Fate/stay Night: Across time

Chapter 43: Her secret

Kuzuki wasn't present at school the next day. Shirou asked Issei, who said that Kuzuki, was feeling a bit under the weather. Though Shirou knew the real reason.

"I'm sure he'll be better soon." Issei rounded up his story. "We'll just do self-study during his hours."

"Guess so. And... done." Shirou cleaned up his tools and turned on the projector to test it. "Works like a charm."

"Thanks, Emiya. As always."

"Don't mention it. I'll be going now, while there is still some time." Looking at the clock, he still had about 15 minutes before recess was over.

"Going to see Tohsaka and Artoria-san?" Issei asked. Shirou nodded. "You've been awfully close to both of them."

"Well, Saber is staying at my place. And Tohsaka."

"I hope you end up with Artoria." Issei spoke silently, drawing a confused look from Shirou. "And why did you call her Saber?"

"Huh? Ah... uh...That's her nickname apparently. I recently learned about it." Shirou hoped his lie wasn't too obvious.

"She is good with a sword." Issei seemed to accept it. "See you later, Emiya."

"Later, Issei."

Shirou went outside and began to look for Artoria and Rin. Sakura found him first at the building's main entrance. "Ah, Senpai. I was looking for you."

"Sakura. Do you need help with something?"

Sakura gave a beaming smile. "Not really. I just wanted to spend some time with you. It's been a while since we last did that."

"Really? You don't come over any less then you used too." Shirou scratched his head.

"What I meant is that I would like to spend some time with the two of us alone." She explained.

Where did this come from? Shirou looked at her hopeful face. "We could discuss a meeting if you like. But unfortunately I don't have much time to spare anytime soon." Sakura's smile melted away, making way for an unexpectedly cold expression.

"Are you going to Tohsaka-senpai and Artoria-san again?"

"Uh, yeah. We have some private stuff to handle." Shirou wondered why he felt unsettled.

"You've been having a lot of private stuff to handle lately, Senpai." Sakura's tone was uncharacteristically sharp. "I shall keep you no further then. See you later, Senpai." She calmly walked away, leaving a baffled Shirou behind.

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"That was interesting." Mordred had unintentionally ended up overhearing the conversation from behind the door. Her instincts warned her that something was a foot with little miss innocent. She walked off to find Shinji. He quickly found him and dragged him to a more private place behind the school. Morded saw some female witnesses that began to whisper. This will cause some rumours.

"What is it?" Shinji scowled as he rubbed his wrist after Mordred let him go.

"Something is wrong with Sakura."

"What do you mean? Did that bitch's cooking hit rock bottom?" Shinji mocked.

"I'm serious. She just talked to Emiya and wasn't acting like her usual self." Mordred leaned against the wall. "Her way of speaking was more... aggressive. My instinct tells me that we will have to keep an eye out for her."

"Seriously? She doesn't have to nerve to do something without permission, let alone partake in the ritual." Shinji scoffed at the notion. "Let me remind you that I...

"No...Let me remind you that she is the one with magic powers and that it was she who is Rider's true master." Mordred cut him off. "You only control Rider through the Book of the False Attendant. Something that she can take back again if she chooses. Shinji... tell me more about her."

Sweat appeared on Shinji's forehead and he took a small step backwards as he began to tell her. More in particular, how Sakura was trained. Mordred felt appalled from from what she heard ...and shocked. "Great. So they drove her crazy."

"Crazy? She is completely under our thumb." Shinji practically boasted about it. "What do you mean with..."

"I heard her talk after Shirou left. That meek girl is just skin deep. I've seen others who hide their true nature. Underneath that meek facade … a foul darkness is brooding. And the facade has begun to crack." Shinji looked at her in disbelief. "Shinji... we'll have to keep an eye on her. My instinct is telling me that something bad is brewing." Mordred turned away, leaving a nervous Shinji behind.

"Pfff. Darkness. There is no way." This was more an attempt to self-reassurance on his part. Mordred's words had struck a cord ...and planted the seed of doubt in Shinji's heart.

Mordred passed Sakura in the hall. "Ah, Mordred-san. How are you?"

"Fine, Sakura." She answered informal. "See ya around."

"Sure, Mordred-san." Sakura made a curt bow and continued onward.

"Matou Sakura." Sakura stopped when Mordred spoke her name. "Did someone persuade you to partake?"

"I don't know what you mean, Mordred-san." Sakura feigned ignorance, but the cold in her voice she could not hide.

"You shouldn't. It will only invite tragedy."

