The American Holy Grail War

Chapter 9: Affection

          Sol and Rider ran side-by-side through the forest. As they ran, Rider began charging her blades with mana. Sol asked, "Getting your Noble Phantasm ready?" Rider's blades stopped glowing when she said, "Yeah, if the night gets as bad as Henry said it would, then I might need Mai Mai to help out." Still running, Sol asked, "How did you meet Mai Mai, if you don't mind?" 

         Rider looked at her scythe and said, "Mai Mai's egg actually was an heirloom from my mother that was passed down to me when I began to train. My life energy caused the egg to gain life and a couple years later, Mai Mai hatched from that egg. Since then we've fought together side-by-side."

         Sol responded, "Oh, okay, what kind of person was your mother?"

         Rider looked at Sol and said, "My mother, well, she..."

         Sol looked at Rider in the eye, "If you don't want to talk about it."

         Rider said, "Oh, no, it's not that, well, my mother has always been proud of her ancestry, and is a great fighter, but she is clumsy sometimes, and mean when provoked, but the kindest person I've ever meet."

        Sol thought for a minute, "So like Lucy, except for the kind part."

        Rider looked away and thought for a second before responding with, "In some ways, yes."

         "I'm guessing you never meet your father then?"

         She looked at Sol in surprise and shook her head. "No I didn't, he died in a war that lead to the rise of an evil overlord, how did you guess?"

        Sol said, "I saw your past in my dream. You were battling with that overlord and won, but felt empty inside afterwards."

         "I see.", responded Rider.

         They both continue to run through the forest when Rider asked, "By way, when did you realize that you were into Lucy?"

         Sol blushed. "You are a really nosy Servant, you know that?"

         She smiled, and said, "Come on, spill it."

         Sol looked at his command seals. "Maybe Lucy had the right idea by using these to make the Servants stop asking these personal questions."

         Rider ran closer to Sol. "A Command Seal won't stop me from asking. Come on, the faster you tell me, the faster we get this over."

         Sol sighed, "I may or may not have thought she was cute when she first walked in my classroom."

         Rider nodded with a grin, "I see, love at first sight then."

         Sol blushed, "Love is a strong word."

         Rider said to him, "I see, but master, would it surprise if I said I loved you."

         Sol stopped blushing. "I would say that the feeling mutual, but I feel that we're almost like brother and sister."

         Rider looked him in the eye, "Same, I honestly feel like I was close to you before I was summoned, weird right."

         Sol nodded, "Right, maybe we were destined to fight together in the Grail War and win."

         Rider laughed. "Yeah, destined."

         Meanwhile, Lucy and Assassin continued walking in the woods. "Why all of that back there Ma' Lady." Asked Assassin as he said his first words since the command seals.

         Lucy said, "I want to win the honor of the Feng clam back, but I can only do it by winning the war on my own. If they help any more, then what will I have proved." Assassin stopped and looked at the moon. Lucy turned back and said to Assassin "Do you want me to use another command seal on you?"

         Assassin replied, "That won't be necessary. I actually would prefer it if you continued working with Sol and Rider."

         Lucy scoffed, "Those two, if you love them so much, why don't you marry them?"

         Assassin laughed, "Because you would never forgive me if I married your boyfriend."

         Lucy blushed. "That idiot is not my boyfriend.", she said in a loud voice.

         Assassin said, "He does mean well though. Rider and Henry too."

         She looked at the ground. "Henry is an experienced mage who know twice as much as me. Rider is a capable Servant, one who also knows what she's doing. And Sol, one of the best mages of our age group, who actually knows a lot about the Wars, rather than how to fight it."

          Assassin sits down. "Sounds you like you have an admiration for Sol."

          Lucy sits down across from Assassin. "Is it that obvious?  he is one of the bravest mages I know, who saved my life, not once, but twice."

         Assassin looked surprised. "Twice?", he asked.

         She looked up to Assassin. "When the dummies rose in the lab, he grabbed me by the hand and ran me behind him. I froze when I saw the dummies, but he didn't, and moved to save me."

         Assassin and Lucy looked each other in the eye. "He seems to like you, so maybe you should tell him how you feel. Maybe you two can get something going."

         She put her hands in her head. "You don't understand Assassin, every guy runs from me, because they're afraid of me, because I'm bossy, and pushy. They tend to resent a girl who is too strong for them."

         Assassin began to laugh, making Lucy mad. "What's so funny, Assassin?"

         Assassin quieted done. "Listen, those men were cowards, and Sol isn't one of them. He stared down a Heroic Spirit, and not just any, but a Berserker-class, to save you. I say give it a try."

        Lucy looked to the moon and smile. "Maybe I should. But I should focus on the War for now."

        Assassin smiled, and asked, "Now that we're done with your issues, let's talk about mine."

        Lucy looked at Assassin. "What is it?"

        She asked in a curious voice. "Do whores still take money today, I really would to cut one open from this era."

        She said, "Forget it, no cutting up women." Assassin shrugged. Lucy and Assassin laughed, then, Lucy got up saying, "Come on Assassin, we got a War to win."

        Assassin got up, "Hopefully, Rider and Sol may still want help." They both walk in deeper into the woods.

        Sol stopped running, and Rider stopped alongside him. "We may need to continue his conversation later Rider." Rider looked around, and noticed a being to their right. Rider looked closely, and pushed Sol out of the way of an arrow that almost struck him. "What speed, you must be Rider then.", said the mysterious figure.

         Sol said, "Archer, of course." Rider used her chains to block an arrow, but the arrow still got through, and pinned her chain to the ground. "A good one at that.", said Rider. Rider readied her blade and scythe, and pulled her chain to unpin it from the ground. "Master, you must continue looking for Lucy. We can still communicate with our bond, and if you need me, you can just use your command seals to summon me."

         Sol got up and said, "Good Luck in your fight Rider."

         She smiled and said, "Good luck finding your girlfriend."

         He blushed. "Not in front of the enemy." , said Sol.

         Rider giggled, "But you didn't deny it this time, Sol."

        He began running, saying, "We'll talk later." Rider then turned to face Archer and said, "I'm ready whenever you are." Archer said, "Very well." As he drew an arrow, and Rider readied her scythe for a charge.