Shirou Elric was a thorn in her side she couldn't wait to challenge once her Master gave her permission.
He was arrogant, but no condescending. He was full of pride, but at the same time there was a distinct lack of it. He had the charisma of a king, yet at the same time Saber could tell he kept people at a distance deliberately.
It hadn't taken more than half the walk to the Church to realize Elric was deliberately poking fun at Rin as a subtle way of keeping her distance from him.
That couldn't be more obvious when they were suddenly confronted with the master of Berserker.
Saber had been fully prepared to fight Berserker...except Elric had beaten her to the punch.
"Lancer, restrain him!"
Saber wasn't the only one looking for Lancer. However while it was evident that he was present, he didn't make his appearance known.
His chains, however, did.
Everyone save Elric gaped as long chains appeared and even speared themselves into Berserker's skin.
Illyasviel was rather smug. After all, what sort of chains could restrain the greatest hero in Greek mythology? However that quickly changed when she realized Berserker was not only stuck, he couldn't breakthe chains! And he was definitely attempting to get out.
Illya turned wide, angry eyes to the smug blond.
"What did you do?!"
"These chains were specifically made to restrain beasts with divine attributes. And as this is Heracles, that means they're absorbing his divine heritage to make the chains stronger," said Elric smoothly.
Illya fumed rather cutely as she realized her Servant had been effectively nullified.
"It doesn't matter anyway! You still can't kill him!"
"I wasn't trying to kill him. I just needed a way to restrain him while we go back. I'm starving," said Elric to Emiya.
"I'll get started on a late supper once we're back at the house," he readily agreed.
"Wait... you're telling me this pain in the ass lives with you?!" said Rin horrified.
Emiya made a face, before carefully schooling it.
"One does not argue with Fujimura Taiga when she gets in that mood."
Elric nodded sagely.
"Come back here and fight!" fumed Illya from where she was standing next to Berserker. As it was the "mad" Servant, it was still struggling against the chains. Even if it was rather pointless at this point.
Elric had rendered her Servant helpless in a single move, and had only revealed the name of his Servant. Lancer was staying out of sight.
About halfway back to the house, Rin and Archer departed. Emiya's strange knowledge of the Grail had been deduced when Elric admitted to being a Master. And if he lived in the house, then it was only natural he would tip the scales in his favor by telling his 'host' how to summon Saber properly.
Once they were gone, a figure approached from several blocks away.
"Lord Elric, you shouldn't have wandered off. What would your brother say if he knew you had gone into hostile territory," chided the green-haired figure.
"He would be too busy snogging with you while I try to avoid the sight to care," deadpanned Elric.
"Who is this?" asked Saber tensing.
"Elric's bodyguard Midori. He has a fascination with nature, so he dyes his hair green," explained Shirou (Emiya). Saber accepted the explanation and thought nothing more of his odd appearance.
Reminded of another matter, Saber looked at Elric with something akin to dislike.
"I challenge you to a duel," she said flatly. Something about the blond rubbed her in all the wrong ways, and it wasn't because he looked so much like Gilgamesh that it was uncanny.
"Do you want to use your invisible sword or are bokken acceptable?" asked Elric, not even phased.
"Bokken are fine," said Saber.
Emiya winced. It was Taiga all over again.
Saber looked Elric in the eyes. There was something highly unnerving about this teen, even if they shared a similar despair about their heights. How often had her Knights teased her about being so short?
Elric had a pair of wooden swords, one in each hand. Nearby his bodyguard Midori watched in silence, with a cup of fresh tea in hand and a pot next to him. Shirou had given up trying to dissuade them (not that he really tried) and instead focused on dinner preparations.
At an unseen signal, the two charged at each other.
At first Saber was incredulous at the openings Elric left in his defenses. All of them were fatal, if hit.
But the second she started trying to take advantage of those weak points...well, that was when she realized the brilliance of his strategy.
If he couldn't beat his opponents through skill, speed or strength, then he had to control the battle itself. And once they enemy fell into his rhythm, they were trapped.
Though she had to wonder what sort of idiot would teach Elric such a suicidal and insane fighting style.
Saber found her annoyance and disdain for Shirou Elric begin to vanish into a sort of grudging respect. He was an ass who had a genuine dislike of authority figures, and did his best to annoy others, but he was a true warrior worthy of respect.
"Saber! Elric! Midori! Dinner's ready!" said Shirou.
The two of them paused mid battle, though Elric had his sword at Saber's throat while hers was poised at the rib cage...with his other sword blocking it. Now that they had slowed down, you could see obvious cracks and chips where they had put a little too much strength into their blows.
"Looks like we'll have to replace these later," said Elric. Though you could tell he was grinning like a madman.
"Indeed. Preferably with something a bit more sturdy," agreed Saber. "You were a more worthy opponent than I had originally estimated. Most Magi completely ignore the physical aspect and only focus on furthering their own mysteries."
"He takes great pride in exercising. Perhaps the two of you could spar using your hand to hand combat rather than swords, at least until you are able to acquire better ones?" said Enkidu pleasantly. He had mentally chalked another tally in the similarities between Gilgamesh and Shirou.
Gilgamesh had trouble getting along with others outside of the field of battle, and even then only one person had been able to connect with him enough that he acknowledged them as worthy.
And that was Enkidu.
Emiya disliked the idea of forcing Saber to stay in hiding, since she couldn't astralize. So Elric came up with the perfect excuse for her presence.
