Fate/Impetus (An AU Fate quest)(On Hiatus)

[IKnowNothing]

[X] Get out of the Car, once you're outside Saber can get to you.

-[X] Tell him about your little Assassin issue via mental link as you do so

--[X] All of it, especially the parts about getting stabbed

As the knife edged closer to your throat you quickly rack your brain for options. Something, anything to get out of this alive. What you came up with was...nothing. There was nothing you could do without Assassin slitting your throat like paper. He wanted you to get out of the car, but that would make you the easiest target for Berserker.

But Saber was also out there as well. With his Guardian Knight skill, there was a chance he could get the two of you out of here. So with that in mind, you grit your teeth and do what Assassin told you to do. After a quick click the seat belt slides to your side allowing you to get out. You move your hand to the door handle and the red eyes of Assassin are joined by a glowing white smile "You're doing wonderfully. Now, if you would continue?"

You shake slightly, the fear and disgust of the situation hitting you. You're about to open the door when a thought occurs to you. You couldn't use magic, Command Seals were right out but Assassin couldn't hear what goes inside your head. His voice was reaching your head but that wasn't the same as reading your mind (you hoped), which meant that you could still talk to Saber. He needed to know what was going on, right now!

Please let Assassin be unable to hear this.

<Saber!> you scream in your head.

<What is it Sigyn?> Saber asks, his mental voice not at all discouraged that you were distracting him from fighting Berserker. <I sense your fear, are you in danger?>

You slowly open the door to the car, you had a part to keep up after all <Yes, Assassin has a knife at my throat.> You respond as you start to step out of the car <He's going to make me run into the fight and get ripped apart by Berserker. If I don't do what he asks, he'll kill me, slowly by the way he talks.>

Saber was silent for a few moments while you stepped out into the street <Saber, you can get to me fast enough to get away from Berserker and Assassin, right?>

When Saber didn't say anything the fear in you grew to even greater heights <Saber?>

An explosion of force rang out, stopping any conversation from happening between you and your servant. The explosion brought out a gust of wind that forces you to cover your eyes from the dust and rock. When you didn't feel any more wind you open your eyes and you see Saber and Berserker.

Saber looks completely fine, there wasn't a wound anywhere on his body. Not even a scratch was on his armor. Berserker however, had clearly seen better days. Its armor was broken and cut in several places and black blood flowed from the wounds. Despite the grievous wounds it was raging just as fast and just as strong. It swung its sword arms in wide, crazy arcs that Saber had little trouble dodging. He retreated back a few steps to allow both servants a chance to catch their breath, so to speak.

Saber glances back at you for a second and then his attention turns back to Berserker, pretending like he didn't notice you getting out of the car. You feel something on your back, it felt like a hand but nothing was behind you. It kept prodding you on but you didn't feel any presence behind you. So this was the famed Presence Concealment of the Assassin class.

You glance backward and again, nothing was there but the prodding continues. You slowly take a step towards Berserker and Saber, fast enough to play the part, but slow enough for Saber and you to come up with something.

Another step forward and still no word from Saber. Berserker roars again and being so close to the sound makes you flinch. The dark servant charges Saber again and the two go into a fury of close ranged blows and strikes.

Another prod from Assassin. You grit your teeth slightly, they were starting to get really annoying! You're already marching to your death what more does this servant want!?!

<Sigyn.>

<Anything?> You ask, the situation wasn't getting any more desperate.

Another shockwave rings out as Saber dodges another of Berserker's blow that shook the ground. You jump back on pure reflex and the hand of Assassin pushes you forward causing you to stumble towards the battle. You catch a glimpse of Saber deflecting Berserker sword swing before delivering a punch to the servant's helm sending it flying backwards.

<I have a plan.>

You perk up, finally some good news! <I'm all ears.>

<Come closer to the battle, so close that Berserker could strike you down with barely a swing.>

<...>

<...>

<...>

<Saber, are you sure that's a plan that get us both out of here alive?>

Was Saber really serious? That plan sounded like something a madman would come up with, it would take one to pull it off as well!

A moment of silence passes <Yes.> Saber responds, his mental voice devoid of any sarcasm.

It took all of your self control not to groan, or laugh or do anything that indicated you were talking to Saber. Assassin had to still be behind you so you couldn't do anything but at the moment that wasn't a very good reason to keep quiet.

The only thing you risk doing is shake your head. It served the dual purpose of expressing your confusion and act like a scared fool to Assassin. The second act wasn't to hard to pull off thankfully.

<Ok, so how does this plan get us out of this situation?>

<Simple.>

Saber rolls to the side of Berserker and cuts a deep gash into its arm. It roars again and tries to attack but Saber was to far away from it to do any damage.

<As you edge closer, Assassin waits for the right opportunity to leave your side in order to escape the fury of Berserker.>

Another block, and another shower of sparks erupts between Saber and Berserker.

<As soon as Assassin knows that you are surely to die, he will leave you. And the moment he does, I will take you away from this place. I'm sorry that's all I have but I have no other option. I have no phantasm capable of protecting you from this beast, nor can my speed get you from Assassin's grasp fast enough. I'm sorry Sigyn.>

You think it over, it was a risky plan, but it was better than waiting for Assassin to just kill you right there. It was incredibly insane, but if anyone could pull it off, it was Saber.

You keep yourself from nodding in agreement as you take another step forward <Don't be sorry, I can't do anything in this situation either.>

You steel yourself <Ok, let's do it.>

You catch a quick glimpse of Saber smiling but it could have been your imagination. He returned to Berserker and positioned himself so that he was away from you and the black servant had no obstacles to attack you.

<I will scream your name, that will be the mark to charge towards Berserker.>

You swallow fear and a bead of sweat runs down your neck.

<Don't worry master, I promised that I would get you back to your family. And in the lord's name, I will never break that promise for as long as I draw breath.>

Again, you don't show any sign of your thanks.

<Ready?> Saber asks.

Here it comes <Ready.> you say back.

You take another step forward, a small stone gets crushed by your foot causing a small cracking sound to right out. Berserker tilts its head in confusion but he kept attacking Saber.

<On three. One.>

You tense, Berserker was close enough that you could hear its ragged breathing.

<Two.>

'Don't think, don't feel fear. Just. Run.' You think to yourself.

<Thr-.>

<Great plan, but does this show come with popcorn? It'll be boring without the snacks you know.>

You instantly stop walking towards Berserker. He knew, Assassin heard everything!

Saber's eyes widen in surprise and this hesitation causes him to slow down just a bit. But that bit was enough for Berserker to grasp Sabers throat with its hand and slam your servant down into the ground. The ground shatters and Saber couldn't even scream in pain.

Through the dust you see Saber cough up blood. Faster than you could even shout a word, Berserker turns his other arm into a sword and runs the dark blade through the shoulder that Saber held his blade. Saber brought his other arm over in a desperate attempt to knock Berserker off of him.

But right before his fist might have connected with Berserker's head, another hand formed itself from the dark aura of Berserker's helm and caught Sabers strike. Instead of fading into Berserker like the last hand did, the arm continued to grow. From the dark energy the arm was joined by a shoulder, then a torso, then a leg and then finally a body. It looked like an exact copy of Berserker, right down to the dark aura and mad gaze. Both of its arms turned into swords and it stabs through both of Saber's hands pinning him to the ground.

Berserker, the first, lets go of Saber's neck and slowly pulls its blade out of Saber's shoulder. Saber let out a cry in pain but he quickly bit his lip stopping the sound from going any further. Berserker than slowly walks towards you, even through the madness it knew you were it's.

Saber weakly glances between you, Berserker and Berserker Two "How?" he asks weakly.

"Oh it's quite simple." Berserker Two said.

It spoke with an age and intelligences that the original Berserker didn't have. It sounded experienced, mercilus and completely in control.

"My master there said we. I am merely one the hundred 'we'. His mind is clouded by madness but mine and the other's are the screams that drove him to that dark place."

Berserker Two's helm twisted and morphed until the eye slit was now at the mouth and two red eyes replaced the slit. The slit curved itself up until a red smile was made over its face.

"Who are you?" Saber asks.

Berserker Two let out a crazy laugh "We are nothing but the darkness in the memories of man. We are the demons that cause woman to scream and brave heroes to run in fear."

From Berserker Two another copy of its crawls out of the black mass. Then another, and another, and another, they just kept coming until you counted at least twenty Berserker's. Ten were guardian Saber, the other nine disappear into shadow and reform around you, making a big circle.

"We are Legion," they all say except for the original "For we are many!"

As the original Berserker steps closer, one thing runs through head "RUN! GET AWAY FROM THIS THING! IF YOU DON'T MOVE YOU'LL DIE! RUN!"

You try and take a step back but the hand of Assassin grabs you around the throat. The grip cuts off all the air in your system, choking you. You desperately claw at the force you knew was there but your fingers feel nothing but your own flesh.

"Did you think I was going to leave without seeing the show I was promised? Oh, I'm going to remember you my little friend. As the bitch who thought she could get out of this alive."

As dark spots grow in your vision you see Berserker right in front of you. It raises its sword arm, someone screamed something at you, but you were too far gone to hear. Before you close your eyes for the last time, Berserker swings its arm down.

And the world explodes.

You can't see what caused it, you barely hear the sound, but the feeling of force pushing you back is unmistakable. The force choking you stops and you fall to the ground gasping for air. You look around but your vision was too hazy to make out everything in perfect detail. You see Saber break away from the Berserkers, then another explosion erupts next to you.

It knocks you to the side and causes your ears to ring to the point that everything sounded in one mad symphony of pain.

Something grabbed you and threw you away but you couldn't tell what it was.

"*****!"

Someone was talking, but the ringing hadn't stopped yet.

"SIGYN!"

You shut your eyes tight, forcing your senses to focus on what was around you. When everything clears up, you find yourself leaning against the side guard of the highway with Saber next to you.

The road, or what was left of it, was on fire. Broken chunks of concrete and metal burned with, wait? Why was the fire teal? You faintly remember Saber scream something before the explosion, was this his doing? If so, what kind of Saber had fire that was colored teal?

The broken, burning wreck of a tire slowly rolls up next to you. Despite the situation the tire actually draws your attention away from the fire for a second. You blink to get the final dots out of your eyes and you glance between the fire and the tire.

"The car blew up." you say.

Saber nods "You know master, there was a chance you could have summoned me in the Rider class. This," he glances back at the burning street "Is not the best opening ride to a journey I've had."

He thinks for a second "Not my worst either."

You crack a small smile "Saber, we really need to talk about when we should and shouldn't tell jokes."

Saber smirks "The lesson will be quick and painless I'm sure."

He slowly helps you to your feet and as you stand up you can't stop yourself as you let out a slight gasp at seeing Saber. Both of his hands were broken with a large hole in the center of both palms. His neck had a dark bruise and it was bleeding slightly. The worst of it was the shoulder where Berserker stabbed him. It was bleeding horribly and you could see straight through the wound.

"Saber! Sit down you need healing!" you command.

Saber blinks in confusion before following your gaze to the hole. He nods but remains standing "Sigyn, only heal my shoulder and do it quickly."

You start your healing spell and focus the prana into Saber shoulder. The wound closes surprisingly fast for the damage made to it but you only got through a healing before Saber grabs you around the waist with his good arm.

Before you could either protest or say anything for that matter Saber jumps over the small barrier built up around the highway. As soon as his foot touches the ground on the other side, the wind and g-force hit you.

It felt like you were running faster than sound but you could still see if you squinted your eyes. The dark night provided little to no light to guide Saber's way but the colored flame of his attack was the perfect way to light the way.

"Saber why are we running! We got away from Assassin, your attack worked!" You scream over the wind.

Saber slows down and comes to a stop. You look up to his face and you see a battle hardened warrior. Saber looked angrier than when he saw Lord Hildebrand.

"Sigyn, I'm sorry." Saber whispers.

"Why?"

Saber sets you down and points towards the fire. You were about half a mile away but the light from the fire was bright enough for you to see the surrounding area. He lowers his hand "I have only been reborn in this time for only six hours, but in that time I have made two grave mistakes. The first is promising that nothing will touch you,"

Your head snaps away from the fire to look at Saber "That wasn't your fault! If Assassin hadn't shown up you would've kept your promise easily."

Saber smiles slightly but it quickly goes away, replaced by the hard gaze "That is the second mistake I have made."

The sound of an rage fueled roar draws your attention and shakes you to the core. There, standing in the middle of the flames completely unharmed was Berserker. As you look at it, you see that it was completely fine. The damage he sustained from fighting Saber was gone and it looked at ease in the searing hot flames.

You feel your entire body shake in fear "You can hurt it right?"

Saber nods "I can, but his wounds were only a ruse. No matter how fast I inflict damage on him, Berserker could heal twice as fast. The fire was a creation of someone else's doing, they were watching all along."

Your breath quickens "Do you have a phantasm able to take him out in one go?" you ask desperately.

"I do," hope grows in your chest "But I can't use it in my current state. At best my secondary Noble Phantasm will be able to greatly injure him, but I doubt it will kill."

You couldn't breath, you told Adam you were ready for this. How far out of your depth were you really? Berserker couldn't be killed! Assassin played both you and Saber for fools! And they were only a taste of what was to come. You didn't want to be here, this wasn't were you were supposed to be!

You feel yourself breathe faster and faster. Your legs give out but you don't even feel hitting the ground. Saber put his hand on your shoulder "We need to move."

You don't say anything; you don't even nod. Saber picks you up and carries you bridal style, running away from the battlefield. As Saber moves you look out at the countryside rapidly running by. The light from the fire was slowly dimming so you couldn't see everything in the detail that you wanted to.

You were outside, out from the manor away from any controlling father. You would've given anything to be here. This was the world, it was so big, so vibrant even in the night. These large structures running by were trees, the things flying out from their branches were birds, no, bats. Everything had its place and a reason for being there, it was a beautiful, strange system that worked in perfect tandem with one another. This was the world.

But, it was also far less welcoming than what Adam said it was.

You keep looking around and in the shadow you catch a glimpse of something. In the shadow of one of the trees something was glowing. There were two of them and they were red. They almost looked like ey-"SABER, THE SHADOWS!"

Saber's gaze snaps around just in time for Berserker to form from the shadows next to you and lunge at you. Saber tightens his grip on you and jumps just in time for Berserker to fly right under you. As soon as the dark servant crashes into the ground, every dark space that held a shadow glowed with the same pair of red eyes that belonged to the same servant.

"Damnation," Saber whispers.

With that, the shadows erupted and hundreds of Berserkers shot out at you and Saber. Saber stabs his sword into the ground bringing the both of you to a sudden stop. In the space where you would have been, five Berserkers crash into one another. Instead of forming a somewhat comical pile of black metal like you expected, as soon as the Berserkers touched they became one again.

From behind, another set of Berserkers rush at you. Saber brought his blade out of the ground and slashes at the line of Berserkers, expertly cutting each of their heads off. They fell to the ground defeated and you waited for them to get up, but they stayed dead instead of healing.

You made a quick note in your head, "The copies can be killed." You think.

More Berserkers charge you and Saber but it was clear that the only advantage they had was strength in numbers. Saber moved with inhuman speed befitting a servant, striking down any and all that came close enough to hurt you. As soon as an opening in the formation of Berserker opened up Saber rushes through.

This speed was a dimension above what you experienced before. The wind was so bad that you couldn't see. A few seconds pass like that before Saber slows down enough so that you could actually see again.

You and Saber were coming up on an old dirt road that lead deep into the forest leading away from the distant lights of a city. On the side of the road you could see a car that if you remember correctly from your readings, was an small oldsmobile. Saber made his way to the car and sets you down next to the car.

Saber turns to face the Berserkers but one appears in the shadow near the car and punches Saber. It only sent him back a set before Saber retaliates with a swift swing of his sword. The Berserker shadow goes down but so many more rush to replace their fallen brother. It only took a second for Saber to be surrounded but he seemed to be holding his own for now.

The amount of Berserkers seemed to be endless. How can a servant like this exist?

"So...on a scale from one to Jesus, how affiliated with the Church are you? Because I have an upside-down cross and I'm not afraid to use it."

You turn your head to the voice and it just so happen to come from the car you were hiding behind. The source was a man sitting in the driver's seat - somewhat skinny, with short blonde hair. He was dressed fairly unremarkably, wearing jeans and a t-shirt underneath a hooded jacket. About the only thing out of the ordinary was a bandolier he was wearing, which had...sticks of chalk loaded into it rather than bullets.

"So, what brings you and your many, many friends to my neck of the woods?" he says without a hint of worry.

Your jaw drops, how casual could this man be?

"You need to get out of here!" you warn "It's too dangerous to be here!"

The man raises an eyebrow "Dangerous relative to what exactly?"

"Go!" you scream; if this guy didn't move he was going to die.

One of the Berserkers landed on the man's car and his response? Stick his head out the window and glare at the black servant "You're with the Church, aren't you?! Get the hell off my car!"

Berserker only tilts its head and the man just rolls his eyes "Well, I always wanted a convertible."

From the glove compartment the man pulls out...well, it looked like a pistol, but too bulky and covered in formalcraft etchings - wait, what the hell?

