A/N: Holy Cow! I can't believe I'm already ten chapters into the Cause Route! Anyway, thanks for reading! :D Also, I'm sooo sorry for the long wait! I had so many writing projects this week that I temporarily lost my passion for writing.

Cause Route: Chapter 10 – The Presence of Twelve

"This is weird. It's been quiet lately, too quiet", Bazett stated, as she looked out onto the city. There was not one Servant that her, Rin, Lancer, or Archer had sensed or seen in the past week now. Lancer walked up from behind her and stood beside her. It was only the two of them scouting that night. "Why do you think the Servants haven't been coming out lately?" she asked the blue-haired warrior. He looked at her with a serious expression.

"I'd probably guess another Servant has already been defeated. I myself haven't been totally feeling all thirty-six Servants, so I'm guessing at least one was defeated. But one thing I do know, there's one Servant out right now", Lancer replied, Bazett's eyes widened in worry. "Don't worry; I don't think that she'll attack. She's been out here for a couple of nights."

"Which class of Servant is she?" Bazett questioned, as she looked up at her Servant.

"She's the Axer class Servant that that boy was chased by. I met her during my life, but I'm not exactly sure on how well she can do in a fight. But I must admit it seemed like she did quite well in her fight against Archer. Other than that, I have no idea about how good of a fighter she is", Lancer answered, as he turned his to head to look into the night. "Gh? Bazett, do you feel that?" He looked back down at the magenta-haired Master.

"If you're talking about the sudden presence of a whole bunch of Servants than yes, I do feel it", she responded, her eyes wandering the darkness in front of her. She looked around a bit before her eyes stopped on something – or someone. "Lancer, is that another Servant?" she asked him. From what she could tell, a woman was squatting on the edge of a building and balancing on her toes. Her long hair and blue waist cape blew behind her, and she had red eyes the color of fire.

"Yep, that's her. That's definitely her, but what the hell is she doing just sitting there? Does she not sense us?" Lancer asked. Axer didn't even look their way, didn't even acknowledge their presence altogether. They could see her head raise a little and turn to where a large back alley was located. Bazett and Lancer silently watched what she was doing. Suddenly, her head darted towards them. Lancer got into his battle stance, but Axer simply went back to looking at the back alley.

"Do you think we should talk to her?" Bazett asked her Servant. Lancer sighed and looked towards the woman.

"Mmm, yeah I think we should. She may know something that we don't and may be willing to tell us", Lancer said. Bazett nodded in response. The man then picked her up and jumped to the other roof. Once there, they walked slowly and reluctantly towards the axe-wielding woman, who just continued looking out. "Yo, Axer", he greeted.

"Ah, well if it isn't the Lady and the Tramp", Axer stated, aggravating Lancer. "Now, what do you want? I'm kind of busy at the moment."

"Sorry to bother you, but what exactly are you doing? You don't seem like you're really doing much", Bazett stated.

"There are ten more around."

"What? What do you mean?" Bazett asked the red-eyed woman. Axer finally stood up, balancing on the barrier like it was a balancing beam.

"I mean that there are ten more Servants nearby. They all decided on meeting in that back alleyway over there. That's why I didn't even bother pointing any of my attention towards you two. Two is nothing compared to twenty in battle, inferring that the Masters are there as well", Axer replied. "My Master ordered me to see what was going on and fight if I needed to, or if I thought I could win. That's why I didn't bother to pay attention to you two", the woman explained.

"I see, but why would ten Servants gather in one battle?" Lancer asked. To have ten different Servants battling at once was very rare. Axer shrugged before materializing her large axe. The purple lines curving around the hilt started to glow, as the woman easily held it in her left hand.

