Author Notes: Hmm, not completely satisfied with this chapter as its still in my older form of writing with less detail/completion than I'ed like. Bleh. As usual, feel free to bring up any problems to me in reviews.

Definitions:

Ojōsan - Lady/Ma'am

- Threads of Fate -
- Chapter 2 -

- First Blood -
Day 3: February 2nd

The nighttime streets were Shirou walked silently with Saber as the sound of his shoes and her metallic gauntlets echoed in the quiet night. There really hadn't been much to say after Saber's outburst against his choice in coat fashion, which was why when Saber spoke it caught Shirou off guard.

"So... Shirou, what do you think of Rin?" asked Saber.

Shirou's brain froze at the surprise attack and had to reboot from the trauma. To any other regular person, they would have planned out their response in an organised structured format. In Shirou's case, he simply said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Well, she's not as magnificent as I thought she'd be. err... I mean she's not quite how I imagined her. Err... I mean she's physically the same as I imagined but different from what Iknewofher. Uhh,letmeexplain. She'snormallydifferentinschool..."

Because Shirou was too preoccupied digging himself a larger and wider grave, he missed the mischievous smile Saber had failed to suppress on her face. Hoping to put an end to his babbling, she placed both gauntlets on her hips and said. "I meant as a fellow Master, Shirou."

Shirou's face went red enough to rival a tomato before he took a breath to collect himself. "Uh... From everything she's told me today, she seems like a very experienced Magus. It seems like she's been preparing for the war for quite some time so she could be quite a formidable Master in the war. I could see her being a strong Magus in the future."

"I see..." said Saber in thought. He wanted to ask her own thoughts on Rin, but stopped when Saber jerked her head to the front.

Standing atop the hill before them was a towering behemoth. Without even asking, he could tell this thing was the same thing as Saber or Archer; a Servant. Its skin was the unnatural color of lead with every single inch of its body filled to the brim with rock hard muscles. He could imagine the giant shattering boulders between his biceps. He didn't even have to guess, the only class this servant could be was Berserker.

Standing beside the behemoth was the girl he'd seen two days ago. Wearing a purple winter coat with hair like pure snow, her rather small stature clashed with the great monster beside her. If he had to guess, she would have been five years his junior... Could she really be that behemoth's Master?

"Ah, you're done talking?" said the small girl. Fear gripped Shirou's stomach and stopped him from responding.

"Good evening, Onii-chan. It's the second time we've met like this," said the girl with a cheerful smile. Lifting up the sides of her coat, she does a small curtsy. "Let me introduce myself. I am Ilya von Einzbern."

"Anyways, now that introductions are done, we can start. Go ahead, Berserker. Kill them," she said, in that same sing-song like tone.

Berserker screamed an inhuman roar. Bending his knees downwards, he launched himself high into the air. At the apex of the arc, he lifted the massive stone sword high above his head for a mighty swing.

"Shirou! Get away!" yelled Saber. The petite warrior tossed the coat away, letting the wind take it into the darkness of the night. Tightening her grip on the invisible sword, she leapt and met Berserker in the air.

Air compressed and exploded outwards as the two warriors traded their first blow. Trees limbs were bent back, cars shuddered and windows vibrated from the shockwave. Shirou himself was forced several step backs and he was forced to shield his eyes from the blast. When he could open his eyes again, he saw Saber flying backwards.

Saber crashed backwards, not even her great strength could stand against this beast. Tucking herself into a ball, she rolled along the asphalt before stopping her roll in a three-point stance. She looked up from the ground and Shirou saw a fierce determination in her eyes. Even against a mighty beast like this Saber refused to show any fear. Gripping both gauntlets back on the sword, she launched herself at the great Servant once more.

Metal met stone as the two Servants continued their battle. Each clash of their weapons sent out miniature blasts that he felt even at this distance. However, Shirou could tell even with Saber's skill she could not win this. Each of Berserker's attacks were easily driving her back. Despite her own agility, Saber was stuck on the defensive. The easiest way to describe Berserker would be a lightning fast whirlwind of death. Cars and lampposts were cleaved in twain where his stone sword struck. Saber was using her invisible sword to deflect the multitude of blows but not matter how many attacks she blocked she wouldn't be able to pierce the barrage of attacks and stop Berserker.