Spoiler: Gun

He points the pistol up at the ceiling and pulls the trigger. The pistol heats up with power before firing a blast of magical energy so big it incinerates the roof of the Oldsmobile along with Berserker.

The blast lights up the night and sends your jaw crashing to the ground yet again. The man hums a little tune before unbuckling himself and standing up on the seat so that everyone could see him, and since everyone and their dog saw the blast, they were indeed looking at him. He flips his hood back and grins a shit-eating grin so big that even Adam would have a hard time competing with him.

He spreads his arms wide "Ladies and gentleservants! I have a question for you all! What is the airspeed velocity of twenty Berserkers after they get hit with truck filled to bursting with C4?"

Pure silence. He sighs and looks disappointed "No takers? Damn, looks like we have to figure it out ourselves. Oh, Rider~!"

*HONK HONK*

From the woods a truck crashes straight through the trees and runs straight for the Berserkers and Saber. Saber had the good sense to jump out of the way as fast as he could but the Berserkers weren't as lucky. The car plowed through the line of shadow servants and kept going. As soon as it was far enough away the man next to you smiles before clicking a small button on his pistol. Then, the truck explodes.

The Berserkers were sent flying and the burning truck continued to move forward hitting more Berserker as they came out of the woods. Something jumped out of the burning wreckage, tumbled across the ground and came to a stop next to the car. "You know, Master," it said, picking itself up and dusting itself off, "next time I decide when we blow up the car."

Servant Rider was a tall, impressive looking man with windblown hair and golden eyes. His armor was mostly leather with metal plates at the shoulders and upper body, plus forearms. On his hip was a brazen short sword but it didn't carry the weight or power of a Noble Phantasm.

Your masters clairvoyance activated and the information came to you.

Spoiler: Rider: Matrix Level D

Class: Rider


Master: Troy Forthill


Titles: ???


True Name: ???


Keyword: Crazy Master, ?


Noble Phantasm: ???


Strength: A


Endurance: B+


Agility: C +


Mana: B


Luck: A++


Skills:


???

"You have magic resistance, you big baby. Quit complaining," Rider's master countered, before glancing at you. "I feel like you're not from the Church. What's your name?"

You look between Rider and Troy and for a second you wonder if you hit your head somewhere on the way here and these were just hallucinations. "....Sigyn."

He blinks. "Sigyn? Nice name." he says with a smile "I'm Troy Forthill and this spoilsport is Rider."

Rider rolls his eyes "I am not a spoilsport."

"We had to leave the bar because you got pissy; ergo, you're a spoilsport." Troy says.

"At least I actually got lucky." Rider says with a suggestive smile.

"Sure, with the drunk chick dressed like an elf. Real high bar you're setting."

Rider narrows his eyes at his master "Low blow master, low blow."

You glance behind Troy and Rider and just as you feared, the Berserkers were still coming. You flinch as someone taps you on the shoulder but it was just Saber.

"We need to move now." he says

"Oh don't be that guy Saber." Troy says "The show's just about to start."

Despite the need to leave right now, you ask "What show?"

Troy smiles "This one."

He presses another button on his pistol and several more explosions erupt to life in the field where the Berserkers were charging towards you. It looked like a bad scene from one of the old action movies Adam liked to watch. It seemed that every time that a Berserker took a step an explosion blossomed from under it. It was like a symphony of fire and force but the Berserkers kept coming and the explosions were slowing down.

"How did you set this up?" Saber asks.

Troy laughs "Well, a fight between a Saber and a Berserker is kind of hard to miss. Figured I couldn't let all your effort go to waste, so I was going to give all this as a prize to the winner."

Your eyes narrow slightly as a thought occurs to you "But you had a chance to kill us when we came through the field to get here. Why didn't you?"

"Call it chivalry."

Troy grins like a madman and if the last few minutes have been any indication, he was one. Possibly a genius, but a madman. For some odd reason you thought about how many times the two of those words went hand in hand in history but thankfully Rider was the voice of reason "Hey Master, I like fighting an army of raging darkness Berserkers as much as the next guy but can we please get to the part where we get out of here alive?"

Troy frowns "We've been through worse today Rider, don't be such a drama queen."

"You made me ram into Berserker at mach speeds before blowing me up! This is a perfectly reasonable amount of drama!"

Troy raises an eyebrow in thought, "Eh don't be so mad. Besides, it was only a rental."

He glances back at you "So, Sigyn, you have a literal army of Berserkers after you, who I think are trying to re-enact the book of Revelation on us - though admittedly it wouldn't be the first time I've been wrong about that sort of thing. Also, item of interest: you have no car and my Oldsmobile seats four. Need a lift?"

You blink in surprise for what feels like the millionth time in this many minutes. Was this guy for real? He had just run a servant over with a car, turned a disturbingly large swathe of Japanese countryside into a smoking hole in the earth and was talking like it was a common occurrence.

He said his name was Troy Forthill, wait, that was the name of the master that even William and the Church knew nothing about. The reports speculated that he was only human, but that gun had to be a Mystic Code if you'd ever seen one. He was an unknown, but he also had a way to get out of here. And he was the Master of Rider; with his help you could get to Fuyuki in half the time!

You think for a moment. You now have an easy way out of here...but it's with a nutcase.

Tory was holding out his hand to offer you a seat in the oldsmobile. You…


[] Take the offer and go with Troy to safety.

-[] "Drive far, drive fast!"

--[] Write in

[] Stay, you'd rather take your chances with Berserker than this madman.

[] Write in


***

A/N: See what happens when you get out of the car?

 

[IKnowNothing]

[X] Take the offer and go with Troy to safety.
-[X] "Drive far, drive fast!"

You remember Megan once warned you about doing things on instinct. Each and every move needed to be thought out so that every possibility could be accounted for. It was basic war time survival but she always said somethings can't be planned out.

You silently send a sorry to whatever god watches over this world as you ignore that lesson entirely.

"Drive far, drive fast!"

Troy smiles his now trademark crazy grin "Welcome aboard!" he says holding out his hand.

A quick motion causes you to grab Troy's hand and he helps you into the back seat. Troy tips an invisible hat at you as you seat yourself. Saber jumps in the car next to you while Rider moves to make his class proud. He gets into the driver's seat, cracking his knuckles before grinning like his master.

The next few seconds were a blur as the oldsmobile went from stationary to near breaking the sound barrier in a second. The car coated itself in a aura of red prana as it did a split second u-turn away from the approaching army. One of the Berserkers jumped and got close enough to grab the oldsmobile. But it needed an arm to do such a thing and with Saber in the backseat, it didn't have one.

The car then began speeding away from the army and Troy turns around to look at you "This is Taxi Forthill, for all of your drive-by, Berserker escaping, fun time riding adventures! Do you have a premium packet?"

You shake your head "No I don't have a premium packet!" Hell you didn't even know what was in the premium packet, but some part of you wanted to know just because.

"Do you want one?" He asks, the serious of the current situation going completely over his head "We always keep extras."

"Master," Rider interjects "I think we should worry about getting out of here alive before you start handing out pamphlets."

"I agree with Rider," Saber says "We can read later, but as you can see, we still have a problem on our hands."

Troy frowns and glances between Rider and Saber "Oh perfect, the spoilsports have multiplied!" he complains.

He looks at you "Please tell me you have a sense of humor."

You raise an eyebrow "As in jokes?" That wasn't really your strength, the only one who told jokes was Adam and they usually ended with him getting hit by Megan or Morgan.

There was a long silence as Troy's face goes completely neutral and his mouth a straight line. He turns around and looks straight ahead "I'm surrounded by fun-killers. Why me? What did I do?" he asks no one.

"Contact!" Rider screams. His voice was like a general giving orders, and as soon as the words left his mouth, the three of you next to him sprang into action.

From both sides and behind the car, several Berserker's came out from the shadows. They were sprinting with superhuman speed that made the mad servant look more like a Lancer in terms of speed. Saber gets up from his seat and stands on the back end of the oldsmobile. Rider holds onto the wheel with one hand and pulls out his short sword with his left hand while Troy takes out a thing of chalk and aims his pistol.

You pluck out a strand of your hair and layer mana through the strand. If the Berserkers wanted a fight they probably shouldn't have came after you, the greatest creation of the Hildebrand family. A short incantation later and the strand of your hair in your hand was no longer a piece of dead cells. It straightened itself and hardened until it was nothing less than a small spear in your hands. It was a simple witchcraft technique that most practitioners of the art could do after a few years of training. Of course, most practitioners weren't homunculi capable of taking on higher level familiars like they were nothing but useless wastes of space.

You hold the strand of hair over your finger and you just gently blow on the strand. Prana pours out of you and the strand becomes a weapon capable of destroying cars and maybe even tanks. The strand shots out and impacts against the chest of one of the Berserker clones and the force of the strand goes causes the 'hair' to go straight through it, bringing half of the Berserker's chest cavity along with it.

That was one down, but an army was attacking you so you needed something a little more, wide spread. The training that was beaten into you turns your hand into the shape of a finger gun. With a quick slice from your other hand you draw a tiny amount of blood from the tip of your finger. You look out at the approaching army and the steps come through to you. Steady your aim with both arms, deep breath and say the word "Gandr."

And rain hell upon those who wish you harm.

Gandr. All in all, an average curse used for taking out familiers or human opponents. Against servants, they were more or less useless against anything with magic resistance. There were exceptions to the rule of course but it is generally considered suicide to take on a servant with basic witchcraft like this. It normally only fires a couple of volleys before the spell caster needs to rechant the mantra. There were few magi out there who excel at this and can fire them to their hearts content.

You were one of those few.

So when the dark energy formed around your finger and fired it wasn't a single shot. It was more akin to a full auto machine gun. Dozens, if not hundreds of curses flew out of your hand and tore through the line of Berserkers. Once one was obliterated your aim changed to fix on the next target and soon, no Berserker could come close enough to even scratch the door next to you. The jerking of the car threw your aim off a few times but it was like there was barely any trouble in the long run.

As the Berserkers on your side fall back just a bit to avoid your power you look at how everyone else was doing.

Rider had a grin even bigger than his masters as he parried a blow from one of the Berserkers. The two servants swung their weapons wildly but as you watched you realized something important. As the Berserker copy swung its blade it did it in practiced perfect arcs, all of the skill a swordsmen would have. You take the experience from your own attack and Riders and make a mental note "Copies can be killed by anyone and they don't have the boost of Mad Enhancement, got it."

The Berserker slashed at Rider but the servant kicked opened his door, hitting Berserkers arm and throwing its aim off balance. The blade cut through the fender of the car and nearly cut all the way down to the wheel but stopped right before it could. The moment of confusion didn't last long, Berserker simply swung its arm down cutting the driver's side door off completely. Rider took the door cutting off as a sign and unceremoniously kicked the Berserker clone between the legs where his crotch should be.

Troy winces "Not cool Rider."

Rider brings his short sword around and cuts the Berserkers head off. "All's fair in love and war and all that."

"Yeah this is a war," Troy says "But kicking a man in the balls is not cool bro."

You glance at Saber and the look on his face was clear that he really, really didn't want to comment. You weren't going to comment either, Troy and his servant could disagree about this topic all they want.

"Watch and learn, Rider" Troy pulls out a fragment of metal that had gotten into the car and loads it into his pistol. He doesn't even aim his weapon anywhere in particular, he just points and shoots. The blast from the gun charges through the air and hits a Berserker who was about to jump at the car, and hits the servant right in the crotch and doubles over crashing into the ground "That," Troy says, grinning "Is how you hit someone in the balls."

Rider looks at his master completely straight faced "How did you summon me with compatibility again?"

"I think it was my charm."

"No, it was probably the-."

"HEY LOOK ANOTHER BERSERKER! I SMITE THEE!" Troy's Mystic Code fired again and another Berserker ceased to be a threat.

"I can't believe this." Rider mumbles, shaking his head.

While the crazy master and servant were having their fun, Saber was the lone island of sanity in this crazy car. He stood on the tail end of the car and even with the crazy jerks and turns that Rider had to do to avoid the Berserkers, Saber remained perfectly still. Several Berserkers jump up in an attempt to get on the end of the oldsmobile but Saber cut them down. It soon turned from a tactical retreat to a chore of fending off Berserker after Berserker clone. Saber's features contorted, not in anger but frustration.

Three Berserker jumps out from the shadows right at him. Saber cut the first two in half before spinning on the ball of his foot and kicking the third.

"Hang on!" Rider calls back to you.

You look in front and a line of Berserkers were charging towards the car. Rider grits his teeth and slams his foot on the brakes and turning hard to the left. Rider was trying to get around the line of Berserkers but Saber had other ideas. When Rider put his foot on the breaks your servant launched himself at the line of Berserkers. He lands on one of them with a hard crash before he becomes a one man hurricane. Saber rushes through the line of Berserkers, cutting them apart as he keeps up with the car. You watch as he cuts one Berserker apart and grabs another by the neck and slams it into a tree. The force makes the tree start to sway a little but Saber keeps pressing hard against the tree. Apparently your servant was holding a bit of a grudge from earlier. The tree begins to fall down and Saber lets go of the Berserker. He sprints up the length of the falling tree and jumps towards the car, towards Rider specifically but over shoots by a bit.

Rider doesn't even spare his fellow servant a glance as he comes down. He just holds out his left hand out in the air. A Berserker rushes in to capitalize on Rider's moment of distraction but it forgot about something. Saber overshot his target and slams into the Berserker's helm with another crash. As the car continues to speed along Saber grabs onto Rider's out stretched arm and the servant of the mount swings Saber around so that he lands on the tail end of the oldsmobile. If you looked away for a minute, you couldn't even tell that Saber had even moved.

On his side, Troy was holding his own as well. No, holding his own implied that his opponent had a chance.

Troy fired several blasts from his code obliterating any Berserker that came close. If a Berserker was within two feet of the oldsmobile, Troy shot them square in the head. The bullet or whatever Troy was firing from that gun traveled straight through the Berserkers and exploded with the force of an anti tank rifle. One did manage to get close enough to damage the door but it too was met with swift destruction. Dust clouds bloomed after each explosion that followed each bullet. The dust surprisingly made finding Troy's targets that much easier. Whenever one of the clones moved they disturbed the dust around them, making a perfect silhouette. Troy lets out a laugh "You're making this too easy for me!"

Soon enough the copies wised up and stopped charging straight at Troy's door. They spread out and minimized their numbers, two formed into one and they continued to combine again until there was only one in Troy's line of vision. You glance around and see that the copies that were attacking Saber and Rider dropped away so that only the one near Troy was the only one

The mad master smiles "And then there was one. Have a bullet, on me! It comes with a free Darwin Award!"

He fired a shot at the newly formed Berserker and the bullet went straight for its target. The Berserker jumped back into the dust but the bullet followed close behind, but after a second you didn't hear any explosion. Troy's smirk disappears and something parts the dust cloud. All four of you look around, desperately looking for the final Berserker.

"Did it leave?" you ask.

"Don't know." Troy says loading another piece of shrapnel into his code "He had us outnumbered, but that didn't seem to help much. We might have gotten him to retreat for now."

A few tense moments passed, everyone on edge waiting for Berserker to appear again. A moment turned into a minute, one minute into ten and then finally everyone relaxed. Rider lets out a sigh in relief. You on the other had just sink into your seat like a boneless mass. Troy puts away his pistol and closes his door. Which promptly fell off as soon as it connected with the rest of the car. The door made a loud crash when it hit the underside of the car but it didn't do any more lasting damage. Troy put on a frown that made him look ten years younger as he inspects the rest of the car "You know, I'm glad I only rented this thing. Next time, I'll get a tank." He suddenly looks thoughtful. "With a popcorn machine, while I'm at it."

You let out a slight laugh at the joke and Troy smiles over his shoulder at you "Well look at that, you can laugh."

Your grin only gets bigger "Did you think I couldn't?" you demand.

Troy holds up his hands in surrender "Perish the thought, milady! I wouldn't dream of assuming something so low."

You feel, rather than hear Saber sit down next to you. He places a hand on your shoulder "Are you ok Sigyn?" he asks.

His eyes only held concern, you briefly entertain the thought that this is what a worried father looks like. In response you just shake your head "I'm fine Saber."

The questioning look Saber gives you makes you continue "Well, I am a little shaken up." you admit "But I'm fine now." you add quickly.

Saber doesn't look very convinced for a second but his hard expression morphed into the kind smile he greeted you with when he was summoned.

His gaze breaks away from you and settles on the back of Rider "How long until we arrive at the battle ground of Fuyuki?"

Rider was silent as he did the math in his head "If I could summon my mount, we could be their in an a few minutes."

You sit up in your seat "Why don't we?"

Rider looks at Troy accusingly. Troy just shrugs, sinks into his seat and puts up his feet on the dashboard, which was really easy now that there was no doors or roof to get in the way. "If I let Rider do that, it would be the biggest 'Hey! My Servant is this particular asshole' ever."

"But-!"

"No means no." Troy interrupts forcefully.

