Archer had to go over the Fifth Grail War he was in now.

'Let's start with the biggest change...Shirou now has a split personality and is an actual Magus, Gilgamesh has taken HIMSELF out of the running, and Saber is with Rin almost immediately. What. The. Hell.'

Finding Caster, an unknown Assassin, Gilgamesh and some fourth Servant he didn't recognize but was clearly familiar to the Golden King (which he realized meant that the fourth Servant had to be Enkidu), Archer knew without a doubt that this might very well be the most screwed up Grail War he was about to participate in.

At least Gilgamesh had 'graciously' agreed not to end him because he recognized Archer as a "Faker" almost immediately. Though he suspected it had more to do with Enkidu's presence than Gilgamesh actually becoming less arrogant.

"Could someone explain what the hell is going on?" Archer said finally.

Almost everyone looked at him with open confusion. Almost everyone.

Sakura smiled, clearly amused as she had evidently realized something Rin either hadn't noticed or hadn't cared about.

"Do you want the full story, or the cliff notes version...Shirou? Or should I call you Counter Guardian EMIYA?"

Shirou choked, while Archer winced.

Shirou seemed to size up his new Servant, recognized the resemblance, before he admitted defeat and allowed Säbel out.

"So you're what that idiot would have become if not for a slight variance," he muttered, and Archer raised an eyebrow at the distinct High German accent.

"And who are you supposed to be?"

Säbel looked at Archer, who flinched openly in surprise.

"Säbel Harvenheit. The fire might have wiped out the memory of my original name, but thanks to Acker I was able to at least retrieve my family name. And since 'Shirou' is a sword, I felt the name Säbel was most appropriate."

"...You do realize Säbel is German for 'saber' right?"

"The Harvenheit clan are the rivals of the von Einzbern, which means they are a German family. So yes, I am aware Säbel is German for 'saber' or 'sword'," deadpanned Säbel.

Archer raised an eyebrow, before asking "You're the one that trashed the castle at the edge of town. That's why he looked innocent when Illya asked him if he knew about the foyer hall."

"You know of a better place to practice destructive magecraft without notice? Anything that annoys those idiots is fine by me, and is definitely going to be approved by the family," replied Säbel flatly.

"Are you the one that destroyed the Matou family mansion with Zouken inside?"

"And got the priest arrested," admitted Säbel.

Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes at that, but the fact remained Säbel had given him back Enkidu and he had been growing tired of being stuck in that basement. As amusing as Kirei had been, this new 'Master' was at least interesting and wouldn't bore him to tears.

"How the hell did you manage that by the way?"

"Did a report on the Fuyuki Orphans, had Taiga's grandfather start asking some overdue questions on where they were now. He almost stormed the Church when he found out that none of those sent there were ever heard from again after the first two years. The memory of what the previous Caster did was still pretty fresh," said Säbel flatly.

"And how did you know Saber's wish before even meeting her?"

"Same way I knew who Gilgamesh was before I got Kotomine taken out of the equation. My teacher handed me profiles on all the Servants for the past four wars...though he kept a copy of the last Grail War's Rider."

That narrowed down who Säbel's learned basic magecraft from to one person.

"Waver Velvet El-Mellio?" guessed Archer. Säbel nodded.

"What he taught me, I taught to Sakura. She's actually very adept at magecraft, barring that crap Zouken tried to force down her throat. Especially when it came to manipulating jewel energy."

"Why were the...Harvenheit...clan interested in Fuyuki?"

"Potential marriage contract with the Tohsaka clan, since it also meant that any child of the union would have an automatic chance at the Grail. We're not entirely sure if the contract fell through, or if Rin simply has yet to find out about it," said Säbel immediately.

"Considering you're doing a disturbingly accurate portrayal of Zelretch, you better hope she doesn't find it, or if she does, that Sakura snatches you before she thinks to use it as a way to make your life hell," stated Archer.

Seeing the beatific smile on Sakura's face, it was clear her opinion on the matter. Come hell or high water she would kill Rin before she allowed her sister to use something as minor as marriage to try and use against Shirou. Especially since he freed her from Zouken and proved her father was wrong about his youngest. Archer shuddered...that smile was almost like "Dark Sakura", only far more vicious.

In her recently repaired castle (and she was going to make whoever did so much damage pay when she found them), Illya was doing some hard thinking.

Her 'brother' Shirou was like nothing she had expected. He had known about her, and had thrown into question where her loyalty actually lay.

Was it with the Einzberns, who tolerated her existence only as long as her 'Grandfather' made them? Or was it with the Emiya clan?

The question of which family she belonged to was given an answer when she heard someone knocking.

Now under normal circumstances she would have sent Berserker after whoever was stupid enough to enter her wards so brazenly since she found that mess in the hallway. But she recognized the lawyer that the Einzbern clan often hired to deal with the legal aspects of magecraft without having to bother reading all those annoying books.

Mr. Acker came in and cut to the chase almost immediately.

"Are you Illyasviel von Einzbern, daughter of Irisviel and Kiritsugu Emiya?"

"I am?"

"I was hired by your father to deliver this to you at the earliest convenience. I would have handed it over sooner, but your...grandfather...was rather stubborn about any communication from your sire."

Acker handed Illya an envelope.

"Your brother has the key to your father's safety deposit box. If you want to discuss terms, you will have to talk to him."

With that, Acker left. He had only come to deliver the letter several years late.

