Chapter Text
Medea watched the circles carefully - on one side of her, Assassin remained in his permanent posture, and Kuzuki - no, Souchirou, she reminded herself - stood back, watching carefully.
“How bizarre.” She mused to herself, watching the undulating rings. “This isn’t my work.”
“Beg pardon?” Souchirou placed a hand upon her arm, an eyebrow raised. “But you said this wasn’t the work of a master. Is there a second caster?”
“I’d say no, but we do have a second assassin, so it would be silly to rule it out.” She mirthlessly chuckled as the swordmaster straightened slightly, studying it carefully. “I think it’s a summoning, but a natural one. The grail called upon someone - this could be very good, or it could be calamitous.”
With that, she flicked a small spark of light into the whirling light, waiting for a response. Then, like a sonar ping, it expanded, waves forming concentric circles.that expanded and burst.
“Assassin, ready yourself. Something is coming!” Medea hissed, and Assassin drew his blade, ready for a battle. The light coalesced, flying together as gravity warped and crushed, accumulating into a humanoid shape. As the light vanished, a figure stood, regarding the three of them.
Burnished skin with the tan one might acquire from long travels contrasted with the brilliant white uniform. Scars marked their skin, with three forming an intricate pattern upon their left hand.
Command seals, though they were no longer functional, seemingly. Now just a pattern that had been seared onto their flesh.
Lean but athletic muscles completed the androgynous frame, as the servant looked at Medea calmly. And then, with one pristine smile, they spoke.
“Hello, Medea! It’s been quite a while. Oh, Kojirou! You’re here too!” They grinned, and then stepped forward. “Oh damn, is this a grail war? Hold on…yep, okay!”
“I’m sorry, have we met?” Medea asked, any other questions obliterated by the fog of confusion. Clearly this entity was a servant, receiving the flow of knowledge from the Grail. They would be off-balance for now...but for how long?
“Oh! Right, Grail War. So…I’ve met you . You haven’t met me. I’m the Ruler-class Servant, Fujimaru Ritsuka. A pleasure.” They outstretched a hand, and Medea watched it carefully.
Having one servant under her control was already an advantage. Two? Well that would ensure her chances of victory. Did she really have a choice? Catching Assassin’s eye, she tilted her head. Understanding, he walked around Ruler, not attacking but simply preparing.
“Isn’t it foolish to give away your true name, Fujimaru?” She mused, as Souchirou tensed.
“Not really. Either that name means nothing to you, in which case you’ll be unable to use it against me. Or, alternatively, you remember me, in which case we’re friends.” They shrugged, before glaring at her. “Oh, and put down the Rule Breaker, Medea. That’s rude.”
“Oh? But here I was, thinking of using anything in my arsenal to win. That’s my role as a servant, is it not?” Medea raised an eyebrow, and Souchirou stepped forwards.
“Dear, this is dangerous. Perhaps we should disengage.”
“Dear? Oh damn, you two are…” Fujimaru looked at each of them in term. “Nice! I knew you could find someone nice who trusts you, Medea. That’s great, I’m really happy for you! So…what’s with Kojirou, by the way?”
“That’s his name?” Souchirou asked, and Ritsuka shrugged.
“I mean, I already said both of your names - bit thoughtless of me, really, terribly sorry - so yeah, can’t hurt to confirm that.” They looked apologetically at Assassin, who simply gave a slight bow.
“She knew.”
“Ah…I see. You summoned another servant, Medea? That’s a little outside the rules.” Ruler mused, and Medea froze.
She couldn’t let this stranger ruin her dreams.
In one swift motion, she lunged with Rule Breaker. The familiar swing, the crackle of paralysing magic - it was routine, it was perfect. She'd done it a thousand times at this point as muscle memory made a perfect move.
It missed, and a hand grabbed her own as Ruler squeezed slightly. The pressure was enough to crack her knuckles, and she winced.
“I really must ask that you don’t.” They mused. Assassin and Souchirou closed in, and they looked around. “This is really, really illegal.”
“If you give in now, this will be easier. There’s three of us, Ruler.” Medea hardened her heart - she couldn’t pass up an advantage in this battle.
“You’re forgetting that I know you, Medea. I know your capabilities, I know how you fight.” With that, they snapped their fingers, and Medea braced for magic.
Instead of an attack, a glowing rain fell upon Assassin. He looked bemused, and then his eyes widened as she realised something.
Her contract was destroyed. She was no longer in control of Assassin.
“How?” She asked, for this was insane. This was impossible without the Rule Breaker!
“Oh, Rains of Isis. A cleansing power - a little bit stronger now that I’m a servant. Annulling this contract is well within my rights. Medea, fight fairly, or don’t fight at all, but I’m not going to go easy on you just because I know you.” They frowned, before turning away from her and Souchirou. “Kojirou, you’re a free man. Mind showing me around the area?”
Souchirou tensed, ready to lunge, and Medea saw the Assassin step forward, clenching his blade.
“Why have you done this? Why not simply destroy me? After all, my existence is a breach of the rules.” He asked simply, his tone careful and controlled.
“I’ll tell you later, Kojirou. Shall we go?”
Medea grimaced as the two left her temple, unable to muster the will to attack. Her plans were in tatters, and Ruler had effortlessly read her movements like they’d seen them a thousand times.
“Love, this is grim, but we’re not sunk.” Souchirou whispered. “We still have you, our legendary Caster.” A statement that would read as flattery, were it not from Souchirou.
Kojirou sat atop the tower, uncertain of what exactly he was supposed to be looking at. Ruler, for their part, held a pensive expression as they surveyed.
