FateStay Night Prismatic Chaos

by Alyeris

The second magic, the doorway to infinite possibilities. Exposed to it's effects from a young age, the Emiya Shirou that should have been is no more. In his stead is... Emiya Kirika? Why are there two Sabers? What's going on with this grail war!

5. Chapter 5

5-1

An endless world.

With no structures or geological features to bar the eye, the water covered surface that Kirika walked upon stretched out endlessly as far as she could see. Every step she took sent ripples across the thin layer of water that now sat motionlessly on the perfectly flat surface of this domain, but the mark they made was soon lost in the sheer vastness of this mysterious land.

Here and there, odd items rested that drew one's eye. A sword here, a stack of books over there, and a bed of wild flowers to the left of her that could have come out of any pasture. There was no sense or order to this chaotic arrangement, and to try and interpret it was to invite madness. Knowing this better than anyone, Kirika ignored the odds and ends that dotted the landscape as she continued to walk with no goal in mind but knowing she had to go somewhere.

A thought struck her though as she went in what she assumed to be a forward direction. There was no source of illumination here but for the faint star like lights in the dark sky, yet she could see perfectly. The realisation woke her memories, and for the first time Kirika was able to completely comprehend the fact that she was looking at her own mind.

"Wow," she mumbled as she looked around. "It's gotten a lot better than before, but still, what a mess."

Shaking her head in chagrin, Kirika wore a faint smile as she continued onwards. There was nothing she could do about the mess right now, or at least that's what her instincts told her. Something more was needed, a trigger that could change the world she perceived inside her own head. For some reason she thought that trigger might be related to the dark heavens above. There was just something about the starscape overhead that struck as being simply wrong. A change here felt like it could be the most natural thing in the world.

Eventually, Kirika found what she hadn't known she was looking for, her eyes lighting up as she spotted another figure in the distance. A stranger, at first she wondered why he looked so familiar, but soon realised that he looked remarkably similar to someone she had seen before.

Herself. Or rather, himself, as she had been a he the last time she had seen that face in a mirror.

Shirou, as Kirika named her apparent doppelganger in her head, stood silent before a pair of huge broken mirror shards, for lack of a better term. The two shards were each a different shape and they were showing different pictures inside their irregularly shaped surfaces, of which Shirou was only looking at one.

Within the screen, a land lay at peace. The faces of the common peoples were alive with smiles, and golden seas of grain filled the fields, but all was not well. Beneath the peaceful veneer, shadows of greed and hate were slowly spreading across the kingdom. Nowhere was this more evident than in the capital, where poisonous tongues spun their webs of intrigue, aiming to bring down the figure who blocked their dirty ambitions. In doing so they foolishly forgot that he was also the only thing that was holding this fragile kingdom together.

For a while, the corruption could not spread. Wiser than any of the greed-addled nobles, the grand mage that stood by the king's side turned all their plots against them. There were also those who had little skill in the crafting of poisonous words, but possessed souls bright enough to cower the darkness, even as they swung their swords to safeguard the kingdom. This gathering of the greatest knights of the realm effectively forbid all attempts by the greedy to try and seize what they wanted by force.

As time passed however, the forces that had sheltered the king from the daggers at his back grew weak or disappeared altogether. His greatest advisor, kidnapped and imprisoned by the fairies. His knights, some of whom were so disillusioned by his inhumanity that they left the court, and the rest, scattered to the winds in search of the cup that could grant all wishes. One by one, the king's allies disappeared, until finally only a few faithful followers remained in a court that had been suborned by his worst enemies.

Turning away from the grim picture of Saber sitting in a court filled with those who were eager to see her dead, Kirika looked to the screen that hung in the air across from this one.

In this window into the past, a much different memory was displayed. The beginning was the same, the land finally at rest after years of war. The kingdom celebrated the arrival of peace, and every town and village was filled with the joyful cheers of the people. In Camelot too, secure in the knowledge that at least for a time there were no threats on the horizon, the hall was filled with laughter as the guardians of the kingdom put down the heavy burdens of duty for a while.

All but one of them that was.

At the center of the hall, Arthur sat solemnly in strange contrast to his surroundings. His thoughts had turned to the night before the last battle, when he had rescued a babe from the flames, only to stand by helplessly as the infant died despite the best care the healers could offer. Though regretful, it was not something that he would normally have dwelt upon. Tragic deaths happened every day, and it was in order to prevent as many of them as possible that he had taken up the role as king. This time however, the images would not leave his head. He was constantly reminded of his helplessness to help the infant, and this led him to wonder.

How useful was he really if he could not even save an innocent life as it faded right before his eyes?

That first thought led to another, and before long he was wondering if he had been right to make the choices he had in leading the war against the kingdom's foes. It was all very well to abandon the few to save the many, but in doing so had he sacrificed something greater? How could the people believe in the kingdom if they held within their hearts the fear that maybe the next time, it would be them who were foregone? Could they believe in a king who made such decisions, when even he himself had begun to doubt?

The air around Arthur grew heavier as a pillar of his beliefs began to shake. So lost was he in his thoughts that he did not notice the fact that the feasting hall had become quiet, the only noise the music of the minstrels as they attempted to fill the sudden void. Knights who just moments ago had been roaring with laughter were now looking at each other and whispering. Their hushed conversations were not about any displeasure they might have felt at the king throwing cold water over their celebrations, but more around the sheer shock that many of them felt upon seeing him in such a state.

For many of them, it was the first time since they had sworn service to their lord that they had seen him display his emotions so openly. An occasional show of grief, or a brief moment of shared camaraderie on the battlefield, these things they had seen. Never before however had the king let himself be seen like this, vulnerable, mortal.

Just like the rest of them.

That first feast after the long years of war marked a turning point in the history of the isle. Some would say later that it was this moment that doomed the kingdom of Briton, the kingdom's fate sealed as its king abandoned perfection for human weakness. Indeed, there were many troubles for the land as Arthur began to regain his humanity. Not least of all the chaos that came about when Arthur gave up his mask to reveal her true self as Arturia. The fragile peace was shattered by this revelation as discontent nobles and vengeful enemies used her deception as an excuse for rebellion and war.

Through it all however, Arturia was happy. It was not to say that she didn't look back on her choices sometimes to wonder what might have happened had she kept going as she had. She had regrets, just like any other human, but she no longer had to shoulder such burdens alone. True friends and followers now stood at her side. A few of her knights had left after her divulgence, but most had stayed to swear fealty anew upon the banner of the lily she had adopted as a symbol of her new resolve. The only thing that she was remorseful about was the unnecessary pain that her subjects suffered due to her decision, but the people supported her, charmed by her looks and warmth.

And so, Briton's flame shone against the darkness of the age. All the brighter because of its precarious state.

The images stopped there, with Lily in the white and silver armor she had adopted as she reclaimed the name she had been born with. Looking at that picture Kirika was struck by how different the expressions the two versions of the same person were. In the other screen the image of Saber had her frozen with a look of absolute resolve on her face that awed Kirika even as it discomfited her due to the zeal it implied. Lily on the other hand looked relaxed but confident, a slight smile on her lips reflecting the mirth in her eyes as she laughed at some tale told by a knight at her side. In fact, she looked so comfortable that Kirika was led to wonder why Lily had been summoned. After all, the servants that the Grail called were those who had died with regrets. After seeing her story however Kirika did not feel that Lily had wanted to change anything in particular about her life. In that case, what was the wish that Lily hoped to be granted by appearing in this day and age? Was there something she did not know yet that had caused Lily to change her mind?

"You know, you are not supposed to be here," a voice interrupted her thoughts.

Surprised, Kirika turned around to see that her unexplained doppelganger had broken his silence to speak to her. He had been so quiet until now that she had almost forgotten about his presence, but now that he had spoken, she decided to ask that which she had wanted to ask ever since she saw him.

"Is that so? Then what about you? Who are you to say that I can't explore my own mind?" Kirika asked in a deliberately provocative tone.

'Shirou' raised an eyebrow, his honey coloured eyes that were a mirror to Kirika's own slightly peeved as he stared back at her.

"I'm you," he told her. "Or at least, who you were supposed to be."

This time it was Kirika's turn to raise an eyebrow. What did he mean by that? Her encounter with the Kaleidostick had changed her life, yes, but how could he say that he was her when... A possible explanation came to her, and Kirika looked at her alternate self with a complicated expression marring her finely shaped face.

"Don't you mean to say, you are what I could have been?" she asked 'Shirou', somehow knowing that this was the right answer.

'Shirou' frowned at that, as if offended by the suggestion. From his silence however Kirika could tell that she had been right in her guess, as no version of her that called themselves Emiya would offer up a lie when it came to such important a question.

"In another world, yes," he finally admitted. "I'm not so sure about the mechanics myself, but the possibility was always there, just beyond the boundary between this world and the one next door."

"So, you are not me?" Kirika asked, a little slow when it came to comprehending what was being said.

"No, I am you," Shirou replied. "Just not Emiya Kirika, just as you are me, but not Emiya Shirou."

"... I don't get it," Kirika admitted. "What is it that you are trying to say?"

"Nothing really," Shirou sighed. "I just wanted to make myself known when I could. So that you know that I was here. So that you remember when the time comes."

"When the time comes?" Kirika frowned. "What time is that?"

"You will know soon enough," Shirou said with a shrug. "Cracks have started to appear already, so it won't be too long before you find out."

"Cracks?" Kirika asked, wondering why this self-proclaimed 'self' of hers was speaking so cryptically.

In this case however, it appeared he had been speaking literally, as he pointed up at the sky at something. Following his finger, Kirika looked up at the dark sky, and was surprised to see that there were indeed cracks in the starlit void that covered the heavens.

"... What is that?" Kirika muttered.

"Don't ask me," Shirou grumbled as he stood up. "All I know is that when those cracks spread, something is going to happen. So be ready for that, and remember me would you?"

Leaving that message, 'Shirou' began to walk off. Still confused by many things, Kirika would have followed him, but was unable to as the world began to fade. The last thing she saw before everything turned black was 'Shirou' walking off into the distance, a lonely figure amidst the crazed garden of items that was her mind.

-x-x-x-

She was waking up at night a lot these days, Kirika thought as she sat up on her bed.

She was still confused by the strange conversation she had exchanged with... Herself? If this continued she was going to be a good candidate for the loony bin. How could he/she know things that he/she didn't know himself/herself? Ack, now the language that was needed to describe the situation was giving her a headache too.

Distracted by her surreal experience, it was a while before Kirika remembered what had happened earlier that day. When she did, it was with great astonishment that she realised that her body was completely healed. The damage she had taken hadn't been light, and she was actually surprised that she had been able to wake up like this at all. Moreover, there weren't even any bruises she could see, telling her again that somebody had gone to great trouble to take care of her. She wondered if that person had been Rin. The last thing she remembered had been the explosion, and so she had no idea what had happened next. Judging by the fact that she was alive though, they must have been successful to a degree at least.

Getting out of the bed, Kirika changed from the pyjamas that had been put on her into a casual outfit composed of a pair of jeans and a loose white cotton shirt. All done, she was about to go out when her image in the mirror stopped her.

Turning on the lights to take a closer look, Kirika flinched as she saw the damage that had been done to her hair. The lustrous copper strands that had fallen down nearly to her waist had been truncated near her neck, leaving only two tails that fell down around her ears. The cut hadn't been smooth either, the uneven fringe betraying how roughly she had hacked it away. Her hairdresser would have fainted had she seen it, and Kirika herself was a little gutted as well after five years of having the importance of hair care pounded into her. When she thought about that, Kirika immediately felt as if a heavy weight had struck her, both because of how thoroughly she had been brainwashed and because of the dread she felt at the thought of the fuss that Rin was going to make.

Regretful, but what was done was done. Recovering completely Kirika decided that she needed to at least even her hair out if she was going to be fit to be seen in public. Getting out a pair of scissors, she went to work, and soon enough she had tidied it up to her satisfaction. The hair at the back of her head now tapered into a slight point where it fell down just below the base of her neck, and the two tails at the sides were left alone. Rin was going to be annoyed enough already, and she didn't need to add to that by cutting off what longer strands she had left. Besides, it didn't actually look too bad.

Decent now, Kirika opened the door and headed for the lounge to see if anyone was there. Rin had taken to spending the nights in the lounge recently as everyone gathered to go over the day's events. As she only went to her room to sleep, Kirika figured that she would find her friend and mentor there as usual.

Contrary to her expectations, Kirika was surprised to find that only Saber was in the lounge, with no sign of Rin or the other two servants anywhere nearby.

"Kirika?" Saber said as she spotted her. "Is it okay for you to be up and about?"

"I'm fine, see?" Kirika replied cheerfully as she swung her arms about as a demonstration of her fitness. "Not even any bruises anywhere. Looks like I'll have to apologise to Rin for making her take care of me again."

Saber looked at Kirika dubiously at this claim, and blinked as she saw that it was true.

"That's odd," she told Kirika. "Rin did tend to your wounds, but the marks were still there when we put you into bed. Do you possess a healing artifact of some sort?"

Kirika tilted her head. "Really? That's strange. I don't have anything of the sort. I thought that Rin had healed me."

Saber's face became grim.

"I'm afraid Rin was too shocked to do that," Saber told her. "She retained enough of her spirit to heal your wounds and mine, but she went straight into her room afterwards and has stayed there since."

"What?" Kirika looked Saber up and down. "You were wounded? Rin? What happened after I fell unconscious?"

Saber proceeded to tell her about the events of that afternoon, sheepish when she mentioned how she had been driven into a corner by Kuzuki, and sad as she detailed Caster's intervention and Sakura's confession.

"Wait," Kirika stopped Saber in order to absorb the shocks that had come one after another. "So you are saying that Sakura was Rider's master all along, as well as being Caster's ally, and that they basically challenged Rin to battle? Matou Sakura? "

Saber nodded. "To be precise Caster invited Rin to come to the temple if she wanted to talk more, but as you well know, the temple is firmly under her control."

"Yes, and after last time Caster is bound to have strengthened her defences," Kirika felt a headache growing as she thought about it. "Seeing as Lily nearly lost one on one with Assassin, I don't see us getting inside very easily."

The mood in the lounge grew gloomy as the two of them realised that there was no easy solution to this problem. There was the option of using Saber's Excalibur in order to blow through the defences with brute force, but upon discussion they had ruled out its use due to its flashiness and the presence of people upon the mountain. The question of what to do about Caster had actually been something that they planned to discuss tonight with Rin and Archer. With Rin all depressed like that though, it didn't look as if they would be making any plans tonight.

Thinking of Rin, Kirika realised she had something to do.

"Saber, is there anything more that I need to know?" she asked her servant.

"No, that's everything Kirika," Saber replied as she looked at Kirika with her green eyes. "Archer and Lily are outside keeping watch, but that's everything."

"Okay, in that case I think I will go talk to Rin," Kirika notified Saber. "I will be in her room if you need anything."

"Very well," Saber stood up. "Take care of her Kirika. Rin looked quite bad when she went up to her room."

"Don't worry, I will," said Kirika before she stopped at the door to the lounge. "Oh, I almost forgot. It's good to see that you finally kept your promise."

"Promise?" Saber mumbled, confused. "What promise?"

"You promised to call me Kirika, remember?" Kirika told her. "Keep it up."

Only just realising that she had been calling Kirika by name since the conversation started, Saber's face went red as Kirika ducked out of the lounge in order to go to Rin's side.

-x-x-x-

Knock, knock.

"Rin? Can I come in?" Kirika asked through the closed door.

No answer. It looked like Rin was worse off than Kirika had thought. Not too strange under the circumstances. If Saber's version of events had been correct, Rin had just had her hopes of regaining a family member dashed by the very person she had sought to reunite with. Though Rin was far more mature than many people her age, she was still only a teenager. Kirika would have been more surprised had Rin not been affected by the revelation.

"Rin? Are you awake?" Kirika tried again.

"Go away Kirika," a muffled reply came. "I want to be alone for now."

Tired and lifeless, it was not the Rin that Kirika knew that replied to her question. Stepping back from the door, Kirika considered what to do next. There were really only two choices. Ignore Rin's wishes and go in, or leave her alone as had been requested. If she did go away now though, it was obvious that Rin would spend a sleepless night agonising over what had happened. Her tendency to try and keep all her problems to herself made sure of that. This habit of Rin's was a byproduct of her childhood years, where she had been forced to make all her decisions for herself in the absence of any reliable adults. Kirei didn't count here, as no one who knew the man would ever willingly go to him for advice.

Hmm? Wait a moment. Who else did they know who they could go to for advice? Taiga was out by default, and... And... Grandpa Raiga? The manager at the shop where she worked part-time?

Kirika made a mental note to herself that as soon as the Grail War was over, she would have to make some more friends, or at least acquaintances. Having no one to turn to for advice except for Kirei wasn't something that a human could be proud of.

Anyways, while Rin would be alright even if she left her, as her best friend and apprentice Kirika could not tolerate her being in unnecessary pain. Kirika knew from experience that in times like this it helped to be in the company of others, if only to feel another person's warmth.

"I'm going in, Rin," Kirika told Rin as she made up her mind.

Putting her hand on the handle, Kirika found that it was locked as she had expected. Closing her eyes, she looked inside herself to find her circuits, and whispered the phrase that would activate them.

"Trace, on."

Error - Parameter conflict. Mental dissonance at 18 per cent. Error - Concept misalignment.

