Disclaimer: None of the characters are of my property.
Sorry it took so long – real life got in the way, see.
Sentences in italics are thoughts or telepathic conversations with Servants. Points of view may change between divisions as indicated by my linebreaks, so I hope you can tell whose point of view it is.
x~~*~~x
I
"So, are you my Master?"
From my position on the shed's floor, I looked up towards the source of the voice. Here was the person whose sudden appearance had singlehandedly driven the nun who attacked me away. She was a young girl, no older than fourteen years of age. Her short turquoise hair was kept in place by a pair of yellow hairclips, and she was wearing a tight fitting top that accentuated her developing breasts. Her top was short enough so that her navel would be exposed, and unbidden, my eyes raked downwards and stopped at where her navel should be.
In its place was a turquoise jewel shaped like a moon. Around her top, she wore a white cape that was fastened to her neck, holding a saber in her right hand. Her turquoise eyes bored into me with a look that radiated determination.
"Huh?" I managed after a while, feeling the pain in my abdomen and back dissipate little by little. "What—"
Without warning, she turned around and crouched, enveloping herself in her cape. Standing up quickly, her cape unraveled to reveal a wall of swords that now separated me from her. Without warning, three of the swords to my front-and-right shattered as though super-packed dense air had struck them.
"Too flimsy," muttered the girl. "Master, since you're hurt, I suggest you stand back while I deal with Lancer in the meantime."
The girl abruptly dashed out of the shed to meet her opponent, who was a blur of navy-blue robes as she darted across the yard of Emiya manor.
If you're wondering how I got here, it all started this morning...
x~~*~~x
"You should seriously let me do the cooking more, Sakura," I said nonchalantly. "It's telling that I'm the master of this household and yet you're doing a lot of things for me."
The name's Emiya Shirou, adopted son of Emiya Kiritsugu. Ten years ago, I was a victim in the large conflagration that decimated an entire residential district in the heart of Fuyuki. Kiritsugu adopted me and cared for me as his own son.
The girl to my left at the table chuckled. Matou Sakura was my friend Shinji's little sister. She began to come over here a few years ago to help me out since I was living alone. My father died a few years before that, and as a result, I was entrusted to the care of the other person at this table, Fujimura Taiga, whom I call "Fuji-nee".
Back when she first started to come over, Sakura was terrible at cooking. I unofficially took her under my wing and slowly but surely, she began to learn the ways of the kitchen. Nowadays, despite my protests, Sakura comes over to cook both breakfast and dinner for me, saying that it was "the least I could do for you."
Sakura had an unnatural hair and eye color of purple. I've also noticed more and more lately that her chest is, uh...
"Shirou! Why are you getting all red and stuff? Have you finally noticed Sakura-chan's... assets?" barked Fuji-nee from across the table.
"Fujimura-sensei!" exclaimed a mortified Sakura, blushing hard. I couldn't help but blush either – Sakura seemed to be getting prettier and prettier as the day passes. Naturally, as a man of honor and an aspiring super hero, I would exercise utmost restraint in my interactions with her.
"Seconds, Sakura-chan!" said Fuji-nee, holding her bowl out to Sakura, who refilled it with rice, smiling all the while.
One important thing must be said about Taiga: Don't ever call her "Tiger" if you value your life. Just... don't. The reason for that is that her normal clothing is striped, with the color scheme similar to the coat of a tiger. Fuji-nee is also a 5th dan kendo practitioner, though she's banned from quite a few tournaments due to certain... complications involving her conduct. That being said, she named her shinai "Tora Shinai," which just further reinforces the image of Fujimura "Tiger" Taiga.
"By the way you two," said Fuji-nee. "Try not to stay out too late. Have you been hearing reports of people being found dead with gaping holes in their chest? Clinically speaking, they were pierced by a shafted object."
I shuddered when I recalled the news reports I had seen for the past week. It was as if a mad serial killer was on the loose. Sakura had turned pale at what Fuji-nee was talking about – does she not get television over at her house...?
"It's alright Sakura, let's do our best to stay safe, alright?" I reassured her. Sakura nodded, forcing a smile.
A few short minutes later, breakfast was over and Sakura and I began to clean up. Fuji-nee already left for school, since she had a few things to take care of before class started. We had to hurry up as well, because Sakura had archery practice before class this morning.
