108Chapter 4
(Saber)
Arturia was starting to wish that she would wake up from whatever imaginary dream/nightmare the Grail had decided to place her in. Compared to the fourth Holy Grail War everything seemed to be a lot less serious. It was as if someone was punishing her for destroying the last Grail even if it had been against her will.
Sure the Servants were acting as to be expected in a Battle Royale trying to kill each other (for the most part) the trouble was that the Masters seemed to be teenagers. Which opened up a whole new can of worms as far as hormones and sense of morality were concerned. It was a far cry from the taciturn seriousness of Kiritsugu and Kotominei which bordered on sociopathic and psychopathic respectively.
To give this farce more credit her new master Shirou EMIYA (She was seriously hoping that was a coincidence, even if Kiritsugu survived the last war there was no way he could have sired another child of his age.) was now left alone and unprotected with an albeit neutral enemy master to go see said psychopath.
And to top it all off she now had the latest Einzbern Homunculus and her servant Berserker to deal with as they clashed with the ever confusing Archer.
The Grail had shown her the basics of modern medicine, and as she was currently rubbing an armoured gauntlet across her forehead, she wondered if Aspirin would work on a Heroic Spirit.
"Jeez I am more scared of your mother-in-law than you." A voice called mockingly only to be answered by an enraged roar as Berserker leapt back towards his target. Whose only response was to stand there with a smug look on his face before stepping to the side at the last moment and lazily swinging his own bronze sword up towards the larger figures un-armoured chest...
...Which it bounced off without so much as leaving a mark on the black skinned figure.
"The Fu..." Archer began to comment before being backhanded across the clearing like a silver armoured missile impacting a tree trunk and cracking it in half.
"Berserker finish it!" The diminutive Homunculus commanded causing Berserker to jump towards the downed figure as if to crush the wounded figure under foot.
(Percy)
Ok I admit I might have let my guard down there. Then again I am not exactly used to my swords bouncing off a hairy half naked dudes chests like I hit a battleship with a Baseball Bat. So while I was looking down at my seemingly ineffective sword (The irony of me trying to kill Heracles with Riptide not escaping me) the giant lump had capitalised and smacked me across the clearing before I hit a tree. Thankfully due to my armour, it was the tree that snapped in half rather than my spine.
Still I did not have much opportunity to wonder about these facts as the hairy muscle-bound lump jumped into the air and attempted to flatten me before I rolled to the side.
Just in time fortunately as Heracles impacted the ground with the force of a freight train and completely splintering the remains of the tree stump I had hit.
Though I did attempt to use the chance to swing Anaklusmos at his calf and was rewarded one again with a jarred arm as the blade bounced off him.
"Ok you big bastard, kid gloves are coming off." I muttered to myself in annoyance, as I rolled backwards and used the momentum to get to my feet.
"Such a shame that your weapon cannot even hurt Berserker, you really are a terrible Serva..." The pipsqueak chimed in that high pitched tone of hers only to go silent as a three meter flaming javelin appeared in my left hand as I dropped Riptide in the dirt.
'Sorry Zoe but it ain't going to cut it...literally.' I thought to myself as I took up a two handed stance facing the Greek Hero.
"Right then big guy where were we?" I said with a grin as I leapt forward as if towards his heart before feinting towards his right shoulder. I had not actually intended to hit him so he was able to show surprising agility and bounce out of the way of the strike. However it did serve the purpose of showing me that Heracles could be harmed as a small patch of skin was showing signs of charring from the closeness of the heat the spear radiated.
The problem was now that the thick lump seemed to have realised I could potentially hurt him he now remembered the great lump of a blade he held and decided now was a good time to knock my head off with it. Spears are good for mid-range close combat against foes armed with other spears. Against an opponent with strength and agility like this guy they could be a liability.
As much as I attempted to thrust out with Firestorm he would counter it by either moving away or would force me to defend by using that oversized axe/sword thing he had, after all it was almost as long as my spear was without being reliant on a point only and about a million times more mass with which to flatten me.
It seems that big and ugly had realised that though dangerous the flames surrounding the weapon were not going to be fatal to him and had as such just decided to ignore them. After all it was not as if he was ever exposed for more than a fraction of a second. Atlas normally ignored it during our little bouts as well but then again the guy could and was supposed to be able to endure just about anything. Well except perhaps his daughters wrath in which case I could not blame him, Arianna could twist me around her finger if she needed to, the prospect of six of her was terrifying to comprehend and that was before taking her actual combat prowess and her mother's inherited tendencies into account, which were to excuse the pun, frankly god like.
"ARCHER!" A now familiar voice shrieked in my head causing a momentary distraction that almost resulted in it getting knocked off my shoulders.
"A little busy at the moment." I said recovering from ducking under the swing and thrusting out with Firestorm at Heracles's Sword hand managing to score a strike against his knuckles but failing to force him to drop the slab of metal he was swinging around.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BUSY...We were only gone a few minutes." Rin asked seemingly flabbergasted.
"Yeah and an albino midget and her babysitter threw a tree at me."
"Wait...What?"
"Can't talk busy." I said cutting off any further communication as I went back to trying to stick my brother-in-law/cousin on a flaming kebab stick.
(Rin)
'Five minutes...' Rin cursed to herself as she ran out of the church. That was all she had been gone and her servant had still managed to get into trouble.
She would have hoped that him being with Saber would have stopped any foolish Master from attacking the pair. Of course Archer's brief description of an Albino was more than enough for her to realise that his assailant was no ordinary master.
"Hurry up Shirou." Rin called over her shoulder as the two continued to run out through the graveyard. The dim sound of clashing weapons audible from in front of them. Of course Kirei had decide that because it was not on the church's property, he frankly did not care by the looks of things. But then again she had not known him to ever care about anything other than his ridiculously and painfully spicy food (long story).
