So. I did mention in my introduction that I write fics. This is one of them. The feedback on FF.Net has been rather positive, but nothing constructive. I don't really like being praised without being given constructive criticism. Aside from not wanting to grow any kind of oversized ego, I do genuinely want to improve as a writer.
Well, this is as good a place as any to start with that, I suppose. I hope my writing isn't too bad for this place's standards.
Also, formatting errors drive me nuts. Fixing up the spacing with two chapters in one post is a pain.
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Fate/Digital Hazard
By Candescence
Chapter 1
The potential number of alternate realities are infinite. They could be affected by any number of variables. There are two sides to this specific tale, both of which various people have heard before. But on one side, change one major variable to match the other, and things change dramatically. It is a terrifying and exciting prospect. For that particular universe, the consequences could be outright catastrophic.
But two people, a young man and a boy, would not accept such consequences. In fact, they would risk everything to save the world.
And in Fuyuki City, is where this tale begins, starting with a dream.
Standing on one side of a misty street, Shirou Emiya blinked, wondering why he wasn't asleep. Only moments ago, he had began to sleep, so this was likely a dream. However, he could barely even move. He noticed that he was floating a couple of feet above the ground. "What on Earth...?"
One other person heard him speak his thoughts aloud. Takato Matsuki, wearing pyjamas, was in a similar position, on the other side of the road. This was not the first odd thing he had experienced today. That would be the blue card turning his card scanner into a strange, red device, likely a Digivice, that accepted his Guilmon sketches as valid data. This strange dream, along with the older teenager on the other side of the road, was quite strange indeed, however. "Um... Hello?"
Shirou looked towards the brown-haired boy with brown eyes on the other side of the road. "Um... Hi?"
"Lynxmon, Armor level..."
Then two figures came between them, clashing violently. The yellow and orange blurs were difficult to make out so suddenly, but one was a large, yellow fox of some kind, the other was a large four-legged beast that looked like its body was made of fire, pinning the fox to the ground. Off to the side, on the road, a young girl with orange hair, a cream-coloured jacket, a white shirt with aqua sleeves, blue jeans, and red shoes, was inserting a card into some kind of device, which Takato recongized as being similar to the Digivice he had gotten that day. "Renamon, card slash. High-Speed Plug-In B."
Takato gasped, "A Digimon Tamer..." Shirou definitely heard him, but he had no idea what he meant. He then noticed that the boy was carrying a similar device to what the girl carried.
There was little contest, as Renamon suddenly disappeared out from under the Lynxmon, suddenly glancing at Takato as she launched a storm of what looked like glass shards at the Lynxmon. The Lynxmon was easily defeated, bursting into particles which the fox absorbed into her body. Shirou honestly had no idea what just happened. Takato, however, was captivated. It was a live battle between Digimon, and the Renamon had defeated an enemy on the field of battle, with assistance from her Tamer.
"Heh. Not bad. But that was severely underwhelming."
Stepping out into view, was another girl, much older than the other one. The girl had black hair with twin-tails tied with black ribbons, blue eyes, and a red red turtleneck with a black skirt, long black socks and brown shoes. "What's a little girl like you commanding a beast?"
The younger girl glanced at her. "Are you a Tamer as well? Otherwise, get lost."
"'Tamer', you say?" Emerging from out of the mist, was a white-haired man with tanned skin, brown eyes, and wore a strange red coat over what looked like lightweight black armor. "Master, I do not think she is involved with the Grail War."
"Certainly not, Archer. Her 'partner' isn't a Servant," spoke the black-haired girl, who Shirou easily recognised as Rin Tohsaka, regarded as a perfect student at his school, and he had to admit, he admired her. "This is an interesting predicament. We can't have creatures like this complicating things."
Renamon stepped forward, "I suggest you take Rika's advice and leave, otherwise-"
"Otherwise what?" Archer chuckled, with a cocky smirk. For some reason, Shirou simply couldn't approve of him. Perhaps it was his looks or his attitude, but for some reason, he just couldn't like him. "I could easily defeat you with my bare hands."
"Archer, don't play around," Rin frowned. "I want you to defeat the fox, but don't harm the girl. We can't risk civilians getting involved in the War."
"I have no objections, Master," Archer's eyes narrowed, stepping forward. Renamon took on a fighting stance.
The other girl's eyes narrowed, "Take him down, Renamon."
Shirou and Takato, for some reason, both understood one simple truth – if Renamon were to fight Archer, the former would lose. It was something they could just feel, as if it was an absolute constant that could simply not change.
"Understood, Rika," Renamon nodded, and rushed towards Archer, who suddenly had two swords in his hands. Shirou could barely make out the words from Archer's mouth, as he prepared to counter. And before Shirou and Takato could try to call out to stop the fight, the dream ended...
"I am the bone of my sword."
As it happened, Takato and Shirou both lived on the Miyama side of Fuyuki City, even if they didn't know it. In particular, Takato's home was in the shopping district south of the Emiya residence.
The day had gone as normal on both sides. Both went to school, and Takato had discovered that Guilmon had hatched after he had left school. By the time he had reached Guilmon and was bringing him back home, Shirou had been stabbed in the heart, and his heart had been repaired by Rin, and then nearly died once more after being attacked yet again by the blue-clothed man who had killed him before, only to be saved by the beautiful golden-haired girl with the invisible sword, calling herself 'Saber'...
"I ask of you: Are you my Master?"
Shirou narrowly stopped Archer from being injured by Saber. And in gratitude, Rin told him about the Holy Grail War – a conflict between seven Servants, which were 'Heroic Spirits', heroes summoned from across time and space, to each fight for a 'Master', for one goal – the Holy Grail, which would grant one wish.
However, that evening, as the two Masters and their Servants went up to the church on the hill, elsewhere, Rika Nonaka was heading home after Renamon defeated a wild Digimon that evening. "Your fighting ability is certainly not under par against other Digimon. But you were nearly deleted when fighting that man. How could a mere human be stronger than a Digimon?"
"I do not believe that was a Digimon, Rika," Renamon spoke to her from the shadows. "He mentioned something called a 'Servant'. I believe he is something entirely different from a Digimon. I apologise for my inability to defeat him. But he was too skilled. Far too skilled. I could feel a lifetime's worth of honed technique from him, something that even Digimon can only hope to aspire to. The fox clone card was barely enough to even escape."
"I see." Rika nodded. The implications were obvious to her. A 'Servant' was a being akin to a Digimon, but clearly on a higher level than the Digimon she had fought thus far. Only evolution would solve the problem. Then she'd be able to-
The sound of an explosion in the area caused Rika to abandon that train of thought, and started running to the top of the hill to get a better perspective on what just happened. And what she saw was more than surprising. In the cemetery by the church, two figures were fighting. A golden-haired girl in armor was moving around quickly, fighting her opponent, a giant of a man with black skin and a massive rock-like blade. His movement was constrained in this environment, giving the girl more room to fight at her best. Off to the side, the black-haired girl she had lost to, along with a brown-haired young man, were watching the fight. Also off to the side, was a younger girl, about Rika's age, with silver hair and red eyes, watching the fight expectantly.
Rika took cover, not wanting to be seen. She also certainly had noticed that a far-off figure (likely Archer) was firing glowing arrows at the huge man, who roared repeatedly, trying to strike his target. The battle was absolutely destructive. Rika felt her heart beat. This wasn't just any battle between Digimon. This was a battle between Servants. This was beyond Champion-level, possibly even beyond Ultimate-level. To get Renamon involved would mean defeat – whether it be pierced by Archer's arrows, or sliced by the girl's invisible sword, or torn to pieces by the monster beyond monsters that was the giant tearing up the graveyard. Most Digimon had no place in this battle, lest they be torn to shreds in the crossfire.
Eventually, the battle was concluded when Archer launched an especially powerful projectile at the giant. The young man got the golden-haired girl away just in time, though he was injured in the process. Archer's projectile was destructive, but the giant seemed almost unscathed. But the little girl remarked, "Hmm. I have a better opinion of you, Rin. Your Archer's pretty good. Alright, come back, Beserker. I wanted to get the boring stuff over with first, but I've changed my mind." The dissonantly cheery tone caused a shiver to run down Rika's spine. Despite convincing herself otherwise, she knew that she was absolutely terrified.
Rin spoke, "You're running away after all this?"
"Yup, I've changed my mind. I don't want Saber, but I'm interested in Archer, now. So I'll let you live for a bit longer. Goodbye. Let's play again, Onii-chan!" the little girl smiled, as she and 'Beserker' disappeared through the flames.
Renamon, hiding beside her partner, whispered, "We cannot linger here, Rika. We have to go."
