The conclusion was underwhelming.

Thanks to Maiya's efforts, Kiritsugu managed to pinpoint a number of suspicious locations within city's outskirts, but trying to find a specific one was going to be a harder nut to crack. Either some really potent magic was at work or Kayneth was being cheeky with him and forwent any magical barriers whatsoever.

He's certainly learned, the Magus Killer thought. The hotel he blew up was the grandest, the most extravagant building in all of Fuyuki short of the Ryuudou Shrine. Western Magi often expressed distaste with non-European culture, so unless Kayneth had managed to swallow his hubris whole, it was safe to assume he would not be there. At the same time, that he swallowed even a bit of it was troubling. It was not a situation of life and death either; as far as Kiritsugu knew the Lancer faction was still in better shape than either them or the Tohsaka faction. That meant that he adapted, and unorthodox Magi always spelt trouble for him.

They've also lost Garl; thus Caster's worth was diminished and she herself became much less useful for her intended role as Iri's backup bodyguard. Kiritsugu would find a job for her, he didn't doubt that. Whether she would perform well was another matter altogether; ever since the fight with Lancer Astraea was distant and melancholic. No genius was needed to conclude the two were close – very much so, in fact – and she was taking the loss badly. She was still bound to defend Iri to the best of her ability as her Servant, but as the fight with Lancer demonstrated, her own abilties were mediocre at best. She would be able to hold someone at bay for a bit, but someone much, much weaker than him.

Lancer himself was a problem. It seemed he was the strongest Servant in the War, and Kiritsugu's faction's earlier experiences did little to alleviate that worry. He was quick on his feet – literally and figuratively – smart and pragmatic. It was probably him who convinced Kayneth to eat a humble pie himself before somebody smeared it over his face – and that alone was making him deadly. With that kind of Servant, winning a war would be a foregone conclusion for Kiritsugu. The only saving grace of this situation was that a Magus' pride was not something that could erode overnight, and so Kayneth was likely still bickering with his Servant on some things.

There was also Sola-Ui. Earlier observation seemed to suggest that Kayneth would possibly be willing to concede the War if her life were to be threatened. Finding her on her own was another matter entirely; sending just Maiya could end up with her running into Lancer and going with the whole group would mean going to war. Kiritsugu's specialty was skirmishes instead.

Perhaps this was the time to lay low for a bit; let the victory get to Kayneth's head and work from there. There were a few places where they could do that, just under the radar of prying eyes.

Ciaran was growing anxious.

It seemed like things would stabilize for the time being; the thug she forced into Mastership was strong enough to sustain her; in fact, strong enough to let her get some of her strength back. It was not much, but a slow progress beat no progress at all.

And then he slitted his own throat with a shard of glass. The very nerve! She expected him to hold to his basic instincts and keep on living – especially since it didn't seem like their contract drained him of too much life energy. Compared to the previous Master who was only good as bait, this one held promise. Emphasis on "held", of course.

Ciaran munched on a breadroll in silence, watching the blood seep out of the slit throat of her third Master this War. Such a waste of material. This whole War was turning more and more disastrous ever since Gough decided to parley with the Einzbern faction. His cursed bleeding heart... Of course, it wasn't his fault that her Master perished in a surprise attack. That was entirely on the wretched Undead Saber and her unscrupulous Master.

Well, no matter. She had to keep searching for able-bodied Masters to keep herself afloat. She wasn't going to concede the fight that easily. There were too many regrets and too much spite for that.

This might have been the longest day in Matou Kariya's life.

The feeling of helpless waiting was really getting to him. To be dependent on Tokiomi for anything, let alone in a situation as crucial as this one, felt downright humiliating. Still, that was the plan; to have him sort out the mess he started in the first place. Here was hoping that he would do that.

Waver advised him to exercise cautious optimism. According to him, their reasoning – followed by Tokiomi disclosing true reasons for sending Sakura away to Zouken – got to him; that meant that he would take them and the situation at hand seriously. At worst, Zouken would simply kill him which, as the student reasoned, would give Kariya some sort of closure at the very least. While Kariya himself could get behind that kind of closure, it would do nothing in helping saving Sakura; thus the cautious optimism instead.

For now he had to wait, but it felt like he could move mountains and run the longest distances. The fire of anticipation and, more importantly, the fire of hope was a powerful drug. The miraculous force of auto-suggestion held the worms within him at bay, too. For the first time in his Holy Grail War he truly believed that Sakura could be saved.

