Another day, another Servant downed. It was distressing to the transfer student. Each day he and his partner found out just who was stronger than who, and only the strongest of the strong remained… And, of course, himself. Waver Velvet. The weakest, yellow bellied Master of them all. The only way he was able to survive all this was the fact that he had such a great Servant, but even that wasn't enough. He was scared. He lived every day in fear, or, to borrow the words of Iskandar, every day was just a little more excitement than his frail frame could support.

In a stupor of melancholy, Waver pressed his cheek to his window. The rain dripped down thick like sheets and tapped against the pane, making it cold to his skin. It was uncomfortable to him, but he did not move away. He felt like he seserved the dull pain of the cold. He felt like it reminded him that his body was living. He only felt dead. On the floor laid the large man he had summoned, gulping down Calpis in every flavour. He was always very egar to try new things, and tonight his mission was to figure out which of the bottles suited his palette better. He had tried speaking with Waver at the beginning of his mission, only to be met with silence. It was discouraging, but the Rider felt it would be better to leave the boy to his own devices tonight.

"Rider…" Waver began, his voice hoarse from an hour or so of not even opening his mouth. The large man finished his drink before sitting up on his haunches, turning to his Master in anticipation.

"What is it, boy? Are you ready to go take on that Saber? Or how about Archer? I've been saving Ionian Hetaroi just for the occasion, you know!" Isakandar laughed a hearty laugh, a cheery grin on his face. It slowly dissolved from his cheeks when he saw that Waver's face remained a blank mask he found himself unable to read from. His kindly wrinkled eyes scanned over his body language slowly, but he found nothing there as well. His Master just seemed… hollow.

"I've had enough of this, Rider. There's nothing more I can do… It's enevitable that I won't prove my point. I'm going to lose you," Waver mumbled into his shirt, dashing hair from his eyes that had fallen into his face. "That's why…"

Iskandar's eyes grew wide, and the crimson light of the activated command spells had begun to dance with life.

"Boy, no," Rider could only find himself at a mumble of disbelief, his hands moving against his will as he tried his hardest to hold them back. His arms moved forward, and his thick fingers found himself around Waver's neck.

"No," he whispered again, terrified by the eerie calm in the boy's eyes as his hands moved tighter now around his throat. He wouldn't let them squeeze. He fought with all his might, but, little by little, they grew tighter. Waver's eyes sparked with something else he couldn't read. Accute panic jolted through the large man's body, and against his better reasoning, a few tears fell from his eyes and followed the crevacises in his face to his chin. Waver began to fight him, muffled noises of agony choked back by his tongue. Spit drained from the corners of his mouth, and Rider tried his hardest to let go.

"Stop me, boy! You have to stop me!" boomed the large man, losing control of his actions even more. Waver's hands wrapped around the man's and tried to pull them off, but it was simply no use. For a boy who could fall over with a tap from Iskandar on the head, getting him off would be an impossible task. "The command spells! Use one more!"

Grim determination crossed Waver's face, and he used what he could of his panicked mind to draw a command to the front of his head. Iskandar's tightening grip made it simply too hard for him to think.

Like a ray of hope, the lights of the command seal blazed with activation, but as Waver was finishing his wish to live, Iskandar had snapped his neck. The remaning two seals vanished from the boy's hand, and his body went limp into his Servant's hands.

Having stared death in the face, he had changed his view on things. He had wanted to live on. He wanted to keep going, and to prove himself in life or death in a noble battle, but in a single moment he was too scared and selfish to think straight. Everything had come to an end.

The Grail War had one less contendar, and then two, as Iskandar faded away on the last of his mana.