A Tale of Two Ages

Description: The Holy Grail War was supposed to be over. She should not be fighting again for something she no longer wanted- in this form, no less. But she is. Will the past she has evaded in Avalon finally catch up with the King of Knights? This fanfiction will take place both in the present and in the past. Hence, the name 'A Tale of Two Ages'. Slightly AU at certain points.

Chapter One – King Arthur

King Arthur.

Floating words disturb Saber's slumber.

Awaken, Arturia. Our contract is not finished.

Vague sounds and sensations slowly come back to her. She remembers the clashing of thousands of swords, the screaming of horses and men, the flapping of vulture's wings overhead. Her hands close instinctively.

You have been summoned twice. A third time thou shall fight in the service of the Holy Grail.

Saber frowns at the lingering intrusion. The sounds of another time and place have faded. Now she hears nothing.

What is it the people say? Third time's the allure? Or is it the charm?

Saber hears nothing but the feeling of wrongness persists. She does not hear the words but is aware of their existence. It is as if the thoughts behind the words are manifested in her, yet it doesn't seem like the words belong to a single person. It doesn't feel as if it belongs to a person at all.

Never one to stand by while such wrongness was present, Saber grits her teeth and sits up. She summons the invisible Excalibur and her hands close only to find thin air in place of her sacred blade.

Then she remembers that she no longer possesses the Holy Sword. She gave it to Sir Bedivere to hand it back to the Lady of the Lake. Never would she have thought to have need of it again. After all, what harm comes to those in Avalon?

Avalon.

She should be in Avalon. Or so she thinks but she has no idea what Avalon looks like. Shouldn't the Isle of Apples be peaceful? With trees far older than most castles, small lazy streams, a slight ever present mist coming from the seas, and structures made of aged marble?

You are no longer in Avalon, King of Knights. You are in my Throne of Heroes.

The Throne of Heroes? But that is impossible! She has stopped seeking the Holy Grail and has thus, voided the contract!

Only temporarily, of course.Saber senses a chuckle. I do not appreciate having my Grail destroyed twice in such a short span of time.

'My' Grail?

As such, I shall disturb your peaceful slumber and make you a Servant once more. A Servant, King of Knights.

What?! She cannot be summoned again. The contract is void! What is happening?

Ah, but you have lost your famous sword. Shame.The words, dripping with sarcasm, ignore her confusion. What kind of host am I to send you to a war with no weapon? Alas, I cannot give you Excalibur nor Caliburn, but Rhongomyniad still exists.

However… I am also aware that a condition exists for you to be able to use your lance to its full extent. You had to be at the same state you were when you received the lance from the fae, right?

She was at the end of a campaign when Merlin, her court wizard, called her for a 'walk' which turned into a discussion about Britain being the last scar from the age of the gods. At the end of the 'walk', which she should have known was anything but, she received a spear that pierces the world, from the fae. It being the last thing to seal a world of magic away.

Unfortunately, when she led and launched campaigns, it was customary for the King to drink a potion that changed her into a man for a time, for it would have been difficult and awkward to have her wounds nursed by healers otherwise. She did not mind that she had to constantly drink Merlin's potion during the course of her reign, although she hated the nausea and slight tingling feeling that came after the potion faded.

The same state. She was, for all intents and purposes, a man when she received Rhongomyniad.

Your lance, passed down through your lineage, still exists in the world of Man, King of Knights. And the condition can easily be arranged.

What?

Saber suddenly feels her gut wrench involuntarily.

"Wait. Why are you doing this?" Saber cries out. "Who are you?"

She receives no reply as she heaves and puffs out air from a stomach empty for an uncertain time period. Her arms and legs tingle, and her energy levels fluctuate madly. She feels intense discomfort, it is as if someone is playing with her internal organs. Saber falls to her knees.

Not long after, she feels like she really is falling.

Saber lands with a crash. She feels grass along her skin and the wind gently caresses her hair. Birds fly overhead, cawing slightly. Saber grunts and rubs her forehead with a gloved hand, and notices that her hand is slightly larger than what she's used to. Saber frowns and a glance at the rest of her armored body confirms her suspicions.