Then again it would have been a fun show to watch the former executioner face off against her Servant when Archer ultimately offended him in some way.
By the time both Masters had cleared the church gates it was abundantly clear what was going on as the shorter armoured figure of Percy nimbly parried and evaded his shadow coated adversary.
All the while Saber was looking on at the duel, the yellow anorak replaced by armour plating over her blue dress. The girl was still a mystery to Rin, clearly Percy knew who she was instantly but Rin was still having trouble placing her. She was currently leaning towards Joan of Arc but she wasn't willing to ask the question until she had more proof, perhaps she would have to question her Servant about it after this situation was dealt with.
"Saber are you ok?" Shirou asked the blond girl who turned to look at the pair of us.
"Yes Master, though Lancer isn't." She said pointing her arm and by extension her invisible weapon at the struggling figure who was pinned beneath a seemingly uprooted tree desperately trying to push it off, judging by the flailing limbs.
"Yeah well serves him right for trying to kill us earlier." Rin said finding amusement in the subject before turning her attention back to her own servant. Out the corner of her eye she could see the diminutive figure dressed in white and purple that could only be Berserker's Master.
"Berserker." She called out simply in a high pitched voice and sure enough the Servant stopped dead in mid-attack and bounded back to her side. Leaving Percy standing there preparing to parry a blow that would never come before straightening up.
"Good evening Onii-chan. This is the second time we have met like this." The little girl called with a smile seemingly focusing on Shirou. For a moment Shirou seemed to be startled by her words but Rin attention was forced to remain alert as the girl looked towards her.
Slowly she walked forward towards them a few feet before grabbing the edges of her dress coat and performing a curtsy. "It is nice to meet you as well Rin. I am Illya, Illyasviel Von Einzbern." At the mention of the name Rin could not help but flinch even if minutely. Sure she had suspected but to have her identity confirmed did not make things any easier. After all the Einzberns along with the Tohsaka and Makiri/Matou were the three families that had founded the Grail War in the first place. If she had been facing towards her Rin would have seen that Saber also frowned at hearing the name.
"You do know the name Einzbern don't you." Illya asked cocking her head to the side with a thin smug smile.
"Get to your point shorty, what do you and roid-rage Heracles over there want." Percy cut in impatiently walking so he was standing next to Rin, though thankfully he kept the flaming lance on the side away from Rin, even so she could feel the heat radiating off of it.
'Heracles?' Rin thought to herself with awe focusing her attention on the large dark figure and trying to read the Mana the figure radiated. Sure enough from what she could tell the Servant was a powerhouse. Easily outclassing Saber in almost every stat except Luck and Charisma. She would have tried to compare him to Percy but every time she attempted to the read her own Servant she ran up against a brick wall. So were it not for the fact that she had her own ace in the hole, Rin would seriously have been worried.
"I'm impressed in terms of raw ability that thing should be able to fight all the other Servants on its own."
"Hey." Two male Servants complained simultaneously causing Percy to turn and face Lancer before clicking his fingers as the whole tree collapsed into dust freeing the Irish Hero.
"Three-against-one that hardly seems fair for you Rin." Illya taunted as the blue armoured figure rose to his feet and pointed his crimson spear in her Servant's direction.
"You can do this right?" Rin asked her Servant mentally.
"Obviously I beat the crap out of the god version of him on several occasions, even if this version is somehow stronger it should not be too much problem." He replied cockily turning towards her with a grin, though not enough to take his eyes off the other hero.
"Good because I really want to wipe that grin off her face."
"Well the good news for you then Einzbern is that we will only need one...Archer." Rin called back just as her Servant disappeared into darkness only to reappear between the Servant and Master causing the smaller girl to let a brief high pitched tone as she hastily ran to the side of the path. After all that fur lined coat looked rather...flammable.
"My turn." Lancer said eagerly taking two steps forward weapon raised only to be forced to a halt by Saber's weapon intersecting his path.
"It would not be honourable to interrupt their duel Lancer." Saber said not turning away from looking at the clashing figures.
"You and your sense of Honour, we both know the Gargoyle is going to tear that thing apart... Fine. Then perhaps you would like to fight me yoursel...? Lancer began only for the invisible blade to suddenly shift to a position next to Lancer's throat. Only then did Saber turn her head away from the fight.
"I will only fight you when you are unable to run away any more, besides you are wounded and I would not fight a duel with a wounded foe. So stay and watch or leave." Saber said coldly and for the first time Rin could see that the young girl was clearly hiding something a lot darker under her otherwise serene appearance.
After a brief glance at the church from where we had come, he suddenly planted his spear in the Earth and leaned against it. It was only then that Rin could see the small trail of blood running down the hero's flank where something sizable (likely a part of the tree) had penetrated his body armour leaving a sizable hole.
"It would take a lot more than a scratch like this to keep me down, but I see your point. Your legacy of chivalry does you no credit compared to seeing it in person." He told Saber with a friendly smile only to frown as she looked away from him and back towards the battle. However all this did was leave me wondering who the girl standing beside us was, because seemingly everyone else knew apart from me. Clearly the blade she kept hidden was some clear indicator of her identity but as far as that went, I had no idea to its identity either much to her infuriation.
However the discussion between the two heroes was forgotten about as Berserker finally took exception to Archer's proximity to his master and with a crack of the ground beneath him, he propelled himself at my waiting Servant.
(Percy)
Ok I admit I may have cheated.
