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Chapter 10
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What happened next happened very fast.  Shirou had just enough time to process the girl’s words before the tall woman was on them with a manic grin on her face. 

Saber flashed forward, her raincoat blowing away as her invisible sword clashed against the much taller woman’s katana. 

“Master, get back!”  Shirou stumbled backwards as the sheer force of the impact nearly blew him off his feet.

“This is bad,” Rin muttered, grabbing both Shirou and Sakura and dragging them back from the fight as their blades both rang out again. 

“Berserkers are supposed to be weak servants who get a power boost from going insane.  That one’s way more powerful than normal.  Archer.  Can you help Saber?”
The red clad woman faded in to existence. 

“Shouldn’t be a problem.  Give me a minute to get a good angle and I’ll take care of everything.”  She leapt up and skirted around the edge of the battle, trying to get a clear line on Berserker while she and Saber were trading blows.

On their other side, Rider appeared in a shimmer of light.  “Please, allow me to help as well mistress.”

“Rider, you’re still hurt.  Please, let Saber and Archer handle this.”
Rider shook her head. 

“I can’t do that mistress.  Not while my Master is also in danger.”  She drew her daggers, letting one dangle loosely from the chain. 

“I’ll be careful.”  With that, she leapt forward, her chain lashing out to bind one of Berserker’s arms.

Berserker growled and jerked her arm forward, forcing Rider to give her a little slack or be pulled off balance.  Saber took that moment to lash out, her blade aimed for Berserker’s shoulder. 

Berserker twisted her blade and repelled the strike, then pressed forward with a a powerful slash.
Shirou flinched as Saber was driven back a few paces by the sheer force of the blow. 

“What can we do?”

“We don’t do anything,” Rin replied. 

“This is a battle between Servants.  Getting in the middle of that would just get us killed.”

“That would be such a shame, wouldn’t it?”  The group turned as the little girl stood on the hill just about them.

“You… you’re the Einzbern master, aren’t you?” Rin said, her posture shifting into a defensive stance and one hand sliding down to her pocket. 

“You’d have to be from a powerful family to support a Servant like that.”
The girl giggled.

 “Indeed.  And you’re the Tohsaka heir, Rin Tohsaka.”  She smirked and performed a mocking little curtsy.

“And she’s the the one who was given to the Matou family, correct?”  Rin visibly flinched and Sakura shrank a little. 

“You may call me Illyasviel von Einzbern.  To think, that the heirs to the most prestigious magus families in Japan would be so uncouth though…”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Rin snarled.  “But if you think you’re going to kill us without a fight, you’re going to be disappointed.”
Ilya grinned. 

“Oh, I don’t think you won’t put up a fight.  I want to see you struggle against the inevitable before Berserker punishes you for trying to take onii-chan away from me.”

“You’re awfully confident,” Rin replied. 

“For someone who’s Servant is outnumbered.”  Shirou looked over to see Berserker slowly losing ground as Saber continually clashed with her and Rider leapt in and out of the fray, taking pot shots and leaving long gashes along Berserker’s arms and shoulders.  A gunshot rang out and Berserker stumbled as the shot grazed across her side.

“Oh, that’s not a problem.”  Shirou really didn’t like the look on Ilya’s face. 

“Do it Berserker!”
Berserker jumped back and magic began to swirl around her.  The other servants were forced to jump back and clear the space as her power surged and two more figures began to take shape beside her. 

Archer had just enough time to register something wrong when a glowing green arrow blasted past her and disintegrated the tree she was standing in front of.  Rider leapt back as one of the figures flashed forward and collided with her, sending the injured Servant flying backwards. 

The two figures solidified, revealing exact duplicates of Berserker, save for the one engaging Rider carrying a naginata and the one firing at Archer carrying a longbow as tall as her body.

“Now that’s just cheating,” Rin muttered.

“Rider, get back!” Sakura shouted as the spear wielding madwoman rushed forward again, sending Rider straight through a fence in to the graveyard beside the street.

“Your trickery doesn’t impress me,” Saber said as she reengaged, locking blades with the original Berserker. 

“And it will not be enough to defeat me.  I’m more than capable of taking you down on my own.”

“That’s good,” Berserker said, her voice a low purr.  “Then I will punish you for daring to hurt my precious Master’s feelings.”

“Leave that one alive!” Ilya called out.  “Onii-chan is going to need his Servant.”

“Why do you keep calling me onii-chan?” Shirou finally snapped. 

“I’ve never even met you before yesterday!”

Ilya pouted.  “Really?  How could you have forgotten about me onii-chan?!  I’ve been waiting for years to meet you.”Shirou just looked confused.

 Ilya stomped her foot.  “Stupid onii-chan!  How could you forget your only sister?  What would Papa think?”

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“You did tell Shirou about Ilya, didn’t you?” Iri asked Kiritsugu.
Kiritsugu pointedly didn’t say anything and looked in a different direction.

“Kiri!”

“The kid felt guilty about everything back then,” Kiritsugu admitted after a moment.  “I thought that telling him that I’d had left another kid behind would make him blame himself for me not being there for her.”

