Alaya: Reflections of the Grill War (Airen's Snippets)

[Airen]

Well, I was asked to make this thread multiple times by my fellow Grill War role-players, and since I had some time on my hands, I figured that I might as well fulfill that request while I had the time.

This first snippet "Airen's Despair," was actually continued by Merry, so the only part I'm gonna post here for now is the part that I myself actually wrote.

-------

Airen's Despair - The Steadily Emptying Wallet

"Man Lancer, how can you eat so much food, you're a freaking spirit!"

Airen grumbled various phrasings of this particular sentence as he made flipped through the resturants menu, seated at a table alongside the casually dressed Servant members of his alliance, each item he bought placing an almost physical weight on his already unbalanced bank account.

"I apologize. If you do not wish me to eat at meals than I shall not."

...A slight amount of guilt.

Airen sighed, "No it's fine, I don't mind paying for my own Servant's meals, BUT-" he turned to glare at Assassin and Breaker, "WHY AM I PAYING FOR YOU TWO?!"

"Because I know where you sleep."

... Assassin always had been a convincing person, so convincing in fact, that Breaker didn't even need to defend herself from his question, but she did anyway.

"Because I think you're a nice guy."

"You tried to kill me when we first met!"

"You're still alive though," she smiled, "That's proof enough that I think you're nice!"

...Well that sounded kinda ominous.

"I may be mistaken, but you all appear to be threatening my Master for food," Lancer said with a deceptively feminine smile, "That wouldn't be the case would it?"

"Maybe."

Assassin again, that man was too brave for his own good.

To the despair of both Airen and his wallet, (due to possibly having to pay property damages) things looked like they were on the verge of violence, Lancer's hand was twitching, as if he was indecisive about whether or not to smite his ally, and Assassin was standing with that cold look he got whenever a battle approached...

"Wait, no fighting! There are still people around!"

This honestly hadn't been his best plan, neither Enigmatic nor Satehi were here to keep their servants in-line.

It was all up to him.

"Calm down Lancer, Assassin wasn't being serious about planning to assassinate me. Right Assassin? Right?"

He needed to know. They were using Enigmatic's base as their own temporary one at this point in time, so if shit was gonna hit the fan sometime in the near future, he needed to start planning for it as soon as he got back.

...He honestly should have been planning for it already.

The black clad servant laughed a bit at the serious, but hopeful look on Airen's face, before he locked eyes with Airen, and in his usual serious voice said, "No promises."

If it was possible to see images of another world, Airen may have had a vision of a world where he was assassinated in a helicopter by this particular Servant.

Unfortunately, he had no powers of the sort. But since he ended up being bros with Assassin in this timeline, it was a moot point.

[Airen]

Of Bears and Baskets

There are many things in life that can be considered odd, but for the mages present in Fuyuki for the Grail War there was nothing quite as odd as this. The Master of the two Casters, Theo, was sprinting across the bridge to Shinto, a picnic basket held in his massive paws. To the normal residents of the city, this only looked weird because well; to them a random person had just come up and stolen a picnic basket from a young couple that were uh...Busy... In the bushes next to their picnic grounds.

Of course along with this questionable place for the horizontal tango, this also raised the question of WHY exactly they were having a picnic during the winter in the first place.

Well you better get used to those questions, because they are not going to be answered.

To get back to our non-canon story, Airen and Assassin watched, amused from the roof of a skyscraper as Theo evaded what appeared to be the police. They could see through the spell that made everyone else think Theo was a human, and were shaking their heads at this unbelievable fulfillment of a stereotype.

"Is he serious?" Asked Airen as Theo somehow leaped over an oncoming car, and into an alley.

"Yes, I think he is," Assassin said with a grin as he looked over the edge down into the alleyway, "He knocked a police cruiser aside on the way here."

"...Think he'll make it inside?"

"Unfortunately for him, my Master has sealed all the entrances to this building. So no, he's not going to make it."

And as it turns out, Assassin was right.

----

"Wait officer you've got this all wrong, this is my picnic basket I swear!"

"Tell it to the judge punk!"

THEOCRASS: BAD END

[Airen]

The Power of Motorcycles

"Hey thanks Zel, yeah, I made sure the grail was destroyed," Airen frowned, glancing at the faded command spells on his hand, "But it looks like my Servant was killed by the bomb as well."

...Damn it Lancer, now I have to explain to Leys what happened to you.

It was at this time that Zelretch made an interesting comment in the form of "I'm tired of seeing you die, Assassin's on your helicopter."

His circuits opened as soon as he managed to comprehend the warning, his body's natural response to danger compressing the air around him into razor blades as his chair descended suddenly through an oval shaped hole in the floor. The raging winds cut the wire that Assassin attempted to kill him with, and Airen locked eyes with the killer as he descended, rapidly channeling his power into cutting his restraints. The chair beneath him fell away, the restraints having finally lost their grip on him, but he still allowed himself to fall, though at a much slower pace.

The recent destruction of the grail had spread a lot of mana throughout the city, much more than what the natural order allowed. If left alone, Gaia would simply reabsorb the excess energy into itself.

But he had no intention of letting that happen. If the power was there, then he was going to use it to defend himself.

Many people say that a magus is a faucet through which magical energy pours. A faucet can only be so big, correct? So no matter how hard you turn the dials, how long you leave it on full blast, there is still no way to get any amount out that exceeds your maximum.

...But what if you put something over the faucet, like say... a balloon, or in this case, his Mystic Code. The 'water' will escape the faucet but be trapped by the balloon, which will just steadily get bigger and bigger...

Until it pops, releasing a burst of water the faucet does not generally allow. Still, as a magus, he only has so much of this metaphorical 'water,' but that is solved by linking himself to a 'lake' or a large 'water' source, and running that 'water' through himself and into the 'balloon.'

In this scenario, his lake, would be the mana-drenched city itself.

Sure it would probably be incredibly painful, but-

"Mana Set-"

Starting the process with his own prana, he funneled the foreign mana through himself and into the gun. In these optimal conditions, an effect similar to the fighting style of the fifth sorcerer could be realized...!

Assassin was coming after him now, and he released the magic that was slowing his fall, plummeting as a means of escape from the killer.

Even falling he was still able to level the gun, putting Assassin in it's sights.

"Trigger."

The people in the city didn't see much of what happened that day, but there was talk of a helicopter exploding in midair, accompanied by a blue light of unknown origin or meaning.

Even to Assassin, the meaning of that light wasn't very clear, but he would now have plenty of time to ponder it in the Throne of Heroes.

Who said a Master couldn't kill a Servant?

The Power of Motorcycles - True Zelretch Ending

[Airen]

The Holy Beach Wars

"Lancer, how were we talked into coming here again,” Airen asked with a sigh as he and his alliance stepped down onto the beach, where every participant of the Grail War had gathered under a non-violence pact.

…What? Wars are stressful events, and everyone needs some time off.

“Assassin apparently set this up, he said something about wanting to observe how everyone acts when they're relaxed so he knows when to strike.”

“Assassin, don't you think that's kinda wron-” Airen froze as he turned to look back at Assassin-

Who had somehow managed to disappear about five steps onto the beach.

…Presence Concealment was a scary class ability.

“Lancer, I don't want him killing anyone so could you-”

Lancer was gone too, having somehow acquired a surfboard in the fifteen seconds that Airen had spent trying to locate the current most dangerous Servant in this place.

“Really Lancer? Really?” He called out to his Servant as the man leapt into the water, arms propelling him towards the waves with supernatural speed.

“At least you still have me,” said Breaker with a smile.

“Yeah, I suppose you're right,” he grinned, “Since you stayed, I'll buy you some ice cream alright. Two scoops!”

“How about thre-”

“Two scoops,” he repeated in a stern tone, his eyes alight with the determination of a man who has experienced what it truly meant to be in debt to something.

“Alright Airen, two scoops it is~” she said in a sing-song tone as she dragged the poor young man towards the seller of frozen treats.

