Naomi was putting the dishes up when the air to her right shimmered. She turned to ask what Lancer wanted and choked on her own spit. She stumbled back at the wall of silver armor blocking her in the shotgun style kitchen. She grabbed a kitchen knife but didn't get the chance to lift it.

Gawain surged toward her and put a hand to her mouth. The cold metal of his gauntlet bit into her face and her heart hammered in her chest. "Listen. Please. It's urgent."

Her back stiffened and she braced on the counters on either side. She was leaning so far back she was threatening to fall. Her eyes went wide, and his serious look made her pause. He had no weapon drawn and her brain caught up to the fact he wasn't immediately attacking. Nor looked like he was about to.

His eyes were shifting frantically, and his brown pulled taught.

"What are you doing here?" Lancer's weapon tapped the armor protecting Gawain's back. Lancer's words were laced with a dangerous threat and his red eyes were glowing.

Gawain released Naomi's mouth and she held up her hands. Her kitchen knife laid abandoned on the counter. "Hold up. Wait a second. What's so urgent that you have to barge into my apartment?"

"Thank you for hearing me out. My lord. He has gone and done something reckless, and I am powerless to stop him."

"And you think I can? He's never listened to a word I've had to say."

Gawain kneeled before her, and Lancer backed up a step but kept a stance that would allow him to thrust his spear into Gawain in a flash.

"Lord Edward has decided to go to the park by himself and plans to be kidnapped. He forbade me from following by using a Command Seal. There is nothing I can do until he summons me with a second Seal. I implore you to stop him."

Naomi wanted to scoff. Edward's arrogance was going to kill him. "He doesn't stand a chance without a Servant." It wasn't her problem. This was a good thing for her and Lancer.

"I regret asking this of you. I know you and my Master don't see eye-to-eye, and he has done terrible things to you. But there is no one else I would trust going to."

"It doesn't sound like that brat wants anyone's help if he's forbid his own Servant from doing anything. Sometimes there's no helping stupid." Lancer said flippantly.

Part of Naomi wanted to let Edward rot while her consciousness hammered her with the guilt she knew would follow if she left him to his fate. Edward was a dick, but she didn't wish for him to be liquified.

"Fine. I'll go and try to knock some sense into him. I'll let Janet know to meet us there. She'd be decent backup. Saber can try to find Li if he's still hanging around the park." Naomi whipped out her phone and sent a hurried text to Janet. "Saber might see and lend a hand if she sees Edward being abducted, but I can't guarantee anything."

Lancer clicked his tongue. "I guess the brat will get help whether he wants it or not."

Gawain bowed his head further. "Thank you. I am in your debt."

"Save it. I still don't like him." Naomi said.

Naomi couldn't believe she was doing this. Lancer set her on her feet and she stood next to Mayer Park's playground. Gawain had to stay back in the parking lot due to the restrictions imposed on him by the Command Seal.

She opted to not use her car since traveling by Lancer was faster. She could tell Lancer didn't approve of helping Edward, but he hadn't objected.

Saber stood next to them in her Servant clothes and was looking out into the darkness. She had met them on arrival and said she hadn't seen Li in a while.

The wind rustled and a blur of green fell between Naomi and Saber.

"Stop yanking on my shirt." Archer groused. He was holding Janet bridal style then set the teenager down.

"You are the worst form of transportation. I can't believe you just picked me up and took off. I was going to ride my bike!"

"Bikes are too slow. You said you wanted to get here fast."

Janet turned defiantly away from him with an upturned nose. Her angry expression morphed into giddiness at seeing Gawain and Lancer.

"Hey there little girl. Looking spiffy." Lancer said.

"Little?" Janet puffed up. "I put on a battle outfit, and you still say that?"

"Are you actually trying to seduce him?" Archer's droopy eyes showed pure annoyance. "Seriously quit trying. It's embarrassing."

Janet turned bright red, and Naomi couldn't stop herself from snickering.

"What the fuck Archer? I can't just dress up to look nice? Because I like it?"

"No one with a shred of self-respect would look like that." Archer gave Janet's short skirt and tight-fitting shirt a disapproving glance. She wore large bracelets and a choker to compete her ensemble.

Janet's mouth fell open in anger.

"Guys," Naomi raised her voice. "Focus. Forget about the clothing."

