Chapter Text
The early morning air felt lighter. Shirou and the blue Saber walked ahead, their vow to fight together renewed. She maintained her impeccable posture and attention on the path, but every now and then, her gaze would land on Shirou with great softness. He, in turn, walked as one who had found a straight line amidst chaos.
Carlos followed close behind, hands in his pockets, feeling lighter after the night's outcome despite all the strife. However, he still felt confused about what to call each Saber. His partner refused to mention her name to prevent others from discovering weaknesses and advantages based on her identity. She walked the streets of Fuyuki in a delightfully absurd way, an elegance that fits so well into the "fluffy" fabric Carlos had presented.
Other points seemed important to him, and he wanted to stitch them together. The renewed vows were good for morale. He considered that improving engagement would make them lower their guard and, with that, give clues to each one's name. About his partner, some ideas about her personality were already forming in his mind. He looked at the cloak the other one wore, then moved closer to his servant, looked at her with great excitement, and said loudly, with no regard for the night's silence:
“See that yellow cloak the other one is wearing? It's a raincoat when it's not raining! See how your disguise turned out better? I told you you'd be stunning!”
The scarlet girl raised her chin, pleased as if the compliment were an inevitable tribute. Her green eyes sparkled with joy.
“Umu, evident! An empress never goes unnoticed!” She declared solemn as if announcing a victory in a public square.
Shirou blinked, looking from the yellow cloak to the red hoodie, trying to understand why that was a joke.
“Raincoat?” he repeated, confused.
The blue Saber tilted her head seriously, analyzing the situation.
“I do not understand. But if it reduces suspicion, I accept it” she said, with a tone that sounded so sincere it almost became comedy on its own.
Carlos couldn't hold back and a laugh escaped. Shirou's laugh came right after, short and awkward. The scarlet Saber, who had been half-laughing from the start, let out a loud laugh, satisfied at being recognized as the protagonist she believed herself to be.
It was then that Rin stopped.
She had been a few steps behind with her arms crossed and her face unmoving since they left the church. The sound of laughter didn't catch her off guard. She had already expected them to find some way to relieve the tension. What she didn't expect was how much it hurt. She took a deep breath, keeping her gaze fixed on the empty street, and spoke without raising her voice. Even so, everyone heard the firmness in her tone.
“This is not a night stroll. Thes not...” the sentence almost failed and she corrected her tone before anyone noticed the tremor underneath “...it's not a joke.”
The laughter died slowly, like a flame losing oxygen. Carlos, however, raised his hands, as one, surrendering without a fight.
“I know.” Carlos nodded. His gaze ran along the street, and for a moment the lightness vanished completely. “But, if we don't consider the invisible buzzkill watching us, all of us here are a group of young people walking in the early morning. The best way to hide from opponents and onlookers is to do what young people do. Noise, teasing each other, and appearing normal.”
Rin didn't reply immediately. The blue Saber remained alert, while the other was having too much fun to be bothered by reprimands. Shirou, caught in the middle, seemed torn between "that makes sense" and "please, don't fight."
Carlos continued, now more serious:
“My father, with his immense library, showed me a story once. ‘The Purloined Letter,’ by Allan Poe. Sometimes the best hiding place is the obvious one.”
Rin understood, despite hating to admit it and not agreeing. There was mundane logic to it, but not a magus's logic.
Carlos then stopped. As if the idea had ended and another, completely different one, had taken its place. He looked at Rin with sudden concentration. And then he spoke as one asking for permission:
“Wait a second.”
Rin frowned.
“What?”
Carlos took two steps to her side. Rin froze, unsure whether to keep her distance or not. He rubbed his hands together, blowing on them as if to warm them in the cold, and then with a smile he said:
“Healing spell, activate!”
Before Rin could understand, he placed his hands on her shoulders, giving two firm taps, but like a massage to dissolve the tension that had built up there since the fall at the corner of Emiya's house.
Her body reacted first. A shiver ran up her neck and down her arms. She turned in the same instant, red with surprise and irritation.
“W-WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO---?!”
Carlos took a step back laughing as if the outburst was exactly the expected response.
“There. Now that fall won't hurt tomorrow.”
He gave a low laugh, satisfied as if he had just solved a mechanical problem. She, however, clenched her fists, feeling the humiliating sensation that her face was too hot.
