AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi guys, the next chapter has been updated today cause it's my birthday today. After a week or so, I will post something with the next chapter. So please enjoy this Latest Chapter.
[RECAP]
"I'm Shirou. Shirou Emiya."
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"Remember, you only have three Command Spells, so please don't recklessly use them."
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"I do not have a wish, nor do I regret what happened in the past, for I lived life how I wanted and did what I was taught to do. I helped many and live long, fulfilling life."
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"If you truly wish to give up your status as Master, your only option is to obtain the Holy Grail to make your wish come true. If you wish to erase those invisible burns that you carry, simply accept your stigmata."
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"My Wish...I don't have a wish."
"I don't care about the Holy Grail. I never wanted the Grail in the first place."
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"I ask you again. Shirou Emiya, do you or do you not intend to participate in this Holy Grail Was as one of the chosen Masters?"
"I'll fight."
[END OF RECAP]
- RITSUKA POV -
"Are you done talking?"
A voice echoed through the night as we looked at the top of the hill. It was Onee-chan with Berserker Heracles behind her.
"Berserker," Tohsaka mumbles its Servant's Class as we continue to stare at them.
"Illya..." Onii-chan mumbles.
"This is bad! That thing is way out of our league!" Tohsaka shouted.
"Onee-chan, your late!" I shouted at her, alarming the other Masters.
"I'm sorry, okay." She walks toward us and looks at Tohsaka and bows. "Good evening Rin, is this the first time we talked outside school grounds?"
"I knew you're a Master too. You summoned your Servant last night, didn't you? That's why you didn't come to school." Tohsaka retorted.
"I'm impressed that you know, but what's with that face? Are you afraid to see my Berserker?" Onee-chan said while smirking.
"Why you!" Tohsaka was about to throw her gem at her, but I got between them.
"Okay, enough! No fighting. Tohsaka-senpai, I know you want to fight Onee-chan, but you can't win from her." I said to Tohsaka.
"And why is that?!" I was about to answer, but Onee-chan bit me to it.
"That's because My Berserker here is Greece's most powerful hero."
"Greece's most powerful hero? It can't be!" Finally realizes who Berserker is.
"That's right. What you see standing before you is the devil named Heracles."
'Caster is probably watching right now, and I'll have to make our Bounded Field stronger at home.'
"Heracles?!" Tohsaka yelled.
"That's right. Heracles is the most-." My sister continued but was cut off by Onii-chan.
"Wait, hold on just a moment!" My brother suddenly shouted, gaining our attention, but he looked at Onee-chan. "Illya, why are you, Master?!"
My sister stared at me and asked. "You haven't told him yet?" I nodded, and she looked back at him. "We'll explain to you back home, but first we- Oh, is that you Saber?" She stopped mid-way and stared at Saber.
She flinched. "You remember me?"
"Why wouldn't I? You were Da- ngh! AAAGGGHHH!" My sister screamed in pain while holding her head.
"Onee-chan/Illya?!" We shouted in concern while Tohsaka didn't but still can see that she was also worried. I approach her to check what's going on.
"It hurts! It hurts!" Onee-chan screamed.
"What's going on?!" My brother asked me.
"I-I don't know?! Onee-chan, what's wrong?!" I answered and asked my Onee-chan, who is struggling from pain.
"Ritsuka, it hurts! It hurts! It's like I was pierced with needles, no, much worst than that! AAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!"
'What's going on? What's happening?!'
"RAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" We heard Heracles roar, feeling his Master's pain. He looked at us for the cause, and he thought it was Tohsaka. He charges forward to attack her.
"Heracles, stop!" I shouted at him while still supporting my sister.
"RAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" He ignored me and continued to charge at us. Then suddenly, an arrow pierced at him, which we assumed it's Archer. Berserker pulled out the arrow and continued to run at the Red master. Archer continued to fire arrows but deflected them with his stone ax. Berserker was now up close and was about to hit Tohsaka.
"Stand-!" Saber was about to defend us, but Shielder bit her to it. He went in front and defended as with his shield.
*CLANG!*
- THIRD-PERSON VIEW POV -
Berserker hit the shield, and Shielder remained unfazed. "Berserker, calm down. I know you're worried about your Master, But you need to calm yourself."