Really, at this point it didn't even matter if it's Tokiomi who does it. He was willing to give Waver's thesis a benefit of the doubt, that the Tohsaka patriarch has learned his lesson. Kariya wasn't really in any suitable position to look after anyone – having a hard time looking after himself, even with his allies and his Servant – so a notion of perhaps raising Sakura by himself was a pipe dream. With optimism came realism and the notion of a "limited victory". He could not have it his way in full for her sake, but he would take that little bit of triumph all the same.

"You seem in good spirits." Berserker noted as they rested within the confines of the van. Rider was there too, though he did not join the conversation, opting to watch the entrance to the shop where his Master went. Kariya nodded in response.

"I think... for the first time since we've started... there's hope." He replied after a moment, carefully choosing his words. "There were inklings before... when you killed Saber... when we partnered up with Waver and Rider..." A pause. Berserker did not rush him. There was no need for it; plus, it was a pleasure, listening to his Master speaking without coughing interruptions, without the stress. "And now that we've talked some sense into Tokiomi... it's all looking up. Maybe I'm just a fool for being so optimistic all of a sudden, but—"

"It's an optimism well-earned, Master." Gascoigne shook his head. "We've done all we could to steer this situation to a happy ending. The ship has left the port; all that is left is to steer it to its new destination."

"Now, that will not be an easy task." Rider interjected, tapping the steering wheel of the van. "Should the Master of Archer prove unable to wrench the girl from the old devil himself, we will have to take action ourselves. Do you think we can win such a fight?"

"Wouldn't surprise me if Zouken had something to fight you and Berserker with." Cautious optimism meant realism. "...rigging the system to get himself an extra Servant would be just his style."

"The gap in power between respective Servants of the War is not as vast as it first appeared." The red-clad knight replied with a shake of his head. "One summoned outside the order would be weaker still, I'd hope."

"Wouldn't count on it." Kariya shook his head too and reclined idly in his seat. Waver was coming back from the shop, carrying the bounty of instant noodles, graham crackers and tea. "It's Zouken, after all. Old or not, he holds more power than me and Waver with just one hand."

"So the only advantage we have is one of numbers?" Berserker hummed, stroking his beard in thought. "Even if we were to fight alongside the Master of Archer and Archer himself..."

"I do wonder about it." It was Rider's turn to hum. Strangely, Kariya could have sworn that the red knight's voice was just a little bit boastful. He didn't see him fight yet, and judging by Waver's careful approach, it was likely that neither did his Master. Something up his sleeve? "Well, no matter. We shall see to it this evening."

Irisviel was curious.

As Kiritsugu explained, they had to move from their castle mansion into another place entirely; chiefly to avoid retaliation from Kayneth and to throw off his Servant. His choice of a hideout proved surprising; a large mansion on the northern end of Fuyuki, built in a traditional Japanese style. It wasn't very lavishly decorated, but Irisviel understood that they could not be complainers in a situation like this.

For some reason however, both Saber and Caster seemed less at ease here. "I do not like this place, Mistress." Lucatiel shook her head as she surveyed each room one by one. Astraea remained a short distance behind her, also clearly uncomfortable. "This puts you at greater risk."

"Saber has the right of it, Master. It may be dangerous for you to stay here." The hooded woman stopped by one of the paper doors. "I cannot help but feel the terrible dread, a premonition most foul."

"Is it just that?" Irisviel wasn't fully convinced. Something else must have been the problem. Astraea mentioned the terrible premonition... "...do you think an enemy could have scouted this place out already?"

"Unlikely." Maiya chimed into the conversation, turning the light on in a room nearby. "The place has no magical signature at all. They would have to find this place first, and then assume with certainty that this would be our new hideout. Rest assured, Madam, we are hidden for now." That "for now" was not making anyone's heart lighter. It was only a matter of time before they were found; screening barriers or not.

"Even still... something bad is to happen within this mansion's grounds." Caster looked at Saber, and the Mirrah knight reciprocated the look. "Sooner or later..."

It seemed luck was on Ciaran's side.

Her journey in search of a suitable host has carried her all over Fuyuki. Surviving by expending the absolute bare minimum of energy, she prowled from place to place, gathering things necessary for survival. Even the clothes on her back she pried off her latest victim – yet another dumb mugger who thought she's easy pickings. This one must have been robbing people as a pasttime, judging by the pleasantly velvet inside of his jacket.

