Fate/Lost Reflections (UBW/Prillya Crossover)

[BeskHolbien]

NOWHERE

In hindsight, this was probably not how one was supposed to experience the outside of existence.

Floating through an endless nothingness. Not thristing, nor hungering, nor even needing sleep. Surrounded by a silence so complete as to be deafening. This had not been how Gudao Tohsaka had expected to spend the rest of his life, it had to be said.

A multitude of memories assaulted him as he hurtled through the empty blackness, holding her close to him.

Ritsuka Emiya, adoptive daughter of the Magus Killer. The former Master of Saber and he hadn't exactly gotten off to the greatest of starts, what with him trying to kill her and all. He had tried to persuade her to step aside, to give up before she actually got killed. When that hadn't worked, he'd tried the 'mercy kill' route, which his servant Archer had been uncomfortably enthusiastic about. And when that hadn't worked, he had opted for an alliance.

Which had gone down hilariously poorly with their servants. Saber and Archer had actually left the Emiya residence so as to not breach the Rules of Hospitality in order to lay into each other with their blades. (He and Suki had watched. Suki had even made popcorn!)

Another memory came, and he briefly tightened his embrace on the young woman that made him whole.

"...'ey, Tohsaka?" Saber had addressed him as she began to fade. "Keep my Master safe, alright? Don't let her become that stuck up asshat of an Archer. Even if you have to continuously drag her ass around the world to keep her distracted, you keep that promise."

"Archer already beat you to it, Saber.." He had answered with an easy smile. "I've already promised that. Admittedly, it's probably in a hope that she'll cease to exist if I manage it, but she was always frustratingly vague."

"Ha!" She barked out a laugh. "That's true!"

"What about you?" He asked, still smiling. "You must be disappointed with how things turned out.."

"I'm the last servant standing, Gudao. Just like I said I would be!" Saber answered. "It's a damn shame about the Grail, but there's always next time."

"Guess so." He had shrugged. "By the way, if Kiritsugu Emiya is within the Throne…"

"I'll kick his ass for what he turned our Suki into, don't worry."

"...Thanks." His smile faltered a little. "..For that and...and everything else."

"Hehe…" The Knight of Betrayal was smiling as she finally faded away. "You are very welcome."

"....Goodbye, Mordred.."

He smiled at that. Because Ritsuka had been theirs, still was theirs. Oh, it was true that Saber had been Ritsuka's servant and not his. But they had worked together to drag their Suki out of her passive suicidalness and selflessness, and become friends in the process.

More so than he and his own servant, at least.

Archer had been...difficult. It was only later on, when he pieced together who she was, that he came close to understanding her hatred for Emiya. He in no way agreed with her pseudo-suicidal tendencies, mainly because he was fairly certain killing his Suki wouldn't affect Archer in any way, but he could at least understand.

She had at least died at peace. Any incarnation of Ritsuka Emiya deserved that much, at the very least.

And whilst his Ritsuka still struggled with emotion, their time at the Clocktower had drawn them closer. In the end, that was all The Holy Grail War had really got them both. An education and many, many pleasant memories.

Their cozy little apartment in London. Picnics in Hyde Park. Lazy mornings reading together on the sofa. Nights when their world became little more than heat and sweat and love and one another…

But alas, that had also put them on the path to their current situation.

"She was my sister." The redhead said quietly one afternoon as they lounged on their sofa. "I have to do this. I have to make the bastard pay for putting her through all that."

He had agreed without hesitation. Illyasviel might have been a vicious, bloodthirsty little bitch, but at the end of the day, she had been family. But that choice had got them into...whatever this was.

The battle had been a slaughter. Bodies of homunculi lay strewn across every courtyard and in every hallway. Even some actual Einzberns-in-name fell during their push to confront the family's Patriarch.

The confrontation had been short, quickly devolving into a battle. Old Man Acht might be strong, but Ritsuka had all but slain Gilgamesh in single combat and He had managed to bullshit his way through fucking over the Holy Grail.

The wretched golem could put out one hell of a fight, but the result was obvious…

Or, should have been..


"SHE WAS NOTHING!" Jubstacheit von Einzbern had roared in furious protest mere moments before he sent them adrift and Ritsuka's final arrow had found his heart. "YOU ARE ALL...NOTHING!"

He wasn't even certain that Jubstacheit knew what he was doing. Screwing about with this sort of thing was usually the domain of another Old Man. But whatever he did, they had ended up here...in Nowhere.


Oh well. Spending eternity with the one he loved in his embrace didn't sound too bad..

---

AN INDETERMINATE AMOUNT OF TIME LATER...

