Shirou couldn’t help but stare at the sight. How could one not?
The pure beauty of the swordswoman, standing in the moonlight, her gallant posture in contrast to the spearman before her.
“…heh.” Lancer began to laugh.
Saber took a step forward, her invisible sword pointing towards her foe. “What is so funny Lancer?”
“Ahh.. . it’s just that I think I’m having some good luck for a change. Met two beautiful women who fight well tonight. It’s been a good day.” Lance answered lazily, still smirking.
“….” Saber was silent.
Shirou in all honesty couldn’t decide what to say to that either.
Life is an Endless Dream
By Pata Hikari
Chapter 2: Midnight
Today was not a good day for Rin. Not only had this boundary field frustrated at confused her. Not only had she been humiliated, knowing the only reason she was alive was because she was allowed to live. Not only was the person who she owed her life to the least talented, least able magus she had ever seen. But the worst part was that Saber, the ultimate Servant which she had desired, wanted, wished for, was currently serving said untalented magus, who was so bad she could not even enter spirit form. As such, she was following behind them, wearing a giant yellow raincoat.
She marched rigidly ahead of Shirou and Saber, her gaze focused on her destination. The sooner she dragged this guy to the church to, hopefully, get convinced to drop out the better.
~--------------------~
Shirou walked between the two girls.
In front of him, Tohsaka Rin, a girl he had… well, admired, in a sense. The fact that she was in fact a magus caught him completely off guard. The fact that a large part of her personality at school seemed to be an act surprised him as well. Behind him was the girl who had saved him; Saber, a “Servant” who would fight to protect him. She lightly followed him, her gaze shifting left and right, constantly keeping alert for any threat. “Saber.” He finally spoke, calling out her name.
“Yes, Master?”” And Shirou winced. He really didn’t like hearing her call him… that. It felt creepy.
“Shirou will do.” He said quickly.
“…very well, Shirou.” Much better, hearing her say his name made him feel more comfortable around her. “Now, what is it you wished to speak to me about?”
“I… uhh… was just wondering if you could tell me a bit about yourself.” Yes, there we go, get to know her…
“I have already informed you of everything of importance.” Saber answered.
“Uhhh that’s not what I meant.” Shirou didn’t really know how to phrase this right… “What I mean is; what are your hobbies? What do you do for fun? What’s your favorite food… stuff like that?”
“Ah. I see.” Saber nodded.
“Right! Now can you tell-“
“Those things are irrelevant.”
“I... uhh…” Shirou felt his shoulders sag in defeat. It would seem that Saber wasn’t one for conversation. He turned to the girl ahead of him. “Tohsaka?” He called out to her.
In an instant Rin stopped walking, mechanically turned around, and gave him an expression that shortened his life. “Yes? Emiya-kun?”
“Uh… nothing! Nothing! Never mind!” Shirou sighed. It looked like this walk wasn’t going to be one for conversation.
~--------------------~
It was a good day for Kotomine Kerei. Why was that? Why, because Emiya Kiritsugu’s son had joined the Holy Grail War. To make it even better, he had summoned the exact same Servant. The noble swordswoman, so pure and strong, had clashed wonderfully with Kiritsugu’s outward coldness. How would she connect to his son? Oh how he hoped that the boy had inherited the ideal that drove the “Magus Killer.” It would be perfect, to see such a wonderful development.
The slow pain as the boy realized that reality does not accept ideals.
Rin, of course, wanted to him to explain the Holy Grail War to the boy. She was too soft, too naive. There was no way Kiritsugu’s heir would give up that easier. Sure enough, the boy chose to fight. How wonderful, he couldn’t wait to see how he survived.
“Very well then, I officially recognize you as a Master of the Holy Grail War, Emiya Shirou.” He said, “If you lose your Servant, come to this church and I shall offer you sanctuary. “
“Yeah right.” He said quickly. How amusing, the boy instinctively rejected him.
“Well glad to see we’ve gotten everything straightened out.” Rin said, “Kirei, have all the Servants been summoned now?”
“Oh, why are you asking that, Rin?” He gave her a vague smile.