"I have no idea, but I'm joining them. I think I have a good chance of defeating those weaklings. Well, have a good night", Axer said before traveling towards the alleyway. Bazett and Lancer looked at each other as the strawberry-blonde-haired Servant went to the alleyway to join in the fighting. Bazett nodded towards Lancer, telling him that they will join the fight as well. Lancer picked Bazett up by her waist and followed Axer. When they arrived at the alleyway, Lancer put Bazett down and the two looked around. Just as Axer had said, there were ten other Servants not including Axer and Lancer. Also there were five other Masters. Bazett looked at the present Servants, most of which had an extreme killing intent in their eyes – Lancer, Axer, Fencer, Crusader, Dancer, Samurai, Cavalier. The other Servants were most likely Servants who were summoned by the Grail. The five Servants without Masters seemed to be different from the others. It seemed like they had no desire for the Grail and only desired to fight. Their classes were quite obvious – Archer, Demon, Singer, another Crusader and another Fencer.

"Let us begin", the Samurai class Servant declared. It was quite obvious that he picked his prey before the battle started, because he charged at Axer the instant he was done saying to begin. Axer expression didn't change. She simply swung her axe, blocking Samurai's attack. The sword that Samurai held nearly broke from the weight of the axe, but before it could he jumped back. Axer looked at him with her blood red eyes, the other Servants watching the first attack. She had a cold stare that could kill anyone just by looking at it.

"Oh? So, you are going to attack me, eh? I must say that that was an ignorant plan. You see, the predator hunts the prey. It is not the prey hunts the predator. All that will do is lead you to your inevitable death. But maybe you were just arrogant enough to think that you could defeat me with that useless sword of yours. Ah well, who knows. If you have already chosen me as your opponent then prepare to taste my blade", Axer said, an extreme killing intent, larger than the ones the other Servants held in their eyes combined, echoing throughout the night. The markings on the blade glowed brightly, and Axer charged with incredible power. The Masters stood back as their Servants fought to the death. Lancer looked back at Bazett. She nodded, signaling him to start. He turned back to the other Servants, who were looking at something. Blue specks of light and dust shined in the air. A Servant had already been defeated. The blue-haired man looked towards the Axer class Servant. She stood there wearing a straight face, blood dripped from her axe. He could see the body of Samurai slowly disappearing into the night. Samurai's Master, a boy with indigo hair and yellow eyes, watched in disbelief. Samurai's head was decapitated, a nice, clean cut. The Master looked at Axer, who stared back at him. "Your Servant has been defeated. If you want your life spared, then I suggest that you start running back to wherever you came from. And if you don't, then I shall take your life right here and now". Unfortunately, the boy was completely frozen. He couldn't do anything. Axer sighed and walked slowly up to the lad. Once he acknowledged what was happening, he tried to run. But unfortunately, his feet would not move, and the axe that had ended his Servant's life cut through his neck. The woman who took his life showed no sympathy or regret. She simply turned towards the other Servants once again. The head of the Master fell to the ground with a thud. His body followed and limply hit the ground. Axer charged at yet another Servant, causing the rest of the Servants to continue with their battles. Unlike the other Servants, Lancer stood in front of Bazett, protecting her.

Blood could be heard hit the ground, and metal could be heard clashing. The battle was getting longer and longer. Some of the Servants tried attacking Lancer but ultimately lost after trying to hit Bazett, who was, unlike the other Masters, fighting side by side with her Servant. The Servants left included Lancer, Axer, the Fencer with the Master, Cavalier, Demon, and Archer. The Servant-less Masters had all been killed by the one who defeated their Servant. Two out of the three Masters whose lives were ended were killed by Axer while the last one was killed by Demon. Their heads and bodies lied there on the ground. Blood gushed out from the lethal cuts.

