Chapter Three

Fuyuki City

Saber peered out of the tiny window in the private chartered plane as they made their descent. As the clouds thinned, the sprawling archipelago of Japan appeared beneath them.

And there, on the bay, split by a great, winding river banded by a large red suspension bridge: Fuyuki City.

Suffice to say, it was nothing really all that impressive to her—flying that is. It was like when she'd passed through the Grail, she'd already been given an idea of how these things worked, as if she'd actually flown in a plane several times beforehand. So there was really nothing surprising about it.

And besides, the way her ears popped as the pressure changed in the cabin was fretfully annoying.

"Gum, Saber?"

"Eh?"

Saber lifted her head, as she'd been resting her chin on her hand, and saw that Irisviel was holding out a stick of gum to her.

"For your ears," Irisviel told her cheerfully. "Kiritsugu said if you chew gum, it helps with the popping and the pressure." She herself was vigorously chewing a piece.

"I see." Saber considered her a moment, that smile, contrasted with the anguished expression that had twisted her face when she'd hugged her daughter goodbye. Her heart wrenched then, and it wrenched now, just at the mere thought.

She wanted to ask her if she was all right, remembering those crimsons eyes so close to tears.

But instead she reached over and took the stick of gum offered to her and said, "Thank you." She unwrapped the gum from its foil and inserted it into her mouth, chewing it forcefully as means to get rid of that damned pressure in her ears.

A strange thing, gum, she had to admit that. Something you chewed, like food, but unlike food, was somehow nigh impossible to swallow. Not even meant to be swallowed.

She looked over at Irisviel again, and saw her on her side of the aisle in the cabin peering out of her own window, and though she couldn't see her face, she heard her gasp in delight at the sight before her as they made their descent.

It was like when she'd laughed the day before. Saber was being strongly reminded of those mischievous fey with whom it was wise not to dally, as she'd always been taught by Sir Ector.

Yet even so, there was something about Irisviel that was decidedly not inherent in the fey, and that was this quality that radiated from her, that seemed to characterize her as being utterly incapable of doing anyone ill, even if she disliked them, even if she went so far as to hate them, or at least feel wrathful towards them.

As though doing evil was against her nature.

It gave her one more reason to be baffled with how a woman like Irisviel had ended up marrying someone as cold and stoic as Kiritsugu Emiya. Though upon further reflection, she supposed that stoicism was hardly a sign of wickedness. Sir Ector had been very stoic, unbearably so at times.

Save for those few moments when his concern for Saber—for Arturia—would show, like a needle of sunlight through a tiny hole in a wall.

She thought back to the way Kiritsugu and his and Irisviel's daughter had played in the forest the day before, the way he had hugged the child. It was certainly something she hadn't expected out of him, but it certainly seemed that at least where his daughter—and therefore Irisviel—was concerned, he wasn't so brusque and closed as he seemed to be around everyone else.

But then, why did he feel he had to be? What was all this business with treating her with such cold contempt? Because he was upset with the idea that she had resigned herself to her fate?

Saber clenched her fists on the armrests of her seat, the leather of the black gloves she'd been given pressing against her fingers.

After getting off the plane when it landed, Saber stepped off, informing Irisviel of her lack of enthusiasm towards the experience of flying. Not that it wasn't unenjoyable, just that it wasn't anything spectacular to her. Irisviel appeared disappointed by this, and when Saber tried to explain her innate ability as a Servant, and as a Saber Class Servant with riding skills, to "take the reins and ride", Irisviel blushed and got strangely amused by her choice of wording for some reason.

The car was no different, though Saber, even as her green eyes immediately trained themselves to scan the crowd with the intent of watching for enemies, she couldn't help at the same time to be intrigued by the bustling of the city of Fuyuki, Japan. In her life as King Arthur, the idea of "the East" didn't exactly exist. There had been an awareness of the ruthless Roman Empire—a foe she and her knights and soldiers had fought many a time, along with the bloodthirsty Viking invaders, the Northmen—or "Norsemen"—always attacking their beaches and plundering for gold—but the world beyond that had been quite vague and formless.

