Okay first of all before the chapter starts here I'd like to apologize to all my readers of this story. My updates have been severely inconsistent, I've been putting this off a lot lately and that is not fair to you all. Same goes for the readers of "Damned of the Wasteland" as well; my updates for that story have been severely inconsistent as well. This chapter was supposed to be made and put up during the weekend of my last update but a mix of exhaustion and fatigue from the summer heat and work has left me with almost no energy to work on this at all. In short, updating during the summer really sucks! Anyway again I ever so dearly from the bottom of my heart am sorry to you all for my neglect.

A heavy chill was hanging in the air as snow lightly drifted to the ground the night Saber and I returned to the main house. As I shivered from the cold I stared at the front doors; the events of the first night I entered this war playing out in my mind. How close I had come to death, and how I came to meet the beautiful girl standing at my side. As we stepped inside I could feel the energy from within the structure flowing throughout the property.

"Kai sure did a good job fixing the house up." I said with a smile as Saber curiously stared around the room. I watched her as I took off my coat and scarf and placed them on the rack as well as kicking off my shoes. I was so exhausted from the trip back to the main house that I forgot to congratulate Kai on his repair job on the house.

As Saber walked and looked towards a window peering out into the city she looked at me and said. "Master, this is definitely a viable fortress for us to use in this war however the enemy Masters could infiltrate this area again just as Archer and his Master did." I sighed; Saber had become more adamant of planning strategies for the war lately. Her near-constant reminder to not "rush recklessly" during battle had come to annoy me slightly.

We had barely finished unpacking when the doorbell began to ring. As I looked towards the front door sweat began trickling down my neck. I was afraid Archer had returned; I closed my eyes to tap into the sight of the few familiars that remained on the property after the attack. As the raven familiar I was seeing through twitched scanning the area it caught sight of two young girls at the front door. It took one look at the yellow hoodie one of them was wearing and the violet buttoned shirt the other was dressed in for me to recognize them immediately.

As I opened my eyes I looked over at Saber; my mind racing with scenarios of questions my friends outside would ask me if they saw her. Her hand was on her sword as she looked at me waiting for orders.

"Go to my room and hide there Saber, quickly..!" I said as I went towards the door. Deciding to inquire me about my decision at another time, Saber quickly vanished as she ran down the hall to my bedroom; the door silently sliding shut behind her as she hid.

I opened the front door with my brightest of smiles. "Rika! Akari! Its been a while you guys!" I said cheerfully as something at the back of my mind felt that their timing was too convenient for my liking. As being my two best friends from school. Rika and Akari had no clue about me or my family's magical activities behind closed doors. In fact, during the few times they had seen Kai even when he attended school they would mainly talk about how handsome he was. I mean I won't lie, Kai does have the gorgeous good looks of a male supermodel. However it was still embarrassing every time they asked me about him.

The two girls each gave me a hug as they greeted me. "Where have ya been Saiya?" Akari asked as she gave me her signature tomboyish grin.

"Rika and I were going to come visit on the anniversary of your family passing away to check on you and all but when we got here you were gone and the place was swarming with cops." She said as Rika nodded, her eyes trembling with worry. I sighed as I let them in.

"It's a long story guys." I said as I cautiously peered out into the darkness searching for intruders.

As we sat down for tea I told them what had happened. Unfortunately there was no way I could tell them the truth. What reason would they have to believe me anyway? At least that's what I had thought at the time. So I gave them my own little abridged version on what had happened.

"So I've been staying with Kai at the summer house for the rest of winter break while he fixed this place up." The two girls stared around the room sighing in admiration of my brother's carpentry skills. And for all I knew probably having lewd fantasies of him shirtless and carrying a hammer and tool box.

"Well at least you are ok Saiya we were so worried!" Rika said as she finished her tea. I smiled; Rika was always the beautiful bookworm of our group. Always carrying enough charm and grace to turn heads of other students at school. Akari and I would always find her absorbed into some random book or text however. In a matter of speaking, Rika was more feminine than I was which sometimes even made me a little jealous.

Akari patted her on the back as she chuckled. "I told ya she'd be fine Rika! Our Saiya is a tough fighter! She probably beat the shit beat that dirty thug who trashed her house so bloody even the cops couldn't recognize him!" I laughed as I waved her off. Akari was as you could probably guess, the athletic tomboy of our group. She was a lot slimmer, she wasn't as curvy as Rika and I. She used to joke with us about how her slim skinny body balanced out our curvy sexy bodies so no boys would try killing each other fighting over the three of us. To her credit though, I always did think Akari was cute in her own way. Whether it was the small bust she'd brag about or just her eager headstrong personality she always knew how to make Rika and I smile.

The night seemed to drag on quickly as the snow stopped falling outside. And after they left saying their goodbyes time seemed to slow as off in the distance I heard singing. A lovely demonic melody that chilled me even more brutally than the cold itself. As I shut the door behind me the song faded away and time seemed to resume.

"That singing…what was that…?" I mumbled as I had come to the conclusion that someone had followed my friends here, that someone had seen me, and now that someone; would be hunting me. I trembled as I closed my eyes and prayed for Rika and Akari's safety.

As Akari and Rika separated, their homes being in opposite directions Rika waited after passing the cemetery. Sure enough, Caster appeared at her side; her face plastered with cheer.

"Were you able to gather any information Caster?" She asked as her voice took on a soft but solemn tone. Caster nodded as her lips formed a twisted grin. "You're friend Saiya is definitely an interesting one indeed, none of my familiars were able to penetrate her barriers, of which I am rather surprised she did not react. Although I was able to detect heavy traces of magical residue. As if someone didn't want anyone infiltrating the premises."

Rika sighed; she had hoped to prove Saiya wasn't involved in the Holy Grail War in anyway possible. However with the evidence Caster presented to her it seemed as if Saiya was either a mage or her house had been used as a site for mages in the past.

Finally she looked at Caster as the woman drifted in front of her gazing into her eyes. "Continue monitoring her," Rika said. "If you continue seeing magical activity let me know." Caster nodded happily and vanished into spirit form as her insane giggling echoed into Rika's ear.

As Rika looked up at the sky she noticed snowflakes beginning to fall again. "Please let me be wrong…" She whispered and continued towards home.