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Fate/Terminus

Part 2

Location: African Airlines Flight 103, Fuyuki City Airspace, Japan

Andrei sat on the top of the plane, the wind slashing his face with cold. The moonlit sky above cast his pale features in an even paler light. A thin layer of softly glowing red prana glimmered around his legs and lower body, firmly anchoring him to the plane. He wore the same clothes he had as before in Africa. He had no need for anything else.

Assassin stalked along the length of the aircraft like a predator, the force of the wind apparently having no effect on his movement whatsoever. His silky red scarf whipped in the wind. "An odd choice of seating for our journey to Fuyuki, Master."

The said Master simply grunted while drinking from a sterling silver flask, uncaring of his current predicament. Assassin nodded. "Although, I suppose given your specific circumstances, you would not be uncomfortable here."

Andrei once again grunted in response. He was not what you would call a talker or a people person. When he finally did speak, it was in such a quiet tone that he could barely be heard over the wind. "Airplanes aren't good for me," he admitted. "Too many people. Too many temptations."

With that Assassin shrugged and exploded into a shower of blue particles.

In the actual cabin of the plane, Prince Ishmael Ibori III was not happy. Despite his first class accommodations, he felt that his father was being totally unreasonable and that he should have been treated better. "First class," he scoffed, gesturing at his surroundings. The luscious cabin was lined with rare furs and seasoned artifacts from his homeland, decorated to the taste of a true African king. "Is this what they call first class nowadays? How disappointing."

Lancer was not sympathetic. "You realize to a normal passenger, these conditions would essentially cost them the fruits of their entire life's work? But no, I can see how hard this is for you. What a hard life it is." His voice had taken on a sarcastic tone.

Ibori scowled and ran a finger over a Command Seal. Lancer bowed his head. "Forgive me, Master. I didn't intend to speak out of line."

"Good," said Ibori. "Don't let it happen again. Jem, please bring us some tea, if you would?"

The butler emerged into the cabin, carrying a china tray with two teacups on it. Lancer regarded the drink with a raised eyebrow and a curious expression. "What is this drink?"

"Tea," said Ibori, taking a long sip. He smiled. "Excellent as always, Jem. That will be all."

Lancer took a sip next. "A strange flavor. I'm not sure if it is to my liking. You live in a curious era, indeed, that the following of this beverage has partaken that of such spirits as holy wine."

Ibori smiled. "I'm sure the staff would be willing to acquire some wine for you if you were to ask for it."

Lancer shook his hand. "It is of no importance. I have tasted the divine wine that is the nectar of Olympus. As such, any earthly beverage would pale in comparison, I'm afraid."

Ibori grinned. "You talk as if you're some sort of connoisseur of it. But from what I gathered, you weren't on Olympus for very long at all."

Lancer grimaced. "No, perhaps I wasn't."

The voice on the intercom began to speak now, his voice crackling with static due to the clouds around. "We are now beginning our descent on Fuyuki City. Would all passengers please buckle their seatbelts and prepare for landing. Thank you for flying with Grand Africa Airlines."

Lancer frowned, nervously tapping the armor on his knee. "It might be preferable for me to remain in spirit form for this part of the journey, Master. We have no idea if the Masters already in Fuyuki possess familiars that can detect my presence at this range. If they were to detect the presence of a Heroic Spirit aboard this aircraft, I would not doubt that some would resort to taking down the entire plane."

"Very well, Lancer. You are dismissed," the prince said with a flick of his wrist. Lancer disappeared in a column of silver sparks. Ibori could feel the plane began its descent. Within a few minutes, the plane had landed on the airstrip, coming to a jerking halt. Ibori unclipped his seatbelt and made his way to the nearest exit, stopping only to remove a small leather pouch from the seat pocket beside the armrests of his chair. With that, he headed to the exit of the airplane.

Andrei watched him leave, walking down the gangplank to the tarmac below. A black car was slowly approaching the plane. It stopped within a few meters, and a force of about five burly, African men got out of the plane. They all wore suits and carried in their meaty fists 9mm handguns. Andrei grinned. "Assassin. Eliminate his security, remaining in stealth using Hidden Dark. If we can kill his forces now before he gets to safety, he will be much easier to pursue and kill." He snapped his fingers. "Go."