Janet crossed her arms and looked away with a 'humph'. "Where is this Ed guy?"

"Guess," Naomi clipped. "We should split up and look for him. The Servants can cover more ground than us. Lancer, Gawain. Spread out to see if they're close" She asked the two Servants. "Saber, stay with us. It's harder to call you back if we need your backup."

Naomi didn't mention that part of making Saber stay was because she wasn't going to try and do things alone. She needed a Servant at her side incase Caster found them before the others. Or Archer suddenly turned on her. She still trusted Saber more than another Master's Servant. She was glad to have Saber around right now.

Lancer gave Saber an unfriendly grin that served as an unspoken warning, and Saber nodded at him. "On it." Lancer was gone in a blur.

"That is a decent enough plan. I will look the other direction. Gawain jogged in the opposite direction of Lancer.

"Go with them Archer." Janet said when her Servant didn't move. "See if you can find that Ed. Or better, Fuller."

"Yeah, I know. You girls have fun waiting here." Archer vanished. Actually vanished. He didn't disappear into spirit form. He just…wasn't there anymore.

"Let's check the woods." Janet started marching off.

Naomi wanted to follow, but thought it was more logical to stay in the brightly lit parking lot and wait. But she hated the idea of doing nothing. At least Saber was with them.

Janet hesitated as she looked at the dark woods. "I have to find my friend's killer." She straightened and marched toward the woods with a stiff back.

Naomi gave Saber a glancing look, but the Servant was as unreadable as ever. Naomi wasn't sure if she was looking for disapproval or not. Guidance maybe. Naomi still didn't feel that comfortable giving commands or trying to corral others.

Naomi clicked on her flashlight and led the way toward the river that cut through the middle of the park. The water looked black as tar at night. Flood lights from the parking lot were too far to reach the river and the trail lights were dim. Many of them were broken or a very dull yellow. She could see why this was a popular place for people to go missing.

Naomi looked down both sides of the jogging path. One went to the forest trail, the other went for a mile down the river to a bridge in the distance. Someone who was looking for victims would want to lie in wait where they couldn't be seen.

"Maybe I should ask Archer to come with us." Janet's voice warbled and her footsteps slowed.

Naomi's adrenaline began to race through her veins. A small part of it was fear. Some apprehension with a dose of excitement. She wasn't sure how to take the foreign mix of feelings. Her sensible side told her life-or-death situations should not be fun or exciting. That they shouldn't be walking through the dark woods. Yet she found her lip muscles warring to smile. Maybe it was nerves making her feel funky. She clamped down on the inside of her cheeks to still the twitching. She would definitely be more spooked without Janet making tons of noise that sounded like a tire letting all the air out.

"You can call him back if you want. And have him escort us back out. We shouldn't be in here." Naomi felt a bit better not having Archer around. It gave her an advantage.

"No! I'm going to find Fuller. YOU can go back if you want. Go be a coward." Her angry confidence turned into a shriek. "It's got me! Just leave me to die!"

Naomi snapped the branch that had snagged Janet's hair. "Try to have quieter freakouts."

"Sorry," Janet whispered and desperately combed her hair down. "Seriously though, maybe he should come."

Naomi tried to convince her not to. "Chill. They're always right there. I wouldn't be surprised if he's in spirit form right next to you. I almost think they can teleport sometimes."

"Archer is not present," Saber interjected, and Naomi elbowed her.

Saber gave her a confused look.

"I guess you're right. Servants are damn really fast and have super hearing. Freaking Archer is always up my butt whenever I so much as get a hang nail. And I know he was outside the house," Janet said.

Naomi couldn't help but smile. Maybe Archer didn't despise Janet as much as he let on.

A twig snapped. The moon waned with pitiful light, hardly cutting through the chokingly black forest. Naomi guessed the sound had to have been an animal. Birds and squirrels were everywhere in the park. Deer was also a possibility, but they were a rare sight. Her flashlight swept through the woods, cutting a weak beam through the branches. Nothing moved and the sound didn't happen again.

Around a bend, a branch of the river flowed through the woods like a creek. A small bridge made of two planks met the end of the trail, curving the path back through the forest. The aged wood bowed and creaked under her feet, nearly touching the water underneath.

"Something is amiss here," Saber's red eyes swept the forest. "I sense the essence of magic is stronger at this location."