Kirika let out an involuntary gasp as a stab of pain struck her, like an icicle being driven into her spine. Pain she had expected, as the act of opening her circuits using the training method Kiritsugu had passed on was peculiar that way. This time however the pain was worse than usual, and she almost lost control of her suddenly rampaging circuits before she forced them back under control.

"Ugh," Kirika groaned as she tasted blood in her mouth. "Must not be fully healed yet."

Blaming the damage she had taken earlier that day, Kirika forgot about the pain and concentrated on the metal construct under her hands. Analysing the structure, she was surprised by how much faster it seemed to go. This was true even when she ran through all the possible tumbler combinations for the ones that would open the door.

Letting herself into the room she often shared with Rin, Kirika closed the door behind her and made her way to the bed. She was able to see that Rin truly had been affected by this incident, as she had crawled into bed without even changing her clothes. For Rin this was highly unusual, as she stuck rigidly to the Tohsaka family motto of doing everything elegantly, and going to bed with your clothes on was anything but elegant.

"I told you not to come in," Rin grumbled as Kirika drew near. She had her face turned away from the door and did not bother to turn around to look at Kirika.

"As if I could leave you alone like this, dummy," Kirika griped as she climbed onto the king sized bed to rest next to Rin. Supporting her upper body with one arm, she sat on her left side as she began to stroke Rin's soft black hair with her right hand.

"Stop it," Rin told her, but Kirika ignored the half-hearted protest and continued to slowly run her hand across Rin's head. After a while, Rin sighed, and Kirika could feel Rin's body go limp as she allowed herself to relax.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, saying nothing but taking comfort in the other's presence after the tough ordeals of the day. Both of them had spent a portion of their childhood alone, with few people to turn to, and at moments like this they were reminded how wonderful it was to have someone next to you that could share in your emotions.

"You know," Rin broke the silence. "I wonder if this is all my fault."

Kirika said nothing, and let her continue. It was best for Rin to get everything out right now.

"I should never have left Sakura alone for all these years," Rin said despondently. "When I was younger I tried to go see her every once in a while, but the adults always stopped me. They said that I shouldn't disturb her so that she could settle into her new family, that she would only be sad if I was to appear before her. I guess it must have stuck, because I stopped trying after a while."

Rin curled further into herself, and the air around her grew darker as she sank deeper into her memories of the past.

"The first time I saw her after she was taken by the Matous was in junior high," said Rin. "When I first spotted her I nearly dropped everything to run to her. Actually, I think I would have if Shinji hadn't appeared then to drag her away." There was the sound of grating teeth, and Kirika began to stroke Rin's head again to calm her sudden anger. "Now that I think about it, Shinji must have known about what that old monster was doing to Sakura. She was cold back then too. So different from the Sakura that I remembered. That's probably why I kept my distance from her initially. I couldn't put together that emotionless doll of the Matous with the Sakura in my memories who always had a smile on her face."

Rin let out a heavy sigh, as if she deeply regretted her actions back then.

"That change should have told me that something was wrong. That I needed to find out just why Sakura had become like that," Rin said quietly. "Instead, I just looked the other way and told myself that she wasn't my sister any more. Typical me isn't it? Always messing up at the most important time. I can't believe it took me so long to discover what they were doing to her. Do you know what I found at the Matou mansion, Kirika? A torture room. That's the only thing you can call it. They were taking her down there so that their bugs could feed on her. They were feeding her to insects every day and I didn't do anything about it!"

As she got to the end of her tirade, Rin rolled around so that she now looked up at Kirika's face. There were tears of frustration and rage in her eyes, and Kirika tenderly wiped them away with her thumb as she caressed Rin's face to comfort her.

"You couldn't have known, Rin. So don't blame yourself," Kirika finally spoke. "You are the one who told me that mages do not attempt to find out about each other without good reason, and you are too good a mage to disobey your own teachings."

"Sakura's my sister," Rin insisted. "What better reason could I have for looking into the Matou's affairs? I messed up Kirika. I ruined her life."

Kirika sighed and raised up Rin's body so that she was now hugging her from behind. Wrapping her arms around Rin's slender waist, Kirika rested her head on Rin's shoulder so that her lips brushed against Rin's ear.

"It wasn't your fault Rin. The only ones to blame here are the Matous," Kirika counselled her depressed friend and mentor.

"Really?" Rin asked bitterly. "It doesn't look like Sakura agrees with you. If she doesn't blame me, than why did she decide to join Caster?"

Kirika paused to think about Rin's question. She had thought that strange when she heard about it from Saber. She trusted in her senses, and to her instincts Sakura's eyes hadn't been those of a vengeful spirit. If anything, the emotion in those eyes as she had looked at Rin had been one of longing.

"Are you sure about that?" Kirika asked Rin back. "If she was taken advantage of by the Matous like you said, I wouldn't be too surprised to find that she was forced to participate in the Grail War. She is the last mage they have isn't she? I mean, Shinji couldn't summon a servant in a million years, and that naturally means Sakura was their only candidate. As for her alliance with Caster... Did she actually say that she wanted to fight you? Or are you just interpreting the situation as you saw it? I don't know myself, so I can't say anything about what happened, but Sakura didn't look like someone who was after vengeance."

There was only the sound of the ticking clock in the room as Rin thought back to the situation at the school. Kirika kept quiet in order to let Rin think, and took a moment to enjoy Rin's warmth as she leaned her body against her friend's.

"Now that you mention it, I never did get to hear any explanations from Sakura," Rin said with a hint of her usual energy in her voice. "She disappeared too quickly for that."

Kirika smiled. Her job was almost done, Rin could take it from here herself.

"See?" Kirika told Rin. "Before you start judging yourself, have a proper conversation with Sakura. I'm sure that you can work things out between you two."

"You are right," Rin admitted amusedly. "Now, the only question is how to arrange such a talk with her. If she's with Caster, they are going to be holed up at the mountain. With three servants there it's going to be a hard nut to crack."

"Why not just do what you usually do, Rin?" Kirika said in a cheeky tone. "I mean, since when have you cared about making plans and all? Just charge in there and drag her out."

She must have gone a little far with her teasing, because Rin stiffened in her arms and turned around to stare at Kirika.

"Kirika," Rin said with an uncomfortably familiar beatific smile. "Are you saying that I'm an idiot who only knows how to charge at a foe?"

"Huh?" Kirika was frozen like a frog in front of a snake. "When did I say that? All I said was that your plans all end in a charge anyway - hup!"

Kirika realised she had babbled and shut herself up, but too late to avoid Rin's retribution.

"Hoh?" Rin smiled pleasantly as she grabbed hold of Kirika's cheeks. "So, I'm a brute am I? A violent maniac? Is it this naughty mouth that's saying these things about me? And while we are at it, what did you do to your hair?"

"Muuuu, Riiin," Kirika's words were mumbled as Rin pulled at the soft skin of her cheeks hard enough to cause pain.

"Hah," Rin sighed and let go off Kirika's cheeks. She looked on with a warm look in her eyes as Kirika muttered under her breath and rubbed at her red cheeks. Then, as Kirika was about to stand up, she suddenly leaned forward and lightly touched her lips against Kirika's.

The contact was so sudden that for a moment Kirika didn't realise what had happened. It was only when she saw Rin's brilliant blue eyes right in front of hers and felt something moist run across her lips that Kirika scrambled back, not realising that she had run out of space on the bed to move on.

With a loud thump, Kirika fell onto the carpeted floor. Abandoned, Rin stared on blankly for a while before she began chuckling at Kirika's antics as the other girl rubbed her hip where she had fallen on it.

"It's not funny, Rin!" Kirika protested with a red face. "What was that?"

Rin smiled as she looked at Kirika out of the corner of her eyes. An oddly seductive gesture Kirika thought.

"I don't know," Rin said as she leaned back on the bed. "What do you think it was Kirika?"

Kirika sighed. It was nice to see that Rin's spirits appeared to have been revived, but it was so typical of Rin to tease her like this as soon as she came out of her mood.

"Whatever, Rin," Kirika said as she shook her head in resigned acceptance. "I'm going to make dinner so come out after you've changed and washed up. You haven't eaten yet have you?"

Rin shook her head to head to say that, no, she hadn't. Kirika nodded at that, and left the room, smiling in satisfaction at having cheered Rin up.

Back in the room, Rin stayed unmoving on the bed as she ran her fingertip across her lips. She had acted playful, but she herself had no idea what had happened just now. Her kiss had initially been intended to be just a light peck to lift the mood, but as soon as their lips had touched she had stopped thinking and let her body do as it wished. If Kirika hadn't broken free of her daze to move away when she had...

"Hah... Hah..." Rin let out a hollow laugh as she realised what she had almost done. "Mum, dad? Sorry, but I think your daughter might be bi-sexual."

Having said that to her parents in heaven in a moment of weakness, Rin immediately regretted ever giving voice to such a thing and clutched her head in shame.

-x-x-x-

"La-di-da-di-da~."

Kirika was moving busily about the kitchen as she got out the things she needed to make dinner. After setting out all the tools, she went over to the fridge to retrieve the ingredients. When she opened the fridge door however, she suddenly stopped, her eyes going blank for a second before she blinked and shook her head.

"Hmmm, no eggs," Kirika said to herself as she closed the fridge door. "Looks like I will have to go and get some."

Going back to her room, Kirika pocketed her wallet and went back down. She was headed for the door when Saber spotted her and called out to her.

"Kirika? Where are you going?" Saber questioned as she wondered over.

"Just going out to get some eggs," Kirika told her. "The shop's just down the street and... I'm in trouble again, aren't I?"

Arms crossed, Saber was tapping her foot as she glared angrily at Kirika.

"Ki-ri-ka," Saber slowly pronounced each syllable of her name. "Are you saying that you were about to go out alone? Without even mentioning anything to anyone?"

"Sorry!" Kirika apologised as she bowed her head. "Uhm... Do you want to tag along?"

"Master!" Saber's returned to her more formal form of address for Kirika as she lost her temper. "Caster could be spying on us even as we speak! You can't just wander out at this time of day to -."

"I'm making Frittatas," Kirika appealed to Saber's appetite to avoid the lecture that was coming. "Eggs, mushrooms, and potatoes, topped with my special sauce!"

"... Ahem. I suppose it would be okay if I came along," Saber suddenly changed tack.

"Great," Kirika straightened up. "Let's go then. The sooner we get there the sooner we can get back."

With a slightly reluctant Saber in tow, Kirika led the way out, and spotted Lily standing out in the garden amidst the flower beds.

"Kirika?" Lily called out as she saw them. "Are you going out?"

Kirika nodded. "Just to the shop down the road to buy some eggs. Saber's coming with me so you don't need to worry."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Bribed with food again were we Saber?"

Saber bristled at the insinuation, all the more because it was true. "I was not! I'm just following Kirika to keep her safe!"

"Really?" Lily smiled and looked to Kirika. "In that case Kirika, can you give me double servings of whatever you are making? Saber here doesn't seem to need it."

"Lily!" Saber quickly jumped in as her share was threatened. "Just because I wasn't bribed, doesn't mean I don't want my fair share."

"Relax, Saber," Kirika chuckled. "Everybody's going to get the same amount. Lily's playing with you."

Back to her senses, Saber realised this to be true and blushed at how easily she had been shaken. It bore thinking on. She was far too relaxed lately and this was just another sign of that.

"We will be back in a bit Lily," Kirika told Lily as she headed for the gate. "Do you want anything from the store?"

Lily's eyes flashed. "Buy some more of those chocolate biscuits please. There aren't any more in the cupboard."

Kirika stopped, and turned around with a frown on her face. "None? But there were six packets!"

Lily suddenly looked busy as she muttered something about needing to check for possible familiars, and Saber began to whistle an unfamiliar tune. Realising what this meant, Kirika wondered just what was with the servants that she and Rin had summoned. One was the heroic spirit of cooking, and hers were supposedly versions of the King of Knights, but from their behaviour at home they seemed more akin to kings of the dinner table.

-x-x-x-

A few minutes had passed since Kirika and Saber went out when Archer suddenly appeared next to Lily. She had felt him coming and so was not surprised, but did note that he seemed a little worried about something.

"Lily," Archer called her before she could comment on the fact. "Have you seen Kirika and Saber? They are not in the house."

"Those two?" Lily relaxed as it wasn't anything serious. "They went out to the store to buy some eggs. They should be back soon."

Archer appeared to accept that, but then suddenly stiffened as he spun back to look at her.

"Did you say that they went out to buy eggs?" he asked her quickly.

"Yes," Lily replied. "Why?"

Archer's frown deepened. "Because there are plenty of eggs in the fridge. How could Kirika have missed them?"

Lily's eyes went wide at the implications of Archer's question. The Kirika that she had seen over the last few days was familiar enough with the kitchen that it was hard to imagine that she would miss something so basic. In that case-

"Hah-!" Lily suddenly gasped and fell to her knees.

"Lily?" Archer quickly bent down to support her. "What's wrong?"

"Kirika," Lily whispered, her voice suddenly weak. "I can't feel Kirika anymore."

Archer's eyes went wide as the worst case scenario in his head was realised. He quickly went back into the house to fetch Rin, and together with Lily they went out in search of Kirika and Saber. When they reached the scene of the problem however, the only person they found was Saber, kneeling on the ground as she screamed out her rage at not being able to protect her master.

5-2

Regrets were funny things.

They never came fast enough to be of any help, and once they arrived you could never get rid of them. Time could make them fade, but it could also make them stronger. In the end however, the sum of your regrets was what determined how satisfied you were with your life.

Rider's deepest regret had its origins in the distant past, during the age of gods in Greece. As the youngest of three sisters, Medusa was also the only one among them who was not fully divine. This 'imperfection' however gave her the strength to defend her sisters when the jealous goddesses of Olympus turned their worshippers against them. Growing older and stronger with the years as was the privilege of those who were bound by time, Medusa's power grew with every life she took from the lust-driven hordes that landed upon her isle.

All gods however are but personifications of the collective wishes and beliefs of humanity. As Medusa's power grew, so did her infamy. Together with the bloodlust that she had come to enjoy, her monstrous legend began to corrupt her very being, until finally...

A monster was born.

When her sisters realised what had happened, it was already too late. Medusa had lost the ability to reason, and now existed only to slaughter and ingest the pitiful fools who ventured upon the isle. Seeing their sister in this pitiful condition, the two older sisters realised that they were the reason for Medusa's fall. Had Medusa not felt it to be her duty to protect them, she would not have had to stain her hands in blood. It was already too late to turn her back, but they did not wish to see her live out the rest of her days lost in savagery. With the gods of Olympus against them however, there was only one way that they could see to stop humans from being drawn to the island like moths to a flame.

They would have to disappear.

Making up their minds, they decided to disappear in the manner they thought most fitting. Going before their younger sister, the two goddesses asked her to eat them, and by doing so give up her bloodlust. Their appeal however fell on deaf ears, and in one short moment, the beast consumed them. It was only years later, when the legend of the Gorgons had become one of absolute terror, that Medusa had a chance to grieve her loss. In her dying moments, memories unlocked from her bloodlust by Kibisis, Medusa remembered her sisters, and wished to spend time with them again. An extension of those precious days, when all three of them had lived together as one happy family.

-x-x-x-

Sakura woke up from her short nap with a gloomier state of mind than she had when she closed her eyes. She knew enough about the connection between Master and Servant that what she had seen was Rider's past, and could sympathise with the cruel fate that had been forced upon Rider and her sisters. The parallels that existed between the story and her own possible future however were uncomfortable ones, and Sakura dearly hoped that the dream had not been a premonition of things to come.

A stir of motion at the corner of her eyes attracted her attention, and Sakura turned to see that Rider and Caster had returned from their trip to... What was Emiya-san doing here?

"Emiya-san?" Sakura called out before she realised that Kirika was acting strangely. "Caster-san? Didn't you say that you were going to set surveillance wards around the Tohsaka estate? How did you manage to bring Emiya-sempai back with you?"

"This, dear?" Caster said with a mischievous smile as she caressed Kirika's cheek with a gloved hand. "She was an unexpected catch. I tried a simple charm to lure her out, and it worked much better than I hoped. It was somewhat surprising that a doll of such potential could be so weak against charms, but it's fortunate for us don't you think so dear?"

Caster tickled Kirika's face with a coppery braid of some sort that she held in her other hand. The threads that had gone into its making bore a close resemblance to Kirika's hair, which was no surprise since it actually was Kirika's. Caster had acquired the hair that Kirika had cut off during her short but fierce duel with Kuzuki, and had used them in the charm. One familiar with the different schools of thaumaturgy might have asked her how Caster could use such an item to influence Kirika, since sympathetic magic was not a widely practiced art in the west during Caster's time. The answer to this question lay in Caster's original summoner. Among the belongings Caster had retrieved after her escape from bondage had been all his thaumaturgical tools, among which had been tomes on the Eastern mysteries. Together with Caster's A rank magic item crafting ability, this knowledge had allowed caster to create this braid which had allowed her to control Kirika's movements to a degree.

Seeing that Caster seemed very pleased with herself, Sakura wondered why the servant had simply kidnapped the young magus instead of doing away with her. Sakura herself was shamefully divided on the issue. Half of her said that as Caster's ally, any harm done to Kirika and Rin would be on her hands as well. Her other half however said that any decision by Caster's was Caster's alone, and that she was in no way to blame for it. The seductive voice that whispered these dark thoughts to her head was strong now as Sakura looked at Kirika, and it took Rider stepping in front of her to break Sakura free of the debate going on inside her head.

