I'm back!I finally finished this chapter! It was a very hectic month (and start of the year) for me since exams and project deadlines were approaching...

Anyway, you probably don't want anymore ranting about that...

Before everything, thanks to all my reviewers and readers! Really appreciate you taking time to read / review them! Thanks!

Now, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night and any of Type-Moon's stuff.


Chapter 7: The Holy Grail

"What about the Holy Grail?" asked Shirō. It was at that moment that thunder struck. A little offbeat, but it still sent shivers down their spines. Having already transferred to the living room in order to make themselves more comfortable, they were all anticipating Gilgamesh's explanation. Well, there was still animosity between them and the King of Heroes.

"Okay, to start things off, I'd like everyone not to stare at me like they want to dismember me and burn the pieces," said Gilgamesh, his hands raised in surrender.

"It can't be helped, you did annihilate Shirō's house," explained Taiga.

"Okay, first off, that wasn't me…" he said but no one paid heed to his words.

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" asked Rin. She wasn't there when it happened but she figured that it was a lame excuse.

"Anyway, you can hold grudges as long as you want but I'll still say my part… But can you please stop sending me death glares?!"

I would've been funnier if he was cowering and shaking but they figured they wouldn't be able to make the arrogant King of Heroes to submit to that. Since there was no other choice, they decided to let him relax for a while.

"As you all probably know, there has been a total of five Holy Grail Wars, with the fifth starting only ten years after the fourth and has ended two years ago. In light of recent discoveries, it was revealed that among there was a strange occurrence in one of the Holy Grail War. It so happened that a servant, believed to have tainted the Holy Grail, has been imprisoned inside of it"

"By its desecration, the War had been sent into chaos. It is believed that because of this phenomenon, servants who are not truly qualified for the war are now available for summoning. For one reason or another, these epic spirits were not actually supposed to be available"

"Anyway, we're not here to talk about that. What else about the Holy Grail are you going to tell us?" interjected Medea, this being her first statement in a while. Gilgamesh nodded in acknowledgement and continued his explanation. She knew, it truth, that she was one of those who were not really qualified for the war.

"Err… right… With the desecration of the grail, another servant was brought into play but was not summoned since the fifth war. This new eighth class was given the designation of Avenger. It has continuously been imprisoned in the Grail, thus the cause of its contamination,"

"Avenger? I've never heard of that servant before…" said Rin.

"This was only discovered recently," he explained. "Avenger's presence is what defiles the grail,"

"I think we've heard enough…" said an irritated Archer. "It would probably be better appreciated if we hear more about the grail's actual plans, not the reason for its defilement"

"Fine, fine," mumbled Gilgamesh in an irritated tone.

"First of all, the grail wishes to create a perfect astral body to walk on this plane. To achieve that, he plans on acquiring the nine astral gemstones, mana gemstones to the unfamiliar. You probably all know that the servant summoned are in search of these gems"

"Mind if I interject?" interrupted Sōichirō courteously. Gilgamesh nodded.

"Are you familiar with the participating servants in the grail? The ones you think are still alive, that is"

"Well, we have Archer, you, me, Saber, Medea, Hercules, Circe and, if I am not mistaken, Rider"

"Rider?!" burst out Sakura as she stood due to both excitement and astonishment.

"Y-yes, rider. Medusa, I believe,"

"Do you know where is she?" inquired Sakura. It was noticeable that this was beyond mere curiosity.

"I am not sure of her actual whereabouts but I am sure she is doing well. The master has not sent any commands to deal with her in any way. But she is under the master's control at the moment…," explained Gilgamesh.

Sakura was overcome with great relief as she took her seat once more. Taiga, as well as Shirō, was looking at Sakura strangely. She, however, did not notice.

"Due to the lack of mana from the grail's accomplice, the grail itself has created an imperfect astral body in exchange for devouring one of the mana gemstones. Unfortunately, even in its imperfect form, the grail's body is already on par with most servants,"

"On par with most servants? Which ones?" inquired Archer.

"Well, the most I've seen is that the grail's imperfect body can defeat Circe in battle, along with Berserker,"

"Most…? Being able to take those two, I believe we're outmatched," said Sōichirō.

"Even though the grail can defeat the two, it has difficulty dealing with Noble Phantasms having a wide area of effect. An example would be my Enûma Elish,"

"So, you're saying that we would be an inconvenience? Sōichirō and I are more capable of single target direct assaults," stated Archer.

"Are you sure about that? I am aware of your powerful Noble Phantasm that prevented me from defeating you," interrupted Sōichirō.

"That Noble Phantasm, as it was deemed, is nothing more than an imaginary battlefield that I created in order to give me an advantage over my opponents. It doesn't exactly fight the battle for me,"

Thinking it was unwise to continue the discussion, Sōichirō did not reply. Gilgamesh decided to intervene immediately in hopes of finishing everything he had to say.

