Chapter Twenty
Remember What The Red Knight Said
Rider gritted her teeth as she yanked hard and to the right, her hands entangled in the golden bridle. A sharp whinny filled the air as the majestic winged beast dove downward, causing Rider to come off her mount ever so slightly. Gravity warred with sheer force and there was a moment of sheer weightlessness right before she leveled Pegasus with a tug of the reigns.
She threw out her arm and grunted as she caught the falling man in black. There was a jerk, she dug her heels into the horse’s flanks, but her fingers gripped onto black fabric. Gray eyes looked up at her before Archer reached up and pulled himself behind her. White hair was falling into his face, his clothing was torn in several places, and the air was rich with the all too familiar scent of blood. Yet he sat himself behind her and pointed to the smoking crater that was once part of his apartment.
A gasp tore from her lips at the sight of the blond man standing in the smoking ruins she just wrought. His suit was torn in several places and there were numerous swords sticking up in the walls and floor of Archer’s apartment, but the man himself was mostly unharmed. Rider felt Archer tense behind her as he said, “Get me back there.”
“What? So you can bleed on him?” Rider snapped at him with a glare over her shoulder.
She froze at the sheer hatred radiating from her friend’s eyes, like molten steel. Every fiber of his being was tense and focused on the blond standing in the ruins of his home. She had crossed blades in battle with Archer and had sensed no bloodlust in him. However the air around him seemed to shimmer with the urge to kill the other man.
Archer replied, “So I can kill him.”
The blond man then smiled before waving at them. “I think we should do this again, Faker, when we’re both better prepared,” the demi-god yelled.
Rider felt Archer’s muscles tense from behind her as he replied, “Who said this was over, Gilgamesh?”
“I did,” Rider said before yanking tightly on Pegasus’ reigns. The horse screamed in protest, but rose rapidly. Once warm wind became frigid the higher and faster they rose, almost like a comet in the sky. Then she shifted, at one with her mount, as she guided them home.
******
Saber jerked upright at the slamming of a door and Rider, Sakura, and Shirou’s tense filled voices. Automatically she was on her feet and heading towards the sound of the commotion even though she had no weapon to bear. If they were in trouble she would find some way to fight to protect them. Feet slid slightly on the polished wooden floor, but she pivoted and pressed against the wall to move faster.
And then her breath caught at the sight before her in the doorway.
“Archer,” she said as her eyes widened.
He was standing there, one hand against his side in tattered clothing that was wet in places. She could see blood standing starkly against his dusky skin and his hair was mostly in his face. Blood dribbled down his sides and arms, but yet he remained upright despite the extent of his wounds.
Sakura said, “Archer, you need to get to a hospital.”
“No hospitals,” he said with a shake of his head, “Besides, I’ve had worse.”
Shirou frowned and folded his arms across his broad chest. Saber blinked as she had seen that same expression and gesture before, except on the white haired man bleeding onto the floor. He said, “Tohsaka wouldn’t let us hear the end of it if we let you go like this.”
Archer said, “Like I said, I can handle this. Rider didn’t give me a chance to protest.”
“I don’t know who that man was, but to get under your skin like that was something else,” Rider said with a frown, “And he was baiting you. Who was he?”
Saber stepped forward and asked, “Did Gilgamesh do this?”
Archer grimaced but his grey eyes met hers and he gave her a short nod. She bit her lip before she was at his side. “I did not want this to happen to you,” she said as she stared at the myriad of cuts, mere misses from being life ending gashes, covering his body.
His smile was more than a little lopsided as he said, “I didn’t really want this happening to me either.”
“Yes, but if you had not come to my aid you would not have drawn his attention at all,” Saber all but shouted at him, causing Sakura, Shirou, and Rider to stare at her.
Shirou asked, “Saber, what’s going on?”
“It is not your concern,” Saber answered before turning back to Archer.
Sakura bit her lip and extended her hand forward. The violet haired girl said, “Saber, please, you can talk to us.”
“I don’t think she wants to,” Rider said, “I’m sure Archer knows, but he’ll keep her council.” Saber blinked at the tiny half smile the voluptuous woman wore before one of those queer eyes winked at her.
Archer held up his hand and asked, “Wait, do any of you know who Gilgamesh is?”
“A gorgeous blond foreigner who is a Servant,” Rider said.
Sakura’s eyes widened as she asked, “Good looking enough to be a model with red eyes?”
“I would not call him that comely,” Saber said with a snort.
Archer grinned briefly before answering, “That would be him.”
“ . . . He told me that I should kill myself during the beginning of the War,” Sakura said as she lifted her hand to her chest. Shirou wrapped his arms around her and his sherry colored eyes met Saber’s.
He said, “No one is going to hurt Sakura.”
“She’ll have no interest to him now. She’s no longer a Grail,” Archer said with a shake of his head.
Shirou replied, “He has an interest in you if he apparently chased Rider to lead him to you.”
“I’m just lucky like that, as you should know,” Archer said with a shrug and a half smile.