"Welcome back Rider," Sakura greeted her servant. "You weren't hurt were you?"

"I'm fine Sakura," Rider replied before she signaled for Sakura to come with her.

Still busy examining Kirika, Caster did not appear to pay any attention to the two of them as they walked a short distance away to where they could not be overheard by Caster.

"What is it Rider?" Sakura asked when they stopped.

"It's about Caster," Rider told her, whispering so that Sakura could barely hear her. "From now on, please avoid being around her unless I am with you. Her noble phantasm allows her to cut the bond between master and servant, so it's possible that she might try and steal your right of command over me."

That piece of news took Sakura by surprise. She had been suspicious of Caster's willingness to work with them since the beginning, but had put it down to the challenges posed by Berserker and the Tohsaka alliance. If she had such a noble phantasm however, it explained a lot about Caster's confidence in allowing them into her territory. Why not make an alliance when you could steal away the servant from your 'ally' any time you wished? Perhaps it would be better if she just acted first. No, but in that case she had to... but, Caster hadn't done anything to warrant her suspicion, had she? Still... Caster was the 'Witch of Betrayal' so it wouldn't be out of character for her to... The risk was too high. She needed to...

"Sakura dear, do you have a moment? I must begin the arrangements to meet our guests and I could use your help."

Caster's voice caught Sakura just as she was about to descend into a spiral of doubt and suspicion. The Greek witch had Kirika leaned against her shoulder as she waved at Sakura, and to all eyes looked and sounded like a kindly neighbourhood wife or teacher with a request they needed fulfilled. Sakura's renewed doubts however distorted this image to show the shadow of a gleefully devious spider as it beckoned its prey into its web.

"Of course, Caster-san," Sakura replied after a slight hesitation. "Rider, carry Emiya-sempai for Caster would you. I'm sure with your height that it would be a lot easier for you to carry her than it would be for Caster-san."

"Yes Sakura," Rider replied in the monotone voice which she did not normally use in Sakura's presence. It was hard to tell behind her eye-mask but she looked a little depressed as well.

It was a good effort at a natural bearing, but Caster's instincts had been horned by years of necessity and did not miss the quickly covered light of suspicion in the girl's eyes. It was a sight she had seen many times before, most often the first hint she had that her latest acquaintances were beginning to reconsider her presence in their midst.

A wry smile threatened to twist her lips as Caster considered how her fate did not seem to have changed at all though nearly 3000 years had passed, but was suppressed as the composure that had saved her life countless times imposed itself. It mattered little for now what the girl had begun to think. Sakura was not stupid, and would not risk the destruction of their alliance when they had so many formidable opponents arrayed against them. She would have to begin to prepare some safeguards, but for now the specter of betrayal was a bridge to be crossed when she came to it.

"Good, Sakura," Caster said haughtily as she fell into the role of Sakura's mentor. "I see that you are beginning to learn."

"Learn what, Caster-san?" Sakura asked as they left the temple and went through the entrance of Caster's workshop.

"About life dear," Caster replied with a devious smile on her lips and embers of a bitter anger in her heart. "The first reality of which you are now beginning to grasp, is that you should not fully trust anyone."

With that disheartening lesson in the cruelty of the universe, the four of them disappeared into the darkness of the passageway between the temple and the grand workshop that lay in a space of Caster's creation.

-x-x-x-

"Looks quiet. Should I start?"

Archer's face was grim as he addressed Rin, and the young mage's expression was not much better as they considered their options from atop an apartment building.

Saber and Lily were nowhere to be seen, the two servants effectively unconscious in their rooms as they tried to conserve their energy for the inevitable fight to come. Bereft of the link to their master both servants had been about to fade out of existence. Only some very quick work from Rin and the stock of gems that Kirika had charged with her prana had kept them on this plane in a state where they could be any help. As it was, Rin now had two additional burdens on her prana, and even then the gems that Kirika had left would only last them for three days, or one battle if things got too hot.

"The bird's reached the mountain," Rin finally told Archer. "You said you could reach them from here right?"

Located about two kilometres away from Mt Enzou, it was difficult for even Rin to accept that one could reach out across that distance with a bow and arrow. Yet Archer looked supremely confident as he gauged the distance with a crafter's eye, and his master was once again reminded that to judge a servant by the standards of humanity was an exercise in futility.

"Any suggestions on the target, Rin?" Archer asked as he flexed his hand.

Rin nodded, "Assassin is supposedly guarding the entrance to the temple, so target that and see what happens."

"You want me to blow up the temple gate?" Archer said incredulously.

"It's just the gate, Archer," Rin replied firmly. "Normally I wouldn't condone such an act but getting Kirika out of there is the first priority. As long as we make sure we don't hit any civilians we can get Kirei to cover things up."

Archer still looked at her dubiously, "... So that makes it okay to destroy a part of a national heritage site?"

"Archer!"

"Alright, alright," Archer put his hands up in a sign of surrender. "Hit the gate and see what happens? Ought to be interesting."

Two point two kilometres horizontally, difference in altitude of forty-three metres, and a slight breeze coming in from the sea. Archer carefully judged the amount of power he needed to put into his shots as he summoned his trusty black bow into his hand.

When he released the first arrow, it was as if somebody had fired a missile across the night sky. The prana infused projectile was a bright spark against the darkness as it sped towards its target, and Rin was able to track it until it disappeared into the trees around the temple. She was unable to see the impact, but she imagined that she heard a sharp crack around the time that it should have hit.

A second and third shots followed the first in quick succession as Archer found his range. This time Rin actually saw a flash near the top of the mountain when the arrows arrived, the light a byproduct of the prana being released by way of explosive force. Archer lowered his bow then, and focused his eyes on the distant mountain. The range was far too great for Rin to see anything in the darkness, but there must not have been any movement as Archer shook his head disappointedly and lowered the bow.

"Nothing's moving up there," he informed his master. "Should I try somewhere else?"

"A few more around the perimeter then, if you can do it. Watch to see if there is any reaction to your shots."

Archer obeyed her orders and let off a few more arrows, but again there the only thing that happened was that the old wall around the temple got a few large holes in it.

"Nope, nothing," Archer clicked his tongue as his bow dissolved into motes of light. "What about you Rin?"

While Archer had been busy testing the temple's defenses Rin had been observing the area through the senses of a jewel bird she had sent. Had any spells been disturbed by Archer's attacks she would have felt the flare of prana, but the jewel bird had not felt a thing, which meant that there were no active defences.

"I can't see anything," Rin said as she gave up. "Caster is either relying on the mountain's ward and Assassin to protect her, or she never considered an attack like this. I think that there might be a detection ward, but if there is it's too complicated for me to make anything of it."

The lack of any defenses was encouraging in a sense as it meant there was nothing preventing them from simply bombarding the temple as Archer had proven himself able to do against Berserker, but that was about it. Such an action was a very last resort in the case that Kirika had already been killed. Rin didn't want to think of such a possibility, especially not as Sakura was up there, but forced herself to at least consider the fact.

This left Rin with the problem of what to do. The main purpose of this exercise had been to try and lure at least one of the servants out and into a running battle where Archer could use his ability to the full, but that didn't look like it was going to happen. It hadn't been too likely, but the limited options available to them meant that it was the best plan that Archer and Rin had been able to come up with on such short notice.

"What now?" Archer asked Rin. "Doesn't look like they plan to come out of there any time soon."

"..."

"Rin?"

There was no answer from Rin who was grim faced as she stared up at the mountain-top. Caster had chosen a very good place to hole up, and Rin knew that there was very little that they could do aside from a head on charge into Caster's base. That knowledge however was putting stress on her as she knew from what Saber and Lily had told her that their chances of success in such a case was very low. Caster by herself was bad enough, but an Assassin that could overwhelm Lily in a direct confrontation as well as Rider? The odds were stacked against them, and the fact was grinding away at her already strained confidence.

"Oi, Rin! Snap out of it!"

A sharp rap on the head rudely awoke Rin from her gloomy contemplations, and she looked angrily at Archer who was unrepentant to say the least.

"You've got to lighten up," Archer sighed when he saw her face. "Open your mind up a little, consider some more options. If you keep brooding like that you aren't going to be of any use to anyone."

Rin opened her mouth to make an angry retort, then closed it again as she realised he was right. Taking a deep breath, she cleared her mind as she had been taught to do for meditation. A few seconds passed, and when Rin opened her eyes again Archer was pleased to see a little of her usual energy back in her eyes.

"Sorry about that Archer, that was shameful of me," Rin apologised to her servant for her hideous breach of the Tohsaka motto of always being elegant. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Uhm... Head straight at them?"

When Archer smiled wryly and shrugged his shoulders, Rin felt the veins in her forehead throb a little as she clenched her fist, but did not say anything as she berated herself for having any expectations of this scoundrel of a servant.

"Archer..." Rin groaned as she felt a headache coming on.

"Sorry, but there's not much we can do under the circumstances," said Archer. "We have limited time, and it's not as if we have any other allies to speak of. Hell, if one of the other servants was to attack Caster we might have a better chance, but the moment they realise that Kirika's gone we are probably the first side they are going to attack."

He was right, and Rin had to know it, but Archer was surprised to see Rin suddenly brighten up and look at him as if-

"Archer, you are a genius!"

"... Hah?" Archer looked at Rin dumbfounded.

"No time to explain!" Rin said excitedly. "We need to look for Berserker!"

"... Hah?" Archer's exclamation was even louder this time.

Rin however was in no mood to explain as she kicked Archer on his buttocks. "Well, what are you waiting for hawkeye? Get to looking already! I'll send a bird to where the Einzberns are staying so look around and see if you can find that little brat."

"What in the world for?" Archer asked as he indignantly rubbed his butt.

"To get them to attack Caster of course!" Rin replied instantly to Archer's consternation.

Archer eventually got his explanation, but it took a while.

-x-x-x-

It was getting close to one o'clock when a line of communication between Rin and the Einzberns was finally established. Rin had begun the conversation with high hopes, but after just the exchange of greetings she was already wondering why she had thought this was such a great idea.

"Yes, yes, oba-san," Ilya voice sounded from the sapphire on Rin's side of the line. Rin had corrected her after being addressed as Tohbaka once more, but Ilya was not taking the correction to heart at all. "You didn't call me just to argue about your name, did you? Or did you finally come to your senses and wish to surrender?"

Rin took a deep breath to calm herself. She didn't know if it was Ilya's childish voice or simply something about her choice of words, but it was all too easy to become distracted when they talked to each other, and that wasn't something she had the time for right now.

"Then let's get straight down to business, Einzbern," Rin told Ilya across the line. "As I already told your maid, there is a mutual problem of ours that I wish to co-operate with you on."

"Eh? Is there something wrong with the Grail system?" Ilya asked. It was understandable why she would ask about that as it was the only reason that the three houses would normally have had to co-operate during the Grail War.

Ilya must have thought of something then, as she let out a short exclamation before chuckling evilly.

"Huhuhu, I get it Tohbaka-san. This is because you destroyed the Matous isn't it?" Ilya said gleefully as she came to the wrong conclusion. "Well, in that case, I'll be glad to help sort out what problems you caused. In return though... Hmmm, I'll take the pretty girl that was with you and her servants. How does that sound?"

If Rin's current situation had been a little less dire, Ilya's ridiculous demands would have been enough for her to start another fiery exchange of verbal blows. As it was however, Rin controlled her temper and politely delivered the message she had begun this stressful conversation for in the first place.

"Unfortunately for your withered old family, that is not the reason I speak to you, Einzbern. Instead I talk to you precisely because of the girl that you have such an interest in."

"Hoi? What about her?" Ilya asked innocently before she delivered another bombshell. "If your finances are tight I'll be glad to buy her for a suitable price?"

Despite herself Rin wondered what the Einzberns might consider a suitable price for Kirika even as she was angered by Ilya's suggestion.

"There's no time for jokes, Einzbern," Rin hissed. "Kirika's been kidnapped by Caster, and I don't know if she is still alive."

Rin didn't know what she had expected, but it wasn't what came next.

"... Whaaaaaaaat?" Ilya shrieked shrilly. "They can't do that! I needed her to answer some questions for me! Uuuuuuu... Berserker!"

The sound of Berserker's roar suddenly drowned out the sounds from the other side of the line. The noise of horrendously loud that Rin dropped the gem she held until the sound faded. When she picked it up again the line was quiet.

"Einzbern? Ilyasviel? Hello?" Rin spoke through the line just to make sure that Ilya wasn't there. "Wow," she mumbled when she realised that Ilya was gone. "That was unexpectedly easy."

"It worked?" Archer looked incredulous as he appeared by her side.

"Seems so," Rin told him, a little surprised herself. "I wonder what it is that Ilyasviel wants to ask Kirika for her to react like that."

Archer frowned at that. He remembered being close to the Einzbern mage in his life before she died, but couldn't remember anything about the time that they had met. Yet, there was something about that thought which was setting off alarm bells inside his head.

"Well, if this works out, we can find out first hand," Archer said as he dropped the thought. Trying to force the memory to reform only gave him a headache, and it just wasn't that important right now.

"Yes, I suppose," Rin said a little hesitantly. She was thinking about the trouble that could result if anyone found out who Kirika was, had been, or whatever the grammar was for that sort of thing.

"Let's get going, Rin," Archer advised her. "We don't want to be too late, or we might lose our chance."

He was right, and Rin was about to lead the way when she thought of something.

"Shouldn't we call Saber and Lily?" she asked Archer. "This could be our best chance at getting Kirika back, and if we do manage it we will need all the help we can get against the other servants."

"You are right," Archer was about to continue when he frowned and looked at a point on the streets below. "... But that might be a little too late," he finished lamely.

Rin groaned and palmed her face when she spotted what Archer had seen. An unmistakable grey giant was speeding through the streets of Fuyuki towards Mt Enzou like an out of control monster truck. Upon his shoulder was a purple and white blob that appeared to be screaming joyfully. At the speed Berserker was going, he was going to reach the mountain in just a few minutes.

"Ugh... Is nothing going to go to plan today?" Rin said plaintively to whatever gods might be listening.

A sudden gust of wind blew her hair into her face, as if the heavens were saying, 'no'.

-x-x-x-

Berserker's arrival at the temple did not go unnoted.

"My my, so many rude people today. First the gate and -," Assassin began to say as she appeared in front of Berserker.

"######################-!"

"Berserker! Charge!"

"... Eh?"

The frozen grin on Assassin's face was almost comical as she flickered out of Berserker's path. It was a very wise move on her part as soon evidenced by the complete destruction of the gate which had been barely standing after Archer's probing attacks.

"Pfui! Ach," Ilyasviel coughed as the dust got into her mouth. "Alright, we are in! Berserker, find that witch and kill her!"

"#####################-!"

"... Oops?" Assassin laughed weakly as Berserker rushed into the temple grounds. The witch was going to be a little annoyed with her for letting him in without a fight, but how was she supposed to stop something like that?

"Still, I suppose I must try," Assassin mused before her form flickered again.

As she moved as fast as her skills allowed, Assassin's body reappeared five times before she caught up to the legendary giant. Upon her appearance just behind Berserker, Assassin swung her blade...

... and became the fifth servant in the war to find out just how ridiculous Berserker's defenses were.

- Ting! -

"Ara?" Assassin got a blank look on her face as her blade's edge failed to do what it had so many time before.

"###########-!"

Enraged by the attack, Berserker swung at Assassin with his sword. The crude blade tore the air around it as it descended towards its target, but failed to connect as Assassin recovered from her stupor and flickered out of range.

"Oh my," Assassin's face was slightly flushed with exhilaration as she considered her opponent. "How very interesting."

She soon had to dodge again as Berserker came after her, and side-stepped a blow that would otherwise have cleaved her in two. Much to her surprise, this was not sufficient for her to get free. The sharp wind that Berserker's blow had created shredded the space around the radius of his swing, and Assassin received her first wound since her summoning as her right arm was gashed open.

"###############-!"

"Tch," Assassin's beautiful face was marred by a frown of pain and displeasure as she darted backwards to create some more space between her and Berserker.

Fully alert now, Assassin realised that in order to completely evade Berserker's attacks, she would have to move much faster and with more exaggerated motions than she usually did. The necessity annoyed her as this method lacked the elegance which usually decorated her fights, but against an opponent of this caliber she couldn't afford to be picky.

Flashing into Tsukikage Shunpo again, Assassin got behind Berserker again and delivered another futile blow before she darted out again, the space she had occupied rent asunder an instant later by Berserker's great blade. Once clear, Assassin looked carefully at the point where she had struck, and smiled thinly as she observed the thin scratch that her most powerful blow had left. A little tic developed on the graceful servants brow a moment later when she saw that the action had caused her treasured sword to come out the worse off, the edge dulled so slightly as to make almost no difference to anyone but Assassin. For the servant who regarded the weapon as a part of herself however, the slight marring gave her the same feeling as one would get from being stepped on.

Of course, she thought as she dodged yet another series of wild swings from the servant of rage, being stepped on by Berserker would likely be fatal for someone like her.

"#########-!"

Assassin had delayed Berserker for over a minute now, and Ilya was visibly losing her patience at the lack of progress.

