Lancer IV

Nostalgia filled my mind as I made the final rounds of tonight's patrols. The disappearances continued throughout the night, no longer the ones and twos of the previous week. Now they began in earnest. I walked past a closed business in the empty streets of downtown. Not a single soul disturbed me as I walked the beat. Not even a cop wondering what I was up to.

I walked down the street, stopping at an intersection. The hair salon from the previous night was gone. I walked past the empty storefront wondering where she could have gone. The "closed" sign sat on the door, but by the stacks of magazines on the counter it didn't look it ever opened.

I shook the conversation from my mind. Emiya Shirou, the name was familiar, and so was the woman. She stook a shining to me far too quickly, but I had to admit I liked her. I checked out the records in the police databases, turned out that Shirou kids was the Master I tried to dice up that first night of the war.

Small world.

The light turned green and I crossed the street, heading back in the direction of the church. I liked to give my reports to Kotomine in person. It gave me a bit of power over him, and besides, I prefered the walk.

But as I neared the end of the next block I noticed him sitting in the window of a restaurant. He sat, ever the patient citizen, appearing as priestly as his facade could muster. The waiter brought out a bowl of map tofu, and he made the sign of the cross before digging in.

"Guess I'll pay him a visit early." I spun towards the door and pushed into the empty lobby. The Maitre D' saw me, and hung up the phone. I caught the last bits of the conversation, something about a deal being revised.

His eyes drew a bead on the blue and green tattoos on my forearms. "I'm sorry, we're closed."

"What about that guy?" I jabbed a thumb over at Kotomine.

"Special guest. One of our regulars."

"I'm with him." I pushed past the man before he could protest. Kotomine didn't look up when I approached. Matter of fact, he looked worse for wear. Mucus dripped out of his reddening face, yet he continued to shovel more mapo tofu into his panting mouth. I pulled up a chair, swiveled it around, and sat in it like a petulant middle schooler. "What's up Mr. Priest?"

Our eyes met. He watched me with his oppressive eyes. Despite the carnage wreaked on his taste buds they stared at me with the same coldness. After a tense minute he spoke. "Do you want some?"

"Pass."

"I'm sorry, Father." The Matre D' was back. "This hooligan won't be bothering you any more."

Kotomine held up a hand. He waved the man off, and I couldn't help but smirk at him as he bowed in apology. He ran off without saying another word. Asshole didn't bother to take my order.

"Given that you're too busy stuffing yer face to talk properly," I said, "a simple nod or head shake will suffice."

Kotomine chewed on his food, tasting the contents of his meal. More mucus poured from his nostrils. At last he shook his head.

"Emiya Shirou, what do you know about him?"
He cocked his head.

"Don't give me that bullshit." I leaned closer. The spicy scent of tofu burnt. "You haven't been playing by the rules yourself. I've been nothing, but a loyal servant. Got your reports and have been laying low. Now answer the question."

Kotomine paused. He chewed his food, swallowed, then nodded.

"Good." I moved onto the next question. "Can heroes come from the future?"

He raised an eyebrow, then nodded again.

"Is it possible that the nostalgia I've been feeling is just a coincidence?"

Shake of the head.

"Do you know who I am?"

"That depends." He broke the silence, touched his lips with a napkin, and tossed it onto the empty plate. "I have been following your dreams. Interesting indeed. Some parts are unfamiliar, but in so many ways, we're the same person."

I slinked into my chair, trying to come up with a response. A waiter brought out a class of water and Kotomine drank it greedily. He placed it back onto the table and the waiter refilled it. The process repeated three more times. "Why have you left me alone for the past few days? Doubt you just wanna play voyeur on my adventures."

"The disappearances are a concern. And you've stayed out of contact with other servants. Out objectives align."

I wagged a finger at him. "You don't give two shits about the people. The disappearances are too high profile, and bribes and cover ups will only go so far."

"Neither do you."

I paused. My body gave way beneath me and I leaned against the chair for support. A hollowness emptied from my gut. Snakes of uncertainty coiled around my heart, and squeezed. I opened my mouth to respond, but could only choke out. "Guess so." The hollowness remained, but the snakes disappeared with the confession.

