Fate Stay Night - Medea Caster route

"Shirou here you are!" Taiga Fujimura sald happily as soon she saw Shirou. "No, you don't have to worry, yesterday Kuzuki-sensei called me and told me everything... Is the woman alright?" Taiga then asked a bit concerned. 

"Well... physically yes. I don't know what happened to her but at first she clearly didn't trust me, but now I can say that she seemed a bit more relaxed. While we are talking she is eating the breakfast that I made her.' 

"Good work Shirou, nothing is better than your cooking in the morning!... By the way, could you tell me where and how you did find her?" 

"I was returning home from the temple when I heard a strange sound, I turned around and then I saw her on the ground. She was exhausted, soaked and she was bleeding... yes, the wound on her stomach was just a shallow cut, but still, how did she get it?" 

"That poor woman... I would like to talk to her but for now, I would only bother her. By the way, Shirou, where is the head priest?" 

"The head priest? He and the rest of the monks are on a pilgrimage." Shirou answered 

"Ah, so there is only Kuzuki-sensei here..." She turned to Kuzuki and asked: "Did she had other kinds of wounds? Some kind of bruises in certain places?" 

"I don't know, I only checked and treated the cut on her stomach." The man said with no emotion in his voice. 

"Ah ok... wait, you don't know? What do you mean?" Taiga asked a bit confused. 

At that moment Kuzuki turned his head toward Shirou, who in the meantime turned a bit red. 

"Emiya-Kun did you saw if the woman had other kinds of physical traumas or wounds?" 

"...No, she had just the cut on her stomach." Shirou said calmly even if he was blushing a little. After undressing her he had examined the woman's body from head to toes to see if she had other injuries, it was not the time to get embarrassed by such things. 

Taiga, clearly shocked, was staring at Kuzuki, and not even after a moment she excialmed: "WHAT?! You let HIM take care of her?! Why YOU didn't do it?!" 

Kuzuzi then answered her question calmly as ever: 

"Fujimura-sensei, I have to remind you that I'm just a guest and those who accepted me here left the temple to my care. My priority was to inform the head priest about the situation, I also asked him if he would permit them to let her stay here, and he had no problem with it, but since he and the rest of the monk will return today we decided that after their return we would transfer her somewhere else if she does not have a place to stay. Anyway, to answer your question, I know that Emiya-Kun is a reliable person and I saw no problem in leaving the woman to him. I would have changed her myself after calling the head priest, but it was clear that Emiya-Kun was concerned about her health so I let him take care of her." 

"..." Taiga said nothing. 

How could she forget it? It has always been Shirou's dream to save and help people, she could not get angry with him... not that he did something wrong, he did save the woman, It's the part where he undressed her that was unnecessary.

Oh well, she would talk to Shirou later, now she had to put some common sense into the head of the other teacher! But before that.... 

"By the way Shirou, take this," She handed him a bag. "In there are some clothes for the woman, Kuzuki-sensel said that she had a similar physique to mine so these should fit her." 

"Ok, I will bring them to her, see you later Fuji-nee." Shirou said with a smile. 

"Good, see you later Shirou~." Taiga said with a cheerful tone... then she slowly turned her head around. "Now Kuzuki-sensei, I think we should talk about your priority as fellow teachers..." 

"!" He said nothing and just took a step back. 

For the first time in his life the ex-assassin sensed that his life was in immediate danger, he knew that it was already too late to do anything, but before he could react-

"Wait, Sensei, did you just said that she could not remain here? Where you intend to transfer her?" Shirou asked. 

Kuzuki was really glad that his young student interrupted the one-sided massacre that was about to happen. 

"We have not decided yet, first you should ask her if she lives around here, If not we can search for someone willing to take her." 

"I can let her stay at my home for a while, I will stay home all day since school has yet to start and I will start to work only by next week." 

"B-But Shirou, you have already done enough for her, we should let them dec-" Taiga started to say. 

"No Fuji-nee, it was not enough for her and she is still in a bad spot. I am the one who saved her and I should take care of her, I don't want to bother neither Kuzuki-sensei nor the head priest any longer, they have already done enough." 

"But Shiruo, I cannot leave you alone with a woman..." 

