Charles was dreaming again. He had made sure to ask Akira the day before, and sure enough, these vivid dreams were in fact memories from his Servant's past. Although.. If he was dreaming about her, was Fran dreaming about his past? Something was off, though. Fran was nowhere in sight, and this didn't look like any sort of London that he knew. It looked older. It felt older. He was in a tent of some kind, though he could only tell from the canvas roof. The floor was fine oak, the bed was massive and had its own curtains, and in the center of the bed was a lady.

Charles squinted. He couldn't make out her face. Rather- he couldn't even look at her face. Just about everything in the room drew his attention away from it, though he was sure that she was beautiful from the sound of her voice. Something else was off- she was massive. Charles reconsidered.

No, he was small. He couldn't move, either. Looking around, he seemed to be taking the place of one of the many trinkets littering her table.

"Against your own blood? My Queen, you must surely be joking. Their armies far outnumber ours, and just in terms of equipment alone-"

A portly man in light chainmail stood beside her bed. At least he had a face that Charles could see, though he suspected it was only because the man wasn't important at all.

The general was silenced by a finger. "Shhh-shhhh, my dear [xxxxx]!"

Charles' ears were assaulted by static for only a few moments. Even the names were censored?

"If the gods will it, my reign will last for a thousand years. Of course, they would never grant a mere mortal such an honor, but I think we may be able to compromise and let me have just this one battle, no?"

"Asking for the their intervention for a mere familial squabble is-"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, general. This is a familial squabble on the surface, but in actuality? It's a battle for the soul of Briton. The masses will follow whoever is more powerful in their eyes, and this battle, impossible as it may seem, is just what I need to turn the tide in my favor. Why, we even have our very own pet mage!"

"But-"

"Enough. Your worries are boorish. And you know what I tend to do when I'm bored."

"... Yes, your Highness."

"Good boy. Oh, and send Merlin in, would you? I believe a dream unplagued by nightmares is in order before a stressful day's battle."

The general bowed and left the tent, and the room melted into inky blackness. Only the bed, the table Charles was on, and the Queen remained. At least Charles could move now.

The Queen disrobed, and then glanced in Charles' direction before she moved to brush her hair. "Casting your gaze on royalty in the buff is a capital crime, you know."

"And yet I'm not dead," Charles replied. "Methinks the royalty in question is somewhat of a voyeur."

"Not dead yet, you mean. You've made some good allies, and that other Saber.. The poor maiden seems very attached. Granted, you're probably the nicest person she's ever met."

"Why show me that scene?" Charles asked.

"Oh? Tonight? No reason in particular, I just wanted a chance to talk to you. It gets awfully boring, last night was a nice change of pace."

"Who are you?"

"So eager with the questions, aren't you? Why won't you guess?"

Charles thought for a moment. "Are you Richard the Lionheart? Or his sister?"

The Queen threw back her head and laughed. "Oh! Oh, my! That is just- Ohohoho!"

Eventually, she calmed down. "No. I was dust in the ground by the time Richard and his Crusades rode across my Briton. Though, I am awfully proud of him. We may not be related by blood, but he was a conqueror after my own heart."

Charles sighed. "You're going to make this difficult for me, aren't you?"

"I said as much, didn't I? Besides, victory is all the more sweet when you struggle for it, no?"

"Tch."

"Don't misunderstand, Master. I'll do my best, should you make use of me. Besides, it's about time you awake, isn't it?"

"Wait, I still need to-"

Charles bolted up in bed, gripping his sheets.

"Good morning, Master," Fran smiled.

Charles couldn't help but return his Saber's smile. "Morning, Fran. Anything to report?"

She shook her head. "The night was quiet, and I wasn't going to try to wake you until 2 in the 'noon, as you requested."

"You're a treasure, Saber," Charles sighed contentedly. "And breakfast?"

"Ah! Yes, I did prepare breakfast. One moment." Fran left the bedroom, and Charles could soon hear vaguely kitchen-y sounds coming from the kitchen. He felt somewhat bad ordering a Heroic Spirit to do something as menial as making his breakfast, but he couldn't help but wonder what he assumed would be a homely, modest breakfast prepared by a maiden like Fran would taste like in comparison to the measured meals made by the staff at his family home.

As he heard her approaching with a plate, he sat up in bed, his stomach rumbling in anticipation.

"A warning, Master.. I haven't really cooked anything, ever, and the second Saber remains as silent as ever, so no help from there.. Well? How does it look?"