As Ibori took his first step to the car, each of the five guards suddenly stopped in their tracks, a heavy spray of blood opening up on their throats. Ibori's eyes narrowed, and he instinctively threw something sparkly and blue in the direction of the car. They were crystals, which when in range exploded into bursts of lightning. One of these fingers of white light caught Assassin as he padded away, briefly illuminating his invisible form in glowing light. Ibori threw another handful of crystals, red this time, that burst into brilliant flame. Assassin dodged these, swinging his sword through the air. A curved blade of wind streaked towards Ibori, who removed an emerald green crystal from his pocket that expanded into a dome-like shield.

Meanwhile, a spear shot out from behind Ibori, its intent to hit the Assassin-class Servant. It missed its target, but when it struck the ground, a foul cloud of lead-colored mist burst forth, which Assassin took care to dodge. Lancer stepped out of the shadows beneath the wing of the plane. With a snap of his wrist, the spear returned to his hand, streaking through the air in a deadly swirling blade of dark metal.

"Really? How foolish of you! An assassin that attacks my Master right out in the open? I suppose it is my task to kill you then." he smirked snidely

Andrei swore under his breath as he made his way closer, sliding down the surface of the plane towards Ibori. He's a practitioner of mineral magic, then. He could imbue any number of magical effects on that. Plus, Lancer has made his appearance. Everything logical is telling me to retreat, but… I've worked too hard to get close enough to kill Ibori. If I squander the chance now, I'll never get another.

With that he descended from the roof, drawing an adamantium knife from his cloak. It was the only materialthat was proven to be able to damage these corporeal beings effectively. He landed on Lancer's back, taking the Servant to his knees with the momentum he had gained and at the moment of impact he also thrust his knife into lancers spine- right at the base of his neck. Blood spurted out of the wound and Lancer screamed as Andrei withdrew his weapon as quickly as he had put it in his target. Then, not a moment later, three crimson crystals appeared in his vision with that he leapt into the air, the explosions' radius missing him by a hair.

This proved to be a mistake, as the moment Ibori had turned to save his Servant, Assassin was in his guard, sword prepared to strike a killing blow. The prince had no perception of the danger he was truly in, as Assassin was shrouded by his ability, Hidden Dark. This was it, thought Andrei. Ibori was going to die. However, Assassin seemed to stumble, but he swung never the less- giving Ibori a deep wound from his left shoulder to right hip. Ibori dropped to the ground, spluttering for breath, but very much alive.

Andrei's eyes widened. "That blow should have killed him killed him," he muttered under his breath. "Assassin wouldn't miss…" He noticed, however, that Assassin's escape was sluggish, and that his Servant's body seemed to tremble. His forehead furrowed.

"So that's it. Good play, Ibori, poisoning my Servant like that." Now he spoke to Assassin. "We'll retreat for now. They can't get anywhere far with those injuries." he commanded, slowly slinking back away from Lancer and Ibori. With that the two, Master and Servant both, faded into the blackness of the night, leaving Lancer and Ibori standing there, wounded and stunned.

Location: British Airways Flight 1793, Fuyuki City Airspace, Japan

Catherine pulled out her phone as the plane began to descend, the number of bars slowly rising. Archer, who had been bored for the majority of the nine-hour flight, found his eyes wandering to the small touch-screen devices Catherine held in her hand. She tapped the button for an app in the lower right corner, and what looked like a video feed came up. She gasped.

"Jesus, Archer," she said, "We're late. We haven't even gotten to Fuyuki and the first battle's already happened!" She thrust the video in his face, of a small, private plane sitting on the tarmac, two men walking down its gangplank to the ground. One was short, African, wearing a loose-fitting suit, while the other was a silver-haired Mediterranean man wearing an olive green military uniform. Within moments, the pair were engaged in combat, with what seemed to be empty air. After a while, a spray of blood erupted from the back of the silver-haired man's neck and another from the African's chest. The two slumped, before the man in the nearby black car rushed to their side and ferried them away from the airport.

Archer rubbed his chin. "So it would seem. Who are they?"

Catherine scrolled back through the video. "The African man is named Ishmael Ibori. He's a prince from some small, dictatorial West African nation. He's also a Master. That guy next to him is his Servant, Lancer. They did a lot of public displays of power back in his country, which I was able to catch with some familiars like I did with this battle."