"Anyway, the grail has a number of powerful Noble Phantasms in his arsenal," continued Gilgamesh. Attention shifted back to him immediately at the mention of "powerful Noble Phantasms".

"I've only seen one which was able to completely negate an attack made by Berserker's Noble Phantasm, Nine Lives,"

"It sounds something like Rule Breaker… but useable only in battle" said Medea.

"Yes, it activates only when the grail is actually the target. Otherwise, it doesn't work. The Grail calls it 'Phantasm Break', if I remember correctly"

"Nine Lives, huh? That's Berserker's Noble Phantasm that fires nine consecutive shots, right?" asked Archer.

"Yeah…"

"I see…" replied Archer then immediately became silent. Gilgamesh was bothered by his inquiry as it connoted something which could be beneficial. However, the servant was not up to the task of asking.

"Basically, that's all I know about the grail's plan," said Gilgamesh.

"Well, at least we have a background on what's going on…" said Shirō. Gilgamesh then stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Rin.

"I need to return to the master. I was only supposed to scout the area and report back afterwards. I'll have to think of something to tell them…"

"I was just wondering, why did you tell us all this?" asked Shirō. Truth be told, he wasn't the only one wondering. Many questioning looks could be seen amongst them.

"Well, let's just say I have my reasons. Oh, and before I forget, the one who destroyed your house wasn't me. It was a replica created by the Holy Grail. I'm assuming it was one of his Noble Phantasms, but I'm not too sure,"

Gilgamesh opened the door and stepped outside. The rain had stopped but its traces were still present. Carefully closing the door, Gilgamesh left the Tōsaka estate and completely vanished from view.


"An astral body, huh?" said Shirō aloud. He was outside, gazing at the stars. It was at this precise moment that Saber came into view.

"Saber?" asked Shirō as he stood to face her. Saber walked slowly closer, gazing at the stars as Shirō did.

"They're really beautiful," she said, her head still looking at the stars above. They both took a seat on the grassy area, despite it still being a little damp.

"Yeah, they're very calming," he added and looked upward. A few moments of silence later, Shirō decided to ask Saber what she was doing here.

"Something bothering you?" he asked. Saber took her eyes of the stars and looked a Shirō briefly. She then looked upward once again.

"Actually, yes. I was wondering about the grail and what it was planning to do. Thinking about it, you wouldn't actually call it Holy anymore…"

"Yeah, I was wondering about that too. It seems strange that the grail would set up something this absurd. It's probably that avenger servant thing,"

"Maybe, but we aren't sure. After all, the grail itself might have been a living person used by one of the three families to become the storehouse of servants and the granter of wishes…"

"That could be true…"

"But seriously, I find this whole thing ridiculous. What does the grail wish to accomplish by doing this?!" blurted out Saber. Upon realizing that she had released her anger upon Shirō, she blushed and apologized profusely. Shirō merely laughed.

"You do have a point there. It's extremely vague as to what the grail actually wants. It'd just be too cliché if it was something like world domination…"

"Hey Shirō, Saber, get inside! You're going to catch a cold if you stay outside any longer!" shouted Taiga from the backdoor of the house.

"Okay!" replied Shirō as he stood up.

"Let's go," he said and offered Saber his hand. Saber, surprised at the gesture, took his hand hesitantly. He pulled her up but overdid it, thus pulling Saber towards himself, causing their faces to become mere inches apart.

The two stood in that position for a while, unable to decide what to do. Both their cheeks were starting to become a light shade of pink. Taiga, fortunately or unfortunately, called for the two again, freeing them out of their awkward situation.

"Err… right, let's go," said Shirō, his face glowing red. Saber's face was not far off from his shade.

"R-right, let's g-go," said Saber and they went back to the house. Shirō found it slightly strange that they were still having butterflies, or was it just him? Anyway, he did find the whole romance thing a bit enjoying, if not irritating. Nevertheless, he did miss Saber's cute blushing face.


Shirō slept uncomfortably that night. He kept tossing and turning and was perspiring heavily. He did this for a few hours before finally being woken up by the surprising burst of pain that emitted from his chest and head. He clutched his chest with one hand and tried to ease the pain in his head with the other.

"Argh!" he whispered, trying his best not to awaken anyone despite the pain. He tried to stand but fell to the floor in agony. He lied there for awhile, numbed by the pain. However, he forced himself to stand knowing that merely lying down wouldn't solve anything.

Upon successfully standing, he slowly made his way to the door. He used the wall as support in order to reach the bathroom as walked in the hall of the house. In a nasty turn of events, his vision blurred and he soon fell to the floor, writhing in pain. Though he tried to maintain consciousness, it was far too great to bear. With one last yelp of pain, he slipped into unconsciousness.