"Why? Do you think that something may happen? You can remain at my home if you want, but that changes nothing, I will let her stay at my place if she doesn't have a place to go." Shirou said fully knowing that since the woman was a foreign she had no place to stay for now. 

Taiga didn't know how to respond, she knew that Shirou was a kind kid and yet sometimes he could be so stubborn that she could only be impressed by it. She knew about his dream and his promise to the dying Kiritsugu, and she already knew that something like this may have happened after Kuzuki called her. 

"Fine, but I will have to talk to her later, we still don't know who she is and how she got in that situation. Now I have to talk with Kuzuki-sensei..." 

"Ok, see you later Fuji-nee." 

And with that Shirou returned to the dining-room where Medea was waiting. He noted that her plate was clean, and she was clearly satisfied. 

"So Medea-san, it seems that we cannot remain here, you wouldn't mind staying at my place for a while? I just asked my guardian and she gave me her permission."

'Why do we need to leave?' Caster thought. 'This is a good place to stay, could it be that someone is already monitoring us? And... wait, did he said his guardian? The person that has just come here was his guardian? Oh... now it makes sense. They took me here so that I could recover my strength in a secure place, then after confirming my identity and I was willing to collaborate or that I was reasonable enough they would take me to their base to talk... so the real mastermind behind all of this was this person: Fuji-nee.' 

that 

"No, I have no problem with it..." She then answered. 

"Is there something wrong?" Shirou asked. 

"No nothing, we should go, I will just ask you later." 

"Ok, but since the clothes that you had were ruined you should use this," He said as he handed her the bag. "I hope that they will fit." 

"...Thanks?" She sald as she watched the bag with a certain confusion. 

'Doesn't he know that I can recreate them? Or he just wants that I do not spend the mana for such things?' 

"You're welcome." He said with a gentle smile. 

After 5 minutes they were ready to go. They got out and Medea waited for Shirou near the temple exit while he went to say his goodbyes to his teacher... or that was what he said. 

'Did he went to give the man his last orders? If no one remains at the temple they wouldn't know if someone else would come here, since I don't feel any kind of familiar I have to think that the assassin is working for them as some kind of spy. 

After Shirou returned to her they started to walk. 

They walked to his home in complete silence, Shirou noted that Medea kept looking around as if looking for something but he didn't say anything, maybe this wasn't the first time she passed around here. 

While walking Medea stayed on guard in case some third-party attacked them, lucky nothing ever happened, but she couldn't sense if Assassin was following them or if he was already at the base. 

After 30 minutes they arrived in the front of the home, and Medea sensed that there was an impressive bounded field for modern standards. It was clear that the person who made it was an expert, no normal mage would be able to sense it without getting discovered, but still, it was only a bounded field that warned if someone with hostile intentions entered in the field... Huh, it was just like she thought, they have been careful and this would be their final test to see if they could trust her or not. She could enter into the field without getting detected just like an Assassin or destroy it in an instant, but they would notice it and they would realize that she wanted to hide her true intention. 

Not that she would do it, she would really like to form an alliance with someone competent like them, unlike with her ex-master she was now dealing with people who knew what they were doing. She just had to convince Assassin that she wouldn't betray him... or not yet at least. 

They entered the home and he let her sit in the living-room, he asked if she wanted some tea and she accepted. After a while he gave her a cup, she drank it and she started to relax, the tea was really delicious. 

Now it was time to ask about their plan and alliance..

"So, what is your plan for the Holy Grail War?" She asked observing the boy really carefully. Now she would be able to read him like a book, no detail now could escape from her. 

The boy looked at her, he put down his cup of tea and said: "The holy what?" Clearly confused. 

"...Eh?" 

"...Medea-san are you feeling well? What are you talking about? A war? What war?" The boy asked clearly concerned for her. He now looked at her as if she had taken a hit to the head a moment earlier. 

Medea stared at the boy deadpanned for almost a minute straight without saying anything, then she let out a long groan. 

"Please tell me that you are joking..." She said as she started to massage her left temple. 

"What?" It was the only thing that Shirou could say. 

*1 hour after* 

Medea had a terrible headache. 

She closed her eyes and started to think. 

Yes, she reached the conclusion that she got a bit too paranoid, but it wasn't entirely her fault, she now was involved in a war against 6 other heroic spirits, she had to be careful, in the past behaving like this saved her life plenty of times! 

