Ow.
These fucking chains just keep getting tighter and tighter, don't they? First I couldn't move, then they started digging in, and now I can't even feel my arms. This sucks.
Ow.
Why does my body hurt so much? I've been through worse, yet I have no energy. I've shouldered worse, but these hands of mine feel so weak. I've endured immeasurable pain, but the will to go on I once reached for won't come anymore.
Ow.
The moon's gone, and with it, so is it. It's just me now. Talking to my own damn self. Perhaps I'm really going crazy? If so I suppose hearing voices in my head would prove it.
Ow.
Why do they have to tighten again so quickly!? This is ridiculous!
But perhaps it's what I deserve. Maybe this is my punishment. I'm still here, but that voice is gone. Has it fled like I told it to, or are my ears failing as well?
No, that has to be it. That voice wouldn't leave me. It's with me, always. It waits for me.
It promised.
And what would you know about promises, oath breaker?
Ah! The fog… it's clearing… but who are you? Who are you, stepping through that devilish mist so easily? Why does your voice sound so familiar yet different? If only I could see with more detail…
From the start I have been here, even before you took up residence. It is mere arrogance to assume that you are the first of your kind.
You… if I could see past this fucking fog you wouldn't be so scary!
Wait a second. Scary? Fear? Me!? Impossible!
Who the hell are you?
No one that matters, at least not anymore. As of now I am simply observing and waiting for the end of this farce of a War. My part in your regrettable existence has ended.
I don't know who you are, but don't expect me to just sit here and take that insult. It's definitely not regrettable!
Perhaps not to you, who has never once hesitated, but to the rest of the world your existence is a tragedy. Sorrow follows you, and you blindly dig yourself deeper into the hole you created. A foolish man dying a foolish death. Look at you now, shackled and weaker than a mewling child. Isn't it a disgrace to your origin?
A disgrace? As if I care about such things. I exist, therefore I am. Wasn't there something like that? The very fact that I am here means it was worth it. I'm alive. I survived. And that fact means I'll be able to do whatever my heart desires so long as I remain 'alive'! I can fight to my heart's content! And my wish can still be granted!
Aren't you mistaking something? I did not think it possible, but could it be that you actually consider yourself to be the same person that created your 'legend'? Ha. Don't be so foolish. That man died long ago, doing what he believed in. This pillar and the shackles that bind you are proof of that. You are but an imperfect copy! The real you would never be in this situation! He would never allow himself to go soft and be shackled! He would never doubt his own power! And he would certainly never regret someone's death enough to wish to reverse it!
I'm tired of your laughing, Mr. Know-it-all. If you're going to keep throwing meaningless bullshit at me, then step out of that fog and show yourself already! Either leave me to my nightmares or get the hell out of them!
Fine. If your skull is that thick, then I suppose I'll humour you. Once more I shall grant your wish, warrior. You and I shall spar, and if you should happen to get the better of me then I might even reverse the death you so regret.
Ah, there you go! You don't look like much, kid. Are those tattoos supposed to make you look tough or something? You look so frail I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back!
By all means, try. But can you do even that, brute? I'm not your true opponent here, am I?
…!
It's heavy. My body's still heavy. These chains are heavy. The air is heavy. I can't stand. If these chains weren't keeping me up I wouldn't even be able to keep myself from falling. Is this just because I'm having a nightmare, or is it prana deprivation taking its toll on me? Am I truly a walking corpse?
Go ahead. See if you can beat me with that dying body of yours.
Damn you, just standing there! I'll break these chains! Just watch! And when I do, I'll kick your ass, you punk!
Like I said, try as much as you like. Since I have nothing better to do, I suppose I'll wait here for the miracle you so easily say you can perform. And perhaps I'll even… carve you up a bit.
Gah! My stomach… you fucking bastard…
If it hurts so much, why don't you wake up?
Ugh… Fuck you! Even I wouldn't attack an unarmed man, and there's no way I'm gonna run from you! Where's your self respect? Where's your pride? If you were a real man you'd free me from the chains so we could have a real fight!
Says the man who can't even move.
Ack! I'll die… I'll really die.
Oh stop being a baby and wake up.
Wait, what?
"I said: Stop being a baby and wake up already!"
An especially vicious poke to his stomach was enough to finally snap Lancer out of his unusual dream, and he groaned as he felt an intruding finger hit where a barely healed wound had been.
"I'm up, I'm up!" He complained as his eyes slowly adjusted to the suddenly bright light that replaced his nightmare's monochrome fog. "Geeze, can't you give a guy some sleep?" He rubbed his eyes with an aching hand and blinked again to shake himself awake. His head was fuzzier than a rabbit's fur, and it seemed as if every part of his body was competing to see which was sorer.
"You've been sleeping for almost a day since I found you." The same voice that had woken him replied, somehow sounding as if it was accusing him of getting stabbed multiple times and crashing in the nearest alley. "And you were covered in blood, too! You're lucky I even decided to wake you up instead of just letting you starve in your sleep!" Despite the morbid subject matter, the voice was perky and energetic instead of worried or apprehensive.
"Ugh… I'm perfectly fine." Lancer complained. He pushed himself up on one elbow and the person kneeling beside him retreated to give the man some space to breathe. "Those swords probably hadn't been sharpened in a couple thousand years anyway." He muttered to himself as he clutched his pounding head with one hand and pushed himself into a sitting position with his other.
"What was that about swords?" The familiar voice asked, finally subdued for once. "Did you get into a fight? Is that why you were in such a horrible state?"
"It was nothing." Lancer snapped as he looked to his 'rescuer' for the first time since his awakening. "Besides, I should be asking why you'd be venturing into a random alley looking for me, Taiga."