"Why do you want to know about Emiya Shirou?" Kotomine smirked. The bastard was enjoying this.

"Because I suspect he is just like us."

"What makes you say that?"

"Did some research." I pulled out a manila folder. "Thirteen fights this year. Against bullies, all of them. Didn't want a reward or nothing from it. Got in severe trouble once or twice, but greased wheels by the Fujimura family keeps the cops out of it."

"Ask him yourself."

I pushed away from the table. "That was the plan."

"Then why tell me?"

It was my turn to smirk. "Wanted to see if you'll stop me." He didn't. Thought, I wished he did.

I crept along the high wall of the household, spying the interior and wondering what the fuck I was doing. The boundary field formed a clear border, and one misstep would alert me to his presence. However, it was stronger than the one I last remembered. Even had a feminine touch to it.

The lights from the living room leaked out into the courtyard, but no one was at the table except for a lone female. The girl who was Archer's master. I smirked, guess the kid's not doing too bad for himself.

Saber joined her at the table, and the two shared a cup of tea, their lips moving in conversation. I couldn't read it at the distance, but I sensed a familiarity between the two, far beyond mere allies.

I moved down the wall, searching for another angle, trying to find some way through. Despite having only been here once before the place was familiar. I could read the history of it, the feel, and it's warm nature. It was the comforting feeling of home, I was too busy trying to kill Shirou to notice the first time. Not a single thing was out of place, and I didn't question why I felt that way.

"We have enough strays to deal with."

I froze. The voice was familiar. I turned to see Archer atop the roof with his bow in hand, and arrow nocked and ready to fire. His red cloak fluttered against the wind behind him.

I stood, smirked, and brushed the dirt off my vest. "So there's the object of your namesake."

He released the arrow and sent it screeching towards me. I backflipped off the wall, the steel tip brushing slightly against the heel of my shoes, and landed onto the ground. I took off towards downtown.

But this time Archer was on my heels, his bow was gone and his twin swords in hand. I couldn't shake him through the suburban neighborhood, and remained close on my tail all the way into downtown. The city streets were empty once more, helpful at least, and I was glad of it. I rounded a corner into a dark alleyway and flung my garrott into a web of diamond filament.

There were two doors at the end of the alleyway, leading to different buildings. I destroyed both of them off their hinges, and and ran into the nearest one. It wasn't perfect, but with luck I would be able to shake him for a few precious minutes.

The first thing through the door were a flight of stairs. I ran up them, climbing up ten floors in a manner of minutes. I snuck a peek back. The darkness beneath me showed nothing but emptiness. Perhaps it was true.

But I didn't have the luxury. The door to rooftop appeared before and I burst through it. The meal frame slammed against the concrete wall on the other side with a loud crack. A breeze of winter midnight air sent a chill down my spine. And the city opened up before me. Blinking nightlights of a slumbering landscape lit up the darkness. More death, than, asleep however.

"So this was where you disappeared to."

I turned around. It was Archer. In his hands were his twin blades. For some reason I recognized them. They were familiar, speaking to me as they did to him. I took the brief moment to catch my breath, and drew my blade, there was no running away this time. The razor sharp wire of my garrott strewn between my fingers.

"Why did you return?"

I cocked my head to the side. It was an unexpected question, and one I didn't have the answer to. Instead, I smiled, and made light of the situation. "Figured I finish the job, ya know? Don't like leaving business unfinished."

"Perhaps." He appeared to mull over the thought some more, but then decided to drop it. I could sense the fighting spirit building inside him. This was a rematch, regardless of the consequences. "Let's finish this then."

He charged me with one wildly swinging arm, and I weaved around it. Prana coarsed through my circuits and strengthened my body. His openings were closed this time, and there was a different air in his tactics.

The blades returned. I rolled on the ground and swung up my wire. They wrapped around the black sword and I pulled it away from him. But then he did something I never expected.

Archer released his grip on his other blade and threw it towards me. It flung towards me. My eyes widened and my jaws dropped. I released my hold on the black blade and threw it off the roof. The white blade flew towards it like a boomerang.

