Chapter Two - Battle at the Docks

Two figures clashed in the moonlit docks. One was a blonde woman - the same Illya had seen on the beach - wearing plate armour, and the other was a man wearing a skin-tight dark teal outfit. The man wielded two spears with incredible dexterity, causing the woman to warily analyze his attacks. She held an invisible blade, but it was clear to any spectators that it was a sword.

They were on a stalemate, but Illya and Waver arrived at a vantage point nearby soon after that stalemate was broken - when the spearman clearly had the advantage, having struck the woman's tendon with one of his spears.

Behind the swordswoman, a figure could clearly be seen - the white-haired woman with red eyes that looked exactly like Illya's mother. She was clenching her fists as if praying or rooting for the woman in front of her. Noticing this, Illya felt for some reason worried about her mom's lookalike.

'But it can't be her, that makes no sense,' she thought, trying to shake the feeling off.

"Hey, are you alright?" Waver asked, his voice tinged with worry.

"Yeah, it's nothing," she lied.

The blonde sword wielder looked to be on the verge of being defeated already - apparently having no way to heal herself.

Illya anxiously looked towards the sky and hoped someone would stop this one-sided fight. The spearman began to prepare his attack, clearly intending to finish his foe off, and Illya thinks, 'I'm silly. I know no one's going to show up. When did the situation ever solve itself?'

That's when Illya realized she was about to do something that she knew was irrational and foolish, but had no way to prevent it. For some unexplainable reason, she felt herself compelled to protect the woman that looked like her mom, and she had a distinct feeling that if she didn't do anything, the woman would die.

So she quickly flew towards the battle - announcing her presence - and decided to stand protectively in front of her mother's lookalike.

Waver wanted to shout in indignation, but he knew he'd be revealing his own presence if he did, so he kept silent.

"No way," the woman said upon spotting her, "That Servant, she looks just like-"

"You - get away from Irisviel!" The blonde woman shouted protectively.

"It seems like we shall have to cut this duel short, Saber," the spear-wielder spoke, his tone filled with disappointment. Then he turned towards Illya, "What is the meaning of this interruption?"

Illya didn't reply. She couldn't reply because the name the blonde woman uttered shook her to her very core. 'This feels wrong,' she thought, 'I knew mum was involved with the Grail War by now. But she stopped it! I figured I was just being stupid, but is this my mum after all?'

"It's fine, Saber. She doesn't seem to mean any harm, after all," Irisviel spoke with a cheerful-sounding tone that sounded convincing to all of them - except Illya.

She was confused by the fake cheerfulness this Irisviel was displaying, but didn't have time to dwell on that, because someone's voice resounded through the docks in an authoritative tone.

"Lancer, stop wasting time and finish Saber off. You can take care of that other Servant after that."

From a vantage point, Waver was watching the battle, still annoyed, 'What happened to protecting me? What happened to observing them? In the end, you're just doing whatever you want, damn it!'

He thought about calling her back using a Command Seal despite how valuable those are, but decided against it. It wouldn't do to force her back right now - but if he was in danger, or she started losing, he'd call her back immediately. Surely she would be understanding.

But when he heard the voice of Lancer's Master, he froze in fear, because he recognised the man's voice. How couldn't he?

It was the same voice that had tormented him for many nights during his sleep - the voice of his former teacher, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald.

Saber was gritting her teeth after listening to Lancer's Master. What did he believe a Servant's duel was? And then there was that girl - who was clearly a Servant - suddenly going in front of Irisviel, as if to protect her.

But that made no sense. Why would an enemy Servant protect a Master that's not their own? Even if they had similar features, it seemed like a weak reason, not one befitting of a Heroic Spirit.

She decided to leave that for later - opting to express that she was offended by Lancer's Master instead, but the girl beat her to it.

"Who do you think you are? Just telling him he's wasting time, and that he should kill her like that! Even if she's your enemy, you should at least respect what she stands for - but you're not even respecting your Servant!"

Saber was surprised - for she didn't expect such understanding words to come out of the girl's mouth - and because she went in both herself and Lancer's defence, despite not having anything to gain by doing so.