"Ah, just ignore her Berserker! She can't even hurt you!" Ilya screeched from atop Berserker's shoulder. "Hurry up and find Caster!"

"##################-!"

A pattern of red light appeared upon Ilya's body as the Einzbern mage bent Berserker's will away from Assassin. It was a formidable display of power and skill from the young mage, as most mages would have found it impossible to so quickly sway the mind of a hero so quickly, even if he was trapped within his rage. The object that Berserker's attention had been turned away from however was not altogether happy with being dismissed like that, and quickly made her displeasure known.

Only instincts developed through countless adventures prevented Ilya from being wounded in the brief scene that followed. The berserk servant had felt the shift in killing intent from the other servant and moved his upper body an instant after Assassin's form disappeared from where she had been. That same instant, Monohoshizao flashed through the air where Ilya's neck had been, coming close enough to the Einzbern mage that Ilya froze up in fright.

"#####################-!"

His rage amplified by the threat to his master, Berserker's blows became a storm of earth shattering strikes as he chased after Assassin. Ilya would have stopped him, but she was still stunned by how close she had come to death to do so.

"Don't you think you are over-reacting?" Assassin earnestly asked as she danced around the edge of Berserker's attacks. "I mean, I was only going to nick her - hic!"

Assassin's remonstrations were cut short as Berserker smashed the tiles on the path, sending a rain of jagged stone at her. The attack itself wasn't so dangerous, but to be caught up in it would slow her down sufficiently so that Berserker might catch her. With that thought Assassin disappeared to the side again via use of her flash step, but this time when she came out of it she had a slightly strained expression on her face.

"#######-!" Berserker refused to let up and chased after her.

"Hah... Why is that witch so late?" Assassin grumbled as she danced back towards the gate. She had carried out her job which was to slow down or defeat any intruders, but at this rate she was going to be retired before help came.

Not to mention the fact that her clothes weren't going to survive the fight, Assassin thought as the wind from Berserker's attacks made yet another rent on her kimono. It wasn't as if she couldn't repair the outfit by simply reforming it, but it was the principle of the thing.

Assassin had nearly led Berserker right back to the gate when Ilya snapped out of her daze and realised the situation.

"Ah, ah... How dare you?" Ilya raged indignant at the fact that not only had this insignificant excuse for a servant slowed them down, but had come close to killing her. "Berserker! Change of plans, we are killing this one before we go for Caster!"

"##################-!" Berserker answered his master with a huge roar.

Assassin's grin was fixed on her face as Berserker rushed her, but the casual air she had given off was gone now. The reason for her tension was the attacks that Ilya had begun to throw at her. Nothing but barely controlled masses of prana, but against Assassin whose magic resistance was barely above that of your average human that was more than enough to make her situation worse than it already was.

"Die, die, die!"

"##########-!"

As Ilya excitedly called for her death and Berserker filled the air with noise, Assassin could only sigh and curse Caster's tardiness in her head as she pushed her strained body to its limits in order to avoid death.

Just as Assassin thought that she might 'die' this night, reprieve arrived, but not in the form that she had hoped.

"Another reckless child? My dear - Hiiiii!"

"Darn, she blocked it."

Caster's appearance in the sky above them, followed shortly by a volley of arrows that tore apart Caster's robe as she managed to shield herself from the worst of the attack. Archer's appearance shortly afterward made everyone hesitate, and when Rider arrived in the courtyard shortly afterwards chaos descended upon the scene.

"##################-!" Berserker was the first to move, again charging Assassin as his master had last ordered him to do.

"Rider, attack Arch- Ara?"

A fiery shower of sparks lit the night as Assassin was forced to block a series of arrows loosed at her by Archer. The delay this caused was nearly fatal, and Berserker finally managed to directly connect with an attack, but Assassin managed to get away alive. She paid a heavy price for her survival with her left arm hanging useless after Berserker's blow mangled her shoulder, but she was still alive and on her feet.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, Archer had made the decision to attack Assassin first as he judged her the most dangerous of the servants here. Well, aside from Berserker but he was technically on his side for now. Caster he could fend off with his bow, and Rider too was not so dangerous in a head on fight, but the teleportation and sword skill that Lily had told him of was not something that he could block so easily. With that in mind he had timed his attack to coincide with Berserker's, but the same teleportation that Lily had warned him of had thrown off his calculations in that she had managed to get away. Archer didn't have any time to be disappointed in Assassin's survival though, as Rider listened to Assassin's advice and leapt towards him.

"Damn it," Archer swore quickly as he realised that he couldn't get away from Rider.

Rider's nail clashed against the white blade that appeared in Archer's hand, and this time it was Archer who was surprised as Rider's blow set him back on his heels. The veteran of a thousand battles was quick to recover though, and Rider swayed back as the black blade in Archer's other hand swept across in a biting arc.

While the two began their duel, Assassin was in a pinch as Berserker tried to finish her off. She could have gotten away if she tried, but Caster's presence nearby meant that she could not do so without the other servant being exposed to attack. With that in mind, she was doing the best she could to keep out of harm's way while staying close enough to Berserker that he could not attack Caster, but the wound she had received restricted her movements enough that she was now getting nicked by the trail of Berserker's attacks more often than not.

If this had continued Assassin would have been the first servant of the war to fall, but luckily for the false servant her 'master' was not about to let that happen just yet.

"Ἄτλας!"

With Archer occupied against a renewed Rider, Caster had been secure enough that she was able to turn her attention to Berserker. As might be expected of someone who had shared the great hero's moment in history, Caster was able to recognise Berserker for who he was, and instantly decided that Ilya needed to be removed from the master-servant equation. For this she went with an attack that Berserker could not block, a spell that increased gravity in a select area a hundredfold. Had Ilyasviel been caught up in the attack she would have instantly been crushed like an overripe apple under a hammer.

However not even Caster could have predicted Berserker's reaction to the spell.

Ilya had just settled down from nearly being killed by Assassin when Berserker noticed that Caster was about to make a move.

"Berser-?"

Feeling Berserker's muscles shift undernearth her, Ilya was about to ask what was wrong when Berserker suddenly grabbed her...

... And threw her high up into the air.

"-!"

Caster's spell hit moments later, but Berserker was able to move under its effects with little or no difficulty. With little time to spare, the huge servant ripped a tile out from underfoot, and threw it at Caster like one would a discus. The force imparted into the stone made the air scream as it accelerated towards the witch who had been thrown aback by Berserker's move, and Caster barely managed to prevent her own decapitation as she hurriedly put up a barrier. Even this did not prevent her from being hurt however as the stone shattered the shell of light like a wrecking ball, but enough of its energy was lost that Caster was only knocked back, rather than being squished like roadkill.

If Berserker had followed up the attack Caster would have been helpless to defend herself right then, but he had other priorities. Ilya was falling back down to earth, and Assassin had reacted to her master's jeopardy by getting close enough to attack the Einzbern master when she came back down. Roaring loudly, Berserker hurriedly forced Assassin to retreat, and gently caught Ilya before she hit the ground.

"..."

Unsurprisingly, Ilya was unconscious after her unscheduled flight. Her whites showing as her eyes rolled back into her head, it was clear that she was not about to wake up anytime soon.

"Ugh... How troublesome."

Caster was moaning in pain as she took to the air again. Now that Archer was being checked by Rider she was much safer up there than down on the earth with that monster. Assassin too had recovered enough of her energy that her razor sharp gaze once again promised death should Berserker be an instant too slow to react. The combined threat would have given any sensible man pause, but Berserker was unable to think rationally with his mind consumed by the rage. Instead it was experience ingrained into his body and mind that made the giant growl fiercely as he sensed that it would be difficult to fight here with his master by his side.

"###########-!"

A heavy blow against the earth scattered shrapnel all over the place, mostly in Assassin's direction. The threat these posed to the frail servant made her back off, and Berserker took the opportunity to grab more more tiles and throw them up at Caster. This time Caster met the attack with a flurry of energy bolts that smashed the stones into smithereens, but that was enough time for Berserker to do that which betrayed all expectations that the other servants held of his class.

Retreat.

With Ilya held securely in his arms, Berserker ran towards the shattered ruins of the gate before leaping through the air. The slope meant that his trajectory would leave him a long ways down the stairs when he landed.

Berserker's unexpected flight from the temple yard left Archer in a pinch, and it was not long before he too forced back Rider with an explosion that shrouded the area in smoke as he disappeared. Tracking the servants' movements by the ripples of prana that their presence created, Caster considered pursuit, but quickly shelved the idea as too dangerous if one accounted for the abilities of the two fleeing servants. Far better to stay in here and wait for them to come back, as she knew they would have to.

Especially once the ritual she had prepared was completed.

Now, Caster thought as she floated down to earth, she would have to fix up the damage to the temple grounds...

"Caster, a little help please?" Assassin called out. Her shoulder was still mangled from Berserker's attack and she needed Caster to heal her.

"... Oh, you were there too," Caster commented as she remembered about Assassin.

"..." Assassin's face said everything about how she felt right now.

5-3

Though it was light outside, the relatively small pocket of space within which Caster's temple resided was dark but for the light of a few glowing orbs that illuminated a central altar. From this alone one could tell that this was not an environment that had been intended for habitation. It was much too dark for that. Humanity had adapted itself for the light, and the shadowed world that existed in this false space would cause an instinctive rejection in most members of the species. Yet, not all found this place inhospitable. Matou Sakura was one of those few people, at least for the moment. The depressing emotions that clouded her hard were darker than any mere shadow could be, and in the midst of her heartfelt suffering she found this gloomy world a comfort as she hid herself away from the harsh glare of reality.

It was with a weary spirit and heavy heart that Sakura sat here, surrounded by the darkness. Normally at this time of day she would have been busy keeping up her role of a model student at school, but the chaos caused by her brother's foolish actions had caused the school to be closed down until the authorities could figure out what had happened. There were no chores to take care of either. Here at the temple she had little to do unless she was talking to Caster or her own servant, Rider. Right now however Caster was busy doing something with her master and Rider was keeping watch outside. Left to her own devices Sakura had thought about studying, but the weariness she felt had dissuaded her after a few futile attempts to focus on the words before her. With nothing else to do, Sakura had been drawn here to the heart of Caster's defences, where one of the few people in this world she was interested in currently lay comatose.

Bound in chains of purple light, Kirika had been placed upon the stone altar like a sacrifice out of ancient legends. The older girl was dressed in a frilly white dress that Caster had obtained from somewhere, and looked even more ethereal than usual as she basked in the mystic light thrown out by the orbs that floated in the air around this ceremony area. If she hadn't known better Sakura could have mistaken her for an exquisitely crafted doll as she lay there lifelessly, but the rhythmical fall and rise of her chest betrayed the fact that this was a living and breathing human being. Nevertheless, bereft of the energy that she usually exuded, Kirika looked very different right now from the lively but refined sempai that Sakura admired and envied.

Not knowing why, Sakura approached the altar and sat down next to the unmoving object of her attention. She was close enough now that she could feel the warmth of the other girl's hand beside hers as she supported her weight on one arm. It felt odd to touch someone like this, Sakura thought as she ran the fingers of her free hand over the smooth skin of Kirika's arm. This was the first time in years that she had touched somebody out of her own volition, the only contact she had enjoyed during these last few years being Shinji's rough hands upon her body. The warmth she felt from Kirika's body however was very different from the violent heat that she was used to. The soft flesh under her hand was pleasantly warm to the touch, and despite herself Sakura felt a bit of tension drain out of her as she enjoyed the unfamiliar sensation.

After that pleasant distraction Sakura's hand travelled slightly downwards towards her original objective. Nestling into the area below Kirika's chest, Sakura relaxed herself in order to focus on the movement beneath her hands. A steady soft thumping that was proof of Kirika's continued health. The unfamiliar sensation was strange at first, but once she got used to it the slow rhythm began to lull her to sleep, and Sakura lowered her head onto Kirika's body both in order to check how the motion sounded to the ear and to get more comfortable.

Ba-thump, ba-thump. The slow but heavy sound of Kirika's heartbeat was barely audible, but together with the movement of the chest that accompanied it, was sufficiently recognisable for Sakura to settle in to enjoy it. A tranquil few minutes followed as Sakura closed her eyes and appreciated the somehow soothing sound. She didn't know quite why, but as she lay there she was able to relax for the first time in days, and she decided to enjoy the fleeting peace that she had found to the full.

Before long however Sakura's thoughts began to wander again, and with a sigh Sakura opened her eyes and returned to the world around her. Her movements were lethargic as she raised herself up, and her reluctant motions eventually put her in a position where she was crouched over Kirika, with her hands on the stone on either side of the other girl's face.

At this point Sakura suddenly stopped, frozen as her attention was caught by Kirika's rosy red lips. Sakura wasn't deaf, and she had heard the dirtier rumours at school about the exact relationship between Kirika and Rin. Shinji too had railed on at times about the two's supposed goings-on. It was not too suprising therefore that Sakura would wonder if Kirika had indeed kissed Rin with these very lips.

Sakura's fingers which had already trailed over much of Kirika's body now found their way to the soft flesh of Kirika's lips. Silky and moist, Sakura poked at them a few times as she checked how they felt under her fingertips. They really were very soft.

At this point a random thought again entered Sakura's head as she looked down on Kirika's face from above. It was a little whisper in the back of her head at first, a quiet voice that asked how it might feel to kiss someone. Of course, it wasn't that Sakura hadn't kissed someone before, but those had been crude things that Shinji had forced upon her. What if, out of her own will, she was to touch her lips to someone elses? How might that feel?

Her attention turned towards the wonderful example right in front of her. If she was to try and kiss someone she probably wouldn't find a more pleasant partner to experiment with than the girl that slept below her. Plus, there was the additional advantage that Kirika was fast asleep, and would not awake even with the contact. As such, there was no reason to make a fuss or get embarrassed if she was to do this. Just a quick touch, that was all. All she had to do was lean forward, and put her lips against Kirika's, like... This?

Sakura's eyes widened slightly and a whimper escaped her lips as she realised what she was doing, but the sound was muffled by Kirika's lips against her own. It was an interesting paradox that assaulted her mind as she took stock of her situation. The shock that she had actually done something like this told her to pull away, but the shock itself had frozen her in place, and the feeling of Kirika's lips against her own were... Not unpleasant. A moment that felt like an eternity passed, and Sakura's body recovered enough for her to pull her face away from Kirika's with painful slowness, though more than a bit of that might have been due to an unconscious reluctance to deprive herself of this pleasant sensation.

Sitting up, Sakura blinked, and licked her lips with the tip of her tongue. As she did so she imagined what Kirika's lips would taste like, but she soon shook her head to clear it of the last of such flighty thoughts. It was bad enough that she was so emotionally unstable as to act upon such strange impulses, and she didn't need to degrade herself any further through her actions.

Quickly organising her thoughts, Sakura regathered her composure as she stood up in order to head back out of this space. She was not completely without things to do if she wanted to participate in the battles to come, and now that she had recovered from her slump she needed to go and do them.

As she made her way up the stairs that led back out to the mountain however, Sakura paused to take a look back towards the altar where Kirika continued to sleep on oblivious to what was going on around her. It was hard to tell what Sakura was thinking with the expressionless look on her face, but as she turned back around Sakura brushed her lips with her fingers. As if she was remembering the kiss from moments ago.

-x-x-x-

Lancer was not a happy servant.

First his original master had been killed while his back was turned, and he had been forced to contract with that damned suspicious priest in order to stay on this plane. Second, he had been forced by an order under a command seal to run away from all his fights so far. This was very much against the grain for a man who was famed in legend for standing ground even in the face of death. What annoyed him even more however was that even now, when all the restrictions upon him had been removed, the world appeared to be conspiring to keep him from having a decent battle.

A good fight was the whole reason he had agreed to be summoned, damn it!

"Wait, let me get this straight," Lancer said as a deep frown creased his brow. "So you are saying that the girl who collapsed that last time managed to get herself kidnapped? By that witch on the mountain no less?"

"Unfortunately, that is the case," Archer told him. "Which is why I approached you."

"You tried to shoot me!"

"Well, how else was I supposed to grab your attention from that range?" Archer coolly responded to Lancer's burst of outrage. "Besides, you blocked it didn't you?"

Archer referred to his method of getting Lancer's attention, which was to shoot one of his arrows at the other servant as he wandered around the city in search of an opponent. Fortunately there hadn't been any people around at the time, which meant Lancer had easily swept the projectile aside, but if there had been it would have meant another argument with the damned priest about his negligence. There was also the principle of the matter too. Lancer was not one to simply turn the other cheek when struck, and Archer's nonchalant attitude made his temper flare.

"In that case how about I stab you now and call that a greeting?" Lancer growled. "Or how about I just run you through right now and save myself the bother of hunting you down later?"

"Pass, I need to save my energy for Caster's lackeys if anyone," Archer replied. "Now, are you going to help us or do I have to make myself scarce?"

Lancer clicked his tongue as he considered the proposal. The invitation itself was acceptable, as it meant that he would finally be headed for a huge brawl, but the downsides were obvious as well. One of which was the fact that he would be working together with the annoying man in front of him.

"How do you know if she's even still alive?" Lancer asked Archer after a while. "I mean, for all you people know Caster might have killed the girl as soon as she got back to the mountain."

Archer grimaced, he was of two minds himself on this point but Rin was insistent that Kirika was still okay.

"My master has a connection of sorts to the girl," Archer replied to Lancer's question. "She tells me that the girl is okay, and she is my master, so."

