When we got back to the diner, Ares was already waiting for us... He grinned, leaning over his motorcycle as we approached, but then when he saw who was accompanying us, he raised and eyebrow and actually frowned a little.

"Well well.." said Ares. "Cu Chuclainn and Bazett Fraga McRemitz, this is a surprise, shouldn't you two be in Fuyuki City killing other Servants...? Unless.."

Ares eyed Lancer's arm. "The mark is gone.. you broke free of the curse? Must be recent since last I heard a week ago, Lancer here just finished stabbing a Caster servant through the heart!"

"Surprised?" growled Bazett. 

"yes.. but not unhappy.. like I told Arturia here, I'm actually on Poseidon's side where Servants are concerned." 

"Yeah.. we heard about that thing where some gods are on our side.." muttered Lancer.  

I walked over to Ares and slammed the Shield into his chest, growling. "YOU'RE A DISHONORABLE WRETCH!"

Annabeth and Grover both gasped fearfully as Lancer just clapped and grinned. 

"How do you figure?" said Ares.

"You knew about the trap Hephaestus set didn't you? You sent us headfirst into a trap where we could've died!" I said.

"Hey! You're a Servant, you're about as sturdy as gods, why do you think Zeus is scared of you all?" said Ares. "And I knew your buddies could handle themselves.."

"Did you expect us to come back alive from a fight against Lancer too?" I said. "You knew that those two were waiting to ambush you too.. right?"

Ares held up his hands and grinned, shrugging. "Come on kid, that's a little presumptuous."

"You know about Gae Bolg." I said. "You know that it's function is to instantaneously pierce the heart of it's target, even the most powerful god and Servant with A plus Luck would take weeks to heal from that..  you turned us into your patsies!!"

"And look where it got you.. in the good graces of good ol' me..  with payment from me as promised." said Ares. 

I gritted my teeth and spat at his feet. "Just give us what you promised and get out of here!"

Ares grinned as he morphed his shield into a bullet proof vest which he slung over his shoulder. "Alrighty then.."

Ares tossed me a black backpack. It was filled with cash and food.  Considering our already stuffed backpacks from Rider and Sakura, this seemed a little pointless. 

"You promised us transportation west.." I said. "And my memories!"

Ares pointed at a Heavy Truck which had an open back, I didn't know if they were transporting furniture or what, but whatever it was it smelled horrible.

"It'll take you all the way West, straight to Los Angeles." said Ares. "I suggest you don't take any detours.."

Really? That was our transportation? He was a god and he gave us the back of a stinky truck!?

"My memories?" I said. 

"Yeah, alright... Shirou Emiya he's the son of Kiritsugu Emiya, your first master.. adopted son anyways, he's somewhere here in America.. stuck with immortality like Bazett there.. not all Masters are able to completely escape the curse effects when it's broken..   and there you go.."

I stared at Ares, beside myself with anger. "You promised me-.."

"What? That I would wave my hand over your head like the Lady of the Lake and make you remember? I promised info on your memories, not your actual memories in the palm of my hand." said Ares.  "And because I'm such a nice guy.. I'll give you a free bee.. Sally Jackson.. your foster mother... she's still alive."

"Wait.. what!?" I stammered.

"Yeah.." said Ares as he climbed onto his bike. "That light you saw, she was transported somewhere, not killed.. done all the time with prisoners of war... I take it Hades wants to bargain with you..  anyways.. see ya around kid.. be looking forward to your next war King Arthur.."

As Ares rode off..my anger faded away.. the aura no longer affecting me.. but I was still a bit angry..

"Honestly, of all the gods whose apparently on your side, that's one you'd least want." said Bazett, shaking her head.

"But still.. being rude to Ares.." stammered Annabeth. "Be careful Saber!"

"Careful? Hmph.. I'd rather get blasted to smithereens than get praised by that bastard." I growled. 

I looked at Lancer and Bazett. "So.. now how about you guys..?"

"Well.. after listening to your tale.. I have to admit, if we do indeed have gods who stand for the rights of Servants and their Masters.. I don't have much of a desire to try and assassinate Zeus myself... with that knowledge.. going directly after Zeus might in fact be stupid.. alienating the ones on our side.." said Bazett.

"Awwww... I wanted to see if I could kill a god.. like my master.." said Lancer with a sigh.