"Again I don't know what you are about. Good day, Mordred-san." She walked off. Mordred cast a glance over her shoulder, only to lock eyes with Sakura's for a moment. Mordred recognized the spark of madness. This spelled problem.

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That evening Mordred went on the hunt with Shinji. Today, they would try to knock out one of the competitors. Saber was out of the question right now, as the other knights are there too. If their plan was to have Saber and Rider fight each other one on one that wouldn't have been much of an issue with them being there, since they won't interfere with a duel. But that wasn't the plan. To increase their chances they were planning on ganging up on on their adversary.

Assassin and Caster are hold up in the temple. They would have the advantage there. Berserker would be a very tough target in any situation. If another Servant could weaken him though, or lure him into a trap... that would change things. But for now... They would have to go for either Lancer or Archer. Archer, maybe. But Mordred's instinct warned her that Archer is more dangerous than he's letting on. So that left...

Bang!

"What was that?" Shinji panicked.

"Two Servants are fighting each other not far from here." Rider informed them.

"Do you know which on..." A load roar answered half of her question. "Berserker and..."

"Lancer." Rider finished.

"Good. Let's have a look. Rider, hide your presence." Mordred ordered.

"Alright." Rider dematerialized.

"Hey. Who is your master here?" Shinji grumbled.

"Quit complaining and move." Shinji followed reluctantly.

The sound of battle lured them to the harbor. They found a guard, put into a magical sleep, near his guard booth. It wasn't long before they reached the source. Mordred grabbed Shinji by his collar and jumped to the roof of a nearby hangar. She dragged him into the shadow of a nearby crane..

"Ouch! Watch it!" Shinji panted, wet from sweat. "Why do you always have to do it like that?" Mordred grinned momentarily. She wasn't sorry at all. "Ah, there they are." Shinji finally noticed them.

Berserker was duking it out with Lancer and Bazett. Illyasviel was sitting on the giant's shoulder laughing all the while. Bazett and Lancer were dashing all over the place, avoiding the brute's onslaught. It was obvious that the encounter hadn't gone as they had planned. Berserker had some mean stab and slash wounds over his body. How much of his strength had Lancer managed to scrape of?

"Aren't we too close?" Shinji pulled his collar as if to make himself help breath easier.

"Even if that is the case they know that we won't intervene yet." Rider assured him.

"She is right." A man agreed.

"I see. Good to kno... Heh!? What are you doing here?" Shinji tripped when he saw Sisigou Kairi.

"I was taking a stroll when the battle attracted me." He pulled from his cigarette. "That Berserker is a beast... A true A-grade Servant. That girl ain't normal either. How are you Mordred?"

"Fine. Glad you could join us. Is that a familiar?" She pointed at the owl which had landed near his feet.

"It is. El-Melloi is looking with us. Aren't you?"

"Shut up." The bird complained.

"He doesn't like getting closer than necessary. A lot of bad memories about the War. Also something about being ordered by his king to live." Kairi raised his shoulders.

"Your King?" Mordred glanced at the owl.

"He was part of the previous War." Kairi clarified.

"Rider - the king of conquerors, Iskandar- was my Servant. At the end of the War he ordered me to live as he faced the King of Heroes." Waver spoke through the bird.

"You honor his command. I can respect that." Mordred nodded.

"Why don't you two get lost. We don't need you two as third wheel." Shinji scowled. He fell silent as they looked at him silently. "What?"

"Looks like they are retreating." Rider noticed.

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"We're retreating, Lancer!"

"Understood, Master." Lancer responded.

"You're not getting away." Illya giggled. Berserker roared.

"I beg to disagree." Bazett made a gesture. A dazzling light lit up the area, blinding Berserker long enough for them to retreat. Lancer grabbed her around the waist and fled the area at top speed.

"Hmpf. We'll get them next time. Those others have already moved on. Shame. Let's go home, Berserker." Illya sat down on his shoulder. There was no need to rush.

"That was close, Master. At least we got one life of him." Lancer grinned.

"I was hoping for more, though. If we knew who he was, we would know what it would take to kill him." Their ambush hadn't worked out as planned, but at least they killed him once. Luckily Berserker wasn't pursuing them.

"Master." Bazett had felt it too. A new opponent was about to face them. They landed and prepared for battle. Bazett was thinking whether to use her mystic code. As soon as she thought that, a dagger attached to a chain lashed at her. Lancer blocked it easily.

"Aggressive aren't we, miss?" Lancer quipped as Medusa revealed herself. "Well. I guess you at least will go down with a single well placed hit.