“Because that’s pretty much all I’ll ever need from you, you fake priest. So tell me so I can never speak to you again.” Kotomine almost laughed. Almost. While unnerving Rin with his laughter could be amusing, he settled for a faux-weary sigh.
“Is this how you repay me for looking after you? Your father wanted it so.” Technically true, he was sure that like any father, he wanted his daughter taken care of. Though, he doubted that he would have wanted the man who killed him to do so.
“Whatever, I’m sure you did it just to piss me off.”
“Forgive me, Lord, I have raised a rotten child.” He said in the same tone of voice he always used. “But, I will answer your question. As a man of God I aim to help others whenever possible. Five Servants have been summoned. Berserker was first, followed by Lancer, Caster, Archer, and finally Saber.”
“…I see. So that leaves Rider and Assassin then?”
“Correct, if you’d like, I could call you when they’re summoned.”
“No thanks. Come on Emiya-kun.” She took the boy by the arm, “We’re going back to your place.”
Now Kotomine chose to laugh, “May both of you be fortunate in this war.”
They quickly left. The church was once again silent. Kotomine waited until he was sure they had left the church grounds. “Lancer.”
His Servant appeared. His expression was one of barely disguised contempt. “What is it?” He asked, “What distasteful task do I have to do now, Master?”
“Oh, I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done.” Kotomine said, thoroughly enjoying the way Lancer’s eye twitched. “But I see you must be so eager for a new task. Well, I am a generous Master…” (Lancer’s hand gripped his spear tightly) “…so I will let you continue observing. Saber’s Master is… interesting, to me. I want to see how he and Saber fight this Holy Grail War.”
“..observe? That’s it?”
“Yes, that is all that will be required of you for now. When the other Servants are summoned, you may test their skill.”
“Uggggg…” Lancer stopped hiding his contempt. “Test? As in, I have to hold back like a goddamned coward and run away when things start to get interesting?”
“Ah I see you understand my orders perfectly.” Kotomine nodded. “Go and do, Lancer.”
“…fine.” Lancer spat out. He vanished, reverting to spirit form to trail behind his “targets.”
~--------------------~
The urge to blast the church apart with magic was strong. Yet Caster resisted it, she doubted even that could kill Kotomine. It was more trouble than it was worth. Keeping far enough away to avoid detection, she kept her focus on Saber. She was standing still, her focused stare slowly scanning the area around her.
“Saber…” Caster sighed. The girl, so noble and beautiful. Even now, looking at her brought back memories of that night. “I wonder how things would have turned out if I had summoned you?
~--------------------~
The walk home was as silent as the walk to the church. Saber silently marched in front, Shirou in the middle, and Rin trailing slowly behind
What was he going to do? This “Holy Grail War”, a twisted game where people killed each other. He didn’t want to hurt people… yet, if what that priest had said was correct, untold destruction could be caused. As an aspiring “Hero of Justice” he couldn’t let such a thing go. He would have to stop those who would use their Servants to hurt others, then he…
“…Master. There’s someone ahead.” Saber spoke suddenly.
“Huh?” Shirou and Rin stopped walking. “Saber, it’s probably someone taking a walk…”
Quiet footsteps approached them, and a person came into view. It was a young girl, appearing to be around twelve years of age. Her hair was long and white, and she wore a purple coat and hat. She walked with a calm poise, the moonlight shining upon her. An otherworldly feeling surrounded the girl, as if she had walked out of a storybook to greet them.
“Ah, good evening Onii-chan.” The girl spoke, looking straight at Shirou.
“Uh, good evening?” Shirou replied, noting that Saber was on guard, though he could see why. Somehow the air had become heavy, the stars seemed to dim. The only light was the moon, shining on the girl like a spotlight.
The girl smiled. “I’m glad.” She said, “You summoned a Servant.” Then a monster appeared behind her. He was in the image of a man. A man massive beyond measure, his body thick with muscles upon muscles. His skin dark and bronzed, looking as if it was made of iron rather than flesh. His hair wild and his eyes mad. In his hands, a stone sword as his only weapon. However, just looking upon this Destroyer would tell you the weapon was for his convenience only. A single brush of his hand would crush everything before it. This monster stood behind the girl, still and silent.