Now with the knowledge she'd gained from the Grail's power, she was entirely aware of many worldly concepts, including that of Japan. In truth, it was a very unique archipelago to be sure, a place that though it was small in land mass had so many people living in it, yet at the same time still had so much open space as far as the countryside was concerned. Actually, she was rather impressed with the practicality with which much of Japan took to the idea of conservation of space, seeing so many buildings called apartment complex house with so many small units as they did, each one somehow containing an entire family in some cases.

Irisviel on the other hand was clearly dazzled, gazing out of the window with the wonderment of a child in a parade, much as she had seemed to do on the plane. And she was certainly vocal about her desire to take a moment and explore the bustling city.

"That would be ill-advised," Saber said at once. "Even now, in daylight hours, it could be dangerous. And anyway, we need to convene with Kiritsugu and start coming up with a strategy for the coming battle. I sense that the first one of this war is very close to taking place." Actually, she sensed that something had already taken place, very quiet and under-the-radar, yet somehow still very explosive. It gave her the impression of a flaring out of a golden light.

But then she noticed Irisviel had looked at her ruefully and then withdrawn from the window, her red eyes downcast as she folded her hands meekly in her lap.

"Irisviel?" Seeing her that way gave Saber a pang for some reason.

Irisviel fiddled with her thumbs, reddening a little again as she gave a nervous laugh. "I'm sorry. It's just…this is my first time ever seeing the world beyond the Einzberns' castle."

Saber gaped at her. "You mean…you've never been out of that castle before? Ever?"

"Mm-mm." Irisviel shook her head. "Kiritsugu did everything he could to try to teach me about the outside world of course…he showed me movies and pictures and gave me books and brought me lots of things the Einzberns would never have dreamed of having themselves…to try and show me how the outside world works, but I've always been forbidden to leave by my grandfather. Kiritsugu, for his part, was always unhappy with that decision. He'd often tell me how much he wanted to take me out of there and show me the sea, and the flowers that grow in springtime…."

Saber blinked, and then frowned thoughtfully. There it was again, such things Irisviel spoke of when it came to her brooding, stoic, even callous husband, who for all of what he had shown Saber in the way he had played with his daughter, just didn't seem like the sort to do something like indulge a woman in gifts and fancies. Yet she had noticed that their daughter had been dragging around a stuffed lamb…and given that Irisviel had never had the means to get in touch with the outside world, and the rest of the Einzberns were stand-offish, left Kiritsugu as the only person who could have gotten something like that for her.

There was just no understanding him.

That being the case, Saber also couldn't help her heart from reaching out to Irisviel, how isolated a flower she had been. And she found herself remembering from looking out the window on the plane that Fuyuki was a city on the ocean, so there was probably a shoreline nearby….

Acting on a thrilling impulse, in spite of herself, Saber leaned toward the driver's seat and asked the driver to stop the car. The Einzbern servant who was driving obliged promptly, pulling to the curb. Then Saber stepped out and went around to the other side where the sidewalk was, opening Irisviel's door and giving the surprised young lady a small and rather gallant bow, as she had done for show on many occasion as a king in the royal court, paying her respects to noblewomen.

"Saber…."

"Come along. We can explore the city together, at least for today." Saber pulled off the black leather glove she was wearing and offered her hand. "As a knight, I would be honored to escort my lady for the afternoon."

Irisviel stared at the hand Saber offered and then beamed up at her, taking that hand in hers and letting her pull her out of the car and to her feet on the pavement. Commandingly she turned to the driver. "Go on ahead, we'll contact you when we need the car again."

"But Mistress…" the Servant started to protest, gripping the steering wheel, an exact copy of Irisviel and yet nothing like her somehow.

"It's fine, I have our Saber here with me," Irisviel told her, waving a hand. "We'll be fine."

