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David looked up from the paper as his watch started its magical alarm, a short wave of his hand and the watch fell silent, it would seem his servant was arriving. The impact shook the house a moment later taking the wall and a section of the roof before him with it. Damn, well I knew the risks I suppose... The woman standing before him was striking, dark hair with dark eyes staring back at him. Dressed in traditional garb of Japanese warriors of the 16th century, a few names from that time period came to mind, but none of them female.

"Servant of the sword, Saber."... "I ask of you. Are you my master?"

Saber, his slightly unorthodox spell had done well, a powerful servant for the war. "So it would seem. I must apologise for what would seem to be an incomplete or incompetent summoning, I wished as much selection in possible servants as I could. So for maximum results I neglected to tie down the spell or augment it through anything other than raw magic, to let it roam as far as it could to find a suitable servant." Reaching out to the bench next to him David retrieved the second burito he had made and took a bite. replacing the burito and swallowing David looked over Saber with a more discerning eye. "So then, Im David, David Markson."

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Standing at the edge of madness; The view is good.



Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein.

[Falke Residence]

Disappointed with the lack of... Well... Anything. Christina let out a heavy sigh. Perhaps she had been in over her head about this, been to full of herself when she had accepted the task from her grandfather. No, that was not it, the spellh ad definetly worked, it must have. The circle was gone, the candles were melted and there had been a surge throughout her entire body, meaning her mana had gone somewhere. The only reasonable explanation was that her servant had been summoned, but not to the desired location. So therefore, he must have ended up somewhere in the house, in a room perhaps? Maybe even a closet? She snickered at the thought of finding her heroic spirit trapped inside the dog's house out back, but soon regained composure and turned on her heel.

Leaving the small room, she ventured up a flight of stone steps, emerging into a garden at the back of her large, wood and stone housing. It was one of those basements with dual entrances, however the door that led into the mansion's interior had been sealed, and thus the only way to reach it was through this backdoor in the garden. It had been done so for... Safety measures, or so she had been told. Regardless of the reason, it was not important. What was important was finding her servant as quickly as possilbe and... Who the hell was that sitting in her garden at this time of night!? Trespassers are one thing, but leisurely occupying her furniture with this much arrogance!? Her sleepy eyes stared with a piercing glare at the intruder.

Approaching him from behind however, she soon found out that he was not just a mere trespassing fiend with a taste for luxury, but rather a cosplaying maniac who seemed obsessed with ancient rome, or perhaps greece. The woman in her bathrobe folded her eyes infront of her and as she stood some feet behind the man, spoke with a dulled voice.

"You know, disturbing attire aside, you shouldn't barge into peoples' yards and use their stuff leisurely, a lot of folks might get offended by it." She sneered slightly.

[Leclair Residence]

"Bu... Wait, Master!" Rider attempted to protest, but to no avail, as her Master, and her colleague's as well, went scampering and running up the stairs and into the large and unexplored above. The woman's icey, bleak eyes stared with a slight hint of confusion, loss and annoyance as she had watched the two children run off.

Her head then lowered and she sighed. This was how children were after all. Even if they were magi and had been able to both summon their own servants, they were not but playful imps still. It was a bit bewildering to think why such small souls had accepted the task of participating in something so gruesome as a war. Perhaps they had not understood what it was they were getting themselves into? No, thoughts like these were useless and Rider shook her head. What was done was done and what had happend had happend, there was no turning back and the only thing to do now as to protect and fight in the name of her Master. Which was also something that brought a new fact to light: Rider did not even know her Master's name yet!

Looking over at Caster briefly, a discorteous scowl on her lips, the black-dressed and bronzen-armoured female warrior stormed off with great speed, rushing up the stairs and through the door that was the cellar's entrance and exit.

As she emerged through the door and into the lit above, Rider was struck to stop and found herself dumbfounded. The overwhelming sight of so many things, so much unnatural objects and things, made her head spin a whole turn before she calmed down. There were glass objects in the roof, hanging and brimming with light, like lanterns, but without fire. There were chairs and benches not of wood but strange, thick materials and in bright and eye-fetching colours. The walls were clad with skin that seemed to have pattern and color as well, and the floor was not of stone alone, but varying materials from room to room. Strange, white things sat on the walls as well, things that emitted heat, like a fireplace except without wood or smoke. The things were a bit overwhelming, but Rider soon shrugged off these strange matters and proceeded.