The young teacher standing beside Lancer's bed side bristled with the kind of playful anger she normally only reserved for troublesome students. "Oh no you don't!" She fired back. "You don't get to ask any questions, buster! Not after all the trouble Grampa put me through after I asked him to send some men to look for you! If anything I should be the one asking you questions!"
Lancer paused at the woman's sudden outburst, and then grinned. "So you weren't the one who found me, then. You just called the shots while other people did all the work!"
The spearman's small victory was instantly shattered when an expertly thrown pillow smacked him in the face, almost knocking him back down onto his futon. "Quiet, you." Taiga said, still angry. "We found you half dead, trailing enough blood to kill a normal person, and moaning about some fog and chains. If we hadn't found you when we did-."
"Then I would've been perfectly fine." Lancer said. He threw aside the covers of the futon, and stumbled to his feet like a drunk man trying to perform a delicate operation. He managed it after a few seconds of flailing, but almost instantly fell back down as all the strength in his legs vanished. "Okay." He admitted. "Maybe not perfectly fine."
"Idiot." Taiga crossed her arms, leaned against the wooden part of the wall, and shook her head sadly. "You haven't moved for 24 hours. Of course you'll feel sleepy and unenergetic at first. Give it a few minutes. I'll get you some breakfast, so stay put." She slid the paper door open and took one step out, but turned around at the last second. "Oh, and don't think of trying to sneak out anywhere. Grampa's men are surrounding the house and they're under orders to keep you here so you don't go wandering off into the middle of traffic."
Lancer suppressed a shudder as the door slammed closed. "What a scary woman." He admitted to himself. "Just sleepiness, huh? It would be nice if that was true." As a Servant and demigod, his body was almost always in a ready state, even just after waking up. If he had that much trouble moving, that must have meant…
"No prana. Shit." He cursed. Rather than having a hard time walking, he wouldn't even be able to leave the house without help. The flow of prana that Kotomine normally supplied him with was completely gone, and he had wasted all his earlier prana on blowing up the Matou house and healing the wounds from Gilgamesh and Sakura. His aching body showed just close he had gone to not being able to do even that. A single extra wound and he would have exhausted himself and disappeared. But for now he was running on empty, and an empty tank couldn't refill itself so easily.
As he cursed his circumstances Lancer looked around his temporary accommodations. It was an ordinary sized room in a traditional Japanese home, meaning tatami mats for floor and almost paper thin walls. His futon was the only furnishing in the room except for what appeared to be a closet, leaving it almost empty. Lancer himself was now wearing pale blue pajamas instead of his armour, leaving him questioning who exactly had changed his clothes while he slept. For a moment he remembered the unusual dream he had just woken from, but the sound of the door sliding open and the smell of food banished all thoughts of his nightmare from his mind.
"Here." Taigan knelt down next to the bedridden spearman and handed him a tray. "It's not exactly restaurant quality, but it's best to get some food in your stomach." The aforementioned food consisted of some kind of soup, a bowl of rice, and what seemed to be the legendary 'sushi' people in Japan talked about. Although it smelled delicious, the foreign food left Lancer wishing for some steak on the rare side.
"Uh, thanks." Lancer forced himself to say as he took the tray and picked up a spoon. As he tentatively tried the soup the man couldn't relax due to the persistent stare coming from his observer.
"Y'know you don't have to watch me all the time." He said after a minute. "I'm perfectly capable of using chopsticks."
"I'm not watching to make sure you eat." The determined schoolteacher said. "I'm making sure you don't suddenly collapse or do something stupid."
"Oi, I think you're being a bit irrational." Lancer said as he finished the rest of the soup in one gulp and set the bowl aside. "I mean, I'm tougher than that, and if it makes you stop I'll promise not to try and escape today."
"I don't care." Taiga said stubbornly. Her eyes were scrunched up in concentration and she glared at Lancer as if he was a ticking time bomb ready to explode. "I'm not gonna risk it. Especially not after what Shirou told me."
"The kid?" Lancer frowned. "Isn't talking about someone behind their back rude? Spill it."
"Nope." A small, mischievous smile appeared on Taiga's face, the first since Lancer had woken up. Unlike her angry or frustrated expressions it actually suited her. "It's my secret! You have plenty, so now we're even! Now eat up. You can't rest properly if you don't eat!"
"Geeze." Lancer sighed at her response, but eventually relented and continued eating his food. "You're too fussy." He said as he chewed on something with fish in it. "Although that's a good trait for a teacher, it's really distressing right now. I feel like you're babying me."
"Don't be ridiculous." She harrumphed. "I'm just giving you the same level of care as an injured student. This isn't really special at all."
"Oh, it isn't?" Lancer chuckled and lowered the now empty tray. "So you look this worried every time something happens to one of your kids? That's a pretty good quality for a mother to have."
"I-Idiot." She looked away suddenly as if embarrassed. "Don't think you'll be able to use those charms of yours to convince me to free you! You're staying here until you've rested up!"
Lancer just smirked like a hunter who had found his prey. "So you think I'm charming? Well that's mighty bold of you to say, milady. This is the first time in Japan I've ever met someone quite as forward as you."
"Ah!" The woman stiffened at his words, and abruptly stood. She snatched the tray from Lancer's lap and quickly slid open the door. "I'm g-going! If you need anything call for a guard!" She said the words as quickly as possible and slammed the rickety door shut in her attempts to get out as fast as she could.
"Heh. She's still got a lot to learn." Lancer smiled as he observed his so called 'watcher' running away in embarrassment. The man let himself fall back onto the futon and stop pretending to be okay as his body protested even the small movements he had made to eat. His aching stomach groaned as it was suddenly forced to handle solid food even though it was still healing from perforation. "Dammit, there really isn't much I can do like this."
It was actually quite annoying. While most others would've relished the chance to rest after several difficult battles one after the other, to Lancer his forced rest was just an inconvenient obstacle he'd have to find a way to bypass.