Yet even with such disparity in power, she still kept fighting.

Shirou gripped his own hands tightly enough that he thought they might be red with blood. Instead of the fear any normal person should have felt, Shirou could only felt anger. A boiling anger at his own inaptitude. This was wrong... He had promised himself that he would help Saber win the war, and yet all he could do was stand here and watch.

Berserker struck once again and shattered Saber's guard. As he raised his stone sword to strike Saber down, over a dozen bolts of blue energy struck Berserker in the back. No, wait... It would be more accurate to describe them as fireballs. Each one detonated with the strength of a hand grenade that exploded with enough force to shake the ground and caused him to reel backwards.

"Tohsaka?" said Shirou. He looked hopefully in the direction where the spell had been cast but saw only darkness. Whoever had casted the spell must have been content to hide in the darkness and watch.

The smoke slowly cleared and revealed Berserker standing unscathed amongst the flames. The powerful spell had failed to even wound the Servant. However, it had allowed Saber to deftly propel herself backwards and gain some breathing space.

"Ignore that weak attack! Kill Saber first, Berserker!" commanded Ilya.

Listening to Ilya, Berserker continued his unrelenting charge towards Saber.

Racing at full speed away from Berserker, Saber used her momentum to race up the side of a house wall and then propelled herself backwards. Jumping above even the tall giant, she swung downward. Berserker responded by swinging his stone sword in a backward arc, Berserker swatted Saber backwards into the air. She landed; in between Berserker and Ilya. Bolting forwards the moment she touched the ground, Saber used all her strength to close the distance between her and Berserker's small master.

Shirou understood. Berserker was Saber's superior in every way. The only way to win... no, to even survive would be to change the conditions of the battle. If you couldn't fight a powerful enemy one on one then you would have to take out the physically weaker master. So why did it feel like there was a hole in his chest when he imagined Ilya being slashed by Saber? Was this truly the only way?

The monstrous Servant barreled after Saber. He didn't know if it was possible, but Berserker seemed even madder than before. However, even with all his anger and strength, it was clear the mighty Servant wouldn't be able to catch up with Saber. Running from the impending doom behind her, Saber raised her sword and gave a roaring scream as she swung with her invisible sword. The small albino girl raised her hands in fear.

"Berserker! Help!" Ilya screamed.

And then Berserker materialized in front of Ilya; his stone sword at the ready.

"Ahh, of course. The command spell. I completely forgot about that," thought Shirou dimly.

Saber's eyes widened almost to the size of monocles at the sudden teleportation. Unable to block Berserker's blow, she took the attack straight on and was thrown like a puppet down the street. A sickening thud reached Shirou's ears. A streak of crimson marked where Saber landed before grinding to a halt.

"Saber!" screamed Shirou.

He ran. With all the strength in his legs and will in his heart he ran towards the wounded knight on the ground.

He slid the last several meters on his knees before cradling her head with his arms. He could see her breath was ragged and her half-closed eyes were vacant; still recovering from the earth shattering blow. He glanced downward toward her wound. What had once been immaculate shining armor was now shredded and shattered metal. Blood leaked continuously from her grave wound as she struggled to keep her breathing through the pain. Unable to do anything else, he took off his sweater and pressed it against the wound to staunch the blood. It wasn't much, but it was all he could do.

With nothing to stop him, Berserker advanced with impunity towards them.

A stream of blue flames launched from the darkness and impacted Berserkers chest. The fire completely enveloped Berserker's torso before flowing past him. On the brick wall behind him, bleed off from the heat was enough to sear the wall until the brick and mortar began to drip from the immense heat. The lead-skinned servant screamed in pain from the magical attack, yet remained standing. Even as the stream of fire withered and died, he stood tall. Fire that would have melted through steel plating simply slid against the Servant's lead colored skin.

As the fire finally faded, he could see the spell wasn't completely ineffective. Sections of Berserker's skin had been melted and peeled away to reveal the flesh and muscle. However, it was clear the Servant was still ready to kill at Ilyas command.

With the attack's failure, a shade retreated between two houses. Shirou caught a brief glimpse of a crimson and black cloak before the person vanished back to the shadows.

