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The night air was chilled and the sounds of crickets filled the air as a group of men made their way up the road towards the great stone steps of the temple ahead.
With a snap of a finger the man furthest ahead signalled for five of them to stand guard near the stony walkway, the rest of them followed the main figurehead then turned off the main path and into the bush.
His research into the area was vast having spent years looking into each and every possibility. After receiving confirmation just last month he immediately set forth planning the trip and gathering a posse of magi ready to follow his every order.
Past rows of trees and through the bushes he made his way while also using his outstretched to clear any troublesome plants that dare stood in his path. The rest of them followed directly behind in a single file line so as to not get lost.
They came in the dead of the night so as not to attract any unwanted attention, they would finish their mission swiftly before anyone else caught onto their plan. This was the path he had chosen, and he would see it through till the end.
After a few minutes had passed the small sound of a trickling stream began to emerge, holding his hand up the lead one stopped in his tracks and began to look around.
“Here, it should be here somewhere…”
Though it had been over fifteen years since his last visit he remembered each and every leyline though the memories had faded a great deal since then. While there was one that led up the great stone path towards the temple he knew of a second hidden route. One that would lead him to the source of this city’s strength.
“Ah there it is.”
Near the small stream was a tiny entrance barely large enough for one man to fit through at a time. Signalling for the group to move once more he made his way through and into the darkness.
With a snap of his finger a bright silver light flickered forth from the man’s finger, a few of the mean behind him followed suit their hands lighting up to reveal the dank and dark entrance that laid before them.
Slowly they began to make their way through, the sounds of the insects had long faded away, replaced by the occasional trickle of water that flowed beneath their boots.
No one was sure how much time had passed as they made their way through the small tunnel before them. Eventually however, it slowly began to open up until they finally made their way onto the grand opening directly beneath the mountain.
Compared to the place they had just left the cavern was enormous stretching for miles and miles before them. The place was ripe with magical energy and every breath of the air invigorated the entire group, but that was not what interested them.
At the very back of the huge cave lay a shape that glowed an eerie purple, just judging from the distance between the group and the object it must have been huge. But before they could move another step a voice interrupted them.
“Well if it isn’t the esteemed Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, by what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”
It was a voice Kayneth knew all too well, one he remembered even after fifteen years of absence and one he almost regretted betraying.
“Zouken Matou! Or should I say Makiri Zolgen? You were one of the few I’ve found most difficult to slip by. If you are here then I assume you know exactly why we are here.”
“Fervor, mei sanguis.”
“Indeed, but I must warn you, what you attempting to claim is not within your jurisdiction. This land belongs to the Tohsaka, and you dare to involve yourself without notifying them first? I believed you to be a closer follower of protocol.”
“пробуждать.”
“You know as well as I do, that protocol means far less here than it does near the Clocktower. And besides, would it have made a difference?”
“Perhaps… But having received such a rude awakening I feel that I should follow with my own.”
“рой.”
Out of darkness came the wall of worms, they surrounded both Kayneth and crew from all sides. Though the group remained calm for the moment they were beginning to worry as the worms began to inch closer and closer to them, but Kayneth would not succumb to such a simple trick, he was ready for such.
“Inflari!”
From his jacket emerged the silver liquid, it came forth quickly oozing to the ground where it then began to expand, first past the others who stared at it in amazement and then towards the walls of worms where it met them head on.
And thus the fight began, a battle of will and pure magical capacity. Kayneth’s newly refined Volumen Hydrargyrum Recognitum against Zouken’s nearly infinite horde of worms.
Against the mercury the worms attempted to absorb it’s magical energy but it had been reinforced over and over again with an insane amount of enchantments. All their attempts to consume were reflected.
But the Volumen was not having any easier of a time, it held them back but their numbers were too large, it could do no more than that.
“So tell me Kayneth, do you remember that night? The night your life changed? I was watching you know. I was always watching, I saw as your Servant betrayed both you and your so called ‘fiance’ when he ignited taking both her and you with him I almost pitied you. Oh wait, I believe that was laughter, not pity. The sight was so enjoyable I was even generous enough to alert the oncoming group of magi to your location, how nice of me, kekekekeke.”
“Ah, so that’s how they found me so quickly, I never knew.”
“Exactly, but allow me to enlighten you some more, when you asked for your wish you used a substitute for the vessel. Do you know what this meant?”
“I believe I do not, but I have a feeling where this is going, so please continue onwards.”
“I’m sure you’ve felt it as of late, you are far too much tied to his place now, the slight burning sensation on your hand. That could only mean one thing.”
“The Grail has received enough magical energy? But it hasn’t even been close enough to the sixty years required.”
“Who said it always needed sixty? With no true wish granted only a small amount of energy was lost, enough so that only fifteen years was needed. So do you know what this means?”
“Set set...”
It was a light shined in Kayneth’s head, he immediately realized what was about to happen, he wouldn’t stand a chance like this no matter how many of these ordinary men he had, he had to act quickly. Retrieving a second small vial of silver liquid from his coat he began pouring it on the ground signaling for the men to pour magical energy into the circle as he drew.”
“...Set set.”
“Let thy body rest under my dominion, let my fate rest in thy blade.”
Thanks to his expertise in the field the circle was quickly drawn, yet he wasted no time in beginning a chant of his own, but he had to focus if he allowed anything to distract him for even a moment both his defenses and the ritual would crumble.
"If thou submitteth to the call of the Holy Grail, and if thou wilt obey this mind, this reason, then thou shalt respond.”
“Set set set set.”
He almost regretted conceiving such a complex ritual here and now, but the burning in his hand and the echoes of his foe casting the same ritual left him with few other options.
“I make my oath here. I am that person who is to become the virtue of all Heaven. I am that person who is covered with the evil of all Hades.”
“Let thy body rest under my dominion, let my fate rest in thy blade.”
In the distance past the two magical fields the ground began to rumble as the casting neared its completion for one of them.
“Thou seven heavens, clad in a trinity of words, come past they restraining rings, and be thou the hands that protect the balance!”
"If thou submitteth to the call of the Holy Grail, and if thou wilt obey this mind, this reason, then thou shalt respond.”
The empty circle in front of him began to glow in a calm silver lighting the entire mercury dome that covered them. Carefully, Kayneth began to retrieve the tightly wrapped package inside his jacket. He never left anywhere without it, after all who knows what could happen? Ripping it open he threw the well kept glove into the shining circle, just as a roar echoed at the far of the cavern.
“Rider, kill them all.”
“AaaaaRRRRRR!”
“I make my oath here. I am that person who is to become the virtue of all Heaven. I am that person who is covered with the evil of all Hades.”
Just a few seconds left until the ritual was completed, he only needed to hold out for a few seconds more, luckily for Kayneth the worms had ceased their attack but the ground began to shake even harder and it wasn’t from his circle alone. With a wave of his hand the mercury withdrew itself and focused into a wall directly in front of both him and his group.
“Thou seven heavens, clad in a trinity of words, come past they restraining rings, and be thou the hands that protect the balance!”
His wall fell immediately to the charging boar, yet before it could meet Kayneth head on they were both consumed in the bright flash of light.
A Lesson in Magical Theory - Second Chances (A Retelling of the Fifth Holy Grail War)
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My hero is:
Bram Archibald - The Upstart Magus
Sakura Emiya - The Wandering Child
Shirou Nosuke - The Immature Bandit
My servant is:
Caster - The Servant of Tactics, Hatred, or Revenge
Berserker - The Servant of Combat, Hatred, or God
Assassin - The Servant of Magic, Judgement, or Wishes
Hello everyone! After taking a bit of a break from my work I come to you yet again with the sequel to my long awaited Kayneth story!
This particular story takes place fifteen years after the events of Kayneth Quest where events begin to spiral out of control for our poor nobleman. You guys take on the role of one of three characters as listed above while summoning one of the three choices, with the story continuing from their perspective.
One thing to note is that the servants are different for them all so no Assassin is the same, no Berserker is the same and the same for Caster. Whichever one you guys pick the other two will receive the last two Servants, simple enough right?
Oh also, your choice will also determine the results of everyone else’s Servants so pick wisely! There will be canon Servants as well as non-canon Servant so don’t think you know everything from the start.
Finally this is actually going to be a simultaneous story hosted on both Beasts Lair and Mike’s Dark Side of the Moon forum. For a link to that thread you can find it here: http://forums.nrvnqsr.com/showthread.php/5358-A-Lesson-in-Magical-Theory-Second-Chances-%28A-Retelling-of-the-Fifth-Holy-Grail-War%29 (http://forums.nrvnqsr.com/showthread.php/5358-A-Lesson-in-Magical-Theory-Second-Chances-%28A-Retelling-of-the-Fifth-Holy-Grail-War%29)
I’m not one to talk much more than this so I’ll end it here, but if you have any questions at all feel free to ask and I’ll do what I can to answer, so let the choices begin!
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Sakura emiya, I guess. With Caster
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Yeah, I'm also going to say Sakura Emiya and Caster.
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Here you go, some more hint but no more than this:
Bram’s choices - Bram begins his political manipulations (Assassin), Bram takes things into his own hands (Caster), Bram defies the expectations of his allies and follows in his father’s foosteps (Berserker).
Sakura’s choices - Sakura enters the war against her father’s wishes (Caster), Sakura remembers her past (Berserker), Sakura fights to prove her worth against her sister (Assassin).
Shirou’s choices - Shirou finds his long lost legacy (Berserker), Shirou decides to help his best friend (Assassin), Shirou stumbles into the future (Caster).
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Hmm, so Sakura here doesn't know her true identity? I don't think you ever actually explained her backstory....
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I know her backstory and she knows it but you guys do not except her last name was changed to Emiya.
Also due to the nature of how this particular vote is going to go I have two ways to carry it out, the first is use the choices as one set group meaning if you guys wanted Bram and Berserker you get Bram and Berserker even if everyone else voted for a Caster but chose a different Master. The second method is to have the choices be separate which means if Sakura was the most popular option for the first but Assassin was the most popular for the second then it would be Assassin Sakura even if more people overall voted for Sakura and Caster. Which do you guys prefer?
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Well, for the master at least I think it should be overall votes. It's pretty absurd to assume that, if 3 people vote Sakura with Caster, 2 for Sakura with Assassin and 4 for Bram with Berserker that the overall result should be Bram, when more people wanted Sakura as the heroine. However, for the servant I'm not so sure, because that is master-specific. It may be better to do the two as seperate votes or something.
Anyway, in the event that you do the choices as a set group, I would like to add an addendum to my vote saying that, if Sakura with Caster can't win, I instead vote for whichever Sakura option has the most votes overall. Because I care far more about my vote for the master than for the servant. Also, can you please relay my viewpoint onto people on BL? It's a bit pointless posting arguments if no-one reads them....
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Ok I'm liking the new voting system so that is what we use, to vote simply state your favorite at three votes followed by two and then one for the other options, same goes for the Servants. The choice wins and etc.
Also no addendum, this is a simple voting process so if you want to change your vote then you can do that but I'm not going to do it for you.
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Ok I'm liking the new voting system so that is what we use, to vote simply state your favorite at three votes followed by two and then one for the other options, same goes for the Servants. The choice wins and etc.
OK, for now I'm going to say:
Sakura - 3 votes
Bram - 2 votes
Shirou - 1 vote
Caster - 3 votes
Berserker - 2 votes
Assassin - 1 vote
Also no addendum, this is a simple voting process so if you want to change your vote then you can do that but I'm not going to do it for you.
Well, that's fine as long as you keep us up to date on what the current totals are and when the vote is actually ending. I just don't want to end up causing Sakura to lose....
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These are the results that I am getting so far:
Voters: Vagrant, Rafflesiac, TheMegas, Fantabulous, Renko, meevanhelot, Magus, Bdoom, Sinon, Mike
21 votes - Shirou
16 votes - Bram
23 vote - Sakura
20 votes - Berserker
16 votes - Assassin
24 vote - Caster
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OK, well, in response to some of the stuff said on BL, the reason I am supporting Caster is that I feel Assassin restricts us too much to being bastards, which I don't really think is what either Sakura or Shirou would really desire (and certainly not what I desire), and Berserker is a character we cannot really interact with in any meaningful fashion due to being insane.
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It seems that you share the same reasoning as others who voted the same as you did.
Updated Results:
Voters: Vagrant, Rafflesiac, TheMegas, Fantabulous, Renko, meevanhelot, Magus, Bdoom, Sinon, Mike, Siriel
27 votes - Shirou
20 votes - Bram
25 vote - Sakura
25 votes - Berserker
21 votes - Assassin
26 vote - Caster
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Oh yeah btw, bad ends work a bit differently in this story. Rather than it being just an end all to the story there will be an option of either restarting like normal or pickup up as one of the other two main characters.
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Right, so I just have to get Shirou killed, then? :P
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That seems rather spiteful.
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That seems rather spiteful.
Erm, does the smiley not clue you in to the fact that I'm obviously not serious...?
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Oh, didn't notice it, I'm posting while doing other stuff, lol.
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But, no, I wouldn't attempt to kill off Shirou. Not unless the alternative is killing or seriously harming Sakura, anyway. Obviously I will oppose any attempts to cause harm to Sakura, though, and will encourage an alliance that ensures she is safe.
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I'll just go with the flow, myself.
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I'll just go with the flow, myself.
So you'd support killing Sakura if it comes up? Seriously?
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I'll just go with the flow, myself.
So you'd support killing Sakura if it comes up? Seriously?
Umm, yes?
If I am playing a CYOA and the choice comes down to "Kill the girl and live" or "Let the protagonist die" then obviously she dies. You don't play a CYOA to kill off your protagonist. You take the hard rolls as they come.
Besides, she's not even the same woman, so my attachment is far less.
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I'll just go with the flow, myself.
So you'd support killing Sakura if it comes up? Seriously?
Umm, yes?
If I am playing a CYOA and the choice comes down to "Kill the girl and live" or "Let the protagonist die" then obviously she dies. You don't play a CYOA to kill off your protagonist. You take the hard rolls as they come.
Besides, she's not even the same woman, so my attachment is far less.
I wasn't asking you. You're not Bdoom.
And, I would hope it wouldn't get into a situation where literally the only two options were "kill Sakura" and "die". Not least because that's not much of a CYOA. I'd expect there to be different methods of dealing with her, at least some of which are non-fatal, and if not I would try my hardest to implement a non-fatal one....
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Lol, whiteknighting even Not!Sakura.
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I wouldn't vote to kill sakura, I'd choose the third option. But I wouldn't get horribly upset if other people decided to kill her. It would suck, but it wouldn't be the end of the world.
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Umm, yes?
If I am playing a CYOA and the choice comes down to "Kill the girl and live" or "Let the protagonist die" then obviously she dies. You don't play a CYOA to kill off your protagonist. You take the hard rolls as they come.
I would like to point out that there might be exceptions (We're in the Nasuverse, there are exceptions to every rule).
However, as much as it pains me to say this, I would have to say agree. However, we will not have protags/protag candidates going out like punks. There will be last stands, tearful goodbyes, sheer epicness. At least, as much as can be had without breaking that ever-important Suspension of Disbelief.
By the way, this is my opinion regarding the death of any of these three, or any other major charaters, within this CYOA. If this was my general policy, there would be no way for me to enjoy Attack on Titan.
Lol, whiteknighting even Not!Sakura.
*Sarcasm mode* Bro, I have no clue what you're talking about. Just because we lack worms doesn't mean we can't have shrinking violet Sakura...
Seriously, though, there is more to her than the worm-rape. Enough for white-knighting? Debatable, but she has appeal all on her own. Don't make me give my take on the exact appeal. I don't want to risk starting a flame war before I've even hit 10 posts here.
To quote another member of the board, I don't want no trabble.
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Umm, yes?
If I am playing a CYOA and the choice comes down to "Kill the girl and live" or "Let the protagonist die" then obviously she dies. You don't play a CYOA to kill off your protagonist. You take the hard rolls as they come.
I would like to point out that there might be exceptions (We're in the Nasuverse, there are exceptions to every rule).
However, as much as it pains me to say this, I would have to say agree. However, we will not have protags/protag candidates going out like punks. There will be last stands, tearful goodbyes, sheer epicness. At least, as much as can be had without breaking that ever-important Suspension of Disbelief.
By the way, this is my opinion regarding the death of any of these three, or any other major charaters, within this CYOA. If this was my general policy, there would be no way for me to enjoy Attack on Titan.
I have no intention whatsoever of supporting any action that leads to Sakura's death. That doesn't mean I'm going to kill off the protagonist, but I can't imagine that any such choice is ever going to arise. It would not be a CYOA if it did.
Lol, whiteknighting even Not!Sakura.
*Sarcasm mode* Bro, I have no clue what you're talking about. Just because we lack worms doesn't mean we can't have shrinking violet Sakura...
Seriously, though, there is more to her than the worm-rape. Enough for white-knighting? Debatable, but she has appeal all on her own. Don't make me give my take on the exact appeal. I don't want to risk starting a flame war before I've even hit 10 posts here.
To quote another member of the board, I don't want no trabble.
I like Sakura. She doesn't have to be worm-raped Sakura for me to like her.
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I have no intention whatsoever of supporting any action that leads to Sakura's death. That doesn't mean I'm going to kill off the protagonist, but I can't imagine that any such choice is ever going to arise. It would not be a CYOA if it did.
*Shrug*
I like Sakura. She doesn't have to be worm-raped Sakura for me to like her.
...You do realize that that was the exact point I was trying to make, right?
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Actually Mike, COYA often have sacrificial points, be it an item, a power or a character or whatever because a COYA is divided by however many storylines there are and however many choices the user is given. The current trend which is not native to COYA stories is the idea of writing in outcomes or actions. I grew up on the genre of books, as with role-playing there's actually a story to follow. This is why I don't do write ins as a rule. You get however many choices given by the storyteller, that's it. As for Sakura dying, I'm a lover of fiction and sometimes I will support the unfortunate lost of companions if the ends are good enough (HF barely qualified in this regard due to the obvious problem I have with it)
side note, I can't weigh in on the story directly because I'm still catching up on it.
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Lasted CYOA I read was full of hilarious dead ends and none good ends. Except maybe Sabbat end for Toreador PC.
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Actually Mike, COYA often have sacrificial points, be it an item, a power or a character or whatever because a COYA is divided by however many storylines there are and however many choices the user is given. The current trend which is not native to COYA stories is the idea of writing in outcomes or actions. I grew up on the genre of books, as with role-playing there's actually a story to follow. This is why I don't do write ins as a rule. You get however many choices given by the storyteller, that's it.
COYA might well have "sacrificial points", but I very much doubt that there will be one that is "kill Sakura" or "die". If Sakura is going to get killed by GM fiat, it will just happen and we won't have any say in it.
As for Sakura dying, I'm a lover of fiction and sometimes I will support the unfortunate lost of companions if the ends are good enough (HF barely qualified in this regard due to the obvious problem I have with it)
Well, to me, no end is good enough to justify Sakura's death. I don't really expect most of the fandom to agree with that, though....
Also, I'd like to point out to people on BL that, whilst Sakura and Shirou are both part-canon, part-OC here, Sakura is still fundamentally the same person, albeit with a different upbringing. Shirou, on the other hand, was changed totally by the fire, which did not occur here, and so will be extremely different, to the point that he might as well just be called an OC.
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No, Milbunk has more tact and creativity then to just make a choice like that, still some cyoa have such choices.
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Updated Results:
Voters: Vagrant, Rafflesiac, TheMegas, Fantabulous, Renko, meevanhelot, Magus, Bdoom, Sinon, Mike, Siriel, DaItalianFish, mAc Chaos, Henrysmith, I_care_not_till_I_must, UnlimitedBladeWorks, Tiresias, Nuclear Consensus, dpss
44 votes - Shirou
33 votes - Bram
43 vote - Sakura
41 votes - Berserker
39 votes - Assassin
40 vote - Caster
So far pretty close.
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just one more pro sakura. ONE MORE!
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Count me in for Sakura, might as well tip the scales.
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vote in the same way mike did then.
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Hmm...why not:
Shirou - 1
Bram - 2
Sakura - 3
Berserker - 3
Assassin - 1
Caster - 2
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Shirou - 3
Bram - 2
Sakura - 1
Berserker - 3
Assassin - 2
Caster - 1
Pls, Shirou.
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Sakura - 3 votes
Bram - 2 votes
Shirou - 1 vote
Caster - 3 votes
Berserker - 2 votes
Assassin - 1 vote
as per protocol. These are my votes
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Alright thanks for the voting I'll update the results sometime soon but I also just wanted to let you know that I've been posting the updated votes on BL as well to keep them in the loop.
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Updated Results:
Voters: Vagrant, Rafflesiac, TheMegas, Fantabulous, Renko, meevanhelot, Magus, Bdoom, Sinon, Mike, Siriel, DaItalianFish, mAc Chaos, Henrysmith, I_care_not_till_I_must, UnlimitedBladeWorks, Tiresias, Nuclear Consensus, dpss, Kaiza, Kat, Lantzblades
49 votes - Shirou
39 votes - Bram
50 vote - Sakura
49 votes - Berserker
43 votes - Assassin
46 vote - Caster
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such a close race
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I should get people to vote on Shirou.
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Was there some more information for this? I heard people talking about it, but you don't seem to have posted anything....
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Shirou 3
Bram 2
Sakura 1
Archer 3
Lancer 2
Assassin 1
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Hey Puck check the voting options again you'll notice that Archer or Lancer weren't options for voting.
Also an update of sorts:
The Assassin of magic will change to the Assassin of Death. I will also say there is a possibility of OC Assassins.
Finally a list of possible companions for ANY of the groups in no particular order, this isn't all of them mind you just a random list I was planning on sharing before I left for work:
Bazett
Ayako
Shinji
Kiritsugu
Medius (OC?)
Homunculus (OC?)
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Ok so I've actually finished my other projects a bit ahead of schedule so consider this your warning. Voting ends on Saturday at midnight Central Standard Time. If you guys wanted to lobby for your position anymore now is the time to do it!
Updated Results:
Voters: Vagrant, Rafflesiac, TheMegas, Fantabulous, Renko, meevanhelot, Magus, Daiki, Bdoom, Sinon, Mike, Siriel, DaItalianFish, mAc Chaos, Henrysmith, I_care_not_till_I_must, UnlimitedBladeWorks, Tiresias, Nuclear Consensus, dpss, Kaiza, Kat, Lantzblades, Desu_Cake, Cheezeburger, Focus, CyberNinja, Nihilm
62 votes - Shirou
48 votes - Bram
58 vote - Sakura
59 votes - Berserker
53 votes - Assassin
56 vote - Caster
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Yay, Shirou winning.
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Alright final votes are in, it looks like the story will go from the Shirou/Berserker perspective! But don't fret if you aren't able to play as your preferred character. After all they will still be in the story you guys just won't get their perspective.
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Shirou/Berserker
All according to keikaku.
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Alright final votes are in, it looks like the story will go from the Shirou/Berserker perspective! But don't fret if you aren't able to play as your preferred character. After all they will still be in the story you guys just won't get their perspective.
Damn it, so close too.
And, "still in the story" isn't really much of a bonus when the story involves a war between all the participants....
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I suppose that's true but there will be the occasional change of personality where you see someone else's perspective. I did it a little in the last story and I'll probably do it again here.
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To the people on BL, no, I don't intend to kill Shirou. I have nothing against Shirou as a character, and I suspect that attempting to do so would backfire in any case.
However, I do intend to try to get a good outcome for Sakura, and I will certainly try to ensure her survival as a bare minimum.
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I doubt many of them lurk here to read that.
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Hey everyone, just a quick heads up my next entry will be here sometime tomorrow! Sorry for the wait but hopefully you'll enjoy my take on this OC Shirou.
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To my favorite Cousin
Hey bro, how’s it hangin? I’m doing pretty great! You’ll never believe the amazing things that happened to me! You remember that book thing I found a while back? Turns out I’m something called a magus! Cool right? I know I had a hard time believing it at first, but when that demon guy came out of the portal it was hard not to believe it. Well it looks like time is up, Caster wants to go run some errands and I gotta test out all these cool new inventions of his so I’ll talk to you later!
With Love
You Know Who
(P.S. Remember! Don’t tell anyone about me, it’ll be our little secret ; )
**************************************************************
To my favorite Cousin
Hey dude, sorry about the late response. After we moved locations getting your replies were quite bothersome, but don’t worry! Big bro’s on the case! To be honest, I’m not really sure what all this magic nonsense really means but that’s alright ain’t it? Caster’s handling all the boring stuff and he’s even cool enough to show me some of the cooler things he can do! Some day I’ll have to bring you over and demonstrate, perhaps after this Grail thingy is done. Anyways, talk to ya later.
With Love
You Know Who
(P.S. Remember! Don’t tell anyone about me, it’ll be our little secret ; )
**************************************************************
To my favorite Cousin
Hey bro, how’s it hangin? I’m doing pretty good myself, the invention pool has started to run a little dry if you know what I mean but I’m optimistic that Caster’ll find a way, he always does! It seems tomorrow he wants to plan some sorta big raid or something which’ll bring this war to an end or something like that. I never really understood it but so long as he handles all the boring stuff I’m alright with that. Anyways, after all that is said and done I think I’ll have to pay you a visit, I know it’s been years since we’ve met face to face so it’ll be a blast! I’ve already started drawing up some fun activities we can do! Just wait and see, I’m sure you’ll love em! Anyways, talk to you later, Caster’s heading out now so I’m gonna grab a bite to eat.
With Love
You Know Who
(P.S. Remember! Don’t tell anyone about me, it’ll be our little secret ; )
***********************************************************
“But you never did reply, did you?”
Taking the greatly aged papers, he carefully folded them and set them back into the small safe before closing the lid and resetting the lock. Those letters, the ones from his cousin, he knew they held some great secret but whatever it was he still had little idea of what it could be.
He did his best to keep that promise, even as the letters began to get more and more scarce and days turned to months which became years, he never said a word to anyone. Yet here he was fifteen years later, still looking at those pages.
“Just what did Uryuu want?”
Perhaps it was about time he discovered the truth.
“Oy, Shirou, you gonna be ready soon? I can’t keep waiting here forever ya know.”
There was a knock on his bedroom door before it quickly opened and his roommate walked in. He wore his favorite white jacket with the puffy collar while his pants were pitch black. Yet even with that perhaps the most noticeable feature was the wavy blue hair that fell across his face.
“Yeah Shinji, just a sec lemme grab my stuff.”
Returning the lockbox to it’s position on the shelf he grabbed the large backpack and followed his friend out of the room.
“You got everything?”
The roommate had a bag of his own strapped on his back and with a smirk on his face he was getting tired of waiting.
“I think so, we’ve waited long enough, there shouldn’t be many people there at such a late time, shall we go?”
“Sure sure.”
With a final confirmation they left the small apartment and onto the streets of Fuyuki’s downtown district. In the cold night air there were very few people roaming the streets at this time of night. Yet the two men were careful nonetheless, sticking to back streets and taking alleyways so as to avoid any unwanted attention, they talked as they went.
“So remind me again, Nosuke. Those renovations to the failing sewer infrastructure found some sort of relic?”
“That’s what the report said, apparently a rare type or European sheath was found beneath what appeared to be a cave in to the place at least ten years old. The sheath itself however is dated to be hundreds of years old yet surprisingly for it’s age it’s still in remarkable condition, they could eve-”
Before he could continue he was met with a slap on his back as Shinji stopped him before he could go on any further.
“Alright alright, I swear Nosuke you get a little too obsessed over old weapons and other ancient junk like that, you’re gonna turn into a sword or something if you keep at it ya know. But in the end what matters is the price, is this gonna be worth it?”
“Definitely, because the discovery was very recent, information was hard to come by, but anything with that kind of age will fetch quite a nice price regardless. And it’s best we make our move tonight, the longer we wait the higher the chance they’ll move it out of the city.”
“Whatever you say dude.”
“You should at least express a little more interest you know, after all this money’s gonna be going to those who need it most.”
“Your money you mean, mine is going into my pocket.”
“Don’t you mean into the pockets of all those girls you go out with? I don’t even know how much you must’ve spent by now, surely your job and inheritance are enough?”
“You just don’t understand, Nosuke. Women are complicated things, and thanks to this money I can make them just a little less complicated. Speaking of women, how’s that little sister of yours? She get any cuter?”
“Please Shinji, you’re the last person I’d share that with, how would you feel if you had a sister and I tried hitting on her?”
The smirk on Shinji’s face faded for an instant before quickly returning yet again. Sensing the break in conversation Shirou caught it even if it lasted only an instance. Had he touched a nerve by accident?
Eager to change the conversation Shinji changed the topic to Shirou’s other line of work.
“So how’s that nurse gig going for you? You meet anyone yet?”
“Nah, that’s not really my thing you know. I’m sure when I find the right person I’ll know it.”
“Ha! If only it were that easy, but it’s not like some cute blonde girl is gonna fall out of the sky for you. If you wait too long all the cute ones will be gone, better get moving Nosuke. Anyways…”
The two continued to talk about more meaningless things, from the cute girl’s at their workplaces to the recent sports games. Until finally, the small ornately decorated museum came into view. In large gold letters the name; Fuyuki Museum of Natural History could be easily read from their location.
With a glance from both of them they quickly disappeared into the shadows. Infiltrating the museum would be easy enough, finding the artifact would be a little more difficult.
After changing into pitch black clothing far more suited to the nature of their work and quickly scaled the large iron fence before making their way to one of the great concrete walls that held the building up.
Retrieving a pair of strange looking plastic devices they each attached them to their hands before scaling the wall of the building.
When they reached the roof they approached the great glass windows that decorated the various rooms of the museum. If Shirou’s information was anything to go by they would need to find one of the small offices in the back that should be where it was currently kept.
Quietly undoing the latch on the window, Shinji quietly checked the rooms below him before giving the signal and allowing Shirou to climb down.
