In the Chapel in the Moonlight

...

A torrent of white light emerged from behind Heping.

It was like a shimmering cloud, bubbling, surging, growing and churning with a quality that could never be understood. It was beautiful, but also fearsome, and in this contradiction there was no peace to be found-

Because it was coming for him.

Shenghuo turned to ready himself- but couldn't. His sword was trapped by the clinging black light in his sister's chest.

"Damn you! Let go!"

She kept smiling through the veil of her own blood. Just as she clung to the sword in her chest, so too did she hold fast to every glimmer of justice and satisfaction she could before her life came to its close.

-The energy built across the room, sharpening itself, its hostility growing in its intensity and pointedness.

Finally, with nothing else to do, he deactivated the flame constructs emerging from his armor, releasing himself from his sister's trap, and turned to meet his attacker. But, without even enough time to reactivate his blades, four flashes of gold and silver shot out from the cloud like arrows, catching him by the shoulders and hips, piercing both his armor and his flesh within.

He couldn't even scream. His body wouldn't move, and not even his vocal cords were free.

Only his eyes could still move. With these eyes he saw each pointed tip connected to something within that light by a long golden chain, and watched as these chains drew taught. The cloud of silver light rushed forward as if disguising a stampede, and a golden shine arced towards his still chest...

....

"...Yeah?" Pigsy found his breath, "If I'm such an animal, then what does that make you, eh?"

"A Hunter."

"Hehe... hahaha!" 

His snout turned up towards the sky, as if his laugh could call the stars.

"You really do enjoy the idea of death, don't you, pig?"

"Yer a real bastard, ya know that?" He faced his opponent with a wild grin, his canines beaming through, "Fine -oink-. Ya think yer hot shit? Let me show you what a real animal looks like."

He slapped his belly with the sound of a banging drum. The sigil there began to glow with a reddish light.

"As if I'd let you."

Archer manifested three more arrows around him, preparing to let them fire; eviscerating his prey before whatever ace could emerge from his wounded, bloodied sleeve. He would've too, without issue, except a flash in his Mind's Eye told him that whatever Lancer was trying wouldn't manifest. And yet, he couldn't make sense of what he saw, and so he turned his eyes toward where he knew it would come.

He felt it before he saw it.

A typhoon of white light burst out of the chapel roof, emerging from the steeple and exposing everything inside to the starlight above. As the swirling light cleared, two shapes remained in the sky. The commotion broke Lancer's spell, and he, too, turned to see what had happened.

The first figure could only be described as angelic. Two golden wings floated detached from his back, each feather like a knife bladed with platinum. His hair was white like silver, and flowed long and straight like a waterfall from his head even past his ankles. Within this silver veil was a golden armor lined with the same platinum as his wings, but what truly drew the eye were his pauldrons. Each one was an ivory face, beautiful, graceful, and strong. A similar mask was over his face, but the eyes were covered by a blindfold of his own hair. In his hands was a golden longsword, but you could see only the tip. The rest was buried in the chest of Shenghuo, bent over the blade and grasping uselessly at the figure stabbing him through the chest, his burnt and disfigured face perfectly displaying his pain and shock.

Words touched Shenghuo's tongue, but were drowned out by the blood climbing his throat. Still, he began to summon his plumes of flame to do whatever he could to get his revenge-

The figure lowered his sword, and the Master of Archer slid like a raindrop across the window, blood emerging first from his stomach, then from his hands- cut as they uselessly clung to the same sword that caused him so much pain. From there he fell, and fell, his back slamming across an exposed stone wall and dumping him on the lawn beyond view.

The figure paid no attention to the dying man, and instead turned to face Archer and Lancer, floating down with the same grace that possessed every action he took; the unfazed ivory mask perfectly reflecting his all-encompassing tranquility.

"Lancer."

His voice was like a harpsichord; beautiful, melodic, as if multiple strings were being played at once. 

"Go. Your Master needs you."

"Uh-h..." He stammered, but seemed to come to his senses at the mention of his Master, "Right!"

He dashed past the figure knowing nothing except that he was an ally, and that his friend and Master needed his help.

Archer immediately regretted his previous inaction.

"I won't let you go that easily!"

The arrows let fly with a shrill whistle, closing the distance in less than a moment-

-GONG-

The smoke cleared, and there was a shield, a piercing, glowing, almost-living crimson snake's eye staring back at Archer, mocking his pitiful attempt before dissolving into gold ether to once again reveal the angelic figure behind it- Pigsy having now disappeared behind the chapel wall.

Archer took a step back, "Saber, I presume?"