Archer nodded. "And I assume because their assailants are invisible to even the magical eye, that they would be Assassin and his Master."

Catherine frowned. "Yeah, they are. My familiars are pretty potent. Thanks to the terms of their summoning, I can send them anywhere within the range of a cell tower. They're like digital familiars, I guess you could say. But the fact that they can't see Assassin or his Master… that kinda scares me."

Archer harrumphed. "We have no need to fear from Assassin and his Master, Catherine. You have my word."

Catherine raised an eyebrow and gave him a quizzical look. "What makes you so sure of that?"

"It's simple." said Archer, folding his arms. "Assassin and his Master attacked Ibori and Lancer out in the open, in the immediate presence of Ibori's heavy security, and they were still unable to defeat them, largely thanks to the efforts of Lancer. I consider myself to be at least as strong- if not stronger than Lancer, so if Lancer is able to fend them off without incurring his own or his Master's death, then we have no reason to worry. Additionally, have you noticed? About Lancer's Noble Phantasm, I mean?"

She played back the video again, her eyes scanning the screen for every little detail. "Yeah, actually. The spear, right? He can telekinetically return it to his hand when he throws it, and probably if he's disarmed as well."

"Anything else?"

"Yes," she said. "That grey mist it makes, it seems to have been what turned the tide in the battle. I'm guessing it has some kind of debuff that forced Assassin to retreat instead of killing them."

Archer looked confused. "Debuff?"

Catherine smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, I forgot you don't know that sort of stuff. A debuff is something from a videogame, a harmful effect like poison or blindness which makes it more difficult to play. I'm guessing, in this case, that grey cloud probably has some kind of poison or paralysis magic worked into it."

Archer smiled. "That is indeed a good analogy. Yes, I suppose Lancer's Noble Phantasm does contain some sort of 'debuff' as you call it." He tilted his head back, as if deep in thought. "Another thing. Even though it was a failure, I can't help but admire Assassin's Master's strategy."

"What strategy?" asked Catherine. "It was just a sneak attack that didn't work."

"In that respect, yes, it was a failure." said Archer, raising his index finger like a teacher about to teach a lesson. "But we can assume you are not the only Master who had eyes on the airport, correct? As many Masters are from abroad, this is a good place to watch for the arrival of Masters and Servants. The Assassin team attacked in such a way that a great deal was revealed about Lancer's Noble Phantasm and indeed Ibori's own Mystic Code."

"Right," said Catherine, understanding beginning to dawn on her features. Her hazel eyes were wide. "He uses mineral magic, imbuing different magical effects to different crystals that he throws and breaks to achieve a desired effect. So what you're saying is, it's possible that the Master's strategy in all this was by revealing some of his own strengths, he revealed more of Ibori's and Lancer's?"

"Correct," said Archer. "I think it may be that Assassin's Master did this in an attempt to educate the other five masters about the Lancer team, in the hopes that one of them would feel emboldened enough by this information to attack Ibori for him. That certainly is a plausible strategy."

Archer continued. "After all, once a Noble Phantasm has been shown, it is easy to identify the hero and therefore come up with a feasible strategy to defeat them, as well as allowing us to identify any other Noble Phantasms they may have." Catherine looked at Archer he had a smirk plastered all over his face.

"Do you know who he is, Archer?" she asked cautiously. She was still unsure of Archer. On the surface, he seemed to be plainly obedient, but she could sense underneath an independent streak. That would prove difficult if he were to take off and do things his own way without consulting her first. The Archer class was notable for being far more independent than other classes, due to the fact that they could survive without an active supply of prana, but she had assumed that with a strict enough summoning rule she would be able to keep Archer in line.

"I may have an idea, but further observation will be needed." There was then a crackling sound from the intercom, and the captain's voice blasted through the cabin.

"We will now be descending in Fuyuki City, Japan. The weather is a cool 22⁰C. Enjoy your day and we thank you for flying British Airways."

Fuyuki City Airport, Fuyuki City, Japan

"Well, this trip has been thoroughly uninteresting," Lord El-Melloi II said to his Servant. Berserker simply nodded and grunted her reply. What a great conversationalist, El-Melloi thought sarcastically. With that he took the first step out of the airplane. It had been a long time since he had been in Fuyuki City, but it seemed not much had changed. This airport, the one he had arrived at more than twenty years ago, was much the same, with only a few, simple updates and modernizations of security.