As Naomi passed over the bridge, a foul stench wafted up from the river not two feet below. She crinkled her nose and covered it with her hand. The smell wasn't unlike sewage. An unpleasant memory bubbled up from the recent past. Caster's monster had smelled the same way.

"Does magic have a smell?"

"Ugh, what is that?" Janet loudly whispered. "Smells like stank."

"No. It is more like feeling electricity," Saber said. "The smell could be a result of whatever the magic is."

"Crap," Naomi was about to flag Lancer about something being weird at their location when a pop-popping sound made them both freeze. Passing her light over the source, Naomi saw the river bubbling with a tar-like substance. The water had always been greenish in color, but it had never looked so disgusting.

The bubbling became more violent and increased in volume. Naomi stepped off the bridge onto the other side and shined her light along the riverbed. In both directions, the water was erupting.

"Holy shit!" Janet screeched.

Saber's necklace glowed, illuminating her face and arms with blue light, and her tri-colored sword materialized her hands.

Sharp black spikes sprung from the tar, seeking to impale anything that stepped on it. Naomi stumbled back and barely avoided being impaled by twenty or so pointed ends that erupted up from the creek. Saber cut tree spikes in half in strikes so quick they were a blur. The ooze in the river pulled together and a disgustingly familiar monster began to form.

Naomi turned on her heels. "Run!"

The golem roared behind her and she knew it wouldn't be long before it gave chase. There was no way Saber could kill the creature on her own.

"Lancer! The slime monster is here!"

"I'm coming. Don't do anything reckless," he rushed out.

"No promises."

"I'm serious."

Loud crashing and another roar signaled the golem's charge. It must have been made up of the bodies of people Fuller had taken from the park. And it was driven by a false Servant's core. The unnatural thing gave her the willies.

Saber swung her sword at the monster and her blade went right through it. The monster didn't react, and Saber stepped back. "Your assessment to run for now is tactically sound."

Naomi felt prana being called from her. Likely from Lancer.

The golem was faster than she remembered. Naomi chanced a backwards glance and saw a ball of black sludge flinging itself through the trees ahead of the creature. She poured power to her feet, lighting up the runes in her shoes. Her paced picked up as she more leapt than ran. She grabbed the back of Janet's shirt and dragged the teenager along. It was good to know she had enough use of her circuits back for a simple strengthening spell. It hadn't even hurt.

The exit to the forest was in sight and Naomi didn't dare veer off the path. Things were looking bad. Despite her burst of speed, the monster was gaining ground.

Saber hacked at the creature but showed no interest in her. It didn't slow down or give her a second look.

A sludge arm lashed out and took down a tree on her left. Naomi tried and failed to put more speed into her sprinting legs. Her lungs were already screaming, and Janet was heavy resistance.

The golem made another ungodly sound and its arm struck out again. This time, it curved around like a sickle and blocked their path. Naomi skidded and fell on her side from stopping too abruptly and dropped Janet and the flashlight in the process. The arm pulled in, closing in on her to draw her towards the beast's open maw. Her heart hammered in her chest and her eyes widened.

"Oh fuck!" Janet screamed. "Archer!"

Red flashed before she finished her sentence, and the blackness was cut in half. Naomi was grabbed around the middle and she was yanked off the ground.

Saber's sword cut the limb in half a split second later.

Naomi silently thanked Lancer's speed. Looking up at her savior who was carrying her over their shoulder, she was shocked to see long, curly hair black hair instead of a long blue ponytail.

The person landed heavily and nearly threw Naomi and Janet off their shoulders. Naomi stumbled back; her arms spread with caution. Janet screamed again and tumbled to the ground. Sharp orange-yellow eyes watched them impatiently.

The woman was tall and stood regally. She wore high boots and was dressed in a gothic red dress. A stone rested above her breasts that shone with mana. It looked just like Saber's.

"Thanks," Naomi said cautiously through labored breaths. "Who are you?" Then she corrected her question to a better one. "Who are you with?"

"Woah. Are you vampire?" Janet asked. "Your outfit is awesome."

The woman sneered at Janet. "I can take you to Fuller. Or the beast can melt your flesh. Choose wisely."

"Step away from them." Saber pointed her sword at them but had to turn her attention to the monster that tried striking them with its limbs again. Saber cut the sludge.