“Oh dear…” Iri said.  “I think I might have given Ilya a few slightly  unrealistic expectations of her brother…”

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“I have a sister?”  The idea that he still had surviving family seemed to shut Shirou’s brain down.

“How is your sister an Einzbern?” Rin asked pointedly.

“My father was Kiritsugu Emiya,” Ilya explained slowly.  “The man who was allowed to marry in to the Einzbern family almost twenty years ago so he could serve as their representative in the last Holy Grail War.  After the war, he was forbidden from coming back for me and adopted another child in Fuyuki City.”

“Kiritsugu’s daughter…”  Shirou had never even considered that his father might have other family, much less another child.  “He… he never mentioned you.  I thought… I didn’t know he had anyone else.”

“What?”  Ilya did not look happy. 

“What do you mean papa never mentioned me?!  You must be lying!  Papa would never forget me!”  She ground her teeth together and looked back at Berserker. 

“Berserker!  Finish this up so I can take onii-chan home and make him remember me!” Berserker nodded.

“Apologies, but you heard her,” she said as she rushed forward, slamming against Saber at full force.  The blue clad woman braced herself as she slid back a few feet from the force, but managed to keep her guard up. 

“Don’t worry.  I would never hurt mistress’s brother.  Your master will be perfectly fine.”

“Forgive me if I don’t take you at your word.”  Saber’s eyes darted around, trying to find some advantage.  As much as it pained her to admit it, Berserker was stronger than her.  She could match her for a brief stretch if she burned through her mana with her Prana Burst, but Shirou wasn’t providing very much and she’d run out of power quickly. 

To her left, Rider was darting between gravestones, keeping the stone markers between her and the lightning fast spear wielding copy.  To her right, Archer was jumping between trees, taking pot shots while the bow wielding copy continued to fire glowing green arrows between the branches.  She wasn’t going to get any help from them.

  “But I will win this battle.  That, I promise you.”

“Then come at me,” Berserker said, adjusting her stance and narrowing her eyes.  “And show me the full extent of your skill.”

“You’ll regret those words.”  Saber darted forward then veered off before she got within striking range of her enemy’s blade.  Berserker followed, jumping over the fence in to the graveyard and smashing a stone as Saber dodged back.  The swordswoman dodged back again to avoid a smooth follow-up strike, kicking off one of the graves and launching herself straight up.  

”I hate Berserkers that keep their fighting skills…”  Berserker brought her blade up and they collided again.  This time, without anything to brace herself again, Saber was thrown back by the blow, flipping through the air and landing smoothly a few yards away.  

”It seems like I’m going to have to use a little bit of power to level the field.”  She adjusted her stance, her blade pointing directly behind her and her hands firmly gripping the hilt.

“I see,” Berserker said.  “Very well, give me your best shot.”

“I plan to.  Hammer of The Wind King:Strike…”  Saber began to channel her mana to in to her sword’s magic covering.  “Air!”  Berserker’s eyes went wide as Saber’s weapon erupted in a massive tornado, sending her hurtling forward like she was launched out of a cannon.

  Berserker barely had time to start moving before Saber was on top of her.

Shirou stopped and stared as he saw Saber’s weapon for the first time.  He couldn’t take his eyes off shimmering blade.  It was beautiful.  And powerful.  Terrifyingly powerful.  Something deep inside him was certain of that.  Any doubts he might have had about Saber’s combat prowess disappeared as a spray of blood arced through the air.

“Berserker!”  Ilya’s scream almost made his heart stop and the absolutely terrified look on her face made his blood run cold.

“I’m alright,” Berserker said, struggling to stay upright with one hand pressed tightly against her bleeding side.  “Something like this won’t even slow me down.”

“You’re quite lucky,” Saber said, turning to face her opponent again.

“I’m simply that tough,” Berserker replied, taking a fighting stance again.  “But that little trick won’t work on me again.”

“Enough!”  Both Servants turned toward Ilya.  “We’re withdrawing for now!”  Berserker sighed and sheathed her blade.

The other two copies shimmered and faded like mirages as the tall woman leapt clear and landed beside her mistress. 

“Hey!” Archer cried out.  “I wasn’t finished yet!”

“We’ll be back to deal with you another time,” Ilya said.  “But I think we’ve done enough for tonight.”  She turned to Shirou. 

“And you had better remember me by the next time we meet!”  With that, Berserker vanished in to her astral form and Ilya turned the corner and walked away.

“Wait!”  Shirou ran after her, one hand outstretched.  But by the time he reached the corner, she was already gone.

The street was entirely silent for a few moments as the remaining Servants and Masters gathered under an intact street lamp. 

Saber was mostly uninjured and her sword was once again hidden beneath the invisible barrier though she looked exhausted. 

Rider hadn’t sustained any new injuries, but it seemed that he side was bleeding again.  Archer had a rather unpleasant looking hole in her shoulder, but she didn’t seem too bothered by it.

  “The hell just happened,” Rin asked.
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