Rika nodded slowly, suppressing the urge to gulp at the battle she had just witnessed. They left the scene without a word, trying their best not to attract attention. But another creature had been watching the battle with curiosity, and as the young man collapsed and the girls had to carry him down the road, the small, white Digimon waddled after them.
Once the girls got home and put Shirou to bed, Rin sighed. "Well... Things just became more complicated, quickly. I didn't expect to run into Illyasviel and Berserker so soon."
"It is good that the circumstances were fortunate," Saber replied, as they came into the living room. "In a more open environment, I would not have had the advantage."
"Well, it's a good thing you didn't get crushed by that big meanie, culu!"
"I... I did not expect you to say such a thing, Rin."
"Um... I didn't say that," Rin blinked, as she and Saber looked down at the table. Standing there, was a surprisingly adorable white koala-like creature with big green eyes, purple markings on its ears, and on its forehead, a quad of triangular markings with a red triangle in the middle. He looked up at them with an adorable smile, which caused the girls to stare at him awkwardly for a few seconds, before Rin spoke, "Uh... Is that a familiar?"
The little creature blinked, "What's a familiar?"
"Who are you, little one?" Saber sat down in front of him, examining him closely. It was no creature she had ever seen. Certainly not a non-magical creature, and clearly sapient, as well.
The little tyke smiled to her, "I'm Calumon! Wanna play, culu?"
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Saber shook her head. "I do not wish to waste my prana supply. Otherwise, I will disappear if I run out."
Calumon blinked. "What's prana, culu?"
"It's magical energy. You should know that," Rin said, sitting down as well. "Saber is a Servant, so she requires prana to stay in this world, but Shirou's connection to her is limited, so he can't supply prana to her normally. So she has to sleep or eat in order to conserve energy."
"I don't think he knows about Servants, Rin." Archer materialised in the room, causing Calumon to look on in awe. "I believe he's of the same type of being that we fought the previous night."
"A Digimon? Don't be ridiculous, they're just some stupid card game," Rin frowned. "he's obviously some undiscovered magical creature or a familiar, or-"
Archer chuckled. "For someone who is a magus, you certainly are skeptical of the unusual, Rin."
"Shut up, Archer," Rin pouted, annoyed by his attitude. Like an arrow, his insults were always right on target. "Digimon stands for 'Digital Monster', right? Or so I hear. They're creatures born of technology rather than magic?"
"Indeed they are, Rin. They're composed of pure computer data," Archer replied. "I was quite surprised to find that they are indeed real, but I suppose if magecraft exists, creatures like this are far from impossible."
"You're not a Digimon, culu?" Calumon curiously waddled over to the edge of the table, "But you're strong like one, and you guys fight like them, culu."
"I'm afraid that's not the case," Archer said, kneeling, and scratching Calumon behind the ears, which the little guy liked a lot. "Saber and I are 'Servants'. Our role is to fight, but we are fundamentally different beings. Think of us as, I suppose, spirits brought back to this world."
"Then, you're... GHOSTS?!" Calumon immediately rushed behind Rin's leg, a bit freaked out, his big ears shrinking to minimal size. He didn't really understand all that well, which caused Rin to correct him. "Not strictly. They're great heroes from the past who have been, in a sense, summoned to this age to fight in the Holy Grail War."
Calumon blinked, cocking his head to the side in confusion. Rin sighed, "This is gonna be a long night."
After Calumon finally understood the basics of the Holy Grail War, everyone was able to get some sleep. After talking to Shirou when he woke up, Rin wanted to take Calumon with her when she was going home, but the little guy was so adorable when he was sleeping on the table, so she didn't have the heart to wake him. She left him there to nap, deciding that Shirou could take care of him well enough.
Shirou would indeed discover the little puffball sleeping on the living room table, and when he found Saber in the dojo, it didn't take him long to get around to the question of, "Why is there an albino koala sleeping on the table?"
It didn't take Saber long to introduce Shirou to Calumon, and soon they were eating lunch. Shirou was almost disturbed by how they were both so capable of practically inhaling the food that he provided. He was also equally disturbed by the realization that creatures made of computer data actually exist. He didn't use computers very often, but he knew what data was. But to materalize as actual matter should be impossible, something bordering on the First Sorcery. After a brief conversation about Saber's prana conservation, the phone rang. Shirou got up to get it. "Geez, at this time on a Sunday...?" He answered it, "Hello, this is Emiya."
"Hi, this is Fujimura!" Taiga Fujimura's unmistakable voice echoed though the speaker, nearly hurting Shirou's ears. He could only sigh. This was going to be one of those days. Taiga, or 'Fuji-nee' as Shirou called her, had abruptly 'ordered' lunch, specifically an omelet, and she wanted him to deliver it to the archery range.
"Alright, Saber, watch the house while I'm gone!" Shirou said, as he went to the front door... Except, ignoring his order, Saber followed him. As did Calumon. A brief inquiry as to why resulted in Saber explaining that she had to watch him at all times. "Wait, at all times?! What if I'm sleeping?!"
"Then I'll sleep next to you. In the same bed, if possible," Saber said frankly.
"WHAT?! No, no, no, that's not happening!" Shirou was blushing profusely.
Calumon blinked, "What's wrong with sleeping together, culu?"
"W-W-Well, she's a girl, and I'm a guy, so-"
"That is not an adequate reason, Shirou," Saber replied. "Your reasoning and plans are full of holes. If you can't provide a clear reason..."
"I can't provide one, you're a girl, you can't sleep in the same room as me! End of story! I'll get you a room when I come back! Besides, we can't bring Calumon along, I mean, a talking animal is gonna draw WAY too much suspicion!" Shirou replied, as he ran out the door, hoping Saber would understand.
She didn't. Instead, she and Calumon followed along, repeatedly rebuffing his attempts to go back. Calumon giggled, "La la la, not listening, culu!" Saber's reason for following him was basically the same, except much more eloquent. Shirou couldn't help but feel that she was just acting childish.
Eventually, Shirou settled on a compromise. Saber was to act as a foreigner who was a friend of his father, who came over to sightsee. Calumon... Was to act like a stuffed animal, which Saber carried. Calumon was all too happy to oblige, holding onto Saber's arm. As they arrived at the school and headed into the archery range, a brunette girl was outside, wearing the school's uniform – Ayako Mitsuzuri, the captain of the archery club, someone Shirou knew well. "Oh, Emiya-kun, you're here to deliver her meal?"
"As you guessed. Is Fuji-Nee here?" Shirou asked, smiling to her.
"Yup. Man, you saved us. We were worried because she was hungry and getting edgy," Ayako chuckled. "the cafeteria's closed, so-"
She then noticed something at her feet. Calumon had dropped to the ground, and had waddled over, looking up at her with wide eyes. The silence was rather awkward. She spoke, "Emiya-kun. What's with the little fuzzball? And where did you get him?"
Shirou was trying not to freak out. "Well... Um... He's a pet. This girl here is a friend of my father's, and she came from abroad..."
"Which country? Because I totally want to go to wherever there's animals this cute!" Ayako giggled, picking up Calumon and hugging him. Shirou was unnerved by this behaviour. Ayako was a major tomboy, and to see her being feminine was kinda freaky, even if it wasn't a bad thing.
"Um... Well, I have to deliver this lunch, so... Just don't make a big deal out of it, please. I'll be in your debt if you try to keep it quiet," Shirou said nervously, Saber standing by him.
Ayako smiled, nodding. "Sure, sure. Just don't try to take it back."
Unfortunately, it didn't take much effort for Ayako to cause a commotion once they went inside the archery range. The girls in the club were simply fawning over Calumon, who was positively loving the attention he was getting. Including Taiga Fujimura, who had completely forgotten about her lunch delivery. "Shiroooooouuuuu! Can you please convince her to let us keep him? He's so cuuuuuuuuuuute!"
"Um... I don't think I can, Fuji-nee... He can stay while she stays, but otherwise..." Shirou was exasperated. It did not help that Sakura was right in his face, the purple-haired girl smiling wider than he had ever seen her before. "Please, Sempai? Plllllleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaassssssseeeee?"
"... Not you too, Sakura..." Shirou felt extremely awkward right now. Like this, it was difficult to say no to either of them, especially Sakura. "Look, I'll have a word with her, and see if we can't-"
"I wouldn't mind staying around! Shirou makes good food, culu~!"
Everyone looked at Calumon, who was smiling widely back. Ayako blinked. "Did he just talk?"
"I think he did," said another girl.
Shirou closed his eyes, and prepared himself for the inevitable chaos that would ensue.
"OH MY GOSH HE'S EVEN CUTER!"
… Which was, admittedly, not what he had in mind. Instead, Shirou quickly found himself being cornered by the entire archery club, sans Ayako, who were giving him puppy-dog looks and begging him to get Saber to keep him around. He looked past the group, "Uh, Mitsuzuri-san? Saber? Some help over here?"