"Yes!" Janet bounced on her feet. "Take us to him right now."

"Wait," Naomi didn't like how fast this was moving. This Servant wasn't on their side and Lancer wasn't here yet. What was taking him so long?

The false Servant didn't take heed to Naomi's words and grabbed the both of them seconds after the words left Janet's mouth.

Naomi quickly spoke to Lancer through the bond. "Lancer! We're being dragged to Fuller by some false Servant. Stupid Janet-"

"Shit." He snapped. "I'm tailing. Not far behind."

Her circuits beat like her racing heart, and she started feeling hot. Lancer was draining an enormous amount of prana all at once. She wanted to ask what he was doing but didn't have the brain space for it.

"Saber!" Naomi shouted.

Saber whipped her head around and gripped her sword tight. She gave chase.

Naomi couldn't see up from down and felt like she was going to barf.

The false Servant stopped behind a strip mall. Rows of maintenance doors and sealed truck bays gleamed gray in the streetlights. Saber was nowhere to be seen. The false Servant had somehow lost her.

"He's inside." The woman pointed a service door. "Go on in. He's waiting for you."

Naomi cautiously stood back while Janet dashed for the doorknob and vigorously jiggled the handle. Naomi was hoping Lancer or Saber would make it before they walked right into what was probably a trap.

"The door's locked!" Janet's eyes went wide, looking at something behind Naomi. "Look out!"

Naomi turned toward the Servant when she heard a rustle of fabric just in time to see her raise bronze staff that hit the back of her neck.

The scent of blood cut through Naomi's blurry vision. She cracked her eyelids. Her body shook with exertion and her breaths were labored. The world came into focus.

A man stared up at her with brown eyes softened by familiarity. Blood trickled from his upturned mouth and a red spear was sticking out of his chest.

"Gáe Bolg is a glory given to only the most gifted warriors. In that brilliant hall of learning, you were our pride." The stranger held a fond sadness as Naomi pulled the spear out of his heart.

He fell and she caught him before he could hit the grass. All around them, a field of bodies and fighting armies roared in her ears. Sweat stung her eyes and her body hurt from overuse.

Naomi felt a cutting sorrow deeper than anything she had known strike through her chest. It felt like the spear had run her through instead of the stranger before her.

Her vocals shook but the voice wasn't her own. It was deep and masculine. Laced with anguish. "I've lost something greater than my honor. Ferdiad!" Lancer's voice howled from her, screaming to the sky for the injustice that had been done.

Naomi felt the dream as if she had lived it. Her heart ached but it slowly faded as she came back into herself. That had been another memory of Lancer's. Of someone else he had killed despite loving them. Her chest ached differently at realization.

Her eyes cracked open to stacked wooden crates. Cold concrete pressed into her cheek and her head was killing her. She tried to move her hands under her but found them bound behind her back. Naomi squirmed to look behind her and sucked in a breath.

Caster was bent over, staring at her with an unnerving smile.

"Awake, awake. Yes, she's awake." He tilted his head all the way to the side.

"Master will be very pleased that I have brought back his friends."

Lancer's erring shifted and shined against Naomi's shoulder as Caster sprung to his feet and disappeared in a flurry of energy. She used the strength in her legs to roll into a sitting position, thankful that he hadn't obliterated her right then and there.

"You?" The female Servant that brought Naomi and Janet to the facility scoffed. "I did all the work you fool."

"Oh, you're still here. Why, why? Master wants to see you, yes."

The woman uncrossed her arms and started walking up the cellar stairs. "Fine. Even that cretin's company is better than yours."

She slammed the door shut with more force than necessary.

"Nasty, nasty woman," Caster declared. "Will be nothing more than a core soon. I can't wait." He rubbed his hands together. "You wait too. Master will see you soon." He followed the false Servant up the stairs and was gone.

The sour smell of wine and beer stung Naomi's nose, and she shivered in the cool room. Wine barrels were laid on their sides and stacked on top of each other. Fancy labels in French that Naomi couldn't read were printed on the lids. She glanced to her left and narrowed her eyes.

Edward was tied to a chair. His head was limp and hanging close to his lap. Janet was still lying on the floor with her back to Naomi. Naomi stood and walked over to Edward.

"Hey!" She whispered harshly and kicked the leg of his chair.

