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A Fake Familiar Reborn Chapter 29
🕑 Added 2024-11-28 15:16:55 +0000 UTCFully beta read by Paragon of Awesomeness and Shigiya
Next update is Steel Eyed Faker
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-?-???-
Within an opulent penthouse at one of the most high-cost apartment complexes in Kuoh, the sound of classical music could be heard playing in nearly every room with a lingering scent of tobacco and alcohol being just as prominent.
Lights from the city were fully displayed by the giant glass windows occasionally flashing before it was hidden by red curtains — plunging the entire apartment into a quiet but comfortable atmosphere.
A man who seemed to be in his early to mid-thirties, having brown and blonde hair with a finely trimmed goatee sat all by himself enjoying the peaceful yet indulgent serenity this place offered that he so rarely got to enjoy lately.
The sound of the door unlocking reached his ears, thus attracting his attention to the clock. “He's back earlier than I imagined.”
The fallen Seraph then glanced toward the door as a young man with silver hair stepped inside casually, hands tucked into his pockets. His unkempt hair and sharp, indifferent expression gave off the air of a typical delinquent.
"Well, well, look who's back before the sun's up. I thought I'd at least get a night's peace," Azazel quipped, his smirk growing wider as he swirled the whiskey in his glass. The ice clinked, a soft counterpoint to the classical music playing in the background. "But I suppose I should know better than to try and predict the White Dragon Emperor's schedule."
He lifted the glass to his nose, inhaling deeply. The strong scent of his favorite 'modern ambrosia' filled his senses. "You know, it's a pity we had to resort to this. Locking him up isn't exactly my idea of a good time, but it'll keep things from spiraling out of control. With any luck, our friend might even learn something from his timeout."
There was no doubt in his mind that his protégé had taken down the Cadre on his own. While Kokabiel was undeniably powerful, his arrogance had created a fatal weakness. And, of course, the Divine Dividing Sacred Gear was a force to be reckoned with — superior in both power and versatility to anything his brother had in his arsenal.
Even he was not sure he’d be able to emerge from a serious fight against Vali without at least a couple of grave injuries. Not without some serious preparation on his part, at least.
"So," Azazel asked, his tone shifting slightly, "what happened to Valper?"
"He's probably dead," Vali answered flatly, moving to the sofa and letting his body naturally fall against the soft material. He picked up the remote and changed the music channel to something more to his taste, much to Azazel's dismay.
"That song was one of my favorites," Azazel muttered, a hint of irritation in his voice. He sighed and leaned back, acknowledging Vali’s lack of concern. "I see. Well, I suppose it’s no surprise. I can understand why the Gremory heiress would choose to execute him. One of her peerage members was part of that Holy Sword experiment, after all. No way he'd let Valper walk away alive."
"Shame about Valper," Azazel mused, swirling his glass. "That lunatic had a wealth of knowledge on artificial Sacred Gears. Could've been useful." He shrugged, taking another sip. "Still, can't say I'm losing sleep over it. Some sins are too heavy to wash away."
He drained the last of his whiskey, ice clinking against his teeth. Setting the glass down, he fixed Vali with a pointed look. "Speaking of sinners, did you drop off our friend Kokabiel to Penemue? Haven't heard a peep from her yet."
"Nope. I didn’t bother collecting his ashes."
“…”
The room fell into a heavy silence. Azazel froze mid-sip, then slowly turned to face Vali, who remained unfazed, his attention fixed on the television.
"What do you mean by 'his ashes'?" He asked, his voice tinged with disbelief. "He’s… dead?"
Vali nodded slightly, offering no further explanation.
First, anger managed to show its ugly head within the Governor General's mind, unable to accept that another one of his siblings and long-time ally had died. This sensation only lasted for a few seconds before it ended like it always had in the past he had seen a former sibling die.
Numbness.
A cruel… and bitter acceptance.
Azazel tossed back another gulp of whiskey, the burn momentarily drowning out the ache in his chest. "Another one bites the dust," he muttered, not really speaking to Vali at the moment, a bitter smile twisting his lips as he lost himself in his thoughts. "Kokabiel, you fool. What were you thinking?"
He set the glass down with a heavy thud. "Well, it would seem that I underestimated our little Devil princess and her pet dragon. Kokabiel was no pushover, war veteran and all that." Azazel shook his head, a mix of admiration and frustration in his voice. "Gotta hand it to those Devils, they've got Lady Luck on speed dial."
Stepping out onto the balcony, Azazel gazed up at the night sky. The stars twinkled coldly, indifferent to the loss below. "Remember when you were just a wide-eyed Angel, Kokabiel? Always going on about the mysteries of the cosmos and the majesty of the stars." He chuckled softly, the sound tinged with melancholy. "Guess you finally made it up there, old friend. Hope the view's worth it."
Now their already endangered faction had shrunk even further.
“So… who took him down?” he finally asked. “Was it the Gremory heiress’ red bowman?”
"Not him," Vali replied, his voice echoing from the living room. “He probably would have eventually, but someone else got to him first.”
"What?" Azazel's confusion deepened. "Did you forget to hold back?"
"No. I didn’t ever fight him."
"Her peerage, then? I know she recently recruited the Red Dragon Emperor, but his power rising high enough to face a Cadre is…" Azazel frowned, recalculating but reaching the same conclusion. "Unless I am missing something or he sacrificed something to accomplish the Balance Breaker."
Vali scoffed, as if he had just heard a terrible attempt at a joke. "As if that would have been enough. Even if you multiply his current Demonic Powers dozens of times, it is still at a pathetic level.”
Azazel sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Come on, cut the kid some slack. He's barely had the Boosted Gear for a month. Not everyone's born a prodigy like you." He chuckled, knowing full well his words would fall on deaf ears. Vali was in a league of his own, even among Divine Dividing users. "Besides, from what I've heard, the boy's got passion. That counts for a lot with a Sacred Gear like his. Give him time, and who knows? He might just surprise you."
“…”
Vali did not say anything, but his silence was quite telling of his opinion on the matter.
In the end, it was best to put this matter to the side as it just wasn't that important right now.
"Was it the Sitri peerage?"
