A/N: *EDIT*

I GOOOOOOOOT HER!

Two of her, now! What the heck?!

Who says the Gacha is hell?! Not me!

By some struck of blind bloody luck I pulled Lancer Artoria this afternoon. Needless to say I'm a happy boy. Only had to roll a few times for her, too. To cap things off, I also received Shakespeare, Hans, and a few other Servants I didn't have before. If you thought I cackled when I got Waver...well. Now I just need a four star archer and my support setup-excluding Mash-will be gold across the bar. Still Nerofest served me well, I just need one more of those bloody ghost lanterns to get her to her third ascension.

Anyone know where I can find those? I really want Saber Alter though...

*EDIT* EDIT*

JUST PULLED HER ON A SINGLE ROLL~! With the last of my quartz!

...I shouted so loud I woke up my dogs. And my roommate. Also my neighbor's dogs. BANZAI!~!

Also found out we have to wait until the FIFTEENTH before us NA folks can use that Four star ticket.

Now my four star ticket can safely be used for someone else!

*coughs*

Whoo, sorry about that. Went off on a tangent there. Can't get too excited or I start coughing again. Still really sick after all. You didn't come here to see a dying man-certainly feels like it-cackle like some crazed giddy teenager. You came here for a story didn't you?

So lets clarify some things.

Rin had her contract with Caster!Naruto severed. That's what the Five Pronged Seal did, in addition to weakening Naruto when he was down. Even when our boy tore it off, the contract couldn't just come back. Its gone, until he managed to reestablishes it. Now, then! I'm sure you're wondering why he didn't fade away. The answer to that is quite simple.

Illya-not so little with her new body now, is she?-swooped right in to help.

She, is at present, THE most powerful master in the Holy Grail War. Not only is she commanding a weakened Saber and a full-strength Heracles, but she's temporarily contracted with Naruto until he can reestablish his link with Rin. So we're at the endgame here. Zouken's made his move and sicced Jiraiya on Naruto. I won't say if its "his" Jiraiya or not, or even what kind of game the old pervert is playing here. That would be spoiling things.

At present, no Servants have fallen. Alliances have shuffled around to be sure, but for the most part no one has died.

THAT. IS. ABOUT TO. CHANGE.

Folks were also asking about Medusa. I've said time and again, the one in Caster is, quite simply put, the original. All memories from her others selves in other grail wars stem from her here in Caster and all the shenanigans. We haven't seen much of her in this story mind you outside of one chapter, but that changes real quick.

Quote says it all.

"For what its worth, I've come to help you."

~?

The Things We Do For Love (Last Interlude)

Medusa was...conflicted.

On one hand, she wasn't sure how to feel about the death of Shirou Emiya. She hadn't particularly known him enough to care for his well-being. Nor was she a stranger to violence. She had not flinched when Assassin took off his head; nor had anyone seen her eyes narrow behind her "blindfold", such as it was. A small part of her mourned the needless loss of life, but a larger part accepted the truth. This was war. People died in wars all the time, by her hand or the hands of others. She shouldn't care.

But Sakura had cared.

Shirou's death shattered her.

Stripped her of the very will to live.

Knowing this, Zouken forced Assassin to behead the boy before the poor girl; in part because Jiraiya deliberately disobeyed him. Rather than obey his command, the wily spy instead used a loophole in the old worm's order to avoid killing Saber and Caster both. He'd maimed them, true, but they both yet lived. He had been commanded to attack, not to kill. Everything would've worked out swimmingly had the old Matou not used his familiars to observe the fight. He'd seen it all. Everything. What should have been a grand and glorious plan died a stillbirth instead. Shirou died for it. All to satisfy the old worm's spiteful fury.

This was the price for their defiance, he said.

Yes, by his very nature Zouken Matou was nothing if not cruel. And so, this time, he willingly sacrificed a Command Spell to make certain the deed was done. He daren't kill Tohsaka yet, if only because he required some semblance of leverage over Sakura. But Shirou had served his purpose. He was expendable. A pawn. And like all pawns, Zouken sacrificed him the moment he ceased being of any use. Hours had passed and Medusa still recalled the scene in grisly relief; the blank look in Assassin's eyes, Zouken's dreadful grin, Emiya's head, tumbling through the air...and Sakura's scream.

The poor girl had screamed and screamed and screamed until her voice finally failed her.

Rider hadn't heard a peep from her Master since.

She'd just...locked herself in her room and bawled for hours. Then she'd fallen silent. When Medusa tentatively tried to enter some time later, a Command Spell sent her hurtling back outside before she could hope to even catch a glimpse of her. That was the sole reason she knew Sakura was still alive, that she hadn't simply killed herself in her despair. That, and the bitter, snarling growl that followed.