"Oh." you mutter. Your gaze slowly drifts to the floor and after a few seconds Troy lets out a defeated groan "Rider how long is it going to take to get to town?"

Rider for reasons unknown to you with a questioning gaze, glances between you and Troy "About three hours if we follow the speed limits."

Troy made a popping nose with his mouth "Rider? How often to we follow the speed limits?"

"Are you asking before, or after we bulldozed through three buildings earlier today?"

"Was that sarcasm? Maybe there's hope for you after all! Now shut up and tell me how long"

Rider smirks "If you actually want to keep this thing-"

"I don't."

"Then about two hours."

Troy was silent for a moment, but he looks you over for a second. He reaches into the glove compartment and pulls out an Ipod. It looked worn and old, held together by string of tape and pure dumb luck. The earbuds look new though. He sticks the ear buds in his ears and shuffles through some songs "Make it an hour."

You perk up and lean forward. "You sure?" Rider asks.

"Did I stutter?" Troy asks pulling his hood over his eyes.

Your gratitude forces a smile on your face "Thank you Troy."

Troy lazily waves his hand in the air. Saber taps your shoulder again "Sigyn, you best get some sleep."

You nod and with that everyone sank into silence as the car drove on. A few minutes pass and you try to fall asleep, you genuinely try but your thoughts demanded that you stay awake. A single question repeats itself over and over in your head.

"Who was the Berserker?"

When it called forth its army it called itself Legion. You remember reading about something like that, the book of revelations, Legion was the name of a demon possessing a man before Christ healed him. How could something so insignificant as a minor demon make it to the Throne of Heroes? And even if it could, could Legion even have stats like that?

Even if you wanted to go quickly to sleep, you were never good at that sort of thing like most teenagers were supposed to be. You always had something to do and it kept you awake for hours. As you dwell on the question about Berserker, your focus shifts as you gradually lose yourself in a memory

You find yourself in your old room, everything up to your waist covered by the sheets. All over your bed in several neat stacks were dozens of books. It was the day after your seals appeared on your arm. As soon as they did Lord Hildebrand ordered an increased training regiment. You had just spent the day using curses and witchcraft on practice statues. Once that was done, you were allowed to 'rest' for an hour while you read up on different legends so you could learn about the possible competition in the war to come. You force down a yawn and rub the sleep growing in your eye. The books around you were arranged in order of age. The oldest and by far the biggest stack of them was to your left and a dusty book that looked similar to that stack was in your hands. You were so tired you were wordlessly flip through the pages, not really reading, but not really ignoring either.

The sound of your door opening draws your attention. From the door, Adam appears dragging a book cart filled to the brim with more books. You could barely see him fully through the mountain of books around you but it was clear that Adam wasn't having a good time. He wipes the sweat from his brow "Please tell me that this is the last one?" he whimpers "You have no idea how heavy some of these things were."

You a sleepy chuckle at Adams almost puppy dog whimper "Yes that's the last one Adam."

"Oh thank god!" Adam yells "This thing is heavy as hell!"

"You know you could just let Morgan or Megan help you bring them." You say with an annyoed little edge to your voice. You look over at him as he makes sure that no books get knocked out of the cart as it goes through the door.

Adam makes a shrugging motion as he brings the cart over to the side of your bed "Are you even reading these things?"

"Yes." you lie, closing the book you're currently on.

Adam looked skeptical but he didn't question it "Ok, which pile was the Greek/Roman/So old who gives a fuck?"

"No cursing." You say on reflex, wow Morgan and Megan really rubbed off on you.

Adam snorts "You're not my mom〜."

You roll your eyes at his attempt at a joke and point to the pile of books. He puts the books where you indicated and looks through the titles "Gotten through any interesting ones yet?"

You weren't in the mood or had the energy to nod. But you do glance at two books beside you. Adam follows your gaze and without asking your permission he picks up both books. He takes them away from your side and looks at both titles "The Tale of King Arthur and Camelot? And," A pause "Is this the Iliad?"

You look at him like it was a question if he could read or not. You don't remember why you looked at him like that, you were just so tired.

"Iliad's the one with Troy right?" Adam asks.

You nod.

"And the King Arthur is exactly what it says on the tin?"

Another nod

"So that means you don't need this pile anymore because you already got through the important ones right?" Adam jokes.

It was a joke, you knew it was but you weren't in a mood for jokes. You shoot him a glare that was a little harsher than you intended. Without your say, your circuits flared up making prana pool around you and making Adam flinch.When you blink the sleep out of your eyes, what you see scares you. Adam looked, genuinely scared of you. He had one of his hands clenched so tightly his knuckles were beginning to whiten. Was he actually expecting you to hurt him? You soften your gaze and let the magic energy go down "Sorry," you start "I didn't mean to-."

"Don't worry about it," Adam blurts out a little too quickly, "No harm, no foul." he awkwardly scratched the back of his head trying to move on quickly.

You look at the stack of books. You let out a tired sigh "It just, I need to get as much information as I can. Ever since," you hold up your hand, brandishing your command seals so Adam could see "These came up things have gotten a lot harder. I only have a few more minutes to read before I have to get back to work with Megan."

Adam wordlessly watched you as you pick up another book, this one titled 'The Twelve Labors of Hercules.'

You start reading the book, going through the old wording as easily as breathing. Just as you were about to flip the next page Adam knocks over the pile of books closest to you. What the hell was he doing? You were in the middle of working, you weren't done reading those!

"What are you-!"

You stop when Adam sits on the edge of your bed and pulls you head into a deep embrace. He ruffles a hand through your hair "How long?" he asks.

You try to follow his gaze and it turns to the downed clock lying on the ground.

"What?" you ask.

"When was the last time you had some sleep?"

"Really? That's your questi-?"

"When Sigyn?"

You sigh, this wasn't worth getting worked up over. "I had an hour of sleep after lessons yesterday."

Adam's eyes widen in shock "Two days!?! You haven't slept in two days!?!"

You wince from the loudness of his voice right next to you. Adam takes your head and unceremoniously shoves your head into the pillow under you. He throws the rest of the books on your bed on the ground before bringing the covers over you "Get some sleep." He orders.

You smile just a bit "Adam I-."

"Don't need to do anything but rest," Adam interrupts moving to the door and turning off the lights "Get some sleep. You can continue, training," he all but spat the last word "When you wake up again."

"But-."

"Sleep. Now." he orders again "If Megan and Morgan come I'll tell them you're deep in one book and you don't want to be disturbed."

You sigh and try to get up but it felt like gravity had increased its pressure on your head. You really hated that this pillow felt so soft.

"How are you going to stop people from just coming in here and waking me up?" you ask.

"Simple, I'm going to stand, right outside this door and make sure no one gets in."

"That's not going to work you know."

"Yeah it probably won't," Adam admits "But at least you'll get some sleep."

You smile and close your eyes. Almost immediately the tiredness hits you and you feel yourself drift "Thank you Adam."

"Any time sis," Adam says softly "Any time."

Adam managed to get you two hours of sleep before he couldn't stop the constant demands from Megan and Morgan. Afterwards he had to pull the cart with all of your books from one end of the mannor and back. It was both taxing, and it kept him awake for hours after you were allowed to go back to your room after training.

You break away from your thoughts as Rider lets out a call to everyone in the car "We're at the edge of the forest surrounding Fuyuki."

Everyone begins to stir around, getting into more comfortable sitting positions. Troy takes out his ear pieces and rubs his eyes, clearly he had been sleeping during the time it took to make the drive. You look ahead of the car and soon the edge of the forest. Another second later the car passes through to an open field with the dirt road leading to a city. The skyscrapers and streets lite up the night making the collection of buildings look like a shining safe haven. Over the mountains to the east, the red glow of sunrise began to peek over the horizon.

"Haha!" Troy laughs "Home free lady and gentlemen!"

"If you jinx us master," Rider says sending a glare at Troy "I will personally push you out of this oldsmobile and run you over."

Troy rolls his eyes and waves off Rider's comment "Oh lighten up man!"

Saber leans forward in his seat "May I request the answer as to where our final destination is?"

Troy holds up a few fingers in a classic 'Wait' gesture "What your final destination might be is different from ours." Troy said, his tone taking a dark turn.

He sounded serious, more serious than you've ever heard before. The shell of the joker was gone, and the nature of a man capable of avoiding both the clocktower and the church emerged.

You narrow your eyes "What do you mean?" you slowly move your hand in a position to fire any curses should you need it. You had to be ready for anything.

"Well it's clear that we're not going to the same place." His tone made it sound like you were going to someplace unpleasant, like a graveyard.

He slowly reached for his pistol and you move your hand to intercept. Saber places a hand on his blade and Rider grips the wheel with one hand and his sword with the other. Troy stares you down, waiting for something to happen. You didn't even know what was going to happen. He could train his pistol on you and fire. He could order Rider to send us all into a building. He could- "You and Saber have the westernmost room slash rooms. Me and Rider will take the east. That way we each get plenty of space and plenty of privacy."

...he could ask something like that and pull the rug out from under all your worrying. That works too, you suppose.

"Ahhh," You blink a few times "Ok, that sounds fine."

Troy nods in acknowledgment. "Excellent! Chivalry for the win!"

You glance at Saber and the knight sheathes his blade while he mouths 'Strange company you have.'

'You have to deal with them too.' you mouth back.

The rest of the trip, thankfully was uneventful. Rider drove off the dirt road and into a main road that lead into the city. There were a few people who woke up a little early. They did double takes when they saw you and the car. They stare at you but you hope it's just the doorless car and the two men in armor that was drawing their attention. You hoped they just ignored and forgot you so that nothing needs to happen to them. Rider took a few turns and soon you found yourself in the residential district. You could see the skyscrapers in the distance but rows and rows of houses were everywhere you looked. After a few minutes Rider parked the car in front of a house that had a "For Sale." sign in front of it. It looked like every other house around it, completely normal and unworthy of a second glance. As soon as Rider took the keys out of the car the vehicle coughed before its wheels snapped from their housing and fell off the car.

Saber opens his door and steps out "It served us faithfully, it may rest in peace."

"Pieces, more accurately. It's just a car big guy," Troy says stepping out "It wasn't meant to be a long term ride. We'll walk around the city now that we're here."

You and Rider exit the car and Rider glances at the oldsmobile "What do you want to do about the leftovers?"

Troy waves the question off "Put a tarp over it for now, we'll figure something permanent out after the two of us with semi-normal biology aren't about to fall over dead from exhaustion."

He walks towards the house and pulls out the "For Sale" sign on his way by. Rider shrugs, walking towards the back of the house where presumably a tarp could be found. Troy reaches the door, he fumbles around in his sweatshirt looking for something till he finds a set of keys. A quick twist later the door opens with a click. Troy glances back at you "You know, if someone like you stands out there next to a broken car any longer you might draw attention to yourself."

You don't move from the car and Troy sighs "Ok, if you're worried about I might kill you in your sleep or something let's make a truce. No neck stabbing or other forms of mutilation until after breakfast in the morning."

Troy thinks for a moment "Actually, no, let's just put a blanket ban on any type of action intended to overtly harm the other Master or Servant, for...eh, twenty-four hours?"

Twenty four hours sounded good to you, and even if you wanted to say no Troy said he had a spare room. And as much as you don't want to admit it, you were beat. Magically you could keep going, but the only rest you got during the car trip was a memory and that wasn't a dream. So you really, really wanted some sleep.

You yawn "Deal, now where was that room you mentioned?"

Troy let out his own tired smile before gesturing to the door. You wordlessly go through the door and you take a look inside. It looked like a fairly average house with a living room connected to a small kitchen. The living room only had the bare essentuals, a table, a few sitting mats and a Tv. The kitchen looked pretty spartan as well but you didn't really notice anything off or special about that room. You take a step forward and Troy and Saber come in after you. Troy closes the door behind you all and gestures to the home "Welcome to my temporary, not so very totally legal abode."

You take another look around "It's," you take a second to chose the right word "Nice?"

Troy yawns "You don't have to lie, it's pretty boring I know. I only got this place a year or so ago, after I got these."

He waves his right hand around showing off the red tattoos of a set of command seals.

The action doesn't last long as he points to a hallway "First door on your right," he instructs "Make yourself at home."

You nod in thanks and start making your way to the hallways while Troy moves to the opposite hallway. As you get to the edge of the hallway you stop for a second and turn "Troy?"

"Huh? What's up?"

"Thank you for today. I think you saved our lives today." you say glancing at Saber.

Troy also looks at the knight of the sword, then back to you and he bows rather more flamboyantly than necessary "Always happy to be of service, my lady."

"Goodnight."

With that he went down the hall and into his room. You turn around and go through the door to yours as well. From the corner of your eye you see Rider reappear sitting down at the table in the living room "Saber, can we talk?"

Saber looks at you for permission again and you nod your head yes. He bows slightly before walking to the table and sitting down opposite of Rider. Inside your room, like the other parts of the home was just as spartan. Just a bed roll, a dresser and a lamp for light. You sigh, at least it was something. You don't bother taking off any of your clothes, you didn't have a change anyway, and you don't bother getting ready for bed in any of the normal ways. You just let your body go limp, ley on the ground and pull the covers over you. Then came the great challenge of finally falling asleep, which surprisingly wasn't a challenge anymore.

Who would have guessed that getting blown up, running away from a demon, meeting a madman and his Rider then having a car chase while said demon continues to chase after you would take a lot out of someone.

As you close your eyes and the darkness fills your vision, you hear the sound of talking in the other room. Probably just Saber and Rider. It sounded like it was coming from the bottom of a well. Soon though, you hear nothing but the sound of your body ordering you to sleep.
"I'm so sorry, please forgive me."
"Sleep, that sounds really good right now."
"Please, be safe."
With that, the last spark of strength that was trying to keep you awake faded away. As you drift, you dream of...

[] A Saint, riding across the land helping and saving all who he came across.
[] A black graveyard, forgotten by all but one.
[] A home in a city, a family that belongs to no one.
[] A scarlet bowmen, laying waste to the army before him.
[] A treasury, filled with jewels and gems that the world has long forgotten.

A/N: Sorry for the wait and I hope you enjoy the party van that is the duo of Troy and Rider. =]

 

[IKnowNothing]

[X] A black graveyard, forgotten by all but one.

You open your eyes, and you find yourself in a place that even dead gods would damn.

It was a field, nothing but the flat open plain that looks like it stretches on forever. The ground was was pure white, like perfect polished marble. The sky was a sea of pure black obsidian with a silver moon providing the only light over the forgotten plain.

You turn in place, looking for something, anything.

And the world shifted to meet your desire. Without moving an inch you feel the world fly by you, the only indicator of movement being the silver moon disappearing behind the endless horizon. When the world stopped spinning, something finally greeted you. There, a few meters away, was a stone. It looked unremarkable, just a simple slab of stone carved in an arch and set upright. Fear or something on the same primal level crawled up your back.

It wasn't a simple stone.

It was a head stone.
A Good man gave everything here
You take a step back and something catches your foot. You look down and broken on the ground was pieces of another headstone. Something was carved onto the side of the stone, but you couldn't tell what it read. It was some ancient, forgotten language that was beyond anyone's capability of reading.
He was Strong, but weak when he needed to fight
The world rumbled and all around you, the stones grow from the ground. The white substance seemed to liquify as the stones emerged, like someone was pushing them out of the water. First there were a few, then many, soon the entire expanse of what you could see was covered in the headstones. They piled atop one another until they created a mountain of stone that threatened to touch the heavens. They were the same, with the same cut, and the same old words. And they just kept coming, another and another they just kept coming as if everyone of them wanted to be seen and acknowledged by you. In the distance what looked like broken skyscrapers came up from the ground. They came from the ground and fell from the sky to create a barrier circle around the field of headstones.
He was wise but nothing but a fool when he needed to give the answers
Something crushed the stone behind you and you turn to see.

A demon.
He was brave but a coward when he needed to stand against the silence
That was the only phrase to describe the thing that you saw. You don't know why you knew it was that kind of creature, something deep, primal and very very afraid told you it was so. It was clothed in baggy dark robes that covered his entire form. In the space where logic demanded that you see into its face was a pit of darkness. You couldn't pin down how big it was, in terms of build or height. Each time you blinked it changed shape. Once it was a tall imposing figure. The next, a small child barely able to walk. It's robes dragged behind it as it walked by you like you weren't even there. It lumbered towards the first stone that you saw before the mountains appeared.
He was a Savior but a demon when he needed to show mercy
It leant down and from its robe took out a short blade. Like a knife, but bigger and bulkier than any you'd seen. It looked more along the lines of a spearhead. The dark figure carved another set of words into the stone but this time the words were in Japanese.

It read "I am the-" It moved to continue the sentence but it stopped. It moved with painful forcefulness to put the hand holding the knife down. Then, with a single punch of its other hand, it shattered the stone into a million pieces. It was so unexpected and loud it made you jump slightly. It let out a few exasperated breaths before letting out an inhuman roar in anger. It spread its arms and began bashing the stones around it to dust. But with each on he destroyed, another rose from the ground to take its place. Soon, the figure gave up its useless struggle and calmed down. It lumbered over to the site of the first stone that it destroyed and sat down next to it.