The security in the museum was nothing out of the ordinary, it had cameras and few nightguards that regularly patrolled the halls. Before he had arrived Shirou made sure to memorize the hot spots where these patrols might wander or where the cameras tended to watch.
Luckily for him, his goal was not the artifacts carefully under display in the main rooms. As he quietly scuttled along he came across a back door marked ‘Employees Only’ this was where he needed to go.
If the reports he gathered were correct one of the back offices was where he needed to go. Though the darkened halls he went going through the blind spots of the occasional camera as he sneaked through.
Until he finally came across the correct door.
‘This should be it’
Carefully, he retrieved from his back a small electronic machine and attached it to the electronic lock on the door. From there, he pressed a few buttons and after a few seconds the lock clicked open, he then quickly made his way inside removing the device and closing the door yet again.
Inside the room he quickly set to work, searching around for any signs of where they might keep such a rare artifact, until he came across a picture that decorated one of the sides of the rooms.
‘Behind here?’
Removing the picture he found a large safe behind it. If it was going to be anywhere, this was it.
Using his years of experience at picking a lock Shirou set to work doing his best to listen to the locks and tumblers as he turned the knob. And after ten minutes had passed he finally got it open.
Making sure to quietly open the door to the safe he glanced inside using his small flashlight to illuminate the way, and there he saw it.
Carefully wrapped in brown paper the sheath that he was looking for was safely held. Quickly, he took it and stashed it in his bag but just before he closed the safe, something caught his eye. A small book shaped package with the words “Found near the wreckage” scribbled on it. Was it related to the sheath? Not thinking much about he he also grabbed the book before closing the safe and quietly making his way out of the office.
Sneaking back out was all to easy for him and after quietly confirming he was safe the rope was lowered yet again and Shirou made his way out of that museum and into safety.
His friend and accomplice was waiting for him when he climbed out.
“Any problems?”
“None at all.”
Just then a small pain shot through his right hand, perhaps because of the way he grabbed the window on his way out he might have bruised it in some way. Either way it didn’t hurt all that much so for now Shirou would ignore it. Hiding his wincing from Shinji he kept silent.
“Good, now let’s get out of here.”
Just as quickly as they had arrived did the disappear yet again without leaving so much as a trace of their mission.
As they made their way back to their apartment, Shirou couldn’t help but be excited to take a look at their artifact, he still had a few days before they’d need to get rid of it and he intended to use that time to see just what secrets it might hide.
His friend could care less. “So, Nosuke, remember how I mentioned my pa wanted me to run a few errands? Doesn’t look like I’ll be able to wait any longer so I’ll be splitting up here.”
“Oh right, I’d almost forgotten, it’s good that you’re visiting your family again, I’m sure they’ll welcome you back.”
“Ha! You wish. Those old geezers could care less about what I did, I bet they were happy just to get me out of the house. Unlike you Nosuke, how’s your sister and the rest of em doing?”
“Doing just fine I’m sure, you know I don’t like to involve them in my own affairs, I visit them whenever I have the time.”
“Whatever you say Shirou. Well see ya later, enjoy your precious alone time with that sheath, heh.”
After their parting Shirou made his way back to the apartment alone but with the treasure safely kept in his bag.
***************************************************************
When he returned home he quickly stashed his equipment safely away and looked at the treasures he had managed to knab. He had almost forgotten after the long walk home but he as he took out the sheath he also grabbed the carefully wrapped book with it.
“Near the collapse huh? I wonder what it is?”
His schedule was clear for tomorrow so after grabbing a soda from the fridge, Shirou set down at his desk and carefully unwrapped the packaging.
“Just what do we have here?”
It was a pile of papers bound together, but the entire thing was a mess. Perhaps due to being out in the elements for so long the papers were barely holding themselves together. Most of it was completely unreadable in fact, but there were a few areas that could still be read. However it was two words that caught Shirou’s attention more than anything else.
“Holy Grail?”
Could it be? Was this book somehow related to Uryuu’s disappearance? He continued his reading perhaps hoping to discover more.
************************************************************
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed since he began to decipher the text but from what he could tell it seemed to be some sort of summoning ritual.
There was no way he could sleep now, with the chance to discover his cousin’s past he immediately delved into its creation.
“Uh, let’s see. I need a liquid of some sort, so that I could draw that circle thing.”
He considered a marker at first but realized that was just stupid for a ritual like this, perhaps then some blood might work better?
With his work as a nurse aid blood was nothing out of the ordinary, and just a little should go a long way. Taking a small knife he carefully cut himself and allowed the blood to pour into a container. After making sure he had enough he bandaged the cut, but he still needed a place to put the circle.
“Uh the bathroom perhaps?” If it didn’t work it would be easier to clean up, yeah perhaps that was the best place to do it in.
After making his way to the bathroom he took the crumpled pages of the book and set to work on creating that circle the best he could.
“Like this?”
There were errors here and there but he thought it was close enough to what the book said to do. At least from what he could tell through all the faded words.
“So then what?”
The bruise on his hand itched yet again, did it get infected somehow? Perhaps it was best he was more careful in the future.
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door. Quickly followed by a loud explosion as the door crumpled inwards from the force.
“Come out with your hands up! You’ve taken something that did not belong to you, if you wish to feel the full force of the association.”
“What the hell!?” Did he get too arrogant in his thievery? To already be caught this soon, something was terribly wrong.
“A set up!?”
He needed time, whoever was out there would make his way here eventually, but what could Shirou do?
If only he had the knife from before but that was still in the other room, he needed to think quickly but the damn bruise on his hand was beginning to get worse and worse. Like an itch that wouldn’t go away no matter how much he scratched he was having trouble focusing. What was going on?
“Here?” Another explosion the man made his way through the apartment, blasting through room after room. He didn’t seem like the police, his methods were too crude, too threatening, was he related to one of the crime groups then?
‘What do I do? What do I do!?’
But then he felt it, something was calling to him, inside his head he could hear it. If he wanted to be saved he only need say the words.
Quickly, Shirou grabbed the book sitting on the counter and flew through the torn pages until he came across one of the few phrases that was still displayed. And then quietly he began to chant what was left of the phrases.
‘Here goes nothing.’
“Set, thy body rest under my dominion?”
Another crash as the man outside began to get closer and closer.
“My fate submitteth to the call of the Holy Grail?”
He knew that this was probably incorrect but he had to try something, it was either this or face that man outside.
“For this reason I make my oath here? Who will become the virtue of Heaven not the evil of all of Hades?”
The circle began to dimly glow as the mark on his hand glowed even further. But the explosions outside stopped, was he about to go away?
(https://i.imgur.com/aYu2GfQ.png)
“Seven heavens, come past thy restraining rings and protect the balance!”
The light that filled the circle dispersed the instant the chant was finished. But nothing appeared. Or so he thought.
“Here you ar- Wait, who the hell are you? Are you going to stand in my way as well?”
“You… Are not my Master… Leave, or suffer under my blade.”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? You think I’m gonna listen to you?”
“Then so be it.”
“Wh-”
There was a loud crash and then silence yet again, from outside the sound of footsteps could be heard coming closer and closer.
There was no escape, Shirou would be caught he had to prepare himself. Doing his best to hide behind the small excuse for a door he braced himself and waited as the footsteps approached.
When they arrived at the door, they stopped. The instant seemed like hours as Shirou did his best to conceal his breathing, the atmosphere was so strong he felt like he was going to faint at any instant.
He could hear as the man outside gripped the door, and promptly tore it from it’s hinges sending Shirou flying back in shock.
“W-what the hell man!”
Quickly rising to his feel Shirou came face to face with the face of his alleged invader. Contrary to his voice and movements he wore a huge set of silver and blue armor, his face was best described as beautiful and the thick black hair that was long enough to reach his face only helped to strengthen that thought.
Even from a distance Shirou could tell that this man who continued to silently stare at him held some strong aura of nobility about him. But what did he want?
“Well? Did you want something?”
Shirou couldn’t take it any longer, if he was going to die it might as well be quick.
“You… You are my Master are you not?”
“What? What in the world are you talking about?”
“Hmph. I ask of thee, and I repeat myself yet again, are you my Master?”
“Master? Are you some sort of Servant or something?”
He hadn’t realized it until now but the burning on his hand had mostly gone away, taking a glance towards his hand he saw the glowing red marks that covered it.
(https://i.imgur.com/KKPhcvA.png)
Taking a notice of the seals the man in the armor spoke up yet again.
“Yes. It appears that you are indeed my Master. Very well then, the foe who it seems intruded upon thoust residence has been dispatched with. A spy perhaps? Sent to interrupt you before the ritual completion? No matter, I arrived in time, and that is all that is required of our meeting.”
“Look I’m sorry dude, but I have no idea what you’re talking about. Care to explain?”
“Hmm? You mean you who are my Master, are not familiar with the rules and requirements of this Holy Grail War? Then perhaps I shall clarify for you.”
**********************************************************
“So let me get this straight. You’re one of these Servant things, Berserker not Caster, right?”
Some time had passed since the Servant had begun his explanation, the instant he mentioned that there were several different classes Shirou immediately went to the conclusion that he was a Caster. Something Berserker thought ridiculous, what Caster in their right mind would come in a full set of armor? Certainly not one such as himself.
“Yes, that is correct. But I am most displeased, the information I was hoping you possessed it rather lacking I fear. What you know will get you nowhere in this war I’m afraid, and because of this perhaps it is best I keep my own secrets as just that, a secret.”
‘Now wait just a minute.’ Shirou thought to himself. They had only just met and already this Berserker guy wanted to keep things from him? What in the world was he thinking? Perhaps it was better to try and just force him to spill the beans, or perhaps he could trick it out of him.
1. Force Berserker to tell him everything.
2. Attempt to trick Berserker into revealing his secrets.
3. Allow Berserker to keep his secrets.
4. Write in...
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1. Force Berserker to tell him everything:
2. Attempt to trick Berserker into revealing his secrets: Nihilm, Rafflesiac, Magus, mAc Chaos, Bdoom, CyberNinja, Sinon
3. Allow Berserker to keep his secret: Nuclear Consensus, TheMegas, Renko, Cheezeburger, UnlimitedBladeWorks, Rafflesiac
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Hmm, I think 3, for now. Tricking our servant as our first action isn't all that wise....
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Final Results:
1. Force Berserker to tell him everything:
2. Attempt to trick Berserker into revealing his secrets: Nihilm, Rafflesiac, Magus, mAc Chaos, Bdoom, CyberNinja, Sinon, TheMegas
3. Allow Berserker to keep his secret: Nuclear Consensus, Renko, Cheezeburger, UnlimitedBladeWorks, Cherry Lover
I'll take the four day silent period as a sign that the votes are pretty much set in stone, now to get to work on the next section! But how do you trick a Servant?
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You don't, probably....
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Some are not that smart, you know.
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Let's hope we get a smart one or we impress one with our brazen audacity.
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And ouch, I missed the voting due to translation commissions.
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Any progress?
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Don't think so.
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Another dead project? Like BMW 2?
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It hasn't been that long.
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I apologize for the silence I assure you I'm working on it, it's just that creating what is essentially a new universe takes time and I'm providing a few more surprises this time around at the cost of my formerly speedy chapters.
Once the holidays are over things will hopefully speed up again but regardless expect the next section in between christmas and new years.
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No problem.
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The next part is finished it's just going through a beta right now.
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Shirou was not about to just sit here and allow this man to walk all over him. But judging from this Berserker’s personality he couldn’t just brute force his way through. Surely there was something he could do instead?
“I can understand wanting to keep secrets Berserker, but if you keep me in the dark too much how am I supposed to understand what is going on? Surely you can share some stuff with me, even the most basic things that anybody could figure out?”
Berserker thought for a second, considering Shirou’s words. Before finally he responded his face coming into a smile.
“Yes yes, you make a good point fine sir. What kind of a man would I be if all my secrets were kept like a locked chest rotting away in darkness. Very well then, as I mentioned before I am of the class Berserker. This means that I am fated to go insane at some point due to mad enhancement. When or how this happens I cannot say, only the fates can tell of such a thing. But when it does happen I shall be nearly unstoppable of that I promise you.”
“Insane? How does that work? Will it wear off at some point?”
The armored knight clicked his tongue before nodding in disapproval. “That I will not reveal my friend, to do so would be to reveal my own identity and as I said before that is an event I am unwilling to participate in. Should you wish to bring me back you will need to figure it out on your own. To do so would be a task most fitting of someone worthy enough to be called my Master!”
Shirou on the other hand was not amused by his Servant’s ramblings. He felt as if he was in over his head. He couldn’t take much more of this. “Fine, but what do you mean by war? Are we going to be fighting an army or something? How can one man be that strong?”
To this Berserker calmly walked by the still dazed Shirou before grabbing the door handle and easily ripping it and the door itself off its hinges. He then proceeded to rip the door in two pieces like it was paper and dropping the chunks of wood on the ground. “A rather barbaric method if I must say but one that should suffice. As a Servant I possess powers far greater than you can ever imagine. So long as you wish to fight I will remain loyal to you ever still, and yes even against an entire army would my blade stand strong. But as I mentioned before such a battle seems to be unlikely, for you see others are likely summoning their own Servants until the total quota of seven has been filled. After which the war shall continue onwards until one remains.”
Shirou stood there his mouth agape, how was he going to explain this to his landlord or worse, to Shinji. “W-what the hell man? This an apartment how do you expect me to repair this!?”
Berserker merely glanced at Shirou quizzically before chucking in a rather elegant manner. “If it is repairs you need then leave such matters to mine own hands. I have a few tricks up my sleeve you see, and I can use them of my own volition. And because you seem like such a polite upstanding gentleman I won’t even mind dirtying myself slightly to see that you’re possessions are fixed. But might I make a recommendations o young one. You seem rather fatigued from the days events and with good reason. This has all been a lot to take in, why not go get some rest before night’s presence leaves us? Leave the cleaning to me.”
The dizziness filling Shirou’s head had only gotten worse over time which was making it hard to decline Berserker’s offer. In the end he agreed with Berserker’s proposal and began to head for his own room. But before he could make it there, the piercing smell of blood flooded his nostrils, he took one glance around to see the giant pile of blood on the floor and then he passed out his mind unable to take any further strain for that day.
****************************************************************************************
“Hey pops, where are you at?”
Shinji had just arrived to his house. He quickly passed through the front door without even bothering to knock while shouting.
Yet there was no reply. “Jeez, is he already going deaf? Hey old man! Where are you at, I got this package you wanted!”
Yet there was still silence, perhaps he had already gotten tired of drinking passed out in his room again? It wouldn’t be the first time Shinji experienced that after all.
As he walked through the hallways and neared the stairs that would bring him to the second floor, Shinji couldn’t help but feel something felt off. The air itself felt heavier than usual and that was saying something compared to the almost constant heavy atmosphere the newly rebuilt mansion projected.
Just before he reached the stairs Shinji paused as he caught something out of the corner of his eye. There at the far opposite hall stood a door where there should have been a dead end.
“Did they do some renovations while I was one or something?” His curiosity was overwhelming, ignoring any warning signs that were going off in his head he made his way towards the door and opening it up before freezing in shock.
The room was enormous with a giant row of great stone steps leading downwards into the dirty ground. But what stood out most of all were the three people standing in the center of the room.
Two of them Shinji recognized all too well, his old man, and his gramps, but the third was stunningly beautiful, with pitch black hair and pale skin what stood out from that was her deep red eyes as she stared at his old man.
And instantly decapitated him with one swift movement of her hand. Blood was sprayed in all directions and Shinji fell to his knees in shock. He shouldn’t be here, he knew that now. This was something he should not see. But it was too late, the damage had already been done.
Almost humorously the deep cracked voice of the owner of the house spoke up as if he had just noticed Shinji’s arrival. “Oh is that you Shinji? I’m sorry but the magical energy your body emits was so puny I hadn’t noticed. Please, do come in and make yourself at home. It looks like we have much to talk about.”
**********************************************************************************
His entire body felt like a lead brick, struggling to open his eyes Shirou once more found himself in his room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, had it all been a dream?
“Good to see that you are awake once more Master, and even better still. You see, it seems I have made a small error in my actions, and one that must be addressed immediately.”
The sound of the voice through thin air immediately alerted Shirou. It appears that it was indeed not a dream.
“Error? What do you mean by error?”
Giving Shirou yet another shock the man in the silver armor materialized out of thin air directly beside his bed before continuing onwards with his explanation. “You see Master, I failed to take into account the fact that you are new to the magical world. And as such you have yet to awaken any true magical capabilities, your magical circuits in other words. This is the method that I as a Servant must use in order to stay alive. But as it is currently the amount I am getting is only just enough to keep me from disappearing altogether. Should I get into a conflict with a foe… Well I could last at most a few minutes I’m afraid.”
The dizziness from being awakened now gone from his head Shirou began to recall the nights events in full though he couldn’t remember how he got back to his room. The last thing he could recall was leaving that bathroom. But for now he needed to take care of this issue with Berserker first. “So then, what do you want me to do?”
His Servant gave a small smile before retrieving from one his pockets a small brown leather book. “Ah just like my Master, quick to pick up on the situation as I had expected. Well, for now you simply need to awaken your circuits. While you slept I ran a few small ritual tests to analyze your skill and it appears unfortunately you may just be dreadfully average in terms of magical prowess. But never fear! I shall help you to awaken what potential you may have. Please sit there for a moment while I begin the process, when completed the connection between us will strengthen greatly but before that you may feel a few uncomfortable tinges of pain. Rest assured it is all part of the process and nothing all that dangerous.”
“Dangerous? W-ha-”
Before he could object Berserker held out his free hand and began to chant in a language Shirou could not understand.
“oh magia abscondita…”
Berserker’s hand began to glow in a soft purple light and Shirou felt his body get heavier and heavier.
“...tu cum occulta potentia…”
His body felt as if it was one fire. His vision began to fade, something was going wrong, was he going to die?
“...excitandis!”
Something had awakened inside Shirou, the circuits that had awakened in his body were pushed to life and he felt the magical energy pulse through his body for the first time. Along with that he could feel a strange tug towards his Servant.
“What is this?”
That is your magical potential awakened my Master. It may take a while to get used to but when you do you should be able to control when you wish to release your own magical energy. As for the day, I am afraid I allowed you to sleep just a little too long, noon has already passed and the sun is beginning to fall, but never fear! With what little time remains in the day I shall teach you what I know about magic!”
“Magic… Berserker… Are you a magus?”
It happened so quickly Shirou thought it was an illusion, a tinge of darkness passed through Berserker eyes before his smile and grace returned as if nothing had happened. He then began to speak in his elegant manner. “It could be said that I have dabbled in the magical arts for a short while, I know enough to be able to aid you but that is all I’m afraid. So come then, shall we get started?”
As they made their way out of Shirou’s room and into the main living room Shirou was relieved that it was still the weekend, he didn’t need to worry about work for another day. But as he walked by the bathroom yet again he paused.
“Is something the matter, my Master?”
Shirou couldn’t help but stare at the ordinary wooden door that was still connected to the wall as if it had never been broken.
“No it’s nothing. I was just confused for a moment.” Shirou then proceeded to glance about the room, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, there was no blood but why would there be?
“Very well then, please come along, we have much to learn and only so long to learn it all. The longer we wait the more our foes will plan against us and that must be stopped at all costs.”
Once again Shirou followed Berserker and once they settled down Berserker began to teach him the intricacies of the magical world.
********************************************************************************************
A lot of time had passed as Berserker patiently began to teach Shirou the basics of magic. He began to learn the mechanics of how magic worked, what magic was and the difference between odo and prana, as well as attempting a few common magical spells.
By the time night began to fall Shirou still felt rather new to all of this. But he could feel progress no matter how slight. Through great effort and concentration he was able to repair a broken glass cup a few times though he preferred to forget just how long it took to get that far.
“Our time together has been great Master, and you seem tired yet again. This seems like a good place to stop for the night. A tired mind is a mind unable to focus on what needs to be done.”
Shirou took a deep breath as if the day’s fatigue had finally begun to catch up with him. He only had to glance at the pitch black window to get a sense of how long it’d been since he started.
But then he remembered, he had been so distracted from the day’s events that he had forgotten about his friend. Where was Shinji? He said he’d be back by now but there was no word from him.
“Hey Berserker… You said you could sense when other people nearby right? Did anyone ever try to approach this apartment?
“Hmm? No, nobody made such an attempt, were you watching out for someone my dear boy? I don’t recall anyone approaching but I could try a little harder if that’s what you wish for.
Before Shirou could respond Berserker closed his eyes and stood perfectly still, suddenly his demeanor changed and he opened in his in surprise.
“Oh my, Master it seems your luck is quite astounding, certainly far better than my own. I did not sense anyone of importance nearing this apartment but I caught wind of something far better. There are two Servants close by engaging in combat. This opportunity could prove to be quite useful to us, perhaps it might be worth it to take a look?”
“Servants!? You mean like you? Who are they? What classes are they? Are they strong?”
Gently but forcefully Berserker put his gloved hand to Shirou’s lips as if to quiet him. “Calm down Master, I may be a Servant but there is only so much I can do with my own strength. If you wish to figure out who these foes might be then some manual reconnaissance is required. Maybe it’s best if you see for yourself?”
Such an idea seemed pretty dangerous to Shirou but his curiosity was getting the better of him, in the end he agreed and he quickly ran off to his room to grab some equipment of his own before setting off not towards the street but upwards towards the roof of the apartment.
“If they are anywhere close to us we should be able to see them from up there. And thanks to these binoculars sight shouldn’t be an issue either.”
“Excellent, excellent Master! As expected of one such as yourself you are already well prepared to take action! I couldn’t have asked for more!”
When they reached the rooftop Shirou looked down onto the empty streets below. Taking out a pair of high quality binoculars he began to search in the direction his Servant had pointed out, but when he looked he saw nothing. He couldn’t even feel this supposed magical energy that his Servant said should have been there.
“Are you sure it’s over there Berserker? I don’t see anything.”
Berserker nodded his head and held up his hands as if to sigh. “My dear Master do you not remember what I mentioned before? A battle between Servant’s is one that emits a large amount of magical energy as well a lot of destruction. In order to prevent ordinary people from catching wind of this the Masters erupt bounded fields that keep normal people away. Do you know what that means Master? I’m sure you can figure it out.”
Shirou remembered Berserker’s earlier teachings, and then he realized it. If he wanted to see through he’d need to pour magical energy into his eyes. And so he focused as he stared at the seemingly empty park before him. Using every nerve in his body he attempted to visualize the magical energy pouring into his eyes. And then he began to see.
At first nothing changed but then he began to pick something up, it was as if the lenses on his binoculars were foggy but then the fogginess began to grow and grow until it formed into a solid wall. So Shirou poured more magical energy into it and the fogginess slowly began to fade gently but surely until Shirou could make up four figures two on each side as they faced each other.
Though it was hard to make out due to the distance and the fogginess Shirou could see three of them two on one side facing the other.
On the first side stood what appeared to be a little girl with snow white hair, she wore some sort of purple clothes but anything else was harder to make out. The girl who stood beside her had an outfit almost similar to Berserkers. With silver and blue armor she had blonde hair and though she stood as if holding some sort of weapon Shirou couldn’t see anything in her hands.
So he turned towards the other side. From what he could make out there was a girl who stood on her own, she had dark purple hair and wore what appeared to be a large brown trenchcoat that stretched all the way down to her feet. And then he noticed it, he couldn’t see it at first because the figure nearly blended into the background.
It stood taller than the purple haired girl but it’s body was nearly invisible, what could be made out was the bright white skull shaped mask that shined in the darkness.
Currently they only faced each other talking but from this kind of distance Shirou couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Right on cue his Master could tell exactly what he was thinking about.
“My dear Master, remember it is not only eyes that you can enhance but also anything you wish. You know what that means right?”
And so Shirou poured magical energy into his ears. At first he began to pick up all sorts of normal sounds so he did his utmost to focus on the two groups ahead of him. Though it was very fuzzy he began to pick up a few scattered words.
“...akura… ainst…”
“...est… exa...vant”
Yet no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t make out any more than that. Was this the limits to what he could do?
Yet before he attempt to make out anymore the Servant in blue and silver charged the invisible one who disappeared just as swiftly.
With her empty hands she swung into the darkness only to see sparks flying into the night as she repelled what Shirou assumed to be some sort of projectile.
“Master… If I may interject now they seem to be about to engage in fierce combat. Perhaps it is best that we stand back and watch how things unfold? As much as it pains me to say we are at a disadvantage right now. But as allies we must come to an agreement. So what do you say? Will we intervene or will we standby?”
Berserker’s question was something Shirou needed to decide. He couldn’t afford to wait while these two pairs fought, should he pick side? Or just simply stand by and watch?
1. Aid the white haired girl and the silver knight.
2. Aid the purple haired girl and the white mask.
3. Watch how things unfold.
4. Write in…
Current Knowledge:
Berserker
(http://i.imgur.com/iqDgKNr.png)
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2
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2
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Current Results:
1. Aid the white haired girl and the silver knight: Rafflesiac, Sinon, , mAc Chaos
2. Aid the purple haired girl and the white mask: Sakura, Cherry Lover, Nihilm, Magus, Renko
3. Watch how things unfold: Nuclear Consensus, Daiki
4. Run Away: CyberNinja
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Of course I'm gonna vote to protect myself, :p
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Could you tell Magus that we have no reason to help Ilya either ICly, yet if he votes for 3 that might be what happens....
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If I remember when I get home, maybe. I'm planning on powerreading HF over the weekend though.
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That was mostly addressed at Mil, although you doing so would also work.
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By the way, Mil, could you please give us a warning and a vote count before you close the votes, If Ilya is still winning then I might change my vote to option 3, at least that way Sakura doesn't get totally shafted....
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The results were a bit off last time but here are the newly updated ones:
Current Results:
1. Aid the white haired girl and the silver knight: Rafflesiac, Sinon, TheMegas
2. Aid the purple haired girl and the white mask: Sakura, Cherry Lover,
3. Watch how things unfold: Nuclear Consensus, Daiki Nihilm, Magus, mAc Chaos, G-Man, solarchon, Renko
4. Run Away: CyberNinja
I'll give this a few more days right now but so far it looks like 3 is the popular option.
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Sunday night will be the end of voting but unless something dramatic happens it looks like things are mostly set in stone.
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He had no reason not to trust Berserker, and though Berserker seemingly had his own secrets Shirou could understand that, even if in the end he was slightly confused about it.
So he entrusted the decision to his newfound friend, they would wait. It was far too early to engage themselves in any battle. For now perhaps time was best spent simply watching how things unfolded.
“Alright Berserker, I will trust you. For now we will watch how things unfold, it is just like you said. I’m nowhere near strong enough to intervene yet and since it doesn’t look like they’ve noticed us, this gives us a good opportunity to watch and see.”
Shirou’s concentration was broken as he felt the strong slap on his back from his Servant. “Excellent, excellent Master! I’m so glad we can agree on this, you catch onto things quickly and that’s essential to this war. In fact it looks like your decision will soon reward itself. Take a look!”
Turning back towards the battlefield he watched the ensuing destruction and his jaw dropped. The armored woman continued to strike at the darkness with her invisible weapon. Her strength was obvious as with every swing of her arms enormous grooves were easily cut deep into the earth.
“Co...of...he...co...a...with....nor!”
With ease she dodged the blades aimed at her vital areas occasionally deflecting them out of thin air when her sword was unavailable.
The Assassin on the other hand was nearly impossible to make out from appearance alone. Occasionally the white glimpse of it’s mask could be picked out only to disappear once more as if some sort of magic made it’s body invisible just like the girl’s sword.
The fight was moving so quickly Shirou could barely keep track of what was happening. Getting dizzy from trying to concentration on the chaos between the two Servant he instead focused his attention towards the other two who were engaged in a fight of their own.
Though it was hard to make out from the distance the white haired girl seemed to be smiling as she faced off against the purple haired one. They continued their talk for a little longer before the white haired girl held her hand out and unleashed a barrage of white missiles straight for her opponent.
Who quickly rolled to the side and retrieved a small pistol from within her trenchcoat firing it off at the incoming missiles and exploding them straight out of the air and allowing the rest of th projectiles to harmlessly slam into the ground.
Now the purple one took on the offensive, firing shots straight at the white haired girl only to have them bounce off of some sort of magical barrier that was as clear as glass, before they could reach her.
“Was this… Magic?”
“Oh it appears so, my Master. And what wonderful magi they appear to be! That white haired girl especially seems to be promising.”
Yet before he could continue his words were cut short as three humanoid shapes rose from the ground surrounding the white haired girl.
“Oh no! She’s in trouble!” Shirou could tell those things were dangerous even from afar. They reached for the girl but she did not react to them. Did she even know they were there?
As if to answer his question the white haired girl only continued to smile and with a wave of her hand Shirou noticed a faint glimmer from the thin wire she used to easily dissect them,throwing them right back into the ground where they came from.
To make things worse the fight between the Servants came to a halt as blood came flying through the air. At first it was unclear who had managed to get a hit but the white mask appeared yet again blood dripping from its invisible body.
The Assassin’s wound began to glow with a thin purple light as the purple haired girl hand also glowed. But Saber was not about to give him that opportunity. She continued her offense forcing Assassin’s weakened body to fight.
Things were not looking good for the purple haired Master and her Servant, and Shirou began to hesitate. Should he help her? There was still time, he knew he could make it with his own Servant. And he doubted the armored female knight could take two foes on at once but he couldn’t reach a decision no matter what he thought.
After all, if he marched to the aid of one wouldn’t that mean condemning the other to death?
“Berserker… What do we do? I want to help them… But I c-can’t…”
He was lost, confused, disorientated, all he could do was stare as the Assassin was pushed farther and farther back and his movements began to feel sluggish, It wouldn’t be long before the masked figure would be completely defeated.
“Excuse me miss Einzbern, Not to intrude on your little spat but just who do you think you are picking on a Servant far weaker than your own?”
