Day 8: Rider

I woke up quite late this time. When I opened my eyes and look at the clock it was already past 11 in the morning. I can see that Mordred is not here, she probably woke up before me.

'Good morning master, did you sleep well?'

I can see Revelation sitting next to my futon and watching over me.

'I am fine Revelation, I had good night sleep. How about you, did you mana level recovered fully?'

'They did master, I didn't suffer any damage of fatigue in the battle yesterday. And my mana levels fully recovered. I am once again ready to strike at enemy servants.

'Glad to hear it' I stand up and stretch myself a bit. It helps up in waking up body.

'I do have one question master' Revelation also stood up and stands in front of me.

'Yes Revelation?'

'How do you feel master? Now that your son is back with you and you meet two new friends. This must be overwhelming sensation for you' he is right. My legs are shaking a bit when I recall what happened last night. I was so happy that I regained something I let go so easily last time.

'I feel… relived Revelation. Like I once again obtained something I lost so many years ago. I am also glad that Mordred agreed that we start over our relationship.'

'It was also easy for her Mordred to allow that as she has seen how much you change as well master. If it was old emotionless you… I cannot say how she would react. But you would probably get much more than fist in the face' Revelation is right again. I am not the same person when I last saw her, dying slowly at the field of Camlann while Bedivere was riding me as fast as he could.

Now when I think about it, Mordred also changed a lot since then. She feels more mature and independent since the last time we talked before I left with my expedition. I guess it is only natural, after that long time has passed people change a lot.

'You are thinking about her don't you master? Tell me, do you still think that she should have just settle down and start a family?' Revelation asks, he is once again proving how good he is in reading other people.

'I am firm thinker that everyone should choose their way in life. As much as I would love for her to settle down if she choose the way of the warrior I can only accept that and be the proudest parent in the world' it is really hard for me to say this. But my emotions cannot be allowed to cloud my judgment. I must now think what is best for her, unlike before.

'I am glad you are thinking like that master. I am very proud to be your servant' Revelation smiles and that brought ease to my soul for some reason.

'Thank you Revelation…'

'Should we go for breakfast? You must be starving giving how you ate nothing yesterday except breakfast' in the moment he mentions this fact my stomach begins to growl. I blush as this is really embarrassing situation for me. 'I am betting that Jeanne and Illya cooked something good' I look at him, confused a bit.

'Jeanne? She can cook?'

'I took a peek into the kitchen little before you woke up and I saw two of them making something. I guess you will find out soon enough master.'

'If you say so, let me just first go to the bathroom…' I exit the room and leave Revelation as it is. First come the call of nature, then brushing teeth and fixing my hair before I join others for meal. And if Jeanne d'Arc is making it then it has to be something very special indeed.

Its usual day at Fuyuki city market, hundreds of pedestrians are checking out stalls left and right. Comparing prices and quality, calculating the best possible way to buy what they need for the least of money invested.

One such person is Fraga McRemitz Bazett, magenta hair girl in her early thirties. She is holding bag in her right hand and short list in her left.

'Let's see…. Next on the list are eggs. Now where did I saw them…' even if her henchmen begged her not to go alone she does enjoy this little moment of tranquility, when she is not locked inside four walls and looking at computer monitors entire day.

She is happy that her information from yesterday resulted in one of the servants and his master being on the run. It was not confirmed kill or confirmation of servant's class but least they were able to make them run for their lives. And at least they got servant's true name – Rasputin, the famous mage that was advisor to the Russian royal family. Now her team is reading through multiple books in order to find any weakness that Rin and Saber can use to defeat him more easily.

As she is thinking about that the mysterious figure approached her from behind, she just felt sudden presence right behind her. Fear strikes her as she remembers how she lost her right arm.

'Excuse me, are you miss Bazett from Mage Association?'

The male sound behind her sounds calm and reassuring, but Bazett is still on the high guard. She slowly turns around and her sock just increased, so much that she instinctively jumps backwards and caused commotion among the nearby people.

'I am sorry, are you alright?' The male voice asks her, but she cannot move. In front of her is a figure of a priest, he cannot be more than 40 years old. Even if he sounds and looks nice she is still terrified because of her past experience with the priest in the Holy Grail War. 'Miss?' the priest asks her, her puts his hands on her shoulder, Bazett decides to fight her fear and gather some courage to initiate some conversation with him.

'S…Sorry father… I…I am a …bit… nervous….' She answers, barely. Her entire body is shaking out of fear.

'I can see that, do you need to sit down? Want a glass of water?' Bazett's fear is slowly fading, this men is not Kotomine who stabbed he in the back. He feels like a priest and has an aura of the real priest.

'Y..Yes… I need to sit down… A little wa…water would be nice as well…'

Bazett sit down on nearby bench, located in some kid's park which lies close to public market area. She takes down few sips of water while the priest is sitting near her, waiting for her to finish drinking water. From her position Bazett throws quick glance on priest's right arm, she can clearly see command spells on it.

"A master huh? What does he wants from me?" she thought as she finished drinking and was slowly closing the bottle.

'Are you feeling better now?'

'Yes father, now tell me what do you want? I can see that you are a master in the Grail War' the priest looks at his right arm. 'Let me tell you that I am neutral here and merely oversee the situation, although I have no power at all.

'That is alright my child, I did not come to you to ask for that kind of assistance nor to harm you' the priest stands up and stops right in front of Bazett. 'The word is that you are helping the masters of Saber and Archer in this war, is that true?'

'How do you know this?'

'I am with the Church after all. The people who replaced Associations told me this.'

'Wait, Association is gone for real?'

'It has been for some time now, all mages pretty much joined the newly formed mage divisions of their country of origin' Bazett could not believe it, that the Mage Association could be brought down so easily. She starts thinking about her life and future, if Association is gone then what is left for her to do in life? 'Miss Bazett?'

'Sorry father, I was deep in though' whatever lies ahead Bazett will leave for later. Right now, she must resolve this before any further steps are made 'tell me, what do you want from me?'

'I want you to contact master of Saber and Archer and tell them to meet me on one on one duel this evening' Bazett looks at him, the priest can see confusion in her eyes.

'You want for me to organize a duel between you?'

'If you really have connections with them then yes, the Holy Grail is the relic of our Lord and it belongs to masses to see it.'

'Tell me one thing father, when you find it what do you plan to wish for?'

'Nothing' that made Bazett even more confused.

'What?'

'Nothing, my intention is to take the Grail and move it to Rome. We would put it above the Seat of Power and return to the people the faith in our God and his Church. As the descendant of Knight Templars it is my holy duty to see this trough' the priest made such a speech that it made Bazett mesmerized. This man don't have any selfish wish, he wants to grant the Grail to everyone. 'So, will you assist me?'

'I… I will see what I can do. Where did you say the location was?'

'Tell then that I will be waiting for them at the old church on the hill, the one where father Kotomine hold his services before mysteriously disappearing ten years ago. If they are as honorable as everyone is telling me then I do not have any doubts that my servant will be victorious' the priest turned around. 'Now if you excuse me, I have faithful to relieve of sins' with that said he left. Bazett was left alone on the bench, she smiles.

'This is turning out to be one interesting Holy Grail War' she says before opening bottle to take few more sips of water.

I enter the living room after fixing my hair and dressing up for the day. The smell of something really good can be felt all over the hallway. And good thing as well, I am starving. Yesterday I didn't eat anything since breakfast, and all the adrenalin from last night concealed my hunger up until I woke up this morning. I cannot wait to eat Ilyla's delicious dish and try miss Jeanne's cooking.