While Lancer fought off Cavalier, Axer fought Fencer and Demon fought Archer. Somehow, not one Noble Phantasm was brought out that wasn't a weapon during the entirety of the battle. Lancer saw that Fencer had apparently retreated from the battle altogether from the corner of his eye and went on fighting Cavalier. Oddly, Cavalier was a centaur, a man with the upper-body of a man and the body of a horse. A scream came out from Archer, causing Cavalier to look back. Lancer took the opportunity and disarmed the horse-man before putting the tip of his lance at the enemy Servant's neck. The Servant grunted. He suddenly galloped toward his Master, a man who seemed to be about twenty-one with long red hair, and grabbed his sword before retreating into the night. There were only two Servants left on the field – Lancer and Axer. Demon had apparently escaped before Cavalier had run off. Lancer and Bazett looked at Axer. Her clothes and armor were almost completely covered with blood. Her beautiful long hair appeared to be as pure red as her eyes. Blood dripped from the blade of her large axe. But what was odd was that her expression remained emotionless and bored. Her eyes pointed towards the two who had followed her here.

"I must say that your moves were pretty impressive, my friends", she complimented while wiping still-wet blood off of her face. Bazett looked closer at the other woman and realized that none of the blood that covered her clear, pale skin belonged to her. She was miraculously unscathed from every battle that she had fought tonight.

"Axer, did your Master heal you at all?" Bazett asked the Servant. Axer's head shook.

"No, I have fought many worse battles than the one that happened tonight. The Servants I fought must have had many weak soldiers in their time. Anyway, I would battle you, but I personally think that there was enough bloodshed for one night, don't you think?" Axer replied. Bazett and Lancer nodded in agreement. In only one night, there were ten deaths – seven of which were Servant deaths.

"I agree, and I'll tell you the truth, Axer. I'm surprised at how strong you really are. Ending a Heroic Spirit's life in little as five minutes is incredible", Lancer responded.

"Ha, that man can hardly be called a Heroic Spirit. His skills lacked in both strength and intelligence", Axer scoffed. "He was both ignorant and arrogant for choosing to attack me".

"I agree. You would think a Heroic Spirit would hesitate before attacking your enemy who uses an axe with only a katana", Lancer agreed.

"Yeah well, you can't fix stupid, I guess. Anyway, I enjoyed our little chat, but I must be returning to my Master before she gets worried. Have a good night", Axer told the two before dematerializing. Lancer replied with a "you too", while Bazett stayed silent. Noticing her odd silence, Lancer looked down at his Master.

"Are you alright? Are you feeling sick?" Lancer asked worriedly.

"No, I'm fine", Bazett lied. She felt light-headed and questions ran around wildly in her mind. Seeing right through her lie, Lancer looked at her closer.

"You don't seem fine. Come now, tell me. I'm a good listener", Lancer coaxed. Bazett started to blush. Lancer's face showed confusion. "Huh? Why are you blushing?"

"B-because, y-you were protecting me", Bazett mumbled.

"Yeah, so?" Lancer said.

"W-why?" Bazett asked. Lancer seemed even more confused.

"Well, I protected you, because one I'm your Servant, and two because I don't know what I would do without you. I still don't know what you're blushing about", Lancer responded.

"B-because…n-no one has ever…done that to me before", the woman admitted, as she blushed even harder. Lancer was surprised at her response.

"That's terrible, but now that I know that I can bet no one has ever done this to you before either", Lancer replied.

"What do you-", Bazett started to say but was cut off. Lancer's lips sealed her own, as he put one hand on her waist and one hand on her cheek. Bazett could feel more color rise up to her face. She was kissing her childhood hero, actually kissing him. No, he was kissing her. She closed her eyes and sunk into the kiss. It was true. It was her first kiss. She had never kissed anybody in her life. Lancer's tongue slipped into her mouth and touched her own. It was like time had stopped, and nothing else in the world existed. Their lips reluctantly parted.

"Come on. Let's get home", Lancer smiled, still gently caressing her. Bazett slowly nodded. The man picked her up and started on the way back to the mansion. Bazett was suddenly very tired. She tried to keep her eyes open, but her tiredness got to her causing her to lean her head on Lancer's shoulder and fall asleep.

A/N: So, I hope you enjoyed that. I should be updating either Festival Phantasm or Grave Days very soon, so you can expect that from me. Also, I had to put a dog joke into this fic somehow (Lady and the Tramp joke if you don't know what I'm talking about. Well, have a WONDERFUL Day!