Ayako was trying her best not to laugh. "Sorry, Emiya-kun, but you're on your own on this one. I ain't getting involved. Besides, this is way too entertaining." Beside her, Saber was deriving her own enjoyment from her Master being 'tormented' like this. Traitors. Filthy traitors, the both of them.
After managing to calm down the girls, they finally got to eat in the break room. Taiga chuckled, "You know, over at the elementary school, the principal rang the fire alarm and claimed he saw a red dinosaur wandering the hallways, hiding in a cardboard box. It even talked! How utterly ridiculous! I think the old man is finally going senile."
"Yes, because talking animals are totally not possible. Totally not," Shirou deadpanned, as he pointed at Calumon.
There was an awkward silence. Shirou could see the sweat going down Taiga's face, as the realisation hit her. "GAAAAAAHH! There's a red dinosaur on the loose! I, Taiga Fujimura-sensei, won't stop until it's locked up in a zoo!" She was swinging a shinai around wildly. Shirou was a bit freaked out, but also kind of wondering where she got the shinai from.
"Uh, Fuji-nee? We should leave that to the police," Shirou said nervously, trying to calm her down. Saber casually caught the shinai as Taiga swung it around, surprising the teacher, who was a world-class kendo champion. Taiga frowned, with a sigh, "I suppose you have a point, there..." Then came a glint in her eye as she fetched something from her bag, "But...!"
Shirou blinked, as she handed him a digital camera. Taiga grinned, "Imagine the paydirt from snapping pictures of it! You're gonna go out there, and snap some photos of it!"
"M-ME?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Shirou stammered, "You're asking me to go out and try to find a potentially dangerous and hungry dinosaur!"
"I know! Isn't it exciting!" Taiga grinned. Her brain worked... Differently, from other people's. "Get going, kiddo!"
Shirou knew this wasn't going to end well. At all.
Leaving Calumon to Sakura and Taiga, Shirou and Saber both headed down to the elementary school, not far from Shirou's own high school. Saber displayed a surprising knowledge of tracking, as she found unusual foot tracks, subtle, but visible. They lead the pair to the nearest park, a slightly forested area on the outskirts of the city. What they saw was, well, surprising.
A full-on confrontation between Renamon and the aforementioned red dinosaur. Rika looked on from the side, unaware of the presence of the newcomers, while the other tamer, Takato, was trying to plead to his partner, Guilmon, to stop. That's when Guilmon suddenly snapped out of his feral rage, and practically ignored Renamon as her "Heavy Metal" option card attack blew right past his head, and sent her flying backwards, as he rushed over to Takato like a big friendly dog. Rika ordered Renamon to attack again, despite Guilmon's proximity to Takato.
Renamon took a leap into the air. Within moments, she was intercepted, as Saber destroyed the pilebunker weapon on her hand with a single accurate strike from her invisible sword, before kicking Renamon to the ground. Shirou walked down the small hill, "Alright, that's quite enough of that."
Both Rika and Renamon flinched when they saw him and Saber, recognising them from the night before. Takato gasped, upon recognizing Shirou. "You... You're...!"
"I can't say I don't agree with him. That's enough fighting," said a boy with blue hair and an orange jacket, who also walked down the hill to their level. Beside him, was a small, cream-coloured Digimon with long ears and green markings, and a mischievous smile on his face. He walked down the hill, down to Renamon, asking, "You're strong. How many battles have you fought? Can you evolve?"
"How many Digimon are there in this world...?" Rika wondered out loud, before looking at Saber, gritting her teeth. This girl, even without armor, could beat all three Digimon with ease, and she knew it.
"Terriermon, why are you asking her those questions?" The blue-haired boy asked his partner.
"No reason. Moumantai~" the little Digimon grinned.
Dismissing her sword, Saber spoke, "There is no rhyme or reason for a fight like this. Why do you fight?"
"What are you talking about? You know nothing of Digimon. They only exist for battle, to become the stronger until they become the strongest," Rika rebuffed her. "And for what purpose do you fight for that guy, Servant? What is the 'Grail War'?"
"I fight for a far more worthy cause," Saber replied. "But that is the most I'll tell you."
"I don't get it, why make our friends and partners fight like this?" the yet unnamed boy asked Rika, who simply replied, "Friends? I don't know what you're talking about. Renamon, we're leaving."
Rika and Renamon were quick to leave the scene. Takato pointed at Saber, "And who the heck are you?! You just cut through that Heavy Metal like it was nothing! Are you a Digimon?!"
Guilmon blinked, walking over to Saber curiously, and nuzzled her hand. Saber blinked, petting him. "I am not a Digimon. I am a Saber-class 'Servant'. That is all I can say to you. I'm sorry... It's remarkable. Despite the different physical composition, your partner is still a dragon. I thought such phantasmal beasts had all but died out in this age."
Guilmon blinked again. He was unfamiliar with the concept of heroic spirits, and yet, being with this girl gave him a sense of familiarity and kinship. This was not surprising for anyone who knew the details behind Saber's history, of course. Blood of dragons also coursed through her veins, and it was one of the two creatures that symbolised her. And, he just instinctively knew... He grinned, trying to tackle-hug the girl, "Arturiamon!"
"H-Hey! Please, don't call me that! And get off me!" Saber panicked. How could Guilmon know her true name so easily? Perhaps his draconic instincts are that refined, despite being a mere 'youngling' by dragon standards, she thought to herself. She was, in fact, slightly correct. But she had no idea as to the true reason... Not yet, anyway.
Shirou chuckled, as Guilmon backed off a bit, content with just nuzzling her. Takato asked the other boy, "You're Wong-kun from Class 2, right?"
"Yeah. Henry Wong," Henry nodded with a smile, extending a hand. "You're from Class 1?"
Takato nodded in response, shaking hands with him. "Takato Matsuki." He looked at Shirou, "You're from the local high school, right?"
"Shirou Emiya," Shirou introduced himself. "And this is my Servant, Saber."
Saber nodded. "A pleasure."
"You sure she's not a Digimon? She's pretty good," Terriermon remarked.
"I believe her when I say she isn't," Henry noted to his partner, who was perched on his shoulder. "But the secrecy isn't exactly building trust."
"It's a matter of life and death. Getting involved would unnecessarily risk your lives," Saber replied. "My own life is expendable."
Before Shirou could object, Takato beat him to the punch, "Wait a minute, that's not fair! You're a person, like any of us! Just because you're a 'Servant' doesn't mean-"
"Takato-kun, I think she means that she's only in this world for a single purpose, and then she disappears," Henry spoke. "Saber. You mentioned you were a 'Saber-class Servant'. Rika also asked you about a 'Grail War'. You're some kind of familiar bound to Shirou to fight in this 'Grail War', aren't you?"
Both Shirou and Saber were stunned by Henry's deduction. Takato's jaw dropped, looking at Henry, "Wait, wait, familiar? You mean Shirou-san is a wizard?!"
"A magus, actually," Shirou replied. "There's barely any actual 'wizards' left in this world. You're smarter than your age suggests, Henry."
"Shirou, we can't let non-magi know about the war-" Saber spoke, but Shirou raised a hand to stop her, "Saber, they're in the same boat as we are. We each have a mutual obligation to keep all this a secret, right? They can't use magecraft, but because of the circumstances, they might be targeted by other Servants for any number of reasons."
"That's true..." Saber mulled it over for a moment. "Very well. As long as they can keep it a secret..."
"I think we can do that," Henry chuckled. "We won't tell anyone if you won't."
Takato nodded with a smile, "Right! We can keep a secret or two!"
Shirou knew they were in for a wild ride...
While Shirou explained the basics of the Holy Grail War, that being a battle between Servants for the Holy Grail's wish, Henry lead the group to an abandoned shed in the park, which nobody ever took notice of. It was certainly large enough to house Guilmon, much to Takato's relief. "Finally! I never thought I'd find a good place for Guilmon to hide."
"Now I'm feeling lucky that my Servant is pretty much human instead of a large, talking reptile," Shirou noted, as he watched Guilmon play around with Terriermon. "So much easier to blend in..."
"Shirou-san, what's the difference between a 'magus' and a 'wizard'?" Henry asked. "You said there were only a few wizards left."
"Magi practice magecraft. Wizards perform sorceries, or 'true magic'," Shirou replied, sitting down against a wall. "Think of it this way – magecraft defines 'miracles' that can be reproduced by current technology. Sorcery is something that is 'impossible'. There's only five sorceries left in the world – the first is 'denial of nothingness', which is creating something from nothing, the second is operation of parallel worlds, which is dimensional travel, the third is 'Materialization of the Soul', the fourth one is unknown, and the fifth is time travel... Well, I think. Take that with a grain of salt, my dad taught me about that, and he didn't teach me much before he died."