She... He is now a man. Saber sighs in frustration. This has been a most unorthodox summoning. There has been no ritual to summon a Servant as far as she— he knows. He is not lying on a magic circle, so there mustn't have been. What in the world is happening? This shouldn't be possible. The contract with the Grail became null and void once the Grail was destroyed willingly. Yet, he is here.

Here, apparently seems to be a park. Children are running and playing, adolescents are reading or gathering, and families are eating together. Similar to what could be found in Saber's time, but at the same time also different.

"Hey! Are you one of those costumed chaps filming a movie around here?" A middle aged man inquires while running towards Saber. Saber watches him warily, prepared to defend himself should the man make any aggressive moves.

English. "No," Saber replies, and the man frowns. "I mean, yes. I am one of those filming a movie."

The older man looks at Saber oddly before shrugging. "Fine then. I got one of your props sticking outta the ground. I need you to take it away before the children swing or climb on it. Follow me." Without waiting for the Servant's reply, the older man turns and jogs away.

Saber follows and discovers that said prop was none other than Rhongomyniad. "Yes, thank you. I'll take care of it," Saber mutters to the man and promptly grabs the lance. He has a moment to rue about the convenience of the matter when words suddenly manifest.

You must make haste, Arthur. The 6th Grail War has officially started with your arrival… and you are two days late.

Arthur. Well, I suppose the name fits me better now than it ever has. I am no longer Saber. Excalibur and Caliburn are no longer in my possession. Clarent is in Mordred's hands, wherever she is. And even though I have this finely made cavalry sword by my side, I cannot be called Saber anymore. He scratches his nape and sighs. With Rhongomyniad, I am now Servant Lancer.

Without further explanation, as before, the words fade. Two days have passed since the arrival of the other six servants. He has to find his Master immediately. Arthur concentrates and attempts to get a feeling for his Master… who doesn't seem to be very far away.

"If that is all, young man, I'll be going." The older man stares at Arthur curiously before leaving. Arthur sighs and rubs his temple in frustration once the man has gone. "Rhongomyniad," He mutters, inspecting the lance.

Differing greatly from the King's other weapons, Caliburn, Excalibur, and Carnwennan, the 10 foot lance is barely decorated aside from Fairy Letters engraved on its vamplate, and as such, looks rather plain. The letters serve as proof that it is a Divine Construct, not forged by the hands of man. The vamplate and the lance's shining appearance store the 13 seals that hold in the light from the Ends of the Earth. Once released, the lance's Type and Rank would change. One would not expect the World's anchor to look so plain and unassuming, but the World cares little for aesthetics.

Walking around in armor is too conspicuous and wearing modern clothes is out of the question. With a thought (and a cursory look to make sure that no one is around), Arthur fades into spirit form.

He races through roads and across rooftops, taking the shortest route possible to reach his Master. He also sees that small cars dominate the roads and buildings with Gothic designs could be seen in the distance, meaning that he is most likely somewhere in Europe. He smiles, that must explain the increase in power he has felt since 'falling' to earth. That, or his Master is extraordinarily powerful.

He lands on the rooftop of a small house and inspects the larger house directly across it. The residence itself isn't particularly large when compared to others in the sparsely populated area, but its land area is huge and decorated with a courtyard by the front and a backyard. His master is inside, he is sure of it. Taking two steps back, Saber breaks into a run and leaps off his perch. His jump takes him over the larger house's gate and lands a few feet in front of a fountain.

The temperature suddenly feels a lot colder and the hair on the back of his neck rises.

With a deft twist, Arthur reverts to his normal form. In the same moment that his jousting helm materializes, an arrow whizzes past his head. He dodges three more arrows fired in succession at him, and draws a cavalry sword sheathed at his hip. A lithe Servant clad in a violet hood and brown leather armor slides down the rooftop, an arrow notched in her bow. Probably Archer.