- - - - -

“I'll show you Lancer! This next wave is mine!”

The words of a dead man.

Archer moved through the water at an average speed, his average statistical abilities only allowing him so much leeway out here in the ocean. They had moved far away from the normal limits of the beach, and the forms of their Masters were only miniscule dots on the ever distant beach. The waves out here were much stronger than expected, but tired of being laughed at by Lancer, Archer had made up his mind to surf the next wave that came through this area.

“KOWABUNGA!”

Unfortunately for him, the next wave that appeared off the horizon had been brought here by one of the highest of trolls, the Wizard Marshall Zelretch, who was surfing atop the unnecessarily large wave of water, Kaleidoscope in hand.

“MOTHER OF GOD!”

This was not a wave that could be handled by the average, even Lancer, who had hit his level cap some time ago, was sweating at the prospect of riding this wave.

“RIDER CLASS FOR THE WIN, FOOLS!”

Judging by the way he said this, Rider seemed to be enjoying this wave. He was surfing next to Zelretch on what appeared to be-

“WHAT THE HELL?! A TANK!”

Archer put it best.

“Well Archer, it looks like you might not make it~”

Lancer said this with a disturbingly unaffected smile as the wave moved to overtake them both, casting it's massive shadow over the water.

Archer clutched his board and gritted his teeth, suddenly aware of how much this world actually seemed to hate him.

As he was struck by the water, the last clear thing he saw was Assassin, standing atop Rider's tank while wearing sunglasses.

“Just as planned.”

- - - - - - - - - - - -

He had planned for such an eventuality.

Sitting softly in his large, but hidden sand igloo, Enigmatic observed the actions of the off-shore Servants through a high-powered pair of binoculars.

"Ha! I found your igloo Enigmatic!" Xellos grinned, "There's only room for one person in here, you HAVE to notice me now!"

“Zelretch has appeared... I did not expect that.”

"How are you seeing that?! I'm standing right in front of your binoculars?!"

He watched as Archer fell from his board atop the massive blue wave, his bouncing descent into the water not looking like a particularly pleasant experience from this point of view.

"Seriously! It should be impossible for you to see that! I'M STANDING RIGHT HERE!"

“Archer appears to have been defeated... I did, in fact, expect that.”

And that was all that needed to be said.

"LOOK AT ME!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Thanks for helping me build this sandcastle Mr. Airen,” Merry said with a smile, “Mr. Dark left as soon as he saw Ms. Illya.”

“Ah, it's no problem Merry,” he grinned, “Me and Breaker don't really have anything better to do after all. Right Breaker?”

No response.

“Breaker?”

The roar of his motorcycle rang out along the beach, and he spotted the familiar black-haired woman driving along the sand on the vehicle in question.

“My motorcycle?!” He shot to his feet, “Sorry Merry, I've gotta go!”

“Don't worry Mr. Airen. I can finish this castle by myself.”

Airen nodded, then took off at a run, chasing the laughing Servant who had just borrowed his motorcycle without his permission.

“Breaker get off my motorcycle! I just fixed it this morning! Breaker!”

Merry smiled, then moved to start working on her sandcastle again, when-

“Don't worry Merry, I'll take his place!”

Berserker made her presence known.

"Eh? Berserker? What are you doing...?”

And so even on this vacation day, Merry was unable to escape her own Servant.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Still in his magically hidden sand igloo, Enigmatic continued his unrelenting surveillance, finding some amusement in the fact that Airen had managed to leap onto the back of his own motorcycle, and having failed to reclaim it, was now holding tightly onto Breaker in an attempt to not fall off the motorcycle that was relentlessly enhanced by her C+ in Riding.

"You know what? I'm not even gonna try anymore..."

Unlike Enigmatic, Airen had not planned correctly for every eventuality.

"Yep. This is the sound of me leaving!"

“What are you doing Breaker?!” Asked Airen as Breaker took a sudden turn towards the water, her long black hair blocking part of his view, “Motorcycles can't operate over water!”

“Silly Airen, I got the Casters to enchant this for me, so it CAN go over the water now!”

“You're not going to-”

“Yep! Surf's Up!”

Yep, Enigmatic could tell that Airen had not planned for that sort of situation.

"I DRANK ALL THE SODA IN YOUR MINI FRIDGE!"

And so ignoring Airen's constant protests, Breaker drove them towards that still distant wave, where they may or may not have hit an “Archer” shaped object on their way up near the top of the wave, where they joined Assassin, Rider, Lancer, and Zelretch in the most epic surfing contest that had ever struck this particular time line.

Damn... That looked kinda fun.

But it wasn't a good tactical move for him to leave this sand igloo, and so he stayed.

Being the paranoid type of person sucked...

"That's right! Sit here and be unnoticed along with me! It's karma, finally!"

Unfortunately for him, he wouldn't be very lonely for long. That massive wave that had been brought here from another world came crashing down on his Sand Igloo, dealing critical damage and eliminating him from the war.

Like Archer, who's unconscious body was dragged back out into the sea by the tide.

ENIGMATIC BAD END #27
ARCHER BAD END # 99999999999991 (Sorry Archer)
Xellos Bad End # 52

[Airen]

Alaya

“Saber-”

Drawing his axe, that dark knight rushed directly at him, seemingly flying down the temple stairs, his feet a mere blur of motion.

Airen raised Lancer's blade to defend himself, but he was an eternity too slow.

One punch, two punches, a slash-

He thought he was doing well by simply being able to count out the strikes that were decimating his body.

His mortally wounded body had been sent out into open space by that last hit, but the knight followed after him, grabbing hold of his right foot and hurling him down into the ground.

- - - - -

“Airen.”

Airen rolled over in his sleep, trying to ignore the voice.

“Airen, wake up, the others have arrived.”

Opening his eyes, Airen sat up, momentarily confused about where exactly he was at this moment. He felt that he should have been at the temple, or perhaps, that he had just come from the temple; but he was here in his hotel room. Being brutally beaten by that Servant had simply been an unpleasant dream.

“The... Others?”

Lancer seemed surprised, “Don't you remember? We all agreed to assault the temple today in order to get rid of Gilgamesh.”

Oh yeah, they had made a plan like that with the other masters...

“Alright Lancer, I'm up.”

Rising from his bed, he set about on his daily routine, stepping into the now locked bathroom to change into today's set of clothes. A pair of jeans, a short-sleeve black shirt, and a white long-coat that he had bought to replace his usual black jacket after it had been torn up in a fight against Theo.

“Is something wrong Master? You've been pale as of late, and somewhat sickly. I'm starting to get concerned.”

“Ah, you're worried about me? I apologize,” he opened the door and started to retrieve his weapons from their case beneath the bed on his half of the hotel room, “My mind has been restless ever since we encountered Zouken, I have had little sleep for the past couple of days.”

“That basement, right? Truly a disgusting place.”

“Indeed.”

Heading downstairs alongside Lancer, Airen saw that only Bryn had actually entered the hotel. The other Master's had simply remained outside, making what seemed like forced conversation about the weather.

"Hey Bryn," he smiled, "How's Archer doing?"

She looked over at him with a small grin, out of all the masters, they were the only ones who had not actually fought each other yet, and since they had a common interest in motorcycles, a quick friendship had arose.

Though Airen figured it made Archer sad that they talked about his stats a lot.

"Archer's doing fine, though he almost crashed us into a building on the way here!" She glared over in the direction that he assumed that Archer was occupying in Spirit form, and he heard a small laugh from the Servant.

"Hey I'm not the Rider class, letting me drive was your idea."

"He has a point Bryn," said Airen grinning, "Archer's not really good at anything outside of sniping."

"That hurts Airen," Archer gave a mock depressed expression, "I'm not a bad driver."

"...But are you a good one?"

Lancer's comment was met with silence.

"Anyway," Airen waved his hands as if warding off the negative impulses coming from his Servant, "Are you ready for the battle?"

She locked eyes with him, and, after a moment, nodded.