"You've been very busy." You say.

Your hand claps over your mouth faster than you expected. You didn't want to say anything, but something else took your voice and used it. The dark figure turned and tilted its head, as if just now noticing you were there. It might have but you weren't going to dwell on that. Nevertheless it regarded you with both respect and...disgust "What do you want now?"

"Oh nothing much." Then something passes through you.

It felt like that cold feeling you get when you think something's behind you. You know there isn't anything there, but something just feels like it was breathing down your back. It looked like a mass of black energy that shifted and danced around the figure "I was only wondering, when do we leave?"

Leave? What was it talking about? There was nothing but blank white space that goes on forever and ever. But this thing, whatever it was knew they could go back to the normal plane of existence.

"I don't chose that, you know that *****."

There was a name there, but to you it sounded like someone put muffler over that sound, blocking it out so that you couldn't here "I haven't chosen a damn thing since I came here. We wait for the light like always. So sit down, and go back to hell."

The dark mass stopped for a moment and shrugged with formless shoulders "Well that's not exactly true and you know it. You chose all of us."

The black mass then flew through the air and into the shadow of the black figure. For a second nothing happened but then the figure grew a second shadow. The second shadow moved on its own and it laughed in high pitched, glee filled madness. The black figure didn't say anything, it just went back to the broken headstone. It bent down and uselessly tried to put the stone back together. Each time it put the pieces together it just fell apart again but it just kept trying.

It went on like that for what seemed like forever, failing to put the stone back together again and again. At first it was strange but you soon came to the only word that defined this perfectly, pitiful. The shadow laughed at each failed attempt, and each time it failed the shadow's laughter just grew and grew until it was more of a scream than a laugh. The scream continued to blare until it threatened to rupture your ears. You cup your hands over your ears in a desperate attempt to block out the sound but it was just too loud.

"So then, what do we get to do with the visitor?" the shadow asks the figure.

Your eyes widen, it knew you were there! "Oh that's just precious! All of us knew you were there, well, except this poor soul." The black figure didn't move, it just kept picking up the crumbling pieces.

From each of the headstones, black mass started bleeding from under the stones. They bubbled and formed together to create hundreds of thousands of shadows. From the mountain of headstones the black masses formed together to create a giant shadow. It was a titan, so huge that it blocked out the moon. Twin red eyes appeared in the place where the head should be. As soon as it looked down at you, natural instinct overrode every rational thought you had. There was only one single thought going through you.

Run.

With each step the ground seemed to move to stop you. No matter how fast you ran you didn't move a step. A dark mass reached down, titanic fingers crashed into the ground, sealing you in a cage of darkness that blocked out the light of the moon. As the darkness washed over you the sound of laughter echoed all around. From the darkness, thousands of white eyes sprang out to stare at you. You couldn't see them, but they were all smiling cyclically, you just knew. Something grabbed your right arm, than your left, then your legs. It felt like the grasp of a giant made of ice. A scream escaped your lips at the grips suddenly tightened. It felt as if your bones were going to break under the strain, but whatever was holding you wanted you completely intact, or else it would have crushed your bones to dust. The echoes of laughter from before got closer and closer until it sounded as if the only sound in the entire world was the mad laughter. You wanted to scream, to plug your ears but the icy grips were keeping you from moving. You wished, no, prayed for something, anything, to drown out the sound of this infernal laughter. The icy feeling spread over your feet and to your horror, you watch as you start to sink into the white floor. It was slow but with each second that passed the cold and pain spread over each inch of you. When a part of you went under, it was like a thousand more hands grasped onto your body, dragging you down faster. You struggled, but the grips were too tight and strong to break out of. You tried to word a spell but something sealed your lips together and the ice cold fear clouded your mind to the point that you didn't even remember what magic you could use.
He was something great, but he just couldn't remember
Your legs passed through first, than your torso before only your head and your arms were above the ground. As your neck started to go under the grip on your arms forced your left down under, leaving you just your right above the ground. You searched for someone to save you. Saber, where are you!?! You scream inside.

Just before your head goes under your lips and voice become yours again for a bare second. In that second you scream "Help me! Please!"
For he had forgotten what it was to be good
The cold ground enveloped your head and everything went black around you. You only saw black, you only heard the same mad laughter, and the only thing that didn't feel of the painful cold was your hand. But soon, that was going to be gone as well. You couldn't move, you could barely think and you couldn't even move your lungs to breath. You felt your senses darken as your body shut down from lack of air, and the sweet embrace of the afterlife was coming for you. The last thing you could see before everything shut down, was a light over your heart.

Just then, something grabbed your hand and pulled you free from the cold. You take a deep breath in and sweat relief washes over you as air rushes into your lungs again. You blink away the dots in your eyes and you look up to see your savior. It was the black robed figure, but his robed hood was gone, allowing you to see his face. He was handsome, incredibly handsome actually with almost textbook perfect features and messy, unkempt hair that was split down the middle. One half pure white like the ground, and the other obsidian black like the sky. His eyes were also strange. They held the fierce gaze of someone whose entire life was filled with battle but that wasn't the strange part about them. It was their color.

His left eye was black with a red iris while the other was multicolored. The longer you looked at it, it turned different shades like an entire rainbow was trapped in the space of his eye. Apparently under that robe of his, he kept a set of silver and obsidian metal armor that covered his entire body like a second skin. The metal was designed like the knights of old, simple, clean and no designs to make it stand out from any other suit of armor. Over the metal dark energy shifted over it, creating the illusion that he wore a second set of armor over the leather. You tried to ask who he was but the giant black mass lifted its hand, allowing you to see the light of the moon once again. The giant mass rose to its full height before bringing its fists together so it could come down with the full force of its titanic might. You would have shook in your boots if you were still able to completely control your body but your savior only had one expression. Boredom.

He reaches out his hand and the dark energy around his armor condenses over his hand. When the energy was finished, he was holding a lance about as tall as he was. It had a jet black blade that seemed darker at the area around the tip than anywhere else on the sharpened end. The rest of the spear looked like it was made by a master with three separate silver and gold grips over a golden shaft with an black marble end. It emanated the power and age of something from beyond mortal comprehension, it was something more than a normal spear. It was a Noble Phantasm.

Spoiler: The Black Spearmen

Master: ???
Class: Lancer?
True Name:???

Strength: ?
Enderence: ?
Agility: ?
Mana: ?
Luck: X


Skills:


???

The giant black mass brought its hands down, a thousand shadows descending from the sky with the sole purpose of crushing the two of you. Your savior spun the lance in his hand as easily a toy as he waited for the shadows to come closer. When the giant's blow came close you waited for your savior to do something but he didn't move. It came down closer but in the instant before the giant mass hit the two of you, your savior struck. He lashed out with the lance, the tip slicing clean through the shadow like it was nothing more than a trick of the light. The slice somehow cut the hands off at the wrist and the giant stumbled back in apparent pain. Your savior didn't waste time on pitying the poor beast. He brought his spear back before thrusting into the air at the giant. From the black tip of the spear, a beam of white light shoots out at the giant. The light crashes into the center of its chest and it didn't even scream before it exploded in a flash of white light that lit up the world like a sun.

When you could see again, hundreds of thousands of black orbs floated in the air. The man held out his other arm and snapped his fingers. The snap sounded like a gunshot in the silence of the world and the dark orbs responded to the snap by flying straight at the two of you. You thought they were going to go to the two of you but they funneled into a single line and went straight into your saviors chest. His eyes bulged out in surprise and pain and he doubled over, dropping his spear in the process. He barely managed to catch himself on his knees before he fell straight to the ground. His brow was drenched in sweat but you couldn't do anything to help in your current state. For a few minutes he was bent over taking slow, painful breaths as he worked to stand up again. Once those few minutes were done he stood up and took another long breath in. He looked up to the sky before glancing back at you. He picked up his spear from the ground and walked over to you. You looked up at him as he towered over you. He raised his spear over his head and your voice comes back to you again "Please wait!"

Too late, he brought the spear down and you close your eyes, you don't want to see the end. The sound of the blade impaling something.

Next to you?

You slowly open your eyes before another wave of relief rushes through you. Above you, your savior twists the shaft of his spear making the blade turn as it drove itself hilt deep in your shadow? Your shadow let out a blood curdling scre-Wait, your shadow was screaming?

You look down and sure enough, you shadow was convulsing around itself as if it was human struggling on the end of a spear. "Begone!" your savior orders.

Your shadow gave one last scream before it faded away into nothingness. When it was gone, you felt control of your body come back to you. You quickly stood up and your savior let go of his spear letting dissolve into a mass of shadow. It went into the ground traveled along the white surface before joining with his shadow, causing the dark outline to become even darker. The two of your starred at one another for an awkward minute that caused you to fidget but your savior seemed unaffected by. The minute was over when you finally got the courage to say "Thank y-."

"Leave." He orders turning away. He went over and began doing the same process of trying to put the headstone back together like he did before.

You blink before looking around the white expanse. Ok, how to put this "To where exactly?"

"Anywhere other than here." He answers, clearly angry with your very presence "Wake up and leave my prison."

"That would be wonderful," you say in the most respectful tone you can manage, it's not a good idea to anger the man who just saved you from a giant black monster of death "But I don't know how to leave."

He glanced back at you like you were an idiot. It reminded you of how Adam used to look at you when you didn't get one of his jokes. But this man's stare looked forced, like he was acting like someone normal should in this situation but was going a little too far. He picked up a stone on the ground before crushing it into dust.

Hopefully he wasn't going to spend his time trying to put the dust back together.

"You opened the door, open it again and go through." He says finally.

You shake your head "What door? What did I open?"

He rolls his eyes and points to your chest. You follow the path that his finger made and it centered on something glowing under your shirt. You place your hands over the light and clasp it. It was the necklace that Adam had given you. You felt around your neck for the chain and slowly you brought it out and it's shine grew until it was almost blinding. The man's face moved to make the barest hints of a smile but it was quickly forced away "Perfect. Now leave!"

"Again, how?" you ask.

He rolls his eyes again "Unlike me , you are not bound to this place. The pure can come in and out of this place whenever they wish. If you wish and pray for the light to take you away, away you shall go."

Cryptic, unoriginal, and cliché, but at at least it was something you could do. You nod in thanks and you close your eyes, wishing, hoping, praying that you are taken away from this place. Behind your eyelids, you see the glow of your necklace grow stronger. "Is it working?" you ask.

"Well you're fading from sight like some sort of ghost, so I would say, yes." He says, like he was pointing out the obvious "Will you leave now?" he asks.

You frown slightly, his attitude was really starting to annoy you. But instead of voicing your distaste something far more important needed to be said "Thank you, you saved me from that black creature."

He only let out an annoyed humph in response but you didn't let that discourage you "Can I ask who you are?"

Silence met your question and as the glow of the gem grew, you feared you would never hear it.
"I am the Guardian, that stands before the silence."
"I am no one that you need remember. So be like the rest of this world, and forget."
"I am the Demon, that sets the world ablaze."
You shoot your hand up as if to grab something in the air. You look around you and you sigh as the sight of Troy's guest room greets you. You rub the sleep out of your eyes "What kind of dream was that?" you ask no one.

You pull the covers off your body and the smell of something cooking causes something in you to growl in complaint. Before you step out of the room you reach around you neck to grab the chain of Adam's necklace. It looked the same as it did when he first gave it to you. A simple emerald with no power whatsoever. But it was something more than that, isn't it Adam? You think. Just what exactly?

Hunger eventually won out over curiosity as you made your way out of your room and down the short hallway to the kitchen. Sitting at the table was Rider and Saber, both of whom had changed their choice of attire from their armor. Saber now had on a white and orange long sleeve business shirt with black suit pants. Along with that, his hair was drawn back in a pony tail. Rider on the other hand now wore a white sweatshirt like his master with a gold shirt underneath. Completing the look was a set of loose fitting baggy sweat pants that barely reached his ankles. In front of the two of them were several plates of finished food, from what you could see there were the remains of a steak, some mashed potatoes and sweet corn. Saber was clearing the table while Rider was reading the local newspaper.

As you approached the two, Saber raised a hand in way of greeting "Afternoon master."

You rub the last of the sleep of your eyes "It's afternoon already?" you ask as you sit down next to Saber.

"Yeah," Rider says from behind his newspaper. "You masters do sleep a lot don't you?"

"Well some of us aren't living prana ghosts that don't need things like sleep."

You look down the hallway and Troy gives you a lazy hello wave.

"Who also raid my fridge while I'm asleep," he takes a seat next to Rider "Prick."

"Hey don't get angry with me," Rider says defensively "Saber was the one who did all of the cooking."

You glance at your servant "You can cook?"

Saber shrugs "Traveling was a bit of a hobby of mine. I met many a people who taught me a great deal, cooking for a family happened to be one of them."

"Do you dress in drag and do the hula?" Troy asks, hopeful.

Saber narrows his eyes at that statement "No."

Troy deflated "Well there goes a good half of my possible plans."

"Really?" you ask.

Rider looks at you from behind the newspaper while Saber and Troy raise eyebrows "No, not really. That was sarcasm." Troy says. He then switches tones, seeming genuinely curious. "Has anyone ever used that on you before?"

You don't meet Troy's gaze and an awkward silence settles over the table. Saber folded his arms and closed his eyes in contemplation. Rider looks blissfully unaffected by the situation but his master fidgeted nervously "Uh...have I touched a nerve?"

You didn't answer but thankfully Saber saved you from having to "My master's family was," he pauses, searching for the right word "An interesting case."

Troy didn't even look confused or curious, with that one sentence his look of worry morphed into one of...was that understanding? He stretched. "So we have about four hours till sunset and everyone else comes out to play."

He glances around "Anyone have a nice way to spend the evening? How about we follow the rules before the church decides our heads look good on a plate?"

"Meaning?" Saber asks.

"We go and check in with the overseer," Troy deadpanned "Once that's out of the way we can get to talking about alliances, plans and all that good stuff." He takes a sip of his coffee "Ah, that hits the spot, anyway. The church is also a neutral ground for anyone in the war, so the chances of us getting sneak attacked isn't going to be very high while we're on the grounds."

"What happens when we're not on church territory?" Saber asks.

Troy shrugs "Anything and everything. Put a toe over the boundaries that signals the churches ground, and you're fair game. The journey there is another matter entirely, of course. I wouldn't put it past Caster or Assassin, wherever they are, to set up traps or an ambush right outside the property."

You pick up the cup in front of you and Saber pours you some coffee. You didn't drink coffee often but this was desperate times so desperate measures to stay awake were sorely needed. After a quick sip of the hot, pungent liquid you ask "Why do you say that?"

Troy shrugs again "It's what I would do."

"You would stoop to such methods?" Saber asks glaring at the mage, his tone ripe with disappointment and a hint of warning.

Troy was unfazed by Sabers glare and opened his palms in a surrendering gesture "Riddle me this: what was I doing while you fought Berserker?"

You thought back to last night, where you met him sitting in the Oldsmobile and waiting "You were setting up explosives to take out the winner."

Troy claps his hands together and points at you like you won a prize "Got it in one!"

"So you willingly admit to go to such lengths just for victory?" you ask.

Troy's smile slowly faded as he put his cup down "Sigyn, don't get me wrong you seem like a honest, hardworking Homunculus but the Einzbern didn't teach you too much on how to really win the war did they?"

You tilt your head in confusion "I'm not an Einzbern homunculus. My name is Sigyn Hildebrand, heir to the Hildebrand family."

Now it was Troy's turn to look confused "Wait. Wait wait wait." He held up a finger. "Wait."

He set down his cup of coffee and waves his hands about "So you're not an Einzbern Homunculus?"

You shake your head "No."

Troy scratches his right hand and twirls his wrist with the other "And you said your name was?"

"Hildebrand."

Troy sat there, uncharacteristically silent, and soon the room was brought into another uncomfortable silence. This time however, Rider put down his newspaper and was actually paying attention to everything. Troy leaned back and looks at the ceiling for a few seconds before rubbing his temples "Okay...how to put this delicately? I've never heard of the Hildebrands. Which means they aren't big enough to guarantee a spot in the Grail War. That privilege belongs to the three founding families; the Matous, the Tohsakas and the Einzberns. "

You nod "Yes, everyone knows that. The Matous made the Servant contract system, the Tohsakas gave their land to the ritual along with writing out the basic magic formula, and the Einzberns constructed the Grail vessel."

"Which is always a Homunculus." Troy interrupts. He holds up a finger to stop you from going on until he's finished taking a sip of his coffee "Anyway, back to the history lesson. The Einzberns are probably the foremost house for the creation of Homunculi. In particular their creations made for the Grail War are magical siege engines, in essence, though they don't live very long."

You nod "Which makes you...two, three years old?" Troy guesses.

Again, you tilt your head in confusion "Of course I'm not that young. I'm nineteen years old."

Troy rolls his eyes before picking up his coffee again "I can see you're physically nineteen I meant age. Chronological. Days, weeks, months, years. A birth date would be nice if you can manage it."

You glance at Saber questioningly but the knights face was filled with just as much confusion as yours.