“You...” She tried to keep her voice cold, but the indignation came out twisted.
Carlos, unaware of the magnitude of the trigger he had pulled, completed:
“Ah, I picked up this habit from Japanese animation, always shouting attack names. I've lived here for years and still don't understand why they do it.”
Rin's gaze grew sharper.
“It's not ‘anime.’” She spat as if the word were an insult to her very ancestry. “To accumulate enough mana, you need incantations or invocations. The form matters. You don't just go around ‘activating’ things.”
Carlos raised his eyebrows.
“To me it still seems like anime stuff.”
A short, tense silence appeared.
Shirou looked away uncomfortably and his partner remained quiet. The other girl, however, brought two fingers to her lips, trying to hide a laugh.
Rin took a deep breath, and when she spoke again her voice seemed more controlled and more dangerous.
“Which mage family are you from, anyway?”
Carlos looked at her honestly and simply said:
“I'm not a mage.”
She froze. It wasn't the expected answer, and it surprised her given the whole situation.
Kirei's words, "Takeuchi Moraes," passed through her mind like a thread. Takeuchi was a common name in modern Japan, but it had history in Fuyuki. Nothing that revealed a magical lineage. As for Moraes, a foreign surname that might be interesting to investigate.
She lowered her eyes, returning to the situation. When she spoke again, her tone had changed.
“From here on out, we part ways.”
Shirou stopped walking, surprised by the statement.
“Tohsaka...”
She kept her gaze on the ground.
“You decided to enter the war.” She said as if each word came at a cost. “So, I have to deal with you as enemies.”
The impact of the sentence was physically to the point where the air seemed colder.
Shirou took a step forward with his simple smile on his face.
“I can't see you as an enemy, Tohsaka.”
Rin didn't raise her face. A subtle glow appeared behind her.
Archer appeared without warning, keeping his gaze sharp and his posture relaxed.
“Master” he said, methodical. “At this moment, it's valid to take advantage of the situation to take down a weaker group.”
Rin raised her head, expressing a firm look.
“No.” She simply said. She took a deep breath, and then, to Shirou, spoke with a frankness that seemed forcibly pulled out.
“I owe you a debt for using a Command Seal and stopping your Saber's attack.”
Then she turned her face to Carlos. And there, for a moment, her mask faltered. There was something personal in that turn, something that wasn't just strategy.
“And you...” she began.
Carlos stood still. For the first time that night, he didn't have a joke ready.
Rin pressed her fingers against her own arm, as if holding back what was escaping.
“You don't make things easy.” The voice came out lower. “You show up as if you have nothing to lose. As if...” she stopped, irritated with her own sentence, and turned it into an attack: “...as if it were normal to touch someone and think it doesn't mean anything.”
Archer maintained his posture, but gradually became invisible again as he said:
“It's fine, master. When you assess that your debt is settled and decide you've had enough of those who act like they have nothing to lose, call me again.”
And he disappeared.
Carlos opened his mouth, but Rin gave no room for a reply.
Shirou, almost in a whisper, insisted:
“I still trust you, Tohsaka. I know you're a good person. And I'm counting on you, so we don't see each other as enemies.”
She seemed surprised by the absurd courage in saying that. Her eyes trembled for a second.
It was then that the night decided to interrupt any possibility of reconciliation. A childish voice cut through the air, too sweet for that scene, accompanied by an extremely heavy aura.
“So, the little group has stopped talking?”
Everyone turned.
At the end of the street, a girl wearing a coat and a purple Cossack hat stood still, her face bearing a wide, amused smile that matched neither the situation nor the pressure of mana emanating from her.
She tilted her head, assessing them as if they were toys.
“Seems your tongues are more muscular than your arms” she commented, laughing softly. “I thought I'd see a real fight.”
The ground shook. The shadow behind her moved like a mountain awakening, and the entire group froze.
Rin's eyes widened. The blue Saber tensed her entire body, assuming a defensive posture instantly. The scarlet one, on the other hand, perceived the challenge ahead and tried to contain the excitement rising in her chest.
“Good evening, little brother.” The girl smiled at Shirou. “It's the second time we've met like this, right?”
Shirou felt his throat dry.
The girl took a step forward, stopped, and bowed.
“Pleased to meet you, Rin. My name is Illya. Illyasviel von Einzbern.”
