They exchanged information rapidly as I tried to keep steady on my feet. A lot of words were thrown around like Servant, Master, Holy Grail, vessel, Caster, casualties, and war. Archer paid attention to note how Servants are somehow attracted to me, and Lancer agreed that there was an undeniable force at hand. "What are you-?"

"How do you think I found you, girl?" Archer barks dryly, "Or Lancer? Saber? Assassin?"

"It happened right after I said something in the book," I try, earnestly embarrassed by his tone. Lancer's eyes narrow as he looks disapprovingly at Archer. "Whatever it is you said allowed me to sense you as I would a master, and yet, according to you," his eyes still on the cardinal man, "non of us apparently serve a master."

They seemed to reach an agreement when I wasn't really paying attention to their conversation (honestly, if you were flanked by two devilishly handsome men, you'd have been focusing on… well, the same thing) and turned to me. My ears burned up again as I gulped, suddenly feeling claustrophobic. "What?"

"We are discussing what you confirmed from your brother's notes," Diarmuid reaffirms kindly, almost as if I'm his little sister. For an instant, I feel like he could be Takao, but I shake off that illusion easily. Archer scuffs and turns away, apparently insulted by me, his little burden. I jump under Lancer's earnest gaze and pull the handbook out from the inside of my coat. "Oh! This one has the gist of the information he collected, but its hard getting past the barrier it's protected by. His miscellaneous notes at home seemed to conclude that everything he found was in here, but I have no idea what kind of "everything" that meant." Diarmuid nods. "Good, at least we have some sort of lead. Can you get past the barrier?" I hand him the book, which he holds at the corner like a dead rat by its tail. "I can, but I need to put some blood on it, and it'll take a few minutes for the words to appear." Lancer shakes the book as I did earlier: nothing falls out. "I am no mage by nature, but rather a soldier of pure intent." He hands it back to me and turns to Archer. "We need someone who can be trusted to decode the magical barrier encast upon this book, and someone who can further the research already conducted."

Archer huffs again, crossing his arms over his [beautiful] chest. "This is not something of my expertise. I do not know where to find one of these mages you seek, other than the Mage's Institution in London. However, the longer we fail to act, the more mana the caster of this chaos will grow."

Lancer sighs and rubs his brow, and I look down, embarrassed. He turns to me a little and softens slightly. "What is wrong, Hashimoto Kazumi?"

I hesitate before stomping my foot softly. "I'm so useless!" I blurt, furious with myself; I clutch to Takao's book like it's the last thing on Earth. "If I knew how to read and decipher what he wrote, we'd be able to act now…"

"What do you mean, we?" Archer accuses, arms down by his side again.

"Well, I figured that if you two reached a truce, then-"

"No, you are not included in this."

"Uh, sorry to burst your bubble, Holy Man, but I'm in on those whether you like it or not. Whatever Takao found out is in this book, and I'm the only one who can open it. It's a little weird, but… but it works!" I frown at him as he cocks a slight smile at my outburst. "Besides, I can find the bad guy, and you admitted that already. What makes you think you can do that?"

"I believe that, despite his informal persona," Lancer bends down to me - to child me, of all things! – as he glares daggers at Archer, "he simply speaks with the earnest intentions of keeping you safe. You admit to not being a Master, let alone a studied mage. Do you have any combat skills to defend yourself?"

I step backwards as I still clutch to the moleskin. Diarmuid's hand falls off my shoulder. "Okay… I might not be a super-soldier, but, but-!"

"But nothing." Archer starts walking away from the two of us, clearly embarrassed to be surrounded by dweebs like us. "You are invalid in this matter. The only reason why you're alive now is because you currently may aid us in stopping the madness. Acknowledge the facts, girl."

I spin on my heel and turn to face the opposite direction, chin up but a pout on my face. I hear Lancer sigh as I pin-prick details from the view around me; as awkward as this situation is (and absolutely absurd), the view up here is really amazing. I can almost see the curve of the Earth as life slips into the spell of sleep. It has to be close to seven by now, maybe even eight o'clock; stores are closing for the evening and friends are parting ways to go home.

Home. I bring Takao's journal closer to my heart. I can't imagine what's going on at home right now, I didn't even think of them when this madness started. God, I hope everyone's okay, I hope-

Wait a second, what was that?

"Did you see that?"

"See what?" Lancer immediately appears by my side, Archer grudgingly following. I turn and point so I'm more direct with the flicker. "That, over there. See, there it goes again!"

"There what goes again?" Diarmuid's a little frustrated: I feel like a beautifully superior being because of this. I open my mouth to repeat the same stupid thing, but Archer cuts me off.

"That flicker of the lights." As per usual, it's not a question – it's an assertion. I nod and lean a little closer, as if it will help me hone my eyesight a little better. Archer stands at full height and turns further right. "The lights are flickering all around us. About sixteen clicks away, give or take."

"In simpleman's terms, if you may."

"Someone's doing something," I turn to look at Lancer, hesitation in my eyes, "I think it's for our attention, and I don't think its good. There's a lot of panic down there. The lights are only going out for seconds at a time, but people on the street are collecting around them. Whoever's causing this keeps doing it. People will catch on that something's up."

Archer agrees and adds to my point. "The pattern fluctuates, and we are at the center of the activity." He turns back to Lancer, who nods in silent agreement.

So, of course the normal person here has to ask the stupid questions!

"What's the plan?"

"You stay here." Lancer looks down at me with all of the seriousness his luxurious face can muster. "If this is occurring in every direction surrounding us, chances are they know we are within the boundary. I'd be surprised if it wasn't a bounded field of some sort. I'll take to North and South of the building, is this agreeable, Red man?"
Archer hesitates, glancing quickly at me before his twin swords glisten in his ready hands; I almost get the feeling he's looking forward to this, but why was he apprehensive? "I do not want to let this girl out of my sight. I will stay here to protect her while-"

"If only one of us seeks this aggravation out," Lancer's eyes are cool, like a teacher not taking crap from a student, but on a more intense level, if you know what I mean. "Then they will likely recognize our notions. If we divide and act quickly, this will take no longer than fifteen minutes."

Archer stands silently. Its not like he was addressing me after all – I don't get a say in anything. "No longer than fifteen minutes. If anything bad happens, use that shield," He commands, glaring at me. I don't know what to do other than nod, and he leaps out of sight over the edge of the skyscraper.

Diarmuid crouches beside me before he too leaves. He initially reaches to put a hand on my shoulder, but retracts to lean on his red staff with a soft smile. "Please, do not hesitate to attempt contacting us. Protect yourself at all costs – despite what that man may relay, you are of the utmost value in this dire situation. Do you understand?"

Again, I am silent. He stretches up, almost high enough to tame the clouds above, and turns back to me one last time as his feet linger on the edge of the building.

"If… if this mayhem was brought upon your innocent world by my curse… so it shall be, the last time Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, may be summoned forward by this accursed Grail."

.

.

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I don't know if you guys remember this, but in the long moments of Lancer's death, he cursed the Grail.

He wont show it here, but he feels somewhat responsible for whats going on. He'll talk about it later.

(I'm gonna be away from civilization for a while, sorry for the delay that will be coming up. The next chapter's a good one, I promise!)