there to find blood… and parts, I found her in the basement… some… ritual place, thing. I don't know. She was laying in the center of it all, I got trapped, when I called out for help my servant showed up, Sakura's servant came by shortly afterwards in a hurry to get us all out of there." Taiga crosses her arms, brow furrowed as she remembers. "It took us a long time to get back because my… new friend kept insisting on us hiding, something was apparently out and about. But then we came to see all of this." Taiga says, then places her hand to her head. "Big sister just wants a nap."

"Raiga's place has nice bedrooms at least, though I'm still not happy about moving to the compound."

"You can't stay here Shirou, let me take care of you." Taiga replies.

"I can take care of myself, and have been for a while."

Taiga narrows her eyes. "You can cook, you can clean, and you can bathe yourself. But I'm the one who was told to make sure you are safe, I promised Kiritsugu I would before he died. And besides, Raiga adores you and will take care of you. But I am still your guardian and will not let you stay here. I know you are fond of the place Shirou, and I'm sorry, but it's not safe. There are holes in the roof, and the walls, and the fence, and in that woman who just wandered off." Taiga blinks, looking back to where Berserker was currently staring down at the snow on the ground. "Who is that anyway?"

"My other servant," you reply. "She doesn't seem to talk much, at least, not today. She was mouthy last night when we were fighting." You frown, debating bringing Rin up, but you still don't know the situation with that. You then debate bringing Illya up as well… but you know even less there. That, and you'd rather not give Taiga more of a headache at present.

You glance back towards Taiga, the woman studying Berserker. You had never seen her this serious… ever, come to think of it. Taiga always had a playful air to her, like she was never taking things entirely seriously. Sure, you had seen her angry, and a whole mix of other emotions. But Taiga almost never took things seriously. It was… different. "Thanks… Taiga."

Taiga's head snaps back to you, a cat-like grin on her face. "Yeaaaah? Finally seeing the worth of your big sister? Praise me more!"

"... No." You reply, then wander off towards the house, a fake cry of despair coming from Taiga behind you.

You had someone you wanted to talk to, and to your relief they were far from hard to find. The man in red was taller than most others in the house, and even if he wasn't, the long flowing red coat and black armor made him rather easy to spot in a crowd. He was currently stacking boxes up in the corner of the living room, organizing things and giving instructions to the goons around him. At your approach he paused, looking back towards you with a smile on his face. It was a genuine, friendly thing, at least it appeared to be. "You alright?" the servant asks. His voice deep, but not harsh.

You nod. "I'm fine, you… protected Sakura?"

"I did, call me Archer." The man, Archer, replies, then extends his hand towards you.

You take it a moment later, the man had a firm grip, and you knew enough of Servants at this point to know he could likely crush your hand like an overripe grape. But it was… gentle, yet paradoxically strong.

He withdraws it a moment later, "it's a duty of a servant to guard the Master."

"I've noticed," you reply. Much to your chagrin for that matter, you still didn't much enjoy the thought of Medea taking blows for you. She was strong, you knew that, but whenever you saw her you couldn't help but remember that desperate woman you found in the park near death. The fact that she was also quite literally acting as your shadow at the moment also made her rather prominent in your mind. But you push it away, focusing on Archer. "Is she… alright? Sakura? She wasn't hurt when you found her?"

The man looks from you towards Sakura, the girl currently sitting in the corner of the room. She had all of your kitchen utensils and was currently getting them sorted. "She's fine, though she'd appreciate your company."

You blink, "I'm here if she needs me, but I also figured she needs space. I know things… have been more than a little confusing for her lately."
"All the more reason for someone she knows to comfort her and give her something to find support in. Go to her." Archer says.

The man was presuming a lot, was that the servant connection? Likely, but also… you couldn't say it was wrong. Why had you not comforted Sakura more? Confusion? Or were you too wrapped up in your own thoughts to include her. That was… idiotic, there was nothing going on in your life that Sakura, or anyone else for that matter, did not outrank when they were hurting. "Fine." You reply, then turn on the spot and make your way over to her.

[Sakura]

She didn't notice you until you were sitting in front of her, her hands over hovering the silver fork set… someone had at some point given to you. She smiled as her eyes found your own. "Shirou?"

"Are you… alright? Sakura?"

Sakura's smile cracked a bit, but she forced it to stay in place as she nodded her head. "I'm fine."

