605LAN: Finally back to this, I apologize for my long silence. Life has been crappy. It seems you all were either disappointed in how quick the deaths of the two or satisfied that they were dead…'ThunderousKitsune94', I try my damnedest to avoid plot armor as much as possible…Or if it seems plot armory, I have a solid reason why prepared. Trust me, I HATE plot armor. 'DALucifer12', I mean, to be fair, mages are a rather unoriginal bunch with their nicknaming, see Kiritsugu Emiya's 'title' for example. Anyways, let's get down to it.
Speech
Thought, magical communication
Higher Being (i.e. Demon, Grail, ect) speaking, Berserker Class talking, Scene/POV change
Higher Being thinking
Day 3: The Morning After
Last night had been hellish for Naruto. The fight itself had been all too easy, more of a massacre than an actual fight. Nor did the taking of the lives of Shinji and his Grandfather bother him, they were little better than human refuse in his eyes. Rather, it was the aftermath that troubled him…the cleanup if you will.
He had to doctor the bodies, making it seem as if they had been killed via non-magical means. No mean feat considering the Kyuubi's chakra's effect on human flesh. He also had remove and change DNA and finger prints from his attack, as well as hide the involvement of the servants and Sakura. Not to mention forging a murder suicide note from the old man…All of that had taken time and a toll on him, though Rin's Assassin had been helpful on that front when he arrived with the other Servants.
The main issue though had been getting Sakura and her broken and or changed servants to the Emiya estates. The majority of the Servants, while sympathizing with their circumstances and horrified by what they had gone through, refused to let any other servants who were not directly under the blond's control close to him. As it would be all too easy for one to injure him when they weren't looking.
It had taken a half an hour of arguing to finally get them to back down, and the Black Princess swearing on her oath of knighthood and royal blood that she would serve as his bodyguard even above the orders of her mistress…Though Emiya's servants would keep a close eye on her, and the other servants.
Which was the cause of our hero's predicament this morning. You see, Sakura had wanted to stay by his side to reassure herself that what had happened, the rescue not the rape, wasn't a dream. This prompted her servants to also ask to sleep in the same room, much to the protests of his own servants.
That wasn't the reason for the issue though, the arguing would have resolved itself within an hour or so, and life would have settled down. But Rin had to open her mouth, and propose the dumbest solution he had heard that night: "If you're all so concerned, why not just ALL sleep in the same bed with him."
Which led to his situation this morning. Surrounded by female bodies on all sides, pressing in on him, and trapping him with a morning wood. Natural in this situation of course, and he suspected that they would understand. But there was another issue with being trapped like this. He would be unable to make breakfast before six o'clock.
Now, why would that be a problem you may ask? I mean, he was surrounded by hot women, who wouldn't wanna be in that situation as a straight male. Well, someone who had Taiga as a guardian. Someone who had Taiga as a guardian who was relied on for breakfast. Someone who was relied on by Taiga for breakfast, who hadn't MADE said breakfast yet.
You see where this is going right? Well fortunately, so did Rin's Archer if the smell wafting in was anything to go by. He would have to thank the red clad archer…probably by giving Rin more jewels. Which would lead to its own problems…Oh well…One step at a time I suppose. The first step being to wake his bed mates.
And so he started to shift around, gradually…carefully…Especially as his arms were trapped between his house bound Lancer and Sakura. An enviable position…and yet, not one the blond could take advantage of without causing misunderstandings, not that he would you understand. Taking advantage of women like that was against his policy…even if all but one of them could outright kick his ass with minimal effort. Also if you disregard the fact that it was a wonderful view of their valleys from where he lay.
It would take some doing, and roughly fifteen minutes, to get out of the danger zone so he could start to wake them up. There was of course grumbling about being disturbed from their sleep, it was natural, but soon everyone was up. Though that bred a bigger problem…Who would get to use the showers first?
Time skip: One hour later
After an interminable amount of time, which made the Emiya scion wish he had invested in a bathhouse on the spacious grounds, everyone was finally ready for breakfast. Which was just in time to sit at the table just before Taiga arrived. Archer had outdone himself when it came to making the food, and it was close enough to how Naruto cooked that he didn't think that his 'guardian' wouldn't notice.
But as the minutes ticked by, he grew concerned. What if Taiga had been ambushed? What if she was being used as a pawn by an enemy magus? In the Grail War all tactics were excusable as long as it resulted in victory. To the real mages, the ends justify the means, as long as it doesn't reveal the secrets of Thaumatergy of course.