The Hound of Culann was not going to die a death from prana deprivation.
"Okay, think." The man spoke as he closed his eyes and let his body relax. "There's gotta be something I can do. There's no such thing as an impossible task."
The objective: replenish his lost prana. There were many ways to do such a thing, but in his situation most if not all wouldn't work. Still, he had options.
Begging was definitely an option. Kotomine was still his Master, and thus controlled the flow of prana to his Servant. Perhaps if he begged or agreed to something his Master would seek fit to forgive his dog and let the blue warrior live.
Lancer threw away the idea as soon as he thought of it. Even death would be a better option than surrendering to his true Master's killer.
He could always gather prana from his surroundings. There had to be a few ley lines in Fuyuki, and a day at one of them would be more than enough to recharge the rogue Servant to functioning levels of prana, if not top him up fully. Of course, such a thing was currently impossible. Lancer detected almost no ambient prana in his surroundings, making that option unattainable unless Taiga suddenly revealed a sudden knowledge of magecraft.
A third idea came almost of its own will into Lancer's mind. It was something he hadn't even considered, but as he thought of it, the prospect became even more and more enticing.
He could feed on their souls.
The compound he was currently holed up in was being guarded by more than a dozen men, each one with an above average strength for humans of the modern age. Although he was almost gone, Lancer was sure he could easily kill them all and use their souls to restore his prana. As a Servant such a thing was definitely possible. In fact, it wouldn't be difficult, and he'd already killed plenty of things during his life, so such a thing wouldn't even faze him. Yes, the more he thought about it, the nicer the idea sounded…
Until the face of the woman who had summoned him flickered through Lancer's mind.
What about Bazett? Hadn't he made a promise to bring her back?
But that had nothing to do with anything. This was different.
How? How could it be different? Would he really allow himself to die, knowing that he could have done something? He needed the prana to live. He needed to live to win, and he needed to win to fulfill his promise to his true Master.
But… to who had he made that promise? Was it to her… or to himself?
Regardless, it was irrelevant. He had no choice. Now that his alliance was over, he had to be back in fighting condition as soon as possible. If Saber or Gilgamesh showed up, he'd be screwed.
But still, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Teetering on the edge, Lancer clutched his head as two different parts of him drew him towards two different promises. His mild headache worsened until lit felt as if his head would split him half. What did he do? Where did he go? What about… his wish?
And then he realized it. And Lancer rejoiced, for his wish had already been granted-!
Get… the fuck… out of my head!
Lancer's hand moved as he gathered the trace amounts of prana within the air. His index finger almost dug into his shoulder as he all but carved a short combination of runes into his skin. The mystical shapes glowed brightly for a moment and then faded away as they got to work at their task: protecting Lancer's mind and body from Kotomine Kirei's influence.
"That fucker… no more spying through my eyes and ears." Lancer growled as he clutched his head. "No more planting creepy thoughts in my head while I don't notice. And no more of those fucking nightmares!" His crimson eyes blazed with fury as his headache abated along with Kotomine's slimy thoughts.
"How long…" His headache was abating, but the small expenditure of prana had been almost too much. "How long was that shit going on for?" Lancer asked himself. "How long has that damned priest been planting thoughts in my head?"
This time, no one answered his thought. Kotomine, along with his only possible source of prana, was gone from Lancer's mind and body for good.
If anyone asked: It was worth it.
After almost collapsing again from the strain of the sudden purge, Lancer reluctantly lay back down on the thin futon. While he would have much preferred to be up and about, he couldn't deny that the lack of prana within his body was making him very, very sleepy once more.
"Just a few minutes…" The weary warrior promised himself as he closed his eyes and drifted off into a thankfully dreamless sleep. "Just until I can walk again…"
"Lancer." A sharp jab to his solar plexus caused Lancer to frown in his sleep. "C'mon, wake up already. I'm not letting you hibernate for another day!" Another sharp jab, and the spearman growled weakly and pawed at the hand poking him like a weak puppy, still stubbornly refusing to open his eyes.
"Sensei, maybe it isn't such a good idea to antagonize him like that." Shirou stood next to the entrance of the room, sweating bullets as he watched his teacher casually needle a man who had killed him once, and would do so again given a reason to. "He's still very tired. Maybe I should just come back another time."
"Nope." Taiga gave the sleeping man another poke that somehow failed to wake him, and held back a grin. Uncharacteristically of her, she seemed to be gaining some enjoyment from watching the sleeping man squirm, which was enough to render Shirou too nervous to attempt to intervene physically. If the Tiger had designated her prey, then interfering would only make things worse. "This guy's just thick-headed. If he's anything like my grampa, he's just a deep sleeper. Sometimes you need an extra push to wake him up!"
The grossly irresponsible teacher punctuated her sentence by clamping down on the sleeping man's nostrils with two fingers, suddenly preventing him from breathing through his nose. Lancer shuddered, and instantly jumped upward, his eyes flying open as he landed nimbly on both legs with one hand placed on the ground to keep his balance and his other stretched out behind him to call Gae Bolg.
Of course, he lacked even the prana to summon his weapon, something he was grateful for when he realized that he had almost revealed it to an ordinary human.
"What the hell?" Once he realized that no, he wasn't under attack, the spearman sighed and sat down, propping his hands on one raised knee. "Seriously, for a host you're not doing a very good job of letting your guest have some sleep." Lancer yawned. "How long have I been out?"
"Only a few hours this time." Taiga said. "I woke you up just in time for dinner! You should be thanking me. I got Shirou to come all the way over here just to cook it for us! Even Tohsaka Rin decided to show up." Her earlier sour mood had been completely eradicated by the promise of a delicious meal, leaving the childish woman smiling like she had just won a lottery.