She held out a plate to him, and Charles squinted and fumbled for his reading glasses, just to make sure. But, sure enough, what he was seeing was indeed reality. Two charred pieces of what he could only assume used to be bread were smeared in lumps of strawberry jam and three quarters of an orange was squashed into the boundaries of the plate. Charles looked closer. Did she chip the plate?

Looking up and clearing his throat, Charles smiled uneasily.

"Hey, Fran. You haven't tried fast food yet, have you?"

The doorbell rang, and Fran got up instantly. "Master, multiple magical presences. If it's an enemy Servant.."

She opened the door to find a tired-looking Akira with her hands on her hips. "Saber? Where's the fire at?"

Fran lowered her sword. "Miss Akira? That would mean-"

"Ah, our patron's arrived? See her in, Fran!" Charles called from the living room. Fran sighed, gesturing from Akira to come in.

As she did so, the Tohsaka magus looked around, almost disdainfully. "Do you really make your Servant live here, Charles?"

The small comment enough to somewhat annoy him, the pitter-patter of bare feet on the carpet approached until Charles' glaring face was in full view. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean.. This. What is this apartment, fifteen square meters? And you live above a tailor's."

"Hey, this is prime real estate!" Charles protested.

"If you say so. All I'm saying is that the Saber Class would demand a higher standard of prestige, no? What do you say, Saber? My family home here easily dwarfs this dingy closet."

"Why you..! Who do you think holds her Command Seals?"

"That situation can be remedied. Well, Saber?"

Fran smiled and laughed nervously. "Well.. I appreciate the offer, Miss Akira, but.. My home is where my Master is, no matter how small the physical space is. Besides.. I would get lost if my house was too big, hehe.."

Charles laughed heartily. "Well, there you go, Tohsaka!"

Akira sighed. "Another time. Well, why am I here?"

"Well." Charles put an arm around her shoulder, brushing a few stray strands of silver hair away. "Turns out my bank account was frozen to pay for certain.. Debts I'd recently racked up."

"I can understand the feeling, but.. To go into a Grail War with no assets? That's beyond ballsy."

"Well.. It wasn't frozen when I entered the Grail War.. But after the Clock Tower realized I'd.. er.. Borrowed some things and had a word with my parents…"

"They figured you being punished this way would be more painful, huh?" Akira finished.

"Pretty much. So- Wait, how did you know?" Charles asked.

Akira giggled. "Because it's exactly what my parents would do. Well.. It's what my mother would do."

"Your dad isn't the punishing type?"

Charles noticed Akira's smile stiffen. "Let's change the subject. Why exactly am I here, instead of studying up on Lancer and that other Caster?"

"Well.." Charles said, ushering Akira to a couch. "It occurred to me, while we were up in that carriage. While Saber was fighting, you know? We're going to be fighting alongside each other, and I barely know anything about you."

"So what, you want to play 20 Questions? You must be joking."

"I am," Charles admitted. "But, my father always got friendly with his business associates over a meal. Maybe we can try the same?"

Akira pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. "Fine- Wait, you just wanted a free meal, didn't you?"

"Well, that, and I'd like to make friends. Plus, Saber's never tried pizza before. Can you imagine?"

Akira looked to Fran, who had thus far remained silent. "Is that true?"

Fran nodded hesitantly.

"Well.. I guess it can't be helped."

"Itadakimasu," Akira called as she cut into her pizza with a knife and fork.

"Eat a dakey-" Charles' attempt to reciprocate Akira's culture was interrupted by a nervous-looking Fran stuffing a slice of pizza in his mouth.

"Thank you for the meal, Miss Akira. I'm sure my Master is trying to say the same."

"For your sake, I hope so, Saber," Akira sighed.

"Where is.. That man? Your Caster?"

"Ah. William? He's neck-deep in books right now, and.. Working on a side project of mine. I took some inspiration from your Master. Some armaments of my own made by a Servant might just be useful."

"Ah."

The three ate in uneasy silence, none of them willing, or perhaps able to break it.

"What's your mother like?" Akira eventually asked.

"My mother?" Charles replied, eyebrow raised.

"Charlotte Aurea-Gen.. I did some digging. Master of the Rider Ramses II in the Cairo Holy Grail War of 1989. Surely that would've taken an incredibly high-class catalyst. How did your family go from the King of Egypt to… Well.."

Akira looked to Fran, who was carefully tasting her pizza without paying attention to either of them.

"Not everyone gets a choice. Aren't you in the same position?"

Akira snorted. "What's the term? Touchey?"

"Touché," Charles corrected. After they finished eating, both Charles and Akira reclined into the couches in unison, utterly content.

"I haven't eaten 'till I'm full in ages," Akira sighed.

