Other Dimension's Knight

Leaving the now abandoned and destroyed church, Archer carried the fainted Rin in his arm while Alexander was checking for any surprise attacks. Rin had a very low pulse and was barely breathing, the healing Archer gave could not completely heal someone at the cusp of death. The plan worked, but barely, Rin took the risk and managed to win the trade.

Meanwhile Alexander was monitoring the situation in the United-States. His participation in the Holy Grail War was nearly over as he needed to head over America and deal with actual problems, not a bunch of juvenile magus trying to get a wish from a cup. Alas, he still needed to kill the two remaining servants in the war, although Berserker would not pose any problems, Caster could still be annoying and target innocents or the masters.

They arrived at the Emiya Residence, which was their de facto base for the war ever since Rin decided so. Sakura opened the door as Shirou was apparently sulking in his room.

" Yes, who is i- " started Sakura but opened her eyes when she saw the extremely tanned man with white hair holding her sister Rin, who looked quite bad, in his arm.

She looked back and saw the one who healed her body from the atrocities she suffered back then, Alexander, and her look obviously demanded answers.

" Y-yes, please go in... " she said before letting Archer go into the eyes, not breaking eye contact with Alexander.

Archer, who seemed to know the house without actually going inside of it, went straight for Rin's room to let her rest and recover slowly from her injury..

" Umm... Alexander-san, what happened to my sister ? " asked Sakura now that Archer was gone.

" Quite a bit actually, well I'll tell you after when everyone is woken up. " said Alexander as he entered the house.

" Alexander-san, everyone is already awake though ... " said Sakura.

" It's in the middle of the night why would Shirou not be sleeping ? " answered Alexander, he knew Saber would most likely not sleep but Shirou needed to rest so surely he would stay in bed and sleep ?

" Well, earlier Senpai woke up everyone in the house by shouting since he wanted to go outside somewhere but Saber-san refused to let him go. When I asked him what was happening he simply returned to his room. " said Sakura.

" ... That retard. " cursed Alexander as he entered the living room. Alexander was usually calm but Shirou simply kept getting on his nerves by endangering everyone with his stupid ideas, without realizing how much he was dear to some people.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Although it was currently about 3 A.M, everyone was gathered around the table, while Rin was sleeping in her futon. Shirou was glancing nervously at Sakura as he didn't understand why she was here when they were obviously going to talk about the Holy Grail War. He tried to tell her that it was private or not important for her but she refused any excuse he might have and actually even Alexander countered his argument, much to his confusion.

" As you can see, we've managed to get Alexander back, well not that he needed much help to begin with, but Caster and her Master disappeared before we could do anything. " said Archer, his eyes closed and his arms crossed.

Shirou sweated and was about to try and make it look like it was some sort of joke but was shocked when he saw that Sakura had no reaction. ' She couldn't be aware of the war right ? ' thought the red-haired magus.

" Anyway, I've double checked the situation, and with what Archer told me, that the Shadow is still alive, I've localized the creature, it is currently frantically absorbing people's soul to restore its strength. It is currently weakened but very well hidden. Fortunately I've managed to spot it with my eyes. " said Alexander, with a cup of tea in his hand. Although there was little actual cups in the household, Saber and Alexander monopolized them.

" There should not be any surprise left if the situation doesn't drastically change " added the white-haired knight.

" So what happened to Rin ? " questioned Saber.

" She was hit by one of caster's beam before I could destroy it or protect her and had a gaping hole in her stomach. " said Archer.

Shirou rised in anger at Archer's words as it seemed like he didn't care about what happened to her.

" Then how is she still alive ? If I remember correctly, Alexander you told me that you weren't able to heal mortal wounds in your form is that correct? " asked Saber before Shirou could say anything.

" Yes, but Archer managed to heal her partially before she could die. She now just need to rest for a few days and she'll be able to make a full recovery." said Alexander.

" You realize how dangerous that plan was Alexander ? Plus if you could escape Caster from the beginning, I hope you can give us an explanation about why you would endanger Rin that way ? " said Saber at Alexander, sounding a little bit angry in the process.

" Yes. Although I do not have any excuse, I simply is related to her in some way, but obviously she wasn't the one I knew because I wasn't present in this dimension. I wanted to take advantage of the dream cycle to learn what happened to her, that's all. " said Alexander.