As the dark muscle bound lump of a giant leapt towards me, I had feinted towards his right shoulder again with Firestorm causing him to move left as if in combat auto pilot, the correct thing to do of course if you want to avoid being stabbed like a kebab. However what he could not see until the last moment was the Silver Mechanical Pencil I held in my left hand, which in an instant transformed into a three foot long Silver Sword very similar in detail to my previously discarded Bronze one, except several magnitudes more deadly. Even his last second attempted parry was pointless as the blade turned ethereal and completely bypassed the protection of his massive blade turned improvised shield before plunging into lower abdomen to a depth of about eight inches before I began drawing it sideways out of his flank, effectively disembowelling the large figure who staggered back. Dropping his weapon and cradling the large wound as if to keep his guts inside.
"Sorry Pal, but if I said nothing personal… I would be lying." I told him coldly before plunging Firestorm through chest, severing his heart and spine in two as the point penetrated his back. After a few seconds the ferocity in his eyes dimmed as they glazed over and he slowly fell backwards off my spear with a dull thump as he hit the earth.
"Berserker?" A annoying squeaky voice called out seemingly in surprise. Slowly I turned away from the dead hero and towards the small Albino girl who was staring at me with eyes like saucers.
"Hey you started this remember?" I told her with a shrug of my shoulders dispelling the two weapons I held back into their normal forms.
"And Berserker will be the one to end it!" She shrieked back with a mix of anger and arrogance as i felt a presence flare up behind me. Rolling to the side clumsily due to my armour I only narrowly avoided the blade that would have bisected me at the hip. Sure enough though there he was standing up again with barely a mark upon him.
"Oh come on! How is that fair?" I complained to no one in particular as I watched the last traces of the wounds I had inflicted heal without a trace.
"That was Regeneration!" Rin's voice called in my head with a tone of amazement.
"I noticed, any idea how to counter it would be nice or do I have to just keep cutting bits off?" I called back angrily as I dodged another blow and re-summoned the silver blade thankful that I had not put it away.
"Just keep him busy, while I deal with the girl." She said seemingly through gritted teeth. After another few clashes with Heracles I finally managed a glance to where our 'audience' was watching and sure enough she was gone and Lancer was holding the boy by his collar in a half-hearted restraining method judging by the fact Saber was doing nothing to stop him.
"Right then big guy, let's start chopping."
(Rin)
Rin was not one to usually have second thoughts once she put a plan into action. However as she slowly made her way through the darkened woods that surrounded the Fuyuki Church she had to wonder if she was making a reckless decision. Sure trying to deal with the Homunculus Illya or whatever its name was next to its Servant would have been a bad idea, because unlike Percy she doubted she could get hit by that thing and only break the tree she hit, she would probably resemble the consistency of roadkill.
So taking this elsewhere was probably for the best. But even so, despite not being a real Magus, Homunculus were not weak constructs by any means depending on their creator and purpose. And she was willing to bet that the diminutive albino was not a straight combat type and was more geared towards support and simply supplying Mana to keep Berserker going.
"I hope you were not thinking you could sneak up on me Rin." Illya said arrogantly stepping out from behind a tree in front of Rin.
"No that would be too easy, kind of like my Servant tearing yours apart." Rin replied with a smirk slowly moving her hand inside her jacket pocket and clinching one of several gemstones within.
"A minor hindrance, one that your fool of a Servant is about to get repaid tenfold, just like that little rock you are clutching." Illyasviel said her eyes narrowing as she brushed her silver hair to the side a loose strand coming away with her hand.
"Look's like you are falling apart alread-" Rin commented smuggly before going silent as the loose strand suddenly weaved itself into a hollow bird construct.
"Like you're Servant you talk too much." She muttered in annoyance as the construct lazily flapped its wings hovering alongside her shoulder its hollow eyes looking directly in Rin's direction. For the first time Rin was beginning to worry if she had made a mistake coming out here on her own without Percy or even Shirou and by extension Saber. The problem was that whilst creation of constructs was not unheard of by senior Mages especially amongst those of the Clock Tower, to be able to create one in few seconds and without uttering an incantation was worrying.
"I may need some help Percy." Rin thought to her Servant pulling her hand out of her jacket pocket clutching the gemstone tightly.
"And I want someone to tell me why this guy is not staying dead." Percy growled sarcastically in her head.
The truth was Rin was not sure Berserker could be killed, well permanently anyway. Resurrection kicked in when he was killed likely as its own Noble Phantasm. It was entirely possible that he would keep coming back until he ran out of Mana which brought Rin back to the little girl in front of her.
"Goodbye Rin." Illya mocked as the familiars eyes flashed white and projected a blast towards her.
Only a last moment toss of the emerald in her hand saved her from the magical blast as the stone shattered creating a temporary barrier between them and intercepting the beam. Even so it had enough concussive force to knock Rin back against the tree behind her.
"I'm impressed Rin, I thought that would get you for sure." Illya's voice called as the smoke and dust cleared revealing the Homunculus now flanked by two Familiars.
"Oh come on!" Rin complained to herself as she leapt to the side as the left most Familiar reduced the tree she had been leaning against to splinters. For better or for worse her last second dodge had resulted in her tumbling down a ditch shielding her from the subsequent attack.
(Percy)
"Oh come on, how is that fair, you can't normally do that." I complained aloud as the oaf No Saled the third weapon in a row in what was becoming a very annoying and problematic trend.
It had started when I had tried to murder him for the second time with Firestorm only for the spear to jarringly bounce off his chest in the same way Riptide had earlier. However I had easily responded by thrusting Hurricane through the giant's eye and into his brain. Only for him to get back up and the Orthrytic Silver sword to also turn useless, despite the fact it could generally bypass any defence.
The good news was I had no general shortage of pointy things to thrust into him to replace those that became useless. However they were still finite and from what I was seeing from Heracles I wasn't sure if his ability to come back to life was the same.
