A predictable twist

[ 3rd pov ]

Tokiomi stared at his student, the light of the sunset coming in through the window and illuminating the dark room.

"Are you certain of it?" asked Tokiomi, placing down the cup of wine he was drinking and focusing on Kirei's words.

"Indeed." said the priest. "Assassin has seen them leave their mansion and they currently appear to be heading this way."

Tokiomi raised an eyebrow at Kirei's words. "He is coming this way? I would like to think that he comes to talk, but after rejecting the church's invitation I doubt it, especially since he is coming with his servants, is he not?"

"There is something else." said Kirei, interrupting Tokiomi's words. "Saber is with them, and she appears to be... different. Lancer also looks different, according to Assassin both have yellow eyes and black armour with red glowing lines across it. Lancer's hair has also changed colours, turning white." he paused for a moment, letting Tokiomi think about it, before continuing. "According to Assassin, their presence has changed, especially Saber's."

Tokiomi remained silent for a moment, bringing his hand to his chin while thinking about the situation.

"So he is coming to deliver his treasures personally?" said a voice as golden particles gathered in the room.

Both Tokiomi and Kirei paused their conversation and bowed at the entrance of Archer.

"He indeed appears to be coming, your grace." said Tokiomi. "Though I believe he is coming for a fight."

"Nonsense." said Archer, waving his hand and dismissing Tokiomi's words. "He is obviously coming to give me my treasures, wether I have to take them by force or not doesn't matter."

Sitting down not he couch of the room, Archer took out. golden vase and a golden cup and poured some wine for himself before drinking. "Tokiomi, didn't you say that he eliminated Saber? What is she doing with them then?" he asked, looking at Tokiomi form the corner of his eyes.

"This is indeed an... unexpected development." replied Tokiomi. "I think he might have formed a contract with Saber and became her master as well. I don't quite know how he is managing to supply so much mana though, but he must have a way to do so without taking it out from others, after all there hasn't been any murder news in this last few days."

Archer stirred the cup for a moment before moving his head to face Tokiomi. "I will take care of them." he said in a commanding tone.

"Your grace, I do not doubt that you are the strongest heroic spirit." replied Tokiomi. "But... wouldn't it be best if Assassin took care of at least one of their servants? Besides, there is still Berserker, who might interrupt your fight."

Archer put on an annoyed expression as he thought about it. It was indeed true that he was getting interrupted constantly in this war. His grandiose entrance at the first battle was interrupted by Berserker's appearance, and later his collection of treasures was interrupted by that mongrel who played as Saber's master.

"Hmph." humphed Archer as he sipped some wine, before his expression got serious. "I will allow you to play with whoever comes to interrupt my reunion, however I will not allow you to get in my way, do you understand?"

"Of course, your grace." replied Tokiomi.

Archer nodded before finishing the wine in his cup and standing up to leave.

Once they were alone again, Tokiomi sighed and fell to his chair exhausted.

"Get Assassin to guard the perimeter." he said. "If Berserker shows up, we need to be prepared."

"Understood." replied Kirei before standing up and leaving as well.

Now that he was alone, Tokiomi grabbed the cup of wine he had placed down and drank a bit while looking out the window. "What a troublesome situation..." he muttered as he stared at the night's sky. "He defeated Rider yesterday and already is coming here."

"The first spear of the knights of Fianna, the king of knights, and an unknown Caster, all led by a master who has extra lives and is acknowledged as the greatest prodigy of his generation." he muttered as he continued to stare at the window before sighing and finishing the wine. "I may have underestimated him at first, but he has already taken down the two masters who I thought would be the most troublesome in this war."

Placing the empty cup on his desk, Tokioimi sat downing grabbed an empty book with a red cover.

"Then there is Berserker, who last time focused only on Archer, as if he had a personal vendetta against him." he continued talking to himself. "And finally, Archer doesn't seem even interested in the grail. He may be stronger than anyone else, but that is only good if he actually fights them, which he doesn't seem all that interested in doing because of the 'treasures' crafted by Dio..."

Grabbing a pen, he opened the empty book and began writing down on its blank pages.

"I already talked to Rin earlier today while Kirei and Risei went to the church and told her about the Holy Grail." said Tokiomi as he continued to write. "But just in case, I should have a back up plan."