"And correctly. I apologize for interrupting your duel, but-" He swung his sword out, the last beads of red blood arcing across the dry grass of the churchyard, "I'm afraid there are more important things than your honor at the moment."

"Hmph. I've never known a woman so fickle as Lady Honor. Those who fight on her behalf are the first ones she betrays. No, it's my pride you've injured: you stole my prey."

Saber nodded, "I suppose I should be thankful. A man with no need for his honor has no need for his life, and so there will be no reason for me to be troubled after I've killed you, nor anyone else to mourn you. It will be a clean death with nothing but good consequences."

"You? Kill me? I'd like to see you try."

"You will."

With the shimmer of metallic feathers, and a blur of white light, the angel gripped his sword with both hands and charged forward, never once touching the ground beneath him.

...

The inside of the chapel was a minefield of torn-apart pews and cobblestone, as if a tornado had blown through the small church- and he supposed that it had. It was only here, among the chaos of scattered debris, that Pigsy realized he had no idea where his Master was, or where to start looking.

"Master!"

His eyes and ears flitted around the room.

"Master!"

He couldn't hear anything past the explosions going off beyond the collapsing walls. Instead, he searched the room with his eyes, and, in the path of torn stone and earth, seemed to piece together the angle that Saber emerged from.

He ran in that direction, and soon found himself on a charred, flimsy, wooden floor, although there was so much wreckage that even calling it a floor was generous. No, it was better described as nothing more than a hole, and through it, there was the slumped over form of his Master.

"Heping!"

He leaped down with stubby legs, and scurried to his Master's side. She was still on her knees, slumped forward; everything from her lips to her thighs dripping with blood. Her eyes were open, but vacant, and barely registered the approaching figure.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit- no!" He gripped her forearms to hold her upright, "What the Hell happened!?"

He jostled her, likely with more force than he ought to have, and her head dangled back, staring at the hole in the ceiling.

"Is my brother dead?"

"Wha-huh? I don't know- it doesn't matter! Yer gonna be okay, got it?"

"...Are Saber and... his Master safe?"

"They're fine, damn you! Worry about yerself! Dammit- dammit..." 

He continued to mutter curses under his breath.

She smiled. It was weak, and lifeless, but she smiled.

"Stop that!" Tears touched his eyes, "You're gonna be fine, alright!? I'll get ya outta here and- and..."

Whatever remained of her strength evaporated from her muscles, and she fell forward into Pigsy's arms, stamping him in her own blood, but her eyes were dry.

"I have no regrets."

Pigsy choked back his wails, wrapping her as tight as he could with his short arms.

"Well- screw you! I've got regrets, dammit! Too many! I don't need another- I don't wanna let anyone down again!"

Her soft smile never faltered, "You did not let me down-" She choked on something in her throat, "You were a good...friend. Thank you, Pigsy."

-beng-

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! I'm not letting you die that easy, so shut up and let me save you!"

-beng-

Tears streamed down his face and stung her chest wound, "-And don't call me Pigsy!"

-beng-

...

"Blackout!"

A sphere of impenetrable blackness folded outwards from Archer's inky form, covering himself and the fast-approaching Saber. The moment both Servants were within the boundary, Archer leaped up and out of the top; hopping across the air and going further into the sky above. Wordlessly, he cast out both his arms, manifesting five arrows and ordering them forward such that, when they made contact, not a single inch of the inner circle would remain untouched.

Saber had never fought Archer before, and that ignorance was what he was counting on.

Unfortunately, they were ignorant of each other. A cloud of gold and platinum chains shot out from within, catching each arrow for a series of powerful explosions that sent the rest falling away like dying snakes that dissolved into ether before they could reach the airborne Archer.

Archer groaned to himself, "Why is it always chains with these people?"

The angelic Saber flew out from within, almost as fast as his arrows, sword pointed upwards; making him seem like a lance with his wings behind him.

Archer rolled across the air, narrowly avoiding the attack, and leaped back further. Here, he noted the blindfold of silver hair: Saber was clearly relying on senses beyond physical. Half his strategies withered and died inside his mind, but that just meant he needed more firepower to compensate for his lack of more complex maneuvers. He manifested three more arrows and let them fly, angling them so that each targeted a different part of Saber's body, and none could be blocked without opening to another.

-

Archer only had nine arrows. This was a closely held secret. Each time one exploded, it had to regenerate, and though it did so quickly, it meant that, if he used all nine arrows at once, he would be momentarily disarmed. Instead, he manifested one volley at a time, so that he always had some in reserve at any given moment.

-

Saber furled his wings, each of the arrows detonating uselessly against the shimmering, floating feathers that shivered hypnotically from the impact. The feathers then turned outwards, like two curling nail beds, and a burst of white light sent another storm of arrows and chains toward its target.

