Thirty months after the end of the Fifth Holy Grail War...
They were hundreds of miles away still, yet already they could sense her presence—sense her, the Shining One. There was nowhere she could hide. Even as despair dimmed the flames of her soul, it burnt far too brightly for concealment to be possible. There was a reason why she existed. Their purpose was that reason. Emboldened by this remembrance of their intention, they hastened even further towards their goal.
~~~~~
She couldn't explain how she'd known, only that there was a sudden and terrible sense of danger and disaster.
They had been at dinner. It had been going on in much the same way as their previous dinners. Then time had suddenly slowed and Saber had recognized in that instant the arrival of violence.
She was already on her feet, her hand reaching for a non-existent Sword, the faces of the others registering their shock, when the world exploded in red and black.
~~~~~
It was happening again, the terror. And he couldn't understand why when the War was over and had been over for years. But it was happening again, all over again, and just like before, it came with the sickening sensation of helplessness. Because he hadn't felt anything, wouldn't have known anything, if Saber hadn't stood up so violently, her hand reaching for a non-existent Sword in a gesture both familiar and hated.
They had burst through the ceiling and the force of their entry had sent the table's occupants flying to the edges of the room.
Through the haze of the dust and the tears in his eyes, he could just barely make out the figures converging on Saber. He tried to scream out a warning, but there was plaster in his throat.
He wanted to scream at Saber to run away, because at that moment, she wasn't—was in fact, bracing herself for a fight, in a posture both familiar and hated.
With a supreme effort, Shirou struggled to his feet—only to find himself encircled by a pair of unseen arms. Then the arms tightened and the immensity of the pressure nearly made him faint. In the moment that he believed that either he or Saber would die, the room exploded yet again in gold and white. And then Shirou lost consciousness.
~~~~~
She had nearly been too late. She had traveled quickly, had left London as soon as she had been dispatched. The enemy had been faster still.
It had provoked an icy rage. With meticulous dispassion, Rin had closed her eyes and identified the location of every single intruder—before summoning a Spell that had obliterated each with pinpoint accuracy in rapid succession. When she could no longer sense an unfamiliar presence, she had dropped through the roof—and landed just in time to catch a collapsing Saber.