“….” Shirou heard Rin groan, “Archer… that’s…” In an instant the red knight appeared beside Saber, twin swords drawn.
“Ah. Two tonight.” The girl said.
“…why are you glad?” Shirou asked, his mind unable to think of anything else. The terror the monster in front of him inspired blanking out all thought.
In response the girl giggled, “Because it wouldn’t be fair otherwise. Now I can kill you without guilt, because you can defend yourself.”
“Master, run.” Saber positioned herself in front of Shirou, “Me and Archer will deal with this.” She glanced at Archer, who merely nodded.
“Running? That won’t do.” The girl said, “Do not let anyone escape, Berserker!” She ordered the giant.
“█████████!!!” The giant roared, and charged.
~--------------------~
\
“…uggg…” Caster couldn’t stop staring from the top of a building. Berserker had begun the battle, and was already slowly overwhelming Archer and Saber. “Damn it Archer… why did you do that?” If he had stayed far away, he might have been able to prepare something more powerful. Yet… it had happened differently this time, Illya had appeared earlier, and in a different location. Its possible Archer hadn’t been ready for this. “Damn chaos theory.” She muttered.
“Yo.”
“Agggahh!!” Caster jumped back a foot, a spell gathering in her hands… Lancer was standing behind her. His face casual, his famous spear was nowhere to be seen… after a moment, she let the spell dissipate and stared at the other Servant. “…your Master ordered you not to fight, didn’t he.”
Lancer groaned, “…yes. He answered with a roll of his eyes. “If you don’t attack me I can’t attack you, self-defense and all that.” He kicked at the ground, “He’s using me as a goddamned scout. I’m not allowed to have any fun, it sucks. Hell, he’s probably using that creepy spell that lets him see things through my eyes.”
“…really?” Caster said, “Well, I feel sorry for you then.” She paused, “Hey, Lancer’s Master.” She raised her middle finger and thrust it in Lancer’s face, “Up yours!” She had wanted to tell off Kerei for years. So why not do this small thing?
Lancer burst out laughing. “Ah… that’s great.” He turned to the battle Caster had been observing. “Hmmm… Berserker vs. Archer and Saber? Damn, that’s a great looking fight.” He turned back to Caster, “Who do you think will win?”
“…if Archer and Saber go all out, then them. But…”
“You don’t think they’ll go all out.” Lancer finished her analysis for her.
Caster nodded, “It’s too early in the game to reveal everything you’ve got.” She looked down at the fight. “…” Berserker was slowly pushing Archer and Saber back, there was nowhere for Rin and Shirou to run…
“Well, who do you want to win?” Lancer asked.
Caster turned back to Lancer. “Well…” She paused, “…I guess Saber.” Objectively, the best Servant to help her accomplish her objective (Shirou and Sakura survive happily) was Saber.
“Eh?” Lancer raised an eyebrow, “Saber’s probably the worst Servant for you, she completely nullifies your strengths. Why do you want her to win?”
“Well….” Caster paused, she really didn’t want Kotomine to know anything, “…can’t say, wouldn’t want to spill my plans…”
“Ah…” Lancer grinned, “I get it.”
“Huh?”
“You’re that kind of woman, eh? Well, she is beautiful so I can see why-“
“What!?” Caster’s face turned red, “N-n-no! It’s not like that at all! I just… you…” She shouted incoherently at the smirking man in front of her… then they both heard it.
Then a crunching sound was heard, faint and distant, yet the ears of Servants could pick it up easily. They both turned back to the battle.
Saber had been hit.
She had managed to avoid a fatal blow, but her entire left side was bloody. Berserker approached Saber, ready to finish her off…
Yet that’s not where Caster’s eyes focused on. She looked at Shirou, the look of horror on his face. “He’s about to do something stupid.” She said.
“Who is?” Lancer said.
“Sorry Lancer, I have to go.” She walked to the edge of the building, “Need to make sure Saber wins, K?” She jumped of the edge... heading off to battle Berserker
I am insane. Was her primary thought.
