I do not own Fate/Stay Night nor any other Servants depicted here.

The Final Spirit

Rin and Rider stared at the person tensely, careful not to make any sudden moves. Archer, however...

"Why should we save the boy?" he asked calmly as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, "You know that the War must be kept in secret, don't you? Assassin..."

"You are quite astute," the skull-faced Servant all but confirmed his class, not denying Archer's opinion, "Indeed, the War is to be kept secret. But my Master has some interest in the boy, so I would appreciate it that you save him immediately."

"Then why the..."

"It is to persuade you to stop Archer from interfering," the Servant Assassin interrupted Rider, "You would do anything to protect your Master, would you not?"

Rider clenched his fists tightly as he glared at the hostage taker, then he turned to face Archer and got into a boxing stance. "Looks like I'll be fighting seriously right now," he said, sounding a little more serious, "Sorry Archer, but I gotta protect my Master, so you better let yours take care of the boy. Now."

"Tch, it seems luck is not in my favor today," the red-clad Servant grumbled as a worried Rin turned her attention back on the boy. The black arrow seemed to have mysteriously disappeared while they were taking.

"I hope this works," she was heard muttering as she worked on him, "...reforge the damaged... substitute... restore the heart... If I succeed..." She raised her one hand, dangling a ruby amulet over the boy's chest while having her other hand on it. The ruby began glowing, the light slowly intensifying until a bright flash was issued before it went dark completely.

She took a deep breath and sighed, her arms falling loosely to her side, "I'm tired..." The amulet clattered to the ground. She stared at it for a moment and sighed, "...Forgive me, Father. Your daughter is terribly heartless."

Luvia, annoyed that she was made a hostage, lit up with joy when she realized Shirou was going to survive this ordeal. Nevertheless, she made no untoward moves as not to startle the Servant holding her hostage as to preserve her life.

"My thanks for your sacrifice, Master of Archer," Assassin announced, "Now, the three of you will go to the roof of this building."

"What? Hey! We saved the kid already, so let her go," Rider shouted as he spun around to face him.

"That may be, but I rather have all of you be as far away from him as possible when he reawakens," the skull-faced Servant reasoned, "I also do not want to risk another attack."

"Tch, fine. We will wait on the roof," Archer said resentfully as he went with Rin. Rider looked back at his Master for a moment before following suit.

A few seconds passed by. At most, the boy's faint breathing could be heard, calm and relaxed. Assassin relaxed his hold and drew away his blade from her neck, only keeping a firm hand on her shoulder. He pushed her forward; she complied and the both of them hurried around the corner wordlessly. He pulled and pushed her against the wall, his hand now resting against her throat. With that, he peered around the corner and observed.

The boy awoke.

Rider paced. He was nervous and uneasy. To think he let his guard down and now his Master was being held hostage by Assassin. Rin herself was worried but did not show it; instead, she leaned against the chain-link fence that bordered the roof. Archer though was feeling rather irritated; he had come so close and if not for Assassin, he would have succeeded.

The roof door was pushed open, the metal door slamming against the concrete wall. Luvia half walked, half stumbled out, as if pushed. She quickly gathered herself together and walked calmly to her Servant. A moment later, Assassin stepped out.

"The deed is done," the Servant stated, "The boy survived. He is quite hardy. He even had time to clean up his blood before leaving." Staring at the Tohsaka heir, he continued, "My Master thanks you, Master of Archer."

"I don't suppose your Master would surrender his or her Command Seals as a token of appreciation?" the girl asked disapprovingly, "Are we allowed to leave now or do you wish to get a hold on more hostages and threaten us further?"

"You really shouldn't give him ideas, Little Miss Prim and Proper," Luvia said snidely, "Or do you like being in those positions. Although... it wouldn't really surprise me if you do."

"Luvia..." Rin muttered angrily, her brow twitching a bit, "Let's go Archer."

With a huff, she headed towards the exit, Assassin politely stepping aside. The Servant eyed the remaining two. "I suppose I shall be leaving as well," he said as he disappeared in a burst of darkness.

Luvia frowned and said, "I suppose it is enough for one night. We didn't learn that much, but... it'll do."

She watched as the final Master and Servant pair left the rooftop. With that happening, she finally dismissed the rune, her invisibility flowing off like water. Lancer then leaped off the roof, gracefully landing on ground level. She then made haste to the nearest wall, temporarily changing to spirit form the phase through it, halting on the other side. She then turned to look at her Master, who had finally caught up to her.

