Rebellion Zero

1: The Knight of the Sword

The little girl stared at the man.

The man stared at the little girl.

They stayed like this in silence for a long while, both equally surprised.

In the chapel of the Einzbern castle, Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel were about to start the summoning ritual. The man known as the Magus Killer was kneeling on the floor, checking the silver circle, applying the last changes in the pattern. His wife was standing right behind him, holding in her arms the greatest treasure of her family – Avalon, the scabbard of the most famous holy sword from the Western legends.

Their plan to summon the greastest known hero in the most powerful class container seemed simple, but Kiritsugu was worried anyway. How compatible he will be with the famous king of Albion? How to use his enormous power? Will his tactics be effective enough to win the war?

No, it was not a good moment for doubts. He must be concentrated on the ritual right now, show his power as a Master strong enough to bind the Knight of the Sword to his will. There was no turning back.

"Iri, place the relic on the altar," Emiya said and stood up, ready for the summoning. "Our preparations will be then complete."

Irisviel nodded and do what he asked. She stepped aside and froze in anticipation, when the circle began emitting a blinding, silver light.

Illyasviel's room was probably the cutest and warmest in the Einzbern castle, but it still seemed cold when you looked through the window. It was the night of the full moon, the silver light was too bright to sleep calmly under its touch. The winter wind was raging outside, making some annoying sounds, howling like a pack of hungry wolves.

Illya could not fall asleep. She kept rolling in her bed, trying to hide from the moonlight under a pillow. It didn't work, the same with hugging her favorite teddy bear. The girl gave up on trying and left her bedroom.

She felt cold and lonely on the empty corridor, but mother told her, that she and Kiritsugu have some important work to do tonight, so Illya shouldn't disturb them. What's even worse, they would depart to Japan soon. Illyasviel promised to wait patiently for them, like a good girl should. She was their princess and a princess always keeps her promises, but…

Deep inside she was scared. She did not want them to leave, even for a week or two. She wished they could stay like this forever, going for a walks, counting walnut buds - just be together.

There were many small rooms and mysterious chambers in the castle, some inhabited, others long abandoned and used mostly as storerooms. Although she was forbidden to do so, Illya regularly took trips through the Einzbern domain, too curious to just ignore its secrets and too smart to get caught.

Her bare feet were slapping on the floor, when she came down to the basement, attracted by the magical aura coming from one of the rooms. Fortunately, the door moved smoothly, without a creak. Illya sneaked inside and looked around. It was typical for the Einzberns to keep clean even long abandoned chambers, so the girl was surprised, seeing a dust on the floor. But even with a thick layer of dirt, a red circle was visible beneath it, emitting a strange gleam of energy.

Illyasviel has seen such circle before, when she was spying on Kiritsugu. He was drawing a sign like this, saying a strange rhyme or song during the process. She remembered some words, so weird, that she wasn't sure, if it was an actual spell or just a babble of her father, bored with his drawing practice.

"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill!" - she sang cheerfully, just for fun, twirling around the circle on the ground. "I propose… What was next? Come under my command. I will be good… in eternal world. Hmm… Difficult word. Come forth the circle of… another difficult word." She stopped and crossed her arms, utterly disappointed. "Kiritsugu can't sing a good song! This one has no sense. Oh? What? It hurts!"

All magic circuits in her body reacted at once, as if an electrical impulse came through them. Illyasviel squealed and lost her balance when the white light from the circle blinded her. Something magical and powerful was coming, but she could only sit like this on the cold floor, covering her eyes to protect them from this unnatural brightness.

"Who…?" Kiritsugu was truly shocked, not even able to finish a sentence.

"I ask you. Are you my Master?"

It was a slim person, almost as tall as Emiya, but definitely more delicate. The mysterious Servant wore a dark armor, with some elements stylized to look like parts of a dragon's body, and a helmet, completely covering his face. But even more disturbing was a weapon he wielded – more or less a lance, a very big one, like the knights used long ago in tournaments to threw an opponent off a horse. It was definitely not Excalibur.

"Hmmm. I can sense disappointment in the air." Annoyed by the prolonged silence, Servant took off the helmet, revealing her blonde hair and beautiful golden eyes. The woman looked at Kiritsugu with a mix of curiosity and discontent in her gaze. "Servant Lancer, Arturia Pendragon, came to your calling, Master. I would like to have a proper conversation first, but it wouldn't be wise with an enemy Servant nearby."

Thousand thoughts came across Kiritsugu's mind. 'A woman? The King of Knights was a woman? What's with this strange weapon and aura around her? Why not Excalibur? Why not Saber?' – and many more, but there was something really important in her last words.

"Another Servant? Here in the castle?"

Lancer only smiled in response, hearing a loud sounds of footsteps on the corridor. Someone raised an alarm, armed homunculi were heading to the basement. It looked like even old golem Jubastacheit was involved, so this unexpected threat must have been really serious.

Kiritsugu and Irisviel exchanged worried gazes.

"So…" Arturia raised her strange and scary weapon, ready to fight. "Shall we go, Master?"

The little girl stared at the man.

The man stared at the little girl.

They stayed like this in silence for a long while, both equally surprised.

Well, this is not what I expected, the Knight of the Sword thought.

He knew he was needed here, that was obvious. This small creature in a nightgown needed him, her pure voice has reached him, ignoring the barriers of time and space. Her innocent wish seemed so refreshing and beautiful, that he decided to answer the call. There were no excuses now. Even if she's not an adult, even if she's not totally a human being, a Master is a Master.

What's more, from the first moment he saw this little girl, he felt an urge to protect her. He just couldn't do anything about this feeling. It was irresistible.