Yea, she jumped to some conclusion out of nowhere and way too fast, but what could she do? She had just woken up and there were too many coincidences, she simply started to misunderstand all of them, and it was all the fault of the boy in front of her! 

This strange boy... she could not understand him, he was not a standard magus, he had no trace of magic inside of him if not for that thing that even the boy didn't know about it.. 

Anyway, at first, she was sure that the boy was an incredibly gifted young magus that was involved with the Holy Grail War, but 'nooooo' he was not a good magus and he didn't even know about the War! No trash that, he knew almost nothing about magic at all! By Hecate, he could not be even called a magus! 

She opened her eyes and watched the boy as he was preparing another tray of tea, she could note that he was a bit mortified. 

'Huh, at least he is good at making tea. She thought while taking another sip from her cup. No matter how many cups of his incredibly good tea she drank, her headache never calmed down. 

Still, even if he was not a normal magus he was a bit strange as a person... and strangely she could not figure out why. It was something very strange for her, who with a simple glance could tell the kind of person she was dealing with.

When she asked him if he was a magus he got defensive as if he did not expect her to discover him, then she asked all kinds of questions and... Just- Why- How could someone be so inept with magic?! She asked him some of the most simple and basic questions and he had no idea how to respond! What kind of teacher was his father?! He said that the bounded field around his home was made by his father before he died, she was sure that he had to be an expert, but why he could not even discover his son Element and Origin?! The boy even said that at first, his father didn't want to teach him magic at all! 

Oh well, now she did not care anymore, she was now thinking about something more... important. 

Only now as she spoke with him she realized that all the things that the boy had said at the temple were sincere, he truly only wanted to help her since the beginning. 

She, the Witch Of Betrayal, had been saved, and the person who saved her wanted nothing in return. That has been the first time in her life that someone showed her something like kindness... and as she thought about it she started to feel a bit uneasy. 

But after she asked her questions the boy started to ask her his questions about the war. 

'There is a war?' 'Are other mages involved?' 'Will something happen to the people in Fujuki?' 'Do I have to save them?' and so on... 

She told him some detail about it, and she did not even realize it that an hour flew like nothing. After speaking with him for a while about the war she had realized that she had 

been saved by someone who aimed to be some kind of hero... heroes were people she despited to death, but with him, she didn't know how to react. 

Some of the hero traits were there, but he was clearly different from the so-called 'heroes' of her time. It seemed that the only desire and objective of the boy was to save others. He didn't care about the war and the price the winner woud recive, he just desired to save people and to do good... He was someone who she could define as a good person. 

It was the first time that someone saved her, and for some reason, as she thought about it Medea even asked herself if he would have saved her if he knew who she was. He now knew that she was some kind of heroic spirit coming from Greece, but maybe he didn't know very well her legend, she would talk to him later. 

Other than that the two of them clearly could not work together, it was clear that he would go out of his way to save and help those who were not involved in the war, while she... was Indifferent. She did not care about the civilians, but at the same time, she would not go around killing people just for her personal pleasure. 

But the boy didn't have to know that, she still needed an ally and the boy said that he would help her... but how? Yes, she was very grateful that the boy saved her, but she doubted that he could be a good ally. He said that he knew only simple spells like Reinforcement and Structural Analysis... well, she would give him a try, what could go wrong? In the worst case, she will just take advantage of his kindness and will use the boy to replenish her mana reserves when she needs it. 

"Boy." 

"Y-Yes?" Shirou said as he snapped out of his thoughts. 

"You said that you don't know your Element and Origin, would you like if I find them out?" 

"Wh- really?! Yes!" Sald the boy clearly excited. 

*5 minutes after* 

Medea had mixed feelings and had a stronger headache.

She knew that something was wrong with the boy, but she expected nothing like this... 

At first it was all normal, she made the boy sit with his back turned toward her after having him remove his shirt, she ignored his embarrassment and after placing a hand on his back she started to analyze him. 

She searched his magic circuits and noted that there were 27 of them, an Impressive and good number for someone like him, but they were of poor quality and it seemed that they had never been used. Luckily with some spells she could restore and even improve them a bit, with the right Element and Origin he could become a good magus. 

But from then things started to get very complicated. 

When she wanted to search his Element and Origin she only sensed 'Sword'. 