Archer shrugged as if to say that he didn't really have anything to say on the matter, but this wasn't enough for Lancer.

"It's a problem if she is alive too," said Lancer. "How can you be sure that she won't be threatened into getting her servant to attack you? Going up against three servants at once is going to be a problem if there's a potential backstabber among you."

"Well on point I have to say that I trust the girl to die before she does such a thing," Archer said as he thought about the few similarities he saw between Kirika and the boy he had been. However, he then paused and frowned. "However, I can't rule out the fact that Caster might be able to mess with her mind somehow."

"That really doesn't help," Lancer said with a snort. "Don't suppose I'm going to get any better chances though."

Archer raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean you are in?"

"Yeah, sure. Why not?" Lancer shrugged. "I mean, a chance to fight beside Hercules and King Arthur? Against that crazy swordswoman and that monster? Who wouldn't be interested?"

"Huh." Archer looked at him curiously. "Don't you need to consult with your master though?"

Lancer barked out a laugh. "My master? Hah! That man couldn't care less about what I'm doing. I'm free to do as I wish as long as I... Gah, stupid command seal. Can't say anything without the words getting stuck in my throat."

If Lancer didn't know better he would have said that his current master was paranoid, but it wasn't paranoia if everyone really was a potential enemy. The intolerable man's best defence was the fact that no one suspected that he was a participant, and it was therefore understandable that he would forbid anything to be said about him. It didn't mean that it was pleasant to be on the receiving end of such a measure though, especially when there was no comparable leash on a certain golden-haired snob who sometimes wandered by.

While Lancer inwardly grumbled about his situation, Archer had a frown on his face as he tried to think of why Lancer's words provoked such a strange sense of distaste and foreboding in him. The loss of his memories about the Grail War upon being summoned meant that he had no idea who Lancer's master was, but a nagging feeling told him that he should know, and that it was someone who he hated very deeply.

"... And that blasted sense of taste! How could anyone live on such hot food alone?" Lancer mumbled to himself in the background.

Twitch.

"... Snob. Who does he think he is calling everybody he meets a mongrel? If it wasn't for that stupid order..."

Twitch.

"... Hey, Archer. When are we going to get going? You still haven't told me when and how we are going to carry out the attack."

"... Yeah, sorry about that," Archer returned his attention to the task at hand. It was no good getting distracted like this when he had a monumental task before him. "Just follow me. It not completely dark yet and we have a few things to work out before we head for the mountain."

"Lead the way," Lancer said nonchalantly.

Archer nodded and immediately began to run for the place where he had agreed to meet with Rin. Lancer watched him go then began to follow in the other servants wake. He still wasn't sure if this was doable or not, but at this point he didn't really care. He could finally get himself a decent battle, that was all that mattered right now.

Who knew? He might even be able to score with a woman or two tonight as well. Gods knew there were enough of them involved.

-x-x-x-

Unbeknownst to those servants that did not belong to Caster's alliance, the mountain already had another visitor this early evening, and he was making his presence felt in a ridiculously overstated manner.

"Is that all you've got, snake?" the golden servant cried out. "Come on! Struggle harder against your death!"

A shower of missiles accompanied his words, each with the power to shatter stone and shake the earth. If one took the time to look at the missiles for what they were, it was obvious that each one was a wonderfully crafted work of art, and that their 'wielder' cared little for them as he threw them out as one might a bunch of common pebbles from the roadside.

There was no reply from Rider, who was too busy guiding her trusted steed through the storm of metal and flame. Instead it was Assassin who made the retort from her currently very uncomfortable position.

"You really don't treat women very well do you, Archer?" Assassin gasped painfully even as the chains around her squeezed her lungs. "Didn't anyone teach you that you shouldn't be so rough with a woman?"

Cocooned in chains, Assassin was suspended helplessly in the air behind the self declared Archer with a blade driven into each leg. Another servant might have been able to struggle against such bonds, but Assassin was not much stronger than your average human and could do little more than try to distract this arrogant man. Surprisingly, this tactic was working to some extent, as the small pauses that Archer took to answer her gave Rider room to maneuver. Without such distractions this fight would have been over long ago, even with Bellerephon and Pegasus out.

"How I treat my possessions is up to me, wench," Archer said with a smirk as he looked at Assassin. "Everything in this world is mine, and anyone I grace with my attention should be honoured by the privilege. Especially if they are a wretched monster like that viper up there."

"... And what should I make of my current kinky condition?" Assassin asked incredulously as she absorbed the meaning of Archer's arrogant statement.

"Just punishment," Archer told her as he fired off another barrage at Rider to keep her at bay. "Be glad that I chose to spare you, woman. This is but a small price to pay for shedding my blood."

Looking at the wound on Archer's neck that he was talking about, Assassin couldn't keep from sighing in regret. If her attack had been just a little faster she wouldn't have ended up like this. Unfortunately for her though, it appeared that this all too shiny servant had learned of her abilities from somewhere, and had defended himself just in time to save his life. She had learned something during that too. Tsubame-gaeshi may very well be an unblockable attack, but that did little good if you were hitting what may have been a wall, an electrified one too at that. The failed attack had cost her as well, as the shock she had received had stunned her for just a moment too long. Before she could move, Archer had caught her with this infernal chain, and had then proceeded to truss her up like some trophy fish. Then, just to make sure, he had skewered her legs in what was one of the more painful experiences in her memory.

Archer had returned his attention towards Rider, and the servant of the steed was being hard pressed as the rain of missiles put her skills to test. She couldn't avoid all the shots though, and it was a testament to both her ability and the sturdiness of her mount that they were both still alive. As Assassin watched yet another hit clipped the fast moving white streak, and while the pegasus did not stop, the impact was enough to hinder its movements enough that Rider was barely able to force it around another barrage.

"About that, Archer," Assassin spoke up quickly to both distract the other servant and to satsify her curiosity. "Why are you keeping me alive like this?"

Archer summoned up another swarm of noble phantasms from his seemingly endless stock, but stopped before he used any of them.

"Hah? Isn't it obvious?" he asked her. "All treasures in this world are mine, but even among all such valuables an unique item such as you deserves more care than others."

A slight frown marred Assassin's face. "I am no object, arrogant one. If you wish to own a woman find a more - keheck!"

"It matters little what you think, wench," Archer said snidely as he pulled her close by the chain around her neck. "From the moment you were born you became mine, and now I choose to stake my claim."

Releasing her, Archer chuckled while Assassin coughed and gasped for air.

"You will live for as long as I see fit, and you will die when I will it. Now, be quiet for a while so that I can clear out some vermin."

After one last patronising stroke of the face, Archer turned and began to conduct the metal choir that he had summoned. Seeing the change of light in his eyes, Assassin instinctively knew that any further attempts to distract him would not work, or only serve to draw his ire. It was deeply frustrating for the woman who had always been able to cut her way out of problems, but there was little she could do other than hope that Rider or that cursed witch would take care of this insufferable man.

High up in the air above where Assassin was chained up, Rider was fast running out of options as the constant high speed maneuvering began to take its toll upon steed and rider. A few minutes more at best, that was all the time she could buy. Even that seemed optimistic as Archer began to focus on her, and the number of missiles being thrown her way steadily increased. Rider didn't know how this servant could afford to throw away weapons like this, but after the first twenty or so she couldn't have cared less about how many he had. She was too busy staying alive. If Assassin hadn't been captured she might have been able to do more, but as it was she couldn't even risk anything more than a glancing attack with this self-proclaimed Archer right beside her captured ally.

As her pegasus whinnied in pain after another glancing hit, Rider began to wonder just where Caster had gone off to. The other servant had shown herself at the start of the battle, but had quickly retreated after her dragontooth soldiers were massacred in an instant. It had become clear then that the forces that they had at hand were not enough to stop this intruder, and Caster had asked them to buy some time as she went off to prepare something that might turn the tide. Rider wasn't sure what that might be, but if Caster didn't do something quickly she was going to have to retreat as best as she could and take Sakura with her.

Tense seconds ticked by in Rider's head as she guided her mount in a risky aerial ballet. In the end however, it appeared that she was going to have to abandon her post as Archer seemed to get frustrated with his inability to shoot her down. Exactly how many weapons hung in the air behind him Rider wasn't sure, but it seemed like a lot more than what he had used up until now.

Realising that she was in a helpless position, Rider prepared to use all the power she had left to escape Archer's sight and head for where Sakura was. The brilliant white comet that was rider and mount grew brighter as she poured everything she had left into Bellerephon. On the ground below, Archer prepared to launch the storm of metal that would finally bring her down. It was just as both servants were about to put thought to action that the world changed around them.

-x-x-x-

Words lost in time, a language once spoken by the gods and those who had been gifted with the knowledge. Each word a mystical working beyond most modern mages, it was impossible for Sakura to tell what was about to happen as Caster chanted a long spell in Divine Words.

As Caster spoke, the stones that made up her temple began to glow and become brighter, until the artificial space that it resided in was lit up as bright as day. The focus of this grand display however was the altar, where Kirika's unconscious form lay as the centerpiece to a huge magic circle that had appeared as Caster began her work. The servant herself stood to one side of the circle as she chanted, and it was clear from the tense look on her face that whatever this was meant to do, it was a difficult task even for her.

Of course, Caster's tension may partly have been due to the fact that she was on a time limit. The mysterious servant who had invaded her home was engaged in battle against Assassin and Rider, but despite the superior numbers Caster knew that it was only a matter of time before the defence would crumble. The difference in firepower was just too great to be overcome so easily. She had to hope however that the two servants would manage to last until this ceremony was complete, for only then would they stand a chance against that monster. Thankfully, it appeared as if Assassin and Rider had done their job well. No one entered the cavern as the spell reached its conclusion, and Caster breathed a mental sigh of relief as she realised that the effects were exactly as she had hoped.

A bystander during this whole exercise, Sakura was startled as tendrils of multi-coloured lightning began to reach out from Kirika's body and flow into the magic circle around the altar. Where they touched the mystic diagram, the purple light of the circle was invaded by the newcomer, and soon the entire area was aglow in a prismatic light that dazzled the eye. Then, in a moment that astonished Sakura, the world began to change. Slowly at first, but steadily faster, a visible boundary began to spread within which the world... Became more real, if Sakura had to explain the phenomenon in words. The biggest surprise came as the change overtook the limits of the cavern. In one moment, the stone walls and ceiling disappeared, and sunlight, impossible sunlight began to shine down from a clear blue sky. The transformation in their surroundings was so sudden and unexpected that even the normally expressionless Kuzuki got a confused look on his face and began to look around in wonder.

Once Sakura pulled her eyes away from the sky, she realised that other changes had occurred as well. Gone was the barren stone walls and floor of the cavern. Instead a pastoral landscape littered with trees stretched as far as the eye could see. The vista was unlike any that Sakura was familiar with, and didn't even appear to resemble any scene within Japan as far as she could tell. The taste of the air was different as well, and though the slight saltiness in the cool breeze was not completely foreign to a resident of Fuyuki, there were other odd smells mixed in there as well that she couldn't identify. Sakura was so caught up in trying to identify what those might be that it was a while before she realised that she could feel the wind against her face.

Wind. In what was an underground cavern?

She would have taken the thought further, but Sakura was distracted as Caster came up to her.

"Sakura, dear. Did you memorise the spells that I told you to look at?" the servant asked in a voice that sounded a little tired yet full of satisfaction.

Sakura noded. "Yes, Caster-san, but I don't quite understand why you wished for me to do so. I'm not sure that I understand the principles behind them, and I couldn't actually cast them right now if you asked me to."

"That won't be a problem," Caster dismissed Sakura's worries. "Take this. We have a trespasser to take care of and if you use it you should be able to do what is needed."

Tentatively taking the offered object, Sakura looked at it curiously. It was an amulet of some sort, a simple accessory with one opal stone suspended on a chain. Looking closer, Sakura could see that there was something inside the stone, like an insect fossilised in amber. This however was no insect, and whatever the thread like object was the power that emanated from it was making the entire stone glow like a multi-coloured spark that resembled the light that was... Coming from Kirika?

"Caster-san, is this... ?"

Caster nodded to Sakura's unspoken question. "Yes, that should let you connect a line to our precious sacrifice over there. I wasn't completely sure until a moment ago, but together with your imaginary numbers that should allow you to use those spells as intended."

That piece of information made Sakura frown and look between the amulet in her hand and the strange new world around her. Something about all this just didn't add up, and Sakura knew why.

"Caster-san, just what is Emiya-sempai that her presence allows you to do something like this?" Sakura asked. "This goes beyond any spell that I've read of, and I doubt that even something like a reality marble could be this... Complete. This world isn't a realisation of anything as fragile as a mental landscape, is it? if anything, it feels just like out world itself, just... More real, if that makes any sense."

There was no immediate response to Sakura's confused request for elucidation. Instead, Caster began to stare at Sakura, until the young magus began to feel a bit nervous.

"Caster-san?" Sakura called out as she suppressed an urge to shiver.

Her call seemed to have an effect though, as Caster smiled and straightened up a little.

"I'm sorry dear. I just didn't expect you to be so perceptive," Caster chuckled softly as she shook her head in apparent chagrin. "Explanations will have to wait though dear, we need to hurry or our servants may be lost."

Sakura had no argument here, as she too had felt some strain as Rider pulled prana from her in order to do battle. If Caster was confident that they could take care of the intruder now it would not hurt to take care of him before they spent time in conversation.

"Caster, will I be needed?" Kuzuki asked as he came over.

"No master," Caster replied. "This will not take long. Please stay here and wait until we return."

Kuzuki nodded and put away the gloves that he had pulled out of his pocket. He trusted Caster's judgment and if she said he wasn't needed there was no need to follow.

Caster herself however had a wryful look on her face as she saw her master immediately back down. She soon recovered and extended a hand to Sakura, who took it gingerly in anticipation of what she knew would follow.

Once their hands were connected, a blanket of darkness covered the two of them for an instant, and when it disappeared Sakura found herself on a hill overlooking a wooded valley covered in deciduous trees. She didn't know how far they had come with that last teleportation, but from here she could see the shore which hadn't been visible before. This led her to wonder just to what extent this world, for in no way could it be dismissed as a mere ward, had contaminated her own. There was no end to it that she could see, and the existence of a sea breeze indicated that this place was of sufficient size that atmospheric movements were possible. The minimum size requirements for such blew her mind, and Sakura had to question just how this was possible.

In the midst of her contemplation, the sound of a large explosion caught her attention, and she turned just in time to spot Rider come to ground with a trail of smoke in the air behind her.

"Rider!" Sakura cried out as she moved to approach her wounded servant, but she was cut off before she could run to her by Caster, who pointed at a place a little ways beyond Rider's location.

A servant she didn't recognise was headed towards them, with Assassin in tow behind him. Sakura was very surprised to see that the servant who had gone toe-to-toe against even Berserker was in such a condition, and Caster sighed in disbelief and mumbled something about how useless her servant was.

"Finally showing your face, witch?" the man who Sakura presumed was the intruder said disparagingly. "I don't know what you have done, but if you think a change in scenery will be enough I suggest you think again."

"Of course not, King of Heroes," Caster replied coolly.

"Hoh?" so addressed, the first king and hero raised an eyebrow. "So you finally figured out the identity of my august presence? For that I'll make you death quick and painless."

"Arrogant as your legend suggests, aren't you," Caster hissed. "Sakura, use that spell. In the mean time..."

Speaking words of power, Caster brought up an array of magic circles that began to gather power in order to lash out at her target. Despite the sight which would have phased most servants, Gilgamesh didn't even blink and snorted in contempt.

"Struggle all you want, witch. That will not change your fate," he told her as he raised his hand to summon more items from his armory.

In the background, Assassin's eyes widened as she saw the powers that were about to clash, mainly due to the fact that she was right in the path of Caster's spell.

"Ah... Caster? Please remember that I am here as well!" she pleaded when it became clear that Caster had no intention of holding back.

Assassin's plea went ignored. Caster's spells were a bit faster to be released, and a storm of laser like beams bombarded the place where Archer stood. It was an impressive display but Caster was not satisfied with the result and quickly erected a twelve-fold barrier in front of herself. Her action was just in time as fire was returned from within the cloud of smoke that her attack had caused to bloom up, and a rain of projectiles began to blow their way through her defence. One, two, four, seven, ten. In one volley nearly all the barriers were shattered and this didn't even count the three weapons that had passed through the shields as if nothing was there. One of these blades had come close enough to catch Caster in the arm as it flew by, and the servant faltered in pain before she hurriedly laid down some suppressive fire with her spells.

"Sakura! Quickly!" Caster shouted at her helper as she realised she had vastly underestimated her enemy. She had thought that the boost that this world now provided her would be enough to handle this servant, but now she was very pleased that she had made sure to bring insurance in the form of the spell that Sakura was preparing. If that didn't work there would be problems, but after her earlier success in replacing this part of the world Caster didn't think that would be the case. The question however was if Sakura could complete the spell before this primeval servant killed them all.

"You dare to try and strike me?" they heard Gilgamesh speak as the smoke cleared. "I intended to be merciful and kill you cleanly, but if you are so ungrateful as to resist..."

Standing behind a huge golden shield that looked none the worse for wear after blocking Caster's attacks, the king of heroes looked annoyed as he summoned a far larger swarm of weapons to throw at them than before. Feeling the power inherent in those glittering weapons, Caster gulped and glanced at Sakura. There was no way that she could defend against this attack, and she would have to retreat if Sakura could not get her spell completed in time.

