Chapter 1: Boy meets Saber
Open space, check. Summoning circle, check. Courage, half check. Taking a few deep breaths he reached out with his left hand, the mana slowly poured into the circle. The circle began to glow bright red, it was working. He continued to pour mana into the circle, it glowed brighter and brighter and a flash of light signified the end. His vision was hazy, by the time it returned to normal there was a woman standing in the middle of the circle.
The man before her had a shocked smile on his face, she offered him a gentle smile. The man relaxed and stood up, his faded dark blue eyes were visible behind his unruly black hair. He was wearing a white baggy vest with a red stain-like splash, blue jeans and black and white sneakers. For some reason, he had bandages going from his fingers to his shoulders.
"Are you my master?" She asked.
"Oh! Uh... umm... Yes, yes I am. Hi, nice to meet you." The black haired boy greeted. He looked at the woman standing in front of him, she had blonde hair done up in a braided bun, emerald green eyes and blue and white dress with gold accents.
"I am Saber, I apologise, but I wish to keep my real name a secret." Saber introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you Saber." He smiled. "I'm Rei, Rei Emiya." Rei finally introduced himself. Rei started wincing and scratching his arms, his breathing became heavy and raspy.
"Are you okay master?" Saber asked, Rei calmed down and looked at her.
"I... I'm fine, I just used up too much mana at once." Rei sighed. "Also, call me Rei. That master thing doesn't suit me." A sharp pain shot through Rei's left hand, the command seals began to form.
"Very well Rei." Saber responded.
"Alright then, if that's all the formalities sorted out, let's talk." Rei clapped. "Though maybe we should go inside the house first, it's getting a bit cold." He shivered.
The first thing Saber noticed about the house was how familiar it was, it was the house that her previous master lived in. Rei's last name wasn't just a coincidence, he had some relation Shirou. Rei and Saber sat at the table in the centre of the room, Rei tried to think of a starting point.
"Okay then, The Holy Grail War. It's been twenty – four years since the last one, and the rules have been tweaked." Rei started, Saber nodded at each point to signify that Rei was right. "Instead of seven mages participating, it's now fourteen. This war will probably be difficult for most participants, but there are those who have been preparing and they'll be the ones to avoid for a while." Rei noted.
"Do you not plan on fighting?" Saber inquired.
"Only when attacked, I'm playing this defensively, I'm not going to start fights I can't win." The boy nodded.
"That's a very flawed plan." Saber pointed out.
"I am very much aware of that, I just don't really want to kill people." The black haired boys voice went dry when he mentioned killing, his left eye twitched slightly to. "Anyway, a rule that was emphasised a few times was that we can take other masters command seals and take their servants from them." Worry was plastered across Rei's face as he mentioned this. "What else? I think that's about it right?"
"I believe so, yes." Saber nodded in agreement.
"Great!" Rei exclaimed. "So what do we do now?" Rei asked.
"I am at your command." Saber stated, Rei banged his head on the table.
"Thanks, that makes things so much easier to decide." Rei mumbled. "How about you take a look around the house, while I get ready for school tomorrow." Rei stood up and slightly staggered a few times while heading to his room.
Saber walked around the house for a while and checked to see if everything was the same, it was mostly the same. There was some pictures up that hadn't been there twenty-four years ago and Rei occupied Shirou's old room. Saber checked her old room, everything was the same as it was the last time she had entered. The wardrobe had a fresh change of casual clothes, Saber decided to get changed for the rest of the day.
Rei was listening to music whilst studying, he occasionally rubbed his eyes or scratched his bandaged arms.
Dinner time arrived and Rei started cooking in the kitchen, he was making rice and grilled fish. It didn't take long for Rei to step out of the kitchen and set everything down, he and Saber silently ate their dinner as the TV played in the background. After dinner the shadowy haired boy blinked rapidly a few times and rubbed his eyes, he began to massage the area around them.
"Rei? Are you okay?" Saber was concerned, Rei had been doing stuff like this since they met.
"I'm fine, Saber. Really..." Rei trailed off. "Fine." He sighed. "Can you walk me to my room, I need to rest."
"Why can't you walk there by yourself."
"Because I'm blind." Rei stated.
'That explains the faded colour of his eyes.' Saber thought. "Very well." Saber helped Rei to his room, he immediately collapsed onto his futon.
"Good night Saber." Rei yawned.
"Good night." Saber smiled softly.