A voice echoed throughout the park. The location of which Shirou couldn’t make out. But it was loud enough that even through the barrier he could hear it clearly.
‘That voice, it sounds so familiar. But who?’
The entire battlefield froze and Saber’s attacks stopped. Moments passed in silence before the white haired girl spoke up with her own magically enhanced voice.
“...ow you!...w...not pl...mes!”
Right on cue six more white masks appeared surrounding both the armored knight and her Master. Unlike the other white mask these ones had bodies which they covered with thick dark cloaks.
All of the participants except for the Assassin whose face was hidden behind a mask appeared shocked at these new arrivals but that lasted only momentarily as the knight simply began to stare them down while muttering a few words that Shirou could not hear.
The tense moment seemed to last forever but eventually the knight made the first move, before Shirou had even realized what had happened she quickly picked up her Master and leapt far away from the battlefield leaving the chaos on her own terms.
With the opposing side gone the purple haired girl turned towards the extending blackness of the park where they had fought and began to speak, her voice was still quiet enough that Shirou was having trouble making out her words.
“A...to wh...d... I o...t...p...ure...t...s he...?”
The other voice on the other hand echoed loud enough to be heard clearly.
“Just someone who thought you could use a little help, also I couldn’t leave a cute lass like you unintended now could I?”
The girl was visibly shaken by the words but she quickly regained her composure this time muttering a few more words before running off her as her Servant quickly followed.
“Berserker… I think I recognize that voice. The one that came to that girl’s aid.”
Berserker merely continued to stare at the six masks as they silently stood there only to watch them quickly disappear as well.
“Berserker? Is something the matter? You seem concerned about something.”
Closing his eyes in thought he muttered to himself just loud enough for Shirou to make out the words.
“Those… were not Servants?”
Shirou was confused by this statement. “Not Servants? What do you mean? They looked just like that girl’s Servant except there were a few more of them and the wore different looking cloaks. How could they not be?”
Berserker was silent for a moment more before his familiar smile returned. “Call it, intuition if you must… But that is besides the point my dear Master, you mentioned something about knowing who that man was?”
With Berserker’s concern gone Shirou quickly remembered what he was talking about earlier. “Oh right! Berserker, I think that might be my f-.”
Suddenly Berserker silenced Shirou with a finger before whispering a few words just barely loud enough for him to hear. “Someone’s coming, be quiet…”
Right on cue Shirou heard someone walking up the steel steps towards the roof. As if they knew he was here all along. Should he go and hide, or was it best to wait out in the open?
Looking towards Berserker for advice he was shocked to find that he had disappeared. “Berserker?”
‘Quiet Master, use your senses, feel that I am always by your side but there are times when it is advantageous to remain hidden like this. Using our connection we can still talk and others like the approaching one will be none the wiser.’
Before Shirou could respond though the great steel door was finally pushed open making a loud creaking sound as much to Shirou’s surprise he saw the face of his good old friend, Shinji.
“Ah, Emiya… I thought I might find you here, I noticed you peeking at us from a distance and what do you know! Hey, you’ll never believe the day I’ve had! I’ve got something amazing to share with you, though it looks like you noticed already, but you’ll never believe it… Not in a million years!”
Seeing his best friend after the day’s hard work Shirou let the tension flow from his body. He felt no reason to hide anything from his partner so while giving a huge smile he too began to talk freely.
“Oh hey Shinji, I was starting to get worried when you never showed up, glad to see you again man. I’ve got something to share with you as well! And I can almost say with certainty that it’s far more amazing than whatever you might have been through.”
‘Master, are you sure that’s wise?’
‘Relax, Shinji’s my best friend… I’d trust him with my life!’
‘Very well then, I must say… I am rather hesitant about this but you are my Master. So I shall listen and follow your words.’
Shinji could tell a challenge when he got one. Giving off a quiet smirk of satisfaction he arrogantly spoke to Shirou. “Alright then, you know the drill. On three tell me what you did and I’ll say mine.”
‘Oh this will be perfect, Berserker would you mind playing along?’
‘If that is what you wish…’
A similar smirk appeared on Shirou’s face, as he began the countdown.
“You got it, 3…”
Shinji began to reach inwards through his white jacket to retrieve something, while Shirou held his hand tight.
“...2…”
A small spark gleamed in their eyes brimming with anticipation.
“...1…”
Simultaneously Shinji held out what he was hiding, while Shirou turned his hand around to reveal his open Command Seals. While they both spoke the same words neither was expecting.
“I’m a Master!”
“I’m a Master!”
(http://i.imgur.com/KKPhcvA.png) (http://i.imgur.com/Sbv1QEs.png)
Revealing the thin leather bound book with a similar looking red glow as Shirou’s own Command Seal they were both taken aback by the appearance of Berserker’s knightly appearance and the appearance of six white masks around Shinji.
“No way…”
“You too Nosuke? I can’t believe this!”
“I was afraid of this… How do you do… I am Berserker, Shirou’s Servant.”
The only ones who didn’t speak up were the Assassin’s, silently they stood there perfectly still. Berserker quickly spoke up to address their silence.
“And you are? Assassin I take it? Come now don’t be shy… I am most interested in knowing how a second Servant of the same class was brought into this war… Surely as a friend of my Master here they wouldn’t mind explaining?”
He turned his attention towards Shinji whose smile had only fainted slightly. Quickly he came up with what he sufficed was a worthy explanation.
“Ahem, they aren’t ones for talking as you can see. But Nosuke I c- ”
“Clearly…”
Thanks to Berserker’s interruption Shinji was beginning to get annoyed at this man’s provocative speech halting mid sentence he turned again towards the Berserker who dared to annoy him.
“And what do you mean by that?”
“I mean what I say… Your ‘Servant’ is clearly below it’s rank. In fact, I dare to say that it’s not even worthy of the title of Servant at all!”
“Berserker! What brought this on!?”
Now Shirou was the one to speak up, to him this rudeness came out of nowhere. And he wasn’t about to just sit around and allow his friend to be mocked even if by another friend.
“Thank you Nosuke, but yes Berserker what brought this on hmm? Are you trying to drag the fire away from one such as yourself? Shirou already seems familiar to what is going on judging from his earlier reaction and your appearance but have you told him everything? What about how Berserker’s are almost always the first to die in these battles, hmm? And just how do they do might I ask?”
“Hold your tongue boy, you are years out of your league to begin speaking to me like that.”
The tension between the two of them began to rise, and Shirou began to panic.
“Oh really? It looks like you haven’t then…”
Turning towards Shirou he put on a most familiar mocking tone. “Shirou, Berserker’s put a huge strain on their Masters. Additionally, Berserker has never won the Grail War. Do you know why? It’s because they have all killed their Master’s first.”
The veins in Berserker’s head visibly began to shake with anger as he withdrew his sword in anger. This was quickly followed by the six Assassin’s unsheathing various weapons of their own from sickles, to daggers, with one even taking a short sword from it’s sheath.
(http://i.imgur.com/wJHjcEj.png)
“Why don’t you continue then? Do you really have such a wish to be forcibly ejected from this war so soon? I would be happy to grant your wish here and now, by the gods be damned!”
Shirou needed to diffuse this tension and fast. He feared the worst if he didn’t, and he couldn’t allow his two friends to fight like this. To make matters worse he feared Berserker might do something inexcusable…
But which side should he take?
1. Support Shinji…
2. Support Berserker….
3. Try to support both…
4. Write in...
Berserker:
(http://i.imgur.com/ihPToKa.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/EV2Kx4N.png)
Saber:
(http://i.imgur.com/Eo5BUbk.png)
Assassin:
(http://i.imgur.com/IH2bYLy.png)
Assassin?:
(http://i.imgur.com/u5oJQCQ.png)
Credits go to Xyphos for providing me with blank Servant sheets and Irisviel for helping with art!
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Current results:
Support Shinji: mAc Chaos, Rafflesiac, Nihilm, CyberNinja, Sirel, Christemo, TheMegas, , Kotonoha
Support Berserker: Magus, Bdoom
Try to support both: Renko
Assess the situation: Sinon, Nuclear Consensus
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Voting will be closing soon, does anyone want to vote?
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I somehow doubt it's going to make any difference....
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Well with that attitude obviously not!
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Well, the current status of the voting is that the favoured option is winning by 6 votes over everything else, and anything I say is irrelevant because no-one reads it anyway (and even if they do I can't discuss it with them). Plus, I don't have a strong opinion on this issue, honestly.
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But Berserker and Shirou can be best buddies, come on!
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Shinji defended Sakura, though, and saved her from death. Plus, Berserker wanted to not help Sakura.
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B-But Bahzaka x Nosuke otp!
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“Both of you stop! And as for you Berserker, just what has gotten into you? We’ve only known each other for a short time but I’ve never seen you so pissed off at anything before. This is my best friend Shinji Matou, I’ve known him for nearly as long as I can remember. As I’ve said before I will trust him with my life even if the Servant he has summoned is known for Master killing and betrayal.”
Shirou’s loud voice echoed on the empty rooftop, his interruption had caused everyone to halt in their tracks including Berserker whose hand still held onto his large two handed sword.
Turning to face Shinji now, Shirou gave off the biggest grin he could. A smile that showed the two had shared quite a few adventures together, not all of it good. “And besides, we’ve got too much riding on our past to just start attacking each other like that. I’m sorry Berserker, but I’m not going to allow you to be openly hostile towards my best friend, if you don’t like it then you are free to leave.”
Berserker was shocked upon hearing words he had not expected from his Master, the shock was enough to calm his raging exterior as he allowed his body to fall back into a calmer stance.
“Master… It seems I misjudged your history with this man… I… I… think I am going to go on patrol for a while, it is one of the core elements of being a Servant… Please… Get some rest… You seem tired Master…”
Before anyone could reply he dematerialized and just a quickly vanished into the night air Shirou feeling his presence fade away as he quickly left the apartment rooftop.
“Well that just happened… Anyway, Nosuke!...”
*************************************************************
“Damnit, damnit damnit! Damnit it all! Why must the gods forsake me yet again!? Set upon this earth for the chance to recover what is lost only to be thrown into such a worthless situation! Oh heaven’s cursed I can only begin to describe my anger at those on high!”
The instant he was out of view of the apartment he materialized yet again, Berserker had managed to hold his anger but that was only temporary. He was still very angry, angry at this new obstacle, angry at his gullible master, and perhaps most of all angry that his master had dared to refute him when he had done nothing but help all this time.
“I’d give my entire fortune in order to calm the raging beast of madness that has befallen my poor master’s soul… No, I’d give that and more if only it could fill the hole in my heart that has gathered all this time! Why, why must I be fated to such lunacy!? Why!!!?”
He couldn’t stand it, the words were being spit from his agape mouth but he didn’t care, with his gloved pauldron he threw his hand towards a nearby brick wall causing an explosion of dust as the brick and mortar wall easily gave way to Berserker’s strength.
“Ahhhhhh! Why!? Idiotic, foolish, peasant, who dares to stand in my way. I will show thou the strength forged by mine own hands! I, Berserker, am the wisest, the strongest, the most wise! With my silver hand I take victory quickly and decisively and those who dare to stand in my path! Those most foolish mortals, who dare to defy my greatness!? They will be slaughtered their bodies sent to the pigs as a sign to anyone else who might dare to defy me! The great and powerful, the wise, the handsome, the beautiful, the clever, the most holy, the savior, the humble, I, Gilles de Rais, greatest leader of the french army, will be the strongest! No one can match my artistic values! No one! Not those blasted church buffoons, not my blasted Master, not even God himself! I am the greatest legend this world has ever had the honor of setting foot on!”
His fury was getting worse, he was having trouble thinking, the rage was becoming too much, using his iron grip he tore his oily black hair from his head throwing enormous patches into the night sky but he didn’t care about his appearance, he had barely even registered the fact that he had just shouted his identity to anyone who might be listening, all he could do was hate, curse, spit at the gods, and hate even further when it wasn’t enough.
It was a never ending cycle of destruction. And he was already caught in the loop.
A normal businessman who had the misfortune of wandering towards Berserker when he heard the knight’s screams froze in terror at the sight of the rampaging beast, cursing himself for deciding to stay late in order to get more work down. He began to panic the instant Berserker turned to face him.
Berserker’s eyes were completely bloodshot, his teeth were so tightly clenched they began to crack from the pure force, and the chain that covered his palms ripped from the force of his tightened fists.
In an instant, before he had even realized what was going on, the businessman was thrown to the ground from the force of Berserker’s mad charge towards him. His palms were sweaty, his throat dry, his body was completely trembling.
“W-what do you w-want? I-is it m-money? t-t-take it, just d-don’t hurt me okay?”
Slowly removing the great broadsword attached his belt Berserker held it to the panicked man’s throat as a small trickle of red blood began to seep from his shaking neck.
“My greatness! You, a foolish peasant whose greatest honor is tending the field of mine own glorious castle, dares to look at the face of his lord!? Dares to defy one so great as I!? No amount of begging, whining, sacrificing, tempting, snarling, pleading, or living, is worth the payment of such an atrocity! The blood you spill here, is not even worth a morsel of the dirt that holds the foundation of my very own fortress!”
the two men lay motionless on the empty sidewalk, the businessman who had now closed his eyes in order to prepare for the worst, and Berserker who continued to spout nonsense held his weapon ready for the kill.
“Well done Berserker! Well done!” A hoarse crackling voice echoed throughout the seemingly empty street. It was a voice Berserker recognized very well. After all, how could he not recognize his own speech?
“Your steps towards the road of salvation is nearly complete! You are completely correct, God has abandoned us! Left us to rot in the confines of hell. But you have realized this… Haven’t you?”
Taking his eyes off the frightened business man, Berserker turned towards the approaching voice where he came face to face with a new figure. This new man also wore plate armor of the exact same style as Berserker’s own. However, the condition it was in was terrible, the silver sheen had long been replaced by a muddy purple rust, with huge red splotches of red dashed across resembling large blood splatters as they ran all throughout the tainted metal.
Perhaps the most intimidating factor was the man’s bulging eyes and hideous face complete with a crooked nose and cracked pale lips, a sign of great neglect and inability to care for his own body.
“Yes! Yes! Just one swift painless motion of your hand and the transformation is complete! Just think of what we can accomplish, together! After all, your wish is already accomplished is it not? You saw her fighting against that paled Assassin did you not? The Holy Virgin? Jea-”
“Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up! Don’t you dare speak her name! Blasphemy, nothing but blasphemy, you think I will allow you to come forth and bring madness? That is a path of pure destruction, and I refuse! Absolutely, may God strike me down, I will not fall for your petty tactics!”
“I-I’m sorry?”
Sending the businessman rolling across the street with a swift motion from his hand Berserker stood up once more and charged the pale knight who quickly retrieved his own identical broadsword in order to counter Berserker’s mad charge.
The loud screeching clash of metal rung throughout the street as the two swords locked themselves against one another.
“Are you so blind as to not see it!? Her mannerisms may be similar but that was clearly not the Holy Maiden hold above all else!”
Throwing strategy to the wind Berserker struck with pure unaltered force. With each powerful swing the very winds howled and nearby glass windows shattered from the sheer pressure of his maddened attacks.
“It seems you are as mad as your name implies! Ha! Don’t try to spout such hypocrisy at me! Open your eyes to what is true, not what you wish to believe! To believe in such convenient lies is the failure of any man great or not!”
Despite his weak appearance the opposing knight was able to match Berserker in every single way, with great strength he deflect the powerful sword strikes aimed for his head, with swift agility he moved away from incoming kicks, his crazed mocking smile and bulging eyes only serving to enrage Berserker even further.
“Lies!? Hypocrisy!? Do not make me laugh! You have already fallen so far that you really have begun to believe in such things… I pity you, whose demeanor is foolish enough be kicked from even the worst of kingdoms. And you hope to convince me!? Don’t make me laugh, I would sooner spit on the grave of great Charles than fall into your little web of lies!”
“Hahahahahahahaha! Look at this fool, oh great and mighty God! He actually believes himself to be nothing but a servant towards your will, and yet what will you do? I say it for you! Curse him to an early grave, that is what awaits the followers of this so called almighty God.”
Berserker had had enough, using all of his energy he charged the pale knight and in one mighty attack shattered the rusted broadsword the hideous man had held cleanly in two. Stunned by the sudden destruction of his weapon the pale knight failed to react as his chest was pierced by the blade of Berserker’s own sword.
“I will never become such a pitiful monster, never…”
Spitting towards the ground Berserker remained defiant towards his nemesis. His will was still strong and he would not give in that easily.
As blood poured from his mouth and his body began to fade away the pale knight laughed and laughed. “Hahahaha! You cannot turn from the inevitable, I will always be with you… Through life, through death, through suffering, through victory, my truth’s whisper to you, calling, and cleansing the cloud that has fallen over your mind. After all, I am you, and you are me, and that will never change, so long as we live… Hahahahahaha!”
And with that final comment the knight disappeared and Berserker’s insanity truly began to fade.
His rage subsided he began to have trouble remembering all that had just happened as he glanced around the destroyed street. Bricks and concrete was thrown all about from a great battle and the businessman had long run away.
Did that really just happen?
Slowly sheathing his sword yet again Berserker calmy dematerialized and vanished into the night air.
***************************************************************************
“So what do you make of this Archer?”
“Clearly a case of a dog gone mad. If he can barely stand on his own before attacking the very air itself, it will not be entertaining to take him out with my strength.”
“So you don’t want to pursue?”
“Nonsense, it would be more fun to have him run wild some more. Let the others waste their efforts first, I do not wish to waste even a single blade on the likes of him.”
“Well so long as he doesn’t actually kill anyone…”
*************************************************************************
Sitting on his leather sofa Shinji Matou was taking a sip from his soda and watching the local news when he spit out his drink in surprise at the sudden appearance of a fully armored man appearing directly in front of him.
“Hey man! What’s your problem?”
‘In other news, the grand reopening of the Hyatt is continuing on schedule and accounting for good weather will open in five day’s time.’
“Why do you appear so startled Master of Assassin? Surely you sensed my arrival, after all, I made no intentions to hide myself.”
‘The grand hotel’s turbulent past is well known around the Fuyuki area...’
“Yeah well not everyone likes to be on alert 24/7 dude. Seriously though, where have you been? Shirou’s been going off nonstop about you ever since you disappeared.”
‘...mostly due to it’s sudden collapse nearly fifteen years ago due to a terrorist attack.’
Ignoring the question of Berserker’s whereabouts, the armored knight went to the top of his Master.
“Speaking of Master, where is he now? I would like to speak with him but he appears to be in his room right now.”
“He’s obviously following your advice, he seemed really tired so he went to bed soon after your left.”
‘At first hopes were dim that a reconstruction of the hotel was ever going to happen.’
“I see… And you? You barely seem tired at all. Surely recently summoning your own Servant has left you tired. Unless… That is not truly your Servant.”
Rolling his eyes in annoyance Shinji dramatically flung his arms open as if to mock Berserker’s harsh comment.
“Here we go again... Just what is it that’s making you so pissed off dude? We’ve barely spoken with each other and yet you keep hounding me like some rabid dog. Are you really that insecure Servant Berserker?”
‘However, thanks to a gracious donation from an anonymous donor who went by the name of Arc-’
Berserker’s hand slammed into the remote that lay next to Shinji shutting the TV off in the process, he couldn’t take the noise any longer.
“Will you please shut that infernal contraption off? I’m trying to think here. How is it humans of this day and age get anything done when a box is constantly filling their heads with useless thoughts!”
“Hey man it’s just a TV, no need to get so riled up over something so simple. And besides, I was trying to plan out next weekend.”
Ignoring the comment of preparation Berserker returned to the topic in front of them.
“Yes yes, anyways as my Master has said before perhaps I was too hasty in my actions. If I offended you then I must apologize but before that I must ask… Do you intend to harm him in any way?”
A tinge of disgust flashed across Shinji’s face at the comment, he clearly did not want to talk about Shirou’s summoning but his annoyance got the better of him as he began to rant.
“Of course not! Shirou’s my friend, why would I go after the guy who actually managed to get a Servant before I could… It’s not like he’s been better than me at doing his job, I mean… Look ok I’m not going to harm the guy, he’s me friend and we stick to together.”
“Very well then, if you are so wide awake perhaps you can help me with a little project of my own.”
Retrieving the small leather bound book, Shinji almost remarked at how similar it looked to his own, but quieted down when Berserker began to quickly flip through the pages muttering various comments as he skimmed.
“Bounded fields, bounded fields, oh here we are.”
Walking towards the center of the living room, Berserker held his hand to the floor and muttered a few vague words as he concentrated on the outstretched hand that held his book.
“De furto deprehendatu. De furto deprehendatur. De furto deprehendatur…”
“Bounded field? What are you trying to do?”
Berserker froze in his actions as a tinge of annoyance sketched across his face.
“A bounded field of detection, created in order to keep anyone who stays here safe. If you can talk then perhaps you can help. Come on, hand me that book of yours.”
“H-hey what are you talking about?”
Snapping his fingers in impatience Berserker reached for the small leather book Shinji had retrieved moments ago.
“Seriously dude what the fuck.”
“Oh relax, if I was going to take it from you, I would have already done so long ago.”
Flipping through the pages he stopped at a referenced point very similar to the one in his own book, before handing it back to the boy.
“You know how to cast from this do you not?”
“O-of course I do!”
“Very well, then follow my lead, this will not take long if we cooperate.”
Berserker then set to work preparing various sigils across the walls of the house and on the outside of the apartments with Shinji helping him along as he went, still questioning why this Berserker was suddenly being so friendly towards him.
************************************************************
His was so tired, his body was having trouble moving. He wanted more sleep but his head would not allow it. And with a start he awoke.
“Ah Master, I’m so glad to see you’ve awoken! Come come, we have much to discuss today!”
“Berserker? Berserker! You’re back!” The fatigue had momentarily disappeared as Shirou jumped to his feet.
“Of course I am! I must say Master, I am so sorry for disappearing like that. My mind was not as it should have been. Perhaps it was due to the curse of my class but regardless I am indeed back. And with great news no less!”
“News? What kind of news?”
Berserker explained the intricacies of the bounded the field he and Shinji had created during the night. It was a very simple bounded field in design but the effect was of great use. A field meant to detect any and all sorts of danger. The instant one made their killing intent clear a large bell would strike signalling the approach of a foe. By doing this they would have time to prepare and react to any and all attacks. And because it was such a simple concept, only the greatest of killers could hide from it.
“Well almost everyone, except perhaps Assassin.”
“Assassin? You mean like the one we saw fighting earlier, or the one that Shinji summoned?”
“Exactly! But have no fear, I will not allow any of them to lay a finger on you so long as I live on this blessed earth. Such is so natural that it is the very core of my existence, just as the sun rises in the sky I will be there to protect you. You have my word!”
“Oh alright then… Wait sun rises… Oh no, work! I’m going to be late!” Glancing at the clock he still had just enough time to make it if he ran. He couldn’t just afford to miss a day of work especially when he was still fairly new to the nursing job.
But his body still felt tired, it screamed at him to rest. And if anything counted as an emergency, Shirou figured that the past few days might allow for him to take it off.
Should he go to work? Or stay at home and rest?
Go to work
Stay and rest
Ask for Berserker's advice
Check on Shinji first
Write in...
Berserker:
http://i.imgur.com/ihPToKa.png (http://i.imgur.com/ihPToKa.png)
http://i.imgur.com/EV2Kx4N.png (http://i.imgur.com/EV2Kx4N.png)
Saber:
http://i.imgur.com/Eo5BUbk.png (http://i.imgur.com/Eo5BUbk.png)
Assassin:
http://i.imgur.com/IH2bYLy.png (http://i.imgur.com/IH2bYLy.png)
Assassin?:
http://i.imgur.com/u5oJQCQ.png (http://i.imgur.com/u5oJQCQ.png)
Also from this point forward Bad Ends are now allowed!
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So, how is the vote going on this?
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We're going to protect Berserker's smile!
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Yep as things stand we are going to be supporting Berserker.
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More detail would be handy, I can't really vote without knowing what is going on, and finding it on BL can be a pain....
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Berserker shall be the LI, we can make it happen!
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Yeah the votes were pretty much one sided in this so I didn't think it was a big deal, here is the next part though!
Silence perforated throughout the room the only sounds leaking into the air being the slow monotonous tick of the clock and the quieted breathing of Shirou and his Servant.
“Hey Berserker, you know a whole lot about this Grail War stuff, what should a Master like myself do in order to get ready?”
A smile danced across Berserker’s face, delighted that his Master was always ready to learn about the next step. “Well my Master, sitting at home all of our days is something more befitting of the Caster class. With our combined experience it would only be a matter of time before someone found this pleasant abode, regardless of if we wanted them to do so or not. Therefore, it is my belief that perhaps we should take a stronger initiative. Therefore lowering the chance of our own base of operations being discovered while also researching into the other Masters and Servants.”
A few moments passed as Shirou attempted to translate Berserker’s long-winded explanation as a puzzled expression danced across his face. “So, you mean to go out and patrol, or something?”
“Yes! Precisely!” His eyes shut in glee and his grin got even larger as Berserker’s sudden remark made Shirou jump back in slight surprise.
Shirou had made up his mind, reaching towards his cellphone that lie on the desk a few feet away he returned the reply to Berserker. “Oh, uh alright. I was thinking about going to work today but because of the past few days I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if I took the day off.”
He quickly began to press the buttons on his phone until he came across the familiar name sketched onto the screen.
*Shinto General Hospital*
Quickly pressing the call button he waited a few seconds as Berserker looked in curiosity at the strange device.
“Hello, may I speak to Dr. Midori?... Yes this is Nosuke… Alright thank you…”
As Shirou began to explain his situation to the hospital Berserker took out a small blank notebook from within a pouch at his side and began to quickly write down a few notes muttering the occasional nonsensical word as he went.
“Yes, I’m really sorry about this… Yes I’ll do my best… Thank you for your concern… No I don’t think that’s necessary… Alright I’ll see you in a few days… Goodbye.”
Finishing up his call Shirou turned towards Berserker who was still rapidly writing into his notebook.
“Perhaps… No no it would need more angle… But what if?... Towards the center?...”
Unsure about whether to interrupt or not, Shirou set down his cellphone and quietly snuck around Berserker’s unmoving figure as he began to get ready for the patrol ahead of them.
After taking a quick shower, and doing various other morning rituals, his pajamas were replaced with a simple white long sleeved shirt and jeans. Winter in Fuyuki tended to last far longer compared to other cities even if it meant that the weather itself tended to be far milder. But it never hurt to be prepared in case the day was cold anyways.
Yet as he returned back to his room backpack in hand Berserker was still writing into his notebook, unaware of all the time that had passed since Shirou had left him.
Now Shirou was starting to get concerned. He had never really seen Berserker this focused on something before, he attempted to peek around the knight’s shoulder as he glanced at the notes being hastily scribbled on the parchment.
“Uh, Berserker? Are you busy? Should we postpone the patrol for later? I don’t mind, I could find something else to do until you’re ready… Berserker?”
“No no, far too simple… The colors… Shifted three more degrees?”
In between the quick motions of Berserker’s pen Shirou could make out odd sketches that seemed familiar. Glancing around the room Shirou realized that the designed and notes on the paper greatly resembled that of his own cellphone. But as the sketching continued on the designs began to differ further and further from their original design. Various odd shapes and wirelike designs had been added onto it as if to add some complexity to the simplified design of the phone.
“Uh Berserker? Berserker!”
Knocking on the great steel plates that protected Berserker’s body, Berserker finally reacted to the interruption towards his thoughts.
“Hmm? Master, is something amiss? Have your finished your message?”
‘He must not be aware of all the time that has passed. Still, it was interesting to see a new side to him, so I’ll leave it at that.’
As the knight turned to face his Master once more, Shirou responded. “Yeah, I should be fine now, I’ve packed a small backpack full of things that might help us, shall we go on a patrol now?”
The focus disappearing from Berserker’s face his smile returned once more as he nodded. “Excellent Master! Very well then, let us go towards our patrol!”
Just before they could make their way out of the apartment, Shirou, unsure if Shinji was still in the apartment shouted towards his friend’s room about his intentions for the day. And just before he left, Shinji’s head stuck out of his door.
“Hey Nosuke! Make sure you get back by ten tonight. We still gotta plan out Saturday, that is, if you’re still up for it.”
A sudden realization had come across Shirou’s face, he had nearly forgotten about their next job. Well there was still some time before he needed to really worry about it so for now he would just keep the thought in his head and focus on the patrol.
“Don’t worry about me Shinji, I’ll see you then.”
Thus with a final wave of goodbye, the Master and Servant left the quiet apartment and into the busy streets of the bustling city below.
*******************************************************************************
The young boy with fiery red hair and eyes of green watched out of the large glass windows as the plane on the runway in front of him began to ascend off the runway and into the large clear sky.
He continued to watch, eyes on unblinking as the plane eventually faded from view and into the sky.
He continued to watch his face unemotional and unmoving even as the plane was long gone from the sky and the terminal had emptied of people leaving only himself and his associate.
“Young Master Archibald… Shall we be going now? I think it would be best if we begun our own preparations as well.”
“I suppose… I must continue my studies regardless... Leave the preparations to Caster… Continue your daily duties… We still have a week until we are to arrive.”
“But young Master…”
“Silence… This War is under my own domain and not yours. It will do your best to keep that in mind. Understood?”
“As you say, young Master. As you say…”
The two quickly left the terminal and back towards their residences near the clock tower.
***************************************************************************
As Shirou calmly walked through the busy streets he couldn’t help but wonder about the invisible man walking beside him.
‘Berserker? Is there anywhere specific you wanted to go? You’re a ghost right? So this new world must be amazing to someone like you right?’
‘Yes, indeed Master. Though the Grail has already given me the knowledge of the current world it still amazes me to see certain things first hand. Those horseless carriages for example. If we would have had those during my time, things would have gone far better!’