Officially she was sent as Midori's back-up, but since Shirou Emiya was hosting him until the war was over, she had agreed to take over the guarding aspect for their host, as Midori never left Elric's side.
It certainly cut down the complaints from Taiga.
And a chance to spar with someone who understood true battle, rather than the weak mortals of the present age...well, Saber could readily agree to such a suggestion.
Enkidu would act as the referee, as he had no reason to favor either side. Instead he would remind them of small things like lunch.
Saber and Elric spent most of the day sparring, pushing each other to higher and higher, while grinning like madmen. And when they weren't playing with sharp and pointy objects, they were watching TV.
Elric had to admit, he had far too much fun watching the reaction of Saber when he put in Monty Python. Her reaction to the 'Knights who say "Ni"' was hilarious, but more so was watching the man-eating rabbit!
But...there were some shows they could agree to. Attack on Titan, as strange as it was, happened to be one of them. Though that was mostly because Elric had always been a fan of the opening song.
When Shirou Emiya returned, it was with Sakura.
It was then that Saber saw another side of the man (for his eyes were too old to dismiss him as just a teen) known as Shirou Elric.
When he saw Sakura, there was a brief hint of pity, but there was genuine respect from him. Not once did he even remotely attempt to berate her or treat her with anything short of respect deserving to a princess. It was rather baffling how he could sling insults and barbs without hesitation to everyone, just to get a rise out of them, but for Sakura, there was never a single unkind word.
Even "Midori" was unaware of the reason.
It bothered Saber so much that she asked after Sakura and Taiga left for the night.
"Why do you treat Sakura-san with such respect, yet annoy others without hesitation?"
Her Master paused in doing the dishes. He was actually curious why he had never heard Elric tease Sakura like he did Taiga.
"Simple. Sakura Matou has enough problems being used as an incubator for Crest Worms on the orders of her grandfather, never mind what Shinji has been doing to her on that thing's orders, that I'll not taint the one sanctuary she has from her living hell," said Elric.
Gone was the irritating blond who lived to annoy others. This was something Saber recognized immediately.
This was a knight who knew of a horrible situation, but was unable to act.
"What."
Shirou's voice was flat, as he was having trouble processing what Elric had so casually said.
"What is happening with Sakura?"
"Crest worms are the lowest of the low, familiar wise. Especially if you're being used as an incubator for them. For men, it's pretty bad. From what I recall, the last Master of the Matou family was forced to rely on the things and he was hacking up blood all the time, and his left side was completely paralyzed. But for girls...it's ten times worse."
Elric went and got a piece of paper. He had only seen the things once...but it was something that would haunt him forever.
His hand deftly and calmly sketched something. The more it took shape, the more repulsed Saber became as the Grail filled her in on the details of the creature.
Shirou Emiya looked at the thing horrified.
"This is what she must endure while living in that place. I'm not going to give her a hard time when her life is already hellish enough thanks to her grandfather."
Saber nodded, her curiosity appeased...and sympathy for the girl took firm hold.
"Wait... her grandfather forces her to have these things..."
"She wasn't even five at the time when he threw her into a pit of them," clarified Elric. "And that's before Zouken broke her even further."
"If it's this bad, why haven't you done anything?!" said Emiya, angry.
Elric's look shut him up without a word.
"Because even if I were to take her from that house, it would serve nothing in the end. These crest worms are all that keep Zouken Makiri alive. As long as they exist, he will not die. And the only way to kill them all would entail potentially killing Sakura in the process. Keep in mind, this man has been around since the first Grail War, which until now only happened in sixty-year intervals and lasted a few months at the most. And while there is one way that might save her, the only way to pull it off would require more luck than I have."
"And what way might save her?" asked Shirou far too seriously for his health.
"She would have to break the one taboo in the alchemy I practice that is actually there for a damn good reason. She would have to perform human transmutation and insure that Zouken is caught up in the circle."
Human transmutation was forbidden for a reason. If she were luckier than her current situation suggested, Truth might take pity on her and only take away her magecraft or her circuits. If not...well, at least she would take Zouken with her.
"Human transmutation?" repeated Emiya. Saber looked equally baffled.
Elric sighed.
"Someone get the booze. No way am I explaining this sober," said Elric flatly. Enkidu helpfully went to the liquor cabinet and got some of the extra stock that Emiya brought home from work, mostly to keep Taiga happy.
Gilgamesh was bored, and Kirei was keeping him confined to this boring church. Even his large store of video games were of no use in keeping him entertained.
He had spent ten year immersing himself in every aspect of modern culture, just to kill time. There was no treasure of the modern age that appealed to him enough that he would go and retrieve it. It was all just trash.
And he had been told explicitly to not stalk Lancer's Master.
Apparently the teen had gone around telling those unaware of the truth that Gilgamesh was his older brother sent to insure he didn't get himself killed while visiting Fuyuki for a year or two. While there was some passing resemblance between them, Gilgamesh was more than affronted that this Shirou Elric dared to call the King of Heroes his "older brother". There was some talk of a strange bodyguard that had green hair, but he dismissed it. It wasn't the first time someone had brought an extra person to the war to serve as a spare source of prana.
Strangely, there were only reports of the bodyguard, but Kirei was unable to obtain any concrete pictures of the man.
So he was stuck in a church with nothing to do. This was unacceptable.
If Kirei didn't provide some entertainment worthy of his notice and fast, he would have to go out and find it for himself.