"That's what you wake me for?" Lancer said as he rubbed his bleary eyes. "Just leave me alone. I'm tired, and I don't really care about that kid's cooking."
"My house, my rules." Taiga smirked. "And my rules say that missing dinner is a travesty that cannot be tolerated! C'mon, get up."
Just as Lancer was about to reply with something much snarkier than his usual comments, the redheaded boy who had gone entirely unnoticed during the conversation decided to interrupt.
"Sensei, the food's almost done." He said slowly. Lancer looked at the boy with unfiltered surprise on his face, but Shirou ignored the spearman and addressed his teacher directly. "How about you help Tohsaka with the finishing touches? She was just complaining that she needed a helping hand, and I'd like to talk to Lancer for a few minutes." Shirou's words carried no traces of the grief he had so openly displayed earlier.
Taiga paused, and sighed. "Oh fine. I'll leave you two to have your man talk. But don't think you can skip out on dinner, Shirou! You're eating too!" With those parting words the woman once more opened the door and shot out of the room faster than a hungry, hungry hippo, leaving the Servant and the Servantless Master to speak with each other in peace. As she left the room, so did the relaxed atmosphere that she had brought with her.
For almost a minute there was complete silence. Shirou leaned against the wall, looking anywhere but at the other occupant of the room, and Lancer was more interested in examining his fingernails than talking to his younger companion. Their last separation hadn't been pretty, and Lancer wasn't sure if he could even consider the high school student to be neutral anymore, let alone an ally.
At the one minute mark, Shirou broke the silence.
"Is the room warded?" He asked, quietly enough so that only inhuman hearing would be able to pick up his whisper.
Lancer idly sketched a few glowing runes on the floor under his futon and replied. "Is now." He said at a normal volume. "What do you want, kid?" He glanced at Shirou, who still refused to even look at the spearman, let alone make eye contact. "Thinking of killing me now that I'm at my weakest?"
"No." Shirou said, still perfectly serious. "I just want to talk for a few minutes. If you want me to go, then that's fine too. I know that alliance of ours is over, but I still bear you no ill will."
"Ah just sit down already." Lancer grumbled. "Talking with you beats trying to sleep. I got a feeling that every time that teacher of yours sees me with my eyes closed she's gonna try and punch another hole through my stomach anyway."
Shirou didn't relax, but he did allow himself to sit on the floor, his back flat against the wall. "It's been more than a day." The boy said as he failed to resist the urge to glance at the disheveled spearman before him. "And nothing's happened so far. We haven't seen Gilgamesh at all, and Sakura…"
"Won't wake up." Lancer said bitterly. "I should've guessed."
"You know?" Shirou asked, finally surprised enough to break the poker face he had been working hard at keeping up. "But how? You've been asleep!"
"I don't need to know. She was gone the second I used Gae Bolg, kid. Even if whatever it is that possessed her healed most of her body, Gae Bolg's thorns spread everywhere, including the brain." Lancer shook his head sadly. "Sorry to say this, but my spear's anti-regeneration properties were enough to stop that thing's healing. So even if she's alive again, the damage to her mind and body remains."
Shirou opened his mouth to ask about how Lancer could know such things, but stopped halfway through. Of course Lancer would know. Any hero worth his salt would know exactly how their Noble Phantasm operated. Instead of an instant outburst, the young adult sat still and waited a few seconds to reply. "In that case…" He asked slowly. "I'll cut right to the chase. I'm asking you if there's a way to heal her."
"Of course there is, kid." Lancer snorted. "You came all the way here just to ask me that? Don't be dumb. There's always a way. If you're creative enough and willing to go far enough, you can even bring back the dead. What you should be asking me is if there's a way to heal that girl that you're capable of using."
"But do you know something?" Shirou pressed on. "Anything that we can get in short notice, before her muscles and organs fail completely?"
"That… is a little trickier." Lancer admitted, frowning. "I'm sure that there are plenty of things out there that can reverse the damage, but actually getting those things and even knowing where or what they are is something beyond my power. Basically, you'd be diving into the ocean to search for a trinket you dropped years ago and barely even remember. It's there, but the chances of finding it are pretty much zero, and you probably won't recognize it when you see it."
Shirou seemed to deflate with the spearman's words, but the boy merely nodded instead of breaking down. "Of course." He closed his eyes. "That's what I expected. So it's impossible after all."
The boy turned to leave, but Lancer's next words stopped him in his tracks.
"It's possible. There's a clear cut way to fix this without a problem." The spearman said, completely serious. "In fact I'm surprised you didn't think of it earlier, considering you're willing to fight a freaking war for the thing."
Shirou turned, and instead of the expression of realization Lancer expected the boy seemed merely confused instead. "I don't understand." He admitted. "What's this obvious way you're talking about? I've been thinking all day but I still haven't come up with anything."
Lancer sighed. "The Grail, idiot." The spearman said. "Y'know, the reason you're in this war? That magical wish granting object that's only awarded to the winner of the Holy Grail War? Is that ringing any bells in that head of yours?"
Shirou froze. Then he shuddered. And finally, averted his eyes from Lancer's form, clenching his fists as his body shuddered.
"No." The boy said. "That's not an option."
"Eh?" From all the options Lancer had expected, a straight up refusal of a miracle that could bring back the boy's loved one wasn't something he had even considered possible. "Are you serious?" The spearman asked again. "C'mon, what's the deal? Is your other wish so important that you don't wanna bring back your girl?"
"No, it's not that." Shirou said. His words were curt and to the point. Whatever Lancer had said, it had affected the boy, but in no way the hero could observe. "I won't use it. Even if I win, I'm not using the Grail for such a thing."
"Are you some kind of idiot?" Now Lancer's voice rose slightly as well. "Are you saying that you have no wish that you want granted? That you have no use for an omnipotent wish granting artifact? That you're not even going to do anything with it?"