~--------------------~
Saber had been in worse situations, but this was definitely within the top ten. Her left side was injured, with an insane demi-god trying to kill her. Her temporary ally Archer was… less than helpful. His swords and arrows being an irritant to the giant at best. Finally, she somehow wasn’t getting any magical energy from her Master, so even if she got out of this fight it would take a long time to recover, long enough to be a risk.
Still, she didn’t become a Hero by giving up in situations like this, she forced herself to stand up straight, clutched her sword with both hands, and faced the charging Berserker head on. The enemy Servant raised his weapon, ready to deliver another blow. But Saber was ready; she’d parry his attack and send her sword through his heart…
“Heiß Eis”
It appeared seemingly from nowhere. A massive spear made from glowing ice, it rocketed towards Berserker. In an instant he changed his course, swinging his sword at the attack. The ice shattered into countless pieces… only to burst into flame. The impossibly burning ice had been scattered around Berserker by his deflection, and now they pressed against his body simultaneously. “██!” He yelled, the flames inflicting the first injury he had gained in this battle.
“What the…?” The girl who was Berserker’s Master said. “Who’s there!?”
A woman appeared upon the battlefield. Her presence and power told Saber that this woman was a Servant. The question was, who?
“Well then, I guess I should properly introduce myself.” The woman said, giving an exaggerated curtsey, “I’m afraid giving my real name is impractical. But you may call me Caster.”
“Caster…?” Saber heard Shirou say.
“And why are you here?” The girl asked.
“Wait, isn’t it proper of a lady of your noble linage to give your name after another has introduced herself? I can wait.” Caster said with a smile.
“…humph. Fine. I am Illyasviel von Einzbern.”
Einzbern… That name, Saber remembered it well.
“Ah, very good. So the three founding families are participating in this war properly then.” Caster said.
“Why are you here Caster? I figured a Servant of your class would hide in the shadows like a witch.
That was a good point; Caster was not strong in direct combat. She would have been better off staying back. So why did she choose to enter this brawl.
In response to Illyasviel’s questioning, Caster shrugged. “It wasn’t much. It’s just that, frankly, you’re Servant’s an eyesore. I’d rather be rid of it.” She held up her hand, tracing a glowing finger in the air...
In response, Illyasviel laughed, “You? Kill my Berserker? Crush her for her arrogance!”
“██████!!! ” Berserker obeyed his Master’s order, charging at the new Servant.
Caster showed no reaction, instead she finished tracing her runes. “Meteorsturm” She completed her spell.
And fire rained down from the heavens.
~--------------------~
“Guh… ah…” Rin stared at the new Servant. It was the woman who had appeared at the roof.
What was this feeling that filled her, just from seeing her? Just looking at Caster Rin instinctively knew that they would never get along. And then there was the feeling of inadequacy as a magus to top it off. Caster was casting high level ritual magic with a handful of runes and a single word. Making fire rain from the sky was something that she theoretically knew was possible, but would require hours of preparation and massive amounts of power. It simply wasn’t practical to do something like that. Servants clearly follow different rules…
“Tohsaka!” Shirou shouted.
“Huh!?” Rin turned to him, “What?”
“You blanked out.” Shirou said, “Are you OK?”
“…yeah, I’m fine. Archer!” In an instant her Servant appeared next to her, “Yes?
“Let’s… let’s…” She was about to order Archer to leave. After all, he hadn’t been able to do much to Berserker (At least not with a Noble Phantasm…) and Saber and Caster could handle it… besides, the sooner she got away from this woman the better.
“Let’s what?” Said woman appeared next to her. An instant later two swords were pointed at her throat. “…calm down Archer, we’re on the same side here for now.”
“Then why aren’t you fighting?” Archer asked icily.
Caster rolled her eyes, “I am. But it takes a minute for me to cast spells that can actually hurt that freak of nature. I’m in a little lull here and decided to safeguard these two kids.” She held up a finger, a small ball of fire coming out of it. The magic embedded itself into the street they were standing on, carving a circle around Rin and Shirou. Next, Caster used that magic to carve a symbol into the road. “This is Algiz. As long as you’re in that circle, no malevolent force can harm you. At least, I hope.”