"Yeah."

"Alright let's go."

- - - - -

This place had used to be a temple. Strong stone foundations keeping it's solitary position at the top of the stairs fortified, protected...

But now-

Black mud covered the temple grounds, “All the Evil in this World” pouring out from beneath the dark confines of what he now knew to be the lesser grail.

How had it gotten this bad?

They had simply come here to defeat Gilgamesh... And now...

Lancer clutched at the wound on his stomach, crimson liquid flowing from beneath his pale hands. They had succeeded in defeating Gilgamesh alright, but Lancer had taken critical damage during the battle.

Assassin, Defender and both of the Casters had been outright killed during the conflict.

And then, this black mud had appeared like a wave, and without warning swallowed up most of the remaining Servants.

All of them except Archer, who had escaped with Bryn, and Lancer, who had managed to retreat with both Airen and Merry thrown over his shoulder, the only two Master's who had been in immediate range of the mud. Lancer's wounds were more terrible than Airen had realized however, and the Servant had collapsed near the temple gate, where the black mud was steadily drawing nearer.

“Master.”

His Servant sounded tired, his voice the weakest Airen had ever heard it.

“Lancer?”

“Here... Take it,” he held out his sword, “I'm not gonna make it out of here.”

“It's not funny to joke around Lancer,” Airen said in a suddenly apprehensive tone, “We're all gonna get out of here!”

The mud was getting closer, having preemptively covered the stairs directly below, cutting off their escape route, and any chance of the other Masters arriving to help.

“Don't be overly optimistic! Just take it!”

The blade was shoved into his hands against his will, and without warning, both he and Merry were grabbed and hurled down the stairs by Lancer, who's legs had just disappeared into the mud. Their impact on the ground still hurt even though their bodies had been reinforced, (Airen's fall was more painful than Merry's since Lancer had actually used him to break her fall.) but they did in fact strike cold hard stone, not that corrupting mud.

“Berserker!"

Merry had been calling out for her Servant for awhile now, but Airen had seen the woman vanish into that mud... That mud upon which an odd creature seemed to float along, laughing quietly to itself.

"Merry-"

"Berserker!"

She had really gotten attached to her Servant...

But he supposed they all had...

Lancer had been his bro, but he wasn't going to cry about his death, now wasn't the time-

"Merry! Listen to me, alright! Berserker's gone..."

Merry stopped screaming but simply looked at him in an odd way, as if she had just now comprehended her Servant's death.

...He felt kinda guilty about causing that look on her face.

"But I'll protect you in her place, alright?"

She nodded, then-

"Isn't that sweet?"

"S-Sakura?"

The voice had sounded like Sakura's, but it had none of the warmth Sakura's had, it was more... Twisted... Borderline Psychotic.

He turned, and standing at the top of the steps, was a Sakura who was no longer Sakura.

And standing next to her, red sigils scrawled across his exposed skin, was Saber.

(For snippet purposes, Saber's Dragon God will not immediately be summoned. Deal with it.)

"Saber?"

The Servant didn't respond to Merry's call, but the killing intent in the air thickened, becoming almost oppressive in it's power.

Power that was aimed at both himself, and Merry.

And so Airen made a decision.

“Mr. Airen, what's wrong with Saber?”

He paused in order to better choose his words, then-

“Merry run! Find the others, and head back to Tohsaka's place.”

He said it quietly, but Merry knew that this wasn't a request.

It was something close to a command.

“What...? Are you going to fight him? But he's a Servant.”

“I promised to protect you in place of Berserker, remember?” he smiled, “I'll follow after you soon, but you have to run away for now, alright?”

“...”

That smile of his was unwavering, as if he was fully confident in his ability to walk away from this fight.

But she didn't believe it even though she wanted too.

Still-

“I'll be waiting for you. Don't break your promise!”

And so she left.

Sakura laughed, “You won't get far on those clumsy legs Merry,” She turned her gaze to regard Airen, “How long do you think you can you hold out Airen? You're just a magus, and your Servant is gone. How do you intend to fight?”

He brandished the sword Lancer had left him, that shining blade that had served as Lancer's true NP. His mystic code was held in his left hand, the hand opposite his sword arm, and he pointed it at Sakura and Saber, already funneling mana through himself.

“Servant or not, you won't get past me! Even if it means my life!”

“Is that so? Saber-”

And then a nightmare came true.

Drawing his axe, that dark knight rushed directly at him, seemingly flying down the temple stairs, his feet a mere blur of motion.

This was all too familiar.

His gun hadn't yet been charged all the way, so he was unable to fire it, the only other option-

Airen raised Lancer's blade to defend himself, but he was an eternity too slow.

One punch, two punches, a slash-

This time he counted the hits out of some sense of irony, now aware of exactly how this fight would end.

No...

He had known all along how it would end.

His mortally wounded body was sent out into open space by the knight's third hit, and just like in the dream, Saber followed after him, grabbing hold of his right foot and hurling him down onto the concrete stairs.

“...Damn it!”

Something in his chest had snapped...

“Oh? You're still alive? Impressive.”

He spat blood.

“I could finish you off here, but I think it's more fitting that you bleed to death.”

“S-Sakura! This isn't like you! Snap out of i-”

Saber stomped on his back.

And he couldn't help but scream as some of his ribs broke apart, piercing his lungs in more than one place. His vision was blanking out from the pain, darkness invading from the corners of his eyes.

“Damn...”

He couldn't see Sakura or Saber anymore...

They must have left the temple.

“You won't get far on those clumsy legs”

Were they chasing Merry?!

He tried to get up, but his body simply wouldn't respond.

“...Can I not even keep a simple promise?”

He had dropped Lancer's sword, and even though it had fallen next to him, his body wouldn't function enough that he could reclaim it.

“Heh, sorry Lancer.”

His vision was going again.

...Was this what death felt like?

“I've failed,” he was talking to himself, but he could no longer stand the silence of impending death, “I couldn't stop him, I couldn't protect her.”

Saber had been a Servant, an enemy so far ahead of him that he shouldn't have even bothered trying to fight. But still he felt guilt.

“If I only...”

He started to close his eyes...

“...If you only had the strength?”

His eyes slowly opened again, wanting a glimpse at the feminine voice that was talking to him.

She was beautiful to say the least, smooth flawless skin, and long silver hair that reached down to the back of her knees.

She resembled a goddess...

But her eyes were emotionless.

“...Who...Who are you?”

“I am one who can grant you the power you desire. Power to bring about the miracle that you desire.”

She walked slowly towards him, and he forced his arms against the ground, raising his body slightly.

“I need a more specific answer than that,” her presence seemed to lessen his pain somewhat, “Who are you?”

“Those like you call me Alaya.”

“Humanity's will?”

She seemed to ignore his question.

“If you desire strength, then you must give everything to me. Not only your life, but your afterlife as well.”

“Afterlife...”

“There is little time,” her eyes locked with his own, “Choose now: Your afterlife, or death.”

“I...”

I'll be waiting for you. Don't break your promise.

Clutching his torn open chest he rose completely to his feet, the sword Lancer had left him clutched tightly in his right hand, his Mystic Code having been placed back into his jacket.

"I made her a promise that I would protect her," his eyes grew serious, "If this pact will give me the power to fulfill that promise, then I accept. I'll become a part of the Counter Force after I die."

[Airen]

Alaya: Summoning - Raging Dragon God

“You have chosen well,” Alaya smiled slightly, “I had hoped that you would,” she held out a hand towards him, “I bestow upon you strength.”

Golden light surrounded his body, his pain vanishing as his wounds were flawlessly healed by this woman who called herself Alaya. His circuits had been forced completely open, and he felt his previous reinforcement spell disappear, replaced by a new, naturally stronger resistance, a resistance that stemmed from the overwhelming power that his body now possessed.

He didn't really know how to explain it, the body that he had been born in had changed, it felt lighter, faster, almost recklessly stronger.

He closed his eyes at a sudden flash of light...

