Author Note

Hello there and welcome to another chapter of Fate Shadow Spear. Let us answer some of the reviews, before the chapter.

Toa Solaric - Ilya's interaction will be similar to the movie.

A 'Reincarnated writer - Saber should be similar to the level when she was with Rin.

Derubamesh - One thing that Sakura became an expert in is to hide what was happening to her from others. And Scathach did see something in Sakura, but certainly not enough that she would know the entire picture. No reasonable person would, except if Sakura came out and explained what happened.

Reishin Amara - She is going back. Initially I planned for her to not show up until the war ended, but I'm still thinking about it. Perhaps, she could show up to become an advisor of sorts. Or perhaps swoop in for a nice fighting with someone I'm already thinking of using. Not gonna tell, obviously. Even so, this is Shirou's war and his ultimate test.

Ezeakel - I have something planned for the ending that may appease what you're asking. However, even if I have chosen Saber as a pairing, it won't be like other stories. It's more Adventure oriented.

Xealchim - Sorry to hear that, but I understand.

rushie2504 - Thanks for the praise.

Guest (There are many guests in last chapter's reviews) - I'm still debating whether Scathach will return in the middle of the war of after it.

Okay, that's it for now. Here comes the chapter.

Heaven's Feel

Fate: Shadow Spear

Chapter 7 – The fruits of labor

As the duo marched onward, both Shirou and Saber could sense the shift in mana in the air.

Right now, the two were standing on top of a rather tall building in central Fuyuki as Saber stood on guard while her master looked around the city in search for either a master or a servant. Her eyes stood looking around the premises, but Saber kept looking at her master's back every once in a while. As soon as they left Shirou's house, he was the one who suggested that they found a higher ground to spot their opposition. In her mind, it was a sound strategy, however she was doubtful about how her master would go about it. When he explained that he had skills to augment his vision, Saber stopped doubting him. Well, it was not her place to doubt his orders except if she wholeheartedly disagreed with the command.

"Saber…" The servant stopped looking around as she approached her master.

"What is it, Shirou?" She stood by his side. His eyes were still focused on the city below them.

"So far, I cannot see any servant in the area, however there are areas with high mana concentration, probably bounded fields lifted. There are two areas highly concentrated with mana that I can see…the Ryuudou Temple in that direction and what appears to be a European designed church in that direction." Saber looked at her master pointing the direction with his hand and she admitted to being impressed. As far as she could see, there was nothing out of ordinary.

"Shall we check up these areas, then?"

Shirou was about to nod when he looked to his right and widened his eyes.

Saber noticed it too. She tracked his movements to see that Shirou had already produced an arrow and pulled his bow to parry a bombardment of arrows that came their way.

"Saber, there is an enemy servant four buildings in that direction. Based on the attack, it is an Archer servant. I will cover you."

Saber was already moving without waiting for Shirou's final command. She jumped in between the close buildings, abusing her mana burst. Her eyes could spot the bombardment of arrows coming her way, only for another rain of arrows to pass by her head from behind and meet them halfway. Saber was already closing in the distance until she could see her attacker, a white-haired man using a red trench coat and with a bow on his hand. When Saber landed on the same building, her eyes spotted what appeared to be gemstone heading towards her direction, but it evaporated as soon as it reached her position.

Saber servant had magic resistance after all.

She then turned to the Archer servant and exploded into movement. The man in question tsked at the opposition and somehow summoned two strange short swords to try and parry her strike. The movement confused Saber, but not enough for her to stop her attack. A straight diagonal slash from her invisible sword slashed through the servant, but she noticed that he managed to evade the worst of the blow. Still, the slash opened a considerable sized cut on his chest and he was on the ground in deep pain as he eyed the enemy. Saber, for her part, positioned herself for a second strike that would deal with this servant for good. As she was about to decapitate the Archer servant, Archer's master showed her right wrist with the command seals.

"Archer, by the power of my command seal, dematerialize and go back to my house." The servant in question looked back to his master, but complied.

This was the scene that Shirou saw once he landed on the building. He saw the man with the red coat probably the servant vanishing after receiving the strike from Saber. However, when he looked to see who the master was, Shirou froze. Saber turned her weapons to the twin-tailed black-haired girl, positioning in front of her master, protectively.