Illya tilted her head again, her smile widening as her eyes landed on the scarlet Saber.
“Wow...” she commented with false admiration. “How strange.”
She took another step, hands behind her back like a curious child.
“A Servant... in a hoodie?” she laughed. “I didn't know the Holy Grail War had turned into a night stroll.”
The scarlet Saber raised her chin, smiling with superiority.
“Umu! An empress doesn't need armor to prove her worth.”
Illya's ruby eyes then slid to Carlos.
“You're funny” she said, without explaining. “Normally, masters get scared when they see Berserker.”
Carlos didn't respond. He remained serious.
Carlos couldn't identify what he felt at first. His fighter's body reacted before his mind could assess distance, weight, and rhythm. He had fought with schoolmates stronger and bigger than him. Images of fights like Royce Gracie facing giants like Ken Shamrock through technique and persistence surfaced in his head.
Then came the next memory: the injury from the victory against Kimo Leopoldo. Winning didn't mean coming out unscathed. That wasn't human; how do you deal with a monster about three meters tall?
Carlos swallowed dryly.
Meanwhile, Rin stepped back, not because of the name of the other founding family of the ritual, but from analyzing the servant's strength, which could easily fight six at once with room to spare.
“What shall we do, master?” Archer asked, his voice was cold and professional.
She thought for a moment, and then it came:
“Use the expected methods of your class, Archer. There are three of us here, we can mount some defense."
He then moved away and vanished, and she spoke to the rest of the group.
“Emiya, Carlos, now it's fight or run. You decide.”
Neither of them hesitated.
“My Berserker is getting bored.” Said the girl, continuing coldly “Finish them.” She moved away and positioned herself in a spot where she could see the fight better. She analyzed the strangeness of having two servants of the same class.
He made a huge leap towards the group, raising his weapon, a mix between a club and a sword. Before hitting everyone, the red servant pushed the two boys away, since Rin had distanced herself, and the blue one blocked the blow.
Carlos and Shirou quickly found themselves outside the battlefield.
“Stay out.” The scarlet girl's order came out dry, with no room for reply. “You'll just get in the way.” She smiled from the corner of her mouth “And I hate interruptions.”
In an instant, she was back in combat. The blue Saber took the next blow head-on; the giant's blade descended and the shock made the air explode around them. The two Sabers moved in imperfect synchrony. An invisible weapon blocking and a red one advancing from the flank. Still, it was insufficient to contain that brute force.
Far away, in the city center, Archer appeared at a high point, angles and distance assessed. His arrows hit dead center. Even so, that thing didn't feel a scratch. Its roar made the ground shake, and spreading its arms, it advanced again, ignoring wounds that should have made it fall.
After the red Saber's farewell, the boys got up. Shirou remained motionless for a while. His clenched fists trembled, not from fear, but from frustration. "I'm here and yet I can't do anything." The shock of the blows in the distance seemed to mock the promise he made to himself to be a hero.
Ahead, the blue Saber narrowly dodged an impact Berserker delivered, opening a crater where she had been a moment before. The red one advanced without hesitation, her blade singing in a red arc that tore his flesh, only to see it close in seconds.
“He ignores superficial damage. The skin seems like absurd armor...” Archer murmured.
The blue Saber retreated a few steps and calculated the terrain around her. Ancient tombstones, stone walls, and narrow paths leading to the nearby cemetery.
“If we continue here, we'll be crushed” she said firmly. “I'll lead him to more favorable terrain.”
The red Saber laughed, spinning her sword over her shoulder.
“Umu! Finally, something interesting.”
Berserker roared, accepting the provocation, and charged after them.
Shirou gritted his teeth, looking at Carlos.
Carlos's gaze was serious and extremely attentive to what his human perception could capture of the servants' movements. The term "Heroic Spirit" made more sense to him. He was still calculating how to face that monster.
For a moment, he watched Rin moving away. He directly understood she was going after an easier target: defeating the strange girl.
"Let her. Rin knows more than we do here about defeating a magus. As for Shirou, he doesn't know what to do. But he's safe. Better to stay there." He thought about his colleague and his friend.
He turned to the fight and saw that girl in blue, heading into the cemetery. There, they dodged blows, raising enormous dust from shattered stones. Then he realized the genius of using less space and visibility to try and find openings.