Illya carefully opened the letter. And what she read had her confused and very upset indeed.

Her father had tried to get her, to keep his promise of seeing her again. But grandfather had ordered the castle Homunculi to keep him far from her. So he had left "Shirou" (and this had her wonder why her father had made sure to emphasize the name) with the key to everything he had left after the war, and the family Crest. Shirou was considered the 'head' of the Emiya family by the Magus Association, though whether you could call it a 'family' with only two members was debatable.

The thing that baffled Illya the most was the fact that her father said if she really wanted to piss off the head of the von Einzbern family, she should consider joining Shirou.

Considering she had the feeling he KNEW who had trashed her current home, she had a reason to visit him anyway.

For the most part, and this was rather ominous for a Grail War, the week was relatively quiet.

The reason it was ominous was because quiet generally meant someone was planning something big.

While Rin was pleased to have Saber, she couldn't help but have the feeling she was being made a fool out of. The way Sakura had phrased how Shirou had 'found' Saber made her think that this was the extra, as she could vaguely remember seeing a similar Servant, only disguised as a man.

However Saber's attitude (and the way she clearly disliked her previous 'Master', who had so callously traded her like a cheap cardboard card) made her think that they weren't entirely honest about 'finding' her.

Still, since she couldn't exactly prove Shirou hadn't simply found her after Kirei was arrested, she would have to take their word for it.

Saber, for the most part seemed...fine...with Rin as a Master.

However, a lot of little things were suddenly not adding up about Shirou Emiya, or her sister.

Rin paid extra attention to the two, and started catching things a more observant Magus would have noticed years ago.

For starters, Shirou's odd bracelet with actual jewels on them. She could tell they were real, and automatically assumed they were from Sakura. After all, there was no way Shirou was a jewel mage, right?

Then there was the way he sometimes slipped into what could only be German, and High German at that. Spoken in only the most rural (and dangerous) areas known primarily for the fact it was owned by some very prestigious Magi-born families. Such as the von Einzberns for example, who practically owned the Black Forests.

She knew he wasn't an Edelfelt, because she would have known if one of THEM had come to Fuyuki, and Shirou had been living since since shortly before the end of the Grail War. At the very least, if he were an Edelfelt he would have announced himself if only to mock her.

However...she did vaguely recall that the heir of the Harvenheit family was supposed to come to Fuyuki to discuss a union of the two clans during the last war, but had no idea if they had come or not...or if the deal had fallen through.

Considering she had nothing to offer the Harvenheit clan, Rin never bothered to find out if they had come or not. She did hear that the title of heir within the family had been thrown into question though.

Shirou was about ready to go out and scout the competition when Archer found something in one of the drawers. The same one he kept his dad's letter in.

"What's this?"

It was a simple black choker with a gemstone cut into a long and thin shape. Because he had always had a fascination for swords, even as a child, it had been fashioned into the shape of an unusual dagger. The 'blade' was a plain diamond, with no real use save for an enchantment on the gemstone.

To be quite honest, Shirou/Säbel had long since forgotten they even had that.

"Huh. I completely forgot about that thing."

"What is it?"

"The thing that will determine who becomes the next head of the family or not. I still have a few years, but somehow I have the feeling I'm going to have to undergo whatever test that thing has in store for me before the war's over."

"...Next head of the family?"

"Instead of some grand test for all prospective heirs, they have a simple one. The 'heir' places a bit of blood on the gem given to them by the current head of the family before the age of twenty, and then they find out if they're next. According to what I was told, I'll get something within five minutes of putting blood on the blade. If nothing happens, then the title goes back to the current one. If something or someone appears, then I get the title and the Crest when the current head dies," explained Shirou.

As the Harvenheit liked to claim in the Clock Tower, their way of weeding out the unworthy heirs was more civilized than their rivals. At least their heirs didn't waste their time trying to off their competition and instead focused more on furthering their craft.

Then again, they found out the hard way that killing the other prospective heirs was a quick way to get blacklisted by whatever was doing the test.

Säbel couldn't wait to see their expressions if he managed to successfully 'steal' Illyasviel from the Einzbern clan.

Säbel switched with Shirou, and while outwardly the switch was easy to miss, for a trained fighter like Archer the change was immediate.

Shirou went from open and naïve to Professional Magus (and troll) in an instant. He was still friendly, but he wasn't as harmless as Shirou.

"I'm a Harvenheit, meaning I've got more experience and knowledge of Jewel magic than even Rin does, and three times the finances even before I take into account the family funding. Not to mention the fact we didn't need Zelretch's scraps in order to rise to the top, unlike the Tohsaka. My parents came here in order to see if a marriage contract was worth sniffing out, and we still don't know if they found anything worthy of note because of the fire. Dad found out by accident when the family lawyer tracked me down, and a little hypnotism managed to drag what little was left of my original self before the fire wiped the rest out."

"Which is why you're worried they made a contract. If Rin found it and then figured out who you were..."

Säbel didn't bother to hide the shudder. He didn't mind fiesty girls, but Rin's Tsundere personality wasn't what he wanted. Sakura was subservient, but when her backbone came into play she could be quite vicious about protecting what was hers.

She was good at jewelcraft and her personality wasn't exactly what he would want in a girlfriend, never mind a wife.

"At this point I'm hoping if they did make one, then it's buried under a lot of paperwork," admitted Säbel.