"Leave me alone, Rider."

Those words haunted Medusa like a ghastly wraith, even here in astral form. Zouken had meant Shirou's demise to serve as a warning; instead, his actions had only thrown oil on an already smoldering fire. Medusa was not the sort to sit idly by and watch injustice take place. She didn't know what Assassin was plotting, if he truly was aligned with Zouken or simply had his own agenda. Who could say? But she had seen what Sakura was becoming; just as she knew she didn't have the heart to kill her if she snapped. By the sound of things the poor girl wasn't far off from giving into her own corruption. Shinji's death had already affected her. Losing the one light in her miserable life threatened to send her plummeting over the edge altogether. One more push, a nudge even, would be all that it took.

She would not let that happen; no, Medusa refused to let that happen.

She would not let that sweet, innocent girl become a monster. Not like her. But she'd run out of options. Archer was still trying to kill her for some perceived slight she didn't understand. Lancer had rebuffed her entreaties outright. Assassin...no. Whatever strange game Jiraiya was playing at here-she wanted no part of it. Worse, he was leashed to Zouken and the old worm still had two more Command Spells by which to bind him. The world had begun to burn, and their was nothing that could be done about it.

To make matters worse, there were rogue Servants running about in the night.

At first, she hadn't wanted to believe it. But she'd already seen a man in golden armor mow down three of them. That one seemed to be making it his personal mission to devastate any new arrivals. Needless to say, the rest were more inclined to attack her on sight. This shouldn't be happening. By the very definition of the war, there wasn't room for anymore Servants. All the class containers had been filled. Which meant someone had broken Heaven's Feel, wrenched the door to the Throne wide open and left it as such to create havoc. Thus, she found herself left with no choice but to honor the first pact she'd made.

And so Medusa was about to do the one thing she'd sworn never to do again.

She was going to betray someone she loved; in order to save them.

Even now, just thinking about it galled her stalwart pride.

Sakura would see this as a betrayal of course.

She was going back on her word.

There was no other option.

It must be done.

Much of her journey had been made in silence; the eldest gorgon sister hadn't trusted herself to make the journey physically, lest she be detected. Naruto would be coming for his Master, of that much she was certain. He would be on high alert, senses cast about for the slightest surge of mana. In his current mood, he was as like to kill her as look at her. Still, they'd made a deal. The clone she'd encountered so long ago was most insistent on that point; telling her that the original would remember this encounter once it dispelled itself. Their agreement had been simple; in a surprising show of humanity, Caster's copy had agreed to help her when she begged him to do so. Free of charge, with no strings attached. After a rather pleasant chat, he'd told her to wait for further contact, then dispelled himself.

Rider had not conversed with Caster since.

The reason for this was...almost depressing, really.

Sakura hadn't trusted such an agreement; on the contrary, she'd forbidden it. Pure though she might be, she was terribly slow to trust outsiders; least of all those who killed with one hand and offered mercy with the other so churlishly. Medusa hadn't been able to convince her otherwise, and reluctantly let the matter drop.

So here she was, going against her Master's wishes.

"The things we do for love...

With a thought she materialized before the doors of the Einzbern mansion. She need not flare her renewed reserves; her presence alone was enough to trip the bounded field. Just as she knew there would be a response; if not from Caster then the motley crew of allies he'd assembled around himself. Medusa was counting on this. If she could sway him, she would sway Saber. If she swayed Saber, she would sway Berserker. Three of the most powerful classes in the Holy Grail War would bring their combined might to bear against Zouken and Assassin. With her aid, distant though it might be, she was certain something could be-oh.

A whisper of wind against her back was her only warning.

And then Medusa opened her eyes.

She'd removed the blindfold earlier on a whim before coming here; fearing she might need her true strength if push came to shove. Better to have taken it off beforehand rather than risk precious seconds flicking it off and the vulnerability that came with it. Those precious moments saved her life. When the lance flew at her heart she halfheartedly reached over her shoulder and caught it, almost alarmed at how easy it was for her to swing a fist into her attacker's face and send them flying into the mansion.

"Stop." she intoned. "I did not come here to fight, you silly girl."

Imagine her surprise when her foe-a young woman?-bounded off a wall and came at her again with a cry. She beheld bright eyes and pale hair, a lance as cold as death itself. Yet another lancer? Just how absurd had this war become when she wasn't looking? Those mystic orbs narrowed in mild displeasure and Death failed to reach her. Rather, it could not approach. The concept of movement was denied and erased as the blank slits of a woman well on her way to beasthood loomed large before her.

Medusa hummed, content with Brynhildr's silence. "Good girl. Now stay put for a bit, won't you?"