Just as he was about to order a search, he felt her presence approaching the bounded field, along with his mentor. That factoid caused him to raise his eyebrow. What was Segata doing in town? "Was he another master in the war…oh that would SUUUUCK. He would be able to beat me with ease, and if his servants are just as good…well we're fucked."
Though judging by the way that he was approaching, and that his bounded field hadn't shattered from a punch by now, he could safely assume that Segata was not another master. So, that still left a mystery. Why was he here? He hoped it was as simple as wanting to visit his pupil, he himself, and offer some words of wisdom about the current Grail War.
So he waited as they entered, having the servants astralize to conceal their presence from his 'guardian'…Except Lancer Artoria, the wielder of the Holy Lance, she would have to conceal herself in another room due to the strangeness of her summoning. After they did so, the blonde took a deep breath, and then smiled. Show time.
Well, he was prepared to just have a regular breakfast, however that plan went out the window quickly when Taiga spoke: "So Naruto, where are your servants, and those of Rin?" Dead silence met that question.
Toshaka started to charge a memory wiper spell when Segata smirked: "It's alright, I informed her due to the loopholes in the rules of the Holy Grail War. She knows everything she needs to, and I allayed her concerns. After all, it wouldn't do for her to stumble into a fight and die would it?"
The point was conceded. And soon the servants appeared…including those of Sakura. And the fact so many were women who would be staying in close proximity to Naruto cause Taiga to have a brief bout of panic over the impropriety of it all. After all, having so many beautiful women around a hormonal teenager was a recipe for a den of degeneracy, and she made her opinion pretty clear, much to the embarrassment of Naruto and the other masters.
But then, Gil spoke up: "I fail to see what the problem is." Her cultured and authoritative voice cutting through Taiga's lecture, as did her boredom. "Are you implying our master is some kind of ill mannered brute who would take advantage of us?"
"What? No! Naruto is a perfect gentleman!" Taiga almost hissed out, offended that the character of her ward had been impinged upon. And that was the bait for the trap, taken. The blond watched in bemusement as the crimson eyed ruler of ancient Urak smirked, sipping at fresh water stored in her noble phantasm from the purest source in the ancient world.
"Then there will be no problems. If he is a perfect gentleman, he would ask if we wished to partake in said activities. Which would likely not be accepted as too crowded here for peace and quiet for such an action. Not to mention that most of us are duty bound to protect him, so acting upon any impulses would be far from our minds. And if any should want to without his consent, he can simply order us not to do it, and we won't." Simple. Direct. And to the point, as expected of a ruler when dealing with such a childish person as Taiga.
Of course, the teacher was not happy with this turn about. But she couldn't argue with the logic without making it seem she doubted her own convictions in the Emiya Scion. So she simply huffed and ate her breakfast in silence.
With that drama dealt with, the meal passed in relative peace and quiet. And soon enough it was time to go to school. But before that, Segata, who had decided to hang around to teach his student more, gave him a parting piece of advice, "Be on your guard Naruto. There is great trouble in the air. I suspect it has to do with your school, be mindful of anything odd. No matter how insignificant it may seem."
The blond took this to heart. And it was a good thing he did. As he noticed that some unknown was setting up a runic array in the school…Not to mention the fact that one of his teachers, Mr Soichiro, seemed to have command seals, albeit very well hidden ones under very advanced magics.
Of course, this led to a new can of worms completely. As feeling the magic with his senses, which he was surprised to find had been enhanced after his rampage, he could tell that the magic woven only matched half the runes. The rest were of a different array, and one of far darker magic.
As such he decided to hold an impromptu meeting with Rin and Sakura on the roof at lunch time. Of course, he underestimated how hard it would be to arrange such a meeting. It seems his burning of the Matau estates was public knowledge, and her classmates had been swarming her in an attempt to 'comfort' her.
And so he contacted one of his astralized servants: "Nero, would you kindly cause a distraction so Sakura can get away from the crowd of well wishers? I fear that otherwise she'll not be able to join the meeting. And your skills as a singer would certainly do so." Feeding the Emperor of Rome's ego, he could almost see her swell up in pride even astralized.
Before the Roman could reply, Mordred interjected: "Master, would it not be more efficient to have us meet our…allies'…servants and relay the information to them? They can they relay the information to their masters at a more convenient time, and it would be less conspicuous then Nero's performance, thus maintaining the element of surprise."
Naruto felt approval radiate from Arturia, Artoria, and their younger self at this, and perhaps some parental and or familial pride. Though Mordred seemed to ignore this, her mind solely on her suggestion…Though he suspected she would be happy to know what they thought of her in that moment.