The only good news was I was keeping him on the defensive as I shifted to increasingly more deadly weapons. However the only divine weapons I had left were Maelstrom, Caliburn and the amusingly named Archery Sucks. Not that the last was an option for two reasons, I sucked with any bow smaller than a ballista and even that had to be pointed at the target by someone else and the second that it technically didn't belong to me anymore and I could not exactly ask Artemis if I could. Other than those there was always good old blunt force trauma. Like all Immortals I was far stronger physically than just about all Mortals or Demigods however Strength was also affected by mass unless you were blessed with being freakishly strong like Athena or even Zoe and maintaining a normal slender form. So as it currently stood he had the advantage in that department because I was pretty sure me turning twenty feet tall and stamping another Hero flat might have given the game away that I was a bit unfair in this tournament.
Well more than me cleaving his axe/sword thing in half with one swing of Caliburn causing even the Berserker Hero to pause momentarily as he studied the broken hilt he now clutched. Which was all it took for me to take his head off, though in the amusing manner in which I bisected his neck cleanly, resulting in it slowly rolling backwards off his truncated corpse.
And wait for it to immediately start to regrow as I switched the Mithril Sword to my offhand and summoned Maelstrom in my right.
"This is boring now." Fido said faintly behind me and I had to agree risking a glance at the small group of spectators and notice something kind of important.
"Err. Where's Rin?" I called back nervously noticing she was still missing and not getting a response.
(Rin)
Rin was currently cold, wet and lost as she continued to evade the twin birds of doom that were leisurely reducing the woods around her to a wasteland. Unlike her they did not have to worry about tripping over a root or rock, or being atomized by magical blasts. Well they did have the last problem except every time Rin decided to attack one of them the other would shoot the gemstone out of the air. And her Gandr blasts lacked the force to take them down for good only momentarily stunning them providing she actually managed to hit them which meant putting herself at risk. Which was the complete opposite of what she wanted to be doing.
So the game of cat and mouse had gone on until she now found herself cut off by the blasted birds again, only to double back and find another pair behind her as well.
"End of the line Rin." Illyasviel mocked appearing at the ridge above her and looking down at the Japanese Magus with eyes full of contempt.
"Then you will come with me." Rin threatened holding a number of albeit low grade gems in her hand.
"I doubt it." Illya said shrugging and walking away as the constructs prepared their blasts.
This time there was no way for her to avoid the shot and with the stones she had remaining she doubted she could successfully deflect all of the blast especially simultaneously. Which was why she was doing the complete opposite and amplifying the blast. She was not going to let the munchkin get away from her without a trace.
Closing her eyes and quickly reciting the chant of the spell she prepared for the blast.
'Mother, Father, Saku-' She prayed to herself as she felt four impacts around as the magic absorbed the blasts and prepared to multiply it tenfold and annihilate everything for a hundred meters.
Except the blast never came, no matter how much she waited. Slowly opening her eyes she looked about her feet, the magic circle around her still undisturbed and not triggered. Looking upwards she spotted the four constructs, or rather what was left of them. Each had been pinned through their body by a spear to either the floor or a nearby tree.
Before long three of them had shattered back into hair fragments leaving nothing but a variety of beautiful thrusting weapons embedded where they had been.
However the last familiar was not as heavily damaged as the others held only by a wing against the tree by a jet black spear even so it was still able to move around the point and face towards Rin it's eyes flashing as it prepared to blast again.
Before it could do so all three of the other spears moved autonomously and shredded the construct and the tree which snapped at the force of the blows as the spears were thrust through the timber bark to bark.
Looking around though quickly Rin could see no sign of anyone that could have helped and by the time she had looked back all four spears had vanished.
However before she could focus on the appearance/disappearance of the weapons, she was attracted to the sound of a girls panicked scream not too far away up the bank.
'Well if that's her I suppose I can call it karma.' Rin thought to herself turning away and taking a few steps before pausing with a sigh.
'She is not even a real person, besides she tried to kill me!' Rin argued mentally whilst at the back of her head, she knew that went both ways. After all this was supposed to be a fight to the death. But the problem was in truth Illya had had Rin, dead by all rights and the fact she had toyed with her was the only reason she even having this argument now. Well that and the fact someone, likely a servant had saved her life. The problem was she had no idea who. The fact the weapons had been Spears pointed towards Lancer but she doubted Saber's sense of honour would have allowed the Irish Hero to interfere and none of the spears had matched Percy's so that only left Caster, Rider or Assassin.
The problem was all three did not seem to match the MO of what had transpired so far. Mentally controlling Spears was technically possible by Caster yet why would they physical weapons instead of magic, Rider could use Spears but not normally to that extent and in that way let alone multiple at once. An Assassin using a Spear was practically unheard of due to the unwieldiness of the weapons in that regard.
Curiosity however got the better of her, she wanted to know who this mysterious person was that had saved her.
"I swear if I die for that Pipsqueek I am haunting someone." Rin cursed as she ran up the bank, narrowly avoiding slipping on the wet ground and sliding face first back to the bottom as it was she managed to get to the top and poke her head over the bank and look around.
She did not immediately spot the two figures because Illya was behind the other figure who was hiding most of her body. Which was quite a feat considering she was a good half foot shorter than the Diminutive Homunculus dressed in a black parka jacket and skirt with black hair coming to just above her knee's.
What was most alarming was the fact that a girl who was barely four feet high was holding the other girl by the throat against a tree, several inches off the ground with one hand.
"I know you are there, so you might as well come out." The girl said turning around in Rin's direction still holding the struggling figure like she was nothing. What was startling to Rin was the almost gleeful expression on her youthful western face, like she was taking great satisfaction in what she was doing. A look that was mirrored in her eyes, which from this distance she were pretty sure were silver.