Gilgamesh raised a hand, and Caster instinctively prepared to teleport away. Then, a burst of prismatic light, and the attentions of all the servants were drawn to its source, the amulet that Sakura held in her right hand.

"What is this? Another trick of yours, Caster?" Archer sneered. "Surely you don't think..."

Archer's voice trailed off as the light grew brighter in response to which more and more power gathered from the transformed world around them towards Sakura. Gilgamesh had seen many things, and he could feel that whatever was about to occur was not something he could dismiss so easily. Seeing the quick flash of concern in his eyes, it was now Caster's turn to smirk.

"Whatever it is that you plan, begone little girl!" Archer roared as he realised his best plan of action was to first kill Sakura.

A shower of lights spat forth towards Sakura, and Caster quickly brought up shields to protect the girl as the spell reached its peak. Archer's attack however could not be stopped so easily, and hope seemed lost for Sakura as the last of the shields shattered almost instantly. Caster however was not worried, as she had felt the final piece of the spell lock into place just as she cast the shields.

"... Gefängnis von Spiegeln."

Spoken in a subdued voice, the final words to the spell that Caster had identified and then modified sprang forth from Sakura's lips. Working in overdrive, her circuits were like streams of white hot lava as prana poured out of her to power this spell. Together with the pressure of being attacked, this pain might have caused her to stop or stumble, but Sakura was perfectly calm as she carried the spell to its completion. The amulet she held helped too, doing its job of connecting Sakura to the heart of this grand working.

Archer's attack, which had smashed aside fortress level mystic shields like nothing, ground to a stop now in front of Sakura. or rather, the noble phantasms that the attack seemed to consist of appeared to suddenly slow down then slowly disappear, as if they had been absorbed by the hazy wall that now rolled out towards Archer.

"What?" Archer exclaimed in disbelief as he saw what had happened to his attack. Angered, he tried again, to no effect. The blurry wave continued to approach him and simply absorbed everything that was thrown its way.

Only when the wave had gotten almost close enough to touch did Archer realise the danger. Quickly the servant dodged to the side, but was surprised to find that the wave followed suit. Alarm bells ringing, Gilgamesh was about to back away when he realised what he had just thought and stopped in his tracks.

"Impossible," Archer growled as he realised that he had just been about to show cowardice like any other mortal. "I am Gilgamesh! I fear nothing!"

Bravely, he then summoned a suitable noble phantasm from his stores and turned its power on the approaching spell. A wave of light rolled out to meet the invisible wave that blurred everything around it, and promptly scattered as some of the energy appeared to be absorbed and the rest reflected. Archer would have tried again, with a different item, but before he could the wave had already reached him. As soon as his hand touched the spell, its effects began to draw him in, and Archer shouted in outrage until he was swallowed up by the strange spell.

When the ninth servant of the Grail War had disappeared, silence reigned for a while as the survivors absorbed what had happened. Then, once they realised that Gilgamesh really was gone, trapped in whatever the spell had done, everyone breathed a sigh of relief at having escaped death one more time. As for Sakura, she was fine for a while, but as soon as the tension disappeared from the air she collapsed limply to her knees.

"Sakura?" Rider called out worriedly as she pulled her bruised and battered body to her master's side.

"I'm alright," Sakura told her. "Just tired, that's all."

As if to reiterate her point, Sakura sighed and slumped back a little. When she lowered her hands to support herself a strange feeling in her right hand drew her attention, and when she spotted the broken remnants of Caster's amulet in her hand she turned to look at the one who had given it to her.

Caster was busy trying to get Assassin free of her bonds. With the chains limp after Gilgamesh's disappearance it wasn't too hard to unwind the chains around her limbs but some of the chains were coiled multiple times around Assassin and were a chore to untangle.

"Ow, ow. A little more gently please?" Assassin complained as Caster roughly pulled at one stubborn clump of links. "I'm wounded here."

"Don't be such a crybaby," Caster said harshly. "I already cast a healing spell on your wounds. You should be fine now."

"I had swords stuck through my body," Assassin said slowly. "You don't seriously think I can recover from that so easily do you?"

"Hah... So useless," Caster complained as she looked down at her servant pityingly. "Look at Rider, one quick spell and she's fine. Why can't you be like that?"

"I'm a normal human," Assassin said, dumbfounded by Caster's choice of a comparison. "Shouldn't you be congratulating me on the fact that I'm still alive? Especially after that merciless attack you launched?"

Assassin had a point. She was covered in dirt and blood, but while most of that blood was hers the dirt was mainly from the effects of Caster's barrage against Gilgamesh. The only reason Assassin was still in one piece was that she had frantically moved as best as she could so that Gilgamesh was between her and most of the laser beams.

"Congratulations, you are still good for nothing," Caster grumbled. "Last time you let Saber in, then it was Hercules, and this time you got yourself captured. What's the point of keeping you around?"

This time Assassin couldn't even muster the words to express the deep injustice she felt at Caster's accusation. Useless? Let's see how she did any better against foes like that!

"I apologise, master," Assassin finally grated out once she had cooled down sufficiently to suppress an urge to carry out an act of rage. The chains admittedly helped here as they hindered her movements. "I shall aim to do better in the future, and shall stay at my post at all times. This means that I cannot spend time in the kitchen to make miso soup for a certain someone who can't even do that. I wonder who that might - umf!"

Assassin couldn't say anything more as Caster had slapped her hand over her mouth to stop her from talking. Having shut Assassin up, Caster quickly glanced around to see if anyone had heard, and spotted Sakura who had just turned to look at her.

"What is it Sakura, dear?" Caster asked in an overly sweet tone as she tried to hide Assassin behind her.

Sakura was a little put off by the suspiciously obvious effort on Caster's part to try and hide something, but she had other priorities to question the servant on and put that worry aside for later.

"You did promise an explanation, Caster-san," Sakura reminded Caster. "As your ally I think we deserve to know at least a little about how you brought this place into being, and what role Emiya-sempai has in all this."

"I must admit my curiosity too, Caster," Rider suddenly spoke up as she came to stand by Sakura's side. "How is it that I feel the old magic in my veins? The age of the gods is long since past, and yours is not a power that is in any way related to Chronos."

"The old magic?" Sakura said confusedly. She had no idea what her servant meant by that.

Caster appeared smug as she received the questions, and for once it looked like she was to be generous with her answers.

"I forgot that you hail from roughly the same time as I, Rider," Caster nodded her head at Rider here as if to say that she recognised a fellow in her. "I suppose that you too would feel the effects of the working strongly. To answer your question first, yes. I am no servant of Chronos, but the realm of deception is mine. All I did here was to fool the world itself."

"What do you mean?" Rider said, confused by the scale of the answer.

"A world where the gods never left, where the beasts of old remained as terrors of the world. A world where mysteries are still commonplace," Caster gestured at the foreign landscape around them. "By making the world believe in those lies within the bounds affected by my spell, I have returned this place to the age of gods. In the process I also added another lie, that this area is my homeland, but that is of little consequence. What is important is that here all of our old powers have returned in their full, as it should be."

Caster's answer was spoken light-heartedly, as if it were not too important, but the meaning of her words shocked Sakura in their significance. The closest thing she could think of that could compare to what Caster had done was a reality marble, the temporary overwriting of the world by the user's mental landscape. By its very nature however, a reality marble was doomed to destruction from the very start. The world did not permit a lie, and a lie on such a scale drew the full force of the world's corrective powers upon it. Hours at best, days if cast by some of the greatest presences on the planet, but that was all. Nor was it possible to simply replace one part of the world with another like this. You could maybe connect two small pieces of land through a portal, but that was feat that would require a mystery on the level of a True Magic, if not True Magic itself to pull off successfully. What had happened here however went far past such limits, and as far as Sakura could tell showed no signs that there was any reaction from the world at all. It was as if the world had always been like this, and a piece of the land now known as Georgia was situated here in the middle of Fuyuki, Japan.

While Sakura marvelled at the greatest piece of thaumaturgy that she had ever heard of, Assassin frowned and raised a point that had struck her when she considered Caster's explanation.

"Excuse me, Caster," she said quietly. "But did you say that all your powers have returned?"

"Yes, I did," Caster replied. "So it shouldn't matter too much if you remain as weak as you are."

Deeply insulted by the suggestion that she was weak, the woman who had lived freely in an age where women had no rights by force alone again considered murder, but decided her original concern was more important.

Looking at both Rider and caster, she said, "Forgive me if I am mistaken, but is not Hercules a servant from Greece as well?" Would he regain all his powers if he was to enter this place?"

Assassin's question instantly froze both Caster and Rider in their place. Hercules? With all of his power? It was hard enough to face him as he was now, so what would he be like if all of the powers granted to him by his demi-godhood returned?

"Caster... Did you really think this through?" Rider asked after a long pause.

"Ah... " Caster looked around frantically as she tried to think how she could have overlooked something like this. She then saw Sakura there, and calmed down somewhat. "Ah, yes, Sakura. As long as she is here we don't need to worry about Hercules."

"Me?" Sakura asked in consternation as Caster pointed to her.

"You used that spell today didn't you? All you have to to is use that spell on Hercules and we should be rid to get rid of him once and for all.

"Yes, but..." Sakura knew very well that there was no way that she could cast that spell by herself, and raised her hand with the remains of the amulet in it. "If I have to do this again I'm going to need another amulet like this."

When Caster saw the remains of the powerful mystic code she grimaced slightly. She had suspected this might happen, as it was very unlikely that a common jewel would be able to withstand the prana that had to flow through it in order to cast the spell that Sakura had learned. This didn't mean however that she didn't mourn its loss. The amulets were hard to make and the one that Sakura had ruined had been one of just three that she had managed to create with Kirika's hair and the aquamarines that she had acquired from her previous master.

"There are some spares," Caster informed her, a bit reluctantly. "I must have underestimated the strain that channeling that kind of force would exert upon the stone. Too late to change that, regretfully."

Caster sighed in regret, she didn't completely trust Sakura and was not happy that she would have to part with yet another of the amulets. She could make more for sure, but they were a potent weapon in the right hands, and Sakura had displayed a high capacity in their use.

Sakura wasn't finished, and returned the subject to her earlier question.

"Now that we know what you did and what we need to do, could you please tell us how you did all this?" Sakura reiterated her earlier question. "I realise that Emiya-sempai is involved somehow but I don't understand how that could be."

Caster picked up a hint of an emotion she didn't recognise in Sakura's voice, but answered the question readily enough.

"That girl is what allows me to do all this, dear," she told Sakura. "How something like her can exist, I don't know, but her very presence is a paradox. She shouldn't be, yet is, and is not rejected by the world. All I did was to take that paradox and reshape it, and then I used the mana of this land to stretch its effect as far as I possibly could."

"Is this something to do with her origin?" Sakura asked, confused by Caster's answer.

"I am not sure," Caster admitted. "The exact principles behind her state and being I can't explain or identify. It seems inherent to her though, so it is possible that her origin is involved."

Caster's answers were unclear, but they made it apparent that the servant herself was not sure about the why's of how her spell had worked. The effect was enough for her, and Sakura supposed the same applied for as well.

"Now, let's get back to somewhere we can all rest, shall we? It's been a tiring day."

Tired as they all were, Caster's suggestion was satisfactory for all involved. Before they departed however there was one final matter that needed to be addressed.

"Does that include me as well Caster?" Assassin asked as she got back up. Her legs were still a bit unsteady, but she could get by.

Looking at her disappointing servant, Caster sighed and said yes.

"Come along, Assassin. There isn't really any need for a gate keeper any more so take the chance to rest so that you can make yourself useful later."

"What happens if an enemy comes?" Assassin replied, with a hint of annoyance in her voice at Caster's ridiculous expectations of her. "For that matter, how do we get out of here if we need to?"

Assassin had a point, as the boundary of this world was not visible to anyone, and there was no feature that told them that it was possible to return. Sakura and Rider too became tense as they realised this, and Caster had to again diffuse any concerns.

"The only way in and out of here is through a singular door that I can identify easily enough. As for any enemies..." Caster got a devilish grin on her face. "... Let's just say that anyone who attacks the temple is in for a surprise."

-x-x-x-

Back in Fuyuki, the newly formed alliance had just made their way up to the temple grounds proper, and were flabbergasted when they could not see any signs that there were any servants around.

"Hey Archer, didn't you promise me that there was going to be a legendary battle?"

"..."

Archer wanted to reply, but had no idea what to say as he looked around at the obviously empty temple grounds.

5-4

"Where did they go?" Rin wondered out loud for everyone's benefit. Hers was the question that was on all of their minds as they slowly wandered through the quiet temple.

The place was not completely deserted, as the presence of the monks who normally inhabited the place suggested. These civilians however were fast asleep, and didn't appear as if they would wake any time soon. Ilya had checked both with her magecraft and by jumping atop a sleeping monk, so that was pretty much certain.

"They might have run away," said Ilya. "Did you tip them off to our plan somehow, To-baka-san?"

"I doubt it," Rin replied in a tired tone. She had chosen to ignore Ilya's continuous jibes for now rather than waste time and energy getting into a fight with childish... Child. That didn't mean that she had forgotten them though. Teaching this rude brat a lesson could wait until they had dealt with Caster.

Rin subconsciously ignored that fact there was a high chance that she would have to go against Sakura in order to settle this matter. She was going to focus solely on Caster for now, and if Sakura appeared before her... Well, there were ways to making people sit down and talk, and not just by asking them politely either.

"They can't have gone far," said Lily as she came out of a room. "The traces of battle outside were too fresh for that."

"Who were they fighting?" Archer wondered out loud. "We have four, well five, servants here, and the rest should be on Caster's side. Something doesn't add up."

"Maybe an internal dispute?" said Saber. "Caster did not seem all too trustworthy, and it is possible that she may have fallen out with Rider and her master."

The same possibility had come up in Rin's mind, and she tried not to think about what could have happened to Sakura and Kirika had such a battle occurred here. Caster would be weakened by such a dispute, but to Rin's mind the chance was not worth the risk to the two girls' lives.

A bit to the side from the rest of them, Lancer had a sour expression on his face as the command seals prevented him from shouting to the world, 'it was him!'. The conceited snob of a servant who liked to wear armor that made him stick out like a sore thumb even at night. That golden bastard with an attitude had to have been the one to invade these premises before them. It was strange that he wasn't still here, but from what little Lancer knew of that snob's strength he understood that it was possible that Caster's team had been forced to run away, and that the all too shiny servant may have followed in pursuit.

The fruitless search continued, with Rin's team going through the rooms while Lancer strode where-ever he felt like. Ilya didn't really help and decided to tour the temple atop of Berserker. By the time they all ran into each other again they had together covered most of the temple, and it was clear that Caster had vacated the premises.

"Well this turned out to bloody waste of time," Lancer grumbled as looked at Archer. "What now?"

"What do you want to do, Rin?" Archer passed the baton over to his master. "We don't seem to be having much luck just looking around like this."

"... None of you found anything?" Rin asked, just to make sure.

"Nothing, don't know what tricks they used but they didn't even leave any fresh tracks to follow," said Lancer.

"We didn't find anything either," said Saber on Lily's behalf as well. "They were definitely here until not too long ago, but..."

A dark scowl. The two swordswomen were visibly stressed out by the situation, and Rin felt much the same. As they were right now, Saber and Lily were on borrowed time. If not for Rin and Kirika's stock of gems, they would already have retired from the war, and just by moving around like this the sand in their hourglass was draining fast. If they had stayed back at the house to rest they might have been able to wait for another day, but having chosen to move tonight they either had to settle this now or fade away the next morning as Rin reached her limits.

"This is so pointless," Ilya whined as she looked down on them from Berserker's shoulder. "If Caster wasn't so annoying I would have had Berserker attack you for being so useless, To-baka."

"It's not as if you've done much to help, Einzbern," Rin lashed back. "If you don't have anything to contribute why don't you go home?"

Ilya pouted and looked away. She was being honest when she said that she hadn't attacked them because of Caster. Having been by Berserker's side during the abandoned attack last night, she was all too aware that she couldn't attack Caster by herself. It might be possible if she stayed at the Castle and sent Berserker in alone, but her control over such distances was unreliable and it was not a good idea to ever lose control of a servant such as this. That being so, she had wanted to finish off the annoying Caster alliance tonight, and maybe get rid of a few others in the process. The lack of co-operation on the witch's part however had thrown off her plans, and Ilya had seriously contemplated a return to her castle before she remembered that the kidnapped girl was one of her only leads on her true objective for this visit to Fuyuki.

... Eh? Come to think of it...

"Does this thing really work?" Ilya said doubtfully as she pulled out something from her coat pocket.

"What is it?" Rin asked when she saw the object in her hand.

"A stick?" Lily said hesitantly.

"It's an old stick," answered the Einzbern mage, making Rin's head hurt with the absurdity of the answer. "Really, that's what it is, but the old man back home insists it's some priceless artifact. Apparently it's so valuable that even after I threw it away my maids got into a panic and retrieved it without even telling me."

Ilya pouted here as if she was annoyed that her servants had gone off on their own initiative like that.

"... And how does this help us in any way?" Rin mumbled through her hand as she palmed her face in frustration.