"Tohsaka…" The girl in question turned to see who the master of Saber was, only to frown in great surprise.

"Emiya…" Tohsaka Rin was flabbergasted by the revelation. For some time, now, they would meet on occasion at school and chatted about mundane topics such as the archer club and even Shirou sometimes volunteering to help the student council. However, never in her life, she would have guessed that he was a magus as well. And she was responsible for this land as the heir of the Tohsaka family. She knew, or at least had the obligation of knowing, everyone in this city capable with the craft. As such, there were only four people to her knowledge that were able to. Emiya Shirou definitely was not one of them. Saber, for her chance, stood observing the interaction, however she was pressed for time.

The night was young, after all.

"Shirou, your orders?"

Shirou looked at his servant. While he vouched to hunt down enemies, he certainly did not consider Rin Tohsaka one.

His impression of her was of a normal acquaintance at school, not an enemy master.

"Just wait a while, please, Saber." The servant in question looked back at her master slightly against the idea of letting an enemy loose but complied.

She was taken aback when her master nodded in appreciation. Just now, Shirou had demonstrated that he had enough competency and even more than that to be her master and he even goes and display such humble behavior. She was having problem adjusting to this enigma. If Shirou was indeed related to her former master, then for sure he was not definitely raised or even trained by Emiya Kiritsugu. The image of the purple-haired woman with the red spear appeared in her mind. Saber remembered seeing her leaving the house, but when Shirou returned, he was alone.

"So, Emiya, you are a master as well, who would have thought. I'd gather you have yet to register with the Church overseer."

Shirou narrowed her eyes at her, now clearly assessing the person before him. She was smiling with cockiness.

While she was not even close on the same level as Scathach in terms of mana capacity, Rin's was no laughing manner.

"Yeah, certainly would not expect to view you as the enemy, Tohsaka." She was smiling with cockiness, but when she heard Shirou considering her as an enemy, she stopped immediately. She was at his whim right now. Sending her servant to heal was necessary, but now she was at another magus' mercy and with a servant no less. Rin gulped as she connected the dots as to her situation right now. Thinking her options were slim right now, Rin had thrown a purple gemstone straight at Shirou. Saber was about to protect her master, when Shirou lifted his hand to stop her. Like with Saber, the gemstone reached him and turned into dust. Rin frowned as her eyes could see the markings on Shirou's body beneath his clothes.

"…Magic resistance…"

Shirou now looked at Rin with a frown. He really did not want to fight, but he supposed that a different venue would have to do. He just hoped that she would take the hint.

It all happened in less than the time it took for Rin to blink.

Saber saw it all, but she also was surprised.

The speed was certainly close to a servant as Shirou traced the same red spear he had shown her back in the house and charged at the magus with a skill similar to her own mana burst. He had used the back end of the spear and slammed Rin's stomach with it. The attack was so fast and so precise that Rin had only registered pain, before she blackened out. When Saber stood next to her master, Shirou had placed the projected spear inside the holster on his back. Saber was looking at the downed corpse on the ground, already settling herself to perform the final deed as she did in the fourth war with Lancer's Master.

"Shall I finish her, Shirou?"

The look of surprise she saw on his face was enough to lift her worry. A knight was completely against the idea of killing an enemy who was unconscious.

"No, Saber, I did that to spoke her off, not kill her. She may have attacked me, but she is a friend at my school. I do not want to think about killing any of the masters if I can avoid it. Servants are the most threatening adversaries."

Saber smiled at that. Usually, targeting the master was the surest method of ridding the competition, but that was completely against what Saber stood for as a Knight.

"What shall we do next?"

"Tohsaka said something about registering with the Church overseer…perhaps it's why I sensed high mana coming from that church. We should go there, next."

===At the base of the hill===

Shirou and Saber reached down the base of the building they were on in no time and travelled the streets throughout the back alleys. The streets were crowded with people and seeing a heavily armored blond-haired girl walking around like that would attract a lot of attention. Something Shirou pondered as they now reached the base of the hill where the Church they were heading towards was located. He remembered seeing Tohsaka's servant dematerializing earlier.

"Say Saber, can't you dematerialize? It would be a lot easier walking around instead of sneaking around like this."

