Saber lowered her sword.
To be insulted and found out all on the same day… It was honestly not as frustrating as she thought it'd be. But to miss out on a chance to vent her frustrations, which had her fists balled around Excalibur Morgan's grip.
"Saber! You alright—AGH!" Her Master, so she presumed upon recognizing the bond between them, stumbled to the dirt with a limp. Studying him, she recognized signs of strain and combat wounds. The surrounding area also looked to have been exposed to a battle, smaller in scale compared to hers and Rider's momentary clash, but there was evidence of a fight before she was called.
Whoever the kid was, he did not simply run from Rider. He fought with what he could. For that, she would give him credit.
But only so little, for even now, under her gaze, she could tell he was a weak one.
Saber's gaze turned from her Master towards the fragments of knives now dissipating from the ground as well as the many blade marks etched in the surrounding battleground. Nothing special from the simple look, and yet it was easy to see that the redheaded boy who created the magic was even more so.
A young magus with the will to call upon her had guts, but that did not translate into strength. Looking at how frantic and feeble he was, desperation was a more likely catalyst for their bond.
She considered it for a second, then scoffed. Whatever reasons he may have had did not matter. Not for this Saber.
Looking down on her sword, Excalibur did not shine with the golden lustre akin to her older blade Caliburn. But neither did it bear the weaker darkness of a corrupted Arondight. Nay… She was summoned as a Saber, but not as her other weaker self.
But this was for the better. Yes. This time… she stands a better chance.
But her inner apathy for putting more effort than needed fought against showing the lad mercy. So she settled with a compromise.
"Stand." Her voice was firm, directed at the young man groaning in the dirt. "You have survived a Servant attack even before you summoned me. As my Master, you best not disappoint. Stand!"
"Y-yes, ma'am—Ngh!" He groaned from the pain but did not dally further. He was on his feet within seconds, still tired, still weak, but he stood tall as he took her visage in. "Th-thank you, by the way… For saving me…"
Saber shook her head, dispelling her sword as she relaxed a bit. "A Master need not thank a Servant for doing their duty. However, for someone who was chosen as a Master, you need to pick your battles better. Had I not answered your call, you'd most certainly be dead."
The boy gulped but he didn't falter. Instead, he stared at her. Saber didn't find him unnerving; she couldn't form a weaker individual. Moreso when in his gaze, there was something… unusual.
"What?"
"I'm sorry! For staring but…" the boy stammered a bit as he cleared his throat. "It's just… I'd heard about the Grail War and what it entailed. I knew about Servants and the like… I even had to run away from a couple but… but you're…"
He trailed off, lost in his thoughts. That he ignored her irked Saber somewhat. She stamped her foot and stepped forward, reaching up to grab his collar. "Don't dally! Speak up, then. What is on your mind?"
"S-sorry!" He buckled upon having a shorter woman pull him down by the shirt to level with his eyes. He most certainly flushed upon meeting the gaze of her pale golden orbs. But Saber didn't see fear nor frustration in his gaze. It was more… simple. "I… I just…" he swallowed audibly. "I was just… taken aback by you…."
An honest confession. An innocent one. To that, Saber bore no ill will. Relenting her grip, she gave him space. "Is that all?" was her response as the boy tried to straighten himself out.
"Y-yes… I… I was just… surprised, is all. Never in my life did I think I could summon a Servant, much less participate… in the Grail War. These things… Command Seals, they're called? They appeared on my hand so suddenly just minutes ago and… well…" He sighed. Deeply at that. "I'm just… a little out of it right now."
He didn't know what to do or make of his situation. That was very reasonable. Often a civilian she'd seen in her reign wherein they find themselves a lucky survivor of a sudden battle. He had the same expression on.
He expected the fighting but was unused to being part of it.
Saber reined in her impatience. Apathetic and frustrated as she was to be brought back into the fray yet not get a good fight to relieve her stress, it wouldn't do to lose her head over something so insignificantly trivial. Though a Master, he was clearly not like most magi. Soft, feeble, no weight in his presence or stoicism in his step either. Neither his Magic Circuits nor the way he used magecraft was impressive or outstanding in any way, which she could discern from experience dealing with such in the past.
The boy was, at the very least, headstrong and upfront. More than can be said about her previous Master…
Putting aggravating thoughts away, he was as he appeared to be: A boy brought into the fold unexpectedly and through no fault of his own. Her old self would've pitied him and likely sworn to protect the brat, but her present self had no such qualms.