"Makes sense, technology can't do any of those things yet, it's all in science fiction," Henry nodded.
"Sounds kinda complicated," Takato blinked. "What can you do?"
"'I can analyse structures of things, strengthen them, and I can also 'project' physical objects into existence for a limited time," Shirou said. "I'm... A rather amateur magus."
"Who cares? That by itself is really cool!" Takato grinned. "Come on, show us!"
Shirou sighed, grabbing a branch that someone could easily break with their hands. He then applied his usual technique, which was akin to forcing a hot iron rod into his body, to create a 'magic circuit' for him to use. "Trace, On."
I am the bone of my sword...
Those words came back into his head, as the branch strengthened in his hand. He was actually surprised it worked. Only last night it actually worked properly – more often than not, he failed miserably. He held out the branch, keeping a hold on it to keep it from going back to its original state. "Try and snap it."
Takato grabbed it, and tried to break it. However, much to his surprise, it was like trying to bend steel. The wood just wouldn't budge. Henry also had no success whatsoever, and they even tried doing it together. Takato panted, "There's got to be some kind of iron rod in it or something!" He frantically tried to break off the more fragile parts, but even they seemed so much more difficult to break. "You really are a magus!"
"It's fairly basic stuff," Shirou replied, getting up.
"I suggest we meet up tomorrow here, after school. If other Masters attempt to target you and Guilmon, Shirou and I should at least be around to check up on you both," Saber said to Takato.
"So we're friends, right?" Takato smiled.
"Yes, we are," Henry smiled. "First Digimon, then magic. The world world's going crazy, huh?"
"You have no idea," Shirou said.
Takato looked at Terriermon, "What does 'moumantai' mean, anyway?"
"No worries, no stress, take it easy~!" Terriermon grinned.
"So it's basically 'Hakuna Mutata', then?" Shirou couldn't help but chuckle. "A problem-free philosophy... Shame I can't just take that kind of view."
"Why not?" Henry asked.
"Well... I guess it's a bit embarrasing, but... I want to be a hero. A superhero, a 'hero of justice' who can save everyone," Shirou said. "It was my dad's ideal that he could never achieve before he died, and, well, I decided to take up that dream in his stead. It's a borrowed ideal... But I think it's beautiful."
"Of course it's beautiful! You don't know if it's impossible unless you try!" Takato smiled. "It's not embarrassing at all."
"Might be a bit too naïve an ideal... But I can't say it's not a nice thing to think about," Henry chuckled.
Shirou smiled, not noticing the stunned look on Saber's face. "Thank you. I'll try."
The rest of the afternoon was fairly straightforward. Takato was able to go home without worries. Shirou, on the other hand, had to deal with Taiga and Sakura, who were still fawning over Calumon, but were also reluctant to let Saber stay as well, forcing Shirou to let them sleep over as well.
However, elsewhere, as Ayako was heading home after closing down the Archery club, had decided to pass through an alleyway. Unfortunately for her, someone had been stalking her. Fortunately, the stalker was also being stalked. A woman with long, purple hair, a black outfit, and a purple blindfold dropped down behind Ayako, but she was suddenly knocked to the ground by Renamon, who immediately retreated to a safe distance. Ayako's eyes widening, also running straight out of the alleyway, opting to not ask questions as she passed by Rika, who stepped into the alleyway.
"Damn it, you let her get away!" Stepping out from behind a wall, a young man with blue hair cursed as he glared at Rika. He was not happy about this one bit. Shinji Matou had talked to Ayako, and he wanted to punish her. His Servant, Rider, leaped back to him. "I'll make you and your stupid fox pay for this!"
"You're kind of a crappy Master if your Servant was so easily surprised," Rika retorted. "She's not in the same league as Saber, Archer or Berserker."
Shinji's eye twitched. "Rider, kill the fox. I want that girl to myself! I'm going to make her suffer."
"Renamon, test her capabilities, but don't take unnecessary risks," Rika whispered to her. "Don't get yourself killed, she's still out of your league."
"Understood, Rika," Renamon nodded, as Rika slashed two option cards through her D-Arc – a 'Boost Chip' and a 'High-Speed Plug-In B', to boost her partner's overall power and speed to enable her to keep up with Rider. The fox Digimon and the Servant immediately traded blows, Renamon taking note of the unusual dagger she carried, which resembled a nail and had a very long chain attached to it. The lack of space in the alleyway forced the two fighters to leap off the walls to gain elevation so they could take advantage of the third dimension.
Renamon was able to confirm what she suspected from playing it safe, mainly dodging strikes and launching Diamond Storm attacks at her enemy – Rider was very agile. Renamon in her normal state would have no chance of matching her speed, the option card made it easier, but even then, Rider still had a major advantage. Secondly, Rider fought dirty. She was wearing the fox down with swift but weak strikes, and trying to use the chain to stop her from moving, but Renamon knew better than to get ensnared. She was using low-risk, high-return style fighting. This wasn't the type of fighter to play fair.
Then she realized that Shinji was moving in on Rika, and immediately kicked him to the ground, moving back to Rika, "That's as much as I can get out of her. If we force her hand, we might-"
"Say no more, Renamon. Retreat," Rika said, as she and Renamon immediately escaped the alleyway, Renamon launching a Diamond Storm at Shinji to force Rider to protect him by getting him out of the way, before she would be able to give chase.
Shinji coughed, wiping his face. "Damn that girl...! So Digimon are real, huh? I think we should do our homework on this, Rider... Let's go."
As he walked away, Rider frowned, dissipating into her spirit form, as she followed her Master.
Chapter 2
Early next day, Shirou had convinced Saber to stay at the house, telling her that he'd be perfectly safe at school. She reluctantly accepted his explanation. Unfortunately, Shirou would eventually discover this was a bad, bad idea in hindsight. Calumon wanted to play, but Saber just wanted to sleep, as she had to conserve her prana, so Calumon decided to go exploring, and promised her he'd stay out of trouble.
However, around an hour later, Saber was awoken by something licking at her face. She immediately got to her feet, prepared to attack... Only to realize it was Guilmon, whose tail was happily swaying from side to side, and he hugged her. "Arturiamon! Can we play?"
"G-Guilmon...?! How did you get in here?!" Saber spluttered, not even remotely expecting the dragon Digimon's presence.
"He climbed over the wall, culu," Calumon said, sitting on Guilmon's head. "I ran into him in the park, and he really want to find you, so, um..."
"Calumon, I told you, I need to rest," Saber frowned, looking down at the pair, "I can't afford to 'play'... And Guilmon, please, don't call me that."
"Why not? Arturia is Arturia," Guilmon frowned, nuzzling her belly. This was perfectly true, but Saber knew she couldn't let him spread that knowledge around. Shirou hadn't made the connection yet, as 'King Arthur' was, to his knowledge, a man, but others would not be so slow to realize. The best bet would be to convince him that it was not her name.
"I keep telling you, that's not my name. My name is-" Saber was interrupted by Guilmon giving her puppy-dog eyes. Oh, that is just not fair.
She felt guilty for trying to lie to him. He knew from the bottom of his heart who she really was, and she knew it. It was amazing how childlike he was. There was something beautiful about that innocence, in Saber's eyes. She put her hands together, with a sigh. This was going to be absolutely problematic. She definitely felt a kinship with this creature. Though he was not a creature born of magic, somehow, he was still a phantasmal beast, even if he was just a child only a few days old. Dragons were the most powerful of phantasmal species, they could generate prana merely by breathing. By their nature, they were very dangerous, very greedy (though their hoards had less to do with the actual value of what they hoarded and more to do with the fact that said hoarded materials were just shiny), intelligent, and feared by many. Saber herself and a couple of her knights had, in their time, slain dragons to protect the populace, but she had never had to deal with raising one. Yes, she did once take care of a lion cub, but that was quite different. Takato had no idea what he was getting into. She feared that if he raised Guilmon wrong, he could become just as dangerous as the dragons that were fought in Saber's time. But she also knew Takato was earnest and trying to do his best. "Nevermind. I apologize. Just... Do not tell anyone my real name, please. Will you promise me that, Guilmon?"
Guilmon nodded. "I promise!"
"Very well, then, I'll play with you. But nothing exhausting, okay? And you have to go back to the park when it is time for Takato to leave school, he will get worried if you are not there."
"Okay!" Guilmon nodded, with a smile, understanding as much. Saber smiled. She never had fun ever since she drew the sword from the stone... Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad.
In the fountain area of the park where Renamon and Saber had clashed the previous afternoon, government agents were investigating. One particular man, with blonde hair, a black suit, and sunglasses, was overseeing the operation, casually flicking a lighter's lid open and closed. Finding a Digimon card partially buried in the ground, he pulled it out, and inspected it.