Shirou gritted his teeth, bristled, and said, “Now’s not the time to be an asshole. Look at you!”
“You’ve suffered worse yourself, and you know better than anyone that this body can easily take more punishment than this,” Archer said with a shrug.
But it shouldn’t, Saber thought as she looked at him. Biting her lip she said, “These wounds need to be tended to.” Her mind flashed to the first night she stayed here again, sleeping next to Shirou as Avalon healed him.
If I had Avalon I could heal him now, like this never happened, she thought, But I let it go into the bottom of the river. Inwardly she cursed herself before grabbing her boots. The shoes were slid onto bare feet and she stood to her meager height before running into the night.
She heard voices shouting at her, but she knew she had to get to the river.
******
Each breath was like a jagged blade piercing him in the side and there was very little of him that wasn’t burning with agony. Yet as soon as Saber put on her shoes and ran out the door, Archer was after her. Prana was poured through his limbs, momentarily shutting off the pain and giving his muscles the power to try to keep up with the petite blond. Yet she was so fast, so very hard for him to keep up with.
Then again, wasn’t she always hard to keep up with? Haven’t I been chasing her most of my life and beyond?
He shouted, “Saber, wait.”
The figure slowed and she spun around, her eyes almost impossibly large. He almost drowned in those emerald pools when he caught up to her. She looked up at him, one hand going towards him before she quickly withdrew it.
“I need to go, Archer, please,” she said as she tucked a lock of her hair behind her ears.
Archer frowned and said, “You running like this isn’t going to help Rider and the others.”
“I need to help you,” she blurted out as she looked up at him.
He stared at her and asked, “What?”
“I . . . I can get Avalon again and use it to heal you, like I did Shirou that first night when we both returned,” Saber said with a shake of her head.
The prana pouring through his limbs slowed as the Reinforcement wore off and it felt as if someone had dumped a ton of lead on his shoulders. Limbs sagged as sharp, intense pain flashed through damaged tissues. Each breath felt like someone was crushing his chest, meaning there was at least one rib broken.
He looked at her and said, “I’ve been through worse.”
“But not for my sake,” she said with a shake of her head.
What about getting my gut nearly blown out for you as a kid?
Archer smiled at her and said, “Part of it was my fault.”
“You always seemed to be more careful in battle,” Saber said with a frown and a shake of her head.
“I wanted to kill him. I wanted to rain blades into him until he couldn’t stand before I took his head,” Archer said in a low voice.
Saber went completely still but her eyes never wavered from his as she closed the distance between them. One small hand reached out to lightly touch his, and he found his fingers intertwining with hers. Her skin was surprisingly soft and warm under his, almost like silk. The urge to run his thumb against her wrist was strong, but he just held her hand.
She said, “So, you can be angered as well.” Slim shoulders shook as a giggle bubbled up from her lips. She shook her head and said, “You just seemed so unflappable against everything, it was vexing.”
Her fingers gave his a gentle squeeze as she looked up at him. She said, “I don’t know if I can fetch Avalon, but I have to try. It is the least I can do for you.”
“I know where it’s at,” Archer said, swallowing.
Saber frowned and said, “I threw it into the river . . .”
“And I got it back,” he replied.
******
He fetched my sword and sheath for me. He risked his own life to retrieve Avalon and Excalibur. Did he already know of my true identity, or was this just Archer not wanting to see something so precious go to waste?
Saber was quiet as she continued to hold Archer’s large, warm hand as they walked up the hill amongst large, Western style houses. The “For Sale” sign was still on the lot to the Matou house hold, as if no one wanted to buy it. It was as large, sprawling, and foreboding as Saber remembered, and the last time she had been inside was when Rin was collecting the rest of the books to sell. She honestly wasn’t surprised that the place had not sold yet due to its size and foreboding nature.
The Tohsaka house loomed on the hill, not the largest house on the road, but still grand and imposing in its own way. A charge rode the air closer and closer as they approached it, prickling against Saber’s skin and making the hair on the back of her arms rise. Automatically her body tensed at the ready and her fingers tightened around Archer’s. He gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze as they approached the large fence surrounding the Tohsaka home.
“That’s why I hid it here,” he said as he faced her.
Saber nodded and said, “That was very sensible of you.”
“I don’t have the ability to perform Magecraft like this. Rin is a genius,” Archer said. They reached the gate and he let go of her hand. Saber blinked as he dabbed his fingers into one of his wounds until crimson gleamed on his finger tips. His face tightened with pain when he reached up and touched the top of the wall.
Silvery light gleamed around the compound for the briefest instant as they walked in together. Saber drew to Archer’s side as they walked into the old house together. Her heart was pounding like a drum as Archer’s movements were getting slower and more awkward with each step. She took his hand again, staying close if he needed support.
Notes: Okay, this is the last update for this story until December. November is National Write a Novel Month, and I'm doing it my own way. I'm working nothing but my novel Scream Queen (link is in my signature) which I will be updating periodically. So, I will see you guys in December.
Originally Posted by Kotonoha
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