Nero sighed, "Umu, as much as I would like to dazzle the crowds with my magnificence, the knight is correct. Discretion would be helpful until we know who created the other runic scheme." There was some surprise that the prideful Emperor of Rome had conceded the point, but the Emiya scion had to resist the urge to face palm as he realized he fell into the trap.
His red and transparent dressed servant was vain and prideful yes. But that wasn't all there was to her. She was also generous, kind to a fault (unless wronged of course, or she believed she was), and with the rage of a lion. But most of all, she was also a keen strategist and tactician, she had just never really had a chance to show this in her short reign…or maybe he was reading a bit too much into it. The servant bond is a powerful thing after all.
The blond refocused on the present though, and issued the commands, "We'll do as you suggest Mordred. Joan, please go contact Sakura's servants and inform them of the current situation. Scathach, please inform Rin's servants." He had selected the two due to their natures and abilities. Joan's more soothing presence would likely help Sakura's servants recover a bit as they talked from the torments they suffered, even if for a brief time. While Scathach's tale would be respected by the more bullheaded of Rin's servants enough for them to listen, especially that red clad archer, something about him screamed 'I am loaner, hear me roar.'
The servants acknowledged, probably guessing his reasoning, and departed on their tasks.
Elsewhere:
A woman groaned as she woke with phantom pains in her arm. And when she reached for the limb in question, she found nothing was there. That caused her eyes to snap wide open in shock. Then she remembered what happened two nights ago, and looked down. She had been betrayed by those she thought she could trust.
She really couldn't blame her former servants, they were forced to obey the priest. But Kotomine was a different story completely. The priest had thrown away his position for power, that much was clear. But a question remained, why was she still alive?
Kotomine was an Executioner for the Church. He was not known for his mercy or empathy. So her survival was unexpected to say the least. Perhaps her former servants managed to save her somehow, perhaps the priest thought she would bleed out. She didn't know.
Before she could consider it further, she heard voices approaching. As such, she tried to muster up what little strength she could, if someone was going to try and kill her now they would not have an easy time of it. Not if she had anything to say about it.
Then the door opened, right as she was readying Fraggarch, and the three figures who entered were not what she expected at all. Two males and a young teen. All eccentrically dressed, meaning they were either cosplayers or servants. And from the feeling to them, they were servants.
The first to enter was a tall pale man with long black hair. Ashenly pale in fact, like a bad vampire themed novel. He was clad in a red victorian jacket, red wide brimmed hat, a suit under the long red jacket, and a pair of amber glasses over his eyes. At his side was a pair of over sized pistols, within easy grasping range of his white gloved hands, which had seals on them.
After him came a man in a labcoat. In his hands was a clipboard with a pen. On the coat was a tag that said 'Herr Docktor'. He wasn't bad looking, in fact she would say he was the quintessential hospital drama romantic leading man. Tall, broad shoulders, clean shaven and cut, with a kind expression, the very definition of a show doctor. But somehow more so then even the most steamy version…Her colleagues liked some of the shows, so sue her.
Last to enter was a young woman, who was a little short considering the unknown uniform she wore. It bore Imperial Germanic influences, but was clearly designed for a special unit that didn't exist in reality. Upon her chest was a strange device made with a crystaline structure at the center. Over her shoulder was slung a cut down MG-42 looking gun. Judging from her looks, Bazette estimated she was fifteen at most.
Whatever the case, this would be an interesting conversation.
Eisenburn Castle in Fuyiki:
Lancelot growled as his sword, the legendary Androndite, clashed with Hercules great stone axe. The two berserkers were in a stalemate in this spar. Just as they had been for the last hour. Tactician, that infernally annoying Dane, sat on the sidelines and watched, throwing 'tips', comments, and 'encouragement' at the fighters the entire time.
Wile there was nothing wrong with that in and of itself, it had been like this for the last hour, and it was grating on the knight's nerves somewhat. But, being a paragon of chivalry, even as fallen as he was, he didn't react beyond an eyetwitch at the barbarian's actions. Despite the usefulness of his class' abilities allowing them to fight beyond their normal abilities and with complete clarity even with the madness enhancement on, he was extraordinarily annoying. Still, it was unbecoming of a knight to show his iritation at this with how helpful he had been.
Hercules on the other hand…Well, the hero stomped over to a non load bearing pillar and threw it at the viking. Who merely tilted his head out of the way: "Right right, point taken my angry friend! Maybe communing with the spirits using mushrooms and strong liquor would help calm you down?"