"I understand the question, and I say again, I am nineteen years old. In both the physical sense and mentally. I was born on July third 1989, I've been living in the Hildebrand manor for all these years."

Tory's eyes shot open as wide as dinner plates before he did an almost comical spit take, spraying his coffee all over Rider (or rather the newspaper) who had the unfortunate luck of being closest to him. The servant of the mount simply drops the now soaked newspaper he was reading before slowly turning his head to face Troy "What. The. Hell. Mas-."

Troy put a finger over Rider mouth stopping him from talking any further. In hindsight, not the best idea to do to a reborn heroic spirit capable of flicking you through a wall.

"That'snotimportantrightnowRider!" Troy's mouth was on rapid fire at this point, you barely understood a word he said he said it so fast. His head snaps to look at you so fast it looked almost inhuman "You're not pulling my chain or whatever metaphor you use for feeding someone shit. You are a homunculus, and you're nineteen years old. You're sure?"

You slowly nod "Yes, how would I not know what I am? I was born, I remember grew up with my family and now I'm here."

Troy blinks and looks at you like he just encountered an endangered species while Rider got up to find himself a towel to clean off all of the coffee. He sets his now mostly empty coffee cup down and straightens an nonexistent tie and extends a hand in greeting "Greetings! I am Troy Forthill, magus at large and I come in peace."

You look between the hand, Troy and Saber, who was trying his best not to show emotion but was failing horribly with a grin tugging at the edges of his mouth. You look back at Troy "Ah? Troy," you start "We already know one another?"

Troy nods "That's right, but it customary for a normal person to introduce themselves when they find something that's impossible. Like an alien, I have to make a good first impression."

You put a hand to your head, fighting a rapidly growing headache "Troy, what are you talking about?"

You jump slightly as Troy slams one hand down on the table and use his other hand to point an accusing finger at you "YOU! YOU SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO EXIST!"

"I fail to see the problem." Saber interjects "In my time, it was common for homunculi to live the same lives as a normal man. They were shorter yes, but for one to live a full live of twenty wasn't uncommon. They didn't have the same magical ability but they still lived full lives."

Troy nods in agreement "Yeah, well that was the good old days wasn't it? But magecraft doesn't work that way anymore. It's been weakening since the end of the Age of Gods - you may have missed a few things while you were, you know, dead. Einzbern homunculi made for battle live about three years, tops. Period. And now I get a master who says not only she, but her entire family are fully grown, perfectly functioning, twenty year old homunculi?"

"Well, Megan and Morgan are getting close to thirty."

"Who?"

"My handmaidens. They've been taking care of me since I was little."

Troy did another double take "Ok then, shit if we're just crushing the rulebook this bad we should put something stupid like fusing people with Noble Phantasms or some other bullshit to make them overpowered." Troy looked thoughtful for a second "Dibs on Excalibur, there's no way that's not a bullshit strong-"

Ok, this was getting out of hand "Troy!" you yell getting the other Master's attention "Focus, please."

"Oh, right," Troy slaps himself in the head "Sorry, just didn't expect to hear something like that."

He took a deep breath in before forcing a smile on his face "So," he starts "Nineteen year old, functioning homunculi. Sorry for insulting your family name like that, clearly you guys are closet geniuses. Are you guys from Japan?"

You nod "My father migrated to Japan with his family when he was very young. He set up his manor in the mountains to the east and prepared for this war."

"Do you know where he was before hand?" Troy asks "Hildebrand sounds Germanic or Scandinavian to me."

You start to explain but Saber puts a hand on your shoulder stopping you "Master Forthill, you mentioned something about an overseer we must see. Where exactly would they be residing?"

There was a flash of annoyance in Troy's eyes "They're in the church on the outskirts of town. Should be a few minutes walk from here. It was one of the reasons I chose this place, easy route to safe zone in case of emergency."

You let out a slight chuckle "You always plan everything out don't you?"

Troy smiles his wide grin and holds a thumbs up "When in doubt, shoot a way out. Only plan you'll ever need. Anyway we should get going. Rider! Prepare the Oldsmobile!" he struck a dramatic pose- positioned right in front of a lamp so he was appropriately silhouetted by its light.

"You mean the pile of metal shavings in the driveway?" Ride deadpanned.

Troy's entire form deflated and he fell face first to the ground "How did I forget about that?" he asks from the floor.

"You're an idiot." Rider deadpans again.

Troy's looks up and grins at his servant "You are learning! OH YES!"

"Can we just go?" You ask, this was getting too weird too fast for your liking. Again.

"Fine, fine," Troy says "I'll meet you two outside."

Saber bows his head slightly and not so subtly guides you from your seat to the door. The two of your go out into the summer afternoon and Saber closes the door behind you.

"Saber, why are we out here? Couldn't we just wait for Troy?"

"Yes, we could have." Saber agree "But I wished to talk to you about something personally."

Your gazes shifts around nervously "What about?"

"Master Forthill."

You raise an eyebrow "What about him?"

Saber looks behind him, as if he was afraid that the door was going to tell the secrets he was about to share with you "He acts with the sense of a child, but his soul is one of a killer."

You shake your head, you didn't have a servant's senses but you could have told Saber that. You say as much as well "Saber I could have told you that. He's a master in the war, now saying he has the soul of a killing is a litt-"

"A murderer, that has made mountains with the corpses of his victims." Saber finishes, stopping your sentence dead "I don't know how many, but he has killed enough that it scares me."

Well, that's news.

"So then, we need to leave now." You think through your options. On one hand you needed to get to the church, on the other according to Saber you needed to get away from Troy as soon as possible. Saber held up a hand in a calming gesture "I never said that. While yes he has made his mistakes, Master Forthill is in this war to right those wrongs. I believe if one were to look inside his soul, you will find a man using every option he has to return to the path that the Lord wishes for him. Every man can be forgiven if they truly wish to be."

You nod "You say that, but you still don't trust him nor do you want me to."

Saber nods "Correct master, if you wish to help him on his path I will serve you in completing that wish to the best of my ability. However, until he puts the lives of others before his own, I will not trust him or Rider."

The door behind Saber slid open and Troy stepped out along with Rider "Ok, everyone ready?" he asks.

Outwardly you let a grin grace your features, inwardly however conflicting thoughts were crashing together. He saved you and Saber yes, but only because he was setting up a trap for the winner. You were alive on a whim of his, nothing more. Because you had power, you had Saber the greatest servant and therefore the greatest chance of being the most powerful enemy or ally in this war. Troy took a chance, and he got you as an ally just because fate played right into his hands.

"Lead the way Mister Forthill." You say. If he was going to betray you, you'll be ready for it. Saber said that he was a evil man, but this war was his one path to redemption. He let you into his home and whether for his own benefit or your salvation, he did save you. If he wanted to be forgiven, who were you to deny him that forgiveness.

Troy grins "Excellent! Onwards fair maiden! For the castle await our arrival!"

"You need better jokes master." Rider smirks.

"When you come up with better, I'll gladly stop."

With that, the four of you start on your way to the church. On the way you...

[] Tell Saber about your dream, maybe he knows something about the black Lancer
[] Ask Saber what he and Rider talked about last night
[] Talk to Troy, try to see what you can from him
[] Write in

A/N: Well apparently its not that long until the next post after all. Again, sorry for the wait.

 

[IKnowNothing]

[X] Ask Saber what he and Rider talked about last night.

As you walk through the city of Fuyuki, a part of you wanted to just stop. Just look around and see the sights that the city had to offer, but now wasn't the time to indulge in the dreams of a child. You need to stay focused on what you're really here for: getting to the church, follow the rules of the war and then start planning for the rest of the night. Nevertheless, the sights beckon you with each passing step. You're filled with hope for the freedom that now called tempered by the sting of realization that it was still so far away.

A painful mixture indeed.

Troy and Rider were laughing and making jokes at the other's expense but you didn't hear them. Your thoughts were on last night, the graveyard and the Black Spearmen. That place, he said it was his prison. If it was a prison, what did he do to deserve being trapped in that black hell? If he was a criminal, then why did he save you? And his prison, it was a pale reflection of what the real world was. It was as if it was built to be symbolic of something. Destruction of the world, solitude of the forgotten. Whatever it was, no one deserved to live in such a way.

The feeling of a hand tapping your shoulder snapped you out of your thoughts. Saber looks down at you with a concerned expression "Sigyn, are you well? You look as if you have been staring into the abyss."

You blink before looking around. You were about to walk straight into the street where the mid afternoon traffic was barreling along at full force. Troy and Rider were already on the other side of the street; you didn't even notice them crossing. Troy waves to you and beckons you across but sees the lights changing and holds up a hand to stop you from coming.

"You have a voice, master, use it." Rider says rolling his eyes.

Troy did a series of fast hand motions that you were pretty sure was sign language. Rider looks between his master, and at the wall next to him. His expression looked as if he was contemplating bashing his head against the wall. He glances back at Troy, who was currently doing the same series of hand motions "Master if you don't stop that, I'm going to hit you."

Troy stopped the hand gestures instantly " Take a joke, Rider."

"I enjoy jokes, " Rider says defending himself "Practicality however, is something I like even more."

As the two continue their banter, you turn and put on a thankful smile for Saber "It's fine Saber, just lost in thought."

"And those thoughts trouble you greatly, do they not?" Saber asks.

You try to hide any emotion from appearing on your face. It wasn't your place to look worried, to look weak, and Saber is...He's not just a Servant is he? He's a chance, and from how he looks at you with a fatherly smile, he just wanted to help. You start to think it through, I mean, it's not everyday that you fall asleep and end up in someone's prison before wishing yourself away like a bad fairytail.
If you remember me, you'll scream at what I became.
"I'm no one you need remember. So be like the rest of the world, and forget."
If you forget, you'll cry over something that should have been yours forever.
The memory of the Black Spearman hit you, stopping any words from coming out. You wanted to tell Saber, but the very man who you wanted to talk about didn't want you. You could almost picture yourself back at that white expanse. The Spearman sitting atop one of the millions of gravestones, destroying the stones around him only to try again and again to put them back together.

"What did you and Rider talk about last night?" You ask.

Saber expression flashed to something else for a moment. Whether it was disappointment for not trusting him or concern that you want to keep it hidden,you didn't know. Thankfully Saber didn't dwell on it "We spoke of a great many things." Saber starts as the two of you walk across the street to Troy and Rider, "He of his master and resources, and I of my vow."

"His resources? Was he try to make an alliance with you?"

Saber nods "Yes, he was very adamant about my joining, almost demanding even. But in exchange, he has agreed to give any and all information to us regarding the other masters and Servants."

You had to stop your jaw from surprise "Are you sure he was serious?"

Saber nods "Few men could be more sincere. After we felt you and Master Forthill fall asleep we entered more," a pause "Interesting conversation. It's best if I just explain everything as it went. Do you care?"

You shake your head "If it helps explain everything better."

Saber bowed slightly in thanks "It helps immensely, now it started when you and Master Troy fell into your respective dreams."

You flinch slightly at the mention of dream but you keep it from showing pretty well if you say so yourself. If Saber saw he didn't do anything to indicate it, he only starts his tale of last night.

Saber waited silently, waiting for Rider to speak. The servant of the mount was drumming his fingers on the table, impatiently waiting for something. Both servants turned their heads to the rooms of their respective masters as they felt them enter sleep. Rider sighed in relief "Finally, I thought that man would never stop listening in."

Saber turned back to Rider "So then, what else did you wish to discuss Rider?"

"Just a few things, nothing too serious. First of all, how long do you think this alliance between your master and mine will last?"

Saber shifted slightly in his seat but if he was surprised by the question he didn't show it on his face "We agreed to an alliance until the twenty four hour period has expired. Until that time has passed, I wish not to think of seeing men such as yourself and Master Forthill as enemies. Those that save others, they should be thanked for their service."

Rider let out a slight chuckle at Saber answer, prompting the servant of the sword to raise an eyebrow in question "Did I say something funny?"

Rider nodded "Yeah," he reaches behind his back and sets his short sword on the table causing Saber to rest his hand over the hilt of his own blade. The action made Rider's smirk to grow "We didn't do this because we wanted to be thanked. It's just simple tactics Saber. When outmatched by your enemy you cheat. You wait for them let their guard down, like - just an example - when they're asleep. There isn't a better chance to take out your opponents then when they fall asleep now is there?"

As soon as Rider finished his sentence he found himself on the receiving end of Saber's glare. If looks could kill, this one could put down dragons and gods. Rider lifted both hands in a surrendering gesture "Just saying that kind of planning works for most people."

"For cowards and traitors."

Rider shrugged "Or winners. It worked for Troy - I mean the city, not my Master. But I can totally see him building a-."

"Rider," Saber said cutting him off "If you have something you want to ask of me say it now, before you further drain me of my patience for your childish jokes."

Rider's expression hardened until the intensity of his gaze matched or even exceeded that of Sabers "My apologies, I only wished to confirm my suspicions."

"And what would those be?"

Rider smiled, and Saber felt a shiver go down his spine. Not from fear for himself, his life was expendable. But the smile Rider now wore was one he associated with the tyrants of his age. Strong, commanding, and with absolutely no remorse for the lives they might put in danger.

"You're like me Saber, I'm no saint like yourself but one thing is clear." Rider reached forward and pushed his sword to the other end of the table in front of Saber "Our loyalty to our masters, is absolute. Both of us would be willing to go any distance to keep them safe and insure that their enemies fall before them."

Saber glanced at the sword "I do not cut down my fellow man indiscriminately. If they wish to surrender, they will be spared."

Rider raised a finger "But you're also willing to make the world your enemy if you have to. I simply threw out a nice interesting fact and showed you my sword. You didn't even hesitate to make me know how horrible it would be to work those facts around your master. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought you were about to take my head off with one swing."

Saber followed Rider's gaze and it lead to his hip, Saber relaxed and took his head off of the holy blade.

"Someone willing to cut off ties that easily for the sake of their master. That's...someone I can rely on."

Saber folded his arms and leaned back slightly "How so?"

Rider leans back and copied Sabers posture "Simple, if you're watching every possible angle for an attack that might kill your master. That's another set of eyes doing the same job you're doing."

Rider pointed at the sword "Here's my offer Saber, we continue to be allies passed the twenty four hour mark and in return I give you a little piece of information."

Saber kept his expression neutral "And what little piece of information would this be?"

"My name."

Saber's eyes widened in surprise, causing Rider to chuckle "A good trade, right? You get to know everything about me besides my Noble Phantasm, and you get an ally to help you protect every single silver hair on your master's head. And if that's not enough for you, I'll sweeten the deal even further."

Rider leaned forward so that he need only whisper to allow Saber to hear him "My master and I know where Berserker and his master are as well. Hell, bring me a map of the city, and I'll give it to you free of charge. No alliance needed. If you say no, the sword's right there for you to use whenever you want to. My neck is quite soft you know."

Saber's brow furrowed in thought. It was too good to be true "And you would give all of this to my master and I, without consulting your own master first and for nothing but our word of alliance in return? Rider, some miracles are so grand that men mistake them for gifts from god, but instead they are traps engineered by the devil. Why give everything to us?"

Rider shrugged "I've been given one permanent order from my master. Give anything, and take everything to gain victory. A simple thing like a name isn't going to be something I'm going to hold on for long. Far from it actually. I want the other servants to know exactly who they're dealing with. So then Saber, what do you say? Partners?"

Saber sat in silence for a moment, looking between Rider, the sword in front of him and then finally at the hallway where Sigyn was resting. The moment didn't last long "I accept, but only under the condition that my master will be removed from any and all plans. Not a single hair on her head is to be harmed. And if she wishes to end our alliance, I will remove your head from your shoulders."

Rider put his hand up in mock surrender as he took his sword and put it back on his hip.

He cracked his fingers and got into a comfortable position in his seat "You know I'm surprised Saber, I didn't think you'd agree. You don't look like you trust me."

"I don't," Saber said "I trust you as much as an ant does the boot over its head. But you need us, and you won't kill us until you have it."

Rider smiled "And what do you think makes you so special?"

Saber smirked "Between the two of us, I can actually kill Berserker."

Rider's smile dropped instantly "What makes you think I can't?"

"Simple really, if you could you would have already done it. If you truly know where Berserker and his master where, you would have launched an attack and destroyed them. Neither you nor your master are the type to let a chance to take out an opponent pass you by. I realize now that my original thoughts on Berserker were wrong. He cannot simple just let all attacks phase through him, all attacks phase through him don't they? After all, it is impossible to kill a shadow when the body remains to cast it."

Rider didn't say anything, confirming what Saber had suspected "You need a holy weapon to counter his demonic body in order to hurt him, a weapon that you don't posses while I on the other hand do."

Saber's confident smirk faded as his eyes narrowed "You didn't stop yourself from detonating the bombs out of any kindness or mercy. You realized that you could gain an ally capable of killing Berserker, and you wanted both the servant and the master to survive so that they could be of use later. A brutal tactic disguised as a friendly face."

Rider and Saber glared at one another for a few tense moments before Rider lowered his head "I'm not going to say that we didn't do it out of the kindness of our hearts. I'm also not going to say that we did it just for our own benefit either. The enemy of my enemy is my friend Saber, and we share the same enemy."