Sakura and I were finally walking to Homurabara Academy when I suddenly felt a stinging feeling on my left hand. "Senpai!" cried Sakura right as I lifted my left hand.
Blood was dripping from the back of my palm. "Senpai, we should have that checked at the school infirmary," said Sakura worriedly, motioning for me to pick up the pace.
I could only feel a dull stinging though, nothing that I couldn't handle. "Don't worry about it Sakura – I'll bandage it up later when we get to school."
Sakura continued to protest but I soon silenced her with reassurances that I would treat the injury as though it were life-threatening. In due course, we reached Homurabara Academy, and we were immediately greeted by a brown-haired girl who clapped me on the back.
"Good morning, Emiya, Matou," said Mitsuzuri Ayako. "Matou, go ahead to the hall – I have a few words with Emiya here."
"See you later, senpai. Please take care of your wound," said Sakura, bowing.
The girl left and I was left with Ayako. I was sure of what she wanted to talk to me about.
"So Emiya, why don't you come back to the Archery club?" said Ayako in a businesslike tone. "No tryouts like everyone else. You tell me you want back in, you're in. Just like that."
I sighed audibly – the conversation had gone exactly as I had expected. I was a former member of the Archery Club until I left because of a falling out with Sakura's brother. Ever since that time, Ayako here had been trying to recruit me again, telling me that she'll discipline Shinji even more when he toes the line.
"Why don't you just come to morning practice, you know, shoot for a bit and get the feel of it again. Your old locker is still there for you, Emiya. What do you say?" prompted Ayako.
"Alright, fine, I'll shoot for a bit but that's not a guarantee that I'm going to rejoin your club," I said grudgingly.
Ayako smirked and led me to the archery hall, where a surprised Sakura noticed me entering right as she finished changing into her hakama.
"Senpai, what are you doing here?" asked Sakura worriedly, her gaze drifting to my left wrist.
"Indulging your captain," I said dryly, walking towards my old locker to change into my hakama.
When I had finished changing, I found Sakura speaking to Ayako.
"...has a wound on his left wrist, I think he should really have it checked at the infirmary," finished Sakura.
Ayako looked over to me and raised an eyebrow in inquiry. "Emiya, can you shoot with that hand of yours?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore," I replied. "I can shoot with this, no problem."
As if to demonstrate, I picked up Sakura's bow from the bleachers, taking an arrow from her stock as well. I walked up to the spot where I would fire and nocked the arrow. Then, I closed my eyes.
After all the basic rules of archery, there is one very important concept that one must understand to become the perfect archer. The archer should cease being conscious of themselves as the entity engaged in hitting the target. This state of unconsciousness will only be realized when the archer is completely empty and rid of the self, and thus they become one with the attainment of the goal, which is, in this case, to hit the target.
One does not shoot at the target. One wills the self to acknowledge the success of hitting the target. The loss of self results in the self becoming the bow, and as long as one imagines hitting the target, it will be hit every single time.
I did exactly that, and I heard Ayako let out a low whistle behind me. When I opened my eyes, there it was – the arrow hit the bull's eye dead center. "You've not lost your touch just yet, Emiya," said Ayako jovially, clapping me on the back.
"I didn't promise anything," I said in defiance. "Besides, I have a part-time job to tend to, and I have to help Issei out."
"Oh please, Emiya, Ryuudou can handle his own business," said Ayako as I changed out of my hakama.
"Nevertheless, as his friend, I feel obligated to help him out," I replied.
"Man, Emiya, you're too selfless. You should consider what you want as well," retorted Ayako while Sakura just watched us with clear apprehension on her face.
I sighed audibly. "Ayako, you must understand that I do these things because I want to do them."
Ayako sniffed. "Fine, but I'll try harder next time, Emiya. Matou—", she turned to Sakura. "Shoot ten and you're done for the morning. Don't want to be late to Kuzuki-sensei's class, now, would you?"
Sakura nodded. "Well, I guess I'll be going now. See you both later," I said as I turned my back and headed to homeroom with Fuji-nee.