'...He is an Incarnation?!" She thought shocked. 

Incarnations were beings extremely rare even during the Age Of The Gods, but he was not a 'simple' incarnation, he something else, he was the incarnation of SWORD! How could someone become an incarnation of a simple object like a sword!? 

She was sure that she was watching something or someone unique in the entire history of... everything. This boy was a unique specimen, something never seen before, something of Inestimable value. 

Well, now she no doubt wanted him as an ally, if trained well he could become a first-rate fighter, maybe with his skills alone he could even fight without a problem a Servant, and If she reinforced him with her high-level magic he... no, she could think about that later, now she had to discover the thing inside of him. 

She continued to analyze him, thinking that she would not be able to find something that would be able to shock her more, but then she felt too many things... like an artifact of the Fae, coming from the Age of Gods that had incredibly high-level healing capability and... a Reality Marble. She in the meantime also noted that his soul was somehow younger than his body. 

'...What in the names of the gods is this thing? By Hecate...' She thought as she stopped her analysis right there. 

What kind of monster had she just met? What was standing in front of her?...Was he really just a clueless boy or he was just a monster in disguise? 

After she stopped her analysis she started to watch the boy for a while, and she didn't sense any kind of hostile intent on his part... after a bit, she started to lower her guard and sighed in relief. 

She took her hand off his back and started to think, what was standing in front of her was just a simple boy, if she wanted to explain to him what he was he probably would not be able to comprehend since he had very poor knowledge of magic, how could she explain to him that he was a thing rarer than the gods? 

She, unfortunately, met and Interacted with many gods in her life, but she never saw or heard of something like him, she was sure that even Hecate herself would remain completely speechless if she saw him. 

"Well? What are the... Medea-san, something's wrong?" Asked Shirou after he saw her expression. 

"Boy..." She sighed. "Could you gently give me another cup of tea?" She asked. She now really needed to calm herself and to think.

"Sure, but what is the problem?" 

"You. You are the problem." She told him bluntly. 

"What? Did I do something wrong?" 

"No, It's just... difficult to explain, you are just more special than you think." 

"...Ok." said Shirou before putting his shirt on and going back to the kitchen. 

'This will be difficult to explain, for now I should only tell him about the artifact and the fact that he is an Incarnation. Even I, a mage from the Age of Gods, don't know much about Reality Marbles other than the common points. I know that they are the inner world of powerful beings that have a distorted vision of the world around them, and these beings can manifest it at will... But what happened to the boy? How did he obtain a goddamn Reality Marble?! He Is not a demon or an allen with thousands of years of life... but he is an Incarnation after all.... Anyway I should also study the Sheath that is inside of him. Her thoughts then were interrupted by Shirou when he placed a cup of tea in front of her. 

"Medea-san, could you tell me what you discovered?" 

"Boy, first you should understand the basics of magic, then you could have a chance to understand what you are." 

"..." He simply stared at her. 

"We should first start by the simple basic..." 

*4 hours after* 

"So... I'm the living Incarnation of Sword?" Shirou asked as he scratched his head, he was a bit shocked at this sudden revelation. 

"Yes. You know boy, I am surprised that you understood everything so fast despite your previous lack of knowledge, it's a shame that you cannot learn standard magic." Caster sald a bit displeased. The boy had revealed to be pretty clever and he was able to grasp different concepts quickly. 

"Why? Oh, it's because of my Element and Origin?" 

"Exactly." 

"...So, what kind of magic I am better suited to?" 

"Hmmm, from your element and origin I can guess Structural Analysis and-" 

"SHIROOOOOU." A voice screamed from the entrance. 

"What... who was it?" Caster asked as she got caught a bit off guard.

"Right, I forgot to tell you that my guardian wanted to talk with you." Shirou said as he started to get up. 

"Huh, do you know why?" Caster asked. 

"She wanted to know what happened to you... and now that I think of it, you didn't tell me either." Shirou realized at that moment. 

"Boy, Is she a magus too?" 

"No, she is not." Shirou immediately responded. 

"I will tell her a different story from the real one, but is there something you can tell me about her?" 

"...She may seem an airhead, but in reality she is really good at understanding people, try to lie as little as possible." 

"Good, thank you for letting me know... ah, and from now on call me Caster." 