Turning the corner Shirou began to approach the center of the city. In his mind the best course of action for them right now was to get a good view of the city as a whole, maybe then Berserker might be able to help plan a course of action for them.
And as they walked they passed alleyway after darkened alleyway. Shortcuts or paths to hidden locations out of sight from the public who walked close by, Shirou would occasionally glance towards these paths only to freeze with Berserker as he approached one such alleyway.
‘So you sense it too, Master?’
In the dark open alleyway stood a girl who was leaning on the nearby brick wall. She stared at Shirou her hand open and outstretched and plain for him to see. Through the dim shadows a pale red shown forth a clear mark that Shirou understood all too well.
(http://i.imgur.com/5MRWy4j.jpg)
“Is that Tohsaka?”
It had been a few years since Shirou had seen her, their graduation in fact. But her thick black hair and aqua eyes were still strong in his mind.
Shirou began to walk towards the alley but was stopped by Berserker’s invisible body who stood in his way.
‘Master, something seems off. I have a bad feeling about this. Please do not go on there. I am afraid you might never come back out.’
These words made Shirou halter, what did Berserker mean?
‘Berserker, that’s one of my old acquaintances from when I was in school. Why would I doubt her?’
But still the second doubts were already flooding Shirou’s mind. Why was Tohsaka in that alleyway and motioning for him to come forwards. Should he listen to her? Or listen to his Servant?
1. Go towards Tohsaka
2. Listen to Berserker and leave
3. Write in...
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I say 1. go towards Rin. Rin is someone who is likely to be a good ally, plus she's Sakura sister and, thus, will hopefully prevent Shirou doing anything horrible to her.
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1. Go towards Tohsaka: TheMegas, Mike1984
2. Listen to Berserker and leave:
3. Face Tohsaka, shake head, and motion for her to come instead: Council, Bdoom, G-Man
Things seem pretty tied right now, it really could go either way.
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Four new votes for three, Let's go berserker good end!
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Berserker seems inclined to kill other masters, and Sakura is another master, so I'm not interested in a "Berserker good end".
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I feel like moving slightly quicker this time around:
Current Results:
1. Go towards Tohsaka: TheMegas, Mike1984
2. Listen to Berserker and leave:
3. Face Tohsaka, shake head, and motion for her to come instead: Council, Bdoom, G-Man, mAc Chaos, Sinon, Nihilm, Nuclear Consensus
I think unless we get some huge votes within the next twelve hours or so that I'll end voting then. So let's say midnight tonight CST time.
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Honestly, I'm inclined to think that option 3 is better anyway, thinking about it. No-one really bothers discussing stuff on here, though....
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Oi, I was busy arguing for berserker's happiness, I can't do that here!
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Expect the next part sometime before Friday!
-
What reason was there to trust her? How many years has it been since I had seen my former idol? No, there was no way I could agree to just walking straight into the dark corner of an alley in order to fall into some sort of trap.
Yes if anything I should be the one demanding she come towards me. But then, something seems odd.
Why won’t my hand move?
All I have to do is stick my hand out and signal for her to come towards me. Just that one simple motion would be enough to convey my intent.
‘Come towards me Tohsaka...’
That’s odd, my mouth doesn’t want to speak either, to make matters worse it was as if my entire body had been buried in cement. No matter what I tried, it stayed still.
Come to think of it… Was Tohsaka really that bad? Sure we had not seen in other in years, but she never seemed that ruthless.
If that’s the case why not go towards that alley?
‘Yes… That seems like a nice idea…’
Just a few more steps, and I will be able to talk to my good friend Rin Tohsaka, a friend who means no ill will towards me. Three steps to go…
‘...ster...’
Two more steps and I will be able to talk face to face in this nice and quiet alleyway with my best friend Tohsaka…
‘...aster...’
Just a few more seconds… It really has been a while hasn’t it Tohsaka? I don’t remember your eyes being so beautiful…
“Master! Listen to me!”
Who is this annoying knight that’s standing in my way of Tohsaka? Move man, I gotta see Tohsaka…
“Tohsaka…”
“A hypnotic spell? Curses, why was I so naive? Many apologies Master but I fear this to be the only option.”
Taking his leather book from a side pouch, Berserker who had materialized in front of his Master quickly raised the book in front of him. And slapped his Master clear across the face with his great strength, sending him flying clear across the sidewalk and through a couple of pedestrians who were passing by.
It was as if his entire head was on fire, his mind was screaming multiple different things at him and he couldn’t take it. All he knew was that his body had been thrown and that was all.
“W-what’s going on?”
As the scene around him began to come into view, he could see multiple people standing around staring at him with confused looks.
“Sorry, Master but I will explain later. For now we must retreat with all do haste!”
Berserker quickly ran over towards the fallen Shirou and easily lifted him with his one arm before buckling his knees and jumping high into the air cracking the concrete below with the pure force of his jump and throwing back the nearby people who began to scatter in a panic.
************************************************************************
“You know what to do Archer.”
“I suppose, as long as it entertains me it won’t even take ten strikes to finish them off.”
“Oh really now? If you think you can do it in ten so easily, why not five? That should be well within your capabilities isn’t that so, oh great king?”
“You dare to underestimate me? How foolish can you be? Well whatever, as long as it proves entertaining…”
**********************************************************************
When he reached the first rooftop Berserker halted for just an instant to get grip on his bearings.
His Master was still greatly dazed by the influence of the spell and would be of little use, that left Berserker on his own. He had to escape, before that other Master’s Servant appeared, cursing himself for being so foolish as to believe others would obey the rules and attack only in the night he lept from the ten story office building onto a nearby apartment complex.
He never expected it. How could he?
Just before he touched the ground, he could tell something was very wrong, the air was far too quiet. But it was already too late, with all his might he threw the boy he held onto the roof of the building just as the air was sliced in two.
Berserker grimaced in pain as the invisible weapon shot through his arm tearing through the solid metal armor and sending a wave of blood into the air.
“H-hoW dARe yOu!”
Before Berserker could even scream in pain, he sent his body rolling across the rooftop as another blade sliced through the armor in his leg sending another trail of blood rolling along with Berserker.
Before he had even finished his rolling escape his silver sword materialized and he struck at the air sending the third invisible blade out of his path and into the roof.
Taking the small instant of time he had Berserker stood back up and charged the direction he believed the enemy Servant was located.
“Is THAT aLL YoU Can MUsteR?”
Holding his great sword in his free hand he easily smashed into the trajectory of the fourth weapon sending the flying blade ricocheting harmlessly into the air.
“AAAAHHHH!!”
Only to freeze in his tracks when his Master began to scream. Turning to face the boy he realized his mistake.
Though the blade that had struck Shirou could not be seen the gaping hole in his arm and the bleeding was evidence enough.
His foe had made the attack nonlethal but such mercy would not last forever.
By turning to face the new Servant in his rage Berserker had neglected to protect his own Master. And now the foe had him at a checkmate and Berserker knew it without having to be told as such.
If he charged the Servant’s hidden location his Master would be skewered, but if he protected his Master he could not protect his own body in his weakened state.
As such, Berserker had only one option before him. Something he dreaded above all else, but could quite possibly save both himself and his Master.
‘I am sorry Master but I have no choice, I must leave you now, remember all that I have told you. I do not know when we can talk again… But I will promise you victory at any cost!’
******************************************************************
Shirou’s body was on fire, the pain burned throughout his body and his left arm felt like it had just been hit by a truck. Something in his head told him he needed to get up and move but his body wouldn’t listen.
It took all of his strength just to open his eyes, and what he saw put his mind into a panic. Berserker was bleeding badly, his armor had been pierced in multiple locations, and it looked as if he was having trouble breathing.
But what made him worry above all of that was the knight’s face.
A hatred above anything Shirou had even seen was enveloping his Servant’s face. A sickly pale white was enveloping his skin while his eyes and teeth began to bulge out into grotesque proportions while the skin on his forehead began to grow like a huge bubble growing under his skin.
Still dazed Shirou was not sure what was happening to Berserker, but he knew it was no good. He had to stop it at all costs, he couldn’t allow his Servant to finish this transformation at any cost.
But something was stopping Shirou from doing so. His trust that Berserker always knew the correct course of action was greater than anything else he felt towards the knight. Why should he stop him when it seemed he knew what he was doing?
1. Stop Berserker’s transformation at any cost.
2. Allow Berserker to transform.
3. Write in...
Berserker:
http://i.imgur.com/ihPToKa.png (http://i.imgur.com/ihPToKa.png)
http://i.imgur.com/EV2Kx4N.png (http://i.imgur.com/EV2Kx4N.png)
http://i.imgur.com/Fpptgcp.png (http://i.imgur.com/Fpptgcp.png)
Saber:
http://i.imgur.com/Eo5BUbk.png (http://i.imgur.com/Eo5BUbk.png)
Assassin:
http://i.imgur.com/IH2bYLy.png (http://i.imgur.com/IH2bYLy.png)
Assassin?:
http://i.imgur.com/u5oJQCQ.png (http://i.imgur.com/u5oJQCQ.png)
-
1. Stop Berserker’s transformation at any cost:
2. Allow Berserker to transform: TheMegas, Council
3. Force Berserker on the offense: G-Man
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With three more people calling for Berserker to transform I believe the decision is pretty set in stone. Therefore I'll end voting tonight.
-
His shoulder was on fire. It felt as if a thousand needles were being stabbed through his arm. He needed to move his arm to stand up but his mind was a haze. The more he attempted to struggle against the pain the worse it got.
He couldn’t resist, the pain was too much. It was only a glance at his painful arm but his mind nearly shut down at the sight.
Blood, so much blood was coming out of his arm. It was all coming from the huge hole that had etched its way into his arm pinning him to the ground.
He couldn’t even believe that the human body had this much blood. It etched a foul smell into the air and his throat went dry. He wanted to scream, he needed the pain the blood to go away, but he couldn’t do anything but stare at the wound.
“Aaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!”
A blood curdling scream that shook the very rooftop brought Shirou back to reality. Turning towards his Servant he couldn’t believe his eyes.
His face was bubbling and smoking in a disgusting manner as the knight’s forehead looked as if it might split into two.
But the pain continued its assault on his body, what was once a thousand needles became a thousand daggers as a heat ten times a strong assaulted his entire body.
He needed to breath, but his breathing was ragged and hoarse as he began gasp for breath only to internally scream as he found nothing but a heated vacuum.
Was this the end? Was Shirou Nosuke going to die here?
The pain was finally too much for his body to bear, with one last glance he looked on at his Servant as the man was split into two and his body had finally collapsed.
********************************************************************
This was a tale from days long past. A distant tale forgotten by time and warped by memories.
It was a large gathering of people, a family reunion, but the boy didn’t care about any of that. He was more concerned with the recent birth of his newborn sister, about when he could go back outside and play with his friends, mundane everyday thoughts like these flooded his mind.
But he knew what was proper of a young gentleman like himself. Bitterly, he bore it as numerous older people who he knew nothing about talked to him, congratulating him and his parents about the birth of his new sister.
But he didn’t care much about that either. He had only seen his sister a few times by now but he still didn’t understand who she was. All he wanted to do was leave these annoying people and find someplace to hide until the reunion was over.
Finally the time for greeting was over and people were beginning to enjoy the feast laid out before them, after which the guests continued to mingle inside the large open hall. But the boy didn’t really understand the complex talk most of the adults talked about.
Quietly he wandered the open halls, doing his best to copy the actions he saw his father once carry out.
And it was then that he met, ‘him’.
He stood out because of the shining red hair very similar to the boy’s own but also his looks. He was by far older than the boy, but still younger than all the other adults in the room. But he carried with him a beaming smile as he played with the remnants of the night’s dinner, a smile beaming across his face.
There was something about the movements in his hands, the grace with which he hacked away at the leftover steak, and the gleeful mutterings that completely captivated the young boy’s innocent mind.
Eventually the older boy noticed as the younger continued to stare at his play, and closing his eyes in glee, his face gleaming even brighter he spoke out.
“Hi! Name’s Uryuu, wanna play!?”
***************************************************************************************
As he grew older, the boy was often asked questions about his future. But one thing above all stood out to his developing ears.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
It was a question first asked by his teacher during his first years in school but the boy took the question very seriously. Even as it was repeated by his parents and even his younger sister he never allowed himself to answer halfheartedly.
Perhaps it was some empty thought from long ago, or perhaps he was twisted in some way but he never allowed himself the chance to respond improperly.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
As the years went by he often found himself considering that question, but could never find an answer. As the other kids often responded with their own youthful responses he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Even as his mind screamed at him to just say something, anything that would allow the older people to leave him alone he still could not bring himself to do it.
Was there something wrong with him? Why couldn’t he respond properly to such a simple question? That’s all it would take, one simple response. But he couldn’t do it.
“What did he want to do? What was his purpose in life? Why did he live?”
There was only one answer he could think of even as he got older.
The hazy memories of his long distant friend and relative.
*******************************************************************
Pain assaulted the man’s body. It screamed at him to get up and move, he needed to move. His senses were screaming at him to move.
After spending what seemed like hours in darkness, eventually the man opened his eyes and saw the vast open night sky above him. As the stars twinkled in the darkness he felt like reaching up towards them but something was wrong.
He couldn’t feel his right arm. It must have just rained recently as his body was soaked and freezing.
Dark thoughts began to cross the man’s head, he felt that something urgent was going on. He needed to stand up, to look at his arm and assess the current situation. But his body was having trouble moving.
“Hey Berserker… What’s going on?”
The last thing he could remember was retreating with his honorable knight but he couldn’t remember why or when.
Yet Berserker never responded to Shirou’s calls.
“Berserker? Anyone? Where am I?”
He had to move, the numbness in his arm was screaming at him to move. He needed to turn and look at his arm.
Using all the strength he could gather with his free arm, Shirou pushed himself up with his left hand glancing at his right arm in the process. And his mind froze.
Red.
There was so much red all over his body, it wasn’t just his numb arm, under the dim light of the moon and the flickering of the nearby building lights he could make out nothing but red as far as he could see.
Like a switch flipping in his head Shirou quickly recalled everything that had happened up until he passed out, the encounter with Rin, the escape with Berserker, and Archer’s attack, he remembered it all.
And he wanted to scream, his injuries were too great, he knew he didn’t have much longer to live, his arm was already probably lost and Berserker was nowhere in sight.
What could he do? What had happened to Berseker? Was Rin and her Servant still looking for him? What about Shinji? All these things flooded his mind as Shirou needed to react and quickly before his mind gave out and he truly died.
1. Scream for help
2. Look around for Berserker
3. Call Shinji
4. Write in...
Berserker:
(http://i.imgur.com/9EPPiD3.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/EV2Kx4N.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/Fpptgcp.png)
Saber:
(http://i.imgur.com/Eo5BUbk.png)
Assassin:
(http://i.imgur.com/IH2bYLy.png)
Assassin?:
(http://i.imgur.com/u5oJQCQ.png)
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Even though no one voted in my last choice that does not mean I will give up on you folks here on DSM. In fact you might be interested in reading my latest segment:
If anyone could save him, Shirou believed that it would be Shinji. He had to calm his own breathing and the dull pain was causing his hands to shake violently, but eventually he could feel the phone in his good hand.
Ignoring as best as he could the blood that had begun to smear all over the phone he struggled with the screen eventually reaching the number the one guy Shirou believed would be able to help him.
The phone had barely rung even once before Shinji answer the phone.
“Nosuke!? You’re still alive? Dude what is going on, I don’t know what happened but I’ve been trying to get over there.”
“..Shinji... I think I’m dying, please, you’ve got to help me. I can’t feel my arm, there is so much blood…”
“Ah jeez man, what did I say about being careful, you knew this kind of thing could happen… Look, here’s the deal. I’ve been trying to get over there for hours after I found out what happened but those Berserkers of yours won’t let me get any closer than I already am. If I’m going to get over there to help you, you gotta do something to control your Servants.”
“Berserker? I don’t even know where he’s at… I haven’t seen him since I woke up.”
His head was throbbing, his shoulders were getting heavier by the second, Shirou couldn’t afford to wait any longer than he already had. He needed to act if he was going to live, and then he remembered the words spoken by his faithful Servant just a few days ago.
“Those Seals are an unbreakable oath that you may use on myself to grant the strength to accomplish the impossible. No matter the circumstance should you order it with one of those three oaths, the path shall be revealed.”
The pain was dulling his thoughts and clouding his judgement. Before he even realized it had happened his bloody hand that glowed in a faint red light was right in front of his eyes. If he used one of these seals he could allow Shinji to come and save him.
“Alright… Shinji, I think I know what to do, just give me a minute…”
If there was ever a time to use the miracles now was that time. Holding his arm as steady as he could prayed to the starry sky and to wherever his Servant was hiding in order to grant his savior safe passage.
“By this Command Seal, I order you Berserker. Grant Shinji Matou safe passage, you are not to harm him under any circumstance!”
(http://i.imgur.com/cm9bmH4.png)
“Alright Shinji, you should be safe now please I don’t know how much longer I can stay awake.”
“Yeah yeah I’m coming over now, hang in there… Say Nosuke, while I’m getting over there, would you care to talk?”
“What do you mean Shinji? Did something else happen?”
“Heh, that’s just like you Nosuke, you could be lying on the ground dying and you would still concern yourself with me first, as if it were natural. Well as a matter a fact a few things have happened. You remember how I summoned my own Servant right?”
“Yeah, just like me, were a team, and we’re working together to win this Holy Grail War right?”
“...Of course, of course. You’ve always been a faithful companion Nosuke, even going so far as to join me in my little ‘adventures’ just like at the museum. If it weren’t for you I have to admit my life would have been far messier without your help.”
“Uh sure of course, ugh, are you almost here Shinji? I’m not sure how much longer I can stay awake, you gotta hurry.”
“Just a few more minutes I’m going as fast as I can. But Nosuke, you know… There is something else I haven’t been telling you… You see, the Servant that I’ve summoned, Assassin is only partially mine. It was actually a gift from my relative, someone you never got the chance to meet.”
“What? What are you trying to say Shinji? I’m confused.”
“Hey Nosuke, you know… You know that you’ve always promised to help me right? Aren’t we a team?”
“Shinji?”
“Yeah of course we are. That’s the only reason you’ve stuck around for so long right? To help me out? Then there is something I need to ask you, it’s something I’ve been holding off on asking but now I can’t think of a better time.”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
Finally Shirou could hear Shinji’s approach as his friend’s footsteps echoed on the steel stairway that led to the roof, the door was already ajar as Shinji ran through the door.
“Oi Nosuke, you still alive?”
Quickly, Shinji ran up to his friend with a face full of concern and eyes brimming with joy.
“Thank god, Shinji, please help… My arm, it hurts so much.”
A flash of disgust flew across Shinji’s face as he finally saw Shirou close up, but whatever disgust he had was held back as he suppressed the urge to vomit.
“Alright, let’s see what I can do here, leave it to your good pal Shinji. First off we need to examine your body. Lie down on the floor so I can take a look.”
Carefully lying down yet again, Shinji did his best to sit still while Shinji looked over the wound, first his shirt had to be removed due to the amount of blood and cloth that had begun to stick to his body. After which Shinji attempted to clean the wound with whatever materials he had on hand from the small first aid kit he had brought.
“Ah geez man you weren’t kidding when you said you got hurt real bad. I don’t think I brought enough cloth… Hey… Is this your Seal?”
As he continued to wipe off the blood, Shinji’s movements froze when he came across the glowing red mark that proved the contract with a Servant. He continued to glance at the mark as he caressed the dim magical energy that shined from the skin.
“What’s wrong Shinji? Is something the matter?”
“You know Nosuke, you promised to always help right? You would be my friend until the end right?”
“Ok Shinji seriously, this isn’t funny man, I need help, I’m dying here!”
“...My…”
“What?”
“I said this is MY story.”
“You’re scaring me man, what the hell are you going on about.”
Shinji’s look of frozen concern began to change as he reached into his pocket he retrieved the small leatherbound book that Shirou recognized all too well, but something was different. Now he held two books in his hand, both were identical with that same strange marking that was sketched across the reddish brown canvas.
But why did he have two?
“You see Shirou, you’ve met Assassin before right? Well Assassin as a combatant is rather weak, as strong as they are compared to us humans, they are pathetically weak compared to the likes of Saber or Rider, so I’m going to have to take your Servant in order to strengthen my own position.”
“My Servant? You mean Berserker?” Shirou’s body was still weak, he was having trouble keeping up with the conversation, perhaps the blood loss was too severe.
“Yes… I’m gonna ask you to take part in my biggest plan yet, something that’ll be sure to grant me victory and allow my Grandp… I mean MY own wish to come true! He told me a lot of things you know, that old geezer. He even told me just what I could do in order to return myself to the lineage I deserve to have. All I have to do is win this war, and in order to do that, I’m gonna need your Servant.”
As Shinji turned away, before Shirou had even realized what happened the dagger was already flung. In one swift motion Shirou screamed as his arm was separated from his body.
His body couldn’t take any more, as the life faded from his eyes though his dimming conscious he could hear Shinji’s final speech.
“ALRIGHT! I was gonna do that later but you made things easy for me Nosuke, as usual. Now where are those Berserkers…”
Bad End
********************************************************************************[/center]
“It is time… Once more we shall take the stage, for a triumphant return! Too long have we waited hiding in the darkness. But now is our chance, we will strike with all we have!”
“Hello! And welcome to the Taiga Dojo! I am your host, Illyasviel, and together with my pupil Tiger, we have come once more to help those when they need it most!
“Excuse me?”
*Smack! Smack!*
“Such strength…”
“Ahem, as I was saying. Hello folks! Welcome once more! I am the leader of this grand establishment, Taiga! Here today to help you when you are your lowest point, to those who have been beaten and mangled, we will act as your shining knights, to bring light to this darkened path and illuminate the path of truth!”
“I thought we were just going to provide information on how they got a bad end?”
“Ah yes… Of course! As my pupil most kindly suggested you are here because of one reason and one reason alone!”
“You died…”
“Exactly~ But how did it happen? What did you do wrong? Well allow Student #1 to reveal it!”
“Their mistake lies in trusting Shirou’s friend far too much far too quickly. By relying on him before finding out his intention you placed yourself in a position that allowed him to take advantage of you in your time of need. And without Berserker there was nothing you could do, thus poor Shirou died. But it doesn’t really matter, especially since he’s nothing like my Shirou.”
“How harsh, doesn’t a little sister’s love extend past space and time? And yet here we are without any compassion, no love, no faithfulness…”
“I only state the truth~”
“I see. Well anyways, it seems like we are all out of time, this has been your host Taiga Fujimura together with my assistant…”
“Illyasviel von Einzbern!”
“We hope to see you again soon!”
**********************************************
Alright folks here is where things get interesting, you've reached your first bad end, congratulations!
I'm sure most of you remember my promise right? Therefore two options are laid before you, the chance continue the story, or the chance to retry from the last set of choices.
So what shall it be?
1. Return to the choices (Shirou)
2. Continue in England (Bram)
3. Continue at the hospital (Sakura)
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Continue with Sakura!!!
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3. Continue at the hospital (Sakura)
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Given how lame was Berserker Gilles I'm voting for Sakura because obviously Milbunk will self-insert into Bram.
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Current Votes:
1. Return to the choices (Shirou): Li Shuwhere, BibliophileGoat
2. Continue in England (Bram):
3. Continue at the hospital (Sakura): Bdoom, TheMegas, mAc Chaos, Nuclear Consensus, Magus, CyberNinja, Mike, Kat
I'll leave the vote up until Tuesday night.
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The votes are settled looks like you guys will be getting your wish after all, expect more news in a few days.
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That urgent business has just gotten worse I'm afraid to say.
As such I don't feel confident in posting anymore and as such this particular adventure will from this point on be put on hold until further notice.
Sorry about that.
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What urgent business?
-
“Sigh…”
I took another glance at my cellphone but the time display had only showed the passage of a few minutes.
“Sigh…”
No matter how often it happened I still couldn’t quite get used to the idea of these long waits during missions. Or maybe it was stress that was building up over the past few weeks?
Another meaningless glance at my phone and then I glanced around the waiting lounge of the hospital, still no sign of him. When would he arrive?
Assassin was still watching the outside of the building and would inform me should he show up, I knew this all too well but I was beginning to feel anxious. Would he even bother to show up?
I couldn’t take this much longer, I needed to calm down, to keep my focus, flipping open the phone I typed a short but precise message to my contact on the outside while my thoughts continued to wander.
*********************************************************************************
I remember the first time I ever laid eyes on her. What was supposed to be just another evening in that ‘place’ turned into an event that would shape the rest of my life. Confused and disoriented I had no idea how to react when I opened my eyes and saw her face.
How could I? My mind was dead, all I could do was stare at her with blank open eyes.
“It’s alright, you’re safe now. I’ll do everything I can to protect you, so don’t worry.”
That was the first thing she said to me, a simple phrase, but her gentle embrace made those words all the more sincere. But even then I still could not believe the situation I was in, everything felt like a dream. This kind of thing shouldn’t happen to a person like me, but she made it sound as if everything would truly be alright.
So even if it was only for a moment, I allowed myself to fall into her embrace. That was the first time I ever met the woman who would soon become my mother. That was the first time I would ever meet Maiya Emiya.
*******************************************************************************
Over the years I learned various skills under my new mother and adoptive father Kiritsugu Emiya a man with only one arm. Apparently he had lost it during one of his missions, but he would never say which mission of how it happened and it wasn’t within my right to ask. Together along with my new sister we learned various skills in the art of combat and survival much to Kiritsugu’s reluctance.
He was so against it in fact that at first he outright refused the thought of teaching us magic. But in the end he was won over after insistence from Maiya, back then I couldn’t figure out just what she had told him to change his mind like that, but now I realize it.
Myself and my sister, we were special. Compared to other magi we had enormous capacity to grow. And that would make us targets against those would seek to use us for their own personal gain. He had to give us these skills, allow us to grow or else our chances of survival would be slim.
It was during this period of time that I learned where my skills lay. I had the power to control the imaginary, spirits, and beings that were not innate to this world. With my hands I could create powerful familiars, beings that could imitate the looks of feel of humans but they themselves could never truly be alive.
My teacher was smart with her methods, she taught me that magic was not the only way to obtain victory. Sometimes the simplest option was the best, and thus I learned how to wield firearms, drive vehicles, arm explosives, craft that most normal magi would consider barbaric I learned to use without a second thought.
If I was going to survive I had to do everything within my means to accomplish that goal, I either hunted or was hunted, that was how I lived for nearly fifteen years.
My sister on the other hand was different, her body was special, her connection to a unique magic called wishcraft was so strong that she disliked the use of such simple firearms. Much preferring to rely on her great magical capacity which far exceeded even my own and allowed her to accomplish the tasks that I could, without the need of most modern equipment. She did however, take a liking to various automobiles, in particular the faster they could go the more she appreciated them. Her skills behind the wheel on the other hand were rather harsh and extreme, something that her normally calm and elegant demeanor would normally never show.
My new ‘father’ on the other hand was someone I could never truly read. When he spoke his voice was often calm but controlled, as if every word of his was carefully spoken in order to never allow a glimpse of a weakness. This was one of the methods that he had trained with his entire life, one of the reasons I would later find out that he got the name, the Magus Killer.
Despite surviving with only one arm his skills with his equipment far exceeded my own even on my best days. Perhaps it was simply experience but deep down I could never agree with that assessment. It was as if these weapons of death were his very life and soul, without them he would be nothing but an empty husk.
And so we trained, for nearly fifteen years I lived a life on the run from many magi who wished to harm my family, they wanted Kiritsugu for crimes he had committed in the past, though I could never figure out just what they wanted, I had strong suspicions it was related to my dear sister.
Though the years were rough, we found a fragile sort of peace together with one another. Occasionally my thoughts would often drift to the past and I wondered how ‘they’ were doing. But such thoughts often became far and few between as the years went by. And my memories of that household were becoming dim with age.
Until it happened, two weeks ago.
**********************************************************************************
We were staying in a remote part of Italy, a place that we thought was safe for the time being.
As I was reading a book, a sharp pain shot through my hand and a bruise appeared. At first I thought nothing of it, but when I showed it to Maiya her expression darkened and she called for Kiritsugu.
How did I not realize it then?
I should have known this might have happened. I could never escape the past that easily, even after fifteen years of wandering.
My sister, Illyasviel came in at nearly the same time, but for her it was much worse. Crouched down in pain her forehead began to bleed as her entire body reddened.
It was a call from the Holy Grail and the Einzbern. A call to return home and fulfill her duty as a receptacle for the Grail.
After Kiritsugu arrived he told us about the Holy Grail War and its inner mechanisms. Apparently he had once been a Master in this war, but due to the fact that the war was supposed to happen every sixty or so years he thought we’d all be safe from it.
We spoke up at the same time, I knew I had to enter this war if I was ever going to finally free myself of the past but my sister felt the same.
Surprised at our reactions Kiritsugu had little choice but to accept our insistent demands to enter the war. He knew that if he attempted to say no we would just go off on our own anyways. We were too strong willed for him, but he was in a dilemma.
He only had one catalyst and there were two of us, so we decided to settle the matter over a duel. A duel of magi, the strongest would get the catalyst while the weaker would have to find an alternative route.
It was during this duel that she finally revealed her true colors. Illyasviel von Einzbern cheated, she did something I could never forgive her for and because of it she won the duel and stole my catalyst.
After that I couldn’t stay at home any longer, I couldn’t stand being near her any longer. Perhaps deep down I was afraid of what I might do to her, I had to run.
A few days later, under the cover of darkness and with the help of my dear mother, we summoned my own Servant. Servant of the night and a true killer, Assassin.
Apparently Assassin was special, he required no catalyst. But more than that I felt that he would fit my personality more than anyone else. Someone like Saber being of the knight class was too righteous for one such as myself with such a blackened heart, Assassin was the only choice.