"Yeah.. piercing gods with Gay Bulge.. not at all suggestive." said Grover. 

"IT'S GAE BOLG!!" Lancer screamed. "GAE BOLG I SAY!!"

"Screaming Gay Bulge in public is not very becoming of normal people." said Annabeth.

"GAAAAAAHHHHH!!" Lancer smacked a hand to his face. 

"So you're absolutely sure about this camp." said Bazett. "it will be a haven for Servants?"

"That's the plan.. if we can get Chiron to agree to it." I said. "I don't doubt he will.. "

"Very well.. I'll grant my assistance." said Bazett. "But on one condition.. you have to bring Lancer with you on your Quest."

"Why?" Grover asked. "Er.. not that it wouldn't be awesome to have another strong Servant around.. but.."

"Because you need the edge." said Bazett. "You're going to meet Hades, God of the Dead.. by far, you need a failsafe in case you have to fight a god.. as strong as Arturia is.. and I admit, she is truly stronger than Cu..  Lancer's Noble Phantasm offers a perk that no other Noble Phantasm does.. instantaneous fatal blows.. imagine having that on your side when meeting Hades.. "

I looked at Annabeth and Grover, that WAS a good advantage.

"I don't know.." Annabeth said. "I mean.. kill a god.. is that possible?"

"To be honest, we don't know." said Lancer. "I mean.. the gods my master Scathnatch killed with this weapon were a little different.. though I couldn't kill her when she became immortal with this very same lance... however, even if we aren't able to kill the target, the one hit becomes afflicted with a terrible cursed wound that takes ages to heal, even that's good enough for a quick escape if we need it.."

"Well, any more help is much appreciated." said Grover. 

"Welcome aboard. "I said, nodding in agreement.

"Being welcomed by a hot lady, now that is an occurrence I like.." said Lancer. 

"Oh crap he's an old pervert isn't he?" Annabeth muttered.

"No worries blondy, you're too young for me." said Lancer as he walked towards the back of the truck. "Come on! Let's get going before we miss our ride!"

Bazett shook her head. "Be careful.. he may look like an adult but he definitely acts like a child plenty of times. He's a dog whose main method of solving a problem is hitting it.. I'm trusting you to keep him in line Saber.."

"Right.. one last question before we go"  I muttered. "How did you two get free of the curse?"

"Hmmm.. same way you did.." said Bazett. "You burned Excalibur against the mark of your curse.. and the last time we met.. I stored a bit of Excalibur's energy using my own spells to experiment with it.."

"So Excalibur IS the key to freeing them." I muttered.

"Yeah.. do me a favor and come back alive kay?" said Bazett. "Cause I don't know any other Servants that wield that special sword..."

After saying goodbye to Bazett, we piled into the back of the truck, right as the drivers were coming back from lunch.. 

Now the insides of the truck surprised me a great deal.. 

There were three cages, two of them held a Zebra and an antelope.. and another held an albino lion..

They looked so amazingly sad, malnourished, and rather heartbroken.. causing Grover to look furious.

"THIS IS HUMANE ANIMAL TRANSPORT!?" Grover roared, getting up. 

He looked like he was about to go up front and beat the crap out of the truck drivers, and, considering Lions were my absolute favorite animals, I wanted to go out there and help him.. but we didn't have time for this.

The truck's doors closed and the vehicle started.. 

We stayed there for hours... eyeing the sad animals..  The food in their cages were all mismatched. while raw meat was in the Zebra's cage.. a cabbage had been hap-hazardly put into the lion's cage..

I filled their trays with the water from some of the water bottles in the bags Rider gave us, and used my sword to move the food around, putting them in the right cages.

The lion immediately ate up the meat and lapped up the water, than it eyes me hungrily, as if expecting more.. 

I shook my head sadly. "Sorry, I don't have more.."

"Still a lion lover huh?" said Lancer, nodding at me, leaning back against the wall of the truck with his arms behind his head, casually. "Yeah... this kinda cruelty gets to me too.. wonder if these idiots wanna get fired.. "

Lancer had morphed into his own form of casual clothing, a simple white t-shirt and blue denim jeans... his muscular arms visible on his lithe body. 