"Bye-bye, senpai," said Sakura as she nocked an arrow to her bow.
x~~*~~x
I arrived at the classroom at the exact same time Fuji-nee did. Class proceeded without incident, with the exception of another student calling Fuji-nee by the nickname she hates. Homeroom ended and Kuzuki-sensei entered for History class.
x~~*~~x
Lunch period came and just like I did every day, I headed over to the Student Council Room for lunch with my friend Ryuudou Issei. To be honest, I felt sorry for Issei, because he was the only member of the Student Council of Homurabara. He kept trying to draft me as his vice-president, but I rebuffed him with a few of the reasons I gave Ayako. As a token of friendship though, I made it a point to eat lunch with him and to assist him in repairing things.
As if on cue, Issei took out a small air-conditioning unit from a closet. "Say Emiya, can you fix this?"
"I think I can Issei, but I'll have to ask you to leave for a short while. You know how I can't concentrate if anyone else is in the room with me, right?"
"Make it quick, Emiya. I don't want to risk bumping into Tohsaka today," said Issei, who visibly shuddered.
Tohsaka Rin. The school idol. Consistent honor-student and current valedictorian. I will admit to myself that I have a small crush on her, but it would go no further than that. I've only interacted with her a few times, personally, and those all happened in Sakura's presence.
Sakura... Those two girls seem to have a wall between them. Tohsaka speaks kindly to Sakura but Sakura always appears to be flustered and nervous when she's around Tohsaka. Whenever I tried to bring the subject up, Sakura always seemed evasive, and thus I made the decision to no longer pry into that topic. It wasn't my business after all, but I privately thought that Tohsaka wasn't the type of person that could possibly offend Sakura. Sakura is able to tolerate Shinji, after all.
When Issei left the room, I took my toolbox out of the closet that Issei lent to me to keep my tools in and I knelt down beside the air-conditioning unit.
I whisper "Trace, on," right as I touch the appliance.
By the way, I may have forgotten to tell you that I'm a mage. Dad was also a mage, and he trained me just a bit, nothing formal. He taught me strengthening magecraft, because it seemed pretty practical. Essentially, what I do is analyze the structure of the object and infuse it with prana to strengthen it.
...in theory at least. I rarely succeed at strengthening things – I tend to break objects that I try to strengthen because I end up pouring too much prana into them. Worst of all, I have to reconstruct my magic circuit every single time I try, and if I screw that up, I could die.
So in the end, my "strengthening" magecraft has been reduced to object analysis, and as a result, I can obtain all possible information about the structural composition of the object. And so I discover the problem with the air-conditioner and quickly take it apart, repair it, and put it back together.
Satisfied with my handiwork, I stand up and open the door to find Issei standing straight and tall over by the windowsill, looking at me with a look that I can't quite discern.
"All done, Issei. Anything wrong?" I asked.
Issei frowned. "Kuzuki-sensei passed by earlier and I spoke to him. Apparently, Tohsaka hasn't been seen all day."
'Tohsaka Rin, skipping school? Is this for real?' I thought. "So she skipped school. Did you consider that she might be sick?"
Issei audibly gasped. "You're defending her? No, no... Not you too Emiya!" he exclaimed. "I won't allow you to fall for the wiles of that woman. Stay away from her Emiya, I mean it!"
I sweatdropped at Issei's exclamation and without warning, the bell signaling the end of lunchtime rang. Shrugging, I went back to the room and retrieved my bento.
x~~*~~x
Night had fallen and it finds me walking home from my part-time job in Shinto to Miyama. It was a long day and I felt really really tired. Throughout work my left hand kept itching more and more and more. Cursing, I trudged across the bridge linking Shinto to Miyama, thinking about how I'd have to soak this in warm water to at least give my hand the illusion of comfort.
I made my way to the end of the bridge near Miyama when suddenly, a girl stood in my path. She was wearing a purple winter coat, her eyes were ruby-colored and her hair was as white as the snow.
"Good evening," said the girl, curtsying. "You should summon it soon, or else you're going to die, onii-chan."
'Huh. What is that all about?'
The girl then stalked past me and left me stymied. What did she mean? I gazed at her and for some reason, I felt the urge to run as far as I could from the girl. It was as if... following her would sign my death sentence.
I ignored that feeling. I turned to the girl.
"E-Excuse me? I don't quite understand what you're talking about, uh... right, before that, what's your name, ojou-chan? My name is Emiya Shirou," I said, bowing.