Assassin himself was a little odd at first, but I quickly got used to him. Whenever I did get him to talk he would often pronounce things as innocent or guilty, as if he looked at everything through either black or white lenses. And how could I blame him? With a Noble Phantasm like that it seemed like the perfect fit for him.
With less than two weeks left until the Grail War was set to begin I began to make my way towards Fuyuki City, the place where the Grail War would take place.
After my arrival I quickly began to research other possible participants, along with help from Maiya we managed to find a great deal of information on possible participants.
The Tohsaka…, the Matou…, and then the Einzbern… I couldn’t believe my own eyes when I saw the data in front of me. I felt like an outcast, tossed outside of them all, I felt I belonged to all of them and yet none.
Additionally, I obtained information in regards to the Archibalds another house of magi that had begun to entwine its fingers into the inner workings of the grail war. A man named Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald was the winner of the last war, but he had won by default as the Grail was never actually summoned and he refused to explain why unless the person he was speaking to was of a higher status than his own. And seeing as he was the ninth head of his family there were few that could achieve such a claim.
These were all great families who had amassed their wealth and power over centuries of time, and yet I felt nearly all alone. With only myself and my dearest mother, I would have to overcome great odds in order to succeed.
Could I really do this?
What other choice did I have?
*********************************************************************************
Fast forward to three days ago, when the war had officially begun, all the Masters had been chosen, and after a signal from the mediator of the church we were all set to begin.
My first day was filled with scouting various positions, and although I came across no Masters or Servants besides my own I did note a few places of interest. Besides the mansions that belonged to the Tohsaka and Matou, the Einzbern hid a castle deep in the forests of Fuyuki I I considered he thought that my father and sister might be located there, but seeing as how they were now enemies of the Einzbern I quickly put that thought to rest, and that wasn’t all.
There were small traces of magical residue on a newly built skyscraper hotel that went by the name of Hyatt. I remembered my research into the last war, had the Archibald decided to make their own move into that place? It was a very plausible thought.
But before I could delve any deeper into that mystery I ran into her, it had to of been an accident, there was no other way we would have met that quickly yet again.
Illyasviel von Einzbern, the one who broke the rules, I needed to get my revenge. And what better way than by dealing with her Servant and proving my skills as a magus and a killer.
It was then that I realized what a battle between Servants truly was. With every shot of my Servant Assassin’s daggers he shattered the air and obliterated the ground, but his opponent, Saber was even stronger.
My Assassin fought as best as he could but despite his innate strength, his skills were not enough to overcome the demon that was Saber. In the end he was overwhelmed and beaten back. Additionally my skills were too obvious to use in such a short amount of time, my familiars were easily overcome by Illya’s magic leaving me with little choice, his Noble Phantasm was the only option but in that state it would only be possible with the use of a Command Seal.
With my hand outstretched I had begun to state my order, until they appeared. With those white masks and daggers similar to my Servant’s own, I was confused at first even if I secretly welcomed their help.
And then I heard him, his voice was loud and sounded arrogant, he gave his assistance with his Assassins and Illya was forced on the retreat. As she left she vowed that she would return and settle this matter later.
Seeing as I was no longer in any danger the man gave his own farewell promising to help a ‘beautiful young lady’ such as myself should I ever be in trouble again. But even as he and his Assassins disappeared I couldn’t help but remember that voice. Why did it sound so familiar?
As I began to leave I noticed one final presence out of the corner of my eye. Turning to face it for only a second before I vanished I noticed the man with his binoculars and the knight by his side staring down at me.
I didn’t recognize this particular man, he bore no look of familiarity and thus additional research was required if I was going to solve this mystery.
Later on I would find out that his name was Shirou Nosuke and together with his friend Shinji Matou they shared an apartment in that very location. He also worked as a nurse at a local hospital, and it was there that I decided to make my first real move.
************************************************************************
How much time had passed since I had drifted into thoughts of the past? Shaking my head to gather my scattered thoughts I glanced at my phone yet again just as it vibrated and a new message appeared on the screen.
‘Target spotted leaving the apartment, strong magical energy sensed nearby, likely a servant. Continue surveillance?’
Quickly responding with a yes, I shuddered at the thought of finally getting to see some action.
Thoughts about the plan fluttered through my head as I contemplated what my first true mission would be like. Would I be able to act as I should? Could I kill him if necessary?
These thoughts and more flew through my head as I silently waited for the next text, which appeared just in time.
‘Target is not heading towards assumed location. Should I intercept?’
Responding with a no, I wondered what he might be up to. Did he have a change of plans? Was he onto us? I had no way of telling, until the next text came in.
‘Target is engaging someone in a darkened alle…! Change of tactics, target is now being chased by another Servant, no visual available.’
What was going on? Had he fallen for some kind of trap? It appeared that someone had beaten us to the punch and without any visuals it would be difficult to plan our next course of action.
But regardless we had to move fast, before anything else could happen.
1. Chase after the target before he can escape
2. Stay in the hospital and send Maiya after them
3. Abort the operation entirely, rethink the strategy
4. Write in…
My Servant
(http://i.imgur.com/xFlxhFH.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/VPTg4w0.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/ss5ljFw.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/x8SpRp9.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/pnMqj1v.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/5o6J7hI.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/D4khT7G.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/mwIWBQG.png)
Illya's Servant
(http://i.imgur.com/Lcdm6uJ.png)
???'s Servant
(http://i.imgur.com/UuSdshb.png)
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Current Results:
1. Chase after the target personally before he can escape: Renko, Li Shuwhere, Nuclear Consensus, Bdoom, Magus
2. Stay in the hospital and send Maiya after them
3. Abort the operation entirely, rethink the strategy: Shrimperor, Council
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Yeah, I'm going to go for 1.
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Alright it looks like voting is done this time around, it appears that we will begin a full fledged chase!
-
‘How long will it take you to reach them from your vantage point?’
Sending a mental message to my Servant my fingers flew across the keypad of my phone so that I could inform my assistant about what to do.
‘less than fifteen seconds but my concealment may be compromised at those speeds if the Servant is cautious.’
I was already running in full force as I impatiently waited for the automatic glass doors of the hospital to open wide. The text was sent and now I awaited the reply.
‘Make it so, but do not engage under any circumstances, just watch.'
‘As you command.’
My hurried walk out of the hospital had now turned into a full sprint as my reinforced legs pushed my body as fast as it could go. While my Servant could arrive in mere seconds it would be nearly a full minute before I could even reach the same block that they were on.
The phone buzzed in my pocket but I already knew what it was going to say. I trusted her foresight she would know what to do, she always did.
‘Master, I see the two targets on a nearby rooftop just a few buildings away from their encounter, they are being attacked by but I cannot make out the bullets, they appear to be cloaked somehow. I cannot locate the attacker he’s hiding his presence but he has to be nearby.’
I was moving so fast that I had to react to people before they could even notice me, running directly into anyone would be catastrophic for us both, during the middle of the day it was far too crowded, I needed to get higher. Dashing into a nearby alley I pushed a large amount of magical energy into my feet and flung myself towards the nearby wall using the momentum of the jump to fling myself even higher until eventually I came onto the rooftop of one of the smaller buildings.
‘Targets appear to be in a worse position than before, the attacker is showing them no mercy, likely to be an archer as his attacks are all ranged but I sense very little magical energy coming them.’
Sensing where my Servant was located I could feel the presence of a faint bounded field in the area. Whoever was launching this attack was well prepared for it, I silently cursed myself for not noticing the field sooner but at the same time I thanked them for the attack, it was an excellent opportunity to exploit them and figure out who they might be.
‘The boy is hit! The attacker seems like he wants to end things quickly! I sense something odd from the knight there is a large amount of magical energy coming from him, I think he’s about to unleash his Noble Phantasm.’
My phone began to buzz again, forcing me to stop in my tracks. The only reason she would send a message twice is if something important had come up. Glancing at my phone I realized just what it meant.
*I repeat, enemy Master spotted, engage?*
It was a risky opportunity, she needed more information to go on before she felt comfortable enough to act.
*Give me a description of their appearance, we need to know what their potential retaliation is.*
‘Master, the target Servant! He’s glowing, his rapid change in appearance suggests that he’s of the Berserker class. Wait, there seems to be something emerging from his head, a hand?’
*It’s a female with a long red coat, she has long black hair she’s closing her eyes as if she’s concentrating deeply on something but I do not see or sense any sort of Servant nearby. Should I engage?*
It was vague but it only fit the description of one girl who I knew to be in the war. Why did it have to be her? If it was anyone else I might be able to deal with this better, but with her…
With time ticking on both sides my mind was having trouble concentrating, any decision I made could cost myself or my partner’s life and I wasn’t sure I could make that choice.
‘The hand has grown, I can make out a shoulder, I believe that this Servant has a second form of some kind that is emerging in order to strengthen himself! His magical energy is skyrocketing, the target master has passed out likely due to pain and the strain of maintaining his Servant. Should I intercept him before he can finish his transformation?’
Falling to my knees from the stress of having to make so many important choices so quickly I did the only thing I knew in order to clear my mind. Doing my utmost to kill my emotions I could feel my mind blank as various responses fluttered through my head. With only seconds to react I needed to choose exactly the best approach in dealing with these two events.
Pick one of each!
Assistant
1. Attack the Master before your emotions get the better of you
2. Make contact with the Master, you will need help in order to overcome your sister
3. Do not engage the Master, continue to watch and gauge the situation
4. Write in…
Assassin
1. Engage the Berserker before his transformation is complete
2. Allow the transformation to complete, allow him to focus on the other target
3. Retreat before the transformation finishes, you have a bad feeling about this
4. Write in...
-
2. Make contact with the Master, you will need help in order to overcome your sister.
I don't want Sakura killing Rin, killing people is not a good thing, especially when it's your sister. Sakura just needs to be a bit more careful than Shirou was....
I'm not sure about the other one yet, I'll think more about that.
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Current Results:
Assistant
1. Attack the Master before your emotions get the better of you: mAc Chaos, Me
2. Make contact with the Master, you will need help in order to overcome your sister: Li Shuwhere, Nuclear Consensus, solarchon, Sinon
3. Do not engage the Master, continue to watch and gauge the situation: Magus, Renko
4. Write in…
Assassin
1. Engage the Berserker before his transformation is complete: Li Shuwhere, Renko
2. Allow the transformation to complete, allow him to focus on the other target: Nuclear Consensus, mAc Chaos, Me
3. Retreat before the transformation finishes, you have a bad feeling about this: Magus, solarchon, Sinon
4. Write in...
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OK, 2. Allow the transformation to complete, allow him to focus on the other target
-
Was it the best plan of action? She was unsure, but once she had made up her mind there was no going back.
Taking her phone once more she quickly typed her next order while simultaneously commanding Assassin through her thoughts.
*I’ll handle the Master, continue your surveillance for now.*
‘Do not interfere with their fight, let them tire each other out.’
*Roger.*
‘Very well then.’
Her hands were still shaking from the nervousness of her decision but upon taking a deep breath she realized that things weren’t quite so bad as she made them out to be. Rather, it was kind of exciting, the rush of adrenaline as she chose her actions in what could be easily considered a war zone. There was no mistaking that it had a sort of hidden beauty to it.
But there would be time to sort through her emotions later, after the situation was dealt with. Gripping her phone even tighter she killed all the expression on her face. She would be a puppet, the perfect machine, it was the only way she could talk to this Master without revealing anything she might regret later.
“wecken…”
She had no crest to call her own, the thing that granted all magi power. Yet what she couldn’t do through that she could do with her other talents. She knew that through sheer force of talent she could overcome most obstacles in regards to magecraft, and thus she delved into the most effective field of magic she could find. The art of controlling and summoning familiars.
From around her a small swarm of various insects arose, normally they kept their distance in smaller numbers as it was easier to hide them from the prying eyes of normal folk. However it was time for them to serve their purpose.
Quickly they gathered before they flew off towards the dim alleyway protected by a bounded field meant to keep onlookers away. But she was no onlooker, rather, she wanted to contact this Master because if anyone was suitable for taking on Illyasviel it had to be her.
******************************************************************************
From atop Assassin’s perch the wind shook the building and the cold was bitter and merciless, yet he was above these basic feelings. Such was of his nature, as one of the many old man of the mountain his skills in surveillance and hiding oneself were top notch.
Even materialized as he was there was not a soul on planet earth that would be able to detect him underneath his cloak. Except maybe another Hassan…
As he watched the second Berserker emerge from the head of the first he couldn’t help but allow his thoughts to drift towards what he encountered the previous night. The group of Assassins that had come to his aid.
There was only one Hassan in the records that could do that, and that particular Hassan was one of the last and therefore after his time. But he knew that too was also false. Perhaps his own Master in her immaturity might not have noticed it but he certainly did.
Just like the difference between night and day he knew for a fact that these other Hassan, these false Assassins were nothing but that. They were puppets either falsely summoned or being controlled through some barbaric manner but unlike himself they were not the true Hassan. They were merely illusions, something that shouldn’t exist in this world, and he wished with all of his heart to set them free. Such was the wish that he held for his captured brothers, he knew deep down in their mechanical hearts that it would be what they wanted most of all.
“Finished yet? I was getting tired of waiting, I expected something far more impressive, but you will soon see that a second body will do you no good.”
Once more Assassin’s attention focus on the fight before him. They were invisible, and moved faster than the speed of a bullet but Assassin could still track them. Even from his distance, as the blades shot forth towards the ruptured body of the Berserker. They were meant to be the finishing blow a rain of blades that would turn any foe into a pincushion.
Perhaps the attacker had gotten tired of this fight, or maybe he wanted to see just how the Berserker would react. Regardless the attacker gave a sly remark of a amusement as his weapons were deflected by the now fully emerged knight.
“Oh? So you still have some energy left do you? Well then, can you handle this?”
“▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!”
What was once ten blades now became twenty, like a machinegun the transparent weapons flew towards the enraged knight who in his charge jumped forth leaving the carcass of his previous self and focusing on the onslaught of weapons.
****************************************************************************************
As the swarm of bugs approached the young magus opened her eyes and faced them head on. Her steely gaze and quiet beauty in contrast to the dank and dirty alleyway she stood in.
“I never expected that any magi would be foolish enough to attempt and intercept my plans in the middle of the day. And yet here we are, so, seeing as how you haven’t attacked me yet I assume that means you wish to talk about something. Is that correct?”
Though her tone of voice was friendly for the moment, her posture and the gaze at which she stared at the mass of insects showed open hostility. One wrong move and she wouldn’t hesitate to attack this newcomer.
Eventually the swarm of bugs shaped into a vague human face. Something that could convey an attempt at conversation while completely hiding the user's identity. From the face emerged a girl’s voice, it was hollow and emotionless showing nothing while speaking very little.
“Greetings, representative of the Tohsaka. I have come as an outlier in this war, in order to inform you of business that should be dealt with.”
The magus known as a Tohsaka showed no emotion either in her reaction to these words. Rather, a vague uninterest sparked the conversation yet again.
“And what might this business be?”
“You are aware of the current Master of the Einzbern Servant I would assume?”
“I am aware that the Einzbern have once more entered this war, yes…”
“Then you might be intereste…”
Before the floating face could finish speaking, a dagger flew through cutting Sakura off and throwing the Tohsaka into high alert.
“It’s not nice to pick on cute girls like this you know, especially one so beautiful as Tohsaka.”
Two masked figures quickly emerged into the alleyway and through the disrupted swarm of bugs. They faced Tohsaka and she held her hand out in order to react to whatever they might try.
“Who are you!? Show yourself!”
“Oh relax, I’m just a friend, here to warn you about the attempt on your life. You were always bull headed Tohsaka Rin so it’s no surprise you never noticed the sniper.”
As if on cue one of the Assassins who had disrupted their conversation threw a dagger away from Rin and onto the rooftop of a distant building far away. There was a sparking sound of something hitting and a faint cry that could only be heard through reinforcement of the ears but that alone was enough for Rin to understand exactly what it meant.
For a moment Rin stood there, her eyes agape as she contemplated what had just transpired. And then she let out a laugh.
“Ha, I was wondering who might’ve been stupid enough to show their Servant out in the open like this but I never expected it to be you Shinji! I thought you had given up after all the times I had turned down your advances all those years ago, but it looks like some people just don’t know when to quit!”
“...Tohsaka, do you truly not realize the situation you are in? With just a wave of my hand I could show you what it means to go against me. And you think you’re a position to talk!?”
Her serious expression now turned to one of outright hilarity as she bent over in an attempt to hold in even more laughter.
“Sh-Shinji, you really are an idiot aren’t you? But I suppose I should thank you, the mood was getting really tense and I really needed something to lighten the atmosphere.”
A dagger thrown with great speed was launched straight for Tohsaka’s chest, it nearly matched the speed of a bullet and even Sakura had trouble tracking it at the speed it was thrown. Yet before it could even reach Tohsaka’s laughing face it was intercepted mid air by an invisible projectile.
“Wh-what!?”
Shinji’s muttered in surprise but his expression was short lived as it was quickly followed by the sound of blades piercing flesh as another rain of invisible projectiles shot forth filling the Assassin who dared to attack Tohsaka with a multitude of holes.
Unable to withstand the damage any further the Assassin exploded into magical energy, which was quickly followed by Shinji’s rage.
“H-how dare you!”
The laughter from Tohsaka quickly faded and was replaced with a more serious look, one that showed that she wouldn’t be afraid to finish things here if she was provoked any further.
“Consider this a warning Shinji, I don’t know how you got yourself a Servant or even multiple ones, but I recommend you drop this war and any silly dreams you think the Grail can grant you. I’ll accept your idiotic actions for now but next time I won’t go easy on you, and I’m sure I don’t need to say what the results will be?”
She glanced at the quickly fading sparkles of the dead Servant Assassin before facing the insects that were still hovering around in silence.
“And as for you, what I do with Einzbern is of my own business. Come Archer, we are leaving, either of you are free to follow if you dare.”
Majestically Rin began to hover in the air and up towards the rooftops of the buildings before disappearing out of sight. But neither Sakura nor Shinji’s Servants dared to move until she was gone, Sakura out of fear and Shinji out of rage.
Almost immediately afterwards a text buzzed on Sakura’s phone, quickly checking it she responded with the only action she could think of in regards to what had just happened.
*No need to follow her, we aren’t prepared.*
******************************************************************************************************
Seeing that his Master would be busy for the moment, Assassin decided to continue surveillance on his own.
The Berserker continued to rampage around as the projectiles continued to fly around him.
“▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!”
With his rusted blade he swatted away the blades with his mighty hand.
“Ohohoh, so not only have you become a mad dog but you’re capabilities have increased dramatically, well then, how about handling twice the amount of blades?”
The rain of weapons increased as they shot towards the Berserker at lightning speeds slamming into the ground. The few that did hit Berserker were repelled by his sword or his armor but his defenses would not last much longer.
“▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!”
It was time to finish things, an even larger barrage of blades faster than the eye could track and hidden from sight were launched towards the Berserker, and as if to seal the deal a second rain of blades were flung towards his Master.
There was no way for the singular Berserker to keep himself alive and his Master, in his insane state all he could do was hold his own. His master was about to become a pincushion, there was nothing he could do except scream in rage and fight off his own barrage. He needed aid, and so he got it.
“▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!”
A second roar and the blades that were flung at the Master were deflected by the silver sword of a second knight.
Though his face was still reforming, it was clearly the body of the first knight, while also enraged his appearance was in stark contrast to that of the other Berserker. His silver armor and silver sword shone as beacons of light and his beautifully reformed face was the only mark of insanity on him.
As he roared he refused to move from his post. Instead choosing to guard his Master rather than fight the unknown enemy.
“Ah so that’s what your Noble Phantasm was, how unique. There are only a few treasures in my vault that can reproduce such similar results!”
Assassin felt something very ominous coming, he knew that there was a large assortment of weapons pointed at these Berserkers. There was no way either of them could survive such an onslaught. They would be dead.
But before the shots could be fired the enemy halted his fire.
“Oh? It appears that someone even more foolish than you dares to interfere with my Master. It seems you may live for a moment longer, enjoy your fall to insanity beast….”
The blades began to disappear just as quickly as they arrived, and the presence of the hidden Servant quickly vanished. Leaving the Berserkers and their insanity.
******************************************************************************************************
From atop the rooftop of her hiding spot Sakura had saw all that had transpired between herself, Rin, and Shinji.
She had wondered why his voice sounded so familiar at first but now she knew. Though she only had vague memories of the boy who was formerly her brother she knew about him all too well.
He had to be the representative of the Matou if he had a Servant, and if so then she needed to keep her distance from him.
But luck was not on her side. After Rin had vanished the remaining Assassin turned to face the swarm of insects.
“It’s you again, I wanted to confirm what I suspected and it seems gramps was correct. IHe mentioned we might meet, so it’s good to see you again… Sakura.”
It was for less than a year that she was his brother, but she still remembered those times. He was a shy boy but he had a lot of heart. And with a tinge of guilt she couldn’t help but feel slightly responsible for the fact that he was now essentially her replacement for the Matou.
“Shinji…”
Though she couldn’t verify where his voice was coming from it had to be nearby. A few moments of silence passed between the two as they remembered what little history the two had between each other.
“Gramps told me a lot about you, you know. He mentioned how you were brought over in order to be protected from the Tohsaka’s cruel intent. And it was my job as the eldest heir in order to protect you. And how could I blame him, as the eldest and the one with the most experience it’s my job to make sure you’re safe. So why don’t you return home? I’d like to talk with you for a while, as the big brother I feel like you should be protected, and I’ll provide that opportunity, why don’t we chat?”
It was something she hadn’t even considered could happen, she knew that Shinji was not a magus, he had no circuits of his own to maintain a Servant, and yet he still had one right before her eyes.
And his words seemed earnest despite his openly hostile attitude earlier. Should she consider it?
1. Go and meet Shinji, maybe he’s earnest...
2. Outright refuse, you’ll never even consider it...
3. Attack him, he’s trying to make you go back, you’ll never go back!
4. Write in...
Master: Sakura Emiya
True Name: Hassan Sabbah
Sex: Male
Height/Weight: 205cm / 60 kg
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Servant Stats:
Strength: B
Endurance: B
Agility: A+
Magical Energy: B
Luck: C
Noble Phantasm: A
Class Skills:
Presence Concealment (A+): It is possible to diseappear completely and become nearly impossible to detect. Due to the nature of Assassin's Noble Phantasm, the first attack cannot be detected.
Skills:
Projectile (Daggers) (A): The expertise for throwing dagers. At this rank, thrown daggers are comparable to a heavy machine gun in speed and power. However, daggers must be manually reclaimed at the end of combat.
Protection From Wind (A): A magical charm that originated in the Middle East. Used to protect against sandstorms and other high ranked winds.
Clairvoyance (C): The ability to see into the future for a fraction of a second. Granted by Assassin's Zabaniya (Divine Form), Assassin is able to predict the future for an instant at a time. Assassin can use this skill in order to fight against foes of far greater capabilities compared to his own.
Battle Continuation (C): The ability to fight at full strength even with fatal injuries. Granted by Assassin's Zabaniya (Demonic Form), Assassin can fight at full strength even when he takes great wounds. Hoever, survival chances are reduced the longer he continues to fight with these wounds.
Noble Phantasm:
Zabaniya (A) (Type-Antipersonnel) (Range:0-1) (Maximum Targets: 1): A magical cloak forged by Assassin's own hands that he uses to deliver judgement. The cloak itself is covered with the down of two separate elemental spirits, a demonic and a divine spirit that Assassin hunted down and skinned during his lifetime. By shouting the name of his Noble Phantasm and covering his foe in the cloak, Assassin can force the opponent to undergo a mental check. Should the check succeed the foe will be left as nothing more than an empty husk that Assassin can control like a puppet.
Zabaniya (Divine Form): The down of a great elemental spirit forged into a cloak by Assassin. While wearing the Divine form, Assassin's body appears clear and transparent, with his mask the only visible part of his body. Addtionally, Assassin is granted the use of the skill Clairvoyance allowing Assassin to predict the trajectory of the battle. This allows Assassin to fight against foes with far greater combat capabilities for a limited time. Should Assassin cover his foe in this side of his cloak, the foe will be forced to undergoe a mental test. The more true and loyal this person has been in life, the harder it will be for them to succeed the mental check. If they fail the test, their body becomes an empty husk and Assassin will be granted the use of their body like a puppet so long as the cloak covers them.
Zabaniya (Demonic Form): The down of a great elemental spirit forged into a cloak by Assassin. While wearing the Demonic form, Assassin's body appears pitch black, allowing him to blend into the shadows, the exception is his white mask. Addtionally, Assassin is granted the use of the skill Battle Continuation allowing Assassin to survive for longer than he normally would in combat. Should Assassin cover his foe in this side of his cloak, the foe will be forced to undergoe a mental test. The more evil and chaotic this person has been in life, the harder it will be for them to succeed the mental check. If they fail the test, their body becomes an empty husk and Assassin will be granted the use of their body like a puppet so long as the cloak covers them.
Master: Illasviel von Einzbern
True Name: ???
Sex: Female
Height/Weight: 154cm / 42kg
Alignment: Lawful Good
Servant Stats:
Strength: A
Endurance: B
Agility: B
Magical Energy: A
Luck: A+
Noble Phantasm: N/A
Class Skills:
Magic Resistance: ???
Riding: ???
Master: Shinji Matou
True Name: Hassan Sabbah?
Sex: Male
Height/Weight: N/A
Alignment: True Neutral
Servant Stats:
Strength: D
Endurance: E
Agility: B
Magical Energy: D
Luck: E
Noble Phantasm: N/A
Class Skills:
Presence Concealment (A+): It is possible to disappear completely and become almost impossible to be detected. However, efficiency will decrease once preparations to attack are taken.
???
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OK, given what we saw with Shirou, I think trusting Shinji is an utterly moronic idea. Since he's also a murderer, not to mention Shinji, I'm going to vote 3.
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Current Results:
1. Go and meet Shinji, maybe he’s earnest
2. Outright refuse, you’ll never even consider, Renko, Shrimperor, solarchon
3. Attack him, he’s trying to make you go back, you’ll never go back!, Mike, Nuclear Consensus
4. Attempt to trick him, Council
5. Propose a meeting in a neutral ground, mAc Chaos, Me, Magus, Li Shuwhere
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OK, I'm going to switch to 2. As much as I think Shinji deserves to die horribly, I think that keeping Sakura the hell away from him is more important.
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“So what do you think sis? Wanna take me up on that offer?”
Remembering that scared lonely boy of her past Sakura couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him, it was almost certain that ‘grandfather’ was manipulating him in some way. Maybe there was a way to free him of that old man’s influence?
At the very least it would help to clear her conscious and free herself from the shackles of that family once and for all…
With this logic in her head she responded in her monotone voice. “You just want to talk?”
“Of course! I’d enjoy the chance of seeing my darling little Sakura again!”
Though she flinched when her name was brought up she doubted it was anything large enough for Shinji to notice wherever he might be.
“If that’s what brother wants… But not here… We’ve already attracted too much attention here… Tonight… If you truly want to meet.. .Then we will meet later tonight… At this address…”
Waving her hand in the air the insects that had returned to her formed an address that pointed towards the rooftop of the hospital that she had been surveying earlier that day.
“That place eh? Well I don’t mind all that much, if that’s what you want to do then I’ll be happy to oblige. Very well then, I’ll see you later tonight! Stay safe if you can, I don’t know what I’d do if you were to get hurt or something.”
Leaving behind an ominous goodbye the boy’s presence as well as the presence of his multiple Servants vanished leaving Sakura alone on the barren rooftop.
After waiting a moment to make sure that he was truly gone she finally allowed herself the chance to relax breathing out a sigh of relief as her shoulders drooped.
“Shinji… I never thought he’s go so far as to involve you…”
To think that ‘grandfather’ would go to such lengths, he must either be very desperate or he must have some sort of disastrous scheme planned for that unfortunate boy. But there would be time to think about that later, for now she needed to address the voice that began to echo inside of her head.
‘Master, Berserker’s master does not have long to live and Berserker himself seems to be guarding his Master’s dying body. I suggest we leave them to their fates, they will not last much longer in their condition, have you been successful in your endeavors?’
‘Assassin. Yes, though both masters on my end have managed to get away one of them has agreed to a meeting later tonight, we will plan out our next course of action then. And as for the boy… Leave him to his fate, if we show him mercy I fear for our success in the long time.’
Quickly sending a similar message to her assistant she also received Assassin’s mental reply.
‘Very well then.’
Which was quickly followed by the appearance of Assassin’s presence as he returned to her side quickly followed by the appearance of her assistant, Maiya as she jumped onto the same rooftop that Sakura was currently standing.
Nodding in confirmation to them both she allowed a dim smile to fall on her face as she spoke up to the both of them.
“Assassin, Maiya, we should get going, we have to prepare for later tonight.”
And with that she silently prayed a small apology to the boy she couldn’t save, she knew that deep down that losses were going to happen eventually, but she still couldn’t help but feel pain at the thought of being responsible for someone’s death even if indirectly.
This would be the one and only time she would allow her thoughts to drift towards the sadness that the death that this Shirou Nosuke might bring to others.
********************************************************************************
Back at their base in the Happy Views Serviced Apartments in Apartment 305, the three of them immediately began to prepare for later that night. Well only two of them needed to prepare, the third, Assassin only had to stand guard around the apartment itself in order to make sure that no one unexpected showed up.
The apartment itself was aging and the building itself often creaked and made sounds that led to its reputation as a haunted estate but the place itself was well built and the beds were comfortable enough, that in itself was something that allowed Sakura to have at least some small peace of mind during these trying times.
Looking over her small firearm she made absolute sure that it was still in working order, she had done these motions so many times by now that they had become almost mechanical but that in itself was nothing special, after all the one who was doing something similar to the much larger rifle right beside her was far better at this than Sakura was.