It was such a wide attack that Archer couldn't dodge it, but he also saw no need to.

The arrows tore through Archer's body, easily carving into his flesh and scattering embers. He didn't flinch. The moment the chains returned to ether, the holes immediately closed themselves in a plume of flame, and he readied another volley-

The shield, that same shield, manifested in front of his face, and he was staring directly into its bright, serpentine eye.

He felt the curse of petrification seep into his body, piercing his magical protections. It had to have been a powerful effect to latch onto his body despite that, but it hardly mattered. In a moment, the corrupted, cursed flesh burned away and was replaced with new, healthy matter. And although it barely lasted a fraction of a second, that was enough. The shield evaporated as the chains had, and he now looked into the metallic, ivory face of Saber, and a golden sword pierced his chest.

'Pierced' was perhaps not the right word. Sparks flew, and Archer's body became nothing but scattered embers; a cloud of flame that Saber's sword cut through to no effect. The flames came together behind him, and the four arrows with him, aimed at the small of Saber's back, between his wings, at point-blank range.

-GONG-

Each of the four broke against the shield as it manifested, and Archer let the impact send him flying back to create yards of distance between them.

His taloned feet skid across the earth.

The shield. The wings. The sword. The armor. That was four layers of defense he had to penetrate. While he had no doubt that the powerful explosions were eating away at Saber's defenses, they weren't landing any direct impacts any time soon, and that was a problem. He was practically invincible, but, with his Master in his current state, he couldn't trust a battle of attrition.

But he knew how to get past at least two of those layers.

He cast out his arms again, but, instead of manifesting arrows, two, massive, glowing orange cleavers formed in each hand. Without giving his opponent any more time to react, he jumped up and ran across the air with all the speed he had, quickly closing the distance he himself had just created. When Saber turned around, he was nearly there, and was already prepared. Following the guidance of his Mind's Eye, he closed his eyes the second Saber's attention was upon him. As expected, the metallic 'shoon' of the shield's appearance came in the moment after, and, hearing it appear, he leaped off the air, over the shield, and brought both his cleavers down from above- blocked by Saber's sword.

His glowing orange eyes stared daggers into the silver blindfold, "I'm onto your tricks, Saber. It's only a matter of time, now."

"I could say the same. Unfortunately for you, I'm a bit too familiar with your technique of recycling your body."

Saber's swing came through, and Archer allowed it to push him back, drifting across the wind, "If you think that's all there is to my Solar Mantle, you're sorely mistaken!"

He pushed off into another charge, but Saber didn't bother manifesting his shield. He blocked and parried, parried and blocked, and thrust. Back and forth they fought tit-for-tat high above the earth.

"I wonder where your Master is, Saber. Is she safe?"

"Last I checked, your Master was the one bleeding out. Shouldn't you be more afraid for him? Or have you completely abandoned your role as a Servant?"

"Don't act so high and mighty!" He blocked Saber's swing with his left sword, holding his other out and behind him, "I serve my ambitions alone; the same as you and everyone else!"

-

In the vast sea, a bubble rose from below and popped on the surface, 'Wow. Was I really that bad?'

Another rose to respond, 'Not so bad, but let's be glad it's behind you in any case.'

-

The churning of the sea in Geryon's mind distracted him just long enough to let go of his strength. His sword was sent aside by Archer's first cleave, and the second, always ready, came down from above.

Saber recovered enough to strafe back, but the sword still caught his faceplate, carving a shallow cut into the mask and slicing the blindfold. The two locks of hair fell aside, and Archer soon looked into two white oceans. Two chasms of unending complexity. Two incomprehensible labyrinths that pulled him deep within and kept him there...

-

When he came to, he was falling, quickly approaching the ground- not that he had anything to fear from the impact. No- his eyes were locked on Saber's sword, high above his head, and overflowing with flowing white energy, as if summoning the waters of that impossible sea.

He couldn't process the information fast enough. He was too distracted. What he had experienced was not paralysis of the body, but paralysis of the mind. A petrification that locked his thoughts in place, as if trapping them.

How troublesome. And yet that was only the beginning.

Saber swung down towards him, and the water-like mana came down like a whirlpool of blades, surrounding him, encircling him, cutting into him-

Actually cutting into him.

Red blood came like a fountain from every corner of his body, the veil of orange embers and black ink finally being broken by crimson carvings.

As the whitewater turned into mist, Archer met the dirt, sparks sundering the grass underneath him.

The strands of Saber's cut hair, as if having a mind of their own, rose to meet one another, recreating the silver blindfold.