The King of Knights was looking around for threats and turned to Shirou. The question would appear at some point.

"Unfortunately, I cannot. The most I can do is dematerialize my armor, would that suit you better Shirou?" Shirou turned pensive about that.

He looked at Saber without her armor.

"Well, it would still attract attention somewhat, but I guess that it would not be out of the ordinary…if you would, please, Saber." The blonde woman nodded and released her armor as they walked around the streets this time. While they were receiving eyes from the crowd, it certainly was manageable. Plus, Saber could not care less about it and Shirou appeared to not be bothered by it. Eventually, they reached the hill where the church was located.

Still, Shirou became curious about the whole master servant type bond and the other aspects of the Grail War.

He stopped walking and Saber stopped as well, wondering about it.

"Why did you stop, Shirou? Did you feel anything?" They were passing by some houses up the hill and Shirou spotted a bench where he chose to seat.

Saber followed him and took a seat next to him, wondering what his master was on about now.

"I just wanted to take some time and ponder about this war and the bond between us…" Saber looked at her master and Shirou scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well, you know, to be better prepared, is all. I've been training myself to be prepared for this war, but we never bothered to understand much about how it works exactly." Saber nodded with a smile at the request. While it was unusual for a master to ask her that, it certainly was better to get this out of the way now then in the middle of a fight.

"When you summoned me back in your house, we have established a contract. You, the master, is responsible for supplying mana to me, the servant. Also, the servant must abide by the master's commands. While that usually is the case, some servants are not easily convinced of the master's commands. The seals on the palm of your hand are quite powerful in the sense that you can force the servant to comply with your command." Shirou frowned at that as he looked at the seals on his palm. "You can also use the command seals to transport me to your location, so if you ever find yourself cornered, just use one of the command seals, and I will come immediately. There are three command seals in total, so you need to use them wisely, Shirou. Our bond reaches a limit when you use all three and after that, I will no longer be in this plane of existence."

"Well, I don't really care about the 'command you' part, but the transportation part is quite useful in a jam situation." Saber nodded in appreciation.

Her last experience of a master forcing her actions was not something she cared to live through again.

"I understand it now, thank you. And how about our bond, specifically? You can't dematerialize like other servants can, anymore disability you believe I should be aware of?"

"Our bond is complete as per your contract with me…and your mana capacity is enough to allow me to fight without restraints. Other than the dematerialization part, there are no other handicaps. We can even communicate through the bond if we are separated for some reason. Though, please refrain from that specific strategy too much, Shirou. It's best that we stick together all the time, or else I won't be able to protect you in case a servant appears." Shirou nodded, as he got up from the bench and stretched his back.

"Ok then Saber, let's get going…" Saber nodded with a smile and got up from the bench as well before both frowned immediately.

In the distance, they could see a servant materializing.

A blue-haired, red-eyed man wearing deep ultramarine body tights, grey metallic pauldrons, and a metal plate over his lowest abdominal section.

Shirou flinched, however, once he saw the weapon this man was carrying. A red blood lance that looked quite similar to the one that his teacher possessed. His structural grasp skill told him that the weapon before his eyes was indeed of similar skill to his teacher's. The identity of this servant was thus relayed to him through the spear in his hand. Saber took a step forward and summoned her full armor and invisible sword. She looked back at Shirou as the information was relayed in her head. With a nod, she dashed straight at Lancer who smirked and positioned his lance to face the invisible weapon on Saber's hand.

Shirou watched with reinforced eyes added by the runes on his body as the fight played in front of him.

Saber and Lancer dashed in between strikes as sword and lance battled for supremacy. However, it became clear to Shirou that Saber had the advantage in close-combat situation. Still, Shirou stood at the ready to assist his servant if she ever needed help. Saber and Lancer battled it out for quite some time, until Lancer took some distance and attempted to skewer Saber with a frontal strike. Saber, though, banded her knee and used her sword to strike below the lance. Lancer lost his footing and became on the defensive as Saber pounded him from all sides. Eventually, she landed a sizeable slash on the man's chest that forced Lancer backwards as he observed his opponent.

"What's the matter Lancer? If you do not come to me, you're embarrassing other spear fighters." Lancer cursed at the jab.