The King of Knights doesn't wait for the arrow to be fired. He climbs on to the fountain and jumps for Archer, sword reflecting the sunlight. Archer draws a dagger from her lower back and parries Arthur's strike. She immediately jumps away and fires a glowing arrow that Arthur slashes to the side. The arrow explodes upon impact with the rooftop and destroys a portion of it. Arthur manages to leap away from the fallen rooftop, but receives an arrow in the gap in his plate armor between the left shoulder and breast plates. He grunts and breaks away the arrow's body but sees and feels the arrowhead burning through his flesh and chainmail. Arthur gets the odd feeling that this has happened before.

He did not expect there to be an enemy Servant where his Master was. Masters do not generally take other Masters captive, preferring to kill them whenever possible for it is much easier to kill a magus than a Servant. But his Master was still alive, he could feel his presence somewhere within the house.

"Archer!" A female voice shouts from the ground, but Arthur doesn't dare take his eyes off the enemy servant. Archer is momentarily distracted, and he takes the chance to jump into the hole in the rooftop to find his Master. Turning his back on a long range Servant like Archer is pure folly, but he has no choice. He was supposed to be here to protect his Master but he wasn't, so instead, he has to find him or her.

Arthur runs through the hallway, slashing through concrete walls like leather as arrows land where he was a moment ago. This Servant is frustratingly tenacious. Suddenly, the arrows stop flying after the King of Knights, and Archer's footsteps clomp as she runs on the rooftop above.

Arthur senses that she is heading for his Master. He increases his speed and bashes through another concrete wall. There are two people in the backyard, a young man and woman both looking at him in fear. He must have bashed through an entire length of the house.

There! His Master! He grabs the young man by the shoulders and turns him around so that Arthur's body protects that of the young man's. The woman immediately launches a spell that howls for their blood. The wind spell is powerful by magus standards, but Arthur is able to withstand the howling winds easily and shields his Master with his body and outstretched right arm. The man is yelling something in his ear that Arthur does not understand.

"Archer!" The woman yells, apparently being the same woman who called for Archer a while ago. Three glowing arrows answer her yell, and Arthur pushes his Master away. His sword flashes as he slashes an arrow out of the air, he twists so that another arrow passes by harmlessly and explodes behind him, making sure that none of the arrows land near his Master.

The third arrow, however, hits him clear in his right shoulder and explodes upon impact, knocking Arthur back a couple of feet. He grits his teeth and rubs his shoulder in pain. Gripping his sword tighter, he runs for Archer's Master. Attacking an unarmed and helpless individual is against the very tenets of chivalry, but as Archer's Master has demonstrated, she is anything but.

… And even if she wasn't, honor has no place in a war.

"Rin!" his Master yells and runs towards the woman. Rin? Arthur stops running, halting his Master with an outstretched hand. He casts a look at Archer, who has now given up her height advantage, and is standing beside her Master, another arrow notched and aimed at Arthur and his Master.

Rin? What is going on? Could it be-

Arthur wonders as his Master tries in vain to wrench Arthur's arm away. He takes the momentary lull in combat to properly examine the enemy Master. Long black hair flowing down her shoulders, blue eyes looking at them contemplatively, and a slender figure dressed in a red long sleeve shirt and black pants. The Master standing before them really is Rin Tohsaka. He grips his sword tighter and frowns.

So Rin has been called again as an Archer's Master. However, for some reason, she has my Master captive. Facing a former ally will be difficult, but I must ignore that. I will cut her down if I have to.

Rin then walks forward slowly and tells Archer to stay put. Arthur narrows his eyes and waits.

"Wait! Maybe this isn't necessary," She says with her right arm raised as if calming a rabid animal. "Servant." She points at Arthur. "I ask of you, is Emiya Shirou your Master?"

Shirou?

The King looks at the young man still tugging at his arm. A redhead wearing a black jacket, jeans, and a scarf wrapped around his neck. His left hand bears a command seal. Shirou Emiya. His former Master as Servant Saber, and it seems his Master as Servant Lancer as well.

What is the meaning of this? Are Rin and Shirou enemies now, or is there a mistake?

Arthur banishes the thought from his mind and turns back to Rin. "He is."

"What?" Shirou stops tugging at Arthur's arm and gapes for a moment.