Edward groaned and his head tilted to the side. She kicked his chair again and thought the flimsy leg might snap. She hoped it would. "Wake up! It's your fault I'm in here so get up and smell the roses." She hissed through her teeth, trying not to bring Caster back down the stairs.

"Wake up!" She slammed her foot down on Edward's and he howled.

Edward's head snapped back. His eyes were glassy and unfocused. Naomi could see a drying trickle of blood coming from his hairline.

"Animal. You're not supposed to be here," he slurred.

"Neither are you. Gawain came to me for help because you're too stupid."

"Gawain did?" He blinked hazily.

Edward recomposed himself then looked more pleased than anything to see her. "You still have two seals, don't you?"

Naomi sneered. "None of your business."

"Hang onto it until I give the word. We can summon our servants in an instant."

Naomi scowled. "Why did you waste seals on this?" She didn't want to summon Lancer down here when she didn't know what might be blocking their way out. "You don't get to tell me what to do with them."

Speaking of. "Lancer. Where are you?"

His voice was tight. "I could ask you the same thing."

She was relieved that he was close enough to communicate. He couldn't be more than a couple miles away.

"I'm with Saber, Archer. We're looking for you guys in the city." He paused as if distracted, then said, "How are you holding up? You blanked out there for a while."

"I'm fine for now. That false Servant knocked me out. She was dressed in a gothic red dress and has some bronze staff thing. Caster has Edward, Janet, and I held hostage in a wine cellar."

His words were tight and focused. "I can sense your general direction, but something is distorting the bond. Can you see anything that would give away your location?"

Naomi looked around. "Maybe I'm under a restaurant or bar." She ground her teeth in frustration. "That doesn't narrow it down at all. I don't know if that's right. I was at a strip center. I don't know which one.

"How is the brat doing? Archer is making it hard to concentrate and talking my ear off."

"She's passed out. Fine, I guess. Unless she got a concussion. I don't know."

There was a lapse in conversation, and she was sure Lance was talking to Archer.

"Lancer?"

"What is it?"

"Why did you have to…kill Ferdiad? You didn't want to." She tried her best to sound unjudgmental. She had felt what Lancer did at the time. pain had been on par, if not greater, than when he killed his son.

"We happened to be on opposite sides of a war. Bad orders always lead to tragic ends…It was in the past. Don't worry about it. Just focus on now.."

The door to the cellar creaked open and Fuller strolled down the stairs. He was adorned in a white button up shirt and trousers. He was starkly boring in attire comparison to his Servant. His impatient smile was directed at her and Edward.

"I never expected to capture other Masters. Especially not you two. You're too smart, my friends. Tell me. Why did you let my creation capture you?"

Edward tilted his head up and back. "Obviously because it was the fastest way to get to you. You're irritatingly elusive."

Naomi wanted to kick his chair and send him flying. Now was not the time to be a goading snob.

"I can't say that logic is wrong. But it was foolish. Two girls came running after you and now all three of you are defenseless and without your Servants. I could end three Masters at once right here. How nice."

"I did not come running for his sorry ass," Naomi said a bit too quickly. "I'm here to win the War."

She had technically come running for Edward, but she didn't want to admit it.

Fuller held his hands out in front of him, palms facing each other. Blue energy crackled between his fingers and formed a hovering ball. The energy condensed then rapidly expanded throughout the room and disappeared through the walls and ceiling. The space crackled with blue tendrils of magic before dissipating. He smirked.

"A barrier?" Edward's face fell.

"A bounded field. If your servants manage to locate you, they won't be able to get in. Only I can remove it."

"We'll just have to kill you," Edward said matter of fact.

Naomi was a bit disturbed that she didn't disagree.

"The barrier isn't tied to my life force so that would hardly work. It's bound to the souls I have collected. You will have to destroy them to bring it down."

Light shimmered next to Fuller and Caster formed at the bottom of the stairs. The servant summoned his giant scissors and toyed with the blades between his fingers. He cocked his head at them. "My Master has created quite the work of art." His eyes turned to Fuller. "Don't you think they should take a peak at your work in progress?"

Fuller put his hands behind his back and stood straight. "I believe they should. After all, what kind of art isn't shared? Show them Caster. Give them a taste of what is to come."