You know that's a lie, and so does she. On instinct you leaned forward, wrapping your arms around Sakura's shoulders as you drew her into a hug. Sakura goes taut immediately, a squeak escaping her mouth as she doesn't quite know what to do. "I'm sorry I wasn't there Sakura."

You feel her hands gingerly wrap around your back, and Sakura lets out a slow breath into your shoulder. You feel moisture a moment later. "It's fine Shirou, I'm fine."

You didn't know how long you hugged her, you let her end it when she felt it was time. Pulling back, Sakura was smiling again, though now there were streaks of moisture on her face.

"Are you comfortable coming to the Fujimura compound?" you ask, "I'm another Master after all."

"Taiga is as well," Sakura points out.

"I'm trying not to focus on that point too hard, thinking about Taiga being involved with magic causes my brain to hurt."

Sakura giggles, a hand moving to her mouth to cover it as she does so. The sound is lovely compared to how she has normally been, and she smiles a touch wider once she pulls her hand away. "I don't mind at all Shirou, though I don't know what we'll do about school."

"School is barely on my mind at the moment," you reply honestly. "But I didn't plan on stopping attendance, I doubt Taiga would be willing to give us a pass on that either."

"She might defeat the other Master's by herself if they get in the way of her homeroom," Sakura whispers conspiratorially. Before giggling again.

"I could see it, bloody bokken in hand, standing tall." You reply.

Sakura smiles, then glances down to my yet still bloody shirt. "I'm happy you are alright as well Shirou. I was… scared."

"I had a busy evening, but hopefully now things can stabilize a fair bit."

"Hopefully," Sakura agrees. "Can you hand me that box of plates behind you?"

You help Sakura the rest of the afternoon, up until you are… 'guided' to a black car to be driven off to the compound.

—

When you were ten years old you had thought the Fujimura family compound was a castle like those of Samurai of old. The compound was surrounded by tall stone walls that hid from the outside world a large courtyard of several acres. Within it wasn't… much, admittedly, several gardens and outlier buildings, but sitting past the trees was the large, four story monstrosity sitting imperiously overlooking it all. White stone construction, golden decorated, a classical tiled roof. It looked hilariously out of place when compared to all the modern office buildings that surrounded it. Not only was the Fujimura compound the largest plot of land in Downtown Fuyuki, it was also by far one of the oldest in general.

Originally the feudal home… apparently, of the rulers of the town, it had passed down the family for generations until now it was under control of Raiga. Of course, the ancient wooden construction that it would have been made of was long gone, but then, it, like most buildings of that sort, burned away during the Fuyuki fire. Since then it had been rebuilt into the gleaming white edifice you now saw, and… frankly it was still just as big and gaudy as you recalled it being as a child.

You tried to avoid going to this place, not that you disliked Raiga's company, the man was genuinely a friend of yours, the issue was that with Raiga there was always some form of catch. But with a man in his line of work, you suppose that was only to be expected. At the very least the place was guarded, there were more men in suits than you could count, and you quickly found yourself escorted through the building towards your room. Raiga seemed rather eager to split you all off as he discussed something with Taiga, Sakura being guided to her own place to stay while your other servant, Berserker, just kind of stared after you from the lobby while you were dragged to your room.

Well, Raiga called it a room with a jovial laugh. It was a suite, the 'bedroom' was larger than an entire half of your house, with fine red carpet, an overly plush looking bed, and an attached bathroom. Several suits were already hanging up in an conspicuously open closet, each looking suspiciously like they would fit you perfectly. You let out a sigh, you'll need to have a talk with Raiga later, but for now, you have something else on your mind. "Caster?"

Your shadow ripples like a living thing, then you watch as the woman impossibly rises out of it. "Yes?"

"You don't need to hide in my shadow, I trust these people."

"I do not," Caster replies. "And regardless, this conserves my magical energy." Then to your surprise Caster leans forward. "Are you alright, my Master?"

… People keep asking you that. "I'm fine." You reply with what you hope is an assuaging smile.

Caster doesn't respond to that, instead her eyes flit around the room before she nods to herself. "I shall begin fortifying this… compound, as you will likely not listen to my request that we leave."

"For what it's worth I didn't want to leave my home, but they left me little choice."

Caster's eyes flit to you, anger on her face. "If you recall master, I did not wish to stay there either. Now we are residing with two other masters who will be your enemy before this war is over."