I enter the living room and to my surprise Illya is sitting down as well, she seems to be reading newspaper. Mordred is sitting next to her and watching television, and Rin is… strangely silent. She is sitting at the other end of the table with Archer at her side. Revelation seems to be sitting along at his part of the table, I can see free place between him and Mordred. They must have left it for me to sit down.

'Good morning everyone' I say as I sit down to my designated spot. I can now clearly see that something is wrong with Rin. Her face is all red and she is entirely focusing in her cup, moving her finger across the edges of the cup.

'What is with Rin?' I ask Revelation, he took one good look at her before answering.

'I have no idea master, must be something that happened last night.'

Last night? It could have gone wrong? She was not like this during or after the battle, so it must be something while we were asleep. But what exactly…

'Rin, are you alright?' I ask her, she jumped for a moment. It seems that my voice return her back into reality. She looked around before she saw me and sighed.

'Y…yes I am, thanks for asking Saber' her answer is straightforward, fast and unconvincing. I have never seen Rin acting like this.

'If you say so…' I took sip from the cup of morning coffee that was placed there, waiting for me. Rin didn't said anything, she just returned to what she has been doing before I asked her what has happened.

'Tell me Rin, you were sleeping together with Nero in the room. Right?' Mordred suddenly asks, and her question is out of the blue.

'Yes I did, what about it?' her answer is very straightforward and loud. It's like Rin is irritated by that. Seems like Mordred hit the spot, she just sighs and continues reading the paper.

'You can relax father, nothing serious has transpired last night. It was just Nero having some fun.'

'Fun!?' Rin shouted, and then she went silent and continues looking at the cup. I have never saw Rin like this, what has Nero did to her when she is acting like this?

'Good morning everyone!' and speaking of the devil, the same one just opened the doors to the kitchen and I can see her holding plate in her hands. She puts her devilish smile as she place the plate on the table and makes a stance like she won a tough battle.

'So my proud citizens will you not praise my culinary skills, for truly it is a rare thing to enjoy in the meals made by the emperor herself' Nero says and proceed to sit down near Rin. I can see that Rin actually startled like being scared for Nero sitting near her. 'Oh… why so twitchy Rin, you were not so nervous last night…'

'S…shut up…' Rin says and turns away from Nero.

'Oh come on now, you started first and now you are regretting it? Hypocrite…' Nero says and turned her cheek around making a pout. I also noticed how Archer is smiling, his smile seems quite guilty. He is enjoying this entire situation for some reason.

'Could you two please knock it off? We have much more important stuff to discuss after we eat' Mordred suddenly says, she seems very serious as well. I guess all this time made her into quite mature person.

'Like you are the one to talk Mordred, acting all cool and serious in front of your dad…' Nero made sinister grin, I can tell that she likes to tease people for fun. Not that I mind, I kind of like that Rin is getting some of her own medicine.

'S….shut up!... It's not like that at all… I… I am a soldier… I do act cool in all situations!' Wow, Mordred really gave her all. But she is too dishonest with her feelings. I can tell that by how much her face is blushing.

'We all know that Mordred so calm down' Jeanne suddenly says while exiting the kitchen. She is wearing a white apron and holding big dish of something so delicious that my stomach got very nervous the very second I could smell her dish. Behind her came Illya who also carries something delicious in her hands which yet again charmed everyone in the room with its smell. They both place their pots on the table and sit down, then they removed the pot covers and revealed what they have been making this morning.

'Come on everyone don't be shy' Jeanne says.

'Please help yourselves. I am also interested to hear your critiques' Illya says as well. We grabbed out plated and proceed in taking parts of each dish and trying it out.

'If it's not a secret what did you made exactly?' I ask and look at Jeanne's direction, she smiles.

'I made Beef Bourguignon, very well-known French dish. I did lack proper beef from France but the ones I have found in local store are good enough."

'Jeanne made this while I made rice mixed with some salad to add to the flavor of our meals today.'

Both their dishes looks delicious, that only leaves one more that was left unopen.

'Fufufu… get ready everyone to be amazed at my cooking' I am very skeptical about this but I am prepared to give it a shot. Nero opens her dish and I must admit that it does look very temping, it smells nice as well. 'Amazed, you should be as this Pasta Carbonara is made by none other than glorious emperor of Roma.'

'Thank you very much, there are all wonderful' I can see that my comment surprised all three of them. They all smiled.

'Thanks auntie.'

'I am glad that I was able to make you happy with my dish.'

'Fufu, it seems that my unmatched skills were once again able to amaze the people around me.'

I ma genially happy over the fact that Mordred was able to hang out with them all this time, having true friends in lie means a lot. And I can tell that bond between Mordred and them is deep, despite their differences over certain aspects. I look at Mordred as she was just filling her plate with food and smile, she quickly noticed me.

'What?'

'Nothing, nothing at all…' I say and start filling my own plate.

Few minutes later Sakura, Shinji and Rider dropped by and joined us for lunch. We barely had any place to set up all of them on one table but Archer and Revelation took their plates and sat aside, allowing the newly arrived guests to sit down. During launch we introduced newly arrived guests to Mordred and her friends, afterwards we discussed about everyday life before finally getting down to business after we have finished eating. Shinji opened his laptop and showed us a picture of young men in student uniform.

'This here is Riki Sukorogi, he was prestige student on Tokio University some few years ago. Much was expecting of him as he was coming from a wealthy family and had fantastic grades. But then he decided to join Aum Shinrikyo sect, and that is as far as the official information is going.'

'What about the unofficial information?' Rin asks Shinji.

'Well what I was able to gather from hacking their computers this past two days was that Riki was too extreme even for them. He was expelled from the sect few months ago and since then he started his own cult that worship his as "Messiah of the three gods".'

I can notice that Revelation changed mood for the worse after hearing the name of that title. I wonder what he knows about it?

'"Messiah of the three gods?" Talking about being subtle egoistic megalomaniac…'

'I agree Rin, that is why we must be very careful about this person. Shinji did his best to dig up as much as he can, but as of this moment we have no idea about the location of his current hideout. But the one thing we can confirm is that he has a lot of followers' Sakura says.

'While I was following some private chats last night I came across several conversations that were specifically mentioning Riki and his sect' Shinji says as he showed us few more photos. It looks like conversation bubbles between several people, there is a lot of text here but I spotted words like "weapons", "explosives" and "body armor" immediately. 'Whatever they are planning it will be something big, and soon from the looks of it.'

'Good work Shinji, Sakura' Rin nods and send her praise to both of them. They smiled and replied in kind.

'It was nothing Rin.'

'The two of us are always glad to help you and Saber. Which reminds me…' Sakura turns toward me, I can see that she is worried '… are you alright Saber? How do you feel?'

'I…I am fine… thanks for asking….' My response is quite weak and silent. I can see that others are getting interested in the issue as well.

'Are you sure Saber?' Sakura asks again, this time I do not reply.

'What do you mean, father what happened yesterday?' Mordred asks, but I do not even look at her. I cannot make them to worry about me more than they are already, despite what happened yesterday. Suddenly I sensed something, like someone is examing me. I turn toward Revelation only to see him looking at me like he is trying to read me.

'Revelation….'

'Master… He tried to rape you yesterday?' I say nothing as there is no lie in his words, I just cannot confirm it in front of others.

'What!?' Mordred screamed. I can sense killing intent rising with incredible speed from her.

'Saber is that true, did the bastard tried to do anything to you?' Rin asks, I can see how much she is worried. To her I cannot remain silent, I have to say something.