"Servant Saber. I have answered your calling, Master," the freshly summoned Servant spoke first, with a calm and kind voice.

"Master?" Maybe because of the essence of Justeaze in Illya's body, or maybe because of the fact, that she was created to become a vessel, she instinctively knew about Master and Servant system. "Servant… Mine? Really? Only mine?"

Saber nodded and then smiled, seeing the girl's reaction. Her red eyes were shining with joy and excitement.

"Wooow!" She accepted the hand reached out to her to help her stand up. Now, with the warrior still on his knees, their eyes were more or less on the same level, so the girl came closer to inspect him. "It means that you will do everything I ask?"

"Well…" This was problematic, truly. Maybe even dangerous. "Technically yes, but…"

"Aaaah! So great!" Her face was closer than five centimeters from his now, and a little finger poked his cheek. "You're not as scary as you look."

Saber gave her a really strange expression before he gave up and just smiled.

"You really think I look scary, Master?"

She nodded without hesitation. Saber found it painful, not really sure why.

"Um, this big sword is scary. And this cloak. And the light on your neck." She chuckled, playing with his hair. "Almost as white as mine, ha ha!"

Servant endured this treatment with admirable patience.

"Master, may I ask your name?"

"Um! Illyasviel von Enzbeirn. And you have a name too?"

"Yes. It's better to call me just 'Saber', but I'm…" He stopped suddenly, stood up and grabbed his sword, placing Illya in the corner of the room, behind his back.

"What's wrong?"

"Someone is coming, Master. I detected an enemy Servant."

"Ene… my?" She looked up, surprised how tall he is, even taller than Kiritsugu.

"Don't worry, Master. I'm here to protect you." There was something warm in his voice. It made the girl sure, that he truly meant what he said.

"But Sab…"

The door opened, but no one dared to enter the room, seeing a tip of a giant sword pointed at his face. Jubastacheit, surrounded by the armed homunculi, frowned, visibly displeased.

"Too soon. She's not yet finished."

Finished? Saber gave him a very unfavorable gaze. Like a thing, a property?

Something was clearly wrong with the mages of this castle and he had to quickly figure out their true motives for the sake of little Illyasviel.

"I'm sorry but I can't let you come near my Master unless you tell me your intentions towards her," he said politely. "Could you please explain, who you are?"

The head of the Einzbern family stared at the knight.

"You are not the one to ask questions, but to obey, familiar."

"I will obey. But only the orders of my Master.'

"Really? And maybe we should just let you be, so you can manipulate the child and do as you please?"

"I would have never done such thing." Saber frowned angrily; he seemed to feel deeply offended. "You have my word."

"So I have nothing, because this much a word of a ghost is worth."

The swordsman sighed painfully.

"What a sad and awful times have come, when people no longer believe in a word of their hero."

"An insolent familiar, as expected from a Saber class." The Old Man Acht was far from being nervous or lose his patience, he just stated the undeniable fact. "Know your place, mere tool."

"Maybe we are tools, but we will never stop being heroes, even after death. This is carved in our souls."

"Oh? What a proud words, I can't ignore them!" – a deep but definitely feminine voice sounded on the corridor.

Three more people came to the basement, one of them was a Servant with a powerful dragon-like aura, that made Saber ever more cautious and tensed than before. Lancer was ready to battle, but, in the presence of too many bystanders, including a child, she just waited, letting her Master decide if a duel in such circumstances is really necessary.

"What the…" Kiritsugu clearly had no words for the madness of this night. He winked, impressed by the general potential of this new Servant. This one must be a local hero to gain such geographical boost here. I could make good use of him.

"Illya!" Worried Irisviel rushed to her daughter, ignoring completely the sword and its wielder.

Surprisingly, Saber just let her pass and hug the girl. But when Kiritsugu tried to do the same thing, he was stopped halfway, so fiercely, that even Lancer instinctively grasped her weapon.

Two Servants were looking at each other for a while and came to the same conclusion – it won't be an easy victory.

"Don't even try to fight, you fools," Jubastacheit said and somehow managed to sound emotionless as usual. "Just force this familiar to obey, he will serve us well."

"Mother, look at my Servant!" Illya clung to Irisviel, not really understanding – or just ignoring - the seriousness of this situation. "He's so strong! He told me, that he will do everything I ask."

"I see. Then please tell him to calm down and put away the sword."

"I can't do this," Saber said with an apologetic look. "Not in a presence of the enemy."

"Kiritsugu is not the enemy…" - Irisviel started to explain.

"Um, he's Daddy!" – Illya finished, making her Servant even more confused than before.

It means they'll be fighting each other, sooner or later, he thought. This is how the Holy Grail War goes. Not good, I will be involved in another family conflict.

"Saber?" Irisviel smiled to assure the swordsman that everything is fine. He recognized her as a pure-hearted and gentle creature, there was no reason to not believe her. Although still reluctant, he eventually put his gigantic weapon on his back and stopped blocking the passage. "Thank you. Come, Illya, it's late. You should be sleeping now. We will talk tomorrow."

"But my Saber is not going anywhere?" Illyasviel made a really cute, worried face. "He will still be here when I get up?"

"Of course, Master. I'm not going anywhere without you."

"You promise?"

"I promise." For now this oath had to be enough to maintain their contract, still unstable after such imperfect summoning. Mentally he already felt attached to this child, it was easy to see in his calm, blue eyes. "Sleep well, Master."

Illyasviel smiled and waved to him, leaving the room with her mother.

To say that Kiritsugu is displeased, was clearly not enough to describe his feelings about this situation.

"Come, Saber." He spit the last word almost like an insult, probably jealous and angry because of his own failure. "We need to talk."

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