Ilya gave off an innocent child-like laugh that could have sent chills up even Lancer's spine. "Whoever you are, that was a good try; but your attacks are futile. There's no way to defeat my Berserker," said Ilya, "after all, he is the strongest hero of Greece. Hercules."

"Hercules" said Shirou; whispering the name in awe and fear. Beneath him, he could feel Saber stirring.

"Shirou?" said Saber weakly. Saber's eyes finally refocused and she grimaced from her wound. Grabbing a hold of her sword, she unsteadily tried to rise to her knees.

"Saber, you have to run, I'll hold Berserker back," said Shirou with more confidence than he felt. He knew it was a stupid statement the moment he said it. However, the alternative was to let Saber continue battling. In her current condition, it couldn't even be called a fight. But much more than that, he just didn't want to see her get hurt. Her face shouldn't have to bear such pain.

Helping her up to her feet, Saber pushed him away with her remaining strength.

"Idiot! How do you think you're going to be able to fight a Serva... Argh," Saber collapsed back to her knees before she could finish the sentence. It was evident even to a him that she was wounded really bad. If she couldn't even stand then there was no way she could walk, let alone fight.

"Anyways," said Ilya growing impatient, "it was rude of you to attack me instead of facing my Berserker, Saber, so I think I'll have him kill you first. Then we'll deal with your troublesome friend. Berserker, be sure to dismember her after cutting off her head."

Hearing her command, Berserker charged towards Saber. Still struggling to stand, she tried to raise her sword against Berserker.

Shirou ran with all his strength to Saber. Perhaps it was because he hadn't been able to do anything to help her up until now. So at the very least, he might be able to do this small thing and protect her for these few seconds.

The sickening sound of torn flesh and meat met his ears as he felt his body fly through the air.

Something had sent him careening away and knocked him to the ground... Landing on the ground, he tried to breath but found out he couldn't. He looked downwards towards his feet. His blood, parts of organs and most of his stomach were now strewn on the asphalt. Oddly... He couldn't feel anything. In the back of his mind he realized that must have been the shock setting in.

Several feet away was Saber; her face an expression of complete surprise and... sadness? She was saying something to him but his ears couldn't hear her.

He coughed up more blood. He only wanted to knock Saber out of Berserker's attack. He couldn't even do that right... How silly... Instead, he just shielded her body with his own.

As his vision vanished and his consciousness faded, he realized that this was the end for Emiya Shirou. His final thought burned in his mind until that faded too.

Was he really just that useless? Can't he even save one person?

"What..." said Ilya barely above a whisper; her eyes wide in amazement.

Berserker, not being given any new orders, returned his focus on his original target and advanced upon Saber's vulnerable form.

Then, a voice pierced the night like a command from God.

"Enough! This ends now! INDIGNATION!" came a voice from the shadows.

Giant ethereal runes glowed and surrounded Beserker before a single massive thunderbolt struck the great warrior in the center chest. Lightning whirled around the Hero of Greece as if it were a windstorm. Electrical arcs shattered and discharged on the ground around him, each one powerful enough send asphalt and debris into the air. Finally, the spell's accumulated power erupted and Berserker's body exploded in a shower of gore. Dozens of tendrils of lightning arced from his back to the ground. With his entire backside blow open and his organs splattered piece by piece onto the ground, Berserker collapsed onto the ground dead.

"Not even the Greatest Hero of Greece can deny his father's power" said the caster.

The voice came from a hooded figure standing on a nearby roof. Her tall figure was silhouetted against the moonlight. Wearing a broad black cloak, her hood covered all her facial features leaving only her mouth visible in the moonlight.

"Ah, so you've finally shown yourself, Caster, " said Ilya before introducing herself. She finished by bowing against her new enemy. Caster stood silently, her gloved hands stayed rested at her sides staring at the small girl.

"Your spells are strong, Caster, but you'll need more than that to defeat my Berserker," said Ilya confidently as she did a small pirouette.

Even as she spoke, the blood that had been sprayed all across the street was beginning to reform back towards Berserker's destroyed body. His flesh began to re-knit itself and his organs began to regenerate. Soon, all evidence of the damage from before would disappear. Berserker rose up with a guttural groan; ready to unleash another whirlwind of destruction.