"Who are you?" Rin asked nervously.
"Me? No one important, just a curious spectator who doesn't want foolish girls wasting his time getting killed by running off on their own. Though given time I think you can work it out, not that hard to work out really, I thought you were supposed to be a genius." She mocked sarcastically in her childish voice. Just as she finished however Illya managed to swing a leg up and kick towards her assailants face. Only for a spear to appear out of nowhere and intercept her leg at the last moment. Causing the Homunculus to cry out in pain even though she had simply kicked the side of the weapon.
"You are testing my patience. I have to follow rules about hurting maidens, but you are not truly Human so I suggest you behave yourself doll." The mysterious girl growled as Illya squeaked as the grip seemingly tightened around her throat. The spear vanishing just as fast as it had appeared into thin air.
"Yes that includes you Miss Tohsaka." She added as an afterthought causing Rin to freeze in horror and begin to turn crimson at the albeit truthful insinuation.
"Oh come on! How can you get embarrassed when there is no one to hear it but me and the doll here? Afraid that your precious Emiya might hear?" She mocked before giggling as Rin looked at her in horror unable to speak.
"Then again he has been left unattended with Ar- Saber, who knows what could happen there? What you all see in him I have no idea. Sure he has potential I suppose but he is still an idiot…. What is it with girls and dumbasses?" She seemed to add more to herself after trailing off for a moment. However Rin had also caught her first mistake before she had corrected herself about Saber. Was she seriously the only person who had did not know the blondes real identity?
Of course she was not the only secretive girl annoying Rin tonight, as there was something about the Raven haired girl that was oddly familiar but she still could not place it.
"Anyhow, you call off Heracles before someone decided to test exactly how many lives he does have." She said turning back towards Illya who was turning even paler at being unable to breathe properly.
"Berserker! Is invincible." She squeaked out with about as much pride as someone having their oesophagus crushed could muster.
"Hardly. He can't have that many left by now. If there is one thing fa- Archer can do well is kill those who claim that title. Besides you really don't want me to fight him do you?" She threatened before casually using her free hand to brush her long hair to the side before pinching a few strands and pulling them out and tossing them to her side where they landed as a pile of Spears and Lances before defying gravity and floating alongside her. What was it and hair based weapons with these two. Though creating physical weapons including a familiar nine foot long flaming gold spear was enough to claim the dark haired girl had the advantage.
"Berserker…Stop." Illya finally conceded only to be dropped the three inches to the floor where she cupped her throat.
(Percy)
"Get back here you big bastard!" I muttered loudly under my breath as I chased after the Mad Demigod Hero.
Sure enough even Caliburn had nullified by whatever BS that was stopping me killing him multiple times with the same weapon. Which left only Maelstrom but just as I was able to try my hand at carving my name across his forehead. He had ducked out of our fight like he had realized he had left the oven on, barrelling through every tree that was in his path, not budging a degree from the straight line he was taking.
Me well I was taking a much more leisurely jog after him, blade in hand. The other spectators following on behind it seemed judging by their presence not fading away from my senses.
Shortly afterwards we arrived at a now clearing in the woods which looked like someone had re-enacted the Battle of the Somme in it as the surrounding trees had been completely annihilated.
Heracles did not care for the scene as he barrelled up a nearby ridge digging great holes in the ground with each stride.
While he carried on however I was forced to stop as I detected something ahead which should have been impossible.
'Perseus!' I shouted in thought.
"What was I supposed to do about it? She knows what I am going to do before I do!" He replied back nervously confirming my fears.
'Great can this get any worse? Do not even think about it!' I told him resigning myself to what was about to occur. Nervously I followed Berserker up the hill, my feet slowly dragging on the floor in a weak attempt to delay my journey.
Rin was about to panic when she saw the Enemy Servant come charging towards them, only to get completely ignored as it barreled towards Illya who had crawled away from her former captor. Her Purple and White outfit now caked in Mud.
The other girl seemed to regard the Servant with amusement as he positioned himself between his Master and the Newcomer.
"I am actually rather impressed you would normally cower behind the nearest little girl when you meet me. Then again so do most of my Uncle's." She mocked causing Rin to look at the little girl with curiosity as pieces began to click into place. If Heracles was her uncle then she must be related to the Greek Pantheon of gods.
"However I do not care about you. Come on Otōsan – Sama!" She announced the final pieces clicking into place as Percy appeared above the crest of the hill his face emotionless. The resemblance now obvious the same black hair, the same generally informal attitude towards others, the same aura of power. The only real difference was in colour of her eyes and Rin realised she obviously got that from her mother as Artemis was known for having distinctive Silver eyes.
"Why are you here Arianna?" He said emotionlessly and Rin felt a strange sensation overtake her body as she found herself unable to move anything but her eyes. Looking around her she noticed that everyone and everything but the Raven haired girl and Percy were affected, even the trees had stopped moving in the wind. It was as if time was standing still which was not as farfetched as it possibly seemed with who was present.
"I got bored, so when I figured out what Perseus was planning I thought I would amuse myself." She replied happily and Rin could have sworn she saw Percy roll his eyes, as if this sought of thing was not that uncommon.
"Does your mother know?" He asked sheepishly.
"She would have said no, and then beaten Perseus up. Which would have been funny but boring for me. Besides the moon here is no fun just a big stupid rock. No Chariot = No chasing Uncle Apollo." She said finally looking down-hearted for the first time before perking up almost immediately. Percy meanwhile seemed to take a deep breath of relief.
"You need to go home, you shouldn't be here."