The servant begrudgingly relented, scowling nonetheless, no doubt hardly looking forward to the possibility that she'd have to explain to Master Kiritsugu that his wife and Servant had gone missing. She rolled up the window and reentered the flow of traffic in the Mercedes. Once it had disappeared, Irisviel turned to Saber, her face flushed with elation. "Well, shall we?"

She took Saber's hand fervently, leading the way even as she had no idea where she was going. And Saber followed just behind, the reserved nature of her grin a pale reflection of the anticipation bubbling inside her against her will.

Thus the afternoon passed into the evening, with the two women walking the streets of Fuyuki as if they were both an ordinary pair—two besties having a girls' day out. Even so, Saber felt the crowds pass her by like streams of water separated by a wall of glass. And she caught herself wondering if someone as closed and solitary as Kiritsugu Emiya felt the same way when he was among people. He seemed to be the type to have always kept to himself, and yet it appeared that he just might have opened his heart…to the woman beside her, giggling as she stopped at an outdoor jewelry vendor to marvel at all the glittering trinkets and treasures, her scarlet eyes sparkling brightest of all….

"Oh, and look at that, Saber!" Irisviel squealed and pointed, her attention deterred from the gemstones. "Anime!"

She hurried over to a small market nearby, Saber shaking her head yet smiling as she kept pace, and the two of them found themselves surrounded by a kaleidoscope of colors, myriads of hand-drawn, large-eyed characters staring at them from all directions—yet it was inviting, rather than creepy. Saber got the sense somehow that they were saying, "Come, follow us, to a land of wild stories beyond imagination."

However, as with any medium, there was a separation—and a subjective one at that—between quality and tripe. And many things in between besides, as Saber discovered after reading the synopses of a few "manga" and "anime video tapes": some she read with a quiver of curiosity, lamenting that she would never have the opportunity to do anything like watch or read any of the items that drew her in thus, and others she read with a cringe and a headache. Sometimes the cover alone was enough to do that.

"Ugh, that's just too much," she muttered under her breath, referring to some armor far too flamboyant for her taste worn by a "super sentai team", and hastily popped the video tape back in its place on the rack.

She drifted through the aisles, passing by a display of many "figurines", many of them characters she recognized from the anime and manga she'd just been looking at, and wondered what on earth someone would do with a tiny figure that would do nothing but sit there, some of them rater scantily clad, to say the least. She supposed it might have been something like the statues and suits of armor and tapestries within the many castles she had lived in…decoration perhaps. An art form.

Meanwhile, she found Irisviel engrossed in a manga that was allegedly of the "shoujo genre"—meaning for girls, meaning primarily romantically themed.

Irisviel's cheeks were colored as she read, but she was beaming too.

As Saber approached her to suggest they head back out onto the street, Irisviel closed the book and tucked it back on its shelf. When she turned to Saber, she seemed very satisfied. "That was adorable," she gushed. "Though now I wish we could find a straight bookstore that sells novels and serves tea," she added as the two of them left the anime shop. "One where we might find some classical Japanese poetry and the like." And then her eyes grew soft and nostalgic. "You know, when Kiritsugu was teaching me about love, he told me that in Japan love is very much considered a divine feeling, traditionally. Or at the very least, it's a general philosophy of the culture. So you really have to mean it when you say 'I love you'. It isn't meant to be taken lightly."

Saber chose not to comment on what she thought about the idea of someone like Kiritsugu Emiya teaching someone about love. "I see."

"You know, I think it's beautiful," Irisviel said, shaking out her silver hair so that it shined rather breathtakingly in the early evening sunlight. "The idea that love is something divine. To treat it as something sacred." And then her eyes grew very far away, and it seemed to Saber that Irisviel just might be remembering something bittersweet from her time spent with Kiritsugu as his wife.