“No, they are even weaker than the Gremory group. All of them are pathetic.” Azazel winced at that response, but there was not much he could do about that. The young Sitri heiress certainly lacked any heavy hitters in her group, unlike the Gremory girl despite having more members.
“Then stop playing around and tell me directly what happened. It's not like you to beat around the bush like this, Vali.”
“…It was one of those strange human-spirit familiars. Another one has been summoned, and it wasn’t by Valper or the Devils.”
The glass slipped from Azazel’s hand and shattered on the floor. His eyes widened, all traces of his usual relaxed demeanor vanishing.
"This… this is serious," Azazel muttered, leaning against the handrails, feeling as if he had just traded one problem for a much bigger one.
Vali, unbothered, continued, "The new one was strong. Stronger than the others that were summoned before. She gave me this when I tried to intercept her after she killed Kokabiel and destroyed the fragments."
Vali lifted his shirt, revealing that the entire right half of his ribcage had been turned black and blue. On top of the nasty bruise, Vali showed clear signs of many of his ribs being damaged. That he had been able to walk around without obvious signs of pain was… no real surprise to Azazel. It was not a wound from a blade, but rather a single massive impact that had hit hard.
“I quite like her.” Vali said with a large grin on her face, “If she sticks around, I won't have to play the waiting game with the Red Dragon Emperor anymore.”
Of course, he would be thinking of that!
“Just… just tell me everything that happened the moment you set your foot outside this door. And I do mean everything.”
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-Kuoh Academy-
Meanwhile, in the Occult Research Club, a similarly tense conversation was unfolding. Archer had returned to Rias’ side with Rider doing the same with Sona, joining the rest of their Masters’ peerages. The air was heavy as each party shared what had transpired.
"You encountered the White Dragon Emperor?" Archer repeated the words mentioned by his Master, his brows furrowing in surprise. That revelation caught him off guard — he hadn’t sensed this person's presence at all during his battles with Assassin and Kokabiel.
Neither did Rider for that matter when she fought Saber.
"Did he come here to fight Issei, or was he part of Kokabiel’s posse?"
Going by everything he learned about the history between the holders of the Sacred Gears for the Red and White Heavenly Dragons, he understood they were arch enemies, their rivalry destined to last through the ages via their hosts. Whenever one was reborn, the other would never be far behind, their encounters always ending in one side killing the other simply to repeat again in their next incarnation. Sacred Gears existed for the sole purpose of aiding humanity from what he gathered, but these two in particular seemed to come with the caveat that their hosts relentlessly seek out and destroy the other.
The destructive aftermath of their clashes negatively affected humanity, regardless of the point in time. Dragons whose hatred toward their rival went so far as to affect the very system they were caged into, and their immense pride would never allow either side to relent.
Or maybe the Abrahamic God intended this? A difficult question to answer.
Rias, visibly exhausted mentally, shook her head. "I don’t think it was either," she replied hoarsely. "After Koneko came back and told us everything, we tried to go join you immediately. We couldn’t let you face the enemy on your own. I know you’re capable, Archer, and much stronger than all of us together, but we all wanted to do whatever we could to help."
He wanted to argue but decided against it. For all that Rias was capable of, as were the other members in the peerage, fighting a Cadre, let alone another Servant, was most definitely not a possibility for them if they hoped to survive the encounter. Especially one as dangerous as an Assassin who also had the abilities of a Caster. And to top it off there had been the emergence of a semi-completed Excalibur, from which a mere scratch could possibly incapacitate any one of them.
Still, he let Rias continue her explanation.
“When I saw those flashes of light and felt large amounts of my demonic energy getting siphoned, I knew things were getting serious. Akeno suggested for us to try distracting Kokabiel and Valper to give you the necessary window of opportunity to defeat them once and for all. But just as we were about to reach the foot of the mountain, that was when we saw him. For some reason, he was just spectating your fight the entire time,” Rias explained.
"We didn’t even know who he was at first," she admitted. "We had half a mind to ignore or perhaps hypnotize him, but then he started talking to Issei. And Koneko… she knew something was off about him right away."
"He smelled like a dragon," Koneko added simply, her soft tone carrying an ominous weight. Her voice shook slightly, though Archer was not certain whether it was because of the encounter in question being recalled or because the young girl kept occasionally stealing glances at Rider who was quietly standing behind Sona.
“Was he there to stall for time?”
“I… don't know.” Rias continued, “He was just standing there, and forbade us from getting in between you and Kokabiel. Of course, as you can imagine we did not take kindly to that suggestion and tried to force our way through, but…”
“He utterly overwhelmed us,” Akeno answered, clear signs of frustration in her tone at the encounter. Given how she usually behaved, seeing her so visibly irritated was quite rare. “Issei-kun tried to punch him out of the way, but we could not even touch him. His Sacred Gear manifested and when he shoved us back we all suddenly felt weak, as if our strength was stolen away. Even Buchou’s blast from her Power of Destruction could not even put a scratch on his wings.”
That was very surprising to say the least, Having trained this group himself, he had a fair bit of understanding of where they stood in terms of overall strength. While his Master lacked overall experience and speed, she made it up in terms of raw power just like her Queen. One good blast from her held enough power to instantly vaporize an entire boulder the size of a small cabin in an instant, and he had the impression she could wipe out the entire academy if she went all-out in a single devastating attack.
A fitting display for someone who wielded the fabled Power of Destruction.
But for an attack such as hers to be dismissed so easily before it even reached the opponent? That made him very curious about the kind of powers the rival of the Boosted Gear would have.
“From what I recall from prior browsing on the subject, the Red Dragon Emperor and the White Dragon Emperor have powers that directly counter one another. If Issei here can double his powers every ten seconds, then I suppose the White Dragon Emperor would have something that takes away half his opponent’s power every ten seconds instead?”
It was a mere guess on his part, though the reasoning seemed sound. So he was only mildly surprised when he got a nod of approval from Sona. “You got it exactly. The Sacred Gear tied to the White Dragon Emperor is called Divine Dividing. To add more detail to this power, it reduces its opponent’s power down to half upon making physical contact, and the stolen power is taken in by the wielder.”