"Nor should you. Besides terrorizing uncle Heracles is always fun, Mum never tells me to stop." She said flashing Percy a grin whilst trying to look innocent.
"That's because you do it without permission and without telling anyone and your grandfather blames me."
"Aunt Hebe says I can do it?" She suggested happily.
"Yeah she would." Percy said face palming. "Anything that keeps him out of the house for a bit longer is fine by her, gives her time to get your other 'uncles' in and out whilst Jerk-ules is otherwise engaged getting his ass handed to him." Percy added sarcastically and Rin took a few seconds to get what he was referring to. Obviously the goddess's could be as promiscuous as the Greek gods had been in stories. Well that and super powerful beings from legend acted as if they were in a soap opera.
The strange thing was the normally silent Berserker seemed to be growling like a beast, seemingly as restrained as we all were. Rin thought that even the mad beast of a man knew that they were talking about him.
Or he was until a spear penetrated his face leaving a gory hole the size of Rin's fist.
(Percy)
I was beginning to wish I could just run away and get away from my own slightly psychotic daughter. Were it not for the fact she would be able to hunt me down in seconds, hell she would know I was going to before I did.
So when Arianna made Berserker look like a giant steroid taking Pinocchio there was little I could do about it. In fairness there was a good chance that even if all three Servants and myself attacked her simultaneously she would beat us all senseless without even trying. Due to the ridiculously overpowered nature of her primary domain she could quite easily dominate anyone in a fight, even if I fought her at full power I was lucky if I could even lay a hand on her… Which she would swiftly break.
I blame her mother. Who typically thought the girl was an innocent little angel as long as she kept her abuse towards men or Aphrodite.
All this from a girl who was a few months old.
Which was the only good news ironically. Yes it meant she was generally immature having two problematic role models in her mother and my own alter ego. And taking the worst parts of both, her rashness and his cockiness. However unlike them she did not have the stamina to keep it up for long… for the moment at least.
"Dad do you think that resurrection thing hurts?" Arianna suggested pointing at the slowly healing Servants face.
"I would imagine so."
"I prefer to not get hit." She replied cockily.
'Percy as much as I appreciate her saving me, I like being able to move more.' Rin complained in my head causing me to turn and face the frozen mage.
"Oh yeah I saved her from the doll!" Arianna remarked cheerfully as if remembering the others who were also present. Whilst I was turned around I happened to notice the fact that 'Saber' was still moving albeit slowly despite the fact everyone should have been magically restrained by me stopping time. This was for two reasons, one to stop them foolishly attacking Arianna which would have ended predictably. Second she was a goddess and had no qualms about abusing the fact against any hero. She was a firm believer in there is no kill like overkill. And finally it forced Arianna to waste energy resisting the effect as well. Inherited resistance or not she was not immune to Time manipulation either, hell I wasn't and I was the Primordial and Titan Lord of Time.
"And I am glad you did, no one needs to die." I told her holding my hands up appeasingly.
"What about him? How many times did you kill him?" She remarked sarcastically pointing at the still regenerating Heracles.
"Once or twice but that is beyond the point, when does he not deserve it?" I told her slumping my shoulders in defeat and looking at the floor shaking my head.
"Never… I feel tired now." Arianna replied punctuated with a tired yawn, looking back up I noticed her eyes had shifted from silver to gold, matching my own without the traces of Sea-Green that were still present in mine.
"Maybe you should go back home then, your mother may get worried." I suggested hopefully.
"But then I would have to tell mum… and she will kill you." She said with a small grin, however I noticed that her movements were becoming slower thankfully, watching it was if she was completely drunk but that was just the fact she was moving about at lower speed to her normal hyperactive self. If it was the other one, being in alternate realities and timelines would not be enough to protect me from her mother's wrath.
"Yay for me."
"Goodnight… father." Arianna said before closing her eyes tiredly swaying forwards and freezing in place like all the other's present.
Running forwards I cradled the diminutive girls body, picking her up and holding her against my chest as time returned to normal and those around regained the ability to move, the Servants all eyeing the girl I held wearily and stepping in front of their Masters where possible.
"I think we all need to go home, before she wakes up and this becomes a massacre." Lancer suggested swinging his spear behind his head and propping it between his arms.
"Gae… Bolg." Arianna whispered in her sleep. Nearby an exact replica of Lancer's own weapon clattered to the floor before disappearing after a few seconds. The Irish hero going wide eyed at his weapon's doppelganger before turning his head to make sure he still held the pointed weapon.
"What on earth is wrong with you? Does she have the same mother as Grendel?" Lancer asked worriedly shaking his head before disappearing into blue light.
Turning my head the other way it was of little surprise that Illyasviel and Berserker had likewise disappeared whilst no one was paying attention to lick their wounds and think of a plan. Well the midget would at least, Heracles could barely concentrate for a few seconds when sane, he was more of a doer than a thinker.
"Well that happened." I commented light heartedly to my three remaining companions.
"She is dangerous." Saber remarked with narrowed eyes her hand on the sheathed Excalibur still standing between me and Shirou.
"Aren't we all?" I defended, after all both of the teenage Masters were not exactly helpless, both being capable of using magic to some extent though to what capability I did not know.
"Saber, calm down, she did save Tohsaka after all." Shirou said moving forward and taking a hold of Arturia's arm, as he did so her grip on the invisible hilt weakened.
"I do not trust her, she is too unpredictable."
"I don't trust her and she is my daughter, however bear in mind that she is younger than she looks. Besides I will send her back." I told Saber causing the Magus to look at the girl with shock. After all she looked at least eight years not five months.
"So is she a Servant?" He asked curiously.
"Hardly… Gungn.-" Arianna muttered indignantly seemingly still semi-conscious. Though I did cut her off before she could finish the weapons name.