As he walked through the gate into the airport, El-Melloi found that Berserker had gone into spirit form. He had subconsciously desired her to, but the fact that she had done so without an explicit command unnerved him slightly. She was more in-tune to his feelings than was typical of the raving, feral Berserker class.

Getting through Japanese Customs was a piece of cake. Not only were all of his credentials and passports legitimate, but the Mage's Association kept a close eye on this airport since its construction. The idea was that when the Masters arrived in Fuyuki for the Grail Wars, the Mage's Association could expedite their process through security and ensure the War got underway in a timely manner.

But, thought El-Melloi, as a security man with a scanner passed him through another checkpoint, it seems as though for some of us, the war begins the instant we step off the plane. His own familiars had perused the site where the first battle of the war had taken place. His familiars were extensions of the Mystic Code he had inherited from his predecessor Kayneth El-Melloi, Volumen Hydrargum. By sending tiny, probing drops of sentient mercury to examine the airport, he had concluded the presence of magical residue of Lancer and Assassin, as well as their masters. In particular, the magic residue of Assassin's master was troubling. His familiars had shied away from it, with an implicit understanding that it was harmful, not fully human.

"I'll have to keep an eye on that one," he thought aloud, emerging from the depths of customs into the airport proper. Waving down a taxi, he got in the cab with all of his belongings and rode into the city. There was somewhere he needed to go.

The house was a lot shabbier and older than he remembered, clearly abandoned. The couple that had onced lived here had believed him to be their grandson, visiting from abroad. They were most likely deceased now, a thought that caused a pang of guilt in his heart. Though he wasn't actually their grandson, and had in fact hypnotized them into believing that he was, he still felt bad that their home had gotten in such a bad shape. He would have to fix that.

The cabby frowned and looked over the seat at him. "You sure this is the place? Doesn't look like anyone lives here anymore."

"Yeah," said Lord El-Melloi II, nodding and paying the driver. He got out of the car, slamming the door behind him. "This'll be fine." The driver screeched away, no doubt in a hurry to get to his break. Lord El-Melloi waited until he was gone, checked the street to make sure there were no pedestrians, then cast his hands into the air. A shimmering sphere of silver light rippled into existence, then shot into the air until it hung like another moon in the early morning sky. The sphere expanded into a dome that held the whole house within its expanse, then vanished.

"I'm getting good at that," he said to himself, entering the house. Now that the Bounded Field had been set up, he could get started. "Berserker," he muttered quietly. In a burst of silver sparks, the Servant appeared beside him. Her nose wrinkled at the smell of the abandoned house.

"You understand, right?" said Lord El-Melloi II, gesturing to the house. "It's not in good shape. With your strength and energy, you should be all set to clean up while I set up my equipment. Can you do that?"

Berserker nodded and set to work cleaning, scooping up piles of rubble and dirt into her hands. El-Melloi went into the kitchen, removing his alchemy equipment from his bag. Several racks with test-tubes on them were put into place, Bunsen burners hooked into the decrepit but still functional fuel line, and good old-fashioned transmutation runes were carved into the wood. Once he had finished, Lord El-Melloi II stepped back from his handiwork. All was in place to begin waging his war.

His victory would be absolute. It had to be.

Location: Edelfelt Household, Fuyuki City, Japan

Kanima flew backwards through the air, thanks to a blow from Saber. This was becoming a regular occurrence. While Simon went through augmentation training using the family Mystic Code, Kanima was doing his own training with Saber. And she did not hold back.

"Get up," she barked, hefting her sword. Despite it being a practice session, Saber was still using her gleaming broadsword. Just the look of it made Kanima fear for his life. "Your form is atrocious," she continued. "Get up and let's try again."

Kanima got to his feet shakily, breathing heavily. Two homemade seals drawn onto his wrists glowed bright blue. From these two seals formed two short blades, made purely of glowing blue prana. Kanima augmented the strength of his legs with a mint-green glow and shot forward, closing the distance between him and Saber almost instantaneously. His right hand came around in a wide arc at the height of Saber's stomach, but Saber angled her body to the left, dodging the blow within a hair.

