Ghosts from the Past 1

while the three servants face off against Rider small blood red sigils come to life surrounding them, however only Olga seems to notice them and yet too afraid from her near death experience she ignores them.

Gudako and Ritsuka are still slightly shocked at the appearance of a servant but after hearing Mash's call Ritsuka shakes himself out of his stupor.

Ritsuka, " Mash, be careful she appears to be a lot more dangerous than our previous foes."

in response to her master's request mash only answers with an absentminded nod since most of her attention is occupied by the menacing threat.

after a few more moments of silent observation Shirou's eyes widen in alarm, finally sensing the preparations of Rider, but it is too late and suddenly a blood red dome covers the area and in the sky a massive eye appears.

Shirou, " be careful! that is the Blood Fort Andromeda, it will weaken all those that fight in it."

Rider, "ho? what a surprise, to think that you know about the Andromeda... now that I have a better look at you, you look very similar to my master, in fact, I might even assume that you are him if it weren't for the fact that I had witnessed his death with my very own eyes."

Shirou simply narrows his eyes, then he asks another question, " How did you become an Alter, Medusa?"

Medusa gains a hint of lucidity in her eyes, along with a haunted look, " I was forced to see all that I considered a family die before my eyes." then her eyes return to their crazed look and she jumps towards him, " but it doesn't matter anymore, even if you are him, I will have your blood!"

upon seeing the attack Ritsuka shouts, " Mash!"

in response to his voice Mash appears in front of Shirou with her shield raised ready to meet Medusa's attack, "ha!"

sparks fly from the clash of the two weapons and lily uses this chance to enter into Medusa's defense followed soon after by Shirou's slash

seeing the two attacks Medusa jumps back in order to put up her guard again.

Lily intercepts her with an horizontal slash followed by Mash who swings her shield in a similar manner "yaa!"

Medusa jumps back once more and launches chains towards them, however both of them avoid them.

Shirou switches to his bow and shots three of his 'arrows' at her, leaving three more craters in the ground.

after the two sides jump back once more Shirou asks the question that plagued him from their first exchange of blows " Rider, you are holding back, aren't you?"

Medusa stops for a second, slightly stunned by the question " what makes you think that, Shirou?"

" While I don't deny that we are powerful servants, with the amount of mana we are receiving, me and saber can barely use half of our strength, on the other end, you have as much mana as this city could offer and yet you are struggling against three very weakened servants. could it be you.."

Medusa interrupts with a cold voice " stop that Shirou, saving me is already impossible."

" why is that?" asks Shirou, obviously offended

" earlier you have called me an Alter, right? I do not know what an alter is but I can ensure you that my spirit graph remains the same."

" then why did you change?" asks Shirou, his tone curious and caring

Olga interrupts their discussion at this point " what are you two talking about? what do you mean by 'you changed'?"

Medusa replies in a slightly sad tone " the first to change was saber, then all the humans aside from the masters disappeared and while we were in shock saber commenced her attack, she first took down Archer, followed by all the others. Only Caster remains alive."

'the masters remained?' thought Shirou 'if the other me had Avalon it is possible that he still lives' He then asks Medusa " Rider, how did I die? I mean, how did he die?"

Medusa gains a bit of a cold look " he was skewered by Archer's arrows. why does it matter?"

'so he did not truly die, so long as Avalon is with him and saber is Arturia he already healed. if so then he is probably in hiding, along with Rin and Sakura, hopefully' after organising his thoughts Shirou speaks once more " since you are already beyond salvation then let's continue our fight, after all it is only natural for servants to do battle."

Rider replies while raising her scythe " indeed it is."

Shirou immediately jumps towards Medusa and slashes in an horizontal manner " ha!"

the sound of steel clashing against steel as a result resounds thought the burning wreckage as the servants continue to exchange blows

" if Rider and Shirou are allies how come they are still fighting, senpai?" Mash asks her master, genuine confusion in her voice

however before Ritsuka could answer, Lily answers instead " it is an inevitable fight. one beyond salvation and another seeking to give said salvation. as a result the one seeking can only accept that the only salvation remaining is salvation through the release of death."

Gudako asks with a slightly shaky voice " then he decided to kill her? aren't they lovers?"

while they are discussing, the battle between the two still rages..

Shirou avoids another swing from Medusa, then he parries her follow up before kicking her in order to catch her off guard however to his annoyance his kick does not create any openings in her guard.

after recollecting himself he notices Lily and Mash coming towards him " what is it?" he asks

Mash, " Rider's noble phantasm is quickly draining master's reserves. as such we must defeat Rider as quickly as possible."

Shirou, " I see, very well. then, I shall unleash my own Noble phantasm" Shirou takes a moment to breathe " Not the invincible swordsman Jubei.."

a mysterious voice interrupts him " I think that's enough. allow me to help, strangers." along with his voice a few fireballs hit Medusa

Boom! "Argh!" immediately after a man wearing druid clothing appears beside them and speak with a smirk on his face " yo, nice to meet you again, kid"

after looking at him Shirou answers on reflex

" Lancer."

after hearing his reply Lancer? answers " no, you got it wrong. can't you see I am a Caster"

Rider's voice can be hear soon after " what are you doing Caster? are you betraying us?"

" nah, not really. I was never on your side to begin with. now take this! Wicker Man!" following soon after, a circle of flames appears around Rider then a wooden hand comes out of it and grabs Rider, before smashing her to the ground

Rider comments " it appears this is it for me.." as she disappears

Shirou looks at the spot where Rider stood with sadness. he then turns towards Caster " so, we heard something from Rider already but what do you say, Lancer?"

Caster, " the name is Cu Chulainn, kid." he then turns towards Olga " good morning, mage from afar." he then turns towards Mash and Lily and slightly nods " little lady, king Arthur."

"Arturia.." Lily murmurs to herself

Cu simply ignores her response and continues " well, you already know something but for content's sake let's begin from the very beginning..."