Alaya's Apocrypha

Explanations

The Servants and their master regrouped, returning to their base, the forest where Nursery Rhyme had set her little workshop.  There they met up with David, Arthur, and Kintoki, who greeted them.

"Welcome back, Master," Arthur smiled.  "It's good to see you, too, Assassin, Lancer."

"Hello, Saber," EMIYA smiled.  Though it wasn't the same, seeing any King Arthur smile puts a smile on EMIYA's face.  "Berserker, Archer."

"How was the battle?" David asked.  "Did we win?"

EMIYA sighed.  "Unfortunately, the battle me and Lancer were in ended up in a draw.  We were forced to retreat due to Berserker of Black's attack."

Arthur narrowed his eyes.  "Master, please explain."

After ten minutes of explaining the battle, EMIYA also began explaining the Servants that they had seen so far.

"I've managed to identify all of the True Names of the Servants we have met," EMIYA said.  The Servants nodded, knowing about their Master's abilities before hand.  "Saber of Black is the knight Siegfried-"

"The dragon slaying knight," Arthur said.  "That could spell trouble for me."

"Lancer of Red is the demigod Karna-"

"Another demigod who holds an Anti-Divinity spear?  Sounds like an interesting opponent," Hercules said.

"Archer of Red is the Chaste Huntress, Atalanta-"

"She sounds like a beautiful person," David smiled.  "Can't wait to meet her."

"Berserker of Black is the monster created by the mad scientist, Frankenstein-"

"A monster?" Kintoki inquired.  "He sounds cool."

"He's a she," EMIYA said, getting annoyed at being interrupted so much.  However, this failed to change Kintoki's mood.  David, however, became a bit more chipper.

"And finally," EMIYA continued, resuming his talk.  "The Ruler Servant's True Name is Jeanne D'Arc."

EMIYA sighed.  "Anyways, now that you know who they are, it should be child's play taking them down.  Karna and Jeanne might be a problem but I feel like we have a good chance.  David, how's you-know-what?"

David smiled.  The you-know-what was they're way of destroying the Grail War once and for all.  "It's safe.  I've brought it here to keep it safe."

"Good," EMIYA nodded.  "Now, Assassin."

Hercules turned towards his master.  "What is it master?"

"I want to hear how your battle went."

Hercules turned away, his usual stoic face morphing into what EMIYA thought was a pouting expression.

"I saw the Servants of Black capture the Berserker of Red.  That Berserker was a big as me, but seemed to have a low Mad Enhancement.  He can speak as well as our Berserker.

"Anyways, I then saw the Archer of Black fire arrows into the distance.  I can only guess that he was shooting at you all."

"And you didn't stop it?" Kintoki asked, curious.

Hercules sighed.  "I will never fight him at full power," he lamented.  "You see, he's my master."

"Your master?" EMIYA asked.  "You mean the centaur Chiron?"

"Yes," Hercules said sadly.  "In life, Chiron taught me everything I know.  I loved him like a father.  However, during my life I had came into conflicts with other centaurs and accidentally slain my him.  It's one of my biggest regrets and is why I will never fight him on full power.  I don't want to.  If you force me," he grumbled, giving off killing intent.  "I'll kill you."

EMIYA stared at the giant in front of him.  He walked right to him and gave him a small smile.  "It's okay.  I'd never do that to you.  Also, if you try to, I'd kill you in a heartbeat."

The Servants stared at their Master, then Hercules threw his head back, laughing.  "Oh, I don't doubt it Master.  In fact, I think I'd like fighting you.  But I'll stay loyal to you, till the end."

EMIYA smiled.  "So, what happened next."

Hercules smiled.  "I made my presence know to my old teacher, who smiled and greeted me.  He then scolded me on revealing myself, kicked me off the castle wall, and had Lancer of Black's stakes send me flying.  They can't damage me with my lion pelt but it still sent me flying."

EMIYA and the other Servants chuckled.  The thought of the giant of an Assassin being thrown around was extremely entertaining.  The demigod glared at them before smiling with them.

"So that's one mystery solved," EMIYA smiled, then he notice something.  "Wait, where's Rider and Caster?"

Arthur, David, and Kintoki tensed up.  The Counter Guardian's eyes narrowed.  "What happened?" he demanded.

Kintoki was the first to talk, though he was hiding behind David.  "Well, while we were patrolling, one of my animal friends returned.  It said that it had tried to tell Caster and Rider about a Servant being spotted in a nearby town.  After Caster had used magecraft to translate, she and Rider left, leaving this note."

Kintoki meekly passed a note written in a girly handwriting on pink paper to EMIYA.  On it, it said:

Dear Master,

I heard of something interesting and was tired of waiting around, so I went out.  I dragged Rider along with me.  See you later!

Love,

Alice

After reading the note, Shirou's left eye began twitching uncontrollably.  The Servants shivered, feeling the rage inside him.  "I'm going to kill those two," he stated, in an angry, steely calm voice.