'It was nothing really, he did try to pleasure himself by using my body but Sakura, Shinji and Rider arrived just in time to assist me. I am fine, really. So stop worrying about me and let us concentrate more on the War' I can see that this was indeed very bad thing to say.

'Master, I cannot believe your stance right now. Even if you think it should be fine to let that pass, that same thing does not concern your friends and family' Revelation says, adding even more pressure to the situation.

'I agree with Revelation, for you to not tell us about this… Are you nuts?' Rin says.

'I agree with Rin auntie, what were you thinking?' Illya says, I can see how much angry she is. I could try to explain to them that it was not such a fuss but I know they will never understand it.

'Everyone please, you need to take a look at this from my master's perspective. In her previous life rape was always a possibility for every women caught near battlefield. So master was always prepared for such a possibility, that is why this is not such a big deal in her eyes' Revelation comes forward and explain things to everyone present in the room. He successfully expresses my opinion about this issue, even if it throws Rin, Sakura, Shinji and Illya into disbelief.

On the other hand I can see that Nero, Jeanne and Mordred didn't change their attitude at all. Perhaps they also understand my point of view if they were their entire lives in the military just like Mordred was. But I can still feel that they are not comfortable with my actions at all.

'I know that Revelation but still…'

'I understand miss Rin' Revelation turns to face me now. 'Master, I see that even after living ten years in the modern age you still didn't catch up to some things. Rape is in this time seen as quite offensive thing, and it is no small matter for any women no matter how strong. In addition to that you are not alone anymore, whatever happens to you affect your friends and family as well. You should be more careful about other people's feelings master.'

Revelation is correct, I have been too careless. When Illya was captured by Einzerberns I rushed to her rescue without second thought. I was so worried about her that my own personal safety was not on my mind at all. To me saving Illya was everything in that moment.

But I never stopped to reconsider if Illya has such feelings as well. That each time I put myself in danger she gets worried about me as much as I got worried about her. I see it clearly now, I must not take the feelings of other people so lightly in the future. This time I do not have Avalon as an excuse, but as a shield as well. Feeling all this guilt over my action that have caused harm to others hurt more than any wound I have experienced in any battle so far.

I stand up and bow before everyone.

'Please forgive me everyone, I was careless and foolish. I promise to take great care with such things in the future and try to not give you a hard time.'

An awkward silence, not even a single cough could be heard in the room. Did I really impressed then that much or is it something else entirely.

'Wow… You actually went and apologized' I turn my head only to see Mordred looking at me in a strange manner. Her eyes are wide open and I can say that she is really surprised. 'I guess people really can change a lot after they spend some time among ordinary people, living ordinary lives…'

'Like you are one to talk about that, Knight of Treachery turned into Honorable Crusader Soldier' Nero called Mordred out, all while using her smile to point out how much she is proud of herself. I can see that Mordred's face turn red and she procced into grabbing Nero and shaking her left and right.

'W…w…w….what are you saying you idiot emperor!?'

'Only the truth of course my dear Mordy' Mordred stops shaking Nero, who shows her gentle smile this time.

'Why don't tell your father the truth Mordred? About how you joined every major conflict in order to save as much lives as you could, how you put yourself in harm's way just to allow few more innocent people to escape, how…' Jeanne added her opinion as well, but she is blatantly interrupted by Mordred.

'Enough! I will…in time… just leave me alone for now… Idiots…' I cannot help but smile with the others at Mordred's shyness, that innocent side of her is so adorable. Shame how I was never able to notice it before, when I was stripped from all humanity as a price for yielding the holy sword. But I am thankful for the chance that is given to me to make things right, I hope that in time I will be able to correct everything.

'Saber, it's alright. I know you did that to make things easier for me and the others, but please do not do it anymore. The situation is already tense as it is and we do not need to make it even worse' Rin says, I can see wisdom in her words.

'Yeah dad, don't be such an idiot. You can do better than this' even Mordred put up her honest opinion. I am surprise to see that it is friendly intended toward me.

'Of course Rin, you can count on me that I will report absolutely everything from now on' Rin sighed while Illya and Sakura made a gentle smile.

'It's fine as long as you understand it. So everyone, how about we call it for now and take a rest? This has been an intense week and I just want to sit down and rest for a bit, without Grail War or Servant talk around me' Rin then stood up and head toward the doors, seems like she is going to her room to get a little rest.

'Fine with me, what about you two?' Mordred asks Nero and Jeanne.

'I will go in the backyard and do some flowering' Nero says.

'I will read something in the backyard' Jeanne says.

'All right then' all three of them stood up and head toward doors leading to the outside. 'See you later dad, I will practice some sword fighting in the shack'.

'Ok Mordred' I said as the three of them were exiting the room.

'I will do the dishes, why don't you two watch some television?' Rider says while gathering dishes.

'We will Rider, thanks' Sakura replies and she sits near Shinji who already started to change some channels.

'Wait Rider, you don't need to…'

'Worry not Saber, this is the least I can do to help around here. Why don't you get some rest as well?' I tried to protest against Rider washing our dishes, but I simply cannot argue against her polite smile. I can see that she is enjoying the moment so I just nod to her and get up myself.

'I will clean your room auntie, why don't you take a walk around the house and stretch your legs a bit?'

'Illya is right master, we could use some walk around the block.'

'All right if you two say so, we will be back in half an hour. Let us go Revelation' I smile and call for Revelation. Archer will stay behind to defend the household and we have Rider there as well. In this case the change something ill will happens is quite low. Especially knowing that there are just 3 masters left in the War and the chance of them working together against us is very low.

I got my winter jacket and tie my shoes. It has gotten quite cold in the last two days, getting some warmer clothing is not a bad idea. I still don't get it how will Nero exactly do some flowering at this weather but she may surprise me so who knows?

'Here master' I see Revelation hooding a scarf in his hand, 'you should get this as well.'

'Thanks Revelation' I took the scarf and put it around my neck, it's little itchy but it feels quite warm. 'Alright, let's g….' and just as I grabbed the doors our phone rings. I pick up the handle and answer the call.

'Emiya household, this is Saber speaking.'

'How nice to hear from you again miss Saber, how have you been?' I recognize the voice immediately.

'Nice to hear from you too miss Bazett. As you know I have been very busy with the War lately, how about you?'

'Busy gathering all the information to help you guys out, in fact that is why I am calling you right now. I have gathered some new information that you guys might find interesting.'

'What kind of information?'

'Well… earlier this day I had the honor to meet master of Rider.'

'What?'

'The men just sit next to me and started talking, he knew about my involvement in this war and that I am helping you. He told me that he would like to have a one on one battle against you and miss Rin' I am having really hard time believing this. Either this men is very naive or very honorable.

'So he wants to have one on one battle? Sounds like trap to me Bazett…'

'I would think so as well Saber, but this man is different… It may be because he is a priest and deeply devout to his religion that I trust him. He could kill me here and there or he could easily capture me and force me to tell him your location. But he didn't, I even think that men was not pleased that he has to fight to obtain Holy Grail.'

'So in short, he seems like a man who has higher moral grounds and hates the fact that he has to fight in this war?'

'Precisely, I think that he is not type of a person who will set traps. Very naive of him to fight like that in this kind of war, but then again he is in luck to have such an honorable persons as his opponents.'

'Alright… thank you for the information Bazett.'

'No problem miss Saber, the men will await for you at the old Church at the southeastern part of town.'

'You mean the old Church where father Kotomine was stationed all these years ago?'

'Indeed, that's what he told me.'

'A very strange place to hold a battle between servants, very small area and open to general public… Did he specify time when he was going to meet us?'