"Yes." Shirou replied firmly. "I'm not going to use it. That's what I've decided."
"But-!"
"I'm not being rash." Shirou continued, his eyes gazing past an empty wall and towards his home, where the girl he loved lay sleeping. "The idea of using the Grail isn't something that I only now acknowledged. I knew from the moment I got back that I could use it. I knew it would be able to grant my wish, and that I could do what I could not by letting it save her." The boy closed his eyes, shutting out the world around him.
"But that's wrong." Shirou spoke with an air of finality and confidence. "Asking the Grail for a wish that selfish is something I can't do. I just… can't."
"It's not selfish." Lancer said weakly. The spearman pushed himself to his feet and staggered over to redhead. "That Grail isn't what you're fighting for, kid. It's not a 'wish machine', but a 'miracle maker'. You're not seeking something to grant you a wish. What you're striving for is the miracle you've wished for! Are you really saying that you have no wishes of your own? That even saving one life is something you can't accept?"
"Yes." Shirou said. "I can't accept it. Because when I thought of everything I could do with that grail, I realized that there's no way I could ever use it on just one person. What about all the other people who've died in this world without a single chance to live? What about the 500 people who died at the end of the last Grail war? There's too much injustice in the world for one miracle to solve, and because of that, I don't need one. You said it yourself. There are other ways to save her, so I'll look for those ways. That 'miracle' you talked about… I don't need it. That's the choice I made."
"…" Lancer normally wouldn't consider himself to be a talkative person. Hell, he didn't even think the naïve kid he'd almost killed once was that much of a talker. So to say he was shocked when Emiya Shirou suddenly decided to take 'wordy' to a whole new level was a complete understatement. However, that in no way meant the experienced hero had been rendered speechless. No, his lack of response was merely a conscious decision to wait until he could actually come up with a credibly reply to what must have been the most idiotic decision ever.
"Anyway, that's all I wanted to say." Shirou finished. "I'm going to eat. Here's a change of clothes. See you at the table. Oh, and don't mention Sakura to Sensei. She thinks Sakura's just sick, and we can't break the news to her so soon."
With that, the young redhead walked out of the room, leaving Cu Chulainn, the man who had defeated monstrous beasts and powerful warriors alike wondering what the hell had just happened.
In the end, he decided to go with the simple wording and chastise himself for it later.
"Well, fuck."
Dinner was a sombre affair. When Lancer finally gathered up the strength to hobble over to where he guessed the dining room was, he found an uncharacteristic silence in the unfamiliar home. Although the food was delicious (and western, thankfully), everyone was too caught up in their own thoughts to enjoy it. Lancer didn't speak, instead focusing on getting as much delicious food as possible into his stomach, and Taiga seemed to share his sentiments. Shirou barely ate a thing, and Rin spent the entire dinner alternating between glaring at Lancer and glaring even more at Shirou.
When it ended, the young magus girl quickly and quietly slipped out of the room with only a muttered goodbye to Shirou. The redhead nodded and rose from his seat.
"I'll help clean up-." He began.
"No, go ahead, Shirou. I'll do it." Surprisingly it was the normally upbeat teacher who interrupted the boy. "I know there's some more stuff you want to say. Go on and finish your conversation with Lancer before leaving."
The redhead opened his mouth to protest weakly, but Lancer grabbed the boy by the shoulder and pulled him out into the hall, slamming the door shut behind them. The spearman took a quick look around to make sure there weren't any guards eavesdropping before turning his eyes back to Shirou.
"Alright, kid. I'll make this quick." The spearman whispered. Taiga couldn't hear his words amongst the clattering of dishes, but Shirou made them out easily enough. "While I respect your decision and all that, don't dismiss the Grail as an opportunity. I'm not forcing you or anything, but you shouldn't be so quick to decide such things. It's best not to make rash decisions."
Shirou smiled weakly. "What's that, Lancer? You, telling me to stay calm and think more? If it had been a few days ago you would've just told me to do whatever the hell I wanted."
"Ah shut up." Lancer continued. "Anyway, I've said my piece. Once you get back, tell Saber that I'll be ready for our rematch in… about two days. I'll contact you guys when I'm ready. Until then, don't get yourself killed. Just stay at home and recover your strength."
"I can't promise that." Shirou replied wearily.
"What?"
"Ilya's gone, too." The amateur magus said. "When we came back the house had been ransacked and she was missing. I have no idea what happened to her or why she's gone. Maybe she woke up and decided to leave, but that doesn't explain her wrecking my house on the way out."
"That little girl…" Lancer frowned. He'd only seen Ilyasveil von Einzbern a few times, and most of those were simply her sleeping in Shirou's hands. They had no idea what kind of abilities or priorities she had, and if she'd even woken up. "Have you tried looking for her?"
"Yes, but we've gotten nowhere." Shirou replied morosely. "Saber and I searched through Shinto last night, but found no traces of her. We're going to check the downtown area tonight."
"Things just keep getting better and better. That's some spectacular luck you have there." Lancer let go of Shirou and leaned against a wooden wall as the meager expenditure of energy caught up with him. "First Goldie, then those two girls of yours, it's like the universe wants us as miserable as possible."
"Perhaps." Shirou said. "But I'm not giving it the satisfaction of watching me give up. A hero's someone who triumphs over adversity. It's not over yet, not by a long shot." Rather than the weak acceptance of defeat, all Lancer could see in Shirou's eyes was a deep sense of purpose. A refusal to let the World crush the boy's idealistic hopes and dreams.
"Now you're talking like a real hero." Lancer chuckled weakly, unable to come up with a better reply.
Shirou nodded, and turned to leave. Lancer accompanied the magus to the door in silence as he focused on putting one foot in front of the other without looking like an idiot. Wisely, the guards had decided to let the guard dissipate for a short time, and when they arrived at the entrance, or in Shirou's case, exit, they found it completely unguarded.
