Saber I

The nostalgic scent of dust and grease hung in the air, sending me back to the days of my youth. I smiled. As the wind died down and the dust settled, my younger self came into view. He laid sprawled on the ground, having just summoned me. A creeping smile overwhelmed me. Alaya had one hell of a sense of humor.

I rolled my shoulders and rediscovered the strength and vigor lost from age. It felt good. Like I could take on the world and win again. It had been too long.

"Oh, that's just not fair," said the other man standing across from me. He too looked like my younger self, before going grey, dark, and handsome. This wasn't the Lancer I knew, and something told me this was only the first of a long list of interesting developments that I would find myself in.

I seized the element of surprise and rushed him, tracing Kanshou and Bakuya. He tried to dodge the attack, and barely escaped with a short swipe to the shoulder. A blotch of blood slicked off the blade and splashed the walls.

"Shit," he muttered. He kicked at my arm, forcing me to pull back, and retreated through the newly installed moon roof in the heat of the moment.

Even before the dust of skirmish had settled I turned around to face myself. He had managed to prop himself up and the contract between us had sealed. Yet I wasn't getting any prana from him. Definitely not good.

But any thought of fixing that problem in the moment was interrupted by the sound of footsteps echoing in the distance. They were coming, Rin and Archer. A rematch between myself and my old foe was in order. I burst from the shed leaving behind my bewildered younger self and cleared over the walls of the compound.

Archer noticed first, stopping in his heels. The look on his face was priceless. His jaw hung slack for a second, before clenching his teeth and tightening his grip around his weapons. Joy rushed through me, and the gush of wind sent shivers up my spine as I descended towards the ground. I bent my knees and hit the ground with a soft touch.

I faced Archer, and smiled. I showed him the biggest, most shit-eating grin I could muster, as if to mock him. Because he knew who I was, the expression was clearer than straight vodka.

He charged me, either in rage or to wipe the grin off my face. And I countered, matching blow for blow. If he swung left, I swung right. He went low, I went low. Every opening we left each other was avoided, we knew the futility of attacking them. Traps, all of them. It was the same as before.

Perfectly symmetrical violence. It was beautiful. A rematch long forgotten. To feel the rush and thrill of combat with Archer once more. Every move was an exhilarating dance, one I wished could last forever. Unfortunately I couldn't stay long. This was the opportunity of a lifetime. Like Archer, I would not let myself make the same mistakes I once did. However, I had no intention of killing my younger self. Instead, to mentor him, and lead him onto a different path, where he would not end up dying alone.

Archer destroyed Bakuya in the carnage, and pressed onto the attack. I pulled back, struggling against the magnetic pull of my remaining sword. Without its companion it sought out the nearest copy of its partner, the one in Archer's hands. Another attack cut across me in the struggle, and I dodged that as I traced another copy of Bakuya. It came, but too slowly, prana trickled into my system as my younger self was still an amateur in magecraft.

Fear worked its way into my mind. Archer was actually pushing me back. He didn't relent, and drove forth with an unending passion that must have been familiar to him. A slash ran down my chest and bounced off my plate carrier. He was getting close. I needed to throw him off balance somehow.

Rin stood in the distance, unsure of what to do, very unlike her. The fight had lasted only half a minute, but we were going too fast for anyone to keep up. Forgive me, I thought, and traced a number of swords in the air above us. They hung in the balance, precarious, and dangerous.

I fired them at her.

Archer's eyes flashed with rage, he fell back, summoned forth his armory of swords and responded with counter fire. They clashed in mid-air, exploding into fragments. Dust kicked up around the compound, blinding my view.

This was it. I rushed forward, through his defenses, swords in hand, ready not to kill him, but rather injure him enough to take him out of the running. Archer hastily brought up his swords to parry, holding me back by the briefest of margins.

Time slowed, the deciding moment was nigh. I smiled, staring back at him. He was pissed, a heartbeat away from head-butting me in the face. I took a breath.

"Still looking for the hill of swords, Emiya?" I whispered.

The look of rage evaporated, replaced with one of shock. His grip weakened, and his resolve faltered. That did it. I pulled my arm back, ready to end this. Bakuya lunged forward, poised to pierce its target.

"STOP!"

The will to move forward disappeared. My younger self had used a command spell. The opportunity so narrow in its appearance disappeared in an instant. I sighed, having no choice, and fell back, keeping my eyes on Archer for the entirety of the movement. He looked rattled, it was good enough for now.

"Archer, get back," Rin said, having regained her composure. She stepped forward, arms crossed and with a gentle sway in her hips, each movement planned and controlled. The situation had been out of hand, and now she was determined to take it back. "Emiya-kun," she said.

I opened my mouth to respond before shutting up. It had been instinct, Pavlovian. I was ready to explain myself like I had just been caught eating out of the cookie jar. Instead, she was referring to my younger self.

Shirou stood in front of the gate, eying Archer and I with suspicion. "Tohsaka," he said.

I looked back at Archer. He never took his eyes off me, the face he gave was one of pure unfiltered anger. Only one other person had given me that look, and that was Gilgamesh.

I smiled back at him.
This was going to fun.