He reshot with an arrow; this made him mad again, hit Shielder's shield, and sent Shielder meters away. Saber then swings her invisible sword to Berserker.
"Saber!" Shirou shouted at his Servant.
"We'll buy you some time. Help Illya as much as you can." Saber said to the Masters.
"Right!" Ritsuka said as she looked at her Servant. "Shielder, help Saber buy some time."
"Hai Master!" He replied and threw his shield at Berserker. His shield hits Berserker's gut, and Saber gives him multiple slashes. Shielder charges at him and grabs his shield, and bangs him in the face.
Meanwhile, Ritsuka does everything she can to help Illya. 'Is this a curse?!' She thought as she cast a spell on her while Shirou supported Illya. Rin, however, was watching the fight intensely. Berserker continuously swings his ax at Saber and Shielder.
"He's swinging around that enormous sword like it was a toy!" Rin shouted.
Saber jumped backward, landed on one of the electric cables, and ran over it. She dodged every attack, but Berserker caught out to her and was about to hit her. Then Shielder defended her on time with his massive shield but was pushed back by Berserker's force. Shielder's shield was flung upward and was completely open, and in a second, Berserker slashed in his right arm.
"GAH!" Shielder grunted, still holding his shield. The cut was deep, and can see the blood coming out.
"Shielder!/Aniki!" Ritsuka and Shirou shouted in concern, then Ritsuka raised her right hand to heal her Servant.
"Don't!" She stopped because of her Servant. "Focus on Illya! I'm fine, heal me later!" He said while pressing his wound.
"But!" Her Servant looked at her to stop healing him. Ritsuka wanted to argue with him, but she couldn't just leave her sister to suffer. "Fine!" She whined and continued to help Illya.
The Servants continued to fight Berserker. At the same time, the red-haired siblings have difficulty curing their older sister.
Ritsuka finally noticed something. She created a knife and cut her palm. "Ritsuka, what are you doing?!" Shirou yelled, but she ignored him and placed her hand on her sister. Then a bright light shone on Illya. "What is that?!" Shirou shouted as a marking appeared on the back of her arm.
"This is..." Ritsuka's eyes widened as she saw the markings and looked at Rin, who was watching the fight. "Tohsaka-senpai!" she shouted to gain her attention. "I need your help to break this seal!" Rin looked at the marking and back to Ritsuka. "Our Servants can't hold him back much longer. We need to break it now!" Rin hesitated at first but proceeded to aid Ritsuka. "Onii-chan, we'll handle this, don't worry." She said, reassuring her brother.
- SHIROU POV -
I nodded at my sister and watched the fight intensely.
'I wanted to butt in, but how exactly?! Aniki is losing too much blood. Ritsuka and Tohsaka were still not done breaking the seal. And here I am doing nothing. What should I do?! What can I do?!'
I saw Berserker continue to attack Saber, and she barely dodged it. She was hit in the gut and stumbled to the ground.
"Saber!" I ran to her, but she raised her hand to stop me as Aniki did to Ritsuka.
She stood wobbly with her invisible sword supporting her. Looking at her state, she can't possibly have the strength to fight.
"I just can't..." I mumbled as I saw Berserker attempting to kill her. "Why, you!" So I did something reckless. I pushed her away and took the hit. "AAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!" I screamed as I collapsed on the floor and lost my consciousness.
"ONII-CHAN!!!" That was the last thing I heard before fainting.
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Five years ago, in the middle of winter, Kiritsugu and I enjoyed the beautiful moon.
"When I was young, I used to aspire to becoming a hero of justice," Kiritsugu said that as if yearning for it. The man in my child's eyes was a hero.
"What do you mean, "used to"? You gave up on it?" I became angry and asked him. He laughed apologetically and looked up at the sky.
"Yes, as much as I hate to admit to. Heroes only remain heroes for a brief of time, and when you grow up, it becomes more and more difficult to call yourself one. I only wish that it hadn't taken me so long to realize that." I agreed with that. I didn't know why but thought it couldn't be wrong because Kiritsugu said so.
"I didn't know. Well, I guess it's a lost cause for you, then."
"You're right. It really is a lost cause." Kiritsugu answers. So, of course, my response was determined.
"Since it's a lost cause for you, I'll become one in your place, it's too late for you because you're an adult, but I can probably still do it. Leave it to me. I'll make your dreams a reality."