"It is futile to chase after me, Mon-keigh," she stated to her tired Master, looking a bit winded but still able to move, "If you wish this so called War to expedite itself, it would be wise to let me guide the events into our favor."

"Lancer, we are supposed to be working together to win this War," Bazett tried to reason with her after settling her breathing, "Not each doing their own thing. Please, come back to the manor and we can discuss this, now that you're..."

"Enough! There is no time," the Servant interrupted, "Today is the day and the destiny is upon us. Death must have its second meeting or nothing shall come to pass." With that, a rune flashed above her in a white flash as she leaped to the air, moving from roof to roof with a purpose.

The enforcer groaned as she reluctantly readied herself for 'catch up' round two.

"Thank you, Assassin."

The Servant in question silently trailed after Archer and his Master. He had seen what the red Servant had done. The shot was made without hesitation and he fully intended to have the boy killed. The question was why...

"You do not need to thank me, Master," he thought back, "When the boy was shot and you screamed his name, I knew I had to do something. I was merely lucky that they arrived when they did."

"Well... just... I really shouldn't have acted like that," his Master replied rather demurely, "Something unexpected like that... I could only just react. I was... taught better... I... I..."

"You feared losing him," the Servant stated. He could sense... imagine her nodding. "I know what it's like to feel loss. Not only that, I have also seen people experience it. I understand. At least, now you know he is safe. So, do not worry," he assured her.

"I... thank you, Assassin."

"My pleasure," he told her as he continued to shadow the pair. "Now let's find out why you shot to kill, Archer," he muttered to himself.

Rin leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes, the tiredness from the night's activities slowly catching up to her. Accompanying that was that nagging sense of guilt that she got from using that pendant. That much power stored in the gem, meant for her emergency use during the War, was all used up in bringing back Emiya Shirou from near death. Oh yes, that nagging feeling, berating her for her misuse. And yet, she felt it was the right thing to do. If he had died, it would have been too much for Sakura and it would be detrimental for the both of them should it happen. The secret partnership they had in place would fail and more than likely, neither of them will get what they want.

When she opened her eyes again, she used them to glare at her unapologetic looking Servant. "Now, what do you have to say for yourself, Archer?" she asked of him.

The Servant, who had his eyes closed and head down in contemplation, responded with, "There was another Servant present."

"...?"

She stared at him for a moment, and then, "It was not Assassin? Where was the other Servant?"

"After shooting the boy, I saw the Servant on the roof of the building," he explained, "It looked nothing like Assassin. If anything, I believe it to be Caster, after having the Servant disappear before my eyes."

"... a possible invisibility spell... that may be so," she mused over this new piece of information. And then, she looked startled, her eyes widening in realization, "What if... no, that Servant must have seen us revive him."

Archer nodded and said, "Yes. And, I am sure that the Servant will most certainly go after him, since the secrecy of this War is in danger."

"And here we are," said Rider as he threw open the doors, feeling relieved, "I suppose you're gonna turn in now?"

Luvia let of a sigh as she closed the door and said, "Well, I guess it would be good to go to sleep. I'm just glad Shirou is alright, though I wish I was the one to save him instead of that Tohsaka."

He suddenly halted, as if remembering something. "Hey Luvia... you know... nobody actually hypnotized the kid..." he said as he creased his brow.

She blinked and stared at him for a moment, trying to come to terms with what he said. And slowly... a smile became etched on her face.

"O ho ho ho, my dear Rin, how forgetful of you," she said rather happily as she began reaching for the door, "I think I shall go and remedy this situation. Let's go Rider. And tomorrow, I shall see the look of defeat on her face. It will be fabulous."

Emerald eyes peered through the darkness... watching. Noel stood atop the lamp post, fully alert and waiting patiently. It had been a long day and rather than sit back and relax at her house, she chose to venture out into the night to try and find a murderous Servant. Hence, there she was, dressed in more normal clothes; that being a plain, dark blue T-shirt, faded dark jeans and a pair of sports shoes.

"Tonight is rather dark," she mused as she leaped to another post, "Thankfully my eyesight is better than most." Pausing to wait and look around, she continued, "I do hope I run into that Servant. Thankfully, I have all week to do this." She was still quite surprised when her superior actually allowed her a week's leave. Then again, she had a lot of sick days stored up since she had a perfect attendance record.

Jumping off the post and onto a roof, her thoughts drifted over to Rin.