Yes, if they'd had a daughter, then they must have grown close to each other. In fact, the fact that they weren't explicitly intimate, and more that it was just implied that they were by their having had a child between them, Saber had to admit, it served to make her and Kiritsugu seem much closer than anyone outside the situation might have otherwise guessed. It perplexingly gave the very cold and distant Kiritsugu a curious touch of humanity.

Then Irisviel seemed to catch sight of something, and her eyes became present again. She pointed between two buildings to a patch of flowing blue. "Look, Saber! I think that's the sea. Why don't we see if we can't go down to the beach? Just for a bit? I've never been to a beach, or seen the sea before, and as I said earlier, Kiritsugu always talked about it."

"All right." Saber offered her elbow and her genial, gentlemanly smile. "Shall we, then?"

Irisviel giggled and linked her arm with Saber's. "We shall."

And it began to occur to Saber, as the two of them made their way to the seafront, that she just might be having what they called fun, nearly as much as Irisviel seemed to be having.

Irisviel kicked at the water playfully with her bare feet, having removed her boots and stockings. By the time they'd reached the beach, the full moon had risen, silver white, shining like Irisviel's hair, and Irisviel herself was luminous.

She had exclaimed at how the sea reminded her of glass, and as she played about in the water, Saber fondly recalled a group of nobleman's children she had once noticed playing in the water on the beach near Camelot one afternoon while she had ridden out with Sir Bedevere and Sir Lancelot. While the children had been playing, so carefree, the vast grey sea beyond had brooded with the threat of invaders.

Still…she hadn't been able to help but smile at the children playing.

"Ah, what a wonderful day," Irisviel gushed with satisfaction. "To have been escorted by such a gallant knight." She grinned at Saber over her shoulder.

Saber bowed humbly, laying a hand over heart. "You do me honor in saying so. I am glad that I could do the duty of a knight and serve her lady well as an escort."

Irisviel had picked up a stone from the beach and tried skipping it. It fell into the water and disappeared below at an angle. She gave a little cry of disappointment, but she didn't dwell on it and instead sought another stone. However, instead of trying to skip it, she seemed to admire how smooth it had become, softened by the eroding, tumbling waters, and she pocketed it instead it.

"Saber," she said, sounding thoughtful. "Do you like the sea?"

"Do I like the sea?" Saber hadn't really ever given it much thought. She thought about it now. "I suppose," she sighed, remembering those children again, but then remembering days on end spent staring out at that sea with narrowed, suspicious eyes, ever wary for the dreaded appearance of a fleet of ships. "I don't really know," she finally said. "In my day, and in my time, the sea was a source of danger, where invaders came from the mainland to attack. Realistically I could feel no affection for it. Actually…if I were being honest…I probably hated it."

Irisviel looked at her, and this time, she didn't giggle in that peculiar way of hers that felt like she meant something more by it. She just gave Saber a sad smile. "It's a pity. You're a girl just like me, and yet, as King Arthur, you weren't able to have the luxury to enjoy simple things like this." She splashed at the water with her toe.

"It's neither here or there to me," said Saber, verbally waving away Irisviel's concerns. "But what about you? Are you really sure you were happy with me as your escort?"

"Of course!"

"Well…surely you would have preferred that Kiritsugu had escorted you instead."

Irisviel's beaming face faltered, and she turned away, subdued. "Of course I would," she said quietly, almost mournfully. "But he couldn't. It would only cause him pain and suffering."

"What do you mean?" And then Saber asked, with some care: "Does Kiritsugu…not enjoy the time he spends with you?" Finding that no matter whether Irisviel said yes or no, she wouldn't be surprised by either answer, somehow.

But the answer Irisviel gave her was something entirely unexpected altogether, given everything.

"When he's happy," Irisviel said, turning to the sea, her voice growing far away, as though it were a seagull taking flight out towards the water. "When he's happy…for some reason…it causes him pain."