Kiritsugu Emiya breathed in and said...
"Thanks...That's a relief. Shirou, take care of Illya for me." He quietly closed his eyes, and his life ended.
Since he looked so peaceful, I thought he would wake up again in the morning, so I didn't bother him. Perhaps being used to seeing death factored in too without doing anything. I just looked up at the man with a tear in my eye, who was my father, as he entered an eternal slumber.
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"Ow..." I woke up from my dream as I felt a pain in my stomach and inspected my whole body. And wondering why that I had bandages all over my body.
"You were hurt rather badly, Shirou." A voice spoke. I look at the person who talked to me. It was Aniki. He was wearing his casual clothes.
"What happened last night?" I asked him as I put on some clothes.
"You butted in our fight and tried to take a hit for Saber. That was reckless. You shouldn't have done that." He said. I can see that he was furious about what I did.
"Then what am I supposed to do? You were also wounded, and you were losing to that Big monster." I argued.
"That doesn't mean that you have to get yourself killed. We Servants can handle ourselves. Do you have any idea how worried your sisters are? especially Ritsuka."
'Ritsuka?' I thought. "Wait, where's Ritsuka? Is she okay? How about Illya? Saber?" I asked.
"Slow down. Your wounds haven't healed yet, to answer your question. I'll tell you exactly what happened last night." And he starts to tell me what happened last night.
[FLASHBACK]
'Ritsuka and the other Master were able to break the seal on Illya. And you have been hit by Berserker intending to save Saber. You collapsed on the floor and lost too much blood in your body.'
"ONII-CHAN!!!"
"SHIROU!!!"
"Shirou! Shirou!"
'Your sisters screamed your name as you lost consciousness even your Servant is worried. Ritsuka didn't hesitate to run up to you, and she was crying so much. Illya also wanted to run to you. However, she didn't have the strength to get you; instead, she called her Servant.'
"Berserker, what have you done?!"
'Her Servant was able to recover back in reality. He realized that he had done something horrible to his Master. So he ran back to the Einzbern Castle, ashamed of what he had then.'
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! This is all my fault!"
'Ritsuka apologized to you over and over, and she blames herself for what happened to you. But the other master said...'
"What the hell were you thinking?! Sheesh! It's not as if you could've done anything to help her!"
'I ran up to you and carried back here to heal your wound.'
[END OF FLASHBACK]
"So that's what happened." He finishes his story. "Rituska wanted to help you, but she was already tired at the time. She even healed my wounds. I told her to rest and watched over you."
"Where is she now?" I asked.
"She is still asleep. Breaking the seal drains her energy too much." He replied.
"Okay, then how am I still alive? Did Tohsaka heal me or something?"
"About that, she didn't heal you." My eyes widened.
"What?! Then how?"
"Well, she attempted to heal you, but you were able to heal by yourself for an unknown reason."
"By myself?"
"Yes, she only wraps you with those bandages. I don't know exactly why you are still alive either." He pointed at where I had been hit.
"I guess I still need to thank her then." He nodded.
"Well, we should get-." He paused and turned around.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Master!" He bolted out of the room, and I followed him. He barged in Ritsuka's room as I entered as well. When I entered, I saw Ritsuka was screaming in her sleep. She was covered in a cold sweat.
"No...P-please, help me.... help... me...." She was sweating so much as she tightened the grip of her futon. Aniki approached her and started to shake to wake her.
"Ritsuka, it's me. Wake up. It's just a dream." Then Ritsuka was able to wake up from a nightmare. She was gasping for air and observed her surroundings. She looked at Aniki.
"Shielder..." She said weakly.
"Yes, I'm here," Aniki said, reassuring her. Then she finally noticed me and got up to bed to tackle me to hug me. We stumbled on the floor, and she continued to hug me.
"Onii-chan..." She cried on my shoulder as I returned the hug and rubbed her back. "I was scared." She mumbled. "I'm sorry that you got hurt. I should have known. It wasn't supposed to happen." My eyes widened from her last statement.
'Wasn't supposed to happen?' I thought. 'What does she mean by that?'
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- RITSUKA POV - (EARLIER)
Darkness
Everywhere I look it was total darkness. I was walking in the middle of the dark aimlessly. I don't know exactly where I should go. But then, I saw that...