"Hm. I could probably escape right now." Lancer mused as he inhaled a breath of fresh evening air. "I'm probably not gonna get another chance."
"You could." Shirou agreed. "Sensei doesn't know anything about the Grail War or magecraft, so you might be better off on your own. But she seems to have taken a liking to you, so this place is open to you if you wish it."
"I have that effect on people." Lancer grinned. "I guess you could say people admire my sharp wit and to-the-point attitude."
"Or perhaps they admire the lack of a spear through their hearts." Shirou quipped, rubbing the scar from being stabbed by Gae Bolg. Unsurprisingly, Sakura now possessed a similar one.
"Bah. Don't let a bad first impression get you down." Lancer replied lazily. "I mean, I haven't tried to kill you since then, right? I'd call that an improvement on your part."
"Or yours." Shirou gazed at the cloudy sky. For a moment it seemed as if the moon would emerge, but the brief pinprick of pale light was quickly swallowed up by grey clouds. "You're different, y'know. Compared to how you acted when we first met, you're like an entirely different person."
"Really?" Lancer raised an eyebrow. "I like to think that I just got a bit more serious, that's all."
"That does make sense, to a point." Shirou said. "But it's not just that. Back then, when you and I fought, it was like a game to you. You were just having fun toying with me."
"Hey, c'mon, cut me some slack here." Lancer shuffled, almost sounding embarrassed by his previous actions. "So what if I like to play with prey that's got some claws? It's not like I was breaking the rules or anything, just enjoying a good fight."
"Yeah, but your attitude's completely different now." Shirou turned to face Lancer, and the spearman couldn't resist looking at the teen's clear, guileless eyes. "Earlier it was like you didn't care about anything. You were just having fun fighting and playing a nice little game of war. But now…"
That's the problem with getting involved with your enemies. Lancer thought bitterly. You start connecting with them. Bonding. Talking to each other. And that only makes it harder when the inevitable comes. "It wasn't a matter of choice, kid. I'm sure that girl explained it to you. It's all because of that one promise, that's it. Believe me, I'd rather have just run around by myself, killing off Servants one by one like in the original plan."
"Perhaps." Shirou nodded. "But you made that promise anyway didn't you? Ever since you fought Rider, you've been like a different person. Even when I saw you fighting, you were different from the person who tried to kill me that night. You were more… there. More human."
'
"Don't be ridiculous." Lancer said weakly. Talking was never his strong point in the first place, and he definitely didn't want to be spilling those inconvenient feelings all over some kid he'd killed once. "I'm the same guy I always was. You don't know me, so don't make a big deal just because I decided to be nice for once! Now shut up and go look for that princess of yours!"
Shirou opened his mouth to protest, but before he could get a word out Lancer slammed the door shut. The 'hero' hobbled away from the locked door as fast as he could, blocking out the muffled words of a stupid boy who was too perceptive for his own good.
"Dammit." He cursed as he silently made his way back into the kitchen for some leftovers.
"Dammit."
The table was clean. Not a speck of food remained. Somehow, despite her supposed ineptitude, Taiga had managed to get it all sorted out in the span of a minute long conversation.
"Dammit."
The spearman cursed. He hobbled over to the kitchen entrance. Perhaps there would be something there. It wasn't like he needed food as a Servant, but it did give him energy, as little as that was. So if a few more bites could nab him some more units of prana in the long run, Lancer would take them.
Some more units of prana… as he entered the kitchen, Lancer acknowledged the existence of one other way to replenish his reserves. It would be cruel in many ways, but compared to the alternatives, he'd take it.
If he could even pull it off.
The kitchen, unlike the dining room, was a complete mess. There were pots and pans everywhere, and the dishes were still mostly unwashed. The remaining food had been neatly sealed into plastic containers for later consumption, but the rest of the area had yet to be cleaned.
The soft gurgling of water and the sound of a sponge rubbing against ceramic made it obvious just what Taiga was doing. Despite Lancer's image of her as a slightly clumsy yet talented swordswoman, she somehow managed to flawlessly integrate the image of a busy housewife into that appraisal.
Taiga hummed softly as she scrubbed the dishes, rhythmically cleaning one, then putting it to dry and reaching for another. Unlike her normal, energetic self, she seemed almost peaceful, having fallen into a trance that turned her dull, repetitive work into something bearable. Lancer felt himself get sucked into her rhythm just by watching, hypnotized by the mundane act. One after another, the mess created from 4 people eating dinner shrunk and vanished under Taiga's steady hand, and in the course of a few minutes all the dishes and utensils had been cleaned and set to dry.
Taiga turned to grab a towel with which to dry off her hands, and promptly fumbled it when she noticed the blue clad man leaning against the counter and munching on some rice balls.
"L-Lancer!?" She panicked. "W-what are you doing here?"
"Grabbing a midnight snack." The spearman said, smirking. "What are you doing here?"
"Don't be funny with me, mister." She frowned. "I'm cleaning up the dishes. Unlike what you're doing, it's actually something that contributes to the quality of this household!"
"Hey, I'm the guest. I don't have to contribute anything except my presence at your dinner table. "Lancer countered easily. "Besides, your idea of contributing must mean 'break half a dozen dishes before getting any clean', judging by all those shards you tossed into the trash earlier."
"Ah!" The woman froze as the hero revealed her underhanded plans. "W-well, accidents happen." She said quickly. "I mean, everyone breaks a few plates on occasion, right? Even professional cooks do that sometimes!"
"Oh sure." Lancer agreed. "Except the kid doesn't, right?"
"Shirou isn't normal!" Taiga crossed her arms and turned her nose up. "That child is destined to become one of the greatest Japanese cooks in the world. You can't judge him by mortal standards, so he doesn't count."