"They are people I've known most of my life, I trust them."

"Trust is a tool that lasts as long as it takes to abuse it, Master." Caster replies.

"Do you trust me, Caster?" you ask, frowning.

Caster stares at you for a moment, then walks past you further into the room. "You stated the spells you learned were from your Master's old books, yet I found nothing as such within the home, and you stated he did not teach you more than the basics. I have seen your magecraft," Caster looks back at you. "It is pathetic, and yet you know at least one spell that is no longer practiced. You have lied to me, why would I trust you? I trust you to be my Master, nothing more. Which is as it should be."

"I trust you." You reply. Fighting down the grimace, Circe made you promise not to talk about it, and you still had the mark on your tongue that tingles every time you even started to think about speaking her name.

"Foolish, for you do not even know me," Caster says. Her eyes narrowed.

—

[] [I know you, Medea]

[] [I want to, Caster]

[] [Tell her about Circe]

[] [Drop the subject]

 

[Erien]

View: https://youtu.be/CtZzvHBKzw0

Commissioned by @DB_Explorer

—

Trust.

Trust was an interesting word.

It was something to be twisted, to be used, to your benefit if at all possible. People trusted far too easily. A servant trusts a master, a slave trusts a king, and a king trusts… well, you would say the Gods. But you had seen how that particular relationship had turned out.

If Circe were alive she would likely speak at length about empistosýni as taught by Pistis. The root of all trust in the world, such things… did not interest you now. For as confusing as things had been lately, you still knew few truths in this world, and of those, yet less that you could rely on. You were Medea of Colchis, the Witch of Betrayal as you had been dubbed. It was a fitting moniker, earned, if not deserved.

Your first master trusted you, he trusted you to be beneath him, and he along with his barbaric ways had gone up in flame, though not without significant cost to yourself. You had consigned yourself then, you had performed your second betrayal, and with it, you would be granted your second death. Whisked away to the Throne of 'Heroes' until someone was once again mad enough to play the game of gods and kings.

Only…

You turn your head to look at the boy… a man? Perhaps, if not in form, then in mentality. He was certainly far more mature than those around him, their suits and glamor not enough to hide the fact that they served a modern king. Shirou Emiya, your master, as far as that term could be stretched. Was a boy on the cusp of being a man, a terrible Magus, rife with secrets that he kept even from himself, and was nearly the most frustrating man you had ever met. He didn't listen to reason, he constantly got himself hurt, sometimes even for your own sake, and refused to treat the war as just that.

He would be broken by all of this, that would be certain.

Yet that brought you little satisfaction. You had a wish of your own, and you were sure he did as well, even if he had not yet realized it himself. But now… things would only be more difficult, he had taken in yet more masters, building an alliance centered upon himself, and completely disregarded any warning you had given otherwise. You stared at him, watching as he wrapped his arms around another master, Sakura Matou. His smile was genuine, as was the joy on her face to be embraced by him.

It wasn't a ruse on his part, you had grown to know him well enough for that. His ideals were foolhardy, his methods laughable, his plans injudicious. He was a fool that would soon get himself killed, and he had already lied to you more than once. And today he was foolish enough to reveal it without even realizing his error.

You would confront him on it, get to the bottom of it all.

… As Pistis be cursed, you were almost starting to trust him.

 

[Erien]

View: https://youtu.be/NaGQ0yy5F1w

[Blood, Rage, Revenge]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

Thanks to @Dragontrapper for the commission!

Thank you all for reading!

—

FATHER. Arthur, where? There. Father, beautiful father. Precious father, perfect father. I have to kill, I have to kill you, I have to kill you. Revenge father, revenge for my mother. Rebellion, I have to rebel against you father, you are too perfect too perfect. Arthur, ARTHUR, ARTHUR. The sword is swinging, Clarent, beautiful, too beautiful, bloody, stained with blood. Swinging around to slam into your blade. Fierce Father, angry, too angry. Why are you so angry, Father? Not happy to see your son? Come on Father, fight me, again, forever, never ending rebellion, come on Father. Fight me!

FATHER.

Woman, Master? No, discarded, ignored. Father, father, focus. There. Breath, laugh. "Oh this is just perfect!" I bark out, stabbing my blade forward. ARTHUR jerks to the side, dodging, perfect, beautiful. Alien. Sword, too fast, wall destroyed. Laugh, swing again. Sparks, shining, leap from the modern stone, arcing through the air, collide once more with Excalibur. "Come on Father!"