"Same," Charles agreed. "There's just something about-"" Charles tensed. "Hold on," he murmured, getting up.

"Charlie?" Akira asked.

"We were being watched. My security system just went off. And just when I was starting to enjoy myself. Tch."

Charles opened his balcony door, and sure enough, a small winged stone golem was lying on the floor, twitching weakly as it was periodically shocked by purple lightning.

"It's being fed a video loop- or at least, it should be. If we want to figure out whose it is, we have to get going soon before it notices that we can see it."

Akira already had her jacket back on. "What're you waiting for? I've had enough to eat anyways."

"Fran? Are you watching?"

"I am, Master, but this would be a lot easier if I were an Archer. Hanging back this far with only my sword makes me feel uneasy."

"It'll be fine. We'll be in and out. Ten minutes. Promise."

Akira glanced sideways at Charles, adjusting her glasses. Did she always wear glasses?

"William is somewhere in the crowd up ahead. The golem flew down there, into the Underground."

Charles couldn't help but give a sideways glance to the huge obelisk that cast a shadow over the Embankment Underground station.

"I'm not a fan of tight spaces."

"Neither am I, but if we were being spied on by a Master and his Workshop is down here, we best dismantle it if we can."

"Agreed." Charles sighed. "Let's just get back in time for dinner."

Charles could tell something was off straight away. The most obvious thing that gave it away was that instead of stepping into a well-lit subway station, he had stepped into a long, sandy corridor that looked like it predated London by a thousand years.

"This shouldn't be here," Akira said.

"You think?" Charles murmured, snapping a glowstick. It was a simple mortal invention, and with his improvements, it shone like a small star in his hand.

'Saber? Can you hear me?'

'Saber?'

"I can't reach Saber. Can you reach Archer?"

"Nada," Akira shook her head. "Radio silence. We could always try a Command Seal if we run into an enemy Servant, but.. It still might not work. The air feels wrong here. This Bounded Field is intense, even for me. Let's not waste our Seals if we can avoid it."

Charles looked behind him. As expected, instead of leading out into the Embankment, the stairs ascended into an unknown void.

"Let's just keep going. We're not dead yet," he said, hopping down a few more steps before starting down the tunnel.

"Rotes licht," Akira murmured, crushing a small ruby under her foot. A red orb floated from the floor into her palm.

"That's the Tohsaka gem magecraft, isn't it? A little wasteful, don't you think?"

"Spare no expense. At least, when I can afford to."

"Hm. Oh- room ahead."

The two mages found themselves on an alcove that overlooked a large throne room. "Well.. if this is a Servant's lair, they've made it easy for us," Charles said in a low voice.

Below them, dozens of hooded figures kneeled in worship. The walls were decorated with Egyptian hieroglyphs, and the floor eventually raised into a throne. Sitting on the throne, was..

Charles squinted. "Can you see that?"

Akira shook her head. "No. You should look away before-"

Charles winced before a deep pain pierced his brain.

"That. That's a high-class Divine being. Or- maybe a Divine Construct. Tch. There's a reason those people have their noses in the dirt. That sight isn't for mortal eyes."

"Hey. At least we know what's down here now. And we've got a good running guess for who they are."

"What do you mean?" Akira asked.

"Look around. All the Egyptian imagery. Cleopatra's Needle is right outside. If there was an artifact to anchor a Divine Spirit to the world, this would be it, but.. Gheez, talk about overkill. Just for one Grail War. I can't even imagine what their Class would be."

"If it has a Class."

"Mm. Let's find a way out, then. Regroup and-"

"Charlie."

"What?"

Charles turned to find himself face to face with two hooded figures. "Oh. Fight time."

"Dellanos!" one of them yelled, and Charles and Akira were blasted back by a gale of air. In that moment, the world seemed to go by in slow motion. Through the Divine light, Charles swore that the Divine Spirit was looking at them.

"Charlie!" Akira wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close. Six seconds to the ground.

Charles racked his brain for a solution.

Four seconds to the ground.

That's it. All he had to do was-

"Grüner nebel!" Akira shouted. Throwing a handful of emeralds down, they shattered into a fine green, jelly-like mist, which they landed on safely.

"Oh, they'd better just kill me," Charles grunted, getting up. However, before he could properly get to his feet, he felt his legs give up from beneath him. It was almost like an invisible hand was pressing down on his neck.

Straining his neck to look up, Charles realized that he'd landed just in front of the throne, and that the Divine glow had faded.

"Really," the woman sitting in the throne said, smirking down at him.

"Maggots should keep their noses in the dirt."

The last thing that Charles registered was the sound of gemstones falling from Akira's hands.