Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or Fate/Apocrypha

NOTE: Mordred will be referred to as Falchion. Arturia will be referred to as Saber. This naming scheme was made in order to hide their true identities from enemies.

When I opened my eyes again, I found that I was inside my own room. As usual, I check my penny knife for memories to see if I missed any-

It's not on me. Why do I not have a knife on me?!

I hurriedly run over to the desk in my room and rip the drawer right out of it, spilling its contents on the floor, and of the penny knives that fell out I grab one with each hand.

"Hah, hah, hah…"

I try to control my breathing in an attempt to calm down. Now, why did I not have a knife on me?

I feel the taste of blood in my mouth, and I remember the fight I had with Berserker last night. I quickly check my right hand, and see that I still have my command seals, which means that Falchion is still alive. It is humiliating that the only reason we got out of that battle alive is because our opponent left us for dead, and it is a disadvantage because I am sure that they will make sure that I am dead next time we fight. Still, humiliation is good for curbing excessive pride and I would rather take a disadvantage if the alternative is death.

Wait, how did I survive? I'm pretty sure that the damage done to my body would have killed me ten times over; and even with my accelerated healing it shouldn't have been enough…I may have been hallucinating due to the pressure, and regardless I'm sure that this isn't something that I can figure out on my own, so I'll worry about it later.

After cleaning up my room and changing into my protective clothing, I walked into the living room and found Saber waiting at the table while Sakura was already making breakfast. Saber looked at me in shock, and then gave a downcast expression.

Sakura came over with omelets and gave me a bright smile. "Good morning, Senpai. Saber-san told me you weren't feeling well before, but I'm glad to see you're doing alright now."

Sakura…While I can be a good chef, sometimes my memory problems act up while cooking so the quality of my food can be inconsistent whenever I forget what I'm doing. It's great to have someone like Sakura over who can reliably cook well, and it works out for the both of us; I pay for all the food and ingredients, and she gets a free meal provided she does the cooking…Not that I would deny her a meal if she didn't cook…

Another good thing about Sakura is that she has a purely platonic relationship with me, and will not try to make a move on me. Sure, I have the feeling that she is attracted to me, and I do find her looks to be appealing, but in the end we have an unspoken agreement that we will not pursue a romantic relationship. It's definitely for the best, as for whatever reason I always feel that if a woman is trying to seduce me, then they have an ulterior motive for doing so, and my memory problems would probably make any relationship I have difficult.

I started eating my omelet and take a moment to savor the-

I found myself with Saber as we are both sitting in the in the dojo.

…Well, at least I had a moment to even taste my food before my time skipped again. Darn it, why do I rarely have first hand experience in the simple joys in life?

Checking my penny knife for memories, I see that once again I didn't miss anything important, and that was going to discuss-

"Saber, can you tell me about the opponent you fought last night? You know, the blue-haired samurai with the purple kimono with the oversized katana?" I asked.

Saber gave a confused expression. "The Servant I fought was…strange, to say the least. I initially believed that he was just as you described, but I soon realized that he was just a remarkably well crafted puppet in the shape of a human. He had no eyelids, the expression on his face never changed and he did not breathe or speak."

Saber straightened her posture as she looked at me. "The reason I did fight him instead of heading straight to you was because he was an Assassin, a type of Servant that are specialized in killing masters but are weaker in combat. If he had followed me to you, then he might have killed you, so I decided to take him down beforehand."

"How did you know he was an Assassin?" I asked.

Saber frowned and looked to the side. "He had…a paper that was stuck to his clothing that read: Servant Assassin - Sasaki Kojirou."

…Paper stuck to his clothing…A sticker? Why would he do that? Was it an attempt to get Saber to reveal her identity to him?

At least the Servant status screen doesn't lie. Assassin really is Sasaki Kojirou, for whatever reason.

Saber regained her composure and continued to explain. "While I was able to force him to be on the defense, he soon took advantage of his puppet status to employ an unusual strategy of spinning the wrist of the arm that was holding his longsword until it was acted like a...shield of some sort that would deflect all of my attacks. I was not able to counter this tactic by attacking the fingers that were gripping his sword, as he would always react and move them just out of the way as if taunting me, and every time I broke his sword, a new blade would materialize in its place. I decided not use my Noble Phantasm to just end him since I had no reason to believe that you were in serious danger, and eventually our battle ended when he suddenly disappeared."

Saber then began to glare at me. "Now, tell me Master, why was I not informed that you needed my help immediately? It would have been an acceptable sacrifice to use my Noble Phantasm to eliminate Assassin and be able to provide assistance to your battle in time."