"I'm getting to that," Ilya held up the stick, then got out something from her coat again. "According to the instructions, if you have some blood..." Ilya opened the cap on the small bottle in her hand and put a drop on the end of the stick. "... You are supposed to be able to use this stick to find anyone you are looking for, even if they are hidden by a ward on the level of a grand ceremonial rite."

Ilya whispered Kirika's name, and the stick appeared to shake in her hand before it suddenly jerked to the side.

"Is it working?" Rin asked when she saw the movement.

"I think so," replied Ilya. "But the last time I used this thing I told it to look for onii-san, and it led me to you people. So I'm not sure if it's reliable or not."

"Onii-san?" Lancer said as if puzzled. "You have a brother over here, girl?"

"Yes, I do," Ilya replied absentmindedly as she got Berserker to move in the direction the stick pointed towards. "He's adopted though. Apparently my father took him in ten years ago, and I wanted to see him this time so I got people to look for him. It's a bit strange though because he seems to have disappeared off the face of this earth five or six years ago. I got this stick sent over so that I could look for him, but it led me to a bunch of girls instead. Useless thing, you wouldn't believe how annoying it was..."

As Ilya began to narrate how the stick had led her into all sorts of bothers due to its inability to detect obstacles, Rin and Archer both winced as they went over the description of Ilya's brother in their heads. Rin winced because she wasn't sure how deeply Kirei had buried Kirika's records, and Archer winced because he wasn't sure how accurate that damned stick was. Was he going to have to raid the Einzbern castle to retrieve that thing? ... Come to think of it, did he even have to worry about his identity being blown? From what he could tell he wasn't even alive in this... Huh? Wait, Ilya had said that Emiya Shirou existed until five or six years ago. If so... Who the hell was Kirika?

The entire group was each to their own thoughts as they quietly followed Ilya as she made a beeline across the temple grounds. Existential paradoxes for Archer, worries for Kirika on the part of Rin and the two Sabers, boredom in the mind of Lancer, and nothing much going on inside Berserker's head. In front of them all Ilya was humming a slow but pleasant tune as she led them towards gods only knew what.

Eventually they came out the back of the temple, to a path that led into the mountains beyond. Rin worried for a second that they were going to have to go tramping, but Ilya changed directions at the first crossroads to head for a clifftop that overlooked the local area.

"... That's strange," Ilya said to herself when they came to the mountain top clearing.

"You sure that thing works?" asked Lancer. "You've led us to a dead end."

"It seems to be working," Ilya said as she juggled the stick in her hands. No matter what she did it ended up pointing in one direction. "Strange though, it says the person we are looking for is over there."

The little girl pointed in a direction with her fingers, and the gazes of all those nearby followed. When they saw where she pointed towards however, the expressions on everyone's face turned sour.

"Is this a joke, Ilyasviel?" hissed Rin. "There's nothing there but the cliff!"

"Hey, I said this thing is useless didn't I?" protested Ilya. "The stick says she's over there, I don't have anything to do with it!"

"Are you sure it's saying that she's there, Ilyasviel?" asked Saber. "Could it not be saying that she's somewhere in that direction?"

"That's what I thought at first," replied Ilya. "But look, when I move around it stays pointing towards that spot."

"Strange," Archer muttered as he walked over to the edge of the cliff. "I don't see anything over -."

"""Archer?"""

The trio of Rin, Saber, and Lily cried out in unison as Archer suddenly disappeared from sight.

"Huh? So there is something over there," Lancer said as a smile spread across his face. "Might have some fun tonight after all."

Without hesitation, the battle eager servant strode forwards to where Archer had disappeared, and quickly disappeared himself.

Seeing that two of the servants had passed through whatever barrier existed, Ilya decided to enter herself and ordered Berserker forth.

"Go, Berserker! It's time to take care of that - thwack - Ow!"

"■■■■■! ... ■■?"

"""..."""

Having gone forward confidently, it was hard to say whether Ilya or Rin was more surprised when the younger girl appeared to stop in mid-air as if she had run into a wall.

Red faced with pain and embarrassment, Ilya's eyes were teary as she looked accusingly at the invisible portal that had denied her entry.

"Uuuu..." Ilya suppressed an urge to blast the portal with all the prana she could muster. "Berserker, try stooping."

Berserker did as ordered, and the grey giant soon disappeared as the servants before him had. Ilya immediately followed her servant, but not before throwing a glare in Rin's direction as if daring her to say anything about her stumble.

"... Let's go shall we?" Rin said once Ilya had disappeared. She was tired, both because of the drain of having to support three servants at once and from the mental exhaustion caused by the events of these last few days.

"Yes, Rin," replied Saber as the servant of the sword steeled her resolve. No matter what lay beyond that portal, she would not allow anything to stand between her and her master.

"Here, take my hand," Lily said as she offered her left arm. "I'll keep an eye on you until we are through."

Rin nodded and took her offered grasp. Then, with Saber leading the way, they walked through the portal towards whatever trials awaited them.

-x-x-x-

A mirror within a mirror, endless reflections that led to spaces between worlds. It was a working far beyond Kirika's ability to grasp the principles of, but somehow she understood how such a thing might be possible as she watched an unfamiliar servant fall into the endless trap. No, that wasn't right. She recognised that servant. Gilgamesh, King of Heroes. How could she forget when she had attacked him in order to save Saber just the night before? Huh? No, that couldn't be right. Gilgamesh had attacked their house last night, and Ilya had nearly died... Ilya hadn't been at her house, had she? For that matter she had stayed at Rin's last night. She probably needed to get back to the house sometime soon in order to clean the place, but she had only gone there once since this Grail War started in order to get away from Rider. Why had she done that though? Rider was her ally wasn't she? Wasn't she? No, Saber had battled her on the rooftop of the Shimeya building in order to... What was going on? Why were her memories in such a mess?

The confusion in her mind broke Kirika loose from the compulsion to dream, but only so far as she could begin to form thoughts again. If anything her state was akin to that of a dreamer in REM sleep, in that she could begin to take stock of the information that even now continued to flood in, and slowly change that which she currently 'saw' in her head.

It was strange, the feeling of deja vu that she got as she went through her muddled memories. There were images here that Kirika knew that she had never seen before, but at the same time she knew that she had. Of course this didn't make sense even to herself, and Kirika took time out to despair at the lack of any proper human vocabulary that could explain how she felt right now.

"At least I don't seem to be breaking up any time soon..." Kirika mumbled as she turned her attention to the dark sky that always looked down on her world.

The cracks in the sky were still there, and the sense of fragility was stronger than ever. What had changed was that Kirika could now instinctively sense that there was something waiting to emerge from behind that crystalline facade. Yes, something would be lost in the process, but there was much more to be gained.

Distracted by the thought, Kirika's grasp upon her streams of consciousness slipped again. More images began to flash by, and soon her thoughts had been drowned out again by the chaotic babble. As awareness faded, the chains of Caster's spell reattached themselves, and Kirika once more began to be dragged back into unconsciousness. When she would wake again was uncertain, but for now, she would sleep. Somewhat like a spellbound princess waiting for a prince to free her.

Only in this case the closest person to a prince was a king, and the king was a woman. Kirika's life was funny like that.

-x-x-x-

Lancer was having the time of his life.

"This is what I came here for!" he cried out exultantly as he swung Gae Bolg in a wide arc. The weighty strike smashed the shafts of a pack of spears that had threatened to skewer him, and Lancer immediately charged into the gap in order to harvest the lives of his attackers.

"Glad you are so excited," Archer said sarcastically as he used the time that Lancer had bought to prepare a blade. "Get back a bit would you?"

Lancer noted the amount of power that Archer had gathered into place and leapt to the side towards another pack of enemies. The foes he had been facing looked at him confusedly before they noticed that Archer had been left alone. With a loud roar they raised their shields and charged the servant of the bow, expecting that a few would fall to his arrows but trusting in their speed and power to take care of him once they closed.

They were mistaken.

The missile that Archer loosed was not a mere arrow, if projectiles that punched straight through concrete walls could be called that in the first place. Glowing brighter than the sun, the twisted sword that Archer loosed from his bow smashed through the ranks of the berserk warriors and left carnage in its wake. This dreadful result however did not seem to satisfy Archer, and that was understandable. Though the attack just now had removed 7 of their enemies from the equation, about 10 or so who had been caught up in the blast only had minor wounds as they shook themselves off. There were also about a hundred more of these things charging towards him, so it was disheartening that damage that would have hindered even another servant hadn't even phased those who had survived his attack.

"Tough little blighters," Archer muttered as he summoned his blades to block an attack from one of the warriors who had snuck up to him.

The cool sea breeze that came in from the shoreline carried the coppery scent of blood as the draconian warriors continued to fall. Though stronger than before it was impossible to say that they were anywhere near the level of the servants that they had been ordered to attack. The difference showed in the number of corpses that lay on the ground, but the fight till now had been much harder than it should have been, and over twenty of them still stood defiant before them.

From their numbers, one would have judged these dragontooth warriors to be cannon fodder, but it was clear from the results of the battle up to now that these things were worlds apart from the dragontooth soldiers they had faced before. Covered in scaly flesh that guarded cords of muscle, even their appearance was a far cry from the skeletal puppets that Caster had previously sent against them. Their new bodies lent them speed and power, but not only that. They now also showed prowess with their arms, and signs of coordinated thought. Stronger, faster, smarter. How Caster had improved these things so quickly they didn't know, but it had to have something to do with the strange terrain they had found themselves in once they crossed through the unseen portal.

When they had first seen the strange landscape they had walked into, they had suspected an illusion of some sort. An elaborate trick to try and fool them into walking off the cliff, though what good that would do against a servant was debatable. It didn't take long though before they realised that this was no trick of the mind. Caster had somehow changed the world around them, and in doing so had managed to gain power far beyond what they had previously seen.

"Saber! To your left!" Lily shouted as she spotted a threat.

Saber quickly looked over her shoulder, and immediately crouched down and charged into the pack of warriors she had been facing. The sudden diving motion took the group by surprise and the dragontooth warriors allowed her to get amongst them. It couldn't be said that this was a good thing for Saber though, as she was in a bad position jammed in the middle of a group of enemies. Even if they were armed with long spears and shields, they also had short swords at the waists that they could pull out to stab her with.

It soon became obvious however as to why Saber had moved so recklessly as a huge rock slammed into the ground where she had been standing. A loud roar from the hill that overlooked there position revealed the thrower, a 5 metre tall cyclops who seemed annoyed that he had missed.

"This is insane!" Rin shouted from nearby when she spotted the one-eyed giant. "A cyclops? They were all killed over a thousand years ago!"

She herself was busy as she ran around casting gandrs at the dragontooth warriors around them. Lily was trying to make sure that none of them got close enough to threaten her, but they were so badly outnumbered that one or two would leak through and force Rin to fend for herself until Lily could get free. Rin may actually have lost her life already had they not moved to a position where their backs were covered by a large clump of boulders.

"Ew, ugly! Let's take care of those things first Berserker. Charge!"

"■■■■■■!"

Though the other servants were putting up a valiant effort it was in fact the Berserker/Ilya duo who were making the greatest impact upon this battle. With seemingly endless vigour, the tireless grey giant had taken out two or three of the dragontooth warriors with each swing of his great axe, but the emergence of monsters such as the cyclops had distracted Ilya as she ordered her servant after the beasts. This had increased the burden on the other servants but without Berserker taking care of monsters such as the great cat that had shrugged off Rin's spells like water it was entirely possible that the battle would be going much worse than it was already.

"Damn it! There's no end to them!" Archer swore as he spotted a pack of harpies flying towards them.

"What is this nonsense?" Rin cried out half in frustration and half in wonder. "Was there a bargain sale for mythical creatures that I missed?"

Creatures out of legend and a gate into another world, something out of fairy tales even for a mage like Rin. As she felt her common sense crumble, Rin was quickly realising that they had no chance if they were to keep fighting here. There seemed to be a ridiculous number of enemies around, and though the dragontooth warriors were almost all gone now the odds hadn't changed at all as monsters came from all around them to participate in the battle or feast on the fallen.

"Whoa!" Lancer dispatched the last of the dragontooth warriors before him, but had to duck as a harpy flashed by over his head. The avian beast screeched as it rose up again, but its cries changed to a squawk as a silver ray overtook it from below.

"Rin, we need to move!" Archer told his master as he nocked another arrow.

Saber and Lily were in full agreement with Archer as they looked at the harpies circling overhead. They had been fighting for a while now and they had not come more than a few steps from the portal that had led them here. With Caster and Kirika nowhere in sight they could not afford to waste time like this when they didn't even know where to look for their targets.

"Inland?" Lily asked of Saber abruptly as they took care of the last of the earthbound foes immediately before them.

"That would make sense," said Saber. "Do you see anything to suggest otherwise, Rin?"

"Nothing," Rin replied. "Maybe if I had some time to do some scrying, but I don't have the tools for that right now."

"What does it matter?" Lancer said as he eyed the terrain. "This place can't be that big, and we don't really have much choice anyway."

"Huh?" Archer turned his head to look at Lancer along with everyone else. "What do you mean?"

Lancer shrugged helplessly. "Well, we can't let them go off alone can we?"

He pointed in a certain direction with his lance, and they all saw Berserker charging up the hills towards the inner part of this land.

"Oh for..." Rin palmed her face. "Ilyasviel! Wait for us!"

Just at that moment, the harpies took advantage of Archer's distraction to dive down and attack them.

-x-x-x-

A few kilometres away, at the temple which lay at the heart of this domain, Caster and the others were watching Rin and the others approach through Caster's pool of scrying.

"As expected, the monsters are barely slowing Hercules down," commented Caster as she focused on the most dangerous of the threats.

She didn't sound terribly put out by this, and there was no reason for her to be. The creation of such monsters was a pleasant side effect of maintaining this domain, and she had never included them in her original plans. They were serving their purpose remarkably though as they continued to pester the band of heroes from above and below. Berserker was an exception, but just tiring the others out like this was more than she could have hoped for.

"How many more of those dragontooth warriors do you have left?" Rider asked as she saw another group of them get slaughtered by Saber and Lily.

"Enough," Caster told her. "From what we've seen so far they should be able to hold the others back for long enough to deal with Berserker. If Assassin had been able to go out with the first lot there would be a lot more left, but..."

Caster looked accusingly at her own servant, to which the graceful woman responded with a sigh.

"I'm very sorry, but I wasn't ready then," said Assassin, whose legs had only just recovered fully. "That is unless you preferred to keep a few more of those mindless dolls in return for my life."

Caster appeared to seriously consider the option, and Assassin once again wondered why she had to be summoned by a master like this.

"It's unfortunate that the spell seems incapable of summoning any true phantasmal beasts," Rider said to draw Caster's attention back to the matter at hand. "My child was hurt during the last fight, and I don't think that he will be able to stay around for long even if I do summon him."

"That is unfortunate," said Caster, who had witnessed first hand the power of Rider's pegasus. Not being able to use the steed decreased their firepower by a large margin, and with Saber's high anti-magic and the noble phantasms that they were all bound to have, it was hard to say whether they could take care of them safely.

"... Rider, does it matter what kind of phantasmal beast it is?" Caster asked as she suddenly remembered something.

Rider looked at her curiously. "No, not as long as it can support my weight. Why do you ask?"

Caster smiled as she heard her answer. "Just something to consider during the battle. Sakura dear, are you ready?"

A short distance away from them, Sakura opened her eyes and nodded. She had been meditating in order to get herself into an optimal condition for the role she now had to play. Such preparation was needed because of the huge strain that the spell that she needed to cast put upon her body and mind. Just a small mistake could cause her to fail, and that was not acceptable when they had no second chances.

"Ready when you are, Caster-san," she said as she carefully did not look in the pool which showed Rin and the others as they ran through up a grassy hill.

A little ways apart from her, Kuzuki finished his own preparations. His glasses were carefully stowed away in a case, and he put on the gloves that Caster had created for him in order to reinforce his strikes. Not much more needed to be done, as Kuzuki always lived ready to switch to a killing machine in an instant.

Seeing that they were ready, Caster waved her hand, and the view in the pool changed to bring Berserker into focus. They were just in time to see him squeeze a wolf into pulp, tossing the remains behind him as he continued to run towards the temple.

"Time to go out and greet our guest," Caster said calmly, ignoring the bloody scene. Her voice betrayed none of the disbelief that filled her mind as she wondered how it had come by that she was about to fight against Hercules, again.

-x-x-x-

When Caster finally appeared before them Saber immediately ran forward to take her down. She and Lily had agreed on this point earlier, hoping that they might be able to take the witch by surprise and end the fight quickly. Before she could reach Caster however a sense of danger made her stop and bring up her sword. Instantly, a somewhat familiar sword clashed with her own, and Saber frowned as she recognised the formidable Assassin they had seen the last time they were here.

"My, my, you look unhappy to see me, Saber-san," Assassin said in an amused voice as she spied Saber's expression.

"I don't have time for you right now Assassin," Saber said abruptly. "Step aside."

"I apologise, but I'm afraid I can't do that," Assassin replied with a smile. This was more like it. No arrogant servants who treated swords like arrows, and no giants who ignored every strike she could throw, just a one-on-one battle between her and another sword wielder.