The purple haired knight knew the man was refering to the infernal Berserkergangs that served as shocktroopers for the Danes and other northern raiders. He scowled thinking about the raiders who plagued Camelot. "If only my King had chastised us as we deserved, there would have been no rebellion over her apparent weakness. My liege was always too good for us."
Tactician popped up next to him: "What's bothering you grumpy Briton? Your former liege not chastise you or whatever is bothering you to make you get off your ass in the throne?" The norseman was smug, insufferably so. "Not surprising really considering you fought them, making you their enemy."
"One. Shut up." The former member of the Round growled out, his Frankish accent coming forward in his irritation. "Two, partially. But mainly it's our master's reading choices." He groused. Those books were just…unnatural. They clashed with his nature as a chivalric knight, and his morals as taught by his mother and father.
The halberdier laughed aloud at that, and seemed to look away sheepishly. "Aye, they are weird books aren't they…Well, to you soft southerners. But the gods had a habit of marrying siblings, so I suppose she's merely following their example." That prompted Heracles to huff and look away, ah yes the Greecian gods also did that didn't they.
The knight grumbled more as the sole bastion of morality against incest. Which was ironic as he and Guinevere had technically cuckold the King. But…Details. Besides, it was the thought that mattered right? Right?
Ryuudou Temple:
The triple alliance of Casters who had set up shop in the temple were ready to make their main move. The trio summoned their assassins they had summoned using the loose rules of this war, and the leyline at the temple. As the twelve servants appeared at their call, they stepped into the light to be seen.
The first was a tall slender woman clad in robes of various shades of purple that concealed most of her features. Only revealing her hands, which hinted she was not an ugly hag like the fairy tales would paint most witches to be, and the lower part of her face and her neck, both of which told a similar tale. She was Medea, the Witch of Betrayal.
Who would trust such a manipulative schemer you may ask? Who would work with her willingly knowing her reputation? Well, the younger figure next to her for a start it seems. She was dressed in much lighter colors, a cheerful comparison to her, with lavender hair done up in a long pony tail. Her facial features were almost elvish in nature, lavender eyes sparkled in a way that seemed to reinforce this. She was a younger version of Medea, who the Witch of Betrayal felt an almost maternal protective streak towards, especially considering the final member of their triumvirate.
With long bleach blonde hair cascading down her back, she was a strikingly different figure from the other two. Indeed, her almost ivory skin was more striking due to the revealing black and blue dress she wore, which showed glowing symbols of power between her quite impressive breasts and running down her stomach. Covering her face, one similar if not identical to that of Lancer Artoria, was a thin black veil attached to a black metal crown with blue prana crystals on it. She was none other then Uther Pendragon's firstborn child, Morgan Le Fay, the Witch Queen.
Before them was assembled an array of assassins. Ranging from simple swordsmen whose skill was for one on one duels and killing quickly, to fully trained assassins from various orders, brotherhoods, and clans. Some were 'true', others 'false', but there was one who was a 'conceptual' hero.
Morgan spoke in her cold, level, authoritative tone: "There is a master in the city with nine servants under his command, allied with two more masters with three servants each under their command. Though you may discard the second and their servants, as they are still recovering from traumatic treatment.
Your goal is simple tonight. Distract his servants, and buy us an opening to have a 'chat' with him. If all goes well, we will have all but won the war one way or another. To that end." Here her small set of command seals, and those of her 'allies', glowed "On the power of the Command Seals, you are to distract the enemy servants with beyond your normal might."
The assassins felt their bodies fill with extra power from the command. "Now make your preparations. You move in five hours, when night has fallen to cover your actions."
CHAPTER COMPLETE!
NEXT TIME: Day 3: The Silent Blades
Omake: Movie Knight 1: The setup
Naruto looked at the list of servants he was aware of the names of…tapping the table while sipping on some tea. 'Four versions of King Arthur, Prince Hector of Troy, Mordred, Marc Antony, Lancelot, Medusa, Galahad, Herac-…' His recounting stopped for a second and he reread those names.
As he did a smile appeared on his list. Could it be done? No that didn't factor into this, it MUST be done! For the good of posterity. This experiment must be carried out, if nothing else the result would be amusing. With that in mind he 'requested' Assassin's services to deliver a message to Illya. Of course Rin was reluctant to pass on anything to Illya…Until he told her why, and then she agreed with an evil smirk.