"A curious ability your Berserker has, Ilyasviel von Einzebern. You are indeed correct, I would need more to defeat your servant. However, Master of Berserker, not even your Berserker could stand up against the power of three other servants" said Caster.

"Three?" replied Ilya in confusion. Caster formed four Black Keys and embedded them into corner concrete sidewalk next to the truck Rin was hiding behind. The twin tailed Magus tumbled backwards from the sudden attack and ended up standing in the middle of the street. Archer materialized behind his clumsy master, trying to suppress a sigh.

Berserker, his body still smoking and charred from its first death, returned to Ilya's side. All around them was destruction. Trees and lampposts were torn in half, cars were destroyed, and sections of the road had gaping holes from Berserker's furious blows. The place was a complete battlefield.

She grimaced in pain as she pulled herself up with her sword. Blood still oozing from her horrific wounds, she stood in an act of defiance against the giant servant. Her crimson stained gauntlets gripped her wind-sheathed sword and she once again took on a combat stance. Although her breathing was ragged and her wound bled profusely, Saber's grip upon her blade never wavered. The knight's intention was clear; if Berserker came towards them again she would make sure he paid for it.

Looking at Caster, Ilya made an unhappy face at her before turning away. "I'm bored again, Berserker, take me home," she said before jumping onto Berserker's shoulder, "you're annoying, Caster. The next time we meet, I'll kill you for certain." With those final words, Ilya left the battlefield on her servants shoulder.

With the looming giant gone, Caster hopped from her perch on the roof and gently floated down in front of Saber. Caster walked towards the wounded Servant and Saber shouted in pain as she pulled the invisible blade from the ground. The knight grunted and tried in vain to force herself back into a fighting stance, but only succeeded in collapsing to her knees once again. It was apparent to even the casual observer that she was in no shape to fight another servant. Caster gently raised her hand in a gentle halting moment.

"Now really, Saber," said Caster in an insulted tone, "if I wanted to kill your Master I would have let Berserker finish him. He's in a bad state right now. Help me help him."

Continuing to walk past the bloody servant, she knelt at Shirou's side. She tossed aside one of her dark tresses to see him better before wiping the perspiration from the boy's brow. She could see breath was shallow and his heart rate beat like a jackhammer. Strewn about the road were the remains of his intestines and other internal organs Berserker had removed from his strike. There was a gaping hole so wide on the side of Shirou's abdomen that she was amazed he hadn't been severed in half.

"Damn fool" said Caster before giving a gentle sigh, "most people only die once a night."

Putting her hand to his bloody wound she muttered a long incantation and her hand lit up with a light green hue. Sweat dripped from her face as she focused intently upon her spell. As she spoke, his body began to regenerate and repair itself. Blood returned to his body and his wounds sewed themself back together. Finishing the incantation, she slouched down towards the ground from obvious fatigue. The wound was far from completely healed; however, with proper treatment, he'd live.

She gave a tired She looked at the blood upon her hands and an image of the past flashed to her mind.

The sky was pouring. The ground she was kneeling on was stained with fresh blood. Her victim lay dead on the ground covered in red. Realizing what she had done, she gave off a terrible wail that echoed into the night. As she cried, the night rain mixed with blood and flowed into the nearby gutter; washing away the sins of her crime. She forcibly pushed the nightmare to the back of her mind. That was no longer important. Shaking her head to clear the memories away, she turned her attention back to Shirou.

As if she were a mother treating a wounded child, she tenderly wiped the fresh sheen of sweat off his face. Checking over him, she found his pulse and breathing returning to normal. If Saber had been closer, she might have seen the look of relief on Caster's face.

"That'll have to be enough," she muttered. "Hang in there, kid. I need you to live." She affectionately cupped the side of his face before laying his head gently on the pavement.

Caster looked back at Saber and saw her finally standing with her own strength, the bleeding from her wound already beginning to stanch. Curiously enough, even standing, Saber was barely taller than the kneeling Caster.