"It's beyond cruel!!" Grover stammered. "It's.. it's.. UUUUGGGHHH!!!" 

As we continued to ride for a few more hours we felt the truck come to a stop.. and as we heard the driver's voices getting closer, we quickly hid behind the cages.. 

Light spilled on the animals as the backs of the trucks opened.

Two men were there, laughing.. their breaths smelled of beer, the fact I could tell that all the way from this distance was saying something.

"Ahh.. can't wait to dump off these pieces of crap!" said one of the guys. "Now..  three left right?"

"Hey.. hey there big guy.. thirsty?" said the second man, before he splashed water over the lion's face.

The lion roared irritably. 

"Yeah yeah.. whatever.." said the guy. 

I immediately felt a deep hatred for him. 

"Yo.. horsey stripey whatever!" said the first guy. "Hope you like magic shows! Cause where you're going, they're gonna saw you in half! Hahahahahahaha!!"

The zebra looked besides itself with horror.

The truck doors closed and Annabeth spoke up. "This.. it can't be legal.."

"No kidding.." said Grover. "I just talked to the lion.. he says these guys are animal traffickers."

"You can talk to animals!!?" I stammered. 

"Well yeah.."

"Can you tell that lion I think his species is the most majestic, beautiful-."I began before Annabeth gave me a glance that said 'Really?' 

I shook myself, right, not the time for that. 

"Well.. if you really don't think you should leave these guys to those animal traffickers or whatever ya call em.." said Lancer with a shrug. "I think the choice is only too obvious.. let's free em.."

"Into the city!?" I stammered.

"Well, actually it's a good idea." said Annabeth. "Just seeing the animals come out of these guy's truck will spark some sort of investigation.. plus we can't stay here the entire ride west.. we need to detour to Santa Monica.  Win win.. really."

I sighed. "Okay.. Grover, Annabeth, get the doors.. Lancer, with me."

As Annabeth and Grover opened the doors into the truck station we were stopped at,  Me and Lancer drew out our Noble Phantasms and got ready at the cages.

"On the count of three.. that suitable?" I asked.

"Fine by me." said Lancer.

So I counted. "One... Two... Three... GO!"

Me and Lancer slashed off the locks to the cages and opened the doors.. immediately, the animals dashed out of their cages and into the open air.. 

There were screams in the traffic, cries of shock, as the animals prowled into the open, amid a street filled with multiple casinos and blaring lights..  Las Vegas? 

As we jumped out of the truck, Grover placed a hand on each of the animal's heads... before they all ran off quickly weaving in between the cars.

"What did you do?" I asked. 

"I gave them a Satyr's blessing." said Grover. "Making sure that they'll eventually find food and water, and whatever they need to survive."

I nodded. "The lion too right?"

"Of course the lion too." said Grover. "Wow you really love lions."

I felt my face go red and I quickly turned away. "Well.. you know.. they're cute.. majestic.. and make 'gao gao' noises.. so yeah.. I like em."

"Gao?" said Annabeth. "I thought they only said they made that sound in Japan.."

"Well duh, where do you think Fuyuki is?" said Lancer. "I have to say, that city influenced our perception of modern life..  so.. where to next?"

We traveled along the streets of Las Vegas for a bit, wandering a little aimlessly.. until we felt something glorious..

You'd think after Heaven's Feel Garden Gnome Emporium, we'd have learned to expect good smells and good feelings to come with horrible traps by now... 

But do we learn? No.. No we don't.. 

I stared at the entrance to a building labeled. "Lotus Hotel and Casino." 

"Do you feel that?" I whispered as the automatic doors opened. "Air conditioning.." 

"Daaaannng.." muttered Lancer. "Did you know... that Servants used to be able to be comfortable in any weather? After everything changed with us learning to stay permanently though.. that vanished.. and now... urgh this heat.. I need to cool down.."

"No kidding.."  said Annabeth.  

"Hey there kids.." said the doorman at the door.. smiling at us. "Do you want to come in..? Cool off?"

"Well.. I.. " I muttered, not sure if I should take this wonderful bait..

"Oh.. I'm sure you should ask your father first." said the doorman, nodding at Lancer.

"Actually he's.." I began.

"Yes! I'm their dad! These are my darling kids!" said Lancer, grinning. "And.. boy.. do I give us ALL permission to go into your wonderfully air conditioned establishment!!"