When I looked up, the girl had a look of surprise on her face, as though she was expecting me to be rude to her, or to scurry away like a fearful animal. Unfazed, I stepped closer to her and knelt down so that our heads were at the same level. "A little girl like you shouldn't be out on the streets what with all the murders happening lately. What's your name?"
"Illyasviel von Einzbern. You may call me Ilya, onii-chan," said the girl as the look of surprise on her face changed to one of curiosity. "W-Why are you being so nice to me?"
"It's my duty," I said simply. "That aside... You really do look like a foreign ojou-sama! Your coat looks more expensive than anything I own and your long hair looks soft and silky."
To my surprise, I saw Ilya's cheeks flush a faint red. Evidently, she felt embarrassed by being complimented by a stranger who was at least four years her senior.
"Anyway, like I said," I continued. "It's really not safe for a cute girl like you to be out at this time of night. Who will pick you up? Do you want me to take you to your home?"
For some reason I couldn't discern, she looked positively disturbed by my goodwill. Perhaps she was just uncomfortable that a stranger such as myself was being so nice to her. "I think that you should leave me alone," said Ilya quietly.
"Oh, right, heh," I chuckled. "I didn't think that you'd see me as a dangerous person. Well, I'll be honest with you, Ilya, I'm completely harmless."
To accentuate my intentions, I raised my hands above my head in a "you're under arrest" pose, showing her that I was completely unarmed. "So, the offer still stands. I can take you home, or to where your guardian will pick you up."
Ilya wrinkled her nose and I couldn't help but smile at how cute she was being at the moment. Don't misunderstand me though – I'm not into that kind of thing.
"Well?" I prompted, extending my right hand to her.
Her cheeks tinged with red, she took my proffered hand in her own and said, "Okay, I'll take you up on your offer. Can you take me to Fuyuki Central Park?"
'Just my rotten luck – it's at the opposite end of the city!'
But in the long run, it doesn't matter because I know that I truly did a good deed tonight. Hand in hand, I walked with her back the way I came, towards Fuyuki Central Park, putting the very first thing she had told me out of my mind.
x~~*~~x
'This was completely out of the plan. I'm supposed to take revenge on onii-chan for Kiritsugu leaving me and Mother,' thought the Einzbern homunculus as she walked hand in hand with Shirou towards Fuyuki Central Park.
The plan was simple – turn Shirou in a plaything as revenge. However, Shirou being nice to Ilya had definitely put a spanner in the works. 'Maybe he's not like Kiritsugu at all... maybe. Assassin, can you feel any malicious intent coming from this person?'
'None,' replied Assassin through her telepathic link with Ilya in a soft tone.
When Assassin was summoned by Ilya, she had some doubts about the sturdiness and integrity of her Servant. For one thing, she obviously wasn't a descendant of the original Hassan-i-Sabbah. However, Sella and Leysritt had told her that the large feather sent by her family was what she would use as a catalyst in summoning her Servant.
Well, it's not like Ilya expected to summon, say, Herakles, right? In any case, she was satisfied by the capabilities of her Servant, especially at her ability to disrupt ranged attacks lower than rank B.
'You know Assassin, I'll be honest with you – it's been a few weeks since I summoned you, since you showed me your powers in the forest and you even told me your name. Yet, I don't know who you are. I'm well versed in mythological lore but for the life of me, I have no idea who you are.'
'That is not an issue, Master. It may prove to be helpful if you don't know who I am, because that means no one else will discover who I am,' replied Assassin.
'You make a good point, Assassin. After tonight, I suggest we take a break tomorrow from patrolling to further train in the forest. I need to be able to sustain at least five duplicates, yourself included.'
'If I may offer input, Master, I think that the highest number of copies you should utilize from Harmonics should be limited to two additional copies. The more I duplicate myself, the copies become exponentially weaker. I profess that this was not the case in my past life – perhaps the prana does not take to Harmonics that well?' postulated Assassin.
'We should continue to test and train some more tomorrow.'
At present, Ilya could only sustain one copy before the copy lost a proper prana supply and disappeared. Assassin's Harmonics enables her to create copies of herself, but at the cost of power for each copy, not to mention that Ilya's many magic circuits were confused as to whom they were sending prana to.