And when he opened them again, Alaya had vanished.

But it didn't matter, for she was no longer his concern.

“Merry!”

It wouldn't do him any good to just run down the steps in plain sight, augmented body or not he was probably still weaker than Saber...

So he took to the trees around the temple, leaping from branch to branch with an agility he would have never possessed before the contract. He didn't even need to use his hands, he just kept leaping along the trees that lay alongside the stairs, using the thick shadows of the trees as cover.

Regardless of his method of travel, he was going as fast as he possibly could.

He didn't know how long he had been lying on the ground before, and he was pretty sure that he hadn't been able to give Merry much of a head start on her pursuers...

But there was Sakura, slowly descending the temple stairs at a leisurely pace, Saber following her silently, his axe still in hand, it's blade still crimson with Airen's blood.

...The knight hadn't even bothered to clean it after 'killing' him.

That kinda pissed him off a bit.

Just a bit.

Doing his best to imitate Assassin, he attempted to get closer, still using the trees as his main form of cover.

He didn't want to test the limits of his new found strength against Saber, he had no intention of dying a few minutes after he managed to escape death.

He leaned against the trunk of the current tree he was standing in, holding the sword Lancer had given him in a one-handed grip.
He wanted to catch Saber by surprise...

“Found you.”

Well shit.

Airen moved his head immediatly to the right, dodging the axe that had been flung at him through the branches of the trees.

The thrown axe collided with a pine tree behind him, and he could practically hear it cleaving through the forest behind him, forcing him to leap down near the base of the stairs in order to avoid the falling wooden pillars.

…He shouldn't have been surprised, Servant's were capable of more insane things.

“Oh? So the spy was Airen?” Saber was speaking in monotone, his axe having reappeared by his side, “I'm not quite sure how you're still walking around, but I suppose it really doesn't matter.”

So Saber seemed to understand what was going on, which answered the question of just how much the man could think. Kotomine had been going on and on about how the 'mud' carried 'all the evil in the world' and he had figured that getting dunked in that wouldn't be good for one's mental health. For a moment he had assumed that the knight had become something akin to a puppet.

“So you can still talk, eh Saber?” Airen raised Lancer's sword in a flash, the speed with which he moved forward surprising Saber, who just managed to raise his axe in time to defend himself.

Airen had sparred a few times with the other Servants as a normal human, so his blade work had been pretty good for a magus-

Saber pushed him back, the strike that would have normally knocked him down only throwing him off balance with this body.

The axe came for his head-

And he knocked it aside with a full power swing of the pale blue blade.

...To be honest, both of them were surprised at this motion.

Counters that the old Airen could never execute were coming seamlessly from this body, attacks that could never be blocked were warded off without harm.

The strength that allowed this-

That pleasant burning feeling, the seemingly unlimited flow of prana, this was the power of the miracle offered by Alaya.

The axe that became lightning, the sword that responded like thunder-!

“Haa-”

Saber's strikes are still a bit faster, and the force behind them carried an unbelievable cutting power.

“Guh---”

Airen's arms were starting to burn from the constant assault.

The only true attack he had been allowed was the first one, from the moment after that first attack he had been forced on the defensive, constantly repelling the attacks that seemed to rain down from all sides.

Still-

-It was obvious that Airen would not be defeated like this, at least, not immediately.

“Ah...!”

Saber pulled back for a heavy strike.

“...!”

Airen managed to block it, but-

“Guh-!”

It had knocked him back, pain shooting through his body as he was once again hurled into solid stone, Lancer's sword clattering against the ground.

...Had he really dropped it again?!

He moved to retrieve it, right hand reaching for the blade hilt-

“You got stronger.”

Saber stated this calmly, his golden eyes locked on Airen's fallen form as he walked to close the distance.

“But I'm going to finish you off this time.”

"Heh, are you really?"

That voice hadn't come from Airen, but it was a voice they both recognized.

Saber turned his head, eyes wide in shock as multiple arrows shot through the air and struck him in the chest.

Blood splattered across the stone steps, and even Sakura seemed surprised, her eyes going wide at the sight of her wounded Servant.
“Have your reflexes been dulled Saber? That was way too easy.”

“Archer?”

The man was standing casually near the top of a nearby tree, he was leaning back against the pine with his arms crossed, such a casual stance that everyone present almost believed that he hadn't been the one to just shoot Saber in the chest.

“Hey Airen,” he leaped down onto the stone, “Bryn sent me to come look for you. So I stole her motorcycle and headed back.”

Airen used Archer's appearance as his chance to get back on his feet, “Did you see Merry on the way here?”

Archer blinked, “Yeah, she was running towards Rin's place.”

“So she made it out of here, good.”

Laughter interrupted their conversation.

"So the sides are even now, huh?"

Saber had ripped the arrows out of his chest, the wounds already vanishing from his unnaturally pale skin.

Archer's eyes narrowed, "The hell?"

"You always were irritating Archer, attacking people from a distance-"

Archer materialized his bow, "You know, you should've expected that from just hearing my class name. Real Archer's use bows after all, or their fists..."

He whispered that last part to himself.

"Saber, don't hold back. Finish them both here."

Well, that sounded ominous, just like everything else Sakura has said so far.

Saber's prana roared as he charged forward again, the axe covered in that odd, purple-black prana.

Had he been holding back before?!

Airen barely managed to raise his blade in time to defend himself, his arms going numb from the sheer force of the strike.

"Guh--"

Blade lock.

(MASH THE A BUTTON! MASH THE A BUTTON!)

It was a contest of strength that Airen would have definitely lost-

"Yo."

If Archer hadn't been there.

Arrows rained down from above, missing Airen, and forcing Saber to jump back to avoid them.

Now was his chance...!

Airen's circuits roared as he swiftly compressed the air around himself-

And prepared to dash forward after Saber who was still in midair, successfully mimicking the way the man had wounded him in their last battle.

Or at least he would have, if he wasn't forced to avoid the shadows that lashed at his position like whips, leaving black flames tearing across the ground.

"Archer! A little cover fire would be useful!"

Archer responded by firing yet another arrow at Saber, this one letting off a high pitched shriek as it flew through the air towards the now grounded Servant.

Saber swung at it, as if to knock it aside.

...And it blew up in his face.

Damn.

... Airen was pretty sure that Saber wasn't dead... Yep, he could see the man getting up now, that unnatural healing factor working again, but he hadn't thought that Archer had had it in him to fire explosives like that. Even this Dark form of Sakura had been thrown back a bit by the explosion.

So...

WHY HADN'T HE DONE SOMETHING LIKE THAT SOONER?!

"...Archer."

"Yeah."

"You hit Saber dead-on before."

"...Yeah."

"So why didn't you use the explosives then?"

"He was getting ready to kill you, I wasn't really thinking about anything other than interrupting him."

"Ah. That makes sense I guess."

Once again, laughter erupted from the Servant of the Sword, interrupting their surprisingly casual conversation in a combat situation.

But this time, red lines began to write themselves along the ground, slowly linking together in order to form a massive magic circle.

A magic circle similiar to the one used in the Servant Summoning Ritual.

Airen backpedaled out of the circle, watching both Saber and Sakura, who were simply standing at the base of the stairs.

And the lines of the circle began to glow.

Something was coming out of the circle.

A head that looked... reptilian in nature?!

A roar?!

Was that a DRAGON?!

OH HELL NO!

Soundlessly, both Airen and Archer agreed that they would have to retreat.

And so they ran before the summoning ritual could be completed, Airen retrieving his parked motorcycle that lay just outside the bounds of the temple, while Archer wheeled Bryn's out of the trees.

"With friendship on our side, we can't possibly die he-"

"NO TALKING ARCHER, JUST DRIVE!"

Perhaps it was fitting that it started to rain.

- - - - - -

Bryn sat silently in the attic of the Tohsaka residence, gazing out at the rain through a clear glass window. Theo and the others were downstairs talking with Merry, who had just arrived, but she hadn't felt very social at the time, since neither Airen nor her Servant were here to talk too, so she had ended up in here along with Rin, searching through her stuff for something, ANYTHING, to use against that 'mud.'