Even though the children had gotten a fair head start, Rider could still sense her Master's presence, for they were bound by a contract and the magi was not concealing her aura, at least not enough to fool the servant on this limited space. Going from room to room, forcefully opening and closing doors, Rider made her way onwards through the mansion. Until she finally came to one room that was so odd and mysterious it just stopped her dead in the tracks.

It was a room of porsline and tiles. Lit with a thin glass tube. There was a mirror on the wall, and strange hanging things on the wall. A large, porsline throne with a strange mark ontop stood against the wall and a large, marble bowl stood on the ground. The sight was unfathomable and Rider stood with a boggled expression as she just simply stared on at the strange room.

"What in the world is this place...?" She asked aloud, voice thick with confusion.

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Forster walked into his office. it was a spacious room containing only a small desk with a computer atop it. Forster had cleared it a month before in preparation. The computer screen lit the room dully with its wan blue light. This gave Forster an eerie appearance as he walked over purposefully to the desk and touched the mouse. The screen brightened and displayed detailed instructions. There on the floor lay the circle. It was made out of metal and decorated ornately. Forster had found it on e-Bay. It was amazing the things you could buy there. Forster had memorized the process so he really didn't need the instructions but he deemed it necessary to be careful. Forester walked over to the metallic circle and stood inside of it. Slowly and carefully he pronounced the powerful words he had memorized. Slowly power began to build up within the room. Forster could feel his mana coursing out. He always was an adept at spell-casting. Finally he uttered the finishing words. A form materialized, fading into existence. Forester smiled he was successful. In front of him stood Lancer.

"Hello, Lancer."

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[ Archer ]

"You know, disturbing attire aside, you shouldn't barge into peoples' yards and use their stuff leisurely, a lot of folks might get offended by it."

Archer looked at the source of the voice lazily and confirmed that the petite long haired girl in bathrobes was indeed, his Master. The mana signatures which caused his summoning was unmistakable. Yet he was confused whether or not his Master could tell who he really was.

"I would expect you to instantly know who I am, perhaps I thought too much of you."

He got up and stretched his arms before moving slowly towards Christina. His height somewhat towering above the girl as the lean and muscular Servant looked down to his Master. He didn't know if she was capable. But her mana did summon him, so that was saying something. But mana capacity and skill are two different things altogether.

Though he did feel a string of obedience to this waif, there was no reason not to have a little fun.

"Tell you what, if you can guess who I am, I'll stick around as long as you want. Otherwise I'd be taking my leave now. But being a stranger that barged in your yard and used your stuff leisurely, you probably won't be able to keep me around anyway," Archer smirked at the end of his sentence and hoped that the girl had proper mana manipulation skills to at least know that he was her Servant.

[Falke Residence]

"Perhaps you thought too much of me. But what if I had no expectations of you?" Christina mocked, a sly smirk on her face. "Enough with this however, it is a pleasure to meet you, Archer. I hope for both our sakes that you are as proficient with your weapons as you are with your tongue. After all, quick wit and words alone will not lead us to victory. Well..." She chuckled slightly and looked at him with the sleepy eyes, half closed. "I cannot say who you are however, my studies were never that extensive in the old history of antique roma-greek. So excuse your Master's incomptence there, I think we both know you will have the heart to do so, right?"

The woman looked around the garden, the moon with it's glow, the small, barely twinkling stars, the streetlamps and nightlights that lit up the city that lay some distance away. She had always liked this spot, a bit outside, but still close to the city. It was both comfortable and quiet, calm and easy. Not to mention she did enjoy staying in the old house. Sure, it was in need of repairs and renovating at places, but overall it was a good, sturdy building of at least decent quality. Unfortunately, many rooms stood barren and empty now, as most of the old furniture had been moved to the family's new home.

She then looked back down at Archer. The grizzled and hairy fellow was a rather amusing sight, so out of place yet rather awe-inspiring at the same time. It was like staring at a living statue of some old, portrayed hero from ages gone past. Well, he was an old hero of ages gone past... Still, she soon shook the vague smile off and regained her dull and bored-out-of-your-skull expression that usually dressed her.