"I know that," Saber said, his hand going back to his sword "I will never trust you until you prove yourself before myself, my master, and the lord. But, having said that I'm not foolish enough to think I can protect my master from everything while I am simply near her. I made that mistake once, and I don't intend to repeat it." Saber leaned forward slightly "I will die in fire before a single hair on her head is hurt, that is a promise. But an army can protect a queen better than a single knight."

Rider nodded "Fair reasoning, one that I can agree with." His grin returned to his face and he held out his hand "Anyway, it's good to be allies with you Saber. My name is…"

"Jason, Captain of the Argonauts." Saber says.

Spoiler: Rider: Matrix Level A

Class: Rider

Master: Troy Forthill

Titles: Captain of the Argonauts, Sailor of the Godless Seas

True Name: Jason

Keyword: Crazy Master, Willing to give anything for victory, Trust or Leave, Captain.

Noble Phantasm: ???

Strength: C-->A*

Endurance: D+-->B+*

Agility: E-->C +*

Mana: D-->B*

Luck: A++

(Parameters with a * are affected by Affections of the Goddess and the Phantasm ****)

Class skills:

Riding (A): All creatures but those of Phantasmal Beast and Divine Beast-rank can be used as mounts.

Magic Resistance (C-->B): Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals, it is difficult for Rider to be affected. While normally at C rank, the anti magical effects of Rider's Phantasm **** increases this rank.

Personal Skills:

Rider on the Storm (A+):

The talent to sail vessels recognized as ships. Because the ability as a group leader is also necessary, this Skill also has the effects of both Charisma and Military Tactics. At this rank, Rider can command any and all modern vehicles he wishes to make as his 'mount'.

Affections of the Goddess (A+-->B):

All stats, with the exception of luck and Mana are ranked up. Rider gains this skill from the remains of the affections of both the goddess of Hera and Aphrodite. Due to his falling out of favor with the gods, this skill is reduced.

Eye of the Mind (False): D

An innate talent to sense and avoid danger based on intuition that can also be called the Sixth Sense or prescience, gained through many ordeals and adventures. As a natural talent to avoid danger based on the "perception and resolution of the current situation." Riders's rank in this should be higher, but he relied too much on his crew and his 'wife' on his adventures and not enough on himself.

Noble Phantasms:

???

Your eyes widen as the meaning and power of that name comes to you. In front of you, only a few meters away, you watch the captain of the greatest ship in greek history - perhaps all of history - joke and laugh with his master.

"Jason. The Jason." You mutter.

Saber nods "Quite the ally to be with. But also a terrible enemy to fight against."

You can't doubt that. Jason, the man who lead the ship that carried some of the greatest legends of Greece on the mission for the Golden Fleece. Someone who could command the likes of Hercules with nothing but his charisma. It made you wonder why he was acting like a kid here? You would expect someone of Jason's caliber to act more like a captain, but Troy did say he was summoned by compatability. As soon as that thought passes through you, another, even more horrifying thought goes through you head. If Troy summoned Jason by compatability alone, what was he really like inside that head of his and behind that smile? A thought occurs to you and you turn back to Saber "Wait, weren't you the one who said that I shouldn't trust them?"

Saber looks confused "Yes, and?"

"And you just went and made an alliance with them without even talking to me." You said with a smile of your own.

"Ah," Saber didn't meet your gaze "I ah, well I don't trust them but until we defeat Berserker, Rider and Master Forthill need us. So I took a calculated risk. If they truly wish to help us in our quest, who am I do judge them?"

Your smirk would have made Adam proud as you look at Saber. The knight of the sword looks at your face but quickly looks away "Stop it."

"Hypocrite."

"Stop it"

"Nope."

"I'm begging you Sigyn, please stop."

"Not until you admit you're a bit of a hypocrite Saber."

Saber blinks a few times before his eyes widen "You're secretly sadistic aren't you master?"

You drop the smirk and laugh so hard you need to hold yourself together. It wasn't a fake laugh to make someone feel better, it was an honest to gods laugh. You don't even remember how long ago it was since you laughed like this, maybe Adam got you to laugh as much as that but it was a while ago if at all. When you could breath again Saber pierced his lips while he looks down at you "Are you done?"

"Haha," Deep breath in, sweet oxygen filling your lungs "I think so yeah."

Saber raises an eyebrow "Really?"

You snort "Maybe."

Saber sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose "Please master, try to be serious about this."

You straighten up "Don't worry, Adam must've rubbed off on me a bit too much. But next time, do what you say and not something else."

Saber frowns but says nothing, prompting you to snicker a bit. You look over to Rider and Troy. Troy was currently striking poses while Rider was trying to ignore him and ask a passerby a few questions. Troy notices you looking, waves, and you wave back.

"But in all seriousness, I know exactly what I'm dealing with here Saber. Rider is Jason, and he no doubt has the Argo as his Noble Phantasm. If it has it's entire crew with it, who knows how powerful something like that could be."

Saber nods in agreement "Against Rider himself, I would have no trouble. But against an army, I'm afraid I am but a single man with the lord. All of my Phantasms are designated by your scale as Anti-Unit, powerful as they might, be there is more than just one man in an army."

Well...That was reassuring. But on the plus side, you were allies until Berserker was taken care of. And if what Saber said was true, no matter what Troy's real intentions are he has to keep both you and Saber around until that time comes.

Good thoughts about the future right?

"Are you two coming!?" Troy calls out from ahead "This trip is supposed to be only a few minutes not an hour!"

"Sorry Troy!" you answer.

You and Saber pick up your pace slightly and soon the four of you were walking down the street. If someone were to look at the four of you, they would probably think of a set of friends. Well, maybe a set of friends and their grumpy father that got dragged along. You look at Saber as you think about that last one. It doesn't take long before he notices "What?"

"Nothing." you say quickly.

Troy and Rider tense up and Saber clears his throat drawing your attention "Master, we have a problem."

You tense up, was it Berserker again? You wouldn't put it by the mad servant to do something as crazy as attacking you in the middle of the day. It could be another servant whose master saw the four of you walk around? Well they're either a powerful opponent capable of taking the four of you on at once or-Wait. What the hell kind of smell is that? You take one quick whiff before regret settled in and you're forced to plug your nose "What is that smell?" you ask no one.

Troy's hand was in a hidden pocket in his hoodie, presumably where his code was kept. He stopped any motion with his hand and took a few whiffs of the air "It smells like," another whiff "Really bad cologne? It's three in the afternoon, who wears cologne this earily? On that note who wears cologne period?"

"Bad cologne? I'll have you know sir that this is the greatest scent money can buy."

You turn towards the source of the voice and a combed mop of blue hair greets you. You blink once before you look over the rest of the blue haired form. Turns out it was a boy, about your age wearing a school uniform. He had a bit of a pompous look to him, like he wanted to be the king of the world but the world was too busy laughing at his attempts to take him seriously enough. After a few seconds you realize that this is Shinji Matou, one of the other masters mentioned in William's notes. It said that he was so little a threat that you might as well shoot him now to get it over with.
When you look back at this moment, nothing I say will stop you from regretting.
"Nice technicolor wig." Troy remarks, folding his arms. At least he didn't shoot Shinji.

Shinji fumed with anger but he kept himself, mostly under control when he saw you. He straightened his collar before clearing his throat "We haven't even met sir, and you dare insult me in such a manner." It sounded like he really didn't like that, and that Troy would regret doing it again.

"Well how would you like me to insult you?" Troy asks, the threat going completely over his head "I take requests, fifty yen per customer though. And some rates aren't valid in the US or Canada."

You suppress and smirk, someone needed to be respectable. Rider on the other hand wasn't too keen on being respectful "You mean I can't return it if it breaks?"

Troy hangs his head in shame "Quite sad, I know. It's this damn economy."

Shinji rolls his eyes at the two of them before looking at you.

And you don't know what it's like to be on the receiving end of a predatory stare, but now you do. Although, you don't know if it's because you look like food. Or, something else entirely.

Shinji goes down in a deep, exaggerated bow before taking a hold of your hand "Good afternoon my dear," he kisses you hand, a little overly friendly isn't he? "My name is Shinji Matou, and what would be the name of the angel that I see before me?" At that last sentence you swear his eyes sparkled.

Well...okay, you don't really know how to respond to that so might as well go with the automatic response "S-sigyn."

"Sigyn, a beautiful name for a divine sight."

You blink, not quite sure how to take this "Ah, thanks?"

In the corner of your eye you see several different sights. Saber was trying to keep his cool but he was glaring at Shinji like he wanted to kill the man. What did Shinji do to deserve that? He was a little overly friendly but that was it right? We're you missing something? Rider, on the other hand, was glancing between you and Shinji with a look that barely concealed his amusement.

Troy, surprisingly, looked almost neutral about the whole thing. His entire demeanor was one of a casual observer, watching nature at work. That said, his hand was fumbling around in his hoodie trying to look for something. Hopefully it wasn't his code, that thing didn't need to be fired off in the middle of the street.

Shinji inclined his head slightly "Any time my dear, any time." another kiss and you get your hand back. A small voice in the back of your head suggested you wash your hand as soon as possible.

"Now," Shinji says looking you over again "What brings you here? A trip? Fate? Or that certain tattoo on the back of your hand?"

You glance down at your command seals, and you quickly hide your hand by cupping it with your other. You awkwardly tuck the hands behind you, the action making Shinji chuckle slightly "Oh don't worry about that, actually, it makes my next action far easier."

You take a step back "And what would that be?"

Shinji waves a hand "Oh nothing so bold as to make you scared my dear. I simply wish for you to walk with me, us masters can have some...interesting conversations."

You blink and shake your head. He wants you to walk with him? Is there some sort of hidden meaning that you're missing or are you just reading into things a little bit too much? Maybe it's a trap.

Shinji looks at you, awaiting your answer so you…


[] Talk to him, you're in no hurry and it doesn't hurt to be polite. If it's a trap, well, I'm sure you can handle it.(Even if he's a little….Out there)

[] You really need to get going and you need to leave but that's no reason to be rude. Tell Shinji sorry but you need to get going, hopefully you can get through this without things going south.

[] Brush him off, you didn't need to talk to this creep, get away now!

If he doesn't leave?

[] Saber, sic 'em
[] Rider, sic 'em
[] Troy, sic 'em
[] Who cares who sicks em', just get him away!

A/N: Wow that was really really stupid. Damn you Finals!!!
On another note, having fun trying to kill Rider later on when the Alliance ends

 

[IKnowNothing]

[X] Talk to him, you're in no hurry and it doesn't hurt to be polite. If it's a trap, well, I'm sure you can handle it. (Even if he's a little….Out there)

You look at Shinji and your options flash through your mind. You could just brush him off, you needed to get to the church so you could make yourself official. Or. Just leave this war. That was always an option you had right? You didn't need to fight in this war, you only need to get to the church and say something like "I give up my rights as a master."

That was so simple. So why were you working so hard to keep your place in the war so high? You've made alliances, deals, and right now you have the chance to talk to another one of the masters, literally five minutes away from your chance to get out. But on the other hand, this is what you wanted right? You want to explore the world, see the sights and meet the people. Well. Here's one, he's a little weird but right now your only comparison is Troy.

And saying that Troy's normal is like saying Adam is a polite individual.

"Where would we be going?" you ask.

The question brings several different responses. First off, Saber's gaze snaps away from Shinji to stare at you like you've just said some crazy. Like the world is ruled by mice or something. Rider puts a hand to his mouth, trying and failing to stop a snicker of laughter. Troy grabs your shoulder and clears his throat "Sigyn, standard protocol when strange men ask you to go for a walk with them is to tell them no and then kick them where the sun don't shine."

You raise an eyebrow "I don't understand the 'Sun don't shine' reference. But I do see your point, and don't worry."

"And you're still going with this guy because?"

You think for a second before smirking slightly "I'll answer your question if you answer mine. How is this any different from when you took me and Saber away from Berserker?"

Troy opens his mouth, then shuts it again, looking slightly annoyed. After a moment, he resumes talking. "Technically I was both giving you a ride and helping you get away from Berserker, so…" He sighed and gave up the point. "Ok, I'll admit that this is a tiny bit similar to when I picked you and Saber up. But I didn't have the words 'IT'S A TRAP' hanging over my head in bright, retina-searing neon."

You blink "It's a trap?"

Troy returns the blink "If I had a radar that detected...ooh, let's call them unsavory characters, this guy would have broken it in half."

"Do you even have the decency to wait for someone to turn their backs before you insult them?" Shinji asks.

"Why, that defeats the point! If I wait for that I'd miss seeing your face after it sinks in." Troy says with a smirk that, by this point, was quickly becoming the only feature permanent to his face.

Shinji tried to remain calm but the slight sound of grinding teeth was easy to make out. Saber kept his face neutral but the sense of disappointment was clear to everyone there.

"Clearly, Master Forthill, your ability to amaze has no bounds."

"Thanks. Good to see that my efforts are getting through."

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone turned their attention solely on Shinji. The young Matou heir was furious, his face was contorted in rage and his skin was starting to gain a red tinge. He points a shaky, accusing finger at Troy "I will not stand for this insult! I-!"

"Well, I suppose you could lie down if you prefer..." Troy says, stepping forward. The action had a double effect of cutting Shinji off and raising the blue haired Matou's anger to new heights.

You watch Saber take a step forward, hopefully to defuse the situation "Master Matou, Master Forthill, can you ple-."

His sentence was cut off as Rider elbows him sharply "Quiet, I want to see how this goes."

Saber looks at you with a pleading glance to stop the conversation between the two male masters. You nod, and while Saber pulls Rider's hand off his mouth and glares down the servant, you make your way between Troy and Shinji. You step in between them and thankfully, both of them move out of the way so you didn't have to push them away. You take a deep breath before you begin "This is getting out of hand to fast. Both of you know the rules of the grail war." You make sure that you took the time to look both of them in the eye, securing their attention and making yourself seem better at this talking business than you really are.

"If we start a fight in the middle of the day, in the middle of the city we're all going to be kicked out of the war by the overseer."

"If we get caught." Troy says.

You send a glare at the crazy master "Troy, not helping."

"I wasn't trying to."

"Well, then at least try a bit more."

Troy thinks for a second "Even if I wanted to help, I couldn't."

You resist the urge to roll your eyes "Why?"

"Yes, why?" Shinji asks.

"Shinji," you warn "Please don't push this."

"I have no idea what you are on about," Shinji interjects "I haven't said anything bad to this man since I got here."

"Lack of trying clear to see."

It was at that point, that you notice that Shinji was ready to burst. In fact, he visibly shook with anger and you took a step back. Troy smiles "I seem to have touched a nerve."

"WHY ARE YOU INSULTING ME LIKE THIS!?!" Shinji screams, like a five year old to boot.

Troy puts a hand on his chin "I don't know, my mouth just opens and it sort of happens."

Shinji clenches his fist and moves forward to punch Troy. Only to end up with his face on the floor groaning. The four of you blink in confusion before Saber, Rider and you look at Troy for answers. The mage had his hand in the secret compartment of his hoodie but other than that he was clean. He holds up his hands in surrender "As much as I want to take credit for this, I actually didn't do it this time."

You lean down next to Shinji to make sure he's alright. After a quick inspection you found that the only real damage to him was a rock lying next to his head. You raise an eyebrow and glance at everyone behind you "Did anyone throw a rock at Shinji?"

Saber shakes his head "I have done nothing to hurt Master Matou. Physically or otherwise."

Rider shrugs "I would've thrown a car, gotta put A ranked strength to use somehow right?"

Finally you look at Troy. The formalcraft mage raises an eyebrow "Whoa. Hey. Do I look like the kind of man to throw rocks when I have a gun?"

"Then wh-."

"That would be me."

You turn to the direction of the voice, and what greets you was stunning to say the least. She was a little taller than you but you stopped comparing yourself to her out of respect. She was beautiful, so beautiful that you could see warriors and kings go to war just to have a chance to speak to her. She had crimson eyes that seemed to look over everything like she'd already seen it a thousand times. Her hair was a deep red that flowed down her back. She wore a simple purple long sleeved shirt and skin tight jeans. But underneath all of the beauty, you could sense something dark. It was as if the world was giving a warning to those around her. Run, she'll kill you.

Next to you, Rider lets out a low whistle. Saber looked as neutral as ever, but you did note that he wasn't blinking very often. The woman stretches out her arms causing a few men walking on the other side of the street to forget where they were going and stare. They promptly ran into one another causing the woman to send a playful smirk their way.

They ran into one another again soon afterwards.

It was at this moment that the world decided to give you the information you deserved at this point.

Spoiler: Lancer: Matrix Level D

Class: Lancer
Master: Shinji Matou
Titles: ???
True Name: ???
Keywords: Deadly beauty, ?
Noble Phantasm: ???

Strength: C
Endurance: B
Agility: A
Mana: D
Luck: E

Class Skills:


Magic Resistance (C): Cancel spells with a chant below two verses. Cannot defend against Magecraft on the level of High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals.