“You hope?” Rin and Archer said at the same time.
“Well, since it’s actually physically inscribed upon the earth, it should have quite a bit of power. But that thing’s an insane half-god. It might be able to break it, but it should probably give you enough time to run.” Caster turned back towards Berserker, “Now then, Archer, please help.”
“Wait!” Shirou suddenly spoke up.
“Hmm?” Caster looked at him.
“…why were you at the school?” He asked.
“…I like to watch tough guys fight, of course.” Caster said with a grin, before turning away from him and raising her hand to cast a spell.
~--------------------~
OK, this is kind of fun. Caster thought as she unleashed another spell. A devastating hurricane that would tear any living being to shreds. Beserker swung his own axe to create a powerful counter-wind, dissipating her spell. The next instant Saber was upon him, swinging her sword to take his head. Yet Berserker managed to deflect that blow, twisting his body to swing his weapon at near impossible angles. He countered with his own swing, but Saber pulled away before he could touch her.
“Cleanse the Wounds
Reinigungwunden
“…I thank you.” Saber said.
“You’re welcome.” Caster said cheerfully, “We work rather well together. Heck, your magic resistance is so good I don’t need to worry about friendly fire!”
“██████████████████!!!!!!” Berserker howled. His gaze focused on Caster. What reason still remained in his mind told him that, at this moment, the woman standing behind the knight and casting spells of destruction was the greater threat. Yet he could not reach her. The knight in blue stood in front of her, preventing him from reaching the target. Finally, Berserker realized what needed to be done. He charged forward, in that instant, Saber moved to attack. She swung her sword...!
“What the…?” Caster’s eyes widened. Saber’s swing had struck true, striking Berserker in the side. Blood splattered out... and Berserker ignored the wound, charging right past Saber.
“…oh shit.” Caster quickly traced Algiz into the air, reinforcing it with her own magic. At the same instant she pumped magical energy into her legs and jumped away. Combining these two caused Berserker to just graze her. This being Berserker, it made a nasty gash in her stomach, and knocked her back against the wall. Ow! Ow! Ow!
~--------------------~
She helped us, without asking anything.
Those were Shirou’s thoughts, his eyes wide as he saw Caster literally swatted into a wall. Blood flew everywhere… her body limp against the ground.
“I…” Who was she…? Why was she doing this?
The giant approached her.
Shirou gritted his teeth… he… he couldn’t just stand there when somebody is about to get hurt!
“Emiya-kun? What are you…”
~--------------------~
Calculating ranges. Scanning… scanning.
Caster gritted her teeth as she forced the spell to go through. Now was the time to run, Berserker had hit her, he was getting closer. Sorry Saber, I’ll have to leave for a minute. She just hoped that Illya got bored and decided to leave. At this point she didn’t care where she went, as long as it wasn’t filled with scorpions or something. She prepared her magical power… gathering strength. Almost…
Berserker was above her, but buy the time he could hit her she’d be gone!
“Bye bye.” She whispered, and began to activate the spell…
But then something threw off her focus, two hands pushed her out Berserkers way, yet the giant did not stop.
“Sh-shirou…?” She said, staring at the boy who had pushed her… who had left the sanctum she had set up for him. “Why…?” Then Berserkers sword hit him.
Blood and organs splattered everywhere as Shirou’s stomach was simply removed from his body.
“Gggg…!” Shirou grunted, his mind not really comprehending what just happened, before falling to the ground with a thud.
.
“…I…I…” Caster stared at him. “I….” Her eyes wide, she not only saw Shirou... she saw…
swords covered them as he laughed and laughed
“…how boring. Stop, Berserker.” Illya’s quiet command caused the monster to pull back. But Caster didn’t hear that, she didn’t notice it.
She just stared at him.
Finally, she screamed.
)
Originally Posted by Satehi
I didn't know this fic is being rewritten. And lol at CG!Rin still fails on her plans. Looking forward to see where this goes.
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