"Oh yes, I'm Christina. You may address me by that name, or you can just call me 'Master'. Either is perfectly fine. Now, would you care for something to drink, or maybe you would prefer to just sit there and stare at me?" She asked, raising a brow in a very coy-like manner.

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Lancer looked about in confusion and then said "Er...who are you? Where am I?" Puzzled even further by the man looking at him, Lancer stared at him and said "Have you summoned me for the Holy Grail War? I am Lancer, pleased to make your acquaintance, I hope that with your no doubt strong desire for justice and your mana, we can crush all opposition in this war!"

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[ Archer ]

Archer merely laughed out loud from his Master's retort. He doubly glad that she could not only feel the intricacies of mana to recognize his class, but in high spirits as well. Yes, he felt that he could work well with this girl. He attitude reminded him of Calypso somewhat. He could still feel the tug of being captivated by her for a full year back then.

"Hahahaha! Excellent, Master! Nothing less from someone who could summon me! Yet you would do well to put your trust in me, for I'm the only one who can save you from other Servants after all."

He proceeded to kneel on one knee and looked to the ground, while putting one hand in front and his fist closed and touching the ground while the other rested on his lap.

"Servant Archer, at your bidding Master," he looked up and gave Christina a wink before getting up to full height and brushing his hair with his fingers while looking away, gracing Christina with his side profile view of his face propped on the background of bright moonlight. As beautiful as a Greek God indeed. He looked back at her and his face immediately lost his previous mirth.

"What now, Master? I suggest we get indoors quick. It's dangerous the moment I was summoned here. Rest assured, no harm will come to you and I will kill who you order me to."

The expression on Archer's face was so serious and determined, there was no mistaken intent other that he really meant it.

"When I said I did not wish to speak over the war, I had hoped that we could instead- I was never as undisciplined a child as- Fine. Hide. I shall endeavor to find out what has changed in the world on my own."
Caster waited, slightly annoyed at Sebastian, until Rider had disappeared through the door at the top of the cellar stairs before moving to ascend the flight. Giving the other Servant a wide berth seemed a good idea. After the warrior-woman had vanished from her sight, Caster paced across the floor- stone of some kind, although strangely flat and uniform- to the wooden stairs. They creaked faintly as Caster made her way up to the ground floor of the house, the hem of her dark robe trailing ever so slightly behind her.

The first thing Caster was intrigued by were the fire-glasses. They were spaced fairly evenly throughout the halls, and in most of the rooms. The small glass bottles, affixed to the walls and ceilings, bright like the sun but hot like fire, fascinated her. She could sense no mana in them either, which made the strange devices even more interesting. A few slightly burned fingers and a short experiment later, Caster held one of the bottles, now dim and cool, in her hand. She held the glass up to the light, staring at the little wire inside. Perplexed, she returned the fire-glass to its holder and twisted it around. It burned once more. Although intrigued, Caster noted the abundance of these fire-glasses, and resolved to examine them in more detail later as she drifted down the hallway.

Some time later, Caster found her way to the kitchen. At least, she assumed it was a kitchen. The cabinets contained strange containers, some of which seemed to contain food, so it seemed a reasonable assumption. Caster picked up a box, made of some strange, lightweight material. It was labeled "Crackers". After a minute or so of examination, Caster opened the flaps and peered inside. The box was filled with small wafers of bread. Bemused, and wondering why anyone would slice bread into tiny wafers and put the wafers in a box, Caster fished a single wafer out and bit into it.

It wasn't like bread. For one thing, it wasn't so hard that it made her teeth hurt. For another, it crumbled, and tasted...odd. Even for bread. And for a third thing, it was salty. Caster had never had salt on bread before. After several more of the bread wafers, Caster concluded that she liked the combination.

Replacing the crackers in their cabinet, Caster's eye was drawn to another strange object. It looked like a large metal door, set into the wall, with a very large handle. Curious, she pulled on the handle. A blast of cold air emanated from the open door, making the robed woman draw back. Recovering her composure, Caster took a look inside the cold room. The cold room confused her less than other things. Everyone knew that cold made food keep longer. Apparently modern man had found an easier way to make cold than waiting for winter.