"I didn't want to distract you while you were in combat…And I was so focused on Falchion's fight that I didn't think to give you updates on the situation until it was too late." I explained weakly. "I won't have either of you two separated from me again while on patrol, though, I've learned my lesson."

"That is an acceptable concession, but we will discuss your lack of aptitude in strategizing later." Saber said with a smile that made me uncomfortable. "For now, how is Falchion doing? I did not see her when I came to your location after I dealt with Assassin."

"…Well, I know Falchion is still getting prana from me, but I haven't seen her at all today. She is probably still recovering from the battle in spirit form, so I'll let you know when she contacts me."

"I see. So, Master, since you seem to be well enough to be moving up and around, allow me to help you refine your swordsmanship so you may be better prepared for your next battle." Saber suggested while beaming.

This…Is going to hurt even more than usual…

After recovering from the 'training' with Saber, as I left the dojo I spotted Falchion sitting in the corridor outside, sitting down with her arms crossed, eyes closed and a stern look on her face.

"Hey, Falchion, are you feeling better?" I ask as I head towards her.

Falchion turned to look at me, and her expression worsened as she started pointing to a spot next to her, so I decided to sit down at her side.

"While my major injuries have healed, I am certainly not feeling better. Master, why are you so pathetic?" Falchion asked in a disgruntled manner. "My father will not be able to quickly defeat Assassin without the use of her Noble Phantasm, so that means that he is so weakened that even though he belongs to the strongest class, Saber, he could not defeat a Servant that specializes in killing Masters! Also, Servants of the Berserker class are weak heroes that have been strengthened at a cost of their sanity, and cannot be controlled without expending large amounts of energy, yet that little girl…Ilya, was able to easily power and control that Servant, so that means that the Servant we fought must had been truly puny person! Therefore, if the legendary King of Knights and his true successor could not deal with these two weak Servants, then the problem must obviously be you!"

Falchion is looking out into the yard and her eyes are glinting with her intent to kill. Somehow, I don't feel threatened, despite what she's accusing me of, as I can sense that her anger is not being directed at me, but what I am guessing is the situation we are in. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but Falchion also isn't admitting our defeat, just that 'we fought' and 'could not deal with' Berserker.

"What do you want, Falchion?" I ask. "Do you want to contract with a different Master?"

Falchion blinked, shook her head, then placed her elbows on her legs and leaned over to hold her head in her hands. A few minutes passed…But it felt like an eternity before she turned to me and said with happiness in her voice. "It seems you know your place, if you are desperate to do what I want, and that is all I need from you at the moment." Falchion stood up and clenched her fist. "Just leave everything to me, Master!"

In other words, don't worry about it, I'll figure something out. That's fair advice, moping about the situation isn't going to fix it.

"Alright, but we're going to take it easy for a while. I've noticed that most of the recovery that you've undergone was the result of a quick hack job, so we're going to wait a day for you to properly heal." I reply.

"Master! I am perfectly fine!" Falchion protested.

No, you're abusing your Battle Continuation to ignore your injuries, but if you're going to insist that you are okay…

"Alright, but I'll need some time to recover before I'm back up to full again, especially after the beating that Saber gave me." I explained.

"T-take the time you need, I do not want a repeat of…w-what happened to you yesterday." Falchion stuttered out for some reason as she turned to leave.

"All right, I will." I replied before heading off to make lunch.

The rest of the day was a fairly normal affair, with eating lunch, discussing strategy, enjoying the dinner Sakura cooked, and then escorting Sakura home along with Saber and Falchion. Falchion followed the three of us out of sight, and while I'm beginning to think that she might have a grudge of some sort against Sakura, I'm not terribly worried about it.

I am a bit concerned though that Falchion isn't coming into my room and demanding to sleep in my bed again…But it's not like I'm going to ask her to do that. Now, I can just lie down in my bed and not concern myself with-

…Okay, I am very concerned.

Typically whenever my sense of time skips, it is usually over a period of time where nothing important happens. As an example, I should not have forgotten traveling to Ryudou Temple to come face to face with an enemy Servant!

…IN MY PAJAMAS, NO LESS!

The Servant in front of me looks like a witch from a fairy tail, wearing a hooded bluish-purple robe, so her identity should be obvious. "Caster…"

"Yes, that's correct, faker. Welcome to my temple, Master of Saber." Caster mocked.

I tried moving my body, but it won't budge. It seems that while I am in control, it feels like her magic is restraining me. I tried to look inside my body to see the problem, but all I'm getting back from my supernatural senses is static. It's like I never could use magic in the first place. "What…did…you…do?"

