The Fight for a Broken Dream

Fist Bump

His beauty was profound; golden eyes, black hair, a fitted teal green tank-top which had shone his toned muscles. This man was perfect. Not only did he have a very agile body, but he had the aura... no... the spirit of someone who held honor in his highest regard. Reina was taken aback by the overwhelming beauty of her servant. Nevertheless, she knew she had to focus; for the sake of her survival.

"Yes," she answered to his question, "I am Reina Rose of the Archibald decent. I am the one who possesses your command seals. I supply you with mana so you may take form in this world. I am your master."

Her servant takes her hand and kisses it, "As the first of the knights of Fianna, Diarmuid Duibhne, Lancer-class servant; I hereby swear to protect you with my life. My soul now yours, and my blade now your own. I will not fail so long as you remain my master."

Reina blushed at his speech; she knew it was just him being honorable as a knight, yet she still felt giddy over it. However, she kept her composure; "Very well, our pact is now concluded."

Diarmuid nodded, "And who might these people be?" He asked, motioning over to Reina's parents.

"These are my parents." She replied, "My mother; Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, and my father; Lord Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald."

He nodded in their direction as Kayneth walked towards him, "So, you are the servant of my daughter, hm?" Diarmuid nodded again, "Would you say you would be able to pledge your loyalty to me as well; should anything happen to... sweet Reina?" he grimaced,

Lancer shakes his head, "I'm afraid not, Lord Kayneth. I will not let Reina down, therefore I would never lose her. Therefore, I'd never need to pledge my loyalty to someone else."

Kayneth clenched his teeth, "Very well. I trust you to attend to the business with Reina," He looks toward his wife, "Let's go, Sola-Ui. They have it handled here."

Out of the corner of her eye, Reina could see her mother ogling her servant. When told to leave, her face turned sour as she walked off with her husband. Following their departure, she turned to face her servant, "I apologize if this wasn't a formal introduction. My situation isn't exactly... the most average..."

Lancer cocked his head, "It was splendid; what makes you say it was anything else?"

"Well... you see..." she hesitated, "I wasn't supposed to be your original master." He raised an eyebrow, "Your master was supposed to be my father. Yet somehow, I ended up getting the command seals instead," she looked down to the floor.

Diarmuid shook his head, "That does not matter. You are my master and the one whom I serve. That shall not change as long as I live." He lifted Reina's chin with his finger and smiled, "Now, master. What shall we do first?"

Reina blushed at his touch. Remembering her place, she smiled, "Well, it's been a long evening. I suppose we should just head to bed for now... if you don't mind?"

"But of course, master. Lets head there straightaway."

"Sounds wonderful!" she said, "However... please call me Reina. There's no need for formal names."

"As you wish, Reina. I apologize for any form of disrespect."

"No! Not at all! You're a very honorable servant, Lancer."

"Thank you, My Lady. You are of the kindest words."

Reina chuckled, "Why, thank you! Now let's head to bed before it gets too late. Follow me and I'll show you upstairs."

The two walked upstairs from the basement all the way to the second floor where Reina's bedroom was. As she prepared herself for bed, she spoke with Diarmuid about the following plans to come.

"In a couple of days, we'll be heading out on a plane to Fuyuki. There, we've got a place to stay and set up base for the war. My father has attended to all of the details," She explained.

"Will your father be joining us?" he wondered.

"Yes. Both him and my mother will accompany us. It's mostly because I'm a minor, and can't do most things by myself."

"A minor?" he asked.

"Oh, that's right. They probably didn't have such a thing back in your era," she stated. "You see, there are a lot of things out there that certain people can and can't do according to laws. Laws are typically created using age limits. For me, I'm seventeen years old. In Japan, the age of consent is twenty whereas here it's sixteen. Just things like that and rules we have to watch out for."

"Understandable." He responded.

Reina nodded, "Now, what is your wish for the Grail?" she asked him.

"My wish? Hmm..." He thought for a moment, "I think I just wish for loyalty denied to me in my previous life."

Reina stopped picked up her hairbrush, but stopped to listen, "You mean... you don't want anything for yourself?" she asked,

He shook his head, "No. My wish is to faithfully serve a master as I was unable to do before. I failed the first time... and I don't intend on doing it again."

She thought for a moment, "So... who would you serve?"

He chuckled, "I suppose... it'd be you. Serving you even if it's just in this brief time could finally give me peace about what I live for. Or rather... lived for..." he frowned at the end of his sentence.

Reina walked over and rested her hand on his shoulder, "You won't have to worry about anything. Neither of us will fail and everything will be okay." She smiled, "Let's get that Grail," she said holding out her fist.

Diarmuid nodded, "It brings me immense pleasure to know you accept my wish." He smiled, then looked down at Reina's fist, "It pains me to ask this, but what are you doing?"

She laughs, "Well... you take your fist and you lightly bump it against mine."

He cocked his head, "And what is the purpose in doing so?"

"It's sort of a 'let's do this' gesture," she chuckled.

Diarmuid barely taps her fist with his knuckle, "Like that?"

"We'll work on that," she laughed. "Now let's get to bed."

Reina crawled into bed, Lancer tucking her in. Leaving her with a kiss on her forehead, she drifted off to sleep; dreaming of what was yet to come in the Holy Grail War.