However, little did he know, he was being watched from afar. A brown-haired priest looked upon the closed-off scene with interest. The man overseeing the operation in particular was most interesting to him.
When Shirou came to school, he ran into Rin... Who had looked utterly dumbfounded by his presence. He also noted that Shinji had not come to school in two days – he certainly hadn't been at the archery club the previous day.
However, someone who was indeed around, was Ayako, who came to talk to him around lunch, when he was talking to Issei. Shirou blinked, "Mitsuzuri-san? What's up?"
"I need to talk to you about something. You're probably gonna think I've gone insane, but I need someone to talk to about this," Ayako sighed, sitting down at the table in the School Council room. Issei Ryuudou, who had dark blue for both his hair and eyes and wore glasses, was very tired and was trying to sleep, but he decided to listen in anyway. "Yesterday, when I was locking up the archery range, Shinji showed up. We had an argument. When I was going home, I made the mistake of taking a shortcut through an alleyway, and was nearly attacked."
"Attacked?! By Shinji?!" Shirou's eyes widened, as he turned towards her. This, he couldn't ignore by any means.
"No, not specifically," Ayako replied. "This strange woman landed right behind me. She was about to attack me, but then someone else attacked her, and I bolted and hid. Shinji was definitely involved, though. I heard his voice, he got really angry because the ambush failed. I managed to find a hiding spot where I had a good view of the fight."
"Who was involved in the fight?" Shirou raised an eyebrow.
"That woman I mentioned, for starters. She had strange black clothing, beautiful long purple hair, and a blindfold. I gotta admit, she was gorgeous. Shinji called her 'Rider'," Ayako replied, crossing her arms. "The other two involved... Heh. This is the crazy part. A Digimon was the one who attacked that 'Rider' woman, and she had a partner, a younger girl with orange hair. Now, I'm not too familiar with Digimon, but I've seen her around before because some students keep inviting her to challenge her to card games. She's the 'Digimon Queen', Rika Nonaka, she's crazy good with the Digimon card game, she even gives high schoolers a run for their money. But I didn't think she was an actual Digimon 'tamer'. I bet Calumon is a Digimon, too."
"An actual, real-life Digimon, huh...? Yeah, I had similar thoughts about Calumon. Fuji-nee also mentioned that red dinosaur that turned up at the elementary school," Shirou nodded. "I can't say I don't believe you."
Ayako chuckled, "That's not all, though. Rika called Shinji a 'Master', and Rider a 'Servant'. She also mentioned a few other names – 'Saber', 'Archer', and 'Beserker'. Sounds like the names of character classes in an RPG. She and Renamon duked it out for a while, it was one hell of a match, but Renamon was clearly out of her league and was fighting defensively, though. I got the hell out of there before the fight ended so Shinji wouldn't notice I wasn't already gone."
Shirou was about to speak, but he had to give this a bit of thought. Rika had already known about Servants from her encounter with Rin and Archer. But if she knew Saber's name and also about Beserker, she must've seen the fight at the graveyard. And she had accidentally and potentially exposed the Grail War to Ayako. Thankfully, Ayako hadn't figured it out yet, and she had inadvertently revealed some very important information to him – Shinji was a Master. But then Issei suddenly spoke up. "An interesting tale, for sure. But I'm not as inclined to believe you as Emiya-kun is. But, regardless, you're making some rather serious allegations against Matou-kun."
"You know how he is, Ryuudou-kun," Ayako replied. "He's in one of his moods. I think it was because he tried to flirt with Tohsaka-san, and got shot down. Hard."
Issei chuckled, "Well, it seems that witch is good for something after all. Someone had to knock Matou off his high horse eventually. But in any case, Mitsuzuri-san, I suggest you avoid taking shortcuts on your way home, for the time being. Or, better yet, have Emiya-kun escort you."
"I wouldn't mind... Though I need to get home as soon as possible, so I don't have that kind of spare time," Shirou noted. "But, this can take priority if you insist..."
"Ahem. You owe me, remember?" Ayako smirked.
"... Crap. I do, don't I... Alright, I'll do it." Sorry, Saber... I'll have to delay coming home...
Saber, at the appointed time, took Guilmon down to the park so they could meet up with Takato. As it happened, they were slightly late, as Takato had already gotten there, and was panicking until he saw his partner, and hugged him. "Ah, Guilmon! I was so worried!"
"Sorry, Takatomon... I was playing with Saber..." Guilmon meekly apologized.
"I should've been sleeping, myself, but I decided to keep him company when he showed up at the Emiya household," Saber explained with a sigh, but then she smiled softly. "But... I suppose it was fun."
"Thank you, Saber," Takato replied earnestly. "Hey, where's Emiya-san?"
"Shirou... He's still at school, I think. I'll go meet him at the school gates," Saber smiled.
"We'll come with you! I mean, you're supposed to be making sure some Servant doesn't attack us," Takato chuckled.
"But we can't have Guilmon walking about, he'll attract attention," Saber noted.
"What's so bad about that, culu?" Calumon asked, sitting on Saber's head.
"Well, it's not like we haven't tried pretending he's a cosplayer," Takato said. "Who knows, it might work."
"No, there's no way in a million years such a plan can work! Certainly not!" Saber objected...
Shirou was waiting for Ayako to lock up the archery range. He had spent some time asking some people if they had known where Shinji had gone, and by the time he was done, the school was empty. He was ready to leave the building. But as he was about to walk down the stairs, he noticed Rin, at the top of the stairs, looking down at him, clearly angry. "Tohsaka-san? I have to go, so whatever business you have with me, can it wait? I need to escort Mitsuzuri-san home, and-"
"Without your Servant? I'm stunned. Are you even sane?" Rin sighed.
"Of course I'm sane. I can't turn Saber into spirit form, so there's no way I can bring her to school," Shirou replied. "By the way, Shinji's a Master, and his Servant is Rider. Mitsuzuri-san says she was nearly attacked yesterday. A Digimon saved her."
"That aside, you could just as easily skip school. You're practically making yourself an easy target like this," Rin replied, frowning. "Are you stupid?"
"I'm not! Masters don't fight in the open, in front of people, right? Especially not in the daytime and in a school at that."
"Then are there people here, pray tell?"
Shirou began to sweat, as the realisation hit him. The building was almost empty. There were likely only teachers on the bottom floor. They were on the third floor. Rin rolled up her left sleeve, "Exactly. I told you so many times, and you still came here to get killed."
When Shirou saw the glowing Magic Crest on her arm, he knew this was gonna suck.
"... I cannot believe this plan is actually working."
Saber was dumbfounded by the display of sheer audacity Takato and Guilmon were displaying, simply by walking in broad daylight in public. There were some odd stares, but otherwise, people were none the wiser. She decided there was no point complaining, and they headed to the school gates.
However, once they arrived there, Saber frowned. Her Master was in danger. She could hear fighting on the higher floors. She sprinted towards the building as she changed into her armor, leaving Takato, Guilmon and Calumon behind and bewildered, so they immediately followed her.
"Damn it, stop running!"
Rin had been firing her Gandr Shots repeatedly like a pistol, giving chase to Shirou. So far, Shirou had managed to avoid being shot, running and dodging as he went, and even managed to get down to the second floor, only to finally be cornered in a classroom, using a table as cover as he managed to reinforce it before Rin basically tore the rest of the room to shreds with her magical projectiles. However, his magical energy had only so much, and he had to give up, reinforcing a chair leg as a makeshift weapon as he came out, expecting Rin to have given up...
However, much to his surprise, Saber was there, holding her sword to Rin's throat. "Saber...!"
"Seems you were indeed in more danger than you thought, Shirou," Saber frowned. "Shall I cut her throat?"
Then came the scream of a girl from downstairs, surprising all three of them. Shirou immediately rushed for the stairs, "Not now! Someone's in trouble!"
Saber and Rin followed him downstairs, and they found a female student unconscious on the floor in front of an emergency exit, Takato was trying to wake her up, with Guilmon by his side. He looked up at them, "We were about to catch up with you, but then we heard her scream, and she's-"
"Calm down, Takato!" Shirou checked the unconscious girl, "There's no injuries... She seems to be alright..."
"No, definitely not, she's empty inside! She's had her life energy drained! This is worse than the people who get attacked by Caster!" Rin said, checking the body, "If she isn't treated, she'll die!"
Then she realized that Takato, Guilmon and Calumon were with them. "Wait a minute! Who're these two?! Another Digimon tamer?! Gah, doesn't matter, I've got something to cure her... Close that door, will you? The wind's blowing my hair!"
Shirou looked out the door, about to close it, but then Saber shoved him aside, and deflected a sudden projectile – what looked like a dagger that resembled a black nail. "It's an enemy Servant! I'll engage her!" Then she rushed out to fight.