“Are you alright Sakura?” Momentarily taking a break from her actions, Maiya turned to Sakura and asked of her condition, whether Sakura liked it or not this woman had acted as her mother for nearly fifteen years now. There was no way she wouldn't be able to tell a change in Sakura’s condition no matter how small. Therefore she was easily able to tell that Sakura was just a little more stiff in her actions, the way she easily looked at the parts in her handgun to even the way she walked, they all showed signs of stress.
“Yes… I’ll be fine.” Stopping her own actions she turned to face Maiya direction, doing her utmost to hide her gently trembling fingers her face bore a look of determination. She had to show that she intended to win this Grail War, for better or for worse.
And seeing such determination, there was little Maiya could do but let off a gentle smile, she knew that once this girl had made up her mind there was no one on earth who could change it. But even so she had to try and calm Sakura down even if only a little.
Setting down the rest of the parts that were in her hands Maiya moved forwards and patted Sakura on the head, it was a gentle pat but firm enough to show that Maiya would do everything she could in order to protect her.
“It’s alright, I’m here for you. Everything will be just fine.” With a soft voice she allowed Sakura a momentary break of peace. As long as Maiya was there, there was still hope.
The trembling fingers stopped, and once more Sakura filled with confidence again, yes, as long as they were together there was nothing they could not accomplish. She would face her ‘brother’ and would do everything in her power in order to free him of his own shackles. That was her only wish for the boy.
The two of them continued to prepare until the appointed time came up, as the sun fell and darkness came forth they left their rustic apartment and towards their fated meeting with the representative of the Matou.
************************************************************************************
As Sakura stood on the rooftop she recounted the plan multiple times in her head. It was a simple plan, she would meet with Shinji while Assassin hid himself nearby on the rooftop and Maiya scouted them from a distant rooftop.
This way she could meet with the boy in peace and discuss what he might want to talk about. But she couldn’t help but feel as if something was off with her own Assassin. When she asked about the slight change in his attitude Assassin merely responded that he did not think he would be able to get along with Shinji’s own Assassin. Unwilling to talk about it any further there was little Sakura could do but accept that excuse.
And thus the three of them waited as the appointed time came forwards, and passed them by.
Five minutes came and went, and then ten, and then twenty, something was wrong. Sakura knew this. Why hadn’t Shinji, who had seemed so eager to talk to her earlier, not shown up?
What should she do? Should she continue to wait for him in the hopes that he might appear, or should she go and look for him herself?
And then there was the possibility that Shinji might be planning a trap, maybe it was best to call the whole thing off?
1. Continue to wait for Shinji
2. Go and look for Shinji
3. Call the meeting off and go home
4. Write in...
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What part of "Don't come back" did you not get?
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Cool the eff off puck. It does you no justice to antagonize Mil in his own thread just because he left Cross Effects.
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OK, seriously, are people trying to get Sakura killed? Shinji is untrustworthy enough as it is, don't go chasing after him and put Sakura in a position where he has the advantage if he chooses to attack.
3. Call the meeting off and go home
-
Perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea after all, her doubts about Shinji had compounded and now she was getting cold feet. If she was going to face Shinji she wanted to do when her determination was at its strongest.
If she wavered now she feared what might happen when she actually had to face him. Once more taking out her phone she decided that the best action was to retreat before Shinji decided to show up.
There would be time in the future to decide things with him, for now it was best to leave. Writing a simple note on the ground about her decision to depart, Sakura and her allies leave in the middle of the night.
It wasn’t until she returned to her apartment that she discovered that Shinji had been involved in some type of battle, the limited vision that her familiars had given her revealed the culprit to be some sort of servant and the armor suggested a knight but the vision was too blurry to truly identify anyone.
Was this really the correct choice? Well there was no turning back now. It seemed as if Shinji was still alive so perhaps he managed to defeat the Servant in question under his own strength.
****************************************************************************
Upon their peaceful return to the apartment a new question began to appear.
What should they do next?
With Shinji out of the equation for the time being, they had to think of someone new to go after.
There were a few other options available the Tohsaka and Einzbern were two obvious targets but Sakura wanted to hold off on meeting either team for as long as she could. Until she was truly ready to face them. Shinji was out of the question for the moment, after running away she couldn’t face him again so soon.
Then what about the Archibald? The man known as Kayneth was supposedly entered into this war but Sakura had yet to see him make any moves in the open perhaps she should take the initiative against a supposed high ranking master of the association.
But there was also one other option, she hadn’t considered it at first but looking back all the evidence points towards a Servant’s interference. The new hotel being built. the Hyatt Hotel was heavily involved in the last war.
From what Sakura could gather it was the source of a great battle between Servants and had served as Kayneth’s main fortress until it’s destruction, likely due to said battle. Perhaps it was worth looking into?
And then there was the simple option, she could simply choose to patrol with her Assassin. Though because Assassin was a weaker Servant compared to the rest if she wanted to gain victory it was almost always best that she took the advantage rather than being the one to be attacked.
“What do you think Maiya, and Assassin?” Of course she was not alone in this endeavor, she had allies she could rely on in these situations, so it was best she received their help whenever she could.
Maiya was the first to speak up though she was hesitant at first. “I would be best if we avoided the three families involved in this war, perhaps you should simply stay at home and have your familiars scout for any other battles that might take place. This way we can fully utilize Assassin to his greatest potential.”
Assassin on the other hand had something else in mind. “I disagree, this Matou boy needs to be dealt with first, I’ve seen his Assassin’s first hand, they would be easy prey for my daggers, let’s take out the weakest visible prey first.”
With those thoughts in her head Sakura had to make a decision, there were a great amount of options before her but she could only take one, what would it be?
1. Chase after the Einzbern and Illya
2. Chase after the Tohsaka and Rin
3. Chase after the Matou and Shinji
4. Search for Kayneth’s hideout and research his whereabouts
5. Research the Hyatt hotel and scout the place
6. Patrol the town, look for anyone or anything suspicious
7. Stay at home, focus on defense and allow the familiars to scout
8. Write in...
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Current results:
1. Chase after the Einzbern and Illya
2. Chase after the Tohsaka and Rin
3. Chase after the Matou and Shinji: Me
4. Search for Kayneth’s hideout and research his whereabouts: Renko
5. Research the Hyatt hotel and scout the place: Shrimperor, Li Shuwhere
6. Patrol the town, look for anyone or anything suspicious
7. Stay at home, focus on defense and allow the familiars to scout: Cassius, Magus
Though really it could go any way at this point!
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Hmm, OK, I'm going to go for #1, chase after Ilya. Her relationship with Sakura here is kind-of interesting, and I think things can maybe be talked-out with her. I would also like to go and see Rin, but that doesn't seem like it's going to win.
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There were so many different things Sakura wanted to accomplish, but perhaps it was best she focused on what she considered the easiest to deal with right at this moment. Her own sister.
“Maiya. I appreciate your concern for me but I don’t want to leave Illya alone any longer. I think it would be best if we settled our match as soon as possible, and if there is a possibility then maybe we could even work together again with her and Kiritsugu?”
It was an honest thought that Sakura truly held deep within her heart and there were still things she wanted Illya to answer for. Why did she resort to cheating in their duel? Why was she so determined to take the Saber class above all else?
These were things that Sakura needed to know if she was going to find the strength to move forward in her battle.
With a small sigh Maiya couldn’t help but admire Sakura’s current determination. “Very well then. If that’s what you want, then we shall focus on them first. Do you have any idea where to begin looking for them? After all, Kiritsugu is not the type of person to reveal himself openly.”
That was something Sakura hadn’t thought of before but it was true. She had seen how Kiritsugu preferred to operate during their travels together. Secretly and methodically he hid himself and his family while making sure to prepare multiple outlets of escape in case anything went wrong.
But things were different this time. Unlike before they were no longer on the run, rather they had to stay within the city of Fuyuki or its surrounding forests so long as they stayed involved in the war.
And with Illya involved as the Master and roaming freely there were going to be some openings in their previously invisible hideouts. The question was where to start?
“Assassin.” Muttering his name the white skull mask quickly materialized next to her. “I want to you to begin searching for Illya or Kiritsugu’s whereabouts. You’ve seen his picture, correct? If you find either of them follow them until they reach their hideout and then return to us immediately without engaging them. Can you do this Assassin?”
“Of course, I shall be away then.” Taking his leave that would set one thing into motion, if either of them were spotted out in the open city their base would be quickly discovered. But there was no telling how long it might take before Assassin could locate them. They needed to do something in the meantime while they waited.
“Sakura, there is one person who might be able to help us with our mission. In the previous war a man named Fujimura Raiga had helped Kiritsugu by acquiring various hideouts and materials that he used during the course of the war. Perhaps Kiritsugu has called on his old contact yet again?
It was a reasonable thought, though anyone who was known to deal with a man like Kiritsugu was probably rather shady in some fashion. “Maiya, do you know anything else about this Raiga person? What he was like, or what he dealt with?”
Recalling the old memories Maiya’s expression flashed as she felt different things. “Well… I only met him personally once when he aiding us in smuggling in a few weapons I had requested but his personality, was rather interesting… Perhaps boisterous? Excited despite his age? I do recall that he had a daughter he often doted on, I think? But it’s up to you if you wish to pursue this lead. I believe I still remember the address of his main house. I can take you there tonight if you wish.”
Though it was starting to get late Sakura doubted that anyone who dealt in shady things would be asleep at this time of night. And if this man had a chance at helping her find her sister and Kiritsugu then it was worth a shot. “If you wouldn’t mind Maiya, I think we should go with your idea. If this Raiga person could help us find Kiritsugu any sooner then perhaps talking to him would be worth the risk?”
“Alright if that’s what you want to do then we will go at once.”
Quickly gathering their thing while making sure to leave their weapons behind the two of them set forth accross the bridge and into the residential area of Miyama town.
With about three hours to spare until Tuesday they wanted to get there as soon as possible.
************************************************************************************
It had only been about a day and a half since Bram has sent his Servant alone into the war of Fuyuki, but it felt like his departure had just happened a moment ago. He still recalled the scene as he watched his new friend go off into the warzone as he did his best to keep strong.
He needed to prove his strength to father and prove he was worthy of the crest of the Archibald. But in order to do that he needed to stick to the plan he had devised, even if it hurt a little in the end.
He was currently sitting in a large ornately decorated room deep within one of the spare houses that the Archibald controlled along with his other ‘partner’. This partner of his occasionally grumbled to himself and impatiently tapped his foot as he waited for who would arrive but besides that his emotions were nearly impossible to read. This was because his entire face was covered by the hood of a large clearly uncomfortable robe.
Why he refused to remove the robe or keep quiet Bram was unsure of, but he had to have his reasons right? Though Bram knew he himself was rather strange at times this fellow was even stranger than most people Bram knew. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was originally going to be the seventh master, Bram would have stayed completely clear of this Atram Galiast. Instead here he was, forced to sit in this uncomfortable room side by side with a man who clearly disliked Bram from his very core.
The footsteps of someone running towards the door and shouting “I’m late!” could be heard before the door was flung open making a large dent in the wall behind it. The woman who at first glance could easily be confused for a man due to the tight maroon suit she wore was clearly out of breath but still stood at attention and managed to give off a polite bow as she stated her name. “Bazett Fraga McRemitz, at attention!”
Atram was the first to speak up, with his mouth the only thing visible he uttered words of scorn. “You are late, Bazett. Is this the kind of service we are expected to receive in return for the honor you hope to gain for your pathetic name?”
Bazett was apologetic but she managed to utter a response. “No, my deepest apologies but the address that was sent to me was to a manor on the opposite side of London, I had only managed to find this out after arriving there and by then it was nearly imp…”
“No excuses! Do you think you can truly aid us if you continue this nonsensical rant!? I was already having my doubts about someone like you but this has cemented them even further. ‘Young Master Archibald’ I implore you to strike down your decision to hire this undesirable wench. Surely you can see that any talents she might be able to supply our team with is not worth the efforts it would take to contain her!”
Bazett’s face was already a mess due to all the running, but hearing such a response from one of the men employing her began to throw any hopes of accomplishing the job out the window. Nearly pleading with her eyes she turned to Bram, as if begging him to reconsider.
“That’s enough Atram. I will make the final decision in the employment of this woman, or need I remind you of your current stance compared to mine?”
Though his face was hidden underneath the cloak a gaze of intense hatred still gleamed through, to Bram it felt as if the piercing gaze might burn a hole through the thick cloth of the hood that covered Atram’s face.
Yet Bram remained strong and defiant to such a gaze. He hadn’t been trained by some of the best tutors in the art of diplomacy and control of one’s subjects for nothing. After a tense moment that seemed to last for an eternity Atram turned his head turned his attention towards the pathetic looking Bazett, crossing his arms as if showing some small form of defiance.
Seeing that he was the victor of their mental contest Bram was the next to speak up. “Now then, Bazett Fraga McRemitz. You have come in response to our request for aid. According the reports you are well versed in the art of combat and in particular against those of magical or demonic origin?”
“Yes!” Seeing that Bram was still giving her attention rather than dismissal Bazett couldn’t help but give a overenthusiastic response.
“Very well then, I also take it you will not be afraid to throw your life on the line if it means accomplishing your mission?”
“Yes, of course!”
“Hmm, then considering the circumstance, I will be willing to forgive your tardiness just this once, we will gladly accept your aid in accomplishing this particular mission.”
“Wha!?” The same sound came from the other two people in the room though for different reasons. In the end Bazett’s eyes lighted up with joy and excitement in the possibility of getting such a high quality job while Atram’s was one of disgust and repulsiveness at Bram’s decision.
“We will leave in two days time, before then you be informed of the current plan, but will this be enough time for you to prepare everything you will need?”
“Y-yes! More than enough time!”
“Very well then, we look forward to working with you. Oh and Atram, it might be best to learn to control that temper of yours, it could prove to be rather harmful if such a voice had fallen on the wrong ears...
************************************************************************************
The walk was mostly in silence but Sakura couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of a person Raiga was.
Was he a nice person? Would he be willing to help Sakura and Maiya in finding Kiritsugu? These thoughts and more filled Sakura’s head as they made their way through the various streets as the houses continued to grow larger and larger until they finally came across a single mansion surrounding by trees and various luxurious decorations.
“This should be the place, are you ready Sakura?” Maiya’s voice was one filled with concern, she was sure this would be Sakura’s last chance to turn back. But she knew that just wasn’t an option for Sakura especially with so much on the line.
“Yes, let’s go meet with him right away.”
As they approached the gate that separated the house from the outside world a single large man in a black business suit stood by the entrance. He turned his head as they approached but the rest of his body remained completely rigid. With a cold voice he spoke up as soon as they came into earshot. “What do you want?”
The plan called for Maiya to speak up first. “We wish to speak with Raiga Fujimura in regards to some ‘business’ that we hope to accomplish.”
“The master is busy, leave.”
This was the worst case scenario for Sakura and Maiya, if the guard was at least willing to talk then at least they could force their foot in the door a bit. But he was unwilling to even hear that much.
Should Sakura continue to push harder? If she did this man could very well become violent, and she doubted that he was aware of the magical world. If at all possible she wanted to involve innocents in the fight between magi but was there any choice?
1. Continue to plead with the guard.
2. Find ‘another’ way into the compound.
3. Turn back and rely on Assassin’s aid.
4. Write in...
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Hmm, I'm not sure which of these options is the best. Sakura could obviously kick the guy's ass if she wanted to, and she could also break in without any issue, but I'm not sure if breaking-in is such a great idea given that she's trying to get information from the guy. On the other hand, maybe he wants to hide something from her....
I'm going to say 1. for the moment, but I am interested to hear what people have to say.
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Current Results:
1. Continue to plead with the guard: Mike
2. Find ‘another’ way into the compound: Solarchon, Mac Chaos
3. Turn back and rely on Assassin’s aid.
4. Scout Mansion, report to Assassin: Li Shuwhere, Nuclear Consensus, Magus
I think I might end the results soon unless more people decide to mess with the votes again.
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Can you explain option 4 a bit more?
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It means what it says, Sakura would scout the place out and then contact Assassin before reaching another decision.
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Hmm, OK, I think I'll switch to 4.
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3
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Sorry Sinib but you are a little late, I already have the entire thing written and it's just being sent through a beta right now. Though it doesn't look like voting for three would have done much anyways.
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Attempting to force her way into the Fujimura compound seemed like a bad idea, after all even if she was successful would they really listen to her? And this guard did not look like he was willing to budge either, perhaps it was best if Sakura gathered more information first before making a rash decision that might hurt her chances in the long run.
“Oh, alright. Then we are sorry to bother you.”
Bidding farewell to the guard he only went so far as to grunt at their comment before watching them walk away and turn the corner.
“You seem to have some plan in mind?” Maiya was the first to speak up after they huddled into one of the side streets away from the prying eyes of anyone who might be near.
“Yes, for now I’m going to send out a few familiars to check the place out, maybe we can figure out what Raiga is doing and why he doesn’t want to be disturbed. After that we can talk with Assassin and plan out our next move.”
“Ok, share the connection with me so that I can sense if anything is off.” With Maiya’s agreement Sakura had no trouble bringing a few insects forth. Though it was still winter time seeing a few insects flying about should not bring about anything suspicious and even if it did the bugs could easily be created anew.
It was a bit embarrassing for Sakura but it was also the easiest way for her to share the vision of her familiars. Brushing her hair back she pushed her forehead to Maiya’s and sent a few of the insects forth creating a tiny connection to Maiya’s own magic circuits.
Sakura’s familiars were small which allowed them to hide themselves better, but because of the simplistic nature of most of the insects in order to get a good enough picture and sound quality to be of any practical use.
Thus in order to supplement the lower quality, Sakura used a higher quantity. Using multiple bugs to create a full feeling as if she was standing in the room Sakura could reach a far higher quality compared to a normal familiar while keeping a few redundant insects as well. It was a very resourceful action and a sign of her improved compatibility with these particular familiars as much as she disliked to think as such.
Doing her utmost to stay away from any signs of the human guards, the insects began to search the compound for the old man that they were looking for.
Though it took a few minutes of mindlessly searching eventually they came across a large outbuilding whose insides greatly resembled that of an eastern dojo. Inside the large room stood a lone scary looking man who stood legs outstretched as if he was attempting something like sumo.
“That’s him, I’m sure of it.” Maiya’s voice rang through Sakura’s ears and seeing as they found their target she returned her vision back to normal, keeping her flies on standby to keep an eye on the man.
“So now we know where he is. It might be best if we went directly to him, but I want to see what information Assassin has dug up first.” Removing her forehead from Maiya’s Sakura felt a tinge of dizziness as she regained her real sight. It was something she could never really get used no many how many times it happened, but it was a necessity if she was going to be able to use her magic to its full effectiveness.
‘Assassin, where are you? Have you found anything yet? We are currently at the vicinity of the Fujimura complex.’
A moments silence before Assassin’s plain voice rang through Sakura’s head.
“No, I am currently in the business district of Shinto, my reconnaissance of Shinto will be done within the hour but I have yet to see anything resembling Kiritsugu or Illya or any of their hideouts.’
‘Very well then Assassin, cont-’
Before she could even react something hit Sakura straight in the head before immediately following up with a critical hit to Maiya’s as well. The last thing Sakura could see before her vision disappeared was the faint outline of a yellow and green tiger striped shirt.
****************************************************
“Are you both at the ready then?”
Maiya stood at the ready her arm outstretched and between the two magi. They stood in the center of an opening in a forest in a country on the outskirts of Europe. They had come for one reason and one reason alone. To fight for the chance to win the Holy Grail.
They had both been chosen as Masters at nearly the same time, but with only one catalyst to spare they believed it was not wise to share it. Thus they had decided that the winner of an honorable magus duel would keep the catalyst. The loser would have to find an alternative for their servant.
It was a very powerful catalyst, one that had summoned the great King Arthur in the past war. A servant who very few servants could match but who was an exception as a servant herself.
“Honorable magi, may the duel begin in three.”
Both Illya and Sakura stood at the ready, for Sakura she had decided that in order to win this match as a magus she would do so without modern equipment. She knew this would put her at a disadvantage when compared to Illya who controlled a vast amount of circuits and homunculus body.
But she had an ace up her sleeve. A tactic she had been practicing for just this match that would allow her to surpass Illya for only just a moment, but that moment would be enough to grant her victory.
“Two!”
Their fight would be hidden away from prying eyes by a number of bounded fields set up by Maiya and Kiritsugu, while Maiya was mediating the match, Kiritsugu silently watched as he leaned himself on a nearby tree.
Sakura felt her circuits brimming with magical energy rush to life as a single spell filled her head, it had taken her a great deal of time to learn the theory of her magecraft. But with it Sakura truly believed she could overtake even Illya.
“One!”
Multiple strands of Illya’s hair began to float into the air as her own magic activated, though it was simple in it’s own right the strands of wire that turned into their own familiars.
Sakura had seen these familiars before when Illya was practicing with them, she knew that if Illya decided to get serious her chances would be slim. Yet sakura was ready.
“Begin!”
*******************************************************
“Are you okay?” It hurt, her head felt as if it had just run headlong into a brick wall. Her senses were in such disarray that Sakura was having trouble focusing on anything except the thumping of her head.
The first thing to come back were her ears.
“Hey Ms. I said are you alright? Say something!”
It was a female voice Sakura couldn’t recognize. The voice itself was far too energetic to be Maiya, yet it spoke in an almost friendly tone.
“Still too out of it, whew I was worried, for a minute there I was worried they might have figured out I mistook them for males who were up to no good.”
“Huh? Male?” The next thing to come back to Sakura was her ability to talk.
“Wa! You’re awake! Thank goodness, I was getting worried for a second there, hey you Ms. purple haired crossdresser lady how many fingers am I holding up?”
Though her vision was still blurry it was beginning to return as well. Sakura could see someone holding up their hand but she was unable to figure out a clear picture just yet.
“Hmm this is bad. I might have over-reacted a bit. Maybe I should go find one those guys to help, they might know more about first aid than I would.”
Attracting unwanted attention would be unwise. If Sakura was going to stay discreet they had to stay lowkey. Using whatever power she could gather in her voice she turned down the suggestion as gently as she could muster.
“NO! No that’s alright I’m fine.” The dizziness was finally starting to leave her head and her vision was finally returning in full. Looking around she found that she had been lying against one of the brick walls of a nearby building with the Fujimura complex opposite them. An older woman with an energetic appearance stood in front of them with a look full of concern while Maiya was lying beside her eyes still shut, likely because she had not woken up just yet but her body had already begun to stir. It wouldn’t be long before she did.
“Oh? Are you sure? Sometimes I don’t even know my own strength, I’m sorry about that. Are you really ok? Can you stand?”
Looking at the woman who stood before her, Sakura could see that she generally seemed worried about them, but there would be a time to deal with that later, for now whoever might have attacked them might still be around, she needed to awaken Maiya and get out of there so they could recoup their losses.
“Don’t worry about me Ms. You need to get out of here as soon as you can! Someone just attacked us, they might still be around here.”
The concerned look on the woman changed to one of embarrassment before quickly becoming one full of guilt. “Ah… About that…”
The girl began to explain the situation to Sakura, just as Maiya was waking up as well. Apparently her name was Taiga Fujimura, she had been out late for a drinking party when she saw two suspicious looking figures hiding around the corner of her home.
Instinctively she sprung into action, and using a nearby wooden sword that she just happened to have on her she quickly took the perpetrators out. She was about to call the police so that they could deal with the crooks when she discovered that the two figures were not actually men but females who dressed very masculine.
It was then that Sakura began to wake up quickly followed by Maiya.
“So you meant us no ill will?”
“Of course not! My weapon is a blade that shall only be used for good! I can’t believe I made such a silly error in the first place! But really I’m curious now, what were you two doing around here so late at night? Do you know where this is?”
Ah, that’s when it dawned on Sakura, if this girl was a Fujimura then perhaps she might be able to take them to Raiga. With a nod of approval from Maiya she began to explain a summarized version of her own situation. “We were hoping to speak with Fujimura Raiga but we were turned away. Do you know him?”
The woman known as Taiga perked up upon hearing that name. “Ah, Grandfather? Of course I know him! But why would two young ladies such as yourselves want to speak with him? You’re not in trouble are you?”
Sakura once more took a comforting smile in an attempt to calm Taiga’s worries. “No, that’s not it. We were hoping he might be able to help us locate my father, Kiritsugu we heard he had recently arrived in his town and I wanted to surprise him.”
“F-f-father!? K-k-kiritsugu is your father!? B-b-but I thought only Illya was his daughter! Just what is the man doing over in that dilapidated mansion?”
“Do you know Kiritsugu Ms. Taiga?”
“Ah, yep I know him! And his cute little daughter, but I didn’t expect him to have more children! It sure was a surprise!”
Maiya was the next one to interrupt their conversation. “Ms. Taiga you said it was a dilapidated mansion, does is have a japanese design?”
“It sure does! It’s over that ways a bit, if you keep walking over there you’ll find it in no time at all I’m sure!”
As Taiga turned and pointed towards a distant direction, Sakura sensed something ominous approaching. Before she could even react a white skull mask had appeared directly behind Taiga a dagger outstretched to the back of her neck.
Sakura’s eyes lit up in fear. “No!” Letting out a yelp, Taiga turned once more to face her, seeing that Sakura’s attention had been brought to something behind Taiga, she also turned to look out of curiosity only to find nothing but the empty street before them.
“Is something matter Ms.?” Confused by the sudden reaction it almost looked as if a set of giant questions marks could be seen above Taiga’s head.
“No, nothing’s wrong, I was just a bit startled that Kiritsugu’s residence was so close by. Oh and how rude of me, I never introduce myself. I’m Sakura, Sakura Emiya, and this is my mother Maiya.”
With a simple wave Maiya confirmed Sakura’s friendly intentions and once more Taiga’s attention was drawn towards them. “Very nice to meet you Ms. Sakura and Ms. Maiya. I’m glad we could meet, though I wish it had been under better circumstances…”
“It has been great talking with you Taiga but now that we know where to go we should leave immediately before it gets any later in the night. It was also a pleasure meeting you.”
With a friendly farewell Taiga bid them goodbye before picking up the wooden sword that she had set down and heading once more for the entrance to the Fujimura complex. leaving Sakura, Maiya, and the newly returned Assassin to talk amongst themselves.
As soon as the three of them could confirm that Sakura was now out of earshot Maiya was the first to speak up. “I’m sorry Sakura, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before but when he had participated in the last war Kiritsugu mentioned acquiring a Japanese mansion we could use as a second base. Before we could go there however, we were intercepted by another team.”
“It’s ok Maiya, that was a long time ago, it’s alright if you had forgotten. But now we know where we should go next.” She then turned to face the newcomer Assassin. “Assassin did you find anything else in regards to either Illya or Kiritsugu?”
“I’m afraid not Master, before I could search any further I sensed danger after our previous conversation had been cut off and immediately I returned here. I am glad to see that you have not had any danger befallen you.”
“It’s alright Assassin, I don’t think any of us expected someone who could sneak up on us like that and attack before we could respond. Whoever that lady was she sure was strong, she might even have more combat potential than any of us except for maybe Assassin. And that reminds me. Assassin I want you to go check out the mansion that Taiga showed us, see if you can find out of Kiritsugu or Illya are anywhere inside. But be extra careful, Saber is bound to be nearby and her detection skill is top notch.”
“Very well then Master. I will become as dark as night.” Confirming his Master’s intentions the skull mask that had temporarily appeared dissipated once more and began to head towards the intended location.
Sakura and Maiya would be close behind but on foot so as not to attract any more unwanted attention.
********************************************************
As soon as the two of them arrived at the entrance of the mansion Assassin appeared once more his white mask blended into the darkness.
“I have searched the compound and have found multiple signs of people living here, judging from the clothing materials it seems likely that it was in fact Kiritsugu and Illya. But something was off, I also found multiple maps of a nearby forest layed out on a table in one of the rooms, as well as other things hastily left behind.
It was as if the two of them were in a hurry to leave for somewhere.
“Lead us to these papers Assassin, I might be able to verify their intentions.” If anyone could do it, Maiya believed herself to be the best suited to the job.
Quietly walking into the house Sakura sensed a few minor bounded fields but none advanced enough to be of any real worry. It seemed that whatever had been created were merely there to alert any residents to danger, a warning chime almost.
Though the lights were off in the middle of the night the group eventually made their way towards one of the stray dusty rooms that Assassin had found. Upon entering Maiya quickly began to look at the maps, but the more she looked the more grim her face became.
“These maps, are old diagrams of the Einzbern forest, maps that Kiritsugu had shown me during the last war, with a few updated ones added in. It appears that for some reason they might have intended to breach the old Einzbern castle. But I’m confused. What could they possibly want with that place? Hadn’t it already been confirmed that the Einzbern had already lost their slot and rights as a Master to another person?”
Something seemed off about this, but Sakura couldn’t help but be worried about it. If Kiritsugu and Illya had gone to that castle then they had to have a reason for it. But what it was none of them had a clue as to why.
But that meant another matter was at hand. Now that their group knew where Kiritsugu and Illya were, they could choose to meet up with them and catch up before they reach the castle, it was a very long trip to those outskirts after all. And if they left straight away without returning to their base to grab their weapons they could make it all the sooner.
Or they could choose to stay here at the mansion and await their return. This was their home base after all, Those two had to return eventually, right?
And then a fourth option remained, Now that they knew where Kiritsugu and Illya were they didn’t have to search any further, they could simply return to their own apartment and keep this place under the watch of multiple familiars. The choice was up to them.
1. Immediately rush to the Einzbern Castle
2. Prepare their equipment first and then go to the Einzbern Castle
3. Hold out in this dilapidated Japanese Mansion until they return
4. Return to base and keep the place under watch with familiars.
5. Write in...
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Looks like it's two votes for 2 and two votes for 4 which means things are going fairly evenly right now.