Before Kanima could make another move, Saber had slashed the hilt of her blade down onto Kanima's with superhuman speed, sending him to the floor before he was able to jump backwards a few steps and out of range. But that wasn't nearly enough time, as Saber had closed the gap immediately, her sword dancing through the air in a veritable wall of silver slashes that Kanima had to dodge and weave around. She's more serious this time, he thought, as the blade missed his nose by an inch. Saber is actually trying to kill me now.

"Remember what I said, Kanima," she said sternly, swiping in a vicious uppercut. "You cannot block what you cannot perceive. Wait for an opening and use that opportunity to counter." Kanima grinned.

Sure thing, Saber. He saw an opening just a few moments later, as she made a move forward with a high-speed, lunging stab. Kamina spun on a dime, bringing both his prana blades down on Saber's blade while enforcing his arms. There was resistance, but Kanima's magically empowered strength won out, forcing Saber's sword into the ground.

"Got you!" he cried triumphantly. Saber merely smirked. Kanima's elation at his short-lived victory was quickly lost as a gauntlet-covered fist struck him in the face, sending him into the wall of the dojo once more.

Saber recovered her sword and sheathed it. "You saw the opening I left you, and you did act on it, which is good. However, just because you have acted on it doesn't mean you can ignore everything else going on around you. Often, if an enemy loses their sword, they will attack with their fists. Now we will do that again," Saber said sternly, lecturing the poor boy.

At this point, Simon walked into the dojo, wearing a tank-top and shorts, a towel slung around his neck. He, like his brother, was dripping with sweat. "Nice going, Kanima," he said, helping Kanima to his feet. He turned to Saber. "I'm sure you could go all day, but Kanima looks pretty beat. I think we should call it quits for now. We need to save up Kanima's mana for our patrol tonight, right?"

Saber nodded. "Indeed. We cannot forget that the Holy Grail War has already begun. We must keep our guard up."

Kanima scoffed. "I don't see why I can't go on these patrols! I'm getting better, and you can't make prana blades like I can, Simon."

"Yeah, you can," said Simon snidely. "But I've seen you make them, little bro. They take at least seven seconds to fully materialize. If we get caught up in a sneak attack like what happened at the airport yesterday night, you'd be dead. It won't be Saber up against you in that case. An enemy Servant isn't gonna give you time to arm yourself."

Kanima folded his arms. "I don't need my prana blades to fight. Just who the hell do you think I am?"

Simon grabbed him by the top of his head, ruffling his light-blue hair. He smiled widely. "You're my little bro who still has a lot to learn. Anyway, you'd better rest. That Magic Crest Dad gave you won't assimilate well if you stress it so much with all this magic use. Go take a nap before dinner."

Kanima went to his room, while Simon went back into the kitchen and Saber remained in the dojo, sitting cross-legged and doing absolutely nothing. Once he was sitting on his bed, he sent out a call with mana. "Saber," he whispered quietly.

The Servant materialized in his room. "Yes, Kanima?"

"Once Kanima starts making dinner, you and I are going to sneak out and do that patrol ourselves." He grinned. "It'll be like a secret mission. No need to worry."

"You are not ready to engage in the War," she protested crossly. "Have our training sessions taught you nothing?"

"Yeah, they have," he said smugly. "Wait for an opening and use that opportunity, right? Well, this is an opening. I'm going to make use of it and help out. It doesn't sit easy with me, letting you and Simon do all the work when I'm technically the Master from this family. You're going to come with me, right?"

Saber folded her arms. "If you insist on this stupidity, then I will not. I understand your feelings but disagree entirely. If I must, I will keep you here." Her hand went to her sword, and a panicked Kanima flung his fingers to his Command Seals, which began to glow.

"Come with me, Saber!" he said. One of the Command Seals fizzled out, and Saber froze. Her expression was angry, but she did nothing, said nothing. Kanima felt bad for using a Command Seal like that, but, as he told himself, it was a good test to see if they worked. As he went to the door, Saber followed him. The pair snuck down the stairs stealthily, thanks to a thin layer of augmentation magic around Kanima's entire body to control his movements perfectly. Within moments, they were out on the street, their faces illuminated by the orange glow of the setting sun.

Free at last, Kanima began walking into the town, Saber following closely behind him. Somewhere between his bedroom and the door, she had magically changed her clothes to a black tank-top and jean shorts with a pair of sneakers, to look less conspicuous. Kanima thumped her shoulder. "Come on, Saber. Simon's no fun, but I know the best parts of this city! We'll have a good time. There's a good clothes store nearby, you wanna go there?"