Shutting the door to the artificial winter, Caster moved to examine the strange device in the other corner of the room. It had four circular symbols on its flat top, and a number of knobs on its front, above what appeared to be a small door. The symbols did nothing when pressed, but when she turned the knobs...

Having beaten out the flames on her sleeve, Caster resolved to leave the strange fire-making device alone and investigate the other devices in the kitchen.

[Sophie]

Huddled tightly with her knees between her chest, Sophie bundled herself into the bathtub and drew the curtain around it to conceal herself. Lowering her body to the length of the porcelain bowl, she felt the cold of the unused tub gradually seep through her clothing. Attempting to keep her now shivering body from betraying her hiding space, she curled her body tightly and retained her breath within puffed cheeks.

With her ear pressed on the cool surface of the tub, the movement of people throughout the house produced knocks and thumps that were incomprehensible by nature, but closing distance was easy enough to detect. She was running short of air now, when she felt her head throb with a sensation very synonymous to exploding. The girl slowly released the stale air in her lungs and took another, repeating the process.

One pair of footsteps approached now. They were steady, calculated, but stopped at intervals, only to start again. They were advancing, but never seeming to get any closer.

Sophie let out a small cry when they finally reached the bathroom. She clasped her mouth shut in a mash of confusion and anticipation. She waited. However, nothing occurred. The girl heard metal clinking and shifting as the figure in the room moved about. Frustrated now, Sophie wondered why her Servant was wandering around the bathroom aimless, ignoring the fact that she was in the bathtub. Rider didn't seem to be looking for anything in particular, but looking at the walls instead.

The girl cautiously peeked around the side of the curtain just as Rider stared flabbergasted into the bowl of the toilet.

"...Uh... I don't think you should get too close to that. Seb and I have to poop in there you know."

Twisting her mouth wryly in thought, Sophie crawled out of the bathtub and shook Rider by the shoulder, "...Hey...have... you honestly never seen a toilet before? ...You use it to... you know..."

The girl made appropriate motions with her body whilst blushing furiously.

"Maybe we should tell you all about this stuff tomorrow. I'm getting tired now... I'm going to sleep."

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[Sebastian]

The air smelt ghastly of hard metals and slight traces of mould. It was enough to get anyone light headed. From his tight position, forcing his head to body to be tightly cooped, Sebastian saw light emerge through the perceptible gap where the pot cupboard doors came together.

The light swish of black material caught his attention and in a vain attempt to hide his position he held his breath. At it came closer, the cloth of Caster's thick robes consumed the light from the door. However, although Caster stood before him, she did not seem frenzied; instead, appearing to be disinterested. The boy let out his breath in relief. Perhaps she hadn't noticed he was in there. It was a calming thought.

Sebastian thought on this for a moment before frowning deeply. There was no way she would have ignored him. She would know exactly where he was. She was Caster after all. Her levels of perception would be incredible. This could have only meant that she was not looking. When her form moved away from the opening of the cupboard.The boy opened the door of the cupboard in disappointment, hoping to surprise her at least.

He was further anguished when he witnessed his Servant burning her sleeve on the stovetop. Growling deeply within his throat, he watched on as she continued playing with the kitchen appliances. Clenching his right hand he stood behind her with his head down in looming anger.

"Man, you adults annoy me so much! You tell us not to touch all this stuff because we'll 'hurt ourselves' and look what YOU do! If you're hungry, just ask. You'll probably be so dumb you'll put a knife in the toaster or something."

Sebastian walked a few steps to the refrigerator and retrieved a flatted plastic contraption. He wrestled it within his hands and with the passing of a few snaps and clicks, he constructed a stand on stool from its collapsed state. He took the stool near the cupboard and removed a packet of something and placed it on the bench below him. He then roamed the kitchen confidently collecting in total: A saucepan, a packet of soup, a canister of water, a stick of butter, a ladle and a loaf of bread.

"I'll show you how to use everything.." He grumbled.

He paused as he looked into his Servant's perplexed face.

"Aw man, maybe you're not as smart as we thought... That's a microwave: It cooks stuff really fast, but it tastes gross, so if you want it to taste nice, don't put it in there. That's the oven, over there, you put stuff that needs to be cooked a long time in it, like cakes and junk. It gets REALLY hot, so don't put anything in there unless you know what you're doing. Over here is a kettle, it just boils water. It's very fast, but the water gets VERY hot. That big metal thing is the fridge: It keeps stuff cold. Here, you burnt yourself on the stove. I'll show you how to use that now. Everything else, I'll show you later. I'm going to bed after this."

