001 - What Makes it Hard to Go Home ?

"So, you're in a different world now, Rei? Do you need any help from me?" I hear Lyria speak through the bond we share.

"No need, Lyria. You two just have fun there and don't forget to keep an eye on Rias, Koneko, and Ingvild's training."

"Oh, and also, please tell the others that I'll be back as soon as I'm done here."

"Okay then, have fun, Rei! If you need help, Djeeta and I will come to join you~" Lyria cuts off our connection, and I can no longer hear her.

"Who were you talking to, Rei?" I hear Sakura ask, which makes me turn to her.

"Oh, Sakura, I was talking to one of my fiancées. Is Rin still not ready?"

It's already midnight, and Sakura and I are waiting outside the mansion for Rin to finish preparing the things she wants to bring.

Rin said she wanted to check the school and find where the magic field is set up, then try to destroy it.

So, Rin and I are supposed to go now, but I've been outside for quite a while without any sign of Rin...

"Fiancée? You have a fiancée?" Sakura looks surprised when she hears that I have a fiancée.

"Hmm? Yes, I have several fiancées, and I'm sure you both met them when you appeared in the Sky Realm."

"Who has a fiancée?" We both hear Rin, who has just come out of the mansion.

Sakura then tells her sister what we were talking about. "I see. I mean, it's pretty normal for you to have fiancées, seeing how handsome you are. So, how many do you have~?"

"Like 37."

"What!? 37!? Are you kidding me??? I mean, I know you're handsome and all, but 37 is like too much, right?" Rin says, her face full of shock.

"No, not really. And you can't really compare this world with mine, so maybe it seems like a lot to you, but not to us."

"But 37..." Sakura mutters to herself, placing both her hands in front of her chest.

"So, are we going to go, or do you want to hear more of my stories?" I ask Rin since she's the one who said she wanted to check out the magic field at the school.

"I'm just surprised, you know... I just didn't expect you to have that many..." Rin says while scratching her cheek and looking away.

I can only nod, then start walking toward her and easily I lift her up in a princess carry.

"Uwaahh!?" Rin is a little startled when she suddenly finds herself in someone's arms.

"C'mon, we need to go. Sakura, if possible, don't leave the mansion, alright? I've already put a really strong barrier around it, so no one can get in. Just stay here until we get back."

"Wait, wait, wait, I'm not ready!"

"I see... It's too bad I can't go with you two. Just be careful, alright?" Sakura says, ignoring what her sister is saying.

"Alright, see you later, Sakura." I then quickly leap toward the school with Rin, who is still thrashing around in my arms.

While Rei and Rin are heading toward the school, Sakura remains in front of the mansion, watching them until they are no longer in sight.

Sakura gazes after them while gently stroking the necklace she never takes off. For a moment, she continues staring in their direction, her expression somewhat difficult to read.

"37..." Sakura murmurs again, recalling the number of fiancées Rei has.

Just like her sister, she actually has another secret that she has never told anyone.

Since she turned 13, she started having other dreams besides the ones about Rei's homeland, the Sky Realm.

Dreams where she and her sister never went to the Sky Realm.

Dreams where she is sold to another family called Matou by her own father.

Dreams where she is separated from her beloved sister.

Dreams where a creepy old man stares at her in a way that makes her feel utterly disgusted.

Dreams where she is thrown into a very dark place filled with strange creatures.

And then, those creatures start crawling around her body, trying to enter her, making her cry and scream for help from anyone.

Dreams where she loses her innocence and feels pain she has never experienced before.

Even though she only had that dream once, she still remembers vividly the pain she felt in the dream.

"Just forget about that, it's just a nightmare. You don't need to worry about that anymore; just live your life however you want," she also remembers her savior saying in that dream.

A man with silver hair and twelve pure white wings appeared after the necklace she always wore suddenly showed up in her dream.

The necklace floated in the air and began to change color to white, then it illuminated the entire dark room, banishing all the strange creatures.

Even the dark room vanished, replaced by a vast space filled with beautiful flowers, with cherry blossom trees adorning the surroundings.

"Rei..."

During Rei's explanation this morning, she became certain that the man who always appears in her dreams is Rei.

The man who also changed her fate and allowed her to live happily with her sister.

It's just too bad she can't remember her time when both of them were in the Sky Realm, but at least Rei said that after all the issues is resolved, he will take us to another world to restore our memories.

"I just can't wait for that~" Sakura said with a wide smile as she re-entered the mansion, closed the door, and locked it.