"Arianna enough!"
"Fine, I am a goddess, idiot hero – san." Arianna corrected teasingly before prompting me to let her down. Where she stood next to me leaning against my waist with her arms folded.
"You're a god!" He said looking at me in amazement.
"No." I replied instantly causing Arianna to chuckle, our family status was frankly confusing but it was not technically not a lie, I have not ever been a god. I was pretty close to the big G version though.
"Huh."
"Don't worry about it too much kid." I told him dissipating the Silver Armour around my body and relaxing.
"Archer take me home!" Rin said loudly trying to regain being the centre of attention.
"Shirou – San you should return home as well." Arturia suggested eyeing the little girl in front of her with suspicion.
"Finally! Jeez I almost thought Rin was going to suggest going back to Shirou's place to continue this awkward moment longer or maybe she want's something else from him?." Arianna said laughing weakly before stepping away and disappearing in a flash of moonlight.
"Wha- What does she mean?" Rin screamed loudly turning as red as his hair, not that the boy was doing a much better job of hiding his embarrassment. Arturia merely looked between the two with innocent curiosity.
"Catch you later kid, Saber." I told him before bowing my head to the Blond girl and catching a hold of Rin's arm surprising her as we were both enveloped in shadows and transported back to her house.
Where the girl immediately took off towards the bathroom to throw up.
Shadow travel is awesome like that.
"Good girl." Arianna's voice called from the garden as I followed her aura out of the house and into the garden where she was stroking the super-sized Lioness's head whilst sitting on her forepaw. The appearance of six silver wings faintly glowing on the girl's back creating a stark contrast with the Lioness's golden coat.
I was not surprised to find the girl outside despite the cool weather at this time of night. After all as goddess of Moonlight she was in her element being in direct exposure to the light bathing the area from the full moon over head.
"Sorry father." She said before turning towards me her golden eyes looking into mine apologetically.
"For what dear?" I said sitting down next to her brushing her hair out of her face. The lioness seemingly unbothered by us using her limb as a bench.
"I acted immaturely."
'Just a bit.' I wanted to say but decided to bite my tongue to avoid hurting her pride.
"You could have done worse, your mother would have done a lot worse if provoked. Besides I should thank you if you hadn't saved her Rin would be dead and I would be the most useless of the Servants." I said chuckling.
"I know hence why I saved her. Can't have every universe knowing you are an idiot dad."
"Why did you stick around though? You could have quite easily saved her and got out of there before I ever found out."
"I wanted to meet her."
"Who Rin?"
"Why would I be interested in a foolish Japanese schoolgirl? No I wanted to meet Arturia or rather Saber I suppose I should call her."
"How do you-, oh right of course you know who she really is."
"Forgot who you were speaking too." She teased as I attempted to flick her head from behind and she dodged at the last second with a chuckle.
"You know that won't ever work on me?"
"You are far too cocky for a little girl."
"Remind me again who your aspect is, basically cockiness personified. Well unless you hold a pair of bricks near him in which case he becomes extremely co-operative."
"Your mother is teaching you bad habits."
"So have you but that is beside the point. I am interested in how this plays out for that girl, She is actually quite endearing to watch. All tough on the outside yet completely broken and alone inside. She reminds me of someone we know."
"Morganna?" I guessed correctly judging by the way she nodded.
"Well other than the obvious family resemblance, both of them are pained with great levels of regret for their actions. Morganna in her desire for power, hurt all those she knew and got locked in a cycle of death and rebirth, the more she learns about her former selves the closer she steps towards becoming them. Saber led her kingdom to ruin trying to uphold her image as a perfect king. She did everything right and yet it all led to nothing in the end because of factors she could not account for." Arianna explained sadly.
"Even so those events happened a millennia ago in two different realities, not a lot we can do about it now… You are planning something aren't you?" I asked her turning towards my daughter who was looking back at me with an innocent smile.
"Maybe…" She replied coyly pushing herself off the Lioness's paw.
"It is a bit unfair to plan something when you can see the future. And then not tell anyone what is going to happen."
"That's what makes it fun, I know when you are going to mess up so I can correct it."
"Or make it even worse." I pointed out, Arianna was rather troublesome for the pranks she performed against people, bordering on Rube Goldberg levels of sophistication. Knowing exactly how someone was going to react to each stage of the prank only made her make it more complicated.
"You sound like me being here is a problem."
"No me being here is a problem, you are more of someone's idea of a nightmare." I told her with a grin as she did a small pirouette and taking a bow as if taking credit for her reputation.
"I try." She said with a giggle. The difference in her personality was something me and her mother had always noted as being erratic she could shift from one extreme of playful to outright psychotic at the drop of a hat. So much so that we originally thought she had been born with an aspect but it was still very much the same 'person' because she would just as easily change back. The only defining trait being her eyes shifting colour when she was getting serious, ironically in the exact opposite to Artemis who went from Silver to Gold when stressed.
"You need to go home now though." I told her firmly.
"But why?"
"Because you will kill everyone in their sleep probably." I joked half seriously.
"Soooo. Besides Caster and Rider kind of deserve it, you did kill Rider already come to think of it."
"I did?" I asked worried.
"Oh right sorry, not here back in our world." She explained as I breathed a sigh of relief. The only person I killed here hadn't stayed dead for very long. Didn't tell me who it was though and I got the feeling she would stay cryptic on the matter.
"Besides ten minutes ago you could barely stand up, you need to go back and rest." I reminded noticing her left eye drooping slightly. Were it not for the fact she was in direct moonlight she would probably be unconscious.
"Fine but I am not promising to stay away." She said folding her arms across her chest. Her wings all folding downwards as if to emphasize the point.