"Hey Ilya, we're already here," said Shirou, who had noticed Ilya being quiet and decided to not break the silence during their long walk. "There's a payphone over by the entrance. Here, I'll give you these coins, then you can call your guardian to pick you up, alright?"
Ilya took the proffered coins and replied, "Thank you."
The Einzbern Master blushed a little and Shirou chuckled, earning a reproachful look from the girl.
"Good night, and keep safe," said Shirou, turning his back on Ilya, waving. "Good night, Shirou."
"You might see a lot more of me from now on, onii-chan," said Ilya when Shirou was out of earshot.
Things certainly got more complicated for the Einzbern Master, that's for sure.
x~~*~~x
"Lancer," said Kotomine Kirei, priest of the church at the top of the hill. "I have a mission for you tonight."
The nun shimmered into existence, holding her silver staff at her side. "What would you have me do, priest?"
"Kill the human named Emiya Shirou, and report to me once you have finished. You may take your time in killing him, as long as you accomplish the task," said Kirei, who walked over to the tabernacle behind the altar where he had hidden Luviagelita Edelfelt's severed arm.
"Yes, Master," said the nun who stooped down to remove her chopine. She closed her eyes, and in place of the chopine, steel boots appeared on her feet.
Without warning, she disappeared from the view of the naked eye and rushed out of the church, causing the wind to blow through the open windows.
"Hey, Kotomine," came a drawl from the pew at the furthest corner from the altar. "Why do you let that mongrel address you as though you were equals?"
Kirei chuckled and replied. "My friend, in a way, the two of us are equals. I am a priest, she is a nun. Both of us serve the Catholic Church. Quite simple, really."
The man at the rear brushed some dust off of his jacket and replied, "You church types sure know how to stick together."
Kirei smirked, recalling the buffoon who was practically married to curry from the Burial Agency meetings he attended. "You'd be surprised at how wrong that statement is, Gilgamesh."
x~~*~~x
I forgot to account for one thing when I made my offer to escort Ilya to the park: Sakura. With that in mind, I rushed to the house as quick as I could. I noted that it was already nine in the evening when I passed by a convenience store on the way back and I steepened the pace, concerned for Sakura who would be presumably all alone in the house.
After fifteen minutes from the bridge, I was dead tired, panting, and surprised to find the gate still locked. "She's not here huh," I muttered, unlocking the gate and stepping inside.
I immediately proceeded to the kitchen and heated up some of the leftovers from breakfast, since I was the only one here tonight. In five minutes, I was wolfing down food as though I had never eaten before. The run from the bridge up to here sure took a lot out of me, and in ten more minutes, I was already washing the dishes.
I decided to head to the shed tonight to do some training, as was my nightly ritual. I smiled at the thought as I exited the dining hall and walked towards the backyard, gazing up at the sky with a fond look on my face. I remembered the times past when I told Dad how I'd be a superhero like him under a starry night such as this.
I did not expect what was coming.
One moment, I was walking towards the shed, the next moment, I was struck in the abdomen by a force so powerful that my neck snapped back as I retched, expunging the contents of my dinner into the air, falling onto my back onto the grass.
"G-Guh," I wheezed, trying my best to ignore the pain. Miraculously, I was able to will myself back up and I stood up unsteadily on my two feet. I looked around and saw the culprit.
Behind me was a girl who was roughly two years my junior dressed in the garb of a nun. In her right hand was a silver staff with six prongs at the end.
"Sorry, but I'm under orders to kill you," she said politely in keigo.
What. Kill me? What in the world...?
Without moving, she struck the wood with the bottom of her staff. I stumbled over onto my behind and I felt the whoosh of the air strike the area where my center of mass was mere seconds ago.
"How are you doing that?" I screamed wildly as I made for the shed as fast as I could. I ran in a zigzag, so as to throw off the attacks that she was inexplicably throwing at me. The first blow hurt like a bitch, and I was not prepared for the second blow that sent me careening into the doorframe right as I entered the shed where I did my training.
Stars exploded across my vision as my head throbbed. Before I could react, I felt the incoming attack but was far too dazed to avoid it. I heard the audible ding of the staff striking the porch and the blow came hard against the small of my back, propelling me towards the back of the shed, where I crumpled against the wall.