Archer resisted the urge to sigh. This power in his opinion sounded even more dangerous than the Boosted Gear. The Boosted Gear only doubled the power of its holder, meaning if the person had little power themselves, then it required a series of Boosts to turn them into a formidable force. But from what he was hearing, the Divine Dividing could be used against an opponent far stronger than the Sacred Gear’s holder. It would be risky to be sure, but a single Divide would go a tremendous way in closing the power gap.
‘She did say it needed to make physical contact… I’ll need to remember that whenever I encounter this person myself.’ If the wielder of Divine Dividing needed to touch his opponent in order to take half their power, then he was likely the person best suited to fight the White Dragon Emperor out of everyone from either the Gremory or Sitri groups. “His actions against you make it clear he’s no ally of yours, Master, but if his only concern was ensuring you wouldn’t interfere in the battle he was spectating, then we can't say for certain he is an enemy either. Did he reveal anything else of note?”
“That bastard just kept insulting me!” Unable to hold in his anger, the brown-haired boy wielding the power of the Red Dragon Emperor erupted. His outburst startled Asia and caused Kiyome to start coughing around her snack. “He kept going on about how I would not even rank amongst the top thousand or something, and how I am the weakest Red Dragon Emperor ever… peh. Next time I see his stupid prick face, I’m gonna punch his teeth out!”
The boy was as energetic as ever. But Archer wanted to remind him that punching or making any kind of physical contact was precisely the one thing the boy needed to avoid doing to that person.
“I'm afraid you are still a long way away from achieving that goal, kid.” Suddenly a deep voice spoke out of nowhere, Archer's eyes widened when he saw the crimson gauntlet appear on the boy’s arm with the emerald jewel glowing with each syllable. “The white one got himself an exceptional host from the looks of it. While I usually do not like to judge too early, you are still very far from reaching his level. Just be glad that he did not kill you right then and there.”
Did… did the Sacred Gear just talk?
Glancing around at the others to make sure they all heard that as well, Archer saw that among Rias' peerage, no one seemed that surprised, but the same could not be said for Sona who had a similar reaction to himself.
As if it sensed his confusion, the light within the jewel lit up once again, addressing him this time. “Greetings, Servant of the Bow. I believe this is the first time I’ve actually spoken with you. I would like to finally thank you for saving my host's life during your first meeting and also training him to no longer be as weak as he was.”
“Host? Are you… the Welsh Dragon, Y Ddraig Goch?” He was familiar with this creature's legend to a degree, for in his world Artoria had this creature’s very essence thrumming within her chest in the form of a Magic Core.
The same went for her and Morgana’s ‘son,’ Mordred, the latter being a homunculus-like clone of Artoria. And that was unfortunately relevant here now that she’d been summoned.
“I am indeed. I take it you have heard of me in your reality also? That is to be expected for one of my magnificence.”
For a dragon, even though his voice sounded very deep and gruff, he sure spoke in a highly laid-back manner, tinged with unmistakable enthusiasm at the notion of having his ego stroked. Not exactly the type of personality he expected to see from a being known to have caused all three of the warring biblical factions to team up just to stop the rampage between him and his rival.
“Since I exist in your world as well, I don’t suppose you’d happen to know if my counterpart’s fate was any different from my own?”
Confused by this sudden development, Archer turned to Rias expecting some kind of explanation from her.
All he got was a shrug.
“After it was clear we couldn’t beat the White Dragon Emperor… both Ddraig and Albion suddenly started to talk to one another.”
“It was like hearing a couple of old friends catch up with one another rather than hated rivals out for each other’s blood,” Kiyome added, giving the gauntlet a contemplative stare. “It honestly sounded as if the two were treating their infamous rivalry as some sort of game rather than an ancient blood feud.”
Taking note of that, He put some thoughts on how to answer the question asked, since the answer to such a question was actually a bit complicated. “The Red and White Dragons, Albion and Ddraig, do not actually exist in my world the way you are imagining.”
That prompted both Sona and Rias to look at him with clear interest. The same went for everyone in the room, excluding Rider who likely already at least knew the basics.
“I won't go into the details since it is frankly very long and… complex. The Red Dragon did exist, it was a being that lived for billions of years and was as old as the planet itself. And the same goes for the White Dragon.” he stopped for a short moment and observed the reaction of the gauntlet to what he was about to say next. “…Because the two were one and the same.”
“WHAT DID YOU SAY!?”
A thunderous roar that far more closely resembled the bellow of a mighty dragon came from Issei's arm. The poor boy fell from the sofa in shock at how loud that was, stunned at the fury coming from the dragon’s soul within his gauntlet.
“You mean to say Albion and I are the same dragon!? Had I not known your origin as an otherworlder, then I would have taken this as a bad joke!”
Archer shrugged, “it is what it is. The Red and White Dragons were just a singular dragon… the last true dragon for that matter. Said to have been bigger than a mountain, powerful beyond comprehension whose corpse still continues to release high concentrations of Mana used by my world's Mage Association as a very high-quality leyline. Not much is known about its history back when it still was alive, though people have used what remains of its powers for many purposes.”
“Then what about the rivalry between both Red and White Dragons?” Ddraig asked again, most likely still struggling to grasp the concept of both himself and Albion being a single entity in his world.
“If you're talking about real-life events then no, there was no Red Dragon and White Dragon fighting one another to the death. But funnily enough, there is a story about a red and white dragon hatching from eggs discovered by Vortigern in the Arthurian legends with some ‘help’ from a young Merlin. But at the end of the day that is all it is, a simple story.”
The jewel on the Sacred Gear went dim, the prior disbelief and anger simmering down till all that was left was simple denial. “Who would have thought that such a world would exist, where both that bastard and I are one and the same… Just imagining it makes me want to die again. Wait, did you call it a true dragon? What do you mean by that?”
All Archer could do was just shake his head at how such a mighty dragon lamented its counterpart. He would not even call it an account but with how different these two were in comparison. “You see, there are true dragons and regular dragons. The latter are mostly just animals that have inherited a dragon factor or descended from the bloodline of a true dragon. They cannot be compared to their ancestors in either might or mystery. As for a true dragon, they are more of a concept than anything else, given form. For example, Fafnir is also considered to be a true dragon and embodies the concept of greed.”