"If you can hit me that is." The suburban neighborhood was less advantageous to her than downtown with it's skyscrapers. This will prove to be a tough fight.

"Rider. It seems your Master is also here." Bazett glanced at the shadows in a side street, where she noticed Kairi with the owl on his shoulders.

"So you noticed. Well nothing to be done about it.. I'll tell you though that I'm not her Master." Mordred appeared from the shadows. Her armor gleamed in the streetlight.

"We've been surrounded, Master. We won't be able to escape as easy, this time." Lancer kept his eyes on Rider.

"What's more, she is obviously from the past." Bazett contemplated her next move. Knowing what Mordred was, she knew she couldn't kill her. If she was strong enough for that to begin with. "You've teamed up with Rider"s master." She asserted.

"Yup. Don't feel bad about it. He was the only one who couldn't refuse." She laughed.

"Things don't look up for us. First, the Overseer tries to obtain your Command Spells and now people from the past are teaming up with our adversaries." Lancer complained. "We'll have to go all out, Master."

"Indeed." Bazett took a fighting stance.

"Let's do this." Mordred rushed her.

Bazett redirected her sword with a powerful punch. Mordred's blade cleaved the ground and subsequently responded with a punch of her own. Bazett dodged and began a series of rapid strikes. Mordred was impressed by the power of her strikes, as she was forced to put some real effort into defending. She wondered if Kuzuki-sensei was just as strong. This fight... is enjoyable.

Lancer was battling Rider in earnest as well. Her acrobatics, her agility, made her a hard target to hit. She dodged his attacks almost constantly, rarely blocking. She was a fun opponent. "You're pretty good, Lady. This is fun."

"You're not bad yourself." Rider replied.

"Thank you very much." Lancer's spear weaved a cage of blades around her, but she cartwheeled away effortlessly. Her daggers swung behind his back, like snakes to deal a killing blow. He blocked them easily and returned with a feint attack. This time, Rider took a hit on her leg. A deep, red gash appeared on her thigh. She bit her lip. "I draw first blood."

Kairi was observing from a nearby roof. Waver's familiar landed next to him. "I heard them mention something disturbing. Kotomine Kirei tried to kill Lancer's Master and steal her Servant."

"So the judge wants to play, too. What shall we do?" Kairi blew some smoke.

"We will alert the other Masters of this. Then we will see to h...Argh!" Waver just remembered Gilgamesh.

"We cannot touch him as long Gilgamesh is with him." Kairi said. The owl hooted as if agreeing with him.

"We'll have to find another way." Waver sighed. "Don't get too close to the battle, Sisigou. It would be troublesome for me if you got killed."

"Afraid to get your hands dirty?" Kairi replied sarcastically. "I'll keep on watching this fight until it's finished. You go and inform the other Masters of Kirei."

"I will. Keep your distance." The owl flew off.

"Of course." Kairi responded. "I'm not planning to die."

"So that priest tried to kill you. Tch. Didn't trust him from the get go." Mordred spat. Her fight with Bazett was taking longer then expected. She was very skilled indeed. "Let's wrap this up." Her killing intent spiked.

Bazett felt it. "Lancer!" She called out. "Use your Noble Phantasm."

"Understood, Master." Lancer prepared himself to deal the finishing blow. Rider felt the surge in Prana and backed away. She didn't have enough time to escape. Lancer will kill her. "Gae..."

Before he could finish, Mordred struck with a hammer blow. Lancer was forced to block, allowing Rider to resume her attack. He grinned and turned to Spirit form and rematerialized next to his Master.

"This is where we withdraw." Bazett said. She had brought out Fragarach and was ready to strike. "Be warned... your next attack will be your last." Lancer was also ready to unleash his Noble Phantasm again.

Mordred and Rider kept their distance. When Rider tried to make a move, Mordred stopped her. "Don't. You'll die." Mordred's instinct warned her once again. If they tried to counter Lancer's attack with their own, they would activate that weapon the woman was wielding. And if they didn't, one of them would be killed by Lancer in the next moment. Mordred didn't know what that weapon was, but she trusted her instinct.

"Well played." Mordred began to back down. "Until next time." Rider also dematerialized.

"Shame. I was hoping they would continue." Lancer was genuinely disappointed.

"We shall challenge them on our terms next time." Bazett assured him. "I'm glad our strategy worked. Let's regroup and plan our next move."

"Ok, Master." They walked off into the night.

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Waver arrived at the Emiya residence. He was greeted by Emiya. "Emiya Shirou. We meet again."

"Lord El-Melloi. You've returned." Shirou had almost forgotten about him. "What are you doing here?"

