Saber looked at Magnus impatiently as the warlock paused. She really had to go make sure Emiya was alright; he really couldn't be trusted to be by himself without possibly getting himself killed.
"Is that all?" she asked, getting ready to leave.
"Wait." Magnus put his hand down on the table.
Saber sighed. "What is it?"
For a second, he seemed to look slightly uncomfortable. "Can I trust you not to harm Alec?"
"What?" Saber was caught off guard. "I-I don't even know Alec. Why would I...?"
"Just promise."
"What?" Saber repeated. "Okay. I promise I won't hurt him. Unless he tries to hurt Shirou. That's my condition."
"Good enough." Magnus held out his hand to shake.
For a moment Saber looked confused before realising he wanted her to shake it. She reached her hand out and entangled it with his for a second before pulling away. "Now?"
"Yeah. You can go."
Saber nodded and stood up, pushing her chair in and walking out the door. It was horribly annoying, she thought, to have a Master who couldn't look after himself. He didn't have enough mana to sustain her for long, and she couldn't materialise or dematerialise on cue. If Emiya were truly in danger, he'd have to use a Command Seal to summon her.
As she wandered down the street, she took careful notice of the people she passed. Couples walking by, talking and laughing, and groups of friends who seemed to not have a care in the world.
Oh, how she envied those people. She'd attempted to lead her country and failed. She was doomed to spend eternity acting as a Servant in a fight to the death where she endured pain, suffering, fighting, only for her Master to command her to commit suicide so they could covet the Grail.
But maybe, just maybe, she'd someday be able to use the Grail for herself. And she knew exactly what she would use it for.
She continued walking, but something felt off. Saber knew from past experience if her Master were in danger, there would be a slight...sensation. She'd somehow be able to feel it, but she wasn't sure if that still reigned true with an inexperienced magus like Emiya.
Still, she walked a little faster. She'd check Emiya's house and his usual spots first. If she couldn't find him there, she'd go to Rin and ask her where he'd gone. If Rin didn't know, well...
In what seemed like far too long, Saber arrived at Emiya's house, unlocking the door and walking in to see Rin sitting on the sofa.
"Oh, hey, Saber," Rin said. "Have you seen Shirou?"
Saber froze. If Rin hadn't seen him... "No," she replied, her voice steady. "Have you looked for him?"
"I've been looking for him all over," Rin said. "He's nowhere to be found. I saw him earlier, though. He seemed quite distressed, and he said he was going to...end this. End something."
"What? Why didn't you go with him?"
"I tried!" Rin stood up. "He would have none of it."
Saber looked away. "Alright. Well-"
"We should go see Kirei," Rin interrupted. "He seems to know everything."
Kotomine Kirei. The Master of both Assassin and, later, Archer in the Fourth War.
"I don't...I don't know," Saber said. "He-"
"It's better than nothing."
She nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, it is."
The two continued to the church as Saber tried not to worry. She kept reminding herself that Emiya could use a Command Seal if he really needed her, but what if he was in a position in which he couldn't? No, that wouldn't be possible. It was always an option to use a Command Seal simply through thought.
Kirei, Saber kept thinking. He had been a cruel, unfeeling man. He'd stabbed his mentor in the back with his own knife. He had stolen his mentor's servant. How was he still alive? She'd thought Kiritsugu had killed him, but apparently not.
"Saber?" Rin said, noticing the glassy look in her eyes.
Saber shook her head and looked at Rin. "Yes?"
"Just making sure you were alright."
"Yes." Saber nodded.
After what seemed like forever, they'd reached the church as Rin tentatively pushed open the door.
"Kirei?" she called into the darkness.
Saber walked in, closing the door behind her. There seemed to be no one there, and it was dark enough that made it hard to see where they were going. She felt her way up the aisle, and stopped at the front. "Rin, do you-"
"I know my way," Rin said.
Saber nodded and followed her. Rin certainly did seem to know all the ins and outs of the church, opening closet doors and going up mysterious stairs. Saber silently trailed Rin wherever she went, and listened to her groans of frustration as no one was there.
"Well, I've looked everywhere. I don't know-"
Saber's glance drifted away, and she froze. What looked like blood stained the woodwork in a subtle corner.
Rin noticed Saber's tension. "What?"
Saber ignored her, walking towards the stain.
Rin's voice grew higher pitched. "What?"
"Blood," Saber said, pointing to the blood.
"Blood," Rin repeated. She knelt down, pressing her hand to the floor, and shrieked when the floorboards collapsed. Quickly, she pulled away as a trap door opened.
Rin smiled slightly even though she knew Saber couldn't see her. "Jackpot," she said.
The two slowly climbed down the ladder and made their way into the dark basement. Saber continued feeling her way along the wall when a light flicked on, and she looked up.
"Rin. And Saber," a familiar voice said as a brown-haired man stepped into the light.
"Kotomine Kirei," Saber said, instantly recognizing him. "Tell me, how did you survive the last war?"
Kirei simply smirked. "I don't think that should be your most pressing concern at the moment."
At Saber's confused look, Kirei flicked on another light, illuminating the corner that showed Emiya Shirou, covered in blood.
"Shirou!" Saber exclaimed, rushing over towards him. Kirei laughed at her horror.
"How could you, Kirei?" Rin demanded. "I thought-"
"Yes, yes, you thought I was the impartial moderator," Kirei said. "Sorry. You thought wrong."
