Chapter 1: A much different War
2004, Fuyuki City.
It was morning, it was school day, and lateness is something that was troublesome for a poor girl that was trying her hardest to fit in with this new environment. It may have been two years now, but mistakes happen and… Homurahara Academy was not as forgiving as her former school.
Sitting in front of the principal, the man offered a stern look as he started to list out the many times she ended up skipping class, the girl's greenish-blue eyes shifted from the man down to her grasping hands.
Atop her blonde hair, a tiny ahoge twisted left and right out of inherent unease. The uniform fit her growing body nicely, and yet the collar was feeling quite tight around her neck within that moment. She stood silent, taking the lecture with distracted nods.
But where one would mistake this as a complete surrender to a potential detention, the young woman that was known as Artoria 'Ria' Pendragon, 17, was actually waiting for someone to come and pick her up. Someone that would still point out the usual issues that drew her to be this late and… there he was.
A knock at the door, the principal paused and groaned in his hands as he knew how things were going to be at this point. The intruder didn't even wait to be given permission as the familiar figure known as Myrddin Emrys stepped through into the office with a smile.
"Good day, Principal-san~!" The Welsh tutor that preferred to be referred to as 'Merlin' came through with a jovial expression in his face. "And Artoria, I suppose a princess like you can't be spared from bouts of rebellion. As I expect from you~."
The blonde held back a pout. That wasn't it and he knew it. Obviously this was one of his ploy to get her to react childishly but Ria held strong against these antics. At this point, the focus was the much-expected verbal spar between tutor and principal to determine what to do next and-
"Emrys-san, this situation can't go on forever," The old man remarked. "While Lady Pendragon's grades are indeed untouched by this phenomenon, I have a duty as the principal of this school to stop this at once. I understand it's a medical issue, but I can't just allow a student to arrive at school late and create a precedent for others students to-"
"And I believe Homurahara would suffer immensely without the funds delivered by Pendragon Ltd. as a sign of goodwill. After all, how would the CEO react when he is made aware his daughter and heiress is being subjected to such treatment despite the medical justification that was kindly provided to justify this situation?"
Merlin's words made both the principal and Artoria flinch. The former was reasonable due to the implication that a veiled ultimatum promised, but Ria's reasoning was unusual if not driven by something not many could know of her.
Artoria hated being a burden. She knew she was at fault for this whole mess, and that this was all because of what happened ten years ago. 1994, she was just seven when the nightmares started. At first those were ruled out as a temporary issue. Then those went on for months and doctors were hired to see what was wrong with her. The blonde saw many specialists but none could yield any explanation.
Eventually that drove her to be led away from home. The 'stress of being heiress' had taken her into that bad state of mind, but nothing changed after years of being far from her own house. It was stupid, and yet there wasn't much to do but take her pills, try to enjoy the numbness of easy to forget nightmares and try to wake up on time. The last bit was quite difficult to pull off, especially since Artoria was extremely tired by the time she opened her eyes and… she would always wake a few minutes before school started for the day.
She put a good effort to match up with her grades but that still didn't prevent some issues with the teachers when it came to being at school on time. Nonetheless, between subtle threats and rebuttals, Ria was once again punished for the week. She would have to stay over at school to clean up the floor where her class was. And that was going to take a while to accomplish.
At least, she knew, she wasn't going to be noticed by the pretty boy she had been smitten to as of recently. He was usually the one doing this sort of stuff, but she knew that he was busy this day of the week for family businesses. Emiya Shirou was the helpful handyman that few thanked and others admired.
Caring, nice, and definitely boyfriend material out of the notion that he could cook and do chores in a masterful way. The perfect househusband and the one that would fit just nicely with what future she was meant to prepare for. She would work, he would deal with home chores. It was a match made in heaven.
But if only it was just as easy to just have him accept such a deal as she wanted it to be then things would have been indeed great for her. He was clearly not looking into a romantic interaction anytime soon. Not when so many girls wanted him. Ria could understand, but it sure left her frustrated by this development. Why couldn't things be any easier for her just for once?
Still, she had a task at hand before starting to clean and… that was to get the things she needed for that. Like a mop, a bucket of water with various soaps and detergents and some gloves. All was available in a storage room she had grown accustomed with. Sighing, she opened the door and… bumped with someone.
"Hm?"
"Oh, Senpai," A quiet voice called and Ria's scowl turned into a forced smile as she looked down to a very familiar and cute face.
"Ana, good morning," The blonde greeted the tiny plum-haired kohai of hers.
Ana Gorgon was a fellow foreigner who hailed from a rich family of Greece. Ana was the youngest of three siblings, her older sisters, twins, who were deemed the heiresses of the company. Ana was also seen as a black sheep due to how frail her body was. She was born in Sicily while her mother was visiting her home country and she was forced to stay there for a few months after her birth due to a few complications. She wasn't sickly, but she couldn't do much when it came to physical activities which exempted her from any P.E.-related stuff.