“But even the mighty Red Dragon from your world died, from the sound of things. Was it in a war, like in this reality?”
“…No, he died with the passing of the Age of Gods.” Died of exhaustion while burrowing underground to find a new home for himself in the deep places of the world where Mystery still remained, unable to reach the Reverse Side of the world where the rest of his kin were. Having waited too long with the arrogant belief that he was so mighty even the passage of time would not matter to him, in the end, he was too late and missed his opportunity, doomed to a slow and miserable death. “You are honestly wasting your time trying to understand the Red Dragon from our world; it can't be said to truly be your counterpart with how different both of you are.”
A moment of silence passed till he heard a sigh, “I suppose so. Perhaps I wanted to find some comfort with the idea that another version of me ended up living a better life, or at least got a better end. But even mighty beings like us are burdened by bad luck from the looks of it.”
Like he expected, this story only brought disappointment for the Heavenly Dragon. Now that that was out of the way, they had to focus on the more important matters. “Master, we should discuss our next move. We still have what looks to be two more Servants out there, neither of whom seems to be friendly in the slightest. We got lucky today in avoiding any casualties, but I’d be highly surprised if we were so fortunate a second time.”
“I agree with Archer,” Sona chimed in. “We were taken by surprise today and underestimated our enemy. That we all came out of this in one piece is nothing short of a miracle. I… I am at fault for the danger we were in as well… I never thought we would face a Servant as monstrously strong as the armored one. That Saber.”
Right, while he was dealing with Assassin and Rias having her own share of problems with the sudden appearance of the White Dragon Emperor. Sona’s group ended up encountering the traitorous Knight of the Round Table, a very powerful Servant even by the high standards the Saber class set. The fact that Rider was pushed into a corner and nearly defeated by her did not really surprise him that much.
Any warrior capable of going head-to-head against the King of Knights would definitely be a powerhouse.
“…I have no idea who that Saber could be.” The Sitri heiress admitted with shame in her voice. “All I can say with certainty is that I’ve never seen such a ridiculous display of power in all my life. She was able to keep up with Rider's speed, outright ignored our attacks, possessed strength beyond anything I have seen before, and almost all of her stats were ranked A or above! What kind of nonsense is this!? I almost lost Rider and Saji against a SINGLE Servant! I don’t even want to think of how many of us would’ve died if she’d treated us as anything more than an afterthought.”
“Kaichou…” the others tried to reassure her, and Rias also held a worried expression at her friend's outburst.
“We couldn't even serve as a distraction… you saw how she treated our attacks. No different from dealing with flies. She only threw that boulder at us because she found us irritating, not because we were actually doing anything, and that still sent us into chaos.”
The amount of anxiety coming off her made Archer worry she would start pulling her hair out at any moment. He glanced at Rider, who remained silent behind her Master. He was unable to tell just what was going through her mind at that moment.
“Remember what I mentioned to you previously about Servant parameters?” He asked the girl, glad to see that she was starting to understand just how big of a danger a single Servant could pose and how foolish she was to intervene in a battle between them.
“…”
“Parameters are not meant to be a deciding factor in a battle. At best they only serve to give you a better understanding of the Servant’s base abilities. Using them to decide whether or not one side will win or lose is doing a major disservice to the Heroic Spirit under your command.” He pointed at himself. “Have you ever tried to check my parameters?”
“Ah!”
That reaction and the way she suddenly focused on him told the man all that he needed to know. He did resist the urge to chuckle when he noticed Rias doing the same with Rider and immediately going pale.
“Strength is… only C-? B for Agility and Endurance? That can't be right… you were able to keep up with Rider when the two of you fought.”
“I can safely say that my parameters are amongst the lower end of the Servants that have been summoned. But just like you have seen during my fights, that did not stop me from keeping pace with foes that at face value were superior to me, or even gaining the upper hand. Servant battles are not some kind of game where higher letters or numbers will be the deciding factor. Personal skills, class skills, battle experience, Noble Phantasms, and outside factors are just as important if not more.” He saw both girls nod along with those around them taking his words into consideration. “Don't get me wrong, Saber is a dangerous and powerful individual. But so is the woman behind you.”
Rider showed him a small smile that once more made him a bit wary of her.
Sona continued to look at him intently, or rather stare at other aspects of his parameters most likely. “Your skills are amazing, especially Eye of the Mind, with it and your Circuit Connect skill being so high ranked that it breaks the normal scale…”
“It is, but don't think for a moment it makes me anything close to invincible.”
“Tch… both your name and Noble Phantasm are hidden, the same as Saber. But… the only skills she had that I was able to see were Magic Resistance and Riding, and she definitely showed off other ones when she fought Rider.”
He shrugged. “Some Heroic Spirits may have a skill or Noble Phantasm that obscures information about them in some ways. Sounds like Saber has one that at minimum conceals her personal skills.”
She shared a look with Rias, “Mind sharing Archer’s info with me since we are allies?”
All she got was a coy smile from her rival, “Sorry, Sona, but that is my little secret~! But hey, you’re a smart girl, so you can probably figure it out!”
Archer raised an eyebrow. He was pretty certain other than his name, Rias also didn’t have any idea what his Noble Phantasm was. But he was glad to see she was not going to share such crucial information even with those she trusted.
‘Not like it matters,’ he thought bitterly, finding himself once again looking at Rider and this time seeing her head being slightly tilted. ‘She has no reason to share the information with Sona since we are on the same team… but I can't be sure.’
He was not against the idea of Sona knowing about his Noble Phantasm, she had no connection to his past self, so it changed nothing for her to know. But such information about a Servant had a reason to remain a secret, and only known by the summoner unless the identity was revealed. An extra layer of mystery that worked in their favor.
“Archer has a habit of keeping a lot of secrets about his past,” Rider added, her words getting a few nods from everyone. “It is not a good habit to have among friends…”
“…Noted.”
He really did not know what she could be planning.
“Were you able to learn anything about her, Archer? From what I gathered from Rider and through my own observation, Saber is most definitely someone with a knightly background. And… well you were close when she used her Noble Phantasm, any guesses?”