Skills:
???

"Oh that never gets old." Lancer says.

She looks over you and the rest of the group and another playful smirk "So you were the group of interesting signatures that I sensed earlier." She says walking up "I have to admit, kind of a disappointment."

You open your mouth to respond but Troy steps forward. The action had the double effect of cutting you off and allowing Rider and Saber to get on either side of you. In a second you had a three man wall of flesh, magic and steel between you and Lancer.

"What were you expecting?" Troy asks.

"From the Saber and Rider classes?" Lancer thought for a moment, putting a hand on her chin "Well someone bigger for the Saber, this one doesn't look like he'll last ten minutes."

Saber said nothing, his gaze only hardened ever so slightly and his hand twitched over his side where his sword was hidden. Saber swings his arm forward and a slow breeze flows over the group. Lancer glances down for a second before picking up something off the ground. She put it out on the palm of her hand to study it. You look into her hand and your jaw drops slightly. In the center of Lancer's palm, was a common fly. Only it was wingless. But it was still alive. The insect squirms in Lancer's hand for a second before the servant sets the bug on the ground letting it scurry away.

Lancer looks at Saber and she nods in respect. Saber returns the nod and relaxes his stance by crossing his arms. Lancer then turns to Rider and the servant of the mount, for lack of a better term, swaggers forward. He glances down at Lancer "Like what you see?" he asks with a suggestive smile.

Lancer tilts her head slightly "No, you just remind me of an old fling."

Rider smirks "A good time I'm sure."

Lancer chuckles slightly "For the five minutes he lasted, yes. It was a good time."

Rider's face fell and Troy bursts out laughing "Better get some ice for that burn, Rider!"

As Rider was about to retort to Troy's comment you step forward. Lancer and Troy look at you confused and you point to Shinji, who still hadn't gotten up from the earlier rock incident. Lancer smiles in realization "Oh don't worry about him," she says waving the concern off "I slap my master across the room at least three times a day. If anything this little stunt should be simple for him."

You think that sentence over for a second "So, you just, beat your master on a daily basis?"

Troy shrugs "Meh, saves me the trouble."

Lancer looks at you, her expression full of mock anger and surprise "How rude. Are you implying that I do unspeakable things to my master in a dark room every day just for fun?"

It takes a second for you mouth to work again "No?"

"Good because I don't."

Shinji coughs weakly from the ground "You're lying Lancer. You enjoy this."

"Only because your expressions are the best."

Lancer leans down, and unceremoniously lifts Shinji's head up by his hair. The young Matou limply slapped and scratched at Lancer's arm in a vain attempt to get her to let him go. Lancer pulls Shinji's head to eye level "Now master, say you're sorry."

Shinji, well, everyone blinked in confusion at that. For the first time since they had known one another, Troy and Shinji spoke in one voice "What?"

"You heard me," Lancer says "Say you're sorry."

You see Troy's face break out into a huge grin and behind you, Rider was on the floor laughing.

"I like this servant." Troy says.

Troy glares pure hatred at Troy but he chewed his bottom lip for a second before taking a shaky breath "I-I'm sorry."

Troy did a quick, mocking bow "Apology accep-."

His sentence was cut off as Shinji's head was slammed back into the pavement by Lancer. Both your and Troy's jaw drop at this and Saber's eyes widen a noticeable fraction. Lancer pulls Shinji's head back up "What was that for!?!" Shinji screams.

"You apologized to them!" Lancer says pointing a finger at you and Troy.

"But that's what you asked me to do!" Shinji complains.

Lancer slaps him hard across the cheek sending the poor boy into the fence next to you. Lancer rolls her eyes "Fool, you were supposed to apologize to me!"

You quickly sneak a glance at Shinji to make sure he was ok before asking the question "Why?"

"Because he's a horrible master and I have to deal with him. And because of this he should apologize for being such a disappointment to me." Lancer says, in a tone that sounded like that reasoning justified everything the servant had done in the last five minutes.

Saber takes a step forward and checks on Shinji. After a second he sighs in relief "He will be fine, but I would advise against beating the poor man any more."

"Today?" Lancer asks with a smirk.

Saber narrows his gaze "Ev-."

"It's called sarcasm buddy," Troy quickly interjects "God, what did I do to get allied with the team that has no sense of humor?"

Rider, who had apparently gotten up from his laughing coma, looks at his master offended "Hey. I'm here and I'm funny."

"Only because you've spent the last three days around me." Troy corrects "It's bound to happen by this point."

At the banter around you, you force your hand away from you face. A headache was growing and you didn't need anything more adding to it. Lancer apparently notices your discomfort and lightly this time, kicks Shinji to get him to stand up. Shinji groans in pain before slowly getting up "Lancer, if I have to use a command seal to stop you from doing that ag-."

Lancer cuts her master off by flicking him in the forehead. Causing him to both stumble back and shut up from any further complaints. As Shinji forces down a scream of pain, Lancer smiles at her work and saw that it was good. She snapped her fingers twice and Shinji, almost robotically snaps to attention "What time is it boy?" she asks. Apparently calling Shinji her master was an insult to her pride or something.

Shinji quickly checks his watch "Um, about five minutes till four."

Lancer thinks for a moment "Good, enough time to have a nice bite to eat before the battle."

Your head tilts in confusion "I'm sorry what are you talking about? We can't fight in the middle of the day while everyone is still around."

"So we eat until it's dark and then we start." Lancer says like it was obvious.

"And you want to fight us afterwards because?" Troy asks.

Lancer shrugs "When you go into a battlefield, there are two things that go through every warrior's mind. Will I survive? And can/we win this fight? I intend to honor the first by allowing you to enjoy something before you fall."

"Oh?" Rider says "You think you can win against the two of us?"

Lancer smiles a cruel, battle hungry smile "I don't think, I know."

She sounded so confident, the prospect of fighting two servants at once not bothering her in the slightest. In fact, if anything the prospect of fighting a two on one battle was exciting her. Besides her, Shinji begins to laugh. The boy looks in complete control for once as he gestures to Lancer "Yes my fellow masters! Tremble in fear! For I! Shinji Matou have summoned the invincible -."

And his sentence was cut short yet again as Lancer hits him in the back of the head sending him back into the ground. Rider and Troy just shake their heads and smile "I could watch that on repeat all day and I would have no regrets." Troy says.

"Same." Rider agrees.

"Do you know of a medical facility we could take Master Matou to?" Saber asks the two of them "Those blows are going to have some unwanted effects if left untreated."

"I good meal and a drink will fix that up." Lancer says picking Shinji up, by his hair again.

"Anyway boy. Find us the closest place to where we can drink the horrors of battle away."

Shinji grinds his teeth together "I'm underaged Lancer, I can't go into a bar."

"And that stops you because?"

"There are these things called rules." Troy jokes "They're useless after a while."

"Wait, how old are you?" You ask Troy. That was strange if you thought about it long enough. You knew next to nothing about Troy's past, so you might as well ask questions. His age however, not exactly a detailed area to start. But hey, it was something.

Troy thinks for a second "I think I'm around twenty two."

"You think?" You ask raising an eyebrow.

Saber copies your expression "How do you not know your age? Did something happen to you in the past? A loss of memory or something of that nature?"

Troy shrugs "Nah, it's more on the lines of I don't keep track of useless things like that."

You open your mouth to ask another question but Lancer cuts you off "You know what I see here? No food, fix that boy."

Shinji groans as he slowly gets up "Fine fine, there's an cafe a few blocks away. Will that please her royal highness?"

Lancer didn't look amused by Shinji' comment. She raises her hand and Shinji flinches in fear causing Lancer to smile "Good, you're learning quick. Now lead on."

Shinji grumbles to himself, something about useless servants but you really couldn't tell much more than that. As Shinji and Lancer walked away you started after them and everyone else follows closely behind you. The walk was short and sweet with no interruptions, magical or otherwise. Soon, you find yourself going through a thin glass door into an average cafe in the middle of an average city. As you go in, Troy points out an open table and the six of you sit down. Shinji and Lancer took the two far seats and Rider sat down next to Lancer while Saber and Troy filed into the seats next to you. Once everyone sat down you look around to Shinji and Lancer "So do they take our orders or what?"

Shinji lets out a small laugh "Oh you're just so adorable you know,"

"Thanks?"

"You get the food by asking the cashier over there." Troy says pointing to a woman behind the counter talking to a line of people. Troy and Saber were also glaring at Shinji but you didn't think too much about it. Instead you opted to look at the menu above the cashier's head. It was a generic mixture of sandwiches, soups and assorted coffee's. Well, you assumed it was generic you had no experience telling you otherwise.

Troy turns to Shinji "Hey Blue, what exactly are you and your master ordering?"

Shinji bit his lower lip in response to the "master" comment "Number six." he says.

Everyone looks at Lancer "One of everything."

Shinji raises an eyebrow "Seriously?"

Lancer nods "Yes, you don't provide any prana of use and I need to get my stores of energy up somehow. Huge amounts of food should be plenty for the first night. Besides, you're paying."

Shinji nearly chokes on his own tongue "What!?"

"Well if he's paying I'll take numbers one through five to go." Troy says.

"What!?"

"I'll take a second order of everything." Rider says.

"What!?"

"I'll just have some water." Saber says, his tone clearly indicates that he didn't want a part in this.

As Shinji and Troy start yet another round of throwing insults at one another, Lancer and Rider start talking in hushed tones, you roll your eyes at the crazy situation you find yourself in. You get up and glance at Saber and your servant nods. You might as well get in line - clearly none of your companions were in any rush themselves. Looking up at the menu, you accidentally walk into the back of a man standing in front of you. Normally when someone runs into someone else both parties move a little bit or stumble. But in this case, it's only you that stumbles back while the man in front of you barely moves. He wasn't much taller than you were with pure white hair and a build so skinny one could've guessed he had some disease. Over his shoulders was a red and black silk robe with gold highlights that looked like it was worth a fortune. But if you think he had a fault diseases or otherwise, you wouldn't think that for long. For some reason, when you look at his features, the only word that came to mind was perfect. His hair was messy and his robe looked only recently put on like he'd just gotten out of bed. All of it came together to be something perfect. He glances back at you "Apologies." he says in a voice that held no emotion.
It's been a long time
You wave the question off "No it's fine."
I made you a promise
The man nods and went back to looking at a table at the other end of the store. It only had a single cup of coffee on it and its steam was flowing into the air. It was totally unremarkable, so why did it feel like the entire world was centered on the single space? As you watched, steam from the cup faded away for a second only to start up again. After a second the steam stops completely and the man starts to walk away. He briefly touches your shoulder as he walks passes and you wince in pain from the contact. It was like getting too close to an open flame and your skin burned.
I promised that I was going to kill you
"You're going to die no matter what you choose."
And nothing in white city or the black circle will stop me from completing that promise
You freeze where you are "What?" you ask without turning around.

"You heard correctly Master of Saber," the man says "If don't fall into the trap under your feet, then the arrows of war will finish what is left."
So prepare yourself killer
It didn't sound like a threat, and that's what made it so terrifying. It wasn't hollow words meant to instill fear, it was a statement of fact and that fear is only a side effect of the fear was just a side effect of that truth setting in. You feel him turn around and out of the corner of your eye you see his hand point to something. What happens next, forces its way into your very being. It felt as if a star had exploded behind you and all of its energy was being contained in a single form. A skinny man who no one would think anything of besides his handsome features. Behind the coffee counter, the mixer suddenly overheated and exploded. The waitress screamed in slight surprise. Back at your table, Saber, Lancer, Rider and Troy reached for hidden weapons while Shinji and the rest of the normal people around you look around for what was wrong. It didn't take long, everyone normal started to run around frantically to get out of the store.

The man's finger slowly goes down and the feeling of heat and power goes down with it "I was ordered by my master to demonstrate my power and send a message. Leave this war, give up your claim to the grail and you might be able to see your brother again."
Because when I find you again
The fear inside you jumps to heights that only living nightmares could attain. As far as you know, you're in one if what you just heard was true.

"What did you do to Adam?" you ask, fear and anger causing your voice to crack.
No word will be able to describe the hell I will inflict on you
"I have done nothing to your brother, it was only a message to from my master. I know not if he is in danger nor do I know his fate. You fate however, is clear to see for those who have the patients to look."

"Where is he!?" You demand.

Saber and company turn as you raise your voice. Troy and Rider glance at one another, get up from their seats and immediately start getting people out of the cafe. A few people try to argue with Troy but the magus pulls out a slip of paper, shows it to them and they turn around dazed and confused but alive as well. Even Shinji and Lancer were helping, but unlike Troy and Rider who were keeping it someone contained, Lancer and Shinji were throwing people out. Literally in Lancer's case. Bad news, you were probably going to be on the front page of the news for assisting a somewhat hostile takeover of a ⅗ star cafe. Silver lining, everyone was now scared shitless of Lancer and they wanted to get away as fast as they could so that Lancer wasn't even in the same zip code as them anymore.

Like literal magic, the store was clear of everyone in a few odd minutes. Now you find yourself standing in the center of a circle of masters and servants. Saber, Rider and Lancer were all out of their civilian clothes and in full battle armor. Lancer's was interesting. She now wore a set of skin tight purple leather armor that complemented her figure so well it made her look like a goddess. Part of you felt inadequate looking at her but luckily the other part didn't care. In her hands was a crimson red spear longer than she was that radiated bloodlust and death. The man standing next to you barely glanced at the servants. His face could have been a marble statue with how little emotion it showed.

Saber was the first to point his blade at the man "Who are you? You are not a man, but I don't see information detailing your class."

The man looks over his cloak "Caster gave me this cloak at the behest of my master. I keeps other masters from seeing my abilities."

Lancer scoffs "You know, the point of keeping your assets hidden is so that your opponents don't know about them."

The man shrugs slightly "There was no point in hiding something that you would find out eventually. Besides, it makes no difference on the outcome."

"A little cocky aren't we?" Troy smirks.

The man turns to Troy "Weather it be one on one or all three of you against me, the outcome will be no different." He eyes everyone in the room other than Shinji "You will all fall. Even without facing me, your destruction will come."

"What makes you so sure?" Rider asks.

The man glances at Rider "Because if an army fights against itself, it will be trampled by its enemy."

Saber narrows his gaze at the man "What do you mean?"

The man glances back to the table with the single cup of coffee. And it was full again. The man looks back at Saber "You and your master will learn soon enough Saber. But unfortunately time is short, my master requires my assistance in a troublesome matter."

He starts towards the door and seeing him move away allows you to move from your frozen state. He couldn't leave yet. Something was happening to Adam and everyone and he knew what it is. Luckily, Troy and Rider has the same plan as you. Rider steps in front of him, his body barring his way while Troy put his code flush against the man's head.

Troy smirks "Yeah, no. Even if you are a servant, or some form of wraith I doubt you can take a shot from Fluffy to the back of your head."

You blink in confusion despite the tension of the situation "Fluffy? You named your code Fluffy?"

Troy shrugs "It was better than Mystic-Magic-Railgun 2.5."

"What happened to the first one and a half codes?" Lancer asks.

Shinji raises an eyebrow at his servant "Really Lancer? Out of everything you could've asked, that's what you choose?"

"Well you were to busy trying to look tough by hiding behind me so I might as well ask something."

In spite of everything happening around you, your eyes wander back to Saber.

"No comment." Saber says quickly.

"We're getting off track," Troy says "Back to the topic of interest, this guys head atomized by a piece of metal doing about Mach Ten."

The man doesn't even flinch at Troy's threat "You won't pull the trigger. Even if you did, it wouldn't even be able to hurt me."

Troy smiles "You'll forgive me if I don't take you at your word for that."

At the end of his code, energy began to build up and sparks of prana pooled around it causing a green glow to illuminate Troy and the man. Troy pushes the code flush against the man's head and pushes forward slightly "Why wouldn't I just get rid of an enemy while I have the chance?

As Troy's finger closes around the trigger you race to his side "Don't shoot him!" you scream.

Tory does a double take looking between you and the man "What?! Why the hell not!?"

"Because he said something about Adam! If he's in danger he's the only one who know about it!" you plead.

Troy rolls his eyes and focuses everything on the man "Sigyn, he's lying through his teeth. He'll say whatever you want him to in order to not eat a bullet."

You shake your head "No. He knew exactly what their names were. He knows something Troy, don't kill him please."

Troy doesn't move, if anything his grip on the trigger tightens. Right before the hammer comes down your frustration and fear pour out in a single instant "Please he could save my brother!"

Troy's finger stops cold in the last possible space right before the code is forced to fire. You desperately look between Troy and the gun. Troy's face was a mixture of confusion, frustration and barely contained anger. For a few tense seconds it looked like Troy was just going to shoot him "Three minutes."

"What?"

"You have three minutes to ask your questions before I blow his head off." Troy says "And if this was ever in doubt, no. I'm not taking the gun away from his head."
NO DON'T HESITATE END HIM NOW!
You smile in thanks before moving around the man so you can talk to him face to face. He still had the same emotionless expression and his gaze was fixated on Rider before it turns to you. He didn't move or say anything but it was clear that he wasn't going to stop you from talking. You shove the anxiety and fear so that your voice wouldn't crack "Who told you about my brother?"