A certain wooden chest caught her attention-

She opened it, and to her surprise, found what looked almost like a wand...

She reached down into the chest-

"Bryn! Wait, don't pick that up!

Too late.

"You have been chosen as the next magical girl!"

"Eh?!"

[Airen]

Alaya: Crimson Wild Hunt

The only sound around them was that produced by the heavy rain and the occasional roar of the thunder. Both Airen and Archer had stopped the engine of their motorcycles, when they had arrived back in town, now on the commonly empty bridge that led to Shinto.

Neither Airen nor Archer wanted to speak, they might miss "it" if they spoke.

But perhaps what they were listening for would never come?

The sound that would announce the commencement of battle.

"@#@#@!_!_!_!"

That unbelievably load roar that signaled that the dragon had gotten completely through the Magic Circle.

Saber's summoning had been a twisted success.

"Damn it!"

It was coming after them after all.

If they went too far into town either way, people were going to get hurt.

They had to do their best to stay on the bridge...!

He drew his Mystic Code and started drawing in mana, taking advantage of his still seemingly infinite prana flow to facilitate speed up the process.

"Archer! You ready?"

The Servant had already materialized his bow, an odd looking arrow pulled back on the semi-invisible bowstring.

"Yeah."

"@#@#@!_!_!_!"

It had gotten closer now, Airen's visibility was hindered due to the rain, but Archer didn't seem bothered by the weather, a determined glare upon his features as he slowly adjusted his aim, as if his target was in his sight.

Perhaps it was.

They could hear wing beats, the sound slow, and far more consistent than the noise caused by the pouring rain.

Archer fired.

The arrow dissappeared into the storm, the sound of it's flight masked by the storm.

There was an audible explosion-

"@#@#@!_!_!_!"

And the dragon roared again, a visible column of black-red flame erupting in the night sky.

Even knowing that it was unlikely, Airen had prayed that the arrow would fell the over-sized reptile, but it appeared that it had been nothing but an annoyance to the corrupted dragon.

Which was now hovering alongside the bridge with Saber on it's back, it's burning eyes showing an emotion that Saber had seemingly managed to hold back.

Rage.

Pure chaotic rage.

"Mana Set-"

He leveled the gun as the dragon opened it's mouth, flames visible and building in the back of it's throat.

... How many times was he going to be in danger of dying tonight?

His eyes narrowed.

"Trigger."

Blue light shot out as the dragon shut it's gaping jaws, the blue beam pushing against it even as Archer's next arrow struck it in the head, the combined might of the explosion and prana wave knocking it's head towards the sky, destabilizing it's flight.

It didn't appear to be too hurt though, but it flew away from the bridge regardless, looking as if it was going to leave even as Saber continued to emotionlessly stare at them.

It got at quite the considerable distance-

And then it's plan became disturbingly clear as it turned around, lowering it's head as it simultaneously flexed it's wings.

It was simple really, elementary, you could say.

It was going to ram the bridge.

...

IT WAS GOING TO RAM THE BRIDGE!

Both motorcycle engines were cut on simultaneously, the wheels screeching as they were forced to their limit.

Get off the bridge, get off the bridge, get off the bridge.

It became something close to a mantra for Airen, as Archer pulled ahead of him on Bryn's motorcycle.

How does her motorcycle go faster than mine?

Sure it was a random thought, but it was one he considered as he heard the screeching of metal behind him, the sound of concrete falling into the water below.

Feeling the heat of flames behind him, he reinforced his motorcycle as he had done in the past, catching up to Archer through sheer power alone.

...He didn't even know what street they were on anymore, but the dragon was still chasing them around-!

Taking a hand off the motorcycle handles, he blindly aimed his Mystic Code behind him, eyes determined as he desperately funneled his prana into the gun.

"Mana Set-"

He didn't have to look over his shoulder to tell that the dragon was getting closer-!

"Trigger."

It was a shot that would have made Aoko proud, the blue light tearing through the flames he hadn't known were coming and into the dragon's mouth, where it struck the back of it's throat, destabilizing it's already low flying body, which consequently lowered it's speed.

But it still didn't kill it, to the dragon it must have seemed more like a blunt force than a piercing beam. It let out a roar as it rose to it's feet, then took off after them, running this time, it's clawed limbs tearing effortlessly through the concrete paved streets. Lightning crackled around it's form as it drew closer, bolts arching off it's body and striking out at everything around itself, the buildings, the foilage, the concrete ground beneath the wheels of their motorcycles.

Was it missing on purpose? Or could it just not think properly?

"@#@#@!_!_!_!"

Regardless. It actually seemed faster now that it was running along behind them...

Or perhaps it's speed hadn't increased at all. Maybe it just felt like it was closer, each breath it took in pulling noticeably at his jacket, no matter how far away the dragon actually was whenever he looked back.

But the thing that really got his adrenaline pumping was not the dragon chasing after them, no, he had gotten somewhat used to THAT.

No what really freaked him out was looking behind him in order to dodge some flames, then looking ahead and seeing an ENTIRE TANK SQUADRON blocking the street. Like the Servants who had been bathed in the mud, the tanks possessed a black and red aura that looked almost like paint, the air thick with their condensed prana. Standing on the top of one, his arms crossed in front of his chest, was Rider. The same red sigils that Saber had possessed, scrawled across his equally pale skin.

Even from here they could see him raise his hand, the main guns of all armored vehicles focusing on the dragon behind them-!

"Airen get down!"

Archer pulled to the left, Airen following along reflexively as Rider stated a single command, in a voice that seemed to convey the authority of a tyrant.

"Fire."

The guns went off in with a sickening discharge of prana, the sheer volume of power seeming unnecessary to everyone around who was magically inclined; even those at the mansion sensed that something odd was going on.

"@#@#@!!!!"

This wasn't a scream of rage, but rather one of pain, as the dragon fell to the ground, it's impact shaking the ground.

That attack had been a truly powerful one, but-

The dragon had risen to it's feet again, and seemingly looking at the sky, it roared-

And crimson lightning descended from the heavens, an attack far more intense than the magical strikes that had been used against Airen and Archer.

"@#@#@!_!_!_!"

Like some kind of guided laser it tore through the armored vehicles, dispelling their prana based forms in a series of sparks and explosions, ending with only Rider's personal vehicle intact.

"You've got a pretty impressive pet there Saber. But," he raised his arm again, more of those same corrupted tanks appearing on the land behind him, "I can do this all day."

"@#@#@!_!_!_!"

Shots were fired.

Lightning and fire streaked across the sky.

They were monsters amongst monsters, beings that never seemed to run out of prana, and untiringly tore through the city.

...Was this what the first few Grail Wars had been like?

Endless destruction?

That mud...

'All the evils of this world'...

Had definitely changed those who fell within it's depths. They had to be insane, he had KNOWN those Servants, they had been a bit aggressive sure, but they were still heroes. They wouldn't have done things like this in their right minds...

And how many more of these... Altered Servants were out there?

Berserker

Was Berserker still walking around?

Don't be overly optimistic! Just take it!

Or Lancer?

Still sitting motionlessly on his motorcycle, he held Lancer's sword in front of his eyes, staring at it.

He had thought it was strange that it hadn't dissappeared when Lancer had "died."

Now he knew why.

"@#@#@!_!_!_!"

They didn't have the power to interfere in this fight, both the dragon, and the tanks were things they probably wouldn't be able to defeat.

... Well he might have been able to do SOMETHING if he could activate Lancer's NP.

But it wasn't Airen's weapon, it wouldn't respond to it's name if he was the one who used it.

They had to leave. Maybe the other Masters had figured out what to do, maybe they had come up with some sort of plan, some sort of action they could take.

"C'mon Archer, let's head back."

Their motorcycles roared once again, and they left the area, doing their best to ignore the sounds of war that carried on throughout the night.