"As you are clearly inexperienced, and very likely a novice magus, I will forgive your failings, Master." She dispelled her armour, revealing a night-black dress that exposed more skin but didn't hide the resplendent elegance of her noble form, petite as she may be. "But… I will not tolerate you being a burden. As my Master, I expect you to be stronger, and more resilient. Bar that, ensure you survive and don't get in my way. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, ma'am!" he saluted, though it was unnecessary as it was but a simple declaration, not an order.
"Enough of that. I'm only making myself clear. I will not order you beyond leaving the fighting to me. In that, I assure you I will never be beaten."
"I don't doubt you…" he still stared at her with awe. "Is… is it true?"
"Hm?"
"Are you… are you really… the King of Knights?"
Saber studied the redhead's gaze on her. Unlike someone she very much did not want to name, he didn't share abject disbelief. An eye of wonder was more apt. He didn't question her identity. Instead, he questioned her presence and the truth of her existence.
Saber's apathy broke with a scoffing chuckle, finding it in herself to see the brat's admiration of her as something amusing.
"Indeed, there is no hiding it. Troubling as it is for our foes to have uncovered my identity, but I will not hide. I am the King of Knights, the wielder of Excalibur, he who is named the King of the Britons. Arthur Pendragon."
"Your name…" The boy's expression softened, as though filled with joy for meeting someone of great renown. Then, it suddenly shifted to one of hesitance. "But… wasn't your name… 'Artoria'?"
Saber eyed the boy curiously. It was clear to her upon her first summoning that many had attributed her myth to a male. Or rather, history had long erased the life of the weak woman she used to be before taking on the sword because that was how the legend of the heir of Uther was to be ordained.
However, not once has the boy asked why she was a woman. In fact, he seemed to have already known.
"Curious. Indeed, that it is. But how is it that you don't seem surprised to know of my gender and real name?"
"I know of you… You were summoned before, in the Fourth Holy Grail War that happened ten years ago?"
Saber's gaze narrowed slightly. Her mind raced, attempting to recall if she'd ever revealed herself to him before. But she came up blank. In fact, her mind struggled to recall the end of the war itself. All she could pull up now were memories of the start-up to just around the conclusion. Nowhere anywhere did she recall meeting a rambunctious child who would see her with guiltless eyes of respect.
"I beg of you, Saber. Please help me win this war! I don't have anyone else to turn to, but I want to save those I care about." Balled fist to his chest, he made to show that earnest expression unique to soldiers who have yet to lose their way in the shroud of war. "I want to prevent the disaster that happened when the previous war ended. I know it's too much to ask for a favour from someone I just met, especially when it's to a hero like yourself, but I need to!" He bowed and watched her with earnest eyes. "Please, help me save everyone I care about!"
She hardly recalled anyone with such eyes… even the last descendant of her line hardly looked so innocent. Or naïve. But this boy… even if her mind was clouded with apathy for his cause, it instilled something within her. Something… nostalgic…
"Saber?" Said innocent eyes looked at her worriedly.
"Hmph…." Saber huffed. Arms crossed as she levelled her gaze on the curious boy that was now her Master, she studied him. "I will not refuse your request. As my summoner, I am already anchored to you by my oath to the Grail. My victory is yours and vice versa. Hence, I will see my side of the deal through. You best not disappoint me."
"I—I won't! I promise I'll not be a burden, Saber!" He said as much with vigor and honesty that even the apathetic nature of her darker aspect found it entertaining.
"Very well. But enough banter about me. You have yet to give me your name and full story, Master. How is it that you know of the truth of my legend?"
"Ah, my name's… Shirou. As for my story… that's… there's nothing to tell actually." He scratched his cheek like a shy child. "As for how I know you, I… I grew up hearing stories about you. Not your legends. Those were famous enough. I actually heard everything about you from my father, Emiya Kiri—!"
FWOOM
A single scratch appeared on the boy's neck as Excalibur Morgan suddenly tickling his skin made him freeze in silence.
"Emiya… you say?" Saber resisted the urge to laugh at the cruel irony that almost played out under her nose. "You mean to tell me I was summoned by his brat? Emiya Kiritsugu. Is that right?"
"S-Saber…?"
All her sympathy for the redheaded brat vanished in an instant. It was all replaced by a cruel and furious glare that threatened vengeance for his betrayal. And, sadly, the boy was tragically unaware of why she suddenly turned hostile to someone she agreed to fight on the same side with.
The grip on her blade had never been so tense. No wonder she felt so nostalgic upon fighting where she was. The house, the shed, the ruined courtyard, everything was the same place, albeit a decade in the future.
She was summoned to the residence of that man.