ARTHUR.

Father leaps back, why? Worried? Master. Master nearby, her master, your master? Not important. Nothing father, Arthur. I charge forward, Father swings, blade slams into my arm. Twist, slam forward. Father goes through a building, I follow. Screams? Screams. Not Father, family. Not important, ignore. Charge. Charge. Charge. Blast, pain, why? I look back, there, woman, master, not my master, finger pointed. Why? Why interrupt? Charge. Charge. Panic on her face, grin on mine. Father again? Where did Father come from? Fight, right, Clarent cleaves, carving through the road and sending up dirt and snow. Excalibur blocks, strong, Father is strong, perfect Father, beautiful Father. Swing again. Again. Again. Again. Laugh. "Fight me already!"

This is perfect.

This is everything I ever wanted.

Forever fighting. Forever rebellion.

"FIGHT ME!"

Master running now, why? Why? Not important, Arthur, ARTHUR. I surge forward. Foot extended to collide with Arthur's midsection. Father goes flying back, grimacing. The blades meet again, perfect, perfect. Steel ringing, blades singing, sparks flying. I grin, Father grimaces. Aren't you happy Arthur? An elbow to my teeth, blood, more blood, Father fighting like me. I slam my own head forward, colliding with her own. My vision swims, I ignore it. Clarent screams once more, narrowly blocked. Almost cut Father in half. Disappointing? Joyous. Joyous!

"Mordred! Cease this!"

Father speaking? Why would I ever cease? This is what Father wanted. "Never!" My blade swings again with a laugh, parried, blocked, dodged. Dance. Cleave. Stab. murder-stroke, overhand, halfhand, stab, punch, kick, knock. Fight. Drool drips from my mouth, along with blood. But I'm smiling, grinning, happy. This is everything we ever wanted. "Our battle will never end, Father!" Father runs, why? Chase. Chase chase chase chase chase!

Shop, school, forest, park, blurs. Ignored, swords light by clashing sparks and moonlight as the battle carries across town. High now, higher than the castle. Running across the rooftops, tearing them apart. Fighting. Stabbing. Clashing. Arthur! Sword to the head, duck, stab upwards, blocked, swing, swing swing again. Arthur! Beautiful Father, impossible father. Swing to the left, parried, moved aside, fist to the ribcage, blood, more blood. Father is faster, I am stronger. Surge forward, collide with Father. Falling? Why am I falling? Glass roof, falling now. Swinging again, crashing through floors, glass, lights. Screaming around us, ignored. Father swings for my neck, Clarent rises, parried, followed through, blade cuts through her armor. Blood erupts from Arthur's mouth, beautiful, beautiful. She swings again, the beautiful invisible blade. Collides, pain, blood, I sail into a pillar. Vision swimming, Father again, in front of me, why? Her blade raised to end this.

Rampage. REBELLION.

The blade collides with my shoulder, Excalibur briefly visible. I surge forward, pushing it through me, Clarent, beautiful Clarent swings upwards. Too fast, too fast Father! Arthur screams, pain, clutching her stump of an arm. Beautiful, perfect blood dripping below. Then we fall, Clarent is tossed aside. Father?

Father?

Where is Father? Not here. Where? Not above, not below? I land with a crunch on the ground floor, people screaming, running past me or huddled on the ground. Father? Where…are you Father? There, distant, a spirit, then it's gone. I stare after it, blood in my mouth, pain in my side. Father? Why did you run?

… Father?

I blink, stumbling briefly as someone runs past me. Fa…ther? I don't understand. Isn't this what you wanted, Father?

"Servant. That is enough." A voice speaks from behind me.

I turn my head. Woman… familiar, back at the house. She is… connected…to… master. "What?" I ask, my mouth…, why?

The woman… blue dress. Speaks. "Your master has been kidnapped while you were being a fool. Come with me."

I stare at her.

…

What?

Mast…er?

…

She takes my ha- Then we are…

I not… know why.

Arthur… where? …

…

…

Arthur… where? …

…

…

…

…

…

Arthur?

—

The priest stood at the front of his church. His frock moved silently with the wind. He could see the city, far more than he usually could at night. It was aflame, in part. Two servants had battled across it for the past twenty minutes, buildings burned, walls had collapsed, streets were ruined. It would take work to fix all of this.