Guilmon snarled, following her out as well, despite Takato's objections as he followed him out. Shirou spoke, "Rin, help the girl out. I'll support Saber!"
He rushed outside, as Saber and Rider clashed, the latter retreating to the woods behind the archery range. Guilmon was launching pyro sphere projectiles, keeping the enemy Servant on her toes. Rider was using the trees to avoid direct confrontation with Saber, clashing with her and trying to ambush her. Shirou then saw a familiar figure among the trees – Shinji, who was smiling, as he tried to hide. Mitsuzuri confirmed that he was Rider's Master, so there was little doubt. "SHINJI! Stop hiding like a coward!"
"What he said."
Shinji was suddenly decked in the face, knocking him to the mouldy ground. Rika was standing there, with Renamon by her side. Shirou and Takato, having noticed this, both spoke, "The Digimon Queen...!"
Rika glanced at them, "So Saber's Master is here, too. Good. She can keep Rider busy, while Renamon takes out Guilmon!"
Guilmon, with a feral snarl, attempted to bite Renamon, who jumped back, unleashing a Diamond Storm, which barely had any affect on Guilmon. Takato spoke up, "No, Guilmon, stop it! There's no reason for you to fight!"
"Of course there's no reason! That's how Digimon are!" Rika said. "Renamon, finish it off!"
"No, he's right! There's no reason for them to fight!" Shirou said, grabbing Rika's arm. "Get your partner to back off, now!"
"L-Let go of me!" Rika snapped, throwing a punch with her free arm, which Shirou easily blocked.
"Emiya-san, don't stoop to her level! Guys, cut it out, already!"
That would be Henry, with Terriermon on his head, who had also arrived on the scene. He had managed to locate the fight via his Digivice. Shinji panicked, stumbling back away from them, "More Digimon?! What the hell is this crap?!"
Shirou frowned, letting go of Rika's arm. Rika frowned, "Stop interfering! Your small-fry of a partner wouldn't stand a chance against Renamon!"
"Geez, that's rude! You're hurting my feelings!" Terriermon said, hopping off Henry's head.
Shirou chuckled, but then he realized that Rider had thrown her dagger at his head. Terriermon jumped to knock him out of the way, but got a nasty injury for his trouble. Henry cried out, "TERRIERMON!"
Then came light from his Digivice. And before anyone knew it, Terriermon had transformed, becoming a much larger creature, taller than Saber, wore blue pants, and had machineguns on his arms, along with a belt along his torso. Henry, realizing what trouble they were in, took cover behind a tree, as did Takato. And when Terriermon, now Gargomon, started spraying bullets all over the place with glee, Shirou and Shinji also decided that taking cover might be a good idea. Saber and Rider were also on the defensive, finding that the Digimon's bullets were more effective than normal firearms. Shinji panicked, "You idiot! Are you TRYING to get us killed?!"
"I told him not to evolve! Damn it!" Henry grit his teeth, as he watched Saber, Rider, Guilmon and Renamon avoid the gunfire. Renamon attempted to grapple the big dog-rabbit, only to get thrown off quickly, "This is bad!"
"Why do they have to fight, culu...?" Calumon frowned, watching the fight from behind a tree.
"Oh, screw this! I'm outta here!" Shinji immediately tried to get away... However, he quickly found himself and Rika cornered against a large tree, with Gargomon's machineguns pointed at them. Rika looked visibly panicked. Shinji was practically pissing himself.
Shirou sprinted out of cover, gripping the makeshift weapon in his hand, and struck Gargomon with a strong hit to the back of the head, knocking him down, enabling Shinji and Rika to take cover again. Before Gargomon could shoot at Shirou, Guilmon tackled him to the ground with surprising strength, as Saber retreated to Shirou's side.
Shinji dusted himself off, as Rider dashed back to his side. "Tch... Whatever! We'll retreat for now, and later, we'll-"
"Or you'll what, Matou-kun?"
That would be Rin, who had arrived on the scene, and was giving Shinji a wicked smile. Shinji grit his teeth, "Tohsaka..."
"You know, Matou-kun, I was thinking of giving you some leniency, but now that I've heard that you tried to attack Mitsuzuri-san, that goodwill is all gone, now," Rin said, giving Shinji a foreboding smile that made him shiver in fear. "I've already called Archer. If you don't run now, I imagine you and your Servant will be both be nailed to the trees."
"D-Damn you! I'll show you, damn it!" Shinji snapped with a poorly-worded threat, as he and Rider fled the scene.
Rika glared at Rin, "You again..."
"Good afternoon, Nonaka-chan," Rin replied with a smug smile, causing Rika's eyes to widen, "and yes, I do know your name. The issue with being the 'Digimon Queen' is that it's easy for you enemies to identify you with a bit of detective work. This time, I'm going to make sure you won't get away without a memory wipe-"
"Sorry, Tohsaka, but I can't let you do that. I owe her."
Rin blinked, turning around, and freaked out when she saw Ayako leaning against a tree, looking rather bemused. "M-MITSUZURI-SAN?!"
"I told you I was going to escort her home," Shirou said flatly. "All this commotion, including you attacking me, I might add, would've inevitably drawn attention from anyone in the vicinity, don't you think?"
"B-B-But I-"
"I saw you heal that student with your powers. So you're a magician or something?" Ayako chuckled. "Doesn't really matter, I guess we all keep secrets..."
"Now hold on a minute! I'm not letting you walk away without-"
"So that Shinji guy is a magus, too?" Gargomon asked, doing a handstand on Henry's order. "Jeez, seems the cat's out of the bag, now..."
"Gargomon..." Henry groaned.
"YOU TOLD THEM?!" Rin roared at Shirou, now officially aggravated.
Shirou replied, wincing, "Actually, Henry here figured it out by himself, and I figured mutual secrecy would be beneficial-"
"Emiya-kun. If Saber weren't here, I would kill you on the spot!" Rin roared back, clenching her fists. "RIGHT NOW! Have you lost your mind?! We can't just go spreading the existence of magecraft around willy-nilly like that!"
"Tohsaka, I think you're not helping your case by mentioning more details of the thing you're trying to hide," Ayako chuckled, causing Rin to clam up and grumble something under her breath.
"Yep, she's completely lost it," Takato deadpanned. Guilmon was confused, Henry rubbed his temples, Gargomon found this amusing, and Rika and Renamon simply looked on in astonishment. This was another side of that girl they hadn't seen before.
Saber then decided to speak up. "Rin. These children would get involved sooner or later. It's better that they know what they're getting into so they can protect themselves and their partners if an enemy Servant attacks them. As well, they could prove to be valuable allies, and are more than willing to keep a secret. And if what I heard is correct, if you remove Mitsuzuri-san's memory of this, she'll be unprepared if Shinji attacks her again."
Rin sighed, conceding the point. "Alright... Fine. If Emiya-kun trusts these boys, I will... And I trust Mitsuzuri-san." She then looked at Rika, "You, on the other hand..."
"Quite frankly, I don't really care if magic is a thing or not," Rika said, turning around. "I'm in this to win. Heck, maybe I'll win the 'Grail' as well, while I'm at it."
"Then you'll be risking your life for no reason," Rin said. "Only a Master can win the Holy Grail, and it's a battle to the death. Even Masters are vulnerable. In fact, they're priority targets. Without a Master providing magical energy to them, a Servant can't stay in this world. Other Servants and Masters may not be so merciful as Emiya-kun and I."
This response unsettled Rika, remembering that she was nearly on the receiving end of a lot of bullets. However, she shook off the thought, and left without a word. Renamon simply blended into the woods, disappearing. The resulting atmosphere could be described as 'awkward'. Rin sighed. "Look... Let's just take this conversation to my house."
Takato and Henry were both in awe at the Tohsaka mansion. Shirou was nervous about actually entering the house, though he tried not to show it. It was big, western, and fancy, in short. Archer had met up with them on the way, and it gave Shirou a chance to properly size him up, and he confirmed once more that, for some reason, he just couldn't approve of him. The look of contempt Archer gave him confirmed likewise, and at least made him feel better about not liking him.
"Anyone want tea? And with milk or sugar?" Rin smiled, as they entered the living room.
"Yes, please, and neither of those." "No, thank you." "Yes, with milk, thanks." "Sure, I'll have sugar." "Milk, thank you." Those responses were from Shirou, Takato, Henry, Ayako and Saber, respectively. The Digimon didn't want tea.
Archer went to start making the tea, while the others sat down around the living room table. Rin smiled, "Now, then... How much do you guys know about the Holy Grail War?"
"Well, Shirou told us most of the basics, I think, that it's a fight for the Holy Grail, which grants one wish, there's Masters and Servants, the difference between Magecraft and Sorcery..." Takato listed off the top of his head.
"Well, I can fill in the blanks for Mitsuzuri-san later. I'm more interested in your Digimon partners," Rin said. "What was that thing that the dog-rabbit did? Some kind of metamorphosis?"