If anything could be considered a war it would be this battle. Two spirits fighting amidst this storm, where vision was difficult to maintain, and the sound of a dragon's roar echoed throughout the night.

For the people of Fuyuki, it was truly a "night of storm."

A Crimson Wild Hunt.

[Airen]

Alaya: (Short) Interlude – The Strongest Monster

---The night is anything but quiet.

The roars of a dragon echo throughout the forest, the sound almost seeming to crack the silent stone steps that led to Ryuudouji Temple. The mud had retreated some time ago, drawing back into the area behind the gate, acting as if it no longer sought victims.

But he knew better.

The final monster that had emerged from the mud, the reason that none of the other altered Servants had been able too... No, hadn't dared to return here.

The man formerly known as Servant Lancer barred the gate.

“The starting penalty is five..."

The mud had stolen his vision, taken his hearing, but it still managed to whisper such nonsense to him. Humanity's sins spilled out from it's ever eager voice, as if it was building up to the terrible punchline of an undeniably twisted joke. Sometimes it sounded like it was screaming, sometimes like it was whispering, but it was always talking...

Always talking...

But a knight does not fall completely to such things.

Even as his mind burned with rage, his ever present figure remained calm, watching silently over the temple gate with eyes that could not see.

The wind blew, leaves covering his darkened figure.

And when they dissappeared, fading away into the night, he was gone.

The strongest monster descended on the town, for what purpose, even he didn't know.

[Airen]

Alaya: Reunion

They arrived at the Tohsaka residence without further incident, the roars of the dragon sounding indistinguishable from the claps of thunder that seemed to shake the night. They cut the motorcycle engines, and approached the front door, the golden glow of the windows proving that, at the very least, one person was here.

Airen knocked once, noticing for the first time how cold he was; his jacket and brown hair soaked through due to the storm.

"@#@#@#!_!_!_!"

...

But he supposed that he could be worse off, and he could ward off the majority of the cold simply by increasing his prana flow-

"Airen!"

Merry had been the one to answer the door, and before he could respond, he found himself in the middle of a hug.

"Are you okay? Saber didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Uh..."

His mortally wounded body was sent out into open space by the knight's third hit, and just like in the dream, Saber followed after him, grabbing hold of his right foot and hurling him down onto the concrete stairs.

"Yeah, I got a bit hurt but," he smiled, "I promised that I would meet you here, and here I am."

"Yes! I'm glad you kept your promise!"

Geez she was excited...

...If it was possible for that hug to get any tighter, it did at that moment.

...Couldn't breathe-!

"Hey Airen, glad to see you made it out."

Theo's presence caused Merry to let him go.

"Yeah, it took me a bit to escape from Saber, and I might not have made it if Bryn didn't send Archer after me..."

Archer interrupted, "Speaking of Bryn, where is she? Her prana feels a bit...Off."

The massive bear paused to think, "I believe that she is upstairs with Rin..."

Archer immediately made to move upstairs, apparently going to report the success of the 'rescue mission' to his Master.

"So Theo. Is everyone else alright?"

"See for yourself."

And so they entered the living room, where the other Masters except Bryn were either seated on the old-fashioned couches, or standing against the walls, similar expressions of contemplation on their faces. They all looked unharmed, but definitely not in the best of moods.

Which made sense, considering how quickly everything had gone to hell.

"Hey."

"Airen? So you made it huh? I was pretty sure you were going to die, fighting a Servant and all."

Thanks Enigmatic, for that stunning show of faith in your ally.

"I probably would've died, but I got some help from a friend."

He nodded, "Archer."

"Yeah," Airen saw no reason to bring up the "Counter Guardian" issue yet.

He moved to an empty chair and sat down, "So, what are we going to do about the grail?"

"...I really don't know."

...Wow.

That must have hurt Enigmatic to say, he seemed to pride himself on being over-prepared for every situation.

"Well we know that it has to be destroyed," Lantz said after a moment of silence.

"But how do you suppose we go about doing that, Lantz?"

Xellos had decided to speak up? Airen hadn't noticed that he was even in here before...

"...Perhaps Archer could do it?" Questioned Satehi, his eyes closed in thought.

"Archer wouldn't be able to get any of his attacks close enough to the grail," Airen said with his arms crossed in front of his chest, "The other Servants would stop him first."

Everyone but Enigmatic seemed shocked at this.

"Other Servants? They're still alive?"

Airen opened his mouth to respond-

"Saber and Rider are fighting near the bridge, and Berserker was in Shinto, last I checked."

Everyone but Airen turned towards Enigmatic in shock, "You knew?!"

"I sent my familiars back out when we got chased away from the temple," he sounded bored, "I needed something to do. That grail mud spit some of the Servants out about an hour after we left," he sighed, "But from what I can deduce they appear to have gone insane due to the mud."

A thorough report by the Master that spent the most time staring at the other Masters, but he appeared to have missed one thing.

"Saber summoned a dragon."

Airen figured that he might as well be blunt about it.

"He really did it huh," Dark leaned back in his chair, foot on the table, "I always thought he was just joking around about having a dragon inside him."

"This situation just keeps getting worse," Satehi stood up, "How are we supposed to deal with a dragon?"

"Maybe Rider will defeat Saber and the Dragon," suggested Theo after a moment, "Then we wouldn't have to deal with it at all."

"Maybe we should wait until morning before we do anything... See if the Servants stop fighting during the daytime, it might be a habit for them..."

Everyone agreed with this statement of Xellos through complete and utter silence. Perhaps because it was a plan that didn't force them to admit they couldn't do much...

...Time passed by.

"Hey Airen, come here! I want you to see something!"

Archer?

"No! Don't call him up here, idiot!"

Bryn?

He had to admit, gloomy atmosphere or not, that he was curious.

Leaving the others behind he headed upstairs to the attic, and opened the door.

He had expected a variety of things.

But not this.

You see, Bryn wearing a magical girl costume wasn't a very normal occurrence. He had honestly thought that there was a zero percent chance of such a thing happening during the war.

He had been wrong.

But he didn't really mind being wrong in this case.

...He needed a camera.

"W-What are you staring at?"

She was blushing, and Archer was laughing.

"She tried to hide when I came up here," Archer said cheerfully as he jokingly barred her escape from the room, "Apparently some magical staff forced her to wear it."

"Magical Staff? That's kind of an odd magic for a staff don't you think?"

Not to mention a bit of a suspicious item to possess... Just what kind of stuff was Rin into?

He turned towards the Tohsaka heir, and allowed a knowing smile to cross his face.

"H-Hey! It's not what you think!"

"Uh-huh. Sure," he turned back towards Bryn, his expression a bit more serious, "So where is this staff?"

"I am right here evildoer!"

A talking winged staff? With a golden star in the center of it?

The hell?

"...Evildoer?"

"Indeed, you share the power of an emotionless engine!"

...Ok. He wouldn't even try to understand that one.

"Bryn... That stick's insane."

"I know, but it won't let me put it down!"

"Uh... Maybe if you try to use magic?"

...They never did manage to get the Kaleidostick away from Bryn, but the tension of the house was lowered somewhat.

- - -

Time - 5:00 AM

The Tohsaka Mansion was quiet. Many of it's current guests sleeping through the now fading storm, even Airen was out, his head lying on his own shoulder with his back pressed against the wall.

The fighting had never come their way, and Enigmatic's reconnaissance indicated that the city had gone quiet about an hour after Airen had arrived. The news had stated that a freak storm had passed through the city, the usual thing they said when they had no idea what had really happened.

But not that many people had died, most had simply been injured by falling debris. Tales of dragons were put off as hallucinations brought on due to a gas leak CAUSED by the storm.

It was a pretty convenient answer, but the townsfolk probably believed it.

The sun hadn't quite come up yet...

When the sound of quiet knocking woke Merry, who had been lying on one of the couches.

"Merry."

It was a voice she recognized.

"Berserker?"

Mr. Airen had said that Berserker was gone.