He wasn't aware of the figure that was behind him nor was he aware of another figure entering his room. As far as he was concerned, his unconsciousness brought about his freedom from the immense pain that he had felt.


"What the…" mumbled Shirō as the rays of the sun hit him. He was back in his bedroom, lying down on the bed. He was surprised to see the image of Archer standing by the window sill. Shirō noticed that there were scratches on his face that seemed to have been recently inflicted. This was never brought up, however, as Archer taunted him that morning.

"Fell asleep while walking the halls, Emiya?"

"I fell unconscious," he merely stated. He was wondering, for the most part, how he got back to his bed.

"Oh really now…," taunted Archer, amused.

"Anyway, where's Kuzuki-sensei? I didn't see him last night when I got back to my room and when I woke up last night…"

"I don't know. He doesn't tell with me where he goes. Either way, I'm not one to care where he is," replied Archer.

Without another word, Shirō took a change of clothes and proceeded to the bathroom. Archer was left behind, still standing by the window sill.

"It would seem that my theory is correct…"


"Okay, we need to search for clues again. This time, we'll be split into teams of two to make scouting faster," explained Rin, everyone present, including Sakura and Taiga, which was actually a bit strange.

"To make things simple, it'll be Saber and Shirō, Caster and Kuzuki-sensei, Archer and me, Sakura, Ms. Fujimura and Ilya,"

"I want to be with Shirō!" exclaimed Ilya and rushing towards the pair. Rin quickly pulled her back.

"You'll only get in the way. Also, with this setup, each group will be able to easily identify anomalies,"

"Fine," pouted Ilya. Rin ignored this and proceeded with the plans.

"Okay, we need to act fast. We're looking for anything out of the ordinary so be constantly vigilant. We'll split up and cover the different parts of Fuyuki City…"


The groups searched the whole day through Fuyuki, passing numerous establishments and people along the way. They re-visited old sights such as Ryūdōji Temple, the school and the church among others.

They searched Fuyuki completely, not missing any place that might've been suspicious and those seemingly innocent were also checked. The rigorous day was filled with continuous searching but they ended up with nothing out of the ordinary.

"Not a single lead…" said Rin as she plopped down on her armchair. The rest were also very tired and weary.

"Yeah, and we searched the whole city and couldn't find anything," added Ilya.

"There should've been at least something…" said Shirō. He was wondering why nothing had come up.

"If what Gilgamesh says is true, then the grail must've done something already. After all, it did create a physical body…"

"Medea, aren't Casters equipped with a Territory Creation skill?" asked Archer suddenly. Ilya looked at Medea while as Rin looked at Archer inquisitively. Among the two, it seemed Ilya was the one who got Archer's meaning.

"Y-yes. I believe all are capable of creating territories but some Caster servants are better than others…"

"Are you suggesting that Circe created a territory for them?" asked Ilya.

"It is possible but I don't know if we'll be able to find them…" replied Archer.

"What are you getting at Archer?" asked Rin. "Do you know something about this?"

"It's a theory but I believe there was one place we forgot to check a while back…"

"Where's that?" asked Shirō. Archer smiled unexpectedly.

"Your house…"


The moon was at its highest point in the sky that night. Everyone, aside from Sakura and Taiga, were all running towards Shirō's lot. It was ironic how they forgot about the place where everything practically started.

"Why didn't we think of it before?!" wondered Rin aloud as they were running through road to Shirō's house.

Ilya stopped abruptly, catching the attention of the others and themselves stopping as well.

"What is it Ilya?" asked Shirō. Ilya closed her eyes and started sensing the area, ignoring Shirō's question for a while.

"There's a barrier setup here. It's not that wide but if we're not careful, we may alert them of our presence…,"

"I think it's a little too late for that…" said Circe. She revealed herself near one of the many trees that were located in the vicinity.

"What?! How could we not have sensed you?!" asked Rin, astonished at how the servant was able to conceal her presence that well.

"Simple, I used the numerous servants around you to blend in. It's easy when there's more than one servant present," she replied.

"But… how did we alert you of our presence?" asked Ilya. Circe laughed sardonically at this one.

"Simple, you passed a sensor. Completely magic free but effective," she said, smiling haughtily. "If you're wondering, it was the master's idea…"

"This was really well thought out, wasn't it?" said Rin smiling in spite of herself.

Circe laughed rather maniacally. It was slightly unnerving, and irritating at the same time, to hear such a high-pitched voice.

"Berserker! Annihilate them!" exclaimed Circe. They anticipated where the brutish servant might appear. All sides were readily covered but they did not anticipate that the giant could find a high enough place to jump from and come crashing down.