I hovered at the brink of unconsciousness and when I finally opened my eyes, I saw her standing two meters away from me right at the doorframe.
"Well, it was enjoyable while it lasted. It's time you laid to rest, in the name of God," said the nun as she raised her staff over her head, prepared to drive it as hard as she could into the floor, surely crushing my skull or something along those lines.
My morbidity was unneeded, however, as a white light shone from the ground, and the nun instinctively leapt back away from the light.
A figure emerged from the ground and the light finally subsided.
"So, are you my Master?"
And so, today in the life of Emiya Shirou had come full circle.
x~~*~~x
While Emiya Shirou was recuperating from the injuries dealt to him, Saber dashed out of the shed to engage her opponent in combat.
"Lemme guess, you're Lancer, aren't you?" Saber asked, eyeing her adversary across the Emiya backyard.
"I have no reason to hide that fact, Servant Saber," replied Lancer calmly, her right hand grasping her staff in a ready position.
"You're quite polite huh. Get away from my Master or else," huffed Saber, gripping her saber in both hands. 'I can crouch now and spawn a bunch of swords to throw at her but I can't try it until I've judged her speed...'
"You may try all you like, but you shall fall here, Servant Saber," said Lancer, gripping her staff.
Lancer suddenly took a knife out of her robes and scraped the blade across the length of the staff.
"Urg!" exclaimed Saber as cuts appeared on her right arm. "What in the world is this?"
As Lancer moved to scrape the blade across the staff again, Saber jumped a meter backwards and, to her immense relief, didn't feel more cuts forming. Closing her eyes, she saw Lancer begin to dash around the backyard and instinctively, Saber began to run in random directions, trusting her instincts not to get hit by Lancer's attacks. By now, she had deduced somehow that whatever Lancer did to her staff, she could direct it to her as some kind of spatial attack that bypassed most armor.
"Good thing I can heal," muttered Saber grimly as she pressed the gem on her navel with her right hand. Saber glowed a weak turquoise and when the aura faded, all the cuts were gone.
Lancer was now indiscriminately striking the ground with her staff, trying to get compressed air that punched as strong as a stone golem to strike Saber. Saber barely avoided the attacks by using her instincts, and right as Lancer dashed to where she started, Saber jumped straight forwards with her saber ready to slash through Lancer, rending a deep wound through her stomach.
Alas, it was not to be.
Lancer blocked Saber's powerful slash with the length of her staff and all of a sudden, Saber felt as though she was hit by a moving truck in the abdomen. Doubling over, she somersaulted backwards to avoid another incoming flurry of attacks at the spot she had just vacated.
"Melee attacks are futile against me, Servant Saber," said Lancer with a smug look on her face. "If I block it, I can simply redirect the force of the attack towards you."
"Tch," growled Saber. "However, you little titch, that's not the only thing I can do."
Saber crouched on the ground, enveloping herself with her cape. Ignoring the pain in her abdomen, she stood up and when her cape unfurled, she was now surrounded by twenty sabers exactly like the ones in her hand.
As fast as a gatling gun, Saber threw the saber in her hand at Lancer, who darted to the right to avoid it. Smirking, Saber began throwing the swords at Lancer as fast as she could. Lancer avoided half the swords but she did not escape unscathed – three nicked her in various places of her body, two were blocked by the staff, with Saber wisely moving around to prevent Lancer to redirect the blows properly and one sword that would have impaled her was swatted away by Lancer striking the ground at her feet.
"It seems as though we are at a stalemate," said Lancer. "However, I have my instructions."
To Saber's surprise, Lancer began to chant. "As above, so below, the fifth of the five elements, open the crosier that symbolizes peace and order, the first icon under the law of God's Child and the Cross, link foreign objects and people!"
Out of the corner of Saber's eye, she saw Shirou staggering towards her from the shed. "No you idiot, get back! D'you wanna fucking die?" screamed Saber. Luckily, Shirou heeded her warning and continued to watch the battle unfolding from the relative safety of the shed.
"Aether," intoned Lancer. A shimmering bubble of something appeared in front of Lancer.
"You won't be able to try more tricks like that on me," snapped Saber, crouching and forming swords, throwing them at Lancer with the speed of a gatling gun.