Unfortunately for Assassin, Saber was in a hurry, and quickly released the bounded wind around her blade in a huge blast of air that sent the surprised servant flying back. With the hurricane force winds roaring around her, Saber was able to create a short opportunity to strike directly at her main target, and charged forward once again. Twenty meteres, ten, five, one. Having closed the distance between them in a few steps, Saber swung her blade in order to cleave Caster in two, but was unable to do so as yet another person intervened.

With a metallic clang Excalibur was knocked from its trajectory. It was hard to believe that the sound came from a fist meeting metal, but reinforced by Caster's spells as they were, Kuzuki's hands were deadly weapons that he used to good effect.

A whiplash blow flashed inside Saber's guard, and was barely defended against at the cost of a heavy shock to her arm. Memories of their previous encounter kicked in, and Saber closed the distance and shoulder charged Kuzuki instead of giving him the distance to use his strange fighting style. Armored and boosted by prana, the power of Saber's charge was not to be thought of lightly, and Kuzuki wisely backed away. By this time though Caster had already risen into the air and was casting spells as Assassin marked Archer to prevent him from shooting any arrows.

The change in Assassin's assignment had come quickly after Saber's release of Invisible Air. Rider had moved to meet Lancer halfway, but this had left Archer free at the back as Lily took care of the dragontooth warriors that had just arrived. Before Archer could get off any proper shots though, Assassin had flashed in beside him and nearly bisected him with a stroke of her sword. If Assassin had been able to use Tsubame Gaeshi, Archer would have been taken out then and there, but she had been off balance after Saber's surprise and didn't have time to ready herself before she attacked. It was also impossible for her to use it now, because Archer continued to keep pressure on her with the twin swords he had summoned. It was possible that he had learned about her special attack from Lily, and it appeared that he was going to make sure that she was unable to use it.

As Assassin considered using Tsukikage again to get back to Kuzuki's side, Lancer had clashed with Rider to find that she was a lot stronger than he remembered.

"Oi, oi. Were you playing around last time?" he asked as he blocked a long range attack by Rider's nail.

"Playing around?" Rider said in a bemused voice. "No more than you were."

Speed, power, and the prana to fuel it all. Rider was a very different servant as she was now compared to when she had been under Shinji's control, especially with her eye mask removed. Lancer too however was different from their last fight, as he had no more restrictions upon him that prevented him from dancing with death. Even burdened by Rider's eyes, there was a sharpness to his attacks that had been missing in their last encounter, and a sense of wild abandon about his movements that promised the use of every ounce of power he could muster and more.

As Rider and Lancer clashed, a ray of destructive purple light flashed overhead towards Berserker as Caster released the first of the spells in her arsenal. The beam was followed by another, then another, then more and more until a shower of beams had impacted upon the giant. Despite having released enough spells at Berserker and his master to level a fortress, Caster did not let down her guard and immediately prepared another spell.

Caster's caution was wise, for as the smoke parted Berserker's broad chest was visible. Pink flesh visible here and there told of the damage that had been done, but the color soon faded as Berserker's noble phantasm returned him to his former untouched state. Ilya was fine too. Sheltered behind Beserker's massive body, she had been able to block out the splash damage from Caster's attack easily enough and was now eager to get back some of her own.

"Buuu! Not again!" Ilya pouted as she realised that Berserker couldn't reach Caster while she was in the air like that. "To-baka-san! Get your servant free already!"

"Why don't you help him then?" Rin cried out as she got out on of the ten gems she had saved to see her through the Grail War. This was the sixth one, and after this she would only have four left, but with the Dragontooth Warriors pressing her and Lily on all sides she had no choice.

"Sechs!" Rin called out the release order on the gem as she threw it at the group of warriors immediately before her. Parting with the rare Kashmir Sapphire was like a stab to her heart and wallet, but it was better than parting with her own life.

As soon as Rin used the trigger word, the sapphire exploded in a burst of boreal air. Creating a zone of near absolute zero temperatures, the dragontooth warriors caught in its effects slowed down rapidly, and then finally froze into frost-covered statues that had the life removed from them.

The annihilation of the foes to one side of her gave Lily time to think on her next action. There were still many of the dragontooth warriors left, but most of them were around her and Saber. Caster appeared to be counting on their numbers to keep her occupied until she could take care of Berserker, and probably also to drain what little power she had left. If so, she was right in that she and Saber would not have much energy left after they dealt with all of these one by one. They could not use Caliburn of Excalibur either, because the drain on their prana by those noble phantasm releases would cut their time even shorter. In that case, there was only one choice that Lily could make.

"I didn't want to use this here," she muttered as she raised her sword. "Clarent!"

Once again, Lily's awoke her second noble phantasm and summoned its silver flames. Compared to the last time she had used it however, the flames were a lot smaller. Whereas before they had consumed Lily's surroundings and made a pillar that reached the heavens, it was now hard for Lily to even wipe out half of the warriors around herself as a wave of fire rolled out from her. This was as expected, and Lily simply grit her teeth and released another wave that blazed through most of the remainder. After these two attacks there weren't very many of the dragontooth warriors left in front of her. Their magic defence was barely at the level of a talisman, and while their scales offered some extra protection they were still inadequate to handle a B rank noble phantasm.

Lily however did not look very happy as she dismissed Clarent's flames. Her displeasure came from the fact that Clarent was a limited use noble phantasm, the power of which decreased with every use. Originally at the level of an A- phantasm, it had already dropped to a rank of C+. The flames were now so weak that they would only be able to strike a few targets at most, and their destructive potential was also much lower as evidenced by the smaller scorch marks on the dragontooth warriors who had been at the back of those who had received her second attack. If possible she wouldn't have used it here against such foes, but with her prana so limited the costless phantasm had been her only choice.

The massacre of many of their fellows had turned the attention of the remaining dragontooth warriors towards Lily. Many of those who had been attacking Saber now rushed towards the swordswoman in white, and Saber's situation became much better for it.

It couldn't be said that the presence of allies was absolutely necessary for Kuzuki, but Saber had already seen his fighting style once before and had adapted her defence to deal with it. The press of enemies around her however had meant that she couldn't attack without leaving herself open, and Kuzuki had used that advantage to turn what would have been a defensive battle into an offensive one. Weaving in and out of the packs of dragontooth warriors, he had delivered heavy punches when Saber least expected it, and from logically impossible angles. Despite her earlier experience Saber had not been able to catch them all, and showed a few bloody marks for it.

Now that her surroundings were freed up however, Saber had begun to retake the initiative, and Kuzuki began to fall back as he used the remaining dragontooth warriors as both weapon and shield against his opponent.

Over on caster's side, the battle was turning against the servant of the staff as the situation below changed. Berserker had charged into the battle between Archer and Assassin, and this had allowed the servant of the bow to begin to attack her. Archer too was somewhat limited in his options due to Rin's currently low prana supply, but his ordinary arrows were deadly enough. Caster could not let down her guard anyway as she didn't know what kind of noble phantasms he wielded. With Assassin's attention mostly taken up with distracting Berserker and her own spells now hard to cast as she defended against Archer, it was hard to argue that she was not at a disadvantage.

As she fought against Lancer, Rider had noticed the change in the tides of battle, and she was not alone. Lancer too was experienced enough in war that he could pick up the flow, and he smiled at his opponent as he pressed her back with rapid jabs from his spear.

"Not long now," he told her. "So how about we settle this quickly?"

Rider didn't have to wonder what he was on about as Lancer's mood suddenly changed. Whereas he had been somewhat relaxed until now, the air about him was now so sharp as to be almost painful to a watcher. As this suddenly much more serious opponent slowly stepped back and lowered the point of his spear and impending sense of doom filled Rider. She didn't have instinct as a skill, but her own instincts as a former goddess were enough to tell her that something was coming.

Just as the sense of danger about Lancer grew stronger, Rider's eyes met those of Assassin as she danced around another attack from Berserker. The Japanese swordswoman was as yet nearly untouched, but it was clear that there was no way for her to counter-attack against this giant. Maybe if she could reach Ilya, but Tsukikage only allowed her to move in a flat line, and with Ilya on Berserker's shoulder she would have to stop beside him and jump slightly in order to reach her. With Berserker more powerful than ever, that slight pause would be enough to see her killed.

Assassin couldn't hurt Berserker, and Rider was worried about Lancer. Their situations being self-explanatory, there was no need for communication between Rider and Assassin as they came to agreement on their next actions.

"Gae - huh?"

"Bellerephon!"

"■■■■-!"

Lancer was forced to cancel the use of his noble phantasm mid-way as Assassin suddenly appeared before him. In that instant Rider summoned her trusted steed, and a brilliant white light tore Berserker's right torso apart as it blew past him and up into the sky.

Archer too was nearly trampled by Rider as she passed by. He wasn't a servant for nothing though, and managed to get off a few shots at the enemy servant as he dodged to the side. Normal attacks like that however had little effect on a beast whose defensive power was among the highest of all those who were here.

With Archer temporarily distracted, Caster took the chance to fire a barrage of spells at him. She prioritised him over Berserker for now as he had proven to be an annoyance, and also because preparations had almost been completed to take out Berserker. All she needed to do now was keep firing spells to spread her presence over the battlefield.

Having been struck once by Rider's steed, there was little that Berserker now had to fear from Rider. Ilya however was a different story, and Rider exploited Berserker's weak point and targeted the little girl mage. Each time she did, Berserker was there and she was forced to pull away, but in doing so she kept him occupied. She occasionally took the time to threaten Archer as well, and this allowed Caster to occasionally cast larger spells and keep those below busy as they dealt with the effects in their own way.

Aside from this mess, Assassin and Lancer were engaged in a fierce duel. Both servants had confidence in their speed, and Assassin was matching Lancer's higher strength with her technique. Tsukikage was also a joker here, as there was no delay involved in its use. This allowed Assassin to claim the advantage, and Lancer was forced on the defensive with no time to use his phantasm. In order to keep up this state of affairs however Assassin needed to keep on the attack, and this meant that she could not use Tsubame Gaeshi. With both sides unable to use their trump cards, the tension between them continued to rise with the tempo of their exchanges.

A deadlock of sorts, but one that was quickly broken down. The break came when Rider charged down at Archer once more, and forgot to keep an eye on Berserker. She had gotten close to the ground when a sudden impact rocked her and her steed. So great was it that Rider was thrown off, to land heavily on the trampled grass below. A loud whinny filled the air as she shook off the shock, and when Rider quickly turned to find out what had caused her to crash like this her eyes visibly widened in surprise at the sight of Berserker squeezing the life out of her mount.

"Berserker!" Rider screamed with fury evident in her voice. A malevolent aura rose up around Rider as the loss of the child she had birth released the chains on her suppressed monstrous powers.

Fuelled by her rage, Rider lashed out at Berserker with her nails, but to little effect. It may have been different had she completely awakened her powers from legend, but limited to her form as she was, Rider could only draw on a fraction of the powers that she had once wielded as the horror in the east. With that level of power there was little chance she could do more than scratch a body that could have shrugged off armour piercing rounds from a tank. Recognising this she changed tactics so as to wrap her chain about Berserker's neck to choke him, but this wasn't a tactic she would have chosen had she been more cool-headed.

It was a testament to the boost in Rider's power that she even managed to stagger Berserker for a step, but he soon recovered and jerked his head back.

"■■■■■■!"

Rider was almost pulled into Berserker's grasp as Berserker ignored the choke and used her chain to draw her in. She let go at the last minute, but in doing so was left close to Berserker with no weapons to speak of.

"■■■■!"

"Tch!" Rider clicked her tongue and hurriedly dashed away from Berserker to evade his wild swing, but was unable to get far. Berserker's agility was close to hers, and she could barely keep beyond his attacks as she ran around.

Rider's grounding came just as Rin's team began to control the battle once more. Free from Rider's harassment, Archer had Caster checked as he shot down her attempts to cast any spells that required her to speak more than one word. This was not too great a barrier for Caster due to her use of divine words, but it prevented her from doing anything about Berserker. Over on Saber's side too Kuzuki had been forced to retreat, leaving the last few dragontooth warriors to hinder Saber's pursuit.

Lily had also finished off the last of the dragontooth warriors that threatened her and Rin, and she was about to help Saber finish Kuzuki when her sixth sense warned that something was wrong. As a veteran of many battles, Lily had kept tabs on the general flow of events even as she fought, and experience told her that they were winning. So what was the problem? Looking around she saw nothing that she could attribute as a cause for her worries, and it took her a while to work out what was missing from the picture.

"Rin, where's Sakura?" Lily asked of her temporary master.

Rin had been taking a short break after Lily had finished up the dragontooth warriors. She had not done much after her last big spell, but the strain of maintaining three servants as they battled was more than enough of a burden to tire her. When Lily's question penetrated the haze in her head though, she blinked and looked around. Rin remembered catching sight of Sakura briefly when Caster had teleported in with the rest of her team, but could not see her now. Where had she gone?

Lily frowned as Rin shrugged and began to look around the battlefield. She didn't know why she was so worried about a young mage like Sakura, but her instincts warned that it was important. Rin's safety was her most immediate concern, as it wasn't out of the question that they might try to assassinate her, but this didn't appear to be the case. She could feel nothing around them, and it was highly unlikely that Sakura could conceal her presence better than Assassin.

She continued to look around the battlefield, and it was at the same time as Rin that she spotted the elusive mage. By that time however it was already too late.

-x-x-x-

"Gefängnis von Spiegeln!"

It was the second time that Sakura was casting this spell, but it remained as difficult to control as ever. Nevertheless, with the help of the amulet in her hand she managed, and as with the first time banished an enemy from sight.

When the wall of hazy air appeared around Berserker, the servant roared as he tried to get free. This time however the trap closed in one him from all sides, and Berserker's roar was cut off halfway as space rippled and swallowed him up.

"... Berserker?" Sakura heard Ilya whisper from where she stood.

The sudden disappearance of the most formidable servant present had brought the battlefield to a stop as Rin's side gaped in shock and Caster's team pulled back to regroup. Rider came to Sakura as she retreated, and together they waited for Caster to come to ground.

"Nice work dear," Caster congratulated Sakura as she landed. "With Berserker gone our task is a lot easier."

"Good riddance," Assassin sighed. "I was getting sick of that giant."

"It's too early to relax yet," Rider reminded them. "We still need to settle things with them."

She pointed to Saber and the other servants, who had recovered from their shock and now readied themselves to attack once more. Berserker's 'loss' was a blow, but with the dragontooth warriors now all gone, and Rider's mount already destroyed it was still more than an even battle for them.

"Yes, which is why I told you to come back here for a bit," said Caster. "Here Rider, you can use this can't you?"

"... Is that what I think it is?" Rider asked when she saw what Caster held.

"This cursed thing? Probably," Caster confirmed Rider's suspicions as she handed over the golden fleece. "It is mine after all."

Knowing its legend, Rider could use the fleece, but for some reason she looked apprehensive.

"Caster," Rider addressed the other servant. "I can summon the dragon, but you don't expect me to control it do you?"

"Can't you?"

Caster looked surprised by Rider's question.

"Of course not," Rider replied. "I can tame most things with Bellerephon but a dragon is a higher mystery than I can manage. I can use Bellerephon on it, yes, but it will just ignore my commands."

"Oh, is that the problem?" Caster smiled in relief. "That's no concern. Just summon him please."

While they spoke, the enemy servants had gotten fully ready, and now approached them. If they were going to do anything, they had to do it fast.

"If you say so..." Rider said, still uncertain.

Holding up the nail that she had retrieved after Berserker disappeared, Rider stabbed herself in her left hand, and dribbled blood onto the fleece. Immediately, a golden light flared forth from the ancient sheepskin, and the air above Rider's head began to twist and turn in presage of something's arrival.

-x-x-x-

"Don't forget to keep an eye out on Sakura, Lily," Archer said as the four servants still left on his side prepared to renew the battle. "She looks tired, but if it seems like she is about to -... What the hell is that?"

All those gathered there could feel the weight of a presence entering the area. It was an oppressive sensation that they had never felt before, and they were all put on guard by the size of the distortion that had appeared in the air above Caster and Rider.

Archer and Lancer steeled themselves in preparation for battle with whatever it was that might emerge, but Saber and Lily appeared puzzled and astonished as they looked at the forming shape.

"... It can't be..." Saber murmured as she felt something move inside of her.

"You too?" Lily asked of Saber, and got a nod in return.

"What is it?" Rin asked them, as they appeared to have an idea what was about to happen.

Saber and Lily looked pained as they turned to look at her, and it was not long before Rin found out why.

"Well, if we are not wrong, Caster just summoned..." Lily began to explain, but before she could finish a deafening cry filled the air.

It was a sound that filled all animals with a primeval fear, an announcement to the world that terror had returned to the land. At the same time as their ears were assaulted by it cry, the presence they had felt grew stronger, until it felt as if a weight had settled about them. Rin and Ilya were the worst affected, and were almost on their knees as they fought against the terror that had suddenly encroached upon their minds. The servants too were more than slightly disturbed by the feeling, and it soon became obvious why.

Slitted eyes that struck fear into those they spied, a scaled snout that puffed out poisonous air, and countless jagged teeth that filled a mouth that looked as if it could swallow a bus whole. All on a bronze scaled body that towered above the mere humans that had dared to summon it forth into the world.

Saber and the other servants were struck deaf as they saw their new opponent. When Archer recovered and opened his mouth, the heartfelt protest that came forth summed up their collective feelings exactly.

"... A dragon?" Archer mumbled in disbelief. "A real, fucking, dragon? Are you kidding me?"