Emiya looked up at Saber. "You-you-you need to go," he said weakly. "There's-there's things you don't-things you don't know, things you need-"
"Well, then," another voice said from a different corner of the dark room. "Seems like everyone's here."
Saber turned to face the direction the voice was coming from, and gasped as the figure appeared. A handsome, blonde-haired young man stood before her. "Gilgamesh," she said.
"Saber," he replied, walking over to her. She flinched as he ran a hand through her hair. "Finally we reunite."
"How-how did you..?"
"Oh, I just found out myself," Gilgamesh said. "See, I've been anchored to this world for the past ten years, although I didn't know how. I ran into Sebastian when I was in Idris, and yes, that is why I'm slightly wounded. Apparently, Sebastian's fighting has improved. Anyway, it wasn't until now that I fully realised Kirei was still alive. And that-" He paused. "Is why I'm still here."
"Kirei's always been your Master, hasn't he," Rin said, almost to herself.
"Exactly." Gilgamesh smirked.
Saber glared at him.
"Now," Gilgamesh began. "Let's get this battle over with. I'm dying to see how this one ends."
~0~
Clary hurried down the stairs to the prison, barely noticing when two guards stepped out from the shadows.
"Who goes there?" one of them asked in his booming voice.
As Clary tried to continue forward, Jace put his arm out, stopping her. "Sir, we are authorized to enter," he said.
"Really?" the guard asked, his tone indicating he did not believe him. "Prove it then."
Jace fumbled around in his pocket, turning his head to wink at Alec and Clary. It took her a moment to realise what he wanted them to do, but once she had figured it out, she couldn't stop a slight smile from spreading across her face.
The guard sighed, obviously annoyed at the length of time it was taken for Jace to show identification.
"Hmm...I could've sworn it was-"
Alec pulled out a blade and charged towards the guard. The second hurried up to defend his partner, but Alec quickly kicked one of the guards in the chest, and slashed a long wound across the other guard's arm.
"Come on, hurry!" Jace said, the three of them running past the injured guards. "We have to find him before they can call security!"
"Simon?" Clary asked, running up and down the hallways containing the cells. "Simon? Are you in here?"
"Clary?" a weak voice called back. "Clary, is that you?"
"Simon!" Clary exclaimed. "Keep talking! I'll follow your voice!"
"Okay. Uh, A.. B... C..."
Finally Clary found him. "Oh, Simon," she said. "I never should have left you."
"It's alright," Simon said, clearly relieved he was being rescued.
Jace and Alec ran up to the cell. "Thanks for ditching us," Alec said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry," Clary said. "I just-"
"We understand," Jace said. "Come on. We have to break him out before we're caught."
As they got started picking the lock, Simon said, "Wait. Can you...can you break out my cellmate, as well?"
"Who is he?" Jace asked.
"I don't know," Simon admitted. "But we've been talking, and he seems like a decent guy, so would you please...?"
Jace sighed. "Fine. Only because Clary would yell at me if I didn't."
"That is - so true," Clary said.
The trio finally unlocked Simon's cell as Simon took a deep breath as he walked out. "Prison really changes a person," he said.
"Yeah," Alec mumbled.
Simon walked over to the next cell and quickly unlocked the door. "You're free," he said.
The man stepped out into the daylight, and they all gasped. "Hodge," Jace said. "You-"
Then an alarm sounded, and the five looked at each other in alarm. "We gotta go," Clary said.
"But Hodge-"
"We have to go," Jace said, repeating Clary.
Alec and Simon nodded as the five fled from the jail, escaping into the daylight and locking the door behind them. "That was close," Alec breathed.
Finding themselves in broad daylight in a grassy meadow, Jace turned to Hodge. "You have some explaining to do," he said.
Hodge sighed. "I know I shouldn't have," he said. "But there is information that could help you."
"Oh, yeah? Such as?"
"The mirror," he said. "The last of the Mortal Instruments. It's Lake Lyn."
"It's Lake Lyn?! But how-?"
"It's a long story, but what happened was-"
Hodge was cut off as a knife was thrust through his back. Clary gasped and looked up, staring into the dark eyes of Sebastian Verlac.
"What did you do that for?!" she shrieked.
"It was for your own protection," Sebastian said smoothly. "He was dangerous, you know that. I did you all a favour."
Clary tried to hide her fear. "I...you..."
"He's a spy," Jace started. "He works for-"
"Where's Isabelle?" a young voice asked, a small boy with dark hair walking up to them.
"Max," Alec said, panic in his voice. "Max, what are you doing here? It's not safe, it's not..."
Max's eyes grew wide, and blood dripped down his cheek. Alec gasped as Sebastian pulled out his knife, coated with blood. "It's a warning," Sebastian said. "If you try to say anything, do anything, I swear, I will kill your parents in front of you, and then I will kill each of you in front of each other. I will kill you all."
She'd been so wrong about Sebastian, Clary thought. He'd seemed like a perfect gentleman - young, handsome, helpful. But, no, he was a sadistic bastard.
"But you are a spy for Valentine, right?" Clary asked. "I..we...we promise we won't say anything, but I just want to know the truth."
Sebastian grinned wickedly. "Oh, I'm more than just a spy for Valentine," he said.
"Then...?"
"I'm Valentine's son."