The sound of swords hitting the stone tombstones resonated like drumbeats to his ears. Then he remembered: "Stone. Who reigns from the quarry?" The gleam in his eyes became a burning flame. He ran off towards the debris of the fight without saying a word. He had a ritual to perform.
“Hey, wait!” Shirou said, more to himself than to the other. He clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and made a crooked but firm decision. “If you're going to do something, I'm not going to stand still.” Then he ran towards the fight.
In the distance, in the cemetery, the blue Saber moved with surgical precision, using the tombs as cover and obstacles, forcing the giant to destroy the very terrain with each blow. The red Saber struck the monster and narrowly dodged a club that split a mausoleum in half.
The blue Saber then said to the giant:
“I recognize your strength and skill, even maddened. I would like to honor you for it, but unfortunately, I won't have time.” She gathered all her strength, and with a blow of immense power, struck Berserker's body, splitting it in two.
The mist dissipated. And the scene shocked those presents. The monster's body regenerated, returning to its state as if it had caused no damage.
Illya was amused in the background, saying to the group after a laugh:
“You won't achieve anything against the strongest hero in all Greek history! You are facing none other than Hercules!”
As they listened astonished to this declaration, Carlos spoke to himself.
“Then it will be with the power of your father that you will be defeated!”
He went to the nearby woods and tore a branch from a tree. Following the debris from the fight, he found a stone and grabbed two pieces of iron from the cemetery's broken fence.
Amidst the noise of the fight, he hid, and sat there, along with Shirou who had run after him.
“What are you going to do?!” he asked, panting, even unsure if he'd get an answer since Carlos was focused on his ritual.
Carlos improvised an axe. And then he recited:
“Xangô, come bring justice!”
And then the axe shone.
He turned to Shirou and asked:
“Do you know how to do anything?”
Emiya, thoughtful, held the axe and closed his eyes.
“Trace On!”
The weapon became more solid. Carlos sat on the ground again and continued some prayers.
Meanwhile, Rin had prepared a Gandr spell against Illya. The girl recognized her opponent's effort but showed herself stronger in terms of mana. After a few seconds of fighting, Rin was defenseless. She was saved by Archer, who attacked Illya, and thus Rin managed to escape.
While fleeing, she ran into Shirou and Carlos, surprised to find them nearby.
“Tohsaka!” Shirou exclaimed.
“Don't give me that 'Tohsaka'!” She yelled at him, grabbing his arm and pressing him against a nearby tree.
“Hey!” He complained about the grip. “We need to do something!”
“You don't need to!” She continued her scolding. “If anything happens to you, you'll be a problem for me!”
Shirou stopped, thoughtful. But Carlos, who was there with the reinforced axe, finished his prayer, and ran towards the fight. Paying no heed to her argument.
“Wait!” She shouted in vain.
The fight against Hercules continued fiercely and endlessly. The boy ran to meet them. The red Saber noticed the movement first, with her colleague showing surprise immediately after. Her eyes widened seeing Carlos emerging from the debris with the improvised axe still sparking.
“Tch!” she clicked her tongue, spinning her body to intercept Berserker. “I told you to stay out, Praetor!”
On the other side, Illya clapped excitedly, her eyes shining like a child before a new toy.
“Ah, look at that, Berserker!” she laughed. “The curious human decided to play too!”
The giant slowly turned its head towards Carlos.
He raised the axe with all his might. The weapon descended and the sky answered. The clouds closed in an impossible instant; thunder tore the air and lightning fell with the blow. The improvised blade met Berserker's body at the same moment the white light swallowed him whole. The impact made the ground explode. For a second there was nothing but light and sound.
When the dust settled, the monster's body was charred and broken, raising the smell of stone and burnt flesh in the air.
The red Saber stood still for half a second, then laughed loudly, incredulously.
“Ahahaha! Now that was a blow worthy of an epic!”
The blue one's eyes widened, her sword still rose.
“He... destroyed him completely.”
On the other hand, Illya brought hands to her face. She wasn't scared but felt pure excitement.
“Wow!” she whispered with shining eyes. “Berserker died again!”
Then the ashes began to move. In no time, Hercules was intact again.
“GET OUT OF THERE!” The red Saber screamed, her voice tearing through the chaos as she rushed to intercept.
Carlos didn't hear, blinded by his battle fervor.
The axe descended again and lightning fell with the blow, and before the monster could react, Carlos advanced, driving his body against the regenerated colossus and gripping its neck with everything he had.