"Caster? Why should I call you with your class name?" 

"Medea is my real name, if someone ever wanted to discovered my Identity they could even capture the woman and force her to-" 

"Understood, just make sure that you convince Fuji-nee while you keep her out of the war." Shirou said as he immediately understood what she meant. 

"Sure, It will be very easy. But just to be sure I would like to use magic on he-" 

"No!" He suddenly said immediatly cutting her off. 

"...Ok boy, I'm sorry if I said something wrong." Caster said in a careful tone. The boy may be a failure as a magus, but she didn't know how dangerous he could be, he was an incarnation and had a Reality Marble after all. 

"I understand what you meant and you don't have to worry, but I'll tell you now just to make sure that this will not happen again in the future, don't you think ever again to use magic on a members of my family." Shirou said with a serious tone, and the way he was saying it sounded like a threat. 

"...You never cease to amaze me boy, you know?" Caster said really surprised. She did not expect this boy of gentle nature to switch to an almost threatening behavior like that... yes, she could use his desire to protect his family members to make him a good ally. 

"Well, It turned out that this time I didn't forget the keys..." Talga sald as she opened the living-room door and then she stopped when she saw the foreign beauty sitting in front of Shirou. She never saw a beautiful woman like her, and for a moment she was enchanted by her. 

"Ehem! It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Taiga Fujimura." Taiga then said a bit embarrassed as she snapped out of her trance.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Taiga-san, I'm Caster." She said in a calm tone bowing her head a little. 

Taiga watched the woman, she didn't have the aspect of someone unreliable or dangerous, but she could tell that there was something strange in her, she simply didn't know what.... 

"Shirou, could you start to cook? It's still a bit soon but I'm already hungry... ah, and could you give me some tea too?" 

"Sure Fuji-nee. By the way, Caster-san, do you have any preferences for lunch?" He asked as he went towards the kitchen. 

"No, I already know that everything you cook will be good." 

"Thanks." Shirou said a bit embarrassed. 

"Oh? Good work Shirou, you have been with her for a few hours and she already knows that you mastered the kitchen, not that I expected less from you." Taiga said with a proud smile, clearly pleased before she sitted at the table. "Now Caster-san... if it doesn't bother you, could you tell me what happened to you?" Taiga asked her with a gentle tone, but Medea could see her eyes getting sharper ready to catch a lie or some discrepancy in her story, the boy was right. 

"Well..." 

*1 hour later* 

"I'm sorry for asking, I should have expected it..." Talga sald while she had her head bowed. 

"You don't have to worry about it, the worst has already happened." Medea said. 

Medea told the woman a mix of her old life and what happened with her master, the story was pretty convincing and tragic, perfect for the kind of woman that was in front of her. In fact, she could tell the woman was feeling kinda uncomfortable, uncomfortable enough that she would not ask more questions. 

"In fact I truly cannot be grateful enough to Shirou for... giving me a second chance." Medea said. "If it wasn't for him I now would hav-" Medea suddenly stopped talking as at that moment she sensed a magus approaching the house. 

She turned toward Shirou, but he was distracted with cooking. 

"No, you don't have to finish, just keep relaxing while you're here." Said Taiga as she noted that Caster had a worried look while she looked at Shirou. 

Taiga was sure that this woman deep down was really happy to be saved, she was very good at reading people, and she could tell that the woman was not the type of person who searched for troubles, she could say that all the things that happened to her was just because... of bad luck. Taiga then turned around and watched the clock on the wall, it was almost time for lunch, sooner or later she should arrive... 

*Ding dong* 

"Don't worry Shirou, I'll go to open the door." Sald Taiga while getting up and going out of the room, before she started to walk toward the entrance

"Boy, the one who knocked is another Magus. Do you know who it could be?" Caster immediately said.

"W-What?! I know no other mage!" Shirou said as he got out of the kitchen almost running. "What should we do? No, I have to first stop Taig-"

"Don't. The bounded field didn't activate, it means that the magus has no hostile intention. Boy, I know that you don't want to involve others but before you act you must think. Let's just say that now you rushed towards the magus, how would he have reacted? He would have attacked both you and Taiga, I know that you may be able to dodge an attack, but what about your guardian? Just now you had almost put her in danger."

"I..."