"I wonder... how is she doing..." she mulled, pausing her vigilance for a moment of contemplation, "It... it's been a long time since I... no... I can't go and see her. Not after I broke my promise... I wonder if she still remembers me... I wonder if... she kept Mister Panda..."

She shook her head and got her mind in order once more. "No, stop... I have to focus. There is a reason I have to go around at night," she reminded herself, "I have to prevent more needless deaths... even if they are supposed to be criminals... they are criminals with families to return to. I cannot be lax. If I... if I should meet Rin, then so be it. I'll just... think of something when the time comes." It was too early for it though... and she had not forgiven herself yet. She needed more time for that to happen. So... not yet...

And then it came. A flare of power caught her attention, in an area she knew well enough.

"Emiya's house?" the startled former Servant thought, "But... there is no way that he would be getting involved. Unless... that Servant strikes there?" Disbelief remained on her senses, her body hesitating to react, until two more wellsprings of power came forth. "What!? More!? But that would mean... no..." she shuddered at the thought. Somehow, the young man caught the attention of one, and then the spike in power alerted two more. She had to get there immediately! To save him and stop a potentially major battle from happening.

With that, she leaped from roof to roof, hoping for two things; to reach there on time... and to not meet Rin that night.

Shirou collapsed to the floor in the main room. He lay there facing the ceiling, his breathing heavy but his nerves finally calming down. Yet his chest still hurt.

"... So it was true that I was almost killed..." he was able to hash out, but inwardly he knew otherwise. He did die there and then, and yet thanks to some unknown stranger, he was still alive.

"... I wonder who it was. I should at least thank them," he muttered, only to gasp out in pain when a spike of pain went through his recovering heart. Accompanying the moans and groans, a wave of nausea washed over him as he tried to get up to a sitting position.

"... Damn, I'll be having nightmares about this for a while," he grunted as the wave of pain finally settled down to a dull throbbing. Having an arrow to the chest was certainly not very pleasant.

"... All right, I'm starting to calm down," he said to himself after taking a few breaths, thankful for his nightly training, "So, about those guys..." Trying to figure out who those strangers at the school were... it was mind boggling... then again... "... No, that's not the problem..." His brow furrowed in thought. It did seem that he stumbled into something that was out of his league. The two men that were fighting and the mysterious deaths that had been happening recently...

"If Father was still alive..." he began but then he shook his head as he berated himself, "... Idiot. I've already decided that I would do what I can, even when I don't understand."

Suddenly, he was jarred out of his thoughts when the bell that hung from the ceiling rang. And then the lights suddenly went out.

"A burglar... at a time like this?" he asked aloud, but a few seconds later he inwardly corrected himself. Someone else was here... possibly connected to what he saw earlier. The timing was too close for it to be a simple burglar. Whatever it was, he didn't want this encounter to end like it did earlier. No. He had better prepare himself. Now... what could he use...

Lancer was a picture of calm when she watched the human feel around for something. Then, she felt a twinge of amusement when he picked up what seemed to be a rolled up piece of metal.

"Does the Mon-keigh honestly wish to fight me off with that?" the Servant asked herself when she watched him do something to it. It looked like he was imbuing it with something, as it gave off a peculiar sheen for a moment or so when he was done with it.

"I suppose now is the time to play my part," she mused as she came out of concealment, "Even if I wonder why this one had been chosen..."

"I truly cannot understand as to why they brought you back," she said, her echoing voice announcing her presence to the young Mon-keigh. The one in question seemed to be startled, and upon the sight of her spear, scrambling away from her before getting to his feet and into a defensive stance. "You have have the potential to be great," she continued, noting his confusion and tenseness, "Thus it is more beneficial for me to cast you from the pool of Masters in the War, as to guarantee my victory." This spawned even more confusion and yet she could see him slowly inching away from her, in the direction of the room's exit. "Up close, he seems insignificant. Yet, to be the one that has to come close to death twice and live, for better or for worse, he will change the course of this War," she thought as she made her observations, "How, I cannot tell, since it has yet to be seen the type of decisions he must make... And now the time for action has come."

In one smooth motion, Lancer suddenly swiped her spear horizontally, keeping the spear dangerously close to the young human male. He didn't dodge, but was able to swing his metal tube up and deflect the spear point off course. She tilted her head to the side almost slightly; the attack wasn't too lethal and yet still fast enough to be a blur to his eyes, and still he was able to deflect it, even just a bit. Perhaps the tip of the iceberg of this one's potential for power.