Saber stared at her, at a loss for words. More than that, but her answer struck something within her, as she once again felt that impression of a mirror reflecting inside her. She couldn't really think why, at first, for she believed that in her moments of happiness in her former life, she had been truly so, for it had been a rare and precious thing for her to be happy. And yet, as the years had worn on her, so few as they were, the idea of being happy had become a more distant thing for her with every passing day, convincing herself it was enough she was serving the good of her country as its sovereign and protector.

And there in that mirror, was Kiritsugu, that man who had happily played with his and Irisviel's daughter in the forest. Had he felt pain underneath that utterly sincere smile, even then? There was something about that that made him again seem at once so very human, and yet at the same time seem like something slightly more than a human…an enigmatic being born a normal person but cut off from normalcy, perhaps by circumstances that were very not-normal.

In that moment, when Irisviel said that, Saber felt a brief yet sharp pain in her own heart. Hastily she pushed it aside, and frowned more pensively, wondering again about the very strange man that was Kiritsugu Emiya.

Irisviel meanwhile had went on staring out at the sea, and it was a good guess that she was thinking of where her husband might be, what he was doing right now, maybe even wondering when she would see him again.

Guinevere had had that look on her face, many a time, staring out from the castle battlements…but Saber had known that it hadn't been of her that she'd been thinking.

But such melancholy memories were pushed out of her mind as a presence intruded upon her ruminations. Turning towards where she sensed it, her green eyes fell on the nearby district of warehouses near the docks, and with her very keen Servant's sight, she spotted a lithe young man hefting one lance over his shoulder, while he held another at his side. He titled his head in a beckoning gesture.

Warily, Saber padded over to Irisviel across the sandy beach and grasped her by the sleeve of her soft white coat.

Irisviel went perfectly still. Did she sense the Servant's presence too?

But then she asked, "An enemy Servant?"

"Yes," Saber affirmed. "Over that way. It seems to be inviting us to engage it in battle."

"Well then…shall we take it up on its invitation?" Irisiviel turned her crimson eyes on Saber, and they were curiously mischievous. Could such a lady get excited about something like battle?

Saber warmed to it, smiling again. "I'd like nothing better."

"My goodness, Saber. Judging by your tone, I'd say you're the kind of girl who looks forward to a fight." Irisviel's tone was playfully teasing.

"I suppose…once you've had a taste for battle," Saber mused aloud in response as they started on their way along the beach toward the warehouses, "it either destroys you, or makes you crave more." It was times like these that she kept hidden her own past ruminations upon the bloodthirsty nature that seemed to lay dormant within her, awakened the first time she had faced real, life-or-death combat. On that day, the adrenaline and the fear that had surged in her blood had sparked something in her brain that had changed her, and she had felt that any shred of graceful, traditional femininity that she'd still possessed had been scattered away to the winds, save for a very miniscule, residual amount.

That dark beast now raised its head again inside her as she and Irisviel entered the complex of warehouses, where the dark-haired man with two lances crossed their path.

And right then, something more feminine stirred within Saber even as the beast of battle licked its chops. For he did have a rather handsome face, easy on the eyes even while the rest of him was so rugged and limber, his face touched by a single beauty mark.

"Ah, at long last. I've been searching all day, seeking a worthy foe," the man sighed. "But everyone just slinks away, back into their holes. You alone have accepted my offer." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he considered his prospective first opponent. "That pure energy surrounding you…you are the Servant known as Saber, I presume?"

"Indeed I am," said Saber with a measure of forthrightness. "And judging by your choice of weaponry, you are the one they call Lancer."

The Servant correctly identified as Lancer chuckled dryly. "Being unable to honorably name myself before my opponent troubles me more than I can describe. I harbor an extreme dislike for these rules, but there you are." He took a step back and then held up his lances at the ready, a short golden one and long red one.

Taking this cue, Saber called forth her armor, and transformed thusly in a whirl of magic. With Excalibur in hand, she concealed it with the magic of "Invisible Air", so as not to give away her identity to the enemy, as was warranted by the rules of the Grail War.

Behind her, Irisviel spoke up. "Saber, please be careful. I can use my healing magic to act as combat support for you, but more than that…."