She could not turn someone such as her to stone, but she could at least stun her.

Stepping past her paralyzed form,

With Sakura's mind so close to cracking, the line between the poor girl and the Greater Grail had begun to blur. Now more now than ever she was less and less human and more a function of the very system she embodied to begin with; further imbuing her with an almighty and unstable power. As a recipient of said power, Medusa found herself stronger than ever.

Almost...too strong.

Even as she lowered her arm, the greatest of the Gorgon sisters glimpsed the shimmering scales on her right hand. As she thought; she couldn't control her strength. Full lips pursed in mild displeasure as she clasped her blackened arm. With a supreme effort of will and a Determination that bordered on sheer terror, she forced them to recede. Yes. She was herself. A creature of thought and reason; not the mindless, endless hunger that was the beast. It wanted to rampage, to rage and pillage and reave and EAT-

Something howled.

Distracted as she was, Medusa nearly didn't react in time; her sixth sense lit up mere moments before a great hulking blur crashed through the door and mowed her down into the earth. Yesterday, she would have died in an instant; been flattened by the impact as much as the blade behind it. Now? She only lost an arm only a massive ache in her left side that promised to bruise. An irritated sigh fled from her lips, but she fought down the urge to try and lash out with her strength. Instead she raised an arm-the one that wasn't pinned by a towering sword-and steadied her words.

"Stop, you big brute! I came here to see Cast-

She could already feel the limb growing back even as Heracles reared for another attack.

She didn't fight it.

"ENOUGH!"

A voice like thunder shook her world and gave Berserker pause. Craning her neck, she soon saw why.

"Bad Heracles!" A young woman's shout caused the giant to grumble. "I told you to wait, remember?! Don't go flattening guests."

Caster limped down the ruined steps towards them, supported on his left by a young woman with striking white hair and red eyes; even then, he leaned heavily on a his staff. Thankfully there was someone on his right to help support him in his time of need, someone who resembled Saber, yet...smaller. Not quite as tainted as that dark king. Medusa blinked owlishly as the young man shook free of them both and stubbornly stood upon his own two feet despite the tremors in his bad leg. Jiraiya's description had been decidedly vague; now she knew why. Oh. That looked like an unpleasant wound. Just how badly had he been maimed?

"Long time no see, Medusa." that childish smile flashed out at her as she wriggled her way free.. "You're looking lovely as ever."

That brought reality rushing right back to flood into the void again.

"We...had a deal." she began slowly, "Its been some time, I know, but I was hoping...you would honor our agreement." when he merely arched an eyebrow, she hastily bulled on before he could think to interrupt her-much less do the deed. "I know you have no reason to trust me, not after my lack of cooperation in this war. I broke the term of our contract. But now...now I need your help." a blond brow rose, but still, the eldest of the Gorgons rushed on heedless of danger.. "I'll give you whatever you want in return for your cooperation; my eyes, me body, my very soul-

"None of that." he clicked his tongue. "Friends don't hurt friends. Of course I'll help you."

"Who said anything about-

"And so will these two, come to think of it."

He promptly rapped both his companions on their heads.

Medusa couldn't help but blink at that; to hear someone make such a promise, let alone be willing to keep it...humbled her. None of the Greek heroes in her era had ever proven this honest; this dutiful to a fault. To hear one such as him readily offer his his aid in spite of his wounds, despite any such inconvenience, well, to say it was baffled went well beyond the scope of her expertise. Part of her still expected a trick, a trap of some sort from Caster, or an illusion meant to lower her guard. His companions had certainly attacked readily enough. Why not him?

Despite his pain, his smile was still decidedly warm.

He straightened and offered her his hand.

"Now, let's have a chat."

A/N: Ouch.

Down goes Shirou.

And doooooooooown goes Sakura's sanity.

This is one of those rare stories where he doesn't get a happy ending. I mean, sure, Archer will be happy to see him gone I suppose, but still. Did you catch the hint about Heaven's Feel being broken and Fuyuki starting to burn? No? I did say we were in the endgame...

I'm sure some of you are wondering what Jiraiya is up to; so far he seems to be deliberately uniting everyone against him. Now why would he do that...?

Reviews are love. Reviews are life. Reviews keep me alive.

And sane, despite the trolls trying to break me.

So In the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review, Would You Kindly?

NO. MORE. PREVIEWS.

Not in this story.

...fine, then.

...two.

0_0

(Preview)

"I am not your enemy."

"Could've fooled me."

"Silence, shorty."

Saber absolutely hissed. "Shorty...?!"

"You've ruined her."

Gilgamesh didn't shout; because he absolutely roared.

"Mongrels, mongrels, MONGRELS! ALL OF YOU CAN JUST DIE!"

R&R~!

=D