AN: Sorry for the late update, but I just haven't found the motivation to keep writing this story lately, what with life being as busy as it is.

Anyways, I hope I can recompense with this (comparatively) longer chapter, so here goes! =]


As the scene unfolded before her, Rin felt herself sink lower and lower into her mansion's leather sofa. How had she been placed into this situation?

Her orders had been very straight-forward and, in her opinion, left no room for insubordination: observe the fight and analyze the battle strategies of each party involved in the duel at the Emiya household. Archer was, under no circumstances, allowed to participate in the brawl. After all, the Fifth Heaven's Feel was still at its early stage—there were simply too many unknowns to make any rash moves.

In order to reinforce this, she had even applied a shared perception spell to her servant. Considered as a failsafe, the spell would allow her to see what Archer saw and hear what Archer heard, essentially giving her full knowledge (and therefore, control) over his actions. Her plan was supposed to be flawless and it was…at least until Archer decided to project a pair of hunting blades and lobbed them at one of the fighting masters.

The way Rin saw it, Archer had disappointed her in three ways. First of all, there was his insubordination; the man had a huge ego, and the Archer class's Independent Action certainly did not help.

Secondly, the master that Archer had struck down was right about to land a decisive blow against the Einzbern homunculus. Had he waited a few more seconds, Archer could've removed two birds with a single stone.

Finally, there was the matter of who he struck down. Now that Archer (and by extension, Rin) focused his eyes on the boy, she could see clearly that the boy was someone she recognized from school: Emiya Shiro. While Rin certainly did not entertain any love for her school's resident repairman, she still knew him to be a kind classmate—his unnecessary death would no doubt leave a bad taste in her mouth.

And he most certainly was dead. Not even factoring in the damage he must've sustained in the battle against the Einzbern master, Archer's swords had gouged deep wounds in his back; it must've killed him immediately.

Her main concern now though, was Archer's unpredictability. No one had seen him yet, and if he returned immediately, all would be well. If he chooses to stay any longer though, Lancer, Saber or some other servant observing the fight would undoubtedly find him.

Once again, Rin found herself starring at the three command mantras etched on the back of her hand. She didn't want to use it so soon…but it doesn't seem like she has a choice.


"You called for me, Grandfather?"

"Yes, come in."

With Zouken's permission, Sakura slid open the wooden door, and walked into her Grandfather's study. This was the place where the condensation of hundreds of years of research by the Makiri, and later Matou, resided. Hundreds, if not thousands of tomes laid on their respective shells; most hadn't been touched in decades. In fact, it was a gross understatement to call it a study; rather, it was an ancient library, and one of the few ties that the Matou household still had with the world of magecraft.

Needless to say, Sakura was no stranger to the room; she often came on the behest of her Grandfather to learn the skills necessary in becoming a master. However, she could never shake off the feeling of dread that accompanies each visit, try as she might.

For her part, Sakura was looking even frailer than her usual self. The bags underneath her eyes had deepened as the result of the recent training and subsequent sleepless nights, while her naturally black hair had faded to an even lighter shade of violet. But Matou Zouken cared about none of this. Sakura was, first and foremost, her tool—she only needed to survive a few more days to serve his purpose.

Stepping in front of the old geezer, Sakura stood silently, with her back straight and face down, listening as Zouken croaked out his orders.

"The first blood of the Grail Wars is about to be spilled my girl. And we Matou's need to make our move accordingly."

"Yes Grandfather."

"I have been observing the entire fight with my worms, and it appears to me that the Einzbern's master will be troublesome to deal with."

Images of Illya's brute strength, and Saber's abilities flashed in Zouken's eyes as he said this. Pausing to catch his breath, Zouken continued.

"It's a perfect opportunity to strike now, with Lancer keeping Saber busy. Therefore, my girl, my first order to you will be this: send Berserker and kill the Einzbern's master. Would that be fine, Sakura?"

Zouken's voice gained a sardonic edge towards the end of his orders, and Sakura knew this. After all, asking for her opinion was a formality that he seldom took. Perhaps his mind truly was deteriorating with extreme old age.

Of course, none of this was a concern to Sakura. In the Matou household, Zouken's words were law, no matter how unusual they may seem.

"Yes Grandfather, I will send her immediately."