Seventy-Two hours ago, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, Wizard Marshall and Old man of the Jewels amongst other numerous titles, had actually had to do his job.
Something had entered the world around Schloss Einzbern, the decaying ruin that was once home to the eponymous family before the Magus Killer and his wife swept through and wiped them out to a man. Something had entered the world from a completely different timeline (and one that was usually deliberately kept entirely separate from this one), so he had had to leave his comfortable office in the Clocktower to investigate.

Seventy hours ago, he had laughed harder than he had done in at least a decade. It was rare that something truly unexpected happened, but oh so very entertaining when it did.

For the something had in fact been someones. People! Magi! Magi from another timeline! Magi from another timeline that had survived in the space between worlds for who knew how long! A mystery wrapped in an enigma and dressed in winter clothes!

So he did the obvious thing, and took them with him.

(After the displaced pair had properly looted the ruins, of course. They were Clocktower Mages, after all. The money they'd make from their prizes wouldn't amount to some vast fortune, but it would be substantial nonetheless.)

Fifty hours ago, he had learned all he could from them about their pasts, and had been close to impressed with what he heard. The Holy Grail War had apparently continued after the failure of the Third one in their time, whereas here..

The Emiya's had ended it. The Magus Killer and the Last Einzbern had put an end to the Holy Grail Wars. All for the sake of their children.

How novel!
Two hours ago, he had cheerfully waved them off as a car took them to an airport.

The pair of would-be students in Fuyuki, dealing with the 'Class Cards' had yet to produce any real results. They could continue to attempt to sort things out, and might even succeed..

But sending these two to deal with the problem? The results would undoubtedly be absolutely fucking hilarious. And wasn't that all he could hope for from this debacle? A few months worth of entertainment before having to deal with the clean up?

So it was that Gudao Tohsaka and Ritsuka Emiya, Veterans of the Fifth Holy Grail War, unwilling dimension hoppers, gender-flipped versions of Rin Tohsaka and Shirou Emiya and a genuinely loving couple found themselves on a private plane bound for Japan.

---

Spoiler

The unholy result of insomnia, headache medication and a 2AM YouTube binge. I have NO idea when this'll update, or even if people will be interested in it.

'Suki' is Gudao (and Mordred's) nickname for Ritsuka.

 

[ryune]

Looks interesting enough. I'll keep an eye on this.

 

[BeskHolbien]

SOMEWHERE OVER JAPAN

Ritsuka Emiya let out a soft sigh, and stretched in her seat like a cat. This world's Zelretch had not skimped on luxury when it came to the private plane that she and Gudao were currently travelling in. Privately, she preferred more spartan environs. They were easier to maintain, easier to leave behind thanks to the lack of emotional attachments. But having Gudao feeding her grapes as though she were some Queen of old as she lounged in her seat wasn't something she would complain about.
No.

Her thoughts were occupied with a thought. A single thought that consisted of a tangled mess of other, smaller thoughts.
Her Father was alive.

Or more precisely, this version of her father was alive. One that had not put the Grail War before his family. One that had in fact ended the Grail Wars permanently for his family. For Illya, and for Irisviel. And She had no idea what to feel about that.

Her Kiritsugu Emiya had been a harsh taskmaster. Obsessed to the point of insanity with saving his eldest daughter and little else. The sister she would later meet during the Fifth Holy Grail War. Illyasviel, Master of Berserker. So she had trained. She had learned. She had endured agony after agony, humiliation after humiliation, all for the sake of succeeding Kiritsugu as the Magus Killer. All for the sake of saving and serving her sister.
Until his final, greatest cruelty. As he lay dying, he robbed her of that. Robbed her of her purpose. He had told her not to take up his old mantle, begged her not to. Made her swear to him she wouldn't. He likely thought he was being kind. Allowing her a 'normal' life. Allowing her to have no further part of the Moonlit world.

But he hadn't told her what her new purpose was, what she was meant to do! He had left her adrift, as well as alone.
True, Taiga had been there, and she truly cherished the older woman's friendship. But having to wear a false mask of near permanent helpfulness had exhausted her. Needing to help anyone however she could, just in the hope it might become her purpose...exhausted her.

Wasn't that the point of life? To discover and fulfil one's purpose? And to end oneself when said purpose was complete?
It was no surprise that she ended up in the Fifth Holy Grail War. Nor was her Servant a surprise, in hindsight. Mordred Pendragon, the Knight of Rebellion. The Saber Servant for the Fifth War. The child of her Father's servant during the Fourth War. It made a certain amount of sense, she supposed. Both of them had been damaged, beaten down and twisted by their guardian. Both of them desperately pursued the ever nebulous concept of 'Purpose' to the exclusion of all else.