"S-Saber… what's going on–?!"
"No sudden movements." The firmness of her tone returned. But unlike the motivational words from earlier, it was instead replaced with a warning. "Answer my questions. I will not tolerate a single lie from you."
The boy swallowed and nodded, confused but compliant.
"How are you related to that man? To Emiya Kiritsugu."
"He… He's my father… He adopted me… ten years ago, after the fire that destroyed Fuyuki." The boy's gaze met hers. Gone was the admiration, replaced by helpless pleading. "He was the one to tell me about the war… about you…"
The memory rushed to her head upon his saying it. She recalled the fire, the hate, the betrayal. She recalled the man that was the cause of it all as well as the end to her fight wrought by his forceful order.
He'd ordered her to forsake the Grail. To forfeit the war. He… was a traitor.
Her gaze drifted to the brat's Command Seals; the lifeline provided by the Grail as well as the bond that latched their souls together glowed crimson like blood. Or fire. More reminders of the betrayal. They were also a potential risk of being betrayed again.
She wouldn't have it. She couldn't risk losing one again. Her hate for the blasted Seals seared her heart, but she couldn't very well order him to destroy them. Forget winning the war, she wouldn't last a day without an anchor to this world on account of how much mana she needed.
But looking at the boy now afraid and uncertain, she hardly thought him capable of betraying her. Or was it just the initial impression she had of him? He was his child, after all, blood-related or otherwise.
"Where is he?"
"Outside of Fuyuki. Somewhere in Japan. I'm not sure—"
"Did that man tell you about what he did during the war? What he'd done to others for the sake of his selfish wish? What he did do to me?!"
Anger and hatred surfaced above her apathetic visage. He could easily pick it up from her tone, but she wanted him to know. She wanted to know how the boy would react.
From an outsider's perspective, it might have looked like Saber was threatening him. And to some extent, she was, even if she didn't want to harm as long as her fear was pacified. And she couldn't very well ask blatantly if he intended to use her for his own ends as his father had.
But Saber wanted to see his honest feelings. Despite her betrayed aspect's expectations, something within her, the ideal of a King, yearned to know what the earnest boy knew and believed.
She wanted to know if he was worthy of her trust…
It was a shame outsiders knew not the well-meaning intent hidden by her cruel visage.
CLANG
"Watch it!" Steel clashed.
"KUH!" Saber reeled.
"Saber—?!" Shirou could do naught but stare. Though he was kicked aside by Saber herself, he didn't fault her. Not when a newcomer who intervened in his interrogation was pushing her blade down on the King of Knights and winning.
"Apologies for interrupting, but I'm afraid I can't allow harm to befall him." Sakura petals seemed to flow as the new arrival swept her blade aside to parry and thrust, pushing Artoria on the defence with swift attacks. The black sword of legend screeched and sparked against a seemingly plain and delicate katana that shone under the moonlight. "No hard feelings, Saber?"
"Keh! You little—!" The new arrival deftly avoided getting beheaded by ducking away. Saber summoned her armour back on and used its weight to throw a kick. "Out of the way!"
"Woops!" However, the girl deftly leapt away, taking a stand by her Master yet protectively guarding him, much to the boy's surprise.
"Er… Who—?" That he was stammering meant he didn't intend for this. And that just made things more confusing.
After all, since when would another Servant protect a Master from their own Servant?
"Who the fuck are you?!" Saber spat out for them both, anger exponentially rising as she seemingly stared at a mirror image of her expression, except it bore a look that was less furious and more on the cheeky side.
"You can call me Assassin." She held one hand to cover the boy and kept the other with her katana trained on Saber. "And I've come to protect you, sir. On behalf of my Master."
The sight of someone sharing her face as they protected her Master made the dragon inside Saber's heart roar. Was it envy? Was it anger? She didn't know. But upon meeting the gaze of the interloper who dared to intervene in the middle of their talk, all bets were off.
"What is the meaning of this, imposter?" Excalibur Morgan hummed with energy as Saber aimed it at her lookalike. "Did you come to steal my Master?"
"Nay." Assassin's gaze was cold as she spoke, still guarding the redhead Master who was confused once more by what was happening. "I was ordered to defend the boy from you. My Master is the kind hearted type and doesn't like the idea of those close to her being harmed. I suggest you back off now, knight. Unless you want to get killed."
Saber heard the threat and the anger within her core fumed. She was being told to back away, to relent, getting the answers she sought. What's more, she was being told off by a woman who stole her face.
Her apathy was worn away entirely by confused fury, all due to an unexpected misunderstanding.