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OK, then I'm going to go with 4, I think. I'm not convinced rushing to the Einzbern castle is a great plan.
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That means things are a tie between 2 and 4!
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They had already left towards the Einzbern Castle, of that there was no doubt. But why would they attempt to invade such a place? If Illya had stolen the right to the Einzbern Servant then why would she attempt to raid a base that was certain to be devoid of any Servant or Master?
“Maiya, do you have any idea as to why they might go to such a place? I don’t get it… There really shouldn’t be a reason to. Why they would risk their lives in an attempt to go to the home of their mortal enemy…”
Maiya thought to herself for a moment, thinking about the relationship between Illya and the Einzbern there was one thing that might be the case. “I’m afraid I can’t say for sure, but there is one thing I remember. In the previous war, the homunculus representative and Illya’s mother was supposed to play an important role in the end. But before she could do that…”
“Ah…” There wasn’t any need to explain any further, though the memories were faint, even Sakura could still see the kind woman’s smile as she was put through the same kind of torture Sakura had once experienced even if only for a short time.
“But that is in the past now, there is no need to think about such dark things. We should decide what to do from here on out.
Maiya’s voice was enough to bring Sakura back to the world of the living, throwing those dark thoughts away her mind began to spin yet again. “Ah yes, I think we should go and help them, our quarrel can wait.” This was Sakura something truly believed, she never truly wished to kill or gravely injure Illya. Though they might dislike each other currently, Sakura only wanted to prove herself and win the fight she thought she deserved to win.
Quickly activating her magic circuit Sakura began to check on the situation back in her home base, though she had a small swarm of familiars keeping eyes on the place she never heard or saw any alarms. The vision from them also confirmed that as far as she could see no one had attempted to break in. With some degree of confidence Sakura believed that their base should still be safe.
“Maiya, Assassin, I think it would be in our best interest if we followed in Illya and Kiritsugu’s footsteps towards the Einzbern Castle. I can leave a small swarm of familiars here in case they return while we are away and at maximum I can easily observe five locations total using this technique. I have also checked our base of operations and it still appears to be self. Let’s go back and quickly prepare ourselves before we rush into battle against whatever might await us at the Einzbern forest. If we can prove to be useful to Illya it might put her in debt but more importantly than that… I just don’t want to see her hurt…” That last sentence had been the hardest to say but it needed to be said.
Giving off a warm smile Maiya comforted Sakura with a response. “That is a sound plan Sakura, if we hurry we can return to base and equip ourselves in just under an hour, there is still time before dawn, let’s get moving.”
Before they could leave, Assassin couldn’t help but speak up. Though it was true that he often stayed silent in their affairs something seemed to be bothering him just a little. “Master, as long as you stay true your feelings I will follow you, but make no mistake, if you doubt your path then I will do every I can in order to see that the correction is made.”
Though his words were blunt and rather harsh Sakura still believed that in his own odd way Assassin was simply trying to help her as much as he could. Smiling at the invisible mask she unleashed the small swarm of familiars before heading off with the other two directly behind her.
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Running at full speed across the bridge and back towards their apartment they managed to cover the area in the span of about forty minutes. The remaining twenty was spent securing their gear.
Once they equipped themselves and prepared for what very well might end in a conflict of some sort they stepped into the darkness outside. Sakura couldn’t help but be bothered by just how bright the stars seemed on this clear night. It was as if they were staring into her heart, judging her from positions high in the heavens.
Perhaps it was the fatigue or maybe something else, but there was not time to think about that.
Before they could make a movement outside of their apartment building however, something appeared far off in the distance a flash of light that shone far above the towering buildings and reached into the heavens themselves.
It stretched out in a straight line but it was so bright even Sakura had to shield her eyes from the instantaneous light that had appeared out of seemingly nowhere.
“I know this light, ten years ago I saw it with my own eyes, twice in fact. That was an enormous blast of magical energy from a Servant. That had to be Saber’s Noble Phantasm.”
Judging from its distance and area in the sky it appeared to be coming from the direction the Einzbern forest, If that was true then Sakura and her group was already out of time. “Maiya if that’s true then we need to hurry, let’s use the car this time, it’s the fastest method of transportation we have. Assassin you can follow next to us in case anybody tries to interfere. There’s no time to waste, they might be in danger!
**********************************************************************
The plan was simple, so very simple, yet it had gone horribly wrong. Illya and Kiritsugu along with their Servant Saber had been spending time in their home when a messenger arrived.
Bearing the same white hair and red eyes that Illya herself had they knew it had to of been coming from the one and only family who employed such homunculus. The Einzbern.
The messenger herself had a simple demand for Illya, return to the Castle deep in the forest, and accept her fate as the new bearer of the third or risk the destruction of the city from an army of homunculi.
Of course there was no way they could accept such a ridiculous invitation. They all knew it would have been suicide, yet still they chose to march towards the Castle regardless. And it was not to accept fate and give in to the Einzbern’s demands, rather it was to put an end to the Einzbern army before they could get a chance to form at all. While simultaneously recovering the artifact that the Einzbern had to be holding onto. It was necessary for completing their desire of the reclamation of the third after all. The dress of heaven.
Plans were quickly drawn and maps brought forth, though they were previous blueprints and diagrams from the last Grail War Kiritsugu still believed they might be useful in creating a proper invasion route.
In addition to this, all three of them, Kiritsugu, Illyasviel, and even Saber had extensive knowledge of the forest itself having been there before or in Illya’s case having distant memories of the place.
It was such that they quickly gathered their things and left just as night had fallen. One silent drive away and they found themselves on the edge of the forest.
It would not take long for whoever was currently commanding the homunculi at the Castle to figure out their arrival once they stepped foot inside that darkened forest.
Because of this they decided that their best and only option was to simply charge with all their might. If stealth was not an option then they would barrel their way through, even Saber agreed to this. She was not skilled in stealth or espionage for that matter nor would she do so even if asked.
And so they ran, not long afterwards they felt the small electric shock of entry into the forest did they come across what was best described as an entire battalion of homunculi troops, as if they had been awaiting Illya and co.’s return all along.
As numerous as they were however, their quality was low. Saber was easily able to hold her own against the swarm of mindless charging homunculi and slowly but surely the three of them made their way towards the Castle.
Very fitting of its name the Caster had been turned into a literal stronghold, the attacks from the homunculi against their small team had been constant and numerous but each and every time Saber managed to hold her own against them with her single blade alone much to Illya’s amazement. Truly this was the knight of legend, the one and only king of knights.
Eventually they finally found their way inside the entrance of the Castle, it was here that Kiritsugu’s role would be key. The Einzbern had learned a great deal from his modifications of their base during the last war.
Using Kiritsugu’s barbaric tactics in order to fight fire with fire, a large amount of deadly traps had been placed in each and every corner of every hallway of the enormous Castle. Progress had slowed considerably and to make matters worse Saber had to continually fight off a constant stream of attackers while Kiritsugu and Illya made their way carefully through the literal minefield.
But eventually, after what seemed like an eternity they finally made their way towards the open courtyard where their goal awaited them. In the center of the elaborate garden a single homunculus lay there though she resembled every single enemy they had been fighting the past who knows how many hours Illya could tell, deep down that this had to be the one. The so called dress of heaven.
Quickly they approached her, after fighting off an army and those modern day traps they had little reason to suspect the Einzbern had any more traps up their sleeve, but they were wrong. Saber was the first to detect it, but by then it was already too late, perhaps her tardiness in detecting it was due to the large amount of stain she had to undergo in order to keep fighting or maybe the Einzbern had been able to hide it successfully from Saber’s great instinct but regardless, the trap had been sprung.
A thick, multilayered wall of silver wires encircled the entire courtyard trapping all three of them inside along with their target. It was an extremely dense bounded field, one that cost a great deal of magical energy to maintain but also one that prevented spiritual bodies or bodies with activate circuits from escaping.
A barrier that resembled that of the Ryuudou temple’s spiritual barrier except to a greater degree, there was no way Saber with her Servant body, or the magi with their constantly active circuits were going to be leaving that place unharmed.
Thus with their trap sprung the Einzbern enacted the second phase of their plan, using the unique quality of the barrier that allowed none to leave but anyone to enter they began to send in wave after unending wave of homunculi, their plan was tire and weaken the three of them until they could no longer stand. Doing so, even Saber with her inborn prana reactor and Illya’s nearly limitless magical energy would eventually fall to the horse.
Quickly becoming prey, the three quickly concocted a single plan, it was a very basic plan but it was the best option they had. They would unless Saber’s Noble Phantasm at full strength, and breach the barrier.
If anyone had the strength to accomplish such a thing it had to be Saber. Grabbing the unconscious girl who was to be the dress, Saber called out the true name of her sword and aimed it directly skyward as if challenging the heavens themselves.
In a bright flash of light and an intense burst of magical energy the barrier began to crack and eventually fell to the Holy Sword Excalibur. But it was not without great cost. Using so much of her magical energy left Saber greatly weakened.
Thus using the chance Saber had given them they began to run, with Kiritsugu holding onto the girl with his lone arm, Illya had little choice but take to the vanguard and continually fight off the remainder of the Homunculus army that continued to seem limitless.
With little choice for elegance they rammed their way through one of the elaborately decorated windows and onto the soft grass below before running straight out of the Castle and into the forest.
Yes it was such a simple plan, but then why, why did Kiritsugu turn back when they had finally reached the edge of the forest and could see safety. Why after setting down the dress, and ensuring Illya and Saber were safe did he turn back and run straight back into that hellish place?
*****************************************************************************
By the time Sakura, Maiya, and Assassin had arrived darkness was still surrounding the area. As they went to park the car Maiya had provided for them they found that another car had already arrived and been deserted as well.
“That vehicle, it definitely seems like something Kiritsugu could provide.”
There was little doubt then that the other group was here. And then she sensed it, along with Assassin.
Another Servant and Master was nearby and approaching fast.
Quickly taking her weapon out Sakura hid behind the car and awaited who might appear only to find the one she had come this far just to find.
“Illya!? And Saber!?” Besides the two of them they also carried with them a girl who greatly resembled what an older Illy a might look like.
Before Sakura or Maiya could react however, Saber spoke up. “Halt! Master of Assassin, I know not where your Servant is but we demand that you leave at once, we wish not to deal with you at this current time. We have more pressing matters to attend to.” Noticing the oncoming people Assassin saw fit to hide himself amongst the nearby trees and await what might happen.
But despite Saber’s warning Illya was the one to speak up next in an attempt to pacify her currently fatigued Servant. “It’s alright Saber, I’ve told you about them before right? It doesn’t look like they want to fight currently. And besides they might be able to help us with Kiritsugu.
“Kiritsugu!? I noticed he wasn’t here, what happened to him Illya? Is he in danger?” It was very apparent that Maiya held a deep concern for Kiritsugu, it didn’t matter if he was their opponent or not, she only wished to help him if whenever possible.
“That I do not know, we had just escaped the Einzbern forest when he suddenly turned and ran back in without a single word. I feel as if he might be attempting to deal with the source of the Einzbern strength deep within the castle, but I am unsure as to how he hopes to accomplish that. But regardless it is clear that he needs our help. We were only going to drop off this girl first before heading back in ourselves but now that you have arrived I feel that it would be best if a truce could be in order. So what do you think Sakura? Do you want to sign a truce and chase after Kiritsugu right this instant? Or are you going to attempt your futile mission in trying to beat me and my Servant? Though Saber might be fatigued from the night’s combat she should still be more than a match for your puny Assassin. But do you want to take that chance, Sakura”
Helping out Illya seemed like a wise idea, but Sakura couldn’t help but feel that something was off with this whole thing. Kiritsugu was a smart man, he wouldn’t run back into enemy territory and on his own no less unless he had a good reason and was well equipped to handle the job ahead of him. Might it be better to leave it to him? Attempting to charge in there recklessly might end up causing their group to only get in his way.
1. Agree to the truce and help Illya charge the Einzbern Castle to rescue Kiritsugu
2. Agree to the truce but go in yourselves, leave Illya and Saber to rest their tired bodies
3. Agree to the truce but stay behind and allow Illya and Saber to go off alone
4. Attempt to convince Illya and Saber that Kiritsugu knows what he is doing and wait for him
5. Turn down the offer and challenge them to the duel, believe in Kiritsugu
6. Write in....
-
The fatigue from their previous conflicts was sketched all over Illya’s body, Saber on the other hand appeared to be nearly at full strength though the aura she excluded was far weaker than when she had fought with Assassin.
“Illya you’re tired. If Kiritsugu has charged the castle yet again, then leave this to us. We are still in prime form, please stay back and rest while we go and help him. Charging in while you are tired will only put you in more trouble.”
These were Sakura’s sincere words, she would never put her sister in danger and being so fatigued was a recipe for disaster.
Though Illya held a kind a smile her words were the opposite to what Sakura wanted to hear. “Thank you for your concern Sakura, but I can’t leave Kiritsugu off on his own, if he’s in trouble I have to go and save him. The only reason I came back this far to ensure that the gown was secured. But we can’t afford to wait any longer.”
Turning away from Sakura and towards her Servant, Illya spoke her command. “Saber, I want you to go back into the forest immediately so that you can catch up to Kiritsugu. With your speed that should be an easy enough task, even though your magical isn’t as much as it once was.”
Saber, who had been carrying the homunculus after Kiritsugu handed it over, gently set her down and turned to face Illya. With her calm demeanor and knightly stature she voiced her own opinion on the matter. “I refuse, my contract as a Servant is with my Master, Illyasviel and not with Kiritsugu. Though he might have been my Master once before those bonds are gone. I will not take place in such a mission of my own will. If you wish for me to do so, then you will require a command seal. But consider this Master. As Sakura stated you are clearly more tired than anyone else here, let us focus on guarding what we came here for, that seems like the most ideal option for us right now.”
A sad look came over Illya’s face. The rift between former Master and Servant must have grown very deep when they had once worked together. But she was not about to allow that rift to get in the way of saving her one and only father. No matter how much Saber might hate her for it she wouldn’t let him disappear again, not after all the things he had to go through to reunite with her.
(http://i.imgur.com/2yxhQII.png)
Holding her hand out and showing the command seal on her hand Illya began to speak in a determined voice. “Very well then, Saber, by this Command Seal, I or-”
“Wait! Illyasviel please stop and think for a moment!” Maiya’s shout rang through the edge of the forest. It was enough to not only halt Illya’s command but also half the forest creatures wandering the trees above them.
“I know you’re concerned for Kiritsugu’s safety just as much as I am if not even more so. But please stop and consider those around you. We’ve been together for so long now, were those bonds really so weak despite our recent rift so as to cause this mistrust? I know you want to go and save him as soon as humanly possible and believe me. If it were not for everyone here I would have long gone in there myself. But if we wish to successfully accomplish this goal, we need to work together to do so. Therefore I would like to suggest a temporary truce.”
Using Illya’s continued silence as a sign that she was at least willing to listen, Maiya quickly glanced towards Sakura and then back towards Illya and Saber, Maiya managed to convey her intentions to Sakura.
Seeing as Sakura was the leader of their team she decided to speak up next. “Illya, Kiritsugu has raised me like his own daughter despite not being related by blood like you. He saved me from my former life all on his own rather than leaving me to die. So please, believe me when I say that I don’t want to lose him anymore than you or Maiya. Allow me to send Assassin in ahead, though he cannot sense Kiritsugu’s immediate location, Assassin is an expert at tracking and espionage. He can easily sneak by any stray homunculi far easier than Saber, and can even aid Kiritsugu to ensure his safety at least long enough for us to catch up.
The deep voice of Assassin who still hid amongst one of the nearby trees was the next to speak up. “And why should I help this man?”
Sakura replied, her voice strengthening with every word she spoke. “Kiritsugu is not just my father, but also the source of my inspiration for summoning you Assassin. I wanted someone who would be much more likely to adapt to the modern age, and you seemed like a prime candidate, and I am glad to say that so far you have not disappointed. But not only that, I’m sure Kiritsugu has a plan for ridding this forest of the Einzbern menace that currently occupy it. If we leave them be now they will simply regain their previous numbers and will continue to interfere with the war until we stop them once and for all. Attacking them while their numbers are thin from the constant fighting is our best option.”
A moment of silence had passed as Assassin thought through his options before his voice finally rang out. “Hmph, then as you command I shall follow. To leave these puppets wandering the vicinity of the war would be a crime most untrue. If you command it I will aid this Kiritsugu with all my strength.”
Though still a bit nervous to this plan Illya spoke up. “Ah, if you are going to help Kiritsugu then I saw him run off in that direction.” Pointing towards the deep and darkened forest Illya showed the invisible Servant the way.
Seeing the direction that Illya pointed in Assassin began to prepare, he only needed to hear the final confirmation. “Your order Master?”
“Aid Kiritsugu with all of your strength, see that he is kept safe and sound until either his goal is accomplished and he returns or we catch up ourselves.”
“As you command,” His presence finally began to disappear, the masked Servant would see that his mission was a success, such was his very creed.
Sakura, Maiya, Illya, Saber, and the homunculus were the remaining people. With time already short Illya wasted no effort in her own movements. “Saber please place the woman in our vehicle I will cast a few bounded fields that will hide her presence until we return, after that we will leave immediately to pursue Kiritsugu and Assassin.
Saber began to do as she was instructed. Seeing that her Master was still unwilling to change her mind she knew that even if she did obey it would only put Illyasviel in more danger. And though Saber was unwilling to charge towards Kiritsugu’s rescue on her own, if Illya were to come with her she would reluctantly agree to help.
Watching Illya quickly construct her bounded field, Sakura still couldn’t help but speak up. “I know that once you have made up your mind you have no intention of turning back Illya. But is there anything I can do to convince you to at least rest for a short period of time so that you might catch your breath and regain some lost magical energy?”
While still focusing on her work Illya refused to turn and face her sister. Rather she spoke up as her hands moved rhythmically to create the magic sigil. “I’m sorry Sakura, but you are right. Once I’ve made up my mind. I follow through to it till the end.”
With a final touch the barrier was formed and Illya immediately began to run towards the forest that she had just recently been so desperate to escape. “Come, Sakura and Maiya. I’ve already been to the castle once and Saber is quite familiar with the land surrounding it. If we hurry then we can make good time. The sun should be rising any minute now, it’ll be much harder to hide ourselves once darkness fades.”
And thus the group was off to save the man that almost all of them loved so much.
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It had been over fifteen years since he had last set foot in this forest. The memories of his failure to save his beloved still rang heavily in his mind even after all this time. As he ran through the all too familiar forest his innate bounded field sprung to life.
Through a combination of time manipulation and familiarity with his surroundings he had so far managed to give most of the homunculi the slip. For the ones unfortunate enough to be caught within his range had their brains splattered onto the forest floor thanks to a few well aimed shots from his machine gun.
Though they had increased parameters compared to that of a normal human, their quality as fighters was vastly outmatched by Kiritsugu’s own skill as a killer.
They moved like mindless machines unable to think on their own. As if puppets following a puppetmaster they mindlessly charged their prey unafraid of their own demise. They were nothing more than machines, so in a way, Kiritsugu almost felt an affinity towards them.
However that affinity only made him curse them all the more strongly. He would put them and the rest of this miserable forest out of its misery, and he had just such a tool for the job.
Eventually his efforts had proven their worth. Though fatigued from the constant running and combat he managed to make his way relatively unnoticed towards a faintly marked building deep in the Einzbern forest.
By this point he was nearly out of ammunition and his lone arm was greatly fatigued due to the constant exertion, but he had made it to his first goal. Quickly rushing inside the aged wooden door of the crumbling shack, Kiritsugu ran inside and went to work.
There was a secret stash of munitions and a few explosive materials that he had hid here long ago in case an emergency called for them but he never had time to return and grab them. And lucky for him that would pay off for him here and now.
But it wasn’t the explosives he was after. Rather it was a single bullet stashed safely inside a well crafted case underneath the ground. Though he had more of these munitions he hadn’t yet had time for them to arrive in Japan. The war had moved too quickly, and these special rounds needed extra preparations in order to be properly prepared for a battle.
Opening the case, Kiritsugu breathed a small sigh of relief as he confirmed that his stash had not yet been compromised. The single bullet, the origin round lay safely stashed away in perfect condition just like the day he hid it there.
“Is this why you staked your life to return? For that weapon?”
His body began to react before his mind. Dropping his bullet he began to reach for his weapon only to realize that it was already too late. Cursing the fact that he was greatly limited in his carefulness due to his single arm he came face to face with the always floating mask of the Assassin.
“Sakura’s Servant!? What are you doing here?” Kiritsugu was surprised at this new development. He hadn’t seen Sakura or rather, he didn’t even know she was in the forest at all. So why was her Servant here?
Unmoving as always, the mask spoke so as to clear things up. “Kiritsugu Emiya, relax. I am under orders from Sakura Emiya your daughter, to server as your protector until your mission is accomplished. Though my mask often says otherwise, I will act as your shield until the moment I am told otherwise.”
Though it was difficult to believe someone as shady as Assassin, Kiritsugu had little choice but to do as such. This was Assassin after all. If he had truly wanted to kill him he would not have bothered with revealing himself and explaining his situation. And besides, though there were few people Kiritsugu trusted, above all else, if his family said so he would believe their every word.
It was one of his newfound weaknesses, a crack in his armor, but it was also a source of his greatest motivation and strength. “Our goal is the heart of the Einzbern castle in its basement. Though I am familiar with the old layout the Einzbern might have changed things around while I’ve been gone. I will need to get there if we are to stop the homunculi. I am familiar with how the Einzbern homunculi operate after working with them for a short time. They are creating a great deal of them very quickly by sucking the lifeforce out of this forest. Though they can create a lot of these puppets very quickly they are nothing more than that. They require a controller, a puppet master, in order to continue functioning. My goal is to take out that puppet master and then critically injure their manufacturing capabilities to stop the production of any more homunculi for the duration of this war. Do you understand?”
Kiritsugu himself was unsure if the mask could actually understand what he was saying. It never moved and only spoke when necessary. And deep down he still couldn’t help but feel a bit bitter that the source of his missing arm was also due to these so called old men of the mountain.
Yet it seemed as if this time the Assassin he spoke too was perfectly willing to go along with his scheme. “Very well then, as you know the way more than I do, I shall have you lead the way. But before that, we have some unwelcome guests surrounding this abode. In a most unjust way they intend to wait for you to leave and will then trap and murder you. I am unsure if they have to notice me. Shall I deal with them?”
This sudden emergence of homunculi explained their relative quietness as of late. But it also showed that indeed their numbers were finally beginning to run thin. “No, Assassin, I will engage them as well, guard the premises for the moment while I prepare. When I give the signal I will throw one of these and we will charge out of the door with the intention of finishing them all off as quickly as possible. Make sure not a single one escapes as they will likely continue to hunt either us or your Master down.” Though he had not yet asked, if Assassin was here then Sakura and Maiya were surely nearby.
“Very well then.” The mask vanished and Kiritsugu could no longer sense his presence but he was sure that it was around following his command. Pushing those thoughts aside he quickly began refilling his lost ammunition while preparing their escape.
In just a few minutes he stood nearby the door flashbang in hand. Whispering in the darkened room he muttered his words. “three… two… one…”
The instant he reached zero he quickly pulled the pin of his projectile threw it out in front of him, reached for his automatic rifle and charged out the door.
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Their travel through the dark forest was slow but steady. Though Illya had previously expressed fatigue after she had had a chance to rest her speed and energy seemingly returned to normal.
Secretly however, Sakura doubted that Illya was actually ok, the fatigue had to be catching up with her. But she was unwilling to go against the determination of her sister. Any more delays and Kiritsugu might end up in a worse situation, or Illya might run off on her own with a weakened Saber. Neither of these options were appealing to her or Maiya.
And so they chose to travel together slowing them down in the process. Using her connection to Assassin, Sakura was able to track their general location. It was clear that he and Kiritsugu were headed for the Castle.
But that was not an issue, what mattered now was dealing with the enemies in front of them. As they travelled through the woods the homunculi who opposed them came at them in waves.
From what Sakura could tell, the homunculi themselves were grouped into two classes. The warriors who branded well crafted lances and halberds of reinforced steel. They charged directly and mindless at their prey and though their speed and strength was great they were no match for Saber’s blade or from a few well timed shots from a gun. It was Illya who revealed that though they were numerous in number, the production speed meant that their lives were extremely short and their mental capacities greatly hindered.
They would have trouble evading bullets as such a technique was unfamiliar to them and the Einzbern in general. That’s where the other class came into play.
With silvery steel wires the magi of the Einzbern homunculi wielded were quick and difficult to detect. It was mostly due to Illya’s ability to sense them before even Saber and Saber’s ability to react to danger, that they could be cut down or destroyed before they came close to their prey.
The distance that these magic wielding warriors held made them difficult to take down with ordinary pistol shots. They required Saber’s Magic Resistance in order to quickly fend off.
Thanks to the combined efforts of everyone using their unique talents to sense, detect, defend, and then annihilate their attackers the group was safely moving throughout the forest.
But still, Sakura couldn't help but feel that this all felt wrong. Everytime she was forced to stare down the face of one of the silvery haired, red eyed homunculi she couldn’t help but be reminded of her own sister.
It was beginning to take a mental toll on her. But she had to stay strong, for Kiritsugu and the rest of her family. She would do her best to suck it up and keep moving. The darkness of night was finally fading as the trees were illuminated by the faint morning sun. They would be at the castle soon.
Just a little longer.
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Dawn was beginning to arrive and on the outskirts of the forest a single women dressed in a simple yet elegant dress of purple was walking along the quiet nightside road.
She had sensed the great magical energy from some mighty attack, and whether or her own will or through the will of someone else had decided to make her way towards the forest.
Beside her the invisible knight that acted as her protector followed along in silence. Always curious about the women’s thoughts he simply followed her whims curious as to what the women who had no mind of her own might react to new impulses.
It was therefore that the woman was the one to first spot the freshly made tracks of multiple vehicles leading into a small group of trees. Curiously tilting her head at something new she wandered over to discover that there were two vehicles one black and one grey that were covered in an energy very similar to her own.
“Rider… Sense familiar… Energy…”
Walking over to the cars she stopped when a thin invisible wall appeared in front of her. It was a magical bounded field, one that was designed to prevent the discovery of the vehicles and a field that would prevent any normal humans as well as ordinary magi from immediately noticing the vehicle’s presence.
But this woman was no ordinary magus. With a single outstretched hand and a pulse of magical energy the entire barrier was destroyed. Shattering uselessly to the ground as if it was made of paper the girl continued to walk forwards ignoring the faint chuckles of her nearby Servant.
The woman could sense the presence of someone nearby, curiously she walked up to the nearby black car and peered into the tinted window where she saw another woman, passed out and lying down on the leather car seats.
The woman inside the car was wearing a greatly concealed maid dress of European origin, but her face and hair were completely revealed as she peacefully slept.
“Well I’ll be damned, you know, that woman looks a lot like you Master. If her hair and eye color had a more purple hue why I might even go so far as to say that you two could be close sisters!”
“Sisters? Family?” Her curiosity further raised, the Master of Rider put her hand to the car window and tapped as if to wake up the sleeping girl.
Behind her, Rider appeared, a giant of a man he also held his own hand out. But instead of tapping the window like his Master he gently placed his thumb to her shoulder before letting out an impressed sigh.
“Huh, not only are you two similar in looks, but composition as well, that girl there is nearly identical in every way! Why I’d say you two were actually sisters! Hmm, why not take her with us to the old man? He might be able to explain this to us.”
“Sister?” Without a change in rhythm or emotion the Master of Rider continued to gently knock on the window. If it wasn’t for Rider she probably would have continued to do that for the rest of her days.
With a loud crash the window was easily destroyed by Rider’s fist. The barbaric man then proceeded to touch his outstretched thumb to the car itself before nodding approvingly.
“This vehicle seems to be well within my capabilities. Come Master, hop in. We’ll go to the old man’s place and see if he can shed some light on the subject!”
Unlocking the door with ease, the giant known as Rider adjusted and then jumped into the driver’s seat. Finding it still a bit cramped he decided to bear with it if only give his Master a more comfortable ride.
The woman on the other hand slowly walked towards the passenger side seat where she also sat down before immediately turning to face the sleeping woman before gently tapping her on the head and uttering a few words of curiosity. “Sister? My sister?”
Though the car had no keys, Rider was not concerned with such a thing. Ripping open the underside of the steering wheel he easily ripped and combined a few wires together. In under a minute the car sprung to life.
“Come Master! Let us go and discover these hidden secrets!”
Thus the pair quickly drove off with their new ‘friend’ before anyone could notice they had even been there.
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Kiritsugu was familiar with how much stronger Servant’s were compared to Servants. He had seen them fight and even fought an Assassin before though he only managed to barely escape death thanks to the arrival of distraction.
But he even he was still impressed by the efficiency as to which the masked Servant took out his targets. By the time Kiritsugu had taken out five of the homunculi the Assassin had taken out fourteen and had approached the fifteenth, a spear wielding homunculi.
Uttering a few words that he could not make out Kiritsugu watched as the Assassin covered the final homunculi in an invisible cloth revealing his black and spider like body in the process.
Immediately afterwards the homunculi ceased its attack and it’s body jolted before seemingly returning to normal and bowing to Assassin.
Assassin was not a Servant that could fight head to head with one of the knight classes. Even though his parameters were greatly increased thanks to his extraordinary compatability with his Master in a direct head to head fight he would almost certainly lose unless he planned ahead or received outside help.
This was evident during his fight with Saber in the past few days. No matter what he did or what tactic he used he was destined to fail once he revealed himself to his enemy and challenged them to a straight fight. Both the Servant and Master were aware of this, but this only brought another question to light.
Why would they fight such a hopeless direct fight in the first place?