Rin's eyes widen in surprise but she has better control over her emotions and schools her face back into wary interest. "I see. Well then, it seems that this entire exercise has been nothing but a waste of time." Arthur opens his mouth to protest. "Meaning no disrespect to you, of course." Rin continues before Arthur has a chance to speak. "My name is Rin Tohsaka. Shirou and I are allies, Servant Saber. There is no need to fight."

"Master." Archer speaks while still aiming the bow at Arthur. "You should not speak so quickly. We have no proof that this Servant really is Master Emiya's. You also shouldn't assume that this Servant is Saber only because he looks like a knight and uses a sword."

Arthur agrees with Archer's assessment and stifles an amused scoff. Unlike Archer, he lowers his sword but doesn't sheath it.

"No. I can tell." Shirou says while examining his left hand, the hand with the Command Seal. "I wasn't able to focus before, but yes. He is my Servant." He lowers his hand and looks at Arthur. "Sorry about that by the way. I could have stopped this before it started."

"No need to apologize, Master." Arthur nods. "All of us made assumptions. I had thought you were held captive by Ms. Rin since I was attacked by her Servant, who in turn, might have made the assumption that I was an enemy."

"You did come out of nowhere." Archer shrugs, her shoulders rising in a dainty motion. "But who are you, Servant? Are you really Saber?"

Arthur smiles ruefully, although it's not as if anyone can see through his jousting helm. "No. I am Servant Lancer." He says, bowing slightly with his hand over his midsection.

"Wait. It would be best to continue this discussion inside." Rin interrupts. The others nod in agreement and they all walk through a wall that Arthur demolished. "This is going to take a while to fix." Rin frowns as she inspects the hole made by Arthur's sword impact. "Shirou!" She suddenly turns to the startled Shirou. "Help me fix this mess. Your Servant just bashed through several walls to save you, so you better help me fix this."

Shirou scratches his head and walks to the other end of the residence, stepping over the broken bricks. Rin waves Archer and Lancer to an intact part of the house, telling them not to kill each other after the weapons were dispelled. The King of Knights watches with interest while she casts restoration spells.

Watching stone walls piece themselves back together is always an odd sight. If only we were able to do this back then, or if more Magi who could do this existed, we would never have lost a siege. On the other hand, taking castles by force would have taken much more time, lives, food, and men…

Lancer turns back to Archer and finds the latter observing him warily. The feeling of deja vu returns. Archer has a hood that covers her forehead and casts shadows over her eyes. She is dressed in light leather armor, with pauldrons, greaves and armbands made of steel and traced with intricate designs. There isn't much that separates her from other bowmen from Lancer's memory except for a purple half cape that connects with her hood. She crosses her arms to create a makeshift barrier between them.

"Have we met before, Archer?" Arthur asks, unable to shake the feeling that he has seen her before.

Archer observes her fellow Servant, her eyes inspecting his armor and stance. "I wouldn't know, Lancer." She shakes her head. "I don't know your identity. So I can't really answer that."

Arthur nods, feeling slightly foolish for asking such a question.

Shirou smiles as he approaches the others. "I've inspected the walls on the outer part of the house, Rin. But you can clearly see that the ones on the inside," He points to the two walls closest to their position. "Will take more time and effort."

Rin nods. "I see. I've fixed the walls on the backyard and the room leading to it. I've also finished putting up the Boundary Field that we've been working on. We won't be caught off guard by unknown arrivals in the future, at least." She says, while glancing at Arthur.

The Servant bows his head very slightly. "I apologize for ruining your walls."

Rin closes her eyes and concentrates. She points her hand at a 45 degree angle towards the roof. "Wiederherstellung und Stärkung mein Haus." The broken bricks and rubble on the floor shudder and start glowing. They fly towards the wall it was once part of and restore it to its previous state. The entire house shudders once when the spell finishes.

"Impressive," Arthur comments.

"Well, I've always wanted to try that," Rin huffs, twirling her hair between her fingers. She turns to the two Servants. "So, in order to work as a team effectively, we need to know who our teammates are."

"You are asking us to share our identities, I take it?" Arthur cocks his head to one side. "That would be unwise."