He suddenly made a dash for the door. She quickly spun and brought the spear down in his path, making him stop abruptly. It was swung forward, striking him in the gut and pushing him back. Deftly bringing it back, she stepped forward for a stab. He was able to deflect it again, only this time it wasn't enough; the point was able to graze his shoulder, drawing blood. She swung twice more, each time she had it barely touching him, but he would be able to parry each one as if on instinct. He then suddenly charged at her and hit her with the metal tube. She allowed it, seeing that such a feeble construct would barely do anything to her wraithbone armor. She could sense his disbelief as he started at the bent rod in his hands.

"Your kind always seem to go against fate, Mon-keigh," she stated as she pulled out a bit of her power, a mere drop in the sea, and used it to fling him outside. He smashed through the paper thin walls of the door and landed beyond that in a heap, crashing through the large glass sliding doors that separated the hallway and the garden. She calmly went after him, only pausing to phase through the undamaged walls via spirit form. The young human got up and hastily swung out behind him; a good precaution, but such a thing done blindly would not even touch her unless she lets it. With a simple gesture, another drop was used, this time causing an explosion of power right in front of the young one's body. He flew through the air, his body traveling long and far before striking a secondary building off the side of the clearing. He crashed into the wall, bouncing off the canopy that was over the entrance before dropping to the cold, hard earth.

She calmly walked towards him as he struggled to overcome the pain he was put through. In a rare display of tenacity not always seen amongst his kind, he was able to drag himself over to the door and slide it open, hobbling inside the building. Lancer was in no hurry; in this instance, one could equate her to a patient hunter, one who had already cornered her prey and had shut off all avenue of escape. There was no need to hurry, of that she was sure. As if having completed a leisurely stroll through the gardens, she calmly walked through the open doorway. He stood there shakily in a messy state, holding a metal bar in front of him. She took a step forward. He lunged in a feeble attempt to stab her. She dismissed his bravado, turning aside to let the improvised weapon pass her while slamming the shaft of the spear into his gut. She then sent the flat of spear point slamming into his head, knocking him down. She did not need to use much force, for it was only a simple tap. It was enough, though, to have made a small cut that let blood trickle down the side of his face. His breathing was heavy yet his eyes, having stayed locked on her the moment she stepped inside, remained so defiantly stubborn. There was fire in this one.

"There is much you have yet to learn, Mon-keigh," she admonished him, like talking to a child, "Yet, by your actions, you will never have the time to do so." She raised her weapon, having the point barely brushing on the skin of his forehead, "Because of your actions, your life is forfeit. Perhaps if you had been more careful and aware, it may not have come to this." She raised her weapon high, her intent was clear as she aimed for his head, "Farewell." The point fell, just as she felt a surge of power coming from somewhere inside the building. Still, the point sped to its destination...

...only for it to clash against another weapon. With that, Lancer leaped backwards, landing outside the building. Her vision went back inside, noting the newly summoned Servant, especially her hidden weapon. She could sense great power coming from it and felt that she would be the most difficult of opponents in the coming future. Still, what she came to do here is done.

"And so it has come to pass. My work here is complete... for now," she whispered in her mind before she disappeared, not only shifting to spirit form but also concealing herself from the senses of others meant to be like her. It was time to retrieve her so-called Master and retreat.

The pale moonlight shone upon her form, the clouds suddenly being pulled away. It gave her an ethereal presence which can only be described in one word. Beautiful. Shirou didn't know what to think. One minute, he was facing death for the second time of the day, something that riled him up so, something that made him angrily and defiantly wish to live. And in the next minute, she appeared in knightly glory, driving back that spear user. With that done, the girl turned to him and asked, her voice filled with determination, "I, Servant Saber, have come forth in response to your summons. I ask of you. are you my Master?"

Commentary:-

Summoning is complete. All the Servants have been summoned and the War can begin in earnest. With the fiasco of the school over, everyone goes home and expects a quiet night... Nope. And now, Saber has to contend with more than one Servant, right after Lancer makes her exit. Plus! Whether she wants to or not, Noel has to meet Rin. Not exactly the best of circumstances to meet, but then again, when has life ever been fair? Everyone else blames the Root, or blames Zelretch. Here, we can all blame Tzeentch, since everything goes according to his plans.

Ladon's Avatar succeeded in guessing Assassin's identity. Well done sir! All that's left is Caster and Rider. It's a shame nobody could guess who they are... I guess they'll have to wait until the stat sheets are out. And... I'm guessing it will be quite soon. Please be patient?

So, until then, please read and review, would you kindly?