"So little miss sunshine was normal, then?" Lancer's teasing continued, to little effect.
"Tohsaka is an honour student." Taiga insisted. "They take perfection to a whole new level. It isn't fair to count people like them as normal human beings."
"So in your opinion, anyone who's better than you in the kitchen isn't human?" Lancer chuckled. "My, my, does that make you the best chef in the world?"
"I do what I can." Taiga smirked, crossing her arms. She waved the towel in her hands around as if conducting an orchestra. "The ability to cook is an essential thing for any adult to have. To not be able to do such a thing is a tragedy!"
"Oh I'm crying already." Lancer said. "The idea that you needed help from one of your own students just to make dinner definitely makes this sad tale a tragedy of the most epic scale."
"Y-Youuuuuuuuu." The normally relaxed teacher fumed, and although she didn't actually attack Lancer, the sheer amount of momentary killing intent told Lancer that if looks could kill, he'd sooner survive being stabbed by the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Luckily for him, however, the teacher decided to take her anger out on the poor towel, wringing it so tightly that it groaned in protest. "Just be lucky that you're not feeling your best." Taiga finally said. "I can tolerate that from Shirou, but you're going to be punished! Five rounds in the dojo with me after you get better. And no holding back this time!"
"Yeah, yeah." Lancer waved off her death threats as if he'd experienced similar on a regular basis. "Sure, it's a promise. Now is there a TV in this blasted house? They're airing White Fang tonight, and I don't want to miss it."
"Nope!" Taiga laid down the law like an angry mother. "No TV! Bed time! Now!"
"Oh c'mon." Lancer protested. "I've been in bed all day! A man can't sleep all the time!"
"Well then you'll be the first to accomplish such a heroic deed." Taiga insisted. "Now get to bed before I drag you there! And don't think I won't, mister!"
"Geeze, you're acting like my mother." Lancer complained, but still complied as the determined teacher grabbed his hand and half dragged him to the room he'd woken up in. It was embarrassing to be pushed around by an ordinary human, doubly so a woman he enjoyed teasing.
"You're still feeling the effects of your injuries." Taigas said as she slid open the door to Lancer's room. "And you really do need to rest. Shirou said you were hurt pretty bad, and I believe him."
"I'm fine though." Lancer muttered weakly under his breath. Truthfully, while he didn't wish to sleep again, his body had different ideas. The aching hadn't stopped, and while he could walk, if slowly, his prana remained at a dangerously low level. Despite everything, sleep was the best thing he could do.
"I don't buy it." Taiga said as she pulled out a new futon and laid it out on the floor. "You may not believe it, but I've been in a few scrapes myself. I'm not going to ask what happened to you, but a human can't just heal in a day. You'll need at least a week of rest before you can get up."
"What if I want a hospital?" Lancer teased. "You are technically keeping me against my will, y'know."
But this time Taiga was ready. "Doesn't matter." She grinned. "Grampa pretty much owns this part of town. No one's gonna come looking for you, every person in this house works for me, and best of all, if you go missing, no one will hear you scream!"
Coming from anyone else her words may have been scary, but Lancer just shrugged. "Meh." He grumbled. "Worth a shot. Anyway, I've got a proposition for you. Last shot, and if you don't take it I'll go right to sleep, promise."
Taiga paused, and tilted her head to the side. "I'm listening…" She said slowly.
"Y'know, I recall us promising a certain friend of yours that we'd finish that special bottle of liquor she got us." Lancer said as he drew a sturdy brown bottle from behind his back. "How about we get that out of the way before bed?"
"Y-you!" Taiga growled. "You have some nerve! Do you honestly think I'd let you drink before sleeping? And where the heck did you get that?"
"Filched it from the kitchen while you weren't looking." Lancer said as he twisted the bottle of alcohol open. "Wow. This smells like some good stuff." He sniffed the opening and smiled. "C'mon, share a drink with me." He sat down on the floor cross-legged, and poured a small quantity of drink into the bottle's cap.
"I already said no, mister!" Taiga insisted, but she found herself sitting down in front of Lancer anyway. "Geeze, first you ditch me with the groceries to run off somewhere, and now you want to continue as if nothing happened a day later?"
"Yeah, sorry about that." Lancer said. "Would you believe me if I said something urgent came up?" He handed Taiga the cap and took the bottle for himself.
"Coming from anyone else, I'd say hell no, but, for better or for worse, I believe you." Taiga didn't seem very happy with that revelation, but took the cap anyway. The two containers met briefly before both of the 'responsible adults' drank down the contents.
"Ah… that hits the spot." Lancer sighed as he gulped down the alcohol. Neko hadn't been lying. While not exactly the best he'd ever had, it was certainly much better than the mysterious bottles of wine Kirei and Gilgamesh had procured. Taiga seemed to share his sentiments, as her weak protests vanished as soon as she tasted the masterfully created brew.
The two drank some more in silence before Taiga spoke again. Unlike Lancer she didn't seem very content at all. "I don't get it." She frowned. "First you disappear suddenly, then you wind up bleeding in an alley barely an hour or two later, and now you're acting as if it was nothing." Her words weren't slurred at all despite the volume of drink she had consumed.
"It's… not something I can really talk about." Lancer said, uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going.
"But it's important." Taiga said after a few more drinks. She glared weakly at Lancer. "All this strange stuff has been happening for more than a week already, and then you and Saber show up around that time…" She took a drink and continued as soon as she swallowed. "…and Shirou's sad, and there was a fire at the temple, and now Sakura's sick…" Taiga trailed off.
"Don't worry about it." Lancer poured her some more liquor, which the teacher mechanically swallowed without batting an eyelash. "Like I said, I can't tell you anything." He began, but paused and sighed as he saw Taiga glaring at him. "Oh, fine." He relented.