"Senpai, I suppose it's happening again… right?" The bespectacled young girl inquired, fixing the few books she was tightly holding to her chest.
"Yes," She grimaced. "How are you?"
"G-Good. I was just getting more disinfectant to fill up my flask," Ana explained, looking away in clear embarrassment. "I-I'll let you be and- Oh."
One thing that Artoria couldn't deny herself or the younger female was a hug. It was a bit of a tradition to either hug at the beginning or the end of their interactions.
"Well, good luck with your homework, Ana-chan."
The shorter girl shuddered a bit, but earnestly nuzzled onto her chest for as long as the embrace lasted. A pretty smile brightly exploded out of her face.
"Thanks senpai. And good luck with the cleaning~!"
Soon Ria was alone and… she started to get ready for this unpleasant chore.
This is… embarrassing.
The blonde was not shy to say that she didn't like to clean rooms back home, and cleaning places she didn't even own just made her feel like she was sort of a maid. She wasn't such a thing, not when she had been educated to never bow down to this sort of duties. And… the reason why she ignored the inner voice that whined against such treatment was because said education was afforded by someone that she didn't even respect.
Merlin was a tool, he had told this himself to her when she learned how father became rich. It frustrated her, to know that she couldn't be with Kay, or with the other butlers that worked back home in Wales. Her group of friends and distant members of her own family. Cousins and uncles, those that put effort in bringing her up as a good person right before she departed for Japan and… they weren't there.
Merlin was. A dual man who put an effort to help her, but only because he was doing it under order from her father. And that made him as much a reliable individual as an unreliable one. Even now, as he calmly 'watched' over her duties as he decided to check on her, he was distracted and keen to stare elsewhere rather than put an effort with this duty he chose to take for himself.
It was easy money to him, and he was constantly behaving in such a way that made Ria wonder why her father would even bother with this sort of man. She may fault her old man for many things, but this was perhaps the one detail which left her the most confused. Merlin was an utter fool and a lazy one at that. If it was because he was merely loyal to Uther, then the dying old toad was growing senile.
I wonder if Morgan had been right in trying to have him killed a while ago.
There was no reason for her to not believe a few accidents which occurred to Merlin in the past were not caused by her older sister. Morgan has been shipped to marry a Scottish businessman as soon as it became clear she was infertile.
That created some friction between the two siblings as it was clear who their father favored the most, yet Morgan had gone a long way to eventually drop the hatred and recognize how her younger sister had little to do with this.
Her hatred for their father still existed nonetheless, and Merlin was seen as a weak extension of him. Kill him and that would be the kind of payback that would hurt their father without getting him to react too negatively about it. Sadly for Morgan, Merlin seemed to be impervious to death itself. No one knew how he managed to avoid some of those deadly accidents, but he did. And unscathed too.
Sighing to herself, the girl looked at Merlin, close to bring up how she was walking off to get more water for her bucket but… the bastard was sleeping. Her lips twitched in irritation and the blonde decided to go without saying a word. Sadly, no water was available in that floor as the tube produced none of the liquid she needed. Groaning, she just knew she needed to go downstairs and check directly from the source as some of the tubes had to have been broken at that point.
The blonde proceeded to do that, holding mop and bucket close as she calmly made her way downstairs and... right as she was walking outside the main building, she noticed some noises and lights coming from the courtyard. Was someone... fighting? Ria may not be in the right mood, but she was an avid lover of some Anime which portayed amazing fights. Especially those where swords and other bladed weapons were employed.
And right now... something like that was happening as one of those fighting ended up sliding back and stop right in front of... Ria. A blink was enough to get a full glimpse of the female warrior. Short red-hair, red eyes, a curiously form-tight black outfit with blue elements. And the short-haired redhead turned her head to her, eyes narrowing as Ria felt like she was indeed a prey against this unexpected predator.
She was unarmed and she definitely didn't have the capacity to hold back against whom she felt was trying to kill her on the spot. Artoria bolted. There was no hesitation, no freeze-up, no… well, stupidly waiting to die against that crazy woman. She rushed back into the main school building, running upstairs and quickly reaching Merlin. The man was still there.
"M-Merlin!"
Her voice came out strongly and it was enough to pull the man out of his slumber. Violet eyes snapping open, Merlin's gaze instantly drawn to her and… then to the individual behind her. The armed woman was right behind her, the blonde shuddering mid-run as she tried to reach Merlin. The white-haired man bolted, and she was hopeful he would have done something to stop the crazy woman but-
Ria blinked. One moment she was running and then something invisible grasped her and threw her towards the nearby open window, holding onto her as she started to fall. But, before she left that hall, she saw Merlin holding out a hand to her, his clothes now made by an odd white robe- which was soon stained red with his blood as the woman's lance stabbed into his chest.
"NO!"