Shadow
It had no eyes nor mouth, only pitch black. Its form can't determine if it's a person or animal or a thing or beast or creature. It was only a shadow, no more, no less. I went closer to the shadow and raised my arm to reach it. In the back of my mind, it tells me not to get close to it, but somehow, something inside me was drawn to it. As I got close, I touched it.
The shadow exploded and spread throughout the floor. Then it's starting to rise above my feet. It became a sea of darkness. I was struggling to get out of there.
"No!" I reached out to the sky and screamed. "Please, someone help me! Please help me! Help!" I cried for help but to no avail. "Mmmmphhh!!!" The darkness had reached my head, and only left was my arm.
I was losing hope, but someone held my hand.
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I felt someone shaking my body.
"Ritsuka, it's me. Wake up. It's just a dream." I opened my eyes and was able to wake up from a nightmare. I was gasping for air as I looked at my surroundings. I looked at the one who woke me. It was Galahad. He looked at me with worry.
"Shielder..." I said rather weakly.
"Yes, I'm here." He said it with a smile on his face, reassuring me. I was able to calm down, and I noticed my brother. I got up to bed to hug him. We stumbled on the floor and continued to hug him.
"Onii-chan..." I cried on his shoulder as he returned the hug and proceeded to rub my back. "I was scared," I mumbled. "I'm sorry that you got hurt. I should have known. It wasn't supposed to happen." I continued to cry in that position. 'Even though I was reincarnated his still my family. I may have forgotten my family in my past life. I have my family in this world. I will do my best to protect you, Onee-chan, and everyone else.'
.
.
.
.
.
.
"I'm sorry that I got your shirt wet." I apologized to my brother.
"Don't worry about that. You were just worried about me." He said.
"But still..." I paused, and he wondered. "That was a stupid move you did last night," I said with an angry tone. Shielder agreed with my comment.
"I..." I stopped him by raising my hand.
"We'll talk about this later. We should join the others." I walked to my cabinet to grab my clothes, but they didn't leave, so I turned around to look at them. "Why are you still here?" Shielder understood, so he left the room while my brother didn't. "And you?" I asked my brother.
"What do you mean?" He tilted his head. I got angry and kicked him out of the room.
"GET OUT!!!" I shouted and shut the door behind me. I changed my clothes and fixed my hair. I went out of the room and saw the boys waiting for me. "Come on." I went to the living room as they followed. I slid the door open and saw Tohsaka was having tea. Sella and Leysritt were very hostile to her at the corner of the room, and I even saw them taking out their weapons.
"Good morning. I let myself in, Emiya-kun, Ritsuka-kun and Shielder." Tohsaka greeted us.
"W-What are you doing here?" My brother asked.
"You know, you don't have any decent tea in the house. If you're going to use tea bags, at least keep the triangular kind on hand."
"Answer the question, intruder." Sella tries to intimidate her.
"I helped him last night, isn't that right, Emiya-kun?"
"W-Well, yeah..." We settled down on the opposite table.
"Stand down. " I said to the two homunculi, but they still didn't let their guard down.
"I heard that you were the one who wrapped bandages for me. Thank you." My brother said as Tohsaka took a sip and put the cup down.
"So they told you were able to heal on your own," Tohsaka said, and he nodded.
"Yeah, do you know how am I able to do that?"
"From what I've seen, Saber seems to have a natural regeneration ability, so maybe you're tapping into that somehow." She placed her arm on the table and rested her head on her hand. "It's essentially impossible for a Master to be supplied with magical power lay a Servant. But then again, you ARE an impossible Master."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's unheard of for a Master to try to save a Servant. And besides, if you die, Saber will disappear, too. Emiya-kun, what do you plan to do now?"
"I just don't want to see a repeat of what happened ten years ago." He paused before he continued. "I'm not interested in this "Holy Grail" deal."
"I knew you were going to say that." She sighed. "Look, Saber will kill you if she hears you talking like that!"
"She will?" He asked.
"Did you think that Servants obey humans without wanting something in return? Whoever wins the Grail gets their wish granted. This includes the Servants, their guardians. They answer a Master's summons because they want to get their hands on the Grail, too. Each of them has a desire that they want granted."
"That's why Saber is doing this? Because she wants the Grail?" He slammed his hands on the table. "But Saber is just as human as I am! Last night, she was bleeding all over!"