Lancer dashed to the left and the swords harmlessly sailed past her, except one which hit the bubble of something she had conjured with a loud clang, the dented and disfigured sword dropping to the ground.
Saber visibly paled as Lancer retreated back to her location behind the bubble. "I threw that sword at two hundred kilometers per hour and that bubble of something stopped it dead in its tracks," Saber whispered.
"Air," intoned Lancer once more and suddenly, the bubble seemed to expand in size. Her eyes widening in fear, Saber jumped backwards across the length of the yard and crouched low, searching her inner self.
"My powers aren't exactly the same as her... but I can surely twist them to manifest some similarity," whispered Saber to herself, her eyes closing as she saw a blonde girl with curls smiling at her, brandishing flintlock rifles as she fought eldritch horrors unbeknownst to man.
Fighting the urge to cry, Saber stood up tall and in her hands were a pair of sabers twice her height and each of them a meter wide.
"Try blocking these, Lancer," said Saber as she hurled the two huge swords that nearly encompassed half the entire width of the backyard towards the nun.
To her immense surprise, Lancer merely intoned, "Water."
Suddenly, the bubble of something filled with water and when the two swords struck the bubble, it exploded with a deafening bang, the water exiting the bubble with the strength of a raging river.
"Shit, I don't need this right now," snarled Saber as she dashed towards Lancer, seeing an opening as the latter was panting after expending that much prana.
"Axel Shooter," rang a clear voice through the night as suddenly, a figure in a blue-and-white dress flew over the walls of the Emiya residence, sending pink orbs of energy towards Lancer while a black-haired girl in red dashed through the open gate, aiming her right arm at Lancer as though she was firing with a gun.
Seeing that she was outnumbered, Lancer jumped as high as she could away from both Saber and Archer, and disappeared from view, presumably fading into spirit form as she leapt from roof to roof with the aid of her staff's control over air.
Archer, the new arrival, considered casting a Wide Area Search when her instincts prickled at the back of her mind.
"Round Shield."
Saber's thrown swords all smashed into the pink shield and Archer was horrified to see the shield crack as her shield barely withstood the assault of the flying blades.
"Tohsaka!" came the shout of Emiya Shirou who started running towards Saber, who internally cringed at her Master's penchant for putting himself in danger.
x~~*~~x
When Illyasviel von Einzbern had seen Rin and Archer head towards Emiya Shirou's house she decided to change her plans.
"Let's go home, Assassin. Even Rin is strong enough to deal with the pest right now."
And just like that, Assassin changed tack and headed for Einzbern forest at the outskirts of Fuyuki.
x~~*~~x
"Archer, stand down," came the cool voice of Tohsaka Rin who beckoned Archer to settle down onto the earth beside her. "Ah, good evening Emiya-kun, I see that you've summoned Servant Saber."
"Don't hurt them," I wheezed. "Tohsaka is a classmate of mine. I didn't know you were a mage, Tohsaka."
"Neither did I know you were one, Emiya-kun," said Rin coolly. "And yet, you were able to summon the Servant I coveted the most. No offense to you, Archer."
The woman beside Rin smiled ruefully at her before directing her gaze at me and the girl who protected me. Apparently, she was some sort of Servant and her name was Saber.
"Tohsaka, what in the hell is all of this?" I said. "What have I been dragged into?"
Rin took on a lethal look and said in an icy voice, "You honestly have no idea what you're participating in, Emiya-kun?"
"Seriously, Tohsaka, I have absolutely no idea what's going on. That nun tried to kill me, and if it weren't for the sudden appearance of this girl here—"
"Servant Saber," interrupted Saber.
"...yes, okay, Saber. She saved my life," said Shirou who looked at the girl beside her in gratitude.
Rin sighed audibly. "Emiya-kun, can we enter your home and discuss this over a cup of tea? I'm afraid this won't be a simple matter to explain."
x~~*~~x
Well, there's I. Hope you guys liked it.
By this point, the identities of Servants Saber and Lancer are kinda obvious. If you know their identities, please note I am taking lots of fictional liberties and I invoke creative license regarding their attacks. For Lancer, it's because of an... inadequate showing of her full range of attacks from her source material, and as for Saber, it's based on what everyone has seen so far, with a few liberties here and there.
Read and review please! :)