"I didn't think you would."
"No I think I might get Perseus to send me somewhere more fun, topple an empire perhaps."
"Of course dear." I told her sarcastically. Knowing full well that she would probably collapse asleep as soon as she was left unattended, but of course she was too proud to admit she was actually tired.
"Perseus." She called innocently into the air.
"Please keep her there." His voice begged in my head immediately.
'Oh hell no, you let her come here, you can claim her back. You are going to be in enough shit when Artemis finds out you stuck me here, Arianna? You will be a dead man walking.'
"She doesn't need to know."
"Do you really think Arianna can keep quiet about how many spears she managed to pincushion into Heracles if you left her here?"
"FINE!" He muttered in annoyance before sure enough my own doppelganger appeared a few meters away.
"Yay the taxi service has turned up." Arianna said mockingly.
"Yay the devil child is here." He hissed back angrily.
"Arianna what did you do?"
"Nothing mom would disapprove of."
"Arianna." I asked again pressing the issue.
"Launched his Xbox into orbit with Gungnir." She admitted nervously shuffling her foot on the grass.
"If she had broken it, I could fix it, blasting it off who knows where? Not easily fixable." He whined while I figured something a lot more pressing out.
"That was mine!" I proclaimed indignantly only to be ignored.
"Maybe you should spend more doing your job than playing it then?" Arianna hissed back at him ignoring my comment.
"Oh yeah because the Hunt really still needs a guardian, with you hanging around wiping all threats off the face of the earth without trying. I remember the good old days when we fought Primordials like Gaia and Chronos, without arrogant little brats like you getting in the way."
"First of all some would classify us as an arrogant little brat, second I fought Gaia not you. Third what on earth was good about fighting Chronos? He fractured you to pieces and I lost a hand which wasn't fun either." I told my aspect angrily who flinched at the memory, after all he had royally screwed up to get us in that situation in the first place.
"Technicalities." He muttered under his breath as I continued to glare at him.
"Technically your stupid console is fine, just up there somewhere, why don't you go find it." Arianna taunted playfully pointing into the dark sky.
"Both of you be quiet and stop acting like kids." I said firmly despite the fact even Perseus was technically not even a year old.
"Yes father."
"Whatever. Come on brat." Perseus grumbled stepping closer to Arianna.
"One more thing father." Arianna said with a grin stepping towards me as I looked back at her suspiciously.
"I have a gift for you to pass on, you know who to." She said smile as she reached behind her and grabbed a feather from a wing and gave it a tug. The silver feather glowing briefly before turning unreactive. As for what it was I had a pretty good guess, though the specific details of the weapon I had no idea. Gingerly taking a hold of the feather I put it in my pocket, thankful that unlike my own wings hers were not composed of thousands of individual bladed feathers. Well technically they were if she should so choose, the girl was never unarmed after all she was practically made of spears. Every spear she had ever seen or would ever see. If she had been summoned in the Lancer Class well everyone else better go home and pray to whatever gods they had for mercy.
"Anyway see you when you get home." She said cheerfully spinning on one foot and bounding off towards Perseus who was looking impatient.
"Make sure you win dumbass, I am not repeating this." Perseus grumbled before both of them disappeared into light.
"Arche—Argh." A voice called from behind me only to turn into a muffled scream. Looking over my shoulder I caught sight of Rin hiding behind a corner looking at the giant golden feline with a look of abject terror.
"Relax she is harmless… Mostly." I told her only to be corrected as the Lioness blew a puff of smoke from her mouth.
"You know what I give up, I am going to bed." She said in exasperation before disappearing back behind the corner and I felt her moving further away.
"I know what you mean, what the hell has been today?" I muttered to myself dropping off Nemea's paw and onto the ground before leaning against her warm fur and closing my eyes. Living with the Hunt I had got used to staying outside and besides it was not as if I could catch a cold.
After a few minutes I finally drifted off into the emptiness of sleep, or rather I should have felt nothing. Instead I seemed to be in a dimly lit environment which gave me the feeling of being in a great cavern. The only source of illumination being some glowing fungus.
"Hello Perseus. Such a pleasure to meet you." A female voice called with amusement the very environment echoing with the words.
Well it was to be expected I suppose, she was most likely the cavern. And the last person I wanted to be trapped with, after all the last time we had been together I had killed her.
"Gaia."
Authors Note: Well the good news is that I am still alive.
Though I feel like I should apologise for the Looong delay in this chapter coming out. Due to numerous factors including and mostly Laziness on my part. (Finally buying an Xbone didn't help matters.)
As to the chapter well I have mixed feelings on it, I feel it could have been smoother but the arrival of Arianna throws everything out of synch. Many will notice that Saber actually did nothing this chapter other than ponder her companions and situation. However this means that unlike the original routes, she has not had to waste any energy in the fight with Berserker. Which means more for later on of course.
As for everyone's first (not chronological obviously) introduction to the Dear young Spear Maiden. Well she is basically invincible without resorting to underhanded techniques or her holding back. Her control of spears is basically the same as Gilgamesh's gate of Babylon. Only with the added ridiculousness of being able to see the future. It is quite infuriating to have a character planned for years and never being in the story.
Anyone who can work out what the weapon was at the end, she gave to Percy. Well done.
As for TOTH I have not abandoned it before anyone slits their wrists. Chapter 96 is in the works and planned out. However I may not update it for a while as unfortunately Fallout 4 comes out tomorrow and well anyone who knows me knows I am slightly addicted to the series (6000 hours approximately cough). Fortunately though I cannot play it at work where most of this now gets written now that things have calmed down there.
Hope you enjoy the chapter and I look forward to hearing your feedback especially regarding Arianna.