The answer was Assassin’s Noble Phantasm, Zabaniya ~ Duel Judgement. His two sided robe that granted him one sure surprise attack but also allowed him the chance to even control a Servant. If covered in the correct side of the cloth he could erase their minds and supplant his own mindless obedience into their very souls. They would become nothing but mindless husks who would answer Assassin’s every beck and call.
This was the technique he was setting up for use against Saber if only those blasted puppets hadn’t appeared and halted their fight.
The homunculi that Assassin now controlled would serve as his second set of eyes and ears. Because of it’s simplistic mind it was all too easy for Assassin to subdue and control. Using this enhanced familiar he could use it’s every sense just like he could his own and could even fight at normal strength while mentally controlling the newfound puppet.
It was a technique developed over years of intense mental struggle with two dividing forces. A technique that once activated on an actual Servant would give him the edge he needed to ensure victory to both himself and his Master.
But the day where he actually succeeded at taking control of a Servant were still far away. For now he needed to focus on ensuring the protection of the man before him.
“This homunculus will help to protect you and will act as a secondary shield for your body. Unfortunately my ability is limited to one at a time, as such I recommend we make haste immediately before any more of them show up.
Nodding in agreement the two of them left the decayed shack and began to head towards the Castle.
**************************************************************************
With Assassin’s aid, Kiritsugu’s progress quickly hastened, evading most of their foes with ease. Leaving the majority of the fighting to the hidden Servant, Kiritsugu had yet to even fire a single bullet after their previous encounter with the Homunculi ambush.
It wasn’t that he wanted to save his ammo, rather before he could even take sight of one their heads were impaled with daggers or their heads chopped off from the spear of their former allies.
They had made great strides and eventually after what seemed like an eternity the two of them finally laid eyes on the grandstanding castle of the Einzbern.
Like a shining beacon in this still dark forest and Assassin’s ability to detect those around him. The three figures made their way inside one of the first floor windows doing their utmost to make sure that no one followed them.
Unlike before, Kiritsugu’s new target was the basement of the Einzbern Castle. He believed that the manufacturing plant had to be located there. After all, he was very much aware that the Einzbern were their strongest in dark enclosed spaces like that.
Maybe had expected more resistance, or maybe the Einzbern hadn’t noticed them yet. Regardless, their path through the brightly lit castle halls was met without opposition.
And eventually they made their way to the darkened stone steps that hid the goal Kiritsugu was searching for. However before they entered Kiritsugu spoke up.
“Assassin, your goal was to protect me until my task was completed. My goal was to reach these stairs, so your task is complete. Go and aid your Master, tell her to escape this forest before any more homunculi arrive. I am more familiar with how the Einzbern operate. Tell her I will quickly disable the machine and make my escape. But if that is not enough, then leave your puppet by my side to act in your stead. That should be good enough for you, right?”
“Very well then, I will do as such, I wish you luck in your task.” In a business like manner the mask’s presence began to fade as Kiritsugu watched. With the lone homunculus by his side, he breathed another sigh of relief.
His mission was almost at an end. There was just one more thing for him to do, and Illya as well as the rest of his family would be safe from the Einzbern threat for a long time to come. Glancing around once more he entered down the stone steps into the dungeon below.
‘Just one more thing to do. One final task.’
**************************************************************************
Sakura and company were nearly at their goal, or so Illya believed when the white mask of the Assassin appeared directly in front of them.
Before Sakura could react Illya’s nearly panicking voice was the first to speak up. Perhaps it was the built up fatigue over the night but her voice sounded nearly delusional from the stress.“Assassin!? What are you doing here? Where is Kiritsugu? Why isn’t he with you!?”
Sakura spoke up next. Though she wasn’t sure if it would calm her down she had to give her voice as much as reason as she could in order to keep her own calm. “Ilya calm down, I’m sure Assassin has his reasons.” Turning to face the masked figure Sakura replied to her Servant. “Assassin, what is going on?”
The mask was as emotionless as always, his voice deep he replied to them. “I am still observing Kiritsugu with one of my familiars. He has reached his destination and will finish his duty before making his leave. He suggests that you Master as well as the rest of you make your leave from this place before the homunculi can regroup and attack. He will follow after he finishes his job.”
Maiya spoke up next. “Assassin, did he mention how he intended to take out the Einzbern forces?”
“He mentioned that he is in control of a weapon that will be able to take out the core of the Einzbern manufacturing capabilities as well as the heart of the homunculi hivemind.”
Illya’s continuously worried voice only grew more worried with each passing second. “A weapon!? If it’s one of the modern weapons that he uses then the destruction it could create would be immense. Kiritsugu, you intend to go off all alone and leave to me all over again…? No… No..! NO!”
Her hands began to shake, as she stared off into the distance. Illya didn’t know what she would do if he left her again. She wouldn’t know how to live on. She would do everything in her power to save him, even the world itself would be a high enough cost if it meant she could save that useless man. For he was he father, and the man she adored most of all above anyone else.
(http://i.imgur.com/2yxhQII.png)
With her hand outstretched yet again she began to utter yet another command to her Servant
“Saber! With these Command Seals…!.”
There was still time, if Sakura moved quickly enough even she could stop Illya from using it. But what would the cost be? If Illya was stopped their bonds might never truly be repaired especially if it meant Kiritsugu’s death.
But if the Seal was activated, Kiritsugu’s plans to stop the Einzbern intervention in this war might come to a halt. With just a few seconds remaining the time to act was now.
1. Stop Illya!
2. Allow Illya to save Kiritsugu
3. Write in...
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2. Allow Illya to save Kiritsugu
The way Kiritsugu is acting here, it sounds like he's intending to sacrifice himself, and I don't think either Illya or Sakura want that to happen. And, if it goes wrong, then hopefully Saber will die in the process, thereby taking Ilya out of the war without harming her.
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Current Results:
1. Stop Illya!: solarchon
2. Allow Illya to save Kiritsugu: Nuclear Consensus, Magus, Li Shuwhere, Mike1984
Looks like the bonds of family are going to be superior here, but at what cost?
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“Saber! With these Command Seals I order you! Save my father!”
(http://i.imgur.com/Xys9Dli.png]http://i.imgur.com/Xys9Dli.png)
“...As you command.”
A bright flash of light and the seal on Illya’s hand vanished into thin air. Saber quickly followed, in an enormous burst of magical energy she seemingly vanished.
However, since she did not have a direct location for Kiritsugu to follow her only option was a straight charge inside the castle itself. Using the power of the command seal she became a battering ram smashing straight through trees and even the castle walls themselves until she found her target.
The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, as Assassin spoke up in concern. “It seems he wishes to go off on his own. He has just eliminated my familiar…”
**********************************************************************************
He had found his target, in the dim basement hallways a large sprawling opened up before him. Rows and rows of doll like figures with the same snow white hair and red eyes that he knew all too well were scattered through the room. It was quite easy to say that there numbers were in the hundreds if not thousands.
Yet their eyes were empty and vacant, these were the bodies of homunculi that had yet to be activated. Dolls that were currently in the process of becoming lifeless machines with a soul purpose to kill the very man that stood before them.
Their close appearance to his late wife and daughter only served to infuriate the man even more. How many would it take before they were satisfied? It was no wonder they treated these things as nothing more than tools. With as many as there were here they could hold the entire city in their control.
It was with these thoughts that he steeled his determination. He would be the one to put an end to this madness. Even at the cost of his own life. But first he had to get rid of something else.
Quickly turning around he aimed his submachine gun and fired straight at the following homunculus companion that had aided him to this point. It’s services were no longer required, he could handle the rest on his own. But more importantly, he was worried the Master of this puppet might be watching, and he didn’t want her to see what he was about to do.
He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he did.
He didn’t stop until the entire clip was fired, he wouldn’t be needing the ammunition anymore after all. He continued to watch as the body of the lifeless doll was reduced to nothing more than a pile of gore and blood. Making sure that it would not be able to function any further he dropped his gun and charged into the room pulling out his Thompson Contender.
In the center of the huge factory like room was an enormous orb that glowed of a bright blue and green hue as it emitted insane amounts of magical energy.
It was a furnace of magical energy. A tool that could fill all of these homunculi with life by sucking up the life energy of the entire Einzbern Forest.
Finally he stood face to face with this monstrous object. An object that sought for nothing but the absolute destruction of Kiritsugu Emiya.
Holding his weapon out directly pointed at this glowing object he put his finger to the trigger.
“Why are you doing this?”
And he froze. A voice emitted from the glowing orb, a childlike voice one that greatly resembled that of his former wife. It was a voice he hadn’t heard of in over fifteen years. And after hearing it again his willpower was put to the test.
“Why do you want to kill us?”
“I have to, in order to save my daughter.”
“We only want the best for us, and yet you only seek to kill us. Why?”
He couldn’t hesitate any further. He knew this was a trick concocted by them. He had to stay strong. With his finger on the trigger he silently bid the ones in his heart farewell and began to pull.
There was a huge rumbling as the entire room began to shake throwing Kiritsugu to his knees. Something powerful was approaching fast.
The shockwave that sent him to his knees throw off his concentration. It was taking all his concentration not to fall over. Cursing his single hand he was unable to catch his balance properly. He was standing face to face with his goal, he was so close yet he still couldn’t fire the shot.
“Kiritsugu… My Master has ordered me to rescue you. This is not up for negotiation.”
The armored knight’s movements were so fast Kiritsugu barely had time to register what had happened before he was grabbed and thrown over her shoulder.
“Saber! Stop, you don’t realize what you are doing! Go back to Illya! I can take care of this!”
True to her words she completely ignored his comments and began to run away from the orb. Kiritsugu was losing his chance, there was no way he could take out Saber with his current equipment, though he still held his Thompson they would be out range in just a few short moments.
His visibility was terrible, he was being roughly knocked around as Saber carried him and his single arm was beginning to feel the fatigue from the day's stressful encounters. But he had no other choice, it was now or never.
Raising his gun up as high as he could he closed one of his eyes and aimed down the sight while holding his breath to steady his shaking arm.
And he pulled the trigger just as Saber turned the corner into the hallway outside. The last Kiritsugu could see was his bullet being shot off. If it had made its mark he would know soon enough.
*************************************************************************
The groups quickly met up with one another in the small clearing of the forest outside the castle.
But before they could say anything in regards to anything that happened a massive explosion shook the earth as something deep in the castle exploded. It was likely the shot that Kiritsugu had fired but he was in no condition to either confirm or deny that theory.
For the moment, everyone agreed that running away was the best option at the time.
Progress on their way out was slow but steady, with Illya in particular the hardest hit. She was beginning to have trouble standing so Saber decided the best option was to carry her.
When they finally reached the exit Illya jumped to her feet in shock as they reached the hidden cars. One of them had been stolen, and to make matters worse it was the one that held the gown.
The barrier that protected it had been completely destroyed with ease. And Illya had been so focused on saving her father she hadn’t even realized what had been done until she saw it with her own eyes.
It was clear she wanted to try and track down whoever had done this but her fatigue was too great. She looked as if she could pass out at any moment. It was in fact a miracle was even standing at all.
Unable to bare seeing her sister like this Sakura had a choice to make, perhaps if she left right away she might be able to catch whoever had done this. Though they had taken the car as well there still might be traces of magical energy that could be tracked. And silver haired homunculi weren’t exactly common inside the city proper.
Or perhaps there were other things to do. Maybe it would be best to go and meet up with Illya’s group properly and plan their next actions then, but they were still technically enemies. Maybe it was proper that they returned home altogether?
1. Go and chase the kidnappers
2. Return to Illya’s base
3. Go back to Sakura’s apartment
4. Write in...
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Now that everyone had a chance to catch their breath outside of the forest Illya who had barely been able to contain herself this entire time ordered Saber to set her down and walked straight up to Kiritsugu and attempted to give him a big slap to the face.
“Father, you idiot!”
Though because of her short stature and tired body it looked as if she was just patting the lower part of his grisly chin.
This poor showing of emotion caused Kiritsugu to chuckle for just a split second. A move he would soon come to regret.
“Kiritsugu, it’s not right to laugh at a girl who is being earnest!” Sakura was the next to walk up to him. With her height and energy she delivered a much more deserved slap, causing his cheek to flush red as it stung in pain.
“Sakura!” Was it the sting from the slap that caused him to react so strongly or was it the sheer shock that she had done that in the first place? Regardless Kiritsugu stood there only managing to get as far as uttering her name out of surprise.
Holding her finger out so that she could properly scold him Sakura was not about to let up anytime soon. “How dare you Kiritsugu, how dare you try to sacrifice yourself just to save us. It’s that kind of attitude that got you into this mess in the first place!”
“Ah Sakura, you see that’s because…” Scratching the back of his head Kiritsugu gave off a nervous expression. As good as he was with dealing in life or death situations he had a weak spot when dealing with females especially those he considered his family.
“Oh no you don’t, you stand right there and listen to what I say, do you not understand the gravity of what you just tried to do!? You idiot Kiritsugu! You almost made Illya cry!”
“Idiot Kiritsugu!” The teary eyed Illyasviel followed in Sakura’s footsteps.
“Kiritusgu the idiot.” Feeling the need to chime in as well Maiya also repeated the other two in tone though she also couldn’t help but have a thin smile on her face after seeing Sakura get so emotional.
“Ah… I give up. Do whatever you want….” The mental battle was over, Kiritsugu stood no chance against the tag team of the three women giving a sigh he shrugged his shoulders looking down his face full of guilt.
“Kiritsugu... as long as you’re alive, that’s all that matters.” Illya walked up to him and stretching her arms as wide as they could go she gave him a huge hug.
Unwilling to miss out on the moment Sakura followed suit, and feeling left out Maiya also went in.
“It’s ok Kiritsugu we can do this, together. I don’t want to hear anymore of you running away, do you hear me?” Sakura would make sure he understood the message this time. Even if it meant more trouble in the long run she was going to make sure he understood that there would be no more running away.
“Ah, I really can’t win, fine, I won’t go off on my own anymore.”
That still wasn’t good enough for Illya. “No, it’s not good enough unless you promise!”
“Ah ok, then I Kiritsugu Emiya promise to never run off on my own again. I will first consult with my family first before I make any rash decisions. How is that?”
“Better…But you’re still an iiidddiiioootttt, So you’ll just have to stick around so that I can force that part out of you.”
It quickly was turning into a match of who would break the most awkward hug of their lives first. But luckily for them, before anyone had to make that decision Saber decided to speak up.
“Master, I know you are busy at the moment, but there is still the issue of who has left with our captive. Shall I go pursue them? Though my magical energy is lower than normal I still have enough to move at my highest speeds long enough to chase down whoever dared to do this.”
Awkwardly they broke their hug and though all of their cheeks were slightly blushed they attempted to return to a more serious attitude with Sakura the first to speak up.
“Actually Saber, I ask that you leave this to my team, we are still relatively fresh and I’m worried about Illya, she could really use the rest right now. We still have our car and I have my Assassin who has excellent tracking skills. If we move quickly we might still be able to catch up to whoever might have done this.
It was a very logical approach to how things stood, And it was also true that Illya’s legs were still shaking. In fact it was a miracle at all that she could still stand on her own two feet.
As such there was little either Illya or Kiritsugu could say to counter Sakura’s offer. Instead their silence proved that they were all in agreement.
“So what do you say Saber? Will you entrust this task to us?”
“I have little reason to believe that either of you would betray myself or my Master once you have offered your aid. And as much as it displeases me, Assassin currently has the advantage in terms of endurance. Therefore I leave this task in your care. See that you accomplish this task with the greatest of strength you can muster.”
That was the last that Saber said, with her approval Sakura and co. had little time to waste. After making sure that Kritisugu called for a new ride to pick up himself and Illya Maiya and Sakura jumped into their own car and took off with Assassin following them to the side stating that he would have an easier time looking for any other Servants if he could maintain his mobility under his terms.
**************************************************************************
The woman had woken up shortly into their trip back to the Matou Mansion much to his Master’s joy.
But what really threw Rider off was the fact that this woman had practically the same dumb empty expression that his own Master always carried with her!
The resemblance was uncanny.
He was still having trouble figuring out just what these two were but after a while of throwing singular words back at one another he had had quite enough of it. Perhaps it was time to try and broaden their horizons.
“A movie! We need to go see a movie! Come Master it’ll be fun!”
And so the three of them in their hijacked car headed towards the movies. Getting in would be easy enough, thanks to Rider’s own skill in persuasion no one dared question why a giant in strange clothing was escorting two women one dressed in a maid outfit and the other in an elaborate purple dress.
If anything trying to pick a movie was the hardest part.
“What the hell is this crap?”
Eeventually Rider settled on the one that looked the least threatening. Directing his two companions to the theater itself he sat down taking up two entire chairs and creating a large empty space where other moviegoers been scared away and seating the two women in front of him so that he could keep an eye on them he watched as the movie started.
“In a world where chaos reigns supreme, and the world runs rampant in chaos, only one force can stop it. These are The Mighty Morphin Taiga Rangers!”
*********************************************************************************
As they drove they talked about their plan of action and came to three conclusions.
As they weren’t entirely sure just who had done the kidnapping and the familiars that Sakura hd throughout the town hadn’t picked up anything of use yet either they could simply wander the town in the hopes that they might be able to find a clue that might help them figure out just who might have done it.
Or they could focus their effort in one of two ways, they could look into the two noble families of Matou and Tohsaka to see if either of them might have done it.
Otherwise that left the remaining Masters and Servants, though their locations were a little bit more obscure Sakura still had a few ideas as to who might be hiding out where.
1. Search the whole city
2. Check out the Matou and Tohsaka
3. Check out the other Masters and Servants
4. Write in...
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You know, it would be a lot easier for me to vote if you actually gave me updates on what was going on on BL, especially when someone does a write-in like last time. I'm not cross-quoting from another forum I can't even post on.
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2. Check out the Matou and Tohsaka
I'm fairly sure the kidnapper actually is the Matou master, and I can't really see which other masters could be responsible, really.
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“It seems unlikely that gra- I mean, Zouken would come out of hiding this early in the war and the Tohsaka Master doesn’t strike me as someone who would resort to kidnapping, let’s check our other leads first.”
“Alright, we’ll follow your lead then.” Pushing hard on the gas the car sped up as the three of them made their way out of the deep forest road and into the outskirts of Miyami Town.
Going by the one nearest to their location, Shinji Matou would be the first target. Sakura still remembered the park she had fought Illya at only to have been saved by. It seemed unlikely that he would have changed locations just yet.
There was still a short amount of time before they reached his apartment. Taking this moment to rest her eyes Sakura drifted off to sleep.
“Shinji come here, I want to introduce you to your new sister. Her name is to be Sakura Matou. and I want you two to get along. Make sure you treat her well, she will be the pride and joy of this family soon enough…”
“Don’t worry anymore Sakura, your good uncle Kariya will win this war and then you can be reunited with Rin and Aoi once more! So please… Just be patient just a little longer…”
“Sakura! We’re here.”
Awaking with a start Sakura glanced around through the tinted windows of the car. Right before her eyes across the street was the apartment that they were looking for. Immediately she forced the haziness out of her head as best as she could while calling for her Servant.
“Assassin do you sense any of Matou’s Assassins?”
‘Yes, I can feel all six of them are nearby inside the building itself.’
“What about the homunculus? She should have the same kind of aura that Illya carries with her.”
“No, I do not sense anything like that, only the crude magical barrier that surrounds this place neither do I see the vehicle that was stolen. And… No it is nothing… Just those things are all I can sense. I know not if the boy is here but his Servant’s being present suggest he is.”
Curious about the thing Assassin was about to mention Sakura decided that he must have his reasons for not bringing it up. Deciding it was best to leave him to his own tasks both Sakura and Maiya deduced that Shinji was not the one to have stolen it. Thus they decided to move onto the next candidate.
The car quickly left the quiet apartments and passed through the streets as it made its way towards the nearby forest.
“Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. Through our research it seems like he is likely hiding out in an abandoned mansion near Kotomine Church. If my memory serves me correctly, Kayneth was staying at the Matou Mansion for a short time during the previous Grail War. Do you remember anything about him Sakura?”
She had indeed seen him a few times, though the memories were now faint Sakura the few times they had spoken. Though she was only a little girl at the time she had helped him to find his ‘precious one’ and save her from whatever trouble she had gotten herself into.
Even still she could never really appreciate the taste of tea like he seemed to do. But perhaps it was indeed time to pay this man a visit after all. Though she doubted he did it, it wouldn’t have been the first time he charged into the Einzbern forest to steal an Einzbern homunculus. Perhaps he did it again?
Eventually they made their way towards the edge of the forest that housed the hidden Edelfelt Mansion. It did not take long for either of them to sense that the entire place had been put into the control a great many bounded fields. Fields that seemed like they were meant to sniff out anyone who dared to try and invade the premises.
Before they could even go a few minutes into the quiet forest path a man could be seen standing directly on the road ahead of them.
It was a knight, one with olive green leather armor who held two long spears each covered in a deep purple cloth. The tips of these spears glowed in a deep dark yellow and red.
But perhaps the most striking thing about him was the small mole located just under his right eye.
(http://i.imgur.com/XeImLBf.png?1)
“Lancer… It appears that the rumors that El-Melloi was bringing into play the same Servant that brought him victory in the last war were true. Sakura, be careful this man should not be underestimated. He was able to easily be more than a match against Saber. If he were to fight Assassin head on it would surely end in Assassin’s defeat.
Though she had not seen him directly in the last war, Sakura had heard that this was the same man that Kayneth had been fighting with that entire time. It was a strange feeling to know that even though it had been fifteen years and they had never met face to face they still held some sort of a connection to one another.
But before she could think about those feelings any further the knight slowly began to step forward towards the car. With a loud voice he began to speak to them but his voice did not sound like his own. Rather, it was the voice of a magus noble, proud and pure but with an edge of wisdom in every word.
“Master of Assassin, you are stepping into the realm of Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. To what purpose do you come here for?”
Making it clear that it was Sakura the voice was speaking to she spoke up perhaps at least for the time being it was best to remain completely honest with him. “Sir Archibald, we have come here to look for an Einzbern homunculus that had been stolen a short time ago. We have evidence to suggest that it was a team of a Master and a Servant. Do you know of anything related to this incident?”
“I have neither the Servant or Homunculus you are looking for, if you have no business here leave at once. Unless you wish to declare a declaration of war? My Lancer will gladly take you on anytime. I am sure that your Assassin is lurking nearby, do not thing I haven’t been watching you all this time.”
His words seemed to be sincere but there was still no way of telling if they were true or not and he seemed like he knew something that they did not. If he really did have scouts throughout the city then perhaps he might have found the vehicle’s true location. Thus Sakura had to think of a new course of action. If he really was the man she remembered all those years ago then perhaps he might still have a weak spot in that one woman.
Steeling her heart once more she braced herself and opened the car door. “Maiya, stay here. I want to try and reason with him.”
“Ah but Sakura, you can’t trust this man! He’s the one who stole Irisviel right from under Kiritsugu's nose!”
“It’s ok Maiya, please, believe in me. I promise I will come back safe and sound.”
Giving a final look of determination towards her adoptive mother she nodded her head before putting a foot out of the door and issuing a second command to her Assassin.
“Assassin, materialize yourself on top of the car, show you are not a threat.”
Following her orders to the letter the Masked Servant materialized himself on top of the car and made his entire spider like body visible. Though he made no gesture or threat it was clear that he was watching both Lancer and his Master very carefully.
Slowly but surely Sakura began to make her ways toward the armed Lancer in front of them. Standing at the ready but making no motion to attack Lancer only watched in curiosity as Sakura slowly moved closer and closer.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed but eventually Sakura had made her way directly in front of Lancer and his armed self. In less then a second before Sakura or her Servant could even think those two deadly spears could run themselves straight through her body.
Yet Sakura did her best to stand firm. Clenching her fists as hard as she could stop the scary thoughts from emerging onto her face she stared directly into Lancer’s eyes and spoke.
“Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. Look at my face, do you remember who I am? This is not the first time we have met. My name was once Sakura Matou a scared little girl but one who you are indebted to.”
“Oh? I know who you are, You were once the proud heir of the Matou name, but you cast that aside to follow some forsaken fate with that cursed Kiritsugu. I owe a magus like you nothing.”
The grip of Lancer’s spears tightened as the pressure in the air strengthened to near hostile levels. But Sakura held firm, she glared once more at Lancer before speaking up in a voice that sounded dry and emotionless, it was a voice that even Kayneth could not forget, one that reminded him of the past. Of the little girl that had once saved his fiance’s life.
“She’s not coming back… Do you remember what I said? She was not coming back. Because it was easy to miss. Those were the words I once spoke Mr. Kayneth. The ones that allowed you to save her… So please, if you have any decency in your heart or if you truly cared about her then tell us what you know…”
That monotone voice was the most Sakura could do. If this would not work then their visit here would be fruitless or in the worst case scenario she could very well die by Lancer’s spears.
An eternity seemed to pass as the two of them continued to stare directly at once another. But eventually it was Sakura who ended up winning. Lancer’s mouth opened once more and the voice of the Magus Noble rang out. It was a bitter voice but one that held a tinge of loneliness, of things once held dear but forever gone.
He couldn’t change the past, even he knew the Grail was beyond such things. But perhaps he could fix past mistakes even if only in a tiny way.
“...One of my familiars followed the black car that left the Einzbern forest only a few hours ago… It is currently stationed in a parking deck near the newly reopened Hyatt Hotel. I know not how long it will remain there. Now… Get out of my forest…”
With those last words the Lancer dematerialized and began to walk on the trail back to the mansion. It was clear that Kayneth was done talking, but Sakura’s courage had managed to get them the information they so desperately needed.
“Assassin, go there at once and follow them. Stay hidden and inform me if they try to leave before we catch up.”
“As you command.”
And the masked Servant disappeared off to accomplish his task.
They drove in silence as they approached their destination. Was it due to shock of how out of character Sakura had acted? Sakura was unsure of what Maiya thought about what she had just done. Nearly throwing herself onto Lancer’s spear like that just to get that information.
But regardless of what she thought the decision was already set in stone. And they had come out of it all the better.
Before either of them could speak up about the past confrontation Assassin’s voice rang in Sakura’s head.
“Master, I see a large well built man who bears the signs of a Servant and two people with traces of magic following them. One of them greatly resembles a homunculus of Einzbern origin.
They appear to be getting inside of the black car that was stolen. What are you commands?
Time was beginning to run out for them. They needed to act quickly before the trail they had worked so hard to get went cold. They could simply watch from a distance, something that Assassin specialized in but there was always the chance that he could be detected by the unknown abilities of this new Servant, or they could chose to charge in guns blazing using Assassin’s ability to attack from the shadows to act as a diversion.
In just a few short minutes Sakura and Maiya could be convening on their location. But what would they do?
1. Stay back and observe, see what they do
2. Go in guns blazing, use Assassin as a diversion
3. Attempt to negotiate with them. They might be willing to make a deal
4. Write in...
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3. Attempt to negotiate with them. They might be willing to make a deal
Negotiation seems wise, their intentions don't appear to be bad.
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‘We should just stand by and watch for now. We are completely unaware of just what this Servant can do and rushing in there recklessly is a recipe for disaster. This Servant is a new one, that has never appeared in any of our reports.’
‘Your orders, Master?’
‘Assassin, I want you to stay hidden and observe their movements. We will wait until an appropriate time to react.’
‘Very well, then.’
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The next few hours Sakura and Maiya began to watch the Servant’s movements. Thanks to her Servant vision Sakura could see the giant of man who was the Servant and the woman who seemed to be his Master.
(http://i.imgur.com/141RH0L.png)
She did not recognize the giant of a man but he couldn’t be that hard to guess if he ever were to fight.
But what really concerned her was the Master and the one she traveled with besides her Servant.
From her snow white hair and blood red eyes along with the elaborate foreign maid outfit she wore it was quite obvious that this was the girl that Sakura was after. But why was she walking along sides the other two out of her own free will?
Was it some form of mind control? Maybe they had some kind of leverage against her and were using her as a form of hostage.
And perhaps it was a coincidence or maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her but the one that was the Master bore a very strong resemblance to an Einzbern homunculus if not for her deep purple eyes and hair.
After getting in their car the three of them then proceeded to drive to a nearby mall where they began to shop for various clothes other seemingly needless things. It was rather amusing for Sakura to see the giant Servant get so many strange looks from passersby just because of his huge size.
When they stopped for lunch it seemed as if the giant of a man ordered so much food it completely filled up the table he was sitting at. Compared to the two ladies with him who only ordered burgers and a drink he was quite the eater it seemed.
Finally they left the mall and headed for their car once more.
‘What do you make of this, Assassin?’
‘They do not really seem to care much about the Grail War at all. Or perhaps they are overconfident in the fact that they are daring to travel out in the open in broad daylight where no Master or Servant would dare to attack them. But besides that. The Servant, he seems very familiar with the modern world which is odd. Even with the Grail’s helping hand I had to adapt to the modern age in my own way, yet this man brazenly walks inside that roofed bazaar and even has his own supply of currency no doubt supplied to him by his Master.’
‘The purple haired one? I find it hard to believe that she possesses that kind of forethought. From what I saw her mannerisms and way of speaking all seemed very simple. Much like a doll or some kind of puppet.’
‘Perhaps, shall we continue to watch them?’
‘Yes, let’s do that for now. I am not sure what their motives are but so far reconnaissance has proved to be worth our time.’
*************************************************************
Eventually the three of them returned to their car and crossed the great red bridge back into Miyama where they began to turn into the western part of the town where the extravagant mansions lay as well as the bases of Tohsaka and Matou.
‘Master, if you wish to interrupt them before they return to their base this may be our last chance. What do you command?’
Assassin’s words rang true, this may very well be the last chance Sakura would have to stop them before they returned to whatever base they might be living in.
Would now be a good time or should they report back to Illya with the information first?
1. Stop them before they return!
2. Report back to Illya first.
3. Write in...