He looked at the others in the room to see if they had anything to say, and to his surprise, Asia was the one who hesitantly raised her hand.
“…We are not in class, Asia. Just speak normally.”
“Ah, right, sorry!” After giving an unnecessary bow of apology, she took a deep breath feeling a bit burdened with everyone looking at her. “I-Is she L-Lady Joan of Arc? I have seen paintings of her before and she's the only one who comes to mind.”
“Joan of Arc?” Momo repeated, humming before nodding along. “Well, she did have a full suit of plate armor.”
Others in the room found themselves nodding along at that answer, but a few were completely lost.
“Who is Joan of Arc?”
Saji and Issei asked in unison, glaring at one another afterward.
“Did… Joan of Arc really have such a personality?” Sona wondered with an uncomfortable expression. “She spoke more like a delinquent than a respected saint. But then again, full-plated armor was pretty common among knights in her era…and there aren’t many famous female knights that come to mind I’ll admit.”
Kiyome also seemed to be getting more on board with the idea. “Her personality could be just another difference between both of our worlds. And it is pretty common for there to be inaccuracies in how certain people were depicted in legends. Wouldn’t surprise me if the French and later the Church wanted to portray her as more graceful and lady-like to help her appeal to the masses more.”
“Makes sense.”
“I agree.”
“I can't believe we have to deal with a saint now! And she’s a total bitch!”
Seeing them becoming more and more certain about Saber's “true identity,” Archer felt the need to massage his temples and knew he had to put a stop to this before it got out of hand.
“I'm pretty sure Jeanne d’Arc in either of our worlds wasn’t known to wield a red sword capable of generating red lightning. Other than the plate armor and gender, there are no other similar traits between her and Saber. More importantly, I know with utter certainty Saber is not Jeanne, in fact I know exactly who she is since I heard Saber shout her Noble Phantasm’s name when she used it.”
That got their attention, many holding their breath as if this was about to be some kind of big reveal. His eyes twitched, getting the feeling they had all turned the task of finding a Servant's true name into some kind of game.
“Clarent Blood Arthur.”
“Pft! Cough! Cough!”
Sona immediately started choking with nearly everyone in the room turning to look at Rider who had said the Noble Phantasm’s name instead of Archer. And with that, the prior slightly chipper mood had plunged into one of chilling terror.
“…Yes,” he confirmed with a nod to Rider before turning back to the gathered Devils. “I do not need to tell you Saber’s name, as you now have all you need to figure it out yourselves. After all, there is only one knight who ever sat at the Round Table known to have wielded a sword named Clarent. A sword that they stole when they chose to rebel against their king.”
“…”
“…”
They all turned silent, and the first one to speak was Yuuto who slammed his hands on the table. Him being the first one to let out such an extreme reaction made sense, since out of all the Devils present, he would easily be the one most familiar with the Arthurian legends.
“Mordred was a woman!? The son of King Arthur!?”
If this revelation made him react like this, Archer wondered the face he would make upon learning about Artoria herself, much less the circumstances of Mordred’s birth.
(A few minutes later)
After Saber's identity was revealed, it was clear that everyone had even more questions than answers. He reminded them that his knowledge of Mordred would be more or less identical to Rider’s, with both of them receiving their information from the Throne of Heroes.
Promising to discuss this matter in more detail another day, Archer had to remind them that there were other matters they had to handle before sunrise… Such as doing damage control and cleaning up practically the entire city. The devastation left by Saber's battle with Rider was far too much for anyone to ignore and had to be hidden from the public's eye. He doubted the excuse of all of it being old gas pipes blowing up would work, especially with a mountain being split open.
Both Rias and Sona already looked exhausted from the previous night’s ordeals, and the last thing they wanted to think about was fixing the collateral damage. But they had no choice. Kuoh was their territory, and they had to take responsibility.
Unfortunately…
“Master, doing damage control is not the only thing you should be worried about right now.”
“Eh? Are there more Servants around!?” Rias was shaken, raising her guard which made him sigh.
“Did you forget what our primary objective was when we set out to search for Kokabiel and Assassin?”
“Kokabiel?” It was as if she had completely forgotten about their primary concern, Rias mulled over what Archer had told her of the deceased Fallen Angel’s goals with some confusion till everything finally clicked in place. “THE EXORCISTS!”
“And their Holy Swords,” Yuuto added.
Archer realized he hadn't mentioned Mordred pulverizing one of the Holy Swords into dust. That could wait until they located the exorcists. While he doubted Assassin had killed them after they lost their usefulness, tracking them down wouldn't be easy, but it wouldn’t take to long. Still, they had to try. The exorcists' safety was paramount, even if their swords were no longer a factor.
There was not much for him to do at this point other than to return to his spiritual form and accompany Rias, who most definitely had several questions.
But to his dismay, Rider had different plans and asked to stay behind.
“Not that I don't mind, but is there a reason?” Of course, even Sona was taken aback by the request but was curious as to why Rider asked for it. “Ah, you must have not yet recovered from the fight against Saber. Sorry, I should have taken that into account. Sure, you can stay.”
“No, I am already mostly healed, Master.”
True to her word, there were no more traces of any cuts or wounds on her body. Seeing this, Sona recalled Archer's words on how Servant healed rather quickly so long as they had an ample supply of energy.
“I would like to have a… private conversation with Archer.”
“—!”
“—?”
Rider's request sent a ripple of surprise through the room. All eyes darted between her and Archer, some with suspicion, others with curiosity.
"Hold on," Akeno interjected, her voice sharp. "If this is about Saber or anything that went down tonight, we should all hear it. Don't you think, Buchou?"
"Absolutely," Rias affirmed without hesitation.
Rider turned to face Archer, and despite her blindfold, he could sense the amusement radiating from her. Her lips curved into a slight smile, as if she was enjoying the stir she'd caused.
“If it were not for him, I might well have perished from Saber's Noble Phantasm. I want to take this opportunity to… thank him.” There was a subtle yet unmistakable emphasis put on those two last words, which seemed to trigger not just Rias and Akeno, but also Koneko, and even Sona along with a few of the other girls in the latter’s peerage started to look suspiciously at the purple-haired Servant.
