The summoning circle tinted the whole room blue as particles of mana swirled in a vortex in the middle of it.

Out of this vortex, the form of a Servant took shape, materializing it into the world of the living.

The Lancer-class Servant blinked, feeling disoriented by the magic surrounding him, before he looked into the direction of his new Masters.

Phantom pain arched through his right shoulder, down to his stomach, but he ignored it in favor of staring at the blonde haired individual, disregarding the redhead next to her.

She seemed incredibly familiar.

Eyes narrowing, Lancer took a step forward, standing to attention as the words he was to speak next swirled at the forefront of his mind.

"Servant Lancer. By your summons, I have appeared. Are you two to be my Masters?"

There was a slow nod from the redhead, the girl eying him intently, and Lancer felt himself shift in his position, still looking at the girl.
He had the sudden urge to stand to attention or bow; either one worked, as long as he showed the highest grade of respect there was.

How strange.

They glanced at each other, a short contact of the eyes and nothing more, but Lancer had the feeling that volumes were spoken.

The girl spoke, her voice strong.

"Yes we are; it is a pleasure meeting you… Lancer."

He raised his eyebrow at the short hesitation before his class was spoken. Why would they…?

Maybe they knew his identity? He did not think he was that well known amongst the knights, his older brother maybe, but him?

Lancer shook his head, dismissing the thought.

The redhead smiled slightly.
"As Saber said, it's a pleasure meeting one of the Knights of the Round; I hope that we can work together."

Lancer turned his attention to the mage, a slight smile forming. "So you do know who I am… still, I look forward to work with you, Masters."

"You… you truly don't have to call us that." He grimaced. Ah, a humble one.

"Then pray tell, what are your names?" Lancer looked inquiring, stealing a glance from the blonde girl, trying to include her as well.

A previous life of hard work beside his sister had done wonders to his willingness to listen to the female gender. Women weren't trophies to only look at,as he'd learned. Painstakingly. His sister and his late wife could attest to it.

Phantom pain arched through his chest again, but he ignored it.

She …smirked? How strange. "You may call me Saber, though I am no Servant of this war."

Lancer nodded stiffly.
He was getting increasingly more uncomfortable by her presence.

The mage was next, introducing himself as Shirou Emiya, and Lancer nodded once again, keeping it professional.

Silence stretched between them, neither party speaking; the Masters letting him sort through his thoughts, before he glanced at her again, a frown forming.

"By your specific answer, I take it that you were a Servant previously?"

A nod. Another pang of familiarity.

"Could it be, then, that we know each other?"

Her features grew soft, and a small smile graced her lips as she answered.
"We do indeed know each other." Her posture changed ever so slightly, and Lancer felt his eyes widen before he could process what happened.

"My name is Artoria Pendragon, King of Britain," she smirked at him, and he blinked in shock, "and I am a woman. It is good to see you, Gaheris."

Lancer stared.

He stared some more. "You- he— that… I mean- …you…"

Somewhere to his right, he heard Shirou say something along the lines of "I think you broke him," but Lancer paid him no mind.

King Arthur was a woman…

Lancer blanched. Then… "Agravain spoke the truth, those few hours before- before—"

She raised her eyebrow, but Lancer ignored her, anger bubbling up at the thought that his oldest brother had spoken the truth, but was still killed by— "Lancelot…"

That good for nothing womanizer! Killing Agravain and later Gareth and him as well-! Even though - even though…
that- he-He—

Pain arched through his shoulder, up to his arm, and he grit his teeth, trying to dismiss it.

Something warm snapped him out of his thoughts, and he felt someone touch his shoulders, himself face-to-face with his King, a worried frown on her face.

"Calm down, Gaheris. Do not let the anger get to you."

Lancer tried to focus on her eyes, but the bubble of negative emotions would not leave.

She continued, her arms still holding him steady. "Breathe. Your blood is boiling, and I can understand your anger towards Lancelot-" he growled at the name, "-but do not let it cloud your judgement!"

Her voice had grown more assertive, and Lancer latched to it, holding onto it like a lifeline. He knew that he let his anger take a hold of himself more often than not, and those tenures oftentimes ended in poor judgment.

He had to focus on something; anything that was not Lancelot going for the killing blowhurting Garethkillingagravain—

"- ou married not too long ago-"

Really, if he'd have the chance to, he'd hunt down that traitor and feedhimhisownsword for what he did-

"-have a sister-in-law who is an-"

Tear him limb from limb—

"-s a dream come true living here, if it was not for the wars-"

He'd—

Wait…

The bubble of anger subsided as Lancer focused on what the King was telling. Or rather, what the King was practically babbling about; it seemed that she was talking about everything on her mind with hopes of distracting him - usually the only way to get him to snap out of his haze, if Gareth, Gawain or his wife were not around.