Berserker fell like a meteor and almost flattened everyone. It was fortunate that while he was in mid-air, Saber had already sensed his presence and had jumped to block the attack. Their weapons clashed and forced Berserker to abandon his first attack. They both fell to the ground, Saber on the left and Berserker on the right of the group.

A hasty intervention from Circe snapped everyone from their reverie.

"Scylla!" she exclaimed unleashing the giant beast. With its six long necks and deadly rows of sharp fangs, it was truly a monstrous sight. She had twelve canine feet and a fish's tail.

"Wasn't that the monster from before?" asked Shirō.

"Ex-" she uttered but was abruptly stopped by Berserker's own Noble Phantasm, Nine Lives. These poison tainted arrows were only narrowly avoided by Saber. The rest had taken action, aside from Shirō. Berserker was attacked by Sōichirō, along with Rin. Ilya, assisting Saber, continuously unleashed a myriad of magic jewels she had acquired from Rin earlier on.

Archer, however, was nowhere to been seen on the battlefield. He had fled in search of Circe. He completely disappeared from the scene, leaving the rest to fend for themselves.

"Target Annihilation!" exclaimed Sōichirō. It was either due to his stubborn nature or forgetful mind that he decided to attack Berserker. His Noble Phantasm did nothing to Berserker as he was incapable of damaging the beast. Shirō, acting hastily, threw Kanshō and Bakuya.

"I'll take it from here!" said Shiro. Tracing the twin blades once again, he charged at Berserker. "Kuzuki-sensei, help the others take Scylla down. I'll handle this one,"

"Futile human, can you not see that even your epic spirit could not defeat me?" said Berserker. This caught Shirō offguard. Taking the opportunity, Berserker swung his blade. Shirō, through his reflexes, was able to soften the blow. He was still, however, propelled a great distance.

"Shirō!" exclaimed Rin as she ran towards Shirō's body. He was bleeding but only to an extent.

"Wake up!" she exclaimed as she gently shook him. Shirō became conscious again and stood.

"Let's go…," he said. Rin followed, forcefully casting away her worries about Shirō's injury.

"Excalibur!" exclaimed Saber finally. The time it took to actually invoke Excalibur was not proportionate to its ability to subdue the beast. The attack hit Scylla but merely damaged the mythical creature. Sōichirō, following Shirō's command, assisted Saber. He knew that this time, he would be able to successfully utilized his attack.

"Target Annihilation!" he exclaimed. His fists fiercely beat up Scylla's body, rendering it vulnerable. Ilya, grasping in her hand the last three jewels, threw them at Scylla.

It was astonishing as the jewels Ilya had thrown shone a crimson red. The jewels set the creature ablaze, burning it in brimstone. Shrill cries came from Scylla as she was devoured by the flame. Sōichirō retreated and went to Rin and Shirō to aid them with Berserker. Saber, as well as Ilya, ran after him.

"Foolish," uttered Berserker as he fled the scene. Archer had returned but was in worse shape than the already Berserker-beaten Shirō and Rin. He collapsed to the ground, unable to bear the pain.

Saber, Ilya and Sōichirō arrived momentarily. They were agape as they laid eyes on the three bodies that lay before them.

"Hey, where's Medea?" asked Ilya. Saber, only noticing, inquired about this too. Sōichirō, however, was slightly troubled.

"She was abducted in the struggle. I noticed that she had disappeared when Berserker attacked us earlier on. Archer disappeared as well and I assumed he went looking for her but I believe it didn't turn out as I hoped…"


Saber, Sōichirō and Ilya gently placed the unconscious bodies of Shirō, Rin and Archer in the living room so it would be easier to attend to them.

"I wonder what happened…" said Saber silently. Ilya had come back from the kitchen with towels and a basin. The scratches and injuries inflicted on Shirō and Rin were neither lethal nor life-threatening. In Archer's case, however, it would seem that if he wasn't an epic spirit, he would've died a long time ago.

"We'll have to wait until they wake up…" replied Sōichirō. As if on cue, Archer suddenly moved. It was brought about by the injuries inflicted by his opponent, whoever it was.

"I guess it wouldn't do good to wake them up so we'll have to wait 'till morning…" suggested Sōichirō.

"Yeah, it would cause a lot more trouble if we were to wake them up now…" added Ilya.

The moon, a rather strange shade of azure, was glimmering down on Fuyuki and the rest of Japan as it descended the night sky. Whether it was ominous or not, one could not tell. However, it was at this moment in time that a grand plan had been put into action somewhere around the world…


So that's the end of that!
Okay, there were some seemingly rushed parts and I found the opening a bit boring, but I can't really help that...

Well, that said and done, please read and review!