Chapter thirty nine- Minotaur's Maze

Hakuryuu's screams echoed around the park, paired with Alibaba's cries for Archer to stop. Lancer and Saber attacked the barrier with all their might, but not a single hit was affecting the strong magic.

"We need to try something else," Lancer decided, lowering his lance.

"You're surprisingly calm with all this," Saber commented as he wracked his brain for a plan, still banging on the barrier.

"This isn't the first time I've been in the middle of a warzone," Lancer replied. Then more quietly he added, "Though there was never magic like this involved..."

"I've got it!" Saber exclaimed, his swings coming to an abrupt stop. He turned to the other servant, "Lancer, I'm going to use my Noble Phantasm on the barrier."

"Will it break it?"

Saber shook his head, "No. But it will allow me to transport our masters and the girl out of there."

"A Reality Marble, then?" Lancer assumed.

"Exactly."

"What about Archer? He will be transported as well."

Saber paused, trying to think of a quick solution. Coming up with nothing, he shrugged, "No idea. We'll figure that out later." He raised his club and began focusing his energy into it, silently apologizing to Alibaba for using so much mana. "Best case scenario- Goldie gets killed by my Noble Phantasm. Worst- he destroys it and I'm screwed for the rest of the war."

"Just what resides in your Noble Phantasm, Saber?" Lancer asked cautiously, watching the blond servant work.

"You'll see."

~

Hakuryuu writhed in pain, screaming at the top of his lungs. He was missing three limbs now. His left arm and both of his legs were detached from his body, blood seeping from the wounds. Neither Morgiana nor Alibaba could help him, for they were in similar situations.

Though their wounds weren't nearly as grave, neither could move, forced to watch in horror as Archer tortured their friend, their screams for him to stop easily ignored.

Alibaba glanced around the clearing, praying Saber or Lancer would be able to break through the barrier in time. Without use of his right arm, Alibaba couldn't summon Theseus via Command Seal, and Hakuryuu was in no position to be able to summon Lancer.

It was clear the teens had given up hope, Hakuryuu no longer struggling to stop the bleeding nor get away from Archer. It pissed the males off; all this struggling, the final realization of who Hakuryuu's mother was, the truth of the Sixth Holy Grail War, was all of their work in vain? Useless digging that lead to their inevitably led to their premature burial?

Alibaba let out a sigh, letting himself fall back onto the grass behind him. He looked at the red-tinted sky, would this be the last thing he ever saw? He narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched a figure scramble it's way onto the top of the barrier, his eyes widening as he realized who it was. Saber!

"...Minotaur's Maze!!" The blond servant raised his club above his head, his voice ringing out around the park below him. The ground began to quake, cracking and crumbling away as the world changed.

Gilgamesh growled, glaring up at the servant, "Another Reality Marble?!"

Hakuryuu weakly raised his head; what was happening? The ground became shaky and uneven beneath him, the golden servant before him focusing his attention on Saber instead of him. Hakuryuu forced himself to sit up, knowing Gilgamesh would surely turn to finish him off if he wasn't quick enough. He tried in vain to to use his healing magic on himself, but only managed to slow the bleeding somewhat. Hakuryuu looked up to see the barrier crumbling along with the world as they were transported elsewhere.

Wait- the barrier, it's down! Hakuryuu raised his remaining limb, his right arm, and shouted, "By order of my Command Seals, come to me, Lancer!"

Lancer immediately appeared in front of the teen in a green glow, quickly looking Hakuryuu over while saying, "Master! We need to get you out of here!"

"Where is here, exactly?" Hakuryuu groaned as Lancer applied pressure to his wounds. "What...what is Saber's Noble Phantasm?"

Lancer looked around. It seemed they were in some kind of dark corridor, Alibaba, Morgiana, and Gilgamesh nowhere to be seen. "I assume it's a maze, considering what Saber called out to activate it."

"Is Saber helping us?"

"Yes," Lancer nodded, turning back to his master, "he plans on releasing the Reality Marble outside of the barrier."

"I thought the barrier was destroyed?"

"Did it? It didn't look like it was effected from where I stood."

Hakuryuu shook his head, "It doesn't matter. We need to get out of here, I won't last long like this."

~

Alibaba and Morgiana had appeared elsewhere in the Reality Marble, coincidentally right beside an angry archer-class servant.

"C-Crap!" Alibaba stumbled to his feet, helping Morgiana up and standing in front of her. He could barely see in the darkness of the maze, the fire magic in his left hand just bright enough to illuminate a small circle around them in the cramped hall.

That was until Gilgamesh summoned several golden portals, the hallway suddenly filled with a blinding light.

Taking several steps backward until he and Morgiana's backs hit a wall of the maze, Alibaba tried to think of an escape. His eyes darted around the hallway, landing on his right hand. That's right! We're in Saber's domain now!

"Saber, release the Reality Marble! Now!" Alibaba shouted, knowing his servant could hear him.

You sure about that, kid? Saber replied mentally. Where's Archer?

Right here! Alibaba shouted back.

Ok, Ok! I'm releasing it outside of the barrier now!

"A-Alibaba-san..." Morgiana stammered as Archer strolled towards them, fuming with rage. The golden servant opening his mouth to speak, to taunt them as he showered them in swords, but was cut off as the ground beneath their feet fell away, their bodies being dragged back to reality.

In moments, they were back in the park again, Alibaba, Morgiana, Hakuryuu, Lancer, and Archer plopping down outside of the barrier beside Saber. Nothing was said as Lancer and Saber grabbed their respective masters -the latter grabbing Morgiana as well- and fled from the park, narrowly dodging swords from Archer as they went.

Lancer instantly ran to the nearest emergency room, while Saber took Alibaba and Morgiana to Solomon and Sheba, hoping one for the experienced mages would know healing magic.

The doctors had been astonished to see Hakuryuu's state, surprised the teen was even breathing when Lancer arrived. It took quite a while, Lancer nervously watching the doctors and nurses rush about, but eventually they managed to stop the bleeding, just barely stabilizing Hakuryuu's vitals.

A nurse dressed in pink scrubs entered the hallway, glancing around for the person she was looking for. Her eyes landed on Lancer and she frowned lightly. He looked strange, but surely he was the person described to have brought the teen in. Approaching him, she spoke, "Sir, now that the boy is stable, we're going to need some information on him."

Lancer stood, saying, "Of course. What do you need?"

"His name, age, and an emergency contact we can call."

"His name is Hakuryuu Ren," Lancer told, "he's seventeen, and you should call his sister, Hakuei Ren." He told the woman Hakuei's cellphone number, which she wrote down in pen on her palm.

"Ren?" The nurse suddenly looked up, eyes wide. "You mean of the Kou Trading Company?"

"Correct." Lancer didn't quite understand just how popular his master's family's company was.

"I-I'll call her right away, then!"

Lancer nodded once, "Good. Thank you."

~

Author's Note-

Not exactly well-edited but, ah, yeah. Much better chapters in the future.