"It's called 'evolution', though, yes, it's technically metamorphosis," Henry replied. "Digimon can revert back to prior evolution levels. It takes a while for Gargomon, though. He went from his 'Child' form, Terriermon, to his 'Adult' form... Though he promised not to evolve. There's also the much stronger 'Perfect' and Ultimate' levels. In the west, they call them 'Rookie', 'Champion', 'Ultimate' and 'Mega', respectively."
"Erm... Sorry. It just happened," Gargomon said sheepishly.
"So the gulf in strength between Digimon and Servants is simply because the ones I've encounter so far are Adult or below," Rin mused to herself. "Archer and I have run into some 'wild' Digimon in strange fog. Even I wouldn't have much trouble eliminating them."
"So we haven't seen the stronger ones yet," Ayako summarised. "But why are Servants so much stronger?"
"Because we were legendary heroes in life," Saber replied. "'Servants' are Heroic Spirits summoned into special 'containers' prepared by the Holy Grail. These containers are the classes that each Servant is known by – 'Saber', 'Archer', 'Lancer', 'Rider', 'Caster', 'Berserker', 'Assassin'."
"Heh, I was right, it really is like an RPG, except much more real and dangerous," Ayako smiled, arms crossed as she leaned back. "Which hero are you, Saber?"
"You shouldn't ask that of her, Mitsuzuri-san. Servants have to keep their identities hidden to avoid exposing their weaknesses," Shirou replied.
"Alright, then, I'll ask something of you, then," Ayako grinned in response, "what kind of 'magecraft' are you capable of, Emiya-kun?"
"Structural analysis and reinforcement are pretty much the two I'm actually good at," Shirou replied.
"What about Projection? That goes hand-in-hand with those skills," Archer remarked, as he walked in, putting the tea down on the table. A quick sip from everyone resulted in a rather silent agreement from everyone that Archer could make a damn good cup of tea.
"Well, I can do that too, but Kiritsugu said it was a worthless skill to have," Shirou replied, taking a sip. He also had to grudgingly admit to the quality of the tea, and glanced at the three 'muggles' who clearly had no idea what Projection is. "Projection is basically the temporary creation of objects, illusions made physical."
"You'd be surprised," Archer remarked. "Why not give it a try?"
"I want to see, culu!" Calumon waddled up to Shirou expectantly. Shirou looked around at the others, who were obviously expecting a demonstration as well, including Rin, though she looked rather annoyed at him for some reason. He nodded, and held out his hand. He hadn't done this in a while, and he focused. The image of Archer's swords appeared in his mind. Maybe, if he could reproduce those beautiful swords, he could have a better chance of fighting...
Almost everyone was too focused on Shirou to notice the red triangle on Calumon's forehead glow. All except for Archer, who was attentive enough to take notice. What the...?
Then Shirou cried out in pain, as multiple swords suddenly and unexpectedly forced themselves out of his body. Right before, he had felt a sudden and considerable surge of prana before he could make a magic circuit. Unbeknownst to him, the prana surge had opened up a couple of the existing magic circuits in his body. The room was in uproar, as Saber rushed over to her Master in a panic, Rin was dumbfounded and also trying to help Shirou, Calumon, Takato, Henry and Ayako were horrified, Guilmon and Gargomon were both confused, and Archer was unconcerned, knowing Shirou's injuries would quickly heal. The red Servant thought to himself, What the hell was that...?! He couldn't have possibly tapped into the Hill by himself... That little Digimon must have supercharged him with prana, enough to accidentally manifest it, if only partially. Things just got VERY interesting...
"What the hell was that?! Were you trying to impress us or something?!" Rin snapped, as she watched the swords disappear. Much to her surprise, Shirou's wounds were already healing quickly. "And how the hell did you use so much prana?!"
"I... I don't know! I wasn't even trying to do that!" Shirou coughed up blood. Saber inspected the healing wounds, noting to herself that she could actually feel some prana transferring to him via their link, which shouldn't normally happen in their situation, meaning his sudden prana burst was enough to temporarily force a proper link at least.
"What the heck...? Are his wounds healing by themselves?!" Ayako blinked, as she came over to check his injuries as well. "Is that Saber's ability?"
"No, I don't have such an ability by myself," Saber replied. She had figured it out. Whatever it was, it was indeed using her prana to assist Shirou's healing, but not much, it was mostly Shirou's prana fueling it. "I think I have an idea of what it is, but I would rather not disclose it. It is a conceptual weapon that was likely the catalyst for my summoning, and it's inside his body."
And she figures it out early. Considering how I remember her using it, if she ever takes it back, she'll become unstoppable, Archer thought to himself, crossing his arms. That is going to be a major problem. I'm going to have to steal the damn thing before she gets the chance. He decided to tap Rin on the shoulder, and whisper into her ear.
Rin blinked, and looked at Calumon, who looked back at her curiously. She sighed, and picked him up, "I just need to check something. Let me know if something happens." Then she took him into another room.
Archer crossed his arms, with a chuckle. "That was rather strange. How'd you screw up that badly?"
"Bite me," Shirou grit his teeth, getting back onto a chair, "I haven't done proper projection in a while."
"Heh, wow, and I thought you were incapable of animosity. I thought you were just a pacifist who couldn't hurt a fly," Archer remarked.
"Hey, if someone wants to fight me, I'll fight," Shirou grumbled.
Ayako smirked, "Man, for some reason, it feels like you two are rather alike."
"... What?" Archer and Shirou replied.
"Yeah, you guys really are not so different," Henry chuckled.
"Now wait just a minute-" Shirou objected-
"Yeah, it's like you're long-lost brothers or something," Takato smiled.
Then it just snowballed into an argument, both Archer and Shirou getting rather annoyed at each other. However, soon enough, Rin came back, and dragged Shirou off to the side, into another room. "Ugh... What the hell are you arguing about?"
"Archer's really getting on my nerves," Shirou said. "I think he's egging on Saber as well."
"Well, deal with it," Rin sighed, and then changed the subject. "I ran some tests on Calumon's prana output. I think I need to lie down. He's like a prana generator of some kind. Even he doesn't realize it, but it's there." She rubbed her temples, "When it's not active, the output isn't that much, but if someone were to figure out how to actually use his capabilities, no, even worse, if a Master could figure it out, they'd have a huge advantage in the War."
"I understand, so that's a problem," Shirou nodded.
"Also... You idiot! You shouldn't be telling other Masters what you're capable of! It's a faux pas when it comes to talking to potential enemy magi," Rin snapped at him. "You should know that a magus hides his mysteries from others. Once the mystery is revealed, enemies can exploit it."
"I... I'm sorry, I get what you're saying. I feel bad, now," Shirou sighed. "My dad taught me to be a magic user, not a magus, and that I could walk away from it at any time."
"Hmph... I can't approve of your father. He put being a father over being a magus," Rin sighed. "Look... We'll make a deal, okay? An alliance until we can deal with the other Masters, especially Shinji and Illyasviel. Plus, we need to keep the Tamers safe, and Mitsuzuri-san too. Normally I wouldn't just hypnotised them, got rid of the Digimon, and be done with it, but... Ugh."
"Archer says he smells blood on you, but you're not as heartless as he thinks," Shirou chuckled. "And I'll take that deal. I'm not very experienced, so..."
"Hey, don't think I'm doing this because I like you guys, you idiot," Rin blushed, with an annoyed expression, "I swear-"
"Oh, I know what's going on. You're a tsundere!"
Rin blinked, turning to see an eavesdropping Gargomon, who was grinning. She grit her teeth, "HEY! This is a private conversation! And what's that supposed to mean, anyhow?!"
"He means you're a mood-swinger, Rin," Henry remarked, coming in. "Anyhow... We need to go soon. I live in east Miyama, so..."
"Archer and I will escort you there," Rin smiled, but then blinked, "But why did you make your partner promise not to evolve? It is because he went nuts just before?"
"It's... A long story. Terriermon was originally from a Digimon game on my computer. We fought a Gorimon that went crazy attacking other Digimon, and we had to beat it... But when Terriermon evolved, he became just as crazed as Gorimon did," Henry sighed. "It only hurt him in the end. I only felt guilty for it, especially when he came into the real world."
"Hey, hey, it's alright, Henry," Gargomon said, extending an ear around his partner.
"You seem wise beyond your years," Shirou remarked. "You're awfully guilty about getting others hurt."
"I seriously hurt a kid once," Henry nodded. "I vowed to never use violence as a solution if I can help it."
"I understand how you feel, I used to fight bullies when I was around your age," Shirou said. "I wanted to protect the weak."
"Yeah, you did say you wanted to be a hero," Henry smiled. "You should take Takato and Guilmon to the park. Gargomon here needs to use up energy to devolve."