Saber's eyes widened, and for the first time she didn't look like a girl dressed as a knight, but like an ordinary girl. "Clothes? Indeed. I would enjoy looking at clothing."

The two had made their way a good distance from the house, the suburbs getting thicker and thicker in their metamorphosis into the city proper. Houses began to be replaced with stores, which they went in periodically. At Saber's request, Kanima bought her a few new outfits, which made her blush and glow with happiness. The anger she seemed to have earlier at him taking her out without permission was gone now.

They shopped until the sun went down, when Kanima realized he should head back for dinner. As they were walking back, the night sky glowing with the light of the moon, Saber froze. "Get back," she said gruffly, pushing him backwards down the sidewalk. And not a moment too soon, for a pair of what looked like gleaming gold ropes shot from the sky, smashing into the pavement and shattering it like glass. Saber's clothing shifted back into armor, and Kanima dropped his shopping bags, trying to conjure his prana blades as quick as he could.

Floating above and in front of them was a gigantic boat made of a gleaming gold metal, long and slender with a stern and bow that were carved into sharp, curved points reaching towards the sky. Three square sails hung from masts made of deep ebony wood, painted red and emblazoned with the image of the sun. Oars beat through the air in perfect rhythm, guided by vague, ghostly glowing forms that acted as oarsmen. Standing firmly on its deck was a bold, brawny man with coppery-brown skin and sleek black hair, his blood-red cloak flowing in the night wind.

"So my Master was right about you," the man mused, his voice deep and rumbling. "She detected the pair of you with her familiars. It's quite unusual when the signatures of a mage and a Heroic Spirit appear out of thin air, so she sent me to investigate. I wasn't certain, but since my attack I'm confident that you are an enemy Master and Servant."

Saber hefted her sword. "Why don't you come down and fight, like a real man should?"

The Servant began to burst in booming laughter, basically doubling over. "You're one to talk, madame! I assume you are Saber, correct? It is such a comedic state of affairs, when females take up the sword! And so common too! What a hilarious world we live in!"

Saber gritted her teeth. "You will pay for those insults with your life. I assume, because you hide behind the strength of your mount, that you are Rider."

Rider laughed loudly in response. "Indeed, I am. But I am not hiding behind the strength of my mount. I choose to attack from my Solar Barque because, were I to attack with my full strength, this fight would be incredibly boring for me. And there is no fun in an easy battle."

Saber turned to Kanima. "Kanima, run home and retrieve Simon. I'll hold off Rider until he arrives."

"No way," said Kanima, swiping his prana blades through the air. "I'm gonna fight too. Just who the hell do you think I am?"

"It is really obnoxious when you continually say that," muttered Saber, before launching herself into the air, blade flashing. Despite her small stature, Saber was easily able to jump to the height of the floating barque. Rider merely grinned and swiped his hand through the air. Two more ropes lashed out from the rigging, whipping Saber across the face and stomach and sending her flying away. Kanima enhanced the strength of his legs and leaped with all of his might, hurling both prana blades at Rider in a deadly blue arc. Rider smacked one out of the air with his bare hand, deflecting the other with one of the bracers on his wrist. The blade skittered off and vanished, but not before slicing a thin cut across his bicep. He grinned.

"So the Master is a fighter as well! Excellent!" he bellowed. "In my day mages were nothing but sniveling cowards, hiding behind the protection of their temples. There were none like you, Saber's Master. I am impressed!"

Kanima grinned and tried to grab for the edge of the boat, but Rider firmly planted his bare foot on the Master's face, sending Kanima flying back down to earth in a daze. Saber appeared out of the night, catching Kanima in her free hand and touching gently to the ground.

"As long as he is up in the sky, we are at a severe disadvantage," muttered Saber.

"Yeah, no kidding," said Kanima. Suddenly, it came to him. "I've got an idea, but I'll need you to cover for me while I prep for it. Can you do that?"