"Listen, you're absolutely right." He said. "Something's going on in this town. And yeah, Saber and I are involved in it. So was that Kiri-whats-his-name you talked about earlier."
"I knew it." Taiga said to herself. "I knew it…"
"But it's almost over now." Lancer continued. "It won't be longer than two weeks, and I can tell you that everything will be back to normal as soon as it's over. Saber and I will leave, and chances are you'll never see us again."
"You're leaving?" It seemed that the teacher only caught the last part of Lancer's sentence. "W-when?" She stammered.
"Don't know. Probably a few days at most. No more than a week." Lancer admitted. "So don't worry, you won't have to put up with me for much longer. And I'll be gone tomorrow anyway. I don't want to impose on your delightful hospitality any longer." He took a long drink from the bottle, which was almost empty at that point.
"You're leaving…" Taiga seemed lost in thought, and unusually silent. Lancer didn't pay it any mind.
"Yup. Lovely place, Japan, but I'll need to be going back soon." Lancer stood up and propped the mostly empty bottle against the wall after closing it again. Taiga rose from her spot and frowned as she stared at him. "Relax." He chuckled. "There's still time, so I'll be able to pay you back for the help."
"…you'd better." Was all that Taiga said before shoving some pajamas into Lancer's hands.
The spearman nodded. "Mind turning around for a sec, Miss kidnapper?" He said.
"Of course. Now relax!" Taiga said, her energy mysteriously back as she spun 180 degrees to give Lancer room to change into his nightwear. "There's no need to leave tomorrow. I've decided that you'll be staying here for the remainder of your visit! Don't worry, we'll be good hosts. I promise you three meals a day, television, and a generous curfew of 11:00! This is an exclusive offer, so I'd suggest being grateful for it!" Her words were slightly louder than normal, possibly so that she could tune out the sound of cloth rustling as Lancer changed right behind her, or possibly because she had had just a bit too much to drink.
"Oh, thanks, really." Lancer quipped. Unlike the teacher, his divine constitution had already processed most of the alcohol. "Anyway, you can turn around now." He said.
"Finally." Taiga spun in place energetically. "Anyway, tomorrow I was thinking you might be well enough to- huh?" She froze in place, her eyes wide open and staring at Lancer as if he was made of solid gold.
"What?" The man shrugged, the action loosening the pajamas wrapped around his waist. Although he had claimed to be done, his torso had been left completely bare, revealing a muscular yet lean physique, marred with almost no scars at all, and certainly no recent ones. In fact, the shirtless demigod looked like the peak of fitness.
"Ah… buh…" Taiga's mouth opened and closed without forming words. "But… you were bleeding yesterday." She managed to say.
"Like I told you." Lancer smirked. "I'm just that good. Now are you going to stare, or help me out? Either way, my eyes are up here."
"Eh?" Taiga blinked and looked up from examining Lancer's chiseled abs. "Y-you're not human." She managed to say.
"Nah, I'm plenty human." The bare-chested man said. "I'm just foreign, that's all. Now really, I do need your help. I can't put the top half of this dress thingy on."
"O-of course." Taiga tried to resist the urge to slap Lancer and call him a pervert. In the end her rationality won, but only because he was still supposedly injured. She tentatively took a few steps towards Lancer, who just stood in place and smirked as if it was his birthday.
"How can you not know not to put on pajamas?" The teacher forced herself to talk as she grabbed the edges of Lancer's nightwear. "It's pretty simple."
"I prefer to sleep in the nude." Lancer all but purred, and Taiga shuddered as her imagination went places it hadn't been in a long time. "And your Japanese clothing confuses me." He added as an afterthought.
"You're the confusing one." Taiga muttered as her hands lifted up the top part of her guest's clothes. She couldn't resist looking at his chest once more. Where the night before he had been wounded in several places, he looked like the peak of health only a day later. Gone was the blood, gone were the wounds, and gone was the pallor of death that had haunted the man's body.
"I don't think so." Lancer purred as Taiga began to tie the two halves the obi together. His words caused her to fumble, and the entire array of cloth dropped to Lancer's waist once more. "You are a very confusing woman, Ms Fujimura." He continued, seemingly oblivious to Taiga's barely suppressed trembling.
"Rescuing me, then attacking me, forcing me to sleep and then waking me up and unable to tie up a simple garment when you so easily claimed it was a simple matter… Aren't you contradicting yourself?" He smirked.
"…screw it." Taiga growled. She let go of the man's shirt and spun in place. "Put it on yourself, then! I don't care anymore." She stomped angrily towards the door, but Lancer's hand on hers stopped her from sliding it open.
"What are you-!?" She held back a squeak as her guest's long arms closed around her body, pulling her back into him. She was acutely aware of the warmth of his bare chest on her back, and his definitely not weak arms wrapped around her shoulders.
"Sorry." She couldn't see his face, so it was a surprise when Lancer's soft whisper was breathed into her ear. "That was mean." He continued.
"Th-that doesn't matter now, dummy!" The woman in Lancer's arms said weakly. "L-let me go. You're taking your teasing too far…"
"My arms have no strength." The man admitted. And it was true. He was incredibly weak. Even though he looked like a perfect being, his arms were as strong as wet tissue paper. "Leave, if you wish, but I owe you something, woman. And I assure you, I'm completely serious."
"O-owe me?" It was all she could do to keep speaking without burning out her brain, so Taiga settled for voicing the first thing she could think of as she desperately tried to calm the chaotic state of her upturned mind.
"Yes." Lancer released the startled woman and gently spun her around so that she could face him. "And I always repay my debts. So…"
His eyes were a bright red. The same red that had hunted and killed hundreds. The same red that took joy in battle. The same vicious red that signified death.
The soft, comfortable crimson of a lover.
"Thank you." He said, and pressed his lips to hers.