“Fuyuki, huh?” They mused quietly. “I suppose it looks better this way.”
“Dare I ask?” The Assassin asked, and Ruler turned.
“Sorry! I’ve seen this place before, and it looked a lot worse. Memories, you know?”
“Ah, after the fire from the last Grail War? The memories seemed…unpleasant.” Kojirou grimaced, flashing through the memories he’d been given that showed the city devastated by the Grail when the Master of Saber tried to destroy it. It seemed downright traumatic, but he didn’t feel like being dramatic.
“Yeah, something like that.” Ruler didn’t meet his gaze, but then continued. “I want you to work with me, Kojirou!”
An awkward pause filled the space, and then a question.
“Why?”
“You’re dying. Medea didn’t give you a mana supply, so you were always limited by time. I have work to do - something’s wrong here, and I’m going to fix it! And…well, it might sound silly, but I really think we could be friends, Kojirou.” They gave a soft smile, and Sasaki Kojirou knew he had a purpose.
“I suppose I would rather like to live for a while. I’ll take your bargain, Ruler - it seems an improvement from where I am standing.” The man who shouldn’t be shook hands with a soul who sometimes exists, and the two watched the cityscape.
“Right, so let’s recap, Archer!” Rin rolled her eyes as she flopped upon the seat, the Red-clad servant standing impassively.
“Very well. Go for it, Master.” The man waited, and Rin sighed.
“Okay, so you’re a servant who doesn’t remember their true name. But still has access to their Noble Phantasm.” She raised an eyebrow, giving him a chance to explain.
“Something like that.” No explanation was forthcoming, evidently.
“Then, we met Lancer, who’s a weird man clad in blue spandex with a big red spear.” She was about to elaborate, only for Archer to cut her off.
“The Gae Bolg, if I had to guess. That would suggest our Lancer is Cu Chulainn.”
“Okay, sure. And then he ran off to kill Emiya, who had glimped him through a window. He failed, because I healed the wounds - honestly, kinda impressed that he survived long enough.” She shrugged, even as Archer twitched slightly.
“Maybe he’s genuinely too stupid to die. It’d be an impressive feat, but who can say.” He shrugged, and not for the first time, Rin caught glimpse of a grim resignation in Archer’s posture.
“You’re weird. You’re weird about Emiya.”
“Sure, let’s go with that.”
“Anyway, we don’t know who the Master of Lancer is, and we have Archer. That leaves Rider, Caster, Assassin, Saber and Berserker unaccounted for.”
“Most likely, yes.”
“Okay, what do you mean by ‘most likely’? You’re terrible at lying, Archer!” She snapped, and he reclined back.
“There are esoteric containers that can form, you know. Avenger, Moon Cancers, Alter Egos. Weird aberrations in the grail, essentially.” He tried to maintain his authoritative tone while explaining, but honestly, he just sounded like a frustrated dad. The thought stung Rin, but she ignored it.
“And you’re mentioning this because…” She offered, and Archer shrugged.
“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Besides, knowledge is it’s own reward - isn’t that something a mage would be interested in?”
“You know more than you’re saying. I could force you to tell me.”
“You could. But I’m not planning on screwing you over, Master.” Seeing her unconvinced expression, he continued. “I just have a strange feeling. Something familiar that I can’t quite explain. As in, genuinely cannot. Like feeling like your twin is staring at you from the distance.”
As he was talking, a horrible thought burst.
“Archer, is Emiya safe?”
“I mean, I assume he’s stable-”
“That’s not what I meant.” Her tone was ice, and Archer’s eyes widened slightly.
“Oh. Okay, that’s a good question.”
She ran, and she wasn’t sure when she stopped. Instinct took over, because somehow, something in Tohsaka’s prideful mind wasn’t going to accept defeat from some prat in spandex, even if he was a mythical celtic hero.
Kirei twitched as he heard his servant’s report.
“Beg pardon, Lancer. I had rather assumed that the Irish Heracles would be more than capable of killing a schoolboy with a spear that cannot miss.” He sighed. “And yet, here you are, having been driven off by the Saber. Am I correct in my assessment of the facts?”
“That’s about the size of it. Still, on the bright side, Tohsaka and her servant were heading that way. Though frankly, I wouldn’t be sure that the kid summoned Saber. I mean, she was beating me over the head with an invisible sword, but the red guy was using two very visible swords, and then there was the weirdo hiding and watching-”
“Beg pardon?” Kirei interrupted. “Another man bearing a blade?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said. Wasn’t there for long before I couldn’t see him, but he was watching the estate when I left. Figured he was waiting for the Archer - if he’s an archer - and Saber to beat the tar outta each other.”
“Hmm. Not another Assassin, surely? I’ve already made note of the Assassin for this war.” Kirei had much to think about it, evidently. “Well, be frank: Do you think Archer will kill Saber?”
“Doubt it. That girl’s annoying as hell. Survived the Gae Bolg, too.” He shrugged, then adopted a lazy grin. “I mean, I want to kill you pretty badly, but I’d settle for fighting her again if that’s not on the table.”
“You pick up fast, Lancer. Still, unattended servants is a concern. I don’t want you investigating this - I’ll handle it myself. Stick to defending me and killing anyone who gets inconvenient. I’m assuming I’ll have a visitation soon, and I think that you should remain out of the way. The question is - am I going to have to make that an order, Lancer?” A pointed glare shot through Cu Chulainn’s heart, and Kirei felt his dead soul warm at the discomfort he instilled. He felt his magic flow towards the manifold Command Seals, and after Lancer stepped back, a chuckle burst from his lips.
Truly, it was good to be a sadist in a Grail War.