"Keeping an eye on things. Are the rest here as well?"

"Yes. Tohsaka is here as well."

"Good. That makes things easier. I have something to tell you all." He put out his cigarette and entered.

"Hey, everybody. Lord El-Melloi is back. He has come tell us something.." Shirou announced him.

"Ah. Lord El-Melloi. Welcome back." Tohsaka greeted him.

"So you're back." Kay remarked dryly. "To what do owe we this pleasure."

""Rider's Master." Saber spoke out in surprise. Waver looked at her, his mood souring fast.

"Multiplying." Waver whispered as his eyes darted quickly between Artoria and Saber.

"What was that?" Bedivere asked.

"Nothing. Let me tell you the reason for my visit." He sat down and told his story.

"That lousy priest tried to participate? It just proves what I knew all along." Tohsaka was not entirely surprised by this turn of events. She never trusted that fake priest to begin with.

"We should take him out now." Gawain motioned. "We already have more than enough to deal with. Since he is alone, he should be relatively easy to defeat."

"We will deal with him, Gawain." Saber assured him. "I must say, I never expected to encounter Rider's Master again. You look as if your life turned for the better."

Waver stared at her for a brief moment. "It has. I'm now a teacher at the clock tower. If Rider hadn't been my Servant, I wouldn't be where I'm now."

"Iskandar was inspiring indeed." Saber agreed, though some painful feelings were woven in the background of her voice. Shirou had to think about what El-Melloi's words the last time they spoke. Now this man frowned at Saber, growing suspicious.

"Lord El-Melloi. Do you know Kotomine Kirei personally?" Tohsaka changed the subject.

"No, save for a brief encounter the last time I was here. Which reminds me. Be very careful if you try to confront him." He looked at Saber. "Because there is another Servant at his side, who survived the last War. Saber. You should know who it is."

Saber's eyes widened. "You mean...Archer?"

"Indeed. He survived the War and has been around ever since."

"No way. An eighth Servant?" Tohsaka gasped. "Saber... do you know who he is?"

"I never found out his identity." Her voice became heavy with what sounded like shame. "He was my last opponent... and I couldn't beat him."

"Is he that strong?" Gawain asked. "If so, we should confront him together. He isn't part of this War, which makes him fair game. We have to go through him anyway if we want to get to Kotomine."

"Calm down Gawain." Kay laid his hand on his shoulder. "Let's hear more about him first. Please continue, Saber."

"He was clad in golden armor. His ability could be described as to call upon a seemingly endless supply of magical weapons to rain down upon his enemies." Saber bit her lip. "I'm convinced that if he chose to go all out, he could match all the other Servants combined."

"That strong." Bedivere sighed. "In that case, we will have to consider our actions very carefully. Now that I think of it...That sounds similar to Archer's ability."

"Really?" Tohsaka's eyes went wide. "He can do that?" She sounded very pleased.

"You didn't know, Rin?" Artoria looked at her.

"Well...He never told me about all his abilities." Tohsaka admitted, her cheeks flushed red.

"You decide how you want to deal with them. I just came to deliver the news." Waver said.

"And we are grateful that you told us." Shirou replied. "Now we know to watch out for him."

"Your welcome. But before I go..." He turned to Saber again. "Did you know that when a Servant is summoned... that he or she is just a copy of the original which sits on the throne of heroes?" Saber began to sweat a bit.

"That's a given." Tohsaka responded. "Why tell us something we already know?" She wondered where he was going.

"You see...when a Servant has fulfilled his or her purpose or is killed...the Servant disappears, along with all of the experiences and memories it gathered." His eyes were boring into Saber's now. Bedivere began to realize what he was saying. It couldn't be. "Naturally those experiences and memories don't get added to the Original. They are lost forever. Thus... should one summon the same hero another time..."

"Said Servant wouldn't have any recollection of the copy that came before it." Kay finished.

"But that means..." Shirou looked at Saber. They all did.

"Correct. She should not be able to remember anything from the previous War." Waver pointed accusingly at her. "So...tell us Saber. Why do you remember?"

Saber let her head hang as if she was just condemned to death. "That's because...because I'm not dead yet."

The room became as silent as the grave.

"What do you mean 'I am not dead yet?'" Tohsaka almost stuttered.

"At the end of my life, I came to be in need of the Holy Grail..."

"But we never recovered it." Arthuria pointed out. After all, everyone she send out failed to obtain it.

"Correct. Thus I made a deal with the Counter Force... If I could obtain the Grail and have it grant my wish..."