Saber narrowed her eyes at Caster when she looked up. Despite the aid she had given to Shirou, Saber grip never left her blade and, although her sword was lowered, Caster recognized the aggressive stance the knight had taken. If she made any threatening gesture towards Shirou, she knew the knight of the sword would be upon her. Still, the mere fact Saber stayed her blade against an unknown servant meant she had earned at least some trust.

"Why are you doing this?" said Saber.

Caster shrugged. "Does there have to be a reason to help someone in need?" she said dismissively.

Saber continued to look at Caster with cold eyes.

Caster gave a huff. "Fine," she said with resignation, "you might say your Master saved my life. I was only naturally returning the favor. Don't expect this service to be infinite."

"Saved your life?" said Saber, tilting her head in interest. Her voice was still cold but her curiosity dimming the fires of her suspicion.

She nodded. "Although, that story will have to be for another time" she said.

Rin and Archer watched silently as Caster stood back to her feet and faced the duo. The terrain before them had been shattered and cracked with the results of the recent battle. The old asphalt road had been utterly torn and sundered from Berserker's repeated strikes into the ground, revealing the bare earth underneath. Debris like battered cars, felled trees and lamp posts littered the road.

"So what will you do now, Archer's Master" said Caster. She crossed her arm and her mouth twitched in annoyance at facing the two.

Archer stood facing her, his expression was stoic as usual.

"You are a Servant in the Holy Grail War," responded Rin. Her statement was obvious yet clear. There could only be one winner in this war and Caster was just another opponent. Adding to that fact was her Archer was fresh to the fight while Caster had already used her prana against Berserker. It only made sense to fight Caster here.

"Indeed," said Caster, "yet you would let your dear friend die?" Pointing with her fingerless-gloves, she motioned to the unconscious form of Shirou behind her. "If your Archer fights me, I will guarantee he dies before the night ends."

"Oh?," said Rin, her voice like stone," and what makes you think I care? Especially for an enemy Master?"

Caster's lips turned into an evil grin. A grin that would have sent shivers down the spine of even the most hardy of men. "Is that so, Master of Archer?" she said in a mocking tone, "very well, in that case, you won't mind if I remove one of your enemies now." With a quick flick of her wrist, a ball of crimson fire formed in her right arm. Whirling her cape behind her, she thrust the mass of fire towards Shirou's head.

"Caster!" screamed Saber as she brought her invisible sword to bear.

"Stop!" cried Rin.

Caster halted. The orb of fire disappeared from her hand. Looking up, she saw Rin with her hand reached out as if to stop her. Though she may have hid it well, Caster saw the fear in the twin-tailed Magus' eyes. That brought a genuine smile to her lips. There might be hope for that girl yet.

Caster emitted a sinister laugh. "How romantic," she said with amusement, "the little Magus is in love with another Master." Satisfied with Rin's reaction, she deftly jumped into the air before landing on the same building as she had arrived from.

"You stupid Servant, that's not it at all!" Rin screamed at her. Veins popped in annoyance as she shook her hand in anger at the cloaked servant.

Rin's outburst, however, only caused Caster to break out into further mocking laughter. "You should watch where you go lovey-dovey with your emotions, you never know who might be scrying on you. In either case, I'll leave him in your care then, Master of Archer," she shouted. Cheerfully waving goodbye to Rin, she leapt from building to building before disappearing into the distance.

As they watched Caster fade into the distance, Archer sighed. "My... you truly are a difficult Master, Rin" he said.

"Archer, shut... up..." she replied. His Master's trembling fists warned Archer that he should probably keep quiet lest Rin use up another command seal on him.

Day 4: February 4th
- The Third Party -

Standing on the roof of one of Shinto's high rise buildings, a shadowy figure stood observing the situation. Dressed in his usual business suit attire, Agent McNab looked through the lenses of his binoculars at the aftermath of the battle.

"Bloody hell, what a mess below. Construction crews will be in for one long day tomorrow. Looks like you were right, though. It appears Master Tohsaka her servant Archer will be taking care of the other two for the night, Ojōsan."

"Stop calling me that! I told you to call me Kitsune-kun when I'm talking to you," said Sable. The drunk girl giggled before collapsing onto the leather sofa back at their base. She hic'ed several times before dropping the phone.