Nearly an hour passed with Tokiomi writing something down on the red book until he finally placed the pen aside and sighed. The light of the moon illuminated the room, coming in through the window.

Standing up, he went downstairs to his lab, where he opened a relatively small drawer. Placing the red book inside, he sighed once more and went back upstairs, however he was interrupted mid-way by the destruction of the barrier he had around his mansion.

"What is going on?!" he asked Kirei, as the priest rushed in his direction. "Have they already arrived?"

"No." replied Kirei. "It is Berserker."

Tokiomi's eyes widened. "Damn..." he muttered under his breath. "So the worst possible scenario is happening..."

As he continued going upstairs, he finally arrived to his studio and looked out the window, however he was surprised when he saw everything calm.

Before Tokiomi could turn around, his eyes widened as he felt pressure on his chest unlike any he had ever felt before. Looking down, he saw a blade coming out of his chest, piercing his heart from behind while blood trailed down from his mouth.

"Indeed, the worst scenario." said Kirei from behind. "For you, that is."

"W-Why..." he muttered, falling to his knees.

"Sensei..." said Kirei, a smile growing on his face as he stared at Tokiomi's body falling to the ground. "Just like my father, you never understood me."

The last thing Tokiomi saw was the golden particles gathering next to Kirei as he realised that he had been betrayed, not just by his student, but also by the king of heroes.

'Damn it...' thought Tokiomi as his consciousness vanished. 'Everything I wrote in the red book is for nothing if the king of heroes is a treacherous bast-'

"What a boring ending." said Archer as he looked down on his former master with an amused face. "Though a boring ending is the only thing a boring man could get I suppose. I mean just look at his stupid face..." he continued while shaking his head.

Turning his attention to Kirei, Archer's smile grew more amused. "You have indeed learned how to jest at the very least." he said. "I suppose the conversation you had with 'him' was more influential to you than I initially thought."

"Indeed." replied Kirei, moving his eyes away from Tokiomi's corpse and looking at Archer. "Now all that remains is to win the grail and ask my questions to it."

Archer nodded, still looking at Kirei amused. "Quite interesting that 'he' didn't ask for your loyalty and instead wanted you to make this war more fun."

Kirei nodded in agreement. "Indeed. I expected he would ask a lot from me in exchange for the freedom he gave me, but all he wanted was for Tokiomi to be out of the war... apparently you are not the only one who found him terribly boring."

Archer laughed a bit at Kirei's words. "I am more surprised that no one else found him unbearably boring. Still... in a world filled with mongrels, there is someone who actually understands enjoyment and can craft treasures for me..."

Archer walked over Tokiomi's corpse and looked through the window. "Now, show me how more amusing you can be, Dio Salvatore..."

Turning around, Archer walked in front of Kirei and waited for what needed to happen now.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Gilgamesh, King of Heroes?" asked Kirei with a small smile.

"As long as you prove yourself to be amusing while not getting in the way of my fun." replied Archer. "Otherwise, Kirei... you are the one who should be questioning his own resolve."

'I killed my father and my master, I had Assassin destroy the barrier instead of Berserker, and now I am going to do anything to win the grail...' thought Kirei as he chuckled a bit at the words of Archer, before he began the ceremony to accept Archer as his new servant.

Normally having two servants would be too much for him, but it would just be tonight, and he was sure he could manage through one single night, especially since Dio was right and both him and Kariya were on the move according to Assassin, both headed this way. If things took an unexpected turn and it took more than tonight for the war to end, he could always command Assassin to kill herself so it didn't really matter.

"Thou shalt be under my command, and my fate shall be thy sword." said Kirei as he unfolded his sleeve, revealing countless command seals he stole from his father after accurately guessing the bible verse to transferred them. "Abiding by the summons of the Holy Grail, if thou dost accede to this will and reason..."

Archer, who had been staring at Kirei amused, continued the chantings. "I hereby swear. Thy offering shall be my flesh, Kotomine Kirei. My new master."

The command seals on Kirei glowed as they both stared at each other smiling.

"Now Kirei, continue to play your role properly and don't interfere with my collection of treasures." said Archer. "I shall reward you with the Grail."

Kirei looked at Archer as the light of the command seals dimmed. "Consider it done, King of Heroes." replied the priest smiling. "May you have your fill of amusement. Until the moment I find the answer I seek, I shall gladly play the fool."