"We understand that you may have reservations. But, as her apprentice, Rin and I will fight together. We trust each other." Shirou says reaching for Rin's hand and holding it. Rin is slightly startled by this act but she smiles back at Shirou.

Arthur smiles in amusement and is pleased for his present and former Masters. A sentiment that is not shared by Archer, who coughs. "That is… admirable," She says. "But what are we to do if one of you dies?"

The Masters drop each other's hands and frown. "Should one of you perish, one of us Servants will be forced to find a different Master." Archer continues. "With the alliance dissolved, any further fighting would be detrimental to those of us still alive since we know each other's identities."

"I agree." Arthur nods.

Rin crosses her arms. "I would normally agree. But this war is not normal. We are in Europe, for one thing. I have also been hearing about other strange occurrences on the news. While that kind of thing is normal for a Holy Grail War, it shouldn't be happening this quickly."

This war is definitely not normal. My own presence here is an anomaly.

"All the more reason for us to be cautious, Master." Archer turns slightly to her fellow Servant. "I would suggest withholding our identities until we are certain of our loyalties."

"Are you doubting my loyalty?" Arthur bristles.

Archer purses her lips. "Anything is possible. Not all knights are chivalrous."

Arthur frowns. It seems like she is speaking from experience. Who is this Archer and what does she have against knights?

"Rin. Maybe it would be best if the Servants revealed their identities to their respective Masters. That way, if one of us dies," Shirou falters slightly. "And their Servant is forced to find another Master, they still wouldn't know who the other Servant is."

Rin paces with her hand on her chin. "Fine. I suppose it's the best we can do for now."

End of Chapter 1

Wiseup!

Class: Lancer

Master: Emiya Shirou

True Name: Arthur Pendragon

Sex: Male

Height/Weight: 183 cm (6') / 76 kg

Alignment: Lawful Good

Strength: A+ (B)

Endurance: B+ (C)

Agility: A (C)

Magical Energy: A+ (B)

Luck: B

Noble Phantasm: ?

Class Abilities
Magic Resistance: B – Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by High-Thaumaturgy and Great Rituals, it is difficult for Lancer to be affected.

Riding: B – Ability to ride things. He can ride most vehicles with above average skill, but he cannot ride those of demonic and holy beast rank.

Skills
Mana Burst: A - This transfers magical energy into one's weapon and body, and by releasing the magical energy instantaneously, it increases one's ability.

Charisma: B - Natural ability to command an army. Charisma is a rare talent, and B-rank is enough to lead a country.

Instinct: A - A refined sixth sense that is now closer to true precognition. Has the bonus effect of reducing penalties caused by obstructed vision and hearing by half.

Cultural Sphere - The Land: The British Isles (or the United Kingdom and Ireland)- Being summoned in his homeland has increased Lancer's stats by approximately one step and a modifier (+/-). Venturing to France or North America will increase his stats by one modifier only due to his influence upon the lands' culture.

Author's Note: The Fifth Grail War took place in 2004, according to the wiki. However, the Grail was also dismantled in the 2010s (I'm assuming that means anywhere from 2010-2019) by Rin and Waver Velvet. I shall place this fic's timeline, and the Sixth Grail War for that matter, in 2014. My reasoning for this is pretty much the same reason as the 5th War's. Due to the premature conclusion of the War before it, (Excaliblast, anyone?) and the Grail's failure to grant a wish, the energy accumulated through the elimination of Servants results in the premature occurrence of the succeeding War. So, at this point, they've just started dismantling it.

(So… I guess that means we have 12 (5 from Zero, and 7 from FSN, saber not included) Servants worth of Grail mojo then?)

As for why it's set in Europe…

P.S: For those of you who don't know what a vamplate is, it's that part of the lance. That round thing that protects the hand. Wiktionary says "A round of iron on the shaft of a tilting spear, to stabilize and protect the hand."

Also, if you were wondering as to what a male Saber(F/SN) would look like, feel free to search for 'Prototype Saber'.

Credits to betas: moxymike, Cori Shadowfang, LoneTraveller, MarksmanKNG, and MimiBlue