A few even reacted to this scene like it was a scene from a show.
“Why can't you just do it here?”
“I’d prefer to do so without so many eyes on us. It's a bit embarrassing to have others spectating something so… personal. After all, actions such as his require more than a simple ‘thank you.’ It won't take long, Master, maybe an hour at most. What do you say, Archer?”
A blush appeared on most of the Devils upon hearing the mature woman’s stated intent. Issei in particular turned green with envy and made grasping motions with his hands that suggested he was barely able to hold himself back from trying to strangle the Servant of the Bow.
Yuuto on the other hand just kept smiling.
A vein popped on Rias’ forehead, “D-Do you even realize what you are saying! In front of me, no less, Archer’s Master!?”
But Akeno on the other hand seemed more calm than her King. Having an almost smug expression on her face. “Unfortunately for you, I believe Archer over here would be more than happy to settle for a simple than—”
“—Alright, let's talk somewhere else.”
The ravenette’s head whipped around to stare at him so quickly that it almost snapped her neck. She gazed at him with pure disbelief that he was accepting Rider’s request.
“Archer!?” Rias shouted in outrage.
“You are overthinking it, Master. It is just a simple conversation, I'll be back quickly.” Not giving her any time to respond, he disappeared into his spiritual form, leaving the group rooted in place with their mouths collectively hanging open. Rider meanwhile chuckled almost imperceptibly and leaned against Rias with Akeno barely within hearing distance, her whispered words tickling the redhead's ear.
“No peeking.”
With those as her parting words, Rider likewise vanished into fading motes of light.
“Woah… were the rumors about those two fucking actually true?” Tsubasa wondered in disbelief. “Ouch!”
Her crass language earned her a quick jab to the side of her gut, courtesy of Momo.
.
.
.
With the moonlight illuminating the rooftop of the old building, Emiya's figure appeared as he stood at the edge with his arms crossed. The place was quiet, peaceful even, making one momentarily forget about all the chaos that occurred that night.
“You could have just asked me to talk with you at another time instead of purposefully causing a misunderstanding in front of everyone else.”
“I know.” Rider's voice came from behind with her figure materializing a second later. No longer wearing her blindfold and instead has the glasses he gave her. “Strange that we would be allowed to meet again, and in another world at that, Emiya.”
“More than just strange, ridiculous even.”
“Were you against the idea of me remembering you?”
The two of them by themselves on top of the rooftop, having a conversation. How rarely this would happen. They barely exchanged any words in his last summon, let alone the previous ones.
“Not really,” he answered honestly, touching the part of his face where she’d slapped him. “I was just not sure what you would remember exactly. There are many possible instances for you to recall, and I wanted to avoid any unnecessary issues — given that we were not always allies in the fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War.”
"Indeed, we weren't," Rider acknowledged, her tone neutral and matter-of-fact. There was no trace of resentment or bitterness in her voice, just a calm acceptance of their past. She tilted her head slightly, studying Archer's face. "Does my recollection make you uneasy? Or perhaps… wary?"
He chuckled, “I was honestly waiting for you to just reveal my identity to Sona. She has been trying to find out who I am since well before you were even summoned, with either her or her peerage asking me not-so-subtle random questions about my past in order to try and uncover my true name.”
“I still might. Here and now, she is my Master, not Sakura. My duty is to help her in any way I can.”
“I suppose that's only fair. I won't try to stop you if that’s what you decide you need to do. Not like it really matters if they do learn it.” A few seconds passed and for a brief moment, he hesitated, thinking over what to say next. He had a curiosity, one that he wanted to discard, but with each passing moment the desire to know continued to grow stronger, and when the question found itself at the tip of his tongue he could not find the will to swallow it.
“That slap… was it really from Rin?”
“Of course it was.”
Why wasn't he surprised… Though with everything he had done, he admitted it was more than deserved. Funnily enough, he imagined the face of that girl still grumbling and insulting him under her breath. Itching to give him a couple of kicks to the head if he ever met her again and to chew him out.
It made him smile.
“How was she, last you saw her?” The question came out naturally. A bit curious just how much Rider remembered and how long she remained by their side.
“She's happy. A bit stressed because of her responsibilities at the Clock Tower and is an apprentice under the tutelage of the Wizard Marshal. Still, she's doing her best.”
“Is that so… She has her work cut out for her then. That old coot will not go easy on her. Then again, I bet she enjoys the challenge more than anything else. A few sets of hurdles won't stop her.”
Trying to master Jewel Magecraft, in general, was hard enough, but to go several steps beyond that and attempt to learn True Magic like the Kaleidoscope… He would not be able to even fathom the heights the girl would grow to.
But he was certain she would surpass every limit in due time, possibly sooner.
‘Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg will take care of his best and brightest student. No one in the Mage Association will be stupid enough to give her a hard time unless they have a social and literal death wish.’
Rider continued, “You are smiling. How rare.”
“Humph, I do smile from time to time. Did regaining your memories make you forget about the time I have already spent here?” She did not say anything else, but her knowing look made it obvious she meant something else entirely.
“How is Sakura?”
“You actually do care.”
“It was just a question.” He retorted weakly.
“…She is free from her shackles to Zouken, no longer corrupted by the Grail, and is living a happy life with Shirou, Taiga, and Rin.”
As Rider spoke, a vivid memory flashed through Emiya's mind. He could almost feel the phantom pain of those dark tendrils piercing his body, shattering his Spiritual Core. He recalled the monstrous figure in the distance, pulsing with an overwhelming amount of magical energy, ready to annihilate everything. Only his quick thinking and the Shield of Ajax had saved them from total destruction.
Unconsciously, his hand drifted to his left shoulder, rubbing at the spot where the tentacles had struck. The pieces finally clicked into place.
"So you remember," he said, his voice a mix of surprise and resignation. "I wasn't sure how much of our past encounters you'd retained."
Rider nodded, her expression unreadable behind her glasses. "It's not something easily forgotten, Emiya. That battle and what came after… it left its mark on all of us. They all survived, thanks to you. I still think you were mad for making such a gamble…"
“I stand by what I did. It was the most obvious solution available, and I didn't have the time to think about it that much. We were both dying, but he had a chance of being saved and making good use of the transplant. Whether it was the arm or some other part wouldn't have mattered — I was beyond saving but not him.” He looked at her, seeing the latter standing right next to him with her hair fluttering from the wind, gazing at the moon.