Saber held up Excalibur at the ready. "Just leave Lancer to me. It's disturbing to me that his own Master has deigned to reveal himself. Perhaps they plot something, so be sure to watch yourself. And Irisviel," she added, this time feeling she had to hide her smile.

"Yes?"

"From this point on, I entrust you to watch my back."

"Very well," said Irsiviel, with a note of steel in her voice that somehow didn't surprise Saber. "I leave you to it. Grant me victory in this fight!" she added with such command that Saber quite believed that Irisviel was in fact her true Master.

Something thrilled in Saber's heart to hear something like that from Irisviel.

"I shall," she responded with enthusiasm, lifting her blade proudly as she took a fighting stance. "Without fail." She met Lancer's eyes, taking note of their golden color. She felt again that stirring those eyes inspired, a foreign yearning she'd never really felt before. Or maybe she had, but had forced herself to forget, resigning herself to a woman disguised as a man. But then she sensed the thrall that was pulling her in, and withdrew from such a feeling, seeing for what it was. "You have a charm spell," she said, raising an eyebrow at Lancer.

Lancer chuckled again, but there was just the faintest edge of bitterness to it. "Forgive me. It was something of a…curse I was born with. Or perhaps you should blame yourself for having been born a woman," he added, rather slyly to say the least.

But Saber easily deflected the quip, even as she did find it rather amusing. "You really don't think you can win against me with such an enchanted smile and swagger, do you?"

"It was worth a try." Lancer gave an apologetic shrug. "So I see it's true what they say about the Saber Class's resistance to magic. I am pleased to see that my first opponent is made of sterner stuff."

Saber picked up a sincere note of admiration in his tone, and in spite of herself, she was just a little bit pleased. At the same time though, she couldn't help but be rather regretful, as it suddenly occurred to her how worthy her first opponent was, and what a shame it would be to have to eliminate him so early in the game.

But this wouldn't be the first time she'd have to make that kind of sacrifice, and she was more than certain that it wouldn't be the last.

She hoped, anyway. After all, she wasn't going to let something like admiration stop her from doing what she had to in order to get to the Holy Grail…the last chance she had to right the wrongs she had committed….

Though she would be sure to do so while at least maintaining her pride and honor. Otherwise taking the Grail for herself would be nothing more than just another sin.

Even so, as the two of them proceeded to exchange blow for blow, Saber felt herself become that other part of herself, that part of her that reveled in the adrenaline rush of battle. As the two of them came at each other again, their weapons clashing, their eyes locked, she also felt something reach out from each of them to the other, like a bond forming, their duel turning into something more of a dance. But then, she supposed, there were many similarities between dueling and dancing.

And all the while she kept her eyes on both the long and short spear, trying to figure out which one was the Noble Phantasm.

In a moment when they both broke apart, it seemed Lancer was developing a similar feeling towards their fight, as he took the time say, "It's impressive for a woman to fight so hard, even as she doesn't break a sweat while doing it." He touched a finger to his cheek, catching a few drops of the blood from the scratch that now marred it courtesy of Saber's sword point.

Saber grinned, and felt it was very leonine, her teeth no doubt shining in the moonlight. "You needn't be so humble, Lancer. Though even without my knowing your name, those words from such a Master of the Spear, do me honor. I gratefully accept them."

Breaking into their banter however came a snide voice that could only belong to Lancer's Master, commanding his Servant to use his Noble Phantasm. To which Lancer complied, dropping the short gold spear and loosing the wrappings from the red one, revealing it in its full shining glory.

So…the long spear was the Noble Phantasm.

Coming at her again, Saber found herself on the defensive, as Lancer used the spear to chip away at the Invisible Air, the focused wind mana she was using to conceal Excalibur. Realizing the only way she could get in close enough to get in a good strike at him was to let him hit her at her armor, where his blow would be deflected, Saber lifted her sword to let him in…only to have the point of the spear slice right through her, spilling her blood, running her through with pain so that all she could do was fall back, barely maintaining her stance on her feet.