McNab masked the receiver for his earpiece with his hand before giving a long drawn out sigh. He idly drummed his thumbs along the metal railing as he waited patiently on the line while the blonde fumbled with the phone. Several moments later, Sable finally held the phone upright and continued their conversation as if nothing had happened.

"Besides, McNaba-kun, everything'll be fine. Now stop worrying and come back here," said the intoxicated blond as she slurred her words over the phone, "it's no fun being drunk alone."

"Ojōsan, the Agency's goal is to monitor the war. Meaning we don't relax… at least until I've got our observation posts around the city up and running. I'm also willing to forgive you for having several drinks too many in order to maintain our cover," he said. Despite his partner's dubious behaviour, he still maintained his respectful neutral tone. On the empty streets below, he watched as Archer followed Tohsaka as he carried Shirou within his arms.

"Besides," said Mcnab, "There are other issues at play tonight. I'll be back in several hours so try to get some restful sleep. Good night, Ojōsan."

"Whadaya mean?" she said. However, she found she was already talking to a dead phone. She grumbled to herself over his restless behaviour. It was barely the Third day of the war. There wouldn't even be anything to worry about till days later.

Yawning tiredly, she stumbled around the safe house until she ended up in the kitchen. The house was located in the Miyama section of Fuyuki and made a handy base when their business took them out of Shinto proper. Scrounging a sandwich labelled "McNab" from the fridge, she began munching down. Taking a seat at the main table, she looked at the large amount of folders, newspaper clippings and documents arrayed in an organised manner. McNab had helped her into the living room when they entered so she hadn't entered the kitchen before now.

"Odd," she thought, "I don't recall these being here before."

Plopping the sandwich plate on top of a photo of a flayed corpse, she sat down and shuffled through the notes and reports on the top folder. The notes detailed the recent deaths and unusual events in the city. He had categorized them by people and causes.

The victims of bizarre gas leaks and chemical spills were attributed to the Caster of this war. Oddly, there were no deaths in that category. He had noted the victims had only received minor symptoms like dizziness, heavy nausea and extreme fatigue. Nothing several days of rest wouldn't cure. The most names were listed in this category.

Under "Servants" were deaths inflicted by slashing or piercing weapons. Each name was referenced to a photo of a bloodied and slashed corpses. Under this heading were a dozen or so names. Minor in comparison to the other two categories.

Finally, there was a heavy folder for the last category. Its category was "Unknown". She leafed through the files. Dozens of case reports, probably stolen from the Fuyuki police department, of missing individuals in Fuyuki and other nearby prefectures.

She rubbed her frazzled hair in annoyance, "couldn't you have just copied them?" she muttered to the empty kitchen. She read the names: Hohki Ai, Hotate Yumiko, Ichikawa Misato, Higashikuni Kageyasu, Tsukasa Rkuemon, Kuroi Sadako, Ogata Izumi, Shinozaki Konata, Shiotani Ichi, Ishimura Yakamochi, Itami Senzo, Kuroki Izo... The list continued on.

Each of them were listed as missing. The earliest was dated from last month but there was an increasing amount starting at the beginning of the Holy Grail War. She flipped the page and was met with the gruesome sight of an empty husk. Its skin was dried like paper and its shrunken mouth revealed the victims teeth as if it were a grim smile. Her stomach turned at the sight and she pushed the sandwich aside. On the corpses' neck was a great gouging wounds on the upper neck. The police report mentioned how the victim had had all the blood in their body drained. This jolted her from her drunken stupor. How had she missed something as big as this?

She flipped through the remaining case reports. There were twelve other cases of these vampire-type victims and they were all within the last week. Closing the case files, she looked at the large map of Fuyuki pasted on the wall. There were three different colored pins denoting different murders or events. The ones with vampire victims were all centered in Shinto.

She crumpled her eyebrows in annoyance. "That fool is going to get himself killed," she thought, while reaching for the phone once more.


- White -

She coughed and shivered in the evening air, from the lack of energy or cold she wasn't sure. She felt tired... too tired to even move. Collapsing against the cold stone. she let herself rest. Before her eyes slid shuts she saw a black silhouette approach her.

"Uh... Hey. Are you alright?" the voice said.

It would get no response.