"Yes Merry, it's me."

Berserker had never really lied to her, so if Berserker said that she was Berserker than she had to be Berserker.

Moving her way quietly to the door, so as not to interrupt anyone's sleep, (that would be rude) she stepped outside. And just like Berserker said, Berserker was standing out near the front door. Her hair seemed to have gone a darker shade of brown, but besides that, the woman looked exactly the same to her.

Maybe Mr. Airen had been wrong.

"Come on Merry," the woman held out her hand, "Let's go for a walk, I want to show you something."

The others had asked her not to leave, but-

"Alright."

She should be fine as long as she was with Berserker.

Hand in hand, they walked away from the mansion.

...And inside, a bear paw, and a hand twitched slightly, as two Masters noticed something subconsciously and started to wake.

[Airen]

Alaya: Interlude - The Magus's Plan

Enigmatic sat alone in the guest room he had been provided by the Tohsaka heir, silently scanning the lines of the magic circle that he had scrawled on the floor of the room with liquid mercury. There were no smudges, no gaps in the perfectly placed lines - this circle was one that he had practiced making for weeks, weeks that had been spent in total preparation for this Holy Grail War.

It was a Servant Summoning Circle.

While it was true that most of the classes had been filled already, and that the Grail probably wouldn't support his attempted summoning with any mana, he was still confident that he would be able to pull yet another Servant from the Throne of Heroes.

He had done so without the Grail's aid before, after all, he could probably do it again.

Victory was unlikely as they were now, but with this, by summoning another Servant, perhaps things would start too even out a bit.

He smiled as he stood, the pleasant feeling of his flowing prana feeling almost like a drug as he began to chant-

And a flash of prana lit up the room, a light gray smoke denying vision for more than a couple of seconds.

A figure emerged from the smoke...

He looked like an average male teen, slightly underweight, and somewhat pale. He wasn't particularly tall, and his clothing seemed to consist of pieces of reinforced armor that had somehow become integrated into his clothes. He possessed strange, teal colored eyes that stared unconcerned at Enigmatic from under specially modified shades.

And Enigmatic couldn't help but be disappointed upon catching sight of the Servant's statistical abilities, all of his stats except his agility were surprisingly pathetic-

The odd Servant made a catching motion with his hand, and an already open Coca-Cola seemed to just spawn into his hand as he started to glance in a mildly interested fashion around the room.

...Was one of his abilities seriously to summon a form of soda?

The teen took a loud drink from the aluminum can, emptying it, before summoning yet another one.

...Really?

"So..." the teen spoke, "I'm supposed to ask something like 'Are you my Master' right?"

Enigmatic couldn't help but nod.

"Well are you?"

"Yes."

"Alright then, our contract is complete Master," he took a sip from the soda, "You can just call me...hmmm...What was my class again...Oh yeah, you can call me Avenger."

Avenger collapsed lazily onto a nearby chair, "So, what's going on? We fighting someone soon?"

It became painfully clear in this moment, that this Servant was not a particularly normal one.

[Airen]

And now, for something that is non-canon too, and far less serious than the Alaya snippets.

----

Airen: I paid for it

Airen had always thought that he was a pretty calm guy, not the sort of person that would let small things act as a trigger for some sort of Berserk Button. He had dealt with the events of the war as they appeared in a calm, calculated manner, although things like his contract with Alaya had been done more out of impulse than anything else... Just like how he was now buying this soda out of a brief impulse, a future Counter Guardian had to keep himself hydrated after all, didn't want to get killed by Rider just because he was dizzy from lack of drinking.

He hummed lightly to himself as he dropped the coins into the vending machine, before tapping the button that would release his selected lemon-lime beverage.

...Nothing happened.

The fuck?

He pressed the button again...

Still nothing.

"No..."

He rapidly tapped all the buttons, hoping against hope that it was merely out of his chosen brand.

No nothing.

He tried to get his change back...

Nothing.

... Maybe it was a bit of an overreaction, but-

"DAMN YOU!"

In a blatant misuse of his newfound strength he hurled the machine straight up into the air, the soda cans shaking around in this metallic dispenser of evil.

So there were cans inside!

It was mocking him!

"BASTARD!"

He leaped into the air after the machine, Lancer's sword appearing in a flash of light.

One slash-

Two slashes-

Three slashes-

And still it remained in one piece as they fell to the ground, it's metallic surface somehow ignoring the high-rank attacks of the sword he had gotten from Lancer.

...This machine was making a mockery of his Servant's memory?!

Gripping the blade in both hands, he prepared to use his version of Lancer's technique, hyper-compressed air forming a visible disk around the blade of the sword.

He shouted the sword's true name-

And the vending machine dissappeared in a hurricane-like flurry of razor wind, the golden light of the sun reflecting off the metallic shards.

Breathing heavily, he put the sword away, and went searching through the rubble for a soda that survived his NP release.

He found one, opened it-

And just then noticed his fellow Masters staring wide-eyed at his display of violence.

"What?" He took a sip from the can, "I paid for it."

Perhaps his little dip in the mud the previous day had affected him after all.

[Airen]

Alaya: Queen of Terrors

He honestly didn't know why he had awoken.

The sound of a door shutting echoed distantly through the hallways of the Tohsaka mansion, but it was such a small sound, such an unimportant noise, that he honestly hadn't expected himself to acknowledge it, let alone wake up because of it. Still, it wasn't like he particularly needed to sleep, with his contract still active he felt like he could keep going for days, replacing a good night's sleep with endless amounts of prana; he had simply fallen asleep because he hadn't been able to think of anything to do.

Now, though, he had something to investigate, and even though it was a small incident, he still rose to his feet and headed for the main entrance, curious as to who would be moving around outside in the middle of the night. He and the other Masters had come to an agreement that it was best to stay inside the mansion, their were various bounded fields protecting the place, so at the very least they would have a warning when a Servant appeared to tear up the place.

So, who had decided to leave?

Entering the area near the front door, he saw Theo peering out the window, the great bear looking for all the world as if he was looking for something specific.

“Theo,” Airen spoke quietly, subconsciously trying to allow the others to consider sleeping, “Did you hear the door open?”

The bear didn't turn to face him, but responded with a brief nod of his head, “Yeah,” he paused, “I think Merry left.”

“Merry?”

Bryn's voice.

The master of Archer descended the stairs quietly, the Kaleidostick still clutched in her right hand, which was rubbing at her eyes in a tired manner. She was still wearing the magical girl costume, but the Kaleidostick was currently being silent, and Airen had no intention of starting it on one of it's monologues again by pointing it out.

“Yeah,” Theo turned, then motioned with his head towards the other, sleeping Masters, “She fell asleep in here, and now she's gone.”

“I see,” stepping towards the door, Airen moved to open it, “I'll go out and look for her.”

“I'll come with you.”

Theo moved to stand.

No.

Something in his mind told him that it was a bad idea to let the bear tag along, it was a feeling that had no real basis, but it was the same instinct that had allowed him to dodge most of the dragon's attacks. Simply put, he had a bad feeling that if Theo came along, the bear might not come back.

It was a pretty dark thought, but he had the oddest feeling that it came from his pact with Alaya, and was therefore a true 'prediction.'

“Nah, Theo,” Airen shook his head, “I think it's best that you stay here for now. We don't know what's wandering around out there, so I'll go look for her alone, we can't afford to lose too many people in a sudden ambush,” he opened the door, then got another 'revelation', “Go check on Enigmatic, I think he's done something interesting.”

Without waiting for the bear's protests he stepped out into the cold night air, the sudden change of temperature helping to throw off whatever remained of his drowsiness. The air was still pretty clear out here, a continuous, welcome change from the oppressive, hell-like feeling that had been ever present at Ryudou Temple. He was a magus who specialized in the wind, so he supposed that he was sensitive to such changes in the air.

He paused for a moment as he started away from the house, his gaze turned upwards towards the star-scattered sky.

“Winter nights are nice, right?”