-

A bewildered current spun in circles, 'Hold on, why did that work?'

Another spun in the opposite direction. bringing the sea to peace once again, 'Didn't you see? He turned his spiritrons into fire. Our mana has the 'water' element. It's that simple.'

-

That same light coated Saber's sword and he rocketed downwards, aiming for the prone Archer.

He rolled out of the way, jumping to his feet and dodging back. He cast his arm out and manifested all nine arrows with a wild look in his usually-stoic eyes.

"Stay back!"

Three went for the direct shot. One lagged behind while following the first volley. The other five went wide, encircling Saber from all angles.

A flash in his Mind's Eye told him it wouldn't work.

A burst of gold with a penumbra of platinum intercepted each with ease, cloaking the angel in a veil of ash and silver.

For the moment, he could do nothing else.

The armored figure shot like a bullet from behind the cloud, sword aglow with that same white light and ready to separate Archer's waist from his torso. Knowing what was coming, he threw himself backwards, flattening his back against the ground and letting the sword cut at where he no longer was. No sooner did the sword swing than Archer was back on his feet, blocking the second strike with both swords.

His Solar Mantle didn't just 'recycle' matter, which was the limit of Chrysaor's similar ability, it also regenerated. His strength was already returning to him.

Saber pushed forward, "Tell me, Archer: are you deaf, or are you just that pathetic?"

Even with his senses as sharp as they were, he only now heard what Saber did.

"Archaugh! Archaugh!" 

The shambling form of Shenghuo, his red, melted face screaming without lips where dirt and gravel had already dug into his fresh wounds, crawled pathetically from behind the chapel. 

"Schave me! Heal meh! I know you cahn!"

Even though he didn't have lips, something like a smirk could be seen in the depths of infinite darkness that was Archer's face.

"Isn't he the pathetic one? Crying like a child who can't even be bothered to take care of himself?"

"If you save him, Archer, I'll let you live. I'll leave and fight you another day."

"As if you would. You just want me to turn my back so you can kill both of us."

"Your mistake is assuming everyone else thinks like you do. At this rate, there really won't be anyone to mourn you."

"There can't be-" He swung his scimitars outward, knocking back Saber's blade, "Because I'll never die!"

Saber found his footing, leveled his blade and, maintaining that glistening white coat over his blade, thrust it forward-

-And into Archer's chest. Red blood leaked from the wound as red fire surrounded it. His cleavers evaporated into sparks, and, with two talons where hands should've been, he gripped onto Saber's arms, holding him in place.

Nine arrows manifested around Saber, surrounding him on all sides.

"It's over!"

-

While they were exchanging blows, Shenghuo continued his crawl, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Weakly clinging on to whatever life he had left, he raised his right hand into the air, and red light shimmered through his armor.

"Archaugh! Schave meh! Heal meh! Do it!"

The red light shattered like glass, and with his final Command Seal, Shenghuo ordered Archer to his side.

-

Archer and his arrows evaporated into flame, and his inky body reappeared at his Master's side.

"You fool! You damned fool! You've killed both of us!"

His scarred, unrecognizable face breathed a sigh of relief, "Without my mana, you'd die anyway."

"But now our contract's void! I don't get your mana in any case!"

"Why-" His voice strained through grit teeth, "Why shouldn't a Servant give his life for his Master? Was that not our contract?"

Against his will, the solar cloak fell from Archer's body and wrapped itself around his Master, burning his body in fire that was far more than harmless: it was helpful.

"Contract my ass! We're both dead, and all because you're a pathetic excuse for a man who can't even take care of himself- much less someone else!"

Who knows what expression Shenghuo would've made. His face, without its lips or brows, could no longer emote.

"Idiot. I saved us. Both of us."

Archer, now forced by his Command Seal to devote all his attention to healing his Master, was incapable of looking behind him. He dreaded the worst. He imagined Saber raising his silver-cloaked sword, ready to strike-

But the reality was far different. Saber hadn't moved from his position. He watched the exchange solemnly, though, with his face covered by a mask, there could be no change in his expression.

-

A wave rose from the sea, as if flexing its liquid muscles, 'Now! While they're weak! Let's end this!'

But the wave puttered out before it could crash with the drama it sought, 'No. He kept his end of the deal.'

'It was against his will. That can't count.'

'Maybe so, but those who go to stab in the back trip on their ambition, remember? And we don't have the energy to take such chances.'

'...I hate it when you're right.'

'So do I.'

-

Without another word, Saber kept his bargain and, with one, two beats of his knife-feathered wings, flew into the distance, leaving Archer and Shenghuo to themselves.

....