Saber nodded. "I will do my best." She launched into the air once again, slashing through the advance of Rider's rigging. Rider extended his hand, and with a flash of gold light summoned a weapon. It was shaped a little like the crook of a shepherd, but much larger and made of gold, wrapped tightly with red, blue, and black ribbons. Both ends were adorned with glittering rubies. He hooked his weapon around Saber's blade and pulled, bringing her back towards him in a flash. Pulling back his other fist, he swung forward and planted a devastating punch right into her stomach with a terrific roar of might. Saliva mixed with Saber's blood, flying out of her mouth due to the horrific damage of Rider's blow. She fell to the ground in a huff but managed to stay on her feet. Kanima, who was preoccupied, blue prana gleaming around his seals, felt guilty at being unable to help.

His circuits burned as he called forth as much prana as he could. The seals went from their usual blue glow to a sickly red. Kanima could feel himself reaching the seals' very capacity. When he could muster no more prana, he slammed his closed fists together. When he pulled his hands apart, a sort of gleaming shaft of light had appeared between him. However, he was not going to be left alone in his endeavor.

Small beams of light shot at him from Rider's barque. Fortunately, Saber was still faster. She dashed in front of him, reflecting the beams deftly with the reflective surface of her blade. While this was going on, Kanima had managed to stabilize the prana construct in his hands. He gripped it in the middle of the shaft with his right hand and pulled it back, spear in hand. Meanwhile his left hand was placed in front of him, his thumb out- to be used as not only an aim but also a counter balance. Pivoting he mentally screamed "Saber! Move now!". Not a moment later, he had reached the perfect point, his right hand shooting forward like the crack of a whip.

The spear shot through the air, the last of Kanima's power used up to reinforce his arm in a gauntlet of minty green. It struck the barge with a thunderous crack and pierced right through it, the boat exploding into a fine golden mist of prana. Its occupant landed heavily on the street pavement, cracking the ground with the sheer force. Rider- needless to say- looked furious. The crook in his hand flashed gold, and disappeared, to be replaced by a three-pronged flail, the rod done in gold with long, black ropes adorned with vicious silver spikes. Golden light shimmered around the flails. He ground his foot into the ground behind him, preparing to charge.

"That was my favorite barge. It took me an hour to craft that, using such a limited supply of prana. However, do not think that the loss of my barque will afford you victory in this battle." he said confidently. With that Rider lunged forward, flail drawn back and ready to strike. Saber also charged. A moment before they met a rain of arrow bolts from the sky struck the ground. Both leapt back, however neither escaped unscathed. Saber had an arrow embedded in her arm, while Rider had an arrow straight through his thigh. If Rider wasn't angry before, with an arrow piercing his leg and making him bleed, he was in a full-on rage. He swung his flail in the direction of the arrows. A mighty wave of force flying forth from it decimating the surrounding area, the facades of several buildings blown to splinters and shards. However, this proved to be a huge mistake. A bulky, blond man emerged from the ruins between two nearby suburban houses, a crossbow in hand. Archer, thought Saber. Archer began to chant-

"Arrow that pierces all, fly straight and true, never missing. May my target be struck down. Streik Gessler." He loaded a bolt into his crossbow, one that glowed with green flame. He wound back, and pulled the trigger with a thunderous crash.

With that there was a bright green streak that shot through the air, causing the air to ripple with its sheer power. Not a second later, it struck. Saber leapt in front of Kanima bringing her sword in a wide arc. The air glowed and some sort of whirlwind was formed, protecting them from the brunt of the bolt's power. Rider was not as lucky, as Archer's bolt struck him full force. He at least had enough wits about him to cross his flail and crook in front of him. They glowed an ethereal gold before an explosion of green flame consumed him with a roar like the sound at the gates of hell. A moment later a slightly charred and battered Rider emerged from the smoking crater. Smoke arose from his flesh and tiny trickles of blood dripped from his burns.

"It seems as if the gods no longer favor their king in this battle. I must depart." said Rider matter-of-factly. "Saber, Archer, consider yourself lucky that you have forced me, a noble conqueror, to retreat." With that he faded into a shower of golden sparks and disappeared.

However, it seemed that the battle was not finished yet, as several more of Archer's bolts rained down in Saber and Kanima's direction. Saber managed to deflect the hail of bolts with a deft series of sword swipes, but her movements were slowing down and her breathing was getting heavier. The bolt in her arm was spilling her blood in dribbles on the pavement.