Caster bowed and backed up to one of the stacked wine barrels. "Behold."

"W-wha?" Janet rolled about on the ground, groaning. "My head hurts ugh."

Using one hand, Fuller ripped the lid off a side laying barrel. He threw the lid like a Frisbee. It whizzed by Naomi and Edward's head and shattered against the wall behind them.

Janet screamed and sat up with a jolt. "The hell! You!" She glared daggers at Fuller.

Janet jumped to her feet but paused when a sickly green liquid poured out of the barrel, releasing a stench of formaldehyde. Inside the barrel was a woman. Naked and curled into a fetal position. She wasn't breathing.

Naomi turned away, dry heaving from the smell, and swore she saw a body ridden battlefield flash before her eyes. A battlefield she had never visited.

"Are you creating another putrid monster? I would hardly call that art." Edward crinkled his nose in disgust.

Janet quelled at the sight of the dead woman. All the fire and hatred she had for Fuller took a backseat to her fear.

"Art comes in many forms. Viktor created works of art from human flesh. I expended on his processes."

"I thought you were a golem crafter but you're actually a necromancer. No. You use both crafts but you're a necromancer first," Edward deduced.

Fuller shrugged. "I like to think of myself as an artist of the dead."

"You killed my friend!" Janet pulled against her restraints and stumbled up onto her knees. "I'm going to fucking kill you!"

Fuller sighed. "You have a foul mouth young lady. Your parents would be ashamed. You fail to see the beauty of my work. You might appreciate it more if you became a part of it."

"As future Clock Tower Lord, I refuse." Edward spat.

Fuller snorted in amusement. "I'm sure you've been groomed to believe that. You're no better than any other magi and I doubt you'll win the Grail."

Edward jerked against his constraints. His eyes were murderous. "How dare you. When I get out of here I will take your head to the Mage Association."

"The Mage Association won't help a Clock Tower wannabe. It sounds to me like you were sent here as an Enforcer by the Mage Association. They wanted you out of their sight and to do something useful while being absent."

Edward's voice shook and slowly raised in volume. "I'm from a prestigious family! I have every right. The upbringing, the powerful magi blood! I am not a simple Enforcer! I am the Overseer!"

"You keep telling yourself you deserve what you haven't earned. What you haven't created with your own two hands. The creature you met in the school was a gross failure. A useful failure, but a failure none the less. I was in the process of creating the creature of my dreams when you two spectacularly destroyed my lab.

"You've been summoning more fake servants." Naomi said. "Are they cores to drive your golems?" She wanted to hear it from him.

"Of course, I have. I have a special opportunity with the Grail being active. I can somewhat draw from its summoning ritual and use its Servants as cores. And I suspect my creations have been falling apart because I've been using everyday people's bodies. Their corpses don't have the magical potency of magi. Perhaps one or two magi in the mix will make it work. Three is even better. It gives the added benefit of knocking three Masters out of the game." Fuller smiled to himself, extremely happy with the situation.

"That's not going to happen," Edward spat. "As the Observer, I deem you too dangerous to continue the Grail War. Caster!" Edward glared at the Caster Servant. "By my Command Seals and authority of the Grail War, I order you to restrain your Master and release me."

Caster's face skewed up in fright, then. Nothing happened.

"W-what? Why isn't it working!" Edward wailed and slammed his arm in the wooden beam he was tied to. "Why aren't they working! Obey me!"

Fuller grabbed Edward's arm and yanked his sleeve up. All the Command Seals Edward used to have. They were gone.

"Heh," Fuller chuckled. "All your precious seals. Gone."

Horror twisted Edward's face. "Where did they go?" He whispered, his voice cracking.

"It looks like your privileges have been revoked. Now you're just another Master. Ah, too bad. The magic in those Command Seals would have made my next golem glorious. Maybe the Grail knew that. But I'm used to setbacks and not getting successes handed to me."

Edward's face contorted in horror. "Why are they gone?" His voice rose in panic. "I followed the Grail War's rules!"

Fuller shrugged. "No one knows how exactly the Grail works. I assume it decided you weren't worthy." Fuller breathed in deeply and grinned. "Caster. Get Camilla to come down, would you?"

"Ohh, it's time for that? Yes, yes. I'll go fetch her."

Naomi's stomach dropped. They were about to make another golem.