"You coward…how dare you not show your weapon." Lancer charged once more, but Saber took quick care of his assaults, keeping him in check.

Fighting her was proving to be quite troublesome, but so far, his mission was merely to observe the competition.

"Shall we continue, Lancer?" Saber positioned her sword posed to strike at any time and Lancer snorted at the woman.

"Before we continue, though, let me ask you one question…is your noble phantasm, a sword?"

Saber positioned herself in a style that kept her guard up while at the same time posing to strike.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. It may be a battle axe or a polearm. It might even be a bow, Lancer."

Lancer snorted in derision at the attempt to conceal her class. He swirled the spear and took the stance. Throughout the fight, Shirou could see the movements and could very well place his teacher in Lancer's place. No doubt, he and Lancer were taught by the same person. Shirou took some time to ponder about the humor if Scathach and Setanta meet once more. Lancer, for his turn, got into position for the battle to continue when his facial expression shifted into a snarl. Shirou and Saber looked as Lancer's spear surged in mana. Shirou remembered seeing the move being performed by Scathach as Lancer dashed towards Saber and slammed his feet on the ground, before releasing his strongest attack on Saber.

His sight was focused on the swordswoman, so he did not see the woman's master extending his hand.

Gae…Bolg!

The energy from the spear travelled towards Saber in a strange pattern and she observed the red energy. When it reached her, she placed her sword to parry it and flinched her arms in order to parry it. After that, time stopped, and it reversed as the red energy from Lancer's spear reversed from entangling with her sword and then charged straight at Saber's core close to the heart region. However, the red energy beam met resistance in the form a white energy rune shield, blocking it. Saber realized it and backed away as she looked at Lancer's surprised expression. His attack was one that reversed cause and effect. One time she was parrying it with her sword and the next moment it would have pierced his heart, however something stopped it. The identity of the servant was already known to her from Shirou.

When she looked at Shirou, she realized that he had his hand extended prior to Lancer initiating his attack. Shirou released the runes field as soon as Lancer stopped his own. The look on his face was priceless as Lancer travelled to memory lane. He turned and saw the culprit who stopped his strongest attack. Until now, his entire focus was on the servant.

"Oi boy, where did you learn that?" Shirou for his part smiled at his fellow practitioner.

"Hi there Setanta, it's really nice to get to know a fellow student of our master."

Saber stood protectively in front of Shirou as she observed the interaction. Lancer, for his turn, stood still as he heard how the boy called him.

Saber was already posed to protect her master, worrying that Lancer would try something. She was surprised to see the man doubling down in laughter.

"Oh, this is so precious…so she still lives. I'm betting that she has not found someone worthy of killing her yet."

The spearman approached Saber and Shirou, but this time he lacked any of the animosity and was still ignoring the voice from his master inside his head. Saber still stood posed to strike, but Lancer simply approached with a handshake to a smiling Shirou. The redhead, in question, looked at the offered hand and smiled as he shook hands with Lancer.

"She was hoping that you would do the deed, but you left and got yourself killed…" Saber just stood to the side as she now faced quite the peculiar situation.

Her master bonding with an enemy servant as if the war never existed.

Lancer smiled at the memory of that woman complaining at him for leaving his training unfinished, as he took a look at the spear on Shirou's back.

"So, she presented you with a spear as well?" Shirou negated and took his own spear.

"Oh no, this one I made it myself…"

Lancer released a 'oh' sound as he inspected the projected spear. It certainly looked and it felt just like his, but it looked more like her spear instead.

"This war suddenly got a lot more interesting. Now, my coward of a master is asking me to return, but for sure we will be meeting each other again, boy, Saber…" Saber got out of her gaze as Lancer dematerialized. She looked at her master and saw that he was smiling at Lancer's direction. Only now did she realize that it was thanks to Shirou that she was not supporting a life-threatening wound at this point. While, she had the speed to dodge, it certainly would be quite the hit.

"Shirou, how did you know where he was aiming his spear?" The redhead turned to her.