"I could explain, but I think in your case that ignorance is bliss. After all, you seem to have gotten quite far without knowing what is impossible, even if you are unimaginative." Caster laughed as she pulled out a jagged and iridescent dagger.

...It's dangerous. I don't know how considering my lack of magic at the moment, but I know its name is Rule Breaker, a weapon that belongs to Medea, and it can break contracts.

And Caster then stabbed me in my left shoulder, as I felt some link break away from me. It wasn't my contract to Falchion, and I know that she couldn't break Saber's 'contract', so what did she do?

"…As I expected, the Grail made that connection to you due to your trait, rather than you made that connection to it to gain that trait." Caster thought out loud. "Regardless, with this I will be able to-"

A wind slashes Caster in half and then makes a cut on the ground, as Falchion lands in front of me. "Master, that should have freed you from her spell, are you alright?"

Damn it, I bet Caster was going to start gloating about her evil plan! Could you have waited just a bit longer?

…On second thought, better early than late.

Looking ahead, I can see that it was just her robe that was cut, so that attack didn't even hit her. Since I still can't use any of my magic right now for whatever reason, leaving me a sitting duck, and I am not letting Falchion fight her when Caster might server her contract, I made my decision. "No. I am ordering the retreat."

"Master, Saber is dealing with Assassin on the steps to the temple and will join us soon, and I can-"

"Follow me!" I interjected, as I turned around and started running out of the temple. The sound of metal shoes striking the stone behind me means that Falchion is at least following my request.

Then, I suddenly froze after I heard strange unpronounceable words from Caster. "Where do you think-"

Falchion suddenly crashed into me, and I had a very painful ride rolling down and crashing between the concrete steps and Falchion's metal armor, as well as nearly getting killed by getting in-between the fight that Saber and Assassin were in.

"I-OW Hate-ARGH This-GAH WAR!" I complained to no one in particular.

After we finally stopped bouncing down the stairs, Falchion scrambled off of me. Saber in the meantime had disengaged from her battle and came over to lift up and support me.

"…Falchion, let us withdraw for now." Saber reluctantly suggested.

"…Fine. We will come back tomorrow after we have made preparations and defeat those two Servants!" Falchion stated with conviction.

"Uuurrrggghhh…" I groaned. I know that I should be thankful for once again narrowly escaping death, but this is getting ridiculous…and painful. Very, very painful.

OMAKE

The real reason Saber was delayed from helping Shirou in the Falchion versus Berserker fight

Saber was staring upward with her mouth agape. Assassin was flying through the sky, using his sword as an improvised helicopter blade, to chase after a swallow.

She then concluded that her Master must have decided to experiment with hallucinogens on her to find out if they would be effective against Servants, as there was no other explanation she could think of for what she is seeing. She continued watching for several minutes before she remembered that she needed to do something, and another few to remember exactly what it was.

Servant Stats

Servant Class: Assassin

Master: ?

True Name: Sasaki Kojirou

Sex: Male (Well, he's based off of a fictional male hero, so he's just a man in a puppet's body.)

Height / Weight: 176cm / 65kg

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Strength: C

Endurance: D

Agility: A+

Mana: D

Luck: A

Noble Phantasm: ?

Class Skills:

Presence Concealment: D

Personal Skills:

Independent Action: C

Eye of the Mind (Fake): A

Knowledge of Respect and Harmony: B

Vitrification: -

Noble Phantasm:

Tsubame Gaeshi: (Anti-Unit) N/A

Servant Class: Caster

Master: ?

True Name: Medea

Sex: Female

Height / Weight: 163cm / 51kg

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Strength: E

Endurance: D

Agility: C

Mana: A+

Luck: B

Noble Phantasm: C

Class Skills:

Item Construction: A

Territory Creation: A

Personal Skills:

High-Speed Divine Words: A

Noble Phantasm:

Rule Breaker: (Anti-Unit) C

Golden Fleece: (N/A) EX

Author's notes: Another short chapter, as I don't feel the need to make huge chapters that end in cliffhangers. Yet. Muhahah.

Saber Vs Assassin has been covered well enough in the original visual novel in my opinion, so while I'm sorry if I skipped over their battles, there really isn't anything new I want to add, even with his new puppet state and ability.

And yes, Falchion has come to the wrong conclusion on her and Saber's relative strength compared to other Servants. After all, "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."

By the way, in case I never get to explain, Saber and Falchion are referring to Shirou as 'Master' mostly because Shirou feels that they can call him by whatever name they want. It's just a minor detail, but the subject might not come up in the story.

Constructive criticism helps my writing, so please review!

EDIT: Shintouyu - I've made a small addition based on your recommendation, so thanks again.