But then he traced two more blades and repeated the action. He tossed them through the air and they flung around overhead. They spun and spun in their aerial dance, ready to converge upon me.

Archer continued his assault. He traced more blades and prepared to attack. A sense of dread fell upon me. I found myself backing up until I stood at the edge of the roof. This time, Archer had the advantage. Whatever came next would be the death of me.

The blades drew nearer. My legs froze, and my heart prepared to burst from my chest. There was no way out of this. Archer's next attack would kill me.

My feet nearly slipped off the edge, and the idea came to me. As the blade swung closer I went with the flow and fell off the side of the building. The blade and white blades crisscross just above where my head had been. The rushing highrise air erupted all around me as I slid down the reflective glass windows.

I dug my heels into the glass and followed the motions until I was running down them. The ground screeched beneath me and I turned around to face it. However, whatever joy of escape was eclipsed when a pair of swinging swords cut up ahead of me.

In the corner of my vision came a red blur, and it was hot on my pursuit. Archer was chasing me down the side of a freaking skyscraper lobbing swords at me. Boy would this be a story to tell Kotomine about later.

I swung my garrott towards my left and felt it dig into a panel in the windows. It pulled taut, and I followed the wire as it swung me towards it.

Archer was hot on my tails. He slid down the glass windows closer until he was right behind me. I released my grip on my garrott and twisted it around towards him.

The shimmering moonlight followed a trace wire through the air. It cut through the air and near and far to him. But he ducked and weaved, and went around it, and shoved his stupid sword at my face. I cocked my head back. My feet slipped beneath me, so I used the falling momentum to propel me forward. I threw my fist at the blade.

It made contact with the edge, and the black sword splintered underneath the assault. It cracked and disappeared into ether like our first fight.

But Archer was quick to counter me. He traced another sword and swung down with the white blade. I dug into the windows to slow my descent, the ground was growing near. The blade cut through the air where I would have been had I not slowed down. It slammed into the window and carved up a neat line before we continued our path and it disappeared behind us.

I continued my offensive, caught in this close deathmatch. I punched and kicked and weaved, but found myself much slower than I believed possible. Archer sensed my attacks before they came. This wasn't like previous where he had guided me. It was precognition.

He threw a blade at my shoulder, and it nicked a gash into the skin. Shreds of my suit flung off the fabric and fell by the wayside. I screamed, and slung myself towards the plummeting ground. Another blade shot at my midsection, threatening to slice me in half.

I threw up my reinforced hands meet it. The green leather gloves caught hold of it, but the sheer force still knocked me back. I flew backwards as I continued my fall towards the Earth. My grip on the glass windows loosened and I felt myself losing all control. Archer followed through with another strike, and knew I wouldn't be able to block this one.

Instead I threw my garrott towards another section of the building and pulled it towards me. I used the leverage to swing myself towards it, away as the black blade of Kanshou slashed up where I just was.

I swung away as best I could, gripping and pulling until the full force propelled me forward. The pained reflection of myself grew nearer as I flew towards the next building. I closed my eyes, embracing the darkness for a moment, and then felt a world of pain amidst the sound of shattering glass.

I stood there on all fours for a second, and opened my eyes. But in the moment, in the reflection of the shards of broken glass I saw. The reflection of Emiya Shirou staring back at me, that face of anguish and single minded devotion. It was only did I recognized his appearance as that of my own face.

So were one and the same. The revelation stuck me like a sack of bricks. That explained the nostalgia, the sense of remembrance everywhere I went, and the reason everyone kept mistaking me for me. A chuckle escaped my lips, and I didn't even mind the oppressive presence Archer was beginning to exert over the air.

I picked myself up and ran through the empty cubicles of an office building. I reached the other side, ran up the flight of stairs, and found myself on the neighboring rooftop.

From there I leapt to the next one, and the next one, until I was well on my way back to the Church. I gave my back a wayward glance, and was happy to find that Archer was nowhere in sight. It appears he had given up on the pursuit.

Resolute with my new understand I returned to my actual mission. It wasn't the grail war, it wasn't any of that bullshit. I didn't care for a wish.

No, this is my city. And I was going to doing everything in my power to protect it.