"While this is the first time, I have seen that specific move, it's the basis of the spear style of fighting, Saber. The spear part of that lance carries a curse that works faster when hitting the heart. Once it hits, the curse spreads, killing the opponent instantly. My teacher used it on me plenty of times so that I would learn to protect myself." The look of shock was evident on her face and the redhead amended what he had just said. "Well, not exactly like that or else I would not be here right now. But the moves were indeed similar. Her methods of training were that unorthodox, but it bore results." Saber sweat dropped at that, remembering the woman she had met in Shirou's house and the image of her training Shirou.

"Shall we go…I have a feeling that Lancer will not be last one we face tonight…"

The King of Knights saw her master walking as if nothing happened and released a sigh in dismay as she followed him.

By now, she was wondering what else her master would surprise her with.

===At the Church===

They soon reached the gate that separated the hill from the path where the church was located. Both servant and master looked on at the place as the feeling of dread intensified. It was such an ominous feeling that they could practically see it in the air. Still, Shirou opened the gate and walked through the pathway. He was already a couple meters away from Saber when he turned and saw that his servant stood by the gate. A brief conversation happened between them and Shirou nodded to the King of Knights. He would take care of this and come out in no time at all.

When he opened the door to the insides of the church, Shirou saw it barely illuminated with a few candles by the aisle.

A man was there with his back turned to the front door, with shoulder length hair and wearing a priest overcoat.

"Ah welcome...I take it you're the seventh?" His voice ran deep, echoing throughout the empty walls of this place as Shirou closed the door.

"My name is Kotomine Kirei and I'm in charge of this Church."

"Emiya Shirou…I was told that I had to come here and register with the church overseer, is that you? Can you please do whatever you need to do, so that I can leave."

The name certainly brought a smile to Kirei's face as he reminisced with the past. And this kid, before him, seemed quite capable. No doubt, Kiritsugu trained him well.

"Oh, so you're the master of Saber. Though you show such eagerness to leave, I take it you have little interest in the events that happened ten years ago."

Shirou narrowed his eyes at the man. He knew perfectly well the events of ten years ago. At first, he only remembered as the event that changed his life for good; the event that shaped his entire being. Only when Scathach met his father in the afterlife, did he learn about the cause of it.

"I'm quite sure you do not need to waste your time with this, I will be on my way."

Kirei smirked and Shirou took some time to ascertain a stoic behavior in the man's eyes. Kirei walked towards Shirou as he responded.

"Oh but it's my duty to educate the masters who are selected by the Grail, specially about what happened in the last war. The Holy Grail is an omnipotent power in the world of magus. It is capable of providing anything the winner of the war so desires. To be a winner, one must fight and defeat other masters to finally claim the opportunity of having a wish for the Grail. As a result of this, un unfortunate accident was unleashed…" Once more, though, Shirou interrupted what would be a rather dull history lesson. Plus, Shirou did already know everything there was to know about it.

"I'm quite aware of what happened…as I was one of the victims. Once again, I knew everything that happened, you don't have to waste your time."

Kirei this time narrowed his eyes.

"Everything, huh. Understood, well, then, master of Saber, I will not bother you anymore as it appears that we have an impatient guest outside. Off you go, then." Shirou nodded as he already received a message from Saber. Kirei saw the redhead leaving the church, frowning as he had a different idea of a conversation in mind.

===Outside the Church===

Saber saw a little kid climb the stairs to the gateway she was waiting. The newcomer wore a dark blue overcoat and had a blue hat on top of her blonde almost white hair.

As Saber lifted her head and showed her emerald green eyes, the little girl appeared to be smiling. She could sense Shirou approaching her position.

"So, do you happen to know the name Einzbern…" Saber did remember that name as she also remembered the image of this little girl's parents. Both happy memories in Irisviel and dreadful ones from Kiritsugu. Ilya frowned and turned her head to the side as disappointment was evident in her face.

"…there is no way for a servant to remember." Ilya then smiled as she saw Shirou emerge from the fog, standing behind Saber.

Shirou, for his turn, saw the girl he remembered seeing yesterday now standing in front of them.

"Oh, so you're finished with your chat, good evening there Onichan, my name is Ilyasviel Von Eiznbern." Saber turned to Shirou to see if her master recognized the girl in front of them, but she saw nothing from his visage.

"Ilyasviel Von Eiznbern…why are you calling me little brother? Yesterday was the first time I saw you."