'No, I think that you can even go now and fight him.'

'Right now? But it's late in the afternoon. There is high chance that the people will see us fighting.'

'Don't worry about that, me and my team surrounded the Church area and made sure that nobody will get near it. We also confirmed that he is indeed there, praying inside the church. If you want you can go and fight him right now, we will keep watch in meantime.'

'Thank you very much Bazett.'

'No problem miss Saber, just be sure to finish this quickly and try not to hurt the priest guy too much. He is too pure for this dark war.'

'I will keep that in mind, let me consolidate this with Rin and we will be on our way.'

'I understand, see you miss Saber. Good luck.'

'Likewise miss Bazett' she hang the phone and I returned the handle on its place.

'It seems like we will be doing different kind of exercise today master.'

'Indeed Revelation, indeed….'

I return to main room and said to Illya to summon Rin and Archer. I didn't bother to summon Mordred, Jeanne and Nero as well, they will hear about it later on. I explained the situation to Rin, being confused by the entire thing Rin called Bazett once more to confirm all of that. Her reaction after she hangs out the connection was priceless.

'My God… It really is true… To think that kind of idiot really exists…'

We didn't waste much time afterwards. After we informed Mordred and the others about the situation me and Rin left with Archer and Revelations for the Church. Rider, Sakura and Shinji stayed behind to secure the house and to hopefully dig some more information on Caster and his master on the web.

The ride to the Church took us some half an hour. Ever since the end of the fifth Grail War the place was closed to the public per order of the Holy Church. Priests who went there needed years to clean all the negative magical energy Kotomine created with his unethical methods to keep Archer alive for ten years. They did succeed in cleansing the church in the end but the place remained closed except for the funeral rites that are done at the church backyard. The official story is that church is closing because of reconstruction and that it will open as soon as the works are done. This is the story which they stick to for the last ten years, and amazingly it has worked.

The promises have been made time and again for the church to open but every time the final date of opening comes it is simply ignored. I can tell that the people are getting restless over it, Fuyuki city does not have the other church and for the last ten years the church in nearby village has been used as a substitute instead. They will have eventually to step down and allow people to visit the church again. It will be nice to see it again, even if I mostly bad memories of that place.

We arrived at the parking lot at the bottom of the hill, once we exit and got to the staircase we were greeted by local security guard. He informed us that all cameras have been turned off and that "software failure" will be main explanation presented to everyone asking questions around. He also said that the priest is expecting us behind the church, at the local graveyard.

Smart decision as the graveyard is near the edge of the forest and very secluded place. Our servants can battle there unhindered and without fear that someone will spot them. This priest really seems like a nice guy, organizing all of this in order to have as less bloodshed as possible. I wish every master was like this, honorable to his opponent and caring for the common folk. But in the merciless world of mages such things are not possible, this man is probably like this only because he is a priest that was randomly chosen for this war. In any case, we will find out soon enough…

We climb up the staircase and came in front of the old church. Not much has changed in 10 years since I was last standing here with Shirou and Rin.

'This surely brings back some memories…' I commend while standing in front of the church, light winter wind blowing around us, adding more eerie atmosphere to already haunting place.

'Too bad it's only the bad ones' Rin says while coming at my side, 'let us go Saber. I don't want to make the good father waiting' I nod and we head toward graveyard with our two Servants following closely behind us.

I decided not to take my armor and sword with me seeing how this is all arranged under the gesture of good will. But I took Avalon with me just in case that "good father" is not so good after all. Rin also prepared several gems in case we need magical protection or additional firepower.

We arrived at the cemetery and it is exactly as I remember. Not many people were buried here after fifth war ended, but the church still allowed for families of the ones who are already buried here to come and show respect to their deceased loved ones. At the very center of the cemetery we can see a man in priest clothing reading a book. He looks fairly young. I think he did not hit 40 years yet although I can see him having a few strains of grey hair. His face is cleanly shaved and his tall figure clad in black is so skinny that it is not expressing a figure of someone menacing. We are walking slowly toward him, our Servants following us closely behind.

'Archer, are you detecting anything?'

'I am Rin, but not here' Archer looks at the tree line beyond the graveyard. 'There, his Servant is somewhere in the forest.'

'The man may be honest and honorable but this move is quite idiotic. Every other master would just order his Servant to kill him on the spot and then he would turn around and go grab some drinks before going home to sleep.'

'We get it Revelation, and I agree that his honesty is way off but if the man already did this much to show us how serious he is about playing it fair then I as an honorable person will…'

'…follow that to the very end. I know master and I will follow your lead.'

Revelation is quite irritated, I cannot tell is it because this whole setup or something else? Well it does not matter as long as he understands and follows orders. After all, I cannot tell him what to like and what to hate. But I can stand behind his logic, if people acting like idiots make him nervous I can definitely get behind that. We are slowly getting closer to the priest, but it seems he does not feel our presence at all even if we are some few meters away from him.

'I see that you have arrived, my children' he out the book on the tombstone and stood up. 'I am sorry if this entire thing feels strange to you, I just want to end this with as less bloodshed as possible' I can hear Revelation groaning, like he wants to desperately say something but he cannot.

'Father… let me ask one thing?' Rin says.

'Go ahead my child' he says to her while holding his hand behind his back and being as relax as he can be. Is this real? Is he really a master?

'Excuse my saying father but you do not really look like a master. What are you doing in this war?'

He turned around and starts watching in the distance, taking a deep breath before continuing.

'To tell you the truth I do not like this Holy Grail War thing one bit, to me the idea that Humans can control great heroes and even Saints is insulting at best and heretical at worst. Those people who have died in order to get us where we are today do not deserve to have some egoistic mage use them as his playthings. But alas, I was chosen as a master in this war and that left me few options' he turned around to face us again, I can see steel determination in his eyes. He is very serious about this whole thing.

'So I decided to fight in this war, win it and then take the Grail with me instead of making my wish.'

'You don't want to make wish from the Grail?' Rin asks, clearly confused at men's answer.

'No, my faith in Lord is all I need in life.'

'Then for what purpose are you going to use it if not for your own benefit?' Archer asks.

'I will take the Grail to Rome and give it to the Pope. We will then use it as ultimate artifact of the Catholic Church in order to stop the further decline of the faithful. In the past decade the number of faithful is ever decreasing, more and more churches are left empty and cold as people do not come to listen to the word of the Lord anymore. With this artifact that contains the blood of our Lord we can finally turn the events around and bring back faith in Christ to the masses.'

I am listening to him and I can feel some sort of compassion toward the men, he is after all trying to save his dying religion. I saw that the newest generations are less and less faithful. They are more concerned about working and earning as much as they can then enjoying the life as much as they can. So I can understand his motives, but is the Grail really the best thing to achieve such goal?

I am also noticing that Revelation is becoming more and more nervous. Archer seems to be noticing that as well as he is occasionally checking up on him. I don't think that he will just burst into rage but the more he listens to this priest the more nervous he is. Is it possible that he is some kind of extreme atheist? I didn't notice that he is that much faithful but then again I didn't notice that he resents religion that much.

'I really have no idea what to say father. I never met someone who is going to use Holy Grail for that kind of purpose. Your wish is so noble that I am feeling a little guilty that I must fight you' Rin says.

'The feeling is mutual my child, I would like nothing more than peaceful resolution to this conflict. But such are the ways of our Lord' he slowly raise his hands into the air like he is going to catch something that falls from the sky. 'My name is Rene Marton, and I will be your opponent today' he lowers his hands and makes a serious face for a change. 'Which one of you is going to face me first?'