Her fall soon ensued, but where the height would have killed her, the same force that pulled her out of that dangerous situation suddenly stopped her fall. She stood mid-air for a few moments and then crashed down onto the bush below her. A groan, it wasn't exactly a painless fall but she lived and without any bad injuries. She was a bit sore, but she could still run- no, she had to run away at once.
Ria pushed herself off the ground and ran. She ran as fast as she could and her destination was her current home. She was staying at a fairly big Japanese compound. It was once owned by a peculiar couple visiting the city but that had moved away due to unknown reasons.
There was nothing left back that would explain what drove them to leave this pleasant place, and while Ria thought it was for ghosts, the girl knew perfectly that such a place was devoid of dark backstories. After years of being there and experiencing nothing odd, the blonde was confident enough to say it wasn't ghosts.
Right now, obviously, that didn't matter much. Not when someone was tracking her down and currently chasing her. The girl wasn't looking back, but she could feel it in her guts. That woman was not going to stop for Merlin. Her eyes had settled on her and… she had to go back home.
And then what?
A big groan left her lips as she didn't know what to do after that. What should Ria do? Pick a kendo practice sword and beat the crazy woman with a real lance? Shuddering at the thought, the girl just wanted to get back to the safest place and… then do something there.
Just as she turned the corner, sprinting through the dark and yet empty street, she was about to push through the gates when something slammed onto her. A kick on the back, it sent her flying through the front gates and right through the gates and onto the front yard. Coughing a bit as she felt her ribs hurting, Ria felt like something was wrong as she heard something important breaking during her land. She knew it wasn't something in her body, but something with her, something important and-
It was the precious stone that her mother had left to her. A special talisman or amulet meant to remind her daughter of her before she died. Here it was, shattered as only a fragment was left of it. If before Artoria's mind was filled with a need to flee, the anger that had remained contained by her logic burned through the limits and took over her mind. She stood up, ignoring the strain she was putting on her groaning bones and glaring at the cause of this much damage.
"D-Damn you!" Ria spat angrily, feeling at her wits' end with this whole insanity and grasping her broken amulet as tightly as she could "I was saved already. My life… protected by someone that I care and cherish despite his many shortcomings, so I will not die that easily!"
"Oh?" The lance-wielding woman hummed, shifting her weapon to deliver the killing hit. "So, you seek to live for the sake of giving value to someone's sacrifice?"
"His help- Now I have an obligation to live and fulfill to the fullest because of what he had to do for me to live, and dying now would be unacceptable!" The blonde proclaimed proudly. "And I refuse to die to someone like you- someone that kills people as if they are nothing!"
Her hand burned brightly as something reached deep into her, seeking something that was aching to come out. She felt her chest warm up in a fierce manner, her throat ready to roar her unwillingness to yield even as the lance was rushing towards her. Ria felt no fear, for she already knew that this wasn't the place where she would die. It wasn't just her will, but… the oath of someone that listened and took a pledge with her.
Just before the lance could reach her, a sword manifested from thin air, its user soon following through as the red-edged blade slammed the silvery weapon and pushed the dangerous woman away from Ria. Her heartbeat picked up, a sense of familiarity swelling into her as she stared at the back of the armored figure that stood between her and her potential killer.
The blonde waited, tears born from slight fear and unknown remembrance, and the figure turned and revealed that he wore no helmet to hide away his quite 'bland' looks. Dark-brown hair, a bit of a same-colored beard, and dark eyes that exuded delight as he stared back at her.
"Saber-Class Servant at your service," The man spoke in fluent English, stunning her with the flawless accent. "Are you my Master?"
Many would have hesitated at this point, shaken by this development, awed by this very individual's arrival and the meaning it bore within the mindframe of being 'his Master'. But Ria stared down at her hands, and saw the mark on her right one. She knew it was true, and she couldn't help but smile with determination.
"Yes. I-I am your Master."
An Oath confirmed, now the path for Ria's self-discovery, between 'nightmares' and clues that transcends dimensions, could finally begin.
------------d-d-d-d----------
AN
Ladies and Gentleman, Fate Round Table is now here! A few things for new readers:
1) This story follows
A Tale of Two Kings (Redux) and while reading it will not necessarily improve your understanding of the story early on, it will give you a grasp of who this Saber Servant is;2) This story is not a sequel to A Tale of Two Kings, but rather a 'continuation' for its main character in the role of Servant. The current Main Character of this story is this version of Artoria Pendragon;
3) This story, if it isn't clear from the very beginning, is set in an AU of FSN where Masters and Servants have their roles reversed in most part and some backstories are changed due to certain events unfolding in the Third and Fourth Holy Grail Wars which will be explained in the next few chapters;
4) It will go beyond the FSN AU and tap into FGO. You have been warned.
The Servant Card for Saber will be shown in the next chapter. I have one, and I think it fits between reasonably strong but not OP due to some skills being appropriate and yet limited in their own capacity to assist Saber in his battles.
P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c