The scowl on his face spread as he methodically began opening the soup packet, emptying the powder into the saucepan and added the water. Moving towards his Servant he tactfully moved her hand away and waited until she was watching before carefully turning the dials to heat.

"See, keep your hands away, you heat food on this. It's like a campfire, but it comes from outside somewhere."

Sebastian carefully lifted the saucepan onto the element and folded his arm across his chest impatiently.

"If you wanna look around, you have to wait till tomorrow. Since we're 'just kids' we have to go to sleep, or we'll 'be grumpy' tomorrow."

His irritation melted as he turned to Caster, "It's late, but... I'm hungry. You want some? ...It's... chicken soup... but it's not actually chicken, it's fake chicken. ...That's what Sophie said. I'll cook some toast too."

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[Falke Residence]

"I agree, we should hurry inside. For numerous reasons." The woman replied to Archer's suggestion. She was indeed happy about having received this Servant, he seemed neither overly turned to either side of the scales of morality and he seemed both intelligent and easy-going, which suited her tastes just excellently. It would have been really frustrating to have gotten a servant who was not like this, as it would most likely mean repeated interferals with her own plans and designs.

Leading her greek stud to the backdoor, which was a made of wood with a large, glass window in the center, she opened and stepped inside the dark and lightless room. There was a rug of some rough, coarse material on the floor, red and black in color. The walls had light grey tapestries with lily-motifs on them and there even hung some paintings here an there, though these were of non-too-serious designs, a boat with a mouse on it for example.

There was a couch, wrapped in translucent plastic, at the far end of the room and a small TV stood on a wooden bench infront of it, an even smaller table stood between the two. A cuckoo-clock hung over the wall where the couch was and the methodic ticking gave the room a slight, quiet rhytm. Christina walked along the cold, wooden floor and made her way to the covered seating. Pulling it off carefully, she rolled the plastic into a ball and placed it down next to the seat, before parking her butt down onto the soft material and sending one leg over the other, cheek resting in her palm as her elbow landed on the armrest.

"We have much to discuss and much to plan for, Archer. But before we can do that, I'll need to ask you some things first." She spoke, the sleepy look in her eyes and dull expression on her face ever present. "I would like to know what you are excel at, what you find yourself lacking in and what you can... do, besides your most-likely magnificent marksmanship."

[Leclair Residence]

"Toilet? No, I do not believe I have ever used such a strange device before." Rider replied to her young Master as she stared, still a bit confused, at the chair of white porsline. However, after Sophie's rather amusing motions and theatrical displays, Rider soon figured out what the chair was for and a slight blush appeared on her own face before she quickly shook her face in order to conceal it.

Giving the strange room a final glance, Rider followed her Master as she left the area and proceeded to walk elsewhere. Rider followed her Master as a loyal and dedicated Servant should, staying a few steps behind her Master but always close enough so that she could leap into action and act as the girl's shield. In truth, Rider was not all that happy about having the this child as her Master, it reminded her somewhat of her own past and the memories it brought was nothing that she cherished. She also feared that this joint-summoning of the two siblings would bring them nothing but pain in the end. A slight frown found it's way onto the Servant's lips as she followed her tiny mistress along the corridor.

As they walked, Rider found herself pondering a great many things. Could they actually win this war with such a young master? Would she be able to safeguard this small life at all times and protect it from any and all harm? What was to become her master's sibling in the future? And the biggest problem; What was to be done with Caster? For now the two would be working together, but in the end only one of them would be allowed to remain and reach their goal, and Rider foresaw a great tragedy when that event would eventually come to pass.

"Master." She spoke from behind as she followed Sophie, her voice the serious and stern tone that it was. "I will now astralize and keep watch over this home of yours, rest well this night and know that no enemy will ever reach the inside of this place as long as I stand watch." Rider said, stopping and kneeling before Sophie in a humble fashion. Once she had finished her kneeling, the proud, armour-clad woman stood up straight and, like a dream, seemed to briefly move backwards without walking and then, disappeared into the thin air, vanished out of sight.

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