Rin looks toward me, I nod and step forward.

'Ah….Emiya Saber… I have heard a lot about you young miss…' Father Rene says as he bows in respect.

'Just answer me one question before we continue father, why did you expose yourself to us like this? Do you have no fear that we will just use the situation to our advantage and kill you on the spot?'

I ask because I am genuinely curios about it. No matter how honorable it may seem, as Revelation says it is quite stupid for him to act like this.

'I see that you are concerned for my wellbeing, you are indeed as honorable as people say you are… But you should not worry because as you see' he opened his hands and a set of swords just popped out of nowhere and appeared in his hands, 'I am more than able to defend myself. If any of you or your Servants tried to attack me I have with myself an holy relic that can heal me instantly and this black keys which I would use to defend myself until my Servant comes to support me.'

'I see that Catholic Church still trains their priests quite well' Rin commented. Father Rene smiled and in that moment his key disappeared as quickly as they have appeared.

'So my child, is your Servant prepared?' I throw a quick look at Revelation, he seems prepared for a fight but he also looks like he is going to enter in berserker mode at any time. I guess now is the best moment to use him before situation decorates rapidly.

'My Servant is ready to face yours father Rene, where shall they fight?'

'Worry not about that my child, my Servant is already waiting' he points to the edge of the forest. There is a clearing there lying between forest and graveyard, and in the middle of it we can see what appears to be a knight on a horse caring a lance. He wears a helmet so I cannot identify him properly, but judging by his armor and clothing I would say that he is from the Crusades era. The white robes and Red Cross on them is also highly recognizable symbols hat points toward certain organization of knights. No wonder father Rene decided to hide him, his name is probably very easy to discover.

'Archer?' I ask.

'I noticed him going out as soon as you and the priest made a deal, I cannot sense anything else in the surrounding area.'

'Good work Archer' Rin praised Archer and then faced the priest. 'Father Rene, if our Servant beat yours in combat then you will lose your Command Spells. We will not take your life or anything similar to that. If we lose we will act in the same manner, if Saber lose here today Archer and I will face you tomorrow alone. Is that alright?'

'Of course my child, I will make sure to pray for the souls of your Servants if they are both slain by my own.'

'Let's not get ahead of ourselves father' I say and turn to face Revelation. 'Are you ready for battle?' But Revelation is just standing there. I can see that he is quite confused, or surprised. His eyes are wide open as well as his jaw so it's difficult to say.

'Revelation?' I call to him in hope he will react somehow.

'No way…' are the two words he said before he started walking toward enemy Servant on his own. The rest of us followed behind him. He entered the clearing and stopped at some fifteen meters from enemy Servant. Me, Archer, Rin and father Rene are all standing aside and watching as the situation unfolds.

'I must say, your Servant is one strange man' father Rene commented.

'Tell me about it…' I answer as I wait to see what will happen next.

'Servant Rider, I welcome you noble foe. Let us battle with courage and honor today, and let God decide who will stand at the end of the day' father Rene's Servant declared so, his armor shining ever so brightly on the sun. I cannot remember any famous Servant from Crusades period, hopefully Revelation will giving how he pretty much knew every Servant so far.

But his reaction right now is so strange. He seems like he is under influence of some spell. Even enemy Servant is confused by his reaction, but nevertheless he prepares his lance and he is slowly getting into position to charge at Revelation.

'Noble foe, I suggest that you prepare your weapon. And worry not, I will pray to God for your soul together with my master once our fight is over' something is odd. Revelation is shaking like he is feeling very cold, he crossed his hands on his chest and I lowered his head toward them. It's like he is… laughing very quietly?

'Are you alright?' Rider asks, and that is when Revelation lost it.

'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!' He is laughing like crazy, trembling with uncontrollable laughter and pointing at Rider.

'Why are you laughing? What is it so funny?' Rider asks.

'Sorry… I just cannot control myself when I hear such irony' Revelation finally calmed down, cleaning tears from his eyes.

'What irony?'

'That I had to fight you out of all people, Hugues de Payens' I throw a glance at father Rene. He is not showing any emotion, but I can see that he is not glad by current developments.

'So, you know who I am?'

'How can I not know the men who founded an order of rapists, criminals and lunatics and used imaginary being to justify their killings while forcibly converting everyone to their version of living your life as miserable as you can imagine?'

That one sentence left me speechless, everyone else are in disbelief as well. I never knew Revelation harbors such extreme atheistic views.

'You…You dare…' Rider is obviously not happy with his statement.

'Of course I dare. People like you lied, robbed and killed people for far too long. It's about time someone steps forward and protect innocent from the likes of you. Especially against fairy tale of some imaginative figure looking and ruling over them from the heavens, promising them eternal life and happiness while the truth is there is nothing after death but darkness.'

I can see that Rider is really mad, he prepares his lance.

'You will pay for your blasphemous words, heretic!' He screams as he charges toward Revelation. But rather than taking any evasive maneuvers Revelation is just standing there, waiting for knight to crush him under his mighty charge.

I am very close to use a command spell and order him to move away. But I have faith in him. He must have some kind of plan if he still stands still. Rider is almost upon him, his lance targeting directly into Revelation's torso.

In the last moment Revelation moved one step to the right, ducked and slashed his sword at unprotected legs of Rider's horse. Rider is sent flying through the air while his horse fell down and rolled before hitting several tombstones. The poor creature is in pain, his cries can be heard all over graveyard. Several seconds later it disappeared completely, and then the graveyard fell silent again.

'No!' Rider shouts, I can feel genuine guilt over the loss of his horse. He makes a few steps but falls down to his knees, clinging to his sword. The pain from fall and losing his horse is too much to bear.

'Awwww… feeling bad for death of your horse? If only you and your fanatics felt the same remorse when you were running around and slaughtering innocent…' Revelation continues to mock him, I can see that Rider's patience is at its end.

'ENOUGH!' he yelled and stood up, even if barely. I cannot help but feeling sorry for him, I noticed that Archer and Rin share the same feeling as I do. But he is enemy Servant, and we have to defeat him if we want to finish this war as quickly as possible.

I just hope Revelation will finish this swiftly, I can tell that he is enjoying this way too much.

'Revelation…' he raises his hand toward me.

'This will be over soon master. You just stand there and watch' he then face Rider, standing still some few meters from him. 'To think that you of all people would get into situation like this…' Revelation points his sword toward Rider 'Where is your God now to protect you, to smite me down as his enemy, the one who brings his word into question?'

'He works in mysterious ways…' Rider answers even if barely, he is still recovering from his fall. I noticed that his Master is chanting some healing spells, normally I would stop him but giving the nature of this battle I think even those will not help much in Rider's current situation.

After all, there are two of us here, he did ask for a fair challenge so it is only natural for us to allow him to heal his Servant.

'Mysterious ways? Suuurrreeee…' Revelation continues to put salt on Rider's wound. 'So his "mysterious way" is for me to kill your horse and mock you here to my heart's content. If he is so omnipotent and powerful then why is he letting me get away with everything I have said about him and did to you?'

'He is testing me right now…' Rider is slowly getting fully healed. Revelation seems to be letting him to be fully healed before he starts attacking again.

'Testing you? Hahahahahaha…' He is laughing like crazy again. Rider is getting more and more agitated by him. 'What poor excuse from a delusional men. If your God was real he would help you right now, by either healing you or striking me. Right now you are getting healed by the will of your Master and only because my own and my masters code of honor allows him to do that' he falls silent for a moment, looking Rider directly in the eyes. 'If anything, it only shows how imaginary your God is and how delusional of a men you are.'

'AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!'

Rider lost it, he charge at Revelation and hits him with his sword as hard as he can. Revealtion is now of defensive, reflectin as much of Rider attacks as he can.

'HERESY, HERESY, HERESY, HERESY…..'

Rider is in berserker mode, he aimlessly hits at Revelation again and again.

'Such disgrace… Such blasphemy… Such insolence… HOW DARE YOU!'

He initiates another powerful strike toward Revelation, but this time Revelation deflects it with ease and initiates his counterattack. He slams in Rider, pushing him out of balance, and then he punches him in the head and sends him flying across the graveyard. Rider smashed several tombstones before stopping, he moans in pain as he slowly gets up on his feet. Meanwhile Revelation picks up Rider's sword that was left lying beside him.

'How dare I…' Revelation points his sword toward Rider, 'I dare because I speak for those who cannot speak anymore. For all of those untold millions that suffered because of your lies and your imaginary God. All of those killed in his name because they either had different opinion or different version of the same God. All of those you incorporated into your order, young men aiming to achieve noble things in life only to be misled by you to commit atrocities. All of people who actually believed you, that you care about them, that you would save their souls, that they will be rewarded for their suffering in life…' he throws Riders sword toward him, it landed right in front of Rider's feet '… only to find out there is nothing but darkness after they close their eyes for the last time. I fight right now not just for my Master and the Holy Grail, but for truth of justice that those men and women deserve after centuries of torture under religion.'

Revelation makes an attack stance 'Come on, come and show me that there is at least little honor and nobility left within the Templar order. That you are capable to fight other warrior's as well and not just unarmed old men, women and children.'

Rider picks up his sword, spits blood from his mouth and makes an attack stance as well.

'In the name of our Lord and everything that is holy I will end you here… Heretic…'

This is it. The next few minutes will decide the outcome of the battle. Revelation has the upper hand but Rider can still win if he pulls out something unpredicted. I throw my look at Rin and Archer for a moment. They are as shocked as I am and after hearing everything what Revelation said it is hard not to be.

'How…how does your Servant knows his name…'

I look to my left only to see father Rene on his knees and holding down a tombstone.

'Father!' I rush to assist him, quickly checking if he was hurt somehow during the chanting of the healing spell. But no… what is hurt here is not his body, but hi faith. He looks me in the eyes.

'How… How does your Servant know his name…' he repeats that question again. I can see doubt and despair slowly overwhelming him.

'What do you mean father?'

'My Servant s not very known figure, only reason why I got him was because members of the Masonic order gave his sword to the Church in preparations for this War. In addition to that every piece of art depicting him is wrong… For your Servant to actually know him…he must have fought beside him at some point…'

I started wondering about that as well, Lancer and Caster were different as they were quite unique to history. Rider could have been any Crusader Knight, for him to actually get his name right from the first time... What are the odds…

A sudden flash of golden light interrupted my way of thought, I turn my attention to it only to see Rider holding his sword above his head and chanting something. This must be his Noble Phantasm.

'So you are going to use it here after all, while it is still clear day to that. Have you no consideration as Heroic Spirit?' Revelation just continues to irritate him. I see that this is Rider's last resort, he is too lost in rage to actually listen to reason. Maybe if father Rene use Command Spell…

'Decalogue Templariorum!'

Too late, Rider already unleashed his Noble Phantasm at Revelation. It is very similar to my Excalibur, beam of holy light cutting anything in its path. It's light blinds me for a few seconds as I grabbed father Rene and threw both of us aside.

It was still not enough to evade expanding beam of Rider's Noble Phantasm, good thing that Archer was present as he grabbed both me and father and dragged us to other end of the graveyard. Soon afterwards the blast has ended, and when I look at Rider again he was slowly disappearing. Revelation used the opening and impaled him with his sword. The brave Templar knight cried as he was once again abandoning this realm, heading to sit at the right side of his Lord.

Noble Phantasm nearly hit him but Revelation was able to dodge it just in time. Rider's Noble Phantasm is powerful but it can only be projected at a single point, making it very easy to evade. Rider also released it in blind rage, exactly what Revelation was hoping for.

Once he notices that Noble Phantasm power was dropping Revelation set into action and hurl himself directly at Rider. The moment Rider stopped projecting his Noble Phantasm Revelation too his opportunity and impaled his sword right into Rider's chest. The old knight puke blood as he lost all the strength he had left. His sword fell from his hands as he leaned on Revelation. It was in this moment that his sanity returned to him, he slowly opened his eyes only to see golden dust all around him.

'Where… am… I….?' He asks, not realizing that the dust was coming from his feet that are slowly disappearing in the wind.

'You were in living Hell my son, tested as never before' Rider noticed that he was leaning onto someone, he gathered what was rest of his strength and raised his head to see the face of the person that is talking to him.

As soon as he saw his face, his eyes filled with tears and joy returned to his old heart.

'M... my Lord….' What he saw was the men he worshipped as a Son of God, the one that was nailed to the cross and resurrected three days after his death, the one that will led them all to salvation. He could recognize him anywhere, his dark hair, short black beard and eyes in which he could see the ultimate truth opened before him and feel the righteousness of his father.

'You have fought enough dear Hugues, the time has come to leave this world for good and join me and my Father in Kingdom of Heaven' he smiles, which brings even more joy to Rider's soul. 'And don't worry about your sins. Your deeds in life as well as your faith have earned you redemption in my eyes as well as in eyes of my father. Rest now Hugues de Payens, for you have certainly earned it.'

'T... thank you my Lord…' Rider starts to cry as he once again lean his head on the Lord's chest, 'it was an honor to follow your ways… and to serve you…'

Few moments later he disappeared into the wind, he died with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes. Revelation dispersed the false beard he created by using his mana, sheathed his sword and head slowly toward his Master and her friends. He put a smirk on his face as he decided to deliver one last strike to Rider's master.

Revelation is victorious, usually I would feel relieved and happy as we have defeated one more enemy and we are that much closer to achieving the Grail.

But now… I am not so sure what to feel. I look at my left to see father Rene kneeling on the ground. He is holding wooden cross in his hand and chanting a prayer. I throw a quick look to both Rin and Archer only to see that they too are not sure what to feel about this victory.

'So…good father…' Revelation came to us and I cannot feel uneasy after seeing gigantic smile on his face. It is not smile of a happy person or a smile to cheer someone – it is a smile aimed solely to insult a person. And it is getting on my nerves.

'I hope you have now seen the futility of your ways, this victory here was not only my victory or my Master's. It is also a victory of the future, which will be free from your lies and shackles of your mob organization.'

'I…I…'poor father Rene, he cannot grasp that his Servant lost. I can see tears flowing from his eyes.

'But you are not to blame, it is the Church that filled your head with imagination and stupid things like faith. It is time father, while you are still strong and capable men, to release yourself from slavery to your nonexistent idol and start working on yourself. I am sure you can enjoy life and be as happy as everyone else if you start working on yourself right now.'

'…UUUuuuuu….' Father Rene still hesitates. I am also getting angrier by the minute.

'Come on now, you saw it for yourself. Your faith is a lie, so was your entire life so far. It is time to leave these thing behind and start anew, you will be better off and much more happier' Revelation, glad that he has finally broke the men turns his attention to me.

'Master shall we…'

'Enough…' I say while looking at the ground, I cannot even bare to look him in the eyes.

'Saber…' Rin says, worried to see that I started crying as well.

'Why are you agitated by this Master? One more Master is defeated and you are that much closer to the Grail and fulfilling your wish, you should be overjoyed by this victory.'