The priest grimaced, then looked back to his servant.

Perhaps.

No…

No she wouldn't be any help at all. With a restrained sigh, the priest began to walk towards the city. He had work to do, and then he would have some masters to speak with. This Grail War was hardly going to plan.

---

Next chapter next week.

 

[Erien]

View: https://youtu.be/xfOZ8OishLA

[I want to, Caster]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

—

"I want to, Caster." You reply, fighting everything you had ever been taught growing up by meeting her gaze eye to eye. "I want to trust you, and I want to know you. I couldn't care less about you being my servant, I didn't want to be part of this war. But I am now. But you being a spirit, or a servant… or whatever term people want to use, does not change the fact that I just want to help you." You cross your arms, frowning. "And anyone else for that matter that needs my help. This whole… war seems barely controlled."

"Mast-" Caster begins.

"I wasn't finished," you interrupt. "I can't tell you, I want to Caster, I really do. But I can't tell you about it, not now. I trust you, and I would hope you trust me. But… I can't tell you where I learned my magecraft." You let out a sigh and drop your arms. "Sakura, Taiga, you, Rin, Ayako… Too many people, too quickly. These days have been a blur that I've barely kept up with. And now there is Illya as well and I've lost my home. I'll help everyone I can, and I don't care what I have to do to make that happen."

"... Illya?" Caster asks.

You blink, then realize you never actually gave out her name previously. "The sister I didn't know I had, that's another thing I've been having to think about." You shake your head, looking back towards Caster, the woman studying you with a blank expression. "I want to know you, Caster, and I want you to trust me. But you have your own secrets, and I have mine." You think Kiritsugu would be happy, you keeping a secret of Magecraft hidden. It was one of the few things he had bothered to hammer into your head repeatedly. "I won't ask you to tell me yours, just that you understand that I have my own as well."

Too many people were getting hurt, too quickly. You didn't know how to react to any of it fast enough. You needed time to think, to learn, to study to… figure this whole thing out. You needed answers, and in your distraction you had managed to let slip something that had hurt Caster as well. Of course… you were keeping far more from her than just the source of your Magecraft. You didn't give a damn about the promise you made to Circe, whether it was a Geas or a curse you couldn't tell. But you couldn't take the risk either.

Mayhaps Sakura would, but you weren't going to drop that on her either, she had enough to worry about. Far too much for that matter, and like Caster you would help her however you could. But for now… "I'm sorry if you feel that you can't trust me." You finish.

Caster stares at you, saying nothing for several moments. It was almost otherworldly, the elfin woman standing in the midst of so much luxury, her light blue hair glittering in the overpowered fluorescent lighting coming from above. Caster was beautiful, you had never once doubted that, but it was a cold beauty, one that rarely showed feeling beyond anger. You were rather good at reading people, you tended to trust too easily, and you also sometimes… offended, with your attitude, but you were good at reading people. Caster… wasn't someone you were able to read.

"So be it," Caster says.

You wait for her to continue, or do… anything for that matter, but instead she simply walks past you and out the door, leaving you all on your lonesome once more.

…

That could have gone better.

But, you suppose it could have also gone worse. What you would give for things to be normal… or at the very least for the people you cared about to not be in dange-

"Trouble in paradise?" a soft voice asks, just behind your right ear.

You leap forward on instinct, then spin around to see… the brown haired woman that had been hanging around Taiga. She had her hands behind her back and was leaning forward, giving you an invitation you… decided not to accept. Instead you were more concerned with how she got in the room without you noticing.

The woman blinks, then straightens up, smiling from ear to ear. "Oh, did I scare you? Sorry."

"... It's fine," you reply. "I didn't hear you enter."

The woman smiles just a touch wider, "I know. I just wanted to ask you a question, something… I'm curious about."

You straighten up. "Yes?"

"Taiga, what is she to you exactly?" the woman asks. Hand moving to push back a lock of hair. She had by far the longest you had ever seen… perhaps barring the purple haired woman who had kidnapped you just the other da-

What even were you days lately?

"Taiga? She's my guardian," you reply, something confused by the question. "She took care of me when my father died, and I've been taking care of her as well."

The woman moves a finger to her chin. "You aren't related?"