"-and Rin is a great friend, but she can be quite the — Gaheris? Are you listening again?"

He nodded mutely, and she sighed.
The King took a step back, looking him over.

…really, he had to get that temper in check.

"Good; I was worried that I would have had to resort to more… drastic measures."

At that, both males twitched involuntarily, and Lancer had a sudden surge of sympathy for the King's husband. He probably was introduced to the …training regiment.

Wait.

Lancer blanched. Throwing decorum out of the window, (like a certain sibling, not that he knew) he latched onto the blonde's shoulders, eyes wide.

"You married?!"

She looked dumbstruck for a second, before it registered in her mind that he'd probably heard more than what she'd thought about her babbling.

"Uh, yes?"

He shook her shoulders, voice taking on a tone of slight panic as he pointed accusatory in Shirou's direction.

"To him!?"

The nod was met with an indignant "Hey!" from indicated person.

Lancer paid him no mind, still staring in shock at the King. The untouchable, unconquerable King.

His brain seemed to be unable to take it anymore, as he, after a dreadfully long second, sighed in defeat and let his head fall onto the King's shoulder.

Who patted it awkwardly. "There, there, Gaheris; everything is all right."

There was a long sigh of suffering.

Uh, hi? Long time not seen? Um... well, I got no excuses. Sorry it took so long, sorry I missed the anniversary of the fic, and uh... sorry if this chapter isn't as good as the others, but it actually killed me. I thought writing Akkun/Gareth was bad; Gaheris was even worse! it simply sat in my files while I tried to come up with something interesting. And waited.
But hey, I finally did it! Ugh, as soon as we get Info on him, I'll probably rewrite this, but until then, I hope you're happy(ish) with it.

...well, I'm going to update the next chapter in the next month or so, but nothing earlier, 'cause I have Abitur/Finals this year, and school is getting hectic.
As for who it'll be... well, wait and see! xD

Onto the Reviews:

jaiveer0: like I said, not many more to go xD

CG-3m1y4: Thanks a lot :3
Aaand I shall ignore the Caesar/Morgana thing, if only to keep my sanity intact.
Who knows, maybe I'll do?

OBSERVER01: Haha, she did. I think she ties with Bors in the 'reasonable & civilized' Approach to the subject xD

ADdude: Eh, doubt I'll do him, but thanks for the Suggestion!

GoldenFireFox: Nope. Not gonna inlude him, sorry :/

Vhosek: A happy little Pendragon Family? Disaster is bound to happen :)
(And these hints are blatantly obvious, I must say. I am very flattered ^/^)

7thManiac: Hehe, we have to switch things up for him or else they'll get boring xD
Thank you :D

Danmaku-OverLord: She'll be around... soonish, don't worry. And yeah, that concept simply is too good, right? sD

Chojomeka: Hmm... a good question. Of Course, the answer depends on if Saber'll want to mess with her personal timeline even more or not (or if they can keep their hands off each other x3 )

Guest 1: Jup, I know :)

Fiori75: Happy to be of Service xD And both Merlin and Morgana will be around as well, don't worry!

SkySage24: I'm happy that you like it. I'm not decided yet about him, so it's still a possibility c:

Rose Knight of Neptune: well, probably, yeah, buuut... where's the fun in that? 'Queen' Shirou sounds much better than 'Prince Consort' Shirou, no? ;3

GhostXavier: Oh, I know the Feeling, trust me.
(do you know the feeling of reading something, not thinking anything about it, and then suddenly going back to re-read what you just read because you couldn't believe you read that? Because that's what happened to me right now xD Ahem... OH MY GOD! I love your Fragments! They're awesome! You're an awesome author! I'm sooo sorry that I hadn't had the time to Review them yet, but I didn't have the time to even read anything since... uh, around Christmas? But I shall do so as soon as I've caught up (and re-read Guiding Light. That one's getting an Review as well ;D))

Where were we? Oh right. I'm really happy (and honored, actually) that you like my interpretation of Gareth!
And I'd be even more honored if you'd read Café! (I think I'm 'Squee'-ing from joy right now xD)

Guest 2+3: Ditto on that ;)

Toaneo07 Ver2.0: Thanks ^^

Taeniaea: Thank you :)

Saraak: He's on his way, don't worry ;D

(a rather late Happy New Year to all of you!)

Until next time!