'Overjoyed Revelation…' I raise my head and point my left arm to father Rene 'OVERJOYED BECAUSE OF THIS!' Revelation says nothing. His face expression is stone cold.

'Just look at him Revelation, this here is a broken man. He is not beat Master, he is a men who lost faith in everything in life. Who has his dream and his reason to live crush mercilessly, I don't know about you but I cannot consider this a victory' I point at father Rene, who is kneeling on the ground and shaking like crazy. I can still see tears pouring from his eyes.

'Please Master, do not be so shortsighted. Sure, this men probably did nothing wrong in his life but he is still part of an organization that fooled and robbed so many over the course of centuries. He and his "employers" are tumor of Mankind, and tumor has to be removed in order for body to survive' I cannot believe his words, how can he be so ignorant?

'Revelation, you cannot be serious? I know that people have done terrible things in the name of religion but you cannot group every single religious person under same banner. Many of them did good things in life because they believed in the message their religion was sending them. Are you telling me that they are guilty as well?' Rin jumps in, agitated as well over the whole thing that is happening. I can see that Archer is also becoming irritated by Revelation.

'Of course even they are guilty. Just because you did good things does not negate the fact you did support system of belief that limits Mankind and robs it of the glory it can achieve when free from such hassle. They are guilty for choose to be slaves, and leave the life of slaves instead of thinking for themselves and trying to improve species as a whole' even Rin is shocked by his answer, I am at my limit as well…

'In the end, their faith is worthless. They believe in some old men with white beard that reigns in Heaven and judge them when they die. You cannot get sillier than that, wasted time and potential if you ask me. Now Master, let us…'

'Shut up…' my sudden reply to his constant bashing of religion came as a surprise to him.

'Excuse me Master? What did you…'

'SHUT UP!' I release all of it, all the anger I was holding inside me this whole time. 'Who gave you the right to judge other people's feelings and personal believes? You always put yourself above others and you always judge others and laugh at them. That makes me sick…'

Revelation is not saying anything, his mood changed as well. His smile is gone and his mood is dead serious. I cannot tell if he is enraged or is he is actually feeling guilty for what he had said, in any case I do not care at all. He had this coming for a long time.

'Look at him' I point toward Father Rene again, 'this is not why I am fighting this war. This humiliation, breaking of spirit, misery, suffering, hopelessness… All of this reminds me of my previous Master' this peek interest of Rin and Archer as well.

'Saber…' Rin reached out to me but I just continued, discarding her attempt to calm the situation down.

'My previous Master… in the fourth Holy Grail War…. He was cold, merciless and careless about what happens around him as long as his goal is reached. Kiritsugu was merciless men and one that would kill half of Mankind as long as the other half is prospering. I refuse to be like him, for what use is our survival if we cast away our very soul for it…?' I look at Father Rene, he is still sobbing on the ground. Defeated men with both his soul and his faith broken.

I wonder… what would Shirou say to me now? Would he hate me for what my Servant did?

'Master…' Revelation reach his hand toward me.

'DON'T!' I cry out and turn my head from him. 'I…I cannot even bare to look at you right now' with that said I threw away my car keys to Rin and pass by Revelation.

'Wait, where are you going Saber?' Rin call out for me but I do not listen.

'SABER!'

I exit the cemetery, and then I saw Bazett in front of the Church. She is speaking with the security guard accompanied by two of her henchmen. She took notice of me and tried to say something but as soon as she saw my face she decided to remain silent.

I just walked past her and head into the city, I am too frustrated to drive anyway.

Bazett look at Saber as she was heading down the Church staircase. Wondering what could have happened.

'Here, your payment' she gave security guard thick envelope. 'You saw nothing, you heard nothing and you know nothing about what happened here today. Understand?'

'Yes miss Bazett' the security guard replied, bowed and head his way as well. Bazett immediately rushed toward cemetery to see what was happening there. And once she arrived she had sights to see.

On one tombstone Rin and Father Rene are sitting and talking, near them was Archer who was observing the area and on far end of the cemetery was Revalation, sitting at the bench and looking at the sky. Bazett approached Rin and Father Rene, she can see that the priest eyes are filled with tears.

'Greetings Tohsaka Rin.'

'Hi Bazett' Rin also cannot hide her own sadness about the entire thing.

'What happened? I just saw Saber rushing out all alone.'

'Nothing good Fraga, nothing good…' Rin says as she is trying to comfort Father Rene.

I walked for a good two hours before I reached home. On my way I thought a lot about what happened at cemetery today. About Revelation and how much did he mocked the priest and his Servant.

I cannot explain his deep hatred toward religion. To the point that he mocked men who represented no clear threat to him, who was neither evil nor wicked. But then again he is complete mystery to me, a men who knows way too much and offers very little explanation. I suffered him until now because he was showing compassion and understanding here and there. When we defeated Lancer and Assassin it felt like victory not only to me but for everyone.

Maria got her husband back and Joseph got his last dying wish. But the battle today… Revelation took care for the previous enemies and gave them closure, the way he went against Father Rene… I am not so pious person, I have my own share of sins after all. But I do believe in existence of a God and in the sacrifice of his son for our sins. I think that message they are telling us thought their Holy Book is worthy of following.

But after my Servant acted the way he did… How can I ever hold my head high anymore? As his Master I hold responsibility for his actions, as such I too am responsible for the destruction of that poor men's life.

Rin and Archer were shocked as well. She is doing her best to assist me in this War. Throwing away her own wish for the sake of me and Shirou… I cannot begin to imagine the pain she had endured so far to create everything she has and to share half of it with me. And Illya as well, she had to start all over again but she somehow managed it all the way until now. There is no day that I do not see her with smile on her face.

How can I ever face them again after today's humiliation? Rin is disappointed beyond question and I have no doubt Illya will be as well. And then there are three of them in our house as well… I guess I will first arrive and then see what will happen next.

I arrived at my house little more than two hours after I have left the Church. And in front of my house I can see familiar face waiting for me. Familiar tall figure with long black hair face, one I cannot stand right now.

'Master' I just ignore and pass by him.

'Master wait!' he calls for me but I just enter my house. And when I entered I stopped in my tracks.

'Ah, you are back' just outside the entrance to my yard is none other than Jeanne, she throws me a smile as she is clearly holding a basket full of clean underwear. 'How did the battle go?' she asks with her gentle smile, I on the other hand am stunned. I cannot move at all, I don't know how to react after what has happened today.

Out of all people living in my house it had to be her, Christian Saint.

'Are you alright miss Saber? Is your Servant alright?' Is Revelation alright? 'Why is he looking the other way around?'

I turn around only to see Revelation with his back turned toward us. I cannot believe it… So a priest and a Servant tied to region is fine but a young Saint girl? That is obviously too much to handle, what hypocrite…

I rush pass by Jeanne and head toward the house.

'Saber?'

'I am going to my room to rest, I don't want anyone disturbing me while I am resting.'

'Oh…alright…' Jeanne looks at me, I can tell that she is confused and sad. She is probably wondering what happened for me and my Servant to be so distant right now. I enter my house, put away my shoes, wash my face before I entered my room, toss away my clothing and lie down to sleep. I did all of that in hurry. I didn't care, I just want to rest and calm down.

'I wonder what happened' Jeanne says as she is watching Saber entering her house in a rush.

'A lot of things happened today Jeanne' Rin told her as she is entering the yard, followed by Archer. 'Did she say anything?'

'She said that she is going to rest and that she doesn't want anyone to disturb her.'

'I see, thanks and sorry for their behavior.'