So they had fought side by side, taking down Rider and Caster before Saber had given Assassin an honourable exit in battle. Then came time to face Berserker, but that had a tragic ending. She hadn't taken Illya's death at the hands of Gilgamesh well at all. She had dug her sister's grave herself, held both a funeral and a vigil for the fallen child by herself...and then proceeded to barricade herself in her room with more alcohol than was likely healthy.
Because she was alone in the world. Truly alone in the world.

She had been spiralling into the depths of purposeful self destruction. Her genuinely suicidal one-woman assault on the Kotomine Church using her Father's old equipment (and had made her grateful for the wonderfully copious amounts of explosives her Father had left behind) would have resulted in a second Great Fire of Fuyuki had it not been of Gudao's quick thinking. (There had been a slim upside, Lancer had betrayed Kirei and held him down as the Church burned down with the both of them inside. Why her Father had white phosphorus, she'd never managed to figure out.)
It was only her words, hollow and lifeless, after they returned home from that incident that had keyed Saber and Gudao into how utterly broken (and in her mind, unlovable) she was, forcing the both of them to drag her out of her selfish depression.

The method they had used, whilst highly enjoyable in the moment, was probably not a healthy coping mechanism. At least not on a mental standpoint. But she had woken up in a warm bed, wrapped up in the arms of both Gudao and Mordred, aching pleasantly and more at peace than she had ever been.

Although she had to admit, she had loved that last fight. The blood and heat and pain. She had loved the feeling of the Golden Bastard's nose crunching under her fist and savoured the coppery taste of his blood on her lips. The look of shock and loathing as Archer's arrow struck him in the head and he'd been swallowed by blackness warmed her heart yet still.
The following few days after the end of the Grail War were strange, to say the least. It had been nice to drop the mask. To just..be. Without needing to express emotion, real or faked, just to make those around her comfortable. To know that Gudao loved her because she was herself, and not in spite of it.
So when he told her that he wanted to go to London and attend the Clocktower, she jumped at the chance to go with him. To be the ever present shadow at Gudao's back and protecting him from any of the other students at the school. It wasn't all bad, however. She had found a kindred spirit in one Luviagelita Edelfelt in the ancient and enjoyable art of beating the ever-loving crap out of each other.

Ritsuka wondered how she would get along with this world's Luvia.

A cleared throat drew her out of her thoughts, and she turned her gaze to one of the attendants sent with the plane.
"Sir. Ma'am." The attendant addressed the pair. "We will be landing in Fuyuki shortly. A car has already been prepared for you, as well as a hotel. I have also been informed by Lord El-Melloi II that you are both from Fuyuki. So on behalf of Lord Zelretch, Welcome home."

---

It should be fairly obvious that Reflection!Kiritsugu (that is, the Kiritsugu from Ritsuka and Gudao's 'verse) really really fucked Ritsuka up mentally. He was a heck of a lot more broken than the canon!Kiritsugu, and only really recognised what he did to her on his deathbed, hence his desperate "Please for the love of sanity don't follow in my footsteps" before he died.

 

[Lord Cashern]

As your sig' says "well shit".

Also this is fucking brilliant and I'm watching it.

 

[EddyQ]

Oh, that's nice! Expect a new update next summer.

 

[BeskHolbien]

As your sig' says "well shit".

Also this is fucking brilliant and I'm watching it.

Click to shrink...

Thanks!

Oh, that's nice! Expect a new update next summer.

Click to shrink...

In all honesty, I've written and rewritten this chapter about a dozen times in the last few months. Every time I've come close to posting, I've hit a wall. It shouldn't be too long before the next one, although with work getting busy in the run-up to Christmas, it'll probably be early January (or that weird week between Christmas and New Year where nothing happens).


Also! I encourage you folks to comment and/or ask questions! It's a hell of a lot easier to interact with my Readers on this site than some of the others I write on.

 

[LithiumWar]

Thanks!



In all honesty, I've written and rewritten this chapter about a dozen times in the last few months. Every time I've come close to posting, I've hit a wall. It shouldn't be too long before the next one, although with work getting busy in the run-up to Christmas, it'll probably be early January (or that weird week between Christmas and New Year where nothing happens).


Also! I encourage you folks to comment and/or ask questions! It's a hell of a lot easier to interact with my Readers on this site than some of the others I write on.

Click to shrink...

So, you gonna redo this? Or is this never gonna see fruition?

 

[Biigoh]

So, you gonna redo this? Or is this never gonna see fruition?

Click to shrink...

Please pay attention to the last post date.

Anything pass a month is Necro.

The thread will be closed until BeskHolbien puts in a request to have it reopened.