[h1]Rider[/h1]

Rider passed the tasty treats out to the waiting patrons with a bright smile before moving on to the next in line. As she worked, though, she glanced back towards Naoko with a look of obviously feigned offense.

[i]Now Master, I do have standards! Even for “snacks”, as you call them… which isn’t to say that the idea as a whole is off the table, buuuuut~…[/i]

Being able to communicate telepathically with one’s Master was a wondrous advantage of being a Servant. Of course, it probably wasn’t meant for conversations like this one.

The lunch rush line was dealt with rather quickly and without much trouble, at least on Rider’s end. She was lucky, though. All she had to do was smile and talk, but for every extra purchase she talked some unsuspecting patron into, Naoko’s work load just increased. Such was the burden of food service.

Towards the end of the rush, and elderly man approached. Catherine had come to recognize him as a regular. His name was Lewis. He was divorced. He had six grandchildren. He had shown up nearly every day since Rider had started working in the Winter Palace. He always ordered coffee and Belgian Waffles and typically called her “sweetheart” or some such pet name when he ordered. Today, however, he had a newspaper tucked under his arm… and one of the headlines immediately caught Catherine’s eye. 

“Mr. Lewis, I don’t suppose you happen to be finished reading that newspaper? I didn’t get a chance to pick one up today…”

A convincing frown crossed Sophie’s face.

“Well Sophie, I didn’t think you’d be much for reading the paper like us old folks. Here you go sweetheart, don’t worry, I’ll just pick up another one.”

Rider took the paper with a smile, ringing up Lewis’ order.

“Well, thank you so much Mr. Lewis! I’ll throw in a cookie for free, just don’t tell anyone!”

She fake-whispered the last part, adding a pre-wrapped cookie to Lewis’ bag.

“Such a sweet girl! I’m always happy to help out whenever I can…”

As Lewis took his bag and walked away towards a nearby bench, Rider opened the newspaper, tracing her finger across the headlines.
“Murders on the North Side: Police Seeking Any Information”

That story had been ongoing. She’d heard it mentioned a few times amongst the customers.

“Boston’s New Drug Epidemic: How to Protect Your Kids”

Rider glanced toward Naoko.

“Master, have you been keeping track of the news?”

As her eyes returned to the paper, though, the Empress finally settled her gaze upon the article that had drawn her attention in the first place.

“Austrian Aristocrat Celebrates Gubernatorial Announcement”

Catherine’s eyes grew wide as she scanned through the article and noted a familiar name.

“Ohoho… Master, I think I’ve found something interesting.”

Glancing to make sure there were no more patrons for the moment, Rider turned, holding the newspaper towards Naoko and tapping on the article.

“It says here that the head of the Habsburg family has been in town… and evidently threw some sort of party recently. Now, I can’t speak for how far they may have fallen, even back then they seemed to be losing their potency… but the Habsburgs that ruled Austria during my time were a family of Magi. It could be a coincidence, of course, but it seems a bit unlikely that the head of such a famous family would just happen to visit Boston during this Grail War, don’t you think?”

Over two centuries and half a world away, and she still couldn’t escape from European politics.

[hr]

[h1]Rocco Moretti[/h1]

Rocco couldn’t help but stare in awe as the summoning ritual sparked to life. The light was almost blinding, and his heart was pounding furiously against the walls of his chest, but he held himself together, watching intently in silence as the light faded away.

For a moment, the appearance of the hero took him off guard, though he didn’t show it. Still, the whole idea of summoning some ancient hero had sounded bizarre when he thought about it. Now that he had actually done it, he realized just how alien the experience was. The summoning had worked, and Ireland’s Child of Light was now standing before him. Of course, Rocco wasn’t the type to show the strange sense of amazement that had overtaken him. Instead, he just stared for a moment, as if he was uncertain the man before him was really there.

When the hero began speaking though, the ex-hitman shook off the awe as well as he could. The summoning had been a success, but now the real job started. Rocco nodded as the Heroic Spirit spoke. Saber. Not the class he’d expected, but by no means a disappointment.

Coming to terms with the situation, Rocco raised his cigarette to his lips, taking a deep drag before letting the smoke creep away into the night. His own tired, blue eyes meeting the crimson irises of his Servant. Taking another puff of his cigarette, he took a step forward.

“I’m glad to hear it, Saber.”

The dark-haired man held his hand out for a handshake.

“It’s official then. Let’s get to work.”

---

The next few days were devoted wholly to preparing for the coming war. That being said, Rocco’s definition of “preparation” probably would’ve made a more proper mage nauseous. For one thing, his “workshop” was a converted room at a run-down motel in Roxbury. There was a Bounded Field to keep away prying eyes, but by-and-large the sort of people that frequented the establishment knew to mind their own business. Over the course of the first day Rocco had set to work creating more Lethe Dust and aiding Saber with his Runes in any way he could. In general, though, Rocco’s personal preparations were fairly mundane. He had double and triple checked all of his firearms, making sure he had ample ammunition for each. Following that, he had poured over a map, trying to predict where the other Masters might have set up shop. Neighborhoods like the one he and Saber were currently in were certainly attractive to those who meant to be discreet. There was also the possibility, though, that some of the other Masters might not be the careful type… or worse there might be a maniac or two amongst them. For that reason, Rocco had also set to marking high-profile areas that might either function well as bases-of-operations or useful sources of magical energy. 

Once the first day of preparation had been completed, Rocco had set out to case the locations he had marked, sometimes travelling with Saber, sometimes splitting up. Though Rocco was already relatively familiar with the city, the next few days were spent engraving every road and alley into his mind. It seemed that most of the other Masters were either keeping a low profile or were setting themselves up outside of the city proper. For once, Rocco cursed his lack of involvement in Mage Society. If he had more connections he might’ve been able to get some confirmed reports on the other Masters. What he lacked in magical associates he made up for in criminal ones, but even those sources were proving mostly unhelpful. However, he [i]had[/i] heard something about some mysterious new gang in town. As it stood though, he didn’t quite have an in to investigate that further.

---

[h2]Present Day[/h2]
[h2]Early Morning[/h2]
The Town Car rolled quietly away from the drive-thru window in the early hours of the morning. Rocco took a swig of fresh, black coffee from the styrofoam cup he had just purchased, placing a similar cup in the cupholder between Saber and himself.

“I know you probably don’t need it, but you can give it a try if you want. It’s got this old man through more than one long day… and I got a feeling today’s gonna be one hell of a long day, Saber.”

Rocco took another swig from his own coffee cup before placing it in his side of the cupholder and lighting a cigarette. Before the Town Car rolled out of the parking lot, Rocco tapped the door, muttering to himself.

[i]“Distogliere lo sguardo.”[/i]

It was a simple Bounded Field, and would keep people from looking at the vehicle for too long. Of course, it was only the mildest form of suggestion. If they were to come upon a real threat it’d do little good. Still, it helped with keeping a low profile.

Rocco took a deep drag from his cigarette, pulling out of the coffee-shop parking lot and into the street.

“Alright Saber, so for today we’ll be looking through more of the bad side of town and seeing what we can find out about this gang I keep hearing about. Seems to me something like that springing up overnight can’t be a coincidence. Keep a lookout for anything suspicious... and be ready for a fight if we stumble across somebody wo doesn't wanna be found.”