How…how had she been hit? she wondered bewilderedly as she clutched her side. Stranger still, how had the armor remained undamaged…?

Unless….

"Saber!" Irisviel called out, and immediately Saber felt her lady's healing magic seep in, closing up the wound and stemming the flow of blood.

Blinking, Saber already felt herself recover. "My thanks, Irisviel. The healing is doing its work. I'm fine."

Behind her, she heard Irisviel give a sigh of relief, and she smiled again. "I see," Saber said to Lancer, "your spear negates magic."

Lancer planted his spear in the ground, returning her smile. "That was an impressive counter," he complimented sincerely. "I like your indomitable spirit."

"Hm. You flatter me."

"I'm afraid though, that given the nature of my spear, you must realize that your armor does you little good in this fight."

"Very well then." With a single strike of her arm at the air, she threw off her armor, magically disintegrating it.

Lancer lifted his eyebrows, clearly impressed. And then he laughed. "Ah-ha! I see now. Nothing will stand in your way it seems. I like your boldness and audacity." He took a step back. "But I'm afraid…you may be biting off more than you can chew, young lioness."

"Not if I kill you before you can strike me." Saber lifted Excalibur with both hands, holding the blade behind her, preparing to spring.

"You're betting everything on one move? How cavalier." But even so, Lancer's golden eyes danced with the enthusiasm. Clearly, he was just as bittersweet at the idea of having to strike down someone like Saber.

"Prepare yourself, Lancer." And Saber partially tore the Invisible Air from Excalibur, exposing its golden light in a burst of a magic, before she shot forward.

But as she did, Lancer kicked up his short gold spear from the ground, and Saber realized too late that in fact his Noble Phantasm was both spears. Unable to turn back, she plowed onward with her blade, even as Lancer struck her through her left wrist.

Saber fell back again, giving a hiss of pain. Worse than that, but she felt the tendon had been severed, unable now to move her thumb. She lifted her bleeding wrist, staring at steady flow of blood. "Irisviel, I require healing."

"But…but I did," Irisviel's voice piped up. And then, more panicked, she exclaimed, "I did it! I felt it do it! It should be working!"

And Saber realized….

"I see now. A spear that negates magic, and a spear that curses whatever it touches…. Couple that with your charm and looks, and the mole beneath your eye…you are none other than he of the Knights of Fianna, Diarmiud of the Love Spot."

Lancer shouldered his long spear. "You've found me out. I cannot deny that what you say is true."

"How fortunate I have been then, to have had the chance to do battle with one as skilled in the spear as yourself."

"Please, it is I who should be honored. Of all the Servants to come forth in search of the Holy Grail, there's only one that would wield a golden sword such as yours: Arthur, the King of Knights. Or…is it Arturia? Ha. Truly, the honor is mine to have been pitted against such a legendary swordsman as you. Or…swordswoman, rather."

Saber humbly said nothing and merely smiled once more.

"Saber…I thank you," Lancer continued, graciously. He even gave her a little bow, and Saber felt her cheeks color against her will, though she managed to keep it to herself. "To say that I have had the chance to do honorable battle with you, now that we at last know each other's true names…it is more than I could have ever dreamed of. Even more the pity, that things must end here." Again, his smile and tone were bittersweet, and Saber shared his sentiment deeply.

"Indeed. I could not agree with you more." She lifted her blade again with her good hand. She still had no intention of yielding, and she could see in the way Lancer regarded her that he knew this. That and she could see that he had no intention of yielding either.

If I had met you…in another time…in another life….

But just then, the world split with lightning, and at first the roll of thunder suggested that a storm had suddenly come upon them.

Though it pained her, she threw up her bad arm, the one she could no longer use to hold her sword, shielding her eyes from the blazing, flashing light, gritting her teeth, steeling herself for this new challenge that had come their way.