Kneeling solemnly, Lancer laid his master chest-first on the ground, hoping that this little bit of comfort will help Shiro pull through. As it is though, things were looking grim. While the twin daggers had been removed from Shiro's back, and he had miraculously stopped bleeding, the surface area of the wound was still too great—an infection now would be fatal.

Even as Lancer carefully probed Shiro's wounds with one of his hands, his other stayed at his sides, gripping his spears. While Saber had backed away after the sneak attack and was now standing guard over her dazed master, Shiro's mysterious assailant was still no where to be found. Lancer's guard could not be dropped.

The rustling of leaves immediately snapped Lancer into attention. Turning his head, Lancer's eyes barely made out the contours of a man through the dense foliage; a moment later though, that man had already stepped out of his cover and walked before them.

Dressed in a red overcoat and black plate armour, the white-haired stranger did not radiate any supernatural aura; the only thing especially noteworthy about him was the hard glint in his eyes. However, what really caught Lancer's attention were the two swords he held in each hand. After this, it didn't take a genius to figure out Shiro's attacker.

Standing up to his full height, Lancer resumed his fighting stance, wary against anything suspicious that the servant might attempt. Smirking at the tension in the air, Archer addressed the four in an even tone, "I don't have any interest in fighting you. Just step away from the boy and everything will be fine."

Narrowing his eyes, Lancer could barely suppress an incredulous scoff. It was well known by all that Servants can only maintain their presence in the world by siphoning mana from Masters. Servants need and rely on their master and so, protect them. To step away from Shiro now would be akin to nailing his own coffin.

"And have my master killed? No thank you."

At this, Archer's smirk disappeared, replaced instead by a rather sad-looking smile.

"Well, can't say I didn't try."

Archer covered the distance between him and Lancer in an instant. Lifting his arms, he proceeded to stab downwards with one of his blades. Expectantly, Lancer moved to parry his blow with his red spear.

But was interrupted by a flash of blue and silver. To Archer's surprise, the blade that blocked his wasn't Lancer's, but Saber's. Leaping gingerly back to his original spot, Archer eyed the pair before giving a cynical laugh.

"I'm not sure if you realize this, Saber, but I have no interest in fighting you. Wouldn't it be much better if I finish Lancer off for you? Wouldn't that save you a whole lot of trouble?"

Shaking her head, the blonde responded, "I am a knight before I am anything else. I will not allow you to disturb the duel between Lancer and myself." Her words earned her a grateful smile from Lancer.

At this, a little girl's voice piped up from behind Saber as well. Apparently, Illya had recovered from her previous state.

"Besides, Shiro is my prey. It really won't be much fun if you end up killing him instead of me. So, I'm sorry but you're just going to have to die." Illya then gave a mock curtsy, as if emphasising just how "sorry" she was.

Pointing her invisible blade at Archer, Saber's clear voice rang out once more. "This is your last chance Archer. Leave right now, or Lancer and I will both be your oppone..."

Saber's eyes widened suddenly, as if her instincts had picked something up. Leaping up from her position in front of Lancer, she backflipped in the air and landed in front of her master, arms raised. Not a moment too soon either.

Metal clashed against metal, the force of the impact pushing Saber back a few meters, almost making her crash into the master she was striving to protect.

In Saber's previous spot stood the lithe figure of a violet-haired maiden. Though her face was obscured by a grooved visor, her beauty and divine aura was unmistakeable. In fact, her complexion and figure gave her the appearance of a minor-goddess; a benign one at that.

But all this goodness was considerably offset by her abnormal snarling and awkward body movements—there was no doubt in Saber's mind that she was the Berserker servant of this war.

The maiden took a step away from the King of Knights, then another. Her movements would be graceful and nonchalant, if not for the noises she constantly makes as she walks. None of this mattered for Saber though. Instead, she kept her trained eyes on the muscles of Berserker's lower legs, watching for any abnormalities.

The skin on the nape of Saber's neck prickled slightly. And then she leapt.


AN: And its done. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed envisioning the scenes and actions! :D

Anyways, please rate, review, PM, anything so that I can hear from you. Really, that's what keeps me motivated to write (well, asides from Nasu's AMAZING universe).

Hmm, I might add more if things turn up, but this is it...for now... xD

Oh, actually, I do have something I want to add.

As you probably realized by now, I took a few...liberties in this rendition of HF5, and I would really like input on that. My deviations shouldn't be too far-fetched right?