"But that would mean becoming a Guardian." Gawain as everybody else, was shocked. "What would compel you to go to such lengths?"

"There is only one thing." Artoria understood the implications of what Saber said. There was only one thing that would make her choose such a path.

The knights realized what she meant. The destruction of the country. She has always regarded the safety of the people as her most sacred charge, even if some of them didn't know just how much that was true.

"The country was destroyed." Bedivere muttered. Figures. His King wouldn't do such a thing otherwise. Now the question was: what wish would she make to avoid that. He should let Lancelot know as soon as possible.

"Each time a chance appears to obtain the Grail, I will get summoned. With it, I will avoid the country's destruction." Saber continued.

"So you still want to erase the spurs you left on history." Waver scoffed. "Rider wasn't wrong about you."

"And I will not let you tell me what is wrong."

"But you are wrong." Shirou almost shouted.

"Emiya-kun?" Tohsaka and the others looked at him in shock.

"Trying to change the past... Are you saying that you want to reduce everything that happened since then to be a lie?" Shirou continued. "That's a mistake. Going on about how you exist to fight..."

"I'm wrong?" Saber jumped up. "Don't be mistaken, Shirou. You are even more wrong than me. You, who doesn't even value his own life?" The atmosphere in the room kept intensifying, as Saber countered Shirou. "I dedicated my life to the defense of Britain. I will erase that failure."

Failure? Artoria looked at Saber. Her heart tightened as she considered Saber's words. Just what happened that she was this driven to obtain the Grail? Was she indeed destined to end up like that?

"Sounds like there is quite the stir taking place." Archer materialized.

"Archer? Weren't you patrolling the neighborhood?" Tohsaka asked surprised. "If something happened, you could have told me telepathically."

"True. But I thought I would come here to tell you all directly that Guinevere has gone to the Temple."

"What? I thought we said that we wouldn't go through with that." Kay said.

"She went behind our backs." Gawain smacked the table.

Bedivere regarded Archer. He was certain that he had interrupted the conversation on purpose. Did he see another chance for an attempt on Shirou's life? "What shall we do about it, my King?"

Artoria looked from Shirou to Saber. "We shall go to the temple and take up positions around the mountain. If necessary, we shall extract her from the Temple." Guinevere, you dolt.

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Guinevere stood in front of the Gate with Lancelot. Assassin appeared. "Good evening, Sir Lancelot. Have you come for a rematch? No...You're escorting this pretty flower."

"This flower is called Guinevere, Sir Assassin. And she would like to talk with Caster." Guinevere didn't like being called a flower. "I promise that we mean no harm."

"You want to negotiate with that fox?" Assassin grinned. "Are you sure? She..."

"Enough, Assassin. I can answer for myself." Caster appeared behind him. "You've got some nerve to come and talk to me, Guinevere, Queen of Britain."

"Former Queen." She corrected. "And yes, I would like to talk to you, princess of Colchis, Medea."

"And why is that? What do you hope to gain?" She demanded an answer. Assassin and Lancelot eyed each other, ready to fight at a moment's notice.

"Because you are not the witch you are made out to be." Guinevere knew her tale and so she understood her tragedy. "I don't think you are as evil as other's perceive you to be. Otherwise you would have done worse to the people of this city."

Caster looked at her, sinking into thought. "What do you want?"

"Before I can say that, I would like to get to know you first. How about some girl talk to get acquainted first?"

Caster cocked her head. Girl talk? Was she daft? Then she smiled. "Your friend stays here."

"Deal." Lancelot clenched his sword at her reply, but abstained from drawing it as he trusted her judgment.

"Don't worry Lancelot. It will be alright." Guinevere assured him, before walking away with Medea. Lancelot watched nervously as they entered the temple.

"She is brave." Assassin commented, impressed by Guinevere's courage and boldness. "You're quite lucky to have such a great woman at your side."

Lancelot locked eyes with him. "By God's will, I sure am. Though I wish we had come together under more favorable circumstances."

"The story of Lancelot and Guinevere is well known." Assassin alloted himself a brief, but sad smile.

"I won't ask about how our story will end." Lancelot caught the meaning of the smile. "The future is only for God to know."

"You're indeed very pious." Assassin smirked. "Shall we continue our duel from before?" brandished the hilt of his sword.

"I'm here with peaceful intent tonight. Why not have a chat between two students of the Sword?"

"East meeting West. I have no problems with that." Assassin sat down on the steps. "Let's hope that we won't be interrupted."

"Sure enough." Lancelot sat down next to him. "So...What does it mean to be a Samurai?" And thus their conversation began.