Silence ensued Alexander's statement and Shirou was gritting his teeth, but ultimately decided to let it go since atleast Rin wasn't dead.

" I see ... " said Saber, sipping her tea once more.

" More importantly, do you know the situation about what is happening right now in America ? " asked Archer.

" Yes, don't worry about it, if these things manage to get rid of ORT it'll only be beneficial for us, I can handle it afterward. " said Alexander.

" I guess so... since I've been tasked to assist you with the problem and trust your capabilities I guess it's fine for now. " said Archer sighing.

Meanwhile both Sakura and Shirou had lost the meaning of this conversation. Shirou knew what threat they were talking about but didn't understand why Archer needed to help him, and Sakura didn't even know of the threat.

" Now that we've spoken about this .... it's time to get to another topic.... Shirou, do you mind explaining why you tried to leave this home tonight ? " said Alexander narrowing his eyes on the red-haired boy.

Nobody said anything for a while but Sakura was looking at Alexander and Shirou in quick succession, as if trying to plead Alexander to not be so harsh against her senpai, because she quickly understood that it wasn't going to get pretty for him. Even Saber didn't defend him this time. While Archer looked even more pissed than ever and kept sighing.

" Erm ... I just wanted to help.. " said Shirou, averting his eyes.

Alexander frowned at his words and sighed. He decided to hit where it hurt tonight, so that maybe Shirou could maybe not take a path he would regret later.

" Who asked for your help ? " said Alexander, taking a much harsher tone than before. His voice that was already deep enough normally now was terrifying. Sakura visibly trembled at the tension present, but the two other servants didn't seem to be affected.

" No one but .... Yes! If I was here Rin wouldn't have been hurt ! " said Shirou.

" What is wrong with you ? You have no power, how would you have stopped her from getting hurt ? " said Alexander.

" ... I could have atleast been able to take the attack for her ? " said Shirou, visibly out of answers.

" You know that the beam would have just skewered you both in that case ? Although I do agree that you have way less worth than her in this war, that isn't something someone sane would be saying. So you're just someone that values others over yourself no matter what ? " said Alexander as Shirou winced at his words.

" But ... I wonder .... Is it because you want to be hero ? Or are you just suicidal ? " said Alexander.

" If that's the second option I guess it's fine, but I believe there are easier way to do so ... The problem is if it's the first option. No, more importantly, you can't be wanting to be a hero of justice ... there's too many inconsistancies. " said Alexander.

Shirou got quite angry at this statement while Archer was smirking a bit, but Alexander didn't let Shirou speak.

" You ... what have you done during all of your life ? This era is darker than I've ever seen. People stepping on others for riches, and that is considered normal, if you don't accept it, then you're considered an outcast ... I've only spent a bit of time in this era of darkness and observed a bit. It doesn't take a genius to guess what has been happening in the world. The disparities are bigger than ever, no, it would be better to say that they're so huge it's ridiculous. Meanwhile, you, who wants to be a hero, there is a lot of people that needs help, people that have nothing, it wouldn't change your life to help atleast a little group, but you didn't.

There so many people in dire situation, in fact, quite ironically, it's in the darkest era that there is the least heroes to help people. There is a good number of explanations for that, but the problem is that the heroes needed right now aren't the ones that would slay the dragon that terrorize the town, it isn't the one that would vanquish the invaders under the flag of his country, no .... The people that could be saved aren't terrified of phantasmal beasts, no, this era need a different kind of hero, one that can stand against the majority of opinions, one that can give to other, guide other and so on.... The power that you need to help people is money now... In fact weak humans have made it so individual strength is nearly useless.

So now, you who seems to live in one of the wealthiest house in this city, what have you done with all of your power... A hero is someone who helps other through darkness, it is far from being selfless, it's just that the current humans have sank so deep into vices that helping others when there's nothing to win in the first place seems selfless I guess. Your act of selflessness and pseudo-determination is just to make up with what you lack, meaning literally everything else that is required to be a hero. Saying everyone can become a hero is false, without power, wanting to help other is just foolishness... The main problem is that you have the power that is needed to help people in this era, and didn't do anything... So that's why your wish to become a hero is nothing but a foolish ideal you've put on your back in order to keep you from breaking already more than you are.... "

" If you can't even hold the weight of your own life, how can you say you'll be able to take on the weight of others ? "