“How did you know it would have even worked in the first place?”
“I didn't,” the answer ended up being something simpler than what she most likely had in mind. “I knew the risks of the operation failing were great. Even if it succeeded, my arm would have eventually overwhelmed him and fried his brain sooner than later.”
“The priest used a shroud to seal the arm, but it only served to buy him time.”
Makes sense. A human, no matter how compatible, could not contain even a fraction of a Heroic Spirit's power.
“It was a desperate measure, but he was going to die either way. I gave him a fighting chance to at least not go down so easily, or hoped that he'd be able to make a change before it reached that stage.”
“Too many uncertainties and maybes for it to make sense. You were winging it.”
He thought about it for a moment and she was right. He did not know whether or not his actions back then would even work. “I suppose I was. Not like I had many other options by that point.”
“That sounds like something you would do.”
His frown returned at what she was implying, not liking the meaning behind her words but unable to refute since no matter the angle one would look at his choice — it sounded beyond ridiculous. For the boy to somehow survive and even live past the War after those kinds of circumstances was a true miracle.
“You don't have to worry, he got his soul put into a puppet body and is no longer in any danger. He's staying with Sakura.”
At that, he scoffed.
“I wasn't really curious about how he was doing, or if he was even still alive. Still, manipulating the soul… Heaven's Feel. How?”
“Illya,”
“Ah.”
It was one surprise after another. That version of him was far too lucky for his own good.
Well, good for him, he supposed. As long as he was not running after those flawed ideals, Archer was satisfied.
“While my memories from that summoning are the most vivid, I also do recall other instances, but they feel more foggy.”
Then whatever system was in place was definitely flawed, or at least very different from the Fuyuki system when it came to filtering the summoned Heroic Spirit's memories. From the beginning, she showed signs of recognizing him or at least having a feeling of familiarity. This system had evidently not been that fine-tuned or dedicated many resources to preventing that, and a strong enough stimulus could make a Heroic Spirit remember prior summonings.
“It's strange how I would often end up being the first Servant to perish in most cases.”
“You had Shinji as your Master — not that he could really be called such — and needed to consume blood or even souls from normal people just to sustain yourself, and because of that you were hardly in any shape to fight at all. Not exactly conditions that would let any Servant remain alive for long during the War.”
Her brows crinkled, remembering that boy who made Sakura go through a lot of pain.
“In every instance you were summoned, even those where I managed to survive for longer, you always would do the same thing. One way or the other, going out of your way to keep Rin, Sakura, Illya, and even Shirou at times, safe.”
“I betrayed them a fair amount of times as you well know. You just died before that could happen most of the time.”
“Yet you still saved Rin from getting killed at the end against Caster.”
Emiya raised an eyebrow, trying to recall an instance where Rider was still alive when he had to pretend to switch sides over to Caster. They were very faint, bits and pieces, even though he was not sure about them given they tended to get mixed up with other memories from other timelines.
“Because that is my duty as a Servant.”
“So you say. But for someone who is supposed to be jaded and detached, you are oddly protective of her no matter the situation. It's too personal for it to be written off as just part of your duties as a Servant.”
“…”
“No matter how much time has passed or the fact you made a pact with the world—”
“—You know about that?” Archer interrupted her, caught off guard by the fact she even knew that about him.
In the instances he revealed this detail to Emiya Shirou or even Saber, Rider was never around. And even in the instance where the boy got his arm… it should not have shown him such memories in the first place. And Rin did not know back then either.
Then how?
“You don't have a legend. Even back when I pieced together your identity after you gave Shirou your arm, there was still no information about an Emiya Shirou to be found within the Throne. That hasn’t changed. I grew suspicious and kept thinking about it even during the War but did not get an answer. Now I realize that in most instances, including now, you have all your memories and know a lot more than you should. I pieced things together once again just now, and there was only one natural conclusion. It also explains why you kept trying to kill the boy in many times; you hated yourself forever going down this path.”
He stared at her with wide eyes, speechless.
“You… are a terrifying astute woman despite wearing a blindfold.”
There was no point in denying what she said, Rider would just call out his bluff even if he tried.
“You should have known that for a long time already. But despite all of this, the passage of time did not completely erase your old self. You still care about them, regardless of how detached you might claim to be. You also take care of these Devils in a similar fashion as Shirou did for the girls, especially the little one with white hair.”
He chose to not give her an answer and just continued to stare at the sky.
“We should head back, Rias and Sona might come flying off the handle if we stay here any longer.” Wanting to end this conversation for now and pick it up another time when his thoughts would be more organized.
Archer turned his back and was about to turn into his spiritual form when suddenly his whole field of vision was filled with strands of purple hair and his face was being held in place, with a pair of vivid lilac-coloured eyes staring back at him intently.
Those orbs managed to look awfully calm despite how much they were focusing on him.
“I almost forgot, but I also have a message from Sakura as well.”
Sakura?
He had a bad feeling about this.
“She was very distraught, you know. She blamed herself for a long time for destroying your body back then, even if she never talked about it… I know it remained in the back of her mind for decades.”
“I never blamed her, she was more of a victim than anyone in that whole War. And it seems she’s the type to needlessly worry about small things which she has no control over.”
“I know, even she suspected you would say something like this.” Her breath touched him and even tickled his lips slightly. “Here is the message she imparted to me in case we met again. To always keep an eye on her senpai, to make sure he does not fall back into his old habits and put himself in unnecessary danger. That you would not suffer and be left to handle things on your own with burdens that will overwhelm you.”
“I am not the boy that you protected, Rider. I can handle myself.”
“Every single time you have been summoned in the past paints a very different picture, Archer.” Her hold on his face slightly tightened with her gaze growing twice as sharp. “You fell back into your old habits just this night.”
“It’s better for us to have you alive than dead, you are an ally and Sona would have been distraught.”