Shirou could now see a potent mana capacity from this little girl and he could sense a servant nearby.

Ilya smiled as she then pulled an almost invisible wire with her left hand and suddenly the gates all closed by force, due to the wires on it. Shirou and Saber looked at the Gate and then back to Ilya, before a new person appeared behind her. Well, person would be an understatement. The huge appearance was clearly a servant, baring three meters in height, body filled with nothing but pure muscle and carrying an axe sword on his left hand. Shirou looked at the weapon and memorized it, while the little girl kept on smiling.

"Right, so right now I shall kill you…get them Berserker." The man in question looked quite mad and snarled at their new target.

Berserker gathered as much mana as possible and released a powerful wave of energy, while screaming.

The power alone caused the wind around Shirou and Saber to shift, showing the servant's level of strength. Saber just was not interested in waiting and made the first move. Using her mana burst, she dashed towards the huge opponent and slammed her sword with his. The sword clashing ended lifting a strong gush of wind and dust as the two swords wielders battled for supremacy. While Berserker had strength on his side, Saber's strength was nothing to laugh at and she had better agility. Ilyasviel frowned as she saw the two battling it out. In her mind, there was no way that her Berserker would be evenly matched like this. Saber stood her ground with her invisible sword as she managed to parry Berserker's sword. Still, this was not enough as against this foe, she needed to increase her strength. Now, it was the time to check just how further she can go with her master by her side.

'Shirou, I will need more mana to fight this servant.'

'Understood'

Berserker jumped high in the air and crashed with enough strength to level trees and rocks, attempting to hit Saber. The king of knights, though, parried it even if skidding towards the ground. Ilyasviel saw it as the invisible weapon in her hand now glowed in bright yellow as Saber slammed in on Berserker. The wound was quite severe on his torso and it only made the huge man scream bloody murder. Saber, though, kept on the furious assault, even using her sword to augment her mana burst and turned the tables on Berserker, striking him left and right.

The beast like man tried to parry it, but Saber's attacks were relentless and Ilyasviel could feel her mana being used to heal her servant.

She was about to use her familiars, when the little girl jumped backwards before a wall of fire passe inches from her face. Ilya saw Shirou holding a red blood spear.

"Don't you think that I will allow you to interfere with the fight."

Ilyasviel watched as Saber focused a great deal of mana on her now visible sword and got inside Berserker's guard.

She slammed an energy beam at him released by the sword that made his body explode into multiple pieces. Saber stood on guard, however, as soon as she saw the body of the beast in front of her get back together as if reverting back time. She backed away as Berserker's body fully recovered. She knew that he was killed by her strike. As Shirou appeared next to her, his face was also showing incredulity.

"What do you think, Saber?"

"His noble phantasm, perhaps. Regeneration or time reversal technique, though the legend confuses me. As we crossed blades, I can attest to his skills as a swordsman, despite being a Berserker class servant."

Master and servant looked on as Berserker faced them for a while. When it appeared that the beast of a man would attack once more, they heard Ilyasviel's voice.

"Huh, let us go for now, Berserker."

They watched as the giant man followed the little girl away from them. Saber released her armor and the hold of her sword as she looked at Shirou.

The redhead, though, kept looking at the place where Ilya was a few minutes ago.

"It's the second time we have met and it's the second time she called me her brother. But I have never met her before and Kiritsugu never mentioned her to me."

To Shirou, Kiritsugu withholding information to him was nothing new, however not telling him that he had a sister somewhere in the world was rather cruel. Saber looked downtrodden at the ground for a while, but figured it was best to come out in the open. Keeping secrets like that would only hinder the trust they have to have in one another. Plus, the fact that her former master had chosen to keep secrets from Shirou was nothing new to the King of Knights. Many events happened in the Fourth Grail War because of Kiritsugu cowardly pulling the strings from the shadows. To this day, Saber wondered why the lovely Irisviel would fall in love with such a vile human being.

"Shirou, before we go forward, I believe it's prudent to tell you that Ilyasviel is the daughter of Emiya Kiritsugu."

The redhead turned abruptly to Saber and saw the look of seriousness in her eyes.

"How do you know this, Saber?"

"I know this because Emiya Kiritsugu was my master in the Fourth Grail War and back then, I saw them together as father and daughter."