'That appearance, and her protective demeanour towards Lady Irisviel - Could it be?' she wondered, but dismissed that thought. It was almost impossible for a Heroic Spirit to originate from modern times - let alone the future. Ever since firearms were created for the first time, the chances of that happening were very slim at best.

She didn't have an opportunity to dwell any longer on that thought, however, because Lancer's Master spoke again, "My, my. To think that there would be Servants that don't even understand their role, it is indeed lamentable," he said, his tone mocking - as if reacting to a joke.

Then his tone became cold again, and he directed his voice at Lancer, who seemed conflicted, "I am not going to repeat myself, Lancer. Do it now. Don't make me waste a Command Seal on something so trivial."

"Understood, Master," Lancer replied - his tone that of resignation. He didn't have a good reason not to do so, but he didn't want to do this. That other Servant appeared, ruining the duel's mood, and he wanted to resume it later rather than having it end like this.

With his spears readied, he quickly dashed - making his way towards Saber - for he figured the other Servant might become trouble if he didn't finish Saber off faster than she could react.

That was a miscalculation on his part because instead of moving, the girl made a barrier between himself and Saber. He could sense it was a barrier of pure solid Prana, which was unusual - but that made him sure that she was a Caster.

Once he turned towards her, he noticed she was now holding a pink wand. A pink and frilly outfit replaced her previous casual wear as well, but he chose not to dwell on her strange new outfit. Since she was a Caster, he was at a huge advantage against her.

She seemed keen on going against his Master, so he decided to take care of her first. Surely that would be an easy task as long as he could break these barriers - and with his spear, Gáe Dearg, that was as easy as cutting through butter. Besides, perhaps his Master would allow him to postpone the duel to if he did this, rather than forcing it to end.

Before he could move, he heard his foe shout, "Schneiden!"

He could see a blade of pure Prana going in his direction as a projectile, but it was of no consequence. Just touching it with Gáe Dearg would immediately disable it - so that's what he did.

By watching the battle from the sidelines, Saber could notice the obvious disadvantage the newly identified Caster had against Lancer. With Gáe Dearg, he would be able to destroy all of her attempts at attacking, and with Gáe Buidhe, he could be able to defeat her - much as he had with Saber herself, who underestimated the threat posed by that yellow spear. She groaned in annoyance - with her arm's tendon broken, she could only watch their battle.

From his vantage point, Waver was quickly beginning to consider using a Command Seal to save his Servant from an unwinnable battle, but her determined expression made him pause. She seemed to be confident enough not to run away herself, so maybe she had a plan.

Illya began wondering what Waver was up to when she felt a strange sensation flow through her briefly, then stop. 'Did he just try to use a Command Seal?'

Nothing other than the feeling happened, however, and Illya thought, 'I guess he didn't use one - I don't feel compelled to do anything.'

'That means that the situation seems rough for him as well, so I guess I have no choice but to use that,' she thought, feeling that it was unfortunate that she had to use a Class Card so early in the War.

She was unable to fight Lancer off with just Ruby - who was unusually quiet for some reason. It seemed like his spear nullified her attacks as soon as it touched them.

So she held up a card, and only said one word, "Install."

From a different vantage point than Waver's, a man with messy black hair was watching the ongoing battle through the scope of a sniper rifle he was holding.

Initially, he had been disappointed in how the fight was turning out, with Saber clearly being at a disadvantage against Lancer.

But before the outcome was clear, she appeared. The young Servant who looked exactly like his daughter.

He had no words to describe what he felt. It was a rough mix of various feelings, most of which were negative. After all, what kind of sick joke was this Grail War pulling on him?

Would he have to lose not only his wife but also in a way his daughter before the War was over?

He kept trying to convince himself that no, she wasn't his daughter - she just happened to look a lot like his daughter. But he couldn't entirely shake off that impression.

Once she began to fight Lancer, he couldn't help but feel that he was becoming lax, since just seeing someone who looked like his daughter was enough for his heart to twinge in worry.

He wasn't sure how to feel when she was obviously having trouble fighting Lancer, but he had no choice but to keep watching the battle.

Maybe he would get a chance to strike at Lancer's Master before it was over.