Despite the fact that I was in the middle of a war that had plagued my family my whole life for some reason I was the happiest I had ever felt. I knew the Servants of Black would eventually find this place but at the moment I didn't care. I looked at Saber and saw the light in her eyes as a soft impressed smile creased her lips. "Your home is quite beautiful Master; the aura of peace here is very soothing." I smiled at her as a moment of disbelief crossed my mind that this lovely beautiful girl before me was really a skilled warrior. Instead at that moment I felt as if she were a close friend I held dear to my heart and this was going to be our first playful sleepover and not our hideaway for fighting a war.
"That's very sweet of you Saber, Mom and Dad had this place built initially as our vacation home where my sister and I could come and play." I said as I began giving her a tour of the house as we slipped off our shoes and sandals. Saber looked around the halls in wonder as I showed her the different rooms. Finally Saber piped up as she asked. "I failed to notice it before but this house is built with a layered web-like sphere of defenses isn't it Master?" I smiled; impressed she could detect the similar network of mana strings that operated layers of defenses. "Yes, it's very similar to the main house in a way and what I used against Archer and his Master." That was when I saw a look of guilt appear on Saber's face. "You shouldn't have had to do that Master… it was my fault you were so heavily injured, if only I responded to your pleas sooner my summoning would have occurred sooner than it did and I could have assisted you."
My eyes trembled as I instantly regretted mentioning my battle with Archer of Black and his Master. I put my hand on Saber's shoulder and gave her a smile. "Don't blame yourself Saber, there was nothing you could have done, if anything I'm to blame…I should have prepared your summoning instead of rolling around on the couch crying like a spoiled child…" I said softly as I looked away trying to force away the tears of having lost the house and potentially all of the artifacts within.
That was when I felt a soft hand cup my cheek and I turned to see Saber looking at me with a lovely smile that would have made me melt. "Don't blame yourself Master, Don't ever blame yourself…Even though I was there after it ended I could tell you fought valiantly to the end even if it cost you your life." A heavy blush came to my cheeks as I gazed into her eyes. I was speechless as we stood there; comforting one another until Kai came running into the hallway. "Saiya we got company!"
We hurried to the front of the house as we saw a man clad in a white suit, his fingers adorned in jeweled rings that I could sense were lush with mana. I winced biting my lip; Jewel magic… I thought bitterly. I had seen this type of magic before, back during the second Holy Grail War my family was involved in. My older sister Seina and her Caster class Servant had struggled with a jewel-magic using Master along with her Berserker class Servant. I still remember her telling me about it when I was younger. "Always be wary around those jewels, different colors on the gems could mean any kind of spell or curse." I stared at the man as he gave me a dirty grin as he stood beside his Lancer class Servant.
"Well for the senorita that gave Aaron of all people trouble you certainly don't look like much," He said giving Saber and I and up and down look. I could see Saber's glare of disgust as his grin grew wide. That was when he stepped forward and took a bow. "Allow me to introduce myself; I am Rodrigo Bastiani, from Italy you see." He said as he introduced himself. "Although I must commend your bravery, Aaron always did need a kick to his ego." I clenched my fists in anger. I was tired; I had already survived one battle and had escaped to find temporary peace only for the war to follow me! I stepped forward as I demandingly asked. "Why are you here?!"
He rose as he smiled, his Servant sharing his twisted cocky grin as he said. "Normally to treat such beautiful women such as you and your Servant to a nice bottle of wine, however…" He said as he raised one of his arms while his Servant raised his weapon at the same time; "As we are technically at war, I must kill you both. And maybe when you both are dead, I'll take your homunculus there back with me." My eyes went wide with fear of Kai being taken away. Then I clenched my fists as I saw the blue light appearing on my body again. "In that case you won't leave here alive!" I cried furiously as Saber charged forward with her sword at the ready clashing against Lancer's halberd. I gracefully jumped out of the way as a circle of crimson fire appeared where I once stood.
I looked over at Rodrigo as the ruby jewels on some of his rings had steam coming from them. "Huh…I missed; well I better make sure that doesn't happen again now should I?" He muttered and continued his blasts of energy at me. I dodged and weaved as fast as I could however the frequency of his blasts was becoming faster and harder to dodge. If only I had my weapons with me! I thought as I fired my own dark curses at him which were easily deflected in a barrier surrounding him. "Damnit…!" I muttered as suddenly I heard Kai call out to me. As I looked over to him that was when my sword and naginata landed in my hands, the runes on them shining an intense shade of blue. I smiled at Kai and nodded as a sudden blast from Rodrigo knocked me backwards.
"Pay attention to the battle! It hurts a man's pride when a beautiful woman looks away from him." He said in a condescending tone as he walked towards me. As I stood to my feet I saw Saber standing in front of me with a passionate fire in her eyes. "Are you alright Master?" She asked not even looking at me. I nodded as I replied. "I'm alright; don't worry about me Saber…" That was when I saw her stiffen as she said. "I won't allow you to fight on your own, not again, not ever." She proclaimed as I was momentarily taken aback by her touching words. Rodrigo seemed amused as he chuckled. "My, such a romantic your servant is! However I'm afraid such romanticism has no place on the battlefield…" He said as Lancer dashed forward attacking Saber again the two clashing blades once again.
I took this chance to jump up as the blue flames appeared on the markings of my body once again. "How dare you talk down to Saber! How dare you talk about Kai like he isn't a person! I shall make you pay!" I roared as I dived down at him in a combined attack with the flames and the two weapons I held in my hands. I winced as my attack clashed against his barrier shooting energy off in multiple directions as the heat of the shock roared through my body. I bit my lip in pain as Rodrigo smiled. "The strain takes a toll I see doesn't it senorita?" He said as he pushed back against my attack blowing me far into the tall grass. I cried out in pain as I landed with a thud. I struggled to get up as I saw him coming closer with a disappointed smirk. "I expected much more out of you; however it was entertaining while it lasted." He said as I knew he planned to finish me off. I looked and saw Saber staring at me in fear, unable to come protect me this time because of her deadlocked battle with Lancer. I looked over at Kai staring at me as if he were about to come running and take the hit.
"I'm not giving up Rodrigo!" I said groaning as I struggled to get to my feet. He chuckled as he aimed at me with his jeweled rings. "Stubborn to the end I see, I like that in a woman." He mumbled as he prepared to finish me off. Suddenly a gunshot rang out slamming into the ground between us causing Rodrigo to stop. He looked around on alert as a salvo of gunshots rang out slamming into Lancer as he backed off of Saber. "Damnit all who is interfering with my battle?! Show yourself now!" he said as he coughed up blood angrily. Finally we all suddenly heard the sound of a loud galloping as another salvo of gunfire rang out. I could only watch as Rodrigo and Lancer started to retreat as a young woman on horseback rode up in front of me wielding an old Winchester lever-action rifle. "Yeah you better run you couple of dicks! Run with your tails between your fucking legs!" She yelled her voice carrying a thick accent I only recognized out of Old Western movies.
As the two of them vanished over the hill Saber appeared at my side worried inspecting me for injuries. The woman looked down at us and smiled as she got off her horse. "Well hello there ladies! Nice to see we got here in time!" She said with a cheerful smile tipping her hat and caressing her brunette hair back from her beautiful blue eyes. "I'm sorry miss, as immensely thankful I am that you saved us I don't know your name." I said uncomfortable that someone we didn't know just saved us out of the blue, not to mention her beauty was making me feel a little faint. "Oh I apologize then sweetie!" She said with a giggle and introduced herself. "I am Archer of Red! My Master and I came to say hello since we didn't get to meet at the party!"