Shirou looked rigid at that, not at Saber but for yet again being disappointed by his father. But Saber was not done.

"Furthermore, Emiya Kiritsugu and I managed to defeat almost all of the servants in the war and we emerged victorious, only for him to betray me in the end. He used his command seals and forced me to destroy the Grail." Shirou could see Saber's hand closed into a fist as the look of anger passed by her beautiful face. Releasing a sigh in dismay, Shirou addressed his servant, hoping to alleviate her concerns.

"I happened to know quite a bit about his wrong-doings, Saber, including that he was a master in the last grail war. I just did not know that you were his servant. One thing that it's imperative for you to know as well was that Emiya Kiritsugu was killed by the Grail." Saber looked at her master in shock. "I don't know many of the details myself…he had only told me this close to his death. He was offered to make a wish and rejected it. Because of this, his body received a curse that slowly but surely crippled him until his inevitable death." Saber's mind pictured the ruthless master and remembered the dead eyes that looked at her every time she demanded explanation from him.

"Why are you telling me this, Shirou?"

Saber had offered her body as a servant for the Grail in order to fulfil her wish. Now, she was being told that Kiritsugu suffered at the hands of the Grail.

She was a good judge of character and was aware when people were being untrue to her in any way.

She could tell, though, that Shirou was telling her the truth about what happened to her former master.

"I don't know much about the Grail's mechanisms. I also do not know if Kiritsugu did something to the Grail and received the curse because of it. I understand that you became a servant to make a wish for the Grail and I do not wish to pry into what that wish is. A noble warrior like yourself and a legend on top of that certainly would not wish something that would harm others." As Shirou talked, Saber kept looking at him in curiosity. "If the Grail is legit in its wish granting purposes, then please count on me to assist you in getting it. I just ask you to assist me in keeping others from eventually acquiring it for misguided means." When Shirou finished talking, he extended his hand for a handshake.

The resolve in his expression was quite clear and Saber extended her hand to shake his sharing his resolve. Usually, she was the one with the great speeches.

"Your words do honor me, master. As your servant, I pledge my sword to you."

Shirou nodded in appreciation with a smile on his face. Both finding it to be quite at ease with each other.

"So…what do you say…we have already faced three servants tonight...only Rider, Assassin and Caster remains. Shall we call it a night or keep scouting the region some more?" Saber smirked at her master, earning a nod from him.

===Around Miyama District===

It was already well passed two in the morning as Shirou and Saber walked around town in search for signs of mana usage.

They were walking for a while, until Saber stopped as she looked around.

"Shirou, I sense mana usage nearby, though I cannot sense Berserker. It's a different presence. Your orders?" Shirou looked around as a police car passed by them.

"Let's investigate, Saber."

Eventually, they turned into what appeared to be back alley. As soon as they took one step forward, the feeling of entering into a barrier became known. As they walked forward, they saw a girl in front of them, wearing full school uniform. Only when the girl turned her head to Shirou, did he recognize her. In no time, the girl hovered in mid-air as another entity appeared; a long purple-haired woman with dominatrix type clothing. Shirou flinched as the woman in purple bit Mitsuzuri Ayako in her neck, before releasing it from Ayako's neck as she licked with a smile on her face.

Shirou was about to pound the servant and rescue his friend, when they heard steps coming from the stairs.

"Well, what a surprise! I was wondering who it could be and it's you Emiya." The voice was unmistakable as Shirou observed Matou Shinji appearing before them.

Something about this did not feel right to Shirou.

If Shinji was a magus, then it means that…his family is also filled with magus…could Sakura be one as well?

"Shinji, so you're a master as well…why would you attack Ayako?"

"Well, I just felt like it actually…I asked our dear captain to help me with something. So, Emiya, is that your servant?" Shinji was looking quite smug as he firmly believed that Saber looked like nothing special. Shirou looked from Ayako being held hostage by Shinji's servant to Shinji himself. Every inch on impulse left in him told Shirou to charge recklessly and rescue Ayako, but as he looked at Shinji's servant, he decided to tread cautiously. For all he knew, Ayako could be used as a shield.

"Release her immediately, Shinji." The boy in question only smirked, though.