"My master."

"So you are a servant?"

The man bows slightly "I am, my name holds no meaning in this time or this place. But if you wish to call me something, my master and the grail have named me Archer."

Spoiler: Archer: Matrix Level E

Class: Archer
Master: ???
Titles: ???
True Name: ???
Keywords: Inevitable, Does not lie?, ?
Noble Phantasm: ???

Strength: ???
Endurance: ???
Agility: ???
Mana: ???
Luck: ???

Class Skills:

Magic Resistance (?):

Independent Action (?):

Skills:

???

Saber and Lancer both raise an eyebrow at their fellow knight class. You didn't know the cause for the look. Maybe they were expecting something bigger and better for the Archer? You didn't dwell on the thought for very long, you were on the clock.

"Where is my brother?"

"I don't know." Archer responds.
STOP ASKING USELESS QUESTIONS AND JUST KILL HIM
Your fist clenched in frustration and in your anger mana began to pool around you. Years of training and discipline only allowed it to form a blue haze around you but beyond that nothing. Shinji's looks at you and his jaw probably needed a servant's strength to get it off the floor. Lancer smirks like she just found a new interesting show, Rider's grins "Better tell the truth Archer, the lady's getting angry."

"I am speaking the truth," Archer says "Why would I lie about a topic I know nothing about."

You grit your teeth "Then where's your master? He must know where Adam is."

"I cannot tell you."

Your grip on your fist grows until you feel your knuckles about to pop "Why not!" you demand.

"Because my master has ordered me to only tell you my class, the message and nothing else. It was his order that lead me here, and I see no reason to go against that order."

"Good for you Archer," Troy says "Good and all that you're a nice little puppet for your master, but your answers are keeping a friend from the information she wants. Your prize is that three minutes goes down to one."

The code continues charging until a high pitched whistle came from the gun. It didn't sound like it was breaking, it was more of a warning to anything in the area. Run or die.
KILL HIM NOW! DAMN THE CONSEQUENCES
"Fifty-eight, and like that I say, goodbye Archer."
_________________

[] Stop Troy from pulling the trigger.
[] Let Troy shoot Archer
[] Write-in

 

[IKnowNothing]

[X] Stop Troy from pulling the trigger

You don't remember when, but you read somewhere that there are moments in everyone's life that time seems to stand still. We can't control when or how, it's just when we make choices that we realize might change our lives forever. It terrifies us that we might not make the right choice, but we normally live with the consequences. You watched Troy aim his weapon, and the choice to let him fire that gun was not a consequence that will change your life for the better.

So before you know what you were doing, you grab Troy's wrist and you force his aim upward. You silently thank whatever being or fate that allowed you to be within reaching distance of Troy. If you weren't, you would have never been able to do this. Troy eyes go wide in surprise and he says something in another language. Something European. While you do probably the stupidest thing in your life, going against one of the few allies you have just to stop him from taking out an enemy servant? Not the best choice you've made today and considering you only got here after agreeing to come here with a shaded blue haired master of Lancer, that was saying something.

Rider looks at you like you just became the queen of irrational choices. In complete disgust and disappointment was all over his face. Saber on the other hand, was the complete opposite. His eyes still hadn't left Archer but the corners of his mouth were bent slightly upward. Like he was smiling at you.

Shinji was still hiding behind Lancer so you couldn't see him, but Lancer looks at you with the first positive emotion you've seen on the woman. She smiles at you, like a mother to her student, the kind when the child had a tough choice but they made the right one. You try to look at Troy and send a silent, desperate plea to stop. Don't fire, if you fire something will happen, I don't know what but it won't be good for either of us.

He didn't see your plea.

And then the code fired all of the magic that a human weapon could store.

It blew your hair back and made your eyes water from the wind that it threw in your face. It was also bright, extremely bright. You've only seen the code fired a few times before this, but the difference between this blast and the others was like night and day. Everything else was a controlled shot, used for precise aiming and pinpoint destruction. This one was a blast with no control, no restraint.

And no mercy of what it destroys.

It takes a few seconds for the light from the blast to fade away. When it finally does, the entire cafe looked like it had just gone through a renovation from a psych patient with a sledge hammer. The tables were either in several pieces by the expert slices of someone's blade or in cracked and shattered splinters as if someone threw them against the wall. The real center of attention for the entire building, however, was the singular hole leading outside. It wasn't as if a giant bullet had torn through the building, the hole was perfect and there were no cracks or other disorientations. It was if the entire power of that shot was focused solely on that singular spot. The small area around you, Troy and Archer was the only place left untouched from the inhuman forces at work. It was like a god decided that this small circle would be protected from the servants and master's power.

Speaking of the servants, they were uncomfortably close right now.

Next to Troy, Rider was holding his short sword in a protective stance over Troy's chest. Behind the trigger mag, Lancer held her crimson spear over his shoulder pointing it at Archer's face. Standing between you and Archer, Saber held his blade Archer's throat.

In the second between the shot and now, Archer had switched into a set of battle armor. Well, looking it over you hesitate to call it armor. It looks like a black skin tight suit with gold highlights that covered his entire body except for his chest and his face. In the opening of his chest a singular red ruby was imbedded in his chest and said gem was surrounded by a ring of golden rays making the entire thing look like a miniature sun. On his arms were a set of gold arm guards and on his legs, he had similar set that stretched from his upper thigh to his lower shin. Attached to his back was a gold disk that had several red blades that came together to look similar to feathers. Flowing behind him was a red and gold cape that was on fire! It was burning with the rage of an exploding star, but the subtly of a simple fireplace.

Despite the heat of the flames, causing you to sweat, no it wasn't the heat causing you to sweat. It was just being near Archer that made your body act like this. After Troy's bullet went off, you had a pretty good idea what it felt like being right next to an overwhelming amount of power. Just standing next to Archer made the level of mana Fluffy discharged look like a candle next to a supernova.

And you wouldn't lie to yourself. You were scared. The fear of death from Assassin's ploy and Berserker's Legion looked meaningless next to Archer. He wasn't showing off his power, he was just that, Power.

The only change in his emotionless face was his right eye. Instead of the sky blue that you first saw it was now red like the flames behind him. Sparks and embers danced in the red eye, creating an otherwise beautiful sight. He was notching an arrow on a bow wreathed in the same flames as his cape and the arrow wasn't aimed at Troy.

Archer was aiming for you.

Spoiler: Archer: Matrix Level C

Class: Archer
Master: ???
Titles: ???
True Name: ???
Keywords: Inevitable, Does not lie?, Flames like the Sun, Power Overwhelming
Noble Phantasm: ???


Strength: C
Endurance: D
Agility: C
Mana: C
Luck: E+

Class Skills:

Magic Resistance (C): At this rank, spells with an Aria below two lines will be cancelled, and the effects of higher-potency spells will be numbed.

Independent Action (A+): Servant can remain in this world indefinitely even without a Master. With a rank of A+ that exceeds even A, the support of a Master is unnecessary, even while unleashing a large amount of Magical Energy.

Skills:

???

Well, his stats weren't anything to get scared by but the feeling still remains. Troy, however, is apparently immune to such feelings of fear and clicked his tongue in annoyance. Everyone in the close proximity looks to him "Not that I mind the attention," Troy says and there was a steel in his voice that everyone could hear "But I have several questions that I'd want answered before we break away from our little Mexican standoff here."

He looks at you "Ok Sigyn, I know you're new to this sort of thing, but when you get the chance to take out an enemy, you take it. Instead of, say, stopping someone from blowing their head off!" He screams in your face, all his rage forced out and it confirmed one thing.

He's really, really mad.

"T-troy, calm dow-."

Troy takes a deep breath in to prepare another outburst, but he bit down hard on his lip. "Sorry about that. I am... Ever so slightly in immense pain" He says.

You watch as a small line of blood flows down from his mouth and the room was so devoid of sound you could faintly hear the dripping of the blood.

But there were two sources of the sound.

You search for the second source, but it was a feeling of your hand not your eyes that draw you to the source. A small stream of blood was flowing down the hand Troy was using to hold his code. His hand was, oh god the human wrist is not meant to bend that way. You only knew the basic structure of the human body, mostly for the vital area's to aim for with your curses and channel healing spells.

But even with that lackluster knowledge you could tell that Troy's wrist was broken in several places along with his right pinky and ring fingers. You see Troy nod in the corner of your eye "Yeah, happens when I fire this thing off without proper precautions. Normally it's not a problem, but when people force me aim where I wasn't expecting it to be." He glances at you "It tends to happen."

"How'd you manage to do that to yourself? What kind of weapon is that?" Lancer asks, she actually sounds genuinely curious.

Just curious, not a single grain of concern for Troy. Then again, she was battering Shinji like a rag doll and was getting enjoyment out of that, so that's a thing. Speaking of which, where was Shinji? After a quick look around you found the heir to the Matou line hiding behind a table which had survived the past few minutes only by the virtue of it being nailed into the floor. Shinji was shaking slightly and you could understand him. You would be shaking too, but if you did, you might accidentally end up startling one of the four extremely tight wound, super powered servants standing right next to you.

Troy rolls his eyes "Oh yes. In fact, why don't I tell you exactly every flaw this thing has? It's my wrist that's broken, not my brain."

Lancer rolls her eyes and Rider smirks at the action "And good luck guessing."

Lancer returns the smirk "I'll have you know Rider that it would be an easy feat to summon me in the Caster class. Give me five minutes and I'll have a code that surpasses that one. So do me a favor, boy, and let the adults deal with the war."

"Ooh, what are you going to do if I say no?"

Lancer smiles "I'll punish you."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Get a room you two." Troy says rolling his eyes.

"This conversation is irrelevant." Archer says, his voice alone enough for everyone to turn their attention to him. He looks at you "Why did you stop your ally's attack?"

Before you can answer Saber edges his blade closer to Archer's neck, "You only need to know that her choice saved your life. The why of it is irrelevant."

Archer didn't even spare your servant a glance, instead opting to remain focused solely on you. After a moment of silence Archer tilted his head questioningly "You have nothing."

You blink a few times, that was more than a little cryptic "Nothing of what?" you ask.

"You could have the strength of the gods, but not the strength to defend yourself from the hell that you call your life. You let others protect you, but you do nothing to earn that trust, you just go through the pain. You seek something to fill an empty shell, because that's all you are."

You open your mouth to respond, but a cold feeling starts to well up in your chest, but it wasn't coming from inside you. Adam's necklace felt like it was a chunk of ice slowly growing colder with each passing second. Soon it felt like a frozen star was swallowing your chest.
You have no right to accuse her of anything you monster!
But the feeling left almost as soon as it came. You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding.
I'm almost there, so prepare yourself
"I," you stop yourself for a second and the realization hits you. Everyone was looking at you, you'd never had a problem with public speaking before, but it was just being the center of attention to beings that could put every human weapon to shame was slightly intimidating.

"Don't worry, you'll be perfect."

You swallow any doubt you have left and you meet Archer's gaze with your own.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't want power, I have all that I could ever want or need." You break away from Archer's gaze for a second as you remember the years in the Hildebrand manner. It was hard, the training, the punishment and the constant fear of being used as an excuse to end someone's life. But there was also laughing, glimpses of humanity in the people who took care of you, and a stupid brother who always went out of his way to try and guard you from all the evil in the world."

You feel yourself smile just a tiny bit "My life isn't a hell. It has its ups and downs, but that's the case with everyone's life. I'm no one special, so that rule applies to me as well. My name, is Sigyn Hildebrand, and I have everything I need waiting for me back home."

The collective reaction to your small speech was, varied. Saber smiled his approval, completely contented and proud of your answer. Lancer shook her head, like she thought everything you said was above average at best. Rider just looks at you with raised eyebrows. Archer tilts his head as if listening to something, before he looks at Saber.

Saber's eyes narrowed "Wha-?"

Before Saber could even finish the question, Archer's flaming aura intensifies to incredible heights. The force of the mana sent you and Troy flying back into the destroyed tables. You felt the shock of your head hitting something but you couldn't feel anything else after that. A good thing for not being in pain, but a bad sign for your mental health.

You try and open your eyes, but your vision is so blurry you couldn't make out anything of note. Red, orange and purple shapes were dancing in the ebb of your vision, probably the servants. The red blur fires something in the corner of the cafe and the purple blur threw a red spear to intercept the projectile, probably Lancer. Lancer ran over to her spear and stood strong guarding something while the two oranges, Saber and Rider you assumed, continued to fight Archer. One of the two of them took a kick from Archer and crashes into the series of piled wood and chairs. You want to help but if your head wasn't treated soon something back was going to happen in the long run. First things first, healing spell. You gently lay your right hand over your head. You didn't even have to try and remember the spell, it came to you as easily as breathing. Prana goes through your limbs as easily as air to your lungs and sure enough, your vision comes back to you.

Just in time to see a barrage of arrows barreling right at your face.

An orange blur comes from the corner of your vision and Saber appears in front of you. He slashes with his blade, but the arrow explodes on contact. Fire washes over Saber and he grits his teeth in pain as the skin on his face is burned. You didn't have any time to heal him before the next arrow hit him, and the next, and the next. It was almost like a machine gun of fire and prana being forced on Saber and with each arrow, another part of him was burnt. There wasn't a single second of rest and your eyes widen as an arrow cuts Saber above his right eye before continuing on. You watch as it goes straight through the wall behind you and explodes in the street. You could faintly hear the sound of cars screeching and swerving to avoid the huge burning pot hole that appeared in the street.

"Stop this Archer."

You look back at Saber, and he was pissed. His face was marred by several burns and cuts and the chest piece of his armor had a bad burn across the center. But despite all of that, the fury in his eyes was enough to incinerate Archer where he stood.

Saber charged Archer with a speed that would put a Lancer to shame, closing the short distance in the time it took you to blink. Saber swung his blade right at Archer's neck, causing the servant of the bow to bend backwards to almost inhuman proportions to dodge. Archer ignited his foot and aimed a kick at Saber's chin. Saber leans back slightly just for the bare minimum necessary to dodge, but the fire still causes him to wince slightly. Before Saber could get an attack in, Archer spun like a dancer on his free hand. He twirls around in a small circle sending several kicks that connect with Saber's chest before vaulting off his hand and in the span of heartbeat sends three arrows in your servants chest.

Point blank.

The force of the attack causes Saber to fly through the air and land hard next to you with a crash. Saber tries to get right back on his feet, but he coughs up blood and goes back down to one knee

"Sab-."

"I'm fine Sigyn. But a bit of healing would be appreciated." Saber says through gritted teeth. A quick motion later and you comply with Saber's wish, but he was fighting a losing battle. And the situation for you was only getting worse as you look around. Shinji was cowering behind Lancer near the door. Troy was near you, groaning in pain within a pile of broken chairs while Rider was dusting himself off from his trip to the wall. With a battle cry he charged Archer and the two of them engaged in a one sided fight. Archer's favor.

You didn't have to watch the fight closely to know the obvious, Archer wasn't a servant that you could beat with strength alone. A quick look at Saber told you everything you needed to know. Both of you knew that you needed to get back and plan, but Archer could catch up with you easily.

A miracle needs to happen for you to have a chance to win this fight.

"Sigyn," Saber whispers getting your attention "I am no fool to think that I can best Archer with skill and strength alone. With that in mind, I'm going to use my Noble Phantasm to give you time. Get away from this place and head to the church, you'll be safe there."

Your eyes widen, was Saber really "Y-you don't plan to-."

"No," he says, he places a hand on your shoulder to reassure you "I'm not dying here Sigyn, trust me. I won't die until you find the thing you're searching for."

You tilt your head in confusion, what was he talking about? You knew exactly what you were searching for. Before you could ask what he meant, Saber raises to his feet just as Rider scream in pain as an arrow sends him tumbling back. Saber charges Archer swinging his blade in a low arc which Archer meets with his fiery bow. The two engage in a close quarter's brawl that seems relatively even but Archer coats his fist in fire and lands a hit on Saber's chest. Saber grits his teeth, but keeps fighting regardless. He pushes forward, forcing Archer to move back slightly and opening a route to the exit. The door had been blown off its hinges by Archer's earlier, leaving no obstacle between you and freedom.
I
You take a deep breath and get ready to ru- "Archer."
Have
You freeze when you hear that voice. That multi-layered, anger filled voice.
Finally
"Archer."
Found
You turn, and behind you hidden in the shadow of the destroyed wall two glowing red eyes were staring at the battle taking place before you. Those eyes could only belong to one being in the entire world.
You
Berserker was here.
Murderer!
****
[] Warn Saber through your mental link
[] Shout out a warning.
[] Don't warn anyone.



[] Get out of here by yourself, you'll move faster by yourself.
[] Get yourself and Troy out of here. He helped you before, now it's time you returned the favor.
[] Just get yourself and Shinji out of here. You haven't known him long, but he seems nice enough.
[] No matter the cost, get everyone you can out of there. Troy, Shinji it doesn't matter. Everyone is getting out of here, no one is dying here.

Chose one from the two lists given.