"Servants aren't alive. If they "die," they just go back to where they came from."
"That doesn't make it okay for them to go around killing each other." He argued back.
"If you leave those other Masters running unchecked, innocent people are going to die!" Tohsaka said as my brother gritted his teeth. "Servants use magical power as fuel. The more of this fuel they take in, the more they unleash the power that they had when they were alive."
"What're you getting at?"
"They're spiritual entities, so they would get sustenance from eating souls." He was shocked hearing that. "I'm saying that some Masters will force their Servants to attack people and eat their souls to bolster their magical power."
"Wha...? Servants eat people?! No, you wrong... Saber would never do that!"
"So, what will you do? Sit back and watch, regardless of what the other Masters do? "
"If they try something, I'll just have to stop them. "
"Oh, good grief... You won't try to defeat a Master on your own initiative. But if another Master does something bad, THEN you'll go after him? You realize that you're contradicting yourself, right?"
"I know I'm trying to have it both ways, but I can't think of any other way to do this."
"Hmm..."
"Ah right, last night Illya had a Servant... she said its name is Hercules, right?"
"I have to stop you right there," I said to my brother, and he looked at me.
"What do you mean?"
"Exposing your Servant's True Name means letting your enemies know their weaknesses. For example, If you know your enemy has firepower, you must counter him with water. That same goes with Servant's identity."
"Now I get it. I wonder what Saber's True Name is. Should I ask her?"
"You can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Well, some Masters will try to look in your memories with the use of magecraft, seeing as you're an easy target and lack of knowledge in magecraft. And you were too naïve to trust someone, And I know you wouldn't hesitate to make allies with Tohsaka-senpai here. You will become defenseless without a Servant." He thought about it first.
"Your right, I understand."
After our discussion with Tohsaka, my brother and I see her off at the door.
"You didn't need to see me out," Tohsaka said while she wore her shoes. She slid the door open, and she looked at us one last time. "From now on, it'll be easier for you if you didn't think of me as a human being." She slid the door close and left, leaving my brother dumbfounded.
"Holy Grail Wars..." My brother mumbled as he was lost in thought. He covered his mouth, looked like puking, and kneeled on the floor.
"Your doing okay?" I asked, and he looked at me.
"How are you so calm about this?" He didn't answer my question and asked me instead.
"I don't..."
"Then why did you join this war?" I paused before I answered.
"I was doing this for us, for our family. You have no idea just how many people will target us." I clenched my fist and touched my Command Spells. "I'm doing this to protect our family, to protect from any danger."
"Why didn't you tell me about this?"
"If I told you, you would stop me. I couldn't let you do that." He was about to argue, but I beat him to it. "And I made a promised to our Dad before he passed away." He looked at me in shock. He didn't know that Kiritsugu had asked me. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you anything."
"No, I understand. If I were you, I would do the same thing." Then he realized something. "Wait, where's Illya and Saber?!"
"Onee-chan herself in her room, and Saber is in the Dojo."
"I'll go find Saber."
"Then I'll go on check on Onee-chan."
My brother went to find Saber while I went to my Sister's room and knocked on the door.
"Onee-chan," I called her name.
"Come in," I slid the door open, revealing my Sister covered with her futon. Her eyes are puffy must have been crying since last night. I approached her and sat next to her. "I'm sorry...." She mumbled, and I hugged her to comfort her.
"It's okay. It's not your fault. I know you didn't do it." I said while rubbing her back.
"It's my fault that Shirou almost got killed. I could have stopped Berserker. I even promised that I would protect you all, but I couldn't. I'm...I'm so weak."
"No, your not, your strong Onee-chan. We didn't expect it to happen, and it was my fault as well. I made a promise to Dad that I would protect you both. We have to be careful next time. So don't blame yourself, okay?" She nodded. I stood up and walked to the door. "You should get change, and breakfast will be ready soon."
"Right." My sister replied as I left to go back to the leaving room. While walking, I started to think about what happened last night.
'What happened that night? Why is that scenario didn't change? I made sure that it would never happen. That's why I saved Onee-chan. And that seal, who put a spell on Onee-chan. Something's not right is this Caster's doing or... Is there a new enemy that I am not aware of? '
'And that dream, what the hell is that?'
'I'll just ignore it for now.'