“And your Master wouldn’t be if you perished by putting yourself into harm’s way? Do you think any of them want you to endanger yourself in such a way? That would go against what Sakura wanted as well.” She argued back, not leaving any room to counter. “I have been thinking about this, and I also agree with her.”
He glared at her, not willing to back down.
“So what? Are you going to be constantly keeping watch over me? Judge every single one of my actions and get between my duties as a Servant to my Master? This is ridiculous, and you know that. We Servants were always meant to fight.”
Surprisingly, she shook her head. “No, I know better than to try and do something like that. I also have my own duties to attend to, and I know such a method wouldn’t work for you to begin with. But there is another, particularly interesting method, that Sakura managed to achieve with Emiya Shirou. If it worked so well on him… I’m confident it will work on you just as well.”
He felt his face being pulled and had a pair of soft lips press against his. For a moment, his mind drew blanks, unable to understand what just happened. But the sensation persisted, with there being more emotions than he anticipated behind her action.
A desire for intimacy.
A burning passion.
A deep, earnest sense of affection.
.
.
.
{Break}
-???-
The morning sun rose and the birds started chirping, it would have been a perfect day to just sleep in and forget about everything in the world. She deserved the moment of rest after all, and with the apartment completely empty and no one to tell her otherwise, Raynare was glad to just not do anything for the rest of the day.
The hangover from drinking several cans of beer did not help and killed any theoretical motivation to leave her comfy bed.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Of course, she spoke too soon, and the serenity of her morning hangover was disturbed by a relentless pounding at the door. Raynare attempted to just huddle up under the covers with an extra pillow over her head, but it just kept on going for several minutes.
Her head was going to explode at this rate, so finally, she decided that stopping the banging was worth the effort of getting up.
“Shut the hell up, I'm coming!”
It had to be Kalawarna, that bitch disappeared all day yesterday and would not even pick up her phone. She had half the mind to just believe the woman somehow ended up getting herself killed, maybe by pissing off the local Devils with how much of a bitch she was.
But most likely she just found a handsome human to fuck around for the night.
‘Fucking slut.’
Unlocking the door, Raynare opened it while standing there completely naked. She didn’t give a damn whether it was Kalawarna or someone else on the other side, all she cared about at that moment was getting that fucking noise to stop.
And lo and behold, it was Kalawarna after all.
“Well, look who's back. Finally decided to drag yourself back here after a long night of shaking your fat ass around, didn't you? You couldn’t even be bothered to take the spare keys or something?” She said annoyingly, scratching her eyes and barely noticing the disheveled state of her Fallen kin. Attributing it to the woman's ‘walk of shame’ as stupid humans would call it.
But then she noticed something odd about her partner, particularly when looking at her neck. “Damn it Kala, did you seriously come back here with a chain still attached to your neck?”
“R-Raynare, n-now is not the time f-for this.” the blue-haired woman spoke with a heavy stutter, which sounded almost as if she was terrified of something. “L-Lord A-Azazel… call him now!”
“Hm?” Finally gathering her bearings, Raynare’s blurry vision improved despite the headache, and she ended up gazing past Kalawarna. And it was that moment when she noticed another person in the hallway, staring back at her with an amused smile that made her more irritated than anything else.
“Who's the elf-eared bitch?”
Most likely the person she slept with… She didn’t realize her partner swung that way.
Strange, she had never seen Kalawarna look this pale.
Comments
Ryujin Jaeger
Well that's a going to be a bombshell and a half when both groups find out. Oh the conflicts that'll break out because of it. Though it was nice to see Archer and Rider have a heart to heart and have Rider point out that buried beneath all the rust, regret and blood Shirou Emiya still lives. Chained though he may be, he is still there and always will be.
John Grechko
So your saying him being moldable humunculos and it being draconic is better than fusing a hand of the potentially version of you? Lmao
Orchamus
My understanding was it had something to do with Siegfrieds draconic nature plus the malleability of him being a homunculus.
Orchamus
...yyyeeessss!!!!! Go Medusa go!! Also now Medusa just has to seduce Rias so she doesn't complain. And probably her own Master so she doesn't feel left out.
SsanghwaSilver
In any scenarios Medusa is allowed to relax and enjoy life as is she often ends up interested in Shirou. This Medusa has the cumulative interests and interactions with Shirous and Emiyas of many 5th Grail Wars so yeah.... .
SeigZeon22
thats my boi :D I thought Rider was going to get with my boi but didn't know how Yes fuck all kinds of Yes
Christian E. Y.
What do you mean sleeping? Its fairly obvious she’s being used as a magic battery so Semiramis can survive to make a pact with Azazel.
Christian E. Y.
The hell? Mine just has all the girls, minus Koneko.
Matemeo
Best ship has left the harbor, I pray for its safe journey. Shirou x rider fits so well her here.
Leke
No matter what version or reality he’s in, Emiya’s Erogame Protagonist skill is always going to be ranked EX
Bailey
Lmfao rider fucking archer was NOT on my bingo card for this fic at all.
Cody
Well now Medusa kissing Archer and Semiramis sleeping with Raynare at the end there very interesting. Definitely excited to find out what happens next!
meh
I'm not saying that "Homunculi souls are so pure they can handle the power of a Heroic Spirit" makes sense, but that is why he can handle it
John Grechko
And I am here to tell you that that is bullshit lol
meh
that is precisely why Sieg can handle it
Lotus92
Best snek strikes first
Jesus Roldan
Akeno, Rias move aside. real best girl rider stepping through.
The_Flying_Wrench
Ngl I did whoop when Rider planted one on him. Sakura is sure to have taught her well (we’re just going to pretend she didn’t have front row seats I guess lmao) so all I can say is good luck Emiya. Now I wonder what Assassin is up to… anyway happy thanks giving!
John Grechko
“Makes sense, a human, no matter how compatible, could not contain even a fraction of a Heroic Spirit's power.” Tell that to Sieg…unless somehow being a humonculos helps which is bullshit
King230
There is only one servant I can think of that has elf ears and is a girl Semiramis assassin of red
Francisco Soria
Sakura taught Rider how to deal with a Emiya. This is going to be fun.
Francisco Soria
This is probably my favorite chapter so far. Love what Rider did to Emiya. Also Happy Thanksgiving!