"Actually, I might be able to help with that," Rin smiled. "If you want to stick around a while. If Gargomon has excess prana in his body, I might be able to drain it."
"That would be nice, thank you," Henry chuckled, and then blinked, "wait, are you saying that Servants and Digimon use the same type of energy?"
"Prana exists in all living things, some simply have more than most," Rin replied, nodding. "Saber claims that Guilmon is a phantasmal beast. I suspect Digimon are all magical creatures to some extent. That will take some experimentation to find out if that's the case, however."
"Alright. Just don't dissect me, I like being in one piece," Gargomon grinned.
That evening, after Shirou and Takato had made sure Guilmon was safe in the shed, the dragon Digimon was sleeping. However, he soon woke up, sniffing, and saw a girl with white hair standing in front of the gate. "Hehe. Aren't you the curious little thing? And I thought most magical creatures had died out."
"Hmm? Are you... A Master?" Guilmon blinked, looking at the girl curiously. He didn't recognise her as Illyasviel von Einzbern. He smiled, "I'm Guilmon! What's your name?"
"I'm Illyasviel von Einzbern," the girl smiled back. She was being genuinely curious, despite the fact that Berserker was waiting not far away. "What kind of magical creature are you."
"Guilmon is Digimon," Guilmon got up, walking over, and sniffing her face through the bars.
"H-Hey, stop it! That tickles!" Illya giggled, stepping back. "Digimon, huh? Looks like I can't have Berserker smash you just yet... I'm too curious." She looked past him, noting the massive hole Guilmon had dug out at the back of the shed. "Wow... You're rather busy in here."
"Sitting in this place is boring," Guilmon groaned. "You wanna play?"
This question caused Illya to blink... And then she smiled, opening the gate, "Sure!"
She was then tackle-hugged by the Digimon, who sniffing her face again, causing more giggles. Berserker simply watched in spirit form, without judgement on the matter. He only did as his Master ordered and protected her with his life, nothing more, nothing less. The dragon posed little threat to her, and obviously expressed no hostility whatsoever... For the moment, at least.
The next day, Shirou and Rin were rooting out the seals that made up the boundary field that threatened their school. Shinji was absent, again. Seems the knowledge that Shirou and Rin were angry at him made him stay away that day. Calumon was out and about, much to Saber's chargin, though she was content with spending her time with Guilmon.
After school, Takato was trading cards with a couple of friends of his, Kazu and Kenta, getting a Training Gibs card. Kazu grinned, "It raises your Digimon's HP and attack power!"
"Huh... I wonder if it's related to evolution..." Takato wondered, as he noticed Henry and Terriermon walk past...
"Anomaly detected."
A man in the dimly-lit room flicked his lighter, as he looked up at the dome screen above, where the two female operators were working. "Is it a wild one?"
"Most likely. Launching tracer."
A man in blue, his skin-tight bodysuit and hair matching, with red eyes, watched a large cloud of fog gather above the town, moving down to chase a couple of kids, one of them with one of those odd creatures on his head. "Huh... Should I take 'em out?"
"Not now, Lancer. Observe what happens, and report back to me. It would likely be of no challenge for you, at any rate."
"Yeah, I know... Geez, you'd think these Digimon would actually present some form of a challenge," Lancer scoffed, as he hopped from building to building.
"Why is it following us?!" Henry freaked out, as he jumped over an obstacle into a construction site that was currently unmanned. Takato had split from him, and was likely going off to fetch Guilmon and Saber.
However, soon, the fog caught up, and exploded outwards, slamming Henry and Terriermon against a wall. The fog covered the entire building. Emerging into the physical world, was a huge gorilla with a cybernetic arm cannon, roaring as it beat its chest with its fists. Henry grit his teeth, "Gorimon... Don't you recognize me?! Terriermon won't fight you ever again! Go back to your world!"
The Gorimon simply fired a blast from its cannon, forcing Henry and Terriermon to run. Terriermon stopped, "Henry, I have to fight him!"
"Terriermon, do you want to go back to living like a beast?!"
"But... But...!"
The Gorimon roared, aiming again, but Terriermon leaped, striking it in the face, and then shot it in the knee and the face with his 'blazing fire' attack. "You wanted me to fight in the past, Henry!"
"Terriermon..." Henry had no response. Terriermon was fighting valiantly, but it quickly became apparent that Gorimon's physical strength was too great. "It's just like last time..." He had flashbacks to when they last fought... When Terriermon evolved. He didn't want that to happen again.
"Heh. You look like you're in a spot of trouble, kid."
A red spear stabbed into Gorimon's arm, causing it to roar in pain. Henry gasped, and Terriermon moved back, the attack giving him a breather. Lancer landed in front of the gorilla, removing his spear, "You're worried about your partner losing control? That's a problem you can't just run and hide from. I know how your partner feels... We don't truly feel alive unless we're fighting!"
Before the gorilla could retaliate, Lancer struck him right in the heart, causing him to burst into data particles. Lancer spun his spear, the fog dissipating, "And that takes care of that."
"You're... You're a Servant! You're Lancer, aren't you?" Henry frowned, as Terriermon retreated back to his side.
"You're quick on the upkeep, I can tell you that," Lancer grinned. "You've got a lot of potential, but you gotta know when to cut loose and start fighting for real. Maybe you could've handled that on your own, who knows. But I can sense Saber coming for my head, so I'll make myself scarce. Seeya!"
He leaped out of there, leaving Henry to ponder his words, as his friends arrived a bit too late to help...
"Cú Chulainn the Hound of Ireland, huh...?"
Henry, at home, was researching Lancer's legend on the internet. Saber had informed him that Lancer had exposed himself by using the special ability of his Noble Phantasm, Gáe Bolg, the spear that could pierce an enemy's heart without fail, even reversing cause and effect for the sure kill. Saber had decided that Guilmon and Terriermon would benefit from proper training against a Servant, and included them in her sparring matches with Shirou, and examined Takato and Henry's cards, providing advice on what situations to use them, and how. Calumon was certainly in safe hands, Henry knew. Saber was the type who was stern but fair, and it was difficult not to listen to her. She reminded him of his tai-chi teacher.
"He was a pretty interesting guy," Terriermon smiled, sitting on the desk. "He must really like fighting."
"He was a man who lived and died by the spear," Henry nodded in agreement. "I wonder what wish he has to participate in the Grail War... Or maybe he's here just to find a worthy opponent..."
"Henry... You know he might fight us one day, right?"
"Yeah... I know. Then all bets are off. The Holy Grail War is a fight where human lives are in danger. If we want to get involved, we can't just try and talk our way out of it. We'll have to be ready to fight, as much as it pains me to say it."
"Hmm. Another Digimon defeated. No closer to evolution..."
Rika crossed her arms, as she watched Renamon easily defeat an Evilmon which had appeared that night. "Honestly... These Digimon are all weak."
"Does it give you pleasure, slaughtering those creatures, hmm?"
Rika and Renamon turned towards the figure that approached. The brown-haired priest who had been spectating the fight smiled at the girl. There was just something off about the man, and Rika could feel it. She scoffed, "They're just Digimon. They live to fight. It's not my fault they're too weak. Who the hell are you?"
"I am Kirei Kotomine, the supervisor of the Holy Grail War, which you two have gotten yourselves involved in," Kotomine chuckled. "I'm here to make you an offer – come to the church, and you can receive sanctuary from both Masters and Servants. I will forbid them from harming the both of you."
"Hell no. I got involved for my own reasons. I'm not backing out until Renamon becomes stronger than anyone, Digimon or Servant," Rika replied, glaring at Kotomine.
"Amusing. You really think this is some kind of game, don't you?" Kotomine smirked, as he stepped forward, suddenly drawing a trio of strange handles, which suddenly formed into sharp blades. Renamon moved to intercept, launching arrowheads at the priest, but he easily deflected them, and knocked her down with sudden, swift strikes, being an extremely proficient practitioner of magecraft-enhanced bajiquan. The attacks knocked the air right out of Renamon's lungs, causing her to cough up blood. He then followed up by nearly slicing Rika's throat open, barely stopping his blades right before her neck.
Rika's eyes were wide, and she was understandably terrified. Kotomine smiled, "This is merely a taste of what you're dealing with, miss Nonaka. This is no game. If you get involved in the Holy Grail War, you may perish. My offer is still open. Come to the church, or take the risk. It's your choice, in the end."
He retracted the blades, and casually walked away, as Rika fell on her bum, shocked and terrified out of her mind. The fake priest couldn't help but smirk, having gotten a massive kick out of seeing the girl's terrified face, and the physical agony her partner suffered.
This will be a very interesting Grail War, indeed. And it excited him to no end.
To Be Continued
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Originally Posted by Break