<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>

Right now, Rin and I are on the school rooftop, examining the center where the magic field surrounding the school is located.

"I didn't expect that the place where we previously had lunch is the center of the magic field..." Rin said as she observed the magic circle beneath her.

"Can't really blame you because previously this magic circle is still not 100% done, so you definitely can't sense it unless your senses are really good."

Rin then kneeled and placed her hand on top the magic circle, and soon after, the magic circle began to glow red.

"You want to do it yourself? I can disable it if you want," I said, watching Rin as she tried to cut off the mana flow within the magic circle.

"No, it's fine, and this is good practice for me too."

"Alright then." I let Rin continue trying to deactivate the magic circle while keeping an eye on where I could sense someone approaching this place.

It took Rin a few moments to disable the magic circle, and once she finished, the brightly glowing red circle immediately dimmed.

"Hahhh... Well, one is done," Rin sighed, knowing there are still a few more they need to deactivate.

"Hmm, you're really good, Rin. I didn't expect you to manage to dispel that magic circle in such a short amount of time," I said, observing the now inactive magic circle.

"Hmph, who do you think I am? Of course, I can do that, no problem. So we just need to find the others and disable them."

"Eh, you're gonna disable them?" Suddenly, we heard a man's voice coming from somewhere.

Rin quickly turned toward the source of the voice and saw a man wearing tight blue clothing while resting his spear on his shoulder.

The man looked at Rin with a smile, as if he is amused by what she had done.

"Are you the one who placed these magic circles?" Rin asked the man without taking her eyes off him for even a moment.

"No, only a mage would use such sneaky methods," the man then stood up, holding his spear.

"I'm here only because my master ordered me to check something and to fight," the man smiled at Rin.

"So, little girl, are you going to call your servant? Or just stand there without protection?"

Hearing this made Rin quickly survey the area, looking for a better spot to fight.

She still didn't know Rei's abilities, but she assumed he is a magic user, so fighting in a tight space would be bad for him.

"You know, you don't need to panic like that, Rin," but suddenly, she heard Rei's voice inside her head.

"What do you mean!? You're a magic user, right? So we need to get out of here and find a better place to fight!"

"I'm not a magic user, but oh well, we're going to find a better place to fight because fighting here would be bad for the rooftop." I quickly picked up Rin and jumped to the field where Archer fought Lancer in the anime.

"Ohh? Is that your servant?" Lancer said after seeing Rin suddenly being carried by someone and then jumped and followed them.

After I landed, I set Rin down, and soon after, Lancer also landed in front of us. "So, are you gonna show yourself?"

Lancer... Seeing him like this really reminded me of how much I liked his character and his moment during Saber route where he fought Gilgamesh for half a day.

So without further ado, I decided to stop erasing my presence and let him see me.

The moment he saw me, I could see his eyes widen, not expecting what he saw. "I see, you're the one we sensed earlier, huh? What are you doing in this world, foreigner?" Lancer is no longer smiling and now looked at me seriously while tightening his grip on his spear.

"Of course I'm here; she's the one who summoned me," I smiled while looking at the spear he's holding.

Gáe Bolg, the spear from the land of shadows that Scathach gave him so he could kill her. But in the end, he failed because Scathach is no longer mortal and can't be killed once he already had it.

Gáe Bolg's ability pierces someone's heart, and you probably can't dodge it, except for those few times in the anime. But the point is, you can't dodge it, even with EX rank speed.

And if he throws it, it becomes an anti-army Noble Phantasm that's even strong enough to destroy Rho Aias, which Archer used to block his spear.

"You summoned him, little girl?? Do you even know what kind of being you've called into this world!?" Lancer immediately asked Rin when he heard that she was the one who brought me here.

"Hah!? How was I supposed to know? This was just an accident!" Rin shouted back, not accepting Lancer's blame.

"Don't be like that, Lancer. You wanted to engage in a valiant fight to the death, right? The one you mentioned to your master, Bazett Fraga McRemitz," I smiled at him, raising my right hand to my side.

Lancer looked surprised when I mentioned that name, but eventually, he chuckled a bit. "Heh, you're right. That's my wish when I was summoned to this war. But you know what happened."

Lancer then prepared himself, maintaining his stance while keeping his eyes on me.

"Well, let's fight then."

The moment I said that, a red light began to form in my right hand, shaping itself into a spear.

After the light faded, I held the same spear as the one Lancer wielded.

I then took the same stance that Zeta taught me when I was in the Sky Realm.

[ZETA]

"Let's see which spear style is better."