He flinched in shock, not expecting to hear such a close voice.

“Bryn?! What are you doing out here?”

Geez, his senses must have been dulled by his sleep, he had had no idea that she had followed him out here, or perhaps he had just gotten too into staring at the night sky.

...Maybe he really did need to get some sleep.

“It's dangerous for you to go out here by yourself,” she crossed her arms slightly, her right hand tightening as if daring the Kaleidostick to speak, “Besides, I don't follow your orders anyway,” she looked away from him towards the house, “And unlike Theo, if I die out here, it'll serve the purpose of taking this twisted wand with me...!”

She glared at the insane wand in question, which simply let out a small laugh before falling silently again, a sign that it didn't take her threat very seriously. But still, the sign that she could joke during such a stressful time was a good thing, and he wasn't getting the same ominous feeling he had gotten when Theo had offered to help him look for Merry... So he supposed that it was alright to let her come along. If things got bad, she could simply call Archer, on the off chance that he wasn't already here somewhere, hiding in Spirit Form.

“Alright, I suppose it's better to have someone to talk to anyway,” he turned and headed off in the direction that he felt Merry had gone, his pace a quick walk that Bryn was easily able to match, “So to answer your question, yeah, winter nights are nice,” he smiled, “The cold air just seems to make it easier to think, he paused, “Speaking of cold air... Aren't you cold in those clothes?”

“Uh,” her face flushed red, as if she had just now remembered the outfit the Kaleidostick had forced her to wear, “Not really.”

...Was she lying?

He thought that she was, so he silently took off his white long-coat and handed it to her anyway, convinced that the magical girl outfit didn't offer much protection from the winter weather.

“Just take it, there's no reason to suffer from the cold if you don't have too.”

He didn't say anything else, and after a moment of hesitation she took the jacket and put it on, which seemed to irritate the Kaleidostick a bit.

“Thanks.”

“No problem,” he upped his pace a bit, feeling that they were drawing closer to Merry, “I didn't really need it right now anyway.”

She opened her mouth to say something in response, when her eyes focused on two distant figures, and her statement changed completely.

“Merry?” She narrowed her eyes, and he could already tell that she was using reinforcement, “Berserker?!”

That set them both off at a run, the tall figure of Merry's former Servant raising her head slightly to acknowledge their approach.

“I guess my audience is gonna be a bit bigger than I expected,” Berserker's voice sounded just like it normally did, though her skin was noticeably paler.

“Airen and... Bryn right?” She smiled, her tone teasing, “And is that Archer I see over there behind you two?”

Airen's body tensed up on it's own, noticing for the first time the sword that had just seemed to appear in her hand, the weapon that had always caused uneasy feelings to erupt in the back of his mind. And it wasn't just the sword that made him feel uneasy, there was something wrong happening here, he couldn't place his finger on what it was...

It was probably just him being worried about Merry, but still, he felt that something terrible was about to happen.

...He'd feel better if Merry was closer to them, and farther away from Berserker.

“Merry,” Airen took a step towards the maid, “Let's go back to Rin's place. That's not the Berserker that you know.”

Berserker's smile faltered for a moment, and while she didn't say anything, her eyes narrowed ever so slightly at Airen. She seemed to have far more control over this 'corruption' issue than the other altered 'Servants' had displayed this far, but he was pretty sure that she was still dangerous.

“What do you mean?”

Merry seemed confused, and-

“What are you talking about Airen? Who else could I be?”

Berserker wasn't helping matters, not that he had expected her too.

“What else could you be,” Airen crossed his arms, “Do I really have to answer that?” He held out a hand towards Merry, “Come on, let's go.”

Berserker's smile faded completely, replaced by a harsh glare that seemed to darken the air itself, and make Bryn twitch uncomfortably, yet it didn't actually bother Airen that much.

He had the feeling that she wasn't going to attack him just yet.

“Don't listen to him Merry.”

The maid seemed unsure, but after a moment, she started towards Airen, who had his usual, “Don't worry, I've got this under control,” smile on his face.

“Oh, so you pick them over me, eh Merry? You found a new guardian that quickly.”

Her head was turned down towards the ground, her face covered by her hair, and her voice was quiet, but it had that same... Twisted tone that Sakura had possessed ever since that day at the temple.

“That's fine, you've made your choice.”

This whisper arrived with a brief feeling of killing intent, and then sudden deliberate muttering, the kind of process one goes through when chanting a spell.

Ah, he understood now.

"Archer, take Merry and Bryn and leave."

"But-",

"No arguments. Just hurry up and go, alright? If you wait too long it'll be too late."

Airen's voice sounded tired, but he was still grinning slightly.

Just slightly...

"Airen?"

"I am your guardian, Merry. Things like this are my job." He turned slightly, holding out his mystic code towards Bryn, his "I've got this" smile back on his face.

"Here, take it. You can give it back to me when I reach the house."

Archer unceremoniously picked up both the girls and moved to run away

And so Archer left.

And just behind him, a city of the dead burst into existence.

---

"-and so that's the situation."

Theo didn't really know what to say, he had followed Airen's advice and gone up to see what Enigmatic was doing, only to find that the man had just finished his summoning of another Servant. And then Enigmatic had broke into a monologue of exactly what he had done, and why he had done it, and the Servant in question had merely sat in a chair and drank soda, looking for all the world as if he honestly didn't really care about what was going on.

"...And you didn't think to let us know you were doing this? We could have helped."

Enigmatic shrugged, then said, "I work better on my own. Anyway, you said Airen, Bryn and Archer have left the house right?"

"Yeah."

"That's unfortunate," he crossed his arms, "Because it appears that Breaker is approaching this house on a motorcycle," his eyes moved to the side to regard his new Servant, "Avenger-"

"Yeah, yeah," the pale teen stood up, his empty soda can thrown backwards into a nearby waste basket, "I have to go fight her, right?"

"Indeed. Don't let her get inside this mansion."

"Alright, this should be fun," grinning, he leaped unnecessarily out the window, running to intercept the now audible noise of an approaching motorbike.

Yep, Theo didn't really have anything to say to that.

---

If he kept up this pace he should reach her before she got to the Tohsaka residence.

Knowing this, Avenger kept at his current sprinting pace, a twisted crimson lance appearing in his right hand, needless preparation for the battle to come.

"Yeah, she should pass here-"

Muttering lightly to himself, Avenger stood motionlessly in his chosen spot, drinking yet another soda from his seemingly immeasurable stock of the beverage.

The sound of the motorcycle drew closer, and his anticipation for battle rose along with it.

And finally, he could see the Servant that would be his opponent.

A dark-haired young woman dressed in what appeared to be a school uniform... A plaid skirt with black stockings that most people would call grade A zettai ryouiki, and a dark blue jacket that was buttoned up. She slowed her bike as she drew closer, and for a moment, everything was silent.

Then-

Avenger raised his lance high off the ground, before slamming it down, and in an overly exaggerated tone, screamed, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!"

Breaker grinned and turned the throttle in response-

And they both shot forward, the sound of metal crashing against metal shaking the early morning air.

----------------------------------------

Crimson.

The world was a bloody crimson color.

Countless blades pierced his bloody, torched skin, and his jacket had become a useless pieces of cloth that was hanging from his shoulders by a few simple pieces of black string. His body was sluggish and unresponsive, but there was no pain, just a high-pitched shriek inside his head that just seemed to bounce around aimlessly, leaving him unable to hear anything in the actual physical world.

He still had the sword Lancer had left him with though, that shining pale blade...

Lancer had counted on him to hold on to this...

Something picked him up, but he couldn't quite make out the face of his assailant.

But still he held onto that blade, simply because it was the last honorable thing he could do. His promise with Merry was broken, and he was about to be killed...

But he WOULD hold onto this sword.

He was not going to drop it again...

Someone was talking.

Heh...his vision was completely gone...

But...still...

A blade tore through his chest, ending his life.

But he never did let go of that sword, and when he died, it faded away with him.