“Let's see you regenerate without a head!” He snarled, teeth clenched. “No strength can defeat technique!”
Berserker roared furiously. The skin under Carlos's fingers hardened like living stone and its muscles contracted with impossible strength. The blue Saber sensed the danger and changed her stance in an instant.
“Move away!” she ordered, advancing.
Illya laughed loudly, enchanted, clapping.
“Aaaaah! Yes! Hold on tighter, human!”
“CARLOS!” Shirou shouted, his eyes trembling with desperation.
Rin kept her eyes wide open seeing the scene.
“That idiot...!” she gritted her teeth, shock giving way to fury. “Doesn't he understand what he's facing?!”
She instinctively brought her jewels to her hand to cast some spell but froze, realizing the distance and risk. “Shirou, don't advance!”
Berserker lifted Carlos and threw his body to the ground as if it were nothing. The red Saber was already charging to prevent the impending impact.
And it was an absolute attack.
The scarlet girl appeared in a flash, pushing Carlos away with brutal force. And the blow took her entire body. She dissipated into brilliance like a flame in the wind. There was no scream. Just the void where she had been.
In shock, Carlos was paralyzed by the scene. His friend couldn't contain himself:
“NO---!” Shirou felt his voice tear his throat and his legs fail for an instant. Rin froze, eyes wide, her mind refusing to accept what had just happened.
In shock, the blue Saber barely managed to raise her sword in time to dodge the next blow. The club grazed her and yet it was enough to throw her far. She rolled among broken tombstones and got up with great difficulty. Her blood flowed freely from her side and arm.
Illya clapped, delighted. And with a voice both sweet and monstrous, she said:
“Rip her head off, Berserker!” she laughed. “You can violate her while she regenerates, if you want!”
Shirou didn't think and ran to save her.
“STOP!” He shouted, throwing himself between the monster and the wounded Saber.
The blow meant for her struck him full force.
Shirou was sent flying through the air like a doll. The dry sound of impact echoed among the tombstones.
“SHIROU!” Rin finally screamed, moving.
The silence that followed lasted less than a second.
The blue Saber raised her bloody hand, the gesture firm despite her body on the verge of collapse.
“Don't... come...” she said to Rin, feeling the air bend in the distance. It was Archer's mana.
High on a helipad, Archer had already finished his Noble Phantasm. The legendary weapon, Caladbolg, twisted, compressed into arrow form with mana spiraling around it.
The blue Saber didn't hesitate. With what little she had left, she pulled Shirou and Carlos away in a desperate leap.
Then came the shot.
The arrow fell like a comet. The explosion swallowed Berserker in violent flames. The shock made earth and stones fly and the sky roar once more. When the dust began to settle, Illya was motionless. Her eyes wide, the childish smile gone for a rare second. Not because of her servant, but because of Emiya's attitude.
“...Little brother...” she murmured, almost surprised.
She took a deep breath and then smiled again.
“Hehe” she laughed, taking a step back. “Enough for today.”
Illya looked at Rin, tilting her head with renewed interest.
“Your archer is amazing.” she said with excessive sincerity. Then her eyes slid towards Carlos. “And your curious companion, even without a Servant, is still fun.”
She waved lightly, as one saying goodbye after a game.
“We'll play again another time.”
Their presence faded away.
The field fell silent, broken only by the heavy breathing of the survivors. The silence left behind was disturbing. Her presence had vanished, but the sensation of having to face Berserker again was agonizing.
Carlos closed his eyes for a moment, trying to regulate his breathing. The echo of the girl's words still resonated in his mind: "Curious companion."
He opened his eyes. For the first time since the war began, he had the unsettling certainty that he wasn't just fighting to survive. And there was also the bitter weight of absence. Among broken tombstones and burnt earth, only marks of what had been lost remained.
Carlos tried to move, but his body didn't respond immediately. The improvised axe slipped from his hand and fell apart into wreckage.
Beside him, Shirou, bleeding, breathed with difficulty and was unconscious. The blue Saber remained standing through pure force of will. Rin and the archer, albeit reluctantly, were the only ones still in a condition to help.
At some point in that silence far too heavy, Carlos understood that this war was worse than Gracie vs. Kimo Leopoldo. It had already exacted a price too high to be called a victory.