And so it was a week later, that a Berserker becalmed by a command seal, Sir Gawain, Mordred, and the four versions of King Arthur sat down in the Emiya residence with their masters. They were gathered around a TV as Naruto inserted a tape with a smirk.
This was the ideal time to test out how these knights would react to the various versions of their lives and tales. He planned to start with one more tame than the bawdier ones, such as Monty Python's Holy Grail…
And so, the opening scene of Disney's Sword in the Stone played…And the masters watched the reactions of the knights to this movie closely, while the movie was on to entertain the servants, the servants were the entertainment of the masters.
It was a master stroke of an idea he decided as he watched the servants' reactions to this. From the comments they made, and his own memories of the dreams, he could tell they were shocked at how closely it followed the life of Young Artoria, Artoria, and Lancer Artoria. Queen Arturia's time line was rather darker, and she was envious of their younger years learning under Merlin in a more relaxed manner than her own accelerated education.
The drawing of the Sword from the Stone had Mordred looking very intrigued, nearly worryingly so, but she huffed and remarked it wasn't 'her' Caliborne, as they had named the blade Excalibur in the movie. But now with that one over, they had to select the next movie, and he chose the musical Camelot…The reactions to that would be VERY interesting indeed.
Omake 2: Two months after the Wall was breached
Shirou panted heavily as he stood across from the golden haired figure who led the invasion of the North, who was also physically tired so it seemed, even if he refused to show it. As the red head expected, this one would never admit he had been matched or bested unless forced to. That is what it meant to face Gilgamesh. Oh yes, he recognized the first legend of humanity alright, his mentor had made sure he recognized the biggest threats he may run into during these hops; and Gilgamesh was one of the top ten that had been covered.
Thankfully though, it seemed the rebirth in this world had cut him off from the majority his Noble Phantasms, much like it did for Arturia and Mordred. That gave him a bit of an edge with his ability to use his own on the fly, which allowed him to stand toe to toe with the 'King of Heroes.'
Something that aggravated the blond to no end it seemed from the slight eye twitches on the ancient hero's face. Which was a gratifying sight to the displaced magus. Certainly he would have next to no chance in a pure skill vs skill challenge normally as the ancient Sumerian King had far too many tricks up his sleeve normally; however, right now he could stand on his own.
They had clashed for a half an hour while the armies they led watched them duel like champions of old. From the lands of the Seven Kingdoms, the army arrayed was around one hundred thousand strong, primarily made of his own soldiers, but there were also banners from all over the kingdoms, and many famous knights and powerful lords had signed up to fight against the forces of the wildlings.
On the other side was an equal host of 'free folk'. Giants, raiders, defectors from the northern houses who saw opportunity here to improve their power and standing. All held together by the ruthless hand of Gilgamesh.
But yet, there was one thing that bothered Shirou. Why had they invaded this quickly? It didn't make sense. There was no reason for them to do so as far as he knew, as the White Walkers wouldn't become a major problem for a few more months, and yet the wall had been breached. The Black all slaughtered, or had turned and joined the wildlings. Only his nephew, under the alias of John Snow, and his friend had escaped further south to warn the northern lords.
And then a colossal crack was heard. Gilgamesh scowled, "They're here." He turned to bark orders to his forces, ignoring the duel.
Before Shirou could ask what he meant, and why he turned from the duel, the Wall, which was visible from the battlefield, shattered into a thousand pieces. And through it came a seemingly endless tide of the living dead, White Walkers. And hovering above them were six large undead dragons.
"We can take em." Shirou said simply, and then a loud roar filled the air as the largest skeletal dragon of all, easily with a thousand foot long wingspan, rose behind the other dragons, upon which road a crowned lych in ancient armor of unknown make and design. "Err, that might be tricky.
The armies started to form lines against this threat, this would be the battle to decide Westros' fate.
List of Revealed Servants:
?: "John of Nottingham," Prince Hector, and Cu Chulaain
Rin: Archer, Sir Gawain, and Assassin
Naruto: Artoria, Mordred, Lancer Artoria, Queen Arturia, Gilgamesh Queen of Heroes, Nero, Joan of Arc, Young Artoria, and Scathach
Sakura: Prince(ss) Edward, Marc Antony, and Medusa
Illya: Heracles, Lancelot, and 'Tactician'
Bazette: ?, ?, and ?
Medea, Young Medea, and Morgana: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, and ?
Current Harem:
Artoria, Mordred, Lily, Scathach, Fem Gil, Lancer Artoria, Alter, Empress Nero, Joan of Arc, and Rin
Anyways, review please.