"Well, let me introduce you to someone, Emiya. This is my servant." Rider placed Ayako on the wall as she positioned herself in front of Shinji.

"Let us make them fight each other, Emiya. I always wanted to see a battle between servants."

Shirou then saw a book on Shinji's hands, which when opened, released a wave of mana that was directed towards the servant next to him. The servant in question stood ready to move, grabbing what appeared to be two daggers linked between a long chain that danced around her slim figure. Saber was already into her battle stance by the time that Shinji's servant moved, vanishing in super speed from her position.

The chains sprawled upwards in between the buildings as Rider appeared in the air. Saber and Shirou followed the movement, though as Rider unleashed the chains at Saber.

Saber just stood there, unmoving as the chains closed in and grabbed her gauntlet arm. Shinji looked even more smug as he screamed for his servant to attack.

Rider used the chains to propel herself towards Saber with the intent of skewering her. Saber, however, unleashed her mana and pulled the chains down, forcing Rider to the ground quite strongly. The King of Knights grabbed the chains once more and pulled her close to her, just as Shirou released his spear. As soon as Rider came flying towards them, Shirou took a step forward and slammed his spear on Rider.

Rider's body contorted around Shirou's spear, before flying towards the back-alley wall, passing by a still smiling Shinji, who was still due to process what just happened.

He turned around like a zombie in a trance, walking towards the downed Rider servant on the wall, who was bleeding from her mouth. Rider looked up as Shinji approached.

"Oi…who told you that you could be defeated? Get up!"

Rider's body was electrocuted into submission as the book in Shinji's hand glowed. Shirou was already checking on Ayako, when he saw the book.

"Saber, guard her for a moment…"

The King of Knights quickly grabbed the fallen girl as Shirou unleashed his bow and traced a hardened arrow. It took a total of two seconds for Shirou to aim and then release it. Shinji was caught by surprise as the book that was able to control the servant exploded upon being hit by Shirou's arrow. The servant that was on top of the broken crates vanished from the location, similar to how Archer vanished once Saber struck him as Rider was no longer bound to Shinji's control.

"It looks like this was too much for you, Shinji."

The strange senior voice alerted the blue-haired boy as he turned left, before reality kicked in as Zouken emerged from the alley. Shirou and Saber both got ready for battle as Shirou recognized the man as Sakura's grandfather. First Shinji and now him, there was no way that Sakura was the exception and that worried Shirou even more than before. Zouken, though, looked quite tranquil as he relayed a comment that most family heads would feel angry at.

"And so, the Matou family is defeated. A bitter disappointment, indeed." Shinji, though, crawled towards his grandfather, begging for the man to reconsider.

"W...wait, I'm the magus of the Matou family, me not her!" Zouken snorted as he smirked down at his grandson.

"An incompetent idiot is incompetent in every possible way. The Matou lineage has indeed fallen and I have no expectation from you." Saber and Shirou were surprised as the old man before them transformed into a bunch of mosquitos, vanishing from the area as if he was never there in the first place. Shinji stood on the ground for a while, moping over his sorry state of mind and simply walked away, afterward, but not before looking one last time to Shirou, who once more ruined his life.

Shirou and Saber then looked towards the downed girl as Shirou took a look at the wound on Ayako's neck.

"She is a victim of the Grail War, Shirou, should we not take her to the Church…"

"That would normally be the case, but luckily it's a minor wound. She feels quite weak, so the servant must have extracted her life force. This will take only a minute, Saber."

Shirou offered a quick apology to intrude on Ayako's modesty as he opened her clothes until he could see the damage. Saber watched as Shirou inscribed a rune in the air. She was transfixed as the girl's body glowed in a golden energy followed by Shirou's rune design on her chest. The marks slowly but surely diminished and the two holes on the side of her neck closed off. Saber could have sworn that she had felt that energy before as Shirou closed Ayako's clothes and carried her bridal style. His mind fully occupied with Zouken's appearance and the possibility of Sakura being a magus as well.

"Let's go Saber, I will drop her off at her house and we can go home for the night…"

The servant nodded as she followed Shirou.

Author Note

Wow, that took a while to write. Sorry about the long chapter…I just wanted to take care of the initial fights in one chapter.

Not much to comment, actually.

See ya next chapter.