Kanima could tell that Saber was in no condition to fight Archer. That was as plain as day. As much as he hated the thought of doing so, he had to order a retreat. He mentally spoke to Saber, gritting his teeth. "We have to go, Saber. We're in no shape to keep on fighting. There's no point if we die to this son of a bitch." Saber nodded, sweat dripping from her brow, before Kanima wrapped his arm around her shoulder to stabilize her and and they fled. Archer removed his bolt from the crossbow and pocketed it. That would be enough for tonight. "I forgot how draining Streik can be," he muttered to himself, feeling the burn of mana depletion in his chest. With that he faded into a blue mist.

Location: Edelfelt Household, Fuyuki City, Japan

Simon's worries kicked into high gear when Kanima didn't come down for dinner. Ordinarily, his younger brother was first to the dinner table. But dinner had been finished for seven minutes and still no Kanima. Simon went up to Kanima's room, opening the door. When he found an empty room, he swore angrily and punched the wall. "That little bastard," he hissed. "How the hell am I meant to protect him if he keeps wandering off by himself?" Rage filled his tone.

All of a sudden, there was the sound of the front door being slammed open downstairs. Simon lept into action- rushing down the stairs, taking them two steps at a time. He came to the door moments later to see Saber draped over Kanima's back, drenched in cold sweat and in full armor. Kanima held a bloody arrow in his hand and his left sleeve was missing, which he had used it to tie Saber's arm where she was bleeding. The fabric had turned black from all the blood.

"What the hell happened?" asked Simon anxiously as Kanima bustled into the kitchen, laying Saber on the floor. Her eyes fluttered and she seemed to be in a lot of pain, but so far her breathing was steady. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," panted Kanima, rolling Saber onto her back. "We got attacked by an enemy Servant- Rider. I destroyed his boat and we thought we were gonna win, but then all of a sudden, Archer showed up and shot both Rider and Saber. He blew up Rider, and we used that time to escape. I don't know how to do healing magic, bro. She looks like she's hurting a lot." Kanima looked up to Simon, his brown eyes wide and pleading. Simon dropped to his knees, pressing his fingertips into the wound. Saber gasped with pain, her eyes flicking wide open. White light glowed along Simon's hands, and slowly the wound began to close.

"Thank you, bro," said Kanima. A tear squeezed out of the corner of his left eye, but he wiped it away angrily. "I was kinda scared, bro. I mean, I've gotten into fights before, but they were so powerful. I couldn't even get close to Rider. I had to make do with throwing a prana spear at him."

Simon clapped his little brother on the back. "You said you destroyed his boat, right? That's not so bad for your first time." He paused, deep in thought. "Wait, you said he had a boat?"

Kanima nodded. "He called it a barque. It was big and gold, with oars and three sails, and it could fly. Why?"

"It's just, a barque was a ceremonial boat used in Ancient Egypt." Simon said. "The pharaoh would ride in it throughout the capital on parade, carried by a bunch of slaves. I think Rider might be some kind of Egyptian king!" He hugged his little brother with excitement. "You did fantastic, little bro!"

"I did?" asked Kanima, confused as to the sudden display of affection.

"Yeah you did!" Simon let his brother go, standing up. Kanima did too. "If we can determine Rider's identity, then we can have a good idea of what abilities he has. What other weapons or powers did you notice?"

"Well, he had this thing that looked like a gigantic, golden shepherd's crook, all wrapped up with different colored ribbons. He also had this great big black whip, with three different strings, and they were all covered in these nasty-looking silver spikes." Kanima frowned. "That's all I can remember."

"That's alright." said Simon. "I'm sorry for doubting you, little bro. I think keeping you cooped up in the house isn't going to do any good if you keep up with stunts like this. But you have to promise me that you'll only go out of the house when both me and Saber are with you, understand? If you agree, I won't tell Dad what happened when he gets home from the store."

Kanima shook his hand. "You've got a deal." He looked to Saber. "I don't think I'm gonna be able to go anywhere for a while, then."

"Nah," said Simon, swiping his hand through the air dismissively. "She looks bad now, but in a few hours my healing magic will start working for real and she'll be as good as new. Looks like I picked out a good Servant for you, huh?"

"Yeah," said Kanima, his gaze resting on Saber's sleeping face, fevered and blank. "She's definitely something."

A/N: thanks for reading don't forget to review and tell us what you liked and we will see you next chapter