Even still, that kind of hunting would not get her anywhere. She needed a proper host. A two-bit Magus would be ideal – someone with a spark of talent, but presumably no education and no desire for it. She assumed that those that could rub two brain cells together have left Fuyuki for a vacation, likely not to become collateral in the Grail War; and those that couldn't would remain well-hidden. She could not afford to go scouting for them either; that could attract the wrong kind of people. Suddenly she would be the hunted rather than the hunter.

But then, through pure coincidence, she stumbled upon the new residence of the Einzbern faction. She had seen them arrive. Luckily, neither Saber nor Caster seemed capable of perceiving her. Whether it was up to her innate Presence Concealment or the fact that her magical signature was so weak now was up in the air. That was a goldmine. Nothing destroys the morale like the death of one of your own. Particularly if there is more than just friendship between you. Ciaran had her eyes set on the white-haired woman, but the black-haired one would do as a consolation prize. She was certainly easier to kill, not being a proper Master.

For now she procured a temporary Master, a kindly old man who decided to help her out of his own volition. As he reasoned, he never really did anything remarkable and led a mediocre life, so the least he could do was to help her the best he could. It was a nice change of pace, not having to carve the Command Seals on your quasi-Master's hand. At the same time, it was just enough to stay around provided she didn't necessarily strain herself.

But to a Lord's Blade, killing even the most talented of Magi was nothing, steady prana flow or not. All she needed was a right moment to strike.

The Matou mansion was much more imposing than Tohsaka Tokiomi had remembered.

The last time he was here, he handed his daughter over to one Matou Zouken, so she could receive education befitting her heritage; one that he was unable to provide. As he was told recently, this might have been an elaborate ruse all along. It was hard to tell who lied to him here: Kariya or Zouken.

If it was the former, the problem would solve itself; he would find both him and his ally, burn them to cinders for their insolence and resume on their merry way. However, if Kariya was right and Sakura was tortured and tormented, held at the mercy of these things that were in him... obviously, he had to take her back. Would Zouken concede without a fight? Would he combat him over Sakura instead? Perhaps he would hide behind the fine print of the rules behind procedures like these?

"Nervous, art thou not?" Gough's voice reached him through his mind, from far away. Archer was perched in sights of the Matou mansion, ready to rain arrows upon it should the need arose. It was best he remained out of sight for now; coming in with a Servant could easily be interpreted as hostile intent. Coming alone, even if Zouken were to attack him, the Tohsaka patriarch was confident that he could ward off the first attack and then retreat to let Archer take over.

"Hard not to be, given the circumstances." Tokiomi replied quietly, sizing up the massive manor. "Be at the ready, Archer. I hope we will not have to resort to anything drastic."

"Thou hopest that the Master of Berserker lies." A pregnant silence between them. "That he is goading you to come here, ask the master of the house uncomfortable questions and be killed as a result of most terrible misunderstanding." The Magus in red nodded despite himself.

"He does hate me profoundly, after all."

"Nay, I doubt it. That Zouken sounds like a snake and a slippery fox both; tricky to corner. Some said back in a day that snakes are faintly related to dragons, even." The explanation might have sounded strange without context, but Tokiomi got to know his Servant well enough. If he referred to Zouken as a dragon – even if it was a stunted, wingless snake – then he saw an enemy in him. He could not just defer to his judgment here however. He had to see, to get the information out of him, to confirm without a shadow of doubt that Kariya wasn't lying. "Hate you he might, but Zouken he truly despises."

"We shall see in a moment then." The gate of the mansion slowly opened before the patriarch of Tohsaka family, Tohsaka Tokiomi, silently inviting him in.

So this still lives, I swear. Between being back on the uni, all the other fanfic ideas brewing in my mind and time-consuming RPG's, it's hard to sit down and actually write down something that's good to read. Alas, here we go. I can't promise steady updates, but I can promise we'll be having action in the next few chapters, alright.

To everyone waiting for the second chapter of "The Line; Recreated": terribly sorry for the delay. Turns out, writing that story proved more difficult than I first suspected. I'll see about posting a second chapter soon(ish), though it is likely going to be shorter than the first one.

As always, I encourage you to review the fic (any fic of mine ^_^ ) to tell me what you liked and disliked. Thanks and see you next chapter.