Lancer whispered to my ear. "Come on.. let's just go with this.. "

I sighed. "Right.. thanks.. Dad."

We went inside, and found ourselves in lobby modern paradise... arcade games everywhere, which had me VERY curious, since I've never played video games before (that I remember, did Shirou have video games?)

"As we made our ways in, a receptionist came up to his and grinned. "Hello there! We've been expecting you!"

I frowned, obviously they had mistook us for some sort of rich family somewhere.  I spoke up. "Oh no we're not actually.."

"Don't be ridiculous." said the receptionist. "You know.. we were sure you guys had cancelled, but now that you're here, it's fine.. here are the room keys to your hotel rooms.."

The woman handed us numbered room keys. 

"And here are your Lotus Cash cards, good for all games in this hotel. " said the woman now handing us hotel cash cards. "Be sure to enjoy your stay!"

As the receptionist left, we all stared at each other.

"Huh.." I muttered. "Well, if the original family did cancel.. no risk of them walking in on us..  And I guess we could use a.."

"BATH!" said Annabeth.

"Well I was going to say all you could eat buffet, but a bath works too!" I said. 

Our rooms on the upper floors were all next to each other, and each room was incredible. Flat screen Tvs with the latest game stations connected to them, with large King sized beds (yes, King Sized is the only way to go for a King!), and massive tubs that could instantly fill with hot water at the single turn of a knob. 

And our closets were filled with fresh clothes that we were sure to stuff our bags with.. 

And for the first time since forever..  I slipped my clothes off and dipped myself into a hot bath.. The last bath I even remembered (though Shirou tells me I had plenty at his house) since Camelot.. 

Baths of the modern era I found amazingly fun. I never knew you could fill your tubs with puffy bubbles that floated all the way to the ceiling, I couldn't help spending at least 2 hours in the bath playing with the puffy stuff. 

Finally I managed a little self control after I heard Annabeth knocking on my door for the 20th time. 

Hey I couldn't help myself, we didn't have soap back in my time.. count your blessings 21st century, you are the clean generation!

My generation is the sit in a bucket naked and scrub yourself with a scratchy brush in the middle of your living room generation. ( I lived in a peasant's village before I drew that sword out of the stone). 

After dressing myself in some clothes I found in the closet, which oddly enough, I found were EXACTLY like my usual white buttoned shirt, blue skirt and black leggings, I walked out into Annabeth's room where I found her reading books on architecture, sitting on a plush lay Z boy.  (how do I even know that brand?)

"Well what next?" Annabeth asked.

"FUN TIME!!" Lancer sang, jumping into our room, wearing... ok.. a hawaiin aloha shirt and vacation shorts... which made me crack up.

"You look like you're about to do a comedy skit where you'll die in almost all of the episodes!!" I stammered, laughing.

Lancer frowned. "I thought this looked fashionable!"

So we all headed down to the attractions of the hotel. 

Now I know what you're thinking... SOOO many different attractions.. Virtual reality video games that made Sword Art Online look like a puppet show,  ski ball (Still don't know why that's popular), Prizes,  Surely I'd hook myself to a video game right?

Nope.. I found the buffet and piled my plate high repeatedly.  It was amazing, the food was cooked right in front of me by smiling chefs who handed me the plates with no limit to whatever servings I wanted.  

And with each bite I took, it was like 10 little mes were inside my belly having a dance party... if only there was a gif image for this..

Ahh.. wait, there it is.. one of them is me in a lion costume by the way. 

One of my favorite dishes, were the Lotus Casino's special Lotus Cakes, which were these lotus shaped candies that had a sweetness to them which were irresistible.  

After going back for 10ths and 11ths..  I met a boy who had been enjoying his time at the games, but got hungry and wanted to eat. 

It was nice to have him  around, cause with Annabeth at the 'Build Your Own City' simulation, Grover at the VR reverse Deer hunter (where the Deer shoot the rednecks), and Lancer going nuts in Cute Puppy Simulator (don't ask), I was all alone. 

We got to talking, as he stared at me in amazement from the fact that I could fit 20 hotdogs in my mouth at once. 

After we had gotten some delicious icecream and were about to chow down on it, the boy grinned and said. "Man.. the games and food here just keep