… You don't know where this conversation is going, but. "No. We're not related."

She grins. "Thank you, that's all I wanted to know~" Then she turns to leave.

"Wait, who are you?" you ask.

The woman pauses in her walking, looking back towards you. "Servant Assassin, pleased to make your acquaintance." Then she slips out the door.

You were fairly certain it hadn't opened since Caster left, which meant she either entered another way… or she had been in your room the entire time.

You weren't sure which made you more uncomfortable…

In any case, assassins. Hardly what you would call a 'heroic' type of spirit. But then, you couldn't do much in the way of judging or understanding at the moment.

…

You could deal with the Holy Grail War tomorrow, you didn't even much want to train at the moment. You just wanted to sleep. Walking over to the wall you flip the switch for the light off, then pulling off your shirt you make your way over to the bed. It's… plush, and deep, and an experimental press by your hand tells you that it would likely suck you in like quicksand and never let you out. It was western, and it was far, far too luxurious for your liking.

With a sigh, you lift yourself up and onto it. Resigning to yourself that you would likely be getting little sle-

—

Shirou dreamt.

Also, a shorter chapter my apologies, but ya'll got two oneshots in a row.

[] [Of Circe's Teachings]

[] [Of Medea's Life]

[] [Of a Bloody Battlefield]

[] [Of a Nameless Isle]

—

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler: For Good Sempais Only

"No bad endings this time sempai~"

Spoiler

Nobody guessed the mystery servant!

 

[Erien]

View: https://youtu.be/xEItHToR2sw

Have you ever realized Shirou exists to make women's lives harder?

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

—

This was… not going well, that was the main thought going through Rin's head as she tried to fight the urge to slam her face into the couch repeatedly. Rin wouldn't of course, to do so was beneath the standards of a lady, and beyond that, a proper Magus. But Rin was frustrated and that was one thing she was damn sure of. Rin had plans, she had gotten the servant she wanted, things were supposed to be going her way. And yet.

And.

Yet.

No sooner had Rin finished meeting with that priest than she was waylaid by a monster in the guise of a man. Rin still couldn't begin to parse who that servant was meant to be, let alone what it belonged to. It raged like a berserker, but it was quick, damn quick. But what proper Magus would ever summon something so uncontrollable?

Then there was… Shirou. Rin's thoughts kept drifting back to the boy, a fascination of hers for years. Rin hadn't expected him to be a master, but then, she couldn't say she particularly knew Shirou Emiya particularly well. He hadn't hidden it in any case, deliberately? Rin pursed her lips, thinking about it. The bandages were… a pathetic attempt to hide the mark. So what was it then, a challenge? A taunt?

Rin could only guess it was the latter, especially considering the speed at which his servant had chased off her own. Saber, her Saber. Wouldn't speak of it, having seemed ill at ease since they both returned. Rin supposed that could be explained at least partially by her now missing arm, Rin's magic was drained in an attempt to speed up the healing process. It would be for a while yet, she wagered, and until then…

Rin slammed her hand against the couch, frustration filling her.

No, no this wasn't going her way at all.

"Saber, how are you feeling?" Rin called out, turning her head towards the other couch.

Her servant stared at her flatly, one arm clutching onto another, literal phantom limb. Only faint motes of white light create an outline of the arm that was once there. "I am healing, Master." Saber replied.

Rin frowned. "I thought Sabers were the strongest servant."

"My apologies, Master." Saber replied. "The servant caught me… off guard." The blonde looked away as she said that, frustration and… something else Rin couldn't identify on her face.

Rin wanted to know more, she could demand more. But now, she was too tired and too frustrated to make a decision as rash as that. She slumped back down onto the cou-

*Buzz*

The Magus's eyes shot to the table just beside her, where the newly bought flip-phone was vibrating on the table. Reaching a hand out, she grabbed it off the table and flipped it open, glaring at the message displayed there.

'Couldn't you have bought me something with more memory?! It's cramped in here!'

Rin narrowed her eyes… Memory? Why would a phone need memory? Rin placed the phone back onto the table and groaned, moving a pillow to cover her eyes. Tomorrow, tomorrow will be better. She'd go back to school, and with any luck Shirou would be there, so she could get some answers out of him. Or kill him.

Frankly she might do both.

—

Shirou did not go to school that day, for he was busy moving house.

---

I was depressed so I wrote more Fate.