'It's nothing, but I am worried about them. What happened today when they are like this?'

'Trust me Jeanne' Rin bowed down her dead, Archer also look away 'you don't want to know. At least not now.'

'I see… Well then, if you need my help with anything I will be here' with that said Jeanne went her way to iron the clean underwear. As she went on Rin noticed someone standing at the house yard doors. Rin immediately recognized the figure, with its rebellious stance and harsh look. She approached it.

'Mordred…'

'We need to talk Rin.'

'Indeed we do' with that said all three of them entered the house.

Meanwhile, outside the house, Revelation is standing ever watchful. He is considering what he has done and indeed, for the first time in ages, he is considering human emotions again.

I woke up after another dreamless night. These are quite common in the last few days. By the look of my room I can tell that it's already dark outside.

I am still quite nervous after the entire thing at the Church cemetery today. My Servant acted out of place and I was unable to stop him. A men's life was ruined because of me and my inability to act fast and prevent my Servant from doing more harm.

Well, the damage has been done. There is nothing left but to accept what happened and move forward. Just one more sin I will carry with me until the day I finally die.

'Saber? Are you awake?' I can hear Rin calling me from just outside my room. I do not answer, but instead I turn around so that my backs are facing the doors.

'I am coming in…' doors slowly open and Rin enters the room, she close the doors behind her and sit near my bed.

'What are you doing Rin?'

'I am just checking out how is my best friend, we did endure a lot today as well' she has such soft, calming voice. She is probably smiling as well.

'Tell me Rin, how did it go with the priest after I left?'

There were a few moments of silence before Rin sighed and continued.

'Father Rene is alright, but the damage has been done. He has decided to stop being a priest and retire to the countryside. Revelation was quite devastating in breaking his spirit.'

I am not saying anything, no matter what I say that will not make the situation any better. How could I let this happen…. What would Shirou told me if he was here now?

'At least that's one Servant less, two more to go and we have this war in the bag.'

'Indeed Rin, but tell me - at what cost?' I can tell that Rin is not amused with y answer.

'Listen Saber, I do not like it any more than you do. On the contrary, I find it quite disgusting. Archer too was shocked to see Revelation behaving like he did toward a men who never pose and threat to us.'

'You could tell as well Rin?'

'Yes, father Rene is not the type of a person who would never accept a fight. He is quite pacifist in nature and what he showed us was just show of force. If we were like any other regular Master he would be among the first ones to die in this war. At least try to find some comfort in that Saber.'

'I will try Rin' there was another few moments of silence.

'Are you perhaps hungry? Illya made a feast for the rest of us.'

'Thanks Rin but I will pass, I am not in a mood for anything. Even food.'

'I understand Saber' there was another few moments of silence.

'Is there something else you wish to ask Rin?'

'There is Saber, but it is quite personal question. One I did not asked this last ten years because I didn't want to open your old wounds' I guess it is time, my son is here after all and I bet that Rin has tons of questions.

'It is alright Rin, I do not mind. But can you please keep it short? I want to rest a while longer.'

'Worry not Saber I will be short. Ahem…' she cleared her throat. 'I talked with your son and I read a little about your life. There is just one thing I am not so sure about, hence why am I asking you…' I can tell that Rin is not having an easy time asking me this question, in a sense she feels like she is barging too deep into an old wound.

'Saber, why didn't you acknowledge Mordred as your son and heir way back then? To me it seems that would solve a lot of problems and probably prevent your downfall.'

'I knew you would ask that question Rin, and who wouldn't? It is one of the major things that led to my downfall and of course people would be interested why I made that decision' I took a moment to calm down and to take a dep breath before continuing.

'I was not really in any position to make any decision, whatever I decided to do in that situation it would in the end still lead to my downfall. If I accepted Mordred and make it official people would start asking who is he and the truth about Mordred would tear the Kingdom in half.

Poor Mordred is my bastard child after all, a child made not in traditional marriage but product of rape. Worst of all, she was hidden from me and manipulated by my sister Morgana to slowly hate me. All in her grand scheme to take the throne for herself, I should have cut her down long before she could make her move…'

'You think that people would not accept Mordred?'

'Of course not, I was already on bad voice because of my emotionless rule and the fact I did not age a day since I got on the throne. The situation was already at breaking point. Now imagine if I announced that I had an heir that suddenly appears out of nowhere. The moment that people would find out truth about Mordred would be the moment our Kingdom would collapse in bloody civil war.

The nobles were already displeased with me about how I rule my Kingdom. I think that Mordred would be perfect excuse for them to break apart from my Kingdom.'

'But you did accepted Mordred as your son?' there was a moment of silence as I cleaned a tear from my eye.

'I did, the moment I saw his face there was no doubt that he was my child. But I also knew that his life will be one filled with agony and disappointment. After all, he was born from a mother who sees him as a tool and has a father who could offer him neither love nor compassion. In such family there can be no happiness.'

'I see it now… You basically put the needs of your Kingdom above the need of your son in hope that the situation will be resolved in less bloodshed.'

'That is correct Rin, I even gave Mordred to take care of my throne while I was away. I saw it as a move that would hopefully show him that I do care about him. But in the end it didn't matter at all. He still rebelled against me and brought country to ruin, although that is my fault as much as it is his own.'

'I see… I am sorry if this opened old wounds…'

'Don't worry Rin, I grew past that already. What is in the past should remain in the past. The important thing is to look forward and improve on what we already have.'

'I won't take any more of your time, take a good rest' Rin stood up and open doors of my room. 'One more thing Saber, would you now fully recognize Mordred as your son?'

I took few moments to think about my answer. But there was no need to overthink it, I had 10 years to think about it after all.

'Mordred is only thing I have left Rin, I have no family members left, my Kingdom is gone, my armies scattered and my people vanished a long time ago. Only distant memory and legends remained. So my answer is – yes. I would recognize Mordred fully as my son, like I should at that fateful day a long time ago.'

'I see, good night Saber. See you tomorrow.'

'Good night Rin' and with that said Rin closed the doors of my room. I am all alone again now, and I am crying. I lied to Rin when I said that I left everything in the past, that entire event is still tearing my soul apart.

And the talk with Rin about it just open up old wounds, it really shows how fragile I am despite pretending to be strong in front of everyone. Shirou may told me to move on, I might have Rin and Illya now to keep me company, but in the end I will never forgive myself for all the pain and destruction my miscalculations caused.

Seems like sleep is getting to me again, m body must be exhausted after previous few days and all the crazy events happening all around. Tomorrow is a new day, hopefully something new will happen… Something nice…

Tohsaka Rin exits Saber's room and closes the doors behind her, she turns around to Mordred who is leaning on the wall, expressionless as ever.

'You heard everything?' Rin asks.

'Yes.'

'And?'

'Kuh… I already figured out all of it way back… There is no fixing what happened in the past, not after knowing the true reason behind the events.'

'True, but aren't you at least a bit happy?'

'What?'

'You probably heard everything, so you probably heard what your father really thinks about you now. Aren't you at least a little bit happy after hearing her true feelings?'

Mordred blushed in an instant, she is unable to respond. Rin on the other hand is dastardly smiling and waiting for an answer.

'I am happy, more than that – I am overjoyed. There, are you satisfied now!?' Mordred lost her cool and just shouted out her answer to Rin.

'I never had a doubt you were happy' Rin says as she passed by Mordred, pleased of her answer. Mordred soon left, agitated at how Rin played her. Cursing her as she went to her room to rest.

'The old saying is really true, like father like son' Rin says as she ventured down the hallway, happily humming along the way.